まって甲B18式達と戦っていた。しかし戦い方が消極的とはいえ、状況を楽観的に捉えて余裕を持って戦っているクロサワ達とは異なり、カツヤ達は険しい表情で悲観的な雰囲気で戦っていた。
クロサワ達は全員無事で負傷者もなく、ビルへの再突入を強行する理由がない。だがカツヤ達はビルの中に取り残された仲間がいる。まだ生きているかもしれない。再突入を急げば救出できるかもしれないのだ。
だがそれができない。クロサワとの交渉は失敗に終わった。カツヤ達だけでは再突入は恐らく不可能だ。
そしてカツヤ達の中に非常に居心地の悪い者がいた。リリナだ。
少なくない数の者がリリナを非難するような視線を向けていた。カツヤがクロサワと交渉した時のことが皆に伝わったからだ。別にリリナだけが悪いわけではない。だが現状に不満を覚える者達は、仲間を救えない苦境に対して、無意識に分かり
背後から自分を呼び止めるカツヤ達の声を無視して、リリナがビルにより近い簡易防壁に移動する。そして甲B18式に銃を向けて乱射する。
リリナの行動を擁護するならば、戦線を押し上げてビルへの再突入を促す
もなく当たり前に致命傷を負った。クロサワ達が放棄した簡易防壁の耐久力では、その一斉射撃を防ぐことはできなかった。
崩れ落ちたリリナが自らの血の池に沈む。即死しなかったのはただの偶然だ。リリナは薄れる視界の中で自分を助けるために駆け寄ってくるカツヤの姿を見た。
カツヤが来てくれたのだから大丈夫だ。リリナは最後にそう思って
に飛び出していた。邪魔な甲B18式を破壊してリリナに急いで駆け寄るが、既にリリナは死亡していた。
カツヤがリリナを見る。カツヤにはそのリリナの表情が、どうして助けてくれなかったのかと自分を責めているように見えた。
カツヤが一度目を閉じる。そしてシェリルとした話を思い出して、死んだ仲間を悪霊にしないと決めたことを思い出して目を開ける。リリナの表情はカツヤが助けに来たことを喜んでいる
それでもまた仲間を助けられなかった事実は変わらない。カツヤは込み上げる激情に身を任せて、激しい表情で叫ぶように声を上げ、通信機越しに仲間に指示を出す。
カツヤは指揮を完全に放り出して、部隊の隊長としての役目や義務を放棄して、周囲の甲B18式達に襲いかかった。
真っ白な空間で誰かが不敵に
クロサワが非常に驚きながらカツヤの戦い振りを見ていた。予想外の光景だった。
カツヤはたった1人で無数の甲B18式と戦っていた。しかも敵を圧倒しているのはカツヤの方だった。恐らくカツヤのために用意した強力な銃で、周囲を取り囲んでいる甲B18式を次々に撃破していた。
全ての敵の動きを、飛び交う銃弾それぞれの弾道を、強固な機体の弱点部位を、カツヤは
クロサワが周囲の様子を確認する。自分と同じように驚きの表情でカツヤを見ている部下達の姿が見える。カツヤの部下達が歓声を上げている様子も見える。
クロサワはカツヤに対し、敵意や嫌悪などではないが、かといって称賛でもない別の感想も覚えた。しかし取りあえずそれは後回しにした。まずは隊長として部下に指示を出さなければならない。
「全員であいつを援護しろ。前線も少しずつ上げていく」
、安全第一でだ。......あいつに触発されて突出しようとするやつがいたらすぐに止めろ。あの無謀な戦い振りに付き合う必要はない」
「ああ。そういうことか。了解だ」
クロサワ達の部隊が指示に従って動き出す。クロサワはその部下達の様子を少し険しい表情で確認していた。そして懸念事項が
クロサワ達が少しずつ前線を上げていく。ビルの周辺にいる甲B18式の数が確実に減っていく。
そして大部分の甲B18式を倒し終えた時、ビルの出入口から強い
クロサワがビルから出てくるアキラ達に気付く。
「あれは......先行部隊か。あのやたら硬い敵を倒したのか。やるな」
これでセランタルビルへの再突入が容易になった。クロサワはすぐに次の指示を始めた。
セランタルビルから外に出たアキラ達は、周囲に広がっていた激戦の跡を見て驚いたものの、立ち止まらずに先を急ぐ。エレナが情報収集機器で周囲の状態を確認しながら先導する。アキラ達は周囲を警戒しながら甲B18式の残骸が散らばっている場所を進んでいく。
ビルの外ならば情報収集機器は十全に機能する。エレナはビルの中で何度かあった不覚を繰り返さないように、周囲を念入りに警戒していた。そしてある反応を捉えてアキラ達に警戒を促す。
アキラがエレナから送信された反応の場所に注意を向ける。そこには強化服を着ているハンターの死体が転がっていた。アキラが嫌そうな表情を浮かべる。
『またか。アルファ。あれが動き出すかどうか分かるか?』
『分からないわ。少なくとも死んだばかりで強化服のエネルギーが十分残っているのは確かよ。可能性はあるわね』
『動き出す理由とか分かるか?』
『いろいろとあるとしか言えないわね。何からの方法で遠隔操作をしているのかもしれないし、自律行動をするようにプログラムを
ビル内でアキラ達を襲った動く死体達の動きは大したものではなかった。不覚を取ったのはアキラだけだ。それもいろいろな制約の所為だ。もしそれらがアルファのサポートを得たアキラ並に強ければ、アキラは確実に死んでいた。
ではなぜアキラだけそれらの制約がないに等しいのか。アキラはそれを、自分が旧領域接続者だから、として取りあえず納得することにした。それだけでは納得しにくいものからは、取りあえず今は目を
アキラは落ち着いてCWH対物突撃銃を構えて、アルファが指示する部位を、死体の強化服の制御装置がある場所を狙って引き金を引いた。
その光景を偶然見ていたカツヤが叫ぶ。
死体は、リリナだった。
カツヤが必死の形相で駆け寄ってくる。事情を知らないカツヤには、実は生きていたリリナにアキラが止めを刺したようにも見えた光景だった。
アキラが反射的にカツヤに銃を向けようとする。アルファが強化服を操作してそれを押さえる。
アキラが表情を少し険しくさせて尋ねる。
アルファが少し真面目な表情で答える。
『戦闘になったら、今度は私がちゃんとサポートできる。だから落ち着きなさい』
『......了解』
アキラは少し渋々と銃を下げた。
シカラベがエレナ達に手で、先に行けと伝える。そしてアキラの近くに立つ。
シカラベがカツヤに尋ねる。
「......用......だと?」
「そんなに急いで走ってきたんだ。急用だろ? 用件は? 用がないなら帰れ」
「......どうして撃った!?」
「何らかの手段で強化服を操作されていた死体を銃撃して無力化した。それだけだ」
「......生きていたかもしれないだろう!?」
「死亡していた。恐らく着用者が死亡したことで強化服の認証が緩んだんだろう。ビル内でも似たような死体に襲われた。ビルの外に出た機械系モンスターに工作機が混ざっていて、強化服の制御装置を
「それを、黙って信じろっていうのか?」
カツヤはシカラベの言い分を認めようとせずに、非常に険しい形相のままアキラ達を
されていなかった。その上で、俺達に銃を向けた。お前の部隊が意図的にこちらを攻撃しようとした。こっちの認識も、それで良いんだな?」
シカラベが臨戦態勢を取る。まだ銃を構えてはいないが、誰かがあと僅かでも具体的な行動を取れば、即座に戦闘開始だ。
「じゃあ、どういう意味だ。言ってみろ。説明しろ」
カツヤは答えられなかった。
アキラ達とカツヤが黙ったまま
「何だか知らんが、ビル内に取り残された仲間を助けに行かなくて良いのか? 言っておくが、俺達の部隊はビルの出入口付近の制圧を優先させる。お前らの生存者を探しに行ったりはしないぞ?」
カツヤがクロサワを見て、ユミナとアイリを見て、アキラ達を見る。そしてどことなく悔しそうな表情を浮かべて、セランタルビルに向けて走っていった。ユミナとアイリもすぐにカツヤの後を追った。
れたような表情で見送った後、シカラベに軽く笑って話しかける。
「よう。シカラベ。久しぶりだな」
シカラベが
「クロサワか。おい、まさか外の部隊を率いているのはお前か?」
「半分はな。ドランカムの連中は別の部隊だ。俺の指揮下ではない。だから何があったか知らんが、俺に連中の文句を言うなよ? それはそれとして、後続の部隊の隊長として、先行部隊に情報提供を求める。まあ、付き合え」
シカラベが意気を抜かれたように落ち着いて答える。
「分かったよ。アキラ。俺はここに残る。エレナ達にそう伝えておいてくれ。あとシオリに......、いや、良いか。アキラ達は先にクガマヤマ都市まで帰還して、その後はエレナの指示に従ってくれ。トガミには都市に戻るまでしっかり護衛を続けておけって伝えておいてくれ」
クロサワが去っていくアキラを見ながら話す。
「あれがお前が前に話していたアキラか。あいつもあのカツヤってやつぐらいに強いのか?」
「お前にしては交戦の決断が少々早いように見えたが......、まあいいや。で、ビルの中で何があったんだ?」
「......いろいろだ」
アキラはキャロルに運転を頼んで助手席でぐったりしていた。心身ともに限界が近い。早く家に戻ってゆっくり風呂に入り、その後は死んだように眠りたかった。
キャロルがそのアキラを見て苦笑している。この状態では誘っても無駄だろうと判断して、アキラを休ませるために話しかけるのも控えておく。なお、キャロルの方は求められれば応じる余裕がある。身体強化拡張者の体力は
く休むとアキラの気力と体力も少しは回復して、いろいろと考える余裕が生まれてくる。アキラの頭に浮かんでくるのは、セランタルビルでの苦境だ。
『......なあアルファ。やっぱりちょっと聞きたいんだけど、アルファがいなかった時、何をやってたんだ?』
『あら、口答で30時間ほど掛かる各種規則条約を聞く気になったの?』
『そうね。ぎりぎり話せる部分を切り出すと、あの情報収集機器の性能を低下させる事象を何とかしようと試みたりしていたわ』
『優先度の順位付けは様々な要素を考慮して判定するわ。あの事象を解決すれば、エレナ達の戦力が格段に向上して、全員が無事に脱出できる可能性が飛躍的に向上する。特にエレナは情報収集機器で敵を解析して、敵の位置や弱点部位を探ったりして効率的な戦闘を試みるハンターよ。サラもその恩恵を受けているわ。それらの部隊全体の効率を考慮に入れての決断よ。今のアキラの実力なら、あの程度の状況なら、私が少し席を外しても大丈夫だろう。そういう判断も含めてのね』
少し納得を示したアキラに、アルファが続けて話す。
『前にも少し話したけれど、アキラが他の全員を見捨てて単独での脱出を優先するのなら、私は席を外さずにアキラの
『アキラ。良い機会だから言っておくわね。もしアキラが急に私のサポートを失ったことで誰かに迷惑を掛けるのを嫌がっているのなら、やっぱりアキラは個人で行動するべきよ。前にも話した通り、旧世界の遺跡では私のサポートが急に失われる可能性があるの。エレナ達は私のサポートがある状態でのアキラの実力を期待しているはずよ。アキラが突然その期待に応えられない状況になると、全体が致命的な状況に陥る可能性を許容できないのなら、同行を初めから断っておきなさい』
アルファが少し口調を優しくして続ける。
『無理にとは言わないし、強制もしないわ。決めるのはアキラよ。でも、頭の片隅には入れておいて。旧世界の遺跡では何が起こるか分からない。アキラも知っているでしょう?』
『......そうだな。分かった』
『まあ、そもそもアキラが私のサポートを失っても
『それもそうだ。アルファの依頼を達成するためにも、もっと強くならないとな』
アルファも笑ってそう答えた。その裏で、別の思考を続ける。
アルファは今回の依頼で、キャロルがアキラを探りやすいように、僅かに意図的に隠蔽を下げていた部分があった。アキラを探ろうとするキャロルに対して警戒を促し、可能ならばそれを理由に交戦させて、その前例を元にエレナ達と距離を取るように仕向ける。そういう予定もあった。
しかしキャロルは踏み込む程度をしっかりと抑えていた。少なくともアルファがその程度のことを理由にすると、逆にアキラがアルファに不信を抱きかねない程度には、探りを入れる程度を抑えていた。
今回の件が今後にどれだけ関わってくるか。アルファはアキラが今回の件で今後は多少は自重することを期待しながら今後の計画を練っていた。
「取りあえず、みんなお疲れ様。いろいろあったけど、このチームはここで解散。今回のミハゾノ街遺跡での活動も終わりとさせてもらうわ。......厳密には、交渉の後片付けというか、事後交渉が残っているんだけどね。アキラ。またキャロルを借りても良いかしら?」
「俺は構いません。キャロル。悪いけど、また頼んでも良いか?」
きながら見ていた。種類や方向性に多少の差異はあるが、その思いの根本が強さへの渇望であるのは2人とも同じだった。
トガミは今回の件で自分の実力を定義し直した。自分は弱い。そう再認識した。だがそこに揺らぎはなかった。セランタルビルの中で一時的に落ち込みはしたものの、ビルの中でレイナの護衛をしながら、都市への帰路で今日の出来事を
Katsuya and his men were also fighting back the B18 monsters while hiding behind the portable walls lent by Kurosawa and his men. But in contrast to Kurosawa and his men who were not hard-pressed fighting the monsters, Katsuya and his men seemed to be having a hard time.
Kurosawa and his men had zero casualties and zero injuries, they had no reason to try to go to the Seranthal building again. But for Katsuya, some of his men were still left inside the building. They might be still alive and it might be too late if he did not try to save them soon.
But of course, Katsuya could not do that at the moment. His negotiation with Kurosawa ended up in failure and it was rather impossible for Katsuya and his men to try to rescue their comrades alone. Katsuya was making a stern but pained face, he was high-strung since he could not rescue his men, and his emotion was starting to spread to his men there.
And then, among all of Katsuya's men, there was one who felt a soul-crushing level of guilt, Lilina.
A lot of Katsuya's men were blaming Lilina. It was because Katsuya told the rest of his men what happened with his negotiation with Kurosawa. It was not like Lilina was at fault there, but the other Hunters who could not rescue their friends were looking for an easy target to direct the blame.
She ignored Katsuya and the other Hunters behind her who shouted at her to stop what she was doing. She repositioned herself to a portable wall that was closer to the Seranthal building and peeked out to aim at a B18 monster.
If Lilina had to make any excuses for why she did that, it could be said that her action there was to push the front line forward. She thought that if someone that they blamed courageously pushed forward, the other Hunters who were holding grudges against her would start fighting more vigorously out of pride and ego. And if that happened, it would definitely help to rescue the Hunters left inside the building. But that was all nothing but Lilina's own opinion.
The B18 monsters there immediately focused their firepower on the one person who just left the enemy's formation. Lilina had no way to evade it. Even the portable wall from Kurosawa was not strong enough to block that much focused firepower. As expected, she was barraged with bullets.
Lilina fell down in the pool of her own blood. It was by pure chance that she did not immediately die. While lying there waiting for her inevitable death, she could see from her blurring vision Katsuya running desperately at her, trying to rescue her.
Lilina then smiled happily, she thought that it should be alright since Katsuya was coming for her. That was her last thought before she took her last breath.
Katsuya, who saw Lilina get shot, left his post as the commander and jumped out to help her. He destroyed the B18 monsters on his way as he desperately tried to reach Lilina, but when he reached her, she was already dead.
Katsuya looked at Lilina. To him, Lilina's gaze was as if she was blaming Katsuya, why he did not come to save her.
Katsuya then closed his eyes. He remembered his conversation with Sheryl and reminded himself that he had decided to stop creating ghosts out of his dead comrades. When he opened his eyes, this time, he saw Lilina's smile, she seemed to be happy that Katsuya had rushed to her.
But that did not change the fact that he failed to save his friends again. He let the creeping anger inside him take over his body, his expression turned stern as he shouted at his communication device to give an order to his men.
Katsuya then abandoned his position as the leader of his team, he abandoned his duty, stood up, and started shooting at the B18 monsters around him.
In a blank white space, someone smiled.
Kurosawa was flabbergasted as he saw Katsuya fighting the monsters. It was really out of his expectation.
Katsuya was fighting multiple B18 monsters at the same time, and the one pushing back was Katsuya. He was shooting down the B18 monsters around him one by one, maybe he was able to do that because of the powerful rifle that he was using.
He was moving without a shred of hesitation, it was as if he knew exactly where the enemies were, how they were moving, where they were aiming, and where their weak points were. Although most of the B18 monsters there already changed their targets to Katsuya, he was still able to maintain the upper hand.
Kurosawa looked around. His men were also amazed by Katsuya's action. Some of Katsuya men were even cheering him on.
It was not like Kurosawa had any kind of hatred or grudge toward Katsuya, but he felt some kind of feeling that was not exactly a compliment either. But for now, he decided to put that aside, he had to give an order to his men in this situation.
"Everyone, provide him with support!! Push the line forward slowly!!"
"He's taking the decoy role even though no one asked for it. This is a perfect chance, we can take it easy in this case. And although I told you to push the line, of course, safety is number one... Stop anyone who wants to join him, there's no need to accompany him in doing something that reckless."
"Ooh, I see. Roger that!"
Kurosawa's men started to make their moves. Kurosawa watched his men pushing forward. It seemed that his worry was proven untrue, so he sighed in relief before continuing to shout commands.
Kurosawa and his men slowly but surely pushed the front line forward. The number of B18 monsters around the Seranthal building was obviously decreasing.
And when he finished most of the B18 monsters in the area, a flash of blinding light came out from the building's entrance. It was when Shiori cut down the huge monster.
Kurosawa looked towards the Seranthal building's entrance and noticed Elena's team come running out from inside.
"So that's the reconnaissance team, huh. They defeated that huge monster. That's pretty impressive."
With this, there should be no problem getting inside the Seranthal building again. Kurosawa immediately ordered his men to move out.
Elena's team that just came out from the inside of the building was so surprised when they saw the situation outside, but even so, they did not stop running. Elena was running in the front, leading the team while checking for enemies with her information-gathering device. They kept their guards up while running through a huge field filled with B18 wreckages.
Unlike the inside of the building, Elena's information-gathering device was working well. So in order to not get ambushed like last time, Elena carefully checked the surrounding area for any signals. And when she found a signal, she immediately warned the other members of her team.
Akira immediately turned his focus toward the position that Elena sent where that signal came from. There were dead Hunters there, all of them were using augmented suits. Akira had a bad feeling about what would happen.
"Again, huh. Alpha, can you tell if they can still move?"
"No idea. One thing for sure, those Hunters just died recently and their augmented suits still have enough energy to move. So possibility wise, it's not zero."
"Do you have any idea how and why?"
"I can make multiple guesses. Someone might be somehow controlling them, or maybe the software in their augmented suits was modified to move on their own. But as long as you don't get caught in a surprise attack, you should have no problem defeating them. Due to the various limitations on their signal speed, local storage size, and other limitations, they should not be able to do any complex movements. After all, you were able to defeat them all alone before, right?"
The moving augmented suits that Akira fought inside the Seranthal building were not that dangerous. It was just that he was caught by surprise. If those dead Hunters were as strong as him with Alpha's support, he would have been dead by now.
Since Akira did not have those limitations, he thought that it was because he could connect to the old-world domain. Although he still had some questions and doubts about it, he decided to save that for later.
Akira calmly pulled up his CWH anti-material rifle, aimed it at the augmented suit's control device clearly indicated with the help from Alpha, and pulled the trigger.
Katsuya, who saw that by pure coincidence shouted.
That dead Hunter was Lilina.
Katsuya ran toward Akira. For Katsuya, who did not know what was going on, it seemed as if Akira just finished Lilina who was actually still alive.
Akira was about to shift his aim to Katsuya by pure reflex, but Alpha stopped him through his augmented suit.
Akira frowned and asked.
Alpha replied with a serious face.
"I'll properly give you support next time, so just calm down for now."
"...Alright."
Akira hesitatingly lowered his rifle.
Shikarabe gave a signal with his hand to Elena and the other Hunters to go ahead, and then he stood next to Akira.
Shikarabe then asked Katsuya.
"...What...You say?"
"You were running to us, so I bet you want something from us, right? So, what is it? If it's nothing, then get lost."
"...Why did you shoot her?!"
"Someone is somehow controlling the augmented suits of the dead Hunters, so we had to neutralize them. That's all there is to it."
"...She might be still alive, you know!?"
"No, she's dead. I bet it's exactly because she's already dead that the security of her augmented suit got disengaged which allowed someone else to control it. We were also attacked by similar means back in the building too. I bet some of the monsters that came out from the Seranthal building modified her augmented suit or something."
"Do you really think that I'll just shut up and accept that explanation?"
Katsuya did not accept Shikarabe's explanation as he kept glaring at Shikarabe.
"I see, in that case, it means that she's still alive, her augmented suit was not hacked. But even so, she aimed at us. So, basically, one of your men intentionally aimed her rifle at us, right?"
Shikarabe took a fighting stance. Although it was not like he was aiming his rifle at Katsuya, he was ready to start fighting anytime anyone made a suspicious move.
"So then, what's your explanation? Go on."
Katsuya could not answer back.
Akira and Shikarabe just stood there against Katsuya in silence. No one said anything. That was when Kurosawa, Yumina, and Airi approached them, they quickly noticed the tense mood and frowned since they did not know what was going on except for the fact that they were on the brink of fighting each other.
"I have no idea what's going on here, but are you sure you don't want to use this chance to rescue your men trapped inside that building? I'll tell you this, my men will stand by near the entrance to secure the area first, we have no plans to help you in looking for survivors."
Katsuya looked at Kurosawa, Airi, and Yumina, and then his gaze returned back to Akira and Shikarabe. He somehow made a frustrated look before he turned and ran into the Seranthal building. Yumina and Airi immediately followed behind him.
Kurosawa looked exasperatedly at Katsuya as he left that place. He then turned to Shikarabe, lightly smiled at him, and said.
"Yo there, Shikarabe, long time no see."
Shikarabe frowned.
"Kurosawa, don't tell me that you're the leader of the Hunters outside the Seranthal building."
"Yep, but only half of them, I lead the Hunter group unaffiliated with Drankam. I don't know what happened, but they're not under my lead, so I won't accept any complaints about them. Well, putting that aside, as the leader of the next team that will go there, can you give me any information that you have to share?"
Shikarabe sighed as if he was relieved, he then calmly replied.
"Sure. Akira, I'll stay here. Tell that to Elena and the other Hunters too. As for Shiori... Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, huh. Just return back to the Kugamayama city ahead and follow Elena's order from there. Tell Togami to do his job properly as an escort."
Kurosawa kept watching Akira who was leaving that place as he said to Shikarabe.
"So that's the Akira that you told me, huh. Is he as strong as that Katsuya?"
"No no no, the usual you would not take a fighting stance so quickly... Well, I guess that doesn't really matter now, huh. So, what happened inside that building?"
"...Well, all kind of things."
Akira was resting in the driver's assistant seat, he asked Carol to drive in place of him. Both his body and mind were already at the limit. He wanted to get back to his home as soon as possible, take a good bath, and sleep like a dead log on his bed.
Carol glanced at Akira and smiled bitterly. It seemed that it would be useless trying to seduce Akira in that situation, she also refrained from striking a conversation to let him take a rest. As for Carol, she still had enough energy, after all, her body was enhanced with nanomachines.
Akira completely lowered his guard as he was resting his body and mind. After a short break, he regained his physical and psychical strength, and it gave him the leeway to start thinking about something else. He then remembered all that happened inside the Seranthal building.
"...Alpha. As I thought, it still bugs me though. Where were you when you left me? And what were you doing?"
"Oh my, that would need you to listen to a 30 minutes long explanation of the ToS though, are you sure you want to know?"
"Well, let's see. If I have to take out the only things that I can tell you, I was trying to fix the source that lowered the sensitivity of information-gathering devices inside the Seranthal building."
"There are many factors to consider when you decide on your priority. If I was able to do that, you'll have an easier time fighting the monsters and you'll have a better chance to escape that building in one piece. Especially for Elena, who focuses more on detecting enemies and looking for their weak points in order to have the upper hand in a fight. Sara will also receive some benefits from that too. So basically, I decided that after thinking about the whole team too, you see. Of course, it's also because I believed that you should be able to handle the situation just fine by yourself."
It seemed that Akira finally accepted Alpha's explanation, Alpha then continued.
"Although, like I said before, if you had wanted to just abandon everyone else and prioritize on escaping that building yourself, then I would have stayed with you back there. So, do you prefer that?"
"Akira. This is a good chance so I'll tell you this. If you don't want to get other Hunters in trouble when you lose my support, you should refrain from working with other Hunters. I've warned you before too that I might lose connection with you inside an old-world ruin. Elena and the other Hunters must be thinking that your usual performance is the one when you have my support. In case if you suddenly can't live up to their expectation, it might lead to a fatal mistake. So if you don't want something like that to happen, you should refuse their invitation from the beginning."
Alpha then continued with a gentle voice.
"Well, I won't tell you to force yourself, this is not compulsory. In the end, you're the one to decide. But, at least keep this in mind, okay? I'm sure you know this all too well, no one can tell what might happen inside an old-world ruin."
"...You're right."
"Well, of course, if you're strong enough that basically there's almost no effect even if you lose my support, then you wouldn't need to worry about that."
"That's true. I need to get stronger in order to do that request from you too."
Alpha smiled back when she said that, but behind that smile, she was thinking about something else.
During this request, Alpha actually kept less secret than usual from Akira so that Carol would be able to easily poke around for information from him. And if it was possible, Alpha wanted to use that reason so that Akira would be more careful around Carol and somehow put some distance from Elena and the other Hunters too.
But unfortunately, Carol never tried to poke in too far. So if Alpha tried to warn Akira using that reason, it might be counter-effective and Akira might get suspicious of Alpha instead.
No one could tell how much it would affect Akira, so she just hoped that Akira would put some thought into it as she planned for the future.
"Well, good work out there everyone. A lot of things happened back there. And with this, this party is dissolved. I'm also thinking of stopping any plans to go to Mihazono ruin after this... To be more precise, I want to take care of the negotiations ahead, well, I still have some negotiations left to do after all. Akira, can I borrow Carol again?"
"Sure, I don't mind. Carol, I'm sorry but can you help Elena-san again?"
Togami and Reina had a conflicted face as they saw Akira off. Although they were looking at Akira with different feelings, both of them had the same reason, it was because both of them wanted to be stronger.
During this request, Togami was able to reassess his strength, and the result was that he was weak. He was able to confirm it, and this time, there was no doubt about it. Although he got temporarily dejected back inside the Seranthal building, he was able to reflect on what happened during the day while he was escorting Reina and on their way back to the city. He finally made a firm base for him to start.
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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