派遣された職員のリーダーはキバヤシだった。ハンターオフィスに届いた妙な報告の発信源がアキラだと聞きつけて割り込んできたらしい。
現場に到着したキバヤシは、アキラから軽く話を聞いて状況や経緯を把握すると、爆笑していた。その後で何とか笑いを堪えて確認する。
「倒したのか? こいつを? お前一人で? 一度、車両ごと、食われかけて? な、内部を突き抜けて、ぶ、ぶ、ぶち破って、出てきた......」
キバヤシの話が笑いで中断される。自分で話してつぼに入ったらしい。
既にアキラから戦闘時の高揚は抜けていた。残っているのは疲労と、大量に消費した弾薬費の心配と、自分の車が廃車確定になったことへの嘆きによる機嫌の悪化だ。
アキラが非常に不機嫌そうに答える。
無謀を地で行っているようで何よりだ。ますます気に入った」
「そうか。そりゃどうも」
アキラが過合成スネークを指差す。
「それで、ハンターオフィスの見解は? 俺が倒したこいつはどういう扱いになるんだ?」
「ああ。残念ながら、こいつは賞金首とは扱われない。同種か亜種か別種か子供かは知らんが、よく似た別のモンスター。その程度の扱いだ。倒すのに随分苦労したようだが、言っちゃ悪いが、ハンターオフィスはお前が一人で倒せる程度のモンスターに賞金を懸けたりしねえよ。まあ、汎用討伐依頼の撃破報酬に少し多めに色が付くぐらいだな。あ、汎用討伐依頼を受けていないのなら、受けていたってことにしてやる。それぐらいはしてやろう」
対外的には、ハンターランク21ぐらいの実力の者が頑張れば一人で倒せる程度のモンスターとして扱われるのだろう。アキラもそれは理解できるのだが、機嫌の悪化までは避けられなかった。
キバヤシが不機嫌そうなアキラを見て、やはり楽しげに笑って話す。
「不満そうだな。まあ苦労して賞金首っぽいモンスターを倒したのに
「だから、その車がないんだよ! ああ! くそっ!」
嘆くアキラをキバヤシが
「安心しろ。都市までは送ってやるさ。まあ、疲れているようだし、仮眠でも取れよ。着いたら起こしてやる」
「......そうか。本当に助かる。......はあ」
れているアキラとは対照的に、キバヤシはどこまでも上機嫌だった。
キバヤシ達は先にクガマヤマ都市へ戻ることになった。他の職員はアキラが倒した過合成スネークの調査などで
アキラが車の後部座席で死んだように眠っている。運転しているキバヤシに、助手席に座っている職員が尋ねる。
「良いんですか? あんなことを言って。あの死骸を見る限り、相当な量の弾薬を使っているはずです。色を付けると言っても、汎用討伐依頼の撃破報酬では補えないと思いますよ?」
キバヤシが上機嫌に笑って答える。
「良いんだよ。楽しげな戦闘記録も
「はあ、そうですか」
キバヤシの笑みには何らかの優越感のようなものが漂っていた。職員はそれを見て少し不思議そうにしていたが、キバヤシの悪評を知っているので深くは気にしなかった。
カツヤ達が倒した過合成スネークと、アキラが倒した過合成スネークは同一の個体だ。過合成スネークは内部に本体を持つモンスターだった。比較的小さい本体が、捕食したモンスターなどを元に生成した巨大な外部を操作していたのだ。人間が巨大な人型兵器を操作するように。
カツヤ達が倒したのはその人型兵器の部位だった。本体は戦闘中に逃げ出していたのだ。そして本体を逃がすために
アキラが倒したのがその本体部分だ。正確にはその中にも更に小さい本体があったのだが、分離するまえにアキラに倒されていた。山ほど撃ち込んだ銃弾が命中していたのだ。
過合成スネークを本当に倒したのはカツヤ達ではなくアキラだと言っても良い。キバヤシはそれに気付いていた。
恐らくアキラも気付いていないそのことを、自分だけが知っている。それがキバヤシの機嫌をどこまでも良くしていた。
キバヤシはそのことを報告する気などない。報告しても無意味だからだ。ハンターオフィスは既に過合成スネークの撃破判定を出しているのだ。その撃破判定を取り消して別のハンターに付け替えるなど、どう考えても非常に大変な
を楽しめそうだからな)
キバヤシはアキラを気に入っている。今回の件でますます気に入った。アキラの次の無理
アキラが自宅の風呂に入っている。いつも以上に魂を湯に溶かしながらいつも以上にぼんやりとしている。
自宅まで戻ったアキラは倒れ込むように横になって仮眠を取っていた。そして夜中に目を覚ましたのだ。激戦の疲労は残ったままだった。目を覚ました後は眠いのに眠れないという状態が続いていた。アキラは頑張って身を起こし、
の治療が主な効用の回復薬で、溺死を防げるかどうかは微妙よ。それに、それはいつ頃の話なの?』
「......あの時だよ。......あの時。............ああ、そうだった。アルファ、いなかったな」
だった頭から出たものだ。過合成スネークの体内で服用した回復薬の持続時間などとっくに終わっている。その時にアルファとの接続が切れていたことも忘れていた。
アルファが表面上は
『後で教えてもらう約束だったわね。今なら大丈夫よね。その時に何があったの?』
アキラはその時の経験を話そうとして、何かを口にしようとして、黙った。別に話したくないわけではない。アキラに口頭で
アキラが口答で説明するのを諦めて、代わりにその時の光景を思い浮かべてアルファに送る。念話ならば、思考や想像、時には感情まで送信が可能だからだ。
しかし所詮はアキラの記憶から再現されたものだ。その精度は非常に悪い。
よく分からないけれど助かった。アルファはアキラからその程度の情報しか得られなかった。アキラが自覚していていない様々なことを、アルファが欲していた情報を把握することはできなかった。
「でもまあ、意外に何とかなるものなんだな。正直死ぬかと思った。まあ、そんなことを考えられるってことは、即死しなかったってことだから、まだまだ余裕な状況なのかもしれないけど」
アルファがとてもすまなそうな表情で話す。
『その時に私がアキラをサポートできれば良かったのだけれど。ごめんなさい』
アキラが気にした様子もなく答える。
「そういうこともあるさ。アルファのサポート無しで行動する訓練をしておいて良かったな。多分あれが役に立ったんだ」
アルファが思案する。アキラは自力で窮地から脱したことで少し自信を持ったのだろう。それ自体は問題ない。アキラの戦闘能力の向上にも役立つだろう。しかしその自信がアキラのアルファへの精神的な依存を弱めるのならば、対処が必要だ。アキラがアルファを不要と判断する前に、何らかの対処が。
だ。これからも頼む」
『それなら早速役に立ちましょうか。シカラベから通話要求がきているわ。私が
アルファがそう話すと、シカラベの声が聞こえてくる。アルファが情報端末を介して中継しているのだ。
『シカラベだ。報酬の件で話があるんだが、時間はあるか?』
『時間があるなら直接話すか? 俺達はこの前の酒場にいる』
「今風呂に入っているんだ。まずはこのまま話を聞きたい。それとも、
アキラが厳しい表情で話す。
「しょぼい報酬でも我慢しろって
アキラが黙る。理解できるし納得もできる。だが機嫌の悪化を抑えるだけで、悪化そのものは避けられない。シカラベもアキラの沈黙からそれを把握している。
『だがさっきも言った通り、俺はお前の活躍を認めている。その活躍に対して
『ああ。例えば車だ』
『他にもいろいろあるがな。今回の賞金首討伐にはドランカムが本腰を入れて参加していたんだ。高い銃やら強化服やら車両やらを用意してな。戦闘で破損したものも多い。それで新しい装備品を一括購入するんだが、小破ぐらいの少し修理すればまだまだ使える車両とかも、この際だからって一緒に新車に更新したりするんだ。その小破した車両とかを報酬の代わりに譲ってやろう。名目上は支払う予定の報酬で買ったことになる。修理代や整備代込みでな。同じ金で新車を買うよりはかなり高性能な車が手に入るってわけだ。つまり、報酬額の増額はできないが、代わりにその手のコネを報酬に加えてやろうってことだ。まあ、金の方が良いなら無理強いはしないが......』
に、シカラベの少し引き気味な声が返ってくる。
『そ、そうか。分かった。手配しておく。受け渡しの日時とかは後で連絡する。じゃあな』
シカラベとの通話が切れると、アキラがとても
『良かったわね』
「ああ。これでシズカさんにあの車をもうぶっ壊したなんて説明せずにすむ。新車を買う金も節約できる。良かった。ついてたな」
大赤字で終わりそうなアキラの賞金首討伐だったが、これで今後のハンター稼業に支障がでる事態は避けられた。懸念事項が解決したアキラは顔を緩ませて機嫌良く入浴を続けた。
シカラベ達が前回の酒場で飲んでいる。彼らが
アキラとの話を終わらせたシカラベに、ヤマノベが楽しげに尋ねる。
「ああ。拍子抜けになるぐらいにすんなり終わった。随分車を欲しがっていたようだな」
「車? あいつは自前の車で参加したんだろう? 何でそんなに車を欲しがるんだ。タンクランチュラとの戦闘で故障でもしたのか? でも普通に帰ってたよな?」
「さあな。まあ、どうでも良いさ。懸念事項はなくなったんだ。飲もうぜ」
シカラベは特に気にせずに仲間達と祝杯を挙げた。アキラがシカラベ達と別れた後に賞金首もどきと戦って車両を失っていたことなど、
クガマヤマ都市の下位区画にハンター向けの整備場がある。義体者やサイボーグのハンターが自分達の体を修理調整改造する施設だ。病院と工場を混ぜたような施設で、病院に近い区域には義体者が多く、工場に近い区域にはサイボーグが多い。その中間地点では、戦闘用の体と日常生活用の体を換装する設備もあったりする。
そこにネルゴがいた。結構な料金を取られる個室で、備え付けられている機材を自分で操作して、賞金首との戦闘で故障した箇所を修理している。四肢が備わっている機体は一見問題がないように見えるが、僅かなフレームの
ネルゴに秘匿通信で連絡が入る。外部に音声が出ない方式でそれに答える。
通信先から、僅かに戸惑いを含む男の声が返ってくる。
『......えっと、今は何て呼べば良いんだっけ?』
『ネルゴと呼べ。貴様に同志と呼ばれるのは気に入らん』
『今はネルゴか。前はケインでその前は、何だったっけ?』
『ちょくちょく名前を変えるのは勝手だけどさ。だったら俺も同志って呼んでも良いじゃないか。それなら呼び間違えないしな』
『駄目だ。貴様が私をそう呼ぶには、貴様には功績と信念が足りていない。特に同志のクズスハラ街遺跡での失態は大きい。我々が都市のエージェントだと誤認したハンターの所為で、我々は遺物の奪取に失敗したのだ。同志がそのハンターに関する情報を我々に教えていれば、あの事態は避けられたのだ』
『俺を同志と呼ぶくせに、俺に同志と呼ばれるのは駄目なのか。基準がよく分からないな。俺も世のため人のため、頑張っているんだけどね。第一、あの件はその後の後始末に俺も協力しただろう?』
『計画が順調に推移していれば、その後始末そのものが不要だったのだ。失態の穴埋めにはならん』
め息が聞こえる。そして気を切り替えたように明るい声がする。
『まあいいや。それで、どうなったんだ? あの後に俺が渡した情報があるっていうのに、
ネルゴも気を切り替えて答える。
『その件だが、確認自体は済んだ。今日偶然そのハンターに遭遇した。あのハンターはカツヤではなく、アキラという別のハンターだった。かなりの実力者で、少年型の義体でもない。貴様から
『そうか。まあ順調で何よりだ。じゃあ俺はドランカムの情報でも集めておこう。後で送るよ。じゃあな』
『何だ? 何でも聞いてくれ。話し合い、分かり合うことが大切だ。人と人を
クガマヤマ都市にいる旧領域接続者を探している? いや、クズスハラ街遺跡にいた旧領域接続者か?』
男が沈黙を返す。ネルゴが真剣な声で続ける。
『貴様の優秀さは私も理解している。統企連もだ。その優秀さを見込まれて、貴様に統企連から誘いが来ていることも知っている。単純に旧領域接続者を探しているのならば、統企連の上層部に食い込み、東部全域から探せば良い。貴様の実力ならより高い地位に就き、それを実行する権限を得ることも可能だろう。
『不特定多数の人間の幸福、救済の実現とその継続だよ。建国主義者である君達も似たようなことをよく言っているだろう? 君達は統企連の統治下ではそれが困難だと思っているから、建国を目指しているんだろう? 俺も同じだ。だからこうして君達に協力しているんだ。じゃあな』
『その言葉が本心であることを祈ろう』
秘匿回線が切断される。ネルゴが内心を察し
ネルゴはかつてケインと呼ばれていた。いずれはかつてネルゴと呼ばれていた誰かになるのだろう。名を捨てた男が、通信相手の人物を思い返す。
(......貴様は確かに優秀だ。だがその才に見合う大義がない。それでは駄目だ。同志とは呼べない。正しく同志となってもらいたいものだが、どうだかな)
ネルゴの近くにいた女性が彼に声をかけてくる。
「ネルゴさん。調子はいかがですか?」
ネルゴが愛想の良い声で答える。
「おかげさまで大きな故障箇所は見当たりませんでした。今は細かい調整をしているところです。ミズハさん。とても良い整備場を紹介していただいて、本当にありがとう御座いました」
ミズハが愛想良く答える。
「良いんですよ。これからは同じ職場で働く同僚ですから。当然のことです」
「全く有り難いことです。以前の職場では
ネルゴはビッグウォーカーとの交戦中に危ないところをカツヤに助けられていた。
ミズハが少し驚く。ネルゴはシカラベの伝でドランカムに加入した人物だ。そのため派閥としては古参側だと思っていたのだ。
ネルゴの実力はかなりのものだ。カツヤに対して隔意がないのなら取り込んでおいて損はない。ミズハはそう判断して愛想良く
「大丈夫ですよ。私から後でカツヤにネルゴさんを紹介する時間を取るように伝えましょう」
「ありがとう御座います」
確かにカツヤはネルゴを助けていた。だがネルゴが危機に陥っていた状況が意図的なものであり、カツヤ派に取り入るための演技だと気付いた者はいなかった。
「俺もお前達の大義は、信念は立派だと思うよ? だが駄目だ。足りていない。その大義を実現させる力が圧倒的に足りていない。俺ならその力が手に入る。もう一度、あの場所に行きさえすれば」
男が右手に持つカードを見て笑う。その黒いカードには目立つ紋章が記されていた。
「鍵は手に入った。後は扉の前に行くだけだ。その手段さえあれば、もう一度、あの場所に
その紋章は旧世界の国家の国章だ。その国家はクズスハラ街遺跡をその一部に含む大都市を首都としていた。そしてこのカードはクズスハラ街遺跡の奥部から入手した旧世界の遺物だ。男が統企連の特殊部隊を率いて入手した貴重品だ。
クズスハラ街遺跡のモンスターの大部分をクガマヤマ都市に誘導し、都市の防衛隊に大量に駆除させて、遺跡奥部の難易度を一時的に著しく低下させ、その上で最前線の装備まで取り寄せて対応した。そこまでしなければ入手できない貴重品で、そうするだけの価値がある極めて重要な遺物だ。
しかしその価値を知っている人間は極めて少ない。具体的には、この男ぐらいだ。
「俺は旧領域接続者を探しているわけじゃない。その後ろにいるかもしれないやつを探しているんだ。俺の夢を邪魔したあいつを。今度こそ邪魔されないように見つけておきたいだけだ」
「探しているんだろう? 次のやつを。だがお前を見える旧領域接続者はそうはいないはずだ。それとも、もう見つけ出したのか? だとしても、そう簡単にはあの場所に
み付けていた男は、ヤナギサワだった。
賞金首討伐は様々な人間に様々なものをもたらした。この日々が大きな転機になる者もいれば、変わらない日常だった者もいる。得た者も、失った者も、生き残ったのならば日々が続いていく。今までのように、これからのように。
その日、クガマヤマ都市周辺の賞金首は全て討伐された。
翌日、アキラは再び下位区画の歓楽街を訪れていた。
わう時間帯には少々早い。それでも多くのハンターと擦れ違う。建ち並ぶ商店には時間を問わずに一定の需要が存在しているのだろう。
アキラは再び以前シカラベ達に呼び出された酒場に向かっていた。ただし今回アキラを呼び出したのは、コルベとその雇い主であるトメジマだ。
前にアキラがカドルという借金持ちのハンターを殺しかけたことについて、トメジマがアキラと手打ちの交渉を求めている。アキラはコルベからそう聞かされた。無視しても良いのだが、放置すると面倒事が大きくなりそうな気配がしたので、少し面倒に思いながらも酒場まで足を運ぶことにした。
酒場に向かう途中の道で、アルファがアキラに尋ねる。
『アキラ。交渉自体は私も止めるつもりはないけれど、アキラはどうするつもりなの? 適当な和解金でも
『......どうしようか。実はあんまり良い案がないんだ。相手だって大金を出すつもりはないだろう。小銭で済ませるのもそれはそれで問題だ』
アキラを殺そうとしたこと。それを小銭で解決する程度の問題だと判断されては今後のアキラの命に関わる。安値を付けられた命はそれだけ
割に合わない。相手にそう判断させること。それこそが最大の自衛方法だ。少なくともアキラはそう考えていた。
『良い落とし所があれば良いんだけどな』
『その辺りは手を出してきたのは向こうなのだし、向こうにたっぷり悩んでもらいましょう。もし変な
アキラは前回と異なりCWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンを背負ってきている。念のためだ。
アキラはトメジマ達をシカラベ達ほど信用していない。それにハンターが少々大きめの装備を持ち込んでも怒られるような店ではないことは前回確認済みだ。自分から騒ぎを起こす気はないが、相手の対応までは分からない。既に一度、相手は実例を示しているのだ。
The staff that the Hunter Office sent was Kibayashi. The moment he heard that a strange report reached the Hunter Office and it was from Akira, he quickly jumped in.
After Kibayashi reached Akira, he listened to Akira's explanation and more or less understood what had happened. He then laughed hard. He tried to suppress his laughter before he said to Akira.
"So you killed it? This snake? All by yourself? After it ate you? Y-You, b-blasted your way out from its inside..."
Kibayashi could not hold back his laughter, it seemed that he found what he just said himself really funny.
The adrenalin that was coursing through Akira's body during that fight had already calmed down. What was left after that fight was only the tiredness and worry for all the ammo expense that he had incurred in that battle. Not to mention that he had lost his vehicle too.
Akira looked annoyed as he replied.
"It's all good that you're as reckless as ever. You're just so interesting."
"Is that so? Well, thanks."
Akira pointed his finger at the overgrown snake.
"So then, what's the result after you checked it? Is that thing a bounty monster or just a normal monster?"
"Well, unfortunately, that thing is not a bounty monster. We have no idea if it's just a mutated monster of the same species or maybe one of the children of the bounty monster, but the conclusion is the same, it's not the bounty monster. I know that you worked super hard to kill it and I'm sorry to say this, but the Hunter Office would not categorize a monster that you can defeat alone as a bounty monster. But well, we'll at least pay you some reward money for killing it though. Ah, right, you didn't take the bounty hunting request, huh. But don't worry, we'll treat you as if you had taken the bounty request, I can at least do that much for you."
From the other's point of view, it was a monster that could be killed by a Rank 21 Hunter if that Hunter tried hard enough. Akira could understand that fact, but it still annoyed him.
Kibayashi looked at the annoyed Akira, he then smiled and said to Akira.
"You looked pretty displeased. But well, I guess that's to be expected huh? Since you worked so hard to kill a monster that looked like a bounty monster but still you wouldn't get that much money out from it."
"Ah, right!! I have no vehicle now!! Dammit!!"
Akira shouted loudly, Kibayashi then tried to calm him down.
"Calm down. I'll at least give you a ride back to the city. You do look so tired after all. You can take a nap there, I'll wake you up when we arrive."
"...Is that so? Thanks... Haaah."
Even after he calmed down, Akira looked completely opposite of Kibayashi who seemed to be having fun there.
Kibayashi decided to head back to the city with Akira while the other Hunter Office staffs stayed behind to analyze the snake's corpse.
Akira was sleeping like a log in the backseat of Kibayashi's vehicle. Another Hunter Office staff member was sitting in the driver's assistant seat next to Kibayashi. That particular staff suddenly asked Kibayashi a question.
"Are you sure it's okay to make that promise to this boy? Looking at that dead corpse, he must have used quite a lot of ammo, you know. Although you did say that you'll add some bonus, I don't think you can reimburse his ammo expense just from the reward of monster hunting requests though?"
Kibayashi laughed merrily.
"It's fine. I got to see an interesting battle record after all. So you don't need to worry about it."
"Haaah, I see."
There was an air of superiority from the way Kibayashi laughed. The Hunter Office staff found that weird, but since he knew about Kibayashi's bad reputation, he just decided to forget about it.
In reality, the overgrown snake that Katsuya's team defeated and the overgrown snake that Akira defeated were one and the same. The overgrown snake was actually a snake inside a bigger body. The relatively smaller snake was the real body, it used everything that it ate to construct its outer body. It was analogous to a human inside a powered suit.
The one that Katsuya's team defeated was that powered suit. While the real body detached from its outer body and escaped. And to cover its escape, it set the outer body to rampage around.
While the one that Akira defeated was the snake's real body. Although to be more precise, it actually had an even smaller body inside it, but Akira killed it before it could detach and escape since he scattered all of those bullets from inside the snake's body.
Kibayashi actually knew that the one who actually defeated the overgrown snake was Akira and not Katsuya's team.
He also knew that Akira did not know about that. That was the reason why he was really amused by that situation.
Kibayashi had no plans to report that to the Hunter Office since he knew that it would be useless. The Hunter Office had already broadcasted the news that the overgrown snake had been killed. Retracting that statement and announcing that another Hunter actually defeated the bounty monster would definitely cause a dispute, it would be a huge problem since Drankam was also involved.
[Well, I'll at least reimburse your ammo, that way, I'll be able to enjoy your reckless act again.]
Kibayashi was already interested in Akira, and with what happened this time, he got even more interested. He smiled as he was looking forward to the next time he would be able to see Akira do another crazy thing.
After returning back to his home, Akira took a dip inside his bath. He looked much more dazed than usual as if most of his soul was sucked by the warm bath.
The moment he arrived back home, he quickly fell asleep and only woke up in the middle of the night. But even so, he was still extremely tired. He was stuck in a situation where he was awake and sleepy but could not fall asleep. Thus he dragged his body out of the bed and went to the bathroom in a semi-conscious state.
"That's the medicine to heal wounds, right? Not the medicine that would help you breathe underwater. Moreover, when exactly did you take them?"
"...Back there... That time... Ahh, right, Alpha, you weren't there."
Akira was still completely in a daze when he said that. The effect from the medicines that he took when inside the snake had completely waned and he had completely forgotten that Alpha was not there when he took those medicines.
Alpha was smiling like usual, but she then carefully asked Akira a question.
"Ah, right, you promised me that you'll tell all the details later, right? This might be a good time for that, what happened back there?"
Akira was about to say something, but he stopped. It was not like he did not want to explain it to Alpha, it was more because he did not have the communication ability to do that.
He gave up explaining what had happened with words, so instead, he sent the scene of what had happened straight to Alpha through telepathy. Akira chose that option since he could send visuals, line of thinking, and even feelings through telepathy.
But in the end, it was just a reconstruction of Akira's memory. The accuracy of that information was very low since there was nothing but hazy pictures of the inner wall of the overgrown snake only illuminated by the flash muzzle from his DVTS minigun. Moreover, it was subjective information based on Akira's point of view, not to mention, it did not contain the full information about his mental state at that time. It was a rather confusing scene, it was as if he was inside a dream-like state until the moment he broke out from inside the snake's body. It contained no more information than that.
Although it did not explain everything, that was all that Alpha could extract from him. In conclusion, she could not get the information that she was actually looking for from him, and Akira himself actually had no idea what kind of information she wanted from him.
"But well, I didn't expect to be able to do that, I was sure I'm going to die there. But again, since I had the time to think that I was definitely going to die, I guess it showed that I didn't instantly die after it ate me. So I might have actually not been in that much danger back then."
Alpha sounded apologetic as she said to Akira.
"It would have been really helpful if I was able to give you support, I'm really sorry."
But Akira replied casually as if it did not bother him at all.
"Things like that are bound to happen from time to time. I'm glad I trained myself to know what to do when I lose your support. It was really useful in that situation."
Alpha thought that Akira must have acquired some level of confidence after getting out of that situation with his own power. That in itself was not a problem, it was good news for her since it meant that he was getting stronger. But if that confidence lessened his dependency on her, then there was a need to remove that. She should do something about it before he thinks that he could go on his own without her support.
"Of course, I'll be counting on you."
"In that case, there's one thing that I can help you with right this second. There's a call from Shikarabe. I'll connect you, so you can just talk normally from here."
After she said that, Akira could suddenly hear Shikarabe's voice. He was connected to his information terminal through Alpha.
"It's Shikarabe. I need to talk to you about the reward, do you have time now?"
"If you have the time, do you want to talk in-person? I'm in that pub from last time."
"I'm inside my bath right now, so let's talk over this call. Or is it something that might cause trouble between us so you'd rather talk about it in-person with me?"
Akira's expression turned stern.
"Are you contacting me to warn me that my share of reward might be pretty small?"
Akira did not say anything. He got what Shikarabe was saying and he understood it well. But it was only enough to suppress his anger, not completely erasing it. Shikarabe also understood that fact from Akira's silence.
"But just like I said before, I recognize your contribution in that fight. I myself am not happy to just close this matter by giving you a small amount of money. So about that, is it okay if we pay you with something else other than money?"
"Yeah, for example, how about a vehicle?"
"There are other things that we can offer you too. Drankam invested a lot of money in this bounty hunt. Thanks to that, we got a lot of new equipment like guns or new augmented suits. The gang also lost a lot of equipment in this hunt, so we're planning to buy their replacements in bulk. The gang is also planning to replace the lightly damaged vehicles which are still usable after a little bit of TLC. I can give you one of those slightly damaged vehicles as your reward. The doc.u.ment will say that you bought that vehicle on the same day we originally planned to pay your reward. We'll also include some money to repair and make some adjustments on that vehicle. You might be able to get a better vehicle if you use the same amount of money to buy a new one. So in short, I might not be able to give you extra money, but I can use my connection to get you something else on top of your reward money. But well, if you prefer money, I won't force you though...."
Shikarabe was a bit weirded out by that sudden change of character from Akira.
"I-I see. Alright then, I'll start working on it. I'll contact you again later about when and where I'll hand it over to you."
Shikarabe then closed the call. Akira looked really happy, Alpha smiled bitterly at him as she said.
"That was good news."
"Yeah. This way, I don't have to explain to Shizuka-san how I got my vehicle destroyed so quickly! I can also save money to buy a new vehicle later. This is great, really lucky!"
Akira thought that he would end up in red after that day's bounty hunting. But with this, there was no need to worry that it might affect his Hunter work in the future. And now that there was no more problem to worry about, he loosened up and continued enjoying the bath in a good mood.
Shikarabe was drinking together with Varga and Yamanobe in the pub where he met up with Akira before. Among all the girls who were serving his table, some of them were the girls that he promised to call when he celebrated the bounty hunting. Shikarabe was a man of his words.
After he finished his call with Akira, Yamanobe smiled at him and asked.
"Yeah, it was even somehow anticlimactic. It seems that he's really in need of a vehicle."
"Vehicle? But like, he already has one, right? Why does he want another one? Did his vehicle get damaged during that fight against the Tank Tarantula? But he just went back normally on his vehicle after that, right?"
"No idea, well, it doesn't really matter. Now that we have nothing to worry about, let's get another drink!"
Shikarabe just continued drinking and celebrating with his friends. Of course, he had no idea that Akira fought a pseudo overgrown snake after his hunt together with Shikarabe and lost his vehicle in that fight.
There was a marketplace for Hunter equipment in the lower district of the Kugamayama city. There were also different facilities in that area, like a repair shop to fix or readjust prosthetics, or a facility that looked like a combination of factory and hospital. A lot of Hunters with prosthetics gathered near the hospital while the cyborgs gathered near the factory, and in between those two, there was a shop that could help Hunters exchange normal organs for a battle oriented cyborg body.
Nergo was in that place. He rented an expensive individual room, where he could use the material that he brought himself, to fix the part of his body that got damaged during his fight against the bounty monster. Although from the outside his limbs looked just fine, sometimes sparks could be seen jumping out from his limbs. He was in the middle of fixing those parts.
Just then Nergo received a secret call. He answered that call through a device that would allow him to speak without making any sound.
A troubled voice, which seemed to be a male's, returned from the other side.
"...Uhhh, what should I call you now, again?"
"It's Nergo. I don't want to hear you calling me 'brother'."
"So it's Nergo this time, huh? It was Kein last time, wasn't it?"
"I don't mind changing names all the time, but can you at least let me call you brother. That way I won't get your name wrong, you know."
"No, you're lacking achievement and zeal to call me brother. Especially, your blunder in the Kuzusuhara ruin was fatal. Because of that Hunter, whom we mistook to be an agent from the city, we've failed to steal the relics from the Kuzusuhara underground ruin. If only you gave us more detailed information beforehand, we could have avoided that failure."
"You still call me brother but you won't let me call you brother, huh? I don't really understand your way of thinking. Just so you know, I work super hard both for my own and for the world's sake. Not to mention that I also helped out to deal with the aftermath of that incident, right?"
"If only our plan proceeded without any problem, there was even no need to deal with the aftermath, you know. Helping out dealing with the aftermath does not erase your blunder."
The other guy sighed, he then started speaking in a higher spirit to fix the mood.
"Well, putting that aside for now, so, how was it? Although I've given you the information that I gathered, you still went undercover and infiltrated Drankam to confirm it, right? Did it go well? I was the one who made that fake record, so there shouldn't be any trouble."
Nergo changed his mood.
"About that though, I finished confirming the subject. Today I met the subject by pure coincidence, the subject is not Katsuya. It's another Hunter by the name of Akira. He's a pretty strong Hunter, but he's not a Hunter with a cyborg-boy body. The information that you gave me is correct, he's not an agent from the city. That news about him was fake news to disguise the City Management's blunder."
"I see, well, it's all good that everything is going well. Well then, I'll go and gather data about Drankam. I'll send it to you later once I'm done."
"What is it? You can go ahead and ask me anything. It's important to talk and understand each other. It's the thread that binds people together after all. So if you can't do that, then you're just the same as those monsters out there. After all, we can't understand them and they can't understand us."
"Let me change my question. Why are you looking for them in Kuzusuhara ruin? No wait, are you actually looking for someone you know was in Kuzusuhara ruin once?"
That man did not answer back, Nergo then continued.
"We know just how skilled you are and we know that the Corporate Government also knows about your skills. We know that the Corporate Government even sent you an offer hoping to get your skills on their side. If you just wanted to look for the people who are connected to the old-world domain, you can just climb the ladder in the Corporate Government and search the whole Eastern District. With your skills, I know you can get the right and the power to do that much, so why did you refuse their offer just to stay in Kugamayama city? What exactly makes you stay in this city?"
"It's for the sake of people's happiness. That's also the reason that you, Nationalist, always use, right? You Nationalist think that it's difficult to bring that happiness into reality under the rule of the Corporate Government, that's why you're supporting the forming of nations, right? So that's also my reason and that's exactly why I'm helping you. That's all, later then."
"I really hope that you're not lying."
The secret call ended. Although Nergo's face was a cyborg part that rarely showed any emotion, he twitched a bit there.
Nergo was once called as Kein. And one day, he would also abandon that Nergo name. That nameless man there retraced his conversation just now.
[...It's true that you're skilled, but you don't have a great cause to steer that skill, and that makes it pointless. That's exactly why I won't let you call me brother. To be honest, I do want him to convert, but I'm not really sure now.]
A woman near Nergo suddenly spoke to him.
"Nergo-san, how are you feeling?"
Nergo smiled at her.
"Thanks to you, I didn't find any broken parts. I'm just doing fine-tuning right now. Mizuha-san, thank you so much for introducing this good repair shop to me."
Mizuha smiled back to him.
"Don't mention it. We'll be working together from now on, it's normal to help out a colleague."
"I can't thank you enough, I couldn't really do any proper maintenance in the previous place that I frequented. Ah, talking about gratitude, I really need to say my thanks to that Katsuya too. If it wasn't for him, I might have died by now. If it's possible, I want to thank him directly, or is it like it's not a good idea for a new member to do that?"
Nergo was saved from a dangerous situation by Katsuya during the fight against the Big Walker.
Mizuha was a bit surprised. Nergo joined the gang through Shikarabe, so she thought that he would share the same view as the other veteran Hunters in the gang.
Nergo was a skilled hunter and he had no disdain toward Katsuya, so it might be a good idea to bring him to her side. As Mizuha thought so, she smiled at him and said.
"Don't worry, it's okay. I'll ask Katsuya to free up some of his time so I can introduce you to him."
"Thank you so much."
It was true that Katsuya saved Nergo. But no one knew that Nergo actually intentionally put himself in danger in order to get closer to Katsuya's faction.
"I do think that your zeal to your belief is pretty amazing, you know? But no, it's not enough. You guys don't have the power to put your idealism into reality. But you know, I have that power, if only I can go to that place one more time."
That man was clenching something in his right hand. It was a black card with a big symbol on it.
"I have the key. I just need to walk through the door now. If only I have the means to do that, I'll be able to go to that place one more time."
That symbol was the national symbol of an old-world nation. The Kuzusuhara ruin was once the capital city of that nation and that card was something that man had gotten from deep inside the Kuzusuhara ruin. It was a highly valuable relic that he got by using the Corporate Government's special force.
They baited the monsters inside the Kuzusuhara ruin to Kugamayama city and manipulated the City Guard to kill those monsters. After that incident, the danger level inside the Kuzusuhara ruin dropped temporarily, they used that chance to go into the ruin while also bringing weapons from the frontline. That card was something so valuable that he could only get after he put that much effort.
But there were not that many people who knew the real worth of that card, as in matter of fact, he might be the only person who understood the real worth of that card.
"It's not like I'm looking for people who are connected to the old-world domain. I'm looking for the entity behind them. That one girl that prevented my dream from coming to reality, I'll make sure that she won't be able to do that again this time."
"You're looking for the next one, right? But those people who can see you, those people who can connect to the old-world domain, there are not that many of those people out there. Or maybe you already found one? But even if you did, it's not easy to go there, so I should still have some time."
The man who was glaring through the window was Yanagisawa.
The hunt for the bounty monsters had brought different effects to different people. Some of those people had their lives turned over that day, while some people just continued their lives without much change. Some of them received profit while some of them incurred loss, but as long as they returned alive, they would have to face the upcoming days. Just like what they had always been doing, and just like what they would be doing from now on.
That day, all the bounty monsters were killed.
The next day, Akira went to the same entertainment district that he visited the other day.
Although it was a little too early before the usual prime time for the entertainment district, that place was already overflowing with customers. Akira thought that some of the shops in that place must be so popular that Hunters would go there no matter the time.
Akira went to the same pub where he met up with Shikarabe and the other Hunters. But this time, the one who called him there was the person who Colbert was working for, it was Tomejima.
Tomejima wanted to discuss with Akira about that incident where Akira was about to kill Kadol, a debt-ridden Hunter. Akira had heard everything from Colbert, to be honest, he could just ignore it, but Akira had a feeling that it would turn into something really troublesome if he did. So, although it was a pain in the neck, he decided to go to that pub to meet Tomejima.
In the middle of his way to that pub, Alpha suddenly asked Akira a question.
"Akira, it's not like I'm against negotiating with them, but what's your plan? Are you going to just accept some kind of compensation money and call it done?"
"...Hmmm, I really have no idea. To be honest, I don't have any good plans. I'm sure it's not like they're willing to give me a lot of compensation money after all. But letting it go just because he pays me a small amount of money will only cause trouble in the future too."
If he let go of the person who tried to kill him just because of a small amount of money, it would definitely pose a danger to his life in the future. After all, it meant that his life was only worth that much.
The most important thing for protecting himself was to make the other party think it was not worth the risk. Or at least, that was that Akira thought.
"It would be great if we can find a good middle ground though."
"Well, they are the ones who came to strike a deal with you, so let's just leave that part to them. And of course, we'll remind them that they'll regret it if they try to do anything funny."
Unlike last time, Akira brought with him CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun just to be safe.
Akira did not trust Tomejima as much as he trusted Shikarabe and his colleagues. Moreover, he had confirmed from his last visit that the owner of the pub did not mind Hunters bringing in guns with them. Of course, he had no plans to cause a ruckus there, but that might not be the case for Tomejima. After all, that incident with Kadol happened once before.
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