『終わりよければ全て良し。いろいろあったがやっと終わりだ』
アルファが笑ってアキラを
『お疲れ様。今日はもうゆっくり休みましょう』
『そうだな。久しぶりに風呂に入ってゆっくり休もう』
アキラは久々の入浴への期待に顔をほころばせた。しかしアルファが苦笑を浮かべてその期待を摘み取る。
『アキラ。残念なお知らせがあるわ』
『......何だ?』
『報酬がまだ振り込まれていないの。だから、風呂付きの部屋に泊まる金はないわ』
『ど、どういうことだ?』
『緊急依頼の参加者が多すぎて、報酬算出計算に遅延が出ているらしいわ。詳細は依頼履歴で確認して』
アキラが少し慌てながら情報端末を操作して依頼履歴の報酬欄を確認すると、そこには確かにその旨が記載されていた。
『あんなに頑張ったのに......』
に明日までには振り込まれているでしょう。今日は風呂に入っても、疲労で眠ってしまって危ない。そう考えて、今日は我慢しなさい』
『............分かった』
めて思案を始める。非常に疲れているのだ。また路上で眠るのは避けたい。しかしバイクを失うのも嫌だ。バイクを折り畳んで部屋に持ち込むのも怒られそうだ。そう少し悩んだ後に解決策を思い付く。
『......よし。バイクはシェリルのところに預けよう。ちょくちょく顔を出してくれとも頼まれたんだ。あそこを駐輪場代わりにしてバイクを使う時に取りに行けば、顔を出したことにもなる』
アキラはそのままシェリルの拠点へバイクを走らせた。
「ボス! アキラさんが来ています!」
半分寝ていたシェリルの意識が一気に覚醒する。同時に
「お待たせしました。どうぞ中へ」
「ここで良い。こんな時間に悪かったな。ちょっと頼みがあるんだ」
「何でも言ってください。アキラの頼みなら可能な限り引き受けます」
「このバイクを預かってほしい。必要になったら取りに来る」
「分かりました。しっかりお預かりします。他には何かありませんか? 特になければ寄っていきませんか? コーヒーぐらいなら出せます」
シェリルはアキラの手を自然に握り、
「いや、今日はもう遅いし宿に帰るよ。いろいろあって疲れてるんだ」
シェリルがとても残念そうな寂しげな様子を見せる。
「そうですか。久しぶりに会えたのでいろいろ話したかったのですが、残念です」
「またその内に顔を出すよ。じゃあな」
シェリルが見張りの少年にアキラのバイクを拠点の中に入れるように指示する。
「言うまでもないけれど、慎重に扱って。皆にも勝手に触ったりしないように伝えて。アキラのバイクだってことも一緒に伝えておいて。無くしたり壊したりしたらどうなるかぐらい分かっていると思うけど、本当に慎重にお願いね。分かった?」
れた。顔に照れが加わり赤みが差している。シェリルはそれを確認した後で自室に戻った。
自室に戻ったシェリルが自室の鏡に、鏡の自分に向かって
「......ちゃんと効果はある。でもアキラには効果はなかった? 私が気が付かなかっただけ?」
シェリルは自身の優れた容姿を自覚している。それで相手の好感を格段に引き出せると理解している。
「......アルファ。おはよう」
『おはよう。アキラ。昨日の報酬が振り込まれているわ。気になるなら確認しなさい』
アキラはまだ眠気が残っていたが、報酬への興味に釣られて身を起こすと、少し緩慢な動作で情報端末を操作した。そして依頼履歴から報酬額の欄へ
「1200万オーラム!?」
アキラは思わず自分の目を疑い報酬額を再確認した。そして1200万オーラムで正しいと理解すると、半ば
報酬の詳細には、緊急依頼の基本報酬と、モンスターの群れを2度撃退した分の報酬と、助けたハンター達の人数に応じた増額分と、ハンター達に渡した回復薬の代金を合計した総額から、前払分のバイクの代金が引かれている旨が記載されていたが、アキラにそれを読む余裕はなかった。
『アキラが死にかけた代金としては、ちょっと微妙な額かもしれないわね』
「......いや、でも、一応命を賭けて、実際死にかけたんだ。他のハンター達も山ほど弾薬を使っていた。でも、だからって......」
アキラも報酬の妥当性を迷い始める。しかし昨日の激戦の難易度も、受け取った報酬の桁も、どちらもアキラの感覚では高すぎて結論など出なかった。
『今日はこの
金!?」
「お、驚くなって言われても、それは無理だって! 1200万オーラムが
かなり慌てていたアキラだったが、アルファの発言の意味が分からず、その困惑と疑問で逆に平静さを取り戻した。
「......どういう意味だ?」
『詳しく説明すると長くなるわね。後で弾薬補充と装備更新にシズカの店に行くから、その時にオーラム払いでは買えない装備について聞きなさい。
空腹時の食事は大抵の事情より優先する。アキラはいろいろな疑問を棚上げして食事の用意を始めた。
身支度を終えたアキラがシズカの店を訪れると、シズカがいつものようにカウンターから軽く手を振って出迎えた。
「アキラ。いらっしゃい。強化服の調子はどう? 役に立っているかしら?」
「はい。想像以上の性能で助かっています」
シズカは元気そうなアキラの様子を見て安心する。報道では都市が防衛隊を出撃させるほどの大規模な襲撃であり、防衛に参加したハンター達にも多数の死傷者が出たと報じていた。何となくアキラも参加しているような気がして身を案じていたのだが、元気そうな様子を見る限り
「AAH突撃銃ね。それと機械系モンスターに有効な銃か。いろいろあるけれど予算との兼ね合いもあるわよ? 幾らぐらいまで大丈夫なの?」
「AAH突撃銃と合わせて1000万オーラムぐらいまでなら大丈夫です」
笑顔で対応していたシズカが驚きで表情を一瞬だけ固めた。そして少し困ったような顔で続ける。
「......一応聞くけど、支払方法は? 売ってあげたいのはやまやまだけど、私も商売だからそんなに分割払とかには対応できないわよ? それともハンターオフィスのクレジットの限度額? 分割で支払に余裕があるとしても、借金に違いはないからお勧めしないわ」
「一括で支払えますから大丈夫です」
アキラは深く考えずに普通にそう答えた。だがそれでシズカの表情が変わる。
「......そう。強化服が届いたのは3日前よね。それと強化服が届くまでは、危ないハンター稼業は
「そ、その、代金はですね」
「き、昨日の巡回依頼でモンスターの群れと戦いまして、それ自体は想定外のことで、その報酬です。予想外に稼げました。自分でも驚いています」
「それは、必死に生き延びようとした結果でして......」
シズカの声には有無を言わせない迫力があった。
「............。はい」
アキラが観念して認めると、シズカが表情を心配そうに少し険しくさせる。
「大丈夫だったの?
は言っていない。少なくとも今は問題ないのは本当だ。だがシズカにじっと見続けられている内に、耐えきれずに白状するように続ける。
「み、右足を負傷しましたが、回復薬で治った程度の負傷で、既に問題なく治癒済みです」
アキラはそれでもまだ致命的な何かを隠そうとしている雰囲気を出していた。その様子がシズカを一層心配させる。
シズカは有無を言わせずにアキラをカウンターの裏まで連れて行った。
「強化服を脱いで下を確認させて。その下は包帯だらけとか、そんな状態になっていないでしょうね?」
「大丈夫ですって。もう治ってますから」
「それなら見せても大丈夫よね? 早く脱ぐ!」
「無事なら下手に隠そうとしない。余計不安になるでしょう」
アキラは抵抗せずに抱き締められていた。そして、シズカに胸を顔に強く押し当てられて照れながら、受ける必要のない緊急依頼を一人で引き受けた上に走って戦場に向かおうとしていたという、知られたら大変なことになりそうな無理
「まずはAAH突撃銃ね。後は機械系モンスターに有効な銃か。昨日の戦いで必要だと思ったのね? どんな戦いだったのか話してもらえる? それを聞いて考えるわ」
アキラはキャノンインセクト達との戦闘を、細部をいろいろ省略して説明した。それでもAAH突撃銃でも何とかなりそうな補給機達を倒す
をしたのね。でも逃げられない以上、他に手はなかった訳か」
「はい。まあそれで、頑丈な機械系モンスターにも通用する何か良い武器はないかと思いまして」
「それならCWH対物突撃銃かDSS狙撃銃を勧めるわ。両方とも汎用徹甲弾が使えるから、頑丈なモンスターに効果が高いわ。射程と威力。どちらを優先させる?」
「遺跡探索をメインにするつもりなので、威力でお願いします。遺跡の中は入り組んだ場所が多いですから、射程はそこまでなくても良いと思います」
「そうすると、CWH対物突撃銃と汎用徹甲弾のセットがお勧めよ。通常弾も使用できるけど、AAH突撃銃と併用するつもりなら、CWH対物突撃銃は汎用徹甲弾だけを使った方が良いわ。かなり高いけど専用弾も保険に買っておけば、汎用徹甲弾では対処が難しいモンスターも楽に倒せるわ。万が一の時の保険として数発確保しておくのも良いかもね」
「じゃあ、いま教えてもらったものと、通常弾の補充と、強化服のエネルギーパックの予備をお願いします。他に何か買っておいた方が良い物ってありますかね?」
「そうね。あれこれ言ってもどれもあれば便利なのは変わらないし、......何なら
シズカとしてはちょっとした冗談のつもりだった。だがアキラは予想以上の食い付きを見せた。
シズカの店はハンター向けの銃火器が主商品だ。他にはハンター向けの消耗品も仕入れている。戦闘服も頼まれれば取り寄せぐらいはする。しかし
だがアキラの態度は、実は冗談だ、などと今更言えるものではなかった。表情は期待の混じった真面目なもので、視線も非常に真剣で、声にも確かな意思が込められていた。
「......ちょっと待っていてね」
シズカは僅かに固くなった笑顔をアキラに向けた後、そう言い残してカウンターの奥に消えていった。そして少し焦りながら店の倉庫に向かった。
商品の搬入口を兼ねた倉庫には、売り物の銃火器類や弾薬などの他にも様々なものが保管されている。そこで目的の物を探し始める。
『これが良いと思うわ』
『一応聞くけど、それを選んだ理由は?』
『縁起の良い数字が刻まれているからよ。多分、旧世界の賭け事の
「これにします」
「分かったわ。品質保証が出来ないから、これはサービス品にしておくわね。注文の品を持ってくるから待っていてね」
『アルファ。縁起の良い数字って、この数字にどういう意味があるんだ?』
『その数字が現れると大金を得られる。だから金運関連で縁起が良い。そういうことよ』
りが求められるほど旧世界でも金は重要だった。アキラはそう考えて、想像を絶する世界だと考えていた旧世界と現在との意外な類似点を少し面白く思った。
「お待たせ。時間があるなら商品の説明を聞いておく?」
「分かったわ。CWH対物突撃銃は主に装甲の厚い機械系モンスターに対して......」
シズカが楽しそうに商品の説明を始めた。
CWH対物突撃銃は対モンスター用の銃火器の中でも、機械系モンスターとの戦闘を考慮して製造されている製品だ。
機械系モンスターはその多くが自律兵器や施設防衛装置などの機械類であり、生物系モンスターに比べて頑丈な個体が多い。強固な装甲や固い金属の体を貫けなければ
理由は分からないが、アキラも自分が妙なことを聞いてしまったことは分かった。取り繕うように続ける。
「いえ、昨日の戦闘で同班のハンターがそんな単語を話していたので、聞いてみただけです。俺のAAH突撃銃を見て、俺かシズカさんがAAH愛好家だと考えたみたいで......」
「そうなの? そうすると、偶然だとしてもアキラはよほどの活躍をしたのね」
「活躍すると、AAH愛好家だと勘違いされるんですか?」
困惑しているアキラに、シズカが苦笑しながらAAH愛好家について説明する。
東部には多種多様な銃が出回っている。長期に
AAH愛好家の共通点として、非常に濃い人物が多いことが挙げられる。有能なハンターも数多くいるのだが、下手に付き合うとAAH愛好家に染められてしまうので、扱いに困る者達でもあった。
「AAH愛好家には企業の従業員も多いのよ。私は違うわよ? 巧みにAAH突撃銃を勧めたり、販売する品に非常に高性能な改造品をこっそり混ぜたりしているとも言われているわ。販売されているAAH突撃銃には
アキラが昨日の自分の行動を思い返す。AAH突撃銃を名銃と言ったり、キャノンインセクトのような機械系モンスターにAAH突撃銃だけで突撃したりと、確かにそう勘違いされても不思議ではない行動を取っていた。
「当たりと呼ばれる特に高性能なAAH突撃銃を求めて、同じ銃を大量に購入するハンターもいるわ。その当たりには本来コロン払いでないと購入できない高性能なものもあるって話よ。旧世界の銃火器のような性能のものまで混ざっているって
にその手のハンターが来るが、全額前金で支払ってもらい、その上で発注を掛けて取り寄せるようにしている。かつてシズカはトラックに山積みされたAAH突撃銃を引き取っていくハンターを見て、少し引いたことがあった。
「シズカさん。その、コロン払いって何ですか? オーラムとは違うんですか?」
シズカはアキラがコロンについて知らないことに少し驚いた。その後で一瞬だけ
「いいえ。単語も今初めて知りました」
シズカがアキラにコロンについて説明を始める。
東部には2種類の通貨がある。企業通貨とコロンだ。企業通貨の例を挙げると、オーラムは統企連の5大企業の一つである坂下重工が発行する企業通貨だ。
企業通貨は主にその企業が管理運営する統治都市内で使用されている。オーラムを含めて5種類存在しており全て5大企業が発行している。企業通貨を媒介に経済活動を行う者は全てその企業の支配下にあると考えて良い。通貨の流通範囲がその企業の支配圏であり、企業活動を支える生命線だ。
企業通貨の偽造は統企連への宣戦布告だ。偽造を試みた多くの犯罪組織が統企連に
そして企業通貨とは別に東部全体で流通している通貨がコロンだ。旧世界の通貨とも呼ばれており、現在の技術では偽造不可能な電子通貨で、遺跡から遺物として発掘されている。入手方法は様々でコロンカードと呼ばれる電子的な財布の中にその残高として存在していることもある。
コロンは東部では絶対の価値を持つ通貨だ。統企連を介して全ての企業通貨と高額なレートで両替できる。逆に企業通貨からコロンへの両替は、非常に高い手数料などで防がれる。それが東部でのコロンの価値を更に高めていた。大企業間の決済もコロンで行われることが多い。
そしてコロンの最も重要な価値は、旧世界の通貨として現在でも使用できることだ。
旧世界の遺跡の中には今現在も正しく稼動している工場などがある。当然その警備装置なども正しく機能しているので、旧世界の圧倒的な技術で製造された警備装置は、有能なハンター達でも企業の私設軍でも全く太刀打ちできない場合が多く、力尽くで遺物を奪うのは極めて困難だ。
それらの工場で生産された極めて貴重で極めて入手困難な生産物を、管理用の人工知能と交渉することで安全に購入する。それがコロンの価値だ。その事実はかつては秘匿されていたが、今では東部に広く知れ渡ってしまっている。
また遺跡に設置されている自動販売機では、四肢の欠損ですら短時間で治療し若返りさえする回復薬が売られていることもある。コロンがあればそのような貴重な遺物を買えるのだ。
それを力尽くで手に入れようとして、旧世界の警備システムと交戦して死体の山を築いた挙げ句に自動販売機を破壊してしまい、結局手に入らなかったという事例もある。
また、一部の企業は旧世界の軍事生産拠点からコロンで軍事物資を購入しているとも言われている。それらの性能は時に東部の勢力範囲を書き換えるとすら言われている。
そのような経緯も有り、統企連はコロンの収集に躍起になっている。その収集方法の一つとして、ハンター達に遺跡からコロンを回収させる
「教えていただいてありがとう御座いました。面白かったです」
強化服を装備するようなハンターならば、それを目指す者ならば、コロンの存在など知っていて当然の知識だ。だがアキラは知らなかった。シズカはそのアキラの境遇を思って少し心を痛めたが、アキラを気遣ってそれを表には出さずに、いつものように
"Everything is fine as long as it ends well. Although a lot of things have happened, it is finally over."
Alpha smiled and said to Akira.
"Good work for today. Let's take rest for the remainder of the day."
"You're right, I'll take a good long bath today, after all, I couldn't take one recently at all."
Akira was beaming as he was looking forward to his bath time. But Alpha just smiled bitterly and destroyed his joy as she said.
"Akira, I have bad news."
"...What is it?"
"The reward is still not transferred yet, so we don't have any money to rent a room with a bath for today."
"W-what do you mean?"
"It seems that since there were a lot of Hunters who took the emergency request, it'll take some time before they finish calculating the reward distribution. You can check your request history to see all the details."
Akira grabbed and operated his information terminal in a panic to access his request history and opened the reward tab. He found out what Alpha said was really written in his terminal monitor.
"But I worked super hard in this request..."
"I bet they'll transfer it by tomorrow. And even if you take a long bath today, there's a good chance that you'll fall asleep in the bath which is really dangerous. So with that in mind, let's refrain from taking a bath today."
"...Alright."
Akira frowned at Alpha's logical suggestion. He was exhausted and wanted to avoid having to sleep in the back alley at all cost. But he also did not want someone else stealing his bike. And if he folded the bike and brought it back to his room, he might get scolded at by the innkeeper. Akira took some time thinking about his options before he came up with an idea.
"...Alright then, let's leave the bike with Sheryl. She told me to visit her from time to time. She could lend me a parking spot. So I can visit her every time I go there to take my bike."
Akira then rode his bike to Sheryl's place.
"Boss!! Akira is here!!"
Sheryl immediately woke up from her half-sleepy state, she also understood very well why the other members of her gang woke her up. All the children there were too scared of talking to Akira without her around.
"I'm sorry for the wait, come in."
"Thanks but it's okay. Sorry for coming in this late, I have something that I want to ask you."
"Please feel free to ask anything. I'll do anything so long as it's something that I can help with."
"Can you keep this bike here for me? I'll come here again to take it when I need it."
"I understand, I'll take good care of the bike. Is there anything else? If there's nothing else, would you please come in for a bit? You can go back after having a cup of coffee at least."
As she spoke, Sheryl casually reached for Akira's hand and stared into his eyes. She looked very happy for some reason. From her smile, the way she looked at him and grabbed his hand, how casually she invited him in... Akira thought that she was being a bit pushy. So he immediately pulled his hand back while being fl.u.s.tered and said.
"Nah, it's already late today so I'll return back to my room. A lot of things happened today and I'm really tired right now."
Sheryl looked disappointed as she said.
"I see. Although I wanted to talk a lot with you because it has been quite a while since the last time you came, it is really unfortunate."
"I'll come again soon."
Sheryl told the young boy who was on the guard duty to put the bike inside the base.
"I don't think I even need to tell you this, but be really careful when you move the bike. Tell the other kids not to mess around with the bike and also tell them that it's Akira's bike. I'm sure they know what would happen to them if the bike is stolen or broken. So be very careful with it, okay?"
The young boy was mesmerized for a few seconds, his face went beet red and looked fl.u.s.tered. Sheryl noticed his reaction before she went back to her room.
When Sheryl got back to her room, she looked at her smiling face in front of a mirror. But after that, she immediately stopped smiling.
[...It's actually working. But why is it not working on Akira? Or is it that I just didn't notice it?]
Sheryl knew that she had a good face and body. And she understood how to use it to coax other people. Smiling, holding hands, staring right into other person's eyes, she knew that all of these would increase the effectiveness of her coaxing.
"...Alpha, good morning."
"Good morning, Akira. Reward from yesterday has already been transferred. You can check it if you want."
Akira was still sleepy, but he immediately got up when he heard the word "reward" and operated his information terminal while still being half-asleep. But when he clicked the reward tab in the request history page and looked at the notification, all his sleepiness was blown away.
"12,000,000 Aurum!?"
Akira could not believe his eyes as he took another good look at his information terminal, he finally understood that it was indeed 12,000,000 Aurum. He was so surprised that he felt like he would faint.
The details of his reward payment were written on the page. It included the basic reward for the emergency request, plus a reward for fighting against 2 swarms of monsters, plus the money from the number of Hunters that he saved, plus the payment from the medicine box that he gave to the other Hunters, minus the price of the bike that he got as an upfront payment. But Akira did not read all the details.
"Well, this amount of money might not be that much when compared to the risk that you had to take for earning it."
"...But still, well, it's true that I risked my life for the request and I almost got killed back then. Not to mention, we spent a lot of ammo just like the other Hunters, but still, you know..."
Akira started to doubt the worth of the reward money. But he was not familiar with both the difficulty of yesterday's battles and the amount of money, thus he could not make any conclusion.
"I guess we should get some equipment with this spare change for today."
"S-spare change!?"
"Ah! Even if you tell me not to get surprised, that is just impossible in this situation!! If 12,000,000 Aurum is still just spare change, then how much does it take for it to not be considered spare change?!!"
Although Akira was confused and did not understand the meaning of Alpha's words, he calmed down and asked her.
"...What do you mean?"
"It will take a lot of time to explain everything. When you go to Shizuka's shop to restock ammo and buy new equipment later today, you can ask her about the equipment that you can't buy using Aurum. I'm sure she'll tell you about the equipment that you can't buy with spare change. We'll go there once you finish preparing yourself. But for now, how about you eat your breakfast?"
Filling an empty stomach took the highest priority. So Akira just put aside all the questions he had and started preparing his breakfast.
Once he finished all of his preparation, Akira headed to Shizuka's shop. And as usual, Shizuka was waving at him from the counter and welcomed him when Akira entered her shop.
"Akira, welcome, how's the augmented suit? Is it useful to you?"
"Yep. It's better than I imagined."
Shizuka looked glad as she saw Akira in a good mood. The press reported news about a huge swarm of monsters heading to the city, a swarm that was big enough for the city to gather and send the defense squad to intercept it. The report also said there were Hunters who joined the battle. Shizuka had a feeling that Akira also joined that battle, so she was worried about him. But looking at how he was doing fine today, she thought that it was a needless worry.
"So one AAH rifle and one more rifle to fight mechanical monsters, right? Well, there are a lot of rifles that you can use though, and all of them have a different price range. So how much is your budget?"
"Including the AAH rifle, I'm planning to spend no more than 10,000,000 Aurum."
Shizuka, who was smiling at Akira, looked so surprised that she stood in a daze for a while. She then looked a bit troubled as she said to Akira.
"...I'm sorry to ask you about this, but how are you going to pay for it? I do want to sell you the rifle, but since I'm a merchant, I can't accept credit payment, you know? Or is that you're planning to use the credit card from the Hunter Office? Although you might be eligible to pay it in instalments, it's no different than taking a debt, so you should rethink it."
"I'll pay it in one go, so it'll be okay."
Akira answered back in a normal tone almost immediately, but that caused Shizuka's expression to change.
"...Is that so? You got your augmented suit 3 days ago, right? And you said that you didn't do any dangerous work until you got it, right? In short, you only had 3 days, so how did you get that much money in such a short time?"
"W-well, about the money, you see."
"I-I encountered a group of monsters during yesterday's patrol request. I didn't expect that to happen, thus I got some unexpected extra reward too, and it was way more than I thought. Even I'm too surprised by that."
"W-well, about that, I was only trying my best to survive..."
Shizuka's voice carried a strong pressure.
"Yes..."
Akira looked down and confessed. Shizuka's worried face then turned stern.
"Are you alright? Did you get injured? I heard that yesterday's battle was quite fierce."
Akira was not lying, it was all true at least up until this point. But Shizuka locked her stare at him and he could not endure it and he confessed.
"W-well, my right leg was injured. But it was not that bad, my healing medicine was enough to heal it and it's already completely healed now."
But even after he confessed, it still looked like Akira was hiding something important and Shizuka noticed that.
Shizuka then pulled Akira to the back room behind the counter without saying anything.
"Take off your augmented suit and let me check what's under it. It's not like you're hiding bandages under that augmented suit, right?"
"I'm telling you it's already completely healed."
"In that case, there's nothing to worry about, right? So take off your augmented suit now!"
"There's no need to try and hide it if you're really okay. It only makes me more worried, you know."
Akira did not reject Shizuka who was hugging him. But he was fl.u.s.tered because she buried his head inside her chest. He was also relieved that there was no need for him to tell her about the fact that he took the emergency request that he did not have to and how he was planning to go to a battlefield even if he had to run till there. After all, it would cause a bigger ruckus if she came to know that.
"First of all, this is the AAH rifle. As for the anti mechanical monster gun... You want one because of yesterday's battle, right? Can you tell me how the battle was? I'll think of a gun that might suit you after hearing that."
Akira then told the story about his battle against the cannon insect swarms while omitting most of the details. He said that to be able to shoot down the resupplying robots with his AAH rifle, but he had to come close to the swarm while dodging the raining warheads. Shizuka was surprised when she heard that.
"...I see. That's a pretty dangerous thing to do. But since you had no means to run away from them, I guess that was your only choice, huh?"
"Yes, well, so I was wondering if there's a gun that works well against monsters like them."
"In that case, I recommend you to get CWH anti-material rifle or DSS sniper rifle. Both can be used with most of the anti-armour ammo sold in the market and they'll work well against strong armoured monsters. So, accuracy or firepower, which one do you prefer?"
"Since I'm planning to use it mostly during a ruin exploration, I'll pick firepower. After all, there're many places where monsters can hide inside the ruin, so I don't think I need a gun that has high accuracy."
"Alright then, in that case, I would recommend you to get CWH anti-material rifle with anti-armour ammo. Of course, you can load it with normal anti-monster ammo too, but if you're thinking of using it in tandem with the AAH rifle, I recommend you to only load the CWH anti-material rifle only with anti-armour ammo. Although it's a bit expensive, you can also buy the specially designed ammo too as insurance, this ammo should be able to make short work of big and strong monsters. It might be a good idea to buy a few magazines of this ammo just to be safe."
"Well then, I'll take that gun with those ammo, some normal ammo to replenish my reserve and some energy packs for my augmented suit too. Is there anything else that you think I should get?"
"Let's see. Well, of course, it's nice to have everything in case you suddenly need anything... But if you ask me, then how about buying a charm or a talisman?"
Although Shizuka was actually just joking, Akira unexpectedly took her suggestion seriously.
Shizuka shop mainly focused on ammo and guns for Hunters, but it was also selling some other goods too. Hunters could also place an order for an augmented suit and pick the order from her shop. But Shizuka did not sell charms at all.
But seeing how Akira reacted, it was not like Shizuka could say that she was actually joking there. He looked at her with a serious face and a gaze full of expectation, he also sounded like he really meant it when he said that.
"...Wait here for a bit."
Shizuka made an awkward smile before she went to the backroom as she rushed to the shop's warehouse.
The warehouse which doubled as the loading area for the goods delivered to her shop housed all kinds of guns and medicines. Shizuka was searching for the object that she was looking for inside the warehouse.
"I think this one is good."
"Is there any reason why you picked that one?"
"It has a lucky number carved on it. I think it's some kind of a charm to increase luck used by someone during the old world era. After all, exploring the ruins also relies a lot on your luck. So I think that one will be a good choice."
"I'll take this one."
"Alright. Since I can't give you insurance for its quality, I'll give it for free. Wait here for a bit, I'll bring the rest of your order here."
"Alpha, you said it has a lucky number, right? So what exactly does this number mean?"
"People usually get a load of money when this number comes up. That's why it's a lucky number."
Akira thought that people in the old world also needed money so much that they would even get a lucky charm like the one he was staring at. It made him interested in the fact that there were actually more similarities between the old world era and the current era.
"Sorry for the wait. If you have the time, I can explain the details of the goods if you want."
"Alright then. The CWH anti-material rifle is mainly used to fight thick armored mechanical monsters..."
Shizuka started her explanation in a good mood.
Among all the types of the gun, the CWH anti-material rifle was made specifically to fight mechanical monsters.
Most of the mechanical monsters were autonomous battle robots or facility guardian drones. They were much harder to kill compared to the biological monsters. Their thick armour and hard metallic body were the reason.
Although he did not understand why, he realized that he just asked something weird. Thus he tried to give more explanations about his question.
"Ah, it's just that one of the Hunters who I was with yesterday said that. So I was just curious. That Hunter said that either I or Shizuka-san must be an AAH rifle fan after he took a good look at my AAH rifle..."
"Is that so? If that's true, then that means you did a pretty amazing job back there."
"Do people get misunderstood as an AAH rifle fan if they did something amazing?"
Akira looked confused, thus Shizuka smiled bitterly as she started explaining about the AAH rifle fans.
There were a lot of types of guns circulated in the eastern district. Some of them stayed around for years while some of them were popular for a short time before vanishing. The AAH rifle had survived such strict competition for more than 100 years. Thanks to its high performance to price ratio, the AAH rifle was a popular rifle even now.
One thing in common among the AAH rifle fans was that they were very zealous people. Although some of them were great Hunters, one might get swept and turned into an AAH rifle fan if he or she was not careful. That was why some people have trouble handling them.
"There were a lot of AAH rifle fans among the merchants too, but I'm not one of them, okay? I heard that people like them would strongly recommend buying the AAH rifle and they secretly sell modified AAH rifles with increased firepower. And among all the guns that they sell, some of them were jackpot guns. I'm sure that's the reason why that Hunter said that to you."
Akira then remembered what he did yesterday. He did say that the AAH rifle deserved its popularity and he destroyed the mechanical monster cannon insects using only his AAH rifle. So it was to be expected if that Hunter mistook him as an AAH rifle fan.
"Once they get a jackpot, these Hunters would buy a big number of AAH rifle hoping that they would be able to get another jackpot. Although, normally, they would not be able to get the same amount of firepower unless they use a gun that is sold in Chrome. Some people even say that its level of firepower comes from the old world technology that is utilized in the rifle. But seriously though, I wonder who would spread such a rumour."
There were times when Hunters came to Shizuka's shop because of something similar. But Shizuka always made them pay the full price of the guns upfront before placing their order for the guns. There was once a time where someone bought a truck full of AAH rifle from Shizuka, and of course, Shizuka was dumbfounded when that happened.
"Shizuka-san, what is that Chrome? Is it something different from Aurum?"
Shizuka was a bit surprised when she found out that Akira did not understand what Chrome was. She looked sorry for a split second, but she immediately replaced it with her usual smile.
"No. This is the first time I heard that word."
Shizuka then started explaining about Chrome to Akira.
There were 2 kinds of currency in the eastern district. The currency issued by the Corporate and Chrome. Aurum was a currency issued by Sakashita Heavy Industry, one of the 5 biggest corporations in the eastern district.
The corporate currency was mostly used in the regions under the management of that corporation. Aurum included, there were 5 types of corporate currency, each issued by the 5 biggest corporations in the eastern district. And anyone who bought and sold stuff using one of the corporate currencies could be thought of as someone who was under that corporation. The spread of the currency depended on the sphere of influence of that corporation and it was the pillar that supported that corporation.
The very act of trying to counterfeit the corporate currency could be treated as a declaration of war against the Corporate Government. There were cases in the past when such a thing happened and the Corporate Government always obliterated them without mercy.
Besides the Corporate currency, there was Chrome that was used everywhere in the eastern district. It was called the currency of the old world, a type of electronic currency discovered as a relic in the ruins. It cannot be reproduced using the current world's technology. There were many methods to get this Chrome, and one of them was from an object called a Chrome card. It was some kind of an electronic wallet that contained Chrome.
Chrome had an absolute value in the eastern district. One could go to the Corporate Government to exchange a Chrome for a large amount of corporate currency. One might also exchange corporate currency to a Chrome which is sold at a very high rate. This was also one of the factors that raised the price of Chrome in the eastern district. Most of the transactions between big companies were conducted in Chrome.
And because of all of these, Chrome was able to hold its value and used as the currency from the old world.
Among the ruins of the old world, some of the factories were still operational. Of course, there were operational guardian drones patrolling these factories, and most of the time, even great Hunters or the Corporate Government military could not fight against these drones that were manufactured using the overwhelmingly advanced technology of the old world. As such, it was near impossible to collect relics from such ruins.
But it was possible to negotiate with the advanced AI that managed such a facility to get the extremely invaluable and extremely hard to create goods that were manufactured in such a factory. And this Chrome would be used in such a transaction. Although it was originally a secret, the truth slowly spread among the residents of the eastern district.
Not to mention that with Chrome, one could use the vending machines scattered in the ruins to obtain medicines that could even regenerate severed limbs in a short time.
Some people did try to force their way to get hold of such medicine from the vending machines in the past. And when that happened, they had to fight the security system of the vending machine. Most of the time, they would not only end up destroying the vending machine but also increase the piles of corpses that were already scattered around it.
Rumour had it that some of the companies in the eastern district would use their Chrome to buy military goods manufactured in the old world factories. This caused a shift in the sphere of influence among the Corporations in the eastern district.
Because of that, the Corporate Government was trying to collect Chrome. And in order to do that, they would sell powerful and advanced equipment which could only be bought using Chrome.
"Thank you for all the explanations, that was really an eye-opener."
For those Hunters who already had an augmented suit or were planning to buy one, it was common sense for them to know about Chrome, but Akira did not know about it. Shizuka's heart hurt a bit when she discovered this, but she was trying to be considerate to him by not showing that in her face as she smiled to Akira like usual.
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