「嫌よ。これ以上遅れるなら置いていくわ。遅れた分だけより危険になるんだから、死にたくないなら頑張りなさい。これでもかなりペースを落としているのよ?」
「どういう体力をしてるんだよ。あれか? 強化服ってやつか? こっちは生身で普通の防護服なんだ。手加減してくれ」
「そんな装備で、よくほぼ未調査の遺跡に潜ろうなんて考えたわね。自殺願望でもあるの?」
少々余裕がないためか、エレナの口調は少し厳しめだ。しかし間違ったことは言っていない。
レビンがアキラを見る。自分より年下のハンターがしっかり強化服を着用している姿を見て、レビンは愚痴るようにアキラに尋ねる。
「だから未調査の遺跡の遺物で一発当てて、良い装備を買うためにここに来たんだよ。お前だって高値の遺物を売った金で強化服を買ったんだろう?」
「まあそうだけど。その時は強化服の代金を支払うために、
アキラはその時のことをしみじみと思い出した。今のアキラの装備からは考えられない生活だ。
少し予想外のことを聞かされたレビンが
アキラがレビンに尋ねる。
「全員籠城中に使い切ったよ。無傷であそこに入ったわけじゃないからな」
「なら俺のを売ろうか? まだ予備はあるからな」
「そうか。悪いな。幾らだ?」
「高いな! 何だその値段は! どんだけ上乗せする気だよ!?」
レビンは回復薬の余りの値段に叫んだ。レビン達がよく使っている回復薬の値段とは桁が違う金額だ。
アキラは普通に答える。
「俺がその回復薬を買った時の値段だ。上乗せは1オーラムもしていない。それにこういう回復薬がぎりぎりの状況での生死を分けるんだ。確かに高いけど、俺の命よりは安い。そっちの命より高いかどうかは、そっちで決めてくれ。で、どうする?」
「......無理だ」
レビン達は気力を振り絞ってアキラ達の後を追う。都市に戻ったら筋肉痛は避けられない体を酷使して、長い長い通路を走っていく。
酒も女も断って、強化服を買おう。レビンは固く決意した。その決意が明日以降も続いているかどうかは分からないが、少なくともこの場では、固く決意した。
アキラ達が地上に続く階段まで
急にエレナが振り返って通路の奥を凝視する。そして表情を真剣なものに変える。アキラとサラも振り返って通路の奥を見る。
辛うじてアキラ達に追いついたレビンが、急に雰囲気を変えたアキラ達を見て、不安そうな表情を浮かべて荒い息で尋ねる。
「おい、何かあったのか?」
エレナが状況を説明する。
「死にたくなかったら死に物狂いで階段を駆け上がりなさい。モンスターが追ってきているわ」
「......は?」
しかしレビンの反応は鈍かった。レビン本人の力量。精神的にも肉体的にも
エレナが怒鳴りつける。
「突っ立ってないで早く行きなさい! 死にたいの!?」
通路の奥から音が聞こえてくる。獣の
エレナがサラに指示を出す。
「サラ、足止めは任せるわ。私達は地上の様子を確かめて移動の準備をしておくから、サラも無理をせずに早めに引いて。レビン達に合わせるとサラの撤退が遅れそうなら、あの連中は見捨てなさい」
サラは笑って返事をした。サラは邪魔な荷物をエレナとアキラに渡す。それを受け取ったアキラとエレナはすぐに階段を駆け上がった。
アキラは先に行ったはずのレビン達の姿を見る。既にレビン達の疲労は気力でどうこうできる状態ではない。モンスターから逃れるために足を止めてはいないが、その歩みは非常に遅い。
「回復薬はどうする!」
返答の猶予はアキラがレビン達の横を通り過ぎるまでだ。つまり数秒だ。
レビンはアキラを見て叫ぶように答える。
「畜生! 寄こせ!」
アキラはレビン達の横に回復薬を落として、そのままエレナと一緒に地上まで駆け上がった。
レビンは残る気力と体力を振り絞って回復薬の箱を開ける。そして箱の中のカプセル薬を取り出して急いで頬張った。
回復薬が実際に効き始めるよりも早く、1箱200万オーラムもするのだから効いて当然だという思い込みがレビンの気力を回復させる。そして高価な回復薬なだけはあり、即効性の回復効果がレビンの体力を素早く回復させた。
ぐに仲間の口に残りの回復薬を詰め込んでいく。レビンの仲間達もすぐに回復した。気力と体力を取り戻したレビン達は、今までとは別人のような動きで階段を駆け上がった。
アキラとエレナが階段を駆け上がって遺跡から脱出した。アキラ達はすぐに地上の様子を確認する。遺跡の出入口周辺にモンスターの反応はない。アキラとエレナは自分の車に飛び乗って、すぐにここから離れる準備を始める。
アキラとエレナはそれぞれの車を、サラ達が遺跡から出る邪魔にならないぎりぎりの場所まで近づける。そしてサラ達が出てくるのを待つ。
アキラの表情が一気に険しくなる。アキラは運転席から飛び降りて再び階段を駆け下りた。レビン達の背後に、サラの姿がなかったのだ。
サラは階段を登りながら、迫りくるモンスター達を攻撃し続けていた。サラの歩みはかなり遅い。その動きには明確な負傷の痕跡がある。何かの破片が当たったのか、頭部の出血がサラの顔を赤く染めている。
サラが負傷した原因は幾つかある。モンスターが地下街で交戦したものより強かったこと。モンスターに遠距離攻撃を持つものがいたこと。そのモンスターが他のモンスターの被害など気にせずにサラを攻撃したこと。近くに身を隠せる遮蔽物がないこと。モンスターの攻撃に対するサラの回避と迎撃が間に合わなかったこと。そして、サラの撤退が少し遅れたこと。
サラはいつも通りに戦っていたつもりだった。しかし本当にいつも通りに戦っていたのなら、撤退が遅れるような失敗はしないはずだと思い直した。エレナからもレビン達を見捨ててでも早めに撤退するよう指示されていた。いつものサラなら、もっと早く撤退していたはずなのだ。
ではなぜサラの撤退が遅れたのか。サラはその理由にすぐに気が付いた。
(......ああ、そうか。私はアキラに良いところを見せたかったのね)
サラが自嘲の笑みを浮かべた。先輩のハンターとして、アキラに良いところを見せたかったのだ。レビン達のような足手
もせずに戦意も戦力も失わずに戦闘を継続していること自体が、サラの有能さを十分証明している。サラも死ぬ気はない。最後まで生存を諦める気はない。ある程度、ほんの数分の時間さえあれば、サラの体内のナノマシンが、負傷を普通に動ける程度まで治すだろう。
しかし戦闘を続行している限りその回復速度は鈍くなる。強力な重火器の反動を押さえるだけでも、サラの体力は消費され続け、負傷を悪化させるのだ。
しかしサラが重い武器を捨てて階段を駆け上がったとしても、今の負傷状態ではモンスターに追いつかれてしまう。サラは攻撃を続けながら遅い回復を待つしかなかった。攻撃の手を緩めれば大量のモンスターが倒れたモンスターを踏み潰しながら一気に近付いてくる。だが弾薬は無限にあるわけではないのだ。
サラの有能なハンターの経験と判断が、このままでは
階段を駆け下りているアキラが、サラの姿とその先のモンスターの姿を捉える。アキラは止まらずにモンスター達に向けてCWH対物突撃銃を構えた。
『アルファ!』
『任せなさい!』
なくアルファに助けを求めた。アキラの視界にアルファの姿が現れて、アキラの呼びかけに答えた。同時にアキラにアルファのサポートが加わった。
アキラが引き金を引く。CWH対物突撃銃から専用弾が発射される。アルファのサポートにより神懸かり的な射撃能力を得た弾丸が最大効率で放たれる。戦車との戦闘にも用いられる強力な専用弾が、先頭にいるモンスターを貫通してその背後の複数のモンスターまで
アキラが装備している銃はCWH対物突撃銃だけだ。素早い移動の邪魔になるものは車に置いてきた。DVTSミニガンも置いてきて、火力の低下を抑えるために、CWH対物突撃銃の弾を専用弾に変えている。そのため今のアキラはかなり身軽になっていた。
サラの状態を確認したアルファがアキラに指示を出す。
『負傷しているけど命に別状はない。抱えて駆け上がりなさい。その方がここでモンスターを迎撃して彼女の回復を待つより早いわ』
アキラが銃の反動すら利用して急停止する。そして左手でサラを抱きかかえるようにしてすぐに階段を駆け上る。階段を駆け上がりながら、振り向きもせずにモンスター達に銃撃を続ける。全く狙っておらず適当に後方に撃っているように見えるが、アルファがしっかり狙っているため弾丸はしっかりモンスターに命中していた。
サラは驚きながらもアキラが救援に来たことは理解した。そして下手に動くとアキラの動きの邪魔になることも理解して、大人しくそのままアキラに抱きかかえられるように運ばれた。
エレナは地上でアキラ達が戻ってくるのを待っていた。アキラがサラの救援に向かったのはエレナにもすぐに分かったが、エレナまで救援に向かうわけにはいかない。エレナはここでサラ達が戻ってきたらすぐに出発できるように待機するのが最善だと判断していた。今のところ周辺にモンスターの姿はないが、いつ現れても不思議はないのだ。警戒を怠ることはできない。
サラ達はなかなか戻ってこない。正確には、エレナには一分一秒が非常に遅く感じられているだけで、そう長い時間は
次の瞬間、アキラがサラを抱えて遺跡から飛び出してくる。アキラはそのまま自分の車に飛び乗る。その直後、アキラの車が勝手に動き出した。
エレナもすぐに車を動かす。車が急発進した反動で大きく体勢を崩したレビン達が慌てて車にしがみついた。
アキラ達の車が勢いよく遺跡の入り口から離れていく。その後すぐに地下に続く階段からアキラ達を追っていたモンスターが湧き出てくる。比較的小型の、階段の幅よりは小さいモンスター達だ。
アキラが急いでいたためにサラを少々乱暴に後部座席に乗せる。車の運転自体は既にアルファが行っている。そして運転席に座ろうとするアキラをアルファが止める。
『アキラ。運転は私がするわ。アキラはあっちの対処をして』
『あっち?』
更に巨大な何かが飛び出てくる。階段を通り抜ける限界の大きさのモンスターが、大口を開けて他のモンスターを捕食しながら飛び出てきた。
それは長い巨大な蛇のようにも見えるが、巨大な鱗は捕食した様々なモンスターを乱暴に混ぜて造ったようなモザイクだ。へし折れた砲身のようなものまで混ざっている。
そこらの小物とは格の違う巨大なモンスターを見て驚愕したアキラが大口を開けて固まった。
その轟音でアキラが我に返る。我に返ったアキラが思わず叫ぶ。
「何だあれ!?」
アルファが答える。
『恐らく暴食ワニの亜種かしらね。通路のモンスターは、アキラ達を追ってきたというより、あれから逃げてきたのでしょうね』
『暴食ワニ!? 暴食ワニって、あんなのだったか!?』
『亜種って言ったでしょう? 元々捕食したものによって形状を変えるモンスターで、細長い通路を通ってきたから、形状をそれに合わせたのかもね。驚いていないで早く攻撃しなさい。あれを狙うのではなくて、近くにいるモンスターを倒すのよ。あれの餌がこっちに逃げてきたら、アキラ達まで巻き添えになって餌になるわ。運転は私がするから急ぎなさい』
アキラが慌てて車の後部に移動する。そしてDVTSミニガンとCWH対物突撃銃を構えて、アキラ達を追ってきているというより、巨大な捕食者から逃げている他のモンスターに狙いを定めて引き金を引く。
サラもすぐに攻撃に加わる。アキラとサラが自分達と同じ方向に逃げようとしているモンスターの群れに銃弾と榴弾を浴びせ続ける。銃弾を食らい、爆発で吹き飛ばされたモンスターが次々と倒れていく。
みにしていく。実に旺盛な食欲だ。比較的小型なモンスターを生物系であろうとも機械系であろうとも見境無く捕食していく。しかし近くの餌を優先して捕食しているため、かなりの勢いで離れていくアキラ達への興味は薄いようだ。
エレナもかなりの速度で車を走らせている。アキラ達の後ろにいては攻撃の邪魔になるからだ。アキラの車の速度に合わせるため、エレナはかなり荒れた運転をしていた。
レビン達はエレナの車から振り下ろされないように、必死にしがみついていた。レビン達が車から落ちたとしてもエレナが車を止めるとは思えない。間違いなく見捨てていくだろう。車から落ちれば巨大なモンスターの餌となるのは確実だ。焦りと恐怖で表情を歪ませて叫びながら必死になってしがみついていた。
アキラ達がモンスターを迎撃しながら遺跡のある
アキラ達がクガマヤマ都市へ向けて順調に車を走らせている。遺跡から湧き出てきたモンスターの群れから逃れてからはモンスターとの遭遇もなかった。
アキラ、エレナ、サラの三人はエレナ達の車に乗っている。レビン達はアキラの車に乗っている。安全を確認した後に乗り換えたのだ。
「サラ、本当に大丈夫なの?」
で死んだりはしないわ。もう大分治ってきているしね」
サラは余裕を感じさせる笑顔で返事をした。事実サラの負傷は戦闘に影響を与えない程度まで回復している。都市への帰り道でモンスターに遭遇しても問題なく戦える。
エレナはサラの顔に血が滴っていたのを見て、サラの容態をかなり心配していた。
しすぎよ。無理はしないようにって、ちゃんと言ったでしょう?」
サラはナノマシン投与による身体強化拡張者だ。サラの体は常人とは比べものにならないほど頑丈だ。それでも不死身ではない。死ぬ時は死ぬのだ。
く行っていたから、少し調子に乗っていたのかもね。これからはもう少し慎重に行動するわ」
サラは笑いながらそう答えてエレナに謝った。サラの笑顔には普段の明るさが少々足りておらず、必要以上に気落ちしないように無理に笑っている雰囲気さえあった。
エレナはサラの様子を見て、それ以上そのことについて話すのは止めにした。反省し、生き残っているのならば、それを次の機会に生かせば良い。不要な叱責は今後の動きを鈍らせるだけだ。
サラは自分が気落ち気味であることを自覚して、気持ちを切り替えるように明るく笑う。そしてアキラに礼を言う。
「アキラ、ありがとう。おかげで助かったわ」
「私からも礼を言っておくわ。アキラ、ありがとう。助かったわ」
「いえ、俺の方こそ何かすみません。予想以上に危険な遺跡に連れてきてしまったみたいで。最後にあんなのまで出てくるし、本当に全員無事で良かったです」
どことなく責任を感じているようなアキラの態度に、エレナは笑って答える。
「それはアキラの所為ではないわ。調査が不十分な遺跡に危険は付きもの。私もサラもその危険を承知であの遺跡に向かったのよ」
サラがエレナの意見に同意する。
「それに、こんなことを言うのも何だけど、地下街の遺物収集を終えた時にさっさと帰っていれば、何の問題もなかったのよね。......私達って、旧世界の遺跡で出会うハンターとの相性が悪いのかしら?」
エレナは冗談でそう言ったのだが、自分で言って少し真剣に考えてしまった。サラとアキラも過去の出来事から心当たりを見つけ出し、少し
アキラは何となく良くない思考に流されている気がして、強引に相反する出来事を思い出して反論の種にする。
「あー、その、俺がエレナさんとサラさんに初めて会ったのは旧世界の遺跡でしたので、必ずしもそうではないかと思います。俺は、ですけど」
アキラは柄にもないことを言っていると自覚して、少し照れていた。
アキラの照れが移ったのか、エレナとサラも少し上擦った口調で答えた。妙な気恥ずかしさがアキラ達の間に流れた。
一人だけ照れとは無縁のアルファが、楽しげに笑いながら話す。
『そうよね。アキラが私と出会ったのも旧世界の遺跡だし、そんなことはないわね』
『......そうだけど、アルファはハンターじゃないだろう?』
アルファが不満げな表情で話す。
『ちょっと、そこは同意してくれても良いでしょう? 相性の話よ。何よ、私との相性に何か文句でもあるの?』
『ないです。大変助かっております』
アルファと話してアキラは冷静さを取り戻した。さっきまであった照れもどこかへ消えてしまった。
エレナが照れ隠しを兼ねて少々強引に話題を変える。
「さて、私は都市に戻ったらハンターオフィスで緊急依頼の後処理とかいろいろすることがあるから、今のうちに決めておかなければならないことを決めておきましょう。まず私が案を出すから、嫌なら言ってちょうだい」
そうしなければ、サラは自分で売った女性用の下着の遺物を、自分で買い戻さなければならなくなる。当然売った相手の利益が上乗せされるため、売った時より時より高くだ。
「俺はそれで構いません。でもその場合、レビン達からもらう分の遺物はどうします?」
「どうしましょうか。サラ、何か良い案はない? 案がない場合は全部売り払って三等分だからね」
「えっと、下着とかは私が相場で買い取ってから売り払うってのはどう?」
「その相場は誰がどうやって調べるの? その相場は適正な額なの? 買い取り価格で買うの? 販売価格で買うの?」
別にエレナはサラを責めているわけではない。一部だけ方式を変えるとその調整が大変だというだけだ。
できれば下着を手に入れておきたいサラが案を出す。
「......何とか遺物を三等分するってのは?」
「分配した遺物の価値が均等になるように、どうやって分けるの? 遺物の目利きって大変なのよ? その目利き、誰がやるの? 三人で相談して分け合っても良いけど、遺恨なくちゃんと分けられるの?」
「業者に遺物を鑑定してもらうとか......」
「どの業者に鑑定してもらうの? その鑑定料は誰が払うの? 鑑定した結果、遺物の価値が
『ああ、そうか』
アルファにそう教えられて、アキラは単純に面倒だと思った。ハンターの中にはそのような面倒事に対処するために、代理人を雇う者もいる。アキラはその気持ちがよく分かった気がした。
「元々緊急依頼の報酬の300万オーラムの代わりです。この中の誰かが遺物を300万オーラムで買うってのはどうでしょうか? それを分ければ比較的公平になると思います。希望者がいなければ俺が買いますよ。言い出した本人ですし、遺物を売り払う練習にもなりますので」
「それなら私が買うわ。元々その遺物を欲しがっていたのは私だからね。後でアキラの口座に振り込んでおくわ。アキラもそれで良い?」
エレナが次の相談事に話を進める。
「遺物の件はこれで終わりね。次はあの旧世界の遺跡の情報についての話になるわ。私はあの遺跡の情報を売るつもりよ。その情報料から今回使った弾薬費を引いて、残りを三等分するってことにしたいわ。
「アキラは本当にそれで良いの? 遺跡の場所とか内部構造とか生息しているモンスターとかの情報が、思いっきり広まるのよ? 地下街の奥とかに、まだまだ遺物がたっぷり残っているかもしれないわ。後悔しない?」
「大丈夫です。正直な話、あんなのが出る遺跡にもう一度行きたいとは思いません」
嫌そうな表情でそう話すアキラを見て、エレナとサラも苦笑する。
「まあ、アレの情報も高値で売るとしましょう。しかしあんなのまで出てくるとはね。やっぱり未調査の遺跡は大変だわ」
サラも笑って話す。
い。後は、都市に戻るまで何事もないことを祈りましょうか」
エレナの祈りが通じたのか、アキラ達は何事もなく都市に戻ることができた。正確には、アキラ、エレナ、サラの3人は、何事もなく都市に戻ることができた。
めた。エレナ達はレビン達から報酬の遺物を受け取り、アキラと別れの挨拶を済ませて先に都市に戻っていった。エレナ達には緊急依頼の後手続きや遺跡の情報の売買など、いろいろとすることがあるようだ。
荒野にはアキラとレビン達が取り残されている。アキラがレビン達を一度車から降ろす。運転席に座ったままのアキラに、レビンが
だ。ここから都市まで歩けってか?」
「いや、ちゃんと都市まで送るよ。都市まで送る依頼だしな」
「じゃあ何で降ろしたんだ?」
「確認しておきたいことがあるんだ。その確認が終わったら都市まで送る」
「......確認? 何をだ?」
そうにしてアキラに尋ねた。しかし実際にはレビンも仲間達も、アキラが確認したいことの内容は容易に想像できた。そしてその想像は見事的中した。
「回復薬の代金。200万オーラム。どうやって払うんだ?」
レビン達が一斉に目を
"No, if you can't keep up, we'll leave you behind. The longer we stay here, the dangerous it becomes. If you don't want to die, then keep on running. Just so you know, we're already running slower than usual even right now."
"How exactly are you even doing that? Are you using that thing? That augmented suit thingy? None of us is using an augmented suit, you know. So please be kind."
"How in the world did you even think of coming to an unexplored ruin without it? Do you want to kill yourself or something?"
Elena's opinion was rather harsh, it might be because she knew just how bad their situation was, but what she said was not wrong.
Revin glanced at Akira, seeing how a Hunter younger than him was already using an augmented suit, he threw a question to Akira that sounded more like a complaint.
"Like I said, we came to this unexplored ruin expecting to return home with a lot of money so that we can buy better equipment, okay? Even you too bought that augmented suit after selling expensive relics, right?"
"Well, that's true. But in order to pay for it, I had to use almost all of my savings. Thanks to that, I had to live in an inn without a bath for a few days. It wasn't that easy getting this augmented suit."
Akira vaguely recounted those days. Looking at his current equipment, it was unthinkable that he would have lived in such a situation.
Revin was a bit taken aback by Akira's unexpected reaction.
Akira then asked Revin.
"We already used all that we brought. It's not like we were able to run away from those monsters without getting injured at all."
"I see, do you want to buy mine then? I still have quite a lot with me."
"Really? Thanks and sorry, how much is it?"
"The heck? That's so expensive!! What's with that price? Just how much money do you guys want to squeeze out from us?!"
Revin was thunderstruck by the price that he shouted in reflex. The price of that medicine was totally different from the price of the medicines that he and his men usually used.
But Akira replied calmly.
"It's the same price that I paid when I bought them. I'm not profiting from it, not even a single Aurum. Moreover, these medicines are powerful enough to save you even when you're already on your death's door. It's true that it's expensive, but it's way cheaper compared to my life. It's up to you to decide whether it's more expensive than your life or not. So, do you want to buy it?"
"...Still no."
Revin and his men squeezed everything that they had to keep up with Akira, Elena and Sara as they were running through that long hallway. There was no doubt that they would experience severe muscle pain when they get back to the city.
His men decided that they would stop spending their money on women and alcohol and use it for buying an augmented suit instead. Although It was a different story whether they would still think the same tomorrow too, but at least, they did think so now.
They eventually arrived in front of the stairs leading to the surface.
But Elena suddenly turned back and stared at the hallway that they just passed. Her expression immediately turned grim, Akira and Sara reacted to that by staring back at the hallway too.
Revin and his men, who were barely able to catch up with them, felt that sudden mood change. He then nervously asked Elena while still trying to catch his breath.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Elena explained their current situation.
"If you don't want to die, climb the stairs as fast as you can, the monsters are coming."
"...Hah?"
Revin's reaction was a little bit late, he was already both mentally and physically tired. He unconsciously did not want to admit that his situation was getting worse and it slowed his mind from processing the situation.
Elena then shouted at him.
"Don't just stand there and start running!! Do you really want to die that badly!??"
Sounds started echoing from inside the hallway. They were the sounds of monsters' roars, hissing sounds from machines and some heavy stomping sounds.
Elena turned to Sara.
"Sara, I'll leave it to you to slow them down. We'll go to the surface and get ourselves ready to leave this place, so there's no need to hold this place for too long. You just need to buy some time and quickly retreat after that. If it seems that you won't be able to hold the monsters back while waiting for Revin and his men to retreat, you can just abandon them."
Sara smiled when she said that. She then handed the other things that she did not need to Elena and Akira. After Elena and Akira received them, they quickly went up the stairs.
They then came across Revin and his team, who had started climbing the stairs, ahead of them. However, they were already exhausted. Although they were still swinging their legs, they were moving very slowly.
"Want the medicine now?"
Akira would only wait for an answer until he passed beside them, so they only had a few seconds to answer.
Revin looked at Akira and shouted back.
"Dammit!! Give it to me!"
Akira then dropped a box of medicine beside Revin and his team as he kept running to the surface with Elena without slowing down.
Revin used his leftover power to pick up and open those medicines, he then took a capsule out from the box and swallowed it in a hurry.
He quickly regained his strength, even before the medicine actually started working due to the placebo effect from that 2,000,000 Aurum per box medicine. And when its effect started to kick in for real, as expected of expensive medicine, it immediately boosted his physical condition.
He quickly handed over the medicine to his men. Now that they had recovered their vigour and power, they started running up the stairs as if they were completely different people from just a moment ago.
Akira and Elena climbed the stairs and reached the surface. They quickly scanned their surroundings and confirmed that there were no monsters near the entrance, they then went to their respective vehicles and got themselves ready to leave that place.
They parked their vehicles not too far from the entrance as not to block Sara's way out from that ruin, and then they waited for Sara and the other Hunters to come out from the entrance.
But his expression immediately turned grim. He quickly jumped off from the driver seat and once again walked down the stairs, he could not see Sara behind Revin and his men.
Sara was slowly walking up the stairs while repelling the monsters that were approaching her. Her movements were relatively slow. It was obvious from the way she moved that she was injured. She might have gotten hit by some splinter as the blood that was flowing out from her head had already doused her face in red.
There were many reasons why she got injured, some of the monsters that she was fighting were stronger than the monsters usually found in the underground, some monsters had ranged weaponry, some tended to attack her even if they also injured the other monsters, she had no place to hide and she sometimes did not have enough time to evade the monsters' attacks. And above all, she took too long before she decided to retreat.
Although Sara thought that she was fighting just like usual, in reality, that was not true. If she was fighting like usual, she would not make a fatal mistake like taking too long a time before deciding to retreat. Elena had even told her to just abandon Revin and retreat when the push came to shove. If it was her usual self, she would have retreated sooner.
Sara then realized the reason why she made that fatal mistake.
"...Ahhh, I see, I wanted to show my good side to Akira."
Sara smiled, she was laughing at herself. As a veteran Hunter, she wanted to show off her skills to Akira. She wanted to amaze him by holding back the monsters without any trouble even when she had to protect Revin and his men. She wanted to live up to Akira's expectations since he always looked up at her as a great Hunter.
Being able to stay collected and keep fighting calmly in that situation was enough to show her ability. Sara herself had no plans to die in that place, she had not given up returning back alive from that place. If only she had a few minutes of break, the nanomachines inside her body would quickly heal her wounds.
But as long as she was in the middle of a fight, her healing rate would be considerably slowed down. Just withstanding the kickback from her gun was enough to aggravate her wounds.
And even if she decided to drop her gun and ran up the stairs, in her current condition, the monsters would reach her first before she could reach the surface. Thus, she had no other choice but to slowly climb up the stairs while suppressing the monsters although it slowed down her healing rate. If she abandoned the only means she had to fight back, the monsters would catch up with her and she would be dead in no time. While on the other hand, she did not have unlimited ammo to fight back the monsters.
According to her experience as a veteran Hunter, it would be bad to keep doing the same thing. But at the same time, her experience was also telling her that there was no other viable choice. Sara just gritted her teeth as she continued fighting back the monsters.
Akira, who was running down the stairs, did not stop even after he spotted Sara and the monsters ahead of her. He did not slow down as he readied his CWH anti-material rifle and took an aim at those monsters.
"Alpha!"
"Leave it to me!"
He showed no hesitation when he asked for Alpha's help. Alpha suddenly appeared within his view and replied to him, at the same time, her support was back online.
Akira pulled the trigger, he had already loaded his CWH anti-material rifle with CWH special ammo. Thanks to Alpha's support, his shooting was highly effective, even close to godly. The CWH special ammo that could even easily destroy tanks pierced through the monsters in the front and took out the monsters behind them too.
Akira was only carrying his CWH anti-material rifle since he decided to leave anything that might slow him down back in his vehicle, and that included his DVTS minigun. In exchange for the lowered firepower, he loaded CWH special ammo into his CWH anti-material rifle. Thanks to that, he was able to move relatively faster without sacrificing much firepower.
After Alpha quickly confirmed Sara's situation, she then gave a command to Akira.
"She's wounded, but her life is not in danger. Pick her up and start running, it's faster than repelling the monsters while waiting for her to recover."
Akira used the kickback from his rifle to stop his momentum. He then quickly picked Sara up with his left hand and started running up the stairs. While he was ascending the stairs, he continued shooting at the monsters behind him without even looking back at them. Although it seemed like he was shooting randomly, he was actually properly aiming at the monsters with help from Alpha and his shots were also properly hitting those monsters.
Although she was shocked at first, Sara understood that Akira was there to help her. She also understood that she would only slow him down if she made any needless moves, thus she obediently let Akira carry her to the surface.
Elena was still waiting for Akira and Sara on the surface, she quickly noticed that Akira went back down to help Sara, but it was not like she could leave her station too. She decided that the best course of action for her was to wait for Sara and Akira on the surface so that they all could leave the moment they escaped the ruin. Although there were no monsters around at the moment, monsters could appear anytime without notice, she could not afford to drop down her guard there.
Even after some time passed, Sara and Akira did not appear. Although to be more precise, she had been waiting only for a few seconds, but even a second felt too long for Elena and she just could not stand it. And it was enough to make her expression fill with desperation.
Then at the next moment, Akira came out from the ruin while carrying Sara. He immediately headed to his vehicle and jumped in. The moment he did that, his vehicle suddenly turned-on on its own.
Elena, who saw that, also quickly started her vehicle. The sudden acceleration threw Revin and his men out of balance and they hurried to grab on to anything.
Akira and Elena quickly sped their vehicle away from the entrance. Right after that, the monsters that were chasing Akira and Sara flooded out from inside that ruin, they were relatively small monsters, small enough to pass through the stairs.
Because he was in a hurry, he just threw Sara on the back seat. Alpha was already driving the vehicle. When Akira was about to sit on the driver seat, Alpha suddenly stopped him.
"Akira, I'll do the driving, you should take care of that side."
"Which side?"
Then suddenly, a huge monster jumped out from the stairs. Its size was almost as big as the entrance's width. It opened its huge mouth and crushed countless monsters inside its mouth.
It looked like a huge snake but its scales resembled a mix-match mosaic of different monsters. There was even something that looked like a broken cannon embedded into its scale. As it forced its way out the stairs, some of its scales got peeled off and dropped to the ground.
Akira dropped his jaw in shock when he saw that huge monster which was way bigger than any other monsters he just fought.
That loud bang snapped Akira back to reality, he inadvertently shouted.
"What the heck is that thing!?"
Alpha answered his question.
"I believe that it's a subspecies of the greedy crocodile. Those monsters that were inside the hallway were not chasing you, they were running away from that greedy crocodile."
"Greedy crocodile?! I don't remember seeing a greedy crocodile like that one, you know?!"
"I did say that it's a subspecies of greedy crocodile, right? Remember that greedy crocodile evolves according to what they eat, and since it was living in that hallway for a long time, it might have adapted its body shape to the hallway. Now then, don't just stand there and start shooting. Don't shoot at that big monster, aim for the smaller ones instead. If its food runs to your direction, there's a good chance that you'll get caught up in its feeding time. I'll handle the driving, so you should handle the monsters."
Akira jumped to the backside of his vehicle, grabbed both CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun and aimed at the small monsters that were running away from that huge greedy crocodile before pulling the trigger.
Sara quickly turned back and helped Akira too. They were aiming at the monsters that were running in their direction. Bullets from Akira and grenade shells from Sara rained down at those monsters and massacred them.
The monsters that slowed down after getting hit by Akira's and Sara's barrage were quickly chomped and swallowed by the huge greedy crocodile. It was indeed a very greedy crocodile. It kept chomping down the smaller monsters no matter whether they were biological monsters or mechanical monsters. Since its attention was focused on the prey near it, it ignored Akira and Elena who were speeding away from it.
Elena was driving her vehicle at a high speed. She was trying to catch up with Akira's vehicle since she would block Akira and Sara's aim if she drove behind them. But in order to do that, Elena was driving pretty recklessly.
Revin and his men desperately clung on anything they could find so that they would not fall off the vehicle. They were sure that Elena would not stop the car to pick them up if any of them fell off and it was obvious that the huge monster would be happy to munch at them if that happened. Their faces were filled with terror as they were holding tight and screaming on top of their lungs.
Akira and Elena blazed through the wreckages and rubbles while speeding away from the monsters behind them. As they were getting away from that place, the huge monster started to look smaller and smaller, and when that huge monster was no longer visible with n.a.k.e.d eyes, they knew they had finally escaped from those monsters.
Akira and Elena were driving straight to Kugamayama city. After they got away from that huge greedy crocodile, they did not get to encounter any more monsters on their way.
Putting some more distance between that monster and them, they stopped the vehicle after checking the safety around the area. They then resumed their drive once Akira and Sara moved to Elena's vehicle and Revin and his men moved to Akira's vehicle.
"Sara, are you really okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry. I won't die just because of something like this, not to mention, my wounds are mostly healed already."
Sara smiled, affirming that she was really okay. As in matter of fact, she had already recovered to the point that she would be able to fight normally in case if they encountered more monsters on their way back to the city.
When Elena saw Sara was bleeding from her head, she was extremely worried about her.
"Well, I guess it's fine if you say so. Good grief, don't scare me like that. Just because your body is stronger than a normal human, it's not enough of a reason to do reckless things, you know. I did tell you not to be reckless, didn't I?"
Sara's body was enhanced by the nanomachines. Thus her body was way stronger than that of a normal human. But it did not make her invulnerable, she would still die when seriously injured.
"I'm sorry, things are going so well lately that I guess I got a little bit too c.o.c.ky. I'll be more careful next time."
Sara smiled as she apologized to Elena, but her smile was clouded compared to her usual smile. It somehow felt like she forced herself to smile in order to avoid getting herself too depressed.
Elena looked at Sara and decided to stop dwelling on that subject. As long as Sara returned back alive, felt sorry for her action, and promised to do better next time, that was enough for Elena. After all, scolding her too much would only be counter-effective.
Sara herself knew that she was feeling rather down, so in order to change the mood, she smiled and turned to Akira to thank him.
"Akira, thank you for saving me."
"I also feel grateful to you, Akira. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. And I'm sorry, it seems that the ruin is way more dangerous than I thought. There's also that monster right at the end. I'm just glad that everyone got out alive."
Seeing how Akira seemed down since he was feeling responsible for what happened, Elena smiled and said to him.
"It's not your fault. Exploring an unexplored ruin is always dangerous. We both knew that well when we decided to come to that ruin."
Sara also agreed with her.
"Moreover, although it sounds cruel to say this, but if we had returned back as soon as we finished collecting relics, today's exploration would have ended up without any trouble, right...? We might really have bad luck when it comes to meeting other Hunters in the old-world ruins."
Elena meant to say that as a joke, but now that she said it, it made her think about that possibility for real. Sara and Akira groaned as they realized that what Elena said might be true.
Akira felt that the subject of their conversation was leading toward a bad direction, thus he tried to remember anything that contradicted that way of thinking as he presented it to Elena and Sara.
"Uhmm, well, I met Sara-san and Elena-san for the first time in an old-world ruin, so I don't think it's all that bad... Or at least, that's what I think."
Akira realized that he said something that was way out of his character and felt rather embarrassed.
It might be because Akira's embarrassment propagated to Sara and Elena, they stuttered when they replied back. The mood between the three of them felt a bit awkward.
The only one who was not embarrassed at all and was smiling like usual was Alpha.
"You're right, after all, you got to meet me in the old-world ruin too. So I can reassure you that it's not true."
"...That's a good point, but you're not a Hunter, right?"
Alpha made a displeased face and said.
"Good grief, you should just agree with me here, you know? We're talking about compatibility here, or are you saying that you don't like me?"
"Not at all. You really help me in a lot of ways."
After talking with Alpha, Akira regained his calm. He also forgot about the embarrassing thing that just happened.
Elena suddenly came up with another subject, it felt like she did that intentionally to hide her embarrassment.
"Now then, once we return back to the city, there are a lot of things that we need to do like going to the Hunter Office to take care of the SOS request. So I'm thinking of deciding things that we can decide here while we have the chance. I'll make some suggestions, just tell me if you don't agree with any of it."
If they did not do that, Sara would have to sell the old-world underclothing that she gathered just to buy it herself later. And of course, she would have to pay more than when she sold them if she did that.
"I'm okay with that, but then, what should we do about the relics that we will get from Revin?"
"Hmm, Sara, do you have any good ideas? If not, then we might as well sell them all and divide the money equally."
"Well, can you let me buy the underclothing at market price before selling the rest?"
"Even if you say so, who exactly is going to decide the market price for it? And how? Even if you find a way to do that, are you sure that you can get an accurate price? Also, are you going to buy them at market price or at the selling price of relics merchants?"
It was not like Elena was trying to pressure Sara, she just wanted Sara to know that if they picked another option, then they would have to make a lot of adjustments.
But Sara, who really wanted to get the old-world underclothing, made another suggestion.
"...Then how about equally dividing the relics between us?"
"How exactly are you going to do that while making sure that the three of us get the same worth of relics? It's not easy to decide the worth of a relic. So who is going to do that? I don't mind if we want to talk it out, but I'm not sure that it'll end up peacefully."
"In that case, how about asking a relic appraiser to do that for us...?"
"Sure, but which relic appraiser would we ask for help? And who will pay for the cost too? What if we find out that there's a big gap between the prices of the relics and we are not able to come to an agreement on how to divide them, then what should we do?"
"Ohh, I see, that's true."
When Alpha told that to Akira, he thought that doing something like this would be a huge pain in the ass. Some of the Hunters who wanted to avoid things like this tend to have a proxy to do it on their behalf and they would agree with anything that their proxies decided on. Akira somehow understood the feeling of those Hunters.
"Those relics were originally given to us in place of the 3,000,000 Aurum reward from the SOS request. So if anyone here wants to buy them, then how about having that person buy those relics with 3,000,000 Aurum? And then if we divide that 3,000,000 Aurum equally between the other two, it should be pretty fair, right? If no one would buy them, I'll do it. After all, I'm the one who came up with this idea and it's a good chance for me to learn how to sell relics too."
"In that case, I'll buy them. It was me who originally wanted those relics. I'll transfer the money to your account later, is that okay?"
Elena then moved to the next subject.
"I guess that ends the subject about the relics. The next problem is regarding the information about the ruin. I'm thinking of selling the information about that ruin, then we can divide the money that we get from selling that info equally among us after we deduct the cost of ammo that we used today. But of course, I won't sell the info if Akira is against it. So, are you okay with that, Akira?"
"Akira, are you really okay with that? The information about the location of that ruin, the interior of that ruin, and the monsters in that ruin will quickly spread, you know? There might be still some expensive relics left in the deeper part of that ruin, are you sure that you won't regret it?"
"It's okay. To be honest, I have no plans to go to that ruin with that huge monster ever again."
It was obvious from his expression that Akira really did not want to go to that ruin ever. So Elena and Sara just smiled bitterly.
"Let's at least make use of that information to earn as much money as possible. But still, to think something like that would appear, searching an unexplored ruin is really a dangerous thing."
Sara smiled and said.
"And that will take care of most of the things. Now, let's just hope that nothing happens until we safely reach the city."
Elena's prayer might have been answered since they did not encounter any trouble on their way back to Kugamayama city. But no matter what it was, the fact was that Elena, Akira and Sara were able to return back alive.
They stopped their vehicles in the wasteland not too far away from the city. There, Revin handed over the relics rewards to Elena and Sara, who then said goodbye to Akira and headed to the city. It seemed that there were a lot of things that they had to do like taking care of the SOS request and selling the information.
Akira was left together with Revin and his men in the wasteland. He then told them to board off his vehicle. Seeing how Akira was still sitting on the driver seat after they boarded off, Revin asked him.
"Hey, what's the meaning of this? Are you telling us to walk to the city?"
"Don't worry, the request is to escort you guys back to the city, so I'll properly escort you guys to the city."
"Then why did you tell us to get off from your vehicle?"
"There's one thing that I want to make sure first, I'll escort you guys after that."
"...? What is it?"
Revin clearly looked confused, but to be honest, he and his men actually knew what Akira was talking about. And as expected, their guess was not wrong.
"The medicine, 2,000,000 Aurum, how are you planning to pay for it?"
Revin and his men averted their eyes.
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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