った情報の場所は全部外れだ! この居場所の情報、本当にあってるんだろうな!?」
情報端末から女性の声がする。慌てているティオルとは異なり、余裕を感じさせる声色だ。
「少なくとも1週間前は確かにそこにいたはずよ。情報は鮮度が大事。大分鮮度の落ちている情報ならそんなものよ」
ティオルが忌ま忌ましそうに表情を
るような声で頼む。
「それじゃあ、取りあえず室内をいろいろ探してちょうだい。居場所の手掛かりぐらい見つかるかもしれないわ」
為
シェリルは仕立て服を着ている。アキラは強化服を着用して武装している。かつて2人がここに来た時とは雲泥の差の格好だ。
見張りの男がそのシェリル達を見て少し緊張を高める。財力と暴力。その両方を誇示している2人の格好が、男のどこかに残っていたシェリル達に対する侮りを消したのだ。
男が警戒しながら話す。
「アキラとシェリルだな。ボスが中で待っている。案内する。武器を渡してもらおう」
アキラが答える。
アキラがたじろぎもせずに普通にそう答える。
「いいや、本気だ。最近襲われたばっかりで、ちょっと警戒心が強くなっているんだ。悪いな」
男がアキラの装備をもう一度軽く見る。アキラはAAH突撃銃とA2D突撃銃を腰に下げて、CWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンを背負っていた。少なくとも穏便に話し合う格好ではない。
男は交戦時の被害を思い浮かべて、更に表情を険しくさせてアキラに尋ねる。
「......そんな物騒なものまで持ってきやがって、俺らと
「俺にはそんな気はない。俺をそんな気にさせる何かがこれから起こるかどうかまでは知らない」
男はアキラの説得を諦めてシェリルに尋ねる。
シェリルは表面上少し困ったような表情を浮かべて答える。
「アキラが嫌だと言っている以上、私にはどうしようもありません。何しろアキラは私の護衛も兼ねていますので。武器を渡さないと通せないと
「......ちょっと待ってろ」
男が拠点の中に入り、報告を済ませて戻ってくる。
「ボスが会うそうだ。案内する。絶対に変な
アキラ達は拠点内の大きめの客室に通された。シジマが油断ならない笑顔でアキラ達に話す。
「よく来てくれた。まあ座ってくれ」
シェリルは勧められるままにソファーに座る。アキラはシェリルの近くに立ったまま、自分達以外の人を確認している。シジマの背後に控えている部下達は人数も多く全員武装していた。
シジマがアキラの様子に気付いて話す。
「気にするなよ。そっちも武装しているんだ。文句を言われる筋合いはないぞ」
シェリルがシジマに尋ねる。
「それで、本日はどのような御用件でしょうか?」
「ああ。そっちの拠点が襲撃されたって聞いてな。まずは無事で何よりだ」
「ありがとう御座います。......仲間に死者が出ていますので被害はなかったなどとは口が裂けても言えませんが、アキラのおかげで最小の被害で済んだと考えています」
かるからな。それで狙われたんだろう。最近はそっちの縄張りにも人が増えてきているらしいが、そこの秩序を保っている徒党が消えるとこっちにも余波が来ていろいろと大変でな。まあ、一安心だ」
シェリルとシジマが表面上当たり障りのない会話をしながら裏で相手の真意を探り続けている。2人ともお互いに表面上何げなく口にした単語を聞いた相手の反応を
「徒党間の友好を深めるのも結構だけど、そろそろ本題に入ったら?」
シジマが表情を険しくして黙ってヴィオラに非難めいた視線を送る。シェリルが
いのなら、私から説明しましょうか?」
シェリルがシジマの態度を見て
(......彼女に脅迫されている? 何らかの共犯? ......よく分からないけど、一体何を話すつもり?)
シェリルが警戒心を高めてヴィオラに意識を向ける。するとヴィオラがシェリルに
いが混ざる。シェリルはそれ以上反応しないように表情を固めた。
ヴィオラはアキラの方へ視線を移すと、
「そう。アキラよ。アキラは最近スリの被害に遭いそうになったでしょう? 情報屋からカモの情報を買ったスリを撃退したはずよ」
アキラの表情が僅かに不機嫌なものに変わる。
「その情報の出所なんだけど、実は私達なの。御免なさいね」
余りにあっさり告げられたため、アキラの理解が若干遅れた。だが理解と同時にその内心を的確に表した低い声色で短い声が
アキラの機嫌が劇的に悪化していた。表情が敵意を色濃く反映した無表情に変わり、体勢もただ普通に立っていた状態から何らかの行動の手前の状態に変わる。だらりと下がった両腕の先の両手は銃を握っていないことが不思議なほどであり、同時に勝手に銃を握らせないように押さえつけられているような硬直を見せていた。
アキラ以外の者達に緊張が走る。武装しているシジマの部下達が意識を臨戦に切り替える。しかし銃を抜いたり構えたりはしない。もし彼らが銃を構え、アキラに銃口を向けたりすれば、その瞬間に戦闘開始だ。誰かが場を収めるために銃を下ろせと口に出す前に、銃弾が部屋を飛び交うだろう。シジマも部下を手振りで押さえている。
みを崩していない。予想を超えるアキラの様子に驚きながらも、内心の焦りを表に出さないことに成功していた。余裕のある声で話す。
「説明を続けたいのだけど、良いかしら?」
「......余計な誤解を招く表現を慎んでくれると助かる。仮に最後まで聞けば納得できる話だったとしても、最後まで話を落ち着いて聞けるかどうかは別だ」
話の途中で逆上しない自信がない。そのアキラの返事を聞いて、ヴィオラが引きつりそうな表情を押さえて答える。
「分かったわ。では結論から先に話しておきましょう。偶然運悪く結果的にそうなっただけで、嫌がらせや報復の意思は
ヴィオラがアキラに事情を説明していく。アキラがアルナを追跡していた時に銃を構えた場所はシジマの縄張りだったこと。その騒ぎを起こしたハンターの情報をシジマが求めたこと。アキラが子供のハンターから引き下がったこと。それらに付随する情報が中途半端に不完全な状態で流れ、結果的にアキラを過小評価する情報が情報屋に流れ、その情報がシェリルの拠点を襲った者達に自分達が把握していない経路で流れたこと。
ヴィオラは自分達の不手際を認めた上で、自分もシジマも襲撃犯達とは無関係であると説明した。襲撃犯達がシェリル達の拠点を襲うような指示も誘導も一切していないと。そう詳細に丁寧に説明した。
アキラはヴィオラの説明を黙って聞いていた。その間もアキラの機嫌は全く改善されていない。説明が終わってもそのままだ。
「これでこちらの事情は全て話したわ。誤解のないように話したつもりだけど、私もシジマもアキラと敵対する気はないの。納得してもらえたかしら?」
アキラは黙ったままだ。辺りに漂う緊迫感も少しずつ増している。誰かが誤解を招く行動を取れば一気に発火する。その認識だけは全員正しく一致していた。
ヴィオラが冷や汗を隠しながら視線をアキラからシェリルに移す。そして柔らかな
「そちらの徒党にも一部関わる話をしたと思うのだけど、
思い切ってヴィオラの説明を全く信じないと言い切るべきか。シェリルはそう考えてすぐに取り消した。そうすると、アキラの悪評は襲撃犯にシェリル達を襲わせるために広められたことになる。つまりある意味でアキラはシェリルに関わった所為で巻き込まれたことになってしまう。それはアキラがシェリルを切り捨てる要因に十分成り得る。シェリルにその選択は選べない。
ヴィオラはシェリルにどれを選んでも悪手になる可能性を含む選択を押しつけている。そして恐らく選択しないという沈黙すら、ヴィオラに都合の良い何かの根拠に仕立て上げるのだろう。
(......彼女が私とアキラをここに呼び出した理由は、私とアキラが一緒にいる時にこの話をするため。恐らく私にアキラを押さえさせるため。
アキラの機嫌はかなり悪い。相手が具体的な行動を取れば即座に反応できる状態を保ち続けている。自分の様子が相手の警戒と暴発の危険性を高めていることを理解しながら、それでも自力で機嫌の悪さを治めることはできないでいた。
そのアキラに、アルファが普段の笑顔で話しかける。
『アキラ。シズカから通話要求が来ているわよ』
『......シズカさんから?』
『出るなら一言断ってからにしなさい。情報端末を取ろうとする動きを、銃を向けようとしていると誤解されないようにね』
アキラが表情を変えずに、口調も変えずに、皆に尋ねる。
大事な会談の最中なのだからそんなものは無視しろ、という普通ならごく当たり前の意見は、状況の改善を望む皆の意見に押し流された。ヴィオラが代表して答える。
「......はい。アキラです」
「シズカよ。ちょっと聞きたいことがあって連絡したのだけど、今少し良いかしら......って聞くつもりだったけど、掛け直した方が良いかしら?」
「本当に? 忙しいなら無理をしないで良いのよ? こっちは大丈夫だから。少し不機嫌そうな声に聞こえるし、もし変なタイミングで連絡してしまったのなら御免なさいね」
「......いえ、......すみません。切らずに少しだけ待ってください」
「ん? 分かったわ」
アキラは情報端末を耳から離すと、大きく深呼吸をした。皆が見ている前で何度も深呼吸を繰り返す。それで強引に気分を落ち着かせた後で、表情と口調を大分戻してシズカに尋ねる。
「お待たせしました。こんなものでどうでしょう。まだ機嫌が悪そうに聞こえますか?」
シズカが優しげな声で答える。
「大丈夫よ。いつも通りの声ね」
正確にはアキラの声はまだ完全には戻っていない。だがシズカはそう答えた方がアキラがより落ち着くだろうと判断してそう話した。
した。一緒に機嫌もかなり戻した。
シズカが元々の話を続ける。
「本題に戻るわね。アキラから装備の調達を頼まれていたでしょう? いろいろ見積りを作ってみたから内容を確認してほしいの。今から送るからゆっくり確認して......って言いたいところだけど、制限時間付きの見積りが結構混ざっているの」
「制限時間......ですか?」
「そう。何しろ予算が4億オーラムだからね。高額商品の取り置き期間には限度があるわ。それに資金繰りに悩んでいる問屋が、今すぐに支払うのなら大幅に割り引くって言っている商品もあるの。最短で2時間以内に決断しないといけないものもあるの。だからちょっと急いで連絡したのよ」
「そうだったんですか。ありがとう御座います」
「こちらこそ。大口の取引を頂いて大変有り難く思っているわ」
シズカが口調を商売用のものから大分優しめなものに変えて話す。
「......何があったのかは知らないけど、前に言った通り、私で良ければ話ぐらい聞くわ。ね?」
「......。はい」
う。そこで皆の視線が自分に集まっていることに気付いた。
程度の差はあれど、皆驚きの表情でアキラを見ていた。アキラはそれを
アキラはヴィオラ達を見てから軽くそう答えた。
アキラの不機嫌さは完全に四散している。それどころか少し機嫌の良さそうな表情を浮かべている。先ほどまでの一触即発の状況が
シジマがアキラと初めて会った時、アキラはシジマの部下だったワタバの死体を持って拠点に乗り込んできた。ワタバを殺したのはアキラだ。
シジマは生き残りの部下からその時の詳しい事情を聞いていた。アキラがワタバを殺した時、ワタバはアキラの知り合いらしい誰かの身を害するような脅しを口にしたらしい。ワタバがその誰かのことを口にしようとした瞬間、アキラは
(......確かそいつは武器屋の店主って話だ。アキラの会話の内容から察するに、アキラは何らかの装備を購入したようだ。つまりさっきのアキラの会話の相手は武器屋の店員の可能性が高い。アキラはあの程度の会話で急激に機嫌を回復した。それだけアキラにとって重要で、高い好感を抱いている相手だってことだろう。先ほどのアキラの会話の相手と、ワタバがアキラを脅すために口にしようとした人物は同一人物なのか? ......アキラはなぜワタバを殺した? 単純に脅されたからか? それならもっと早くワタバを撃ち殺しているんじゃないか? ......まさか、ワタバがその誰かの名前を話そうとしたからか!? その誰かの名前を言わせないために殺したのか!? 他の人間に、その誰かのことを知らせないために!? たったそれだけのために!?)
シジマの表情が凍り付く。ちょうどその時、ヴィオラがアキラに尋ねようとする。
さっきの会話の相手は誰なのかしら。アキラととても仲の良さそうな相手のようだけど。良かったら名前を教えてもらえないかしら。シジマにはヴィオラがそう尋ねようとしていることぐらい想像できた。反射的に話に割り込む。
「ヴィオラ! アキラがそう言っているんだから話の続きだ! アキラ達に迷惑を掛けた
「あら、どうして? 自分の手で殺したいって言うのなら、生かしたまま連れてくるぐらいはするわよ?」
ヴィオラが少し考えてから確認を取る。
「......するな、とは言わないのね?」
「しろ、も、するな、も、頼んでいることに違いはないだろう? さっきも言ったとおり、俺は頼まない。それだけだ」
「俺はそっちに何か許可を出す立場じゃない。そっちの判断で勝手にしてくれ」
シジマが少し大げさな態度でシェリルに話す。
「今日そちらを呼び出した話はこれで済んだ。特に用がなければそろそろお引き取り願おう。俺の徒党の者ではない者に、そんな重装で俺の拠点の中に長居されるのは結構問題があってな。その問題を超える問題の話が終わった以上、これ以上長居されても困るんだ」
「分かりました。では、私達はこれで引き上げさせていただきます」
シェリルはソファーから立ち上がってシジマに軽く頭を下げた。
シジマが無言で部下に指示を出す。部下の男がアキラ達を拠点の外に送るために動き始める。アキラ達は男の後に続いて部屋から出て行った。
アキラ達が出て行った扉が完全に閉まった。ヴィオラはそれを確認すると、
「ちょっとした用心だ。善意の行動だと思ってほしいね。理由を話しても良いが、聞きたいなら1つ貸しにさせてもらうぞ」
ヴィオラは少し悩んだ。ヴィオラ達にとって貸し借りはそれなりに大きな意味を持つからだ。だがヴィオラの中で、シジマへの借りよりも、シジマにあんな
「いいわ。1つ借りましょう。教えてちょうだい」
シジマが無言で部下に指示を出すと、シジマの部下達が部屋から出て行く。
ヴィオラがキャロルに視線で指示を出す。
「仕方ないわね。私が側にいない間に殺されても、私は知らないわよ?」
キャロルは少し残念そうにしながら、冗談交じりにそう言って部屋から出て行った。
アキラがシェリルを送ってスラム街を歩いている。
シェリルの格好はかなり目立っている。シェリル達の拠点までは少し距離があり、それなりの数の人間の視線を集めていた。
シェリルは自分とアキラが健在であることの宣伝を兼ねて、コートを羽織って高価な服を隠したりはせずにスラム街を進んでいる。スラム街の成り上がりと呼んで良い2人の姿に、羨望と嫉妬と畏怖の視線が飛び交っていた。
(......アキラは誰と話していたの? アキラがそんなに気を使う相手なの? アキラが少し話しただけであんなに機嫌を良くする相手なの? どこの誰で、どんな関係なの? あの状況で話をしたいと思うほど、アキラにとって大切な人なの?)
それを尋ねることはできる。しかしシェリルは尋ねたくなかった。
その誰かと自分との、考えたくもない大きな差を突きつけられるのを恐れて、シェリルはアキラに何も聞けなかった。
(......遠いな)
手を伸ばせば届くほどの僅かな距離が、シェリルには
ヴィオラが心外だと言わんばかりの笑みをシジマに向ける。
「あら、それは私も同じよ。私だってアキラ達と必要以上に敵対するつもりなんかないわ」
シジマは理解している。お互いが口にした必要という言葉には、相当な落差があることを。無言で何かを抗議するような、巻き添えになることを非難する視線をヴィオラに送った後、軽い
シジマはヴィオラの表情からそれ以外の理由が確実にあることに気付いたが、下手に関わって巻き添えになるのを避けるためにそれ以上は尋ねなかった。不干渉を保つためにも話を切り替える。
「ところで、シェリルはアキラの恋人らしいが、本当だと思うか?」
「いや、これは仮定の話だが、アキラの本命は別にいて、シェリルは何というか、デコイかもしれないと思ってな。アキラは自分の金を盗んだスリにはあれだけ敵意を示したくせに、恋人を襲った襲撃犯やその要因に対しては
「......。それもそうだな」
シジマはヴィオラの説明を聞いて納得し、そこで思考を打ち切った。元々シジマにはアキラと敵対する意思はないのだ。しかしヴィオラはこのシジマとの話で更に思案を広げ深めていた。
良いことを思いついた。それを示すヴィオラの笑みは、すぐにヴィオラがよく浮かべる妖美な笑みに上書きされ
"Hey! She's not here either! All the information that I got from you are false, aren't they?! Are you sure that information that she's living here is correct?"
A woman's voice came out from Tiol's terminal. Unlike Tiol who sounded desperate, that woman's voice was the exact opposite.
"Well, she should have been there at least a week ago. Freshness is important for information, it's normal to encounter something like this out of old information."
Tiol's face twitched with anger, he then shouted at his terminal.
He replied as if he was begging that woman.
"Well then, for now, just look around the room. You might be able to find some clues about where she's living now."
***
Sheryl was wearing her refitted old-world dress while Akira was in his augmented suit and was fully armed. They looked much different compared to when they came there for the first time.
The guards who saw Sheryl and Akira approaching the base could not help but feel nervous. Both of them showed that they had the money and the power. That guard was originally still looking down on Sheryl and her gang, but seeing them now, he could not afford to look down on them anymore.
That man kept his guard up as he said.
"Akira and Sheryl, right? Boss is waiting inside, I'll take you to him. But I'll need you to leave your weapons with us."
Akira swiftly replied.
Akira did not wince back at all, he just casually replied.
"Neither am I. I keep getting attacked lately, so I'm being more careful than usual at the moment. Sorry."
That man scanned Akira's equipment once more. AAH and A2D assault rifles were dangling on his waist, while on his back, he was carrying CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun. He obviously did not come in peace.
That man could not help but to make a grim face when he imagined the damage that would result if the gang fought Akira.
"...Good grief, you came here with all of those weapons, are you planning to fight us or something?"
"No, I have no intention to fight any of you. Although, it's completely out of my control if something were to happen that might cause a fight."
That man gave up trying to convince Akira and shifted to Sheryl.
Sheryl seemed a bit troubled as she replied.
"Since Akira said no, it's not like I can do anything to change his mind. And he is here to protect me too. So if you say that we can't pass unless we give up our weapons, then it can't be helped, we have no other choice but to leave."
"...Wait here for a bit."
He then went into the base, gave his report, and returned back to Sheryl and Akira.
"Boss said that it's okay. Follow me, and don't try anything funny."
Akira and Sheryl were guided to a big guest room, Shijima welcomed them with a suspicious smile.
"Thanks for coming, come and sit."
Sheryl went and took a seat on the sofa, while Akira stood near Sheryl and scanned the room, registering everyone inside the room in his mind. He could see there were some people behind Shijima and they were all armed.
Shijima noticed what Akira was doing there and said to him.
"Don't worry, it's just to be safe. And since you're armed too, I won't accept any complaint, okay?"
Sheryl then asked Shijima a question.
"So then, what kind of business do you want to talk about today?"
"Well, first things first, I heard that some people attacked your place. I'm glad that both of you are okay."
"Thank you for your concern... We lost some people too, so I can't really say that we're totally fine. But thanks to Akira, I believe that the damage was kept to a minimum."
"Selling relics is really profitable after all, so it's no surprise that some people would target you. And also, it seems that more and more people are gathering around your territory. If your gang that is maintaining order in that area is gone, it would cause trouble for us too. So I'm glad that you're fine."
Shijima and Sheryl sounded like they were talking about mundane stuff from the outside, but behind that, they were actually probing each other's real intentions. They were trying to probe for reactions when they brought up different subjects and then they would guess each other's intention judging from the reactions they got.
"It's all good and fine if both of you want to build up your friendship. But it might be a good idea to get into the main subject soon."
Shijima frowned and made a grim face, he looked at Viola without saying anything as if he was reproaching her. Sheryl seemed a bit confused while she was checking Viola and Shijima. In that situation, Viola was just smiling confidently there.
"If it's hard for you to bring it up, I can explain it in your place, you know?"
Sheryl, who saw that, thought.
[...Shijima is intimidated by that woman? Are they acquaintance or something? I don't really know what's going on here, but what exactly do they want to talk about?]
Sheryl raised her wariness as she shifted her focus to Viola. Viola reacted with a smile that somehow broke Sheryl's poker face. Sheryl could not help but to make an uneasy expression.
Viola's smile was covertly expressing a provocation toward someone inexperienced. So Sheryl stiffened her expression as to not break her poker face any further.
Viola shifted her gaze to Akira, she smiled at him and said.
"Yep, you. You've been targeted by pickpocket lately, right? I'm sure you've been dealing with a lot of those pickpockets who bought a particular piece of information from some information broker."
Akira's expression immediately changed, he looked slightly annoyed.
"About the source of that info, it's actually us. We're sorry."
Since Viola just laid it out straight at him like that, Akira needed a bit of time before he processed it. But the moment he fully understood what she said, he instinctively replied in a low voice which reflected his real feeling.
Akira's mood suddenly turned for the worse. His face turned expressionless and was filled with hostility, his casual standing posture also slightly shifted so that he could reach for his rifles and jump into action anytime. It was rather amazing that both of his hands that were lowered had not reached for his rifles yet, while at the same time, it was also visible that he was holding himself back from reaching for his rifles.
Everyone else in the room immediately tensed up. Shijima's men immediately changed their posture so that they were ready to fight anytime, but no one was reaching for their weapons yet. If any of them had grabbed their rifles and aimed at Akira, there was no question that Akira would not hesitate to open fire. Bullets would have filled the room before anyone could try to calm the situation down. Shijima signalled his men to calm down.
Viola was still smiling like usual. Although she was also equally surprised by that unexpected reaction from Akira, she was able to hide the shiver that ran down her spine. She then casually said.
"I want to continue my explanation if you're okay with it."
"...I would be thankful if you can refrain from saying anything that might cause a misunderstanding. Even if you can properly explain everything if I listen to you until the end of your explanation, I can't guarantee that I'll calmly listen to your explanation until the end."
Akira was stating that he had no confidence he could listen calmly until the end. After hearing that statement, Viola continued while trying to keep her face from wincing.
"Alright. In that case, let's start with the overview. It ended up pretty badly purely by coincidence, we did not mean you any harm when we did that. We do feel sorry for what happened, so please calm down and listen to our explanation. It all started when you caused a ruckus in Shijima's territory with your gun out, so from there..."
Viola explained what was going on to Akira. Back then when Akira pulled out his rifle as he was chasing Alna, they were actually in Shijima's territory. So Shijima wanted to know more about the Hunter who caused that ruckus. Then he found out that Akira pulled back when he was confronted by a young Hunter, and that was the biggest reason why incomplete information about Akira spread around. Because of that, the piece of information that misevaluated Akira spread among the information brokers which eventually gave the final push for those robbers that attacked Sheryl's base.
Viola and Shijima admitted their fault and explained that they had nothing to do with those robbers. They did not say anything to those robbers who attacked Sheryl's gang. They gave their detailed explanations slowly to make sure that Akira understood everything.
Akira listened to Viola's explanation without saying anything. But there was no sign of change in his mood even after he finished listening to the explanation.
"So basically that's everything. I did my best to not cause any misunderstanding, to say it clearly, we have no wish to be hostile with you. So, do we understand each other here?"
Akira did not say anything back. Everyone in the room started to tense up. There was no questioning that if someone made a suspicious move there, they would immediately break into a fight. Although all of them had different thoughts running on their mind, that was one thing which everyone agreed on.
Viola tried to hide the cold sweat running down her skin as she shifted her gaze from Akira to Sheryl. She then smiled gently at Sheryl and said.
"Yes. You lost some of your men during the attack. So I want to know your opinion as the boss of the gang. It would be great if you can understand that we have nothing to do with those robbers, but if you can't believe us, then we understand that too. Which in that case, I want to discuss the incident with you, to be honest, we want to resolve this peacefully. Of course, I'm okay with it if you want to discuss it with Akira first."
Sheryl did think of not believing everything that Viola said, but she immediately ruled out that choice. After all, if she did that, that would mean that Akira's bad reputation pushed the robbers to attack Sheryl's gang. So in short, Akira was dragged into more trouble because he was involved with Sheryl's gang. And that would be enough of a reason for him to abandon her. So of course, Sheryl could not afford to do that.
Viola was pushing Sheryl to make her decision even though both of them were equally bad decisions for her. And most likely, even if Sheryl chose to not say anything, Viola might have a plan to use that for her own benefit too.
[...That woman called me here together with Akira in order to talk about this subject in front of Akira. If I have to make a guess, it's in order to hold Akira back. Both of them had no plans to check if we're okay right from the start... But in the first place, why would they bring this up? Is it to reduce the damage if Akira finds out about it later? Or is it to check how much I can affect Akira's decision? Or is it for something else? I-I really have no idea at all, I don't understand what this woman is thinking.]
Akira's mood was pretty bad. He was ready to take action if anyone made a suspicious move. Although he understood that his stance only made the situation tenser and more dangerous, he was not able to try to calm himself down.
That was when Alpha smiled and casually said to him.
"Akira, you got a call from Shizuka."
"...From Shizuka-san?"
"If you want to answer it, at least say something first. If you try to pull out your information terminal in this state, they might misunderstand and think that you are trying to reach for your rifle."
Akira's expression did not change and his voice was still as calm and cold as before when he suddenly said to everyone.
Normally, people would scorn him and tell him to just ignore the call since they were in the middle of an important discussion, but in order to improve the mood there, everyone agreed not to tell that to Akira. So Viola replied as the representative of everyone else in the room.
"...It's Akira."
"Hello, it's Shizuka. There's something I want to ask you, is it a good time... Or at least that's what I want to say, should I just call again some other time?"
"Is that so? If you're busy, I can just call again later, you know? It sounds like you're in a rather bad mood over there. If I called you at a bad time, I'm really sorry."
"...No... I'm sorry, can you please keep the call open and wait for a bit?"
"Hm? Sure."
Akira pulled his information terminal away from his ear, he then took a deep breath and did that several times in front of everyone. After he forced himself to calm down to some degree and his expression was mostly returned back to normal, he then continued his call with Shizuka.
"Thank you for waiting. Do I sound better now? Or do I still sound pretty bad?"
Shizuka gently replied to that question.
"It's okay, you sound like the usual you now."
Akira actually had not fully returned to his usual self. Shizuka only said that since she thought that it would calm him down. And in reality, it did calm Akira down. Akira then apologetically said to her.
Akira was relieved, it seemed that Shizuka did not mind. With that, his mood had mostly returned to normal.
Shizuka then returned back to the real reason why she called him.
"Well, let's return to the main subject then. You asked me to help you choose your new equipment, remember? I actually came up with some suggestions and so I want to check them with you. I'll send the data to you so take your time and check all of them... Or at least that's what I want to say but... Some of them are only available for a limited time, you see."
"For a limited time, huh?"
"Yep. After all, your budget is 400 million Aurum and expensive equipment are usually available for only a limited time, you see. Moreover, some of the merchants who are worried about their revenue might be willing to give a big discount if you pay for their goods soon. As in matter of fact, some of them are only available for the next 2 hours, that's why I hurried up and called you."
"I see, thank you very much."
"Likewise, thank you very much for entrusting our shop with such a big deal."
But then Shizuka's business-like voice immediately changed to a very gentle one.
"...I don't know what just happened to you, but as I said before, I can at least listen to your worry, okay?"
"...Okay."
Akira then put back his information terminal and realized that everyone in the room was looking at him.
Although they had different expressions, it was more than obvious that everyone was looking at him. He found that weird, but he then remembered that he was in the middle of a discussion with Viola.
Akira looked at everyone and casually said so.
Akira's bad mood was completely erased. As a matter of fact, he sounded rather happy as if everything that happened until now was nothing but an illusion. The mood in the room had completely relaxed.
Except for one person, Shijima still had a stern expression plastered on his face. He remembered what his men reported to him when Akira came to his base for the first time. Akira dragged the corpse of one of Shijima's men, Wataba, all the way to Shijima's base, and Akira was the one who killed Wataba.
Shijima then heard the full report of what had happened from one of his men. It seemed that the moment Akira killed Wataba, Wataba said something about threatening Akira's acquaintance. According to that report, when Wataba was about to mention a name, Akira did not hesitate at all and quickly shot him.
[...From what I heard, that person is the owner of a weapon shop. And judging from the conversation just now, it seemed that it's about buying some equipment. So in short, there's a good chance that call was with that shop owner, and that alone was enough to fix his mood. I bet that Akira likes that person and thinks dearly of that person. So, is that person the same person who Wataba was about to mention...? In the first place, why did Akira kill Wataba? Is it really because Wataba threatened him? But if that's really the case, he should have killed Wataba way sooner, right...? Don't tell me that he killed Wataba because he was about to mention that person's name?! Did he really kill Wataba just to stop Wataba from mentioning that person's name!? Just so that other people won't know about that person!? Is that really all the reason!?]
Shijima's face puckered in. That was right when Viola opened her mouth.
Shijima could imagine Viola asking Akira who that was since Akira seemed to be enjoying talking to that person. And if it was okay with him, Viola also wanted to know that person's name. So Shijima could not help but instinctively interject her.
"Viola!! Akira said so too, so let's just proceed with the discussion!! You've already decided what to do to apologize for causing so much trouble to Akira, right? So let's proceed with that!"
"Oh my, what's wrong? If you want to kill that pickpocket yourself, we can secure that pickpocket alive, you know?"
Viola thought for a sec.
"...But you won't tell me not to do it, right?"
"Even if I tell you to do it or not to do it, either way, that will be enough reason to blame it on me, right? So as I said, I won't tell you anything."
"I'm in no position to tell you what to do and what not to do. So you decide by yourself on what to do."
Shijima sounded a bit arrogant as he said to Sheryl.
"That's all that we want to talk about with you today. If you have nothing else to say, you can leave now. It's rather troublesome to have someone as heavily armed as you inside my base when you're not a part of my gang. So now that a bigger problem than that is over, it would be great if you can leave quickly."
"Very well. We'll take our leave then."
Sheryl stood up from the sofa and lightly bowed at Shijima.
Shijima did not say anything as he just signalled one of his men to escort Akira and Sheryl out of the base. Akira and Sheryl followed that man and left the room.
As Viola confirmed that Akira and Sheryl left the room and closed the door. She immediately looked at Shijima and confusedly asked him.
"It's just to be safe. Just think of it as me saving you there. I don't mind telling you, but you'll owe me one for that."
Viola thought for a bit since owing a favour to someone meant a lot for her. But for the current Viola, that did not outweigh her curiosity, she wanted to know why Shijima did that.
"Sure then, I owe you one favour. So, why was that?"
Shijima looked at his men without saying anything and his men immediately left the room.
Viola then looked at Carol.
"Haah! It can't be helped then, don't blame if you get killed when I'm not around, okay?"
Although Carol did not like that idea, she also left the room while half-jokingly said that to Viola.
Akira escorted Sheryl back to the slum city.
Sheryl's dress was rather conspicuous there. She was still somewhere not too far from the base and was already gathering a lot of attention from the people around.
She was not trying to hide her expensive dress under a coat or anything, she walked confidently through the slum city. It was also to let people know that Akira was still alive. It could be said both of them were children of the slum who reached success. People looked at them with amazement, envy and jealousy as both of them walked through the slum city.
[...Who was Akira talking to back then? Is it someone that he cares that much? Even a short exchange with that person is enough to cheer him up. Who is exactly that person? And what is Akira's relation with that person? It must be someone dear to him that Akira would even answer her call in that situation.]
She could just ask Akira, but she did not want to.
In the end, Sheryl could not ask Akira anything since she was scared of the difference between herself and that person.
[...I still have a long way to go.]
Although Akira was there within her reach, to Sheryl, his existence was someone far away from her.
Viola's smile towards Shijima was also saying that she found it rather unfortunate.
"Oh my, I can say the same too, you know. I have no plans to be overly antagonistic against that boy too."
Shijima understood that although both of them said the same thing, there was a subtle difference in their meanings. He looked at Viola as if to silently warn her not to get him involved. He then sighed and changed the subject.
Judging from her expression, Shijima knew for sure that Viola had other reasons in her mind, but he decided not to ask any further since he did not want to get dragged into her mess. So to make sure that he had nothing to do with it, Shijima changed the subject.
"By the way, I heard that Sheryl is Akira's lover, do you think that's true?"
"Well, that's true when we're talking about possibilities. But I'm talking about Akira's real intention here, Sheryl is... What can I say, she might be just a decoy, you see. Although he seems to be extremely angry with that pickpocket who stole his wallet, he didn't seem that angry about those robbers that attacked Sheryl's base. Back then, even when he had his lover next to him, he didn't show any worry in that situation. I believe that it's not an exaggeration to say that Akira doesn't care much about Sheryl. But even so, he did buy her an expensive dress and protected her gang from robbers. From this point of view, it can be said that Akira thinks dearly of Sheryl. So if you think about these two contradicting things..."
"...You're right about that."
Shijima agreed with what Viola said and stopped thinking any further about that subject. He had no wish to be hostile against Akira. But Viola just would not let that subject go.
Viola smiled as if she just thought of something good, but her expression was immediately replaced with her usual mysterious smile.
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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