かっている。いつもなら魂を湯に溶かしきるようにだらけて入浴欲を存分に満たしているのだが、今は比較的意識を保っていた。
アキラの視界には多数の銃器類が各種補足付きで空中に固定されて表示されている。これらは10億オーラムの予算上限で購入可能な多機能銃の一覧で、シズカが簡単な選定を兼ねて見積もったデータのものだ。その送られてきたデータを基に、アルファがネットワークから取得した情報を加えてアキラの視界に拡張表示しているのだ。
銃の近くにはシズカの商品説明が表示されている。使用する弾薬等を含めた値段も大きく表示されていた。
「......どれも高いな」
いつものように一緒に入浴しているアルファがその
『それは仕方ないわ。多数の機能を盛り込んだ所為で割高になって、相対的に値段の割には微妙な性能になった所為で需要も落ちて、その所為で量産効果にも限度が出ている製品だからね。元々高価格で高性能な装備品ほどコストパフォーマンスは悪化するものよ』
「じゃあ逆にコストパフォーマンスが
『代表的な物はAAH突撃銃ね。あれ、東部中で大量生産しているから性能比で評価すれば異常なほど安いのよ。ハンターに成ったばかりのアキラでも買える価格で、しかも結構高性能だったでしょう?』
「そういえばそうだな。安くて高性能な名銃。AAH愛好家なんてものが生まれるわけだ」
アキラが気を取り直して購入する銃の選択を再開する。しかし選択肢が多すぎて選びきれない。そして割高に思える価格に
しながら、不釣合いなほどに大型の銃を持ち、いろいろと見せ付けるように軽々と構えているという光景が出来上がった。
『例えば、アキラはこの銃をどう思う?』
アキラは相変わらずその魅惑の裸体に視線を引きずられることもなく、少し真面目な顔で銃の方を注視する。
『重量を気にしているのなら、これ、実は意外に軽いのよ。高性能なナノマテリアル金属製で、強度と軽量を兼ね備えた素材で製造されているからね。更に発砲時に銃本体に
力場装甲
を発生させて強度不足を補うことで、更なる軽量化を実現しているわ』
いていたが、それでも軽く首を横に振った。
「......いや、それでもその銃はない。持ち歩くには大きすぎる。遺跡の狭い通路とかを通れなくなりそうだし、それにいろいろ持ち歩くと
アキラは助言通りに選択肢を狭める方向で選別を進めていく。選択肢を1割ほど狭めた辺りでシズカから通話要求が届いた。アルファに中継してもらってそれに出る。
「はい。アキラです」
『シズカよ。今ちょっと良いかしら?』
「大丈夫です。何でしょうか?」
アキラはシジマの拠点で一触即発な状況だった時にもシズカの通話要求を受けたのだ。風呂に入っている程度の理由で断ることはない。
シズカの話は前日アキラが持ち込んだ旧世界の遺物、旧世界製の女性用下着の売却に関することだった。エレナ達にも買取交渉を手伝ってもらったおかげで結構高額での買取交渉が進んでいることを、シズカはエレナ達の功績を印象付けて話していた。
『それでね、遺物を複数の業者に分散して売却したりもしているのだけれど、遺物の取得元を教えてもらえれば5割増しで買い取るって提示したところがあるのよ。どうする?』
「あー、すみません。諸事情でその辺は話せないんです。100倍で買い取るって言われても無理です」
アキラが少し申し訳なさそうに答えると、シズカはあっさりと引き下がった。それでアキラは逆に少し不思議に思う。
「えっと、それで良いんですか? 業者の方からいろいろ言われるんじゃ......」
『良いのよ。気にしないで。私も店主として、常連候補の事情を優先しておかないとね』
誰かがその業者を介して入手元の遺跡を突き止めようとしているのではないか。高額な遺物が多数眠っている遺跡の場所、その情報料としての上乗せなのではないか。アキラはそう疑っていたのだが、シズカの予想は少々異なっていた。
「ブランド代?」
『そう。ブランド代。ある程度高級品になると、ブランドイメージとかも価格決定とかの要素になるわ。全く同じ品質のものであっても、大きな差が出てくるのよ。入手元も遺跡とかが分かれば、旧世界の製造元や販売会社の情報とかも調べやすくなるわ。人気のある販売元の製品なら、高額な値段設定でも買う人は増えるからね』
アキラは興味深そうにシズカの話を聞いていた。カツラギから聞いた話とは毛色の異なる遺物売却の裏事情はアキラの興味を大いに引きつけていた。
『それにこの手の高級品には偽物も出回るのよ。手口にもいろいろあって、現行技術で精巧に作った偽物を一度遺跡に運び込んでから、手を回したハンターに旧世界の遺物として発見させて、それを偽造グループと
今後ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡で旧世界製の衣類の偽物を見付けたハンターがでるのかもしれない。アキラがそう思って苦笑する。
「何というか、買い取る方も大変なんですね」
『そういうことよ。だから買取時にいろいろ疑ってしまう人もいるわ。アキラが疑われることもあるかもしれないけど、そういう事情もあるのだから、その時は落ち着いて対応しなさい』
「分かりました。気を付けます」
『少し長くなったわね。そろそろ切るわ。それじゃあね』
「......いろいろあるんだな。アルファ。実は今まで俺が見付けた遺物の中に偽物が混ざったってこともあったのか?」
『基本的にはないけれど、基準にもよるわ』
『旧世界の時代に、更に古い時代の遺物の偽物を作成した場合、その偽物は今の基準で旧世界の遺物の偽物になるのかどうか。本物の基準は過去に作成された物という判断だけで良いのか。難しいわね』
「私としたことが、見誤ったか......」
仕立て直した服をあれだけ評価していたのだ。見込んだ客が増えないにしても、アキラとシェリルぐらいはまたその内に来店するだろう。そう思っていたのだが、そのアキラ達すら店に来ないのだ。カシェアは強気の予想を大幅に外したことを悔いていた。
店のドアが開き、ドアベルが上品な音を奏でて来客を知らせる。カシェアはすぐに表情を愛想の良い接客用の笑顔に戻して、客の応対と見極めに移る。
客は少年少女達と大人の女性が1人。女性の服装に問題はなく、少年達も強化服らしいものを着用しているように見える。しかし少女達にはカシェアの基準では見
「いらっしゃいませ! 御来店ありがとう御座います!」
客はアキラ達だった。
シェリルやアリシアなどを初めにした徒党の少女達が店内を見て回っている。軽い緊張や興奮の様子を見せている者もいる。それは本来ならばスラム街の少女達では店内に入ることも難しいほどの高級店で、身に着けることなど生涯なかったであろう衣服を見て目を輝かせているからだ。平静を保っている者はシェリルだけだ。
アキラは同じ男性陣であるエリオと一緒に店内に備え付けられているテーブルに座っていた。そこに先ほどまでシェリル達と一緒に店内を軽く見て回っていたヴィオラが来てアキラの隣に座る。
「まあ、下位区画の店にしては悪くないと思うわ。アキラがこんな店を知っているとは少し意外ね」
「ネットワークで調べたら結構良さそうだったから選んだだけだ。別にその手の店に詳しいわけじゃない」
「あら、その程度の調査で旧世界製の衣服の仕立て直しを頼んで150万オーラムも支払ったの? 意外に金遣いが荒いのね」
「俺が俺の金をどう使おうが俺の勝手だ」
めているわけじゃないわ。少し意外に思っただけよ」
単純に金遣いが荒いだけなのか。一見そうは見えないが、実はそれだけの金を軽く支払う程度にはシェリルに入れ込んでいるのか。ヴィオラの問いはそれを見抜くための軽い探りだった。
ヴィオラの探りは無駄に終わった。自身のファッションセンスに疑問を抱いたアキラがその確認のために支払ったとは、
「アキラ様。お連れの方々にお勧めする品に何かご要望が御座いましたら承りますが、どのような品をお勧めいたしましょうか?」
「えっと、それを俺に聞かれても......」
『アキラ。彼女が聞いている要望というのは、恐らく主に予算の話よ。またアキラが支払うのだと勘違いしているのよ』
「その辺はヴィオラに聞いてください。俺は今回ただの付添いなので」
ヴィオラがカシェアにかなり軽い態度で答える。
「具体的な予算額を提示しないといろいろと心配になってしまうのなら、そうね、購入額が1億オーラムに届きそうになった辺りで声を掛けてちょうだい」
「い、1億オーラム、で、御座います、か?」
「たかが服によくそんな金が出せるな」
カシェアにはアキラのヴィオラとは別方向に失礼な言葉を不愉快に思う余裕はなかった。その言葉からヴィオラの支払能力への疑念を全く感じられなかったからだ。
「あら、3億5000万オーラムの服を着ている人の口から出たとは思えない言葉ね」
「俺が着ているのは強化服だ。同じ服として扱うのはちょっと違うんじゃないか?」
「目的のための経費という意味では同じよ。アキラが遺跡に行って億単位の金を稼いでくるように、私達は商談や交渉の場で億単位の金を動かして利益を得るの。下手な装備では遺跡に
アキラが難しい顔を浮かべている。理解はできるが感覚的な納得までは難しい。その内心が顔に出ていた。
「うーん。そう言われればそうかもしれないけど......」
カシェアは億単位の話を平然としているアキラ達に内心で動揺を強めていた。そこにヴィオラが挑発的な笑みを向ける。
「そういう訳だから、予算の方は気にしなくて良いわよ。
えに御満足いただけるかどうかは分かりませんが、最善を尽くさせていただきます。当店で仕立て直していただいた衣服に興味をお持ちになったのでしたら、是非仕立て服の御注文を御検討ください。当店が自信を持ってお勧めする職人の技術を堪能できるかと。少々お待ちください」
カシェアが軽く会釈をしてアキラ達から離れていく。そして店の奥まで引っ込むと、客向けの表情を剥ぎ取った。
「セレン! 仕事よ! 急いで支度して!」
「お姉ちゃん。交代時間には早いよ」
「良いからすぐに店に出られる格好に着替えなさい! 仕立ての仕事よ!」
「前にお姉ちゃんが大量に仕入れたやつのサイズ調整なら、体型データを取ってくれれば後でやるって。簡単な採寸ぐらいお姉ちゃんでもできるでしょう? そんなに急ぎの客でも来たの?」
め息を吐きながら奥から出てくる。そして姉の気合いの入れ具合を見て驚きながら軽く引いてしまう。
「えっと、何かあったの?」
められたままで終わらせるものですか! セレンはすぐに店に出て仕立て服の注文を取りなさい! 相手の予算を気にせずに腕を振るってみたいって言っていたでしょう! 1億オーラムの予算を口にした客が来ているわ! 安売りするつもりはないって言っている腕を存分に振るう機会よ! 死ぬ気でやり遂げなさい!」
「私は取って置きの品を出してくるわ! 私の店なら予算を気にする必要がない?
されながらも、自分の仕立ての腕を存分に振るえそうな機会に少し心を躍らせながら店に出る準備を始めた。
安い挑発に乗ってしまったカシェアは、ヴィオラの
カシェアはヴィオラにセレンを紹介して、シェリルとアリシアの仕立て服の注文を取った。その後、仕立て内容の要望の把握や布地の選別、それぞれの採寸のために、セレンがシェリル達を工房に案内しようとする。
アリシアが気後れなどの理由でエリオに付いてきて欲しそうな視線を送る。エリオが同行を申し出て了承を取ると、アリシアが軽い照れを見せながら
ヴィオラが軽く笑ってアキラを見る。
「キャロルも言っていたけど、アキラは女の扱い方が本当に駄目ね。鋭意勉強中じゃなかったの?」
ヴィオラはアキラの素っ気ない返事にも普段の笑みを浮かべながら、裏でいろいろと思考を続けていた。
ここで女性の扱いの例としてシズカやエレナ達の名前を出したらどうなるのか。ヴィオラはその興味を引かれる思い付きを、欲を冷静に抑えた。シェリルの時でさえ自身の胸に穴が開いたのだ。そちらの名前を出してしまっては原形が残るかどうか怪しい。それぐらいは理解していた。
試すにしても状況を十分整える必要がある。そしてその確認を今する必要性もない。ヴィオラは自身にそう言い聞かせて危険な欲を抑えきった。
カシェアが宝石でも収められていそうな展示箱をテーブルの上に置く。そして自信を
「ありがとう御座います」
カシェアとヴィオラが笑顔で張り合っている横で、アキラは少し
「あ、いえ、高そうだなって思っただけです」
「確かに値の張る品ですが、品質も相応で御座います。本来なら防壁内の店舗に優先的に卸される関係で、防壁の外には
「あー、そうなんですか。貴重な品なんですね」
「それはもう。防壁内の方々でも取り合いになるほどですから」
カシェアは品質を疑われたのかと思って僅かな不安を覚えていた。装備に億単位の金を掛けるハンターなら遺物の価値を見極める能力も十分高い可能性がある。
アキラはその説明を聞き流しながら、再度その女性用下着を注視していた。
『多分アキラがシズカの店に持ち込んだやつね』
『材質に形状、肉眼では識別できない製造コードまで正確に模倣した偽装品の可能性は、まあ、ないわね』
アキラは自分が持ち込んだ遺物が実際に売られているのを見て、その偶然に軽く興味を持っただけだった。だがアルファの説明を聞いて、僅かな恐れにも似た感情を覚えていた。その感情の発端は、そんなことまで把握しているのか、という僅かな驚きだ。
自分がシズカに持ち込んだ物と何となく似ているような気がする。アキラはその程度の根拠で判断しただけだった。だがアルファは遺物の情報を肉眼では不可能な偽造品の識別を可能にする精度で把握していた。アキラにはそこまで把握しておかなければならない理由が分からない。
自分はアルファにいろいろ把握されている。アキラはそれに気付いているが、それを今まで悪くは考えていなかった。少なくとも軽く目を背けていられる程度のことだと思っていた。だがツバキハラビルでの出来事が、その認識を僅かに揺らがせていた。
アキラはツバキハラビルでその管理人格から、アルファを認識できる自分以外の存在から、アルファが自分にしている何かに対して、忠告や警告とも取れることを指摘されたのだ。
アキラは自分にそう言い聞かせて、僅かに覚えた感情を押し流した。既にアルファから受け取っている多大な借り、利益、恩恵はそれらを押し流すのに十分だった。
ヴィオラがアキラの僅かな態度の変化に気付いて、それを探ろうと軽口を
「アキラ。どうかしたの。女性用の下着にそんなに興味津々だと、下手な誤解を招くわよ?」
「ハンターだからな。下着だろうが何だろうが、高値で売れる旧世界の遺物に興味を持っても不思議はないだろう」
「それもそうね。でも似たような下着を売らずにシェリルに贈ったって聞いたわよ?」
「うるさいな。どうでもいいだろうが。俺が見付けた遺物をどうしようが俺の勝手だろ?」
Akira was enjoying the bath back in his house. Usually, he would lean back on his bathtub to let his soul melt into the warm water, but that was not the case that day.
In his augmented view, Akira was seeing the information of multiple rifles floating in front of him. He was basically browsing the rifles that he could buy with 1 billion Aurum. Shizuka sent the list of the rifles that she recommended and all the additional data of those rifles was gathered by Alpha through the network based on the list from Shizuka.
Each rifle had an extra explanation beside it containing a small annotation that Shizuka added for each rifle, the ammo type compatible with that rifle, and the price of each rifle written in big characters...
"...They are all equally expensive."
Alpha, just like usual, was also taking a bath together with Akira, then said.
"That's a given. Considering how many features each rifle has, not to mention that the small market demand preventing corporations from mass producing them. In the first place, when you go for expensive but better rifles, it's normal for their cost-performance ratio to get worse."
"In that case, if I focus more on the cost-performance ratio instead, what kind of rifle can I get?"
"The first rifle that comes into mind would be the AAH assault rifle. That rifle is basically mass-produced in the eastern district after all, so its price is incredibly cheap considering its performance. You were able to buy it when you were just a novice Hunter and it has served you very well up until now, no?"
"Now that you mention it, that's kinda true. It's indeed a cheap yet very useful rifle. I guess it's no surprise there is a big fanbase for that rifle."
Akira then shook that off from his mind and continued browsing the rifles. But to be honest, all the available options in front of him prevented him from making any meaningful progress. Although the price alone was enough to make him hesitate, Shizuka also added a note listing the summed up prices of the individual rifles that basically had the equal amount of functions of each multi-type rifle that he was browsing.
Alpha, who was standing naked showing off her beautiful body, did not suit the excessively big gun that she was carrying. But she then started taking aiming stances as if to show some examples to Akira.
"For example, what do you think about this gun, Akira?"
Just like usual, Akira was not bothered by her naked body. Heck, he was not even tempted to look at her naked body as he was focused on the gun that she was carrying, evaluating it.
"If you're worried about the weight, this is actually pretty light, you know. It's made of a high-quality metallic nanomaterial that is durable but light. Moreover, it would automatically expand its force-field the moment it shoots to reduce the kickback. So its weight should not give you any trouble."
"Ohhh, it even has that kind of feature, huh? But that would mean it'll consume energy packs on top of its original ammo, right?"
"The higher the firepower, the stronger its kickback. So a lot of powerful guns are actually consuming energy packs in order to soften their kickbacks, you know."
Akira nodded, he looked simply amazed by that gun, but even so, he then still shook his head and said.
"...Even if that's the case, the answer will still be a no. It's too big for me to carry around and I don't think I can take that gun with me through narrow passages in the ruins. Or more like, I want to buy a multi-type gun to reduce the number of rifles that I'm carrying, so buying that big gun will defeat the purpose as to why I'm looking for a multi-type gun in the first place."
Akira started discarding the options that he obviously would never take just like Alpha suggested him. When he already discarded about 90% of his options, Shizuka suddenly called him. So he asked Alpha to let him pick the call through her.
"Akira speaking."
"It's Shizuka, do you have some time?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Akira once picked a call from Shizuka when he was in the middle of a tense negotiation with Shijima, so him being inside the bath right now did not stop him from picking up that call.
Shizuka was calling Akira regarding the relics that Akira brought to her the other day, basically, about selling the lady's underwear old-world relics. Shizuka did not forget to put emphasis on how she was able to get very good deals thanks to Elena and Sara's help.
"So then, I ended up making deals with multiple traders. But some of them are offering 50% more money if you would tell them where you got those relics, so, what's your plan here?"
"I see, I'm sorry but I can't give any information regarding that. Even if they're offering to buy the relics for 100 times the price, I still can't tell them that information."
Akira sounded a bit apologetic when he said that, so Shizuka also immediately stopped pursuing that subject. But because of that, Akira found it a bit weird.
"Eh? Is that really okay? I'm pretty sure those traders will keep pestering you though..."
"Don't worry, I'm a merchant too, you see. So I have to prioritize my own customer."
Akira thought that it was for the case where there were other Hunters who were looking for information where those relics come from, so those traders are offering an extra 50% in place of the information fee for buying that information. But Shizuka replied with something that he did not expect.
"Brand-fee?"
"Yup. Brand-fee, basically they can reel up the price of a high-quality article by putting a brand on that article. After all, depending on the brand, even the same kind of article can have a completely different prices range. If they know where those relics come from, they can investigate which old-world company produced them or which old-world company sold them. And if it's from a popular company, more people would want to buy it with a higher price tag."
Akira was listening closely to Shizuka's explanation with full of interest. It was a different aspect of selling relics compared to the explanation that he heard from Katsuragi.
"And to top it off, there are people who sell imitations of this kind of relic, you see. There are many ways Hunters can do that, one of them is to make an imitation using the current era's technology, put it in the ruin, get Hunters to 'find' them as an old-world relic in that ruin, and then get a normal trading company connected to the perpetrator to buy it and resell it as an old-world relic."
Akira smiled bitterly thinking that there might be some Hunters who brought back fake relics from the Higaraka residence ruin.
"What can I say... It seems that selling relic is not that simple, huh?"
"Yup, that's why people tend to get suspicious when they make deals regarding relics. I'm sure there would be people who will get suspicious of you too. So when that happens, just keep calm and handle it calmly, okay?"
"Okay, I'll be careful."
"Well, we ended up talking longer than I planned, so yep, later then."
"...There are a lot of things that I still don't know out there, huh. Alpha, to be honest, did I ever bring back fake relics?"
"Not really, although, it depends on how you define fake relics."
"For example, let's say that someone from the old-world era made a fake article, will it make that article a fake relic according to this era or not? Or is it solely decided based on whether it's made during the old-world era? Which in that case the fake article from the old-world era would be a not-fake relic in this era. So yep, it's not that simple."
"What a blunder..."
Sheryl and Akira praised the refitted dress that much, so although Kashua did not get more customers after that, she could at least expect Akira and Sheryl to come there again sooner or later. Or at least, that was what she had thought, but unfortunately, that was not the case too. Kashua was in the middle of lamenting her current situation that could not be further off from her expectation.
Suddenly, someone entered the store. The bell fixed on the store's door rang to let her know that she got some customers. Kashua immediately changed her expression back to her usual seller's smile and headed to the door to welcome her customers.
They were several young boys and girls led by a lady. The lady did not seem to have any trouble with her dress, while the young boys were donning suits that looked like augmented suits. But the young girls were using rather shabby dresses, or at least, that was the case from Kashua's point of view.
"Welcome! Welcome! Thank you very much for visiting our store!!"
They were Akira and Sheryl's gang.
Starting from Sheryl, Alicia, and the other officers, the girls from Sheryl's gang started to look around the store. A few of them were looking really nervous, the rest, excited. After all, it was a rather high-class store that some children from the slum would normally never be able to visit. They had their eyes sparkle with excitement from the dresses lined up inside the store that they never even dreamt of using. The only girl who was taking it calmly was Sheryl.
While not too far from them, Akira was sitting together with the other boys from the gang on the tables provided inside that store. Viola, who was looking around the store with the other girls until now came to that table and sat next to Akira.
"Well, this place is pretty good for a store in the lower district. I didn't expect you to know a store like this."
"It's not like I'm that knowledgeable about the stores around this place, I just picked this store since it had some good reviews when I was browsing through the network."
"Oh my, and that was enough of a reason for you to request refitting an old-world dress that even cost you 1,500,000 Aurum in this store? I've never thought you're someone who would splurge your money like that."
"That money is the money that I earned, so it's up to me how I use that money."
"Geez, it's not like I'm criticizing you or anything, I just thought that was unexpected of you."
Viola was actually prodding Akira for a reaction to guess if he actually was just simply that lax regarding money or he did that because he was that invested in Sheryl.
But Viola was not able to get any meaningful information from there. Of course, she could never have guessed Akira only did that in order to check his own fashion sense.
"Akira-sama. Is there any kind of dress that you want to get for your companions? We'll be happy to comply with any of your requests."
"Uhhh, even if you ask me that..."
"Akira, I'm pretty sure she means to know how much you are planning to spend today. It seems that she misunderstanding that you'll be paying this time too."
"You might want to ask that question to Viola instead, I'm just here as an escort today."
Viola turned at Kashua and lightly replied.
"If you're still worried unless I give you a number, well, just come to me again if the total cost seems to be going above 100 million Aurum."
"O-one hundred million Aurum?"
"You would even spend that much money only for clothes, huh?"
Kashua did not even have the leeway to feel offended by that rude remark from Akira. After all, from the way he said it, it sounded as if Viola actually had enough money to pay that much amount of money.
"Oh my, I didn't expect that to come from someone who spent 350 million Aurum on his suit."
"This one is an augmented suit. It's not like one of those common clothing, you know?"
"You spent that money for something that you want, similar to me this time, so it's the same. Just like how you use that to help you earn money from the old-world ruin, we'll use these dresses to earn money through making business deals. And just like how it's difficult to explore a ruin without the suitable equipment, it's hard to get a good business deal without the proper dress."
Akira frowned and smiled wryly. Though he understood that argument, he actually did not want to admit it, and that was shown on his face.
"Hmmm, when you put it like that, that's true, but still..."
Kashua was even more shocked hearing that exchange where Viola and Akira were casually talking about using hundreds of millions of Aurum. Viola who noticed that threw a rather provoking smile at Kashua.
"So there you have it, you don't have to worry about our budget. But of course, if you can make me worry about the budget, then you're more than welcomed to do that. Well, to be honest, when I heard that you did a really good job refitting a certain dress, I had my expectation up. That's why I prepared that much budget beforehand, you see."
"Although I don't know if the goods in this store might satisfy you or not, I'll give my best to answer your expectation. And if you're interested in the dress that we refitted, please, by all means, consider refitting one of your dresses in our store. We have an employee whom I can recommend and I'm sure that she'll be able to answer your expectations. So please wait here for a bit."
Kashua lightly bowed and left Akira and Viola. She then went to the backroom and finally removed her seller's smile.
"Celene!! Time to work! Get yourself ready, quickly!!"
"Onee-chan, it's too soon for a shift change, isn't it?"
"Just change to something that you can present in front of customers! We have some refitting jobs for you to do!"
"If it's about refitting the clothes that you bought last time, just get the measurement data for the clients and I'll do the refitting later. You can handle that much right, Onee-chan? Or is it that the client is asking for a rushed request?"
Celene sighed as she stepped out from inside the room. But the moment she saw how her sister looked very lively there, Celene could not help but to get weirded out by that.
"Uhhh, did something happen?"
"Damn right! Like hell I would let her look down on my store!! Celene, get out there and take the refitting orders! The client said that there's no need to worry about the budget, she even said that she has a 100 million Aurum budget! This is a good time for you to show your skill that you always refuse to sell cheaply!! So get out there and show them what you are made of!!"
"I'll be pulling out my reserved stock too!! There's no need to worry about the budget if it's my store, she said. Like hell I would let that slide!! I'll definitely get her to worry about her budget!!"
Celene was a little overwhelmed by her sister who just could not calm down. But since it was a chance for her to put out all her skill without worrying about money, she immediately started to prepare herself to get out on the floor.
Kashua who reacted very well to that light provocation from Viola started to get to work. And as Viola schemed, Kashua was giving her best service that normally a first-time customer would never get.
Kashua introduced Celene to Viola before taking a refitting order for Sheryl and Alicia. After that, they decided on the specifics and the details of that order as well as choosing the material to be used before Kashua asked them to come to the workshop to get their measurement.
Alicia nervously glanced at Erio as if to hope that he would accompany her. Erio noticed that and asked for their permission to accompany Alicia. Seeing that, Alicia smiled happily while slightly blushing.
Viola lightly laughed and turned to Akira.
"I know Carol said this once before, but Akira, you really need to learn how to treat a girl right. If I'm not mistaken, you're in the middle of learning that, no?"
Viola smiled at that thorny reply from Akira, but in the back of her mind, she was thinking about a lot of things regarding his reply.
Viola realized that it might be interesting to see how Akira would react if she brought up Shizuka or Elena or Sara, but before she could say anything, she kept the lid closed on that curiosity. Back then when she messed with Sheryl, she ended up with a hole in her chest. So if she actually mentioned Shizuka, Sara, or Elena here, this time she might not even leave as much as a piece of herself behind. Viola at least understood that much.
In order to keep her curiosity contained, Viola kept telling herself that even if she really wanted to test it, she would need to set up a better situation first to do that.
While Viola was in the midst of her thoughts, Kashua approached Viola and placed a box that looked like a jewellery box on top of the table. She then said with full confidence to Viola.
"Thank you very much."
Besides Viola and Kashua who were smiling at each other, Akira curiously glanced at that underwear and Kashua noticed that.
"Ah, it's nothing, I just thought that it looks really expensive."
"It's indeed an expensive piece of clothing, but I can guarantee its quality. It's an old-world relic that would normally be sold only inside the wall. It's very rare to find this kind of article outside the inner wall. Our store was able to procure it only by using our special route."
"Ahh, I see. It's a very valuable piece of relic, huh?"
"But of course, after all, it's valuable enough for the people inside the wall to compete for it."
Kashua felt a bit offended since it sounded as if Akira was questioning the quality of her product. For someone who had spent hundreds of millions of Aurum for his equipment, Akira should have the ability to judge the quality of a relic. Kashua could not accept if he looked down at her prized possession, but it seemed that it was an unneeded worry from her side as she patted her chest in relief. She then continued by ardently explaining her prized goods.
Akira only lent his ear to that explanation as his brain did not register anything while he glanced at that female undergarment.
"Yup, that's one of the relics that you brought to Shizuka's shop."
"Judging from the material and the identification code that can't be checked with naked eyes, it doesn't seem to be a fake relic."
To be honest, Akira only glanced at it since he thought that the relics he brought back from the ruin seemed to have actually gotten sold somewhere. But after listening to Alpha's explanation, he was a bit surprised and a little bit scared on how Alpha could even tell that much.
The only reason that it caught Akira's interest was simply because he felt like he saw it somewhere before. But then Alpha seemed to be able to inspect that piece of relic down to the things that could not be seen with naked eyes. Although Akira himself did not understand why there was any need to know that far.
Akira understood that Alpha knew a lot of things about himself, but he never thought badly of it. Or at least, he did not let that bother him until that time when Tsubaki said those words to him back in the Tsubakihara building.
The manager of Tsubakihara building, another similar existence as Alpha which he could recognize, warned him about something that Alpha was doing to him.
Akira said so to himself and just forgot about it. After all, everything that he had received from Alpha up until now, including the support and all the help from her, was enough to outweigh that worry.
Viola noticed that slight change from Akira and tried to probe him.
"Akira, what's wrong? Though I think it's normal for you to get interested in this kind of thing, you should be careful or you would look suspicious, you know?"
"Well, I'm a Hunter after all. It doesn't matter whether it's a female undergarments or anything. As long as it's an old-world relic, it's only normal for me to be interested, no?"
"That's true, but I heard that you just gave one to Sheryl the other day though."
"Oh shut it! It doesn't really matter, does it? It's my relic and I'm free to do what I want with it."
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/
非公開