187 憎悪の巨人
ヤツバヤシはティオルを移動診療所の中に招き入れた後、車内に添え付けた機材でコーヒーを入れた。両手に持ったカップの片方をティオルに差し出す。
「コーヒーしかないんだが、良いかな?」
「......要らない」
「お、紅茶派か?」
「この体じゃ飲み食いできねえんだよ」
ティオルが吐き捨てるようにそう答えると、ヤツバヤシが表情に好奇を強く出した。
「すると、その体は完全な遠隔操縦端末か。どこかにいる本体から操縦しているわけだ。本体の方も結構近くまで来ているな」
「......分かるのか!?」
「医者だからな」
ティオルは余裕の態度を見せるヤツバヤシに強い警戒を向けた。だがその警戒心以上に、ある種の期待を抱いていた。
「それで、ティオル君。今日はどんな御用かな?」
になるかどうかはこの後次第だ。あんたともう一度取引がしたい。俺を治療してくれ。......治療だ。治験でも実験でもない! 治療だからな!」
ティオルは興奮して声を荒らげた後、荒い呼吸を繰り返している。ヤツバヤシはそのティオルを見て楽しげに興味深そうに笑っていた。
「治療か。良いだろう。症状も把握していない状況で完治を断言はできないが、最善を尽くすと約束しよう。
「......調子に乗るなよ? 今の俺ならお前なんか簡単に殺せるんだ」
ティオルが左腕をゆっくりとヤツバヤシの方へ向けた。だがヤツバヤシは
「俺がどうやってお前の部屋から脱出したか知らないのか?」
「監視カメラの映像なら何度も興味深く見せてもらったよ。貴重なデータになった。その上で、それで脅しになると
ヤツバヤシがティオルに向ける視線に含まれるものの割合が変わっていく。患者と実験動物、その比率が後者に偏り始める。この場でティオルが暴れても問題なく対処できる。ヤツバヤシはそう態度で示していた。
ティオルはヤツバヤシの態度をはったりではないかと疑いはしたが、結局舌打ちして腕を下ろした。
「......金はねえ。報酬は、まず俺の体だ。構造とか、ナノマシンとか、そう言うのを適当に調べろよ。後は情報だ。今の俺はいろいろ知ってるんだ。答えてやる」
「興味深い内容だが、治療費に相当するかどうかは分からないな。そもそも治療の内容も不明だから治療費も算出できない。遠隔操作端末とはいえ元気そうに見える。治療って、具体的に何を求めているんだ?」
ティオルが一度押し黙る。そして口調に重苦しい感情を乗せて答える。
「......人間に、戻りたい」
ヤツバヤシが非常に深刻そうなティオルの態度を見て
訝
しむ。
「要領を得ないが、体組織の変異を引き起こしているナノマシンを除去しろってことか? 何にせよ、まずは診察をしないとよく分からん。本体でここまで来い。その遠隔操作端末を診ても仕方ないだろう」
「いろいろ事情があって本体はここまで来られない。だから本体の場所まで案内する。今から一緒に来てくれ」
「あのな、外の状況を分かってるのか? 荒野側も遺跡側も大型モンスターが
「大丈夫だ。あんたは襲わないように指示を出す」
ヤツバヤシが自然にそう答えたティオルの態度に驚き
ヤツバヤシがティオルを凝視ししながら真面目な表情で考え込む。そして急に非常に楽しげに笑いだした。
「なるほど。何らかのシステム上の制限を受けているな? その制約の所為で、そうだ、とは答えられない訳か。非常に興味深いが、それだと君が知っている情報を俺に答えるのは無理なんじゃないか? 治療の報酬にはならないと思うがな」
「襲撃が成功すれば、俺に掛かっている制限の大半を解除する。あいつとそう約束したから大丈夫なはずだ」
「あいつとは誰だ? 仮設基地の襲撃を頼んでいることから考えると、遺跡の管理人格か?」
ませながら、震え続ける左腕をヤツバヤシに向ける。利害を計算できない半狂乱に近い状態だ。
ヤツバヤシが相手の精神状態に気付いて慌てて
「分かった! もう質問しない! 続きはティオル君の制限とやらが解除されてからにしよう! 治療が進めばそれも解除されるはずだ! ......だから、落ち着いてくれ」
ティオルが荒い息を続けながらゆっくりと腕を下ろす。
「......取引は、成立だな?」
「ああ。変則的ではあるが、十分な治療費が見込めそうだからな。取引成立だ。俺が責任を持ってティオル君の治療を受け持とう。安心してくれ」
「......それなら、これから案内する」
「分かった。助手席に座ってくれ。あっちだ」
(......大分情緒不安定だな。単純に余裕がないだけか。システムの影響下にある弊害なのか。じっくり調べたいところだが、まあ、まずは取引を優先させるか)
ヤツバヤシが運転席に座って意気揚々と声を出す。
「ああ。......情報端末系の端子とかあるか?」
「車載のやつで良いか?」
ヤツバヤシが端子を渡すと、ティオルはそれを自身のこめかみに、接続口などない皮膚に強引に突き刺した。端子が皮膚を突き破り、傷口から血が垂れる。
車載の表示装置に周辺の立体地図が現れる。そこには現在地と目的地、さらには周辺にいる大型モンスターの位置まで表示されていた。
ヤツバヤシが楽しげに笑い出す。
「便利だな。だが言ってくれれば無線もあったぞ?」
「有線の方が通信規約を乗っ取りやすいんだ」
「規約のレベルで乗っ取るのか。怖いな。自前の車なんだ。壊さないでくれよ?」
ヤツバヤシはティオルの不機嫌そうな様子に苦笑しながら移動診療所を発車させた。
相手の力量にネリアは称賛を、アキラは畏怖を覚えながら、続々と出現する大型達を撃破し続けていた。
アキラの端末からネリアの楽しげな声がする。
「本当に良い調子。私達の相性はバッチリね。どう? こんなに相性が良いんだし、やっぱり付き合いましょうよ」
「嫌だ。殺す相手を口説くようなやつと付き合って
「今は味方なんだから大丈夫よ。殺す気なんかないわ」
「そういう問題じゃねえよ」
った声を返している。雑談の内容に互いへの指示などは全く含まれていない。だがそれでもアキラ達の連携は非常に高い水準を保っていた。
「連中相手に近接武器で戦う気はない! 第一何でそっちは近接武器しか持ってないんだ? 人型兵器だって銃は使えるだろう。何で銃を使わないんだ? 機体の制限か何かなのか?」
「銃って、趣味じゃないのよ。なんかしっくりこないのよね」
「趣味!? そんな下らない理由なのか!?」
「あら、その手の感覚はとても大切なのよ? 馬鹿にする人も多いけど、みんな私より先に死んでいったわ。先入観に
「後方連絡線の奥の方では、大型が小型の群れを率いて襲っているらしいわ。その大型は指令機のようなもので、更に上位の個体が今回の襲撃を指揮している可能性があるって話よ。まあ、他の部隊員の予想で確証はないらしいけどね。それっぽいやつを見付けたら一応優先して倒せって連絡があったのよ」
そういう重要な情報なら、何らかの経路でハンター達に伝えられても不思議はないだろう。アキラはそうも思ったが、ネリアのような人物が所属している部隊を隔離している所為だとも思って、深く気にするのを止めた。代わりに意識をその指令機の話に移す。
「......指令機のボスか。もっと巨大な大型でもいるのか?」
「いたとしても、遺跡の奥か、遺跡を抜けて都市に向かった連中に混ざっていると思うから、外周部辺りにいる私達には関係ないと思うけどね」
アキラ達が戦闘と雑談を続けている内に雨は大分弱まっていた。その影響から完全に脱した訳ではないが、索敵機器等への精度は既に大分回復していた。
アキラ達の中で最も索敵に優れた存在であるアルファが、廃ビルの影に隠れていた大型の存在を察知する。だがアルファはそれをアキラに伝えなかった。それが面倒事を避ける最良の手段だと判断したのだ。代わりに別の話をアキラに振りながら雨雲を見上げる。
『アキラ。雨が大分弱くなってきたわ』
『そうだな。......って、俺がこうするとまた雨が強くなるんじゃ......』
アキラは苦笑いを浮かべていた。だが雨が更に弱まり始めたのを見て機嫌を良くする。
『おっ! 今度は
「......俺の指揮下の大型は大丈夫だが、他のは普通に襲ってくる。それぐらいは何とかしてくれ」
「了解だ。なに、外周部の小物程度ならこの車の武装で蹴散らせるから大丈夫だ」
「そうか。手に負えないなら言ってくれ。近くのやつに対処させる」
ヤツバヤシはそう軽く答えながら裏でいろいろと考えていた。
(とすると、ティオルの権限はクズスハラ街遺跡全体ではなくその特定区画限定か? 区画の警備システム系のモンスターはその担当区域が生息地になる。該当のモンスターがその区域内から外に出ることは基本的にはない。坂下重工がクズスハラ街遺跡の近場にクガマヤマ都市を建設できたのも、そのモンスターの縄張り意識、移動困難性を根拠にしている。......それが揺らぐと、下手をすると都市の存亡に関わるんだが......)
「何でもない。医者としても科学者としてもティオル君の存在がとても興味深いだけだよ。気に障ったのなら悪かった」
ヤツバヤシの車両が目的地の近くに到着する。半壊した高層ビルの谷間だ。
「そろそろ到着するが、ティオルの本体はあの廃ビルの中か?」
「目的地はあのビルの辺りを示しているぞ?」
「確認するぞ? あれが、ティオル君の本体なんだな? あの中に本体がいるとかじゃないんだな?」
「......なるほど。本体で診療所に来られないわけだ。診察が大変そうだ」
「取引だ。治してもらうぞ」
ヤツバヤシが車両を廃ビルの谷間に動かしていると、助手席のティオルの様子が急変した。わなわなと震え始め、表情に憎悪を
に思ったヤツバヤシがそう声を掛けた途端、ティオルが突如崩れ落ちた。ティオルを介して表示されていた立体地図も同時に消えた。
「これは、遠隔操縦端末の操作を切ったのか? 一体何が......」
アキラとネリアが情報収集機器に突如として現れた巨大な反応にほぼ同時に気付いた。意識を反応の方向に向けると、廃ビルの谷間から大型の車両が何かに蹴飛ばされたように飛び出してくる。そして続いて車両を蹴飛ばした存在が姿を現した。
それは重装強化服を着用した巨人のように見える大型モンスターだった。その巨大な
に取られている間に、アルファがバイクから小型ミサイルを全弾発射させる。無数のミサイルが宙を飛び、アルファの誘導で敵を半包囲する軌道を描く。そして飛距離を調整してほぼ同時に着弾するように巨人に一斉に襲いかかる。
巨人の右手の柄から発光する液体金属が重力を無視して伸びていく。僅かな時間で液体金属は戦艦を両断できそうな程の光刃を形作った。巨人はその光刃を構え、殺到するミサイルの群れに向けて
刃がミサイルに触れた瞬間、無数のミサイルが一斉に爆発した。アキラのバイクに搭載可能なミサイルを一度に全て使い切った大爆発が巨人を包み込んだ。
アキラが自分のところにまで届いた爆風に強化服の身体能力で
ぎ払いでミサイルの弾道と爆破タイミングがずれて、効果的な爆発を大分軽減させられたわ。加えて全身に強力な
力場装甲
『そうかもしれないわね』
苦笑しながら言った自身の冗談にアルファがかなり真面目な様子で答えたため、アキラが
アキラにはその言語の意味など全く分からない。だがそこに込められている憎悪と殺意から、その意味を何となく理解した。
『ついさっきミサイルを大量に撃ち込んだわ』
『私に聞かれても分からないわ。取りあえず、和解は不可能という意見には賛成よ。だからその手の考察は後回しにして。まずは離脱よ。覚悟を決めなさい』
アキラも巨人の動きを見て余計な思考を切り捨てた。巨人が左腕の砲をアキラに向けていた。アキラのバイクが慣性による乗り手への負担を完全に無視した挙動で急発進する。同時に、巨人の機銃から巨大な口径に見合った大型の弾丸が連続して発射された。
1発でビルを倒壊させる弾丸が遺跡の建物を次々に吹き飛ばしていく。半壊したビルが一瞬で同量の
を殴り飛ばして空間を力尽くで広げる。殴った反動でバイクから振り落とされないように、強化服の出力を限界まで上げて体をバイクに固定する。自身の身体能力を超えた挙動を強化服の操作で補った結果、動きに追随しきれない分が強烈な負荷となって身体を締め上げていく。
回復薬の鎮痛作用により痛みは軽減されている。だがアキラはそれでも治療と損傷を繰り返しながら徐々に体が壊れていく怖気の混ざった感覚を覚えていた。そして、全身から伝わってくるその不快感を無視しながら、次の1秒を生き延びるために全力を尽くし続けていた。
ヤツバヤシは横転した車から何とか脱出した後、車載の索敵機器と連動している双眼鏡で巨人、ティオルの本体の様子を確認していた。巨人は地響きを立てて走りながらアキラがいるであろう方向に機銃を乱射し続け、そのままヤツバヤシから離れていく。
「......ティオル君。診察の予定を変更するのなら、事前に知らせてほしいんだけどな」
巨人の戦闘能力は遺跡の地形すら変えかねないほどに強力だ。しかしそれが自身とは別方向にしか向いていないのならば、ヤツバヤシには平然と事態を観察しながら冗談を言う余裕があった。
ヤツバヤシが横転している車に視線を向ける。ティオルの遠隔操作端末は助手席から転げ落ちたままだ。動く気配はない。
(恐らくあの遠隔操作端末の操作可能距離には限度があり、そこまで長くない。だからある程度の距離まで俺のいる仮設基地に近付く必要があった。本体はある程度の迷彩機能も持っているんだろう。その迷彩機能に加えて雨と戦闘に紛れて仮設基地に接近して、何らかの方法で俺を見付けて、治療の交渉をして、ここまで連れてきて、......それを全部台無しにした? 分からん)
が合うようにいろいろと思案してみるが、納得できる理由は浮かばなかった。
ティオルが遠隔操作端末の接続を切ったのは、本体と遠隔操作端末の両方を操作する余裕がなかったからだ。別の場所にいる複数の自分から送られてくる知覚を同時に処理する。それはシステム側の意識の時には可能だったが、人としての意識を取り戻した後は複雑すぎて混乱を産むだけだった。
そしてヤツバヤシの案内を中止してでもアキラの殺害を優先させた理由は、自身の意識を再度システム側に取り込まれないようにするための強烈な自意識と、それを支える憎悪にあった。
ティオルは自身の境遇を、自身をその境遇に導いた全てを、八つ当たりや逆恨みも含めて強く憎んでいた。その対象にはヤツバヤシも含まれていたが、それは自分を治療する人間として、現在の境遇から救い出す要素として何とか我慢できていた。
だがアキラに対しては我慢できなかった。シェリルへの
く考え続けていたが、途中でそれ以上の思考を無駄と判断して打ち切った。
(......まあ良いか。遠隔操作端末の方を確保しておけば後で連絡が来るかもしれない。巻き込まれたくないし、ここは帰ろう)
ヤツバヤシが横転した車の横に立ち、両手を車に掛けて力を込める。すると車がゆっくりと動き始める。かなり
ヤツバヤシは自身の肉体を自身の医療技術を応用して拡張した身体強化拡張者だ。突然暴れ出すこともあるハンター達への対処のためでもあり、自身の実験の成果を自身で試した結果でもある。ティオルを移動診療所の中に入れたのも、砲撃可能な腕を突きつけられても余裕を保っていたのも、問題なく対応できると判断してのことだ。
ヤツバヤシは運転席に戻りティオルの遠隔操作端末を助手席に戻した。そして人形の額を小突いて
Ch 187
After Yatsubayashi let Tiol into his clinic, he made coffee with a coffee maker. He returned back with a cup of coffee in both hands and offered one to Tiol.
"I have nothing but coffee though, you're okay with it, right?"
"...No thanks."
"Oh, do you prefer tea perhaps?"
"I can't drink nor eat with this body."
Tiol said so curtly, but Yatsubyaashi seemed to find it amusing.
"I see, so this body is a remote body, huh? That would mean you're controlling it from another body and I bet it's somewhere nearby."
"...You can tell!?"
"I'm a doctor, you see."
Tiol raised his guard toward Yatsubayashi who was acting casual. But there was something that he was hoping for from Yatsubayashi, which lowered his wariness toward him.
"So then, Tiol-kun. What brings you here today?"
"...Well, whether I'm here for revenge or not depends on what happens next. I want to make another deal with you. Fix me... And I'm talking about fixing, not experimenting! You hear me!?"
Tiol got a little emotional and raised his voice, and was breathing hard after he said those heartfelt words. Seeing that, Yatsubayashi smiled amusedly.
"Fix, huh? Sure. Though I can't really say for sure if I can fix you or not without checking your condition first, I can at least promise you that I'll do my best. Though it actually depends on how much you can pay me for that. So then, how are you going to pay me? Let me tell you that I'll charge you if it's not for an experiment, you know?"
"...Don't get ahead of yourself, I can easily kill you here and now."
Tiol slowly raised his left arm and pointed it at Yatsubayashi, but Yatsubayashi did not seem to be bothered by that at all.
"Don't you know how I got away from that room?"
"I've seen the record from the camera so many times already, so you don't need to tell me. It was a good piece of information, you know. If you think that it is enough to threaten me, you need to rethink your approach. You're free to test it though, but once you do that, you're no longer my patient and I have no need to be polite to you anymore, just so you know."
The way Yatsubyaashi looked at Tiol changed. Between a patient and a guinea pig, Yatsubyashi started to look at Tiol as the latter. His words there were basically saying that he could easily take care of Tiol even if Tiol rampaged there.
Although Tiol was suspicious that it was a bluff, he still lowered his arm and clicked his tongue.
"...I have no money. So for the payment... My body. You can go ahead and take a look at its construction, nanomachine, and stuff like that. The other thing would be information. I have a lot of information right now, so I can answer your questions."
"That sounds pretty enticing, but I'm not sure if that would be enough. Or more like, I don't know how much I need to fix, so I can't really say for sure how much it would cost. Although you're only using a remote body right now, it looks like you're doing just fine. So what exactly do you want me to fix?"
Tiol paused before replying with a pained voice.
"...I want to return to being a human."
Tiol noticed Yatsubayashi's gaze.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm just enjoying this sensation of being able to explore the ruin without fighting the monsters."
"That's still pretty vague, do you mean you want me to get rid of the nanomachine that has changed your body? Well, I won't be able to say anything unless I give you a quick check first. Bring your real body here, there's nothing I can gather from checking your remote body."
"It's not that simple. I can't bring my real body here, that's why I came here in a remote body. So, if you want to get to my real body, come with me."
"Listen here, you do know that we're in an emergency over here, right? There are gigantic monsters roaming right outside. I have no plans to get out from the temporary base before the situation calms down first."
"Don't worry, I'll tell them not to attack you."
Yatsubayashi raised his eyebrows in surprise as Tiol said so in such a casual manner.
Yatsubyashi gazed at Tiol with suspicious but serious eyes. After a short ponder, he then smiled amusedly and said.
"I see. So basically, you're under a leash from a higher system, huh? And because of that, you can't give me a straight yes. Truly interesting, but in that state, you won't be able to give me the answers that I want to know, right? So you won't be able to pay for the treatment at all."
"If this attack is successful, most of this restriction will be taken off. That's the deal that I have with her."
"Her? Who? Judging from the fact that you're attacking the forward base, is it the ruin's AI manager?"
Tiol, who was gritting in pain and filled with hatred, twitched and aimed his shaking left arm at Yatsubayashi. It seemed that he was on the edge of his sanity.
Yatsubyaashi noticed that Tiol was pushed to the edge and flusteredly tried to calm him down.
"Okay okay! I'll stop here! We can continue the rest once you get rid of the restrictions! Fixing your body should help out too!... So calm down, alright?"
Tiol was breathing heavily as he lowered his arm again.
"...We have a deal then?"
"Yeah, although it's not really how I usually make a deal. It seems that I can expect enough payment from you. We have a deal. I'll properly fix your body, so don't worry."
"...I see, I'll take you to my real body then."
"Alright, get on the passenger seat. It's over there."
[...He's pretty unstable. I wonder if it's because he's at his wit's end or is it because of the repression from the system. Though I want to take my time examining it, well, the job comes first.]
Yastubyashi hopped on the driver seat and excitedly said.
"Yeah... Do you have an information terminal that I can use?"
"Are you okay with the one fixed into the vehicle?"
Yatsubayashi handed a terminal to Tiol, who then thrust that terminal to his head. Since there was no opening on his head, the terminal opened a wound on his head and blood dripped out from that wound.
A 3D holographic map appeared in the vehicle's display. It showed the current location of the clinic as well as the destination and the big monsters around the area.
Yatsubyashi chuckled.
"That's pretty convenient. But I have a wireless one if you would have asked, you know?"
"Non-wireless is easier to hack in."
"So you're hacking on the system level, huh. That's pretty scary. It's my vehicle, so don't break it, okay?"
Tiol sulked a bit. Seeing that, Yatsubayashi just smiled bitterly and started the mobile clinic.
Nelia thought highly of Akira's skill and Akira was wary of Nelia's skill as both of them defeated any big monsters that they encountered.
Nelia's voice suddenly came out from Akira's information terminal.
"We're doing pretty well. We're really in sync, don't you think so? If we're really this compatible, we should really date each other, you know?"
"No thanks. Like hell I would go out with someone who keeps saying she would kill me."
"It'll be fine, we're allies right now, right? I have no plans to kill you for now."
"That's not the problem here."
Nelia was having the time of her life talking with Akira, but in contrast to that, Akira replied back bluntly. Although they did not exchange information about how they would move in the middle of their idle chit-chat, they were able to keep their perfect combo.
"I'm not going to fight those monsters up close! That aside, you only have melee weapons with you, don't you? Even powered suits can use rifles too, you know? Didn't you bring any rifles with you? Is it because you can't or something?"
"Hmm, to be honest, I don't really like guns. They just don't fit me for some reason."
"Just because you don't like them? Is that all the reason why you didn't bring rifles with you?"
"Oh my, things like this are very important, you know? There are many people who mock me for that, but for some reason, all of them died before me. And it all happened because they decide to let go of the weapon that they're most comfortable with."
"I heard that the bigger monsters are taking command of the smaller monster swarm to attack the supply route. It seems that the bigger monsters are acting like commanders to the smaller ones and there's a good chance there's another monster commanding the bigger monsters. Well, it's just a guess from another squad though, so there's no evidence to support it. They just told me to go after the bigger monsters when I spot them."
Akira felt that such important information should be broadcasted to all Hunters, but he bet that it had something to do with the squad that Nelia belonged to. He stopped himself from thinking too much about it and instead focused on the subject of the commanding monsters.
"...A boss monster commanding the other monsters, huh. I wonder if it's an even bigger monster."
"Well, even if there's one, it should be somewhere deep inside the ruin. Either that or it's concealing itself in the swarm heading to the city. So people like us who work near the ruin's outskirt have nothing to do with them."
While Akira was fighting and talking, the rain had considerably weakened. Although it was not completely gone, the sensitivity of the information-gathering devices started to recover.
Between the 3 of them, Alpha had the best detection ability and she actually detected a big monster hiding in the buildings. But she did not tell that to Akira to avoid getting roped into more trouble. So instead, she looked up to the sky and spoke about something else.
"Akira, the rain is letting off."
"You're right... Wait, I shouldn't jinx it again..."
Akira smiled bitterly. But this time the rain actually weakened, slowly turning his bitter smile into a genuine one.
"Oh! It's really letting off."
"...The bigger ones under my command won't attack you, but it's a different story for the other monsters, so you should get yourself ready in case we encounter normal monsters."
"Roger that. Don't worry, this vehicle is well-equipped to handle relatively weak monsters just fine."
"I see. Tell me if you need help, I can get rid of some of them for you."
Yatsubayashi said so while he thought of something else in the back of his head.
[This means that Tiol doesn't hold command over all monsters in the ruin, is it territory based then? Security monsters usually only roam around the area that they're assigned to and normally they won't go outside that area. Sakashita Heavy Industry considered the strength and the distribution of the monsters in the area when they erected Kugamayama city near Kuzusuhara ruin... If this can be changed, it might endanger the city...]
"Nope, nothing. I just thought that you're a very interesting sample for both medical doctors and scientists. Sorry if I bothered you."
Yatsubayashi finally arrived at his destination. It was a small valley between two tall crumbled buildings.
"We're here, is your real body inside that big building?"
"But the destination indicator ends around that building though."
"I just want to confirm this. That is your real body, right? You're not saying that your real body is inside that thing, right?"
"...I see. No wonder why you can't come to my clinic with your real body. Giving you a check-up would take a lot of work."
"We have a deal, I'll have you fix me."
As Yatsubayashi moved his clinic to that valley, Tiol suddenly started acting strange. He started convulsing, his face started twitching, and his eyes were out of focus.
When Yatsubayashi called him, Tiol suddenly slumped down and went limp. The 3D map on the vehicle's display also vanished.
"Is his... Connection cutoff? What exactly just happened..."
Akira and Nelia noticed the sudden signal from a big monster almost simultaneously. When they turned toward the source of the signal, they were welcomed by an APC flying straight at them. A moment later the thing that sent that APC flying towards them, showed itself.
This monster resembled a giant donning a heavy powered suit. It was so huge that it made Nelia's black powered suit seem tiny. Its left arm was assimilated into a big gun that looked like the main cannon of a battleship, a belt connected to its back resembled a huge magazine, while its right hand was holding an object that looked like a handle.
While Akira was still frozen from the shock, Alpha launched the mini-missiles from the missile pods fixed to his bike. The missiles flew around following Alpha's guiding system which adjusted their flight time to strike their target simultaneously.
From the handle on the right hand of the big monster, liquid metal that radiated light extended out against the gravity. It did not take that long for a blade large enough to slice a battleship to form. This monstrosity fixed its stance and swung the blade to sweep away all the missiles.
The missiles spontaneously combusted into an explosion the moment they touched the blade. Since Akira emptied his missiles in one shot there, the explosions were so large that it swallowed the monster too.
Akira desperately fought back the shockwave from the explosions with the help of his augmented suit while watching the display in front of him.
"That slice was executed so that the missiles did not explode at the same time, thus killing most of its combined firepower. Furthermore, it has forcefield armour projected on its whole body. Unfortunately, that attack did not deal any damage to that monster."
"So, it's because of that armour which looks like a heavy powered suit, huh. How did it get a powered suit that big? Is it custom-made?"
"That might be the case."
Akira was only saying that as a bad joke while smiling wryly, but Alpha replied back in a serious tone. So he found it rather weird.
Akira had no idea what it was saying, but he understood well the hatred and the killing intent that was expressed in those incomprehensible words.
"You just shot mini-missiles at it just now."
"Hmm, I don't really have an answer to that. But one thing is for sure, we know that a peaceful solution is not possible. So just forget about trying to end this peacefully and get yourself ready to run away."
Akira looked at the big monster and threw away the possibility of getting out of this situation peacefully. As it aimed its humongous left arm cannon at him, Akira accelerated his bike as hard as he could ignoring the g-force that he would have to bear. At the same time, a large warhead a little smaller than the cannon's muzzle launched out.
The first shot pierced through multiple buildings, turning the already half-destroyed building into rubble, and pieces of debris that were thrown up to the sky rained down.
Akira forced his way forward by punching or kicking the rubbles blocking his way. To make sure that he would not get thrown off the bike from the recoil, he raised the output of his augmented suit to the maximum to fix himself on top of his bike. Since he was pushing his body beyond its limit with the help of his augmented suit, sometimes, his body could not keep up and gave up first.
The medicines helped out with reducing the pain. The intense cycle of injuring and healing his body caused Akira to fear that it might eventually break his body. But he ignored his screaming body and focused more on surviving the fight even for just another second.
Yatsubayashi somehow got himself out from his mobile clinic which was tipped over at this point. He looked at the Tiol's real body through the binocular connected to the clinic's detection device. The monster was running, shaking the earth with each step, while trying to shoot at Akira, moving further and further away from Yatsubayashi.
"...Tiol-kun. If you're not going to let me treat you, you should have told me sooner."
The monster was so strong that it had enough power to change the contour of the ruin. But if it was targeting someone else, Yatsubayashi could take his time observing Tiol from afar.
Yatsubayashi glanced at his mobile clinic. Tiol's remote body was still in the passenger seat and still not moving.
[I bet he can control his remote body if he gets too far away from it, and I bet it can't be that far. That's why he had to come close enough to the forward base to be able to reach my clinic. I'm sure the main body also has some kind of camouflaging ability. So he must have used that camouflaging ability and hid his presence with the rain to get as close as possible to the forward base. He then somehow found out where I was, and came to my clinic to make a deal with me, before finally bringing me all the way here... But it's all for nothing? I really don't understand his logic.]
Yatsubayashi tilted his head. He thought of any possible explanations, but he could not come up with any convincing guesses.
The reason why Tiol cut off his connection to his remote body was simply because he no longer had the leeway to keep that connection. Most of his copies that he had sent to another place were quickly removed one by one. Tiol would have been able to handle that information just fine if he was nothing but a part of the system, but now that he had regained some of his consciousness, it threw his mind into chaos.
Then the reason why he prioritized killing Akira rather than finishing the rest of his deal with Yatsubayashi was simply because his self-defence mechanism kicked in, throwing him into a rampage fueled by hatred to keep himself from getting drowned by the system.
Tiol hated everything that had happened to him which led him into such a pitiful state. Although Yatsubayashi was included in that list, he was somehow able to keep himself from killing Yatsubayashi since he had presented a way for Tiol to fix his body.
But that was not the case for Akira. Tiol's feelings toward Sheryl and the feeling of inferiority toward Akira were mixed together into utter hatred toward him. Furthermore, if Tiol held back any of his hatred, he feared that the system might swallow his consciousness again.
Yatsubayashi was deep in thought for some time after that, but he decided that it would be meaningless to think about it any further.
[...Well, it doesn't really matter. As long as I keep his remote body, he might contact me again later. I don't want to get involved in that fight after all. I guess I'll just head back home for now.]
Yatsubayashi stood next to his mobile clinic, placed both his hands on it, and applied some force to push it. When he did that, the clinic slowly started moving. After he gritted his teeth and pushed the clinic further, he eventually got his armoured APC to land with its wheels on the ground.
Yatsubayashi actually had a body that he had enhanced himself using his knowledge as a doctor. It was also to keep himself safe in case a Hunter who he was dealing with went on a rampage, but more importantly, it was also the result of experimenting on his own body. The reason why he allowed Tiol into his clinic, and was still relaxed even with a rifle aimed at him was simply because Yatsubayashi knew he could handle it just fine.
Yatsubayashi returned to the driver seat and placed Tiol's remote body in the passenger seat. He then said with a cunning 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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