「アキラ少年! また会ったっすね!」
「......そうだな」
「それにしても、アキラ少年が私達を助けに来るなんて奇遇っすね。どうせなら、初めから私達に同行してもらいたかったっすけど。その方が手間が省けたんじゃないっすか?」
「俺がここにいるのは偶然みたいなものだ。別にそっちを助ける
「そうっすか? まあ何にせよ、助かったっすよ」
カナエはなぜかアキラをかなり興味深く好意的な目で見ている。逆にアキラは少し
噛
み合っていない空気を出していた。
カナエはアキラの実力に強い興味を持っていた。カナエもまたアキラの実力を測りきれずにいるからだ。
聞いた話では、アキラはクズスハラ街遺跡の地下街で、切り札を使用したシオリと互角に渡り合ったという。シオリの切り札である専用の加速剤は、使用者の集中力を高め、感覚を鋭敏にし、まるで時間が遅くなったような時間感覚の矛盾すら引き起こす。その代償として多用すれば脳への過負荷のために数日
する羽目になるが、効果時間が切れるまでは別人のような動きを実現できる。そのシオリと互角に戦った人物ならば、間違いなく相当な実力者だ。
カナエは楽しげに笑いながらアキラの実力を値踏みする。
(わからないっすねー。果たしてアキラ少年は強いのか、弱いのか、さっぱりっす。アキラ少年の実力をはっきりさせる
に仕事を優先させる状況だ。つまり状況が違えば試していたかもしれない。カナエは少し残念に思っていた。
体力的にも精神的にもかなり消耗していたレイナとトガミだったが、比較的安全な場所で落ち着いて呼吸を整えることで
トガミはシオリとカナエのメイド服を見て思う。
(......あれ、メイド服ってやつだよな。メイドってあれだろ? 金持ちがデカい家で家事とかをさせるために雇うものだろう? 何でそのメイドが旧世界の遺跡の中にいるんだ? あのメイド服は旧世界の遺物で、頑丈だからハンターが防護服代わりに着ているだけなのか? でも何か、メイド服を着慣れているっていうか、ハンターってのとは違う気がするんだよな。シカラベが言っていた救出対象はドランカム所属のハンターのはずだけど、......いや、それはあのレイナっていうやつのことで、メイド服の2人はそいつの世話をしているように見えるな。......何でハンターがメイドを雇っているんだ?)
トガミは困惑を強めながらシオリとカナエを見ていた。
シオリはレイナの
キャロルは再出発の準備を済ませてから、焼き菓子に似た携帯食を食べていた。一見ただの軽食に見えるが、単純な疲労回復の効果に加え、外傷の回復薬としての効用もある。更に戦闘で消費したナノマシンの補充も兼ねている。キャロルにとっては弾丸の装填と同様に重要なことなのだ。
キャロルはレイナの視線に気付いているが、特に気にしていなかった。キャロルの強化服は特に男性を強く引きつけるデザインだが、女性の視線を集めないわけでもない。この手の旧世界風のデザインに免疫がなくて悪気はなくじろじろと見てしまう女性もいる。こういう強化服を着たハンターが近くにいることを好まない女性もいる。それぐらいキャロルも理解している。レイナの内心がどうであれ、口に出してごちゃごちゃ言ってこない限りは無害だ。キャロルはそう考えていた。
カナエの視線が自分を見ていたトガミに、そのトガミが今見ているシオリに、そのシオリの
「これはただのメイド服っすよ。そっちのどう考えてもいろいろ誘っているデザインの強化服と一緒にしてもらっては困るっすね。どう見ても目立つっすよ。いろいろあって慣れちゃったんすか?」
キャロルが笑って反論する。
「似たような性能の戦闘服は幾らでもあるでしょうに、戦闘に耐えうる性能のメイド服をわざわざ着て旧世界の遺跡にくる感覚の持ち主に言われたくはないわね。誰のメイドか知らないけど、目立つとは思わなかったの? それともそういう趣味なの?」
アキラが微妙な表情で2人の様子を見ていると、急にカナエがアキラの方を向いて尋ねる。
急に話を振られて戸惑うアキラに、キャロルも同じようにアキラに尋ねる。
「そうね。アキラはどう思う? どっちの格好の方が目立つと思う?」
アキラが取りあえず2人に尋ねる。
「......何で、俺に聞くんだ?」
カナエとキャロルは事前に打ち合わせでもしていたかのように答える。
アキラがよく分からない雰囲気を感じながらも、自分なりの考えを答える。
「個人的には、初見での感覚なら、そっちのメイド服の姿の方が驚いた。キャロルの強化服は
「ああ。狭い世界で生きていたんだ。悪いな」
エレナが少し笑いながらアキラ達に声を掛ける。
「そろそろ出発するけど、そんな雑談をしている余裕があるなら、準備は済んだと考えて良いのね?」
アキラが表情を真面目なものに戻して答える。
「大丈夫です。いつでも行けます」
カナエはそう調子良く答えると、レイナの
「問題ないわ」
キャロルはカナエの姿を僅かに疑問の視線で見ていた。
ああいう性格の人間もいるだろう。キャロルはそう結論付けてそれ以上の思考を打ち切った。
「何を考えているか知らないけど、余計な
レイナが言葉に詰まる。レイナにそのようなつもりはなかったが、無意識に2人を頼った結果の行動かどうかと問われると、はっきり否定できなかった。
シオリが軽く
を控えるという意味か、シオリとの交戦を許容するという意味か、カナエの性格から判断するのは難しかった。少なくともカナエがそれ以上余計な口を開かなくなったので、シオリはその追及を避けた。
カナエは黙って思案しながら、ちらっとアキラを見る。
(......試しに突拍子もないことを言ってアキラ少年を驚かせてみたっすけど、普通に周囲の警戒を
カナエはそんな思案をしながらアキラに対する評価を若干下げた。伝聞や推測ではないカナエ自身で確かめた結果が今一だったからだ。
もっと明確に確実に疑いようもなく決定的にアキラの実力を測れる何か。それが起こることを期待しながら、カナエは不敵に笑った。
エレナが準備を終えたアキラ達にこれからの行動を説明する。
「私達はこれから1階まで降りて正面出入り口から脱出するわ。セランタルビルを包囲している部隊が今も健在なことを期待してね」
シカラベがエレナの説明から不穏な気配を察して尋ねる。
「部隊の健在を期待しなければならない不明確な要素があるのか?」
エレナが軽く
「有るわ。私が退路の確認のために、設置式の小型情報収集機器を配置してきたことは知っているわね? それは1階の出入り口の近辺にも設置してあるの。それに反応があったのよ。多数の何かがビルの中に入ってきた可能性があるわ」
キャロルがエレナに尋ねる。
「具体的にどういう形状のものが入ってきたのかは分からないの?」
その何かが人間の大きさや形状ならば、他のハンターである可能性が高い。キャロルはそう考えて尋ねたのだが、エレナは首を軽く横に振って答える。
「残念だけど元々そんなに高性能の機器ではないし、その上で普段より性能が低下している状態だから、そこまでは分からないわ。何かがビルの中に入ってきた。断言できるのはそこまでよ。多数の何かと言ったけど、同じ個体が同じ場所を何度も
エレナは表情を真剣なものに戻して話す。
「問題は、そのどちらでもなかった場合になるわ。つまり、ビルの外から新手の機械系モンスターが侵入してきた場合ね。そうなると、ビルを包囲している部隊の一部が破られたってことになるのよ。ビルの外が安全圏ではなくなっている可能性が出てくるわ。可能性は低いと思う。でもその万一の可能性を頭の片隅に入れておくことぐらいはやっておいて。何が起こるか分からない状況が続いていることだけは間違いないわ」
エレナは30階で通路とほぼ同じ大きさの機械系モンスターに襲われたことを思い出しながら、アキラ達に念を押すように話した。
「質問がなければ出発するわ。質問は?」
めていた中で、アキラ達はさっさと独自に交渉を済ませて先行部隊として出発した。それをアキラ達に出し抜かれたと判断した勢力が大きく2つあった。
勢力の一つは、ドランカムに所属しておらず、その指揮下に入ることを嫌がったハンター達だ。彼らはアキラ達の行動をドランカム側の行動だと判断した。ドランカムが先に部隊を派遣して作戦行動に有益な情報を持ち帰ったという実績を盾にして、クガマヤマ都市との交渉を優位に進めようとしている。そう判断したのだ。
その判断は間違いではない。シカラベがドランカム内部での交渉でそれを口実にしたのは事実だ。アキラ達が持ち帰った情報はその通りに使われるだろう。
めていた交渉内容を一部妥協して、彼らも先行部隊を派遣することにしたのだ。
もう一つの勢力は、カツヤ派と呼ばれるドランカムの若手ハンター達だ。正確にはその後ろ盾でもあるドランカム幹部のミズハの判断だ。
ミズハはアキラ達の隊長が表向きシカラベであることに懸念を持った。シカラベがカツヤを
両部隊は先行部隊の功績に対抗するために、共にセランタルビル1階の制圧を作戦目的としていた。アキラ達のような少人数では困難だが、自分達の部隊の人数と装備なら十分可能であると判断したのだ。情報収集も大切だが、手に入れた情報が先行部隊が入手した情報と重複した場合は、先に持ち帰ったアキラ達の方が有利だからだ。
2つの部隊は、銃口を向け合うほどではないが間違いなく互いを邪魔だと思っており、ちょっとした事故で派手な交戦状態に推移しかねないほどに敵対的だ。それぞれの部隊長が隊員を制御することで暴発を抑えていた。
セランタルビルの外側、出入り口に近い部分で、クロサワというハンターが面倒そうな表情で部下を指揮している。装備も雰囲気も他のハンターとは異なり一見して格上のハンターだと分かる。
クロサワは15億オーラムの賞金首である多連装砲マイマイを撃破したハンターチームのリーダーだ。今回は反ドランカム側のハンター達の部隊の隊長を任されていた。
仲間のハンターが答える。
「1階で敵影は確認できていない。遅れる要素は3つ。帰還が困難になるほどの特異な状況に陥ったか、戻り時間の計算もできない無能か、俺の指示に従わない馬鹿か。どれであっても未帰還として扱う。わざわざ待ったりはしねえ」
「分かった。すぐに確認に向かわせ......、戻ってきたぞ」
6班のハンター達がセランタルビルの出入り口から出てくる。クロサワは彼らに指でとっととこっちに来るように指示を出す。6班のハンター達が前まで来ると、彼らへ嫌み混じりに尋ねる。
「早めに戻ろうとしたらガキが絡んできたんだよ。そのガキを撃ち殺しても良いって言うのなら、時間通りに戻ってこられたんだがな」
「C7の通路だ」
それを聞いたクロサワが再び舌打ちする。6班のハンター達に休憩に入れと手で指示を出してから、少し離れた場所にいるドランカム側の部隊長の方へ歩いていく。
ドランカム側の隊長はすぐに近付いてくるクロサワに気が付いた。その隊長の近くにいる若手ハンター達がクロサワに敵意の視線を向ける。クロサワは全く気にせずに不機嫌な声でドランカム側の隊長の少年へ話しかける。
まいは既に一端のハンターのものだ。そこらの駆け出しハンターやハンター崩れとは一線を画している。歴戦の実力のあるハンターならば、少年の歳などに惑わされずにその実力を見抜けるだろう。
クロサワも少年の実力を見抜いている。目の前の少年が、かなりの才能と実力を持っていることぐらいは分かる。今はまだ、若手のハンターとしては
「ふざけちゃいないさ。真面目に評価するとそうなるんだよ。俺はドランカム所属のハンターじゃないんでな。君の御機嫌を伺って言葉を選ぶ必要がないだけだ。ドランカムのカツヤくん?」
ドランカム側の隊長はカツヤだった。
"Akira! We meet again!!"
"...Yeah."
"But still, what a coincidence to meet you in this place. If you're going to come here, you should have come with us right from the start, you know?"
"I'm here not because I planned to come here right from the start and it's not like I came to this building to rescue you in the first place. You should ask Shikarabe for the details."
"Is that so? Well, whichever the case, thanks for saving us."
For some reason, Kanae was looking at Akira with interest. In contrast to that, Akira looked at Kanae with a little suspicion. It was because he had no idea why Kanae was so interested in talking to him.
Kurosawa looked at his watch and clicked his tongue.
"...The sixth squad isn't returning back at all although I told them to properly watch the time. Send the eighth squad in. Tell them to ask the squad securing the A, B, C and D stairs if the sixth squad went to the second floor without my permission or not."
Kanae was interested in Akira's strength, a part of it was because she could not figure out how strong Akira was.
From the story that she heard, she knew that Akira could fight evenly against Shiori when she was using her trump card in the underground city of Kuzusuhara ruin. Shiori's trump card was a special accelerator drug that increased concentration, sharpened sense, and slowed down time perception. The price of using that drug was putting one's brain under immense stress that might render its user paralyzed for a few days, but in exchange for that, it could completely transform its user into a superhuman while that drug was still in effect. So, the only people who could fight Shiori in that state must be powerful people.
It was true that Katsuya was a powerful Hunter, but compared to Shiori with her accelerator drug, he was obviously weaker. So, since Akira retreated back from Katsuya, then it would mean Akira was not that strong.
She was smiling while guessing Akira's real strength.
[Yup, no idea at all. I can't really tell if Akira is strong or not. Honestly speaking, I want to poke at him to see how strong he really is, but as expected, I shouldn't do that in this situation.]
Even for someone like Kanae, she knew that she had to prioritize her current duty at the moment. So in short, if they were in a different situation, she might have already poked at Akira right now. Kanae honestly felt a bit bummed by that.
Togami and Reina were really stressed out as they were trying to catch their breath, but after staying in that safe place for some time, both of them eventually were able to calm down. Once they had calmed down and had enough leeway to put some of their attention to the current situation, both of them immediately directed their gaze to things that bothered them the most.
At the same time, Togami looked at Kanae and Shiori's maid outfit and thought.
[...That thing is a maid outfit, right? And maids are those people who serve in a big mansion for rich people, right? So why are there maids in this old-world ruin? Are those maid outfits actually old-world relics with strong defensive power and they're using it in place of normal armour? But for some reason, they look pretty much used to it though, it doesn't feel like they're Hunters. But Shikarabe said that our rescue targets are Drankam Hunters, right...? Wait, he might be talking about Reina and those two might be Reina's maid... But again, why would a Hunter have maids?]
Togami seemed so confused as he was staring at Shiori and Kanae.
Shiori was standing next to Reina, offering her a stamina drink. Reina thanked Shiori and drank it.
After Carol finished her preparation, she nibbled on a ration that looked like grilled rice dumplings. Although it looked like a simple snack from the outside, it was actually infused with restorative and healing properties. It also replenished the nanomachines that she used during the last fight. For Carol, consuming that food was equally important as replenishing her reserve ammo.
Carol also noticed that Reina was looking at her, but she just ignored that. Although the design of her augmented suit was made to seduce men, it sometimes also attracted attention from the other women. Some women who were not used to seeing old-world design often threw glances at her out of pure curiosity without any ill will. There were also girls who did not like having a Hunter in that appearance near them. Even Carol herself knew that much. She thought as long as Reina did not complain or say anything about her appearance, then there was no reason to be bothered by that.
Kanae then turned to Togami who was looking at Shiori, so she then looked at Shiori before shifting to Reina, who was next to Shiori. Since Reina was looking at Carol, Kanae's eyes soon ended up on Carol.
"This is a maid outfit. It would be great if you don't treat it the same as that augmented suit with a design that is obviously for seducing men. No matter how you look at it, your design sticks out far more than this. Or is that you're already used to that design?"
Carol smiled and replied.
"That's weird for you to say that when you voluntarily use that maid outfit and come all the way here to an old-world ruin when there are many armours out there with the same fighting capability. I don't know whose maid you are, but I wonder if that person doesn't think that it'll be sticking out. Or is it out of fetish or something?"
As Akira was looking at both of them with a slightly troubled face, Kanae suddenly turned to him and threw a question.
Akira obviously looked troubled when Kanae suddenly threw that question at him, but then Carol asked a similar question to him too.
"Oh, good idea. Akira, which one do you think is the weird one? Which one do you think sticking out the most?"
Instead of answering their questions, Akira asked a question to both of them.
"...Why are you both asking me?"
Kanae and Carol replied with similar answers as if they had already decided to do that beforehand.
Akira could feel an awkward mood drifting in the room, he then answered back honestly.
"Personally speaking, if it's on the first sight, I think the maid outfit sticks out more. For Carol's augmented suit, it's just a normal augmented suit with an old-world design after all... And I bet that it's not normal to see maids whether it's only an outfit or a real maid in the old-world ruin."
"Yeah, I've been pretty much living in a narrow world until now after all. Sorry about that."
Elena lightly giggled as she joined in.
"We should go soon, if you have the time for silly talk like that, I trust that you've finished your preparation, yes?"
Akira's expression turned serious.
"Yeah, I can go anytime."
Kanae sounded like she was in a good mood as she said that and returned back to Reina.
"Yeah, no problem here."
Carol was looking at Kanae as if she had a question in her head.
Carol just concluded that Kanae did that simply out of habit and decided to stop thinking about it.
"I don't know what you were planning there, but hold yourself from doing anything that might cause a fight."
Reina could not say anything back. Although she did not do that on purpose, it was also true that she could not give a straight answer if she was asked whether she did that thinking that Kanae and Shiori would definitely do something about it if things went bad.
Shiori lightly sighed.
Kanae replied back in a good spirit. It was hard to say from her personality whether she responded positively to behave or that she was happy because it sounded like Shiori was willing to fight her. But at least, Kanae decided to just shut up, so Shiori did not pursue any further.
Kanae glanced at Akira and thought.
[...I tried to surprise Akira there with that sudden question, but it seems that he did lower his guard. It also seemed that he was pretty much relaxed while we were talking. As I thought, I guess that Akira is not really that strong, huh? Or was that only an act? Or is it that he's someone who totally changes when he's in the middle of a fight? Uhhh, I still don't have enough material to make any conclusion.]
Kanae was thinking so as she lowered her evaluation of Akira. After all, that was what she could get from her own observation if she did not include stories that she heard from other people.
Kanae was smiling, she was hoping that there would come a chance when she could get better information to accurately predict Akira's real strength.
After everyone finished their preparations, Elena then explained the next plan.
"We'll go down to the first floor from here and escape the building from the front entrance. Let's hope that the squads securing this building are still alive."
Shikarabe felt there was something strange in how Elena worded her plan.
"Is there any reason for us to worry whether the squads outside are still alive or not?"
Elena lightly nodded.
"Yes. You already know that I left mini information-gathering devices on our way up to make sure that we have a safe escape route, right? So basically, the mini information-gathering device on the first floor near the entrance got some signals. It seems that multiple entities entered this building."
Carol then said to Elena.
"Can you tell me exactly the shape of this something that entered this building?"
If they had a human-like form, then it might be the other Hunters. Or at least, that was what Carol was hoping, but Elena lightly shook her head and said.
"Unfortunately, the device was not able to identify their shapes, and the sensitivity is lowered inside this building. So I can't say anything about their shapes. The only thing that I can say for sure is that something came into this building. Although I did say multiple entities, it might be the same object going in and out of the building multiple times on purpose to trigger the signal multiple times. So I can't really confirm the numbers too."
Elena's face then returned back to her serious face.
"The real problem is if that's not the case, which would mean more monsters just entered the building, that would also mean that those monsters broke through the encirclement made to secure this building. There's a good chance the situation outside the building has turned dangerous, although the possibility is pretty small, I recommend you to at least keep this in mind. After all, no one can tell what will happen from here on."
Elena remembered the big monster that attacked them on the 30th floor as she warned everyone.
"If no one has any more question, let's move out."
Back then when they were in the middle of debating on how to secure the Seranthal building, Elena's team finished their negotiation first and was sent ahead as a reconnaissance team. When that happened, there were 2 groups who felt that they got jumped ahead by Elena's team.
The first group was the Hunters not affiliated with Drankam and refused to be working under Drankam. They thought that sending Akira ahead was the decision that the Drankam side made. They thought that Drankam gave preferential treatment to that team stating an excusing that they brought back useful information for the operation.
That was not exactly wrong, Shikarabe did say that too when he negotiated with Drankam's side. As in matter of fact, the information that they brought in might have actually be used in that operation.
So in order to calm them down, Drankam decided to make a compromise and send them as another reconnaissance team.
The second group was the young Hunters in Drankam that belonged to the Katsuya faction. To be more precise, they were able to get dispatched ahead because of support from within Drankam, from Mizuha.
Mizuha was rather concerned by the fact that Shikarabe was the leader of the first reconnaissance team. She also knew well how much Shikarabe hated Katsuya's guts. She was worried that Shikarabe was planning to use the achievement from this chance to influence the composition of the main squad or even to change how Drankam would treat Katsuya.
After that, both teams were sent to secure the first floor of the Seranthal building so that Elena's team would not be able to monopolize the rewards. They thought that it might be hard for Elena's team to do that since they had limited equipment and manpower, but it would be an easy job for them since they brought more people and carried better equipment. Of course, they could just gather information and bring it back too, but if they ended up bringing back the same information as Elena's team, then Elena's team which would have returned back first would claim the reward first.
Although both groups of Hunters were not that hostile to each other to the point that they would try to kill each other, there was no mistaking it that they would be disrupting each other's job. Even a small accident could immediately turn into a fight. The leader of each team was only barely able to calm their respective team down.
Near the outer side of the front entrance to the Seranthal building, a Hunter by the name of Kurosawa was shouting orders to his team with an annoyed face. His equipment and the aura around him clearly showed that he was a powerful Hunter.
Kurosawa was the leader of the team which killed the 1,500,000,000 Aurum bounty monster, Maimai. He was taking the lead of the anti-Drankam team this time.
Another Hunter next to him then replied.
"We can't check their situation at all from the first floor. There are 3 possible reasons why they are late. First, they might be trapped somewhere and can't return back. Second, they might not be that competent to be able to return back as we originally planned. Or third, they might be pretty stupid as not to listen to my order. But whichever the case, we treat them as MIA. There's no need to wait for them."
"Alright alright, I'll send the next- Oh, there they are."
The sixth squad stepped out from the entrance. Kurosawa signalled them to come with his finger. Once they stood in front of him, Kurosawa then asked them a question that was mixed with insult.
"We were about to return back on time when one of those kids picked a fight with us, you see. If you tell us that it's okay to shoot them, we would have been able to return back on time though."
"Hallway C7."
Kurosawa clicked his tongue again when he heard that. He then gave a signal for the sixth squad to just go and take a rest before he headed to where the Drankam side's leader was.
The leader of the Drankam group immediately noticed Kurosawa. The other young Hunters around him looked at Kurosawa with hostility, but Kurosawa did not care about them at all as he said to the leader of the Drankam group.
That young Hunter responded back just like a Hunter should. The impression that he was giving off was different compared to those new green Hunters or former Hunters. A skilled Hunter would be able to immediately recognize his real strength and disregard his young age.
That was also the case for Kurosawa, he knew that the young Hunter in front of him was a rather talented Hunter. Although for now, he was nothing more than a skilled young Hunter, it was only a matter of time until the 'young' word get dropped.
being serious here. If we objectively evaluate your performance, that would be the result. I'm not a Drankam Hunter after all, so I'm not obliged to choose my words just to keep your mood, am I right, Katsuya-kun of Drankam?"
The leader of the Drankam team was Katsuya.
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