After about three hours of intermittent healing magic, I felt good enough to move. My body still hurt, but like I had hoped for, I could move almost normally.
As I was handing over the payment for the treatment, I leaned on the counter. "So, you said something about gang members?"
Lillian nodded as she scribbled on some paperwork and began inputting data into a spreadsheet on her computer. "Yeah, what about 'em?"
"Do you know anybody who can connect me with the black market?" I already knew the answer, of course.
She grimly set her teeth, looking me up and down. "I don't think these are the types of people you wanna' be associated with."
"It's not about wanting to associate with them, but rather, having to."
She looked down her nose at me.
"What business does an Academy student have with the black market?"
"And what business do you have to poke into my matters?" I snipped back.
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not gonna' let you run headlong into your own death."
"Aw, so you do care."
"Shut up, before I put you back in a hospital bed."
I chuckled as I took a few steps back. She wouldn't actually hurt a patient, would she…?
The Lillian in my novel would never hurt a patient… though the only patient that she interacted with in the novel was Gauss. In fact, the flesh-and-blood Lillian that I talked to was vastly different from the Lillian in the novel.
Or perhaps, I was just meeting a completely different side of her.
It was a little sobering to realize that as an author, I didn't actually know all of my characters that well. All the gaps in my story had been filled in to make this world seamless and real.
Every day was a reminder that I wasn't some kind of god; I was living amongst the characters now.
"Hey, stupid. Are you listening? Or did your mana circuits finally fry themselves?"
I startled, shaken out of my dreary thoughts as Lillian leaned close to me. Her ink-black eyes studied me as she brushed her hair aside to get a better look at me.
I flusteredly stumbled back again, finding myself nearly stumbling over one of the cheap plastic seats lining the walls of the waiting room. "I-I'm fine."
She straightened her posture, looking at me with a strange expression.
"Are you sure? I hope you aren't straining yourself too much; I was doing some digging into the historical medical records of soldiers that received A.N.I. procedures while you were recovering. Apparently, they suffered from fragile and brittle mana circuits."
"Like I said… I'm fine."
I just pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I knew the repercussions of undergoing the procedure twice. Unfortunately, that wasn't something I could help with my lacking potential. There would be a way to fix it in the future, but…
"So why are you lookin' around for the black market?"
I opened my eyes and glared at her. Can't a guy monologue in his head in peace?
After sighing again, I shook my head. "It's none of your business. If you don't want to help, that's fine-- I can find the black market myself."
She grimaced. "That sounds like a recipe for disaster."
Internally, I agreed. The reason I wasn't just heading straight to the black market on my own was because I would have to pass through stringent security measures in order to enter.
After all, wouldn't it be strange if a random student appeared at the black market? What kind of criminal underworld would let their secrets out to the public so easily?
However…
Lillian finally groaned, caving to her conscience. "If you're really so adamant, I can bring you there. But promise me one thing."
My eyes practically sparkled. I knew she would cave eventually. Although she's grumpy towards me since I probably don't have a handsome face, she's still nice at heart.As expected of someone who wants to become a doctor!
"Anything!"
She looked me up and down for a moment.
"Promise that you'll only go to the black market if I'm going with you."
I paused.
That… could complicate things.
On one hand, her coming to the black market with me every time would make things inconvenient. I would have to move discreetly and I didn't want to explain everything I was doing to her.
On the other hand, she could vouch for me and help me avoid suspicion.
I made a decision quickly.
"I promise. When can we go?"
She glanced at the slowly ticking clock on the wall. "I doubt any more customers are comin'. How about now?"
…so soon?
I bit my lip.
"...why not?"
***
Lillian took a few minutes to change out of her work clothes, while I waited in the sitting room. The door creaked open, and I looked up idly from the novel that Lillian had been reading earlier.
My eyes widened subconsciously as she emerged from the office in her casual clothes. My perception of her had been stained by wrinkled smocks, rubber gloves, and scowls. Seeing her dressed in loose cargo pants and a tank top that revealed her shoulders made me rethink her image. Her black hair messily waterfalled down her back, freed from the tight bun she normally kept it in.
"...what are you gawkin' at?"
"S-sorry," I blushed, turning away. "I've, er, never seen you in normal clothes."
"Obviously I wear normal clothes too. Is that so hard for your little brain to comprehend?" She smirked as she walked past me to the door.
I just scowled and rolled my eyes. "It was just unexpected, okay?"
"Sure… whatever." She gave me an indecipherable look before turning towards the door and pushing it open. "Come on, let's get moving."
We stepped out into the trash-filled alley, taking big steps to avoid puddles of filthy water. It was a little difficult since the sun was beginning to set, casting everything in shadows.
"Why is all that trash in front of your store, anyways?" I asked idly as we exited the alley, taking a deep breath of the cleaner air on the street.
As the author, I never explained why, just using it as an aesthetic to emphasize how poor the clinic was. Now that my novel was reality, I was curious.
Just being "forgotten" didn't explain the trash, when in Academy City, everything was taken care of by advanced tech.
Lillian took a moment to respond. By the time she opened her mouth again, we were a few blocks away from the alley. "...you're not going to believe me."
I raised an eyebrow. "Try me."
She turned to look at me, slowing down so we were walking side by side rather than her leading me. "..."
I also remained silent as she stared into my eyes. I felt faintly uncomfortable, her cold, black eyes seeming to pierce into my soul.
After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision as she continued.
"Fine, then. Let me ask you something."
"What?"
"How much energy do you think it takes to fuel the citywide trash collection system?"
"Uh… I don't know?"
What kind of author would explain that???
"One B rank Gate core."
"…that doesn't seem so bad."
"Per day."
"Oh."
F and E rank Gates were most common, making up about 50% of Gate spawns. D rank Gates made up about 25%, C rank was 12.5%… B rank was approximately 6.25% of Gates. Every year, an estimated 100,000 Gates appeared on Earth, and not all of them were cleared; at best, the yearly harvest could only come up to about five or six thousand Gate cores.
About half of that was dedicated to crafting weapons for hunters and soldiers. A quarter went towards research. And the rest, about twelve hundred or so, went into the energy system.
An energy system that powered public transit, lighting, automatic defense systems, shields, public facilities, and all sorts of advanced technology…
When I was writing System Overload, I had just pulled these numbers out of my ass because they seemed convenient. Lots of my readers actually criticized my novel for the nonsensical energy system. But now that my book was reality…
Lillian continued bitterly. "Our world is fragile, hanging on the edge of a knife every day. We've become so dependent on Gates as an energy source, that without them our energy production is next to nothing."
"But aren't Gates basically the perfect energy source?"
I was still confused.
She sighed, looking at me with a weary expression. "That's what everyone thinks. After all, it's only thanks to Gates and magic that we get to live in such an advanced world."
I nodded. Although the loss of life was tragic, Gates had become part of how society functioned.
"But after the First Cataclysm, Gate spawns have dropped dramatically; it can't keep up with our energy consumption."
"What about the A rank and S rank Gate cores?" My heart sank, since I knew the answer.
"Military development and essential services, reserved for the government or the Seven Sages."
Obviously it would be reserved in the defense budget against Gates.
Lillian continued. "When we stopped getting business, we dropped tax brackets. Because of that, they suspended most of the public facilities, including trash clean-up."
Her scowl deepened. "It's not like we could just go back to manual cleanup. Our society has been so utterly dependent on automated systems powered by Gate energy that the infrastructure for physical labor simply doesn't exist anymore-- drones carry trash straight to incinerators, without any human intervention."
I nodded slowly.
So this is the inner workings of the world I made.
Indeed, I saw the traces as we moved into a part of the city closer to the towering, metal walls that guarded Academy City. Litter and trash wasn't everywhere, but it was definitely filthier and messier than the rest of the city.
Although Gauss would have to move through this area to go to the black market, I normally skipped straight to the entrance of the criminal underworld, so I wasn't prepared for the wet, mildew smell that seemed to permeate everything. The roads shifted from clean pavement to wet, rough stones, with street gutters running down both sides. The houses became smaller and smaller, meaning most of them were cast into the shadow of the giant wall that protected them from the wilderness outside. Bright lights and billboards turned into small shops and old apartment buildings that looked like they came from my original world. Open power lines, outdated infrastructure, and chain-link fences were scattered throughout the neighborhood.
Something about this place resonated with me; even though my memories of my past life were basically erased, I had a feeling that I used to live somewhere like this.
Lillian fell silent as we walked deeper into the poorer area of the city. After all, the surroundings spoke for itself.