『......まだ駄目か!』
アルファがアキラを落ち着かせようと
『落ち着いて。焦ったら当たるものも当たらないわ』
『アルファのサポートで何とかならないか?』
『強化服がダメージで不安定な状態なのよ。これ以上私の操作介入を増やすと強化服の挙動に異常が出て、下手をするとアキラの両腕が砕けかねないけれど、それでも良いかしら?』
『止めてくれ』
既にアルファの姿は元に戻っている。アルファはいつものようにアキラの
なおネリアはもうアルファの姿を認識していない。アキラの攻撃でクズスハラ街遺跡のマップに接続する機器を破壊されたからだ。アルファはそれを把握していた。
アキラが再び銃を構えてネリアを狙った時、ネリアが笑いながらアキラに聞こえるように話す。
「私を殺すと
アキラは構わずネリアに近付いて銃撃する。ネリアの上半身の残っている部分に命中する。首だけになったネリアが衝撃で飛んでいく。
「自爆を止めるには強化服の制御装置を破壊するか、制御装置に介入して停止させるしかないわ。あれの装甲を貫いて胴体部分のどこかにある制御装置を破壊するのは困難よ。私なら強化服の制御装置に侵入して機能を停止させられるわ。私は既に介入を始めていて、重装強化服の自爆を阻止し続けているところよ。私を殺したらすぐに自爆するわ」
んだ。アキラを口説いていた時と同じ笑みを浮かべていた。
アキラはネリアに近付いて髪を
「証拠は?」
「ないわ」
ではないのか。本当のことを言っている証拠はあるのか。
ネリアが答えた。そんなものは一切ない。自分の言葉を信じないなら好きにすれば良い。
なのか、アキラには分からなかった。迷っているアキラにアルファが険しい表情で指示を出す。
『アキラ。まずは移動よ。今すぐ』
アキラはアルファの指示に従って、ネリアの頭部を
ビルが揺れる。揺れの発信源ではケインの重装強化服がビルの内部に強引に入り込もうとしていた。
自動操縦で動いている巨大な重装強化服が、機体の損傷など全く気にせずに、ビルの側面から、ケインの攻撃で
アキラの位置を正確に把握しているわけではない。しかし色無しの霧が晴れて機能を回復した情報収集機器により、大体合っているという精度でなら位置は分かるのだ。
巨大な機体が装備している全ての火器をアキラの方向へ乱射している。巨大な銃から発射される巨大な銃弾がビルの壁を粉砕し続けている。ビルの内壁は外壁ほど頑丈ではない。粉砕された天井や壁が
を殺さないと遺物が運べないからよ」
「遺物の運搬と俺の命にどういう関係があるんだ?」
を殺しに来たりはしないわ。疑いが晴れたのなら取引をしましょう。私がケインの重装強化服を止めるから、代わりに私を助けて」
「それは無理だと判断したからこのビルに逃げ込んだんじゃないの?」
「......お前があの重装強化服の制御を乗っ取れるなら、制御を掌握した後にあの重装強化服を操作して俺を攻撃しない保証は? 俺を殺せば遺物が手に入るんだろ?」
アルファが軽く首を横に振って応える。
『残念だけれど、前にも言った通り義体者の表情から
アキラは悩む。ネリアの提案を受け入れた場合、ここまで追い詰めた相手を逃す上に反撃される恐れがある。しかしビルの外に逃げ出しても生き残れる保証はない。ケインの機体にあっさり追いつかれて殺される可能性は十分ある。
迷っているアキラに、アルファが別の選択肢を付け加える。
『選択肢はもう一つあるわよ? 賭けて戦う』
『でも戦えば自爆されるんじゃないのか?』
『まず、相手に本当に自爆機能があるかどうかは不明よ。本当に搭載されていたとしても、彼女が本当にその爆発を押さえている保証はないわ。その場合、まだ爆発していないってことは、爆発だけの殺傷圏内はかなり狭く設定されているかもしれない。相手と十分距離を取れば爆発しない可能性もあるわ。自爆方法も内部に爆発物が積んであるのかもしれないし、機体の残存エネルギーを変換させるのかもしれない。後者なら機体のエネルギーは
アルファは確証があって話しているわけではない。アルファの話は可能性を示しているだけだ。しかし選択肢が増えたことに違いはない。
『頼むか、逃げるか、戦うかの3択か』
『私にできるのは選択肢の提示までね。どれも運の絡む要素だらけで、お勧めのものはないわ。アキラが選びなさい。どの選択肢でも全力でサポートするから』
アキラは頭部だけになっているネリアを床に投げ捨てた。
首だけになっているネリアがアキラを見ている。アキラがネリアに自分の選択を話す。
アキラはそれだけ言って走り出した。戦うために。
ケインの重装強化服は自動操縦で動いているが、余り賢い動作はしていない。攻撃対象もビル内にいる誰か、
アルファが拡張したアキラの視界には、少し離れた場所で暴れ回っている重装強化服の姿が写し出されている。既に弾切れの銃もあることぐらいはアキラにも分かった。
『これ、黙って待っていれば、残弾全部撃ち尽くすんじゃないか?』
『残弾がなくなった瞬間に自爆、とかしなければ良いけれどね。このビルが崩れたら大変よ?』
暴れ回る重装強化服の攻撃でビルの壁には幾つか穴が開いている。アキラはその穴から壁越しに重装強化服を銃撃した。
と衝撃変換光を辺りに
などに引っかかり素早く反撃することができない。アキラは難なく身を
アキラが更に銃撃を続ける。巨大な重装強化服がついに動作を停止した。
アキラは弾倉を交換しながら注意深く重装強化服を確認する。重装強化服に動く気配はない。
『勝った......か?』
『多分ね。大丈夫でしょう。少なくともアキラの脅威ではなくなったわ』
アキラが歓喜する。死地から脱した歓声であり、予想外の大物を倒した喜びだった。
『アキラ。まだ全部終わったわけではないわ。全てを済ませるまで、気を抜いては駄目よ?』
『分かっている。行こう』
アキラははっきりそう答えて、全てを済ませるために走り出した。
ネリアはただ待ち続けていた。ネリアにできることは策の結果を待つだけだ。
アキラがネリアのところに戻ってくる。ネリアがアキラを笑って迎える。
「お帰りなさい。どうやらケインの重装強化服を倒したようね。そんな状態で大したものだわ」
ネリアが言う通り、アキラはもうボロボロだ。アキラの肉体も強化服も銃も限界ぎりぎりだ。それでもアキラは生き残り、この場に立っていた。
「気が合うわね。やっぱり私と付き合わない?」
「お断りだ。俺には殺す相手を口説く趣味はないし、死人と付き合う気もない」
アキラはきっぱり断った。そしてネリアに向けてCWH対物突撃銃を構える。この距離なら外すことはない。後は引き金を引くだけだ。今のアキラでもそれぐらいはできる。アキラは勝利を確信していた。
しかしネリアはそれでも笑っていた。
「それなら大丈夫よ」
「......何が、大丈夫なんだ?」
ネリアが答えるよりも先に、アルファがアキラを止める。
『アキラ! 絶対に動かないで!』
アキラがアルファの指示通り動きを止めた。引き金を引く指も止めた。次の瞬間、握っていたCWH対物突撃銃を
『アルファ! こいつら、どこから出てきたんだ!? どこにもいなかったよな!?』
『ついさっき入ってきたのよ。全員迷彩装備だったからアキラには気づけなかったのよ』
『熱光学迷彩や流体制御迷彩、遮音消波迷彩などを組み合わせて、敵の索敵から逃れる装備のことで......』
『いや、そういうことを聞いているんじゃなくて......』
アキラが知りたかったことを男の一人が話す。
「動くな! 我々はクガマヤマ都市防衛隊である! 大人しく投降せよ! 我々の指示に従わない場合、都市への敵対行為と判断する可能性が生じる! これは即時駆除対象の認定を含む!」
男達はクガマヤマ都市の防衛隊の兵士達だった。更に追加の兵士達が現れてアキラ達を取り囲む。
地下街攻略本部から仮設基地への連絡は、アキラ以外にも複数の人員で行われていた。アキラは連絡に失敗したが、他の人員は無事に仮設基地に到着していた。事態を重く見た仮設基地の指揮官は、虎の子の防衛隊を直ちに派遣することを決定した。
防衛隊は速やかに地下街攻略本部及びその周辺の捜索に向かう。その移動中に防衛隊の人員が、戦闘中と考えられる爆音や爆煙に気付いたのだ。それらはケインがアキラ達のいるビルに攻撃した時のものだ。遺物襲撃犯がモンスターと交戦している可能性を考えて、防衛隊の一部が現地に確認に向かったのだ。
そこで防衛隊員が見たのは、ネリアにCWH対物突撃銃を向けるアキラの姿だった。
『前にもこんなことがあった気がする』
『奇遇ね。私もよ』
アキラが一度はヤジマを追い詰めた時のことだ。あの時は即座に撃つのが正解だった。あの選択の誤りは、アキラとシオリが殺し合う結果を招いた。だからといって、今のアキラがその時に正解だった選択肢を選ぶわけには行かない。
アキラは両手を挙げてネリアが何かを言う前に叫ぶ。先にネリアに余計なことを言われて事態がややこしくなるのは御免だからだ。
「俺はアキラ! 地下街攻略に雇われたハンターだ! 仮設基地への連絡の途中で遺物襲撃犯に襲われて交戦していた! 確認してくれ!」
「拘束しろ! 抵抗した場合射殺を許可する! 地下街で多数のハンターが犠牲になり死者も出ている! 警戒を怠るな!」
数名の防衛隊員が無抵抗のアキラを取り押さえる。アキラは大人しく拘束された。アキラの両手足に頑丈な
アキラは自分の緊張が完全に切れたことを自覚した。結果はどうであれ、事は済んだのだ。アキラは身体的にも精神的にも非常に疲労していた。一度緩んだアキラの意識は、そのままアキラを休ませようとする極度の疲労に抵抗する術を持たなかった。
アキラの両目がゆっくり閉じていく。アルファがアキラの意識が消える前に声を掛ける。
『大丈夫よ。ゆっくり休みなさい』
『......そうか。......お休み』
「対象が意識を喪失しました!」
「バイタルサインを確認し、適切に処理せよ! 遺物強奪犯の可能性が高い! 全てを聞き出すまで絶対に死なせるな! 地下街攻略本部の医療班に連絡し、待機させておけ! 部隊を2班に分ける! A班は対象を地下街攻略本部まで輸送し、医療班に引き渡せ! B班はビル内を捜索! 他の遺物強奪犯がいる可能性が高い! 遭遇した場合は可能なら生かして連行しろ! 無理なら殺せ!」
ネリアもアキラと同じ扱いで防衛隊に拘束されていた。ネリアは首だけだったが、外部との通信を遮断する機器を取り付けられていた。
身動きの取れないネリアだったが、運ばれていくアキラの姿が偶然視界に入った。
(言ったでしょう? 大丈夫だって)
ネリアがほくそ笑む。防衛隊が到着するまで時間を稼げば生き残りの目はある。ネリアはそう考えて、それを実行し、生き残った。
ケインはクズスハラ街遺跡の外れまで来ていた。そこには数名の男達がいてケインを待っていた。全員程度の差はあれど生身ではない者達だ。
男達がケインに敬礼する。代表の男がケインに話す。
「同志! お疲れ様です!」
「お疲れだ。同志。状況を」
「そうか。では我々も脱出だ。念のためクガマヤマ都市には帰還せずに他の都市に向かう。行くぞ」
連中とは、ケインの仲間だった遺物強奪犯達のことだ。彼らは今も輸送車両でケインとネリアの帰りを待っているだろう。そしてもう彼らはケインの仲間ではない。
「ああ。どうせ都市の防衛隊が片付けるだろう。我々の手で連中を始末すると、我々の存在が露見しやすくなる。私は
ケインが男達と一緒にその場から離れていく。移動中に男の一人がケインに尋ねる。
「同志。直前まで計画は順調との報告を受けていましたが、頓挫した理由をお聞かせいただいても
「直接の原因はヤジマという男が殺されたからだ。彼は移動の要だった。そして彼の死から派生した不都合な要因への対処が困難になったため、残念だが計画を中止せざるを得なくなった」
「その男の死は避けられないものだったのですか?」
「当初の予定では問題なかった。彼は旧世界の遺物を我々のところに運び込むまで生きている予定だった。......同志。彼の死を予測できなかった私の無能が計画の失敗を招いたと言いたいのなら、甘んじて受けよう」
「い、いえ、同志の能力ですら対応が困難な、突発的な事態が発生したものと認識しております。誤解を招く表現を謝罪、訂正いたします」
男はケインの機嫌を損ねたと判断して、それ以上ケインに質問するのを止めた。
ケインが移動しながら思案する。
失敗した? クガマヤマ都市の長期戦略部に潜り込んでいる同志からの情報では、ヤジマやネリアに勝てるようなハンターはあの辺りにはいないはずだった。ネリアはドランカムの若手ハンターに都市のエージェントが紛れ込んでいる可能性を口にしていた。ドランカムの若手ハンターに派閥が生まれているという情報があったな。その派閥は非常に優秀な若手ハンターを中心にしているとか。勢力を拡大しているドランカムを内部から制御するために、都市がエージェントを潜り込ませていたのか? 我々はそのエージェントと偶然交戦しただけなのか? ......都市のエージェントならあの実力も納得だ。調べてみるか)
「同志。以前に、ドランカムの若手ハンター達に大規模な派閥が形成されているという話を聞いたが、その中心人物の名前に心当たりはないか? 対象が若手ということもあり簡単なプロパガンダで我々に引き込めるのではないか、と立案されていたはずだ」
「存じています。......確か対象の名前は、カツヤ、だったはずです。関連資料が必要でしょうか?」
男は再びケインの機嫌を損ねないように余計なことを言わなかった。そのためケインの誤解をこの場で解く機会は失われた。
ケイン達はそのままクズスハラ街遺跡を脱出し、そのまま荒野へ消えていった。
ネリアが独房に入っている。独房はクガマヤマ都市が管理する施設の中にあり、サイボーグなどを収監する
その独房に男が入ってくる。男がネリアに愛想良く笑って話す。
「えっと、ネリアさん、だったかな? 私はヤナギサワだ。御機嫌
ネリアが笑って答える。
「余り良いとは言えないわね。暇なのよ。
「......それで、何を聞きたいの?」
「ケインという人間について詳しく知りたい」
「それは前に話したはずよ? 同じことをもう一度話せば良いの?」
「確かに聞いた。君からも聞いたし、君の仲間達からも聞いた。その情報を基に、君が逃げたと言ったケインと名乗る男の行方を追ったんだが、その結果、そんな男は存在しないことが分かった。ケインという名前は偽名だとか、そういう話ではない。それならそれで、ケインという偽名を名乗る人間が存在する訳だからな」
「そっちの調査の不手際の理由を私に求められても困るんだけど」
ヤナギサワは黙って笑っている。それはネリアを不安にさせる沈黙と笑みだった。
「ところで、君の処遇はどうなると思う?」
「......そうね。管理権限を都市側に握られている義体に詰め込まれて強制労働かしらね。現場は都市が管理する遺跡で、非常に危険な場所のはず。今回の件で私が負った負債を返済するまで、上から捨て駒扱いをされながら旧世界の遺物を回収し続ける日々を送る。こんなところかしら」
「大体正解だ。ただしそれは、君がクガマヤマ都市に所有権がある旧世界の遺物を狙った遺物強奪犯だった場合の話だ。その程度の、東部全体から見ればありふれた小悪党だった場合の話だ」
ネリアが表情を険しくさせて尋ねる。アキラに銃を突きつけられても、殺される直前であっても、ネリアはこのような表情を浮かべていなかった。
ヤナギサワが不安を
「我々はそのケインという男を、建国主義者の一員だと考えている。それもそこらの下っ端ではない。幹部クラスの人間だと考えている」
驚きの表情を浮かべているネリアを見て、ヤナギサワがより楽しげな様子で話を続ける。
ネリアの表情が青ざめていく。ネリアはヤナギサワの話を聞いて自分の状況を理解し直している。
ヤナギサワが話を続ける。ネリアの心情を悪化させ続ける話を続ける。ネリアに自分が置かれている状況を実感させる話を続けていく。
「君は、今、建国主義者の幹部であるその誰かと、非常に親しいのではないかと思われている。その誰かを識別するための情報を保持しているのではないかと考えられている。たかが一都市ではなく、統企連に敵対している組織の一員だと疑われている。その誤解が解けなかった場合、君の処遇は非常に気の毒なものになる。具体的には、
ネリアが恐怖のために意思の疎通が困難になりそうな口調で何とか答えようとする。
「そうだろう。きっと君は違うんだろう。建国主義者とは無関係なんだろう。だからそれを今から頑張って証明してくれ。そう信じられる話をしてくれ。さっきも言った通り、私は悪人にも人権があると思っている。ミンチになって死んだり、猛毒を飲んで死んだり、モンスターに生きながら食われて死んだりするような、最低限の人権はあるべきだと常々思っている。だから
恐怖で固まっているネリアに、ヤナギサワが笑って話を促す。
「それじゃあ、お話を聞かせてもらえるかな? 大丈夫。時間はたっぷりある。それに、暇だったんだろう? 大丈夫。時間はすぐに過ぎるさ」
いはアキラの運がネリアを生かした。ネリアは生き残ってしまったことを後悔しながら、必死に弁明を続けることになった。
それが幸運だったのか、不運だったのか、その結論はまだ出ていない。
"...I still can't hit her, huh!!"
Alpha smiled trying to calm him down.
"Calm down, if you lose your cool you won't be able to hit the target that you normally could."
"Can you do something with your support?"
"Your augmented suit is damaged to the point that it's not working normally. If I try to control it now, it might cause a malfunction, in the worst-case scenario, it might even tear your limbs. So, are you sure you want me to control it?"
"Nah, please don't."
Alpha had already turned back to her usual self. She was floating beside Akira, just like always.
But at this point, Nelia could no longer see Alpha. It was because the relic that she used to connect to the Kuzusuhara map was destroyed by Akira's attack and Alpha knew about it.
Akira pointed his rifle at Nelia once more, she just smiled and said.
"If you kill me, you'll die too."
Akira ignored Nelia's warning as he kept walking towards her. He then took another shot which destroyed her upper half, leaving her only with her neck and head.
"Your only chance to turn off the self-destruct sequence is by either destroying or deactivating its control device. I bet it would be very difficult to destroy its control device since it's hidden behind its thick armour. But if you leave it to me, I can hack into its control device and deactivate it. As a matter of fact, I'm actually doing that right now and preventing it from exploding. But if you kill me now, it'll immediately explode."
Nelia smiled. It was the same smile she had when she flirted with Akira.
Akira stood beside Nelia and picked her head up by pulling her hair. He locked gaze with her.
"Any proof?"
"Nope."
Akira asked her if it was only a lie to save herself or she had some kind of proof that she was saying the truth.
But Nelia said that she did not have any proof. She even told Akira that he could go ahead and do anything he wanted if he did not believe her words.
Akira could not tell if she was lying or not. Alpha looked grim as she suddenly told him, who was still confused, to quickly get away from that place.
"Akira, you need to get away from this place first, quickly."
Akira immediately followed Alpha's instruction. He ran away from that place, bringing Nelia's head with him.
The whole building was rumbling. It was because Kain's powered suit was forcing its way into that building.
That powered suit, which was set to auto-pilot, ignored any damage on itself as it forced its way in from the side of the building that was weakened by the missile barrage earlier.
Although it could not accurately detect Akira's location, with the absence of colourless mist it could at least guess where he was.
It kept shooting with its huge guns towards Akira, but the warheads released by those guns could only hit the walls in front of it and turn them into dust. The inner walls of that building were not as strong as its outer walls, so they were no match for the warheads. The walls and ceilings inside that building crumbled down into a big pile of rubbles. The autopilot did not give any regards to its remaining ammo. It would keep shooting until it ran out of ammo.
"That's not it. We can't take the relics that we gathered if we don't kill you."
"How is that even connected to killing me?"
"Yeah, you can. If it's not for that, we won't even spend our energy trying to kill you. If you can believe me now, how about we make a deal? I'll stop Kain's powered suit, and as an exchange, you'll help me."
"Didn't you run to this building since you knew you can't outrun it?"
"...There's no guarantee that you won't use it to attack me after you take control of that powered suit. After all, you can get all of your relics if you kill me, right?"
Alpha shook her head.
"Unfortunately, as I said before, I can't read whether she's lying or not because of her cyborg body. So I can't say anything else other than 'I can't say for sure' now".
Akira looked obviously troubled. If he took Nelia's offer, not only would he let go of the enemy who he had pushed to a corner, there was also a possibility that she would use the powered suit to attack him. While on the other hand, there was no guarantee that he would be able to outrun that powered suit outside that building. If he went outside that building, Kain might also use his cyborg body to quickly catch up with him and kill him.
As Akira was still thinking about what to do, Alpha came up with a third choice.
"You do have another choice. You can try to fight that powered suit."
"But like, that thing will explode if I get too close, right?"
"First of all, we don't know for sure if it really has a self-destruct sequence. And even if it has one, there's no real proof that she's trying to prevent it from setting off the explosion. Since it hasn't exploded yet, it might mean that the explosion radius is actually pretty small, so you can just keep your distance from it to make sure that it won't explode. As for the self-destruct sequence, it might have explosives installed inside it or it's set to make an explosion by rerouting the energy inside it. If it's the latter, it should also be using a portion of its energy for its force field. So if you keep shooting at it and shaving its energy, you might exhaust its energy and prevent it from creating an explosion. And if it goes well, you might even be able to destroy its control device."
It was not like Alpha had any proof when she made those guesses. She was only speaking of possibilities. But it did not change the fact that it presented Akira with a third option.
"So either I take her offer or run away or fight it, huh?"
"I can only give you suggestions. All of them depend on your luck, so I have no recommendation on which one to pick. You should decide, Akira. I'll give you my full support no matter which one you pick."
Akira threw Nelia's head to the ground.
Nelia stared at Akira while he made his decision.
After saying that, Akira started running back to fight Kain's powered suit.
Although Kain's powered suit was following an autopilot program, it was not a smart autopilot program. It was not clear whether it was targeting someone inside that building or just randomly rampaging. It was not like it was aiming its guns accurately at Akira. It was only attacking any signal picked by its information-gathering device. That powered suit was set to attack any human-like signal that it could find.
With the help of his enhanced vision, Akira could see the big powered suit that was on a rampage not too far from where he was. He could notice that some of its guns had already run out of ammo.
"Wait, if I just hide, won't it use all of its ammo at this rate?"
"Well, yes it would. But I hope it won't explode the moment it runs out of ammo. It would be really bad if the whole building crumbles down, you know."
The rampaging powered suit created new holes on the building's walls. Akira used those holes to snipe that powered suit and thanks to its huge size, the shot landed.
The force field absorbed the impact of the CWH special ammo. A huge bang and a flash of blinding light enveloped the area. The powered suit reacted by turning its guns at Akira, but its arms and guns got caught in the rubbles, thus slowing it down and giving Akira a chance to move somewhere safe.
Akira did not let that slide as he kept on shooting at its torso. It was not for naught, Akira eventually dealt some damages to its control device. When that happened, the control device sent an emergency signal and caused the powered suit to violently flung its limbs around as if it was in pain.
But it did not stop Akira. As he kept on shooting at it, the powered suit eventually stopped moving.
Akira carefully checked the stopped powered suit while exchanging the magazine on his rifle. It seemed that the powered suit had stopped for good.
"Did we... Win?"
"That seems to be the case. At least, it doesn't seem like it poses any danger anymore."
Akira shouted in delight. It was a shout of victory since he was finally able to escape from his deadly situation and defeat the big enemy who he originally did not expect to defeat.
"Akira, this is not the end yet. Don't drop your guard until we finish everything."
"I know, let's go."
Akira firmly replied before running to finish the rest of his business there.
Nelia was waiting for Akira, it was not like she could do anything other than waiting for the result of her gamble.
Akira returned to where Nelia was, she smiled and welcomed him.
"Welcome back. It seems that you somehow destroyed Kain's powered suit, huh. It's amazing for you to be able to do that in this situation."
It was as Nelia said, Akira's body was in such bad shape. Both his body and his augmented suit were near their limit. But even so, he somehow survived and stood there in front of her.
"We really think alike. As I thought, won't you be my boyfriend?"
"No thanks. I don't want to date someone who tried to kill me and I don't want to date a dead girl either."
Akira answered back swiftly. He then readied his CWH anti-material rifle and pointed it at Nelia. There was no way he would miss his shot at this range. He just needed to pull the trigger to assure his victory and he still had enough power to at least do that much.
But then Nelia smiled and said.
"Well, it's going to be fine."
"...What do you mean by that?"
Before Nelia could answer that question, Alpha suddenly interjected.
"Akira!! Don't move!!"
Akira followed Alpha's order, he stopped moving. His finger was still resting on the trigger. Then the next moment, the CWH anti-material rifle in his hand was suddenly sent flying.
"Alpha! Where did these people come from?! I didn't notice them at all!!"
"They just came. All of them are using camouflaging devices, that's why you didn't notice them."
"Those are devices that prevent other people from detecting your location. There are many types of camouflaging devices, starting from heat camouflage, movement camouflage, sound camouflage..."
"That's not what I'm asking about..."
Then one of those guys said something that answered Akira's question.
"Don't move!! We're Kugamayama Defense Squad!! Surrender yourself and don't try to fight back!! If you don't obey our orders, we might judge that you're against the City Management!! We even have the permission to take you out in that case!!"
Those guys were soldiers from Kugamayama Defense Squad. More of them kept appearing as they surrounded Akira.
Other than Akira, there were many who were trying to make contact between the underground exploration HQ and the temporary base. Although Akira failed to make contact with the temporary base, other people successfully conveyed the message from the underground exploration HQ. The Head Commander of the temporary base thought that the situation was pretty bad and decided to quickly send out the city's defense squad.
The defense squad quickly patrolled the area around the underground exploration HQ. In the midst of their patrol, they noticed explosions as if someone was fighting nearby. That was when Kain sent his powered suit to the building where Akira and Nelia were. The defense squad thought that it might be the relic thieves fighting against monsters, so they sent some of their men to check the source of that sound.
When they arrived, they saw Akira aiming his CWH anti-material rifle at Nelia.
"I feel like this has happened before."
"What a coincidence, actually I too feel the same."
Akira was talking about the experience he had when he was about to kill Yajima. At that time, he should have quickly pulled the trigger, because he didn't do it he had to pay for that mistake by fighting Shiori. But with that being said, it's not like he could do that in this situation.
He quickly raised his hands and yelled before Nelia could say anything. After all, it would be problematic if she said something that would complicate the situation.
"I'm Akira!! I'm a Hunter working in the underground city exploration operation! The relic thieves ambushed me when I was on my way to the temporary base! You can ask them for confirmation!!"
"Chain them!! You have permission to shoot them if they fight back!! We've received reports of dead Hunters from the underground!! So keep your guard up!!"
A few men restrained Akira and handcuffed him, he did not fight back when they did that. The defense squad then took him and Nelia away from that place.
Akira could feel the tension inside his body and mind loosen. No matter what the outcome was, his battle had finally come to an end. Both his body and psyche were very tired. Akira, who did faint once, did not have the ability to fight back that tiredness now.
His eyes were slowly closing. Before he lost consciousness, he could hear Alpha's voice.
"It's okay, don't worry, just take a good rest."
"...I see... Good night then."
"The target has lost consciousness!!!"
"Check for his vitals and respond accordingly!! He might be one of the relic thieves!! Don't let him die no matter what before we can extract all the information that we can get from him! Call the medical squad from the underground exploration HQ and tell them to be on standby!! B squad, search the building!! There might be more relic thieves around!! If you find any of them, take them alive if it's possible!! If it's not, you have the permission to kill!"
Just like Akira, Nelia was also secured by the defense squad. Although she was only left with her head, the device installed inside her head allowed her to make a long-range call with other people. Because of which she came to know about the situation outside.
Although Nelia could not control her body, she caught a glimpse of Akira when she was carried away.
[You see, just like I said, it's going to be fine.]
Nelia was smiling. She knew that if she bought time until the defense squad arrived, she might be able to get out of that situation alive, and she actually did.
Kain escaped until he reached the outskirts of the Kuzusuhara ruin. He met up with some men there. Although they looked different from one another, it was obvious from their appearance that they were cyborgs just like Kain.
They then saluted Kain. The representative among those men stepped forward and said.
"Welcome back, sir!"
"Thanks for the hard work, give me a sitrep."
"I see. We should pull back too. Just to be safe, we'll not visit Kugamayama city and head straight to another city. Let's go."
When they mentioned "them", they meant the people who Kain was working with when he was stealing the relics from the underground city. They were still waiting for him and Nelia near the truck, but they were no longer his friends at this point.
"Yeah, I'm sure the defense squad would take care of them for us. If we take care of them ourselves, it would only make it easier for the defense squad to track us. Although it might be okay if they discover about me, it would be a hindrance to our operation if they found out about the others too."
Kain then left that place together with those men. In the middle of their travel, one of those men asked him.
"Sir, I heard that you changed the plan during the last hour. Is there any reason why you did that?"
"The main reason was because a guy named Yajima got killed. He was responsible for the transportation. Things got complicated after his death. Because of that, we had to cancel our original plan."
"Was it impossible to somehow save that man?"
"His death shouldn't have caused much trouble in our original plan. That man was supposed to be alive only until he brought the old world relics to our place... If you want to mock me for my inability to predict something like this, which had turned the whole operation into a failure, you can go ahead and do that, I'll take full responsibility."
"No, that's not it. I can understand that something bad happened which was outside of your control and it was not something that we can deal with. I apologize if my question rubbed you the wrong way."
That man noticed that Kain's mood was worsened. So he decided to stop asking any more questions.
Kain fell into deep thought.
[But still, how did it end up like this? According to the men from inside the Long-term Strategic Division, there should be no Hunter in this area who can take out Yajima or Nelia. Nelia did say that there might be an agent mixed among the young Hunters from Drankam. Now that I think about it, Drankam did send some young Hunters to the underground city, and I heard that there was someone among them who was actually a good Hunter. Did the city send some agents to Drankam in order to control that big gang from the inside? And did we encounter one of those agents by pure chance...? If he's really an agent from the city, that explains why he's that strong. I guess I'll look into it more later.]
"I heard that there was a big group among the Drankam's young Hunters, do you know who's the centre of that group? Since we're talking about a young Hunter here, simple propaganda should be enough to pull him in, they should at least come up with such a plan."
"Certainly... The target name should be Katsuya. Do you need us to make a detailed doc.u.ment about him?"
That man decided not to say anything needless in order not to make Kain's mood worse again. But because of that, he lost the chance to correct their misunderstanding.
Kain and those men left Kuzusuhara ruin and vanished into the wasteland.
Nelia was imprisoned in a solitary cell inside the Kugamayama city's prison. It was equipped with devices to restraint a cyborg. There was a table inside that solitary cell. Nelia was fixed above that table. She was still only a head.
Shortly after, a man came in. He smiled at Nelia.
"Uhhh, Nelia-san, right? I'm Yanagisawa. How are you, I guess?"
Nelia smiled and replied.
"I can't say that I'm doing good. I'm feeling so bored. I don't mind if you put a filter on, but can you at least let me connect with the outside world?"
"...So then, what do you want to ask me?"
"We want to know more about this Kain."
"I've told you everything before. Do you want me to tell you the same thing one more time?"
"Well, it's true that you did. We've heard about him both from you and your friends. We followed the information you gave and tried to chase this guy named Kain. But then there's one thing that we discovered, this Kain guy doesn't exist. I'm not here to complain to you that 'Kain' is a fake name. If it's fake, then it's fake. One thing for sure, this guy who's using this fake 'Kain' name does exist."
"Don't blame me for your inability to make a proper investigation."
Yanagisawa just smiled silently. That smile somehow made Nelia worry.
"By the way, what do you think will happen for your punishment?"
"...Hmmm, let's see. I guess my cyborg body will be confiscated by the city and they'll make me do forced labour. They'll send me to dangerous ruins controlled by the City Management. Then they'll use me like an expendable good until I can repay my debt to the city. So until then, I'll be spending my days excavating relics from that dangerous ruin."
"That's correct. But there's only this one thing that you are misunderstanding here, you see. What you said would be your punishment if you're a relic thief. That is if they think that you're only a common relic thief that you can find in abundance in this eastern district."
Nelia's expression turned grim. Even when Akira pointed his rifle at her, she did not make this face.
Yanagisawa smiled, it only made her even more worried.
"We believe that this guy by the name of Kain is one of the Nationalist. Moreover, he's not a goon, he's one of their upper echelons."
Nelia was shocked. Looking at her, Yanagisawa's smile widened as he continued.
Nelia's face turned pale, after hearing what he said, she understood her situation.
Yanagisawa continued. He kept talking about the subject that made Nelia even more worried. It made her understand just how bad the situation that she was in.
"Right now, the city is suspicious of you since it seems that you're pretty close to this Nationalist officer. So we're rather suspicious if you're actually hiding some information that might help us identify that person. Some of us even think that you might be one of those Nationalist that stands against not only this city but against the whole Corporate Government. If this misunderstanding doesn't get cleared up, your punishment will be very... very.... miserable. To be more precise, you'll be used in the Rebuild laboratory experiment."
Nelia was so scared that she had trouble saying anything, but she somehow was able to raise her voice although only barely.
"Well, I'm sure that's the case. I'm sure you're not one of them and you have nothing to do with those Nationalist. That's why you better try your best to prove that you're telling the truth. Tell us something that will make us believe you. Like I said before, I'm someone who believes that human rights apply even to criminals. I believe that we need to at least uphold the minimal level of human rights like sentencing criminals to death by turning them into minced meat, or by injecting them with poison, or by feeding them to the monsters. That's why I don't really agree with the idea of handing criminals over to the Rebuild laboratory for experiments. But I have duties that I need to fulfil too, you see. That's why I hope that you cooperate with me. And also, to be honest, I don't know for sure what they do inside the Rebuild laboratory. After all, it's a secret that only the Corporate Government knows."
Nelia was frozen in fear. Yanagisawa smiled and continued.
"So then, you'll tell me everything, right? Don't worry, we have a lot of time in our hands. Not to mention that you did say you're bored, right? Now you have something to spend your time on."
It could be said that it was Nelia's luck that was keeping her alive, it could also be said that it was Akira's luck too. But she regretted the fact that she was still alive as she was desperately trying to make excuses so that she could continue to stay alive.
Whether it was a lucky thing or an unlucky thing, no one knew for sure yet.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
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