アキラがクズスハラ街遺跡の中を疲れた様子で歩いている。その歩みは遅い。時折立ち止まって荒い呼吸を整えている。それでもその場に倒れ込みたい欲求を何とか振り切り、再び重い足取りで進んでいた。
歩みを遅くする原因は背負っているリュックサックの重量だ。持ち運べる限界ぎりぎりまで遺物を詰め込んでおり、脚が
「アルファ。やっぱり、ちょっと、多かったんじゃないか? 今からでも、少し、減らさないか?」
持ち帰れば確実に大金に変わる遺物。以前には持ち帰る量が少ないと文句まで言っていた。それを自分から減らそうと提案するほどに、リュックサックはずっしりと重かった。
だがアルファに真面目な表情で却下される。
『駄目よ。正直な話、私はアキラの不運を過小評価していたわ。訓練の
「それは分かってるけどさ......」
単純な不満ともまた異なる少し複雑な顔を浮かべるアキラに、アルファが少し不満げな様子を見せる。
く助かってる。あの時もアルファがいなければ死んでたしな。感謝してるし、信頼もしてる。けどなぁ......」
その感謝と信頼に
アキラが軽く吹き出した。そして自分はシズカ達にそんなに大きな反応を見せていたのかと思って僅かに慌て出す。
『アキラの触覚に訴えられない以上、もっと視覚側から訴えるにはどういう格好が適しているのかしら。やっぱり全裸? いえ、サラの時の反応から判断して、もっとこう、
「分かったよ。俺が悪かった。文句を言わずに運ぶって。だから服を元に戻せ」
アルファが今までの
『アキラ。向こうに誰かいるわ』
「まず服を元に戻せ。あっちか」
アキラが双眼鏡でその方向を確認すると、遺跡の中を必死に走る少年の姿が見えた。
「あいつ、どっかで見たような......」
を売ってきた子よ。反撃して殴り飛ばしたでしょう?』
「言われてみればあんな顔だったような......」
しかしその冷却期間が終わるまで自分が生きている保証はない。何とかしてその期間を縮めなければならない。そう考えて、その手段を必死に考えたエリオは、賭けに出た。アリシアに頼み込んで銃を借りると、遺物を求めてクズスハラ街遺跡に向かったのだ。
徒党に戻るにはアキラかシェリルのどちらかと話を付けなければならない。しかし誠心誠意頭を下げれば済む話ではない。手土産がいる。そして遺跡から遺物を持ち帰れば十分な手土産になる。遺物を求めるハンターに対しても、今すぐ遺跡に行って遺物を取ってこいと言ったボスに対しても、十分な
アキラがエリオを見ながら
しむような表情を浮かべる。
変わらない。ウェポンドッグ達と遭遇したことを考えれば、無謀のほどは自分の方が上かもしれない。アキラがそう思って苦笑する。そして不意にエリオの姿にあの時の自分を重ねた。するとその表情が少し真面目なものに変わった。
双眼鏡越しに見えるのは、アルファと出会わなかった場合の自身の姿。その結末を分かり
いて銃を構えた。アルファが意外そうな表情を浮かべる。
「ああ。これも何かの縁だ。あいつを助けて俺の幸運の足しにしよう。......それに、ちょうど良いしな」
アキラは軽く笑い、よく狙って引き金を引いた。
を削る着弾音が響き続け、モンスターの体に穴が増えていく。穴から鮮血が垂れて地面を染めていく。
それでもモンスターは生きていた。もがきながらも、よたよたとしながらも、再び立ち上がる。だが更に数発の銃弾を胴体に撃ち込まれると、自身の血で赤く染まった地面に再び崩れ落ちた。
「......助かった? ......た、助かった。......助かったんだ!」
エリオが喜びの表情で荒い呼吸を整えながら、銃声がした方向を、自分を助けてくれた人がいる方を見る。すると途端にその表情が固まった。視線の先にいたのは、先日
エリオはアキラへの畏怖を強めながら、今更ながら後悔していた。
背中の重量から解放されたおかげで調子良くモンスターを倒していたアキラが、倒したモンスターを見て少し
『......本当に、物騒だな』
『一応、少し急いで帰りましょうか』
都市まで戻ったアキラはそのままカツラギの移動店舗であるトレーラーに向かった。エリオも最後の力を振り絞って付いていく。一緒にトレーラーの前まで行くと、いつものように店番をしていたカツラギがアキラに気付いた。
「アキラか。今回は女連れじゃなくて男連れか。
「今回は客だ。遺物の買取の方だけどな」
「おっ。遺物の買取か。何であれ客なら大歓迎だ。それで、遺物はどこだ?」
アキラがエリオに背負わせているリュックサックを指差すと、カツラギが機嫌良く笑う。
「結構多そうだな。裏に回りな」
全員でトレーラーの裏手に移動した後、アキラは買取を頼む遺物を地面に並べ始めた。初めは適当に並べようとしていたが、すぐにアルファから回復薬等の売る気のない遺物をリュックサックから出さないように注意された。念話で軽く尋ねる。
『見せるだけでも
『値段次第で1箱ぐらいなら売っても良いんじゃないか?』
アキラも命は惜しい。納得して、気を付けて遺物を並べ続けた。
カツラギが地面に並べられた遺物を見て、その量にほくそ笑む。
(......どこで手に入れたかは知らねえが、結構量があるじゃねえか。やはりアキラは金になるハンターだ。良い付き合いをしておかないとな)
カツラギは遺物の査定を終えると、頭の中で買取額を算出し、アキラに商売人の笑顔を向ける。
「......そうだな、これなら全部で......500万オーラムでどうだ?」
カツラギの表情は誠実な商売人の誠意に
「分かった。全部ハンターオフィスの買取所に持っていく」
アキラが本当に遺物をリュックサックに戻そうとすると、カツラギが慌て出す。
「待て待て待て待て待て! ほら、そこは値段交渉とかしようじゃないか。いきなり切り上げるな」
カツラギはアキラの態度が交渉用のブラフではないと判断すると、仕方なく駆け引き抜きで算出した金額を提示する。
「......分かった! 800万オーラム! これでどうだ!」
「分かった。次からは初めからその金額を提示してくれ」
「よし。商談成立だな」
買い取られた遺物はカツラギ達によってトレーラーの中に運び込まれた。そしていずれアキラへの支払額をかなり超えた金額で他の販売業者に卸される。
カツラギは良い取引を済ませて上機嫌だ。
「支払はどうする? 現金か? こっちとしては口座振り込みの方が楽なんだが......」
アキラは少し前までスラム街で生活していたこともあり、預金口座など持っていない。だが今ならハンターオフィスで手続きを済ませれば口座を開設できる。まだ口座を開いていないのは、今までの生活から預金口座の開設など思いも付かなかっただけだが、適当にごまかすことにする。
い相手もいるんだ。支払額の桁が増える前には何とかするよ」
カツラギはチラッとエリオを見てそれで納得した。シェリル達のような相手に金を渡すのなら現金の方が良いからだ。
「分かった。現金だな。ちょっと待ってろ」
カツラギは一度トレーラーの中に戻ると、800万オーラム分の札束と一緒に戻ってきた。その札束には、疲労
アキラが複雑な表情で自分を見ているエリオに気付く。だがその内心までは分からず、遺物運びが済んだので帰って良いのかどうか、分け前はないのだろうか、それを聞いて良いのかどうか迷っているぐらいにしか思わなかった。
「用は済んだから帰って良いぞ。命を助けたんだから運び賃とかは無しだ。じゃあな」
リュックサックを背負って返ろうとするアキラを見て、エリオはアキラに自分を徒党へ復帰できるように頼み込むのは今しかないと気付いた。ここで下手に言い
「シェリルの徒党に俺を加えるようにシェリルに話してくれないか!? この前のことで徒党を追い出されたんだ! 命を助けてもらったけど、徒党に戻れないと俺はその内に死んじまう! 頼む! あんな重いものをここまで運んできたんだ! 俺はそこそこ役に立っただろう!?」
アキラが少し無表情気味の顔でエリオを見る。それは大金を手に入れた動揺等を隠す
シェリル達の徒党はそれなりに順調に活動していた。シェリル達が元々シベアの徒党の構成員であること。そのシベアを殺したアキラが後ろ盾になったと広まったこと。カツラギという商人の協力で金策や銃器類も手に入れたこと。それらの要因などにより、スラム街の他の徒党からシベアの縄張りを受け継いだと認識され、単なる子供の集まりではなく、一応縄張りを持つ新たな弱小徒党という程度の扱いは受けられるようになっていた。
しかし徒党のボスであるシェリルやその構成員、更には後ろ盾であるアキラまで、全員子供だという理由もあって、徒党に加わりたいと願い出る者の中に大人はいなかった。結果として、シェリルの徒党は構成員が全員少年少女というスラム街では珍しい徒党となった。
シェリルが自室でアリシアと話している。
「縄張りの掃除は順調?
スラム街で縄張りを持つ徒党には、暗黙的にやらなければならない仕事がある。それは縄張りの清掃だ。縄張りに落ちているゴミを、投棄物を片付けるのだ。
縄張りの掃除はそれなりに重要な意味がある。スラム街の暗黙の決まり事として、基本的に縄張りに捨てられているものはそこを管理する徒党のものだ。捨てた者にとってはゴミであっても、スラム街の住人にとっては有益な物も多い。
まだ使える物は自分達で使う。金属類であれば量を集めて
って清掃担当の仲間の話を思い出す。
「うーん。死体が多いって文句を言っている人が多かったわ。それぐらいかな」
「それは仕方がないわ。最近誰も片付けていなかった訳だからね」
スラム街では強盗など珍しくない。被害者が殺されることも多い。その逆も多い。相打ちになることもある。そして当然だが死体は誰かが片付けない限りその場に放置される。縄張りに残されたそれらの死体を所持品と一緒に片付けるのも徒党の仕事だ。
シベア達の徒党が壊滅したことにより、その縄張りは一時的に空白地となった。そんな場所を自主的に掃除する者などいないので、その間に放置された死体が多数
死体を荒野まで運ぶのも一苦労だ。荒野では下手をするとモンスターと遭遇する場合があるので、それなりに武装する必要がある。シェリル達はカツラギから提供された銃で何とか最低限の武装を整えていた。
縄張りの死体を放置せずに片付けるのは徒党にとっても有益だ。都市は食料の無料配給の実施場所にスラム街でも清潔な場所を選んでいる。縄張りが清潔だと配給場所に選ばれる可能性が高くなるのだ。
そのような事情もあり、スラム街はそれぞれの縄張りを管理する徒党の努力によって、それなりに清潔に保たれていた。
アリシアがシェリルに少しおずおずと尋ねる。
「......ねえ、シェリル。徒党の人数って、もう結構増えたよね?」
め役の人間は作るつもりよ。人選とかも一応考えている途中だから、大変だろうけど、もうちょっと我慢して」
シェリルが徒党の全員を直接管理するのは難しい。人が増えれば更に難しくなるが、それでも人は足りていない。今後の人員増加も見越して、自分以外の
「それは私も頑張るつもりだけど......、そうじゃなくて......、その......」
「......シェリルは徒党の人数が何人ぐらいになれば、エリオが徒党に混ざっても大丈夫だと考えてるの?」
アリシアはエリオの身を案じていた。何とか止めようとはしたのだが、エリオは他に手がないと言って遺跡に向かってしまった。
徒党の銃を勝手にエリオに渡したとシェリルに知られたら、自分も徒党から追い出されかねない。それを十分に分かった上で、それでもエリオが生きて帰ってくることを願い、アリシアはエリオに銃を渡した。
っていないのよ? そんな短期間でエリオを徒党に戻せる訳がないでしょう? これからアキラは何度もここに来るの。もしその時にエリオの姿がアキラの視界に入ったら、今度はエリオを追い出すだけじゃ済まないわ。エリオだけで済むとも限らないわ。そんなことも分からないの?」
シェリル達の間に沈黙が流れる。そこに流れる懇願と拒絶が相手の意志を曲げさせることはなかった。シェリルが冷たく言い放つ。
「いらっしゃいませ。今日もここに足を運んでいただいて、ありがとう御座います。......えっと、エリオが何かアキラにしましたか? その、エリオはもうあの後に私の徒党から追い出したので、エリオがアキラに何かしたとしても私達には関係がないというか......」
アキラの機嫌を損ねないようにしているシェリルとは対照的に、アキラは普通にしていた。
「そうらしいな。シェリルが嫌じゃないなら、エリオをまた徒党に加えてやってくれ。嫌なら無理は言わない。ボスはシェリルだからな」
「アキラがそう言うのなら私は構いませんが......、その、良いんですか?」
「ああ。ちょっと仕事を手伝ってもらったからな」
「エリオ。シェリルに余計なことを話すな。シェリル。エリオに余計なことを聞くな。いいな?」
及び腰のエリオと
「俺の用事はそれだけだ。じゃあな」
アキラはそれだけ言って帰っていった。
「それで、何があったの?」
エリオはシェリルに経緯を話そうとして、具体的な内容を口に出す前に止めた。その後に自分の発言内容を注意深く確認するようにゆっくりと話し始める。
「......いろいろあって、アキラに命を助けてもらった。その後に......ちょっとアキラを手伝った。......アキラの用事が済んだ後に、シェリルへの口利きを頼んだ。それだけだ」
エリオは余計なことを話していないかどうかを自分で再確認していた。
「命を助けてもらったって、一体何が......」
シェリルはもっと詳しく尋ねようとして、慌てた様子で必死に首を横に振るエリオを見て取り
えを見せていた。アキラに殴りかかった時とは大違いだ。
シェリルが真剣な表情で尋ねる。
「これだけは教えて。もうアキラは怒っていないのね?」
「それにしても本当に良かったわ。エリオは遺跡から生きて帰ってきたし、また徒党に加わることも出来た。よく分からないけど、アキラさんのおかげなのよね?」
「ああ。そうだ。遺跡で助けてもらったんだ」
エリオは楽しげに話しているアリシアの隣で、遺跡でのことを思い出して少し
「エリオ。どうかしたの?」
「そう? それなら良いけど。助けてもらったってことは、危険なことがあったのよね。やっぱりモンスターに襲われたの? それをアキラさんに助けてもらったり......」
アリシアは少したじろぎながらも、しっかり
エリオは気付いた。恐らくあれがアキラが言う余計なことなのだと。
自分がそれを誰かに話してしまえば、話した自分はどうなるのか、聞いた誰かはどうなるのか。もしアリシアに話してしまったら、アキラはアリシアをどうするのだろうか。そう考えた途端、エリオの背筋に
「エリオ。大丈夫?」
エリオがアリシアを安心させるように笑って答える。
Akira was dragging his feet within the Kuzusuhara ruins. He was only able to walk at this speed by stopping every few steps to take a breath. But even with all this struggle with walking, he was somehow able to banish the thought of lying down, to continue dragging his feet once again.
The reason why he was walking so slowly was because of the rucksack on his back. It was filled with relics up to its brim and it was so heavy that it made his legs shake while carrying it. He was somehow able to carry it thus far, but he suddenly mumbled a complaint.
"Alpha, I'm thinking, isn't this a bit too much? Can we like, you know, leave some of the relics behind?"
He knew that if he could bring it back, it would definitely fetch him a huge amount of money. Not to mention that he was the one who previously complained about bringing only a small quantity of relics. But the rucksack he was carrying was heavy enough to make him suggest leaving some of the relics behind.
But Alpha rejected his complaint with a serious face.
"No, we won't do that. To be honest, I think I underestimated your bad luck. Right when we decided to go out to the wasteland for training for a day, you got attacked by 2 groups of monsters right away. Even I didn't see that coming, you know. So in order to prepare you to face bad luck anytime, we need to get you better equipment as soon as possible. The money that we earn from these relics will be used to buy that equipment, so you should give your best for a little while longer."
"I understand your point, but..."
Alpha could see that Akira was not just displeased, there was another complicated expression mixed in his face. So Alpha too made a displeased look as she said to Akira.
"That's not what I meant. Your support is really helpful to me. Even back there too, I would've died if it wasn't for your support. I'm really thankful and I do trust you. But still..."
Akira's trust and gratitude were not fake, but there were a lot of other things inside his head.
Akira coughed and fl.u.s.tered as he wondered whether he really reacted that much to Shizuka and the other girls.
"Since I can't entice you with touches, I wonder if I can entice you with appearance instead. Maybe being n.a.k.e.d works well? No, judging from how you reacted to Sara, I think suggestive clothing works better."
"Alright alright, I'm sorry. I won't complain again so switch back to your normal cloth."
But Alpha just ignored that as she pointed towards the ruins.
"Akira, there's somebody over there."
"Just put on your cloth first. Over there, huh?"
Akira then pulled out his binoculars and scanned towards the direction that Alpha pointed, he could see a young boy running desperately.
"That boy, I've seen him somewhere before..."
"He's the young boy that attacked you back in Sheryl's base. Is he heading here to kill you for revenge or something?"
"Now that you mention it, he indeed looks like that boy..."
But there was no guarantee that he would be alive until that time comes. Thus, he had to do something before he loses any more time. He thought hard and made a gamble. He asked Alicia to lend him a gun and went to Kuzusuhara ruins looking for relics.
In order to return back, Erio had to talk with either Sheryl or Akira. But it was not a problem that could be solved by prostrating and begging for forgiveness. He will have to bring something of worth with him and bringing a relic from the ruins would be the perfect souvenir. He thought that would be enough as an apology to both Akira, a Hunter who was working by hunting for relics, and Sheryl, his boss, who told him to fetch a relic from the ruins. That was why he decided to look for relics in the ruins.
Akira was watching Erio with a confused look.
Alpha smiled teasingly.
It was true, he was not that different from Akira from back then. But since Akira met a group of weapon dog on his first day, he might have been actually more careless than Erio in a sense. Akira smiled bitterly after realizing this. The scene of Erio running away from the monster reminded him of himself and Akira's face turned serious.
What Akira was seeing from his binocular was what would have happened to him had he not met Alpha. It was obvious as to how this scene would end, it would only take a few more seconds for that monster to catch up with Erio and another second for that monster to severely injure him. If that happened, then that would be the end of Erio's life. That was also how Akira's life too could have ended in a different storyline.
Akira mumbled those words as he picked up his gun. Seeing his action, Alpha looked surprised.
"Yeah, this must be some kind of fate. Let's help him and improve my luck... Moreover, he came at the right time."
Akira laughed lightly as he carefully took aim and pulled the trigger of his gun.
And right when that monster jumped towards him, it suddenly rolled over. Then gunshot kept reverberating as bullet splinters ricocheted around the monster. Blood spurted out of the holes that opened up on the monster's body, dyeing the earth red.
But even so, the monster was still alive. Although it was wobbly and unstable, the monster got back on its feet. Then another bullet tore through its limbs and it fell down on the pool of its own blood.
"...I'm saved...? I'm saved... I'm saved!!!"
Erio tried to calm down his breathing while still looking excited. He then turned towards the direction where he heard the gunshot from, to look for the person who just saved him. But the moment he saw his saviour, his expression froze. The person that he saw in that direction was the same person that he attacked the other day. It was the person that he met in Sheryl's base who aimed his gun at him as he was lying on the ground and pulled the trigger without any hesitation.
Erio's fear of Akira just multiplied several times and it made him regret his action even more than before.
After getting released from the burden of his rucksack, Akira was shooting down monsters in a good mood. But he then looked puzzled as he stared at the monsters that he just killed.
"...They're really that dangerous, huh?"
"Let's hurry up and go home for now."
Once they arrived at the city, they immediately headed to Katsuragi's portable shop and trailer. Erio squeezed every little stamina that he had as he went for the last spurt. When they arrived in front of the trailer, Katsuragi who was watching the shop immediately noticed Akira and Erio.
"Akira, huh? This time you're bringing a boy rather than a girl with you, huh. But that aside, you really didn't betray my expectations, this time you are here as a customer, right?"
"Yeah, I'm a customer today. Although, I'm only here to sell relics."
"Ah, selling relics, huh? Well, whatever it is, I welcome any customers. So then, where's the relic?"
Akira then pointed at the rucksack that Erio was carrying. Looking at that, Katsuragi smiled in a good mood.
"That looks quite a lot, bring it to the back."
After the three of them went to the back of the trailer, Akira started putting out all the relics that he wanted to sell. At first, he just put out everything from inside the rucksack randomly before Alpha told him to keep the medicines. So then Akira asked Alpha through telepathy.
"Is it a bad idea if I put it out just to show it to him?"
"Depending on the price, wouldn't it be okay to sell at least one box?"
Since Akira himself did not want to die, he started to carefully put out the relics.
After scanning all the relics that were piled up in front of him, Katsuragi chuckled.
[...I don't know where this boy got all of these relics. But this amount is pretty impressive. As I thought, this boy will be a successful Hunter. I have to get on his good side no matter what.]
After that, Katsuragi appraised all the relics and did the mental calculation. He then put on his merchant smile and looked at Akira.
"...Hmmm. Well then... How about if I take everything for 5,000,000 Aurum?"
Katsuragi's face was filled with honesty and sincerity of a merchant. But that sincerity was mixed with some hidden fees that were needlessly added.
"I understand, I'll take them to the Hunter Office then."
As Akira went to pick up his relics and put them back inside the rucksack, Katsuragi went to panic mode and said.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Well, like, this is where you should haggle, right? Don't just give up now."
Katsuragi knew that it was not a bluff when Akira said that. So he did not have any other choice but to rethink his price.
"...I understand!! 8,000,000 Aurum!! How about that?"
"Sounds good to me, you should do that right from the start next time, okay?"
"Aright then, we have a deal here."
The relics that Katsuragi bought were moved into his trailer. He would eventually sell those relics at a higher price than what he had paid to Akira. After all, that was where his ability as a merchant would shine. No one would complain even if he sold those relics at a higher price since he had to spend more money on the appraisal, getting a quality assurance certificate among many other things.
Katsuragi was in a good mood since he got himself a good deal.
"How do you want me to pay you? Do you want it in cash? It's easier for me to pay you through bank transfer though..."
Akira had always been living in the slum city up until recently, so he did not have a bank account yet. Although he could easily open a bank account by doing some simple paperwork in the Hunter Office, the reason he did not do that was because up until now, he had no need for a bank account. So he tried to let the subject slide as he casually said.
"There are people that only accept payment with cash. But I'll do something about it when I need to handle a larger amount of money."
Katsuragi then glanced at Erio and was fully convinced with that reasoning. If Akira wanted to give money to Sheryl's gang, it would be better if he did it with cash.
"I understand, so its cash, right? Then wait for a bit."
Katsuragi went inside his trailer and returned back with 8,000,000 Aurum in big bundles. Seeing this much money shocked Erio, who was lying down out of exhaustion, so much that his eyes bulged like saucers.
Akira noticed that Erio was looking at him with a complicated look. But he could not understand why. Akira was at a loss whether to send Erio home now since he had finished with carrying the rucksack and had no further business with him? Or should he give Erio a portion of the money? Akira did not even know if it was a good idea to ask Erio about that. But then he said.
"That's it then, I have no other business with you. You can go back home now. I've saved you back there so you get nothing from me. Later then."
Watching Akira as he picked up his rucksack and was about to return on his way, Erio realized that it was his only chance to ask Akira to help him in getting back to Sheryl's gang. But if he asked him poorly, Akira might think that he was trying to ask for a share of the money and get angry at him instead. Thus he desperately tried to be careful as he asked Akira.
"Can you please ask Sheryl to let me return back to her gang? I was banished because of what I did back then. You might have saved me, but without the gang, I would get killed sooner or later! So please help me!! I even helped you carry that heavy rucksack, you know!! So I'm at least helpful to you, right?!! Please help me!!"
Akira looked back at Erio with an expressionless face. It was him trying to act calmly to hide the fact that he was carrying a huge amount of money. But Erio did not understand that and he began sweating in a panic thinking that he had made Akira angry.
Sheryl's gang was doing good. After all, her gang members were basically the same gang members that were in Sibea's gang. And the information that Akira who killed Sibea was supporting the gang was already well known among the people of the slum. Not to mention that the gang was able to get a steady flow of money and guns from Katsuragi. Adding up all of those factors together, people of the slum city already recognized that Sheryl's gang was not just a gathering of slum kids, but a proper gang albeit a small and weak one.
But there was also the fact that the boss, Sheryl, and the members who were running the gang, and even Akira, the one who was supporting the gang were all small children. Because of that, there was no a.d.u.l.t who wanted to join Sheryl's gang. As such, Sheryl's gang became a unique gang in the slum city where all its members were small children.
Inside the base, Sheryl was talking with Alicia in a private room.
"How's the cleanup in our territory? Is it going well? Did our gang get into any fights? After all, our territory should be a bit dirty right now, so it's to be expected for some people to be displeased with us."
All the gangs in the slum city had one extra job, and that was to clean up their territory with any trash and garbage.
Cleaning up one's territory was very important in the slum city. Not only because it was an unwritten rule in the slum city, but also everything that a gang picked up during their clean up became that gang's property. Although those were trash for the people who dumped them, most of them could still bring money for the people who lived in the slum city.
Anything that still could be of use would be kept, while any metal object found would be gathered together and sold as wreckages. Then anything that looked like repairable would be repaired and used or sold to other people. And the leftover would be dumped in the wasteland.
Alicia begrudgingly recalled her conversation with her other friends that were on clean up duty.
"Hmmm. There's quite a lot of people who complained about the number of corpses lying around. That's all, I guess."
"Well, that's to be expected. After all, no one cleaned up around this area until recently."
The slum city was riddled with robbers. Thus, it was common to find corpses of either the victims or the robbers or even both. Of course, if no one took care of those corpses, they would just be left there to rot. It was the job of the gang who owned that territory to clean up those corpses together with their personal belongings.
When Sibea was killed and the gang was disbanded. The territory was left unmanaged for a while. Thus, corpses piled up in the area since there was no one to clean up those corpses.
Carrying dead bodies to the wasteland was not an easy job. Since there was a chance for them to encounter monsters, it was important to arm them with proper equipment. Thanks to Katsuragi, Sheryl was able to obtain the minimum required equipment for traversing the wasteland.
Keeping one's territory clean from any corpses also brought benefits to the gang. After all, the government only picked a clean area to distribute their free food rations. So keeping the area clean increased the chance for the area to be picked as the distribution place.
Because of this, all the gangs in the slum city put their complete effort to keep their territory clean.
Alicia then carefully asked Sheryl.
"...Uhmm, Sheryl. About the number of the gang's members, we got a lot of new members, right?"
"I'm thinking of selecting you and few other people to help me manage the gang, you know. But I'm still evaluating who to pick. I know that it won't be easy, but do your best, okay?"
It would be impossible for Sheryl to directly manage everything in the gang and it would only get worse as her gang grew in size. But even so, she still needed more people to join her gang. So considering that fact, Sheryl thought that she should hurry up and decide the group of people that would help her manage the gang. And since she was good at managing a group, she did not worry about the problems that might arise from creating such a group.
"Of course I'll give my best in that too, but... That's not what I meant... Uhh..."
"...Sheryl, do you think it's okay to let Erio rejoin once we get some more members?"
Alicia was worried about Erio. She did try to stop him back then but Erio said that he did not have any other choice as he set off to the Kuzusuhara ruins.
Although Alicia understood that Sheryl might even banish her if Sheryl came to know that she gave one of the gang's gun to Erio without permission, Alicia still gave it to Erio, hoping that he would be able to return back safely.
"Just no, it hasn't even been a month since that happened, you know? There's no way I would let him join back in such a short time! Akira would visit this place regularly from now on, you know. So if he catches the sight of Erio, it might end up worse than having to banish him. And he might even get angry at the other kids too. Don't you even understand that?!"
There was silence between them. Although she said that, both of them did not yield back. Sheryl then said coldly.
"Welcome. Thank you very much for visiting us again today... Uhh, did Erio bother you again? Umm, please let me say this beforehand, Erio was banished from the gang since that happened. So if he did something to you, we have nothing to do with him anymore..."
In contrast to Sheryl who was trying to be as polite as possible in order not to ruin Akira's mood, Akira replied to her casually.
"Yeah, that's what I heard too. If it's okay with you, can you let him rejoin the gang? Although, I'm totally fine if you're not okay with it. After all, you're the boss here."
"Well... I don't really mind if you say so, but... Are you really okay with that?"
"Yeah, after all, he helped me a bit with my work today."
"Erio, don't say anything unnecessary to Sheryl. And Sheryl, don't ask anything unnecessary to Erio. Okay?"
After hearing Erio answer back nervously and Sheryl who was smiling, Akira lightly nodded and said.
"That's all for today. Later then."
Akira then left the building.
"So, what happened?"
Erio thought of telling Sheryl what happened, but he knew that he had to be careful not to tell her the complete details of the story. So Erio tried to be very careful with his words.
"...Things happened and Akira ended up saving my life. Then after that... Well, I had to help Akira... After I helped him, I begged him to help me talk with you to rejoin the gang. That's all."
Erio then recalled back what he just said to make sure that he did not say anything unnecessary.
"He saved your life, huh... How exactly did he...?"
Sheryl was about to ask for further details but stopped midway as she saw Erio desperately shaking his head.
Erio looked scared when he said that. It was so different compared to when he was trying to punch Akira.
Sheryl then asked Erio with a serious look.
"At least tell me this, Akira is not angry at you anymore, right?"
"I'm really glad that you came back alive, Erio. Not to mention that you got to return back to the gang too. I don't really understand what happened, but it's all thanks to Akira, right?"
"Yeah, you're right, he saved me back in the ruins."
As Erio looked at Alicia who was talking in such a happy mood, he remembered what happened to him back in the ruins. He was puzzled and thought.
"Erio, what's wrong?"
"Are you sure? Well, if you say so. By the way, you said that Akira saved you, so you were in danger, right? As I thought, did you get attacked by monsters and then get saved by Akira or something like-"
Alicia flinched as she answered back and nodded firmly.
Erio finally realized what Akira meant when Akira warned him not to say anything unnecessary.
Erio shivered as he thought about the consequences if he said anything about that to other people. Then he thought about what would happen to Alicia if he told her about Akira. But just thinking about that made a chill run down his spine.
"Erio, are you really okay?"
Erio smiled to clear up Alicia's worry as he replied back.
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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