181 人型のモンスター
アキラは人形の残骸を買取に出した後、仮設基地の食堂で休憩を取っていた。体力や負傷の方は追加の回復薬を服用したおかげで問題ないが、気力とやる気までは回復しない。本日のハンター稼業は終了と決めて、軽い気
そこにキバヤシが現れた。上機嫌な様子でアキラの正面に勝手に座ると、楽しげな笑みを向ける。アキラはそれに面倒そうな表情を返した。
「何か用か?」
「そう邪険にするなよ。まだ帰っていないようだったから、聞き取りのついでに顔を出しただけだ」
「聞き取り? 言っておくが、弾薬費は絶対払わないからな」
めながら断固たる意志を示した。キバヤシがそれを見て苦笑する。
「大丈夫だって。端末が途中でぶっ壊れて行動を追えなくなったからって、その間の分は自費になんてならねえよ」
アキラが借りた端末は周囲の情報を仮設基地に常時送信していたが、ビルの最上階に入った時点で通信が途絶していた。これはあのビルの最上階の機能によるものだ。更に小型ミサイルの爆発で端末は壊れてしまった。これにより、ツバキと遭遇した出来事は仮設基地に一切伝わっていない。
「普通の感覚なんか知るか。第一、弾薬使い放題の時点で普通じゃないだろう」
「それを含めてでもだよ。お前らしいな」
その後アキラはキバヤシと雑談しながら今回の依頼のことや大通り周辺の状況などを聞いていた。
今回の依頼に明確な区切りはない。期間はアキラのハンターランクが実力相応の位置に上がるまでだ。そのハンターランクにも具体的な数値は設定されていない。
しかし既にキバヤシを楽しませるほどの成果を上げているのなら、もう終わりでも良いのではないか。アキラはそう思って尋ねてみたが、キバヤシからはそれを決めるのは自分でなく、もっと上の人間が総合的に判断するので分からないと答えられた。
無制限の弾薬費を良いことに採算度外視で成果を稼げば、有能か無能のどちらかで判断されるとしても、相応のハンターランクに早く到達して依頼はすぐに終わる。アキラはそう考えていただけに少し意外だった。
ティオルがクズスハラ街遺跡の廃ビルの一室で人形の残骸を食べている。アキラが倒したものではない。別のビルの備品で、ティオルが倒した機体だ。
真っ白な部屋の中に金属を食い千切る音が響き続けている。ティオルの体は戦闘で大分破損していたが、食事を続けている間に少しずつ再生していた。
そのティオルの前に、突如ツバキの姿が現れた。
「こんにちは」
ティオルが即座に反応する。一瞬で飛びかかる体勢を取ると、ツバキの頭部を千切り飛ばそうと突進して勢いよく右手を伸ばす。だがその手は立体映像であるツバキの頭部を通り抜けるだけに終わった。
「礼儀がなっていませんね」
ツバキの立体映像が消える。ティオルがすぐに攻撃態勢を取り、別の場所に、空中の何もない場所に襲いかかる。ティオルにはそこに立つツバキの姿が見えていた。
時が止まったかのように緩やかに流れる世界で、ツバキがティオルを見ながら
「拡張現実側の私も見えている。ネットワーク上の映像情報も知覚できている。なるほど」
次の瞬間、ティオルの体が飛びかかろうとした体勢で固定された。石像のように硬直した体がそのまま慣性で前に進み床に激突する。そして全ての関節を完全に固定した状態のまま床を転がっていった。
「治安管理721の制御指示が有効。ということは、そこの警備生物からナノマシンを抽出したのか。どこの誰の手腕か知らないが大したものだ。しかし制御の乗っ取りには失敗している。いや、敵味方識別装置の偽装目的で埋め込んだナノマシンが変異を起こした結果か? 無差別に取り込み過ぎて競合も発生している。これではシステムとして破綻している」
この部屋にいるのはティオルだけだ。しかしティオルには自分に近付いてくるツバキの姿が、羅列されている付加情報と一緒に見えていた。非認証接続継続中。接続防衛失敗。切断失敗。区画844上位管理体。非管理区域個体。不正侵入中。戦力差無謀。勝率皆無。即時退避推奨。ティオルはそれらの付加情報を認識していたが、状況の改善には全く役立たなかった。
ティオルの拡張視界からツバキの姿が一度消える。そして立体映像の方の姿で再び現れる。そのツバキがティオルの頭に手を伸ばす。
「彼には話すら聞いてもらえずに断られてしまいました。ですから、代わりに
ティオルの視界に表示されている付加情報が変わっていく。非認証接続継続中。接続防衛失敗。切断失敗。制御装置再構築中。指揮系統再構築中。接続再構築。再構築完了。
ティオルの体の硬直が解けて、床にぐったりと倒れた状態になる。数秒後、ティオルはゆっくりと立ち上がると、ツバキの前に立った。
ヤツバヤシが非常に険しい表情で表示装置を食い入るように見ている。
「......何が起こった?」
表示されているのはティオルから送られていた情報だ。既に送信は完全に停止していた。その最後に送られてきた情報を見るヤツバヤシの表情には、ある種の興奮も含まれていた。
ヤツバヤシはティオルを放置していると不都合な事態が発生しかねないとして対処方法を考えていた。しかしここでその方針を完全に変える。知的好奇心が不都合の隠蔽に完全に勝ったのだ。そしてその目的に沿って計画を立て始めた。
アキラがシズカの店で消耗品の購入手続きをしている。シズカが少し険しい表情で確認を取る。
「アキラ。これ、相当な金額になっているけれど、本当に良いのね?」
「はい。開き直って金食い虫になった方が安全だし依頼も早く終わる。そう考え直しました。やってください」
アキラは購入品の内容をかなり見直していた。今回の注文には小型大容量のエネルギーパックと高性能な修復用資材カートリッジが多数含まれていた。どちらもかなり高額な品だ。弾薬も高額な
アキラがどことなく安心していると、キバヤシから連絡が入る。
「俺だ。随分高額な決済処理が入ったが、お前からの注文で、注文内容に間違いはないか? そっちの情報端末に内容を送ったから確認してくれ」
「確認した。注文したのは俺で、内容も間違いない」
キバヤシが楽しげな声を返してくる。
「随分買い込んだな。決済部門から俺に確認が来るって相当だぞ?」
「俺が安全に戦うために必要な物だ。身の程を知れって苦情なら、俺はその程度の実力しかないやつだって判断してくれ。そうすれば、俺の依頼も早く終わるよな?」
「ん? 苦情じゃないぞ。決済は通す」
「額と量の所為で横流しの懸念が出ているだけだ。悪いが注文した品は一度仮設基地に運んで、そこで保管するようにしてくれ。具体的な保管場所は後で指定する」
「修復用資材カートリッジは強化服の修理用だから家にないと困るんだけど」
「じゃあそれは外して良い。上には俺から言っておく」
あっさり要求が通ったことにアキラが軽い戸惑いを見せていると、それを感じ取ったキバヤシの笑い声が返ってくる。
「言っただろう? お前の成果は普通の感覚なら十分異常だって。これぐらいは通るんだよ。俺の
キバヤシとの通話が切れるのと同時に決済処理が完了した。
アキラが僅かに苦笑する。自分自身の実力と、アルファのサポートを得た自分の実力。その差はまだまだ歴然としている。それを可能な限り縮める
アキラは浮かべている苦笑に自嘲と自画自賛が半々と言った色を出していた。そこで自分を心配そうに見ているシズカに気付き、少しあたふたする。
「あ、えっとですね、何というか、注文の方は大丈夫そうです」
「アキラ。無理をしては駄目よ?」
「分かってます。無理をせずに安全に戦うためにたっぷり注文したんですから」
「そう。余裕を持つのは良いことよ。でも油断をしないように気を付けなさい」
「はい」
アキラはしっかり
アキラが再びクズスハラ街遺跡をバイクで駆けている。前回から数日間を置いての再開だ。その間に強化服や防御コートの修復を済ませて、体調の方もしっかり整えていた。仮設基地に予備の弾薬類も運び込んでいた。
アルファは透明なサイドカーに座っているかのように空中に座っている。いろいろと際疾いデザインの旧世界製の戦闘服を着て、輝くような長い髪を存在しない風に
『アキラ。今日はどうするの?』
『どうしようか。まためぼしい建物に当たりを付けて遺物収集をしても良いんだけど、またビルの備品と戦う羽目になるのも嫌なんだよな』
アキラがアルファの格好を見てふと思いつく。
『それって旧世界製の戦闘服だよな。この辺は遺跡の奥部なんだし、その類いの物がどこかにあったりしないかな』
『絶対にないとは言い切れないけれど、難しいと思うわ。もし見付けたらどうするの?』
『サイズの問題とかあるんだろうけど、着られそうなら着る。旧世界製なら
『これ、女性用よ? 着るの? まあ、確かに高性能だし、理解はできるわ』
『何でそれを着ることになってるんだよ。その類いの男性用の物を見付けた場合の話だ』
『売る。そしてその金で男性用の物を買う』
『費用対効果を考慮すると、デザインを無視すればどう考えても自分で着た方が良い場合は?』
アキラが一瞬迷いを見せる。だがすぐに取り消した。
『アルファ。取りあえず探索するビルの見立てだけ頼む』
『あら、今日は初めから私を頼るの?』
『また外れのビルを頑張って探索する羽目になるのも嫌だしな。当たりのビルを探すのも訓練の内なんだろうけど、そっちの訓練は別の機会にってことにしてくれ。今日は内部探査の訓練だ』
アキラは視界に拡張表示された移動ルートに従ってバイクを走らせた。
目的地に到着したアキラが
『何というか、部屋の中の方向が普段と違うと戸惑うな』
アルファは闇の中で宙に浮かびながら楽しげに
『あら、アキラは今までもビルの側面を駆け降りたり駆け登ったりしたから、もう慣れたと思っていたわ』
アキラが自分の経験を思い出して苦笑する。
『それなら慣れておかないとね。足下注意よ』
次の瞬間、アキラが足場にしていた机が揺らぐ。そして床から剥がれて底へ落ちていく。アキラは辛うじて別の机まで飛んでその端を
く底に到着したアキラが目を輝かせる。底には部屋中の備品が積もっている。どれも旧世界の遺物だ。多少破損している物もあるが、頑丈な物も多い。高値が付きそうな物をリュックサックに手当たり次第に詰め込んでいく。
リュックサックを満杯にしたアキラが頭上を見上げる。外の光までは遠い。
『......当たり前だけど、戻らないといけないんだよな。ロープぐらい用意しておけば良かった』
『だから、もうちょっと早く教えてくれ』
楽しげに笑っているアルファに、アキラは微妙な苦笑を返した。
強化服でビルを駆け下り、バイクでビルを駆け上がったアキラは、ある意味で慣れてしまっていた。無意識に何とかなるだろうと思ってしまい、ロープを使用するという手段が頭から抜け落ちる程度には。
アキラは四苦八苦して何とか外に戻った。両手にブレードを持って床に突き刺し登ったり、詰め込み過ぎて出入口を通らなくなったリュックサックから一部を泣く泣く捨てて通り抜けたりと、ちょっとしたことを思いつかなかった代償をたっぷり支払った。
その後アキラは仮設基地に戻って持ち帰った遺物を買取所に持ち込むと、早速ロープを買いに行った。
アキラがハンターランク調整依頼を始めてから2ヶ月ほど経過したが、依頼はまだ継続していた。購入する消耗品の量と質を上げ続けても決済は通り続けていた。
遅くても1ヶ月程度で終わるだろう。そう考えていたアキラがシズカの店で愚痴を
しているのは、どちらかと言えばエレナ達がそう促したからだ。その内容を共通の話題にして、可能ならば助言などをして、友好を深めるために。
しかしその愚痴の内容が、ハンターランク調整依頼を嫌々引き受けた上に、十分なランクまで上がったと思ったのに依頼がまだ終わらないという、ハンターランクを上げる
サラが少し感慨深そうな表情をアキラに向ける。
「それにしても、ハンターランク調整依頼か。話を聞くことはあるけれど、実際に依頼が来た人を見たのは初めてだわ。アキラの実力なら不思議はないとはいえ、やっぱりアキラは
「......ありがとう御座います。でも考えようによっては、過度に高く見積もられた実力に応じた難度でのハンター稼業を強いられるってことでもありますから」
エレナがアキラの態度に気付いて話の方向を変える。
アキラはエレナからの称賛には僅かな照れを見せた。サラは自分の時との態度の違いに僅かに嫌なものを覚えると、軽く
「サ、サラさん!?」
「私もちゃんと見習っておくわ。ハンターランク調整依頼なんて私に来るとは思えないけどね。過ぎた謙遜は嫌みよ?」
「分かってるわ。心の狭い女の愚痴よ。でもそういう人は結構多いから気を付けなさい」
くした後、エレナからの話を聞いたアキラが少し不思議そうにする。
「人型のモンスター......ですか?」
「そう。最近クズスハラ街遺跡で人型モンスターに襲われたって話が増えているの。場所はあの後方連絡線の周辺よ」
「えっと、それはあれですか? 都市が強盗に
いているのかもしれない。セランタルビルの時のように、死んだハンターの強化服を何かが動かしているのかもしれない。何というか、詳しい状況は不明なの。都市側からも注意喚起ぐらいしか出ていないわ」
「それが強盗にしろモンスターにしろ、少なくとも人型の何かが周辺のハンターを襲っているってことですか」
敵がモンスターなら即
「はい。気を付けます」
アキラが帰った後の店内で、サラが少し不思議そうに疑問を口に出す。
「ねえエレナ。アキラって、自分の実力を高く評価されるのが嫌いなのかしら?」
「そうかもしれないわね。思い返せば地下街でも似たような態度を取っていたわ」
「そういえばそうだった。何でだと思う?」
「それは分からないわ。多分アキラにもいろいろあったのでしょうね。......何があったかは知らないけど、多分余り良い経験ではなかったのだと思う。サラ。分かっていると思うけど、下手に聞いちゃ駄目よ?」
「分かってる。......難しいなあ」
命懸けで、採算度外視で助けてくれたと思えば、その縁をあっさり切り捨てようとする。今は何とかまた普通に話せるようになっている。軽いのか、重いのか、それは命か信念か。サラには分からないことだらけだ。
辛うじて残った縁を手放す気などない。サラは扱いの難しい友人を
Ch 181
After Akira sold the robots that he destroyed in the forward base, he took a break in the base's cafeteria. Thanks to the medicines that he had taken, his wound had already been fully healed and he was not physically exhausted, but the medicines did not help with his mental stress at all. He had decided to end his day, so he was sitting there looking absent-minded.
That was when Kibayashi appeared. Kibayashi happily took the seat in front of Akira without asking Akira's permission and smiled at him. Akira frowned, knowing that it would be nothing but more trouble.
"What now?"
"Don't be so cold. It's just that since I see you haven't returned back home yet, there's something I want to ask you here, you see."
"Ask me? Just to let you know, I won't be paying for the ammo, alright?"
Akira said so clearly right from the start with a stern face. Kibayashi smiled wryly at him and said.
"Don't worry about that. Just because you got your terminal destroyed during your duty, it's not like we're not going to pay for the ammo you used during that time."
The information terminal that Akira got from the temporary base always sent the signal of his location, but the moment he entered the highest floor of that building, his signal was cut off due to the feature of that room. Then the explosion from the mini-missiles finally completely broke it. Because of that, the temporary base did not know anything about his encounter with Tsubaki, and of course, Akira had no plans to tell Kibayashi about that at all.
"Like hell if I care about that. In the first place, it's nothing normal the moment you offer to pay all of my consumables."
"I said so with that considered too. But that's just so you."
After that, Akira and Kibayashi talked for a bit more about the request and the situation around the road.
Akira's current request did not have a clear finish line. It would continue until Akira's Hunter Rank reached the point where it was suitable for his strength, while the request itself did not clearly state what that Hunter Rank would be.
But Kibayashi already told Akira that he had entertained him enough, so Akira thought it should be fine to end the request there. But when he asked Kibayashi about that, Kibayashi said that it was not up for him to decide and he had no idea either what was the opinion of the people from the upper echelons about that matter.
Akira did find that a little surprising as he thought of using as much ammo as he wanted without caring about effectiveness since someone else was paying for it. That way, he would be able to quickly rank up until his request was deemed finished regardless of the opinions of the others.
Tiol was eating the wreckage of humanoid monsters inside a dilapidated building in Kuzusuhara ruin. But those were not the humanoid monsters that Akira destroyed, Tiol destroyed those monsters in another building.
The white room was filled with the echo of metallic wreckage getting crushed. Tiol himself was badly injured from the fighting, but his injuries were slowly healing as he was feasting on the dead monsters.
Suddenly Tsubaki appeared in front of Tiol.
"Good afternoon!"
Tiol immediately stood up and took a fighting stance as he swung his right arm to rip off Tsubaki's head. Unfortunately, Tsubaki was no more than an image, so Tiol's hand went through her effortlessly.
"That was rude."
Tsubaki immediately vanished. Tiol quickly turned and lunged in a direction where there was nothing at all. But from his point of view, he could see Tsubaki standing there.
But from Tsubaki's point of view, the world was running so slowly as if it was completely paused. Inside that slow-moving world, Tsubaki looked closely at Tiol and mumbled.
"He can recognize me both through augmented reality and through network image too. I see."
Right at the next moment, Tiol's body suddenly froze in the middle of lunging at Tsubaki. The inertia allowed his body to proceed forward but the gravity prevented him from staying afloat. So, he just crashed down to the ground and rolled over as if his whole body was petrified into stone.
"Safety leash command number 721 works as intended. Which means that it's based on the nanomachine inside one of those biological monsters, huh. I don't know who did this, but it's pretty impressive. Unfortunately, that person was not able to override the control command. Wait, no, it might be some kind of mutation because of the nanomachine put inside his body in order to trick the friend-or-foe identification system... With too many conflicting nanomachines in his body, it instead might have caused a system failure."
There was no one else other than Tiol in that room, but he could see all kinds of information displayed in his views as Tsubaki walked toward him. Unauthorized connection, unable to prevent connection, failed shutting off the connection, identified administration from area 844, individual outside the administration right, detected unauthorized hacking, hopeless difference in strength, zero winning chance, advised to run away immediately. Tiol registered all of those notices that appeared in his views, but they did not help his situation at all.
Tsubaki suddenly vanished again from his view. She then reappeared again as an image as she extended her hand to his head.
"He wouldn't even listen to what I have to say. So I'll ask you instead. I'm sure you're also having it hard with such an unstable system, right? I'll give you the reward upfront, so don't worry."
The information notices in Tiol's views suddenly changed. Unauthorized connection, unable to prevent connection, failed shutting off the connection, rebuilding control system, readjusting administration structure, rebuilding connection, rebuilding finished.
Tiol could move his body again as his body relaxed while he was still lying on the ground. After a few seconds, he slowly pushed himself up and stood in front of Tsubaki.
Yatsubayashi had a stern look on his face as he eyed the displays in front of him.
"...What just happened?"
The display showed information sent from Tiol, and that information stream was already fully stopped. Among the last information sent by Tiol, there was a piece of information that really piqued Yatsubayashi's interest.
Yatsubayashi actually was thinking of a plan to take care of Tiol before it caused extra trouble to him, but with this, he decided to change his plan. His curiosity completely outweighed his rationale as he readjusted his plan accordingly following curiosity.
Akira once again visited Shizuka to replenish his stock. Shizuka looked worriedly at Akira as she said to him.
"Akira, this will be pretty expensive though, are you sure?"
"Yes. After thinking about it one more time, I thought that it's safer to do this and I should be able to end this request faster this way. So please continue with the order."
Akira completely readjusted his order. This time he ordered multiple mini-sized energy packs and high-grade repair cartridges, both of them were expensive consumables. On top of it, he also ordered a huge amount of powerful anti-forcefield armour as well as mini-missiles that could be used with personal-sized missile launchers.
Akira seemed slightly relieved. Suddenly a call from Kibayashi reached him.
"It's me. It seems that an expensive order just came in, and it's from you, just wanted to make sure that it's not some kind of mistake or something. I've sent you the information to your information terminal, so go ahead and check it."
"I did, it was really from me and it was not a mistake."
Unexpectedly, Kibayashi replied in a rather good mood.
"You bought quite a lot this time, enough for the financial division to contact me, you know?"
"I need them to be able to fight safely. If you're going to tell me to cut that out, just so you know, that's basically my real strength. That way I won't need to keep doing this request, right?"
"Hm? I'm not calling you for that. There, the payment went through."
"It was just a notice due to the size and the cost of the order. I'm sorry but once you receive that order, bring them to the forward base for safekeeping. But don't worry, you can still use them anytime. I'll send you the specifics later."
"The repair cartridges are for my augmented suit, so I need them back home."
"I see, you can take the cartridges home then. I'll tell the guys above myself about that."
Akira was a little surprised that his order went through so smoothly. Kibayashi, who noticed it, laughed.
"I did tell you that your performance is far above the norm, remember? So this much demand will go through just fine, although, it's partly because of my influence too. You should be more confident in yourself, you know? Until next time then."
At the same time Kibayashi closed the call, a notification confirming that the order got through reached Shizuka and Akira.
Akira smiled bitterly. He knew very well the gap between his real strength and the strength that he acquired due to Alpha's support. Although he kept working hard to close that gap, he could not lie that every time he noticed his growth, he also noticed how significant Alpha's support was.
Akira' bitter smile was a mix of half-mockery and half-compliment toward himself. But he then noticed Shizuka looking at him worriedly as he flusteredly said.
"Ah, uhh, well, what can I say? It seems that the order should go through just fine."
"Akira, don't get too reckless, okay?"
"I know. It's exactly so that I can fight safely that I put in that expensive order."
"I see. It's good that you're calm about this, but be careful not to get your guard down, okay?"
"Yes!"
Akira firmly nodded, Shizuka replied with a smile.
Akira once again took his bike to Kuzusuhara ruin. It had been a few days since the last time he went to Kuzusuhara ruin. During that time, he had repaired his augmented suit, carried his supplies to the temporary forward base, and got himself to the best state before going.
Alpha was floating beside Akira as if she was sitting in an invisible car. She was donning a battle suit with a daring old-world design as her long silky hair was flailing in the air, blown by the non-existent wind.
"Akira, what's your plan for today?"
"Let's see. I might as well search one of the buildings for relics again, but I don't want to fight monsters like last time."
Akira glanced at Alpha's outfit and thought.
"That is an old-world battle suit, right? Since we're this deep into the ruin, I wonder if I can find some of them somewhere around."
"I can't really say you can't, but it would be hard to find. Let's say that you did find one, what's your plan with it?"
"If there's no problem with the size, I'm planning to use it for myself, old-world relics are fundamentally advanced stuff after all. I do know that I'm obligated to sell all my relics by contract, but I'm sure I can get it back after paying some money, or at least, I'll put some effort in doing so."
"This suit is for girls though? Are you really going to use it? Well, I can understand if you do since it's a high-quality battle suit."
"Why does it even come to that? I'm talking about when it's a battle suit for guys, of course."
"I'll sell them, then use the money to buy one made for guys."
"What if you'll be wasting a lot of money if you do that instead of using it? Of course, ignoring the design aside."
Akira looked conflicted for a split second, but he immediately made his decision.
"Alpha, at least help me choosing which building to search this time."
"Oh my, you're relying on me right from the start for today, huh?"
"I have no plans to spend so much effort on a dud like yesterday. I understand that choosing the right building to search is also a part of my training, but let's put that training aside for some other time. My training menu for today will be searching for relics inside a building."
Akira could see a particular route highlighted in his enhanced views as he paced his bike following that route.
When Akira arrived, he looked confusedly at Alpha.
"What can I say... It feels weird when the inside of the room is oriented differently than it should."
Alpha was floating around in the air freely as she smiled amusedly and said.
"Oh my, you've been climbing up and down so many rooms up until now, you should've gotten used to it at this point, no?"
Akira looked back to his experience.
"Oh, but you should. Be careful with your footing."
Right at the next moment, the table that Akira was using as his footing swayed before it was sent tumbling down to the base of the room. He was only barely able to jump to the next table.
When Akira reached the base of the building, his eyes were wide open. The base of the building was filled with piles of old-world relics. Though some of them were already destroyed, others were strong and durable relics. Akira started stuffing his rucksack with any expensive-looking relics that caught his eyes.
When he finished filling his rucksack, Akira looked up. The exit seemed to be located far away from him now.
"...I know it's already obvious, but I have to climb back up now, right? I should've at least brought a rope with me."
"Again, you should've told me sooner."
Alpha smiled amusedly, he replied with a conflicted bitter smile.
Akira had climbed down the building with his augmented suit and climbed up a building with his bike, so somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought that he should be able to figure out something when the time came. That was why the idea of bringing along a rope never passed through his mind.
Akira worked really hard and somehow was able to get out of that room. Sometimes he used 2 blades, one for each hand, to scale up the room, sometimes he had to heavily heartedly leave some relics behind since he could not go through with his backpack full. He basically paid in full for his mistake of not bringing a rope with him that day.
After that, Akira returned back to the forward base and sold his relics there. He did not forget to immediately buy a rope too.
It had been 2 months since Akira started the request to get his Hunter Rank up. But his request had still not ended. Even after he kept ordering bigger and better supplies, all of the payments for his orders went through just fine.
Originally Akira thought that at most it would last for about a month. So that day, he was venting his frustration in Shizuka's shop. Elena and Sara who saw that could only smile bitterly at him.
To be more precise, Akira was venting his frustration there because Elena and Sara encouraged him to. They tried to prod him to share his situation, and, if possible, to offer him their help in order to mend their relationship back.
But even Sara and Elena did not expect that Akira was frustrated because he was forced to take a request to boost his Hunter Rank though he did not want to. And even after he thought he got his Hunter Rank high enough, that request still continued. Any normal Hunter who worked hard day and night to get their Hunter Rank up would be furious if they heard that.
Sara looked rather impressed with Akira.
"But still, a request to increase Hunter Rank, huh? Although I've heard about it before, this is the first time I see someone actually get one. Although it's to be expected considering how strong you are, it's still pretty impressive."
"...Thank you very much. But depending on how you look at it, it might be because they put too much faith in me. Right now, they're forcing me into places that are originally too dangerous for a Hunter like me."
Elena noticed that and changed the subject.
Akira slightly blushed from that compliment. Sara pouted a bit at how Akira reacted differently to her compliment. But in order to distract herself from that feeling, she quickly circled behind Akira and rubbed his head while sticking close to him from behind.
"S-Sara-san!?"
"I'll do that too. Though I don't think that I'll ever get such a request. Being too humble might annoy people instead, you know?"
"I know. It's just a silly talk from a narrow-hearted girl. But I just want you to be careful since there are a lot of people like that out there."
They then talked about other things too. At some point, Akira found something that Elena said interesting.
"Humanoid monster, huh?"
"Yes, it seems that there are more and more people getting attacked by a humanoid monster near Kuzusuhara ruin lately. To be more precise, the location is around that highway."
"Uhhh, is it one of those things? That one where the City Management treats a strong criminal as a monster..."
"I don't know the details. That might be the case, or not. It might be an autonomous robot that went on a rampage. Or maybe someone controlling the augmented suit of a dead Hunter like back then in the Seranthal building. The details about the incident itself are still unclear. The City Management itself hasn't released anything else other than a warning."
"Whether it's a strong criminal or a monster, basically there's something that looks like a human attacking people around the ruin, right?"
If it was a monster, Hunters could immediately decide to kill it. But when it was a human, they would often hesitate, and more often than not, that hesitation brought about a fatal consequence.
"Okay, I'll be careful."
When Akira left the shop, Sara frowned and said.
"Say Elena, I wonder if Akira really hates when people evaluate his skill highly."
"That might be true. If I'm not mistaken, he said something similar to that back then in the underground city too."
"Now that you mention it, he did. Why do you think that is the case?"
"No idea. I'm sure he has his reason for that... But whatever it is, I'm sure it's not something pleasant. Sara, although I'm sure there's no need for me to tell you this, but you need to be careful not to poke at him too much."
"I know... This is difficult."
Although the other day Akira saved them despite there being nothing that he could get out of it, he also did not hesitate in cutting off their ties. At the moment, they somehow still managed to talk normally with each other. Sara had no idea whether it was because of something trivial or deep, or if it was due to Akira's principle in life or simply his opinion.
Sara had no plans to let go of the thread that she worked hard to preserve and sighed as she thought of her friend whom she was not sure how to treat.
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