シカラベがすぐにアキラに気付く。
「アキラか。調子は?」
「問題ない」
「そうか。時間になったらすぐに出発する。それまでにあそこであいつに聞いて準備を済ませろ。準備が終わったら待機だ。適当に暇を潰しておけ。俺は
アキラはシカラベの指示通り装甲兵員輸送車に向かって賞金首討伐の準備を始める。装甲兵員輸送車で受け取った物を持って自分の車に戻った。
アキラが受け取ったものはいろいろだ。対大型モンスター用のロケットランチャーとその弾。通信機と通信コード。使用する
情報収集妨害煙幕
アキラは強化服を着たまま柔軟体操をしている。アキラの伸ばしが足りていない場合は、アルファがアキラの強化服を操作して、その身体を少々強引に伸ばそうとする。
『アルファ。ちょっと痛い』
『少し体が硬いのね。
『お、お手柔らかに頼む。い、痛い』
『大丈夫。回復薬があるわ』
アルファは
そこにシカラベがやって来た。
「何をやってるんだ?」
「見れば分かるだろう。柔軟体操だ」
シカラベが聞きたかったことは、なぜ今そんなことをしているのか、だったのだが、あることを思いだして別のことを尋ねる。
「......そうか。興味本位で聞くんだが、その強化服、追従式か? それとも読み取り式か?」
「えーっと......」
アキラはシカラベの質問の意味自体がすぐに分からなかった。アルファがアキラに教える。
「注意って、何をだ?」
「強化服について詳しくないハンターの中には、強化服にいろいろ幻想を持っているやつもいるからな。着るだけで誰でもすぐに使えると思っているやつもいる。昔、読み取り式の強化服を裏ルートで安く手に入れたやつがいてな。そいつは手に入れた強化服を早速
「......安全装置とかは付いていなかったのか?」
「前の使用者が無効化していたらしい。そういうやつは多いぞ? たとえ
んでいる。回復薬の話はきっとアルファの冗談だ。アキラはそう思い込むことにした。
アキラは今の話を頭から追い出すために話題を変えることにする。立ち上がってシカラベに尋ねる。
「......それで、何の用だ? そろそろ出発か?」
アキラに指摘されて、シカラベがここに来た理由を思い出す。
に出発するが、そのことじゃない。ちょっと頼みがあってな。アキラの車にこいつを乗せてほしいんだ」
シカラベの後ろにはハンターの少年が立っていた。少年はアキラと同じぐらいの
「アキラだ。......シカラベ、確認しておきたい。俺が彼の手助けや護衛をする必要はあるのか?」
「いいや? アキラは基本的に好き勝手に戦う。そういう契約だ。トガミはトガミで勝手に戦う。無理に連携する必要もない」
「彼が俺の邪魔をした場合、俺は彼を車外に投げ飛ばすかもしれない」
「止めはしないが、可能なら俺の車へ投げ込んでくれ」
アキラはシカラベの要求を気分的には断りたかった。しかしアキラの依頼に対する姿勢では断るほどの要求でもなかった。そのためアキラはシカラベにいろいろ言ってみたのだが、シカラベはアキラの要求をあっさり受け入れた。そしてトガミも表情を不機嫌にしただけで、アキラの車に乗ることを拒否してはいない。
アキラは諦めてトガミを車に乗せることにする。
「......分かった。それで良いなら乗せるよ」
「悪いな。すぐに出発する。遅れるなよ」
シカラベはそれだけ言って、トガミを置いて装甲兵員輸送車の方へ戻っていった。
アキラの車の助手席にはトガミが乗っている。ロケットランチャーなどのトガミの荷物はアキラの荷物と一緒に車の後部に積んでいる。
トガミは乗車する前から不機嫌な表情のままだ。アキラとシカラベの会話が相当気に入らなかったようだ。
「おい、さっきの会話はどういう意味だ?」
「どういう意味って、聞いたままだ。補足が必要な内容だったか?」
アキラの返答を聞いて、トガミがますます不機嫌になる。
いになるようなことを言いやがって。お前のハンターランクは幾つだ? 言ってみろ」
アキラのハンターランクを聞いたトガミが嘲笑しながら自信のある声で話す。
「21? その程度のランクで俺にそんな態度を取っているのか? 俺はランク27だ!」
アキラはトガミをチラッと見て、すぐに視線を前に戻した。
「おい! 聞いているのか!?」
いろいろ面倒になったアキラはトガミを無視することにした。
アキラの隣の空中に腰掛けているアルファがトガミを指差しながら尋ねる。
『放っておいて良いの?』
『騒音以外の邪魔をしてきたらシカラベの車に投げ込もう』
アキラはあっさりそう答えた。シカラベの許可は取っている。アキラは本当にやるつもりだった。
トガミはその後もいろいろ言っていたが、アキラが完全に無視しているため、
アキラ達を先導する装甲兵員輸送車には、シカラベ、ヤマノベ、パルガの3人が乗車している。この装甲兵員輸送車の定員は10名だ。7名分の空きにはシカラベ達が用意した弾薬等が積まれている。それでもトガミを乗車させる空きぐらいはある。
運転しているのはヤマノベだ。車の制御装置の表示部には賞金首のおおよその位置が表示されている。ドランカムの偵察班がこの装甲兵員輸送車に賞金首の予測位置を送信しているのだ。ヤマノベは無駄な戦闘を避ける道程を選んで運転していた。
ヤマノベがシカラベに尋ねる。
「なあ、何であのガキを連れてきたんだ?」
「ガキって、どっちの方だ?」
「トガミの方だ。アキラの方は昨日のあの出来事である程度実力を把握できた。アキラを同行させることに文句を言う気はない。......トガミの方は、使い物にならないとは言わないが、別に要らないだろ? 第一、あいつも一応若手ハンターの派閥のやつだ。何で連れてきたんだ?」
「......押しつけられたって、その条件を呑んで大丈夫なのか?」
「条件は参加だけだ。生還させろとは言われていない。死んだら死んだで構わねえよ。俺達の車に同乗させると面倒そうだから、アキラに押しつけたけどな」
「昨日のアキラの様子だと、本当に車から投げ飛ばしそうだな」
シカラベが少し面倒そうな表情を浮かべる。その表情はドランカム内部のごたごたに向けられたものだ。シカラベが面倒そうな嫌そうな表情でパルガの質問に答える。
シカラベはドランカムの幹部であるアラベといろいろ付き合いがあり、アラベからの情報でドランカムの内部事情もいろいろ把握している。シカラベがヤマノベ達にその事情を説明する。
ドランカムの若手の派閥は大まかに分けると二つだ。カツヤ派と、反カツヤ派だ。カツヤ派の者とカツヤ派ではない者。そう言い換えても良い。
カツヤ派は若手優遇策を持ち出した幹部を後ろ盾にしている。そして後ろ盾となっている幹部を頂点にしてかなり組織化されており多数の依頼を成功させている。そのためカツヤ派はその幹部の権限と今までの実績によって、今回の賞金首討伐に多額の資金を費やして参加しているのだ。
めてそう呼んでいるという程度の存在だ。強固な結束があるわけでもない。しかもカツヤ派を何らかの理由で毛嫌いしている者や、深い理由があってカツヤ派に加われない者以外は、徐々にカツヤ派に取り込まれている。
カツヤ派の勢いを
れたような表情で話す。
「何だ。つまりはカツヤへの嫌がらせか。ああ、シカラベはあいつを嫌ってたな。ん? その理由だと、トガミを生かして返さないと
「まあ、確かにカツヤへの抵抗勢力にするつもりなら、その程度の実力は必要か。確か......、今のカツヤのハンターランクは......」
パルガがカツヤのハンターランクを思い出そうとする。パルガが思い出す前にシカラベが答える。
「32だ。あの
「あの女はカツヤをドランカムの広告塔にするつもりだ。この賞金首討伐にカツヤを参加させたのも、その広告の一環だ。ほぼ若手ハンターだけの賞金首討伐チームを組織したのもあの女だ。当然チームリーダーはカツヤだ。討伐に成功したら、各所に宣伝するんだろうな。若くて美形で才能があるハンター。防壁の内側にいるスポンサー様にはさぞ受けが良いんだろうよ」
ヤマノベが苦笑しながら話す。
「確かに、あいつは面も良いからな。俺達じゃ無理だな」
一緒に笑っていたパルガが索敵反応に気付いた。そして笑って話す。
「進行方向にモンスターだ。それじゃあ、試しに反カツヤ派の期待の星候補の実力を確認するか」
パルガが通信機を操作してトガミへ指示を出す。
「8番! 進行方向にモンスターだ! 先行して蹴散らしてこい!」
シカラベ達が同行者に配った通信機には番号が振られている。トガミの番号は8番、アキラの番号は9番だ。
トガミはずっと不機嫌そうに外を見ていたが、シカラベ達からの指示を聞いて不敵に笑う。
「8番了解! すぐに終わらせる!」
「おい! すぐにモンスターの近くまで移動させろ!」
アキラは黙って車を急加速させる。急加速の勢いで車が大きく揺れてトガミが体勢を崩して助手席から転げ落ちそうになった。
トガミは慌てて体勢を立て直すと、アキラに文句を言う。
「おい! もっとちゃんと運転しろ! 何考えてんだ!?」
アキラは全く気にせずに、車の速度も全く落とさずに目標のモンスター達へ向けて運転を続けた。
目標のモンスター達はアキラ達の車ほどの大きさの肉食獣だ。モンスター達は自分達に近付いてくる車の存在に気付くと激しい
アキラがトガミの方を見ずに尋ねる。
「それで、どこまで近付けば良いんだ?」
「......適当にその辺で
トガミはシカラベ達を除いた他の人員を、賞金首討伐に参加できるほどの実力者だとは思っていない。実力不足を数で補うために用意した格下だと考えている。アキラのような子供や、傷んだ防護服を着用している者など、他の人員は装備や外見から大して強そうには思えない者が多かったからだ。
その認識も一部は正しい。借金持ちのハンターに高性能な装備を貸し出して、そのまま持ち逃げされたら大変だ。そのためシカラベ達が彼らに渡した武器は、誰が使っても一定の戦果が期待できる使い捨ての物を基本にしている。単体で売っても高値では売れず、大量に持って逃げることは困難な装備ばかりだ。
トガミは自分がシカラベのような実力者に混じって賞金首討伐に参加できたのは、自分の高い実力をドランカムの上層部に正当に評価された
モンスターとの距離はもう大分近付いてきている。トガミは自分の装備を持って車から降りる。そしてアキラを馬鹿にして見下すように笑って話す。
「指示されたのは俺だけだ。俺1人で十分だってことだ。お前は大人しくそこで黙って見ていろ。実力の違いってやつを見せてやる」
トガミはアキラにそう言った後、効果的な攻撃位置に向けて走っていった。
攻撃位置に着いたトガミは、対賞金首用に用意した大火力の銃をモンスターに向けて構え、自信満々に引き金を引く。照準の多少の狂いを十分補えるだけの無数の銃弾が連続して放たれる。銃弾がモンスターの皮と肉と血と骨を
トガミの採点では自分の実力を知らしめるのに十分な内容の戦闘だった。自分の実力を理解したアキラの反応を楽しみにしながら、アキラの車まで戻っていく。
しかしトガミの期待は裏切られた。アキラは運転席に座ったまま、暇そうに前を見ていた。シカラベ達の車がアキラ達の横を通り過ぎていく。
トガミが車の脇に立ち、非常に不服そうな表情でアキラを見ている。トガミは先ほどの戦闘に対するアキラの何らかの反応を求めていた。それが好意的なものであろうとなかろうと、アキラから何らかの反応があれば、ある程度満足しただろう。それが称賛ならばそのまま受け取り、中傷ならば負け惜しみとして受け取り、どちらにしろトガミの自尊心を満足させたことだろう。
しかしアキラは全く反応を示さなかった。単にトガミを無視しているのではない。特記すべきことは何もなかった。アキラの態度はそうトガミに告げているようだった。
トガミは不機嫌を隠さずにアキラに尋ねる。
「......おい、俺に何か言うことがあるんじゃないか?」
「早く乗ってくれ。追いつけなくなるだろう?」
トガミの表情がより一層険悪なものになり、怒号を発する直前のそれに変わる。トガミの逆上を止めたのは、通信機からのパルガの声だった。
「8番、9番、大分離されているぞ。さっきの戦闘で車にトラブルでも出たのか?」
アキラが答える。
「こちら9番。車体に損傷無し。理由は不明だが8番が車に乗ろうとしない。置いていって良いか?」
「8番は近くにいるのか? 8番、負傷で動けないのか?」
トガミが不服そうに答える。
トガミは身を震わせ歯を食いしばって内心の激情を何とか抑えて車に乗り込んだ。
アキラがすぐに車を動かす。アキラは随分離されてしまったシカラベ達に追いつくために、かなりの速度でシカラベ達の後を追った。
アキラは表面上は黙って、裏ではアルファと雑談しながら運転を続けている。アキラの横ではトガミが黙ってアキラとは反対方向の荒野を眺めている。トガミの内心の激情は決壊寸前だったが、2人の間に会話がないことと、走行中の車で騒ぎを起こしてアキラが運転を誤ればトガミも被害を受けることが、何とか場の平静を保たせていた。
移動中に日の出になった。荒野に日の光が満ちていく。アルファが朝日を浴びながらアキラに
『アキラ。朝日よ』
『そうだな』
『......反応が鈍いわね。もっとこう、何か感想はないの?』
『そんなこと言われてもな......』
アキラも辺りの光景とアルファの姿を見て、全く無反応というわけではない。しかし内心にわき上がった感情を適切に説明できるほど語彙に優れてはいなかった。
『まあ、スラム街で見る日の出よりは、記憶に残る光景だな』
アキラは言ったのはそれだけだ。たったそれだけの言葉を口にできるようになるためには様々なものが必要で、以前のアキラはそれを何一つ持っていなかった。
例えば日の出を見ることができる場所だ。寝ている間に殺されないように、寝床は注意して選ぶ必要がある。そんな場所は日の出の光など届かない。
例えば日の出を眺めていられる余裕だ。誰かに襲われないように常に警戒しなければならない。視線を向けるべき場所は日の当たる場所ではなく、暗がりや路地の曲がり角の先、奇襲される可能性が高い場所だ。
その他いろいろな要素が、ゆっくり日の出を眺めるなどという
アルファが荒野の先を指差す。
『アキラ。モンスターよ。もう気付かれている。こっちに近付いてくるわ』
ちを覚え、その気持ちに従って黙って車の後部に向かう。車の後部に設置されているCWH対物突撃銃を遠距離にいるモンスターに向けて構える。そしてどことなく不機嫌な表情でしっかり狙いを定め、迷うことなく引き金を引いた。
発射されたCWH対物突撃銃の専用弾は、アルファのサポートによる精密射撃により、モンスターの弱点部位である眉間に正確に命中した。モンスターの頭部を粉砕した弾丸は、そのままモンスターの胴体を貫通して、衝撃で四肢を派手に破壊して、荒野の先へ消えていった。
「9番。右手から大型のモンスターだ。移動速度からして放っておくと追いつかれる。対処してくれ」
「こちら9番。終わった」
「......は?」
「......あー、こちらでも確認した。次もその調子で頼む」
「9番、了解」
『何でもないわ。アキラも邪魔されて怒る程度には、日の出の光景を楽しんでいたようね』
日の出の光景だけを楽しんでいたわけではないが、アキラはぶっきらぼうにそれだけ答えた。
アルファはアキラ以上にいろいろ気付いた上で
Shikarabe quickly noticed Akira.
"Akira, you're here, huh. How are you today?"
"All good."
"I see, we'll start as soon as its time. Make sure that you finish all your preparation by then. Once you're done with your preparation, just stand by and you're free to do anything while waiting. I'm going to be busy for a while, if you have any question, just go and ask Yamanobe."
Akira then followed Shikarabe's order and went to the APC to do up his preparation. He then took some stuff inside that APC and carried them back to his own vehicle.
The stuff that he had taken consisted of a lot of things. A walkie-talkie and a communication code, rocket launchers designed to fight huge monsters, a configuration chart of the jamming smoke that Shikarabe had prepared, and extra data to adjust information-gathering devices. It also included the info about the bounty monsters that Shikarabe had gathered and CWH special ammo. Although Akira also brought with himself extra CWH special ammo, it was always good to get more ammo reserve, thus he thankfully accepted it.
Akira then used the close-range data transfer to download the new data. Since his information-gathering device was connected to Alpha, she was able to use the new data too. As a matter of fact, Alpha quickly analyzed the new data and had set the information-gathering device to minimize the effect from the jamming smoke.
Akira was doing light exercises while still in his augmented suit, so when he did not stretch enough, Alpha would control his augmented suit to forcefully stretch his body.
"Alpha, that hurts!"
"Your body is stiff, it's important to stretch your body to reduce injury and increase your performance. I guess it's a good idea to keep doing your augmented suit training and regularly readjusting it."
"P-please be gentle. O-ouch!"
"Don't worry, you still have some medicines."
Alpha smiled when she said that.
That was when Shikarabe appeared.
"What are you doing?"
"You can tell, right? A light stretching."
Shikarabe was actually asking Akira why he was doing light stretching right now, but Shikarabe then remembered something else and asked Akira.
"...I see. By the way, just out of curiosity, is that augmented suit a sync-type or a read-type?"
"Uhhh..."
Akira did not understand what Shikarabe was talking about, so Alpha answered that for him.
"Be careful? From what?"
"There are Hunters out there who don't do their research before using their augmented suits, you see. They think that anyone can use an augmented suit by just putting it on. So, in the past, I knew someone who bought a cheap augmented suit from the black market. He immediately used it without readjusting the augmented suit first, so he was still using an augmented suit based on other people's data. Since he did not find anything wrong until then, after reaching the ruins he began stretching his body to check his augmented suit's performance while killing time. Ah, by the way, his augmented suit was a read-type augmented suit, so it was still working based on the previous user's data. So when he stretched his body, the augmented suit extended based on the previous user's data and ended up tearing his ligaments."
"...Don't they have safety functions too?"
"I heard that the previous user had turned it off. There are a lot of Hunters who do something like that. After all, there are cases where they have to move so fast to the point that it'll tear their limbs and break their bones in order to survive. So the safety function is actually a problem when they face such a situation."
Akira turned to Alpha, who just smiled as usual. He told himself that Alpha had mentioned about medicines just before teasing him.
He then decided to change the subject to banish that thought from his mind. He stood up and asked Shikarabe.
"...So then, why are you here? Are we going soon?"
Now that Akira mentioned it, Shikarabe remembered why he came there.
"Ah, that's right. We'll move out soon, but not yet. I just have something I need to ask you, can you give this guy a ride?"
A young Hunter was standing behind Shikarabe. He was more or less as old as Akira. He then introduced himself to Akira.
"Akira... Shikarabe, I just want to make sure of one thing here. Do you need me to help him and watch over him or something?"
"Nope, you can just fight the way you want. That's our deal. Togami will also fight the way he wants. There's no need to try too hard working together with him."
"If he's too much of a deadweight, I might throw him off from my vehicle, alright?"
"I won't stop you. But if it's possible, throw him into my vehicle when you do that."
To be honest, Akira wanted to refuse Shikarabe's request. But it was not like he was really against it. Because of that, he tried to make a lot of excuses to Shikarabe, but in the end, he ended up accepting it. So then, although he looked rather displeased, it was not like Togami was against it either.
Akira gave up and let Togami into his vehicle.
"...Alright, if you're okay with that, I'll let him get on to my vehicle."
"Sorry about that, we'll be going soon. Don't be late, okay?"
After that, Shikarabe left Togami's equipment there and went back to his APC.
Togami was sitting on the driver assistant seat on Akira's vehicle. His equipment was crammedtogether with Akira's stuff in the back seat.
Togami still looked as displeased as he was before he climbed onto Akira's vehicle. It seemed that he was offended by that exchange between Akira and Shikarabe.
"Hey, what did you mean back then?"
"What did I mean by that? It's as you heard. Do you really need me to explain it?"
After hearing Akira's answer, Togami looked even more displeased than before.
"Are you kidding me? You said that as if I'm just a deadweight. What is your Hunter Rank by the way?"
Hearing that, Togami sneered arrogantly and said with full of confidence.
"21? And you dare to talk like that about me? I'm 27, you know!"
Akira glanced at Togami, but he quickly returned back looking forward again.
"Oii!! Are you listening to me!?"
Now that it had turned into something too much of a pain to deal with, Akira just ignored him.
Alpha, who was sitting in the mid-air beside Akira, pointed at Togami and asked.
"Are you sure it's okay to just ignore him?"
"If he starts bothering me more than that, let's just throw him to Shikarabe's vehicle."
He casually answered Alpha's question with that. Since Shikarabe had already given Akira his permission, Akira really planned to do that.
Togami kept complaining to Akira even after that, but Akira just ignored him. It did not take long before he clicked his tongue, sat down, looked at the opposite direction from Akira, and shut up.
Shikarabe, Yamanobe and Varga were in the foremost APC. The APC could fit 10 people, they used the leftover space for their ammo and other stuff. But even so, it actually still had enough space for Togami.
Yamanobe was the one taking the wheel. The navigation control unit was showing the area where the bounty monsters might be. The scouting groups from Drankam were actively broadcasting information that was received to that APC. Yamanobe picked a route where they could avoid any needless fighting.
Yamanobe then asked Shikarabe.
"Say, why did you take that boy?"
"Which one are you talking about?"
"Togami, I know just how strong Akira is from yesterday's incident. I have no problem bringing him with us... But that Togami, it's not like I'm going to say that he's useless, but at the same time, is there any need to bring him along? Not to mention that he's also one of those young Hunters, so why did you bring him here?"
"...Forced to, huh? Are you sure it's okay to really take him along with us?"
"Although they told me to bring him along, it's not like we have to make sure that he returns back alive. It doesn't matter if he dies. It would be a huge pain in the neck to have him here together with us, that's why I have Akira take him."
"Seeing what happened yesterday, I have a feeling that Akira would really throw him off his vehicle."
Shikarabe looked irritated. That expression was directed to the people in Drankam's management. That look was enough to answer Varga's question.
Shikarabe had a close connection with Arabe, one of the officers in Drankam. He heard a lot of things about the inner Drankam management from Arabe. Shikarabe then explained that to Yamanobe and Varga.
The young Hunters in Drankam were mainly divided into two factions. Katsuya faction and anti-Katsuya faction. Or basically, Katsuya faction and not-Katsuya faction.
Katsuya faction had the support from the officers who supported the young Hunters prioritization plan. These officers were well-organized way up to the upper echelons, thus most of the suggestions that they made in Drankam were approved. Thanks to the influence held by those officers and the track record left by the Katsuya faction, they rolled out a huge amount of capital for this bounty monsters hunting.
While on the other hand, the anti-Katsuya faction was basically all the other young Hunters who were not a part of the Katsuya faction. It's not like they had formed an organization or something. Moreover, more and more people who had not joined the Katsuya faction yet started to get absorbed into that faction as long as they did not have any particular reason not to join that faction.
There was a need for the anti-Katsuya faction to gain some kind of power to reduce the Katsuya faction's influence within the gang. The other factions who thought so started to get their eyes on young Hunters like Togami, and started gathering skilled Hunters who did not like Katsuya.
Varga looked exasperated as he said.
"The heck, so it's basically to annoy Katsuya, huh. Ahh, now that I remember it, you do hate Katsuya, right? Hm? If that's the reason, then there's a need to make sure that Togami will return back alive, right?"
"Well, if they're going to use him to fight Katsuya, he'll need to be at least that strong... What is Katsuya's current Hunter Rank again...?"
Varga tried to recall Katsuya's Hunter Rank, but before he could, Shikarabe interjected.
"It's 32. There are not that many Hunters out there who could reach Rank 32 at his age. It's understandable that she's got her eyes on him."
"That woman is planning to use Katsuya to advertise Drankam. That's also one of the reasons why she sent Katsuya for hunting bounty monsters. She also formed a team of mostly young Hunters for hunting the bounty monsters, and of course, the leader of that team is Katsuya. If that team successfully hunted bounty monsters, I bet she would announce it everywhere. A young skilled handsome Hunter, there's no doubt that the sponsors from the inner wall would be overjoyed to hear that."
Yamanobe laughed bitterly.
"That's true, that boy is rather handsome after all. People like us won't work for advertising the gang."
Varga, who was also laughing, noticed a signal from the detection device. He then said while still smiling.
"There's a monster on our way forward, should we use it to check this rising star of anti-Katsuya faction?"
Varga took his communication device and gave an order to Togami.
"Number 8! There's a monster forward! Go ahead and take care of it!"
All the Hunters in Shikarabe's team were assigned different contact numbers. Togami's was number 8, while Akira was number 9.
Togami was still staring at the wasteland with a displeased expression, but when he heard that order, he smiled boastfully and said.
"It's number 8! Roger that! I'll take care of it!"
"Hey!! Take me closer to that monster!!"
Akira did not say anything as he paced his vehicle faster. But because of that sudden acceleration, Togami lost balance and almost fell over from his seat.
Togami tried to regain his balance in panic and then said to Akira.
"Hey!! Drive more carefully, will you!! What the heck are you thinking?!"
Akira did not even bat an eyelash as he kept pacing his vehicle toward that monster without slowing down at all.
He was heading toward a carnivorous monster that was more or less as big as his vehicle. That monster quickly noticed the vehicles heading toward it, it immediately roared and ran toward Akira as it quickly closed the distance between them.
Akira did not even bother to look at Togami as he asked.
"So then, how close do you need me to get?"
"...Just stop somewhere nearby!"
Togami thought that the other Hunters beside Shikarabe and his friends were Hunters without enough skills to join the bounty monsters hunt. He thought that they were there only to replace their lack of fighting power with numbers. After all, most of them did not look that strong, Akira was only a small boy while the other Hunters used weak-looking equipment such as a worn-out armour.
As a matter of fact, Togami was half correct. Lending good equipment for Hunters with debt might cause trouble in case those Hunters tried to use that chance to run away. Because of that, Shikarabe only lent them mostly worn-out equipment that they would throw away after one use. Those equipment would only fetch a small amount of money even if they tried to sell it and taking all of it while running away was not worth the trouble.
Togami thought that the reason why he was sent to join that bounty hunting team was because the higher official in the Drankam thought highly of his skill. Although that was indeed correct, it was a completely different matter whether Togami correctly evaluated his own skill.
Akira's vehicle had gotten considerably close to the monster that they were aiming for. Togami took his rifle and jumped off Akira's vehicle, he then mockingly smiled at Akira and said.
"They told me to take care of it. I can do it alone, you just shut up and watch me from there. I'll show you the difference in our skill."
After he said that, Togami ran to a position himself at a vantage point.
Once he reached his destination, he took out the powerful rifle that was prepared for hunting the bounty monster and aimed at that monster. He then confidently pulled the trigger. Although he missed some of his shots, he shot a lot of bullets to compensate for it. The bullets pierced through that monster's skin, flesh, and bones. For such a large vigorous monster, bullets which did not pierce through its weak points could only inflict minor wounds, but with enough small wounds, they turned fatal enough to kill it. And so Togami was able to kill that monster in a short time, which was rather commendable.
Togami thought that he had done well enough to showcase his skill to Akira. So he walked back to Akira looking forward to his reaction thinking that Akira should have understood his power now.
But it did not go as Togami had expected. Akira was still sitting on the driver's seat while looking forward, he looked bored. Shikarabe's APC then passed beside Akira' vehicle.
Togami stood beside Akira's vehicle with a displeased look on his face. He was waiting for Akira's reaction from that fight just now. No matter whether it was a good reaction or not, as long as Akira would give him a reaction, he would be satisfied. If it was praise, he would accept it. And if it was an insult, he would take it as Akira being jealous of losing against him. So no matter what it was, it would give him some satisfaction.
But on the contrary, Akira did not show any reaction at all. He was not just simply ignoring Togami, it was as if his behaviour saying that it was nothing special at all.
i did not try to hide his irritation as he asked Akira.
"...Hey, don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Get in here, quickly. They'll leave us behind, you know?"
Togami's expression immediately turned worse, he was about to burst when suddenly a call for Varga stopped him.
"Number 8, number 9, you're going to get left behind. Did your vehicle get damaged from that fight?"
Akira answered back.
"This is number 9. The vehicle is okay. But for some reason, the number 8 isn't getting into the vehicle. Can I just leave him behind?"
"Is number 8 somewhere near you? Number 8, are you hurt and unable to move?"
Togami sounded annoyed as he answered back.
Togami gritted his teeth and was somehow barely able to hold his anger as he dragged himself back into Akira's vehicle.
Akira quickly started his vehicle and tried to chase Shikarabe. He was able to catch up with them in no time.
Akira was driving his car without saying anything, but he was actually talking with Alpha through telepathy. Togami sat next to him while looking in the opposite direction from him. Although Togami was about to burst back then, they did not say anything to each other while driving. Togami knew that if he caused trouble there, it might cause Akira to make a blunder and hurt both of them, that was why he was somehow able to calm down.
The sun had risen up and shone its light onto the wasteland. Alpha basked under the sunlight as she smiled at Akira.
"It's morning, Akira."
"You're right."
"...That was a rather dull response, don't you have like... something more to say?"
"Even if you tell me so..."
Akira looked around him and Alpha, it was not like he did not show any reaction at all, but he did not have enough words to accurately describe the feeling that was swelling inside his heart.
"Well, it's really something else compared to the morning in the slum city."
That was all that Akira said. There were a lot of things that he needed to have so that he could say those words, and if it was the past Akira, he would not be able to say those words there.
For example, in order so that no one would kill him in his sleep, Akira had to carefully pick where he slept and he ended up sleeping in places where sunlight could not reach.
The other thing would be the leeway to see the sunrise. Since he had to keep himself away from any possible threats, he had to focus his attention to the places where the sunlight could not reach, like the dark and shady places where he could get ambushed.
There were still other factors too, but basically, the past Akira did not have the leeway to leisurely watch the sunrise.
Alpha suddenly pointed her finger toward the wasteland.
"Akira, it's more monsters. They already noticed you and they're heading this way."
Akira could feel an irritation that he did not understand himself well enough, he then obeyed that irritation as he quietly went to the backseat. He took a stance and aimed the CWH anti-material rifle attached in the back seat to that monster, he looked somewhat annoyed as he carefully took an aim at that monster and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
He was using CWH special ammo at that time, thanks to the high-level accuracy support from Alpha, the bullet pierced right through between that monster's eyes which was its weak point. After that bullet broke havoc inside that monster's head, it pierced right through its torso and vanished into the wasteland. The shockwave from that hit was enough to rip off that monster's limbs.
"Number 9, a big-sized monster is coming from the right. Judging from its moving speed, it's only a matter of time before it catches up with us, go and take care of it."
"Number 9 here, it's done."
"...Hah?"
"...Ahhh, I've confirmed it too. You're doing great, keep that up."
"Number 9, roger that."
"It's nothing. It seems that you really enjoy watching the sunrise. You became really annoyed when that monster disturbed you."
Although it was not like Akira was enjoying the sunrise, he awkwardly responded to Alpha's question with that short answer.
Alpha was still smiling at him, she knew a lot more about Akira that Akira himself knew. Although he had gotten used to her charming outlook, the sight of her basking in the morning light was even more charming than her usual look.
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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