会合場所である酒場の2階にトメジマ達がいる。トメジマとコルベ、そしてヴィオラという妙齢の女性がテーブルを囲んでいた。
トメジマが時刻を確認する。予定の時刻まで後15分ほどだ。先ほどから何度も時刻を確認している。それはこの待ち時間を嫌う心情の表れだ。早く始まってほしい気持ちと、いつまでも引き延ばしたい気持ち。その両方が態度に表れていた。
ヴィオラがトメジマを軽く嘲るように話す。
「随分余裕がないのね。もっと落ち着いたらどう? 冷静さを欠くと
ちの目でヴィオラを見て話す。
「うるさい。分かってる。......同席は許可したが、余計なことは言うな。お前が事態をややこしくしたら責任を取ってもらうからな」
「分かってるわ。邪魔はしない。私はアキラってハンターを間近で確認したいだけ。
め事を楽しむ人間が浮かべる笑顔だ。
ヴィオラはトメジマの同僚でもない。この酒場の人間でもない。3階の
トメジマがアキラとの交渉の場をこの店にしたのも同様の理由だ。少なくともアキラは前回この場でカドルを殺しはしなかったのだ。
コルベがこの場にいる理由も表向きはアキラとの連絡役だが、知り合いが同席していればアキラが暴挙に出る可能性が下がるのではないかという思いからだ。なおシカラベにも頼んだのだが、賞金首討伐の後処理で忙しいと断られていた。
んでコルベに尋ねる。
「ねえ、そのアキラって子の話をもう少し聞かせてくれない?」
「さっき話しただろう。俺だってあいつと親しいわけじゃない。さっき話したことで全部だ。そっちもアキラについていろいろ調べたんだろう? そっちの方が詳しいんじゃないか?」
「当事者から詳しい話を聞きたいのよ。調べたと言っても、私が自分で見聞きして調べた情報ではないからね。カドルの件にしてもそうよ。話を聞いた限りだとアキラは随分強いハンターらしいわ。でもそれならカドルって男は
「さあな。馬鹿だからじゃないか? 馬鹿が馬鹿をする理由は、馬鹿だからだろう? 深い理由なんかないんじゃないか?」
「その浅はかな理由を知りたいのよ。馬鹿げた理由で馬鹿をするから馬鹿なんでしょうけど、一応ね。適当に言ってみてくれない?」
興味深そうに尋ねてくるヴィオラを見て、コルベが少し考えて答える。
「そうだな。あいつはアキラのことをシカラベ達が報酬額を減らすために適当に呼んだ頭数だと勘違いしていたな。だからアキラを殺して自分の取り分を増やそうとした。それでアキラが
「あの時、シカラベってやつが最近のドランカムには装備だけ充実している大して実力もない若手ハンターが増えてるって愚痴っていたし、その類いのやつだと思ったのか? いや、だからってドランカム所属のハンターを殺したら後が大変だろう......。馬鹿だからその辺のことを考えなかったのか? いや、でもなあ......」
コルベはその後も理由を考えては撤回するのを繰り返していた。
ヴィオラはコルベの話を聞いて必要な情報を得ていた。アキラは弱そうに見える。少なくともカドルが敵対を
面白そうな人物だ。ヴィオラはそう思い、楽しげな表情でアキラが来るのを待っていた。
アキラが酒場の中に入ると、酒場の主人が前と同じように少し険しい口調で告げる。
「ここはお前みたいなガキが来る場所じゃねえぞ。帰んな」
「それはこんなガキをここに呼びつけたやつに言ってくれ。トメジマってやつがいるはずなんだ。知らないか?」
アキラも前回と同じように答えた。しかし店主の返答は同じではなかった。
「......お前がアキラか?」
「そうだけど」
「......トメジマは2階だ。前と同じ席だ。おい、俺の店で騒ぎを起こすんじゃねえぞ」
「俺から騒ぎを起こす気はないよ」
「そんなこと俺の店に関係あるか。お前らが騒ぎを起こせば同じだ。いいか、俺の店で騒ぎを起こすんじゃねえ。分かったな?」
店主が前回と似たような愚痴を
のことを指しているのか、前回の行動のことを指しているのか、アキラには分からなかった。
アキラはトメジマ達が待つ席に向かう。アキラの姿を見つけたトメジマが固い苦笑いを浮かべた。アキラが前回よりも重装備だからだ。
アキラが背負っている銃は、強化服の身体能力がなければ持ち運ぶことすら困難な対モンスター用の武器である。普通に交渉が可能な良識を持つハンターを相手にしていると忘れそうになるが、危険人物の背にそれがあると、途端にその殺傷力が意味を持ち始める。トメジマは統企連がハンターの倫理観向上の
「良く来てくれた。座ってくれ」
必要以上に強気でも駄目だ。必要以上に弱気でも駄目だ。トメジマは余裕を取り繕ってアキラとの応対を試みる。
アキラは勧められた椅子には座らずに近くを見渡した。背
む。銃を手元に置くよりは攻撃時に手間が掛かるだろう。装備を外そうとしないアキラの様子を見て、トメジマは頭の中で自身にそう言い訳をしながら話を進める。
「ここに来たってことは、手打ちの交渉に前向きと考えて良いんだな?」
える。アキラがトメジマをじっと見ながら答える。
「騒ぎを起こす気はない。下で店主にも
アキラは本心で答えている。トメジマはそう理解した。正確にはそう思い込むことにした。それがどの程度の安全を保証するかは未知数だが、いきなり撃ち殺される可能性は低くなったはずだ。
店主に話を通しておいて良かった。トメジマはそう考えながら
しかしそれでもトメジマの笑みは固いままだ。交渉中に銃は抜かない。良識のあるハンターならば当たり前のことである。その当たり前を前回破ったのは、自分が連れてきた人物の方なのだ。そしてそのことに対する交渉を、今から目の前の危険人物を相手にして進めなければならないのだ。
「取りあえず話を聞いてくれ。まず、俺達にアキラと敵対する気はない。これが大前提だ。だからこの件は穏便に済ませたい。ここまでで、こちら側の意思とアキラ側の意思にずれはあるか?」
「それは良かった。こっちも一安心だ」
「......それで、カドルの扱いなんだが、ああ、前回アキラに銃を向けたやつだ、その、できれば見逃してほしい。あいつには元々の借金に加えて、前回の件の償いとして、俺がシカラベ達に出した追加人員の費用やら、何だかんだの代金を背負わせてるんだ。つまり、あいつが死ぬと俺達にデカい額の不良債権が増える。あいつには生きて借金を返済してもらわないと困るんだ。......これはこっちの事情だが、アキラはカドルをどうしたいんだ? 何が何でも殺したいのか? あの場で生かしておいたってことは、別にどうしても殺したいわけでもないんだろう?」
アキラが改めて考える。既にアキラのカドルに対する考えはかなり雑なものになっていた。どうでもいい。それが大半だ。探し出してまで殺したいとは思わない。しかし荒野で見かけたら殺すかもしれない。その程度だ。
アキラが荒野でカドルと遭遇した時、カドルが必死になって逃げ出せば、追うのも面倒なので追わないかもしれない。だがカドルが殺されると思って反撃に出れば、
「俺があいつを見逃すとして、そっちが代わりに出すものは?」
「......それをお前と交渉したいんだよ。そっちの要求は何だ?」
トメジマが黙る。アキラは別にトメジマと駆け引きをする気はない。単純に特に要求を思いつかないだけであり、必死になって考えるのも面倒なだけだ。だからといって、どうでも良いなら広い心で許せ、などということをトメジマが口にすれば、アキラは和解を蹴るだろう。トメジマもハンターを相手にした交渉の経験をそれなりに積んでいるのだ。それぐらいは分かった。
アキラが話を続ける。
「見返りの内容はそっちが提案してくれ。そういうのを考えるのは苦手なんだ」
トメジマはできれば金で解決したかった。しかし自分から金額を提示するわけにはいかない。何しろアキラの命に関係する
トメジマが下手に安い金額を提示すると、それだけでアキラの機嫌を損ねる可能性がある。誰だって自分の命には高値を付けるものだ。安物扱いはされたくないだろう。そしてアキラに高額の和解金を提案するとしても、トメジマの支払い額にも限度はあるのだ。
アキラへの支払いをカドルに背負わせるとしても、既にカドルに負わせている借金の額は限界に近い。これ以上の借金を背負わせれば、カドルは飛ぶだろう。そして大抵遠くの都市まで逃げようとして、途中の荒野でモンスターに襲われて死ぬのだ。借金は回収できず、結局トメジマ達にしわ寄せがいくことになる。
そしてアキラから非常に高額な金額を要求された場合は、トメジマもアキラとの敵対を含めて対処しなければならない。極端な話、100億オーラム払え、カドルに払えないならトメジマが立て替えろ、などと要求された場合は、トメジマも覚悟を決めてアキラと争わなければならない。
アキラは黙ってトメジマの返答を待っている。トメジマは自分から金額を提示するべきか、何とかしてアキラから金額を提示させるべきか、金以外の見返りに切り替えるべきか、いろいろ迷っていた。
「トメジマのような金融業者は、多額の負債を抱えている顧客を誰かに殺された場合、その誰かから代わりに負債を取り立てることがあるの。そして相手の力量から自分達にはそれができないと判断した時は、それが可能な業者に債権を捨て値で売って損失の
アキラが表情を変えずに尋ねる。
「交渉が決裂すると、トメジマは捨て値で債権を売る羽目になるし、俺は
ヴィオラは薄笑いを浮かべながら答える。
「解釈は任せるわ」
アキラが視線をトメジマの方に戻す。その視線は若干険しくなっている。そのまま黙ってトメジマを見ている。
トメジマは急に口を挟んできたヴィオラの真意を探りつつ、今の話を聞いたアキラの反応を確認している。
ヴィオラもそれ以上の口出しはせずに、黙って事態の推移を見守っている。
ヴィオラが笑いながらアキラに尋ねる。
アキラはヴィオラにあっさりそう答えてからトメジマの方を見る。
トメジマは確かに黙っていた。債権の扱いに関してはヴィオラの言う通りだ。トメジマがそれを足掛かりにしてアキラからの譲歩を引き出そうと考えていたことも事実だ。だがお互い納得できる条件の
ヴィオラは少し驚いたものの、慌てずにアキラに話す。
アキラは返事を返さずに黙って帰ろうとする。トメジマがアキラを呼び止めていたが、アキラは無視してそのまま階段に向かい、そのまま酒場から出た。
酒場を出たアキラが大きく
みを浮かべている。アキラがアルファの表情を見て、言い訳じみたことを話す。
『......ちょっと蹴飛ばせば要求を飲むだろう。そういう態度が気に入らなかった』
『そうね。それは同意するわ』
『別に今からカドルを探し出して殺しに行くつもりはない。面倒だしな』
『確かにいろいろ面倒よね』
『......あー、俺との敵対を避けるために、相手がどこまで条件を許容するのか。それを確認する良い機会だったかもしれない。でも変な前例を作ると、それはそれで大変なことになる気がする』
『別に怒っているわけではないの。アキラの考えは尊重するわ。私も止めなかったしね。交渉が決裂したこと自体はどうでも良いことなのよ。アキラに確固たる意思が有って、どうしても許容できないのなら、アキラがあの場で交戦し始めても、私は全く構わないわ。その時は私もアキラを全力でサポートする。ただね、アキラが私の機嫌を恐る恐る確認する程度の意思で決めたことなら、もう少し考えても良かったと思うわ』
『......はい。気を付けます』
そうな店を探そう』
『私もネットワーク上をいろいろ探してみるわね。何か希望はある?』
『それならサンドイッチを頼む。ちゃんと食えるやつをだ』
アキラは昨日アルファが持っていたサンドイッチを思い出していた。非常に
『あれほどの品がここに存在しているかどうかは分からないけど、一応探してみますか』
アキラは先ほどのことなど忘れてアルファと一緒に繁華街の散策を楽しむことにした。アキラにとって良い店が見つかるかどうかは二の次だった。
「そんなことはどうでもいい! お前の所為だぞ! 分かってるのか!?」
「永遠に黙り合うわけにもいかなかったでしょう? どうせ和解金の提示額も
今まで傍観に徹していたコルベが口を挟む。
「それで、これからどうするんだ? アキラも帰ったし、特になければ俺も帰るぞ? ああ、一応念を押しておく。お前らがアキラと敵対するのは勝手だが、俺は協力しない。アキラへの取り立てになんか絶対参加しないし、カドルの監視や警護もしない。お前達の護衛も引き受けない。
「お前が今カドルをどう管理しているかは知らないが、カドルがとち狂ってアキラを殺しに行ったらどうする? それをアキラがカドルに死なれると大損する人間の指示だと勘違いしたらどうするんだ? 俺は関わりたくない」
トメジマの表情が更に悪くなり、更に必死な表情でヴィオラを怒鳴りつける。
「ヴィオラ! お前の所為だぞ! 責任は取ってもらうからな!」
「......カドルはまだ生きているし、アキラがカドルを殺すとは限らないだろう。5割は低すぎる」
「賞金首の討伐に成功したハンターに命を狙われている人物の債権なんて誰が買うの?
トメジマが苦渋に満ちた表情を浮かべる。ヴィオラの指摘は全て図星だった。
「私も責任を感じているの。だからこそ、私はそんな買い手の付かない債権を額面の5割で買おうとしているのよ。損害を覚悟して金を払い、責任を取ろうとしている。
商談は成立したがトメジマの表情は浮かないままだ。より損失の少ない損切りを済ませただけで、損失に違いはないからだ。
トメジマとヴィオラが情報端末と書類の
酒で絡まれるのは御免だ。絡む相手が欲しければ、1階からでも3階からでも好きに呼べよ。じゃあな」
損失はかなりの額なのだろう。トメジマは不機嫌を隠さずに吐き捨てた。
コルベが酒場から出ると、外でヴィオラが待っていた。
コルベがトメジマの不安を
ヴィオラが意味ありげな笑いを浮かべて話す。
「善良ねぇ。まあ、言葉の意味や解釈は人によって変わるもの。深く追及する気はないわ」
コルベは封筒の中身を確認し終えると懐にしまい込んだ。そして気になったことをヴィオラに尋ねる。
「興味本位で尋ねるが、あんな債権を買い取ってどうする気だ? 金貸しも取り立てもお前の本業ではないだろう? 転売もお前がトメジマに説明した通り難しい。潜在的な敵組織に経緯を
「いろいろよ。案は幾つもあるけど、具体的にどう活用するかは未定ね」
ヴィオラは組織間の
め事などにコルベは関わりたくない。
この件には絶対に関わり合いにならない。コルベはそう強く誓った。
On the second floor of the pub, Tomejima, Colbert, and a young girl by the name of Viola were sitting on the same table, waiting for Akira.
Tomejima checked his watch, it was still 15 minutes before the meeting time. He had been checking his watch multiple times now. It showed how much he hated this period of wait. It was somehow obvious that he wanted to postpone the negotiation as much as he wanted to finish it at the earliest.
Looking at that, Viola tried to calm Tomejima down.
"You're so restless. How about calming down for a bit? You won't be able to do a proper negotiation if you don't calm down."
Tomejima looked at Viola, obviously annoyed.
"Just shut it, I know it already... I did let you sit on the same table but don't say anything. If you do something that causes me more trouble, I'll have you take responsibility."
"I know. I won't bother you. I just want to meet this Hunter Akira. Although I have no plans to help arbitrate between you two, I'll at least help you calm him down in case if anything bad happens. You're okay with that, right?"
Viola smiled, she looked amused. That was a smile of someone who enjoyed conflict.
Viola was not Tomejima's co-worker, she was not working for the pub either, nor she had any connection with the brothel on the third floor. She was just someone who had some kind of connection with Tomejima and had him let her attend the negotiation too.
That was also the reason why he picked that pub to negotiate with Akira. After all, Akira at least stopped himself from killing Kadol the last time he was in that pub.
As for the reason why Colbert was also present, it was to help him contact Akira. Tomejima also thought that if Colbert, who was Akira's acquaintance, was also present, Akira would at least hold himself back from getting violent. Just to be safe, he also asked Shikarabe, but Shikarabe refused since he had a lot of things to take care regarding the bounty hunting.
Viola smiled bewitchingly at Colbert as she asked him.
"Say, won't you tell me more about this Akira boy?"
"I already told you what I know, didn't I? It's not like I'm that close to him. I've told you everything that I know about him. I'm sure you've also done some investigation about him anyway, right? So, isn't it like you know more about him than me?"
"I want to hear it straight from the person who knows him, you know. Even if I did some investigations about him, it's not like I hear or see him myself. That's also the case with the incident regarding Kadol. From what I gathered, it seems that Akira is a pretty strong Hunter. But if that's true, then why Kadol would try something that stupid? You were there when that happened, right? Do you know anything?"
"No idea. Isn't it because he's stupid? The reason why stupid people do stupid things is simply because they're stupid, right? There might be no deeper reason behind it, you know?"
"And I do want to know about the reason behind that. It might be true that the only reason a stupid person does stupid things is simply because that person is stupid. But it's just to be safe, you know. So like, won't you tell me anything?"
Seeing how Viola asked him with full curiosity, Colbert thought for a bit before replying.
"Let's see. Kadol thought that Shikarabe only invited Akira to increase the number of heads and reduce Kadol's share of the reward. That's why he tried to kill Akira in order to increase his own share. And it's true that Akira does look weak and full of openings... Wait, no, is it because he's short-tempered? Even if he's hard-pressed because of his debt, he would normally think through and at least pick somewhere else to do that..."
"At that time, Shikarabe was complaining about the situation in Drankam lately. He said that the gang has been accepting more and more incompetent young Hunters and giving them good equipment, so Kadol might have thought that Akira was one of those Hunters, huh? Wait, but I'm sure he knows well that it would bring more trouble than it's worth if he kills a Drankam Hunter... Or is it because he's stupid that he didn't think that far, huh? But again..."
Colbert kept thinking about the reason why Kadol did something so stupid back then while making rounds retracting and creating new guesses.
Viola got the information that she wanted from the way Colbert reacted to her question. Akira looked weak, or at least, he looked weak enough to make Kadol not hesitate when he tried to kill him. While in reality, Akira was strong enough to easily kill a Hunter that Tomejima deemed skilled enough to join the bounty hunting.
Viola thought that this Akira must be a pretty interesting fellow as she smiled while waiting for Akira to arrive.
Just like last time, when Akira entered the pub, the master of the pub warned him with a serious face.
"This is not a place for a little kid like you, go home."
"You should've said that to the person who called this small kid here. That guy's name is Tomejima, do you know where he is?"
Akira replied with the same answer as before. But this time, the master's reaction was different.
"...Are you Akira then?"
"Yep."
"...Tomejima is on the second floor, the same seat as before. Just to remind you, don't cause any trouble in my establishment."
"I have no plans to start one."
"I don't really care about that, if any of you cause trouble here, that's all the same to me. So yeah, don't cause any trouble, you get it?"
Just like last time, he then started grumbling, but unlike last time, his face looked grimmer.
Akira did not know for sure there whether the master of that place said brat referring to his age or his action from last time.
Akira went to the table where Tomejima was waiting for him. The moment Tomejima saw Akira, he made a rather stiff smile at Akira. It was because Akira brought more weapons than last time.
Akira was carrying heavy rifles used for fighting monsters that normal humans would not be able to even lift without the help of an augmented suit. It was easy to forget the power of those weapons when one negotiated with a Hunter with a good personality. But when those weapons were carried by a dangerous person like Akira, it reminded Tomejima of how powerful they were. He understood why the Corporate Government would even spend a lot of money to improve the moral standard of the Hunters.
"Thanks for coming, have a seat."
It would be bad to come off too strong and it would be fatal to come off too weak. Tomejima tried to regain his composure as he tried to poke for Akira's reaction.
Akira looked around without taking the seat that Tomejima offered. He then spotted a chair without a backrest, so he dragged that chair to the table and sat on it. After all, it would be hard to sit on a chair with a backrest with his rifles on his back.
Although Tomejima tried his best to stay calm, he twitched a bit. Looking at how Akira was reluctant to let go of his rifles, Tomejima kept telling himself that it was at least harder to reach compared to if Akira put his rifles somewhere near his hand.
"Since you're here, I guess it's okay to assume that you plan to peacefully negotiate with me, right?"
Akira was obviously being careful with Tomejima. He stared at Tomejima and replied.
"I have no plans to cause trouble here. The master below also warned me not to cause any trouble after all."
Tomejima thought that Akira was being honest. Or to be more precise, he wanted to believe that it was the case. It was unclear how much it guaranteed his safety, but at least, it reduced the chance of Akira suddenly shooting and killing him there.
Tomejima thought that he was really glad to have informed the master of that pub beforehand, he felt a sense of relief and regained some of his calm.
But even so, his smile was still stiff. Akira was not ready to let go of his rifles during a negotiation although it was some kind of common sense among the good Hunters to do that. But if he looked back, the first person who broke that common sense was the Hunter who accompanied him to that pub last time. And right now, he had to start negotiating with such a dangerous person who was sitting right in front of him.
"Well, at least, listen to what I have to say here. First and foremost, we have no wish to be hostile with you. This is the most important point. That's why we want to resolve this incident peacefully if it's possible. So, up until this point, you do agree with us, right?"
"That's great, I'm glad to hear that."
"...So then, about Kadol though. Ahh, he's the guy who tried to attack you last time. So like, if it's possible, I want you to let him go. Although he's already carrying a lot of debt in the first place, as compensation for that incident, he was even made to pay for the equipment of the people that I sent to join Shikarabe's bounty hunting, you see. So basically, if he dies, then we will have to shoulder more of his outstanding debt. It would be troublesome for us if he doesn't stay alive and work hard to pay for his own debt... Well, that's basically where we stand, Akira, what about you? What's your plan with Kadol? Do you want to kill him no matter what? Since you let him go last time, it's not like you really want to kill him, right?"
Akira thought about it one more time. His opinion about Kadol was a little complicated, but in conclusion, he actually more or less did not care much about him. He did not think that it was worth the trouble looking for him just to kill him. But if he met him somewhere in the wasteland by pure chance, he might just go and kill him. That was all that he felt about Kadol.
If he met Kadol in the wasteland by pure chance and Kadol ran away from him as fast as he could, Akira had no plans to chase him. But if Kadol started to shoot at him, he might as well kill Kadol without a shred of hesitation.
"If I let him go, what do you have to offer to me?"
"...That's why we're here. Do you have any demand?"
Tomejima fell silent thinking that Akira actually had no plans to do any negotiation with him at all. Akira simply had nothing to demand from Tomejima as it was too much of a hassle for him to try to think of anything. But even so, if Tomejima asked him to be merciful and just let it go, Akira might throw the peaceful negotiation out of the window. Tomejima had a lot of experience in negotiating with Hunters, so he at least knew that much.
Akira then continued.
"You come up with your offer, I'm bad with that kind of thing after all."
To be honest, Tomejima wanted to resolve the incident with money, but he could not afford to point that out to Akira. After all, it was something that involved Akira's life.
If Tomejima offered a small sum, it might anger Akira. After all, no matter who it was, everyone wanted to put a high price on his or her own life, so it would be understandable if Akira did not want Tomejima to put a cheap price tag on his life. While on the other hand, even if he offered a lot of money to Akira, there was a limit on how much money he could pay Akira.
And even if he put that money on Kadol's tab. Kadol had already been carrying a lot of debt to the point that he was close to his limit. If he put more burden on Kadol's shoulder, Kadol might decide to run away instead. And if that happened, he bet that Kadol would try to run away to the neighbouring city just to get killed by the monsters midway. So in the end, Tomejima would not be able to gather any money from Kadol and he would have suffered a huge loss.
While on the other hand, in case if Akira demanded a huge amount of money from him, he would have to deal with it. Hypothetically speaking, if Akira asked for 10,000,000,000 Aurum and Kadol could not pay for that, and if Akira demanded Tomejima to pay in Kadol's stead, in that case, then Tomejima would have to resolve himself to fight against Akira.
Akira just sat silently waiting for Tomejima's reply. Tomejima did not know what to do there, should he suggest to solve the incident with money? Or should he somehow push Akira to ask for money? Or instead, should he suggest something else other than money?
"In the credit company that Tomejima is working, in case if a debtor with a huge debt is killed by someone, then the company might demand that person to pay for the debt that the debtor has. And if that's impossible to do because of the strength difference, then the company might sell the debt bond at a cheap price to another company who can do that. It's one of the things that they do to compensate for their loss, you see."
Akira did not change his expression as he asked Viola.
"To me, it sounds like you're saying that if we don't reach a compromise here, Tomejima will sell the credit bond to someone else cheaply and I'll be forced to pay for Kadol's debt. Since it'll only cause trouble for both sides, you're saying that I should let it go without any compensation, or at least be merciful during this negotiation, am I correct?"
Viola smiled and replied.
"I leave the interpretation to you."
Akira's gaze returned back to Tomejima. His gaze was a bit more intimidating than before, he kept staring at Tomejima without saying anything.
Tomejima tried to probe the real reason why Viola suddenly interjected as well as confirming how Akira reacted to it.
Viola did not say anything after that. She just sat there to witness how the negotiation would proceed.
Viola smiled at Akira and asked him.
Akira only said that to Viola and turned to Tomejima.
It was true that Tomejima did not say anything, and what Viola said about his company was also correct. He was actually thinking about how to use that to lead his negotiation with Akira in a better direction. He was thinking of talking about the terms that both of them could agree on from now on, but he did not expect that Akira would just suddenly get up from his chair.
Viola was also a bit surprised, she then fl.u.s.teredly said to Akira.
Akira did not reply as he prepared himself to leave the place. Tomejima did try to stop him, but Akira just ignored Tomejima as he headed to the stairs and left the pub.
After exiting the pub, Akira let out a big sigh. He himself knew that he was acting out of pure emotion back there.
Beside him, Alpha was smiling at Akira. There was a trace of exasperation on her usual smile. Akira looked at Alpha's expression and tried to make an excuse.
"...It feels like they think I would take their offer with a little more push, I just don't like that."
"That's true, I agree with you."
"To be honest, I have no plans to look for that Kadol just to kill him. It just isn't worth the hassle."
"That's true, it would only cause more trouble."
"...Ahh, this actually might be a good chance for me to check how much other people are willing to pay me to avoid getting into trouble with me. But if I make a bad precedent here, I think that in itself is really no good."
"It's not like I'm angry at you. I do respect your will, after all, I didn't stop you back then, right? I'm not really bothered by the fact that you broke the negotiation there. Even if you had started a fight since there was something that you just couldn't forgive or let go of back there, I still wouldn't mind it. I would have given you my utmost support if that had happened. But again, if you decided to do that just to carefully probe for my reaction, you could have tried to be more careful back there, you know?"
"...Yes, I'll be more careful."
"Ah, you're right. Alright then, let's look for a shop with delicious food."
"I can help you search through the network, what kind of food do you want?"
"In that case then, make it a sandwich. A real delicious one."
Akira remembered the sandwich that Alpha ate the other day. It looked extremely delicious but there was no way he could eat that, after all, it was nothing but an image of a sandwich.
"I don't know if you can find that level of sandwich here, but I'll at least give it a search."
And so, Akira just forgot about his exchange with Tomejima and enjoyed strolling in the entertainment district. Finding a good shop was the second priority for him at the moment.
"I don't care about that!! It's all your fault!! Don't you understand that!?"
"It's not like you can afford to keep silent forever, right? I know it's not like you can suggest to him to resolve it with money yourself, right? I know that you were also hoping Akira would break after listening to my explanation. Akira also did say that he thought you agreed since you didn't say anything back there. If you had stopped me mid-way, I'm sure he would have not left like that, you know? Or am I mistaken?"
Colbert, who was just listening to them until now, finally opened his mouth.
"So then, what's your plan now? Akira has gone back, so if you don't need anything else from me, I'm going back home too. Ahh, by the way, just to let you know, I don't care if you want to fight Akira, but I'll not lend you my hand, not even to help you contact him, and of course, I won't be Kadol's observer or bodyguard. I won't accept your request to be your bodyguard either. So if you need one, go look for someone else."
"It's up to you how you are going to put Kadol back on your leash, but what if he does something as stupid as trying to kill Akira again? And what if Akira mistook that aggression? Do you think he would not act because someone would suffer a loss with Kadol's death? I don't want to get roped into such things."
Tomejima's face turned grim, he then shouted at Viola again. This time he sounded even more dreaded than before.
"Viola!! It's all your fault!! I'll have you take responsibility for this!!"
"...Kadol is still alive and it's not like we know for sure Akira is going to kill him, a 50% discount is too much."
"Who exactly do you think is willing to buy the debt bond of someone chased after by a Hunter who even killed a bounty monster? If you were in my shoe, how much are you willing to pay for it? I bet you're only willing to buy it for cheap, right? Or are you going to sell the bond to someone else without telling the situation? It would be really bad once it leaks out, you know. Or is it that you have the confidence you can find someone else who would properly control that stupid guy and takeover his bond? You know that you can't, that's why you're panicking, right?"
Tomejima looked very desperate, all of Viola's guesses were indeed correct.
"I feel responsible for what happened too, you see. That's why I'm offering to buy that bond for 50% since I'm sure no one would be willing to buy it. I'm willing to pay for your loss and take responsibility. As someone who is working with money a lot, I want you to at least understand my sincerity here. But just to let you know, I believe I already took responsibility by making this offer. It's up to you if you're not going to take this offer, but don't expect me to make another offer, okay?"
Although they had a deal there, Tomejima still looked unsatisfied. After all, although he was able to minimize his loss, he still lost money there.
Tomejima and Viola used their respective terminals to go through the doc.u.ments and finalized their deal there.
"No thanks, I have no plans to get roped in to drink away your sorrow. If you need company, just call someone from the first or the third floor. Later then."
It seemed that he lost quite a lot of money that day, Tomejima did not try to hide his displeasure as he clicked his tongue.
When Colbert left the pub, Viola was waiting for him.
The reason why Colbert fanned Tomejima's worry was because he had a deal with Viola beforehand. Colbert was hired by her.
Viola teasingly smiled at him and said.
"An upright Hunter, huh? Well, I know that different people interpret those words differently. So I have no plans to dig any deeper."
Colbert checked the money inside his envelope before putting it inside his chest pocket. He then remembered something that bothered him and asked Viola about that.
"I'm just asking this out of curiosity, what are you planning to do with that bond that you just bought? Both trading bonds and lending money are not your real job, right? Just like you've explained to Tomejima, it would be near impossible to resell that bond, are you planning to keep the incident about Akira a secret and sell that bond to the other competitor companies?"
"I have a lot of plans with it. But I haven't really decided what I'm going to do."
Viola sometimes did arbitration between conflicting organizations, her skill was highly regarded for that. But Colbert knew that sometimes she would sow the seed of fire herself, fan those flames, put gasoline on them, and then extract money out from both parties. She would go around manipulating everyone as if it was not her responsibility.
Colbert decided that he should refrain from taking requests from Viola for the time being. No one could tell for sure if she would use that bond that she bought from Tomejima to cause more trouble or not. But he bet that she was going to cause more trouble and he had no plans to get roped into trouble that involved Akira.
Colbert reminded himself to be very careful since he knew that getting roped into such a thing would definitely not be worth 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/
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