の出力を引き上げるので、通信障害が発生する恐れがある。警備側とはその簡素な連絡を最後に通信が途絶えていた。
それでもヒカルは状況を楽観視していた。先日の戦闘記録でアキラの実力を知り、輸送車両の警備も大幅に増やしたと聞いているからだ。そのまま部屋で事態の収拾を待つ。
「どちら様ですか?」
代表の男が真剣な顔で答える。
「車内警備の者です。司令室からの指示で乗員の避難を実施しています。御協力をお願いします」
「......避難って、え? そんなに
ヒカルは思わず声を大きくしていた。男がヒカルを落ち着かせるように冷静に、だが僅かに深刻な顔で答える。
「残念ながら、4号車は上空領域のモンスターの攻撃により自走不能状態に陥りました。現在乗員の避難誘導を進めております。他の車両の方々にも、念の
(......上空領域のモンスター?)
僅かに浮かんだ嫌な予感。そこから推察を深めていく。上空領域のモンスターの攻撃で4号車が大きな被害を受けた。慌てて全車両の
「申し訳ございません。急いでいただけないでしょうか。避難場所まで御案内します」
その催促に対し、ヒカルは僅かに迷う。そして軽く鎌を掛ける。
「ごめんなさい。何だか知らないけど、パネルが反応しないのよ。そっちから開けてもらえない? そんな事態なら救助用にマスターキーぐらい配布されているでしょう?」
男が済まなそうに頭を下げる。
「申し訳ございません。この状況であっても、他都市の職員の部屋をマスターキーで開けてしまうと後で問題になります。また、使い切りタイプのキーコードですので、他の乗客用に出来る限り保持しておきたいのです。そちらから何とかなりませんか?」
「やってるんだけど、駄目なのよ。......仕方無いわ。私の案内は後回しにして」
「良いのよ。私も都市の職員として、荒野に出た際の覚悟ぐらいはしているわ。他の乗員の避難を優先して。あ、避難場所だけ教えて。何とか開けたら自分で行くわ。どこに移動すれば良いの?」
「避難場所は状況に応じて変更されます。また、車内のセキュリティが緊急時のものに変更されていますので、我々と同行しないと隔壁を通過できません」
「......すまない。本当に急いでるんだ。どうしても開かないのか?」
ヒカルと話しているのは、通路側にいる者達のリーダーであるエルデという男だ。エルデの顔に浮かぶ僅かな
ヒカルはそのエルデの様子を見て迷う。だがパネルには手を触れない。
「やってるんだけどね。あ、もしかして、私を連れて行かないと、隔壁閉鎖が出来ないとか、そういう事情があるの?」
り過ぎかと思っていたが、妙な胸騒ぎがまだ待てと告げていた。それでもエルデ達がドアから離れようとしたらすぐにドアを開けるつもりだった。
既に険しい表情を浮かべているエルデの、その表情の質が僅かに変わる。
「......どうしても、開かないのか?」
「開けようとしているの! やってるのよ!?」
まるで焦っているようなヒカルの声を聞き、エルデがその顔を僅かな間だけ
らせた。通路側を透過表示しているようなドアの側面、その反対側に爆発物のようなものが取り付けられた。
エルデ達がドアから離れる。ヒカルも慌ててドアから離れた。そして設置された爆弾が起爆した。
通路内を爆風と爆音が駆け抜けていく。それが収まった後、エルデがドアの状態の確認に戻る。そして顔を
「......次!」
(......初めから疑われていた? ......いや、違う。初めは問題なかった。では、どの言動で疑われた? ......分からん。何らかのミスをしたんだろうがな。まあ、仕方無い。それは直接聞くとしよう)
エルデが部屋の中に向けて大声を出す。
「死にたくなかったら、ちゃんと離れてろよ!」
再度爆弾が設置され、爆発する。爆発後に戻ってきたエルデがドアの状態を確認する。ドアは僅かに
「......次だ!」
3度目の爆破作業が行われた。ドアの
そこまで大それたことを平然とする者達が、たかが地方都市の職員にすぎない自分を狙っている。ヒカルにはその意図が全く分からなかった。
慌てながらも警備側に異常事態を伝えようと通信を
(......随分頑丈だな。隔離室か)
輸送車両には隔離室と呼ばれる非常に頑丈な部屋が幾つか用意されている。部屋の内外から攻撃しても余程の威力でなければびくともしない構造になっている。非常に安全だと言えば聞こえは良いが、要は内側で幾ら暴れても外に影響は無いということであり、凶悪な囚人の護送など、武力面での危険人物の輸送などにも使用されている。生身でも危険な超人などを、隔離室に押し込んで運ぶのだ。その負の印象が強い
(護衛要員を外に回したのは、隔離室の防御があれば、外敵の排除を優先した方が良いと判断したからか? ハンターとそのオペレーターを装っているんだ。それぐらいはしないと逆に疑われると思ったのかもしれん。つまり、こっちが当たりか?)
深読みしたエルデが表情を引き締める。
「次だ! もっと威力を上げて良い! 続けろ!」
「構わん! やれ!」
部下達はエルデの迷いの無い指示に従い、ドアに設置する爆発物の量を更に増やし始めた。
その後も爆発が繰り返される。次第に大きくなる爆発が部屋を大きく揺らす。車両も揺れたが、それは車外の戦闘の余波に混ざった。大きな揺れを感じたヒカルがその表情を驚きと焦りで満たす。ドアは大きく
「ちょっと!? ここ、隔離室よ!? 坂下重工の幹部でも襲いにきた訳じゃあるまいし、そこまでする!?」
「次だ! 急げよ!」
『アルファ。これ、色無しの霧か?』
『いえ、色無しの霧を模した高濃度の拡張粒子気体よ』
『拡張粒子気体って?』
『空気中の物理特性を拡張する特性を持った粒子状の気体のことよ。今は色無しの霧のようなものと思っていればいいわ。
『まずはその認識で進みましょう。何かあれば、私がその都度サポートするわ』
『了解だ』
アキラが通路を急いで駆けていく。強化服を着て素早く走ると、その速度により強風の中を進むような風圧を感じる。それ自体には既に慣れている。だが今は空気が少し重いように感じられた。水の中で手足を動かした時に感じる抵抗感を、非常に弱めたような感覚だ。しかし動きに支障が出るほどではない。そのまま急いで部屋に向かう。
通路の先に爆発の跡が見える。エルデ達が隔離室のドアを
『まずは室内を確認しましょう』
そのまま部屋に急ごうとすると、通路の先、破壊されたドアの内側から2人の男が飛び出してきた。そしてそのまま通路を駆けてくる。
撃っても無駄だと判断したアルファが強化服の操作を介して銃撃を強引に中止する。それでアキラも不可解な状況ではあるが混乱から立ち直る。
『アルファ! 今のはどうやって防がれたんだ!?』
『それは後! 来るわ!』
男達は驚異的な身体能力で一気に距離を詰めていた。それでもアキラまではまだ遠い。少なくともナイフでの近距離戦闘の間合いではない。だが右の男が両手のナイフを大きく振るう。そしてアキラもその予備動作とナイフの発光する刀身を見て、その攻撃が自分の位置まで届くと察し、素早く回避行動を取る。次の瞬間、十字の光刃がアキラの横を駆け抜けていった。
片方の男がアキラの攻撃を引き付け、もう片方の男が壁と天井を蹴ってアキラの背後に回る。そして両面からアキラを刻みに掛かる。ナイフの刃の発光が斬撃の軌道の帯となり、空間を縦横無尽に駆け巡る。
アキラはそれらを回避しながら両手の銃をそれぞれに向ける。既に敵を視界に入れる暇はない。だが敵をその位置どころか振るう腕の動きまで正確に認識し、素早い動きで回避と攻撃を両立させる。左右の銃を精密に振り回し、拡張弾倉を
そして次の一手を間違えた者が出る。戦闘の余波で通路はボロボロになっている。アキラも男達もその
い部分を踏んで体勢を崩さないように注意している。
のLEO複合銃から連続して撃ち出された弾丸が、見えない壁を貫いたように速度を落としたのは、残りの男の頭と体を貫いた後だった。男はそのまま着弾の衝撃で吹き飛ばされ、体を半壊させながら通路を飛んでいった。
アキラはそれでも非常に険しい表情のままだ。銃を宙に置くように銃から手を離すと、右手で追加の回復薬を取り出して服用し、左手で強化服の拡張エネルギータンクを交換する。その間に宙に残ったままの銃から拡張弾倉が排出される。アキラの両手が予備の拡張弾倉を
『......こいつらがヒカルの言っていたやつらか? ヒカルは何でこんなのに襲われてるんだ? 外で戦った白い大型機より厄介だったぞ?』
『それはヒカルに聞きましょう。殺されていたり、
『......頭が痛い。あの世界がはっきり見えるやつ、日に2度もやるもんじゃないな』
『じゃあ、そういうことだな』
アキラは苦笑して息を整え始めた。アルファも苦笑を浮かべていた。
前方を警戒しながら深呼吸を繰り返す。不要な緊張を緩めて心身の回復を促進する。その間に気になることを聞いておく。
『そこまでの高濃度にするのは大変だから、直進する弾丸が空気を圧縮した結果、射線前方の空気が条件を満たす高濃度になるように、粘性とかをいろいろ調整しているのでしょうね』
『でも向こうはナイフで光の刃みたいなのを飛ばしてきたぞ?』
『あれは切断能力を持った光の波であって、物体ではないわ。それ以前に弾丸ほど速くもないでしょう?』
それでも襲撃側がこの手のものを
The last message that she received was a warning from the HQ that the increased forcefield armour output might cause some jamming on the communication line.
But even so, Hikaru still perceived the situation as not too bad. She knew well how strong Akira was from yesterday's battle record. She also had heard that the escort team added more men to its rooster. So, she was just calmly gathering information about the current situation from inside the room.
"Who is it?"
The man who led that team replied.
"We're from the escort team. There's an order from HQ to evacuate the transport. Will you please cooperate with us?"
"...Evacuation? Is it that bad?"
Hikaru unconsciously raised her voice. The men replied calmly as if to calm Hikaru down, but his smile somehow deepened.
"Unfortunately, transport vehicle number 4 got hit by the flying monster and can no longer move. So, we're helping with the evacuation of the crews at the moment. Just to be safe, we were directed to evacuate the other transport vehicles."
[...Flying monster?]
She suddenly had a bad feeling and pondered. It all made perfect sense that after the flying monster destroyed one of the transport vehicles, the rest of the surviving transport vehicles suddenly increased their forcefield armour output while the crew urged everyone to evacuate.
"I'm really sorry, but can you please hurry up? We will guide you to evacuate."
Hikaru hesitated, but she decided to lightly lock the door.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on, but the panel is not responding. Can you open it from that side? I'm sure you have a master key with you during this emergency situation, right?"
The guy lightly bowed.
"We're really sorry, it would cause trouble for us to open our customer's room with our master key even in this situation. We do have one-time use emergency code, but if possible, we want to keep it for those who need them more. So, can't you do something from inside?"
"I'm trying here, but it seems that nothing is working... Well, you can go ahead and evacuate the other people and come back here later."
"It's fine. I'm a city management staff, so I already prepared myself for all possibilities the moment I stepped out into the wasteland. You should prioritize evacuating the other passengers. Ah, just tell me where I should evacuate, I will go there myself if I somehow manage to open this thing before you come back."
"The evacuation point might change depending on the situation. The security inside the vehicle might also change during the emergency, so there is a good chance that you might get locked in if we're not around."
"...I'm sorry. We're really in a hurry here, can't you really do something from your side?"
Hikaru was with a guy by the name of Erde who was the leader of that team. Erde seemed to be slightly irritated, and he became rather impatient. It was understandable for someone from the escort team, who was evacuating the passengers, to have that expression.
Hikaru who saw that hesitated, but she still refused to touch the panel.
"I'm still trying here. Ah, is it because I'm the last person here so you can't close the bulkhead before I evacuate?"
Hikaru still had not touched the panel. She thought that she might have overdone it there, but her heart was telling her to still wait. She was planning to open the door later after Erde and his men left that place.
Erde's face which already had a stern expression slightly changed.
"...Can't you open it no matter what?"
"I'm already trying to open it here right now!"
In response to Hikaru's voice that sounded as if she was panicking, Erde's face turned cold for a split second, but it was immediately replaced by an ominous smile.
Erde looked at the other men to tell them to start working. Hikaru, who was noticed that, frowned. On the other side of the transparent door from her side, he could see them putting explosives on the door.
Erde and his men then opened up some distance, Hikaru also got away from the door in a hurry. In the next moment, the explosives finally exploded.
The boom travelled through the hallway together with a strong gust of wind. After both died down, Erde went to check the door and frowned. The door was so strong that it was left mostly undamaged.
"...Next!"
[...Is she suspicious of us right from the start...? No, there was no trouble in the beginning. Which meant that the problem is the way I spoke...? I really have no idea though... I'm sure I made a blunder somewhere. Well, it doesn't matter, I can just ask her directly later.]
Erde then shouted toward the room.
[Get away from the door if you don't want to die!]
They then placed the explosives and activated them. Erde returned to check the door again, this time, it was enough to bend the door.
"...Next one!"
After 3 explosives, the bent grew bigger on the door.
The people who were doing that without showing any hesitation seemed to be aiming for her, who was nothing special but a normal city staff. Hikaru really did not understand the reason why.
She tried to contact HQ in a panic to report the situation to them, but she could not reach them. Thus, her choice quickly shifted to Akira. Unfortunately, the result was the same even after she increased the comm output to maximum. Hikaru then inadvertently screamed.
[...That's one hell of a door. I guess it's to be expected for an isolation room, huh?]
Each transport vehicle had a number of strongly built rooms called isolation rooms. They were made to withstand powerful attacks from the outside. It did sound like a very safe room, but at the same time, it also protects the area outside from whatever happened inside. Thus, it was often used to transport criminals or dangerous people. This included the superhuman with enhanced physical strength. Because of this bad impression, many isolation rooms were unoccupied although they could be filled with expensive facilities for transporting VIPs.
[Did they send the escort outside because they think it would be fine as long as they have this isolated room? They are pretending to be a Hunter and his operator. I guess it would be suspicious unless they don't do that much, huh? Which means this one is the jackpot, right?]
Erde, who read too much into the situation, frowned and said.
"Put the next one up! Add more explosives this time!"
"It doesn't matter! Just do it!"
Erde's men just did what they were told to and installed more explosives on the door.
They kept trying to break the door after that and they used more explosives for each try, causing the room to shake harder with every explosion. Although the explosions also shook the vehicle, it was minor compared to what was going on outside. The violent shaking filled Hikaru with desperation and terror. Even after it was badly bent, the door was still devoting itself to its duty. Nonetheless, the bend eventually created small holes that air could get through. Each explosion would start to send a strong gust of wind into the room.
"Whoah!? This is an isolation room, you know!? And it's not like I'm an officer from Sakashita Heavy Industry! Then why are they even going that far?!"
"Get the next one!! Hurry up!!"
"Alpha, is that colourless mist?"
"No, it's some kind of enhanced particles that imitate the effect of the colourless mist."
"Enhanced particles?"
"They're basically dust particles that have the special characteristic of enhancing the basic properties of air. For now, just think of it as colourless mist. It also carries a jamming effect as well. My bet is that it has already spread all over the inside of the transport vehicle."
"Yes, let's do that while we move forward. I'll try my best to help you if something happens."
"Alright then."
Akira ran straight through the hallway. With the help of his augmented suit, he was able to run so fast that he could feel a strong drag from the air. This phenomenon was not new to him, and it was exactly because he was used to it, that he noticed the air was slightly heavier than usual. It felt like he was moving his body inside a body of water but on a much lower level. But since it did not cause any noticeable effect on his speed, Akira decided to push forward and into his room.
Akira could see traces of explosions inside the hallway. They were from when Erde and his men broke through the isolation room. The force that leaked from the directional explosion left the ceiling, wall, and floor cracked. It showed just how powerful the isolation room was. Seeing that, Akira could not help but frown.
"Let's check the room first."
As he was running toward his room, suddenly two guys jumped out from the destroyed door and into the hallway.
Knowing that shooting was futile, Alpha stopped forcibly stopped Akira's rifles. While still confused about what just happened, Akira recollected himself.
"Alpha, what did they do there just now?"
"Save it for later! They're coming!!"
The two men closed the distance with their inhuman physical capability. But they were still far away from Akira. At least, they still could not reach Akira with their knives as the man on the right swung the knife with both of his hands. Akira saw that and the blade that was made of light extending out from that knife. He knew that it would reach him, so Akira took evasive action. Right at the next moment, a cross-shaped blade made of light passed right beside Akira.
One of them forced Akira's attention by attacking him, while the other one jumped from the floor and bounced off the ceiling to find Akira's back. They then both attacked Akira from 2 sides simultaneously. The blade of their knives drew an arc through the space that extended endlessly.
Akira also evaded that as he aimed his rifle at both of them. Although he no longer had the leeway to glance at them, Akira knew very well where they were and what they were doing. He quickly evaded and countered. He swung both of his rifles accurately and used the rapid-fire function to draw a line.
Then, in the next second, finally one of them made a mistake. The area was becoming more and more fragile during the fight. Both Akira and his opponents were tiptoeing their foothold so that their balance would not break. They even used forcefield armour to reinforce their footing in order to do that. However, there was a limit to how much it could help. Basically, there were only a limited number of spots where they could step on in the midst of that high-speed fight, and one of Akira's opponents stepped on the wrong spot.
The moment the guy touched the ground, he slightly slipped, which threw him off balance. The moment it disrupted his movement, Akira's powerful kick was thrust into him. He did not have the chance to evade due to his broken posture and took that kick head-on. It sent his body flying powerlessly and planted his body into the wall, leaving a huge crack on the wall.
The bullets that Akira shot from his 2 LEO multi-rifles suddenly lost momentum as if they hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground, but that only happened after they pierced through his remaining opponent. The shockwave, which was focused on the enemy's head and body, threw the remaining opponent off the ground with his half-destroyed corpse.
Even after that, Akira still had a stern look on his face. He quickly released his rifles off his grip as he reached for his medicine and his left hand to reload a new energy tank. The LEO rifles that he had left on the air ejected their magazines. Akira grabbed 2 new magazines, threw them in the air, and grabbed his rifles, and with one smooth sweep, reloaded the new magazines into his rifles before quickly aiming them at the door leading into his room.
"...Are these guys the people that Hikaru told me about? So why are they trying to get Hikaru? These guys are more troublesome than those white powered suits out there, you know?"
"Let's ask that question straight to Hikaru. That is as long as she's not already kidnapped or killed. But before that, if you have no plan to retreat, let's take a 30-second break here. One thing for sure is that you won't be able to keep going without rest at the moment. Also, if you decided to take a break here, take in some more medicine."
"...My head hurts so bad. That thing that allows me to see the world with better precision... It's better if I don't do that twice in one day."
"Well, it's decided then."
Akira smiled wryly and started adjusting his breathing. Seeing that, Alpha also smiled wryly.
Akira had his attention to the front of him while repeatedly taking a deep breath. Slowly taking off the pressure from his tensed body. During that short break, Akira thought of something.
"It would be bad for them as well if it gets that dense, so I bet they only spread enough particles so the effect would only come out when the bullets travel fast enough to form a dense enough barrier of air in front of them."
"But they were throwing light blades too though?"
"Those were nothing more than light waves with cutting edge sharpness. They were not physical objects. Moreover, they were not as fast as the bullets, right?"
But even so, attackers still sometimes chose this method when their aim was to capture rather than to kill their target. It was to reduce the chance of killing their target by mistake while at the same time, it also protected them from the escorts' bullets. Basically, most of the people who use this method were skilled close-range fighters.
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/
非公開