とした態度を崩さずに、強引に部下達を黙らせることで場を落ち着かせていた。しかしそれもいつまで持つかは分からない。断続的な銃声が続いている。それは戦闘が継続中であることをシェリル達に伝えている。シェリルの部下達の限界が近付いてきている。
シェリルは周囲を見渡してアキラを探し続ける。そしてついに自分達の方へ走って向かっているアキラの姿を見つけた。
「アキラが戻ってくるわ。事情を聞いてくるから待っていて」
シェリルが部下達にそう言うと、部下達もすぐにアキラの方を見る。アキラの無事な姿を見て、彼らも何とか落ち着きを取り戻した。
シェリルが荷台から降りてアキラの
シェリルはアキラを探す過程でそのセブラの様子にも気付いていたが、全く気にしていなかった。セブラの生死などシェリルにはどうでも良いことだからだ。
アキラはシェリル達の無事を確認するとまずは安心する。後はデイル達がモンスターを倒し終えるのを待つだけだ。
デイル達に加勢することも考えたが、念のためこのままシェリル達の護衛を優先することにする。アキラが車から降りなければ、この面倒な事態は発生しなかったかもしれない。念には念を入れた方が良いだろう。アキラはそう判断した。
シェリルがアキラの方へ向かっている。その近くにはふらついているセブラがいる。まだスタングレネードの影響から立ち直っていないのだろうと、アキラは大して気にしなかった。そして、その判断は誤りだった。
シェリルがセブラの横を通り過ぎようとした瞬間、セブラはシェリルの腕を
掴
んで引き寄せると、持っていた銃をシェリルに突きつけた。
「動くんじゃねえ!」
セブラは必死の形相でアキラに怒鳴りつけた。
セブラは既にスタングレネードの影響から
セブラはスタングレネードの衝撃で気絶していたが、比較的早く意識を取り戻していた。地面に倒れたまま、非常に混乱しながらも辺りの状況を少しずつ把握しようとしていた。
しかしセブラが把握できたことは、ごく僅かな予想程度のことでしかない。銃声が聞こえる。多分誰かが何かと戦っているのだろう。アキラ達の死体はない。だからアキラ達は生きている。恐らくギューバがアキラ達と戦っている。セブラが把握できたのはそれぐらいだ。
める。恐らくギューバは殺された。しかしセブラにとって重要なのはギューバの生死ではない。セブラがシェリル達を裏切っていたことを、アキラ達を殺そうとしていたことを、アキラに知られたかどうかだ。
アキラがセブラをチラッと見たのは、単にセブラの様子を確認するためだ。しかしセブラには、自分の裏切りをギューバから聞き出したアキラが、自分を殺そうとしているようにしか見えなかった。
「こんなことをしてこの後どうなるか分かっているんでしょうね?」
アキラがシェリルを落ち着かせるように話す。
「シェリル。そいつを刺激するな。危ないからな。静かに、落ち着いて、口を閉じて、余計なこともするな。いいな?」
シェリルは不意を突いて暴れようかとも考えていたが、アキラにそう言われたので指示通りに大人しくして口を閉ざす。
「そ、そうだ! 黙ってろ! 大人しくしてろ!」
「銃を捨てろ! すぐにだ!」
アキラはセブラをじっと見ながら少し考える。アキラに注目され、セブラがたじろぐ。セブラの緊張が高まっていく。
セブラの緊張が決壊する直前、銃が地面に落ちる音がした。アキラが銃を捨てたのだ。
アキラは銃を捨てないだろう。アルファはそう考えていた。予想外の行動にアルファが驚きの表情でアキラを見る。
『ちょっとアキラ!?』
アキラはアルファの問いに答えず、黙ってセブラに意識を集中させていた。
銃を捨てたアキラを見てシェリルが驚きの表情を浮かべている。アキラは銃を捨てないだろう。シェリルはそう考えていた。アキラはそこまで自分を大切には思っていない。シェリルはそう思っていた。
自分を見捨てずに、敵の前で銃を捨てるという危険を冒してまで、アキラは自分を助けようとしている。シェリルは泣き出しそうなほどの強い喜びを覚えた。自分が足を引っ張った所為で、アキラに銃を捨てるほどの危険な
とする暇もなく、腹部に食らった蹴りの衝撃で吹き飛ばされていた。
我に返ったシェリルがいつの間にかアキラに右腕で抱き締められていることに気付いた。助かったことを、助けられたことを理解したシェリルは、そのままアキラに強く抱き付いた。
アキラは左手にあるセブラから奪った銃を見ていたが、興味をなくした目でその銃を放り投げる。セブラが使っていた銃はギューバが渡した物だ。どんな細工が施されているか分からない。その銃を使う気にはなれなかった。アキラはシェリルを抱き付かせたまま少し戻って自分の銃を拾った。
も角、後者は絶対に許容できない。アキラが助けるとでも言い出さない限りは。
「くそぉ......、お前はちょっと運が良かっただけじゃねえか! ......俺とお前の、何が違うってんだよ!?」
引き金を引こうとしていたアキラの指が止まる。短い沈黙の後、アキラがセブラの問いに答える。
「自分で答えを言ってるじゃないか。そうだよ。運だ。お前は、運が悪かったな」
アキラが無念そうな表情を浮かべているセブラの死体を見て思う。アルファに出会わなければ自分も同じように死んでいただろうか。その問いをアキラはすぐに否定した。誰かに撃ち殺されるとしても、それはきっと別の理由だ。そう考えて。
くしてモンスターを倒し終えたデイル達が戻ってきた。アキラが自分に抱き付いたままのシェリルを引き剥がす。シェリルも大人しくアキラから離れる。
デイル達が銃を下ろしてアキラに近付く。デイルがもう一度辺りを見渡してからアキラに話す。
「まずは状況を把握したい。構わないか」
アキラ達はデイル達と話してお互いの情報と認識を合わせた。状況の確認を終えたデイルが
デイルがギューバへの怒りを顔に出しながら不思議がる。デイルは旧世界の遺跡でギューバと行動を共にしている。ギューバの実力もある程度把握しているつもりだ。デイルの感覚では、ギューバはそこまで強いハンターではなかった。
コルベがデイルの問いに答える。
「......多分、借金の所為だな」
「ああ。結構デカい額の借金があったみたいだ。今回の遺物収集が、その返済の当てだったらしい」
デイルが嫌そうな表情を浮かべる。
になったのか? 俺らの遺物とシェリル達の遺物を強奪して売り払って、借金返済に回すか、高飛びの旅費に充てるとか、そんなところか。あいつが遺跡の中を索敵も怠って先を急ごうとしていたのは、それだけ必死に遺物を探していたからってことか......」
デイルは得た情報の
合わせは後でゆっくりやってくれ。そろそろ出発しよう」
車に戻ろうとするアキラ達をコルベが呼び止める。
「できればギューバの死体を持ち帰りたい。ああ、死体袋を用意してあるから、車を汚したりはしない。......駄目か?」
コルベがアキラ達にそう頼んだ。アキラ達の機嫌を損ねる頼みであることはコルベも分かっているんだろう。現にシェリルとデイルの表情が露骨に不機嫌に変わっている。
デイルがコルベに向かって嫌そうに話す。
「ほっとけよ。すぐにモンスターに食われて跡形もなくこの世から消えるさ。当然の死に様だろ?」
「あんなやつでもそれなりに付き合いはあってな。それに俺がモンスターに食われかけたこともあって、そういうのはちょっと......な」
めるのなら穴でも掘って埋めれば良い。アキラはわざわざ死体を持ち帰る理由が気になり、その素朴な疑問をコルベに尋ねる。
「あいつの死体を持って帰ってどうする気なんだ? 身内でも探して渡すのか?」
「いや、ハンターオフィスに引き渡す。ハンターオフィスの登録情報に、死亡時の連絡先が記載されていれば連絡ぐらいは行くだろう。身内の連絡先が登録されていればな。死体の処理とかは、ハンターオフィスが粛々と実行するさ。念のために言っておくと、行方不明のハンターを減らすためにも、同行者のハンターの遺体をハンターオフィスに引き渡すことは、ハンターオフィスも推奨しているんだぞ?」
それはハンターの倫理観を向上させるために統企連が行っている努力の一つでもある。そして行方不明と死亡を区別できた方が、いろいろと事務手続きが楽になるという都合もある。行方不明のハンターは大抵死んでいるのだが、だからといって勝手に死亡扱いにするわけにも行かないのだ。それなりの手順を踏み期間を置く必要がある。死亡しているという明確な証拠があれば、つまり死体があればその辺の手続きをいろいろと簡略化できるのだ。
コルベが苦笑いを浮かべて続ける。
「まあ、推奨であって強制ではない。でも推奨はしている。実利的な話をすると、そういう行儀の良い行動を心掛けるとハンターオフィスの覚えが良くなるのさ。真っ当な企業は雇うハンターの人格も評価に入れるから注意しろってことさ。特に、連れのハンターが他のハンターを襲いました、なんてことがあった場合に同類扱いされずに済む。少なくとも、同類と見なされる可能性は減るってわけだ。日頃の行いってやつだな」
る。デイルにも十分関係のある話だ。コルベがアキラ達に向けて話を続ける。
「そっちの心情も理解できる。だから、見返りって訳じゃないが、俺達が集めた旧世界の遺物の、俺とギューバの分はシェリル達に進呈しよう。売ればそこそこの金になるはずだ」
シェリルが口を挟む。コルベ達にとってのそこそこの金は、シェリル達には十分大金だからだ。
の人間に頼んでいる。怒ってこの場に取り残されても不思議じゃない。だからまあ、その金で怒りを抑えてくれって話さ」
コルベがそう言ってデイルをチラッと見る。デイルがたじろぎ、観念したように話す。
シェリルが確認を取る。
デイルは苦笑しながらそう答えた。
シェリルがアキラの意思を確認するためにアキラを見る。アキラが答える。
アキラが構わないのならばシェリルに異存はない。シェリルは軽く頭を下げて了承の意を告げる。
「分かりました。そう言うことでしたら、有り難く頂きます」
「悪いな。よし。すぐに済ませる。少し待っていてくれ」
コルベがそう答えて一人でギューバの死体の回収に向かった。
ギューバの死体の積込みを終えたアキラ達は、すぐにクガマヤマ都市へ向けて出発した。
いろいろ面倒事があったものの、アキラ達はクガマヤマ都市まで戻ってきた。無事に戻ってきたとするかどうかは、各々の解釈によるだろう。
アキラはクガマヤマ都市の外れに車を
シェリルは部下達と一緒に一度拠点に戻った。そして拠点に残っていた部下達に、荷台に積まれている遺物を拠点まで運び出すように指示を出していた。
アキラは運転席に座ってシェリルの部下達が荷台から拠点へ遺物を運び終えるのを待っていた。
アキラが助手席に座るアルファの方を見る。アルファは水着姿のままだ。相変わらず周辺の光景と不一致な格好だが、そろそろアキラも慣れ始めているので別段表情を変えたりはしない。少なくともアルファが別の格好に変わるまでは。
アルファが何もないことのようにアキラに尋ねる。しかしアルファには重要な質問だ。
クズスハラ街遺跡の地下街でレイナが人質に取られた時、アキラは銃を捨てなかった。レイナとシェリルは違うと言われればそれまでだ。しかしアルファの目的の
自分の命と引き替えにしてでも助けようとする誰かがアキラにいる場合、アルファは何らかの対処をしなくてはならない。
アキラが少し得意げに答える。
『問題なく避けられる。そう確信したからだ。いや、違う。それを確認したかったからだな。ギューバと戦っていた時にもあったけど、あの時間が圧縮される感覚を意識して再現できたのは、あのセブラの攻撃を避けた時が初めてだ。アルファと訓練している時は、やっぱり攻撃を食らっても絶対に死なないってどこかで理解しているから、
『その方が安全に殺せるだろう?』
『ああ、銃を捨てても殺されない確信はあったよ。だから銃を捨てたんだ。それで安全に助けられるなら助けるさ。あの地下街の時とは状況が違う。確信がなかったらあんな
『自殺手前の無謀な行動ではないのなら構わないわ。分かっていると思うけれど、アキラに死なれると困るのよ。私がアキラを助けるのは、私からの依頼の報酬の前払い分。つまりアキラへの貸しよ。アキラが依頼を達成する前に死んだりして、貸しを踏み倒させる気はないからね』
アキラとアルファは互いに冗談交じりにそう話していた。
アキラがアルファと雑談を続けている間に、シェリルの部下達が車の荷台から持ち帰った遺物を運び出している。
少々大きめの遺物も有るため、遺物を運ぶシェリル達の姿はそれなりに目立っている。しかしハンターの車の荷台から運び出されていることもあって、シェリル達を襲う者はいなかった。
その遺物を奪うことはそのハンターへの敵対行為だからだ。そのような理由もあって、シェリル達は他のスラム街の徒党の縄張りを通っても、安全に遺物を運搬していた。
アキラがギューバとの戦いを思い出してアルファに話す。
『単に持っていなかったのか、あるいは多分自分が巻き込まれる事を考えて渡せなかったのでしょうね。おかげで助かったけれどね。雨上がりだったことも幸いしたわ』
『雨上がりなのが何の関係があるんだ?』
『正確には、雨上がりで色無しの霧の影響が強かった
『なるほど。ん? でも雨が降る前も使っていたけど、そんなにうるさくなかったぞ?』
『色無しの霧は東部全域に常に存在しているわ。濃度の差はあるけれどね』
『そうなのか。ああ、それで人間はモンスターに見つからずに済んでるんだっけ』
『そういうことよ』
アキラはアルファからそんなハンター向けの雑学を聞いて暇を潰していた。
くしてシェリル達による遺物の運び出しが終わる。アキラは家に戻るために車を動かそうとして、あることに気付いた。
『そういえば、コルベは死体がモンスターに食われたらどうこうとか言ってギューバの死体を持ち帰ったけど、その割にはセブラの死体は放置してたな。別れた方向もハンターオフィスのある方向じゃなかったし、何でだ?』
『知り合いでもないし、ハンターでもない人間の扱いなんてそんなものよ。それにアキラの言っているハンターオフィスって、あの一番大きなやつでしょ? 小さな支店は他にもいろんな場所にあるわ』
『そうか? そうだな』
別に大したことではない。アキラはそれで納得して、それ以上は気にせずに家に帰った。
コルベはアキラ達と別れた後、一人で都市の外れに移動していた。コルベはそこで人を待っていた。
コルベが連絡を入れてから30分ほどで待ち人が車でやってくる。都市内部の移動用の小型車だ。車はコルベの近くで停車した。
車から男が降りてくる。コルベが地面に置いている死体袋を顎で指す。男は死体袋のファスナーを開けて、中身がギューバの死体であることを確認する。そしてコルベの方を見て軽く笑う。
「確かにギューバだ。お疲れさん」
「確認が済んだのなら、報酬を振り込むように早く連絡しろ」
「分かってるって。ちょっと待ってろ」
男は情報端末を取り出してどこかに連絡を入れる。コルベがその男に不機嫌そうに話す。
「こういう仕事はこれっきりにしてくれ」
「そう言うなよ。死んだこいつとは違って、俺達はあんたを有能なハンターだと思ってる。信用も含めてな。俺達がそういうハンターを確保するのは大変なんだ。割に合う報酬は支払ってるだろう?」
「報酬が不服か? その辺の話はボスとしてくれ。俺みたいな下っ端に言われてもな。......おっ、振り込んだってさ。確認してくれ」
男が自分の情報端末に届いたメッセージを見てコルベに伝えた。コルベは自分の情報端末を操作して、自分の口座への入金を確認する。
男が地面の死体袋を持ち上げて車のトランクに詰め込む。
「ハンター稼業は大変なんだろうけど、俺達みたいな取立て屋も大変なんだぜ。こうやって貸した相手の死体を確保したりな」
男はギューバが金を借りていた金融業者の取立て屋だ。そしてギューバ達は知らなかったが、コルベはギューバの監視役だった。ギューバを見張り、生死を問わず確保するのがコルベの仕事だ。生きていれば借金返済の
ハンターオフィスが管理する預金口座の中身など、行方不明の状態では取り立てが難しい財産は多い。そのような財産を取り立てるのに最も効果的な方法は、本人を連れてくることである。生死は問わない。取立て屋が債務者を殺して連れてきたなどと誤解されないように、死亡時に同行していた人物を連れて行くことが望ましい。その人物が高い信用を持つ行儀の良いハンターなどであれば、手続きも速やかに行われる。
コルベが不機嫌そうに笑いながら話す。
「取立ての苦労は知ってるよ。俺に取立てに来たやつは、とても気の毒なことになったからな」
取立て屋とコルベが車に乗り込む。車は都市の中へ消えていった。
But Sheryl did not flinch, and she bravely forced everyone to shut up. However, there was a limit to how long she could continue to keep them quiet. After all, the sound of gunshots showed no signs of stopping any soon, which proved that the battle was still going on. The children were under great pressure and were close to breaking down.
Sheryl scanned the situation and looked for Akira. Not too long after that, she saw Akira running toward her direction. He did not seem injured at all.
"Akira is on his way back. I'll go and ask him about the situation, so wait here."
After Sheryl said that to her gang member, she went to meet Akira. The other children also calmed down when they saw Akira unscathed.
Sheryl jumped off the cart and went to Akira. While that happened, Sebla slowly pushed himself up, he was still all wobbly.
Sheryl also noticed Sebla when she was looking for Akira, but she just ignored him. It was because she did not care whether Sebla was dead or alive.
Akira was relieved when he saw that Sheryl and her gang were still okay. Now he just needed to wait for Dale and Colbert to kill the monster.
Akira did think of helping Dale and Colbert, but he prioritized going and making sure Sheryl and her gang's safety first. If only he had not stepped off his vehicle, he would not have to face all the troubles that he just went through. Thus, he thought that it was sensible to be cautious at least now.
He saw Sheryl walking towards him. He also noticed Sebla pulling himself up from the ground not too far from her. It seemed that Sebla was yet to recover from the effects of the stun grenade, so Akira did not put much attention on him. But that proved to be a wrong decision.
The moment Sheryl passed beside him, Sebla suddenly reached for her arm and pulled her towards him. He then strangled her and pushed the pistol in his hand on her.
"Shut up!! Just shut your mouth!"
Sebla shouted back at her as he prodded his gun.
"Stop, don't move!!!"
Sebla yelled desperately at Akira.
Sebla had mostly recovered from the effect of the stun grenade. But his movements were dulled because of the fear, confusion and panic.
Sebla did lose his consciousness when he was hit by the stun grenade, but he woke up relatively faster. However, he kept himself close to the ground while the confusion prevailed and utilised the chance to slowly checked the situation around him.
But he could not understand much of what was going on. He did hear gunshots, so he guessed that someone was fighting. He did not find Akira's corpse around so there was a chance that Akira was still alive. Thus, he guessed that Akira was fighting against Guyver. That was all that he could make out of the situation.
He then saw Akira return back alone. The moment Sebla saw that, his face twitched. There was a good chance that Guyver was dead at that point, but Guyver being alive or not was unimportant for him right now. He was more interested in knowing whether Guyver told Akira that he was planning to betray Sheryl and her gang as well as to kill Akira and the other 2 Hunters.
The reason why Akira glanced at Sebla was simply to check him. But to Sebla who was in a panic, it seemed as if Akira found out from Guyver that he was also planning to betray him and so he was coming to kill him now.
"Do you really know what will happen to you if you do this?"
Akira then tried to calm Sheryl.
"Sheryl, Don't provoke that guy, it's dangerous. Just calm down, and try to keep your mouth shut. Don't try to complicate things. Alright?"
Sheryl was thinking of looking for a chance to break from Sebla's strangle, but after Akira told her that, she just obediently stayed quiet.
"T-that's right!! Just shut up and don't do anything stupid!!"
"Drop your gun!! Now!!"
Akira locked his gaze with Sebla, thinking about what could be done. But when Akira focused his gaze on him, Sebla flinched back and tensed up.
Right before Sebla's nervousness manifested into action, Akira dropped his rifle to the ground.
Alpha never imagined that Akira would drop his rifle, that was why she looked at Akira with a surprised expression.
"Akira?!"
Akira did not answer her question, he focused all of his attention on Sebla.
Sheryl was also surprised when she saw Akira drop his rifle since she also thought there was no way Akira would do that. After all, she thought that he did not care too much for her.
She was so happy that she was even close to crying, she did not expect Akira would even do something so dangerous as to drop his rifle in front of his enemy just to save her. While at the same time, she was also feeling so much guilt as she forced Akira to do something that dangerous.
Sebla did not even have the chance to express his surprise when he saw Akira evade his shots. His focus was immediately shifted to the pain on his stomach as he was thrown into the air.
When Sheryl returned to her senses, she found Akira grabbing her right arm. Sheryl, who realized that Akira saved her, hugged him tightly.
Akira looked at the gun in his left hand that he took away from Sebla. He then threw it away as if he had no interest in it. It was the gun that Guyver lent to Sebla, so there was no telling what kind of trap was installed in it. Akira walked back to his rifle and equipped it while Sheryl was still clinging on him.
Sheryl answered Akira's question without any hesitation at all. For her, there was no benefit in letting Sebla live. He took her hostage and tried to shoot Akira, although she might forgive him for the former, the latter was simply unforgivable as long as Akira did not tell her to let him go.
"Dammit... You just got lucky...!! What's so different between us!?"
Akira, who was about to pull the trigger, stopped when he heard that. There was a moment of silence between them. He then answered Sebla's question.
"Didn't you just say it yourself? That's true, it's our luck. You are just not lucky."
Akira looked pitifully at Sebla's corpse. If he had not met Alpha, he would have been dead like that too. But Akira quickly scrapped that thought. Even if someone would have shot and killed him, it would have been because of a different reason.
Not too long after that, Dale and Colbert also returned after they took care of the monster. Akira pushed Sheryl, who was still clinging on him, away and she obediently concurred.
Both lowered their guns and walked to Akira. Dale took another look around and said to Akira.
"I want to know what just happened first, is it okay?"
Akira, Sheryl, Dale, and Colbert exchanged information to confirm what was going on. After Dale understood the gist of the matter, he mumbled.
Dale looked surprised and angry as he said that. He had explored an old-world ruin together with Guyver. Thus, he more or less knew of Guyver's skill. And according to his judgement, Guyver was average at best.
Colbert interjected and answered Dale's question.
"...That might be because of his debt."
"Yeah, I heard that it's a pretty big debt. I also heard that he was originally planning to pay his debt with the relics that we would gather today."
Dale looked a bit pained as he said.
"Don't tell me that he had no way of paying that debt as the deadline was coming close so he got desperate. I guess he planned to take our relics and Sheryl's relics to amass a lot of money either for paying his debt or for running away from his debt, huh. Now that I remember, he also rushed forward without checking for enemies in the ruin. I guess he really was that desperate..."
Dale tried to make sense of everything that happened that day with the new information he just received. But in the end, they were all just his guesses, and with Guyver dead, there was no way to confirm them.
"We can do that later, let's get to the vehicle and head back to the city."
As they were about to head back to the vehicle, Colbert suddenly stopped them.
"If it's possible, I want to take Guyver's body back. Ah, I also brought myself a body bag, so it won't get your vehicle dirty... So, is it ok?"
Colbert understood that what he was asking was something unpleasant for Akira and the others. As a matter of fact, Dale and Sheryl looked obviously annoyed.
Dale looked at Colbert and said with displeasure.
"Just leave him alone. Some monsters will take care of him in no time. That's a suitable ending for that guy, don't you think?"
"Even though he's like that, I worked with him for a long time. Not to mention, I have my trauma with monsters... So like, I feel bad leaving his corpse for the monsters..."
Akira thought that if it pained Colbert that much, then he could just dig a hole and bury the corpse. He found it weird since there was no need to bring it back to the city, thus he popped out a rude question for Colbert.
"What are you planning to do with his corpse after bringing it back to the city? Are you planning to look for his family and give the body to them?"
"No, I will hand it over to the Hunter Office. If he had left his contact address when he registered his name, the Hunter Office would at least try to contact his family, that is if he did submit his family information too. The Hunter Office will take care of the corpse after that. By the way, in order to reduce the number of Hunters who have gone missing, the Hunter Office also recommends bringing Hunter's corpse to them, you know?"
That was one of the efforts to keep the Hunters under control and make them stay ethical. It would also help the City Management if they could tell which Hunters went missing and which Hunters were dead. Of course, they would assume the Hunters who went missing were already dead, but it was not like they could actually treat those Hunters as deceased. Those Hunters would need to stay missing for a while and there was a lot of administration stuff that needed to be approved before they were declared dead. But by bringing evidence that they were dead such as their corpses, the City Management and the Hunter Office could bypass the administration stuff and cut short the waiting time.
Colbert smiled bitterly as he continued.
"Well, it's only recommended and not compulsory. But the Hunter Office does suggest us to do that. If it's about profit, by doing something right like that, the Hunter Office will have a better impression on us. Not to mention that law-abiding companies also include the personality of the Hunters when they're looking to hire Hunters. By taking Guyver's corpse back, we would not get treated like those Hunters who tried to attack the other Hunters on the same team, or at least it would lessen the chance for that. It's basically about karma."
After listening to Colbert's explanation, Dale nodded. After all, it was something that concerned him too. Colbert then turned to Akira and Sheryl.
"I can understand your opinion. So like, well, it's not like I'm doing this to make it up for you, but I'll give mine and Guyver's share of relics to you. They'll fetch you quite a lot of money if you sell them."
Sheryl interjected. It was because although it would be just 'quite a lot of money' for Colbert, it would be a huge amount of money for Sheryl and her gang.
"Yeah, I too messed up, after all. I caused everyone trouble when we were back in the mansion. Even after we said that we would help escort you in exchange for a ride back home, one of my companions attacked you, and now, I'm asking permission to go bring that person's corpse with us. It would be nothing strange if you're angry and decide to leave us here. So like, it would be great if you accept our share of relics so that it can at least reduce your anger."
After he said that, Colbert glanced at Dale. Dale hesitated but he then gave up and said.
Sheryl asked them again to confirm.
Dale smiled bitterly when he said that.
Sheryl looked at Akira to ask for his opinion. So Akira said to her.
If Akira does not mind, then Sheryl had no problem with it either. She lightly bowed and took their offer.
"I understand, if that's the case, I'll thankfully accept your offer."
"Thanks and sorry. Alright then, let me get this done fast. Just wait here for a few minutes."
Colbert then went to retrieve Guyver's corpse alone.
After he finished retrieving Guyver's corpse, they quickly continued their way back to Kugamayama city, leaving Sebla's corpse together with the corpse of the monster that Dale and Colbert killed.
Although a lot of things happened, Akira was able to return back to the city safely. But of course, each of them had different opinions whether they could say that they really did return back safely.
Akira stopped his vehicle near the city, it was somewhere around the border between the wasteland and the slum city. Dale and Colbert said their goodbyes before they went their separate way. Colbert carried Guyver's dead body to the city while Dale went straight to the lower district.
Sheryl and her gang members went back to their base first without loading off the relics. She then told everyone who was left in the base to help carry all the relics in the cart to their base.
Akira was sitting on the driver seat while waiting for Sheryl's gang to finish unloading all the relics in the cart.
Akira turned to Alpha who was sitting beside him on the driver assistant's seat. Alpha was still in her swimsuit. Although she still looked weird in the middle of the wasteland, Akira who was starting to get used to that did not react any differently now, at least not until Alpha changed into another dress.
Alpha asked Akira something that sounded trivial, but to her, it was an important question.
When Akira was in the underground city, he did not drop his rifle even when Reina was taken hostage. Alpha would accept Akira's excuse even if he simply said that Reina and Sheryl were 2 different cases. But for the sake of her goal, it was imperative to keep Akira alive.
If there was someone that Akira would sacrifice his own life for, Alpha would have to think of a way to handle that person.
Akira proudly answered.
"I had a feeling that I would be able to evade his shots without trouble. No, that's not right, it was because I wanted to confirm it. Although I did that when I fought with Guyver too, the time with Sebla was the first time I was able to reproduce the feeling I had when I compress my time perception. I guess the reason why I couldn't do that in my training with you was because deep down, I knew my life was not in danger. But now that I was able to do it, I feel like I should be able to do it better next time."
"I was able to kill him without any loss, right?"
"Well, it was because I was sure I would be able to kill him even if I dropped my rifle. That's why I did that. I thought that I could pick the option where I had a better chance of safely saving Sheryl. The situation was different compared with Reina in the underground city. If I wasn't sure that I would be able to do that, I wouldn't have dropped my rifle."
"It's all good if that was not a suicidal move. I think I don't need to remind you about this, but it would be bad for me if you die. The reason why I'm helping you is because it's an upfront payment for taking my request. So basically you have a debt to me. I have no plans of letting you go from that debt unless you finish my request, you know."
Alpha and Akira were talking to each other while throwing jokes from time to time.
As Akira was having a silly talk with Alpha, Sheryl's gang was transporting the relics from the back cart to their base.
Since some of the relics were pretty big, Sheryl's gang was gathering quite a lot of attention. But there was no worry of getting attacked since people who saw them knew that they were transporting relics from a Hunter's cart.
Trying to rob them of those relics meant picking a fight against that Hunter. Because of that, Sheryl's gang was able to safely transport the relics even when they went through a territory in the slum city that was owned by a different gang.
Akira remembered his fight against Guyver and said to Alpha.
"Either it was because he didn't have a hand grenade, or it was because he thought that he might be in the blast range too. We're saved because of that though, and we were lucky that it was right after the rain stopped."
"Does it have anything to do with the rain?"
"To be more precise, it has something to do with the colourless mist effect of the rain. The colourless mist effect reduced the intensity of the light and the sound, so the effect from stun grenade must have been considerably weakened. Although, that's also the reason why it's hard to detect a monster in the middle of a thick colourless mist. If I have to give you an example, the DVTS minigun didn't make much sound when you used it, right? If there was no colourless mist, it would have made a very loud sound, you know."
"I see, hm? But I used that minigun before the rain started, right? And it wasn't that loud then?"
"Colourless mist is ever-present in the eastern district although the thickness level is different in each region."
"Is that so? Ah, that's the reason why the monsters can't detect us, right?"
"Yep, that's correct."
Akira was spending time by learning about what Hunters knew directly from Alpha.
Not too long after that, Sheryl informed Akira that they had finished transporting the relics. Akira was about to turn the vehicle on and head back home when he suddenly realized something.
"Now that I remember, Colbert said all of those excuses and we ended up carrying Guyver's corpse back to the city while we just left Sebla's corpse in the wasteland. But when we separated, Colbert was not heading to the direction where the Hunter Office was, I wonder why is that?"
"It's not like you know him personally and neither is he a Hunter, so it's normal to leave Sebla's corpse behind like that. Moreover, when you said Hunter Office, you meant that big Hunter Office branch, right? There are other smaller Hunter Office branches in the city, you know."
"Is that so? Well, I guess you're right."
Since it was not something that interested him, Akira accepted her explanation and stopped thinking about it.
After Colbert separated from Akira and Dale, he headed to the city alone. He then waited for someone to arrive.
In about 30 minutes after Colbert contacted someone, a vehicle stopped close to him. It was a small vehicle designed to be used inside the city.
A man stepped out from that vehicle. Colbert pointed at the body bag that was lying close to him. That man then opened the zipper on the body bag and confirmed that it was indeed Guyver's corpse. He smiled and turned to Colbert.
"It's Guyver. Thanks for the hard work."
"Now that I've done my job, tell them to transfer my reward."
"I know. Just wait for a sec here."
That man then operated his information terminal and contacted someone. Suddenly, Colbert begrudgingly said to that man.
"This is the last time I'm taking this kind of job, okay?"
"Please don't say that. Unlike this dead guy, we think that you're a good Hunter and we trust you. It's not easy for us to get a Hunter like you, you know. We'll give you a reward suitable for the job, okay?"
"You are not satisfied with the reward? In that case, you should discuss it with the boss. We're just goons, so we can do nothing about it... Oh, it seems that the reward is already transferred, can you check it?"
That man saw a message in his information terminal and conveyed the contents to Colbert. Colbert took out his own information terminal, checked his bank account, and confirmed the payment.
The man then took the body bag and stuffed it in his vehicle's trunk.
"I know it's not easy working as a Hunter, but it's not easy to work as a collector either. We have to go collect the dead body of people in debt like this, you see."
That man was a debt collector sent by the company that lent its money to Guyver. Although Guyver did not know about it, Colbert was actually his observer. It was Colbert's job to watch over him and secure his body if he died. It was to make sure that he would not escape so that they could throw him to labour work in case he could not pay back his debt and to quickly collect his body as soon as possible when he got killed.
There were many private assets that could not be seized if the Hunter was still in 'missing' status, such as the Hunter Office bank account. The fastest way to seize those assets was by bringing the owner of the assets to transfer those assets, regardless of whether the owner was alive or not. In order to make sure that it was not the collector company that killed the person and brought the corpse to the Hunter Office to seize his or her assets, it was important to have someone else as a witness to testify that the person was actually killed in his line of work. The paper works could be done faster if the witness was someone trustworthy with a good track record.
Colbert laughed uncomfortably and said.
"I know how hard it is to work as a collector. The guy who came to collect my debt ended up in the grave after all."
That man and Colbert then hopped into the vehicle and they went to the city.
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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