246 キャロルの依頼
キャロルが自宅で非常に険しい表情を浮かべている。
キャロルは自身の情報網に加えてヴィオラとの付き合いもあり、そこらの情報屋よりクガマヤマ都市の裏事情に詳しい。かなり深い部分の情報も手に入れられる。それでも坂下重工所属の旧領域接続者が脱走したなどという非常に秘匿性の高い情報は得られない。
しかし実際に捜索が行われている以上、隠蔽にも限界はある。荒野に出る捜索人員の手配、その物資の調達取引、そこから生まれる金の流れ。無関係な人捜し依頼、巡回依頼の増加、巡回ルートの変更。それらに関わる一見何の関係もない
き集めて、かなり大きな組織が手間を掛けて旧領域接続者を探しているという推測を得た。
集めたデータを見ながら、キャロルがその表情に
これにより強化服は基本性能である身体能力を格段に向上させた。連動している情報収集機器の範囲や精度もかなり向上した。
更に薬剤の投与機能も加わった。回復薬や加速剤を事前に強化服に装填しておき戦闘中に投与することで、より高度で柔軟な戦闘が出来るようになった。
アキラはコートの迷彩機能を有効にしてから自分の姿を鏡に映し、自分の顔だけが宙に浮かんでいる光景を見て驚きながらも笑っていた。
シズカが
「しません」
シズカは少し楽しげに苦笑を返した。そこにアルファが笑って続ける。
『否定はしない。誰かのお陰で、その辺の慣れは万全だからな』
アキラはそう言って軽く流そうとした。だがアルファが楽しげに笑って話を続ける。
高性能な強化服には、扱いの難しい武器を分厚いグローブ越しでも精密に扱えるように、着用者に生身と同じ感触を伝える非常に高度な触覚フィードバックが備わっている製品が多い。
アキラの強化服にもかなり高性能な機能が備わっている。加えてアルファによる機能改善のお陰で、その体感の精度は生身と何ら変わらない域に達している。つまり、飽く
みながら自身の胸をアキラに近付ける。アキラはそれに反応しないように表情を僅かに固くした。そのアキラの反応にアルファは満足そうに笑った。
シズカもアキラの僅かな反応に気付いた。だがアルファの存在など知らないので、別の解釈をして少し申し訳なさそうな顔を浮かべる。
「あー、ごめんなさい。からかいすぎた?」
「いえ、違います。そういう訳じゃ......」
「私も店主として常連客の機嫌を損ねたくないの。悪かったわ。機嫌を直してちょうだい」
「だから、その、違うんですけど......」
アキラはそのまま流されて大人しくなった。確かに違うとはいえ、アルファのことは話せない。そしてこの状態で別の言い訳を考えるのは無理だった。
アルファがそのアキラの様子を見て笑う。
『やっぱり触れられないと駄目なのね。でもアキラの顔に触れさせるのは、今の私には無理なのよね。厳しいわ』
『黙ってろ』
アキラは照れながらも何とかそれだけ答えた。
店の倉庫で新装備の確認を済ませたアキラは、シズカと一緒に一度カウンターまで戻った。そこでシズカにハンター証を渡し、装備の引き渡し手続きを終える。
シズカが店の端末にアキラのハンター証を読み取らせる。そして会計手続きを含めた一連の後処理を終えると、アキラにハンター証を返した。そして少し苦笑気味に、だが楽しげに笑う。
「店の売上記録を大幅に更新した取引だったわ。こんなことを言うのも何だけど、店の売り上げを一部のお得意様に依存しすぎるのは健全な経営とは言えないわね」
アキラも軽く笑って返す。
にそう答えて、友人であり重要顧客でもある人物に愛想良く笑った。
「そういえば、アキラの次の予定はどうなっているの? 大流通関係の仕事は終わったんでしょう? 随分急いで装備を調えたけど、もう何か次の仕事を入れたの?」
どれだけ待てば良いのかは不明だが、待ってさえいれば最前線地域の武装が届く予定になっている。アキラはそれまではアルファとの訓練を主軸にして過ごすつもりだった。
「そう。それも良いと思うわ。でもアキラのことだから、またすぐにハンター稼業に戻るんでしょうね。ちゃんと休まないと駄目よ? 入院していた期間を休んでいた期間に入れないように」
アキラが信用されていないと思いながら苦笑する。
「大丈夫です。ちゃんとゆっくりするつもりです。ハンター稼業に出るとしても、長期の休みで勘が鈍らないようにちょっと軽めの遺物収集をするとか、そんなのですよ」
「まあ確かに、今のアキラの装備ならこの辺りの遺跡で苦戦はしないわね。
そんな場所には行きません。そういう依頼が来ても断ります。大丈夫です」
「その自信が油断に変わって命取りってこともあるわ。ハンター稼業に出るにしても、油断だけはしないようにね」
アキラのはっきりとした返事を聞いて、シズカも満足そうに笑った。
アキラはシズカの店から自宅に戻った。車庫内にバイクを
アキラは新しいバイクの性能に改めて満足していた。
「車も欲しいけど、当分はこのバイクがあれば良いか。出来れば次の車はバイクと同じようにツェゲルト都市辺りで売ってるやつにしたいしな」
アキラの今までの車両は何だかんだと大破し続けていた。原形すら
アキラはバイクを見ながら、今後も長い付き合いになることを期待して軽く笑った。
アルファがいつものように笑いながら告げる。
『そこまで高性能な車両は、もうアキラには不要だと思うわ。あの到着待ちの装備が届いたら、アキラには私の依頼を終えてもらう予定だからね。その時には大型車両よりバイクでの移動が適しているから、どちらかといえば更に高性能なバイクが欲しいところね』
大事なことをさらっと告げられたアキラが、僅かに間を置いてから驚きを
『まあ問題は、その装備がいつ届くのか全く分からないってことだけれどね』
アキラも軽く苦笑する。
「そうだった。いつになるんだろうな」
『余りにも時間が掛かるようなら、運ばれてくるのを待つよりも自力で取りに行く手段を模索した方が良いかもしれないわ』
んでいる訳にはいかないわ。しっかり訓練して、ちゃんと鍛えるからね』
アキラもしっかりと気合いを入れて答える。
訓練は覚悟と気合いで何とかなる。だがモンスターはそれだけではどうにもならない。アキラは自分の担当で何とか出来るものに気合いを入れ直した。
その時アキラに通話要求が届いた。キャロルからだった。
走行に適しているとは言えない荒野をバイクの機能で強引に高速で駆けていく。空中すら走行可能なバイクで足場を選ばずに、時には宙を足場に選んで疾走する。その様子は偶然近くを通っていたハンター達を驚かせていた。
以前にミハゾノ街遺跡に向かった時は、通行が困難な場所などを
視界の両端を高速で流れていく景色を見ながらアキラが楽しげに笑っている。
『これならすぐに着く! このバイク、やっぱり買って良かったな!』
『速度を出すほど運転も難しくなるし、事故を起こした時の被害も大きくなるわ。十分気を付けなさい』
バイクはアルファの管理下にあるが、運転はアキラが自分で行っている。だが高性能な制御装置のお陰で、アキラのまだまだ未熟な運転技術でも思いっきり速度を上げられた。
クガマヤマ都市周辺の基準では場違いに高性能な装備で身を包み、進行方向にいたモンスターを過剰な威力の弾丸で粉砕しながら突き進む。途中で偶然見掛けた暴食ワニもあっさりと粉砕する。
その暴食ワニはかなりの大型で体に幾つもの銃火器を生やしていた。加えて全身を金属製の
新調した銃の威力に驚きながら、アキラが少し考える。そして一応聞いてみる。
『アルファ。あれ、結構強いやつだよな?』
『強いやつ、の基準に
アキラがまた少し考えてから続ける。
『難しい質問ね。少なくとも最前線向けの装備が届くのを待った方がより安全に攻略できることは確かよ』
『......そこまで高難度なのか』
アキラが少し難しい顔を浮かべていると、アルファが笑って補足を入れる。
『前にも言ったと思うけれど、その遺跡には私のサポート無しで進まなければならない場所もあるわ。だから装備は出来る限り良いものを手に入れておきたいの。待つだけで装備の質をもっと上げられるのに、待ちきれないからって遺跡攻略を始めるのはお勧めできないわ。危なくなったら引き返せば良い、なんて甘い考えでは死ぬだけよ』
『まあ、初めから生還を度外視すれば、攻略の難易度は劇的に下がるわ。それなら今のアキラでも遺跡の攻略は可能かもしれないわね。決死の覚悟でやってもらえる?』
アキラが何かを言う前に、アルファが笑って話を流す。
かないだけでもあるけどね。取引内容をきっちり精査できるのなら、それなりに安全で結構有益な人物なのよ?」
「じゃあ俺には危険なやつだ」
「今回の依頼とヴィオラは無関係だから安心して。そもそも他の誰かの意図は全く含まれてないわ。純然に私からの依頼よ」
「そりゃ良かった。それで、依頼の内容は?」
アキラが話を戻すと、キャロルが真面目な顔で話を続ける。
アキラが少し意外そうな顔を浮かべた。キャロルは真面目な態度で依頼の詳細を話し始めた。
護衛の期間は未定。基本的にキャロルの
依頼の報酬は要相談。特に要望が無いのなら、日割りの基本給に加えて、護衛としての戦闘発生時にその規模に応じた額を別途支払う。
アキラはそれらの説明を聞いて軽く困惑していた。話を聞く限り、確かにのんびりしているだけで金の入る内容だった。だが、だからこそ、詐欺の類いに思えて仕方がなかった。その払拭を求めて探るように尋ねる。
「日割りの基本給って、どれぐらい
「そうね。期間中は私を毎日抱けるってのはどう? と、言いたいところだけど、それじゃあアキラは受けないのよね。大抵の男なら、これで喜び勇んで引き受けるんだけど......。一応聞くけど、それじゃ駄目?」
「駄目だ。金にしてくれ」
キャロルが真面目に悩む。自身の予算を思い浮かべ、依頼の期間を想定し、相手が受け入れるであろう最低額を試算する。そして提示額を慎重に口に出す。
「1日100万オーラム。これでどう?」
「100万オーラムか......」
今度はアキラが悩み始める。提示額はアキラにとっては十分に高額だ。だが依頼として妥当な額かどうかは分からない。それが相場と言われれば信じるが、依頼そのものに対して懸念を覚えている以上、不当に高い額を提示してカモを釣ろうとしているのではないかという疑念が拭えない。
「確かに、今のアキラの行動拘束代とすれば大分安めの額かもしれないわ。でも私にも予算ってものがあるの。それに常に私の
『アルファ。どう思う?』
『そうか。......1日100万オーラムって、安いのか』
『私に報酬額の妥当性の判断を聞かれても、ちょっと答えられないわ。まあ、アキラが高すぎると思っているのなら、ここはキャロルがアキラの実力をそれだけ高く買っていると考えましょう』
えず、高額を提示して引っ掛ける詐欺の類いではない。アキラはそう判断して、報酬が高すぎるという点から浮かんでいた懸念を消した。そして別の疑問を尋ねる。
「そもそも何で護衛が必要なんだ?」
っていうか、そういう理由よ。特定の誰かに狙われているとか、そういうのじゃないわ。加えて言えば、ただの考えすぎで、護衛を雇う必要なんか初めから無いかもしれない。でもまあちょっと不安だし、後で自意識過剰だったと笑われても良いから、今は安心しておきたいってところよ」
アキラはまた一応アルファに確認を取り、
キバヤシからも似たようなことを笑って告げられて、自分も余り否定できなかった出来事を思い出しながら続ける。
「変な騒動に巻き込まれるのが嫌だって言うのに、そんなやつを護衛に雇うのか?」
アキラは長年の生活で染みついた
『いろいろ隠してるってことか?』
『詳しい事情は話せないって言っているから、その辺りも含めて
再び悩み始めたアキラに、アルファが少し不思議そうに尋ねる。
『疑念が拭えないのなら断れば良いだけだと思うけれど、受けたいの?』
アキラはそう指摘されて、自身の思考を自覚した。自分でも僅かに意外そうな様子を見せた後、その自覚した思考で、この依頼について聞くべきことを改めて考える。そしてそれを真面目な顔でキャロルに問う。
「聞くと気を悪くするだろうから先に謝っておくけど、答えてくれ。この依頼に、俺を
された、という意味なら、そう解釈されても仕方無い状況も場合によっては有り得るわ。私自身も、どこの誰にどの程度の規模で襲われる恐れがどの程度あるかなんて、正しく分かっている訳じゃないの。そこを断言できないと依頼を受けられないのなら、私も諦めるわ」
真意を問うアキラに対し、キャロルも出来る限り誠実に答えた。そのまま相手の目を見ながらの沈黙が流れる。そして、アキラが先に気を緩めた。
Ch 246
Back in her house, Carol looked extremely distressed.
Due to her connection with Viola on top of her own information sources, Carol was more knowledgeable than most of the information brokers in Kugamayama city. She had the means to obtain secret information. But even so, she was not able to obtain the information that there was an old-world connector from Sakashita Heavy Industry who was out on the loose.
With the search actively ongoing, it was only a matter of time before the truth reached the public's ears. Between the purchasing of equipment and hiring people for the search party, there was no doubt that funds would be flowing in preparation and during the search.
Thus, as money flowed, information flowed as well. It was possible to connect the dots. Request that seemed to be unrelated in the beginning could be seen to make sense. Search requests to look for someone else, a change in the patrol route, the number of the patrol requests posted in the Hunter office. Such requests could be chained together to draw a conclusion. A large corporation was looking for an old-world connector.
Carol was looking through that data with a pale look on her face as she pulled the hair out of her head.
Thanks to that, his augmented suit was even more powerful than before, and his information gathering device could scan larger areas with greater accuracy.
Moreover, he also installed a drug injection system. By loading drugs such as medicine or accelerator into his augmented suit, he would be able to use them in the middle of a fight, granting him better adaptability. To match it, Akira also ended up purchasing medicine from Shizuka's shop.
Akira turned on the camouflage and looked at himself in the mirror. He raised his eyebrows as he saw his head floating in the air and laughed.
Shizuka who saw that lightly smiled and warned him.
"I won't do something like that."
Shizuka smiled wryly at him, Alpha who had her usual smile on her face interjected.
"Well, it's all thanks to a certain someone that I'm already completely used to it already."
Akira said so and did not pursue it any further. But Alpha lightly giggled and replied to him.
Many of the expensive augmented suits were equipped with a realistic feedback effect such that the augmented suits could transfer sensations to their users so that they could effectively use difficult weapons through their thick gloves.
Akira's augmented suit at the moment was a rather pricey one. With the help of Alpha's advanced computation ability, she could create a feedback effect that perfectly replicated the sensation of a real object. In short, although it was still nothing more but an imitation, Akira could technically touch Alpha now.
Alpha smiled bewitchingly and pushed her chest to Akira. Akira's face turned stern as if to make sure that he would not react to it. Alpha was greatly satisfied by that reaction and giggled.
Shizuka also noticed that slight change. But since she did not know that Alpha was also there, she thought that it was her fault and apologized to Akira.
"Ah, I'm sorry, did I tease you too much?"
"Ah, no, not at all..."
"As the shop's owner, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. So, I'm really sorry. Cheer up, okay?"
"As I said, it's really not that..."
Akira did not fight back and just let it happen. Although the situation was not what Shizuka believed it to be, he could not tell her about Alpha. Furthermore, he was in no position to take his time to think of another excuse.
Alpha, who saw how things played out, smiled teasingly.
"As I thought. Being able to touch is an important thing. But with that being said, it's not like I can do that to your face at the moment. That's pretty sad."
"Shut up already!"
Akira blushed but still at least managed to say that.
After Akira finished checking his new equipment in the warehouse, he returned back to the counter with Shizuka. He then handed his Hunter ID to Shizuka and processed the payment.
Shizuka used the terminal in her shop to read the data from Akira's Hunter ID. She then calculated the total price and processed the payment before returning the ID back to Akira. After that, she smiled happily but with a tint of bitterness as she said to Akira.
"That really pulled the shop's revenue up. Although it might be weird to hear this from me, it's actually not healthy for a business to rely so heavily on one person."
Akira lightly laughed and replied.
Shizuka replied with a rather formal tone. Though, her smile was more for an important friend instead of for an important customer.
"By the way, Akira, what is your next plan? Your job for that transport request basically just finished, right? But you were quite hurried to get your new equipment. Do you already have something to do?"
He did not know how long he should wait, but one thing was for sure, his equipment from the frontline would arrive if he just waited long enough. His plan until then was to spend his days training with Alpha.
"I see, that's a good idea. But it's you we're talking about here, I bet you'll just go off on another mission soon. You should make sure to get a good rest once in a while, you know? And the time when you're hospitalized is not counted as a rest time, okay?"
Akira smiled wryly knowing that he was not being trusted here.
"Don't worry. I'm really planning to take it easy for the time being. Even if I'm going out on another Hunter mission, I'm planning only taking light and short jobs just to make sure that my skill won't get rusty."
"Well, I guess with your current equipment you'll have no worries fighting against monsters around this area. It should be fine as long as you don't go further to the east or to the inner part of the ruins, right?"
"Exactly, and of course, I won't go to such dangerous places. I'll be sure to turn down any requests that warrant me to go there."
"That confidence often turns into something that might kill you, so be careful when you're out there."
Hearing such a firm reply from Akira, Shizuka smiled, satisfied.
Once he was done, Akira returned to his home. He parked his bike inside his garage and started unloading the carriage that he was dragging with his bike.
Akira was truly satisfied with his new bike.
"Though I'm planning to buy a vehicle soon, I guess I will be fine for a while with this bike, huh? If it's possible, I want to get my next vehicle also from somewhere around Zegelt city, just like this bike."
For some reason, Akira kept losing his vehicles one by one. Some were crushed to the point that they did not look like a vehicle any longer. But his newest bike survived just fine even after going through those intense battles. He did not even have to send it out for repairs, his only expense was the energy tank recharge.
Akira looked at his new bike and grinned, hoping that this time, he would be able to have a long-term relationship with his new bike.
Alpha suddenly said with her usual smile.
"I think you don't even need such a vehicle though. After all, once your new equipment from the front line arrives, I'll have you complete the rest of my request, you know? At that time, it'd be easier if you brought a bike instead of a large vehicle. So, if it's possible, I want you to get an even better bike."
Alpha just said such an important detail so casually which caused Akira's brain to take some time to process it before he finally showed surprise.
"Well, the main problem now is when the equipment will arrive though."
Akira smiled bitterly too.
"You're right, I wonder when they'll arrive."
"If it's taking too long, it might be better to take them yourself instead of waiting for them to be transported here."
"But we need to make sure that your skill won't get rusty, so I'll have you train while we wait."
Akira firmly replied.
Akira knew he could get through the training with his resolve, but that was not the case for monsters. Thus, he was planning to do everything that he could since that was also a part of his responsibility.
That was when a sudden call reached Akira's terminal. It was from Carol.
The ground of the wasteland was far from being easy to traverse through, but even so, Akira was pacing his bike at high speed. He was forcing his way through the hard terrain using his advanced bike that was even capable of flight. The wheels sometimes did not even touch the ground as he rode on it. A nearby Hunter who saw that by pure chance could not hide their surprise.
Last time, Akira took detours in order to avoid areas that were hard to traverse through to the Mihazono ruin. However, since he did not have to do that and just went in an almost straight line, it did not take much time for him to reach Mihazono ruin.
As he was looking at the blazing scene passing past him, Akira smiled amusedly and said.
"I'll arrive in no time! I'm really glad I bought this bike!"
"The faster you go, the harder it is to control the bike and the worse it will be if you crash, so make sure to be extra careful."
Although Alpha had the bike fully under control, Akira was the one in control at the moment. Thanks to the bike's advanced balancer, Akira was able to ride the bike at high speed even with his relatively mediocre driving skill.
With his rifle that was way above the standard of Kugamayama city, Akira ploughed through monsters in front of him as he continued driving. Even a Greedy Crocodile that he encountered did not pose any challenge to him.
That Greedy Crocodile had a rather large body and there were multiple guns growing out from its back. Its whole body was protected by strong scales. If it continued to grow and roamed around the usual route, it would not be strange for it to be designated as a bounty monster. However, Akira's LEO multi-rifles easily drilled bullets through its strong scales and destroyed its inner organs without discriminating between the flesh and the mechanical parts, killing it immediately.
Akira was so surprised by the firepower of his new rifle, he then calmed himself down and thought calmly first before asking Alpha.
"Alpha, that one was a relatively strong one, right?"
"That depends on your standards. But if it was the past you, you would have had a hard time fighting that. Based on that fact, it was a relatively strong one."
Akira thought for a bit before continuing.
"That's a difficult question. But there's no doubt that it'll be safer to wait until the equipment from the front line arrives."
"...It is that dangerous, huh?"
Akira frowned, but Alpha smiled at him and added.
"As I said in the past. You would have to challenge that ruin without my support. That's why it's better to get the best equipment you can get first before going there. Honestly, you can get better equipment by waiting, so I can't really recommend you to challenge that ruin now. No need to be so eager. If you naively believe that you can just withdraw if it gets dangerous, that will only get you killed."
"Well, if you have no plan to return back alive, it makes it way easier though. You might even be able to do that now in that case. So, do you still want to go?"
Before Akira could say anything, Alpha then added.
"Even if she looks like that, she doesn't lie, you know? Although I do admit that she did not use that fact for anything good. If you can ascertain the content of what she is saying, you can earn quite a lot of profit from her, you know?"
"I see, in that case, she's a dangerous person to me."
"Don't worry, this time, it has nothing to do with Viola. To be more precise, it has nothing to do with anyone else, it's purely a request from me."
"That's good to hear. So then, what is it?"
As Akira pushed the subject back to be about the request, Carol then replied with a serious face.
Akira frowned and tilted his head. Carol then continued with a solemn expression.
The length of the request was undetermined, normally it would warrant Akira to be around Carol all the time. But with that being said, there was no need to be guarding her all the time, he just needed to be there when Carol needed help. Although he would be acting as a bodyguard, it was not like he would do all the fighting, Carol would help as much as she could as well. Or more like, Akira did not have to do anything if Carol could handle it just fine.
The reward was to be negotiated later. If Akira had no particular demands, it would be calculated per day plus bonuses based on how many and how difficult the battles that Akira had to face during the job.
Akira was a bit uncertain after hearing Carol's explanation. Judging from what she said, it was indeed a job where he could make money by taking it easy. However, that was exactly why it was very suspicious. Thus, Akira asked a question regarding the payment.
"Just how much do you plan to pay me for each day?"
"Let's see. How about, you can sleep with me every day? Or so I want to say but, I'm sure you will say no if I offer that. I bet most men would be really happy with that offer though... Well, just to confirm, will that be okay with you?"
"No, make it money instead."
Carol was seriously at loss. She calculated the funds that she had, predicted how long Akira would have to guard her, and estimated the least amount of wage that Akira would be willing to accept. After that, she carefully made her offer.
"1 million Aurum per day?"
"1 million Aurum, huh..."
This time, it was Akira who was at loss. For him, it was a good offer. But he could not tell if it was good enough considering the job that he would have to do. Akira might believe this to be a decent request if someone had told him that this amount was appropriate for someone like him. However, as long as his suspicion of what this request entailed was not cleared up, he could not shake off the suspicion that Carol was trying to trick him. After all, she was offering him a huge amount of money from his point of view without considering whether it matched the difficulty of the request.
"Well, it's true that it might be on the cheaper side for you, but I don't have much money to spare, you see. Moreover, although you need to be around me all the time, it's not like you have that many restraints. So, like, can you make a compromise here?"
"Alpha, what do you think?"
"I see... 1 million Aurum per day, huh? Is it cheap?"
"I can't really answer that question. Well, if you think it's too high, you can just think of it as Carol judging your skill highly."
Akira concluded that it was at least not some kind of fraud. Carol was not trying to entice him with such a high wage. Thus, he decided to abandon his suspicion which came from the high wage and moved on to his next worry.
"In the first place, why do you need a bodyguard?"
"It's just to be safe. I can't really tell you all the details, but it's just... There are a lot of things happening around lately. It's just to make sure that I won't get roped into any trouble. It's not like someone is actively looking for me. If I must add one more thing, it might actually just be me being too paranoid. There might actually be no need for me to get a bodyguard at all. But it still worries me, you see. So, it's fine if you want to laugh at me, saying that I'm too paranoid, I just want to feel safe right now."
Akira once again checked with Alpha, and Alpha confirmed that what Carol said was not a lie. After that, he thought for a bit.
Akira remembered the time when Kibayashi stated this while laughing so hard that he found it hard to breathe. At that time and even now, he couldn't deny it at all...
"Are you sure you want me to guard you when you don't want to get roped into trouble?"
Akira was able to ask this question extremely casually. It was thanks to the hard life that he had gone through, which gave birth to his twisted personality. However, Carol did not seem bothered by that at all and giggled.
"Basically, she's hiding something, huh?"
"She did say that she can't tell you all the details, and by the way, she was being honest when she said that."
Seeing Akira being uncertain again, Alpha curiously asked him.
"To be honest, you can just refuse it if you're that suspicious, you know? Or is that you actually want to accept it?"
When Alpha pointed that out, Akira suddenly realized his own feeling and found it surprising. He realized the bias in his thoughts. He once again re-evaluated the important questions that he should ask regarding the request and asked those questions to Carol with a serious expression.
"I'll apologize first since I'm sure this will offend you but answer this. You're not trying to trick me into something with this request, right?"
"It depends on how you look at it. If you mean as in causing you trouble, then no. If you mean as in roping you to a fight against people that are way stronger than you expected, then the answer is still a no. Though I can't deny that you might find yourself in a situation where you think so. After all, it's not like I can accurately predict who and what I am going to fight against. If you say that you won't accept it because I can't tell you those details, then there's nothing that I can do, I'll just give it up."
As Akira asked for her real intention, Carol gave the best answer that she could give right now. Then, there was silence as they stared at each other. Akira was the one who broke that silence.
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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