クガマヤマ都市から荒野を車で少々進んだ辺りに旧世界時代の住宅街だった場所がある。そこは今ではヒガラカ住宅街遺跡と呼ばれている。
既に都市のハンター達から寂れた遺跡として認識されている。長年の遺跡探索によって高価な遺物を粗方持ち出されたからだ。そこそこの遺物ならまだ残っているが、車などの移動手段を持っているハンターなら他所の遺跡で稼いだ方が実りが良い。その程度の遺跡だ。
そこにエレナ達がカツヤ達を連れて訪れていた。目的は遺物収集ではない。ドランカムから依頼として引き受けたカツヤ達の訓練だ。
エレナがカツヤ達に少し真面目な表情を向ける。
サラは普段通りの笑顔を浮かべている。
「ここのモンスターはそんなに強くないはずだけど、そのはず、であって、所詮は事前情報。絶対ではないってことを忘れないでね。私達は少し離れて見ているから、手に負えないと思ったらすぐに助けを求めて。私達がこの辺りのモンスターに
「でも基本的に私達はいないものとして判断、行動すること。探索終了後に探索の評価を出すわ。帰還するタイミングの判断も本来は評価の内だけど、今回は最長でも4時間よ。質問がなければ始めましょう。何か質問は?」
エレナがカツヤ達を見渡すと、まずはユミナが口を開く。
「自由に探索と言われても、具体的に何をするべきでしょうか?」
サラが質問に答える。
「それを考えるのも訓練の内なんだけど、まあ今回は普通に遺物収集に来たと思って行動して」
「......でも、確かこのヒガラカ住宅街遺跡にはもう大した遺物は残っていませんよね?」
「そこは訓練だと思って割り切って。高価な遺物も強力なモンスターもたっぷり。そんな遺跡を訓練場所にする訳にはいかないのよ。ユミナ達を生還させるのも私達の依頼の内だからね」
エレナが補足する。
「私達もここに大した遺物が残っていないのは分かっているわ。だから安値の遺物しか見付けられなかったとしても、それでユミナ達の評価を下げるつもりは全くないわ。そこは安心して。探索場所に見切りを付けて次の場所に移動する間隔とか、周囲を警戒する様子とか、評価はいろいろな点から判断するから、普通に遺物収集をしてちょうだい。
いて質問を切り上げると、次はアイリが口を開く。
「今回の探索で最低限達成するべき目標などはありますか? 目標によって行動基準が異なります」
エレナがそれに答える。
「ないわ。強いて言えば、最小の労力で最大の利益を出すこと。危険に見合った利益を稼ぎ出すこと。自分達のハンター稼業に適した最善の選択を取り続けることよ。本来はさっきユミナが尋ねた通り、このヒガラカ住宅街遺跡で遺物収集をするかどうかの選択から始めるべきなんだけど、今回は訓練だから何らかの理由でこの遺跡に来た前提での選択になるわ。だから次善の選択として速やかな撤退を目標にするのも、それはそれで有りよ。その場合は撤退理由とその後の指針を私達に説明してくれれば良いわ。その内容で評価を下すから」
「分かりました。撤退はせず、効率的な探索を目的とします」
「あの、エレナさん達の家から出てきたやつは誰なんですか?」
エレナとサラが顔を見合わせ、ユミナが軽く頭を抱える。アイリの様子に変化はなかった。
「説明が不足していたわね。訓練に関する質問は?」
「その、気になることが残っていると、訓練に集中できない気がしまして......」
威圧されながらも質問を取り消さないカツヤの態度に、サラが笑いを堪えながら口を出す。
「集中力の欠けた状態がどれだけ危険か実感してきなさい。ついでに余計なことを考えず、気持ちを切り替える訓練もしてきなさい」
「質問がないなら始めなさい」
サラがカツヤ達に向けていた苦笑を今度はエレナに向ける。
「別に教えても良かったんじゃない? 知り合いのハンターに使わずに
「なあ、エレナさん達の家から出てきたやつのことなんだけどさ。あいつ、前に会ったやつだよな?」
「そうだっけ?」
ユミナもアイリもアキラのことは覚えていない。巡回用のトラックで偶然一緒だっただけで、別にそこまで印象深いことでもなかったからだ。
だがカツヤには悪い意味で印象深い出来事だった。同じ年頃のハンターが、自分を子供扱いして馬鹿にしていたハンターから認められていた。自分はシカラベの脅しに屈して引き下がり、トラックに残って大人しく都市に戻ったが、相手は1人で戦場に向かっていた。それを見たシカラベからも、どこか認めたような目で見られていた。それをカツヤはしっかりと覚えていた。
それらの記憶が、アキラの姿とともに何か粘ついたものをカツヤの脳裏に張り付かせていた。そのアキラが、自分が認め尊敬しているエレナ達の家から出てきたのだ。どうしても気になってしまっていた。
「カツヤ。何をそんなに気にしているのか知らないけど、サラさんが言ったとおり気を切り替えて。そんなに注意力が散漫だと危険よ。サラさん達にまで私達の子守をしていると思われたいの?」
アイリも珍しく口調を強める。
「エレナさん達の手を煩わせれば、そう思われる可能性が高くなる。気を切り替えてほしい」
普段より少々きつい注意。ユミナ達の感覚ではその程度のことだった。しかしユミナ達の予想を超えた効果が現れる。カツヤが顔を急にかなり真剣なものに変えたのだ。
「そうだな。悪かった。気を切り替える」
エレナ達は遺跡探索を続けるカツヤ達と一定の距離を取りながらその様子を観察していた。カツヤ達をエレナの索敵範囲内に常に入れるように注意して、カツヤ達では手に負えない強力なモンスターと遭遇した場合にも備えている。
「エレナ。今回の依頼って、私達をドランカムに勧誘する布石かもしれないって言ってたわよね?」
「勧誘か......。今のところは断ってるけど、どうする?」
「一度入ったら気軽に抜けられそうにないわ。即決を求められたら断る。ドランカム側もそれが分かっているから返答を
「正直迷っている所はあるけど、エレナはそれで良いの?」
「一長一短だからね。ドランカムに所属すれば、より安全に活動できるのは事実よ。装備も今より充実するだろうし、いろいろ支援も受けられる。前みたいにサラのナノマシンの補充代で困った時も、少しは援助をしてくれると思うわ」
サラが苦笑いを含んだ険しい表情を浮かべる。
「そこを指摘されると
ナノマシンの補充代はサラの命に直結している。その代金に対する保険が増えることは基本的には歓迎するべきことだ。だがドランカムにサラの命を握られる可能性も考えなければならない。万一の場合の援助を条件にして、契約内容にエレナとサラの行動や選択を制限する内容を盛り込むことは十分考えられる。
エレナとサラは良くも悪くも2人で活動することに慣れてきた。ハンターとして自由に生きてきたのだ。エレナ達にとって、その自由を失う意味は大きい。
自分の命も大切だが、自分の命を理由に親友に迷惑を掛けるのも、心配を掛けるのも嫌だ。その苦悩を見せているサラに、エレナが優しく力強く
「選択を押しつけるようで悪いけど、私はいろいろ深刻なのはサラの方だと思っているわ。だからまずはサラが選んで。幸いゆっくり考える時間はあるわ。どっちを選んでも文句は言わないから」
「ありがとう。エレナ。ゆっくり考えるわ」
な遺物がないな」
「まあ、それは仕方ないんじゃない? エレナさん達もこの遺跡にはもう大した物は残ってないって言っていたしね」
「あ、でもそろそろ時間だし、切りも良いし、もう遺跡探索を切り上げた方が良いかもね。カツヤ、どうする?」
「......なあ、今日集めた遺物って、どれぐらいの稼ぎになると思う?」
「旧世界特有の技術に依存した遺物は少ない。恐らく高値にはならない」
アイリの現実的な予想通りの返事を聞いて、カツヤが僅かに
カツヤはユミナ達の言葉で高いやる気を出したが、同時に相応の成果も無意識に望んでいた。
本日の成果はカツヤ達だけでこの遺跡に来たとしても微妙だ。エレナ達の実力を基準にすれば間違いなく割に合わない。更にエレナ達はカツヤ達の生還も依頼として請け負っている。それを護衛と考えて、その代金を加味した場合、間違いなく大赤字だ。
悪く考えれば、ドランカムの金でエレナ達に自分達の子守をさせたことになる。カツヤは無自覚にそれに気付き、無意識にそれを覆す成果を求めていた。そしてその成果を得られないままに制限時間が来てしまったことに強い焦りを覚えていた。
周囲の索敵を続けていたエレナが表情を少し険しくする。情報収集機器で大型モンスターの反応を捕捉したのだ。反応はカツヤ達から大分離れた位置から、遮蔽物で目視できない場所から出ていた。
エレナは索敵の設定を調整して反応の詳細情報を得た。そして対象の形状からモンスターを推測すると、少し険しい顔を更に
「暴食ワニか......。ここにもいたのね」
暴食ワニはワニに似た形状のモンスターだ。金属の
「サラ。こっちには来ないと思うけど、一応警戒して。もしこっちに来たら、カツヤ達だと多分荷が重いわ」
「それなら今のうちに私達で殺しておく?」
「こっちに来ないなら放っておきましょう。私達にもカツヤ達にも気付いていないようだから、放っておけば無害よ」
「まあ、襲ってこないなら
だが、カツヤはそこで考えてしまう。
(あれは暴食ワニだ。......今日集めた遺物じゃ大した成果にはならない。でも、あれを倒せば、遺物収集ではなくモンスター討伐として、今日の訓練の十分な成果になるか? 確か暴食ワニの討伐料は結構高かったはずだ。少なくとも今回見つけた遺物の売却金を軽く超える。あれを倒せば......、エレナさん達も俺を認めてくれるんじゃないか?)
撃破できれば十分な成果になるモンスターに対して、確実に先制を取れる状況。どちらかと言えば、遺物収集よりモンスター討伐でハンター稼業の実績を稼いできた経験。今日の無様な成果を覆せる絶好の機会。それらがカツヤの判断を後押しする。
カツヤが真剣な表情でユミナ達に尋ねる。
「ユミナ。アイリ。俺達にあれが倒せると思うか?」
「......暴食ワニか。距離もあるし私達に気付いている様子もない。機銃とかが生えている変異種でもないし、こっちから奇襲すれば勝率は上がると思うけど......」
「頭部に攻撃を集中させ、近付かれる前に倒す」
ユミナは高い成功率を、アイリは具体的な攻撃方法を答えた。カツヤに真剣な表情で見詰められたユミナ達は、返答を無意識にカツヤの意見を肯定する方向へ偏らせていた。
そしてカツヤはその木霊のような返答を聞いて、十分な勝機があると思ってしまった。
「それなら、俺はあれを倒したい。遺物収集は余り
ユミナはカツヤの真剣な表情の中に、仲間を失った悲しみを背負い、次は死なせないと悲痛な表情で必死に訓練を続けていた時の影を見た。そして、その痛ましい姿を繰り返させたくないという思いが浮かぶ。
(ここでカツヤが暴食ワニを倒して強くなったと実感してくれれば、あんな無理な訓練は止めてくれるかもしれない......。仮に私達だけでは無理でも、エレナさん達もいれば絶対に大丈夫......)
「カツヤがそう言うなら、私は構わないわ」
アイリがカツヤを見ながら考える。
(前回の功績で私達の装備も向上した。カツヤもできないことを提案しているわけではないはず。カツヤができると考えているなら、私達ならできる。カツヤもあれだけ訓練をしていた。私も訓練を欠かさなかった。シカラベもカツヤの才能は認めていると言っていた。そのカツヤと一緒なら、私達でも暴食ワニも倒せる)
カツヤへの信頼と自分達の実力への評価が最終的にアイリの意思を後押しした。
「一発目の狙撃は私がやる。私が一番得意」
カツヤが仲間への信頼を
「ありがとう。よし、行くぞ!」
カツヤは今日一番の気合を入れた。
エレナ達はカツヤ達が暴食ワニを倒そうとしていることにすぐに気付いた。エレナが少し顔を
「サラ。カツヤ達の援護の準備をお願い。危ないと思ったらすぐに暴食ワニを仕留めるわ。それまでは手出ししないで。私の指示を待たないでサラの判断で撃って。私も狙うけど、私が撃っていないからって安全だとは判断しないで」
「了解。でもそれならやっぱり先に殺しておいた方が良いんじゃない?」
にこの場にいるわけではないし、私達はいないものと思って行動するようにとも言ったからね。それに十分勝機があると考えた上での行動かもしれないわ。それなら、邪魔をするのも悪いわ」
エレナはそう答えはしたが、恐らく勝機は薄いと表情で語っていた。それを見てサラが軽く笑う。
「......まあ、違っていたとしても、死なない程度に苦戦するのも訓練の内か」
サラが身体強化拡張者の身体能力を生かして近くの建物の屋根に飛び移る。そこでカツヤ達が多少位置を変えても自分の射線に入らない位置を確保するとCWH対物突撃銃を構えた。
カツヤ達の邪魔をしないように、だが危ない時はすぐに確実に助けられるように、銃には
エレナは情報収集機器で暴食ワニを捕捉しながらDSS狙撃銃を構える。その銃は情報収集機器と連携して命中率を向上させる改造品で、更に単純な威力も向上するように改造部品を組み込んでいる。
装填されている弾丸は貫通力に特化した徹甲弾だ。サラの弾丸よりは大分威力が低めだが、情報収集機器で暴食ワニの弱点部位を探り、脳などの弱点部位を正確に破壊することで、暴食ワニに致命傷を与えられる。
エレナが収集したデータはサラにも送信されている。そのおかげでサラも照準精度を劇的に向上させている。
アイリが地面に伏せて狙撃銃で暴食ワニの頭部に狙いを付ける。暴食ワニはカツヤ達に気付いておらず、緩慢な動きで地面を
えが混ざり始めた。一方的に攻撃しているのはカツヤ達の方だ。しかし劣勢なのもカツヤ達だ。カツヤが歯を食い縛りながら銃撃し続ける。ユミナとアイリも必死に応戦する。だが暴食ワニの前進は押しとどめられない。
これ以上は危険だと判断したエレナ達が引き金を引こうとした直前、アイリが撃った弾丸が既に暴食ワニの頭部にめり込んでいた弾丸に偶然直撃した。割れた弾丸の破片が暴食ワニの内部を破壊しながら飛び散った。それでも暴食ワニは絶命しない。しかし暴食ワニの体勢を大きく崩し、歩みを大きく鈍らせた。
それを好機と見たカツヤ達はそのまま暴食ワニの頭部を銃撃し続けた。暴食ワニは
「やったわね。ちょっと危なかったけど、勝ちは勝ち。倒せて良かったわ」
アイリも誇らしげに笑う。
「これが私達の実力。私達だけで暴食ワニを倒した以上、もう駆け出しとは呼ばせない」
カツヤ達は互いの顔を見ながら自分達の健闘を
「ちょっと危ないと思ったけど、結局はカツヤ達だけで倒したわね。なかなかやるわ。......エレナ、どうかしたの?」
「サラ。暴食ワニの動きが急に悪くなった気がしたのだけど、どう思う?」
「偶然弾が弱点部位にでも命中したんじゃない? あれだけ撃っていれば一発ぐらい偶然当たっても不思議はないわ」
「あら、エレナはカツヤ達の活躍が不満なの?」
いつもの調子で笑っているサラとは異なり、エレナは少し不機嫌にも思える雰囲気を漂わせていた。
上機嫌で戻ってきたカツヤ達をエレナが迎え入れる。
「お疲れ様。じゃあ成果を持って帰りましょうか。帰りは私達が索敵とかするからゆっくり休んで。あと本来は拠点に戻るまで気を抜かないように」
エレナ達はカツヤ達と一緒にクガマヤマ都市へ帰還した。
くすると、エレナ達とドランカムの幹部であるアラベが部屋に入ってくる。エレナ達はカツヤ達の向かいの席に座り、アラベは少し離れた場所で壁に寄りかかった。
エレナがカツヤ達に話し始める。
「今から今回の訓練の評価を話すわ。まず始めに、3人だけで暴食ワニを倒したのは見事だったわ。正直荷が重いと考えていたから驚かされたわ。そこは評価を改めないといけないわね」
「ありがとう御座います!」
ね問題なしよ。ドランカムの評価基準でどうなのかは、私達の報告内容を基にドランカム側で決定することだから、そこは別に考えて。でも私達の判断では問題らしい問題を見つけることはできなかったわ。つまり、一人前のハンターとして評価できる内容だったわ」
エレナから一人前のハンターと評価されたカツヤ達の表情が緩む。今まで多くのハンターから散々足手
「それで全体の評価の話になるのだけれど、その前に3人に聞きたいことがあるわ。今回の遺跡探索の目的をもう一度答えてもらえる?」
「その認識の通りの行動を取った。そう考えて良いのね?」
「......ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡にはもう大した遺物は残っていないことが分かっているのだから、即座に別の遺跡に向かうことを提言するべきだった......などということは除いて、ですけど」
「それなら、はい」
ユミナの返事を聞いたエレナが確認を取るようにカツヤとアイリを見る。カツヤとアイリが
「......そう。3人一致ね。目的意識を共通できているのは良いことよ」
エレナはそこで一度話を区切った。事前にエレナ達から話を聞いていたアラベが苦笑している。カツヤ達がそのアラベの態度に気付いて、少しだけ
も私の評価であって、それが正しいとか、間違っているとかは、各自判断してもらう必要があるわ。評価の基準は人それぞれよ。その基準に一致していれば高い評価になるし、一致していなければ低い評価になる。それだけの話よ。それを踏まえて、私が今回の3人を全体的に評価すると、非常に悪いと言わざるを得ないわ」
エレナの予想外の評価を聞いたカツヤ達が
「ど、どうしてですか!? 俺達はちゃんとやったはずです! いや、エレナさん達から見れば手際は悪かったかもしれませんが、そこまで悪い評価を受けることはないはずです! 暴食ワニを倒したことも褒めてくれたじゃないですか!」
「そこよ。そこが今回の評価のほぼ全てよ。確かに暴食ワニを倒したことは褒めたわ。それで、暴食ワニを倒した理由は?」
「俺達なら倒せると判断したからです! 事実倒せました!」
エレナは少しの間続きを待った。そしてカツヤの口から続きが出ないことを確認してから、続けて尋ねる。
「倒せそうだから倒した。理由はそれだけなの? 索敵に引っかかったモンスターは皆殺しにしないと気が済まないの? 3人分の火力を集中させて
カツヤは返事を返せなかった。エレナが視線の先をカツヤからアイリに移す。アイリが少し考えた後に答える。
「......目的の遺物探しは不調に終わりました。そこで暴食ワニを倒してそれを成果にしようとしました。十分な成果になったと判断できるはずです」
「そう。それでその成果で得られた報酬は具体的に何? 暴食ワニの討伐料とハンターランクの上昇ポイントかしら? それは冒した危険に本当に釣り合うものだったの? それとも本当はもっと余裕を持って楽に倒せるはずだったのだけれど、思いのほか苦戦してしまっただけ? それともその苦戦を初めから想定して、その苦戦に見合う報酬を得られると判断して倒したの?」
エレナがユミナに視線を移す。ユミナは少し
正確にはそれを気にしているのはカツヤだ。ユミナはそのカツヤの助けになればと思い、暴食ワニの討伐を止めなかったのだ。自分の弱さを悔いるカツヤの姿を、もう一度見ずに済むように。
「そう。まあ事情はそれぞれだと思うわ。それで、その判断の要素に、私達が含まれていないと言い切れる? 最悪私達が何とかするから、多少
ユミナもそうだとは答えられず、同じく黙ってしまう。
エレナが黙ってしまった3人を見ながら続ける。
るような目でサラを見る。サラは苦笑いを浮かべ、カツヤ達に軽い同情の色を見せながらも、基本的にはエレナに同意見だった。
「まあ、さっきエレナも言った通り、これは基準の話なのよ。ハンター稼業は程度の差はあれ命賭け。命を賭ける以上、それに見合う報酬を手に入れたい。でもどの程度の報酬が妥当なのかは人それぞれで、その価値観を共有できないハンターと一緒に行動するのは難しいわ。私達とカツヤ達ではその基準とちょっと合わなかった。だから少々手厳しい評価になった。それだけの話よ。カツヤ達が暴食ワニを倒したのは事実だし、カツヤ達の判断を認めるハンターもいるわ。カツヤ達が私達の評価を気に入らないのならば、私達を臆病者だとでも思って笑ってちょうだい」
サラの言葉がカツヤ達の沈んだ心情を引き上げることはなかった。
その後、エレナ達が部屋から出て行った後で、アラベがカツヤ達の前に来る。
「いろいろあったようだが、ドランカムとしてはお前達が暴食ワニを倒したことを高く評価している。よって若手ハンターに付けているサポート役をお前達からは外す。暴食ワニを倒せる実力者にまでサポート役を付ける余裕もないしな。これからは一人前のハンターとして、依頼の選別も自分達でやって良い。お前達のチームに他のハンターを加えるのも自由だ。ドランカムの若手の代表として、これからも頑張ってくれ」
「まあ、今日はゆっくり休むんだな。ハンターをやっていれば失敗なんて幾らでもある。一々
アラベはそう言い残して部屋を出て行った。そして廊下を歩きながらシカラベの言葉を思い出し、軽く舌打ちする。
「シカラベの指摘そのままじゃねえか。あいつらを
当初の予定ではエレナ達にカツヤ達の面倒を任せることになっていた。エレナ達にもそれは気付かれていた。
身の程を知らずに無謀を繰り返すハンターの世話などエレナ達も御免だろう。その無謀の巻き添えになるのはエレナ達なのだ。アラベはそう判断すると、
There was a residence complex ruin near Kugamayama city that could be reached by vehicle. That area was called Higaraka Residence Ruin.
The Hunters from the city already regarded it as an exhausted ruin since most, if not all, worthwhile relics from that place were already brought out due to the years of expeditions. But for the Hunters who already had vehicles, it was still more profitable to search for relics in this ruin.
Elena and Sara brought Katsuya and his friends to this place. But it was not for searching relics, the request that Elena and Sara accepted from Drankam was to train Katsuya and his friends.
Elena turned at Katsuya and said with a serious face.
Sara was smiling as usual when she said.
"The monsters roaming this area shouldn't be that strong, but in the end, it's just based on the latest information. So keep in mind that the possibility of encountering a strong monster is not zero. We'll still be watching over you from a distance and we'll immediately come to help if we judge that the situation is too hard for you to handle. And don't worry, I don't think monsters in this area can give us any trouble."
"But try to decide and move assuming that we're not around. Once you're done exploring the ruin, we'll give you our evaluation. Normally, we'll also evaluate the time when you decide to end the exploration and go back home. But for this time, you have 4 hours at most. So, any question? If not then we'll start right away."
Elena looked over Katsuya and his friends, and suddenly, Yumina opened her mouth.
"I know that you are telling us to freely search the ruin, but what exactly should we do?"
Sara answered the question.
"It's also a part of your training, try to think about that yourself. But well, you can just think that you're here for a usual ruin exploration."
"...But, if I'm not mistaken, there's no more valuable relics in this ruin, right?"
"You can assume that your training for today is to confirm that. After all, it's not like you can have training in a ruin with valuable relics since powerful monsters would also roam that area. The request that we took is also to make sure that you guys return back alive, you see."
Elena then added.
"We know very well that there's no more valuable relics in this ruin. That's why, even if you guys can only come back with cheap relics, we won't give you a bad evaluation. So there's no need to worry about that. We'll evaluate your performance based on other factors like how long you spend searching an area before moving on or are you properly watching your surroundings and keeping your guards up etc. So please just continue like how you usually search for relics. Of course, if you can find any valuable relics, it'll give you a big boost."
Yumina nodded and ended her question. Airi was the next one to ask.
"Is there any passing grade for today's training? We might have to change the way we move according to the passing grade."
Elena answered that question.
"Nope, but if I have to say anything, then it would be to get the biggest result from the least amount of work. Basically, we'll also test whether you can accurately predict how much you can earn from doing something dangerous. It's important to make the best possible choice in our line of work as Hunters, you know. Originally, it's as Yumina said, you should start from deciding whether you would search for relics in this place, but since this is only training, so let's just say that you picked this place because of a certain reason. With that being said, you can also decide to immediately go back home after a brief search. And if you do that, you just need to explain to us why you made that decision and we'll evaluate you based on your reasoning."
"I understand, I'll aim to do an effective exploration rather than just going back home."
"Uhmm... Who was that boy that I saw coming out from Elena-san and Sara-san's house?"
Sara and Elena turned and looked at each other. While Yumina looked worried and Airi didn't make any visible reaction.
"It seems that our explanation was not enough. I meant questions about the training."
"Uhm, it's just that it's really bothering me. So I think it might disrupt my concentration during this training."
Katsuya still stood with his question though he was under pressure by Elena's gaze. So, Sara replied back with a smile.
"In that case, you should experience it yourself how dangerous it is to not maintain your focus. This might also double as training to keep your mind clear of anything unnecessary during dangerous work."
"If there's no more question, then let's start the training."
Sara then turned her bitter smile that she just directed to Katsuya to Elena.
"I think it's fine if we tell them. We can just keep the fact that we know him as secret and just say that he's someone who bought your unused information gathering device."
"Say, about that boy who came out from Elena-san and Sara-san's house... He's the same Hunter that we met back then, right?"
"Is that so?"
Yumina and Airi did not really remember Akira. After all, to them, he was just a fellow Hunter who coincidentally was in the same truck as them during one of their patrol jobs. And it was not like he left any memorable impression on either of them.
But for Katsuya, Akira left a deep negative impression on him. Although he was just another young Hunter who was more or less of the same age as Katsuya, a Hunter who was looking down on other young Hunters recognized his skill. And when Katsuya did not have any other choice but to sit quietly on the truck to head back home after Shikarabe challenged him, Akira, on the other hand, headed to the battlefield alone. On top of it, Shikarabe seemed to recognize Akira's guts when he saw that. All of these things were burned into Katsuya's memory and left a deep impression inside him.
The image of Akira from those memories somehow stuck in the back of his mind. Then he saw Akira coming out from the house of the Hunters that he looked up to. So he just could not shake it off from his brain.
"Katsuya. I don't know exactly why you're so bothered about that boy, but just like Sara-san said, you need to straighten up. It's dangerous to lose your vigilance here, you know. Or do you also want to make Sara-san and Elena-san think that they're only here to protect us?"
Airi also joined as she gave a strict warning.
"If you keep troubling Sara-san and Elena-san, they might really think like that. So get a better hold of yourself."
Yumina and Airi thought that their warnings were just a little bit harsher than usual. But they did not expect Katsuya to suddenly pick himself up and make a solemn expression.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I need to get a better grip on myself."
Elena and Sara were watching how Katsuya and the other kids were moving around as they were looking for relics. They told Katsuya and his friends to stay within their detection range, while at the same time, they kept their guards up in case a monster that the kids could not handle appeared.
"Elena. When we took this request, you said that this might be their first step for recruiting us into Drankam, right?"
"Recruiting us, huh...? Although we always refused their offer until now, what are we going to do from now on?"
"It doesn't seem that they would let us go easily once we join them. If they rush us for a decision, we'll refuse them again. I think Drankam also knows this well, that's why they won't rush us for a decision. So let's take our time to properly think about it before making any decision. Sara, what do you think? If you think that it might be a good decision, I'll try to be more optimistic."
"To be honest, I'm not really sure yet. But are you okay with that?"
"There are pros and cons if we accept their invitation, after all. If we join Drankam, there's no mistaking it that we'll have an easier life. We will be able to get better equipment and all kinds of help from them. I'm sure they would help us if we ever get into a similar situation like back then when we couldn't even refill your nanomachine reserve."
Sara smiled bitterly and made a stern face as she said.
"When you say it like that, it does sound pretty enticing..."
Sara's nanomachine reserve was basically her lifeline, thus she usually welcomed any money that she could get as an insurance in case anything bad happened. But there was also a chance for Drankam to basically hold her life hostage because of that. There was also a very good chance that they would slip a clause in their contract that would limit Sara and Elena freedom in exchange for gang's support.
Whether it was for the better or for the worse, Sara and Elena were already used to living freely as a team of two Hunters. Thus it would greatly affect them if they lose their freedom.
Although she knew that it was important for her to stay alive, Sara also did not want to cause trouble for her best friend or make her worry. Looking at Sara who was at loss on what to do, Elena firmly but gently smiled at her.
"I'm sorry that it seems like I'm pushing the decision to you, but I think that you're the one who will be affected the most. That's why I want you to decide first. But don't worry, you can take as much time as you need. And no matter what decision you come up with, I won't complain."
"Thank you, Elena. I'll think about it carefully."
"There is really nothing but cheap relics here."
"Well, that can't be helped. Elena-san and Sara-san did say that there's no valuable relic left in this ruin anymore."
"Ah, the time limit is near, I think it's fine if we just finish here. So how about we stop looking for relics now? Katsuya, what do you think?"
"...Say, how much money do you think we can get from all the relics that we gathered today?"
"Only a small number of them have any technological value as the old world relics. So I'm sure it won't fetch us a good amount of money."
After hearing that realistic but expected answer from Airi, Katsuya let out a sigh and seemed pretty disappointed.
Although he did get motivated by Airi and Yumina's words from before, deep in his heart, he also hoped for a better result.
Despite the fact that they gathered quite a lot of relics considering that they did it all by themselves, their result was still not satisfactory. And if they used Elena and Sara's abilities as a standard, their results were not worth all the hard work. Not to mention that Elena and Sara were contracted to keep Katsuya and his friends alive, so in short, they were there as paid bodyguards. Thus if the reward that Drankam needed to pay to Elena and Sara was included, there was no mistaking it that they would end up in the red.
Looking at it pessimistically, it would seem like they made Elena and Sara watch over them using Drankam's money. Although Katsuya might not be aware of it himself, those thoughts had already taken roots deep in his mind, that was why he was unconsciously hoping for results enough to cover for that. And now that the time limit was closing in and he still had not gotten the desired result, he started to panic.
Suddenly, Elena's face turned grim when she was monitoring the area. It was because her information gathering device detected a big sized monster not too far away from Katsuya and his friends. The signal appeared from a place that was not directly visible from Katsuya's location.
Elena adjusted her detection device to gather detailed information from that signal and tried to make a guess from the shape of the image that she got. But her face turned grimmer after she got a good guess of what kind of monster it was.
"Greedy Crocodile... So they're also here, huh?"
Greedy Crocodile was a type of monster that looked like a crocodile. It had two tails and strong metallic scales, and its big and strong jaws could easily tear through mechanical monsters. Its diet was clearly reflected in its appearance. All the mechanical monsters that it ate caused it to grow guns on its back and all the tanks that it ate caused tank cannons to grow from its body, even some of them had tank wheels under their bellies.
"Sara. I think it's not heading this way, but just to be safe, be sure to prepare yourself if it does. I don't think Katsuya and his friends can handle it."
"In that case, should we go there and kill it?"
"Let's just leave it alone so long as it doesn't come here. It seems that it had not noticed Katsuya's group too, so it should be fine if we leave it be."
"Well, there's no need to kill it if it doesn't attack us, huh?"
Katsuya then thought.
[That's a greedy crocodile... The relics that we gathered today are not great. But if I kill that monster, then it might leave a good achievement for today's training as a monster subjugation rather than a relic search. If I remember it right, the reward from killing a greedy crocodile should be pretty high. It's at least higher compared to all the relics that I've gathered today. And if I defeat that monster... Maybe Elena-san and Sara-san will recognize my skills, right?]
He was in a position where he had the first strike against a monster that would give him a noticeable achievement if he could kill it. Not to mention that in reality, the Hunter job was mostly about hunting monsters rather than hunting relics. Plus it was the perfect chance to overturn their result. These reasons pushed Katsuya to make his decision.
Katsuya asked Yumina and Airi while making a serious face.
"Yumina, Airi. Do you think we can kill that monster?"
"...Greedy crocodile, huh? It's still far away from us and it doesn't seem to have noticed us yet. It doesn't seem that it has any guns growing on its body either. I think we have a good chance of winning against it if we ambush it..."
"We might be able to focus on its head and kill it before it notices us."
As Katsuya looked seriously at Yumina and Airi, their answer encouraged Katsuya's decision to attack that monster. Yumina said that they had a good chance against it and Airi came up with a strategy to kill it.
After hearing their answers, Katsuya judged that they had enough of a winning chance.
"In that case, I want to kill that monster. Our relic search did not go so well. Although it is not relic hunting, I want to at least leave this place with an achievement. Tell me if you're against it."
As Yumina looked at Katsuya's serious face, she remembered him desperately training in the shooting range while making a pained expression. With the thoughts of all his dead friends, he continuously swore to himself to not let anyone die anymore. Watching that expression for hours was enough. She never wanted to see him in such pain again. So, she made her decision.
[If we can defeat that greedy crocodile and make Katsuya feel better about himself, it should stop him from doing that reckless training. And even if we can't handle it, Elena-san and Sara-san will help us, this is going to be okay.]
"If you say so, I don't mind helping."
Airi looked at Katsuya as she thought.
[Our equipment is better compared to before. And I don't think Katsuya would make a suggestion that he knows to be impossible. If he thinks that it's possible, then it should be possible for us. Not to mention that he had trained himself hard since then and I didn't miss any of my training too. Shikarabe also recognized his talent. As long as we're together, it should be possible to defeat a greedy crocodile.]
Her trust in Katsuya and her confidence in her own skill gave Airi the last push.
"I'll take the first shot, after all, I'm the best here when it comes to shooting."
Katsuya smiled and felt so happy from gaining all the trust of his companions.
"Thanks. Well then, let's go."
It was the moment when Katsuya was the most motivated in the whole day.
Elena and Sara quickly noticed that Katsuya and his friends were thinking of killing that greedy crocodile. Elena frowned a bit and Sara looked surprised when they noticed it.
"Sara, get yourself ready to help them. We'll quickly kill that monster the moment it looks dangerous, but we won't join the fight until then. Although I'll also keep my aim on that monster, don't assume that it's safe just because I didn't shoot. You can go ahead and shoot when you think that it has gotten out of hand."
"Roger that. But still, we should've killed it back then, so this would not have happened."
"We're not here as their bodyguards, after all. Not to mention that I did tell them to make decisions as if we're not around. Moreover, they might do that because they know that they have a good chance of winning. And if that's true, then we shouldn't get in their way."
Although Elena said that, the grim look on her face revealed that Katsuya's group only had a slim chance in winning the fight. Looking at that, Sara could not help but let out a faint smile.
"...Well, even if it was the wrong decision, having a hard fight can also serve as good training."
Sara used her nanomachine enhanced body to swiftly move behind a wreckage not too far from their location. After making sure that Katsuya and his friends would not get into her shooting trajectory, Sara readied her CWH anti-material rifle.
In order not to get too much in the way of Katsuya and his friends, but to be able to quickly help them when the situation turned worse, Sara loaded highly explosive piercing ammo that could take that monster out in one shot into her rifle and took an aim on the monster. She just had to pull the trigger to kill that monster now. Sara then calmed her breathing and stayed there to watch how the situation would develop.
As for Elena, she kept checking her information gathering device as she readied her DSS sniper rifle. The rifle was connected to her information gathering device to increase its accuracy and it was modified to increase its firepower.
She loaded a bullet with high piercing power into her rifle. Although it had less destructive power compared to the bullet that Sara was using, the information gathering device connected to Elena's rifle allowed her to accurately aim for the monster's weak points. Thus she would be able to quickly take out the monster by shooting at its weak points like its brain.
Elena then sent the data to Sara to increase Sara's accuracy too. With that, they were ready to take out the greedy crocodile anytime.
Airi was crouching on the ground and taking her aim on the greedy crocodile. The crocodile had not noticed Katsuya yet as it slowly dragged its body along the ground.
They originally had the upper hand since it was a one-sided fight when the monster was far away. They could shoot at the crocodile but it had no means of fighting back from that distance. But as the crocodile got pretty close to them, Katsuya and his friends started to panic. Katsuya gritted his teeth and kept on shooting while Yumina and Airi desperately tried to help him defeat the monster. But the crocodile seemed unfazed.
Sara thought that it was getting dangerous and was about to pull the trigger of her rifle when suddenly one of Airi's bullet hit an open wound in the head of the crocodile by pure coincidence. The bullet shattered and wreaked havoc inside the crocodile's head and tore its flesh. But even so, it was not a fatal wound for the crocodile, but at least it was enough to make it stagger and slow down.
Noticing this, Katsuya and his friends grabbed the chance as they kept on shooting at that particular part of the crocodile. The crocodile finally stopped moving when half of its head was mutilated.
"Although it was a close win, a win is still a win. I'm glad we were able to kill it."
Then Airi smiled proudly and said.
"We were able to defeat it because of our skill. Now that we've defeated a greedy crocodile, I won't let anyone call us amateur Hunters anymore."
Katsuya, Airi and Yumina looked at each other and praised each other for their victory.
"That was a bit dangerous, but they were able to defeat it on their own in the end. They're pretty good... Elena, what's wrong?"
"Sara, I feel like that greedy crocodile suddenly slowed down back there, what do you think just happened?"
"Isn't that because one of their bullets hit its weak point by pure chance? Since they shot that many bullets at it, it's not strange if one of their bullets hit its weak point."
"Oh my, Elena, is there anything that bothers you about their performance?"
Unlike Sara who was smiling like usual, there was a strange disturbing mood around Elena.
Katsuya and his friends returned back to Elena and Sara in a good mood.
"Good work. Well then, let's take your result for today and bring them back home. We'll be on the lookout for monsters on the way back, so you all can rest easy. But remember that normally you should not relax until you're back in your base, okay?"
And so Elena and Sara headed back to Kugamayama city together with Katsuya, Airi and Yumina.
After some time, Elena, Sara and a Drankam officer entered the room. Elena and Sara sat across Katsuya and his friends while Arabe was leaning on the wall near them.
Elena then started talking.
"I'll give you my evaluation of today's training. First of all, you did well defeating that greedy crocodile on your own. To be honest, I thought that it would be a bit hard for you, so I was surprised when you actually did it. So I have to start my evaluation by mentioning that point."
"Thank you very much!!"
"Other than defeating that greedy crocodile. Your ability to search for relics while monitoring your surroundings is mostly satisfactory. As for the evaluation from Drankam, they'll evaluate your performance from our report, but we don't know how that will come out, so let's just put that aside for now. But for us, it doesn't seem there's any problem. Basically, I think you guys are full-fledged Hunters now."
Katsuya, Airi, and Yumina's expression loosened after Elena said that they did well as Hunters. Up until now, other Hunters used to handle them as if they were dead weight. Thus they were really happy as they felt that they had broken away from that view.
"Now then, I'll move on to the overall performance evaluation. But before that, I want to ask you one thing, tell me again the aim of today's ruin exploration."
"So it's okay to assume that you did everything with that in mind, right?"
"...Well, of course, that's if we ignore the fact that we already knew there were no more valuable relics left in Higaraka Residence Ruin and still decided to search the ruin despite that fact.."
"If that's the case, then yes, that's my answer."
Elena then looked at Katsuya and Airi to confirm Yumina's answer. Katsuya and Airi nodded at her.
"...I see. All of you have the same opinion, huh. It's a good thing to have the same aim when you work together."
Elena paused a bit. Arabe who already listened to Elena and Sara's report beforehand just smiled bitterly. Katsuya was confused when he noticed Arabe's bitter smile.
"This is just my evaluation though, so you need to judge it for yourself whether it's indeed correct or not. After all, every person has different indicators for their evaluation. If your performance agrees with these indicators, then you'll get a good evaluation, and vice versa. I just want to make sure that you know it. So, with that being said, for me, I can only say that your performance today was terrible."
Katsuya, Airi and Yumina were really surprised by such an unexpected evaluation from Elena. Katsuya panicked and asked.
"B-but why?! We should've done well during the training, right?! We might be not really that good in your eyes, but I don't think we're that bad either! You also praised us when we defeated that greedy crocodile, right?"
"That's the point, that's where my evaluation comes from. You guys did an awesome job defeating that greedy crocodile. But was there any reason why you should have done that?"
"It was because we recognized that we could defeat it!! And we did defeat that greedy crocodile!"
Elena waited for a bit after Katsuya said that. After confirming that Katsuya finished giving his explanation, she then asked him.
"You killed it because it seemed an easy target for you. Is that all? Do you really need to kill all the monsters that your detection device picks? You even had to focus all of your firepowers on it to be able to defeat that monster. You could have evaded the fight if you had just left it alone, but you decided to fight it although it could have easily killed you if you're not lucky. So, is that really all the reason you have for doing that?"
Katsuya could not give any answer. Elena then shifted her gaze from Katsuya to Airi. Airi paused for a bit before answering back.
"...Our original objective of gathering relics did not end up well. So we thought that we can improve our situation by defeating that monster, and I think we did well by defeating that monster."
"I see. So then, what exactly did you get from defeating that greedy crocodile? Is it the reward money and points for your Hunter Rank? If you put that in scale with the danger, was it worth it? Or is it that you thought you should be able to defeat it easily but it turned out that it was more difficult than you thought? Or that you knew that it would not be easy and thought that the reward you might get from defeating it was worth the risk?"
Elena then shifted to Yumina, Yumina hesitated before speaking up.
To be more precise, it was actually for Katsuya. Yumina thought that it might help him, that was why she did not stop him. She did not want to see him getting depressed because of his own weakness again.
"I see. Well, I'm sure you have your own reasons. But even so, when you decided to do that, can you say for sure that you didn't include us in your calculation and didn't expect us to help you when the situation got really bad? And even if that's true, are you sure that the people who look down on you would stop after hearing what you did back there?"
Yumina could not say yes to that as she shut her mouth and did not answer back at all.
Elena looked at the 3 children who could not say anything to her and continued.
Katsuya and his friends looked at Sara with pleading eyes. But Sara just smiled bitterly and looked sorry at them. Sara basically agreed with what Elena said.
"Well, it's as Elena said. This is about the basics. Hunters basically work by putting their lives at stake, so it's important to make sure that whatever they might get, it should be worth risking their lives for. But of course, it's different from person to person on what kind of reward would be worth risking their lives for. So it's not easy to work together with the other Hunters who don't agree on the same principles or guideline. And our principles are somehow different from the three of you. That's why our evaluation of your performance is bad. I want you to at least understand that. It is true that you were able to defeat that greedy crocodile and I'm sure there are other Hunters who agree with your decision. If you can't accept our evaluation, you can just laugh it off and ignore it, you are even free to think of us as just cowards."
Sara's words did not cheer them up at all.
After that, Sara and Elena exited the room. Then Arabe walked to Katsuya, Airi and Yumina.
"Well, although a lot of things happened there, we from Drankam think highly of you for defeating that greedy crocodile. And so, we judged that you don't need a veteran Hunter to accompany and look over you like we usually do for young Hunters. After all, we don't have the manpower to assign veteran Hunters to watch over Hunters who can defeat a greedy crocodile on their own. From now on, you can pick requests on your own as a full-fledged Hunter and you're free to recruit other Hunters into your team. So I hope you will work hard as the role model for the young Hunters in this gang."
"Well, you can take a rest for the day. As a Hunter, you'll be facing many more failures in the future. You won't be able to continue for long in this line of work if you get depressed every time you fail. Later then."
Arabe just left them with those words before exiting the room. Just as he was walking in the hallway, he remembered what Shikarabe said to him and clicked his tongue.
"It turned out exactly as what Shikarabe predicted, huh. It seems that it's impossible to use them to recruit Elena and Sara now. I need to rethink my plan..."
Originally, he was planning to ask Elena and Sara to watch over Katsuya's group. But Elena and Sara already knew about it.
Of course, Elena and Sara would not want to watch over other Hunters who did not know their own limits and always drove headfirst into dangers. After all, they would be roped into the dangers too. Arabe understood that and let out a big sigh while trying to think about his next move.
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