233 東側領域
アキラ達を乗せた都市間輸送車両が列車のように車列を組んで荒野を進んでいく。巨大な車体が大量の
『アルファ。俺もアルファと話している時は、他の人からはあんな感じに見えてるのか?』
『私と二人きりの時はそうよ。他の誰かがいる時は、普通に装えているから安心しなさい。少なくとも、今はね』
『つまり、アルファと出会ったばかりの頃は結構駄目だったってことか。目立ってたんだろうなー』
楽しげに笑っているアルファの横で、アキラは苦笑を我慢した。
ヒカルが軽くお辞儀をして一息吐く。交渉を終えたのだ。その笑顔には十分な手応えが浮かんでいた。そしてアキラの方を見た。
アキラが何か用かと思っていると、警備側から通信要求が届いた。ヒカルにちょっと待ってくれと手で示してからそれに出る。そして自身の拡張視界に表示された相手の姿を見て、少し驚いた。通知は通信相手が警備の指揮側の職員だと示していたのだが、表示された者はヒカルだった。
「ちゃんと警備の指揮系統に割り込めたようね。間に合って良かった。アキラ。私もアキラのオペレーターとして警備に参加するわ」
そうにも見える。ヒカルが察して苦笑する。
「オペレーターと言っても、適宜細かな指示を出す訳じゃないわ。指示の内容も、基本的には警備側からの内容を私がそのまま伝えるだけよ。その代わり、警備側からあからさまに変な指示が来たり、アキラの疲労状態とかを無視した要求とかがあったりしたら、私がアキラの代わりに向こうと交渉するわ。オペレーターとして細かな指示を出してサポートするってよりは、アキラが煩わしい指示に翻弄されずに自由に動けるようにサポートするって考えてちょうだい」
「ああ、そういうことか。分かった。頼む」
「任せといて。それじゃあ早速オペレーターのお仕事ってことで、アキラ、そろそろ時間よ。準備を済ませて一緒に行きましょうか。ぎりぎりの場所まで付き添うわ」
んでいたが、持ち前の有能さでアキラには気付かれなかった。
アキラは準備を済ませて部屋を出ると、ヒカルの案内で車内の通路を進んでいた。ヒカルはアキラの隣で周囲を警戒しながら気を張り詰めており、まるで遺跡の中を慎重に進んでいるかのようにも見える。
アキラがそのヒカルの様子を少し不思議に思っていると、アルファが隣でどこか意味深で楽しげな笑顔を浮かべていた。
『何だよ』
『ん? 基本アキラを部屋から出さない。出る場合はアキラの
『俺が何をしたって言うんだ』
『防壁外で殺人多数。私は気にしないけれど、防壁の内側の人はどうかしらね』
アキラもヒカルの態度の理由を何となく察した。
『それを信じてもらえるかどうかは、別の話でしょう?』
アキラの配置場所はその屋根の上だ。生身なら即座に吹き飛ばされ屋根から落下する強風の中を、強化服の体勢維持機能を使用して普通に立っていた。索敵は警備側が車両の高度な索敵機器で実施している。今のアキラの仕事は、敵襲の連絡が来るまで屋根の上で待機し続けることだった。
アキラは屋根の端に立って荒野の光景を眺めていた。高速で走り続ける車両は既に荒野の大分東側の領域に到達している。最前線まではまだ大分遠いとはいえ、遺跡の技術水準も生息するモンスターの強さも、クガマヤマ都市周辺に比べて跳ね上がっている。遠景の雰囲気も、どことなくより高度な文明の面影を見せている。
『アルファ。なんか向こうに、デカい島が空中に浮かんでいて、島の下側から地面に向かって伸びている高層ビルが見えるんだけどさ。俺の視界を
がりも、視認可能なもので結び付いている訳ではないでしょう?』
『いや、そうだけどさ......』
依頼の取引。契約。積み重ねた信頼と実績。借り貸し。恩。策謀。妥協。義理。判断。割り切り。アキラとアルファは旧領域接続者の通信領域を介し、それらを複雑に束ねて
ヒカルから通信が入り、アキラの拡張視界にヒカルの姿が現れる。
「アキラ。敵襲よ。飛行型モンスターの群れが接近中。大型は車両の砲で対処するから、アキラは担当範囲に入った小型の対処を御願い。担当範囲外の個体は余力があってもこっちの指示が無い限りは無視して。別のハンターの成果を横取りすると後で
「了解だ。まあ、出来る限りやるよ。要望はそれぐらいか?」
「そうね。強いて言えば、オペレーターとしてこっちでもアキラの様子を見ているから、格好良いところを見せてね、と応援したいところなんだけど......」
そこまで愛想の良い笑顔を浮かべていたヒカルが、少し苦笑気味に笑う。
「私がそう言ったからって、キバヤシ好みの無理
アキラも軽い苦笑を返す。
「俺だって好き好んでその無理
アキラの視界からヒカルの姿が消える。アキラも気を引き締めて意識を戦闘に切り替えた。
車列前方から迫るモンスターの群れは、既に肉眼でも捉えられる距離まで近付いていた。アキラがその方向を注視すると、情報収集機器が対象領域を拡大表示して敵の姿をはっきりと映し出す。巨大な虫の群れが空を飛んでいる。敵の反応の表示部分には、目標までの距離の概算も出ている。
アキラが敵までの距離を示す数値を見て、少し
『......あれ? まだ結構遠い? 数値が間違ってる?』
『敵が大きすぎるから距離感が狂ってるだけよ。空には大きさの比較対象が無いからね。数値の方が正しいわ』
『そうなのか? いや、でもちょっと遠すぎる気がするけど......』
い比較対象を加えてみましょうか』
アルファの姿がアキラの
『任せなさい。アキラ。始まるわよ』
アルファが車列の前方を指差した。その先にある輸送車両の大型砲が動き始めていた。
『実際に別世界と思った方が良いわ。より東の地域ほど、より高度な技術の影響を受けているからね。その影響下で生まれた生態系は異常そのものよ』
『まあ、あんなデカい虫が山ほど飛んでるんだ。
輸送車両の警備の人員は強力な者ほど前方に配置されている。アキラの警備場所は後方部分であり、輸送車両に乗り込んでいるハンター達の中では下っ端の配置位置だ。
アキラが世界の広さの一端を感じ取って軽く息を吐く。その顔に軽い感嘆にも気落ちにも見える少し複雑な表情を浮かべていた。
アルファがいつものように
アキラは笑って銃を構えた。両手にそれぞれLEO複合銃を持ち、銃口をモンスターの群れに向ける。勢い良く銃弾が撃ち出され、アキラの戦闘が始まった。
ヒカルは車内でアキラの戦闘の様子を見ていた。アキラの情報収集機器から送られてくる主観視点の映像。輸送車両の警備側から送られてくる索敵情報。それらを基にアキラの状態を逐次確認して、苦戦の傾向が見られればアキラからの要請を待たずに応援を手配するつもりだった。
だがその気遣いは不要となった。既にアキラの周辺には倒されたモンスターの死骸が大量に散らばっており、追加で倒した死骸を更に積み重ねようとしている。群がる敵の数の暴力を、撃ち出す銃弾の数の暴力で押し返し、1対多数の不利を逆に敵に押し付けている。
アキラの頭部カメラの映像は本人の高速戦闘の影響で上下左右に激しく揺れ続け、目
けている者には、その危険度に応じた権限が付与される。その危険物を有効活用して高い利益を生み出す者には更なる権力が与えられる。
だからこそ、キバヤシの権限はかなり高い。ハンターとハンターオフィスの関係も同じだ。暴発すれば東部を脅かしかねない力を管理する
高性能な情報収集機器が収集した情報を旧領域接続者の受信能力で取得する。その情報を無意識の水準で認識し、知覚情報から脳内で構成された世界として知覚する。その気配とも呼称できる感覚で敵の大まかな位置を捉えて銃を向ける。銃の照準器からの映像を拡張視界に追加して照準を合わせる。銃の照準補正機能が照準を細かく補正する。その後、アルファが更に照準補正を実施する。
両手のLEO複合銃から撃ち出される弾丸は、力場反応物質を主要構成物とする特殊な弾丸だ。その物理特性により供給されたエネルギーに応じて威力を増すことから、通称
に高額大容量のエネルギーパックからエネルギーが供給される。その供給量はアルファの制御により目標の撃破にちょうど良い威力に調整されている。弾丸は装填している高額大容量の拡張弾倉から尽きることなど無いように潤沢に供給される。
それらの結果、LEO複合銃での銃撃は連射速度、1発の威力、命中精度、その全てが非常に高い水準にあった。片手片方だけでもだ。アキラはそれを両手にそれぞれ握り、縦横無尽に動きながら四方八方に死を振りまいている。次々に積み上がる死骸が、モンスターの群れに襲われるという脅威を
『多すぎる! 切りが無い! 何なんだこの量は!?』
アキラは既にかなりの数のモンスターを撃破している。それは周辺の死骸の量からも十分に実感できる。だが敵が減ったという感覚は全く感じられなかった。
『アルファのサポートでも手に負えないって言うのならすぐに頼むぞ?』
『それなら不要ね』
軽く笑い合って状況への認識を互いに合わせた後、アキラが少し面倒そうに顔を
『しかもそれらの個体が車列全体に群がっているの。アキラが頑張ってたくさん倒して、この辺の包囲を一時的に薄くしても、他の濃い部分からすぐに補給されるから、すぐに元に戻るのよ』
付け加えるとアキラの担当区域は下っ端の警備場所とはいえ、本来は部隊で警備する場所だった。これはヒカルが輸送車両の警備にアキラを少々強引に
遠距離攻撃を行う個体も多い。銃身のような器官から体液を高速で射出してアキラを狙う。射出される液体も様々で、空中で固体化して弾丸と化すものもあれば、非常に高い粘着性で動きを封じるもの、浴びた物を強力に溶かすものもある。どれも食らえば致命的だ。弾丸が死骸を砕き、粘着液が細かな破片を固めて大きくし、溶解液がそれらを溶かしていく。その過程で周囲の足場は逐次劣悪に変化し続けていた。
アキラはその足場の中を素早く駆けていた。十分な足場となる移動に適した僅かな場所を、アルファのサポートにより拡張視界に強調表示してもらうことで正確に認識し、そこを踏んで移動速度を落とすことなく俊敏に動き続けている。更に強化服の足部分の
アキラが軽く息を吐く。敵の大半を一撃で排除できたことには満足しながらも、少し険しい表情を浮かべていた。
AF対物砲の弾丸は非常に高い。そもそもが大物殺し用の切り札であり、小物の
『......良いんだよ。あんな量、ちまちま倒していられるか。決めた。黒字になるように、ヒカルには報酬交渉を頑張ってもらう。そうしよう』
『そうね。彼女の交渉手腕に期待しましょうか』
一時的に敵密度が薄くなった周辺に、他の場所からモンスターが早速殺到する。
『分かった。もう一回だ』
アキラが両手の銃をLEO複合銃に戻す。そして少なくとも総額では黒字になるように期待を込めて、敵の群れを効率良く銃撃し続けた。
Ch 233
The transport that Akira was boarding lined up with the other transport trucks and formed a long line in the middle of the wasteland. Their huge size left behind a trail of dust storms; it was an easy thing to spot the convoy from afar. They marched forward mercilessly, pushing aside and crushing anything in their way. Rubble meters in length and large carcasses were no match to the size of the transport truck. None of them could even pose a challenge to the vehicle.
"Alpha. Do I look like that too when I'm talking to you?"
"Only when we're alone. But I've always made sure that you won't look like that when there's someone else, so it's fine, at least, it's fine right now."
"So basically, I was completely hopeless back when I just met you, huh? Bet I stuck out a lot."
Akira smiled wryly next to Alpha who was smiling amusedly.
Hikaru lightly bowed and sighed. It seemed that she had finished negotiations. Hikaru then turned to Akira. Judging from her smile, it seemed that it went well.
As Akira thought about why she was looking at him, sudden order to dispatch reached him. Akira was about to pick it up, but Hikaru stopped him with her hand signal. Thus, he paused for a bit before finally picking it up. He was a bit surprised to see the person shown in the display of his augmented vision. Although the notification said that he was connected to someone in command, the person displayed was Hikaru.
"It seems that it went well, I'm a part of the escort unit's commander now. I'm glad that I made it on time. Akira, I'm joining the escort unit as your operator."
Akira raised his eyebrows. He was obviously surprised, Hikaru noticed that too as she smiled wryly and explained.
"Well, although I'm an operator, it's not like I'm going to bother you with my orders. Basically, I'll just convey the orders that I receive from the higher-ups to you. In exchange, if you want to be allowed to ignore said order. Oh. It could be either because it was a bad order or because you are not in a position to obey it. Regardless of the reason, I can negotiate in your place. So instead of being an operator that gives you detailed support, I'll focus more on supporting you so that you can move freely."
"Ah, I see, alright then. I'll be counting on you."
"Just leave it to me, well then, as my first job as your operator, Akira, get ready. I'll guide you as close as possible to your post once you're ready."
Hikaru said so to Akira with a smile, although there were lies mixed in her words, Akira could not notice them thanks to how skilled she was.
Once Akira was done with his preparation, they left the room and walked through the transport's hallway guided by Hikaru. She was walking next to Akira while vigilantly watching her surroundings as if she was carefully walking through the dangerous ruin.
As expected, Akira found that very weird, but he then caught Alpha smiling amusedly next to him.
"What?"
"Hm? Well, it's just that she basically doesn't allow you to get out of your room, and when you do, she'll always be close by. That bracelet also allowed her to track your location all the time. It's as if you're a prisoner."
"Just what did I do to deserve this treatment?"
"Killing many people outside the wall, although it doesn't really matter to me, it seems that is not the case for City Management."
Akira somehow was able to make a guess as to the reason why Hikaru was treating him like that.
"Of course, but it's a completely different story whether they'll trust you or not, right?"
Akira's post was on the rooftop. Thus, he was standing straight in the middle of the raging storm, which would have blown any normal human away. It was only thanks to his augmented suit that he could stand straight. The enemy detection was done through the powerful radar installed on the vehicle. So, Akira's current job was to wait there until he received an order that allowed him to start shooting.
Akira stood on one edge of the rooftop and scanned over the wasteland. The fast-moving transport vehicle had already entered the eastern area of the eastern district. Although he was still far away from the front line, the area was already filled with monsters that were way stronger and smarter than the monsters around Kugamayama city. Even the view there left Akira the impression that he was looking at something high-tech.
"Alpha. There's something that looks like a huge bird in the sky over there with a column-like building hanging under it, you're not playing with my vision, right?"
"But it's true. The connection between you and me is not something that eyes can see, right?"
"That's true, but still..."
Deals, contracts, trust, debts, favors, schemes, compromises, obligations, evaluations, toleration. Alpha built a complicated connection through the old-world domain based on all these factors. As for whether this link was weak or strong, Alpha herself was not certain.
Hikaru's voice suddenly could be heard from the comms and her image quickly appeared in his augmented vision.
"Akira, the monsters are coming, A swarm of flying monsters are approaching. The transport's cannon will take care of the bigger ones, so you only need to focus on the smaller ones when they are closing in on you. There's no need to fight the ones outside your range even if you have the leeway to. As long as there's no order to do so, the other Hunters might mistake it as you trying to snatch their prey and reward, so it might cause some issues. I'll send you their locations, you can make your own decision based on that data."
"Roger that, well, I'll do the best I can first before asking for help. Is that everything?"
"Yes, if I may add something, I'm basically monitoring you as an operator, so you can show me your cool side, or so I want to say, but..."
Hikaru's smile which was brimming with confidence up until that point suddenly turned cloudy.
"Just because I said so, there's no need for you to do anything reckless like what Kibayashi wants."
Akar smiled bitterly and replied.
"It's not like I did them because I wanted to."
Hikaru's image vanished from Akira's display. He then changed gear to get ready for the fight.
The monsters approaching the convoy had come close enough to be seen with naked eyes. When Akira locked his gaze at those monsters, Akira's information-gathering device recognized the enemy as it augmented Akira's vision to be able to clearly see them. The swarm looked like a group of flying insects. The display also added the information of their distance as well as their location.
But when Akira glanced at the distance, he found it rather surprising.
"...Oh, wait? Are they still that far away? Are these numbers correct?"
"They're so big that they already looked that big although they're still so far away. And since there's nothing to compare to when they're flying in the sky, it's so difficult to grasp how far away they are with just your eyes."
"Is that so? But I still feel like the number is a little bit too big, though..."
"In that case, let's add something to help you compare."
Alpha suddenly vanished and reappeared next to the monsters. As Akira compared the size of the monster and Alpha, he could not help but frown.
"Just leave it to me. They're coming, Akira."
Alpha pointed her finger to the direction where the convoy was heading, the other vehicles in front of the one they were on had already started firing their cannons.
"I don't think your impression is wrong. The further east you go, the more sophisticated the technology. And the civilization created with such technology is an abnormality in itself."
"Well, we're talking about an area filled with those flying things after all. So, it's obvious that it's not normal. And there are Hunters who work and live there, so it's only to be expected that they're also not normal either. And here I thought that I've grown pretty strong, but I guess there's always a bigger fish, huh?"
Stronger escorts were assigned to the front of the convoy and Akira right now was assigned to somewhere near the end of the convoy. So compared to the other Hunters, he was relatively on the weaker side.
Akira imagined just how big the world was and sighed. He was making a rather conflicted expression mixed with a tint of both admiration and self-mockery.
But Alpha was smiling as usual at Akira and said to him.
Akira smiled and aimed his rifle. With LEO multi-rifle in both hands, he aimed the muzzles toward the incoming monsters and started shooting.
Hikaru was observing the situation of the battle from inside the transport vehicle. She was checking the information sent from Akira's information terminal and the sensors of the transport vehicle to look for enemies. She was watching closely at the flow of the battle from that information she was receiving and was planning to send a help request without asking Akira first in case the situation got worse.
But it seemed that there was no need to do so. Akira already turned everything that entered his area into minced meat and the number of the dead carcasses scattered in his area only kept increasing. He was holding the line against the swarming monsters using countless bullets and warheads. Despite being at a great disadvantage in terms of numbers, Akira was pushing back the swarm just fine.
The camera fixed on Akira's headgear swayed left and right, up and down, following Akira's movement. But it was not as bad as how fast Akira shifted his aim around. Of course, Akira did not have a problem following that movement, but that was not the case for Hikaru.
Those who had successfully handled dangerous articles for a long time were given special privileges to match their achievement. As such, those who were able to handle them skillfully and produce profits were rewarded with special rights.
This was exactly why Kibayashi had a lot of special privileges, this was also true for the relationship between Hunters and the Hunter Office. The Corporate Government was still having a hard time making sure that their power, which was enough to pose a threat to the whole eastern district, was to be used for the sake of good and for the development of the eastern district. At the very least, for now, they were managing themselves well.
He was receiving the data straight from his expensive information terminal through his connection to the old-world domain. He unconsciously took that flow of information as a normal thing and his brain used that information to perceive the world. Thanks to that, Akira was able to feel where the monsters were and quickly aimed his rifles in their general direction. He then used the aiming device connected to his headgear display to make the smaller adjustment to his aim. Then to top it off, Alpha also made a finer readjustment on his aim as well.
The bullets that Akira was using for his LEO multi-rifles were fuelled by forcefield reactants. Instead of using physical force, their firepower came from compressed energy, this type of bullet was known as Charge Bullet. Although, theoretically, there was no limit in how much energy it consumed, the available technology became the limiter of its firepower since stuffing too much-compressed energy would cause the bullet to explode instead of flying forward. Furthermore, the energy to power conversion became highly inefficient quickly past a certain level. Thus, further limiting the firepower of the Charge Bullet.
The Charge Bullet drew energy from the energy pack and compressed it to increase the firepower of the bullet, Alpha made an adjustment in that process as such, the bullets only consumed the right amount of energy needed to kill the monsters that Akira was fighting. While at the same time, Akira made sure to use the expensive extended magazine for his LEO multi-rifles so that he would not run out of ammo.
Due to these factors, the firepower, accuracy, and shooting speed of the LEO multi rifles that Akira was using were abnormally high, and this was true for both the left and the right ones. Akira was constantly swinging them around, spreading death and destruction to everything around him. Even with the overwhelming number of monsters in the swarm, the dead carcasses that were piling up around him made it obvious which one was overwhelming the other.
"They're just too many of them!!! What the heck with this number!?"
Akira already killed several monsters and the carcasses scattered around him were in no way scarce. But the monsters just kept coming at him. Although Alpha, who was smiling next to him, let him know that the situation was still far from dangerous, Akira still could not help but spit out some complaints.
"If it's way more than I can handle with your support, then I don't mind asking her now."
"In that case, there's no need to then."
Alpha and Akira exchanged a smile which let both of them know that they were doing fine, but Akira then frowned.
"Well, there is also the fact that they are swarming all the transport vehicles, so even if you clean up the ones around you, it won't take much time for the monsters surrounding the area to fill in the vacuum."
To be more precise, although Akira was assigned somewhere in the back, it was still originally an area assigned for a whole team. It was only because Hikaru somehow forced her way to get Akira in, that he was able to accept this escort job. Furthermore, in order to avoid any possible trouble in the chain of command, there was quite a distance between each team. This was to lower the chance of them getting into a fight. Due to that, Akira had to do the job that was originally meant for multiple people, alone.
Not to mention, many of the monsters also had long-range weapons. They were spitting out fluid produced from an organ that grew out from their bodies. The fluid itself also varied. Some of them hardened and turned into bullets in mid-air, some of them had an abnormally sticky property, while some were highly acidic and melted everything they touched. Either way, it would be fatal if Akira got hit by any of them. The hardened fluid would crush his body, while the sticky fluid would stop his movement and he would drown in them, and the acidic fluid would melt his body. These fluids started dotting the rooftop, thus limiting the area where Akira could safely set foot on.
Akira quickly jumped between the safe areas, although they were not that many and not that wide to give Akira a place to plant himself, he was still able to jump between them without slowing down at all. He understood and followed the visual instructions that Alpha placed in his augmented vision. Moreover, the forcefield armour on his augmented suit also served some level of protection from the acidic fluid. He moved around swiftly to evade the incoming attacks while shooting down the enemies so that it would give him more places to step on. While at the same time, he was also herding the monsters.
Akira lightly sighed. Although he was satisfied with the result, he was still frowning.
The ammunition for the AF anti-material cannon was extremely expensive. Although it was a trump card to kill huge monsters, it was not designed to clean up small fries. If that shot did not take out enough small fries, it would definitely mean his total revenue would be in the red. Akira knew that very well, but he told himself that it was for the sake of building up his career as a Hunter and decided to use it. At least, that was what he thought before he pulled the trigger.
"...It's fine. I don't want to spend time chipping on a swarm that big. I'll leave it to Hikaru so that it will end up in black. Yep, let's do that."
"You're right, let's put our hope in her negotiation skill."
After Akira eliminated his area from monsters, the other monsters near the area quickly filled in that vacuum.
"Alright! One more time."
Akira returned LEO multi-rifles to both of his hands and started shooting at the incoming monsters, hoping that the reward from that would balance out shooting his AF anti-material cannon.
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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