アキラがシェリルの頼みで一緒にスラム街を散策している。そこそこ武装した少年と、スラム街の基準では少々上等な服を着ている少女。駆け出しハンターとその取り巻きと考えれば、別に珍しいものでもない。
それでも時折興味深そうな視線が向けられる。その光景に何らかの意味を見
シェリルの案内でスラム街をいろいろ見て回る。シベアの縄張りだった辺りを重点的に回った後は、そこから大分外れた場所も散策範囲に加えていく。
スラム街はそれなりの広さがあり、大小様々な徒党の縄張りが入り組んでいる。それらの縄張りはそれぞれの秩序で動いており、その秩序を知らない者、秩序に組み込まれていない者が下手に
アキラもその程度の知識は持っていた。そしてその知識の無い場所には近付かないようにしていたので、スラム街で長年過ごしていたとはいえ、知らない場所は多かった。
「この辺には来たことがないけど、スラム街にしては随分小奇麗だな」
周囲には比較的頑丈そうな建物が立ち並んでいる。露店の数も多く、整備不良に見える拳銃、一部刃こぼれしているナイフ、更には簡単なアクセサリーなど、出所不明な様々な品が店先に並べられている。客の姿もそれなりに見られる。この光景は、それらの商売環境を成り立たせる経済、治安、秩序が維持されている証拠であり、ここを縄張りとしている徒党の力の証明でもあった。
アキラが見慣れない場所に少し興味深そうな視線を向けていると、シェリルが笑って軽く説明する。
「この辺りの建物は、都市が下位区画を拡張しようとして一度しっかり建てたんだそうです。でもそれが頓挫して放置されていたのを、この辺りの
「へー」
路地裏で寝泊まりしているだけでは手に入らないスラム街の豆知識と、それを知っているシェリルに、アキラは軽く感心した。そして何となくアルファに尋ねてみる。
『今の話、アルファは知ってたか?』
『いいえ。知らなかったわ』
何となくだが、アルファなら何でも知っている気がする。そう思っていたアキラにとって、知らない、という答えは少し意外だった。それが僅かに顔に出る。しかし話の続きを聞くと、その顔もすぐに変わる。
に開発するつもりなど初めからなかったの。それでも都市の主導なら強引な開発も容易だから、誰かが資金を出してそういうことにしたのでしょうね』
『......知ってるんじゃないか』
『知らなかったのは、それが一般的にどう伝わっているかよ。誰かが不当に占拠している、ということにして、裏で何かやっているのでしょうね。その何かが発覚しても、関係者が責任逃れを出来るような工作も含めてね』
その一般的ではない方の情報をアルファはなぜ知っているのか。アキラはそれが少し気になったが、聞かないことにした。気にするだけ無駄だからだ。
アルファは間違いなく異常な存在だ。自分にしか知覚できないということ以外にも、少し考えるだけで不明な点が山ほど出てくる。しかしそれを意図的に気にしないようにしていた。
アキラにとって重要なのは、アルファが自分の味方だということだ。非常に得体の知れない存在であることに間違いはない。だが自分の味方であるという要素の方が
だからこそ、アキラはその例外であるアルファの異常性など気にしない。それを気にすることでアルファを失うぐらいなら目を背ける方を選ぶ。少なくとも、今は。
不意にアルファが少し
『それにしても、アキラとシェリルが並んで歩いていると、デートみたいね』
アキラが軽く吹き出し、思わず視線をアルファに向けた。突如吹き出して視線を誰もいない場所に向ける人物は十分に不審者だが、シェリルは
『デートって、それは違うだろう?』
『いいえ。合っているわ。反論するのは勝手だけれど、私に討論を挑むなんて無謀よ?』
微妙な顔を浮かべながらも反論を諦めたアキラを見て、アルファが楽しげに笑う。
『という訳で、デートなのだから何か買ってシェリルにプレゼントしましょう』
『......分かったよ。何か買えば良いんだな?』
アキラも別に無理に逆らうつもりはない。危険なことでもないのだ。その意図は分からなくとも、手持ちの金を少々使っただけでアルファが満足するのならそれで良い。何よりも、意地を張って下手に反論した結果、シェリルにプレゼントを贈る利点を延々と説明され続けるような面倒事は避けたい。そう思って近くの露店に向かう。シェリルもアキラに付いていく。
露店の店先には様々な売り物が雑多に置かれている。そこに並べられていた整備状態の怪しそうな銃がアキラの目に
(......いや、違うか)
アキラは軽く首を横に振った。そのような銃を贈って後で暴発でもすれば嫌がらせと変わらない。そもそもデートの最中にその相手に送る品ではないだろう。そう考え直し、もっと無難な物を探そうとする。だが誰かに物を贈った経験など無い
『アルファ。どれにすれば良いんだ?』
『自分で考えなさい』
楽しげに笑ってそう答えたアルファに、アキラが不満の意思を念話に乗せて返す。
『......前に分からないことがあったら聞けば教えてくれるって言ったじゃないか』
『だから答えたでしょう? アキラが自分で選んだものを贈る。それが答えよ』
『そういうことか? そういう話か? そういう問題か?』
『そういうことで、そういう話で、そういう問題よ。変なものを贈って微妙な表情をされるのも勉強の内よ。頑張りなさい』
「何を探しているんですか?」
シェリルは軽く話題を振った程度の感覚で声を掛けただけだった。それに対してアキラが少し難しい顔と僅かに
「......ここにあるもので、何か欲しいものはあるか?」
「あー、ほら、昨日の説明で俺がシェリルを
う仲だって。何かプレゼントするから、その証拠の品にでもしてくれ。どの程度役に立つかは分からないけどな」
アルファからは自分で選べと言われたが、贈り先の相手からそれについて尋ねられたので、アキラはそれを言い訳にして、もう直接本人に聞くことにした。変なものを贈って微妙な顔をされるなど、アキラも出来れば避けたいのだ。
シェリルはかなり驚いていた。まさか自分へのプレゼントを選んでいるとは
その人物眼は正しく、アキラはアルファに言われてやっているだけだ。シェリルもそこまでは見抜けない。その分だけ驚きも大きかった。
「......で、どれにする?」
しい。それを口調と表情と仕草から出る雰囲気で強く伝えて、アキラの好感度を稼ぎに掛かった。
だがその細かな機微はアキラには届かなかった。麗しい少女に強い好意を乗せた表情と声を向けられても、アキラはその顔を緩ませるどころか、更に悩ましいものに変えた。
「......分かった。それなら俺が変なものを選んでも文句を言うなよ? 自分で選ぶなら今の内だぞ?」
シェリルは相手の予想外の反応を内心で意外に思う。しぶとく最後の確認を取ろうとするアキラの態度からは、いつもならば確かにある反応、好感度が上がった手応えなど全く感じられない。
それでもアキラのどこか必死な様子から、自分のセンスで選ぶのを何とか避けたいことぐらいは簡単に分かった。内心の
「どんなものでも文句なんか言いませんが、そうですね、ではアクセサリー類を選んでいただけますか? そういう品の方がそれらしいので」
「そうか。分かった」
アキラがあからさまに少しほっとしたような態度を見せる。
「ありがとう御座います。大切にします」
「ああ。まあ、好きにしてくれ」
く見て回り、日が落ち始めた頃に解散となる。シェリルが去り際にアキラに深く頭を下げる。
「アキラ。今日はありがとう御座いました。それと、これからも
く黙ってシェリルを見送っていた。そしてシェリルの姿が消えてもそのまま帰ろうとしないアキラの様子に、アルファが不思議そうに尋ねる。
『アキラ。帰らないの?』
『ん? ちょっとな。......ついでだし、初日だし、まあ、念の
シベア達の拠点だった建物はその空白地の中心となる場所だ。拠点にはシベア達の金や物資が集められていたが、徒党の生き残り達が他の徒党へ加入する際の手土産として大半を持ち去ったので、僅かに残った物に大した価値などない。
それでも建物自体の価値は十分に残っている。スラム街の住人が占拠すればその利益は大きい。だが今は人気も無く閑散としていた。誰かが勝手に中に入ると、周辺の徒党に他のどこかが建物の占拠に動き出したと判断されて、抗争の引き金となるからだ。どこの徒党にも属していない者が寝床にするだけでも危険だった。
「いらっしゃい。私の拠点にようこそ」
彼らはシベアの徒党の生き残りだ。他の徒党に加入できた者も全員が順風満帆な訳ではない。今までと勝手が違って
そのような者達がアキラと一緒にいるシェリルの姿を見掛ければ、当然確認に来る。
「お前の拠点ってどういう意味だ? いや、そんなことより、何でお前があのガキと一緒にいたんだ? シベアを殺したのはあのガキだろう?」
「私の拠点ってのはそのままの意味よ。今日からここは私の徒党の拠点。アキラと一緒にいたのは、私がアキラと話を付けたからよ。その結果、今日から私がここのボスになったの。だからここは私の拠点なの」
「アキラ? あのガキのことか?」
「そうよ。良い名前でしょう? それで
その効果は十分に現れた。男達の態度に反感と警戒が増す。
「......あのガキと一緒にいるお前を見たからそのことを聞きに来たんだよ。それで、話を付けたってどういう意味だ?」
「シベアを殺したのはあのガキだろうが! あのガキがシベアを殺しさえしなければ、こんなことにはならなかったんだ!」
「子供1人を殺すのにあれだけの数を
「おいシェリル。あんまり調子に乗るんじゃねえぞ? あのガキが幾ら強かろうが、今はお前1人なんだ」
「は? 本気で言ってるの?」
れすら感じさせる態度を返した。すると男達が引きつった顔で辺りを探し始める。アキラが隠れていると思ったのだ。
「探しても無駄よ。言ったでしょう? ハンター稼業が忙しいって。ここにはいないわ」
「てめえ......」
言い争っていた男が舌打ちをして拠点から出ていく。残りの者達も大半がその後に続いた。そして数名の子供だけが場に残った。
険しい表情のまま帰ろうとしない子供達に向けて、シェリルが意図的に
「用がないなら、私の拠点から出ていってくれない?」
「......分かってるだろう。俺達を徒党に入れてくれ」
「私がボスだと認めるのね? 私の指示にちゃんと従うのね?」
「......ああ。お前がボスだ。指示には従うよ」
シェリルが薄く笑う。
「そういうことなら歓迎するわ。でも今日は帰って。私もいろいろ忙しいの。その内にアキラに紹介するから、明日の夜にまたここに来なさい」
子供達は出来れば外より安全な拠点の中に
眠りに就く直前、ふとシェリルはそんなことを考えた。
拠点の外では、先ほどの者達の一部がそのまま帰らずに残っていた。
「おい。本当にやるのか? シェリルの話が本当ならヤバいぞ? 相手はハンターだぞ? そこらでモンスターと殺し合ってる連中だぞ? 大丈夫なのか?」
「だからってあのガキにこの拠点を渡せって言うのかよ。この拠点を手に入れれば俺達の地位だって上がるんだ。あのガキの言っていることだって、どうせただのはったりだ。あるいはそのハンターに適当なことを言われただけだ。
成功すれば、その利益は大きい。拠点と縄張りをどこかの徒党に引き渡せば、その徒党での地位は大幅に引き上がる。その利益とハンターの報復の危険性が男達の判断、半信半疑の割合を乱し、彼らを積極的な者達と消極的な者達に分けていた。
「シジマさんだってここを欲しがっているんだ。ここをシジマさんに渡せば俺達の地位は安泰だ。それをあんなガキに
「でもシェリルの話が本当で、そのハンターにそれがバレたらどうするんだよ。ヤバいって」
「どこかに隠れていたりは......」
「しねえよ。第一シェリルが本当にそのハンターと話を付けたかどうかも怪しいんだ。抱かれている最中に適当なことを言われただけかもしれねえ。金もねえガキとの約束なんか、ハンターが一々守るかよ」
「そ、それもそうか......。でもなあ......」
「分かったよ。俺達だけでやるから、お前らはそこで突っ立って見張りでもしてろ。それで良いな? ここにいるんだ。それぐらいはしろよ」
「まあ、それぐらいならな。分かった」
襲撃者達はお互いに
「......お、おい、シェリルと話を付けたんなら、何であの時一緒にいなかったんだ?」
アキラが振り返る。そして平然とした顔で近くの死体を指差す。
「見れば分かるだろう?」
アキラはそれだけ言って立ち去った。
生き残った者達が顔を見合わせると足早に去っていく。その場には誤った選択をした者達の死体だけが取り残された。
『アキラ。あれで良かったの?』
『ああ。初めからシェリルの護衛をずっと続ける暇なんか無いんだ。あの脅しが利いて、シェリルの運が良ければ、
この様子ならばアキラがシェリルを理由にして無駄な危険を冒す確率は低い。アルファはそう判断し、アキラという人格への理解を少し進めた。
『いいえ。アキラがそれで良いなら私は構わないわ。それより、明日は今日の分も合わせてしっかり訓練をするからね』
Akira walked through the slum city with Sheryl as she asked him to. She was wearing a dress that was above the standard of the slum city, as such, Akira looked like an amateur Hunter walking together with his follower. It was not a rare scene in the slum city.
But even so, a lot of people were attracted by them and some of those people looked at them with meaningful stares.
Sheryl guided Akira around the city. At first, they started to walk around the old territory owned by Sibea, then from there, they kept walking further away.
The slum city was quite a wide area with big and small gangs scattered around. Each gang had their own rules in their territory. Thus it was dangerous for people who did not know those rules to wander into other gang's territory. Akira's sleeping place in the back alley was actually within a gang's territory. The reason why he was left alone was because he was in a region where there was no need for the gang to maintain order.
Akira also had a certain level of knowledge about this kind of thing. And since he was always steering clear from the places that he did not know, there were a lot of unfamiliar places in the slum city, although he had been living there for a long time.
"I've never been in this place before, it's quite clean around this area, although it's still inside the slum city."
The area was filled with buildings that looked relatively strong. There were stalls filled with all kinds of stuff like a poorly maintained pistol, rusted knife, simple accessories and so many other things. There were all kinds of people roaming the area as well. That scene was proof of how well the economy, safety and public order of that area was. It was also proof of just how powerful the gang that owned that territory had.
As Akira looking around excitedly at the unfamiliar place, Sheryl just smiled and said to Akira.
"The buildings around this area were originally a part of the extension plan of the lower district. But it came to a halt and so the buildings ended up abandoned as the managers of the area left this place."
"Ohhh."
It was not a knowledge that a little boy who always slept in the back alley of the slum city would know. So Akira was a bit amazed at Sheryl's knowledge, he then asked Alpha.
"That thing just now, did you know that too, Alpha?"
"No, I didn't know."
Akira thought that Alpha knew everything. As such, he was shocked when Alpha gave him that answer and it was shown on his face too. But his face then changed as Alpha continued.
"I don't know about what she said just now. By the way, it was expected that they would abandon this place after the expansion. The city actually had no wish to seriously develop this area right from the start. But even so, it's an easy thing for the head of government to push the development. So I bet someone took the money for the development and it ended up being abandoned like this."
"...You do know, huh?"
"What I don't know is what kind of story that was spread among the people. Although someone owns the place now, I'm sure they're doing something in the shadows. And even if some of those people who are related to this problem are discovered later, they're in a position that would let them go unpunished."
Akira was actually a bit curious as to why Alpha knew things that common people would not know. But he decided not to ask her since he knew that it would be pointless.
Alpha was indeed a special case. Other than the fact that Akira was the only person who could interact with her for some reason, there were still a lot of things about her that Akira did not know. But he intentionally ignored those point.
For him, the important point was that Alpha was not his enemy. There was no doubt that she was a totally unknown entity for him. But for him, it was far more important that she was not his enemy.
But that was also exactly why he did not dig too deep about Alpha, he would rather choose not to ask if it meant that Alpha would stay as his ally. Or at least that's what he thought for the moment.
Alpha suddenly smiled mischievously at Akira.
"But still, when you walk side by side with Sheryl, it looks like you're having a date."
Akira coughed and turned to Alpha. Of course, it was really suspicious since from the outside, he looked like he just coughed and then looked toward the direction where no one was there. But even so, Sheryl did not react to that at all. It was because Akira already told her not to ask. And if it meant that she would be able to gain safety by ignoring it, Sheryl would definitely choose to just ignore it without any hesitation.
"A date? You know that this isn't a date, right?"
"Nope, it's a date. You can go ahead and argue otherwise, but you do know that arguing with me is futile, right?"
Looking at how Akira was making a conflicted face and gave up on arguing, Alpha smiled as she was enjoying it.
"So with that being said, since it's a date, let's buy something for Sheryl."
"...Alright, I just have to buy something, right?"
Akira was also thinking that it would be useless if he argued back. And it was not like buying a present was dangerous anyway. Although it was something unplanned, if it meant that he could satisfy Alpha by sacrificing a small bit of his money, then he would not mind. Moreover, if he prioritized his ego and made a bad argument, Alpha would explain in detail all the benefits that he could get from buying Sheryl a present. Akira thought that it would not be worth it as he headed to one of the stalls. As for Sheryl, she just followed behind Akira.
There were all kinds of goods exhibited in front of the stall, but Akira eyes stopped on a row of broken guns lined up in front of the stall. Guns were indeed an important possession in the dangerous slum city.
[...Nope, not guns.]
Akira lightly shook his head. It would just be bullying if he gave Sheryl a broken gun that might accidentally discharge its bullet. Not to mention that it was not something that normal people would give in the middle of a date. As such, he continued to look for something safer. But since he had no experience in giving someone else a present, he did not know what kind of present he should get. As he was confused and could not decide on any present, he looked toward Alpha for help.
"Alpha, which one should I take?"
"Think for yourself."
As Alpha smiled mischievously at Akira, he replied back with a grumble.
"...You did say that you would tell me anything if I ask, didn't you?"
"But I did answer you, right? You should pick what you want to give, that's an answer, right?"
"So that's it? That was your answer? That's what you meant?"
"Yep, that's it. That was my answer. That's what I meant. It would also be a lesson for you if you give her something strange and make her give you a weird look. So give it your best."
"What are you looking for?"
Sheryl feebly asked. Akira hesitated for a moment before replying back with a troubled face.
"...Is there anything that you might want in this stall?"
"Ahh, well, you see, from the explanation yesterday, you're my patron... No, acquaintance...? What's the right word, again?"
"Yep, that's it. You might need something as a proof, right? We're in a close enough relationship to give each other present after all. So yep, I'm planning to give you something that you can use as proof for establishing our relationship. But I don't know what might be a good present."
Alpha told Akira to pick something by himself, but since he ended up asking the person that he intended to give his present, he decided to use that as an excuse. After all, Akira wanted to avoid giving something strange and making Sheryl look at him weirdly.
Sheryl was surprised, she never thought that she would be able to pick her own present. After all, Akira did not look like someone who would do that at all.
Although in reality, Akira only did that because Alpha told him to, Sheryl could not notice that. As such, it was a very surprising for her.
"...S-so, which one do you want?"
Sheryl's face and words meant to say she would be happy for whatever Akira picked for her as long as Akira gave a serious thought for her present.
But Akira did not catch her subtleties. Even after a beautiful girl spoke to him and looked at him with affection, Akira could not calm down, he was instead even more confused.
"...Alright then. In that case, don't complain if I buy you something strange, okay? This is your chance if you want to pick anything, you know?"
Sheryl was a bit surprised by a reply that she did not expect at all, but she just kept it inside her heart. Being that persistent asking for confirmation was something that was expected for Akira to do, it was a normal thing for him, so it was not like Akira being nice to Sheryl.
But even so, looking at how Akira seemed to be a bit desperate, it showed that he really wanted to avoid the situation where he had to rely on his sense to pick Sheryl's present. But Sheryl kept that for herself and made a gesture as if she was thinking before she smiled and said to Akira.
"I won't complain no matter which one you pick. But well, if you insist, can you please pick an accessory? After all, I think accessories would work the best in this case"
"I see, okay then"
It was obvious that Akira looked a bit relieved.
"Thank you very much, I'll treasure it"
"Ah, right, just go ahead and do whatever you want with it"
They kept walking around the slum city for a bit after that and returned back when the sun set. Sheryl bowed deeply toward Akira as they went to different directions.
"Akira, thank you very much. And also, please take a good care of me"
Akira just stood there for a while as he was seeing Sheryl off. Seeing how Akira just stood there even after Sheryl had gone from his views, Alpha was a bit puzzled and asked Akira.
"Akira, you're not going back home?"
"Hm? Just for a bit... It's her first day, after all, so just to be safe"
The building that was used as the headquarters by Sibea's gang was the centre of that open territory. All the money and resources that Sibea's gang had were gathered in that building, but almost half of it was already gone as the former members of the gang brought some of them as souvenirs to their new gang. So anything that was left there at that time did not worth that much.
But the building itself is still worth quite a lot. It was a very strategic building for anyone from the slum city who took that building. But it was not a well known building and it was deserted at the moment. If anyone took that building, the other gangs would think that a certain gang had made its move and occupied the building which would be a trigger for war. It was a dangerous place even for someone who was not affiliated with any gang to use it as a sleeping place.
"Hello there, welcome to my base"
They were the members that were left of Sibea's gang. It was not like all of them had smooth sailing even for those who joined other gangs. Some of them could not get along in their new gang. Some of them were treated badly. Some of them were banished after the souvenirs they brought with them were taken from them. And some of them were not even accepted by any gangs. To put it simply, those people were the members who were stuck in those conditions and having a hard time.
So if those people saw Sheryl walking with Akira, they would definitely come to ask her.
"Your base? What do you mean? Wait, that aside, why were you with that boy? That was the boy who killed Sibea, right?"
"You heard what I said, it's my base now starting from today. The reason why I was with Akira was because we had a talk. And from there, we concluded that I'll be the boss of this place starting from today. That's why this building is my base now"
"Akira? Is it the name of that boy?"
"Yep, it's a good name, right? So then, why are you guys here? Are you here to take something that you forgot?"
It was pretty effective as the other members started to put up their guard.
"...We're here to ask you that since we saw you together with that boy. So then, what do you mean by, you had a talk with him?"
"But he's the boy who killed Sibea!! If only he didn't kill Sibea, we wouldn't be in this state now!!"
"That guy gathered that many people just to kill one boy but got shot back and killed instead, so what are you talking about? Are you stupid?"
"Oi Sheryl, don't get ahead of yourself! No matter how strong that boy is, you're alone right now!"
"Hah? Are you seriously saying that?"
Although the guys were threatening her, Sheryl returned it with a mock instead. Thus the guys started looking around their surrounding thinking that Akira was around
"It's no use even if you look for him. Like I said, he's busy with his hunter job".
"You bitch..."
After the guys debating with each other, half of them clicked their tongue and left the place while the other half followed them not too long after. The only people left there were the small children.
Those children looked at Sheryl with a grim face, but then Sheryl intentionally intimidated them.
"If you have no business here, can you guys just leave?"
"...You do know why we're staying, right? Let us join your gang"
"So you accept me as your boss? And will obey my orders?"
"...Yeah, you're the boss and we'll obey you"
Sheryl lips made a slight upwards curve.
"If that's the case, I'll welcome you guys. But just go back home for now. I'm busy with a lot of things too. I'll introduce you to Akira later, so come here again tomorrow night"
The small children there prefer to sleep in a safe place inside the base rather in the wilderness outside, but it's not like they could go against the words of their boss. As such, they did not have any other choice but to obediently leave the place.
That was her last thought before she fell asleep.
As for the outside of the base, some of the guys that did not go back decided to stay there.
"Hey. Are you sure we're going to do this? If Sheryl's words were true, this is a terrible idea, you know? The other guy is a hunter, someone who usually spends his days killing monsters, you know? Is this really going to be alright?"
"Even if that's true, are we really going to give up this place to that girl? If we could get this base for ourselves, it'll increase our standing too, you know. Moreover, I bet that all her words there were only bluffs. It's also possible that the hunter kid just said random promises to her too. And although she was showing that pendant, it looked like a cheap accessory that you can buy in the stall over there. I'm sure she's just getting ahead of herself after being told that he likes her or something. If we can kill her now, no one would give a care"
If they could take over that base, they would be able to get a huge profit. After all, they could get a good position in their gang if they could acquire that base and that territory and handed it over to their new gang. Considering that benefit and the danger from Akira's revenge, half of them were convinced while half of them were against it.
"Shijima-san also wants this territory. We can get a good position if we give this area to him. So there's no way I would let a small girl like her take it from me. Don't you think so too?"
"But if Sheryl was telling the truth and that hunter discovered what we did. It would be the end for us"
"But he might be hiding somewhere..."
"No way he is. Not to mention, that I actually doubt if Sheryl really had a talk with him. It might be just a random promise that boy gave her when he slept with Sheryl. There's no way a hunter without any money like him can keep that promise"
"W-well, that might be so... But still..."
"Alright, we'll do this ourselves. You guys just standby here and watch this place. You're good with that, right? Just stay here, at least do that"
"Well, if that's all, then sure"
The people who were going to enter the base nodded to each other and readied their gun before entering the building.
"...H-hey, if you did really have a talk with Sheryl, why weren't you there at that time?"
Akira turned back and pointed at one of the corpses' face, his expression did not change at all.
"You do understand the answer by looking at this, right?"
Akira then stood up and left that place after saying that.
Akira just showed his face to those people and immediately left the place. What was left in that place was only the corpses of those who made the wrong choice.
"Akira, was that really okay?"
"Yeah, I don't have the time to be Sheryl's bodyguard in the first place. If that works well, Sheryl would be safe at least for the time being. As for her future, it depends on her luck... Was that not good enough for you, Alpha?"
From that answer, Alpha thought that Akira would not do anything dangerous with Sheryl as a reason. And so Alpha was able to understand a bit about the person called Akira.
"No. If that was okay for you, then I don't have any problem with it. That aside, you'll need to do today's worth training too tomorrow"
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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