める前より手際が良い。シオリはそのレイナの様子を見て痛ましそうにしていた。
アキラはその背後の空気を感じ取り、僅かな居心地の悪さを覚えていた。
『今更だけどさ、御機嫌取りも依頼の内って考えて、適当なことを言っておけば良かったかな?』
め事の回避を第一に考えるのならそうなるわ。少なくとも、もう少し穏便な伝え方を模索した方が良かったのは確かで、そこはアキラの不手際ね』
『まあ、そうなんだけどさ......』
『でも、依頼に対して誠実であろうとする精神はそれ以上に大切よ。私もアキラに依頼を出している者として、アキラの態度でそれを確認できたのは
だからこそ、かつての時と同じ対応を無意識に強く拒絶した。また同じことをしてしまえば、かつての境遇に戻ってしまう。その恐れを心のどこかで抱いていたからだ。それこそ、命を賭けるほどに。
アキラにその自覚はない。その所為で、自分でも自分の対応に悩んでいた。
地下街の通路にヤラタサソリの死体が転がっている。胴体に銃撃を受けており、足も数本千切れている。傷口から流れ出た体液が床に線状の跡を残していた。
アキラがその死体と地下街マップを見比べる。
『線の跡の方向から考えて、15番防衛地点を襲った群れの1匹か? 負傷した状態で巣に戻ろうとしてここで死んだのだとしたら、他にも戻ろうとした個体がいたかもしれない。その跡でもあれば移動先を追えるんだけど......。アルファ。近くで他のヤラタサソリは見付かりそうか?』
『私の索敵範囲には死体も生きている個体も見当たらないわ』
『そうか。......ヤラタサソリの死体を見付けましたってだけで調査終了って訳にはいかないし、もうちょっと探すしかないか』
アキラが少し考えてから答える。
『......そうだな。頼む。いろいろあったんだ。早く何か見付けて、さっさと調査を切り上げたい。何か聞かれたら、勘や偶然とでも言って
『適当にって言ったのは私だけれど、本当に随分適当ね』
『良いんだよ。そもそも俺はアルファのサポートに頼った状態の成果を評価されてここにいるんだ。その辺の説明できない根拠を聞かれたら、初めから勘や偶然としか答えられないんだ。今更だ』
アキラはもうその辺は開き直ることにした。その様子を見てアルファが少し楽しげに笑う。
『まあ、それぐらいはね』
み返すと、15番防衛地とは別方向の通路を指差した。同時にアキラの視界が拡張され、普通は認識できない僅かな痕跡が強調表示された。更にそれを基にした移動ルートも床に追加表示された。
アキラが新たな移動ルートに沿って歩き始める。レイナ達は今まで15番防衛地点に向けて進んでいたアキラが急に移動方向を変えたことに少し
穴はかなりの大きさで、数人が横に並んでも幅に余裕がある。照明などは設置されておらず、奥は暗くてよく見えない。そして一番の問題は、その穴が地下街マップに記載されていないことだ。
アキラが穴の先を照らすと、20メートルほど土の地面が続いた先に人工の床が見えた。明らかに地下街の別の場所に通じている。しかしその先も地下街マップに記載はなかった。
アキラが本部と連絡を取る。
「こちら27番。本部。応答を求む」
「こちら本部。何があった?」
「通路に地下街マップに存在しない穴を見付けた。多分地下街の他の部分に
「ちょっと待ってろ。......貸出し端末のカメラを穴に向けてくれ」
「......こちらでも確認した。穴の先はこちらでも把握していない別のエリアだ。その先にもヤラタサソリの巣が多数存在するのだろう」
「ヤラタサソリの巣って、そんなにたくさんあるのか?」
「ある。この地下街にはヤラタサソリの繁殖場所が無数にある。今のところ17か所の巣を駆除済みだ。まだまだ残っているだろう。この地下街全体がヤラタサソリの巣と言っても良い」
アキラが前にヤラタサソリの群れに襲われた時のビル内の光景を思い出し、それを地下街の光景と重ね合わせて顔を
「......そうか。取りあえず、俺が受けた調査指示は完了だな。これより14番防衛地点に帰還する」
「駄目だ。その先に新たな防衛地点を設置しなければならない。その場で待機して追加要員の到着を待て。それまではその場で新たなモンスターの侵入を阻止しろ」
「待たない。27番だけで調査に出たんだ。それだけ実力に自信が有るのだろう。更に既に2名追加されている。しかも追加の1名は14番防衛地点に配備されたハンターの中でも上位の実力者だ。戦力的には十分だと判断した。一時的な場の確保も防衛チームの仕事だ。やれ」
先ほどその追加人員と殺し合い手前まで
いた大穴の前に座り、視線を穴の奥に向けていた。本当なら穴の中は真っ暗だ。だがアルファのサポートで拡張されたアキラの視界には、白黒ではあるが一定の距離までその形状が映し出されていた。
『便利だな。これ、ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡の地下室でもやったやつだよな?』
『そうよ。何にも見えないよりはましでしょう?』
『随分違う。これならヤラタサソリ達が奥から来ても早めに気付けるか?』
『その時はアキラが目視で確認する前に、私がちゃんと教えるから大丈夫よ。安心して』
シオリが周囲の警戒を続けながら視線をアキラに向ける。そして先ほど殺し合う手前までいった相手の実力を、落ち着いて改めて推察する。
レイナを敵から守る
恐らくシオリは自分が地雷を踏まずに済むように手を尽くしてくれていた。だが今日は、そのシオリが地雷を踏みかけた。辛うじて防げたが、もしアキラという地雷を完全に踏んでいたらどうなっていたか。レイナはその先を思い描き、自嘲した。
「......お嬢様。もう余り気になさらぬ方が良いと思います。気を切り替えることも大切です。それにあれはアキラ様を無駄に挑発してしまった私の失態でもあります。お互いに、この経験を次に
です! お任せください!」
シオリは感動で一瞬意識を飛ばしそうになったが、気合で耐えた。緩む涙腺を何とか持ちこたえさせる。ここは戦場なのだ。視界が
『友好を深めているのだと思うわ』
そのアキラの様子を、アルファがいつもの
まで来る。そして敵襲を予想して穴の奥の様子を確認したが、それらしい様子があるようには見えなかった。
レイナは情報収集機器にもそれらしい反応がないことを確認すると、
「......そっちの索敵に何か引っかかったの?」
アキラは既に迎撃の準備を終えている。後は引き金を引くだけの状態だ。
『アルファ。何体だ?』
『索敵範囲内に124匹。増加中よ。15番防衛地点を襲ったヤラタサソリは、ただの斥候だったのかもしれないわね』
『......何か、俺はこういうのばっかりだな』
アキラが少しうんざりした様子を見せると、アルファが少し楽しげに笑った。
『まあ、アキラの運ならこんなものでしょう。いつも通りってことで、落ち着いて対処しましょう』
『任せなさい』
アルファはアキラの横に立ち、得意げに笑った。
発射された弾丸は群れの先頭の個体に着弾すると、その凶悪な破壊力で目標の体を一撃で四散させた。更に後続のヤラタサソリ達まで貫きながら吹き飛ばし、たった1発で十数匹分の個体の肉片を通路に飛び散らした。
使用した弾丸はCWH対物突撃銃の専用弾だ。本来はヤラタサソリ程度の相手に使用するものではない。価格も威力も高すぎる。だがアキラはその使用を
『有効射程も長くて助かるわ。距離を詰められる前に可能な限り殺しておくわよ』
銃撃のたびにアキラの体が僅かに後方へ滑っていく。専用弾の反動はその綿密な設計と高度な技術により弾丸の威力から考えれば十分に小さい。それでも生身ならそのまま通路の逆側の壁まで吹き飛ばされてしまいそうな程に大きい。それを強化服の身体能力とアルファのサポートによる姿勢制御で押さえ込み、銃撃体勢を維持して銃撃を続行する。
『15番防衛地点を襲ったやつは帰ったじゃないか!』
『それは恐らく敵の戦力や位置情報を伝える
Reina was extremely dejected, but she did not allow her feelings to affect her current work. As a matter of fact, she was performing better than before their argument, it might be because she was no longer bothered by any unnecessary thinking. Shiori who noticed that felt hurt.
Akira could feel the mood behind him and felt rather uncomfortable.
"I know that it might be too late for this, but like, is it better if I say something to them since cheering them up might be included as my duty in the request that I accepted?"
"If you think that you should've prioritized avoiding a fight from the beginning, then your actions were wrong. Or at least, you should have told them your opinion using gentler words. So in short, that fight was basically because of your lack of skill."
"Well, that's true..."
"But putting that aside, I think it was more important that you're taking your request very seriously. To be honest, I was happy to be able to confirm that you're someone who takes requests very seriously since I'm also someone who made a request to you. And also by doing that, they'll be more careful when they want to get involved with you next time. So looking from this point of view, what you did back there was not entirely bad. So, there's no need for you to be this much bothered."
That was exactly why he refused to do the same thing that he always did if he was faced with the same situation as before. He was actually scared if he did the same thing as before, it would mean he returned back to his previous self. He was so afraid of that happening, that he would rather risk his life than beg for it.
Akira himself did not realize it, that was why he was troubled with the way he was acting. And in order to take advantage of it, Alpha smiled gently to Akira and encouraged him.
There was a dead corpse of Yarata scorpion scattered in the underground hallway. It had bullet holes in its torso and some of its legs were blasted to pieces. Bloods flowed from its wounds and left traces that formed a straight line.
Akira checked that corpse and its location in the underground city map.
"Looking at the direction of the traces left by this corpse, it seems that this is one of the Yarata scorpions that attacked defensive point number 15, huh. Assuming that it was dead on its way back to its nest, I might be able to find more dead scorpions which died the same way around here. If I tracked their traces, I might be able to find their nest, but... Alpha, do you notice any other Yarata Scorpions around the area?"
"I can't find any alive or dead Yarata scorpions around the area."
"I see... It's not like I can finish the exploration just because I found one dead Yarata Scorpion. I guess I have no other choice but to keep looking for more, huh?"
Akira thought for a bit before answering back.
"...Let's see... Please do that. With all the things that have happened, I want to finish the search as soon as possible. If they ask me how I found the traces, I'll just tell them that it was just pure luck."
"Although I told you to come up with an excuse, that's a lame excuse."
"It'll be fine. Not to mention that the HQ told me to do this because they evaluated my skill when I had your support. If they ask me to explain all of my previous achievements, I can't say anything more other than just being lucky. So it's too late to complain about that now."
Akira already made up his mind, Alpha who was watching how he behaved smiled at him.
"Well, that's just how good I am."
As Akira looked surprised and instinctively turned to Alpha, she replied by smiling mischievously and pointed her finger towards a different direction than where the defensive point 15 was located. And at the same time, she enhanced Akira's vision so that he could see faint traces that he would normally have missed. He could even see an indicator on the floor showing the route that he should take.
Akira started walking following the indicator in his vision. Reina and Shiori found it strange that he suddenly changed route although they were heading towards the defensive point number 15 up until now. But since Reina still had not recovered from her dejection and with Shiori's hesitation in asking him, they just followed Akira without knowing the reason why he suddenly changed direction.
The hole was big enough for multiple people to pass through at the same time. The inner part of the hole looked completely dark since there was no illumination installed inside it. And the biggest problem of all was that hole was not present in the underground city map.
When Akira shone his torchlight into the hole, he could see a man-made floor about 20 metres below. It was obvious that it connected the underground city to a different area. But the map also had no information about the area that hole was connected to.
Akira quickly picked up his terminal and contacted the HQ.
"This is number 27. HQ, you there?"
"This is HQ. What's wrong?"
"I found a hole that is not on the map. It seems that it's connected to the other underground area. It might be the place where the Yarata scorpions that attacked defensive point 15 came from."
"Wait for a sec... Can you turn the rental terminal towards that hole?"
"...We've confirmed it, that hole leads to an uncharted area. I bet there are Yarata Scorpions down there."
"So like, there is more than one Yarata Scorpion nest down here?"
"Yes. There are countless Yarata scorpions' breeding grounds located in the underground city. At the moment, we already took out 17 nests. I'm sure there are still other nests out there. I think it's not an exaggeration to say that the whole underground city itself is their nest."
Akira remembered the building he was in when he was ambushed by a swarm of Yarata Scorpion, he frowned as it looked similar, just that this was inside the underground city.
"...I see. With this, my job to search the area is finished. I'll be heading back to the defensive point 14."
"No. We have to build another defensive point there. Stand by over there and wait for reinforcements to arrive. Stop any monsters that try to come out from that hole."
"Whoah there, you decided to go out alone so it means that you have enough confidence in your own ability, right? Not to mention that among the 2 people that came with you, one of them is a skilled Hunter among the other Hunters in the defensive point 14. I think you have enough firepower there. Securing the safety of the area is also the defence team's job. So just do it."
Of course, Akira could not tell the HQ that he was so close to killing the other 2 Hunters who were with him, so he just obediently accepted that order from HQ.
In the middle of the current scene, Akira was seen sitting in front of the big hole staring into the darkness. Normally, one would only be able to see total darkness inside that tunnel, but due to Alpha's support, he could see shapes and distances within his monochromatic vision.
"This vision is really useful. You did this when we were in the Higaraka Residence ruin too, right?"
"Yep. It's better than total darkness, right?"
"Yeah, it is. With this vision, I wonder if I can recognize a Yarata Scorpion from afar if one of them decides to crawl out from this hole?"
"When that happens, I'll let you know before you can see them, so don't worry."
While keeping watch on her side, Shiori occasionally glanced at Akira. Now that she was calm, she tried to reassess the person who she was about to fight not too long ago.
Shiori had been sharpening her skill to judge other people's real ability in order to protect Reina. On the basis of that skill which she developed through her devotion, she could only see Akira as nothing more than a common young Hunter, just like the other young Hunters who she had met. Or at least, Akira did not look like someone who could accomplish the achievements listed in his battle record.
Reina thought that Shiori must have done all the work to make sure that she did not mistakenly step on any landmines. But today, Shiori herself almost stepped on one. Although they were able to barely avoid it, Reina imagined what would have happened if Shiori had completely stepped on that landmine. Just thinking of that possibility made her dejected again.
"...Milady, please don't let it bother you too much. It's important to be able to let it go and move on. Moreover, that was because I made a mistake of provoking Akira-sama. Let's use the experience that we got today to be more careful next time."
"...O-of course! Just leave it to me!"
Shiori was so moved and surprised when Reina said that, but she quickly pulled herself together with willpower and was somehow able to hold back her tears. She understood well that she was in the middle of a battlefield, and there was no way she would be able to perform well in a battle if she did not pull herself together.
"I think they're deepening their friendship."
Alpha kept her smile as always while watching Akira closely. She was always observing, watching and trying to understand the main principles behind his actions.
Reina and Shiori who noticed that quickly put their guards up and came closer to Akira. They then glanced towards the hole expecting to find some monsters, but they could not see any monsters.
Reina was puzzled as she checked her information-gathering device and did not find any signals that indicated monsters presence either. So she turned to Akira and asked him.
"...Did your device find something?"
Akira already finished his preparation to shoot, he already had his finger ready on the trigger.
"Alpha, how many?"
"I picked 124 signals within my scanning range and I'm still counting. The swarm that attacked defensive point number 15 might be just scouts."
"...Ughh, well, what can I say... I always get myself tangled in this kind of situation."
Akira looked slightly exasperated, while Alpha just retained her smiled.
"Well, I guess this is to be expected for your level of luck. It's just like the usual, so let's calm down and just deal with it like always."
"Just leave it to me."
Alpha stood beside Akira and smiled confidently.
The bullet flew out from Akira's rifle and hit the scorpion that was leading the swarm, it blasted that scorpion to pieces thanks to the bullet's overwhelming destructive power. It even pierced through that scorpion and turned other scorpions near it into minced meat. Akira was able to literally destroy a dozen scorpions with just one shot.
It was because Akira was using specially designated ammo for CWH anti-material rifle. Normally, people would not use such a bullet to hunt Yarata scorpions since it was too powerful and too expensive for that. But Akira did not hesitate to use this ammo. Of course, it was also because the requester paid for his ammo, but more than that, he was not in a situation where he could hesitate using that bullet.
"It's also great that it has a long effective range. Let's defeat as many scorpions as we can before they can get close."
Akira's body shifted backwards every time he pulled the trigger. The kickback from the designated ammo was actually relatively small considering its firepower, it was thanks to its complex design made using advanced technologies. But even so, it had enough kickback to blow one's body all the way back to the wall. Akira was only able to maintain his shooting stance thanks to his augmented suit and Alpha's support.
"But the scorpions that attacked the defensive point 15 withdrew, right?"
"That is... Maybe they returned back to report their enemies' locations and firepower to the rest of the swarm. I don't think they withdrew out of fear. They might have been just scouts after all."
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