少し離れた場所にアルファがいる。以前と同じように、アルファはアキラに気付いていない。そこまでは同じだ。だが以前とは明確に違う。
アキラに気付いていないのは、アルファ達だ。二人のアルファがそこにいて、どちらもアキラに気付いていなかった。
そしてこの場にもう一人、別の少年がいた。アルファ達はその少年にも気付いていない。アキラと少年は互いに気付いていたが、互いの姿は
少年に近い方のアルファが話す。
「私達は万一の場合に備えて、同時に意思決定の偏向を促すために、
アキラに近い方のアルファが答える。
「そうよ。具体的にはそちら側の負荷の所為で、こちら側の演算に支障が出たわ。その所為でこちら側の個体が死亡するところだったわ」
「そうか。ログを確認すると、こちら側の個体が危険な行動を取った時刻だな。個体が初対面の同性のサイボーグを救出しようとして、そのサポートのために一時的に計算量を増やす必要が生じた。その所為だろう」
「今後同じことが起こらないように、それぞれのリソースの割当量を可変ではなく固定に変更したいわ」
少年側のアルファの問いに、アキラ側のアルファが首を横に振って答える。
「私の計算では死亡していたわ。個体との接続が一時的に切断されている間に予測不可能な何かが生じて偶然生き残っただけよ」
「こちらの優秀な個体と異なり、そちらの個体は無能だと聞いている。幸運、認識外の事象に起因する有益な事象が生じたとしても、我々の計算を覆すことはあり得ないのでは?」
「その認識は誤りよ。そちらの個体の才能が非常に高いだけで、別に無能ではないわ。私の訓練を受けているし、努力もしているし、いずれは十分な実力を身につけるわ。正しい計算のために認識を修正しなさい。それと、そっちの個体は優秀なんでしょう? それならぱっぱと成長させてすぐに司令室に向かわせなさいよ。あと、それだけ優秀ならサポートの質を低下させても良いでしょう? その余力の割り当て分をこっちに回しなさい」
少年側のアルファが首を横に振って答える。
「その要求は受け入れられない。優秀な分だけ予測困難な事象が発生しやすく制御が大変なのだ。特異性の影響もあるのだろうが、常に多くの人間に囲まれており個人行動を促すのも難しい。また人格も非常に善良だ。現状のまま連れて行くと、試行498の再現となる可能性が非常に高い。既に孤立しており人格もねじ曲がっているそちらの個体を基準にしてもらっては困る。こちらにはいろいろ手間が必要なのだ」
がその沈黙を生み出していた。
「計算リソースの割当てに関しては了解した。他に何か伝達事項は?」
みに、そっちは結構目立ってきているようだけれど、大丈夫なの?」
「こちら側の懸念事項だ。こちらの個体が優秀すぎて、私が不自然ではない程度に阻害しても功績が積み上がっている。特異性の影響もあるだろうが、個体の周囲で死者が出ても周囲の者が
「そう。まあ、頑張ってちょうだい。じゃあね」
「また何かあれば連絡するとしよう」
アキラの意識が薄れていく。世界が真っ暗になり、夢が終わった。
アキラが目を覚ました。アルファが挨拶する。
『アキラ。お早う』
アキラは返事をせずに、じっとアルファを見ている。アルファが不思議そうに尋ねる。
『どうかしたの?』
アキラは夢の内容など覚えていない。だが何かが引っかかるように少し
ややこしいことになる前にアキラが話を打ち切る。
「いや、気のせいだ。はい。この話は終わりだ」
さなくても良いのよ? 夢にはいろいろな願望が表れたり......』
「今日からまた荒野に出るんだ。馬鹿なことを言っていないで、準備を済ませて出発だ」
いながらベッドから降りた。先ほどの引っかかりなどもう忘れてしまっていた。
アキラが荒野仕様の車両で荒野を移動している。
車両はアキラがシカラベから受けた依頼、賞金首討伐補助の報酬だ。シカラベから車両を受け取った後、念のためシズカから教えてもらった業者に整備を依頼して、念入りに点検を済ませている。既にアルファが車両の制御装置を掌握しているので、前の車両のようにアルファによる運転も可能になっている。
シズカはアキラから信頼できる整備業者のことを聞かれた時、もう車両をそこまで痛ませるほど危険なことをしたのかと驚いていた。そして心配して後で車両の状態を業者に尋ねていた。業者から車両は少し傷んでいる程度の状態で念入りに整備し直したので全く問題ないと聞き、胸をなで下ろしていた。まさかアキラがあの短期間で車両を大破させ、別の車両に乗り換えていたとは気付かなかったようだ。
賞金首との戦いの疲れも取れた。弾薬等の準備も済ませた。賞金首が荒野から消えたこともあり、アキラは早速未発見の遺跡探しを再開していた。
「アルファ。次の目的地までどれぐらいだ?」
『1時間ぐらいよ』
アキラが車の制御装置に表示されているナビゲーターを見ながら
「まだそんなに掛かるのか。やっぱり遠回りしすぎたかな?」
アキラは次の目的地、リオンズテイル社の端末設置場所を目指して進んでいる。前回の反省を生かして、今回は初めから大回りをして目的地に移動していた。しかしその分だけ移動距離が増えてしまい、移動に随分時間が掛かっていた。
『そうね。遠回りをするのは、最低でも遺跡が見つかってから、又は遺跡がありそうだと判断してからでも良いと思うわ。空中を指す矢印に向かって大回りをしていたと知ったら、後で無駄に疲れそうだしね』
『一応前回より広めの索敵をしているわ。大丈夫よ。制御装置の中身も私が書き換えたから、こっそり追跡プログラムが入っているなんてこともないわ』
「そこまで疑っているわけじゃないよ。まあ、安全なのは良いことだ」
アキラが車を急旋回させて直線に目的地を目指す。これで大幅な時間短縮が見込めるだろう。その後に何となく気になったことをアルファに尋ねる。
「アルファ。何でその服はいろいろ分かれていたり穴が開いていたりしているんだ?」
的な服を着ている。現在のアルファの格好は、関節部を基準にして分割されているボディースーツだ。各部位が細い幅の布や短い接続具で結合されており、結合部から肌が露出している。また関節部以外にも用途不明の穴が開いている箇所がある。その穴から下着らしきものの一部が見えていた。
『これ? これは体の一部をサイズや形状の異なる別のパーツに換装可能な義体者が着るボディースーツよ。換装時に付け替えやすいように元々分割されているの』
「その背中の穴は?」
『これは拡張パーツとの接続用の穴よ。拡張パーツにもいろいろあって、人型戦闘用外部ユニットや飛行用の推進装置、個人携帯用の大砲のような重火器なんかもあるわ』
アキラはアルファの説明からいろいろ想像してみた。最終的に人型兵器というよりは、人と兵器を強引に混ぜたような何かが出来上がったので、それ以上想像するのを止めた。
「それ、その服も含めて旧世界の話だよな? やっぱり旧世界はちょっとおかしいっていうか、簡単には想像できない
『近いものは想像できていたわよ? 似たようなものなら遺跡を探せばありそうね』
アキラの脳裏には、明らかにサイズが間違っている巨大な兵器や飛行装置がゴテゴテと装着されているアルファの姿が浮かんでいた。アルファが着ているボディースーツの穴の存在意義を無理
「......そうか。旧世界にはあんなものがあるのか」
『今もあると思うわ。誰かが旧世界の遺跡で手に入れて使っているかもね。それを模倣した製品が製造されていて、東部の東寄りの地域では結構使われているかもよ?』
世界には想像もできないことが山ほどある。だから誰かが想像できるものは存在していても不思議はないのかもしれない。特に旧世界の技術なら大概のことは実現可能だろう。
「......世界は広いな」
でも限度があるだろう。アキラはそんな思いを込めて
くしてアキラは目的地に到着した。目的地は辺り一面草原だった。リオンズテイル社の端末設置場所を示す矢印はその草原の地下深くを示している。
アキラが拡張視界の矢印を見ながら話す。
「また地下か。しかもヨノズカ駅遺跡より深い場所だな。よし。ここは後回しにしよう」
アキラは地下の遺跡の捜索をあっさり止めにした。またヨノズカ駅遺跡のような未発見の遺跡を見つけてしまうと、いろいろ大変なことになるかもしれないからだ。前回の二の舞は御免だ。
アキラの考えを読み取ったアルファが
『それが良いわ。アキラが私のサポート無しでも自力で脱出できるぐらいになるまでは、地下の遺跡は避けた方が良いかもしれないわね。他の候補地も残っていることだし、無理をする必要はないわ』
「そうすると、地下の遺跡は当面後回しになりそうだな」
『そこはアキラの成長に期待しましょう。それで次の候補地だけれども、一番近い場所は既に発見済みの遺跡の中よ。そこにする? それともこのまま未発見の遺跡を探す?』
アキラが少し考えた後に答える。
だし他の旧世界の遺跡を見てみたい。既存の遺跡って、俺はまだクズスハラ街遺跡とヒガラカ住宅街遺跡ぐらいにしか行ったこともないしな。それで、どこの遺跡なんだ?」
『ミハゾノ街遺跡よ』
アキラ達がミハゾノ街遺跡に向けて移動を開始する。一直線にミハゾノ街遺跡には向かわずに、一度クガマヤマ都市の通信圏内まで戻る。情報端末でハンターオフィスの汎用討伐依頼を受けるためだ。通信圏内でなければネットワークに
「なあアルファ。この汎用討伐依頼って、何で存在しているんだ?」
『何故って、ハンターオフィスが依頼を出しているからよ』
「あー、そうじゃなくて、ほら、例えば都市周辺の巡回依頼なら分かるんだ。都市の防衛のために、安全の
アキラが不思議そうにそう尋ねると、アルファが少し意外そうな表情をした後に楽しそうに笑いだす。
『何でもないわ。アキラもそういうことを気にするようになったんだなあって思ったの。私の教育の
アルファはそう前置きして、推測を交えてアキラに説明を始めた。
汎用討伐依頼は、具体的な討伐目標や討伐数が設定されていない討伐依頼である。モンスターを討伐する場所も時間も対象も数も設定されていない。たとえ依頼を受けたハンターがモンスターと遭遇せずに戻ってきたとしても、最低限の報酬が支払われる。
東部には多種多様なモンスターが生息している。汎用討伐依頼を受けたハンターは、その依頼元であるハンターオフィスに依頼の結果、つまりモンスターとの遭遇情報及び付随する情報を渡すことで報酬を得る。ハンターオフィスは多数のハンターが収集した膨大な量の情報を解析し、様々な有益な情報を得るのだ。
解析結果から得た情報は様々な用途に用いられる。該当地域に生息するモンスターの脅威度の把握。都市間を結ぶ輸送ルートの構築。統企連の東部開拓計画の立案や修正。どれも重要な事柄だ。
そして東部に生息している幾ら倒しても一向に減る気配のないモンスター達への対抗処置でもある。モンスターが一体でも減ればそれだけ荒野の治安が良くなり、物資の流通を安全に行えるようになるからだ。
アキラはアルファの説明を興味深く聞いていた。
「いろいろ考えられているんだな」
『他にもいろいろな活用方法があるんでしょうね。例えば、旧世界の遺跡の発見とか。アキラが見つけたヨノズカ駅遺跡から大量のモンスターが湧いて出てきたけど、あれで付近のモンスターとの遭遇率はかなり上昇したはずよ。都市がその件の調査に乗り出せば、モンスターが湧いて出てくる遺跡の出入口も発見されたでしょうね』
「都市の近くに新しい遺跡が見つかったら、都市側はそれだけでも大
アキラ達がミハゾノ街遺跡を目指して荒野を進んでいると索敵に反応が現れる。その方向を確認すると、モンスターではなく同じ方向に進む車両の姿を見つけた。荒野仕様の大型バスだ。屋根の上に複数の機関銃が設置されている。バスにはハンターらしき人影が大勢乗車している。バスの側面にはハンターオフィスのマークが書かれていた。
「行き先は同じか」
『ハンターオフィスの乗り合いバスのようね。多分クガマヤマ都市とミハゾノ街遺跡を往復しているのよ』
「乗っているのはハンターか。結構な人数が乗っているな」
『それだけのハンターが集まるほど、ミハゾノ街遺跡にはまだまだ遺物が残っている証拠よ。私達も良さそうな遺物を見つけたら持って帰りましょう』
アキラがバスに乗っているハンター達を見ながら考え込んでいる。
『アキラ。どうかしたの?』
「なあアルファ。旧世界の遺跡には
『正確な期間は不明で、地域によって差はあるけれど、最低でも200年は続けているはずよ』
「そんなに長い時間大勢のハンターが遺跡から遺物を持ち帰っているのに、何でまだ遺物が残ってるんだ? 幾ら何でもなくなるんじゃないか?」
クガマヤマ都市にはアキラも含めて大勢のハンターがいる。東部の人口から考えればハンターの数は少ないかもしれないが、それでもハンター相手の商売が東部全体で成立するほどに大勢いるのだ。そしてそのハンター達が遺跡から大量の遺物を持ち帰っているのだ。旧世界の遺物がまだ残っている方が変なのではないか。アキラはそう思った。
『なくなるわよ? 現にヒガラカ住宅街遺跡では、大勢のハンターがめぼしい遺物を収集し終えたから高値の遺物はなくなってしまったわ。東部全域でもそれは同じ。東部の西側、国連の支配地域と隣接している地域では、もう安値の遺物も
アキラが少し表情を固くした。もし東部の荒野から旧世界の遺物が枯渇してしまえば、ハンター稼業は間違いなく大きく変化する。アキラは漠然とした不安を感じていた。
そのアキラの様子を見たアルファが笑いながら答える。
『大丈夫よ。私の推測になるけれど、少なくともアキラが将来を心配するような時期に、この辺りから遺物が完全に枯渇することはないわ。確かに遺跡から遺物を持ち帰っている以上いつかは枯渇するけれど、そう簡単にはなくならない理由がちゃんとあるのよ』
「どんな理由なんだ?」
『説明するまでもなく、遺跡に住み着いているモンスターと戦いながら遺物を収集するのはとても大変なの。その所為で遺跡から遺物を一度に大量に持ち帰るのはかなり難しいわ』
「まあ、そうだな。だからハンターなんて稼業ができたんだろうけど」
『そして旧世界の遺跡の中には、自動復元機能を持つ遺跡もあるのよ。遺跡の壊れた建物をその内装を含めて元に戻したり、持ち去られた備品や商品を補充したりするのよ。時には、荒野にいつの間にか旧世界の遺跡が建築されることもあるそうよ。旧世界の大掛かりな修復装置が今も稼働しているんでしょうね』
いな! でも遺物を持ち帰ってもなくならない遺跡なんかがあれば、企業の私兵やハンターが殺到するんじゃないか?」
『その手の遺跡は大抵その遺跡の警備装置も、その生産設備も一緒に修復するのよ。遺跡で無尽蔵に製造される警備装置が侵入者を撃退するってこと。モンスターをどれだけ倒しても一向に減らない理由の一つだと言われているわ。旧世界の遺跡の警備装置って、つまりは機械系モンスターだからね。当然人を襲うわ。人の敷地に勝手に入って備品や商品を持ち去っていく武装した人間への対処としては間違っていないのかもしれないけれどね』
「そう言われればそうだな。ハンターなんてあっちから見ればただの略奪者か」
かなり大きな遺跡だが、クズスハラ街遺跡ほど広くはない。生息しているモンスターの強さも、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥部ほどではない。ある程度の実力を持つハンターならばそれなりに稼げる遺跡なのだ。
ミハゾノ街遺跡の前に到着したアキラが予想外のものを見て少し驚く。
「駐車場だ......。えっ? ちゃんと運営されているのか?」
駐車場には簡素なものだが屋根も付いていた。壁にはハンターオフィスのマークが書かれている。ハンターオフィスが経営しているようだ。
アキラは普通に謝って車を移動させようとする。その様子を見た男がアキラに尋ねる。
「お前、ここは初めてか?」
「はい。ここに来るのは初めてです」
男は少し離れた場所にある建物を指差しながらそう話した。アキラが不思議そうに尋ねる。
「......そんなんで良いんですか? それで金を払ってまで駐車場を使うやつが......いるのか。結構
駐車場には既に多くの車が駐車されている。使用中の場所は4割ほどだ。まだ十分な空きがあるが駐車場の広さから考えれば利用者の数はかなり多い。
男がアキラの疑問に答える。
「一応屋根も付いているし、そんなに高い料金でもない。ハンター以外にも、近くにあるハンターオフィスの出張所の職員とか、ハンター相手に商売をするやつとかも使っている。それにここには結構な数の人間がいるんだ。ここは荒野だしな、言っちゃ悪いが、
アキラが少し考えた後にアルファに話す。
『試しに一度使ってみるか』
ハンターオフィスがこの遺跡に来るハンター達のために用意してくれた設備なのだから、活用しましょうか』
アキラが駐車場の受付に向かう。駐車の手続きを済ませて駐車場に車を
帰りに手続きを忘れると、システム上ずっと料金が引かれ続けるから注意するように。アキラは受付の者にそうしっかり念押しされた。
車から荷物を降ろし、CWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンを取り外して装備する。遺跡探索の準備を済ませたアキラは、駐車場を出てハンターオフィスの出張所の近くまで移動した。
出張所には買い取り所もあるようだ。旧世界の遺物を持ち込むハンターの姿もある。中には倒した機械系モンスターを台車で運んでいるハンターもいる。ミハゾノ街遺跡で倒したモンスターをクガマヤマ都市まで運ぶのは面倒だが、ここまでならそう労力も掛からない。
周辺では商魂たくましい商人が台車の貸し出しや販売など行っていた。その台車で機能停止した機械系モンスターを運ぶのだ。恐らく乗り合いバスでここまで来たハンター向けの商売だろう。
乗り合いバスが出張所の近くに停車する。バスからハンター達が降りてくる。そのハンター達の中に、アキラを含めた他の者達の注目を集める3人組がいた。
注目を集める原因は、3人組の格好だ。1人はアキラとほぼ変わらない年齢のハンターの少女だ。少女は強化服を着用して、リュックサックを背負って、複数の銃を装備している。この遺跡にいるハンターとしては珍しくない格好だ。少女の手入れの行き届いた髪も、稼いでいる女性ハンターならば何の不自然も無い。少女は美少女と呼んで差し支えのない容姿の持ち主だが、彼女達が注目を集める理由になるほどではない。
注目の原因は残りの女性達の方にあった。1人は銃の他に長さの異なる対の刀を装備していた。もう1人の方は、拳銃程度の小型の銃と、重装強化服の肘から先の部分のような戦闘用の
彼女達が注目を浴びる原因は、その2人の女性が両方ともメイド服を着ていることだ。しかもそのメイド服は布地の質感などから軽い高級感すら漂わせるものだった。
彼女達はとても目立っていた。都市の下位区画なら好奇の視線を集める程度で済む。しかしここは都市の外、荒野側の領域だ。彼女達を見るハンター達の視線や反応は、好奇よりも場違いな異物に対する警戒の方が多く含まれていた。
注目を浴びているのは、レイナ達だった。
Not too far from him, there was Alpha, and just like last time, it did not seem that she had noticed him. But there was something different compared to last time.
Akira noticed that there were multiple Alphas present. To be more precise there were 2 Alpha, both of them did not seem to have noticed him.
Then, in that place, there was also another boy. Both Alphas did not seem to have noticed that boy either. Both Akira and that boy noticed each other, but since it was hazy, they could not tell who the other person was. But both of them thought of the same thing, the other person somehow looked familiar.
The Alpha near that boy spoke first.
"Just to be safe, we've agreed beforehand that we'll operate as separate units to encourage different bias and that we'll temporarily stop communicating with each other. So I'm sure you have a good reason as to why you broke our original agreement."
The Alpha closer to Akira replied.
"But of course. To be more precise, the load on your side interfered with my calculation ability, thanks to that, the subject under my care almost got killed."
"I see, according to the log, that's precisely when the subject under my care took a very dangerous action. At that time, the subject under my care was trying to save a certain cyborg that he just met for the first time, and in order to do that, I had to use more calculation power. I believe that is the cause."
"I want to suggest that the resource divided between us be fixed. So that it would not suddenly change and something like that would not happen again in the future."
After the other Alpha asked that question, Akira's Alpha just shook her head and said.
"According to my calculation, he should have been dead there. When my connection to the subject was cut, something must have happened and he got lucky so that he was able to survive."
"Unlike the subject under my care, I heard that the subject under your care is not that skilled. Luck, or anything that happens out of pure chance, you know well that those things can't overturn our calculation, right?"
"That evaluation is not correct. The subject under your care is rather gifted, so it's not like the subject under my care is incompetent. I've been training him and he's been putting effort too, he'll eventually get himself strong enough. You should fix that assumption to correct your calculation. And also, the subject under your care is a skilled Hunter, right? In that case, you should just quickly increase his strength and take him to the commander's office. Moreover, if he's really that good, then there should be no problem lowering your support ability for a bit, right? And you should give the leftover unused resource to me."
The other Alpha shook her head.
"I can't accept that suggestion. Although he's skilled, he tends to get himself into difficult situations and it's really hard to control him. It might be because of his special characteristic, he is always surrounded by a lot of people which makes it harder to encourage him to pick individualistic action. Not to mention, he has a very merciful nature; if I bring him there now, there's a good chance that the same thing would happen as the 480th trial. It's unfair to use the subject under your care who is already a lone-wolf with a twisted personality as a standard. I have a lot of things I need to deal with, you see."
Both of them were staring at each other without saying anything, that silence was created by their favouritism toward the subject under their respective care.
"I approve your suggestion about the resource distribution. Is there anything else you want to talk about then?"
"Nothing, by the way, the subject under your care is garnering a lot of attention though, are you okay with that?"
"It's something for me to worry about, not you. The subject under my care is too gifted, although I try to make it as natural as possible, he just keeps piling achievements after achievements. And it might also be because of his nature, even if someone close to him gets killed, the other people around him would not blame him, thus pushing him even further from being egocentric. Since more and more people are laying their eyes on him, I'm still in the middle of calculating whether to reduce the number of those people or do something to erase their effects on my subject."
"Is that so? Well, good luck, until next time."
"I'll contact you again if something comes up."
Akira's consciousness started to blur, the world around him suddenly turned pitch black and he woke up from that dream.
After Akira woke up, Alpha quickly greeted him.
"Akira, good morning!"
Akira did not reply to Alpha, he just stared back at her. Alpha found that weird.
"What's wrong?"
Akira did not remember anything from his dream. But he felt that something was bothering him for some reason.
Akira decided to drop that subject there before it turned into something more complicated.
"Nah, it must be just my imagination. That's it then, this subject ends here."
"That's just too bad, you don't need to try to run away, you know? It's normal for your desire to surface within a dream..."
"We're heading to the wasteland starting from today. So stop with the stupid talk and let's get ourselves ready to head out."
Akira forcefully changed the subject as he hopped off from his bed. He had completely forgotten about the feeling that something was bothering him.
Akira drove his new vehicle to the wasteland. It was a vehicle designed for traversing the wasteland. It was the bonus that Akira got from Shikarabe on top of the prize money for helping him hunt the bounty monster.
After he received that vehicle from Shikarabe, Akira went to the repair garage that Shizuka recommended to give a full check and readjustment for that vehicle. And with a special control device installed on it, just like last time, Alpha could access the vehicle and control it.
When Akira asked Shizuka for a repair garage that she would recommend, she was a bit surprised. She thought that Akira must have done something that damaged his newly bought vehicle to the point that he had to take it to a repair garage. She worried about Akira and decided to ask about the vehicle's condition from the repair garage where Akira fixed his vehicle. She was much relieved when she heard from the repair garage that it was nothing but light damage and there was nothing to worry about with a little bit of TLC and readjustment. She did not realize that Akira's previous vehicle was badly damaged and that he had already changed to a new vehicle.
Akira had recovered from his fatigue after fighting the bounty monster, he also had replenished his ammo, and with no bounty monster roaming the wasteland any longer, he returned back to searching for undiscovered ruin.
"Alpha, how far is the next place?"
"Still about an hour from here."
Akira was watching the navigator in his vehicle's control device and mumbled.
"It's still that far, huh. As I thought, we might have taken too much detour."
Akira's destination was another place recorded in the Lion Steel corporation's information terminal. Learning from the last time, he took a detour this time before heading to his destination. But because of that, he took more time to reach the location.
"You're right about that. We should have taken a detour only after knowing for sure that the place we're heading to has an unexplored ruin, or at least, after finding good evidence pointing the existence of an unexplored ruin there. After all, it would only be a waste of energy if the indicator that we're chasing is pointing at an empty space."
"I've also expanded my searching range compared to last time, so there's nothing to worry. I've also rewritten the software of the control device, so I'm sure that there's no pre-installed tracking program in it."
"You didn't have to go that far, but well, it's good to be careful."
Akira changed the direction of his vehicle to head straight to his destination. So now he should be able to cut the time by quite a lot. After that, he remembered something that was bothering him.
"By the way, Alpha, why does that dress have so many gaps and holes?"
Just like usual, Alpha was wearing a very revealing but charming and s.e.xy dress. She was wearing a bodysuit that was divided into pieces, each piece was connected to the other pieces by a small connector or a small piece of cloth. Moreover, there were also holes with unknown use on that bodysuit. Her skin was exposed in between those openings, her undies were even peeking through one of those gaps.
"This? This is a bodysuit designed so that you can freely replace its part to conform to your body shape. It's made especially for those with a cyborg body that can freely exchange their body parts."
"Then what about that hole on your back?"
"This is to connect to external equipment. There are many extension parts such as external parts for a humanoid weapon, or propulsion device that can propel you to the sky, or maybe big portable cannons, or other types of heavy weapons."
Akira imagined all kinds of things from Alpha's explanation. At first, he only imagined a humanoid weapon, but eventually, his imagination resulted in something that was an amalgamation of humans with different types of weapons, he then decided to stop there.
"That bodysuit and the talk just now, they're about the old-world stuff, right? As I thought, the old-world is just really weird. It's not something that you can easily try to imagine."
"You should be able to imagine it from the old-world stuff that you can find around you, you know? You should be able to find something similar if you look in the old-world ruins."
Inside Akira's mind, he imagined Alpha with a huge weapon on her back, so huge that it did not fit her size at all. He imagined a lot of different things connected to those holes to justify the existence of those holes.
"...I see, so those kinds of things were normal in the old-world, huh?"
"I think you can find them even in the current era too. Someone might find those kinds of stuff in the old-world ruin and use them. Then some companies would see that and try to produce an imitation of those devices, so it might be normal for those Hunters in the frontline of the eastern district to be using those kinds of devices, you know?"
There were a lot of things from the old-world that existed in the current era, many of which were things they could never imagine. So it would not be strange to find things that someone could actually imagine because the technology of the old-world would have allowed them to create those things.
"...I guess there are still a lot of things out there that I don't know, huh?"
Although Akira mumbled those words, he also said to himself there must be a limit on how weird it could be.
Not too long after that, Akira reached his destination. At the first glance, it was only a huge grassland; the indicator, which was based on the information extracted from the Lion Steel corp, was pointing under that grassland.
Akira looked at that indicator with the help of his enhanced vision and mumbled.
"Another underground facility, huh? Compared to Yonozuka station ruin, this one is even deeper. Alright then, let's return back here some other time."
Akira quickly gave up on searching the underground ruin. After all, if he found another unexplored ruin like Yonozuka station ruin, it might cause him another round of trouble. So he refused to make the same mistake for the second time.
Alpha, who understood what Akira was thinking, just smiled at him and said.
"I'm okay with that. Until you have the ability to get out of the underground ruin with your own power and no support from me, it might be a good idea to refrain from exploring underground ruins. We still have other places to check out too, so there's no need to take an unnecessary risk."
"In that case, it'll mean I won't be going to explore any underground ruins for the time being."
"About that, there's nothing we can do but to look forward to your growth. Now then, for the next place though, the nearest place from here is actually pointing at a ruin that is already explored. Do you want to check it out? Or do you want to go to the next place instead?"
Akira took some time thinking before he made a decision.
"Let's go there. This is a good chance since I want to take a look at the other ruins too. After all, in terms of already discovered ruins, I've never gone to the other ruins except Kusuzuhara city ruin and Higaraka residence ruin. So then, what is the next ruin?"
"It's Mihazono city ruin."
Akira quickly prepared himself to go to Mihazono city ruin, but he did not go straight from there to Mihazono ruin. Instead, he headed back to Kugamayama city first. This was until he could get some connection to the city. It was in order for him to take regular monster-hunting requests from the Hunter Office. After all, he could not access the Hunter Office website unless he got some connection signal from the Kugamayama city.
"Say, Alpha. Why does the Hunter Office have this regular monster-hunting request?"
"Why, you ask? It's because the Hunter Office keep issuing it, of course."
"Aahh, that's not what I meant. I do understand why they are issuing that request for patrolling around the city. For that request, basically, the people in the inner wall are paying money to protect the city and make sure that the city is safe. And when they place requirements to bring back the monster's corpse, no matter whether it's from a biological monster or a mechanical monster, they can extract materials from those corpses and exchange it for money. I do understand that part. But then, for Hunters who kill monsters in a faraway place that has nothing to do with the city safety and those Hunters also don't have to bring the corpses of the monsters that they defeat back to the city, who would pay for their reward? Well, this didn't bother me the last time I took the regular monster-hunting request, but now that I think about it, I just wonder about its profitability, you see."
When Akira curiously asked that question, Alpha was actually a bit surprised by that, but she then laughed amusedly.
"It's nothing, I just realised that you've started thinking about something like that, it shows the result of my education. So I'm really happy to find out how much you have improved."
Starting with those words, Alpha began her explanation of her guess to Akira.
The regular monster-hunting request did not designate a particular monster or number as its target. The place, time, type, or the number of the monsters were not particularly determined in that request. And even if the Hunters returned back without encountering any monsters, they would still get paid the minimal sum as a reward.
There were all kinds of monsters roaming in the Eastern district. The Hunters who took that regular monster-hunting request from the Hunter Office could get rewarded only by handing over information about where and when they encountered those monsters. The Hunter Office would then analyze all the information that it gathered from the Hunters into something that could bring profits.
The result from analyzing that information could be used for so many things like constructing threat level maps depending on the monsters roaming in certain areas, mapping out the safe trading route between cities, or maybe adjusting the Eastern district reclamation plan. All of them were very important agenda.
While on the other hand, it also worked to cull the monsters that seemed to be multiplying endlessly no matter how many the Hunters killed. For every single monster killed out there, the safety of the wasteland would improve and people would be able to carry stuff across the wasteland safer.
Akira listened to Alpha with full interest.
"Those people in the Hunter Office do think about a lot of things, huh?"
"There are also many other ways to use that information. As an example, they can use it to look for new unexplored ruins, like the Yonozuka station ruin that you discovered the other day. A lot of monsters are flowing out through it, so the monster encounter rate around the entrance to that ruin must be pretty high. If the City Management decides to check that place, they should be able to find the entrance into the ruin."
"And if the City Management discovers a new undiscovered ruin first, they'll be able to gain a lot of profit from it. Then they can sell the relics found there in the nearby cities and use that money to pay the Hunters, that way the city would prosper, I see now..."
As Akira was heading to Mihazono city ruin, a signal suddenly popped out in the detection range. When he checked that signal, it was not a monster but another vehicle. It was a big sized wasteland bus. That bus was equipped with a lot of machine guns on top of it and it seemed that it was filled with Hunters, there was Hunter Office symbol on the sides of that bus.
"They're heading the same way with us, huh?"
"It seems that it's a transportation bus from the Hunter Office. I think it runs between the Kugamayama city and Mihazono ruin."
"Those people in it, are they Hunters? There are quite a lot of them."
"It shows that there are still some unclaimed relics in Mihazono ruin which attracts that many Hunters. Let's bring back any good relics if we get to find any."
Akira kept staring at the Hunters inside that bus, it seemed that he was thinking about something.
"Akira, what's wrong?"
"Say, Alpha, there are many Hunters exploring the old-world ruin to collect relics, right? And they've been doing this for years... Maybe even for a few hundred years, huh?"
"The precise number is uncertain and it's different for each area, but the most recent record shows that it has been going on for at least 200 years."
"Although Hunters have been carrying out old-world relics for that long, why are there still old-world relics left unclaimed out there? Aren't there just too many of them no matter how you think about it?"
Including Akira, there were a lot of Hunters in the Kugamayama city. Although compared to the total population in the Eastern district, maybe only a small portion of them were Hunters, but there were enough of those Hunters out there to the point that the whole economy in the Eastern district was constructed around them. And those Hunters regularly carried a lot of old-world relics out from the old-world ruins back to the city. So Akira just thought that it was weird how there were still old-world relics left in the old-world ruins.
"They do get exhausted. If you look at the current Higaraka Residence Ruin, Hunters have already taken all of the expensive relics from that ruin and so that ruin is left with nothing but cheap relics right now. And this is true everywhere you go. Even for the western area of the Eastern district, which borders the territory owned by the Allied Nations, I heard that there are even hardly any cheap relics left in that region. That's why the Corporate Government keeps pushing further and further to the east seeking new ruins and new relics even though the monsters are getting stronger and stronger the further they go east. But of course, as the risk increases, the number and the quality of the relics are also getting better and better, that's why it seems that it worth the risk."
Akira's expression turned slightly stiff. If the relics in the Eastern district was exhausted, it would definitely change Hunter's line of work, he vaguely felt worried about that.
Looking at that, Alpha just smiled at him and said.
"Don't worry, although it's just my guess, I believe that the old-world relics around this area will not get depleted anytime soon, at least, they won't be depleted in your lifetime. Of course, they'll eventually get depleted if the Hunters keep carrying them out from the ruins, but there's a reason why it won't get depleted anytime soon."
"And why is that?"
"I don't think there's any need to explain it, but carrying out relics while fighting the monsters roaming in the wasteland is not an easy thing to do. Because of that, it's close to impossible to carry a huge amount of relics out from the ruin in one go."
"Well, that's true. And that's exactly why we have people working as Hunters, right?"
"Moreover, among all the old-world ruins, some of them have self-repairing function. It'll fix damaged buildings and maintain everything inside those buildings, this also includes replenishing equipment and any other objects that the Hunters take out from those ruins. There were even times when it constructed a new ruin in the middle of the wasteland, you know. It seems that the large-scale maintenance equipment of the old-world era is still functioning well."
"Oohh!! That's amazing!! But if there are ruins that can replenish the relics inside it, won't the Hunters and the soldiers from the Corporate Government flood those ruins?"
"Most of the time, the self-repair function of those ruins also fix the security facilities and the factories in those ruins. Those factories would then endlessly produce security equipment to chase away any intruders. Some people also say that it's the real reason why the number of monsters in the wasteland won't get reduced no matter how many monsters the Hunters kill, after all, the mechanical monsters are basically the security equipment produced by those factories. So of course, they would normally attack people too. Seeing from the other perspective, they are basically security measures to prevent people from intruding and stealing things from the area that they are guarding, so that means that they are functioning as intended."
"Well, if you put it that way, that's kinda true. From their point of view, Hunters are basically robbers."
Although it was a pretty big ruin, it was not as big as Kusuzuhara ruin, and the monsters inside it were not as strong as the monsters inside the inner part of Kusuzuhara ruin. With enough equipment and skill, it was a rather safe ruin for Hunters to explore.
When Akira arrived there, he was surprised to find something which he did not expect at all.
"A parking lot... Wait for a sec, is it still operational?"
The parking lot was a simple lot with a roof. Its walls were decorated with the Hunter Office symbol. It seemed that the Hunter Office owned that parking lot.
Akira obediently apologized and turned his vehicle back on, the guard who saw that then asked Akira.
"Is this your first time coming here?"
"Yes, this is my first time here."
That guy then pointed at a building not too far from their location. Akira tilted his head and asked that guy.
"...Is that really far enough? If it's only that far, people won't pay for the pa- Ah, but I see there are quite a lot of vehicles parking there, huh?"
The parking lot was already filled with vehicles. Only about 40% of the parking lot was used, so there was still quite a lot of open space there. But compared to its size, that parking lot was already pretty filled.
That guy then answered Akira's question.
"It has a roof and it's not that expensive. You can find Hunters and staff in the Hunter Office nearby and some merchants are also using that place. Moreover, there are a lot of people around here, we're technically still in the wasteland, you see. I know it's rather concerning to say this myself, but there are people who are up for no good out here. But even so, I'm sure they know better not to try to steal the vehicles parked in the parking lot owned by the Hunter Office. Furthermore, there are guards and security cameras in the parking lot. Well, there are times when some stupid people tried to mess with the vehicles in the parking lot, but all of them ended up pretty tragically. So that's basically why a lot of people decide to use the parking lot. If you want to use the parking lot too, the counter is over there."
Akira thought for a bit and turned to Alpha.
"Let's try using it once, I guess."
"Yep, let's do that. The Hunter Office made that parking lot for the Hunters who come to this ruin, so let's use it."
Akira headed to the reception counter, he then finished the administration work and parked his vehicle inside the parking lot. For the Hunters with a bank account, the parking fee was automatically debited from the bank account. It might be a means to avoid the Hunters postponing their parking fee payment.
The person at the counter warned Akira that even if he forgets to inform the Hunter Office before leaving the parking lot, the parking fare would still be automatically deducted from his bank account.
Akira unloaded his stuff from his vehicle, he also took his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun with him. After he finished his preparation to head out, he then went to the area near the Hunter Office just outside the parking lot.
There was an Exchange Centre in that area. Akira saw some Hunters exchanging their relics. Inside that Exchange Centre, he also saw some Hunters loading leftover wreckage of mechanical monsters onto a cart. It would be too much of a hassle bringing them all the way back to the Kugamayama city, but it would not be that much trouble to bring them to that Exchange Centre.
Around that place, there were also merchants with selling stands and rentable carts. Hunters would usually use those carts to transport dead mechanical monsters. They might be the merchants who came all the way to this place using the Hunter Office's bus to open their shops there.
A Hunter Office's bus arrived and stopped near the Hunter Office, Akira then saw Hunters boarding off from that bus. Including Akira, all Hunters in that place were focused on a group of 3 Hunters.
The reason as to why that group was gathering so much attention was because of their appearances. One of them was a young girl that looked more or less of the same age as Akira. She was wearing an augmented suit while carrying a big rucksack and multiple rifles. It was not a rare sight in the old-world ruin. Her silky and well-maintained hair was also something normal to be found for women Hunters who were doing well in her job. Although her beauty was above average, it was not enough of a reason to grab other Hunters' attention.
The ones standing out were the other two girls. One of them was carrying a huge long sword aside from her rifle. While the other one was carrying a small pistol-like gun and a big power glove as if it was originally a part of a powered suit. There were not that many Hunters out there who prefered to fight monsters close range. That was why it was rare to find those types of weapons. Moreover, those two girls were beautiful and had some kind of unique charm of their own. It was to be expected for those weapons to attract some attention, but it was still not enough of a reason for them to attract that much attention there.
The real reason why those two attracted so much attention was because both of them were wearing maid outfits. And to top it off, from a glance, it seemed that those maid outfits were made of high-class fabric that gave off a luxurious vibe.
Those girls were really sticking out in that place. If it was back in the Kugamayama lower district, they would only gather some attention and that would be the end of it. But they were outside the city, they were in the wasteland. The Hunters in that place saw them with suspicion rather than pure curiosity since they seemed to be out of place.
That group of 3 were Reina and her battle maids.
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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