207 贅沢な入浴
模擬戦の後、シェリルに誘われて拠点に寄ることになったアキラが、その拠点を軽く見上げて少し驚いた様子を見せている。
シェリルの拠点は周辺の建物を取り壊して飲み込むように改築を続けた結果、かなり大規模な横長の建築物に変貌していた。
シェリルはアキラの
「何かやった覚えはないぞ?」
「そんなことはありません。アキラが私達の後ろ盾になってくれているだけでも、十分な恩恵を受けています。他にもいろいろです。とても助かっています」
「そうなのか? まあ、良いけど」
アキラはシェリルの説明をちょっとした御機嫌取り程度にしか思っていない。だがシェリルは本心で告げており、事実だった。
東部で家を建てる場合、モンスターの襲撃に耐える防衛拠点を建築するつもりでもなければ、地域差もあるが建物自体は意外なほど安価で建てられる。旧世界の高度な建築技術を解析して応用した恩恵だ。
それでも防壁の内側や周辺の建物は高額で取引される。逆にスラム街ならば元々の安い建物代だけで済む。
アキラはシェリルに自室まで案内された後、シェリルと向かい合って座り、入れてもらったコーヒーを飲みながら雑談していた。
シェリルの自室は以前より格段に広くなっていた。部屋の広さと比べて家具の量が少ないのでどこか質素に感じられるが、そこにはスラム街の空気など
シェリルは既に荒野用の服から部屋着に着替えている。少し肌が透ける薄手の布地を盛り込んだ部屋着が、上品さを損なわずに相手への警戒心を感じさせない柔らかな空気を醸し出している。
白いコーヒーカップには細かい装飾が施されており、素人目にも分かる高級さを感じさせる。スプーンも同様にそこらの安物とは違う装飾が施されている。
姿勢を正してカップを口元に運び、少し口に含み、飲み込み、カップを戻して
むシェリルからは、育ちの違いを感じさせるものがあった。
以前はシェリル以外は大体同じだった徒党内の格差も、今では大分広がっている。より好待遇を得られる立場を求めて競争も生まれている。それらを調整、統括するシェリルの仕事も増えていた。
ヴィオラの伝で遺物の入荷ルートも充実し、さらにはイナベからのルートも増えたことで、シェリルの遺物販売店は順調に規模を拡大していた。今では大半を徒党の者達やヴィオラが連れてきた者達に任せている。シェリルは高価な遺物のみを取り扱う別枠のフロアを担当して、少ない頻度で接客に出ていた。
「俺が言うのも何だけど、ヴィオラが連れてきたやつって大丈夫なのか?」
「今のところは問題なしです。遺物販売以外でも、読み書きを皆に教えさせたり、ちょっとした事務作業を頼んだりと、いろいろ助かっているのは事実です。何かあった場合は責任を取ると言っていますので、任せられるところは任せています。大人がいた方が便利な部分もありますしね。徒党の構成員は私も含めて基本的に子供ですから」
アキラは気楽に考えているが、シェリルは潜在的な問題に気付いた上でヴィオラの人員を活用していた。
組織の拡大により、既にシェリル1人で徒党の全てを管理するのは不可能になっている。その穴を埋める人材がどうしても必要になるのだが、残念ながら徒党の者にそこまで有能な者はいない。大半はつい最近まで読み書きも怪しい
の子供だったのだ。使える人材に育成するにしても時間が掛かる。
「どうかしたのか?」
「いえ、何でもありません。あ、拠点の話ですけど、改築後の設備で一番好評だったのは浴室でした。以前から人が増えた
拠点には現在大きく3種の大浴室が備わっている。男用、女用、そして幹部用だ。狭いが浴室付きの個室もある。それを聞いたアキラが不思議そうにする。
「幹部用って、要るのか? 幹部は浴室付きの個室を持ってるんだろう?」
「全ての個室に浴室が備わっている訳ではありませんし、個室の浴槽は狭いですから。それに幹部用の浴室はちょっと
く広いとかか?」
シェリルはアキラが興味を持ったことに気付くと、少し誘うように
「入ってみますか?」
幹部用の浴室は白を基本とした配色で構成されており、広々とした開放感と清潔感を覚える造りになっていた。浴槽は数名が一緒に入浴して手足を存分に広げても十分な空きがあるほどに大きい。全体的に凝った装飾品などは見当たらないが落ち着いた高級感を漂わせていた。
しかしアキラに何らかの
当然のように一緒に入っているシェリルが説明する。
「結構高級な水質調整機を通して湯の成分調整をしているそうです。
「健康にも疲労回復にも普通の入浴より格段に良いそうです。ハンター稼業は身体への負担も大きいですから、毎日とは言わなくとも、ハンター稼業の帰りに寄って入っていけば随分違うと思います。本来は幹部用ですが、今日の模擬戦のような身体に過度の負担の掛かる仕事や訓練に参加した者には、特別に使用させようとも思っていますしね」
アキラがまた揺らぎ始める。
「............いや、それなら自宅に似たようなものを設置すれば......」
「拠点の改築を利用して大型の設備を入れたようですから、多分普通の家に設置するのは難しいと思います。小型だと性能が大分落ちて設置後にがっかりするか、
悩み始めるアキラを見て、シェリルがこれならいけるかと希望を持った時、浴室の壁の一部が光って部下からの連絡が来た。非常に忙しい時に入浴時でも指示を出せるように、浴室の壁には情報端末が埋め込まれているのだ。
「ボス。ヴィオラが話があるそうです」
シェリルが少し不機嫌な声を出す。
「今は入浴中なの。だから急ぎではないなら後にして、と伝えなさい」
シェリルがそれだけ答えて気を切り替えようとする。だが少し間を空けて再び連絡が来る。
「ボス。ヴィオラに伝えましたが、急ぎだから今からそっちに行くそうです」
「えっ? アキラも一緒に入ってるのよ? そう伝えて止めなさい」
そのすぐ後にヴィオラがキャロルを連れて入浴に
かっているヴィオラに、不機嫌を隠そうともせず鋭い視線を向けている。
「それで、何の用ですか?」
「総合支援強化服の試験の様子を見てきたんでしょう? その話を聞きたいのよ」
「それ、急ぎですか?」
「急ぎよ。どうしてその程度のことを急ぐのか、という説明は省略させてもらうわ。何せ急いでいるの。理解に何日掛かるか分からない人に、長々と説明している余裕はないの。知りたければ、後日ゆっくり時間を取ってからにしてね。私も徒党の利益の
「俺の入浴を邪魔するやつに振りまく愛想はない」
「要らん。良いから邪魔するな」
アキラはそれだけ答えて意識を入浴側に偏らせた。普段とは大分違う入浴の感覚がアキラの表情を徐々に緩めていく。
「随分気持ちよさそうだけど、そんなにここの風呂が気に入ったの?」
「ああ。少なくとも家の風呂とは大分違うな」
「安い風呂で悪かったな。じゃあ、キャロルの家の風呂はどんな感じなんだ?」
キャロルが自宅の浴室の設備について説明していく。個人用としては過剰なまでに大きいゆったりとした浴室。シェリルの拠点のものより高性能な水質調整装置。入浴後に体を一々拭く手間を省く風圧式の全身乾燥機。などなど、多彩な設備が搭載されていることを話していく。
水も単純な水質調整ではなく、身体強化拡張者であるキャロルの体質に合わせた調整が加えられている。整備用のナノマシンや回復薬まで加えられており、健康面でも美容面でも、
よ。ハンター稼業は体が一番重要な資本。アキラだって銃や強化服の整備に金を使うでしょう? それと同じよ。自分の体は一番重要な替えの利かない基幹装備よ。それをしっかり整備して常に十全に機能する状態を維持しておくのを、私は不思議だとは思わないわ。まあ、私は副業の兼ね合いもあるから、普通のハンターの基準より費用が多めになっているとは思うけれどね。この体、アキラが思うよりたっぷり金が掛かってるのよ?」
キャロルが得意げに笑いながら自分の体を指差した。するとアキラが釣られて視線をそちらに向け、その裸体を少しじっくりと見てしまう。だがそこに魅惑の裸体への情欲はなく、その視線は意外に高性能な銃や強化服へ向けるものに近かった。
その後、話を終えたヴィオラと一緒にキャロルも浴室から出て行った。アキラは気を切り替えて入浴に専念しようと思ったが、何となく気が乗らず、ヴィオラ達に続くように出ることにした。シェリルも残念そうな様子でアキラの後に続いた。
タバタ達がシェリルの拠点の大部屋で休憩を取っている。この部屋は現在各種作業場所としてタバタ達に貸し出されていた。室内には施設監視用の端末類なども並んでいて、徒党の者達が四苦八苦しながら仲間と連絡を取り合ったり、指示を出したり受けたりしていた。
総合支援システムの試験は拠点の警備という形式でスラム街でも実施している。警備の指揮側も実働側も、経験もなく読み書きも怪しい素人達。これをシステムの支援でどこまで
らかしたらしいが、いつまでもくよくよすんなよ。試験中なんだ。そんなもんだろ? 熱くなった部分は別の失態で反省点だろうけどさ」
タバタが軽く
「違う。それもないとは言わないが、一番の理由は、事前の性能評価が良すぎたからだ。その評価を基準に考えれば、十分な勝算があった。だから俺も強行したんだ」
「事前のって、強化服の連携試験は今回が初めてだろう?」
「こっちではな。全体では他でもやっている。ドランカムに貸し出しているのがそうだ。あっちはこっちとは違って開発版ではなく安定版。やってることもドランカムへの納入装備選別試験だがな。そこでの評価は、本当に素晴らしいものだったんだよ」
タバタがまた少し熱くなる。だがそこには大きな困惑も浮かんでいた。
同僚の励ましを受けてタバタが気を取り直す。
「......そうだな。ドランカムでの成果に舞い上がって過信しすぎていたか。あっちの成果は一度忘れて、システムを一回見直すとするか。事故時のデータを今後活用できるように調整を加えないといけないしな」
「そうしろ。しかしまあ、よく他人のデータをその場で使い回そうと思ったな。強化服の使用法としては結構禁忌だぞ? 事故の例も多いんだ。気を付けろよ」
「体格が似てるから、調整すればいけると思ったんだよ。まあ、気を付けるさ」
エリオが
ヴィオラはいつも通り、非常に楽しげに笑っていた。
アキラは家に帰った後、何となくもう一度風呂に入ってみた。湯に
本当にシェリルの拠点に毎日入りに行くわけにもいかない。自宅に中途半端な性能の設備を付けてがっかりするのも嫌だ。しかし満足する設備を整えるのに幾ら掛かるかも分からない。
アキラは珍しくハンター稼業ともアルファの依頼とも無関係なことで悩み続けていた。
Ch 207
After the mock battle, Sheryl invited Akira to visit the base. When Akira arrived there, he looked at the base in surprise.
Since Sheryl kept assimilating the other buildings around the base into it, it had grown considerably in terms of size.
Sheryl smiled smugly beside Akira.
"I don't remember doing anything in particular though."
"That's not true at all. We've received enough favour just with you supporting us from behind. Of course, there are more things too. So yes, we're really blessed to have your help."
"Is that so? Well, it's fine if it's really so."
Akira thought of Sheryl's words as nothing more than flattery. But Sheryl was only saying what she really felt, it was the truth.
When someone built a house in the eastern district, they would have to make it strong enough to endure monster attacks. Although the level of durability changed for different areas, they were normally relatively cheap buildings. It was all thanks to analyzing and imitating the old-world buildings.
But even so, the buildings in the inner wall were still expensive. In contrast to that, the buildings down in the slum city were dirt cheap. Even if someone built a magnificent building inside the slum city, it would turn into a dilapidated ruin in no time due to the bad public order. Thanks to that, most of the price came from security.
Akira was guided to Sheryl's private chamber. He then sat on a chair with Sheryl sitting on the opposite side of the table, sipping the coffee served on the table while talking about all kinds of stuff with her.
Compared to before, Sheryl's current room was way wider. It only had a small amount of furniture considering the size of it, but that room gave no feeling that it was located inside the slum city. As a matter of fact, it was a room that gave off a rather high-class feeling, as if it was cut off from a luxurious mansion and brought there.
Sheryl had already changed from her wasteland outfit to something more casual. The translucent and comfortable looking dress gave off a friendly feeling, while still giving off a graceful aura.
The white coffee cup was decorated with a small accessory, even an amateur could feel an air of luxury from it. The decorated spoon accompanying it was also obviously not the same as those common spoons.
The way Sheryl picked up her cup, brought it to her mouth, slurped it, and placed it back in its place, gave off the feeling that she was born from a completely different social stratum.
In a sense, it was one of the results of Sheryl's training. In order not to make any blunder during the feast, she was taking training to keep her graceful outlook. At first, she looked really unnatural, it was not easy at all, but thanks to her talent, she had gained that graceful aura.
Other than Sheryl, up until now, most of the gang members received the same treatment, but that was no longer true. Because of that, people started competing for positions with better treatments. Therefore, Sheryl had to watch over them and make sure that it would cause any problem.
Not only did they get a relic supply route from Viola, they were also receiving relics from Inabe as well. Thus, Sheryl's relic shop was doing very well. At the moment, she even allowed people that Viola brought in to manage half of the shop, while she, herself was handling the floor that showcased the expensive relics, and came out to serve the customer though only rarely.
"It might be weird for me to say this, are you sure the people that Viola brought with her are safe?"
"We did not find any problems so far. Not only do they help with the relic shop, they're also helping to teach the gang members how to read and write, and they even help with some administration work as well. So, it's true that they're helping us a lot. They said that they would take responsibility if anything bad happens, that's why I let them do their task. Moreover, it's true that we have an easier time on some occasions when we have some adults with us. After all, me included, we're all basically kids."
Although Akira did not give much thought to it, Sheryl actually hired Viola's men while already considering the potential trouble that it might bring.
Due to the expansion of the gang, Sheryl was no longer able to manage the whole gang on her own. Although she needed more helping hands, unfortunately, no one in the gang had the ability to help her in that matter. After all, half of the gang members were only able to read and write just recently. She would need more time to train someone on how to manage the gang.
Although they were told to teach some of the officers to do their job, it seemed that it would still take some time until the officers could take over these jobs from them. But as the gang only grew faster and faster, Sheryl was not able to procure enough people to manage the gang and ended up relying on Viola's men even further.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing. By the way, about the gang, among all the new facilities that we have now, everyone seems to really like the new bath. Ever since we have gotten more members, they often caused a long waiting line to use the bath, so we made it bigger."
The base at the moment had three separate baths. One for the boys, one for the girls, and one reserved only for officers. Some of the individual rooms also had a small bath. Akira found something that bothered him when he heard that.
"Bath for officers? Do they even need it? Don't they have their own bath in their own individual rooms?"
"Not all of them have their own bath. Furthermore, those baths are pretty small as well. With the bath for officers being something special."
"What do you mean by that? Is it like it's so big?"
Sheryl noticed that Akira was interested, so she then smiled invitingly at him and said.
"How about you try taking a dip?"
The base colour of the officer bath was white, it was in order to give a more spacious and clean impression. The bath itself was large enough to allow several people to extend their legs altogether. Despite the decorations being far from elaborate, all of them gave a luxurious feeling.
But Akira did not find any of that amazing. He seemed a bit disappointed as he proceeded to clean his body before dipping himself in the warm bath. But he immediately noticed something.
Sheryl, who went in normally as if she was already used to it, then explained to him.
"We're using high-quality water and the filter is on all the time to maintain its quality. Even if someone makes a mistake and gets the soap into the water, the filtration would quickly take care of that as well. That's basically all there is to it, that's why I can't really explain it with words. But once you experience it, you immediately notice that there's something special, isn't it?"
"I heard that it's good for your health and helps you recover from fatigue. Being a Hunter is a very tiring job, so even if you can't come every day, you can just visit to take a dip on your way back after you are done with your Hunter job. I'm sure it'll be beneficial for you. After all, although it's a bath reserved only for officers, I'm thinking of letting others use it after a tiring day just like today's training."
Akira wavered even more.
"...In that case, I should get one back in my home..."
"We could get one here because of the size of the base, otherwise, I think it's difficult to get one for a normal house. You might be able to get a smaller one, but that might not work as effectively as this bath. Likewise, if you want to get the same level of effect for a smaller bath, it might cost way more money."
Akira started to seriously consider it, but suddenly, one of the walls turned bright and it was connected to a call from one of the gang members. In order to allow officers to give commands from the bath, one of the walls was equipped with an information terminal.
"Boss, Viola said that she wants to meet you."
Sheryl pouted and said.
"I'm in the bath right now. If it's nothing important, tell her to keep it for later."
Sheryl quickly closed the call after she said that, but it did not take long for another call to come in.
"Boss, she said that it's important and she's heading there now."
"Eh? But Akira is also here, you know? Tell her that and stop her."
After that, Viola and Carol came in wearing the outfit suitable for taking bath. Akira was a bit surprised and Sheryl obviously looked displeased. Viola then smiled at Sheryl and Carol at Akira.
Sheryl, who was not happy that her quality time with Akira was interrupted, could not hide her sullen expression as she sent a sharp stare at Viola who was taking a dip in front of her.
"So then, what is it?"
"You went to take a look at the coordination support augmented suit today, right? I'm here to ask you about it."
"Is it really that important?"
"It is. Although, do excuse me for omitting the reason why it is important. It might take a few days of explanations to fully explain why it is important, you see. If you still want to know, I can tell you some other day. I'm doing my best here to bring more profits for the gang, you know? So it would be great if you can help me out. But then again, it's not like I can force you to."
"I have no wish to get friendly with the people who interrupt my bath time."
"No thanks, just don't interrupt me."
Akira only said so and returned his attention to the warm water. The new sensation coming from the bath gradually made his expression relax.
"You seem to be really enjoying it, do you like it that much?"
"Yep, it feels different than the bath back home."
"Yeah yeah, sorry about that. So what kind of bath do you have?"
Carol started talking about the bathing equipment she was using in her house. It was a rather big bath for one person. Just like the water used in the gang's base, it was also using high-quality water. In order to help her dry herself after the bath, there was also a wind drying device. She told him about all kinds of equipment the bath in her house used.
The water was not only good quality water but it was also adjusted for Carol's enhanced body. The nanomachine for the maintenance and healing was mixed into the water. Even though the water was not clear, it had an obvious noticeable effect on health and beauty.
"Well, I can't deny it. But it's well under my budget. The main asset for a Hunter is his or her body. Even you are extremely invested in rifles and augmented suits, right? It's the same as that. The body is the main asset that can't be replaced. So, I don't see anything strange with spending money to keep it in tip-top shape at all times. Well, although, it's true that it's also for my side job as well, so I'm using more expensive stuff than a normal Hunter would usually use. This body actually takes more money than you imagine to maintain, you know?"
Carol smiled proudly and pointed at her own body. Akira was baited by that finger and looked at her body and he ended up staring at her for a few seconds. But even so, he did not show even the slightest sign of interest at all. His stare was much closer to a stare that he would give for high quality and expensive rifle or augmented suit.
After finishing their business, Carol and Viola left the bath. Akira did think of enjoying the bath for a little bit longer, but for some reason, he was not into that idea and left not too long after Viola and Carol left. Seeing him leave, Sheryl disappointedly followed suit.
After the training, Tabata and his men took a short rest in the hall of the gang's base. At the moment, the gang had allocated that hall for Tabata and his men's use as their workspace. The inside of the room was filled with all kinds of equipment, everyone there was busy communicating and working on their respective task.
They were testing the coordination support system in the slum city as a security system for the base. This way, amateurs who could not even write or read were able to actively contribute in securing the base. It was a test to check the performance of the support system, how far it could turn them into a functional defensive squad.
"Well, I heard it didn't go that well, but you can't afford to stay down like this. Isn't this a normal thing since it's a test? Although, you need to properly reflect on how emotional you got back there."
Tabata lightly sighed and frowned.
"That's not it, I know that I can't use that as an excuse. The one thing that troubles me the most was that we were too confident. According to the past results, it should be able to defeat him. That was why I was so confident."
"The past result, huh? But like, isn't this the first test with that augmented suit?"
"That's true for the augmented suit. But we've done other tests too for the system. We did lend them to Drankam too. And unlike that time, this was a stable version, not an experimental one. It was a test including various equipment with Drankam, the result from back then was really positive."
Tabata started getting excited again, but then he looked troubled.
Tabata regained some of his composure thanks to it.
"...You're right, I guess I got too excited after getting a good result from our test runs with Drankam. I should forget about that result and check the system one more time. I have to add the adjustment from the data when that incident occurred."
"Yep, you should do that. But still, well, I didn't expect you to use someone else's setting for the augmented suit. You do know well that it's a taboo to do that, right? A lot of accidents happened because of that in the past, so make sure to be careful about it."
"I thought that it would work since their builds were not that different, you know. But well, yeah, I'll be more careful."
The biggest reason why Erio got injured was because the augmented suit was set using someone else's data, so it tried to execute something that Erio could not do. Right after they finished talking about it, Carol and Viola approached them.
As usual, Viola was smiling, amusedly.
After Akira returned back home, he decided to get in the bath for some reason. But this time, he felt that something was lacking. He then frowned and mumbled.
It was not like he could visit Sheryl's base every day to take a dip there. While on the other hand, he did not want to upgrade the bath in his house just to be disappointed later. But getting guaranteed good bathing equipment might cost him a lot of money.
It was very rare for Akira to be troubled about something that had nothing to do with being a Hunter or Alpha's request.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開