How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

81. Inheritance

The broker, Jake, poured the coffee with serious gestures. It was real coffee brewed from ground beans, not cheap coffee with only the smell added as a flavoring agent.

“For something so expensive…”

“Because the guests who come here are of a different class.”

Leonard and Max calmly sat in the ‘real’ place, which is not easily seen. However, the broker gave coffee to only one client and ignored the two.

“I am Jake Goodman, the fixer broker, ma’am.”

Leonard made an uncomfortable expression and Max puffed up his cheeks. However, the broker, who was born in sales, did not even look sideways.

“I am Alice Pitt. Please feel free to call me.”

“Yes. Mrs. Alice.”

Mrs. Ellis rolled up her sleeves and savored the coffee with grace. It was different from the junk town neighborhoods where they gobbled up whatever they were given. Expectations naturally rose.

“You are looking for someone?”

Mrs. Ellis put down her coffee cup and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. In fact, there was nothing on it, so it was a pretended wipe. From Leonard’s point of view, it was a high-end luxury item, but for a rich wife, it was a cheap luxury item that she could barely wear.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time, can you find him?”

“My motto is ‘nothing is impossible’. At least here in A-044 City, there’s no one I can’t find. but…”

The broker put on a shy expression, incongruous with his vicious bald appearance.

“Depending on the conditions, it can be costly. Are you okay?”

Mrs. Ellis looked at me with a puzzled expression. It was as if I had heard something unfamiliar.

“I prepared 100,000 credits for the commission fee. Could it be that it lacks a lot?”

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Jake, the broker, jumped up and bowed his head 90 degrees. Max, who was sitting next to me, was startled and had to hide.

“Thank you so much for entrusting us with Jake Brokerage! Sincerely! We will live up to your expectations!”

Making a living as a broker was not an easy task. Leonard and Max were able to realize the true value of brokerage fees.

@

Broker Jake organized the data seriously enough to be burdensome for the viewer.

It was actually burdensome because I was writing a draft on the virtual keyboard with the paperwork on the brain chip. The person himself must be writing a document in a flashy way, but to others, it seemed like severe tic disorder. This is why external devices are essential even in modern times.

“This is difficult…”

“yes?”

“It’s really difficult.”

“yes.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“yes. yes.”

Leonard answered casually because it was someone else’s business. Max, who was curious about this, was busy staring seriously at the coffee left by Mrs. Ellis. He was an ordinary 15-year-old torn between romance and dignity. Jake closed the brainchip screen with a deep sigh.

“Are you free these days?”

“no.”

“…why isn’t this ‘yes’?”

Leonard chuckled. He never admitted it out loud, but he was close enough to come to him first if he had nowhere else to go. It was clear what he was thinking.

“I have to organize my luggage, I have to maintain my Sigma, and I am busy today.”

“You can do that slowly.”

“The new landlord is so cold that he can’t take it slow? The room is only snot.”

The broker knew Leonard as well as Leonard knew the broker. He made an expression of chewing raw coffee beans.

“Use the room you want over there.”

“Five?”

“If you keep your promise for a week, I won’t even nag you.”

“Is a week unconditional?”

“That’s 100,000 credits. Do you need credit too?”

It seemed that this could not be done unless it was Leonard, that is, the best solver in Junk Town.

“Not all 100,000 credits come in, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Because there are many things to give here and there.”

Small requests worth 2,000 or 3,000 credits could be handled quietly, but when the unit exceeded 10,000 units, there were many entangled insects, so I had to take medicine. It was the secret to not getting shot on the street by a broker dealing with large amounts of money.

“So how much is it?”

“It can be done with 70,000 credits.”

“That’s not bad enough.”

As Leonard took a position to listen, the broker shot the data through his fingertips. Being close, this one was convenient.

“The person the client is looking for is Harrison Pitt, who is said to be a brother-in-law.”

“What is brother-in-law?”

Max showed interest from ‘70,000 credits’. Leonard opened the uploaded material and taught cultured language.

“My husband’s younger brother.”

“So, are you looking for a family?

“The request to find a person is either a family member or a scammer who took away credits.”

“In this case, the credits are also relevant.”

The broker gave Max a small terminal. It was a brokerage office where all sorts of clients came, so there was nothing missing.

“My husband died nine years ago, and I lived with my father-in-law, that is, my husband’s father, and the father-in-law also died six days ago.”

“Gee, that’s bad.”

“If the inheritance of tens of millions of credits is at stake, there is no time to grieve.”

“Tens of millions?”

“I bet you own more than 10 buildings in White Town? He is also a high-ranking executive at Highlane.”

“wow…”

It was a seed on a different level from the fixer who rolled to the bone because he didn’t have 300,000 credits.

“It’s different for entrepreneurs.”

“At that level, I can throw 100,000 credits like chewing gum.”

I couldn’t swear for a long time because I was in a position to enjoy chewing gum. A tacit agreement quickly passed.

“According to the New Humanity Federal Law, the only immediate family member, Mr. Harrison Pitt, is the first heir. The daughter-in-law who supported me for nine years has the right to inherit, but the amount is not that large.”

“Even if it is a federal law, only a few terms have been changed in the Allied Laws. I know roughly.”

Leonard responded as if it was nothing, then realized it was a big deal. The fact that I entrusted the request means that I do not know the current whereabouts, but that means…

“Are you going to see Mr. Harrison for the credits?”

“Can it be?”

The broker chuckled and explained things step by step for young Max.

“Harrison Pitt left home 10 years ago and went missing. I’d actually be dead If you are alive, there will be no news in the era of the 22nd century.”

“Then why are you looking for it?”

“Because I’m not legally dead.”

Entrepreneurial sentiment was well known to Leonard, who was a former entrepreneur. Now, he is a petit bourgeois who trembles at the price of a coat, but seven years ago he was the son of Gunnguns.

“Your inheritance seems to have floated?”

“that’s right. If an heir does not appear, the inherited property is frozen for up to three years. After that, our client will inherit in second order, but three years is too long.”

“I understand now. It’s a request to prove that Harrison Pitt is dead.”

Finding the dead is more difficult than finding the living. Even so, it was 10 years ago. Had he fallen dead on the street, the scavenger would have ripped it off without leaving a single tooth.

“Certainly it can’t be without me.”

“Then let me do a favor.”

It was a difficult request even for Leonard. But for 70,000 credits and 7 days of comfortable shelter, it was worth considering. I woke up after covering the last page of the data the broker had organized.

“Breakfast and a cup of coffee every day. Then use some force.”

“…Damn it.”

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Judging from the past years, it was a sign of acceptance.

@

Leonard’s method of finding people is to trace the video record from the final sighting location.

In fact, it is a method used by corporate security teams and public security agents, but borrowing it quickly without permission was slightly different. He boasted of such a quick resolution.

“Is there a record from 10 years ago?”

“Probably not.”

However, I couldn’t use organs for this request. There was no place to keep 10 years of video, and no way to track the movement of 10 years.

“At times like this, you should use the classic method.”

“What is it?”

“I’m looking for an eyewitness.”

Fortunately, however, implant information from 10 years ago remains. At that time, as it is now, it was a particularly luxurious body. Someone will remember.

Leonard and Max visit Precinct 20, which is run by the Twins gang. It was the place where the most wanderers who flowed into Junk Town gathered.

Whether it succeeds and settles down, or it dies and disintegrates, it can be replaced in a year, but there was a rare scavenger who endured double-digit years and acted as a resident.

“Inspiration, long time no see.”

“You, you…!”

Low-cost implants with moldy silicone skin and skeleton were undeniably scavengers. It didn’t even have a few teeth. He was a scavenger among scavengers, considering that implant teeth are cheap and even back alley orphans do not pick them up.

When the original scavenger inspiration blinked his circular lens eyeballs, he asked seriously.

“…who is it?”

“It can’t be fun.”

Leonard pushed the trash here and there under his feet to make an empty seat and sat down. Old scavenger made a disapproving expression.

“Now I don’t even look for it because it’s going well, but did it come because there was something regretful?”

“I used to be good. It hit rock bottom for a while 7 years ago. And taking into account your circumstances, the scavengers of Area 20 do not hunt.”

“Where are you lying? I heard they don’t come close because they’re noticing the gangsters who think they’re Twins or Twinks.”

“I’m not the kind of person who won’t do anything because he’s afraid of that gang.”

Max’s eyes twinkled. It had been a long time since anyone knew about Leonard’s past. Leonard sensed the uncomfortable gaze and introduced the scavenger inspiration.

“I was indebted for a while when I settled here. Seriously, I paid back what I owed several times over, but I’m so greedy that I can’t be satisfied.”

“It’s a lifesaver! Lifesaver! Can you pay it all off with that penny!”

“…Those lines are cool when I have to do them, and it’s chuhau when the old man does it.”

“Cool freezes to death!”

It wasn’t such a bad relationship, but it wasn’t a particularly welcome relationship either. Leonard cleared out the noise and transmitted the data.

“I’m looking for someone like this. Where have you seen them?”

Old scavenger was frightened by the large picture that obscured his vision.

“Get it away! Don’t hack!”

I was proud because it was an expected response.

“Look closely. If you don’t look closely, it will float in front of your eyes for the rest of your life. Oh, you can see it even if you close your eyes. Because I hacked the brain chip, not the eyeball. I can make it come out even in my dreams.”

“aaagh-!”

The implant hacker’s cruelty was beyond imagination. Could it be the cruelty of Leonard Walker in this case? Old scavenger swung his fists in anger to the tip of his head, but he was not light enough to be hit by a blind man’s fist. Eventually, he collapsed from exhaustion.

“If you do this, Huuk, Huuk, what will you do for me?”

“Credits?”

“The account has been closed for a long time. Give it in kind.”

“I’ll give you ten boxes of energy bars.”

The old scavenger’s face was subtly relaxed.

“Where did you ask for a rich man?”

“You can tell by pretending. He is also rich.”

“Hmm… that’s right.”

Old scavenger looked closely at the photo. It covered the whole field of view, so I had no choice but to see it well.

“Is this your first time seeing it?”

“No recent photos. Don’t look for it with a rotten brain, look for memory chips. About 10 years ago.”

“If there was such a thing, I would have fucked it up a long time ago.”

He was like a scavenger among scavengers. Like Stone Age humans, they relied on their temporal lobes to rummage through their memories. In the cyber age, it was very cramped, but there was no other way.

“Wait… wait… It wasn’t that long ago, was it? 2 years ago? Was it three years ago?”

“Really?”

“yes. that’s right. I saw it 2 or 3 years ago. It’s not common to see a guy with such an expensive body. Probably right.”

Leonard’s expression darkened. I found a clue to the request, but it didn’t seem like the result the client wanted would come out.