アキラは宿で勉強漬けの日々を送っていた。既に強化服を注文してから2週間が経過している。アルファの宣言通りに宿から一歩も出ずに、風呂のない狭く安い部屋で、入浴欲を簡易なシャワーでごまかしながら、毎日ひたすら勉学に励んでいた。
それでもアキラは比較的上機嫌だ。理由は800万オーラムも出した強化服への期待だ。シズカから納品予定日の連絡を受けてからは更に上機嫌になり、少し落ち着かない様子まで見せていた。
アルファのサポートはアキラの勉強にも大いに役立っていた。まずはアキラの視界を拡張して現実には存在しない様々なものを表示することで、効率的な学習環境を構築していた。空中には電子的な黒板のような物が浮かんでいる。売店で買った真っ白なノートを開けば、文字や画像が追加で表示されて教科書になる。教材面での不備は全く存在しない。
また授業の内容も教え方も非常に洗練されており、分かり
その日々の中、電子黒板の文字列を指示棒で指していたアルファが、その指す先をアキラの情報端末に移した。
『アキラ。シェリルから通話要求が来たわ』
アキラが情報端末を手に取る。その時点ではシェリルからの連絡を示すものはない。だがすぐに着信を知らせる音と表示が現れた。アキラが不思議そうな顔を浮かべる。
「何で情報端末よりも早く気付いたんだ?」
アルファが得意げに
『前にも説明したけれど、その情報端末を私が乗っ取ったからよ』
そういうものなのだろうか。アキラは僅かに疑問を抱いたが、余り気にせずに通話要求を受けた。すると、シェリルが焦りと緊張の
「俺と会って何の話をするんだ? 徒党のボスはシェリルだろう?」
「私では話にならないと言っています。対外的には、徒党のボスはアキラだと思われています。代理の私では交渉にならないと考えているのかもしれません」
アキラが少し考える。長期間狭い部屋に閉じこもっていた
「分かった。今からそっちに行くから、それまでに話の内容を確認しておいてくれ」
「分かりました。ありがとう御座います」
少しだけ焦りと緊張を和らげた声を最後に、シェリルとの通話が切れた。
アルファが不服そうな様子を見せる。
『強化服が届くまでの間は、外出を控えてほしいって言ったはずよね?』
を許すように軽く笑う。
『仕方ないわね。一応準備をしっかり整えてから外に出ること。分かった?』
(......面倒だと思われているけど、ちゃんと来てくれるようね。助かったわ)
そして問題の者達に厳しい視線を向ける。アキラを呼び出したワタバという男とその連れの者達だ。
「アキラがここに来るそうよ。それまでに話を聞いておけって言われたわ。だからもう一度聞くわ。あんたら一体何の用?」
ワタバはシェリルを小馬鹿にするような態度を取っている。
「アキラってガキが来たら話すって」
「人の話を聞いてないの!? 話を聞いておけって言われてるのよ!」
め息を吐き、尋ねる先をワタバに変える。
「それで、俺に何の用だ?」
ワタバがアキラ達にはっきりと告げる。
「簡単な話だ。この拠点も含めて縄張りを俺らに明け渡せ」
その要求に、シェリル達に大きな衝撃と動揺が走った。
シェリルの徒党はシベアの徒党の縄張りを引き継いだが、現在の徒党の人数ではそれなりに広いその縄張りを維持するのは難しい。スラム街に適切に管理されていない縄張りが存在すると余計ないざこざの元となる。それはシェリル達にも他の者達にも不利益だ。
ワタバ達のボスであるシジマという男は、その縄張りの一部、シェリルには手に余る部分だけならば、簡単な交渉で、
当然受け入れられる内容ではない。シェリルが思わず叫ぶように言い返す。
「ふざけないで! そんな要求飲む訳ないでしょう!?」
「お前には聞いてねえんだよ! 黙ってろ!」
「いや、駄目だってシェリルが答えてるだろう。俺に聞くなよ」
アキラはワタバの予想を平然とあっさりと覆した。
「俺はお前に聞いてるんだよ。ここはお前の徒党なんだろう?」
「ここはシェリルの徒党の拠点で、ボスはシェリルだ。俺じゃない。俺に聞くな。シェリルに聞け。お前がシェリルに話しておけば、俺がここまで来る必要はなかったんだ。一々呼び出すな。話は済んだな? 帰れよ。俺も帰るから」
だがその表情が急に嘲りと余裕を取り戻した。ワタバがアキラに不敵に笑い出す。
「お前、俺達がお前のことを何も知らないと思ってるな?」
「......何を知ってるんだ?」
予想通りの態度にワタバの顔が怪しく緩む。
「俺達は人数も多いって言っただろう? お前が泊まっている宿ぐらい簡単に調べられたぜ」
アルファがアキラの意図を読み取って指示を出す。
『そこは場所が悪いわ。移動して』
アキラはアルファに指示された場所に黙って移動すると、壁に寄りかかるように立った。そして馬鹿にするようにワタバに答える。
「俺の泊まってる宿を調べて? それで人を集めて襲撃するとでも言う気か? 馬鹿かお前。あの宿に泊まっているハンターが俺だけだとでも思ってるのか? 宿と契約している警備会社も敵に回すぞ? 正気か? 自殺したいのなら好きにしろよ」
「そ、それだけじゃねえ! お前がよく行く武器屋のことだって調べてるんだ! その店や店主がどうなってもいいってのか!?」
アキラは内心に湧いた暗い感情を表に出さずに、
それを聞いたワタバが下卑た笑顔を浮かべた。それでアキラの意識が切り替わった。
『アキラ。少しは考えた方が......』
アルファはアキラの意思を読み取って一応止めようとした。だがその説得の前に、調子に乗ったワタバが
もなくワタバを撃ち殺した。
ワタバの連れの男達は動揺で動きを止めていた。そして運悪く一番先に我に返り、反撃しようと銃を抜いた男が、その前にアキラに脚を撃たれて床に転がる。着弾の衝撃で脚が千切れていた。
く子供達の悲鳴が響き始めた。訳も分からず部屋を見渡す者。部屋の隅に逃げる者。逃げ出そうとする者。交渉の場が突如殺し合いの場に変わったことに対応できた者は僅かだった。
アルファが少し険しい表情でアキラに尋ねる。
『アキラ。殺す必要はあったの?』
アキラがはっきりと答える。
『そう。それなら仕方無いわ。終わったと思って気を抜かないでね』
アルファは別にアキラが何人殺そうが気にしない。ただし無意味に状況を悪化させる殺しは謹んでもらいたいと考えている。
アキラは面倒事を嫌うくせに、その面倒事を自分から増やしている。自分を不運だと考えているが、その不運を招く要素を自分から増やしている。そしてそれはアキラの中で矛盾していない。アキラの中にある何らかの基準が、一見不可解なその行動を肯定している。今回の行動も、ワタバの言動がその基準を超えた結果だ。
その何らかの基準を的確に把握しないと、今後もアキラの行動を促すのは難しい。アルファはそう判断して、アキラの観察を続けていた。
アキラが残りの男達に銃を向けて
「銃を捨てろ。5、4、3......」
立っている男達が慌てて銃を捨てた。撃たれて床に転がった男は、傷口を押さえる以上の動きを見せていない。アキラがカウントを続けながら床の男の頭部に銃口を向ける。
「......2、1......」
「待て! すぐに銃を捨てさせる! 撃つな!」
他の男が慌ててアキラを止めた。そして激痛でそれどころではない男から銃を取ると、自分達の銃と一緒に蹴飛ばした。アキラはそれで
アキラが男達に尋ねる。
「それで、お前らはシジマってやつの徒党の一員なのか?」
「そ、そうだ。撃つな、撃つなよ?」
「案内してくれ。シェリル。行くぞ」
シェリルは事態を把握しきれずに固まっていた。そして言われたことを理解すると、別の理由で固まった。我に返ったシェリルの表情が大きく
「......ええっ!?」
シジマの徒党はシェリルの徒党と同じくスラム街に無数に存在する徒党の一つだ。ただしシェリル達のような弱小とは所属している人数も縄張りの広さも異なる中堅の徒党だ。
アキラとシェリルはそのシジマ達の拠点に来ていた。
拠点内部の大きめの部屋にはアキラ達の他にシジマの部下達がいる。アキラ達はシジマの部下の案内でその部屋まで通されていた。
シジマはアキラ達の来訪をかなり慌てていた部下から聞いた。いろいろと疑いたくなる報告内容に少々悩んだが、シベアの縄張りを受け継いだ徒党のボスであるシェリルと、その後ろ盾であるハンターのアキラが一緒に来たことを考慮して、直接会うことにした。
シジマがアキラ達を待たせていた部屋に入ると、報告通りの光景が広がっていた。
平静を保っているアキラ。引きつった表情を浮かべているシェリル。撃たれた傷口を押さえている部下と、彼を支えている他の部下達。そして床にここまで引きずられた跡を残しているワタバの死体。
アキラが自分で殺したワタバの死体を引きずって会いに来た。部屋に入ったシジマが見たものは、その部下の報告を裏付けていた。
片足を失った男も、状況報告の
シジマの部下達が負傷した男を支えながら部屋から出て行く。それを軽く目で追っていたシジマが、視線をアキラに戻して平然と尋ねる。
「やったのはお前か? ああ、俺はシジマだ。この辺を
「ああ。俺がやった。俺はアキラだ。彼女はシェリルだ。殺しの件とは余り関係がないんだが、一応関係者だから連れてきた。状況の把握はさせておいた方が良いと思ってな」
「交渉と確認だ」
シェリルはアキラの隣にぎこちない動きで座った。格上の徒党の拠点にいる者の態度としても、その徒党の構成員を殺した人物と一緒に来た者の態度としても、ごく自然な態度だった。
シジマがアキラを観察する。シジマの目にはアキラは普通にしている普通の子供に見える。つまりその子供は異常者だ。殺した男の死体。その男の徒党のボス。その仲間で、好意的ではない視線を向けている武装した者達。それらと同じ部屋にいる状況で平然としている子供は明らかに普通ではない。すぐ隣に焦りや緊張で表情を
シジマはその様子を見てシェリルに対する警戒を引き下げた。同時に、アキラに対する警戒を引き上げた。
「用件は交渉と確認だったか? 何があったのかは知らないが、まあ、話ぐらいは聞いてやろう。話しな」
アキラがシジマに普通に告げる。
「各個撃破することになるから、お勧めしない」
情報端末を操作していたシジマの手が止まる。シジマは徒党の戦闘要員を集合させる指示を送信する直前だった。
そもそもシジマがアキラ達を拠点の中に入れたのは、ワタバ達とシェリル達との交渉で偶発的な戦闘が起こり、死人が出たことを
追加の人員を要請すれば、集結する前に各個撃破する。この部屋にいる者を真っ先に攻撃する。今この部屋にいる人数なら、自分一人で皆殺しにできる。アキラは暗にそう言っている。そして本気でそう言っている。
嫌なら止めろ。シジマはアキラのその警告を理解した。
追加の戦力をアキラに気付かれずに呼び寄せていれば、ほぼ問題なく殺せていた。しかしそれに気付かれて阻止された。正確にはアルファが気付いてアキラに教えたのだが、シジマにそれを知る術はない。そしてシジマにとっては
シジマは情報端末をゆっくりとテーブルの上に置いた。そして落ち着きを保ったまま、徒党のボスとして威厳のある声を出す。
「随分強気だな」
アキラがやや口調を強めて答える。
「遺跡や荒野よりはましだ。モンスターは殺しても残りが逃げたりしないんだ」
シェリルは状況を把握できておらず、アキラ達の
く物騒な話の中で、突然話を振られたシェリルが慌てて答える。
「え? ええ! そうよ! 私の徒党にはアキラを殺そうとするやつなんかいないわ! 絶対よ!」
シジマが口調を戻す。表情も落ち着きも一緒に戻す。
「まあ結論を急ぐなよ。結論から話すと話が早い場合もあるが、経緯をしっかり聞くことで印象が変わることもある。慎重に話を進めるなら、過程も重視しないとな。では聞こう。なぜあいつを殺した?」
「......それだけか?」
「補足すれば、俺が殺したくなる脅し方をしたからだ。冗談が通じる間柄じゃないんだ。発言には細心の注意を払うべきだ。誠心誠意懇切丁寧に説明しても、正しく意図が伝わる保証はない。発言の解釈は聞き手に依存する。俺は臆病者なんだ。俺を殺すなんて言うやつは、殺される前に殺しておかないと夜も眠れないんだ。俺にそういう話をするやつは、有言実行のやつが多い。だから、口にしたことを実行されてしまう前に殺した」
アキラはシジマをじっと見ている。俺は発言に気を付けて話している。俺を脅すな。そちらの発言をはったりだとは思わない。そうシジマに伝えている。
「付け加えれば、あいつはシェリルの拠点と縄張りを全部
「......あいつ、そんなことまで言ったのか?」
シジマが確認の意味でシェリルに視線を送ると、シェリルが慌てながらもしっかり
「まあ、こっちにも落ち度があったことは理解した。俺としては縄張りに関する話し合いをしたかっただけなんだがな。十分に管理されていない縄張りは抗争の火種になる。それぐらいそっちも分かるだろう。そういう懸念事項を消したかっただけだ。ワタバの不手際を考慮に入れた上で、俺としては穏便に事を済ませたいんだが?」
シジマが返答を求めてアキラに視線を向ける。
アキラがそう答えてシェリルを見る。シジマもシェリルに視線を移す。すると今まで蚊帳の外にいたシェリルが、急に当事者になった
「......えっ? わ、私? わ、私も穏便に解決するなら構わないわ」
シジマが視線をアキラに戻して話を続ける。
「穏便に事を治めたいという点に関しては、三者の同意が取れた訳だ。では、次にどう穏便に済ませるかだが、事の始まりはどうであれ、死人も
「シェリル。100万オーラムだって」
シェリルは僅かな間だけアキラの言葉の意味を理解できずに困惑の表情を浮かべていた。だがすぐにその意味を理解して顔を青ざめさせた。
自力で100万オーラムを支払えと言われても、それは不可能だ。だが嫌だと答えたら、穏便な解決は消え
「前金として50万オーラム。後払いで50万オーラム。それでどうだ? 俺が即金で出せるのは50万オーラムが限界だ」
「ハンターに定期収入なんかない。余裕が出るだけ稼いだ後だ」
シジマが熟考するように沈黙する。その大半は演技だ。だが残りはこの妥協案を拒絶した場合の対処への思案だ。そして結論を出す。
アキラがリュックサックから50万オーラムを取り出してテーブルの上に置く。現金が必要になる場合に備えて口座から引き出しておいた金だ。
シジマが配下に顎で指示を出す。部下の一人がその50万オーラムを持って部屋から出ていく。
「支払が完了するまで、暫定的ではあるが、穏便に話が付いたと判断する。じゃあ帰ってくれ。部下にいろいろ説明とかしないといけないんでね。忙しいんだ」
比較的シジマに近い地位にいる部下が、荒い呼吸を整えているシジマに尋ねる。
「ボス。本当にあのガキの集まりと真面目に付き合うのか?」
「当面はな。あのアキラっていうガキが生きている間は、仲良くする振りぐらいはしておく。残りの金も払ってもらいたいしな。シェリルとかいうガキが、あのアキラっていう危険物を取り扱っている間は、下手に敵対する必要はない」
「アキラってガキが死んだらどうするんだ?」
「あのガキが死ねば、俺達がどうこうするまでもなくシェリルの徒党は普通に瓦解するだろう。人や金や縄張りを取り込むのはその時に考えれば良い。縄張りの配分とかを他の徒党といろいろ調整する必要もあるだろうしな。......今回だって、あのシェリルとかいうガキが変なことをしなければ、他の連中と配分すれば済んだ話だったんだ。あいつがあのアキラを担いで自分の徒党を結成したりするからこんな面倒なことが起こったんだ。シェリルも確か、元々はシベアのところのやつだったはず......、つまりシベアの
Akira spent his days studying inside his room. It had been 2 weeks since he placed the order for the augmented suit. As Alpha declared in the beginning, he moved to a room without a bath. He tried his best to hold back his desire to take a bath by showering. Also, he did not even step a foot outside the city. He basically spent his days focusing only on studying.
But even so, Akira was actually in a good mood. It was because he was looking forward to getting his first 8,000,000 Aurum augmented suit. His mood got even better when Shizuka contacted him to inform about the expected time of arrival of his order. Ever since her call, he could not contain his excitement.
Alpha's methods were also really useful in teaching Akira. First of all, she started by expanding Akira's views, so that he would notice things that he did not notice before. In order to build up an effective learning environment, she used a flying electronic blackboard and a white notebook which was filled with images and letters for teaching. Akira had bought these learning materials some time back. Her teaching methods were nothing short of perfect.
Not to mention that her method of teaching for every subject was very polished. Her explanation was very easy to understand and highly effective. She was teaching Akira one on one, so she could focus all her attention on him. That small and cheap room turned into an optimal learning environment that normally could not be created without a lot of money. Thanks to that, Akira's growth was amazing.
Then one day, Alpha who was pointing at the writings on the electronic blackboard suddenly pointed to Akira's information terminal.
"Akira, there's a call from Sheryl"
Akira extended his hand to reach for his information terminal. But after he picked up his information terminal, he could not see any call notification from Sheryl. But then suddenly the display showed that there was an incoming call as the call's ringtone rang. Akira looked a bit puzzled.
"How did you know that before it actually came?"
Alpha smiled meaningfully.
"As I explained before, I'm actually connected to that network, so I'm just leveraging it."
Akira was wondering if she was actually saying the truth as he picked up the call. As he answered the call, he could hear Sheryl's panicked and nervous voice.
"They want to meet and talk to me? But you're the boss of the gang, right?"
"They said that they have nothing to talk with me. It seems those people outside the gang are thinking that you're the boss of the gang and I'm just your proxy, that's why they would not negotiate with me."
Akira took his time thinking. Because he spent days inside his room without stepping out, not even once, the part of him that was unconsciously seeking for a break, made his decision.
"Alright then, I'll be heading there now. Ask them what they actually want to discuss with me."
"I understand. Thank you very much."
After Sheryl replied back nervously, Akira ended the call from Sheryl.
Alpha looked at Akira as if she did not approve it.
"I did tell you that you're not stepping outside the room until you get your augmented suit, right?"
Alpha smiled as if she was giving permission to a small kid.
"Geez, it can't be helped then. Be sure to prepare everything before going out, okay?"
[...Although it seems that he thinks it's a pain in the ass, he did say that he'll come. Thank goodness.]
She then turned to the people in question and looked at them with a stern look. It was a man named Wataba and his companions who sought to see Akira.
"It seems that Akira would come here. And he told me to ask what you want to discuss with him. So I'm asking you this again, what business do you have with him?"
Wataba answered back in a tone as if he was mocking Sheryl.
"I'll talk when that Akira boy is here."
"Are you not listening?! I was told to ask you what you want to discuss with him, you know?!"
Akira let out a sigh before asking Wataba instead.
"So, what do you want?"
Wataba then answered Akira's question firmly.
"It's simple, give me this base and its territory."
Sheryl and the other kids tensed up when they heard his demand.
Sheryl's gang inherited the territory from Sibea's gang. But it was hard for them to take care of that huge territory with their current members. An unclaimed territory in the slum city would only attract problem and that would be a bad thing both for Sheryl and for the other people in the slum city.
Wataba's boss, Shijima, thought that it would be easy to at least get those surplus territories that Sheryl's gang could not manage from Sheryl by having a small negotiation with Sheryl's gang. He thought that at most, they would need to use little intimidation during the negotiation to obtain it. Thus he sent Wataba, someone who already knew Sheryl, to have a discussion with her gang. But then Wataba got ahead of himself after seeing how Sheryl's gang treated them, so he changed the demand without asking for any permission from his boss.
Of course, it was not something that Sheryl could accept. Thus Sheryl reflexively shouted back at Wataba.
"Are you kidding me?! There's no way we can accept that!!"
"I'm not asking you, so just shut up."
"No, Sheryl also made it clear just now. So don't ask me."
Akira answered back casually and firmly, something that Wataba did not expect.
"I've heard about you before, this gang is yours, right?"
"This gang and this base are Sheryl's. Sheryl is the boss here. It's not me, so don't ask me. Go ahead and ask her instead. If you had asked her, I wouldn't have had to come here like this, you know. Sheryl, don't just call me for every single thing. So that's everything, right? Just go back home now, I'm leaving this place after this too."
But his face immediately turned back to relaxed expression mixed with mockery. Then Wataba smiled invincibly.
"Hey kid, do you really think that we know nothing about you?"
"...What exactly do you know about me?"
Wataba's expression relaxed after Akira finally reacted as he expected.
"As I said, my gang has a lot of members. So it's an easy thing for us to find where you're staying, you know?"
Alpha got what Akira meant from that short signal.
"This position is not good. So you need to move."
Akira then stood and walked to the location that Alpha pointed to and he stood leaning against the wall. After that, he replied back to Wataba as if he was mocking him.
"You found out the inn where I'm staying, huh? So then what? Are you going to gather people and attack the place next? Are you stupid? Are you seriously thinking that I'm the only Hunter staying in that place? You'll make an enemy out of the security people contracted by that inn, you know? Are you even sane? If you want to kill yourself, do that without causing a problem to other people, will you?"
"T-that's not all!! We also investigated the shop that you frequent too!! Are you really okay if anything happens to that shop and the owner of that shop?!!"
Akira let out a sigh while intentionally hiding the dark feeling that was welling inside his heart. He carefully reached for the gun behind him trying not to get noticed as he warned Wataba and his companions.
After hearing that, Wataba smiled vilely. It was enough for Akira to make his decision on what to do next.
"Akira, you might want to rethink abou-"
Alpha understood what Akira wanted to do and tried to stop him first. But before she could say anything, Wataba laughed confidently and said.
No one expected that Akira would suddenly shoot and kill Wataba without even a shred of hesitation.
The other men that were accompanying Wataba were so shocked that they were frozen in place. Then the unlucky guy who regained his composure first tried to reach his gun only to get shot on his leg by Akira and rolled over on the floor. His leg that was shot with an anti-monster bullet was blown to small pieces.
The small children there finally started screaming. Some of them could only stand frozen there. Some of them ran to the corner of the room. And some of them ran outside the room. The negotiation turned into a fight and there was only a handful of them who knew how to handle a fight.
Alpha then asked Akira with a stern expression.
"Akira. Was there any need to kill him?"
Akira answered back firmly and swiftly.
"I see, it can't be helped then. It's not over yet, so don't drop your guard."
Although Alpha did not care how many people Akira killed, she wanted Akira to at least avoid any meaningless killing.
Despite the fact that Akira did not like problems, he was actually making a problem for himself here. He thought that it was all because of his bad luck, but the truth was that he kept doing things that attracted bad luck. Akira himself did not realize his contradictory behaviour. It was the vague moral standard inside him that pushed Akira into doing such a thing. Wataba's remark there was the thing that was deemed unacceptable by Akira's moral standard and incited the fight.
Alpha thought that it would be hard to predict Akira's behaviour as long she did not understand that vague moral standard Akira was holding on to. Thus she decided to continue observing Akira for now.
Akira kept his gun pointing at the rest of Wataba's men to keep them in check as he warned them.
"Throw down your gun.... 5... 4... 3..."
The men who were still standing there threw down their guns. Only the man who was shot on the leg was still writhing on the ground while applying pressure on his open wound. Akira kept counting down while aiming his gun at the head of the man who was on the ground.
"... 2... 1..."
"Wait!! I'll throw down his gun!! So please don't shoot!"
The other men tried to stop Akira in panic. He then took the gun from his friend who could not do that because of his injury and the pain. After that, he took his own gun too, dropped them on the ground and kicked them away. Only after that did Akira finally lower his gun.
Akira then asked the rest of Wataba's men.
"So then, you guys are also members of that Shijima's gang, right?"
"Y-yes. Don't shoot, please don't shoot, okay?"
"Take me to him. Sheryl, come with me"
Sheryl could not comprehend what just happened and was frozen in place. But once her brain finally caught up with what had just happened, and understood what Akira said, she once again was shocked frozen for a different reason. She finally regained her composure as her face twitched.
"...Eeehhhh!!???"
Shijima's gang was just like Sheryl's gang, it was one of the many gangs inside the slum city. But unlike Sheryl's small and weak gang, it was a medium-sized gang with a lot of members and a large territory.
Akira and Sheryl went to the base of Shijima's gang.
The hall inside the base was filled with Shijima's subordinates. Akira and Sheryl were able to pass through that hall because they had Shijima's gang members, who came along with them to guide them through.
Shijima knew of Akira's arrival from one of his subordinates who came to him in a panic. He was still thinking whether to meet them in person or not after hearing the report from his subordinate. After all, his report was hard to believe. But considering that Sheryl, who was the boss of the gang that inherited Sibea gang's territory, coming here together with Akira, who was the Hunter supporting Sheryl's gang, he finally decided to meet them in person.
As Shijima entered the room where Akira and Sheryl were waiting for him, Shijima came to understand the truth of the report from his subordinate.
Akira was standing there with a calm look while Sheryl looking scared beside him. Beside them was his subordinate who was trying to keep the pressure on his shot-wound as his friends supported him. And finally, there was Wataba's dead body that was dragged all the way here as its traces were left on the floor.
Akira dragged that corpse himself all the way here to meet Shijima. Everything that Shijima saw inside that room confirmed the report that he had heard from his men.
The guy who lost his leg was kept there to give Shijima his report. But then Shijima said.
Shijima's men who were supporting that injured man helped him to exit the room. Shijima saw them off before he turned back to Akira and calmly asked him.
"Are you the one who did that? Ah, right, I'm Shijima, the leader of this gang."
"Yes, I did that. I'm Akira, and this is Sheryl. Although she did not do anything about killing this guy, she's accompanying me here since she's still involved in this case. So I think it's better if she understands the situation too."
"To confirm a few things about the negotiation."
Sheryl awkwardly took a seat beside Akira. Her reaction was to be expected since she was inside the base of a gang that was superior to hers and she came with the person who killed one of his gang's members.
Shijima looked at Akira. To him, Akira looked like a normal boy without anything extraordinary about him. But in this very room, there was a corpse of the man that the 'normal' boy just killed, the boss of the gang that man belonged to, and the other members of that gang who were equipped with guns and looking at him with an unfriendly look. And the 'normal' boy was here in the same room with all these people, but he was acting without any care as if all these things did not bother him at all. Thus it was obvious that he was anything but a 'normal' boy. Moreover, looking at how Sheryl nervously sat beside him, it only served to make him look even more out of the norm.
As Shijima saw how Sheryl was behaving, he put down his guard on Sheryl but became more wary of Akira.
"Confirming a few things about the negotiation, huh? I don't know what exactly happened, but well, you can go ahead."
Akira then casually warned Shijima.
"It'll only end up with both of us dead, so you better stop."
Shijima who was operating his terminal immediately stopped his hand right before he sent a notification to gather everyone in his gang who could fight.
Originally, Shijima thought that Akira had come here to apologize after killing one of his men when their negotiation turned into a fight. But once he met them for real, putting Sheryl aside, Shijima understood that Akira did not show even a trace of sign that he was here to apologize.
Shijima understood what Akira was trying to say. If he sent that notification to his gang members then both sides would be killed before they could gather up. Akira would slaughter everyone in the room. It can be inferred from his words that he had the ability to kill all the people here. And Akira was not just signalling that to Shijima, he actually said it.
Shijima understood that Akira warned him to stop if he did not want that to happen.
Shijima thought that if he could call for more reinforcement in secret, he would be able to kill Akira without getting himself killed. But Akira noticed it and stopped him from doing that. Although to be more precise, Alpha noticed that and informed Akira about it, but there was no way Shijima would know that. But even so, Shijima's behaviour did not change much. It reminded him again how mysterious this Akira was as he became more vigilant of him.
Shijima slowly and carefully put his information terminal on the table. He then stayed calm as he said with the dignity pertaining to the leader of a gang.
"You're pretty confident in yourself, huh?"
Akira answered back with a firm and strong voice.
"Here's better compared to the wasteland or the ruins. After all, those monsters won't run when their friends get killed."
Sheryl could not understand what was going on, she could only silently listen to their conversation. But she could feel the strange mood welling around her, so she tried to recall what Shijima and Akira had said. It did not take much time for Sheryl to understand what just happened. They almost started shooting at each other just a few seconds ago. As she realized that Shijima decided to just back off from that situation, her face immediately turned pale.
Sheryl was taken aback when Akira suddenly asked her in the middle of their cruel conversation. But Sheryl immediately answered back in panic.
"Eh? Ahh, right! No one in my gang would think of killing Akira!! I can guarantee that!"
Shijima then returned to his usual calm demeanour.
"Well, let's not be hasty here. Of course, there are cases were putting out the conclusion from the start would make further conversation smoother, but there are also cases where properly listening to the back story can change your view on the problem. If we're going to talk about this in caution, it's important to know what happened. So let's hear it, why did you kill him?"
"...Is that all?"
"If I have to give you more reason, it was because he threatened me and made me want to kill him. We're not close enough to let his intimidation to pass as a joke, so he should have been more careful with his words. And even if he did try to explain that in all sincerity, there was no guarantee that it would be conveyed correctly. The listener has the right on how to interpret what he or she hears. I'm a cowardly person, you see. If someone said that he or she will kill me, I won't be able to sleep at night unless I kill that person first. After all, all the people who said that to me really did try to do that, thus I always killed them before they could kill me."
Akira locked his gaze on Shijima. Shijima took his words as "I'm being careful with my words here, so don't you dare threaten me" and he did not think that Akira was bluffing when he said that.
"To be more precise, it was because he demanded Sheryl to give up her base and her territory. By any chance, was he sent to declare war on us and get killed?"
"...That shit, did he really say that?"
Shijima turned to Sheryl asking for a confirmation, to which Sheryl was fl.u.s.tered but firmly nodded.
"Well, it seems that we're also at fault here. To be honest, I only wanted to talk about the territory, you see. A territory that is not managed properly will only attract danger. You do know that too, right? I just wanted to avoid such a thing. Considering what happened to that Wataba due to his foolishness, I want to talk this out peacefully, you see."
Shijima then looked at Akira, waiting for his reply.
Akira then looked at Sheryl after saying that, Shijima followed that gaze and looked at Sheryl too. Sheryl who was only an outsider in their conversation up until that point panicked since she just became a part of their conversation. Thus she could only answer back while being fl.u.s.tered.
"...Ah!? M-me? O-of course I wish we can solve this problem peacefully too."
Shijima looked back at Akira and said.
"Now then, since all three of us agreed to solve this problem peacefully, let's talk about what to do next. No matter what the reason was, you killed one of my men and injured another, so I hope you also put this into consideration. But it's not like I can shoot some of your people too since it'll only cause another problem. So how about we solve this with money?"
"Sheryl. He said 1,000,000 Aurum."
Sheryl went silent and looked confused for a while since she could not comprehend what Akira was saying. But after she realized what Akira meant, her face immediately went pale.
There was no way she could pay 1,000,000 Aurum all by herself. But if she refused, she feared that it would end the chance to solve the problem peacefully and it might even turn into a fight. Sheryl was crushed under the pressure, thus she could only answer back in a voice that sounded as if she was screaming.
"I'll pay 500,000 Aurum upfront and pay the remaining 500,000 Aurum later. How about that? I can only pay 500,000 in cash right now."
"There's no guarantee when I can get more money since I'm a Hunter. I'll only pay the rest if I get some surplus money."
Shijima went silent as if he was thinking for a while. Half of that was only an act, but half of it was him thinking about what would happen if he refused it. He then came to a conclusion.
Akira reached out to his rucksack and put out 500,000 Aurum on the table. It was the money that he withdrew from his bank account in case he needed emergency money.
Shijima nodded to one of his men, he took that 500,000 Aurum and exited the room.
"Until the rest of the payment is done, I'll put this problem on hold, till then, I'll assume that we've solved it peacefully. So then, you can go back home now. I have to explain a lot of things to my men, so I'm busy here."
Some of Shijima's men who were relatively close to him then asked him as he was trying to calm his breath.
"Boss, are we really going to befriend that gang of kids?"
"Yeah, but only on the surface. As long as that boy is still alive, just act as if we're getting along with that gang. I want him to pay the rest of the money, after all. And about that Sheryl, there's no need to be overly hostile to her as long as she's the one dealing with that dangerous boy."
"And what if Akira gets killed?"
"If that boy is dead, we don't need to do anything, Sheryl's gang will crumble on its own. We can take their territory, men and money after that happens. We also need to negotiate with the other gangs about how to divide the territory though... Even this time too, if that Sheryl did not create her gang, Sibea's territory would've been peacefully divided among the other gangs. It was because that girl aimed for Akira and created her gang that this trouble happened. But that Sheryl was originally from Sibea's gang too, right...? As I thought, it's all his fault. Dammit!"
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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