「取りあえず一度やってみたわけだが、何か質問はあるか? なければすぐに再開だ」
エリオ達がいろいろな質問をしていく。アキラは質問にアルファから話を聞きながら答えていく。
「借りたゴーグルにいろいろ表示されていたけど、あれは何なんだ?」
「戦闘訓練システムがいろいろやっている。主に部隊行動を学ぶためのものだが、命中判定や各自の位置の表示とかもいろいろやっている。それをゴーグルの表示装置に表示している。指示に従って行動すれば、戦闘時の的確な行動を学べる。次」
「俺達やアキラさんの位置って、どうやって調べているんだ? 撃ってない弾が命中したって、どうやって判断しているんだ?」
「車の索敵機器や俺の情報収集機器、ゴーグルと銃に着いている発信器や照準器などからいろいろ計算して判定している。次」
「途中で銃口から出る線が消えたんだけど、そういう時はどうすれば良いんだ?」
「弾倉を交換しろ。残弾数も計算している。残弾を撃ち尽くすと交換するまでそうなる。そのための弾倉だ。弾倉を交換している味方を援護したり、援護されたりするためのものだ。今は
「隠れている敵や味方の位置がずっと表示されているけど、全員の位置が丸わかりなんて、それで訓練になるのか?」
「敵と仲間の位置が表示されているのはそっちだけだ。俺の方にはそのサポートはない。弾道予測の表示もない。戦闘訓練システムからの指示もない。そっちは敵の居場所が分かっている状態で戦うんだから、その優位を
エリオが驚きながらアキラに尋ねる。
「待ってくれ! 敵の位置や動きが表示されていたのは俺達だけだったのか? そっちは無し?」
エリオ達からの質問が止まっていたのは驚きの余り固まっていたからだ。アキラが普通に答える。
「ほ、本当に?」
「それぐらいの差がないとそもそも訓練にならないだろう。装備もそっちとは違うんだ。俺は強化服を着ているし、情報収集機器も持っている。それぐらいのハンデがないと、俺が一方的にそっちを片付けてすぐに終わるだけだ。
「......その、俺、指示の文字が読めなかったんだけど、どうすれば」
「......表示された矢印とか図形とかの意味を何となく解釈して動いてくれ」
アキラは相手が文字を読めない可能性を失念していた。そして昔は自分もそうだったことを思い出して、少し複雑な気持ちを抱いた。
アキラの勝率は5割ほどだ。アキラがエリオ達を全滅させる。エリオ達の最後の1人が他の仲間を囮にしてアキラを倒す。そのような結果が続いていた。そうなるようにアルファがいろいろ調整しているのだ。
『それにしても、アルファが指揮をするだけでエリオ達はあそこまで強くなるものなんだな。アルファが指示を出していると言っても、俺と違って相手がちゃんと動くとは限らないと思うんだけど』
『そうよね。アキラだってクズスハラ街遺跡で私の指示に従わずに先に進もうとしたことがあったわね』
アキラがクズスハラ街遺跡での失態を思い出して苦笑しながら話す。
『まあ私もいろいろやっているのよ。例えば私が彼らの誰かを右に移動させる場合、その誰かはゴーグルの表示面の指示を読んで、指示の内容を理解してから右を向いて、右の状況とか安全とかを確認して、右に進もうと試みるはずよ。その誰かの一連の行動に10秒掛かる場合は、私は10秒前に移動の指示を出すの。そうやって効率よく相手を動かそうとしているのよ』
『......そんなことまでやっているのか。その10秒掛かるってのはどうやって調べるんだ?』
『いろいろよ。いろいろな指示を文字や図形で出して、指示を受けた人間が実際に動き出すまでの時間を計測したりね。他にも当事者の疲労や緊張の具合や周囲の状況や指示の難易度などから総合的に推測しているわ』
『なるほど。いろいろやっているんだな。......スラム街のガキがあんなに危険なクズスハラ街遺跡に無謀にも1人で探索に行って、そこから生きて帰ってきて今もこうしてハンターをやっているんだ。それぐらいはできても不思議はないか』
『そういうことよ。私に会えて良かったわね?』
『ああ。本気で感謝してる。借りはアルファからの依頼を完遂することで返すから、気長に待っていてくれ』
偽りのないものだ。本気でアルファに感謝をしている。そしてどれだけ時間が掛かってもアルファからの依頼を完遂する覚悟でいる。
アルファがそのアキラの内心を見抜いて満足げに楽しげに
みに、アルファのサポートを受けているあいつらって、どれぐらいの強さなんだ?』
『クズスハラ街遺跡でエレナとサラを助けたでしょう? 私のサポートを受けたその時のアキラより少し弱いぐらいよ。この訓練の最中に限った話だけれどね』
『......全員で?』
『違うわ。8人全員それぐらいよ』
『......苦戦するわけだ』
エリオ達は距離を取ってアキラを取り囲むように移動している。まだ戦闘は始まっていない。アキラが戦闘開始直後にまだ大して移動していないエリオ達を強襲して、そのまま全滅させたことが数回続いたので、その後はエリオ達の配置が済んでから始めることになったのだ。
エリオ達のゴーグルに文字が表示される。エリオがそれを読む。
「今後は適切な射撃姿勢以外で引き金を引いた場合、銃の反動で弾道が大幅に
「......こう、か?」
エリオが両手でしっかり銃を構えると、銃口から伸びる弾道予測の線が再び表示されるようになった。試しに片手で適当に銃を持ってみる。弾道予測の線は再び消えてしまった。
「ちゃんと両手で持てってことか。でもアキラは片手で
その後もいろいろな射撃姿勢の例がゴーグルに表示されていく。エリオがそれらの射撃姿勢を試す。銃を適当に持つと射撃姿勢の線が消えるため、その都度銃の持ち方を修正していく。
エリオが他の少年達の様子を見てみると、他の少年達もエリオと同じくいろいろ試行錯誤していた。銃を持った素人の集団という雰囲気がありありと感じられる。他の少年達がエリオを見ても同じ感想を持つのだろう。
「......先は長そうだ」
恋人のアリシアを守れるだけの実力を身につけるために、エリオは覚悟を決めて訓練に臨んだ。初回でアキラを倒した時、意外に何とかなりそうだと少し自信を付けたのだが、それはあっさり四散してしまった。
エリオは自分の未熟さを把握して、それを覆すための
模擬戦が再開される。エリオは力強く走り出した。
アキラ達が荒野で訓練をしていた頃、クガマヤマ都市の下位区画でシジマという男が頭を抱えていた。
シジマはスラム街に無数に存在する徒党の一つのボスだ。そして以前アキラと
ワタバはシェリル達の拠点でアキラに殺された。アキラはそのままワタバの死体を持ってシジマの拠点に乗り込んできた。シジマとアキラは一触即発の状態だった。
その頃のアキラの実力なら、シジマ達はアキラを殺せただろう。ただし状況的にシジマが巻き添えになって死ぬことになるため、アキラと
くは何事もない日々が続いた。シジマはアキラがハンター稼業などで死んだらシェリル達の拠点を乗っ取るつもりだったのだが、アキラが死なずに生き続けたので大きな行動に出ることはなかった。シジマがしていたことは、定期的にアキラの生死を確認する程度のことだ。
ある日、1人のハンターがシジマ達の縄張りで問題を起こした。そのハンターは誰かを追っている最中に銃を抜いて騒ぎを起こしたのだ。
シジマ達のようなスラム街の徒党は、ある意味縄張りの治安維持も担当している。縄張りの中で銃撃戦を行うような者を野放しにすることは、武力で縄張りを維持している徒党にとって致命的である。その武力を、暴力を軽んじられれば、縄張りのみかじめ料などの徴収にも影響する上に、最悪の場合は他の徒党に襲撃される可能性すら生じさせるのだ。
び代なりを徴収して事を済ませる。必要なら交戦するが、それは本意ではない。ハンターから金を取り立てられる。必要なら排除もできる。そういう武力を、暴力を保持していると示すことさえできれば十分なのだ。
シジマはアキラを危険視していた。アキラの実力ではなく、シジマ達との殺し合いを視野に入れてシジマ達の拠点に乗り込んできたアキラの性質を危険視していた。たとえ実力の劣る者であっても相手と差し違えることに
にもアキラを放置するわけにはいかない。しかし相打ち上等で襲ってきそうな人間と戦うのは割が合わない。シジマは対応方法を悩んでいた。
そのシジマに別の情報が入ってきた。アキラはスリに遭うような間抜けで、その上子供のハンターに威圧されてすごすご引き下がるような腰抜けだ、というシジマが思い浮かべるアキラの人物像を崩す情報だった。
その情報を聞いたシジマは更に悩んだ。アキラを危険視した自分の判断が間違っているのか、遺跡などで死にかけてアキラの性格が変わったのか、あるいは入手した情報が間違っているのか。シジマには判断がつかなかった。
シジマは悩んだ末にヴィオラにアキラの調査を依頼した。ヴィオラの質の悪さを話には聞いていたが、その腕前の高さも同様に聞いており、敵対さえしなければ問題ないという話も聞いていたからだ。ヴィオラはシジマに少し時間が掛かると前置きした上で、シジマの依頼を請け負った。
そして今、シジマが頭を抱えている。シジマがヴィオラから依頼の結果を聞いたからだ。
シジマが情報端末での通話越しにヴィオラを怒鳴りつける。
「おい! ふざけるな! どういうことだ! 説明しろ! アキラの実力とか人柄とかを調査するために、ちょっとしたスリか何かにアキラを狙わせる! そういう話だっただろうが! それがどうしてシェリル達の拠点にいるアキラを武装集団に襲わせたって話になるんだ!?」
アキラはスリ達にとって手頃なカモである。その類いの情報がスラム街の情報屋に流れたのはヴィオラの仕事だ。依頼主はシジマである。アキラのスリへの対処を再確認するためだ。
余裕を感じさせるヴィオラの口調に、シジマが更に
シジマの表情が苦々しいものに変わる。ヴィオラの説明は部分的に正しいと理解しているからだ。加えてヴィオラなら、アキラにヴィオラの都合の良いように誤解させることも可能であると理解しているからだ。つまり、ヴィオラがその気になれば、シジマ達はアキラと殺し合うことになるのだ。
既にシジマはアキラの実力を理解している。ヴィオラがシジマにアキラの実力を教えたからだ。
クズスハラ街遺跡で1億オーラム以上稼いできた。賞金首討伐部隊に参加して成果を上げた。都市が危険視したミハゾノ街遺跡のセランタルビルに突入して生還して5億オーラムも稼いできた。1人でハンター並みに武装した8人を撃退した。ヴィオラはアキラの実力を示す証拠を
「......そっちの要求は何だ」
ヴィオラが楽しげな、心外だとでも言わんばかりの口調で答える。
シジマは勝手に叫びだそうとする自分の口を閉じて、歯を食いしばって激情を耐えた。その後で冷静であろうと努めながら話を続ける。
「......貴重な情報をどうもありがとう。お返しに俺は何かそちらに協力ができるかな?」
「あら、そこまで言ってくれるのに断るのも失礼ね。それなら一つお願いがあるの。良いかしら?」
ヴィオラの機嫌の良い声がシジマの情報端末から聞こえてくる。質の悪い女が、質の悪い話を、質の悪い声で、機嫌良く説明する。声だけなら
「それじゃあ、また後でね」
「......ああ。頼むよ」
シジマの大声は部屋の外まで響いていた。
アキラとエリオ達の訓練は特に終了時間などを決めていなかったが、エリオ達が体力の限界を迎えたので終了となった。
エリオ達のゴーグルに着いている通信機から、アキラの声で訓練の終了が告げられる。疲労
めているアキラに、アルファが元気づけるように話す。
『まあこんなものよ。私が指揮を執った部隊と交戦した結果と考えれば、結構良い結果を残したと思うわ。エリオ達には私のサポートもあったわけだしね』
『......そうか。......そうか?』
『そうよ』
不満げに疑問を口にするアキラに、アルファがはっきりとそう言い切った。アルファにそう言い切られると、アキラも納得せざるを得なかった。
『それともアキラはアキラをここまで追い詰めた私のサポートの質に不満でもあるの?』
アルファが満足げに得意げに
『そうだな。アルファのサポートにはいつも助かってる。ありがとう。それじゃあ帰るか』
『......そういえば、これは俺の訓練でもあるけど、一応エリオ達の訓練でもあるんだろう? エリオ達の実力はどんな感じなんだ? 今回の訓練で結構強くなったのか?』
『まあ、曲がりなりにも私の訓練を受けたわけだし、少なくとも昨日の彼らより強くなったことだけは確かよ。訓練の効率という面でも、彼らが自主的に訓練するよりは
『......あいつらがもう一度同じ訓練を受けたいと思うかどうかは微妙な気がするけどな』
『その時はシェリルに頼みましょう。嫌とは言わないはずよ』
シェリル達にとっても悪い提案ではないのだ。シェリルは快く承諾するだろう。そしてエリオ達はシェリルの指示に逆らえないだろう。何しろシェリルの指示に逆らえば、エリオ達は徒党から追い出されかねないのだ。
訓練を終えたアキラ達がシェリル達の拠点まで戻ってきた。少し疲れた程度の様子のアキラとは対照的に、長時間の強制労働後のような疲労状態のエリオ達を見て、シェリルの部下達が少々引いていた。
シェリルはエリオ達に十分休むように指示を出してから、アキラと一緒に自室に向かった。
アキラはシェリルにエリオ達との訓練についての軽い説明を済ませてから続けて話す。
「......そういう訳で、俺はこれからも定期的に継続して訓練を続けても良いと思っている。訓練用の装備代もカツラギにシェリル達の装備の代金に含めるように言ってあるし、それを活用する意味でも継続した方が良いと思う。俺の都合を言えば、俺の訓練にもなるしな」
「ありがとう御座います。エリオ達も喜ぶと思います」
本当にそうだろうか。シェリルは本気でエリオ達も喜ぶと思って答えているのだろうか。それとも自分の機嫌を取るためにそう答えているだけなのだろうか。あるいは徒党全体の利益を考えて、有益だと判断したための返答なのだろうか。アキラはふとそう思った。
アキラは普段より少し注意してシェリルを見てみる。シェリルは機嫌の良さそうな
「どうかしましたか?」
シェリルはアキラの態度をしっかり察していた。アキラが何かを考えてから、その考え自体を
シェリルは念のため自分の言動を再確認する。
(......アキラの機嫌を損ねるようなことは何も言っていないはず。大丈夫よ。問題ないわ。......一応何を考えていたのか尋ねた方が良い? いえ、アキラが何でもないと言った以上、下手に聞き出そうとするのは悪手ね。止めましょう)
シェリルが気を取り直してアキラに話す。
「話を変えますけど、シジマから私に連絡がありました。私とアキラに一度会って話したいそうです。どうしましょうか」
「シジマ? 誰だっけ?」
「別の徒党のボスです。前に一度アキラと一緒に拠点に乗り込んだ徒党のボスです」
「ああ、あいつか。徒党間の話なら、シェリルとそいつで話せば良いんじゃないか?」
に会いたいそうです」
「何でだ?」
「私の推察になりますけど、私達の拠点が襲撃されたことを聞きつけて、私とアキラが無事なのか、正確には大
アキラはシェリルの推測を聞いて納得する。
これを下手に断ると、シジマがシェリル達はアキラという後ろ盾を失った可能性が高いと判断して、また面倒事を引き起こすかもしれない。装備を更新するまで面倒な戦闘は避けておきたい。シジマも前のように自分をそこらの子供とは判断しないだろう。十分な戦力を用意するはずだ。アキラはそう考えて、シジマ側が十分な戦力を
「......今日はもう疲れたから、明日以降で良いか?」
シェリルはアキラの返事の理由を、単純に疲れているからと判断していた。交戦を前提にして答えたとまでは思っていなかった。アキラとシェリルの認識には、まだまだ大きな隔たりが存在していた。
"So that's basically the gist of it, anyone has any questions? If not, then let's do another round."
Erio and his friends asked all kinds of questions, Akira answered them one by one while listening to Alpha's explanation too.
"We can see all kinds of things in the goggles, what is with that?"
"The training system is taking care of most of the things in the background. It's mostly focused on adjusting your movement as a group, but it also gives individual orders through your goggles. If you follow those orders accurately, you can learn how to fight. Next!"
"How do you know our locations? And how does it decide when one of us gets shot?"
"It's connected to the information-gathering device in my vehicle and it does calculations based on the data from your goggles and the aiming device of your rifle. Next!"
"The trajectory line from the muzzle sometimes vanished suddenly, what should I do when that happens?"
"Reload a new magazine. It's properly counting the ammo inside your magazine, if your magazine is empty, the trajectory line would vanish. It's so that you can learn to protect each other when you reload a new magazine. At the moment, it's set so that you can still shoot for a while even after your magazine is empty, but I'll have to change that soon. Next!"
"I can always see the location of the other people in my goggles, is this really effective as a training?"
"It's only available to you guys, but not for me. I also don't get that trajectory line nor the specific order from the training system. I'm basically fighting you guys while you guys know my exact position at all times. So use that advantage to corner me, or to sneak on me. Basically, follow the orders shown by the training system and learn how to fight from that. Although it's impossible to know your opponents' location anytime during a real fight, you can actually set a situation where you can do something similar to that. For example, if you install expensive information-gathering devices in all places inside the base and install a security system to support it, you should be able to get a similar situation. Next!"
But Erio flusteredly stopped Akira.
"Wait for a sec! So basically we're the only ones who know your location all the time? And that's not the case for Akira-san?"
No one was asking questions since they were shocked when they heard that from Akira. Akira then casually replied.
"R-really?"
"This won't be much of a training if I don't at least have that much handicap. Not to mention, we have different equipment too. Unlike you guys, I have my augmented suit and my information-gathering device. So without that handicap, it would be a one-way fight and that would not help anyone."
"...Uhmm, I can't read the instructions, so what should I do?"
"...Just follow the indicators in the map and try to make a guess from there."
Akira completely forgot the possibility that some of them could not read. It made him feel a bit conflicted remembering that he also could not read until recently.
Akira's victory ratio was 50%. Most of the rounds ended up either with Akira shooting down all of his opponents or Erio's side using one of the boys as a decoy to shoot Akira. Alpha adjusted the training to be like that. Akira suddenly asked Alpha a question while hiding behind a cover.
"But still, I didn't expect them to get this strong just by following your instructions. Although, unlike in my case, I bet they don't always move following your orders."
"You're right. After all, back in the Kuzusuhara ruin, there was a time when you took an action against my instruction, right?"
Akira remembered that blunder back in Kuzusuhara ruin and smiled wryly.
"Well, I do all kinds of adjustment in the background though. For example, when I give them an instruction to go right, they would need to read that instruction, understand the instruction and check if it's safe first before actually following that instruction. So if they take 10 seconds to go through this process, I'll adjust it to show that instruction 10 seconds earlier before it's actually needed. That way they'll move much more efficiently."
"...You're even doing something like that, huh. How did you know that it'll take 10 seconds?"
"Through a lot of different methods. For example, I measure the lag between when I send an instruction into their goggle until they actually execute that order. I also do other adjustments depending on the psychological state of the receiver, how nervous or tired they are, or if they're in a dangerous situation, or how difficult the order is."
"I see, that's really a lot of things to consider and adjust... Well, your support did help a slum city kid who recklessly went to Kuzusuhara ruin to look for relics to return alive, and that boy is now doing pretty well as a Hunter. So I guess it's only to be expected for you to be able to do that much, huh?"
"Yup, that's true. Aren't you glad that you got to meet me?"
"Yeah, I'm really grateful to you. I'll return back the favour by completing your request, so wait patiently until I can do that, okay?"
Although Akira sounded like he was being cynical, he did not lie. He really felt thankful to Alpha and he was planning to complete her request no matter how long it would take him.
Alpha could see through him and smiled satisfied.
"By the way, how strong are they now since they have your support?"
"Remember back then when you saved Elena and Sara in Kuzusuhara ruin? They're basically slightly weaker than you from that time. Although, that's only true during this training."
"...All of them as a whole?"
"Nope, each one of them."
"...No wonder why I'm having a hard time here."
Erio and the other children kept their distance from Akira as they were trying to surround him. The fight had not started yet. Previously, right after the fight started, Akira would immediately focus on those who had not moved much and take them out first before taking out the rest of the enemy. Since that had happened several times, they decided to only start the fight after Erio and the other children had finished repositioning themselves.
Instructions were sent to the goggles, Erio read the instructions shown in his goggles.
"'Starting from this fight, if you shoot from a bad position, we will void your shot considering the kickback from shooting from a bad posture', huh? Then how should I carry my rifle?"
"...Like this?"
Erio used both of his hands to grip tightly on his rifle, right on the next moment, the trajectory line extended out from its muzzle. He then tried to carry his rifle with one hand again, and just like last time, the trajectory line vanished again.
"So basically I need to properly carry it with my both hands, huh? But I remember Akira shot with only one arm and in a very bad posture though... Ahh, I see. It's because he has his augmented suit so that he can properly stabilize the kickback with only one arm, huh?"
After that, the goggles also showed all kinds of other shooting postures which Erio tried. Since the trajectory line only came out when he took the correct posture, it helped him to learn how to correctly carry his rifle.
Erio looked at the other children, it seemed that they were also trying to imitate the postures shown in their goggles. Looking at that, he thought that they looked completely like a group of amateurs. The other children must have thought so too when they looked at each other.
"...It seems that we still have a long way to go, huh."
Erio had made his decision to train himself so that he can be strong enough to protect his lover, Alicia. Back then when he won against Akira for the first time, he thought that it might be not as difficult as he thought it would be, but right after that Akira won 4 times in a row.
Erio fully recognized his weakness and admitted that he had a long way to go. He let out a sigh as he felt really pathetic, he then remembered about his lover and resolved himself once again. He had already made his decision, things like this would not break him.
The battle started, Erio ran as fast as he could.
Right about the time when Akira and the other children were training in the wasteland. Somewhere in the lower district of Kugamayama city, Shijima put both of his hands on his head in frustration.
Shijima was the boss of one of many gangs in the slum city and his gang once had an incident with Akira. A guy from his gang by the name of Wataba once went to Sheryl's base and threatened Akira to give up Sheryl's base.
Wataba was killed in Sheryl's base by Akira. Then Akira dragged his corpse all the way back to the gang's base. They were in a situation where they were just one step away from a fight.
At that time, Akira said that with his current strength, Shijima and his men might be able to kill him, but Shijima himself would die too. So in the end, they were able to reach a deal where Shijima could still uphold his reputation by making Akira pay him some money.
Not too long after that, there was no further problem at all. Shijima originally planned to take over Sheryl's gang if Akira died due to the dangerous nature of his job as a Hunter, but Akira was able to survive and was doing fine. So Shijima did not make any big moves. The most that he could do was only visiting Sheryl's base from time to time to check if Akira was still alive.
Then one day, a certain Hunter caused trouble inside the gang's territory. That Hunter was causing a ruckus since he was being chased by someone.
Gangs in slum city like Shijimas' were also functioning as guards in the area. So if someone armed caused trouble in their territories, it was crucial for them to deal with that person with force. If they ignored something like that, it would not only damage the protection money income that they were receiving, in the worst-case scenario, it might cause other gangs to look down on them and attack them.
Normally, Shijima would demand compensation money from these troublemakers and let them go. He was willing to negotiate if it was needed, but he rather not if he was given the choice. It was important to let people know that they had the ability to take care of these trouble makers. So if those Hunters paid him with money, then that would be enough.
Shijima was being careful of Akira. It was not because of Akira's strength, but it was more because of his unstable personality. After all, he once came to Shijima's base fully expecting a fight. For people who did not want to die, someone who did not hesitate to challenge anyone even if he or she was weaker, like Akira, was someone that they needed to be careful with.
But for the sake of the reputation of the gang, he could not afford to just let Akira go. While on the other hand, it was not worth trying to provoke him since it was almost certain that he would fight back. Shijima just did not know what to do with this single Hunter.
That was when another information reached Shijima; Akira was a careless person who let his wallet get stolen and he was a coward who ran away when another young Hunter threatened him. It was a piece of information that destroyed Shijima's image of Akira.
After hearing that, Shijima was even more confused than before. It was either his mistake for being careful of Akira, or it was because Akira's behaviour changed after he was about to get killed somewhere in the wasteland, or maybe the information that he received was simply wrong information. Shijima could not decide which one was the correct guess.
So in the end, Shijima asked Viola to investigate more about Akira. He knew well about how bad Viola was, but he had also heard how skilled she was. He also heard that he would not have any trouble with her as long as he did not antagonize her. Viola was able to finish that request in a short time.
Then, right now, the reason why Shijima was so frustrated was because he was listening to the result of that request from Viola herself.
Shijima shouted at Viola who he was talking with through his information terminal.
"Goddammit!! Are you kidding me!? What the heck is going on? Explain everything to me!! All I asked is to get some pickpocket to aim for him to poke for his reaction!! So how in the world did it turn into sending an armed group to Sheryl's base!?"
It was Viola's job to spread information to the information brokers all over the slum city that Akira was an easy target for pickpockets. The original request for that came from Shijima, he did that to check how Akira reacted to pickpockets.
But Viola's calm answer only caused Shijima to get angrier.
Shijima's face turned grim, it was because he understood Viola's point. More than that, he also knew that there was a good chance Viola had done something to make Akira misunderstand the situation. So in short, if Viola wanted to, she could have manipulated Akira and Shijima to fight each other.
Shijima already knew Akira's strength since he heard about that from Viola herself.
Akira once completed a request in Kuzusuhara ruin that earned him more than 10 million Aurum. He also successfully hunted a bounty monster. He then went to Mihazono ruin's Seranthal building which even the City Management judged to be a dangerous place and returned back with 50 million Aurum. And not too long ago, he killed 8 armed Hunters all by himself. Viola had gathered all of those proofs of Akira's strength before sending them to Shijima.
"...S-so, what do you want?"
But Viola just smiled and casually replied with something unexpected.
Shijima was about to retort, but he closed his mouth and gritted his teeth, trying to hold back his anger. He then tried to calm down as he said.
"...Thanks for the information. As a gratitude, is there anything that we can do to help you?"
"Oh my, it would be such a waste if you would even go that far. In that case, I might as well ask you one thing."
Shijima could hear Viola's happy voice coming from his information terminal as that bad girl explained her evil plan. Although if it was from her voice alone, Viola had a very appealing voice. But that did not help in this case, Shijima only accepted her request because he did not have much choice.
"So then, until next time."
"...Yeah, I'll be counting on you."
Shijima's voice echoed through the base.
Akira did not exactly plan the training duration, but since it seemed that Erio and the other children were getting tired, he decided to stop the training.
Erio and the other children received notification in their goggles and heard Akira's voice telling them to stop the training there. They were all really tired as they sighed in relief at the signal saying that they could finally relax. They used their rifle as a walking staff to help them drag their feet back to where Akira parked his vehicle.
Akira's face looked pretty dejected by the fact of how pathetic he was, so Alpha tried to cheer him up.
"Well, that's just how it is. Considering that the other party had my support, I think this result is not bad at all."
"...I see... Wait, is that so?"
"Yep!"
Although Akira sounded like he was still questioning it, Alpha replied with a confirmation. She answered back so firmly that he did not have much choice but to accept it.
"Or is it that you have something to complain about since my support cornered you this much?"
Alpha smiled satisfied.
"You're right, your support always helps me a lot. Thank you. let's head back now."
"...By the way, I think it worked well as a training for me, but how about for Erio and the other children? How is their fighting skill? Did they get better?"
"Well, although it didn't work out that perfectly, they did receive some training from me. So they're at least stronger than yesterday. Training-wise, I think it was more effective than if they're doing their own training. Let's keep on doing this training so that Sheryl's gang would get more fighting power, that way they would not bother you that much."
"...To be honest, I'm not sure if they would come for another training though."
"When that happens, we can just ask for Sheryl's help. I'm sure that she won't say no."
It was not a bad idea for Sheryl's gang, so it was very likely that Sheryl would say yes to that. Moreover, Erio and the other children could not say no if it was an order from Sheryl. After all, if they did, Sheryl would kick them out from the gang.
After they finished their training, all of them returned to Sheryl's base. In contrast to Akira who seemed still full of vigour, Erio and the other children looked so tired as if they were forced to do long-hour labour work. Seeing that, Sheryl's men could not help but feel scared.
Sheryl told them to take a rest before she headed to her private room together with Akira.
Akira gave a small explanation to Sheryl about the training and said.
"...Well, so that's the gist of it. I'm thinking of doing this training regularly. The equipment that we used for the training is paid with the money from back then when we had that deal with Katsuragi. I think it's a good idea to use that money for something like this. If you ask me how is it useful to me, it also serves as a training for me."
"Thank you very much, I'm sure Erio and the other children would be happy too."
Akira questioned for a second whether Sheryl said that because she knew that was true for sure, or because she only guessed that it was true, or because she only said that as not to worsen his mood, or because she knew it was beneficial for her gang to say so.
Akira looked at Sheryl more intently than usual. She was smiling at him, to Akira, it did not seem that she was only acting, and even if it was, he did not have the skill to notice that.
"What's wrong?"
Sheryl observed Akira's reaction carefully. She understood that he had something in his mind but he decided to just stop thinking about that.
Just to be safe, she reevaluated what she just did there.
[...I'm sure I didn't say anything that might offend Akira. It should be alright... Is it better if I ask him what he is thinking about? No, Akira said that it's nothing, so it might be better not to ask him..]
Sheryl then said to Akira.
"There's something else that I want to talk about, I got a call from Shijima. He said that he wants to meet me and Akira. What should we do?"
"Shijima? Who's that?"
"He's the boss of another gang. He's the boss of a gang that you once visited.
"Ohh, that one? If it's about gang business, you alone should be enough, right?"
"No, he specifically asked to meet you sometime soon."
"Why?"
"It's just my guess, he might want to check if we're okay after that shoot out in the base. I believe he wants to confirm that we're not trying to hide if you or I are wounded or killed."
Akira agreed with Sheryl's guess.
If he refused without a good reason, Shijima might think that Sheryl's gang had lost Akira's support and that would definitely cause more troubles later. If it was possible, Akira wanted to avoid any trouble until his new equipment arrived. Unlike last time, Shijima would not look down on Akira and think that Akira was just a common young Hunter, so this time for sure he must be properly prepared for him. When Akira concluded as such and thought of having to fight the force that Shijima prepared, he exasperatedly said.
"...I'm tired today, so how about tomorrow?"
Sheryl thought that Akira said so simply because he was tired. She did not think that Akira also thought about the possibility of fighting Shijima's gang. It seemed that there was still a gulf between his and Sheryl's way of thinking.
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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