226 見舞い客
アキラは腕の再生治療を終えるまで入院することになった。腕の培養と結合手術を含めて3日ほどの予定だ。その1日目、病室にキバヤシが連れのアラベと一緒に現れる。
自分を見て面倒そうな顔を浮かべるアキラの様子に、キバヤシが楽しげに笑う。
えやつだな。見舞いに来てやったってのに、そう邪険にするなよ」
「じゃあ何でそんなに楽しそうなんだよ」
「そりゃお前がまた無理
「そうだ、と言いたいところだが、仕事が先だ。紹介しよう。こちらはドランカムのアラベさんだ」
アラベがアキラに丁寧に頭を下げる。
「アラベと申します。本日はキバヤシさんに仲介をお願いして、急で失礼とは思いますが、今回の件についてアキラさんといろいろお話をさせていただきたく伺いました。
アキラはカツヤ達を殺した文句でも言われるかと思って警戒していたが、妙に低姿勢なアラベの態度に軽く戸惑う。そこでキバヤシが笑って話し始める。
「ドランカムとの話を進める前に、俺がお前にいろいろ前提情報を説明しておこう。あの大規模遺跡探索で何があったのか。お前が眠っていた間に何があったのか。その辺の認識を合わせておかないと話にならないからな」
戸惑いはあったが確かに気になることでもあったので、アキラは大人しく話を聞くことにした。
大規模遺跡探索に参加したハンター達はツバキによる突然の通信障害により混乱していた。だが今回の遺跡探索に参加できるほどの者は基本的に相応の実力者ばかりだ。技量の劣る者もいないわけではなかったが、基本的に統率の取れた部隊の一員として参加していた。本来なら通信障害程度のことでそこまで
だがツバキがその混乱に拍車を掛けた。事前に取引したハンター達に他のハンター達を襲わせたのだ。部隊単位で他の部隊を襲う者。部隊の中から裏切る者。更にはティオルのように事前に用意していた襲撃者達。それらが一斉に動き出し、全体の統率を著しく狂わせた。
その混乱の中で仲間と同じ顔をした者に襲われる者も出た。その正体はヤツバヤシに顔を整形させた人型端末達だ。通信障害下で辛うじて
がる短距離通信では、仲間が遺跡側について突然襲いかかっていたなどという悲鳴が飛び交っていた。加えてツバキの誘導でモンスターが殺到し、都市の人型兵器が空中で撃破されて落下していく。当初の統率など完全に失われていた。
ツバキと取引をした振りをして都市側に情報を流した者もいたが、その情報は全く意味を成さなかった。遺跡の管理者と取引をした者がいるという情報は、仮設基地襲撃時に既に確認されており重要視されなかった。加えて都市側に提供された情報も具体性に欠ける内容ばかりだった。実際に裏切った者も詳細を知ったのは通信障害発生の少し前で情報端末経由だ。
その情報を受け取った直後にそれを都市に流そうとした者もいた。だが既に都市への長距離通信を限定的に封鎖されていた。そしてその者は、ツバキの指示で他の取引者達により真っ先に始末された。
混乱により組織的な抵抗が困難になったハンター達の被害は甚大だった。裏切りを誘う亡霊は、怪談になるだけの事態をあっさりと生み出した。
そこまでの被害を出した後で、ヤナギサワがツバキと取引をして休戦を結んだ。加えて都市は関係者達に、都市に対しても、他のハンター達に対しても、遺跡側に対しても、今回の件の遺恨による報復等を禁じる声明を出した。実際に裏切った者もいれば、誤解で殺し合った者もいる。その遺恨で、ハンター同士で殺し合うにしろ、ツバキへの
に再度該当区域に侵入するにしろ、被害が更に拡大する。その更なる被害を防ぐ名目で、都市は防衛隊を派遣して該当区域の周辺の封鎖まで実施した。
キバヤシはそれらの話を多少省略しながらアキラに説明した。キバヤシも全てを知っているわけではないので概略でしかないのだが、アキラの顔を引き
そこでアキラが少し気になったことを尋ねる。
「名目って言ってたけど、都市が防衛隊を派遣して封鎖した理由って、別に何かあるのか?」
明らかに興味を誘っているキバヤシの話振りに、アキラは分かっていながらも興味を持った。
「......聞きたい」
「それならアラベさんとの話を前向きに考えると約束してもらおう」
「その話を聞いてもいないのにか?」
わにするアキラに、キバヤシが笑いながら軽い様子で答える。
「別に無条件で首を縦に振れとは言わねえよ。俺の話を聞いた義理の分だけ前向きに考えて、それでもやっぱり駄目って言うのなら、それで良い。その程度の話だって」
「まあ、そういうことなら」
大した話ではない。そう印象付けて、キバヤシは高ランクハンターに内容も知らない条件に対して譲歩させた。その手腕にアラベが内心で冷や汗を
「ああ、そういうことか。分かったぞ。それでコロンを稼ぐんだな?」
様々な知識を得て、アキラもそれぐらいの推測は出来るようになっていた。そして自信のある推測に少し得意げな様子を見せていると、それをあっさり否定される。
「オーラムで請求って、遺跡の管理人格はオーラムなんて持ってないだろう」
アキラは納得して感心したように首を軽く縦に振っていた。キバヤシはそのアキラの様子に満足すると、話を切り替える。
「俺の話は一旦終わりだ。じゃあ、次はアラベさんと話してくれ」
アラベが少し緊張した様子で話し始める。
「改めまして、ドランカムの交渉役のアラベと申します。本日はドランカムとアキラさんの和平交渉の
「気負う必要など御座いません。ドランカム側にはアキラさんと敵対する意思など無い。その意思の表れとお考えください」
アラベが出来る限り愛想良く笑って話を続ける。
「先ほどのキバヤシさんの話にもありましたが、都市から大規模遺跡探索の参加者同士で遺恨を、要は更なる被害の元を残さないように、との通達がありました。詳細は調査中ですが、我々もアキラさんとこちらに所属しているハンターの間で、著しい誤解に起因した非常に不幸な
アキラはアラベが差し出した和解書を受け取って内容を確認しようとする。だが相変わらず中身を全部読ませるつもりなど毛頭無いような細かい文面が続いていたので、いつものようにアルファに助けを求めた。
『細かく書かれているけれど、内容は普通の和解書よ』
い条件がこっそり書いてあって、うっかり違反すると大金を請求されるとか、そういうのは無いのか? 他には変な制限を要求されるとか』
アキラもこれが真っ当な和解書であることは理解した。だがすっきりしない気持ちは残っていた。
「ぶっちゃけるとだな、ドランカムはいろんなやつを黙らせる書類が欲しいんだよ」
「ドランカムは都市からも結構融資を受けている。だから何かあると懸念という形でごちゃごちゃ言われるんだ。俺らの言うことをちゃんと守ってるのかってな。今回の通達もそうだ。高ランクハンターと死者まで出るほど派手に
アキラが納得したように僅かに首を縦に振る。
「付け加えれば、これはお前にも十分利益がある話だ。ドランカムは組織としてはお前と
アキラは真面目な表情でキバヤシ、アラベ、書類へと視線を順に移した。そして自分の中に新たな納得が生まれたことを自覚すると、書類に署名してアラベに渡した。
「ありがとう御座います。では、私は社内の手続き等がありますので、これで失礼いたします」
「アキラ。俺も帰る。お前の無理
アラベは丁寧に頭を下げて、キバヤシは軽く手を振って病室から出て行った。
アキラが和解書の控えを見ながら感慨深げに
「......俺も結構強くなったわけか」
アルファが自慢げに笑う。
『私が鍛えているのだから当然よ。でも、その程度で満足してもらっては困るわよ?』
アキラも軽く笑って答えた。そこには自身の強さを受け入れた者の姿があった。
アラベはアキラには詳細は調査中と説明したが、既にドランカム側は遺跡での出来事の概略ぐらいは把握していた。
都市は遺跡からハンター達を生死問わず回収し、情報収集機器のデータなどを収集して事態の全容調査を進めていた。加えてヤナギサワを介してツバキからも情報を得ていた。それらの情報により、事態の全容は
無謀を繰り返すやつだ。借り貸しは金より命で清算するタイプなのかもな」
「勘弁してくれ......」
ハンターが交渉決裂後に相手を襲うことは間々ある。東部は最終的には武力が物を言う世界だ。荒野は当然として、防壁の外側もその傾向が高い。高ランクハンターとの交渉をしくじり、武力行使に出た相手を返り討ちにしたものの、施設や人員に多大な被害を出してしまい倒産に追い込まれた企業も多いのだ。
アキラがドランカムを襲えばどれだけの被害が出るか。アラベがその被害を想像して軽く頭を抱える。キバヤシはそのアラベの様子に、借りの大きさを十分に理解させたと判断して満足すると、少し話題を切り替える。
「それで、ドランカムは今どんな感じなんだ?
「正直に答えると、非常にごたごたしている。カツヤが死んだ影響が大きいんだ。変な話だが、俺も含めて幹部連中には、カツヤは死なないと思っていたやつが多くてな。カツヤが生きている前提で、長期的な契約を結んでいたやつもいた。それがカツヤの死で全部引っ繰り返った。ハンターなんだ。死ぬ時は死ぬ。その当たり前のことを、何で今まで無視していたんだか......」
思い込みや盲信とはそういうものだと思いつつも、普通ならもう少し最悪の事態を考慮して備えるはずだと、アラベはいろいろと
無謀に付き合わせて死なれちゃ困るから、ミズハあたりが意図的に遠ざけていたんだろう。今思えば、お前に会わせて、ちょっとは無理をさせて、変な幻想を取り除いておくべきだったか。まあ、後の祭りだ」
「その後悔は、まだ手遅れにならない部分に回すんだな。死んだカツヤ君は大層慕われていたんだろう? ハンター間の抗争を
アキラの入院生活2日目。担当医が円柱状の水槽を運んで病室に入ってきた。水槽には腕が浮かんでいる。培養中のアキラの腕だ。
担当医はアキラの義手の設定を変更して水槽の中の腕と連携させると、アキラに培養中の腕の調子を確かめるように頼んだ。
アキラは義手から水の感覚が伝わってきたことに少し驚いた後、腕をいろいろと動かし始めた。水槽の腕は義手に比べて動きに鈍さがあるが、ある程度は普通に動いていた。自身の体と
く腕を動かしていたアキラがちょっとした思い付きを試す。義手と水槽の中の腕を別個に動かし、立てる指の数や種類を変えてみる。少し難しかったが、すぐに出来るようになった。
担当医はそれを見て少し感心したような顔を浮かべていたが、我に返ると慌ててアキラを止める。
アキラは慌てて義手と水槽の腕の動きを元に戻した。担当医が軽く息を吐く。
「それにしても、随分器用ですね。普通は出来ないんですが......」
しているアキラを見て、アルファが楽しげに笑う。
『なかなか面白そうな提案だと思ったけれど、アキラは嫌なの? 腕があと2本ぐらいあれば便利だと思ったりしない?』
『確かに便利かもしれないけど、強化服の4本腕に慣れ過ぎて、生身の2本腕に不満を持ち始めたら大変だ。下手をすると際限なく腕が増えそうだ。現状2本腕で不満は無いんだ。
『そう? まあ、無理強いはしないわ。その辺は好みだからね』
『好みって、アルファだって腕は2本だろう』
『やめてくれ』
やってみろ、と答えればこれから4本腕の女性と一緒に生活することになる。絶対に非常に気になるので、アキラは本気で止めていた。
その後、見舞客が団体でやって来た。シェリル達だ。イナベ、ヴィオラ、ヨドガワに混ざって、エリオやシジマまで混ざっている。
見舞いでは有り触れた閑談を軽く済ませた後、個別に用がある者が他の者に席を外してもらってアキラと順に話し始める。まずはイナベだった。
アキラはイナベからの依頼で大規模遺跡探索に参加した。そして理由はどうであれ、何の成果も残せなかった。その文句でも言われるのかと思っていたのだが、予想に反してイナベは成功報酬として約束していた装備の
め息を吐き、苦笑いを浮かべる。
「今回の大規模遺跡探索だが、誰の手柄かという点を無視すれば、意外に思うかもしれないが、あれだけの被害を相殺しても有り余る大成功に終わった。その辺の説明は必要か?」
「いや、特には。ヤナギサワ主任って人が遺跡の管理人格と交渉して、オーラムで旧世界製の品を買える
「そういうことなら、分かった」
アキラはイナベがシェリルとの関係をそこまで重視していることに少し驚きながらも、今のシェリルなら不思議はないかとも思って、軽く笑って答えた。
だがイナベはどちらかと言えばアキラとの関係を重視していた。イナベもアキラとカツヤ達の戦闘についてはかなり詳しく把握している。ドランカムの精鋭を1人で潰すようなハンターと
の件は私からキバヤシに伝えておこう。これからも君と良い関係を築けることを期待しているよ」
イナベはアキラの返答に満足すると、そう言い残して帰っていった。
入れ替わるようにヨドガワが病室に入ってくる。ヨドガワは完全に営業に来ていた。
アキラの強化服は同じ病室に
んでいた。通信障害下という総合支援強化服の本来の性能を引き出せない状況だったとはいえ、たった1人に倒されたことに違いは無い。そして機領にとっては都合の悪いことに、アキラの強化服は他社製品だ。
今回の大規模遺跡探索は話題性に富んでいる。アキラとカツヤ達の戦闘も
「うーん。でも、シズカさんに装備の相談とかもしたいしな」
アキラはシズカの店でシズカに相談して装備を調達するという流れに
「分かりました。残念ですが、今日はこれで失礼します。気が変わりましたらいつでも連絡してください」
アキラは少し拍子抜けに思ったが、余り気にせずにヨドガワを見送った。ヨドガワは病室から出ると、焦りながら次の交渉先に急いだ。
は、温かみのある言動を備えてから言ってくれ。一番に口にした言葉が賠償請求って何なんだよ」
どこか嫌そうな顔を浮かべているアキラとは対照的に、ヴィオラは少し楽しげだった。
「そう? まあ、気が変わったら私に言ってちょうだい。格安で請け負ってあげるわ。それじゃあ、ここにいても意味はなさそうだし、帰るわ。じゃあね」
「そうだけど、再生治療を頼んだから明日には生身の腕になる予定だ。生身の腕は培養中で、明日手術でくっつけるんだ。今日は新しい腕の動作確認みたいな感じで、培養中の腕を義手の操作を介して動かしたりもした。なかなか面白かった」
「でも、病院送りになって無事ってのも変な気がします」
Ch 226
Akira had to stay in the hospital until the treatment for his lost arm was done. It took about three days to grow his new arm. On the first day, Kibayashi came to visit him with Arabe.
Seeing Akira cock his head the moment he came in, Kibayashi could not hold back his amused smile.
"Geez, that was cold. Although I'm here to give you a hospital visit, there's no need to be that prickly, you know."
"Then why are you smiling like that?"
"Well, that's because you're as reckless as always."
"That's right, or so I want to say, but before that, business comes first. Let me introduce you, this is Arabe from Drankam."
Arabe politely bowed to Akira.
"I am Arabe. I'm sorry to come here so suddenly, I asked Kibayashi to introduce me to you because there's something I want to discuss with you regarding the recent incident. Nice to meet you."
Akira was rather wary since he thought that he would get an earful of complaints after killing Katsuya. But seeing that Arabe did the opposite, Akira was at loss on what to do. That was when Kibayashi suddenly interjected.
"Before you guys start talking about your business with Drankam, I'll give you a short explanation of what is going on. What happened during the large scale expedition, and what happened while you were out cold. After all, it won't make any sense unless we let you know all about that first."
Although Akira was still struggling to follow the unexpected turn of events, it was also true that he wanted to know more. So he decided to just listen quietly to Kibayashi's explanation.
The Hunters in the expedition were thrown into chaos when Tsubaki suddenly jammed most forms of communication. But fortunately, the Hunters who joined the expedition were skilled. Although not all of them were that skilled, they were still at least able to work smoothly within their respective team. As such, normally, communication jamming would not cause such chaos.
But Tsubaki prepared something else to stir the pot. She had some Hunters paid to attack other Hunters, a team to attack another team, Hunters betraying their own team. And as the cherry on top, she also prepared Tiol to attack the Hunters. With all of these going off in one go, the situation was quickly thrown into utter chaos.
Among that chaos, Hunters were attacked by their teammates when in reality, those teammates were just look-alikes. They were old-world monsters modified with familiar faces thanks to Yatsubayashi.
When Hunters managed to establish a communication line with them through the close-range connection, what they would hear was filled with screams and gunshots. Tsubaki also lured monsters to clash with City Management's powered suits. Of course, the line of command that was already established immediately went down under that situation.
Of course, there were also some Hunters who pretended to be working with Tsubaki only to leak that information to those on City Management's side. Unfortunately, that information was completely useless. The long-term planning division already knew that some people made deals with the caretaker AI, so they did not pay much attention to them. Moreover, the information these Hunters gave was mostly useless and had questionable sources. Those who were betrayed also noticed that through their information terminal right before the jamming.
Some of the Hunters tried to send that information to HQ the moment they noticed it. However before they could do it, long-range communication to HQ was already down. Furthermore, these people were the first targets to be killed under Tsubaki's orders.
With all the ensuing chaos, it was difficult to deal with the situation using teamwork. Thus, Hunters began to drop like flies and the death count reflected it. The beguiling ghost that tempted Hunters to betray each other, it was big enough of a tragedy for such an urban legend to be born.
After all these deaths, Yanagisawa managed to form a truce with Tsubaki. Moreover, City Management released an order that prohibited any form of retaliation, which would most likely stem from grudges. This applied between Hunters, to City Management, and to the ruin's caretaker as well.
There were Hunters who betrayed their own team, there were also some Hunters who got killed because of misunderstandings. If they seek revenge, either targeting their other fellow Hunters, or going to the ruin once again to exact their revenge on Tsubaki, both would only serve to increase the body count. So in order to prevent that, City Management dispatched a squad to put the expedition area under a tight lock-down.
Kibayashi gave a short explanation to Akira. Although, since it was not like Kibayashi knew everything and was only able to give a quick overview of the situation, it was enough to make Akira frown.
Akira then noticed something that piqued his interest.
"You did say that City Management dispatched the squad to guard the expedition area in order to prevent more unnecessary deaths, right? But isn't it because they have another reason behind that?"
Akira understood that Kibayashi was actually baiting him to say yes there, but even so, Akira still decided to take that bait.
"...Yes, please."
"In that case, can you promise me to take Arabe's business in a positive way?"
"Even if I haven't heard what this business might be?"
In contrast to how Akira negatively reacted to what he just said, Kibayashi just chuckled and casually said.
"It's not like I'm telling you to throw yourself into more danger without any reason. I just want you to take it positively in exchange for telling you my guess. It's fine if you don't want to do that as well. It's nothing that serious."
"Well, if it's only that much."
By acting as if it was nothing serious, Kibayashi was able to pressure a high ranking Hunter to accept a talk that he had not known yet. Arabe who realized that could not help but feel a bit of fear.
"Ah, I see, so that's what it is, huh. So they're planning to gather Chrome next, right?"
Akira was able to come up with such a guess thanks to all the things that he had learned. But his guess said with confidence was quickly shot down.
"Aurum? But the ruin's caretaker doesn't have Aurum, right?"
Akira gave a light nod, it seems that he was able to understand just how amazing it was. Seeing that, Kibayashi gave a satisfied smile and cut his talk short.
"That's all from me for now. Well then, Arabe-san will take over from here."
Arabe nervously started with an opening.
"Let me introduce myself once again, I'm Arabe from Drankam. I'm here today to discuss a peace treaty with Akira-san."
"There's no need to be that surprised. Drankam has no wish to be hostile against you. Just think of it as Drankam's way to convey the same."
Arabe tried his best to maintain his best amicable smile.
"It is as Kibayashi-san just explained, we've also received a notice to stop any infighting between Hunters because of the mess that happened during the expedition. Although we're still investigating the details, we've confirmed that a misunderstanding between the Hunters under our gang had caused you immense trouble. So in order to avoid letting that spark turn into more conflict, we've prepared a peace treaty document through the Hunter Office. Please carefully read through the document and sign it if you're okay with it."
Akira took the document that Arabe offered. But just like usual, it was filled with small dense letters as if it was not written for reading. So he took his usual move which was to rely on Alpha.
"Although it contains even the tiniest details, it's basically just a normal peace treaty."
"Are you sure it doesn't have any difficult hidden clause or something that stipulates me having to pay a huge fine if I broke the treaty? Or maybe other weird clauses?"
With this, Akira confirmed that it was a proper peace treaty. But he still found it a bit too much.
"To put it simply, Drankam is gathering documents to shut particular people up."
"Drankam received quite a large loan from the city. That's why they receive a lot of complaints when something goes wrong. Something like 'if only they had properly followed the words of their sponsors', and that's also the case this time. After getting into conflict with a high ranking Hunter which ended up with so many deaths, the sponsors are questioning if they can believe a simple unwritten promise or even a treaty written on a single leaf of paper by City Management. That's why Drankam had to even go to the Hunter Office to prepare this peace treaty. That way, those people from City Management won't have any complaints."
Akira nodded in understanding.
"If I may add something, it's actually a good offer for you too. Drankam has no wish to pick a fight with you, but of course, it's not like everyone in the gang is happy with that. You did kill quite a lot of them after all. So then, if any of them come after you, you can use that peace treaty and send a complaint to Drankam. I'm sure Drankam would get desperate and deal with it swiftly. As a Hunter gang, if news spreads of it ignoring a peace treaty made through the Hunter Office, it will cause damage that endangers the integrity of the whole organization. To top it off, they'll recognize you as someone who could deal with problems calmly and rationally. There are many people who think of Hunters as nothing but thugs, so it's important to build a good reputation. Your reputation will get better especially when it has a case to use for reference."
Akira sent a serious gaze to Kibayashi, then to Arabe, before finally to the document on his hand. As he gained new self-confidence, he put his name on the treaty and returned it back to Arabe.
"Thank you very much. Now then, I need to return back and take care of the administration regarding this matter. So please allow me to excuse myself."
"Akira, I'm heading back too. It's really unfortunate that I don't have the time to listen to your reckless story, but I'm pretty busy, you see. Until we meet again."
Arabe politely bowed to Akira while Kibayashi lightly waved his hand as both left the room.
Akira looked at a copy of the treaty for his safe-keeping with a deep thought as he mumbled.
"...I guess I've become pretty strong, huh?"
Alpha smiled proudly and stated.
"It's nothing to be surprised about since I train you myself. But still, don't get satisfied yet, okay?"
Akira gave a light smile, it was the smile of someone who had recognized and accepted his strength.
Arabe did say that Drankam was still investigating the details of the incident, but in reality, there were points and facts that Drankam had already confirmed.
City Management gathered all the Hunters from the expedition area regardless if they were alive or not and took the data from their information-gathering devices in order to help the investigation. Moreover, they also received data regarding the incident from Tsubaki via Yanagisawa. With all of this data, they were able to get a precise and accurate picture of what had happened.
"He's my favourite Hunter, after all, a reckless Hunter. He might prefer to exchange favours using life instead of money."
"Good grief, give me a break..."
It was not rare for failed negotiation with a Hunter to break into a fight. In the end, power was everything in the eastern district. Although the negotiation took place outside the wasteland, that line of thinking holds true as long as it was outside the city wall. Not a small number of corporations were brought to the brink of bankruptcy after making a huge mistake during a negotiation with a high ranking Hunter. Of course, they were able to repel that Hunter, but the sacrifice was not small.
Arabe could not help but to rub his temples when he imagined just how much death it would cause if Akira decided to attack Drankam. Seeing that, Kibayashi was happy since it seemed that Arabe understood just how big he owed him. Thus, Kibayashi decided to change the subject.
"So then, how is Drankam right now? With that huge debt to me, it would be such a waste if the gang crumbles and can't pay it back."
"To be honest, it's a huge mess. The effect of Katsuya's death is huge. Although this might sound weird, most of the officers including me, never thought that he would die like that. Some of them even got long-term contracts under the assumption that Katsuya would not die. And with his death, all of those turned into dust. He's a Hunter, it was not strange for him to die anytime. Although it was so obvious, I wonder why no one expected it at all..."
Getting ahead of themselves, getting too optimistic, was completely normal for Hunters. Even so, planning for the worst was a given as well, Arabe thought it was weird how no one was prepared for the worst-case scenario. Kibayashi smiled wryly at Arabe and said.
"It would be bad if your reckless loving fetish infects him after all. I bet the officers, especially the people around Mizuha, were actively keeping him away from you. Now that I think about it, it might have been better to let him meet you and get him through some dangerous situations. That way, we wouldn't have placed that much expectation on him. But I guess it's all too late now."
"Well, you should make sure to learn from your mistake for the sake of those who are still alive. Katsuya was loved by many, right? It's not rare for those who are unhappy with the situation to still pursue revenge. They might even do so with the peace treaty and Hunters notice from City Management in place. Be extremely careful with this, in the worst-case scenario, the peace treaty might be rendered meaningless, you know?"
On the second day, the doctor who was responsible for Akira's treatment visited him with a large tube in hand. A single arm could be seen floating in the middle of that tube, it was Akira's new arm.
The doctor then changed the setting of Akira's prosthetic to connect his arm stump to the new arm and asked Akira to test how it felt.
Akira was surprised when the sensation from his new arm was sent to his prosthetic. He then proceeded to try to move his arm as he was told to. Although he could feel a time lag between his mind and the new arm, he could more or less move it like normal. He felt a strange sensation seeing an arm that was not connected to his body moving under his will. He tried closing and stretching out his palm, and moving his fingers one by one.
After trying a few things, Akira suddenly thought of trying something. He tried to move different fingers of his detached arm and his prosthetic arm. Although it was difficult at first, he quickly got used to it in no time.
The doctor watched that with fascination. But he quickly returned back to reality and stopped Akira.
Akira flusteredly mentally synced back his detached arm with his prosthetic arm. The doctor lightly sighed and stated.
"But still, you're pretty skilled. Normally, it's impossible to do that, you know..."
Akira sighed in relief. Seeing that, Alpha smiled amusedly and asked.
"That was an interesting offer though. Why didn't you like it? Don't you think it would be convenient to get 2 more arms?"
"Well, it does sound convenient, but if I get too used to four arms with an augmented suit, I feel like it would be bad. I might just start feeling that my original two arms are not enough. In the worst-case scenario, I might end up wishing for more and more arms. I have no complaints with my current two so I have no plans to get more arms anytime soon."
"Is that so? Well, I won't force you though, it's a matter of preference after all."
"Preference, huh. How about you, Alpha? You have only 2 arms yourself, right?"
"No, don't."
Akira knew that he would definitely be teased if he said yes. He would most likely have to live with a 4 armed girl every day, so Akira made Alpha seriously stop.
After that, a group of people came to visit Akira. There were people from Sheryl's gang, along with Inabe, Viola, Yodogawa, Erio and Shijima. Of course, the only one who came there to check if Akira was okay was Sheryl. While the rest were only there to check if the Hunter supporting Sheryl was still alive or not.
Their visit started with some normal talks, but after that, they let Akira meet each individual in private to talk about business. The first one was Inabe.
Akira joined the large-scale expedition under his request. Regardless of the reason, Akira was not able to finish the request. So he thought that Inabe was here to talk about that. However, contrary to his expectation, Inabe was there to give Akira his connection as a reward for successfully finishing his request.
Inabe sighed and smiled wryly before continuing.
"About the expedition, putting aside who deserves the credit, it actually ended up being a huge success despite all the sacrifices. Do you need more explanation on it?"
"No, there's no need. I heard that City Management managed to strike a deal with the ruin's caretaker AI to trade with Aurum through someone by the name of Commander Yanagisawa. And I heard that it would no doubt bring in huge profit for the city."
"If it's only that, then sure."
Akira was surprised that Inabe actually thought that much of his connection with Sheryl. But thinking of Sheryl's current position, Akira thought that it was nothing strange and just lightly chuckled.
But in reality, Inabe actually did that to keep his connection with Akira. Inabe knew about Akira's battle with Katsuya's team in more detail compared to most people. Having a connection with a Hunter who could crush Drankam's rising star alone was a good thing. Moreover, he already noticed that Sheryl could not go against Akira. Considering his plan to gain money through Sheryl's gang, he needed to keep an amicable relationship with Akira.
"That's good to hear, well then, that's all I have for today. I will also tell Kibayashi about the connection I passed to you. I hope that we can keep working together from here and on out."
Inabe was satisfied with Akira's reply as he left the room after speaking his piece.
Yodogawa was the next one to enter the room. He was there fully for the sake of business.
Akira's badly damaged powered suit was hung inside his hospital room. He was planning to bring that to Shizuka for repair once he was discharged.
Yodogawa's company already knew that Akira crushed Katsuya's team. Although connections were being jammed, which caused the coordination support system to be unable to utilise its full potential, it did not change the fact that Akira,  alone, was able to crush them. To top it off, Akira did that while using an augmented suit from a different company.
The recent expedition was filled with a lot of important information. Those with keen insight already knew about Akira's battle against Katsuya's team. Although equipment did not exactly dictate the end result of a battle, it would still play a big role in deciding the victor.
"Hmmm, well, to be honest, I want to discuss with Shizuka-san first before deciding which to buy though."
Akira was insisting on discussing with Shizuka first before ordering any equipment from her shop. Basically, he only bought equipment from the shops that he had a good experience with. The only exceptions would be the equipment that he got through his connection with Kibayashi and Inabe. At the moment, he had no plans to add Yodogawa to that exception.
"Very well. It's indeed unfortunate, but I'll excuse myself here for today. Do tell me if you change your mind."
Akira felt that it was rather anti-climatic, but he did not say anything as he watched Yodogawa leave the room. The moment Yodogawa stepped out, the next visitor entered in a rush.
"Only say that to me again when you mean it. The first thing that you said when you came here was suggesting that I demand compensation."
In contrast to Akira, who obviously seemed to be in a bad mood, Viola was smiling amusedly.
"Is that so? Well, feel free to come to me if you change your mind. I'll do it for cheap. Well then, since it seems that there's nothing more I can do here, I'll excuse myself."
"Well, it is, but I asked for the regenerative treatment and I should get my new arm tomorrow. The arm is still in its growing phase and I'm going to go through surgery tomorrow to attach it back. Today, they brought the new arm and I tried to move it around by connecting it to the prosthetic. It was pretty interesting."
"But it's weird for you to be sent to the hospital if you're really okay."
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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