119 トガミの決意
アキラ達がミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を進んでいく。車を運転しながら周囲の光景を見ていたアキラは、周辺が昨日より
「多分ミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画の制圧を進めているハンターオフィスの部隊よ。前線に物資等を運搬しやすいように通り道を掃除したんでしょう」
「ああ、そういえば、そんなことをしているんだっけ。その部隊が市街区画の制圧を終えたら、こういった救出依頼はなくなるのか」
「制圧の程度によるわ。恐らくだけど、ハンターオフィスの部隊は市街区画の地上部の間引きをある程度済ませた時点で撤退するはずよ。遺跡の地上部にモンスターが
れ出た場合でも、近場の都市に致命的な被害が出る可能性が十分低いなら放置する。逆にその可能性が高いなら都市の防衛隊を派遣する必要がある。どちらにしても今この遺跡に派遣されている部隊は、状況の確認を済ませたら一度撤退するでしょうね」
アキラが覚えているだけでもクガマヤマ都市はモンスターの襲撃を3度受けている。それが誰かが都市の被害を見誤った結果なのかどうかはアキラには分からない。3度の襲撃でクガマヤマ都市の防壁の内側に被害は出ていないのだ。下位区画の被害など、特にスラム街の被害など、織り込み済みだったのかもしれない。
アキラはキャロルの話を興味深そうに聞いていた。
キャロルの判断はその下地になる大量の情報を精査した結果だ。アキラはそれらの情報を持ち合わせていない。それらの情報を得る術も持ち合わせていない。そしてキャロルにはその両方があるのだ。
そのことに関してアキラがキャロルに僅かな尊敬の念を抱く。キャロルはアキラのその僅かな変化に
アキラはある程度のハンター歴があるものなら普通に気が付くようなことに感嘆と興味を示している。ハンターとしての実力を戦闘能力から換算すれば、少々異常なほどにハンターとしての基本的な情報に疎い。それはアルファのサポートの恩恵で瞬く間に力を得た弊害でもある。
キャロルが思案する。
(アキラがあの戦闘能力とは不釣合いなほどにハンターの一般的な知識に疎い理由は気になるところだけど、取りあえずその理由を探るのは後回しね。今はまず......)
キャロルは何げないように装ってアキラに
「......そうだけど」
言い訳をするならば、アキラはついこの前まで自分の名前の読み書きすらできなかったのだ。ハンターとしての一般常識以前に、東部に住む人間の一般常識すら怪しい状態だった。アキラもその手の情報に興味はあるが、日々の勉強と訓練の所為で、そちらの情報収集に費やす余裕がないのが現状だった。
「それなら私がいろいろ教えてあげるわ。アキラも少しぐらいそういうことを知っておいた方が良いわ」
「もうキャロルに1000万オーラム支払うことになっているんだ。追加分なんか出さないぞ」
キャロルが苦笑しながら答える。
「その程度の情報で金なんか取らないわ。雑談の元ネタとしてどうかなって思っただけよ」
「......そういうことなら教えてくれ」
したものの、確かに興味のある話なので話を聞くことにした。
「分かったわ。まずは、そうね、ミハゾノ街遺跡にいるんだから、この遺跡についていろいろ教えてあげるわ」
キャロルはミハゾノ街遺跡について機嫌良く話し始めた。
アキラはキャロルの話を興味深く聞いている。キャロルはここがアキラの好感度の稼ぎ時だろうと考えて、楽しげに
キャロルは自慢の美貌と肉体で誘った時よりも食いつきの良いアキラの様子に複雑な感情を覚えた。だが取りあえずそれを脇に置いて、アキラとの仲を深める為に興味を持たれそうな話題を楽しそうに話し続けた。
トガミが装甲兵員輸送車の車内の長椅子に座っている。微妙に死臭の残っている車内で、真剣な表情で思案を続けている。
トガミはかなり高性能な装備で身を固めている。全てドランカムからの貸出品だが、購入すれば1億オーラムを軽く超える装備品ばかりだ。銃も、強化服も、情報収集機器も、回復薬などの消耗品も、ドランカムの若手に支給されている中では最高の品ばかりだ。ミズハという幹部を後ろ盾にしているカツヤですらここまで高性能な装備を与えられてはいない。
トガミは表向きシカラベをリーダーとする極少人数のチームで賞金首の討伐を成功させたことになっている。ドランカムの幹部には裏の事情を知っている者もいるが、表向きそうなっている以上、その報酬もそれに合わさなければならない。その結果、トガミは非常に高性能な装備の貸し出し許可を得たのだ。
以前のトガミならばドランカムが
賞金首討伐後のトガミは、過去の自分が全てただの虚飾でしかなかったのかと悩み続けていた。誰かに相談することもできずに悩み続けていた。過去の自分の輝かしい活躍と、タンクランチュラ戦での無様な自分を交互に思い返し、どちらも自分の実力とは認めきれずに悩み続けていた。
トガミは悩んだ末に自分の実力を納得できる形で確認できる機会を待つことにした。確認できる機会とは何なのか。その内容を考えながら待ち続けた。
ドランカムに所属している他の若手ハンターと一緒に行動しても確認はできない。暗にトガミをハンターランクが高いだけの勘違い野郎だと指摘したシカラベの言葉が頭にこびり付いているからだ。
く時間を置いて冷静さを取り戻した後に、シカラベの話は調子に乗っている相手へのただの悪口の類いだと気付いた。だがそれに気付いても完全には払拭できなかった。それは一部だが、話の内容に同意してしまった証拠だ。
シカラベに同行して自分も遜色のない活躍ができれば、結果を残せれば、それが自己評価であっても、自分の実力をもう一度認められるようになるだろう。トガミは悩んだ末にそう結論付けた。
トガミは本来ならドランカムがミハゾノ街遺跡に派遣している部隊に加わる予定だった。だがトガミの要望で
「俺はこの依頼で俺自身を見極める。その結果、俺が弱い勘違い野郎ならそれでも構わない。鍛え直すだけだ。俺が弱い勘違い野郎で有り続けることだけは、御免だ」
トガミは改めて決意した。
トガミがチームの人員を改めて確認する。チームの隊員はシカラベ、トガミ、アキラ、エレナ、サラ、キャロルの6人だ。全員を思い浮かべた後に、少し困惑気味に表情を
(ハーレム部隊なんて陰口を言われているカツヤだって、取り巻きにあんな格好をさせたりはしてないぞ? ......そういう趣味なのか?)
英雄色を好むというが、アキラにしろカツヤにしろ、ハンターとして並外れて秀でている者にはそういう側面があるのだろうか。自分の認識を大きく狂わせた人物の想像すらしていなかった一面を
われのない中傷を受けていた頃、ミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画を進んでいたアキラ達は、道を塞いでいる一団と遭遇した。ミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画の制圧を進めているハンターオフィスの部隊だ。
道路には巻き取り口の付いた縦長の物体が設置されており、そこから薄い金属が横に引き延ばされていた。
めてこの場の防衛をしている担当者と交渉する。現場の担当者が部下に指示を出して簡易防壁の一部を解除させた。道を塞いでいた薄い金属が巻き取られて通行可能になった。
「気を付けろよ。ちょっと前に結構デカいやつが襲ってきたんだ。小型のやつもちょくちょく襲ってくる。救出依頼を引き受けたハンターなんだから腕に覚えはあるんだろうが、以前のミハゾノ街遺跡の感覚で進むと死ぬぞ」
担当者はそう言ってアキラ達が進もうとしている方向を指差した。その方向には大型の機械系モンスターの残骸が転がっていた。残骸には破壊された大砲やミサイルポッドが混じっている。相当強力なモンスターだったのだろう。
「ありがとう。気を付けるわ」
エレナは男に礼を言って車を発進させた。シカラベとアキラの車もその後に続く。アキラの車が簡易防壁を通り抜けると、すぐに簡易防壁が閉じられた。
アキラは運転席から簡易防壁を抜けた先の光景を見る。道路の至る所に転がっている機械系モンスター達の残骸や
アキラが周囲を見ながら話す。
「昨日よりも機械系モンスターの残骸の量が増えているな。内側のモンスターが減って安全になった分だけ、外側がより危険になったか?」
助手席のキャロルが周囲の様子を確認しながら答える。
「既にこれだけの量のモンスターが破壊されたわけだから、それだけ安全になったとも言えるんじゃない?」
「......なんだよ」
「アキラはそうやって状況を油断なく、どちらかと言えば悲観的に捉えるくせに、結構無計画に行動するのよね。エレナ達と合流する指針も無しにミハゾノ街遺跡に向かった上に、セランタルビルではモンスターに追われている最中に私と別行動を取ろうともしたわ。アキラに物事を悲観的に捉える癖があるなら、もう少し思慮深く行動しても良さそうなのに。そう思っただけよ」
キャロルの指摘を受けて、アキラが言葉に詰まって黙った。
アキラが状況を悲観的に捉えるのは、自分は不運だと理解して、
運悪くハンター崩れの強盗に遭い、運悪くモンスターの群れの襲撃に巻き込まれ、運悪く遺物強奪犯と戦闘する事態にもなった。そもそも運に恵まれているのならスラム街で生活などしていなかった。アキラはそう考えていた。
実際にはアキラは自身がそう無意識に思い込んでいるほどに不運ではない。そもそも本当に不運ならば、アルファと出会って、そのサポートによる恩恵を受けるなどという、特大の幸運などなかっただろう。
偶然訪れたシズカの店でいろいろ世話を焼いてもらった。遺跡でエレナやサラと出会い、後日2人の助けによりモンスターの群れの襲撃から辛うじて生き延びた。それらの出来事も運良く起きたことである。アキラにも幸運はしっかり訪れているのだ。
いはアルファとの出会いで全ての幸運を使い切ったという話を信じているだけかもしれない。
また、アキラはキャロルの指摘ほど無計画に行動しているわけではない。少なくともアキラ本人はそう思っている。アキラの中にある様々な優先順位の結果、キャロルからはそう見える行動を取ることになった。アキラとしてはそれだけの話だ。
しかしアキラはその優先順位の根拠を口に出せなかった。アルファのことやらエレナ達のことやらが含まれているからだ。代わりに適当に
「......公言する気がないのなら、遠慮する必要はないわね」
「何か言ったか?」
「ん? 何でもないわ」
キャロルは楽しげに笑ってそう答えた。
アキラ達がミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画、ハンターオフィスの部隊が制圧している簡易防壁の外側を進んでいく。
封鎖の外側の状況は昨日より
移動速度が少々遅めなことを除けば、アキラ達は順調に遺跡の市街区画を進んでいた。移動中の敵襲も一度しかなかった。それも小型の機械系モンスターが数体出ただけだ。大して強くもなく楽に粉砕できた。
『封鎖の外側なのに特に襲撃もなく進んでいるな。アルファ。周辺にモンスターはいないんだよな?』
『周囲一帯に、一定の間隔を空けて点在しているわ。襲いかかってくる様子はないから安心しなさい』
アルファがアキラの視界を拡張する。アキラの視界に機械系モンスター達の姿が遮蔽物を透過して映し出される。建物で隔てられた向こう側。建物の奥。道端の残骸の中。様々な場所に隠れていた。アルファの指摘通りアキラ達を襲う気はないようだ。モンスター達は動かずにじっとしていた。
『あいつらは何で襲ってこないんだ?』
『いろいろ理由は考えられるわ。直接戦闘能力が低い偵察機で、私達の情報を味方に送信している。車両相手だと勝算が低いと判断したため襲撃を控えている。援軍を呼び寄せている途中で、一定の戦力が
『安全、なんだな?』
『襲ってこない。襲ってきても問題なく撃退できる。そういう意味ならね。モンスターは基本的に全て危険よ。だからモンスターなんて呼ばれるのよ』
どこか釈然としないものを覚えながらも、その理由は分からない。アルファも問題なく撃退できると言っているのだ。過度に注意を払う必要はないだろう。アキラはそれ以上気にするのを止めた。
アキラ達の索敵機器の索敵範囲外に一機の大型多脚戦車が存在していた。機体に損傷はあるが十分な戦闘能力を保持している。その損傷はハンターオフィスが派遣した人型兵器との交戦によるものだ。つまりモンスターであり、敵だ。
敵の機体に搭載されている索敵装置がアキラ達を捉えた。周囲に展開している索敵機から送信される映像には移動中のアキラの車両が映っている。甲S101式と呼ばれる大型多脚戦車は、同類の敵、つまり戦車や人型兵器の撃破を主任務にする機体だ。
甲S101式の制御装置が認識している目標の映像には、アキラの車両とアキラとキャロルが映っている。アルファは映っていない。
甲S101式が大砲の照準をアキラに合わせる。都市防衛用の人型兵器を破壊する威力の大砲だ。弾速も速く、威力も高く、効果範囲も広い。直撃すればアキラの車両など一撃で大破だ。乗員もただでは済まない。
大砲から砲弾が発射される直前、甲S101式の制御装置内の映像にアルファが現れる。アルファは自分の横に何らかの紋章を表示すると、それを指差しながら黙って首を横に振る。
甲S101式はその紋章を認識すると、アキラ達への攻撃を中止した。そして次の敵を発見するまで待機状態に戻った。
アキラ達が目的地に到着する。目的地はミハゾノ街遺跡の市街区画にある3階建てのビルだ。ビルの側に車を
「......駄目ね。反応無し。短距離通信の応答どころか、発信の痕跡すらないわ」
エレナは救出対象との連絡を試みていたのだが、残念ながら失敗に終わっていた。
シカラベが状況を把握しながらエレナに尋ねる。
「依頼元の情報を信じる限り、間違いなくここよ」
アキラ達はビルの出入り口からビルの中を見る。ビルの内部は光が差して居らず非常に暗い。出入り口を封鎖していた形跡もない。
救出対象の人物がここにいる場合、ビルの内部の部屋のどこかで立て籠もっている可能性が高い。逆に救出対象の居場所の情報が間違っていて誰もいない可能性も十分有る。
き込んでいる。昨日ビルの内部から大量の機械系モンスターが湧いて出てきた光景を見ているのだ。そのため救出対象を捜索するためにビルの中に入って探索するのは気が進まなかった。
しかしこのまま帰るわけにもいかない。エレナ達は仲介業者から救出依頼を受けてこの場に来たのだ。事前の情報を基にしっかり仕事を果たしたという実績の
ビル内部に機械系モンスターが山ほどいる様子でもあれば手遅れだったとでも言い訳できるが、軽く調査ぐらいはできそうな状況である以上、確認せずに帰るわけにはいかない。
エレナが軽く
「了解だ。その場合、救出依頼を出す先はこっちで決めて良いか?」
「私達の依頼の依頼元はアルハイン保険だから、状況報告を兼ねてまずは一応そこに出しておいて。それ以上の判断は任せるわ」
「分かった。エレナ達の救出依頼に気前の良い報酬を提示して、俺がその依頼を受けるってのは有りか?」
エレナが余裕の笑みを浮かべながら答える。
り取りの裏には、緊急時の対応に関する膨大な知識や暗黙の常識がある。アキラにはそれらの前提知識がよく分からない。まだまだハンターとしての経験が足りていないのだ。アルファのサポートの恩恵でアキラの戦闘能力は格段に向上したが、ハンター稼業の経験は地道に増やすしかないのだ。
トガミはどこか不服そうな表情を浮かべていた。自分もビル内の探索に加わりたかったからだ。恐らくこの場を警戒していても何も起こらない。だからこそシカラベもエレナが他の火力をビルの内部の捜索に振り分けることに対して文句を言わないのだ。トガミはそう判断していた。
ビルの内部でも何も起こらない可能性はある。しかしビルの外で見張りをするよりは自分の実力を確認する機会は多いだろう。たとえモンスターとの遭遇などが一切なかったとしても、危険な遺跡での動き方を見るだけでも、それを自分の動きと比較するだけでも意味がある。
トガミは少し迷った後で、緊張気味な態度でエレナに頼む。
「あの、俺もそっちに加わりたいんだけど、駄目か?」
エレナは少し意外そうな表情でトガミを見た後で、視線をシカラベに移した。
シカラベが代わりに答える。
交渉の余地など全く感じさせない簡潔な言葉だった。
『アルファ。モンスターや救出対象は見つからないか?』
『そうか。そんなに大きなビルじゃないし、アルファが探しても見つからないなら、やっぱりもうここにはいないのかもな』
アルファの索敵能力が異常なまでに高性能で広範囲であることはアキラも理解している。敵も救出対象もいないと知ったアキラが無意識に少し気を緩めた。
アキラが気を緩めたことは、エレナ達にすぐに気付かれた。普通なら警戒するべき場所で急に気を緩めたアキラを
サラがエレナに尋ねる。
「エレナ。何か見つかった?」
「いいえ。私の情報収集機器にもこれといった反応はないわ」
エレナの情報収集機器もアキラの態度を裏付けていた。やはりこの辺りには救出対象のハンターもモンスターもいないようだ。
エレナとサラはアキラが旧領域接続者だと気付いている。しかしそれに気付いているために、アキラが時折見せる不思議な何かを、
サラは今一度アキラの姿を見て、アキラの現在の装備を確認する。駆け出しのハンターでは手の届かない価格の強化服。そしてその強化服の身体能力がなければ持ち運びすら難しい重量の大型の銃。それらはアキラが優秀なハンターであることの証明だ。
(私達と出会った頃のアキラは、武器はAAH突撃銃ぐらいしか持っていなかったし、強化服でも防護服でもないただの服しか着ていなかった。それがこの短期間でもうここまで装備を
アキラが自分達を頼りになる先輩扱いしてくれるのは後どれぐらいだろうか。サラはそんなことを考えて僅かな寂しさを感じながら軽く苦笑した。
キャロルはアキラが警戒を緩めたことに対するサラとエレナの反応を確認して思案する。
かにする人間とは思えない。......2人はアキラの索敵能力の理由を知っている? それともアキラとの付き合いの長さによる信頼? いつものことだと慣れるほどに同様の経験をしたため?)
キャロルはアキラの異常な索敵能力を知っても、それを旧領域接続者とは結びつけない。旧領域に接続できることと、索敵能力の向上は無関係であることを知っているからだ。全くの無関係ではないかもしれないが、少なくともあの異常な索敵能力の根拠にはならない。キャロルはそれを知っていた。
(......いろいろ聞いてみたいけど、この場で聞くのは止めた方が良いわね)
キャロルがこの場でエレナ達にそれらを尋ねれば、当然アキラの耳にも入る。何が
Ch 119
Elena and her team went to the city district of the Mihazono ruin again. Akira was driving his vehicle while looking at his surroundings, the area was cleaner than yesterday. Most of the wreckages from yesterday had been cleaned up, or at least, moved to the side of the road.
"It might be the squad sent by the Hunter Office to secure the city district of the Mihazono ruin. I bet they cleaned the road for carrying supplies to the frontline."
"Ahh, now that you mention it, they're doing something like that, huh. If they finally completely secure the city district, I wonder if the SOS emergency request would stop coming."
"It depends on how far they secure the city district. Although it's only my guess, I think that squad would withdraw after they clean up some monsters in the inner area of the city district. I believe they'll just clean up the monsters in the inner area that disrupt the Hunter Office from maintaining its branch and then they'll just check to make sure that no monsters are wandering into the wasteland before withdrawing, I'm pretty sure they won't do anything more than that."
"And even if some monsters from the Mihazono ruin wander into the wasteland, they're highly unlikely to cause any fatal troubles to the nearby cities, so I'm sure they just ignore it too. And even if they do, the cities would also dispatch their defense squad here. Whichever the case, I'm sure that the current squad will pull back after confirming the situation around the ruin."
As far as Akira could remember, the monsters had attacked Kugamayama city 3 times, he had no idea if those attacks happened because someone made a miscalculation or something. Although the inner wall was not damaged at all, those attacks did some damage to the lower district, especially to the slum city, but that might as well because it was designed to be so.
Akira listened closely to Carol's explanation.
Carol's explanation was actually the result of her analyzing the huge amount of information that she had gathered. Akira did not have that information, he did not even have the ability to obtain them, while Carol had both.
Akira who noticed that felt a bit of admiration toward Carol, and Carol noticed that thanks to her sharp senses toward such things.
As Akira showed amazement and interest in a piece of information that any veteran Hunters would know. It showed just how he was lacking in the basic knowledge of being a Hunter, and judging from his impressive fighting ability, that was a really strange thing. It was one of the downsides from quickly attaining power due to relying on Alpha's support.
Carol then thought.
[Akira is, strangely enough, clueless about the basic common knowledge for Hunters given that he's so powerful. I'm honestly curious why that is, but let's put that aside for later, as for now...]
Carol pretended to smile innocently at Akira.
"...Well, that's true."
If he had to make an excuse, Akira could say that it had not even been that long since he learned how to write his own name. So forget basic common knowledge for Hunters, he was not in a situation where he could learn basic common knowledge for the people who live in the eastern district. Honestly speaking, Akira was interested in that kind of thing too, but since he spent most of his days training and studying, he had no time to gather such information.
"In that case then, I can help you learn about them. After all, it's better if you know about those kinds of things to some degree."
"I'm already paying you 10,000,000 Aurum now. I have no plans to pay you more, you know."
Carol smiled bitterly and said.
"I won't ask you any money for sharing such kind of basic knowledge with you. I'm just thinking of casually telling you like for a subject in a casual talk."
"...In that case then, it'll be great if you can tell me about some."
Although Akira hesitated for a bit, he decided to take that offer since he was indeed interested in it too.
"Got it. First of all, well, let's see, since we're in Mihazono ruin, let's start with the basic knowledge about Mihazono ruin."
Carol then started explaining about Mihazono ruin in a good mood.
Akira listened closely to Carol's explanation. Carol thought that it was a good chance for her to gather approval points from Akira as she continued her explanation with a smile on her face.
Carol felt conflicted since Akira seemed to react to this far better compared to when she tried to seduce him with her beautiful body that she took pride in. But she decided to put that aside for now and continue to bring in subjects that might grab Akira's interest.
Togami was sitting on the long bench inside Shikarabe's APC. Inside that APC with a faint smell of blood and corpse, he was seriously working on his information terminal.
Togami was carrying powerful equipment. Although all of them were borrowed from Drankam, they could easily cost more than 100,000,000 Aurum if he had to buy them himself. Even among the equipment lent to the young Hunters of the Drankam, his rifle, augmented suit, information-gathering device, and even the ammo and the medicines that he was carrying were all high quality. Even Katsuya, who had the support of one of the high officers in Drankam, Mizuha, did not get that level of equipment.
Togami was recognized as one of the Hunters that successfully hunted a bounty monster with a small team headed by Shikarabe. Although some of the high officers inside Drankam knew the truth behind it, as long as Togami was recognized as such outside, they had to give proper rewards to him. As such, Togami was allowed to borrow powerful equipment.
If it was the past Togami, he would have been delighted knowing that Drankam finally recognized his skill, or he might even lash back complaining that it took too long for Drankam to finally notice his skill.
Since Togami finished that bounty monster hunt, he had been thinking if his pride up until now were nothing but empty. He had been thinking about it without being able to share it with anyone as he thought that all of his amazing achievements up until now as well as his pathetic performance during the battle against the Tank Tarantula were not because of his own skill.
After thinking about it for so long, he finally decided to wait for a chance to confirm his real skill. So, his next question was what kind of chance he could use to do so.
Even if he tried to work together with another young Hunter outside Drankam, he could not exactly use that to confirm his skill. It was because he could not take off his mind from Shikarabe's words when Shikarabe told him that he was just a fool who misunderstood his real skill just because he had a high Hunter Rank.
After some time, Togami regained his composure and realized that Shikarabe's words were actually referring to the people who got ahead of themselves, and not particularly referring to him. But even after he realized that, that was not enough to get his mind off it. It showed that he actually agreed with what Shikarabe said, albeit only to some degree.
After spending a lot of time thinking about it, Togami eventually came to a conclusion. If he could once again get in the same team with Shikarabe and perform as well as him, and produced results as good as him, it might help Togami reconfirm his own skill one more time.
Togami was originally scheduled to join the squad dispatched by Drankam to Mihazono ruin. But due to his request, he was suddenly transferred to Shikarabe's team. After all, he was recognized in public as one of the 4 Hunters who defeated the Tank Tarantula, thus Drankam at least allowed him to do that much.
"I'll once again reconfirm my skill in this request, I don't care if it turns out that I'm just a weakling who got ahead of myself. I just have to train even more. After all, I don't want to stay as a weakling forever."
Togami renewed his resolve there.
Togami then thought about the members of the team. It was Shikarabe, himself, Akira, Elena, Sara, and Carol, six people in total. After he thought about each person in the team, he then frowned.
[Even that Katsuya, who everyone calls the leader of the harem squad won't make the girls wear that kind of attire, right...? Does Akira have that kind of fetish or something?]
People used to say that great people had a particular fondness for pleasure, whether it was Katsuya or Akira, it was still unclear whether that was the case for great Hunters too. Togami groaned thinking that he saw a completely unexpected side of the person that shook his confidence.
Elena's team moved deeper and deeper into Mihazono ruin city district. Right about the time Togami started making slanderous guesses about Akira behind his back, they encountered a group of people, it was the squad that the Hunter Office dispatched to secure Mihazono ruin city district.
Long sharp objects were installed on the side of the road, from there, a thin metallic wire-like object extended out. It was a simple force field armour wall. They were basically easy-to-carry pillars that had strong enough power to bounce back regular-sized warheads and cannons, it was common defensive equipment usually used for temporary bases built in the middle of the wasteland or inside a ruin.
Elena stopped her vehicle and negotiated with one of the soldiers guarding the wall. That person then told his men to temporarily lower the force field wall. With the narrow metallic object blocking the road removed, Elena could pass through the road again.
"Be careful out there. We just got attacked by a huge monster just now, and the smaller monsters also keep popping up from time to time. Since you took that SOS emergency request, I'm sure you're a skilled Hunter, but if you think that this is the same Mihazono ruin as before, you'll only get yourself killed."
That person pointed in the direction where Elena and her team were heading when he said that. In the direction that he was pointing, there was a wreckage of a huge dead mechanical monster, empty warheads and missile pods could be seen scattered around that wreckage. It must have been a pretty powerful monster.
"Thanks, we'll be careful."
Elena said her thanks to that person as she restarted her vehicle and stepped on the gas. Shikarabe and Akira followed behind her. After Akira passed over the force field wall, it immediately erected back up.
Akira looked around his surroundings while driving his vehicle after passing through the force field wall. The area around him was filled with rubbles, wreckages, and dead monsters. The situation inside and outside the force field wall differed greatly.
Akira scanned his surroundings and said.
"There are obviously more monsters than yesterday. Is it because they're pushed out from the inner wall so the area outside becomes more dangerous?"
Carol, who was sitting next to Akira answered that question while also scanning around her surroundings.
"Well, with all of these monsters dead, the outside area might have become relatively safe though?"
"...What?"
"Akira, for someone who always takes the worst-case scenario in mind to the point that I can easily call you paranoid, it's strange that you tend to act without proper planning. Not only did you come to Mihazono ruin without first contacting Elena and Sara where to meet up, back there when we were chased by monsters inside the Seranthal building, you decided to go alone without any plans too. If you're really that careful, you should think before you act."
After Carol pointed that out, Akira was lost for words.
The reason why Akira was being paranoid was simply because he knew that he had bad luck, or at least, he thought he had bad luck.
He got unlucky and got attacked by former Hunters that had fallen off grace, he got unlucky and got roped into facing a swarm of monsters, there was also a time when he had to fight powerful relic thieves. In the first place, if he had good luck, he would not be living in the slums of Kugamayama city.
In reality, Akira was actually not as unlucky as he thought he was. After all, if he was really that unlucky, he would not have met Alpha and received that sudden power boost in the first place, which was in itself a very lucky encounter.
Moreover, he would not have visited Shizuka's shop where Shizuka was so nice to help him with a lot of things. He would not have met Elena and Sara in Kuzusuhara ruin, where both of them later saved him from a swarm of monsters. All of them were lucky events, so it was not like Akira always got nothing but unlucky events.
Strictly speaking, Akira simply had a twisted personality, or he might have put too much trust in Alpha's words when she said that he had used all of his lifetime worth of luck by meeting her.
While on the other hand, Akira also was not as reckless as Carol thought he was. Or at least, Akira thought so of himself. Due to the complicated order of priority that he abided by, he thought that it must be simply because he looked reckless from Carol's point of view.
But with that being said, Akira could not tell Carol the reason behind his order of priorities since it included information about Alpha as well as Elena and Sara. So instead, he tried to evade that subject.
"...If it's something that they keep secret, then there's no need for me to hold back."
"Did you say something?"
"Hm? It's nothing."
Carol smiled amusedly when she said that.
Elena and her team continued moving deeper into the city district of Mihazono ruin and away from the secured area.
The situation outside the wall was worse than yesterday. The condition of the road was so bad that it was hard to go through it. Even the vehicles designed to explore the wasteland were only barely able to pass through it. Thanks to that, Elena and her team could only continue forward slowly.
Putting that drop in speed aside, they did not encounter any other problems, they did not even get to encounter any dangerous monsters. They only met relatively small monsters and they had no problem taking them out.
"I don't see that many monsters outside the wall though. Alpha, do you detect any monsters around?"
"They're scattered around the area. Since they don't seem to be going to attack us, there's nothing to worry about."
Alpha then enhanced Akira's vision. He could see mechanical monsters pass through the rubbles and wreckages. Some of them were on the other side of a building, some of them were inside a building, some of them were hiding under the wreckages on the side of the road. They were hiding in all kinds of places around the area. And just like Alpha said, they were not trying to attack Akira. They were just there waiting in silence without moving.
"Why are they not trying to attack us?"
"I can come up with a lot of guesses. They might be just weak monsters, so they're just observing us from where they're hiding while sharing that information with the other monsters. Or they might decide not to attack us since they know they have a low chance of winning after seeing our armed vehicles. Or they might be waiting for extra reinforcement to gather their strength together before attacking."
"So we're basically safe for now, right?"
"They're not attacking us, and even if they do, we should be able to easily take them out. So from that point of view, yes, we're safe at the moment. But monsters are basically dangerous beings, that's why people call them monsters in the first place."
Akira felt that he was not fully convinced by Alpha's answer, but he did not know the reason why. Alpha also did tell him that they would not have any trouble fighting those monsters, so it might be okay to just ignore those monsters for now. In the end, he decided not to let those monsters bother him.
There was one monster that was outside the detection range of Elena and her team. Although it was damaged, it still had enough strength to fight. It was one of those huge monsters that fought the humanoid soldiers dispatched by the Hunter Office, so in short, it was an aggressive and dangerous monster, an enemy.
The scanning device installed in its body was showing Akira and the other Hunters' positions. The image of Akira moving inside the ruin was transferred from its detection devices that were scattered around the area. That so-called S101 big-sized multi-legged tank had the main duty of destroying enemies of the same type, i.e. the tanks and the humanoid soldiers.
The image displayed in the S101 control device was Akira's vehicle with Akira and Carol inside it. Alpha was invisible to that monster.
The S101 fixed its aim at Akira. The huge cannon that it was equipped with had enough power to destroy the humanoid weapons used for securing cities. It could launch a warhead at a high speed, it had powerful firepower, and it had a wide explosion radius. If Akira's vehicle got hit by that warhead even once, the people on that vehicle would not be able to get by unscathed.
Right before it launched a warhead, Alpha's image suddenly appeared in the control device of S101. Alpha showed some kind of symbol next to her, she pointed at that symbol while shaking her head.
The S101 confirmed that symbol and stopped from trying to attack Akira. It then immediately returned back to stand-by mode just like before it discovered Akira.
Elena and her team finally reached their destination. It was a 3 storey-building inside the city district of Mihazono ruin. They parked their vehicles next to that building, stepped out from their vehicles, and gathered together.
"...Nope, no reply at all. Forget signal from local connection, I can't even find any trace of signals at all."
Elena tried to contact the rescue target, but sadly enough, she did not get any reply at all.
Shikarabe tried to analyze the situation as he said to Elena.
"If we follow the information from the request, yes, it's this building."
They then peeked inside from the entrance of the building. The interior of the building was pitch black, there was no light source at all. There was not even a trace saying that the entrance was barricaded either.
If the rescue targets were really in that building, then they should be barricading themselves somewhere inside that building. While on the other hand, there was also a chance that the information of the rescue targets was wrong and they were not in that building.
They peeked inside that building while having a conflicted feeling. They saw a lot of monsters flooding out from inside a building just yesterday, so they did not want to explore that building to search for the rescue targets if it could be helped.
But it was not like they could just return back without trying to do anything there. They came all the way to that building because they accepted a rescue request from the broker that Elena was contracted with. So in order to properly do their work based on the information given to them, even if the rescue targets were no longer inside that building, they had to at least check the inside of that building and properly confirm that there was no one in that building.
If that building was filled with mechanical monsters, they could use that as an excuse to make a guess that the rescue targets were already dead. But if that was not the case, if they had the option to check a bit inside of that building, then they could not afford to just return back without doing anything.
Elena sighed, her face turned stern as she said.
"Roger that. If that happens, is it okay for me to decide where to issue the request?"
"Since we're here because of the request from Alhain insurance company, you should first send the request to them to let them know what happened. Then after that, it's up to you."
"Got it. Is it okay if I set a high reward offer for that SOS rescue request and take that request myself?"
Elena smiled and replied.
Akira too was watching that short exchange filled with interest. In the back of that short exchange, there was a lot of underlying knowledge about how to handle an emergency situation and unspoken common senses among Hunters, and Akira had almost no knowledge at all about both of those things. He simply did not have enough experience working as a Hunter. Although he received a sudden power boost thanks to Alpha's support, it did not instantly turn him into an experienced Hunter.
Togami somehow looked unsatisfied with that plan since he actually also wanted to search the building. After all, there was a good chance that nothing would happen if he just stood there guarding the building from the outside. He believed that was the exact reason why Shikarabe did not protest at all when Elena proposed to use most of the team's firepower to search the building instead of guarding the building.
Togami joined Shikarabe because he wanted to reconfirm his skill. Of course, there was no guarantee that something would happen if he joined the team searching the inside of the building. But he believed that he should be able to get more chances to reconfirm his skill by going inside instead of standing guard outside. Even if he did not get to find monsters, he could at least see how the other Hunters explored a dangerous place and compare that to himself.
After a bit of thinking, he then nervously asked Elena.
"Uhmm, if it's possible, I actually want to search the inside of the building too, is that okay?"
Elena looked a bit surprised. She then shifted his gaze to Shikarabe.
Shikarabe then answered Togami's request in place of Elena.
It was a short answer that did not show any willingness to negotiate.
"Alpha, do you find any monsters or the rescue targets?"
"I see. This building is a rather small building, so if you don't find anything, the rescue targets might be really no longer in this place."
Akira knew very well just how great Alpha's detection skill was, moreover, Alpha also had a very wide detection range. So, after he knew that Alpha did not detect any monsters nor any rescue targets, Akira unconsciously lowered his guard.
But the other Hunters immediately noticed that Akira lowered his guard there. Normally, they would have scolded him for lowering his guard in the middle of a dangerous place. But since all of them knew just how unnaturally sensitive Akira was when it came to detecting enemies, they did not scold him at all.
Sara then asked Elena a question.
"Elena, do you find anything?"
"Nope. Even my information-gathering device doesn't detect anything."
Even Elena's information-gathering device also agreed with Akira. So there might be really no monsters nor their rescue targets inside that building.
Both Elena and Sara already realized that Akira was someone who can connect to the old-world domain. But because of that, they always pinned the unnatural skill that Akira showed from time to time, like his astounding ability to detect monsters, as his ability as someone who could access the old-world domain. They did not even guess the existence of Alpha at all.
Sara looked at Akira one more time and scanned his current equipment. Akira was using an augmented suit that was way outside the reach of fresh Hunters, and he was carrying heavy weapons that normal humans could not carry unless with the help of an augmented suit. It showed just how powerful Akira was as a Hunter.
[When we met for the first time, Akira was carrying nothing but AAH rifles and he was just using a cloth that was neither an armour nor an augmented suit. But in such a short time, he got all of that equipment. Not to mention that his detection ability is more or less as good as Elena, then to top it off, his fighting ability is nothing to scoff at... At this rate, it won't take long for him to surpass me and Elena. I wonder how long we can stay as his senior.]
Sara smiled bitterly, she felt a bit lonely when she thought that she did not have much time left until Akira became stronger than her, and when that time came, Akira would stop relying on her and Elena as his senior.
On the side, Carol confirmed how Elena and Sara reacted when they noticed Akira lowered his guard, she then thought.
[They continue exploring the building without showing any reaction even when they notice Akira lowered his guard, as in matter of fact, it seems that they also lowered their guards too. Judging by the information-gathering device that Elena has, I don't think both of them are Hunters who would lower their guard because of something like that... Does that mean they know why Akira is so good at detecting monsters? Or is it that because they know Akira for a long time and really trust him? Or is it that they're already used to it since they have worked together with Akira many times before?]
Carol knew that Akira had an unnaturally high ability to detect enemies, but she did not think that it was because he might be someone who could connect to the old-world domain. It was because she knew that being an old-world connector did not equal having a great ability to detect enemies. Of course, it was not completely unrelated, but that also did not give a definite proof either. Carol knew that very well.
[...Honestly speaking, I want to ask a lot of questions about it. But I guess I should do that later and not here.]
If Carol tried to poke about that information from Elena and Sara here, of course, Akira would be able to hear her too, and it might cause trouble later down the line. If she wanted to gather information about Akira, she should at least do that somewhere where he could not hear her, and she should choose her words wisely as not to cause any suspicion.
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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