パルガが興味深そうな表情でシカラベに尋ねる。
「シカラベ。あんなやつをどこで見つけてきたんだ? 違うな。どうやってあいつの実力を確認したんだ?」
「クズスハラ街遺跡の地下街で少し一緒に行動したことがあった。切っ掛けはその時だ」
「ああ、あれか。確か地下街にヤラタサソリのデカい巣が見つかって、大規模な掃討作戦が実行されたやつか。あれでカツヤ派は随分ハンターランクと報酬を稼いだって話だったな。アキラも掃討作戦に参加していたのか」
シカラベが首を横に振る。
「いや、違う。そもそもアキラは3日ぐらいで地下街警備の依頼を途中離脱したからな。掃討作戦には参加していない。切っ掛けになったのは、俺が地下街の探索班の1人として別のハンター達と一緒に行動した時だ」
い活躍でもしたのか?」
「いや、俺と別のハンター達の足手
「じゃあ、何でアキラを誘ったんだ? 今の話だけだと、アキラを賞金首討伐にわざわざ誘うほどのやつだと判断する根拠はないぞ? ハンター稼業の履歴に興味深い内容のものでもあったのか?」
ヤマノベがパルガの話を否定する。
「いや、そんなものはなかった。シカラベがわざわざ誘ったほどのやつだし、昨日の動きも見たからな。俺はあの後ハンターオフィスのサイトでアキラのハンターページをちょっと
パルガが不思議そうにシカラベを見ながら話す。
「じゃあ何でなんだ? あれか? シカラベの勘か? お前はハンター稼業には勘が良くないと駄目だって言っているしな」
に俺の勘にお前らまで付き合わせねえよ。確かに切っ掛けは勘のようなものだけどな。別の情報を考慮した上での勧誘だ」
シカラベはそう話すと自分の情報端末を取り出して、少し操作してから2人に渡した。2人は渡された情報端末に表示されているものを確認する。
ヤマノベが少し
「ハンターオフィスのページのコピー? だからこれは見たって」
「わざわざローカルコピーにしているところから察しろよ。情報屋から買った内部の人間でなければ閲覧できない制限情報だ。ヤマノベが見た内容との差異を探してみろ」
ヤマノベはシカラベの情報端末を操作して、自分が見た内容との差異を探してみた。
「......依頼の履歴に差異があるな。クズスハラ街遺跡の地下街での依頼内容の説明文がやけに短い......ん!?」
なもの変わる。ヤマノベが短い説明部を読み上げる。
「クガマヤマ都市営業部社外秘関連依頼。......依頼の詳細は......閲覧できないな。ああ、権限無しの職員からコピーしたのか。閲覧可能なのは依頼場所等の概要だけか」
シカラベが口を挟む。
「大まかな報酬額も閲覧可能だ。見てみろ」
ヤマノベとパルガが依頼の報酬額を確認する。その金額を目にした2人の表情が驚きに満ちる。
ヤマノベが報酬額を再確認しながら話す。
「1億6000万オーラム!? あいつ、億超えのハンターだったのか!」
億超えとは、1回の依頼の報酬額が企業通貨で1億を超えるハンターのことであり、ハンターの実力を示す指針の1つだ。当然ながら有象無象のハンターがたどり着ける領域ではない。
慣例的なものだが少なくとも1度、報酬額が企業通貨で1億以上の依頼を達成したハンターならば、億超えのハンターを自称しても問題はない。
ただし他者から億超えのハンターとして扱ってもらいたければ、何らかの方法でそれを証明しなければならない。秘匿情報に記載されている場合は他者から億超えのハンターとして扱われるのは難しい。その情報を閲覧可能な者を除いての話だが。
パルガが感心しながら話す。
「......6000万オーラムは治療費等で相殺って書いてあるな。それでも1億オーラムの報酬だ。億超えのハンターに違いはないか......。道理で強いわけだ」
「アキラが途中離脱した日に地下街で騒ぎがあった。遺物襲撃犯とクガマヤマ都市防衛隊の戦闘だ。地下街で収集された都市に所有権がある遺物を狙った犯行で、地下街にいた大勢のハンターが巻き添えになった。知らないか?」
「知ってる。防衛隊が遺物襲撃犯をあっさり鎮圧したらしいな。ニュースサイトに小さく載っていたな」
「恐らくそれが社外秘関連依頼の詳細だ。俺の勘と推測だけどな。アキラは何らかの形でそれに関わったんだろう。そこでクガマヤマ都市が1億6000万オーラム支払うだけの仕事をした。ある程度は口止め料込みでの金額だろうし、単純な比較はできないが、あえて単純に報酬額だけで比較するなら、アキラは俺達と同格ってわけだ。納得したか?」
ヤマノベが不敵に笑って答える。
「納得した。万が一、アキラへの報酬を踏み倒したらシカラベは大変だな?」
シカラベが不敵に笑って返す。
「なに、賞金首を1体でも倒せば十分黒字だ。アキラへの報酬のためにも、アキラにも頑張ってもらおうじゃないか」
シカラベ達はそう言って笑い合った。命賭けの皮算用は、ありふれたハンターの日常だ。程度の差はあれ荒野に出ている以上、命を賭けているのだ。ハイリスクハイリターンなのは当たり前なのだ。
アキラはアルファと雑談しながら、つまり表向きは黙ったまま運転を続けている。少なくとも、アキラとトガミの間に会話はない。
トガミの表情は基本的には不機嫌なままだ。しかしその表情からは少し前の内心怒りが決壊寸前などという様子は消えており、代わりに疑念や得体の知れない相手への警戒と不安が表れていた。そのトガミは先ほどから何度もアキラの様子を
アルファがアキラに尋ねる。
『さっきから何度もアキラの方をちらちら見ているけれど、放っておいて良いの?』
『一々相手をするのは面倒だ。こっちを見ているからって理由だけであいつを車外に放り出すわけにはいかないだろう。放っておこう』
アキラもトガミの視線に気付いているが、気にしないことにした。少なくともトガミの方から話しかけてこない限りはトガミの相手をする気はない。返事が必要な内容ではなかった場合も同じだ。
『アキラが気にしないのなら私は構わないけれど、気にならないの?』
『正直に言うとちょっと気になる。でも下手に構って面倒なことになるよりはましだ』
『初めからちゃんと断るべきだったわね。失敗したわ』
『仕方ないだろう。雇い主からの指示だったし、あの条件を飲むとは思わなかったんだ』
アルファが少し残念そうに
『仕方ないわね。シカラベの車に放り投げる機会を待ちましょうか』
アキラは面倒そうにそう答えた。
トガミはアキラに対する考察を続けていた。
アキラはシカラベ達の指示よりも早くモンスターの存在を察知して、揺れている車の上から遠距離にいるモンスターを狙い、一発で命中させてその一発だけで倒しきった。トガミが自分に同じことができるかどうかを判断する。答えはすぐに出た。無理だ。
揺れる車体からの狙撃自体がそもそも困難なのだ。揺れがなかったとしても、遠距離にいるモンスターに命中させることも困難なのだ。命中したとしても一撃で倒すには、弱点部位を正確に狙うか、反動の大きい強力な銃弾を使用する必要がある。それはどちらも狙撃の難易度を跳ね上げる。大型のモンスターを一撃で倒す場合は、その両方の条件を満たす必要があるだろう。
トガミは賞金首討伐への参加を促されるほどの高い実力の持ち主だ。だがその実力に
や冗談と決めつけて鼻で笑うことができた。しかしトガミはアキラの行動を自分の目でしっかりと見てしまった。
偶然と片付けることもできる。1万分の1の確率の事象が、偶然にも1回目に発生した。それだけかもしれない。しかしトガミにはそう思い込むことができなかった。そう思い込むには、アキラの行動は余りにも自然で無感動だった。
れ当たりで調子に乗るんじゃねえぞ。俺はあれがお前の実力だなんて認めねえからな」
偶然当たっただけなのか、しっかりと狙って当てたのか、トガミはそれを聞きたかっただけだ。しかし口から出た言葉は願望をかなり反映したものに変わっていた。
アキラがトガミをチラッと見て、何でもないことのように答える。
それだけ言って視線を前方に戻した。普通に解釈すればトガミの言葉を肯定する言葉だ。アルファのサポートがなければ不可能なことであり、そんな実力はないと言われれば、アキラはそれを肯定する。いつか自分の実力だけで同じことをできるようになるために、日々の訓練を続けているのだ。
アキラの返事を聞いたトガミが硬い笑顔を浮かべる。
「......ははっ。やっぱりただの偶然か。脅かしやがって。そうだ。ランク21程度のやつにあんなことができるわけがねえんだ」
クガマヤマ都市の下位区画の外れにドランカムの拠点がある。その近くで主に若手ハンターで構成されたドランカムの賞金首討伐チームが出発の準備をしていた。若いハンターが荒野仕様の車両や装甲車、装甲兵員輸送車に物資を運搬している。
エレナとサラは自前の車に乗って周囲の光景を見ながら出発を待っていた。エレナとサラはこの若手ハンター達の賞金首討伐チームの補助要員だ。彼らの指揮下で戦うのが仕事である。2人は準備を前日のうちに済ませており、ドランカムで使用している通信機の類いを受け取った後は待機が続いていた。
サラが賞金首討伐チームのハンター達を見ながら
サラは待機中に準備中の若手ハンター達の様子を見ていた。サラには彼らが賞金首討伐に参加できるほどのハンターとは余り思えなかった。
エレナがサラの不安を和らげるように話す。
「人数と装備は賞金首討伐として十分及第点よ。使用する車両等を考慮しても、討伐成功を前提にした予算が組まれているわ。賞金首討伐に成功しても、黒字かどうかは微妙なほどにね。予備戦力に私達を雇っているし、他にも似たようなハンターが数名いるし、全員若手のハンターってわけでもないし、戦力的には問題ないわ」
サラが少し眉を
「......それ、解釈によっては私達が子守りをしなければならないって聞こえるんだけど」
「解釈するまでもなくその通りよ。賞金首討伐の成否とは別に、部隊の生還率で私達への報酬が増減するわ。特に討伐部隊の隊長が殺された場合、大幅に減額されるからね。護衛依頼ではないから無理に
「分かったわ。......ドランカムが若手を優遇しているとは聞いていたけれど、ここまでとはね。子守付きで賞金首討伐に向かわせるなんて、ドランカムは何を考えているのかしら」
サラが少しげんなりした表情で言った。
「彼らの実力に関しては、私達の偏見かもしれないわ。全員アキラ並みに強いかもよ?」
「それはそれで怖いわ」
エレナとサラはそう言って笑い合った。
エレナ達が自分達に近付いてくる若手ハンター達に気付いた。エレナが先頭のハンターに笑いかける。
「カツヤ隊長。そろそろ出発かしら?」
彼らはエレナ達が所属している賞金首討伐部隊の隊長であるカツヤと、カツヤの仲間、及びその取り巻き達だ。カツヤが率いる部隊でも上位のメンバーである。彼らは各々様々な感情の視線をエレナ達に向けている。
カツヤはエレナに隊長と呼ばれて少々照れた表情を浮かべている。
しくお願いします」
カツヤはエレナ達に軽く会釈する。エレナも
しく。頑張りましょう」
「私もエレナも報酬分はしっかり働くつもりだから、遠慮なく
「俺もなるべく2人の手を煩わせないように頑張ります」
カツヤは笑ってそう答えた後、一度表情を引き締める。
カツヤにも賞金首討伐部隊の隊長に選ばれた自負がある。賞金首討伐を成功させるために死力を尽くすつもりだ。その
「大丈夫よ。ちゃんと指示には従うわ」
エレナにもサラにも気分を害した様子は見受けられない。カツヤが安心したように表情を緩ませる。
り取りで気分を害した者が別にいた。カツヤの隣にいたリリナという少女のハンターだ。
リリナが不快感を隠さずに大きな声を出す。
「カツヤ! 私達の隊長なんだから、知り合いだからって下手に出ないで、黙って俺の指示に従え、ぐらいのことは言いなさいよ!」
カツヤは驚きの余り硬直してリリナを見る。エレナとサラも少し驚いた表情でリリナを見る。残りの者は、少し驚いている者と、同感の意を示している者が半々だった。
ユミナがいればリリナを止めて仲裁に入るのだろう。しかしユミナは別の準備の作業中でこの場にはいなかった。
カツヤは驚き戸惑ったままだ。止める者がいないので、リリナがエレナ達を軽く
馬鹿にされていると感じたリリナが更に表情を険しくさせる。我に返ったカツヤが慌ててリリナを止める。
「リリナ! ちょっと黙ってくれ!」
「何よ! 第一カツヤは何で外部人員の受け入れを許可したのよ! 私達だけじゃ力不足だって言うの!? 私達はそんなに足手
リリナの
すぐに他の若手ハンター達も戻っていく。エレナとサラの2人だけに戻ったところで、サラが苦笑いを浮かべながら話す。
「取りあえず、報酬分は働きましょう。本当に私達が不要なら楽ができて良いことだわ」
「楽ができると思う?」
「あら、言ったでしょ? 報酬分は働きましょうって」
アキラ達は順調に荒野を進んでいる。
トガミはある程度落ち着きを取り戻していた。車の助手席から時折
通信機からシカラベの声がする。シカラベの口調は真剣なものだ。
「そろそろ討伐目標の賞金首との想定遭遇区域に入る。討伐目標の賞金首はタンクランチュラだ。賞金は8億オーラム。気合いを入れろよ」
賞金首との本格的な戦闘を控えて、アキラとトガミの表情が変わる。2人は真剣な表情でシカラベの指示を聞く。
「戦闘開始後に2番と3番が先行する。全員で2番と3番を援護しろ。タンクランチュラの攻撃を引きつけて、2番と3番が攻撃目標とならないように
「撤退の判断以外は、各自臨機応変に判断しろ」
「効果的な部隊運用ができるほど、統率された集団だとは初めから思っていない。各自最善手を取れ。必要に応じてこちらからも指示を出す」
「......幾ら何でもいい加減だろう。部隊の指揮はそっちの仕事じゃないのか?」
トガミの意見は間違ってはいない。シカラベの指示は適当な部分が多く、互いを補い合って効果的に攻撃する集団戦闘の利点を捨てている部分がある。より綿密で的確な攻撃計画を用意して、各自が連携して行動すれば、より効果的な攻撃が可能だろう。
シカラベもそれは理解している。細かな作戦の立案をしないのは、そうしても無駄か、逆効果だと考えているからだ。シカラベが信用しているのは同僚のヤマノベとパルガだけだ。他の要員が自分の指示に正確に従うとは考えていない。賞金首との戦闘で
、シカラベに神がかり的な指揮能力があり、昨日今日会ったばかりの借金持ちのハンターや諸事情のあるハンターの能力と人格を把握した上で、彼らに実行可能な指示を的確に出すことが可能であれば、話は別だ。シカラベは自分にそのような能力はないことを理解していた。
「お前は細かな指示がないと何もできないのか? それなら俺達の邪魔だけはするな。後は好きにしてろ。他に質問のあるやつは?」
トガミの他に質問のある者はいなかった。そしてトガミは怒りに震えており、それどころではなかった。
「質問がなければ以上だ。各自報酬分ぐらいは働け」
シカラベからの通信が切れる。トガミは通信機を
シカラベはヤマノベとパルガの方を向く。2番と3番はヤマノベとパルガだ。
ヤマノベとパルガは装甲兵員輸送車の中で荒野仕様のバイクに
「最終チェックは済んだ。いつでも行ける」
ヤマノベとパルガは余裕の笑みで答えた。程よい緊張から生まれる軽い高揚が
「分かってる。生きて帰ってこそハンターだ。欲張って死ぬ気はねえよ」
シカラベ達は不敵に笑い合った。常に危険と報酬を
シカラベが表示装置に視線を戻す。その表情が一気に真剣さを増す。賞金首を見つけたのだ。
「タンクランチュラを発見した! 戦闘開始だ!」
Varga then curiously asked Shikarabe.
"Shikarabe, where in the world did you find that boy? Wait, that's not right. How the heck did you discover his ability?"
"There was a chance when we worked together in the Kuzusuhara underground ruin. That was the trigger."
"Ohh, that, huh. If I'm not mistaken, they found a big Yarata scorpion nest there and executed a big scale extermination operation, right? I heard that the Katsuya faction was able to gather a lot of reward and achievement during that operation. So Akira also participated in that operation, huh?"
Shikarabe shook his head.
"Nope, as in matter of fact, he withdrew from the underground city request on the third day. So he did not participate in the extermination operation. The reason why I was able to see his ability was when I got assigned to a team of Hunters to explore the underground city."
"So, did he do anything amazing there?"
"Not really, he was at least not a deadweight to me and the other Hunters. That was all there was to it."
"Then why did you invite Akira? Judging from what you just said, there's no real reason why we should invite him for hunting the bounty monsters, you know? Does he have anything particular written in his Hunter history?"
Yamanobe joined in and refuted that guess.
"Nah, there's nothing amazing written in his Hunter history. Since Shikarabe invited that boy and after seeing what he was capable of yesterday, I went to the Hunter Office's site to check his Hunter page. There's nothing interesting in particular written there. He's just a Rank 21 young Hunter, he has killed a lot of monsters and went up a few ranks sooner than most of his peers. That's all that is written on his Hunter page."
Varga looked a bit confused as he asked Shikarabe further.
"Then why did you invite him? Is it that thing? That Shikarabe's intuition thingy? You always say that a good intuition is a crucial aspect for a Hunter."
"I know well enough not to rope both of you in solely because of my intuition, you know. Well, it's true that it was because of my intuition at first, but I decided to invite him after I got more information about him."
Shikarabe then pulled out his information terminal, operated it, and then gave it to Yamanobe and Varga. Both of them looked at that information terminal and checked the information displayed on its monitor.
Yamanobe looked slightly confused.
"Is this a copy from the Hunter Office's webpage? I already checked it, you know."
"You should already know why I went through all the work to get a local copy. It contains confidential information that you won't be able to see normally unless you pay an information broker from the inside the Hunter Office. Look how it's different from what you have read."
Yamanobe then operated the information terminal to look for that difference.
"...There's some difference in the request history. The details about the Kuzusuhara underground city request is really short... Hm?"
Yamanobe raised his eyebrows as he read through that short detailed description of Akira's Kuzusuhara underground city request history.
"Confidential request from Kugamayama City Management... The details of the request... Is hidden. Ahhh, it must be a copy from someone who has no right to see this information, huh. The only available information that we can see is just a short summary of the request."
Shikarabe then interjected.
"You can see the reward too, so check it out."
Yamanobe and Varga checked the reward from that request. Both of them looked thunderstruck when they saw the number.
Yamanobe rechecked that number again to make sure that he did not misread it as he said.
"160,000,000 Aurum!? That boy is a Hunter who's worth more than 100,000,000 Aurum, huh?!!"
That title referred to the Hunters who gained more than 100,000,000 Aurum in a single request. It was one of the indicators that showed the ability of a Hunter. Of course, there were not that many Hunters who could attain that title.
Although it was a customary title, if a Hunter had finished at least one request that earned that Hunter more than 100,000,000, Aurum or any other currency recognized by the Corporate Government, then that Hunter could claim that title.
But if a Hunter wanted others to treat him or her as a Hunter with that title, then he or she should find a way to prove it to other people. Thus it was hard for a Hunter who achieved that title from a confidential request, of course, that was excluding the people who knew about that confidential request.
Varga was honestly amazed as he said.
"...It says that 60,000,000 Aurum was used to pay for his medical bill. But it's still a reward that's worth more than 100,000,000 Aurum. There's no mistaking it, he's worthy of that title... No wonder he's that strong."
"There was an incident the same day Akira withdrew from the underground city's request. The army sent from the Kugamayama city engaged in a battle against some relic thieves. Since the thieves were aiming for the relics in the underground city that were originally owned by the City Management, a lot of Hunters got roped in that incident. You guys heard about that too, right?"
"Yeah, but I heard that the army was able to easily apprehend the thieves. It was written somewhere in a small corner in the news sites."
"I bet that incident has something to do with that confidential part in his Hunter history. It's just my guess though, but I believe that Akira was somehow connected to that incident and did something which made the Kugamayama City Management pay him 160,000,000 Aurum. Either that or it was bribe money to make sure that Akira won't leak anything. I can't really judge his ability, but looking at the reward that he received, I can make a guess that he's at least as strong as us. Does that convince you?"
Yamanobe smiled confidently and said.
"Yeah. But still, hypothetically speaking, if we can't pay him enough reward, you'll be in big trouble right, Shikarabe?"
Shikarabe laughed.
"No need to worry about that, it won't be a trouble if we get to beat one bounty monster. Let's have Akira work hard for his own reward."
After Shikarabe said that, they laughed together. Being over-optimistic in their betting was normal in Hunter's line of work. As long as they went out to the wasteland, they were gambling with their lives at stake. And so, these Hunters expected a high return for the high risk that they were taking.
Akira was driving his vehicle while talking with Alpha, so from the outside, he looked like he was driving silently. Or at least, there was no conversation between him and Togami.
Togami always had an annoyed expression plastered on his face, but now his anger was no longer present. And in its place, he had a cautious and curious face as if he was looking at an unidentified object. He had been looking at Akira for some time now.
Alpha then asked Akira.
"He's been glancing at you, you know. Are you sure you want to just leave him alone?"
"It's a huge pain in the neck to react to that. And it's not like I can just throw him off from my vehicle just because he's staring at me, so let's just leave him alone."
Akira knew that Togami was staring at him, but he just ignored Togami. As long as Togami did not strike any conversation, Akira had no plan to say anything to Togami. He would not even reply to Togami's question unless he had no other choice.
"If you don't mind, then I don't really mind him either, but it really doesn't bother you?"
"To be honest, it does, but ignoring him is a hundred times better than getting into trouble with him."
"We should've refused right from the start, this was a mistake."
"It's not like I have any other choice. The person who made the request told me to take him with me, and to be honest, I didn't expect he would agree to that condition."
Alpha smiled, she looked a bit regretful.
"It can't be helped then. Let's just wait until we get a chance to throw him to Shikarabe's vehicle."
Akira looked exasperated when he said that.
Togami was still staring at Akira.
Akira was able to discover a monster even before Shikarabe told him about that monster, he then sniped that monster from a moving vehicle and was able to hit and kill that monster in one shot. If Togami asked himself whether he could execute the same feat, the answer was a loud and clear no.
In the first place, aiming from a moving vehicle was really difficult. Even if he was shooting from a stationary vehicle, sniping a monster from afar was already difficult enough. And even if he could hit his shot, he would need to either accurately snipe at the monster's weak point or use a powerful gun to be able to defeat that monster in one shot, both of these only increased the difficulty of executing such a shot. When you want to take out a huge monster, you would have to do both--use a strong rifle and hit the weak point--at the same time.
Togami was a Hunter skilled enough to be sent to hunt a bounty monster, but even if he overestimated his own ability, he was sure he could not execute the same feat as Akira just now.
If it was a story that he heard, he would be able to just laugh it off as a joke or a lie, but Akira did that right in front of his eyes.
On the other hand, he could just think of it as a pure coincidence, a lucky shot that only happened once out of thousands of shots. That might be all there was to it, but Togami could not wrap up that incident as a lucky shot. The reason was because Akira did that so casually.
"...Oii, don't get ahead of yourself just because of that lucky shot. I won't ever admit that it's your real ability."
Togami actually wanted to confirm whether it was really a lucky shot or was it because of Akira's aiming skill. But the words that came out from his mouth were completely different than what he actually meant.
Akira glanced at Togami and casually replied.
After he said that, Akira returned his gaze forward and continued driving. Normally, people would take his reply as an affirmation to what Togami just said. While on the other hand, it was a feat that Akira would not be able to execute without Alpha's support, so it could also be understood as an affirmation from that point of view. Akira kept training himself every day so that he would be able to do the same thing on his own without Alpha's support.
Togami laughed awkwardly after hearing Akira's answer.
"...Hahaha, As I thought, it's just a lucky shot, huh. Don't surprise me like that. Ahh, now that I think about it, there's no way a Rank 21 Hunter can do that in the first place."
Drankam had a base in the Kugamayama city's lower district. Somewhere near that base, a lot of Drankam's young Hunters were preparing themselves to hunt for the bounty monsters. They were preparing their vehicles and equipment to go out to the wasteland and filled their APCs with supplies.
Elena and Sara boarded one of those vehicles and waited until the dispatch time while looking at the scene around them. They were the Hunters assigned to help the young Hunters from Drankam to hunt for the bounty monster. Their job was to fight under the other's orders. Both of them had already finished their preparation yesterday, so they had nothing to do but wait after they received the contact device specially used by Drankam members.
Sara looked at the other Hunters who were going to join them in hunting the bounty monsters and mumbled.
Sara was observing those young Hunters preparing themselves while waiting. To be honest, she thought that most of those young Hunters were not ready to join the hunt for bounty monsters.
Elena then spoke to her as if she was trying to reassure her.
"Both their numbers and their equipment should be enough to defeat a bounty monster. Seeing the vehicles prepared for this expedition, it seems that they assume they'll be able to successfully take down the bounty monsters. Although, I'm not really sure if the reward from the bounty is enough to bring them profit after preparing all of these equipment. Not to mention, they also pay other Hunters like us to help out too and it's not like all of them are only young Hunters. So there should be no problem."
Sara frowned a bit.
"...Depending on how you look at it, it sounds as if we're here to look over these young Hunters though."
"There's no need to do that, it's obvious that we're here to look over these children. Leaving the bounty monster aside, the reward that we will receive this time depends on the young Hunters who can return back alive, you know. So, our reward will get a huge hit if the leader of the team gets killed. Since it's not an escort request, there's no need to try too hard protecting these children, but if we want to keep our reward, we should make sure that the leader returns back alive or take out the bounty monsters fast. Ah, this is confidential info though, so don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Alright... I did hear that Drankam had a policy to prioritize young Hunters, but I never thought that they would go this far. To think that they would send young Hunters and their guardians to fight bounty monsters... Just what exactly is Drankam thinking?"
Sara sounded a bit bewildered when she said that.
"We might be looking down on them, you know. All of them might be as strong as Akira."
"That in itself is scary."
Elena and Sara then laughed together after that exchange.
They then noticed a group of young Hunters heading in their direction. Elena smiled at the Hunter leading that group.
"Team leader Katsuya, is it time to go?"
They were the team assigned to Sara and Elena. It had Katsuya as its team leader, then Katsuya's close cliques, and some other Hunters who got roped in his shenanigans as the members. The members of Katsuya's team were relatively high ranking members, they looked at Elena and Sara with a meaningful gaze.
Katsuya was a bit embarrassed since Elena called him team leader.
"I-I'm really sorry!! Please excuse me!"
Katsuya then quickly tried to catch up with Lilina after he said that to Elena and Sara. Elena and Sara lightly waved at Katsuya and watched him walking away.
"We'll be in your care too. Let's give our best out there."
"Both Elena and I will work hard for receiving the reward, so no need to hold back when you want to give us orders."
"I'll also give my best out there not to drag both of you down."
After Katsuya said that and smiled, his face turned serious.
Katsuya was proud of himself for getting chosen as a team leader. He planned to give his best to turn his hunt into a success. In order to do that, he could not let Elena and Sara make their own moves although he was close to them. He said that with a serious expression to make sure that Elena and Sara understood well what he was trying to say.
"Don't worry, we'll properly follow your orders."
Both Elena and Sara did not seem to get offended at all. Katsuya's expression relaxed as he looked relieved.
But there were people who got annoyed by that exchange between Katsuya and Elena. Among them was a young girl by the name of Lilina who was standing next to Katsuya.
Lilina did not even try to hide her displeasure as she shouted.
"Katsuya! You're the team leader, so at least tell them not to get ahead of themselves just because they're your acquaintances! And tell them to just follow your orders!!"
Katsuya looked surprised as he turned to Lilina, both Elena and Sara also looked at Lilina with a dumbfounded face. While for the rest of the Hunters there, half of them felt the same as Lilina while the other half were simply taken aback by that sudden outburst.
If Yumina was present, she would have tried to arbitrate that situation and calmed Lilina down, but at the moment, Yumina was in the middle of doing preparation somewhere else.
Katsuya was still at loss on what to do there. Since there was no one to stop her, Lilina was still glaring at Elena and Sara as she said.
Lilina's expression turned even stiffer as she thought that Elena was mocking her. Katsuya who regained his composure fl.u.s.teredly tried to stop Lilina.
"Lilina!! Just shut up!!"
"What do you mean by that?! Or more like, why did you let outsiders join our team in the first place?! Do you think that we won't be able to handle the bounty monster?! Are we really that weak in your eyes?!"
After Lilina said that, she quickly turned and left.
The other Hunters quickly followed Katsuya and left that place too. Now that Elena and Sara were alone, Sara smiled bitterly and said to Elena.
"Let's just properly do our job out there. If they really don't need us, we should be able to take it easy."
"Do you think we can really take it easy?"
"Oh my, I did say that we should just focus and do our job out there, right?"
Akira and his group were traversing the wasteland. They did not get to meet much trouble on their way to their destination.
Togami had somehow calmed down. He did not do anything that bothered Akira, at least, other than glancing at Akira from time to time with a curious face.
Suddenly, Shikarabe's voice could be heard from the contact device, he sounded really serious.
"We'll soon arrive at the area where the bounty monster was spotted. Our target this time is Tank Tarantula. The bounty prize is 800,000,000 Aurum. Get yourself ready!"
Both Akira and Togami's expression changed as they got psyched up for the upcoming fight. Both of them listened to Shikarabe with a serious expression.
"Number 2 and 3 will take the front position once the fight starts, all the other Hunters will need to protect number 2 and number 3. Attract the Tank Tarantula's attention and keep it occupied so it won't aim its attack on number 2 and number 3. You can check your and the others' positions from the display in the communication device, pay attention to it as you circle the target. Don't use the rocket launcher until I give you my signal. Once number 2 and 3 finish their job, we'll attack the target altogether. That's all, are there any questions?"
"Other than the decision to withdraw, look around and make your own decision yourself."
"In the first place, we're just a mix batch of Hunters. We're not very organized that we can work together on a detailed plan. So make your own decision. But if it's needed, we'll also give you orders."
"...Give me a break, it's your job to organize the team, you know?"
Togami was not exactly wrong there. Shikarabe's orders were very open to interpretation, it basically discarded the advantage they got if they moved as a team. If they made a more detailed plan for them to work together, they would be able to more effectively dish out damages.
Shikarabe himself understood that fact. The reason why he did not do that was because he thought that it would be useless or might even be counter-effective. The only people who he fully trusted were his friends, Yamanobe and Varga. He did not trust that the other Hunters would properly follow his orders. He even thought that there was a good chance the other Hunters would get intimidated, scared, and eventually run away from the fight once they face the bounty monster.
But of course, it would be a whole different case if Shikarabe was gifted with a strong commanding skill. It would allow him to accurately identify the characteristics of the debt-ridden Hunters and Hunters with particular situations that he just met a few days ago and make sure that he only gave them orders that they could execute without much trouble. But Shikarabe himself knew well that he was not that good.
"Is it that you can't do anything unless I explicitly tell you what to do? If that's the case, just make sure you don't get in our way. Other than that, you can freely do anything you want. Anyone has any other questions?"
It seemed that no one other than Togami had any questions for Shikarabe. While Togami was enraged that he was not in a situation where he could ask any further questions.
"If no one else has any other questions, then that's all. Make sure you work hard enough to earn your reward."
Shikarabe then ended the call, but Togami did not stop glaring at the communication device.
Shikarabe then turned to Yamanobe and Varga, they were number 2 and number 3.
Both of them were sitting on top of a wasteland bike inside the APC. The back door opened for both of them to go out. Yamanobe was carrying an anti-material sniper rifle while Varga was carrying a kick-backless hand cannon. An automatic reloading device was fixed behind their bikes and it was connected to their respective rifles.
"Final check is done, I'm ready when you are!"
Yamanobe and Varga smiled as they replied back to Shikarabe's question. Both of them were a bit excited and nervous at the same time.
"I know. It's also Hunter's job to return back alive. I have no plans to get killed because of greed."
They then laughed together. Hunters always put dangers and possible rewards on a scale before making any decisions. Some Hunters decided to take more risk chasing for more reward and got killed instead. Up until now, Shikarabe and his friends were able to always return alive and they had no plans to break that streak now.
Shikarabe's gaze returned back to the display. It suddenly showed a dangerous threat, it was from the bounty monster.
"I found the Tank Tarantula!! Get yourself ready!!"
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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