「アキラ。徹甲弾を随分買い込むようだけど、そんなに大量に徹甲弾を使用する予定でもあるの?」
「予定というか、手持ちの分は使い切ってしまいました。だから今度は戦闘中に切らさないように、予備も含めて多めに注文しています」
それは通常弾では効果が薄い強力なモンスターと戦ったことを意味する。それも手持ちの徹甲弾を使い切るほどに大量の、
また無理をしたのではないか。そう思ったシズカはアキラの身を案じて少し心配そうに、だが隠し事を見抜くような少し強い笑顔を浮かべた。
「何があったのか聞いても良いかしら?」
「えっと、クズスハラ街遺跡での仮設基地建設作業に関連する依頼を受けたんですが、そこで大量のヤラタサソリと遭遇しまして......」
アキラはその時の様子を淡々と説明した。余りに普通に話すので、シズカも特に危険はなかったのだろうと判断して胸を
実際には一度助けたハンター達を見捨てようとしたほど危険な状態だった。だが自身はハンター達を見捨てれば逃走は容易であり、ハンター達も実際に助かったので、アキラはそこまで深刻な状況とは思わずに説明を適当に省略していた。それでシズカもそこまで危険な状態だったとは気付けなかった。
「......そういう訳でAAH突撃銃の通常弾だと少し厳しい状況でした。それで念のために徹甲弾の予備を増やしておこうと思いまして、今回は徹甲弾を多めに注文することにしました」
安心したシズカは優しく愛想良く
「それなら徹甲弾の予備を増やすことも大切だけど、私はAAH突撃銃の改造を勧めるわ。改造して強装弾を使用すればヤラタサソリとも十分戦えるようになるし、通常弾でもそれなりに威力が向上するわ。限度はあるけどね」
「改造ですか。でもそういうのって難しいんじゃないですか?」
「改造といっても部品の一部を交換するだけよ。普通に銃の整備ができるなら問題ないわ。ほら、前にも少し説明したと思うけど、AAH愛好家っているでしょう? 彼らが交換用のパーツを独自に作ったりしているのよ。一部はそのまま製品化されて広く流通しているわ。恐らく普及活動の一環なんでしょうね。私の店にも改造部品が幾つか置いてあるわ。少し固いモンスターを相手にして、AAH突撃銃の通常弾では効果が薄いからって、CWH対物突撃銃で汎用徹甲弾を多用するよりは安上がりになるはずよ。どうかしら?」
経済的な問題を除けばアキラにシズカの勧めを断る理由はない。そしてその問題は前回の依頼の報酬で解消済みだ。先日のビルの制圧作業とは異なり、救出作業の方は結構高く評価された。そのおかげでなかなかの報酬額となり、今のアキラの懐はかなり温かい。迷わずシズカの勧めに乗る。
「分かりました。それならシズカさんのお勧めをお願いします」
「お買上げありがとう御座います」
アキラは稼いできたハンターが浮かべる少し得意げな笑顔を浮かべていた。シズカはそれを少し面白く思いながら、冗談めかして恭しく
アキラの前にAAH突撃銃の改造部品が並べられる。装弾数を増加させる拡張弾倉の取付け部。情報収集機器と連携可能な照準器。銃弾の威力を向上させる銃身。改造部品には他にも様々な種類のものが無数に存在するが、シズカの店で取り扱っているのはその一部だ。
アキラはシズカの説明を聞きながらそれらを興味深そうに見ていた。
「いろいろあるんですね」
「これでも出回っている製品の極一部よ。中にはAAH突撃銃に組み込む必要性を疑うような製品まであるわ。別の銃を買った方が安く済んで高性能なのに、AAH突撃銃を無理
「そんなものまであるんですか。この改造銃身を組み込むと威力が上がるって話ですけど、同じ通常弾でも結構差が出るものなんですか?」
「かなり違うわ。威力の向上以外にも反動が軽くなったりもするわね。その原理とか技術的な細かい話を私に聞かれても分からないけどね。その
アキラは日々の勉強でアルファから基礎的な科学知識も教わっているが、そこで教えられた内容に反することを、モンスターを例に挙げて尋ねることは禁止されていた。
それらの矛盾や不可解な事象は旧世界の高度な魔法のような技術で実現している。その矛盾を解決するだけの知識を得ようとすると、それだけでアキラの残りの人生を使い切る。だから今は気にするな。そう言われて止められていた。
「旧世界の技術。その一言で全てを納得してしまうのも問題だけど、そうは言っても正しく理解して納得できるほどの知識を得るためには、人生を科学に
になる。だがアキラには他に知るべきこと、やるべきことが山ほどある。旧世界の技術の探究に費やす余裕はないのだ。
「俺はハンターですので、今はそれで納得しておきます」
その後シズカの勧めに従って、AAH突撃銃用の改造部品を幾つかと、情報収集機器と連携可能な照準器を購入した。更に弾薬補充の代金を支払うと、先日の稼ぎの大半が消えた。
装備の充実と生活の向上。前者を取れば更なる稼ぎと安全が期待できる。だが後者を
店の奥からエレナの声が響く。
「シズカ! ちょっとこっち来て!」
むと、そう言い残して店の奥に向かった。
アキラが少し不思議そうな表情で待っていると、店の奥からエレナの慌てた声とシズカの楽しげな声が聞こえてくる。
「......えっ? アキラが来てるの!?」
「そうよ。届いたら見せるって約束したじゃない。行きましょう」
「エレナも取り消さなかったでしょう? さあ行きましょう。見られて減るものでもないわ」
エレナがシズカに押されて店の奥から出てきた。そのエレナの姿を見た瞬間、アキラが硬直する。エレナはかなり薄手の強化服を身に
みながら強化服の説明を始める。
「エレナが着ているのは、B3CSD強化服よ。アキラの強化服とは違って補助骨格がない種類の強化服ね。起動前はぶかぶかだけど、起動すると縮小して肌にぴっちりと張り付くのよ。それでいてまるで何も着ていないかのような着心地で、着用者の動きを阻害することはないわ。通気性も十分確保されていて、素肌に触れる風を感じさせるほどよ。
エレナも体の線が出やすい服だとは事前に知っていたが、起動前の強化服はかなりぶかぶかな状態だった所為で着用後の状態を想像できず、そのまま着てしまった。
エレナが照れながらシズカを少し
エレナが言葉に詰まる。確かに言うだけ言ってみた少々都合の良すぎる要望は全て問題なく反映されている。そこに文句の付けようはない。
「......私が提示した予算で、そこまで条件を満たした強化服が買えるとは思えないのだけど?」
り出してみた。だがシズカがあっさり答える。
「大事なパートナーの
「......そういうことか」
サラの資金援助はエレナも非常に
楽しげにエレナを見ていたシズカが急にアキラに話を振る。
「ところで、アキラはエレナの強化服を見てどう思う?」
再びアキラとエレナの目が合う。アキラが少し顔を赤くして、視線をエレナの体から
「......刺激が強すぎるので、上に何か着ることをお勧めします」
エレナは普段着用している防護服を上に着込めば良かったことに今頃気が付いた。その程度のことに気が付かないほどに慌てていたのだ。
「......そ、そうよね! そ、それじゃ!」
エレナは慌てて店の奥に引っ込んだ。アキラはエレナを黙って見送り、シズカは笑いを堪えながら見送った。
アキラは一度深呼吸して気持ちを落ち着かせる。もう少し落ち着かなければ、戻ってきたエレナと
「......シズカさん。高性能な強化服って、ああいうやつが多いんですか?」
「いいえ。そんなことはないわ。珍しい製品でもないけどね。一定の需要があるのよ」
ろ一定の需要があることに驚いた。女性向けの強化服にはあの手の製品が多いのだろうか。買う方も気にしないのだろうか。そう何となく疑問に思った。
シズカはアキラの何とも言えない表情からその勘違いを察すると、笑いながら補足を入れる。
「別にあれだけを着て外に出るわけではないのよ。元々は生身だと着用できない重装強化服とかを装備するための補助的な強化服だったのよ。重装強化服を動作させた際の負荷の軽減や、重装強化服側には追加しにくい機能を補うためにね。そこからいろいろ発展した製品なの。防護服と合わせて使用したり、普通の服の下に着たりと、汎用的な使用方法に対応できるようにね。私も下に似たようなものを着ているわ。エレナの強化服よりは安値のものだけどね」
シズカは今までも相当の重量がある銃や弾薬を普段から軽々と運んでいた。今までアキラは気にしていなかったが、聞けば納得できる話だった。
「言われてみれば、確かにそうですね。自然に運んでいたので気付きませんでした」
「結構気が付かない人は多いのよね。一見普通の格好に見えるけど、実は下に目立たない強化服を着ている。そんな人もいるわ。相手を油断させるためにね。そういう所に気付く観察力もハンターには大切よ? アキラも気を付けなさい」
エレナが先ほどの強化服の上に普段使用している防護服を着用して戻ってくる。そこでアキラとエレナの目が合う。アキラ達はいろいろと
アキラが場の空気を流すために話題を切り替える。
「エレナさん。先日は情報収集機器をありがとう御座いました。とても役に立っていて助かっています」
エレナもアキラの意図を察して話に乗る。
「それは良かったわ。初心者にはやっぱり総合系の情報収集機器の方が良いのよね。最近は総合系の情報収集機器もなかなか性能が上がってきているって話だし、やっぱり情報収集機器のトレンドとしてはこれからはそっちが主流に......」
アキラとエレナが互いに意識しないように意識しながら話し続けている。シズカはそれを楽しげに眺めていた。
アキラがレンタル業者から借りた車で荒野を走っている。
『アルファ。目的地まで後どれぐらい掛かるんだ?』
『このペースだと、後30分ぐらいよ』
『そうか。......それで、アルファは何でそんな格好なんだ?』
助手席に座っているアルファはメイド服を着ていた。実用性など溝に捨てた、完全な鑑賞目的のメイド服だ。
上品な光沢を放つ黒の布地が
『あら、希望の服装でもあるの? 私に着てほしい服があるなら、言ってもらえれば着替えるわよ?』
『いや、別にそんなものはない。荒野に似つかわしくない服ばっかり着ている気がするから、どんな基準で服を選んでいるのかちょっと気になっただけだ』
『私の服装の判断基準ね。いろいろ考えているとも言えるし、適当とも言えるわ』
『いろいろか......』
(......まあ、水着で横にいられるよりましか)
下手に追及するともっと気が散る格好に着替えるかもしれない。そう考えたアキラはそれ以上深く聞くのを止めて話題を変える。
『今更だけどさ、借りる車はこれで良かったのか? ハンター向けの荒野仕様車両なら機銃とかの武装付きでも良さそうだけど、これには付いてないからな。いや、俺も大砲付きの車を借りる気はないけどさ、もうちょっと金を出して、もう少し良いやつを借りた方が良かった気がする』
アキラが借りた車はレンタル店がハンター向けに貸し出している車両の中で、一番安い料金のものだ。店にはもう少し料金を上げればもっと高性能な武装車両も幾つかあった。
『これで良いのよ。この前の依頼の報酬でアキラのハンターランクは20になったわ。そのランクで借りられる車で費用対効果が一番良いものを選んだの。確かにこの車に武装はないけれど、モンスターはアキラが倒せば良いだけよ。シズカの勧めで買った改造パーツに取り替えた銃の性能を試すためにもね。それに車両の武装は基本的に車の制御ユニットで操作するから私のサポートの対象外なのよ。レンタル品の制御ユニットを乗っ取るわけにもいかないでしょう?』
『制御ユニットはハンターオフィスが討伐内容の計測の
『そんなことを言って、俺がよく考えずに試してみようとか言ったらどうするつもりなんだ?』
『一応それを実行した結果生じるであろう不利益を説明した上で、アキラがそれでもやるって言うのなら、やるわよ? エレナ達を助けた時も、私は一度止めたけれど結局はアキラの意思に従ったわ。クズスハラ街遺跡から大量のモンスターが出現した時の緊急依頼の時も、私は止めたのにアキラは独りで走ってでも行こうとしたから、強化服を操作してアキラを無理
みを向けてきたアルファに、アキラは余計なことを言わなければ良かったと思いながら少し硬い表情を返した。
雑談を続けながら先を急ぐ。アキラは話題の種に少し気になっていたことをアルファに尋ねていた。
『そういえば、俺は汎用討伐依頼を受けているけどさ。あの依頼、モンスターを倒さなくても収集した索敵反応データを出せば、少ないけど報酬が出るんだろう? 討伐依頼なのに、何でなんだ?』
『モンスターの分布などを調べる統計情報として扱われるのよ。集計してモンスターの反応が濃い場所があれば、本格的な討伐部隊が送られるのでしょうね。偵察も索敵も兼ねているけれど、具体的な場所の指定がないから便宜上討伐依頼の
い速さで走って振り切って、ひたすら荒野を走り続けるハンターとかもいるのかな?』
そんなやつはいないだろう。そう思って冗談で口にした内容をあっさり肯定されたアキラが意外そうな表情を浮かべる。
『走り屋とか呼ばれているわ。移動速度に特化した荒野仕様の車両に高性能な索敵装置を積んで、荒野を高速で駆け巡るのよ。ただしモンスターを振り切れるだけの腕がないと危ないわ。場合によっては逃げ回っている間に物
『そういうハンター稼業もあるのか。遺物収集やモンスター討伐だけがハンター稼業じゃないんだな』
『遺物収集とモンスター討伐がハンター稼業の基本なのは確かよ。それ以外も稼ぎ方はいろいろあるってだけの話よ。まあ、アキラには
期待するように笑うアルファに、アキラも笑って返す。
『分かってるよ。俺がアルファの指定する遺跡を攻略できる実力を身に着けるまで、気長に待ってくれ』
『それなら、今後の訓練の指針を決める為にも、今のアキラの実力を見せてもらいましょうか』
アルファが笑って前方を指差した。車の進行方向からモンスターが駆けてきていた。
アルファがアキラの視界を拡張してその弾道を表示した。そしてアキラに狙撃の結果を確認させてからすぐに元に戻した。
アキラは照準を修正して再び慎重にモンスターを狙う。照準がぶれないように強化服で銃をしっかり固定して引き金を引いた。放たれた銃弾はモンスターの左の空中を駆け抜けていった。
『今度は1メートル左に
自身を食い殺そうとするモンスターとの距離が縮まっていく中、アキラは一度ゆっくり深呼吸して落ち着きを保った。慌てた分だけ死が近付く。動揺は自身をより窮地に追い込む。アキラはそれを理解していた。
気を静め、冷静さを保ちながら、よく狙って再度狙撃する。撃ち出された弾丸が
め息を吐き、狙撃から掃射に切り替えた。銃弾が目標一帯に連続して撃ち出される。組み込んだ改造部品のおかげで威力を増した弾丸が、多少の照準のずれなど銃弾の数で補ってモンスターに次々に着弾していく。もはや弱点部位がどうこうという話ではない。無数の弾丸を全身に浴びたモンスターは逃げる間もなく絶命した。
アルファのサポートがある状態なら初めの1発で倒していただろう。そう考えたアキラがまだまだ
"Akira. You're buying a lot of ammo this time. Are you planning to use these anytime soon?"
"Rather than a plan, it's more like I've exhausted all of my reserve ammo. That's why I want to stock a lot of ammo so I won't end up running out of ammo when in the midst of a battle again."
His answer hinted that he had fought against a big swarm of monsters that could not be killed using normal ammo. Those monsters were so big that he had spent all of his ammo reserves. Either that or he fought some super strong monster and ended up using all of his ammo. In the worst-case scenario, it might even be both.
Shizuka wondered if Akira did something dangerous again. Although she asked him with a worried voice and gaze, her smile somehow gave pressure as if warning Akira not to lie.
"Is it okay if I ask you what happened?"
"Uhh... When I took the request to help the forward base construction in Kuzusuhara ruin, I met and fought with a lot of Yarata scorpions..."
Akira explained everything to Shizuka without trying to hide anything. Since Akira explained it without making any suspicious behaviours, Shizuka thought that there was nothing to worry about and patted her chest in relief.
In reality, Akira actually was in such a dangerous situation that he even thought of abandoning the Hunters that he had saved. But with that being said, he knew that he could easily escape if he just abandoned the other Hunters and not to mention that the other Hunters were also saved in the end. So he thought that it was not so dangerous and left off some details from his story. Thanks to that, Shizuka could not tell that Akira actually had a brush with death.
"...Because of that, I could not use my usual AAH rifle's ammo, you see. That's why I thought that I should stock up piercing ammo."
Shizuka felt relieved and smiled gently at Akira. She then came up with a recommendation considering both Akira's safety and the shop's revenue.
"Stocking piercing ammo is a good idea. Though, there is an alternative. In the case you've described, I recommend you to add a modification to your AAH rifle. If you add a modification to increase the firepower of the rifle, you should be able to use it to fight against Yarata scorpion. It will give quite an increase in firepower even when you use normal ammo, but of course, there's a limit on how far you can increase its firepower using modification."
"Modification, huh? But like, isn't that a complicated procedure?"
"Even if it's called a modification, you actually just need to replace a part of the rifle. You should be able to do it if you know how to do standard maintenance for an AAH rifle. You've heard about those AAH rifle fan, right? They even usually make their own parts, you know? Some of them would even spread their modified rifles around to get more AAH rifle fans. I also have some modified AAH rifles here. Modifying your AAH rifle should be cheaper rather than stocking up piercing ammo for CWH anti-material rifle just because the normal AAH rifle ammo doesn't really work against some of the monsters. So, what do you think?"
Akira would take Shizuka's recommendation if he had no problem with money, and as a matter of fact, this problem has been solved from the reward from his last request. Unlike the building scouting job that he took the other day, his rescue job yesterday scored him quite a huge reward. Because of the surplus money, he immediately decided to take her recommendation.
"I understand. In that case, I'll take your recommendation."
"Thank you for your patronage."
As Akira smiled with a smile that only an independent Hunter could give, Shizuka found it rather interesting and smiled back.
Shizuka put all kinds of AAH rifle modification parts in front of Akira. A magazine extension to increase the ammo capacity, a port to connect the information-gathering device with the rifle, a gun barrel to increase the firepower. Although there were still other kinds of modification parts, Shizuka only had these parts in her shop at that moment.
Akira looked at these parts with wide eyes while listening to Shizuka's explanation.
"There are so many different modifications, huh."
"There are still many other types of modifications out there, you know. Some of them don't even look suitable for AAH rifle. Although it would be cheaper just to buy a new gun, those AAH rifle fans would forcefully attach those parts to their AAH rifle. I guess those people are really zealous."
"So there are even those kinds of parts too, huh. That aside, about this gun barrel to increase firepower, I wonder how much increase it would give when I use normal ammo."
"It'll give quite an increase, you see. It would even lessen the kickback too. Although, to be honest, I don't really understand the reason behind it and the kind of technology it uses. I only know that it uses some kind of complex technique to produce such an effect, I guess it's a technique from the old-world technology."
Although Alpha was teaching Akira about basic scientific knowledge, she prohibited him from asking about the monsters.
The out-of-common-sense technology of the old-world could create things that were close to magic. If Akira wanted to understand the knowledge behind it, he would need to spend his whole life studying. That was why Alpha told him to not think about it for now.
"The technology of the old-world, if all kinds of mysteries in this era can be solved with those 3 words, it would take one's whole life to understand it. I bet those researchers who are working under the Corporate Government are devoting their entire lives to do that, but I heard that even they still don't fully understand the old-world technology."
He would be lying if he said that he was not interested. But Akira still had a heap of other stuff that he had to learn and do. He just did not have the time nor the money to indulge himself in studying the old-world technology.
"I'm a Hunter, so I won't be digging too deep into that kind of stuff."
After that, Akira followed Shizuka's recommendation and bought some modification parts plus an aiming device that he could connect to his information-gathering device. And with that, half of the money that he earned yesterday was gone.
Hunters had 2 choices, to use the money for updating equipment or to increase their quality of life. Focusing more on the former would help to earn more money. But neglecting the latter would ruin their health and affect their performance as Hunters. It was important to be able to maintain the balance between these two, after all, all the Hunters who could not do this end up dead.
Suddenly, Akira could hear Elena's voice from inside the shop.
"Shizuka!! Come here for a bit!"
Shizuka just smiled at Akira before she went to the back room.
Akira waited for Shizuka while making a puzzled look. Not too long after that, he could hear Elena's panicked voice and Shizuka's voice which sounded like she was teasing Elena.
"...Eh?! Akira is here?!!"
"Yep. And remember that you did promise him to show it when it arrived, right? So let's go."
"But you didn't say no either, didn't you? Let's show him, it's not like you'll lose anything anyway."
Elena appeared from behind the back room with Shizuka pushing her from the back. Akira was frozen when he saw Elena, who was wrapped in a thin bodysuit-shaped augmented suit.
Shizuka who was the only person who wasn't fl.u.s.tered, smiled teasingly as she explained about Elena's augmented suit.
"The augmented suit that Elena is using is the B3CSD augmented suit. Unlike Akira's augmented suit, this augmented suit is not equipped with exoskeleton support. It might be all baggy before being turned on, but once you turn it on, it will fit tightly on its user's body. Because of that, it would feel like it's not even there and it won't disturb the user's movement. It has enough air permeability that the user would even be able to feel the breeze as if it was blowing directly over the user's skin. And of course, it also augments its user's physical power too."
Her augmented suit was so baggy earlier, but it completely shocked her as it fit tightly on her body when she turned it on. Elena knew that her augmented suit would show her body line. So she still couldn't believe that she came to meet Akira with her augmented suit on.
Elena glared at Shizuka while still blushing.
Elena could not argue back, her augmented suit fulfilled all the requirements which she originally thought to be a bit impossible. So she had no complaints about it.
"...To be honest, I thought it would be impossible to get an augmented suit with all of those functions with my budget, you know?"
Elena tried to come up with any arguments that she could find, but Shizuka calmly and quickly answered back.
"For the sake of her precious friend, Sara also contributed for the budget, you see. You should thank her properly later..."
"So that's why, huh?"
It was true Elena felt really happy that Sara helped her to pay for her augmented suit. But looking from the other perspective, it meant that she would not be able to get her hands on this augmented suit had Sara not helped her pay for it. Elena understood this as she smiled bitterly.
Shizuka who was smiling at Elena suddenly turned to Akira and asked him.
"By the way, what do you think after seeing Elena's augmented suit?"
Akira and Elena looked at each other. Akira's face turned red, he then answered back while trying to avoid looking at Elena's body.
"...I think it's a bit too extreme, I think it's a good idea to wear something over it."
Elena immediately realized that she could just put on her usual armour on top of her augmented suit. She was so fl.u.s.tered up until now that she did not realize that at all.
"...Y-you're right! Erm. W-well, I'll be back soon!!"
Elena went to the backroom in panic. Akira just saw her off without saying anything while Shizuka giggled mischievously.
Akira took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He thought that he would not be able to talk normally with Elena once she returned if he was not calm enough. So in order to change the mood, he asked a light question to Shizuka.
"...Shizuka-san. Do all advanced augmented suits look like that?"
"Nope. Not all of them look like that, but that type is not rare either. After all, there's a demand for that type of augmented suit."
Akira was surprised when he heard her answer. He wondered if some of the girls actually wanted to buy that kind of augmented suits, or that it was just because the people who bought them were not very concerned about that "feature".
Shizuka looked at Akira's expression. Since he could not come up with a reply, she took note that he was misunderstanding something, so she explained to him.
"It's not like they would go out with only that augmented suit, you know. It is originally designed as a support-type augmented suit that was meant to help you when you use a heavy augmented suit or other types of equipment that you can't use without any physical enhancement. It is designed to reduce the stress on your body when you use a heavy augmented suit or to add functions that you can't normally find on a heavy augmented suit. Then it expanded from there, some of them are used together with armour, some of them can be used under normal clothing, and some of them are redesigned to be used in daily life. I'm actually using one too, you know, although, it's a cheaper one compared to Elena's."
Akira had seen Shizuka carrying around heavy guns and ammo as if they were nothing, but he never really paid attention to it before. After hearing her explanation, he quickly realized it.
"Now that you mention it, that must be the case, huh. I didn't realize it although I've seen you carrying heavy stuff around."
"Most of the people won't notice it. Some people intentionally use simple clothing while hiding an augmented suit under it in order to catch their opponents off-guard. It's an important skill for a Hunter to be able to discern that, so you should be careful, Akira."
Elena then returned after putting on her usual armour on top of her augmented suit. As she and Akira looked at each other, she just smiled trying to gloss over what happened not too long ago.
Akira once again threw out a new subject to change the mood.
"Elena-san, thank you very much for the information-gathering device from the other day. It is really useful."
Elena understood Akira's intention and immediately answered back.
"I'm glad to hear that. As I thought, a general type information-gathering device is more suitable for beginners. Not to mention that I heard the power of the general type information-gathering device has been increasing lately. I guess the trend for information-gathering devices really leans towards that direction nowadays..."
Akira and Elena continued their conversation awkwardly, trying to forget what just happened. Shizuka was just silently watching them while enjoying their reaction.
Akira borrowed a car from the rental shop and was traversing the wasteland.
"Alpha. How long before we arrive?"
"At this pace, we should arrive there in about 30 minutes."
"I see... So then, Alpha, why are you in that uniform?"
Alpha who was sitting in the assistant driver seat was wearing a maid uniform. It looked very non-practical since it focused only on aesthetics.
It was made of glossy luxurious fabric with a snow-white apron above it and it had zero skin exposure below the neck. The skirt extended down to her ankle, thus completely hiding her long legs. It had long sleeves that covered her arm and her hands were wrapped in snow-white gloves. Alpha looked graceful and refined.
"Oh my, do you want me to put on something else instead? If you have any request, I'll change to any dress you want, you know?"
"Well, it's not like I have any request though. It's just that I feel like you always use dresses that don't fit the wasteland, you see. So I'm just curious why you always do that."
"The reasoning behind my dresses, huh? You can say that I have a lot of reasons behind it, but you can also say that I'm just picking dresses randomly."
"A lot of reasons, huh...?"
[...Well, I guess it's still better than a swimsuit, huh.]
Alpha might change into something worse if Akira prodded too much. That was why he decided to not pursue that subject.
"It might be a little bit too late asking about this, but, is this vehicle really okay? A wasteland vehicle for Hunters usually has guns attached to it, but this vehicle has no guns, you know? Well, it's not like I want to rent a vehicle with a huge cannon, it's just that we can get a better vehicle if I spend a little more money for the car, right?"
The vehicle that Akira borrowed was the cheapest vehicle for Hunters that were available in the rental shop. So there were many other better vehicles in that rental shop if he was willing to spend more money on it.
"This one is good enough. Thanks to the previous request, you are Rank 20 Hunter now, and this vehicle has the best price vs. performance ratio that you can get for now. Although it's true that this vehicle has no weapons attached, it'll be fine as long as you can take out the monsters that you meet. It will also work as a test for your newly modified AAH rifle after taking Shizuka's suggestion. Not to mention, I can't control the guns attached to a vehicle because they are controlled by the control device on the vehicle. After all, it's not like I can just hijack the control unit of a rented car, right?"
"The control device also doubles as an information-gathering device used by the Hunter Office to decide your reward from the monsters that you kill, you see. So if you mess with it, they might cut your reward. But even so, do you still want me to do it after knowing that?"
"Putting that aside, what would you do if I suddenly tell you to do that?"
"I've explained to you all the risks that might come from doing that, so if you tell me to do it even after knowing that, I'll do it, you know? Like when you saved Elena and Sara, I've told you to stop but you still decided to help them and I still gave my support to you when you did that, remember? And also when a big swarm of monsters came out from Kuzusuhara ruin, I told you not to go but you said that you would go even if you had to go alone on foot, but even so I didn't use the augmented suit to forcefully stop you and I even gave my support too, right? I always try to respect your will, you see? That's why, Akira, you should think carefully before deciding on something, okay?"
As Alpha gave off a pressuring smile to Akira, he thought that he should not have asked while making a stern face.
They continued talking while heading to their destination. Akira who was bothered by the content of his request this time suddenly asked Alpha.
"By the way, the request that I took this time is a normal monster hunting request. But it seems that I can still get the reward if I just submit the scan information that I collect around the destination area even if I don't kill any monsters, right? But it's a monster hunting request, so why is that? "
"It'll be used as data for monitoring the monster distribution in the area. I think they'll send an eradication team if they find an area with a lot of monster signals. So it's basically a reconnaissance request, but since they don't know the exact location to send the Hunters, they also combined it with an extermination request for convenience. Basically, you won't get any money if you just waste your time loitering around the city, but you can get some money if you loiter around a bit further away from the city, you see."
"Doesn't that mean that the Hunters can just run around in the wasteland in a high-speed vehicle without fighting any monsters and still get money?"
Akira was half-joking when he asked that question since he thought that no Hunters would do something like that. So he was surprised when Alpha gave that unexpected answer.
"They're called as the runners. They use vehicles specially designed for enhanced speed and equip it with a very powerful scanning device as they just roam around the wasteland. But of course, they won't be able to do that if they don't have the ability to escape from the monsters. Else they might gather a huge number of monsters chasing them around while trying to run away from them, you know. Since they know that the city defense will take them out together with the monsters chasing them if they bring those monsters to the city, they have no other choice but to desperately try to break off from the monsters chasing them."
"So there are Hunters who earn money by doing something like that, huh? I thought that Hunters only earned money by hunting monsters or relics."
"You're not 100% mistaken, hunting relics and hunting monsters are the primary income sources for the Hunters. I'm just saying that it's not the only income source for the Hunters. But well, I guess it has nothing to do with you, Akira. What you need is basically polish the most fundamental skill for a Hunter, the skills to explore ruins."
As Alpha was smiling at Akira showing her expectation of him, he just returned back with another smile.
"I know. Please be patient until I have enough skills to explore the ruin that you requested me to."
"In that case, let's see how good you are now so I can plan your next training schedule."
Alpha smiled and pointed her finger forward. There was a monster running towards the vehicle in front of them.
Alpha enhanced Akira's vision so that he could see the trajectory that the bullet took. He confirmed the trajectory and immediately took another aim.
He adjusted his aim and aimed carefully. He then used his augmented suit to hold his aim so it would not sway before pulling the trigger again. This time, the bullet passed through the left side of the monster.
"You missed 1 metre to the left this time. Just a bit more and you'll hit it."
As the monster kept running towards him, Akira slowly took a long deep breath to calm himself down and took another aim at the monster. He knew well that he would die if he panicked, and getting nervous would only put him in a worse situation.
He kept himself calm and aimed carefully before pulling the trigger again. This time, the bullet hit the monster. But it did not hit the weak point of the monster nor was it able to deal severe injury. It was only enough to stagger the monster as it continued charging towards him.
Akira lightly sighed as he changed his stance from sniping to just standard shooting. He changed the rifle's mode from semi-automatic to fully automatic. He sacrificed precision for damage as he shot out countless bullets with enhanced firepower thanks to the modification that he had installed on his rifle. It was no longer important to aim for the monster's weak points, Akira now just showered the monster with bullets and slaughtered it; without giving it any chance to escape.
Akira thought back. With Alpha's support, this fight would have ended with the first shot. He cursed his own weakness and lack of skills.
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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