218 巨額、或いは端金
仮設基地で事態の調査依頼を受けたエレナ達は後方連絡線を通って大規模遺跡探索区域の近くまで行くと、それ以上奥に進むのは止めて、まずはその場での情報収集を開始した。既に通信障害の領域内だ。この場で何らかの情報を得てもそれを仮設基地に送信は出来ない。通信障害領域の外まで一度戻る必要がある。その手間を考えて、後方連絡線から離れずに、出来る限りの調査を先に行うことにしたのだ。
エレナが車載の情報収集機器で様々な調査をしている間、サラは見張りとして辺りの様子を探っていた。一見周囲に異常は感じられない。大規模な戦闘の気配も無く、都市の部隊が突如連絡を絶った場所とは思えない静けさだ。
「通信障害を除けば特に異常無しって感じね。エレナ。そっちはどう?」
エレナが操作の手を止めて首を横に振る。その顔はかなり険しい。
サラも親友の様子から事態の深刻さを理解して表情を険しくする。
「ちょっと様子を確認するだけって依頼内容からは大分逸脱しているわね。エレナ。人型兵器の部隊が最後に送ってきた映像の場所まで行って状況を確認してくれば報酬割り増しって話だけど、どうする?」
「正直、気が進まないわ。通信障害だけならまだしも、ここに来るまでに誰とも擦れ違わなかったでしょう? これほどの異常事態なのだから、大規模遺跡探索の部隊も人員を割いて仮設基地と直接連絡を取ろうとするはずよ。そしてその人員は後方連絡線を経由するはずだから、その人員と擦れ違っても不思議は無いわ。でも擦れ違わなかった」
「あの人型兵器は飛べるタイプだから、後方連絡線を経由せずに直接仮設基地に向かったんじゃないの?」
に少しは奥に進もう。そう思っていると、索敵機器が反応を捉える。
「サラ。一応警戒して。近付いてくる反応が1、いや2よ。近場と遠距離。遠距離の方はかなり速いわ」
サラが戦車砲並みに巨大な銃と、それに比べれば小型の大型銃を構える。どちらも人型兵器との連絡が途絶えたことを考慮した火力重視の武装だ。危なくなったら即撤退の方針で、作戦継続時間を多少捨ててでも威力を重視している。
の山はかなり高く、普通の感覚では通行不可能なのだが、反応は勢い良く近付いてくる。
「エレナ。貸出端末とかの識別コードとかは確認できない?」
なのかもしれないし、違うのかもしれない。とにかく要注意よ。ちょっと下がっておくわね」
エレナが車を移動させて反応との距離を取る。モンスターの可能性も十分にあるので奇襲を受けるわけにはいかない。サラも警戒を高める。その間も反応は更に接近し続けている。しかも加速していた。
サラが反応の方向に銃口を向けて敵襲に備える中、
「またまた、冗談でしょう? あれだけのことをやっておいて、説得力無いわよ?」
アキラが何とか呼吸を整えていると、エレナが車をアキラの
「アキラ。奇遇ね」
「エレナさん? サラさんも。どうしてここに? 大規模遺跡探索には参加していないんじゃ......」
「直接参加はしていなかったけど、不測の事態の予備戦力として仮設基地に待機はしていたのよ。そうしたら探索部隊との通信が途絶えたから、様子を見てくるように頼まれたの。アキラは遺跡探索の帰り、で良いのかしら?」
「あ、はい。そんなところです」
「何があったのか聞いても良い?」
「えっとですね、いや、俺にも何が何だか分からないことだらけで......」
エレナはアキラの様子から無事なのは確かだと判断して安心すると軽く笑う。
「あっちの人にもそう伝えないとね。通信障害で連絡が取れないから、ここで待っていれば良い? それとも何か連絡手段があるの?」
「えっ?」
アキラがすぐに振り返り、エレナの指差した先を確認する。
エレナ達はその機体を何らかの事情でアキラと合流した都市部隊のものだと判断していた。だがアキラ達はそうは捉えなかった。
ザルモが追ってきた。狙いは自分。このままではエレナ達を巻き込む。後方連絡線の途中に設置されている防衛地点までは遠い。後方連絡線の延長作業は中断されているが整備は続いているので、途中に遮蔽物は
「エレナさん! そいつを連れて先に戻ってください!」
アキラはエレナがネリアを慌てて受け止めている間にバイクを反転させると、先ほど飛び越えてきた
「ちょっとアキラ!?」
エレナが慌てて呼び止めるが、アキラは振り返りもせずにバイクで
を食らうと、エレナ達を完全に無視してアキラを追い始めた。
エレナ達は驚きと混乱で次の行動を取れないでいた。ネリアはアキラの行動に意外そうな表情を浮かべていたが、それは取り
「誰だか知らないけど、急いで仮設基地に戻ってもらえない?」
エレナが少し厳しい視線をネリアに送る。
、誰? アキラの知り合い? 何があったの? どうして都市の機体にアキラが襲われているの?」
「その質疑応答、この場に
エレナ達はネリアに鋭い視線を送っているが、ネリアは余裕の態度を保っていた。
それでエレナも決断した。アキラを置いていくことに
「......サラ! 戻るわよ!」
サラも険しい顔でエレナの決断を受け入れる。
エレナが車を急発進させて後方連絡線を進もうとするとネリアが口を挟む。
「索敵機器ぐらい積んでいると思うけど、迷彩持ち対応の機器なら調査範囲と精度を最大出力にしてちょうだい」
「通すけれど、帰さない。そういう布陣か。面倒ね」
通信障害後に仮設基地へ連絡を取りに行った者達は、この飛行型機械系モンスター達により通信障害圏内で撃破されていた。人型兵器部隊の応戦によりそれなりに数を減らしていたが、まだまだ残っている。飛行可能な人型兵器を阻止する
「判断はエレナに任せているわ。気にせずに行って」
エレナも笑って返して意気を高めた。その後に再び顔を少し険しくする。
「しかし、ちょっと火力が足りないかしらね? サラ、何機までいけそう?」
「頑張ってみるけど、やってみないと何とも言えないわ」
車載の武装とサラの装備だけでは厳しい。エレナが手段を模索しているとネリアが再び口を挟む。
判断に迷っているエレナに、ネリアが笑って続ける。
「アキラは任せてくれたわよ?」
「......分かったわ。汎用端子で良い? それとも無線?」
「......全く、本当に何があったのよ」
エレナはネリアのアキラに対する妙な気安さに思うところはあったが、今はそれどころではないと割り切った。車の制御装置から汎用端子を引っ張ってネリアに
「私の方でやっておいたわ」
「火力優先の備えが大当たりだったけど、当たってほしくなかったわ」
「何が起こるか分からないハンター稼業。備えが当たったのなら上出来よ」
ネリアが間延びした声とともに車を急加速させる。
「突っ込むわよー。攻撃まで3、2、1、ゼロ」
緊張感に欠ける声とは対照的に、攻撃の合図は絶妙な距離で出されていた。先手を取ったエレナ達が空を飛ぶ肉眼では見えない機械系モンスターに一斉に砲火を放つ。サラが撃ち出した巨大な弾丸が、機械系モンスターを
って進む距離としては十分に遠い。地上から、空中から、激しい砲火が交差する中を、エレナ達はその才気を十全に活かし、破壊した機械系モンスターの残骸でその実力を示しながら進んでいった。
アキラは遺跡の中をバイクで必死に逃げ回っていた。バイクに積んだ弾薬の量など高が知れている。ザルモの機体と
飛び込んだビルの廊下で何とか一息吐いている。防御コートの迷彩機能を有効にして、バイクを待機状態にして出力を下げて、敵の索敵から出来る限り逃れようとしている。しかしそれも長くは続かない。
アキラは面倒そうな表情で頭を抱えていた。徒歩で人型兵器から逃げ切れるとは思えない。移動速度も索敵範囲も相手が圧倒的に勝っている。今のところはバイクを使用して何とか逃げ続けているが、そのエネルギーもいずれ尽きる。いろいろと手詰まりだった。
く休憩しているとビルが大きく揺れ始めた。倒壊の前兆だ。旧世界製の頑丈さのおかげで、一瞬で崩れ去ることはない。だが間違いなく倒壊する。
「またかよ!」
アキラは自分の銃撃で相手の体勢を全く崩せていないことに気付くと、銃撃を即座に中止して回避行動に移る。周囲を見渡し、近くのビルの中にバイクごと飛び込んだ。
アキラを狙った砲弾が僅かに遅れてビルに直撃し、壁を粉砕して内部に到達した直後に爆発する。密閉空間での爆発がビルの一部を内側から吹き飛ばし、旧世界製の強固なビルを半壊させた。
アキラはその爆風を背で受けながらビル内の通路を疾走し、そのままビルの逆側から脱出する。砲撃の威力の大半を頑丈なビルの構造で軽減させたが、防御コートの耐久をごっそり削られていた。道路に出ると周囲を見渡して次の隠れ場所や盾代わりのビルなどを探しながら、防御コートのエネルギーパックを交換する。その間もバイクは出来るだけ加速させ続ける。
機体の変更後の装備は頑丈な大型車の撃破を優先して威力重視の内容になっていた。多少外れても周辺を吹き飛ばして車両を横転させ、その後に確実に破壊する。その意図で命中率を破壊範囲で補う武装を詰め込んでいた。
しかし今のアキラは小回りの利くバイクで逃げている。現在の武装では、直角に曲がって路地に逃げ込むアキラを正確に狙うのは困難だ。頑丈な旧世界製の建物も、アキラを一帯ごと吹き飛ばすのを困難にしていた。
まるでこちらの武装に合わせて移動手段を切り替えたようなアキラに、ザルモは不気味さまで覚えていた。
勝利の実感がザルモの緊張を緩めていた。その緩んだ分だけ、次の光景がザルモに衝撃を与える。歓喜の表情が一瞬で凍り付く。機体のカメラ越しにアキラが銃口をザルモに突き付けていた。
アキラは機体と交差した瞬間、バイクから飛び降りて機体に飛び移っていた。そして両足の接地機能で機体に貼り付き、振り落とされないように強化服の身体能力で機体の一部を片手でしっかりと
Ch 218
After receiving the survey request back in the temporary forward base, Elena and Sara went to the expedition ground using the supply route. But once they arrived, they did not go any further. They started by checking the area starting from there. They were already inside the jamming area. So even if they could gather some information from there, they could not send it back to the base. They would have to return back outside the jamming area first before sending the data. In the end, thinking that it was too troublesome, they only searched the area around the already established supply route.
While Elena was in the middle of watching the information gathering device installed on her vehicle, Sara was responsible for watching the surroundings. At first, there did not seem to be anything strange around the area. There was no sign of a large expedition taking place here. It was so silent that it made them doubtful if there really was an ongoing expedition here.
"Except for the jamming, there is nothing strange here, Elena, how is it on your side?"
Elena stopped operating the terminal and shook her head. But his face did not show any sign of relief.
Sara understood the severity of the situation from her best friend and frowned.
"This is already far away from the original request, which is just to check what is going on. Elena, we can basically get the reward already. We just need to check the last place that was indicated from the powered suit's recording. So, what do you think?"
"To be honest, I don't like that idea at all. The jamming is already bad enough, but we did not encounter anyone on our way here, right? It's only to be expected that the main squad would send someone to try to contact the forward base and that person would have used the supply route. But strangely enough, we didn't encounter anyone here..."
"Those powered suits can fly, after all, they might have flown straight to the base without going through the supply route, you know."
As she thought of going deeper into the ruin, in case she still did not get any signals, the radar picked something up.
"Sara. Get ready. There's 1, no, 2 signals coming this way. The one behind seems to be moving pretty fast."
Sara was carrying a gun that was as large as a tank's cannon and another smaller one, which was still pretty large. Both of them were designed to be used with a powered suit. Their first priority was to get away in case it got dangerous, that was why they decided to focus more on firepower even if it meant that they could not keep using these weapons for long.
The nearer signal was approaching from behind a towering pile of rubble. Common sense was telling them that nothing could get over that pile. Despite that, the signal went charging straight toward that pile without slowing down at all.
"Elena, can you try checking their identification code in case they have those terminals lent specifically for this expedition?"
"I can't. It might be because of the jamming or it could be that they don't have it. Either way, be careful, I'll try to open up some distance."
Elena turned the vehicle to get away from that signal. There was a chance that it was a monster and it would be bad if they got ambushed. Sara also understood that as she readied herself for a fight. But the signal only came closer and closer.
Sara turned his gun toward that direction to welcome the enemy right when that signal jumped over the pile of rubble and showed itself in front of them. When Sara was close to pulling the trigger, she quickly realized who it was and inadvertently shouted.
"There's that joke again. You won't be able to trick me after pulling all of those stunts."
Akira finally calmed his breathing as he slowed down his bike. Meanwhile, Elena moved her vehicle to run side-by-side with Akira and smiled wryly at him.
"Oh, Akira. What a coincidence meeting you here."
"Elena-san? Sara-san too? Why are you here? I heard that both of you didn't participate in the expedition..."
"We're not participating directly, we're just reserves in case of an emergency. Since we can't get in contact with the expedition team at all, we were asked to come down here to check up on the situation. How about you? Are you on your way back from the ruin?"
"Ah, yeah, that's about right."
"Is it okay if we ask what happened?"
"Well, where should I start? To be honest, I don't really understand it myself, you see..."
Judging from what they could see, Elena at least knew that Akira was unharmed as she smiled in relief.
"We have to tell the other guy as well. I can't contact him because of the jamming, is it okay to just wait here? Or is it that you have a way to contact him?"
"Excuse me?"
Akira looked behind, toward where Elena was pointing. His relieved expression immediately turned solemn. A certain familiar powered suit was following him through the air. It was the other signal on Elena's radar and it was heading straight at them.
Elena and Sara thought that the powered suit was someone from the main expedition unit that was returning back to the base with Akira. But Akira and Nelia did not think that was the case.
It was Zalmo chasing them, and his target was obvious. At this rate, Elena and Sara would be roped in the coming battle while they were still far away from the closest defensive point installed along the supply route. Although they had stopped extending the supply route, they were still working on improving the supply route. Thus, there was almost no cover along this part of the supply route. It was the perfect place to launch an attack from the sky. Akira made his decision in that instant, he pulled Nelia off from his bike and threw her into Elena's vehicle.
"Elena-san! Please take her back to base!"
When Elena was still flusteredly trying to catch Nelia, Akira quickly made a U-turn and accelerated his bike toward the pile of rubble where he came from.
"Wait-!? Akira!?"
Elena quickly called to stop him, but Akira did not even spare a glance back as he climbed the rubble before vanishing behind it.
When the powered suit noticed Elena and Sara, it hesitated and stopped for a split second. Akira did not let that opening slide as he showered that powered suit with homing grenades. Of course, the powered suit did not just ignore that, it immediately went for Akira while ignoring Elena and Sara.
Elena and Sara were still in a state of confusion and could not react accordingly. Nelia was caught in surprise, she did not expect Akira would do that at all. But for now, she put that aside and made a suggestion to Elena.
"I don't know exactly who you are but can you please hurry up and go back to the temporary base?"
Elena looked at Nelia with a slightly stern look.
"Who are you? Akira's friend? What is going on? Why is a powered suit dispatched by the city attacking Akira?"
"Is answering those questions worth stopping in this place?"
Elana and Sara sent sharp gazes toward Nelia, but Nelia was unfettered as she replied back casually.
That sentence was enough to push Elena to make her decision. Of course, she hated the idea of leaving Akira behind. But since it was not like they could do anything to help him in that situation, they could only pick the second-best choice that they had. Which meant, rather than going after Akira in their vehicle, it was to get out from the jamming area and report what was going on back to base.
"...Sara! We're leaving!"
Sara had a grim expression plastered on her face as she took in Elena's hard decision.
As Elena pushed down the gas pedal and turned the vehicle back to the supply route, Nelia suddenly opened her mouth.
"I'm sure you have radar installed too, can you turn its power to the max and set it to detect even camouflaged enemies around the area?"
"So, they let us past but not to go back, huh? What a pain in the neck."
The squads who were sent back to contact the temporary base were all intercepted by those monsters. Although their number was reduced from the fight against the powered suits that were on their way back, there were still some of them left. Since they were spread over a wide area, there were not that many on the route back to base. Nonetheless, they were made to intercept the powered suits that could fly so, they were still a considerable threat to Elena's group.
"I'm leaving the decision making to you, so don't worry and let's get going."
Elena replied that smile with another smile as she readied herself. But her smile immediately turned cloudy after that.
"But still, I wonder if we have enough firepower. Sara, how many do you think you can take out?"
"I'll give my best, but I can't give you an exact number without checking how strong they are first."
It was difficult to fight those flying monsters only with their currently available weapons. Right when Elena was thinking about what to do, Nelia suddenly interjected.
Seeing Elena being uncertain to take up that offer, Nelia smiled and continued.
"Akira also left the driving to me, you know?"
"...Alright then, can you use a common terminal? Or do you use a wireless connection?"
"...Good grief, just what in the world happened?"
Elena was a bit bothered by how Nelia was so casual with Akira, but that was not the time for that. Elena pulled out a terminal from the vehicle's control device and connected it to Nelia. With that, Nelia immediately took control of the vehicle.
"I'll do the adjustments myself."
"It was a good thing that we prioritized firepower this time. But to be honest, it would have been great if we didn't have to use them."
"Being a Hunter is a dangerous job, it was a good thing that we are properly prepared to face danger."
Nelia gave a warning first before accelerating the vehicle.
"We're charging in, in 3, 2, 1, zero."
Instead of sounding nervous, her voice was strangely detached. Elena and Sara took the initiative first as they released shots toward the invisible flying monsters. The explosions produced from the warheads were no less splendid. The anti force field rounds that they used pierced through the monster's hard armour and they fell down one by one, crashing to the ground. Nelia also helped shoot them down by using the machine gun fixed onto the vehicle. The countless bullets striped the monsters of their camouflaging veil as they fell. Once they crashed into the ground, they made loud bangs.
Although they were not that far away from the nearest defensive point, it was a considerable distance to brave this assault. As bullets and warheads were exchanged between the sky and the ground, Elena and Sara made full use of their talent and skill to destroy any that stood in their path.
Akira desperately blazed through the ruin. There was a limit on how much firepower that the bike could take so, there was no chance to defeat that powered suit.
Right now, he was somehow able to get a small break as he was running the bike through the small hallway of a building that he broke into. He turned the optical camouflage of his coat on and lowered the power output of his bike in order to slip away from the opponent's watch. But of course, he could not keep that up for long.
Akira looked extremely exasperated as he rubbed his head. He did not think that he had any chance to run away from the powered suit. Speed-wise, the powered suit was faster than the bike. Although he was able to somehow sneak away from the powered suit right now, it was only a matter of time before his bike ran out of energy first. Akira basically had his hands tied. It was checkmate.
After only a moment's respite, the building started to shake. It was on the verge of collapsing, but thanks to its old-world durable build, it did not crumble immediately. Although, the collapse itself was an impending certainty.
"Again!?"
The moment Akira realized that his bullets did not faze Zalmo at all, he immediately stopped shooting and shifted to focus more on evading the incoming warheads. He looked around and jumped straight into one of the buildings with his bike.
A moment later after Akira jumped into a building, a warhead followed suit and crashed into the exact same building, turning the wall into a pile of rubble and consuming the building in a fiery explosion. As a result, it left an old-world building, half-destroyed.
Akira felt a gust of wind from behind due to the shock wave as he accelerated his bike. He jumped out from the other side of the building. Although the explosion was able to partially destroy a durable old-world building, it only shaved a fraction of his coat's durability. The moment he landed on the ground, he scanned his surroundings for cover while changing the energy packs in his coat. He did this without stopping, accelerating his bike even faster.
His new equipment focused more on firepower, enough to even take out a large-sized armoured vehicle. So even if he missed, the shock wave would have been strong enough to throw the vehicle off the ground. This should give him plenty of time to send the finishing blow. Because of that, he also brought warheads that would compensate for accuracy with raw firepower.
But right now, Akira was still running away from him using a small bike. Zalmo's current equipment did not have the capability to finish Akira off. Akira could make sharp turns and take cover in between small alleys, causing Zalmo to have a hard time trying to shoot him down with the rest of the building around him.
Zalmo found it weird that Akira changed to his bike as if to counter against his new equipment.
Zalmo was certain of his victory and had lowered his guard. Thanks to that, the unfolding scene in front of him shocked him even more. His satisfied face stiffened in a blink of an eye. He could see clearly from the camera on his powered suit that Akira was aiming straight at him.
The moment the bike flew past Zalmo, Akira had jumped off it. With the help of his augmented suit, he then grabbed one part of the powered suit with one hand and stuck the sole of his feet onto the same powered suit to make sure that he would not be shaken off.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開