171 ツバキの判断
逃げるアキラ達と追うウェポンドッグ達。半壊したビルが建ち並ぶ入り組んだ遺跡で両者の攻防が続く。
火力の面ではウェポンドッグ達が圧倒的に上回っている。アキラを周辺の建物ごと破壊するかのように、銃弾、砲弾、ミサイルを吐き出し続けている。
まる運転で敵の攻撃を回避し続けている。アキラは高速移動するバイクの周辺から巻き起こる爆風を肌で感じ、時に爆煙に包まれながら、幾ら倒しても減る気配がない敵を狙撃し続けている。
敵は数も火力も耐久力も勝っている。その敵の猛攻に、アキラ達はアルファの弾道計算と地形の把握を基にした卓越した回避能力と、ミサイル等の迎撃や弱点部位を狙撃する照準の精度で
はもう戻らなかった。アキラ達はそのまま遺跡を駆けていき、ウェポンドッグ達から逃げ切った。
アキラが遺跡の奥部から外周部を通り荒野に出た辺りでバイクを
『......逃げ切ったよな?』
アルファが安心させるように
『......疲れた。でも何とかなったか。いやー、大変だったな』
『お疲れ様、と言いたいところだけれど、完全に気を緩めるのは都市まで戻ってからにしなさい』
『分かってる。でも、少し休ませてくれ』
『仕方ないわね。少しだけよ?』
あんな立派な遺跡から持ち帰ってきた遺物なのだ。廃棄品扱いされた品ではあるが、品質に問題はないと言われたのだ。ならば相当な高額になっても良いはずだ。アキラはそう思い、売却想定額を無意識に上げていき、顔を大分緩ませた。
バイクが突然動き出す。個別に柔軟な移動方向制御が可能な全輪駆動のタイヤを勢いよく回し、移動方向をその場でほぼ真横に変えながら、タイヤの強力な接地力で地面を
同時にアキラの強化服が勝手に動いて振り落とされないように体勢を整える。痛烈な慣性を強化服の身体能力で押さえ込みながら、アキラをその場から高速で離脱させる。
アキラが反射的に体感時間を圧縮しながら慌てて尋ねる。
『アルファ! 突然何だ!?』
アキラの後方で爆発が起こる。巨大な爆炎がその場に広がり、逃げるアキラに追いついてその姿を飲み込んだ。
広がった爆煙の中からバイクに乗ったアキラが飛び出てくる。アキラは防護コートの
『俺の遺物が!? ここまで運んできたのに!?』
『遺物の心配は後にしなさい!』
アルファが怒鳴りながら荒野を指差した。アキラは険しい表情で視線をそちらに向ける。しかしそれらしい敵の姿は見えない。
『いないぞ! 見えないぐらい遠距離から攻撃されているのか?』
み、そこから巨大な機械系モンスターが姿を現したのだ。ウェポンドッグに似ているが獣の部分も犬型の機械で生体部分らしい箇所は見当たらない。武装は背負っている巨大な大砲だ。
『光学迷彩か! ちょっとまて、何であんなやつがここにいるんだ? ここはもう遺跡の外だぞ?』
『かなり高度な迷彩持ちよ。しかも荒野側から来たようね』
『何で分かるんだ?』
『遺跡側から来たのなら私の索敵に引っ掛かるからよ。荒野側はアキラの情報収集機器から得た情報を元に索敵しているの。だから敵の発見が遅れたわ』
アルファがバイクの移動方向を巨大な機械獣の方へ切り替える。アキラはそれで逃げずに戦うのだと理解してCWH対物突撃銃を構えようとする。
『アキラ。
アルファがアキラの苦笑を吹き飛ばすように笑う。
『あら、おかげでこの窮地を切り抜けられるのよ? ここはその御利益に感謝するところでしょう?』
アキラが笑ってCWH対物突撃銃を構える。バイクが更に加速する。敵の照準を狂わせる
いながら銃を構える。
『アキラ。ブレードも使うわ。準備して』
『そこまで強い相手なのか。何でそんな強いモンスターがこんな場所にいるんだ? 変だろ?』
『現実にいるのだから仕方ないわ。対処可能な程度の不運で良かったと思っておきなさい』
機械獣が体勢を崩している間にアキラが一気に距離を詰めていく。そして敵の巨体と擦れ違いながらバイクの加速も乗せてブレードを振り払う。ブレードが敵の金属の体に食い込み切り裂き、火花を散らし切断音を響かせながら通り過ぎていく。
バイクが機械獣を通り過ぎ、その背後で反転しながら停止する。ブレードの刃は砕け散っていた。
『やったか!?』
アキラが険しい表情で機械獣を見る。基幹部を破壊された機械獣がゆっくりと崩れ落ちた。
アルファが笑って勝利を告げる。
『倒したわ。今度こそ、お疲れ様』
め息を吐く。ブレードはツバキハラビルから持ち帰った遺物で、売らずに自分で使おうと懐にしまった物の一つだ。まだ残っているが、早速消費してしまったことに違いはない。
『勝ちは勝ちよ。
『拾って帰るって、あれ、壊れてないのか? あんなに派手に飛んでいったけど大丈夫なのか?』
『廃棄品ではあるけれど、品質に問題はないって言ったでしょう? 旧世界の遺物は結構頑丈なのよ。多分問題ないわ。それに少しぐらい壊れていたとして、貴重な遺物に違いはないもの。十分売れるわ』
しそうに笑う。あれだけ派手に飛んでいったのでもう駄目になったと思っていたのだ。機嫌を取り直して遺物を拾いに向かった。
アキラは飛んでいったリュックサックや中から飛び散っていた遺物を拾い直すと、それを抱えながらバイクに
ツバキはアキラ達の戦いを観察していた。ウェポンドッグの群れと交戦する様子も、機械獣を破壊して去っていく姿も、モンスターに備わった通信回線を通してしっかり捉えていた。
「正確な戦力の把握には遠い。だが、配慮する理由には達していると判断しよう」
アルファはツバキと交渉してアキラに廃棄品を手に入れさせた。その交渉を成功させた背景には、アルファとツバキの力の差もあるが、ツバキの管理区域内で戦闘になった場合に発生する被害の考慮も大きい。
廃棄品を与えれば大人しく引き下がるのならば、不必要な損害を被る必要はない。ツバキがアルファの提案を受け入れた理由はそこにある。言い換えれば、
いの誇称をするほどに自分を軽視しているのであれば、ツバキは相応の対応をするつもりだった。ウェポンドッグの群れや機械獣はツバキがその確認のために動いた結果だ。
ツバキはこの結果を
アキラはカツラギの大分期待の薄れた様子の催促を聞いても、いつも通りの態度を崩さなかった。そしてその態度に似合った口調で答える。
「ああ。今日の用事はそっちだ」
カツラギが不満そうな表情を一変させて商売人の笑顔を浮かべる。
「おっ! そうか! やっとだな!」
だがその笑みもすぐに
「......で、その遺物は?」
アキラが小さなリュックサックをカツラギに見せると、カツラギは表情を不満と落胆の混ざったものに変えて
「それだけかよ......。まあいいや。上がれ」
カツラギはアキラをトレーラーの従業員控えの部分に入れると、テーブルに向かい合って座った。そしてやる気がなさそうな態度で応対する。
アキラがリュックサックから遺物を取り出してテーブルの上に置く。立方体型の透明なケースに入った金属やゴムのような球形の物体。旧世界製の情報端末。それが6個無造作に置かれる。
興味の薄そうなカツラギの表情が僅かな間を置いて固まる。そして驚きで目を見開いた後、食い入るように凝視する。
「こ、これは......、い、いや、待て、本物か? おい、これをどこで見つけてきた?」
「出所を白状しないと買い取らねえって言うのなら他所に持っていく。一応約束通りまずはカツラギのところに持ってきたんだ。筋は通したぞ」
カツラギが遺物をリュックサックに戻そうとするアキラを見て慌てて止める。
「待て待て待て待て待て! 待て! ちょっと待て! 戻すな! 鑑定するからそこに置け! コーヒーぐらいは出してやる! それを飲んで待ってろ!」
カツラギがコーヒーを入れてきてアキラの前に置く。そして鑑定用の器具類を持ち出して遺物を念入りに調べ始める。アキラはコーヒーを飲みながら、そうやって平静を装いながら、鑑定の様子を横目で見ていた。
カツラギが単眼顕微鏡のような器具を片目に着けて、難しい表情で遺物を
「なあアキラ。お前、これを何だと思ってるんだ?」
「高値って、具体的には幾らぐらいだ?」
『アキラ。思いっきり吹っ掛けて』
「10億オーラム」
「いやいやいや、10億オーラムって、旧世界製の情報端末だからって、幾ら何でもその額はねえだろう。
カツラギがそこまで言ってアキラの視線に気付いた。軽い不信と非難が込められていた。
「俺がそれを知らずに安い額を口にしたら、その安値で買い取る気だったな?」
「そう言うなよ。お前だって俺が予想外の高値を提示しても、それはそれで不審に思うだろう?」
「俺は高い分には文句をつける気はないけどな。それで、査定は済んだのか?」
「まあ待てよ。予想外の高値になりそうなんだ。俺も遺物の鑑定が本職じゃねえ。しっかり鑑定しないと値段を付け
「俺の知り合いの鑑定業者をここに呼ぶってのは駄目か?」
「俺の前で鑑定するなら好きにしてくれ」
「良し! ちょっと待ってろ!」
カツラギは情報端末を握って早速準備を始めた。
りながら一見平然とそれを見ている。しかし内心では少し慌てていた。
『何か、随分大げさなことになってきたな。随分調べているけど、やっぱり機械類だし、あの衝撃で壊れていたか?』
アルファはいつも通りに
遺物の鑑定が続けられる中、カツラギともう一人が席を外して奥に行く。そしてアキラに聞こえないように小声で話し始める。
「おいカツラギ。あの遺物を持ち込んだのはあのガキなのか?」
「どうでもいいだろう。鑑定だけしっかりやってくれ。どうなんだ? 本物か?」
「持ち込んだ機器では精度に限度があるから確証はできないが、恐らく本物だ。品質も問題なさそうだ。強いて言えばケースに少々
「待たせたな。査定は終わったぞ。で、その金額だが、お前は即金即払いを希望している。ハンターオフィスの買取所だって普通は最短でも翌日で、下手をすれば数週間待たされるんだ。それを考慮に入れて聞いてくれ。良いな?」
「分かった。それで、幾らになるんだ?」
「6000万オーラム。これでどうだ?」
アキラが表情を僅かに固くする。そしてどことなく険しい表情で、テーブルの上の遺物を黙ってじっと見詰める。
「おい、黙ってないでその額で良いのか答えてくれ」
アキラの表情は予想外の高額に顔を緩ませるのを押さえた結果だ。遺物を凝視しているのは高額が付いた驚きで思わずまじまじ見てしまっているだけだ。
しかしカツラギは焦りのためか、アキラの態度をその額で良いか悩んでいるように捉えてしまった。そしてもっとよく見るために遺物を手に取ろうとしたアキラの動きを、遺物を売らずにリュックサックに戻そうとする動作と捉えてしまった。
「おい! 待て! 考え直せ! 6000万、6000万オーラムだぞ!? はっきり言っておく。もしそれをハンターオフィスの買取所に持ち込んだとしても、良くて5000万ぐらいだ。絶対に6000万にはならない。そりゃその分ハンターランクが上がったりはするだろうが、お前は金の方が良いんだろう? 金の方が良いなら、悪いことは言わないから、俺に売っておけって」
アキラは手に取った遺物とカツラギの顔を黙ったまま見比べている。
「それにハンターオフィスの買取所に持ち込むと絶対にいろいろ聞かれるぞ? 他の買取業者だって同じだ。お前、遺物の出所を話したくないんだろう? 俺なら何も聞かずに黙って買い取る。下手に
カツラギはアキラの前向きな意見を聞いて僅かに表情を緩めた。そして少し落ち着きを取り戻し、焦りを残しつつも商売人の笑みで続ける。
「7000万出すが、金で支払うのは3000万だ。4000万は俺の商品を買って相殺だ。どうせ回復薬をたっぷり補充するんだろう? 問題ないはずだ。他の商品でも良いし、何か必要な物を注文してもいい。代金前払いってことでな。あと、また似たような遺物を手に入れたら、まずはちゃんと俺のところに持ち込むこと。これが条件だ」
アキラは考え込む振りをして内心を落ち着かせていた。カツラギは内心の焦りを強めながら返答を待っている。妙な緊張感が流れている中で、アキラが平静を保った静かな口調で返答する。
「......分かった。それで良い」
「よし。すぐに振り込むから確認してくれ」
カツラギはアキラの気が変わらないうちに急いで振り込み処理を済ませた。アキラが入金の確認を済ませてそれを伝えた。
カツラギは笑って大きく息を吐いた。そして買い取った遺物を頑丈そうな収納ケースに丁寧に収納する。その後に収納ケースを外に追い出した者達に渡して戻ってきた。外でも外の者と僅かな駆け引きがあり、それも
「なかなかの取引だった。さて、これからは俺の商売の時間だな。まずは回復薬か。持ってくるからちょっと待ってろ」
カツラギが回復薬の在庫を抱えて戻ってくる。テーブルに置かれた回復薬の中には、アキラが最近常用している200万オーラムの回復薬とは違う製品が含まれていた。カツラギがそれをアキラの前に置く。
「俺のお勧めはこれだ。お前のために特別に仕入れておいた高級品だ。1箱500万オーラムだ」
「本来はもっと東側の地域で活動するハンター向けの製品だからな。割高なのは仕方ない。高級品ってのはそういうものだ。だが良い品だ。言っただろう? お前のために特別に仕入れたって。はっきり言って、お前の回復薬の消費量は売っている俺すらちょっと不安になるぐらいだ。心当たりとかないのか?」
アキラの回復薬の消費量は、超人を目指して
みに、俺が買わなかったらどうするつもりだったんだ? 500万オーラムの回復薬なんて、この辺で売れるのか?」
「それはお前、まあなんだ、俺の商才だ。お前ならいずれこれぐらいは楽勝で買えるぐらい稼ぐハンターに成る。俺の商才がそう確信させたってことだ」
自慢げに語るカツラギに、アキラは半信半疑の視線を向けていた。
アキラは500万オーラムの回復薬を2箱、200万オーラムの回復薬を5箱購入し、更に追加で500万オーラムの回復薬を2箱注文しておいた。残りの1000万オーラムは保留にして、後で適当な小物を買う際に使用することにした。
用事を済ませたアキラがバイクに乗って去っていく。カツラギがアキラの後ろ姿を見ながら
「このままアキラが遺物を持ち込んでこなかったら、アキラとシェリルの扱いを逆転させる必要があるとも思っていたんだが、まさかこんなものを持ち込んでくるとはな。シェリルの方も上客になりそうだし、俺の商運もまた上がってきたか? ここが賭け時か?」
いつか統治企業に成り上がり、広範囲な統治経済圏を得て企業通貨を発行する。大望を夢見るカツラギはそれを実現する足掛かりを感じて満足げに笑っていた。
Ch 171
Akira was still fighting the weapons dogs which chased him in the middle of the Kuzusuhara ruin filled with half-destroyed buildings.
The weapon dog's firepower was overwhelmingly above Akira. They kept spewing bullets, missiles, and warheads that easily blew the buildings around them to smithereens.
Alpha used the full mobility of Akira's bike to evade the incoming warheads and bullets. Akira could feel explosive wind scraping off his skin, he sometimes had to dive into the smoke while shooting down the weapon dogs that seemed to be endless.
The numerous weapon dogs had more firepower, more stamina than him. Both Akira and Alpha were desperately holding on against that fierce onslaught. Akira slipped past the raining bullets, warheads, and missiles with the help of Alpha's advanced computational ability and by using the environment around them. At the same time, he was sniping the weapon dogs' weak points while Alpha was shooting down the incoming missiles.
Now that it had come to this, it was impossible for them to catch up. Akira did not slow down as he left the weapon dogs as well as Kuzusuhara ruin behind him.
Once Akira left the outskirts of the ruin and stepped into the wide wasteland again, he stopped his bike, turned around, and looked at the ruin behind him while still sitting on his bike.
"...Did we get away?"
Alpha smiled to reassure him.
"...That was tiring. But we were able to somehow get away from them. Well, that was really something."
"Good work there, or so I want to say, but we can't exactly relax yet before we get back to the city, okay?"
"I know, but still, at least let me take a short break here."
"Geez, just a short break, alright?"
Those were the relics that he was able to bring back from that magnificent city. Although they were expired articles, Alpha told him that there was no problem with those relics. If that was true, they should be able to fetch him quite a lot of money. As he thought so, he inadvertently raised his expectation and could not help but smile.
But then his bike suddenly accelerated. Its wheels, which could spin individually from each other, spun as fast as they could. The wheels gripped the ground strongly and immediately accelerated the bike to the side.
At the same time, Akira's augmented suit moved on its own to grab on his bike so as not to get thrown off. His augmented suit helped him against the assault on his body from the high-G manoeuvre as he quickly accelerated away from that place.
Akira activated his time compression by pure reflex and asked Alpha in panic.
"Alpha, what's going on?!"
Something exploded behind him. The shockwave from that explosion spread around and swallowed Akira, who was trying to run away from that explosion.
Akira jumped out from the smoke of that explosion. Thanks to his forcefield armour coat, he was able to get away just fine. His bike was also undamaged. But unfortunately, one of his rucksacks was blown away due to the shockwave and was thrown into the air.
"My loot!? Although I've worked so hard to carry them all the way here!??"
"You can save that for later!!"
Alpha yelled and pointed her finger at the wasteland. Akira glanced in the direction that Alpha was pointing with a stern face. But he could not see any monsters over there.
"I don't see anything though!! Are they shooting from so far away that I can't see them?"
Right after he said so, his face suddenly turned surprised. A part of the wasteland scene in front of him was blurred, and from there, a huge mechanical monster appeared. Although it looked like a weapon dog, its dog-shaped body had no visible organic parts. It was fully mechanical and a big cannon was perching on its back.
"Optical camouflaging, huh?! Wait for a sec, why is that thing here? We're already outside the ruin, you know?"
"That's a pretty powerful optical camouflaging. And it's from the wasteland, not from the ruin."
"How can you tell?"
"If it's from the ruin, I should have been able to detect it. I'm using your information-gathering device to detect enemies while we're outside the ruin, that's why I was late to detect that monster."
Alpha paced the bike straight in that big monster's direction. Akira understood that she had decided to fight that monster rather than running away from it, so he immediately reached out for his CWH anti-material rifle.
"Akira, use anti-force field ammo."
Alpha smiled at Akira to cheer him up.
"Oh my, it's exactly thanks to that ammo that we can get out of this place alive, you know? So here is where you should seriously feel thankful for it, right?"
Akira lightly smiled and took aim with his CWH anti-material rifle. His bike accelerated even more. In order to avoid the monster's aim, it approached the big monster in a zigzag path. A big warhead flew past Akira and exploded right behind him.
Akira still had his blade extended on his side as he slipped under the incoming warhead. He then gathered all of his focus and aimed his CWH anti-material rifle.
"Akira, let's use your blade, so get ready."
"Is that monster that strong? Why is a monster this strong here? Isn't it just strange?"
"Since it's there in front of you right now, it doesn't really matter. You should be thankful that we are lucky enough to at least have the chance to put up a fight."
While that monster lost its footing, Akira quickly closed the distance between them. He went past besides that big monster as he swung his blade at it. The blade buried its sharp edge into the monster's metallic body and the bike immediately accelerated to push the blade through the monster's body, fire sparks burst around the cutting edge of the blade together with a sharp stinging sound of metals being sliced.
The bike drove past the mechanical monster, it then made a U-turn and stopped. The blade in Akira's hand turned into dust and was carried away by the wind.
"Did that do it?!"
Akira looked at that metallic monster with a stern face. The monster that had lost its control centre slowly fell to the ground.
Alpha smiled victoriously and said.
"Yep, that should do it. Once again, you did well."
Akira once again let out a big sigh. That blade was one of the relics that he got from the Tsubakihara building. He had decided to save it for his own use instead of selling it, that was why he put it inside his breast pocket instead of his rucksack. Although he still had some spares, it did not change the fact that he had used one so quickly.
"A win is a win. So cheer up, okay? Let's pick up that rucksack and go back home."
"Pick up that rucksack? The relics in it are not broken after it got blown away and landed on the ground that hard?"
"Like I said before, although they're expired articles, they're not faulty or broken. Old-world relics are pretty robust, you know. So I bet they're just fine. Moreover, even if they're slightly damaged, they are still precious old-world relics, they'll still fetch you some money."
Akira beamed up. He thought that those relics were gone for good after being smacked into the ground like that. So he happily went to pick those relics up.
Akira picked up his rucksack as well as the relics that were scattered on the ground when that rucksack was blown away. After that, he climbed on his bike while carrying that rucksack on his arm. He left the driving fully to Alpha as he focused on keeping the rucksack under his arm. Although it was not easy, he held on in that position while heading back to Kugamayama city, leaving the corpse of that big monster behind.
Tsubaki was watching Akira's fights closely, both when he fought the weapon dog swarm and when he fought the big monster. She was observing Akira through the network connection with the monsters that attacked him.
"Although it's not enough to fully grasp his real strength, I believe that he's good enough to consider."
Alpha had made a deal with Tsubaki to let Akira take the expired articles. During that negotiation, although it was mostly affected by the difference in power between Alpha and Tsubaki, Tsubaki mostly made her decision by considering the amount of damage that it might cause inside the area under her supervision in case a fight occurred.
If letting him take the expired articles was enough to send him back, then there was no need to cause any unnecessary fight. That was the biggest reason why Tsubaki accepted that deal. But seeing that from a different light, it also meant that if Akira was weak and if Tsubaki could kill him without sustaining much damage, then she would have done that.
Putting aside the difference in their ranks, if Alpha had the gut to threaten her by claiming that Akira was stronger than he actually was, Tsubaki was thinking of answering that with a rather extreme action. The weapon dog swarm and that big mechanical monster were sent to fight Akira for the sake of checking Alpha's claim.
Judging from the result, including the info that she gained from Alpha, Tsubaki decided that at least for now, Akira was worth considering, both for the better and for the worse.
Katsuragi obviously sounded disappointed, but even after hearing that, Akira casually replied as if it did not bother him at all.
"That's exactly why I'm here today."
Katsuragi's displeased face immediately brightened up with a merchant smile.
"Oh!! Really?! Finally!!"
But he immediately frowned.
"...So, where are the relics?"
Akira took out a small rucksack and showed it to Katsuragi, whose face immediately returned to disappointment as he sighed.
"Is that everything...? Well, it doesn't matter then, come in."
Akira and Katsuragi went into the trailer and into the break room reserved for staff. They sat face to face with a table between them. Katsuragi then said in a rather unmotivated manner.
Akira casually pulled out relics from inside his rucksack and lined them on the table in front of him. It was six transparent box cases with a spherical object inside them that looked like they were made of metal or rubber. They were old-world information terminals.
Katsuragi who seemed to be not interested at all up until now froze up. His eyes then widened in shock before he squinted his eyes with suspicion.
"T-these are... No, wait, can it be...? Akira, where did you get these from?"
"If you say you can't buy them unless I tell you where I found them, I'll just sell them somewhere else. I did take these relics to you first as I promised, so I won't take any complaint from you."
Seeing Akira start putting those relics back into his rucksack, Katsuragi stopped him in panic.
"Wait wait wait wait wait! Wait there, okay?! Don't put them back! I'll get them checked first, so just leave them there! I'll bring you some coffee too! So just enjoy the coffee while you wait!!"
Katsuragi went to make coffee and placed it in front of Akira. He then brought out a special device for inspecting relics and started inspecting the relics in front of him closely. Akira was trying to look calm while sipping his coffee and observing Katsuragi.
Katsuragi put on a monocular magnifying glass on one of his eyes and looked closely at the relics, while doing that, he casually threw a question at Akira.
"Akira, what do you think these relics are?"
"Expensive, huh? Just how expensive do you think these are?"
"Akira, no need to hold back."
"1 billion Aurum."
"No no no, although these are indeed old-world information terminals, 1 billion Aurum is just too big no matter how you think about it, you know? There's no way they cost that mu-"
Katsuragi stopped midway when he realized Akira was staring at him. There was a slight suspicion and contempt in his stare.
"You were planning to buy them cheaply if I had said a low price, weren't you?"
"Geez, don't be like that, if I offer to buy these relics with a price that's way above your guess, that in itself would be suspicious for you too, right?"
"To be honest, I have no complaint if you're going to buy them at a higher price than I expected though. So then, are you done inspecting them yet?"
"Be patient. These might be worth more than I expected, you see. My main job is not inspecting relics, so I can't really say for sure how much they are worth without inspecting them closely. To be honest, it would be great if you would leave them here for a few days, is that okay with you?"
"How about if I call a relic inspector whom I know to come here?"
"If you're going to inspect these relics in front of me, you can do whatever you want."
"Alright!! Just wait for a bit here then!!"
Katsuragi pulled out his information terminal and immediately started preparing.
Akira was sipping his coffee with a calm face, although, to be honest, he was a bit surprised by what was going on.
"For some reason, it seems it's being blown out of proportion though. They seem to be taking a very close look at those relics, well, those are mechanical relics, after all. I wonder if it got broken when it got blown off back then."
Alpha replied with her usual smile.
While the other people inside that room were still inspecting the relics, Katsuragi and another guy stepped back and went to the deeper part of the trailer. They then started conversing while whispering to make sure that Akira could not eavesdrop on them.
"Katsuragi, is that boy the one who brought in those relics?"
"That doesn't really matter. Just make sure to do a proper inspection of those relics. So, how is it? Are they not fake?"
"I can't really say for sure since I can only carry relatively low accuracy inspection devices with me, but from the result up until now, I think they're not fake and they are in a pretty good condition too. If I'm being strict here, the cases are a little bit bent, but that should not affect the articles inside them. So then, where did that boy get those relics?"
"Sorry for the wait, the inspection is done. So, about the price though, I know that you want me to pay you on the spot. But even if you bring relics to the Hunter Office, they sometimes only transfer the money the day after, or in some cases, it might even take a few weeks. So just keep that in mind and listen to me, okay?"
"Alright, so then, how much is it?"
"60 million Aurum, what do you think?"
Akira's face slightly turned stern. He then frowned and stared at the relics in front of him.
"Don't just fall silent, tell me if you're okay with that price or not."
Akira was actually trying his best not to show his surprise on his face, he did not expect those relics to be worth that much. That stern gaze on those relics was actually because he was so surprised that he inadvertently looked at them with a mix of suspicion.
But for some reason, maybe because he was slightly desperate, Katsuragi who saw that thought that Akira was doing calculations if that was a good price or not. Akira suddenly extended his hand, in reality, Akira was just going to take a closer look at the relics, but Katsuragi thought that Akira was going to stuff them back into his rucksack.
"Whoah there! Wait, let's think carefully about this, okay? It's 60 million Aurum, you know?! 60 Million!! I'll at least let you know this, even if you bring them to the Hunter Office, at most, they'll only pay you 50 million Aurum. I'm sure it won't go close to 60 million! Although in place of that your Hunter Rank would go up, I know that you don't really care about that, right? If you're looking for money, just sell them to me."
Akira did not say anything. He only looked at the relics in his hand and Katsuragi alternately.
"Moreover, if you bring them to the Hunter Office, they'll pester you about where you got those relics and whatnot. That's the same if you try to sell them somewhere else. You don't want to tell anyone where you got these relics, right? If it's me, I'm willing to buy them from you without asking where you got them, and I can guarantee you that I won't leak anything to anyone. I know that this is a good deal for you, so just sell them to me, yeah?"
Katsuragi was slightly relieved seeing that Akira finally gave a positive reply. Although he calmed down, he still had a mix of desperation in his merchant smile.
"Although I'll buy them for 70 million Aurum, I can only pay you 30 million Aurum. So for the rest, I'll give you 40 million Aurum store credit. After all, I know that you would just use all of them for medicines, right? So I'm sure that it's a good deal for you too. I don't mind if you want to use it for my other goods, and if you need something else, I can also put an order for you. Of course, you'll have to store some money for that order though. And also, if you ever find similar relics again, make sure to bring them to me first. That's the condition."
Akira was pretending to be thinking when he was actually trying to calm himself down. Katsuragi was nervously waiting for Akira's reply. In the middle of that strangely tense mood, Akira opened his mouth and finally said.
"...Alright, I'll take that deal."
"Nice!! I'll transfer the money right away, so you should check if it properly reaches you."
Katsuragi immediately finished the transfer before Akira changed his mind. Akira checked the transfer and confirmed that it indeed reached his account.
Katsuragi sighed with a big smile on his face. He quickly brought out a strong-looking case and carefully transferred the relics into that case before handing it over to the relic inspectors that he sent outside the trailer. When he returned, he had a wide smile on his face, it seemed that he also got a good deal with those relic inspectors.
"That was a good deal. Now then, it's my turn now. What do you need? Is it more medicines? Wait for a bit here, I'll bring it out."
Katsuragi went to the warehouse and returned back with a box of medicines and placed it on top of the table. The box also contained not the usual 2 million Aurum per box medicine that Akira usually bought from Katsuragi.
"This is my recommended medicine. I ordered these expensive medicines especially for you. It's 5 million Aurum per box."
"Well, it's originally for Hunters who usually work further to the east after all. So that price is pretty normal out there. But I can guarantee it, it's a high-quality medicine. Like I said, I ordered them especially for you. To be honest, as someone who's selling medicines to you, I'm a bit worried about how you spent your money only on medicines, you know? I'm sure you can understand that, right?"
Akira occasionally used a lot of medicines to the point that some people thought he was trying to be a superhuman. Although he also had started taking drugs to clean up the nanomachine residue in his body, he still had not done that yet. He was planning to take one after his next ruin expedition.
"By the way, what were you going to do with them if I did not buy them? It's not like anyone would buy that 5 million Aurum per box medicine around this place, right?"
"But of course, there's you, no? Well, what can I say, my merchant instinct is telling me that you'll definitely grow powerful enough to be able to buy this kind of medicine just fine."
Katsuragi said so smugly and Akira just sent a gaze at him with suspicion.
In the end, Akira bought 2 boxes of 5 million per box medicine and 5 boxes of 2 million per box medicine. On top of that, he also placed an order for 2 boxes of that 5 million per box medicine. So he was left with 10 million store credits that he saved in case he was going to buy something later from Katsuragi.
Once he was done with his business there, Akira returned back to his bike and drove away. Katsuragi saw him off and mumbled.
"To be honest, I was thinking of cutting my ties with him and Sheryl's gang if he wasn't going to bring me relics soon. But still, I didn't expect him to bring something like that. Not to mention, Sheryl seems to be turning into a rather prospective customer too. Is it that my luck as a merchant is getting better lately? I guess this is a good time to take a risky gamble, huh?"
Katsuragi had a big dream to join the ranks of the Corporate Government and issue a currency under his name for the territory he ruled. And finally, he felt like he spotted a way to make his dream come true as he smiled widely.
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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