レイナが必死に模擬戦を続けていた頃、カナエがアキラの情報端末に表示されている調整内容の項目を見て笑っていた。
「アキラ少年。これはちょっとやりすぎじゃないっすかね?」
「そうか? でもレイナの勝率も悪くないと思うぞ」
さんが厳選した装備のおかげっす。少年はこの調整内容で勝てるっすか?」
「......重要なのは勝ち負けじゃない。良い訓練になるかどうかだ」
カナエがアキラの少々子供っぽい返答を少し意外に思い軽く笑う。
「まあ、確かにそうっす。でもあの勝率を前提とする難易度だと、かなりの賭けや
「......まあ、それは良いっす。ところで少年、暇っすよね? 軽く手合わせでもしないっすか?」
「嫌だ」
「まあまあ、そう言わずに。これも訓練っすよ。交換条件みたいなものっす」
「交換条件?」
「そうっす。少年はお嬢が模擬戦をしている間は模擬戦ができないっす。これは訓練の機会をお嬢が奪っているとも言えるっす。そのお
アキラは悩んだ末に注意深く尋ねる。
「カナエが俺の訓練に付き合う。そういうことで良いんだな? 俺の訓練である以上、俺の要望に従ってもらう。具体的にはカナエには物
「良いっすよ! いやー、言ってみるものっすね! 早速始めるっすよ」
カナエが浮き浮きしながら観戦場所から飛び降りた。
「まあ、訓練自体は真面目に付けるつもりのようだし、気兼ねなく戦える格闘戦の訓練相手が貴重なのも事実だしな」
強化服を着用しての格闘戦は下手をすると相手を殺しかねない。しかし生身で戦うのもそれはそれで危険だ。強化服を着用した上でそれなりの出力で戦える都合の良い相手ではあるのだ。
「万一の場合は助力いたします」
「私は要望通り手加減するっすけど、少年は殺す気で全力を出して良いっすよ。さあ、いつでも良いっす!」
アキラは呼吸を整えて緊張を抑えている。訓練とはいえ相手は間違いなく格上だ。油断はできない。
『アキラ。私はどの程度サポートした方が良い?』
『訓練なんだ。無理はしない。だから基本的に何もしないでくれ。助言だけ頼む。後は本当に危ない時だけにしてくれ』
『分かったわ。頑張ってね』
『ああ』
アキラはカナエとの距離をゆっくりと詰めていった。
訓練の名目でアキラと手合わせ兼値踏みを試みたカナエだったが、その
まれて投げられ、避けきれない突きや蹴りを寸止めされる。アキラからの攻撃は軽く躱され、受け流され、防がれて、反撃を受ける。見所などどこにもなかった。
初めは楽しげだったカナエの表情もすぐに曇り始める。相手への落胆や失望が浮かび、つまらなそうに名目である訓練相手を務めていた。
(......期待外れっす。わざと手を抜いているようにも見えないし、これが少年の実力っすか。スラム街の遺物販売店を襲った強盗8人を、1人で返り討ちにした子供のハンターがいるって話を聞いたから、もしかしたらアキラ少年かもしれないって思ったっすけど、別人すかね)
観戦している休憩中の者達も、一方的に倒されているアキラを見て動揺したり軽い失望の表情を浮かべていたりしている。アキラが彼らに自分の実力を弱く装う理由もないだろう。カナエは彼らの態度とアキラの様子から思い、やはりアキラの実力はこの程度だと判断して大分やる気をなくしていた。
レイナが模擬戦を終えて戻ってくるのを見て、カナエが訓練の打ち切りを決める。
「少年。お嬢も戻ってきたっすから、これぐらいにするっすよ」
アキラが息を整えながら答える。
「ありがとう御座いました」
「どういたしましてっす。まあ、筋は悪くないと思うっすから、後は精進あるのみっすよ」
カナエがレイナを出迎えようとしていたシオリに近付き、
さん。正直に言って、あの程度の相手に苦戦したっすか? ちょっとどうかと思うっすよ?」
「好きに言ってなさい」
カナエがシオリを注意深く観察するようにじっと見ている。シオリは澄まし顔だ。
「何? お嬢様の気も済んだようだから、借りた装備を返して礼を言って帰るわよ」
さんはアキラ少年の実力をあの程度とは思っていないっすね? そして少年を真面目に戦わせる手段に心当たりがあるっすね」
「で、どうすれば良いっすか?」
に付き合う気はないわ」
「良いじゃないっすか。私がアキラ少年の車を見つけたからこの場に来られて、お嬢の良い訓練にもなったんすから、ちょっとぐらい手伝って下さいっすよ。お嬢がカツヤ少年の派閥から追い出された所為で、多人数を相手にした訓練が難しくなっていたのにっすよ? お嬢の役に立ったじゃないっすか」
「元々お嬢様の役に立つのが私達の仕事でしょう?」
「それなら私がアキラ様と交渉するから100万オーラム払いなさい」
「か、金を取るっすか」
「当然よ。お互いに業務外のことを手伝う仲でもないでしょう? 別に嫌なら良いわよ」
シオリの性格から考えて自分を
「取引成立ね。カナエの給料から引いておくわ。交渉に失敗しても引くわ」
「えー、そりゃないっすよ」
「アキラ様。もう一度カナエと格闘戦の訓練をしていただけないでしょうか? これはアキラ様への依頼になります」
「もう一度って、十分やっただろう?」
「いえ、条件が異なります。カナエがアキラ様の訓練に付き合うのではなく、アキラ様がカナエの訓練に付き合う形式でお願いいたします。報酬額は50万オーラム。全額前払い。期間はアキラ様が50万オーラム分働いたと判断するまで。条件は以上となります。
めた後、この依頼を受けるべきか悩み始めた。シオリが続ける。
「差し出がましいことを申し上げますと、カナエに過度に押され続けていた光景で訓練を終えるのは
シオリがそう言ってエリオ達に視線を向けた。アキラも釣られてそちらを見て、無意識にエリオ達の様子を探る。確かに無様を見せた。エリオ達の一部は、下手をすると格闘戦なら自分と戦っても勝ち目がある、と判断しているかもしれない。アキラは何となくそう思った。
シオリがアキラの思考を誘導してから更に続ける。
「私情をお話しいたしますと、お嬢様はセランタルビルで他の方々と遜色のない実力を披露したアキラ様と同等の実力を身に着けることを当面の目標としております。その目標には高くあってほしいとも思っております」
アキラがレイナの様子をちらっと見る。レイナは少し残念そうにも見える複雑な表情を浮かべていた。
「随分高そうな装備をしているし、装備込みの単純な戦闘力なら、もう俺より上なんじゃないか?」
「そうでしょうか? 少なくとも私はそうは思いません。また、実力とは単純なものではありません。装備の性能のみで決まるものでもありません」
アキラは僅かに間を置いてから、根負けしたような様子を見せた。
「それで問題御座いません。ありがとう御座います」
シオリはアキラに丁寧に頭を下げると50万オーラムをその場で支払った。振り込みなどではなく現金が必要になった場合に備えたものだ。アキラはそれを受け取って一度車両に戻ると、リュックサックから回復薬を取り出して飲み込む。
『アキラ。受けて良かったの?』
『まあ、アルファのサポート有りでも試してみたいとは思っていたし、エリオ達に変な勘違いをされると困るのも確かだ。それに......』
アキラがそう言って少し不敵に笑うと、アルファも不敵に楽しげに笑った。
『それもそうね。それで、どれぐらい無理をする気なの?』
『報酬分ぐらいは無理をしよう。一応依頼だしな』
『分かったわ。アキラも事前に回復薬を飲むぐらいやる気のようだし、強化服の設定も変更しておきましょう。カナエが油断していたらあっという間に倒して、私達の実力を見せつけてやりましょう』
アキラとカナエが再び
「いつでも良いっすよ。今回は私の訓練である以上、アキラ少年には今度こそ全力を出してほしいっす」
アキラが前回と同じように間合いをゆっくりと詰めていく。その動きを見てカナエがやはり期待外れだと僅かに落胆の色を見せた瞬間、アキラは強化服の出力を限界まで上げた状態で地面を蹴り、素早く鋭く滑らかな動きで一気に距離を詰めた。
突如別人の動きになったアキラへの驚きがカナエの反応を僅かに遅らせた。だがそれでも地力が異なる。カナエは右手で突きを入れようとしているアキラの視線や動きを見て、余裕を持ってその攻撃を防ごうとする。
(......右の突きはフェイント!? 右腕も視線もしっかり頭を狙っていたっすよ!? ちょっとフェイントが
(......攻撃の直後に強く押し返されたのに体勢が全く崩れていないっす! それにこの反応! 蹴りの動作の開始直後に回避行動に移っているっす! しかも蹴りを目で追っていないっすか!?)
カナエは蹴りの勢いを利用して軸足を跳ね上げると、意図的に体の軸をずらして軌道を変えた蹴りを放つ。アキラはそれも素早く身を低くして躱す。そして両脚が地面から離れているカナエに殴りかかる。
本来なら空中を飛んでいる状態のカナエにアキラの攻撃を回避するのは不可能だ。だがカナエの両手足の装備には
カナエが身を起こす。怖いほどの笑みを浮かべてしっかりと立ち上がる。それを見てアキラが僅かに険しい表情を浮かべる。
『あれだけ蹴飛ばしたのにダメージ無しか』
『それもそうだな』
「終わりだ」
れんばかりの戦意で笑顔を形作って楽しそうに答える。
「......何を言ってるっすか。これからっすよ。アキラ少年の本気に驚きはしたっす。大したものっす。でもこの程度で勝ちを確信するほど
「そうじゃない。依頼の期間が終わったんだ」
「受けた依頼の期間は、50万オーラム分働いたと俺が判断するまでだ。今ので50万オーラムぐらいは働いた。依頼達成で、終わりだ。これ以上は付き合わない」
そうにしていたが、意味を理解すると非常に不満そうな表情を浮かべた。
「えー! 私の心にここまで火を付けておいてお預けって、そりゃないっすよ!」
「分かったっす! じゃあ後で追加分を払うっすよ! それでどうっすか!」
「駄目だ! 俺の強化服は大分調子が悪くなっているんだ! これ以上付き合ったら壊れかねない! 新しい強化服が届くまで保たせるつもりなんだ。絶対に付き合わないからな。無理に続けようとするなら、車で逃げながらDVTSミニガンで拡張弾倉が空になるまで撃ち続けてやるからな」
「それにしても、あれだけ戦えるなら前の時ももっとやる気を出して戦ってほしかったっす。依頼を受けないとやる気が出ないタイプっすか?」
「真面目にやっていたぞ? 俺の訓練だから不必要な無理をしなかっただけだ。あれでもちゃんと俺の訓練になっていた。さっきのはそっちの訓練で依頼だから、必要なことをしただけだ。前にも言った通り、回復薬も強化服のエネルギーも
カナエが少し思案した後で、表情を少しだけ真面目なものに変える。
「アキラ少年は実はこっそり超人を目指している方っすか?」
「そんなつもりはない。前にも似たようなことを聞かれたけど勘違いだ。俺を生身で戦車を殴り飛ばすのを目標にしているような連中と一緒にしないでくれ」
カナエが何かを含むような楽しげな笑みを浮かべた。そこには相手への確かな好感が含まれていたが、それは好敵手や無自覚な同類へ向ける親愛に近いものだ。アキラはそこにネリアの笑みに近いものを、これから殺す相手を口説こうとする人間の笑みに近いものを感じて、僅かに嫌そうに顔を
その後レイナ達はアキラに礼を言って去っていった。アキラは少々疲れ気味の顔を浮かべていた。
『アルファ。何か疲れたから、今日の訓練はこれぐらいにしても良いか?』
『良いわよ。すぐ帰る? それともエリオ達だけで模擬戦を続けさせる?』
『そうだな......、続けさせるか。あいつらには貴重な訓練の機会なんだ。俺のやる気がなくなったから帰るってのもな』
『分かったわ。それなら二手に分かれて戦わせて、アキラには観戦しながら客観的な視点で彼らの改善点でも探ってもらいましょうか。そういう考察力も大切だからね』
エリオ達だけで再開した模擬戦はその後も
寄り道を終えたレイナ達が荒野を都市に向けて進んでいる。カナエが運転しながら機嫌良く話している。
「いやー、ちょっと消化不良だったっすけど、寄って良かったっすね。お嬢の腕試しにもなったし、アキラ少年の強さも分かったっす。正直あそこまでとは思っていなかったっす。
レイナはかなり満足げな様子を見せていた。少なくとも、途中から見ていなかったと言われたことをどうでもいいと思うぐらいには。
「大変だったけど、今の自分がどこまでできるか、それを
吹っ切れたように前向きに進もうとするレイナの様子に、シオリも機嫌良く答える。
「お任せください。お嬢様のお役に立つのが私の仕事ですから」
しかしカナエは逆に少し険しい表情で答える。
「お嬢。アキラ少年と同程度の強さを目指すのは良いっすけど、アキラ少年のように強くなるのは駄目っすよ。あれは参考にしては駄目な例っす」
不思議そうに聞き返すレイナに、カナエが少し真面目な表情で補足する。
「いろいろとイカれているってことっすよ。アキラ少年の強化服はお嬢のもののような高級品じゃないっす。基本性能も着用者の負担軽減性能も低い。だから普通は着用者の安全の
いの? そうは見えなかったけど......」
「何なら後でお嬢も一度試してみるっすか? お嬢の強化服の設定を変えれば試せるっすよ?」
カナエは軽くそう言ったが、シオリが非常に厳しい口調で口を挟む。
「カナエ。ふざけたことを言わないで。お嬢様。本当に危険です。絶対に止めてください」
レイナはシオリの態度からその危険性を正しく理解して表情を
「一度ぐらい体験するのも経験だと思うっすけどね。まあ、それぐらい負担になるっすよ」
「確かにそこまで危険なら、その戦い方が駄目って言われるのも分かるわ」
納得する様子を見せているレイナに、カナエが首を軽く横に振って続ける。
「違うっすよ。そこは大して問題じゃないっす」
「えっ? シオリからも止められたし、そういうことじゃないの?」
さんも苦戦したんでしょうけどね」
カナエはそこまで語った後で、急に不思議そうな表情を浮かべる。
「......ただまあそうすると、やっぱり疑問が出るっすけどね。そういう人物なら多少は強そうに見えても良いと思うし、アキラ少年は実際にかなり強いっすけど、何でああ弱そうに見えるっすかねー。訳あってそう擬態しているとも思えないっす。お嬢。何か心当たりとかないっすか?」
「わ、私?」
「アキラ少年と初めて会った時に、雑魚だと侮って突っかかっていったって聞いたっすよ? 雑魚だと判断した理由とか何か思いつかないっすか?」
レイナがかつての失態を蒸し返されて顔をばつが悪そうに
シオリもアキラの実力を見抜けなかった失態の理由を探っていた。そしてアキラの実力をシカラベに尋ねた時のことを思い出して、シカラベも自分達と同じようにアキラの実力を見誤っていたことに気付く。
もうこれは偶然ではない。何かがあるのだ。その何かの仮説すら思いつかないが、アキラの実力を見誤らせる何かが確かに存在する。シオリはそう判断してアキラへの警戒を更に高めていた。
さんは何か思いつかないっすか?」
「それを聞いてどうするの?」
「お嬢の護衛として、一見弱そうな相手を軽んじて油断しない為っすよ」
「特に思いつかないわ。自分の失態を恥じるばかりよ。カナエもそうしなさい」
(知れば知るほど分からないことが増えていく興味の尽きない少年っすねー。何とかして一度じっくり手合わせする機会でもできないっすかねー)
そしてアキラへの興味を更に深めて楽しげに笑った。
When Reina was desperately fighting the mock battles, Kanae peeked at Akira's information terminal to see the details of the adjustment and lightly smiled.
"Akira-boy, isn't that too much?"
"Is that so? But I think she's doing pretty well, you know"
"That's because of the equipment that Ane-san especially prepared for her. What about you? Can you win with those handicaps?"
"...It's not about winning or losing, it's about whether it's a good training or not."
Kanae lightly laughed, she did not expect Akira would give such a childish reply.
"Well, that's true. But if you use that level of difficulty as the base indicator, you'll need to do some reckless stuff to be able to win. And once you get used to doing something like that, you might also do some reckless stuff out of reaction during a real fight. Personally speaking, I recommend doing an easier training where you can more or less maintain a 100% winning rate."
"...Well, that doesn't really matter. By the way, Akira-boy, are you free? Want to have a light spar with me?"
"No."
"Now, now, don't say that. This is also a training, something like an equal exchange."
"Equal exchange?"
"Yes, you can't do mock battles when Milady is doing mock battles, it can even be said that Milady is taking your chance to do training. So to compensate for that, you can have a CQC training with me. I bet even if you can have shooting training with them, you can't do CQC training with them, right? I'll be sure to properly train you, you can get training for free when you would normally need money to get this kind of training, you know. So, what do you think? This is a good chance for you, you know?"
After thinking for a bit, Akira then carefully asked a question.
"So basically, you'll help me train, right? Since it's training for me, I'll have you follow my wish regarding the training. For example, I might ask you to go easy on me. And also no aiming for my head even if it's just a feint. If you're okay with that, then sure, I don't mind either."
"Of course!! I'm really glad I asked! Let's start right away!"
Kanae excitedly jumped off from the observation point.
"Well, it seems that she's being serious about teaching me, and it's true that it's important to have a training opponent against whom I don't need to hold back at all."
They could easily kill someone if they were not careful when they were having a CQC fight with their augmented suits. But fighting without an augmented suit was also dangerous. So it was true that it was important to have a training opponent that Akira could fight using his augmented suit without holding back too much.
"Just to be safe, if something were to happen, I'll help you."
"I'll hold back just like you asked me to, but you can go ahead and seriously aim to kill me. Come now, I'm ready when you are!"
Akira took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Although it was only training, it did not change the fact that his opponent was stronger than him. He could not afford to be careless.
"Akira, how much support do you want?
"It's training, I don't plan to do anything reckless, so don't give me any support unless you really have to. Like if it's getting dangerous or in case of emergencies."
"Okay, give your best there."
"Yeah."
Akira slowly closed the distance to Kanae.
Kanae originally planned to gauge Akira's strength using training as a pretext, but her plan immediately went awry. After all, she was obviously way too strong for Akira.
Akira got his feet swept clean off the ground, got grabbed and slammed into the ground, or received straight punches and kicks that stopped him on his track. While on the other hand, Kanae could easily deflect, block, and evade Akira's attacks before countering back. His strength was nothing worth noting.
Kanae looked excited at the beginning, but it did not take long before she looked disappointed. She was so disappointed in Akira that she looked rather bored while being his training partner.
[...This is really disappointing. Is this his full strength? It doesn't seem like he's holding back either. Back then when I heard a slum boy fought and defeated 8 attackers all alone when they tried to rob a relic shop in the slum city, I thought that it might be him. But I guess this means it's someone else, huh?]
The children who were taking a break there were surprised and felt a bit hopeless seeing how Akira kept getting beaten by Kanae. There was no reason for Akira to pretend to be weak. Judging from his reaction and how the other children reacted to that, Kanae realised that Akira's real skill only amounted to that much and felt greatly dispirited by it.
When she saw Reina return back, Kanae decided to stop the training.
"Akira boy, Milady has returned too, so let's stop here."
Akira was trying to even out his breathing as he said.
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome. Well, you're not that bad, so it depends on how much you train yourself in the future."
Kanae returned back to Shiori who was welcoming Reina back and confusedly asked Shiori a question.
"Ane-san, did you really have a hard time fighting against him? If that's true, that's a little bit... You know..."
"You may say whatever you want."
Kanae looked closely and carefully at Shiori, but Shiori hardly showed any reaction at all.
"What is it? It seems that Milady also had her fill, so let's return the equipment back and head back home."
"Ane-san, you don't believe that was Akira-boy's real strength, right? And you have an idea what to do to make him fight seriously, right?"
"So, what should I do to get him to fight me seriously?"
"I have no plans to get dragged to your mess."
"Geez, it's fine, isn't it? It's thanks to me who spotted Akira-boy's vehicle and suggested to come here that Milady got a good training here, so isn't it fine to help me for a bit? Not to mention, Milady is having a hard time finding a training partner since she got kicked out of Katsuya's faction. Coming here was beneficial to Milady, you know."
"It's our job to be useful to Milady in the first place."
"In that case, I'll go and discuss it with Akira. So give me 1,000,000 Aurum."
"Y-You're going to make me pay?"
"Of course, we're helping each other when it's out of our job description, right? I don't mind if you want to stop here."
Judging from Shiori's character, it was unlikely that she would keep that money for herself. And more than that, Kanae was interested in Akira's real strength. So after a short consideration, she decided that she did not mind paying that much money.
"We have a deal then, I'll deduct it from your wage. You won't get your money back even if I fail, okay?"
"Ehhh? That's unfair!"
"Akira-sama, can you please do another round with Kanae? Consider it as a request for Akira-sama."
"One more time? I believe that we did enough just now though?"
"No, this is a little bit different. It's not Kanae helping you train, it's more of Akira-sama helping Kanae train. The reward will be 500,000 Aurum. It'll be paid in full upfront. The request will be completed once Akira-sama works hard enough to earn that 500,000 Aurum. That will be all, will you accept it?"
Akira slightly frowned since he felt like Shiori was able to see through him. He then started considering whether to take that request or not. That was when Shiori suddenly said.
"If I may, it might be not good for Akira-sama to wrap up the training with Akira-sama's complete defeat."
As Shiori said so, she glanced in Erio's direction. Akira followed suit and looked at Erio and the other children. It was true that he looked rather pathetic there. For some reason, after seeing how they looked at him, Akira thought that some of them might think that they have a chance to win if they try to challenge him in CQC.
After Shiori gave that slight nudge on Akira, she then continued.
"If I may add my personal opinion, I believe that Milady started to work hard since she's aiming to be as strong as Akira-sama who was able to fight side by side with the other Hunters. If I may, I wish that Milady's goal would stay somewhere high."
Akira glanced at Reina. Reina seemed rather conflicted and slightly disappointed.
"She's already using pretty expensive equipment there, combat power-wise, I think she's already above me though?"
"Is that so? At the least, I don't believe so. Moreover, strength is not only about pure firepower, it's not decided solely based on the quality of equipments."
At first, Akira took some time to think about it, he then made an expression as if he just gave up.
"Very well, thank you very much."
Shiori lightly bowed and paid 500,000 Aurum to Akira. That was just to be safe in case Akira wanted to get cash instead of a bank transfer. Akira received that, returned back to his vehicle, took out some medicines from his rucksack, and swallowed them.
"Akira, are you sure you're okay taking that request?"
"Well, I do want to test your support too, not to mention that I don't want Erio and the other children to misunderstand something here. Moreover..."
Akira said so as he smiled smugly, Alpha smiled back confidently at him.
"That's true, so then, how much level of recklessness is okay?"
"At least enough to be suitable for that reward. It's a request after all."
"Very well. Not to mention, it seems you're willing to go as far as to take some medicines beforehand, let's change the setting of your augmented suit a bit. If she already has her guard down, we can use that to defeat her quickly and show her your strength."
Akira and Kanae were facing each other again. Akira had a serious face just like last time, but that was not the case for Kanae, she seemed half-convinced and was still suspicious.
"I'm ready when you are. Also, it's my training this time, so it would be great if you can give your full power."
Just like last time, Akira slowly closed the distance. Looking at that, Kanae thought that her guess was indeed correct. Her expression slightly turned disappointed for a split second, right at that moment, Akira used the full power of his augmented suit to propel his body forward and closed the distance in one quick and fluid motion.
That sudden move as if Akira was completely a different person caught Kanae completely off guard and slowed her reaction. But that did not pose trouble due to her fighting skill. She saw Akira trying to dive straight at her as she moved to block that incoming attack.
[...That right straight was a feint!? Not to mention that both his gaze and attack were seriously aimed at me!? Isn't he too good at making a feint!?]
[...He did not get thrown off balance even when I countered with that strong kick! And that reaction time!! He immediately moved away to evade my attack right after his kick!! Or more like, he didn't even look at my kick, did he?!]
Kanae used the momentum from her kick to shift her posture and changed the trajectory of her kick. But Akira immediately ducked and evaded that too. Now that Kanae had her both legs off the ground, Akira zoomed in to throw an attack.
Normally, now that Kanae was flying in the air, she should not be able to evade that attack. But both of Kanae's legs were armed with forcefield armour.
Kanae pushed herself up. She was smiling widely that it was creepy. Akira frowned as he saw her smile.
"No damage even after she received that powerful kick, huh?"
"That's kinda true."
"That's it, that will be the end."
Kanae's smile was filled with excitement for more as she replied.
"...What are you talking about? We're just getting started here. You're surprisingly strong when you're serious, it's indeed amazing, but it would be troublesome if you think that was enough to defeat me."
"That's not what I meant, this is the end of my request."
"The request only lasts until I put in enough work to earn the 500,000 Aurum reward. And that one now was worth at least that much. The request is finished, it's done. So I have no plans to go along with you."
Although Kanae was confused, she was able to understand what he meant, she obviously looked displeased.
"Ehhh!! You would just back off after putting my heart on fire like this? That's just so unfair, you know!"
"I know, I'll pay the extra money! How about that?"
"Still no! My augmented suit is in a rather bad state, you see. If I go along with your training, there's no mistaking it that it'll break! To be honest, I'm planning to use it as carefully as possible until my new augmented suit arrives. That's why I can't go along with your request. If you keep forcing me, I'll run away while emptying the extended magazine of my DVTS minigun at you, you know."
"But still, if you're that strong, it would have been great if you had put that much effort in our first battle. Is it that you can't get serious unless it's a request?"
"I was being serious back then too, you know? It's just that since it's training, so I thought there's no need for me to get reckless. That was enough training for me too. While the last fight was a request for training, so I only did what I needed to do. As I said before, I didn't get my medicine and energy pack for free."
Kanae seemed to be thinking for a bit before she made a serious face and said.
"Akira-boy, are you actually hiding your real strength while trying to be a superhuman?"
"I have no plans to be anything like that. Someone else also asked me the exact same thing not too long ago, so let me say it again, that's not true. I have no plans to be strong enough to be able to throw a tank with my pure strength."
Kanae somehow looked amused. There was a trace of favourability toward Akira in her gaze, but it was much closer to a favourability toward a rival or someone who was of the same type as her. Akira thought that smile was similar to Neria's, it was a smile of someone who would try to seduce the opponent that she wanted to kill, Akira could not help but to make an annoyed face at that.
After that, Reina's group thanked Akira and left. Akira looked tired as he said.
"Alpha, I somehow feel tired. Is it okay if we finish the training here today?"
"Sure, do you want to head straight back home? Or do you want to let Erio and the other children continue the training themselves?"
"Hmmm, let's see... I guess I'll let them continue the training themselves, huh. It's their precious opportunity to train, so I would feel bad if I send them all back just because I don't feel like doing it."
"Alright. In that case, let's break them into two groups and set them to fight each other, then I'll have you observe their fight and take notes. It's important to be able to do that kind of analysis too, you see."
Erio and the other children continued the training by themselves for some time after that. Akira did not join them at all, and when the time was right, they decided to wrap up the training.
After they left Akira, Reina, Shiori and Kanae headed back to the city. Kanae sounded rather happy as she said while driving the vehicle.
"Well well well, although it was rather unfortunate, I'm glad that we visited Akira-boy. It served as a good training for Milady and I got to see how strong that Akira-boy is. To be honest, I didn't expect him to be that strong. That explains why Ane-san had a hard time fighting him. So then, Milady, how was the training? To be honest, I stopped watching midway, you see."
Reina somehow looked displeased. At least, she looked displeased enough that it was obvious that it was not because Kanae said she stopped watching midway.
"It was hard, I feel like I got a good gauge of my current strength at the moment. Though it's all thanks to my equipment."
Reina sounded as if she finally made her resolve to move forward, so Shiori happily replied.
"Please leave it to us. It's our job to be useful to Milady."
But in contrast to that, Kanae said while making a grim face.
"Milady, it's all good if you want to be as strong as Akira-boy, but it's impossible for Milady to get as strong as Akira-boy, you know. He's someone who you should not aspire to be."
Reina was confused. Kanae then answered her question with a serious tone.
"He's not right in the head in all kinds of meaning. Akira-boy's augmented suit is not an advanced augmented suit like Milady is using right now. Its capability is relatively low and its user burden compensator is also relatively bad. That's why their power output is lowered for the sake of the safety of its user. But, although it's only my guess, I believe that Akira-boy modified that limiter or maybe even completely took it off. So it should have been putting his body under immense stress. And well, normal people would die if they do that. Akira-boy's move suddenly changed as if he was completely a different person after he accepted that request from Ane-san, remember? Oh, did you even see that fight?"
"I-is it really that bad? It didn't seem that bad though..."
"In that case, would you like to give it a try? You should be able to try it if we change the setting on your augmented suit."
Kanae said that so casually, but Shiori immediately interjected as if she was scolding Kanae.
"Kanae, stop talking nonsense. Milady, it's really dangerous, so don't even think about it no matter what."
Reina frowned, she understood the danger of doing something like that from how Shiori sounded there. Kanae lightly giggled and said.
"To be honest, I think it's a good idea to at least try it once though. But as I explained before, it's basically awful."
"If it's really that dangerous, I can understand why I should not fight using that method."
Reina seemed to fully understand the importance of that subject. But Kanae shook her head and said.
"That's not what I meant, as in matter of fact, that's not the biggest issue."
"Eh? Shiori also stopped me though, but that was not the real issue?"
"Well, I bet it's because he's like that that Ane-san had a hard time fighting him."
After Kanae said so, she suddenly made a rather confused look.
"...But still, putting that aside, I still find it rather strange. People who are that strong usually have an aura that you can recognize. But although Akira is actually strong, why does he still look weak? And I don't think that he's deliberately trying to look weak either. Milady, do you have any guess?"
"M-me?"
"I heard that Milady looked down on Akira-boy thinking that he's just a small fry the first time Milady met him. Is there any particular reason why Milady thought he was just a small fry?"
Reina remembered her mistake and looked slightly displeased. But as she continued searching through her memories, her expression slowly changed to a confused one.
Shiori was also searching through her memories as to why she misjudged Akira's strength. She then remembered Shikarabe's answer when she inquired about him and realized that Shikarabe also had made the same mistake as her.
This could not be just a pure coincidence, there must be something behind it. Although Shiori could not identify what this something was, there was no mistaking it, something was causing it. As she thought so, she decided to be more careful with Akira.
"Ane-san, did you get anything?"
"What are you planning to do with that information?"
"As Milady's bodyguard, it's so that I won't lower my guard even if my opponent looks weak."
"Nothing in particular came to mind except the shame from the mistake I made. So you should be careful too."
[This Akira-boy is really an interesting boy. The more I know about him, the more questions come up about him. I wonder if I can get a chance to properly fight him soon.]
And so, her interest in Akira got even deeper along with her smile.
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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