アキラ達がエレナ達との合流場所に到着した。合流場所はミハゾノ街遺跡に無数に存在している廃ビルだ。廃ビルの出入り口でエレナとサラが見張りをしていた。
廃ビルの内部には救出対象のハンター達の残りの者達がいた。シカラベの装甲兵員輸送車では一度に運びきれなかった分だ。シカラベが運び切れないと判断した理由は、車両の余剰空間よりも、見知らぬ武装した人間を何人まで同じ車両に乗り込ませるかという安全面での考慮が大きい。
エレナ達がシカラベと別行動を取ってここに残っていた理由は、置き去りにされたくないハンター達が必死に頼み込んだからだ。エレナはいろいろ考慮して彼らの頼みを聞き入れた。エレナ達の人の良さ、彼らの心情、契約の内容、
車から降りたシカラベがエレナに尋ねる。
「死体袋が必要なやつは?」
「いないわ。重傷者は無しよ。死体もね」
「そうか。そんなに元気なら普通に立て籠もってろ。おかげでこっちは護衛無しで戻る羽目になったってのによ」
少し不満げな様子のシカラベに、エレナが軽く笑って答える。
に彼らは金を出している。その金が私達の報酬になっている。それだけの話よ」
車から降りたアキラ達がエレナ達の所までやってくる。エレナとサラはアキラを笑って出迎えようとしたが、アキラの隣にいるキャロルの姿を見て困惑の表情を浮かべた。キャロルが男性の視線を非常に意識したデザインの強化服を着ていたからだ。
アキラが別のハンターを連れてくることはエレナもサラも知っていたが、異性を誘っているといっても過言ではない格好のキャロルは、エレナ達の予想をいろいろと超えていた。
アキラがエレナ達に会釈する。
しくお願いします......で、良いんでしょうか? 俺はエレナさん達に合流したいと思っていますが、俺が勝手にもう1人連れてきたことが何か問題になるのでしたら、俺達は別行動でも構いません。合流した場合でも、キャロルが何かした場合の責任は俺が取ります」
エレナが戸惑いながら答える。
「えっと、ちょっと待って。落ち着かせて。......良し」
エレナは様々な感情が湧き出ていることを自覚しながらも、チームのリーダーとして冷静に判断しなければならないと自分に強く言い聞かせて無理
エレナがキャロルを見て、先入観を捨てて、最低でも取りあえず脇に置いて、キャロルに話しかける。
サラが戸惑いの抜けきっていないどこかぎこちない笑顔で話す。
キャロルも笑顔で挨拶を済ませる。
「キャロルよ。初めまして」
んでいるキャロルに話を続ける。
「今はシカラベを含めて3人でチームを組んでいるわ。リーダーは私。報酬等の交渉も私としてちょうだい」
「分かったわ。でもその話はアキラの方にお願いね。今の私の雇い主はアキラだから。指示もアキラの指示を優先させてもらうわ」
「私達に合流する以上、指示系統は統一させておきたいのだけど?」
「まだ正式に指揮系統の合流まではしていないわ。アキラとエレナは報酬等の合意すら済んでいない。それに私が合意済みの契約を優先させるのは当然でしょう?」
エレナとキャロルは互いに
みながら1歩近付いた。
「それじゃあアキラ。いろいろ交渉しましょうか」
「わ、分かりました。お願いします」
ちょっと近くないだろうか。アキラはエレナからの謎の威圧感を覚えながらそんなことを考えた。
シカラベが話に割り込む。
「交渉が長引きそうなら、いや、まずは戻らないか? どちらにしろ連中を輸送する必要があるんだ。合流でも別行動でも、その判断の
アキラがキャロルと一緒に車に戻る。エレナとサラがそのアキラ達を微妙な表情で見ていた。
一行が遺跡の中を再び移動している。アキラが車を運転しながらアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ。さっきのはなんだったと思う?』
アルファが普通の表情で答える。
『気にしなくて良いと思うわ。エレナにだって機嫌の悪い時ぐらいあるだろうし、相性の悪い人だっているでしょう』
『うーん。そういうこともあるか』
『エレナ達もキャロルも仕事と私情は分けるはずよ。契約時の取り決めを少し重視しただけの話だと思うし、
アキラはアルファの説明を聞いて納得する。
ある女性には恋愛感情とまでは呼べないがそれなりに好感を持ち、好感を持たれていると考えている少年がいる。その少年が自分との待ち合わせに別の女性を、しかもかなりの美人で
アキラ達がミハゾノ街遺跡の中をハンターオフィスの出張所に向かって進んでいる。移動中に情報端末の短距離通信を介して、今回の依頼の説明や現在の状況の把握などをしていた。
エレナ達が引き受けた依頼は緊急依頼の亜種だ。主な仕事内容は自力での帰還が困難になったハンターの救出だ。依頼元はそのハンター達ではなく、彼らと契約した各種保険会社だ。
ハンター向けの保険は多種多様だ。重傷を負った場合の治療費の補填なども多い。しかし治療を受ける
保険会社が自前の部隊を保持している場合もあるが、大抵は保険会社と契約している民間軍事会社の部隊や、別のハンターが救援に向かうのだ。エレナ達も仲介を通して依頼を受けたのだ。
旧世界の遺跡に向かう前にそのような保険を掛けておけば、ハンターがモンスターに襲われたりして遺跡から自力で帰還できなくなったとしても、遺跡の内部で立て籠もって救援を待てば生還できる確率はかなり向上する。最悪の場合でも死体の回収ぐらいはしてもらえるのだ。
アキラが情報端末を介して素朴な疑問をエレナに尋ねる。
「そうすると、今回の依頼は保険会社からドランカムが受けた依頼の下請けのようなものですか?」
エレナがそれを否定する。
「違うわ。完全に別口の依頼よ。ドランカムも似たようなことを、昨日の緊急依頼の件も含めていろいろしているらしいけど、私達とは無関係よ」
アキラが不思議そうに尋ねる。
「そうなんですか? でもそうすると、シカラベが一緒にいるのは変なんじゃ......」
「ドランカムも部隊を派遣していることは事実だ。俺にその部隊に加わるように要請があったのも確かだ。俺はそれを断って、ドランカム経由の依頼とは無関係な立場でエレナ達に加わっている」
「ドランカムの陣頭指揮がカツヤなんだ。たとえ形式上のものであっても、あいつの指揮下で戦うなんて俺は御免だ」
くシカラベの愚痴が続いた後、キャロルが割り込んでシカラベを止める。
「シカラベ、その辺にしておいて。愚痴る相手が欲しいのなら、仕事が終わった後にでも私が付き合うわ。料金次第でいろいろ相手もするわよ?」
の愚痴に付き合うんだから、私の酒代ぐらい出しなさいよ」
「絶対それで済まないから断ってるんだ。エレナ、続けてくれ」
シカラベが実感の伴った声でキャロルの誘いを断り、エレナに依頼内容の説明の続きを促した。
仲介元が提示する救出対象リストの中から、リーダーであるエレナが内容を吟味して依頼を選択する。救出対象の場所と人数、そして報酬額などから、総合的に判断して依頼を選ぶ。そして指定の場所に向かい、救出対象を生死問わず回収して、ハンターオフィスの出張所まで送り届けるのだ。
報酬は経費を抜いてシカラベが5割、エレナとサラが合わせて5割で分配することになっている。シカラベの取り分が多いのは、シカラベが装甲兵員輸送車を用意したおかげで、救出人数の多い高額の依頼を達成できるからだ。装甲兵員輸送車で輸送するのは負傷して満足に動けないハンターを生きた状態で運ぶのにも都合が良い。エレナ達もそこに異存はなかった。
アキラ達を加えた後の報酬の分配方法は、シカラベ、エレナとサラ、アキラとキャロルで3分割することになった。基本的にはシカラベ、エレナ、アキラで報酬を分配する。報酬もその3人が受け取る。サラとキャロルへの報酬は各々で調整することになった。
キャロルとエレナが報酬の分配方法や細かい条件で互いに引かずに交渉している。アキラは報酬の分配方法など余り興味がなく、エレナの案をそのまま受け入れるつもりだった。しかしキャロルがアキラ側に付いてエレナと交渉を始めたために、綿密な交渉が繰り広げられることになった。
アキラにとって意外だったのは、キャロルどころかエレナまで、アキラがエレナの提案をそのまま受け入れることに否定的だったことだ。
装甲兵員輸送車からハンター達を降ろしてハンターオフィスの出張所に引き渡した後、アキラ達は車を邪魔にならない場所まで移動させた。全員が車から降りて集まったところでシカラベが休憩を提案する。
「1時間ほど休憩にしよう。俺はその間に車両の点検と弾薬等の補給を済ませておく。装甲もそれなりに剥がされたからな」
「分かったわ。1時間後にこの場所で落ち合いましょう。私もその間に次の依頼を決めておくわ」
エレナとサラも少し休憩を取りたいところだった。小休止にはちょうど良い。車に戻ろうとするシカラベにキャロルが付いていく。
「シカラベ。手伝うわ」
シカラベは素っ気なく答えたが、キャロルは笑って強引に付いていく。
「良いじゃない。アキラ。1時間後にまたね」
キャロルはアキラに軽く手を振った後、シカラベの肩に手を置いて、シカラベを強引に車に押し込みながら一緒に車に乗り込んだ。
アキラが去っていく装甲兵員輸送車を何となく目で追っていると、背後に気配を感じた。エレナとサラだ。
アキラが振り向くと、エレナが
エレナがアキラに笑って告げる。
「それじゃあ、私達も行きましょうか」
エレナの笑顔はとても柔らかいものだ。エレナ本人の美貌も合わさり、その笑顔はとても美しい。しかしアキラはエレナの笑顔から何らかの圧力を感じ取った。
アキラが戸惑いながら視線をサラの方に移す。サラは少しだけ楽しげに、少しだけ意地の悪い笑顔で話す。
「取りあえず、落ち着いて話せる場所まで移動しましょう。良いかしら?」
ミハゾノ街遺跡の出入り口近くの荒野にはこのような状況でも多くの商売人が集まっていた。正確にはこのような状況だからこそ、普段よりも多くの商売人が集結しているのだ。稼ぎ時だからだ。
シカラベはそこの補給屋で装甲兵員輸送車の弾薬や装甲タイルなどの補給をしていた。キャロルもシカラベの作業を手伝っていた。
補給屋とはハンター相手に弾薬等の消耗品を売る専門店のことだ。遺跡などで大規模な戦闘が行われると弾薬等が必ず消費される。売れるかどうか分からない銃を遺跡まで輸送する労力を捨てて、初めから商品を弾薬等の消耗品に絞っているのである。
シカラベが装甲兵員輸送車に装甲タイルや弾薬を補充している。購入した装甲タイルや弾薬を車の側面の補給口に投入すれば、後は車の自動
なお、もっと東の地域ならば事情は変わってくる。今のキャロルの姿を気に止める者はごく少数になる。旧世界の感覚に慣れてしまうからだ。キャロルの格好を多少過激だと表現する者も多いが、それは東部のちょうど中程にあるクガマヤマ都市辺りの感覚だ。最前線付近では人目を引く理由にはならない。アキラがアルファの格好に慣れてしまったように、いろいろと慣れてしまうのだ。
数名のハンターがキャロルに声を掛けていたが、キャロルは忙しさを理由にして彼らを軽く和やかにあしらっていた。彼らはキャロルの連絡先を手に入れて機嫌良く帰っていった。彼らは今のところは幸運だ。美人で魅力的な女性のハンターと出会えたのだから。その後も幸運かどうかは不明だ。この出会いは彼らがキャロルにのめり込んで身を持ち崩し、いろいろと転落する切っ掛けになりかねないのだから。
めっ面をしている。シカラベの表情を形作る要素は、不機嫌ではなく自制が大半だ。シカラベはキャロルのことをよく知っているのだ。
シカラベが装甲兵員輸送車の中に入り、制御装置を操作して自動点検を開始させる。軽く
「補給も済んだし、ちょっと話さない?」
「まだ点検が終わっていない。邪魔するな」
「良いじゃない。後は自動点検が済むまで待つだけでしょう? 終わったようなものよ」
車両の中は負傷者の血臭と死臭が漂っている。換気はしているが、しっかり清掃しないと完全に除去することはできない。消臭剤にも限度はあるのだ。
それでも肌を合わせる程度まで近付けば、キャロルの
シカラベのキャロルに対する警戒が下がる。キャロルがその変化を見逃さずに薄く笑う。
「アキラの話をちょっと聞きたいのよ。知り合いなんでしょう?」
「確かに知り合いだが、別に親しいわけでもない。2回ほど一緒に仕事をしただけだ。残念だったな」
「それは仕事で偶然一緒になっただけなの? それとも
シカラベが沈黙する。それは余計な情報を渡さないためのものだったが、あっさり見抜かれた。キャロルが妖艶に悩ましく笑う。
「後者ね。それなら話せることはたくさんあるでしょう? 大丈夫。ちゃんと支払うものは支払うわ。金でも良いけど、手早く済ませるなら合流時間には十分間に合うわよ?」
シカラベは視線を自動点検の結果を表示している表示装置に移す。点検結果は全て問題なしと表示されている。それでシカラベの中から問題箇所を解決するという言い訳が消えてしまった。
い難い誘いだった。
キャロルが車の制御装置を操作する。車の扉がゆっくりと自動的に閉まり始め、そして完全に閉じられた。
Akira, Carol, and Shikarabe eventually arrived at the meeting site . It was one of the many destroyed buildings inside the Mihazono ruin, but in front of that particular destroyed building, Elena and Sara were standing guard .
Inside that building, there were Hunters who Elena and Sara had saved . They were the remaining Hunters who could not fit in Shikarabe's APC in one go . The reason why Shikarabe limited the number of people inside his APC was not based on the open space inside the APC, but it was more based on the number of unknown armed people that he was okay putting inside the same APC with him . So it was more of a matter of his personal safety .
As for the reason why Elena and Sara stayed behind with the remaining Hunters, it was simply because those Hunters desperately asked them to since they were afraid of getting abandoned . After a lot of consideration, Elena decided to take their request . It was because of her good nature and how pitiful those Hunters were . Furthermore, there was also the detail of her contract, and most importantly, it was because she knew that she could kill them all in case they tried to do anything funny .
Shikarabe then stepped off from his APC and asked Elena .
"Anyone need the corpse bag?"
"Nope . There's no fatally wounded Hunters and no dead bodies . "
"I see . If they're really okay, they should just barricade themselves somewhere . Because of them, I had to go back and forth with no escort, you know . "
Shikarabe looked annoyed, to which Elena responded with a light smile as she said .
"They're paying with their money in exchange for safety and we're receiving that money for our reward . That's all there's to it . "
Akira and Carol also stepped off from Akira's vehicle and headed towards Elena and Shikarabe . Although Elena and Sara were planning to welcome Akira with a smile, their expression turned conflicted when they saw the girl next to Akira . It was because Carol was using an augmented suit with a design that was obviously inviting the opposite sex .
Elena and Sara did hear beforehand from Akira that he would be bringing another Hunter . But they did not expect him to bring Carol, who was obviously flaunting her charm there .
Akira then greeted Elena and Sara .
"Elena-san, Sara-san, I'll be in your care for today... Is that okay? Although I do want to join the team, if me bringing another Hunter is a bad thing, I don't mind moving as a different team . And even if we decide to work as one team, I'll take responsibility if Carol causes any trouble . "
Elena looked a bit troubled as she said .
"Uhhh, wait for a sec, let me calm down for a bit... Alright then . "
Elena knew that she must be making all kinds of faces there . She then told herself that she needed to make decisions with a cool head since she was the team leader .
She then looked at Carol, she tried to throw away her preconception, or at least, put it aside for now, as she spoke to Carol .
Sara awkwardly smiled, it was obvious that she could not completely move on from the shock .
Carol smiled and introduced herself .
"I'm Carol . Nice to meet you . "
Elena then continued as Carol was still smiling .
"We're working as a team of 3 with Shikarabe at the moment . The team leader is me, so if you want to negotiate about the reward, you should talk to me . "
"Okay, but please talk about that with Akira . I'm working under Akira at the moment so I'll prioritize his orders too . "
"Well, now that we've gathered here, I would like to take command of the whole team though . "
"It's not like we're already formally formed a team, right? Moreover, you haven't even made a deal with Akira on how to share the reward, right? So I think it's only normal for me to prioritize on the contract that I've made beforehand . "
Elena and Carol were smiling at each other . For some reason, Akira could feel the awkward mood around them . But he could not tell the reason why .
Elena then smiled at Akira and took a step closer .
"So then, Akira, let's start the negotiation . "
"O-Okay, please be gentle . "
Akira could feel some kind of pressure coming from Elena as he was questioning if she was standing a little too close .
Shikarabe then interjected .
"If it seems that it'll take some time... No, even if it does not, how about we go back first? Whichever the case, we need to transport these people after all . No matter whether we'll move as one team or not, I'm sure both of you need to talk it out first before deciding . So, both of you can finish that in the middle of our way back . Moreover, it's easier to handle the contract process if we do it near the Hunter Office . "
Akira then returned to his vehicle with Carol . Elena and Sara watched Akira's back with a conflicted face .
They then once again drove through the ruin . Akira asked Alpha a question while driving the vehicle .
"Alpha, what do you think was that?"
Alpha casually replied .
"I don't think there's any need for you to worry about that . Even for Elena, there are times when she has a bad mood and it's normal that there are people who just don't go along well with her . "
"Hmmm, I guess you're right about that . "
"I'm sure both Elena and Carol could differentiate between their jobs and their personal feelings . I'm sure it's just that because they were thinking about what to do with the contract . Don't worry . I think it won't go as far as causing a fight . Moreover, it seems that you really trust them, so I bet you have no plans to complain about the details of the contract and the way they'll share the reward . But for Carol, it's their first time meeting each other . So to get a better deal and to make sure not to get swindled, it's nothing strange for them to show off a little bit of intimidation like that . "
Akira was fully convinced by Alpha's explanation .
Let's say there was a certain girl who liked a certain boy, although it was not as far as love, that girl pretty much liked that boy and she thought that boy also liked her back to some extent . But when they planned to meet up, that boy brought another girl, who was a beauty in a seducing attire . Akira was still so socially inept that he could not imagine what those girls whom he was going to meet might feel .
They were driving through the Mihazono ruin toward the Hunter Office branch . Midway, they were communicating with each other using the local connection of their information terminal to talk about the details of the request and the current situation .
The request that Elena and Sara took was an emergency request . Basically, it was a request to save the Hunters who could not get out from the ruin on their own . The request did not come from those Hunters, it came from the individual insurance companies that those Hunters were registered in .
There were all kinds of insurance for the Hunters . Most of them offered a subsidy in case those Hunters got badly injured . But in order to get their injuries treated, they needed to return back alive first . Thus, in order for them to return back alive, the insurance companies offered all kinds of service in case those Hunters went into a ruin and could not come back on their own . When those Hunters sent a request or when they were out of reach for a certain period of time, the insurance company contracted to those Hunters would dispatch a squad to help them .
Some of the insurance companies had their own special squad to send, but most of the insurance companies usually either made a request to the private security companies that they were contracted with to send their squads or sent that request to the Hunters . And that was how Elena and Sara received that emergency request .
By getting such an insurance before going out to the ruins, in case if they got attacked by monsters and could not return back on their own, these Hunters could just barricade themselves somewhere while waiting for a rescue squad . Or at least, in the worst-case scenario, the rescue squad would retrieve their bodies instead of leaving them in the wasteland .
Akira then asked a simple question to Elena through his information terminal .
"So basically, this request is made by the insurance company for Drankam and then Drankam distributed it to us, am I correct?"
Elena refuted that .
"No, this one comes from a completely different source . It seems that there was a lot of things going on with Drankam, including that similar request that Drankam made yesterday . But our request this time has nothing to do with them . "
Akira sounded a little confused .
"Is that so? But if that's the case, it's weird that Shikarabe is with you..."
"It's true that Drankam also dispatched rescue squads and it's true that they sent me a request to be added to that squad . But I declined it and decided to join Elena and Sara's team that has nothing to do with Drankam management . "
"The leader of Drankam's rescue squad is Katsuya . Even if it's on name only, I refuse to work under him . "
Akira flinched back a bit when he heard Shikarabe shout . Shikarabe did not stop there and even started complaining . But after a few minutes of complaining, Carol suddenly interjected and stopped him .
"Shikarabe, you should stop here . If you want someone to listen to your problems, I can do that for you after we finish our job here . I can even give you extra services depending on how much money you would pay me, you know?"
"Isn't it fine? I'll listen to your problem, so you can at least buy me some drinks . "
"I know that you won't stop there, that's why I'm not taking your offer . Elena, you can continue . "
Shikarabe honestly declined Carol's invitation and asked Elena to continue with her explanation .
Elena scanned through the rescue list that she received from the company which issued the emergency request . As the leader of the team, Elena carefully checked all the requests on that list and picked some of them . She chose the rescue requests based on the location of the targets, the number of the people, and the amount of reward for those requests . They then would head there to retrieve those Hunters, it did not matter whether they were dead or alive, and then transported them over to the Hunter Office .
As for the rewards, Shikarabe would receive 50% of the share, then Elena and Sara would receive the remaining 50% . The reason why Shikarabe received a bigger share was simply because he was the one who prepared the APC to transport the Hunters that they rescued . After all, an APC was the perfect vehicle to safely carry those fatally wounded Hunters who could not move on their own while they were still alive . Because of that Elena and Sara had nothing to complain about their reward distribution .
And now with Akira joining in, they would distribute the reward evenly between Shikarabe, Elena and Sara, and Akira and Carol . To be more precise, Shikarabe, Elena, and Akira would each receive 33% of the reward . And then from there, Elena would share her reward with Sara as well as Akira would share his with Carol .
Carol and Elena then discussed the details on how they were going to distribute the reward, their discussion went very smoothly since none of them were trying to impose any difficult conditions on each other . As for Akira, he had no interest in how to distribute the reward, thus, he just accepted Elena's suggestion . But since Carol was working under Akira, she started negotiating with Elena, it turned into a rather in-depth negotiation .
The thing that surprised Akira was the fact that not only Carol, but even Elena too, was against the fact that he just accepted Elena's suggestion as it was . When they were done with the long and difficult negotiation, they already arrived at the Hunter Office parking lot .
After they disembarked the Hunters inside the APC and handed them over to the Hunter Office, they moved their vehicle to make sure that they would not block the way . After they stepped off from their vehicles, Shikarabe suggested taking a short break .
"Let's take a break here, one hour should be enough . I'll check the APC and replenish ammo reserve during the break, not to mention, some of the APC's armour is already stripped off too . "
"Sure . Let's meet up again here after 1 hour . I'll also short-list the requests during the break . "
It was the perfect time since Elena and Sara were also thinking of taking a short break too . When Shikarabe was about to head back to his APC, Carol followed him .
"Shikarabe, I'll help too . "
Shikarabe answered back almost immediately . Carol smiled and just ignored it .
"It's fine, isn't it? Akira, let's meet again after 1 hour . "
Carol lightly waved at Akira, she then put her hands on Shikarabe's shoulders and pushed him into the APC together with her .
Akira just watched Shikarabe and Carol go inside the APC . But he then noticed a gaze behind him, it was from Elena and Sara .
When Akira turned around, Elena smiled at him while Sara's smile was a little bitter .
Elena then said to Akira while still smiling .
"Well, I guess we should go too . "
Elena's smile was gentle . Together with her beautiful face, that smile was a very lovely smile . But for some reason, Akira could feel some kind of pressure coming from that smile .
Akira flusteredly shifted his gaze to Sara . Sara smiled at him, it was an amused but mischievous smile .
"At least let's go somewhere else where we can relax first, are you okay with that?"
Even in that situation, there were a lot of merchants gathered near the border between Mihazono ruin and the wasteland . As a matter of fact, a lot of those merchants came to Mihazono ruin exactly because of the current situation in the Mihazono ruin, it was the time where they could reap a lot of profits .
Shikarabe brought his APC into one of the supply depots to replenish his ammo reserve and put up new armour plating for his APC . Carol was also there, helping him .
The supply depots were shops that specialized in selling consumables for the Hunters . And with a huge ongoing battle in the Mihazono ruin, it was only to be expected that the Hunters would consume a lot of expendable goods . So some merchants who sold their goods in the ruins decided to sell expendable goods rather than spending efforts trying to sell rifles that might not sell that well in the ruins .
Shikarabe was replenishing his ammo reserve and the armour tile of the APC in one of those supply depots . He just needed to leave those ammo and armour tiles near the supply entrance on the side of the APC and the APC would automatically load them . It was a very convenient function that saved Shikarabe from the troublesome work . Sadly enough, Akira's vehicle was not equipped with such a function .
But it would not be the case if they went further to the east, Carol's attire would only attract a small amount of attention . It was because the people to the east were already used to old-world relics . A lot of people would say that Carol's attire was rather too extreme, but that was only the opinion of the people who were from around Kugamayama city . And if she would go to the eastern frontline, no one would even be bothered by her attire . After all, just like in the case of Akira, who had gotten used to old-world design from Alpha's attire, the Hunters in the eastern frontline had also already gotten used to old-world design .
Some Hunters did try to strike a conversation with Carol, but she refused all of them saying that she was busy . They left her alone after she gave them her contact number . Those Hunters were lucky at the moment since they were able to meet a beautiful Hunter . But it was a different story whether that luck would last after that . After all, meeting Carol might be the trigger that would destroy their lives or cause them any other kinds of troubles down the road .
Shikarabe frowned, he looked like he had given up . His stiff expression was not caused by annoyance, it was more because he was trying to control his facial expression . After all, he knew very well about Carol's nature .
Shikarabe went inside his APC and operated the control device of the APC to execute an automatic system check . He then lightly leaned over while confirming the result . That was when Carol slowly approached him from behind as not to alert him and slowly hugged him . She wrapped her arms over his neck .
"We're done with replenishing the supply, so like, you have time for a small talk now, right?"
"I still have to do the check-up, so don't bother me . "
"It's fine, isn't it? You just need to wait for the check-up to finish, right? So it's not like you have anything to do right now . "
There were leftover blood and the scent of dead bodies left inside the APC . Although the ventilation was on, that scent might as well stick there as long as no one did a thorough cleaning and even an anti-deodorant could only go as far as to reduce the scent, not completely erasing it .
But even so, with Carol getting close enough, the sweet fragrance from her body wafted to Shikarabe . It was a sweet fragrance that would easily melt logic and reasoning .
Shikarabe lowered his guard . Carol did not let that go as she faintly smiled .
"I want to ask about Akira, you know him well, right?"
"Well, it's true that I know him, but it's not like we're close or anything . We have only done Hunter jobs together twice in the past . Unfortunately for you, that's all I know . "
"That Hunter job, did you do it together out of coincidence? Or did you invite him to that job? If it's the latter, we're talking about you here, so I'm sure you did some investigation about him . "
Shikarabe did not say anything back, it was because he wanted to avoid leaking out any information to Carol . But Carol immediately saw through that as she smiled seductively .
"So, it's the latter, huh . In that case, there are a lot of things that you can tell me about Akira, right? Don't worry, I'll properly pay you . I don't mind paying you with money, but if you want, we can finish a quick one before the break is over, you know?"
Shikarabe shifted his gaze to the monitor showing the result from the APC automatic check-up . The result said that the system was all green, with that, he lost his chance to refuse her saying that he had to fix the error .
He then turned to Carol again, she was smiling seductively and charmingly . It was a hard smile to resist for those who had a taste of her .
Carol operated the APC control device, the back door of the APC slowly moved until it was fully closed .
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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