巡回用のトラックの荷台で、座って仮眠を取っているアキラの頭にアルファの声が響く。
『アキラ。時間よ。起きなさい』
アルファの声はアキラにしか聞こえないので、眠気を吹き飛ばす大音量でも全く問題ない。アキラはすぐに目を覚まして顔を上げた。するとキバヤシというハンターオフィスの職員と目が合った。
キバヤシはトラックの運転手でこの巡回の管理者だ。キバヤシの仕事には荷台に乗せたハンター達の対処も含まれていた。その対処を行おうとした直前、計ったように時間通りに目を覚ましたアキラを見て、楽しげに笑っていた。
アキラが軽く何げなくそう答えると、アルファが珍しく不機嫌な様子を見せる。
『ちょっと、私を目覚まし時計扱いするってどういうことよ』
『悪かった』
キバヤシが荷台のハンター達に大声で告げる。
「時間だ! 今から出発する! これから騒ぐやつは依頼放棄と
すぐにトラックが荒野へ出発する。アキラの3回目の巡回依頼が始まった。
巡回そのものは順調に進んでいた。しかし多額の追加報酬を望むハンター達にとっては大外れの状態が続いていた。モンスターと全く遭遇しないのだ。
巡回作業用に改造されているトラックには、かなり広範囲を索敵可能な大型の索敵機器が搭載されている。そしてこの巡回はモンスターの間引きも兼ねているので、遭遇率が余りに低い場合には進んで探しに行く。それでも遭遇しないとなると、一帯にモンスターが全くいないことになる。
した雰囲気が流れており、雑談の声も大きくなっていた。車載の索敵機器のおかげで奇襲の心配もほぼないので、巡回依頼に慣れている者は余計に気を抜いていた。
視線を荒野に向けていたアキラが少し硬い表情でアルファの様子を
『ごめん。そこまで気を悪くするとは思わなかった』
アキラが素直に謝ると、アルファも態度を大分軟化させた。それでもまだ少し不機嫌さを残していた。
『......まあ良いわ。アキラが私に気安いのは良いことだからね。でも私をたかが目覚まし時計と一緒にするなんて失礼にも程があるわ。次から気を付けなさい』
アキラはアルファが機嫌をそこまで悪くした理由が少し気になった。だがそれを下手に尋ねて
アキラが少し考える。そして姿勢を正すと、表情を真面目なものに変えた。
『アルファのおかげで今まで生き残っています。遺跡でモンスターと遭遇しないように案内してもらったり、遺物を手に入れる手伝いをしてもらったり、敵と戦う時にいろいろ助けてもらったり、本当に感謝しています。強化服も手に入れて、射撃の命中補正とかもしてくれて、本当に助かっています。ありがとう御座います。これからも
『ちょっと? 何か違うのか?』
『例えば、そう、私の姿を見て何か言うことはない?』
アルファはアキラが眠っている間にまた水着に着替えていた。肌を大胆に露出させた姿には健康的で開放的な美しさがあり、同時に他者を魅了する
肌の露出を大幅に下げはしたものの、異性の視線を誘う意味では大して違いはない。そのアルファの格好にアキラが再び感想を述べる。
『さっきの格好よりは違和感はないな。......まあ、空を飛んでいる時点で違和感がどうこうとかいう問題ではないのかもしれないけど』
アキラは視線を虚空に向ける不審者になるのを防ぐ
『本当に? その割には反応が薄かったと思うわ』
『そう言われてもな。えっと、こういう言い方はどうかと思うけど、慣れたんじゃないか?』
アルファの姿は高度な演算能力が生み出した描画だ。その利点を生かして、都合良く自由に変えられる顔や体に、本来類い
に四六時中いて、しかも全裸やそれに近い服装でいることも多く、一緒に風呂にまで入っているのだ。だからそろそろいろいろと慣れてきただけだろう。それがアキラの判断だった。
アルファはアキラの説明に一定の納得を示した。
『何か不穏なことを考えてないか?』
アキラが軽い疑いの視線を送ったが、アルファは
アキラが仮眠を取っていた頃、荷台に乗り込んだカツヤは奥のアキラに気付いて僅かに表情を険しくした。
「他にも前に同じトラックに乗っていたハンターがいるわ。でもカツヤに食ってかかった人はいないみたい。良かったわ」
「カツヤ。今度は落ち着いて」
「分かってるよ。......あいつ、眠っているけど、良いのか?」
カツヤ達が大人しく荷台の座席に座り、そのまま出発時刻を待つ。雑談などで暇を潰していた間、カツヤは無意識に少し険しい顔でアキラに視線を向けていた。前回の巡回での出来事もあり、アキラのことが何となく気に食わないのだ。
出発時刻の少し前になってもアキラは眠ったままだ。カツヤは無意識にアキラがそのまま
しかしアキラはその直後に普通に目を覚ました。しかもキバヤシと笑って対応していた。その様子を見て、カツヤは更に機嫌を僅かに悪くした。
巡回依頼が始まった。カツヤは今度こそアキラの実力を確かめようと思っていたのだが、モンスターの姿は影も形も無く、その機会は巡ってこない。それでカツヤはまた機嫌を損ねた。
「なあ、モンスターが全然いないけど、この訓練まだ続けるのか?」
シカラベが煩わしい気持ちを抑えながら答える。
「いようがいまいが索敵の訓練にはなるだろうが。色無しの霧の影響で情報収集機器などの索敵装置の機能が低下している場合、目視での索敵が重要になることは教えられているだろう。注意を向けるべき方向、注目箇所の優先順位、交代のタイミング、いろいろ教わっているはずだ」
「でもモンスターが全くいないのに訓練になるのか?」
「......無理強いはしない。今はエレナ達との依頼が流れて
「今から決を採る! 緊急依頼を受ける者が多数派の場合、このトラックは最寄りのハンター達の救援に向かう! そうではない場合、都市へ至急帰還する! 少数派は、救援に向かうにしろ都市に戻るにしろ、徒歩で向かってくれ。5分で決めてくれ。以上だ」
キバヤシは手続上そう説明したものの、決を採るまでもなく全員都市に戻ると思っていた。このトラックは低難度の巡回用で、ここに割り振られたハンター達ではこの緊急依頼を受けるには装備も実力も足りていない。仮に希望者がいたとしても確実に少数派になる。置き去りにされてでもこの場で依頼を受ける馬鹿はいない。受けるにしても一度都市に戻ってからだ。そう考えていた。
ハンター達が顔を見合わせて、確認するまでもないことを一応確認している。アルファも一応アキラに確認を取る。
『アキラ。都市に戻る、で良いのよね?』
『当たり前だ。好き好んでモンスターの群れと戦うわけないだろう』
アキラは心底嫌そうな顔を浮かべていた。以前モンスターの群れに襲われて、エレナ達に助けられて辛うじて死なずに済んだ時のことを思い出したのだ。
既にこの場のハンターの大半は都市への帰還を決めていた。つまり、少数派がいた。カツヤだ。
そのカツヤがシカラベと言い争い、次第に声を荒らげて注目を集めていた。当初シカラベはカツヤの要望を面倒そうに断っていただけだったが、次第に
での話だ! それと! お前が言う俺達に、俺を含めるな! 俺はお前達じゃねえ!」
「時間だ! 緊急依頼を受ける者は手を挙げろ! ......反対多数! すぐに都市に向けて帰還する! 残るやつはとっとと降りろ!」
運転席に戻ろうとするキバヤシを見て、カツヤが悔しそうに
かれた理由には、確かにその一見無謀なことを成し遂げたカツヤの姿もあった。それでカツヤの行動に理解を示すことも多い。
だが限度もある。進んで危険な目に遭ってほしいとは思わない。このまま放っておくと、意地になって歩いてでも行くと言い出し兼ねない。そう考えて、心配そうにカツヤを止めていた。
されている。カツヤは辛うじて耐えていたが、状況を改善させる要因にはならなかった。
シカラベはカツヤ達全員に選択を強いた。選ぶのは、カツヤだけではないのだ。
シカラベが殺気を消して、代わりに侮蔑をカツヤに向ける。
シカラベが気を取り直して他の者達に告げる。
トラックがなかなか出発しないのは、自分達の騒ぎが終わるのを待っていてくれたからだ。シカラベはそう考えてキバヤシにも聞こえるように大声を出していた。しかしトラックは出発しない。
シカラベを含めたハンター達が不思議に思って運転席の方を見る。そこには運転席の外に出ているキバヤシと、小型バイクに
く考えていたが、立ち上がってリュックサックを背負った。アルファがアキラの思考に気が付いて止めようとする。
『アキラ。考え直したら? 言うまでもないけれど
アキラがトラックの運転席をノックするとキバヤシが顔を出した。
「どうした? もう出発するぞ?」
「緊急依頼を受けるにはどうすれば良いんだ?」
予想外の内容にキバヤシが驚く。その後に困惑気味な表情で聞き返す。
「え? 行く気か? 歩いて?」
あっさりとそう答えたアキラの態度に、キバヤシが困惑を深める。
「強化服を着ているから結構速く走れるんだ。
キバヤシが急に笑い出す。心底楽しそうに笑った後、上機嫌でアキラに尋ねる。
「おい、バイクは運転できるか?」
『アキラ。今からでも考え直さない? 向かう場所にエレナ達がいるとは限らないし、アキラが行ったところで大勢に影響はないわよ?』
『どちらにしろ影響がないのなら、俺が行っても無駄だった、にしておきたい。俺が行けば何とかなったかも。そんな可能性は消しておきたい。どちらも無意味でも、それぐらいは選びたい』
助けた礼を言われたこと。自分の命を助けられたこと。命の恩人を、自分が死んでほしい者達を殺す理由に使ったこと。エレナ達へのその負い目が、罪悪感が、アキラを決断させた。
キバヤシが折り畳み式の小型バイクを持って運転席から降りてくる。
バイクは小型ではあるが荒野仕様で、折り畳んだ状態で運転席の助手席に辛うじて入る程度には大きい。トラックがモンスターの襲撃などで移動も通信も不可能になった場合に、このバイクで救援を呼ぶ
「これに乗っていけ。走るよりは早く着く。それとハンター証を出せ」
キバヤシがアキラからハンター証を受け取って職員用の情報端末に読み取らせた。
「これで緊急依頼の手続きは済んだ。お前の情報端末を使ってハンターオフィスのサイトから手続きをすると、どの場所に派遣されるかは未定になる。今の処理で最短距離の戦場が目的地になった。あとこのバイクは緊急依頼の報酬の前払分だ。気を付けろよ? 逃げるとハンターオフィスに地の果てまで追いかけられるぞ?」
軽く脅しを入れてきたキバヤシに、アキラが平然と答える。
「そんなつもりがあるのなら、1人で緊急依頼を受けるなんて
「どちらかと言えば、俺は慎重な方なんだけどな」
アキラは本心で言ったのだが、キバヤシはそれをちょっとした冗談だと思い、そしてその冗談が受けて更に面白そうに笑った。
「冗談を言うな! 慎重派が走ってモンスターの群れと戦いに行くかよ! 正確な位置は情報端末で分かるが、場所は大体ここから北西、あっちの方角だ! ある程度近付けば、ハンターの銃声やモンスターの騒ぎですぐに分かるはずだ! 頑張りな! 良き狩りを!」
「あいつ、1人で行ったのか。やるな」
シカラベはアキラの根性を認めて軽く称賛した。
Akira who was taking a nap in the truck suddenly heard Alpha's voice inside his head.
"Akira, it's time. Wake up."
Since Akira was the only one who could hear her voice, she was free to wake him up by blasting him with a loud voice. Akira immediately opened his eyes and looked up. He saw Kibayashi, a staff from the Hunter Office, standing in front of him.
Kibayashi was the truck driver and he was responsible for maintaining the truck. His job also included taking care of the Hunters who were in his truck's tray. He smiled when he saw Akira wake up right before he started cleaning the tray, it was as if Akira woke up on an alarm clock.
Akira just smiled lightly while Alpha looked a bit offended.
"Wait for a second, I'm not an alarm clock."
"Sorry."
Kibayashi then shouted to all the Hunters in the tray.
"It's time!! We're going now!! Anyone making ruckus will be kicked out!! You understand?!!"
Not too long after that, the truck started moving, and that marked Akira's third patrol job for the day.
Although the patrol went well without any trouble, for the Hunters who were aiming for rewards, it was a bad run. After all, they did not encounter any monsters at all.
The truck that was outfitted for the patrol job was equipped with a wide range detection device. The main aim for the patrol was only to cull the number of monsters around the city, thus it would only take a route with a low possibility to encounter a monster. So it was completely normal not to encounter any monsters at all from time to time.
Everyone in the tray had already relaxed and started making silly talks. And thanks to the wide range detection device, they could relax without fearing any surprise attacks. As for those Hunters who were already used to doing the patrol, they had completely put their guards down.
Akira was looking out to the wasteland with a stern face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that it would bother you this much."
As Akira frankly apologized, Alpha quickly changed her behaviour. But there was still a trace of indifference on her face.
"...Don't worry, it's nothing. It's good that you're acting all friendly with me, but you did call me an alarm clock back then. So just be more careful next time, okay?"
Although Akira was curious as to why Alpha was in such a bad mood, he was afraid to worsen it further by asking her any unnecessary questions, thus he just stayed silent.
Akira thought for a bit. He then fixed his pose and made a serious face.
"It's all thanks to you that I'm alive until this point. Thank you very much for guiding me through the ruins while avoiding any encounter with monsters, thank you for helping me search for relics, thank you for helping me fight monsters. You even helped me to get this augmented suit and to improve my accuracy. Thank you very much for everything, I'll be counting on you as always."
"Something else? Is there anything strange?"
"Yep, for example, is there anything you want to say about my appearance?"
Alpha changed back to her swimsuit when Akira was sleeping. It was an aggressive swimsuit with a high level of exposure showing her beautiful skin and limbs, and at the same time, it was very alluring and captivating.
Although it was not that exposing, it was clearly an alluring appearance to the opposite s.e.x. After Alpha changed her appearance, Akira voiced out his opinion again about her outfit.
"This one is better than before, but... this does not help at all since you're already floating around, so you still look weird to me."
In order to make him look less suspicious to the other people, Akira was looking out to the wasteland which also doubled as him looking out for monsters too. And Alpha was floating as if she was standing on an invisible platform.
"Really? But your reaction was pretty weak, you know."
"Even if you tell me so. Well, although it's weird for me to say this. Maybe I somehow already got used to it, or something like that?"
Alpha's appearance was basically a CG produced through an advanced and complicated graphic calculation. Because of that, Alpha could freely change her expression and body proportion. Alpha took advantage of this freedom to create an extremely beautiful and alluring appearance that was rare to be found naturally.
Alpha was almost always beside him 24/7, and there were a lot of occasions where she would pose her n.a.k.e.d body or wear a dress that was close to n.a.k.e.d in front of him. She even went into the bath together with him. That was why Akira thought that he should have gotten used to it.
Alpha at least accepted Akira's explanation for now.
"You're not thinking of anything bad, right?"
Akira looked at Alpha with suspicion, but Alpha just smiled it off.
When Akira was sleeping, Katsuya noticed him as he boarded the tray.
"There are also other Hunters who we met in our last patrol job. But it seems that man who picked a fight with you is not here, that's good."
"Katsuya, don't make any trouble this time."
"I know... That guy is sleeping though, is that really okay?"
Katsuya just obediently boarded the tray and took a seat. He was only talking with his friends while waiting for the truck to move, but he unconsciously made a stern face and was staring at Akira. Remembering what happened during his previous patrol, he just could not come to like Akira.
And when the time came, Akira was still sleeping. Katsuya was actually looking forward to seeing Akira getting kicked out from the truck. He even grinned in an ill will when Kibayashi stood in front of the still-sleeping Akira.
But Akira just woke up right before Kibayashi kicked him out and Kibayashi just chuckled when that happened, thus Katsuya's mood got even worse.
Their patrol finally started. Katsuya was thinking of taking a closer look at Akira this time, but they did not meet any monster at all during this patrol, thus he did not get his chance. So his mood worsened even more.
"Say, there's no monsters though, do we still have to do this training?"
Shikarabe answered while trying to suppress his annoyance.
"Whether there are any monsters or not, it'll still be training for detecting monsters. You should already know that in a thick colourless mist, you would not be able to detect monsters using binocular or other information gathering devices. So you have to spot monsters by using your eyes. You guys should have been taught where to watch, points to be careful about and how frequently you should change the person keeping watch and so on."
"But will this training be useful without any monsters around?"
"...I won't force you. At the moment, this is just voluntary training since our original plan was changed after Elena and Sara got that sudden request. So you're free to do what you want."
"Decide now!! If the majority of the Hunters decides to accept this request, we'll be heading to the nearest battleground, but if the majority of the Hunters want to return back home, we'll immediately go back to the city! The rest can just walk to the city or to the nearest Hunter group on their own! Decide in 5 minutes!!"
After Kibayashi finished his explanation, most of the Hunters immediately decided to go back home. After all, the truck was only fit for the low-risk patrol job and most of the Hunters in the truck did not have the ability nor the equipment to take this emergency request. Even if there were some Hunters who wanted to accept the emergency request, it was only a handful of them. None of them was foolish enough to take the emergency request when it meant that they would be left behind. While some of them were thinking of taking the request after returning back to the city and arming themselves with proper equipment.
The Hunters looked at each other and quickly confirmed each other's decisions. Just to be safe, Alpha also asked Akira.
"Akira, we'll return back to the city first, okay?"
"Of course, no one would want to face a group of monsters out of their own volition."
Akira's face turned grim, he remembered the time when he was attacked by a group of monsters, got saved by Elena and Sara, and was barely able to survive the fight.
Most of the Hunters had made their decision to go back to the city. But there were a few exceptions like Katsuya.
Katsuya was having a fierce debate with Shikarabe, their voices were heard by the other Hunters and attracted a lot of attention. Shikarabe thought that Katsuya's decision was not a good idea and so he did not allow him to go. Although he was really angry, he was still holding himself back.
"Drankam only takes emergency requests that they can safely accomplish! And also!! Don't put me together in that "We"!! I'm not a member of your team!!"
"It's time! Raise your hand if you want to take the emergency request!! ...Then those who are against it!! Alright then, we'll go back to the city!! Those who want to stay, get off from the truck now!!"
Katsuya mumbled when he saw Kibayashi returning back to his driver seat.
It was one of the reasons why Yumina and Airi were attracted to him, and that was why they could understand some of the crazy decisions that he made.
But of course, there was a limit to that. They too did not want anything bad to happen to him. But if they just left Katsuya alone, he might become obstinate and decide to stay even if he should get off from the truck. Thus they were worried and tried to stop him.
Yumina and Airi could only stand frozen overwhelmed by the killing intent and anger exuding out from Shikarabe. Katsuya was barely able to stand against it, but of course, it did not make the situation any better.
Shikarabe pressured Katsuya, Airi and Yumina for their decision. So it was not only Katsuya making the decision now.
Shikarabe finally suppressed his killing intent and expressed his scorn as he said to Katsuya.
Shikarabe then looked at the other Hunters and said.
Shikarabe thought that the reason why the truck was still not moving was because they were waiting for them to end their ruckus, that was why he shouted to let Kibayashi know. But the truck was still stuck in its place.
Shikarabe and the other Hunters found it weird and peeked into the driver seat. But instead, he caught the sight of Kibayashi outside the driver seat with Akira who was straddling a small-sized bike.
Akira was deep in thought for a bit before he stood up and picked up his rucksack. Alpha somehow understood what Akira was about to do and so she tried to stop him.
"Akira, why don't we think about this one more time? I don't think I need to tell you this, but this is very dangerous, you know?"
When Akira knocked at the truck's door, Kibayashi stepped out.
"What's wrong? We're about to leave now, you know?"
"What should I do to accept the emergency request?"
Kibayashi was surprised when he heard Akira, he then asked him again for confirmation with his still-surprised face.
"Eh? You're still planning to go? By walking?"
As Akira answered back promptly with that short answer, it only made Kibayashi even more confused.
"I have my augmented suit with me, so I can do high speed running. Of course, it's still slower than directly taking a truck, but I believe it's still faster than going back to the city and looking for another truck to take me there."
Kibayashi suddenly smiled, he looked as if he found it very amusing deep inside his heart, he then asked Akira in a good mood.
"Say, can you ride a bike?"
"Akira, you can still rethink about it now. We don't know if we can meet Elena and Sara even if we go and I don't think having you there will change the situation by much."
"Even if you're saying to me that it's futile, I still want to know for sure whether it's completely meaningless for me to go or will I be able to help out by doing something there, so that I won't regret it later. Even if it's futile, I'll still be picking this option."
Akira picked this option because of his feeling of guilt and obligation towards Sara and Elena. They thanked him for saving their lives. He owed them a favour for saving his life too. And he used them in the past as a pretense to kill the people that he wanted dead.
Kibayashi grabbed a foldable small sized bike and stepped out from the truck.
Although it was only a small bike, it was specially designed for exploring the wasteland. When it was folded, it was barely enough to fit the seat beside the driver seat. He had that bike there to call for help if in case the truck got attacked by monsters and was unable to move. Most of the Hunter Office staff would put their foldable bike on the driver seat since the other Hunters would use it without permission if they left it in the truck's tray.
"Get on this bike. It's at least faster than running, and also, give me your Hunter ID."
Akira gave his Hunter ID to Kibayashi who then used his terminal to read information from Akira's Hunter ID.
"This will finish the registration for the emergency request. If you use your information terminal to access the Hunter Office's site, you'll be able to see the area assigned to you. At the moment, you should be assigned to the nearest battlefield. And also, this bike is just an upfront payment for accepting the emergency request. Be careful out there, okay? If you try to abandon the request, the Hunter Office will chase you even to the end of the world."
Although Kibayashi said that with little intimidation, Akira just replied back as if it was nothing.
"If that's my plan from the start, I wouldn't be taking this emergency request alone like this."
"Although, to be honest, I think I'm more of a cautious Hunter though."
Akira was honest when he said that, but Kibayashi thought that it was a joke, so he just got along with it and laughed loudly.
"Stop with the jokes. No careful Hunters would go running towards a group of monsters on their own volition, you know!! You should be able to see the precise coordinates in your information terminal, it's basically north-west from here, so it's that direction! If you get close enough, you should start hearing gunshots from the Hunters who are fighting against the monsters! So good luck out there and I hope you have a good hunt!!"
"That boy went alone huh, not bad at all."
Shikarabe acknowledged Akira's courage and praised him a little.
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