Accelerator headed to the scene in a truck.
He was sitting in the passenger seat of a garbage truck. But its body was jet black and all of the windows were smoked.
"We have to clean up bodies too, so this is just more convenient," said the middle-aged man gripping the steering wheel next to him. "The interior of the storage area in the back can be taken out and discarded. After each collection, it's disposed of along with the bodies and replaced."
(So it's like a disposable pack for a vacuum?)
Accelerator was amazed.
"So the garbage this truck takes is corpses, huh? That's a pretty grim job."
It seemed to run on electricity instead of gasoline. Because of that, it made almost no noise when it ran. It was perfect for covert actions.
Accelerator watched the scenery go by out the window and spoke.
"What's with the smoke-tinted glass? I doubt you cart anyone rich around in this thing."
"Well, we can't have our faces seen in this job."
The truck and the driver's outfit didn't look thrown together. They had been formally prepared by Academy City for this type of job. He didn't know how they got their funds, but with this equipment it looked like an entire Anti-Skill district's worth of funds had been used.
The middle-aged man spoke to Accelerator during a break in the conversation he was having over the truck's radio.
"You're part of Group, right? And I hear this is your first job."
"Your point?"
"Nothing really," the driver said while looking straight ahead. "I just think sometimes that, even though I have no skills beyond being able to drive you around, there are people who wouldn't be dragged down to hell if I wasn't here."
"…"
"Well, I'm sure they can get plenty of other drivers, but I still think about it. For instance, if I just held down the gas now, I might be able to save at least one person."
"Ha. You've got guts. With guts like that you shouldn't be wasting your time on a job like this."
"Everyone else like Tsuchimikado-san and Unabara-san says the same thing. I wonder why."
"Because you're a sentimental, good person," Accelerator muttered under his breath.
The GPS navigation system informed them that they had reached their destination with a recorded woman's voice. The electric garbage truck silently came to a stop.
Accelerator opened the passenger side door, put his cane that had a modern design on the ground, and finally put his shoe down on the dirty roadway.
He heard a voice from behind him.
"As I was instructed, I'll be back to pick you up in 20 minutes. Be careful."
"So I'll be taken away on that thing whether I win or lose. Either as I came or as a corpse." Without turning around, he responded with a slightly amused voice.
The truck drove off behind him. He ignored it and looked around slowly.
It looked like most other parts of the city.
But this place had a different atmosphere. It was a strained atmosphere and it felt like evil presences were watching from the various entrances to the alleys. It felt like a swamp you would never be able to leave once you entered it.
While standing at an alley entrance, there were numerous iron stakes driven into the road surface at his feet.
The partially rusted stakes were at varying heights from 10 cm to 30 cm and were closely packed together from the entrance to about a meter in. It was like a thicket of iron.
(I see. This is to keep the security robots out.)
Accelerator laughed scornfully.
The drum-shaped robots in Academy City were made to climb up over various changes in the terrain and they could operate elevators using infrared signals.
But an intentionally made barricade like this was too much for them to get through.
After their "dangerous object evasion sequence" had repeated a certain number of times, they would put that area on hold and overlook it for the time being and then go elsewhere.
"…"
Looking up, there were plastic sheets stretched between the buildings almost covering up the sky. Most of them were blue and some were red or yellow, but it was clear they were just covering the space with whatever they could get across. Because of this, the sunlight was tinted oddly so they looked like speckled stained glass.
They were there to avoid satellite detection.
Anti-Skill would forcibly remove this obstruction on a weekly or monthly basis, but Skill-Out would put it back up soon afterwards. It was a purposeful endless cycle on their part.
That was how they did things.
Easily made. Easily abandoned. Easily redone.
If their barricade was destroyed, they would prepare a new one. If their base was destroyed, they would make a new one elsewhere. If their organization was crushed, failing people would gather together and a new one would be made.
That was why they would never be gone.
For the same reason that roaches would never go extinct, they learned little by little and strengthened their resistance.
This was the result of a type of evolution focused on the negative that no one wanted.
"…What a nostalgic atmosphere."
Accelerator's mouth loosened on its own.
The dark alley spreading out before him was a lawless area where the security robots and the satellite could not reach. Whatever happened, no one would see it. It was a world where no one coming to save you was normal.
"Now then…"
As he was about to go in, his cell phone rang.
He took it out with an irritated look on his face and the display said "Entry 3".
"Tsuchimikado."
"I realized you were starting your first job. Before you begin, I wanted to give you a warning."
"So you're giving me a warning, are you?" Accelerator spat out. "What is it, senpai."
"Don't trust us," Tsuchimikado responded. "You, me, and everyone else in Group are people who would find it problematic if what we're doing became public. As Group was created using people like that, there is no way out."
"…Were you hoping I'd be grateful you told me that?"
"If you just follow the rules the board of directors has laid out, they aren't going to let you out. This is made so they profit no matter what happens. You need to think about how you can win in this situation. We both have things we need to protect."
"…" Accelerator briefly remained silent.
He was reminded of a girl who must have been in the hospital at that time.
But he sealed up his expression, his actions, and his words before that could be seen by anyone else.
"Is that all you wanted?"
"Yes, it was. Finish this up quickly and come on back. Musujime should be starting her job about now. Make sure you don't get caught up in that."
(Her job?)
Just as Accelerator started looking confused…
Boom!!
A high-pitched explosion resounded from down the narrow, narrow alley.
It sounded pretty far away, but a lukewarm wind hit his face. While he was being bathed in the dust- and dirt-filled air, Accelerator asked Tsuchimikado a question.
For a second, he had thought Komaba Ritoku's plan had started, but Tsuchimikado seemed oddly calm for that to be the case. After thinking for a second, he came up with a good guess.
"Is Musujime using bombs? And no one told me this was going to be a fucking competition."
"She isn't aiming for people; she's aiming for money." Tsuchimikado replied in an unconcerned voice. "Skill-Out has funds for their activities. They have various ways of decentralizing its storage, but she's taking it out anyway. After all, burning it is better than giving them a chance to run off with it."
The sound of explosions continued.
But Skill-Out was used to fights that used that kind of weapon. They wouldn't falter from that alone. Someone with a suitable power was needed to stand in this battlefield.
He was pretty sure Musujime Awaki's power was Move Point. She could move objects wherever she wanted free of any three-dimensional restrictions.
She must have been using that power again.
"So she can still be useful. And I thought she was just Group's decoration. Wasn't her unstable mental condition keeping her from using her powers?"
"She's the same as you," Tsuchimikado responded while listening to the explosions over the phone. "That's being compensated for."
"Okay, fine. So, I can just use this confusion to take out the Skill-Out members here before they can regroup, right?"
"Well, with their money supply being attacked, I doubt their leader will just run away, but your main target is Komaba Ritoku, the bastard leading them all. Don't let him get away."
"I'm more worried about doing too much destruction. Digging flesh out of rubble sounds like a pain in the ass."
Accelerator decided to hang up.
He put the phone in his pocket and moved his other hand up to the back of his neck without letting go of his cane. It looked like he was checking the movement of a joint, but that was where the switch for his choker-style electrode was.
"Well, I guess I should get started."
He sensed a number of people around him.
There were over 20 sights of handguns and bow guns pointed towards him from within the alley, from the windows of the buildings, and from any other cover someone could find.
In response, Accelerator ever so slightly smiled.
This was the place he had once wanted to make his way out of even if he had to crawl through the dirt.
"Looks like I have some cleaning up to do. I'll be done in 10 minutes."
He was back with a smile on his face.