アキラはエレナとサラに連れられてハンターオフィスの出張所にある食堂に来ていた。
車は駐車場の
エレナとサラはアキラの向かいに座っている。3人とも軽い食事を頼んで席に着いている。
エレナもサラも笑っているが、笑顔の質が少々異なる。サラの態度はアキラの意外な交友関係への興味を表している。エレナの態度は強いて言えば未知の状況に対する情報収集に近い。
エレナは
か言い訳を付け加えてアキラに尋ねた。その理由はエレナにもよく分からなかった。
アキラが取りあえずエレナの質問に答える。
「どういう関係と聞かれても、知り合いのハンターとしか。キャロルがどういう人間かと聞かれても、俺もそんなに長い付き合いがあるわけでもないので、正直よく分かりません。シカラベがキャロルと知り合いのようでしたから、詳しく知りたいのならシカラベに聞いた方が早いと思います」
キャロルに関する有益な情報は得られなかった。そしてアキラが何かを隠しているような様子も感じられない。今度はサラがアキラに尋ねる。
「それならいろいろ質問するからそれに答えてもらっても良い? 答えたくないことは答えなくて良いわ。だからできれば
「ありがと。それじゃあ、まず、キャロルとの付き合いはいつ頃からなの?」
「昨日です」
「......昨日?」
「はい」
エレナとサラの表情が困惑気味に変わる。サラが少し言いにくそうに話す。
「......アキラ。そうするとアキラは、私達の依頼の同行者として、昨日出会ったばかりの、アキラもよく分からない人物を連れてきたってことになるんだけど......」
「そう......なり......ますね」
ハンターがチームを組む場合、当たり前だが組む相手の信用は非常に重要だ。時に背中を預け、場合によっては自分の命すら預ける相手なのだ。だからこそ、その辺りの信用をある程度保証する仲介業者が繁盛するのだ。
アキラは以前に同行者に奇襲された経験があるとも話していた。だからアキラもそれぐらいは理解しているだろう。エレナ達はそう思っていた。アキラとエレナ達が事前に十分連絡が取れなかったことを考慮に入れても、これは失態と呼ぶべきだろう。
「......すみません。やっぱり今からでも俺達は別行動にした方が良いでしょうか?」
「えっと、そこまで言う気はないわ。戦力が増えるのは私達も助かるし、余りに問題のある人物ならシカラベが合流を止めるはずよ。あー、それに、ほら、キャロルに関しては、何かあればアキラが責任を取ってくれるんでしょう?」
アキラが真面目な表情でしっかりと答える。
です。俺が連れてきたわけですから」
サラが興味本位でアキラに尋ねる。
「責任を取るって、具体的にはどんなことをどの程度まで?」
「そうですね。金で済む問題なら俺に請求してください。俺に支払える額ならすぐに支払います。足りない分は俺がその分働くか、俺が不足分を稼ぐまで待ってもらうことになると思います」
エレナとサラがアキラの返事を聞いて考える。アキラは真面目に答えているのだろうが、少々物足りない内容だ。アキラの言葉には具体的な金額が出ていない。幾らでも支払うと言った人間が、本当に幾らでも支払えるわけではないのだ。具体的な金額を告げた瞬間、
サラがアキラに続けて問う。
「キャロルがエレナさん達に危害を加えた場合、俺が責任を持ってキャロルを殺します」
アキラは普通に答えた。そこから決意や覚悟を感じることはできなかった。しかしだからこそ、エレナもサラもアキラが本気で本心で言っていることを理解した。
アキラは普通に人を殺せる
エレナが真剣な表情でアキラに話す。
「分かったわ。でも1つ注文させて。危害とその対処の判断は私達に任せてちょうだい。チーム内で殺し合うのはできれば避けたいの。いろいろ体面もあるしね」
「分かりました。その時は遠慮なく言ってください」
アキラはしっかりと答えた。迷いのない返事だった。
サラがアキラを見て少し悩みながら考える。
(アキラが昨日会ったばかりの人物を連れてきたことも気になるけど、一番気になるのは、その理由というか、まさかとは思うけど......)
サラが内心の疑問を解消させるためにアキラに尋ねる。
「それで、昨日は何があったの? アキラがキャロルと出会った時のことも含めて聞かせてもらってもかまわないかしら」
アキラが関係がありそうなことをエレナ達に話していく。ミハゾノ街遺跡に行き、セランタルビルに入ったこと。ビルの中でキャロルと出会ったこと。急に大量の機械系モンスターに襲われて、何とか脱出したこと。キャロルを
「セランタルビルから脱出する際に、キャロルの情報が非常に役に立ったんです。それでこの遺跡に詳しい人間がいれば今回の依頼を安全に達成できると思って、キャロルを案内役に雇いました」
「大変だったのね。具体的にどうやって脱出したか聞いても良い?」
サラにそう聞かれて、アキラが返事を渋る。
「無理強いする気はないわ。アキラが話したくないなら話さなくてもかまわない」
「そういう訳じゃないんですが、その、変則的にとはいえ、一応情報料を支払って得た情報なので......」
エレナが納得したように話す。
「ああ、そういうこと。私達もアキラにある程度支払えば良い?」
アキラが慌てて首を横に振る。
「いえ、エレナさん達に話すなら、金なんか取りません。ただ、そういう値の付いた情報を他のハンターに話すのは、ハンターとしてどうなのかなって思っただけです。そういう情報って、常識的にどういう扱いをするべきなんでしょうか? 俺が金を出して買ったんだから、俺の好きに判断して話して回って良いものなんでしょうか? エレナさんはどう思います?」
エレナが少し意外そうな表情を浮かべる。アキラがその手の情報の扱いにそこまで慎重になるとは思っていなかったからだ。過去に未調査の遺跡の情報を余りにも自然にエレナ達に話したこともあるアキラだ。サラも少し驚いていた。
アキラが自分と話して認識を改めたのならば良いことだ。エレナがそう思いながら少し機嫌良く自分の意見を話す。
「場合によるわ。情報を他言しないことが条件に含まれているのなら話すべきではないわ。そういった契約がないのなら好きにして良いと思う。でも相手との暗黙の了解もある。売った情報を無差別に広められたら、次から情報料を値上げされるかもしれない。その辺りの感覚は経験を積むしかないわね」
「......難しいですね」
「判断に迷ったのなら黙っておきなさい。私達に聞かれたからって答える必要はないわ。そうね。情報料と、その情報料に見合った内容だったか、それぐらいは聞いても良いかしら?」
「情報料は500万オーラムです。それだけの価値はあったと思います。その情報で危機から脱したことも含めての判断になりますけど」
「大丈夫です。キャロルの護衛を引き受けてその報酬と相殺しましたから、実際には1オーラムも払っていません。どちらにしろ脱出するまでキャロルに死なれては困りますから都合も良かったです」
エレナが不敵に笑って話す。
エレナ達はアキラからキャロルに関する情報を一通り尋ねた。そしてキャロルに戦闘面での懸念材料はないと判断した。キャロルはセランタルビルでアキラに護衛を頼みはしたが別に戦えないわけではない。そして今日はその状況に十分対応できる装備に変更したらしい。シカラベもキャロルが足手
くエレナ達の言っていることの意味が分からずに困惑気味の表情を浮かべていた。しかしすぐに意味を理解する。確かにキャロルの格好を見ればそう判断されても不思議は無い。苦笑して答える。
「えっと、変な心配をさせてしまってすみませんでした。大丈夫です。俺はそういうのには引っかからない方だと思います」
っぽく笑って話す。
「そう? それならちょっと試して良い?」
サラは席を立つとアキラの隣に座り直した。そして身を預けるようにアキラに寄りかかって、じっと見ながら
アキラが明確に慌て始める。
「ちょ、ちょっと、サラさん!?」
サラはアキラをじっと見つめながら、少しずつ顔をアキラに近づけていく。サラの顔が近付くにつれて、アキラの焦りが
アキラが助けを求めるようにエレナを見ると、エレナは少し楽しげに苦笑していた。
「その様子だと、ちょっと大丈夫だとは思えないわね。少し慣れておいたら?」
「勘弁してください......」
「止めてください」
「あら、嫌だった?」
アキラは照れ隠しを兼ねて少し強めに答えた。そのアキラを見て、エレナとサラは楽しそうに笑っていた。
アルファも表向きは笑っていた。アキラとエレナ達に溝ができなかったことを残念に思いながら。
アキラ達が合流地点でシカラベ達を待っていると、シカラベの装甲兵員輸送車がほぼ時間通りに到着した。シカラベとキャロルが装甲兵員輸送車から降りてくる。シカラベはどことなく仏頂面で、キャロルはどことなく機嫌が良さそうだ。
エレナはハンター稼業の経験から、シカラベを待ち合わせなどで自分だけかなり先に来て後から来る人物を待つ種類の人間だと思っていた。そのシカラベがぎりぎりの時間で来たことを何となく疑問に思って尋ねる。
キャロルが機嫌良く笑って答える。
「ないわ。補給と休憩をちゃんと済ませて戻ってきたわ」
シカラベは黙っていた。エレナ達の視線がシカラベに集まる。その視線を感じたシカラベは意図的に落ち着いて何かを
エレナがそう提案すると、キャロルがシカラベに代わって答える。
「大丈夫よ。ちゃんと休憩したわ。それとも、足りなかった?」
キャロルがシカラベを
「......問題ない。それで、エレナ達の方は何かあったのか?」
「大丈夫よ。次の目標も選んでおいたわ」
「それならすぐに出発しよう。日も昇って夜間よりは安全になった。救援依頼の競争率も上がっているはずだ」
「そうね。皆、行きましょう」
アキラ達が各自の車に乗り込む。キャロルは再びアキラの車の助手席に座ると、機嫌の良さそうな表情でアキラを見ていた。別に
アキラ達が救助対象者が立て籠もっている場所を目指してミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を進む。エレナ達、シカラベ、アキラ達の順で並び、比較的幅の広い大通りを選んで進んでいる。狭い道は機械系モンスターの残骸などで通行止めになっている可能性が高いからだ。
しかしその大通りを塞ぎかねないほどに巨大な機械系モンスターの残骸が転がっている場所もある。巨大な多脚戦車が胴体部に複数の大穴を開けられて粉砕されていた。それらと交戦したらしい人型兵器の腕や、巨大な
車のドアの縁に足を外側にして腰掛けているアルファが顔をアキラの方に向けて答える。
『少なくとも昨日までは違うわ。これがミハゾノ街遺跡の当たり前の光景なら、私はアキラをここに向かわせたりはしないわ』
『だよな。......何で急にこんなに変わったんだ?』
『何らかの理由で市街区画の警備水準が数段階引き上げられたのでしょうね。甲A24式が市街区画を巡回していることから考えると、そこらの武装強盗への対処用とは思えないわ』
『武装強盗って......、ああ、ハンターか。まあ、ハンターなら今までもたくさん来ていたはずだからな』
ミハゾノ街遺跡にはハンターなど山ほど来ているのだ。それこそハンターオフィスの出張所ができるほどにだ。アキラにはそれが理由とは思えなかったが、アルファがそれらしいことを口にする。
『何事にも限度というものはあるわ。遺跡に群がるハンター達を本格的に排除しようと判断する基準があって、偶然その基準を超えたのが昨日だった。それだけのことかもしれないわね』
『そういうものか。そうだとしたら、何も俺が遺跡に来た日に発生しなくてもいいのに』
嫌そうな口調で答えるアキラに、アルファが軽く笑って答える。
『アキラの運の悪さなら不思議はないと思うわ。私はもうその辺のことは諦めたわ。アキラも早めに諦めたら?』
アキラが苦笑した。そのアキラの視線の先にはセランタルビルがあった。遠目でも十分目立つ巨大な高層ビルだ。
「昨日は本当に大変だったわね。あれはこの遺跡がこうなる何かの前兆だったのかしら」
「そうかもな。キャロルはミハゾノ街遺跡に詳しいんだろう? 原因に何か心当たりでもないのか?」
「残念ながら思いつかないわ」
「真相は不明か。まあ、分からないよな」
「その理由を探りに来ているハンターもいるはずよ。地図屋って呼ばれるハンターなら、遺跡の内部構造を探る過程で、その遺跡にもいろいろ詳しくなるしね。原因を究明できれば、そしてその有用な情報をハンターオフィスに売れば、最低でも100億オーラム程度の値は付くはずよ」
アキラがキャロルの告げた金額を聞いて驚く。
確かにアキラも価値のある情報だとは思うが、具体的な値段を聞いてまた違った感情を抱いたのだ。
「あら、ミハゾノ街遺跡全体の治安に関わる問題よ? 今のところは遺跡のモンスターが荒野まで出てきたって話は聞かないけど、その可能性だって十分あるわ。大量のモンスターが遺跡から
「無理だろうな」
「そういうこと。その予防とは別に、ハンターオフィスの出張所まで作って一定の秩序を維持してきた遺跡をこれからも制御できるなら、それぐらいは普通に払うわ。情報の質と交渉内容によってはもっと出すでしょうね」
アキラが少し感慨深く話す。
「いろいろあるんだな。そういうハンター稼業もあるのか。ん? もしかしてキャロルもそうなのか?」
まっているなど、ありふれたハンターが知っているとは思えない。キャロルが地図屋として活動しているならミハゾノ街遺跡の特異な情報に詳しいのも納得できる話だ。
アキラの疑問にキャロルが不敵に笑って答える。
「私のハンター稼業は旧世界の遺物の売却が主だけど、そっちの方も多少は商っている。その程度よ」
アキラの情報端末を介してエレナから連絡が入る。
「アキラ、そろそろ敵との遭遇率がかなり上がるはずよ。基本的に一気に突っ切るから、遅れないようにしてね。後ろの敵の対処はお願い。無理そうなら引き返すから、その時は早めに連絡して」
「あら、すぐに帰ったら稼げるものも稼げなくなるわよ? アキラはそれで良いの?」
「構いません。金よりエレナさん達の安全の方が重要です」
アキラははっきり言い切った。数秒間を空けて、エレナが返事を返す。
「......大丈夫よ。私だって死にたくないし、その辺の判断を間違える気はないわ。心配してくれてありがとう。アキラも頑張ってね」
どことなく機嫌の良さそうなエレナの声を最後に、エレナ達との通信が切れた。
『アルファ。また運転を頼む』
『了解。そんなに急がなくても、敵を見つけたら教えるわよ?』
『アキラ。今度はA4WM自動擲弾銃の方を使って。今のうちにその銃のデータを取っておきたいわ』
アキラが後部座席に移ってA4WM自動擲弾銃を手に取る。まだ試し撃ちもしていない銃だ。後で荒野で試し撃ちをしようと思っていたのだが、買った翌日に実戦で使用することになるとは思わなかった。的には困らない状況だ。早めに使用感覚を
「アキラ。敵を見つけたの?」
「いや、こっちの索敵に反応はない。キャロルの方は?」
アキラがまた何らかの方法でキャロルには認識できないモンスターを察知したのではないか。キャロルはそう考えていた。日が昇り、夜間とは比較にならないほど明るくなったとはいえ、モンスターが隠れられる場所など山ほどあるのだ。
「そんなこと言われてもな。別に脅かしたわけじゃない。キャロルもエレナさんからの指示を聞いただろ? 警戒を早めただけだ」
「まあ良いわ。前の襲撃の時はアキラに任せっきりだったし、次はまずは私に任せてもらえない? 昨日の私とは違うところを見せてあげるわ」
キャロルはそう話して不敵な自信に満ちた笑みを浮かべた。
先頭車両であるエレナ達の車を運転しているのはエレナだ。車の装備である機銃や索敵機器の操作もエレナの運転の
「何でもないわ。ただ、心配されちゃったなあって思っただけ」
エレナの表情は照れ隠しであり、サラがそのことに気付いていることぐらいエレナも理解している。しかし表情を引き締めておかないといろいろ差し支えるので、エレナは表情を緩めなかった。
エレナはチームの交渉役でもある。交渉の場で相手の腹を探り、言葉の裏を読み、
では何故アキラはエレナ達の依頼を受けたのか。少なくとも金銭目的ではない。金は要るが、より重要な目的がある。それは何か。エレナはその理由に気付いたために、すぐにアキラに返事を返せなかったのだ。
アキラはエレナ達を助けに来たのだ。アキラはミハゾノ街遺跡、少なくともセランタルビルが非常に危険だと判断して、エレナ達が似たような目に遭わないように助けに来たのだ。自分が同行すれば多少はエレナ達の助けになる。そう判断したのだろう。
エレナ達とすぐに連絡が取れたのなら、アキラはエレナ達に詳しい事情を話してそれで済ませたのかもしれない。しかし、連絡は取れなかったのだ。だからアキラはエレナ達に直接会いに来たのだろう。
若くハンター歴の短いハンターに、悪く言えば格下のハンターに、そこまで心配されることに対して、エレナが全く何も思わなかったわけではない。エレナにもハンターとしての
エレナとアキラがお互いへ向けている感情は、仲の良い友人や同じハンターへ向ける好意、好感、お互いに命を助けたことがある恩義などだ。少なくともエレナはアキラを恋愛対象とは見ていない。恐らくアキラも同じだろう。年齢差などの問題もある。
それでも自分が好感を持っている相手が、採算度外視に加えて命の危険を考慮してまで助けに来てくれたのならば、それを
エレナは自分が非常に機嫌が良くなっていることを自覚している。そして過度な高揚がとっさの行動や判断に悪影響を及ぼしかねないことも理解している。だから表情を引き締めているのだ。付け加えれば、その心情を理解している人物が隣で楽しそうに笑っているので、エレナは表情を崩したくなかった。
「アキラから心配された自覚があるのなら、サラもしっかり気を引き締めてよね。サラはヨノズカ駅遺跡でもアキラに助けられたのよ? また助けてもらおうなんて思っていないでしょうね?」
サラがしっかり答える。
「分かってるわ。あんな失敗は二度としない。誓うわ」
その時、エレナ達の車に設置されている索敵装置が、進行方向に存在する多数のモンスターを察知した。エレナが索敵装置に表示されているモンスターの反応を見ながら話す。
「何時でも」
エレナが先行して後続の通り道を作るために車の速度を上げる。車の機銃とサラの銃がほぼ同時に砲火を上げ、前方の機械系モンスター達を粉砕し始めた。
Akira just followed Elena and Sara as they took him into a cafeteria near the Hunter Office branch.
They parked their vehicles outside the parking lot. Although it was outside the parking lot, some guards would patrol and guard the area when asked, like how they guarded the parking lot. And just as the case with the parking lot, the patrol was also charged based on duration.
Elena and Sara sat facing Akira, all of them ordered some light meals before taking their seats.
Both Elena and Sara were smiling, but there was something strange behind their smiles. Sara seemed to be bothered by Akira's new friend while Elena was looking at him as if she was inquiring about something that she did not know.
Elena then spoke.
For some reason, Elena was making excuses for her question. She herself did not know for sure why she did that.
Akira then answered Elena's question.
"Well, even if you ask me, there's nothing special, we're just fellow Hunters. And about her, uhh, I just met her not too long ago. So, honestly, I don't really know much about her. But it seems that Carol and Shikarabe know each other, so it might be better to ask that question to Shikarabe."
Elena did not get any valuable information about Carol and it did not seem that Akira was trying to hide anything. Sara then asked a question.
"In that case, is it okay if we ask you some questions? You can just tell us if you don't want to answer. But if you do answer, please don't lie since it might cause trouble later. Is that okay?"
"Thank you. So, first, since when did you know Carol?"
"I just met her yesterday."
"...Yesterday?"
"Yes."
Elena and Sara seemed rather troubled. Sara seemed hesitant as she said
"...Akira. If that's true, then it means that you're bringing someone you don't really know, someone you just met yesterday, to work on this request, you know...?"
"Ahh... That... Does sound... That's indeed the case, huh."
Although it was already obvious, working together with other Hunters in a team meant that they had to really trust each other. After all, there were cases where they had to leave their back or might even trust their lives on the hand of their teammates. That was the exact reason why the arbitrator agencies with a good reputation would prosper.
Akira once told Elena and Sara that he once got attacked by other Hunters in the same team, that was why Elena and Sara thought he well understood the importance of that problem. Even this situation was also caused by the fact that he could not contact Elena and Sara earlier, it was still a rather unexpected situation for them.
"...I'm really sorry. As I thought, is it better if we don't move in the same team this time?"
"Uhh, you don't have to go that far. We're also happy to get more helping hands and if she's really a troublesome Hunter, Shikarabe would have stopped us too. Ahhh, and also, as you said, you'll take responsibility if Carol tries to do anything funny, right?"
Akira replied back with a serious face.
"Of course, I'm the one who brought her here after all."
Sara suddenly asked Akira a question.
"When you say you'll take responsibility, how far are you actually planning to go?"
"Well, let's see. If it's a problem that can be solved with money, I'll pay. If it's an amount that I can pay right away, I'll immediately pay. If it's not, either I pay it in form of a request or I'll ask to wait until I get enough money."
After listening to Akira's answer, Elena and Sara thought for a bit. Although he straightforwardly replied with a serious face, it somehow felt lacking. Akira did not say any exact amount of money that he was willing to pay, even if he said that he would pay no matter how much he would be asked, it was not like he would pay just any amount. There were many people who would take back what they said when an exact amount of money was specified, moreover, there were many problems in this world that could not be solved with money.
Sara then continued.
"If Carol causes anything that puts Elena-san or Sara-san in danger, I'll take the responsibility and kill her myself."
Akira replied casually, there was no trace of resolve or determination in his words. But that was the exact reason why Elena and Sara knew that he was being serious.
Akira was the type of person who could just casually kill others. He did not fear or hate or feel excited about that act, he did not need faith or determination or resolve to execute the act, he did not hesitate, he did not let himself get carried away by it, he did not let it affect him at all, he was simply absolutely impartial on the act of murder. In the eyes of people from the inner wall, his openness toward murder was extremely unethical and abnormal.
Elena made a serious face as she said to Akira.
"Alright, but is it okay if we ask you for one thing? If she does put us in danger, can you just leave how to deal with it to us? If it's possible, I want to avoid any kind of in-fighting. We have a reputation to uphold too after all."
"I understand, please feel free to ask for me if I'm needed."
Akira replied without showing any hesitation.
Sara was staring at Akira, she seemed a bit troubled as she thought.
[It's true that it's rather weird for Akira to bring with him someone that he just met yesterday, but more than that, I'm more interested about that reason... I don't want to believe it, but don't tell me he...]
Sara then asked Akira a question to confirm her guess.
"So then, what exactly happened yesterday? Can you please tell us everything including when you met Carol?"
Akira then told Elena and Sara all the information that he thought they would want to know. He told them that he went to Mihazono ruin yesterday, he then entered the Seranthal building and met Carol inside that building. All of a sudden they were swarmed by monsters and somehow was able to escape the building. He then lost his relics for protecting Carol. But she compensated for his lost relics and treated him for lunch. Of course, Akira did not say anything about Carol's side job.
"The information that Carol had really helped us escape the Seranthal building. Moreover, with someone who knows well about this ruin, I thought that we would be able to safely complete today's request. That's why I hired Carol."
"That must have been hard. To be more precise, is it okay if I ask you how you escaped Seranthal building?"
When Sara asked that question, Akira hesitated to answer back.
"I won't force you. If you don't want to answer, you can just say it."
"Uhhh, that's not exactly the problem. Although I came to know about it because of an emergency, it's information that I paid money to get, so..."
Elena sounded convinced as she said.
"Ahhh, I see, so basically we just need to pay you money, right?"
Akira fl.u.s.teredly shook his head and said.
"Ah no, I don't really mind telling Elena-san and Sara-san for free, but... I was just thinking if it's okay for me as a Hunter to give such information for free to another Hunter. What should I do about such information normally? Since I already paid for it, I wonder if it's okay if I spread it around without permission. What do you think, Elena-san?"
Elena was taken aback when Akira asked her that question. It was because she did not expect him to be that careful about dealing with such information. After all, in the past, he did share information about an unexplored ruin to her and Sara casually. Sara was also surprised by that unexpected change.
Elena thought that it was a good thing if Akira had changed because he had that talk with her. She then happily told him about her own opinion.
"It depends, if you agreed beforehand not to spread it when you bought it, then, you shouldn't spread it. But if you don't have such an agreement, I think it's okay for you to tell other people. With that being said, you still need to have some kind of implicit agreement with the person from whom you got that information. After all, there's a chance that person will sell the next piece of information at a higher price since the last one spread widely among the Hunters. For that one, well, you can only learn that from experience."
"...This is really difficult."
"If you don't know what to decide, it's safer if you keep it a secret. There's no need to leak it out just because we asked you. Which in that case, is it okay if we ask you how much it cost and whether it was worth paying that money?"
"It was 5,000,000 Aurum and I think it was worth that money. Although, I can only say that since I was able to escape the building thanks to that information."
"Yes. Although, in the end, I didn't pay even a single Aurum for that information since I accepted her request to escort her back. Either way, I was in a situation where it was bad if Carol got killed, so the timing was good too."
Elena smiled confidently.
After Elena and Sara asked a lot of questions about Carol to Akira, they decided that there should be no problem adding Carol to the team. Although she did ask Akira to escort her to escape the Seranthal building, it was not like she did not fight at all. Moreover, it seemed that she did change her equipment into something more suitable for fighting this time. And in the first place, if Shikarabe thought that she would only slow them down, he would have rejected that suggestion.
At first, Akira did not understand what exactly Elena and Sara were talking about. He just sat there with a confused face. But after a few seconds, he realized what it was all about. It was true that it would not be strange for Elena and Sara to think like that after seeing Carol's attire. He then smiled bitterly and said.
"Uhmm, I'm sorry to make you worry. But it's alright. I think I'm the type who doesn't get baited by something like that."
Sara smiled mischievously.
"Is that so? Then I might as well test you."
Sara stood up from her seat and moved next to Akira. She then leaned her face close to his while smiling and staring at him.
Akira obviously started getting fl.u.s.tered.
"W-whoah, Sara-san?!"
Sara kept staring at Akira's face while moving her face closer and closer. The closer she got, the more fl.u.s.tered Akira became.
Akira then turned to Elena, asking for help. But Elena just smiled bitterly at him and said.
"Looking at you now, I don't think you're okay at all though? Maybe you want to get used to it while you still have the chance?"
"...Give me a break!"
"...Please just stop."
"Oh my, you don't like it?"
Akira replied back in a strong tone to hide his embarrassment. Looking at that him, Elena and Sara just smiled.
Alpha was also smiling, although, deep inside, she was a little bit disappointed since it seemed that bringing Carol along did not disrupt Akira's relationship with Elena and Sara.
Akira, Elena, and Sara went back to their meeting point. Not too long after that, Shikarabe's APC arrived right on time. Shikarabe and Carol then stepped out from the APC. Shikarabe seemed a little irritated while Carol looked somehow in a good mood.
According to Elena's experience as a Hunter, she thought that Shikarabe was the type of person who preferred to come early and wait for other people to arrive, but since this time he came just right on time, Elena found that weird and asked them a question.
Carol smiled and answered Elena's question.
"Nope, we did replenish the supply and had a good rest before coming here."
Shikarabe did not say anything. The other Hunters there directed their gazes on Shikarabe. He noticed that tried to calm himself down before opening his mouth.
When Elena said that, Carol immediately replied in place of Shikarabe.
"It's fine, we did have a good rest after all, right? Or was that not enough?"
Carol glanced at Shikarabe. Shikarabe averted his gaze from her as he said.
"...It's alright. So then, how about you guys? Did something happen?"
"Nothing. By the way, I've picked our next request."
"In that case, let's get working. With the sun already up, it's much safer than during the night. With that being said, there should be more people competing for the rescue requests now though."
"You're right, everyone, let's go."
They then returned back to their respective vehicles. Carol returned back to Akira's vehicle and sat on the driver assistance's seat. She then looked at Akira in a good mood. Since it was not like she was glaring at him, Akira just ignored her and started his vehicle.
They were heading to the building in the Mihazono ruin where the Hunters who sent the rescue request barricaded themselves inside. Elena and Sara were in the front, Shikarabe's APC in the middle, and finally Akira and Carol in the rear. They intentionally took a wide road as they drove through the ruin. After all, there was a good chance that if they picked a narrow road, it might be blocked by the wreckages of the dead mechanical monsters.
But even on that wide road, there were wreckages of huge mechanical monsters that almost blocked the whole road. There was a huge tank-like object with multiple legs lying on the side of the road with countless holes on its torsos; around it, there were pieces of humanoid weapons that must have fought that huge tank assorted with huge empty ammo cartridges scattered around.
Alpha who was sitting on Akira's vehicle's door with her leg extended outside the vehicle turned her face to Akira.
"Well, that's indeed the case, at least until yesterday. If this is a normal thing in Mihazono ruin, I wouldn't have suggested you to come here."
"Thought so... What exactly happened for it to change all of a sudden?"
"I'm sure it's because the security drones increased their alert level for some reason. Judging by the fact that they're dispatching the A24-type drones inside the city district, I'm sure it's not just for simply driving out common robbers."
"Common robbers...? Ahh, the Hunters, huh. Well, if it's about them, there is always a lot of Hunters coming to this ruin every day after all."
It was as Akira said, a lot of Hunters came to the Mihazono ruin every day, at least, enough for the Hunter Office to decide to build a branch in that ruin. Honestly speaking, he thought that must not be the reason, but Alpha suddenly said something that refuted his guess.
"There's a limit for everything. There might be a limit set on the drones, which proactively try to reduce the number of Hunters inside the city ruin. That limit must have surpassed yesterday, so there are a ton more."
"I see. But if that's really the case, I really hope it would have gotten triggered when I'm not in this ruin though."
Alpha just smiled at Akira who was complaining.
"I think it's nothing strange considering your bad luck. Honestly speaking, I've already given up resisting your back luck. So I suggest that you give up too, okay?"
Akira smiled bitterly at Alpha. He could see Seranthal building in the direction that he was looking, it was a huge building that stuck out from the rest even from afar.
"It was really rough yesterday, wasn't it? I wonder if that was some kind of omen that the ruin would turn like this?"
"That might be true. Carol, you know a lot about this Mihazono ruin, right? Do you have any guess?"
"Unfortunately, I have no guess at all."
"So we really have no idea of what's going on, huh? Well, that's not surprising at all though."
"There must be some Hunters who came here to investigate the reason behind the current situation. Those Hunters who usually sell maps often explore the inner part of the ruin too. If they can find out the reason behind the current situation and sell that information to the Hunter Office, I bet it can fetch them at least 10,000,000,000 Aurum."
Akira was flabbergasted when he heard that amount of money.
Akira himself knew that it would be a pretty expensive piece of information, but he did not expect it to be such a huge amount.
"Oh my, it's a piece of information related to the safety of the Mihazono ruin, you know? At the moment, there's still no news saying that the monsters from inside the Mihazono ruin are going out into the wasteland, but there's no guarantee that it'll stay that way. When a lot of monsters flood out from the ruin, it might greatly affect the monster distribution in the wasteland. Because of that, some routes that are originally considered as safe might turn dangerous, and if that kills the trading flow of the city, it'll also give a huge hit to the companies that depend on those trading routes. So with that information, the Hunter Office can take an initiative to prevent such situations from happening. After all, just think about it, even if you pay 100 Hunters 100,000,000 Aurum each to take out all the monsters that are flooding out from the ruin, do you think they can really accomplish that?"
"Nope, I don't think they can."
"Yep, so that's basically the gist of it. Moreover, leaving that aside, if that amount of money is enough to keep the ruin that's already under the control of the Hunter Office to the point that they built a branch office in that ruin, then I bet they would have no complaint paying that amount of money. Depending on the quality of the information and how the negotiation goes, it might even cost even more than that."
Akira sounded amazed as he said.
"So there's something like that too, huh. I never thought that kind of work is also available for Hunters. Wait, does that mean that you're actually that kind of Hunter?"
After all, there were not many Hunters who knew about the invisible transport drones in the landing pads of some buildings in the Mihazono ruin. So, if Carol was one of those Hunters who worked as a map dealer, then it was not surprising for her to know about those transport drones.
Carol then smiled smugly and answered Akira's question.
"My main Hunter job is hunting relics and selling them while I also work as an information dealer on the side."
Elena's voice suddenly came out from Akira's information terminal.
"Akira, we'll enter an area where a lot of monsters are roaming around. We'll basically try to pierce through the swarm, so make sure not to get left behind, okay? I'll leave the monsters on the flank to you. If it's too hard for you, we'll temporarily withdraw. So make sure to contact us beforehand, okay?"
"Oh my, if we immediately head back because of something like that, we won't be able to get money from the request that we could originally complete, you know? Are you okay with that?"
"I don't mind. Elena-san and Sara-san's safety is much more important than money."
Akira answered back in a straight-forward and casual manner. There were a few seconds of silence before Elena replied.
"...Don't worry, I have no plans to die here. So I don't think I would make a blunder about that. Thank you for worrying about us, good luck, Akira."
Right at the end of her sentence, Elena sounded like she was in a good mood. After that, she cut the call.
"Alpha, can I leave the driving to you again?"
"Sure, there's no need to be in such a hurry, I'll tell you if I detect any monsters."
"Akira, use the A4WM grenade-launcher this time. I want to gather some data first while we still have the chance."
Akira returned to the back seat and grabbed his A4WM grenade-launcher, it was a gun that he had not tried to shoot even once before. Although he was planning to get used to it by testing it in the wasteland, he did not expect that he would have to use it right on the next day after he bought it. At the moment, he was in a rather safe situation, so it was a good chance for him to get used to his new gun.
"Akira, did you find a monster somewhere?"
"Nope, my information-gathering device didn't detect anything in particular. How about yours?"
Carol thought that Akira somehow found monsters that she could not detect. Although with the sun up right now, it was far easier to check the surroundings compared to when it was during the night, there were a lot of rubbles and wreckage around where monsters could hide.
"Even if you tell me so. It's not like I'm trying to scare you or anything. You also heard that order from Elena-san just now, right? I'm just getting myself ready for the upcoming battle."
"Well, it's fine if that's the case. By the way, since I left it to you to take care of all of the monsters last time, can you leave the next ones to me? I'll show you that I'm different from yesterday."
Carol was smiling smugly filled with confidence when she said that.
The front-most vehicle in that group was Elena and Sara's, Elena was driving the vehicle. She was also the one operating the vehicle's information-gathering device and its machine gun. As for Sara, who was sitting next to Elena, her job was to take care of the monsters that the machine gun could not take out.
"It's nothing. It's just that it seemed Akira is worried about us."
Elena's stern face was basically her trying to hide her embarrassment. She fully understood that Sara knew that too but if she did not do that, she knew that Sara would start teasing her. That was why she could not relax her expression.
In their team, Elena was the one who was responsible for negotiation. Because of that, she learned a lot of skills used for negotiating such as probing for ulterior motives, reading behind words, detecting lies, digging for real motives, or judging for cost and benefit of a deal.
Which then, the real question would be why Akira would accept Elena and Sara's invitation. At least, it was not for money. Although he still needed money, it was not his first priority. In order for Elena to pull out the answer, she did not immediately reply to Akira back there.
Akira was there to help out Elena and Sara. He knew that Mihazono ruin, or at least the Seranthal building, was a very dangerous place. As such, he was there to make sure that Elena and Sara would not need to go through what he had gotten through. He must have decided to accept their invitation thinking that if he was around, he would be able to at least be of some help to Elena and Sara.
If Elena and Sara were able to contact Akira, it might have been the end of it once she told him the details of their current situation. He might have decided to come exactly because he could not contact Elena and Sara back then.
Having a young Hunter who just started working not too long ago worrying about her, it could even be said that she was having a Hunter below her worrying about her. So there was no way Elena did not feel anything about it. Even she had her pride as a Hunter.
The feeling that Akira and Elena had for each other was basically a form of love for close friends and as fellow Hunters, they felt indebted to each other for saving each other's life. Or at least, for Elena, she did not look at Akira as a target for her romantic feeling. She thought that should also be the case for Akira too. After all, their age gap was simply too big.
But even so, when someone whom she considered as a close friend came to help her disregarding profit and loss and even risked his life to help her, it was only natural for her to feel happy. There was nothing strange about it.
Elena herself knew that she was in a very good mood, while on the other hand, she also understood very well that getting too happy would affect her ability to judge and make decisions. That was why she was making a stern face. Moreover, with the person who knew her inner feeling sitting next to her while smiling at her, Elena could not afford to relax her expression.
"If you know that he's worried about us, you should be extra careful too. Don't forget that you got saved by him back then in Yonozuka station ruin, okay? I'm sure you're not thinking of making him save you again, right?"
Sara replied in a serious voice.
"I know. I've vowed that I won't ever make the same mistake again."
Right at that moment, the sensor installed in their vehicle suddenly showed a reaction, it was showing that there were a lot of monsters ahead. Elena checked the display of the radar while saying to Sara.
"Ready when you are."
Elena accelerated her vehicle to open up a road for the other vehicles behind her. The machine gun on their vehicle and Sara's gun started shooting almost at the same time as they were laying waste to the monsters ahead of them.
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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