194 ぬか喜び
アキラ達が遺跡を進んでいくと、少し長めの廊下のような場所でモンスターと遭遇した。
モンスターは一目で肉食獣と分かる外見をしている。毛は薄く、巨大化という表現よりは膨張した筋肉による肥大化という表現が適した体格を見せ付けている。視線に肉食獣特有の食欲を乗せて廊下の先からアキラ達をじっと見ている。そして巨体を支える
前の方にいたアキラとトガミがモンスターに向けて銃を構える。その2人の間を通るように後ろからカナエが出てくる。
「相手に遠距離攻撃能力はないみたいっすし、ここは私に任せて下さいっす。私を戦闘要員に換算して良いって言ったっすからね」
カナエは自信満々に笑っている。アキラがトガミに視線を送り、トガミはそれを受けてカナエに軽く
頭部を失った胴体から血が流れ、床の土に染みこみ、周辺を赤黒く染めていく。カナエは振り返るとアキラ達の方へ歩いて戻っていった。
「アキラ少年。トガミ少年。どうだったっすか?」
トガミは表情を多分に賞賛の混ざった驚きで染めていた。
「あ、うん。もう良いっす。確かにアキラ少年はそんなやつっすよねー」
「どんな意味かは分からないが、少なくとも自分から好き好んでモンスターを殴りに行くやつじゃないのは確かだ。俺は銃の方が良い」
「はいはい。分かったっすよ」
トガミはアキラとカナエの
で周囲を警戒していたシオリがモンスターの気配に気付いた。
「お嬢様。一応御注意を」
シオリはそう言い残してレイナから離れると、腰の刀を抜きながら近くの通路に近付いていく。その通路の分岐部分から巨体が勢い良く駆けてくる音が近付いてくる。そして通路から先ほどカナエが倒したモンスターの同種が飛び出してきた。
次の瞬間、そのモンスターはシオリが振るった刃で一刀両断された。通路から飛び出し、アキラ達の方へ方向転換しようと勢いを落とし、動きが止まった瞬間を正確に狙われていた。高速で振るわれた刃は分厚い肉の塊を、その巨体の実体を疑わせるほどあっさりと一瞬で通過していた。
シオリがモンスターに背を向けて刀を静かに
その達人の一太刀を見たアキラが思わず感想を漏らす。
「うーん。お見事」
「そういう話ではないっす。さっきはアキラ少年も俺は銃の方が良いって言ってたじゃないっすか。この短時間で心変わりっすか?」
「地形的にあそこまで接近を許さざるを得ない状況なら、遠距離攻撃という銃の優位性は大分下がる。モンスターの生命力次第だけど、至近距離で撃っても耐えられてしまうかもしれない。その状況で、腕と装備に自信が有って一太刀で殺しきれる確信があるのなら、銃に固執する必要はないと思う」
「......いや、不公平っす! 納得いかないっす!」
に戻ってきたシオリをちらっと見る。アキラに褒められたシオリを少し羨ましく感じて、無意識に自分ならばどうすれば褒められるかと考えて、それらしい案が出ないことを残念に思う。
至近距離での戦闘技術はレイナもシオリとカナエから学んでおり、かなりの技術に到達している。しかしそれをここで披露する機会はない。レイナがその技術を実戦で披露せざるを得ない状況とは、モンスターにシオリとカナエを突破されてしまった致命的な状況を意味する。シオリ達はその前に確実に撤退を強行する。先ほどのカナエのようにその技術を披露したいと申し出ても、シオリ達は絶対に許可しない。レイナもそれは理解していた。
く進むと再び前方からモンスターが出現した。アキラとトガミが銃を構える。だが迎撃を開始する前にシオリが口を挟む。
「お嬢様。お願いできますか?」
「はい。私どもも戦闘に参加し、アキラ様にも同行いただいているとはいえ、基本的にはお嬢様とトガミ様の作戦です。お嬢様には主に進路の探索をお願いしていますが、その所為でモンスターの対処は他の誰かが行うと思い込んでしまうと、それだけ警戒が
レイナがアキラ達に視線を向けると、アキラ達は互いに視線を向けてから左右に退いて射線を開けた。レイナがシオリの態度を少し不思議に思いながら銃を構える。
レイナの銃は室内戦闘で使用しても邪魔にならない程度に大型で、狙撃銃としても十分高性能で、反動の大きい強力な弾丸を連射可能な高級品だ。情報収集機器に加えて銃本体の発砲機能とも連動している照準器は、遠距離の目標を
照準器にはモンスターの殺意と食欲の混ざった凶悪な顔が表示されている。だがレイナは今更その程度で動揺して照準を狂わせるような失態はしない。落ち着いて、余裕を持って引き金を引いた。
発射された弾丸は走って揺れているモンスターの眉間に正確に命中した。そのまま頭部と胴体部を貫通して後方に抜けていく。即死した個体がその勢いのまま転がっていく。敵は3体。全て同じように1発で仕留めた。3体目が仲間の死に反応する暇すら与えなかった。
装備の性能に助けられている分を差し引いても十分な実力だ。トガミはレイナの銃撃をそう評価した上で、横目でアキラの反応を見た。アキラは然程反応を示しておらず、視線を周囲の警戒に戻していた。そこでシオリが口を出す。
「えっ? ああ、問題ない」
「......失点の付けようがない十分に優れた内容だった、との評価と解釈しても?」
アキラは妙に念押しするシオリの様子を少し不思議に思いながらも、軽く考えてから答える。
けちを付けろと言われても、弾丸の代金がどうこうとか、装備等を含めた費用対効果がどうこうとか、その程度のことしか思い付かないな。でも今は旧世界製の自動人形を探しに来ているんだから、発見に成功した場合の利益を考えれば、そんなところにけちを付ける方がおかしいだろう。そこを認めたら、全員でさっきのカナエみたいに全部殴りに行けってことになる」
「アキラ少年。何でそこで私を例に出すっすかね?」
に付き合う気はないからだ」
アキラとカナエがずれた会話を始めようとしている。シオリはそれを無視しながらレイナに告げる。
「お嬢様。お見事でした。アキラ様も同じ評価です」
「......うん。ありがとう」
レイナは褒められたことを、実力を認められたことを
アキラ達が遺跡の中を進んでいく。手掛かりとなる目的地の情報を手に入れているとはいえ、具体的な道標はレイナが視認する拡張現実側の情報だけだ。それも解析ソフトの性能不足で一部の情報が欠損している。その所為で非常に迷いながら進んでいた。
途中で何度もモンスターと遭遇したが5人掛りで問題なく撃退した。トガミとレイナはそれらに手応えを感じながらも、確かに自分達だけではこの遺跡を攻略するのは困難だと感じていた。モンスターの遭遇頻度と強さはそこらの遺跡を超えており、内部構造は
く進んだアキラ達は広めの店舗跡のような部屋に到着する。部屋の中央には一部がガラスケースのように透明になっている円柱状のものが設置されていた。レイナとトガミが思わずそこに駆け寄っていく。円柱の透明な部分の内部に、妙齢の女性の姿が浮かんでいたのだ。
「レイナ! ここなのか!? 旧世界製の自動人形! 保存状態もバッチリ! おおっ!
「情報とはちょっと場所が違う気がするけど、見付かったのなら同じよ! 拡張現実の付加情報に三葉ジルバテックの今期の新シリーズって書いてあるわ! 価格は......1800万コロン!?」
「1800万コロン!? オ、オーラム換算だと幾らになるんだ!?」
「シオリ! カナエ! アキラ! 見付けたわよ! 大成果! これを持ち帰れば私達は......アキラ?」
「......えっと、どうしたの?
る通りこれは立体映像です。内部に実物が展示されているわけではありません」
ケース内を強い照明で照らしても内部の女性の陰影は全く変化せず、実体が存在していれば床などに生まれるはずの影も全く表れない。立体映像の特徴の一つだ。レイナとトガミもそれを確認する。そして表情を大きく残念そうに
随分と進んできたこともあり、防衛に適した構造の場所でもあったので、レイナとトガミが探索再開の気力を取り戻すまで待つのを兼ねて、アキラ達はここで休憩を取ることにした。
レイナとトガミは椅子に座ってテーブルに顔を少しだらしなく伏せている。椅子とテーブルはシオリが用意した物で、折り畳むと驚くほど小さくなる携帯用の品だ。テーブルの上には同じく携帯用の飲物が2人分置かれていた。これもシオリが用意した物だ。
「......そうだよな。......あんな簡単に見付かるわけがないよな。......レイナ。それっぽい注釈とか、何かなかったのか?」
でアルファが少し不服そうな顔を浮かべている。
『アキラ。目の保養を求めているのなら、私を見た方が効果的だと思うわよ?』
『それならどうしてそんなに興味深そうに見ているのよ』
「まあ、ないわけじゃないけど、どっちかと言えばこういうのが普通に売っていた旧世界ってどんな世界だったんだろうと思って、いろいろ想像してただけだよ」
「普通の定義にもよりますが、自動人形は現在でも普通に販売されております。その販売店に立ち寄って雰囲気を感じ取れば、近いものは想像できるかもしれませんね」
「ああ。なるほど。旧世界製ではない自動人形もあるんだから、考えてみればそうだな。......俺が立ち寄れる場所かどうかは別だけど」
アキラはそう言って少し自嘲気味に苦笑した。アキラの中にスラム街での経済感覚がまだまだ残っている。そんな高級店に入ろうとしたら追い出されるのではないか、という考えが抜けきれないのだ。
シオリはそのアキラの自嘲を少し不思議に思いながら優しい声を出す。
「確かクガマビルの上階でも営業していたはずです。アキラ様なら入店を拒否されることはないと思いますよ」
「......そうか。へー。幾らぐらいで売ってるんだろう」
「私も自動人形の相場にそこまで詳しいわけではありませんが、確か10億オーラムほど出せば日常生活用途の製品ならばそこそこの性能のものが買えるはずです」
「......えっと、それで、その自動人形は何ができるんだ?」
「料理や部屋の掃除など、身の回りの世話ですね」
「自動人形は基本的に
品だからって、程がある気がする。それなら誰か雇った方が絶対に安上がりだろう」
「はい。その通りです。人間にできるのであれば人間に行わせた方が安上がり。世の中にはそのようなものが無数に存在しております。ハンター稼業もその一つですね」
アキラが苦笑する。大量生産した自動人形を遺跡に派遣した方が費用対効果に優れているのであれば、企業は間違いなくそちらを選択する。つまりハンター稼業が成立しているのは、それではいろいろと採算が合わないからだ。
安い命が荒野に派遣されていく。そしてその大半を損失しながらも、東部全体では十分な採算が取れている。それもまたハンター稼業の真実だ。
シオリがまた自嘲気味になっているアキラに気付いて補足を加える。
生かしておけば大きな利益を生み出し、殺そうとすれば
くアキラはシオリと雑談を続けていた。時折シオリの受け答えの中に上流階級の生活感覚や価値観のようなものを感じて、そちらも興味深く聞いていた。
「先ほど自動人形の価格を10億オーラムほどと話しましたが、それは自動人形と聞いて思い浮かべる人格型の自動人形です。非人格型、少々乱暴な説明になりますが、安価な義体に安価な人工知能を埋め込んだ低価格帯の製品ならば、もっと手頃な価格になりますね。性能もそれ相応になりますが」
「えっと、人格型と非人格型って、どっちも人工知能のような気がするんだけど、そんなに何か違うのか?」
「分類の境界が不明確でイメージ的な話になりますが、非人格型はロボットに近いですね。一口に人工知能と言っても、チェスのようなボードゲームの攻略に特化したものもあります。それを料理や掃除、戦闘にまで置き換えても、対応能力や学習傾向などもそちらに近いものになります。人のような受け答えも困難です。そちらを求めるのならば人格型になります。一般人が想像する自動人形は基本的に人格型ですね。人に近い存在としての、細かい汎用性の高さを売りにしている製品です」
「へー。いろいろあるんだな。......旧世界製の自動人形って、どっちなんだ?」
「ほぼ例外なく人格型ですね。旧世界製ということもあり非常に高性能で優秀です。......その所為で、いろいろと面倒事も発生するのですが」
アキラがその面倒事について尋ねようとした時、テーブルに伏していたレイナが勢いよく顔を上げた。アキラ達がその気配に気付いて雑談を中断しレイナを見る。レイナはテーブルに置かれたままの飲物を一気に飲み干すと、力強く宣言する。
Ch 194
As Togami and his party proceeded deeper into the building, they encountered a monster along a long hallway.
The monster was obviously a carnivorous monster, it had a thin fur that did nothing to hide its huge muscular body. Its muscles were bulging as if they were some kind of disease instead of a natural feature. It sent a gaze toward Akira and the others as if it was looking at its prey. It then started running with its huge body toward them, its huge legs propelled its body forward while throwing dirt all over the place.
Akira and Togami aimed their rifles toward the monster in front of them, but suddenly, Kanae slipped between them and charged right at that monster.
"It doesn't seem to have any ranged weapon, so leave it to me. As I said before, I don't mind helping you out during this ruin exploration."
Kanae smiled full of confidence and glanced toward Akira and Togami, Togami lightly nodded to give his approval. Kanae confirmed that and went straight towards the monster with a big smile.
Now that it had lost its head, blood pooled under the monster's body, dyeing the ground dark red. Kanae then turned around and walked back to Togami and Akira.
"Akira, Togami, how was that?"
Togami was wide-eyed in amazement.
"Ah, right, it's fine. Now that I remember it, you're that kind of Hunter..."
"I don't understand what you mean by that, but one thing for sure, it's true that I have no plans to challenge monsters in close-quarter combat. I prefer my rifles."
"Yeah yeah, I know."
Seeing that exchange between Kanae and Akira, reminded Togami of back then during the bounty monster-hunting request when he tried to show off his skill to Akira by killing a monster. And just like this time, Akira showed no interest in that at all. It reminded Togami that Akira was that kind of guy as he smiled wryly.
Shiori, who was next to Reina, noticed a monster nearby.
"Milady, be careful."
Shiori only said so before she approached a nearby hallway with her hand ready on her blade. The thumping sound of a monster was getting louder and louder from that hallway. The next moment, the same type of monster that Kanae had just defeated jumped out from the hallway.
But Shiori cut that monster down with a single stroke of her blade. When it jumped out from the hallway and momentarily stopped to change direction toward Akira and the others, she quickly drew her blade. Her blade cut through the firm muscles as if it was butter.
Shiori then silently sheathed her blade, while the monster behind her was cut horizontally into two and sprouted blood everywhere before its upper half and lower half fell down to the ground.
Seeing that masterful strike, Akira could not help but mumble.
"Hmm, yep, beautifully done."
"That's not the problem here. You told me that you would prefer your rifles before, didn't you? So why the sudden change of heart?"
"When we're in a rather closed space and have no choice but to fight the monsters in close range, using a rifle might be a bad choice. Not to mention, some monsters can survive even at close-range shooting, so if you're confident you can kill it with your skill and blade, there's no need to be fixated on using a rifle."
"...No, this is so unfair!! I won't accept this!!"
Reina glanced at Shiori who had returned beside her, she felt happy and proud that Akira complimented her. She could not help but think about what she could do to get Akira's compliment too, but unfortunately, nothing came to mind.
Reina had learned CQC from both Kanae and Shiori, so she was actually pretty skilled. But she had no chance to show that off here. If she had the chance to fight a monster close by, that would be when that monster had defeated both Kanae and Shiori, and it would only happen under a precarious situation. Before that happened, Shiori and Kanae would have told her to retreat. And even if she said that she wanted to do it, she understood Shiori and Kanae would definitely not let her.
Not too long after that, they encountered another monster. Akira and Togami took shooting positions, but Shiori suddenly intervened.
"Milady, may I ask you to handle it?"
"Yes, I will also help out if things get bad, although Akira-sama is coming with us, this is actually still an exploration mission for Milady and Togami-sama. It's true that Milady's main duty in this exploration is searching for the correct route, but if that causes Milady to think that facing the monsters is someone else's duty, it might cause a fatal blunder in the future. In order to keep that in mind, if Milady may."
Reina glanced at Akira and Togami, who looked at each other and opened a way so as not to obstruct her aim. Reina thought that it was weird for Shiori to say that, but she then took aim with her rifle.
Reina's rifle was small enough to be used indoors and it had a good sniping capability. It could also be used for continuous shooting of powerful bullets and had a strong recoil. Its aim worked together with her information-gathering device to quickly focus on its target and to do fine-readjustment to increase accuracy when Reina pulled down the trigger. It even analyzed the distance between the rifle and the target and correctly identified when the user intentionally shifted the aim in order to readjust its support accordingly.
Reina looked at the monster's face that was filled with killing intent through the scope, but she was already used to it that it did not even affect her focus. She then calmly pulled the trigger.
The bullet went straight towards the monster's forehead, passed through its body, and came out on the other end of its body. That single shot completely stopped the monster as it fell down limp on the ground, there were 3 monsters and Reina killed all of them with one shot each, the last monster did not even have the leeway to react to its dead comrades.
Even when including the advanced features of her equipment, it was a good demonstration of her skill. Togami thought so as he glanced at Akira. Akira already shifted his focus on watching the surroundings as if he was not interested in that at all. That was when Shiori asked him.
"Eh? Well, good."
"...Is it alright for me to interpret that as you having nothing to criticize about that sniping?"
Akira was confused as to why Shiori emphasized that point, but he still took some time first before giving his honest answer.
"Well, let's see, one shot each from that range, so there's no bullet wasted and she didn't give any chance for the monsters to even react, isn't that good enough? If I want to be strict about it, maybe it'll be about the price of that strong bullet and the cost-performance ratio of the equipment. But since we are here looking for an old-world automaton, I'm pretty sure the money that we may get if we can find that automaton is enough to justify that expense. But if I have to assume the worst, then all of us here will have to fight the monsters in close combat just like Kanae."
"Akira, why did you bring my name there?"
"It's because I have no plans to follow your line of thinking."
Akira and Kanae started bickering, Shiori just ignored them and turned to Reina.
"Milady, that was well done, Akira-sama also thinks so."
"...Yes. Thank you."
Although Reina felt happy that she got complimented and her skill recognized, at the same time, she also felt slightly embarrassed realizing that Shiori needed to ask in order to encourage Akira to compliment her.
They then continued searching the building, although they had enough information to point where the automaton might be, the only hint as to which way to go came from Reina's old-world signal analyzer device. Furthermore, the software could not fully decode the signal which only added to the difficulty of the exploration.
They encountered some monsters a few times, but the five of them could dispatch those monsters without any issue. Togami and Reina felt that those battles could not be considered easy as they thought of the difficulty to explore the ruin if it were only the two of them. There were more monsters and those monsters were stronger than usual. The inner construction of the building was like a maze and the same plants that enveloped the wall and the floor threw off their sense of direction even further. If they got lost inside that building, it would be difficult to return back alive.
Not too long afterwards, they arrived in a huge open space. In the middle of that room, there was a circular stage with a transparent glass column on top of it as if it was to showcase a product. Reina and Togami immediately ran towards it and looked closely at the young girl that seemed to be encased inside that glass column.
"Reina!! Is this it?! Is this the old-world automaton?! It looks completely unscathed too! Oooh! We did it!!"
"The location is slightly different compared to the original information, but it doesn't really matter as long as we get to find it!! According to the old-world signal receiver, it's the newest model of the latest series from Mitsuha Jiruba Tech! And the price... It's 18 million Chrome!?"
"18 million Chrome!? J-Just how much is that in Aurum!?"
"Shiori! Kanae! Akira! We found it!! We did it! Now, we just need to bring this back... Akira?"
"Uhh, what's wrong?"
"Milady, unfortunately, Akira-sama is correct, this is a 3D display. The object inside it is nothing but an image."
Even when Shiori shone a light through the transparent glass, the automaton inside it did not cast a shadow on the floor. It was one particular characteristic of a hologram. After Reina and Togami confirmed it themselves, they drooped and looked completely disappointed.
Since they had gone pretty deep and it was an open space easy to defend, Akira, Shiori, and Kanae decided to take a rest and allow Reina and Togami to regain their spirit too.
Reina and Togami were sitting on a bench with their heads on the table. That bench was a portable bench that Shiori prepared; when it was packed up, it could turn into a surprisingly small object. There were two instant rations on top of that table, Shiori also prepared that for them.
"... I should've expected that... There's no way it's that easy to find that old-world automaton... Reina, did you get any information mentioning that?"
Beside Akira, Alpha pouted and complained.
"Akira, if you want a beautiful girl to look at, it's better if you look at me, you know?"
"Then why are you looking at that doll so closely?"
"Well, it's not like I'm not interested at all, but to be more precise, I'm interested in what kind of place old-world era was where selling this kind of thing was the norm."
"It depends on the indicators that you use, but automata are commonly sold even in this era. If Akira-sama goes to one of the shops selling automata, you might be able to get a better image of what kind of place the old-world was."
"Ohh, you're right, now that you mention, we also have automata in this era too... Though I don't think that they will let me even come close to that kind of shop."
Akira said so and smiled bitterly in self-mockery. A part of him was clearly still stuck back in the slum city. He still believed that people would not allow him to get into such a high-class shop.
Shiori found it weird that Akira looked down on himself that much as she gently said to him.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to find such a shop in the Kugama building. I believe that the shops there would not turn Akira-sama away."
"...Is that so? By the way, how much does an automaton usually cost?"
"To be honest, I am not really knowledgeable regarding this matter, but 1 billion Aurum should be enough to get you a pretty good housekeeping automaton."
"Uhh... So then, what kind of thing can an automaton do?"
"Cooking or cleaning room, basically to do housekeeping."
"Automaton is a luxury item after all."
"To be honest, just because it's a luxury item, I don't think it justifies the price you put on it though. If it's that expensive, isn't it cheaper if you pay someone to do that instead?"
"Indeed. If it's something that a human can do, it's cheaper to do that. There are many things in this world where this is true, this includes being a Hunter."
Akira smiled wryly. If sending automata to explore a ruin was cheap, the Corporate Government would have done that. So in short, the only reason why people had Hunter jobs was because sending automata was economically not feasible.
Sending Hunters with cheap lives into the ruin allowed the City Management to gain profit even when half of those Hunters did not return back alive. That was the truth of being a Hunter.
Shiori once again noticed that Akira was smiling in self-mockery, so she then continued.
If alive, they would bring a big profit, if antagonized, they would cause a lot of damages. Although there were many different points of view to judge this matter, whether it was better or for the worse, people put an expensive tag on the lives of those kinds of Hunters. Even if everything in this world could be replaced in one form or another, if it was difficult to get a replacement, their existence would be forgiven.
After that, Shiori and Akira continued to talk about a lot of stuff. He could sometimes feel the high-class lifestyle from Shiori's answer and he listened with full of interest about that matter.
"I did say that an automaton might cost about 1 billion Aurum, but that would be an automaton with a personality. An automaton without personality would be more like a robot with cheap AI and this kind of automaton is basically cheaper. But of course, this kind of automaton is less advanced than the former."
"Uhh, but both automata with personality and without personality are using AI, right? So what's so different between them?"
"Although this would be a vague explanation since there's no clear distinction between them, basically, the non-personality AIs are more like robots. When we mention AI, there are those AIs made for chess or other board games, right? It's like using the learning ability of that kind of AI for cooking, cleaning, or fighting. This kind of AI would not be able to hold a proper conversation with people. If you would like an AI which can do that, then it's better to get the automaton with personality. When someone mentions automaton, most people refer to the automaton with personality, which is closer to a human instead of a robot, and this kind of automaton is quite advanced so it is fairly expensive."
"Hmm, so it's not that simple, huh... So, which one is it when we talk about old-world automata?"
"Almost all discovered old-world automata are automata with personality. Not to mention, they are advanced AI since they were made with old-world technology... Although, because of that, they tend to cause trouble."
When Akira was about to ask what Shiori meant when she said that, Reina, who had her head on the table, suddenly raised it. Akira and Shiori noticed that and stopped their talk. Reina then drunk the rest of the drink on the table in one go and shouted.
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