How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

Chapter 9

9. geezer

Leonard Walker’s residence and office, unlike its groggy exterior, was quite a solid place.

The living room and kitchen are separated, the toilet and shower room are separated, and there are two multipurpose rooms besides the bedroom, and the view is good and the soundproofing is excellent. He complains about the high rent, but it was hard to find a house like this on 11th Street.

“Hey, hey! It’s a tool for making a living! Leave it alone!”

“Eh, Achoo! Is there a lot of dust? Do you go out to eat?”

Leonard snarled, grabbing a Gun & Guns 7.62mm bolt-action Winterfield rifle and clip magazine. Sigma explained nonchalantly.

“It’s an old gun I bought and never fired.”

“I’ll shoot when I get a chance!”

I don’t know what the chances of shooting a sniper rifle were, but it was definitely bad value for money. Max found something new in the dust pit.

“What is this box? uh huh heavy…”

“Damn it! be careful!”

Leonard was frightened and took the box. It wasn’t that little Max was hurt.

“If you drop this, you will die and I will die!”

“Is it very precious?”

“It is very dangerous!”

Leonard carefully opened the box. N77 flash grenades, N78 incendiary bombs, and N88 smoke grenades were tightly packed. Sigma said as if he was pathetic.

“I am poor because I buy these things.”

“You are included in ‘these things.’”

Whimpering, growling, and babbling, I emptied the utility room by the front door. There is no sunlight, so it smells a bit musty, but it’s enough for one person to live.

“Since there is no bed, let’s sleep on a lot of blankets.”

“There were no beds in my old house. it’s okay.”

Max’s old house was a talkative house, a human chicken coop. It was a small room that split an illegally expanded alley warehouse into half and half and rented it for about 20 credits per month. It was not a normal house, there was no electricity, no running water, no toilet.

“I’m sorry I gave you this room…”

“A room like this? I like it very much! Thank you very much!”

Max loved having his own room. Even so, it was more comfortable than half of half of half of the warehouse. Leonard scratched the back of his head and gestured to quit. I don’t intend to keep it for long, but I decided to make it comfortable for the time being. In return, even if the tool to earn a living is not comfortable.

Tittittik- Tittitik-

Leonard laid out his gun in the living room and identified the sender. It was obvious who to contact at this time. It was Jake, the ‘broker’. Leonard learned from yesterday’s incident and linked it with his brain chip to receive it.

“It was a good walk. I have a lot to say…”

– Work came in. 3,500 credits.

As usual, it was businesslike. Leonard was about to meet and talk, but gave up. I was more interested in the new job than the previous one.

“Three thousand and five hundred? A little less?”

I do less work than that, but the brokers often work here and there, so the basic pay had to be high.

-There are 6,000, 6,600, and 9,000 requests for someone to bury…

“Three thousand five hundred is suitable. send it.”

The broker sent the work file with a dry smile. It was quick because there was not much capacity.

-This is a request from the gunsmith on 22-2nd Street.

“A gunman? I can feel it.”

Guns, knives, axes, and Molotov cocktails flew frequently in Junk Town, where the Wildkids gang and the Twins gang clashed. Even though it was for civilian use, it was natural that the store stocked with guns and bullets would be appetizing.

-It seems that the owner failed to resist when they tried to rob the store last night.

To run a gun shop in a lawless city, you had to become an expert in handling guns. It was a natural result.

– Because experts also have to sleep.

“Certainly, this is not a request to protect the store until the war is over, right? Then you can’t get a quote for 3,500 credits?”

-This is a request to help move the store’s goods to the suburban warehouse. Time’s up. Read the file for details.

It was 59 seconds like a knife. Leonard opened the material uploaded to the brain chip and read it quietly. Sigma and Max peeked out from the utility room, but pretended not to know. After reading it through three times, I came to a careful conclusion.

“This is worth doing.”

It was seven years ago that Leonard settled in A-044 City, also known as Sodom City.

It was a little short of changing rivers and mountains, but it was a long enough time for the immature boy who cried out for the black flame dragon to graduate from school, be drafted into the army, and become unemployed after being discharged. I didn’t waste that long time, so I accumulated quite a lot internally and externally. A 30-year-old used pickup truck was one of them.

“I said I needed a car, I didn’t say I needed scrap metal…”

It’s called a gangster war, but it wasn’t a real war. He hadn’t fired a gun or roamed the streets with heavy weapons since morning. Arriving early was the answer. However, the client seemed to be dissatisfied with something.

“If you don’t like my car, rent a limousine. There are a lot of complaints about the request fee, which is less than the price of gas.”

Leonard grumbled as he got out of the car. Layla, the ‘gunsmith’, crossed her arms and stared at her crookedly. Although she is a rare beauty, she was not deceived because she was a bone mana implant. Well, the greasy suspenders looked good on me.

“Leonard Walker. Call me Leo.”

“Layla Donut. I don’t like last names, so just call me Leyla.”

It was a surname that was too cool to laugh at. ‘Kuhm! greatness!’ We shook hands once and went straight to work.

“You can move the items inside to the tail area south of the suburbs. The thugs have their eyes on you, so you have to be stealthy and quick.”

“So how many boxes, right? It’s not about calling a fixer… isn’t it?”

I was speechless as the gunsmith raised the shutter. Rifles and dozens of ammunition boxes tightly packed in the gun holders are also spectacular, but there were weapons that did not even catch the eye.

“War machine?”

The exact name is ‘tactical bipedal armored robot’, but people who dislike long sentences called it ‘War Machine’. It was also called ‘power armor’ because it could be put on and taken off like a knight’s armor in the Middle Ages.

“Is this for military use? Why does a gunsmith have something like this?”

“I don’t know. You should start by worrying about whether you can load it into that shit truck.”

Leonard couldn’t protect his horse. I really needed to worry.

“If you have something like that, you just wipe out the gangs and become the boss.”

“…You’re kidding, right?”

“why? Why not?”

“If it becomes second-hand, you won’t get the full price.”

That was a great answer. Since he was a merchant by nature, he could be relieved even if he was given a nuclear missile rather than a war machine.

“Let’s load it up. Oh, it won’t matter if you control it, right? there should be no please…”

Unlike his appearance, Leonard’s body had high-quality implants, so his output was good. I lifted the 20 rifle holders and put them on the luggage compartment, and piled up five or six ammunition boxes and carried them all at once. However, even if Amman had good strength, he could not move the War Machine, which weighed close to 1.5 tons.

“Look out of the way.”

The gunsmith opened the War Machine’s chest hatch and inserted himself. A mechanical hum sounded and the red light flashed a few times, then synchronized with a blue light. The gunsmith’s head and torso were covered by heavy chest armor, while his arms and legs were out and moved with the machine. It looks ridiculous at first glance, but I couldn’t laugh because of the intimidation.

When the gunsmith put out his right arm, War Machine put out its right arm with an autocannon, and when the gunsmith put out its right foot, War Machine put out its 450kg titanium foot. Leonard exclaimed with a whistle.

“It’s been a while since the Federation Army armored robot!”

The gunsmith looked at Leonard through his toadlike body armor. War Machine had no head, so the torso was the head.

“Were you a member of the New Human Federation?”

“Well, similar.”

In fact, he is an allied hacker who was beaten by the federal forces, but he did not bother to reveal his affiliation. It was a good decision. The gunsmith’s tone softened.

“Most of the fixers are from the military. I wish my father was still alive…”

But as if they weren’t close friends, he swallowed back talk. The heavy War Machine climbed into the truck bed. The car body shuddered and the tires screamed. Leonard’s owner-driver spirit also screamed.

“slowly! slowly! Oh, some! If the car spreads, pay the penalty!”

As if Leonard’s earnest prayer had worked, the 30-year-old junk truck neither collapsed nor exploded. It was truly a miracle that the proper load was overextended by three times.

“Ugh… I’m worried about this…?”

When Leonard climbed into the driver’s seat, the car body made a clicking sound. It was like protesting that this is what people would do. Knowing it or not, the gunsmith knocked on the roof in the luggage compartment.

“I will hold on until I fall out of town! Now, let’s go!”

“The repair cost will fall before you go out of town.”

I heard an ominous feeling that all 3,500 credits would be spent on repairs. However, I couldn’t come back now. The fixer also had a reputation. The previous quest had failed, so this one had to succeed unconditionally.

I started the engine, shifted gears, and slowly stepped on the accelerator. I thought I was going to roll, but the speed gradually picked up. Leonard said ‘Five two, five two, I believe!’ He gave out the same strange exclamation and opened the brain chip’s navigation system.