118 たちの悪い女
キャロルはエレナ達と話すアキラの様子を横目で観察していた。
キャロルは自身の美貌が主観的にも客観的にも十分美人の
しかしアキラの態度にはキャロルとエレナ達で明確な差が存在していた。アキラは単純に女性に興味がないのではないか。そう判断していたキャロルがアキラ達を見て認識を改める。
(この差は何なのかしらね。少なくとも容姿等に大きな差はないはずだけど。付き合いの長さの差かしら? ある程度の付き合いがないと変な意味で奥手になってしまうとか? ......いや、何か違うわね)
キャロルの勘が浮かんだ仮定をあっさり否定する。しかし長年の他者との経験が方向性はある程度正しいとも判断する。そしてアキラを籠絡する足掛かりになるかもしれないとも考える。
アキラが単純に異性の色香に惑わされないだけならば、少々遠回りでも攻め方を変える必要があるだろう。キャロルはそう判断して取りあえずこの感覚を忘れないようにした。
(まあ、焦る必要はないわね。まだ会って2日目だし、アキラとの縁を切らせないように注意しながらじっくりやりましょう)
「悪い。遅れたか」
エレナが答える。
「大丈夫よ。ほぼ時間通り。遅れてはいないわ。それで、随分機嫌が悪そうだけど、何かあったの?」
「大丈夫だ。問題ない」
「大丈夫で問題がないのなら、チームのリーダーとして理由ぐらいは聞いておきたいのだけど」
「......俺がミハゾノ街遺跡にいる以上、形式的にでもドランカムの派遣部隊に加わるように催促されただけだ。それで、それを断るのに手間取った。それだけだ」
シカラベはその程度のことを説明するだけで機嫌を損ねるほどまでに、形式的な扱いだけでもカツヤの配下になるのが嫌なようだ。
エレナとサラが苦笑する。シカラベのカツヤ嫌いを理解して、実感して、ある程度の共感もしているのかもしれない。
キャロルが少し意外そうな表情を浮かべる。キャロルが知るシカラベは、限度はあるにしろ仕事と私情を切り分けられる人間だ。形式だけならば実害もないだろう。その程度のことなら受け入れても不思議はない。そのシカラベがここまで私情を優先させるのは珍しい。それを不思議に思い、そのシカラベにその程度のことすら拒ませるカツヤという人物に少し興味を持った。
アキラは別段表情を変えていない。ドランカム内部の
アキラ達は次の依頼の説明を済ませると、再びミハゾノ街遺跡への内部へ突入した。
アキラ達が順調に救出依頼を進めていく。選ぶ依頼の難易度を落としたこともあり、遺跡の狭い場所で大量のモンスターに囲まれるような事態もなく、強力な機械系モンスターとの遭遇もない。救出したハンター達を乗せて遺跡の内部とハンターオフィスの出張所の往復を繰り返した。
依頼の難易度を下げたことで依頼の単価も相応に下がっていたが、その分だけ完遂した依頼の数を積み上げられた。報酬の累計は依頼の危険度を考慮に入れれば十分荒稼ぎと言っていい。アキラ達が受ける依頼の難易度を下げた所為で割を食った者達がいたかもしれないが、冒した危険を効率良く金に換えるのもハンター稼業の腕前だろう。
アキラ達が休憩を挟んで救出依頼を続けていると、再び日が落ち始める時刻となった。ミハゾノ街遺跡が再び夜の闇に飲み込まれようとしている。
ハンターオフィスの出張所の近くまで戻ってきたアキラ達は、車から降りて集まり今後の予定の相談をしていた。
全員疲労の色が見え隠れしている。特にエレナ達は前日から働き続けているのだ。そろそろしっかりした休息が必要だろう。
エレナが僅かに疲労の色を見せながら話す。
「それでは、明日以降もこのメンバーで続けるってことで一度解散ね。何かあったら連絡して」
シカラベが話す。
「俺はドランカムの都合でクガマヤマ都市に戻らずにミハゾノ街遺跡に残る。最低でも広域の通信圏内にいるはずだから連絡に問題はない。アキラ。お前は通信回線を安値のやつからしっかり変えておけよ」
アキラが少し気になって尋ねる。
「残るって、まだ続けて遺跡に潜る気なのか?」
「そんなわけがあるか。ドランカムが設置した簡易拠点で休む。一々都市に戻らずに済むように、ドランカムが設置した拠点がこの近くにある。都市との往復にも時間が掛かるからな。まあ、俺は装甲兵員輸送車の中で寝ても良いんだが、
サラが話す。
「私達も近くの簡易ホテル、トレーラーハウスのやつに泊まるのよね。ということは、都市に戻るのはアキラ達だけか......」
エレナ、サラ、シカラベの視線がアキラとキャロルに集まる。
エレナがアキラを見ながら思案する。
(アキラ1人なら私達の部屋に泊めても良いのだけどね。サラも反対はしないと思うし。ただ......)
にアキラの連れってだけで、よく分からない人物まで一緒に泊めるわけにはいかないわね。エレナも嫌がると思うし)
エレナとサラがお互いを横目で見る。2人とも長い付き合いだ。相手が恐らく同じことを考えていることぐらいは理解できた。
「私も都市に戻るわ。アキラ、送ってもらえる?」
アキラはシカラベの態度を少し疑問に思ったが、いろいろあるのだろうと考えて特に気にしないことにした。エレナ達に軽く頭を下げて話す。
「それでは、俺はこれで戻ります。明日も
「気を付けて帰りなさい。戻ったらゆっくり休んで」
「都市に戻るまで油断しちゃ駄目よ?」
アキラとキャロルが車に戻る。アキラ達はエレナ達に軽く手を振って見送られながらクガマヤマ都市に向けて出発した。
アキラ達が去った後でエレナがシカラベに尋ねる。
「シカラベ。この後少し時間を取れない?」
「用件次第だ。俺も疲れた。早めに休みたい」
「キャロルについて少し聞きたいだけよ。知り合いなんでしょう?」
予想通りの内容にシカラベが少し険しい表情を浮かべる。エレナ達がそのシカラベを見て
エレナとサラが表情を少し困惑気味に険しくさせる。エレナがシカラベに尋ねる。
「非常に問題のある人物にしか聞こえないんだけど?」
「解釈は任せる。そして問題のある人物であっても、その問題が俺達の当面の短期的なハンター稼業に強い悪影響を必ずしも与えるとは限らないってことだ。自分からあいつを誘ってチームに加える気はないが、誰かが連れてきたのなら、十分な戦力になるのは間違いないから追い出す気にもならない。それだけだ。同行者としての義理の分は話した。この話の続きは後で、少なくとも今回の依頼が終わった後にしてくれ。じゃあな」
エレナとサラが顔を見合わせる。一度問題なしと判断したキャロルの扱いが大いに揺らいだことはお互いの表情から容易に読み取れた。
アキラはキャロルを出発時に待ち合わせた場所まで送り届けた。車から降りたキャロルがアキラに背を向けて軽く伸びをする。そして振り返ってアキラへ
アキラが首を横に振る。
「いや、帰る。俺は自分の家で休まないと、しっかり休んだって気にならないんだ」
キャロルが苦笑気味に不敵に笑ってそう話すと、アキラも少し不敵に笑って答える。
「今のところは脈無しか。ま、気長にやりましょう」
籠絡する過程を楽しむのも久しぶりだ。キャロルはそう思い、楽しげに笑った。
い湯船に首元まで身を浸して心身を癒やしている。既に装備の整備や食事は済ませた。入浴後はベッドの上に倒れ込んで眠るだけだ。心身ともにしっかりと癒やして明日のハンター稼業に備えるのだ。
アキラの意識は緩みきっており、ある意味無心の状態だ。アキラの好みを多分に取り入れた絶世の美女が一糸
アルファは浴槽に胸の谷間の辺りまで身を浸していた。そのアルファが不意に立ち上がり、浴槽の縁に腰掛ける。今まで肢体の大半の部分が水面の揺らぎで屈折してぼやけていたが、湯船から出たことで膝より上を隠すものは、したたり落ちる水滴のみと僅かな湯気のみとなった。
アルファが大きく動いたことで、アキラは無意識にアルファの姿を目で追った。芸術的なまでに美しいアルファの肢体を無意識にじっと見て、興味を失ったように視線を前に戻した。
そのアキラの様子を見て、アルファが軽く笑いながら話す。
『この裸体を前にしてその反応。アキラの中の色気と食い気が逆転するのは当分先になりそうね』
女性の裸体に少々慣れさせすぎたかもしれない。アルファはそうも判断したが、必要経費と割り切ることにした。アルファ自身の美貌も無効にしてしまったかもしれないが、別の女性の色香に惑わされるよりはましだ。アキラに与える別の利益、アルファのサポートの価値を相対的に高められたと判断した。
『分かったわ。後でね。それはそれとして、明日以降の話をアキラに聞きたいのだけれど、アキラはいつまでエレナ達に付き合うつもりなの?』
「いつまでって聞かれても......、特に考えてない。区切りの良いところまでになるんじゃないか? エレナさん達もミハゾノ街遺跡の救援依頼をずっと引き受け続けるわけじゃないだろう」
『不都合があるわけではないけれど、私としてはアキラに私の依頼を達成してもらうためにも、アキラには要人救出の技能よりも遺跡攻略の技能を磨いてほしいのよ。付け加えると、私が依頼している旧世界の遺跡を攻略する時には、アキラ1人で遺跡に潜ることになるわ。そのためにもアキラには集団行動の技能より個人行動の技能を磨いてほしい。それだけよ』
「ああ、そういうことか」
アキラが少し言い訳がましく答える。
「......ま、まあ、ちゃんと報酬は手に入るし、その報酬は遺跡攻略に必要な装備を買う費用になるんだ。今は金を稼ぐ期間だと考えれば、悪くはないんじゃないか?」
アルファが意味深に、釘を刺すように
既に日は昇っている。ミハゾノ街遺跡に到着する頃には、朝とは呼べない時刻になっているだろう。十分に休息できたので昨日の疲労はすっかり取れている。アキラの体調は万全だ。
キャロルは助手席で仮眠を取っている。キャロルは仮眠を取る前に、気が向いたら眠っている自分に手を出しても良いと、軽く笑って告げていた。アキラはそれを軽く流した。
キャロルの整った顔立ちに浮かぶ無防備で穏やかな素朴な寝顔は、起きている時のキャロルとは随分違う印象をアキラに与えていた。
アキラがキャロルの姿を少々興味深そうに見ていると、アルファが
『確かにそうね。でもアキラも似たようなものだと思うわ。少なくとも最近はね』
『そうなのか? まあ、自分の寝顔なんか自分では分からないからな。......最近は?』
『私と出会った頃のアキラは、寝ている時もどこか周囲を警戒しているような表情をよくしていたわ。眠りも浅い様子だった。でも最近のアキラは私が起こさない限り無防備に眠りこけているわね。起きている時のアキラとは随分印象が違っているわよ』
今は外敵のない家の中の柔らかなベッドの上で、何かあればアルファが起こしてくれるだろうと考えて安心して眠りに就いている。アキラの印象の違いは、その違いなのだろう。
(......今更ながら、随分
アキラはかつての生活との差異を思い浮かべながら少しだけ苦笑した。
ミハゾノ街遺跡が遠景に見え始めた辺りで、アキラがキャロルを揺すって起こす。
キャロルはすぐに目を覚ました。アキラを見て
「......着いたの?」
「ああ。もうすぐ集合地点だ」
キャロルは身を起こして軽く伸びをすると笑って尋ねる。
「それで、手を出した?」
「あら残念。手を出してもちゃんと寝たふりをしてあげたのに」
「寝たふりだったのか?」
相手が眠っている上に相手の許可があっても手を出さない相当な難物。キャロルはアキラをそう判断した。キャロルの経験からでは少し考えにくい人物である。
(ハンター稼業の方面からじっくり信用を得る方が早そうね。頑張りますか)
やはりアキラを軽い色仕掛けから籠絡するのは難しそうだ。気兼ねなく付き合える仲になってからじっくり攻めた方が良いかもしれない。キャロルはそう判断して、アキラの籠絡手段を少し修正した。
アキラ達が合流場所に到着する。合流時刻にはまだ大分早いが、既にエレナ達4人が合流場所でアキラ達を待っていた。エレナ、サラ、シカラベ、そしてもう1人、アキラと同世代の少年のハンターがシカラベの隣に立っている。
アキラ達は車から降りてエレナ達に合流する。エレナが話し始める。
しくね......と言う前に、シカラベから話があるわ」
「俺の都合でチームに1人加えることになった。ドランカム所属のハンターで、ハンターランクは......、お前、今ランク幾つだっけ?」
「ハンターランクは30です。トガミといいます。今日は
「アキラ。こいつを加えることに関して不服があるなら遠慮なく言ってくれ。最大限考慮はするぞ?」
シカラベは意味ありげな視線をアキラに送っている。アキラは少し戸惑いながらエレナ達に尋ねる。
「私はその辺の判断をエレナに任せているし、エレナはアキラ達が嫌がらないなら構わないって判断したわ。だから後はアキラ達次第なの」
「嫌なら遠慮なく言ってちょうだい。多数決を取る気はないわ」
エレナとサラはたとえシカラベの紹介であってもアキラの不満を抑え込んでまでトガミを加えるつもりなどない。昨日の5人で問題なく救出依頼を達成できることは確認済みなのだ。
だが同時にアキラが反対しないのならばトガミの合流を拒否する気もない。シカラベが連れてきた人員である配慮と、昨日アキラが連れてきたキャロルの加入を認めた前例と、エレナ達の判断をシカラベの口実にさせないためだ。
シカラベが嫌々であっても連れてきた人物ならば、足を引っ張らない程度の最低限の実力はあるのだろう。昨日苦戦した場面もあったのだ。戦力の増強は歓迎するべきだ。エレナは少々悩んでぎりぎりそう結論を出していた。
アキラが断ればトガミの加入は流れるようだ。それを理解した上で少し考えてから答える。
「俺は構いません。俺も昨日キャロルを連れてきたわけですから」
「報酬の分配方法を再度調整する必要はあるの?」
「ないわ。キャロルの報酬をアキラが支払うように、トガミの報酬はシカラベが支払う。指示系統も含めてトガミの扱いはキャロルと同じよ」
「それなら私も問題ないわ。私が何かした場合の責任をアキラが取るように、トガミが何かした場合の責任はシカラベが取ってくれるんでしょ?」
アキラはシカラベの態度が少し気になり、そのことをアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ。俺は何か変なことを言ったか?』
『違うわ。恐らくアキラにトガミの同行を断ってほしかったのよ』
『シカラベが連れてきたのにか?』
『組織の意思と所属している人間の意思が一致しないことぐらい幾らでもあるわ。シカラベはトガミを加えたくない。でも組織のしがらみでそれを断れない。だから、他の同行者が強硬に反対したから駄目だった、そういう理由が欲しかったのかもしれないわ』
エレナもシカラベの態度には気付いていたが、そのことには踏み込まずに話を進める。
「それでは決まりね。この6人で依頼を進めましょう」
め事に関わる気はない。シカラベから断るように裏で頼まれたわけでもない。シカラベがトガミに関して責任を負い、報酬分配にも影響しない以上、それなりに実力のあるハンターがチームに加わるのは有益だ。ならばリーダーとしてトガミの加入を断る理由はない。エレナは感情的にならないように注意しながら再度そう結論付けた。
アキラ達はエレナから救出依頼の説明を受けて、昨日と同じようにミハゾノ街遺跡に入っていった。
Ch 118
Carol was keeping her eyes on Akira as he was talking with Elena and Sara.
Carol was, objectively and subjectively speaking, a beautiful girl. And even when they were compared to her, both Sara and Elena were pretty beautiful too. So, looking from the outlook alone, Sara and Elena were not that much different from Carol.
But even so, Akira reacted very differently when he was with Elena or Sara compared to when he was with her. Carol thought that Akira had no interest in girls at all, but now she had to change her opinion after seeing that.
[I wonder where this difference comes from? Is it just because he has known both of them for longer? Is it just that he's bad at dealing with people that he doesn't know very well...? No, I don't think that's the case.]
Carol immediately rejected the guess that came up in her mind. Thanks to her long experience dealing with a lot of people, she at least knew that she was heading in the right direction and that might give her a hint on how to seduce Akira.
If it was only because Akira had never experienced the allure of the opposite sex, then she might need to find another way to approach him. As Carol thought so, she decided to keep that in mind, at least for now.
[Well, there's no need to rush myself. It has only been 2 days since we met. I'll just slowly and carefully approach him to make sure that he won't cut his relation with me.]
"Sorry, am I late?"
Elena replied.
"Don't worry, you're not late, you came just on time. So then, you look pretty annoyed though, what happened?"
"Nah, it's nothing."
"If it's really nothing, as the team leader, I at least want to know the reason, alright?"
"...Since I'm here in Mihazono ruin right now, the people in Drankam are telling me to at least join the Drankam team even if it's on name only, and it was not easy refusing them. That's all."
It seemed that Shikarabe really did not want to work under Katsuya even if it was only on paper to the point that he even hated the idea of explaining it to other people.
Elena and Sara smiled bitterly. Both of them understood Shikarabe's hatred toward Katsuya and they knew well that he really hated Katsuya's gut. As in matter of fact, there might be a part of them that sympathized with Shikarabe.
Carol smiled smugly, she knew very well that Shikarabe was a man who would not allow his personal feelings to get in the way of his job. Getting himself in a Drankam team in name only, would not cause him any loss, thus, it was only to be expected if Shikarabe accepted that demand. So, the fact that he did not do that showed that he was prioritizing his personal feeling, which was indeed a very rare thing for him. Carol thought that it was indeed strange and made her wonder who was this Katsuya who caused Shikarabe to even go that far.
Akira himself did not show any particular reaction. After all, for him, the in-fighting in the Drankam was none of his business as long as it did not cause any trouble for him or the other people that he cared for.
After they finished a short briefing of their next request, they then headed back into Mihazono ruin.
They did not find any particular trouble from there. Since they decided to lower the difficulty of the rescue requests that they accepted, they did not have to fight a swarm of monsters in narrow places nor they got to encounter any relatively powerful monsters. They just went back and forth from the Hunter Office branch to the Mihazono ruin to escort the Hunters that they rescued without any trouble.
Since they took easier requests, the reward that they received from each request was lowered too. But it was compensated by the number of requests that they took. So, looking at the total rewards that they got that day, considering the difficulty of the request, it could be said that they were making a killing here. There might be some Hunters who had to suffer because they started taking easier requests instead, but that was not their fault since being able to effectively convert risks into profit was one of the essential skills for Hunters.
As they kept the cycle of taking rescue requests and small breaks, the sun eventually set, and Mihazono ruin was once again veiled in by the darkness of night.
Elena and her team returned and parked their vehicles somewhere near the Hunter Office branch, they then stepped off from the vehicles and discussed what to do next.
Everyone there looked tired. Especially Elena, Sara, and Shikarabe who had been rescuing Hunters since the previous day, they needed to take a proper rest soon.
Elena looked obviously tired as she said.
"So then, let's break up here and meet up again tomorrow to work together with the same members again. Make sure to let others know if anything comes up."
Shikarabe then said.
"I have some stuff that I need to do for Drankam, so I won't be returning back to the city, instead, I'll stay here in Mihazono ruin tonight. I'll still stay inside the connection range, so there shouldn't be any problem contacting me. Akira, you should really change your connection service from that cheap line soon."
Akira thought of something and said.
"Wait, you'll stay here? Are you still planning to go to the ruin again?"
"Even for me, I have no plans to go to the ruin again for the rest of the day. I'll be staying in a Drankam facility nearby. Drankam actually built a temporary base nearby so their Hunters don't have to go back and forth from the city. After all, it'll take quite a lot of time to go on a round trip from the city. Well, it's true that I can just sleep inside the APC, but since there's a bed in that facility, it would be a waste not to use it."
Sara then said.
"We'll also stay somewhere nearby, to be more precise, in one of those trailer houses. Which means... The ones heading back to the city are only Akira and Carol, huh..."
Elena, Sara, and Shikarabe turned to Akira and Carol.
Elena looked at Akira and thought.
[If he was alone, I wouldn't mind inviting Akira too, and I'm sure that Sara isn't against it either, but...]
[...Of course, there's no way I can invite Carol too since I don't know her that well, and I'm sure that Elena would not want that too.]
Elena and Sara glanced at each other, both of them knew each other and had been together for a long time. It did not take much for them to understand what the other person was thinking.
"I'll head back to the city too. Akira, can you give me a ride?"
Akira was a bit bothered by Shikarabe's reaction. Although he was sure that there must be a reason for that, he simply decided to just forget about it. He then lightly bowed to Elena and Sara.
"Well then, I'll be heading back now. I'll be in your care again tomorrow."
"Be careful on your way back home, and make sure to get a good rest when you get home."
"Don't drop your guard yet until you reach the city, okay?"
Akira and Carol returned back to Akira's vehicle. They then waved at the other Hunters who would stay behind and left that place.
After Akira and Carol left, Elena turned to Shikarabe and asked.
"Shikarabe, do you have some free time after this?"
"It depends. I'm really tired so I want to get a good rest as soon as possible."
"It's about Carol, I want to know more about her. You're acquainted with her, right?"
Shikarabe's face turned stern, his guess was correct. Elena and Sara who saw that were a bit surprised.
After hearing that answer, Elena and Sara made a troubled face. Elena then asked Shikarabe a question.
"Uhhh, she sounds like nothing but trouble though?"
"I leave it to you how you want to interpret it. And even if it's true that she's a problematic person, that doesn't mean that her problem might cause us any trouble in this short time span when we're working together. It's true that I won't invite her to my own team, but if someone else is bringing her along, I won't kick her out since she's pretty strong herself. That's all that I can say as a team member. If you want to know more about her, I'll tell you but only after we finish this request. See you tomorrow then."
Elena and Sara looked at each other. It was obvious looking from their face that they had no idea how to treat Carol now. At first, they thought that Carol was someone who would not cause any trouble, but that did not sound to be the case now.
Akira gave Carol a ride all the way to where they met up before going to the Mihazono ruin. Carol stepped off the vehicle and stretched her body while facing away from Akira. She then spun around and smiled at him.
Akira shook his head.
"No thanks, I'll go back home. I can't really relax unless I'm in my own home, you see."
Carol smiled confidently at Akira, which Akira returned back with the same smile, filled with confidence.
"No reaction at all even now, huh. Well, let's be patient here."
Carol thought it had been quite a while since the last time she felt pleasure in trying to seduce someone as she smiled amusedly.
Akira went straight for the bath when he got back home. He enjoyed the warm water as he dipped his body up to his neck inside the bath while letting the warm water heal his tired body. He had already finished cleaning up and taking care of his equipment before taking a bath. So he could just dive into his bed and sleep after the bath. Thus, fully recovering both his body and mind to face tomorrow.
Akira was more or less in a daze, or it could even be said that he was in a trance. Although there was a beautiful girl with a body that was adjusted to his preference taking a bath together with him without even a slip of cloth on her body, he barely paid any attention to her. This in itself could be said to be a not healthy situation.
Alpha, who dipped her body up until around the cleavage of her chest, suddenly stood up without showing any embarrassment and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Her beautiful figure that was blurred by the shaking of the water surface was in full view right now. The only thing that hid her body above her knees was the steam from the warm water and the water droplets sliding down her skin.
Since Alpha suddenly moved, Akira reacted to that and turned to her direction. He locked his gaze on Alpha's extremely enticing body for a few seconds before returning his gaze forward as if he just lost his interest.
Alpha, who saw that, smiled at Akira and said.
"That reaction even when you're in front of this beautiful body. It seems that it'll take some time until the priority between girls and food in your brain switch places, huh."
As Alpha thought that Akira might have gotten too used to naked girl's body, she thought to herself that it was a necessary sacrifice. It might have rendered her beauty ineffective, but it was way better than having Akira seduced by someone else. So in order to compensate for that, she decided to improve her support for him.
"Got it. I'll save it for later. So, putting that aside, I want to ask something though, how long are you planning to work together with Elena and Sara?"
"Even if you ask me so... I haven't really thought about it. I guess until I find a good point to stop, huh? I'm sure it's not like Elena-san and Sara-san are going to keep taking the SOS emergency request in the Mihazono ruin forever either."
"It's not like I have any problem with it, but honestly speaking, in order to get you to accomplish the request from me, I rather choose for you to polish your skill in exploring ruins rather than saving people. If I can add more, you'll have to be alone when you go to the ruin that I want you to explore. Because of that, I want you to get more skilled in working alone rather than in a team."
"Ohh, I see."
Akira then replied as if he was trying to make excuses.
"...W-well, I get properly paid and then I can use that money to buy equipment I need to explore the ruins. If you think of it as a period for me to gather money, it's not that bad, yes?"
Alpha smiled at Akira, but that smile was giving a vibe as if she was scolding him.
The sun was already up when they reached the Mihazono ruin, it was already well past morning. Akira got a good rest yesterday, thus he was back in his perfect condition.
Carol was sleeping in the driver assistant's seat. Before she went to sleep, she smiled and told Akira that he was free to do anything to her while she was sleeping, but he just ignored her.
Akira thought that Carol looked so defenseless when she was sleeping, which was different compared to when she was awake.
He looked at Carol as if he was interested in her. Seeing that, Alpha smiled at him and said as if she was scolding him.
"Hmm, you're right about that. But it's the same for you too, or at least, that's the case lately."
"Is that so? Well, it's not like I can see my own sleeping face though... And what about that 'lately'?"
"When the first time I met you, it seemed like you always kept one eye open to watch for your surroundings, and you never fell too deep to your sleep. But lately, you've been defencelessly sleeping so deeply as long as I don't wake you up. So you too look very different when you sleep compared to when you're awake lately."
But right now, he could sleep on a comfy bed inside a house with an outer wall, moreover, Alpha would definitely wake him up if something came up. That was why he could sleep peacefully lately.
[...Now that I think about it, I'm living a pretty luxurious life now.]
Akira smiled bitterly as he once again realized how much his lifestyle had changed.
When Mihazono ruin finally came to his view, Akira shook Carol to wake her up.
Carol immediately woke up, she looked at Akira and mumbled.
"...We've arrived?"
"Yeah, the meeting point is just ahead."
Carol lightly stretched out her body to wake herself up as she smiled and said.
"So then, did you do something to me?"
"Oh my, that's just too bad. There's nothing to worry about, even if you do something, I'll at least still pretend to be asleep."
"Wait, you were pretending?"
Carol thought that Akira was indeed a difficult person to seduce since he would not do anything to her even when she slept next to him and had already properly given him her permission to mess with her when she was asleep. That was rather unthinkable according to her experience.
[It seems that it's faster if I win his trust through doing good work as a Hunter, huh. I guess I'll put extra effort than usual this time.]
Carol thought that it seemed to be highly unlikely for her to be able to seduce Akira with light teasing. It might be faster to try seducing him again once she won his trust. As she thought so, she made the required adjustment in her plan.
Akira and Carol finally arrived at the meeting point. They arrived there way sooner than the meeting time, but Elena and the other 3 Hunters were already waiting. The extra Hunter was a young Hunter around the same age as Akira, he was standing next to Shikarabe.
Akira and Carol stepped off from Akira's vehicle and met up with Elena and the rest. Elena opened the conversation first.
"It seems that everyone is here. So yeah, let's work together again today... But before that, Shikarabe has something to say."
"Because of my situation, I had to bring one more person. He's a Hunter from Drankam and his Hunter Rank is... Hey, what is your Hunter Rank, again?"
"It's 30. My name is Togami, I'll be in your care today."
"Akira. If you have anything to complain about bringing this guy along, there's no need to hold back. You can say anything you want, I'll take it for consideration, you know?"
Shikarabe looked at Akira as if he was trying to send some kind of message to him through telepathy. Akira was a bit confused by that, he instead turned to Elena and asked.
"I'm actually leaving that kind of thing to Elena and Elena decided that it's not a problem as long as the other Hunters have no problem with it too. That's why, in the end, it depends on you."
"If you don't like having him in the team, feel free to tell us. I have no plans to decide based on majority, so no pressure at all."
Even if Shikarabe recommended Togami, Sara and Elena had no plans to let Togami in the team if Akira had something to complain about him. After all, they confirmed from yesterday that they had no problem accomplishing the requests only with 5 of them.
But on the other hand, they also had no plans to reject Togami if Akira was not against it. After all, it was the person that Shikarabe himself brought and Akira also did bring Carol to the team yesterday. So Elena could not reject Togami using that kind of excuse.
If it was someone that Shikarabe brought, even though he did not want to do that, that person would at least be skilled enough as not to slow down the team. Not to mention, they had a hard battle yesterday, thus it was a good thing to get more help. Thus, after a lot of thinking, Elena decided to accept Togami to the team.
Akira understood that if he rejected the idea of having Togami in the team, Togami might actually get kicked out of the team. Thus he thought carefully without saying anything.
"I don't mind having him on the team. After all, I also brought Carol to the team yesterday."
"Is there any need to readjust the reward distribution then?"
"Nope. Just like how you're paid from Akira's share of reward, Togami will be paid from Shikarabe's share of reward. He'll also prioritize Shikarabe's command just like you to Akira."
"In that case then, I have no complaint either. After all, since Akira will take responsibility if I mess up, Shikarabe too will take responsibility if he messes up, right?"
Akira was a bit bothered by how Shikarabe was acting there, so he decided to ask Alpha.
"Alpha, did I say anything strange here?"
"Nope, I think he was hoping that you would be against having Togami in the team."
"But he was the one who brought Togami here, right?"
"It's common when a Hunter has a different opinion than the people in the organization that Hunter is in. Shikarabe actually doesn't want to bring Togami along, but he could not refuse the order from the gang that he's in. That's why he was hoping he could refuse that order with an excuse that most of the other Hunters in his team are against it."
Elena also noticed Shikarabe's reaction there, but she decided to just ignore that as she continued talking about today's job.
"That's decided then. Let's go with these 6 people today."
She had no plans to get involved in the in-fighting in the Drankam and it was not like Shikarabe asked her to reject Togami. Since Shikarabe would be responsible for him and as long as it would not affect the reward distribution, it was a good thing to have another skilled Hunter in the team. Thus, as the team leader, she had no reason to reject Togami. Elena tried not to include her personal feelings when she decided that.
They then accepted an SOS emergency request and went to the Mihazono ruin again, just like the day before.
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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