ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡に到着したシェリル達は早速遺物収集を始めた。
かつてヒガラカ住宅街遺跡はクガマヤマ都市の近場にある旧世界の遺跡として、大勢のハンターで
しかしそれでも価値の低い遺物ならばまだまだ残っている。シェリル達がヒガラカ住宅街遺跡で収集するのは、そのような価値の低い遺物だ。
ハンターがわざわざ移動手段を用意して持ち帰るほどの価値はない。それでもシェリル達には十分な価値がある。スラム街の路地裏では手に入らないものがたっぷり残っているのだ。安全な移動手段さえあれば、スラム街の人間が
もアキラへ相場の護衛料や移動料を支払えば一瞬で赤字になるが、今回はその心配はないのだ。
シェリル達は遺物収集の手順を事前に決めている。まずは車で家の
アルファがアキラを不思議そうに見ている。
『アキラ。どうかしたの? 高値になりそうな遺物なんて混じっていないわよ?』
『いや、俺も少し前にああいうものを集めてたなって思ってさ』
アキラが僅かに懐かしむような気持ちを覚えていると、アルファがそれを切って捨てる。
『やっていることは今も同じでしょう? 危険な遺跡にある高値の遺物を取りに行く。より危険な遺跡へ、より高額な遺物を。違いはそこだけよ』
アキラは荷台に積まれていた遺物を見て、似たような物を集めていた以前の自分を思い出していた。その頃の自分とは随分変わったものだと思っていたのだが、アルファの指摘で今もやっていることに
危険な場所ではなくなっただけであり、そこに転がっている物では割に合わなくなっただけだ。より一層の利益を求め、より危険な場所へ、より高額なものを手に入れに行く。そのことに違いはないのだ。それだけだ。
ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡の中でもモンスターとの遭遇はあった。だがアキラの尽力によりシェリル達は遺物収集を順調に進めていた。
アキラは目の前の家からの遺物収集を終えて車に戻ってきたシェリルに尋ねる。
「シェリル。今日はどの程度まで続けるつもりなんだ? いや、俺は別に日付が変わるまで続けても良いけど、荷台の空きがなくなってきているぞ? あいつらを荷台に山盛りにした遺物の上に乗せるのはシェリルの勝手だけど、荷台から落ちても俺はしらないからな。帰り道でモンスターの群れと遭遇した場合に、モンスターを
この遺跡に来たのだから、シェリルは限界ぎりぎりまで遺物を収集しておきたかった。シェリル達が再びヒガラカ住宅街遺跡にくる機会はもう二度とないかもしれないのだ。
アキラがどのような意図でシェリルの依頼を引き受けたのかはシェリルには分からない。それが分からない以上、シェリルには同じ機会がまたあるとは思えなかった。
アキラが運転席に座る。シェリルも助手席に座る。アキラが車を動かそうとした時、アキラの目の前に雨粒が落ちた。
アキラが空を見上げる。いつの間にか雨雲が空に広がっていた。
「雨か。天気予報は晴れだったぞ? やっぱり無料の情報だと精度が悪いのか?」
『アキラ。今すぐ移動して』
『ん? 雨宿りなら別にそこの家でも......』
「アキラ!? 急にどうしたんですか!?」
車を急発進させた理由をシェリルが尋ねるが、アキラはシェリルを手で制して答えない。そもそもアキラにも答えられないのだ。
『アルファ。状況は?』
『悪いわ。すぐにモンスターの群れに襲撃されるとか、そういう理由ではないから安心して』
『そうか。それで急ぐ理由は?』
『高濃度の色無しの霧と同様の効果がある領域から速やかに脱出するためよ。あの場に
『雨が原因なら、すぐ横にあった家に入れば良かったんじゃないか?』
『いつの間にか家の周囲をモンスターに包囲されていて、狭い室内で交戦せざるを得なくなった。そんなことは避けたいでしょう? 十全に戦える空間が必要なのよ。あの館なら問題ないわ。万一館の中がモンスターだらけでも、空き部屋にシェリル達を避難させておけば戦いやすいからね』
アキラがアルファと話している間にも、雨は少しずつ強くなっていく。アキラはゴーグルに表示されている有効索敵範囲が徐々に狭くなっていることに気付いた。
『おいおい、こんな小雨でも影響があるのか? 小雨でこれなら土砂降りになったらどうなるんだ?』
『最悪の場合、屋外は情報収集機器がまるで役に立たない状態になるでしょうね。屋内にもある程度影響が出るはずよ』
『アルファの予想だと、どの程度になりそうなんだ?』
『悪いけど、全く分からないわ。だから最悪を想定して急がせているのよ』
シェリルは笑顔でアキラに返事をする。
たったそれだけの説明を聞いただけで、アキラのからの簡素な説明を聞いただけで、シェリルは落ち着きと余裕を取り戻していた。
本当ならシェリル達をクガマヤマ都市に送るまでアキラの訓練は続くはずだった。しかし事態は十分想定外だ。アキラはぎりぎりまでアルファに頼らないつもりだったが、この状況でそれにこだわってシェリル達を無駄な危険に
『アルファ。訓練は中止だ。手を貸してくれ』
車の運転がアルファに切り替わると、車体の揺れが明らかに小さくなった。アキラは運転席から立ち上がって後部座席に移動する。
アキラが後部座席に移動する際、いままでのアキラは制御装置の操作パネルを操作して、自動運転に切り替えてから移動していた。今回のアキラはそれをしていない。シェリルが少し慌ててアキラに尋ねる。
「あの、運転大丈夫なんですか?」
「自動操縦に切り替えたから大丈夫だ」
「制御ユニットを操作して切り替えたりしなくても大丈夫なんですか?」
「大丈夫だ。高性能なやつだからな」
アルファが軽く笑いながら話す。
『そうよ。高性能なんだから。......もうちょっとちゃんと
『大丈夫だ。......多分』
次から気を付けよう。アキラは
アキラは車に積んでいた迷彩シートを荷台にいるシェリルの部下達に投げる。
「それで何とかしろ!」
アキラはそれだけ言って、折りたたみ式の屋根を組み立て始めた。シェリルの部下達が荷台に迷彩シートを広げて自分達と積んだ遺物を雨から守る。アキラが乗る車にも屋根ができる。雨は次第に強くなっているが、全員ずぶ
の中に入りたい気持ちはアキラも分かるが、彼らの護衛としてはそれを止める必要がある。
「俺達より先にここに雨宿りに来たモンスターと、俺よりも早く対面したいのなら好きにしろ」
むまではここで待機だ。俺は周辺の部屋を確認してくる。危ないから勝手に部屋から出るな。シェリル。何かあったら連絡してくれ」
シェリルは頭を下げて部屋から出るアキラを見送った。
アキラはシェリル達がいる部屋を中心にして少しずつ索敵範囲を広げていく。
に来たことがある。しかしその時とはどこか様子が少し違う気がした。
『アルファ。何かモンスターの死骸が多くないか?』
『確かに前に来た時に比べてかなり増えているわ。生態系が少し変わったのかもね』
『ほら、前に来た時、暴食ワニが死んでいたでしょう? 多分ハンターに倒されたんでしょうけれど、それで暴食ワニが主食にしていたモンスターが増えたのかもしれないし、今まで暴食ワニを警戒して近寄らなかったモンスターが
『大丈夫よ。死骸から察するにあんまり強くないモンスターよ。今のアキラなら十分倒せるわ。シェリル達がいる部屋も防衛に適した場所を選んだから心配ないわ』
アキラは少し気が楽になった。
『アキラ。そんなに気負いすぎると余計に疲れるわよ。言ったでしょう? これはシェリル達にも利益になる話だって。アキラは自分の訓練になるし、シェリル達は遺物が手に入る。確かに危険はあるけれど、見合う報酬は渡している。アキラが過度に気にすることではないわ』
アキラも理解して納得もしている。変則的ではあるが、お互い納得の上での事だ。それでもアキラには微妙な後ろめたさが残っていた。
今回の依頼は、アキラの訓練の
シェリル達にも利益があることはアキラも理解している。しかしどうしてもシェリル達を甘言で釣って死地に向かわせている感覚が少し残っていた。
それは裏を返せばアキラの自信の無さの表れだ。シェリル達を守り切れないかもしれないという不安の表れである。アキラが十分に強いのならば、シェリル達を全く問題なく造作もなく守り切る自信が有るのなら、その感情は生まれないからだ。
アルファがアキラに
『どうしても気になるなら強くなりなさい。アキラがその程度のことなら片手間でできるほどに強くなれば、シェリル達に一方的に利益を渡していることになる。その時はシェリル達を甘言で釣っているのではなく、単に甘やかしているだけになるわ。それならアキラも気にならないでしょう? 大丈夫。そのサポートは私がしっかりやるわ』
『......そうだな。俺が強くなれば解決だ。そうすれば、アルファに頼まれている遺跡の攻略も早くなるしな』
『期待して待っているわ』
アルファも笑顔で返事を返した。
周囲の確認を終えたアキラはシェリル達がいる部屋に戻った。アキラが銃を床に置いて休憩を取る。
アキラが窓の外を見る。雨は
アキラが素朴な疑問をアルファに尋ねる。
『そういえば、どうして雨が降ると色無しの霧が濃い時と同じ状況になるんだ?』
『諸説あるわ。有力な説は、上空にある非常に高濃度な色無しの霧の成分が雨に混ざって落ちてくるって話ね』
『......その説、合ってるのか?』
『言ったでしょう? 諸説あるって。世の中に解明されていないことはたくさんあるのよ』
アキラはどこか釈然としなかったが、深く気にすることは止めておいた。
シェリルの部下達は思い思いに暇を潰している。遺物収集中に見つけたトランプで遊んでいる者もいる。
シェリルが他の者達から離れてアキラの
「一応護衛の仕事中だ。抱き付いたりするのは止めてくれ。何かあった時に動きやすいように、密着するのも止めてくれ」
シェリル達はアキラを護衛に付けてヒガラカ住宅街遺跡に遺物収集に来ているが、これは一応ハンターオフィスを介した正式な依頼となっている。ハンターオフィスのサイトに表示されるアキラの依頼履歴にも記載される正式な依頼だ。
依頼の報酬は1万オーラムだ。ハンターオフィスへの仲介料を含めると2万オーラムとなる。個人
報酬はハンターオフィスが個人から仲介する依頼での最低額だ。しかも移動手段はシェリル達の分も含めてハンター側持ち。更に弾薬費までハンター側が負担。加えて護衛対象は戦闘能力皆無の子供達。拘束時間はほぼ一日中で、おまけに依頼料は成功報酬かつ全額後払いだ。
この依頼にハンターが殺到するのならば、もう何らかの不正か異常を疑う内容である。当然だがこの依頼を受けたのはアキラだけだった。念のため、アキラの依頼の受け付け処理を済ませた後に募集を締め切ったので、別のハンターが追加で依頼を受けることもない。
雨の感想、情緒を話すシェリルと、雨の影響、対策を語るアキラ。微妙に食い違ったことを話す二人を見てアルファが笑いを堪えている。そのアルファの様子にアキラが気付いた。
アルファの指摘を受けて、アキラは改めてシェリルが着ている服を見る。アキラはよく覚えていなかったが、確かにこの前アキラが遺跡で手に入れた服だった。
アキラの視線にシェリルも気付いた。シェリルが
「アキラから頂いた服を着てみました。どうでしょうか?」
アキラがシェリルにあげた衣服のサイズは、シェリルの体格と一致していないものも多い。シェリルはその服を着
アキラとシェリルの間に妙な間が流れる。その後、アキラが白状したかのように話す。
「あー、なんだ、実はこの前シェリルにあげた衣類は、俺がある遺跡で見つけたものだ。ただ、それを特に考えずに渡したから、デザインの確認とかは全くしていないんだ。もしかしたら、とても微妙なデザインのものを贈ってしまったかもしれない。もしそうなら、その、無理して着なくても良いぞ?」
アキラは自分にファッションセンスがあるとは
そしてアキラがシェリルに贈った衣服も、同じ旧世界製の衣服だ。もしかしたら程度の差はあれ似たような服を、旧世界のデザインに慣れつつあるアキラには分からないが、普通の人が見たら着用者のファッションセンスを多々疑ってしまうものを贈ってしまったのではないか。急に不安になったアキラは、恐る恐るシェリルに予防線を張りながら答えたのだ。
シェリルはアキラの話を聞いてアキラの態度を納得した。アキラを安心させるように
「私はこの服をとても気に入って着ていますので、その点は大丈夫だと思います」
「そうか? それなら良いんだ。そういうことなら、うん、似合っていると思うぞ」
着ている本人が気に入っているのなら問題ないのだろう。アキラは安心して返事をした。
「ありがとう御座います」
Sheryl and the other children immediately started gathering relics when they arrived at the Higaraka Residence Ruin.
The Higaraka Residence ruin was one of the ruins near Kugamayama city that were once frequented by a lot of Hunters. But the current Higaraka Residence Ruin was already emptied from any expensive relics. It had little worth in searching for relics, so Hunters normally would not go there just to hunt for relics.
But with that being said, there were still some relatively cheap relics left in that ruin. And so, Sheryl and the other children were there to collect those kinds of relics.
Although those relics were not worth bringing back home for the Hunters, they were still precious relics for Sheryl's gang. The ruin was filled with relics that those children of the slum city could never find in the back alley of the slum city. If they had any cheap means to go there, those people of the slum city would happily travel to the ruin to collect relics.
So in short, that ruin was like a treasure box for Sheryl's gang. Of course, if they had to pay Akira for escorting them there, Sheryl would have still ended up with a deficit, but she did not have to worry about that problem this time.
They had already decided beforehand how they would gather the relics. First of all, they would stay in the cart until Akira parked the vehicle near the entrance to one of the buildings. Then Akira would go in first to scan the building for relics and to clean up any monsters inside it. After that, the children from Sheryl's gang would go into that building to carry any relics inside it to the cart while Akira would patrol the area for any monsters. Once they were done emptying the building, Sheryl would contact Akira through the information terminal to meet up before moving to the next building.
Alpha found that weird and asked Akira.
"Akira, what's wrong? There are no expensive relics in that pile, you know?"
"Nah, I just remembered that I was also gathering those kinds of relics not too long ago."
Akira felt slightly nostalgic, but Alpha quickly cut that short.
"Nothing has changed even now. Then you used to go to dangerous ruin to hunt for expensive relics, now you are going to a more dangerous ruin to hunt for more expensive relics. The only difference is the degree of risk involved."
As Akira looked at the pile of relics in his cart, it reminded him of his past self. Although he felt like he had come a long way since then, after Alpha pointed it out, he realized that what he was doing right now was not that much different from his past self.
The only difference was that the back alley slum city had turned into a relatively safer place for him and stuff that he could find there was relatively not worth the time for him right now. So right now, in order to gain more profit, he chose to go to a more dangerous place and get more expensive relics. That was the only difference between the current him and the past him.
Akira still encountered some monsters inside Higaraka Residence ruin. But he was able to handle them just fine. Thus, Sheryl's gang was able to gather relics without facing any particular trouble. With more and more relics piled inside the cart, the sitting space for the children from Sheryl's gang shrunk.
After they finished collecting relics from one of the buildings there, Akira returned back to his vehicle and asked Sheryl.
"Sheryl, How long are you planning to stay here for today? I don't mind staying here until the sunset though, but it seems we're running out of free space in the cart. I have no complaint if you want to let them sit on the top of the relics, but I won't care if any of them trip and fall off the cart, okay? Also, I might have to pace the vehicle if we encounter a monster on our way back home. So don't blame me when that happens."
But since it was a very rare chance for her, Sheryl wanted to take back as many relics as she could. After all, she might not get any more chances to go to the Higaraka Residence Ruin again.
Sheryl did not know what she should do so that Akira would accept if she asked him to escort them again. Thus, as long as she did not know how to get Akira to accept her request, she thought that she would not get another chance like this.
Akira then went back to the driver seat, Sheryl sat next to him on the driver's assistant seat. As he was about to turn on the vehicle, suddenly a water droplet fell in front of him.
Akira raised his head and looked up, the sky above him had already turned cloudy before he even realized it.
"Rain, huh. The weather forecast said that we'll have a clear day though? As I thought, I can't really trust a free weather forecast, huh?"
"Akira, we should move."
"Hm? I can just go to that building over there to take shelter from the rain..."
"Akira!? What's going on?!"
Sheryl was surprised when Akira suddenly paced the vehicle. But Akira only signalled her with his hand that he had no leeway to answer her question. After all, it was not like he had the answer to that question anyway.
"Alpha, what's going on?"
"I'm sorry to rush you like that. But don't worry, it's not like we were about to get attacked by a swarm of monsters again."
"I see. So then, why did you rush me?"
"It's to make you move out from the area with the same level of signal interference as the colourless mist as fast as possible. If we had stayed in that area, there's a good chance that monsters might ambush you. You also need to find a place where you can take shelter from the rain as soon as possible."
"If it's because of the rain, can we not pick one of those buildings around here?"
"I'm sure you want to avoid a situation where you're surrounded by monsters and forced to fight them in a small closed space, right? You need a big place where you can fight optimally. That big mansion would be perfect for that, and even if it's filled with monsters, you can secure one of the empty rooms for Sheryl and the other children and it would be an easy job for you to clean those monsters from that building."
As Akira was talking with Alpha, the rain was getting stronger and stronger. Akira noticed that the effective scanning range shown in his goggles was growing narrower because of that.
"Whoah there, this small rain has this much effect? If a small rain has this much impact, what would happen if it's heavy rain?"
"In the worst-case scenario, your information-gathering device would be completely useless outdoor and there might be some effect even when you are indoors."
"According to your prediction, how bad will this rain be?"
"To be honest, I don't know for sure. That's why I urged you to get out as soon as possible assuming the worst-case scenario."
Sheryl replied back with a smile.
Just that short explanation from Akira was enough to make Sheryl regain her calm.
Originally, Akira and Alpha planned to continue their training until Akira escorted Sheryl's gang back to Kugamayama city. But now with this sudden turn of events, although he planned to rely on Alpha's support as little as possible, Akira himself had no plans to keep that up and unnecessarily put Sheryl's gang under more risk.
"Alpha, let's end the training here. I'll be relying on your support again."
The moment Alpha took control of the vehicle, it obviously moved much stable than before. Akira stood up from the driver seat and moved to the back seat.
Up until now, Akira operated the control panel and set the vehicle on auto-drive before he moved to the back seat. But he did not do it this time, Sheryl who noticed that panicked and asked Akira.
"Uhmmm, is it okay to leave the steering wheel?"
"It has a self-driving function, so it's okay."
"Don't you need to set to auto-drive mode using the control unit terminal?"
"It's alright, it's one of those advanced control units."
Alpha smiled teasingly and said to Akira.
"Yep, that's right. It's an advanced control unit after all... So you should make your explanation more convincing than that, you know?"
"It's alright... Maybe."
Akira thought to himself in secret that he should be more careful next time.
He took out the camouflaging sheet that he usually used on his vehicle and threw it to the children in the back cart.
"Just use that for now!!"
Akira shouted as he set up the folded roof on his open-roof vehicle. The children from Sheryl's gang expanded the camouflaging sheet to protect the relics and themselves. As for Akira, the vehicle that he was driving was equipped with a foldable roof. Although it still depended on how strong the rain was, they would at least be able to avoid getting completely drenched because of the rain.
The rain had gotten pretty heavy. So Akira understood their feeling of wanting to get in that mansion as soon as possible. But he could not let them do that since he was working as their escort at the moment.
"I don't mind if you want to meet the monsters that might have taken shelter from the rain inside that mansion before us."
"We'll stay here until the rain dies down. I'll go ahead and check the safety of all the rooms. Since it's dangerous, don't go outside this room without my permission. Sheryl, give me a call if anything happens."
Sheryl bowed and saw Akira off as he left that room.
Akira started scouting all the rooms around the area starting from the closest rooms from where Sheryl's gang was staying.
He had come to that mansion before in the past, but for some reason, the air inside the mansion felt different this time.
"Alpha, don't you think there are too many dead monsters here?"
"It's true that there are more dead monsters compared to the last time we came here. The vibe is also different."
"The last time we came here, remember that there was a dead greedy crocodile corpse, right? I think some Hunters had killed that crocodile. Putting that aside, there seem to be more monsters in this area. They might have originally come here to feast on that dead crocodile, either that or they originally might have been staying away from this place when that greedy crocodile was still around."
"Don't worry, looking at the dead monsters in this place, it seems that there are no dangerous monsters in this area. You should be able to deal with them with no problem. Not to mention that I also picked a particularly safe place for Sheryl and her gang. So there's no need to worry."
Akira slightly relaxed after hearing that.
"Akira, if you're too tense, it'll only make you get tired quickly. I did tell you about this before, right? This offer will also profit Sheryl and her gang as well as give you a good chance for training. Although it's dangerous, Sheryl would be able to bring home some relics with her, they'll properly profit out from this too. So there's no need for you to be overly conscientious about it."
Akira understood that and was trying to not be too tense. Although there were some parts that both he and Sheryl felt awkward about, both of them agreed to do the ruin exploration. But even so, he still felt slightly guilty about it.
This time, when Akira came to the ruin for training, he brought some people who would definitely slow him down to explore an old-world ruin. His duty was to make sure that they would return back alive. It was a training to increase his fighting capability. So in short, Sheryl and her gang were there only to be used for his training.
Akira himself understood that Sheryl and her gang were going to get something out of this ruin exploration too. But at the same time, it felt like he just used sweet words in order to bait Sheryl and her gang out to the dangerous wasteland.
But to be more precise, this also showed the fact that Akira had little trust in his own ability. Simply put, Akira thought that he did not have enough ability to make sure that everyone from Sheryl's gang would be safe under his protection. After all, if he was strong enough to the point that he was confident that he would be able to make sure of the safety of Sheryl's gang in the wasteland, then he would not feel guilty as he is now.
Alpha smiled and said to Akira.
"If you can't stop yourself from getting bothered by it, then you should work hard to become strong. If you become strong enough to the point that you think it will be a piece of cake to escort Sheryl and her gang, then this kind of training will be just you giving them free help. At that point, it would not be you baiting them to get out to the dangerous wasteland using sweet words, but instead, you'll be just simply spoiling them. I'm sure you won't feel guilty in that case, right? Don't worry, I'll properly give you my support until you can get that strong."
"...You're right. This will all get resolved if I become strong enough. Not to mention that I'll be able to finish that request from you too."
"I'll look forward to that."
Alpha also replied back with a smile.
After Akira made sure that the mansion was safe. He put down his rifle on the floor and took a short rest.
He peeked the outside of the mansion through a window. Far from slowing down, the rain was stronger than before. He then tried to check the situation outside using his information-gathering device, but the scan range was already so small that it was basically useless.
Akira then thought of something and asked Alpha.
"By the way, why does rain have the same effect as the colourless mist?"
"There are many theories out there. The most widely accepted theory says that it's because the thick colourless mist in the sky gets mixed with the water droplets and fall down to the ground during a rain."
"...Are you sure that theory is correct?"
"Like I said, there are many theories out there. There are many things that humans don't understand, you know."
Akira was obviously not fully satisfied by that answer, but he decided to stop digging any deeper.
The children from Sheryl's gang were doing all kinds of things to pass the time. Some of them were even playing trump card using the deck that they found among the relics.
Sheryl left everyone behind and went to Akira's place.
"I'm in the middle of my escort duty right now. So just don't cling on me. It'll slow me down if anything happens. And also, don't sit too close."
Although Sheryl took her gang to Higaraka Residence Ruin because of the offer from Akira, it was still recognized as a formal request in the Hunter Office. Thus the record of this request will also be shown in Akira's battle record in the Hunter Office website.
The reward from that request was 10,000 Aurum. Including the brokerage fee for the Hunter Office, it would be 20,000 Aurum. Since the request wasn't submitted as an individually designated request in the Hunter Office site, it was possible for a completely unknown Hunter to take that request too. But such a possibility was highly unlikely.
It was the lowest possible reward for a request that was submitted in the Hunter Office as an individual request which was not from a company or an organization. Not to mention, the transportation would be handled by the Hunters, the ammo expense would be paid fully by the Hunter, the escort targets were just small children who knew nothing about fighting, the request would take a whole day, and to top it off, the reward payment would be given only after the request was finished.
If Hunters flood to take this request, it would be very suspicious. Although it was to be expected, there was no other Hunter who took that request except Akira. And just to be safe, after Akira finished the administration work to take that request in the Hunter Office, the request was closed. Thus preventing other Hunters from taking that request.
Sheryl was only talking about her impression of the weather while Akira was talking about what he should do to adapt to the rain. Both of them were basically talking about the same thing but focused on two different subjects. Akira noticed Alpha was smiling as she watched that exchange.
After Alpha said that, Akira took another look at Sheryl's clothes. He did not really remember it, but it was actually one of the dresses that he gave to Sheryl.
Sheryl noticed Akira's gaze, she then smiled and said.
"This is one of the dresses that I received from you, how does it look?"
There were a lot of parts on that dress that did not really fit Sheryl's body. But because she was used to that kind of dress and because of some adjustment that she made, it did not look weird on her. It was the result of her skill on how to use a dress as well as the trial and errors that she did beforehand in front of a mirror.
There was an awkward silence between them. After that, Akira suddenly spoke something that sounded like he was confessing his sin.
"Well, uhh, to be honest, those are clothes that I found in the ruin. It's just that, I didn't check them when I gave them to you, so some of them might have a weird design. Well, if you find them having strange designs, uhh, you don't have to use them, you can just throw them away, you know?"
Akira did not have any sense of fashion at all. He had no problem using a piece of cloth as long as it had no tears or holes. Even now, he always wore his augmented suit outside, thus there was no occasion where Akira could train his fashion sense.
The dresses that Akira gave to Sheryl were old-world clothing. So he thought that some of them might have a weird design just like what he once saw from Alpha. Of course, since he more or less had already gotten used to the old-world design, he was not able to tell apart those clothing from others, and so he was worried if he had given some dresses with a weird design according to the current standard to Sheryl without knowing it. Sheryl, who noticed that Akira suddenly looked worried, carefully picked her words to reply to him.
After listening to Akira's story, Sheryl more or less understood the situation. She then smiled to reassure him and said.
"I'm using this dress since I really like it, so please don't worry about that."
"Is that so? It's all good then. So... Well, yeah, it looks good on you."
Akira thought that everything was good as long as the one using it was okay with it.
"Thank you very much."
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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