作戦の現場の指示系統を統一するため、ハンター達のどこかの部隊、又は組織を現場の指示系統の頭にする必要がある。そこで都市は賞金首討伐に最も貢献した集団に全体の指示を任せることにした。
都市が指定したのはドランカムだ。ドランカムは賞金首討伐部隊の規模も大きく、単独で賞金首の半数の討伐に成功し、最も強力な賞金首の討伐にも大きく貢献したのだ。都市側がドランカムに作戦の具体的な指示を任せようとした判断も自然なものだろう。ドランカムに作戦の全体指揮を任せて、ドランカム以外のハンター達はその下に着く形でハンターの部隊を運用する。それが当初の予定だった。
しかしその判断は、多くのハンター達から予想外の反発を招くことになった。
ドランカムはミハゾノ街遺跡に異変が発生した日に、多くのハンターに依頼を出している。セランタルビルでの緊急依頼の応援要請だ。そしてそれは結果的に多くの未帰還者を生み出すことになった。現在まだビルの中で生き残っている可能性があるとされている救出対象は、その時にドランカムからの依頼を受けたハンター達だ。
結果論になるが、その者達はドランカムに
それとは別に、ドランカムが今回の作戦を利用してクガマヤマ都市での地位を高めようとしていると判断する者もいる。
クガマヤマ都市にはドランカム以外にも多くのハンターの徒党が存在している。都市が重視する作戦をドランカムが主体となって成功させれば、都市でのドランカムの地位はより高まるだろう。この作戦に他の徒党に属するハンターが現在の指示系統で参加すれば、競合相手の地位を高める助力となってしまうのだ。
指揮系統をドランカムに奪われれば、危険な任務を他の徒党に所属しているハンターに押しつける。そう懸念する者もいた。
そのような要因から、多くのハンターがドランカムの指揮下で動くことを嫌がったのだ。
そして問題はドランカム内部にも存在した。
ドランカムは既にミハゾノ街遺跡に部隊を派遣している。その先行部隊は形式的にとはいえカツヤが指揮を執っている。追加の部隊はその指揮下に、カツヤの指揮下に入ることになる。
が存在しており、若手でもカツヤ派と反カツヤ派で対立している。シカラベのような極端な例は少ないが、カツヤの指揮下に入ることに強い抵抗を示したハンターの数は無視できないものとなっていた。彼らは指揮権をカツヤ達から自分達に移すか、相手に相応の交換条件を飲ませるように、ドランカムの幹部も巻き込んでドランカム内部で交渉を始めた。
その上、依頼に関わるハンター達の交渉の内容も目的も様々だ。可能な限り報酬をつり上げようとしている者。他の徒党と意図的に対立することにより、都市の面目を保った上でこの依頼を断ろうとしている者。交渉によって特定の徒党に恩を売ろうとしている者。
様々な人間が様々な目的で、自身の利益の
現在ミハゾノ街遺跡のハンターオフィスの出張所では、都市やドランカムなどのハンター徒党の交渉役、ハンターチームに雇われた代理人、ハンターチームのリーダーなどが集まり、この非常にややこしい交渉を取りまとめようと苦心していた。エレナもその1人だ。
交渉の場所として使われているのは、出張所内の食堂だ。エレナの隣にキャロルが座っている。テーブルを挟んだ向かいには、マエダというドランカムの交渉担当の男が座っていた。
エレナとマエダは険しい表情で交渉を続けていた。キャロルはどこか涼しい顔で微笑を浮かべていた。
マエダは同僚からの連絡を聞いた後、持っていた情報端末を操作して通話を切って
「そう。それなら交渉は決裂ってことで良いのね?」
エレナがそう告げると、マエダは表情を
の動揺もなく表情を変えずに返事をする。
「当然理解しているわ。都市はこんな交渉なんて速やかに終わらせて、セランタルビルの攻略をすぐに始めてほしいと思っているでしょうね」
「......そちらがドランカムの指揮下に入る条件として、都市が支払う報酬とは別にドランカムから5倍の報酬を支払えって、しかも一部は前払いって、それのどこが下限の要求だ。どう考えても無理がある」
「私達とドランカム側の今回の作戦行動に対する認識の差ね。言ったでしょう? 下限だって。交渉の時間が十分にあるのなら、もっと報酬を上乗せしているわ」
マエダは真剣な表情でエレナを見る。エレナの態度からは交渉を優位に進めるためのはったりなどは感じられない。マエダが
がりを深めている。そのことはクガマヤマ都市で活動しているハンター達なら大抵知っている。当然エレナも知っている。マエダはこれでエレナの態度が軟化しないかと考えて、そのような軽めの脅しのようなことを口にしたのだ。
「好きに話しなさい。ドランカムとの交渉が決裂した経緯は、私からも都市側にしっかり説明するわ。向こうにもこちらの話を納得してもらえるとも思っているわ。だから早く交渉先をクガマヤマ都市に戻したいのだけれど」
も揺らがなかった。マエダがエレナの態度を見て頭を抱える。エレナもマエダの立場を理解しているが、だからと言って彼のために自分達の利益を削るつもりなど毛頭ない。
「今までドランカムの仲介でいろいろ依頼を受けたりしていたんだ。こちらの要求を
エレナの表情が僅かに不機嫌なものに変わる。
「その分の義理は前回の依頼の時に使い切ったわ。契約上事前にそう取り決めたとはいえ、報酬の減額を全て黙って受け入れた時点でね」
エレナは自分の表情を変えていないと思っている。僅かに変わった表情は、冷静に交渉を続けようとしているエレナから漏れた内心の表れだ。それはマエダにしっかり気付かれた。
マエダは眼鏡型の情報端末を身に着けている。その情報端末の透過式の表示部には、ドランカムで保持しているエレナの情報が表示されていた。エレナがドランカム経由で受けた依頼の履歴も含まれている。
マエダは情報端末を操作してエレナが受けた最後の内容を見る。そこには報酬の減額に関する報告も記述されている。同意の上でのことであり問題なし、と補足されていた。
(......何が問題なしだ。思いっきり問題が出ているだろうが。誰だ、この報告書を書いたやつは。ミズハ? あの事務上がりの幹部か。幹部のくせにこれで問題はないと判断した間抜けなのか? それとも他の派閥の連中に報告書の内容を
ドランカムの立場としては、エレナ達の要求を受け入れるわけにはいかない。ドランカムが交渉しているのはエレナ達だけではないのだ。エレナ達の要求を受け入れて、それが他のハンター達に知れ渡れば、他のハンター達も確実に報酬を釣り上げようとするだろう。
かといって、この場の交渉を決裂させてエレナ達の交渉先をドランカムから都市に戻すわけにもいかないのだ。エレナ達と都市の交渉に都市との伝を使って割り込んだのはドランカムだ。ドランカム側から割り込んでおいて、交渉に失敗しました、駄目でした、とエレナ達との交渉を都市に戻せば、クガマヤマ都市の経営陣にドランカムの交渉能力を疑われるのは間違いない。
マエダは頭を抱えながら視線をエレナからキャロルに移す。エレナ側の決定権を持っているのはエレナだろうが、キャロルもこの場に同席している以上、ある程度エレナ側の意思決定に関われるのだろう。マエダはそう判断して、場の流れを変えるべくキャロルに話す。
「キャロルさんも、このままで良いのか? お互いに妥協せず意地を張っても、全員損するだけだぞ?」
キャロルは余裕を残した笑みを浮かべてマエダに尋ねる。
「それなら、ドランカム側の指揮系統、作戦の指揮官とかを教えてもらえないかしら」
り合わせの一環よ。経験豊富で有能な指揮官が作戦を指揮するのなら、それだけ作戦行動に従事する私達の安全も高まるでしょう? 私達があんな報酬を要求するのは、その点に関する不安の表れだと思ってもらいたいわ」
「ドランカムの指揮など全く信用できないと?」
「そこまでは言わないけど、ほら、ちょっと前に、ドランカムの依頼で多数のハンターがセランタルビルに乗り込んだでしょ? 保険会社が大慌てするほど未帰還者が出たって聞いたわ」
「それがドランカムの落ち度だと? あんな状況を予想しろってのは、幾ら何でも無理があると思わないか?」
「別にドランカムの責任を問うつもりなんてないわ。ただ、セランタルビルはそれだけ危険な場所だってことを、お互いに確認したかっただけよ」
「その危険を認識しているからこそ、ハンターを連携の取れていない状態でセランタルビルに突入させて被害を増やさないように、大規模なハンターの部隊を編成しようとしているんだ。そこでハンターが勝手な行動を取って被害を出さないように、しっかり指揮系統を統一するために、こちらの指揮下に入ることを要求しているんだ。それぐらい依頼内容を読めば分かることだろう?」
「分かっているわ。だからこそ、ドランカム側の作戦指揮官などについて尋ねているのよ。有能な指揮官や指揮系統を確認できれば、作戦行動に従事する私達の安全も期待できる。作戦の指揮を執る人物が私の知っている人なら、指揮能力もある程度予想できるわ。そうすれば私からエレナに説明して、エレナの不安を解消できるかもしれない。そうすればエレナも安心して要求を引き下げるかもしれない。こちらの要求を妥協できる余地も生まれるかもしれない。尋ねた理由は納得してもらえたかしら?」
「大まかな話でも構わないわ。特定の人物やその派閥を中心に編成中って話だけでも、何も分からないよりましよ」
マエダは少し吐き捨てるようにそう答えると、僅かに
キャロルが予想通りの返答を聞いて内心ほくそ笑む。その内心を隠しつつ困ったような表情を浮かべて話す。
「都市からの依頼の重要性を理解した上で、一刻も早く部隊編成を終わらせて作戦を実行に移さなければならない状況だってことぐらい、ドランカムも分かっているはずよね? その状況で指揮系統の編成もできないぐらいそちらの状況がぐだぐだなら、正直、そちらの指揮能力を疑わざるを得ないわ。その疑念や誤った指揮によって発生しうる危険をこちらに許容させる報酬はどの程度かと考えると、エレナの要求が法外に高いとは残念だけど私にも思えないわ」
め息を吐いた。マエダも内心エレナやキャロルの意見に同意している部分がある。ただ、立場上それを表に出せないだけだ。
マエダが内心で愚痴を吐く。
(......もう無理だ。説得材料なんかもうないぞ。もう知るか。さっさと都市に交渉を引き継がせよう。幹部連中がいろいろ文句を言ってくるだろうが、お前らがぐだぐだやっているせいだ。俺の知ったことか)
キャロルはマエダの微妙な態度の変化から、マエダの交渉に対する姿勢の変化に
キャロルは自分の情報端末を操作して誰かに通話要求を出す。すぐにキャロルの情報端末から相手の声が聞こえてきた。
「キャロル。何の用だ。こっちがクソ忙しいことぐらいそっちも分かってるだろうが」
助けてあげようと思っているのに、随分な態度ね?」
「どういう意味だ?」
「都市からの依頼を独自に引き受けるために部隊の人員を探しているけれど、難航しているんでしょう? そしてこのままだとカツヤってハンターが指揮を執る部隊の指揮下に配置されそうで焦っているんでしょう?」
キャロルがシカラベにそう告げると、シカラベが数秒沈黙を保った。その沈黙からキャロルは自分の予想が正しいことを把握する。
キャロルの情報端末から、シカラベの平静を装った声が聞こえてくる。
シカラベの内心を端的に表した声を聞き、キャロルは楽しそうに笑いながら自身の説明に補足を加える。
「クガマヤマ都市からの依頼は、基本的に賞金首討伐時の部隊編制を維持することになっているわ。でもシカラベがその時に組んでいたハンターは、何らかの理由でミハゾノ街遺跡に来られる状態ではない。そうではないのなら、シカラベはエレナ達ではなく彼らと組んでいたはずだからね。それで何とかして彼らの代わりを見つけようとしたけれど、まだ見つかっていない。もし彼らの代わりの戦力を用意できたのなら、シカラベはすぐにセランタルビルに向かっているはず。都市の依頼の作戦行動中なら、ドランカムの指揮系統調整のごたごたに巻き込まれずに済むからね。作戦行動中なら、シカラベは私からの通話要求なんて無視するでしょう? でもシカラベは私の通話要求を無視しなかった。シカラベが賞金首討伐時の部隊編制を維持できない以上、ドランカムはシカラベ達を別の部隊に加えようとする。例えば、別の賞金首の討伐に成功した部隊にね。で、その部隊を率いているのは、ちょうどミハゾノ街遺跡にいるカツヤってハンターが率いている部隊よね。都市からの依頼をいつまでも待機状態にするわけにはいかないって理由で、ドランカムの幹部から圧力を掛けられている最中なんじゃない?」
キャロルの説明を聞き、シカラベが再び黙り始めた。
シカラベの状況はキャロルの予想通りだった。カツヤが指揮する部隊に加わるようにドランカムの上層部から圧力を掛けられていた。
唯一キャロルの予想と異なる箇所は、シカラベの内心ぐらいだ。現在の状況が続けばシカラベはドランカムからの圧力に屈してカツヤの指揮下に加わるだろう。キャロルはそう考えていた。
もない。カツヤの指揮下に加わるぐらいなら1人で都市の依頼を受けて1人でセランタルビルに突入するつもりだ。しかし可能な限りそれは避けたいので、何とかして代わりの人員を探していたのだ。
シカラベが諦め混じりの
「ああ、そうだよ。俺の状況はそんな感じだ。それで、どうやって俺を助けてくれるんだ? こっちも忙しい。下らない駆け引きは無しだ。とっととそっちの条件を言え」
キャロルがシカラベの身を案じて話を持ちかけてきたわけではない。それぐらいはシカラベも理解している。シカラベはキャロルに借りを作る危険性も十分承知している。しかしカツヤの指揮下に加わるよりは幾分ましだと考えて、キャロルの誘いに乗ることにした。
キャロルがシカラベに自分の提案を説明する。シカラベはキャロルの提案を自分の頭で整理して少し思案する。提案を受けるかどうかではなく、提案を実現できるかどうかの思案だ。シカラベが結論を出す。
「分かった。その作戦をねじ込めそうなドランカムの幹部には俺から話しておく。そっちの交渉役に、アラベって幹部に話を回すように伝えておけ」
「分かったわ。それじゃあ、後でね」
エレナは少なくとも不快の色のない表情で返事をする。
エレナが最も避けたかったのはドランカムの指揮下に入ることにより、賞金首討伐の時と同じ状況を繰り返すことだ。あの時エレナ達は、嫌になるほど尻ぬぐいを押しつけられた上に役立たず扱いをされて報酬の減額までされたのだ。しかも今回はエレナ達だけではなくアキラ達も同じ状況に巻き込む可能性があるのだ。それはエレナには絶対許容できない事態だ。
無論ドランカムにはドランカムの都合や評価の基準が有るのかもしれない。賞金首討伐時のエレナ達の行動はドランカム側が期待していた内容とは大きな差異があり、ドランカムとしてはエレナ達に不満の出る評価を出さざるを得なかったのかもしれない。
しかしエレナ達とドランカム側の評価の基準にそこまで致命的な差異があるのならば、お互いの利益の
エレナはキャロルの態度に引っかかるものを覚えつつ返事をする。
「......? そうね。助かったわ。おかげで大きな面倒事は避けられそうよ」
「アキラにもエレナからそう言ってもらっても良い?」
「構わないけど、一応理由を聞いても?」
エレナはキャロルの態度にどこか引っかかるものを感じてはいたが、言っていることは至極真っ当なものだとも判断した。エレナ達も自分達の働きに対するドランカムの評価が不服だからこそ、今回のドランカムとの交渉を嫌がったのだ。
恐らくエレナを介して伝えた方が自分で話すよりアキラに好印象を与えやすいだろう。キャロルはそう思いながら機嫌良く
In order so that the Hunters had the same chain of command in the field, they needed to take someone who was already a leader of a team or an officer from an organization or a gang. Thus, the City Management let the team with the most contribution during the bounty hunt to pick the squad leader.
Which in this case, meant the City Management left that decision to Drankam since Drankam bounty hunt team had contributed greatly during the bounty hunt. Most of the independent team from the Drankam were also able to successfully kill a bounty monster too. Moreover, the gang also contributed greatly in defeating the strongest bounty monster. Thus, it was no surprise that the City Management left the details of the investigation squad to Drankam. So, the current plan was to let Drankam decide the strategy and the leader of the team, then the other Hunters would work under Drankam's command.
But in the end, an unexpectedly lot of Hunters complained about that.
When the situation in Mihazono ruin suddenly changed, Drankam issued the SOS rescue requests to the Hunters around the ruin. This resulted in a lot of Hunters getting trapped inside the ruin. Most of the rescue targets for the current SOS rescue request were actually the Hunters who got trapped from the previous SOS rescue request.
Although they ended up judging the situation only from the result, this basically meant that Drankam had sent a lot of Hunters into the wasteland just to get them trapped there only for a small reward. There was not a small number of Hunters who fortunately were able to return back alive while their companions got killed back in the ruin, and most of these Hunters ended up holding a grudge against Drankam. Due to a lot of Hunters getting trapped in the ruin because of that SOS rescue request from Drankam, the current public opinion of Drankam had already significantly fallen.
While on the other hand, some people in Drankam were thinking of using this chance to increase Drankam's reputation in Kugamayama city.
There were a lot of other Hunter gangs in Kugamayama city beside Drankam. If Drankam was able to make the investigation a success with the strategy that Drankam itself decided, there was no mistaking that it would definitely make Drankam even more renown. So, if someone not from Drankam took the command and participated in that investigation and made it a success, it would give a boost to the reputation of the gang that Hunter was affiliated with.
Moreover, there were also Hunters who were worried if Drankam took command of the squad, people from Drankam might push the dangerous jobs to the other gangs.
Because of those reasons, a lot of Hunters refused to have Drankam taking command of the squad.
Then to top it off, there was also an in-fighting within Drankam itself.
Drankam had already dispatched its Hunters to Mihazono ruin, and that particular squad was formally commanded by Katsuya. So any reinforcement who joined that team would basically work under him.
Inside Drankam, there was friction between the young Hunters and veterans, there were also some young hunters in the gang who were members of the anti-Katsuya faction. Although they were not as bad as Shikarabe, a lot of Hunters in Drankam refused to work under Katsuya, enough for the gang not to be able to just ignore those Hunters. They demanded to shift the command from Katsuya to one of them or for the City Management to accept the extra conditions that they imposed for that request, and in order to do that, they even dragged the upper echelons in Drankam to get involved in the negotiation.
Then, to top it off, each Hunter had different aims during the negotiation. Some of them demanded as much rewards as they could get, some of them deliberately picked a fight against the other gangs in order to be able to refuse that request while keeping their reputation, while some of them tried to get special favour in exchange for taking that request.
With all kinds of people gathered there, each of them was aiming only to bring profits to themselves, or to the gangs that they belong in, it was only to be expected for the negotiation to turn complicated.
At the moment, there were a lot of people gathered in the Hunter Office branch of Mihazono ruin including the negotiators from Drankam, leaders from various Hunter teams, and people from the request brokers that some of the Hunters were contracted with, Elena was one of them. They were trying their best to reach a consensus.
All of them gathered in the cafeteria of the Hunter Office branch. Carol and Elena were also there, Carol was sitting next to Elena on one of the tables in the cafeteria. Sitting opposite to them was a negotiator from Drankam by the name of Maeda.
Elena and Maeda were talking to each other with a stern face, while Carol was listening to them with a relaxed smile.
After that Maeda listened to a report from one of his co-workers, he then cut the call on his information terminal, sighed, and said to Elena.
"I see then. It means that we have no deal here, yes?"
When Elena said that, Maeda's face twitched.
Elena did not waver at all, her expression did not change as she replied.
"Of course. I bet the City Management wants us to quickly finish this negotiation so that they can dispatch the squad to take control of Seranthal building as soon as possible."
"...You demand 5 times the original reward offered by the City Management and for us to pay some of that reward in advance as the condition to join the squad under Drankam's command... Then you say that it's already as low as you can go? You know that we can't accept that demand no matter how you look at it, right?"
"That's because we recognize this request is much more dangerous than Drankam is willing to admit. Like I said, it's the lowest we can go. If we had more time, I would have demanded even more reward, you know?"
Maeda was staring at Elena with a stern face, there was no trace of deception in Elena's expression and words. Maeda then sighed.
Most of the Hunters in Kugamayama city already knew that Drankam was deepening its relationship with Kugamayama City Management. So of course, Elena also knew about that too. Thus Maeda lightly threatened Elena there hoping that it would ease her demand.
"You can go ahead and do whatever you want. But don't you forget that I'll also explain to the City Management why the negotiation with Drankam side ended up in failure. I'm pretty sure that they can understand my reason, that's why, if it's possible, I hope you can just let me negotiate directly with the City Management."
Elena did not waver at all. Maeda who saw that put both of his hands on his face in frustration. Elena herself knew that Maeda was also stuck in a difficult position, but that did not mean that she should lower her demand just because of that.
"We've been giving you requests through Drankam. Although it doesn't mean that you have the duty to accept all of our demands, you can at least make some compromises, can't you?"
Elena's face turned slightly irritated.
"You've used that favour entirely in the last request that you gave us. To be more precise, although we've agreed on it in the contract, we did not make any complaint when you cut a big part of our reward money last time."
Elena thought that she was keeping her poker face and that she was calmly assessing the situation, but in reality, her face was slightly changed and a part of her real feeling was starting to leak out, Maeda also noticed that.
Maeda was using a glasses-type information terminal. That information terminal was connected to Drankam's server and was showing information about Elena on its transparent display. To be more precise, Maeda was looking at Elena's request history.
Maeda picked the last request that Elena accepted and checked its detail. The record also contained the subject about the reward cut too. But it only said that both sides agreed on that reward cut and there was no problem with it at all.
[...What the heck is with this 'no problem at all', this is one heck of a problem, isn't it? Who the f*ck wrote this report... Mizuha? That new officer who just got promoted from the administration department, huh? She's an officer now though, is she that stupid as to write 'no problem at all' here? Or is it that someone from the other faction overwrote the report? Seriously though, I really hope they would stop roping me into this infighting problem between factions. It's really making my job difficult. Wrong information like this is really fatal during negotiation.]
Drankam side could not afford to accept Elena's demand. After all, Elena was not the only Hunter that Drankam had to negotiate with. If the other Hunters discovered that Drankam accepted Elena's demand, they would use that information to demand more rewards too.
But with that being said, Drankam could not afford to have the negotiation break down there and let Elena negotiate directly with the City Management. Drankam was the one who used its connection with the City Management to butt in when Elena was negotiating with the City Management, as such, if he reported back to the City Management that he failed, there was no mistaking it that the City Management would lower its evaluation of Drankam.
Maeda, who had no idea what to do there, shifted his gaze from Elena to Carol. Although he was sure that Elena had the last say there, since Carol was sitting next to her, Carol might be able to somehow affect the direction of the current negotiation. Thus in order to change the mood, Maeda turned to Carol and spoke to her.
"Carol-san too, I'm sure you don't think it's a good idea to be stuck in this place forever, right? If we keep being stubborn here, no one would win, it'll only bring trouble to both of us, yes?"
Carol was still smiling as she asked Maeda a question.
"In that case, can you at least tell us how Drankam organizes its Hunters and who will take the responsibility for making the plan?"
"It's part of making compromises, no? If the one who will take command is a skilled and experienced Hunter, then we, as the Hunters who might be working under that Hunter, would feel safer, right? I want you to understand that we asked that much rewards since we feel uneasy about that part."
"Are you saying that you can't trust the leader that Drankam picks?"
"I won't go that far though, but like, you know, a lot of Hunters are trapped inside the Seranthal building because of the last request that Drankam issued, right? I heard that it was enough to cause panic among the insurance companies."
"So you're saying that it's Drankam's fault? No matter how you look at it, no one could have predicted something like this would happen, yes?"
"It's not like I'm saying that Drankam is at fault here. But, I want you to understand when we say that Seranthal building is a really dangerous place."
"It's exactly because we know it's a dangerous place that we're forming a big Hunter squad in order to save those Hunters inside the Seranthal building. We're asking the other Hunters to work under the same leader here to prevent them from moving independently and cause trouble during the operation. I'm sure you can understand that too from reading the detail of the request."
"We do understand that point. That's why I'm asking you who will take the lead of the squad. If we know that the one taking the lead is a competent Hunter, we can feel safer following the orders from that Hunter. And if it's someone that I know, I can also more or less predict that person's commanding skill. Which in that case, I can explain to Elena and I maybe can even convince her too. That way, Elena might be willing to lower her demand and we might be able to finally find a compromise that we both can accept. Do you understand why I asked you that question now?"
"I don't mind if it's just a guess. If you can tell us of any particular person or any particular faction that might get chosen, it's at least better than nothing."
Maeda sounded as if he just forced himself to say that and he immediately hung his head low for a bit after he said that.
Carol was really happy that she got the answer that she was hoping for, but she did not show that on her face, instead, she made a rather troubled face and said to Maeda.
"I'm sure Drankam also understands the importance of this request since it came from the City Management, right? And I'm sure Drankam also understands very well that it should decide on the leader as soon as possible, right? If you guys can't decide on the leader even in this situation, I can't help but feel worried about your commanding skill. If you think the reward Elena demanded is to compensate for the danger that this request might cause us, then unfortunately enough, I don't think that Elena's demand is unreasonable at all."
After listening to what Carol said, Maeda let out a long sigh. A part of him actually agreed with Elena and Carol's reasoning. But, due to his position, he could not express it.
Maeda then complained inside his heart.
[...Ahh, I can't take this. I don't have anything that I can use to convince them. To hell with this, I'll just let them negotiate directly with the City Management. I'm sure the upper echelons would make some complaints later, but it's their fault in the first place for taking too long. It has nothing to do with me, it's not my fault.]
From that sudden change in Maeda's behaviour, Carol immediately noticed that Maeda had given up on the negotiation. She then smiled at Maeda and said.
Carol then pulled out her information terminal and called someone. The person that she was calling almost immediately picked up her call.
"Carol, what now? You should know well that I'm really busy, right?"
"Oh my, I called you thinking that I might be able to help you, you know... Are you sure you're okay treating me like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm actually looking for more Hunters so that we can take that request from the City Management as an individual team though. I'm sure you're also having a hard negotiation over there, right? I bet that you're in a panic right now since at this rate you'll get assigned to work under that Katsuya guy, right?"
After Carol said that, there was a few seconds of silence. From that silence, she confirmed that her guess was correct.
Shikarabe's calm voice then could be heard from Carol's information terminal.
Shikarabe could not help but to leak out his real feeling there with that reaction. Hearing that, Carol then giggled and continued.
"The request from the Kugamayama City Management is basically issued to the Hunters who successfully hunted the bounty monsters not too long ago. But then I bet that because of some reason, those Hunters who were in your team when you hunted the bounty monster could not come to the Mihazono ruin at the moment. After all, if that was not the case, you would have picked those Hunters and already formed a team with them instead. I bet you're trying to find replacements for those Hunters but you still can't find enough people at the moment, right? After all, if you did, you would have been dispatched to Seranthal building by now. And if you're already heading to the Seranthal building, it would mean that the operation is already underway and you would not be roped into the infighting inside the Drankam about who should take the lead of the squad, which would mean that you would not have picked my call, right? But you did not ignore my call. Since you can't go with the same team that you were together with during the bounty hunt, Drankam must be trying to get you into another team, for example, another team that also has successfully hunted a bounty monster too. And then, that exact team that's also already in Mihazono ruin right now is the team that Katsuya leads. Since Drankam cannot afford to keep dragging out the request from the City Management, I bet that the officers from Drankam are pressuring you to join Katsuya's team, right?"
Shikarabe went silent again after Carol said that.
Carol's guess was completely correct. The upper echelons in Drankam were pressuring Shikarabe to join Katsuya's team.
The only thing that Carol got wrong was Shikarabe's actual plan. Carol thought that as this situation continued, Shikarabe would eventually break under the pressure from Drankam and join Katsuya's team.
But in reality, Shikarabe had no plans to join Katsuya's team no matter what. If his only option was to join Katsuya's team, he would rather accept that request from the City Management and head to Seranthal building alone. But of course, he wanted to avoid that if it could be helped, that was why Shikarabe was looking for more personnel for his team.
Shikarabe then sighed as if he just gave up there, he then annoyedly asked a question to Carol.
"Yeah yeah, you got that right. I'm more or less in that situation right now. So then, how are you going to help me out? I'm super busy right now, so I won't take any stupid ideas, okay? So then, tell me what do you have in mind."
It was not like Carol brought that subject to Shikarabe because she wanted to help him out. Shikarabe himself knew that very well, he also knew how dangerous it was to get indebted to Carol. But he thought that it was way better than working under Katsuya, thus he decided to take Carol's offer.
Carol then explained her idea to him, Shikarabe registered that plan inside his head and analyzed it. He was not pondering whether to take her suggestion or not, he was pondering if it was possible or not. He then finally reached a conclusion.
"Alright. I'll convey that to one of the officers in Drankam who might agree with your plan. Tell whoever negotiator that you're talking with right now to let you talk with an officer from Drankam by the name of Arabe."
"Okay, later then."
Elena at least did not show any displeasure as she said.
Elena's main goal was actually to avoid working under Drankam since it might get her in the same situation as the previous time when she accepted that request to hunt the bounty monster. Back then, not only did Elena and Sara have to cover for the rest of the team, they were even insulted for being useless and got their reward cut. Moreover, if things were to happen again this time, it would not only affect her and Sara, but it would also affect Akira and Carol too. That was why Elena refused to step back.
Of course, Drankam had its own indicators that it used to evaluate Sara and Elena, and it seemed that Elena and Sara's performance during that request was far below what Drankam was expecting from them. So from Drankam's point of view, it was simply that they had no other choice but to do what they did.
But if that difference was a fatal one, it would have been better if both of them stopped working with each other. It would have been better if Drankam hired other Hunters who could accept the evaluation that Drankam gave.
Although Elena was a bit bothered by the way Carol was acting, she then said.
"...? Well, you're right, you're a big help. Thanks to you, it seems that we can avoid getting roped into a troublesome situation."
"Can you please tell that to Akira too?"
"Sure, but can you tell me why you want me to do that?"
Although there was something that was still bothering Elena, she also understood that Carol had a good point there. In the first place, it was exactly because Elena did not agree with the evaluation that Drankam had about her that she did not want to negotiate with Drankam this time.
Carol smiled as she thought that it would leave a better impression on Akira if he heard it from Elena instead of hearing that from Carol herself.
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