アキラがクガマヤマ都市へ移動している。
シカラベから受けた賞金首討伐の補助要員の依頼は、結局タンクランチュラ戦だけで終わってしまった。アキラは次の賞金首戦に一応備えていたのだが、シカラベ側の事情で取り
ドランカム所属のハンター達はそのまま次の賞金首討伐に向かった。シカラベ達4人とネルゴだ。ネルゴはシカラベ達と進んで交渉し、外部要員ではなくドランカム所属のハンターとして同行するらしい。
他のハンター達はどこかに行ってしまった。別ルートで都市に向かっているのか、別の仕事に直接向かっているのかは分からない。少なくともアキラは一人で都市へ移動していた。
アキラがアルファからタンクランチュラとの戦闘の補足説明を受けている。
『戦闘の大まかな流れは今話した通りよ。予定通り戦い、予定通り勝った。言ってしまえばそれだけのことなのだけど、それを実現させたのは大したものね』
「アルファの説明を聞くと、下手をするとシカラベ達3人だけでもタンクランチュラを倒せたように聞こえるんだけど」
『現実的な勝率はあると思うわ。少なくともシカラベ達が当初考えていたタンクランチュラの戦力なら可能だったはずよ。その上でシカラベ達がアキラ達を雇った理由は、勝率と安全性の向上、そして戦闘時間の短縮のためにでしょうね。ドランカム側で何かあったようだけれど、元々は
れとも感服とも思える感情を抱く。
「シカラベ達に時間の制約がなければもっと少ない人数で、最悪シカラベ達3人だけでタンクランチュラと戦っていたかもしれないのか......。賞金首も強かったけど、それと戦おうとするハンターも大概だな。勝てば
進んで賞金首討伐に乗り出すハンターだけはあり、シカラベ達の実力はそこらの凡百とは違うようだ。
『強いて欠点を挙げれば、金が掛かり過ぎたことね。高価な消耗品を惜しげもなく使用したから、費用はかなり
経費は賞金首討伐の賞金から差し引く契約だ。アキラが少し不安になる。
「......そんなに、高いのか?」
アルファが笑って答える。
『高いわ。例えばヤマノベが狙撃してタンクランチュラに貼り付けていた装置だけれど、あれは小型の誘導装置でもあり、小型の情報収集機器でもあるわ。ロケット弾の誘導と、タンクランチュラの解析の
アキラはエレナとの会話を思い出した。エレナが使用していた小型の情報収集機器は、1個1万オーラムだと教えてもらった。少なくともそれよりは高価だろう。ロケット弾の攻撃で吹き飛ばしてしまったから回収など不可能だ。間違いなく消耗品である。
『ロケット弾もあの集中攻撃を実現させる
アキラはタンクランチュラに集中攻撃を加えた時の光景を思い出した。確かに威力は十分だった。あの1回の攻撃でどれだけの弾薬費が掛かったのか。安値の銃弾を乱射した程度の費用とは桁が違うはずだ。
『あのバイクに搭載されていた自動
「まて、その費用は経費にはならないんじゃないか? それは新しい装備の購入と同じ扱いのはずだ」
何とか弾薬費を抑える理由を求めるアキラに、アルファが不敵に笑って答える。
『アキラ。世の中にはいろいろな販売方法があるのよ。消耗品を大量に使用させるために、それを使用する装置をとても安く販売したりもするわ。装置の代金や改造費が実質無料でも、その分は消耗品の価格にしっかり反映されているのよ。
な美貌に浮かぶ笑顔を楽しげに輝かせた。
8億オーラムの賞金だ。分配してもかなりの額になるのではないか。アキラが無意識に抱いていた期待は、アルファの説明を聞いている内に見る間に
アキラが自身の報酬を引き上げる根拠をこじつけようとする。
「本当にそんなに経費が掛かったと決まったわけじゃないだろう? 倒せば8億オーラムの賞金を
『賞金首の賞金額は必ずしもその強力さと一致しているわけではないわ。実際に交戦してみないと正確に難度を測定するのは難しいわ。タンクランチュラの8億オーラムという賞金額も、今まで討伐に失敗したハンター達の規模や実力を考慮に入れての額でしょうからね。シカラベがもう少し安全思考で早めに撤退を決定していれば、シカラベ達でも倒せなかったということで更に賞金が上がっていたはずよ。そうね、12億オーラムぐらいに増額されても不思議はないわ』
アキラが嫌そうな表情を浮かべる。
「そうすると、俺達は不当に低く評価されていた賞金首を必死になって討伐して、その低い賞金しか受け取れなかった可能性があるってことになるんだけど......」
『その可能性は十分あるわ。もしそうだとしたら、ついていなかったわね?』
アキラはどう見ても気にしている態度で、自身の精神安定のためにそう言い聞かせた。
アキラが情報端末でハンターオフィスが掲載する賞金首速報を確認する。撃破済みの賞金首の情報が更新されていた。タンクランチュラ、多連装砲マイマイ、過合成スネークの3体だ。無事な状態の写真に大きなバツ印が書かれていて、その横に倒された賞金首の姿が表示されている。アキラ達が倒したタンクランチュラの姿も撃破後の姿が表示されていた。
「賞金首も残り1体で、シカラベの話だと大規模なハンターチームを作って倒すらしいし、賞金首の騒ぎも今日で終わりだな。早く帰って、ゆっくり休んで、明日以降の遺跡探索に備えよう」
突然アルファがアキラから車の運転を奪い車を急加速させる。その加速で車の背
アルファが険しい表情で答えた。それを見たアキラが一気に警戒を強める。アルファにこの表情をさせる何かが起こっている。場合によっては致命的な何かが。
そのままアルファは車を限界まで加速させる。そして10秒ほど最高速度を保った後に、やはり険しい表情で話す。
『駄目ね。追いつかれるわ』
アルファが車の速度を少しずつ落としていく。アキラはアルファを真剣な表情で見ている。
『アキラ。落ち着いて後ろを見て。運転はこのまま私がするから大丈夫よ』
アキラがゆっくり後ろを見る。車の背後のかなり離れた場所に細長い何かがいた。それはアキラ達を追ってきていた。その何かの姿はとても小さく見えるが距離の所為だ。実際の大きさはかなりのものだ。
アキラが双眼鏡を取り出してその何かを確認する。そこには見覚えのあるモンスターがいた。少し前と、つい先ほど見たモンスターだ。
る。ヨノズカ駅遺跡の入り口と、先ほど情報端末で見たモンスターがアキラを追ってきていた。撃破済みと記載されていた賞金首によく似た姿のモンスターがアキラの車を追いかけていた。
アキラが思わず情報端末を再確認する。過合成スネークは確かに撃破済みとなっており、倒された姿も一緒に記載されている。双眼鏡で敵の姿をもう一度確認する。追ってきているモンスターは、細かい差異はあるものの、過合成スネークと認識して差し支えのない姿をしていた。
「た、倒したって書いてあるだろ!? どういうことだ!?」
『実は同種が2体いてその片方が賞金首に認定されたのか、分裂でもして増えたのか、
アキラが改めて情報端末に表示されている過合成スネークと見比べる。確かに追ってきている個体はそれに比べれば大分小さい。だがそれでも横幅はアキラの車両を軽く上回っている。そこらの雑魚モンスターと同じ扱いはできない。
『アキラ。残念だけど、このままだと追いつかれるわ』
「逃げ切れないのか? あれが同種なら、下手をすると賞金首並みに強いってことだろう? 倒せるのか?」
『車のエネルギーが切れるまで逃げ続ければ、向こうが追うのを諦める可能性が全くないとは言わないけれど、試してみる?』
アキラが険しい表情のまま黙って車の後部に移動する。確かにその可能性はあるだろう。だが敵が執念深く追い続けてきた場合、車が動かなくなればアキラは車ごと食われるだけだ。そしてアキラは運が悪いのだ。
「戦うしかないか。......前に、念のために、荒野に出る準備を、運悪く賞金首と遭遇した場合に備えて準備し直したけど、何でいつもこの手の準備が無駄にならないんだ?」
車に積み込む予備の弾薬の配分を、CWH対物突撃銃の専用弾とDVTSミニガンの拡張弾倉をできるだけ増やしている。強力なモンスターと交戦する場合に普段より優位に戦えるが、並のモンスターと交戦するとそのたびに赤字になる配分だ。アキラも赤字は大嫌いだ。だが今日に限っては赤字になってほしかった。
アルファも不敵に笑って答える。
『そういうこと。それなら私に任せておきなさい。アキラの不運を上回る私のサポートを見せてあげるわ。今までと同じようにね』
アキラとアルファが不敵に笑い合う。アキラの覚悟は整った。
アキラが過合成スネークへCWH対物突撃銃を構える。揺れる車体の上で、両手でしっかり銃を固定する。照準器を
アキラが照準器越しに敵の様子を確認する。
『命中したわ。敵をイラッとぐらいはさせたかもね』
「CWH対物突撃銃の専用弾でこれか。本当に賞金首並みに固いな。どうする?」
『威力を上げるしかないわ。アキラ。覚悟を決めなさい』
「俺が覚悟を決めるだけで弾の威力が上がるなら幾らでもやるよ。覚悟を決めるのは俺の仕事だからな。もう覚悟を決めたつもりだったけど、足りなかったか?」
『この後に動揺しないのならね。行くわよ』
アルファが車の速度を急激に落としていく。相対的に過合成スネークの速度が一気に上昇していく。
敵との距離が弾丸の威力を減衰させるのならば、その距離を縮めれば良い。単純な理由だ。至近距離まで近付けば、
アキラは歯を食いしばって何とか笑みを浮かべた。動揺はしなかった。
豆粒ほどに小さく見えていた過合成スネークが肉眼ではっきり認識できるようになる。勢いよく近付いてくる過合成スネークの動きは蛇のものではない。連結された長い車両に近い。よく見ると下部に無限軌道やタイヤらしきものが存在している。非対称で速度も違うそれらで強引に前進しているようだ。移動速度の違いで巨体が波打っており、その動きが僅かに蛇らしく見えないこともない。
アキラが再びCWH対物突撃銃で過合成スネークを銃撃する。直撃した専用弾が着弾地点の
『違うわ。あれは単純に頑丈なだけよ。着弾地点から衝撃変換光とかが出ていないでしょう?』
「どんだけ頑丈なんだ!?」
『もっと近付かないと駄目ね。さあアキラ。覚悟の決め時よ』
「まだ覚悟が足りなかったか!? 良いぞ! やってくれ!」
過合成スネークとの距離を更に縮めるのだろう。アキラはそう思っていた。それは正しく、そして予想とは正反対だった。
アルファが車両の四輪を制御する。車の四輪のそれぞれが独自に動き、車両をその場で180度回転させた。更に車両は過合成スネークの方向へ急加速した。
アキラは車両の速度を落として過合成スネークとの距離を詰めるのだと考えていた。だがアルファはそれどころか過合成スネークへ勢いよく近付こうとしていた。
アキラの車と過合成スネークがお互いの方向へ急加速することで、互いの距離が一気に縮まる。
『アキラ。武器をDVTSミニガンに変更して攻撃準備』
アキラがしがみつく先を車両に装着しているDVTSミニガンに変更する。過合成スネークはもう眼前に迫ってきている。びっしりと牙を生やした大口を開けて車両に食いつこうとしている。アキラは歯を食いしばった。
に、動きに僅かに予備動作を作った。アルファはその動きを情報収集機器で探知して見切っていた。
アルファが高度な運転技術で横に移動させ、過合成スネークの攻撃をぎりぎりで
集中と緊張が体感時間を圧縮させて、時がゆっくりと流れていく中でも、アキラの視界に映るアルファだけは普段の時の流れと変わらない。いつも通りに微笑んでアキラに指示を出す。
アキラは車体から振り下ろされないように、銃座に固定されているDVTSミニガンを握りしめている。大きく傾いた車両の上で、必死の形相で引き金を引いた。
DVTSミニガンから大量の銃弾が放たれる。過合成スネークの側面に至近距離から無数の銃弾が直撃する。アキラが引き金を引き続ける。ミニガンを携帯するという暴挙に応えるために、その拡張弾倉には旧世界の技術により見た目の容量からは考えられないほど大量の銃弾が詰め込まれている。その弾薬の全てを使い切る勢いで、回転する銃口の束から小物のモンスターなどその1発で撃破する威力の銃弾が放たれ続けた。
少し近寄れば蹴りが届くほどの至近距離で放たれた大量の弾丸が、過合成スネークの胴体部を削るように千切り飛ばし四散させ続ける。肉片や機械部品のような様々なものがアキラの通った後に飛び散っていく。それらは過合成スネークが捕食した何かの成れの果てだ。無数の銃弾が過合成スネークの体積を物理的に削り続け、荒野にその残骸をばらまいていった。
アキラの車はアルファの運転により、波打つ長い巨体のすぐ横を移動し続けている。アキラの眼前を過合成スネークの側面が流れるように通り過ぎていく。通り過ぎた部分には至近距離から放たれた大量の銃弾で書かれた破壊の跡が長い線となって横に引かれ続けた。
アキラは過合成スネークを側面から銃撃し続けた。過合成スネークの最後尾を通り過ぎると、その勢いのまま少し進んだ辺りで、アルファが再び車を180度回転させて停止させた。DVTSミニガンの拡張弾倉は空になっていた。
『アキラ。弾倉を交換して』
としていたアキラがアルファの指示を聞いて我に返った。DVTSミニガンの弾倉を急いで交換しながら尋ねる。
「あ、あれでも倒せていないのか?」
「あ、後何回同じことをすれば良いんだ?」
『死ぬまでよ。相手が死ぬまで、にするために頑張りましょう。アキラが死ぬまで、にはしたくないでしょう?』
笑ってそう答えたアルファを見て、アキラが引きつった笑顔を浮かべた。
DVTSミニガンの拡張弾倉の交換作業が終わる。過合成スネークがその巨体を反転させようともがいている。少なくとも敵に逃げる気はないようだ。
になって叫ぶ。
「やれば良いんだろう! やれば!」
『その意気よ。さあ行きましょう』
アルファが車を勢いよく前進させる。アキラがDVTSミニガンを握りしめる。もう一度同じことを、相手が死ぬまで何度でも同じことを繰り返すために。
長い巨体の横を駆け抜けるたびに車両に積み込んでいる弾薬が減っていく。あれほど積み込んでいた予備の弾薬が消えかけている。それだけの量の銃弾を敵に撃ち込んだのだ。だがそれでも敵は倒れない。残りの弾薬量はそろそろ危険域だ。一度覚悟を決めたはずのアキラの表情が曇り始める。
「アルファ! 弾薬がそろそろヤバいぞ!」
『本当に信じられない生命力ね。逃げようとしないのは余裕の表れかしら。何か弱点でもあれば良いのだけど』
「あれだけ山ほど大量に銃弾をぶち込んだんだ。弱点があるのならとっくに当たっていても良さそうだけどな。偶然当たらなかっただけか? それは俺の運が悪いからか? 頭部にもあれだけぶち込んだんだぞ?」
『それなら運ではどうしようもできないほどに徹底的に破壊するだけよ。さあ、もう一度よ』
「了解だ!」
泣き言を言っても状況が改善するわけではないのだ。あれだけ負傷させたというのに、過合成スネークは全く逃げようとしない。
アキラもモンスターとはそういうものだと知ってはいる。だが生物に見えなくもない外見なのだから、死を恐れて逃げてもらえないか。アキラはそう願っていた。その願いは今のところは
アキラが気を引き締めて次の攻撃に備える。それが最後の攻撃となった。
アルファが再び車を発進させる。そして前回と同じように過合成スネークと擦れ違おうとする。その周辺には過合成スネークから削り取った部位が散らばっていた。
過合成スネークはハンターの車両も捕食していた。その車両には予備の弾薬等の爆発物も積まれていた。そしてその爆発物が過合成スネークの一部として取り込まれ、アキラの攻撃で巨体から削り取れて周囲に散らばっていた。それが運悪く爆発した。
爆発は小規模で、アキラの車両にも過合成スネークにも損傷を与えることはなかった。だがアルファの精密な運転技術を狂わせるのには十分だった。そしてそれはちょうど過合成スネークの攻撃と一致していた。
爆風で浮いた車両が僅かな時間だけ操作不能となる。過合成スネークの大口がその車両をアキラごと丸
アキラの視界は真っ暗だ。過合成スネークがしっかり口を閉じているため、内部まで光が届いていないのだ。アキラは横転しかけている車両の後部にいる。何らかの液体が車体の装甲タイルやタイヤと反応して異音を立てている。
アキラの視界は真っ暗だ。以前アキラはヒガラカ住宅街遺跡の
アキラがアルファに呼びかける。しかし返事はない。視界も完全な闇のままだ。
アキラは気付き、理解した。アルファのサポートが失われていることに。
地下の遺跡ではアルファのサポートが完全に失われる場合がある。以前アキラはアルファにそう説明されたことがある。アキラはアルファと旧領域接続者の能力で常時通信している。旧世界の遺跡の中にはその通信を阻害する何かが存在する場合があるのだろう。それと同じなのだろう。
過合成スネークに構成物に含まれている何かが、アキラとアルファとの
まれた理由の根本に気付いている。アルファはミスなどしていない。ただ運が悪かったのだと。アルファのサポートを上回る不運がこの事態を招いたのだと。
アキラは幸運を使い切ってアルファに出会い、アルファの加護でその後の不運を乗り越えてきた。だがいつかはそれでは乗り越えられない時が来る。アキラは心のどこかでずっとそう思ってきた。その時が来たのだ。
真っ暗な世界で、アキラが笑った。
「外から近付くだけじゃ覚悟が足りなかったってか! ああそうか! 分かったよ! 覚悟を決めるのは俺の担当だからな!」
アキラは有らん限りの声を上げて、思いっきり笑った。自分をこの状況に追い込んだ不運を、全てを、
な声に聞こえてはいない。だが問題ない。これは宣言だ。この苦境に対しての、この苦境へ導いた不運に対する宣言だ。その不運に対する敵対の宣言だ。
アキラだけが叫び、アキラだけが聞いていればいいのだ。これは敵を、自身の不幸を、
アキラはリュックサックからチューブの回復薬を取り出して、握りつぶして中身を噴出させて頭部に塗りたくった。これで強化服に覆われている腕や脚と異なり露出しているアキラの頭が消化されるまでの時間が延びた。ペースト状の回復薬が既にアキラの顔に飛び散っていた過合成スネークの液体と反応して音を立てていた。
更にアキラは錠剤の回復薬を副作用など知ったことかと思いっきり大量に服用した。過度に使用した回復薬がアキラの体に掛かる負担の限界を延ばす。濃密な体感時間の中で身体の負荷を無視して強化服を作動させ、関節の可動域を超えて強引に四肢を動かしたことによる体の損傷を、治療用ナノマシンが即時に急速に治療し始める。
アキラが運転席に手を伸ばし、車の制御装置を操作する。自動操縦に切り替わった車が単純な指示を実行する。車が溶けかけつつある四輪を全力で回転させ、最大出力で前進を始めた。退路などない。ならば進む先は前しかないのだ。
アキラが笑いながら再びDVTSミニガンの引き金を引き続ける。狙う必要などない。どこを狙っても当たる。笑いながら大量の銃弾をばらまき続ける。過合成スネークの体内を移動する車両の上で、アキラは縦横無尽に銃弾をばらまき続けた。
過合成スネークが断末魔の叫びのように狂ったように暴れ回る。その巨体が激しく動くことで、その体内にいるアキラから上下の感覚が失われる。
それでも車両は前に進んでいく。アキラは銃撃の反動で車体を下方向に押し続けタイヤの空回りを防いでいた。下方向に押しつけられた車体が肉の床を
アキラは破壊され続けている車の上で、狂ったように笑いながら引き金を引き続け、空になった弾倉を即座に何度も交換して、更に大量の銃弾をばらまいていく。
荒れ狂っていた過合成スネークが崩れ落ち、二度と動かなくなった。それでも大量の銃弾が巨体の内部から外に飛び出し続けている。そして、巨体の側面を銃撃してぶち破ったアキラが乗っていた車両と一緒に飛び出してきた。
『アキラ! 大丈夫!?』
アルファが非常に慌てた表情でアキラを見ている。アキラは
「......えっと、お帰り」
『た、ただいま?』
な表情で答えた。
「アルファ。確認してくれ。あいつは死んだか?」
『え? ええ。ちょっと待って。......大丈夫よ。死んでいるわ』
「そりゃよかった。あれで駄目ならもうどうしようもなかったからな」
アルファが珍しく戸惑う様子を見せながら尋ねる。
『アキラ。一体何があったの?』
アルファはアキラとの接続が切れていた間の出来事を把握していない。アキラの命に別状がないことは確認済みだが、速やかに正確に非接続状態時に生じた事態を把握する必要があった。
「ああ。そうだ。これだけ先に言っておく。運ではどうしようもできないほどに徹底的に破壊するって言ってたよな? やっといたぞ。
アキラとの接続が切れる前の状況から計算すると、アルファの計算ではアキラは死んでいた。アキラはアルファのサポートなしでは生還などできないはずだった。
しかしアキラは生きている。アキラはまたも、アルファの計算を覆したのだ。
Akira was heading back to Kugamayama city.
The request for hunting the bounty monsters from Shikarabe ended after that fight against the Tank Tarantula. Although Akira did prepare himself to head out for the next hunt, Shikarabe decided to decline the offer because of his circ.u.mstances. So then Akira returned all the equipment that he received from Shikarabe and quickly headed back home.
As for the other Drankam Hunters, they quickly proceeded to the meeting ground. Nergo also accompanied Shikarabe and the other 2 Hunters from Drankam to the meeting ground, it seemed that he negotiated with them and made a deal so that he could go along as one of the Drankam's Hunters.
As for the rest of the Hunters, they had left the place. Akira did not know whether they also headed back to the city through a different route or they went to finish another request somewhere, but for now, he was heading back to the city alone.
Akira was listening to Alpha's commentary about his previous fight against the Tank Tarantula.
"So, as I've explained to you, that was the gist of that fight. The Hunters fought as planned and then won as planned. Although it's as simple as that, it was rather impressive that they could turn their plan into reality like that."
"After listening to your explanation, it sounds as if Shikarabe, Yamanobe and Varga could have won by themselves if they got lucky."
"To be honest, their chance of victory was not zero. One thing for sure, if the Tank Tarantula does not call for reinforcement like back there, they have a good chance to defeat it all by themselves. I bet the reason why they hired you and the other Hunters is simply to get a better chance at victory as well as to increase the safety and reduce the time needed to defeat that Tank Tarantula. Although it seems that something a bit complicated is going on inside Drankam, he also made preparations to quickly move to the next bounty monster which means that it's already within his original plan. So I'm sure the real reason was to shorten the time needed to defeat the bounty monster."
Akira felt both amazement and admiration after hearing that.
"So, if they're not hard-pressed with time, they would have hired fewer people or they might have even hunted the bounty monster alone, huh... Those bounty monsters are really strong and it's amazing how Hunters would still hunt for them. I guess that's why those Hunters get renown from hunting bounty monsters, huh?"
That would explain why so many Hunters went out to the wasteland hunting for the bounty monster, and it seemed that Shikarabe and his friends' skills were on a different level compared to those Hunters.
"If I have to be extremely picky, I would say that the only bad thing about that hunt was that it expended too much money. They prepared a lot of one-time-use equipment, so I'm sure they've spent quite a sum of money to prepare them. It's true that they'll still get some profit since we did take down the bounty monster, but if we had failed, it would have caused a huge loss."
Akira remembered that the contract was that the equipment expense would be subtracted from the reward before it was distributed. He felt a bit worried.
"... Did we... Use that many ammo?"
Alpha smiled.
"We did. For example, those sticky devices that Yamanobe shot at the Tank Tarantula, those are not only guiding devices, those are also mini information-gathering devices. They must have used those devices for both guiding the rockets as well as to analyze the Tank Tarantula to find its weak points or parts of its body that are more brittle than the rest of its body. I'm pretty sure those devices are more expensive than the mini information-gathering device that Elena used in Yonozuka Station Ruin. I bet they analyzed those information using the analyzer installed in their APC and then used the analysed information to adjust the rocket targeting system in order to increase its firepower. Not to mention the rockets, they must be pretty expensive. And if they got the other equipment from renting, then it must have been pretty expensive too."
Akira then remembered his short conversation with Elena. If he remembered it right, Elena's mini information-gathering device was about 10,000 Aurum per canister, while the sticky device that Yamanobe used should cost more than that. Since those sticky devices would have been destroyed when the rockets hit the bounty monster, they were indeed only one-time use equipment.
"In order for all of those rockets to hit their target at the same time, the rocket warheads must have been equipped with an advanced guiding device. Of course, they're way more expensive than the warheads without a guiding device. Then that firepower too, that must not be cheap. And yet, they've used a lot of those rockets in the last fight."
Akira remembered when the Hunters initiated a coordinated rocket barrage at the Tank Tarantula. It was true that they were pretty powerful rockets. It was rather obvious that one rocket would have taken a whole lot more money than just one cheap rifle bullet.
"If we were to consider the possibility of them buying an automatic reloading device fixed on their bikes especially for this hunt, it means that they would have spent even more money, you know?"
"Wait for a sec, that thing is not included in the equipment expense, right? Just like the other newly bought equipment right before the hunt?"
Alpha just smiled at Akira who was looking for an excuse to suppress the equipment expense.
"Akira, there are a lot of ways of selling things in this world. For example, when you sell a huge amount of consumables, you can sell the tool that you need to use those consumables together with it for cheap. And even if the customer gets that equipment for free, the cost of that equipment is well covered by the amount of profit you gain from selling the consumables. In our previous hunt, they were using special grenade launcher rather than usual cannon, so that might also increase the equipment expense."
Alpha's beautiful face was beaming with a teasing smile when she said that.
The bounty prize was 800,000,000 Aurum. Even if it was distributed to multiple people, it should give a huge sum of money. That was what Akira unconsciously thought, but after listening to Alpha's explanation, Akira hung his head low in dejection.
Akira tried to find a reason to point out that his reward might still be higher than that.
"It's not like it has been confirmed that the equipment expense would be that big, right? If it really takes that much money to defeat that bounty monster which is only worth 800,000,000 Aurum, then no one would have even tried to hunt for that bounty monster in the first place. So like, isn't that guess just too pessimistic?"
"The bounty prize doesn't always fit the strength of the bounty monster, you see. It's hard to judge how difficult it would be to defeat a bounty monster unless you try to fight it yourself. That 800,000,000 Aurum bounty on that Tank Tarantula is based on the size and the approximated fighting strength of the other Hunter teams that failed to hunt it. If back then Shikarabe decided to pull back, it would have meant that his team had also failed hunting that bounty monster, and I bet it would have increased the bounty prize even more. If I have to make a guess, it could have gone up somewhere to 1,200,000,000 Aurum."
Akira made an annoyed face.
"So in short, that would mean we were desperately trying to defeat a bounty monster that was severely underestimated and so we can only get that heavily undervalued bounty prize..."
"That might be exactly the case. And if that's true, well, tough luck, right?"
Although it was obvious that it was bothering him, Akira said those words to cheer himself up.
Akira checked the bounty monster information in the info bulletin of the Hunter Office site through his information terminal. The bulletin had been updated to announce the bounty monsters that had been defeated. It was Tank Tarantula, Multi-turrets Maimai and Overgrown Snake. There were pictures of the bounty monsters when they were still kicking and alive put right beside the picture of their corpses or leftover wreckages. It also included the Tank Tarantula that Akira had defeated.
"So there's only 1 bounty monster left, and according to Shikarabe, Drankam pooled all its Hunter team to hunt for that last bounty monster. I guess all the bounty monsters will be defeated today. So let's head back home, get a good rest, and get ready for exploring old-world ruins starting from tomorrow."
Suddenly Alpha accelerated Akira's vehicle. Akira let out a shriek of surprise as his body was pushed against the seat.
Alpha looked grim when she said that. The moment Akira noticed that, he quickly raised his guard. Alpha would only make that face when something really bad happened, he might even be in a life-threatening situation right now.
Alpha kept pacing Akira's vehicle to its top speed. After about 10 seconds keeping Akira's vehicle on its top speed, she eventually said something still with a grim expression.
"It's not working, it's catching up with us."
Alpha slowly decelerated the vehicle. Akira looked at Alpha with a serious face.
"Akira, calm down and look behind you. I'll handle the steering, so no need to worry."
Akira slowly turned his head. There was something long and thin far far away from his vehicle and that thing was chasing him. Although it looked small, it was because of the distance between them. In reality, it was actually ginormous.
Akira reached out to his binoculars and took another look. He could see a familiar monster in the direction he was looking. It was a monster that he saw not too long ago.
Akira's face turned grim. The monster looked similar to the one that he had met in the Yonozuka station ruin's entrance as well as one of the pictures in the Hunter Office bulletin, and that monster was chasing him right now.
Akira immediately rechecked his information terminal. The overgrown snake was indeed included among the bounty monsters that had been defeated, there was even a picture of its dead corpse in the Hunter Office bulletin. He then looked at that monster one more time through his binoculars. Although it looked smaller, it looked like nothing but the bounty monster overgrown snake.
"T-the bulletin said that they've defeated that monster though?! What the hell is going on here?!"
"There are many possibilities, it might be another monster of the same type, or the bounty monster might have cloned itself, or it might even be one of its children. Judging from its size, it might be one of the overgrown snake's children. After all, it looks smaller compared to the original bounty monster."
Akira looked at the overgrown snake's picture in his information terminal one more time to compare it with the snake that was chasing him. It was as Alpha said, the snake chasing him was smaller compared to the bounty monster. But with that being said, it was still way larger than his vehicle. Thus Akira could not take that monster lightly.
"Akira, unfortunately, it'll catch up with us at this rate."
"Can't we break away from it? If that snake is really of the same species, it might as well qualify as a bounty monster if we're not lucky, right? Do I have a winning chance if we fight it?"
"If we keep running until this vehicle runs out of energy, it might give up on chasing us. Do you want to try and do that?"
Akira's face still looked grim as he moved to the back seat of his vehicle. It was true that the snake might give up, but if that was not the case, once his vehicle ran out of energy and could no longer move, that snake would eat his vehicle along with him in it. Not to mention, he knew he had bad luck.
"I guess I have no choice but to fight, huh... Back then when I refilled my supply, I did buy extra ammo just to be safe if I encountered a bounty monster in the wasteland, but why in the world would I really get to meet a bounty monster now?"
Akira had indeed filled his vehicle with ammo, he bought a lot of CWH anti-material special ammo and DVTS minigun extended magazine. It would give him an advantage when he fought a strong monster, but using those ammo against normal monsters would only cause him to lose money. And to be honest, just for today, he really did not want to end up in the red.
Alpha smiled back invincibly.
"Yep, that's the correct answer. If you know that, then just leave the rest to me. I'll show you that my support can offset your bad luck, just like always."
Akira and Alpha smiled at each other full of confidence. Akira had made his resolve there.
He then aimed his CWH anti-material rifle toward the overgrown snake. He supported his CWH anti-material rifle with both his hands while aiming at that overgrown snake through the aiming device on top of a shaking vehicle. He then concentrated his focus as much as possible to the point that it felt as if he could accurately recognize the pattern in which his vehicle was swaying.
Akira reconfirmed what just happened through the aiming device.
"It did hit. It was at least enough to annoy that snake."
"That's all the damage that I can inflict using a CWH special ammo, huh? Those bounty monsters do have really hard bodies, don't they? What should I do then?"
"We have no other choice but to increase the firepower. Akira, get your resolve ready."
"If resolving myself can get my shots stronger, I'll do it as much as you want. Resolve is my responsibility after all. I thought I've made my resolve though, was it not enough?"
"That will be enough if what we are going to do next won't faze you. Alright then, let's do it."
Alpha suddenly hit the brake, while on the other hand, the snake increased its speed as it was closing in on Akira.
If the distance to the enemy lowered the firepower, then they just needed to reduce that distance. It was simple logic. The closer the enemy got, the easier it would be to kill that enemy. That applied both to Akira and that snake.
Akira gritted his teeth and was somehow smiling in that situation, he was not fazed at all.
The monster which was only a small dot in his binoculars now had become big enough to be seen with n.a.k.e.d eyes. The overgrown snake did not move like a snake, it was more like a long connected vehicle. If Akira took a better look at it, he would notice that it had countless wheels and caterpillar tracks under it. It looked as if it forced its separate compartments to move forward together although they had different speeds and shapes. Due to that, its huge body seemed to be wiggling up and down just like a snake.
Akira took another aim at the overgrown snake. This time his shot hit the snake's weak point and peeled off its scale. But compared to its huge body, it was nothing but a scratch.
"That's not it. It's simply because it has a very hard scale. It didn't produce any light when you hit it, right? So it's not a force field armour."
"Seriously, just how hard its scale can be!?"
"It won't cause any meaningful damage unless you get even closer. This is it Akira, this is where you really need to steel yourself."
"So my resolve is still not enough, huh?! Alright alright!! I get it already, let's do this!!"
Akira guessed that the snake would not slow down and it would keep closing into him. His guess was correct, or to be more precise, it was 200% correct.
Alpha suddenly accelerated the vehicle to make a 180 turn and she sped up the vehicle even more as it was heading straight to the overgrown snake.
Akira thought that Alpha would slow down the car to let the snake get closer, but instead, they were heading straight toward the snake at a high speed.
Now that both Akira and the overgrown snake were heading towards each other, they quickly closed the distance between them.
"Akira, get your DVTS minigun ready."
Akira shifted his hand from grabbing the frame of his vehicle to get the DVTS minigun attached to his vehicle. The overgrown snake was already right in front of his eyes, it opened its huge mouth filled with sharp teeth as it was going to swallow Akira and his vehicle whole, while on the other hand, Akira gritted his teeth tight.
The overgrown snake made a slight change on its move to add extra momentum in order to leap on Akira. Alpha was able to precisely catch that slight move through the information-gathering device.
Alpha then used her advanced driving capability to swerve the vehicle to the side and barely avoided the overgrown snake's teeth. The vehicle did not slow down as it passed beside the snake's head and just continued going forward beside the snake's body.
Inside that slow-moving world due to Akira's concentration and high tension, Alpha was the only one that was moving around normally. She then smiled at Akira and said.
In order to not get thrown off the vehicle, Akira fixed his position and tightly grabbed his DVTS minigun. In that situation where his vehicle was severely tilted to the side, Akira looked desperate as he pulled the trigger.
The DVTS minigun spewed countless bullets at the sides of the snake in a close distance. Akira did not let go of the trigger. In order to make the minigun portable, it was equipped with an extended magazine that could house way more bullets than it looked. As long as that magazine still had ammo inside it, the revolving muzzle would not stop spewing powerful bullets that could easily turn a normal monster into minced meat in one cycle.
Akira was close to the snake, so close that he might be able to kick the snake from his vehicle. In such a close range, the countless bullets from the DVTS minigun ripped through the snake's abdomen and threw pieces of its flesh to the air. Akira left a trail of flesh and metallic wreckages behind him. Those parts were the result of all the things that the snake had eaten until now. The DVTS minigun basically drilled through its body and threw pieces of the snake's huge body around the area.
Due to Alpha's advanced driving skill, Akira was able to maintain his distance beside the snake's huge body. The snake passed beside Akira at such a high speed as he left a long straight wound-mark on the snake's side after releasing a huge amount of bullets at its body.
Akira did not let go of the trigger right until the very end of the snake's body. Then after that, the vehicle still moved forward due to inertia and made another 180-degree turn before stopping. The magazine in the DVTS minigun was already completely empty.
"Akira, reload a new magazine!"
Akira was still a little bit dumbfounded when he pulled the trigger on his DVTS minigun, but when Alpha gave him his next order, he quickly returned back to reality. He immediately loaded a new magazine to his DVTS minigun and asked Alpha.
"T-that wasn't enough to kill that snake?"
"J-just how many times do I need to do that again?"
"As many times as it takes to kill it. So let's keep giving our best until we can kill that snake. It's better than letting yourself get killed by that snake, right?"
Akira was put off when he saw Alpha smile as she said that.
He finished loading a new DVTS minigun extended magazine. The overgrown snake was trying to make a turn, at least, it did not seem like it was going to run away anytime soon.
Akira got desperate and shouted.
"Alright alright, I just need to do it, right?!!"
"Yep, that's right. Let's go!"
Alpha immediately drove the vehicle again, and Akira tightly grabbed his DVTS minigun. He was planning to do the same thing again and again until the snake died.
Every time Akira passed beside the overgrown snake, the ammo that he brought with him was greatly reduced. But even after exhausting that much ammo, it was still not enough to kill that snake. As his ammo reserve started looking dangerously low, Akira, who had made his resolve looked a bit worried.
"Alpha! We'll run out of ammo soon!!
"This snake is really strong. Is it not running away since it knows that this won't be enough to kill it? If only it has some kind of a weak point."
"'I've already used this much ammo on that snake, if it really has a weak point, I'm sure as hell that I hit it at least once, you know? Or is it that I didn't get that lucky hit at all? Is it because of my bad luck? I even shot that many bullets to its head!"
"In that case, we can just destroy it to the point that luck doesn't matter at all. It's coming, one more time!"
"Roger that!"
Akira knew his situation would not change no matter how much he complained. Although he had inflicted that much damage, the overgrown snake still did not show any signs of retreating.
Akira knew well that such behaviour was normal for a monster. But since it looked like a big snake from outside, he wondered if it would feel fear and run away like a usual snake. Unfortunately, his wish did not come true, at least that was the case until now, and that wish will probably never come true.
He prepared himself for the next barrage, which was also his final barrage.
Alpha mustered the vehicle's engine one more time. And just like last time, she planned to swerve past beside the snake. Their surrounding area was already filled with leftover wreckages of that overgrown snake.
The overgrown snake had eaten Hunters' vehicles which included the ammo inside those vehicles. Those explosives were absorbed into the snake's body and each of Akira's barrage caused those explosives to spread around on the ground of that area. Unfortunately, some of those explosives started exploding for some reason.
The explosion itself was not that big, at least, it was not enough to cause any damage to both the snake and Akira's vehicle. But it was enough to deflect the vehicle's direction even with Alpha's advanced driving capability. And due to Akira's bad luck, one of those explosions happened right before the snake leapt at him.
The shockwave from the explosion caused the vehicle to shake for a few split seconds, leaving it impossible to control. The overgrown snake easily swallowed Akira's vehicle with Akira still on it in that split seconds.
Since the snake had closed its mouth, no light was able to reach its insides. Akira was still standing on the back-side of his vehicle that was almost flipped over after the snake swallowed it. He could only hear the strange sounds which were produced as some kind of liquid touched the body or the wheel of his vehicle.
Akira's vision was totally pitch black. A similar thing had happened when he entered a certain bas.e.m.e.nt in the Higaraka Residence Ruin. At that time, he entered a room with no light source at all, it was also pitch black. But back then, even inside that pitch-black room, he could still see Alpha clearly. Her figure was the only thing glowing with colours back then, but that was not the case this time.
Akira tried to call for Alpha. But there was no reply, his vision was still filled with darkness.
He noticed and understood his situation, he had lost all of Alpha's support there.
She once explained to him that there were places in the old-world ruin where her support could not reach him. Akira was always connected to her through his ability as someone who was connected to the old-world domain, so he bet that there must be something in the old-world ruin that blocked his ability to connect to the old-world domain. He thought that must be the case right now too.
A part of the snake body must be blocking Alpha from connecting to him.
He understood the reason why he was inside the overgrown snake's body right now. It was not because Alpha made a mistake, it was simply because of his bad luck. To be more precise, it happened because Alpha's support could not win against his bad luck.
Akira had spent his lifetime-worth of his luck when he met Alpha and he had been relying on Alpha's support to overcome his bad luck up until now. But to be honest, somewhere inside his mind, he knew that one day he would not be able to rely on that. He always thought when that happened i.e when he lost Alpha's support, that would be the moment he died. And now he was facing that very moment.
Inside that pitch-black world, Akira laughed.
"So my resolve to charge straight to this snake is not enough, huh! Alright alright! I get it! Steeling my resolve is my responsibility, yeah?!!"
Akira screamed on top of his lung and laughed as hard as he could. He was mockingly laughing at his bad luck that caused this predicament.
The voice that he produced while in that extremely time-compressed state was severely distorted, he might not be able to properly listen to sounds in such a state. But it was not a problem, his outburst was just a statement, or to be more precise, it was a declaration of war against his bad luck that caused this unfortunate situation.
He was there screaming all alone and he was the only person there to listen to his screams. But that was okay, it was a statement to ridicule, resist and fight back against his own bad luck.
Akira quickly grabbed a tube-type medicine and emptied its content on top of his head. With this, it would buy some time until his head got digested, after all, unlike his limbs, his head was not covered by his augmented suit. The medicine paste that covered Akira's head made a hissing sound as it made contact with the snake's digestive liquid.
He then swallowed a handful of medicine pills as if he did not care about their side-effects. It was in order to help prolong his body's durability under that constant stress. He forced his body to move past its own limit inside that world where time was extremely compressed. The nanomachine inside his body immediately kicked to action as he forcefully moved his body with the help of his augmented suit way above the capability of a human.
Akira reached to the driver seat and set the vehicle to auto-drive mode through the vehicle's control device. His vehicle received a simple order as it spun its 4 wheels as fast as it could to drive forward. Since there was no way back, there was no other choice but to move forward.
Akira was grinning in that situation, but he did not let go of his finger from his DVTS minigun's trigger. There was no need to take an aim, his bullets would hit the snake no matter where he aimed. He kept on spewing bullets in all directions as he drove through the inside of the snake while cackling.
The overgrown snake screamed and wriggled in agony. Although it was wriggling up and down, Akira who was inside its body could not feel it since he did not even know which way was up.
But even so, Akira did not stop coursing through the snake's body. The kickback from the DVTS minigun pushed his vehicle downward, thus exerting pressure and preventing the wheel from spinning. But with that being said, his vehicle still forcefully pushed forward while being under such pressure. The violent shaking that caused its body to collide with the snake's inner wall and the digestive liquid that was dripping from the snake's inner wall shaved the durability of the vehicle.
Even on top of that violently shaking vehicle, Akira did not let go of the trigger and laughed like a mad lad. He had exchanged the empty magazine for a new one many times as he fired ammo randomly inside the snake's body.
The overgrown snake that was wriggling violently eventually fell down and stopped moving. But even so, bullets were still flying out from the inside of its body. And then, from a weakened side of its huge body, a vehicle flew out with Akira in it.
"Akira! Are you alright?!"
Alpha looked at Akira with an extremely worried face. He stared at her, dumbfounded. The image of Alpha in his vision was slightly blurred. After she called his name a few times, her image finally returned back to normal.
"... Uhhh, welcome back, Alpha."
"I-I'm back?"
To that strange reaction from Akira, Alpha could not help but give that awkward answer.
"Alpha, can you check if that snake is dead for good?"
"Eh? Ah, sure, wait for a sec... It's alright, it's dead for good."
"That's good news. If even that didn't work, then nothing would have worked."
It was rare for Alpha to look so confused, she then asked Akira a question.
"Akira, what exactly just happened?"
Alpha did not know what happened during the time when her connection to Akira was cut. Although it seemed that Akira survived the fight, it was important for her to get the gist of what had happened when she lost her connection to him as soon as possible.
"Ahh, and also, you did say that we just need to destroy its body to the point that I won't need to rely on luck, right? I've done it for you, but I'm super tired right now because of that."
According to her calculation based on the situation right before she lost connection to Akira, there was a 100% chance that he would be killed. He should not have been able to return alive from that situation without her support.
But even so, Akira managed to return alive. He once again overturned her calculation.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開