レイナ達も自分達が注目を集めていることなど分かっている。彼女達が浮かべている表情の差は、それを気にしているかどうかの差だ。シオリは他者からの視線よりも己の職務と忠義を優先させ、カナエは気にせず笑っており、レイナは少しげんなりしていた。
レイナがシオリとカナエを見たハンター達の反応を再確認して
以前都市の下位区画で、カナエだけがメイド服を着ていた時もそれなりに目立っていたのだ。旧世界の遺跡の近くにメイド服を着ている美人が2人もいればさぞ目立つだろう。
シオリがレイナを気遣う。
「遺跡の中に入れば視線も減るでしょう。それまでの辛抱です」
シオリは自分達の格好の所為で注目を集めてしまい、不要な気苦労をレイナに与えてしまっていることを理解している。しかしそれを理解した上でこの服を着る理由があるのだ。多少注目を集める程度のことで脱ぐわけにはいかなかった。
カナエが笑いながらレイナに話す。
「慣れっすよ。慣れ。名の知れたハンターに成れば、どんな格好でも注目は集まるっすよ。今のうちから慣れておけば良いんじゃないっすか? お嬢に一山幾らのハンターで終わる気がなければの話っすけどね」
シオリがカナエに非難の視線を送る。カナエが軽く目を
「ん?」
カナエは視線を
しむように彼女達を見ている周囲のハンター達。アキラはその様子を見て自分の常識の正しさを確認して、少し機嫌を良くしてアルファに話す。
『アルファ。やっぱりメイド服で荒野に出るのはハンターの常識では不自然なようだぞ』
『そのようね。でも確かに常識は大切だけれど、常識に足をすくわれてはいけないわ。時には常識を疑って、臨機応変に対応しないといけないわよ。旧世界の遺跡では何が起きても不思議はないのだからね』
『分かってるよ。......そんな話だったか?』
げた。アルファが気にせず話を続ける。
『彼女達に用があるわけでもないわ。そろそろ遺跡の中に入りましょう』
『そうだな』
されたような気もしたが、アキラも気にせず遺跡に向かおうとする。
その時、まだレイナ達を見ていたアキラと、偶然アキラの方を見たカナエの目が合った。
カナエはアキラを見つけると不敵に楽しげに笑った。そして大声でアキラに声を掛ける。
「少年! また会ったっすね!」
レイナとシオリもアキラに気が付いた。その場を立ち去ろうとしていたアキラの足が止まる。その間にカナエは早歩きでアキラの所まで来てしまう。
「少年も遺物収集っすか? 奇遇っすね! あ、私はカナエっす!」
やけに元気良く話しかけてくるカナエの態度に、アキラが少し
「......俺はアキラだ」
「そうっすか! アキラ少年!
無駄に元気の良いカナエの態度にアキラは若干押され気味だった。
レイナとシオリもアキラの
シオリがアキラの様子を確認しながら会釈する。
「......アキラ様、お久しぶりで御座います」
続いてレイナが少し緊張気味に挨拶する。
「......その、久しぶりね」
アキラが少し慌てながら、気まずさを覚えながら答える。
前回のこともあり、アキラもレイナもシオリも相手への態度や対応を決めかねていた。
カナエが場の空気を全く読まずに明るい声でアキラに話しかける。
「実は私達は、ここに来るのは初めてっす! 少年はここにはよく来る方っすか?」
「いや、俺もこの遺跡に来るのは初めてだ」
アキラはカナエも含めたレイナ達への対応を決めかねていた。しかしカナエの態度に毒気を抜かれて、いろいろとどうでもよくなってきた。
アキラが軽く息を吐いた後、恐らく一番いろいろと気にしているであろうシオリに話す。
「あの状況で、俺の言い分を信じて俺に協力してもらえるとは思っていない。中立の立場を保ってもらえただけでも十分有り難い。一応、礼は言っておくよ」
「御理解を感謝いたします」
シオリがアキラへ深々と頭を下げた。少なくともアキラはレイナ達に敵意を抱いていない。そのことを確認して取りあえず安心した。
に取られて、カナエを止める暇がなかったのを後悔していたのだが、結果的には良かったのかもしれないと思い直した。
シオリがアキラの様子を改めて確認する。アキラの装備が地下街の時より高性能なものに変わっていることにすぐに気付いた。
シオリは無意識にアキラとの戦闘を想定する。シオリとカナエの2対1ならば、どちらかが犠牲になる可能性はあるが、間違いなくアキラを殺せる。しかしレイナを加えた3対1ならば非常に難しい。その場合はレイナを
まりました。お気を付けください」
シオリは答えてアキラと別れようとした。しかしそこにカナエが口を挟む。
「これも何かの縁っす! 良かったら一緒に行かないっすか?」
レイナとシオリが驚いてカナエを見る。シオリはカナエを
うように笑いながらアキラに話す。
「つれないっすね。こんな美女美少女との同行の誘いを断るなんて、その
「雇い主の趣味っす!」
カナエはそうはっきり言い切った。そこには無駄な説得力があった。
アキラがレイナをチラッと見て、微妙な表情を浮かべて答える。
気落ちしていたレイナだったが、アキラから明確な誤解を受けていることを理解するとそんな気分は吹き飛んでしまっていた。レイナが慌てて否定する。
「違うわ! 私の趣味じゃないわ!」
アキラが全く信じていないと思われる返事をした。誤解が解けていないことは明らかだ。
「正確にはお嬢様の御祖父、私達の正式な雇い主である方の御趣味です。この服は私達の手持ち中では最も高性能な防護服なのです。その、上司に高性能な装備を要求しましたら、武器と一緒にこの服が送られてきまして。私達もこの服が不要に目立つことは理解しているのです。しかしこの防護服の性能と、モンスターとの戦闘時のお嬢様の安全を考慮すると、多少目立ったとしても着用するべきだと判断いたしました」
カナエが左手で自分のスカートを持ち上げて、右手でその下の黒タイツのような強化服を指差した。恐らくシズカやエレナが着用しているような種類の強化服なのだろう。アキラはそう考えて、そのことには疑問を抱かなかった。
「そのような事情でして、我々の服装はお嬢様の趣味によるものでは御座いません。御理解いただけましたでしょうか?」
シオリはスカートを持ち上げているカナエの手を
アキラは少し思案して、その後に何かに気付いたように表情を変えて話す。
「ああ、そうか。その服は旧世界の遺物か。旧世界製で
の合う答えを見つけ出した。常識的に考えてモンスターとの戦闘に耐えうる防御性能を持つメイド服など有るわけがない。しかし旧世界の遺物ならば、その限りではない。アキラも納得できる答えだった。
しかしシオリがアキラの答えを否定する。
「いえ、これは旧世界製ではありません。防護服の製造にも携わっている衣類メーカーに発注したものだと聞いております」
アキラが少しの沈黙の後に尋ねる。
「俺の常識が間違っているなら言ってくれ。......なんでメイド服にモンスターとの戦闘に耐えうる防御性能が必要なんだ? メイドってあれだろ? 家事とかする職業の人のことだろ? そんな機能は要らないだろ? それとも趣味ってのは、ハンターにメイド服を着せる趣味があるってことなのか?」
「いえ、本館のメイドは全員同系統のメイド服を着用していると聞いております。恐らくその余剰品かと」
「いえ、確かに警備や護衛の任に着いている者はおります。しかしそうではない他の通常の家事に割り当てられている者にも支給されております。しかし本家のメイドには全員一定の戦闘技能が必須として、訓練のカリキュラムに含まれていることも確かです」
根が真面目なシオリは、アキラの質問に適当に
違うのだろうか。戦闘技能がメイドの必須技能となるほど、危険な場所もあるのだろうか。そもそもメイドと呼ばれる存在に対する自分の知識が間違っているのだろうか。アキラには分からなかった。
自身の常識が大いに揺らぐ話を聞いたアキラが困惑したまま
「俺の知識が、俺の常識がおかしいんだろうか......」
「少年。気にするだけ無駄っすよ。世界は広い。それだけっす」
アキラがカナエを見る。カナエは諭すような笑顔をアキラに向けて深く
め息を吐いた後、気持ちを切り替えてレイナ達に話す。
「取りあえず、俺にそっちと合流する気はない。そっちの格好や報酬の件を別にしても、3人の中の2人が残りの1人の護衛に付きっきり、なんていうチームに加わるのはちょっとな。追加でもう1人護衛が欲しいって話なら別だが、今はそういう依頼を受ける気もない。別の機会にしてくれ。じゃあな」
アキラはそう言った後で、軽く手を振ってレイナ達から去っていった。
レイナ達は遺跡の奥へ向けて歩いていくアキラを見送った。アキラの姿が見えなくなった後、シオリが中断していたカナエへの
って、何がっすか?」
「どうして彼に話しかけたりしたの。何かあったらどうする気だったの?」
「何もなかったし、怒ってないって分かって良かったっすね。怒らなくても良いじゃないっすか」
んでいる雰囲気がある。カナエが無意味にレイナの危険を増やしたのだとしたら自分にも考えがある。そう告げている態度だ。
カナエは全く動じずに軽く笑って答える。
「それこそっすよ。少年がどの程度怒っているかはいずれにせよ確認しなければいけなかったっす。仮に、少年の怒りは私達が視界に入った瞬間に殺しに来るぐらい
シオリの内心を知ってか知らずか、カナエが余裕の表情で話す。
「そっすか? じゃあお嬢、私達も遺跡の中に入るっすか? それとも少し休憩にするっすか? 出張所には食堂もあるみたいっすよ」
レイナ達はアキラに少し遅れて遺跡の中へ入っていった。
アキラがミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を進んでいく。アキラの拡張視界に表示されている目的地の矢印は、遠くに見える高層ビルの上層を示していた。目的地であるリオンズテイル社の端末設置場所を示す矢印だ。
『あの高さなら、さぞ見晴らしは良いだろうけどさ。ビルの階段とかが壊れずに残っていないと、あそこまで行くのは無理だぞ。外壁をよじ登るなんて絶対に嫌だからな』
む高さだ。壁の外に出て誤って落下した場合、確実に死亡するだろう。
『ビルの外観から判断すると、恐らく現在でも整備装置が稼動しているわ。エレベーターが稼動していれば楽に登れるかもしれないわね』
『そういう設備って、今でも動くものなのか? 下手をすると何百年も前のものなんだろう?』
『可能性はあるわ。ヨノズカ駅遺跡の照明も機能していたでしょう? 当時の技術水準にも
『設備の動作に問題がないことと、私達がそれを使用できるかどうかは別よ。ビルのセキュリティーもあるでしょうしね。そもそも......』
アルファが少し前を指差す。
『私達はミハゾノ街遺跡に歓迎されていないわ。ビルの設備なんて使えるかしら?』
前方から機械系モンスターが近付いてくる。明確にアキラを認識しており、四角い機体の下から生えている多脚を動かして近付いていくる。機体の上から生えている多関節の腕を振り回して近付いてくる。
アキラが軽く笑ってCWH対物突撃銃を構える。
そして引き金を引く。モンスターは徹甲弾を胴体部に食らい、内部機構を破壊されて停止した。
ミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を巡回している警備機械は今日も招かれざる客に対処している。機体から機銃を生やして銃撃してこないだけ、紳士的で倫理的な設計思想の機械なのかもしれない。
アキラは自力で索敵をしながらミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を進んでいた。強化服の操作も自力で行っている。現在のアキラの動きはアルファのサポートがない状態と同じだ。
自分の体と強化服の動きを別々に処理しながら相反しないように動かすことで、生身の身体能力を超える動きを強化服で無理
『多分警備機械や整備機械の担当区画の差でしょうね。恐らく警備機械や整備機械の性能に差があるのよ。荒れている場所は強力な警備機械が配置されていて、ハンター達と激しい戦闘が行われたのでしょうね』
『小奇麗な区画でも油断をしては駄目よ。区画の修復装置が高性能なだけで、激しい戦闘の跡をすぐに修復しただけかもしれないわ。荒れている場所も修復装置が壊れていて、経年劣化でボロボロになっているだけかもしれないわ』
『まあ、どちらにしろ旧世界の遺物を探すなら、小奇麗な場所の方が良さそうだな』
『そうね。少し寄っていく?』
『止めておく。目的地の高層ビルの方が高値の遺物が有りそうだからな。寄るとしても帰りにしよう。目的地に大量に遺物があるかもしれない。それを期待して向かっているんだからな』
『それもそうね。油断せずに進んで、何かあって引き返すと決めてから遺物収集を始めましょうか』
アルファもそれに同意した。場合によっては逃げ帰ることになるかもしれないのだ。余計な荷物を背負っていては
アキラは目視による周囲の地形の確認や情報収集機器による索敵の結果などから、遮蔽物等を利用した安全な移動ルートを選択して進んでいく。アキラが誤った移動ルートを選択した場合には、アルファがそのたびにより正しい移動ルートを指摘していた。
アキラは自分が選んだ移動ルートと、アルファが指示した移動ルートの差異が分からず、それをアルファに尋ねた。するとアキラの視界が拡張され、周辺の景色が一時的に着色されて表示される。
『赤く表示されている箇所が危険な場所よ。色が濃い場所はそれだけ危険だということ。アキラが選択した移動ルートは、そこの非常に赤い場所を通っているでしょう? そこは通らない方が良いわ』
『なるほど。で、アルファのサポート無しで俺はそれをどうやって把握すれば良いんだ?』
『それはもう、何となく理解してもらうしかないわ』
随分と具体性の欠ける説明を聞いたアキラが困惑気味な表情を浮かべてアルファを見る。
アルファも少し困ったような表情で答える。
『そうとしか言えないのよ。アキラが周囲の地形を軽く確認して、何となくこの辺りを通るのは危険だと判断できるようになるしかないわ。遮蔽物で遮られていない全てのビル。そのビルのアキラ側にある全ての側面。その側面にある全ての窓や出入口。そこに敵がいる可能性。その敵がアキラを狙う可能性。その敵の有効射程範囲内の命中率。その他
『後はもう俺が無意識に何となく経験から理解して対処できるようになるしかないってことか』
『そういうことよ。後はもう経験から勘を磨くしかないわ。
『勘か。嫌な予感は当たる方だ。そっちの才能に期待するか』
アキラはもう一度周辺の景色と、表示されている危険地帯の場所を確認する。実感は全くないが、この色づけされた光景を見たことで、僅かでも危険な場所の推測能力が向上したことを期待して、安全と表示されている移動ルートを進んでいく。
遺跡の中を慎重にゆっくりと進んでいく。アキラの歩みはまだまだ遅い。それでもクズスハラ街遺跡で100メートル進むのに1時間掛かった時に比べれば相当な進歩だ。随時アルファから指摘を受けながら先へ進んでいく。
『生物系ならどこかで勝手に増えそうだけど、機械系はどこから補充されているんだ?』
『恐らく工場区画で生産されているのよ。この辺りは市街区画よ。警備機械が破壊されて少なくなったら、配送して再配置しているのかもしれないわ』
『それならその工場区画を制圧すれば、この遺跡は安全になるんじゃないか? 何でそうしないんだ?』
『まあ、いろいろ事情があるんだろうな』
可能なら、必要なら実施しているのだろう。実施しない理由は一介のハンターなどには教えられないのだろう。それを知ることができる地位や力を得れば知ることもできるのだろうが、今のアキラには無理であり、余り関係のないことだ。アキラは気を切り替えて先に進んでいった。
Reina and her maids knew that they were attracting people's attention. The differences in their expressions showed how they felt about it. Shiori prioritized her master and her duty over other people's gazes, Kanae was smiling as she did not even give a care at all, while Reina looked slightly annoyed.
Reina looked at the other Hunters' reactions to Shiori and Kanae and sighed.
The other day when they were walking through Kugamayama city lower district, they were also garnering attention. Though Kanae was the only person in a maid outfit at that time. So it was totally understandable that they were gathering a lot more attention with both Shiori and Kanae in maid outfits in the middle of an old-world ruin.
Shiori tried to cheer Reina up.
"We will attract less attention once we go into the ruin, so just bear with it for now."
Shiori understood that they were attracting a lot of attention because of their maid outfits and she understood that she was putting Reina in more unnecessary stress. But there was a reason why she kept her maid uniform on, after all, it was not like she could just take off her outfit just because it was attracting some attention.
Kanae smiled and said to Reina.
"We just need to get used to this. After all, once Milady becomes a famous Hunter, Milady will attract a lot of attention no matter what outfit Milady uses. So, like, this is a good chance to get used to it, right? Of course, that is if Milady doesn't plan to be just one of those ordinary Hunters."
Shiori glared at Kanae, so Kanae averted her gaze.
"Hm?"
When Kanae averted her gaze somewhere else, she caught a familiar face.
Most of the Hunters in that place looked at Reina and her maids with suspicion. Akira, who noticed that, understood that his common sense was correct the previous time and spoke to Alpha in a good mood.
"Alpha, I knew I was right. It seems that walking around in maid outfits in the middle of the wasteland is not normal even for the Hunters, you know."
"That seems to be the case indeed. Well, common sense is indeed important, but it's also important not to be held back by common sense. Sometimes you need to doubt common sense and be more open to different things. After all, you can expect weird things from the old-world culture."
"I know... Wait, what were we talking about, again?"
Akira felt like Alpha just diverted the subject as he tilted his head. But she just ignored that and continued.
"It's not like we have any business with them, so let's just head to the ruin."
"You're right about that."
Akira did feel for sure that Alpha was changing the subject, but he just decided to forget that and head to the ruin.
At that time when Akira was about to turn and was still looking in Reina's direction, Kanae's gaze met with his gaze.
Kanae smiled, she looked really excited as she suddenly called Akira with a loud voice.
"Yo there!! We meet again!!"
Reina and Shiori quickly noticed Akira too. Akira, who was about to leave that place, stopped. Kanae then approached him, half-running.
"Are you here to hunt for relics too? What a coincidence!! Ah, I'm Kanae by the way!"
Akira was a bit surprised since Kanae came at him with such a high spirit.
"...I'm Akira."
"I see!! Akira-shounen!! Nice to meet you!!"
Akira was actually a bit overwhelmed by that overly excited reaction from Kanae.
Reina and Shiori also came to Akira. Since Kanae noticed him, it was not like they could just ignore it and go somewhere else.
Shiori carefully spoke to Akira.
"...Akira-sama, it has been quite a while."
Reina also followed up by nervously giving her greeting to him.
"...Uhm, long time no see."
Akira was a bit fl.u.s.tered as he awkwardly replied.
With what happened in the past, Akira, Reina and Shiori, all 3 of them were not sure on how to interact with each other.
But then Kanae said to him with her still high-spirited attitude as if she could not read the mood at all.
"It's actually our first time coming here! Do you usually come here?"
"No, this is also my first time."
Although at first, Akira was not really sure how to interact with Reina's group including Kanae, after seeing how Kanae was behaving, he stopped worrying about it.
Akira lightly sighed. He then turned and spoke to Shiori, who might be the most worried person in that place.
"Back then, I was not expecting that you would believe what I said and help me out. So I'm already thankful enough that both of you decided to stay neutral. So well, yeah, you have my gratitude."
"Thank you for your understanding."
Shiori bowed deeply to Akira. For now, she was able to confirm that he had no grudge against Reina or her.
Although Shiori originally regretted the fact that she was caught completely off guard when Kanae suddenly called Akira, and that she could not stop Kanae back then, she started to think that it might be a good thing that Kanae did that.
Shiori took another close look at Akira. He was carrying better equipment compared to the ones that he was carrying in Kuzusuhara underground city.
She unconsciously assessed his fighting power. If she and Kanae fought Akira in a 2 vs 1 fight, there was no mistaking that they would be able to kill him. Although either she or Kanae would also get killed in that fight. But if Reina also joined in, it would be extremely difficult to win against Akira since she had to protect Reina. And honestly speaking, Shiori did not think he would let that weak point slip off when it came to that.
"I understand, please be careful out there."
Shiori was about to end their conversation there and let Akira go, but Kanae suddenly interjected.
"This must be some kind of fate to meet here!! So why don't we go together?"
Reina and Shiori looked at Kanae in panic. Shiori was about to scold Kanae, but before she could do that, Akira quickly replied back.
Kanae giggled mischievously and said to Akira.
"Geez, you're so cold. To think that you would refuse such an offer from a group of beautiful girls, don't tell me that you're already sick of girls in your age."
"It's my master's hobby, you see!!"
Kanae said that without any hesitation. Thanks to that, she sounded very convincing.
Akira glanced at Reina and looked obviously weirded out.
Reina, who was down, quickly refuted in panic when she realized that Akira was misunderstanding the subject.
"That's not true!! It's not my hobby!!"
It was obvious that Akira did not believe her.
"To be more precise, it's the hobby of our master, Milady's father. We're officially working for him. These maid outfits are practically the best armours that we have. Actually, when we requested equipment, the upper echelons sent us this maid outfits and rifles. We understood that we gathered a lot of attention with these outfits. But considering its quality as an armour and how it'll help us protect Milady, I think it's better to keep using this outfit although it attracts people's attention."
Kanae then lifted her skirt with her left hand and pointed at the black tight-looking augmented suit under her skirt with her right hand. There was a good chance that Shiori and Reina were also using similar augmented suits. As Akira thought so, he did not question it at all.
"So as we explained, this is not out of Milady's hobby. I hope you can understand that."
Shiori tried to confirm that Akira understood that point as she slapped Kanae's hand that the latter was using to lift her skirt.
Akira's expression suddenly changed as if he realized something.
"Ahh, I see. So that maid outfit must be an old-world relic, huh. I heard that old-world fabrics are so strong that they are often used in place of armour. And then you complement it by using an augmented suit under it, right?"
Akira used all of his knowledge to come up with a plausible explanation. After all, normally, it was unthinkable that a maid outfit could withstand a fight against monsters. But if it was an old-world relic, then it would be completely possible. That was what Akira thought.
But then Shiori rectified his answer.
"No, this is not an old-world relic. I heard that it's specially ordered from a corporation that normally works on Hunter armour."
There was a short silence before Akira asked another question.
"Do tell me if I'm mistaken... Honestly speaking, why would you need a maid outfit that can withstand fighting monsters? Maids are those people, right? They usually work to take care of a house, right? So why would you even need such a strong maid outfit? When you said it's out of a hobby, does it mean that it's that kind of hobby, like, putting maid outfits on Hunters?"
"No, I heard that every maid working in the main house is using the same type of maid outfit. This outfit might be a leftover from the main house."
"No, it's true that some of them are guards, but the maids who mainly work on taking care of the house also get the same set of equipment. Moreover, all the maids in the main house are required to be able to fight, they even have to go through a specialized lesson for that."
Shiori was a serious person in the first place, thus she answered Akira's question sincerely without trying to lie nor to trick him. But that only caused him to question it even more.
Akira did not know if he was mistaken there, the inner wall might be not as safe as he thought to the point that the maids there had to learn how to fight, or it was just that his assumption about maids was completely wrong.
After hearing something that was the opposite of what he thought as normal, Akira mumbled.
"Is it my fault? Is it because my common sense is just wrong...?"
"It's pointless to worry over such a thing. This world is a big place, that's all there is to it."
Akira looked at Kanae, she nodded deeply as if she tried to convince him.
Akira sighed, he decided to move on as he said to Reina.
"Well, that aside, I have no plans to work together with you. Putting aside your outfits and the problem about how we are going to divide the money if we work together, I don't feel like joining a group consisting of 2 bodyguards for that one person in that group. I don't really mind if you ask me to come with you as your bodyguard, but since I didn't receive such a request, I have no plans to join you. So yeah, later then."
After he said that, Akira just waved and left that place.
Reina, Shiori and Kanae just stood there and watched Akira leave. Once he was out of their views, Shiori immediately scolded Kanae since she was interrupted back then when she was about to send Akira off.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Why did you call him? What would you do if something bad happened?"
"Well, nothing happened and it's good to hear that he's not angry at us. So like, there's no need for you to be angry, right?"
Shiori had a very serious expression, an intimidating air was even exuding out from her. It was as if she was saying that she was willing to dispose of Kanae if Kanae kept exposing Reina to unnecessary dangers.
Kanae did not show any fear at all as she smiled and said.
"That's exactly the reason, we eventually have to confirm whether he's angry at us or not. Assuming that he's still angry enough that he would kill us the moment he sees us, it was the perfect chance to ask him since there are a lot of Hunters in this place and we're right next to the Hunter Office. And even if he did try to attack us, we would have the upper hand in this place."
It was unclear whether Kanae knew what Shiori thought or not, but she then casually said.
"Sure. Well then, Milady, let's head to the ruin, shall we? Or do you want to take a break for a bit? It seems that there's a cafeteria inside the Hunter Office."
Then they also went to the ruin a few minutes after Akira.
Akira was exploring the Mihazono ruin's city area. He was able to see his destination since it was indicated by a pointer in his enhanced vision. To be more precise, it was pointing at a floor in a high storey building visible from afar. It was pointing at the locations where Akira should be able to find the Lion Steel corp's terminal.
"Well, I bet the views from up there are indeed amazing. But unless the stairs in that building are still intact, there's no way I can go to that floor. Just so you know, I refuse climbing up the outer wall, okay?"
The pointer was pointing at a floor that was indeed so high, in case if Akira fell from that height, there was no mistaking it that he would be dead.
"Judging from the outer appearance of the building, it seems that the facilities inside it are still working, it would be great if we can find an elevator inside it."
"Even if we find one, do you think that it will still be functional? If we're unlucky, it might be an elevator from hundreds of years ago, you know."
"The possibility is not zero. The lighting inside the Yonozuka station ruin was still working too, remember? Although it depends on which era it was built, if it still has a fully operational self-repairing function, then there should be no problem with that."
"Even if it's still functional, there's no guarantee that we can use it. There's also the building's security to deal with and in the first place..."
Alpha then pointed her finger forward.
"We're not welcome in this ruin. So I wonder if we would be able to use the facilities inside that building."
Akira noticed mechanical monsters coming from the front of him. Or to be more precise, the monsters noticed Akira as its legs and hands extended out from their square bodies and they started moving toward his direction.
Akira lightly smiled and aimed his CWH anti-material rifle.
He then pulled the trigger, the piercing ammo easily pierced through the monster's torso and destroyed the machines inside it.
The security guards that were patrolling the city area of Mihazono ruin would attack any intruders that they could find even now. It might be out of mercy and ethical design concept that those monsters would not grow rifles on their bodies and start shooting at the people.
Akira was solely relying on his skill as he explored the city area of Mihazono ruin. He was also using his augmented suit with his own skill only. The current him was not receiving any support from Alpha.
Moving his body and his augmented suit in-sync would allow him to lower the burden on his body even in the case when he solely used the power of his augmented suit to forcefully move his body and give him a superhuman strength for a split second. Akira was moving carefully to train his body while not lowering his vigilance. It was a training so that he would still be able to move around even when he lost support from Alpha.
"Maybe it's based on the difference of the security and maintenance facilities handling those areas. So for those dirty areas, it might be because the security and the maintenance drones tend to go to those areas and Hunters tend to fight there."
"But don't drop your guard just because you're in a clean area. Those places might be clean because the self-repair drones are working hard in those areas, so it doesn't mean that there is less fighting in those areas. While for the dirty areas, it might be because it's abandoned for years since the self-repair drones in that areas are inactive."
"Well, at least for searching relics, it might be better to go to the clean areas."
"That's true, want to have a go?"
"I guess not this time. After all, it seems like we can find better relics in that high building we're heading to. And even if we're going to have a look, let's do that on our way back instead. We might be able to find a lot of relics in our destination after all, and that's exactly why we're heading there in the first place."
"You have a point there. Don't drop your guard and carefully move forward. Let's only hunt for relics if something happens and you decide to stop going to that building."
Alpha agreed with Akira's idea. If they got unlucky, they might be retreating while running away from the monsters, so it was unwise to increase his luggage since it might be fatal when that happened. At the moment, that decision was not a mistake, it would only become clear whether it was the correct decision or not later.
Akira checked the contour around his destination and confirmed the location of the monsters using his information-gathering device. From there, he picked a relatively safe route using the wreckage and rubbles around him. Every time he picked a wrong route, Alpha would immediately point it out and correct him.
Akira did not understand the reason why Alpha picked a different route than the one that he picked, so he decided to ask her. When he did that, she enhanced his vision to help him temporarily see everything around him.
"The red areas are dangerous areas. The thicker the red, the more dangerous it is. The route that you picked passes through one of those very dangerous areas, you see? It's better to avoid that place."
"I see. So then, how exactly can I accurately identify such an area without your support?"
"Well, you have no other choice but to somehow see it."
That vague answer from Alpha caused him to frown in confusion as he looked in her direction.
Alpha seemed to be confused as well.
"Hmm, I can't really say anything other than that. You somehow need to be able to correctly judge the danger of an area only by the limited information that you get after checking out that area. Like the buildings located in the direction that's not covered by the wreckages or the rubbles in an area, the condition of the walls on those buildings that are facing to your direction, the existence of windows in those walls, the possibility of finding monsters inside those buildings and if those monsters would try to shoot you from those directions, the accuracy of those monsters. There are a lot of details that you need to factor in. It's difficult to explain everything only using words, if I have to do that, it might take a whole day and I won't even be close to finishing. And even if I just show you through visuals since it's the fastest way to let you know, it's still not an efficient way to do it, you see. It's still difficult to convey the reasons why an area is dangerous even if I do that. Of course, I can add oral explanation too, but you're already past that level. You can already identify and make decisions based on all the information that I can add through an oral explanation."
"So basically, I just need to get enough experience so that I can intuitively detect dangers and deal with it, right?"
"Yep, that's correct. There's no other way but to gather enough experience and sharpen your intuition. Of course, I will give you my help to effectively gather that much-needed experience. As you can see, I'm enhancing your vision like this to let you know which area is dangerous."
"Intuition, huh. Well, I'm good at sensing troubles, so I guess I have no other choice but to rely on that gift."
Akira once again checked his surroundings with the help of that vision which allowed him to see the danger level of the areas around him. Although he did not realize it, his guessing skill was actually getting better just by looking around using that enhanced vision. He then picked the safest route based on that vision as he continued moving forward.
Akira was moving slowly and carefully through the Mihazono ruin. Although he was relatively slow, he was doing way better compared to when he took 1 hour just to move forward 100 meters back in the Kuzusuhara ruin. He kept on pushing forward with Alpha sometimes giving him some pointers.
"It's fully understandable for biological monsters to be multiplying somewhere, but how about the mechanical monsters? Where are they coming from?"
"I believe it's from the factories. This place is a city area, after all. So once the Hunters destroy enough drones, it might send a signal to the factories to produce replacement drones."
"If that's the case, then once we take control of the factories, this place will be a safe ruin, right? So why don't they do that already?"
"Well, I guess they have their reasons, huh?"
If it was possible and if it was an important thing, they would have done that by now. And it was not like they would explain the reason why they did not do that to a common Hunter. Akira bet that he would be able to know that reason once he got to a higher position and had enough influence. But for the time being, it was something that was impossible for him as much as it was something that was not important to him. As Akira thought so, he decided to just forget about that subject and move on with the exploration.
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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