254 仕事の範疇
キャンピングカーは自動操縦でクガマヤマ都市に向かっているので、車内のアキラ達が運転する必要は無い。乗車賃としてレイナ達に見張りを頼んでいるので、余程の事態でも発生しない限り車内でのんびり休憩できる。その
「アキラは、私の護衛よね?」
それで一度会話が途切れた。質問の意図が分からず、アキラは少し
「どうするって、逃げるに決まってる」
予想通りの返事を聞いて、キャロルは落胆したように口調を弱めた。
アキラも期待された返事を返せなかったことは分かった。そこで反論するように付け加える。
「いやいやいや、幾ら護衛だからって、あれを何とかしろって言われても無理だ。逃げるしかないだろう」
「......分かってるわ」
「そりゃ、勝ち目が無くても戦うことに意味があるって考えも分かるけどさ、俺は護衛として雇われてるんだし、キャロルだって何が何でも退かないなんていう、その辺の意地に命を懸けるやつじゃないだろう。逃走一択で良いじゃねえか。護衛としては、武力要員としては役立たずだろうけど、逃走経路の案内ぐらいはちゃんとするよ」
キャロルが顔を体ごとアキラの方に向けて、どこか驚いたような表情を浮かべる。
「......そうなの?」
「そうだよ。まあ、大変だろうけど、初めから逃げに徹すれば何とかなるだろう。ああ、一応言っとくけど、ここは俺に任せて先に行け、なんてことは言わない。そんな
「ああそっちの方が生き延びられる可能性は絶対に高い。そこは自信を持って言える」
意外そうな顔を浮かべているキャロルの反応を、アキラは疑われていると解釈した上でそれを否定するように自信を持って
アキラが逃げると答えた時、キャロルはそれを自分を見捨てて逃げると解釈した。そしてそれを当然だと思いながらも、もしかしたらと思っていた分だけ落胆した。
だがその解釈は誤りであり、初めからずっと一緒に逃げるという意味で答えていたと知った。湧きあがった喜びは予想以上に大きかった。少なくとも遺跡での大規模な戦闘を見てから感じていた陰気を吹き飛ばすのには十分だった。有頂天になって騒ぐようなものではないが、余裕を取り戻す静かな喜びがあった。
そしてアキラの返事の言葉にあった、仕事だから、という部分をどこか残念に思い、その言葉を消してしまおうと、アキラを抱き締めたまま体重を乗せて体を傾けて再びベッドに横になろうとした。
だがアキラはびくともしなかった。キャロルは身体強化拡張者であり、その身体能力もかなり高いが、アキラの強化服を超える程ではない。第一、力尽くで押し倒してしまっては雰囲気が出ない。相手が抵抗すれば、流れは止まる。
「何やってるんだ?」
「......分かってたけど、アキラって、雰囲気とか読めない方よね」
「何が言いたいのか分からないけど、取り
(......チッ! 砕けた後でも切れるタイプか。面倒だな)
ハーマーズもその細かな無数の斬撃を食らった。だが超人の肉体と、超人の動きに耐えうる戦闘服は、それらの斬撃を
って盾となるには相手の光線銃の威力が高すぎた。受け流すのにも限度があった。
一応、別の数機が撃ち落とされないように大きく
「......続けたいと言うのでしたら、それもお好きなように。お相手致します。ですが、この先は料金分の仕事としてではなく、自衛としてでの対応となります。そこはご了承を」
ハーマーズが視線をオリビアに向けながら通信を
める。オリビアとの交戦で多数の負傷者が出ていた。だが死者はいなかった。シロウが告げた、殺すな、という条件をオリビアは問題なく遂行していた。
その縛りは自分との戦闘にも適用されていた。これからはその縛りが無くなる。ある意味で手加減されていた上に、こちらを気遣い
めだ。......全く、何なんだお前は」
その吐き捨てるような言葉を聞いて、オリビアが客向けの愛想を戻して軽く礼をする。
「リオンズテイルのオリビアと申します。以後お見知り置きを」
「リオンズテイル? おい、どういうことだ。リオンズテイルがなぜ坂下重工を妨害する。リオンズテイルは坂下重工とは敵対すると解釈して良いのか? 他の5大企業の傘下にでもなったのか?」
「じゃあなんだ、これは坂下重工の社内の
「......旧世界の方か!」
「その表現もどうかと思いますが、その認識で
い訳だと納得しながらも、ハーマーズは頭を抱えていた。坂下重工の施設での監察記録には、シロウが旧リオンズテイル社との伝を得ていた情報などなかった。逃走後に伝を得たとも考えられるが期間が短すぎる。事前に伝を得た上で、逃走後に雇ったと考えるのが自然だった。
(あいつがここにいたのはこいつとの合流の
思考に沈みそうな自分に気付いたハーマーズが、軽く頭を振って気を切り替える。
「料金分は働いたと言ったな? 幾らで雇われた? あいつの目的は何だ?」
「申し訳御座いません。他のお客様との契約内容で御座いますので、お答えしかねます」
「その件に関しましては、特異な条件を例外的に満たした、とだけお答えしておきます」
オリビアがハーマーズに白いカードを
「これも何かのご縁。当社のカードをお渡ししておきます。当社のご利用を心よりお待ちしております。是非とも御連絡を。では」
ハーマーズが視線をオリビアの方に戻すと、オリビアは既に姿を消していた。
オリビアはセランタルビルの57階にあるリオンズテイルの支店に戻っていた。人格を支店のシステムに移し、機体の調整を進めていく。
整備システムの中に浮かんでいる自動人形の機体から衣服が取り払われ、社が巨費を投じてデザインした芸術的な裸体が
に、高価なジェネレーターを2器も交換するほどの支出を余儀なくされ、採算は1500万コロンの報酬でも赤字ではないという程度でしかなく、全体の評価としては割に合わなかったと判断せざるを得なかった。
ハーマーズが交戦を続行していれば確実に大赤字だった。久々の仕事としては情けない成果に、オリビアは若干の不満を覚えてシステムの中で軽い
もその不満も、単に良い仕事が出来なかったということへの不満でしかなく、オリビアに何か過度な懸念を抱かせるものではない。57階の倉庫には予備のジェネレーターが無数に確保されている。ハーマーズと交戦を続行して機体を破壊されたとしても、人格データが消える訳でもない。汚れた量産品の服を着替えるように、別の機体に乗り換えれば済むだけの話だ。
既にオリビアはイイダ商業区画遺跡で起動した時の機体から乗り換えている。旧世界の頃に要人の護衛用としても使用されていた機体は、高性能なジェネレーターとその稼働に必要な経費さえあればその性能を十分に発揮できる状態だった。
そして仮に何らかの理由で人格データが消滅したとしても、その事象に対しオリビアは恐怖などは覚えない。リオンズテイル社の汎用人格として、自身の消滅など量産規格の大量生産品が一つ消えた程度のことでしかないと判断しているからだ。
オリビアは汎用人格として、人格として、人を模した思考論理を基に製造されている。だが人を模しているとはいえ、その思考論理は現代の普通の人間と比較すれば逸脱している箇所も多い。ある意味で狂人や狂信者と呼ばれる者に通じる部分も多かった。
人が同じ思考を持てば狂気と呼ばれても不思議は無い論理を基に、オリビアは今後の事を考えていた。
そこにセランタルビル側のシステムから通知が届く。内容はミハゾノ街遺跡の市外区画で暴れたことへの釈明を求めるものであり、セランタルからの通知だった。
オリビアはビル側への通信回線を開くとセランタルを呼び出した。
「確認する。彼が乗っていたと思われた機体は無人だったと聞いたが、実は操縦席に迷彩状態で乗っていた、なんてオチは無いよね?」
冷静さを保つ
軽い調子で冗談のように聞いていたが、ヤナギサワはハーマーズがシロウを意図的に逃がしたかもしれないと本気で疑っていた。
都市間輸送車両からシロウが脱走できた時点で、普通の感覚では既に有り得ないことなのだ。更にハーマーズほどの者が現地でシロウと接触できた上で取り逃がしたことも、本来は報告を疑う程に低確率の事態なのだ。二度も続けば不運ではなく必然を疑う程に。
当初の予定では、既にシロウを借り受けて、セランタルビルで黒いカードを介して手続きを済ませ、クズスハラ街遺跡の最奥部に向かっていたはずだった。それが予想外の事態で二度も覆されている。それを単なる不運で片付けられるほど、ヤナギサワは無能ではなかった。
(坂下が俺の目的に気付いて邪魔しているとは思いたくないが......、警戒は、必要か)
ヤナギサワは自身を落ち着かせる
輸送機が目的地に到着する。セランタルビル屋上の発着場だ。セランタルとの取引で、ヤナギサワだけは使用を許可されている。
「それじゃ、行ってくる。あ、一応言っておくけど、絶対に外に出るなよ? 許可が下りてるのは俺だけだ。他のやつが機体の外に出ると、その時点で殺されるから。これ、冗談じゃないぞ? 本当だからな?」
機体から降りたヤナギサワは、それだけ言い残すと軽く手を振ってビルの中に入っていった。セランタルから呼び出しを受けて、ミハゾノ街遺跡市街区画での騒ぎを説明しにきたのだ。
中に入ると立体映像のセランタルが待っていた。それを見たヤナギサワが少し意外そうな顔を浮かべる。セランタルの隣に立体映像がもう1人存在していた。
Ch 254
The camping car was running on autopilot back to Kugamayama city. So, there was no need for someone to stay behind the wheel. Reina's team, which was basically getting a free lift, was taking up the position of escorts. As long as nothing big happened, Carol and Akira could just take a break inside the camping car. Because of that, it would not be strange if Carol decided to fully lower her guard and took a good long rest inside. Outside of Akira's expectations, Carol was doing something strange.
"You're my escort right now, right?"
Their conversation came to a pause there. Akira looked confused, he did not understand Carol's intention behind that short exchange.
"Wouldn't that be obvious? I'll of course run away."
Hearing the answer that she had fully expected, Carol replied with a rather droopy, discouraged voice.
Akira himself understood that he could not give the reply that she was wishing for. That was why he added some explanation, as if he was trying to justify his answer.
"Come on. Just think about it. Even if I am your escort, there's no way I can do anything about that fight. There's no other choice for me but to run away, right?"
"... I know."
"Well, I know that there's still meaning behind fighting an unwinnable fight. Also, you're paying me to be your escort right now. However, you're not someone who would risk your life just because you refuse to run away no matter what, right? Running away is also a good option, no? Although as an escort, I might be useless in terms of extra firepower, I'll properly do my job and find a good escape route for you, you know?"
Carol suddenly turned her whole body to face Akira and looked at him with a surprised face.
"...Is that so?"
"Yep. Well, I bet it won't be easy, but if we focus on running away right from the start, I'm sure we would find a way to safely escape. Though I need to tell you that when it happens. I will never do something as stupid as telling you to go ahead and leave me behind. After all, we have a better chance to survive if we run away together. In the scenario, I can keep telling you where to go to get away from that place."
"Yeah, doing so is definitely better for our odds of survival. That is one thing that I can say for certain."
Akira interpreted Carol's surprise as her way of expressing doubt, that was why he then nodded confidence to make sure she did not doubt him. Although the reason why he was so sure he would be able to find a safe escape route in that situation was all because of Alpha, he did not mention that at all.
When Akira said that he would run away, Carol thought that Akira meant he would leave her behind. Although she knew that it was completely expected, she hoped that was not the case. The bigger that hope, the harsher she was hit by his answer back there.
However, it was actually a misunderstanding on her part. Right from the beginning, what Akira meant was to run away together. The moment Carol noticed it, she was much happier than she had expected. At least, it was enough to blow away all the depression that she had after watching the ensuing battle back in the ruin. Although she did not suddenly jump and skipped around, it was silent happiness that allowed her to regain her calm.
Other than that, she also felt that it was a bit unfortunate that Akira did mention it as his 'job'. In order to remove that emotion from her, she started to lean her body weight forward with Akira, who was still wrapped in her arms, trying to push him down.
But Akira did not budge. Carol was an enhanced human with enhanced physical strength, but it was still no match against Akira's augmented suit. In the first place, the mood was not right to force Akira down. If Akira fought against it, that would be the end of it.
"What are you doing?"
"...Though I already knew beforehand, Akira, you really can't read the mood, can you?"
"I don't know what you're trying to say but, can you get off me already?"
[...Tch! They still can cut even after being dispersed, huh!? What a pain!]
Hammerz could not evade every light blade, so he took some hits. But his superhuman body and his fighting suit made to endure the might of a superhuman, easily caused those blades to bounce off. Although he still got injured from taking them on, it was not enough to hinder his fighting capability. He then quickly leapt forward to close the distance at a speed where air started to crack and released a punch that went over the speed of sound.
Olivia's blade was too powerful for Hammerz to take on in place of those powered suits. Even if he was able to deflect her light blades, there was still a limit on how many Hammerz could deflect.
Of course, they had also sent a few powered suits to take a long detour to avoid getting cut down by Olivia, but there was no guarantee that they would be able to capture Shirou.
"...If you wish to continue, then I am more than happy to oblige. But it would not be for free. I will only put in effort depending on how much you would pay me beforehand, so I hope that you understand."
Hammerz did not take his eyes off Olivia as he picked up his communication device.
Hammerz could not help but frown when he listened to the response. Many people got injured during his fight against Olivia. But none of them were dead. Shirou's request was not to kill anyone, and Olivia accomplished that brilliantly.
That restriction also applied during that fight just now, but that would no longer be the case if they continued. It meant that Olivia had been holding back, in a sense, she was sparing his life. Since Hammerz noticed that, he could not help but frown even more. However, at the very least, it also served to confirm that any continuation of this fight would be against his duty.
"Alright, let's not... Good grief, just who exactly are you?"
In response to those words that Hammerz only meant as a complaint, Olivia made her usual business smile and gracefully bowed.
"Oliva of Lion Steel. A pleasure to meet you."
"Lion Steel? What do you mean by that? Why is someone from Lion Steel causing trouble for Sakashita Heavy Industry? Is it okay for me to interpret this as an act of hostility from Lion Steel against Sakashita? Did you join hands with one of the other big five or something?"
"Then what is it? Are you trying to say that you're just lending a hand to an in-fighting in Sakashita? So, Lion Steel is not trying to cause trouble with Sakashita? Just because some of our officers are working with your corporation, don't think that such an excuse would-"
"...You're the one from the old-world, huh!?"
"Although I don't really agree with that way of calling our company, but that is correct."
Hammerz finally understood why Olivia was that powerful and rubbed his temple. The observation log from Sakashita Heavy Industry's facility did not show any indication that Shirou had made a connection with the old-world Lion Steel. And it was too short of a time frame for him to form that connection after he had escaped. So, it was only natural for him to think that Shirou had that connection beforehand when he plotted his escape.
[Did Shirou come to this ruin to meet up with her? Just what in the world is he trying to do? To even spend all of his Chrome to pay her...? Just... I really can't even begin to guess...]
As Hammerz realized he was about to fall into deep thought, he shook his head and put that aside for now.
"You said that you were paid, right? How much did he pay you? And what is his objective?"
"My apologies, but I can't leak the content of my contract with the others. Thus I am afraid I shall refuse to answer your questions."
"Regarding that matter, I can only say that he satisfied a very special set of requirements."
Olivia threw a white card to Hammerz, Hammerz caught that card and shifted his gaze from Oliva to that white card.
"It must be some kind of fate that we met. So let me give you our company's card. By all means, please contact us, we'll be waiting for your request. Now then, allow me to excuse myself."
When Hammerz returned his gaze to Olivia, she was already gone.
Olivia returned to the Lion Steel branch office located on the 57th floor of the Seranthal building. She transferred the AI core to the branch office's system and proceeded to do maintenance on her body.
The automaton body floated in the middle of the maintenance system, and its maid uniform disappeared, revealing the naked body of a beautiful automaton that the company had spent a huge fortune to create. The naked body then cracked, creating crevices all over its beautiful body, which then slowly opened.
Although from one point of view, it could be said that Olivia was taking it easy when she was dealing with Hammerz, but in reality, she did not have that much leeway. To fend off Hammerz, she had to spend two of her expensive generators. She might end up in red even after receiving the 15 million Chrome as payment. When she added up the repair cost for the damages to her body, she judged that it was not worth the trouble.
If she continued fighting Hammerz, she would definitely end up deep in the red. Although it was her first job after such a long time, the result was unsatisfactory. Olivia felt frustration welling up inside her as she lightly sighed inside the cyberspace of the system.
That frustration was all because she did not receive a satisfying job, so it did not cause her any more woes. The warehouse on the 57th floor still had a good stock of generators. And even if her body had been destroyed during her fight with Hammerz, it was not like she would lose her AI data. So, she just could download her data into a different automaton just like one could change from one dress to another.
Olivia had already transferred to the automaton located in Iida commercial district ruin. The old-world automaton that was originally used to escort VIP targets. It was equipped with a powerful generator and was granted permission to fully utilize that generator's output when necessary.
Even if there was a chance of her AI data getting erased, she did not feel any fear toward that at all. As a general-purpose AI from Lion Steel, getting herself deleted only meant losing one of its many mass-produced AI, after all.
As a general-purpose AI, Olivia's line of thinking was created using the human mind as its base. But an imitation was not the same as the real thing. As a matter of fact, their line of thinking was closer to a fanatic or a zealot.
Olivia was thinking about the future with her fanatical non-human mindset.
That was when Seranthal's system sent a notification to her. The content was a demand from Seranthal for an explanation regarding the battle that happened on the outskirts of the Mihazono residential ruin.
Olivia connected herself to the Seranthal building's system and called Seranthal.
"Let me confirm this again. The powered suit that you thought to be piloted by him turned out to be empty, right? Are you certain that he's not sitting in the pilot seat with camouflaging on or something like that?"
In order to maintain his calm, he was trying to keep to his usual tone, but it did not work out well. His men could feel Yanagisawa's irritation from behind the speaker as they anxiously replied.
Although he worded it out as if he was joking, Yanagisawa was really suspecting Hammerz of intentionally letting Shirou run away.
After all, it was a fact that Shirou escaped when he was inside the inter-city transport vehicle. This was something that was normally unthinkable. And then even after Hammerz reached Shirou during a capture mission, Shirou still escaped. Normally, it was unlikely that Hammerz was helping Shirou escape, but since it had happened twice, being suspicious was only a given.
According to his original plan, by now, he would have already borrowed Shirou to finish the administration with the black card in the Seranthal building. He would then finally be able to do his business in the deepest part of Kuzusuhara ruin. But something unexpected happened, twice even. Yanagisawa was not that stupid to just sweep that under the rug as nothing more than bad luck.
[I don't want to think that Sakashita noticed my goal and is trying to get in my way, but... Better safe than sorry.]
Yanagisawa took a deep breath to calm himself down. That was when the pilot notified him.
The aircraft landed. It was on the hanger attached to Seranthal Building. Yanagisawa had already received Seranthal's permission to use it.
"Well, I'll be going then. Ah, just to remind you, don't leave the aircraft, okay? The one with the permission is only me. If someone else comes out of the aircraft, the security drones will kill them. And I'm not joking."
Yanagisawa only said so after leaving the aircraft. He then waved goodbye and went inside the building. He came there that day since Seranthal called for him, demanding an explanation about the recent ruckus near the Mihazono residential district ruin.
When he entered, the image of Seranthal was already waiting for him. He who saw that tilted his head as there was one more person next to that holographic image of Seranthal.
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