アキラが25階でキャロルと話していた頃、セランタルビルの周辺では異変が始まっていた。正確には既に異変は始まっており、ビルの外にいるハンター達がそのことに気付き始めたのだ。
ハンター達がアキラに破壊された無人兵器を運びだそうとしている。彼らはハンターが殺到しているビルの内部に入って旧世界の遺物の争奪戦をするより、下手をすれば殺し合いになるほどの奪い合いに加わるより、機能を停止している無人兵器を金に換えることを選んだのだ。
これらの無人兵器を誰が倒したかは知らないが、放置しているのならば捨てているのと同じだ。恐らくビル内の遺物が目当てで、倒した無人兵器への興味は薄いのだろう。彼らはそう判断していた。
彼らは運搬用の機材が到着するまで周囲の警戒を続けている。情報収集機器の反応を確認して近寄ってくる小型の機械系モンスター達を破壊している。この無人兵器を持ち帰るのは自分達だ。他の機械モンスターに回収されるわけにはいかない。
なものが混ざっていく。近寄ってくる機械系モンスターの量がかなり多いのだ。しかもその量がどんどん増えているのだ。
彼らの一人が仲間に話す。
「おい、何か変じゃねえか? 何でこんなに寄ってきてるんだ?」
「セランタルビルの防衛をしている強力な機械系モンスターは、破壊されても
回収するぐらい貴重な部品を使っているのかもしれない。きっと高値で売れるぞ」
手に入るであろう大金の額を思い浮かべて仲間の男が顔を緩ませた。
少し心配していた男も仲間の発言で表情を緩めた。近寄ってくる機械は楽に撃破できる個体ばかりだ。気にしすぎていたかもしれない。男がそう思い直そうとした時、離れた場所から爆発音が響いた。更にかなり激しい銃声も聞こえてくる。他のハンター達の交戦音だ。
それらの音は段々とセランタルビル側に近付いてきている。そしてこちらに向かってくる多くのハンター達の姿が見え始める。
心配していた男が表情を引きつらせて仲間に話す。
「い、幾ら何でも多すぎるんじゃないか?」
セランタルビル側に向かうハンター達の背後には、一帯を埋め尽くしそうなほど大量の機械系モンスター達が迫ってきていた。必死に応戦しているハンター達が機械の津波に飲み込まれていく。半狂乱となったハンターが手榴弾や擲弾銃を自分も巻き込まれる距離で使用する。その爆発が機械の波を一時だけ吹き飛ばして敵の包囲に穴を開けたが、その穴もすぐに後続の波に
男が周囲を見渡して叫ぶように答える。
「に、逃げるってどこにだ!?」
機械系モンスターの群れはビルの周囲の全方向から現れていた。その包囲に隙間など見当たらない。ビルの外にいるハンター達が唯一の逃げ場に向かって走り出していく。周囲を包囲されても立て籠もって戦えそうな唯一の場所、セランタルビルの中へ。
外にいたハンター達の生き残りが全てセランタルビルに集まったことにより、彼らは一時的にモンスター達を押し返した。ビルの出入り口を自然と防衛地点として、火力を集中させて、ビルの中に入ろうとするモンスター達を撃破し続けていく。
しかし周囲一帯の機械系モンスターを
ハンターが周りの者達に叫ぶ。
「おい! 誰でも良いから上の連中に連絡を取れ! 遺物の収集をやっている場合じゃねえだろうが!」
がらねえんだよ! 色無しの霧の影響か!?」
「はぁ!? 何でこんな時に!?」
遺物収集をしているビルの上階にいるハンター達の応援がなければ、1階のハンター達に勝ち目はない。しかし通信が取れないため応援を呼ぶことができない。
「......仕方がない。直接呼んでくる」
1人のハンターがそう言ってその場を離れた。
「お、俺も行く」
更に数名のハンターがその場を離脱していく。
1人目は本当に応援を呼びに行くためにその場を離脱した。しかし後に続いた者達は必ずしもそうではなかった。この場に
そしてそれに気付いた他のハンターの一部が、逃げ出した者達を激怒して呼び止めるのではなく、同じ口実で後に続いてしまった。全員ではない。しかし戦線を崩壊させるのには十分な人数だった。
何とか押しとどめていた機械系モンスターがビル内に侵入してハンター達に襲いかかる。銃撃で、体当たりで、小型の砲弾で、ハンター達が機械系モンスターに殺されていく。恐怖に耐えきれなくなった者から我先に逃げ出し始める。戦意を失っていない者もこの状況では1階に
アキラがビルの30階を探索している。情報収集機器の精度が落ちているため、奇襲を警戒しながら慎重に探索を続けている。アルファに移動ルートの指摘を受けて安全を確保しながら上り階段を探していた。
『アキラ。情報収集機器の精度の話だけれど、原因は色無しの霧ではないようね』
『それは良かった......のか? 精度が戻ったわけじゃないんだよな』
『ええ。精度は今も低下中よ。恐らくこのビルの機能の所為ね』
『このビル? このビルの構造とかは無関係だって言ってなかったか?』
『それは部屋の間取りや通路の配置などが原因ではないって意味よ。旧世界に限っての話ではないけれど、政府や企業の要人が秘密裏に会談をする場合、部屋の中の状況を外部に知られないために、あらゆる情報伝達から隔離された部屋を使用することがあるの。それに近い状況になっているわ。情報端末を介した近距離通信も困難よ。恐らくこのビルには強力な通信遮断の機能が備わっていたのね』
『それが急に機能し始めたってことか。何で急に?』
アキラが立ち止まって思案する。そして真剣な表情で尋ねる。
『引き返した方が良いか? 当初の目的を取りやめることになるけれど、一応旧世界の遺物はそれなりに手に入ったんだ』
アルファが少し思案した後に、
を返して戻ろうとした時、アルファがアキラを手で制する。
『誰か来るわ。走っている。かなり急いでいるみたいね。このままだとこっちに来るわ』
アキラが一応その方向に銃を向ける。敵の奇襲ではないだろうが、念のためだ。
その誰かはキャロルだった。少し離れた通路から出てきたキャロルは、アキラを見つけるとそのまま走りながら叫ぶ。
キャロルの背後を見ると、小型の機械系モンスターが破損した機体でキャロルを追いかけていた。アキラは少し不思議に思いながらも一応助けることにする。
「弾切れか? 射線から退け!」
キャロルがすぐに走りながら射線から離れる。アキラは敵をA2D突撃銃でしっかり狙って引き金を引く。発射された強装弾が既に壊れかけていた機械系モンスターを粉砕して部品を通路にばらまいた。
あの程度の相手ならアキラに助けを求める必要もなくキャロルが自力で倒せば済むだろう。逃げる必要もないはずだ。そう思ったアキラが
きがそこで止まった。キャロルが飛び出てきた通路から大量の機械系モンスターが現れたのだ。
アキラはすぐに武器をDVTSミニガンに切り替えて、敵の群れに銃弾の嵐を浴びせかける。比較的小型で
まで来ていたキャロルがその個体を先に銃撃した。発射された銃弾が機体の装甲を貫き、更に衝撃で後方へ吹き飛ばし、一撃で敵を大破させた。大型の拳銃という程度の大きさの銃だが、下手をするとCWH対物突撃銃並みの威力はあるようだ。ただし連発はできないのだろう。群れと戦うには不向きな武器だ。
キャロルはそれだけ言い残してアキラを置いて走り出した。
アキラがキャロルの後を追う。その隣でアルファが苦笑している。
『既に手遅れだったようね。アキラの不運の方が早かったようだわ』
アキラは嫌そうな表情でキャロルの後を追った。
初めてセランタルビルに来たアキラと異なり、キャロルは何度もここに来ている。その
アキラが走りながらキャロルに尋ねる。
「キャロル。状況を教えてくれ。下で何があったんだ?」
「俺がビルの外の無人兵器を破壊したから、外の機械系モンスターが侵入してきたのか?」
「分からないわ。まあハンター達はそうだと思うけど。......アキラは無人兵器の
興味深そうに尋ねてくるキャロルに、アキラが表情を固くして答える。
「教えられない。切り札や奥の手の類いの手段だからな」
正直に話したとしても、事実を疑われるか正気を疑われるかのどちらかだ。アキラは適当に
キャロルも詳細を教えてもらえるとは思っていなかったのだろう。軽く笑って話す。
「そう。こんな状況でなければ、時間を掛けて口説き落として聞き出したいところだけど、今はそれどころじゃないわね。それと、誰かが外の無人兵器を破壊したからといって、市街区画を
そこまで話したキャロルの表情が曇る。
「......ないはず、だったわ。ミハゾノ街遺跡の機械系モンスターには縄張り、警備の受け持ちの区画のようなものがあって、その領域外に出ることはないの。だからミハゾノ街遺跡で厄介なモンスターと遭遇した時は、近くの建物の中に逃げ込めば助かることが多いのよ。そのおかげで比較的安全にハンター稼業ができるのよ。ミハゾノ街遺跡で活動するハンターが、ハンターオフィスの出張所ができるほどに多い理由でもあるわ」
「そんなの知らないわ! 今まではそうだった! ビルの中にモンスターはいなかったし、外にいるモンスターがビルの中に入り込むこともなかった! モンスターに追われていたハンターがこのビルに逃げ込んできた時も、そのハンターを追ってきたモンスターがビルの中に入り込むことはなかったの! 理由があるなら私が知りたいわ!」
アキラ達には知る由もないがその理由は単純なものだ。ビルの管理人格であるセランタルがビル内に入る許可を出したのだ。同時に侵入者であるハンター達を
アキラが走りながらしみじみと話す。
「やっぱり旧世界の遺跡は怖いな。いつ何が起きるか分からない」
動じる様子のないアキラを見て、キャロルも落ち着きを取り戻して苦笑しながら話す。
「......そうね。私も事前の情報を過信しすぎていたわ」
「違うわ。言ったでしょう? 裏口があるって。それを使って脱出するのよ」
予想外の言葉を聞いたアキラが
「......ビルから脱出可能な裏口が、ビルの上階にあるのか?」
「別に信じろとは言わないわ。好きにして。......まあ、この状況で付いてくるなとまでは言わないわ。言っても無駄でしょうし。はぁ......」
キャロルは諦め気味の表情で
「付いてくるなと言うのならここで別れるけど、そうした方が良いか?」
予想外のことを言われたキャロルが思わず立ち止まった。そのためアキラがキャロルを追い越してしまう。アキラは慌てて止まり、振り返って
「止まるなよ。急いでいるんだろう。それともここが裏口なのか?」
キャロルは驚きと疑いの混じった表情でアキラを見ている。その表情のまま、強い疑いの口調で尋ねる。
「......本気で言ってるの?」
「ああ。俺もこの状況でこれ以上敵を増やしたくはない。キャロルは結構強そうだしな」
キャロルがアキラをじっと見る。口調や表情から真偽を見抜こうとしている。そして彼女の経験と勘が答えを出した。アキラは本気で言っている、と。
として、このような状況だというのにその場に立ち尽くしてしまった。
アキラの思考も基本的にはキャロルと同じだ。この状況でキャロルとまで敵対する余裕がないだけだ。しかしそこで、仕方がないから妥協して助け合おう、ではなく、仕方がないから敵を増やす覚悟で殺し合うという選択を相手が選ぶ可能性を考慮して距離を取ろう、という偏ってねじ曲がった選択をしただけだ。
「......何だか知らないけど、突っ立ってるなら俺は先に行くからな」
「金は払わないぞ?」
妥協を見せないアキラの宣言を聞いても、キャロルの笑みは変わらなかった。
「分かってるわ。だから取引をしない? 無事に脱出するまで私を護衛して。それで裏口の情報料と相殺するわ。どう?」
「それで500万オーラム分の相殺か。随分気前が良いな」
「あの世に金は持っていけないからね。少々高値になるのは仕方ないわ。だからアキラの分の弾薬費込みの依頼ってことで頼むわね」
敵対せずにビルから脱出できるのならば好都合だ。条件に不服はない。アキラがそう判断して答える。
割り込むことになったが、それでも依頼は依頼だ。アキラはしっかりと答える。
「依頼として受けた以上、俺もハンターとしてしっかりやるよ」
「頼もしいわ」
既に何度もセランタルビルを探索しているキャロルのおかげでアキラ達は複雑な構造のビルの中を迷わずに進んでいる。敵は後方から現れるので、その撃退はアキラの仕事となる。
年齢不詳のハンターは多い。ハンターは体が資本の稼業だ。身体能力の維持と向上のために、抗老化処理を実施しているハンターは珍しくない。回復薬の過剰摂取などが原因で身体細胞が変異し、見た目の加齢が進むこともあれば、逆に若返ることもある。適切な治療を受ければ回復するが、それを意図的に治さない者もいる。
全身義体者並みに実年齢と外見の年齢が一致していない者もいる。義体者ならば外見など幾らでも装える。サイボーグなどは外見から
を判別することはほぼ不可能だ。それらの理由で外見の年齢が当てにならないハンターは珍しくないのだ。
「ねえ、アキラって何歳なの?」
キャロルはアキラの返事を答えたくない
しかしアキラが普通に答える。
「いや、本当に知らないんだ。自分の誕生日も知らないし、今日が何年何月何日か知らずに過ごしていた期間が長かったからな。俺の誕生日や
を言っているようには思えなかった。普通に答えていたように聞こえたが強がりかもしれない。この状況で反感を覚悟してまで聞き出すことではないだろう。そう考えて、代わりに別のことを尋ねる。
「それならハンター歴は何年ぐらいなの? ハンター歴の数え方はアキラに任せるわ」
ハンター証を身分証代わりにするためにハンター登録だけして、長期間具体的なハンター稼業をしないでいた者がいろいろな理由でハンター稼業を始めることもある。諸事情でハンター登録をせずに遺物の収集やモンスターの討伐を長期間行った後で、正式にハンター登録を行う者もいる。ハンターランク10未満の時期をハンター歴に含めない者もいる。
それらの事情から、自称するハンター歴とハンター登録後の期間が一致しない者は多い。ハンター歴の数え方をいろいろ気にするハンターもいる。キャロルはそれらの理由から数え方をアキラに任せた上で尋ねてみた。
「そうなの? それなら若手のハンターってことね。若手のハンターでその実力なら大したものだわ」
正確にはアルファのサポートに
「あら、運も実力のうちよ? 特にいつ死んでも不思議はないハンター稼業ではね」
「そうか。それなら今の俺達の実力は大分下がってるな」
「生きて帰れば問題ないわ。アキラもそのつもりでしょう?」
「当然だ」
運が尽きてより致命的な状況になる前にアキラ達は先を急いだ。
アキラ達はキャロルの案内のおかげで階段への最短距離を走っている。しかし上階への階段が封鎖されている箇所が多く、そのたびにその階の別の階段を目指してフロアを横断する必要があった。
「どうしてこんなに封鎖されている箇所ばかりなんだ? 誰かの嫌がらせか?」
「誰かの嫌がらせだとしたら、それはセランタルの嫌がらせってことになるわね。彼女、このビルの管理人格の説明だと、今は休館中らしいからね。本当は全部閉まっていたんだと思うわ。恐らく今開いているのは、ビルに侵入したハンターが無理
「ということは、もしかして上の階ほど開いている箇所が少ないのか?」
アキラの予想をキャロルが肯定する。
「残念だけどその通りよ。私達が目指しているのは45階だけど、40階以上は1階登るごとに別の階段に移動するから覚悟しておいてね」
「誰が開けたのか知らないけど、他のハンターを上の階に登らせ
「地図屋がこのビルの内部構造を高値で売るために、わざと迷いやすくなる開け方をしたのかもね」
地図屋が遺跡の地図を売る場合、その遺跡が危険で迷いやすいものであるほど高値になる。アキラはキャロルの説明を聞いて納得しつつ
アキラ達は後方から追ってくる機械系モンスターを撃退しながら先に進む。キャロルの適切な案内のおかげで最短距離を通っていることもあり、別ルートを通った機械系モンスター達に先回りされたこともない。それはアキラとキャロルに敵は後方にしかいないという認識を少しずつ植え付けていた。
僅かだがアキラ達の前方への警戒が
しかしアキラ達が進行方向への警戒を下げていたことに違いはない。起こりうる結果としてそれは起きた。
アキラ達が40階へ続く階段を登っている。先導しているキャロルが階段を駆け上り、そのすぐ後ろにアキラがいる。キャロルは41階への階段を封鎖している扉を見ると、急いで40階のフロアの中へ入った。
フロアの中に入った瞬間、キャロルの動きが固まる。キャロルの背後からフロアの中を見たアキラも同様だった。そこには数体の機械系モンスターがアキラ達を待ち構えていた。
横長の胴体から先端にタイヤの付いた多脚と多関節の腕を生やして背中に重火器を背負った機械系モンスターだ。それらが数体でフロアの出入り口を警戒していた。
がキャロルの動きを止める。下の階から40階に進む道はキャロル達が通った階段しかないはずだった。キャロルの予想ではここにモンスターがいるはずがないのだ。
驚いていたのはアキラも同じだ。その驚きがアキラの意思を僅かだが止めていた。
せない。キャロルは死の恐怖を感じる暇もなく、なぜか冷静にそれだけを理解していた。
次の瞬間、キャロルの視界にアキラが飛び込んでくる。敵の銃口に背を向けて射線を塞いでキャロルを
アキラの背中側に無数の銃弾が撃ち込まれる。着弾の衝撃にアキラは強化服の身体能力を全力にして何とか耐えた。そして敵に背を向けたまま、背中側に銃撃を受け続けながら、関節可動域を少し無視して強引に腕を後ろに曲げることで、後方にいる敵に銃を向けてすぐさま引き金を引いた。
無理な体勢からの銃撃だ。普通は当たりはしない。だがアルファが照準を合わせることでその普通を覆した。発射された強装弾は全弾命中した。敵の機銃が次々に破壊されていく。
攻防は10秒にも満たない時間で終了した。銃撃音が
「アキラ! 大丈夫!?」
敵の銃撃はアキラの強化服を貫通はしなかった。しかし着弾の衝撃を殺しきることはできず、内部に損傷を与えていた。アキラの吐いた血が床に滴っていく。
アキラは身を起こしながら口内に残っていた血を横の床に吐き出した。リュックサックを降ろし、回復薬を取り出して、口に含んですぐに飲み込む。価格に見合った効能を持つ回復薬の効果は既に体験済みだ。
アキラが顔を
When Akira was talking with Carol on the 25th floor, a small change started to happen around the Seranthal building. Or to be more precise, a change had already started and the Hunters in that area had noticed it.
Some of the Hunters there chose to carry the leftover wreckages of the dead autonomous weapons. Rather than risking having to fight the other Hunters over the relics inside that building, these Hunters chose to harvest the leftover wreckages of the autonomous weapons that Akira had defeated.
They had no idea who defeated those monsters, but since that person just left them there, they assumed these wreckages must be trash for said person. Those Hunters thought that person must have ignored those wreckages aiming for the relics inside the Seranthal building.
Those Hunters were guarding their prized loots while waiting for the arrival of the truck to carry the wreckages. They kept checking their information-gathering device and killed any small fry mechanical monsters that approached them. They were planning to carry those wreckages, so they could not let other mechanical monsters consume their prized find.
At first, they looked relaxed, but their expression suddenly changed, a look of astonishment flashed on their faces. There were quite a lot of mechanical monsters heading their way, and the number just kept increasing endlessly.
One of them then said.
"Hey, something is strange, don't you think? Why are so many of them coming here?"
"I heard that those powerful monsters guarding the Seranthal building will always be back not too long after you kill them. So the mechanical monsters might be swarming here to gather the wreckages to rebuild these guardian monsters. I guess, if we take into consideration the size of the guardian monsters, it's to be expected that they would need to bring a lot of those small mechanical monsters to carry these huge wreckages."
"These wreckages might contain something valuable that they're trying to retrieve it, so I'm sure these wreckages will fetch a lot of money."
As they imagined the amount of money that they might earn, those Hunters started to smile.
The Hunter who was worrying also smiled after hearing what his friend said. The mechanical monsters coming to their direction were all weak monsters, so he thought that he must have been overthinking it. When that guy thought so, suddenly a loud bang echoed from afar. It was immediately followed by repeated gunshots. It was the sound of Hunters fighting monsters.
The source of that sound was moving closer and closer to those Hunters waiting for the truck. They eventually could see some Hunters running toward their direction.
The guy who was so worried just now was utterly dumbfounded as he said.
"A-aren't there too many of them?"
There was a swarm of monsters following behind those Hunters, who were running toward the Seranthal building. The Hunters who were desperately fighting those monsters were swallowed one by one by that swarm. Distorted by the fear, the Hunters used grenades and explosives at a close range, close enough to even injure themselves. Those explosions would take out a bunch of monsters and open a hole in that swarm, but it did not take long for that hole to be covered by monsters again.
That guy shouted as if he was saying to everyone in that area.
"R-run away? To where exactly?"
The mechanical monsters were swarming the Seranthal building from all directions, there was no opening where the Hunters could run to. All of the Hunters in that area were running toward the only location where they might have any survival chance, it was the only location where they might be able to defend themselves, it was the Seranthal building.
All the Hunters who were still alive outside the Seranthal building quickly gathered inside the building, they were able to temporarily push back the swarm. The entrance to the Seranthal building turned into a bottleneck, the Hunters focused their fires there to repel the monsters that were trying to enter the building.
But suddenly, the mechanical monsters made a huge push, as if they gathered their numbers first before delivering the push. They kept pushing forward no matter how many of their fellow mechanical monsters were killed in front of them. As the monster swarm kept pushing their way into that building, they shoved the wreckages of their dead brethren aside to open up a road or just trampled them into small pieces and slowly closed the distance between them and the Hunters.
A Hunter suddenly shouted.
"Hey!! Someone, just anyone, relay the situation to the other Hunters upstairs!! It's not the time to be looking for relics!!"
"We've already been doing that!! But we can't get any contact at all!! Is it the colourless mist?!!"
"Hah?!! Why now of all time?!!"
Without the help of the Hunters who were looking for relics upstairs, the Hunters in the first floor had no chance of winning. But since they could not get any contact, they could not call for help.
"...It can't be helped, I'll go and call them back."
One of the Hunters said that and left the other Hunters.
"I-I'll go too!"
Some of the Hunters followed suit and left that place.
The first guy really went to call the other Hunters to get back, but that was not the case for the other Hunters who followed him. They were just running away from that place, thinking that it was too dangerous to stay there. They wanted to get into safety since it was safer to join the rest of the Hunters who were hunting for relics upstairs.
Then, some of the Hunters who noticed that also followed behind them with the same excuse rather than trying to stop them. Although it was only a portion of the Hunters there that went upstairs, it was enough to make the frontline crumble.
The monsters that were held back until now quickly flooded into the building. They used their cannons, guns, and their powerful mechanical bodies to kill the Hunters. The Hunters who could not stand the situation started running away out of fear and the ones who were trying to hold the monsters on the first floor were overwhelmed as they slowly retreated to the second floor.
Akira was searching the 30th floor. Since his information-gathering device was getting less and less sensitive, he continued his search carefully to make sure that he would not get ambushed. Alpha was guiding him to take the safest route while looking for a stair to go up.
"Akira, it's about the sensitivity of your information-gathering device... It seems that it's not because of the colourless mist."
"That's good to hear... Right? Wait, it's not like the sensitivity returned back to normal either, huh?"
"Yes, the sensitivity is falling down even now. I think it's because of this building."
"This building? But didn't you say just now that it has nothing to do with this building?"
"What I meant back then is the layout of the rooms and the hallways inside this building. It's not limited to the old-world ruin alone; when the government or big corporations negotiate about some secret stuff, they would use a special room that prevents any information from leaking out in any forms to the outside of that room. And we're in a similar situation to that, it's highly difficult to even scan your surroundings using your information-gathering device at the moment. If my guess is correct, this building might have some kind of feature that blocks signals."
"So you mean that signal blocking function suddenly turned on, huh. But why so suddenly?"
Akira stopped and thought. He then asked Alpha with a serious expression.
"Should we pull back for now? Although we can't get to our main goal, I've already gathered quite a lot of old-world relics today."
Alpha thought for a bit before answering that question with a big smile.
Akira smiled bitterly and turned around, just when he was about to swing his leg forward, Alpha suddenly signalled him to stop.
"Someone is coming. That person is running in this direction, it seems that he's in a hurry. At this rate, he will reach here soon."
Akira pointed his gun in the direction where Alpha told him that person was coming from. It was to be safe just in case if it was an ambush.
But that person was Carol. As she was running through the hallway, she spotted Akira and shouted at him while still running.
As Akira peeked behind Carol, he could see small mechanical monsters with half-destroyed bodies chasing her. He found that weird, but he decided to at least give Carol a help.
"Are you out of ammo? Get out from my shooting line."
Carol quickly ran out of Akira's line of sight. Akira then aimed at those monsters using his A2D rifle and shot them. As the piercing bullets hit the monsters' half-destroyed bodies, it turned them to scraps and blew them to pieces.
Akira could only consider those monsters as weak and started to ponder. [If they were this weak, Carol should be able to defeat them without my help, there was no need to ask for my help.]
But before he could even finish his sentence. A swarm of monsters suddenly gushed in from the hallway where Carol came from.
Akira quickly pulled out his DVTS minigun and showered those monsters with bullets. Although it was able to make quick work for the smaller mechanical monsters with weak armour, the monsters with thicker armours kept pushing forward against the raining bullets.
When Akira was about to change to his CWH anti-material rifle, Carol who had already stood beside him shot them first. The bullet that she shot pierced the monster's thick armour and sent it flying back. It only took one shot to kill that thick armoured monster. Although she was using nothing but a hand cannon, it might have the same firepower as a CWH anti-material rifle. But she could not use it for continuous shooting, thus it was not a suitable gun to fight a swarm.
After Carol said that, she immediately started running again, leaving Akira behind.
Akira quickly followed Carol, Alpha was floating beside him while smiling bitterly.
"It seems that we're too late. Akira, your bad luck is really fast."
Akira was chasing Carol with an irritated face.
Unlike Akira, who came to the Seranthal building for the first time, Carol had come there numerous times in the past, thus she was able to keep running without getting lost.
Akira was still running behind Carol when he asked her a question.
"Carol, what's going on here? What happened downstairs?"
"Is it that the other monsters from outside are coming inside this building since I killed the monsters guarding this building?"
"I don't know. Well, I guess that's the case for the Hunters, but... I actually thought you used an opening in the monsters guarding this place to kill some of them and sneaked into this building, but judging from what you said just now, you killed all of them, right? And you did that alone on top of that. You're a really interesting fellow, how did you kill those guardian monsters?"
Carol seemed to be honestly interested when she asked that question, Akira's face turned stern as he said.
"I can't tell you. It's my secret trump card after all."
And even if Akira told Carol the truth, it would only end up with Carol questioning his sanity or suspecting that he was just simply lying. So he decided to deflect that question, he did not tell any lie there.
It seemed that Carol was not expecting Akira would tell her anyway, so she just smiled as she said.
"Is that so? If we're not in this situation, I would love to spend more time to loosen your lips, but it's not the time for that. And also, even if someone destroyed all the autonomous weapons outside, it won't cause the other mechanical monsters roaming the ruin to flood this building."
After that, Carol's expression turned cloudy.
"...Or at least, that should not cause something like this. The mechanical monsters inside the Mihazono ruin are security drones with fixed patrol areas that they're protecting, there's no way they would go outside their designated area. That's why, in Mihazono ruin, you sometimes can save yourself by entering a nearby building when you encounter powerful monsters. Thanks to that, this ruin is a relatively safe ruin for the Hunters to explore. That's the real reason why so many Hunters frequent this ruin, enough for the Hunter Office to build their branch in this ruin."
"Like hell if I know!! That's how it has always been up until now!! I've never found monsters inside this building and the monsters outside have never tried to enter the building!!! Even if those Hunters ran to this building from a group of monsters, those monsters would not even try to enter this building to chase those Hunters!! So if there's any reason why this is happening, I want to know that reason too!!"
Although there was no way for Akira and the other two to know it, the reason was actually very simple. It was simply because the manager of that building, Seranthal, had given permission for those monsters to enter that building. And at the same time, she also requested for reinforcements to take out the intruders. Because of that, all the monsters in that ruin answered that request and quickly gathered there to kill all the Hunters inside.
Akira was still running as he said.
"As I thought, old-world ruin is really scary. No one can say for sure what will happen."
As Carol looked at Akira who was still calm, she regained some of her calmness. She then smiled bitterly and said to him.
"...You're right about that, I put too much trust on my experience coming to this place."
"Nope, I did tell you before, right? I know a backdoor, we're going to use that backdoor to escape."
Akira was so surprised when he heard that unexpected answer, he then asked another question.
"...So the backdoor that would allow us to escape this building is located upstairs?"
"Well, I won't tell you to trust me. It's completely up to you if you believe me or not... Of course, I won't tell you to not follow me in this situation, after all, I'm sure that it's meaningless even if I tell you so... Haah..."
Carol exasperatedly sighed.
"If you tell me not to follow you, I'll go somewhere else though. Should I do that?"
Carol suddenly stopped out of surprise. Because of that, Akira could not stop in time and ran past her. He then stopped in panic and looked back at her in surprise.
"Don't stop now. We need to run, right? Or is this where the backdoor is?"
Carol looked at Akira with a face saying that she was both surprised and suspicious. She then asked Akira a question with a dead-serious tone.
"...Are you being serious?"
"Yeah. I have no plans to create more enemies in this situation. You look pretty strong after all."
Carol stared at Akira. She was trying to judge if he was lying from his tone and expression. Then according to her experience, she found that Akira was being serious there.
Carol was quite surprised. Although she was in a rather precarious situation, she ended up standing still in that place for a few seconds.
Akira more or less had the same thought as Carol. He had no time to deal with her in case she turned hostile in that situation. But there, rather than thinking that they had no other choice but to work together, Akira's line of thinking was so twisted that he chose to keep his distance away from others in case they started trying to kill each other for some reason.
"...I'm not really sure what's going on in your head, but if you're going to stay here, I'll go ahead and leave you."
"I won't pay you any money, you know?"
Even when Akira said those words that did not show any wish to compromise, Carol kept smiling.
"I know, that's why, how about we make a deal instead? If you escort me out alive, I'll not ask any payment for sharing the information about the backdoor, what do you think?"
"So you would give away that 5,000,000 Aurum information just for that? You're being rather generous here."
"Well, it's not like I can bring any money to the afterlife after all. That's why I don't plan to be stingy about it, I'll also pay for your ammo expense."
It was a good thing if Carol would help to escape that building, and Akira had nothing to complain about that deal. Thus he immediately replied.
Although it was a sudden request, it did not change the fact that it was still a request. So Akira answered back firmly.
"You don't even need to tell me. Since I've accepted that request, I'll be sure to do it properly."
"That sounds so reassuring."
As someone who had already explored that building several times in the past, Carol was able to navigate inside that building which had a complex layout without getting lost. As for the monsters that were closing up from behind, it was Akira's job to deal with them.
There were many Hunters whose age couldn't be determined with a look. Their body was the main tool for the Hunters, thus it was not rare for Hunters to take anti-ageing treatment to maintain their bodies in tip-top shape. The medicines that they consumed might also have effects on their cells. Sometimes, it accelerated their ageing, and sometimes, it had the opposite effect. Of course, they could reverse that through treatment, but there were Hunters who intentionally did not take that treatment.
There were also Hunters with full cyborg bodies, these Hunters had a completely different look compared to their ages. After all, cyborgs could switch their bodies as many times as they wanted, it was impossible to judge a cyborg's age solely from the looks. Because of those reasons, there were many Hunters who had completely different ages compared to their outer appearances.
[As expected of someone who can kill all the guardian monsters alone, he's indeed strong. It's rather amazing for someone his age. Well, that's of course if he's as young as he looks.]
"Say, Akira, how old are you?"
Carol thought that Akira simply did not want to answer that question.
But Akira casually replied.
"That's not it, I really have no idea. I don't know my own age, after all, I've spent quite a large portion of my life not even knowing the current date. And no one ever told me when I was born and how old I'm right now. That's why I don't know my own age."
Carol did not think that Akira was lying. Although it sounded as if he just casually answered back, it might be just him putting up a front. Whichever the case, it was not worth antagonizing him just to pursue that question, thus she asked a different question.
"By the way, have you been doing Hunter jobs for a long time? It's up to you to decide the starting line."
There were many Hunters who only started actively doing Hunter jobs years after they received their Hunter ID. There were also those who had been doing Hunter jobs for a long time before actually getting formally registered as Hunters. Then there were those who did not include the time when they were below Rank 10 in their history as Hunters.
Because of that, many Hunters had different time spans when they started doing Hunter jobs for real compared to how long they registered themselves as Hunters. Some of those Hunters were sensitive when asked about the period when they started working as Hunters. Because of that, Carol left it up to Akira to decide.
"Is that so? Then you're a fresh Hunter, huh. It's amazing for a fresh Hunter to be as skilled as you."
To be more precise, it was all thanks to Alpha. Akira thought that he did not lie there since he did get lucky for meeting Alpha.
"Oh my, luck is also a skill, you know? Especially for us who might get killed anytime."
"Is that so? Then it means that my skill has really gotten worse, huh."
"It's not a problem as long as you get to return back alive. You have no plans to die here too, right?"
"Of course."
Akira and Carol hurried up to escape the situation that they were in before they ran out of luck.
Thanks to Carol guiding him, Akira was able to quickly find the stairs to go up. But just like last time, he encountered a lot of locked doors preventing him from going further, and every time that happened, they had no other choice but to look for another stair in that floor.
"Why are there so many locked doors? Is it that someone is bullying us or something?"
"If it's really someone bullying us, that would be Seranthal then. According to her, as the manager of this building, this building is actually closed after all. So I bet that originally all of these doors were actually closed, the ones that are open must have been opened forcefully by someone in the past."
"Wait, does that mean that most of the doors on this floor are locked?"
Carol confirmed Akira's guess.
"Unfortunately, that's indeed the case. We're aiming for 45th floor, but once we reach the 40th floor, we'll have to change stairs every single floor up."
"I don't know who exactly opened these doors, but, did they do that intentionally to make it more difficult climbing this building? What a pain in the neck, what exactly were they thinking?"
"They might intentionally do that so they can sell the map of the layout at a high price."
The more difficult and confusing an area was, the higher the price of the map of that area. After hearing Carol's explanation, Akira thought that it did make sense as he sighed.
Akira and Carol were shooting back at the mechanical monsters chasing them while running. Thanks to Carol's precise guide, they were able to get to their destination in the shortest time and the monsters who tried to encircle them could not get ahead of them. It caused Akira and Carol to start assuming that the only monsters in that building were all behind them.
Although it was only for a few seconds, Akira lowered his watch to whatever that was in front of him. With all the monsters coming from behind him, he had no leeway of focusing his guard on what was in front of him. So, it would be unfair to consider that as carelessness.
But it did not change the fact that they did not put much attention to what was in front of them. It was then, something happened.
Akira was climbing the stairs past the 40th floor behind Carol who was right in front of him. When Carol saw that the door to the 41st floor was locked, she quickly turned to the door leading to the 40th floor.
The moment she stepped into the 40th floor, Carol immediately froze. Akira who came from behind her was also the same. There were already multiple mechanical monsters there waiting for them.
Those mechanical monsters had a long body, legs and arms extended out from those bodies, and there were rifles perched on their backs. Then to top it off, multiple monsters were watching that door where Carol and Akira just came out from.
The shock caused Carol to freeze up. There should not be any other way to reach the 40th floor except for this particular stairway that she and Akira just passed through, so Carol did not expect to find any monsters on that floor.
Akira was also surprised by that, he could not help but to freeze up too, although only for a few split seconds.
Everything happened in slow motion. When Carol saw the rifles of the monsters in front of her pointing at her, she realised that she had no chance in evading them. Strangely enough, she did not have the time to feel fear as she calmly assessed her situation.
Then in the next moment, Akira suddenly jumped into Carol's field of vision. He stood in front of Carol with his back facing the monsters as if he was covering her. And almost at the same time, she could hear gunshots coming from the monsters behind Akira.
Bullets showered Akira's back, his augmented suit went to full power to take in the impact of those bullets. Then, while still facing his back against the monsters and receiving the bullets, Akira turned his arm, which held his rifle, a bit past the limit of his joints and started shooting back at those monsters.
Akira was shooting back in a difficult position, normally, none of his shots would hit. But due to Alpha's support, Akira defied that logic and accurately shot the rifles perching on those monsters.
It did not even take 10 seconds for them to make short work of those monsters. When the shooting stopped, all the monsters were dead. Thanks to Akira covering her, Carol was unharmed. But then, Akira coughed out blood and fell to the ground.
"Akira, are you alright?!!"
Although the bullets could not pierce through Akira's augmented suit, his augmented suit could hardly dampen all the impact from those bullets. As a result, his inner organs were injured and blood was dripping out from his mouth.
Akira pushed himself away from the ground and spitted out all the blood that was left inside his mouth. He then put down his rucksack, pulled out his medicines, and quickly swallowed them. As expected of expensive medicines, they immediately went to action and showed their results.
Akira's face distorted in pain as he mumbled.
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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