カドルがスラム街の地面に横たわって死にかけている。致命傷だ。もう助からない。シジマの部下達は既に全員死んでいる。
「......なんで......こんな......強い......ガキ......ばか......り......」
あの日アキラに出会わなければ、こんなことにはならなかった。この結末へ導いた光景が頭の中に走馬灯のように流れていく中で、カドルは恨みと後悔の入り交じった感情を覚えながら息絶えた。
戦闘はカツヤ達の圧勝で終わった。カツヤ達には負傷者も出ていない。銃声が消えた後の周辺は不気味なほどに静かになっていた。周辺にいた者達は悲鳴や怒声の届かない場所まで逃げていったのか、
「カツヤ。路地から撃ってきたやつがどうなったか確認できていない。確認した方が良い?」
「それならすぐにここから離れた方が良い。私達はここで騒ぎを起こしすぎた」
「急ごう。もうここには来ない方が良い」
アイリが殿を務めるように周囲を警戒しながら銃を構える。カツヤとユミナがアルナの手を引こうとすると、アルナがカツヤに飛びつくように抱き付いた。
「アルナ。歩けるか?」
アルナが抱き付いたまま無言で首を縦に振る。カツヤがアルナを抱き締めながらこの場から離れていく。ユミナとアイリはそのカツヤ達を見てほんの少しだけ嫉妬に似た険しい表情を見せた後、微妙な表情で周囲を警戒しながらカツヤ達の後に続いた。
「ん? お前は確かシェリルのところのやつか?」
ティオルがか細い声で助けを求める。
「......た、助けてくれ」
男はヤツバヤシでティオルを知っていた。
「ああ、お前は確か......、そうだ、あのシェリル達が強盗に襲われた時に
「無理そうだな」
絶望に染まっていくティオルに、ヤツバヤシが軽く笑いながら楽しげに尋ねる。
「そうすると、治療費が支払えない以上、治療ではなく治験、いや、実験となる。無理強いはしないが、どうする?」
ティオルは辛うじてそう答えた後、すぐに意識を失った。ヤツバヤシは全く慌てずに機嫌良く軽く笑う。
「契約成立だな」
ヤツバヤシが懐から注射器のような器具を取り出してティオルの首元に注射する。器具の容器部分には発光している緑色の液体が入っていた。その液体がティオルの体内に注入されていく。
「安心しろって。お前は助かる。お互いに幸運だった。そう思おうじゃないか」
ヤツバヤシは幸運だ。だがティオルも幸運かどうかまでは、まだ確定していなかった。
シェリルが自室で前にアキラに頼まれた話の報告をしている。シェリルの表情が少々緊張気味な理由は話の内容の所為だ。アキラの機嫌をあれほど悪化させたアルナに関する報告であり、しかもどちらかと言えば悪い内容だった。
シェリル達はアルナを見つけられなかったこと。ヴィオラの情報によると、アルナを巡って銃撃戦が発生して死者が出たこと。シェリルはそれらのことを恐る恐る話していた。
「......それで、そのアルナってスリのその後の行方は分からないそうです」
「お力になれず申し訳御座いませんでした」
「気にするな。前にも言った通り、かなり強いハンターがそいつの後ろ盾になっていたってことだろう。危ないからもうそのスリを探すのも止めて良い。下手なことをするとそいつらに目を付けられるかもしれない。ハンター連中を何とかするようなことは初めから期待していないしな」
「......分かりました」
アルナを巡って銃撃戦があったのだ。シェリル達がこれ以上関わるのは危険すぎる。アキラはそう考えて、どちらかと言えばシェリル達を気遣ってそう答えた。
しかしシェリルはアキラの言葉を、やはりこいつらは役に立たなかった、という意味合いに捉えてしまった。
「次はアキラの役に立てるように頑張ります」
アキラが苦笑する。
「次なんて、またスリに遭うような失態は繰り返したくないんだけどな」
勝手に悪く解釈して自嘲するアキラに、シェリルが
「す、すみません。そういう意味では......!」
「ん? ああ、俺が変に解釈しただけだ。悪かった。また何かあれば頼むよ」
アキラは自覚以上に不機嫌になっている自分に気付いて、ゆっくり深呼吸を繰り返して意識を整えていく。当たり散らすなど恥の上塗りだと言い聞かせて
アキラの情報端末に通知が届いた。その内容を確認した途端、アキラの機嫌が一気に良くなった。
「シェリル。用事ができたから今日はこれで帰る。何かあったら連絡してくれ」
「分かりました。......あの、用事って何か聞いても良いですか?」
シェリルは何気ないように装ってそう尋ねた。アキラの機嫌を一気に良くした何かに対する興味、多分に不安の混じったそれを抑えきれなかった。
「注文していた装備が届いたって連絡が来たから取りに行くんだ」
そこまで言ってから、少しだけすまなそうな表情と口調で続ける。
「あー、だから悪いけど、これからは拠点に顔を出す機会が減ると思う。ハンター稼業に戻るからな」
「......そうですか。残念ですが仕方ありません。暇を見つけて会いに来てくれると
みらしきものを浮かべていたシェリルに、アキラは軽い態度でそう答えた。そこには相手への思いの差が如実に表れていた。
シェリルはアキラを拠点の外まで送ってから自室に戻ってきた。一人きりになった部屋で少しの間焦りと悲しみの混じった表情を浮かべていたが、首を大きく横に振って自らに言い聞かせる。
「......駄目よ。落ち込んでいても状況が改善したりはしないわ。冷静さを取り戻して次の手を考えるの。アキラに見捨てられたくないでしょう?」
シェリルは少し前にアキラの交友関係に触れる機会を得た。それから少し余裕を失っていた。アキラの交友関係に女性が多く、しかも友好的で美人が多かった所為で、いろいろと邪推してしまっていた。
だけに整えているような人物だ。アキラはそのキャロルと楽しげに話していた。エリオ達からは訓練の時に上流階級の住人のような者達と出会った話を聞いた。メイド服を着た美人を2人も連れていた少女も、アキラに知人以上の態度を見せていたそうだ。
そして少し話をしただけでアキラの機嫌を劇的に回復させた誰かも恐らく女性だ。シェリルはアキラに殺されたワタバという男の最後の言葉を、武器屋の店主で女の方という内容を覚えていた。
アキラは異性への興味が非常に薄い。今までそう判断していたシェリルはそれを残念に思いながらも、アキラとの仲をゆっくり深めていけば良いと思ってある意味で安心もしていたのだ。だがアキラの
やはり自分に魅力がないだけなのだろうか。部下達が聞けば仰天しそうな仮定を、シェリルは本気で疑い始めていた。
冷静であろうと努めながら改善策を思案し続けるが、これといって有効な手段は思いつかない。焦りが募る中でドアをノックする音が聞こえる。それがシェリルの思考を乱し
「重要なことじゃないなら後にしてって言ったでしょう!?」
ドアの向こうにいるエリオがシェリルの機嫌の悪さに
「コルベってやつが来てる。あのスリやら何やらの話があるって言っているけど、帰ってもらった方が良いか?」
シェリルは冷静であろうと一度大きく深呼吸する。アキラから手を引いて良いと言われたが、無視できる内容でもない。
シェリルは足早に去っていくエリオの様子から自分の余裕のなさを再確認して、落ち着こうと胸に手を当てながら深呼吸を繰り返した。
エリオ達は緊張気味な表情を浮かべていた。先ほどのシェリルの様子に加えて、コルベまで不機嫌そうな態度を出していたからだ。
「あのスリの話があると伺いましたが、どのような御用件でしょうか?」
「実際に用事があるのは俺ではないけどな」
「それはどういう......」
コルベが情報端末を取り出して不思議そうにしているシェリルの前に置く。そこからヴィオラの声がする。
「話があるのは私よ。こんな形式で御免なさいね」
「......普通に連絡していただければ良かったのでは?」
「そこは私が心配性なだけよ。職業柄いろいろ用心する癖があるの。秘匿回線の質を通話先に求めるのも滑稽よ。それで、結構大切な話なのだけど、聞かせたくない人が近くにいるのならそちらで人払いをお願いしても良いかしら?」
「話の内容に
シェリルは少し考えると、エリオ達に部屋から退出するように視線で指示を出した。コルベが部屋から出て行くエリオ達を軽く目で追う。
「ヴィオラ。俺も席を外すぞ」
める片棒を担ぐのは御免だってことだ。俺は無関係だぞ?」
コルベはシェリルとヴィオラの両方にそう宣言して部屋から出て行った。
シェリルがヴィオラへの警戒を高めて情報端末に厳しい視線を向ける。
「それで、お話とは?」
への御機嫌取りよ。そのために良い話を持ってきたの」
「そう。私はあのスリを捕らえてアキラの機嫌を取ろうとしたのだけれど、残念ながら失敗してしまったからね。そしてその代わりになるような交渉材料も思いつかないから、恋人の機嫌を取ってお
シェリルの拠点を出たアキラがシズカの店に向かっている。新装備に期待を膨らませて上機嫌だ。
『やっとハンター稼業に戻れるな。アルファ。これからはどうする? またリオンズテイル社の端末設置場所の情報から未発見の遺跡を探すのも良いけど、一度またクズスハラ街遺跡に行くってのも良いと思わないか?』
『アキラがそうしたいのなら構わないけど、一応理由を聞いても良い?』
『ほら、前に旧世界製のナイフを手に入れただろう? 安全装置を壊して敵を壁越しに斬ったやつ。ああいうのを売らずに切り札として持っておけば、いざという時に役に立つと思ったんだ。今の俺の実力で装備を新調した後なら、もう一度クズスハラ街遺跡を探索して似たような旧世界の遺物を探し出すのもそこまで難しくないんじゃないか?』
みでアキラに顔を近づける。
『それだけ?』
『あの時は悪かったって。あんな失態はもうしないよ』
『悪かったって。あの後からちゃんと切り替えただろう? それで勘弁してくれ』
アキラもその時のことを軽く笑って語れるほどになっていた。失敗を悔いてはいるが重荷にはなっていない。アルファも軽く笑って流していた。
アキラは自分もあの頃から随分成長したものだと思いながら、ふと気になったことを尋ねる。
『残念だけれど教えられないわ。私にもいろいろあるのよ。あの面倒な制限や制約の所為でね』
あの頃に比べて随分強くなったと思っていたが、アルファに依頼された遺跡の攻略を基準にすれば誤差の
『あれを? 俺だけで? アルファのサポート一切無しで?』
『そうよ。私は一切手を貸さないわ』
『いや、幾ら何でも無理だろう。アルファのサポートがあってもあれを倒すのは無理なんじゃないか?』
『それを自力で対処できるだけの実力が必要なのよ。あの頃に教えなかった理由を分かってもらえたかしら?』
『ああ。よく分かったよ。先は遠そうだな』
確かにあの頃の自分がそれを知ったら不可能としか思えなかったはずだ。アキラはそう思いながらも、今ならばいずれは何とかなるかもしれないと思ったことに自分の成長を感じていた。
『それでも目指す場所の遠景ぐらいは見えるようになったか』
自嘲ではなく僅かな期待と自信を表情に乗せるアキラに、アルファが
むアルファへ、相手への信頼を向けて軽く笑い合っていたが、その表情が急に険しくなった。進行方向の先にカツヤの姿を見つけたからだ。
珍しく1人で行動していたカツヤもアキラに気付いた。2人の視線が合うと互いの表情が鋭さを増した。互いに相手への心証を分かり
するように、少々広い道幅の端まで移動して通り抜けようとする。それはこの場で争う意思はないという意思表示でもあった。
だがカツヤはそれを無視した。通り過ぎようとするアキラの前まで歩いて険しい表情で呼び止める。
カツヤの表情にはアキラへの明確な敵意が浮かんでおり、その声には確かな実力を持つハンターの威圧が込められていた。
カツヤに進行方向を塞がれたアキラが
「これ以上アルナに手を出すんじゃない。人を雇ってアルナを売り渡すように指示を出しやがって。そんなので俺が引くとでも思っているのか?」
「売り渡す? 何の話だ?」
な様子を見せるアキラに、あれはアキラの仕業だったと決め付けていたカツヤが揺らぐ。
「......スラム街で4、5人の男に、ハンターらしいやつまでいた連中に、2000万オーラムでアルナを渡せと言われた。お前が頼んだんじゃないのか? アルナを探すように頼んだんだろう?」
「知り合いにあのスリを見掛けたら教えてくれと頼んだのは事実だ。見つけたからって2000万オーラムも払うかよ。金を払うって約束すらしてねえ。第一、たかがスリの身柄に2000万オーラム支払う馬鹿がいるのか?」
「......待てっ! 話は終わってない!」
「何だよ。用事は済んだだろう。何だか知らんがお前の勘違いだ。俺は関係ない」
アキラはヴィオラやシジマ達のことかとも思ったが、あんなことに2000万オーラムも支払うはずがないと考え直して、カツヤの勘違いだと決めつけた。
「あれがお前とは無関係でも、お前がアルナを狙っていることに代わりはないだろうが!」
「アルナに手を出すな。もし手を出したら許さない。そう思え」
「もうアルナには手を出さないんだな?」
「いや、見つけたら殺す」
「......ふざけているのか?」
アキラも真剣で鋭い表情で敵対者への視線を向ける。
「俺はお前の質問にちゃんと答えただけだ。お前こそふざけているのか? 許さない? 俺が死ぬ気で稼いだ金を盗んでいったスリを殺すのにお前の許しがいるのか? それとも許さないってのは、殺されたくなかったら引けって意味か? 分かったよ。俺だって死にたくない」
自分の要求を飲んだような返答を聞いてカツヤが僅かに
ゆっくり下がっていくアキラを見て、カツヤが僅かな嘲りの表情を浮かべる。
「ふん。口だけでまた逃げるんじゃねえか」
「別にここでお前を殺す理由もないからな。そっちにはあるのなら銃を向けろよ。手間が省けて良い」
子供とはいえそれなりに装備も整っているハンター同士が
カツヤが逆上して先に銃を構えれば、アキラも正当防衛だと言い張れる。警備の者達もカツヤの制圧を優先する。今ならアルファのサポートもある。一手遅らせても十分反撃できると考えていた。そのアキラの判断はカツヤにもしっかり伝わっており、カツヤが軽く舌打ちした。
単にハンター同士の口論にすぎないのか、それとも力尽くで制圧する必要がある事態に発展するのか、それを見極める
めるように2人に声を掛ける。
「アキラ。カツヤ。こんな場所で何をしているの?」
アルファがどうするべきか思案しているアキラに指示を出す。
『アキラ。彼がエレナ達に気を取られている今のうちに退散しましょう』
『えっ? でも......』
『ここで何か起こった時にエレナ達を巻き込んでも良いのね?』
この場で騒ぎを起こさない最も簡単でアキラにも実行可能な手段は、アキラがさっさとここから離れることだ。アキラもそれぐらいは理解できる。逃げるように立ち去るのは少々
「すみません。急ぎますので失礼します」
エレナが少し驚いて呼び止めるが、アキラは駆け足でその場から立ち去った。サラもアキラの態度を何となく意外に思って不思議そうにしている。そしてカツヤは去っていくアキラを
だがカツヤはある程度落ち着きを取り戻した上で怒りを表に出して答える。
エレナとサラが険しい表情で顔を見合わせる。エレナ達の予想を超える相当な厄介事だったからだ。エレナが真面目な表情で交渉人としての意識を強くしてカツヤに尋ねる。
「詳しい話を聞いても良いかしら」
Kadol was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the slum city, he was dying. His wound was fatal, there was no way to save his life. The other three who were Shijima's men were already dead.
"...Why... I always... Got involved... With these... Strong brats..."
If he had not met Akira that day, he might have not been in this situation right now. He replayed the flashbacks of everything that happened that had led him to this ending. His expression was filled with grudge and frustration as he breathed his last breath.
Katsuya's group had an overwhelming victory. None in his group was wounded. After the shooting stopped, the area was so silent that it was even felt strange. Everyone in the area had run away far enough that their scream and curses did not reach that place, either that or they also got killed during that shootout.
"Katsuya, I can't confirm what happened to the boy who shot those shots from the alley. Is it better if we go and check on him too?"
"In that case, we should leave this place as soon as possible, we caused too much ruckus in this area."
"We should hurry up, it might be a good idea to never come to this place again."
Airi readied her rifle and made sure that the area was safe as if she was escorting an important person. When Katsuya and Yumina extended their hands towards Alna to help her get up, she suddenly jumped and hugged Katsuya.
"Alna, can you walk?"
Alna did not say anything back, she kept clinging on Katsuya and just nodded. Katsuya started to walk while Alna was still clinging on him. Yumina and Airi frowned, they looked slightly jealous when they saw that, but they kept watching their surroundings while having a conflicted expression plastered on their faces.
"Hm? If I'm not mistaken, you're from Sheryl's gang, right?"
Tiol squeezed out his voice to beg for help.
"H-help me!"
Tiol knew that man was Yatsubayashi.
"Ahhh, If I'm not mistaken, you're that boy, right? The one who took those attackers into Sheryl's base? The guys that I treated were complaining about you. I don't know what happened to you, but you're not looking good at all there."
"That doesn't sound like a yes."
Tiol was filled with hopelessness. Looking at that, Yatsubayashi lightly smiled and amusedly asked him a question.
"In this case, since you can't pay for the treatment fee, it won't be a treatment, but an experiment. I won't force you to take it though?"
Tiol was barely able to squeeze out his answer and immediately fainted after that. Yatsubayashi did not panic at all, he lightly smiled and said.
"We have a deal then."
Yatsubayashi took out a syringe from within his pocket and injected its content into Tiol's neck. The syringe was filled with a glowing green liquid and that liquid was injected into Tiol's body.
"Don't worry. I can still save your life. We're both lucky here, don't you think so?"
Yatsubayashi was indeed lucky to find Tiol in that situation, but that might not exactly be the case for Tiol, or at least, it was still unclear if he was really lucky or not for meeting Yatsubayashi there.
Sheryl was giving Akira a short report from what he asked her to do. The reason why she was being nervous was because of the contents of the report. It was about Alna and it seemed to be immensely annoying Akira. And to top it off, it was a bad news.
Sheryl was not able to find Alna, and according to Viola's report, a fight had happened over Alna that resulted in some dead bodies. Sheryl was giving her report in fear.
"...So then, we don't know where that Alna went."
"I'm really sorry for not being able to be of any help."
"Don't worry about that. Like I said before, that girl has a strong Hunter backing her. It's dangerous, so you guys can stop looking for her. In the worst-case scenario, that Hunter might get his eyes on you guys after all. In the first place, I wasn't expecting you to do anything about those Hunters."
"...I understand."
There was a fight over Alna, getting Sheryl and her gang involved in this matter might be dangerous. As Akira thought so, he said that in consideration for Sheryl's gang.
But Sheryl interpreted Akira's words as if he was saying that he did expect right from the start that Sheryl's gang would not be able to be any of use.
"We'll do our best to be useful to you next time."
Akira smiled wryly.
"Next time, huh. Honestly speaking, I don't want to get my wallet picked again though."
Akira interpreted Sheryl's words in a bad meaning and went on to admonish himself, Sheryl's face went pale as she flusteredly said.
"I-I'm really sorry, that wasn't what I meant..."
"Hm? Ahh, it's just that I interpreted that in the wrong way. Sorry, I'll be relying on you again if something comes up."
Akira realized that his mood was worse than he had thought. He then took some deep breaths and told himself that it was his own mistake and that he should not cause more trouble than he should as he forced himself to calm down.
A notice suddenly reached Akira's information terminal. When he checked its content, his mood immediately brightened.
"Sheryl, I have something to do, so I'll take my leave for today. Just call me if anything comes up."
"Okay... Uhmmm, is it okay to ask what is this something that you need to do?"
Sheryl tried to act casual when she asked that question, but since it was able to fix Akira's mood in one go, her curiosity and insecurity were leaking out.
"My orders just arrived, so I'm just going to pick them up."
He then took a short pause before he said apologetically.
"Ahh, by the way, I'm sorry, I might not be able to come here that often after this. I need to return back to my Hunter job after all."
"...I see, that's really unfortunate, but it can't be helped. I would be really happy if you can come when you're free."
Sheryl forced herself to smile while Akira just casually said so. The difference in their feeling toward each other was in full view there.
Sheryl accompanied Akira all the way to the base's entrance before returning back to her private room. Now that she's alone in her room, she looked slightly desperate and sad at the same time, but then she shook her head and said to herself.
"...No, letting myself get depressed won't fix my situation. I need to calm down and think about my next plan. I don't want Akira to abandon me after all, right?"
Sheryl was able to get a peek at Akira's cliques not too long ago, and because of that, she lost her calm. Akira was acquainted with many girls, and most of those girls were beautiful. So Sheryl could not help but to get suspicious.
Carol's attire and attitude were both tailored to seduce the opposite sex. And it seemed that Akira enjoyed talking to her. Then she also heard from Erio and the other children that Akira was visited by some high-class-looking girls in the middle of their training. The two maids and the girl who visited Akira seemed to be more than just acquaintances.
And the person that cheered Akira up in one go was probably also a girl. She remembered that Wataba said something right before Akira shot him dead and it was supposed to be about a girl who worked in a weapon shop.
Unfortunately enough, Akira's interest in the opposite sex was extremely low, or at least that was what Sheryl had always thought. But thanks to that, she also thought that she could take her time to build up trust. But the girls that kept appearing next to Akira erased that thought.
Sheryl started to think that it might be simply because she did not have enough charm. Her men would be surprised if they heard that, but she started to doubt herself there.
Sheryl tried to keep her calm while thinking of what to do from here and on, unfortunately, she could not come up with any good idea. Right when she was stuck in her thought, someone suddenly knocked on the door. It somehow immensely irritated her as she shouted at the door.
"Didn't I tell you to save it for later unless it's something important?!"
Erio who was on the other side of the door flinched.
"Someone by the name of Colbert came, he said it's something about that pickpocket, should I tell him to leave?"
Sheryl calmly took a deep breath. Although Akira told her that it was okay not to get involved any longer, it was not something that she could just ignore.
Sheryl realized just how much she had lost her calm listening to Erio who stepped away quickly. She then brought her hand to her chest and took a few deep breaths to calm down.
Erio and the other children seemed nervous. It was not only because Sheryl seemed to be in a bad mood earlier, even Colbert also seemed to be in a bad mood too.
"I heard that it's about that pickpocket, so, why exactly did you come to this place?"
"Actually, the one who has some business with you is not me."
"What do you mean by that...?"
Colbert took out his information terminal and put it in front of confused Sheryl. Viola's voice then came out from that information terminal.
"It's me, I'm sorry that I have to speak with you like this."
"...Shouldn't you be able to give me a call or something?"
"That's because I'm a rather paranoid person. It's because of my job, you see. And it would be stupid to demand you to have a special secure line just for my sake. So then, it's actually an important subject though, if there are people around you whom you don't want to listen to this conversation, can you tell them to leave the room first?"
"It depends on what are we going to talk about."
Sheryl thought for a bit before she sent a glance to the other children in the room, signalling them to leave. Colbert who saw the other people leaving the place then said to Viola.
"Viola, I'll leave too."
"I don't want to be responsible for tricking Akira's lover without even realizing it. I have nothing to do with this, okay?"
Colbert then left the room after he said that to both Viola and Sheryl.
Sheryl looked intensely at the information terminal and carefully said.
"So then, what is it?"
"To put it short, it's about to reconcile with you. In order to do that, I have a good news for you."
"Yup. I was originally planning to capture that pickpocket and bring her to Akira to make up for my mistake, you see. But unfortunately, it ended up in a failure. And since I can't think of anything that I can offer to Akira, I thought that at least I can do something for his lover. It's also my way of apologizing to Akira, so there's no need to worry. I won't do anything funny since it'll only worsen Akira's mood."
After Akira left Sheryl's base, he immediately headed to Shizuka's shop. He looked quite happy as he was filled with expectation.
"I can finally return back to my Hunter job, huh. Alpha, what should we do after this? Are we going to look for undiscovered ruin again using that information we still have from the Lion Steel corporation's information terminal? I don't mind doing that, but I think it might be a good idea to go to Kuzusuhara ruin again, you know?"
"If you want to do that, then sure, but can you at least tell me your reason?"
"Well, there's this knife that I found in Kuzusuhara ruin before, right? That one that I used to cut the wall after I destroyed its safety device. I just think that it might be a good idea to keep one of those things as a trump card in case of emergency, and it should not be that difficult for me to look for that relic in Kuzusuhara ruin after I get my new equipments, right?"
Alpha smiled inquisitively at him and brought her face close to his.
"Is that all?"
"Alright alright, I'm sorry about that. I won't do something like that again."
"I'm sorry, okay? I did follow all of your instructions since then, right? So just drop it already, will you?"
Akira had already moved on from that incident to the point that he could just laugh it off when he reminisced about it. He did regret his action there, but he did not let it weigh him down. So Alpha just smiled and let that slide too.
And when Akira thought that he had grown since that time, a question suddenly came up in his mind.
"Unfortunately enough, I can't tell you anything. It's a bit complicated from my side too, like those limiters and TOS."
Akira thought that he had become quite strong since then and believed that it would not be strange if he was strong enough to go to the particular ruin that Alpha wanted him to go to. But it seemed that was not the case. He seemed to be a bit down there, seeing that, Alpha made a suggestion to him instead.
"Those monsters? On my own? Without your support?"
"Yep, without my support at all."
"No no no, isn't that too high of a hurdle. Wasn't it impossible for me to defeat those monsters even with your support?"
"Well, you would need at least that much power, you see. I hope you now can understand why I didn't tell you the details of my request back then."
"Yeah, I understand it clearly now. Geez, I still have a long way to go, huh?"
Indeed if Alpha told Akira about it back then, he would have dismissed it right away thinking that it would be an impossible thing. But when he thought about it, he once again realized how much he had grown since he now believed that it was not completely impossible.
"But still, I at least got a good gist of how far my goal is, huh."
Akira's face was not filled with mockery, instead, it was filled with confidence and excitement. Looking at that, Alpha smiled and cheered for him.
Akira smiled faintly at Alpha while she smiled confidently at him, expressing their trust in each other. But Akira's expression immediately turned sour when he saw Katsuya in front of him.
It was rare for Katsuya to be moving alone that day, and when they noticed each other, their faces turned stern. Their inner feelings were expressed right on their faces.
Akira leaned to one side of the road as if he deliberately took a detour to avoid Katsuya and kept walking past Katsuya. That action was also showing that he had no wish to cause a commotion with Katsuya there.
But Katsuya ignored that gesture. When Akira was about to pass him, he walked straight in front of Akira and stopped him with a stern face.
Katsuya's face was clearly expressing hostility against Akira, his voice also contained the intimidation and the commanding power of a Hunter.
Now that Akira's way forward was blocked by Katsuya, he looked at Katsuya annoyedly and said.
"Stop messing with Alna! To think that you would even pay some people to bring her to you, do you really think I'll back off just because you did that?"
"Pay people? What do you mean?"
Akira seemed to be honestly confused, so Katsuya who thought that it was all Akira's fault started to question his own guess.
"...Back in the slum city, about 4 or 5 people who looked like Hunters came to me and told me that they'll give me 20,000,000 Aurum if I surrender Alna. That wasn't your doing? Weren't you the one who told them to look for Alna?"
"It's true that I asked some people that I know to tell me if they spot Alna somewhere, but like hell I would pay them 20,000,000 Aurum for finding her. I never promised them money. In the first place, who in their right mind would pay 20,000,000 Aurum just for a pickpocket?"
"...Wait!! I'm not done yet!"
"What now? You have no more business with me, right? I don't know what's going on, but one thing for sure, it's your misunderstanding. I have nothing to do with whatever you're facing."
Akira did think that it might be Viola and Shijima's gang. But he then thought that it was absurd for them to offer 20,000,000 Aurum for something like that and ruled out the possibility. So he was sure that it was Katsuya's misunderstanding.
"That might have nothing to do with you, but that doesn't change the fact that you're targeting her!!"
"Just keep your hands off her. If you do anything to her, I won't forgive you."
"So, you won't do anything to mess with her anymore, huh?"
"Nah, I'll kill her if I find her."
"...Do you think that I'm joking here?"
Akira's expression suddenly turned serious, he sent a sharp gaze filled with hostility toward Katsuya.
"I was only answering your question. Or more like, right back at you, are you being serious here? You won't forgive me? Do you really think I need your permission to kill the pickpocket who stole the money that I gathered by risking my life? Or does it mean that you'll kill me if I don't stop? In that case, I get it, I don't want to die after all."
Katsuya was suspicious since Akira said something that sounded as if he just obediently accepted Katsuya's demand. But Akira's next words completely wiped off his suspicion.
Seeing Akira slowly stepping away, Katsuya mocked him.
"Humph, you're nothing but talk. In the end, you're still going to run away, huh?"
"It's not like I have any reasons to kill you right here right now after all. If you want it so much, you can go ahead and point your rifle at me, that would make things way simpler and I would be happy to oblige."
Although both of them were just young boys, both of them were properly armed as Hunters. People around the area started putting some distance from them. In contrast to that, people who were there from the private security company and were stationed there to stand guard in the area started checking what was going on. If either Katsuya or Akira reached for their rifles, it would be their own fault if the guards there shot them dead.
If Katsuya raised his rifle, Akira would be able to say that it was out of self-defense. The guards would then focus on apprehending Katsuya instead. And this time Alpha would also give her support. Even if he got caught off-guard, Akira should still be able to fight back. Akira's intention was fully conveyed in his gaze and Katsuya fully understood it as he clicked his tongue.
The guards in the area started to slowly but surely approach Katsuya and Akira to check if it was only a quarrel between Hunters or that they needed to defuse the situation with force. That was when 2 Hunters approached Akira and Katsuya, those two Hunters were Sara and Elena.
Elena raised her voice as if she was scolding them.
"Akira, Katsuya, what do you think you're doing in this place?"
Akira was not sure what to do there, so Alpha made a suggestion to him.
"Akira, let's use this chance when he's focused on Elena to withdraw from this place."
"Eh? but..."
"Are you going to get them involved in case if something happened in this place?"
The fastest and most effective method to make sure not to cause a commotion there was for Akira to get away from that place. He himself knew that much. Although he hated the idea of leaving that place as if he was running away, for him, it was thousands of times better than getting Sara and Elena involved. As he finally reached his decision, he lightly bowed to Elena and Sara and said.
"I'm sorry, but I have an urgent business to take care of."
Elena was taken aback, but when she tried to stop him, Akira quickly left the place. Sara also did not expect that from Akira as she looked obviously surprised. While Katsuya only glared at him as Akira walked away.
But although Katsuya was able to calm down to some extent, he then answered with anger.
Elena and Sara frowned and looked at each other. It was a bigger issue than Elena had thought. Elena then made a stern face and spoke to Katsuya as if she was having a serious discussion with him.
"Can you tell us the details?"
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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