170 廃棄品
ツバキに案内された部屋は大型の倉庫のような内部構造になっていた。天井も高く、奥の壁までもかなりの距離がある。部屋の中には無数の棚が狂いなく整列して設置されており、その棚には旧世界の遺物が大量に置かれていた。
アキラは部屋の出入口の近くからその光景を見て軽く圧倒されていた。遺物を求めるハンターならば狂喜乱舞する光景なのだが、状況の推移から置いてきぼりにされているアキラには、喜びよりも困惑の方が大きかった。
アキラがバイクから降りて立ち尽くしていると、アルファが笑って声を掛けて作業を促す。
『さっさと出て行けと言われていることだし、手早く済ませましょうか』
『アルファ。いろいろ説明してくれ。どうなってるんだ?』
『作業を進めながら説明するわ。彼女の機嫌が悪くなる前に帰らないと危ないのよ』
アキラが作業を進める。バイクからリュックサックを取り外し、その中から別のリュックサックを幾つか取り出して広げていく。
『彼女はこのツバキハラビルの管理人格よ。ビルの管理もしているけれど、ここを中心とした周辺一帯の管理もしているわ。周辺の無傷な街並みの部分は基本的に彼女の管理下よ。細かい制御まで彼女自身でやっているわけではないけれどね。この区画の統括者とでも思ってくれれば良いわ』
棚には様々なものが大量に置かれている。全部持ち帰るのは不可能だ。なるべく高価なものを厳選するために部屋の中を物色していく。
『この区画に入って暫くうろうろしていたでしょう? あれはアキラの言った通り警備の甘い店舗とかを探していたのよ。警備システムが経年劣化で故障している建物が見つかれば、そこに入って遺物を探すつもりだったの。でも残念ながら見つからなかったわ』
ガラスやプラスチックのような透明な素材のケースが置かれている。ケースは立方体で高さ4センチほどだ。中には金属やゴムのような球形の物体が入っている。立方体や三
『警備戦力が低い箇所に押し入ることも考えたけれど、やっぱり危険だと判断して取りやめたわ。たかがこそ泥一人に本気になって応戦してくるとは思えないけれど、どの程度の戦力と交戦するかは不明だからね。でも観光だけして帰るわけにもいかないから方針を変更したの』
棚には衣服等も置かれている。明らかに旧世界風のデザインで、何らかの作業着や制服のようにも見える。現代の店でも売っていそうなものも混ざっていた。それらの様々な衣服が箱に詰められている。
『そこで彼女と不要品を譲ってもらえないか交渉したのよ。用が済んだらすぐに出て行くって条件でね。簡単に説明しているけれど、綿密な交渉の結果なのよ? 単純に文字情報に起こして口頭で伝えれば100年は掛かるような内容のね。その交渉を成立させたのも、私のサポートの
『交渉が実ったのでここまで受け取りに来たのよ。自力で取りに来られるならって条件も付けられたけど、バイクのおかげで問題なく到達できたわ。やっぱりバイクを買っておいて良かったわね』
男性用の下着もある。売らずに自分で着ても良いだろうと判断して、それも箱ごと持ち帰ることにする。普段使用している品はすぐに血が染みこんで変色してしまい、毎回捨てているようなものなのだ。旧世界の服には防護服の代用品になるほどの頑丈さを持つものもあるが、そこまでの性能がなくとも洗って再度使用できるだけでもアキラには有り難いのだ。
みにここは廃棄品置場らしいわ。棚の品は全部廃棄品ね』
アキラが思わず手を止めてアルファを見る。
『廃棄品?』
アキラは改めて周囲を見渡す。大量の棚に大量の遺物が置かれており、どれも質の良い物ばかりに見える。
『これ、全部廃棄品なのか? こんなにあるのか? 廃棄品ってことは、捨てるんだよな?』
『廃棄品と言っても、品質に問題はないはずよ。季節による商品の入替え。規定期間経過による備品の定期交換。そういう理由でシステム上廃棄扱いになった品でしょうからね。誰にも買われずに、誰にも使われずに、作られ、並べられ、除去される。ずっと繰り返されてきたことよ』
アルファは平然とそう語った。だがアキラは言い様のない感情を、疑念混じりの寂しさや
『何でと言われてもね。いろいろよ。それらを実行するシステムは基本的にその無意味とも思える行動に疑問を覚えたりしないわ。だからずっと続けるのよ。それらの管理人格も基本的には同じよ。だからそのシステムを止めようとはしないわ。それが少々高度な自由領域持ちの管理人格だったとして、その行動に疑念を覚えたとしても、それを止める権限を持っていなければ止められないわ。権限がないからね』
『そういうものなのか?』
『そういうものよ。まあ、例外も存在するわ。より高度な管理人格が規則よりもその疑念や疑問を優先させるほどに人格を肥大化させて、その権限を、規則を無視して行動するようになれば、いろいろ変化も生じるでしょうね。例えば、何とかして現在の人間を相手に商売を始めるかもしれないわ。大企業がコロンを支払って旧世界の製品を買えるのも、その例かもしれないわね。
アルファが楽しげに笑う。
『まあ、可能性の話よ。ほら、手を止めないで続けなさい。さっさと出て行けと言われているのだから、急いだ方が良いわ』
アキラは気を取り直して少し慌てながら作業に戻った。
『うーん。アルファ。もう少し運べるんじゃないか?』
『駄目よ。これが限界』
『でもあの辺にもう少し詰め込めるような......』
『これ以上積んでも帰り道に落とすだけよ。戦闘にも支障が出るわ。諦めなさい』
アキラは未練を残す表情を浮かべていたが、自身に言い聞かせるように首を横に振ると、気を切り替えてバイクに
『そうだな。下手に欲張って死にかけたら大変だ』
『既に十分欲張っているのよ? 帰り道にモンスターと遭遇して戦闘になった場合、遺物を
庇
『言われるまでもなく頑張るつもりだけれど、そこはアキラの運次第だと思うわ。無事にここまで来て遺物を手に入れたけれど、それで幸運を使い切っていないことを期待しましょうか』
廃棄品置場から出ると、ツバキがそのすぐ近くに立っており、笑顔を見せずにどことなく事務的な表情でアキラを見ていた。
アキラは何となく気まずさを覚えた。好意的ではない表情で視線を向けられることに慣れてはいるが、ツバキの冷淡な視線には、盗品を堂々と持ち出す者へ向ける非難と侮蔑、そしてそれを止められないことへの不快感が込められていた。
アキラが思わずツバキに軽く頭を下げる。
「......あ、その、これで失礼します」
「道中お気を付けて」
ツバキがそのまま気まずそうに通り過ぎようとするアキラに声を掛ける。
「一つお尋ねしても?」
「えっと、何ですか?」
「帯域を全てそちらとの接続に割り振っているようですが、それで
アキラが問いの意味が分からずに不思議そうにすると、アルファが笑って口を挟む。
『良いのよ。アキラへのサポートの品質を保つためにも、アキラの安全の
アルファとツバキが視線を合わせる。友好的なものは感じられない。
アルファがアキラの操作よりも先にバイクを動かした。アキラが少し驚きながら体勢を立て直す。ツバキはビルの外へ走っていくバイクに
アキラを乗せたバイクがツバキハラビルの側面を自由落下手前の速度で進んでいく。アキラが視線の先にある地面を見ながら表情を引きつらせる。
『アルファ! 速くないか!? 安全運転で頼むぞ!』
『下手に速度を下げようとして、タイヤの接着点の摩擦で引っかかった方が危ないのよ。ちゃんと安全運転で進んでいるわ。地面まですぐに着くから我慢しなさい』
『安全運転の定義が乱れるな!』
バイクが両輪をビル側面の路面にしっかりと付けて地面まで駆け抜ける。地面との接続箇所の曲面部分を勢い良く駆け抜けた後は再度安全運転の速度で街並みを進んでいく。ほっとして落ち着きを取り戻すと、アキラの頭に一度吹き飛んだ疑問が再度湧いてきた。
『なあアルファ。さっきの帯域がどうこうのって、どういうことなんだ?』
『気になるの?』
『......まあ、少し』
らせないために、いろいろ聞きたいことを尋ねるのを意図的に抑えている部分がある。
しかしその興味そのものが消える訳ではない。ツバキという第三者が口に出したことだから。アキラはそう言い訳して、アルファが話を打ち切ったことを分かった上で、その抑圧を少しだけ緩めた。
アルファはアキラの様子から、聞くな、と答えて拒絶するのは悪手だと判断した。何でもないことのように笑って答える。
『アキラは旧領域接続者で、旧世界のネットワークに接続して情報を得ているわ。アキラが見ている私の姿も、聞いている声も、その情報をネットワーク経由で得ているのよ。でもその通信量や通信速度は無制限ではないの。そしてアキラはその帯域を全て私との通信に割り当てているの。彼女はそれを指摘したのよ』
『それ、何か
『確かに特に問題はなさそうだな。じゃあ彼女は何であんなことを言ったんだ?』
『感覚的な問題でしょうね。私はアキラから強化服の操作も許されているけれど、勝手に体を動かされるのを嫌がるように、勝手に通信帯域を占有されるのを嫌がる人もいるわ。通信内容のフィルターも同じよ。それを指摘しただけかもしれないわね』
『うーん。それだけか?』
説明に理解はできるが、アルファが口を挟むほどのことだろうかと、アキラはその弱い疑問を顔に出した。するとアルファが苦笑を浮かべる。
『推測で悪口を言いたくはないけれど、
アキラが僅かな動揺を落ち着かせながら視線を前に戻して、少し思う。
(俺はまだまだ信用されてないってことなのかな? まあ、ちょっと前に俺の勝手でデカい組織の敷地に乗り込んで、やらなくても良い戦闘で死にかけたんだ。当然と言えば当然か。真面目にハンター稼業に精を出して、装備を整えて、訓練して、少しは信用を取り返しておかないとな)
アキラはそう結論付けて気を切り替えると、それ以上いろいろ考えるのを止めてしまった。
アキラの旧領域接続者の帯域は、アルファに占有され続けることで、アルファとの通信用に最適化され続けている。まだまだ汎用的な部分が大半を占めているが、この傾向が続けばいずれ完全な専用通信になる。その弊害をアルファは全く説明していない。
その最適化作業の許可を出したのはアキラだ。本人がその意味を完全に理解していなかったとしても、既に許可は出ているのだ。
署名済みの白紙の契約書を覆すには相応の力が要る。今のアキラにその力はない。アルファからの依頼を達成する時までにアキラがその力を得ているのか、そもそもその力を行使する必要が生じるのか、今は未確定だ。
『こっちの景色の方が安心するってのも変な話なのかもな。この辺だって遺跡の奥部って言っても良い場所だってのに』
『単純に奥部と言っても十分広いし、明確な区切りはないわ。どの辺りから奥部と呼ぶかには個人差があるからね。基本的に都市の平均的なハンターには手に負えないモンスターが生息している場所なら、奥部と呼んでも差し支えないわ。クズスハラ街遺跡の前線基地が本格的に稼働して整備中の道がもっと奥まで延びれば、また違ってくるのでしょうけれどね』
『奥への道を整備中なんだよな。エレナさん達もその警備の仕事を請け負っていたんだっけ。......作業が順調に進めば、ツバキハラビルとかがあるような奥部の区画まで道が延びるんだろうけど、大丈夫なのか?』
整備中の道が遺跡の奥部まで延びてしまうと、あの無傷の街を警備しているような高性能な機械系モンスター達が光学迷彩を有効にしながら道を前線基地まで逆走して、多大な被害を出してしまうのではないか。下手をすると前線基地どころかクガマヤマ都市にまで襲撃に来るのではないだろうか。アキラはそう思って少し不安になった。
『その辺は都市がいろいろ考えているのでしょう。都市の防衛隊の一部を派遣したり、もっと高難度の地域で活動しているハンターを呼び寄せたり、いろいろ手を打つと思うわ。......また都市からアキラ宛てに依頼が来たりしてね』
うような態度に、本気で嫌そうな態度を返した。アキラもまた病院送りになるのは御免なのだ。
アルファが少し真面目な表情を浮かべる。同時にアキラの視界が拡張される。
『アキラ。モンスターよ』
『了解だ。まあ、俺も戦闘なしで帰れるとは思ってなかったよ』
アキラは軽口を返して意識を戦闘に切り替えた。そしてバイクから片手を離してCWH対物突撃銃を握る。そこでその時点では余裕を保っていた表情が険しくなった。
アキラの拡張された視界には後方から追ってくるモンスターの反応が別枠で表示されている。アルファから警戒を促された時、その反応は1つしかなかった。だがその数はすぐに4から8へと増えていき、既に20を超えていた。
『......ちょっと多くないか?』
『あれはウェポンドッグの群れよ。元々規模の大きい群れなのか、複数の群れが集まった結果なのかは分からないわ』
アキラがウェポンドッグと聞いて過去の経験を思い出す。拳銃片手にクズスハラ街遺跡に向かったあの日の自分ではどうしようもない相手だった。死力を尽くして辛うじて倒した一匹も、変異に不備が生じていた貧弱な個体だった。
しかし今は違う。高火力な銃器を手に入れて、高性能な強化服を身に着けて、アルファの多様なサポートまで得ている。今の自分なら群れが相手でも蹴散らせる。あの時からの成長を実感する良い機会だ。アキラはそう思い、自分が初めて遭遇したウェポンドッグ達の姿を思い浮かべながら意気揚々と振り返った。そして顔を引きつらせた。
『遺跡の奥部付近に生息する個体群だからね。外周部付近で見掛けるような小型の個体とは違うわ』
アキラは人でも扱えるような銃火器を背負った大型犬の姿を想像していた。だがウェポンドッグ達は自走臼砲の臼砲部、多連装ロケット砲、戦闘車両への搭載を前提とした大口径の機銃など、強力な兵器類を背中から生やし、その火器の重量を支えるのに十分な巨大な
アキラがCWH対物突撃銃を後方に向けると、同時にバイク後部のアームも動きだす。アームの先にあるA4WM自動擲弾銃とDVTSミニガンの照準がウェポンドッグの群れに設定される。そして群れの1体に狙いを定め、意識を集中して引き金を引いた。
CWH対物突撃銃から戦車にも有効な専用弾が、A4WM自動擲弾銃から
とともに砲火を上げる。戦車を吹き飛ばす砲弾が、ビルを倒壊させるミサイルが、分厚い鉄板を貫く銃弾が、無数の個体の背から一斉に放たれる。
アキラを乗せたバイクが遺跡を疾走する。アルファは敵の射線を計算して銃弾の雨の隙間を見抜くと、卓越した運転技術で車体をその隙間に滑り込ませる。A4WM自動擲弾銃から放った擲弾の爆発で敵を足止めしながら、DVTSミニガンで敵のミサイル等を迎撃する。
わらずに駆け上がり飛び越えて追ってくる。アキラ達は遺跡の道を何度も曲がり、周辺の建物を遮蔽物にして敵の攻撃から逃れようとしているが、巨体に見合わない速さで追ってくるウェポンドッグ達を引き剥がせない。
アキラは最悪に近い足場の上で狙撃を続けている。バイクは回避行動のために上下左右に揺れ続け、時にはビルの側面を上や水平方向に走り続けている。その不安定な足場の上で、銃撃の瞬間だけ極度に集中し、体感時間を圧縮し、止まった世界の中で照準を敵の眉間に合わせて引き金を引く。
専用弾が距離による威力の減衰を受けながらも、戦車の装甲よりは
『アキラ。落ち着いて。それは群れの他の個体が一時的に操作しているだけよ。頭部が弱点なことに変わりはないわ』
『制御装置を破壊されただけであって、個体そのものの破損状況は低いのならば、制御を他の個体が補えば戦力になるわ。集団戦闘での戦闘継続能力をできる限り保つ機能の一部なのでしょうね。アキラ。交換して』
バイクのアームが動き、DVTSミニガンをアキラの近くまで移動させる。このアーム式の銃座には弾倉の自動交換機能は付いていない。少々高めの拡張弾倉とはいえ、連続して撃ち続けていれば弾切れまであっという間だ。
アキラが急いで弾倉を交換すると、アームが動いてDVTSミニガンの照準を後方へ戻し、再び弾幕を張り始める。A4WM自動擲弾銃の弾倉も程なくして交換に入る。アキラは狙撃と弾倉交換作業を繰り返していた。
『多いし、強いし、どうなってるんだ? 行きは全然いなかったじゃないか。何で帰りになった途端にこんなに殺到するんだよ。今日は行きはすんなりで、旧世界の遺物もたっぷり手に入って、俺の運の悪さも少しは改善したのかもって、ちょっと思ってたのに』
『行きは遺物を運んでいなかったからね。多分その所為よ。盗品を大量に運んでいる人物が探知範囲に引っかかったから、本能的に反応しているのかもしれないわ』
アキラが銃撃を続けながら
『盗品? あれは廃棄品で、しかも譲ってもらった物だろう? 遺跡の警備システムにとってはハンターなんて強盗と一緒だってのは知っているけど、今回は違うんじゃないか?』
『都市の警備システムの一部として稼働している機械系モンスターなら
『納得したのなら、愚痴は謹んで戦闘に集中しなさい』
『そうだな。この戦闘が俺の不運の所為じゃなさそうで、少し気が楽になったよ!』
Ch 170
Tsubaki guided Akira and Alpha into a room that looked like a warehouse. It was a pretty wide room with a tall ceiling. There were organized shelves lined inside and each of those shelves housed old-world relics.
Akira was a bit overwhelmed by the scene when he peeked from the entrance. A normal Hunter would go crazy in that situation, but for him, it took some time to process the scene in front of him. He was more troubled than happy.
Akira stepped off from his bike and just stood there, so Alpha smiled at him and told him to start working.
"Well, she did tell us to get out of here as soon as we finish, so let's get this done fast."
"Alpha, can you give me explanations of what is going on here?"
"I'll explain it to you while you're working. It would be bad if we don't leave this place before that girl's mood gets worse."
Akira started his work. He took out a rucksack from his bike and pulled out more rucksacks from within the previous one.
"That girl is the manager AI of this Tsubakihara building. Although I said she's the manager of this building, she's also managing the area around this building. The well-maintained state of the area around this building is mostly thanks to her. Although it's not like she did everything herself, you can just think of her as someone who is responsible for maintaining this area."
There were all kinds of relics on the selves, it was impossible for Akira to carry all of them back home. So he was looking around the room to choose only the most expensive-looking relics.
"Remember that we were just driving around this area since we came to this city, right? It's just as you guessed, I was looking for a building with not-too-strict security. I was planning to choose a building with a lowered security system due to the time deterioration to look for relics there. But unfortunately, in the end, I couldn't find a good place at all."
There were cases made of transparent-looking material that looked like glass or plastic. The height of the case itself was only about 4 centimeters. Inside it, there were spherical objects that seemed to be made of rubber or metal. While other cases had cubes, or triangles, or even powders inside them. Alpha said that they were basically some kind of old-world information terminals, so Akira prioritized those objects to stuff into his rucksacks.
"I did consider robbing a place with relatively lower security, but as I thought, it's too dangerous. Although I don't think they'll use full force just to fight a single person, I have no idea how much force they would bring out. With that being said, it's not like we can go back empty-handed, that's why I made a change in the plan."
There were also fabrics stored on some shelves. Some of them looked like working attires or some kind of uniforms, and of course, all of them had an old-world design. There were also other articles that looked like something that Akira could find in the current era's shops. All of those articles including the clothing were stuffed inside boxes.
"So then I made a deal with that girl to let us take the expired articles. In exchange for that, we have to leave this place as soon as we're done with it. Although I said it so casually, it's the result of a difficult negotiation. If the amount of information that we exchanged is written in words, it might take about 100 years. Being able to make that kind of deal is one of the great things about my support, you know? Of course, normally it would be impossible to do that without me. Remember when you tried to talk with the AI manager of the Seranthal building? That time, she did not even respond to you, right? That's what normally would happen without my support."
"She came by herself to pick us up because I was able to get us that deal. She said that she would only let us in if we can reach this place by ourselves, but it was no problem at all thanks to your bike. Aren't you glad to have bought that bike?"
Akira also found some underwear for men, since he thought that he could use them later, he decided to take the whole box with him. After all, he kept changing between them quickly since they got soaked with blood in no time. Some of the underwear that he found were even made of strong enough fabric to even be used as armour. But personally speaking, as long as he could wash them and reuse them again instead of just throwing them away, it was more than enough for him.
"By the way, it seems that this warehouse is actually for obsolete articles. So all of the items here are basically trash."
Akira's hands stopped the moment he heard that and he inadvertently looked at Alpha.
"Trash?"
Akira once again took a good look around. There were many shelves around him, all of them were filled with relics that were still in good condition.
"So all of these relics... They're all expired articles? All of them? And since they're trash, they'll be just thrown away, right?"
"Although they're expired articles, it's not like they're broken or anything. Some of them have simply expired because of the change of season. Or they are just articles that simply get replaced after a fixed amount of time. These articles are basically registered as expired articles in the system although they're not broken or faulty. Since no one would buy them and no one would use them, they were built and then showcased for sale, and later collected for disposal-this cycle has been going on forever."
Alpha said so in such a casual manner. But Akira felt an indescribable feeling, a mix of suspicion and something close to loneliness. He then said with a serious expression.
"Well, even if you ask me so. There are actually various reasons why they're doing that. The core system which manages this place doesn't question that at all although it might look meaningless to normal people. That's why they never stop doing it. That's also the case for most of the manager AIs too, that's why they don't try to stop that system. Even if there are some AIs with better intelligence that question the system, unless they have the right to change the system, they would not be able to stop that cycle either."
"Is that so?"
"Yep, well, but of course, there are exceptions. If some AIs prioritize individual opinion above rules, they might decide to ignore the rule and apply some changes. For example, some of them might adapt to be able to trade with the people of the current era. These AIs might be the reason why some of the big companies can trade with them using Chrome. It's even possible for some of these AIs to adapt to trade with the people of the current era using the money for the current era too, you know. Some of them might as well already be secretly mixed among the rank of the Corporate Government."
Alpha smiled amusedly.
"Well, if we're talking about possibilities, that's just how it is. And also, don't stop there, keep moving your hands. She did tell us to leave as soon as possible, so we need to hurry up."
Akira flusteredly returned to gathering relics again.
, Alpha, I feel like we can still carry some more relics though."
"Nope, this is as much as you can carry."
"But like, I can still put in some relics there, right?"
"If you carry more relics, you'll just drop them on our way back. Not to mention, they would prevent you from moving freely during a fight. So just give it up, okay?"
Akira slightly frowned, displeased, but he then shook his head and got on his bike.
"You're right, it would be stupid to be greedy here just to get myself killed later."
"To be honest, I think you're already greedy enough here though. There's no guarantee you'll be able to save all of these relics in case we encounter some monsters on our way back home, you know? So just keep that in mind."
"I'll be counting on you to find a safe route so that we won't have to go through that."
"Of course, I'll do that without you asking me. But it will still depend on your luck, you see. Let's just hope that you don't run out of luck after we got here safely and collected all of these relics without any trouble."
When Akira exited the warehouse, Tsubaki was standing close by, waiting for him. There was no smile on her face, she just looked at Akira with a business-like and flat expression.
Akira felt awkward. Although he was already used to having people looking at him with contempt, Tsubaki's cold gaze was an unfriendly gaze for a robber who was not even trying to be discreet about it while she could not do anything against it.
Akira inadvertently bowed lightly to Tsubaki.
"...Uh, uhmm, I'll excuse myself then."
"Be careful on your way back."
As Akira was about to awkwardly walk past Tsubaki, she suddenly said.
"May I ask you one thing?"
"Uh, sure, what is it?"
"It seems that you're using all of your bandwidth for a single connection, are you really okay with that?"
Akira tilted his head. He could not understand the meaning of that question, but Alpha suddenly interjected while still smiling like usual.
"It's fine. It's in order to maintain my full support for him for the sake of his safety. So it'll be fine, or more like, can you just mind your own business?"
Alpha and Tsubaki stared at each other. There was no friendliness between them.
Alpha accelerated his bike before he could. Akira was a bit surprised, but he could immediately regain his balance. Tsubaki kept watching Akira as he left the building until he eventually vanished from her view.
Akira was on his bike as he drove down the wall of the Tsubakihara building at a relatively high speed. He could not help but frown as he watched the ground coming closer and closer to his face.
"Alpha, aren't we going too fast!? I did ask you to drive safely, didn't I?!"
"It's far safer than getting the tire stuck on something since its sticky feature would activate if we're too slow and that might trip the bike. This is the safest option. The ground is not too far below, so just hang on tight for a bit longer."
"I have to say there's something wrong with your standard of driving safely!"
The bike's wheels kept in close contact with the building's wall until the bike went past the curved slope that connected the wall and ground. Once the bike was on the ground again, it slowed down under the speed limit and kept going at that stable speed. Now that Akira had calmed down since he was able to safely reach the ground again, the question that he decided to just forget came back up again.
"Say, Alpha, what was she talking about when Tsubaki said something about bandwidth?"
"Oh, are you curious?"
"...Yeah, a bit."
In order to maintain her friendly relation with Akira, Alpha was actively discouraging him from asking questions about particular subjects.
But of course, that did not mean Akira's curiosity about those subjects was completely gone. He used Tsubaki's question as an excuse since it was a question from a third party about the subject that Alpha had told him not to ask.
Alpha looked at Akira and decided that telling him not to ask that question might be a bad move there. So she casually smiled and said.
"You are someone who can connect to the old-world domain and you're using that connection to download information from the old-world network. My image and my voice are both conveyed to you through the network. But the amount and the speed of information transfer through the network are not unlimited. And at the moment, all of your connection capacity is allocated for transferring information with me, that's why she said that back then."
"Is that something bad?"
"Well, that does sound like it's no problem at all, but then why did Tsubaki say that?"
"I bet it's a matter of individual opinion. You do know that I can control your body by controlling your augmented suit, right? Like how some people hate that, there might be people who don't want their bandwidth to be used for just one connection. It's the same for the connection filter too. I think she was talking about that."
"Hmmm, is that all?"
Though Akira understood from Alpha's explanation, he did not feel like that was enough of a reason for Alpha to interject as she did back then. When he said that, Alpha smiled faintly at him and said.
"This might be just a guess from me, so it's not like I want to say anything bad about her. But if I may add something, she might want you to open some bandwidth that she can use to connect with you."
Akira tried to calm himself down as he shifted his eyes forward. He then thought.
[Does this mean that Alpha still hasn't fully trusted me yet? Well, I did ignore her warning and went to raid a big gang's base, I even almost got myself killed fighting in a battle that I could have avoided. So I guess that's to be expected, huh? I guess I have no other choice but to properly do my Hunter job, get better equipment, give my best in my training, and regain some of her trust.]
Akira said so as he made his resolve and decided to stop worrying about it for now.
As Akira kept his connection bandwidth solely for Alpha, it was slowly turned to suit Alpha's connection. Although at the moment most of Akira's bandwidth was still general-purpose bandwidth, it was only a matter of time before all of them were modified for Alpha's special use. Alpha did not say anything about that to Akira.
In the first place, Akira was the one who gave Alpha permission to modify his bandwidth. Of course, he did not know that himself when he did that.
It took a lot of power to change a contract that had been signed and Akira did not have such power at the moment. No one could tell for sure whether he would ever get the power to do so before he could accomplish Alpha's request, or even if that kind of power existed in this world in the first place.
"It might be weird to say but I feel much calmer in this place, although, technically speaking, it's still in the inner part of the ruin."
"Well, the inner part of the ruin actually extended over a wide area after all, and it's not like there's any clear indicator that separates the inner and the outskirt of the ruin. But if we say that the area further in than the forward base is an area where monsters which normal Hunters can't handle roam around, I guess it's safe to say that this is already the inner part of the ruin. Though I'm sure it would change when the forward base finishes building a road to go further into the ruin though."
"And they're already in the middle of building that road, right? If I'm not mistaken, Elena-san and Sara-san are working on a request related to that... If things are going smoothly, that road will eventually go all the way to an area like the one with the Tsubakihara building, right? Won't that be dangerous?"
Akira thought that if the road extended that far, those powerful big drones with camouflaging devices might backtrack that road all the way to the forward base, and that would be disastrous. In the worst-case scenario, forget the forward base, those monsters might even come all the way to Kugamayama city.
"I'm sure the City Management has also thought about it too. I'm sure they'll do something like dispatching the city defence squad or calling back those Hunters who are originally working in much more dangerous places... I'm sure you'll get called for that too sooner or later."
Akira looked extremely displeased, Alpha who saw that only smiled at him mischievously. Akira had no plans to be sent to the hospital again after all.
Alpha's expression then changed to a serious one, at the same time, she augmented Akira's views.
"Akira, we have company."
"Roger that. Well, in the first place, I didn't expect to get back home without encountering any monsters after all."
Akira casually said so as he switched his mind to battle state. He let go one of his hands from the handle and reached for his CWH anti-material rifle. That was when Akira's relaxed face turned stern.
Akira could see multiple signals from the monsters chasing him from behind in his augmented vision. At first, when Alpha warned him, it was only one signal, but it immediately went to 4, then to 8, and now it was already 20.
"...Aren't there too many of them?"
"They're a swarm of weapon dogs. But I don't know if it's a huge swarm or if it's an amalgamation of multiple swarms."
Akira remembered his past experience the moment he heard the word weapon dog. They were monsters that he could not fight against back then when he went into Kuzusuhara ruin with nothing but a pistol. Even the one that he was barely able to defeat was the one that was faulty.
But he was no longer the same from back then. He had more firepower now, a better augmented suit, and more support from Alpha. The current him should be able to take care of that swarm just fine. He thought that it was a good chance to confirm how much he had grown since then as he looked at the first weapon dog. But he frowned when he saw that weapon dog.
"They originate from the area near the inner part of the ruin, after all. They're basically different to their smaller siblings that you can find roaming around the outskirt of the ruin."
Akira thought that those weapon dogs would only be equipped with some big guns that normally won't be used to fight people. But the weapon dogs in front of him had cannons, mortars, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, and big bodies powerful enough to support all of those guns.
Akira aimed his rifle behind, at the same time, the bike's arms also started to move too. The A4WM automatic grenade launcher and DVTS minigun fixed on the ends of those arms were properly aimed at the incoming weapon dogs. Akira focused his aim on one of the weapon dogs and pulled the trigger.
The CWH anti-material rifle had enough power to even destroy a tank, while the grenades from the A4WM automatic grenade launcher had enough destructive power to destroy the rubbles, as for the DVTS minigun, it could turn normal monsters into minced meat in no time. Those 3 guns started shooting at the same time.
Sounds of explosions mixed in between the weapon dogs' howls. The cannons that could destroy a tank, the missiles that could destroy buildings, and heavy machine guns that could easily pierce a thick metal, all of those rifles on their backs started shooting at Akira.
Akira's bike blazed through the ruin, Alpha used her advanced computation skill to predict where those rain of warheads and incoming bullets would land and nimbly controlled the bike to slip through the openings between them.
The weapon dogs ignored the rubbles blocking their way forward as they used their powerful body to break through those rubbles. Akira did try to make some turns and used buildings to get away from the incoming bullets, but it did not seem like he was able to get away from the weapon dogs that were chasing him with a speed unsuitable for their sizes.
Akira was aiming from a situation that was far from ideal. His aim swayed left and right following the bike's movement. Not to mention, sometimes it ran on the side of a building's wall too. In that chaotic situation, he only gathered his focus to its utmost level when he was about to take a shot, as he compressed his time perception to its limit, he carefully aimed his rifle inside a world that was almost completely frozen in time before pulling the trigger.
Although the special bullet's firepower was reduced the further the distance it travelled, it was able to deal a deadly injury to the head of the weapon dog that it hit since those weapon dogs were weaker than a tank. The weapon dogs that had lost their command centres went limp and just dropped dead on the ground.
"Akira, calm down. It's just because something else outside that swarm is controlling them remotely. It still doesn't change their weak point, which is their heads."
"If you only destroy their control device and leave their bodies mostly undamaged, they can still be used for fighting if something else takes control of their bodies. It might be some kind of system to make sure that they can still fight even after losing their control device. Akira, reload!"
The bike's arm extended its DVTS minigun next to Akira. The arm did not have an automatic reloading system. Although it was using an extended magazine, it did not take much time for it to run out of ammo when used for continuous shooting.
Akira hurriedly reloaded a new magazine, once he did that, the DVTS minigun returned its aim at the incoming swarm and started shooting again. It did not take that long before his A4WM automatic grenade launcher also needed a reload. Akira kept alternating between reloading new magazines and shooting the swarm.
"There are so many of them and they're too strong, what's going on here? We didn't encounter any of them on our way here, right? So why are there suddenly so many of them on our way back? And here I thought my bad luck was finally gone when we didn't meet any monsters on our way in and were able to collect all of these relics without much trouble."
"It must be because you're carrying relics now. They must have reacted when their sensor detected someone carrying a lot of stolen goods with him."
Akira did not stop shooting as he replied.
"Stolen goods? But these are expired articles and we had the permission to collect them, right? Though I can understand the system looking at Hunters as robbers, that's not the case this time, right?"
"That might be true for the mechanical monsters under the management system of the city, but that might not be the case for the monsters roaming the wasteland, you know? I'm sure that there are a lot of other faults in their programs too. But with that being said, it's indeed suspicious to see someone carrying this much luggage through the ruin."
"If you understand it now, it would be great if you can stop complaining and focus more on the fight."
"You're right. I feel better now to know that it's not because of my bad luck."
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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