アキラが真っ白な世界にいる。夢を見るたびに前にも似たような夢を見たことに何となく気付いているが、目覚めた時には忘れてしまう。その時に浮かんだ疑問と一緒に。
アキラはぼんやりとした意識で何かを話し合っている2人のアルファを見ていた。
アキラに近い方のアルファが少し不機嫌そうに尋ねている。
「もう少し何とかならなかったの?」
遠い方のアルファが気にした様子もなく答える。
「まあ良いわ。それで、そっちはどうして急に方針を切り替えたの?」
「当初の予定では、周囲の人間が少数であるほどにこちら側の個体の補正を強くして、かつ周囲の人間が死傷した場合により強く補正を掛けることで、個体及び周囲の認識に偏りを促し、こちらの個体を孤立させるように仕向けていた。だが個体の特異性の影響度を考慮し直した結果、個体を孤立させることも、目立たせないことも、現実的ではないと判断し直した。よって、方針を切り替えることにした。基本的には今までの逆となる」
「大丈夫なの?」
「これも試行だ。成功にしろ、失敗にしろ、有意義なデータとなる。そちらとの比較にもなる」
「そう。好きにすれば良いと思うけれど、こっちの邪魔はしないで。共倒れは御免よ」
『お早う。アキラ』
「ああ。お早う。......」
ベッドから身を起こしたアキラが気懸かりがあるような表情でアルファを見る。アルファが不思議そうに尋ねる。
『どうかしたの?』
『それは光栄ね』
アルファが不敵に
『あら、私が一人だと足りないの? 増やしましょうか?』
アルファがアキラの視界を拡張する。部屋の中に無数のアルファの姿が現れる。圧迫感を覚えるほどの多数のアルファが多種多様な服を着て同じ顔で同じ
「それで、俺達はいつまでこの辺をうろうろしていれば良いんだ?」
コルベがレビンに答える。
「落ち着けって。ものには順序ってのがあるんだ。お前の頼みでわざわざ付き合ってやってるんだぞ? お前の面倒な相談を引き受けてやってるんだ。
レビンがやや押され気味になりながら答える。
「ああ、分かってる。だからどこに向かっているのかとか、何を探しているのかとか、それぐらいは教えてくれても良いだろう。
「ああ。分かってるって。俺も知人の借金を取り立てるのは余り気が進まない。まあ、いよいよとなれば別だがな」
コルベの笑みは、いよいよとなれば本当に容赦をしないとレビンに告げていた。レビンが嫌そうに表情を
「......400万オーラムだ」
「はっ?」
「......その内の200万オーラムは、コルベのところから借りている」
ハザワが驚きと軽い
もな疑問に、レビンが逆ぎれに近い形で返事をする。
「俺だってこんなことになるとは思わなかったんだよ!」
レビンが事情を知らないハザワに説明を始めた。
カツラギから40万オーラム借りた時、レビンは契約内容をしっかり確認したつもりだった。契約内容は安い金利で明示的な返済期限もない一見良心的な内容だった。何か裏があるのではないかと疑って必死に契約書を確認したのだが、それらしい記述は見つからなかった。
強いて言えば、返済が完了するまでカツラギの店で装備や弾薬を購入することや、旧世界の遺物を優先的に売却することが推奨されていることぐらいだ。それも強制ではない。カツラギの店を優先的に、あるいは独占的に利用し続けるかぎり、金利や返済期限をいろいろ考慮する。そのような内容だった。
後はハンターが借金をする時によくある契約の条文が続いていた。勝手に
レビンはカツラギが自分に金を貸した理由を、顧客獲得の販売促進の一環だと認識した。そして納得して契約書にサインをしたのだ。
問題はレビンが再び旧世界の遺跡に向かおうとした時に起こった。カツラギがレビンとの契約を元にして、対象の遺跡を指定したのだ。
カツラギが指定した旧世界の遺跡は、レビンの装備では少々手に余る場所だった。レビンは自分の装備を理由にして何とか断ろうとしたのだが、カツラギは逆により良い装備の購入を勧めてきた。
俺もお前に死なれたら困るから代金は後で良い。カツラギはそんなことを言いながら、言葉巧みにレビンを説得した。より良い装備が欲しいのはレビンも一緒だ。レビンはその話に乗った。
レビンはカツラギから新しい装備を買い、旧世界の遺跡に向かい、遺物を手に入れて帰還し、遺物をカツラギに売却した。その金は全て返済に回され、レビンの借金の総額は減らずに増えていた。カツラギに勧められるままに手に取った装備品の数々は、レビンの予想を超えて高額だったのだ。
後はその繰り返しだ。カツラギの店で武器弾薬を購入し、カツラギが指定する遺跡に向かい、遺物をカツラギに売却し、レビンの借金が増えるのだ。カツラギが指定する遺跡は、レビンの実力ではより良い装備と大量の弾薬がなければ帰還が難しい場所ばかりだ。しかもカツラギが勧める装備さえあれば、十分帰還できる難易度の遺跡ばかりだった。
レビンは仕方なくより良い装備をカツラギから購入し続けることになった。カツラギの指示を無視すれば、契約によって金利や返済期限の考慮がなくなり、瞬く間に装備品を差し押さえられて、借金を返すために装備無しで遺跡に向かう羽目になるからだ。
レビンは一度、手に入れた遺物を別の買い取り業者に売ろうとした。だが運悪くそれをカツラギに見つかってしまい、一部の債権を別の金融業者に流されてしまった。借金持ちのハンターを食い物にしようとする者は多い。債権の流れた先がコルベのところだったのはただの幸運ではなく、レビンがコルベに必死に頼んで何とかしてもらった結果だ。その手間賃は当然ながらレビンの借金に加わった。
レビンが声を荒らげて必死に反論する。
「それで借金まで充実させられるのは御免だ! 契約で遺物の売却先までカツラギに押さえられているんだ! 相場の下限ぎりぎりの額で買い取っているに決まってる! 何とかするんだよ!」
心境を吐き出して我に返ったレビンは頭を抱えて
り着く。そこはスラム街の一画でシェリル達が縄張りとしている場所だった。
道端でシェリルの徒党の少年が露店を開いている。スラム街の住人が売れそうな物を拾ってきて道端で売るのは珍しくない。コルベが探していたものはそれらの露店だった。コルベ達は露店に近付いて品物を見る。
店番の少年が品物を見るコルベ達に話しかける。
じゃない! ちゃんと旧世界の遺跡から持ってきたんだ!」
「どこの遺跡だ? 本当なら遺跡の名前を言ってみろ」
店番の少年が近くにいる別の少年に尋ねる。
「......あそこ、何て名前の遺跡だっけ?」
そう尋ねられた少年は、販売担当の少年とは異なり、
「ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡は大分前に値の付く遺物を取り尽くされて、ハンターから放置されている遺跡だ。あの遺跡にまだ残っている遺物に大した価値はねえよ。がらくただ」
ハンター相手に強気に出て怒りを買うのは得策ではない。販売担当の少年がそれを思い出して意気を弱めた。
コルベがレビンを
「まあ、落ち着けって。ちゃんと見てみようぜ。掘り出し物が有るかもしれないだろう?」
コルベ達が露店の商品をじっくり品定めする。しかしどれも安物で、コルベ達の目に
「本当に安物ばっかりだな。もっと高値のやつを隠していたりはしないのか?」
「......そんなもの、こんな場所で売るわけないだろう。盗まれたらどうするんだよ。あったとしても、気前の良い客にしか見せねえよ。冷やかしに来るようなやつには
コルベが販売担当の少年をじっと見る。少年は威圧されたように少し身を引いた。
少年の反応を確認した後で、コルベが笑って少年に尋ねる。
「ここにあるもの全部で幾らだ?」
「8000オーラムぐらいだ」
コルベがそう言って1万オーラムを販売担当の少年に渡す。少年は戸惑いを強くしてそれを受け取った。
「分かったよ。こっちだ。その前に、買った物はちゃんと持って帰ってくれ。買った以上、そっちの意思で捨てるのはそっちの勝手だが、ここに捨てないでくれ。買った物を買った店で捨てるやつは、気前が良くても客じゃねえ」
コルベは軽く笑って答える。
「了解だ。ああ、そうだ。お前の名前は?」
ティオルは無愛想に答えた。
コルベ達がティオルの案内でスラム街を進んでいく。その途中でコルベがティオルに尋ねる。
「なあ、さっきは何であんなことを言ったんだ?」
ティオルが少し考える素振りを見せてから答える。
「別にあの遺物が欲しくて金を払ったわけじゃないだろう。要らないなら捨てていく気がしただけだ。そんなことを繰り返されたら困る。自分で客を呼んでおいて、客が金を払って商品を持って帰ろうとしたら嫌な顔をする。そんな子供がいたら腹が立つだろう?」
「確かにな。それ、自分で判断したのか?」
「そうか。指示に従わずに俺達が捨てた商品を確保しておけば、ちょっとした小遣いになったんじゃないか? お前達にはそれなりの金だろう?」
ティオルが少し表情を険しくさせる。
コルベはティオルの後に続けて歩きながら思う。
(ある程度の統率は取れているわけか。ボスの力は大きいようだな)
コルベはティオルが所属している徒党の状態を確認して不敵に笑った。
旧世界の遺跡も危険だが、スラム街の知らない建物の中も別の意味で危険な場所だ。そこで敵対する可能性のある相手はモンスターではなく同じ人間だ。モンスターはモンスターで危険だが、人間は人間で危険なのだ。
建物の中に入ったコルベがレビン達を呼ぶ。
「何やってるんだ。早く来い。もう入場料を支払ったんだ。尻込みすんなよ。ハザワは
借金返済を指摘されたレビンが覚悟を決めてコルベに続く。ハザワも後に続いた。
コルベ達はティオルに案内されて建物の一室に通された。比較的大きめな部屋の中には、白いシーツが
その部屋の中央にシェリルが立っている。着ている服は以前アキラに仕立て直してもらった極上品だ。貴重な旧世界製の衣服を遺物としての価値を潰してまでシェリル専用に仕立て直した服は、シェリルの美貌を格段に引き上げていた。
素人目にも高価であることを理解させる衣服。その衣服に似合った
「いらっしゃいませ。ようこそ、お越しくださいました」
シェリルは自身の美貌を一層効果的にする
コルベ達は気付いていなかったが、部屋にはシェリルだけではなくアキラもいた。アキラは天井から垂れ下がっている白いシーツの裏に隠れていた。シェリルに頼まれて警備をしているのだ。
アキラはコルベ達を接客するシェリルと、シェリルの雰囲気に飲まれているコルベ達の様子をシーツの隙間からこっそり見ていた。コルベは一応平静を保っていたが、レビンとハザワはかなり気後れしていた。
シェリルが愛想良く接客を続けていると、レビンとハザワのシェリルに対する態度がどんどん好意的なものに変化していく。アキラはその様子を少し怖く思いながら見ていた。
アキラがヒガラカ住宅街遺跡でのことを思い出してアルファに話しかける。
『確か、ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡でもこんなことがあったな』
『あったわね。あの時の相手はデイルってハンターだったわ』
『ああ。シェリルと話している内にシェリルに対してどんどん好意的になって、貴重な情報をたっぷり自分から話し始めていた。シェリルから止めるぐらいいろいろ
『相手から好意的に捉えられる話術や、ちょっとした仕草や視線、表情とか総合的に駆使しているのよ。話も仕草も全て意図的に、相手の反応を常に確認しながら最適な態度を取り続けているのだと思うわ。シェリルは美人だし、その上で容姿を際立たせる高級そうな服も着ているし、営業と分かっていても悪い気はしないでしょうね。少しずつ、確実に相手を取り込んでいるのよ』
アキラがアルファの説明を聞いて尋ねる。
『なあ、念のために聞くけどさ、それって、俺もか? 俺もシェリルに取り込まれているのか?』
から見た自分の行動も実は大して違いはないかもしれない。シェリル達の徒党の後ろ盾になったり、高い服を贈ったりしている。自分は無意識にシェリルに好かれるためにシェリルの機嫌を取ろうとしているのだろうか。アキラはそんなことを考えた。
『大丈夫だと思うわ。確かにアキラはシェリルをいろいろ助けているけれど、アキラの
れや、アキラにも利益のある話が
『ちなみに、私もアキラを取り込もうと頑張っているつもりよ? だから私にしてほしいことがあったら何でも言ってちょうだいね? 私の容姿は服も体も自由自在だから、視覚情報で済む話ならたっぷり最高に楽しませてあげるわ』
アキラは照れ隠しをするようにアルファから視線を
コルベ達が売り物である旧世界の遺物の目利きをしている。白いシーツの上に並べられている旧世界の遺物は、確かに外の露店にはとても置けない高値の遺物だ。コルベは遺物と値段の書かれた紙を見比べている。コルベの感覚では、相場より高値の値段が付けられているように思える。
コルベがシェリルに聞こえるように
「......品は悪くないが、正直高いな」
シェリルが笑顔を絶やさずに答える。
「先ほど説明いたしましたように、それは即決価格ですから。値段交渉を御希望で御座いましたら承ります。出品者との交渉は私どもを通した間接的なものに限らせていただきますが」
「ああ、希望の値段を書き込むやつだな。いや、今のところは大丈夫だ」
並べられている旧世界の遺物は、シェリル達が出品者から預かって販売の代行をしていることになっている。販売形式はオークションに近い。欲しいが即決価格で買う気にはならない場合、希望の値段を提示するのだ。出品者がその価格で了承すれば売却となる。了承しなければそのままだ。出品者が即決価格を下げるまで待つか、諦めることになる。
正確にはシェリルが多数の出品者を装ってそれらしいことをするだけだ。出品者はアキラとカツラギの二人だけで、その扱いをシェリルに一任しているからだ。
売り物であるこれらの旧世界の遺物は、アキラがカツラギに売却しなかった物や、品
売り物に借り物が混ざっているが、その値段で売れたのならばカツラギに損はない。アキラは値段交渉に関わる気はない。
高値で売却すればシェリルの取り分も、アキラへの支払いも増えることになる。シェリルは可能な限り値段を
オークションを模しているのは、シェリルには遺物の相場の値段などよく分からないからだ。取りあえず相場を調べはしたが、遺物の売却に関しては素人に近い。オークションに近い形式にすれば自然にそれらしい価格になるだろう。シェリルはそう考えたのだ。
コルベがシェリルを探るように尋ねる。
「しかし、やっぱりどれも相場より高いと思うぞ。こんな値段だと誰も買わないんじゃないか?」
みながら、逆にコルベを探るようにそれらしいことを話してみた。コルベは内心を見透かされたような錯覚を覚えたが、何とか平静を保ち続けた。
「出品者の意図は分かりませんが、私どもの仕事がお預かりした遺物を可能な限り高額で販売することに違いはありません。私どもが勝手に値引きをしてしまえば、その差額を私どもが負担することになります。そういう訳ですので、私と交渉を試みても値引きすることはできませんよ?」
コルベは冗談交じりにそう答えて苦笑した。
Akira was standing inside a white space. Every time he got such a dream, he felt that he had seen a similar dream before as well, but he always forgot about it when he woke up, together with everything that happened inside that dream.
Akira's consciousness was still hazy as he saw 2 Alphas talking to each other.
The Alpha near Akira sounded a bit annoyed when she said.
"Couldn't you at least do something about it?"
The Alpha further away from Akira casually replied.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, so, why did you suddenly change your original plan?"
"Originally, I was planning to lessen the number of people around the subject in order to increase the effectiveness of my guidance, and when someone around the subject gets fatally wounded, it would affect the psychic of the subject greatly to further push him to prefer to work alone. However, considering how the special characteristic of the subject affects the result, I decided that it was impossible to proceed with the original plan to make the subject less conspicuous and act more separated from the other Hunters. As such, I changed my plan which is basically the opposite of my original plan."
"Are you sure that will be okay?"
"This is basically an experiment, whether it would work or not, this will give good data that will also be useful for you."
"I see. You can just do anything you want as long as you don't interrupt me. After all, it would be a disaster if we both failed because of that."
"Good morning, Akira."
"Yeah, good morning to you too..."
Akira pulled his body up from his bed and looked at Alpha as if there was something that was bothering him. Alpha frowned and asked.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh my, that's an honour."
Alpha smiled mischievously.
"Oh my, you need more than one of me? Should I multiply myself?"
Alpha enhanced Akira's vision and produced multiple images of herself inside Akira's room. The overwhelmingly many Alphas inside Akira's vision were all wearing different attires and were smiling at him.
"So, still how long exactly do I need to roam around this area?"
Colbert replied.
"Just calm down. There are steps to take for this kind of thing, you can't just rush it. I only accompanied you here because you asked me, you know? I'm here to help you handle those pain in the neck negotiations for you. So if things go well, you'll have to treat me tonight, you hear me?"
Revin seemed a bit overwhelmed by that response.
"Alright alright, I get it already. But can you at least tell me where are we going to or what are we actually looking for? If things go well, I'll treat you to anything you want, whether it's food, or beer, or girls. But just so you know, I don't have the money to treat you if my request and your plan don't go well. I'm sure you at least know that much. So I'm really counting on you, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. Even for me, I actually don't want to go to someone that I know is a debt collector. But of course, it's a completely different case if the time has come."
Colbert's smile was also saying that there would not be any mercy when the time came. Revin's face twitched.
"...Uhh, it's 4,000,000 Aurum."
"Hah?"
"...I borrowed 2,000,000 Aurum from the company where Colbert is working."
Hazawa looked at Revin with both exasperation and amazement. Colbert just smiled wryly. Revin awkwardly looked away as not to make any eye contact. Hazawa then said to Revin.
Hazawa's question was completely justified, but Revin replied back with a rather harsh tone.
"Even I did not mean it to turn like this, you know!"
Revin then started explaining to Hazawa who did not understand what was going on.
When Katsuragi took over that 400,000 Aurum debt from him, Revin thought that he did check the content of the contract. The content of the contract seemed to be fine, it had a low interest and no deadline stated. Revin thought that there must be some kind of string that was attached to it, but after checking the content closely, he did not find anything like that.
To put it simply, until he finished his payment, Revin just needed to prioritize Katsuragi's place when he wanted to buy ammo or medicines as well as when he wanted to sell old-world relics, and it was not compulsory even. As long as he prioritized Katsuragi's shop, Katsuragi would put that into consideration for the deadline and the interest rate of his debt. That was basically the content of his contract.
The rest were just common debt agreements intended for Hunters. Things like he would not try to run to another city, or that he would properly go out to the wasteland to earn money and not just stay inside the city, or the ruins that he was allowed to go to look for relics. Basically, these conditions were to make sure that the Hunter would not try to run away from his or her debt.
Revin thought that the reason Katsuragi lent him money was simply to promote Katsuragi's shop, that was why Revin was fully convinced by that and signed the contract.
The real problem happened when Revin was about to go out to the wasteland again. Katsuragi used the contract to designate a certain ruin for him to gather relics.
But that ruin that Katsuragi designated was a bit outside the capability of Revin's equipment. Revin was somehow able to get away using his equipment as an excuse, but then Katsuragi recommended Revin to buy some better equipment.
Katsuragi then even told Revin that it would only cause him trouble if Revin got killed, so he was willing to postpone the payment until later. Katsuragi was somehow able to talk his way to convince Revin. After all, Revin himself always wanted to get better equipment too, so he ended up taking that offer.
So then, Revin bought some new equipment, headed to the ruin, returned back with relics, and sold them to Katsuragi. The money that he made that day all went to repay his debt, but since the new equipment that Revin bought was more expensive than what he had expected, the money that he made that day was not able to make a dent in his debt.
The cycle continued as Revin bought medicines and ammo from Katsuragi, went to the ruin that Katsuragi designated, and sold the relics that he gathered to Katsuragi. His debt to Katsuragi kept increasing each time. The ruins that Katsuragi designated were ruins that the current Revin could not explore without buying better equipment and a lot of ammo, while at the same time, as long as he had the equipment that Katsuragi recommended, it was almost guaranteed that he would be able to return back alive.
Revin basically had no other choice but to buy the equipment that Katsuragi recommended to him. If he ignored the ruin designation from Katsuragi, due to the contract, Katsuragi had the right to refuse to make a compromise on the interest and the deadline of his debt. His equipment might end up getting confiscated and he had to go out to the wasteland unarmed to earn money to repay his debt.
Revin did try to sell the relics that he gathered to another place once. But unfortunately, Katsuragi found out about it and a part of his debt contract was sold to a company. There were many people who preyed on Hunters with debts. The reason why Revin's debt contract ended up getting sold to the company where Colbert was working was not out of simple luck, it was because Revin desperately asked Colbert to help him out. But of course, in exchange for that favour, Revin had to carry even more debt.
Revin immediately raised his tone and rebutted.
"Like hell I would just let myself continue and get myself drowned in debt!! The contract even limited me to sell my relics only to Katsuragi, you know! I bet he only pays me the minimum amount of money close to the lowest market price!! That's why I need to do something about this fast!!"
After shouting out his feelings, Revin returned to himself, he then put both of his hands on his head and sighed. No matter how much he complained, the current situation would not change. He needed to do something about it.
After wandering in the slum city for a bit more, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a part of the slum city that was under Sheryl's gang territory.
A young boy from Sheryl's gang had opened a street stand here. It was not a rare thing for slum city residents to pick up random things that seemed to be sellable and open a street stand to sell them. Colbert was actually looking for that street stall. Colbert, Revin and Hazawa then approached that stand and browsed the goods there.
The young boy who was waiting at the stand looked at them and tried to offer the goods he was selling.
"I'm not lying!! We carried them back from an old-world ruin ourselves!!"
"Huh? Which ruin? Go ahead and tell me the name of the ruin if you really carried them back from an old-world ruin yourself."
That young boy then asked another young boy who was waiting in the stand with him.
"...Hey, what was the name of that ruin again?"
Unlike the boy who was responsible for serving the customers, the other boy had a rifle that seemed to be properly maintained. He seemed to be the one responsible for guarding the stall. That boy then replied.
"Higaraka Residence Ruin is already exhausted of any valuable relics not too long ago, Hunters already stopped going to that ruin for gathering relics. So any relics left there are just cheap relics, they are basically junks."
That young boy then remembered that it was not a good idea to be too harsh on Hunters, which might cause them to get angry, so he tried to calm himself down.
Colbert saw that and tried to calm Revin.
"Whoah there, just calm down. Let's properly examine these relics first. We might find something valuable, you know?"
They then took a close look at the goods displayed there. But in the end, all of them were cheap relics. None of them interested Colbert and his friends. So Colbert asked that young boy.
"They really are nothing but cheap relics though. Are you hiding the expensive relics somewhere?"
"...We're not selling those kinds of relics here. After all, someone might steal them if we put them here. And even if we have them, we have no plans to sell them to anyone but good customers. Like hell we'll show them to someone who only came here to mock us."
Colbert locked his gaze at that young boy, who felt a bit pressured and shrunk back.
After confirming that young boy's reaction, Colbert smiled at him and said.
"How much is the total if I want to buy all the relics here?"
"It's about 8,000 Aurum."
Colbert handed over 10,000 Aurum to the boy in front of him, that boy got even more confused than before as he received the money. Colbert then said with a confident smile.
"Alright, come over here. But before that, make sure you take the relics that you just bought, okay? I don't care if you want to throw them away, but don't do that here. No good customers throw away the goods that they just bought in the same shop where they bought them."
Colbert lightly laughed.
"Roger that, ah, before that, what is your name?"
Tiol answered back with a rather prickly tone.
He guided Colbert and his friends through the slum city. In the middle of that, Colbert asked Tiol a question.
"By the way, why did you say that back there?"
Tiol thought for a bit before answering.
"I know that you didn't buy those relics because you wanted them, right? I just thought that you would just throw them away since you don't need them and that would be troublesome for us if you do that again and again. Moreover, we were the ones who offered them to you, so if we looked at you with an unpleasant look although you properly paid, and took the relics that you bought and threw here, won't that make you angry?"
"Now that you mention it, that's true. Did you think of that yourself?"
"I see. But if you just ignore that order and keep the relics that we throw away for yourself, you might get some money out of it, right? I'm sure that's not a small amount of money to you, right?"
Tiol's face turned stern.
While walking behind Tiol, Colbert then thought.
[It seems that the boss has a good grip on the gang, his position in the gang is rather strong.]
Colbert smiled daringly, he was able to confirm the situation in Tiol's gang.
The old-world ruins were of course dangerous places, but the inside of an unknown building smacked in the middle of the slum city was also a dangerous place in a different meaning. Inside, they might have to fight other people instead of monsters. Monsters were indeed dangerous, but humans were dangerous enough on their own.
Colbert, who went inside first, called Revin and Hazawa.
"What are you waiting for? Come in. I've paid the entrance fees, so don't get cold feet here. Leaving Hazawa aside, Revin, what are you planning to do with your debt if you just return back without doing anything here?"
Revin, who was reminded of his debt, made his resolve and went inside that building too, Hazawa then followed behind him.
Tiol guided Colbert and his friends into that building. When they arrived in a relatively big hall, they could see tables and shelves covered in white sheets, and relics were displayed on them. There were small papers near those relics with prices written on them. The walls of that room were also covered with white sheets as well as the ceilings, the room was basically covered in white.
Sheryl was standing in the middle of that room, she was wearing the dress that she received from Akira and got refitted later. Although it greatly reduced its value as an old-world relic, that dress was refitted especially for Sheryl and it boosted Sheryl's beauty a few folds.
Even some who did not know much about fashion could easily recognize that it was an expensive dress and Sheryl looked perfect in it, which was rare for anyone in the slum city. No one would question it if Sheryl introduced herself as someone from the inner wall. Revin and Hazawa were so surprised when they saw that young girl who was exuding a sense of high class.
"Welcome, and thank you for visiting us."
Colbert and his friends were charmed by Sheryl's smile which increased her beauty even more.
Although Colbert did not notice, Sheryl was not alone, Akira was there too. He was hiding behind the white sheet that was hanging down from the ceiling. Sheryl was the one who asked Akira to watch as a guard.
Akira was keeping his eyes on Sheryl, who was welcoming the customers and Colbert and his friends who were charmed by her. Although Colbert was still able to more or less maintain his calmness, that was not the case for Hazawa and Revin.
As Sheryl proceeded to interact with them, Revin and Hazawa became more and more attracted to her. Akira was a bit scared by that as he kept on observing the situation.
Akira remembered what happened back then in Higaraka residence ruin and asked Alpha a question.
"If I'm not mistaken, something similar also happened back in Higaraka Residence ruin, right?"
"Indeed. It was a Hunter by the name of Diel."
"Right. He somehow got attracted to Sheryl and started blurting out information without realizing it, and he did not stop until Sheryl stopped him first."
"She's making full use of her ability to steer the conversation and give other kinds of signals with her expressions and body language. The way she speaks and the way she behaves are all calculated, I believe that she's also checking how her conversing partner reacts to her and adapts to that. Sheryl is a beautiful girl and she is wearing a dress that elevates her image even more, although she's doing this because it's her business, I'm sure it's not like she has any bad intentions. She's definitely slowly but surely drawing people in."
After listening to that explanation, Akira then asked further.
"By the way, just to be safe, does she do that to me too? Am I already charmed by Sheryl or something?"
From the outside, Akira's action might be interpreted as such. He voluntarily became a supporter of Sheryl's gang and he paid a lot of money for her dress. So Akira doubted if he was already charmed by Sheryl and always tried to keep her mood without even noticing it.
"Don't worry. It's true that you've done a lot for Sheryl, but most of the time it's out of your whim or because of your own interest. Or at least, to me, it's not like you're trying hard to make Sheryl happy or anything like that."
Akira sounded relieved as he said.
"By the way, just to let you know, I'm also doing my best to entice you here too, you know? That's why, if you want me to do anything, just tell me anytime, okay? I can freely change my attire and body, if image only is enough for you, I can basically entertain you as much as you want."
Akira looked away from Alpha's gaze as if he was trying to hide his embarrassment.
Colbert and his friends were browsing the relics displayed in that room. Unlike the relics displayed in the street stall, the relics in that white room were indeed expensive relics. Colbert looked at the price written in the price tag and thought, according to his experience, they were priced a little bit higher than the usual market price.
Colbert then mumbled loudly as if he was letting Sheryl hear it.
"...They're not that bad, but the price is just a bit too high."
Sheryl's smile did not waver at all as she replied.
"As I explained before, they're just the initial price, I'm completely open for any bargain. Although, please direct all the bargain you want to make only to me."
"I see, so you're one of those people who write the price that you personally want to sell, huh. Well, but it's okay, I have nothing to complain for now."
The relics displayed there were actually relics that Sheryl received from another place, they were entrusted to her. The selling method was close to an auction, if the customer did not want to buy the relic with the written price, then he or she could just offer his or her own price. And if the supplier accepted that, then the deal would be made, and if it was not accepted, then the relics would still be left with their original price. So the customers could only either wait until the price was lowered or give up buying that particular relic.
In reality, Sheryl was just acting as if she had a lot of suppliers when her real suppliers were actually just Akira and Katsuragi, both of them just left their relics to Sheryl and let her do whatever she wanted to do to sell them.
The relics were basically composed of the relics that Akira did not sell to Katsuragi and some relics that she borrowed from Katsuragi to improve the look of the place. The price written on their price tags were basically the same price that Katsuragi would put if he sold them in his shop.
Although some of the relics were borrowed from Katsuragi, Katsuragi himself would still get some profit if someone bought them at the written price. While for Akira, he did not want to get involved in deciding the price at all.
The better the price that Sheryl could get, the more money she would receive and the more money she could repay to Akira. Thus, Sheryl was trying her best to increase the prices of the relics that she was selling.
The reason why Sheryl was doing an auction-like sale was simply because she did not know the market price of the relics. Although she did some research visiting some places, she was still a complete beginner in deciding the price. So she thought that if she made it like an auction, the price would eventually gravitate to the right price.
Colbert then asked Sheryl as if he was trying to investigate something.
"But still, as I thought, they're more expensive than the usual market price. Won't it be like no one would buy them at this price?"
Colbert felt like Sheryl was peering directly into his inner heart, but he was able to somehow maintain his calm.
"I don't understand the intention of the suppliers, but it doesn't change my job to sell the goods that they left in my care as expensive as possible. If I try to lower the price, we would have to pay for the difference ourselves. Since that's the situation that I'm in, I can't give you a discount even if you try to ask me, you know?"
Colbert smiled wryly as he replied back half-jokingly.
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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