翌日、アキラは再びアルファと体感時間操作の訓練をしていた。
アルファが前と同じように両手に剣を持ち過剰装飾の衣装で踊っている。アルファは優雅に
アキラはアルファに攻撃されても微動だにしていない。アルファの攻撃を避けるどころか反応する素振りすらない。ただじっとアルファを凝視していた。
『......アキラ?』
「大丈夫だ。続けてくれ」
アキラの表情は真剣そのものだ。ふざけているわけでもやる気がないわけでもないことはアルファにも分かった。
しむが、何も聞かずに定位置に戻ると衣装から布を1枚落として再び踊り出した。
その後もアキラはアルファに切り刻まれ続ける。アキラは微動だにせず真剣な表情でアルファを凝視し続けている。
アルファが両手に持つ剣の刃がアキラの体を通り抜けるたびに、アルファの衣装から布地が落ちて消えていく。アルファのドレスから過剰な装飾が取り払われ、ドレス本体の布地も減っていき、
(......思い出せ。あの時の戦闘を。夢の中での感覚を。あいつと戦った時の緊張を。あの時はできていた。夢の中でもできていた。それなら今もできるはずだ! アルファもできると言っている!)
死地に立つ集中力を、死線を駆ける感触を、生と死の
そして、アルファが緩急織り交ぜた舞の動きからアキラの首をなぎ払おうと右手に持つ剣を勢いよく跳ねさせた。その動きは偶然にも、アキラが夢の中で見たネリアの動きと同じものだった。
非常に切れ味の良さそうな刃がゆっくりと自分の首に迫ってくるのを、アキラはしっかりと認識しながら目視していた。必死になってそれを
アルファがアキラに駆け寄って心配そうに声を掛ける。
『アキラ。大丈夫?』
「......い、痛い。回復薬、回復薬は?」
『そこの棚よ』
アキラはふらつきながら立ち上がり、近くの棚に置いておいた回復薬の箱を手に取った。1箱100万オーラムの回復薬だ。箱から取り出したチューブ入りのペースト状の回復薬を、強くぶつけてかなり痛む後頭部に塗る。
するとアキラの後頭部の痛みはすぐに消えていく。それで治療が済んだわけではなく単に麻酔で痛みが消えただけだが、痛みが消えただけでもアキラには有り難い。
痛みが消えたことでアキラの顔から苦痛の色が消える。
「こういう時は直接塗れるタイプの回復薬の方が便利だな」
の治療と疲労回復の違いや、戦闘中に負傷箇所の服を脱いで塗る余裕があるかどうかとか。そこは経口タイプとの使い分けよね。そんなことより、アキラ、できたのね?』
笑ってそう尋ねるアルファに、アキラも笑って答えた。
「ああ。できた。その所為で
『それは仕方ないわ。アキラの体感時間が10倍になったからと言って、アキラが10倍速く動けるわけではないからね。意識上の動きと実際の動きのずれが出てくるわ。そのため今まで無意識にしていた動きを、しっかりと意識して動かす必要が出てくるところもあるわ。相対的に格段に鈍くなった身体の動きを把握して、その上で動く必要があるわ。これは訓練して慣れるしかないわね』
「そうだな。訓練有るのみだ」
アキラは無意識に頭を手で押さえている。痛みはないがぶつけた箇所に違和感は残っているのだろう。
『派手にぶつけたようだし、少し休む?』
「いや、このまま続ける。あの感覚を覚えている内に繰り返しておきたい」
『分かったわ。無理は駄目よ?』
訓練が再開される。アルファが再びアキラの前で踊り出す。着ている衣装の布地が減り、踊りが次第に
アキラのその日の訓練が終わる。体感時間操作の訓練が終了した時、今まではアルファの格好は全裸とほぼ変わらない姿になっていたが、今回は露出過多のドレス姿で済んでいた。
しかしそれはアルファの攻撃をアキラが避けることができたからではない。アルファの姿が全裸寸前になる前にアキラが疲労
アキラが固い床に大の字に横たわったまま荒い呼吸を続けている。アキラは訓練の最中に再び何度か体感時間を圧縮させることができた。そしてそのたびに極度の集中を強いられることになり脳を酷使させた。
体感時間が延びるほど、集中しなければならない時間は増えていく。そしてその感覚の中で動くことは、休憩無しで全力で動き続けているのと何ら変わりはないのだ。当然その疲労は非常に激しいものになる。
床に横たわるアキラの前で、かなり大胆な姿になっているアルファが声を掛ける。
『今日の訓練は終わりにしましょう。ほら、もう少しだけ頑張って立ちなさい』
「......無理。少しだけ、少しだけ休ませてくれ」
『少しだけよ? そのままだとそこで寝てしまうわ。せめてベッドまで頑張りなさい。そこで寝ると明日後悔するわよ?』
路上で生活していて固い地面の上で寝た経験の多いアキラは、アルファの言う後悔の意味をよく理解している。柔らかなベッドの上で眠ることに慣れてしまっている今のアキラには、以前のような固い地面で疲労を抑えて眠る技量はない。このまま固い床の上で眠ってしまうと、明日非常に後悔することになるだろう。
アキラは床に横たわったまま深呼吸を繰り返して呼吸を整えると、気力を振り絞って立ち上がった。そのままのろのろと寝室に向かう。寝室に着いたアキラは吸い込まれるようにベッドに倒れ込んだ。
を何とか開き続けているが、蓄積された疲労と柔らかな布団の感触に屈するのはもう間近だ。
「......少し寝る。勉強の時間になったら起こしてくれ」
「......分かった」
アルファが寝息をたてるアキラを見ながら考える。
アルファはアキラが体感時間操作を覚えるまでに最短でも半年は必要だと計算していた。つまりアキラはアルファの計算を覆したことになる。
このことはアルファにとって好都合なことなのか、それとも予測を超える事態が発生しているという意味で不都合なのか。アルファには判断がつかなかった。
どちらにしろ計画に修正が必要だ。計画の調整案を思案するアルファの表情に笑みはなかった。
い生活がアルナに盗みを強いるたびにその技術が磨かれていく。既にその技術は一流と呼んで差し支えないほどまで成長していた。
アルナの失敗は、獲物から盗んだ収穫品を知り合いに分け与えてしまったことだ。口が固い者ばかりではない。アルナの技術がある程度の人間に知れ渡ると、彼女が所属していた集団の人間からより多くの収穫品を求められるようになった。
求められる金額は徐々に増えていき、やがては集団の人間全員を養えるほどの上がりを期待されるようになった。アルナはそこから逃げ出して以降は基本的に一人で行動するようになった。個人的に付き合いのある人間はいるが、どこかの徒党に所属するような
その日もアルナはいつものように獲物を探していた。アルナも通りを歩いている人に手当たり次第に手を出しているわけではない。所持金が多そうで盗む難易度の低い人物にあたりを付けてから手を出している。
同じスラム街の住人の大半は
よってスラム街のスリが狙うのは、スラム街の外から来る人間である。真っ当な場所に店舗を構えられない類いの商売をしている店に来る客。荒事に自信が有り、荒野に出かける際にスラム街を迂回する必要の無い者。後ろ暗い理由でスラム街を訪れる者。ちょっとした好奇心で立ち入る者。スラム街に逃げてきた人間を追ってきた者。掘り出し物を求めて露店などを見て回る者。彼らはスラムの住人よりは金を持っているのだ。
獲物を探していたアルナが一人のハンターに目を付けた。ハンターの質もいろいろだ。絶対に手を出してはいけない歴戦のハンターもいれば、僅かな報酬を酒代に
(あいつにしよう。ハンターの登録を済ませた後にちょっと露店を見て回る気なら、結構持っているかもしれない。あいつが露店で散財する前に頂いてしまおう)
アルナはいつものように偶然を装ってそのハンターに近づき、天性の才と熟練の技量で彼の財布を失敬した。アルナの腕は神業で、そのハンターは財布を奪われたことに全く気が付かなかった。
アキラがシェリルの拠点に行くためにスラム街を歩いている。単純に顔を出すためであり、アキラの気晴らしも兼ねていた。
シズカに頼んだ装備品一式はまだ届いていないため、アキラの装備に変わりはない。防護服ですらない真新しいハンター向けの服。買ってから一度も使用していないAAH突撃銃とA2D突撃銃。その装備で荒野でモンスターと交戦して装備品が多少薄汚れるまでは、ハンターの初心者と誤解されても仕方ない格好だ。
そして技量の足りないハンターがスラム街を
『アキラ。財布をすられたわよ』
『えっ!?』
アルファに指摘されたアキラがすぐにポケットの中に手を突っ込んで確認する。アルファの指摘通りポケットの中に確かに存在していたはずの財布はなくなっていた。
『しっかりしなさい。私が操作できる強化服をアキラが着ていたら、私が強化服を操作して盗まれるのを防ぐこともできるでしょうけれど、それまではアキラが何とかしないといけないのよ?』
アキラが状況を認識し、理解し、整理する。それが終わると、その場に固まるように十数秒沈黙していたアキラが声を発する。
「......どいつだ?」
暗く、静かなアキラの声には、明確な怒気が含まれていた。浮かべている能面手前の表情には、臨戦態勢の鋭さと敵対者への感情が表れていた。
『アルファ。財布を盗んだやつはどいつか分かるか?』
不審に思われないようにアルファとの会話は念話で行う。それを思い出す程度には平静を取り戻したアキラがアルファに尋ねた。
アルファがあっさり答える。
アルファが指差すと同時にアキラの視界が拡張される。アルファのサポートでアキラの視界に遮蔽物の先、既に路地裏の奥に移動しているアルナの姿が表示される。それを見たアキラは勢いよく走り出した。
アルナはアキラから盗んだ財布の中身を確認していた。
「......おっ! 10万オーラムも入ってる! これだけあれば
アルナは自身の将来の展望に希望を見いだせなかった。アルナも心のどこかで理解しているのだ。自分はいつか破滅する。スリで一生食べていくのは無理だ。このままスリを続けていれば、いつか見つかり、いつか捕まり、代償を支払う事になるだろう。
その代償が、殴り飛ばされて路地裏に転がる程度で済むのか、犯されて道ばたに捨てられる程度で済むのか、あっさり殺されるのか、死んだ方がましな地獄を見る目に遭うのか、それは分からない。
しかしだからと言ってスリを止めて生きていく術などアルナには分からない。そしてアルナには今まで生き延びられた程度には、頼ってしまう程度には高いスリの技術があるのだ。
アルナは気持ちを切り替えるように首を横に振る。
「......止め止め。今ここで考えても仕方ない。金はあるんだし何か食べよう。空腹だと気が
みの店にでも行こうと思い歩き出した。
アルナの背後で大きな音がする。アルナが音の方へ振り返ると、そこにはアルナを追って細い路地を走ってきたアキラの姿があった。音は走ってきたアキラが勢いで路地の物を蹴飛ばした音だった。
アキラとアルナの目が合った。数秒両者が硬直する。我に返ったアルナは全速力でアキラとは逆方向に掛けだした。
アキラが財布を盗まれたことに気付いて追ってきたことはアルナにもすぐに分かった。
(何でバレたの!? 盗まれたことに気付かれた様子なんか全くなかった! 気付いたとしても私に盗まれたなんて分かるはずがないのに! しかもあれ! 闇雲に私を探して偶然見つけたんじゃない! 私がここにいるって知って追ってきてた!)
アルナにとって、それだけでもアキラは十分得体の知れない相手だ。しかしアルナが必死になって逃げる理由はそれだけではない。アルナはアキラの表情を見た。
(殺す気だ! あれは絶対私を殺す気だ!)
アキラから発せられる殺気を感じ取ったアルナは、死に物狂いで走り続けた。
アルナが逃げ出すと同時にアキラの硬直も解ける。アキラがAAH突撃銃を構える。冷静さを欠いているアキラにアルファが念を押す。
『外すと無関係な人に当たるけど、良いの?』
路地裏にいるのはアキラとアルナだけではない。込み入っているわけではないがそれなりに人はいる。大っぴらにできない商売の店もある。その店の客や用心棒もいる。好立地の縄張り争いに負けた者が隅で休んでいたりもする。
アキラの射撃技術は当初に比べ格段に向上しているが、今はアルファの強化服の操作による命中補正もなく、まだ一度も撃っていない真新しい銃で、確実に命中させる自信はアキラにはなかった。
している間に銃を構えたアキラに気付いた者達が騒ぎだし、慌ててアキラから離れようとする。更に闇雲に逃げようとする人間がアルナへの射線を塞いでしまう。
無関係な人間を巻き込む気はアキラにもない。アキラは銃の使用を諦めてアルナを追って走り出した。
アキラがアルナに追いつけないのは、比較的小柄なアルナの方が狭い路地を走り抜けるのに適しているからだ。
(何で!? 何でそんな正確に追ってこられるの!? ......まさか!?)
財布に発信器が付いていて、その反応で追ってきているのかもしれない。それならばアキラが盗まれた財布を探してアルナを正確に追い続けることもできるだろう。そう考えたアルナは、アキラの財布をアキラの後方に向けて思いっきり投げた。
アキラは自分の頭上を越えていく財布を見て、すぐに引き返して財布を拾う。
アキラは財布を取り戻したことで大分冷静さを取り戻した。表情もある程度落ち着きを取り戻している。
これで財布の中身がしっかり入っていれば、アキラは一度奪われた物をしっかり取り戻せたことになる。自分の金を知らない間に奪われるという、スラム街にいた頃のアキラなら絶対に阻止できたであろう失態を拭い去ったことになる。
それならばアキラも、次は気を付けようと反省し、この事態をそれで終わらせることもできただろう。
アキラが財布の中身を確認する。金は全て抜き取られていた。
「......アルファ」
『あっちよ。離れすぎると私にも居場所は分からなくなるわ。追うなら急ぎなさい』
アキラは底冷えするような声でそう答え、再び走り出した。
続行。事態は続く。再びアキラがアルナを追って路地を駆けていく。
下位区画の裏路地を走り続けていたアルナは、息が限界となった時点で足を止めて大きく呼吸をして息を整えていた。アルナの視線は自分が走ってきた路地の奥に向けられたままだ。そこにアキラの姿はない。アルナがある程度呼吸を整え終えた後も、アキラの姿が現れることはなかった。
Akira was doing time compression training again with Alpha the next day.
Just like before, Alpha was dancing in front of Akira with blades in both of her hands. She danced gracefully and elegantly, it felt as if her movements were so natural even when she sliced Akira's neck.
Akira did not move even when Alpha attacked him. Forget evading her attack, he did not even react at all. He just stood there watching her.
"...Akira?"
"It's alright, just continue."
Akira's expression was dead-serious. It was enough to make Alpha understand that he was not fooling around.
Alpha was actually curious why he did that, but she did not ask him anything as she stepped back and straightened her stance. A piece of her dress detached itself and vanished before she started dancing again.
Even after that, Akira did not react at all, he just stood there watching Alpha with a dead-serious expression as she kept slicing at him.
Every time one of her blades went through Akira's body, a piece of her dress would fall off and vanish. In the beginning, she was only losing decorations on her dress, but then slowly she started to lose pieces of clothes that hid her skin. As more and more parts of her body were exposed, she started to look like Nelia when Akira was fighting against her in Kuzusuhara ruin.
[...Remember that sensation!! That feeling in that dream!! That tension during that fight!! I was able to do it back then!! I was able to do it in my dream too! So I should be able to do it now!! Alpha also did say that I should be able to do it!!]
That level of focus when he stood in a life and death situation. That sensation when he walked on that thin line that separated life and death. Akira was trying his best to recreate those feelings as he stood in his place without moving. He focused on Alpha who was dancing in front of him, or to be more precise, he focused on the blades in her hands that had already sliced through his body numerous times.
And then, in the middle of her dance, Alpha suddenly swung the blade in her right hand at Akira's neck. By pure coincidence, her movements were exactly the same as Nelia's movements that Akira saw in his dream.
As Akira watched that extremely sharp looking blade cut through the air aiming for his neck, he instinctively reacted and quickly shifted his body backwards to evade that blade. But his maneuver caused him to lose balance and fall splendidly on his back.
Alpha quickly floated to Akira and worriedly asked him.
"Akira, are you alright?"
"I-it hurts like hell, where is my medicine??"
"It's on the shelf over there."
Akira wobbled around as he stood up and extended his hand to reach for the medicine box on a shelf near him. It was the 1,000,000 Aurum per box medicine. He took out a capsule from that box, opened it, and spread the paste-like medicine content on the back of his head where he was hurt.
The pain immediately vanished when he applied the medicine. But it was not because the injury was healed, it was simply because the pain killer numbed his pain and it was enough to make Akira feel thankful. As for the injury itself, it would heal given enough time. The medicine paste was slowly absorbed through his skin, thus there was no need to wipe the leftover.
Since the pain on his head was gone, Akira stopped gritting his teeth.
"It's really nice to have this kind of medicine which you can just directly apply on an injury at a time like this."
"But you might not have the time to apply it to your wound directly in the middle of a fight, so for the time being, it might be better to get a medicine that you can just swallow. Not to mention, it can help in healing your inner injuries and recovering your fatigue if you take it orally. That aside, you did it, didn't you Akira?"
Alpha smiled when she said that, Akira smiled back and replied.
"Yeah, I did it. But thanks to that, I couldn't move my body well and ended up falling splendidly on my back though."
"That's to be expected. Just because your time perception became 10 times faster, that doesn't make your body move 10 times faster as well. So there's a time lag between when you tell your limbs to move and when they actually move. Because of that, compared to when you usually move your body out of reflex, you'll have to be more aware of your movement from now on. Watch your slowed opponent's move carefully and based on it, decide how you are going to move. But again, I guess you can only learn such a thing from training, huh."
"You're right. I can only learn to do that through training."
Akira unconsciously moved his hands to the back of his head. Although he did not feel pain any longer, he still felt some kind of awkwardness.
"Well, you basically whacked your head hard on the floor back there. So how about we take a rest for today?"
"Nah, let's continue. I want to try and do that again while I can still remember that sensation."
"Sure, but don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
His training continued, Alpha started dancing in front of him again. Most of her dress had already vanished, thus depending on how she moved, her dance seemed to be very e.r.o.t.i.c from time to time. But in order to properly follow Alpha's movements, Akira did not avert his eyes at all.
Akira then finished his training for the day. Usually, by the end of the time compression training, Alpha would be more or less n.a.k.e.d. But this time she still had some more pieces of clothes on her body than usual.
But that was not because Akira was able to evade Alpha's attacks, it was more because he was too tired to continue until she became n.a.k.e.d.
Akira was lying on the hard floor with his limbs spread out as he was breathing roughly. During the training, he was able to compress his time perception many times. But every time he did that, his brain was hit by enormous stress and tiredness because of the sheer focus he needed to do that.
The longer he maintained the time compression, the longer he had to keep his focus. Moreover, moving his body in that state felt like he was mustering his whole body to keep moving without rest. It was no wonder that it quickly made his body tired.
He was still lying on the floor when Alpha, who was still wearing her e.r.o.t.i.c dress, said to him.
"Let's end our training for today. Do your best to at least stand up from there."
"...I can't do it, just a little bit more, just let me lie here a bit more."
"Just a little bit, okay? If you stay there like that, you'll end up falling asleep on the floor, you know. At least drag yourself to the bed first, else you'll definitely regret it in the morning if you wake up on the floor."
Akira, who had lived in the slum alley for years, had slept on the hard cold ground numerous times. So he understood very well what Alpha meant by that. Now that he had experienced the comfort of sleeping on a fluffy bed, he no longer had the ability to recover his fatigue from sleeping on a hard surface. If he really ended up falling asleep on the floor, there was no mistaking it that he would definitely regret it tomorrow.
Akira was still breathing roughly on the floor, but he eventually calmed down. He then wrung any strength that he still had left to pull himself up and drag his feet to the bedroom before crashing to the bed.
Akira was somehow still able to fight the heaviness of his eyelids, but it was only a matter of time before he was lulled by the fluffy bed and his heavy body.
"...I'll sleep for a bit. Wake me up when it's time to study."
"...Alright."
As he fell asleep in front of her, Alpha looked at him thoughtfully.
To be honest, she predicted that it would take about at least 6 months until Akira could compress time. So basically, now her prediction was totally off.
Alpha was not sure if it was a good thing or it was a bad thing since it indicated that Akira could surpass her prediction.
Whichever the case, there was a need for Alpha to readjust her plan. As she thought of what she should do to readjust her plan, she was not smiling, not even once.
Her living condition forced her to pickpocket, and the more she stole, the better she became. At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was already a first-rate pickpocket.
Her biggest mistake was that she shared the money that she stole with her friends. After all, it was not like all of her friends could keep secrets. The more famous she became as a first-rate pickpocket, the more her friends demanded their share.
Her friends asked for more and more money, hoping that eventually, Alna would help them escape the days when they had to starve. But Alna ended up running away from such expectations, and now she was basically working alone. Of course, she still had some friends that she was close with, but she decided not to join any gang anymore.
Just like any other day, Alna was prowling for prey. It was not like she would just randomly pick people's pockets as she was walking around the slum city. Instead, she intentionally aimed for people who seemed to be carrying a lot of money and were an easy target.
Most of the people in the slum city did not carry much money. While some of them, who carried a lot of money, were mostly people who she should never try to mess with. As such, it was rare for people in the slum city to turn into a pickpocket, that was also the reason why people of the slum city were not that cautious against pickpockets.
As such, pickpockets in the slum city tended to aim for people who came from outside the slum city. Like the customers who visited the shops that could only be found in the slum city, or people who return from wasteland while brimming with confidence as they passed through the slum city, or people who ended up in the slum city for any unknown reasons, or people who came to the slum city hoping that they might be able to help the residents of the slum city, or people who are absconding and trying to hide in the slum city, or people who tried to look for anything that could be scrapped in the slum city. These people carried more money than the residents of the slum city most of the time.
Alna was looking for Hunters to pickpocket. But even so, there were many types of Hunters, some of them were veteran Hunters who she should never mess with, while on the other hand, there were also those Hunters who spent most of their money in taverns rather than renewing their bad-looking equipment. Whichever it was, these Hunters frequently visited the wasteland. Unlike pickpockets, thugs rarely robbed Hunters, of course, these thugs could get some money from selling the equipment that they robbed, but the danger of getting killed was too high.
[Let's aim for that Hunter. If that Hunter is here for browsing the stands right after registering in the Hunter Office, he should be carrying quite a lot of money. Let's get his wallet before that Hunter can spend it on anything.]
Just like usual, Alna approached that Hunter naturally. Then using her genius-level talent and polished skill, she extended her arm and took the wallet from that Hunter. That Hunter did not notice it at all.
That day, Akira was walking through the slum city as he was heading to Sheryl's base. There was no particular reason other than just showing his face in the gang and to take a breather.
The equipment that he ordered in Shizuka's shop had not arrived yet. As such, Akira was still using his old equipment which included his new Hunter armour and AAH and A2D rifles that he had never used ever since he bought them. Thus it would not be a surprise if someone mistook him as a new Hunter.
And then, a disaster that often befell most of the green Hunters, who wandered through the slum city, also befell Akira.
"Akira, someone took your wallet."
"Wha-!?"
Akira half-shouted, he quickly checked his pocket, and as Alpha said, he could not find the wallet that was inside the pocket.
"Be more careful next time. I might be able to protect you from pickpockets when you're using an augmented suit that I can control, but as long as you're not using an augmented suit, you should handle this kind of thing yourself, okay?"
Akira took a few seconds to register, process, and understand what had just happened. After a few seconds of silence where Akira did not move from where he was standing, he finished assessing his situation and immediately said.
"...Who took my wallet?"
In his calm emotionless voice, there was a fit of dark foreboding anger seething under it. Behind his calm expression, Akira was leaking out an aura showing the sharpness and readiness to fight.
"Alpha, do you know who took my wallet?"
In order to not cause any suspicions, Akira asked that through telepathy. It showed that he had regained his calm and composure, enough for him to remember to talk with Alpha through telepathy.
Alpha quickly answered back.
At the same time as Alpha pointed her finger, Akira's vision enhanced, allowing him to see through obstacles. His attention quickly zeroed onto a young girl who was already in the back alley. He immediately started running the moment he found his target.
Alna was looking through the insides of Akira's wallet.
"...Oh!! 100,000 Aurum! Lucky!! This should be enough for a few days."
Alna knew somewhere inside her heart that her future was bleak. She would definitely ruin her own life one day. There was no way she could keep on living as a pickpocket. After all, if she kept doing that, she would be found one day, captured, and made to pay the price for everything that she had done.
She had no idea what kind of price she would have to pay. It might be just getting beaten up and then dumped in the back alley, or she might get r.a.p.ed and then left battered on the roadside, or maybe she would be simply killed. In the worst-case scenario, she might be put in a living hell where death would have been better.
But with that being said, Alna had no other skill that she could rely on to survive other than picking pockets. And since she was able to survive until now, that particular skill of hers was very well polished.
Alna shook her head to help her forget her thoughts.
"...Let's stop here. There's nothing I can do about it even if I start thinking about that here. Now that I have some money with me, let's just go and grab some food, an empty stomach will only make me more depressed."
Alna started walking toward the shop that she often visited.
She suddenly heard a loud sound coming from behind. She quickly turned back to check the source of that loud sound. On the other end of the narrow alley, she could see Akira running in her direction. That loud sound came from when Akira kicked the obstacles out of his way as he ran through the back alley.
Akira's eyes met Alna's. Both of them froze for a few seconds before Alna regained her composure and started running as fast as she could toward the opposite direction from where Akira was.
Alna quickly understood that Akira found out that she took his wallet and he was there chasing for her.
[How did he find out? It didn't seem like he noticed anything when I took his wallet!! And even if he did, there's no way he would know that it was me?! And that too!! It doesn't seem like he was randomly looking for me and found me by pure coincidence!! He ran here fully knowing my location!!]
Alna did not know what kind of person Akira was. But that was not the only reason why she was running as fast as she could, it was because she saw Akira's expression.
"He's going to kill me!! He's definitely going to kill me if I get caught!!"
Alna, who could feel the intense killing intent from Akira, ran as fast as she could for her life.
The moment Alna started running, Akira snapped back to his senses, he quickly fixed his stance and took an aim with his AAH rifle. But before he could pull the trigger, Alpha warned Akira who had lost his calm.
"If you pull the trigger, you might hit innocent people. Are you sure you want to do that?"
Alna and Akira were not the only people in that small alley. Although it was not like it was filled with people, there were quite a lot of people there. Some of them were merchants who could not open their shop in public, some of them were customers and guards of those shops. There were also people, who had lost their place, sleeping in the corners of that alley.
Although Akira's shooting skill was way better than before, at the moment, he had no augmented suit that would allow Alpha to assist his aim and he was using a brand new gun that had never been used before. Thus he had no confidence that he could shoot accurately.
When he was hesitating, the people around him noticed that Akira had his rifle out and ready to shoot, they started to panic as they moved away from Akira. But at the same time, they also blocked his line of sight at his target.
Akira himself had no wish to get other innocent people involved. So he decided to pull back his rifle and started chasing Alna again.
It was mainly because Alna could use her smaller stature to easily pass through the narrow alley.
"How!? How does he know exactly where I am?! ... Don't tell me-"
Alna thought that Akira's wallet might be equipped with a tracker. If that was the case, it was no wonder why he could accurately pinpoint her location. So she threw Akira's wallet toward his direction.
When he saw his wallet fly above his head, Akira stopped, turned, and picked up his wallet.
Akira more or less regained his calm after he got his wallet back. The expression on his face also loosened.
Now, if the money in the wallet was still there, then Akira would get back everything that he had lost, and he would be able to clean his history of getting his wallet stolen. If it was the past Akira from when he was still living in the back alley, he would have never allowed such a blunder.
He then would be able to learn from this incident and be more careful next time, thus closing the incident there.
When Akira checked the inside of the wallet, it was empty, all the money in it was already taken out.
"...Alpha."
"Over there. I won't be able to pinpoint her location if she's too far from me. So if you want to chase her, you need to hurry up."
Akira answered back swiftly with a voice that would send a chill down to one's spine. He then started running again.
So in short, that incident did not end there. Akira blazed through the alley once again, chasing after Alna.
Alna, who was running through the back alley of the lower district, stopped as she was running out of breath. She then took a long breath and tried to calm herself. Her gaze was fixed at the alley that she just ran through, but she did not see Akira there. Even after she somehow calmed herself and adjusted her breathing, she still did not see Akira.
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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