敵の敵は味方、とは必ずしも言い切れない。しかし敵の味方は敵だ。カツヤの発言により、アキラはカツヤ達への認識を、偶然巻き込まれた無関係の人間から、敵に極めて友好的な関係者、つまり敵に切り替えた。
アキラがカツヤ達をいつ攻撃しても不思議はない。そう判断したアルファが険しい表情でアキラを止める。
『アキラ。駄目よ。絶対許可しないわ。7対1、内戦闘要員6名、強化服を着たアキラと五分に戦える人員込み。
しかし、それを覆す発言がシオリの口から飛び出す。
「7対1ではありません。私達は中立とさせていただきます。カツヤ様とアキラ様のどちらにも、私達は一切協力いたしません」
にカナエとシオリの背後に移動させる。
「シ、シオリさん!?」
ユミナがシオリの予想外の行動に慌てて声を出した。そこにシオリに対する非難の色はない。純粋な驚きの声だった。
カツヤもアイリも
アキラは表情を一切変えずに、カツヤ達を警戒しながら僅かに視線をシオリ達の方へ向けた。そして不審な動きを見せる別の敵集団の動きを、予想外の行動を取ったシオリ達の動向を探った。
アキラとカツヤ達の両方の注目を浴びているシオリが、強い意志を表情に浮かべて両方に宣言する。
「カツヤ様。カツヤ様が初対面の一切関係ない人物のために命懸けで戦うこと。
シオリは真剣な表情で、両者を威圧するような空気を出している。
「アキラ様。アキラ様が私達、特にお嬢様に危害を、誤射や誤認を含めて危害を加えようとしない限り、私達からアキラ様に攻撃することはないと誓います。不要な交戦を避ける賢明な判断をお願いいたします」
るためにカツヤにもアキラにも協力しないと宣言している。その上でシオリは暗に、カツヤにはアルナのためにカツヤ達がそこまで命を張る必要があるかと問い、アキラにはカツヤとの戦闘が本当に必要かどうかを問う。
アキラもカツヤも戦闘を避ける選択は可能なのだ。その上でどちらも譲歩しないのであれば、結果を含めて彼らの責任だろう。
シオリはまだ困惑から立ち直っていないレイナを
「お嬢様。行きましょう」
「で、でも」
レイナはカツヤ達を置いてこの場を去ることに抵抗があった。しかしシオリの制止を振り切ってカツヤの
させてでも引かせていただきます。......お嬢様、また繰り返すおつもりですか?」
シオリは繰り返す内容の明言を避けた。レイナの思考を促し、彼女が最悪だと考えている事柄を彼女自身で導かせる
レイナが一瞬で心当たりがある様々なことを思い浮かべる。
地下街でのアキラとヤジマの言い争い。両者の証言以外に虚実を判断できる材料がなく、あの時はアキラが真実を告げていた。しかし今回もそうである保証はない。
いになり、自分の所為で殺し合う者達を見ることになるのかもしれない。
あの日から心に積もっていた悔恨が、レイナを決断させた。
「......カツヤ、ごめん。私はそこまでカツヤにつきあえない。彼女のために、そこまで命は賭けられない」
レイナとしても苦渋の決断だった。だがレイナのカツヤに対する恋心は、カツヤの無償の善意とシオリを巻き込んでまで心中できるほど高くはなかった。
カナエが空気を全く読まない明るい声で話す。
しかしシオリからの無言の威圧を受けて、カナエはあっさり前言を翻す。
「今の無しで! 悪いっすね! これも仕事なんで! お嬢の護衛が仕事なんで! じゃあ今日はこれで解散っすね! さあお嬢! 帰りましょう!」
「4対1......」
カツヤ達は去っていくレイナ達を目で追っていて、アキラへの意識が
7対1から4対1になり、アキラとカツヤ達の戦力差は大幅に縮まった。それでもアキラの勝率は無謀の域を脱していない。差し違えたとしても、アキラの死を前提に行動したとしても、アキラが勝つ見込みは低い。
前進して戦端を開くのを、アキラの理性が押しとどめている。後退してこの場から引き下がるのを、アキラの憎悪が抑え付けている。その結果、アキラもまた動けずにいた。
状況を変える契機を生み出したのはアルファだった。アルファが厳しい表情でアキラを叱責する。
『アキラ。引きなさい。今、この場で、絶対に、もう少し待てば新しい装備が手に入るのを待たずに、明確に不利な戦力差を無視して、命懸けで彼女を殺さなければならない理由はないはずよ。今アキラがやろうとしていることは、私には恥の上塗りにしか見えないわ。戦えば確実にアキラは死ぬわ。アキラ。私の指示には従えない? 私の言うことは信じられない?』
アルファの言葉を聞いてもアキラの表情に変化はない。敵意を絶やさずにカツヤ達を注視している。
かにせず、カツヤ達に背中を見せない状態のまま、一歩後ろに下がった。そのままアキラはカツヤ達から少しずつ離れていく。アルナとアキラが出てきた路地の奥へアキラが姿を消すまで、アキラは表情を変えずにカツヤ達を見続けていた。
アキラの姿が消え、気配が消え、十分時間が経過した後、カツヤ達は
カツヤ達はハンター活動の中で多くの戦闘経験を積んでいたが、誰かからここまで激しく敵意と殺意をぶつけられたことはなかった。
ユミナが彼女にしては珍しく激しくカツヤを叱責する。
「カツヤ! こんなことは二度と御免だからね!」
カツヤが思わず反論する。
「彼女をあいつに引き渡せば良かったって言うのか!?」
カツヤの反論は、更に声を荒げたユミナに潰された。ユミナの余りの気迫にカツヤが身を
「カツヤが余計なことを言わなければ、何事もなく済みそうな流れだったでしょ!? 何であんなこと言ったの!?」
「私が聞いているのは言った理由! それともカツヤはあの程度なら笑って許してくれるとでも考えて、あんなことを口走ったの!?」
「く、口が滑ったんだ。ご、ごめん」
カツヤは心底済まなそうにユミナに謝った。反省だけはしているようだ。
アルナが慌ててカツヤ達に礼を言う。
「い、いえ! 私の方こそ巻き込んでしまって申し訳ありません! 助けていただいて本当にありがとう御座いました。おかげで助かりました」
アルナはどこか熱っぽい視線でカツヤを見ていた。窮地に陥った自分を命懸けで救ってくれた異性に向ける視線としては、
比較的恵まれた環境からハンターに成ったカツヤとユミナとは違い、アイリは比較的恵まれていない環境からハンターになった。アイリは過去の経験による推察から、アキラの話は恐らく事実であると察していた。
アイリはカツヤ達にそのことを告げるかどうか迷ったが、結局黙っていることにした。アイリがそのことをカツヤ達に伝えれば、その判断の根拠も一緒に教えることになるからだ。それに
スラム街の路地裏をアキラが歩いている。アキラは当初の目的地であるシェリルの拠点を目指していた。その表情はカツヤ達から離れた時と余り変わっていない。
アキラがこの状態のままで誰かに会うのは
『ん? やり方が分からないの? 方法を説明した方が良い? それとも手本を見せた方が良い?』
尋常ではない表情のアキラに無言で見られても、アルファの
アキラは黙って深呼吸をする。そのままアキラは何度も何度も何度も深呼吸を繰り返す。
最後にアキラは大きく息を吐いた。アキラの表情は軽い自己嫌悪で少し落ち込んでいる程度にまで回復していた。
念話で話したためか、謝罪の言葉に合わせてアキラの様々な心情が入り交じってアルファに伝わっている。謝罪、後悔、後ろめたさ、そして感謝。
アルファはそれらを受け止めた上で、何でもないことのように返事を返した。
アキラが再び歩き出す。アルファもアキラの横を歩く。
『もっと頼っても良いのよ? 私にしてほしいことがあったら何でも言ってちょうだい』
『そう言われても、もう十分世話になっているしな。逆にアルファが俺にしてほしいこととかないのか?』
『そうね。私の依頼を完遂するまで死なないでほしいわ』
を返して家に戻っていった。
アキラがシェリルの拠点を離れた後、そこに2人の少女が現れる。1人はナーシャという名前のスラム街にいるありふれた少女だ。そしてもう1人はアルナだった。
アルナが不安そうにナーシャに尋ねる。
「大丈夫よ。ここの徒党のことはいろいろ聞いた上で判断したんだから。ここの徒党に入るのを断られても、殺されたり、身ぐるみ剥がされたりすることはないと思うわ。......多分」
ナーシャとアルナはシェリルの徒党へ加わることを希望していた。
シェリルの徒党は小規模ではあるが、この近くで生活しているスラム街の少年少女達から強い注目を集めていた。
構成員がボスであるシェリルを始めとして、全員子供と呼んでも良い年齢の者であること。それにも
ナーシャがアルナに右手を出して何かを催促する。アルナが懐から紙幣を取り出してナーシャに握らせる。
ナーシャもアルナも、伝も金も無しにシェリルの徒党に加われるとは思っていない。同時に、徒党のボスや配下の人間に渡す手土産や心付けがあれば、比較的徒党に加わりやすくなるとも考えている。アルナとナーシャのなけなしの金を使用して、便宜を図ってもらう計画だった。
「9万オーラム!? アルナ、ちょっとあんた稼ぎすぎよ!? 死ぬ気!?」
アルナの稼ぐ手段はナーシャもよく理解している。アルナから渡された金額は、スラム街の住人なら死に物狂いで取り返しに来るのに十分な額であり、殺してでも奪うに足る額である。
アルナは
アルナがナーシャを抱き締め返して話す。
「アルナは私より自分の心配をしなさい。ちゃんと隠れていなさいよ?」
アルナとナーシャは互いの身を案じて別れた。アルナはスラム街の隠れ家に向かい、ナーシャは覚悟を決めてシェリルの拠点の中に入った。
アキラは家から一歩も出ずに訓練と勉強を続ける日々を送っている。新しい強化服が届くまで、それに付随するアルファのサポートを取り戻すまで、なるべく外に出ないことにしたからだ。
多分今は運の悪い時期なのだ。財布を盗まれたのも、きっとその所為だ。アキラは適当な理由を付けて家に籠もっていた。
アキラはアルファに出会えた幸運で運を使い果たした。だから基本的に運が悪い。その不運を努力とアルファのサポートで乗り越えている。あの時は油断がその努力を打ち消し、強化服のない状態がアルファのサポート能力を低下させていた。だから財布を盗まれるなどという醜態を
アルファとしても、今のアキラを外に出して余計な事態が発生する可能性を上げるのは避けたい。最低でもアキラの新装備、特に新しい強化服が来るまでは、アルファはアキラを外に出す気はなかった。
アキラとアルファの意思が一致しているため、アキラは家の外に出ないで訓練を続けている。
アキラの体感時間操作の訓練は順調に進んでいる。アキラの実力が劇的に向上したわけではないが、体感時間の圧縮に成功した回数は徐々に増えている。以前のように、疲労で動けなくなったという理由で、訓練を終了させることもなくなっている。ただしそれはアルファがアキラの疲労の程度を考慮して、攻撃の間隔を狭めている
そのためアキラが体感時間操作の訓練を終えた時、アルファが身に着けている過剰に装飾されていた衣装が、全裸と変わらない程度にまで布地を減らしているのは前と同じだった。
アキラがアルファの攻撃を避けるのに失敗した分だけ、アルファが身に
肌を隠す効力などまるでない装飾品のみを身に着けている格好のアルファが、疲労で呼吸を荒くしているアキラに訓練の終了を告げる。
『今日はここまでね。お疲れ様』
アキラは呼吸を整えながらアルファの格好を見ている。
アキラは自分の訓練の成果に不満と不安を覚えていた。自身の成長に実感を持てないでいた。
アルファがアキラを安心させるように
『それは仕方ないわ。アキラの体感時間が10倍になっても、アキラの身体能力が10倍になるわけではない。意識上の体の動きと実際の体の動きのずれを調整して、その上で自在に動けるようになるのは大変よ。そんなすぐに上達するものではないわ。大丈夫。少しずつだけれどアキラの動きは良くなっている。私が保証するわ』
「......そうか。あんまり実感がないけど、アルファがそう言うならそうなんだろうな」
『そうよ。安心しなさい』
アキラは気を取り直して、休むために部屋に戻ろうとする。車庫から出るドアに手を掛けて、そこで一度動きを止めて、アルファの方を見て話す。
アキラに指摘されたので、アルファが言われたとおりに服を元に戻した。
訓練を終えたアキラがいつものように休息を取りながら食事をしている。代わり映えしない冷凍食品だ。
アキラの家には台所も調理器具もある。前の住人の置き土産だ。しかし当たり前だが料理技術までは置いていってくれなかったので、アキラには料理などできない。冷凍食品がそれなりに
アキラの生活水準が更に向上し、自分で料理を作る娯楽にアキラが目覚めるまで、これらの調理器具が十全に活用される機会はないだろう。
アキラが食事を続けながらこの後の勉強内容についてアルファに尋ねる。
「今日は何を勉強するんだ? 昨日の社会の続きか? 東部統治企業連盟の実効支配領域における統治企業都市間の資源分布と交易について、だっけ?」
東部の都市の名前など、自分が住んでいるクガマヤマ都市ぐらいしか知らなかったアキラも、最近はアルファの教育によって常識的な知識を身に着けつつあった。その成果か、アキラの知識欲は少しずつ高まっていた。アキラが常識的な知識を身に着けつつあると言っても、都市の防壁の内側に住む人間の知識に比べれば、アキラの知識はまだまだ
アルファはアキラに与える知識とその教え方を精査している。アルファの目的をアキラが達成しやすいように。アルファの目的達成の妨げとなりかねない主義主張に対して、アキラが自然と不審懐疑反発を抱きやすいように。
今日もその勉強が行われる予定だったのだが、アルファはそれを取りやめた。
『今日は無しよ。シズカからアキラの新装備が届いたっていう連絡が来たから、受け取りに行きましょう』
「おっ! これでやっとハンター稼業に戻れるな。すぐに行こう」
While it was not always true that the enemies of your enemies were your friends, but almost always, the friends of your enemies were definitely your enemies. According to what Katsuya said, he basically put himself in a position where he allied himself with Akira's enemy. Thus, from Akira's point of view, Katsuya and his friends had already shifted from being innocent people, who got roped into this situation, to his enemies.
It would be nothing strange if Akira suddenly opened fire. Because of that, Alpha warned him with a stern expression.
"Akira, you can't. I won't allow you to do this. It's 7 vs 1, 6 of them are used to fighting, while the remaining one can fight you equally even when you have your augmented suit. You can't take this fight."
But Shiori suddenly said something unexpected.
"It's not 7 against 1. I, Reina, and Kanae would not get involved in this fight. We won't aid Katsuya-sama nor Akira-sama."
After she said that, Shiori pulled Reina behind her and Kanae.
"S-Shiori-san!?"
Yumina was taken-aback when Shiori said that. There was no trace of blame in her voice, she was just purely surprised by that statement.
Katsuya and Airi were also surprised. Without dropping their guard against Akira, they looked at Shiori as if they were asking her what she was thinking.
Akira's expression did not change at all, he was still observing Katsuya and the others closely as he sent a glance to Shiori. He tried to guess what Shiori's group was going to do next since they made an unexpected but suspicious decision.
As Akira and Katsuya's group focused their attention on Shiori, she showed a wilful expression and said to both of them.
"Katsuya-sama, if you are going to risk a fight in order to protect someone, who you just met for the first time, I do think it's a commendable act and I can respect that. But it is a completely different thing if it gets Milady involved too. So please handle this situation without involving us."
Shiori said that with a serious face while exuding an intimidating aura.
"Akira-sama, as long as you do not pose any danger to Milady, including misfire, I can promise you that we won't attack you. So please make the right decision to avoid any needless battle."
Shiori basically said that her group would not help either side if they decide to fight it out. While at the same time, she was also questioning Katsuya's decision to risk his and his friends' life for Alna's sake. She was also telling Akira to rethink whether this fight was really that important or not.
Both Akira and Katsuya could make a decision to not fight there. But if none of them backs-off, then anything that would happen after that was their responsibility.
Shiori then pushed Reina, who still could not recover from the confusion, backward as if she was urging her to move. They were slowly distancing themselves from Katsuya and Akira.
"Milady, let's go."
"B-but-"
Reina tried to resist a bit as Shiori pulled her away from that place, but she did not try to seriously break off from Shiori to fight beside Katsuya against Akira. To be more precise, she did not even want to be chosen as the third party observer there.
"My apologies. Milady, I'll have to pull you away even if it's against your will... Or is that you're planning to repeat the same mistake again?"
Shiori did not clearly state what kind of mistake she was talking about. It was so that Reina would figure it out by herself about the worst mistake that she made in the past.
Reina immediately remembered everything that Shiori might be referring to.
That time when Yajima and Akira were arguing in the underground city, both of them were making statements without any proof or evidence. So there was no telling which one was lying and which one was not, but actually Akira was telling the truth at that time. But again, there was no guarantee that it was also the case this time.
She would just end up as a deadweight again and be forced to watch people killing one another in front of her eyes.
The regret that she was holding inside her heart since that day pushed her to make her decision.
"...Katsuya, I'm sorry. I can't help you this time. I don't think it's wise to risk my life for protecting that girl."
It was a tough decision for Reina, but her love for Katsuya was not big enough for her to rope Shiori into that problem for his selfless action.
Kanae suddenly said something with a cheerful voice as if she could not read the mood at all.
Shiori immediately directed a silent but immense pressure toward Kanae, making her retract her words.
"Ah, I'm sorry! I take that back! This is also my job as a bodyguard! So I can't do that! Well then, we'll excuse ourselves here! Milady, let's go back home!"
"Now, it's 4 on 1..."
Katsuya and his friends were staring at Shiori, who left that place, forgetting about Akira. But the moment Akira mumbled those words, their attention returned back to him, their stances indicating that they were ready to fight anytime.
After losing Shiori, Reina, and Kanae, the gap between their fighting power greatly reduced. But it still did not change the fact that Akira only had a slim chance of winning; even if he were to put down his life.
Akira's sense of reason stopped him from pushing forward, but his hatred and anger prevented him from backing off. Because of that, he could not make any moves.
The trigger that changed the situation was Alpha. She scolded Akira with a stern expression.
"Akira, step back! Now! If you just wait for a bit longer, you'll get better equipment. There's no reason for you to recklessly charge into a disadvantageous fight, without even waiting for your new equipment, just to kill that girl. From my point of view, what you are going to do now is just adding more salt to your injury. If you fight now, there's no mistaking that you'll die. Akira, are you going to disobey me now? Do you not trust me now?"
Even after hearing Alpha's words, Akira's expression showed no change. The hostility that he directed to Katsuya did not reduce at all as he was still glaring at them.
But then, Akira, who did not lower his guard and was keeping his eyes fixed on Katsuya and his friends, took a step back without turning around. He then slowly stepped back to the alley where he came from. Akira's expression did not change and he still glared at Katsuya and his friends until he finally vanished deep into the alley.
Even after Akira's figure disappeared into the alley and his presence completely vanished, it took a few minutes before Katsuya, Airi, and Yumina lowered their guards. All of them let out a big sigh as they were liberated from the high tension which acc.u.mulated during that confrontation.
Although they had gone through a lot of fights during their job as Hunters, this was the first time someone bore such a level of killing intent and hostility at them.
Yumina strongly scolded Katsuya, which was very rare considering her nature.
"Katsuya!! Don't expect me to help you if something like that happens again, okay?!"
Katsuya did not think it through as he reflexively replied back.
"Are you seriously telling me that I should have just given this girl away to him?"
Katsuya's reply caused Yumina to raise her voice and shut him up. Her fiery reply caused Katsuya to wince back.
"If you hadn't said what you said back then, we could've resolved this peacefully?!! So why in the world did you say that?!"
"What I'm asking you is the reason why you said that?! Did you really think that he would just laugh it off and forget about it when you say such things?!!"
"I-It just slipped off from my mouth... I-I'm sorry."
Katsuya sounded like his apology was sincere, it seemed that he at least knew it was his mistake.
Then Alna fl.u.s.teredly thanked Katsuya and his friends.
"P-please don't be! It's me who should be apologizing for roping everyone into my problem! Thank you very much for saving me!"
Alna was now sending passionate gazes at Katsuya. It was normal for a girl to send such a gaze to a member of the opposite s.e.x who saved her when she was in trouble, and of course, Alna was not an exception.
Unlike Katsuya and Yumina, who became Hunters starting from a blessed environment, Airi started from a rather poor environment. According to her past experiences, she bet that Akira was telling the truth.
Airi was at a loss whether to tell Katsuya and Yumina or not, but in the end, she decided not to say anything. After all, if she did, then she would have to explain her reasoning. But the main reason why she did not tell Katsuya and Yumina was because she did not want to ruin Katsuya's mood. As Airi thought that it had ended anyway, she decided to not tell Katsuya and Yumina.
Akira was walking through the back alley, he was heading to his original destination, Sheryl's base. His expression had not changed much since his confrontation with Katsuya.
Alpha thought that it would be bad to let Akira meet anyone while he was in this mood. Since with his current mood, even the slightest misunderstanding could trigger an unnecessary fight. So she gently made a suggestion to Akira to calm himself down.
"Hm? What's wrong? You don't know how to do it? Do you need me to explain it? Or do you need an example?"
Although Akira was staring at her with an abnormal expression, Alpha's smile did not diminish. The intonation of her voice also remained the same.
Akira did not say anything as he took a deep breath. He then repeated the process again and again and again.
For his last deep breath, Akira let out a big sigh. His expression loosened and returned back to his depressed face, which said that he hated himself.
It might be because he spoke through telepathy, all his guilty feelings and the other emotions inside him were sent to Alpha together with his apology. There was guilt, frustration, self-reproach, and gratitude.
Alpha received all of those emotions sent to her and told Akira that it was not that big of a deal.
Akira started walking again, and Alpha walked beside him.
"You can keep on relying more on me, you know? You can just ask me anything."
"Even if you tell me so, I think I'm already relying more than enough on you. So like, rather than that, do you have anything that you want me to do for you?"
"Let's see... I want you to not die until you can finish my request."
Akira retraced his footsteps back to his house.
After Akira left, 2 girls arrived near Sheryl's base. One of them was a girl by the name of Nasha, she looked just like a normal girl commonly found in the slum city. While the other girl was Alna.
Alna worriedly asked Nasha.
"Don't worry, I carefully picked this gang after gathering all the information that I could get. Even if we get rejected from this gang, they won't kill us or take all of our possessions... Maybe."
Both Alna and Nasha were hoping to join Sheryl's gang.
Although Sheryl's gang was a relatively small gang, it gathered a lot of attention from the young boys and girls in the slum city.
Starting from its boss, Sheryl, all the members of the gang were young boys and girls and there were even small children too. But even so, the gang was properly managed like a real organization and it had enough influence to provide some level of protection to its members. Moreover, news had spread through the slum city that Sheryl's gang had successfully secured food and guns too. Thus, the reputation of the gang started to spread. People who heard about Sheryl's gang normally had good impressions of it. So, many of them wished to join Sheryl's gang in order to gain benefits.
Nasha then extended her right hand to Alna and opened her palm. Alna took out a few pieces of papers from her chest and handed it over to Nasha while making her grip on it.
Both Nasha and Alna did not think that they would be able to join Sheryl's gang without any connection or money. And at the same time, they thought that they would have a better chance to get accepted if they had some souvenirs that they could give to the boss of the gang or the people working under her. So their plan was to use their hard-earned money to get a better chance.
"90,000 Aurum!? Alna, you really overdid it this time!! Are you trying to kill yourself?!"
Nasha knew well how Alna got her money. This 90,000 Aurum was a huge sum that would drive any slum city resident into a frenzy if they were pickpocketed. It was huge enough to make someone kill for retrieving it.
Alna's face distorted with fear as she replied.
Alna then hugged Nasha back.
"Rather than worrying about me, you should worry more about yourself. Make sure to remain hidden, okay?"
Alna and Nasha expressed their worries to each other before going their separate ways. Alna went to their hideout in the slum city while Nasha headed to Sheryl's gang.
Akira spent his days training inside his house without even stepping outside. It was because he decided to stay in his house as much as possible until he got his augmented suit and regained Alpha's support.
He thought that it must be one of his unlucky periods, that was also the reason why he got his wallet stolen. Thus he stayed inside his house as much as possible.
Akira had spent all of his luck when he met Alpha, so normally, he had no luck left with him. He always somehow managed to get through it with his hard work and Alpha's support. But at that time, his carelessness wasted all his hard work, and since he did not have his augmented suit, he could not have Alpha's support. Akira thought these were the reasons why he got his wallet stolen.
As for Alpha, she wanted to keep Akira inside since there was a good chance that the current Akira would react unexpectedly when faced with a problem. She had no plans to allow him to go out until he got his new equipment, or at least until he got his new augmented suit.
Since both Akira and Alpha agreed with each other on this, he decided to spend his time training inside his house.
Akira's time compression training was doing well. Although it was not like it exponentially increased his fighting skill, his time compression success rate was increasing. He no longer stopped the training because he was too tired to move. But to be more precise, it was because Alpha adjusted the gap between her attacks depending on Akira's level of tiredness.
Because of that, every time Akira finished his training, Alpha would have lost most of her dress to the point that she seemed more or less n.a.k.e.d just like before.
Every time he failed to evade Alpha's attack, a piece of her dress would flutter away and vanish as usual. Today too, as the last piece of her dress fluttered away, it vanished without making any sound.
As Alpha was floating there with a dress that was barely hiding any part of her body, she told Akira, who was breathing roughly out of tiredness, that the training had ended.
"Let's end the training here. You did well in today's training."
Akira glanced at Alpha while trying to regulate his breathing.
Akira was displeased by the result of his training since he felt that he was not getting better at all.
Alpha smiled to reassure him.
"That's normal. Even if you can slow down your time perception to 10 times, it's not like your physical ability increases 10 times. It's not easy to get yourself used to the lag that arises when you try to move your limbs and when they actually move. Moreover, you'll have to get yourself to the point where you can move your body freely in that state. So there's no way you can do it right off the bat. Don't worry, you're slowly getting there, I can guarantee that."
"...Is that so? I don't feel it though. But if you say so, then I guess that's true."
"Yep. So don't worry."
Akira picked himself up and started to walk to his room for taking a rest. But when he grabbed the handle of the garage door, he suddenly stopped and turned back to Alpha.
Since Akira told her so, Alpha replaced her tattered dress.
Just like usual, after his training, Akira took rest in his room while eating his meal. It was his usual heated frozen meal.
There was a separate kitchen in his house and it contained a stove for cooking. It was among the leftover stuff from the previous resident. But of course, it was currently not used for cooking anything. Akira had no idea how to cook and it was not like the previous resident also left behind his cooking skill there. Not to mention, the frozen food was not that bad either, so he had no plans to learn cooking any time soon. So, for now, it was just used to heat the frozen meal.
Akira's living standard had definitely risen. But at least until he found pleasure in cooking, it was highly unlikely that he would ever use those cooking utensils.
As Akira was enjoying his meal during the short break before his study, he asked Alpha.
"What am I going to study today? Are we going to continue our talk about the corporations from yesterday? What was it again? Resource trading and distribution among the cities under the eastern Corporate Government?"
When someone said eastern city, Akira did not know that there were cities other than Kugamayama city until now. But thanks to Alpha's education, he started to gather common knowledge and increased his intelligence. Although he was more knowledgeable than before, his knowledge was still considered as minuscule compared to the people living within the inner wall.
Alpha was actually probing Akira as she was teaching him. In order to complete her request, she needed him to be more knowledgeable so that he could easily resist any type of beliefs that might become an obstacle in completing her request.
Although their original plan was to study that day, Alpha decided to cancel it.
"We won't be studying today, after all, it seems that a message just arrived from Shizuka saying that your new equipment has arrived. So let's go get them."
"Oh!! I can finally start my Hunter work again, let's go!!"
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開