Cinq East Section 3: Hong Lu's Story

Ohh, I see, I see~

Yeah, guess that's the way it is. Things haven't really changed much since then.

What's more important, though, was finding new material for my next artic - whoa! Watch your head!

Fuhu, I appreciate your concern, but it really is unnecessary~

You should be watching out for yourself, actually. I sure hope a stray utensil from all the fighting going on around us doesn't come flying straight at you.

*cough* I mentioned this in my last article, but growing up, I used to work out a lot at the Association gym, so...

... Phew! That one almost got you.

Th-thanks.

It wasn't rare to see utensils, insults, and - with rare but meaningful frequency - bits and bowls of food flying across the hall in this particularly pugnacious kezhan located in the eastern part of the City.

Amidst the chaos sat two people with a table between them, both looking quite unbothered by the perpetual chaos that surrounded them.

On one side of the table was, an audio recorder in tow, a reporter who had once interviewed a child under the Cinq Association Eastern branch's employ.

On the other was once again a Fixer under the same employer, though it was a different child this time.

The two continued to chat, sipping cheap tea between each exchange.

Speaking of, I thought you'd already conducted an interview with a member of the Cinq East? Miss Don Quixote, I believe. Hard to forget, since she'd been shoving that particular issue of the magazine in my face until I read your article in front of her.

Oh yeah, I did. Um, the article actually did much better than any of us could have expected, and... well, I'm sure you know what followed, haha.

Aha... They wanted you to do a follow-up story because of its popularity.

With a deep sigh and a shake of the head, the interviewer raised her arms in a gesture of exasperation before taking a long sip from her teacup.

She'd already written a story about this branch in her last article - made it a special feature, even. Everything she thought people might want to know about the Cinq East, she'd crammed into the feature page. But instructions from the higher-ups being what they are, her job today wasn't to write a journalistic masterpiece, but to squeeze this subject dry for anything that could be even remotely interesting to the readers.

Now she was mulling over one miserable question: where should she even begin? The tricks of digging for trifling gossip like the cheap tabloid "reporters" do... That kind of thing wasn't her style, not to mention that it went against her journalistic integrity.

Hmm... That must be troublesome.

Well, I've an idea, then.

The child didn't appear offended, however. He smiled gently as though he had expected the interviewer's dilemma, and reached into his belongings - and produced a magazine issue.

Ah! That's our magazine!

I just thought it was only polite to get an idea of the person who'll be interviewing me.

That's very considerate of you...

It's... this page here, right? "The Cinq as the Cultural Lodestone: A Journey Through the East and the West."

... You know, I never thought about it, but it's a little more embarrassing than I thought it'd be to have someone read my title out loud.

Your article really went in-depth about us, but... some of these might not be entirely correct.

Really?! Oh, that's not good. We're gonna have to print a retraction -

Oh, no, it's not like that. Just parts that might seem like a bit of a generalization about my Section and colleagues.

Maybe elaborating on some of those finer points could enrich the article as a whole and satisfy your readers at the same time?

The interviewer barely managed to hold her arms back from propelling forward and vigorously shaking the child's hand.

The circumstances of her journalistic career may indeed be dire today, but her pride as a reporter simply would not allow her to rely so shamelessly upon the very interviewee she had come to interview.

I know this is kind of out of the blue, but... have you ever considered working in journalism? Some way down the line, if you ever want to retire from Association work, we'd be happy to have you.

I've... I've got to admit, you certainly have the talent, haha...

Fuhu, I don't know. Maybe. Who knows what the future holds?

Hey, I'm gonna hold you to that "maybe," when that future comes, okay?

Laughing off her half-joking, half-serious recruitment effort, she hit the record button on her device.

Okay, then. Let's start from the parts you thought weren't entirely correct.

Sure thing~ Let's see...

So, about the part where you wrote "Cinq Fixers, the Battle Fiends: Blood Boiling, Body Itching to Duel at the Sight of Violence!"... It kind of leaves a lot of room for misunderstanding, doesn't it~?

Oh! That's, uhm. The editor's office asked me to give them something eye-catching as the subheading...

If you read a little further, you can see that I also wrote something about how the Cinq Fixers have the, the soul of the East, burning with the flame of justice... Quenched only by its enactment and so and so...!

Ohh~ Of course, I've read that part, too.

But I'd like to clarify that the "burning with the flame of justice" part is... uniquely applicable to Miss Don Quixote.

Ah.

Let's see... Oh, here it is. "At the end of each duel, a Cinq Fixer must raise their right arm and strike a victorious pose..."

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that's another thing uniquely applicable to -

Mmhmm~

Ah.

Of course, it's basic dueling etiquette to state your name and affiliation at the beginning of each match. That one's universally applicable.

Scratch, scritch.

As the minutes crawled by, more and more strikethroughs began filling the poor reporter's notebook.

Yes, the reporter had suspected that some of Don Quixote's claims might have been a tad exaggerated, given her uncannily overenthusiastic demeanor. But it was also true that the Fixer had showcased a duel nothing short of spectacular, and answered every interview question with unwavering confidence...

The reporter pressed the tip of her pen into her furrowed brow. Quite the understandable reaction, as she'd just realized that a good chunk of the answers her past interviewee had given were, in fact, mere exaggerations. She pressed down the urge to sigh in frustration - she was a professional, after all, and couldn't be seen getting emotional in the presence of an interviewee.

I'm getting a feeling that this won't be a follow-up story so much as an entire special feature for a public apology...

Oh, but technically, you didn't write any lies in your story~

You need only add one sentence to the bottom of your article: "Disclaimer: Some details may apply only to Miss Don Quixote." There, problem solved!

... Thank you. I'll make sure to do that.

Um, and regarding the part about our fees...

Don Quixote charges twice the usual rate for emergency contracts, doesn't she?

Oh, come on... She's got her own rules about fees, too? I mean, passion for justice notwithstanding, she seemed really strict about "matters of coin." I took that as proof of her professionalism, separating business from personal conviction...

It puts us in a rather difficult position when she...

Wait, don't tell me she's been embezzling contract fees with nonexistent surcharges...?

... charges the clients so little.

Oh.

Sometimes, she even handles contracts free of charge just because she feels sorry for the client... And as the stand-in accountant, I'm the one who has to deal with that~

Ever since your story came out, we've been receiving multiple complaints about overcharging, so... I'd really appreciate it if you could, um, clear that up!

I'm so sorry about that. I'll amend that part and have the new article published ASAP.

Fuhu... There's no need to apologize!

The child raised his teacup without a care in the world, then tipped it back and drained it in one easy gulp.

Then he said:

Come to think of it... Wouldn't readers wonder exactly how much Section 3 charges for our contracts?

And rose from his seat in a graceful motion.

All right, that's quite enough~

Gah...!

Huh...? You had a contract here?

Yup~ Look over there. Do you see that person signaling to me with his palm?

For clients who find it difficult to state their requests verbally, Cinq Association's East Section also accepts contracts via hand signals.

Oh! This'll be an interesting bit of trivia to add to the article. It could prove useful to quite a lot of readers!

Please don't forget to add that hand-signal commissions incur a surcharge of 1.5 times the usual rate~

... Ah.

Y-you little... Ngh! What the hell...?! Coward, you can't just start whaling away without even stating your name and affiliation!

Oh, do excuse me for that. Hand-signal commissions carry an additional fee, so dueling etiquette can be dispensed with for a single clash~

Now that the first blow has been traded... Allow me to introduce myself. Hong Lu of Cinq East Section 3, here to act as proxy for the duel.

I look forward to facing you!

M-my thanks to you. I'll pay whatever you ask - teach that insolent cur a lesson...!

Happy to receive the contract~ Rush fee is 3.7 times the base contract fee.

Kgh... F-fine! I came prepared. The pamphlet did mention that rush fees are a standard surcharge.

What else... Right, you called upon me while I was on break, so...

That's an off-duty commission fee added!

Th-there's more...?

Mmhmm! And it just so happens, this is a Category-3 Commercial Establishment, so there's a surcharge for compensation. I mean, it's only natural, isn't it? The Cinq Association will compensate the proprietor for anything broken during the fight, and that fund has to come from the client who commissioned the duel in the first place.

Ah... Aaaah...!

It's not as bad as it sounds. First-time clients get a 50% discount!

Though only up to a maximum of 10,000 Ahn, of course.

Don't call it 50%, then!!

Kehe... Kehehe... Joke's on you for picking a fight in here...

Hey, Master Fixer... Emptying that whoreson's pockets is good enough a comeback from me.

I won't fight back, so just make it quick, will you?

Why, thank you! That'll make things so much simpler for the both of us~

Before we begin, please note that the client may choose to apply a rider to the contract and extend the duration of the duel. That'll, of course, subject you to an additional hour-long beating at max.

I didn't know there was an option like that...

Are you interested?

This kezhan was quickly becoming a site of cutthroat bargaining with surcharges of positively staggering proportions.

The interviewer, who had caught herself watching the spectacle unfold with her mouth agape, sat herself upright at her table and began to write.

The rustling of pages, the scribbling of the pen - a fresh note for as many details as possible.

This time, she'll note every last detail of how a Fixer of the City goes about "Fixing" both his client's contract and the opponent he is to duel.