『このビルはセランタルビルっていう名前なのか』
『フロア案内があるわ。57階。リオンズテイル社ミハゾノ支店。ここね』
『行くか。旧世界の遺物がたっぷり有れば良いんだけどな。今のところは大赤字だ』
アキラはまだ何一つ金目のものを手に入れていない。消費した弾薬類に見合う何かを手に入れなければ、命賭けで大赤字を垂れ流しにきたことになってしまう。
り着いたのだ。きっと高価な遺物が大量に有るはずだ。アキラはそう思い込んで不安を和らげていた。
アルファが一応アキラに提案する。
『汎用討伐依頼の撃破記録にさっきの戦闘で倒した機械系モンスターの分を加えれば、そこそこの報酬になるはずよ。やっぱりあれも加えておく?』
考えすぎかもしれないが、アキラはクズスハラ街遺跡でヤラタサソリの群れからハンター達を助けた時に少々頑張りすぎたことで、それを評価されたためにヤラタサソリの巣がある地下街に放り込まれる羽目になったのだ。
あの無人兵器を撃破した実績を評価されたら次はどんな依頼がくるのか分からない。ビルの屋上から飛び降りて側面を走りながら戦うなどという少々常軌を逸した
『そう? あのキバヤシとかいう職員に渡せば、大笑いで報酬に色を付けてくれそうだけれど』
アキラが即答した。キバヤシを爆笑させるためにハンター稼業をしているわけではないのだ。
『とにかく中に入って57階を目指そう。ビルの中にも機械系モンスターがいるかもしれないけど、外にいたようなやつは
レイナ達がミハゾノ街遺跡で機械系モンスターを狩っている。シオリの提案でミハゾノ街遺跡の難易度を肌で感じるためにも、遺物収集より狩りを優先させているのだ。
ハンターオフィスの派出所から余り離れなければ、万一の事態が発生しても緊急依頼を出して救援を得やすい。シオリがレイナを少し過保護気味に扱っていることもあり、一行は遺跡の奥に進まずにハンター稼業に精を出していた。
厳密には、ハンター稼業に精を出しているのはレイナだけだ。シオリはレイナの付き添いとして、自分の働きをレイナと同程度に抑えていた。つまり意図的にかなり手を抜いていた。これはシオリがあっという間に敵を撃破して、索敵も完璧に実施して、レイナをただの足手
「......うん。ありがとう」
シオリの言葉は世辞ではない。それはレイナも理解している。しかしいろいろあって自己評価を低く捉える傾向が出ていたレイナは、明確な実力者であるシオリから褒めの言葉を聞いても、その程度のことを褒められるほどに自分の実力が低いと悪く考えてしまっていた。
なお本当にレイナの実力が低いのならば、シオリは絶対にレイナをこのミハゾノ街遺跡には連れてこない。主要なモンスターが機械系であるこの遺跡はなかなかの高難度なのだ。レイナの実力は彼女のハンターランクから想定する実力を明確に超えている。既にレイナはそこらの身の程知らずなどとは一線を画する実力者だ。
しかし身近な比較対象であるシオリとカナエが明確な戦闘訓練を受けた格上で、自分と似たような年頃のアキラがシオリと五分に渡り合っていた光景がレイナの記憶に焼き付いていた。その所為でレイナは自身の実力を無意識に軽んじていた。
そのレイナをシオリが僅かに痛ましそうに見ている。追加の称賛は逆効果だと判断して、シオリはそれ以上の口を閉ざした。
レイナは自分が倒した機械系モンスターをシオリと一緒に台車に運んだ。カナエはそれを手伝おうともしない。レイナが少し不服そうに嫌みっぽくカナエに話す。
「本当に、戦う気も手伝う気もないのね」
レイナからの非難の視線を受けても、カナエは全く気にせずに軽く笑って答える。
「お嬢。何度も言っている通り、私の仕事はお嬢の護衛であって、お嬢のハンター稼業の手伝いではないっすよ。いや、
「......それは、そうだけど」
「私の仕事は、万一の場合にお嬢を担いで逃げ帰ることっす。私を通常の戦力として扱うのは無しっすよ。機械系モンスターを運搬するのも自分でやってくださいっす。私はお嬢の護衛でとても忙しいっすよ。そんなことをしている暇は全く無いっす」
レイナはカナエの言い分に納得しながらも、どこか釈然としない気持ちと、護衛付きでハンター稼業を続けている自分への
シオリがレイナを擁護したい気持ちを抑えて、今はあえてカナエ側の意見を述べる。
「お嬢様。カナエはこれでもお嬢様の護衛として派遣される程度の実力は持っております。万一の場合の盾や命綱としてお考えください。そしてその盾や命綱が頑丈だからと、お嬢様に無理をさせるわけにはいきません。カナエが遊んでいられるほど、私達に余裕があるとお考えください」
「酷いっすね。ちゃんと給料分は働いているっすよ」
シオリが真面目な顔でカナエを見ながら話す。
「そうでなければ、
シオリの手は腰の刀に伸びていた。シオリは本気で言っていた。
それでもカナエの笑顔は崩れない。それはシオリがこの状況で刀を抜くことはないと理解しているからであり、同時に抜いたら抜いたで面白そうだと思っているからだ。しかも後者の比率が多かった。
め息を吐き、表情を戻してからレイナの方を向く。
「お嬢様。荷台もそろそろ満杯です。一度ハンターオフィスの出張所まで戻りましょう」
「分かったわ。......ん?」
レイナが視界の先に立ち上る煙を見つけた。その煙はミハゾノ街遺跡の奥にあるビルの周辺から立ち上っている。
シオリもレイナの反応で遺跡の奥から立ち上っている煙に気付いた。すぐに情報端末を取り出すと、ミハゾノ街の地図と照らし合わせて
シオリが確認を済ませてレイナに説明する。
「随分派手に戦っているみたいだけど、この遺跡の奥ってそんなに危険なの?」
「いえ、セランタルビルの周辺だけに、他の場所に比べて強力なモンスターが存在しているという話です。恐らくセランタルビル特有の警備システムが稼働しているのでしょう。警備装置は破壊されても
「カナエは黙ってなさい。お嬢様。たとえ警備のモンスターが存在していないとしても、セランタルビルに向かうのはお勧めいたしません」
シオリは真剣な表情でレイナを止めていた。レイナはそこに自分の実力不足以外の理由を感じて少し不思議そうに尋ねる。
「シオリがそう言うなら止めておくけど、どうして? 高価な遺物があって、モンスターもいないのなら、行く価値ぐらいはあると思うけど」
「お嬢様は、旧世界の亡霊、と呼ばれるものを御存じですか?」
わる怪談のことよね? 名の知れた遺跡に付きもののやつ。遺跡で死んだハンターの幽霊が他のハンターを襲う話。旧世界の幽霊が遺跡のモンスターを操って襲ってくる話。妖精が遺跡で迷ったハンターを出口まで送ってくれる話。いろいろなパターンがあったはずよ。クズスハラ街遺跡にもそんな話があったはず。確か、誘う亡霊......だったっけ? 高価な遺物の隠し場所を教えるとか言って、言葉巧みにハンターを遺跡の危険な場所に連れて行って死なせてしまう存在の話だったような......」
シオリが話を補足する。
「その類いの話で間違い御座いません。時には騒ぎが大きくなり、旧世界の遺跡に向かうハンターの足を大きく鈍らせることもあり、ハンターオフィスが調査に乗り出すことも御座います。調査結果の一部は公表されております。ハンター同士の遺物の奪い合いで死者が出た話に尾ひれが付いたもの、稼働中の遺跡の設備が原因のものなど、理由が判明してしまえば大したことではなかったものが大半です」
「まあ、よくある話よね。それがどうかしたの?」
「このミハゾノ街遺跡にもその手の怪談があります。そしてその怪談の舞台が、あのセランタルビルなのです。原因が何であれ、その手の話が生まれるほどの死人が出ているのです。そしてその理由も不明で、今も怪談のままなのです。お嬢様をそのような危険な場所に近づけるわけにはいきません」
レイナは少し怖くなり、同時にその話に興味も湧いた。恐る恐るシオリに尋ねる。
「分かった。行かないわ。それで、その怪談って、どんな話なの?」
シオリが真剣な表情を崩さずに怪談の内容を説明する。話の内容を聞いたレイナの表情が少し
『恐らくビルの設備が生きているのよ。自動操縦の清掃ロボットとかが定期的に掃除をしているのでしょうね。警備ロボットもいるかもしれないわ。注意してね』
次の瞬間、アキラはいつの間にか視界に増えていた女性の姿に気付き、反射的に銃を向けた。即座に発砲する距離ではなかったが、指は引き金に掛けたままだ。
アキラの表情は険しい。彼女がいる場所が、つい先ほど確認したはずの場所だったからだ。情報収集機器による索敵も怠っていない。そこには誰もいなかったはずだった。
彼女はアキラに銃を向けられても
もっとも旧世界製の衣服はその外見と性能がかけ離れていることも多く、見た目だけで判断するのは危険だ。少なくともアキラが非武装の彼女への警戒を緩める理由にはならない。
アルファが警戒を続けるアキラに説明する。
『アキラ。あれは立体映像よ。実在はしていないわ』
『実在していない? えっと、アルファと同じなのか? いや、ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡の地下室で見たやつと同じなのか?』
『私の姿はアキラの視界に映像情報を加えたもので、拡張現実に近いものだからいろいろ違うわ。あれは空間投影式の立体映像よ。普通の人間の肉眼で認識できるわ。でもそう見えるだけで実体は無いの。情報収集機器の反応でも、光学処理の反応だけが出ているはずよ』
アキラが情報収集機器の反応を確認する。そこには光学処理と赤外線や振動での処理結果に大幅な差分が存在しているので、該当箇所を注意するように示す表示が出ていた。
実在していないなら銃を向けても意味はない。そして急に襲いかかってくることもできないだろう。アキラはそう判断して銃を下ろした。
彼女は歩いてアキラの近くまで来ると、笑顔で会釈してからアキラに話しかける。
「お客様。当ビルは現在休館中でして、関係者以外立入禁止となっております。お引き取りください」
アキラは彼女の声をしっかり聞くことができた。少し驚きながらアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ。しっかり声が聞こえるんだけど、本当はいないんだよな?』
『彼女が近くで話しているように聞こえるだけよ。声の発生源はそこではないわ。擬似的な指向性を計算してどこかから音声を出力しているのよ』
情報収集機器の表示に、光学処理と音処理での結果の大幅な差異を示す表示が加わった。アキラには彼女が話しているように聞こえるが、実際はいろいろ違うようだ。
彼女の方から話しかけてくる以上、会話はできるのかもしれない。アキラは試しに話しかけてみる
「えっと、57階のリオンズテイルの支店に行きたいんだけど......」
「お客様。説明を繰り返させていただきます。当ビルは現在休館中で御座います。事前に来訪申請を済ませているお客様のために、1階受付フロアのみ解放しておりますが、基本的に全フロア立入禁止で御座います。お引き取りください」
彼女と会話ができることは確認できた。そしてこのビルから出て行ってほしいことも確認できた。
「来訪申請って、どうすれば良いんだ?」
「休館中の来訪申請は、各フロアの責任者からの申請のみを受け付けております。1階受付での直接の申請は受け付けておりません。お引き取りください」
アキラはその後もいろいろ彼女に聞いてみた。しかしアキラの質問に対する彼女の返事を要約すると、駄目だ、帰れ、であり有意義な情報を得ることはできなかった。
アルファが無益な交渉の中止を勧める。
『そうだな。進むか』
アキラは彼女を無視して進むことにした。アキラが周囲を軽く見渡して通路に進もうとすると、彼女が最後に強めの口調で声を掛ける。
「警告します。当施設は不法侵入者に対する殺傷権を保持しています。速やかに退去してください」
アキラが立ち止まる。そして振り返って少し険しい表情で彼女に話す。
「そういうことは、外のやつらが俺を襲う前に言え」
彼女は何も言い返さずに
『壊れているのか、使わせる気がないのか、どっちだと思う?』
『多分使わせる気がないのよ。使用できたとしても、余り使ってほしくないわ。乗ったら最後、二度と扉が開かなくて中で餓死するのは嫌でしょう? 強化服で扉をこじ開けるのも大変だわ』
アキラは諦めて1階の捜索中に見つけた階段に向かった。
くはいかなかった。ある程度登ると上階に進む階段が頑丈な扉で閉じられていたのだ。扉を強化服で蹴飛ばしたり、CWH対物突撃銃の専用弾で撃ったりして破壊することも可能だろう。しかし力尽くで進むと無駄な時間と労力が掛かりそうだ。アキラはその階を捜索して別の階段を探すことにした。
別の階段を発見したが、ある程度登ると同じように先が封鎖されていた。そのたびに別の階段を探してフロアを探索しながらビルを登っていく。
フロアの状態は様々だ。ハンターが根こそぎ遺物を持ち帰ったような荒れ果てたフロアもあれば、明日の開店を待つばかりのような綺麗な商店のフロアもある。アキラが大量の商品を残している店舗を見つけて目を輝かせる。その店舗は旧世界の遺物で
として作業を開始する。背負っていたリュックサックから小さく折り畳まれている別のリュックサックを取り出す。そして陳列されている旧世界の遺物をその中に詰め込んでいく。
場所が場所なら店舗に盗みに入った窃盗犯の光景だ。そして旧世界側の立場から見れば、アキラは間違いなく武装した窃盗犯だ。警備の機械系モンスターが殺す気で排除に来るのも当然だろう。
い言い分だ。そんな言い分で旧世界の遺物を盗んでいくハンター達を追い払うんだ。無人兵器ぐらい必要になるわけだな』
苦笑しながらそう話していたアキラが急にその苦笑を消す。そして旧世界の遺物を詰め込む手を止めてアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ。ちょっと聞きたいことがあるんだ。さっきの戦闘で破壊した機械系モンスター達のことなんだけど、アルファのサポートのおかげで倒せたけどさ、あれ、
いモンスターを、どうしてアルファは余裕で倒せるって判断したんだ? いや、確かに俺の負担は大きかったし弾薬も費やした。でも、予想通りに戦って、予想通りに勝った。アルファはそういう感じだった。あんな強いモンスターを相手にして、どういう判断で、何を根拠にして、問題なく勝てると判断したんだ?』
『あら、随分疑うのね。私のサポートに何か不満でも感じたの? 言ってくれれば改善するわよ?』
『いや、そうじゃない。不満なんかない。ただ、何というか、アルファは戦闘中も余裕で笑っていたし、100回戦っても100回勝てるって、絶対の判断をしているように思ったんだ。その根拠というか、理由が知りたかったんだ』
『知りたい?』
いつも通りの
『口答で説明すると非常に長くなるのだけれど......』
『俺の疑問が解決して納得できる程度に、できるだけ簡潔に
く要約すると、敵が機械系モンスターだったからよ。同程度の脅威度の生物系モンスターだったら、絶対に戦わせなかったわ』
『生物系と機械系でそんなに違いがあるのか?』
『あるのよ。少なくとも私がアキラをサポートする場合には明確な差が生じるわ。特にあの無人兵器類は純粋な機械系、設計書通りの構造でプログラム通りに動作する機械よ。自己修復と自律更新を繰り返して内部構造や判断ロジックを変質させるような、生物系を模したような変異がないの。そのおかげで敵の行動を読みやすいのよ。敵の行動にランダム性がほぼないから、少ない試行回数で最善手を計算しやすいの。
い知識では正確な理解は困難だが、その根拠となるものを何となく理解することはできた。
敵兵器の構造及び搭載されている制御装置に組み込まれているプログラムを事前に知ってさえいれば、戦闘シミュレーションにそれらを組み込むことで、非常に高精度な出力結果が得られる。アキラ側の動作はアルファによる強化服の操作で補正できる。戦闘を二人零和有限確定完全情報ゲームに可能な限り近づけることで、予知に近い最善手、最適解を取り続けていたのだ。
生物系モンスターではその演算が困難なのだろう。生物特有の変異や
アキラが理解の外にある部分を何とか解釈しようと悩みながら尋ねる。
『えっと、つまり敵の弱点や行動パターンとかを知っているから戦いやすい相手だったってことか?』
『まだ納得できない? もっと詳細に知りたい?』
『いや、十分だ。何だかよく分からない理由で楽勝だって判断したわけじゃないことは分かったからな』
『あら、失礼ね。私はあやふやな理由でアキラの安全を
『ああ。分かってる。ちょっと気になっただけだ。まあ、この旧世界の遺物の山に比べればどうでも良い話だ。危険だったが、危険に見合うものは手に入ったわけだしな』
『そうね。たっぷり持ち帰りましょう』
アキラは遺物運搬用のリュックサックに旧世界の遺物を詰め込む作業に戻った。
アキラの疑問は解決していない。正確には、元の疑問が解決したことで新たに浮かんだ疑問が未解決のままだ。アルファの判断の根拠はアキラも理解して納得した。しかし、その根拠を成り立たせるものを、
今では旧世界の遺跡と呼ばれる旧世界の工場で製造された無人兵器。その設計図や搭載されている制御装置に組み込まれているプログラムの詳細など、その手の重要な情報は、普通は秘匿されているはずだ。当時の人々であっても普通は知らないはずだ。その手の情報に精通しているのはごく限られた人間のはずだ。
アルファはなぜそれを知っているのか。聞けば分かるかもしれないそのことを、アキラは内心に湧いた疑問と好奇心を抑えつけて意図的に尋ねなかった。恐らくアルファはそれを聞かれるのを望まない。そう判断したからだ。
アルファはアキラに知りたいかと聞き返していた。アキラにはそれが、聞かれたくないことを聞かれないための、何らかの手段に思えてならなかった。
アルファには何らかの制限が存在している。アキラの許可を取らなければ実行できないこともある。他にもいろいろ制限があるのだろう。その制限の所為で、聞くな、とは言えなかったのではないか。回答を拒絶する返答をするために、知ると後悔する、と制限の範囲内で言い換えたのではないか。アキラにはそう思えてならなかった。
だからアキラは聞かなかった。尋ねてしまえば、それがアルファと敵対する切っ掛けになってしまいそうで、疑問と好奇心を頭の奥に追いやって蓋をした。
押し込んだ疑問と好奇心は既に結構
"So this building is Seranthal building, huh?"
"There's a map of the floors too. The Lion Steel Corp branch is on the 57th floor. This one."
"Let's go then. It would be great if we can find a lot of old-world relics there, I'm in a deep red right now."
Akira had not found anything that could bring him money that day yet. If he could not find anything to cover for his ammo expense, he would have risked his life for nothing and end up with a loss.
Akira tried to calm his worry by telling himself that since he had to take out all of those powerful autonomous weapons just to get there, there must be expensive relics inside that building.
Alpha suddenly made a suggestion to him.
"You should be able to get some money if you submit the record for that general monster-hunting request. So, do you want to do that?"
It might be just him overthinking it, but he remembered that he might have tried too hard when he helped out the Hunters in the Kuzusuhara underground ruin which ended up getting him sent into the Yarata Scorpion nest in the underground city.
No one could tell what kind of difficult request would get sent to him if the Hunter Office judged his skill based on that fight against the autonomous weapons. He had no wish to jump over a high building and run on its wall while shooting at the enemies again for the second time. Or at least, he had no wish to do that again unless it was really necessary.
"Is that so? Honestly speaking, if you give it to that Kibayashi guy, I'm sure he'll get a good laugh out of it and you can get an extra bonus on top of your reward."
Akira reacted almost immediately, it was not like he was working as a Hunter just to amuse Kibayashi.
"Let's just go in and head to the 57th floor for now. There might be some mechanical monsters inside but I'm sure they're not as powerful as the ones that we fought outside."
Reina and her 2 maids were hunting for monsters in the Mihazono ruin. Due to Shiori's suggestion, they focused more on hunting monsters rather than hunting relics in order to familiarize themselves with the danger level of Mihazono ruin.
As long as they stayed near the Hunter Office branch, they would be able to almost immediately send an emergency request in case anything bad happened. Due to Shiori's suggestion, they were being careful while doing their best hunting for monsters instead of relics.
But to be more precise, Reina was the only one who was trying really hard there. Shiori was only there to accompany Reina, so she was there to match Reina's movements. So in short, she was holding back. She actually could just quickly dispose of all of the monsters and explore the area but avoided doing so. Shiori's goal was to help Reina overcome her self-contempt, and realize that she was not a useless burden.
"...Yeah, thank you."
Reina knew well that it was not just empty lip service from Shiori. But since she was in self-deprecating mode, when someone as strong as Shiori complimented her, it sounded as if she was so weak to the point that doing something like that was enough to make Shiori compliment her.
In reality, if Reina's skill was indeed that low, there was no way Shiori would bring her to Mihazono ruin in the first place. After all, Mihazono ruin was a rather dangerous ruin filled with mechanical monsters. Reina was actually stronger than most of the other Hunters of the same Hunter Rank, she was basically stronger than common Hunters.
But not only was she surrounded by powerful people like Shiori and Kanae, who received proper training, the scene when Akira, who was more or less of the same age as her, fought evenly against Shiori was still on her mind. Because of that, Reina could not help but be disappointed in her own skills.
Looking at Reina, Shiori felt a pang of pain. She realized that her compliment was counter-effective, so she stopped herself there.
Reina then moved the leftover wreckage of the monsters that she defeated to a cart with help from Shiori. Kanae did not even offer her help. Reina looked a bit annoyed as she said to Kanae.
"You really won't give me any help, huh?"
Even when Reina was glaring at her, Kanae did not seem to care much as she smiled and replied.
"Milady, like I said so many times before. My duty is to ensure your safety, not helping out whenhunting monsters or carrying monsters. To be honest, Ane-san is also not obligated to do that, you know?"
"...Well, that's true, but still..."
"My duty is to get Milady away from danger in case anything bad happens. So, I hope you won't count me to always help you in all fights. And I also won't help to carry the dead mechanical monsters. I have my hands full with guarding you so I don't have any leeway to do something like that."
Reina understood Kanae's argument although she was not fully convinced by it. She directed a bit of that anger onto herself, for not being able to do her Hunter work without bodyguards. She made a conflicted face as she looked at Kanae. Kanae just lightly smiled while looking back at her.
Shiori suppressed her desire to defend Reina, instead, she expressed her opinion about Kanae.
"Milady, Kanae is someone skilled enough to be sent as Milady's bodyguard. Think of her as a shield or a lifeline in a dangerous situation. And just because that shield or lifeline is a very reassuring one, that does not mean that we can put Milady in needless danger. When she looks like she has nothing to do like that, it also means that we're in a rather safe situation where she can just relax."
"That's so cruel. I'll properly do my duty for which I'm paid for, you know?"
Shiori looked at Kanae with a serious face.
"Of course, if you're not, I would dice you to small pieces after all."
Shiori grabbed the sword that she was carrying, it seemed that she was being serious there.
But even so, Kanae was still smiling like usual. It was because she knew Shiori would not actually pull out her sword there, and even if she did, that in itself would be interesting too. Moreover, the possibility of the latter one was pretty high.
Shiori sighed exasperatedly, her expression returned back to normal as she turned to Reina.
"Milady. The cart is almost full. Let's head back to the Hunter Office first."
"Alright... Hm?"
Reina saw a cloud of smoke rising from afar. It originated from a tall building in the deeper part of Mihazono ruin.
Shiori also noticed smoke from watching Reina's reaction. She quickly pulled out her information terminal and checked the area that she guessed around where she saw that smoke. If it was some kind of dangerous anomaly, she would need to evacuate Reina from there as soon as possible. After all, anything could happen in an old-world ruin.
Shiori finished confirming the information and explained it to Reina.
"It seems that they're having a pretty big fight there. Is the inner part of this ruin really that dangerous?"
"No, it seems that the monsters near the Seranthal building are much stronger compared to the other monsters in the ruin. They might be a part of the security system dedicated to protecting that building. Since the monsters guarding that building will always get replenished after some time, there are not that many Hunters who can challenge that area. There are also rumours saying that we can find a lot of expensive relics inside that building."
"Kanae, just shut up. Milady, even if there are no monsters left around that building, I can't recommend going there."
Shiori stopped Reina while making a serious face. Reina felt that there was another reason other than her lack of skill as to why Shiori said that. So she curiously asked Shiori a question.
"Well, if you say that, I don't mind not going there. But why? If there are a lot of expensive relics there and there are no monsters around it, it should at least be worth a check, right?"
"Milady, have you ever heard about the old-world ghost?
"It's about that story of ghosts that roam the old-world ruin, right? They say that they only roam around famous ruins. There are a lot of different patterns about its story though. Some say that they're ghosts of the Hunters who died in the ruin and they would attack other Hunters. Or that they control monsters in the ruins to kill other Hunters. Or that they would guide Hunters who get lost inside a ruin to an exit. I heard that there's one in the Kuzusuhara ruin too, the beguiling ghost, was it again? If I'm not mistaken, it would lure Hunters into a dangerous area by baiting them with information of a secret place filled with relics just to get those Hunters killed, right...?"
Shiori then added to that.
"That's correct. Sometimes it causes a big ruckus that prevents the Hunters from exploring the ruins, there are even times when the Hunter Office dispatched a formal investigation. Most of the investigation results were made public, some of them said that it's just the Hunters trying to kill each other over relics, or it's caused by the still-active facilities inside a building. Basically, it's not a big mystery once the cause has been made clear."
"Well, that kind of story is not rare. So, what's with it?"
"There's a similar ghost story in this Mihazono ruin, and that story centres around that Seranthal building. Putting the cause aside, it's true that there are a lot of Hunters who died around that place and no explanation has been found even right now. As such, it still stays as a ghost story. We can't afford to let Milady go to such a dangerous place."
Reina started to get scared and curious at the same time, she then asked Shiori.
"Okay, let's not go there then. So, about that ghost story though, what kind of story is it?"
Shiori then started explaining about that ghost story to Reina with a serious face. Reina, who listened to that story, looked slightly scared.
"It seems that this building is still functioning well, so I bet the maintenance robots regularly clean this place. There might be some security robots too, so be careful."
Suddenly Akira spotted a girl, he quickly reacted by pointing his rifle at that girl. Although he did not instantly shoot, he had his finger ready on the trigger.
Akira's expression looked stern. He spotted that girl standing in a place that he had already checked beforehand. His information-gathering device also did not detect her at all, there should be no one over there.
Even when Akira pointed his rifle at that girl, she only smiled at him. She was wearing an old-world dress that might have been used to welcome guests as a receptionist, one thing for sure, it was not for battle.
But it was normal for old-world dresses to have completely different qualities compared to their outlooks. It was really dangerous to judge based only on their appearances. Thus although that girl was unarmed, Akira did not lower his guard at all.
Alpha then explained to Akira.
"Akira, that's just a hologram. It's not real."
"It's not real? So like, she's the same as you? Wait, is it closer to that hologram from the Higaraka residence ruin, huh?"
"My image is created by information projected into your vision, so I'm closer to augmented reality and not the same as that hologram. That hologram is projecting its image on a fixed space. So a normal human should be able to see her just fine. But even if people can see her, she's not real. Even if the information-gathering device detected her, it's nothing but optical data."
Akira rechecked the signal from his information-gathering device. There was a contrast between the optical sensor and the heat and vibration sensor. Thus, the display on his information-gathering device was telling him to be careful interpreting that data.
If it was not real, then there was no meaning pointing his rifle at it, and of course, it was not like it could hurt him. Thus Akira lowered his rifle.
That girl then walked toward Akira, she then greeted him and said.
"Dear customer. The building is closed at the moment, so we can't allow anyone without the proper authorization to enter. So please leave the building."
Akira could hear her words clearly. He was surprised by that and asked Alpha.
"Alpha, I can hear her though, she's definitely not real, right?"
"She only sounds like she's talking to you up close, the sound itself is not originated from her. It came from somewhere else and generated through a complex calculation to make it sound as if she's close to you."
Akira could see a big difference between the optical sensor and the sound sensor data in his information-gathering device. Although it looked like that girl was talking to him, it seemed that was not exactly the case there.
Since that girl spoke to Akira, he thought that it might be possible to talk with her. So he tried to say something to her.
"Uhhh, I'm actually heading to the 57th floor, you see..."
"Please allow me to repeat myself. The building is closed at the moment. Only the first floor is opened for the other customers who already made an appointment beforehand. Normally, the whole building is closed including all the floors, so please leave the building."
It seemed that he could indeed talk to her and it also seemed that she really wanted Akira to leave.
"How do I make an appointment?"
"During the time when the building is closed, each floor has its designated contact person who accepts appointment applications. We on the first floor don't accept a direct application. So please leave the building."
Akira tried to ask a lot of things to that hologram even after that, but all ended the same. To put it simply, there was nothing he could do there and that he should leave the building. He could not get any meaningful information out of it.
Alpha then told him to stop that meaningless negotiation.
"You're right, let's go."
Akira just ignored that hologram and decided to go deeper into the building. As he peeked into the other hallways and was about to leave that place, that girl suddenly warned him.
"Warning! The facility is guarded by security allowed to kill in case of illegal intruders. So please leave this place."
Akira stopped. He then turned to that girl and said with a stern face.
"If that's the case, you should've said that before those monsters outside the building attacked me, you know?"
That girl did not say anything back, she just vanished.
"Is it broken? Or is it that it won't let me use it? Which one do you think it is?"
"Maybe the latter one. Even if you can use it, I don't think it's a good idea to use it. After all, it might just shut you inside to die after you enter, you know? And it seems that it's not an easy thing to pry the door open even with your augmented suit."
Akira gave up and headed to the stairs, he already knew where it was after glancing at the map of the first floor.
Akira hoped that he could just go climb the building through the stairs. But it did not work out well for him. After a few floors up, he found himself blocked by a reinforced door. He might be able to force it open using his augmented suit or tear down the door using CWH special ammo. But forcing his way up like that would cause him to spend more time and energy. So he just gave up that idea and searched the floor for another staircase that he could use.
He did find another staircase on that floor, but just like last time, after a few floors up, he was greeted by another reinforced door. Every time that happened, Akira would look for another staircase to climb the building.
Each floor had a different look. Some of the floors were left ransacked as if Hunters had taken any and every relics out from that floor, while some of the floors looked brand new as if it was just opened recently. Akira's eyes sparkled when he saw the many relics in the well-maintained floors. Every shop on those floors was filled with old-world relics.
Akira happily started working, he pulled out another rucksack from the one he had on his back. He then happily stuffed all the relics on the shops' displays into that rucksack.
From the other's point of view, he looked like a robber robbing a shop. And from the old-world point of view, there was no mistaking that Akira was an armed robber. So it was only to be expected that the security drones would come and try to kill him.
"That in itself is an amazing excuse though. But I guess there are a lot of Hunters who gather old-world relics with that excuse, so I can understand why they stationed those autonomous weapons to guard the relics."
Akira, who was smiling bitterly when he said that, suddenly turned quiet. His smile had vanished from his face and his hands that were putting relics into his rucksack suddenly stopped. He then asked Alpha.
"Alpha, there's something I want to ask. It's about the mechanical monsters that we've defeated outside. Though I was able to defeat them thanks to your support, they're actually strong monsters, right? Or at least, that's what I thought about them. After that first barrage, I even thought of pulling back, they're at least that strong from my point of view."
"Yeah, I got that very well. So like, why did you judge that I should be able to defeat those strong monsters? Well, it's true that it did put me in more burden and I used more ammo than usual, but you predicted that, and we won as you predicted too. Or at least that's the vibe that I got back there. So against such strong monsters, how did you judge and under what basis did you decide it was possible to win against them?"
"Oh my, that's quite a question there. Do you have anything you want to complain about my support? You can just say it and I'll readjust."
"No, that's not what I meant. There's nothing that I want to complain about. It's just that... What can I say... You were smiling like usual during that fight, it feels like you know even if I did that 100 times, I'll still win 100 times. So like, I just want to know on what basis, or at least the reason, why you can be so sure."
"You really want to know, don't you?"
It was her usual smile, but for some reason, Akira felt there was something else behind that smile.
"It'll take a very long time to explain it orally, you know..."
"In that case, make it short and you don't need to tell me everything, just tell me enough to at least convince me."
"Very well, if I have to shorten my answer, it's because they are mechanical monsters. If they were biological monsters, I would have definitely stopped you."
"Is it really that different, mechanical and biological monsters?"
"Yep, or at least, that's the case for my support. Moreover, those autonomous weapons were simple machines, they were made in accordance with their blueprints and they moved precisely as their original program. There were no abnormalities in their bodies or behaviours, unlike those biological monsters which continuously mutate their bodies and change their judgement logic. Thanks to that, it's easy to predict their moves. Because there's no randomness in their patterns, I can easily make an accurate prediction just from a few observations. And without randomness and arbitrary action that tends to happen with the biological monsters, the calculation becomes very easy. That's why, even if it seemed very dangerous in your point of view, it was a very safe situation and that fight was totally winnable from my point of view."
Alpha then continued her explanation. Due to his limited knowledge, Akira actually had some problems understanding her explanation. But he at least more or less understood her reasoning.
As long as Alpha knew the original blueprint and the behaviour program of those monsters, she could get a highly accurate result by running simulations based on those information, and she would be able to accurately follow that simulation by controlling Akira's augmented suit. By splitting up the whole battle into smaller ones of highly accurate 2-player zero-sum game simulation, Alpha could map out the best decision to take during that fight.
It would be extremely difficult to do the same against biological monsters. Due to the randomness of the biological monsters' behaviours, Alpha could only make inaccurate predictions.
Akira tried to understand something outside that explanation as he asked Alpha.
"Uhhh, so basically, since you know the enemy's weak point and behaviour well enough, it's an easy thing to defeat them, huh?"
"Was that explanation not enough? Do you want me to explain in more detail?"
"No, that's good enough. At least now I understand that you didn't judge I could win that fight out of some vague reasons."
"Oh my, how rude. There's no way I would guarantee your safety out of some vague reasons, you know."
"Yeah, I know. I just got a little bit curious there. Well, compared to this mountain of old-world relics, it doesn't really matter though. Although it was dangerous, it was worth the risk."
"That's true, let's carry back as much as we can."
Akira returned to his job stuffing old-world relics into his rucksack.
Akira's question was not fully answered yet. To be more precise, although his last question was answered, it only led to more questions that were still unanswered. He understood the basis of Alpha's judgement, but he still had no idea why she used those as the basis of her judgement.
The old-world factories that were considered as old-world relics were still producing autonomous weapons even right now. Normally, the blueprints used to produce those monsters and the program installed inside their control units should be a secret. There should not be that many people who had access to them even during the time when those factories were built, and of course, there should be even fewer people who knew those secrets now.
But for some reason, Alpha knew about them. Akira thought that he should be able to know the reason if he just asked her, but he decided to hold himself back from asking that question. It was because he felt that Alpha would not want him to ask that question.
Alpha did ask him for confirmation back then. That was because she actually did not want Akira to ask that.
Alpha was actually under a leash. There were things that she could not do without Akira's permission, so it was only to be expected that she had other limitations too. That might also be the reason why she could not say no when Akira asked her that question, she might only be able to give a vague answer to point out that he would regret knowing the answer to his question.
That was why Akira did not pursue any further. He felt like if he asked that question, Alpha might turn hostile against him, that's why he decided to just shelf that question.
All the questions that welled up thanks to his curiosity were starting to leak out. Nonetheless, Akira continued to suppress them. After all, compared to the usefulness of Alpha's support, those questions were worth nothing to him. Or at least, that was the case for now.
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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