キャロルがアキラの様子を確認する。アキラの表情は不機嫌なものではない。機嫌の良い悪いで判定するなら、良い部類に入るだろう。しかし美人の豊満な胸に顔を埋めていた割には、性的な興奮のようなものは見受けられなかった。
キャロルはハンター稼業の副業として多くのハンターの相手をしている。本業と副業の両方の利点のために身体をナノマシンで強化拡張した身体強化拡張者で、美貌と身体能力の向上のために、並の強化服なら数着買える金額を自身の体に
副業で相手をした男性の人生をその魅惑の身体で狂わせた経験もあり、キャロルは自分の体に結構自信を持っていた。しかし異性への性的な関心という意味で、アキラのキャロルに対する興味は非常に薄い。キャロルはアキラの表情からそれを把握して妙な敗北感を覚えた。
キャロルがその内心を表に出さずに笑ってアキラに話す。
「あら、つれないわね。もう少し楽しんでいて良いのよ? その先でも構わないわ。前にも言ったとおり、代金は不要よ?」
「遠慮しておく。そもそも抱き付いてきたのはキャロルの方だ。俺じゃない。そして俺はまだ仕事中だ。キャロルの護衛の最中だろう。雇っている
「真面目なのね」
「不真面目なやつに護衛をしてほしいのか?」
これ以上ごねるとアキラの機嫌を損ねそうなので、キャロルは大人しく引き下がった。
キャロルから離れたアキラは小窓から輸送機の外の光景を興味深そうに眺めている。空を飛ぶ輸送機からの眺めはアキラには十分な娯楽だった。
キャロルはアキラの様子を見ている。目を輝かせて外の景色を見ているアキラは見た目よりも幼く見えた。セランタルビルであれほどの実力を見せたハンターにはとても思えない。
(こうして見ていると、普通の子供ね。それでも女性に興味のない
キャロルの胸元は大胆に開けられたままだ。アキラの気が変わることを期待して、指摘されるまで意図的に開いたままにしていた。ボディースーツのファスナーの隙間から覗かせる柔肌の胸の谷間は、健康的な男性の視線を大いに集めるものだ。
しかしアキラの視線は輸送機の外の景色に
「......そう」
アキラはキャロルから僅かな威圧感を覚えて返答を間違えたことに気付いた。アキラの横でアルファが笑いを堪えている。取りあえずアキラは
「ミハゾノ街遺跡の工場区画の離着陸場に向かっているんだよな。どれぐらいで到着するんだ?」
「15分ぐらいよ」
「......何か随分遅い気がする。旧世界製の輸送機なんだろう? もっとこう、物
「それはいろいろ怖いし危険だから、可能だとしても止めてほしいわ」
キャロルの返答を不思議に思ったアキラが、視線をキャロルの方に戻して尋ねる。
キャロルも少し不思議そうにした後で、すぐにその理由に気付いて答える。
「あーそうか。アキラは知らないのね。アキラはハンターの乗り物って聞いて、何を思い浮かべる?」
「車とか戦車とかだな。もっと東側だと人型兵器に乗っているハンターもいるんだっけ?」
「それ、全部地上の乗り物よね。戦闘機とか、戦闘ヘリを使用するハンターがいても良いと思わない? ハンター以外にも都市の防衛隊や企業の実行部隊の武装として戦闘機や戦闘ヘリが配備されても良いと思わない? 都市間の物資の輸送は車や列車で行われているわ。輸送機を使っても良いと思わない? でも全然使われていないわ。何でだと思う?」
「......そう言われると確かにそうだな。何でだ?」
アキラは納得できる理由を思いつけなかった。
「モンスターに襲われるからよ。より高く、より速く移動するほどに、より多く、より強いモンスターにね」
キャロルはアキラの視線が自分の方に戻ってきたことを無意識に喜びながら、東部で航空機が余り使用されない理由をアキラに説明し始めた。
東部には多種多様なモンスターが様々な場所に生息している。生息場所によってその強さも様々だが、大まかな目安が二つある。
一つは場所の東西によるもの。東部のモンスターは東部の東側へ、未到達領域との境である最前線に近付くほど強くなり、東部の西側へ、中央部統治国家連合の国境に近付くほど弱くなる。
もう一つは場所の高度によるもの。モンスターは空にも当たり前に生息しており、より上空に生息しているモンスターほど強力なのだ。
モンスターとの遭遇率を上げる要因にもいろいろあるが、それにも大まかな目安がある。より大きく、より速く、より高く移動するほどに、より強力なモンスターと遭遇する確率が上がるのだ。
つまり東部の空を高速で移動すると、非常に強力なモンスターとの遭遇率を致命的に上昇させることになるのだ。時には場違いなまでに強力なモンスターを上空から引き寄せることもある。その
それらの事情から東部の移動には主に地上の乗り物が使用されるのだ。なお航空機の製作自体は技術的に何の問題もない。過去に統企連所属の企業と国連所属の国家の戦争があったが、両陣営とも普通に戦闘機を使用していた。
キャロルの話を興味深そうに聞いていたアキラが、自分達が乗っている輸送機をその説明に当てはめてみる。
「あれ? そうするとこの輸送機も結構危ないんじゃないか?」
「だから高性能な迷彩機能を搭載して、意図的に飛行速度を落としているんでしょうね。本当はアキラが言ったとおり、もっと
キャロルは自分の話を興味深そうに聞くアキラを見てかなり機嫌を良くしていた。アキラの視線を窓の外に戻さないように、興味を引けそうな話を続ける。
「そういえば、アキラは知ってる? 旧世界の遺跡があるのは地上や地下だけじゃないの。空にもあるのよ」
「空? 遺跡が空に浮かんでるのか?」
い遺物とかがいろいろありそうだな」
「空の遺跡を探しているハンターは結構多いみたいよ。統企連がスポンサーになっているって話も聞くわ。地上の遺跡探索とは別物の難易度のようだけど、調査隊には高ランクのハンターが多数参加しているとか。......やっぱり、ロマンみたいなものがあるのかしらね」
キャロルは少し感慨深い表情で話した。キャロルが副業で相手をしたハンターの中に、空の遺跡を見つけ出すのが夢だと語っていた者がいた。そのハンターの相手を最後にした時、彼はコネで調査隊に加われたことを
アキラは空を飛ぶ遺跡という言葉に少し心引かれるものを感じながらも、現実を優先させた。
「ロマンか。分かるような分からないような。俺にはロマンで遺跡に行けるほどの余裕はないからな」
げるアキラに、キャロルは笑ってそう答えた。
アキラ達がハンター稼業の雑談を続けている間に輸送機が目的地に到着した。準備を済ませて貨物室の扉の前で待っていると扉が自動的に開く。
キャロルが開きっぱなしだったファスナーを思い出したように首元まで戻してから輸送機を降りる。アキラもその後に続いた。
アキラ達が降りると再び輸送機の扉が閉まる。輸送機は至近距離で目を凝らさなければ全く分からない状態に戻る。誰かがアキラ達を見ていれば、何もない場所から突然その場に現れたように見えただろう。
ミハゾノ街遺跡の工場区画には多くの工場やその倉庫などが建ち並んでいる。基本的に
アキラ達がいる離着陸場の周辺は基本的に何もない。ひび割れた路面が広がっているだけだ。他の輸送機が存在しているかもしれないが、そうだとしてもアキラ達には分からなかった。
キャロルが一度伸びをしてからアキラに話す。
「それじゃあ、ハンターオフィスの出張所まで護衛をお願いね?」
アキラがここに来たのは初めてだ。そのため今のアキラは迷子の手前だ。幸い離着陸場は荒野と遺跡の境目のような場所なので、その境に沿って歩いていけばいずれ到着するだろう。
キャロルは苦笑して進行方向を指差した。
アキラ達はキャロルの案内で遺跡と荒野の境目を進んでいく。途中でキャロルがアキラに尋ねる。
「アキラはこの後どうするつもりなの? 遺物収集を続けるつもり?」
に疲れた。今から遺物を探す気力はない。だから護衛の延長とかはしないからな」
「大丈夫よ。私も今日はもう切り上げるつもりだから。つまり、この後アキラは暇なのよね?」
「......暇って言うか、ゆっくり休むんだよ。疲れたからな」
「一緒に休まない?」
「良いじゃない。一緒に死線を潜った仲でしょう? アキラに護衛を依頼したとはいえ、命を救ってもらった恩もあるしね。恩を返させてよ」
「一応依頼の報酬はしっかり受け取ったし、旧世界の遺物も
れと不満を混ぜた表情で、僅かに意地を張った口調で話す。
「私の命を救ってもらった恩をその程度のことで済ませるのは、私の
キャロルがどこか楽しげな苦笑を浮かべながら答える。
「......全く。仕方ないわね。出張所の建物の中にある食堂で良ければ
「恩は早めに返すことにしているの。アキラが食い気より色気の年頃に成長するまで待っていられないわ」
「良し。そうと決まったら早く行こう」
「急ぐのは構わないけど、護衛の方はしっかり頼むわよ?」
アキラは機嫌良くミハゾノ街遺跡のハンターオフィスの出張所への足を速める。
キャロルは年相応の子供らしい様子を見せるアキラを見て軽く笑いながらその後に続いた。
ミハゾノ街遺跡の外周部にあるハンターオフィスの出張所には、この遺跡で活動するハンター達を相手にした食堂がある。ハンター達が装備品である重火器を持ち込んだまま食事を取る食堂であり、高級店とはとても呼べない作りの店だ。
しかしこの食堂にはその店の外装に反するような高額な料理も用意されていた。食事代の総額が優に10万オーラムを超える高額の食事だ。それらは確かに美味なのだが、荒野料金、遺跡価格であり、都市での食事代と比べるとかなり割増しされた値段設定だ。ここまでの輸送費等も経費に含まれているので不当に高いわけではないが、高いものは高いのだ。
食堂は簡単な間仕切りで3カ所に分割されていた。そしてこの食堂を利用するハンター達は慣例として食事の代金で座る場所を大まかに決めていた。食事代が1000オーラム、1万オーラム、10万オーラム程度になるハンター達で分けられていた。別に規則でも強制でもないのだが、座る場所を間違えると少し居心地が悪い。その程度の話だ。図太い神経の持ち主なら何の問題もない。
食事の代金とハンターの稼ぎとハンターの実力は大体比例している。そのため近くに座っているハンターは、似たような実力であることが多い。この食堂の常連のハンターであれば、名前は知らなくとも顔は知っているハンターがいることも珍しくない。近くに座っているハンターと何となく雑談でもして気が合えば、新しいチームができることもあるのだ。
、高額な食事代を支払うハンターがいる場所に新顔のハンターが座っていれば、少し目立つこともあるのだ。そして今日、その新顔の姿があった。アキラだ。
テーブルに座るアキラの前には、この席に座るのに
アキラの向かいにはキャロルが座っている。キャロルの前にも数は少ないが同価格帯の料理が並んでいた。
キャロルが両手の上に顎をのせてアキラに尋ねる。
く食事を続けているアキラの姿を見ていたキャロルも、目の前の料理に手を付ける。
(それにしても、アキラはこういう時は普通の子供ね。あれだけの戦闘技術を持つハンターだとはとても思えないわ)
キャロルの観察眼は正しい。事実アキラはそこまで強いハンターではない。全てはアルファのサポートの恩恵だ。アキラが自力で、そして自分の支払いでこの場に座れるようになるにはまだまだ多くの修練が必要だ。
「それにしても、アキラは随分食べるのね。支払いは気にしなくて良いけど、残したりしたら駄目よ?」
「大丈夫。最近食が進むんだ。これぐらいなら残したりしない」
アキラは余裕を持って答えた。同時にキャロルに指摘されて少し疑問にも思う。
『でも確かに、随分多めに食べられるようになっていたのは最近なんだよな』
アルファが口を挟む。
『多分、アキラの体が成長期に摂取できなかった分を取り戻そうとしているんでしょうね』
『どういう意味だ?』
『大量に食べれば片付くような問題になるように、処置を受けたのだと思うわ。ほら、アキラは前に6000万オーラムを払って病院で治療を受けたでしょう? 成長の遅れを不健康な状態だと判断して、健康な状態にするための治療の一環として、その手の処置もしたのでしょうね。治療費の
食事を続けていたアキラの手が止まる。
『......別に変なことをされたわけじゃないよな? 大丈夫、だよな?』
『確かに健康になっているから大丈夫よ。それに本来
『そうか。なら大丈夫か。高い治療費を取られたんだ。そういう効果があっても良いよな』
アキラは安心して食事を再開する。キャロルが一度食事を止めたアキラを見て不思議そうに尋ねる。
「そう。ああ、食べながらで良いから聞いてほしいことがあるんだけど、良い?」
「何だ? 頼み事の類いで、はいと答えないとこの料理を下げられるのでなければ何でも言ってくれ」
「大丈夫よ。確かに頼み事だけど、断られたからってその料理を下げたりはしないわ」
アキラが再び食事の手を止める。アキラはキャロルの態度から何かを感じ取り、食事の手を止めたままキャロルを少し真面目な表情で見る。
「食べながらで構わないわよ?」
「食べながら聞く話かどうか確認したらな。で、話って何だ?」
だ。しかしそこには確かな警戒の色が含まれていた。被害妄想に近い懐疑の目。誰も彼もが自分を害そうとしていると思い込んでいる人間の目。その目の暗い輝きが、僅かだがアキラの目に現れている。
それがアキラのほんの僅かな思いが目に現れたものなのか、隠しきれない負の感情が
「......えっと、それはハンター活動のチームを組まないかって誘いか?」
「悪いけど、断る」
アキラはそれだけ答えて食事に戻った。アキラから警戒が消えており、場の空気が
「そう。残念ね。無理強いして組んでも
軋轢
普通のハンターが旧世界の遺跡に向かう場合、事前に向かう遺跡を決めて、その遺跡に見合った準備を整えてから出発するものだ。チームで行動するならば、採算分岐点の確認や報酬の分配方法などいろいろ決めておくことも増える。チームの誰かが急な体調悪化などに見舞われた場合、遺跡探索を取りやめる必要なども出てくる。
アキラはアルファと相談して行動を修正したりもするが、その理由を話すわけにはいかない。アキラが誰かと長期間組んで行動すれば、突然予定を
キャロルはアキラの話から、アキラの判断基準を推察する。
(アキラは集団行動の利点より欠点を重視するタイプか。下手をすると、誰かが近くにいることを心強いと思うより、危険だと考えてしまうタイプ。セランタルビルでもあの状況で脱出路を知っているであろう私と別行動を取っても良いと本気で考えていた。恐らくアキラは、私が裏口を知られた口封じにアキラを殺す可能性を、十分あり得るものと判断していた。でも護衛を頼んだらしっかり身を
「アキラはそういうタイプなのね。まあ私も1人で活動することは多いし、その気持ちが分からないわけじゃないわ。でもずっと1人でハンター稼業をしているの?」
「いや、単純にチームとして活動していないだけだ。他のハンターと一緒に遺物収集に行くこともあるし、集団行動前提の依頼を受けたりもしている。キャロルは違うのか?」
「私? 私はいろいろよ。誰かとチームを組むこともあるし、既存のチームに混ざることもあるわ。今は1人で活動しているけどね。前に所属していたチームはいろいろあって解散しちゃったのよ」
キャロルはチームを意図的にそのような状態に誘導したわけではない。ただしそれを食い止めようともしなかった。全ては自己責任だ。キャロルはそう考えている。
「次のチームを探すにしても、誰でも良いってわけではないしね。私の副業目当てで誘うハンターもいるわ。それ自体は別に良いのよ。ただ、同じチームだから安くしろだの
アキラはキャロルの話を一応ちゃんと聞いている。しかしその意識は目の前の美食の方に偏っていた。
キャロルは暗にアキラの実力を高く評価しているからこそ誘っているのだと言葉と表情で伝えているのだが、胃と舌に意識を割いているアキラにどこまで伝わったかどうかは微妙だった。
「......子供ねえ」
アキラが機嫌良く料理を口に運びながら答える。
アキラがもう少し成長していれば、色気と食い気の優先比率がもう少し狭まっていれば、結果は変わっていたかもしれない。キャロルはそう考えながら残念そうに
Carol peeked at Akira's expression. He did not seem to be angry, as a matter of fact, it looked like he was in a rather good mood. But for someone who just got his face buried in between a beautiful girl's wonderful breasts, he did not seem too delighted.
As her side job, other than being a Hunter, Carol had slept with a lot of other Hunters. For the sake of her main job and her side-job, she enhanced her body with nanomachines and spent a large sum of money that could be used to buy multiple augmented suits just to enhance her beauty.
Carol had absolute confidence in her own beauty, after all, there were Hunters who went crazy after experiencing her beautiful body. But even so, Akira was not that interested in her body. She understood that very well after peeking at Akira's face and she felt a sense of defeat.
Carol smiled as to not show that in her face as she said to Akira.
"Geez, you're no fun. There's nothing wrong with enjoying it a bit more, isn't it? I don't mind if you want to do it later too, you know. And as I said, it's free of charge."
"No thank you. Moreover, you were the one who hugged me in the first place, not me. And I'm still in the middle of a job too. You're paying me to be your bodyguard, remember? So don't get in my way when you're the one who gave me that request."
"You're so earnest, aren't you?"
"Do you prefer to have someone not earnest escorting you instead?"
Since it seemed that Akira would only get annoyed if she continued, Carol decided to back off there.
After getting himself away from Carol, Akira returned back looking outside from a small window. For him, the view from a flying drone was entertaining enough.
Carol kept looking at him. Akira, who was looking outside with sparkling eyes, looked like a small boy from her point of view. He did not seem like he was that powerful Hunter who showed such amazing skill inside the Seranthal building.
[When I look at him like this, he looks like nothing but just a young boy. But even so, he's not that young that he has no interest in girls, right?]
Carol still had her fastener pulled down, showing her bountiful breasts. Unless she was told otherwise, she kept her fastener down hoping that Akira would change his mind. Normally, her beautiful skin and valley peeking out from that opening would gather the attention of any healthy young boys.
But even so, Akira kept his eyes fixed on the views outside. It seemed that the views outside were way more interesting for Akira.
"...I see."
Akira felt the faint pressure coming from Carol and realized that he gave a wrong answer just now. He then looked at Alpha who was smiling at him. So he decided to throw a different subject to change the mood there.
"We're heading to the landing platform in Mihazono ruin's factory district, right? How long until we get there?"
"It should be around 15 minutes."
"...That's pretty long. This is an old-world transport drone, right? So like, I think it should have been able to fly faster though."
"That would be scary and dangerous, even if it's possible, I hope that it won't go that fast."
Akira, who felt that reply from Carol was rather weird, returned his gaze back at her and asked.
Carol thought that reaction was a bit unexpected, but she quickly realized the reason.
"Ahh, I see, you don't know about it, huh. By the way, what comes in your mind when I say Hunter's transport vehicles?"
"A car or maybe a tank. And if I remember it correctly, there are Hunters with powered suits if we go further to the east, right?"
"All of them are ground transportations, right? Didn't you ever think that it's weird they don't use combat drones or combat helicopters? Or why other than the Hunters, even the city defence squad and the corporate militaries don't use them too? The cities also use trucks to trade and transport materials between them. Don't you think it's weird that they don't use flying drones? Why do you think that is?"
"...Now that you mention it, that's kind of weird. Why is that?"
Akira could not come up with any answers.
"It's because the monsters would attack them. The higher and the faster you go, the more powerful the monsters that would attack you."
Carol did not realize it herself that she was actually feeling happy that Akira was looking back at her again as she explained to him why people did not use airplanes in the eastern district.
There were all kinds of monsters living in all kinds of places in the eastern district, and according to the area where they lived, they posed different levels of danger. But they roughly had 2 common features.
First of all, their strength depended on whether they lived further to the west or to the east. In most cases, the closer they lived to the frontline bordering the unexplored area in the far east, the more powerful they were. And the closer they were to the western area bordering the Federation of Nations' central district, the weaker they were.
The other indicator would be the height where they usually roamed. Of course, there were monsters who roamed the sky, and the higher they were, usually, the stronger they were.
There were many factors that affected the encounter rate with the monsters, the usual indicators were the bigger, faster, and higher you go, the higher the chance for you to meet monsters.
So in short, the faster they flew in the eastern district's sky, the higher the chance for them to meet such powerful monsters, which would be fatal. There were also cases where it might even attract stronger monsters that would not usually roam in a particular area. Because of that, it was prohibited to use any kind of flying vehicles around the city. And if there was anyone who did that without proper authorization, the defence squad would take them down without warning, suspecting that they were trying to attract strong monsters to attack the city. As a matter of fact, such a thing had actually happened a few times in the past.
Because of this, the main means of transportation in the eastern district were land transportations although, technology-wise, the eastern district had no problem building airplanes. And back when the Corporate Government had a huge war against the nationalist, they were normally using airplanes.
Akira, who was listening closely to Carol's explanation, then applied that newly received information to the flying drone that they were riding.
"Wait? Doesn't that mean this thing is dangerous?"
"That's why it's equipped with sophisticated camouflaging features and is moving at a slow speed. As you said, it can fly way faster so that we can reach our destination way quicker, but its speed is mainly determined by an ignorable chance to meet any powerful monsters."
Carol was completely cheered up after seeing Akira listening closely to her explanation. And in order so that he would not start looking outside again, she tried to come up with a more interesting subject.
"By the way, Akira, do you know that the old-world ruins are not only located on or below the ground? You can also find old-world ruins in the sky too, you know?"
"In the sky? Like, a floating ruin?"
"...I see. It sounds like we can find some amazing relics if we can somehow get to one of those floating ruins."
"It seems that there are a lot of Hunters who are looking for floating ruins, you know. I heard that even the Corporate Government is sponsoring those Hunters. Moreover, it's on a whole different level of difficulty and a lot of high ranking Hunters are actually doing exactly that... As I thought, it has some kind of romanticism in it."
Carol was talking, filled with interest. Among the Hunters that she had slept with, one of them told her that he dreamt of finding a floating ruin. The last time she heard from that Hunter was when he was talking happily to her that he got recruited into the search squad through his connection. She never met that Hunter again since then, that Hunter might as well already be dead by now.
Although Akira was interested in that story of floating ruins, he still analyzed that information realistically.
"Romanticism, huh? Honestly, I don't really get it. It's not like I'm out in the ruin chasing renown after all."
Akira tilted his head, Carol smiled at him.
As Akira and Carol were talking about Hunter stuff, they eventually arrived on a landing platform. After packing their stuff up, they then stood in front of the door of the storage room and the door automatically opened.
Carol remembered that she had not pulled up her fastener yet, so she pulled it back all the way up to her neck before stepping off the transport drone, Akira followed suit afterwards.
Once they boarded off, the door closed automatically. It then turned invisible again unless you got close enough. If anyone saw them, it would look like Akira and Carol just appeared out of nowhere.
The Mihazono ruin's factory district was filled with factories and warehouses. Although most of them had already turned into rubble, some of them were still in operation. It was a dangerous area filled with security drones.
Basically, the landing platform where Akira and Carol were was clean of anything. There were only some cracks in the platform, nothing more. There might be other transport drones there too, but those were invisible to Akira and Carol.
Carol stretched out her body once and said.
"Well then, can you escort me to the Hunter Office, now?"
It was Akira's first time coming there, so he had no idea which way to go. Fortunately enough, the landing platform was located in between the ruin and the wasteland, so if they followed that boundary, they should be able to find the Hunter Office sooner or later.
Carol smiled as she guided the way.
As Akira was walking the boundary between the ruin and the wasteland with Carol guiding him, Carol suddenly asked him a question.
"Akira, what are your plans after this? Are you going to hunt for relics again?"
"No, I'm planning to stop for today and get a good rest. I'm too tired after going through all that, so I have no power left to hunt for relics. So, don't ask me to extend the escort, okay?"
"Don't worry. I'm also planning to wrap up for today. So, basically, you're free after this, right?"
"...Well, yeah, but I want to get a good rest. I'm really tired, you know."
"Want to take a rest with me?"
"Don't be that uptight, we both went through that dangerous situation together after all, right? Although you're under my request to escort me, it's true that you did save my life. So I want to repay it."
"You've already paid me for escorting you, and you said you would also pay for the relics that I lost, so I have no plans to ask you for any more reward. Well, if you're still bothered by it, you can buy me some meals. But I won't accept a cheap meal, okay?"
There was a trace of irritation and frustration in Carol's bitter smile, she then became a bit obstinate as she said.
"If you think that would be enough to reward someone who saved my life, it would hurt my pride."
Carol seemed a bit cheered up as she smiled.
"...Geez. It can't be helped then. If it's in one of those facilities near the Hunter Office branch, I don't mind treating you to a meal."
"I want to return my debt as soon as possible and I don't want to wait until you're interested in girls."
"Alright then, we have a deal here. So let's hurry up and get back."
"I don't mind if you want to pick up the pace, but make sure to properly escort me, okay?"
Akira then happily swung his legs toward the Mihazono ruin's Hunter Office branch.
Carol just giggled and followed behind him when she saw him showing his child-like side befitting of his age to her.
There were restaurants built near the Hunter Office branch located on the outskirts of the Mihazono ruin. Hunters were allowed to bring in their heavy weapons inside those restaurants when they ate their meals, so as to be expected, those were not high-class restaurants.
But as if to betray their outer appearance, some of those restaurants were actually selling high-class meals. A full course meal in those restaurants could cost above 100,000 Aurum. Although those meals were pretty delicious, in the end, it was the wasteland price, so its price was rather swollen compared to if they were served in the city. It was understandable to be that pricey since they would have spent money to manage the place and transport the ingredients all the way there, but still, expensive things were expensive.
The restaurants in that place were roughly divided into 3 areas, then the customers who went to those restaurants were assigned to different seats depending on the price they pay for their meals. They were roughly categorized to the Hunters who paid 1,000 Aurum, 10,000 Aurum, and 100,000 Aurum for their meals. It was not like there was a strict ruling about it, so it was not compulsory, but if they took a different seat, they would feel a bit out of place and might feel uncomfortable, except for those people with steel-nerves.
It was an easy thing to identify the skill and the success of a Hunter depending on how much that Hunter would spend on his or her meal. Because of that, grouping Hunters' seats like this would allow them to be seated together with the other Hunters with more or less the same skill level. So, it was not rare for the regulars of a restaurant to recognize the faces of the Hunters around them, although they did not know each others' names. It was also common for them to strike a conversation with the other Hunters eating near them, and if they got along well, they might even form a team later.
But then, because of that, when someone new came in and ate in a seat for expensive meals, it would garner a lot of attention from the other Hunters. And that day, the new face was Akira.
Akira was sitting in front of an expensive-looking table and meals befitting for that table were lined up in front of him. That scene made Akira beam up as he gobbled up those meals while occasionally voicing out his amazement, he was in a really good mood there.
Carol was sitting across Akira. Although it was less than what was in front of Akira, her meal was worth about the same price as his.
Carol rested her palms on her cheeks as she smiled and asked Akira.
Carol, who was looking at Akira eating his meal for a few minutes, eventually started eating her own meal.
[But still, Akira looks like just a normal boy during times like this. He doesn't seem like a strong Hunter at all.]
Carol's evaluation was correct. In all reality, Akira was not that strong of a Hunter in the first place. It was all thanks to Alpha's support. If he relied on his own skill, it would still take a few years of training and hard work before he could sit on that seat.
"But still, you eat quite a lot, don't you? I don't mind paying for all of it, but don't leave anything behind, okay?"
"Don't worry, my appetite is growing bigger and bigger lately. So I won't have any trouble finishing all of this food."
Akira just answered back casually. But after Carol pointed that out, a question popped up in his mind.
"Now that I think about it, I actually really start eating more and more lately."
Alpha interjected.
"It might be because your body is trying to compensate for the nutrition that you didn't get when you were in your accelerated growth period."
"What do you mean?"
"I think you've gone through a special treatment so that you can solve that problem just by eating a lot of food. You have gone through that 60,000,000 Aurum treatment before, remember? They might have identified your impeded growth was due to an unhealthy environment, and so they might have done something to your body which allows you to get you back to your optimal state just by eating a lot of food, though they might have also done that so that they can charge you more money too."
Akira suddenly stopped eating his meal.
"...It's not like they did anything weird to me, right? I'm actually okay, right?"
"Well, it's true that you're getting back to your healthier body state, so it's alright. Moreover, wounds and fatigue won't get properly recovered or healed unless you eat food and get ample rest. After all, there's a limit on how far the medicines can help you. Since it was a treatment to get you back to health, so it shouldn't have any bad side-effects. As long as you earn enough money to satiate your hunger, you should be fine."
"I see, well, I guess it's alright then. I also got that after going through an expensive treatment, so I guess it should be fine, huh?"
Akira then continued eating without worrying about it anymore. Carol, who saw Akira pause momentarily, found it weird.
"Is that so? By the way, there's something I want to ask you, I don't mind if you want to keep eating while answering my question. Is that okay?"
"What is it? I don't mind as long as it's not a request in which you'll refuse to pay for my meal if I don't accept it."
"Don't worry. Well, it's indeed a request but I'll still pay for this meal even if you refuse it."
Akira stopped eating. He could feel that it was something serious from the way Carol asked him, he then stared at her with a serious face.
"I don't mind if you want to continue eating, you know?"
"I'll hear you first and if it's something not that important, then I'll continue eating. So, go on, what do you want to ask of me?"
Strictly speaking, Akira still seemed to be in a good mood, but there was a trace of cautiousness in his face. It was obvious that he was being paranoid. He looked at Carol with distrust, as if he was suspecting that she was going to bring more trouble to his plate. Although it was just a hunch, there was no mistaking it.
Carol had no idea if it was simply because there was a flicker in Akira's feeling and it was expressed in his eyes, or it was because Akira was actually suppressing his feeling and it was leaking out.
"...Let me get this straight, do you mean working together with you as a team of Hunters?"
"Sorry, but no thanks."
Akira only said that and immediately returned back to eating. His tense aura was gone in a snap and the mood quickly returned to normal.
"Is that so? That's really unfortunate. Well, it'll only cause trouble down the road if I force it, so I'll just give it up here. Would you at least please tell me the reason?"
"It's simply because I'm more comfortable moving alone. I am used to moving around out of whim or based on situational decisions. Now that I think about it, I can be a bit random most of the time. I won't be able to do that if I work together with another Hunter, you see. Even for today, I only decided to go to Mihazono ruin just this morning and it's simply because I thought about it when I was visiting another place. So like, you know, I won't fit to work together in a team, right?"
Most of the Hunters decided beforehand where to go and properly prepared themselves before actually heading there. And if Akira was in a team, then he should think about how to divide the reward and the profit too. Not to mention, when one of the team members was not feeling well, there was a chance that the expedition had to be cancelled too.
Akira always turned to Alpha and asked for her opinion before making any decision, and of course, he could not use that reason if he had to explain his decision to other people. If he worked with someone for a long time, it was almost completely guaranteed that he would be treated as a troublesome team member who always made sudden random decisions on his own.
Carol tried to guess Akira's way of thinking from his answer.
[Akira is the type of Hunter who focuses more on the downsides of working together in a team rather than the advantages that he can get from doing that. He's one of those who get suspicious of people who stay together with them for long rather than feeling safe. Back then in the Seranthal building, he also seriously thought of moving separately from me; given that I know the layout of the building well, and that we were in such a dangerous situation. He might be thinking that I'm planning to kill him since he knows about the backdoor now. But, on the other hand, if it's out of a request, he would even shield me using his own body... This boy is broken... Or more like, seriously, what kind of moral value is this boy following?]
"So you're that kind of Hunter, huh? Well, I tend to work alone too, so I can understand your argument. But like, were you always working alone until now?"
"Not really. It's just that I never really worked together as a team. I've explored ruins together with other Hunters too, I also accept requests that need me to work in a team. Is that not the case for you too?"
"Me? Well, I did a lot of stuff in the past. I've formed a team together with the other Hunters, there were also times when I joined an already established team of Hunters. But at the moment, I'm working alone. There were a few things that happened with my last team which caused the team to break down, you see."
It was not like Carol intentionally did that, but she also did not try to stop the situation from getting worse. She thought that it was all their own responsibilities.
"Even if I want to make another team, it's not like I can do that with just any Hunters. After all, there are Hunters who are only interested in forming a team because of my side job, that in itself is fine though, the real problem is when they demand a discount or even demand it for free just because we're on the same team. I just don't want to work together with those kinds of people neither for my real job nor for my side job."
Akira was at least properly listening to Carol's story, but his attention was more focused on the food in front of him.
Carol was indirectly saying that she was interested in forming a team with Akira because she evaluated his skill highly. But since his attention was all on his tongue and stomach, it was rather vague whether Akira got it or not.
"...He's really just a little boy."
Akira, who was still gobbling the food in a good mood, flatly replied.
Carol regretfully mumbled as she thought that if only Akira was more of an adult and his interest in food was shifted towards girls, he might have given a different answer there.
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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