アキラ達を乗せたトラックが出発地点の広場に戻った。広場は出発時より混雑していた。巡回用の荒野仕様車両が並び、それに乗り降りするハンター達でごった返している。
アキラは荷台から降りると、まだ少し残していた警戒と緊張を
『本当に良かったわ。これも私のサポートのおかげね』
『......そうだな』
『14に行けと指定された時に、私も柄にもなくアキラの不運を過度に警戒してしまったけれど、気にする必要はなかったわね』
『だから、それはどういう意味なんだ?』
『大丈夫よ。気にしないで』
アルファは変わらずに
その後、依頼の完遂処理を行う列に並んで、職員の端末に自分のハンター証を読み取らせた。読み取り音がアキラに巡回依頼の完遂を告げた。
アキラが軽い達成感を覚えていると、アルファから情報端末でハンターオフィスのサイトに
『そういえば、報酬はどうやって受け取るんだ?』
『口座振り込みにしておいたわ。基本報酬は5000オーラム。追加報酬が幾らになるかは分からないけれど、アキラが倒したモンスターは1体だけだから、余り期待しない方が良いわね。支払開始時刻になったらハンターオフィスから振り込まれるはずよ。ハンターランクの上昇に関しては私にもよく分からないわ。ランク上昇の算出方法は非公開になっているそうよ』
『......まだ風呂付きの部屋に泊まれる金額じゃないな』
『まだ午前中の初回の依頼が終わっただけよ。今日の稼ぎを合算すれば多分大丈夫よ』
巡回依頼は午前に3回、午後に4回に分けて行われている。巡回中に遭遇するモンスターの量に応じて消費する弾薬の量もまちまちなので、弾薬の残量に支障が出ない程度の時間で帰還できるように巡回時間を分けているのだ。
また、巡回依頼を受ける者には駆け出しハンターも多い。そして駆け出しハンターなどは、事前に依頼の手続きをしても、現場には来ないことも多い。その理由は様々だ。単純に依頼をすっぽかした。複数回の依頼を受けたが、初回にモンスターに襲われて、怖くて次回以降の依頼から逃げだした。そして、モンスターの攻撃で死亡を含めた戦闘不能状態に陥った。駆け出しハンターによくある理由だ。
ハンターオフィスはこれらの理由を区別しない。その理由が何であれ、該当のハンターの意思と実力が不足していることに違いはないからだ。
アキラは次は11時開始の依頼を受けている。弾は3発しか使っていないので、弾薬補給に向かう必要はない。次の依頼までアルファとの雑談などで暇を潰していると、偶然近くをエレナが通りかかった。アキラに気付くと笑って声を掛けてくる。
「やっぱりアキラだわ。久しぶりね」
「お久しぶりです」
「シズカの店でその内に会えるだろうと思っていたけど、最近は来ていなかったみたいね。何かあったの?」
「シズカさんに強化服を注文してからは、それが届くまでハンター稼業を中断して宿に籠もっていました。その強化服が
で何かあって休んでいた訳じゃないのね。良かったわ」
エレナがアキラの強化服に着目する。
「それがその強化服ね? うん。結構似合ってるわ。格好良いわよ」
「ありがとう御座います」
ましく思った後、表情を少し真面目なものに変える。
(......こうして見ていると、アキラも普通の子供に見えるわね。でも......)
「今更だけど、私からも言っておくわ。サラと私を助けてくれてありがとう。本当に感謝しているわ」
「サラから話を聞いたわ。私もサラと同じように、アキラに余計なことを聞かないし話さない。約束する。誓うわ」
アキラは一瞬複雑な表情を浮かべた後、僅かにごまかすように笑った。
「......あ、はい。分かりました。お願いします」
エレナはアキラの態度を見て少しだけ残念に思う。
(......やっぱりそのまますぐには信用してもらえないか。まあ、当然よね)
エレナはアキラの態度を自分達への不信と捉えて僅かに心を痛めた。同時に納得もしていた。
恐らくアキラは旧領域接続者で、それを他者に知られる危険性も十分に理解しているのだろう。ならば自分達を信じられなくとも仕方がない。それを他者に知られる意味は、時に命より重いのだ。エレナはそう考えている。だからこそ、アキラを出来る限り安心させるように優しくも誠実で力強く
「あ、いや、別にエレナさんとサラさんを疑っている訳では......」
「そう? 信頼してくれてありがとう。
「もう少しいろいろ話したいところだけど、実はちょっと急いでいるのよ。またシズカの店とかでゆっくり話しましょう。ここにいるってことはアキラも巡回依頼なんでしょうけど、久々のハンター稼業ってことなら油断は禁物よ。十分気を付けなさい。じゃあ、また今度ね」
「はい。気を付けます。エレナさんもお気を付けて」
エレナが軽く手を振って去っていく。その姿が視界から消えた後、アキラは僅かに
アキラも以前アルファに言われたことを思い出す。
次は誰かを殺す口実としてではなく、エレナ達を助ける
『それなら良いわ。そろそろ次の依頼の時間よ。移動しましょう』
アキラは顔を上げてしっかりとした足取りで歩き出した。
次の巡回依頼の時間が近づいてくる。アキラが前回と同じように指定された車両に向かっていると、その
『......またこの番号ね。アキラには縁のある番号なのかしら』
指示された番号はまた14番だった。また意味ありげなことを意味ありげな顔で口にしたアルファを見て、アキラも少し顔を
アキラはそれで納得した。アルファもそれ以上詳しくは話さなかった。
次の巡回依頼が始まる。荷台を見渡して同乗者を軽く確認すると、前回の依頼で一緒だった者も数名乗っていた。ドランカムのハンター達とハザワの姿はなかった。
今回の若手ハンターはアキラだけだった。前のような騒ぎはなかったが、足手
巡回依頼は特に問題なく進んでいった。モンスターの強さも襲撃頻度も普段より少し多く若干強い程度のものだ。追加報酬を期待するハンター達にとっては、今回は当たりだったことになる。
アキラも他のハンター達に混ざって多くのモンスターを倒した。支払われる追加報酬を期待して、僅かに顔を緩ませていた。
巡回を済ませたトラックが帰路に就くと、多額の報酬を期待できそうなハンター達が報酬の使い道を笑いながら話し始めた。歓楽街での豪遊など、気前の良い会話も聞こえてきた。
アキラも上機嫌だった。倒したモンスターの数から報酬額を予想する
『これなら風呂付きの部屋に泊まれそうだな。今日はゆっくり風呂に入ろう』
アキラは2回の巡回依頼を完遂して少し余裕を覚えていた。アルファが
『分かってる。でもあの程度なら大丈夫だ。次の依頼だけ難易度が高かったりするのか?』
『そうだな。気を付けるよ』
アキラは苦笑して一度緩んだ気を引き締めた。前例があるだけに、自分の運の悪さは理解しているのだ。
次の巡回依頼の手続きを済ませたアキラが、広場でハンター向けの栄養食を
『多分そうよ。気にすることはないわ。それで、次の巡回依頼の開始時刻まで少し時間があるけれど、どうする?』
『どうするって言われても......、残弾には余裕があるから弾薬補給に戻る必要もないし......、食事も済んだし......、特に思い付かない』
『それならもう巡回車両に向かって、そこで仮眠を取ると良いわ。依頼を調子良く終わらせた高揚で、疲れを自覚していない恐れもあるからね。念のために休んでおきなさい。軽い仮眠でも随分楽になるわ』
アキラは巡回用のトラックに向かうと、まだ誰もいない荷台に上がって隅の席に座った。そしてリュックサックを足下に降ろして仮眠の体勢を取った。
みながら優しげな声を出す。
『時間が来たら起こすわ。おやすみなさい』
「エレナが私と同じように前を大きく開けてくれれば、注目も多少はそっちに移るわ。私を助けると思ってやってもらえる?」
エレナが笑ってあっさりと答える。
「残念」
「カツヤ。一人で先に行かないでよ。......随分張り切っちゃって」
ユミナは僅かな嫉妬が混ざった不満の言葉を誰にも聞こえない小さな声で
そのような事情もあり、カツヤは強くて優しくて尊敬できる上に美人なエレナ達と一緒にハンター稼業をすることに浮かれ気味で、かなり張り切っていた。
ユミナとアイリは同じ女性ハンターとしてエレナ達を自分達の理想像だと考えていた。だからカツヤの浮かれようもある程度は仕方無いと思って我慢していた。
「遅れたか?」
「いいえ。大丈夫よ」
ドランカムはエレナ達にカツヤ達と一緒に巡回依頼を受けるように別枠で依頼を出していた。その名目は様々だが暗黙的にカツヤ達の世話焼きや訓練、護衛が含まれていた。要は新人ハンターの子守だ。エレナ達もそれは承知の上で依頼を受けていた。
ドランカム所属の若手ハンターは一定の経験、実力、実績を身に着けるまで、世話役のハンターの下で活動することを徒党から義務付けられている。これは
しかしシカラベはその才能を認めはしたものの、カツヤ個人には好感を持っておらず、かなり嫌々面倒を見ていた。依頼を名目にしてカツヤ達の世話をエレナ達に押し付けようとしているのも、そういう理由があってのことだ。
自分の仕事は終わったと言わんばかりの様子を見せているシカラベに、エレナが少し申し訳なさそうに告げる。
「それなんだけど、ごめんなさい。急で悪いけど、この依頼はキャンセルさせてもらうわ」
今回の依頼を楽しみにしていたカツヤが驚きの声を上げる。
「ええっ!? ど、どうしてですか!?」
シカラベも驚きながら少し不機嫌な顔をエレナに向ける。
「どういうことだ? 直前で依頼をキャンセルするんだ。相応の説明はしてもらえるんだろうな」
よ。ハンターオフィス経由で依頼の割り込みが入ったの。悪いとは思っているけど、私達はそちらを優先させてもらうわ」
エレナの説明を聞いても、カツヤ達は強めの困惑が混ざった不満げな様子を見せる程度だ。しかしシカラベはそうはいかない。ドランカム側の人間として、その程度の理由で依頼を断ろうとするエレナ達に不快感を見せた後、軽く威圧しながら話を続ける。
「その程度のことでドランカムから一度受けた依頼を蹴る気か? それでこっちが納得すると本当に考えているのなら、こっちも相応の対応を取る必要が出てくるぞ?」
だがそのシカラベの態度も、エレナの次の言葉で急変する。
「その依頼元が統企連でも?」
「......統企連!?」
シカラベが驚きを
東部統治企業連盟、通称統企連は東部を事実上支配している巨大組織だ。ハンターオフィスもその傘下組織の一つにすぎない。ハンター達にとって、依頼元にこの名前を出される意味は絶大だ。統企連からの依頼を下手に断ると、最悪の場合、東部全体を敵に回すことになり兼ねない。
「依頼自体はクガマヤマ都市周辺の巡回任務で、ちょっと危険度が高い地域ってだけなんだけど、依頼元が統企連になっていたの。普通はその程度の依頼ならクガマヤマ都市が依頼元になるはずなんだけどね。理由は分からないけど、ハンターオフィスを介しての正式な依頼だから単純なミスとは思えないわ。悪いけど、私達も知り合いとそこら辺を見て回る程度の理由で統企連からの依頼を断る度胸はないの。キャンセル料はハンターオフィスが代わりにドランカムに振り込むから、それで納得してちょうだい」
を言うな。分かった。ドランカム側には俺から連絡する。......しかし統企連か。何が起きているんだ?」
「さあね。そういうことだから、私達はいろいろ準備もあるし忙しいの。悪いけど、もう行くわ。
「まあ、そういう訳なのよ。今日はごめんなさい。また今度ね」
「......あ、はい。残念だけど、仕方無いですね」
を言う訳にもいかず、残念そうにそう答えた。同時に視線がサラの胸の谷間に吸い込まれたが、すぐに戻した。サラは軽く苦笑していた。
エレナ達が去っていく。その後、シカラベはドランカムに事情を連絡して今後の対応を協議していた。
カツヤが
く残念に思いながらも、そのカツヤの様子を見て複雑な思いを抱き、それを僅かに顔に出していた。
「次の機会なんて、もう無いかもしれないわね。カツヤはサラさんの胸の谷間を凝視していたし、嫌われたかも」
カツヤが軽く吹き出した。そして慌てながら焦りを顔に出す。
「お、俺、そんなに露骨に見てたか?」
アイリがユミナの発言を肯定するように真顔で追撃する。
更に焦り始めたカツヤが自身に言い聞かせるように言い訳する。
れていたんだ。仕方が無いことだったんだ。あれは見てしまうって。男なら皆同意するはずだ。だからサラさんも分かってくれるはず......」
「サラさんは女性だから分かってくれないと思うわ」
「希望的観測は時に致命的な状況を招く。諦めた方が良い」
っているユミナとは異なり、端的に事実を述べているようなアイリの態度に、カツヤが動揺を強くする。
「ち、違うんだ。サラさんが珍しくペンダントを着けていて、そのペンダントトップの弾丸が珍しくて、それが胸の谷間に挟まっていたから、ちょっと気になっただけなんだ。仕方が無いんだ」
ユミナとアイリが相談も無しに息を合わせる。
「そういえば、サラさんにしては珍しくペンダントを着けていたわね。武骨な感じだったけど似合ってたわ。誰かからのプレゼントかしら?」
カツヤが軽く衝撃を受ける。
「こ、恋人......。いや、でも、エレナさんとサラさんは2人だけでチームを組んでいるって話だし、恋人がいるならそれは不自然じゃ......」
「恋人はハンターではないのかもしれないわ。それなら別に不自然じゃないわね」
「ハンターだとしても既に別のチームで活動していて、メンバー間の人間関係の問題で一緒にハンター稼業を行うのが難しいのかもしれない。その場合は別に不自然ではない。又は移籍交渉の途中かもしれない」
「お前達が希望するなら今日は解散しても良いことになった。解散しない場合は、午前中に受けた巡回依頼を俺と一緒にもう一度やることになる。どうする? エレナ達との仕事は流れたんだ。今日はもう解散で良いんじゃないか?」
シカラベとしてはこの場で解散したいのだが、立場上それを口には出せない。代わりに察してほしいような視線を向けながら返答を待つ。
(......解散にしろ。俺から解散とは言い出せない事情を察しろ。エレナ達の会話の中にも不穏な空気が流れていただろう。お前達だって俺と一緒に巡回依頼をするのは嫌なはずだ。エレナ達と一緒に行動する機会はまたすぐに回ってくる。俺の下で頑張る必要はないだろう。
準備をしてきたんだし、少しでも依頼を受けて早めにハンターランクを上げたい。俺達のハンターランクだと自分で依頼も受けられないし、遺跡探索にも行けないからな」
現状ではどちらもシカラベの許可が要る。カツヤは早くその立場から抜け出したかった。そうすれば自分を軽んじる者も減ると思っているのだ。
「カツヤがそう言うのなら私は構わないわ」
ユミナもアイリも基本的にカツヤの意志に従う。カツヤに対する淡い恋心がそれを助長していた。
シカラベがその3人の様子を冷ややかな目で見ている。その視線は特にカツヤに対する非難を強く示していた。
(......また表向きだけ多数決か。その2人はお前が先に意見を言ったら嫌だとは言わねえだろうが。自覚してやってるのか? それとも自覚無しでやってるのか?)
以前はシカラベの下に5人の若手ハンターが就いていた。しかし今はカツヤ達3人だけだ。何かを若手だけで決める時に多数決を取ると常にカツヤの意見が通るので、嫌気が差した残りの2人が他のチームに異動を願い出たからだ。
シカラベはその多数決の暴力の
「巡回依頼を続けます」
「......分かった」
シカラベが再びドランカムに連絡を入れて依頼の手続きなどを済ませようとする。情報端末を取り出しながらカツヤ達に背を向けると、嫌そうな表情で小さく
(くそっ。こいつらの面倒さえなければ、統企連からの依頼の裏を今からでも調べられるってのに。若手の育成に力を入れるのは分かるが、そいつらの装備代を稼いでるのは俺達で、そいつらの訓練に付き合わされて安い依頼を受ける羽目になっているのも俺達だ。幹部連中にはその辺の事情をもう少し考慮してもらいてえな)
それはドランカムの方針でありカツヤ達の
基本的に車の運転は機銃や情報収集機器の操作も含めてエレナの仕事だ。サラは車両から身を乗り出して両手の銃でモンスターを掃討するのが主な仕事だ。それぞれの仕事に責任を持って、念入りに準備を整えていた。
「ねえエレナ。今回の依頼、エレナはどう思う?」
「ちょっと調べたけど、大したことは分からなかったわ。ただ、近場の遺跡にいるハンターにも似たような依頼が届いているらしいわ。私達程度のハンターに統企連の名で依頼を出したことを考えれば、他にも相当数のハンターに同様の依頼が出ていると考えて良いでしょうね。一帯のハンターを都市に戻そうとしているのかもしれないわ」
エレナも少し難しい顔で同意する。
エレナは気を引き締めるようにそう答えた後、表情と口調を和らげた。
「まあ、大丈夫よ。最近は調子も良いし、そのおかげで稼ぎも順調。装備も新調できた。以前の不調が
Akira and the other Hunters returned back to the gathering place. It was busier than when they had left. The trucks that were used during the patrol were lined up and the Hunters were offboarding from their trucks.
As Akira stepped down from the truck's tray, the nervousness and tensed up feeling inside him finally cleared. He then let out a sigh to expel all the tiredness within his psyche.
"I'm really glad. But don't forget that this is also thanks to my support, okay?"
"...Yeah."
"To be honest, I thought I had to be more cautious of your bad luck when you got number 14, but it seems that there was nothing to worry about after all."
"Seriously though, what meaning does this number 14 actually have?"
"It's nothing to worry about."
Alpha's smile did not change as she said that. Although Akira was still suspicious, he was interrupted when one of the Hunter Office staff made an announcement.
After that, Akira joined the line for the report wrap-up. When his turn came, he let the information terminal handled by the Hunter Office staff to read the data from his Hunter ID. The sound made by the terminal when it read the data from his Hunter ID indicated that his job was formally over.
Akira felt like he had accomplished something. Alpha then told him to open his information terminal, connect it to the Hunter Office and check the request history. With her help, Akira used his information terminal to connect to the Hunter Office and opened the page that showed individual data of Hunters. When he checked the history section, he could see that the request he just finished was listed there.
"By the way, what should I do to receive the reward?"
"It would be transferred to your account. The basic reward is 5000 Aurum. Although I don't know about the data gathered by the Hunter Office's information gathering devices, you did defeat only 1 monster back there. So don't keep your hopes too high. When the payment distribution begins, your reward should be transferred to your account from the Hunter Office. As for your Hunter Rank, I can't really say anything. After all, the rank promotion calculation is not revealed to the public."
"...I still can't change to a room with a bath with that amount of money."
"You just finished your first request for this morning, you know. I think it'll be okay if you sum up all the money that you'll be making today."
The patrol request was divided into 3 rounds during the morning and 4 rounds during the evening. Since the ammo expenditure depended on the number of monsters that they encountered during the patrol, it was divided in such a way that they would always have enough reserve ammo to return back as scheduled without any trouble.
Most of the Hunters who took this request were new young Hunters. And even after registering their name beforehand, some of them still did not turn up in the gathering place. There were a lot of possible reasons for the same. Some of them were just simply abandoning the request. Some of them took multiple requests, got attacked by monsters on their previous request and were too afraid to proceed. And of course, some of them were rendered unfit to fight or even got killed by monsters. These were common happenings among new Hunters.
But the Hunter Office did not differentiate between these reasons. After all, these kinds of things only happened because these Hunters were lacking in their resolve and skill.
The next request that Akira took would start at 11:00. Since he only used 3 bullets during his last patrol, he did not need to restock his ammo before proceeding to the next request. So he decided to have a small talk with Alpha while waiting. But suddenly, Elena who was passing by that area by pure chance noticed Akira and smiled at him.
"Ah, as I thought, it is Akira. Long time no see, Akira."
"Long time no see."
"I thought that I would frequently see you in Shizuka's shop, but it seems that you haven't been visiting her shop lately. Did anything happen?"
"Ah, it's just that after I placed my order for an augmented suit, I temporarily stopped doing any Hunter requests and was spending most of my time inside my room. My augmented suit arrived not too long ago and I started taking up Hunter requests again today."
"I see, I'm glad that it wasn't because you were bedridden after getting injured from back then."
Elena then looked at Akira's augmented suit.
"Is that the augmented suit you were talking about...? Yep, it looks good on you. You look really cool in it."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Akira was a bit bashful when he said that. Looking at his reaction, Elena felt it rather cute. But right after that, her face turned serious.
[...When I look at him like this, he looks like just your normal everyday boy. But...]
"I know that this might be way too late, but I want to say it properly. Thank you very much for saving me and Sara back then. I'm really thankful to you."
"Sara has already said this to me and I too promise you that I won't ask anything unnecessary and I won't reveal this to anyone."
Akira looked conflicted for a second, but he immediately covered it up with a smile.
"...Ahh, right, please don't tell anyone."
As Elena saw Akira's reaction, she felt a little disappointed.
[...As I thought, it's not like he can trust us right away, huh. Well, it's only to be expected though.]
Elena's heart hurt a little when she realized that Akira still did not fully trust her, but at the same time, she understood his reason too.
She thought that Akira might be someone who could connect to the old world domain and that he knew it was dangerous if other people discovered that. Thus it was only to be expected that he did not trust her. After all, there were cases where getting killed was better than getting discovered. Elena understood that as well, that was why she tried to give her best sincere smile to Akira in order to make him feel more at ease.
"Ah, it's not like I can't trust you or Sara-san. It's just that... You know..."
"Is that so? Thank you for believing in us, I'm really happy that you do."
"To be honest, I still want to talk with you for some more time, but I have some other things to do for now. Let's meet up again somewhere else like in Shizuka's shop and have a long conversation next time. Since you're here, I bet you're taking that patrol request, right? Because this is your first Hunter job after a while, be sure to not let your guard down and be careful out there, okay? See you around then."
"Yes, I'll be careful. Elena-san too, please be careful."
Elena waved at Akira before she left the place. After Elena was gone from his views, Akira hung his head and let out a big sigh. Just like that time with Sara-san, Akira felt a strong and heavy emotion crawling inside his heart.
Akira then remembered what Alpha said to him back then.
Akira had made his resolve and decided that next time he would save Elena and Sara for the sake of saving them and not as a pretence for killing other people. And he would get stronger both for Elena and Sara's sake and for his own sake as well.
"It's all good as long as you get it. It's about the time for the next request, so let's move."
Akira raised his head and firmly stepped forward.
As the time for his next job came closer, Akira got assigned to a truck just like before. While he was walking to his assigned truck, Alpha who was beside him frowned a bit.
"...This number again, huh. I wonder if this number has some kind of connections with you or something."
Akira got assigned to the number 14 truck again. Looking at how Alpha frowned and said that as if it had some kind of meaning behind it, Akira also frowned.
Akira was convinced by her answer as she would not explain anything more than that.
As the next patrol was dispatched, Akira looked around to check the faces of other Hunters who were in the same truck as him. Although he saw some familiar faces, he did not see Hazawa or the Drankam Hunters who were with him in his last patrol.
This time, Akira was the only young Hunter in the truck. Although it did not become a ruckus like the last time, there were still some Hunters who looked at him as if he was a dead weight. But after he got to kill some monsters with his accurate shooting thanks to Alpha's support, other Hunters stopped looking at him like that.
The patrol continued without any problem. The strength of the monsters and the number of encounters they had were all manageable for a normal Hunter. And for those Hunters who expected to make quite a sum of reward money, this time's patrol was a productive one.
Akira did kill a lot of monsters together with other Hunters, thus he could not help but smile and look forward to his reward money.
After they finished their patrol and were on their way back to the city, some of the Hunters who were expecting to get a good amount of reward were laughing and talking to each other on how were they planning to spend their money. Some of them were planning to go to the entertainment district in the city and some of them were planning to splurge their money buying things.
Akira was also in a good mood. Although he had no idea about how much rewards he would get, judging by how the other Hunters were acting, it seemed that he could get his hopes high up for this time's reward.
"It seems that I might be able to stay in a room with a bath after all. I'll take a good long bath today."
Akira was very relaxed after he finished his second patrol. Alpha saw that and warned Akira with a smile.
"I know. But it'll be fine as long as it's only at this level. Or is it that the next patrol will be harder than this one?"
"Yeah, you're right, I'll be more careful."
Akira smiled bitterly and readjusted his psyche which he let loose just a moment ago. He understood well about his unluckiness since there were cases where he had to face it in the past.
After he returned, he completed the job wrap-up and accepted the request for his next patrol. Akira then sat in the gathering place to eat his Hunter's ration. His next truck was also number 14.
"That seems to be the case. But it's nothing to worry about. So then, we still have some time before the next patrol starts, what's your plan for now?"
"If you ask me so... I still have quite a lot of reserve ammo so I don't think there's any need to refresh my reserve... And I've also finished my meal too... I have no idea what to do next."
"In that case, how about heading to the truck and taking a nap? You might be feeling the rush after finishing the last patrol, because of that there's a chance you are not feeling the fatigue now. So just to be safe, it's better if you take rest. Even a short nap will really make you feel better."
Akira then headed to the truck assigned to him, there was no one in the truck. He boarded the tray, sat on one of the seats, put his rucksack down near his leg and prepared to take a nap.
Alpha smiled and said in a gentle voice.
"I'll wake you up on time for the request, so don't worry about that."
"Elena, I think some of the attention will be shifted to you if you also make a big opening like mine in your suit. So can you please do that too? Just think of it as helping me out."
Elena smiled and gave Sara a short answer.
"That's just too bad."
"Katsuya, don't go ahead alone like that... You're too excited."
Yumina said the last part in a small voice that no one could hear as it was mixed with a little bit of jealousy and annoyance. But she immediately returned back to her usual self and politely bowed to Elena and Sara.
Because of his past experience, Katsuya was excited when he knew that he was going to do a Hunter request together with the strong, gentle, admirable, and on top of that, beautiful Elena and Sara.
For Airi and Yumina, as fellow female Hunters, Elena and Sara were their idols who they aspired to be. That was why they understood that it could not be helped when Katsuya got excited and so they held themselves back.
"Are we late?"
"Nope, it's fine."
Drankam made a special appeal to Elena and Sara to take request along with Katsuya and his friends. Although it included a lot of details, the bottom line was, they wanted Elena and Sara to take care, train and protect Katsuya, Airi and Yumina. So in short, Drankam wanted them to watch over the young Hunters. Elena and Sara understood this when they accepted the request.
All the young Hunters belonging to Drankam were stipulated to work under other veteran Hunters until they piled up enough experience, abilities and achievements. This was required in order to increase the survivability of young inexperienced Hunters in this line of work where their chance of survival was already low. It was also a method to attract more Hunters into their gang.
But even so, Shikarabe did not like Katsuya, thus he was pretty annoyed when he got to watch over Katsuya. This was also one of the reasons why Shikarabe made an individual request to Elena and Sara to look over Katsuya and his companions.
Seeing Shikarabe look relieved because he would not have to watch over Katsuya and his friends for some time, Elena felt sorry as she said to him.
"About that request though, I'm really sorry to say this so suddenly, but can you please cancel it?"
Katsuya was surprised since he was looking forward to doing this request.
"Eeeh?! W-what's wrong?"
Shikarabe was also shocked, he then asked Elena for the reason while looking a bit displeased.
"What do you mean by that? You're asking me to cancel the request right before it starts, you know. I hope you have a good explanation for this."
"Of course, a work request was sent to us from the Hunter Office. I'm really sorry but we'll be prioritizing that request."
After hearing Elena's explanation, Katsuya was very upset and displeased. But that was not the case for Shikarabe. As a Hunter from Drankam, he only showed a bit of displeasure to Elena who was trying to refuse his request, he then continued to pressure her with a little intimidation.
"So you're cancelling a request from Drankam just because of that, huh? Do you really think that we will allow you to do that? There will be consequences, you know?"
But Shikarabe's behaviour instantly changed with Elena's reply.
"Even if that request comes from the Corporate Government?"
"...The Corporate Government?!!"
Shikarabe was surprised, this reason was enough to completely erase his displeasure towards Elena and Sara.
The Corporate Government was a huge association of multiple big companies that ruled over the eastern district. The Hunter Association which runs the various Hunter Offices was nothing but one of the working partners of the Corporate Government. Thus for the Hunters, any request made under the name of the Corporate Government was very important. If they refused a request without any good reason, in the worst-case scenario, it might even turn the whole eastern district into their enemy.
"The request is to patrol around a dangerous region near Kugamayama city, but the request was made under the Corporate Government. Although, to be honest, work like this should be made by the city. I don't know the reason but since the request was sent formally from the Hunter Office, I don't think there was any mistake. I'm sorry but it's not like I can refuse this request just because I'm planning to explore around with some of my acquaintances. As for the cancellation fees, the Hunter Office will directly transfer it to Drankam. You're okay with this, right?"
"Don't be stupid, I get it. I'll tell the people in the Drankam... But still, a request from the Corporate Government, huh? What's going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. So there, you have it, I have a lot of things to prepare. I'm sorry but we'll be leaving. Tell the Drankam's side that I did meet you directly to cancel the request."
"Well, so there you have it. I'm sorry for today, see you again next time."
"....Ah, okay. It's unfortunate but it can't be helped."
Although Katsuya was still not fully convinced, he had no other choice but to accept it. At the same time, his gaze was sucked into Sara's cleavage, but he immediately looked away. Sara just smiled seeing that.
Soon, Elena and Sara left the place. Shikarabe then used his information terminal to contact Drankam and discuss this.
Katsuya let out a sigh.
As for Yumina and Airi, they both also felt that it was indeed too bad. But after seeing how Katsuya reacted, they felt a bit conflicted and it was shown on their face.
"I don't think there'll be next time, after all, you were staring at Sara-san's chest just now. She might hate you for that, you know."
Katsuya coughed and panicked.
"Did I stare too hard?"
Airi made a short remark that confirmed what Yumina said.
Katsuya started making excuses in panic.
"...Well, it's just that I was captivated. It can't be helped, you know. Any guy would agree with me after seeing that. So I'm sure Sara-san would understand..."
"I think Sara-san won't understand since she's a girl."
"Curiosity killed the cat, it might be better if you give up."
Unlike Yumina who was obviously teasing Katsuya, Airi just stated out a fact, hearing which, Katsuya panicked even more.
"T-that's not it. It's just that Sara-san was wearing a pendant although she usually doesn't wear any, and that pendant was made of a bullet which is uncommon. The pendant's top was sucked into her chest, so I couldn't help but get curious when I noticed that, you know."
Yumina and Airi let out a sigh at the same time.
"Now that you mention it, that was unusual for Sara-san to be wearing a pendant like that. It looks crude though, I wonder if someone gave her that as a present?"
Katsuya was lightly shocked.
"B-boyfriend... B-but I heard that Sara-san and Elena-san only work in a team of two. So it's hard to believe if she has a boyfriend..."
"Her boyfriend doesn't have to be another Hunter, you know. Moreover, it's not too unbelievable."
"It might even be another Hunter who could not join her in Hunter requests since it'll disrupt his relation with the other Hunters. If that's the case, then it won't be strange at all. Or they might have already started negotiation for transfer."
"You guys can go back home if you guys want, but if you want to take up more jobs, you'll have to take the patrol work just like the one that you took this morning with me, so what do you want to do? Today's work with Elena got cancelled anyway, so I think it's fine if you guys just go home for today."
Personally, Shikarabe wanted them to just go back home for today, but as someone who was taking care of them, he could not say that outright. As such, he could only send a stare saying that he hoped they would just disband.
[...Just go back home. You should be able to understand that I can't order you to disband. You should also get the hint that something bad might be happening right now from the earlier conversation with Elena. I know that you don't want to go to a patrol job with me either. Your next chance to go with Elena will come again sooner or later. There's no need to work hard under me, so just go back home.]
"What to do now? I did prepare my stuff to go for a job and not to mention that I want to raise my Hunter Rank as soon as possible too. After all, with our current Hunter Rank, we can't take other requests on our own and we can't go for exploring ruins either."
Either way, they would still need Shikarabe's permission. Katsuya wanted to break off from this situation as soon as possible. If he did, then there would be fewer people looking down on him.
"I don't mind if you say so, how about you Airi?"
As for Yumina and Airi, they only followed Katsuya most of the time. Their budding love for Katsuya in their heart pushed them to do so.
Shikarabe just looked at them with a cold gaze, showing his intense hatred towards Katsuya.
[...Going with majority rule again, huh? Don't you know that those two won't oppose if you make a suggestion? Are you doing this intentionally after knowing that fact?]
Originally, there were 5 kids under Shikarabe. Every time they wanted to decide on something, they would always go with majority rule and Katsuya always won, that was why the other two made a request to be transferred to another team. And so Shikarabe was left with Katsuya and these two girls.
Looking at how Katsuya was forcing his opinion using this majority rule, Shikarabe's hatred towards Katsuya intensified.
"We'll take another patrol request."
"...Alright."
Shikarabe then turned his back to Katsuya and took out his information terminal to contact Drankam and take care of the registration for the patrol job. As he was operating his information terminal, he let out a sigh looking annoyed.
"Dammit, if only I didn't have to look over these brats, I would've been able to investigate that request from the Corporate Government by now. I know that we should invest in training the young Hunters, but we're the ones working hard to pay for their equipment and sacrificing our time doing cheap work together with them for the sake of their training. I really hope the people in the management would pay more attention to this."
Shikarabe understood that it was Drankam's policy and not Katsuya's fault, but he did not understand that it was normal for hatred to be created between the people who had to make sacrifices and the people who benefitted from other's sacrifice.
Normally, Elena would do the information gathering and driving, while Sara would peek out from the vehicle and shoot monsters down. So they were preparing themselves in the area that they were responsible for.
"Say, Elena, about this request though, what do you think about it?"
"I did a bit of investigation, but I couldn't get anything of worth. But it seems that the same request was also sent to other Hunters near the ruins. Since Hunters like us got this request sent to us directly from the Corporate Government, I think it's fully expected that there are other Hunters who got the same request as well. Maybe they're trying to call all the Hunters back to the city."
Elena looked conflicted as she agreed with Sara.
Elena said that last part with a firm voice as if to psyche themselves up, but then she continued with a soft tone.
"But well, I bet it'll be alright. After all, we're doing very well lately. Thanks to that, we got quite a lot of money and we were able to upgrade our equipment. It is as if our time when we were on a slump were nonexistent in the first place. Although I said it as if it were nothing, we were really facing a hard time back then."
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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