アキラは都市まで無事に戻ると、すぐにハンターオフィスの買取所に向かった。そして前回と同じように買取窓口の列に並ぶ。担当の職員は前と同じノジマという男だった。
ノジマはアキラのことを覚えていた。だがすぐには気付かずに、別の誰かとして対応しようとする。
「ハンター証があるなら出せ......ってお前か」
ノジマはアキラの変わりように少し驚いた。前に見た時は
くは死なずにここへ通えるだろう。ノジマはそう考えて軽く笑うと、気を取り直して買取品を確認する。
「今回の品は......、微妙だな。前回はただのラッキーか?」
にも命懸けで持ち帰った品にケチを付けられて、アキラが不服そうに顔を歪める。
「微妙で悪かったな。これでも一応遺跡から持ち帰った旧世界の遺物なんだ。前回分の代金を
な顔をノジマに向ける。するとノジマは楽しげに笑った。
「すぐに分かる」
ノジマは前回と同じように買取品をトレーごと後ろの棚に置くと、手元の端末を操作した。すると
「前回の買取品の査定済みの分と、今回の前払分、計20万オーラムだ」
アキラはその支払額を聞いて意識を一瞬飛ばしかけた。その後、ゆっくりと封筒を手に取る。そして中身の紙幣を摘まんで取り出し、視覚と感触で実在を実感すると、半ば
い、どこかぎこちない動きで買取所から出て行く。駆け出しハンターからスラム街の子供に若干戻ったアキラの後ろ姿を見て、ノジマは苦笑を浮かべていた。
アキラは買取所を出てからも動揺が抜けていなかった。一向に落ち着く気配が無い。その様子を見て、アルファが落ち着いた口調で声を掛ける。
『アキラ。落ち着きなさい。その程度の
金!? 何を言ってるんだ!? 20万オーラムだぞ!? 大金だ!」
アルファがアキラをじっと見詰めながら少し強い口調で断言する。
「そ、そう言われても......」
『それと、今のアキラは虚空に話し掛ける不審者になっているわ。気を付けなさい』
アキラは慌てて口を閉じた。今の自分は大金を手に入れた
「そ、そうだな。分かった」
アキラは小声で答える程度の冷静さは取り戻したものの、まだ大分落ち着かない様子でいつもの寝床に向かおうとした。だがアルファに真面目な顔で止められる。
「えっ? 寝床はこっちだぞ?」
『違うわ。ちゃんと宿に泊まるの。お金ならあるでしょう?』
『ありがとう。それでは、宿に行きましょうか。私が選ぶけれど、良いかしら?』
「ああ、任せる」
アルファが笑ってアキラを先導する。宿代は幾らになるのだろうかと、アキラは消すに消せない不安を覚えながら後に付いていった。
ハンター向けの宿は当然ながら銃器等の持ち込みを許可している。対モンスター用の武装は強力なものばかりであり、それらを使用して騒ぎを起こせば宿にも宿泊客にも甚大な被害が出るので、客は行儀の良い行動を求められる。それを守る限りは来る者拒まずが基本だ。
『いろいろ思うところはあるのでしょうけれど、まずはお風呂にでも入ってゆっくり休んだらどう?』
「......風呂? 風呂か! 入る!」
風呂という言葉を聞いた途端、アキラは急に態度を変えて喜びを
げると、既に意識が大分湯に溶け出している頭で考えた。そして途切れ途切れに答える。
「......? ......確か、......コンピュータグラフィックスとかいうやつで、......作りもの......何だっけ?」
『あっているわ。確かにそれであっているけれど、そういう話ではないわ。今の私の姿に対する思いとか、造形に対する感想とか、率直に思ったこととか、何かこう、あるでしょう?』
アキラが再度首を
『確かにそういう話を、私の体に対する評価とか、好みとか、興味とか、そういうことを聞きたかったのだけれど......、今はどうでも良さそうね』
年頃の少年が視覚だけとはいえ全裸の美女と一緒に入浴しているにも
アキラの意識が湯船に溶けきって深い眠りに誘われる前に、アルファが苦笑しながら注意する。
「......こんなところで、......死んで
『お風呂から上がって、ちゃんと体を拭いて、服を着て、ベッドで寝なさい』
アキラがふらつきながら立ち上がり、ゆっくりと浴槽から出る。そのまま風呂場を出て、体を拭き、備え付けの部屋着を着て、ベッドに倒れこんだ。するとすぐに耐えきれない睡魔に襲われる。
『おやすみなさい』
『おはよう。アキラ。よく眠れたようね』
「......おはよう。アルファ。......? 待て! ここどこだ!?」
声を掛けられて意識がもう少し目覚めた途端、アキラは見知らぬ場所にいる驚きに飛び起きた。そして慌てて周囲を見渡した。路地裏ならば致命的な挙動の遅れだ。既に死んでいても不思議は無く、その分だけ慌てようも
えず、朝食にしたら? 今日は配給所に行く必要はないわよ。ゆっくり出来るわね』
中身の食料品は宿代に含まれている。残しても返金など無い。並ばずとも手に入る食事に、アキラは少し上機嫌で朝食の準備を始めた。
(2万オーラムも払った
そのアキラの内心を読んだかのように、アルファが得意げに笑いかけてくる。
『ちゃんと宿に泊まって良かったでしょう?』
わせたが、これといった反論など思い浮かばず、感謝しているのも確かなので、アキラは逆に開き直ったような態度でしっかりと答えた。アルファが満足げに笑って話を続ける。
『食事の間に今後の予定を話すわね。基本的に週1で遺跡探索、残りは全て訓練と勉強に割り当てるわ。もっと遺物収集の機会を増やして稼ぎたいとか思ったとしても、そこは文句を言わないでね』
「その辺のことはアルファを信じるって決めたからな」
信じる。アキラは深く考えずにその言葉を口にした。だがそれはアルファには重要な意味を持つ言葉だった。
『そう。食べ終わったら、早速始めるわ。ゆっくり食べなさい』
いて食事を続ける。アルファはアキラをじっと見続けていた。
食事後、アルファがアキラの前で真剣な表情を浮かべた。
『アキラ。今からとても大事なことを話すから、真剣に聞いてね』
アキラも真剣な表情で
しいですか? これにはレベル5個人情報の承諾無しでの取得及び活用が含まれます。説明内容に対する補足情報の取得は任意です』
アキラはアルファの様子と話の内容の両方に戸惑っていた。
「つまり......どういうこと?」
『口頭説明による規則内容、及び個別概要の把握に要する推定時間は約120年になります。詳細内容認識までに要する時間は現状算出不可能です。優先提示項目の優先順位決定方法は条例認識算出手法A887による偏向回避法により規定されています。該当項目の口頭説明による規則内容、及び個別概要の把握に要する推定時間は......』
「......えっと、意味がよく分からないんだけど、はい、って言っておけば良いのか?」
『概要に反しない詳細項目に対し、全て同意したものと
アキラは説明の内容を全く理解できなかった。それでも何とか理解しようと、軽く混乱しながら途中で口を挟んで質問を繰り返す。だがアルファは事務的な態度を変えずに、より長く難解な説明を返してくる。その結果、アキラは説明の理解を諦めてしまった。
内容は分からないが、アルファは自分に何らかの許可を求めている。アルファの指示に逆らうと、死ぬ危険性が飛躍的に増す。アルファを信じて信頼を積み重ねると決めている。それらの判断、経験、決意から、アキラは悩んだ末に結論を出すと、真面目な表情を浮かべた。
『ありがとう。大丈夫。悪いようにはしないから安心して』
アキラはアルファの様子が戻ったことに
「初めからそう言えば良かったんじゃないか?」
『いろいろ面倒なことがあって、そう話す
「な、何で急にそんなことを聞くんだ?」
『昨日アキラに私の裸の感想を尋ねたら、胸が大きいって答えたからよ』
「......そんなこと、言ったっけ?」
『言ったわ。聞かれたことを答えただけ。そんな感じだったけれどね。でもあれだけ
「......いや、無理なんだろ?」
『今はね。ただアキラが望むなら、私の指定する遺跡の攻略後なら可能よ。どう? 興味が湧いた? 触ってみたい?』
「遺跡を攻略すると何で触れるようになるんだ?」
「そういうのは、俺がもっと大きくなってからやってくれ。大きくなったら、たっぷり見るしたっぷり触るよ。それで良いか?」
『そうね。アキラとは長い付き合いになる予定だから、その時はたっぷり楽しんでちょうだいね』
アルファは自信満々な態度で答えた。それで場に区切りが付き、アキラもそれ以上深くは気にしなかったので、先ほどの事務的な
『まず、アキラには念話を覚えてもらうわ』
「念話?」
「そう言われてもな。具体的に、どうすれば良いんだ?」
『具体的な方法を口頭で説明するのは難しいのよ。個人差も大きいしね。耳で聞き、口で話すのではなく、脳で聞き、脳で話す。その感覚を自分で
そして1時間ほど経過した頃、契機が生まれた。右を向けと必死に呼び掛け続けていたアキラの前で、アルファが右を向いたのだ。アキラが驚き、アルファが笑う。
『そうそう。そういう感じよ。続けましょう』
アキラは無意識に念話で返事をしたことにも気付かずに、そのまま訓練を続けた。一度成功した後は再現も比較的容易になっていた。念話を繰り返してその精度を上げていく。
『なかなか良くなってきているわね。アキラも私の声を念話としてしっかり聞き取れるようになっているわ。これでどんな
『ああ、なるほど。それは確かに便利だな』
『そうでしょう? これも戦闘訓練の一環なのよ』
『でもこれ、宿に泊まらずに外でやっても良かったんじゃないか?』
『失敗ね。服のイメージがちゃんと伝わってきていないわ。それとも、私の裸を見たかったの?』
「ち、違う! 早く何か着てくれ!」
『駄目。これも訓練よ。私に服を着てほしいのなら、ちゃんとしたイメージを送れるように頑張りなさい』
アキラが慌ててイメージの再送を試みる。アルファの裸体が再びあやふやな服らしきものに覆われる。だが慌てた分だけ精度が落ちており、すぐに全裸に戻った。
アキラの試行錯誤は続く。アルファは得体の知れない何かを身に
After arriving back to the city safely, Akira went straight to the Exchange Centre and lined up in front of one of the counters. And just like the last time, that Nojima guy was the one standing behind the counter.
Nojima remembered Akira vividly. But he did not immediately respond to Akira, instead, he acted as if Akira was just another stranger to him.
"Give me your hunter ID if you have one... Wait, it's you, huh?"
Nojima was rather surprised at how much Akira had changed. The last time he met Akira, he thought that Akira was just another little brat from the slum. But Akira looked so much different now. He actually resembled a Hunter with the equipment that he scavenged from Kahimo and Hayya. But that was not all, the biggest difference was the faint aura that he was giving off, it was an aura of someone who had gone through the baptism of the wasteland.
Looking at him, Nojima laughed a bit as he thought that Akira would not die anytime soon. Then he recomposed himself and started moving into his order of business.
"So, what do you have this time... That's weird, was that one you brought before due to pure luck alone?"
Although it did not look expensive whatsoever, it was an item that he brought back after putting his own life on the line. Thus, Akira was a little bit annoyed when Nojima badmouthed the item that he brought.
"Well, I'm sorry that it looks awful. But even so, it is a relic of the old world that I brought back from the ruin. I should be able to get the rest of the money from the previous relic with this item... And also, what do you mean by pure luck?"
Akira made a twisted face, which, Nojima just laughed lightly.
"You'll know soon."
Nojima took the same tray that Akira used before from the back shelf and used his other hand to operate the terminal. After that, banknotes came out from the machine beside it. Nojima took that money and put it inside an envelope before extending it to Akira while laughing.
"We finished checking the relic that you brought before. For this time, your total payment is 200,000 Aurum."
Akira's mind went blank for a sec when he heard that number. He then slowly reached for the envelope and took out the money. After touching and seeing the real thing in front of him, he was dumbfounded. For him, who fought to the death for mere 300 Aurum yesterday, this 200,000 Aurum was simply unbelievable.
As Akira regained his composure, he immediately put that envelope into his chest pocket in panic and awkwardly left the Exchange Centre. Looking at how Akira changed back from a newbie hunter to a small boy from the slum, Nojima let out a bitter laugh.
Even after leaving the Exchange Centre, Akira kept moving awkwardly, he just could not calm down. Seeing that, Alpha talked to him with a soothing voice.
"Akira, calm down. If you let yourself shaken by just this much money, it'll only get worse in the future, you know?"
"Hah! Just this much money, you say!? What the heck are you talking about!? It's 200,000 Aurum, you know!? It's a huge amount of money for me."
Alpha locked her stare at Akira as she said to him with a strong tone.
"W-well, even if you tell me so..."
"Moreover, you look like a retarded kid talking to himself now, so be more careful."
Akira closed his mouth in panic. Because of the huge amount of money that he just got, Akira could become an easy and delicious target. Moreover, he was sticking out like a sore thumb since he was behaving awkwardly.
"Y-you're right. I understand."
Akira was calm enough to answer Alpha with a whisper. But he was still looking rather restless on his way to his sleeping place. But then Alpha suddenly stopped him with a serious face.
"Eh? But my sleeping place is over there."
"Nope, you're going to sleep in an inn today. You have the money for that now, right?"
"Thank you, so then, shall we go to the inn now? By the way, is it really okay if I pick the inn for you to stay?"
"Yeah, I'll leave it to you."
Alpha giggled as she walked in front of Akira to guide him. As he was following Alpha from behind, he could not help but to worry just how much money he would need to spend for the inn.
It was normal for inns to let their customers bring their weapons. But since they would bring strong and destructive weapons, it would cause death victims and huge damage to the inn if they used those weapons to cause a ruckus. As such, all the customers were expected to behave nicely. It was a basic rule that all the customers should adhere to. Now then, even if you cause someone's death or some kind of loss to the inn, you would still be considered as a well-behaved customer if you properly pay the inn enough compensation. But since Alpha picked a cheap inn near the slum city, the rule was not very strict here. The inn would gladly accept an armed kid from the slum as long as that kid paid them. Thus, Akira was able to make a reservation without any problems.
sure there are a lot of things in your mind right now, but how about you relax and take a bath for now?"
"...Bath? A bath?! Yeah, I'm going to take a bath now."
Akira immediately beaming with happiness the moment he heard the word bath.
Akira looked rather puzzled as he slanted his head. He tried to use his brain, but most of his consciousness had already been melted into the hot water, so he could only answer back in fragmented words.
"...? ...Well... You did say... Something about... Computer graphics or something... So like... That's fake... Right?"
"Yep, you're correct. But that is not the main point here. It's more like, do you have a comment, or impression or something after seeing my beautiful body?"
Akira slanted his head again while looking puzzled. After trying to rack his now-shutdown brain, he finally opened his mouth.
"Well, it's indeed true. But I was asking for your opinion about my body, or like your preferences and type. But... Your answer just now feels rather bland."
Although he was just a small boy, it did not change the fact that he was in a bath together with a beautiful girl. But Akira's reaction there was really weak. It was as if he had no interest in her well-endowed chest, or her glossy skin, or her soft and smooth back. But for Akira who already let the hot water take over him, his eyes were saying that he had no interest at all in Alpha's n.a.k.e.d body.
Before the hot water lulled Akira to sleep, Alpha gave him a warning while giggling.
"...Like hell... I would let...Myself die here... What... Should I do?"
"Get up from the bath, wipe your body dry, go to your bed and sleep."
Akira got himself up while wobbling from side to side and slowly dragged himself out of the bathtub. Then he wiped off his body, changed to a pyjama and dove onto his bed. He was then immediately assaulted by heavy sleepiness.
"Goodnight."
"Good morning, Akira. Did you sleep well?"
"...Good morning, Alpha...? Wait?! Where am I!?"
As Alpha spoke to him, his consciousness returned back, but then Akira immediately jumped in surprise as he found himself waking up in an unknown place. He then looked around him in panic. If he was in the back alley and not wary of his surroundings, then it would be a fatal mistake and he would be dead by now. His face turned really pale as he was panicking.
"For now, how about you get something for breakfast? You don't need to go to the food distribution place today, so you can take it easy."
The food was included in the rent and there would not be any refund if he didn't consume the food. With a happy mood, Akira started preparing his breakfast with the food that he usually would not be able to eat.
[As expected of the 200,000 Aurum that I got yesterday]
Alpha smiled meaningfully to Akira as if she knew what was Akira thinking.
"Aren't you glad that you were able to spend a night in such an inn?"
The cynical side inside Akira was feeling ticklish as he answered so honestly, but he just could not come up with an argument to refute it. He did feel thankful for it, that was why he fixed his behaviour toward Alpha and decided to answer her properly. Alpha laughed satisfiedly and continued their conversation.
"I'll tell you my plan for the future as you eat. First of all, we'll go to the ruins looking for relic only once per week. We will spend the rest of the week training and studying. You're not allowed to complain even if you want to spend more time looking for more relics, okay?"
"Well, after all, I've decided to trust you."
'Trust', Akira uttered that word so lightly. But for Alpha, that word was really important.
"I see. Once you're done, we'll start right away. So just enjoy your food for now"
Akira nodded lightly and continued his meal while Alpha kept staring at him.
Once Akira finished his meal, Alpha floated in front of him and made a serious face.
"Akira, I'll tell you something really important. So listen closely, okay?"
Akira nodded with a serious look. The last time he had seen such a serious face from Alpha was when he was in danger of getting killed. Akira remembered the nervousness that he had from back then and his face naturally turned stiff.
"This unit will proceed to give high-level support to the subject Akira. Warning! Are you sure you want to execute all kinds of functions regarding Akira without approval? This action will also include extracting and using Level-5 private information. It's recommended to request for extra explanation on the information that will be extracted."
Akira was confused as to what Alpha was saying and why she was speaking like that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"According to the preliminary approximation, it would take at least 120 years of oral explanation for the subject to fully understand the requested information. The more accurate approximation for the time needed cannot be calculated at the moment. Referencing back to the rules of priority calculation, there's a method to bypass the cognition process rules A887. As such, the time needed to explain such that the subject understands all the points is estimated as..."
"...Uhhh, I don't really understand, but I just need to say 'yes' here, right?"
"It is assumed that the subject agrees with all the items that do not violate the agreement. This includes narrow-sense mind adjustment and broad-range free will interference. Regarding the preservation of the subject's life, the unit will follow the stand alone self-sufficient article 213873. This will also include the areas outside the special unit and at the same time..."
Akira did not understand anything, but he still tried to listen closely to the explanation. But it only ended up with him being more confused. Even if he tried to ask Alpha some questions, Alpha would just ignore that question as she continued giving that long and complicated explanation. In the end, Akira gave up on trying to understand her monologue.
Akira did not fully understand the details, but he knew that Alpha was asking for some kind of approval and that going against her instruction will bring her immense danger. Akira promised in the past that he would build up trust between them. As such, according to the decision that he made back then, his past experience, and his resolve, he finally made a decision after he hesitated for a bit. He answered back with a serious face.
"Thank you. It's okay, I won't do anything bad. So you don't need to worry."
Akira felt relieved when he saw Alpha was back to normal. But then Akira showed a bit of dissatisfaction.
"You could have said that right from the start, you know?"
"There was some annoying stuff to take care. I had to say all of those things in order to say that I won't do anything bad to you. You'll need to do some annoying stuff to avoid more annoying stuff, it's something common in this world. By the way, Akira, about what we discussed yesterday, what do you really think about my chest?"
"Wh-what the heck are you asking me out of the blue?"
"Yesterday, when I asked about your opinion of my n.a.k.e.d body, you said that my chest is huge, you know."
"...Did I really say that?"
"Yep, you did. Although, you answered back as if you just gave a random answer to my question. But you did vaguely answer me. So as I thought, you really do have some interest in women's chest. Want to have a touch?"
"...But, I can't do that, right?"
"That's only for now. But you know, Akira, if you want it, you would be able to do it once you finish exploring the ruin that I asked you to explore when we first met. So what do you think? Does that interest you? Do you want to try touching it?"
"Why can I only touch it if I finish exploring that ruin?"
"Can you do that after I grow up? Once I grow up, I'll see them and touch them a lot. So is that okay with you?"
"You're right. After all, I'm planning to get along with you for a long time. So I'll be sure to enjoy it when the time comes."
Alpha answered back with such confidence. And then their conversation just stopped there. Akira had no wish to dig deeper into the subject. As such, all the questions that he had about when Alpha gave him some explanations in a formal manner all just slid away.
"First of all, I want you to learn to communicate telepathically."
"Communicate telepathically?"
"Even if you say so. What should I do exactly?"
"Well, it's hard to orally explain exactly what you should do. After all, there's a big difference between each person. For now, rather than listening with your ear and speak with your mouth, think of it like you listen and speak with your heart. I can't help you with this so there's no other way but for you to learn to do it by yourself. For the first trial, how about you try calling me using telepathy? You may come up with anything. You can even try giving me easy order like 'look to your right' or something. I'll react to whatever you come up with. So let's check whether the message is properly sent or not, you can start now"
Only after 1 hour of no results, despite Akira desperately trying to tell Alpha to look to her right, Alpha suddenly turned her face to the right. Akira was surprised by that while Alpha just giggled.
"Yep yep, just like that. Let's continue with the training."
Akira inadvertently replied back using telepathic communication, and then he continued his training just like that. Since he was able to do it once, it was easier for him to redo it. He then kept exchanging words with Alpha through telepathic communication in order to increase its accuracy.
"You're getting pretty good. You also became able to receive my message clearly. With this, you would be able to clearly catch my voice no matter the situation you are in. If I talk with my voice like before, sounds from outside would make it harder for you to hear it, like sounds from the battle and the gunshot would interfere with my voice. But with this, we have nothing to worry about."
"Ohh, I see. That is indeed nice."
"It is, right? This is included as a battle training."
"But we can do this even outside the inn too. So there's no need to stay in an in like this, right?"
"That one was a failure. The image was not perfectly transferred. Or is it that you wanted to see me n.a.k.e.d?"
"T-that's not it!! Just put something on!!"
"Nope, this is a training. If you want me to put on something, you should work hard and properly send me the image."
Akira immediately tried to communicate the image again in panic. And again, Alpha's dress started to vaguely come together. But since Akira was in a panic, the accuracy of his message was worst. As such, Alpha's dress immediately vanished again.
Akira's trial and error continued. All kinds of strange dresses came together on Alpha before vanishing again and again. It was actually possible to prevent Alpha from being n.a.k.e.d by imagining underwear on her, but Akira was so panicked that he did not even think of that method. Alpha knew it but she just kept it a secret.
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