アキラは車の運転席に座ってアルファと雑談して暇を潰しながら、レビン達の相談が終わるのを待っている。
あの場から生き延びた高揚感が落ち着いてくると、アキラの中に愚痴の元が湧き出てくる。
なかったというか、残念だったな。あの遺跡にはまだまだ遺物が残っているはずだ。遺跡の機能が回復する前にもっとしっかり探索していれば、一体どれだけの金になったことやら』
アルファがアキラを
「それを相談して決めようとしているんだろうが。お前も何か良い案を出せよ」
「そんなこといっても、200万オーラムだぞ? 払えるか? 第一、買ったのはお前じゃねえか。なんで俺まで付き合わされるんだ?」
「俺の所為だって言いたいのか? あの階段でへばったまま、モンスターに食われた方が良かったのかよ」
「そういう意味じゃねえよ」
「じゃあどういう意味だ?」
レビン達が非常に険悪な雰囲気になる。しかしアキラがチラッとレビン達を見ると慌てて大人しくなる。別の男が
レビン達の相談事とは、アキラに支払わなければならない200万オーラムの支払い方法だ。誰が、何時、どのような方法で支払うのか。それが決まったら教えてくれ。レビン達はアキラにそう言われていた。
レビン達は5人いるので、一人頭40万オーラム支払えば清算できる。払えない額ではない。しかし払ってしまえば明日から素手でモンスターと戦わなければならなくなる。今回の遺物収集のために既にかなりの費用を使ってしまった。弾薬費も確保しなければならない。レビン達にも生活がある。余分な金などないのだ。
「遺物は緊急依頼の報酬としてあいつらに渡しただろう?」
「報酬として渡したのは、あの扉の奥にあった遺物だ。どうせ皆、他の場所で見つけた遺物を隠し持ってるんだろう? 全員出せば、200万オーラムにはならなくても、ある程度の額にはなるんじゃないか?」
レビン達が顔を見合わせる。全員心当たりはしっかりあるようだ。レビンが諦めて隠し持っていた遺物を出すと、他の男も観念して手持ちの遺物を場に出した。
一番出し渋っていた男も諦めたように隠し持っていた遺物を出す。それを見たレビンの表情が
む。場に出された遺物は衣服だった。
「それをあいつが信じると思うのか? 絶対疑うだろうが。それは戻せ。後で売って皆で分けるからな」
衣服類の遺物を出した男がもう一度遺物をしまい込む。レビンが場に残った遺物を見て
に向かった。
レビンから話を聞き終えたアキラが、疑問に思ったことを尋ねる。
「扉の奥にあった一番状態の良かった遺物でも300万オーラム程度なんだろ? 残りの遺物が200万オーラムになるのか?」
「可能性はあるだろう? 取りあえず都市に戻ろうぜ。ここにいても、業者に遺物を売ることも鑑定をしてもらうこともできない。だろう?」
都市でも治安の悪い所は悪い。スラム街などでは遺跡から戻ってきたハンターの遺物を狙う強盗が出ても不思議ではない。それでも、間違いなく荒野よりは安全だ。そこには一定の秩序があるのだ。
都市の中に入ってしまえば、たとえレビン達に全く金がなく、アキラに1オーラムも支払えないとしても、アキラが逆上してレビン達をいきなり撃ち殺すようなことはないだろう。言い換えれば、都市の外、荒野ではその限りではない。そう考えていたレビンは何とか理由をつけて早く都市に戻りたかった。
アキラはレビンがそんなことを考えているとは知らない。レビン達が分散して逃げ出したら追うのが面倒だ。アキラがこの場に
アキラが少し思案した後でレビンに話す。
「ここで遺物の売却や鑑定ができれば良いんだな?」
アキラが情報端末を取り出してカツラギと連絡を取る。カツラギ宛てに通話要求を投げるとすぐに
け話だ。で、用件は何だ?」
「旧世界の遺跡から遺物を収集して戻ってきたんだ。こっちまで遺物を買い取りに来られないか?」
「構わねえが、俺を呼びつけるような遺物がちゃんとあるんだろうな?」
「了解だ。そっちの位置情報を送ってくれ。......良し。今から行く。ちょっと待ってろ」
カツラギとの通話が切れる。アキラがレビンに話す。
「ちょっと待ってろってさ」
く待つとカツラギが自前のトレーラーでやって来た。移動店舗の強みである。
アキラがカツラギに売る遺物を地面に並べて待っていた。カツラギがまずはアキラが集めてきた旧世界の遺物の査定を始める。査定を済ませてアキラに買取り額を提示する。
「そうだな、800万オーラムでどうだ?」
「分かった。その額でいい」
「良し。すぐに振り込むからな。......それで、あっちの遺物は何だ? 売らないのか?」
カツラギがそう言ってアキラの車の後部座席に積まれている遺物を指差した。
「あれはカツラギが買い取らない種類の遺物だ。この前教えてもらっただろう?」
「それでも俺に見せて査定ぐらいしたらどうだ? 俺とお前の付き合いだ。衣服とかでもある程度の量があるのなら、俺が新しく買い取りルートを構築しても良いぞ? まあ、新しい買取りルートの構築にはいろいろ手間が掛かるし、間に絡む問屋が増えるからある程度安い額にはなるがな」
「大丈夫だ。別の買取りルートを見つけたからな。カツラギが買わないやつはそっちに持って行くよ」
カツラギは愛想良く笑って答え、内心舌打ちした。以前アキラにした遺物売却の説明には、虚偽ではない程度に意図的に安価に評価した内容が一部混ざっていた。それは主に衣服類の遺物に関する説明だ。初回は買い取らず、次に恩に着せる形で買い取ることで、安く遺物を手に入れようとしていたのだ。
アキラは戦闘面の実力はかなりのものだ。だが遺物売却の手腕や伝はないに等しい。そう判断していたカツラギは、意図的に衣服類の遺物に関する説明を
け損ねたことを残念に思ったが、それをいつまでも気にしてはいられない。気持ちを切り替えて商売を継続することにする。
「金も入ったんだ。俺もトレーラーで来たんだし、何か買っていけよ」
「その前に、あいつらの遺物を査定してくれ」
「アキラの連れか? あいつらと一緒に遺跡に行ってきたのか?」
カツラギは笑ってレビン達の所へ向かった。アキラは暇潰しを兼ねてカツラギの商品を見るためにトレーラーの中に入っていった。
レビン達の遺物の査定を終えたカツラギが、不満げな表情でレビンに評価額を告げる。
「まあ、50万オーラムってところだな」
「50万!? 幾ら何でもその額はねえだろう!?」
カツラギが出した評価額を聞いたレビン達が
カツラギは不機嫌な表情を隠さずにレビンに話す。愛想笑いを浮かべるのも面倒らしい。
「俺が買い取る場合の額だ。だがハンターオフィスの買い取り所に持ち込んでも、その程度か少し下がる額だと思うぞ? 嫌なら売るな。無理に買い取る気はねえよ。じゃあな」
カツラギはそう言ってアキラの所に戻ろうとする。それをレビンが慌てて止める。
「待ってくれ! 今の金額をあいつに教える気か!? それは待ってくれ!」
カツラギが出した評価額はアキラへの支払額の半分にすら達していない。レビンはアキラがその額を聞いた時の反応を恐れて必死にカツラギを引き留めた。
そのカツラギが急に愛想良く笑い始めた。優しい声でレビン達に尋ねる。
「何があったんだ? まあ、俺に事情を話してみろよ。俺もあいつとはちょっとした付き合いだ。力になれるかもしれないぜ?」
詳しい事情を聞き終えたカツラギがレビン達に同情を示す表情と口調で話しかける。
「大変だったんだな。俺もハンター相手に商売をやってるんだ。そういう
「......イ、イカレてる」
カツラギの話を聞いたレビンが、アキラに対する率直な感想を漏らした。
実際の内容とレビンの認識には大きな差異がある。カツラギはそれに気付いているが、訂正せずに話を進める。
「そうだろう? だからさ、俺もそんなやつ相手に、支払額を減らしてほしいだの、支払いを待ってほしいだの、そんなことは言いたくないんだ。それはお前達も分かってくれるよな?」
「だからここは俺に全部任せてくれ。残念ながらお前達にいろいろ不利益な交渉になるかもしれない。それはぎりぎりの交渉の結果だと思って我慢してくれ。俺も頑張ってみる。俺への見返りは、そうだな、お前達が稼げるようになったら、俺の店でいろいろ買ってくれればそれで良い。どうだ?
カツラギがレビン達に選択を迫る。選択の余地があったかどうかは別だ。
レビン達は諦めと
『旧世界の遺物の保存袋か。買っておこう』
棚には衣類用、精密機械用、防水、防弾、帯電防止、耐衝撃、いろいろな種類の保存袋が並んでいる。使い捨てのものもあれば、再利用可能なものもある。値段も様々だ。
『いろいろ種類があるんだな。アルファはどれが良いと思う?』
アキラが別の商品を手に取る。
か。......ユズモ社汎用A28タイプ。お使いの情報収集機器との相性は、下記の成分表を基に情報収集機器の販売メーカーにお問い合わせください。......こういうのはあれば便利か?』
『アキラの情報収集機器を介した私の索敵能力まで低下する恐れがあるから、余りお勧めしないわ』
『なら要らないな』
アキラがいろいろな商品を見ていると、カツラギがトレーラーの中に入ってきた。
「おっ! やっと俺の商品を買う気になったか? いろいろ買っていってくれよ? どれもお勧めだぜ」
「あいつらの遺物の査定は終わったのか?」
「ああ。それといろいろ事情も聞いてきた。ちょっとそこで待ってろ」
カツラギは奥から回復薬を持って戻ってくる。以前アキラに売った回復薬と同じものだ。
「ほら。要は使った分の補填がしたいだけだろう? これでいいか?」
アキラが不思議そうにカツラギを見る。確かに同じ回復薬が手に入るのならばアキラも文句はない。
「良し。これであいつらの債権は俺が引き取ったわけだ。だからアキラはこれ以上あいつらに関わるなよ? 何があったか知らんが、お前のことを随分怖がってたぞ?」
「......まあ、遺跡でいろいろあったんだ」
アキラにも心当たりがないわけではない。よく知らない自分達より強いハンターを怖がっても不思議はないし、エレナは初めレビン達を置き去りにしようとしたし、アキラはそれに同意していたのだ。怖がられても仕方がないだろう。アキラはそう答えて深くは気にしなかった。
「そうか? 俺には関係ないし、どうでも良いか。ああ、買物の途中だったな。良し。俺がいろいろ説明しようじゃないか。商品について聞きたいことがあったら何でも聞いてくれ。おっ! 旧世界の遺物の保存袋か。それなら俺のお勧めはこれだ」
カツラギが愛想良くアキラの接客を続けていく。アキラをできるだけ長くトレーラーの中に
アキラは30分ほどで買物を終えた。予想以上に結構いろいろ買ってしまった。無駄なものは買っていないと信じたい。アキラは買った商品が入った袋を見ながらそう思った。
カツラギがトレーラーから出たアキラを見送る。
「アキラはそのまま帰って良いぞ。あいつらのことは、俺がちゃんと都市まで送っていくから心配するな。いろいろ売りつけるついでにな。遺跡の場所はあいつらに聞くよ」
「そうか? 分かった。じゃあな」
アキラはそのまま車に乗り込んで都市に戻っていった。
カツラギはさっきまで和やかに笑っていた表情を少し深刻なものに変えてからレビン達の
レビンが自分達の所に来たカツラギに聞く。
「ど、どうなったんだ?」
カツラギが深刻そうに答える。
の息を吐く。当面の危機は去ったと思ったのだ。
そのレビン達にカツラギが済まなそうに話す。
「......それで、その、お前達の処遇なんだが、それぞれ40万オーラムの借金を背負ってもらうことになる。その所為でいろいろ悪影響が出るかもしれないが、それは理解してくれ。利息とかの相談はこれからするとして、他にもいろいろ制限がある。済まないが我慢してくれ」
「言うまでもないが、ちゃんと返せよ? 返済が滞る場合は、......残念だがアキラに取立てを頼むことになる。俺もそんなことはしたくない。したくないが、俺にも商売上の信用ってものがあるんだ」
先導するカツラギの後に、レビン達は重い足取りで続いていく。
レビン達を案内するカツラギは、ほくそ笑んでいた。
アキラが発見したあの遺跡はヨノズカ駅遺跡と命名された。遺跡内部の駅の名前らしい。あるハンターが駅のホームに書かれていた駅の名前を発見して、それがそのまま遺跡の名前として定着したのだ。
エレナが遺跡の情報を広範囲に売ったために、遺跡の情報は爆発的に広まった。しかし遺跡の情報の広まり具合に比べて、ヨノズカ駅遺跡に向かうハンターは少数となった。エレナが遺跡で遭遇したモンスターの情報を含め、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥に生息しているモンスターが地下鉄の地下トンネルを通ってヨノズカ駅遺跡にいる可能性を示したからだ。
クズスハラ街遺跡の仮設基地の防衛を請け負っていたハンターが逃げ帰ったという話は、クズスハラ街遺跡の奥に生息するモンスターの実力を知らない者にも、ヨノズカ駅遺跡の難易度を分かり
のようなものだ。多数のハンターを遺跡に向かわせれば、仲間を殺したモンスターを彼らが殺してくれるだろう。その程度の考えだった。
遺跡の情報を売って手に入れた僅かな金で少々高めの酒を飲みながら、男はいつまでも死んだ仲間達のことを思い返していた。
アキラが再び荒野へ出向こうとしている。もう一度ヨノズカ駅遺跡に行こうとは思わない。だからといって未発見の遺跡の探索を止める気もない。再び別の未発見の遺跡を見つけるために、リオンズテイル社の端末設置場所を目指して出発しようとしていた。
アキラが車庫から意気揚々と車を動かそうとした時、助手席に座っていたアルファが話す。
『アキラ。ハンターオフィスから通知が来たわ』
『賞金首速報。新規賞金首認定モンスターのお知らせ......?』
な表情で詳細を確認する。
ハンターオフィスが通常の討伐依頼とは別の扱いで、特別に高額の討伐報酬、賞金を特定のモンスターに掛ける場合がある。都市の周辺などに場違いなほど強いモンスターが存在して、それが都市の経済活動に悪影響を与える場合などだ。それらのモンスターは賞金首と呼ばれる。
通知は戦闘能力の乏しいハンターがそのような強力なモンスターに
新たに賞金首に認定されたモンスターは4体だ。ハンターオフィスの賞金首情報の掲載場所には、賞金首の姿と名前、そして賞金が大きく表示されている。賞金首の出現場所は、非常に大まかな場所しか掲載されていなかった。そしてその場所には、アキラ達が前回探索したヨノズカ駅遺跡の周辺が含まれていた。
アキラが表情を険しくする。その脳裏に浮かんでいるのは、あの巨大な暴食ワニの亜種だ。
『アルファ。この賞金首ってさ......』
『多分1体はあれでしょうね。4体いるってことは、他にも外に出た個体がいたんでしょうね。恐らく通路に交戦の跡はあったけど死体がなかったのは、外に出た個体が途中で食べていったのでしょうね。通路にあの痕跡を残したモンスターが遺跡の外に出て、他のモンスターやハンターを襲った可能性が高いわ』
わらず、倒されたモンスターやハンターの姿が不自然なまでに残っていなかったあの通路だ。あの通路の痕跡は、アキラの予想通り捕食により急激に成長する種類のモンスターだったのかもしれない。通路に残っていた他のモンスター達の残骸を食べて成長し、そして周辺にいる比較的弱いモンスター達を捕食して更に成長したのかもしれない。賞金首に認定されるほど、巨大に、強力に。
アキラは黙って車を降りた。アルファが尋ねる。
『ああ。このまま荒野に出発して、不運にもその賞金首達と遭遇する、なんてのは嫌だからな』
『そうね。アキラの運の悪さを甘く見ないためにも、今日は止めておきますか』
アキラは少し表情をむくれさせたが、黙って家の中に戻っていった。
その後、アキラは室内での訓練と勉強にその日を費やした。
Akira was sitting on the driver seat, talking with Alpha to kill time, while waiting for Revin to finish his discussion with his men.
Now that Akira had calmed down after he got out of that ruin, he started to feel a tinge of regret.
"...But still, it's such a waste and it's really unfortunate. There should still be relics in that ruin. If only we were able to search the ruin more and carry all of those relics before the ruin somehow activated, I wonder just how much money that would have fetched me."
Alpha smiled and cheered him.
"Isn't that exactly why we're sitting here discussing? Tell me if you have any good ideas."
"Even if you ask me, it's 2,000,000 Aurum, you know? Can we really afford to pay that kind of money? Or more like, you're the one who bought it, so why should we pay for it too?"
"Are you seriously going to blame me for it? Would it have been better for you if we had kept climbing the stairs with that speed and got killed by the monsters?"
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what did you mean by that remark?"
Revin and his men started to make a ruckus, but the moment Akira glanced at them, they quickly calmed down. Another guy from Revin's team then said.
Revin and his men were talking about the medicine that they bought from Akira which cost them 2,000,000 Aurum. Akira asked them to tell him who would pay and when and where he would receive the payment.
Revin and his men were 5 members in total, so dividing it equally, it would be 400,000 Aurum per person. It was not a huge amount. But if they paid that money, they would not be able to buy ammo for their next expedition. After all, they still had to pay for their food, accommodation, and ammo. They simply did not have enough money to spare.
"Don't you remember that we paid them with our relics?"
"We only gave them the relics that we found inside that room. I'm sure all of you are hiding other relics that you found elsewhere, right? If we pooled them together, we might be able to get at least 2,000,000 Aurum."
They then looked at each other, they all understood what that guy was talking about. Revin sighed and took out all the relics that he was hiding, the other guys who saw that also gave up their relics.
One among them reluctantly took out the relics that he was hiding. Revin twitched as he saw that because that man only offered clothes.
"You there, you took out nothing but clothes though."
"Do you really think they'll believe you? They'll definitely doubt it, you know. Just take them back, we can sell it later and divide the money among us."
That guy then retrieved those clothes. Revin looked at all the relics lined up in front of him and made a long 'hmmmm'.
He then went to Akira.
After Akira listened to what Revin had to say, he asked about something that bothered him.
"Even the relics you found in the room that looked like in good shape were only worth about 3,000,000 Aurum, right? So like, are you sure the rest of the relics would be able to fetch you 2,000,000 Aurum?"
"Well, I think it's at least possible. Let's just head back to the city for now, after all, I can't really ask merchants or appraisers the worth of the relics if we stay here, right?"
There were certain areas in the city where the public order was really bad to the point that it would not be strange for Hunters, who returned from the wasteland, to get robbed. But even so, those areas were still safer compared to the lawless wasteland.
Once they were inside the city, even if Revin and his men had no money to pay Akira, Akira won't be able to just shoot them where they stood. In contrast to that, something like that would likely happen outside the city or in the wasteland. That was why Revin wanted to reach the city as soon as possible.
Akira did not notice that at all. The only reason why he was staying outside the city was so that it would be easy to chase Revin and his men if they tried to run away.
Akira thought for a bit before saying.
"You only need someone to appraise those relics here, right?"
Akira pulled out his information terminal and contacted Katsuragi. The call got connected soon after he pressed the call button.
"I see, it's money talk then. So, what do you have?"
"I just returned back from the old-world ruin with relics, can you come here and check them?"
"Sure, but since you called me, you do have the relics worth calling me there, right?"
"I see, send me your location... Alright then, I'm coming there now, just wait for a bit."
Katsuragi then ended the call. After that, Akira turned to Revin.
"Just wait for a bit."
It did not take that long before Katsuragi's trailer arrived there, it was one of the benefits of having a portable shop.
Akira lined the relics in front of Katsuragi. After Katsuragi finished checking all of those relics, he then made an offer to Akira.
"Let's see, how about 8,000,000 Aurum?"
"Got it, we have a deal."
"Nice! I'll transfer the money right away... So then, how about those relics? You're not going to sell them?"
Katsuragi glanced over at the relic pile on the backseat of Akira's vehicle.
"Those are the relic types that you won't buy. You did teach me that, remember?"
"Well, that's true, but I can at least take a look at them. It's just me trying to build a good relationship with you. Even for the clothes, if you have enough of them, I can even make a connection especially to sell those types of relics, you know? Well, even if I say that, it'll take quite a lot of time to build a new route like that. But since I've been dealing with a lot of wholesalers lately, it'll at least still turn in some money."
"Thanks for the offer but it's fine. I found another route to sell those types of relics, you see. So I'm thinking of bringing relics that you won't buy to that person."
Although Katsuragi was smiling on the surface, he was cursing deep inside. When he gave the explanation about how to sell relics to Akira before, he intentionally evaluated some of the relics with a lower price, and those types of relics were clothes and small accessories. He was actually thinking of intentionally not buying them first, and then buying them for cheap later as to make Akira feel indebted to him.
Akira's fighting ability was indeed amazing but he had no knowledge on how to sell the relics that he gathered. Or at least that was what Katsuragi thought. That was why he mixed some false information when he explained how to sell relics to Akira. He wanted to paint an impression so that Akira thought it was hard to sell a particular type of relics, and later make Akira feel indebted to him by offering to buy those relics at a cheap price from Akira.
Katsuragi did regret the fact that he could not earn more profit, but it was not like he could keep himself occupied by that. So he just changed the subject and talked about his goods.
"Now that you got more money and I'm already here too, how about you buy something from me?"
"Before that, can you check their relics too?"
"Are they your friends? Did you go hunting relics with them?"
Katsuragi smiled and went towards Revin. While Katsuragi was checking Revin's relics, Akira went to Katsuragi's trailer to spend his time browsing weapons and other stuff.
After Katsuragi finished checking the relics, he looked disappointed and said.
"Well, I guess the total worth is only about 500,000 Aurum."
"500,000 Aurum?! Are you trying to scam us or something?!"
Revin panicked when he heard Katsuragi's statement.
Katsuragi looked like he was in a bad mood, he did not even bother to show a fake smile as he said to Revin.
"That's the amount of money I'm willing to pay. Even if you bring them to the Hunter Office, I think you'll get even less money. If you don't agree with that amount, then just don't sell them to me, I won't force you to sell them to me either. Well, later then."
After Katsuragi said that, he turned and was about to go back to Akira, but Revin suddenly stopped him.
"Please wait!! Are you going to tell him that too!? Can you please not do that?"
That amount of money was not even enough to pay half the price of Akira's medicine. Revin was terrified of how Akira would react to that, so he desperately tried to stop Katsuragi.
But his expression suddenly changed to a smile as he kindly asked Revin.
"What's going on here? You can at least tell me, you know. I've been doing business with that Akira for quite some time now, so I might be able to help you out."
After listening to Revin's explanation, he sympathized with them and said.
"That sounds rough. I do business with Hunters, so I can understand how rough it is. Well, I'm glad that he saved you. Now then, since having you guys work hard and gather a lot of relics also helps my business, I can at least lend you some help, you know."
"...T-that boy is insane."
Revin who was listening to Katsuragi's story could not help but word out his impression about Akira.
Katsuragi noticed that Revin was misunderstanding something there, but he did not bother to correct it as he continued.
"You can say that again. That's why, to be honest, I don't want to ask him to reduce the amount of money that he demands or to give more time to get that money. I'm sure you can understand me, right?"
"That's why you can just leave it to me. Although it might be a bad deal for you guys, I hope you can understand that it's the best deal that you guys can currently get. I'll try my best to talk with him. As for my reward, well, when you guys become Hunters who can earn a lot of money, you guys should come to my shop to buy stuff. So, what do you think? Of course, I won't stop you if you want to do something about it yourself... But to be honest, I don't recommend that."
Katsuragi urged Revin to make a decision, but it was a different story whether they actually had any other choices or not.
Revin and his men gave up and decided to place their hopes on Katsuragi's offer.
"Relic bag, huh. I guess I'll buy some."
There were all types of bags lined up on that display, bag for clothes, bag for machines, waterproof bag, bulletproof bag, electric-proof bag, shockproof bag, all types of bags. Some of them were single-use bags while others were reusable bags. And of course, their prices also varied.
"There are all kinds of bags though. Alpha, which one do you think should I buy?"
Akira put that back and reached for another object.
"Jamming smoke... Yuzumo Corp General-Purpose A28 type. To check for the compatibility with your information-gathering device, please check the composition and confirm with the maker of your information-gathering device... Is it better if I have this too, Alpha?"
"It'll also lower the sensitivity of the information-gathering device that you are using, so I don't really recommend it."
"I don't need it then."
While he was in the middle of browsing stuff, Katsuragi suddenly entered the trailer and engaged Akira with a smile.
"Oh! So you're finally interested in buying my goods, huh? Make sure to buy a lot of things, okay? All of them are good stuff!"
"You're done checking their relics?"
"Yeah, and I heard about their situation too. Just wait here for a bit."
Katsuragi went inside the back room and returned with the medicine that he sold to Akira the other day.
"Here, you basically just need a replacement for the medicine that you sold to them, right? So, is this enough?"
Akira seemed suspicious of Katsuragi, it was true that he had no complaint as long as he got his medicine back.
"Alright then, with this, they're indebted to me now. But with that being said, I recommend you not to hang out with them too much. I'm not sure what happened, but they're pretty scared of you for some reason."
"...Well, a lot of things happened back in the ruin after all."
It was not like Akira had no idea why Revin and his men would be scared of him. It was nothing strange to be scared of an unknown Hunter who was way stronger than yourself, not to mention that Elena was planning to abandon them at first and Akira did agree with her. Akira did not try to think any deeper as he thought that it was to be expected for them to be scared of him.
"Is that so? Well, it's none of my business anyway, so I guess I shouldn't stick my nose there. Ah right, you're in the middle of shopping, right? If you have any questions, just ask away, I can explain to you anything about the goods here. Oh! relics bag, huh. In that case, I recommend you to get this one."
Katsuragi smiled happily as he kept talking to Akira. He was trying to prolong Akira's stay inside the trailer as long as possible to make it look like he was having a difficult negotiation with him.
Akira finished shopping about 30 minutes later. He ended up buying a lot of things. As he was looking at his shopping bag, he hoped that he did not buy anything that he did not need.
Katsuragi then saw Akira off as they left the trailer.
"Akira, you can just head back home. I'll take Revin and his men back to the city. Of course, I'll have them buy some of my stuff on our way back too. I'll also gather the information about the ruin from them."
"Is that so? Alright, later then."
Akira then got in his car and left that place.
Katsuragi's smile vanished and was replaced by a deeply serious expression, he then turned to Revin and walked towards him.
Seeing Katsuragi approaching them, Revin and his men asked him.
"S-so how was it?"
Katsuragi's serious expression did not change.
Revin let out a sigh of relief, he thought that he was able to avoid the imminent danger.
But then Katsuragi apologetically said to Revin and his men.
"...So then, well, in the end, each of you owes me 400,000 Aurum. I know that it'll cause inconvenience in your daily Hunter activities, but I hope that you'll understand. We'll talk about the interest and the other stuff regarding the debt later. I'm sorry."
"I don't think I even need to remind you of this, but you guys will pay it eventually, right? In case if you don't... I'm sorry but I think I'll ask for Akira's help. I don't want to do that, but I have my reputation to uphold as a merchant, you see."
As Katsuragi walked back to his trailer, Revin and his men followed behind with heavy steps.
Katsuragi, who was leading Revin and his men to his trailer, smiled in secret.
The ruin that Akira discovered was named Yonozuka station ruin. It seemed that it was the name of the subway station inside that ruin. One of the Hunters, who explored that ruin, found the nameplate of the station and that name then got adopted as the official name of that ruin.
Since Elena sold the information about that ruin, it spread quickly among the Hunters. Although the information had spread widely, there were barely any Hunters exploring that ruin. It was because the presence of that huge monster was also included in the information that Elena sold as well as the fact that there was a good chance the monsters in Kuzusuhara ruin underground city used the subway tunnel to go to that ruin.
Since even the Hunters, who had experience in dealing with the monsters in the underground city when they were guarding the forward base, had to run away from that ruin to stay alive, the other Hunters could easily grasp just how dangerous the Yonozuka Station Ruin was. Because of that, the Hunters who thought that they were not strong enough to challenge that place avoided going to Yonozuka station ruin.
The reason why he was spreading that information was as a form of revenge. He thought that if he kept sending Hunters there, someone might kill the monsters that killed his friends.
All the money that he got from selling that information was used to buy expensive alcohols. He would spend his days drinking those alcohols while reminiscing about his dead friends.
Meanwhile, in the other place, Akira was getting ready to go out to the wasteland again. Although he had no plans to go to that particular unexplored ruin, he was still planning to find the other unexplored ruins. In order to do that, he used the data that he acquired from the Lion Steel Corp's terminal to help him search for unexplored ruins.
As Akira was about to turn on the vehicle inside the garage, Alpha who was sitting on the driver's assistant seat suddenly said to him.
"Akira, there's a notification from the Hunter Office."
"Bounty Info, notification for new bounty monsters..."
Akira looked puzzled as he checked the details of that notification.
It was not the usual monster-hunting request, it was a special bounty request with fixed prize money and a huge monetary reward. This type of request was usually issued for strong monsters that did not fit the place that they were in or the monsters that caused damage to the city's economy. These monsters were known as bounty monsters.
That notification worked both ways, it would attract the attention of the Hunters who had enough skill to hunt those bounty monsters as well as to warn the other Hunters to be careful of those monsters. After all, if those Hunters, who went to the old-world ruin to gather relics, got killed and are unable to bring back the important old-world relics to the city, it would cause trouble for the city too.
There were 4 new bounty monsters. Their names, descriptions, bounty prizes, and other details were publicly posted in the Hunter Office. As for their location, they were only able to draw a big radius as to where they might be roaming. That area included Yonozuka station ruin that Akira explored the other day.
Akira's expression turned grim, he remembered that huge greedy crocodile.
"Alpha, about this bounty notification..."
"I think that monster is one of them. Since there are 4 bounty monsters, I guess more similar monsters came out to the surface. Although there were traces of battles in many places, we found no traces of corpses. It is likely that corpses were eaten by the other greedy crocodiles while they were on their way to the surface. There's a good chance the monsters that left those traces in the hallway left that ruin and attacked Hunters and the other monsters that they encountered."
In that particular hallway, there were traces of battles, but strangely enough, there were no monster corpses nor dead Hunters. As Akira expected, it might have been because some kind of monster had eaten all the leftover corpses. Then that particular monster might have evolved, and after it grew stronger, it might have started preying on the other weaker monsters around it and grew even stronger to the point that it was dangerous enough for the City Management to warrant a bounty request.
Akira stepped down from the vehicle without saying anything. Alpha then asked him.
"Yeah, if I go out to the wasteland, I feel like my bad luck will get me to meet one of those bounty monsters after all."
"You're right. We can't underestimate your bad luck after all, so I guess it's the right choice to not go out today, huh."
Akira pouted, but he just obediently returned back to his house.
After that, he spent his days studying inside his room and training himself.
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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