アキラが予備の空のリュックサックに遺物を詰めていく。多くの遺物は戦闘の余波で破壊されていたり、モンスターの血や油がたっぷり付着していていたりと、余り良い状態ではない。比較的状態の良い遺物を選んで詰めていく。
小さめの遺物は結構無傷で残っていた。しっかり包装されている遺物は内部まで血や油が染みこんでおらず無事だ。アキラはそれらを優先して詰め込んでいた。
「いえ、女性物の下着を見つけたんですが......」
「本当!?」
サラが喜びの声を上げた。以前アキラに説明したとおり、サラが保有している丈夫な女性用下着の残数は既に危険域に達しているからだ。できれば追加を手に入れておきたいのだ。
「......モンスターの血か何かが包装の中まで染みこんでいますね」
アキラの説明の通り、その下着は包装が破れており、何らかの液体が染みこんでいてかなり変色していた。
「......そう。残念だわ」
サラがかなり残念そうに答えた。
の上に置く。それをリュックサックに入れる気にはなれなかったからだ。そして再び遺物の収集に戻る。
再びアキラが何かを見つける。
「......ですが?」
二度目だ。サラは落ち着いてアキラに尋ねた。
「......銃撃で、穴が開いていますね」
飛び交う銃弾が偶然この下着を貫通したのだろう。アキラが見つけた下着には、目立つ穴が開いていた。
アキラに非はない。それはサラにも分かっている。しかしサラは少し強めの笑顔で話す。
「ちょっとアキラ、さっきから何の嫌がらせ?」
アキラとしては、サラから尋ねられたので答えただけだ。別に嫌がらせをしているわけではない。
少し不満げな表情を浮かべていたサラが、何かを思いついたように笑う。そして二度の肩すかしの不満を別の方向に向ける為に、アキラを誘惑するように
「はいはい。分かってるわ」
周辺に無事な遺物が残っている可能性は十分ある。サラはアキラの周辺を重点的に探すことにした。
の上に置かれている遺物を指差して話す。
「ねえアキラ。アキラがあれを持ち帰らないなら、私が持って帰っても良い?」
れだったり、穴が開いていたりと、アキラが持ち帰ろうとは思わなかったものだ。
「それは構いませんが......、えっ? あれをサラさんが身に着けるんですか?」
「幾ら何でも、あれをそのままの状態で身に着けたりはしないわよ。専用の修繕業者に出すのよ。運が良ければ新品同等になるし、買うよりは安く済むわ」
「そういう業者もあるんですか。良いですよ。どうぞ」
「サラさん。その袋って何ですか?」
「これ? これは旧世界の遺物の保存袋よ。運んでいる最中に傷つきやすい遺物を入れておく袋なの。これは安物だけど、高いやつは銃弾すら防いで中身の精密部品を衝撃から保護したりもするわ。ちょっとでも遺物を高く売るための工夫の一つね」
「そういうものもあるんですか。うーん。俺も買った方が良いかな?」
「そうね。こういう他の遺物を汚しそうな物を運ぶ時にも便利だし、あって損はないわよ。ああでも、元々包装されている物を詰め替えるのはお勧めしないわ。旧世界製の包装の方が高性能なことが多いからね」
「分かりました」
アキラはハンター稼業に不足している知識を得た。このような知識の取得も、他者と一緒に行動する利点の一つだろう。
アキラ達は地下街のこの周辺での遺物収集を終えた。予想外の戦闘はあったものの、遺物収集の収穫としては上々だ。
エレナが今後の方針を2人に尋ねる。
「さて、これからどうする? 今すぐ戻っても良いけど、私としてはもう少し進んで地下街周辺の地形情報を手に入れておきたいわ。
アキラは地下街の奥を見て、アキラの元々の目的地がこの奥にあることを思い出した。地下を示した矢印の場所、リオンズテイル社の端末設置場所だ。
「そうですね。奥の方の遺物は無事かも知れませんし、それを確認するぐらいはしても良いかもしれません」
アキラが未発見の遺跡を見つけて、その遺跡の情報が他のハンターに露見したことで、今更その場所を目指す意味は少なくなっている。それでも端末設置場所の状態を確認するぐらいはしても良いかもしれない。アキラはそう考えた。
サラも同意したことで、アキラ達は地下街をもう少し進むことになった。
アキラ達がいる地下街は、そう大きな作りではなかった。光源は不明だが地下街は十分な光に照らされているので、内部構造の把握は比較的容易だ。地上に続いていたのであろう階段もある。しかしエレナが簡単に調査すると、階段の先は土砂や
戦闘の痕跡は地下街の他の場所にもしっかり残っていた。恐らく遺物の状態も似たり寄ったりだろう。
エレナがこの区域の調査を終えた。更に先に続いている通路も存在しているが、その先に進むことは止めている。その先がどこまで続いているかは分からない。区切りが良い所で止めておくべきだろう。
不意にエレナが足を止める。そして表情を少し真剣なものに変えた。
それを不審に思ったサラが、周囲への警戒を上げてエレナに尋ねる。
「誰かいるわ」
アキラも周囲を警戒する。人の気配は感じられない。アキラの情報収集機器にもそれらしい反応はない。
エレナがアキラの勘違いに気付いて補足する。
「ああ、誰かが迷彩機能で隠れているわけではないわ。あっちの扉の向こうに、それらしい反応があるのよ。先行していたハンターの生き残りかしら」
エレナが少し離れた場所にある壁の扉を指差す。扉は大きな力、恐らくはモンスターの攻撃でひしゃげており、そう簡単には開きそうにない。
アキラとサラが扉の方を見ていると、
「おーい! 誰かいるのか! いるんだろう!? 返事をしてくれ!」
扉の向こうにいる男が地下街にいるであろう人物に向かって必死に叫んでいた。
アキラ達は一度顔を見合わせた後、叫んでいる男がいる扉まで移動した。
扉の僅かな隙間からアキラ達の姿を発見した男が歓喜の声を上げる。
「やった! 助かった! お前達もハンターか? その辺りにいたモンスターはどうなったんだ?」
エレナがアキラ達を代表して答える。
「俺達はそいつらに襲われてここに逃げ込んだんだ! 頼む! 助けてくれ!」
「俺達? そっちには何人いるの?」
「ここにいる俺を含めて5人だ。残りは奥の部屋にいる。まずこの扉を開けてくれ。扉が頑丈なおかげで助かったが、
エレナは少し沈黙を置いた後、アキラとサラの方を向く。
「どうする? 助ける?」
「どうするって、そこを迷うなよ!? 同じハンターだろ!? 困った時は助け合おうぜ!?」
「悪いけど、似たような状況で似たようなことを言って、私達を襲おうとした馬鹿がいてね。そう簡単には信用できないのよ。それに外にはハンターの死体がたくさんあったわ。つまり、
も納得してくれるわよね? 私にも仲間がいるのよ」
「か、勘弁してくれ!」
「で、本当にどうする?」
「そうねえ。扉を開けるぐらいはしてもいいんじゃない? 後はまあ、自力で何とかしてもらいましょう。わざわざ遺跡の外や都市まで連れて行く義理はないわ」
「そうね。それぐらいはしますか。アキラもそれで良い?」
「良いですよ。それで、どうやって開けるんですか?」
アキラがそう尋ねると、サラが不敵に笑って話す。
「蹴破りましょう」
サラは扉の前に立つと、扉の向こうの男に向かって言う。
「危ないから扉から離れていなさい! 一緒に吹き飛ばされたくなかったらね!」
サラはそう言うと、ナノマシン補助系身体強化拡張者の強力な身体能力を生かした蹴りを扉に
「思ったより頑丈ね」
アキラがサラの隣に立つ。サラがアキラの意図を察して軽く笑う。
としている男の表情を見て、サラとアキラが軽く笑っていた。エレナは若干苦笑気味の笑顔でアキラ達を見ていた。
蹴破られた扉の向こうから男達が出てくる。彼らの表情は大きな疲労を感じさせるものだったが、
サラが彼らに宣言する。
「後は自分達で何とかしなさい。私達はもう帰るけど、付いてこないでね」
エレナが補足する。
「少なくとも、私達が安全だと判断する程度には十分離れてちょうだい。私達との距離が近いようだと、私達を襲おうとしていると見なすわ」
男達のリーダーであるレビンが慌てて話す。
「待ってくれ! 俺達を置いていく気か!?」
「そうよ。そう言ったじゃない」
エレナはあっさりそう言い切った。更に続けて話す。
「悪いけど、いろいろあって疑い深い性格なの。御免なさいね。......それとも、ここでやる気?」
エレナとサラが笑みを消す。2人にはレビン達に対する敵意も殺意もない。しかし2人とも本気であることを理解させる雰囲気を漂わせていた。
レビンが威圧されながらエレナ達を見る。レビンの目にもエレナとサラは美人に見える。その美貌が2人を疑い深い性格にさせるのに十分ないろいろな何かを誘発させてきたのかもしれない。レビンは何となくそう思った。
レビンが助けを求めるようにアキラを見る。アキラが少し申し訳なさそうに話す。
「あー、悪いが、俺も少し前に旧世界の遺跡で偶然会ったハンターに同行を求められて、そのハンターに襲われたことがあってな。エレナさん達の気持ちはよく分かるんだ」
「確かギューバとかいう名前だったかな。何でもデカい借金があって、同行者の遺物を狙ったらしい」
「俺らには借金なんかないって! ないよな!?」
レビンが叫ぶようにそう言って仲間達を見た。仲間の男達が一斉に
レビンが頭を抱える。アキラ達全員がレビン達の同行を断っている。このままでは本当にこの場に置き去りにされてしまう。周辺にはまだモンスターがいるかもしれない。無事に遺跡の外に出ても、そこからクガマヤマ都市まで戻らなければならない。弾薬が尽きかけているレビン達だけでは生還は難しい。
レビンが何とかエレナ達との交渉を試みる。
「......わかった。じゃあこうしよう。君たちに緊急依頼を出す。俺達を都市まで連れて行ってくれ。報酬は、そうだな、3人いるんだし300万オーラムだ。悪くない額だろう。どうだ?」
レビンはアキラ達に緊急依頼を出すことにした。後で手続きが必要になるもののハンターに対する明確な依頼であり、ハンターオフィスを介する正式な依頼だ。そこらの口約束などとは違う重みがある。
エレナもハンターだ。依頼であるならば検討の余地はある。少し思案して答える。
「まあ、悪くない額ね」
好感触を得たと感じたレビンが僅かに表情を緩ませた。しかしエレナが少し険しい表情で話す。
「でも、本当に支払えるかどうかは別よね」
「払うって! 何だよ!? そっちの絡みでも何かあったのか!?」
「前に緊急依頼を受けた時に、弾薬費は依頼者持ちと明記したのにも
みに、そいつはカツラギって名前よ」
「分かった! じゃあこうしよう! 旧世界の遺物だ! 俺達があの扉の向こうで見つけた遺物を報酬として渡す! 300万オーラムになるかどうかは分からないが、多分それぐらいにはなる。状態も結構良かったしな。これなら良いだろう?」
これで駄目ならレビンにはもう他の手段がない。真剣な表情で懇願する。
エレナの口調と表情から、先ほどよりは前向きに尋ねていることが分かる。しかし積極的に受けようとする意思も感じられない。どちらでも良い。その程度の判断のようだ。
アキラがレビンに尋ねる。
「どんな遺物を見つけたんだ?」
「主に衣類だ。ハンターが戦闘服の代わりに使うようなものはなかったが、普通の服とか女性用の下着とか、いろいろだ。いや、普通の服かどうかは微妙だな。旧世界製の服って、
「そうか。......えっと、払うものは払うようだし、俺は受けても良いと思いますよ?」
アキラがそう言ってサラを見る。エレナも軽く笑ってサラを見る。サラが少し気恥ずかしそうに笑って答える。
エレナはレビンから彼らが地下街のあの場所に逃げ込むことになった経緯を聞いていた。その経緯からこの遺跡に関する情報を聞き出すためでもある。
レビンもエレナの意図には気付いている。ハンターにとって遺跡に関する情報は売買可能な貴重品だ。普通ならそう
っていた。しかしエレナ達が普通に話を聞いているので、レビンはそのまま自分達がこの遺跡の存在を知った経緯から話し始めた。
クガマヤマ都市の下位区画にレビン達の行きつけの酒場がある。レビン達はその酒場でいつものように安酒を飲みながら今後の予定を仲間達と相談していた。
相談といっても具体的な内容があるわけではない。アルコールの入った脳でたわいもない雑談混じりに漠然とした方向性を決める程度のものだ。次に向かう遺跡の話が、いつの間にかそれなりの頻度で行く
そのレビン達にある男が発見されて間もない遺跡の情報を買わないかと持ちかけてきた。
この手の話はよくある。詐欺や詐欺
レビン達は少々迷ったものの、その情報を買うことにした。その理由は幾つかある。遺跡の位置情報と内部情報が別売りだったこと。そして手付けの額が安かったことだ。男に前金を払い、レビン達が遺跡の存在を確認した後で遺跡の位置情報の残金を払う。そしてその後に遺跡の内部情報を別に買う。そういう取引だった。
遺跡の内部情報はかなりの大金を要求されたが、位置情報はそこまで高額ではなかった。何よりレビン達は遺跡の位置情報が正しいことを確認した後に代金を払えば良いのだ。それならば仮に詐欺の類いであっても、レビン達の被害は高値の酒を少し多めに飲んだ程度で済む。
男はレビン達以外にも多くのハンターに取引を持ちかけていた。最終的にそれなりの数のハンターが男と取引を済ませた。ハンター達は遺跡に向かう準備を済ませ、教えられた場所に向かった。
目的地への移動中、酔いの覚めてきたレビン達はやっぱり詐欺だったのではないかと疑い始めていた。しかし教えられた場所に到着すると、本当に知られていない遺跡が存在していた。レビン達は喜んで男の口座に残金を振り込んだ。そして情報端末で男と連絡を取り、遺跡の内部情報の取引を試みた。
しかし男は他のハンターと遺跡の位置情報の取引中だとして、遺跡の内部情報の取引を進めようとしない。レビン達が遺跡の外で男の取引が終わるのを待っていると、続々と追加のハンター達が遺跡に集まってくる。恐らく本当に遺跡が存在していたので情報が拡散し始めたのだ。
くの間はレビン達と同じように遺跡の外で待機していた。しかしその間にもこの遺跡を探索しようとするハンターが増え続けていく。
ついに1人のハンターがしびれを切らし、男との遺跡の内部情報の取引を待たずに遺跡の中に入っていった。後はもう流れだ。ハンター達が次々に遺跡に突入していく。
この遺跡の内部がどの程度の規模なのかは分からないが、クズスハラ街遺跡のような大規模な遺跡とは思えない。つまり、ここに眠っている遺物の量にも限りがある。ぐずぐずしていては先行したハンターに大量の遺物を確保され、自分達の分は残らないかもしれない。皆そう思っていた。
レビン達もその勢いに押されて、そのまま遺跡に突入した。
「階段を降りた後に通路があるわね? その時の通路はどんな様子だった?」
「どんな様子って言われてもな。普通の通路だったぞ?」
「通路は明るかった? 戦闘の痕跡はあった? モンスターの死骸とか転がっていなかった?」
「ああ、通路は十分明るかった。戦闘の痕跡は......、急いで走っていたからよく覚えてないな。モンスターは......、数体通路に転がっていたな。それを避けて走ったから覚えている。先に遺跡に入ったハンターが倒したんだろう。だから戦闘は、多分あったんじゃないか?」
レビン達がこの遺跡に来た時、既にエレナ達が前回ここに来た時と遺跡の状況は変わっていたようだ。
エレナはそう言って話の続きを促した。レビンが少し思案した後に話を続ける。
「......後は、遺跡の中を移動してあの地下街にたどり着いた。先にそこにいたハンター達に混じって遺物の収集をしていたら、俺達が来た通路から大量のモンスターが現れたんだ。必死に応戦はしたものの、数も強さもこの辺にいるモンスターとは思えないぐらい強いやつが多くて、俺達に勝ち目はなかった。俺達は扉に逃げ込んで扉を閉めた。その後は、君たちに助けられるまで籠城していた。時間が
「さっき通った広間に、地下街の方に通じる通路とは別の通路があったでしょう? あの通路の奥は通った?」
レビンはしらばっくれようとして、エレナの目を見て諦めた。
「......まあ、一応。特に店とかはなかったから、すぐに引き返して地下街の方へ行ったけどな」
「あっちはどんな構造だったの? 地形情報の収集とかはしていないの? 未調査の遺跡に向かうなら、そういう準備をしていてもおかしくないわよね?」
「勘弁してくれ。君たちに渡したあの扉の奥の遺物が一番高値になりそうだったんだ。それを渡すんだ。その穴埋めにこの遺跡の地形情報とかを売って補填するつもりなんだ。そうしないと俺達の今後のハンター稼業に影響が出るんだよ。それを
「それならまずは私に売りなさい。50万オーラム出すわ」
「......本当に払ってくれるんだろうな?」
達が私達に渡す遺物に、ちゃんと300万オーラムの価値があればね。なければその穴埋めにさせてもらうわ」
「......くそっ! 分かったよ!」
レビンは仕方なく汎用規格の記憶媒体をエレナに手渡した。渡さなければレビン達がエレナ達に渡した緊急依頼の報酬である遺物の価値が疑われるのだ。
エレナが受け取った記録媒体を自分の情報端末に差し込んで解析する。レビン達が収集したこの遺跡の地形情報を解析することで、エレナは自分達が通っていないあの通路の先の構造を把握した。
「サラ。アキラ。少し急いでここを出るわよ」
エレナがそう指示を出して移動速度を速める。前にここの通路でモンスターと遭遇しなかったことを考慮してもかなりの速さだ。アキラとサラは
駆け足手前の早さで歩きながらサラがエレナに尋ねる。
「ちょっと嫌な予感がするから、早めにここから出ておきたいのよ。彼から受け取った地形情報を解析したのだけど、あの先にあったのは駅のホームだったわ。地下鉄ってやつね。アキラは鉄道って知ってる?」
アキラはアルファに教えてもらった知識から、何とか該当する項目を思い出す。
「......確か、線路の上を走る列車を使う移動手段......でしたっけ?」
「まあ、そんなものよ。モンスターの所為で東部では余り見かけないし、あっても大都市の中に整備されるものね。中央部、中央部統治国家連合の統治領域では普通に広範囲に整備されているらしいわ。国同士を
「そうですか。それでその地下鉄が何か問題なんですか?」
「さっき戦ったモンスターに、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥にいたやつが混ざっていたって説明したでしょう? そしてこの遺跡は機能がまだ生きている。その地下鉄の機能も生きているかもしれないわ」
サラがエレナの言いたいことに気付いて顔色を悪くする。サラがエレナに確認するように言う。
「......つまり、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥のモンスターが、列車でここまで運ばれているかもしれないってこと? 勘弁してよ。あの辺のモンスターって、場合によっては戦車とかで迎撃しないといけないのよ? 第一、前に来た時はモンスターは全然いなかったじゃない」
サラがエレナに同意を求めるように話す。
「ま、まあ、仮にそうだとしても、そういう強力なモンスターはデカいやつばかりだし、通路に引っかかってここまで来られないわ。本当にクズスハラ街遺跡の奥のモンスターが運ばれてきたとしても、弱い小物のやつばかりでしょう? そんな小物なら遭遇しても倒せば済む話よね」
確かに地下街で遭遇したモンスターは、エレナ達なら十分撃退できるモンスターばかりだった。サラの話を聞いて、エレナも少し表情を緩める。
「......確かにそうね。気にしすぎたかしら」
エレナは少し笑って、結果的に不安を
アキラは表情をより険しくさせていた。そのアキラがエレナに尋ねる。
「......ちょっと聞いても良いでしょうか?」
「暴食ワニってモンスターがいますよね。そういう何でもかんでも食べて巨大化するモンスターは、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥でも多いんですか?」
「例えばですよ? その手のモンスターがまだ小さい時に地下鉄でここに運ばれてきて、ほんの数日で
アキラが通路の床の跡を見る。通路の床には巨大な何かが通り過ぎた跡がある。
「戦闘の跡はあったけど、倒されたモンスターの死体とか残骸とかが全く残っていない。それはそいつに全部食われたから......、なんてことは考えすぎでしょうか? 遺跡の奥から続いている床の跡ですけど、出入口に近付くにつれて段々大きくなっていませんか?」
エレナとサラが通路の床を見る。確かに通路の奥の跡より幅が大きくなっている気がする。エレナが話す。
「......確かに、その可能性はあるわね。やっぱり急いでここを出ましょう。そいつが遺跡に戻ってきて、内部にいるモンスター達と挟み撃ちにされるなんてのは御免よ」
サラがエレナに意見に同意する。
「同感。急ぎましょう」
Akira filled the empty space in his rucksack with relics. He chose the relatively still good-looking relics that he could find since most of the relics in that place were either already destroyed or drenched in blood or oil.
Some of the relics were thankfully still fully intact, relics with strong casing were left untouched by the blood and oil outside. Akira was searching for those kinds of relics.
"Uh, I found underclothes for women..."
"Really?!"
Sara shrieked in delight. Just like what she told Akira before, she was in dire need of durable underclothing. If it was possible, she wanted to get more of them.
"...It seems that blood had slipped through its wrapping though."
It was as Akira said, the wrapping of that underclothing was actually torn and some kind of liquid had seeped through that opening, thus turning its colour into something strange.
"... I see, that's really unfortunate."
Sara sounded very disappointed.
Akira then left that underclothing on top of rubble near him. He had no plans to put that inside his rucksack as he quickly returned back to look for more relics.
He then found something else.
"...But?"
It was the second time, so Sara calmly asked Akira.
"...It has a bullet hole."
It seemed that a bullet had randomly pierced through that underclothing.
Sara knew that it was not Akira's fault, but she then smiled at Akira and asked.
"Akira, what kind of bullying are you playing here?"
Akira simply answered Sara's question. After all, it was not like he did that on purpose.
Sara, who looked a bit annoyed, seemed to realize something as she smiled mischievously. As she directed her displeasure after getting disappointed for the second time into another direction, she then smiled teasingly at Akira.
"Yes yes, I know."
There was a good chance of finding intact relics around that place, thus Sara focused on searching relics around the same area with Akira.
Sara suddenly came to Akira and pointed her finger at the relics on top of the rubble.
"Akira, if you're not planning to bring them back, can I take them instead?"
It was the underclothing that Akira found. One of them had suspicious-looking liquid seeped through the wrapping while the other one had a bullet hole. That was why he did not consider taking them back with him.
"...Sure... Wait? It's not like you're planning to use them, right?"
"Of course I won't use them like that. I'm planning to bring them to a specialist and have them fixed. If I'm lucky, it will be as good as new and it's way cheaper than buying new underclothing."
"So there are specialists for this too, huh. Sure then, I don't mind if you take them."
"Sara-san, what's that plastic bag?"
"This? This is a plastic bag to preserve the relics. I usually use this to carry relics that look fragile or easily damaged. This is just a cheap bag, if you use the expensive bag, it can even protect the relics from gunshots too. It's just a small hack that you can employ to increase the quality of relics that you carry back home."
"So there's something like that too, huh. Hmmm, I guess I should buy some too."
"That's right. It's really convenient to carry dirty relics inside this bag. You won't lose anything by keeping some handy too. Ahh, but I don't recommend replacing the original relics wrapping with this bag. After all, the original wrapping might actually be more durable than this bag."
"I see."
Akira just received another advice on how to be a good Hunter. Getting such new information was one of the benefits of exploring a ruin together with the other Hunters.
They finally finished gathering relics in that area. Although there was an unexpected fight, they were able to harvest a good number of relics.
Elena then asked Sara and Akira what they planned to do next.
"Now then, what's your next plan? I don't mind going back to the city now, but personally, I want to go further a bit to get more information about this ruin. Since we've killed most of the monsters around this area, this should be a good chance to do that."
Akira looked to the inner part of the ruin, he remembered that his original aim when he came to that ruin was to look for something that was located deep down there. It was the very thing that was indicated by the pointer in his vision when he was searching for that ruin, it was for the Lion Steel Corp information terminal.
"That's right. The relics in the deeper part of the ruin might still be intact, it might be a good idea to at least check them."
After Akira found an unexplored ruin and the info about that ruin spread among the other Hunters, he had lost most of his reasons to go to that ruin. But even so, he thought it might be a good idea to at least check the terminal inside.
Since Sara also agreed, they decided to continue going deeper into that ruin.
The underground ruin that they were in was not that big. The whole area was illuminated by unknown light sources, but thanks to that, they were able to see clearly the interior of that place. There was also a staircase leading to the surface, but according to Elena's scan, the entrance was buried under rubbles. It was not very surprising since if that staircase did connect to the surface, someone else would have discovered that ruin before them.
There were traces of battles here and there, it could be inferred that the relics in that place were also left in a bad shape.
Elena finished scanning the area. She did find another hallway, presumably connecting to the other places in the underground city, but she could not see how far that hallway went. So she thought that it was a good place to finish the exploration for that day and decided not to go any deeper.
But then she suddenly stopped, her expression turned serious.
Sara, who noticed it, found it suspicious as she quickly readied her rifle and closely watched her surroundings.
"Somebody's there."
Akira put his guard up. But he did not feel any human presence and it was confirmed by his information-gathering device which did not detect any signal.
Elena noticed Akira's misunderstanding and explained it to him.
"It's fine, it's not like someone is hiding using a camouflaging sheet or something. I'm getting some kind of signal from behind that door, it might be from a Hunter who came here before us and somehow survived until now."
Elena was pointing at a door not too far from them. That door was bent in a horrible form, probably by some monsters as it did not seem like it could be easily opened.
As Akira and Sara turned to the direction of that door, a voice came out from a crack behind that door.
"Heeey!! Is someone there?!! Someone's there, right?!! Answer me!!"
The person behind that door was shouting in desperation for anyone he could find in that underground city.
After Akira, Sara and Elena looked at each other, they walked toward that door.
As the man behind that door caught a glimpse of the trio, he shouted in delight.
"Thank goodness!! I'm saved!! You guys are Hunters too, right? What happened to the monsters in the area?"
Elena answered his question as the representative of their team.
"We were running away from those monsters when we ended up here!! Please!! Help us!!"
"We? How many people are with you?"
"With me included, there are 5 people over here. The other 4 are also inside this room. Can you please open the door? It's all good that it was strong enough to withstand the monster, but now it's bent and we can't open it. Can you guys do something about it?"
There was a short silence before Elena turned to Sara and Akira.
"What to do? Should we help them?"
"What are you talking about? You shouldn't be hesitating here!? We're also Hunters, just like you, we should help each other when we're in trouble, right?!"
"I'm sorry but we have had experiences of meeting people like you in a similar situation but they ended up trying to kill us instead. So it's not like I can simply trust you guys. Not to mention that there are so many dead Hunters out here. It means that basically, you guys abandoned them just to save your own lives, right?"
"Basically, you'll understand if I use the same argument to leave you there, right? I have team members that I'm responsible for too."
"P-please have mercy."
"So then, what should we do?"
"Let's see, we can at least open the door for them, right? After that, well, let's have them escape from this place with their own power. There's no need for us to escort them all the way back to the city or to the surface."
"You're right, I guess we can do that much. Akira, are you okay with that?"
"Sure, but then, what should we do to open this door?"
When Akira said that, Sara smiled smugly and said.
"Let's kick it down."
Sara then stood in front of the door and said to the guy behind that door.
"It's gonna get dangerous, so get away from the door if you don't want to get crushed!!"
After she said that, Sara used the full power of her nanomachine augmented body to deliver a powerful blow to that door. The banging sound indicated just how much force her kick had delivered to that door as the door got bent even more. Sara then continued kicking that door, although it bent more and more, the door itself was still standing there.
"This door is pretty strong."
Akira came and stood next to Sara. She understood what he meant as she smiled at him.
That guy stared at Sara and Akira with his jaw dropped. Elena just stood on the other side while smiling bitterly at him.
Now that the door was down, all the Hunters trapped in were able to leave the room. All of them looked extremely tired but also relieved at the same time. Since they ran to that room to save their lives, they must have been psychically exhausted staying inside that room.
Sara then said to those Hunters.
"We're going back home now but don't tail us!! You guys should go back home on your own!!"
Elena then added.
"Or at least keep your distance that we deem to be acceptable. If you guys are too close, we'll see that as a hostile action."
The leader of those Hunters, Revin, fl.u.s.teredly turned to Elena and Sara and said.
"Wait for a sec!! Are you going to just leave us behind?!"
"Yep, that's what we just said, right?"
Elena showed no hesitation when she said that.
"I'm sorry but we're being utmost careful right now... Or is it like you want to fight us here?"
Elena's and Sara's smiles vanished. It was not like they were showing hostility toward Revin and his team, but instead, it meant that they were serious about what they said.
Revin looked at Sara and Elena while being overwhelmed by their pressure. In his eyes, both Sara and Elena were beautiful ladies, he figured that they might have gone through a lot of difficult situations thanks to their beauty which made them be extremely cautious against strangers.
He then turned to Akira, his eyes were pleading for help, but Akira then apologetically said to him.
"Uhh, I'm sorry but just recently I gave a ride to some Hunters who asked for my help and one of them tried to kill me. So I understand Elena-san's and Sara-san's decision."
"If I'm not mistaken, his name was Guyver. I heard that he had a huge debt, so he tried to kill me and the other Hunters to get his hands on more relics."
"We don't have any debt, okay!! You guys have no debt, right?!"
Revin shouted as he turned to his team, the other Hunters then nodded at him.
Revin placed both of his hands on his head, he was at loss on what to do. Akira, Elena and Sara refused to go together with them. At this rate, he and his team would really get left behind. There might be some monsters lurking around somewhere, and even if they were able to reach the surface, they still had to go back to the city. And with their current reserve ammo, their chance of survival was really low.
Revin then tried to negotiate with Elena.
"...Alright alright, let's do this instead. I'll send an SOS request to you. If you guys escort us back to the city, well, since there are 3 of you, we'll pay 3,000,000 Aurum for the reward. It's not a bad offer, right?"
If Revin sent an SOS request, then it would be an official request sent through the Hunter Office as the proxy. It carried more weight than just a simple promise.
Elena was also a Hunter, if it was a request then she might as well consider it. She then thought for a while and said.
"Well, that's not a bad offer."
Revin's expression relaxed for a bit as he felt that he finally got something that might help him salvage his situation. But Elena then said to him with a serious face.
"But it's a different story whether you can pay for it or not, right?"
"Of course we'll pay!! What is it now?! Do you have a bad experience of this thing too?!"
"The last time we received a similar SOS request, the requester gave us a hard time when we asked him to pay for the reward and the ammo expense. The request even mentioned that the ammo expense will be paid by the requester. Well, we did make him pay in the end though, but it was really a huge pain in the ass."
"By the way, that guy's name is Katsuragi"
"Alright alright!! Then how about this!! Old-world relics!! We'll give all the relics that we found inside the room. I don't know for sure if they can get you 3,000,000 Aurum, but it should be able to get you quite a lot of money. They're still in good shape after all. So how about that?"
If this did not work, Revin had nothing more that he could offer. That was why he looked really desperate.
Judging from Elena's intonation, she leaned more towards taking that offer compared to the previous offers. But it did not sound like she was looking forward to taking that offer either. It was more like she was okay either way.
Akira then asked Revin.
"Can you tell me what kind of relics you have?"
"They're mostly clothes. It's not like those clothes that you can use in place of Hunter armours, they're mostly normal clothes and some underclothing too. Well, I'm not sure myself if I can call them normal clothes though, like, you know, old-world clothing sometimes have a very weird design, right? What can I say... The culture is just so alien for us."
"I see... Well, since it seems that you have something to pay me with, I don't mind taking your offer."
After he said that, Akira turned to Sara. Elena smiled and looked at Sara too. Sara seemed a bit embarrassed as she returned a smile and said.
Elena was talking with Revin as to know how they ended up inside that room. It was in order to gather information about the area.
Revin understood what Elena was trying to do. For the Hunters, information about a ruin was something that they could sell for money, so normally he would not share the information that he had so easily. But since Elena was the leader of the team that eradicated the monster swarm that he and his team could not fight, he chose to avoid souring her mood if it was possible.
Since Elena might tell him to just skip the unimportant part of his story, he glanced at her to check her expression. But Elena seemed to be listening to him just fine, so he continued his story starting from how he got the information about that ruin.
There was a pub in the lower district that Revin frequented. That day, he and his team were enjoying cheap beers while talking about their plan in that pub just like usual.
In reality, it was not like they were talking about anything in particular. With the alcohol mixed in their blood, they were only talking about random stuff. The moment they veered from the main subject about where to go next, it was obvious that their discussion would not be productive.
At that time, a guy suddenly came to them offering the location of a ruin that was just discovered recently.
That kind of thing was a common story for fraud and scams. A lot of Hunters were fooled by similar occurrences. After all, if they got lucky, an unexplored ruin could turn them rich in a single night. It was understandable that such a talk would easily lure those Hunters.
Although Revin and his team hesitated at first, they decided to buy that information in the end. There were many reasons why they decided to do so. The information about the location of that ruin and the information about the inner part of that ruin were sold separately, but both of them were sold at a relatively cheap price. Their deal was that Revin would pay a portion of the price upfront, he then would go to that ruin to gather relics and then pay the rest later.
Compared to the information about the inner part of that ruin which cost quite a lot of money, the information about the location of that ruin was pretty cheap. Not to mention, he could go and verify the authenticity of that information before paying the rest of the money. So, even if that was a scam, it would not cost him much.
That guy, who sold the information, had given the same offer to the other Hunters too. Some of them accepted his deal, prepared themselves with enough equipment, and went to that ruin.
On their way to their destination, Revin and his team regained their logical faculties and started to doubt whether they got scammed. But when they arrived at the coordinates they had received, they did find a ruin that they never knew of until then. Revin then happily sent the remaining payment to that guy and waited for the rest of the information about the inner part of that ruin to be sent into this information terminal.
But at that time, that guy was busy making deals with the other Hunters and did not have the leeway to respond to Revin. As they were waiting for the information, more and more people arrived at that ruin. Now that many Hunters knew there was really an unexplored ruin in that place, they began spreading the information via their own channels.
e of those Hunters waited just outside the ruin like Revin and his team, but more and more Hunters started thinking about going ahead and searching the ruin.
Eventually, one of those Hunters just could not wait for the information about the inner part of the ruin and decided to dive in. Soon after that, more and more Hunters got swept by the flow and decided to go into the ruin without waiting.
Although no one knew for sure how big the ruin was, they guessed that it would not be as big as the Kuzusuhara ruin. So in short, the number of relics inside that ruin was limited. If they waited too long outside, the other Hunters might take out all the relics inside that ruin and leave nothing for the Hunters who came in late. All the Hunters in that place thought so too.
Revin was pushed by that line of thinking as they also decided to go into that ruin.
"There's a hallway right after the stairs leading down, right? Do you still remember how the hallway looked when you went down?"
"Well, it looked just like a normal hallway to me."
"Was it bright inside? Was there any trace of battles? Did you see any monster corpses?"
"Yeah, it was pretty bright, as for the traces... We were in a hurry so I didn't really pay much attention. As for the monster corpses... I think there were some in the hallway. We were running while avoiding those corpses, so I'm sure about that. I think those corpses are from the monsters killed by the Hunters that went in first before us. So as for the traces from battles, there should be some traces left from those fights."
It seemed that the state of that hallway had changed in a short span between when Revin's team went there and when Elena and her team arrived there.
After Elena said that, Revin thought for a bit before continuing his story.
"...Then after that, we looked around and ended up in that area. When we were collecting relics together with the other Hunters, suddenly a huge swarm flooded out from the hallway we came. We did try to fight back, but we were overwhelmed by the number and the strength of that swarm. It seemed like some strong monsters were mixed in that swarm as well. We basically had no chance of winning that battle. We then ran inside that room and locked the door. We just kept ourselves locked inside while hoping that the monsters would be gone. And we waited until you guys saved us. That's all."
"When you passed through that opening, there's another hallway other than the one leading to the underground city, right? Did you guys check that hallway?"
Revin was planning to feign ignorance, but when he saw the look in Elena's eyes, he immediately gave up.
"...Well, we did. There were no shops in that hallway, so we quickly returned back and went to the other one."
"What was it like inside that hallway? Do you have any data about the interior of that hallway? If you're going to explore an unexplored ruin, you at least do that much, right?"
"Please give me a break, the relics that we found inside that room are the most expensive things that we found, you know. And we're giving them to you. I'm planning to make up our loss today by selling the information about the interior of this ruin. If we don't do so, it'll definitely affect our Hunter activity in the future. And now you're telling me to just give it away for free?"
"In that case, you can sell it to us first. I'll give you 500,000 Aurum for the information."
"...Are you really going to pay for it?"
"That's if the relics that you gave us really worth more than 3,000,000 Aurum. If they don't, then I'll take that information for free as compensation."
"...Dammit, okay okay!!"
Revin did not have much choice as he gave Elena his general-purpose data storage. If he did not give it to her, she would doubt whether the relics that he gave were really worth enough for accepting his SOS request.
Elena docked that data storage into her information-gathering device and analyzed the data in it. When she was done, she was able to see topological data of the area that she did not check before, including the hallway that they did not go to.
"Sara, Akira, we need to hurry up and get out of this place."
After she said that, Elena increased her pace. Although they did not encounter any monsters the last time they passed through that hallway, she was moving even faster than she would in a safe place. Akira and Sara looked a bit surprised, but they quickly matched their paces with Elena's. Revin and his team pushed themselves to follow the trio's pace as well.
As Elena was walking so fast that she was close to running, Sara asked her.
"I have a bad feeling about this, so I want to get out of this place as soon as possible. I've analyzed the topological data that I received from Revin. According to that data, there's a station on the end of the other hallway. It's a station for those underground subways. Akira, do you understand what a subway is?"
Akira tried to remember what Alpha told him about the subway.
"...If I'm not mistaken, it's about those trains that run under the ground, right?"
"Yep, that's more or less correct. Because of the monsters, there are not that many subway stations in the eastern district, you can only find them in big cities. But it seems that it's common to find them in the federation of nations' central district. I heard that they use it to connect different nations in the central district. I wonder if that's true or not. But putting that aside, the subway runs through underground tunnels."
"I see. So then, what's so bad about the subway?"
"You remember that I said some of the strong monsters that we found in the underground city were mixed in that swarm, right? Then judging by the fact that this facility is still active, we can assume that the subway is still functional too."
Sara noticed what Elena was trying to say, her expression also immediately turned grim. She then tried to confirm her guess with Elena.
"...So in short, the train might have carried the monsters from the Kuzusuhara ruin all the way here, huh? Good grief, some of those monsters in that ruin can only be defeated using a tank, you know? It's rather strange since this place was so safe the first time we came here."
Sara sounded as if she was asking for Elena's confirmation.
"W-well, even if that's true. Those strong monsters are huge monsters, so it's not like they can pass through the narrow tunnel to come here, right? So even if some of those monsters came from the inner part of Kuzusuhara ruin, they're only the relatively weak monsters, right? Which in that case, we should have no problem to go against them, right?"
It was true that all the monsters that they encountered until now did not pose much danger for Elena and Sara. After hearing Sara's guess, Elena relaxed a bit.
"...You're right about that, I guess I was too worried."
Elena smiled, she then turned to Akira to apologize for making him worry.
But his expression was grimmer than before. Elena, who saw that wondered what was wrong.
"...Elena-san, can I ask you something?"
"There's this monster called greedy crocodile, right? It's a monster that evolves by eating other monsters, so like, are there greedy crocodiles inside Kuzusuhara ruin?"
"I'm just speaking hypothetically, alright? What if some of those greedy crocodiles were carried here when they were still small through the subway and they quickly evolved after eating all the dead monsters in this area, that's completely possible, right?"
Akira then looked at the traces left inside that hallway. Those traces indicated that something big and powerful had passed through that hallway.
"It's not like I'm being too cautious, but I think that it's the reason why although there are so many traces of battles in this place, we don't find any monster corpses. Now that I think about it, doesn't the trace grow bigger and bigger as it goes deeper into the ruin?"
Elena and Sara then looked at the traces left on the floor. It was as Akira said, the trace inside the ruin was bigger compared to the trace in the hallway. Elena then said.
"...You're right, that's definitely possible. As I thought, we should get out of this place as soon as we can. I don't want to meet that monster in case if it returns back to this ruin."
Sara and Elena agreed with each other.
"That's true, let's hurry up."
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