襲撃の跡を色濃く残す部屋の中にアキラとシェリル達がいる。アキラが敵を撃退したことで、シェリル達は一応落ち着きを取り戻していた。
シェリルが険しい表情で尋ねる。
「被害は?」
アリシアが
「......5人死んだわ。負傷者も多いの。エリオも助かるかどうかも分からないの」
「......そう。負傷者を急いで診療所に運んで。治療費について聞かれたら私とカツラギさんの名前を出して。話は通っているはずだから」
「......うん」
アキラは自分の負傷の治療をしながらシェリル達の話を聞いていた。手元の回復薬の箱を見て、アリシアに軽く声を掛けて、まだ中身がたっぷり残っている回復薬を投げる。
アリシアが受け取った回復薬を見て驚いている。この回復薬が1箱200万オーラムもすることを知っているからだ。シェリルの部下達の治療に使って良いという意味であることぐらいはアリシアにも分かるが、後で料金を請求されることを考えてしまえば、使用を
アキラが悲痛な表情で悩んでいるアリシアに話す。
「代金は割引してシェリルに付けておく。こんな状況だ。安くしておくよ」
シェリルが安心させるように
「使い切って良いから急ぎなさい。間に合わなくなるわ」
アリシアは一度アキラとシェリルを見た後、頭を下げて急いで部屋を出て行った。
シェリルがアキラに頭を下げて礼を言う。
「ありがとう御座います。これで助かる子も増えると思います。......その、代金は幾らぐらいにするべきでしょうか? 支払えるのがいつになるかは分かりませんが、必ず払います」
「......分かりました。今はアキラの厚意に甘えさせていただきます」
シェリルはアキラに再び深々と頭を下げた。
アキラが自分の治療を続ける。回復薬を飲み込んで、鎮痛作用が効いている間に折れた骨の位置を戻す。強化服を脱いで、強化服との摩擦で皮膚が剥がれていた部分にペースト状の回復薬を塗り込む。筋繊維が露出している箇所に塗り込むのは視覚だけでも痛みが伝わってきそうだったが、我慢して作業を進めていく。
慣れた手付きで自分に包帯を巻き終えてからもう一度強化服を着る。アキラは折れた腕の状態を確認するために少し腕を動かしていたが、そこで違和感を覚えて少しだけ
『それに関しては残念なお知らせがあるわ』
『......えっ? 俺の腕、そんなに
『モンスターに食われたり、ビルを駆け下りたり、被弾したり、セランタルビルで全力稼動させたり、いろいろあったからね。既に大分損傷していたのよ』
アキラがそれらの記憶を思い返す。確かにかなり手荒な扱いを続けていた。調子が悪くなるのも当然だ。少し不安になって尋ねる。
『アルファのサポートがなくなったわけじゃないんだよな?』
アキラは治療を済ませて、強化服を着て、銃も装備し直した。全く問題なくとは言えないが、それなりに戦える状態を取り戻して、意識もそれに切り替える。そして今まで待たせていた者達に顔を向ける。今まで放置していた襲撃者達の生き残りの4人だ。
襲撃者達は身に着けているものを全て剥がされた裸の状態で、両手足をシーツでしっかりと縛られていた。彼らは既に全員目を覚ましており、険しい表情でアキラを見ていた。
彼らは状況を理解した上で慌てず騒がず平静を保っていた。近くにはアキラに殺された4人の死体が転がっている。どれも
男達の1人が慎重な態度でアキラに尋ねる。
「大人しく話せば、俺達を助けてくれるのか?」
んだりせずに、普通に答える。
「少なくとも話さないやつは殺す。拷問する趣味はないから楽に殺してやる。死んでも話したくないなら、そのまま黙ってろ」
アキラの敵意も殺意も感じられない普通の口調、普通の態度が、話した内容が事実であると男達に分かり
「分かったよ。何を話せば良い?」
「そうだな。取りあえず、ここを襲った理由からだな」
アキラとシェリルは男達から今回の襲撃に関する情報を可能な限り引き出した。聞き出した襲撃の理由を要約すると、金が欲しかったので高く売れそうな遺物がありそうな警備の緩い店を襲った、というスラム街ではありふれた内容になった。いろいろな情報を基に相談した結果、最終的にシェリルの店を襲うことになったらしい。
その情報の中には、店の警備をしているハンターの話も含まれていた。店を警備しているハンターは、子供のスリに金を奪われた上に、スリの知り合いの子供に
分からないこともあった。シェリルの店に高値の遺物が有るという情報の出所や、その遺物を売りつける先の業者の話だ。生き残りの男達にその話をした男は、アキラが殺してしまっていた。
その男とはザルモだ。男達の話では、ザルモはいつの間にか男達の話に加わっていて、いろいろ情報を入手してきたり、遺物売却の伝を
この店には数億オーラムに相当する旧世界の遺物が有り、その遺物の価値を知らない店主が小物のハンターを警備に雇っている。男達の話では様々な情報を基に推測した結果最終的にそういう話になっていたらしい。
その話が事実なら、ザルモのような実力者がシェリルの店を襲撃しても不思議はないだろう。アキラはある意味納得した。
アキラとシェリルは彼らにその勘違いを説明したが、男達は当初それを信じなかった。その理由はシェリルの服装にあった。旧世界製の衣服を仕立て直した服を身に
男達は自分達が自分達の予想とは正反対の店を、警備の薄い大金のある店ではなく、警備の厳重な金の無い店を襲ったことを理解した。それを理解して落胆した彼らの様子は、アキラとシェリルが哀れみを覚えるには十分なものだった。
しかしアキラとシェリルが彼らに覚えた哀れみは、彼らがこの店を襲ったことを帳消しにするにはほど遠い。アキラが気を取り直して彼らに尋ねる。
「聞きたいことは終わりだ。それでこれからお前達をどうするかだが、好きな方を選んでくれ。金を払って解放される。この場で殺される。どっちにする? 後者の場合は楽に殺してやる。さっきも言ったけど、拷問する趣味はないからな」
男達が顔を見合わせる。男達の1人が代表してアキラに尋ねる。
「......幾ら払えば良いんだ?」
「こっちで決めて良いのか? それなら1人につき100億オーラムだ」
アキラの提示額を聞いた男達が絶句する。男の1人が焦りよりも怒りを表に出して答える。
「それなら幾らなら払うんだ? 言っておくが、そっちはこっちを殺す気で襲撃したんだ。こっちはそれを金で済ませようって言うんだ。納得できる額を提示できないなら、お前らを殺して
「アキラがそう言っているなら、私は止める気なんかありません」
「お、お前がここのボスじゃないのか!? そいつは警備に雇っているだけなんだろう!?」
「......そいつらを殺したやつは全員死んだだろう? 俺達じゃないはずだ」
金では納得しないことを知った上で、男達には納得できる額の提示など不可能だと理解した上で、和やかに笑顔で告げている。死んでしまえと。
男達は追い詰められていた。男の1人が顔色を
「だから、幾ら出すんだ?」
「......100万オーラム」
提示額を聞いたアキラは、黙ってシェリルを見る。シェリルは黙って首を横に振る。シェリルの代わりにアキラが答える。
アキラが再びシェリルを見る。シェリルが再び首を横に振る。シェリルはアキラが支払額を引き上げようとしていると判断しているので、首を縦に振るつもりは全くなかった。
「足りないってさ。それと、額を上げるのは構わないが、支払い方法とかも一緒に言ってくれ。1億オーラムを100年で100分割で100万オーラムずつ払うって言われても困る」
男達が黙り始める。支払い方法を含めて提示しろと言われると、口を開くのが非常に難しくなるからだ。
「その沈黙は、この場で殺される方に選択を変えるってことか? それとも金を支払うつもりはあるけれど、その方法を考え中で思いつかないだけか?」
「そうか。それなら少し待ってくれ」
アキラが情報端末を取り出して誰かに連絡を取り始める。
「......状況は分かった。そいつらに金が要るのも分かった。......何で俺がそいつらに金を貸さないといけないんだ?」
「別にカツラギが貸す必要はないだろう。カツラギならその手の金融業者とかに伝があったりしないのか?」
「まあ伝はあるが、俺がそいつらに金融業者を紹介したとして、それがどうして俺の
カツラギはかなり不満そうだ。アキラが気にせずに答える。
少し沈黙の後、カツラギが代金の総額、得られる利益、搾り取る方法、その他の関連事項の想定を済ませて、慎重な声で尋ねる。
「全額だ」
アキラの答えはカツラギを納得させるのに十分な内容だった。カツラギが上機嫌で答える。
く俺の店で装備を買う気になったか」
「いや、俺の装備じゃない。シェリル達の装備だ」
「シェリル達の?」
「そうだ。俺がいない時でも多少は自力で身を守れるようになってほしいからな。そのための装備だ。具体的に何を売るかは、後でシェリルと相談してくれ」
カツラギはできればアキラに装備を売りつけたかった。稼ぐハンターを顧客にすれば店の売り上げも跳ね上がる。1箱200万オーラムの回復薬を大量に購入するハンターの装備の調達元になれば大きな利益が見込める。何とかしてアキラを顧客にできないかと、カツラギは日々画策しているのだ。
だがこれも大きな商機には違いない。カツラギは当面の利益を優先することにする。
「まあ、俺のところの商品が売れるのなら、その程度のことは構わねえよ。今からそっちに行くから少し待ってろ。分かったな」
アキラが話を終わらせようとした時、話を聞いていた男の1人が慌てて口を挟む。
「金を払う意思はあるが金がないって言うから、その金の調達を手伝っただけだ。その金で支払え。返済はそっちで頑張ってくれ」
「俺達を売るのと同じじゃねえか! 借金持ちの末路ぐらい俺だって知っている! 冗談じゃねえ! それなら死んだ方がましだ!」
男が必死に叫んだ。多額の借金持ちの末路を、男はよく理解していたのだ。男の脳内に浮かんだその末路の光景が、男を必死に叫ばせていた。
銃声が響く。叫んでいた男が心臓を打ち抜かれて崩れ落ち、死亡した。
撃ったのはアキラだ。男の要望を
「......おいアキラ、今の音は何だ?」
「借金をするぐらいなら死んだ方がましだって言うから殺した。借金を無理強いさせる気はないからな」
「あと何人生きているんだ?」
「そいつらは殺すな。生きていた方が和解金が増える可能性が高いんだ。俺の利益が減るだろうが。説得はこっちでする。いいか、殺すなよ」
アキラはそう返事をして通話を切った。1人減り、3人となった生き残りの男達が、恐怖で
シェリルの拠点に来たカツラギ達が早速各種の作業を進めている。カツラギ達は結構大人数で拠点に来ていた。
カツラギとシェリルは2人でいろいろと話し合っている。和解金やその金で買う装備の納入の話、交戦で駄目になった遺物の扱い、負傷したシェリルの部下達の治療費など、話し合うことは山ほどあるのだ。
トメジマは襲撃者の生き残りの男達と借金の話をしている。カツラギが連れてきた債権業者はトメジマだった。トメジマはアキラを見てやや挙動不審になっていたが、アキラの反応が薄かったので
トメジマ達の部下達は、襲撃を受けて荒らされた拠点の様子を撮影したり、襲撃者達の死体を死体袋に収納したりと、いろいろなことをしている。
アキラは休憩しながらカツラギ達の作業の様子を見ている。そこにはコルベやレビンの姿もある。コルベはトメジマが、レビンはカツラギが連れてきたのだ。
レビンがアキラに惨殺された襲撃者を死体袋に詰めている。その作業の途中でちらっとアキラを見て、表情を険しくさせてコルベに話しかける。
「なあ、これってアキラがやったんだよな?」
レビンが指示通りに散らばった部品類を集めていく。ばらばらになった腕の部品や、飛び散った
「......しかし、ハンター並みに武装した8人を1人で撃退したって話だが、本当なのか?」
「......カツラギからの借金をちゃんと返さないと、俺はそんなやつから取り立てられるのか」
レビンは複雑な気持ちで死体袋を見ていた。カツラギは最悪の場合アキラに取り立てを頼むと言っていた。下手をすると、明日は我が身ということもあるのだ。
コルベが試しに提案してみる。
「何ならお前の借金を俺の方の業者に一本化するか? アキラからの取り立てはなくなると思うぞ?」
「......それもなぁ、カツラギの方は金利が付かないから、利息がどうこうとか考えずに済むんだよな」
「まあ、お前の借金だ。好きにしろよ」
レビンの借金完済は遠そうだ。コルベはレビンの様子を見て何となくそう思った。
アキラは暇そうに部屋の中を見ている。この状況で自分だけ帰るのもどうかと思って残っているのだが、正直に言えば家に帰ってゆっくり休みたかった。
『......やっぱり帰るのは
きにアルファが答える。
『私は別に帰っても良いと思うけれどね。実際に苦労したのはアキラだけなのだから、シェリル達に無理に付き合う必要はないと思うわ。戦って疲れたから休む。口実としては十分だと思うし、正式に依頼を受けて報酬を受け取っているわけでもないのに、誰かに文句を言われる筋合いはないわ』
以前のアキラなら、全く気にせずに黙って帰っていただろう。アキラも少しずつ変わり始めている。
先ほどもアキラは自分のものに出来る金をシェリル達の装備代に回してしまった。アキラがそれを一種の投資のような感覚で行ったのならば問題ない。しかし無償の善意の感覚で行ったのならば注意が必要だ。アルファはそう判断して、アキラに何げなく尋ねる。
『ねえアキラ。シェリル達の装備の代金だけど、シェリル達に貸したってことで良いのよね?』
『ん? まあ、そうだな』
『回収できる見込みはあるの? あると思ったから貸したの?』
『私としては、アキラが私の依頼を達成するためにも、アキラの実力を補うためにアキラの装備の充実を優先してほしいと思っているわ。無理にとは言わないけれどね』
『そうは言っても、俺はカツラギから装備を買う気にはなれないし、ああいう条件を付けないとカツラギも協力しようとはしないだろう。俺の装備はシズカさんから4億オーラム払って買うんだ。装備の方はそっちで良いだろう。まあ、良いじゃないか。俺もずっとシェリルを護衛するわけにはいかないし、そっちの面も含めて、ちょっとした投資だと思えば。運が良ければ返ってくるさ。俺の運は
Sheryl, Akira, and some of Sheryl's gang members gathered inside a room in the gang's base, there were leftovers of battles scattered all around the places inside the room. After Akira killed the attackers, the gang finally calmed down.
Sheryl had a grave expression as she asked a question to her men.
"How are the casualties?"
Alicia also had the same grave expression.
"...5 people dead, many are injured. I'm not even sure whether Erio can be saved or not."
"...I see. Take the wounded to the clinic. If they ask you about the payment, just bring out mine and Katsuragi's name, they should give you decent care after that."
"...Okay."
Akira was taking care of his own wounds while he overheard Sheryl's conversation. He checked his medicine reserve and called Alicia. He then lightly threw a box of medicine that was still pretty much full.
Alicia looked at the medicine box in her hand and was surprised, she knew that it was one of those 2,000,000 Aurum per box medicine. She also knew that Akira was telling her to use that for Sheryl's men, but when she thought about how much it cost, she could not help but hesitate.
Akira thought for a bit while making a rather sad face before saying to Alicia.
"I'll just put it on Sheryl's tab. No one could have seen this coming, so don't worry, I'll give a big discount."
Sheryl smiled at Alicia as if to calm her down and said.
"It's okay to use everything, so hurry up, before it's too late."
Alicia looked at Akira and Sheryl and lightly bowed, then rushed out of the room.
Sheryl then bowed to Akira and thanked him.
"Thank you very much. It should be able to save a lot of souls... So, uhmm, how much is it? Although I'm not sure when I can pay it, I will definitely pay for it eventually."
"...I understand. I'll take up on your generous offer then."
Sheryl bowed deeply one more time to Akira.
Akira then continued tending on his wound. He swallowed several pills of medicine and straightened up his broken bone while the pain killer was still active. He then took off his augmented suit and applied the paste-type medicine on his skin that got peeled off due to the friction with his augmented suit. Although the pain killer was still active, he could feel pain when he was applying the paste on his exposed flesh, but he just gritted his teeth and continued tending his wounds.
He seemed to be already so used to it as he covered his wound with bandages before putting his augmented suit back on. Akira then lightly moved his arm to check his broken arm, but he felt something was not right.
"I have bad news regarding that subject."
"Eh...? Is there something wrong with my arm? I knew that it would be bad so I took a rather large amount of medicine though, wasn't it good enough?"
"Well, you got eaten by a monster, ran down a building's wall, got shot, used its full power back in Seranthal building, and so many other things. It's in a pretty rough shape right now."
Akira thought and remembered everything that had happened. It was true that he had been using his augmented suit pretty crudely, so there was no surprise that it finally broke. He then asked Alpha.
"It's not like I lost your support, right?"
Akira finished tending his wounds, put back his augmented suit, and took his rifles back to his shoulder. Although he was still not in his tip-top shape, he was ready to fight again, as a matter of fact, he had returned to his usual state of mind where he was ready to fight anytime. So now he shifted his focus to the men that he had been ignoring until now, the attackers that he had knocked unconscious before.
They were stripped naked off all of their equipment and their hands were tied tightly with the anti-bullet sheet, all of them were already awake and they were looking at Akira with a grim face.
They already understood the situation that they were in, but they did not panic and they looked completely calm. Not too far from them, there were 4 corpses of their friends lying, killed by Akira. Those were kept there to scare the attackers that Akira spared. They thought that Akira might see some worth in sparing them since he did not kill them yet. As they thought so they believed that they had a chance for negotiation.
One of the attackers cautiously spoke to Akira.
"If we tell you everything, will you spare us?"
Akira replied casually, there was no intimidation in his voice.
"One thing for sure, I'll kill you if you don't. But don't worry, I don't like torturing people, so I'll give you a swift death. After all, if you won't tell me anything even if you're dead, then you're better off dead."
There was no killing intent or a sense of threat from his voice, but the attackers understood very well that Akira was being serious.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"Right, for the starter, why did you attack this place?"
Akira and Sheryl tried to extract as much information as possible regarding the current incident. To put it simply, the reason why the attackers attacked Sheryl's base was because they were in need of money. So they decided to attack a shop that seemed to have expensive goods but weak security, that kind of reasoning was common in the slum city. So after gathering information, they ended up choosing Sheryl's base to rob.
Among the information that they gathered, it included the information about the Hunter that was protecting Sheryl's base. It particularly said that the Hunter protecting Sheryl's base was a weak Hunter who got his wallet stolen, and when the pickpocket's friend scared him, that Hunter pulled back and ran away. It must have been the information that those men received from the same information broker who gave the same information to some pickpocket that Akira had been encountering lately.
There was still one thing that Akira and Sheryl could not understand, it was how they knew that there were expensive articles in Sheryl's shop and who bought that article. Unfortunately, the one who told them that was already dead, to be more precise, Akira killed that guy.
That person was Zalmo. According to them, Zalmo joined their group before they knew it and he brought all kinds of information to the group, he was also the one who prepared the fencer to sell the relics that they would rob. Among the attackers that Akira spared, it seemed that none of them knew Zalmo well.
According to those men, after gathering all kinds of information, they concluded that there was a few million Aurum worth of articles in Sheryl's shop, and the owner of that shop did not know that and the shop was guarded by a weak Hunter.
If that was true, it was only to be expected for strong people like Zalmo to try to rob that place. Akira could understand that reasoning.
Akira and Sheryl explained to them that they were mistaken, but they could not believe that because of Sheryl's dress. Sheryl dress was an expensive old-world relic that even got refitted, it was enough as proof to cement those men's misunderstanding. It made them think that Sheryl must be earning a lot of profit enough to get her that dress.
Those men finally understood that that the truth was the exact opposite of what they were expecting. Rather than a rich shop with a weak guard, it was a cheap shop with a strong guard. They hung their head low the moment they realized that. Seeing them acting like that, Akira and Sheryl looked exasperatedly at them.
Although Akira and Sheryl felt sorry for them, it did not change the fact that they attacked the shop. Akira then changed the mood and asked those men a question.
"That's all I have to ask. So then, regarding what we are going to do with you next, you can either pay us money or die, which one you want to pick? If you'd rather die, don't worry, I'll give you a quick death. As I said, I have no plans to torture any of you."
Those men looked at each other, one of them then scaredly asked Akira.
"...How much should we pay?"
"Oh, you're going to let us decide? Well, how about 10 billion Aurum each?"
The moment Akira said that, those men were dumbfounded. One of them flared up and shouted at Akira.
"Then how much can you pay us? Just to remind you, you guys did shoot at me fully intending to kill me so I'm being nice to you to let you off the hook only with that much money. If you can't give me a good offer, I'll just kill you here and that will be the end of it."
"If Akira decides so, I have no wish to stop him."
"Y-You're the boss in this gang, right? He's just your guard, isn't it?!"
"...But the guy who killed your men is already dead over there, isn't it? We didn't kill any of your men."
Sheryl told them to die with a smile on her face. She knew that Akira would not be satisfied with a small amount of money and she knew well that those men could not pay the amount of money that Akira demanded of them, that was why she told them to die.
Those men had run out of moves that they could make, one of them then said with a pale face.
"I know, so, how much are you going to pay?"
"...1,000,000 Aurum."
After hearing that, Akira looked at Sheryl without saying anything, Sheryl reacted by shaking her head. So Akira replied to that man in place of her.
Akira looked at Sheryl again, and she shook her head again. Sheryl thought that Akira was trying to bring that price as high as possible, so she had no plans to nod.
"Still not good enough. And also, I don't mind if you want to keep increasing your offer, but also tell me how you are going to pay for it. After all, it's not like we can accept it if you're planning to pay 10 million Aurum in a 100 years instalment, right?"
Those men immediately closed their mouths. If Akira demanded them to also tell him how they would pay for it, it really limited their options.
"Well, if you won't say anything, I'll assume that you chose death, okay? Or is it that you want to pay but you're still thinking of how to pay it?"
"I see, in that case, wait for a bit."
Akira opened his information terminal and made a call.
"...I see, I understand what's going on, so basically those people need money, right? But why do I have to lend them money?"
"It's not like there's any need for you to lend them money, you do have some connections with some companies that handle this kind of thing, right?"
"Well, I do, but even if I introduce them to those companies, I don't see how that can give me any profit. Are you telling me to get the referral bonus? My skill is in trading and not lending money, I specialize in trading Hunter equipment, so this has nothing to do with my skill, right?"
Katsuragi sounded a bit annoyed, but Akira casually replied.
After a short pause, Katsuragi had thought of all kinds of ways to get profit out of that transaction. So then he carefully asked.
"Yeah, all of it."
Akira's answer was enough to convince Katsuragi, who replied back happily.
"If that's the case, then this might be an interesting offer, it's indeed a profitable subject related to my skill as a merchant. Alright then, I'll handle the rest. So, what kind of equipment are you looking for? After all, I need to make sure what equipment you are going to buy from me. But still, you are finally interested in buying my goods, huh."
"No, it's not for me. It's for Sheryl and her gang."
"Sheryl's gang?"
"Yeah. They need extra equipment, I want them to at least be able to defend themselves when I'm not around. As for the details, you can discuss it with Sheryl later."
To be honest, Katsuragi wanted Akira to buy his stuff. A Hunter like Akira who was earning a healthy amount of money would definitely contribute greatly to the shop's revenue. Judging by the fact that Akira bought a dozen of 2,000,000 Aurum per box medicines only for his consumable item, it was to be expected for Akira to pay way more for his equipment. Katsuragi squeezed his brain every day to somehow find a way to make Akira his patron.
But it did not change the fact that this deal would be big, so Katsuragi decided to prioritize the profit in front of him right now.
"Well, if it means that they'll buy some of my goods, then I guess that's fine too. I'll head there now, so wait for a bit, okay?"
Akira was about to close the call when one of the attackers who heard that conversation immediately spoke up.
"You did say that you want to pay but you don't know how to pay, so I'm just helping you here. You just pay me with that money then do your best to settle your debt with them."
"Isn't that the same as selling us?! Even I know how those Hunters who get caught in their debts end up!! Like hell I would accept that! I would rather choose death than take on that kind of debt!!"
That man was shouting on top of his lungs. He knew well about the end that was waiting for Hunters who had a huge amount of debt. When he imagined that end, he could not help but shout desperately.
A gunshot echoed in the room. That man, who was shouting just now, fell limp on the ground and stopped moving.
Akira shot that man, granting him his wish.
"...Whoah, Akira, what was that?"
"He said that he would rather die than take on debt so I killed him. I have no plans to force them to take that debt after all."
"How many left?"
"Don't kill them. It's more profitable to keep them alive. Killing them will only cut my profit you know. Good grief... I'll convince them myself, so don't kill them, alright?"
Akira then closed the call. One down, 3 were still alive, and those three were looking at Akira while trembling in terror.
When Katsuragi arrived at Sheryl's base, he quickly got on with his work. He came there bringing quite a lot of people.
Katsuragi was talking with Sheryl. They had a lot to talk about, the peace money, the equipment that Sheryl would buy with that money, the relics that got destroyed from the fight, the treatment for Sheryl's men that were wounded, and still a lot more.
While on the other hand, Tomejima was talking with the attackers who were still alive about the loan. Tomejima was the guy from the moneylender company that Katsuragi brought. He felt a bit awkward when he saw Akira, but since Akira did not seem to mind him, Tomejima sighed in relief.
The people that Tomejima brought with him were taking photos of the traces from the battle and were cleaning up the dead bodies.
Akira was taking a break while looking at the people working in that room. That was when Colbert and Levin showed up. Colbert came there with Tomejima while Levin came with Katsuragi.
Levin was putting the dead bodies in the body bags when he glanced at Akira, he then frowned and said to Colbert.
"Akira did all of this, right?"
Levin started gathering the pieces just like he was told to. He picked up pieces of a destroyed arm, chips that were still enveloped in brain juice, and other pieces that he could find and shoved them inside the body bag. He then suddenly voiced out his impression of the person who caused the scene in front of him.
"...But still, it's 8 armed Hunters against 1, you know. So is it really true that he did this all by himself?"
"...If I can't pay back my debt to Katsuragi, the very person who caused this will come to me to collect that debt, huh?"
Levin looked at the dead bodies inside the body bags with a conflicted face. Katsuragi said that in the worst-case scenario he would ask Akira to collect that debt. If he got unlucky, that might be as soon as tomorrow.
Colbert then made a suggestion to Levin.
"In that case, how about shifting all of that debt to the company that I'm working for? That way at least Akira would not come to collect your debt, you know?"
"...About that though, one good thing about Katsuragi is that he doesn't put any interest. So I have no need to worry about the interest, you see."
"Well, it's your debt, so it's up to you."
Watching Levin, Colbert thought that it would still take some time until Levin paid all of his debt.
Akira was only waiting there, inside that room, he looked bored. He thought that it would not be right to head back home alone, so he decided to stay there. Although, to be honest, he wanted to just go back home and get a good rest. He then mumbled.
"...It's not a good idea to head back home in this situation, isn't it?"
Alpha replied to him.
"Personally speaking, I think it's alright to go back home. After all, among all of them, you're the one who must be the most tired. There's no need to stay here just to accompany them. I'm sure it's alright if you tell them that you're tired after that fight. After all, it's not like it's a formal request where you got properly paid anyway, so I don't see any reason why any of them would complain."
If it was the previous Akira, he would silently and apathetically head back home. But the present Akira was slowly but surely starting to change.
Even just now, Akira was giving the money that he could have to Sheryl's men for buying equipment. It was okay if he did that as an investment, but if he did that without expecting anything back, then there was a need for Alpha to warn him. So she casually asked him.
"Say Akira. About the money that you're paying for the gang's equipment, is it okay if I think of it as debt?"
"Hm? Yeah, sure."
"Do you think that you can get some profit from lending that amount of money? Is that why you lent them money?"
"To be honest, if you ask for my opinion, I would rather have you prioritize your equipment for the sake of finishing my request as well as to compensate for your skill. But I have no plans to force you."
"Even if you say so, I actually don't want to buy any equipment from Katsuragi. I only did that since I know that he would not help me unless I did that. I already spent 4 hundred million Aurum on equipment in Shizuka's shop, that should be good enough for now. Well, it should be fine, it's not like I can stay here forever to guard this place anyway, so just think of it as a small amount of money that I need to pay to take care of that problem. Don't worry, I will get something back from it if we're lucky. Well, putting my luck aside, Sheryl's luck at least doesn't seem bad. So I guess it should be okay to expect something good from it, right?"
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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