Chapter 101: The Clash Between The Current World and The Old

World

Akira found himself in a white world. Although it was

hazy, he quickly noticed that it was a dream and he knew
that he would forget what happened there once he woke up.

Not too far from him, there was Alpha, and just like last
time, it did not seem that she had noticed him. But there was
something different compared to last time.

Akira noticed that there were multiple Alphas present. To

be more precise there were 2 Alpha, both of them did not
seem to have noticed him.

Then, in that place, there was also another boy. Both

Alphas did not seem to have noticed that boy either. Both
Akira and that boy noticed each other, but since it was hazy,
they could not tell who the other person was. But both of
them thought of the same thing, the other person somehow
looked familiar.

The Alpha near that boy spoke first.

"Just to be safe, we've agreed beforehand that we'll

operate as separate units to encourage different bias and
that we'll temporarily stop communicating with each other.
So I'm sure you have a good reason as to why you broke
our original agreement." (???'s Alpha)

The Alpha closer to Akira replied.

"But of course. To be more precise, the load on your side

interfered with my calculation ability, thanks to that, the
subject under my care almost got killed." (Akira's Alpha)
 "I see, according to the log, that's precisely when the
subject under my care took a very dangerous action. At
that time, the subject under my care was trying to save a
certain cyborg that he just met for the first time, and in
order to do that, I had to use more calculation power. I
believe that is the cause."

"I want to suggest that the resource divided between us

be fixed. So that it would not suddenly change and
something like that would not happen again in the future."

The other Alpha looked a bit surprised at what Akira's

Alpha just said.

"Is that really necessary? It's true that it'll reduce the
chance of interfering with each other, but it'll definitely
reduce our calculation ability. Moreover, the subject under
your care is still alive, right? So basically, although he went
through some dangerous situation, it was still under your
estimation, right? So, why do you still have anything to
complain about?"

After the other Alpha asked that question, Akira's Alpha

just shook her head and said.

"According to my calculation, he should have been dead

there. When my connection to the subject was cut,
something must have happened and he got lucky so that he
was able to survive."

"Unlike the subject under my care, I heard that the

subject under your care is not that skilled. Luck, or
anything that happens out of pure chance, you know well
that those things can't overturn our calculation, right?"

For some reason, Akira's Alpha sounded a bit annoyed as

she said.
 "That evaluation is not correct. The subject under your
care is rather gifted, so it's not like the subject under my
care is incompetent. I've been training him and he's been
putting effort too, he'll eventually get himself strong
enough. You should fix that assumption to correct your
calculation. And also, the subject under your care is a
skilled Hunter, right? In that case, you should just quickly
increase his strength and take him to the commander's
office. Moreover, if he's really that good, then there should
be no problem lowering your support ability for a bit,
right? And you should give the leftover unused resource to
me."

The other Alpha shook her head.

"I can't accept that suggestion. Although he's skilled, he

tends to get himself into difficult situations and it's really
hard to control him. It might be because of his special
characteristic, he is always surrounded by a lot of people
which makes it harder to encourage him to pick
individualistic action. Not to mention, he has a very
merciful nature; if I bring him there now, there's a good
chance that the same thing would happen as the 480th
trial. It's unfair to use the subject under your care who is
already a lone-wolf with a twisted personality as a
standard. I have a lot of things I need to deal with, you see."

Both of them were staring at each other without saying

anything, that silence was created by their favouritism
toward the subject under their respective care.

The other Alpha then said.

"I approve your suggestion about the resource

distribution. Is there anything else you want to talk about
then?"
 "Nothing, by the way, the subject under your care is
garnering a lot of attention though, are you okay with
that?"

"It's something for me to worry about, not you. The

subject under my care is too gifted, although I try to make
it as natural as possible, he just keeps piling achievements
after achievements. And it might also be because of his
nature, even if someone close to him gets killed, the other
people around him would not blame him, thus pushing him
even further from being egocentric. Since more and more
people are laying their eyes on him, I'm still in the middle of
calculating whether to reduce the number of those people or
do something to erase their effects on my subject."

"Is that so? Well, good luck, until next time."

"I'll contact you again if something comes up."

They then finished their discussion there.

Akira's consciousness started to blur, the world around

him suddenly turned pitch black and he woke up from that
dream.

***

After Akira woke up, Alpha quickly greeted him.

"Akira, good morning!"

Akira did not reply to Alpha, he just stared back at her.

Alpha found that weird.

"What's wrong?"
 Akira did not remember anything from his dream. But he
felt that something was bothering him for some reason.

"Nah, it's nothing. I feel like I just had a strange dream.

Inside that dream, I feel like you were there... Or maybe
not...?"

Akira tilted his head when he said that, to which, Alpha

teasingly smiled and said.

"Oh my, you think of me so much that you dream of me,

huh? I'm happy to hear that. I don't know what kind of
dress I was wearing in your dream, but if you like it that
much that you dreamt of it, you can just tell me and I'll be
happy to change into that dress, you know?"

Akira decided to drop that subject there before it turned

into something more complicated.

"Nah, it must be just my imagination. That's it then, this

subject ends here."

"That's just too bad, you don't need to try to run away,
you know? It's normal for your desire to surface within a
dream..."

"We're heading to the wasteland starting from today. So

stop with the stupid talk and let's get ourselves ready to head
out."

Akira forcefully changed the subject as he hopped off from

his bed. He had completely forgotten about the feeling that
something was bothering him.

Akira drove his new vehicle to the wasteland. It was a

vehicle designed for traversing the wasteland. It was the
bonus that Akira got from Shikarabe on top of the prize
money for helping him hunt the bounty monster.

After he received that vehicle from Shikarabe, Akira went

to the repair garage that Shizuka recommended to give a full
check and readjustment for that vehicle. And with a special
control device installed on it, just like last time, Alpha could
access the vehicle and control it.

When Akira asked Shizuka for a repair garage that she

would recommend, she was a bit surprised. She thought that
Akira must have done something that damaged his newly
bought vehicle to the point that he had to take it to a repair
garage. She worried about Akira and decided to ask about
the vehicle's condition from the repair garage where Akira
fixed his vehicle. She was much relieved when she heard
from the repair garage that it was nothing but light damage
and there was nothing to worry about with a little bit of TLC
and readjustment. She did not realize that Akira's previous
vehicle was badly damaged and that he had already changed
to a new vehicle.

Akira had recovered from his fatigue after fighting the

bounty monster, he also had replenished his ammo, and
with no bounty monster roaming the wasteland any longer,
he returned back to searching for undiscovered ruin.

"Alpha, how far is the next place?"

"Still about an hour from here."

Akira was watching the navigator in his vehicle's control

device and mumbled.

"It's still that far, huh. As I thought, we might have taken

too much detour."
 Akira's destination was another place recorded in the Lion
Steel corporation's information terminal. Learning from the
last time, he took a detour this time before heading to his
destination. But because of that, he took more time to reach
the location.

"You're right about that. We should have taken a detour

only after knowing for sure that the place we're heading to
has an unexplored ruin, or at least, after finding good
evidence pointing the existence of an unexplored ruin there.
After all, it would only be a waste of energy if the indicator
that we're chasing is pointing at an empty space."

"That's true, let's do that next time. And I'm sure no one is
tailing us after we took that much detour."

"I've also expanded my searching range compared to last

time, so there's nothing to worry. I've also rewritten the
software of the control device, so I'm sure that there's no
pre-installed tracking program in it."

"You didn't have to go that far, but well, it's good to be

careful."

Akira changed the direction of his vehicle to head straight

to his destination. So now he should be able to cut the time
by quite a lot. After that, he remembered something that was
bothering him.

"By the way, Alpha, why does that dress have so many
gaps and holes?"

Just like usual, Alpha was wearing a very revealing but

charming and sexy dress. She was wearing a bodysuit that
was divided into pieces, each piece was connected to the
other pieces by a small connector or a small piece of cloth.
Moreover, there were also holes with unknown use on that
bodysuit. Her skin was exposed in between those openings,
her undies were even peeking through one of those gaps.

"This? This is a bodysuit designed so that you can freely

replace its part to conform to your body shape. It's made
especially for those with a cyborg body that can freely
exchange their body parts."

"Then what about that hole on your back?"

"This is to connect to external equipment. There are many

extension parts such as external parts for a humanoid
weapon, or propulsion device that can propel you to the sky,
or maybe big portable cannons, or other types of heavy
weapons."

Akira imagined all kinds of things from Alpha's

explanation. At first, he only imagined a humanoid weapon,
but eventually, his imagination resulted in something that
was an amalgamation of humans with different types of
weapons, he then decided to stop there.

"That bodysuit and the talk just now, they're about the
old-world stuff, right? As I thought, the old-world is just
really weird. It's not something that you can easily try to
imagine."

Alpha smiled at Akira and said.

"You should be able to imagine it from the old-world stuff

that you can find around you, you know? You should be
able to find something similar if you look in the old-world
ruins."

Inside Akira's mind, he imagined Alpha with a huge

weapon on her back, so huge that it did not fit her size at all.
He imagined a lot of different things connected to those
holes to justify the existence of those holes.

Akira both felt surprised and exasperated at the same

time.

"...I see, so those kinds of things were normal in the old-

world, huh?"

"I think you can find them even in the current era too.
Someone might find those kinds of stuff in the old-world
ruin and use them. Then some companies would see that
and try to produce an imitation of those devices, so it might
be normal for those Hunters in the frontline of the eastern
district to be using those kinds of devices, you know?"

There were a lot of things from the old-world that existed

in the current era, many of which were things they could
never imagine. So it would not be strange to find things that
someone could actually imagine because the technology of
the old-world would have allowed them to create those
things.

"...I guess there are still a lot of things out there that I
don't know, huh?"

Although Akira mumbled those words, he also said to

himself there must be a limit on how weird it could be.

Not too long after that, Akira reached his destination. At

the first glance, it was only a huge grassland; the indicator,
which was based on the information extracted from the Lion
Steel corp, was pointing under that grassland.

Akira looked at that indicator with the help of his

enhanced vision and mumbled.
 "Another underground facility, huh? Compared to
Yonozuka station ruin, this one is even deeper. Alright then,
let's return back here some other time."

Akira quickly gave up on searching the underground ruin.

After all, if he found another unexplored ruin like Yonozuka
station ruin, it might cause him another round of trouble. So
he refused to make the same mistake for the second time.

Alpha, who understood what Akira was thinking, just

smiled at him and said.

"I'm okay with that. Until you have the ability to get out
of the underground ruin with your own power and no
support from me, it might be a good idea to refrain from
exploring underground ruins. We still have other places to
check out too, so there's no need to take an unnecessary
risk."

"In that case, it'll mean I won't be going to explore any

underground ruins for the time being."

"About that, there's nothing we can do but to look

forward to your growth. Now then, for the next place
though, the nearest place from here is actually pointing at a
ruin that is already explored. Do you want to check it out?
Or do you want to go to the next place instead?"

Akira took some time thinking before he made a decision.

"Let's go there. This is a good chance since I want to take a

look at the other ruins too. After all, in terms of already
discovered ruins, I've never gone to the other ruins except
Kusuzuhara city ruin and Higaraka residence ruin. So then,
what is the next ruin?"

"It's Mihazono city ruin."

 Akira quickly prepared himself to go to Mihazono city
ruin, but he did not go straight from there to Mihazono ruin.
Instead, he headed back to Kugamayama city first. This was
until he could get some connection to the city. It was in
order for him to take regular monster-hunting requests from
the Hunter Office. After all, he could not access the Hunter
Office website unless he got some connection signal from the
Kugamayama city.

After he entered the Kugamayama city's connection range,

Akira took out his information terminal and finished his
registration for the regular monster-hunting request. Up
until now, he had been leaving that part to Alpha, but the
current Akira started to be able to do it by himself.

While he was doing that, a question popped up inside his

mind and he asked Alpha about it.

"Say, Alpha. Why does the Hunter Office have this regular
monster-hunting request?"

"Why, you ask? It's because the Hunter Office keep

issuing it, of course."

"Aahh, that's not what I meant. I do understand why they

are issuing that request for patrolling around the city. For
that request, basically, the people in the inner wall are
paying money to protect the city and make sure that the city
is safe. And when they place requirements to bring back the
monster's corpse, no matter whether it's from a biological
monster or a mechanical monster, they can extract materials
from those corpses and exchange it for money. I do
understand that part. But then, for Hunters who kill
monsters in a faraway place that has nothing to do with the
city safety and those Hunters also don't have to bring the
corpses of the monsters that they defeat back to the city, who
would pay for their reward? Well, this didn't bother me the
last time I took the regular monster-hunting request, but
now that I think about it, I just wonder about its
profitability, you see."

When Akira curiously asked that question, Alpha was

actually a bit surprised by that, but she then laughed
amusedly.

"...What?"

"It's nothing, I just realised that you've started thinking

about something like that, it shows the result of my
education. So I'm really happy to find out how much you
have improved."

Seeing how Alpha was laughing, Akira felt both

embarrassed and a bit annoyed at the same time.

"Well, thanks for that."

"Don't pout, I'm actually praising you, you know? And

it's not like I know the exact insider information about the
Corporate Government, so whatever I say would be
basically just a guess from me. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I'm okay with that."

"Very well. If I have to put it simply, the Corporate

Government is paying for that reward for the sake of the
whole Eastern district."

Starting with those words, Alpha began her explanation of

her guess to Akira.

The regular monster-hunting request did not designate a

particular monster or number as its target. The place, time,
type, or the number of the monsters were not particularly
determined in that request. And even if the Hunters
returned back without encountering any monsters, they
would still get paid the minimal sum as a reward.

There were all kinds of monsters roaming in the Eastern

district. The Hunters who took that regular monster-hunting
request from the Hunter Office could get rewarded only by
handing over information about where and when they
encountered those monsters. The Hunter Office would then
analyze all the information that it gathered from the Hunters
into something that could bring profits.

The result from analyzing that information could be used

for so many things like constructing threat level maps
depending on the monsters roaming in certain areas,
mapping out the safe trading route between cities, or maybe
adjusting the Eastern district reclamation plan. All of them
were very important agenda.

While on the other hand, it also worked to cull the

monsters that seemed to be multiplying endlessly no matter
how many the Hunters killed. For every single monster
killed out there, the safety of the wasteland would improve
and people would be able to carry stuff across the wasteland
safer.

Akira listened to Alpha with full interest.

"Those people in the Hunter Office do think about a lot of

things, huh?"

"There are also many other ways to use that

information. As an example, they can use it to look for new
unexplored ruins, like the Yonozuka station ruin that you
discovered the other day. A lot of monsters are flowing out
through it, so the monster encounter rate around the
entrance to that ruin must be pretty high. If the City
Management decides to check that place, they should be
able to find the entrance into the ruin."

"And if the City Management discovers a new

undiscovered ruin first, they'll be able to gain a lot of profit
from it. Then they can sell the relics found there in the
nearby cities and use that money to pay the Hunters, that
way the city would prosper, I see now..."

Compared to when he was living in the slum city, the

current Akira started to notice things that were going on in
the background. He was honestly amazed by it as he nodded
deeply. It was also the result of Alpha's education that he
started to grow not only as a better fighter.

Alpha smiled as she noticed how far Akira had grown.

While at the same time, she always calculated whether that
growth would give her trouble or not. She tried to suppress
the possibility of Akira turning hostile in the future as much
as possible.

As Akira was heading to Mihazono city ruin, a signal

suddenly popped out in the detection range. When he
checked that signal, it was not a monster but another
vehicle. It was a big sized wasteland bus. That bus was
equipped with a lot of machine guns on top of it and it
seemed that it was filled with Hunters, there was Hunter
Office symbol on the sides of that bus.

"They're heading the same way with us, huh?"

"It seems that it's a transportation bus from the Hunter

Office. I think it runs between the Kugamayama city and
Mihazono ruin."

"Those people in it, are they Hunters? There are quite a

lot of them."
 "It shows that there are still some unclaimed relics in
Mihazono ruin which attracts that many Hunters. Let's
bring back any good relics if we get to find any."

Akira kept staring at the Hunters inside that bus, it

seemed that he was thinking about something.

"Akira, what's wrong?"

"Say, Alpha, there are many Hunters exploring the old-

world ruin to collect relics, right? And they've been doing
this for years... Maybe even for a few hundred years, huh?"

"The precise number is uncertain and it's different for

each area, but the most recent record shows that it has been
going on for at least 200 years."

"Although Hunters have been carrying out old-world

relics for that long, why are there still old-world relics left
unclaimed out there? Aren't there just too many of them no
matter how you think about it?"

Including Akira, there were a lot of Hunters in the

Kugamayama city. Although compared to the total
population in the Eastern district, maybe only a small
portion of them were Hunters, but there were enough of
those Hunters out there to the point that the whole economy
in the Eastern district was constructed around them. And
those Hunters regularly carried a lot of old-world relics out
from the old-world ruins back to the city. So Akira just
thought that it was weird how there were still old-world
relics left in the old-world ruins.

But Alpha just casually replied.

"They do get exhausted. If you look at the current

Higaraka Residence Ruin, Hunters have already taken all
of the expensive relics from that ruin and so that ruin is left
with nothing but cheap relics right now. And this is true
everywhere you go. Even for the western area of the
Eastern district, which borders the territory owned by the
Allied Nations, I heard that there are even hardly any
cheap relics left in that region. That's why the Corporate
Government keeps pushing further and further to the east
seeking new ruins and new relics even though the monsters
are getting stronger and stronger the further they go east.
But of course, as the risk increases, the number and the
quality of the relics are also getting better and better, that's
why it seems that it worth the risk."

"I-I see."

Akira's expression turned slightly stiff. If the relics in the

Eastern district was exhausted, it would definitely change
Hunter's line of work, he vaguely felt worried about that.

Looking at that, Alpha just smiled at him and said.

"Don't worry, although it's just my guess, I believe that

the old-world relics around this area will not get depleted
anytime soon, at least, they won't be depleted in your
lifetime. Of course, they'll eventually get depleted if the
Hunters keep carrying them out from the ruins, but there's
a reason why it won't get depleted anytime soon."

"And why is that?"

"I don't think there's any need to explain it, but carrying
out relics while fighting the monsters roaming in the
wasteland is not an easy thing to do. Because of that, it's
close to impossible to carry a huge amount of relics out
from the ruin in one go."
 "Well, that's true. And that's exactly why we have people
working as Hunters, right?"

"Moreover, among all the old-world ruins, some of them

have self-repairing function. It'll fix damaged buildings and
maintain everything inside those buildings, this also
includes replenishing equipment and any other objects that
the Hunters take out from those ruins. There were even
times when it constructed a new ruin in the middle of the
wasteland, you know. It seems that the large-scale
maintenance equipment of the old-world era is still
functioning well."

"Oohh!! That's amazing!! But if there are ruins that can

replenish the relics inside it, won't the Hunters and the
soldiers from the Corporate Government flood those ruins?"

"Most of the time, the self-repair function of those ruins

also fix the security facilities and the factories in those
ruins. Those factories would then endlessly produce
security equipment to chase away any intruders. Some
people also say that it's the real reason why the number of
monsters in the wasteland won't get reduced no matter
how many monsters the Hunters kill, after all, the
mechanical monsters are basically the security equipment
produced by those factories. So of course, they would
normally attack people too. Seeing from the other
perspective, they are basically security measures to prevent
people from intruding and stealing things from the area
that they are guarding, so that means that they are
functioning as intended."

"Well, if you put it that way, that's kinda true. From their
point of view, Hunters are basically robbers."

Akira mumbled those words as if he just realized

something profound. He did feel a bit of an unpleasant
feeling, but he then continued in order to expel that
unpleasant feeling.

"But it's not like I can stop working as a Hunter, I guess it

can't be helped, huh. The people who owned those facilities
are already long gone. So as long as they don't come back to
haunt me, they won't be able to complain. So it should be
okay, right?

"...Yep."

Although Alpha was smiling, there was a trace of

confliction in her smile that caused her smile to turn a bit
stiff. She inadvertently showed that expression to Akira who
was already trying to move on from that subject. But she
quickly returned her face to her usual expression before he
could notice it.

Just like Kuzusuhara ruin, Mihazono ruin was a ruin of a

city. To be more precise, the whole ruin and the area
surrounding it were referred to as Mihazono ruin.

Although it was a pretty big ruin, it was not as big as

Kusuzuhara ruin, and the monsters inside it were not as
strong as the monsters inside the inner part of Kusuzuhara
ruin. With enough equipment and skill, it was a rather safe
ruin for Hunters to explore.

When Akira arrived there, he was surprised to find

something which he did not expect at all.

"A parking lot... Wait for a sec, is it still operational?"

The parking lot was a simple lot with a roof. Its walls were
decorated with the Hunter Office symbol. It seemed that the
Hunter Office owned that parking lot.
 Akira stopped his vehicle as he was looking at that
parking lot, a guard noticed him and shouted at him.

"——Hey, don't park there. You're blocking the way!!"

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Akira obediently apologized and turned his vehicle back

on, the guard who saw that then asked Akira.

"Is this your first time coming here?"

"Yes, this is my first time here."

"I see. If you're going to park your vehicle around this

place, use the parking lot. A lot of Hunter Office vehicles are
using this road, so it would disrupt the flow if you park your
vehicle around this area. If you don't want to pay for the
parking lot, then you should park your vehicle somewhere
further away from this area. At least as far as that building
over there."

That guy then pointed at a building not too far from their
location. Akira tilted his head and asked that guy.

"...Is that really far enough? If it's only that far, people
won't pay for the pa- Ah, but I see there are quite a lot of
vehicles parking there, huh?"

The parking lot was already filled with vehicles. Only

about 40% of the parking lot was used, so there was still
quite a lot of open space there. But compared to its size, that
parking lot was already pretty filled.

That guy then answered Akira's question.

 "It has a roof and it's not that expensive. You can find
Hunters and staff in the Hunter Office nearby and some
merchants are also using that place. Moreover, there are a
lot of people around here, we're technically still in the
wasteland, you see. I know it's rather concerning to say this
myself, but there are people who are up for no good out
here. But even so, I'm sure they know better not to try to
steal the vehicles parked in the parking lot owned by the
Hunter Office. Furthermore, there are guards and security
cameras in the parking lot. Well, there are times when some
stupid people tried to mess with the vehicles in the parking
lot, but all of them ended up pretty tragically. So that's
basically why a lot of people decide to use the parking lot. If
you want to use the parking lot too, the counter is over
there."

That guy then pointed his finger toward a reception

counter near the parking lot and went back to his station.

Akira thought for a bit and turned to Alpha.

"Let's try using it once, I guess."

"Yep, let's do that. The Hunter Office made that parking

lot for the Hunters who come to this ruin, so let's use it."

Akira headed to the reception counter, he then finished

the administration work and parked his vehicle inside the
parking lot. For the Hunters with a bank account, the
parking fee was automatically debited from the bank
account. It might be a means to avoid the Hunters
postponing their parking fee payment.

The person at the counter warned Akira that even if he

forgets to inform the Hunter Office before leaving the
parking lot, the parking fare would still be automatically
deducted from his bank account.
 Akira unloaded his stuff from his vehicle, he also took his
CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun with him. After
he finished his preparation to head out, he then went to the
area near the Hunter Office just outside the parking lot.

There was an Exchange Centre in that area. Akira saw

some Hunters exchanging their relics. Inside that Exchange
Centre, he also saw some Hunters loading leftover wreckage
of mechanical monsters onto a cart. It would be too much of
a hassle bringing them all the way back to the Kugamayama
city, but it would not be that much trouble to bring them to
that Exchange Centre.

Even the mechanical monsters were also considered as

the old-world relics. They were filled with old-world
technologies that could not be reproduced by the current
world's technology. If the Hunter brought its leftover
wreckage back, it might be worth more than bringing back
cheap relics.

Around that place, there were also merchants with selling

stands and rentable carts. Hunters would usually use those
carts to transport dead mechanical monsters. They might be
the merchants who came all the way to this place using the
Hunter Office's bus to open their shops there.

A Hunter Office's bus arrived and stopped near the

Hunter Office, Akira then saw Hunters boarding off from
that bus. Including Akira, all Hunters in that place were
focused on a group of 3 Hunters.

The reason as to why that group was gathering so much

attention was because of their appearances. One of them was
a young girl that looked more or less of the same age as
Akira. She was wearing an augmented suit while carrying a
big rucksack and multiple rifles. It was not a rare sight in the
old-world ruin. Her silky and well-maintained hair was also
something normal to be found for women Hunters who were
doing well in her job. Although her beauty was above
average, it was not enough of a reason to grab other Hunters'
attention.

The ones standing out were the other two girls. One of
them was carrying a huge long sword aside from her rifle.
While the other one was carrying a small pistol-like gun and
a big power glove as if it was originally a part of a powered
suit. There were not that many Hunters out there who
prefered to fight monsters close range. That was why it was
rare to find those types of weapons. Moreover, those two
girls were beautiful and had some kind of unique charm of
their own. It was to be expected for those weapons to attract
some attention, but it was still not enough of a reason for
them to attract that much attention there.

The real reason why those two attracted so much

attention was because both of them were wearing maid
outfits. And to top it off, from a glance, it seemed that those
maid outfits were made of high-class fabric that gave off a
luxurious vibe.

Those girls were really sticking out in that place. If it was

back in the Kugamayama lower district, they would only
gather some attention and that would be the end of it. But
they were outside the city, they were in the wasteland. The
Hunters in that place saw them with suspicion rather than
pure curiosity since they seemed to be out of place.

That group of 3 were Reina and her battle maids.

 Chapter 102: Two Maids and Their Master

Reina and her maids knew that they were attracting

people’s attention. The differences in their expressions
showed how they felt about it. Shiori prioritized her master
and her duty over other people’s gazes, Kanae was smiling as
she did not even give a care at all, while Reina looked
slightly annoyed.

Reina looked at the other Hunters' reactions to Shiori and

Kanae and sighed.

"...As I thought, we're attracting a lot of attention."

The other day when they were walking through

Kugamayama city lower district, they were also garnering
attention. Though Kanae was the only person in a maid
outfit at that time. So it was totally understandable that they
were gathering a lot more attention with both Shiori and
Kanae in maid outfits in the middle of an old-world ruin.

Shiori tried to cheer Reina up.

"We will attract less attention once we go into the ruin, so

just bear with it for now."

Shiori understood that they were attracting a lot of

attention because of their maid outfits and she understood
that she was putting Reina in more unnecessary stress. But
there was a reason why she kept her maid uniform on, after
all, it was not like she could just take off her outfit just
because it was attracting some attention.

Kanae smiled and said to Reina.

 "We just need to get used to this. After all, once Milady
becomes a famous Hunter, Milady will attract a lot of
attention no matter what outfit Milady uses. So, like, this is a
good chance to get used to it, right? Of course, that is if
Milady doesn't plan to be just one of those ordinary
Hunters."

Shiori glared at Kanae, so Kanae averted her gaze.

"Hm?"

—When Kanae averted her gaze somewhere else, she

caught a familiar face.

Most of the Hunters in that place looked at Reina and her

maids with suspicion. Akira, who noticed that, understood
that his common sense was correct the previous time and
spoke to Alpha in a good mood.

『Alpha, I knew I was right. It seems that walking around

in maid outfits in the middle of the wasteland is not normal
even for the Hunters, you know.』

"That seems to be the case indeed. Well, common sense is

indeed important, but it's also important not to be held
back by common sense. Sometimes you need to doubt
common sense and be more open to different things. After
all, you can expect weird things from the old-world
culture."

『I know... Wait, what were we talking about, again?』

Akira felt like Alpha just diverted the subject as he tilted

his head. But she just ignored that and continued.

"It's not like we have any business with them, so let's just
head to the ruin."
 『You're right about that.』

Akira did feel for sure that Alpha was changing the
subject, but he just decided to forget that and head to the
ruin.

—At that time when Akira was about to turn and was still
looking in Reina's direction, Kanae's gaze met with his gaze.

Kanae smiled, she looked really excited as she suddenly

called Akira with a loud voice.

"Yo there!! We meet again!!"

Reina and Shiori quickly noticed Akira too. Akira, who

was about to leave that place, stopped. Kanae then
approached him, half-running.

"Are you here to hunt for relics too? What a coincidence!!

Ah, I'm Kanae by the way!"

Akira was a bit surprised since Kanae came at him with

such a high spirit.

"...I'm Akira."

"I see!! Akira-shounen!! Nice to meet you!!"

Akira was actually a bit overwhelmed by that overly

excited reaction from Kanae.

Reina and Shiori also came to Akira. Since Kanae noticed

him, it was not like they could just ignore it and go
somewhere else.
 Shiori carefully spoke to Akira.

"...Akira-sama, it has been quite a while."

Reina also followed up by nervously giving her greeting to

him.

"...Oh, long time no see."

Akira was a bit flustered as he awkwardly replied.

"Y-yeah, it has been quite a while since the last time."

With what happened in the past, Akira, Reina and Shiori,

all 3 of them were not sure on how to interact with each
other.

But then Kanae said to him with her still high-spirited

attitude as if she could not read the mood at all.

"It's actually our first time coming here! Do you usually

come here?"

"No, this is also my first time."

"I see!! What a coincidence!!"

Kanae replied back in such a high-spirit, she was sticking

out so much as if she was in the wrong place.

Although at first, Akira was not really sure how to interact

with Reina's group including Kanae, after seeing how Kanae
was behaving, he stopped worrying about it.

Akira lightly sighed. He then turned and spoke to Shiori,

who might be the most worried person in that place.
 "Back then, I was not expecting that you would believe
what I said and help me out. So I'm already thankful enough
that both of you decided to stay neutral. So well, yeah, you
have my gratitude."

"Thank you for your understanding."

Shiori bowed deeply to Akira. For now, she was able to

confirm that he had no grudge against Reina or her.

Although Shiori originally regretted the fact that she was

caught completely off guard when Kanae suddenly called
Akira, and that she could not stop Kanae back then, she
started to think that it might be a good thing that Kanae did
that.

Shiori took another close look at Akira. He was carrying

better equipment compared to the ones that he was carrying
in Kuzusuhara underground city.

She unconsciously assessed his fighting power. If she and

Kanae fought Akira in a 2 vs 1 fight, there was no mistaking
that they would be able to kill him. Although either she or
Kanae would also get killed in that fight. But if Reina also
joined in, it would be extremely difficult to win against Akira
since she had to protect Reina. And honestly speaking,
Shiori did not think he would let that weak point slip off
when it came to that.

Thus Shiori concluded that it was not wise to be hostile

against Akira.

Akira then casually asked a question.

"So then, what business do you have with me? If it's just
saying hello to an acquaintance, then I'll head to the ruin
now."
 "I understand, please be careful out there."

Shiori was about to end their conversation there and let

Akira go, but Kanae suddenly interjected.

"This must be some kind of fate to meet here!! So why

don't we go together?"

Reina and Shiori looked at Kanae in panic. Shiori was

about to scold Kanae, but before she could do that, Akira
quickly replied back.

"No, thank you."

Reina looked a bit down since Akira replied almost

instantly without any hesitation. She turned into the self-
deprecating mode as she wondered if it was because she
would only slow Akira down and it was something that could
not be overturned even with the help from Shiori and Kanae.

Kanae giggled mischievously and said to Akira.

"Geez, you're so cold. To think that you would refuse such

an offer from a group of beautiful girls, don't tell me that
you're already sick of girls in your age."

Akira seemed obviously exasperated.

"I just don't want to stick out by walking together with

people in those outfits. Moreover, it's a hassle to fight over
where to go and how to divide the money. Honestly, why are
you even wearing that maid outfit here in the first place?
You do know that you'll attract people's attention, right? Or
is it that you have that kind of hobby?"

"It's my master's hobby, you see!!"

 Kanae said that without any hesitation. Thanks to that,
she sounded very convincing.

Akira glanced at Reina and looked obviously weirded out.

"...I-I see."

Reina, who was down, quickly refuted in panic when she

realized that Akira was misunderstanding the subject.

"...That's not true!! It's not my hobby!!"

"Ah, right, of course."

It was obvious that Akira did not believe her.

Shiori smiled bitterly and explained to Akira to correct his

misunderstanding.

"To be more precise, it's the hobby of our master, Milady's

father. We're officially working for him. These maid outfits
are practically the best armours that we have. Actually, when
we requested equipment, the upper echelons sent us this
maid outfits and rifles. We understood that we gathered a lot
of attention with these outfits. But considering its quality as
an armour and how it'll help us protect Milady, I think it's
better to keep using this outfit although it attracts people's
attention."

"By the way, we're also using augmented suit under it."

Kanae then lifted her skirt with her left hand and pointed
at the black tight-looking augmented suit under her skirt
with her right hand. There was a good chance that Shiori
and Reina were also using similar augmented suits. As Akira
thought so, he did not question it at all.
 "So as we explained, this is not out of Milady's hobby. I
hope you can understand that."

Shiori tried to confirm that Akira understood that point as

she slapped Kanae's hand that the latter was using to lift her
skirt.

Akira's expression suddenly changed as if he realized

something.

"Ahh, I see. So that maid outfit must be an old-world relic,

huh. I heard that old-world fabrics are so strong that they
are often used in place of armour. And then you complement
it by using an augmented suit under it, right?"

Akira used all of his knowledge to come up with a

plausible explanation. After all, normally, it was unthinkable
that a maid outfit could withstand a fight against monsters.
But if it was an old-world relic, then it would be completely
possible. That was what Akira thought.

But then Shiori rectified his answer.

"No, this is not an old-world relic. I heard that it's

specially ordered from a corporation that normally works on
Hunter armour."

There was a short silence before Akira asked another

question.

"Do tell me if I'm mistaken... Honestly speaking, why

would you need a maid outfit that can withstand fighting
monsters? Maids are those people, right? They usually work
to take care of a house, right? So why would you even need
such a strong maid outfit? When you said it's out of a hobby,
does it mean that it's that kind of hobby, like, putting maid
outfits on Hunters?"
 "No, I heard that every maid working in the main house is
using the same type of maid outfit. This outfit might be a
leftover from the main house."

Akira frowned, he tried to make sense of all the

information that he just received.

"...You're talking about the guards, right? They're just

people trained in combat wearing maid outfits, right?"

"No, it's true that some of them are guards, but the maids
who mainly work on taking care of the house also get the
same set of equipment. Moreover, all the maids in the main
house are required to be able to fight, they even have to go
through a specialized lesson for that."

Shiori was a serious person in the first place, thus she

answered Akira's question sincerely without trying to lie nor
to trick him. But that only caused him to question it even
more.

Akira was confused as to why maids needed to be trained

in fighting. They were in the inner wall of the city, so in his
mind, that place should be a relatively safe place protected
behind the wall.

Akira did not know if he was mistaken there, the inner

wall might be not as safe as he thought to the point that the
maids there had to learn how to fight, or it was just that his
assumption about maids was completely wrong.

After hearing something that was the opposite of what he

thought as normal, Akira mumbled.

"Is it my fault? Is it because my common sense is just

wrong...?"
 Kanae laughed and then said to him.

"It's pointless to worry over such a thing. This world is a

big place, that's all there is to it."

Akira looked at Kanae, she nodded deeply as if she tried to

convince him.

Akira quickly decided to just forget about it and gave up

thinking any further about that subject. Even if it was
because his common sense was wrong, it was not like it
affected him at all. He was going to explore the dangerous
ruin from now on, it was not the time to worry himself about
useless things.

Akira sighed, he decided to move on as he said to Reina.

"Well, that aside, I have no plans to work together with

you. Putting aside your outfits and the problem about how
we are going to divide the money if we work together, I don't
feel like joining a group consisting of 2 bodyguards for that
one person in that group. I don't really mind if you ask me to
come with you as your bodyguard, but since I didn't receive
such a request, I have no plans to join you. So yeah, later
then."

After he said that, Akira just waved and left that place.

Reina, Shiori and Kanae just stood there and watched

Akira leave. Once he was out of their views, Shiori
immediately scolded Kanae since she was interrupted back
then when she was about to send Akira off.

"Kanae, why did you do that?"

Kanae played fool as she said.

 "What do you mean by that?"

"Why did you call him? What would you do if something

bad happened?"

"Well, nothing happened and it's good to hear that he's

not angry at us. So like, there's no need for you to be angry,
right?"

"I'm asking you why you did that. You remember what
happened back then, right? So why did you do something so
dangerous?"

Shiori had a very serious expression, an intimidating air

was even exuding out from her. It was as if she was saying
that she was willing to dispose of Kanae if Kanae kept
exposing Reina to unnecessary dangers.

Kanae did not show any fear at all as she smiled and said.

"That's exactly the reason, we eventually have to confirm

whether he's angry at us or not. Assuming that he's still
angry enough that he would kill us the moment he sees us, it
was the perfect chance to ask him since there are a lot of
Hunters in this place and we're right next to the Hunter
Office. And even if he did try to attack us, we would have the
upper hand in this place."

"...If that's really the case, fine then."

Shiori decided not to pursue that subject any further. It

was because she knew it was a very good excuse as well as
that it was only an excuse since she understood that Kanae
loved fighting and she did that fully expecting that Akira
would cause a fight there.
 But with that being said, it was not like Shiori could just
kick Kanae off the group. As long as she could not protect
Reina on her own, Shiori could not afford to lose any
fighting power.

It was unclear whether Kanae knew what Shiori thought

or not, but she then casually said.

"Sure. Well then, Milady, let's head to the ruin, shall we?
Or do you want to take a break for a bit? It seems that there's
a cafeteria inside the Hunter Office."

Since Kanae sent that question to Reina, Reina finally

spoke up.

"...I'm not tired, let's go."

"Roger that."

"Understood."

Then they also went to the ruin a few minutes after Akira.

***

Akira was exploring the Mihazono ruin's city area. He was

able to see his destination since it was indicated by a pointer
in his enhanced vision. To be more precise, it was pointing
at a floor in a high storey building visible from afar. It was
pointing at the locations where Akira should be able to find
the Lion Steel corp's terminal.

"Why is it in such a place?"

"I have no real answer why. It might be because the

views from up there are pretty good?"
 "Well, I bet the views from up there are indeed amazing.
But unless the stairs in that building are still intact, there's
no way I can go to that floor. Just so you know, I refuse
climbing up the outer wall, okay?"

The pointer was pointing at a floor that was indeed so

high, in case if Akira fell from that height, there was no
mistaking it that he would be dead.

"Judging from the outer appearance of the building, it

seems that the facilities inside it are still working, it would
be great if we can find an elevator inside it."

"Even if we find one, do you think that it will still be

functional? If we're unlucky, it might be an elevator from
hundreds of years ago, you know."

"The possibility is not zero. The lighting inside the

Yonozuka station ruin was still working too, remember?
Although it depends on which era it was built, if it still has a
fully operational self-repairing function, then there should
be no problem with that."

"Is there any other possible problem then?"

"Even if it's still functional, there's no guarantee that we

can use it. There's also the building's security to deal with
and in the first place..."

Alpha then pointed her finger forward.

"We're not welcome in this ruin. So I wonder if we would

be able to use the facilities inside that building."

Akira noticed mechanical monsters coming from the front

of him. Or to be more precise, the monsters noticed Akira as
its legs and hands extended out from their square bodies
and they started moving toward his direction.

Akira lightly smiled and aimed his CWH anti-material

rifle.

"You're right about that one."

He then pulled the trigger, the piercing ammo easily

pierced through the monster's torso and destroyed the
machines inside it.

The security guards that were patrolling the city area of

Mihazono ruin would attack any intruders that they could
find even now. It might be out of mercy and ethical design
concept that those monsters would not grow rifles on their
bodies and start shooting at the people.

Akira was solely relying on his skill as he explored the city

area of Mihazono ruin. He was also using his augmented suit
with his own skill only. The current him was not receiving
any support from Alpha.

Moving his body and his augmented suit in-sync would

allow him to lower the burden on his body even in the case
when he solely used the power of his augmented suit to
forcefully move his body and give him a superhuman
strength for a split second. Akira was moving carefully to
train his body while not lowering his vigilance. It was a
training so that he would still be able to move around even
when he lost support from Alpha.

The city area of the ruin was littered with wreckage and
crumbled buildings, it reduced the width of the road and
transformed the city into a labyrinth. But Akira sometimes
could see new buildings right beside the crumbled buildings
or strangely clean area beside piled wreckage, it was
completely different compared to the outskirts of the
Kuzusuhara ruin.

Akira saw such scenes and he indeed found it weird.

"Alpha, why are some areas so clean while others so dirty?

For some reason, the difference between those two areas
somehow looks too unnatural."

"Maybe it's based on the difference of the security and

maintenance facilities handling those areas. So for those
dirty areas, it might be because the security and the
maintenance drones tend to go to those areas and Hunters
tend to fight there."

"So basically the clean areas are relatively safer, huh?"

"But don't drop your guard just because you're in a clean

area. Those places might be clean because the self-repair
drones are working hard in those areas, so it doesn't mean
that there is less fighting in those areas. While for the dirty
areas, it might be because it's abandoned for years since
the self-repair drones in that areas are inactive."

"Well, at least for searching relics, it might be better to go

to the clean areas."

"That's true, want to have a go?"

Akira thought for a bit before answering back.

"I guess not this time. After all, it seems like we can find
better relics in that high building we're heading to. And even
if we're going to have a look, let's do that on our way back
instead. We might be able to find a lot of relics in our
destination after all, and that's exactly why we're heading
there in the first place."
 "You have a point there. Don't drop your guard and
carefully move forward. Let's only hunt for relics if
something happens and you decide to stop going to that
building."

Alpha agreed with Akira's idea. If they got unlucky, they

might be retreating while running away from the monsters,
so it was unwise to increase his luggage since it might be
fatal when that happened. At the moment, that decision was
not a mistake, it would only become clear whether it was the
correct decision or not later.

Akira checked the contour around his destination and

confirmed the location of the monsters using his
information-gathering device. From there, he picked a
relatively safe route using the wreckage and rubbles around
him. Every time he picked a wrong route, Alpha would
immediately point it out and correct him.

"Alpha, what is my mistake this time?"

Akira did not understand the reason why Alpha picked a

different route than the one that he picked, so he decided to
ask her. When he did that, she enhanced his vision to help
him temporarily see everything around him.

"The red areas are dangerous areas. The thicker the red,
the more dangerous it is. The route that you picked passes
through one of those very dangerous areas, you see? It's
better to avoid that place."

"I see. So then, how exactly can I accurately identify such

an area without your support?"

"Well, you have no other choice but to somehow see it."

 That vague answer from Alpha caused him to frown in
confusion as he looked in her direction.

"Somehow? Like, how exactly?"

Alpha seemed to be confused as well.

"Hmm, I can't really say anything other than that. You

somehow need to be able to correctly judge the danger of
an area only by the limited information that you get after
checking out that area. Like the buildings located in the
direction that's not covered by the wreckages or the rubbles
in an area, the condition of the walls on those buildings that
are facing to your direction, the existence of windows in
those walls, the possibility of finding monsters inside those
buildings and if those monsters would try to shoot you from
those directions, the accuracy of those monsters. There are
a lot of details that you need to factor in. It's difficult to
explain everything only using words, if I have to do that, it
might take a whole day and I won't even be close to
finishing. And even if I just show you through visuals since
it's the fastest way to let you know, it's still not an efficient
way to do it, you see. It's still difficult to convey the reasons
why an area is dangerous even if I do that. Of course, I can
add oral explanation too, but you're already past that level.
You can already identify and make decisions based on all
the information that I can add through an oral
explanation."

With Alpha's support online, Akira could get notified if he

was in a dangerous situation and she could take control of
his augmented suit to evade an ambush. But when he did
not have that support, then he would have to do something
about it using his own power. He had to detect dangers and
avoid it using his own skill.
 But at the same time, that remark also showed how much
Akira had grown. He was already able to detect and react to
dangers that could be easily explained through an oral
explanation.

"So basically, I just need to get enough experience so that

I can intuitively detect dangers and deal with it, right?"

"Yep, that's correct. There's no other way but to gather

enough experience and sharpen your intuition. Of course, I
will give you my help to effectively gather that much-
needed experience. As you can see, I'm enhancing your
vision like this to let you know which area is dangerous."

"Intuition, huh. Well, I'm good at sensing troubles, so I

guess I have no other choice but to rely on that gift."

Akira once again checked his surroundings with the help

of that vision which allowed him to see the danger level of
the areas around him. Although he did not realize it, his
guessing skill was actually getting better just by looking
around using that enhanced vision. He then picked the
safest route based on that vision as he continued moving
forward.

Akira was moving slowly and carefully through the

Mihazono ruin. Although he was relatively slow, he was
doing way better compared to when he took 1 hour just to
move forward 100 meters back in the Kuzusuhara ruin. He
kept on pushing forward with Alpha sometimes giving him
some pointers.

Most of the monsters that Akira met in that ruin were

mechanical monsters. Although some of them had the
appearance of biological monsters, they scattered out
machines when Akira's bullet pierced through their bodies.
He sometimes also encountered monsters that looked like
normal big dogs, but they would run straight to him with a
speed that obviously would not be possible for a dog. And
when he shot at them, they would again scatter metallic
parts and their dead wreckage would reveal the machines
inside them.

Akira looked at them and tilted his head.

"So it's a robot dog, huh? This place is filled with nothing
but mechanical monsters"

"It might be because there's nothing around this place

that can be used as a food source for the biological
monsters. Either that or the maintenance drones make sure
that this place is clear of those biological monsters. By the
way, those trees beside the roads are made of metal, you
see. And since it's made of those nanomaterials, the
biological monsters cannot use them as a food source."

Akira looked at the trees on the roadside. According to

Alpha, the green leaves on those trees were made of metal,
while to him, they looked completely like natural leaves. But
there were cyborg humans and animals out there, so if it was
using the old-world technology, it might be completely
possible to create mechanical plants. Akira kept staring at
those roadside trees that would never wither.

"It's fully understandable for biological monsters to be

multiplying somewhere, but how about the mechanical
monsters? Where are they coming from?"

"I believe it's from the factories. This place is a city area,
after all. So once the Hunters destroy enough drones, it
might send a signal to the factories to produce replacement
drones."
 "If that's the case, then once we take control of the
factories, this place will be a safe ruin, right? So why don't
they do that already?"

"I can't really answer why. It might be because the

security is too strong that they can't take control of those
factories. They might even intentionally leave the factories
alone since the mechanical monsters are one of the sources
for material. I don't really know the answer to that
question, but someone from the City Management or the
Hunter Office should be able to give you a better answer."

"Well, I guess they have their reasons, huh?"

If it was possible and if it was an important thing, they

would have done that by now. And it was not like they would
explain the reason why they did not do that to a common
Hunter. Akira bet that he would be able to know that reason
once he got to a higher position and had enough influence.
But for the time being, it was something that was impossible
for him as much as it was something that was not important
to him.

As Akira thought so, he decided to just forget about that

subject and move on with the exploration.
 Chapter 103: Autonomous Weapons

A small flying drone just flew over Akira's head. But it did
not try to attack him, either because it could not see Akira,
or because it did not have any weapon to shoot him with, or
maybe it was just a reconnaissance drone that sent his
location to the other mechanical monsters.

Alpha suddenly stopped Akira.

"Akira, stop and get inside that building. It might be a bit

dangerous if you keep going forward."

"Roger that."

Inside the room that he was passing through, Akira

noticed that there were tables and stationeries that,
unnaturally enough, were neatly organized. He tilted his
head in confusion.

"Those things look pretty well maintained, I might be able

to get a lot of money if I bring them back, right?"

But Alpha shook her head.

"They might be left here because the current technology

has no problem reproducing them. I think you can easily
buy similar stuff from the stands in the city."

"So basically, no one would risk their lives just to bring

them back home since you can easily buy them with a small
amount of money, huh?"

"I bet you can get a lot of money from bringing back the
autonomous maintenance system in this building, but it's
very hard to bring that system back. Not to mention that
system might even be embedded into this building. If you
can seize the building, you might be able to get a building
that automatically maintains itself, but with all the
mechanical monsters roaming around this building, it
might be not worth the hassle. But if we're talking about the
area near the Hunter Office, that might not be the case. As
in matter of fact, the Hunter Office might have already
seized some of the buildings in that area."

Akira made a 'Hmmm' sound, he then thought of

something.

"But like, isn't it a good idea to seize some of these

buildings and use them as resting places for the Hunters?
The Mihazono ruin is a very big ruin, so it would be great if
we have some resting points inside this ruin."

"The security drones might react differently to some

Hunters who only stay inside a building for a short time
compared to a group of Hunters trying to take control of a
building. After all, it's to be expected that they would use a
different level of strength to just chase off some intruders
compared to when they fight people who try to capture a
building."

"So that's also a no, huh. Well, if it was possible and if it

was worth all the hassle, they would have already done that
by now."

"Yep, that's correct."

Akira once again looked around the room. Although the

well-organized interior somehow gave off a safe feeling, in
reality, that place was more dangerous than the back alley of
the slum city. He thought that it would be a very difficult
task to return back alive from that place without Alpha's
help. Thus he recomposed himself before starting to move
forward again.

Once Akira reached the 14th floor, he looked outside

through one of the windows to confirm the area around his
destination building. It was a pretty tall building that could
be seen from anywhere inside the Mihazono ruin and it was
located in the middle of a big clearing. Although the
buildings in the Mihazono ruin city area were densely
packed in blocks, for some reason, there was no building in
that clearing.

When Akira peeked through the aiming device on his rifle,

he could see a few dozens of mechanical monsters roaming
around that area as if they were guarding that place. They
looked different compared to the other mechanical monsters
inside that ruin. Some of them were autonomous monsters
that looked like a vehicle equipped with big-sized missile
launchers, while some of them looked like big cannons with
legs. All of them were patrolling around that one building
that Akira was aiming for as if they were guarding it.

After Akira confirmed what he saw, his face turned stern.

"So those monsters are the reason why you said it'll be
dangerous if I continued moving forward, huh. They are on a
different level compared to the small mechanical monsters
that I fought on my way here. And it's obvious that they're
guarding that building."

"I bet the other mechanical monsters that you fought are
the security drones stationed in the city area. While those
mechanical monsters are specialized for protecting that
building. Their weapons and command protocols are
completely different compared to the other mechanical
monsters."
 "So is it like someone intentionally stationed them to
protect that particular building?"

"It might be that they are just following the orders that
they received from years ago. But it's also perfectly possible
that they're under the control of a still-active artificial
intelligence that's managing that building. Or maybe it's
just simply because those monsters are under a separate
security system compared to the other mechanical
monsters. There are many possible explanations."

"It's a really interesting subject, but how exactly is that

related to me?"

Akira actually did not really care about the difference

between the systems controlling the mechanical monsters
there. He was only interested if it would cause him more
trouble or not, or if they would try to kill him or not.

But Alpha denied that.

"It actually has some effects on you, you know? If they're

really under the control of a separate system, it's likely that
they don't share the same information as the other
mechanical monsters, and that would affect the action that
you need to take. ——Akira!! Get away from there!!"

Akira moved quickly following Alpha's order, he did not

even have to ask why since he could see the reason through
his aiming device. The missile pod monsters suddenly
launched missiles in his direction.

The missiles were also equipped with a homing device.

They flew chasing after Akira who was running through the
rooms inside the building. The first wave of missiles
destroyed the wall where Akira was taking cover and opened
a path for the following missiles to go right into that
building. As they raced through the insides of that building,
seeking for Akira, they destroyed walls and any other
obstacles on their path and forcefully carved a way to find
Akira. And eventually, they found Akira when he was
running through a long hallway.

"Shoot them down!"

"Roger that!!"

Akira made a 180-degree turn as he grabbed and aimed

his DVTS minigun, he quickly fixed his footing, confirmed
the missiles heading in his direction, gathered his focus,
compressed his time perception, and finally pulled the
trigger.

With the help from Alpha's support, the bullets spewed

out from the DVTS minigun's muzzles accurately shot down
the missiles in front of him. The missiles that were shot
either immediately exploded in the middle of their flight or
ricocheted and crashed into the inner wall of that building
before exploding. Either way, they released a blinding light
together with a loud banging sound and a lot of smoke when
they exploded.

Although Akira was able to evade a direct hit, the

explosion blew his body. He crashed really hard into the wall
behind him, so hard that he made a crater and left huge
cracks on that wall. Akira's augmented suit could not fully
absorb the impact as it propagated into his body. He then
fell to the ground. Although he was able to stop himself from
falling flat on his face with his hand, he immediately
coughed out blood after that.

Akira could feel sharp stinging pain running through his

body, but his consciousness was still completely intact. He
quickly tried to reach out for his medicines. Although due to
the impact of that crash, his body was moving way slower
than his brain was telling it too, the augmented suit was still
able to operate normally. Thanks to that, he was able to take
the medicine without trouble.

Akira forced the medicines down his throat although they

tasted like nothing but blood. The expensive medicines
showed its worth as the pain inside Akira's body quickly
subsided. It might be just because of the painkiller, but it
would not take that long before his wounds were healed.

Akira pushed himself to stand up and smiled bitterly. He

was able to see the outside of the building through the small
gaps between the smokescreen in front of him, it showed
just how hard those missiles were chasing for him.

"That was close!!"

"We need to move quickly. I'm not sure if they'll do that

again, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Roger that."

Akira blazed through the rooms to leave that place. He

frowned when he saw just how bad the rooms had turned
into.

He took a rest inside a floor that was not damaged from

the previous missile barrage. There was no following barrage
after that and he was able to safely evacuate from that place.

The medicines that he took a few minutes ago were

already working. He was resting there until he could return
back to tiptop shape, or at least, that was what Alpha told
him to do and he had no objection at all. He took a rest there
while vaguely feeling the nanomachine fixing his body.
 Akira suddenly said.

"But still, for the security drones of the ruin to do

something like that. If they're really security drones for this
ruin, I really hope they don't try to destroy the ruin that
they're protecting. It's not like I was bringing a tank in their
direction, you know? So why exactly did they go that far just
to kill one Hunter? It really isn't worth the expense, right?"

Alpha then answered Akira's question.

"As I said before, it might be because they're under the

control of a different security system. The mechanical
monsters that attacked you just now are protecting that
one building and not the whole Mihazono ruin. That's why
they don't hesitate to destroy other buildings."

"Wait, now that you mention it, is that clearing because

those monsters destroyed any buildings around the building
that they're protecting? Ah, but I didn't see any rubbles there
though..."

"The other maintenance drones might have cleaned the

leftover rubbles from that area, you know. And of course,
they could not rebuild the destroyed buildings. Or maybe
the other buildings were built in that place only on a fixed
regular interval, and when they were built, the Hunters
used them as covers so those monsters destroyed them
during their fights. So the reason as to why this building is
still intact, it might be because it's barely outside their
active area."

"Wait, does that mean that they extended their active area
back there? Is it because they found someone aiming at
them? Is that why they shot missiles at me? And then the
reason why they didn't try to pursue me is because they
think I'm dead so they returned back to their usual active
area?"

"That's a plausible explanation."

Akira let out a big sigh. The other day, although only at
the very end, he was able to get out of a dangerous situation
using his own power, that was why he started to feel
confident in himself. But now he felt like he received a
painful punch in the gut saying that he was nowhere strong
enough to challenge those autonomous weapons.

Alpha then looked at him with a serious expression.

"Akira, I'll ask you this while I still have the chance, what
are you planning to do? Are you still going to try and get to
that building? Or are you planning to retreat?"

Akira was about to answer that he was thinking of

retreating, but he suddenly realized something and looked at
her with a confused face.

That missile barrage just now almost killed him. He

thought that it would not be strange if Alpha suggested him
to retreat and strongly told him not to continue. But even so,
that question just now sounded as if she was telling him that
it was also okay to continue.

Akira looked at Alpha with a serious face as he asked her a

question.

"What will you do if I say I want to continue? You will not

stop me?"

"If you want to continue, I will not stop you. But of

course, other than my support, you'll need some more
preparation and resolve before trying to challenge that
place."

"That barrage just now almost killed me, you know."

"That one was sort of an ambush after all. But thanks to

my support, you didn't get any fatal injuries, right? So
there's no problem. You said it before yourself, remember?
Since you didn't get killed instantaneously and had enough
leeway to say that it was really dangerous, it means that
you're not in that much danger in the first place. So by that
standard, that one just now was not that dangerous."

Looking at how Alpha was smiling like usual, Akira

hesitated and still looked a bit confused as he said to her.

"Well, uhh, it's true that I did say that. But still, when you
say I need to resolve myself, how much resolve do you
mean? If it's the same amount of resolve that I had when I
fought that pseudo bounty monster, I would rather choose to
retreat for now."

"You don't need to go that far. Compared to back then,

you just need to put in a little more effort than usual, that's
all you need. And like I said before, that barrage just now
caught you off-guard, it was like an ambush. So if we
properly make a plan, prepare ourselves well, and with my
support to top it off, we would be able to handle that kind of
barrage just fine. Of course, I won't say that you would be
able to kill those mechanical monsters easily. And there's no
mistaking it that you would use more bullets and medicines
than usual. So that's the level of resolve that you'll need."

Akira stared at Alpha's smiling face while thinking that

there was no need to call a retreat right now and he must
have enough winning chance. As long as he did not slow
Alpha down, he should be able to win using the predicted
amount of ammo and medicine.

The rest depended on Akira's decision. It was not a

mistake to avoid a fight that he might lose. While on the
other hand, it was also not a mistake to take the risk to
challenge a fight that was winnable to continue with his
exploration.

But Akira knew he had to become stronger, he had to

eventually do that request that Alpha asked of him. He had
to take responsibility for the advance payment that he was
already receiving from her. He had to return all the debt that
he had piled up from Alpha, or at least, he had to make the
effort to do so.

Moreover, if he hesitated in risking his life there, then

what would be of his Hunter work?

Akira made his decision.

"We'll continue. If I decide to run away from enemies that

I have a good chance to defeat, then I would need to stop
working as a Hunter."

Alpha smiled full of confidence.

"Are you sure? Like I said before, you'll need to resolve

yourself, you know."

"Resolve is my responsibility. So let's do this."

Alpha smiled even more.

"Very well, let's go then. I couldn't give you my support

last time, so I'll show you again how great it is to have my
support."
 Akira prepared himself for the upcoming fight. He
followed Alpha's instruction to return to the first floor before
climbing that building from bottom to top. Every time he
visited a new floor, he would check the area with his
information-gathering device before moving to the next
floor. And it was not like he checked the whole floor, he only
checked the side of that building which was facing the
skyscraper.

After reaching the top floor of that building, the 27th

floor, Akira finalized his preparation. He attached the
extended magazine on his DVTS minigun, exchanged the
piercing ammo inside his CWH anti-material rifle into CWH
special ammo, he also took extra medicine beforehand to
make sure that he would still be able to move his body even
if he broke his bones doing some crazy manoeuvre, and to
top it off, he put some medicines inside his mouth so he
could just swallow it anytime.

He had his CWH anti-material rifle in his right hand and

DVTS minigun in his left. He only carried extra magazines
with him and left his other rifles and his rucksack on the
rooftop so that they would not hinder his movement. He
carried as little as possible without sacrificing his firepower.

Akira stood on top of that building which was facing the

skyscraper that he was aiming for, he was standing at the
edge of the exact opposite side that was facing that
skyscraper. He took some deep breaths to prepare himself.

Alpha smiled at him before confirming for the last time.

"Akira, are you ready?"

Akira made a serious face as he said.

"Yeah, let's do this."

 Alpha smiled back full of confidence before telling him to
start.

"In that case then, let's go."

The battle had started.

Akira ran straight to the very end of the rooftop as fast as

he could and jumped off.

While still falling, Akira aimed his DVTS minigun at the

autonomous weapons around the skyscraper and pulled the
trigger. The extended magazine allowed him to continue
pulling down on the trigger for a long time without the need
for reloading. The loud banging sounds coming from the
bullets flowing out from Akira's DVTS minigun echoed
through the wasteland as they flew straight at the
autonomous weapons that he was aiming at.

The kickback from his DVTS minigun pushed Akira

toward the building's wall. He then used both of his legs to
propagate the kickback against the building's wall. The
continuous shots pushed his body toward the wall to the
point that he was able to stand flat on it. He then did not let
go of the trigger as he ran down the building's wall just like
that.

Countless bullets rained down on the autonomous

weapons near the skyscraper. The bullets rained down on
the mechanical monsters' super hard body as if they were
trying to drill a hole on those bodies. But due to the loss of
momentum because of the distance those bullets travelled
and the force field armour that ricocheted them off the
monsters' bodies, none of them was able to cause any
serious damage to monsters' inner parts. But it was at least
enough to make those monsters notice Akira as their enemy.
 The cannons on their bodies immediately turned toward
Akira who was running down the wall. Then in order to
shoot their cannons, they temporarily lowered their force
field armours.

The moment they did that, CWH special bullets

immediately slipped in and hit them right before they could
shoot their cannons, it caused the gunpowder inside their
bodies to explode prematurely and took out their cannons
from the inside. Akira shot those bullets beforehand by
following Alpha's instruction. Those bullets hit the cannons
with unrivalled accuracy although those cannons were not
even directed at Akira when he released those shots.

When their cannons were destroyed, the control unit

inside the monsters' bodies recognized it as a fatal damage
and it also recognized that they had lost their means to fight
back. As such, the other autonomous weapons that were still
untouched diverted their force field armours to the badly
damaged autonomous weapons, thus temporarily reducing
the power of their force field armours.

During that split second when their force field armours

were weakened, the CWH special bullets that Akira had shot
beforehand hit them in succession. The first hit opened a
hole in their armour while the second bullet went straight
for their control units. The autonomous weapons that had
lost their control units immediately stopped working
without being able to react at all.

Once Akira destroyed some of the autonomous weapons,

the rest of the autonomous weapons quickly recognized him
as a threat. They immediately started to make their moves to
deal with that threat.

Countless missiles launched from the missile pods aimed

at Akira. While the ones with cannons immediately aimed
their cannons and released shots at him. The countless
missiles flew straight up for a few seconds to gather
momentum before readjusting its trajectory to head straight
for Akira, while the warheads released by the cannons just
went ahead first and flew in a straight line to him.

Akira used the kickback from his rifles to push against the
wall and gain traction to run down the wall. He then used
the different contours of the wall to jump to the side or even
jump straight down to avoid those missiles and warheads.
So instead, they hit the building's wall, turning it into
rubbles and filled the area where they landed with smokes.

Akira was desperately running down the building's wall,

he could feel the shockwave from the explosions coming
from all directions as he said to Alpha.

"Please please please, make sure that I won't get hit, okay?
If I get blown away off the wall, there's no mistaking that I'll
die, you know?!"

It was his first time running down along a wall. Because of

that, he really relied on Alpha's control through his
augmented suit to be able to do that. Although he was able
to see the predicted trajectories of the missiles and warheads
coming at him with his enhanced vision, he did not have the
leeway to react to them and decide which route was the
safest. It took everything that he had to just follow Alpha's
instruction.

Alpha was sliding sideway parallel to the building as she

smiled and replied.

"It's true that it's extremely dangerous if you lose your

footings. That's why you need to keep running to spread the
incoming missiles and warheads over a wide area. And
also, don't stop shooting. It would be impossible to move
quickly around the wall without help from the kickback. So
just resolve yourself and keep running."

"Didn't you say that I don't need that much resolve for
this fight back then?!!"

"That's relative compared to when you fought the pseudo

bounty monster. I did say that you'll need some more
resolve than usual, remember? But compared to when you
had to get out from inside a monster with your own power
after it ate you, it's not that big of a resolve, right? Or is it
that it was not that much of a difficult thing to get out from
inside that monster?"

Alpha smiled amusedly. Akira looked at that smile and

believed that he was not in as much danger as he thought as
he flusteredly replied back.

"That there!! You're comparing it to the wrong

occasion!!!"

"Stop playing around and start shooting."

"Okay okay!!"

Akira aimed his DVTS minigun at the missiles coming at

him while still running on the wall and pulled the trigger.
The countless bullets rained down on those missiles and
made them explode in the middle of their flight, the
shockwave from those explosions then threw the other
missiles off-flight and disrupted their targeting.

Some of those missiles flew way off and hit the other
buildings, some of them collided with the other missiles and
exploded, while some other missiles landed away from Akira
and left a big hole on the building's wall.
 While at the same time, Akira aimed his CWH anti-
material rifle toward those autonomous weapons. Since
Alpha did all the aiming, he just had to point it in the general
direction of his target and hold the kickback from it. But
since he was holding it with one arm, he could not fully take
the kickback and each shot put his body in extra burden.

Thanks to the medicines that he took beforehand, Akira

did not feel much pain. But since he was pushing his body
past its limit with the help of his augmented suit and
withstanding all the shockwave from the missiles that
exploded near him, his bones were grinding against each
other and micro-wounds were tearing his muscles. Those
injuries were healed almost instantaneously only to be
formed again right after that. That cycle continued until
either the medicines ran out of its effect or the battle ended.

Akira could feel the strange feeling of his body going

through that cycle while experiencing his first battle where
he was running down a wall while fighting, he went through
all of that inside his compressed time perception. To be
honest, he wished that it was his first and his last time going
through something like that. He was currently somewhere
around the 18th floor. If he was free-falling, he would have
been way closer to the ground by now.

The autonomous weapons spread their missile pods and

launched countless small-sized missiles to the sky. Those
missiles went up in a straight line before readjusting its
course to head towards Akira. By fanning out their missile in
a big arc, they targeted the whole area around Akira while
reducing the possibility of him shooting them down and
suppressing the loss from secondary explosions.

Akira saw the missiles fanned out in front of him.

"Alpha!! Is it possible to shoot them down?!!"

 "Nope, that will be impossible. They're too spread out.
But it's alright."

"Well, that's good to hear!!"

Akira forced himself to make a smile as he continued

shooting. If Alpha said that it would be alright, he had no
other choice but to believe that and continue fighting. And of
course, he trusted Alpha. After all, if he did not trust her, he
would not be doing something like this in the first place.

Akira kept on running down along the wall while moving

around to just barely evade the incoming warheads from the
autonomous cannons. While at the same time, he kept
sniping the autonomous weapons' weak points using his
CWH anti-material rifle. The autonomous weapons that got
shot on their engines, or their weapons, or their control
units turned into just a pile of wreckage that posed no threat
whatsoever. Akira destroyed those powerful autonomous
weapons with utmost efficiency as if it was those
autonomous weapons that were trying to match with Akira's
action.

But due to their firepower, even if only one of them were

left, it would be enough to kill a normal Hunter. The
autonomous weapons would not retreat, as long as Akira did
not destroy every single one of them, they would keep on
trying to kill him.

As those countless missiles headed towards Akira, he

aimed his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun and
pulled the trigger. The kickback from his shot and the
shockwave from the missile that he shot blew him right into
one of the windows on that building.

All the missiles collided with the wall where Akira was just
a few seconds ago. They exploded almost synchronously as
they released a loud bang. But since their explosions were
more spread out than before, their firepower was greatly
reduced compared to when they were focused on one small
area. The building that was created with the superior old-
world technology was left only with cracks after that
amazing explosion.

Alpha quickly gave Akira her next instruction. Akira had

already checked all the floors in that building beforehand. So
Alpha used that information to move him into the safest
location on that floor.

Akira, who was barely avoiding those missiles, was

running through inside that building. In the middle of that,
Alpha said to him.

"Akira, swallow the medicine that you already have

inside your mouth."

"Roger that, is the effect from the ones that I took

beforehand already waning?"

"You might not notice it since you don't feel any pain, but
your body is already in pretty bad shape. If you don't want
your limbs torn off in the middle of the fight, make sure to
take your medicines."

Akira swallowed the medicine inside his mouth and

loaded new magazines into his rifles. He then followed
Alpha's instruction and jumped out of another window. He
was already on the 10th floor, the ground was not too far
away down, and the enemies left were also not that many.

Alpha knew the enemies' location. When Akira jumped

out of the window, he immediately started shooting again.
The CWH special ammo easily pierced through the
autonomous weapon's hard armour and destroyed its weak
point. That was one more monster around the building
turned into scrap.

Akira only had 10 floors left. He kept on running down the

building while shooting at the autonomous weapons. After a
few shots, he finally reached the ground. The moment he
landed on the ground, he quickly fixed the aim of his CWH
anti-material rifle.

"That is the last one!!"

As he heard those words from Alpha, Akira spotted his

last target, adjusted his aim, and pulled the trigger. The
CWH special ammo flew in a straight line toward that
autonomous weapon and almost immediately followed by a
blinding light of the force field armour released right where
the bullet landed on the autonomous weapon's body.

Akira had showered that autonomous weapon with bullets

using his DVTS minigun when he was running down the
wall, thus its force field armour was already considerably
weakened. The CWH special ammo pierced through the
armour and bore a hole right into the autonomous weapon's
control unit and shred it to pieces.

As that autonomous weapon made the last squeaking

sound, the area was finally shrouded in silence. All the
monsters present were already dead.

Akira did not move as he was still monitoring his

surroundings. As silence returned to that place, he finally
stood up.

Alpha who was floating next to Akira smiled and reported

their victory.

"Akira, that's the end, we won."

 Akira's first reaction to his victory was a long and big sigh.
He then looked up at the building that he jumped off from
and smiled bitterly. After that, he turned to Alpha who was
smiling smugly.

"So how was that? Did you get just how great my
support is?"

Akira smiled bitterly at her.

"Yeah, I got a good feel of it. So, since I already got a good
feel of how great your support is, I would prefer not to go
through something like this again."

Alpha smiled mischievously at him.

"Oh, there's no need to be reserved, you know? I've

promised you to give you my utmost support as an advance
payment, moreover, you know that I'm your ally, right?"

"If it's possible, with that support that you're so proud of,
can you make it so that I don't need to go through something
like this again?"

Seeing Akira, who looked rather displeased, Alpha tilted

her head and said.

"To be honest, I did consider a lot of things before I gave

you my support, you know? After all, if you die it would be
a huge issue for me too. So before I made that suggestion, I
already ran all the calculations for your safety and I even
confirmed and respected your wish too. But you know? If
you keep counting special rare occasions in your
calculation for your safety, it would be impossible for you
to go out to the wasteland."
 Akira tried his best to replace his displeased expression
with a bitter smile. He knew that he had terrible luck, and it
was true if he assumed that he would be swarmed by
monsters the moment he stepped out of the city, then he
would not be able to go out to the wasteland. What he
needed was not the ability to evade bad luck, but the ability
to stomp that bad luck down.

"...Alright, I got it. I hope that you'll keep providing your

support so I can deal with a situation like this easily."

"Of course. Just leave it to me. Now then, let's go and get
the stuff that you left on the rooftop so that you can get a
better advantage if anything happens after this."

Alpha smiled and pointed her finger up. Akira had left his
rucksack filled with ammo and other equipment on the
rooftop together with the other rifles that he did not use in
that battle.

Akira looked up. Now that he looked at it, the 27 storey

building was indeed a very tall building. And now he had to
climb the stairs back to the rooftop.

"...Stairs again, huh?"

"Yep. But don't worry, you can go down through stairs

this time, or is it that you want to jump off again?"

Alpha smiled teasingly. Akira instantly refused.

"No thanks!"

Alpha just giggled amusedly seeing how Akira got a bit

annoyed there.
 Chapter 104: Proof of Strength

Akira was standing at the front gate of a tall building. The

name of that building was written on a huge metal
nameplate near it.

"So this building is Seranthal building, huh?"

"There's a map of the floors too. The Lion Steel Corp

branch is on the 57th floor. This one."

"Let's go then. It would be great if we can find a lot of old-

world relics there, I'm in a deep red right now."

Akira had not found anything that could bring him money
that day yet. If he could not find anything to cover for his
ammo expense, he would have risked his life for nothing and
end up with a loss.

Akira tried to calm his worry by telling himself that since

he had to take out all of those powerful autonomous
weapons just to get there, there must be expensive relics
inside that building.

Alpha suddenly made a suggestion to him.

"You should be able to get some money if you submit the

record for that general monster-hunting request. So, do
you want to do that?"

"No. If I do that, I would need to submit a full battle

record too, right? If I give that battle record to the Hunter
Office, it would be troublesome if they start sending difficult
requests to me."
 It might be just him overthinking it, but he remembered
that he might have tried too hard when he helped out the
Hunters in the Kuzusuhara underground ruin which ended
up getting him sent into the Yarata Scorpion nest in the
underground city.

No one could tell what kind of difficult request would get

sent to him if the Hunter Office judged his skill based on
that fight against the autonomous weapons. He had no wish
to jump over a high building and run on its wall while
shooting at the enemies again for the second time. Or at
least, he had no wish to do that again unless it was really
necessary.

Alpha smiled teasingly.

"Is that so? Honestly speaking, if you give it to that

Kibayashi guy, I'm sure he'll get a good laugh out of it and
you can get an extra bonus on top of your reward."

"No thanks!"

Akira reacted almost immediately, it was not like he was

working as a Hunter just to amuse Kibayashi.

"Let's just go in and head to the 57th floor for now. There
might be some mechanical monsters inside but I'm sure
they're not as powerful as the ones that we fought outside."

Akira changed gear and headed inside the building.

***

Reina and her 2 maids were hunting for monsters in the

Mihazono ruin. Due to Shiori's suggestion, they focused
more on hunting monsters rather than hunting relics in
order to familiarize themselves with the danger level of
Mihazono ruin.

As long as they stayed near the Hunter Office branch, they

would be able to almost immediately send an emergency
request in case anything bad happened. Due to Shiori's
suggestion, they were being careful while doing their best
hunting for monsters instead of relics.

But to be more precise, Reina was the only one who was
trying really hard there. Shiori was only there to accompany
Reina, so she was there to match Reina's movements. So in
short, she was holding back. She actually could just quickly
dispose of all of the monsters and explore the area but
avoided doing so. Shiori's goal was to help Reina overcome
her self-contempt, and realize that she was not a useless
burden.

As for Kanae, she did not even contribute to the fight. She
just stood there next to Reina, looking bored.

Reina fixed her aim to ball-like mechanical monsters with

legs and arms. Although it was just a maintenance drone
that was cleaning up the city area from rubbles and
wreckage, it would still attack Hunters when it spotted them.
Thus, their kind were still considered as mechanical
monsters. There were occasions where they even used the
rifles that the Hunters dropped, they were pretty
bothersome mechanical monsters.

Reina pulled the trigger. She used piercing bullets to

destroy the monsters' limbs first before aiming for its torsos
and proceeded to finish it off. It was a rather safe way to
fight. Shiori then evaluated her performance.

Reina smiled, there was a shred of bitterness in her smile.

 "That was a good shot."

"...Yeah, thank you."

Reina knew well that it was not just empty lip service from
Shiori. But since she was in self-deprecating mode, when
someone as strong as Shiori complimented her, it sounded
as if she was so weak to the point that doing something like
that was enough to make Shiori compliment her.

In reality, if Reina's skill was indeed that low, there was

no way Shiori would bring her to Mihazono ruin in the first
place. After all, Mihazono ruin was a rather dangerous ruin
filled with mechanical monsters. Reina was actually stronger
than most of the other Hunters of the same Hunter Rank,
she was basically stronger than common Hunters.

But not only was she surrounded by powerful people like

Shiori and Kanae, who received proper training, the scene
when Akira, who was more or less of the same age as her,
fought evenly against Shiori was still on her mind. Because
of that, Reina could not help but be disappointed in her own
skills.

Looking at Reina, Shiori felt a pang of pain. She realized

that her compliment was counter-effective, so she stopped
herself there.

Reina then moved the leftover wreckage of the monsters

that she defeated to a cart with help from Shiori. Kanae did
not even offer her help. Reina looked a bit annoyed as she
said to Kanae.

"You really won't give me any help, huh?"

Even when Reina was glaring at her, Kanae did not seem
to care much as she smiled and replied.
 "Milady, like I said so many times before. My duty is to
ensure your safety, not helping out when hunting monsters
or carrying monsters. To be honest, Ane-san is also not
obligated to do that, you know?"

"...Well, that's true, but still..."

"My duty is to get Milady away from danger in case

anything bad happens. So, I hope you won't count me to
always help you in all fights. And I also won't help to carry
the dead mechanical monsters. I have my hands full with
guarding you so I don't have any leeway to do something like
that."

Reina understood Kanae's argument although she was not

fully convinced by it. She directed a bit of that anger onto
herself, for not being able to do her Hunter work without
bodyguards. She made a conflicted face as she looked at
Kanae. Kanae just lightly smiled while looking back at her.

Shiori suppressed her desire to defend Reina, instead, she

expressed her opinion about Kanae.

"Milady, Kanae is someone skilled enough to be sent as

Milady's bodyguard. Think of her as a shield or a lifeline in a
dangerous situation. And just because that shield or lifeline
is a very reassuring one, that does not mean that we can put
Milady in needless danger. When she looks like she has
nothing to do like that, it also means that we're in a rather
safe situation where she can just relax."

"That's so cruel. I'll properly do my duty for which I'm

paid for, you know?"

Shiori looked at Kanae with a serious face.

 "Of course, if you're not, I would dice you to small pieces
after all."

Shiori grabbed the sword that she was carrying, it seemed

that she was being serious there.

But even so, Kanae was still smiling like usual. It was
because she knew Shiori would not actually pull out her
sword there, and even if she did, that in itself would be
interesting too. Moreover, the possibility of the latter one
was pretty high.

Shiori sighed exasperatedly, her expression returned back

to normal as she turned to Reina.

"Milady. The cart is almost full. Let's head back to the

Hunter Office first."

"Alright... Hm?"

Reina saw a cloud of smoke rising from afar. It originated

from a tall building in the deeper part of Mihazono ruin.

Shiori also noticed smoke from watching Reina's reaction.

She quickly pulled out her information terminal and checked
the area that she guessed around where she saw that smoke.
If it was some kind of dangerous anomaly, she would need to
evacuate Reina from there as soon as possible. After all,
anything could happen in an old-world ruin.

Shiori finished confirming the information and explained

it to Reina.

"It's from an area near the Seranthal building. I bet there

are some Hunters trying to seize that building. It should be
alright as long as we steer clear from that area."
 "It seems that they're having a pretty big fight there. Is the
inner part of this ruin really that dangerous?"

"No, it seems that the monsters near the Seranthal

building are much stronger compared to the other monsters
in the ruin. They might be a part of the security system
dedicated to protecting that building. Since the monsters
guarding that building will always get replenished after
some time, there are not that many Hunters who can
challenge that area. There are also rumours saying that we
can find a lot of expensive relics inside that building."

After hearing Shiori's explanation, Kanae just smiled

amusedly as she tried to provoke Reina.

"That sounds interesting, If the Hunters win, there won't

be any monsters left around that area, and even if they lose,
they would have inflicted a lot of damage on those monsters
too. So no matter which one it is, it should be easy to go to
that building right now. Milady, how about we take a look
there later?"

Shiori glared at Kanae.

"Kanae, just shut up. Milady, even if there are no

monsters left around that building, I can't recommend going
there."

Shiori stopped Reina while making a serious face. Reina

felt that there was another reason other than her lack of skill
as to why Shiori said that. So she curiously asked Shiori a
question.

"Well, if you say that, I don't mind not going there. But
why? If there are a lot of expensive relics there and there are
no monsters around it, it should at least be worth a check,
right?"
 "Milady, have you ever heard about the old-world ghost?

"It's about that story of ghosts that roam the old-world

ruin, right? They say that they only roam around famous
ruins. There are a lot of different patterns about its story
though. Some say that they're ghosts of the Hunters who
died in the ruin and they would attack other Hunters. Or
that they control monsters in the ruins to kill other Hunters.
Or that they would guide Hunters who get lost inside a ruin
to an exit. I heard that there's one in the Kuzusuhara ruin
too, the beguiling ghost, was it again? If I'm not mistaken, it
would lure Hunters into a dangerous area by baiting them
with information of a secret place filled with relics just to get
those Hunters killed, right...?"

Shiori then added to that.

"That's correct. Sometimes it causes a big ruckus that

prevents the Hunters from exploring the ruins, there are
even times when the Hunter Office dispatched a formal
investigation. Most of the investigation results were made
public, some of them said that it's just the Hunters trying to
kill each other over relics, or it's caused by the still-active
facilities inside a building. Basically, it's not a big mystery
once the cause has been made clear."

"Well, that kind of story is not rare. So, what's with it?"

"There's a similar ghost story in this Mihazono ruin, and

that story centres around that Seranthal building. Putting
the cause aside, it's true that there are a lot of Hunters who
died around that place and no explanation has been found
even right now. As such, it still stays as a ghost story. We
can't afford to let Milady go to such a dangerous place."

Reina started to get scared and curious at the same time,

she then asked Shiori.
 "Okay, let's not go there then. So, about that ghost story
though, what kind of story is it?"

Shiori then started explaining about that ghost story to

Reina with a serious face. Reina, who listened to that story,
looked slightly scared.

***

Akira, who was standing on the first floor, looked

surprised when he took a quick look around the first floor of
the Seranthal building. There was a receptionist counter and
the interior of that building looked clean. It was obvious that
it was properly maintained, there was not even a speck of
dust on its floor as it perfectly reflected the light that was
shining on it. He also spotted some undamaged chairs,
which might be put there for guests.

When Akira looked at that receptionist counter, he

thought that it must have been owned by a giant
corporation. He had the same impression when he entered
that big building sticking to the inner wall of the
Kugamayama city, but at the same time, he felt that it was
strange for him to feel like that in such a place. Akira
scanned the big atrium while having such a conflicted
feeling.

"This place is pretty clean."

Akira was a bit overwhelmed by that contrast between the

interior of that building and the area outside. Alpha then
warned him to keep his wit.

"It seems that this building is still functioning well, so I

bet the maintenance robots regularly clean this place.
There might be some security robots too, so be careful."
 "Understood."

Suddenly Akira spotted a girl, he quickly reacted by

pointing his rifle at that girl. Although he did not instantly
shoot, he had his finger ready on the trigger.

Akira's expression looked stern. He spotted that girl

standing in a place that he had already checked beforehand.
His information-gathering device also did not detect her at
all, there should be no one over there.

Even when Akira pointed his rifle at that girl, she only
smiled at him. She was wearing an old-world dress that
might have been used to welcome guests as a receptionist,
one thing for sure, it was not for battle.

But it was normal for old-world dresses to have

completely different qualities compared to their outlooks. It
was really dangerous to judge based only on their
appearances. Thus although that girl was unarmed, Akira
did not lower his guard at all.

Alpha then explained to Akira.

"Akira, that's just a hologram. It's not real."

Akira looked a bit surprised as he asked Alpha.

"It's not real? So like, she's the same as you? Wait, is it

closer to that hologram from the Higaraka residence ruin,
huh?"

"My image is created by information projected into your

vision, so I'm closer to augmented reality and not the same
as that hologram. That hologram is projecting its image on
a fixed space. So a normal human should be able to see her
just fine. But even if people can see her, she's not real. Even
if the information-gathering device detected her, it's
nothing but optical data."

Akira rechecked the signal from his information-

gathering device. There was a contrast between the optical
sensor and the heat and vibration sensor. Thus, the display
on his information-gathering device was telling him to be
careful interpreting that data.

"I see. So it's basically produced by old-world technology,

right?"

"Yep, that's correct."

If it was not real, then there was no meaning pointing his

rifle at it, and of course, it was not like it could hurt him.
Thus Akira lowered his rifle.

That girl then walked toward Akira, she then greeted him
and said.

[Dear customer. The building is closed at the moment, so

we can't allow anyone without the proper authorization to
enter. So please leave the building.]

Akira could hear her words clearly. He was surprised by

that and asked Alpha.

"Alpha, I can hear her though, she's definitely not real,

right?"

"She only sounds like she's talking to you up close, the

sound itself is not originated from her. It came from
somewhere else and generated through a complex
calculation to make it sound as if she's close to you."
 Akira could see a big difference between the optical sensor
and the sound sensor data in his information-gathering
device. Although it looked like that girl was talking to him, it
seemed that was not exactly the case there.

Since that girl spoke to Akira, he thought that it might be

possible to talk with her. So he tried to say something to her.

"Uhhh, I'm actually heading to the 57th floor, you see..."

[Please allow me to repeat myself. The building is closed

at the moment. Only the first floor is opened for the other
customers who already made an appointment beforehand.
Normally, the whole building is closed including all the
floors, so please leave the building.]

It seemed that he could indeed talk to her and it also

seemed that she really wanted Akira to leave.

"How do I make an appointment?"

[During the time when the building is closed, each floor

has its designated contact person who accepts appointment
applications. We on the first floor don't accept a direct
application. So please leave the building.]

Akira tried to ask a lot of things to that hologram even

after that, but all ended the same. To put it simply, there was
nothing he could do there and that he should leave the
building. He could not get any meaningful information out
of it.

Alpha then told him to stop that meaningless negotiation.

"Akira, let's just ignore her and continue. She's only

acting as a receptionist of this building. There's nothing you
can accomplish by asking her. Or is it that you want to
leave the building?"

"You're right, let's go."

Akira just ignored that hologram and decided to go deeper

into the building. As he peeked into the other hallways and
was about to leave that place, that girl suddenly warned him.

[Warning! The facility is guarded by security allowed to

kill in case of illegal intruders. So please leave this place.]

Akira stopped. He then turned to that girl and said with a

stern face.

"If that's the case, you should've said that before those
monsters outside the building attacked me, you know?"

That girl did not say anything back, she just vanished.

Akira twitched, he understood that he was at fault there.

He was the one who forced his way into that building. But
this was a part of his job as a Hunter. It's all already in the
past, he just shook it off and continued exploring the
building.

Akira was humming in front of an elevator. Although he

found one, he could not use it. Nothing happened even after
he pressed the buttons on the panel nearby.

Although Akira hardly ever saw any elevators around the

place where he lived, he understood how it worked. To be
more precise, he experienced using one when Shiori invited
him for a meal in the high-class restaurant. That restaurant
was located in a high building where he got an amazing view
from inside of that restaurant.
 Akira pouted for a bit as he said to Alpha.

"Is it broken? Or is it that it won't let me use it? Which

one do you think it is?"

"Maybe the latter one. Even if you can use it, I don't think
it's a good idea to use it. After all, it might just shut you
inside to die after you enter, you know? And it seems that
it's not an easy thing to pry the door open even with your
augmented suit."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want that to happen. It can't be helped

then, I guess there's no other choice but to go with stairs."

Akira gave up and headed to the stairs, he already knew

where it was after glancing at the map of the first floor.

Akira hoped that he could just go climb the building

through the stairs. But it did not work out well for him. After
a few floors up, he found himself blocked by a reinforced
door. He might be able to force it open using his augmented
suit or tear down the door using CWH special ammo. But
forcing his way up like that would cause him to spend more
time and energy. So he just gave up that idea and searched
the floor for another staircase that he could use.

He did find another staircase on that floor, but just like

last time, after a few floors up, he was greeted by another
reinforced door. Every time that happened, Akira would look
for another staircase to climb the building.

Each floor had a different look. Some of the floors were

left ransacked as if Hunters had taken any and every relics
out from that floor, while some of the floors looked brand
new as if it was just opened recently. Akira's eyes sparkled
when he saw the many relics in the well-maintained floors.
Every shop on those floors was filled with old-world relics.
 "Lucky!! It was really worth all the hassle coming to this
building! Alright then!! Let's take them home!!"

Akira happily started working, he pulled out another

rucksack from the one he had on his back. He then happily
stuffed all the relics on the shops' displays into that
rucksack.

From the other's point of view, he looked like a robber

robbing a shop. And from the old-world point of view, there
was no mistaking that Akira was an armed robber. So it was
only to be expected that the security drones would come and
try to kill him.

Akira just smiled bitterly as he said.

"Well, it's true that I'm just digging out and gathering
relics to take them out from this ruin. But this does feel like
I'm robbing a shop."

Alpha giggled.

"Well, you did force yourself in by destroying those

autonomous weapons guarding this building, so you're
actually already robbing here. But let's just swear not to
rob any shops that are still in business and just think of this
as putting all of these products that no one would ever
come to buy into good use."

"That in itself is an amazing excuse though. But I guess

there are a lot of Hunters who gather old-world relics with
that excuse, so I can understand why they stationed those
autonomous weapons to guard the relics."

Akira, who was smiling bitterly when he said that,

suddenly turned quiet. His smile had vanished from his face
and his hands that were putting relics into his rucksack
suddenly stopped. He then asked Alpha.

"Alpha, there's something I want to ask. It's about the

mechanical monsters that we've defeated outside. Though I
was able to defeat them thanks to your support, they're
actually strong monsters, right? Or at least, that's what I
thought about them. After that first barrage, I even thought
of pulling back, they're at least that strong from my point of
view."

"Yep, they're powerful autonomous monsters. You have

no winning chance against them without my support. After
all, although you did win, it was a rather fierce fight. You
do understand that too, right?"

"Yeah, I got that very well. So like, why did you judge that
I should be able to defeat those strong monsters? Well, it's
true that it did put me in more burden and I used more
ammo than usual, but you predicted that, and we won as you
predicted too. Or at least that's the vibe that I got back there.
So against such strong monsters, how did you judge and
under what basis did you decide it was possible to win
against them?"

"Oh my, that's quite a question there. Do you have

anything you want to complain about my support? You can
just say it and I'll readjust."

"No, that's not what I meant. There's nothing that I want

to complain about. It's just that... What can I say... You were
smiling like usual during that fight, it feels like you know
even if I did that 100 times, I'll still win 100 times. So like, I
just want to know on what basis, or at least the reason, why
you can be so sure."
 Akira seemed a bit hesitant when he said that, but he
looked serious.

Alpha did not say anything for a while, she then smiled
and asked him.

"You really want to know, don't you?"

It was her usual smile, but for some reason, Akira felt
there was something else behind that smile.

"Yeah, I want to know."

"It'll take a very long time to explain it orally, you

know..."

"In that case, make it short and you don't need to tell me
everything, just tell me enough to at least convince me."

Alpha confirmed Akira's expression and answer. She then

said.

"Very well, if I have to shorten my answer, it's because

they are mechanical monsters. If they were biological
monsters, I would have definitely stopped you."

"Is it really that different, mechanical and biological

monsters?"

"Yep, or at least, that's the case for my support.

Moreover, those autonomous weapons were simple
machines, they were made in accordance with their
blueprints and they moved precisely as their original
program. There were no abnormalities in their bodies or
behaviours, unlike those biological monsters which
continuously mutate their bodies and change their
judgement logic. Thanks to that, it's easy to predict their
moves. Because there's no randomness in their patterns, I
can easily make an accurate prediction just from a few
observations. And without randomness and arbitrary
action that tends to happen with the biological monsters,
the calculation becomes very easy. That's why, even if it
seemed very dangerous in your point of view, it was a very
safe situation and that fight was totally winnable from my
point of view."

Alpha then continued her explanation. Due to his limited

knowledge, Akira actually had some problems
understanding her explanation. But he at least more or less
understood her reasoning.

As long as Alpha knew the original blueprint and the

behaviour program of those monsters, she could get a highly
accurate result by running simulations based on those
information, and she would be able to accurately follow that
simulation by controlling Akira's augmented suit. By
splitting up the whole battle into smaller ones of highly
accurate 2-player zero-sum game simulation, Alpha could
map out the best decision to take during that fight.

Although it seemed that Akira fought that battle

desperately, from Alpha's point of view, it was more like
following an already finished script.

It would be extremely difficult to do the same against

biological monsters. Due to the randomness of the biological
monsters' behaviours, Alpha could only make inaccurate
predictions.

Akira tried to understand something outside that

explanation as he asked Alpha.

"Uhhh, so basically, since you know the enemy's weak

point and behaviour well enough, it's an easy thing to defeat
them, huh?"

"More or less, yes."

Akira seemed to be thinking about something else, so

Alpha paused there before she asked him again.

"Was that explanation not enough? Do you want me to

explain in more detail?"

Akira shook his head.

"No, that's good enough. At least now I understand that

you didn't judge I could win that fight out of some vague
reasons."

"Oh my, how rude. There's no way I would guarantee

your safety out of some vague reasons, you know."

"My bad. I got to understand a lot of things since I started

taking your lesson. Just think of it as the result of my
growth, you have my thanks."

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad to hear that. If you question
my instruction, it would be troublesome during a
dangerous situation, you see."

"Yeah, I know. I just got a little bit curious there. Well,

compared to this mountain of old-world relics, it doesn't
really matter though. Although it was dangerous, it was
worth the risk."

"That's true, let's carry back as much as we can."

"Yeah."
 Akira returned to his job stuffing old-world relics into his
rucksack.

Akira's question was not fully answered yet. To be more

precise, although his last question was answered, it only led
to more questions that were still unanswered. He
understood the basis of Alpha's judgement, but he still had
no idea why she used those as the basis of her judgement.

The old-world factories that were considered as old-world

relics were still producing autonomous weapons even right
now. Normally, the blueprints used to produce those
monsters and the program installed inside their control
units should be a secret. There should not be that many
people who had access to them even during the time when
those factories were built, and of course, there should be
even fewer people who knew those secrets now.

But for some reason, Alpha knew about them. Akira

thought that he should be able to know the reason if he just
asked her, but he decided to hold himself back from asking
that question. It was because he felt that Alpha would not
want him to ask that question.

Alpha did ask him for confirmation back then. That was
because she actually did not want Akira to ask that.

Alpha was actually under a leash. There were things that

she could not do without Akira's permission, so it was only
to be expected that she had other limitations too. That might
also be the reason why she could not say no when Akira
asked her that question, she might only be able to give a
vague answer to point out that he would regret knowing the
answer to his question.

That was why Akira did not pursue any further. He felt
like if he asked that question, Alpha might turn hostile
against him, that's why he decided to just shelf that
question.

All the questions that welled up thanks to his curiosity

were starting to leak out. Nonetheless, Akira continued to
suppress them. After all, compared to the usefulness of
Alpha's support, those questions were worth nothing to him.
Or at least, that was the case for now.

The real reason as to why Alpha told Akira to fight those

autonomous monsters was simply to give Akira a good feel
of how great her support was, it was to strengthen that
impression on him. Though, Akira did not realize that at all.
 Chapter 105: Akira and Carol

Akira filled his relic rucksack up to the brim, he then once

again headed to the Lion Steel Corp branch office on 57th
floor. This time, since he was carrying a rucksack filled with
relics, it was hard for him to walk through the small hallway
with that rucksack on his back.

On his way there, he saw all kinds of things; some of the

floors were properly maintained while some of the floors
seemed abandoned. Akira seemed to be a bit bothered by
those scenes and he asked Alpha.

"Alpha, why aren't all of them in the same condition?"

"I think it's because of the cleaning drone, or to be more

precise, because it depends on whether the maintenance
drone is still active or not."

"So basically, the floors are decrepit because the

maintenance drones in those floors are inactive, huh. But
there were some shops that looked clean yet there were no
relics inside though. I guess that means the drones won't go
as far as to replenish the relics. But then again, some shops
are still filled with relics, so why is that?"

"Those shops might have a self-replenish function."

"And who would replenish those relics?"

"I bet some drones carry them from a still-active factory

somewhere."

"No no no, if there's a factory nearby, someone would

have discovered it by now, right? It would definitely cause a
big ruckus when the companies or the Hunters flood that
place..."

"That factory might be located somewhere very far

away, even somewhere near the frontline and no one has
found it yet. Either that, or it's located somewhere near but
the security is so powerful that they can't seize that place.
There are many possible explanations."

"Hmmm. If that's the case, I bet the Hunters would attack

those drones on their way here though."

"They might be guarded by some special escorts. Or they

might be using the underground train to carry the relics.
Or might even be flying through the sky."

"Underground train, huh. That sounds plausible. The

Hunters would not be able to attack them in the
underground tunnel after all."

Excluding some special transportations, the main

transportation used in the Eastern district was all above
ground. That's why Akira naturally thought that they would
have used above-ground transportation. After all, even
Katsuragi frequented the frontline using his trailer. But
those drones should be able to use other types of
transportation with the help of the old-world technology, as
such, Akira did not further question that possibility.

As Akira was spending time talking with Alpha while

climbing the stairs, he was once again greeted by a
reinforced door leading to the 26th floor. So just like last
time, he went to look for another stair on the 25th floor. But
this time, there was something different.

"Akira, be careful. Someone is here."

 Alpha pointed her finger toward the hallway, Akira's
goggle that was showing the information from his
information-gathering device also indicated that it detected
something over there.

As Akira moved forward carefully, that person finally

noticed Akira too. It was not rare to meet another Hunter
inside the old-world ruin, but the real problem was whether
that Hunter was friendly or not.

If that Hunter decided to steer clear and kept his or her

distance, then there was no need to get bothered by that. But
as Akira thought so, that Hunter was instead coming toward
him.

The 25th floor was a pretty decrepit floor, there were

wreckages and rubbles scattered around the place and
someone was using those rubbles to hide themselves while
approaching Akira. When Akira pointed his rifle at that
person, that person suddenly spoke from behind the rubble.

"I have no wish to fight you. My name is Carol, I'm a

Hunter. I'm not a monster, so don't shoot, okay?"

Akira was receiving Alpha's support at that moment, so he

thought that there was no need to be overly cautious since it
might cause them to quickly become enemies. So, he slowly
lowered his rifle.

"Alright."

Right after Akira said that, a girl who introduced herself

as Carol came out from behind a pile of rubble.

She was wearing a bodysuit customised for women. A

huge hand-held cannon was dangling on her holster, she was
not carrying anything in both of her hands at the moment,
not even a knife.

Compared to Akira, who was carrying CWH anti-material

rifle and DVTS minigun, Carol was very lightly armed and
looked rather careless about her own safety.

Looking at Carol's behaviour, it could be inferred that she

was either so strong that she could be casual or that she was
just a careless fool. Akira thought that she was the former.
After all, she was inside a building that had given him a hard
time just to get in. Akira had no plans to underestimate her,
but looking at how she approached him empty-handed,
Akira also lowered his guard.

Carol smiled as she walked toward Akira. She then

scanned Akira's equipment from his augmented suit, CWH
anti-material rifle, and his whole appearance before
returning her gaze back to his face.

"I've given my name, so like, can you at least tell me

yours?"

"It's Akira. So then, why are you talking to me?"

"Well, there's no particular reason. I'm just here to say

hello to another Hunter inside the same building and on the
same floor. After all, you don't want either of us to shoot at
each other thinking that the other person is a monster,
right?"

"Well, you're right about that."

Akira agreed with that opinion and it was the right answer
for those who wanted to avoid fighting. He unconsciously
lowered his guard further. Carol noticed that and took
another step closer to him.
 "Well, since we've met here, how about we talk for a bit? I
want to do some information exchange too after all."

Carol smiled at Akira as she made that suggestion.

Akira and Carol then did a light introduction to each

other. It seemed that Carol was a Hunter who frequented the
Mihazono ruin and she had visited this building a couple of
times before.

Akira then asked about the hologram girl that he met on

the first floor. If Carol had really explored that building for
numerous times, she might know something that he did not
know.

But Carol just casually said.

"Oh, you're talking about Seranthal, huh? You can just

ignore her. Although she says a lot of things to you, she can't
do anything else than that."

"Seranthal? Isn't that the name of this building...?"

"She's an artificial intelligence in charge of this building.

She will warn you to get out of the building, but in the end,
she's just a hologram, so she won't be able to hurt you at all.
The most she could do is just stopping the elevator."

"Wait, so it's her fault that I can't use the elevator?"

"Maybe, yep. Although, honestly, it would be a huge help

to explore this building with still-active facilities if we can
use that elevator. But since it doesn't seem that Seranthal
would accept any negotiations, that would be impossible.
Well, it's true that from her point of view, we are nothing but
robbers, so I guess it can't be helped."
 Carol then smiled, Akira smiled bitterly back at her.

"You're right about that. By the way, how did you get in
here? The entrance of this building is guarded by those
bothersome powerful monsters, so like, you shouldn't be
able to get in here without defeating them first, right?"

Akira thought that there might be another safer route that

he could take to avoid fighting those monsters, or it might be
just because of his usual bad luck.

Carol made a rather smug expression, she then smiled at

Akira as if she was teasing him and said.

"Since you asked me that question, it means that you

defeated those monsters, right? You're pretty good, aren't
you? You're quite strong, and I do like strong Hunters."

"Well, thanks. So then, how did you get in here?"

"This building actually has a backdoor, you see. And I

used that to get in here, do you want to know?"

Carol smiled mischievously at Akira.

Akira was relieved to know that he did not waste his

ammo only because of his bad luck. He then said.

"Yeah, if you would tell me."

Carol smiled bewitchingly.

"It won't be free, you know. Let's see, how about

5,000,000 Aurum? I think it's pretty cheap for a piece of
information that would let you get in here without fighting
those powerful monsters, right?"
 Akira thought for a bit, it was true that it was a cheap
price considering that he would not have to fight those
powerful monsters every time he wanted to visit that
building.

But Akira might not be visiting that building ever again.

After all, the only reason why he came there was for the Lion
Steel Corporation's information terminal and not for
gathering relics.

In the first place, if he had trouble getting to that place, it

simply meant that he was not ready to go there, that was all
there was to it. Thus he refused that offer.

"Thank you for the offer, but no."

Carol's smile did not vanish.

"Oh my, you don't like the price? Or you can't trust me?"

"At least, I don't think it's the amount of money that you
would normally pay to a Hunter whom you just met in an
old-world ruin."

"That's true. But I won't give you any information unless

you pay me. After all, there are people who try to run away
after getting information out from me, you see."

"Yeah, I bet there are people who would do that."

Every person had a different way of judging the price of a

piece of information. And there were a lot of factors that
decided whether 2 people could make a deal or not, the trust
between each other was one of them.

If that information from Carol could really help Akira

getting inside the Seranthal building without fighting the
powerful autonomous weapons, 5,000,000 Aurum was
actually not a huge sum of money. But there were chances
that Carol was lying or the backdoor was too small for him to
carry relics out from that building.

Moreover, Akira had no reason to trust Carol nor to make

a deal with her.

It was obvious to Carol too that Akira had no plans to

accept that offer. She kept her smile up as she said to him.

"But I guess that applies to me too, huh. I can understand

that you're hesitating to pay me money. So, in order to
deepen our trust for each other, how about we make another
deal before talking about buying that information again?"

"Another deal? If it's about relics, I'm gathering them

myself, so I won't buy any from you. I've also properly
explored the other floors, so I won't buy any information
about hidden rooms too."

Carol smiled bewitchingly.

"That's not it, I did say that it's to deepen our trust, right?

She then grabbed her bodysuit's fastener, which ran from

under her neck down to her stomach, and lowered it down
while smiling at Akira.

"I'm selling myself, what do you think? This must be some

kind of fate to meet here, so I'll only ask a cheap price."

Akira could see Carol's skin through a small opening in

her bodysuit that wrapped her whole body, She was showing
her skin to Akira while smiling at him, trying to seduce him.
 Akira was a bit surprised by that sudden unexpected turn
of events, but that was all. He did not get embarrassed nor
flustered. He just casually refused Carol's offer.

"No thanks. That aside, it won't be strange to find a

monster somewhere near, you know? Are you really okay in
the head?"

"If that's what you're worried about, it's alright. There

won't be any monsters here normally. Either it's because this
place is outside the mechanical monsters' patrol area or that
they already abandoned this building, as for the biological
monsters, the mechanical monsters out there guarding this
place would kill them before they can get in here. There's no
way I would do something like this in the first place if that's
not the case, you know."

"Even if you say so, we're still in the middle of an old-

world ruin. There might be another Hunter around."

Carol, who already unfastened the fastener on her

bodysuit all the way down, sat on a table near her and tried
to seduce Akira.

"There are people who get more excited about doing it in

places like this. I myself don't really mind, but if you're
bothered by it, we can go to a small room somewhere.
Moreover, if we become comfortable with each other, it
might help me loosen my mouth, you know. And if you're
seriously thinking of actually buying that information, I
might give you a taste for free."

Since Carol kept putting out better and better offers, Akira
actually started to get suspicious of her.

"You seem to be pretty motivated doing this. If my

intention is to deceive you and not buy that information, you
would lose quite a lot, you know?"

"I did tell you, remember? I like strong Hunters. So I'll at

least do this much to invite a Hunter who can defeat those
powerful monsters outside all by himself."

"Why do you assume I did that alone? I might have done

that with the help of other Hunters."

"That's just my guess. It's highly unlikely for you to

explore this ruin that you don't know much all alone. If you
came here with someone else, although it might not be as
strong as those monsters guarding outside, you should've
been exploring this ruin with the assumption that there are
powerful monsters inside this building, right? But even so,
you're here alone, that's why I assume that you've defeated
those monsters outside alone too, was I mistaken? Is it that
you actually came here with a team of 10 Hunters or so and
the leader told you to go ahead and explore this building,
that's why you're here although you don't want to be? If
that's the case, then it won't be free. After all, that would
mean that you're not a strong Hunter. So, what is your
answer?"

Carol was smiling while waiting for Akira's answer. Akira

thought that it would be pointless trying to lie.

"No, I came here alone."

"I knew it. I have confidence in my deduction skill, you

see. So, if you're still bothered by me offering myself for free,
you don't need to worry about that. Once you have a taste,
I'm sure you'll be back for more. And don't worry, I'll help
you squeeze out a lot of things from you for a long time."

Carol smiled seductively when she said that.

 Akira more or less understood her reasoning, but for
some reason, there was something that was still bothering
him. So he turned to Alpha.

『Alpha, what do you think?』

Alpha was surprised.

"What do you mean by that? Akira, are you seriously

thinking of taking her offer?"

According to Alpha's calculation, Akira would definitely

refuse. But since he said something that sounded as if he
would accept it, Alpha immediately put up her guard.

But in reality, Akira's reaction there was still under

Alpha's prediction.

『 That's not what I meant. You did say before that you
can tell if someone is lying, right? So I'm just asking that
from your point of view, do you think that she's lying? For
example, is she actually planning to bring me somewhere
and kill me or something?』

Something like that was common even in the dangerous

areas outside the city and since they were in the middle of
ruin, it would be an easy thing to just throw the corpse
somewhere. If that was the case, then Akira would need to
carefully watch his back when he left that place.

"Ahhh, so that's what you meant."

Alpha was relieved now that she understood why Akira

asked that question. Akira was still as distorted and
paranoid as usual to the point that he was suspecting an
unknown girl, who was inviting him, was actually planning
to kill him.
 Alpha's face turned to her usually calm face.

"I'll put this out first, I do that by watching the slight

change in people's faces, so it's not like I can really read
their minds. It's true that she seems to be scheming
something. She said that she's offering herself to you for
free because she wants to get you addicted to her and leech
off your money though."

Akira took a look at Carol again. Carol was a young girl

with a good body and beautiful face, then to top it off, she
was smiling with confidence to seduce him. Looking from
his point of view, it was understandable to find former
Hunters who got addicted to her and spent all of their
money on her.

『 Whatever it is, it won't be much trouble as long as I

don't take her offer.』

"That's true."

Akira once again refused Carol's offer.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to refuse."

Carol looked obviously surprised. It was rare for someone

to refuse her offer after she went that far.

"Geez, you're no fun. Or is it that you actually hate

something like this? Although you're not adult yet, you're
not that young to be so innocent, right?"

"I'm at an age where I still prefer food over women.

Moreover, a lot of things happened to me in the ruins and
I've been living a rather cowardly life until now. That's why I
have no plans to let go of my rifles or to take off my
augmented suit here."
 Carol immediately gave up seducing Akira, she
understood that there were Hunters out there who got hurt
so badly in the ruins that it made them paranoid to the point
they would never let go of their rifles. It was extremely
dangerous to force those Hunters to let go of their rifles.

"Is that so? That's just too bad. We Hunters can die
anytime and since you're my type, I just thought to give you
a good time, that's all."

Carol was being honest when she said that, but the things
that she could not say out loud were kept inside her heart as
she smiled bitterly at Akira. She then pulled back the
fastener on her bodysuit all the way up while looking at
Akira, it did not seem that he showed any regret at all.

———If it's a boy of his age, it should be easy to bait him

using his desire but... Is it that he's actually younger than
he looks?

Carol looked at Akira with curiosity. But she could not see
that someone with a more voluptuous body and in a sexier
suit was standing next to that Akira.

It was rather vague whether Akira refused because of the

anti-honeytrap training from Alpha, or it was because of his
originally distorted personality.

Akira then decided to leave Carol and head to his original

objective, the 57th floor.

"I need to get back exploring the building, later then."

"Is that so? I'll be staying around here for the time being,
so if you change your mind, just look for me. I'll be waiting
for you."
 Carol just said that and lightly waved at Akira.

***

After Akira left Carol, he went back to searching a

staircase on the 25th floor. Now that he remembered it, he
should have asked Carol if she knew where he could find the
staircase on the 25th floor, but he decided not to turn back
to look for her. After all, it would be a hassle if she
misunderstood and thought that he had changed his mind.

It did not take long before Akira found a stair, but it only
went up until the 30th floor. The door to the 31st floor was
shut close.

Akira sighed.

"Again, huh? What a pain in the neck."

"It can't be helped. Let's look for another stair."

Akira then started exploring the 30th floor. He did not

spot any monsters at all. Carol might have said the truth
when she told Akira that there was no monster inside that
building. Akira lowered his guard as he was exploring that
floor.

Alpha suddenly told Akira with a stern face.

"Akira, move over there and stop."

Alpha was pointing at a location not too far from him. He

glanced at Alpha's expression and moved forward carefully
to the location that she was pointing at.

"Alpha, is it more enemies? According to Carol, there

shouldn't be any monsters inside..."
 "It's not monsters, but don't lower your guard."

Akira followed Alpha's instruction, he kept his guard up

as he moved carefully. He did not feel any abnormality, he
did not see anything strange, and there was nothing detected
in his information-gathering device. But he did not lower his
guard, he thought that there must be something that caused
Alpha to tell him to be careful.

Alpha's face turned serious. Akira understood that it

meant he was in a dangerous situation.

"...As I thought, the accuracy of your information-

gathering device is bad, and it keeps falling down even
right now. Is this from the colourless mist?"

Akira frowned the moment he heard something from

Alpha that he could not just let slip.

"Alpha, is it the colourless mist?"

"The accuracy of your information-gathering device has

been falling for a while now. I thought that it's to be
expected to have some disruptions due to the building's
structure or the relics inside this building, that's why I've
been ignoring it. But it's already falling so bad that such an
explanation won't work anymore. If it's really just because
of where you're standing, there should be some change
after you move to a different place, but that didn't work.
That's why it must be because of something else and I guess
that's because of the colourless mist. The colourless mist
must have suddenly gotten thicker, that's the only guess
that I can come up with."

Although Akira still looked stern, he asked a question to

Alpha as if he was trying to calm himself down.
 "Something like that is completely expected to happen
inside an old-world ruin. Moreover, it's not like it's fatal,
right?"

"At the moment, yes. But it'll be really bad if the accuracy
keeps on falling like this."

"There's nothing we can do about it, let's just move on

carefully."

Akira calmly replied with that.

Alpha, who once saw how Akira got so flustered when he

knew that the colourless mist around him was suddenly
getting thick, just smiled and said to him.

"Oh my, you're pretty calm, aren't you? I thought that it

might cause you to panic if I delay it for too long, that's
why I decided to tell you sooner than usual, but it seems
that it was not needed, huh?"

"It's not like the situation will get better if I panic here,
you know. I just need to move carefully so I won't get killed.
Thank you for telling me sooner than usual, thanks to that, I
can handle the situation much calmer."

"I see, that's good to hear. You've really grown stronger,

I'm really happy to see that."

"...Right, thanks."

For some reason, Alpha sounded like she was actually

teasing Akira, so he just replied back casually to her. But in
reality, Alpha knew that he forced himself to reply casually
to hide his embarrassment.

***
 When Akira was on the 10th floor, there were other
Hunters gathered near the Seranthal building.

Akira's battle with autonomous weapons was a rather big

fight. Because of that, most of the Hunters in the Mihazono
ruin noticed that fight.

When Hunters defeated the powerful monsters guarding

the Seranthal building, there were basically 2 types of
Hunters who entered that building.

The first type was those Hunters who worked together to

defeat the powerful autonomous weapons, they would send
some Hunters from their team into the Seranthal building
after their battle. While that small group of Hunters was
gathering relics inside the building, the rest of the Hunters
would stand guard on the building's entrance to prevent any
other Hunters from entering.

It was in order to avoid having to fight against other

Hunters over the relics as well as to prevent other Hunters
from leeching off their hard work of defeating the guardian
monsters. After all, there were many Hunters who were
thinking of taking some relics out from the Seranthal
building without helping to defeat the powerful monsters
guarding that place.

Ammo expense, medical expense, wage cost, it basically

took a lot of money to defeat those powerful autonomous
weapons. So in order to end up with a profit after the battle,
they could not afford to let other Hunters leeching off relics
from them.

Those Hunters who could defeat the powerful

autonomous weapons were basically strong Hunters, so if
they guarded the entrance to the Seranthal building, the
other Hunters could not get in. And when they left that
building, the powerful monsters would be back guarding
that building again in no time.

While the second type of Hunters who would get into that
building showed themselves when there was a small opening
left by those Hunters who were guarding the building. At the
exact moment when the small group of Hunters that was
previously sent to scavenge the building returned back to the
entrance, these second type of Hunters would focus their
firepower to open a hole in the security net to let their own
group of Hunters slip through. It was the preferred way of
sending Hunters into that building for those groups which
were confident in their concentrated firepower.

Whichever it was, it was difficult to send Hunters into the

building except for the original group who defeated the
powerful monsters guarding it. But if someone successfully
did that, they would be able to get back rewards worth of all
that hard work.

There were also Hunters who tried to negotiate with the

Hunters guarding the entrance. There were also Hunters
who used the smallest opening that they could find to charge
head-on. While on the other hand, there were also Hunters
who sneaked around to carry the wreckages of the
autonomous weapons in secret.

Although it was rare, there were Hunters who exhausted

their resources to defeat the powerful autonomous weapons
and headed back home right after that. The reason was
unclear, it might be just out of a whim, or they might be just
venting their stress on those monsters, or it might be just
those Hunters testing the new weapons developed by some
corporations.

But all of those reasons were of no importance to the

other Hunters. The most important thing was that the other
Hunters would have a good chance to enter that Seranthal
building after someone defeated the guardian monsters. The
other Hunters in Mihazono ruin hoped that would be the
case when they noticed that big battle between Akira and the
mechanical monsters. That was why a lot of Hunters came to
the Seranthal building to check.

One of the scout Hunters who was sent ahead checked the
front entrance of the Seranthal building. He then confirmed
the wreckages of the autonomous weapons and checked if
there were any other Hunters guarding that place. After he
finished, he contacted his other friends with a big smile.

"It's me!! Tell the others too, quickly!! The monsters

guarding the Seranthal building are dead! And there's no
Hunter guarding the entrance! We can get the relics from
the building or carry the wreckage, either way, it'll bring us a
lot of money!! ...Ah, and also! Come here, quickly!! Before
the other Hunters come here first!! I saw some of the other
Hunters scouting this place too!! Hurry up!"

Just like him, there were other Hunters calling their

friends to hurry over. That place was quickly filled with
Hunters in no time. Some of them were carrying the
wreckages of the dead autonomous weapons that Akira
defeated while some of them went inside the building
hunting for relics. In short, all the Hunters in that place were
busy.

When some of those Hunters just went ahead to explore

the building, there were some who just waited on the first
floor for their other friends to arrive. Seranthal, the
holographic girl, kept giving warning to those Hunters.

『...Dear customer. The building is closed at the moment,

so we can't allow anyone without the proper authorization to
enter. So please leave the building... Warning. The facility is
guarded by security allowed to kill in case of illegal
intruders. So please leave this place...』

For those Hunters who already knew about Seranthal

building and that holographic girl, they just ignored that
warning.

But there were Hunters who could not ignore her. One of
those Hunters was waiting on the first floor for his friends to
arrive, but since his friends were taking too long, he started
to get more and more irritated. Although at first, he was
ignoring Seranthal, the repeated warning from her drove
that Hunter mad and he eventually blew.

"Good grief!! Just shut up!!"

『Warning, the building is...』

"Shut up!!!"

He then pointed his rifle at Seranthal. Although he knew

well there was no meaning in doing that to a hologram, he
still pulled the trigger. He was basically that irritated.

The bullet flew through that hologram and hit the wall
behind her. Fortunately enough, there was nobody there, so
no one got hurt.

But releasing a shot in that place was a serious matter.

The other Hunters around him immediately pointed their
rifles at him, he panicked and raised both of his hands.

"I-I'm sorry! She's just so noisy that I couldn't hold it

back! That was all!! I'm sorry, okay!"

"...You're a dead man the next time you do that."

 The other Hunters looked at him full of killing intent. Of
course, he wanted to avoid any needless conflict too. It was a
rare chance to be able to get into that building, so he had no
plans to waste an opportunity to strike it rich without much
struggle. Thanks to that, he was barely able to get out alive
from that situation. If that shot had hit someone, he would
have been dead by now.

"O-Okay, I understand. I'm sorry."

He just kept on apologizing. The other Hunters around

him then clicked their tongue and lowered their rifles. He
finally could let out a sigh of relief.

Because of that incident, no one was paying any attention

to Seranthal's warning. Even when Seranthal changed her
warning, no one there noticed it.

『Confirmed multiple intruders. Confirmed the intruders

trying to kill the employees and staff of the building.
Confirmed the destruction of the building. Changing to
protocol D. Die you scum!』

After Seranthal said something that was unthinkable to be

said to a customer, she quickly vanished. Not too long after
she vanished, some Hunters in that area noticed that
Seranthal had gone. But no one was bothered by that at all.
 Chapter 106: Ghoul Building

When Akira was talking with Carol on the 25th floor, a

small change started to happen around the Seranthal
building. Or to be more precise, a change had already started
and the Hunters in that area had noticed it.

Some of the Hunters there chose to carry the leftover

wreckages of the dead autonomous weapons. Rather than
risking having to fight the other Hunters over the relics
inside that building, these Hunters chose to harvest the
leftover wreckages of the autonomous weapons that Akira
had defeated.

They had no idea who defeated those monsters, but since

that person just left them there, they assumed these
wreckages must be trash for said person. Those Hunters
thought that person must have ignored those wreckages
aiming for the relics inside the Seranthal building.

Those Hunters were guarding their prized loots while

waiting for the arrival of the truck to carry the wreckages.
They kept checking their information-gathering device and
killed any small fry mechanical monsters that approached
them. They were planning to carry those wreckages, so they
could not let other mechanical monsters consume their
prized find.

At first, they looked relaxed, but their expression

suddenly changed, a look of astonishment flashed on their
faces. There were quite a lot of mechanical monsters heading
their way, and the number just kept increasing endlessly.

One of them then said.

 "Hey, something is strange, don't you think? Why are so
many of them coming here?"

"I heard that those powerful monsters guarding the

Seranthal building will always be back not too long after you
kill them. So the mechanical monsters might be swarming
here to gather the wreckages to rebuild these guardian
monsters. I guess, if we take into consideration the size of
the guardian monsters, it's to be expected that they would
need to bring a lot of those small mechanical monsters to
carry these huge wreckages."

"I see, that does make sense."

"These wreckages might contain something valuable that

they're trying to retrieve it, so I'm sure these wreckages will
fetch a lot of money."

As they imagined the amount of money that they might

earn, those Hunters started to smile.

The Hunter who was worrying also smiled after hearing

what his friend said. The mechanical monsters coming to
their direction were all weak monsters, so he thought that he
must have been overthinking it. When that guy thought so,
suddenly a loud bang echoed from afar. It was immediately
followed by repeated gunshots. It was the sound of Hunters
fighting monsters.

The source of that sound was moving closer and closer to

those Hunters waiting for the truck. They eventually could
see some Hunters running toward their direction.

The guy who was so worried just now was utterly

dumbfounded as he said.

"A-Aren't there too many of them!?"

 There was a swarm of monsters following behind those
Hunters, who were running toward the Seranthal building.
The Hunters who were desperately fighting those monsters
were swallowed one by one by that swarm. Distorted by the
fear, the Hunters used grenades and explosives at a close
range, close enough to even injure themselves. Those
explosions would take out a bunch of monsters and open a
hole in that swarm, but it did not take long for that hole to
be covered by monsters again.

The Hunters around Seranthal building started shouting

at each other.

"R-Run away!!"

That guy shouted as if he was saying to everyone in that

area.

"R-Run away? To where exactly!?"

The mechanical monsters were swarming the Seranthal

building from all directions, there was no opening where the
Hunters could run to. All of the Hunters in that area were
running toward the only location where they might have any
survival chance, it was the only location where they might be
able to defend themselves, it was the Seranthal building.

All the Hunters who were still alive outside the Seranthal
building quickly gathered inside the building, they were able
to temporarily push back the swarm. The entrance to the
Seranthal building turned into a bottleneck, the Hunters
focused their fires there to repel the monsters that were
trying to enter the building.

But suddenly, the mechanical monsters made a huge

push, as if they gathered their numbers first before
delivering the push. They kept pushing forward no matter
how many of their fellow mechanical monsters were killed in
front of them. As the monster swarm kept pushing their way
into that building, they shoved the wreckages of their dead
brethren aside to open up a road or just trampled them into
small pieces and slowly closed the distance between them
and the Hunters.

A Hunter suddenly shouted.

"Hey!! Someone, just anyone, relay the situation to the

other Hunters upstairs!! It's not the time to be looking for
relics!!"

"We've already been doing that!! But we can't get any

contact at all!! Is it the colourless mist?!!"

"Hah?!! Why now of all time?!!"

"Hell if I know!! I can't do anything about it, I just can't

contact them!!"

Without the help of the Hunters who were looking for

relics upstairs, the Hunters in the first floor had no chance
of winning. But since they could not get any contact, they
could not call for help.

"...It can't be helped, I'll go and call them back."

One of the Hunters said that and left the other Hunters.

"I-I'll go too!"

"Me too!!"

Some of the Hunters followed suit and left that place.

 The first guy really went to call the other Hunters to get
back, but that was not the case for the other Hunters who
followed him. They were just running away from that place,
thinking that it was too dangerous to stay there. They
wanted to get into safety since it was safer to join the rest of
the Hunters who were hunting for relics upstairs.

Then, some of the Hunters who noticed that also followed

behind them with the same excuse rather than trying to stop
them. Although it was only a portion of the Hunters there
that went upstairs, it was enough to make the frontline
crumble.

The monsters that were held back until now quickly

flooded into the building. They used their cannons, guns,
and their powerful mechanical bodies to kill the Hunters.
The Hunters who could not stand the situation started
running away out of fear and the ones who were trying to
hold the monsters on the first floor were overwhelmed as
they slowly retreated to the second floor.

It only took a few seconds for the monsters to completely

seize the first floor.

***

Akira was searching the 30th floor. Since his information-

gathering device was getting less and less sensitive, he
continued his search carefully to make sure that he would
not get ambushed. Alpha was guiding him to take the safest
route while looking for a stair to go up.

"Akira, it's about the sensitivity of your information-

gathering device... It seems that it's not because of the
colourless mist."
 Akira looked happy, but his expression quickly turned
into one of confusion.

"That's good to hear... Right? Wait, it's not like the

sensitivity returned back to normal either, huh?"

"Yes, the sensitivity is falling down even now. I think it's

because of this building."

"This building? But didn't you say just now that it has
nothing to do with this building?"

"What I meant back then is the layout of the rooms and

the hallways inside this building. It's not limited to the old-
world ruin alone; when the government or big
corporations negotiate about some secret stuff, they would
use a special room that prevents any information from
leaking out in any forms to the outside of that room. And
we're in a similar situation to that, it's highly difficult to
even scan your surroundings using your information-
gathering device at the moment. If my guess is correct, this
building might have some kind of feature that blocks
signals."

"So you mean that signal blocking function suddenly

turned on, huh. But why so suddenly?"

"I have no answer to that question."

Akira stopped and thought. He then asked Alpha with a

serious expression.

"Should we pull back for now? Although we can't get to

our main goal, I've already gathered quite a lot of old-world
relics today."
 Alpha thought for a bit before answering that question
with a big smile.

"If you think so, then let's retreat. I guess it's better to cut
it short before your bad luck goes off again."

"Roger that."

Akira smiled bitterly and turned around, just when he was

about to swing his leg forward, Alpha suddenly signalled
him to stop.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone is coming. That person is running in this

direction, it seems that he's in a hurry. At this rate, he will
reach here soon."

Akira pointed his gun in the direction where Alpha told

him that person was coming from. It was to be safe just in
case if it was an ambush.

But that person was Carol. As she was running through

the hallway, she spotted Akira and shouted at him while still
running.

"——Akira!! Help me!! Do something about them!!"

As Akira peeked behind Carol, he could see small

mechanical monsters with half-destroyed bodies chasing
her. He found that weird, but he decided to at least give
Carol a help.

"Are you out of ammo!? Get out from my shooting line!"

Carol quickly ran out of Akira's line of sight. Akira then

aimed at those monsters using his A2D rifle and shot them.
As the piercing bullets hit the monsters' half-destroyed
bodies, it turned them to scraps and blew them to pieces.

Akira could only consider those monsters as weak and

started to ponder.

——If they were this weak, Carol should be able to defeat

them without my help, there was no need to ask for my
help.

He found that weird as he mumbled. "If it's only that

much, she should have done something about them herself
—"

—But before he could even finish his sentence. A swarm of

monsters suddenly gushed in from the hallway where Carol
came from.

Akira quickly pulled out his DVTS minigun and showered

those monsters with bullets. Although it was able to make
quick work for the smaller mechanical monsters with weak
armour, the monsters with thicker armours kept pushing
forward against the raining bullets.

When Akira was about to change to his CWH anti-

material rifle, Carol who had already stood beside him shot
them first. The bullet that she shot pierced the monster's
thick armour and sent it flying back. It only took one shot to
kill that thick armoured monster. Although she was using
nothing but a hand cannon, it might have the same
firepower as a CWH anti-material rifle. But she could not
use it for continuous shooting, thus it was not a suitable gun
to fight a swarm.

"We need to run away!"

 After Carol said that, she immediately started running
again, leaving Akira behind.

Akira quickly followed Carol, Alpha was floating beside

him while smiling bitterly.

"It seems that we're too late. Akira, your bad luck is
really fast."

『You can say that again!!』

Akira was chasing Carol with an irritated face.

Unlike Akira, who came to the Seranthal building for the

first time, Carol had come there numerous times in the past,
thus she was able to keep running without getting lost.

Although the situation inside that building was

completely different from what Carol had known, Carol
placed her bet that the layout of the building did not change
as she kept running forward without checking whether there
were monsters in front of her or not. The monsters were
coming from below, so as long as the layout of the building
did not change, the monsters should not be able to circle
their way around Akira and Carol.

Akira was still running behind Carol when he asked her a

question.

"Carol, what's going on here? What happened

downstairs?"

"Mechanical monsters are gushing out from below. A

swarm of monsters is climbing the building while fighting
the Hunters on their way. They're having a fierce fight
downstairs, although it's not that bad, it's not a good idea to
go downstairs right now."
 "Is it that the other monsters from outside are coming
inside this building since I killed the monsters guarding this
building?"

"I don't know. Well, I guess that's the case for the
Hunters, but... I actually thought you used an opening in the
monsters guarding this place to kill some of them and
sneaked into this building, but judging from what you said
just now, you killed all of them, right? And you did that
alone on top of that. You're a really interesting fellow, how
did you kill those guardian monsters?"

Carol seemed to be honestly interested when she asked

that question, Akira's face turned stern as he said.

"I can't tell you. It's my secret trump card after all."

And even if Akira told Carol the truth, it would only end
up with Carol questioning his sanity or suspecting that he
was just simply lying. So he decided to deflect that question,
he did not tell any lie there.

It seemed that Carol was not expecting Akira would tell

her anyway, so she just smiled as she said.

"Is that so? If we're not in this situation, I would love to

spend more time to loosen your lips, but it's not the time for
that. And also, even if someone destroyed all the
autonomous weapons outside, it won't cause the other
mechanical monsters roaming the ruin to flood this
building."

After that, Carol's expression turned cloudy.

"...Or at least, that should not cause something like this.

The mechanical monsters inside the Mihazono ruin are
security drones with fixed patrol areas that they're
protecting, there's no way they would go outside their
designated area. That's why, in Mihazono ruin, you
sometimes can save yourself by entering a nearby building
when you encounter powerful monsters. Thanks to that, this
ruin is a relatively safe ruin for the Hunters to explore.
That's the real reason why so many Hunters frequent this
ruin, enough for the Hunter Office to build their branch in
this ruin."

Akira frowned and asked a question.

"Then why is this happening right now?"

Carol twitched a bit and then screamed.

"Like hell if I know!! That's how it has always been up

until now!! I've never found monsters inside this building
and the monsters outside have never tried to enter the
building!!! Even if those Hunters ran to this building from a
group of monsters, those monsters would not even try to
enter this building to chase those Hunters!! So if there's any
reason why this is happening, I want to know that reason
too!!"

Although there was no way for Akira and the other two to
know it, the reason was actually very simple. It was simply
because the manager of that building, Seranthal, had given
permission for those monsters to enter that building. And at
the same time, she also requested for reinforcements to take
out the intruders. Because of that, all the monsters in that
ruin answered that request and quickly gathered there to kill
all the Hunters inside.

Akira was still running as he said.

"As I thought, old-world ruin is really scary. No one can

say for sure what will happen."
 As Carol looked at Akira who was still calm, she regained
some of her calmness. She then smiled bitterly and said to
him.

"...You're right about that, I put too much trust on my

experience coming to this place."

Akira then asked another question.

"By the way, I understand that we can't head downstairs,

so where exactly are we heading now? It's not like we can
find a way to escape if we keep going upstairs, right? Are you
planning to make a stand somewhere? Or are you just
running randomly from those monsters?"

"Nope, I did tell you before, right? I know a backdoor,

we're going to use that backdoor to escape."

Akira was so surprised when he heard that unexpected

answer, he then asked another question.

"...So the backdoor that would allow us to escape this

building is located upstairs?"

"Well, I won't tell you to trust me. It's completely up to

you if you believe me or not... Of course, I won't tell you to
not follow me in this situation, after all, I'm sure that it's
meaningless even if I tell you so... Haah..."

Carol exasperatedly sighed.

If Akira kept following her, obviously, she would end up

guiding him to the location that she could sell for 5,000,000
Aurum. But she had no plans to tell him not to follow her
even if he did not pay her. In that situation where she was
being chased by a swarm of monsters, it would be bad if
Akira turned hostile too.
 As Carol was cursing her bad luck since she would be
losing a piece of information that she could have sold for a
huge amount of money, Akira suddenly said something that
she did not expect at all.

"If you tell me not to follow you, I'll go somewhere else

though. Should I do that?"

Carol suddenly stopped out of surprise. Because of that,

Akira could not stop in time and ran past her. He then
stopped in panic and looked back at her in surprise.

"Don't stop now. We need to run, right? Or is this where

the backdoor is?"

Carol looked at Akira with a face saying that she was both
surprised and suspicious. She then asked Akira a question
with a dead-serious tone.

"...Are you being serious?"

"Yeah. I have no plans to create more enemies in this

situation. You look pretty strong after all."

Carol stared at Akira. She was trying to judge if he was

lying from his tone and expression. Then according to her
experience, she found that Akira was being serious there.

Carol was quite surprised. Although she was in a rather

precarious situation, she ended up standing still in that place
for a few seconds.

Akira more or less had the same thought as Carol. He had

no time to deal with her in case she turned hostile in that
situation. But there, rather than thinking that they had no
other choice but to work together, Akira's line of thinking
was so twisted that he chose to keep his distance away from
others in case they started trying to kill each other for some
reason.

"...I'm not really sure what's going on in your head, but if

you're going to stay here, I'll go ahead and leave you."

After he said that, Akira immediately turned around and

was about to leave. If they stayed there, it was only a matter
of time before they would be swallowed by the incoming
swarm. So they had no other choice but to keep running at
the moment.

Seeing Akira start running ahead, leaving her behind,

Carol snapped back to reality. She then smiled and chased
Akira. Once she caught up with him, she smiled at him and
said in a good mood.

"This way."

Akira then said to her, just to make sure that she

understood.

"I won't pay you any money, you know?"

Even when Akira said those words that did not show any
wish to compromise, Carol kept smiling.

"I know, that's why, how about we make a deal instead? If

you escort me out alive, I'll not ask any payment for sharing
the information about the backdoor, what do you think?"

"So you would give away that 5,000,000 Aurum

information just for that? You're being rather generous
here."

"Well, it's not like I can bring any money to the afterlife
after all. That's why I don't plan to be stingy about it, I'll also
pay for your ammo expense."

It was a good thing if Carol would help to escape that

building, and Akira had nothing to complain about that deal.
Thus he immediately replied.

"Alright."

Carol smiled.

"We have a deal then. I'll be counting on you, be sure to

properly protect me, okay?"

Although it was a sudden request, it did not change the

fact that it was still a request. So Akira answered back firmly.

"You don't even need to tell me. Since I've accepted that
request, I'll be sure to do it properly."

"That sounds so reassuring."

They then continued running inside that building with

Carol guiding the way smiling.

As someone who had already explored that building

several times in the past, Carol was able to navigate inside
that building which had a complex layout without getting
lost. As for the monsters that were closing up from behind, it
was Akira's job to deal with them.

It was obvious from a look that the mechanical monsters

were designed for killing purposes rather than being
equipped for apprehending people. These monsters were
equipped with wheels on their legs to ride over rubbles,
which allowed them to quickly close their distance to Akira.
Considering that there were a lot of obstacles scattered
inside that building, they were traversing the building at a
relatively high speed.

Akira aimed and shot those legs before starting to run

again. After losing their mobility, those monsters were
turned into extra obstacles blocking the hallway. Akira
accurately shot those monsters down one by one, and thanks
to Alpha's detection support, there was no need for him to
look back to take a careful aim. When he released his shot,
he just turned back without losing much momentum,
released a shot, and then ran again to catch up with Carol.

Carol saw Akira's skill and smiled.

——As expected of someone who can kill all the guardian

monsters alone, he's indeed strong. It's rather amazing for
someone his age. Well, that's of course if he's as young as he
looks.

There were many Hunters whose age couldn't be

determined with a look. Their body was the main tool for the
Hunters, thus it was not rare for Hunters to take anti-ageing
treatment to maintain their bodies in tip-top shape. The
medicines that they consumed might also have effects on
their cells. Sometimes, it accelerated their ageing, and
sometimes, it had the opposite effect. Of course, they could
reverse that through treatment, but there were Hunters who
intentionally did not take that treatment.

There were also Hunters with full cyborg bodies, these

Hunters had a completely different look compared to their
ages. After all, cyborgs could switch their bodies as many
times as they wanted, it was impossible to judge a cyborg's
age solely from the looks. Because of those reasons, there
were many Hunters who had completely different ages
compared to their outer appearances.
 As Carol was helping Akira shoot back at the monsters
chasing them, she asked him a question.

"Say, Akira, how old are you?"

"No idea."

Carol thought that Akira simply did not want to answer

that question.

"I see, well, if you don't want to tell me, I won't force you
though. After all, I'm also keeping my age a secret. I
sometimes gave a random answer when other people asked
about my age."

But Akira casually replied.

"That's not it, I really have no idea. I don't know my own

age, after all, I've spent quite a large portion of my life not
even knowing the current date. And no one ever told me
when I was born and how old I'm right now. That's why I
don't know my own age."

"...I see."

After hearing that, Carol decided not to pursue any

further. It was a common thing among the Hunters who
originated from the slum city to not know their own age.
And some of those Hunters did not like it when people
inquired.

Carol did not think that Akira was lying. Although it

sounded as if he just casually answered back, it might be just
him putting up a front. Whichever the case, it was not worth
antagonizing him just to pursue that question, thus she
asked a different question.
 "By the way, have you been doing Hunter jobs for a long
time? It's up to you to decide the starting line."

There were many Hunters who only started actively doing

Hunter jobs years after they received their Hunter ID. There
were also those who had been doing Hunter jobs for a long
time before actually getting formally registered as Hunters.
Then there were those who did not include the time when
they were below Rank 10 in their history as Hunters.

Because of that, many Hunters had different time spans

when they started doing Hunter jobs for real compared to
how long they registered themselves as Hunters. Some of
those Hunters were sensitive when asked about the period
when they started working as Hunters. Because of that,
Carol left it up to Akira to decide.

Akira hesitated for a bit before replying back.

"...Not that long. Pretty short, that's all I can say."

"Is that so? Then you're a fresh Hunter, huh. It's amazing
for a fresh Hunter to be as skilled as you."

"I just got lucky."

To be more precise, it was all thanks to Alpha. Akira

thought that he did not lie there since he did get lucky for
meeting Alpha.

Carol thought that Akira was trying to be humble, so she

teasingly said to him.

"Oh my, luck is also a skill, you know? Especially for us

who might get killed anytime."

Akira smiled bitterly.

 "Is that so? Then it means that my skill has really gotten
worse, huh."

"It's not a problem as long as you get to return back alive.

You have no plans to die here too, right?"

"Of course."

Akira and Carol hurried up to escape the situation that

they were in before they ran out of luck.

Thanks to Carol guiding him, Akira was able to quickly

find the stairs to go up. But just like last time, he
encountered a lot of locked doors preventing him from going
further, and every time that happened, they had no other
choice but to look for another stair in that floor.

Akira annoyedly mumbled.

"Why are there so many locked doors? Is it that someone

is bullying us or something?"

Carol giggled.

"If it's really someone bullying us, that would be Seranthal

then. According to her, as the manager of this building, this
building is actually closed after all. So I bet that originally all
of these doors were actually closed, the ones that are open
must have been opened forcefully by someone in the past."

"Ohhh, I see."

It was not an easy feat to open a locked old-world door.

Whether they opened it through brute force or through
hacking, either way, both required a ton of effort. There were
Hunters who set the doors so that only they could open
those doors, and there were Hunters who decided to just
tear those doors.

The doors that Carol and Akira were passing through were
doors that were left open either because they were torn
down or because their control panels were toasted. Of
course, there were no Hunters who would spare their
resources to fix those doors.

"Wait, does that mean that most of the doors on this floor
are locked?"

Carol confirmed Akira's guess.

"Unfortunately, that's indeed the case. We're aiming for

45th floor, but once we reach the 40th floor, we'll have to
change stairs every single floor up."

"I don't know who exactly opened these doors, but, did
they do that intentionally to make it more difficult climbing
this building? What a pain in the neck, what exactly were
they thinking?"

"They might intentionally do that so they can sell the map

of the layout at a high price."

"That sounds plausible."

The more difficult and confusing an area was, the higher

the price of the map of that area. After hearing Carol's
explanation, Akira thought that it did make sense as he
sighed.

Akira and Carol were shooting back at the mechanical

monsters chasing them while running. Thanks to Carol's
precise guide, they were able to get to their destination in
the shortest time and the monsters who tried to encircle
them could not get ahead of them. It caused Akira and Carol
to start assuming that the only monsters in that building
were all behind them.

Although it was only for a few seconds, Akira lowered his

watch to whatever that was in front of him. With all the
monsters coming from behind him, he had no leeway of
focusing his guard on what was in front of him. So, it would
be unfair to consider that as carelessness.

But it did not change the fact that they did not put much
attention to what was in front of them. It was then,
something happened.

Akira was climbing the stairs past the 40th floor behind
Carol who was right in front of him. When Carol saw that the
door to the 41st floor was locked, she quickly turned to the
door leading to the 40th floor.

—The moment she stepped into the 40th floor, Carol

immediately froze. Akira who came from behind her was
also the same. There were already multiple mechanical
monsters there waiting for them.

Those mechanical monsters had a long body, legs and

arms extended out from those bodies, and there were rifles
perched on their backs. Then to top it off, multiple monsters
were watching that door where Carol and Akira just came
out from.

The shock caused Carol to freeze up. There should not be

any other way to reach the 40th floor except for this
particular stairway that she and Akira just passed through,
so Carol did not expect to find any monsters on that floor.

Akira was also surprised by that, he could not help but to

freeze up too, although only for a few split seconds.
 Everything happened in slow motion. When Carol saw the
rifles of the monsters in front of her pointing at her, she
realised that she had no chance in evading them. Strangely
enough, she did not have the time to feel fear as she calmly
assessed her situation.

Then in the next moment, Akira suddenly jumped into

Carol's field of vision. He stood in front of Carol with his
back facing the monsters as if he was covering her. And
almost at the same time, she could hear gunshots coming
from the monsters behind Akira.

Bullets showered Akira's back, his augmented suit went to

full power to take in the impact of those bullets. Then, while
still facing his back against the monsters and receiving the
bullets, Akira turned his arm, which held his rifle, a bit past
the limit of his joints and started shooting back at those
monsters.

Akira was shooting back in a difficult position, normally,

none of his shots would hit. But due to Alpha's support,
Akira defied that logic and accurately shot the rifles perching
on those monsters.

Carol immediately moved to help Akira. She used him as a

shield and grabbed her hand cannon that was more or less
as strong as CWH anti-material rifle and started shooting at
the monsters in front of her.

It did not even take 10 seconds for them to make short

work of those monsters. When the shooting stopped, all the
monsters were dead. Thanks to Akira covering her, Carol
was unharmed. But then, Akira coughed out blood and fell
to the ground.

After confirming that all the monsters were dead, Carol

hurriedly checked on Akira.
 "Akira, are you alright?!!"

Although the bullets could not pierce through Akira's

augmented suit, his augmented suit could hardly dampen all
the impact from those bullets. As a result, his inner organs
were injured and blood was dripping out from his mouth.

Akira pushed himself away from the ground and spitted

out all the blood that was left inside his mouth. He then put
down his rucksack, pulled out his medicines, and quickly
swallowed them. As expected of expensive medicines, they
immediately went to action and showed their results.

Akira's face distorted in pain as he mumbled.

"M-My..."

He looked completely devastated.

"My relics are...!"

The relics that he was carrying on his back had served as

his shield when he was showered by the bullets, and now
they turned into scraps scattered on the floor.
 Chapter 107: An Unexpected Backdoor

As Akira watched the scene laid in front of him, he hung

his head low. All the relics that he had collected had turned
worthless. The rucksack that he had used to carry the relics
had also turned unusable. There was no point in carrying
them around any longer.

"Although I did my best collecting them and carrying

them with me all the way here..."

Carol looked shocked when she asked Akira a question.

"Uhh, Akira, are you okay?"

Akira turned surprised, he could not believe what he just

heard.

"A-Are you seriously asking me if I'm okay after seeing

this?!!!"

"I mean, are you injured?"

"Ahh, that, huh. No, I'm alright. I coughed out some

blood, but this much is nothing and I still have enough
medicines with me."

Akira was saying that he was injured but it was nothing

serious. Carol sighed in relief after confirming that he was
alright. But at the same time, she was also a bit surprised by
how he was taking in their situation as she thanked him.

"Uhhh, by the way, thank you for saving me. Thanks to

you, I was able to get out alive from that."
 "Don't mention it, I've accepted that request after all... But
still, I worked super hard to be able to get in here, you
know..."

Akira even had to run on a building's wall to be able to

defeat the autonomous weapons guarding that building, and
the result of that hard work was now scattered in pieces
right in front of him. The shock was pretty devastating for
him.

Seeing Akira like this, Carol could not help but smile. The
current Akira did not look like a Hunter who could
immediately react to that sudden turn of events and jump in
front of her to protect her. That young boy, who ignored the
fact that he just coughed out blood as he immediately
swallowed medicines, appeared so meek and devastated now
while looking at his relics that were shredded into pieces.

As Carol thought that it was just the nature of being a

Hunter, she could not help but let out a giggle. Akira who
noticed that glared at her.

"This is not funny at all. All my hard work just to get in

this building is now all in vain, you know?!!"

Carol apologized while still giggling.

"I'm sorry, I really am sorry. As my thanks, I'll pay for the

relics that you lost. Let's say, how about 40,000,000
Aurum? I'll transfer the money once we're out of this place."

Akira looked dumbfounded.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Of course, you lost those relics for protecting me after all.
So it would be really bad if you blame that on me and
abandon me."

Akira still could not believe it, so he asked the same

question again.

"A-Are you really sure you're okay with that?"

Carol smiled and replied.

"Yeah. If you're not satisfied with that number, we can

negotiate after we get out from here. But I think those relics
should be worth around that much. Since I've brought back
relics from this building a few times before, I more or less
know the worth of the relics in this building. So, even if you
say that they should worth more, I won't easily offer you
more money, you know."

Akira looked perplexed as he said.

"Ah, no, that's not it, I'm okay with that number. Uhhh,
thank you."

"Don't mention it... Or at least that's what I wanted to say,

but it's too soon for that. If you want me to pay you that
money, make sure to protect me until we escape this
building, okay?"

Akira answered back with a serious expression.

"Of course. Since I've accepted your request, I'll properly

protect you regardless of that deal."

Carol smiled happily at Akira.

"I'm counting on you. So then, let's go... Do tell me if it

hurts to move your body around."
 "It's okay. I used expensive medicines back there after all.
I don't feel any pain right now. Although, to be honest, I
want to take a break until the medicines completely heal my
injuries, but it's not the time for that, so let's hurry up."

They could not afford to stay in that place for too long.
The longer they stayed there, the closer the swarm would be.
Akira and Carol immediately started running again.

While he was running through the 40th floor, Akira asked

Alpha.

『Alpha, thank you back there.』

Akira's move back then was mostly thanks to Alpha's

control. He actually could not react in time, and even if he
did, he was not sure if he could have protected Carol.

"Don't mention it. It's my job to provide you with my

support. That aside, are you really okay?"

『 It's true that I don't feel any pain. It still feels weird
when I move my body though, but it's not the time to worry
about that now. More importantly, is my augmented suit
okay after taking that barrage? That's more important,
right?』

"It's okay. Although it did temporarily boost the energy

consumption, your augmented suit should be functioning
normally right now."

『I see, that's good to hear.』

"But still, it's great that she would pay for the relics that
were destroyed."
 『You can say that again... By the way, was that the only
way out?』

Had Alpha detected those monsters beforehand, Akira

might not have lost his relics back there. He thought so as he
threw that question to Alpha.

Alpha just smiled and said.

"The layout of the floors in this building is blocking my

detection. If you're okay with taking those bullets head-on
instead of using the relics as your shield, and if you're also
okay with me forcing your body to move even if you're
badly injured just like that time when you fought the relic
thieves, then the answer is no."

Akira twitched and said.

『Well, I wouldn't want you to do that though.』

Now that Alpha confirmed that Akira had nothing to

complain about her support even after losing his relics, she
smiled and said.

"You only got light injuries and someone is offering to

pay for the relics that you lost, so you just need to return
back alive now."

『Yeah, but then again, what do you think about this back
door on the upper floor?』

"I don't know the answer to that question. Since she

asked for 5,000,000 Aurum, I bet there's really a backdoor.
So for now, let's just place our trust in her."

『 You're right. It's not like I can go downstairs anyway,

the way upward is the only way forward. Let's just put our
bet on her and continue.』

Although Alpha's ability to detect enemies was reduced, it

was not that bad in detecting enemies on the same floor as
them. So, even though they encountered more monsters
after that, Akira was able to detect them first and snipe them
before they could attack the duo.

Carol was shooting at the monsters in front of her when

she voiced out her question.

"But still, where are all of these monsters coming from?

They shouldn't be inside this building though..."

Akira who was shooting at the same targets then

answered.

"They're here now, so it doesn't matter. Let's just kill them

and move on. One thing for sure, we have quite a lot of
monsters chasing us from behind."

"Well, you're right about that..."

There was an elevator door not too far from them. For the
sake of moving people and stuff around that building, the
elevator door there was pretty big. Except for those people
with the right permission, no one could use the elevator.
That was why Akira and Carol were forced to climb that
building using stairs.

But then that elevator door suddenly opened without

making any sounds. Akira quickly reacted to that by pointing
his rifle in that direction. Carol also did the same although a
bit late. Both of them pulled the trigger almost
simultaneously and started shooting at the rifles peeking out
from the inside of that elevator.
 Although both of them were surprised, their expression
stayed stern. Akira's face then turned grim as he said.

"Now we know how they got here first. So this is the

reason, huh."

What was left behind that elevator door was nothing but
the dead wreckages of the monsters that the duo just killed.
These monsters were using elevators to get ahead of Akira
and Carol.

"What's going on here!? So the manager of this building is

letting these monsters use the elevator?!"

"That seems to be the case."

"To think that the manager of this building has also

turned hostile... Nah, I guess it's too late to be surprised
about that by now, huh?"

All the Hunters inside that building were basically

intruders, so that was to be expected.

Akira saw Carol's grim expression, he then asked her a

question.

"Does this have anything to do with the backdoor that

we're heading to?"

"None. To be more precise, they might have predicted

where we're heading and sending monsters ahead of us, but
it should be still alright."

"Is that so? In that case, we should hurry up then, at this

rate, they'll surround us."
 "You're right, let's go. But seriously, from one thing to
another, we're really unlucky today. Today is really a bad
day... Akira, what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Carol noticed Akira's weird reaction and asked him if he

was okay. Akira, who just slightly twitched, returned his face
to normal.

"It's nothing, I'm okay."

Carol was a bit bothered by Akira's strange reaction, but it

was not the time for that as she quickly returned back to
guiding the way forward.

Alpha, who had a good guess of what Akira was thinking,

just smiled at him.

"It's alright, it's all going to be fine as long as you can

return back alive. So let's just head back home and have a
good laugh at what happened today."

『You're right.』

Even if it was true that Carol was roped into Akira's bad
luck, there should not be any problems as long as they could
return back alive. They knew that being a Hunter was a
dangerous occupation. Once they returned back alive from
that place, everything that happened that day would be an
amusing story that they could laugh off in the future.

Luck was also a part of Hunter's skill. So those who could

fight back against their bad luck were indeed skilled
Hunters.

Akira and Carol continued running inside the Seranthal

building, heading to the backdoor that Carol told Akira
about. Now that they knew there were monsters ahead, they
did not get caught off guard again as they carved their way
forward through the monsters blocking their way. It was all
good and fine up until that point, but the further they went
forward, the grimmer their expression became.

Akira looked at the cause of that and said.

"There's just too many of them!!"

"There's no end to these monsters. Looking at this

situation, I guess the Hunters downstairs are all dead,
huh..."

The mechanical monsters that were chasing Akira and

Carol from behind had increased in number, enough to even
fully block the whole hallway. These monsters must have
passed through the Hunters downstairs, and now they came
upstairs to kill Carol and Akira, who were still alive inside
the building. There might be some Hunters making their
stand in some small rooms, but they were the minority
among all the Hunters who came inside that building.

Akira was holding back the monsters behind them using

his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun while Carol
was clearing the way forward. As the wreckages of the dead
monsters in the front of the swarms blocked the hallway, all
the monsters behind them slowly pushed their way through
those wreckages and crept closer and closer to Akira and
Carol.

Akira and Carol somehow reached the 45th floor, they

finally reached their destination. The stairs that they took to
get there were already filled with wreckages, there was no
way to go downstairs now.

"Carol, how far until we reach the backdoor? This is

already the 45th floor, so it should be somewhere on this
floor, right?"

Carol had a grim expression as she said.

"Go right and then left. There, we'll find a big door."

Akira peeked toward that direction. Countless monsters

were already waiting inside that hallway. And right when
Akira peeked at them, the elevator door near those monsters
opened and delivered extra reinforcements. The duo looked
totally disheartened.

Akira sighed and said with a serious face.

"It can't be helped, we need to break through them."

Carol was so surprised. She thought that it was impossible

to break through that blockade.

"...Breakthrough them? Right there? With that many

monsters?"

"If we take too long shaving their number, this floor will
be flooded with monsters before we can move forward. Not
to mention, I don't have much ammo left. If we don't break
through them in one go, our fates would be sealed as the
time passes... Look there, they got even more
reinforcement."

The elevator door opened again and delivered even more

monsters inside that hallway. Akira believed that they would
not stop sending monsters there anytime soon.

Carol looked at that and made her resolve.

"...Alright."
 "I'll go in first then you help me from behind."

"Are you sure?"

"Since I'm your bodyguard, it's not like I can take cover
behind you, right?"

Looking at Akira, who said that so flatly as if he was only

stating a fact without a trace of anger or hatred, Carol smiled
happily and said.

"...You're right, I'll be counting on you."

Akira swallowed some medicines beforehand and put

some ready inside his mouth, he then reloaded new
magazines into his rifles. He stood in the middle of the
hallway with his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun
ready on his hands. He was ready to go.

『Alpha.』

"Ready when you are."

Seeing Alpha who was smiling like usual, a question

popped out inside Akira's head.

『 You said that it's easy to fight against mechanical

monsters back there, so I can put my hopes up, right?』

"Of course. But you better get your resolve ready, Akira."

Akira forced himself to make a confident smile. Right

after that, he jumped out into the hallway where those
monsters were waiting for him. He gathered his focus and
compressed his time perception, inside that slow-motion
world, Akira made his resolve, aimed the rifles on both of his
hands toward the monsters in front of him, and pulled the
trigger.

The special ammo of his CWH anti-material rifle easily

pierced through the monsters' thick armours and blew the
inside of their bodies, it then went further and pierced right
through the monsters behind them too. While the shower of
bullets coming out from Akira's DVTS minigun only had
enough power to dent their armours, it was strong enough to
destroy their limbs and guns. The monsters that were
thrown back blocked the other monsters from aiming at
Akira, the dead monsters blocked their way forward, and the
destroyed guns blew up and took out the monsters near their
vicinity.

Alpha used all the information that she got from Akira's
information-gathering device, she then analyzed it,
processed it, and used it to confirm the position of all the
enemies and their lines of sight. Since they were on the same
floor as Akira and pretty close to him, even with the reduced
sensitivity, Alpha was able to detect even the slightest move
that these monsters made.

Alpha took control of Akira's augmented suit, enhanced

his vision, and corrected his aim to take out the first
monsters with the highest possibility of inflicting serious
injury to Akira. While at the same time, she maximized the
effectiveness of the DVTS barrage to lower the monsters'
firepower. As the explosions of their guns took out the
monsters around where those explosions happened, the
dead monsters turned into obstacles that slowed down the
other monsters' movements. Alpha fully grasped the
situation of every single second of that battle as she kept
Akira and Carol from the monsters aim and guided Akira to
make the best possible sequence of action.
 Akira was running forward in that situation where even
the smallest slip up could cause the enemies' shots to
concentrate on him and immediately kill him. His
augmented suit forced his body to move to its utmost limit
to the point that it was almost enough to kill him. His
muscles and bones could not take the burden as they were
screaming in pain. The moment the medicines that he had
taken in beforehand healed those injuries, the augmented
suit would place even more burden on his body again.

Akira was pushing forward inside that slow-motion world,

bullets were flying from behind and in front of him, he could
hear the sounds of those flying bullets and he could feel the
wind pressure grazing his skin as those bullets flew past near
him. In the middle of that, Akira focused to feel the
movement of his augmented suit and tried his best to match
his body movement with his augmented suit, so as not to
slow down Alpha's control over his augmented suit.

Thanks to his enhanced vision, Akira could see the next

location he needed to position himself, the next action he
needed to take, and the next target that he needed to take
out first. He tried his best to follow Alpha's guidance that
was produced through processing a huge amount of
information and after a huge amount of complex
calculations.

Inside his enhanced vision, Akira also could see the

predicted trajectory line of the monsters' aims. Alpha
sometimes gave him order to pass through positions where
he would get hit by bullets. But even after knowing that,
Akira would still push forward and take that route without
hesitating. Then, as expected, he would grit his teeth and
take in the bullet while making sure that it would not break
his balance as he focused himself to follow the next order.
 It was of course impossible to evade all the enemies'
shots. As such, Akira just brushed that off as he understood
very well he needed to take some of those bullets and make
sure that they did not cause any fatal injuries in order to
return back alive from that place.

Alpha's orders were important, even if they were directing

him to soak up those bullets. Akira placed his trust in Alpha
as he kept on fighting. He stepped over the dead monsters in
front of him and continued pushing forward.

Thanks to Alpha's support, Akira kept on shooting at the

monsters in front of him with the utmost efficiency while at
the same time reducing the efficiency of the monsters in
front of him with his barrage.

Carol, was following behind Akira while giving as much

support as she could, she kept telling her body to keep
moving since it kept stopping out of astonishment from the
scene happening in front of her.

Carol did not expect that Akira was that strong.

——So strong!! I knew all along that he's strong enough

to kill the monsters guarding this building alone, but I
never thought that he's this strong!! Amazing!! Really
amazing!!

Carol did not know about Alpha. Thus, she thought that it
was purely out of Akira's skill alone. Although it was out of
Carol's wrong evaluation, in her eyes, Akira looked like a
very attractively strong Hunter.

Carol unconsciously smiled. It was a rare smile different

from the attractive smile that she usually used on someone
who she wanted to seduce.
 After pushing through that fierce fight, Akira and Carol
stood in front of the door that they were aiming for.
Although the battle only lasted for 5 minutes, for both of
them, it felt like forever. Akira himself was already low on
ammo and medicines.

Akira faced his back toward that door and fought the
monster chasing him while Carol rushed toward that door
and opened it. After she checked everything, she shouted at
Akira.

"It's all green!! Hurry up!!"

Akira quickly went inside that door and the door almost
immediately shut. The monsters on the other side of that
door released a barrage of bullets, Akira could hear those
bullets hitting the thick door from the other side. It was a
close call.

After escaping that dangerous situation, Akira finally had

the leeway to relax and reassess his situation. As he scanned
his surroundings, he was taken aback and said.

"We're outside?"

Akira was already outside. Some of the floors in the

Seranthal building had platforms and those platforms were
actually landing platforms, Akira was standing on one of
those platforms.

Akira flusteredly asked Carol a question.

"Is this the backdoor?"

"Yes, did that surprise you?"

 "Wait for a sec, how exactly are we going to escape from
this place? I can't fly, and of course, I don't want to jump
down from this height."

Even for Akira, who was experienced in jumping down a

tall building, he did not want to jump from that height. And
putting height aside, Akira had no plans to jump from a tall
building two times in a day.

Carol, who saw Akira get a bit worked up, found it

amusing as she giggled and said.

"I can't fly too and I have no plans to kill myself by

jumping from this height. It'll start to move soon, so let's
just keep that door closed."

Carol then moved a pile of wreckage and put it right next

to the door, preventing it from getting opened. It was a
pretty heavy pile of wreckage and it was positioned to get
stuck on the door. Thus, it would be really hard to open the
door from the other side. And even if the door was
destroyed, that wreckage would then be turned into a
blockade.

Carol then said to Akira.

"Come over here."

Akira followed Carol into the landing platform. It was

pretty huge for a landing platform on top of a building.

Although Akira never saw it for himself, he was

wondering if there was this so-called airplane in that place
and that Carol was planning to escape from that building
using it. But as he scanned the platform, he did not see
anything that might be that so-called airplane.
 As Akira started to feel uneasy, he then asked Carol with a
worried face.

"Carol, can you tell me now where are we heading to? And
how are you planning to escape from this building?"

"We'll be there soon. It's faster if you see it for yourself.

Even if I explain it to you now, I don't think that you would
believe me anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'll get it when you see it. Ah, there it is, it's that thing
over there."

Carol then pointed her finger. But Akira could not see
anything in the direction she was pointing, there was
nothing but the runway there.

"...I don't see anything though?"

"It's foggy so it's hard to see. Look closely, don't you see a
shadow in the middle of that runway?"

Akira stared closely in that direction, it was true that he

saw some kind of silhouette, but it did not resemble
anything that he knew of. He then tilted his head.

As Akira was wondering what was there, Carol already

walked ahead toward that thing. When she did that,
suddenly, the image around her started to get distorted.

Akira looked at that in confusion. The rift then widened,

when he peeked into that rift, he finally realized that it was
some kind of door. As he peeked deeper into what was
behind that door, he could see that it led to another place. Or
at least, the place behind that door was not another landing
platform.

Alpha smiled and explained to Akira who was completely

surprised by that.

"To think that you wouldn't be able to see it unless you

get this close, this is a pretty high-grade optical
camouflage. Akira, this is a delivery drone. I bet this is from
the old-world. The reason why you can't see it is because of
its optical camouflage. It's also equipped with other
camouflaging devices, even your information-gathering
device would not be able to detect it unless you get close
enough to it."

It was an old-world delivery drone. From Akira's point of

view, it looked like the interior of that delivery drone was
floating in the air. But when he approached it while already
knowing that there was a delivery drone there, Akira started
to recognize the outline of that delivery drone.

The door of that delivery drone was completely open and

it led into a platform, connected to a storage room inside of
it.

Carol stepped into that storage room and called Akira.

"Akira, come on, get in here or you'll get left behind."

Akira snapped back to reality and followed Carol into that

storage room. The door was still open even after he went in,
but not too long after that, it closed on its own.

The storage room inside the delivery drone was pretty

spacious, but there was nothing other than Akira and Carol
inside it. Seeing Carol relaxed there, Akira also lowered his
guard.
 He then asked Carol who was already resting.

"Carol, explain to me what's going on here. First of all, is

this thing safe?"

"Maybe yes."

"Maybe?"

"The fact there are monsters inside the Seranthal building

alone is not normal. That's why I can't say for sure if this
thing is safe or not. But if this won't work, then nothing will
and we'll have no other choice but to climb down the
building's wall."

"...I see, I understand. So then, what will happen next?"

"Once the time comes, this thing will start flying on its
own... Just wait for a bit."

Carol then opened her information terminal and checked

something.

"15 minutes. We have no other choice but to wait for 15

more minutes. Ah, and also, don't get too close to the door, it
might open the door if you do that."

"Okay. So basically, this delivery drone is that backdoor,

right?"

"Yep. It seems that it regularly visits multiple buildings,

and this Seranthal building is just one of them. If it follows
the usual schedule, the next stop will be a landing platform
in the Mihazono ruin factory district. So we'll get off there
and... Well, will you escort me back all the way to the Hunter
Office? I would be really happy if you would do that for me."
 "Sure, I'm planning to head that way too anyway. So I can
at least escort you back to the Hunter Office."

"Thank you."

Carol smiled at Akira, he felt there was something else

bothering him in that smile. But it was not anything
ominous, it simply felt different compared to the smile that
she had when they spoke to each other inside the Seranthal
building, that was all there was to it. So he just decided to
ignore it.

While waiting for that 15 minutes to pass by, Akira

reloaded new magazines into his rifles. He no longer had
that much ammo left. He still had some reserve ammo left in
his vehicle, but he left his vehicle in the parking lot not too
far from the Hunter Office. He could not replenish his ammo
until he could get back to his vehicle, so until then, there was
no way he could face another swarm of monsters like before.

Akira hoped that nothing bad would happen from here on

out as he swallowed more medicines. The only thing that he
could do right now was to get himself well prepared in case
anything bad happened while hoping that it would be
unnecessary.

After all, whether something bad would happen or not,

was something Akira had no control over.

After 10 minutes, there was another turn of events. The

monsters that were chasing Akira and Carol broke through
the door and the wreckage blocking the door. They were
quickly flooding the landing platform.

Akira was looking outside through a small window in that

storage room. It was because he was keeping eyes on the
situation outside and he wanted to see the view outside
when the delivery drone took off.

Seeing those mechanical monsters gushing out into the

landing platform, Akira's face twitched as he mumbled.

"...Give me a break."

Carol who noticed that also peeked outside. Her face

turned pale the moment she saw the monsters flooding the
landing platform.

"...It's alright... They shouldn't be able to see us from the

outside... Moreover, this delivery drone is using an optical
camouflage in the first place... And it's time to take off
soon... It should be alright..."

All the words that Carol mumbled were all her wishes,
Akira could understand that after seeing her expression.
Although she was trying to stay calm there, her smile was
crooked and cold sweat was running down her face, she was
also slightly shaking, showing what she was actually feeling
uneasy.

If the mechanical monsters got close enough to the

delivery drone, its door might open. They might even be able
to see the delivery drone too. Moreover, in the first place, the
delivery drone might not take off if there was something
blocking it. There were so many uncertainties.

Akira tried to reorganize his mind, he took a deep breath

and let out a long sigh before asking Alpha.

『Alpha, what will happen if those monsters get into this

storage room?』

Alpha kept smiling like usual.

 "When that happens, I'll have you ready to re-experience
what you did today."

After hearing the answer that he had completely expected,

Akira's face distorted. It seemed that he really hated that
idea.

『...Thought so. Well, I guess I should be thankful that I,

at least, still have a way to get out from this place alive.』

Depending on the situation, Akira might have to run

down a building's wall again. The only difference between
riding off and just simply jumping down the wall was that
the former had a better chance of survival. After all, he had
no wish to get himself killed. Of course, he did not want to
do that again if it could be helped, but the monsters chasing
him did not care about that.

Carol looked at Akira. He seemed to be very annoyed and

exasperated as well as a little nervous. From what she could
see, Akira did not seem to have given up, he did not even
seem scared at all.

"...Akira?"

Carol herself had no idea why she called Akira's name.

Akira, who was watching the door that was leading

outside, turned to Carol and casually replied.

"Yes? Ah, if the monsters come here, we'll have to get out
of here. So you get yourself ready in case that happens."

"Eh, ah, okay, sure."

Carol was so dumbfounded that she was barely able to

reply back. Akira returned his gaze back to the door. She
kept staring at him for some time even after that, but weirdly
enough, she then started to smile.

Akira, who noticed that change in Carol, frowned and

asked.

"...What?"

"It's nothing. It seems that you haven't given up at all."

"Of course. You too, right?"

Carol who already regained her composure confidently

smiled and replied.

"Obviously."

Carol reloaded her gun while smiling, she then stood next
to Akira in case he needed her support.

——He's still calm even in this situation. He seems to be

still planning to fight back. And to top it off, he's skilled, he's
really my type.

Akira and Carol just stood there in silence. The sound of

the monsters outside the delivery drone was starting to get
louder and louder as they approached and surrounded that
delivery drone.

Akira and Carol could clearly hear the sounds that those
mechanical monsters were making outside the delivery
drone. Normally, hearing those sounds would shave the
spirit of the people who were listening to them. A normal
Hunter might start screaming right about now. But even so,
Carol and Akira just stood there in silence while listening to
those sounds.
 Not too long after that, the delivery drone suddenly
started moving. It was time for it to take off. The sounds that
it was making drowned the sound coming from the
mechanical monsters outside. After the delivery drone took
off from the landing platform, it headed to the Mihazono
ruin's factory district.

Akira quietly watched the situation outside through the

small window. He could see the monsters that swarmed the
Seranthal building. Their images kept getting smaller and
smaller to the point that he could not see them any longer.

Once they realized that they were saved, they sighed in

relief at the same time as if they had planned that
beforehand. Then the next moment, Carol jumped and
hugged Akira.

"We did it!! We're saved!! We're saved!!"

Carol seemed to be delighted. Because of their height

difference, Akira's head was pushed right into Carol's chest.

Akira dropped his rifle and tried to push her away.

"Okay okay!! I got it already!! So just let me go!!"

"It's fine, right? Let's celebrate together!!"

"Just let go of me! I don't know whether it's your

augmented suit or that you have an augmented body, but
hugging me with that much power is hurting me, you
know!!"

Akira was really in pain. Just like Sara, Carol also had an
augmented body, thanks to that, she was able to handle the
kickback of a powerful gun without any trouble. While the
armour that she was using was a reactive armour that would
harden in response to an external force. So having those
hard layers in the shape of breast pushed against his face,
caused Akira to feel pain.

"Whoops, sorry."

Carol realized that Akira was really in pain and quickly let
him go.

Akira coughed after getting released from that pain. He

thought that Carol let him go since she had regained her
composure, but that was not the case. It was true that Carol
regained some of her composure, but compared to her usual
state, she was still in a high mood.

Carol quickly pulled down the fastener in front of her

down to her stomach. She then used that opening when
Akira was surprised to hug him again. But this time, Akira's
face was buried into her well-endowed breasts.

Carol smiled happily as she said.

"This won't hurt you now, right?"

It seemed that Carol was still high after escaping that life-
threatening situation. Akira did not seem to try to pull
himself away from her, and since it seemed that it would be
pointless to say anything to her in this situation, he just gave
up and let her do whatever she wanted.

Alpha smiled teasingly at Akira and said.

"Hmmm, as I thought, you react differently when it's

something that you can actually touch."

Akira casually replied to Alpha just like usual.

 『Shut up.』

Carol, who did not know about that short exchange

between Akira and Alpha, kept on hugging Akira happily.
 Chapter 108: Food Over Women

A few minutes had passed since the transport drone had

left the landing platform of the Seranthal building. Carol had
already calmed down after she got too excited when she
finally realized she had gotten out of that dangerous
situation alive. Since Akira felt like Carol would keep
hugging him if he just left her be, he quickly pulled himself
away a bit forcefully when her hug relaxed a little.

Carol peeked at Akira's expression. He did not seem to be

angry, as a matter of fact, it looked like he was in a rather
good mood. But for someone who just got his face buried in
between a beautiful girl's wonderful breasts, he did not seem
too delighted.

As her side job, other than being a Hunter, Carol had slept
with a lot of other Hunters. For the sake of her main job and
her side-job, she enhanced her body with nanomachines and
spent a large sum of money that could be used to buy
multiple augmented suits just to enhance her beauty.

Carol had absolute confidence in her own beauty, after all,

there were Hunters who went crazy after experiencing her
beautiful body. But even so, Akira was not that interested in
her body. She understood that very well after peeking at
Akira's face and she felt a sense of defeat.

Carol smiled as to not show that in her face as she said to

Akira.

"Geez, you're no fun. There's nothing wrong with enjoying

it a bit more, isn't it? I don't mind if you want to do it later
too, you know. And as I said, it's free of charge."
 "No, thank you. Moreover, you were the one who hugged
me in the first place, not me. And I'm still in the middle of a
job too. You're paying me to be your bodyguard, remember?
So don't get in my way when you're the one who gave me
that request."

"You're so earnest, aren't you?"

"Do you prefer to have someone not earnest escorting you

instead?"

"You have a point there. Alright, I won't bother you

again."

Since it seemed that Akira would only get annoyed if she

continued, Carol decided to back off there.

After getting himself away from Carol, Akira returned

back looking outside from a small window. For him, the view
from a flying drone was entertaining enough.

Carol kept looking at him. Akira, who was looking outside

with sparkling eyes, looked like a small boy from her point of
view. He did not seem like he was that powerful Hunter who
showed such amazing skill inside the Seranthal building.

——When I look at him like this, he looks like nothing but

just a young boy. But even so, he's not that young that he
has no interest in girls, right?

Carol still had her fastener pulled down, showing her

bountiful breasts. Unless she was told otherwise, she kept
her fastener down hoping that Akira would change his mind.
Normally, her beautiful skin and valley peeking out from
that opening would gather the attention of any healthy
young boys.
 But even so, Akira kept his eyes fixed on the views
outside. It seemed that the views outside were way more
interesting for Akira.

Carol who got hit by another sense of defeat then made a

bit of a sharp remark.

"Is the view outside that amusing?"

"It is."

Akira answered back casually and instantly, there was no

trace of hesitation at all.

Carol replied back, she sounded even more annoyed than

before.

"...I see."

Akira felt the faint pressure coming from Carol and

realized that he gave a wrong answer just now. He then
looked at Alpha who was smiling at him. So he decided to
throw a different subject to change the mood there.

"We're heading to the landing platform in Mihazono

ruin's factory district, right? How long until we get there?"

"It should be around 15 minutes."

"...That's pretty long. This is an old-world transport

drone, right? So like, I think it should have been able to fly
faster though."

"That would be scary and dangerous, even if it's possible, I

hope that it won't go that fast."
 Akira, who felt that reply from Carol was rather weird,
returned his gaze back at her and asked.

"Why is that? We can get there faster, you know?"

Carol thought that reaction was a bit unexpected, but she

quickly realized the reason.

"Ahh, I see, you don't know about it, huh. By the way,
what comes in your mind when I say Hunter's transport
vehicles?"

"A car or maybe a tank. And if I remember it correctly,

there are Hunters with powered suits if we go further to the
east, right?"

"All of them are ground transportations, right? Didn't you

ever think that it's weird they don't use combat drones or
combat helicopters? Or why other than the Hunters, even
the city defence squad and the corporate militaries don't use
them too? The cities also use trucks to trade and transport
materials between them. Don't you think it's weird that they
don't use flying drones? Why do you think that is?"

"...Now that you mention it, that's kind of weird. Why is

that?"

Akira could not come up with any answers.

Carol then smiled smugly and explained.

"It's because the monsters would attack them. The higher

and the faster you go, the more powerful the monsters that
would attack you."

Carol did not realize it herself that she was actually feeling
happy that Akira was looking back at her again as she
explained to him why people did not use airplanes in the
eastern district.

There were all kinds of monsters living in all kinds of

places in the eastern district, and according to the area
where they lived, they posed different levels of danger. But
they roughly had 2 common features.

First of all, their strength depended on whether they lived

further to the west or to the east. In most cases, the closer
they lived to the frontline bordering the unexplored area in
the far east, the more powerful they were. And the closer
they were to the western area bordering the Federation of
Nations' central district, the weaker they were.

The other indicator would be the height where they

usually roamed. Of course, there were monsters who roamed
the sky, and the higher they were, usually, the stronger they
were.

There were many factors that affected the encounter rate

with the monsters, the usual indicators were the bigger,
faster, and higher you go, the higher the chance for you to
meet monsters.

So in short, the faster they flew in the eastern district's

sky, the higher the chance for them to meet such powerful
monsters, which would be fatal. There were also cases where
it might even attract stronger monsters that would not
usually roam in a particular area. Because of that, it was
prohibited to use any kind of flying vehicles around the city.
And if there was anyone who did that without proper
authorization, the defence squad would take them down
without warning, suspecting that they were trying to attract
strong monsters to attack the city. As a matter of fact, such a
thing had actually happened a few times in the past.
 Because of this, the main means of transportation in the
eastern district were land transportations although,
technology-wise, the eastern district had no problem
building airplanes. And back when the Corporate
Government had a huge war against the nationalist, they
were normally using airplanes.

Akira, who was listening closely to Carol's explanation,

then applied that newly received information to the flying
drone that they were riding.

"Wait? Doesn't that mean this thing is dangerous?"

"That's why it's equipped with sophisticated camouflaging

features and is moving at a slow speed. As you said, it can fly
way faster so that we can reach our destination way quicker,
but its speed is mainly determined by an ignorable chance to
meet any powerful monsters."

"So that's why, huh."

Akira nodded.

Carol was completely cheered up after seeing Akira

listening closely to her explanation. And in order so that he
would not start looking outside again, she tried to come up
with a more interesting subject.

"By the way, Akira, do you know that the old-world ruins
are not only located on or below the ground? You can also
find old-world ruins in the sky too, you know?"

"In the sky? Like, a floating ruin?"

"There are many types though, like a floating fortress or

just a flying ship. It's from those stories where Hunters
sometimes notice that there's a huge shadow cast on the
ground but they can't see anything in the sky when they look
up, that might be because of the camouflaging features.
There are also theories saying that the ever-present
colourless mist in the eastern district is hiding all the
floating structures that are already there since the old-world
era. Other theory says that when the colourless mist
suddenly thickens, that's because a floating object is passing
through."

"...I see. It sounds like we can find some amazing relics if

we can somehow get to one of those floating ruins."

"It seems that there are a lot of Hunters who are looking
for floating ruins, you know. I heard that even the Corporate
Government is sponsoring those Hunters. Moreover, it's on
a whole different level of difficulty and a lot of high ranking
Hunters are actually doing exactly that... As I thought, it has
some kind of romanticism in it."

Carol was talking, filled with interest. Among the Hunters

that she had slept with, one of them told her that he dreamt
of finding a floating ruin. The last time she heard from that
Hunter was when he was talking happily to her that he got
recruited into the search squad through his connection. She
never met that Hunter again since then, that Hunter might
as well already be dead by now.

Although Akira was interested in that story of floating

ruins, he still analyzed that information realistically.

"Romanticism, huh? Honestly, I don't really get it. It's not

like I'm out in the ruin chasing renown after all."

"You'll understand once you're older."

"Is that so?"

 "Yep."

Akira tilted his head, Carol smiled at him.

As Akira and Carol were talking about Hunter stuff, they

eventually arrived on a landing platform. After packing their
stuff up, they then stood in front of the door of the storage
room and the door automatically opened.

Carol remembered that she had not pulled up her fastener

yet, so she pulled it back all the way up to her neck before
stepping off the transport drone, Akira followed suit
afterwards.

Once they boarded off, the door closed automatically. It

then turned invisible again unless you got close enough. If
anyone saw them, it would look like Akira and Carol just
appeared out of nowhere.

The Mihazono ruin's factory district was filled with

factories and warehouses. Although most of them had
already turned into rubble, some of them were still in
operation. It was a dangerous area filled with security
drones.

Basically, the landing platform where Akira and Carol

were was clean of anything. There were only some cracks in
the platform, nothing more. There might be other transport
drones there too, but those were invisible to Akira and Carol.

Carol stretched out her body once and said.

"Well then, can you escort me to the Hunter Office, now?"

"Sure... Which way is the Hunter Office?"

 It was Akira's first time coming there, so he had no idea
which way to go. Fortunately enough, the landing platform
was located in between the ruin and the wasteland, so if they
followed that boundary, they should be able to find the
Hunter Office sooner or later.

"This way."

Carol smiled as she guided the way.

As Akira was walking the boundary between the ruin and

the wasteland with Carol guiding him, Carol suddenly asked
him a question.

"Akira, what are your plans after this? Are you going to
hunt for relics again?"

"No, I'm planning to stop for today and get a good rest.
I'm too tired after going through all that, so I have no power
left to hunt for relics. So, don't ask me to extend the escort,
okay?"

"Don't worry. I'm also planning to wrap up for today. So,

basically, you're free after this, right?"

"...Well, yeah, but I want to get a good rest. I'm really

tired, you know."

"Want to take a rest with me?"

Carol smiled mischievously at Akira. Even for someone as

dense as Akira, he understood that she was inviting him.

"No. I want to rest."

"Don't be that uptight, we both went through that

dangerous situation together after all, right? Although you're
under my request to escort me, it's true that you did save my
life. So I want to repay it."

"You've already paid me for escorting you, and you said

you would also pay for the relics that I lost, so I have no
plans to ask you for any more reward. Well, if you're still
bothered by it, you can buy me some meals. But I won't
accept a cheap meal, okay?"

There was a trace of irritation and frustration in Carol's

bitter smile, she then became a bit obstinate as she said.

"If you think that would be enough to reward someone

who saved my life, it would hurt my pride."

"Then treat me to a meal expensive enough so that it

won't hurt your pride. For example, I don't mind going to
one of those 1,000,000 Aurum per meal restaurants.
Although I have no plans to eat there myself, I would be
more than happy to go there if someone would pay for it. I
did tell you, remember? I'm at the age where food is much
more interesting than girls."

Carol seemed a bit cheered up as she smiled.

"...Geez. It can't be helped then. If it's in one of those

facilities near the Hunter Office branch, I don't mind
treating you to a meal."

"Are you sure? Well, I'm glad I asked you to treat me."

"I want to return my debt as soon as possible and I don't

want to wait until you're interested in girls."

"Alright then, we have a deal here. So let's hurry up and

get back."
 "I don't mind if you want to pick up the pace, but make
sure to properly escort me, okay?"

"Of course."

Akira then happily swung his legs toward the Mihazono

ruin's Hunter Office branch.

Carol just giggled and followed behind him when she saw
him showing his child-like side befitting of his age to her.

***

There were restaurants built near the Hunter Office

branch located on the outskirts of the Mihazono ruin.
Hunters were allowed to bring in their heavy weapons inside
those restaurants when they ate their meals, so as to be
expected, those were not high-class restaurants.

But as if to betray their outer appearance, some of those

restaurants were actually selling high-class meals. A full
course meal in those restaurants could cost above 100,000
Aurum. Although those meals were pretty delicious, in the
end, it was the wasteland price, so its price was rather
swollen compared to if they were served in the city. It was
understandable to be that pricey since they would have
spent money to manage the place and transport the
ingredients all the way there, but still, expensive things were
expensive.

The restaurants in that place were roughly divided into 3

areas, then the customers who went to those restaurants
were assigned to different seats depending on the price they
pay for their meals. They were roughly categorized to the
Hunters who paid 1,000 Aurum, 10,000 Aurum, and
100,000 Aurum for their meals. It was not like there was a
strict ruling about it, so it was not compulsory, but if they
took a different seat, they would feel a bit out of place and
might feel uncomfortable, except for those people with steel-
nerves.

It was an easy thing to identify the skill and the success of

a Hunter depending on how much that Hunter would spend
on his or her meal. Because of that, grouping Hunters' seats
like this would allow them to be seated together with the
other Hunters with more or less the same skill level. So, it
was not rare for the regulars of a restaurant to recognize the
faces of the Hunters around them, although they did not
know each others' names. It was also common for them to
strike a conversation with the other Hunters eating near
them, and if they got along well, they might even form a
team later.

But then, because of that, when someone new came in and

ate in a seat for expensive meals, it would garner a lot of
attention from the other Hunters. And that day, the new face
was Akira.

Akira was sitting in front of an expensive-looking table

and meals befitting for that table were lined up in front of
him. That scene made Akira beam up as he gobbled up those
meals while occasionally voicing out his amazement, he was
in a really good mood there.

Carol was sitting across Akira. Although it was less than

what was in front of Akira, her meal was worth about the
same price as his.

Carol rested her palms on her cheeks as she smiled and

asked Akira.

"Is it tasty?"

"Yeah, it's delicious."

 Akira happily nodded, after confirming which Carol
smiled satisfied.

"That's good to hear, it seems that my pride is safely

salvaged."

Carol, who was looking at Akira eating his meal for a few
minutes, eventually started eating her own meal.

——But still, Akira looks like just a normal boy during

times like this. He doesn't seem like a strong Hunter at all.

Carol's evaluation was correct. In all reality, Akira was not

that strong of a Hunter in the first place. It was all thanks to
Alpha's support. If he relied on his own skill, it would still
take a few years of training and hard work before he could
sit on that seat.

"But still, you eat quite a lot, don't you? I don't mind
paying for all of it, but don't leave anything behind, okay?"

"Don't worry, my appetite is growing bigger and bigger

lately. So I won't have any trouble finishing all of this food."

Akira just answered back casually. But after Carol pointed

that out, a question popped up in his mind.

"Now that I think about it, I actually really start eating

more and more lately."

Alpha interjected.

"It might be because your body is trying to compensate

for the nutrition that you didn't get when you were in your
accelerated growth period."

『What do you mean?』

 "You've been living in the slum city for years, so you're in
a constant malnutrition state. Because of that, you must
have been stuck in a slowed growth rate for quite a long
time. So in order to compensate for that, your body might
be demanding a lot of food right now."

『 Is that really something that you can solve simply by

eating a lot of food?』

"I think you've gone through a special treatment so that

you can solve that problem just by eating a lot of food. You
have gone through that 60,000,000 Aurum treatment
before, remember? They might have identified your
impeded growth was due to an unhealthy environment,
and so they might have done something to your body which
allows you to get you back to your optimal state just by
eating a lot of food, though they might have also done that
so that they can charge you more money too."

Akira suddenly stopped eating his meal.

『...It's not like they did anything weird to me, right? I'm
actually okay, right?』

"Well, it's true that you're getting back to your healthier

body state, so it's alright. Moreover, wounds and fatigue
won't get properly recovered or healed unless you eat food
and get ample rest. After all, there's a limit on how far the
medicines can help you. Since it was a treatment to get you
back to health, so it shouldn't have any bad side-effects. As
long as you earn enough money to satiate your hunger, you
should be fine."

『I see, well, I guess it's alright then. I also got that after
going through an expensive treatment, so I guess it should
be fine, huh?』
 Akira then continued eating without worrying about it
anymore. Carol, who saw Akira pause momentarily, found it
weird.

"Akira, what's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Is that so? By the way, there's something I want to ask

you, I don't mind if you want to keep eating while answering
my question. Is that okay?"

"What is it? I don't mind as long as it's not a request in

which you'll refuse to pay for my meal if I don't accept it."

Carol giggled lightly.

"Don't worry. Well, it's indeed a request but I'll still pay
for this meal even if you refuse it."

Akira stopped eating. He could feel that it was something

serious from the way Carol asked him, he then stared at her
with a serious face.

"So, what is it?"

"I don't mind if you want to continue eating, you know?"

"I'll hear you first and if it's something not that important,
then I'll continue eating. So, go on, what do you want to ask
of me?"

Strictly speaking, Akira still seemed to be in a good mood,

but there was a trace of cautiousness in his face. It was
obvious that he was being paranoid. He looked at Carol with
distrust, as if he was suspecting that she was going to bring
more trouble to his plate. Although it was just a hunch, there
was no mistaking it.

Carol had no idea if it was simply because there was a

flicker in Akira's feeling and it was expressed in his eyes, or
it was because Akira was actually suppressing his feeling and
it was leaking out.

——This situation... It's dangerous if I say anything

wrong here.

Carol intentionally changed into a more serious face

before continuing.

"I'll say this straight. Akira, will you work together with
me?"

Akira did not reply immediately, he was just silently

staring at her. He was trying to guess any possible meanings
behind those words. Carol understood that very well when
she looked back at him.

After a short silence, Akira finally opened his mouth.

"...Let me get this straight, do you mean working together

with you as a team of Hunters?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, but no thanks."

Akira only said that and immediately returned back to

eating. His tense aura was gone in a snap and the mood
quickly returned to normal.

Carol sighed in relief when she noticed that Akira had

lowered his guard, although she also regretted the fact that
he refused her offer.

"Is that so? That's really unfortunate. Well, it'll only cause
trouble down the road if I force it, so I'll just give it up here.
Would you at least please tell me the reason?"

"It's simply because I'm more comfortable moving alone. I

am used to moving around out of whim or based on
situational decisions. Now that I think about it, I can be a bit
random most of the time. I won't be able to do that if I work
together with another Hunter, you see. Even for today, I only
decided to go to Mihazono ruin just this morning and it's
simply because I thought about it when I was visiting
another place. So like, you know, I won't fit to work together
in a team, right?"

Most of the Hunters decided beforehand where to go and

properly prepared themselves before actually heading there.
And if Akira was in a team, then he should think about how
to divide the reward and the profit too. Not to mention,
when one of the team members was not feeling well, there
was a chance that the expedition had to be cancelled too.

Akira always turned to Alpha and asked for her opinion

before making any decision, and of course, he could not use
that reason if he had to explain his decision to other people.
If he worked with someone for a long time, it was almost
completely guaranteed that he would be treated as a
troublesome team member who always made sudden
random decisions on his own.

Carol tried to guess Akira's way of thinking from his

answer.

——Akira is the type of Hunter who focuses more on the

downsides of working together in a team rather than the
advantages that he can get from doing that. He's one of
those who get suspicious of people who stay together with
them for long rather than feeling safe. Back then in the
Seranthal building, he also seriously thought of moving
separately from me; given that I know the layout of the
building well, and that we were in such a dangerous
situation. He might be thinking that I'm planning to kill
him since he knows about the backdoor now. But, on the
other hand, if it's out of a request, he would even shield me
using his own body... This boy is broken... Or more like,
seriously, what kind of moral value is this boy following?

Carol had experienced spending a night together with

some Hunters with distorted personalities. Because of that,
she knew how to handle these kinds of people very well. But
the Akira in front of her was unlike any other Hunters that
she had dealt with. So, in order to look for the right way to
handle Akira, she made a friendly smile and asked him a
question.

"So you're that kind of Hunter, huh? Well, I tend to work

alone too, so I can understand your argument. But like, were
you always working alone until now?"

"Not really. It's just that I never really worked together as

a team. I've explored ruins together with other Hunters too,
I also accept requests that need me to work in a team. Is that
not the case for you too?"

"Me? Well, I did a lot of stuff in the past. I've formed a

team together with the other Hunters, there were also times
when I joined an already established team of Hunters. But at
the moment, I'm working alone. There were a few things
that happened with my last team which caused the team to
break down, you see."

Carol said it as if it was none of her business. But in

reality, the reason why that team broke up was because of
her. The guys, who got roped into her side job, did a lot of
bad stuff in order to get the money to buy her.

Some of them even sacrificed their equipment and ammo

budget and became nothing but a burden to the team, some
of them would cause a fight when dividing the reward
money. Eventually, the mood in that team became so bad
that they broke up in the middle of exploring a ruin.

It was not like Carol intentionally did that, but she also
did not try to stop the situation from getting worse. She
thought that it was all their own responsibilities.

"Even if I want to make another team, it's not like I can do

that with just any Hunters. After all, there are Hunters who
are only interested in forming a team because of my side job,
that in itself is fine though, the real problem is when they
demand a discount or even demand it for free just because
we're on the same team. I just don't want to work together
with those kinds of people neither for my real job nor for my
side job."

"That sounds rough. Oh, this one is also really tasty."

Akira was at least properly listening to Carol's story, but

his attention was more focused on the food in front of him.

Carol was indirectly saying that she was interested in

forming a team with Akira because she evaluated his skill
highly. But since his attention was all on his tongue and
stomach, it was rather vague whether Akira got it or not.

Carol smiled in resignation as she mumbled.

"...He's really just a little boy."

 Akira, who was still gobbling the food in a good mood,
flatly replied.

"Hm? Isn't it obvious that I'm just a boy? Oh, this one is
not bad at all..."

"...Well, you're not wrong about that."

Carol regretfully mumbled as she thought that if only

Akira was more of an adult and his interest in food was
shifted towards girls, he might have given a different answer
there.
 Chapter 109: Words Without Lies

Carol had already finished her meal, she was only sitting
there sipping her after-meal tea. While on the other hand,
Akira was still enjoying the meal in front of him, it was
simply because he took his time to enjoy each and every
meal that he ordered and he did order quite a lot of meals.

Carol had also already transferred the 40,000,000 Aurum

compensation money that she had promised for the relics
that Akira had lost. Akira then casually confirmed it, said his
thanks and returned back to eating.

Normally, the amount of money that a Hunter earned

regularly was proportional to his or her skill. So it was not
strange that it did not faze Akira when he received that
amount of money since he was strong enough to kill the
automatic weapons. But compared to that, it was completely
different from when Akira was lamenting over the relics that
he lost when he shielded Carol.

Carol had no idea how in the world Akira killed the

autonomous weapons. The more she thought about it, the
more she was confused, and the more she was interested in
the young boy in front of her.

Alpha then said to Akira.

"Akira, you got a message from the Hunter Office."

『A message?』

Akira pulled out his information terminal and checked the

notification message from the Hunter Office. It was an
emergency SOS request from the Drankam, to be more
precise, it was a request to join the rescue team sent to
rescue the Hunters trapped in the Seranthal building.

The situation inside the restaurant started to get agitated.

When Akira glanced at Carol, she was also focusing on her
own information terminal. And it was not only Carol, but all
the Hunters inside that restaurant were also checking their
own information terminals. It seemed that the notification
message was sent to all the Hunters in the area.

Akira could hear some Hunters around him talking.

"They're asking me to go inside that ghoul building? It's

that building that would eat anything that goes inside it no
matter whether it's a Hunter or monster, you know? I have
no plans to go there myself."

"Is that so? I don't mind taking it though."

Hearing what their friend said, the other Hunter snorted

and said.

"Whoah there, what are you talking about? It's the

Seranthal building, you know? It's one of the 7 great mystery
of Mihazono ruin. It's exactly because Drankam knows that
they can't challenge that building even after they prepare
themselves, that's why they're issuing this request. And
looking at the details of the request, the corpses of the
monsters will be owned by the Drankam, the ammo expense
is paid by ourselves, and the basic reward is small. So, is
there any reason why we have to take this request? I bet that
SOS request was sent by one of those Hunters through the
insurance company contracted with Drankam, and I'm sure
even Drankam only sends their Hunters although they don't
want to because they're in a contract with that insurance
company. Some of those insurance companies usually have
contracts with private security companies or Hunter gangs
to make sure that they would definitely take the SOS request
issued by that insurance company. After all, normally, no
one would want to take on such a dangerous request. Like
seriously, who would want to take this dangerous request
with such small reward?"

The other Hunter just smiled and shook his head before
replying.

"Well, it's true that it's not a profitable request. But let's
think carefully here, if we look at it as a request from
Drankam that would give us a boost in our Hunter Rank, it's
actually not that bad. After all, nothing bad can come from
raising our Hunter Rank. Moreover, we can get this SOS
request participation written in our Hunter Record. I heard
that you get a big Hunter Rank boost if you take an
emergency request issued by the Hunter Office due to the
Hunter ethics improvement program from the Corporate
Government. I also heard that some corporations, which is
mindful of its public standing, tend to choose Hunters who
participated in such emergency requests. And to top it off,
although it's not like it's my aim, for those Hunters who
want to form a connection with Drankam, this might be a
good chance for them."

After hearing his friend's opinion, the other Hunter then

interjected.

"Hmmm, Drankam, huh? It has grown into a rather big

gang and I heard that it has a good standing with the City
Management at the moment after completing those bounty
requests. So, I guess it's understandable that some Hunters
want to join that gang. But I heard that it focuses only on
accepting young Hunters lately and it rejects application by
most of the common veterans. Ahh, I see, so those Hunters
who got rejected might take this request as a chance to prove
their skill, huh."

"It seems that Drankam is deepening their relationship

with the Kugamayama City Management and the Hunter
Office. So for those who want to hop on the bandwagon, this
might be a good chance. Drankam itself has its reputation to
uphold, so I'm sure they'll also properly prepare their
Hunters for this request. It's indeed as you said, for Hunters
who want to improve their track record and get a boost in
their Hunter Rank, this is actually a perfect chance to do just
that."

"Hmmm, so you're planning to take this request, huh?

"It's as you said, it's a dangerous place that it has even

become an urban legend… So if only someone would
accompany me there."

That Hunter then smiled bitterly at what his friend said.

"…Alright alright, I get it, but you'll pay for the ammo,
okay?"

"I'm glad that I have a partner who would understand."

After those Hunters finished their meals, they took a short

rest there before leaving the restaurant. They were close
enough for Akira to hear their conversation, so basically,
they were paying more or less the same expensive meal as
Akira, which meant that they were powerful Hunters able to
afford such a luxury.

After listening to those Hunters, Akira said with interest.

『 It seems that people react differently to this kind of

request, huh?』
 Alpha at least tried to confirm it with Akira.

"It seems that I need to educate you about that too. So

then, what's your plan? Are you planning to take that
request?"

Akira then answered back with the exact answer that

Alpha had predicted.

『No. I'm done for today. I've gathered enough money for
the day and I'm already tired right now.』

Akira then returned back to his information terminal to

refuse the request.

Carol suddenly asked Akira a question.

"It seems that you got that message too. I'm refusing that
request though, how about you, Akira?"

"I'm refusing it too."

Carol smiled since Akira gave the same answer as her.

"Thought so. I have no plans to go anywhere near that

building for the time being."

As Akira placed his information terminal aside and was

about to take another bite of the meal in front of him,
suddenly a notification reached his information terminal, it
was a call from Shiori.

"Akira here. I'm sorry but I'm in the middle of eating right
now. If it's not an emergency, can you call me again later?"

[I'm really sorry, this is an emergency. I'll keep it short, so

can you please give me some of your time?]
 "Alright, what is it?"

[Akira-sama, I want to make a request to you to escort

Milady. As for the period of the request, if it's possible, I
want you to start from right now and it'll be until we can
guarantee Milady's safety. At most, it'll take the whole day
today. And since we don't have much time right now, if it's
possible, I wish you're okay with postponing the negotiation
about the reward to later. But please don't worry, I swear on
my loyalty for Milady that I would definitely pay you with a
suitable reward.]

"...This has something to do with that emergency request

to the Seranthal building, doesn't it?"

[It seems that you've heard it as well. Yes, Milady decided

to accept that emergency request. So I want to ask you to
protect Milady during that request——]

Akira immediately interjected.

"——I'm sorry, but I can't take that request."

Shiori went silent for a few seconds.

[...Is it okay if I ask why? If it's because we don't agree on

the reward beforehand, we can quickly decide on the
advance payment and I'll immediately transfer it right now.
And if it's hard for you to meet up with us right now, I don't
mind if you meet up with us later. If it's something that we
can help with, we're willing to make compromises.]

"The answer is still a 'no'. I won't take that request and I

don't plan to negotiate about it."

Akira could feel that Shiori was a bit surprised and

bewildered on the other end of the call as he continued.
 "Ahhh, it's not like I refuse because I don't like you or
anything. The reason why I won't take that request is simple,
it's because I don't want to go anywhere close to that
Seranthal building, I don't want to die after all. So, sorry
about that."

Shiori sounded very serious as she carefully asked Akira a

question.

[...Is the Seranthal building so dangerous even Akira-

sama would say something like that?]

"Well, it's at least dangerous enough for me to refuse any

request that doesn't promise me enough money. Of course, it
might be just me being a coward though. I can't tell you the
details, but something happened that causes me to hesitate
to go anywhere near that building. That's why I won't accept
that request. I'm sure you have your own reason as to why
you need to go there, which in that case, make sure to be
extra careful. It's in the middle of an old-world ruin after all,
so anything can happen. For example, your information-
gathering device might lose sensitivity inside that building
and you might suddenly not be able to use your information
terminal there. Or if you're not careful enough, you might
get surrounded by mechanical monsters without you
realizing it or you might even find the monsters using the
facilities inside that building. So yeah, I won't accept it, later
then."

Akira only said that and ended the call. He then put his
information terminal aside one more time before returning
back to eating again.

Carol was curious about what that call was for. But it
might annoy him if she needlessly butted into his business
there, so she was putting on a smile indicating that she was
not bothered at all.
 ***

After Akira cut the call, Shiori looked at her information

terminal with a grim face. Kanae approached her and asked
a question.

"We're ready to go. Ane-san, how is it? You're trying to

invite that young boy Akira, right?"

"I got rejected."

"That's really unfortunate. I actually wanted to see that

boy's skill from up close. So then, what is with that face? You
look grimmer than usual for someone who just got her
request rejected."

"The real problem is the reason why he rejected it. He

rejected it without giving me any chance to negotiate saying
that he doesn't want to die so he would refuse to get
anywhere close the Seranthal building."

Unlike Shiori, who looked really concerned, Kanae was

smiling amusedly.

"I don't know why exactly Akira would say that, but if
someone as strong as Ane-san would even go that far to say
something like that about that place, then it seems that this
will be interesting."

Shiori glared at Kanae.

"...I'll at least go and recommend Milady not to take the

request. As for you, go and recheck our equipment... No,
redo the preparation. Make sure that we have enough
equipment to survive a ruin exploration in a ruin with zero
survivors."
 Kanae smiled and said.

"Roger that. But isn't it impossible to change Milady's

mind at this point? This request is basically a compulsory
request, if Milady won't participate, she might get kicked out
of the gang. After all, some people from the Katsuya faction
hate Milady since they think Milady abandoned Katsuya
back then. That's also exactly the reason why Milady could
not participate in the bounty hunting too, remember? But
well, I guess that was a good thing from Ane-san and
Milady's point of view though."

Among the young Hunters in Drankam, Reina was

actually keeping herself in a delicate neutral position in
between the Katsuya faction and the anti-Katsuya faction.
That was also the reason she came to Mihazono ruin only
with Kanae and Shiori. The Katsuya faction treated her as if
she was from the anti-Katsuya faction while the anti-Katsuya
faction treated her as if she was from Katsuya faction.
Because of that, she was having trouble making friends in
Drankam.

"One of the requirements for Milady to be allowed to work

as a Hunter is that she must be a member of Drankam. So
Milady might take it as telling her to stop working as a
Hunter if Ane-san tries telling Milady to change her mind,
right?"

Kanae said those words as if it was none of her business.

Shiori was still glaring at Kanae as she said to her.

"...I know. But I'll still recommend Milady not to go there.

It'll at least let Milady know that we're going to a very
dangerous location."

"Alright then. I'll go and redo the preparation. I'll

reorganize the prepared equipment with the assumption
that we'll end up in the red this time... It has been quite a
while since the last time I fought without worrying about the
expense, I can't help but look forward to this."

Kanae smiled happily when she said that.

Reina was about to head over to a location that would

even make Akira refuse Shiori's request without further
discussion. While on the other hand, Kanae seemed to be
looking forward to it. Shiori was fed up with Kanae.

Shiori instantly grabbed the sword dangling on her hip

and Kanae quickly reacted to that by keeping her distance
from Shiori. Shiori killed the emotion inside her and was
exuding an ominous aura. She then said in a low voice while
oozing out the anger within her heart.

"There's a limit on how much I can bear with your

behaviour."

Kanae kept smiling.

"It's so like you not to pull out that sword here you know,
Ane-san. Ah, that's a compliment by the way. It's good that
you stay calm. That's why they trust Milady to you and that's
also why Milady really trusts you."

Kanae stared back at Shiori while smiling. If Shiori really

pulled out her blade and tried to kill Kanae there, it would
lower their fighting power for protecting Reina. But Shiori
knew well that Kanae was smiling at her not because of that.

Kanae was actually smiling because she did not mind

either way whether Shiori would pull out her blade and try
to kill Kanae there, or that she would not pull out her blade
there which meant that she would get to go and fight
monsters later. Kanae would not make any provocation if
the latter were to happen. It was because it was her principle
and courtesy toward the people who employed her, it was
her attitude toward her own job. But if that came from
Shiori, then she would be happy to respond.

Shiori let go of her blade and said to Kanae.

"...Go."

"Roger that."

Kanae just smiled and went to reorganize their

equipment.

Shiori took a few deep breaths, reminding her of her

loyalty to Reina, and finally regained her composure. She
made sure that she could put on her usual smile to her
master before going to try convincing Reina.

***

Akira returned all the way back to the Kugamayama city

together with Carol. Due to Carol's request, he dropped her
near the red light district of the lower district.

Carol, who just stepped off from Akira's vehicle, invited

him.

"Since this is a good chance, how about coming with me to

get some drinks?"

Akira shook his head and said.

"Sorry but no thanks. I keep myself away from alcohols

since they lower my decision making skill and reaction
speed."
 After all, there were many occasions where drunk people
came into the slum city and ended up as dead corpses. Akira
had seen something like that happen in front of his eyes
numerous times before, so he had no wish to put in even a
drop of alcohol inside his body. And now, after knowing that
a disruption in his consciousness would also affect Alpha's
support in controlling his augmented suit, he was actively
avoiding alcohol even more.

Although there was a type of drug sold in the eastern

district which would instantaneously snap someone out
from a drunken state, Akira had no plans to drink any
alcohol to the point that he would need that kind of drug.

Alcohol and women, these two things were the gate to

ruin a man, and Carol was really familiar with both of them,
but both gates were shut closed in case of Akira. Carol could
not help but to smile bitterly and said.

"...So you don't drink alcohol and don't play with girls,
huh. That's a pretty healthy lifestyle you're having."

Akira looked slightly irritated as he said.

"A Hunter's biggest asset is their body, so it's a good thing

to have a healthy body."

But then Carol smiled seductively and said.

"I don't think it's wise to abandon worldly leisure though.

If you change your mind, you can give me a call anytime. I'll
be waiting for you, I don't mind if it's about my main job or
my side job, see you then."

After saying that, Carol went and vanished into the red
light district.
 Akira realized that Alpha was watching him with a big
smile, so he awkwardly said to her.

『...What?』

Alpha kept her big smile.

"It's nothing."

『...Seriously, what is it?』

"Do you want to know? Do you really want to know?"

Akira hesitated, but this time, it sounded like Alpha was

teasing him and that she actually wanted him to ask her. So
he went and said.

『Yeah, I really want to know.』

Alpha smiled happily and answered Akira's question.

"I'm happy that it seems my anti-honey trap training

works really well. Even with a beautiful girl tempting you
with her body right in front of you, you barely gave any
reaction at all. But actually, that might be a problem in
itself though."

『...I see.』

Akira only gave that short reaction and turned his vehicle
back on. But he was not heading back to his home.

"Oh, are we not going back home?"

『I want to replenish my ammo and medicines first, I did

use quite a lot of them today after all.』
 First, Akira went to Katsuragi's trailer, and in order to
reach it, he had to go out to the wasteland again.

In the middle of traversing the wasteland, Alpha was still

smiling at him. Akira was bothered by it, so he decided to
ask her again.

『What now? Is there anything more you want to say?』

"Do you want to know?"

『Yes, I do want to know.』

Akira thought that it must be another unimportant thing.

Alpha then said with still a big smile on her face.

"Today, you really expressed your trust in me with your

body."

Akira was so surprised that it interrupted his driving.

"I'm really happy, you know. After all, there's no way

you can jump off a building and run on its wall if you don't
trust me."

As Akira somehow regained control of his vehicle, Alpha

continued.

"It's not like I doubted you when you said that you trust
me, but still, it really gives a strong impression when you
actually show it with your body. After all, there are a lot of
people out there who, although they don't lie when they
speak, would lose their bravado when they have to prove it
with real action."

Akira stopped his vehicle to check if his vehicle was okay.

 "It's great that we deepen our trust for each other, it
would allow me to provide you with more support. So yes,
let's keep working hard together from here and on. I'll be in
your care, Akira."

Akira restarted his vehicle and slowly drove it forward. He

then kept her eyes forward as he said to Alpha who was
smiling happily next to him.

『...I see.』

"As I thought, it was the right choice to talk about this

when Carol is not around."

As Alpha was still smiling next to him, Akira snapped at

her as if he was trying to hide his embarrassment.

『...Yeah, you can say that again!!』

Akira replied loudly to hide his embarrassment and he

kept doing that in the middle of his ride to Katsuragi's
trailer.

After he finished buying medicines from Katsuragi, Akira

headed next to Shizuka's shop to replenish his ammo. In the
middle of his way, Akira remembered what Katsuragi said to
him.

"Destructive force, huh..."

Akira bought quite a lot of expensive medicines, it showed

that he was wounded badly enough for him to use that much
medicine. Since it would be bad for Katsuragi if he lost one
of his regulars, he suggested to Akira a set of equipment with
high destructive power.
 Kill before getting killed. That was the basics of fighting
monsters. Katsuragi told Akira that what he currently lacked
was the destructive power to do that.

Akira's main firepower was his CWH anti-material rifle

and DVTS minigun. Although he was able to defeat the
autonomous weapons with those guns, it was true that he
had some problems fighting the mechanical monsters inside
and outside the Seranthal building.

Akira was heading to Shizuka's shop while thinking of

asking for Shizuka's opinion about it. Moreover, it seemed
that Akira also had no plans to pay Katsuragi more money
although he was the one who made that suggestion to Akira
in the first place. It was just simply a matter of trust.

***

When Akira arrived at Shizuka's shop, it was right when

Shizuka was about to close her shop. The sky had already
darkened, save for the shops that were only open at night,
normal shops would already be closed at that time.

Akira stopped his vehicle in front of Shizuka's shop.

"Shizuka-san, are you already done for the day?"

"Akira, well, yes, but it's fine, come in."

"Is it really okay?"

Shizuka smiled at Akira and said.

"Of course. After all, I want to increase the chance of you

getting promoted from being a regular candidate to a real
regular to my shop."
 "Thank you very much."

Akira parked his vehicle in the shop's parking lot and

went inside the shop. After he went in, Shizuka flipped the
signboard of the front door and went inside too. Because the
sun had already set, she could not notice that Akira brought
a different vehicle than the one that he bought from her shop
just the other day.

After listening to the ammo that Akira ordered, Shizuka

then asked a question.

"Akira, you're ordering nothing but extended magazines

though? Are you sure about this? It might get a little
expensive, you know?"

"It's okay. Even it might get a bit expensive, I want to

carry more extended magazines."

For Hunters who often fought powerful monsters,

running out of ammo in the middle of a fight was fatal. And
there was a limit on how much ammo they could bring with
them when they were exploring a ruin far away from the city.
So in order to solve this issue, there were all kinds of
extended magazines sold in the eastern district.

One of them was a magazine filled with hair-sized bullets

that would change into a normal size bullet when shot.
These kinds of bullets, which were created by using
technology extracted from analyzing old-world technology,
allowed Hunters to pack way more bullets into a single
round. And thanks to the old-world technology, this kind of
modification did not lower the firepower of those bullets.
This technology was often used for guns that consumed a lot
of bullets, like a minigun.
 And of course, that kind of magazine was more expensive
than the usual magazine. Some of them cost 2 to 3 times
more than a usual magazine and depending on its quality,
some of them even cost 10 times more. So if they had no
plans to go somewhere dangerous where they had to use
those kinds of extended magazines, it would be much more
profitable to buy normal magazines.

Shizuka stared at Akira. There was no mistaking that

Akira had a reason as to why he would pick extended
magazines in place of normal magazines even if it would
need him to spend more money.

Shizuka smiled at him, she was putting extra pressure on

Akira with that smile as she asked.

"So then, what kind of dangerous stuff did you do through

this time?"

Akira got flustered a bit.

"Well, it's not exactly like I did something dangerous

intentionally. It's just that I encountered a lot of monsters,
so I had to run away and used a lot of ammo to get away
from them. I could get my reserve ammo if I was in my
vehicle, but I was inside a building at that time. So... Yes...
This is an insurance, it's just to be safe."

Akira was somehow able to say his excuse and it was not
like he made any lies there.

According to Shizuka's intuition, Akira was actually

carefully picking his words so as not to make her worry. But
she also knew that he did not lie at all. So basically, Akira did
meet powerful monsters that he could not defeat or he
ventured to a dangerous place that he could not handle, and
when that happened, he properly did his best to run away
instead of fighting back.

Shizuka's expression loosened as she gently smiled at him.

"I see. Well, it's fine then if that's the case. It's better to
abandon your relics and save your own life rather than dying
with relics on your back. As long as you return back alive,
you'll get another chance. So I'm glad that you're okay."

Akira made an invisible sigh. It seemed that he did not

have to explain the fact that he did crazy things like jumping
off a tall building and running on its wall. And of course,
even Shizuka's sharp intuition could not notice that far.

Akira then decided to change the subject while he had the

chance.

"Shizuka-san, do you think that I'm lacking destructive

power?"

Shizuka looked surprised.

"Destructive power? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's just that one of my acquaintances told me that

I'm lacking firepower. Fighting monsters is basically boiled
down to killing those monsters before getting killed. And it
seems that if I have trouble fighting monsters, that means I
lack sufficient firepower. Honestly speaking, since I'm
carrying 2 guns that I won't be able to use without the help
of my augmented suit, I thought that these 2 guns would be
enough. But am I really lacking firepower?"

After hearing what Akira said, Shizuka thought for a bit

before answering back.
 "...Let's see, I think it depends on your line of thinking.
It's true that if you fight a swarm of monsters, you would
need more firepower no matter how much firepower you
already have. There are also cases where areas that were
originally relatively safe suddenly get filled with powerful
monsters. But of course, it's not like you need to prepare
yourself for something like that all the time. After all, it
might hurt your wallet if you do that... If it's okay for me to
say something for my own benefit, I would say that you
indeed lack of firepower and I would suggest you buy more
equipment from me though."

Shizuka smiled mischievously.

Akira thought about it seriously and made his decision.

"Alright, I understand. I'll buy more equipment."

Shizuka was surprised, she then looked a bit troubled.

"...Uhmmm, there's no need to force yourself, you know?"

"I don't mind, after all, I'm buying new equipment so that
I won't have a hard time fighting monsters. Well, it's true
that I don't have so much money that I can carelessly spend,
but rather than putting my life in danger, I would rather put
my wallet in danger. So, I'll take a gun that you would
recommend me."

Now that Akira had gone and said it, it was not like
Shizuka could back out and not recommend him anything.
So in order to answer his trust, she smiled and said.

"Alright. Let's see, if it's for the current you... Wait here
for a bit."
 Shizuka went to the warehouse after saying that. Not too
long after that, she returned with a rifle that she picked for
Akira.

"It's A4WM automatic grenade launcher. Since it shoots

out grenades, you don't need to aim precisely at your target.
It packs quite a lot of punch that would work against
monsters with strong armour. And you can use it for indirect
fire too, depending on the type of grenades that you load,
you can bounce the grenades off the wall and shoot the
monsters on the other side of a corner. If you're looking for
an addition to your current equipment, I think this is the
perfect choice for you. It's only downside is the ammo
expense though, after all, it shoots out grenades."

"I see, so, how much does it cost?"

"About that though, give me a sec."

Shizuka went to the warehouse one more time. She then

returned back with grenade launcher magazines and other
extra equipment.

"I think you already understand this, but you can't use it
without ammo and there are a lot of grenade magazine types
that you can use. I'll sell the gun and the ammo as a set, so
listen to my explanation first about the characteristics and
the power of each type of grenades magazine and their
respective price before deciding which one to take, okay?"

Even after listening to Shizuka's explanation, Akira was

not sure which one to buy. So he ended up deciding based on
the firepower and the size of the grenades as he picked the
most expensive set.

Akira then loaded his new equipment and his reserve

ammo into his vehicle. After that, he said his goodbye to
Shizuka who was seeing him off outside the shop.

"Thank you very much for today, I'm sorry for coming
here after you closed the shop."

"It's fine. Not to mention, you also bought some

equipment from me. So don't worry about it. Be careful on
your way back, okay?"

Shizuka waved her hand, Akira lightly bowed and turned

his vehicle on.

As she saw Akira off, she mumbled.

"...Like I said, in the end, he did buy some of the

equipment that I'm selling, so this is fine."

Shizuka was answering her own question there. Although

she might have missed a business opportunity there because
she was concerned about Akira's wallet, result-wise, there
should not be any problem. In the end, she was still a
merchant and Akira was still her customer.

As Shizuka's merchant side made that excuse, her other

side just exasperatedly let it slide with that excuse. She then
changed gear and returned back to her shop to properly
close it. This time, she took more time than usual closing her
shop.
 Chapter 110: A Knock-off Rich Lady's Envoy

Sheryl went to a high-class looking building in the lower

district of Kugamayama city. For the sake of her gang's
business, there was some stuff that she had to do in the
Hunter Office's main branch.

Sheryl took off her wasteland coat and handed it over to

Erio. When she did that, everyone around her was amazed
by her appearance. She was clad in a high-class old-world
dress that was refitted just for her, which had cost 1,500,000
Aurum.

With Sheryl's dress even giving a sense of dignity, it would

be expected for the people who saw her to mistake her as
someone from the inner wall. It was extremely difficult to
see through that disguise and notice that she was from the
slum city. Sheryl moved so naturally as if the mood around
her did not affect her at all. With that amazing dress
boosting her already attractive body, Sheryl looked like a
rich lady. The armed young boy and the armed man next to
her only served to deepen that misunderstanding since they
looked like Sheryl's bodyguards, those two were Erio and
Darris.

Erio could not completely hide his nervousness, the

nuance of the Hunter Office's main branch overwhelmed
him as he looked around nervously while breaking into a
cold sweat.

Sheryl then said to Erio to calm him down.

"Erio, take a deep breath and try to calm down. It's not
like this place is dangerous. As a matter of fact, this place is
way safer than the back alley of the slum city. So there's no
need to be afraid."

"A-Alright. But still, I'm sure you can understand it, right?
Or more like, how can you be this calm?"

Erio looked at Sheryl who did not give off any nervous
vibe and he could feel a sense of admiration and amazement.
Sheryl was also a slum city child, just like him. Judging from
that point of view, both of them were not supposed to be
there. It was common for slum children to be kicked out
from a building by some armed guards.

——Well, Sheryl became the boss of the gang after she

negotiated with that Akira, that in itself is amazingly
brave. It reminds me again that she's unlike those common
slum children... But now that I think about it, those
common slum children won't even think of striking a deal
with the Hunter who destroyed their own gang, huh...

The girl who was once just a common slum city girl in the
past had become a beautiful girl clad in a beautiful dress as if
they were living in completely different worlds. Seeing that
girl in front of her, Erio somehow felt a bit complicated.

Sheryl then warned him.

"If you stay like that, there's no mistaking that someone

would call the guard to kick you out. So try to act casual."

"I know... I know, but..."

"Take some deep breaths until you can calm down."

Darris smiled bitterly and said.

 "Can I go now? I know you guys are having a hard time
here, but I'm busy, you know."

Sheryl replied.

"Sure. Thank you very much for taking us here."

"Alright, later then. I'll still be somewhere inside the

building. If anything happens, you guys can just call me, and
if you can't reach me, just call Katsuragi. We'll meet up again
when it's time to head back."

"Okay."

Darris glanced at Sheryl, smiled, and said.

"...Well, as long as you have that dress and stay here, I bet
no one would cause you any trouble. This place is the Hunter
Office after all, so I'm sure no one here is foolish enough to
cause a ruckus. But still, women are scary, they can
completely transform. Had I not known you in the past, I
would've been fooled too. Geez, scary scary..."

Sheryl smiled gracefully.

"I'll take that as a compliment. It's a dress that I received

as a present from Akira after all."

Darris smiled bitterly and waved his hand at Sheryl before

leaving. Although he took her there due to Katsuragi's order,
he had no plans to accompany her doing the troublesome
administration work. So, he was planning to pass time in the
shops upstairs.

A strong looking bodyguard had left that knock-off rich

lady's envoy. While the weak-looking bodyguard still looked
quite nervous. Everyone's attention in that area focused on
Sheryl and Erio. The main branch of the Hunter Office was
often visited by people from both outside and inside the
wall. Sometimes, there were even people from companies
too. As such, even if Sheryl was indeed a rich lady, it was not
a rare sight at all.

Sheryl looked at Erio and said.

"Do you want to talk about something for a little while

until you can calm down? If you are this nervous, people
won't believe that you're my bodyguard. And if that's
impossible for you, I still need you to do your job properly to
protect me. That's exactly why I brought you here with me,
you know?"

"Yeah, I know..."

Erio was there to protect Sheryl. At a glance, he seemed to

be using a pretty good armour and he was carrying a
powerful gun which could be used even without an
augmented suit. Sheryl got that equipment by making a deal
with Katsuragi. So, looking at Erio, most of the Hunters in
that area would think that he was a pretty well equipped
young Hunter.

But it was all just a disguise, his armour was needlessly

heavy with almost no worth as protection, the aim on his
gun was defective and his gun was broken that it might
explode when used, Katsuragi even warned them not to try
using it since that would be extremely dangerous. Going out
to the wasteland with that equipment was simply suicidal.

Erio himself had no skills to protect Sheryl in the first

place, but it was still safer than coming alone. Although it
was only for putting up an appearance, it was still way better
than having nothing. And of course, inside that Hunter
Office building, there was no one foolish enough to think of
testing Erio's skill. After all, causing trouble inside that
building was the same as picking a fight against the Hunter
Office.

Erio tried to think of a subject to talk about to help him

calm down, but he ended up thinking about why they were
there in the first place.

"By the way, I wonder what Akira-san is busy with. If he

would accompany you, you won't even need me here."

Sheryl calmly replied back.

"...It's for a Hunter job."

"Well, I already know that much. But like, I wonder if it's

that important to even turn down your request."

"...It's not like I pleaded with him to accompany me.

Moreover, I can't just keep asking him to come with me
every time I want to go to the lower district, right? Although
I asked Katsuragi-san to have Darris-san accompany us this
time, I eventually would rely on you and the other gang
members. So you better get used to it while you still have the
chance."

"Of course, but still... Hunter job, huh..."

Erio thought that it was perfectly understandable for a

Hunter to be busy doing his or her Hunter job. But it could
not be something that important, at least, it would not be
enough for a reason to refuse a request from Sheryl, Akira's
lover, to accompany her for a bit and to make sure that she
was safe.

——If Alicia asks me the same thing, I would definitely

prioritize her as long as I don't have anything too
important.

As Erio thought, 'if it was him and her girlfriend', he

looked a bit confused, his expression was saying that he
found something weird.

Right at that moment, Sheryl suddenly stopped smiling

and whispered to Erio.

"Erio, are you, by any chance, suspecting my relation with

Akira?"

Her calm voice hid her anger, the usual sparkle in her eyes
that would mesmerize any boys had disappeared. She sent a
cold and dark gaze to Erio.

Erio flusteredly refuted.

"No! Of course not! It's a misunderstanding!! It's the

opposite!! I just thought that although both of you are so
close, it was rather unexpected that you would give up... I
mean... I mean it is a reason to go on a date with him! But
well, I guess that's understandable, after all, it might be best
to stop bothering him all the time... I mean... it must have
been a sudden request to Akira, and he was busy, right?!"

Erio was being desperate, it was rather unclear whether

there was a need to change his wordings like that or it was
just simply because he was trying to come up with an excuse
on the fly.

Sheryl herself understood that her gang could not survive

had Akira not supported her. That's why Erio was trying his
best to readjust his wordings since he thought that he might
worsen the relation between Akira and Sheryl.
 Sheryl understood that very well, but that was not enough
to abate her irritation.

Sheryl did try to push her request when she asked Akira,
but she was coldly rejected. Akira did not even consider her
request, he had no intention to change his current plans just
because Sheryl and her gang asked him something. So, he
flatly rejected Sheryl's request.

But her current irritation actually stemmed from her

uneasiness. She was feeling uneasy about whether she could
become someone important to Akira before he changed his
mind. She was doing her best to do that, but she did not
know whether she would even make it or that she was even
already too late. She had no idea if that was the reason why
her request was rejected this time.

Sheryl somehow returned her expression back to normal,

she then smiled and said to Erio.

"Well, I guess that's fine. If that's the case... Just so you

know, unnecessary misunderstanding tends to cause trouble
later."

"Y-Yeah, I'm glad that I can clear up that

misunderstanding. I'll be more careful next time."

Erio sighed in relief. His nervousness coming from being

inside the Hunter Office had also disappeared.

Sheryl had finished half of the administration work

beforehand. She just needed to wait for the Hunter Office to
finish their part of the work. Sheryl and Erio were sitting on
a bench on the first floor of that building while waiting for
the Hunter Office to finish.
 Sheryl was spending her time thinking about her plans for
the future. To be more precise, she was thinking about what
to do to sell the relics that Akira asked her to. She was
working on her information terminal to reevaluate, revise,
and refine that plan.

If she could make that plan successful, she might be able

to be someone not worth abandoning to Akira. It might also
be a chance to deepen their relationship even more. Sheryl
thought so as she put her best efforts working on her plan.

As Sheryl was extremely focused working on her

information terminal, somebody suddenly called her.

"——Oh, as I thought, that's really Sheryl! Sheryl!!"

A group of 3 Hunters walked toward Sheryl. It was

Katsuya who looked rather happy, Yumina who just smiled
bitterly, and the as expressionless as always Airi.

When Sheryl noticed them, she stood up from her bench.

She then smiled and greeted Katsuya who came all the way
next to her.

"Long time no see, I'm glad that everyone seems to be

doing well."

Katsuya looked at Sheryl's smile and blushed. That

dazzling smile decorating her pretty face was the result of
Sheryl's hard work training herself.

Katsuya stood in front of Sheryl and happily said.

"I didn't expect to see you here. I'm really happy to be able
to see you again."

After he said that, Katsuya noticed Erio next to Sheryl.

 "...Uhhh, who's that guy?"

Erio got flustered when Katsuya looked at him. It might

be just him, but for some reason, Erio felt that Katsuya's
gaze at him was not a friendly one.

Erio's equipment and appearance was the epitome of

what most Hunters usually mocked Katsuya and his team
for. Just an inexperienced young Hunter using good
equipment, or a stupid young Hunter misunderstanding the
power of his own equipment as his own skill. Or at least, that
was what Katsuya thought, and that might be unconsciously
irritating him. Or it might be simply because he did not like
the fact that a guy he did not think suitable for Sheryl was
standing next to her. Whichever it was, Katsuya could not
give a friendly gaze to Erio.

They then introduced themselves to Erio.

"Ahh, I'm Katsuya, a Drankam Hunter. My Hunter Rank

is 36."

"I'm Yumina. I'm also a Drankam Hunter just like

Katsuya."

"Airi, same."

Erio panicked even more, the people standing in front of

him were not just Hunters by appearance, they were real
Hunters. Moreover, it seemed that Katsuya was putting
some kind of pressure on him. Although there was no way he
would kill him, it was still scary for Erio.

Erio tried his best to make a calm expression as he

nervously said the line he had previously decided with
Sheryl beforehand.
 "...I was told not to speak."

Erio only said that and looked away from Katsuya's group.
It might be because he was too nervous that he sounded
rather rude.

Katsuya got even more irritated by Erio's answer. He

might have thought that it sounded like an answer that
someone would give to mock other people.

Sheryl apologetically said to Katsuya.

"My apologies, he's my bodyguard. He was told not to talk

with other people unless it's absolutely necessary since it
might disrupt his duty as my bodyguard. So please let me
apologize in his stead."

Sheryl bowed to Katsuya and his friends, Katsuya

flusteredly replied.

"Ah, no. If that's the case, it can't be helped then, right?"

Katsuya looked at Airi and Yumina, asking for their

support.

"Yep, it can't be helped if that's the case. We're sorry too."

"Duty is important, it can't be helped."

Yumina and Airi returned back to their usual self as they

saw Sheryl bowing to apologize to them.

Sheryl raised her head and smiled while thanking them.

"Thank you very much... As for him, well, it might be rude

to say this, but please don't interact too much with him. He's
not used to his job yet, that's why he's high-strung right
now."

"It's alright, you don't need to feel bad about it."

Katsuya blushed when he said that.

——Well, Sheryl did say that if I annoy her acquaintance,

it might cause her to hate me too. So let's be careful about
that. Alright then.

If he left a bad impression on Sheryl's acquaintance, it

might also leave a bad impression on Sheryl too, and vice
versa. Katsuya then threw a friendly smile at Erio.

Seeing how Sheryl was smiling at Katsuya's group and

how Katsuya's group's behaviour changed in a snap, Erio
sighed out in relief while also feeling slightly scared at the
same time.

But that fear was not of Katsuya's group, that fear was of
Sheryl.

——I bet Sheryl is planning to trick them too, right?

People don't usually treat slum children like that, so I'm
sure they at least think that we're from the lower district. In
the worst-case scenario, they might be even thinking that
we're from the inner wall... Seriously though, is it really
that easy to trick people...?

Now that he thought about it, Sheryl actually also did the
same thing to the Hunters that she met in the Higaraka
Residence Ruin. Back then, Erio did not notice it since he
was too nervous being in the middle of the wasteland. But
now that he looked back, Sheryl actually did the exact same
thing.
 Erio knew Sheryl for quite a long time, he already knew
her since the days when they were together in Sibea's gang.
Because of that, he knew her versy well.

But he could not say that with confidence now. Erio

noticed that the current Sheryl was completely different
from the past Sheryl.

When Erio was kicked out from the gang, Sheryl was
actually thinking of a way to let Erio return back to the gang.
He knew that from Alicia, it might be out of Sheryl's pity
toward someone who she had known well for a long time.

But if Erio got kicked out from the gang now, he was sure
that the current Sheryl would just forget about him. Even if
Alicia pleaded, Erio bet that Sheryl would not accept him
back to the gang as long as he did not directly ask Akira to
vouch for him.

Erio could not afford to make any mistake there, so he

decided to keep his mouth shut to make sure that he would
not leak any important information.

Katsuya smiled at Sheryl and asked her a question.

"By the way, what are you doing here? Are you waiting for
someone?"

"No. I came here to complete some administration work.

Right now I'm just waiting until they process their side of
work."

"So, you're free right now...? In that case, do you want to

hang out with us?"

Sheryl was surprised, but she quickly returned to her

usual smile.
 "Are you trying to hit on me?"

Katsuya flusteredly replied.

"Eh?! Ah, no, uh, it's not like I'm hitting on you or
anything..."

Katsuya casually invited Sheryl, he did that almost purely

out of habit.

Sheryl smiled bitterly as she apologetically said.

"Katsuya-san. I understand that you invited me without

any ulterior motives. But, honestly speaking, I don't think
it's something that you should do when you're already
accompanying another girl, you know? That would be rude
very rude, not to me, but to the girl whom you're
accompanying."

Sheryl shifted her gaze towards Airi and Yumina. Katsuya

followed Sheryl's gaze to them too. Yumina somehow looked
exasperated as she sighed. While for Airi, she looked slightly
conflicted.

Yumina smiled bitterly and said to Sheryl.

"Don't worry, this guy is just like that. You can say that it's
his habit."

"...Humans can really get used to anything."

Airi vague mumbling somehow sounded pretty

convincing. Sheryl then replied with a bitter smile to both of
them.

Katsuya could feel a slight pressure coming from the girls.

He then flusteredly tried to defend himself, but instead, he
sounded like he was only making excuses.

"No, well, uhh, you know, it seems that I offended you this
time, so I just thought that if you're free, I could make up for
it. Not to mention that we could not talk to each other that
much the last time we met, right? That's all there's to it."

Yumina looked at Katsuya, although it was only an excuse,

Katsuya was not lying. Moreover, he did feel sorry for what
happened too. Yumina could read that far since she had
been together with him for quite some time.

Yumina was not sure what to do, but she eventually

decided to go along with Katsuya's plan. In the first place,
they were actually out in the city that day to cheer up
Katsuya. So she decided to just let him do what he wanted to
do.

——Well, I guess it's fine, huh. It might cheer him up for a

bit talking with someone else who's not working in
Drankam.

Yumina then cautiously asked Sheryl.

"Well, it's not really that comfortable talking while

standing like this. So, do you have time to hang out with us
for a bit? We're actually thinking of taking a short rest too."

Sheryl looked surprised.

"Is that really okay? I might be a bother to both of you."

"It's fine, we're the one who's inviting you anyway."

Sheryl thought for a bit, it was an easy thing to refuse that

offer. Erio also felt uneasy about their offer. But since it
might cause them to doubt Sheryl's identity, he decided to
not say anything there.

While on the other hand, if Sheryl refused that offer, she

might be missing a good chance to gather valuable
information. If she could get some valuable information
from Katsuya and his friends, she might get some insight to
help her plan to sell her relics.

Not to mention, Akira was quite happy with the

information that she gathered last time. Thus Sheryl reached
a conclusion.

Sheryl smiled gracefully and said.

"In that case, please let me accompany you."

Katsuya smiled happily when he heard Sheryl's answer.

They then moved to a cafe inside that building. After all,

for the sake of the administration work that she was
planning to finish that day, she could not afford to leave that
building.

They found an empty table and took a seat on that table.

Erio was the only one who was not sitting, he was just
standing-by next to Sheryl without saying anything.

Since lunchtime was getting closer, Katsuya, Airi and

Yumina ordered some meals for their lunch. While Sheryl
only ordered a cup of coffee.

Leaving Erio who was standing there as Sheryl's

bodyguard aside, Sheryl was the only one not ordering a
meal, so then Katsuya casually asked her a question.
 "Are you sure you're okay not ordering anything else? Just
a cup of coffee?"

"Yes, please don't let it bother you."

Sheryl was smiling like usual when she said that, but
Katsuya somehow felt there was a slight disturbance in that
smile. So he inadvertently asked her a question.

"...I actually chose this place since it's pretty cheap

considering the quality of the meal they serve here. Do you,
by any chance, not find it to your liking?"

Sheryl's dress was obviously a high-class dress. It was an

old-world relic fitted exactly for her, so of course, she was
giving off a different vibe compared to the other people with
common dresses.

Even Katsuya could not imagine how much that dress

would cost him if he tried to buy one. So considering the
usual expense of the people who would casually use such a
dress, Katsuya was worried if he had picked a cafe that was
too cheap for Sheryl's standard.

Sheryl lightly shook her head, she looked slightly

embarrassed as she said.

"No, that's not it... Uhh, the reason as to why I didn't

order any meal is not because I don't like the food in this
cafe... It's... Uhh, to keep my body's proportion under
control, so..."

Katsuya could not catch what Sheryl was implying, so he

just tilted his head and asked further.

"Your body's proportion?"

 Yumina and Airi immediately jabbed at him.

"Katsuya, shut up!"

"Katsuya, you should think before you speak!"

As Yumina and Airi were glaring at Katsuya, he finally

noticed it. He immediately flusteredly tried to come up with
an excuse.

"Ah, no, I don't think you're fat, you know. And I do think
it's rather healthy not to be too skinny..."

"Geez, Katsuya, just shut up, will you?"

"Katsuya, you should really put more thought before you

speak."

Yumina and Airi once again immediately shut Katsuya up.

Thanks to that, Katsuya realized that he only made it worse,
so he decided to just shut up as not to make it even worse.

Yumina smiled bitterly and apologized to Sheryl.

"I'm sorry. I know that I've been saying this again and
again, but that's just his habit. I know it sounds like an
excuse, but he did not mean to offend you at all. He just...
What can I say, tend to go too far... Well, I know that it's not
good at all, I wonder if the effect from the last scolding has
worn off."

Yumina glared at him. Katsuya somehow understood

what she wanted to say, so he then apologetically said.

"I'm really sorry... I'm sorry, Sheryl."

 Sheryl tried to show that she was not angry as she smiled
at Katsuya and his friends.

"Please don't worry about it. It's also partly my fault for
doing something that might cause a misunderstanding.
Since we're here, let's not worry too much about it and enjoy
ourselves."

Katsuya and Yumina smiled and blushed when they saw

Sheryl's smile. Yumina then tried to hide her embarrassment
by changing the topic.

"Very well then, let's talk about something else."

After that, meals and drinks were delivered to their table.

They then started talking to each other while enjoying their
meals and drinks.

Sheryl slurped her coffee as she sighed in relief since she

was able to keep her image.

——It seems that it somehow leaked on my face, huh. I'm

glad I was able to dodge it. But still, we're really living in a
different world, huh. For them, this cafe is a rather cheap
cafe. I wonder how much I need to earn to be able to feel the
same.

The coffee that Sheryl ordered cost her 1500 Aurum per
cup, seeing from the perspective of someone who used to
live in the slum city, it was an extremely expensive cup of
coffee. But even so, it was actually the cheapest thing on the
menu of that cafe, and of course, it was not like she could
just order water and leave. So after a lot of thinking, Sheryl
decided to just order a cup of coffee in the end.

Inside that small cup that Sheryl could easily fit her hand
into, it was only 70% filled with coffee. She spent 1500
Aurum for that cup of coffee, honestly speaking, she had a
lot to complain about that cup of coffee as she put a lot of the
free sugar and milk inside that coffee and mixed them
together.

After putting so much sugar and milk inside her coffee,

which would definitely cause a certain group of coffee lovers
to rage, Sheryl's coffee turned into a very sweet liquid. When
she took a slurp, the sweetness quickly spread through her
tongue and softened her expression. Her brain might have
been seeking sugar to help clear her mind.

Up until now, Sheryl had never ever been in a situation

where she could use sugar without worrying about the cost,
and since she had spent 1500 Aurum for her coffee, she used
so much sugar as if she was trying to make up for that price.
Thus her coffee turned into a very sweet liquid.

Katsuya and Yumina were so surprised when they looked

at Sheryl who used a lot of sugar on her coffee and how her
expression turned softer when she took a slurp of that coffee.
But on the other hand, they could understand why Sheryl
would do that. It might be something that she had to do so
that she could keep her body shape under control.

Sheryl noticed Katsuya and Yumina's expression.

"...Uhmm, is there any problem?"

Yumina carefully asked.

"Uhh, isn't that too sweet for you?"

Sheryl looked a bit confused.

"Yeah. It's sweet."

 "No, that's not what I meant... Uhh, sorry, it's nothing."

Yumina was about to ask if it was not too sweet, but she
realized that there was not even any need to ask that
question as she stopped herself.

Sheryl still looked a bit confused as she shifted her gaze

from Yumina to Katsuya. Katsuya noticed that and
flusteredly asked.

"Um... do you like sweet things?"

"Yes, I love them."

Sheryl smiled, there was no lie in her smile. Although it

was a dazzling smile, Katsuya somehow felt pressured by
that smile. It must be because he was overwhelmed by how
Sheryl could smile like that after drinking a coffee with that
much sugar without showing any difficulty.

"I-I see, well, I can totally get that. A lot of my Hunter

friends are girls and all of them like sweet things. Well, we
move around a lot as Hunters, so I guess it helps with
recovering their energy and healing the wounds. That's why
I think there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of calories. I
know some girls who always eat a lot..."

Katsuya then kept on talking while trying not to touch the

subject about Sheryl's palate and hoping that he was not
making a weird face. Yumina and Airi did not seem to plan
on stopping him any time soon.

When they thought about that cup of coffee, they knew

that it must be extremely sweet and could not help but to
imagine how it would taste if they took a slurp of that coffee.
Thus they were trying not to look at Sheryl's cup in order to
avoid thinking about it.
 Chapter 111: A Shackle That Binds Down the Heroes

As they continued talking to each other, the subject slowly

shifted to Katsuya's group's work as Hunters. It was because
Yumina and Sheryl intentionally pushed the conversation in
that direction.

Katsuya's story started from when he was having a hard

time just after joining Drankam. He already showed a
glimpse of his talent right after he joined. The veteran skilled
Hunters of the gang noticed that rare talent, so they sent
Katsuya with the other Hunters to explore ruins and fight
monsters. Then eventually, he grew strong enough to be
recognized as one of the Drankam officers.

Katsuya and his friends had also formed a rather

influential faction inside Drankam. Recently, he had even
gotten to command a Hunter team to hunt for the bounty
monsters. Katsuya took the command and his team was able
to successfully hunt a bounty monster. It was a rather
amazing track record that showed his talent as a Hunter.

Sheryl exaggerated her surprise before asking more

questions to Katsuya. In the middle of their conversation,
she praised, complimented, and applauded him frequently.
She applauded Katsuya's ability to make decisions in a hard
situation, or how he fought bravely in the dangerous
battlefield, or how he tried to save his friends without caring
for his own safety.

Sheryl listened closely with full interest, she showed a

worried face when he talked about how he faced a dangerous
situation, and she showed a happy face and praised him
when he talked about how he and his friends made a big
achievement.

Sheryl realized that Yumina kept bringing up subjects that

would make it easier to praise Katsuya. Although she did not
know the reason, she decided to jump wagon that subject
and kept praising him.

Although Sheryl's compliments were all intentional, they

neither felt out of place nor weird at all. They did not feel
forced either. Sheryl's speech skills was so high that there
was no flaw in it. But the response from Katsuya was rather
dull.

At first, Katsuya started talking with full vigour as if he

was boasting about his story, and when Sheryl praised him,
he would blush and smile. But as his story went on, his
expression started getting cloudy and he started to sound
less and less excited. And when he talked about his hunt for
the bounty monster, even when Sheryl complimented him,
he just awkwardly laughed.

Sheryl thought that she might have complimented him

too much and annoyed him instead, but when she looked at
Airi and Yumina's expression, she noticed that it was not the
case. Both of them looked worriedly at Katsuya, basically,
both of them knew why Katsuya looked so down and Sheryl
thought that must be the case.

Sheryl showed a puzzled face, she looked a bit at loss and

worried at Katsuya's reaction as she was considering her
options. She might have to wait for some time before her
business there was finished, but she could say that it was
about time for her to leave and withdraw from Katsuya's
group. Although that would mean she would leave in the
middle of a bad mood, it was still a choice that she could
pick to leave before the mood got even worse.
 But it seemed that Katsuya was starting to climb the ranks
in Drankam, so she decided that it might be a good idea to
stay there longer and use that chance to deepen their
relationship and gather more information from him.

Sheryl sounded apologetic as she asked Katsuya.

"......Katsuya-san, I'm really sorry but did I say something

that offended you? If that's the case, my apologies."

Katsuya became flustered when Sheryl suddenly

apologized to him.

"Eh?! Ah, that's not it!"

"Is that so...? It seemed that your mood got worse every
time I said something..."

Sheryl replied while lowering her voice. She hung her

head as if she was down.

Katsuya looked at Yumina, asking for help.

Since Yumina was worried about Katsuya, she made a

serious face and changed the subject.

"Katsuya, if that's not the case, I think it's better if you

properly explain it to Sheryl."

"Eh? Ah...! You're right."

Katsuya was stumbling over his words while Yumina just

kept staring at him.

Katsuya also reacted in a similar way the last time Yumina

asked him what's wrong when she saw him looked so down.
But when that happened, he always apologized for making
her worry and said he was alright without telling her
anything.

Yumina herself actually had a guess as to why Katsuya

was feeling down. But she could not say that herself.

After Sheryl checked with them, she was relieved that it

was not her fault that Katsuya seemed depressed. She then
smiled awkwardly and both intentionally and naturally
looked worried for Katsuya and said.

"I won't force you to tell me. It's enough for me to know
that it's not because of me. But if there's anything that
bothers you, I'm all ears. I will listen if you want to share it
with me. I heard that it might help you feel at ease if you
share your problem with someone else. Although I might not
be able to support you like Yumina-san and Airi-san, I can at
least listen to your worries and complaints. So, if you're okay
with it, I'm willing to listen."

Katsuya glanced timidly at Sheryl. Sheryl locked her gaze

at Katsuya while smiling at him.

Katsuya was not sure what to do. It was obvious that he

was hesitating from telling about his worry to anyone else,
he looked conflicted as his gaze wandered around. Then
eventually, his gaze returned back to Sheryl. The moment he
looked at her gentle smile one more time, Katsuya opened
his mouth.

"...Sheryl, do you think that I'm a great Hunter?"

"Yes."

"...Are you sure?"

 "I'm sure different people would have different indicators
to decide whether someone is a great Hunter or not. But
from my point of view and from what I heard from your
story just now, as long as it was not a lie, I do think that
you're a great Hunter."

"...I see."

Katsuya paused for a bit, he then looked dispirited as he

said with a voice that expressed his distress.

"...I don't really know anymore if I'm that great of a

Hunter."

He then slowly continued talking.

Katsuya had admired Hunters for a long time. He had

heard stories about Hunters and when he imagined that
scene, his heart would flutter.

They worked so hard to get stronger and went to explore

the dangerous, but more than that, wondrous old-world ruin
together with their comrades that they trusted. They then
fought against swarms of monsters that were way out of
their leagues and explored undiscovered ruin without any
guides, they had to go through a lot of ups and downs
together with their comrades to be able to return back alive
with valuable relics in their hands. Sometimes, they splurged
on their reward money to throw a big celebration or when
they discussed how to use their reward money to step up
their power as Hunters. Those were the common stories of
all those successful Hunters in the eastern district.

Katsuya imagined himself going through all of those

things, he promised to himself that he would be one of those
successful Hunters one day. Fortunately enough, he was
blessed with a suitable talent to reach that and he was
blessed with friends that he could trust and good luck.

His luck, comrades, and talent pushed him further up. He

quickly climbed the ladder into a great Hunter and
distinguished himself from all the other common Hunters.

Then finally, Katsuya, who had become one of those

successful Hunters stories in the eastern district, had to face
the darkness behind all of those glorious stories. It was the
reason why people did not even try to accomplish it although
they would be able to attain great wealth if they succeeded.

"...At first, wait no, it's not exactly at first, huh. Basically,
the moment when I realized it was when we took that
request to face the monster swarm flooding out from the
Kuzusuhara ruin heading to Kugamayama city. Some of my
friends died back then, I've known them well, we've eaten
together in the same cafeteria in the past, we've gone
through hard training together, we've worked together to
explore ruins and hunt monsters. Some of them were blown
into small pieces by cannons, some of them eaten alive by
monsters, some of them ran out of medicines and died from
nonfatal wounds... They died... and I couldn't save them."

Hunter's job was indeed an extremely dangerous job. It

was a common thing for them to get killed on duty, so there
was nothing strange about it at all. The stories of those
successful Hunters were basically the stories of those
Hunters who survived. Due to his rare talent, Katsuya and
his friends had forgotten that truth. But it was only a matter
of time before they had to face it.

"At that time, I thought that it would be alright as long as

I can be strong enough, it would be fine as long as I can be
powerful enough. So I tried my best and I thought that I'd
become the great Hunter that I aspired to be back then.
Then, they gave me the responsibility to command a team to
hunt for the bounty monster and we successfully hunted the
bounty monster. I'm sure a lot of people think that I'm a
great Hunter, but... It was no use, I lost a lot of my friends...
I couldn't save them too. I do feel happy when you say that
I'm a great Hunter. But, like, you know, when you call me a
great Hunter it also makes me feel conflicted... That's all."

Yumina looked at Katsuya who was speaking as if he was

confessing his sin. Her guess was correct, Katsuya was
lamenting the friends that he had lost, he was lamenting the
fact that he could not save them. But Yumina could not think
of any words to cheer him up.

Getting killed was an occupational hazard for Hunters.

Thus, it was better for those Hunters to stop mourning for
their dead friends, forget about it, and move on. At least
that's what Yumina thought, but she could not say that to
Katsuya. After all, she was also one of his friends and she
might be one of his friends that would get killed too.

Yumina could not say those words since it might cause

him to just forget about her and move on when she got
killed.

Airi also guessed the reason why Katsuya was depressed,

but she thought that it was just a common problem, that was
why she did not say anything. In the first place, she did not
lament the death of her friends as much as Yumina and
Katsuya. It was a common thing for people to die, especially
in their line of work. So, there was nothing to be surprised
about. Even if they were her friends that they just laughed
together yesterday, after all, it was a common scene in the
world where she was raised.

Airi looked up to Katsuya since he was the one who saved

her from such a world. Moreover, she did want him to
lament her if she got killed. She did not want Katsuya to just
quickly forget about her when she died or think that she
might have died just because he did not see her for some
time. That was why she could not tell him to get used to
losing friends.

From the outside, it looked like Sheryl was sympathizing

with Katsuya but she was actually organizing that new
information in the back of her head and thinking of how she
should react to his story.

Katsuya thought that everything would be fine as long he

worked hard enough. After all, he had the rare talent to
accomplish that, he had done that in the past, he
experienced that first hand, and he was likely to do that
again in the future. Although Sheryl had no proof, she was
sure that it must be the case.

No matter where and when he was born, it was very likely

that Katsuya would work himself hard and reach success and
happiness. Then loving him and getting loved by him would
mean getting a share of his success and happiness.

Sheryl then thought that there must be 2 kinds of people

around him. Either those that accepted him and cared for
him, or those that rejected him and hated him to death.
Either way, it showed that they were interested in him.
There must be something in him that caused people around
him to not be able to just ignore him. Leaving aside those
sociopathic people who did not care about other people,
normal people would not be able to just ignore Katsuya's
existence.

Sheryl then smiled bitterly, but she kept it inside her heart
and did not let it show on her face.
 ——I wonder if he's one of those people who are too
talented and have to face hardship because of their talents.
Honestly speaking, I can't sympathize at all, but let's leave
that aside for now and think about how I should react.
Well, I can just pretend that I can't find any words to say
and just keep quiet, but...

After a lot of thinking, she finally decided on what to do.

Then she made a rather serious face and said to Katsuya in a
strong tone.

"Katsuya-san, I'll tell you what I think after listening to

your story. If it's wrong or if I say something that I should
not, I hope that you can just let it slide or just mock me and
laugh it off."

Katsuya, who was hanging his head low and looking

down, raised his head and looked straight to Sheryl with a
serious expression. He felt a bit overwhelmed with her
staring at him as he was waiting for her to continue.

Sheryl was staring straight at Katsuya with a serious face,

but she then smiled and bowed deeply to him.

"Thank you very much for protecting the city. I can only
give you and your comrades as well as all of your friends that
you lost my deepest gratitude for protecting the city. Thank
you very much!"

Katsuya, Airi, and Yumina were extremely surprised when

Sheryl suddenly thanked them. Sheryl then raised her head
and stared at Katsuya before continuing.

"Had that swarm of monsters from the Kuzusuhara ruin

not been stopped, I bet the city would have suffered
extensive damage. And if those bounty monsters were left
alone, they would have slowly killed the city. I'm sure each
Hunter has his or her reason to fight for protecting the city,
some of them might have done it for the sake of money,
some of them might have done it for the sake of renown, or
it might be just because it was one of their jobs, some of
them might even have done that because they had no other
choice. But it did not change the fact that they had put their
lives at stake and some of them even lost their lives in that
fight. Thus I feel greatly indebted to them."

Katsuya realized that he was really moved by Sheryl's

reply, but he did not know the reason why.

"As long as you work as a Hunter, there's a risk for you to

get killed. It could even be said that it's their own
responsibility for taking that occupation. I bet the Hunters
need to resolve themselves to take that risk when they
decide to be Hunters. But with that being said, not everyone
is blessed enough to work as a Hunter. I'm sure there are
people who don't have the skills and get killed in no time.
Then, even for those Hunters with proper skill and
equipment, they might also get killed simply because of bad
luck. And I believe for those Hunters who died because you
couldn't save them, it was simply because they were not
lucky enough to get saved by you."

Katsuya realized that he felt as if a burden was lifted off

his shoulder. But he did not know the reason why.

"I don't know the detail of your relationship with the

friends that you have lost. But if you feel proud that you have
risked your life together with them, if you feel proud that
you were able to fight alongside them, please never forget
about them. But if that's not the case, if their deaths only
chain you down, then please forget about them this instant."

The moment Katsuya heard Sheryl telling him to just

forget about his dead friends, he immediately shouted in
anger.

"Are you seriously saying that I should just forget about

them?"

But it did not faze Sheryl at all, she kept staring at

Katsuya's eyes with a serious face as she continued.

"If you're proud of them, then it should be fine. I'm sure

that it would even help you down the road. It would give you
the courage to push through difficult situations. It would
help you stand up again in a hopeless situation. But, if it only
serves as a burden to you, it would eventually kill you one
day. It would one day trip you when you have to step
forward and get you killed. It would drag you down when
you have to retreat and get you killed. So just forget about
them. You can go ahead and scream as much as you want
then just forget about them. You can go ahead and curse me
as much as you want then just forget about them."

Katsuya did not say anything back while listening to what

Sheryl was saying. He was still feeling sad for the friends
that he had lost. But the thing that was born from that
sadness was no longer something that was blaming him.

Sheryl relaxed her expression and said.

"...I won't tell you to keep on living for the sake of dead
people. But, I'll tell you to keep on living for the sake of the
other people who are still alive. The other two are really
worried about you, you know?"

Katsuya felt a bit at a loss as he looked at Yumina and

Airi. It had been such a long time since the last time he saw
Airi and Yumina making those faces, indicating that they
were truly worried about him.
 Katsuya then turned to Sheryl again. He then made a
smile filled with resolve and optimism as he said.

"I won't forget about them, I'll always remember them."

Katsuya somehow looked like he was finally able to move

on, Sheryl then replied with a smile.

"You're a nice person. Honestly speaking, I was expecting

you to get angry at me and tell me to just shut up since I'm
only a stranger to you."

Katsuya looked surprised as he said.

"...Then why would you say something like that?"

Sheryl just smiled and answered back casually.

"It's because I thought that it would at least make you feel

better once you get angry and vented everything that you've
been keeping to yourself until now. And if you vent to a
stranger like me, it at least won't affect your relationship
with the people who are close to you. But it seems that there
was no need for me to worry about that."
 It left a big impression on Katsuya. Sheryl helped him to
move on from all of his accumulated grieve that he had kept
inside his heart since the day he lost his friends. She
prioritized helping him in moving out of worry even though
the words that she said there might anger him, a Hunter
who had even successfully hunted a bounty monster, a
Hunter who was strong enough to easily kill a common
civilian. Katsuya felt slight amazement as he stared at
Sheryl.

Sheryl then stood up from her seat.

"Unfortunately, it seems that it's about time for me to

leave, so please excuse me."

Sheryl lightly said her goodbye.

"Ah..."

Seeing Sheryl was about to leave that place, Katsuya

inadvertently tried to stop her, but he himself did not know
the reason why he did that.

"...Uhmm, can we meet again some other day?"

Sheryl looked a bit surprised, but she then smiled smugly

and teasingly said.

"Are you trying to hit on me?"

Katsuya was so flustered that he could not give any

concrete reply to that. Sheryl then mischievously smiled and
said.

"I'm just joking. We should be able to meet again if we're

fated to. Yumina-san and Airi-san too, please be careful out
there and until we meet again."

Sheryl once again said goodbye and left that place

together with Erio.

Katsuya, Airi, and Yumina who were left continued eating

their lunch. Yumina and Airi glanced a few times at Katsuya.

"...Uhmmm, is there anything wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. I'm just glad that you cheered up."

After hearing Yumina's answer, Katsuya then apologized

to her and Airi.

"I'm really sorry to have worried both of you... I should've

talked about it to both of you sooner."

"We're teammates, after all, there's no need to hold back.

You can tell us sooner next time."

"Of course."

Katsuya gave a firm nod. The shadow that plagued him

lately had completely vanished.

Yumina sighed, the girl who she met only twice was able
to easily clear Katsuya's worry. Yumina was amazed by that.
Although she did not show it on her face, she actually felt
discouraged by it too. But that was not the most important
point here, Yumina was focused on something else.

——I guess that was a mistake, huh... Ahhh, no no no, I

should not think like that. Katsuya was cheered up, so it
should be fine.
 Yumina kept telling herself that at least Sheryl was not
looking at Katsuya as her love interest, that was why it
should be fine.

After finishing the rest of the administrative work, Sheryl

walked through the streets of the lower district and headed
back to her base. She had met up with Darris beforehand.
But after telling Darris what happened, she decided to take a
detour to avoid meeting Katsuya again.

—Sheryl realized that Erio was looking at her.

Ever since she finished her business in the Hunter Office,

he had been glancing at her with a conflicted expression.

Sheryl was weirded out by that as she lightly snapped at

him.

"Erio, what is it? You've been glancing at me. Do you have

anything you want to say to me or something?"

But Erio then replied as if he was trying to run away.

"Ah, no, it's nothing..."

—Half of the reason as to why he kept glancing at Sheryl

was out of fear.

He was fearful of how she was able to completely trick

Katsuya and his friends. It was because he noticed how
much the person that he knew well, had changed. But, he did
not have the courage to say that in front of Sheryl.

But then, Sheryl sounded irritated as she replied back to

Erio. It might be because she did not like the fact that he was
not being honest there.
 "You won't behave like that if it was nothing, right? So
just tell me already, what is it?"

Erio understood well that it would be a bad idea if he kept

trying to say that it was nothing. Thus he decided to ask
Sheryl something that had been bothering him.

"...Back then, you said all of those things to that Hunter...

Katsuya, was it again? So like, how much of them were your
true feelings?"

"My true feelings?"

Sheryl looked flabbergasted after hearing Erio's question,

her face was saying that she did not understand the meaning
behind that question. But after she had that expression on
her face for a few seconds, she suddenly seemed to have
realized something and said.

"...Ahhh, I see!! By any chance, do you think that I was

really worried about Katsuya and sympathized with him,
that's why I tried to cheer him up? Don't be stupid, I don't
care about his story at all. As a matter of fact, the main point
that I was actually saying to him was for him to stop moping
around and move on, you know? Although I did overly
dramatize it though. You got hooked to his story too much,
you know. Were you so bored just standing next to me that
you could not help but to listen closely to our conversation?"

Erio was rather surprised by her answer as he said.

"I-Is that so? But well, I do feel sad when I lose my friends
too. So when I realised that even a strong Hunter felt the
same, I sympathized with him for a bit though..."

Sheryl frowned.
 "Erio. Get a better grip of yourself, will you? We're not in
a position to feel pity for them, you know? Seriously though,
sympathy? Do you really think that such a thing could exist
between slum children like us and a successful Hunter who
had even hunted a bounty monster? I bet you're just
mistaking it for your feeling of wanting to be like him."

"W-Well, now that you mention it, that might be true...?

No, but still, like, you know, don't you think that it might be
a good idea to get close to them and get them to support us
just like Akira?"

"So then what? Will you be satisfied if he mourns when

you, me, Alicia, and the other children get killed? That's
obviously not the case for me though."

"Neither for me as well..."

"In the first place, what do you think we can give back to
them if we get them to support us? It's already a miracle to
have Akira supporting us, you know? Even right now... I'm
at loss on what we can give back to him."

Sheryl was about to say that she still could not repay for
everything that Akira had done for the gang and she had no
idea how long Akira would keep helping the gang, but she
somehow was able to change her wordings.

When he heard that, Erio hung his head low. It was

because the hope that he was unconsciously having was
crushed with no mercy at all by Sheryl.

"...You're right, I'm sorry. I just thought that it would be

great if they could do that. But I guess the reality is not that
kind, huh."
 "It's all good that you understand now. And if you really
understand it now, you should be more thankful to Akira.
It's all thanks to his support that we're not dead now, you
know...? Well, of course, except for that fool. That fool even
dared to be so rude to Akira and tried taking me hostage,
that's why he's dead now. You got spared once, so you
should be extra careful."

"I know, I don't want to die after all."

Sheryl nodded in satisfaction after hearing Erio's

response. She then added an extra warning.

"Erio, I'll give you one other warning besides that one just
now. In case if you never break up with Alicia, you should
never let her get close to that Katsuya."

Erio's face stiffened. He then asked Sheryl in panic.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"It's just my intuition. Since both of you are officers in my

gang, I'm sure there'll be a lot of occasions where both of you
accompany me, it would be bad if Alicia gets to meet
Katsuya by pure coincidence. There is a chance that she will
fall for him, you know. Judging from what I heard back then,
it seems that Katsuya has a habit of saying things that invite
misunderstanding to girls. After all, he's a kind young
handsome powerful Hunter with a lot of money and talent.
Even though it seems there are a lot of girls around him, if
he treats Alicia kindly... I'm not sure if she can just give up
on him, you know?"

After saying that, Sheryl sent a deep meaningful gaze to

Erio. Erio's face turned pale, he must be imagining what she
just said. After she confirmed that, she then made a serious
face and thought.
 ——It seems that Erio was really pulled to Katsuya's side
although he was only listening to our conversation from
behind me. Well, it's true that it's a rather amazing story of
successful Hunter, so it's no surprise that Erio admired
him, but... I wonder if that's all there is to it. Or maybe he
felt that weird feeling that I also felt back then? In the
worst-case scenario, he might even propose a crazy idea
like kicking Akira out and hiding behind Katsuya and his
friends for protection. I brought Alicia into the
conversation to prevent him from getting too close to
Katsuya, but... Looking at his reaction, I guess that was
unnecessary, huh...

As Sheryl kept on thinking about it and Erio kept making

a pale face, Darris who heard their conversation thought
about something else.

——I don't know just how strong that Katsuya guy is, but
leaving him aside, Akira himself is pretty crazy... He fought
a swarm of monsters twice on the same day. I didn't think
about it much since he saved us, but back then, he was not
using an augmented suit and was able to fight a swarm of
monsters with just his flimsy AAH rifle. He was even able to
save us in the end. Well, it's true that back then, we had a
machine gun as our main firepower, then Elena and Sara
saved us on our second encounter with the monster swarm
that day, but there's no mistaking that Akira did very well
in both fights... As I thought, it's really weird. Katsuragi is
also bothered by that sudden change in Sheryl's behaviour
but... Sheryl is indeed a competent person and there's
nothing strange about it, As for Akira... It's true that he's a
powerful Hunter, but... There's just something not right
about him.

All of them had their own thoughts as they walked back to

their base.
 ***

On the night of that day, Katsuya was lying on the bed of

his personal room as he remembered what Sheryl said to
him. That time when he had only met her once, he yearned
to meet her again. And, on their second encounter, she was
able to clear his worry.

Lately, Katsuya could not get a good sleep since he always

had nightmares where his dead friends blamed him. His
regret for not being able to save them, his feeling of guilt,
they unconsciously turned his dead friends into ghosts. But
after listening to what Sheryl said to him, they had been
turned back to his important friends that he was proud of.
He was sure that he would not see those nightmares
anymore.

Katsuya's heart was gnawed by his regret and guilt.

Although it pushed him to get stronger as fast as he could, it
only chained and bound him down. Thus preventing him
from showing the true value of his talent.

But now, it had completely disappeared. It left a big hole

in his heart, and the feeling for a certain someone was slowly
filling that hole.

"We didn't exchange contact numbers but... I wonder if

we can meet again one day?"

Katsuya lightly smiled and closed his eyes, he was then

peacefully lulled to sleep.

***

That night, Sheryl was lying on the bed in her private

room and recollecting what happened that day.
 She looked back at everything that she said that day,
analyzed them to find any flaws that she should fix next
time. Then she remembered how much Katsuya grieved for
his dead friends.

It might be due to the creeping sleepiness that she started

to think about unnecessary things.

As questions welled up inside her head, they were quickly

followed by her own answers. Although she was answering
her own question, there was a good chance that her answers
were correct. Sheryl's face then twitched.

Her question was short and simple–if she got killed,

would Akira mourn for her death? And the answer was an
obvious resounding 'no'.

She then immediately stopped herself from thinking of

any reasoning or assumptions that she could think of to
refute that since it felt like she could spend eternity just
thinking about those things.

——Let's think about something else, there are still so

many other things that I need to worry about.

If she kept thinking about that, there was no mistaking it

that she would get a nightmare that night. As Sheryl thought
so, she immediately tried to think about something else. She
tried her best to fight back against the sleepiness to think
about other subjects, and in the end, she fell asleep without
thinking about anything.

Inside that white world, she heard a voice.

"Stop thinking about unnecessary things."

And then, that voice vanished.

 Chapter 112: A Guide

In the middle of the night, when the morning was still

hours away. Alpha was trying to wake up Akira who was
sleeping on the bed of his house.

"Akira, wake up."

Alpha's voice was transferred directly into Akira's head.

Although her voice was gentle, it was pretty loud. After all, it
was not like she could wake Akira up by shaking him.

Akira was still groggy as he scanned his surroundings. It

did not take long for him to notice that it was still in the
middle of the night. Although he went to sleep earlier than
usual last night, it was still way too early for him to naturally
wake up, he still had not gotten enough sleep. Looking at
Alpha, he understood that he was not in immediate danger.
He then sounded slightly irritated as he asked Alpha.

"...What now? It's still night, you know? What's wrong?"

"There's a text message from Elena. I don't mind if you

want to ignore it for now since it's still in the middle of the
night and I don't mind ignoring the other messages coming
after this too, but don't blame me since I've properly woken
you up, okay?"

Akira tilted his head, confused. He thought that Alpha

must have checked the message first before deciding that it
was better to wake him up. Or at least, she must have
thought that he might get angry if she waited until morning
before telling him about that message.
 Akira yawned while reaching for his information terminal
that he left not too far from him. He was still sleepy as he
operated his information terminal.

In short, the subject of Elena's message was a request.

There was a big battle going on in Mihazono ruin, so the
Hunter Office was issuing requests to assist, support, and to
save the Hunters who were on the battlefield. It seemed that
Elena and Sara accepted a good deal for that request
through the mediator company that they were registered
under. The message was basically an invitation for Akira if
he wanted to join in that request too.

The body of the message said that Akira was allowed to

either move alone or move together with Elena and Sara. Of
course, he was free to refuse if he had some other things to
do. So if he was interested, he could give them a call.

Akira read that message a few times. He thought about a

lot of things as his expression turned stern.

"Alpha, do you think Elena-san and Sara-san are going to

Seranthal building?"

"I don't know. After all, it seems that the situation in the
Mihazono ruin has greatly changed. But, I do think that
there's a good chance this huge battle is taking place near
the Seranthal building. You still remember that short notice
from the Hunter Office yesterday, right? So I'm sure some
of the Hunters headed to the Seranthal building. Then that
request might be to help those Hunters who couldn't retreat
from the battlefield."

Akira remembered what happened back then. Indeed, it

was true that when he was stuck inside the Seranthal
building, he could not make a call outside.
 "Can they contact the outside after they went inside that
building?"

"They might be able to do that now. Either that or that

request was issued beforehand to help them retreat in case
they don't return back after some time. Basically, it's one of
those time-based emergency requests. And of course, it
might also have nothing to do about that at all."

Akira did not say anything as he stepped off from his bed
and started making preparations to head out.

Alpha at least asked for a confirmation.

"So, you're taking that invitation from Elena and Sara,

right?"

"Yeah."

"Although we had to go through all of those things

yesterday?"

"...This and that are two different matters."

Alpha sighed exaggeratedly, but Akira just ignored that as

he continued with his preparation.

Akira's reaction was within Alpha's range of expectations.

It was proof that she had a better understanding of his
behavioural pattern. She was happy that all of the
information that she had collected to control and
manipulate Akira combined together with her computing
power was able to give an accurate prediction of his action.

But her prediction also gave one more notable result.

Even if she tried to stop him, there was a good chance that
Akira would still decide to meet up with Elena and Sara. And
even if she refused to give her support, there was still a good
chance that he would still go.

Back then, Akira saved Elena and Sara in Kuzusuhara

ruin, then not too long after that, Elena and Sara saved Akira
when he was attacked by a swarm of monsters when he was
together with Katsuragi.

From Alpha's opinion, that made them even. But for some
reason, from Akira's perspective, he was still carrying 2
debts to Sara and Elena. If Alpha could precisely understand
the reason why he decided so, she would be able to more
easily manipulate Akira. But for now, she had not even the
slightest guess. As long as Akira was still thinking that he
had not returned that debt yet, Elena and Sara would still sit
on the top of his priority list.

Alpha kept staring at Akira, in the back of her head, she

was thinking that she had to do something about it.

Akira put on his augmented suit as he asked Alpha to

operate his information terminal.

"Alpha, call Elena-san for me."

"Sure... It's not getting connected. She's outside the

reachable area."

"But her message reached me, right?"

"There's no guarantee that the message reached you the

moment it was sent, you know. It might have been delayed
due to the route that it took or the load on the device. It
might be also be coming from how calls are treated
differently compared to text messages."
 "It can't be helped then, at least send a message to them
that I'm accepting their request. It should be possible to at
least do that, right?"

Akira thought of his message and sent it to Alpha through

telepathy. After all, it was faster than saying it out loud.

"Got it, it's already sent. I'll also frequently check if I can
get a connection with their information terminal too."

"I'm counting on you."

After Akira put on his augmented suit, he grabbed his

information terminal and his rifles before heading to his
vehicle. He then checked the medicines and ammo reserve
left on his vehicle before grabbing extra medicine or ammo
that he needed. Since he did not know what he would be
facing, Akira decided to bring a lot of extra ammo.

After checking everything, Akira sat on the driver seat and

was about to turn on the vehicle, but he suddenly stopped.

Alpha who was sitting on the driver assistant's seat looked

at Akira with a questioning expression.

"What's wrong? Did you change your mind?"

"No, I just thought of something right before heading

out."

Akira then pulled out his information terminal and

operated it. Alpha who knew well what he was doing looked
slightly surprised. Akira was making a call, it took 10
seconds before the person that he was calling picked up the
call.
 The sound of the person that he was calling could be
heard from Akira's information terminal.

[It's Carol here. I never thought that you would call me

this soon. Well, it's true I'm happy that you did, but it's
rather rude calling me this early unless it's not about my side
job, you know? So like, it's okay to take it that it's about that,
right?]

Carol began with a sweet voice as if she was tempting

Akira.

But Akira casually answered.

"Sorry, but it's about your main job."

Carol then mischievously replied back.

[Oh my, is that so? In that case then, is it okay if I close

the call here?]

"Well, I can understand that. Sorry for calling you this

early. Later then."

Akira then ended the call, Alpha who was next to him just
smiled amusedly.

Akira then put aside his information terminal and turned

on his vehicle. Right when Akira just drove out from the
garage, a call from Carol reached his information terminal.

Alpha smiled as she pointed at Akira's information

terminal and said.

"I'll do the driving."

"You sure? I'll leave it to you then."

 Akira trusted the driving to Alpha as he let go of the wheel
and picked up his information terminal to answer the call.

"It's Akira."

Carol sounded a bit annoyed.

[...There's no need to suddenly cut your call like that, you

know. Can't you at least try being kinder?]

"I'm in a hurry here. So I don't have the time to negotiate

at all. So basically it's about your main job, I take it that
you're willing to listen then, right?"

[Of course. Since you just ended the call like that, I can't
help but get curious. So, what is it?]

"Carol, you have knowledge about Mihazono ruin

including the Seranthal building, right? I want to buy some
information from you. If you're willing to sell some, just tell
me the price. If you're okay with a bank transfer, I'll
immediately transfer the payment to your bank account. But
if you prefer cash, I don't have any with me and I don't have
the time to get some right now, so I'll be paying you later."

[There's no need to worry about that. So, what kind of

information are you looking for exactly? Your description
just now is way too vague.]

"It seems that there's an ongoing big battle in Mihazono

ruin and there's a good chance that the Seranthal building is
in the centre of that battle. I need any information that
might help me fight battles, search around that area, and
save people who might be stuck there which includes escape
routes or any other things that might also help me survive
that place. I know that it's still rather vague but I can't make
it more detailed than this. Although I'm heading to
Mihazono ruin right now, it's not like I have any particular
destination at the moment after all."

After listening to everything that Akira just said, which

did not make much sense, Carol thought for a bit and said.

[...Well, even if you tell me so, I have no plans to get into

trouble with you. After all, we need to decide a lot of things
too, like how am I going to send that information to you, or
how accurate it is, or how are we going to decide on the price
of the information, right? I can sell you the map of Mihazono
ruin that I have right now, but it might not be in a format
that you can open, I've also added some notes to that map,
and some part of it is even encrypted. In the first place, I
never make a copy of any important information like the one
that I taught you yesterday except inside my brain.]

Akira was convinced by what Carol said to him. As in

matter of fact, now that he thought about it, it was
completely understandable. The reason why he did not think
about putting that in his explanation was because Alpha and
Shizuka always interpreted his vague questions or requests
so he did not have to explain everything.

Alpha always stayed beside Akira and understood what he

was trying to say, while Shizuka always came up with a good
rifle that was close to what he was looking for although he
only gave Shizuka a vague description. Akira thought that he
might have gotten too used to it, as he reflected on that and
felt thankful to Alpha and Shizuka.

Akira had no time to slowly talk about it with Carol, thus

he immediately gave up on that idea and said.

"...You're right. Just forget what I said, sorry to have

called you so early. Later then."
 When Akira was about to close the call, Carol suddenly
interjected.

[Wait for a sec, are you really going to just end the call?
Just wait for a bit.]

"What?"

[Let me get this straight, you're going to Mihazono ruin

again, which means you might have to go to a dangerous
place. As a matter of fact, there's a good chance that you'll
have to go to the Seranthal building again, that's why you're
looking for any information about Mihazono ruin that would
help you survive that place, right?]

"Yes."

Carol sounded slightly amused as she made a suggestion.

[In that case then, how about hiring me? Let's say, how
about 10,000,000 Aurum? If you end up having to use
information that is worth more than that, we can talk about
the price later. So, what do you think? I think it's a pretty
good offer.]

Akira was a little bit surprised by that unexpected offer

from Carol. But he immediately questioned back without
showing any confusion nor hesitation.

"I'm driving my vehicle through the Kugamayama city

lower district right now, can we meet up in a few minutes?"

[Sure, I'm also in the lower district right now. As for the
preparation... Can you give me 40 minutes?]

"I'm not going to be your bodyguard this time. I'm not

expecting you to help in fights either, but I'll still have you at
least protect yourself. So don't expect me to cover you like
yesterday."

[That's fine. Although, I would be really happy if you

would protect me. But if something like that happened
again, you can just subtract from my reward money. Are you
okay with that?]

Akira immediately replied.

"I understand, I'll hire you then. Send me where to meet

up and make sure that I can reach that place with my
vehicle. If you don't have any ride to go to Mihazono ruin, I'll
give you a ride."

[I'll take that offer then. I'll immediately send you where
to pick me up after this, later then.]

Carol's voice sounded extremely inviting before she closed

the call.

Alpha then asked Akira.

"Are you sure it's okay to do that before asking for Elena
and Sara's permission?"

"I'm hiring Carol myself, so I'm sure that it'll be okay. But
well, if Elena-san and Sara-san are angry because of that, I'll
just keep my distance away from them while making sure
that I can immediately meet up with them when they ask me
to."

Alpha was wondering if that was even the problem, but

she decided not to pursue that question. After all, if this
hurts Akira's relationship with Sara and Elena, then it was a
rather good turn of event for her.
 "I see, well, it doesn't really matter. By the way, Carol
has sent you the meet-up place. I'll take the wheel until we
reach that place."

Akira then headed to their meeting place.

***

Carol was taking a shower inside one of the rooms in a

mansion located in the lower district. She had a
nanomachine augmented body, not only it enhanced her
physical abilities oriented for fighting, but it also enhanced
her figure to the point that it would attract the attention of
any men. And since she had spent a lot of effort and money
on it, as expected, her figure was extremely seductive.

The warm water that she was showering with was not just
warm water, it was even mixed with medicines that were
adjusted for her body. Those medicines would heal even the
smallest wound that she got from her usual lifestyle and left
her with flawless glowing skin.

Carol then stepped outside the shower room and stood in

front of a wall equipped with blowers which blew a strong
wind to remove any water droplets left on her body. After
that, she went to another room where she stored all of her
clothes.

After she entered that room, Carol put on a bodysuit that

stuck tight to her skin prior to putting on an augmented suit
on top of it. It was an old-world augmented suit designed for
women.

Although it covered all of her skin from her neck down, it

had a seductive design comparable to being naked. After all,
the design of her augmented suit left almost nothing to
imagine about what was under it.
 As she was putting on her armors, fasteners, belts, and
any other accessories, she also holstered her huge gun and
put on her information-gathering device. She then stuffed
ammo into her rucksack and carried it on her back. After she
was done putting on everything, she checked her own
reflection on a mirror and smiled bewitchingly. The
reflection on her mirror showed a girl who could effectively
work her way against both monsters and men.

"This will do... Only 10 minutes left, huh. I guess I'll hurry
up, I feel like Akira would just leave me behind if I'm late
even for a bit."

Carol, who more or less understood a bit of Akira's

personality, smiled bitterly.

***

Akira was waiting for Carol in their meeting place.

The meeting place sent by Carol was located near a

relatively small area in the lower district, so in short, it was a
place with expensive rent. The safety in that area was
maintained by a private security company that regularly
patrolled the area, they checked any suspicious person in the
area and disposed of them when needed. It did not even
matter if that suspicious person was armed to the teeth like a
Hunter. It was an area filled with people who had no
problem paying for such a service.

One of the guards also asked Akira why he was there.

When Akira said that he was waiting for another Hunter, the
guard glanced at Akira's vehicle and equipment before
leaving him alone.

It reminded Akira how much he had changed as he said to

Alpha.
 "If I looked like a new Hunter, I bet that guard would have
shooed me, huh."

"Well, that shows just how much you've grown as a

Hunter. So let's keep this up, and for that sake, let's make
sure to only take actions that would bring you profit."

Alpha there was actually warning Akira.

"Eh? Ah, right, of course."

Akira sounded as if he was caught off guard for a sec, but

immediately returned back to his usual self. He then
continued as if he was trying to dodge that subject.

"I'm sure it's not like Elena-san is offering a request that

might cause me loss instead of profit, so don't worry about
that."

"Well, that's fine if you think so. But just in case if you
forget about it, you're already in red for hiring Carol for
the sake of your safety, you know?"

Akira nodded and firmly replied back.

"Of course."

Although he said so, Akira was actually placing profit in a

pretty low place in his priority list. Akira unconsciously
looked away from Alpha, of course, Alpha noticed that he
was not really prioritizing profit this time.

Honestly speaking, Alpha actually had no problem with

losing money. Her real qualm was with the fact that he
decided to take action knowing that it would cause him a
loss, it showed just how much Elena and Sara's existence
affected Akira's course of action.
 But of course, if working together with Elena and Sara
caused Akira a huge enough loss for him to start keeping his
distance away from them, then Alpha would not have
anything to complain about.

But Elena invited Akira believing that it would be a

profitable request. Having a Hunter that Akira thought he
was indebted to offering him a profitable request, in which
he would get properly rewarded for it, Akira felt thankful
and slightly delighted as it also strengthened Elena's
presence in Akira's priority list.

Not too long after that, Carol showed up. When Alpha saw
Carol, she thought that Carol might bring some good change
to the relationship between Akira and Elena and Sara that
she could look forward to.

Carol smiled at Akira and said.

"——Sorry, did you wait long?"

"You're 5 minutes early, so it's all good."

Carol smiled bitterly seeing how Akira replied casually as

if he was not really waiting for a girl.

"Geez, although you're meeting up with a beautiful girl

like me... Can you get a bit more excited and give me a more
normal reply?"

"I'm sorry, I'm bad with common sense. I'm still working
on that one though. Well, just hop on."

Carol put her rucksack on the back of Akira's vehicle and

sat on the driver assistant's seat. Akira then immediately
turned on his vehicle and stepped on the gas.
 Akira and Carol once again headed to Mihazono ruin.
Although Akira did try to contact Elena and Sara while he
was still within the reception area of Kugamayama city, he
could not get any connection at all. Since there was nothing
he could do about it, he just sent a text message saying that
he hired a Hunter who knew well about Mihazono ruin
before driving outside the city's reception area.

Akira was driving his vehicle toward Mihazono ruin at a

high speed through the dark wasteland. At that rate, he
would be able to reach Mihazono ruin before the sun rose.

On their way, Akira explained the current situation to

Carol. After understanding what was going on, Carol looked
a bit surprised as she said.

"I get what's going on here, but are you sure you're okay
bringing me along?"

Akira then replied.

"That would be for Elena-san and Sara-san to decide. If

they don't want me to bring along someone that they don't
know, we'll be moving separately. And since I can't get in
contact with them, we haven't decided on how to divide the
reward. I have no plans to make you work more than as a
guide, but if you're planning to receive a reward from
someone else, you better properly do your work for the
reward that you're receiving."

Carol smiled bitterly since Akira's answer was not exactly

answering her question.

——Well, it's true that it's also important, but... I'm

actually asking him if it's okay for him to bring another girl
when he's going to meet up with a girl. Well, I guess it's
true that being a Hunter has nothing to do with gender. Or
is that he thinks it's better than bringing another guy with
him? Either way, I'm working for Akira this time, so I guess
that has nothing to do with my gender.

Akira was the one hiring her and bringing her with him,
so all the responsibilities lie on him.

As a matter of fact, that gave Carol an excuse to just dump

the responsibility to Akira in case anything happened. She
smiled confidently as she thought so.

"It's fine, I'm actually used to that kind of negotiation

after all."

"I see."

Carol smiled as if there was nothing to worry about, Akira

saw that and thought that it should be fine. So then he
moved to his next question.

"But still, after all that happened yesterday, I didn't think

you would accept to be my guide. We might have to go to the
Seranthal building again, you know?"

"I can say the same to you too, right? After all, it seemed
that you too had a hard time yesterday."

Akira sounded as if he was trying to evade that question

as he said.

"About that... Well, isn't it fine? I'm planning to meet up

with some powerful Hunters today, so I just thought that it
should be fine this time."

Although he was not lying, that was not his main reason.
Moreover, it did not seem like Akira was heading to the
Mihazono ruin against his will. Carol at least noticed that
much. Not to mention, this time, Akira was going to meet up
with other female Hunters. It made her want to make a lot of
guesses, but judging from how Akira treated her yesterday,
she decided to hold back her imagination.

One thing for sure, Akira was someone who did not react
that much to seduction. If he was someone with a strong
desire, he would not have treated Carol the way he treated
her yesterday. Or at least, that was what Carol thought.

"I see. As for me, the reason why I accepted your request
to be your guide is because I know I can handle the situation
like yesterday as long as I properly prepare my equipment.
Yesterday, I only carried equipment designed for stealth and
avoided fights. After all, it's a ruin that I know well. But I
admit I was careless."

Akira looked at Carol and scanned her equipment. The

augmented suit that she was using this time looked better
and stronger than the one that she was using yesterday.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you used this augmented

suit yesterday too?"

"This one has a pretty high consumption rate, you see. If I

use it all the time, it'll definitely affect my profit. If I know
that it's a relic that I can just sneakily take out, I would
rather carry a lighter set of equipment like yesterday. I know
it's important to make sure that you're ready for the
unexpected like what happened yesterday. But if you use
that as a standard every time you go out, it will cause you a
loss, then it would be meaningless, right? But this time, not
only did you say that you would pay me, but you also said
that there's a big battle going on in the Mihazono ruin.
That's why I'm bringing these equipment set this time just to
be safe."
 Akira was convinced by that explanation as he nodded.

"I see, it's true that it's important to watch out for that
kind of expense."

Akira looked closely at Carol's equipment, to be more

precise, he was looking at her augmented suit. But of course,
her beautiful figure also got into his views when he did that.

When Carol saw Akira looking closely at her, she changed

her pose as if she was showing her body to him. She then
smiled seductively as she was watching carefully for any
reaction from Akira.

"If you're interested in my body, feel free to ask about my

side job and I can give you a good taste of it."

Akira was at loss for a moment since he did not

understand the meaning behind Carol's words, but it did not
take long for him to finally realize it. He then asked her a
question.

"...Hmmm? Ah, no, that's not what I meant. I just thought

of something when I saw that augmented suit, is that
augmented suit from the old-world?"

Carol's mood turned sour since it seemed that Akira was

actually not interested in her body at all.

"Nope, it's not. Why do you think it is?"

"I just thought that it has a similar design to an old-world

battle suit that I once saw in the past. But I guess I'm
mistaken, huh?"

"Well, it's true that the designer of this augmented suit

used an old-world design as a base. This kind of image is
important in business after all."

"Ohh, I see."

Akira answered back casually. But there was something in

that short exchange that caught Carol's interest, so she then
asked Akira a question.

"By the way, Akira, old-world battle suit can cost way
more than a common tank, you know. So where exactly did
you get to see one?"

Akira was caught off guard. As far as he could remember,

it was from the old-world battle suit that he saw Alpha using
multiple times in the past. But of course, he could not say
that to Carol.

"....I don't really remember. Maybe it's somewhere in the

network."

"But it sounded as if you saw a real one and not only from
an image though?"

"That's just your imagination."

"Is that so?"

Akira thought that he was able to successfully trick Carol,

but of course, Carol knew better than that.

——I'm 100% sure he actually saw a real one. Not to

mention that he's that powerful although he's still so young,
this boy is a really mysterious boy. I guess I'll try asking the
Hunters that we're going to meet later.

Carol then returned her pose and looked at the wasteland

that was still shrouded in darkness. Although she only met
Akira yesterday, his skills, power, experience, and that
conversation just now, made her curious. There was no
doubt in her mind that Akira was an intriguing boy. But of
course, if she just normally asked him about that, Akira
would not tell her anything.

——I'm sure I can get him to tell me a lot of things on top

of a bed, but unfortunately enough, he's not interested at
all.

Carol slightly smiled when she thought about it.

Alpha then warned Akira.

"Akira, if you think that you were able to evade that

question, you're sadly mistaken, okay?"

『 W-well, it's true that it's not like I've ever seen a real
one though. So that excuse should be just fine.』

"It's true that she would not know about my existence

from that answer and I think she won't be able to infer that
you can connect to the old-world domain from it too. But I
can guarantee you that it piqued her interests on you even
more. So be sure to be careful not to say anything careless
to Carol."

『Roger that.』

Alpha smiled satisfied when she got that straight answer

from Akira.

"Leaving that aside, Akira, if you're interested in old-

world battle suits, I can put it on as many times as you
want. Maybe something like this?"
 As she said that, Alpha's appearance changed into an old-
world battle suit.

The battle suit that Alpha used, was made of a thin

material that stuck really close to her skin and thus
pronouncing her body line. There were some strange
openings on that battle suit where Alpha's skin could peek
out. Some parts of that augmented suit had a strange-
looking material that looked like it was made of metal or
rubber. A type of glowing material was mixed into its fabric
which made it look as if Alpha was surrounded by a wall of
light.

The battle suit seemed like it was not designed for

functionality in the first place. Moreover, unless the one
wearing it was already used to old-world design, they would
need extra courage to even just put that battle suit on. But
even so, it was obvious that it was far more advanced than
the current battle suit. After all, it was an old-world battle
suit.

Alpha was smiling seductively in that battle suit, which

made her look even more charming than being naked.
Moreover, her beautiful face and charming figure were the
results of reconstructing Akira's preference. Although it was
true that Akira had already gotten used to all kinds of attires
that Alpha would use, it was all only under certain situations
like when they were in the middle of a fight or a training
session. In those situations, Akira had built up a level of
resistance to the point that he was able to ignore it. But on
the other hand, it also meant that unless he was in those
particular situations, Akira would still show some level of
reaction.

Akira looked away from Alpha who was on the opposite

side of where Carol was sitting. His face turned stiff to hide
his embarrassment as he returned his eyes to the front. He
sounded irritated as he said.

『...Can you at least do that later?』

"Sure, it's for later then."

Alpha was smiling mischievously watching how Akira

reacted to her attire.
 Chapter 113: The Changed Mihazono Ruin

Akira and Carol reached Mihazono ruin right before the

sunrise. There were a lot of vehicles parked near the Hunter
Office. Among the normal vehicles brought by the Hunters,
there were some trailers owned by weapon merchants,
portable clinics, and trailers used by Hunter gangs as their
temporary base.

A traffic officer stopped Akira and said.

"All the parking lots near the Hunter Office branch are
controlled under strict regulation to make sure there is
smooth traffic. I don't mind if you are just passing through
to the ruin, but make sure not to block the way when you do
that. And, if you want to park your vehicles around here,
make sure that it won't block the way too. Do note that the
parking lot inside is already full."

"Okay."

"I'll at least tell you this. If you're here to hunt for relics,
you might want to pick another day."

"I know. I can tell just by looking at it."

Akira gazed at the Mihazono ruin when he said that.

The loud banging sounds of battles kept resounding

endlessly from the Mihazono ruin. There were some places
where smoke was rising into the sky. Flashes of lights
illuminated the ruin that was veiled in darkness. The
Mihazono ruin showed a completely different side compared
to the one that Akira saw yesterday.
 "I guess you're right about that."

That officer then left Akira.

Carol suddenly asked Akira a question.

"So then, what are we going to do from here?"

"We'll meet up with Elena's team. The real problem is how

exactly are we going to find them... It's not like we can just
dive into the ruin looking for them without any clues."

Akira made a stern look, he then asked Alpha.

『 Alpha, we're in Mihazono ruin now. So like, we still

can't contact Elena-san?』

Alpha shook her head.

"No, I still can't establish any connection at all. There is

still no reply from your last message and I still can't
connect your call. If I have to make a guess, it might be
because there are too many signals around this area that
interferes with the communication line. Or maybe, the
comm relay in this area is already turned off."

It might be a waste of time if they just waited for Elena

and Sara without doing anything. After a bit of thinking,
Akira then turned to Carol.

"Carol. If you were looking for a certain Hunter inside this

ruin, where would you go?"

"Look for them? Can't you call them or something?"

"Yeah."
 "Do you have any clues where they might be?"

"Sadly, no."

"Have you decided where to meet beforehand?"

"I could not manage to contact them even before we made

the decision."

Carol looked at Akira with a slightly pitiful gaze.

"...Akira, are you one of those people who tend to decide

on a whim and move first, and then think later?"

"...Yes."

Akira replied back with a feeble voice, he sounded a bit

ashamed after Carol pointed that out. Alpha, who was next
to him, tried her best to hold back her laughter.

Carol looked a bit disappointed as she looked at Akira, she

thought that she might have overestimated his strength. But
she then decided to just forget about it and started to think
for an answer to his question. She was hired as a guide by
Akira, so she thought that she should at least do her job
properly.

"Looking for other Hunters, huh? Do you have anything

that can uniquely identify both of your positions? For
example, if both of you know each other's information
terminal's identification code, you can set the local
connection to the maximum hoping you can find each other.
And if the other Hunter notices you, then, he can also set the
local connection to the maximum and make a call with your
information terminal. But, there's a good chance that the
mechanical monsters roaming around this ruin would notice
your location if you do that though. And since you'll need to
set your information terminal to constantly broadcast
signals, it'll be pretty dangerous."

Some of the monsters in the wasteland could detect the

signals broadcasted by the information equipment often
carried by the Hunters. They could use that to ascertain the
locations of those Hunters and attack them. The only reason
why Hunters could send signals across the wasteland was
because they were using the comm relays buried under the
ground. After a lot of trials and errors, they managed to
create comm relays that could withstand monsters' attacks.

Unlike in the middle of the wasteland, the ruins had

denser monster distribution and fewer escape routes. Thus,
broadcasting strong signals inside a ruin was extremely
dangerous. The only people who would do that would be
fatally wounded Hunters who could not get out from the
ruin using their own power. But even so, they would only do
that for a few seconds just to let the rescue squads know
their location.

Akira tried to imagine what would happen if he were to do

that. Inside his mind, he imagined that he would end up in a
situation where he was surrounded by a huge number of
monsters. And then, unfortunately enough, Elena tried to
contact him in that situation which caused some of those
monsters to head toward her location. Although he might be
able to break the encirclement and force his way to Elena's
location, it did not change the fact that he would still drag
Elena and Sara into more trouble.

Akira then cut his imagination there.

"That would be too dangerous so, let's not do that."

Carol then made another suggestion.

 "In that case, your only choice will be either diving into
the ruin and looking for them or wait for them near the
Hunter Office branch. If they are taking that emergency SOS
request, I'm sure they'll be back here after rescuing some
Hunters."

As Akira was still thinking about which option to take,

Alpha suddenly pointed her finger toward the parking lot
near the Hunter Office branch.

"Akira, look over there."

When Akira looked toward the direction that Alpha

pointed, he saw a vehicle that looked somehow familiar to
him. It was the APC that Shikarabe used when they were
hunting for bounty monsters.

『So? What do you want me to do with that?』

Akira thought that it was the same APC model owned by

other Hunters. But Alpha knew for a fact that it was
Shikarabe's APC.

"That's Shikarabe's APC. If Shikarabe is inside it, how

about you try contacting him? He might be able to help you
find Elena and Sara."

Akira pulled out his information terminal and called

Shikarabe through the local connection. The call almost
immediately got through.

[Shikarabe's speaking. Is this you, Akira? You're calling

me through a local connection though, does that mean that
you're somewhere nearby?]

"Yeah. I'm just outside the parking lot near the Hunter
Office branch. I want to contact Elena-san and Sara-san but
I can't get any connection at all. Do you know where they
might be?"

Shikarabe sounded exasperated as he said.

[That's what you get from using a cheap connection line.

Wait a sec, I'll connect you.]

After Akira waited for a bit, Elena's voice suddenly came

out from his information terminal that was connected to
Shikarabe.

[It's Elena. Can you tell me where you are now?]

Akira then explained where he was to Elena. He then told

her that he hired Carol, the fact that he tried to contact her
but couldn't, and that he had sent a message to her.

[...Wait for a sec there... Ahh, yep, I got your message. I

see, it seems that the signal priority change also affected the
connection line that I'm using, huh. So, basically, you want
to meet up with us first, right?]

"Yes, please."

[Alright then. In that case, come here together with

Shikarabe. We're actually working in a team with Shikarabe
right now. If you follow him, you'll be able to meet up with
us. We can talk in more detail later after we group up. We'll
be waiting for you.]

"Understood."

Shikarabe's voice suddenly interjected.

[Akira. If you're going to follow me, come and help me

carry the wounded Hunters. I'm parking my APC in the
parking lot near the Hunter Office. You already know my
location, right?]

"No problem. Will be there in a sec."

Akira then turned his vehicle back on and drove off.

Shikarabe's APC was parked in the parking lot near the

Hunter Office. The backdoor of the APC suddenly opened up
and wounded Hunters came out from the inside of that APC.

Shikarabe could be seen carrying out corpse bags filled

with dead Hunters. The corpse bags were not closed
completely as it let the face of the Hunter inside exposed.
The faces peeking out from the corpse bags clearly showed
that no life remained in them.

When Shikarabe saw Akira's vehicle approaching the APC,

he then pointed toward the inside of the APC.

"You're finally here. Help me carry out the wounded too.

There's no need to help those who can still walk on their
own."

Akira stepped inside the APC and looked around, there

were numerous corpse-filled bags exposing the ‘deceased'
face. Meanwhile, some in the corner, which were folded,
empty.

Akira then asked Shikarabe a question.

"...Fatally wounded Hunters, huh. For now, I just need to

carry those who can't walk on their own, right?"

"Yeah, just leave it to the doctors to check if they're

already dead or not. We don't know if any of them have
suspended-state devices installed inside their body. So, just
assume that they're all just fatally wounded until the doctors
say otherwise."

Akira remembered the scene of a clinic in the Kuzusuhara

city that he visited in the past. That time, the doctor in that
clinic, Yatsubayashi, treated even Hunters who had lost half
of their body as only badly wounded.

If Hunters with such a level of injury could still be saved,

there was no way an amateur like him could judge the
wounded Hunters in the APC. Thus, Akira just thought all of
those Hunters inside the corpse bags as only fatally
wounded, and started carrying them out of the APC.

Carol, who was behind Akira, followed him inside the

APC. When Shikarabe saw her, he suddenly shouted in
surprise.

"....Geh?!"

Carol smiled mischievously at Shikarabe.

"Geez, you don't need to be that mean, you know. Long

time no see by the way."

Shikarabe, who just realized that he was flustered, tried to

contain himself.

"W-Well, right... So, why are you here?"

"Akira hired me. Don't just stand there, you have bags to
carry, right?"

Carol then left Shikarabe and followed Akira. Shikarabe

kept staring at Carol as she walked toward his APC.

"...Why in the world would Akira hire that woman?"

 Shikarabe was still a little bit bothered by that as he
returned back to his job carrying the corpse bags.

Akira and Shikarabe then handed over the fatally

wounded Hunters to the Hunter Office, they had no reason
to worry about how many of those Hunters were still alive.
Even if some of them were already dead, the Hunter Office
would handle them appropriately. One thing for sure, the
Hunter Office would handle them better than just leaving
them inside the ruin.

Shikarabe then closed the back door of his APC and

looked at Akira with a gaze saying that he wanted to say
something to Akira. It was not like it was a gaze of hatred or
anything, but it was undeniable that he did not appreciate
the fact that Akira brought Carol together with him. His gaze
was saying that he honestly did not know what to do about
the current situation. Although Akira did not notice it, there
was also a trace of pity in Shikarabe's gaze.

Akira looked at Shikarabe and tilted his head in

confusion, he then asked Carol.

"Carol, you know him?"

"Yep, well, a lot of things happened between us."

"I see."

Akira at least understood that Carol and Shikarabe were

acquaintances. In reality, Akira was actually trying to find a
roundabout way to ask her the reason why Shikarabe looked
at her with such a gaze.

But Carol only gave a short answer that only confirmed

that they knew each other. Akira had no idea if she did not
catch his real intention or that she just simply did not want
to talk about it, or it was simply that she did not care about
it.

Akira then shifted his gaze to Shikarabe, his gaze was

asking for an explanation from Shikarabe.

But Shikarabe did not answer that gaze as he said.

"Let's go then, just follow me."

Shikarabe still looked a bit bothered as he returned to the

driver seat.

Akira returned back to his vehicle and sat on the driver

seat, he then glanced at Carol to check her reaction. It did
not seem like he did something that worsened her mood. As
in matter of fact, it looked like she was a bit amused by the
situation.

Akira prioritized grouping up with Elena for now, as he

just shelved that subject and followed Shikarabe from
behind.

Akira, Shikarabe, and Carol went inside Mihazono ruin.

There were countless wreckages of dead mechanical
monsters scattered around. There were almost no biological
monsters inside the Mihazono ruin, so all the blood splatters
should be from the Hunters. After all, other than those
monsters, there were also Hunter corpses scattered here and
there. But those corpses were already crushed into an
unrecognizable mush, the monsters might have trampled
over them, or it might be because of the Hunters who drove
over them.

The further they proceeded into the ruin, the more

prominent the leftover of fights surrounded them. They were
pretty standing out although it was still dark. It would have
given a more solemn scene once the sun was up.

Alpha then told Akira that there was a monster

approaching.

"Akira, there's a monster from behind. It's a vehicle with

a long-range rifle, they came from the alleys."

『Roger that.』

Akira let go of the wheel and moved to the backside of his

vehicle. He then took off the CWH anti-material rifle fixed
on his vehicle and aimed it to the back. There were no
monsters visible.

Carol saw Akira move to the back and aim his rifle. But
she could not see any monsters in that direction and her
information-gathering device did not pick up any signal
from that direction either. She thought that it might be
because the vehicle's information gathering device caught
something, but when she checked it, it also did not show
such a signal.

So Carol decided to ask Akira if he detected any monsters.

"Akira, is there—"

—Akira suddenly pulled the trigger.

Gunshot echoed through the ruin and cut Carol's question

short, the bullet from the muzzle flew straight and hit a
monster that just came out from behind an alley. It pierced
through the monster's torso and threw its body into the air.
It then landed and rolled over on the ground with half of its
body destroyed.
 Alpha then warned Akira.

"A24 type, huh. Akira, be careful."

『You don't even need to tell me, but is it okay if I ask you
why did you warn me?』

"That monster is designed as a city guard, it's built

exactly as the blueprint. Thus, it's a well-equipped
monster."

『 How much is it different to the other mechanical

monsters that I faced until now?』

"If you compare it to those cannon insects that you

fought in the past, those cannon insects are like failed
product made by putting a big cannon on a faulty blueprint
while the A24 type is a well designed and well-equipped
monster."

Akira inadvertently twitched.

『That's a huge difference.』

"That's why, keep your guard up. Don't put your guard
down just because its size is relatively small or because it
looks like the other monsters that you've fought before."

『Roger that.』

Akira decided to be extra careful this time as he took

another aim. His vision was enhanced by Alpha's support,
thanks to that, he was able to clearly see and aim at the
monsters that were hiding in the alleys just with his naked
eyes. It even showed the time left until those monsters
jumped out from the alleys and the points that he should
aim at.
 Akira followed Alpha's instruction and shot down the
A24-type that appeared from the alleys one by one. He was
able to deal enough damage to render them unable to fight
by leaving them half-destroyed or even completely destroyed
in one shot. Thus, adding more wreckages on the road. It did
not take that long for Akira to take care of all the monsters
there alone.

Alpha smiled and praised Akira.

"Good job. You did well."

But Akira, who thought that there was no way he could hit
those shots without Alpha's support, smiled bitterly and
said.

『 I don't have any complaints at all, all of my shots hit

their targets... I wonder how long it would take for me to be
able to do something like this on my own. I guess I still have
a long way to go, huh.』

"Don't worry. You're actually getting better. Your aim

barely needs any readjustment from me compared to
before. I'm sure it won't take long before you can
accurately snipe from this range."

『 I see, it's good to hear that all my training are not for
vain.』

Akira then remembered that Carol was about to say

something back then. So he lowered his rifle and turned to
her.

"Sorry, what were you saying again?"

Carol smiled, she was hiding the shock inside her heart as
she praised Akira.
 "It's nothing. You're really good at shooting. I didn't know
you're that good from yesterday."

"Well, yesterday we're in a situation where all my shots

would hit no matter where I aimed after all."

Akira remembered when he was trapped inside a

Seranthal building as it was getting flooded by monsters, his
face twitched a bit when he remembered that.

Carol smiled amusedly and asked Akira a question.

"That rifle, can I take a look at it?"

"Sure."

Akira then handed over his rifle to Carol.

Carol checked the rifle that she just received. From the
outside, it looked like she was just lightly checking out that
rifle, but deep inside, she was actually closely checking that
rifle including its production code, its parts, and its
condition.

Carol then aimed Akira's CWH anti-material rifle to the

back. When she gazed through the aiming device, she could
see nothing but the usual information from a normal aiming
device. There was nothing in particular that surprised her,
she confirmed that it was just a normal rifle.

Carol then handed it back to Akira, she smiled at him and

said.

"Thank you, that's a pretty good rifle. I wonder if I can

aim as good as you as long as I use this rifle."
 "I think anyone would be able to do that with enough
training."

Akira did not really think it through when he said that. He

only thought that if he would be able to do that with enough
training, then everyone should be able to do that with
enough training too.

Carol then casually replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, but of course it's assuming that you use an

augmented suit that would help you suppress the kickback.
Even I too have no plans to use this rifle without an
augmented suit. I'm pretty sure that my hand would get
ripped off if I do that."

Carol then smugly pointed at her augmented suit.

"If that's the case, then there's nothing to worry about.

Look here, my augmented suit is actually a pretty advanced
one after all."

"Well, it does look like an advanced augmented suit."

Akira looked at Carol's augmented suit and nodded.

Akira put his CWH anti-material rifle back and returned

to the driver seat. Carol also returned back to her seat.

Carol pretended to look casual as she kept observing

Akira.

——That CWH anti-material rifle, is a normal rifle, and

judging by the information shown in its aiming device, its
aiming device works in tandem with his information-
gathering device... It has no auto-aim function. Or at least,
it's true that it has no support function that would allow
him to normally hit all of his shots at the same time those
monsters show themselves from behind the alley even when
he is shooting from above a moving vehicle.

There were some rifles sold in the eastern district

equipped with auto-aim function to help with aiming. Some
of them could automatically move when the user pulled the
trigger, to ensure that the trajectory of the bullet would hit
the target. Or, they would not allow the user to shoot a bullet
even if they pulled the trigger when the calculated trajectory
of the target will not hit a monster.

Carol thought that Akira's accurate sniping was due to the

auto-aim function of his rifle. But it did not seem to be the
case. It might as well be due to the feature installed in his
augmented suit, but Carol judged that it was also unlikely
since such a feature usually relied a lot on the feature
installed on the rifle and she should be able to find such a
device installed on that rifle if that was the case.

——In the first place, how did Akira detect those

monsters? I bet he already noticed the monsters even before
he let go of the wheel. Although I have a pretty good
information-gathering device, I didn't get any signals at all
even when he started taking aim. What would he do if the
one jumping out from the alleys were not monsters and
instead Hunters on bikes? Or did he know for sure that they
were monsters? Did he notice that they were monsters with
long-range weapons, that's why he decided that he needed
to take them out as soon as possible? Since when did he
know that...? Was it right from the start?

Detecting enemies was a crucial skill for Hunters. If they

could discover and ascertain enemies' positions quickly, they
would be able to evade having to fight them, and even if they
decided to fight those monsters, that would give them the
upper hand.

Carol was a Hunter who preferred to evade fighting as

much as possible, because of that, she invested a lot in her
detection ability. The reason why she tried to seduce Akira
yesterday was because she knew for sure there were no
monsters around.

Carol was pretty surprised by Akira's ability to shoot, but

more than that, she was very surprised by his ability to
detect enemies.

When Carol praised Akira's shooting skill and asked if she

could borrow his rifle, she was actually checking for his
reaction. She was testing if Akira would boast about his skill
or his rifle. She was wondering whether he would credit that
to his own skill, or to his hard training, or to the features
installed on his rife.

There were many Hunters who would boast about their

talent, or skills that they acquired after working hard, or
their advanced rifle. After all, it made them feel good talking
about their hard work or their advanced equipment with
other people. Carol was actually an expert in coaxing those
kinds of people into leaking information.

If Akira was one of those people, Carol might be able to

harvest information from him. But Akira did not show such
a sign at all. It did not seem like he wanted to boast about
his equipment or his skill at all.

Carol then reflected. She admitted that Akira's shooting

skill was amazing, but that was all there was to it. In contrast
to that, his detection skill was way above amazing.
 If it was only amazing, she could just use that to praise
and coax Akira into telling her any valuable information that
he had. But that was not the case when it was more than
amazing. In that case, she needed to make sure how he
would react to other people who tried to dig for the secrets
behind such an ability first. After all, there were people who
would go as far as to kill the other people who knew their
secret to make sure that it would not leak.

If that person was a man, Carol could wait until they were
close enough before asking for such information, or she
could wait for a situation where she could casually ask that
question without any risks. Of course, she would use her
side-job to help her do that.

Carol had the skill and experience to cajole someone. She

was confident that she could fight them back in a situation
where both of them were naked and unarmed. No matter
whether they were a cyborg or a person with enhanced
bodies, Carol was confident she could accurately judge their
strength after sleeping with them at least once.

Carol then sighed.

——So basically, I can't use that method on Akira...

Although it's true that he's still just a boy, strangely
enough, he has less interest in women compared to the
other boys of his age.

Carol glanced at Akira. The current Akira did not show

any childish vibe of a young boy that he showed yesterday
when he was watching the scene outside with sparkling eyes
from inside a flying drone. It could even be said that he gave
off the intimidating aura of a skilled Hunter, he even looked
somehow more mature.
 ——Well, it would be troublesome if he won't grow more
mature in the more important aspects. Although, honestly,
he doesn't seem to be that young to be more interested in
food rather than in women. I wonder if it's because he's
only interested in a certain type of women.

Carol's guess was correct. Akira's interest was completely

biased. No matter whether it was a man or a woman, the
only thing that interested him was whether they were
enemies or not. For now, he saw Carol as not any enemy. For
him, that fact took precedence over gender and appearance.

Carol did not doubt her charm at all. After all, she was
really proud of it and she had used that charm on a lot of
people in the past. But that was exactly why her pride was
hurt when Akira showed almost no reaction at all when she
tried to use her charm on him.

She sounded a bit irritated as she suddenly said to Akira.

"Akira, what kind of girl do you like?"

Akira was a bit confused by that sudden question as he

asked back.

"What's with that sudden question?"

"It's because it seemed you're not interested at all when I

invited you. Normally, that won't happen to most of the
people that I Invite, you know?"

"Isn't that because you only invite those people who seem
to be likely to accept your invitation? I'm sure those people
with girlfriend won't readily take on your invitation."

"Well, for the sake of common sense, I won't try inviting

people with girlfriends though. But of course, it's a different
story if they invite me first. Because of that, I won't take
responsibility if they break up with their girlfriend."

Carol smiled when she said that.

Akira looked a bit disgusted as he said.

"You are quite a bad individual."

"It just shows how charming I am. That's why I'm

interested in your fetishes since you won't even consider my
invitation."

"Stop calling it a fetish. But well, even if you ask me so..."

Akira himself knew that he was very unfamiliar with that

kind of talk. When he was giving a ‘hmm' sound, Alpha then
suddenly pointed at herself with full of confidence. Akira
immediately stopped pondering.

"Nope. I don't even have the slightest idea."

"But you should, right? After all, you have a perfect

example here."

Alpha could freely change her appearance, and so she

chose to match her appearance with Akira's preference. So
in short, her current outlook was the mirror image of his
taste. Akira knew that very well as he replied.

"Yep, no idea at all."

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you? If you have anything

to complain about my appearance, there's no need to hold
back, you can just tell me. I can change my appearance as
much as you want, you know."
 Alpha smiled mischievously.

Carol frowned as she looked curiously at Akira.

"...You don't seem to genuinely have no idea at all

though?"

"Well, that's because I feel like a certain someone would

try to match it if I say it here."

"Ahhh, I see... You won't tell me because you don't want

to, huh? But just so you know, I'm someone who can keep a
secret."

"Still, no."

"I see, that's just too bad. I wonder if it's because it's
something that you can't say out loud. But if that's the case, I
can help you overwrite it if you would take my invitation
even if it's only once, you know. I would recommend you do
that if you have a rather peculiar fetish."

"Like I said, stop making it sound as if I have a weird

fetish."

Akira looked so annoyed while Carol was smiling

amusedly.
 Chapter 114: Carol's Negotiation

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.

Those Hunters sighed in relief when they spotted

Shikarabe's APC. When Shikarabe parked his APC near
them and opened the back door, those Hunters immediately
flooded the back door together with the relics that they
carried with them.

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."

"Well, you're right about that."

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.

"I'm Elena, and this is Sara, my best friend."

Sara awkwardly smiled, it was obvious that she could not

completely move on from the shock.

"I'm Sara, nice to meet you."

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."

"Well, you have a point there."

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."

Elena then calmed herself one more time.

"...You're right. Okay then, Akira, you're okay with that

too, right?"

"Yeah."

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.

『I guess you're right about that too.』

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.

There were a lot of reasons why Akira was socially inept.

He grew up in an environment that did not give him the
chance to learn such a skill, he originally already had a
distorted character, and to top it off, although Alpha knew it,
she always came up with another excuse to convince Akira
while keeping him unaware about that aforementioned fact.
Of course, Alpha did that intentionally, after all, it was better
for her if Akira stayed that way.

Alpha looked and smiled at Akira who was successfully

tricked by her words.

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..."

Shikarabe sounded a little irritated as he said.

"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."

"Why did you do that?"

Shikarabe shouted as if he was venting his anger.

"The leader of Drankam's rescue squad is Katsuya. Even if

it's on name only, I refuse to work under him!"

"...I-I see."

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?"

"No thanks. I have no plans to spend my hard-earned

money on you."

"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."

Elena replied.

"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."

"...No need, go back and leave me alone."

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?"

"S-Sure."

Akira nodded. After all, he had no reason to decline, and

even if he had, it might be not easy to decline that offer.

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.
 Carol, who was together with Shikarabe, gathered quite a
lot of attention. Not only she already had a beautiful figure,
to top it off, she was also wearing a sexy old-world design
augmented suit. It was only to be expected for her to attract
a lot of attention from the opposite sex.

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.

Shikarabe stopped operating the control device and asked

Carol.

"...What are you doing?"

Carol whispered in Shikarabe's ear.

"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 irritatedly said.

"...What do you want to talk about? Let me tell you this

beforehand though, I'm not the same person that you know
in the past..."

Carol sported a charming smile and said seductively.

 "Oh my, I did pay my price though. It's so rude to say that
as if I forced you to give me that information. Even you did
enjoy it, right?"

Carol's hand crawled to Shikarabe's chest.

"Moreover, it's not like I'm planning to extract

information about Drankam this time. I know that it seems
there are a lot of things going on inside Drankam lately, but
I have no plans to talk about that this time. So don't worry,
okay?"

Shikarabe lowered his guard. Carol did not let that go as

she faintly smiled.

"What is it then?"

"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?"

Carol then twirled around and stood in front of Shikarabe,

her body blocking his views.

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.
 Chapter 115: Trigger Happy Boy

Akira just followed Elena and Sara as they took him into a
cafeteria near the Hunter Office branch.

They parked their vehicles outside the parking lot.

Although it was outside the parking lot, some guards would
patrol and guard the area when asked, like how they guarded
the parking lot. And just as the case with the parking lot, the
patrol was also charged based on duration.

Elena and Sara sat facing Akira, all of them ordered some
light meals before taking their seats.

Both Elena and Sara were smiling, but there was

something strange behind their smiles. Sara seemed to be
bothered by Akira's new friend while Elena was looking at
him as if she was inquiring about something that she did not
know.

Elena then spoke.

"So, what is your relationship with Carol...? It doesn't

have any deeper meaning than that, okay? It's just that we'll
be working with her after this, so I want to know more about
her, that's all."

For some reason, Elena was making excuses for her

question. She herself did not know for sure why she did that.

Akira then answered Elena's question.

"Well, even if you ask me, there's nothing special, we're

just fellow Hunters. And about her, uhh, I just met her not
too long ago. So, honestly, I don't really know much about
her. But it seems that Carol and Shikarabe know each other,
so it might be better to ask that question to Shikarabe."

Elena did not get any valuable information about Carol

and it did not seem that Akira was trying to hide anything.
Sara then asked a question.

"In that case, is it okay if we ask you some questions? You

can just tell us if you don't want to answer. But if you do
answer, please don't lie since it might cause trouble later. Is
that okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you. So, first, since when did you know Carol?"

"I just met her yesterday."

Elena frowned and asked.

"...Yesterday?"

"Yes."

Elena and Sara seemed rather troubled. Sara seemed

hesitant as she said

"...Akira. If that's true, then it means that you're bringing

someone you don't really know, someone you just met
yesterday, to work on this request, you know...?"

"Ahh... That... Does sound... That's indeed the case, huh."

Akira sounded disheartened as he replied back with

broken words. Elena and Sara looked even more troubled
than before.
 Although it was already obvious, working together with
other Hunters in a team meant that they had to really trust
each other. After all, there were cases where they had to
leave their back or might even trust their lives on the hand of
their teammates. That was the exact reason why the
arbitrator agencies with a good reputation would prosper.

Akira once told Elena and Sara that he once got attacked
by other Hunters in the same team, that was why Elena and
Sara thought he well understood the importance of that
problem. Even this situation was also caused by the fact that
he could not contact Elena and Sara earlier, it was still a
rather unexpected situation for them.

Akira sounded apologetic as he said to Elena.

"...I'm really sorry. As I thought, is it better if we don't

move in the same team this time?"

Hearing how Akira suddenly sounded so apologetic, Elena

flusteredly replied.

"Uhh, you don't have to go that far. We're also happy to

get more helping hands and if she's really a troublesome
Hunter, Shikarabe would have stopped us too. Ahhh, and
also, as you said, you'll take responsibility if Carol tries to do
anything funny, right?"

Akira replied back with a serious face.

"Of course, I'm the one who brought her here after all."

Sara suddenly asked Akira a question.

"When you say you'll take responsibility, how far are you
actually planning to go?"
 Akira thought for a bit before answering back.

"Well, let's see. If it's a problem that can be solved with

money, I'll pay. If it's an amount that I can pay right away,
I'll immediately pay. If it's not, either I pay it in form of a
request or I'll ask to wait until I get enough money."

After listening to Akira's answer, Elena and Sara thought

for a bit. Although he straightforwardly replied with a
serious face, it somehow felt lacking. Akira did not say any
exact amount of money that he was willing to pay, even if he
said that he would pay no matter how much he would be
asked, it was not like he would pay just any amount. There
were many people who would take back what they said when
an exact amount of money was specified, moreover, there
were many problems in this world that could not be solved
with money.

Sara then continued.

"Is that all?"

"If Carol causes anything that puts Elena-san or Sara-san

in danger, I'll take the responsibility and kill her myself."

Akira replied casually, there was no trace of resolve or

determination in his words. But that was the exact reason
why Elena and Sara knew that he was being serious.

Akira was the type of person who could just casually kill
others. He did not fear or hate or feel excited about that act,
he did not need faith or determination or resolve to execute
the act, he did not hesitate, he did not let himself get carried
away by it, he did not let it affect him at all, he was simply
absolutely impartial on the act of murder. In the eyes of
people from the inner wall, his openness toward murder was
extremely unethical and abnormal.
 Of course, Elena and Sara would also kill people when
needed. As a matter of fact, they did murder people a few
times in the past. But in the end, it was because those people
tried to attack them, it was for the sake of self-defense.

Elena made a serious face as she said to Akira.

"Alright, but is it okay if we ask you for one thing? If she

does put us in danger, can you just leave how to deal with it
to us? If it's possible, I want to avoid any kind of in-fighting.
We have a reputation to uphold too after all."

"I understand, please feel free to ask for me if I'm

needed."

Akira replied without showing any hesitation.

Sara was staring at Akira, she seemed a bit troubled as she

thought.

——It's true that it's rather weird for Akira to bring with
him someone that he just met yesterday, but more than
that, I'm more interested about that reason... I don't want
to believe it, but don't tell me he...

Sara then asked Akira a question to confirm her guess.

"So then, what exactly happened yesterday? Can you

please tell us everything including when you met Carol?"

"Okay."

Akira then told Elena and Sara all the information that he
thought they would want to know. He told them that he went
to Mihazono ruin yesterday, he then entered the Seranthal
building and met Carol inside that building. All of a sudden
they were swarmed by monsters and somehow was able to
escape the building. He then lost his relics for protecting
Carol. But she compensated for his lost relics and treated
him for lunch. Of course, Akira did not say anything about
Carol's side job.

"The information that Carol had really helped us escape

the Seranthal building. Moreover, with someone who knows
well about this ruin, I thought that we would be able to
safely complete today's request. That's why I hired Carol."

"That must have been hard. To be more precise, is it okay

if I ask you how you escaped Seranthal building?"

When Sara asked that question, Akira hesitated to answer

back.

"Uhh... Do I really need to answer that question no matter

what?"

"I won't force you. If you don't want to answer, you can
just say it."

"Uhhh, that's not exactly the problem. Although I came to

know about it because of an emergency, it's information that
I paid money to get, so..."

Elena sounded convinced as she said.

"Ahhh, I see, so basically we just need to pay you money,

right?"

Akira flusteredly shook his head and said.

"Ah no, I don't really mind telling Elena-san and Sara-san

for free, but... I was just thinking if it's okay for me as a
Hunter to give such information for free to another Hunter.
What should I do about such information normally? Since I
already paid for it, I wonder if it's okay if I spread it around
without permission. What do you think, Elena-san?"

Elena was taken aback when Akira asked her that

question. It was because she did not expect him to be that
careful about dealing with such information. After all, in the
past, he did share information about an unexplored ruin to
her and Sara casually. Sara was also surprised by that
unexpected change.

Elena thought that it was a good thing if Akira had

changed because he had that talk with her. She then happily
told him about her own opinion.

"It depends, if you agreed beforehand not to spread it

when you bought it, then, you shouldn't spread it. But if you
don't have such an agreement, I think it's okay for you to tell
other people. With that being said, you still need to have
some kind of implicit agreement with the person from whom
you got that information. After all, there's a chance that
person will sell the next piece of information at a higher
price since the last one spread widely among the Hunters.
For that one, well, you can only learn that from experience."

"...This is really difficult."

"If you don't know what to decide, it's safer if you keep it a
secret. There's no need to leak it out just because we asked
you. Which in that case, is it okay if we ask you how much it
cost and whether it was worth paying that money?"

"It was 5,000,000 Aurum and I think it was worth that

money. Although, I can only say that since I was able to
escape the building thanks to that information."

Sara pondered, "hmm..."

 "5,000,000 Aurum, huh. If you say it is really worth that
much, I have no plans to refute it but... Just because you
were able to escape danger because of that, I don't think
that's enough of a reason to blow it out of the proportion
that much. Are you sure it was really worth it?"

"Yes. Although, in the end, I didn't pay even a single

Aurum for that information since I accepted her request to
escort her back. Either way, I was in a situation where it was
bad if Carol got killed, so the timing was good too."

Elena smiled confidently.

"You're pretty good."

Sara also smiled, she seemed a bit surprised. Akira

blushed as he got flustered.

After Elena and Sara asked a lot of questions about Carol

to Akira, they decided that there should be no problem
adding Carol to the team. Although she did ask Akira to
escort her to escape the Seranthal building, it was not like
she did not fight at all. Moreover, it seemed that she did
change her equipment into something more suitable for
fighting this time. And in the first place, if Shikarabe thought
that she would only slow them down, he would have rejected
that suggestion.

It might be true that Carol knew a lot of things about

Mihazono ruin, or at least, it was true that she had
information that helped Akira to survive and return back
alive from the ruin. Thus, Akira thought that it would be
helpful to have her around if they wanted to explore
Mihazono ruin.

Sara felt relieved that her fear was proven to be wrong,

she then apologetically said to Akira.
 "Let me apologize to you first, I'm really sorry. To be
honest, I thought that Carol seduced you and is tricking you
right now. I just thought that... Well, I'm sorry to put it this
way, I just thought that Carol is cajoling and manipulating
you for her own benefit, you see."

Elena also apologized to Akira.

"...Sorry, I actually thought so too. You did tell us that you

basically work alone, remember? That's why I was so
surprised when you suddenly brought with you another
Hunter, it just somehow bothered me."

At first, Akira did not understand what exactly Elena and

Sara were talking about. He just sat there with a confused
face. But after a few seconds, he realized what it was all
about. It was true that it would not be strange for Elena and
Sara to think like that after seeing Carol's attire. He then
smiled bitterly and said.

"Uhmm, I'm sorry to make you worry. But it's alright. I

think I'm the type who doesn't get baited by something like
that."

Sara smiled mischievously.

"Is that so? Then I might as well test you."

Sara stood up from her seat and moved next to Akira. She
then leaned her face close to his while smiling and staring at
him.

Akira obviously started getting flustered.

"W-Whoah, Sara-san?!"
 Sara kept staring at Akira's face while moving her face
closer and closer. The closer she got, the more flustered
Akira became.

Akira then turned to Elena, asking for help. But Elena just
smiled bitterly at him and said.

"Looking at you now, I don't think you're okay at all

though? Maybe you want to get used to it while you still have
the chance?"

Sara then pulled back her face. Akira sighed, he was still
blushing as he said.

"...Give me a break!"

Sara smiled teasingly at Akira.

"If you want to get used to it, I can help you, you know?"

"No, thanks!"

"Oh my, you don't like it?"

"...Please just stop."

Akira replied back in a strong tone to hide his

embarrassment. Looking at that him, Elena and Sara just
smiled.

Alpha was also smiling, although, deep inside, she was a

little bit disappointed since it seemed that bringing Carol
along did not disrupt Akira's relationship with Elena and
Sara.

***
 Akira, Elena, and Sara went back to their meeting point.
Not too long after that, Shikarabe's APC arrived right on
time. Shikarabe and Carol then stepped out from the APC.
Shikarabe seemed a little irritated while Carol looked
somehow in a good mood.

According to Elena's experience as a Hunter, she thought

that Shikarabe was the type of person who preferred to come
early and wait for other people to arrive, but since this time
he came just right on time, Elena found that weird and asked
them a question.

"You're cutting it pretty close this time, was there any

problem?"

Carol smiled and answered Elena's question.

"Nope, we did replenish the supply and had a good rest

before coming here."

Shikarabe did not say anything. The other Hunters there

directed their gazes on Shikarabe. He noticed that tried to
calm himself down before opening his mouth.

"...There's no problem with the resupply. If I have to say

anything, well, the cost of the armour plating and the ammo
was more expensive than I expected."

"If the negotiation took most of your time and you didn't
get much rest, I don't mind waiting for some more time for
you to get adequate rest."

When Elena said that, Carol immediately replied in place

of Shikarabe.

"It's fine, we did have a good rest after all, right? Or was
that not enough?"
 Carol glanced at Shikarabe. Shikarabe averted his gaze
from her as he said.

"...It's alright. So then, how about you guys? Did

something happen?"

"Nothing. By the way, I've picked our next request."

"In that case, let's get working. With the sun already up,
it's much safer than during the night. With that being said,
there should be more people competing for the rescue
requests now though."

"You're right, everyone, let's go."

They then returned back to their respective vehicles. Carol

returned back to Akira's vehicle and sat on the driver
assistance's seat. She then looked at Akira in a good mood.
Since it was not like she was glaring at him, Akira just
ignored her and started his vehicle.

They were heading to the building in the Mihazono ruin

where the Hunters who sent the rescue request barricaded
themselves inside. Elena and Sara were in the front,
Shikarabe's APC in the middle, and finally Akira and Carol
in the rear. They intentionally took a wide road as they drove
through the ruin. After all, there was a good chance that if
they picked a narrow road, it might be blocked by the
wreckages of the dead mechanical monsters.

But even on that wide road, there were wreckages of huge

mechanical monsters that almost blocked the whole road.
There was a huge tank-like object with multiple legs lying on
the side of the road with countless holes on its torsos;
around it, there were pieces of humanoid weapons that must
have fought that huge tank assorted with huge empty ammo
cartridges scattered around.
 Akira frowned when he saw that.

『 Say, Alpha, correct me if I'm wrong, but these huge

monsters don't really roam the city district of Mihazono ruin
normally, right?』

Alpha who was sitting on Akira's vehicle's door with her

leg extended outside the vehicle turned her face to Akira.

"Well, that's indeed the case, at least until yesterday. If

this is a normal thing in Mihazono ruin, I wouldn't have
suggested you to come here."

『Thought so... What exactly happened for it to change all

of a sudden?』

"I'm sure it's because the security drones increased their

alert level for some reason. Judging by the fact that they're
dispatching the A24-type drones inside the city district, I'm
sure it's not just for simply driving out common robbers."

『Common robbers...? Ahh, the Hunters, huh. Well, if it's

about them, there is always a lot of Hunters coming to this
ruin every day after all.』

It was as Akira said, a lot of Hunters came to the

Mihazono ruin every day, at least, enough for the Hunter
Office to decide to build a branch in that ruin. Honestly
speaking, he thought that must not be the reason, but Alpha
suddenly said something that refuted his guess.

"There's a limit for everything. There might be a limit set

on the drones, which proactively try to reduce the number
of Hunters inside the city ruin. That limit must have
surpassed yesterday, so there are a ton more."
 『I see. But if that's really the case, I really hope it would
have gotten triggered when I'm not in this ruin though.』

Alpha just smiled at Akira who was complaining.

"I think it's nothing strange considering your bad luck.

Honestly speaking, I've already given up resisting your
back luck. So I suggest that you give up too, okay?"

Akira smiled bitterly at Alpha. He could see Seranthal

building in the direction that he was looking, it was a huge
building that stuck out from the rest even from afar.

Carol noticed Akira was smiling bitterly in the direction

where the Seranthal building was. She then smiled lightly
and said to him.

"It was really rough yesterday, wasn't it? I wonder if that

was some kind of omen that the ruin would turn like this?"

"That might be true. Carol, you know a lot about this

Mihazono ruin, right? Do you have any guess?"

"Unfortunately, I have no guess at all."

"So we really have no idea of what's going on, huh? Well,

that's not surprising at all though."

"There must be some Hunters who came here to

investigate the reason behind the current situation. Those
Hunters who usually sell maps often explore the inner part
of the ruin too. If they can find out the reason behind the
current situation and sell that information to the Hunter
Office, I bet it can fetch them at least 10,000,000,000
Aurum."
 Akira was flabbergasted when he heard that amount of
money.

"I-Is it really worth that much?"

Akira himself knew that it would be a pretty expensive

piece of information, but he did not expect it to be such a
huge amount.

Carol, who noticed Akira's expression, just smiled

teasingly at him and said.

"Oh my, it's a piece of information related to the safety of

the Mihazono ruin, you know? At the moment, there's still
no news saying that the monsters from inside the Mihazono
ruin are going out into the wasteland, but there's no
guarantee that it'll stay that way. When a lot of monsters
flood out from the ruin, it might greatly affect the monster
distribution in the wasteland. Because of that, some routes
that are originally considered as safe might turn dangerous,
and if that kills the trading flow of the city, it'll also give a
huge hit to the companies that depend on those trading
routes. So with that information, the Hunter Office can take
an initiative to prevent such situations from happening.
After all, just think about it, even if you pay 100 Hunters
100,000,000 Aurum each to take out all the monsters that
are flooding out from the ruin, do you think they can really
accomplish that?"

"Nope, I don't think they can."

"Yep, so that's basically the gist of it. Moreover, leaving

that aside, if that amount of money is enough to keep the
ruin that's already under the control of the Hunter Office to
the point that they built a branch office in that ruin, then I
bet they would have no complaint paying that amount of
money. Depending on the quality of the information and
how the negotiation goes, it might even cost even more than
that."

Akira sounded amazed as he said.

"So there's something like that too, huh. I never thought

that kind of work is also available for Hunters. Wait, does
that mean that you're actually that kind of Hunter?"

After all, there were not many Hunters who knew about
the invisible transport drones in the landing pads of some
buildings in the Mihazono ruin. So, if Carol was one of those
Hunters who worked as a map dealer, then it was not
surprising for her to know about those transport drones.

Carol then smiled smugly and answered Akira's question.

"My main Hunter job is hunting relics and selling them

while I also work as an information dealer on the side."

Akira looked at Carol with wide eyes, he seemed to be

honestly amazed by her. A question suddenly popped up
inside his brain.

"...Wait for a sec, you did tell me that some Hunters

intentionally opened only a few doors in between floors in
the Seranthal building so that the other Hunters who
explore that building would easily get lost inside that
building. And it was done in order to increase the price of
the map of the Seranthal building, right?"

"Oh, yep, I did tell you that... But no, I don't do something
like that."

"Really?"

"Yep."
 Carol answered back with a bright smile, Akira could not
read whether she was lying or not.

Elena's voice suddenly came out from Akira's information

terminal.

[Akira, we'll enter an area where a lot of monsters are

roaming around. We'll basically try to pierce through the
swarm, so make sure not to get left behind, okay? I'll leave
the monsters on the flank to you. If it's too hard for you,
we'll temporarily withdraw. So make sure to contact us
beforehand, okay?]

"Understood. Elena-san and Sara-san too, if things get

dicey, please immediately withdraw."

Elena then replied as if she was provoking Akira.

[Oh my, if we immediately head back because of

something like that, we won't be able to get money from the
request that we could originally complete, you know? Are
you okay with that?]

If they got too reckless, they would get killed and that
would be the end of them. But if they were too careful, they
would not be able to get money and would eventually die out
of starvation. Being Hunters meant that they should be able
to decide whether they could get enough money to justify the
danger that they would face. Elena thought that Akira's
words just now sounded too pessimistic, that was why she
tried to lightly poke at Akira.

"I don't mind. Elena-san and Sara-san's safety is much

more important than money."

Akira answered back in a straight-forward and casual

manner. There were a few seconds of silence before Elena
replied.

[...Don't worry, I have no plans to die here. So I don't

think I would make a blunder about that. Thank you for
worrying about us, good luck, Akira.]

Right at the end of her sentence, Elena sounded like she

was in a good mood. After that, she cut the call.

『Alpha, can I leave the driving to you again?』

"Sure, there's no need to be in such a hurry, I'll tell you if

I detect any monsters."

『 There's nothing to lose for getting myself ready

sooner.』

It seemed that Akira got a bit excited, Alpha thought that

it might be because of that reply from Elena just now. She
then suddenly pointed her finger.

"Akira, use the A4WM grenade-launcher this time. I

want to gather some data first while we still have the
chance."

『Roger that.』

Akira returned to the back seat and grabbed his A4WM

grenade-launcher, it was a gun that he had not tried to shoot
even once before. Although he was planning to get used to it
by testing it in the wasteland, he did not expect that he
would have to use it right on the next day after he bought it.
At the moment, he was in a rather safe situation, so it was a
good chance for him to get used to his new gun.

Carol looked around and asked Akira a question.

 "Akira, did you find a monster somewhere?"

"Nope, my information-gathering device didn't detect

anything in particular. How about yours?"

"There's nothing in mine too. Geez, stop scaring me like

that."

Carol thought that Akira somehow found monsters that

she could not detect. Although with the sun up right now, it
was far easier to check the surroundings compared to when
it was during the night, there were a lot of rubbles and
wreckage around where monsters could hide.

"Even if you tell me so. It's not like I'm trying to scare you
or anything. You also heard that order from Elena-san just
now, right? I'm just getting myself ready for the upcoming
battle."

"Well, it's fine if that's the case. By the way, since I left it
to you to take care of all of the monsters last time, can you
leave the next ones to me? I'll show you that I'm different
from yesterday."

Carol was smiling smugly filled with confidence when she

said that.

***

The front-most vehicle in that group was Elena and

Sara's, Elena was driving the vehicle. She was also the one
operating the vehicle's information-gathering device and its
machine gun. As for Sara, who was sitting next to Elena, her
job was to take care of the monsters that the machine gun
could not take out.
 There, Sara was looking in Elena's direction while smiling
teasingly at her. Elena's face turned stern for a bit as she
said.

"...What is it?"

Sara then amusedly said.

"It's nothing. It's just that it seemed Akira is worried

about us."

Elena's stern face was basically her trying to hide her

embarrassment. She fully understood that Sara knew that
too but if she did not do that, she knew that Sara would start
teasing her. That was why she could not relax her
expression.

In their team, Elena was the one who was responsible for
negotiation. Because of that, she learned a lot of skills used
for negotiating such as probing for ulterior motives, reading
behind words, detecting lies, digging for real motives, or
judging for cost and benefit of a deal.

Elena had the experience of negotiating with problematic

and dangerous people like those who were so prideful that
they had no ulterior motives at all, or those who would
casually make a bad suggestion with a smile, or those people
who tried to strike a deal while also planning to betray that
deal right from the start. Thanks to that, Elena was able to
more or less read the real intention behind people's words.

And of course, Akira's words were not an exception. Elena

unconsciously tried to probe what was behind those words
and she came up with the conclusion that Akira was not
lying at all, he was not trying to act cool nor trying to woo
her. He was only simply stating his real feelings. Elena knew
that very well as she tried to look even deeper for the reason
why he said that.

If it was true that Akira felt Elena and Sara's safety was
more important than money, then he would not complain at
all and just follow her if she told the team to withdraw right
now, which at that point, Akira would not get even a single
Aurum. Or more like, he would be already in red since he
had to pay for Carol's reward. If he would really do that, it
meant that Akira did not take Elena's invitation to work on
this request for the sake of money.

To top it off, Akira knew that Mihazono ruin was a

dangerous ruin. As a matter of fact, he even went as far as
hiring Carol as insurance, so there should be no mistaking it.

Which then, the real question would be why Akira would

accept Elena and Sara's invitation. At least, it was not for
money. Although he still needed money, it was not his first
priority. In order for Elena to pull out the answer, she did
not immediately reply to Akira back there.

Akira was there to help out Elena and Sara. He knew that
Mihazono ruin, or at least the Seranthal building, was a very
dangerous place. As such, he was there to make sure that
Elena and Sara would not need to go through what he had
gotten through. He must have decided to accept their
invitation thinking that if he was around, he would be able to
at least be of some help to Elena and Sara.

If Elena and Sara were able to contact Akira, it might have

been the end of it once she told him the details of their
current situation. He might have decided to come exactly
because he could not contact Elena and Sara back then.

Having a young Hunter who just started working not too

long ago worrying about her, it could even be said that she
was having a Hunter below her worrying about her. So there
was no way Elena did not feel anything about it. Even she
had her pride as a Hunter.

But even so, Elena was delighted that Akira came there to
help her, she was so happy that it betrayed her pride as a
Hunter. As a matter of fact, Akira had been saving her life
and Sara's life ever since their first meeting. If Akira had not
saved her back then, she would have been raped and then
killed. So, it might be too late for her to be saying anything
about her pride as a Hunter.

The feeling that Akira and Elena had for each other was
basically a form of love for close friends and as fellow
Hunters, they felt indebted to each other for saving each
other's life. Or at least, for Elena, she did not look at Akira as
a target for her romantic feeling. She thought that should
also be the case for Akira too. After all, their age gap was
simply too big.

But even so, when someone whom she considered as a

close friend came to help her disregarding profit and loss
and even risked his life to help her, it was only natural for
her to feel happy. There was nothing strange about it.

Elena herself knew that she was in a very good mood,

while on the other hand, she also understood very well that
getting too happy would affect her ability to judge and make
decisions. That was why she was making a stern face.
Moreover, with the person who knew her inner feeling
sitting next to her while smiling at her, Elena could not
afford to relax her expression.

She then warned Sara with a serious face.

"If you know that he's worried about us, you should be
extra careful too. Don't forget that you got saved by him back
then in Yonozuka station ruin, okay? I'm sure you're not
thinking of making him save you again, right?"

Sara replied in a serious voice.

"I know. I've vowed that I won't ever make the same
mistake again."

"That's good then."

Right at that moment, the sensor installed in their vehicle

suddenly showed a reaction, it was showing that there were
a lot of monsters ahead. Elena checked the display of the
radar while saying to Sara.

"...It would take forever to kill all of them. We'll try to

force our way through. Sara, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are."

Elena accelerated her vehicle to open up a road for the

other vehicles behind her. The machine gun on their vehicle
and Sara's gun started shooting almost at the same time as
they were laying waste to the monsters ahead of them.
 Chapter 116: Rescue Operation

Akira's vehicle suddenly accelerated. Due to that sudden

acceleration, the inertia hit Akira and Carol. Akira was able
to keep his balance thanks to Alpha's support via his
augmented suit, while Carol was also able to keep her
balance thanks to her own skill and her augmented suit.

Carol kept her eyes on Akira to watch his movements

closely, right at that time, Alpha explained the current
situation to Akira.

"Akira, there are multiple monsters ahead and Elena is

planning to just focus their firepower on the front to create
a way forward. Since it'll leave the other monsters on the
left and right untouched, be extra careful. If those monsters
decide to attack us, they would surround us from both
sides, so let's take them out first before they can do that."

『Roger that.』

Akira then said to Carol.

"Carol, we have incoming monsters."

『Got it, just leave it to me."

Carol had already got some incoming enemy signals in her

information-gathering device. She then smiled and readied
her gun. Suddenly Akira said to her.

"I'll be joining in too."

Carol sounded a little bit offended as she replied.

 "You really don't trust me, do you? It'll be fine, just leave
it to me."

"That's not the problem. Or more like, I hired you as a

guide in the first place. Of course, I'm thankful if you help
me in fighting the monsters too, but there's no need for you
to proactively fight them."

Carol just giggled and said.

"Oh my, I won't be able to ask for a reward from you if I

don't contribute during the fight too. Now that I'm here, I
don't plan to be just content with my reward as a guide
alone, you know."

Akira smiled back.

"Got it. That also means if I can take out most of the
monsters alone, then I only need to give you a small reward,
right?"

"No worry, I'll squeeze you dry."

Akira and Carol smiled confidently at each other.

At the moment, the road inside the Mihazono ruin was

filled with mechanical monsters. Their sizes and strength
greatly varied from one and another. Elena's team blazed
through that ocean of monsters focusing their firepower only
on the monsters blocking their way forward, while some of
the monsters were slammed by their vehicles before getting
crushed under the wheels. If they slowed down even for a
bit, there was a good chance that the monsters would
immediately swarm them. Thus, they had no other choice
but to keep pushing forward even if it meant that it would
damage their vehicles.
 The destroyed mechanical monsters left piles of metallic
wreckages on the road. It would be really hard to drive
through that road if they were using a normal vehicle. But of
course, it did not pose any problem at all against the
powerful vehicles designed to be used in the wasteland. As
long as the pile of wreckages did not fully block the road,
their vehicles should be able to forcefully push the way
forward.

For those mechanical monsters, no matter how much the

other monsters were destroyed, and no matter how damaged
their bodies were, that would not stop them from fighting
back, at most, it would only change their priority target. But
if the Hunters got away far enough from them, those
mechanical monsters would stop attacking and instead
search for other targets closer to them. And of course, for
those mechanical monsters with high mobility, they might as
well decide to keep pursuing the Hunters in that case.

Some of the monsters that they passed were monsters

with a lot of legs equipped with wheels. Those wheels
suddenly spun so fast that it raised a cloud of dust before it
started accelerating to chase for Akira and the other
Hunters.

Of course, compared to Elena and Sara who were carving

their way forward, those wheeled monsters were way faster
since they were chasing Akira through an already cleared
road. It would be incredibly difficult to lose them without
shooting at them.

Akira aimed his A4WM automatic grenade-launcher at

the enemies behind. He took an aim through the aiming
device and was about to pull the trigger.

But before he could completely pull the trigger, the

monster that he was aiming at suddenly got blown away and
rolled over the ground. The impact left a big dent on that
monster's body as it then collided with another monster and
exploded.

Every time a gunshot echoed from beside Akira, one of

those strong looking monsters would get blown away and
then destroyed. It was Carol's handiwork, she was carrying 2
pistols, one in each hand. The size of the pistol was huge
compared to its grip, it seemed to be completely impossible
to carry those pistols with one hand. But even so, Carol was
carrying one in each of her hands as she kept shooting at 2
different targets. Amazingly enough, all of her shots hit their
targets.

Akira looked at Carol, he was obviously surprised. Carol

turned to him and smiled confidently before returning back
to shooting.

Alpha seemed pretty amazed as she said.

"I see, she's indeed as strong as she said she is."

『You can say that again. I need to hurry up or all of my

shares will be taken.』

"Carol is taking out all the monsters starting from the

ones in the front, so you should focus on the monsters on
the behind."

『Roger that.』

Akira's target priorities that were shown in enhanced

vision suddenly changed. He followed that indicator and
took another aim before pulling the trigger. But the
launched grenade did not hit his target, instead, it landed
just in front of his target, but even so, that was enough to
blow away the monsters around the impact area.
 Akira frowned.

『A miss, huh. I guess I need to aim a little bit higher.』

"As long as I don't have enough data for shooting with

that A4WM automatic grenade-launcher, I can't give you
my usual support. And since you're shooting out grenades,
at least keep in mind not to damage your own vehicle,
okay?"

『Got it, just stop me if it gets dangerous.』

Akira took another aim and pulled the trigger. Some of

the launched grenades landed just right next to his target,
some of them landed on the wall of the buildings on the side
of the road, some of them hit the other monsters that he was
not targeting at. Although it was to be expected that it would
be really difficult to aim accurately from a moving vehicle,
Akira's accuracy there was even worse.

『I just can't get any clean hit.』

"It's not surprising at all. It's your first time using that
gun after all. But even if you miss, it at least slows down the
monsters chasing us, so just keep on shooting."

『I guess that's just how important training is, huh.』

Although Akira's accuracy was pretty bad, it at least would

not cause any trouble thanks to Carol. His accuracy was
completely different compared to when he was using CWH
anti-material rifle, it was as if he was a completely different
person, and he kept shooting with that accuracy until the
situation calmed down.

***
 Inside a certain building among all the buildings in the
Mihazono ruin city district, a lot of Hunters barricaded
themselves.

Those Hunters gathered in a hall near the entrance and

they barricaded the pathways leading to other rooms. As for
the entrance to that building, they used their own vehicles to
block the way in. Their vehicles were already destroyed by
the monsters, so those vehicles were basically useless except
as a barricade, preventing monsters from flooding in.

The building itself was pretty strong, thanks to that, as

long as the entrance was properly barricaded, the building
itself could handle the monsters' attacks. Though due to the
exact same reason it was also difficult for those Hunters to
escape from that room.

The Hunters in that building were taking turns to rest, but

even so, all of them looked exhausted. The monsters were
roaming just outside of the buildings and some of them
already filled the halls and the rooms inside that building. If
they were unlucky, the barricade might get destroyed, which
would result in those monsters immediately flooding into
the room. They were not in a situation where they could
relax at all. With no means to get extra ammo or medicines,
their life span only extended as far as how long their current
ammo reserve would hold.

No one there tried to escape from that building. Some of

them did try but they were quickly killed by the monsters
that were roaming just outside the building.

Their only hope was for someone to come and rescue

them, but of course, chances for that was really slim.

One of the Hunters who were on guard duty asked one of

his friends who was operating his information terminal
while taking a rest.

"...Is there any change?"

The other guy did not say anything, he just shook his
head.

"...I see."

The Hunter who asked that question actually knew well

enough that there was no need to ask that question. After all,
if there was a change in their situation, the other guy would
definitely show some reaction. The only reason why he
ended up asking that question even though he understood
that very well was simply because he was still clinging to that
slim hope.

The Hunters had been barricading themselves inside that

building for half a day. They went inside right before the
sunset, at that time, they already lost half of their team
members.

They were attacked when they were running into that

building, they were attacked when they were putting up
barricades, some of them got fatally wounded during those
fights, and some of them tried to get out from that building
only to get killed. Some of them died during the battle, some
of them died while screaming in pain and agony, some of
them went on a suicidal rampage before getting killed. The
leftover survivors were already in extreme stress. Even if one
of them decided to try to get out of that building, they
already had no strength nor spirit to stop that person.

But even so, they still had some hopes to return back alive
from there. After all, after they completely exhausted their
options, they decided to send an emergency SOS request. So
someone might come to rescue them. If they kept buying
more time, someone might eventually come to rescue them.

All the surviving Hunters did not have the courage nor
spirit to try challenging the monsters outside. As their ammo
reserve got shaved bit by bit, their already exhausted morale
clinging to that slim hope of returning back alive also got
shaved bit by bit. They could only cling on that slim hope
while waiting, every single second felt so long to the point
that it could drive them mad.

That guy kept his eyes on the information terminal in

front of him. Suddenly a call came into his information
terminal, he immediately pulled himself together and
checked his information terminal to reconfirm if it was only
an illusion since something like that had happened multiple
times before.

There was a sudden call through a local connection. That

man then checked the location of where that call came from
and started laughing. He had no idea whether it was a dream
or an illusion or reality. But, whichever the case, his next
action was the same. He operated his information terminal
to accept that call, and when he did that, a girl's voice could
be heard from his information terminal.

[We're Hunters that accepted the SOS request from

Alhain insurance company. Are you Cocolens-san?]

That guy was flabbergasted. Although he heard everything

that girl said very well, he was in no position to process that
information.

[Can you hear me? This call should be connected to

Cocolens-san who is in contract with Alhain insurance
company though? Or am I mistaken?]
 That guy started panicking. He was still so confused if this
was only a dream or an illusion.

[Are you wounded to the point that you can't talk? In that
case, can you give the information terminal to someone that
we can talk with? I want to confirm the situation over there.]

That guy could not say anything back, the girl then
continued.

[Can you hear me? If you can't talk and there's no one
around, can you at least send me a text message? Or is it that
this information terminal is set so that it automatically
accepts local calls even if the owner is already dead? Hello?
Anyone there?]

That guy finally snapped back to reality. He realized that

the girl's voice was real. Right in the next moment, that guy
used all his leftover voice to scream at his information
terminal.

"Save us!!!"

That guy's voice echoed through the hall, all the Hunters
in that hall turned to that guy.

—The girl's voice from that guy's information terminal

was Elena's voice, she was heading to where that guy was.

***

Elena and her team kept pushing their way forward inside
the Mihazono ruin. The road was wide but it was filled with
monsters. If they stopped even for a few seconds to fight
those monsters, they would be surrounded by so many
wreckages from the monsters that they would kill to the
point that they would not be able to drive their vehicles
through those wreckages.

Akira and Carol were shooting at the small tank monsters

chasing them from behind as if they were competing against
each other. Number wise, Carol was leading Akira. But even
so, there were still enough monsters for Akira to be able to
shoot enough grenades to get a good feel of his A4WM
automatic grenade-launcher, so Alpha should have gotten
enough data during that battle.

Akira suddenly complained.

"Aren't there too many of them? There's just no end to

these monsters."

Carol answered Akira's question.

"It seems that the Hunter Office is building up a defense

line around its branch using their influence. So that might
be the reason why the monster density outside the defense
line is so high."

"So, the Hunter Office is doing something like that, huh?

How did you get a hold of such information?"

"I heard from Shikarabe when we were taking a break. It

seems that during the night, they dispatched humanoid
weapons inside the predetermined line of defense to clean
up all of those powerful autonomous weapons behind the
line of defense. It seems that they're focusing on barricading
the main road and securing the safety around the area at the
moment. I also heard that the squads dispatched by
Drankam are participating in that operation."

Akira remembered the wreckage of a huge monster

surrounded by humanoid soldiers that he saw not too long
ago. That might be the leftover from the battle last night. But
at the moment, they were outside the defense line, thus they
might encounter that huge monster somewhere.

Akira looked a bit annoyed.

"Is the situation outside the defense line like this no

matter where we go? If that's the case, I can see why no one
would accept that SOS request without taking any insurance.
I really get it now why people are taking insurance."

"I'm sure those insurance companies did not expect

something like this to happen either, so I bet they're losing a
lot of money at the moment."

Akira was having a conversation with Carol while fighting

the monsters. Compared to yesterday when they had to fight
a swarm of monsters inside the Seranthal building, their
current situation was way better. Normal Hunters would be
desperately fighting the monsters in that situation, it really
showed just how strong Carol and Akira were compared to
those common Hunters.

—Elena then gave orders to everyone in the team through

the information terminal.

[Our rescue target this time has barricaded himself inside

a building 200 metre ahead. Shikarabe, stop your APC in
front of the entrance to that building and carry everyone into
your APC regardless if they are still alive or not. The rest of
the team will hold the entrance and keep the monsters away
from the entrance. Since the rescue target is staying in a
room close to the entrance, there's no need to go too deep
into the building or securing the escape route leading to the
entrance of the building.]

Shikarabe then asked a question to Elena.

 [How much time do I have for getting them into my
APC?]

[10 minutes. If some of them are taking too long, just

leave them behind.]

[Is there any priority target?]

[That would be a Hunter by the name of Cocolens, he's

contracted with the insurance company that issued this
request. In case if he's already dead, bring his body into the
APC, or at least, bring back his information terminal. And in
case we can't find his information terminal, you have 5
minutes to look for it, just give it up if you can't find it in 5
minutes."

[Can't you get in contact with him?]

[Well, at least I was able to get in contact with someone

who claimed to be that person just now.]

Shikarabe sounded obviously annoyed.

[...Got it. Roger that.]

Shikarabe had been working as a Hunter for a long time,

thus he knew what Elena was talking about, that was also
the case for Carol and Sara too. The only person who did not
understand what was going on there was Akira.

Elena then asked Akira.

[Akira, are you okay over there? It seems that there are
more monsters than I predicted. There's no need to be
reckless, okay?]
 Taking that question from the positive point of view, it
sounded as if Elena was worried about Akira out of care. But
taking that from the opposite point of view, it sounded as if
she was worried about Akira who was the weakest in the
group, and Carol, who Elena did not know well. If Akira gave
a worrying answer, in the worst-case scenario, Elena might
stop their rescue operation there.

Akira then firmly replied back.

"I'm good, no problem at all over here."

Elena then excitedly said from the other side of the

information terminal.

"I see, in that case, let's go."

They headed straight to the building where the Hunters

were barricading themselves with Elena leading in the front.

All the monsters surrounding the building where the

Hunters were, suddenly shifted their attention to Elena and
her team. The monsters with guns and cannons aimed their
long-range weapons at Elena and the other Hunters, while
the monsters only equipped with close-range weapons
started running towards them.

Then, right as they fixed their aim on Elena and her team
and was about to shoot, they were suddenly blown away and
turned into a pile of wreckage due to the barrage from Elena
and her team.

The machine gun fixed on Shikarabe's APC spewed out

countless bullets. That machine gun was strong enough to
injure even a bounty monster when used from up-close.
Thus, those bullets could easily pierce through the monsters'
armoured body and blow its innards to pieces.
 Elena and her team released a barrage of bullets to all the
monsters surrounding that building. Sara readied her
automatic grenade launcher and started shooting too. As
countless grenades rained down from the sky, they exploded
and blew the monsters to smithereens.

Akira and Carol shifted their aims to the entrance of the

building and started shooting at the monsters who were
trying to crawl their way into the building.

The monsters tried to force their bodies through the big

entrance into the building, there were so many of them that
they almost completely blocked the big entrance that was
wide enough for few vehicles to pass through at the same
time. But Carol's barrage and Akira's grenades made short
work of them and blew them to pieces, thus turning them to
just metal wreckage.

As the other monsters tried to push their way forward

while trampling the wreckages leftover of their dead
comrades under their feet, Akira used the other rifles fixed
in the backside of his vehicle to push those monsters back,
leaving them either completely destroyed or half-destroyed.
Thus turning them one by one to just another metal
wreckage.

The area around that building immediately turned into a

battlefield riddled with explosions and gunshots.

The Hunters inside that building saw the battle happening

outside through the small openings of the barricaded
entrance.

"They're here!! Someone actually came to save us!!"

"Quickly, open the entrance door!! We won't be able to go

outside with the barricade there!!"
 "For those Hunters with an augmented suit, help me
move away the vehicles blocking the entrance!!"

"Leave the wounded near the entrance!!"

The Hunters there immediately sprung to action. If they

let go of this chance, they would have no other chance to
survive. Everyone in that building understood that very well.
They squeezed all of their leftover physical power and spirit
to start working again.

After they cleared the monsters around that building,

Shikarabe stopped his APC just right in front of the
entrance, the back door of the APC opened and he stepped
out from the APC.

The entrance was still blocked by the vehicles that the

Hunters left there. One of the Hunters from inside the
building was trying to desperately squeeze his way out
through a small opening in that entrance.

Shikarabe then just stood there and released a powerful

kick at those vehicles, blowing them a few metres aside.

Shikarabe then shouted.

"We'll leave in 10 minutes!! Get everyone inside the APC,

it doesn't matter if they're alive or not!! And also, which one
of you is Cocolens?!"

When one of those Hunters passed aside Shikarabe and

was about to enter the APC, Shikarabe suddenly grabbed
that guy and stopped him. That guy immediately shouted.

"W-What!? Just let me in already!!!"

 "You guys that can still move are for later, get those who
can't move on their own first."

That guy then shook off Shikarabe's grab and went to the
APC.

"Shut up!! I'll definitely return back from here!!"

Shikarabe immediately grabbed that guy and threw him

back into the building. That guy landed hard on the floor
and lost consciousness as he rolled over on the ground.

Shikarabe glared at the other Hunters, few Hunters who

were about to do the same thing immediately stopped.

"I'll say it one more time!! Get everyone inside the APC
regardless if they're alive or not!! Either it's only a corpse, or
it has lost its head, or it's nothing but a head, it doesn't
matter, just get everyone inside the APC! And also, which
one of you is Cocolens? Or at least, which one of you was on
a call with us not too long ago?"

One of the Hunters who was helping a wounded Hunter to

stand up pointed his finger.

"...I-It's that guy over there."

Shikarabe then signalled that Hunter who just answered

his question to get inside the APC. That Hunter sighed in
relief and boarded the APC. The other Hunters started
helping the Hunters who could not move on their own
regardless if they were already dead or not.

Shikarabe looked at the Hunter who spoke to Elena not

too long ago, that Hunter looked completely terrified.

***
 As Shikarabe was getting their rescue target and the other
Hunters into the APC, Akira, Carol, Elena, and Sara were
still fighting the monsters outside. The number of monsters
just outside the entrance to the building site and around that
building already decreased significantly.

Akira lightly sighed.

"Well, after killing this many monsters, it's not like we'll
get another wave of monsters, right?"

Carol smiled and said.

"Akira, do you think I can get a lot of rewards this time?"

Akira just smiled bitterly at Carol, but he sounded a little

bit amused as he said.

"At this rate, I'll have to pay you a huge amount of

money."

Carol smiled satisfied.

"It seems that I was able to show you that I'm not the
same as yesterday. So, it means that I can look forward to
my reward, right?"

"I can't say anything for now. And also, it's too soon for
you to relax, don't drop your guard just yet, okay?"

Akira and Carol smiled confidently at each other.

Alpha then gave Akira an order.

"So then, to make sure that you won't lose your share of
reward, let's go kill some monsters. Akira, change back to
CWH anti-material rifle."
 『Roger that. Geez, even after we killed that many, there
are still some extra reinforcements, huh.』

Akira then changed back to his CWH anti-material rifle as

ordered, he obviously looked annoyed.

"Well, to be more precise, it's not like they're new

monsters. They're already here right from the start."

Alpha then pointed her finger toward the building. When

Akira also looked at the building, his vision immediately
enhanced. Thanks to that, he was able to see the monsters
that were hiding behind the walls of that building. He
immediately aimed his CWH anti-material rifle at that
building.

Carol noticed that and aimed her guns toward the

building too, but she did not see anything that resembled a
monster. She could only see a strong-looking wall, a pile of
dead monsters scattered around it, and Shikarabe and the
other Hunters carrying wounded Hunters into the APC as
well as Sara and Elena who were standing guard near them.
There was nothing suspicious at all.

Carol then looked at Akira. He was aiming at the building

with a serious look.

When she looked back at the building, a monster

suddenly jumped out from one of the windows on the third
floor. She was a bit surprised by that, but she was surprised
even more when Akira immediately sniped that monster, it
then just crashed into the ground and stopped moving.

The other monsters immediately started jumping out

from the other windows too. Akira was able to snipe them
down one by one accurately. The sniped monsters then fell
off regardless of the damage from the impact of the sniping
and crashed into the ground. Some of them crashed into the
APC and made a loud banging sound which caused the
Hunters inside the APC to start screaming.

Akira was able to firmly grasp the location of the monsters

thanks to Alpha's support, and with her aiming support, he
was able to snipe the monsters' weak points only with one
shot. He kept shooting down the monsters that jumped out
from the building one by one.

Elena and Sara immediately noticed that and started

helping out, Carol also did the same. The pieces of the
destroyed mechanical monsters rained down from above.

Carol then thought as she kept shooting at those

monsters.

——Again, Akira was able to detect enemies faster than

anyone else. How exactly did he do that? We didn't notice
them at all until those monsters started jumping out from
the building. But it doesn't seem like he's carrying a
powerful information-gathering device either. I wonder if
it's that intuition that those top-ranking Hunters have.

Although Carol only checked Akira's equipment based on

its outlooks, from what she could gather, she did not think
he was carrying a powerful information-gathering device
and it did not seem like he was faking the appearance of his
equipment either.

There were many Hunters among the top raking Hunters

who could accurately detect enemies' locations which were
not supposed to be detected unless with a powerful
information-gathering device. They themselves could not
exactly explain why they could do that. Since they could not
exactly explain it to the other Hunters, people just called it
as intuition.
 ——There's also that too. During the fight, he fully left the
driving to auto-drive. Although there were that many
monsters and we were in such a situation, did he really
trust the auto-drive function that much? Or is it that he was
driving the car through remote driving? Is that even
possible in the first place?

There was a limit on how good an auto-drive function

could be. Unless it was supported by a specially designed
control device, it would be almost impossible to traverse the
old-world ruin fully relying on the auto-drive function. Even
more so when they were in the middle of a fight. In the
worst-case scenario, relying on the auto-drive function could
throw Akira and Carol off the vehicle.

It was not impossible to remotely drive the car with the

help of a camera or something else to see what was in front
of the vehicle and displaying that video in the goggles. But
the real problem was whether Akira was able to do that or
not. Watching both in front and behind him, driving the
vehicle, and fighting the monsters chasing the vehicle from
behind, most Hunters would not be able to do all of those
things at the same time. Or at least, Carol could not do such
a feat.

——If I trust my intuition, I don't think that's the case

though... But I feel like it's a bad idea to poke Akira about
that... Seriously, this boy is a real enigma.

Carol was smiling confidently while thinking about all of

those things in the back of her mind.

She had gathered some information about Akira from

Shikarabe, she knew that Akira was a Hunter who was worth
more than 100 million Aurum, she also knew that he
participated during the bounty monster hunt at Shikarabe's
invitation, and he did very well during that hunt. She also
knew that that information must be true and she knew well
just how strong Akira was judging from what happened
yesterday inside the Seranthal building. That information
really pulled up her evaluation of Akira to the point that she
was sure he was one of those top-ranking Hunters.

Hunters risked their lives in order to obtain money. Some

of them went to dangerous old-world ruins to bring back
relics and sell them for money, some of them obtained
money from accomplishing difficult requests. Carol felt
pleasure making those Hunters spend their hard-earned
money just to be able to sleep with her.

Carol thought that she gave a pleasure worthy of that

money. Even if those Hunters, who once slept with her,
would try to go to a more dangerous ruin or challenge a
more difficult request to be able to sleep with her again just
to meet a foul end, she would just laugh it off. Or more like,
she might as well feel happy knowing that some Hunters
would even try to go over their limit and do something
reckless just to be able to sleep with her again.

As Carol thought how much money Akira would be willing

to spend on her if she seduced him, she could not help but
smile, but her face suddenly twitched with unpleasantness
for a split second.

——But until now, Akira didn't show any interest in me

though. Shikarabe also has no idea about the type of girl
that Akira might like. Moreover, it seems that when
Shikarabe invited Akira to a pub that was in the same
building as a brothel, Akira did not seem to mind at all.
Those Elena and Sara, if Akira is going along with both of
them, that means that it's not like he has no interest in girls
at all. I don't understand, what about me that he doesn't
like. Figure wise, I think I'm more or less as beautiful as
those two though, is it because he has some kind of
particular fetish or something?

Carol decided to stop thinking about that and focus on the

current battle. The situation that they were in did not allow
her to divide her attention any longer.

Akira and the other Hunters were able to deal with the
incoming monsters for a while, but as more and more
monsters started to jump out of the building from the higher
windows. The wall of that building started to get covered
with monsters. Some of them even started to latch their
bodies on the wall of that building and shoot at Akira and
the other Hunters. Although they prioritized the monsters
with long-range weapons, the number of bullets raining
down from above their heads just kept increasing.

"Judging from this situation, I'm sure that building is

filled with monsters up to the brim. I'm glad we only need to
fight the monsters from the outside."

Carol focused on the monsters in front of her while

smiling and shooting at them. Although she did not have
enough leeway to think about something else in that
situation, she was not hard-pressed either since she came
there with her expensive powerful equipment.
 Chapter 117: After The Rescue Operation

After the situation suddenly worsened, Elena finally

decided to pull out sooner than she planned. She had a grim
face as she said to Shikarabe.

[Shikarabe! We need to withdraw now!!]

"Roger that!"

Shikarabe immediately replied with a firm answer without

asking any question to Elena. It was because he understood
they were not in a situation where she could leisurely answer
his question.

Shikarabe then shouted to the other Hunters inside the

building.

"We're leaving soon!! If you don't get into the APC now,
we'll leave you behind!! So hurry up!"

Shikarabe picked up a guy who was lying on the ground,

he was the guy that Shikarabe threw not too long ago. Since
no one carried him, he was left there lying on the ground
until now. Shikarabe just thought that it would leave a bad
aftertaste if he just left that guy there since he was the one
who knocked that guy unconscious.

After Shikarabe gave off that sudden announcement, a

Hunter said in a panic.

"Wait for a second!! We still have some relics inside..."

Shikarabe just ignored that Hunter and went back to the

APC, he then threw the guy that he was carrying inside and
quickly got on the driver seat.

The Hunters who stood there carrying relics looked sadly

at their relics before leaving it behind and running into the
APC. It was because they understood well that Shikarabe
was serious when he said he would leave them behind.

The back door of the APC started closing even before all
the Hunters in that place were able to get inside, and when
Shikarabe immediately started the engine, the remaining
Hunters started running toward the APC in a frenzy.

Shikarabe suddenly accelerated the APC. It blazed as fast

as it could out of the building site under the barrage of
bullets coming from above. The entrance to the building site
was half-filled with wreckages of dead monsters. But he just
smashed his way through using the momentum of his APC.

***

Elena, Sara, Akira, and Carol followed behind Shikarabe.

Numerous monsters flooded out from the building such that
the surrounding area was filled with them, some of them
even started chasing Akira. But Akira was way faster than
them, and by shooting down the monsters that were leading
the pack chasing for Akira, they were turned into obstacles
that slowed the monsters behind them even more. Thus it
was an easy thing for Akira to get away from those monsters.

After they opened up some distance from that building

site, Alpha smiled at Akira and said.

"It should be fine now, you did well back there."

Akira sighed in relief. It seemed that he was able to escape

from the dangerous situation for now as he went back to the
driver seat and relaxed for a bit.
 『 Say, Alpha. Is that building also filled with monsters
just like the Seranthal building from yesterday?』

"I can't exactly grasp the situation inside that building.

But looking at what happened just now, I think that's
highly possible."

『I wonder where all of those monsters came from.』

"I can come up with a lot of theories, but well, I think

there's a warehouse somewhere nearby filled with those
monsters and they were suddenly dispatched at the same
time, and also factories nearby also suddenly started
producing those monsters at a high rate. After all, most of
those mechanical monsters were all the same type."

『Then why did something like that suddenly happen?』

"No idea. As a matter of fact, if you know the reason

why, you can sell that information for 10,000,000,000
Aurum. If you're interested, we can try to investigate later,
you know?"

Alpha was smiling confidently at Akira when she made

that suggestion. But he instead made a displeased face and
replied.

『...No thanks.』

"That's a wise decision."

Carol, who saw Akira relaxed back, also lowered her

guard. She then returned to the driver's assistant seat and
said to Akira while smiling at him.

"That was pretty dangerous. They're just simply too many

of them."
 "It's still better than yesterday. This time we could run
away using a vehicle after all."

"Well, you're right about that. As expected, even I too

don't want to get through the same thing as yesterday
again."

Akira and the rest of the team were driving through the
Mihazono ruin, they were in a situation where they had
enough leeway to chit chat. None of them were injured
during the rescue and they were able to rescue the Hunters
inside that building. They just needed to return back to the
Hunter Office now. It seemed that they did well in that
rescue operation. They just blazed through the road while
crushing the leftover wreckages of dead monsters scattered
around under their wheels.

In the middle of their way back to the Hunter Office,

Akira checked his information terminal that he put in his
vehicle. It was showing that he received an emergency SOS
request sent through a local connection.

Elena had told him beforehand to just ignore those

emergency requests, after all, they had to prioritize finishing
the contract that they had taken first and make sure that
they would get the reward before thinking about the other
requests. That was all there was to it. Even if those Hunters
who sent the emergency SOS request were barricading
themselves somewhere near, Akira could not afford to stop
every single time to save them, he had no responsibility to
do something like that nor he had the leeway to do so.

But it was not like they completely ignored those requests,

Elena at least forwarded that SOS emergency request to the
Hunter Office. If those Hunters were lucky, someone would
accept that request. Although it was a completely different
problem whether anyone would take that request which had
no guarantee of getting paid with the promised reward, even
the person who sent that request might as well already be
dead by now.

That was why Akira did not even think of checking the
details of those emergency SOS requests. It just aroused his
interest for a bit, that was all there was to it.

Alpha noticed that, she then said to Akira.

"If it bothers you, I can just erase those notices."

『You're right, please erase them.』

After he said that, the notices on his information terminal

immediately vanished. Alpha erased them.

Akira then tried to come up with another subject as if he

was trying to forget something that was bothering him.

『 But well, there are still so many of those requests left,

huh?』

"I'm sure it's because most of the Hunters thought that it

would be safer if they barricaded themselves inside a
building, I bet that's why a lot of them decided to do that. I
think that's indeed a good option in case they can't return
back on their own. I bet some of the Hunters who decided to
barricade themselves inside the Seranthal building from
yesterday are still alive even right now."

『Well, even if that's true, it's impossible to get out from

there in that situation, you know.』

"As I said, it's indeed a good choice only if they have

given up returning back on their own."
 『 ...Ahh, if the situation inside the building gets better
later, I guess they still have some hope, huh.』

Akira had no idea in what situation those monsters would

leave the Seranthal building. They might have already left
the building since Akira left yesterday, but they might be still
there even now.

Since Akira had no plans to go there and check it himself,

he just decided to forget about it.

***

Elena and her team were able to return back to the

Hunter Office without encountering any trouble. Although
they encountered some monsters on their way back, they
were only in small packs, so they could handle those
monsters just fine. It was either because they killed most of
the monsters in that route when they were heading out to
save the Hunters, or it was simply because those monsters
were in the middle of fighting another group of Hunters,
that was why there were only small packs of monsters.

Elena and her team parked their vehicles in front of the

Hunter Office's parking lot. Akira, Carol, Elena, and Sara
stood in front of the backdoor of Shikarabe's APC. The door
itself was still closed.

Akira thought that the door would immediately open, but

it did not seem that it would open anytime soon. Right when
he thought that it was rather strange, an armed group
approached them. The guy who was taking command of that
squad compared the data in his information terminal with
the data in Elena's information terminal. After that, he asked
Elena.
 "——You guys are the Hunters who took the C32 area
rescue request, right? Are the rescued Hunters inside that
vehicle?"

"Yep, can I just leave the rest to you then?"

"Of course, just leave the rest to us."

"Shikarabe, open the door."

After she said that, the back door of the APC slowly
opened up.

As the rescued Hunters looked around, they realized that

they were back in the Hunter Office, all of them looked really
relieved. But in contrast to that, some of those Hunters were
making a grim face while hanging their heads low. They
looked really desperate as if they were driven to the corner.

The squad commander then stood in front of the opened

door and said to the Hunters inside the APC.

"We're from Alhain insurance company. We'll escort you

to an emergency clinic to check if any of you need any
treatment. I hope that all of you will cooperate and follow
our orders. If any of you having trouble moving on your
own, please let us know."

Those Hunters then slowly boarded off the APC one by

one following the instruction from the people from Alhain
insurance company. Some of them could walk on their own,
some of them could only walk with the help of others, some
of them could not walk and had to be carried with a
stretcher.

Among all of those walking Hunters, one of them looked

extremely pale and worried. He was breathing roughly and
his hand that was holding his gun was slightly shaking. He
was keeping his distance from the other people around him,
especially from the people from Alhain insurance company.

Another Hunter in front of him asked a staff nearby.

"Uhh, excuse me, I want to contact my friend but I can't

seem to get any connection from here, can you help me?"

"It depends on the situation of your friend. If it's only a

problem caused by the connection line, you might be able to
call your friend inside the temporary clinic. You can use
Alhain insurance company's communication line there after
all."

That staff shifted his focus from that nervous Hunter to

another Hunter who asked him that question. When that
nervous Hunter noticed it, he made his resolve and suddenly
started running.

But when he started running, another Alhain soldier who

was standing guard in his blindside immediately held him
down. That soldier locked his movements by pushing him
down on the ground. He looked like he was in pain on the
ground as his weapons were taken away from him. The other
guards came and cuffed both of his hands and legs, thus
rendering him harmless.

The other Hunters in that area looked at that guy being

secured by Alhain's soldiers. One of the Alhain soldiers then
turned to the other Hunters, smiled, and said.

"Please stop trying anything that might cause

misunderstanding. Don't try to leave without our permission
until you finish all the administration work with us. I hope
all of you will cooperate."
 Akira was watching when that incident happened, he
looked pretty surprised by it. But the other Hunters looked
completely normal as if they expected something like that to
happen. It clearly showed the difference in their experiences
as Hunters.

It did not take long for Shikarabe and Elena to hand over
all the Hunters that they rescued to Alhain insurance
company.

Elena was negotiating with someone from Alhain

insurance company when Shikarabe called Akira to come in
from inside the APC.

"Akira, come and help me check if any of them left

anything behind."

"Sure, what should I do if I find something?"

"If it's a relic or a piece of equipment, just leave it outside

the APC. If it's a body or limbs, gather them all inside a
corpse bag and put them outside. You can find the empty
corpse bag under the seat."

Akira frowned. He did not expect that limbs or torso

would be included in the list of things that he might find.

"...Okay."

"Thanks, I'm counting on you."

Akira used his information-gathering device to help him

scan the inside of the APC. He found 2 rifles left under the
seat. Fortunately enough, no one forgot to bring their limbs
or torsos out with them.
 It only took a while for them to finish searching the inside
of the APC. That was when the commander of the squad
from Alhain insurance company said to Elena.

"Thanks for the hard work. If it's okay with you, would
you take another request from us? Actually, we lost contact
with the Hunters who took the rescue request to area C47.
Since you've finished the rescue request to area C32 from us,
we're willing to give you an extra bonus for the reward if
you're willing to take this request."

"Just leave it in the request list for me, I'll think about it."

"I see. Well, if you end up taking it, we'll be counting on

you."

After that, the squad commander left with the rest of his
squad.

Elena and his team moved their vehicles to another place

first as not to block the way to the Hunter Office before they
grouped up again to discuss what to do next.

"First thing first, let's take a 1-hour break to replenish our

supplies. So make sure to use this time to properly replenish
your ammo and other expendables. And also, can you guys
tell me your impression about the last request that we just
took? Although it's kind of weird for me to say it myself since
I'm the one who decided to pick that request, that last one
was harder than I thought it would be. That's why I'm
thinking of picking an easier one for the next request."

Akira agreed with Elena's opinion as he said.

"It's true that the last request was pretty dangerous, so I

think that is a good idea."
 Shikarabe made a stern face and said.

"We did decide to withdraw sooner than we planned. I

believe that, including me, we underestimated the difficulty
of that request. So I think it's a good idea to take an easier
request, it doesn't matter even though it means that we
would get less reward out of it."

Sara frowned and seemed slightly worried as she said.

"Judging from the number of mechanical monsters that

were flooding out from the inside of that building, it means
that we really need to think about the escape route in case if
our rescue targets barricaded themselves deep inside a
building. Honestly speaking, I don't want to fight that many
monsters in a closed space."

Carol smiled bitterly.

"And in case if it's a bigger building, it might be better to

just forget the idea of going inside that building right from
the start. I don't want those monsters chasing me inside
such a building after all."

Elena believed that all of the Hunters gathered here were

relatively successful Hunters, and some of them hated the
idea of taking a request with low reward. But looking at how
they reacted to her idea, it seemed there should be no
problem prioritizing safety for now.

"Got it then, so for the next request, I'll decide on an

easier one."

Akira glanced at Carol, she was using a rather expensive

augmented suit that regularly used a lot of power. If they
kept taking cheap requests, she might end up facing a
deficit. So he thought that Carol might not like that idea.
 But that did not seem to be the case at all, thus he decided
to stop worrying about it.

Carol noticed that Akira was checking on her. It was true

that she had no complaint taking easier requests with
relatively small rewards and she had no reason to fake that.
Carol's attention was all focused on Akira, so she had no
interest at all about the small reward.

Akira was putting the armour plating in one of the supply

depots. It was a manual job, a pretty boring and bothersome
work. But if he was careless, he would have to pay for it with
his life. He knew that very well, thus he spent extra effort
focusing on putting on those armour tiles.

Akira lost more armour plating than he expected. When

he found a part of his vehicle clearly exposed, his expression
turned grim.

『I lost quite a lot of armour plating this time.』

Alpha casually replied.

"It's no surprise after taking on those attacks. If you

don't want to take them bare, head-on, make sure to
properly install all the armour plating."

『You're right. I did buy a pretty expensive type of plating

this time, so it should at least be pretty durable. I don't
regret it, it's an important expense.』

Dealing with armour plating was a tricky business. Of

course, the more expensive it was, the more durable the
plating would be. But if Akira wanted to get even better
plating, the cost-value ratio would drop fast. This time, he
bought expensive armour plating that Alpha recommended.
It was the second most expensive armour plating in that
supply depot. The price gap between that armour plating
and the most expensive armour plating in that supply depot
was huge.

Carol was also there helping Akira putting on the armour

plating. She then asked Akira a question.

"Akira, what's your plan after this?"

"I still haven't thought about it at the moment. But I'm

planning to just take it easy until the break time is over."

"Is that so? In that case..."

"Ah, now that I think about it, I guess I'll do some

workout."

Carol actually was about to invite Akira to a meal or

something, but she was cutoff midway with that sudden
statement from him. She could not help but express her
surprise.

"Eh?"

"I'll be done with the armour plating soon, so how about

you, Carol?"

"...I'll be done soon too."

Carol still had her surprised face when she said that.

After they finished putting on all the armour plating,

Akira really started working out. Carol just stood there
watching him with a flabbergasted face. He seemed a little
bit in pain as he slowly stretched his body. Carol then asked
Akira a question.
 "Is it okay if I ask you why would you be working out right
now?"

"I heard that increasing the flexibility of my joints and my

muscles is good for my health and it can help strengthen my
body. Actually, I have a pretty stiff body, you see. And also,
this works as my augmented suit training too."

"...I-I see."

Carol actually was not asking about the benefit of working

out, she was asking why Akira started working out right
now. Or at least, according to her experience, there was no
guy that would actually start working out during a break
time together with her. She then thought that it might be
just out of whim and decided not to ask any further.

Moreover, it did seem that Akira decided to do that really

out of whim. Not to mention, talented individuals usually
had a different way of thinking compared to common people
and Akira might be one of those.

Well, it was not like it caused her any trouble and she felt
that she would not be able to get along with Akira if she let
things like that bother her. Thus, Carol decided to just
ignore it.

There were a lot of occasions where Akira had to shoot his

rifle from a weird position in order to be able to get out of
dangerous situations. He often had to injure his own body to
continue fighting, sometimes he had to twist his body past
the rotation limit of his joints, sometimes he had to keep on
shooting while tearing his own muscle with each shot,
sometimes he had to hold back the strong kickback that
caused micro-cracks in his bones. He would use medicines
to keep his body functioning in those situations while he
kept on fighting.
 In order to minimize those types of injuries, Akira had to
increase his body's strength and flexibility. Although he did
that out of whim, it was indeed something that would be
useful for him in the future.

If Carol asked more detail about that, she might be able to

understand why Akira did that. But since she started to
identify him as a boy with a weird personality, she lost her
chance to know more about him.

If that quirkiness was able to hide Alpha's existence, if

that would cause people to ignore his weird actions, then it
might be a good thing both for Akira and Alpha.

Carol decided to just forget about it as she said to Akira

who was stretching his body.

"My body is actually pretty flexible, you know. Want to

see?"

Akira stopped stretching and turned to her. After Carol

confirmed that Akira was looking at her, she smiled
confidently as she raised her right leg while still standing.
She kept raising her right leg until both of her legs almost
formed a straight line while keeping her balance standing on
one leg.

Carol knew very well how to show off her beautiful body
to seduce someone. And the augmented suit that she was
using had a design that invited gazes from the member of
the opposite sex. Carol, who was standing on one leg with
her right arm intertwined with her right leg, looked so
beautiful and bewitching.

Akira, who was watching Carol, looked a bit surprised and

praised.
 "Oooh!! That's amazing!!"

Akira was simply amazed by Carol's ability to stay in that

position, he knew that he could not do something like that.
Unfortunately enough, unlike what Carol wanted, he was not
getting amazed by the beauty of her body. But even so, Akira
was still amazed by her body, so she decided to just accept
that compliment.

Carol returned back on her right leg and said.

"Thank you, it's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"How exactly did you get your body that flexible?"

"Well, I think you have no other choice but to regularly

stretch your body every day. Although, in my case, it might
be also because of my nanomachine enhanced body."

"Is that so? But now that I think about it, if someone else
tries to put on your augmented suit with your data still left
in it, I'm sure it would cause a big disaster."

Akira remembered about his conversation with Shikarabe

the other day and frowned. Carol was interested in that
remark, so she inquired about that subject further.

"Oh, what do you mean by that?"

"Well, Shikarabe told me once that if I put on an

augmented suit that still contains another person's data, it
might cause my body to twist in a strange way that it would
tear my muscle."

Akira then told Carol what Shikarabe told him in the past.
Carol seemed to be listening closely to his story and agreed
with what Shikarabe had told him. She then added to that
information.

"That's not the worst-case scenario yet. There are a lot of

cyborgs who also use augmented suits, right? Those cyborgs
have joints that are way more flexible than normal humans.
So if the past user of a certain augmented suit is one of those
cyborgs and a normal person uses that augmented suit and
tries to move, his limbs might make 180 degrees turn and it
would break his body. In the worst-case scenario, it might
completely tear his body to pieces."

Akira imagined something like that happening to him.

The image of his body turned 180 degrees and just laid there
in the middle of the old-world ruin unable to move was
pretty scary.

"T-That would be horrible."

Akira could not help but voice out his impression, Carol
smiled lightly at that him and said.

"Well, basically, if you don't want something like that to

happen, you better only get all of your equipment, not only
your augmented suit, from shops that you really trust. And
be extra careful so you don't get any weird equipment from
the black market."

Akira then thought.

——I buy my equipment from Shizuka-san's shop, so it

should be alright. Although I buy my medicines from
Katsuragi, I'm sure he won't sell me any dangerous drug
since he knows what I'll do to him if he does that. It should
be alright... Right?

"Well, I think there's no need for me to worry about it."

 "Is that so? If you're worried about something, I can
introduce you to shops that I recommend, but it seems that I
don't need to do that, huh..."

"Yeah. It's alright."

Akira returned back to stretching his body. He was

stretching his body following Alpha who was in front of him.
Alpha sat down on the ground and spread her legs, she was
leaning forward to the point that her breast touched the
ground while looking at him. Akira seemed to be in pain as
he was trying his best to do that too, but his body was not
flexible enough and he was barely able to do it properly.

Alpha then smiled at Akira.

"Want me to help you?"

『No thanks.』

Akira sounded displeased when he said that. He knew

that he would be able to stretch his body even more if Alpha
controlled his augmented suit. But he got a bit scared after
listening to Carol's explanation just now.

"Don't worry, the augmented suit that you're using right

now is designed so that it can't make 180 degrees twist."

『Do you really think it would make me feel safe by telling

me that? I'll do the stretching myself.』

Akira did trust Alpha, but this and that were two different
things. So he kept stretching with his own ability which also
served as a training for operating his augmented suit on his
own.
 He properly differentiated and felt the movement of his
limbs under the augmented suit and the movements of his
augmented suit as he tried to match both of those
movements. In order to minimize the damage to his limbs
while increasing the efficiency of his powerful augmented
suit, he tried his best to match the movements of his body
with his augmented suit to get the best performance. Even
stretching his body like that was already a difficult thing for
Akira. There was nothing that he could do to fix it except
training.

Akira kept on working out until Elena and Sara came as

their break time was about to end.

After Elena and Sara arrived, they were just having a chat
with each other while waiting for Shikarabe. As for Akira, he
was asking questions to Elena about the detail of the request
that they took last time, about why the people from Alhain
insurance company were waiting for them when they
returned, the guy who was trying to run away back then, and
the other things that piqued his interest.

Elena then offered an explanation to Akira based on her

guess. The Cocolens guy who they had to save back there
was someone who was contracted with Alhain insurance
company. According to that contract, if they lost contact
with him after a certain period of time, or if he sent a rescue
request, the company would dispatch a squad to escort him
to safety.

After they arrived at the location based on the information

obtained from Alhain's investigation, Elena first tried to look
for Cocolens' location based on his information terminal.
Fortunately enough, she was able to make a call with that
guy. But after she asked him some questions to check the
situation over there, she found something weird.
 The information that Elena obtained beforehand said that
there should be only 8 people, but there were more than a
dozen survivors and more than 20 dead Hunters. It was not
strange since he might group up with the other Hunters
before they barricaded themselves inside that building, but
the problem was that he did not say anything about that
during his call with her.

And then after Elena asked that person some more

questions, she started to get suspicious if he was not the real
Cocolens and started to make guesses as to why he would lie
there.

If she was being optimistic, that guy might be under

immense stress, and with the real Cocolens not around, he
thought that the rescue team would not come unless he
assumed that name. Thus, he ended up doing that in panic.
If that was all there was to it, then it was not a big problem
at all. Elena could just simply rescue them and normally
escort them back to the Hunter Office.

But if she was being pessimistic, it might have been a

perilous situation for Elena and her team. Cocolens and his
team might have been killed, not by the monsters, but by the
other Hunters who then took their equipment. Which in that
case, it would mean the Hunters who barricaded themselves
inside that building were the ones who killed Cocolens' team
and they were trying to call for help using Cocolens' name.
They might have been planning to attack Elena and her team
and take their vehicles to escape from that building.
Although it was only a guess, it would be really bad if that
was the case.

Although she had to be extremely careful there, she did

not have the leeway to wait for confirmation first. There
were too many of them to transport in one go, but they
might riot if she told them that only half of them would be
escorted back to the Hunter Office first. Thus she pushed
dealing with the aftermath including the confirmation to
Alhain insurance company.

"Normally, we would ask them to show their Hunter IDs,

but I decided not to do that in order not to provoke them too
much. Our request is basically saving Hunters who can't
return back on their own. So we have no obligation to do
anything more than that, that was why I left the aftermath to
Alhain insurance company and they also gave us their
approval."

Akira nodded and said.

"So it's not that simple, huh. It's not like we can just go
out there and save those Hunters."

"Yep, that's correct. There's no guarantee that the Hunters

we're going to rescue are good Hunters. Moreover, most
people tend to make bad decisions when they're pushed to
the corner like offering a big reward that they can't pay when
they send out an emergency SOS request. And when they
have to pay more than what they have in hand, they'll end up
drowning in debt. People like that sometimes immediately
try to run away the moment they are escorted to a safe place,
and when that happens, in the worst-case scenario a
shootout will occur between them and the people who
rescued them. That's why you too need to be careful out
there okay, Akira?"

"I understand, I'll be careful."

Akira nodded firmly and deeply. Elena was happy to see

that since it seemed that, as a senior Hunter, she was able to
teach something useful to Akira, who was a junior Hunter.
 Chapter 118: Bad Girl

Carol was keeping her eyes on Akira as he was talking

with Elena and Sara.

Carol was, objectively and subjectively speaking, a

beautiful girl. And even when they were compared to her,
both Sara and Elena were pretty beautiful too. So, looking
from the outlook alone, Sara and Elena were not that much
different from Carol.

But even so, Akira reacted very differently when he was

with Elena or Sara compared to when he was with her. Carol
thought that Akira had no interest in girls at all, but now she
had to change her opinion after seeing that.

——I wonder where this difference comes from? Is it just

because he has known both of them for longer? Is it just
that he's bad at dealing with people that he doesn't know
very well...? No, I don't think that's the case.

Carol immediately rejected the guess that came up in her

mind. Thanks to her long experience dealing with a lot of
people, she at least knew that she was heading in the right
direction and that might give her a hint on how to seduce
Akira.

If it was only because Akira had never experienced the

allure of the opposite sex, then she might need to find
another way to approach him. As Carol thought so, she
decided to keep that in mind, at least for now.

——Well, there's no need to rush myself. It has only been

2 days since we met. I'll just slowly and carefully approach
him to make sure that he won't cut his relation with me.
 Shikarabe arrived right on time. The other Hunters there
looked a bit surprised when they saw him step out from his
APC with an irritated look.

Shikarabe then said.

"Sorry, am I late?"

Elena replied.

"Don't worry, you're not late, you came just on time. So

then, you look pretty annoyed though, what happened?"

"Nah, it's nothing."

"If it's really nothing, as the team leader, I at least want to

know the reason, alright?"

Shikarabe frowned and looked at Elena. Elena looked

back at Shikarabe without changing her expression. After a
few seconds of silence, Shikarabe sighed and said.

"...Since I'm here in Mihazono ruin right now, the people

in Drankam are telling me to at least join the Drankam team
even if it's on name only, and it was not easy refusing them.
That's all."

It seemed that Shikarabe really did not want to work

under Katsuya even if it was only on paper to the point that
he even hated the idea of explaining it to other people.

Elena and Sara smiled bitterly. Both of them understood

Shikarabe's hatred toward Katsuya and they knew well that
he really hated Katsuya's gut. As in matter of fact, there
might be a part of them that sympathized with Shikarabe.
 Carol smiled smugly, she knew very well that Shikarabe
was a man who would not allow his personal feelings to get
in the way of his job. Getting himself in a Drankam team in
name only, would not cause him any loss, thus, it was only to
be expected if Shikarabe accepted that demand. So, the fact
that he did not do that showed that he was prioritizing his
personal feeling, which was indeed a very rare thing for him.
Carol thought that it was indeed strange and made her
wonder who was this Katsuya who caused Shikarabe to even
go that far.

Akira himself did not show any particular reaction. After

all, for him, the in-fighting in the Drankam was none of his
business as long as it did not cause any trouble for him or
the other people that he cared for.

After they finished a short briefing of their next request,

they then headed back into Mihazono ruin.

They did not find any particular trouble from there. Since
they decided to lower the difficulty of the rescue requests
that they accepted, they did not have to fight a swarm of
monsters in narrow places nor they got to encounter any
relatively powerful monsters. They just went back and forth
from the Hunter Office branch to the Mihazono ruin to
escort the Hunters that they rescued without any trouble.

Since they took easier requests, the reward that they

received from each request was lowered too. But it was
compensated by the number of requests that they took. So,
looking at the total rewards that they got that day,
considering the difficulty of the request, it could be said that
they were making a killing here. There might be some
Hunters who had to suffer because they started taking easier
requests instead, but that was not their fault since being able
to effectively convert risks into profit was one of the
essential skills for Hunters.

As they kept the cycle of taking rescue requests and small

breaks, the sun eventually set, and Mihazono ruin was once
again veiled in by the darkness of night.

Elena and her team returned and parked their vehicles

somewhere near the Hunter Office branch, they then
stepped off from the vehicles and discussed what to do next.

Everyone there looked tired. Especially Elena, Sara, and

Shikarabe who had been rescuing Hunters since the
previous day, they needed to take a proper rest soon.

Elena looked obviously tired as she said.

"So then, let's break up here and meet up again tomorrow

to work together with the same members again. Make sure
to let others know if anything comes up."

Shikarabe then said.

"I have some stuff that I need to do for Drankam, so I

won't be returning back to the city, instead, I'll stay here in
Mihazono ruin tonight. I'll still stay inside the connection
range, so there shouldn't be any problem contacting me.
Akira, you should really change your connection service
from that cheap line soon."

Akira thought of something and said.

"Wait, you'll stay here? Are you still planning to go to the

ruin again?"

"Even for me, I have no plans to go to the ruin again for

the rest of the day. I'll be staying in a Drankam facility
nearby. Drankam actually built a temporary base nearby so
their Hunters don't have to go back and forth from the city.
After all, it'll take quite a lot of time to go on a round trip
from the city. Well, it's true that I can just sleep inside the
APC, but since there's a bed in that facility, it would be a
waste not to use it."

Sara then said.

"We'll also stay somewhere nearby, to be more precise, in

one of those trailer houses. Which means... The ones
heading back to the city are only Akira and Carol, huh..."

Elena, Sara, and Shikarabe turned to Akira and Carol.

Elena looked at Akira and thought.

——If he was alone, I wouldn't mind inviting Akira too,

and I'm sure that Sara isn't against it either, but...

Sara looked at Carol and thought.

——Of course, there's no way I can invite Carol too since

I don't know her that well, and I'm sure that Elena would
not want that too.

Elena and Sara glanced at each other, both of them knew

each other and had been together for a long time. It did not
take much for them to understand what the other person
was thinking.

Akira suddenly turned to Carol and asked her a question.

"I'm heading back to the city though, how about you,

Carol?"

"Let's see..."
 Carol glanced at Shikarabe, Shikarabe obviously looked
alerted and slightly frowned. She then smiled and said.

"I'll head back to the city too. Akira, can you give me a
ride?"

"...? Sure."

Akira was a bit bothered by Shikarabe's reaction.

Although he was sure that there must be a reason for that,
he simply decided to just forget about it. He then lightly
bowed to Elena and Sara.

"Well then, I'll be heading back now. I'll be in your care

again tomorrow."

Elena lightly smiled.

"Be careful on your way back home, and make sure to get
a good rest when you get home."

Sara also smiled lightly and said.

"Don't drop your guard yet until you reach the city, okay?"

Akira and Carol returned back to Akira's vehicle. They

then waved at the other Hunters who would stay behind and
left that place.

After Akira and Carol left, Elena turned to Shikarabe and

asked.

"Shikarabe, do you have some free time after this?"

Shikarabe guessed the meaning behind that question as

he frowned and said.
 "It depends. I'm really tired so I want to get a good rest as
soon as possible."

"It's about Carol, I want to know more about her. You're

acquainted with her, right?"

Shikarabe's face turned stern, his guess was correct. Elena

and Sara who saw that were a bit surprised.

Shikarabe thought to himself without saying anything,

some of what he was thinking got leaked on his face. He then
carefully chose his words as he said.

"Well, it's true that it might cause trouble if I try to evade

your question about her without giving any good excuse or
explanation, but I feel like it'll also cause trouble if I explain
everything about her. So I'll only answer questions that
won't cause any trouble among us while we're still taking the
SOS rescue requests together. To put it simply, she's not a
good girl, but it's highly unlikely that her bad personality
and habit would cause any bad effects on the current SOS
rescue requests that we're taking. Her ability as a Hunter is
also not something to scoff at, so I don't think she would
slow us down either."

After hearing that answer, Elena and Sara made a

troubled face. Elena then asked Shikarabe a question.

"Uhhh, she sounds like nothing but trouble though?"

"I leave it to you how you want to interpret it. And even if
it's true that she's a problematic person, that doesn't mean
that her problem might cause us any trouble in this short
time span when we're working together. It's true that I won't
invite her to my own team, but if someone else is bringing
her along, I won't kick her out since she's pretty strong
herself. That's all that I can say as a team member. If you
want to know more about her, I'll tell you but only after we
finish this request. See you tomorrow then."

Shikarabe then left Elena and Sara.

Elena and Sara looked at each other. It was obvious

looking from their face that they had no idea how to treat
Carol now. At first, they thought that Carol was someone
who would not cause any trouble, but that did not sound to
be the case now.

***

Akira gave Carol a ride all the way to where they met up
before going to the Mihazono ruin. Carol stepped off the
vehicle and stretched her body while facing away from Akira.
She then spun around and smiled at him.

"So then, see you again tomorrow... If you still have some
time, you can visit my home, you know? I don't mind even if
you want to sleepover too. I can also serve you some simple
food while you're at it. That way, we won't have to meet up
first before going to the wasteland tomorrow."

They were planning to go to Mihazono ruin again

tomorrow and they planned to meet up in the same place as
before.

Akira shook his head.

"No thanks, I'll go back home. I can't really relax unless

I'm in my own home, you see."

"I see, that's just too bad... Seriously though, you refused
even when a beauty like me is inviting you, you're no fun at
all."
 Carol smiled confidently at Akira, which Akira returned
back with the same smile, filled with confidence.

"Sorry, I hope you get a good rest today."

Carol saw Akira off and mumbled.

"No reaction at all even now, huh. Well, let's be patient

here."

Carol thought it had been quite a while since the last time
she felt pleasure in trying to seduce someone as she smiled
amusedly.

***

Akira went straight for the bath when he got back home.
He enjoyed the warm water as he dipped his body up to his
neck inside the bath while letting the warm water heal his
tired body. He had already finished cleaning up and taking
care of his equipment before taking a bath. So he could just
dive into his bed and sleep after the bath. Thus, fully
recovering both his body and mind to face tomorrow.

Akira was more or less in a daze, or it could even be said

that he was in a trance. Although there was a beautiful girl
with a body that was adjusted to his preference taking a bath
together with him without even a slip of cloth on her body,
he barely paid any attention to her. This in itself could be
said to be a not healthy situation.

Alpha, who dipped her body up until around the cleavage

of her chest, suddenly stood up without showing any
embarrassment and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Her
beautiful figure that was blurred by the shaking of the water
surface was in full view right now. The only thing that hid
her body above her knees was the steam from the warm
water and the water droplets sliding down her skin.

Since Alpha suddenly moved, Akira reacted to that and

turned to her direction. He locked his gaze on Alpha's
extremely enticing body for a few seconds before returning
his gaze forward as if he just lost his interest.

Alpha, who saw that, smiled at Akira and said.

"That reaction even when you're in front of this beautiful

body. It seems that it'll take some time until the priority
between girls and food in your brain switch places, huh."

Akira was still half-dazed as he jabbed back.

"...Save that for later, will you?"

Akira was in the middle of enjoying his bath, he let the

warm water take over his body while relaxing back. Thus, he
had no time to react to Alpha's teasing, he seemed pretty
irritated to even only tell her to stop.

As Alpha thought that Akira might have gotten too used to

naked girl's body, she thought to herself that it was a
necessary sacrifice. It might have rendered her beauty
ineffective, but it was way better than having Akira seduced
by someone else. So in order to compensate for that, she
decided to improve her support for him.

"Got it. I'll save it for later. So, putting that aside, I want
to ask something though, how long are you planning to
work together with Elena and Sara?"

"Even if you ask me so... I haven't really thought about it.

I guess until I find a good point to stop, huh? I'm sure it's
not like Elena-san and Sara-san are going to keep taking the
SOS emergency request in the Mihazono ruin forever
either."

"So in short, you're still planning to work with them at

the moment, right?"

Alpha's expression was saying that she did not hate that
idea nor she was happy with it. Akira found that a bit weird
as he asked her a question.

"Uhh... Is there any problem?"

"It's not like I have any problem with it, but honestly
speaking, in order to get you to accomplish the request
from me, I rather choose for you to polish your skill in
exploring ruins rather than saving people. If I can add
more, you'll have to be alone when you go to the ruin that I
want you to explore. Because of that, I want you to get
more skilled in working alone rather than in a team."

"Ohh, I see."

Akira understood Alpha's reasoning as he deeply nodded.

In the end, Alpha only gave her support to him in order for
him to accomplish her request. As a matter of fact, it was an
advance payment from that exact request. Akira understood
that working together with Elena and Sara was purely out of
his selfishness. Thus he understood that working together
with Elena and Sara did not polish the needed skill for him
to complete Alpha's request, so there was no surprise that
Alpha would find that displeasing.

Akira then replied as if he was trying to make excuses.

"...W-Well, I get properly paid and then I can use that

money to buy equipment I need to explore the ruins. If you
think of it as a period for me to gather money, it's not that
bad, yes?"

Alpha smiled at Akira, but that smile was giving a vibe as

if she was scolding him.

"I'll leave it as that then. Your main job as a Hunter is

exploring ruins, just don't forget about that."

"I know."

Akira answered back firmly, so Alpha smiled back

satisfied. He then stroked down his chest in relief as he
dipped himself deeper into the warm bath.

***

The next day. Akira picked up Carol and was heading to

the Mihazono ruin as planned.

The sun was already up when they reached the Mihazono

ruin, it was already well past morning. Akira got a good rest
yesterday, thus he was back in his perfect condition.

Carol was sleeping in the driver assistant's seat. Before

she went to sleep, she smiled and told Akira that he was free
to do anything to her while she was sleeping, but he just
ignored her.

Akira thought that Carol looked so defenseless when she

was sleeping, which was different compared to when she was
awake.

He looked at Carol as if he was interested in her. Seeing

that, Alpha smiled at him and said as if she was scolding
him.
 "Just because she's asleep and she agreed to it, it doesn't
mean that you should do something to her, you know? If
you're okay with only an image, I don't mind helping you.
So keep your hands off from her, okay?"

Akira frowned.

"Like hell, I would do anything to her. I just thought that

she looks so different compared to when she's awake."

"Hmm, you're right about that. But it's the same for you
too, or at least, that's the case lately."

"Is that so? Well, it's not like I can see my own sleeping
face though... And what about that 'lately'?"

"When the first time I met you, it seemed like you always
kept one eye open to watch for your surroundings, and you
never fell too deep to your sleep. But lately, you've been
defencelessly sleeping so deeply as long as I don't wake you
up. So you too look very different when you sleep compared
to when you're awake lately."

"...I see."

Akira sounded as if he was thinking deeply when he said

that. Back when he had to sleep in the back alley of the slum
city, he always hoped that he would be able to wake up the
next morning when he closed his eyes. After all, it was not a
strange thing if someone killed him and took all of his
belongings in the middle of his sleep.

But right now, he could sleep on a comfy bed inside a

house with an outer wall, moreover, Alpha would definitely
wake him up if something came up. That was why he could
sleep peacefully lately.
 ——Now that I think about it, I'm living a pretty
luxurious life now.

Akira smiled bitterly as he once again realized how much

his lifestyle had changed.

When Mihazono ruin finally came to his view, Akira shook

Carol to wake her up.

"Carol, it's time to wake up."

Carol immediately woke up, she looked at Akira and

mumbled.

"...We've arrived?"

"Yeah, the meeting point is just ahead."

"Hmmmh, I got good sleep, thanks."

Carol lightly stretched out her body to wake herself up as

she smiled and said.

"So then, did you do something to me?"

"Nope."

"Oh my, that's just too bad. There's nothing to worry

about, even if you do something, I'll at least still pretend to
be asleep."

"Wait, you were pretending?"

"I was asleep. What I'm saying is that of course, I would

wake up if you do something to me, but I'll still pretend to be
asleep. After all, I sometimes get that kind of request."

"...I see."
 Akira replied so indifferently as if he was not interested at
all. Carol who saw that then thought.

——He won't do anything even when I sleep and show

him my defenseless side, huh. He's a pretty hard nut to
crack.

Carol thought that Akira was indeed a difficult person to

seduce since he would not do anything to her even when she
slept next to him and had already properly given him her
permission to mess with her when she was asleep. That was
rather unthinkable according to her experience.

——It seems that it's faster if I win his trust through

doing good work as a Hunter, huh. I guess I'll put extra
effort than usual this time.

Carol thought that it seemed to be highly unlikely for her

to be able to seduce Akira with light teasing. It might be
faster to try seducing him again once she won his trust. As
she thought so, she made the required adjustment in her
plan.

Akira and Carol finally arrived at the meeting point. They

arrived there way sooner than the meeting time, but Elena
and the other 3 Hunters were already waiting. The extra
Hunter was a young Hunter around the same age as Akira,
he was standing next to Shikarabe.

Akira and Carol stepped off from Akira's vehicle and met
up with Elena and the rest. Elena opened the conversation
first.

"It seems that everyone is here. So yeah, let's work

together again today... But before that, Shikarabe has
something to say."
 Shikarabe tried to hide his annoyance as he said.

"Because of my situation, I had to bring one more person.

He's a Hunter from Drankam and his Hunter Rank is... Hey,
what is your Hunter Rank, again?"

"——It's 30. My name is Togami, I'll be in your care

today."

Togami lightly introduced himself. The young Hunter boy

that Shikarabe brought with him was the one that Akira was
together with when they were hunting for the bounty
monster.

Shikarabe then said in a more perky voice as if he was

trying to hide his bad mood.

"Akira. If you have anything to complain about bringing

this guy along, there's no need to hold back. You can say
anything you want, I'll take it for consideration, you know?"

Shikarabe looked at Akira as if he was trying to send some

kind of message to him through telepathy. Akira was a bit
confused by that, he instead turned to Elena and asked.

"Elena-san and Sara-san, are you okay with him joining

the team?"

Sara answered Akira's question.

"I'm actually leaving that kind of thing to Elena and Elena

decided that it's not a problem as long as the other Hunters
have no problem with it too. That's why, in the end, it
depends on you."

Elena then added to Sara's explanation.

 "If you don't like having him in the team, feel free to tell
us. I have no plans to decide based on majority, so no
pressure at all."

Even if Shikarabe recommended Togami, Sara and Elena

had no plans to let Togami in the team if Akira had
something to complain about him. After all, they confirmed
from yesterday that they had no problem accomplishing the
requests only with 5 of them.

But on the other hand, they also had no plans to reject

Togami if Akira was not against it. After all, it was the
person that Shikarabe himself brought and Akira also did
bring Carol to the team yesterday. So Elena could not reject
Togami using that kind of excuse.

If it was someone that Shikarabe brought, even though he

did not want to do that, that person would at least be skilled
enough as not to slow down the team. Not to mention, they
had a hard battle yesterday, thus it was a good thing to get
more help. Thus, after a lot of thinking, Elena decided to
accept Togami to the team.

Akira understood that if he rejected the idea of having

Togami in the team, Togami might actually get kicked out of
the team. Thus he thought carefully without saying anything.

"I don't mind having him on the team. After all, I also
brought Carol to the team yesterday."

Carol then asked.

"Is there any need to readjust the reward distribution

then?"

Elena answered that question.

 "Nope. Just like how you're paid from Akira's share of
reward, Togami will be paid from Shikarabe's share of
reward. He'll also prioritize Shikarabe's command just like
you to Akira."

"In that case then, I have no complaint either. After all,

since Akira will take responsibility if I mess up, Shikarabe
too will take responsibility if he messes up, right?"

Carol glanced at Shikarabe and smiled at him. Shikarabe

frowned, he looked obviously displeased.

"...Well, I guess that's how it goes, huh?"

Shikarabe looked at Akira as if he was expecting

something, but he eventually gave up and sighed.

Akira was a bit bothered by how Shikarabe was acting

there, so he decided to ask Alpha.

『Alpha, did I say anything strange here?』

"Nope, I think he was hoping that you would be against

having Togami in the team."

『But he was the one who brought Togami here, right?』

"It's common when a Hunter has a different opinion than

the people in the organization that Hunter is in. Shikarabe
actually doesn't want to bring Togami along, but he could
not refuse the order from the gang that he's in. That's why
he was hoping he could refuse that order with an excuse
that most of the other Hunters in his team are against it."

『That does sound plausible, I guess Shikarabe is having

it hard, huh.』
 Akira said it so nonchalantly as if he had nothing to do
with it at all. Well, strictly speaking, it was indeed none of
his business after all. But getting around troublesome things
like that while getting the benefits from being in a gang
would definitely help as a Hunter as well as increasing the
survivability chance out in the wasteland. It was indeed one
of the many important skills for Hunters to reach success.

Akira understood that very well, but he had the habit of

looking down at such a thing. That was why he thought that
Shikarabe's problem had nothing to do with him. That was
as far as Akira's skill to get along with other people could go.

Elena also noticed Shikarabe's reaction there, but she

decided to just ignore that as she continued talking about
today's job.

"That's decided then. Let's go with these 6 people today."

She had no plans to get involved in the in-fighting in the

Drankam and it was not like Shikarabe asked her to reject
Togami. Since Shikarabe would be responsible for him and
as long as it would not affect the reward distribution, it was a
good thing to have another skilled Hunter in the team. Thus,
as the team leader, she had no reason to reject Togami.
Elena tried not to include her personal feelings when she
decided that.

They then accepted an SOS emergency request and went

to the Mihazono ruin again, just like the day before.
 Chapter 119: Togami's Resolve

Elena and her team went to the city district of the

Mihazono ruin again. Akira was driving his vehicle while
looking at his surroundings, the area was cleaner than
yesterday. Most of the wreckages from yesterday had been
cleaned up, or at least, moved to the side of the road.

Akira found that a bit strange as he mumbled.

"The road is already cleaned, but who exactly did that?"

Carol answered his question.

"It might be the squad sent by the Hunter Office to secure

the city district of the Mihazono ruin. I bet they cleaned the
road for carrying supplies to the frontline."

"Ahh, now that you mention it, they're doing something

like that, huh. If they finally completely secure the city
district, I wonder if the SOS emergency request would stop
coming."

"It depends on how far they secure the city district.

Although it's only my guess, I think that squad would
withdraw after they clean up some monsters in the inner
area of the city district. I believe they'll just clean up the
monsters in the inner area that disrupt the Hunter Office
from maintaining its branch and then they'll just check to
make sure that no monsters are wandering into the
wasteland before withdrawing, I'm pretty sure they won't do
anything more than that."

"Is it okay if I ask you why do you think so?"

 "Let's see. It's just simply because Mihazono ruin is too
big of a ruin for the Corporate Government to completely
secure and control, not to mention the area around it. After
all, it's not an easy thing to keep their guard up all the time
against the monsters that keep coming from unknown
locations inside the ruin. But well, I'm sure it's possible for
the Corporate Government to do that if they get serious, but
I don't think the profit that they can get from doing so is
worth the expense. Basically, they would have done that if it
might bring them a lot of profit. As a matter of fact, they had
done that in the past, the Corporate Government created
Kugamayama city in order to secure Kuzusuhara ruin."

Carol continued.

"And even if some monsters from the Mihazono ruin

wander into the wasteland, they're highly unlikely to cause
any fatal troubles to the nearby cities, so I'm sure they just
ignore it too. And even if they do, the cities would also
dispatch their defense squad here. Whichever the case, I'm
sure that the current squad will pull back after confirming
the situation around the ruin."

As far as Akira could remember, the monsters had

attacked Kugamayama city 3 times, he had no idea if those
attacks happened because someone made a miscalculation
or something. Although the inner wall was not damaged at
all, those attacks did some damage to the lower district,
especially to the slum city, but that might as well because it
was designed to be so.

Akira listened closely to Carol's explanation.

Carol's explanation was actually the result of her

analyzing the huge amount of information that she had
gathered. Akira did not have that information, he did not
even have the ability to obtain them, while Carol had both.
 Akira who noticed that felt a bit of admiration toward
Carol, and Carol noticed that thanks to her sharp senses
toward such things.

As Akira showed amazement and interest in a piece of

information that any veteran Hunters would know. It
showed just how he was lacking in the basic knowledge of
being a Hunter, and judging from his impressive fighting
ability, that was a really strange thing. It was one of the
downsides from quickly attaining power due to relying on
Alpha's support.

Carol then thought.

——Akira is, strangely enough, clueless about the basic

common knowledge for Hunters given that he's so
powerful. I'm honestly curious why that is, but let's put that
aside for later, as for now...

Carol pretended to smile innocently at Akira.

"Akira, you're that kind of Hunter who doesn't do much

research about being a Hunter, right? Like the popular ruins
at the moment, or what kind of relics that you can sell for
more money at the moment, or what kinds of equipment are
famous right now, or what the other Hunters are doing,
right?"

"...Well, that's true."

If he had to make an excuse, Akira could say that it had

not even been that long since he learned how to write his
own name. So forget basic common knowledge for Hunters,
he was not in a situation where he could learn basic common
knowledge for the people who live in the eastern district.
Honestly speaking, Akira was interested in that kind of thing
too, but since he spent most of his days training and
studying, he had no time to gather such information.

"In that case then, I can help you learn about them. After
all, it's better if you know about those kinds of things to
some degree."

But Akira replied with a rather twisted answer.

"I'm already paying you 10,000,000 Aurum now. I have

no plans to pay you more, you know."

Carol smiled bitterly and said.

"I won't ask you any money for sharing such kind of basic
knowledge with you. I'm just thinking of casually telling you
like for a subject in a casual talk."

"...In that case then, it'll be great if you can tell me about
some."

Although Akira hesitated for a bit, he decided to take that

offer since he was indeed interested in it too.

"Got it. First of all, well, let's see, since we're in Mihazono
ruin, let's start with the basic knowledge about Mihazono
ruin."

Carol then started explaining about Mihazono ruin in a

good mood.

Akira listened closely to Carol's explanation. Carol

thought that it was a good chance for her to gather approval
points from Akira as she continued her explanation with a
smile on her face.
 Carol felt conflicted since Akira seemed to react to this far
better compared to when she tried to seduce him with her
beautiful body that she took pride in. But she decided to put
that aside for now and continue to bring in subjects that
might grab Akira's interest.

***

Togami was sitting on the long bench inside Shikarabe's

APC. Inside that APC with a faint smell of blood and corpse,
he was seriously working on his information terminal.

Togami was carrying powerful equipment. Although all of

them were borrowed from Drankam, they could easily cost
more than 100,000,000 Aurum if he had to buy them
himself. Even among the equipment lent to the young
Hunters of the Drankam, his rifle, augmented suit,
information-gathering device, and even the ammo and the
medicines that he was carrying were all high quality. Even
Katsuya, who had the support of one of the high officers in
Drankam, Mizuha, did not get that level of equipment.

Togami was recognized as one of the Hunters that

successfully hunted a bounty monster with a small team
headed by Shikarabe. Although some of the high officers
inside Drankam knew the truth behind it, as long as Togami
was recognized as such outside, they had to give proper
rewards to him. As such, Togami was allowed to borrow
powerful equipment.

If it was the past Togami, he would have been delighted

knowing that Drankam finally recognized his skill, or he
might even lash back complaining that it took too long for
Drankam to finally notice his skill.

The past Togami believed that the people around him

were underestimating him. The basis of that evaluation was
the handful of Hunters among the young Hunters in the
gang who were considered to be strong. As a matter of fact,
he still thought so even now, that was why he was the rising
star of the anti-Katsuya faction. That belief caused him to
tend to overestimate himself, both for the better and for the
worse.

But that confidence was crushed during the bounty

monster hunt. So much to the point that he was suspicious if
the high officers in Drankam allowed him to borrow
powerful equipment just to spite him.

Since Togami finished that bounty monster hunt, he had

been thinking if his pride up until now were nothing but
empty. He had been thinking about it without being able to
share it with anyone as he thought that all of his amazing
achievements up until now as well as his pathetic
performance during the battle against the Tank Tarantula
were not because of his own skill.

After thinking about it for so long, he finally decided to

wait for a chance to confirm his real skill. So, his next
question was what kind of chance he could use to do so.

Even if he tried to work together with another young

Hunter outside Drankam, he could not exactly use that to
confirm his skill. It was because he could not take off his
mind from Shikarabe's words when Shikarabe told him that
he was just a fool who misunderstood his real skill just
because he had a high Hunter Rank.

After some time, Togami regained his composure and

realized that Shikarabe's words were actually referring to the
people who got ahead of themselves, and not particularly
referring to him. But even after he realized that, that was not
enough to get his mind off it. It showed that he actually
agreed with what Shikarabe said, albeit only to some degree.
 After spending a lot of time thinking about it, Togami
eventually came to a conclusion. If he could once again get
in the same team with Shikarabe and perform as well as
him, and produced results as good as him, it might help
Togami reconfirm his own skill one more time.

Togami was originally scheduled to join the squad

dispatched by Drankam to Mihazono ruin. But due to his
request, he was suddenly transferred to Shikarabe's team.
After all, he was recognized in public as one of the 4 Hunters
who defeated the Tank Tarantula, thus Drankam at least
allowed him to do that much.

So, in order to once again reconfirm his own real skill,

Togami made his resolve and joined Elena's team. Togami
then mumbled as if he was saying to himself.

"I'll once again reconfirm my skill in this request, I don't

care if it turns out that I'm just a weakling who got ahead of
myself. I just have to train even more. After all, I don't want
to stay as a weakling forever."

Togami renewed his resolve there.

Togami then thought about the members of the team. It

was Shikarabe, himself, Akira, Elena, Sara, and Carol, six
people in total. After he thought about each person in the
team, he then frowned.

——It's a good thing that I got to meet Akira again, this is

a good chance to look at his skill... But that Hunter with an
augmented suit that basically invites men... Akira brought
her to the team, right? What exactly is going on?

Togami was surprised when he saw Akira was there too,

but he was more surprised when he saw Carol next to Akira.
Togami was moderately used to girls for someone of his age,
but even for him, Carol's augmented suit had a design that
highlighted the beautiful figure wrapped under it. It was a
rather provocative design for men around Togami's age.

——Even that Katsuya, who everyone calls the leader of

the harem squad won't make the girls wear that kind of
attire, right...? Does Akira have that kind of fetish or
something?

People used to say that great people had a particular

fondness for pleasure, whether it was Katsuya or Akira, it
was still unclear whether that was the case for great Hunters
too. Togami groaned thinking that he saw a completely
unexpected side of the person that shook his confidence.

***

Elena's team moved deeper and deeper into Mihazono

ruin city district. Right about the time Togami started
making slanderous guesses about Akira behind his back,
they encountered a group of people, it was the squad that the
Hunter Office dispatched to secure Mihazono ruin city
district.

Long sharp objects were installed on the side of the road,

from there, a thin metallic wire-like object extended out. It
was a simple force field armour wall. They were basically
easy-to-carry pillars that had strong enough power to
bounce back regular-sized warheads and cannons, it was
common defensive equipment usually used for temporary
bases built in the middle of the wasteland or inside a ruin.

There were heavily-armed people complete with tanks

equipped with huge machine guns standing guard near that
simple force field wall. They had enough power to make a
quick work of a swarm of mechanical monsters.
 Elena stopped her vehicle and negotiated with one of the
soldiers guarding the wall. That person then told his men to
temporarily lower the force field wall. With the narrow
metallic object blocking the road removed, Elena could pass
through the road again.

That person then warned Elena.

"Be careful out there. We just got attacked by a huge

monster just now, and the smaller monsters also keep
popping up from time to time. Since you took that SOS
emergency request, I'm sure you're a skilled Hunter, but if
you think that this is the same Mihazono ruin as before,
you'll only get yourself killed."

That person pointed in the direction where Elena and her

team were heading when he said that. In the direction that
he was pointing, there was a wreckage of a huge dead
mechanical monster, empty warheads and missile pods
could be seen scattered around that wreckage. It must have
been a pretty powerful monster.

"Thanks, we'll be careful."

Elena said her thanks to that person as she restarted her

vehicle and stepped on the gas. Shikarabe and Akira
followed behind her. After Akira passed over the force field
wall, it immediately erected back up.

Akira looked around his surroundings while driving his

vehicle after passing through the force field wall. The area
around him was filled with rubbles, wreckages, and dead
monsters. The situation inside and outside the force field
wall differed greatly.

Akira scanned his surroundings and said.

 "There are obviously more monsters than yesterday. Is it
because they're pushed out from the inner wall so the area
outside becomes more dangerous?"

Carol, who was sitting next to Akira answered that

question while also scanning around her surroundings.

"Well, with all of these monsters dead, the outside area

might have become relatively safe though?"

"Maybe. If the monsters get more reinforcement, the

same number as the dead here, safety would be a pipe
dream. After all, it would come as no surprise if the factories
produce as many new monsters to replace all of these dead
monsters, you know?"

"I did hear that the cleaning drones of the old-world ruin
gather the remnants of the dead monsters when no one is
looking and then they use the material gathered to create
new monsters. But since these wreckages are still here, it
means that they can't use them for material to create new
monsters, right? So, I don't think it's that easy for them to
produce replacement monsters."

"There might be a warehouse somewhere filled with

mechanical monsters, right? In that case, there's no need to
retrieve the dead monsters just to create new monsters.
Furthermore, Mihazono ruin has a factory district, right? It
won't be strange if there's a warehouse filled with monsters
over there."

Carol always gave a more optimistic guess while Akira

always gave a pessimistic guess. She found that really weird
as she looked in Akira's direction. Akira who noticed Carol's
gaze then asked.

"...What?"
 "Akira, for someone who always takes the worst-case
scenario in mind to the point that I can easily call you
paranoid, it's strange that you tend to act without proper
planning. Not only did you come to Mihazono ruin without
first contacting Elena and Sara where to meet up, back there
when we were chased by monsters inside the Seranthal
building, you decided to go alone without any plans too. If
you're really that careful, you should think before you act."

After Carol pointed that out, Akira was lost for words.

The reason why Akira was being paranoid was simply

because he knew that he had bad luck, or at least, he thought
he had bad luck.

He got unlucky and got attacked by former Hunters that

had fallen off grace, he got unlucky and got roped into facing
a swarm of monsters, there was also a time when he had to
fight powerful relic thieves. In the first place, if he had good
luck, he would not be living in the slums of Kugamayama
city.

In reality, Akira was actually not as unlucky as he thought

he was. After all, if he was really that unlucky, he would not
have met Alpha and received that sudden power boost in the
first place, which was in itself a very lucky encounter.

Moreover, he would not have visited Shizuka's shop where

Shizuka was so nice to help him with a lot of things. He
would not have met Elena and Sara in Kuzusuhara ruin,
where both of them later saved him from a swarm of
monsters. All of them were lucky events, so it was not like
Akira always got nothing but unlucky events.

Strictly speaking, Akira simply had a twisted personality,

or he might have put too much trust in Alpha's words when
she said that he had used all of his lifetime worth of luck by
meeting her.

While on the other hand, Akira also was not as reckless as

Carol thought he was. Or at least, Akira thought so of
himself. Due to the complicated order of priority that he
abided by, he thought that it must be simply because he
looked reckless from Carol's point of view.

But with that being said, Akira could not tell Carol the
reason behind his order of priorities since it included
information about Alpha as well as Elena and Sara. So
instead, he tried to evade that subject.

"Well, it's not that simple for me too. Moreover, it's a good
thing to be careful when exploring a ruin, right?"

It was easy for Carol to notice that Akira was trying to

evade the subject, and she also noticed that there was
something that he was not willing to share. But she thought
that trying to poke for that information would only worsen
her relationship with Akira, that was why she tried to follow
along with his intention to just let it slide.

"That's true. But, it'll be bad if you get too careful and
because of that you get to meet monsters when your
concentration is significantly lowered, so it's not good to be
too careful. Well, that's all I want to say."

"Ahh, I see, got it then. Don't worry."

Akira agreed with what Carol said and nodded. He looked

relieved, it might be because he was able to successfully
evade the subject that he did not want to talk about.

Carol was staring at Akira's face and thought.

 ——Although he had that incident in Seranthal building
just the other day, I wonder why he would even come to
Mihazono ruin again to meet up with Elena and Sara. Is it
simply because they are his friends? Or is it that Akira
actually has some feeling for them? Or one of them is
actually Akira's lover or something? But if that's the case...

Carol mumbled.

"...If it's something that they keep secret, then there's no

need for me to hold back."

"Did you say something?"

"Hm? It's nothing."

Carol smiled amusedly when she said that.

Elena and her team continued moving deeper into the city
district of Mihazono ruin and away from the secured area.

The situation outside the wall was worse than yesterday.

The condition of the road was so bad that it was hard to go
through it. Even the vehicles designed to explore the
wasteland were only barely able to pass through it. Thanks
to that, Elena and her team could only continue forward
slowly.

Putting that drop in speed aside, they did not encounter

any other problems, they did not even get to encounter any
dangerous monsters. They only met relatively small
monsters and they had no problem taking them out.

Akira suddenly asked Alpha a question.

『I don't see that many monsters outside the wall though.

Alpha, do you detect any monsters around?』
 Alpha replied casually.

"Yep, there are some monsters."

Akira was a bit surprised when he heard that.

『 There are? You should've told me then, where are

they?』

Akira looked around, but he did not spot any monsters

around.

Alpha smiled and said.

"They're scattered around the area. Since they don't seem

to be going to attack us, there's nothing to worry about."

Alpha then enhanced Akira's vision. He could see

mechanical monsters pass through the rubbles and
wreckages. Some of them were on the other side of a
building, some of them were inside a building, some of them
were hiding under the wreckages on the side of the road.
They were hiding in all kinds of places around the area. And
just like Alpha said, they were not trying to attack Akira.
They were just there waiting in silence without moving.

Akira was a bit confused by that.

『Why are they not trying to attack us?』

"I can come up with a lot of guesses. They might be just

weak monsters, so they're just observing us from where
they're hiding while sharing that information with the
other monsters. Or they might decide not to attack us since
they know they have a low chance of winning after seeing
our armed vehicles. Or they might be waiting for extra
reinforcement to gather their strength together before
attacking."

『So we're basically safe for now, right?』

"They're not attacking us, and even if they do, we should

be able to easily take them out. So from that point of view,
yes, we're safe at the moment. But monsters are basically
dangerous beings, that's why people call them monsters in
the first place."

『Well, that's true, but that's not what I meant...』

Akira felt that he was not fully convinced by Alpha's

answer, but he did not know the reason why. Alpha also did
tell him that they would not have any trouble fighting those
monsters, so it might be okay to just ignore those monsters
for now. In the end, he decided not to let those monsters
bother him.

There was one monster that was outside the detection

range of Elena and her team. Although it was damaged, it
still had enough strength to fight. It was one of those huge
monsters that fought the humanoid soldiers dispatched by
the Hunter Office, so in short, it was an aggressive and
dangerous monster, an enemy.

The scanning device installed in its body was showing

Akira and the other Hunters' positions. The image of Akira
moving inside the ruin was transferred from its detection
devices that were scattered around the area. That so-called
S101 big-sized multi-legged tank had the main duty of
destroying enemies of the same type, i.e. the tanks and the
humanoid soldiers.

The image displayed in the S101 control device was

Akira's vehicle with Akira and Carol inside it. Alpha was
invisible to that monster.

The S101 fixed its aim at Akira. The huge cannon that it
was equipped with had enough power to destroy the
humanoid weapons used for securing cities. It could launch
a warhead at a high speed, it had powerful firepower, and it
had a wide explosion radius. If Akira's vehicle got hit by that
warhead even once, the people on that vehicle would not be
able to get by unscathed.

Right before it launched a warhead, Alpha's image

suddenly appeared in the control device of S101. Alpha
showed some kind of symbol next to her, she pointed at that
symbol while shaking her head.

The S101 confirmed that symbol and stopped from trying

to attack Akira. It then immediately returned back to stand-
by mode just like before it discovered Akira.

Elena and her team finally reached their destination. It

was a 3 storey-building inside the city district of Mihazono
ruin. They parked their vehicles next to that building,
stepped out from their vehicles, and gathered together.

Elena made a grim expression as she checked her

information-gathering device. She then lightly shook her
head and said to the rest of the team.

"...Nope, no reply at all. Forget signal from local

connection, I can't even find any trace of signals at all."

Elena tried to contact the rescue target, but sadly enough,

she did not get any reply at all.

Shikarabe tried to analyze the situation as he said to

Elena.
 "Even if the rescue targets are all dead, I think we should
be able to at least get some signals from their information
terminals but... Does that mean that they got attacked by
some powerful monsters and got all of their equipment
destroyed? The target location is here, right?"

"If we follow the information from the request, yes, it's

this building."

They then peeked inside from the entrance of the

building. The interior of the building was pitch black, there
was no light source at all. There was not even a trace saying
that the entrance was barricaded either.

If the rescue targets were really in that building, then they

should be barricading themselves somewhere inside that
building. While on the other hand, there was also a chance
that the information of the rescue targets was wrong and
they were not in that building.

They peeked inside that building while having a conflicted

feeling. They saw a lot of monsters flooding out from inside
a building just yesterday, so they did not want to explore
that building to search for the rescue targets if it could be
helped.

But it was not like they could just return back without
trying to do anything there. They came all the way to that
building because they accepted a rescue request from the
broker that Elena was contracted with. So in order to
properly do their work based on the information given to
them, even if the rescue targets were no longer inside that
building, they had to at least check the inside of that
building and properly confirm that there was no one in that
building.
 If that building was filled with mechanical monsters, they
could use that as an excuse to make a guess that the rescue
targets were already dead. But if that was not the case, if
they had the option to check a bit inside of that building,
then they could not afford to just return back without doing
anything.

Elena sighed, her face turned stern as she said.

"It can't be helped then. Let's search the inside of the

building. Sara, Akira, Carol, and I will go and search the
building. Shikarabe and Togami will guard the building from
the outside. Give us a call if anything comes up. If we don't
return back after 1 hour and you can't contact me, then issue
an SOS request for us."

Shikarabe nodded and said.

"Roger that. If that happens, is it okay for me to decide

where to issue the request?"

"Since we're here because of the request from Alhain

insurance company, you should first send the request to
them to let them know what happened. Then after that, it's
up to you."

Shikarabe seemed a bit dissatisfied as he said.

"Got it. Is it okay if I set a high reward offer for that SOS
rescue request and take that request myself?"

Elena smiled and replied.

"Of course. That is, if you think that I will pay any amount
of reward that you decide without resisting."
 Sara and Carol just smiled lightly watching that short
exchange between Shikarabe and Elena.

Akira too was watching that short exchange filled with

interest. In the back of that short exchange, there was a lot
of underlying knowledge about how to handle an emergency
situation and unspoken common senses among Hunters,
and Akira had almost no knowledge at all about both of
those things. He simply did not have enough experience
working as a Hunter. Although he received a sudden power
boost thanks to Alpha's support, it did not instantly turn him
into an experienced Hunter.

Togami somehow looked unsatisfied with that plan since

he actually also wanted to search the building. After all,
there was a good chance that nothing would happen if he
just stood there guarding the building from the outside. He
believed that was the exact reason why Shikarabe did not
protest at all when Elena proposed to use most of the team's
firepower to search the building instead of guarding the
building.

Togami joined Shikarabe because he wanted to reconfirm

his skill. Of course, there was no guarantee that something
would happen if he joined the team searching the inside of
the building. But he believed that he should be able to get
more chances to reconfirm his skill by going inside instead
of standing guard outside. Even if he did not get to find
monsters, he could at least see how the other Hunters
explored a dangerous place and compare that to himself.

After a bit of thinking, he then nervously asked Elena.

"Uhmm, if it's possible, I actually want to search the

inside of the building too, is that okay?"
 Elena looked a bit surprised. She then shifted his gaze to
Shikarabe.

Shikarabe then answered Togami's request in place of

Elena.

"No."

It was a short answer that did not show any willingness to

negotiate.

Togami looked at Shikarabe with a dissatisfied look, while

Shikarabe looked back at Togami with an annoyed gaze,
there was even a trace of mockery mixed in that gaze too.

"If you slow them down, I'll be the one in trouble. So like
hell I would let a dead burden like you to go with them."

"...Alright, I understand."

Although Togami still looked like he could not accept it,

he obediently gave that reply.

Shikarabe looked obviously surprised, he thought that

Togami would lash back at him. But since Togami
unexpectedly obeyed him, Shikarabe awkwardly felt
relieved.

"W-Well, it's all good as long as you get it."

Seeing how Togami properly stood guard there, Shikarabe

tilted his head in confusion.

***

After finishing the preparation to go in, the rest of the

team went inside the building. They were using a relatively
powerful torchlight while exploring the building. The
powerful light from the torchlight banished the darkness
inside that building that the sunlight could not even reach,
the light pierced deeper into the building through small
openings and cracks. Elena told them to intentionally use
powerful light so the rescue targets would easily find them if
the rescue targets were still somewhere inside.

There were traces of battles inside that building. There

were bullet holes both in the walls and the floors, there were
also wreckages of dead mechanical monsters. But there were
no blood marks nor corpses of dead Hunters. It seemed that
the Hunters were able to get away from the monsters
uninjured.

Akira moved carefully while searching the inside of the

building as he asked Alpha a question.

『 Alpha, do you find any monsters or the rescue

targets?』

"I don't detect anything inside my searching range."

『I see. This building is a rather small building, so if you

don't find anything, the rescue targets might be really no
longer in this place.』

Akira knew very well just how great Alpha's detection skill
was, moreover, Alpha also had a very wide detection range.
So, after he knew that Alpha did not detect any monsters nor
any rescue targets, Akira unconsciously lowered his guard.

But the other Hunters immediately noticed that Akira

lowered his guard there. Normally, they would have scolded
him for lowering his guard in the middle of a dangerous
place. But since all of them knew just how unnaturally
sensitive Akira was when it came to detecting enemies, they
did not scold him at all.

Sara then asked Elena a question.

"Elena, do you find anything?"

"Nope. Even my information-gathering device doesn't

detect anything."

Even Elena's information-gathering device also agreed

with Akira. So there might be really no monsters nor their
rescue targets inside that building.

Both Elena and Sara already realized that Akira was

someone who can connect to the old-world domain. But
because of that, they always pinned the unnatural skill that
Akira showed from time to time, like his astounding ability
to detect monsters, as his ability as someone who could
access the old-world domain. They did not even guess the
existence of Alpha at all.

Sara looked at Akira one more time and scanned his

current equipment. Akira was using an augmented suit that
was way outside the reach of fresh Hunters, and he was
carrying heavy weapons that normal humans could not carry
unless with the help of an augmented suit. It showed just
how powerful Akira was as a Hunter.

——When we met for the first time, Akira was carrying

nothing but AAH rifles and he was just using a cloth that
was neither an armour nor an augmented suit. But in such
a short time, he got all of that equipment. Not to mention
that his detection ability is more or less as good as Elena,
then to top it off, his fighting ability is nothing to scoff at...
At this rate, it won't take long for him to surpass me and
Elena. I wonder how long we can stay as his senior.
 Sara smiled bitterly, she felt a bit lonely when she thought
that she did not have much time left until Akira became
stronger than her, and when that time came, Akira would
stop relying on her and Elena as his senior.

On the side, Carol confirmed how Elena and Sara reacted

when they noticed Akira lowered his guard, she then
thought.

——They continue exploring the building without

showing any reaction even when they notice Akira lowered
his guard, as in matter of fact, it seems that they also
lowered their guards too. Judging by the information-
gathering device that Elena has, I don't think both of them
are Hunters who would lower their guard because of
something like that... Does that mean they know why Akira
is so good at detecting monsters? Or is it that because they
know Akira for a long time and really trust him? Or is it
that they're already used to it since they have worked
together with Akira many times before?

Carol knew that Akira had an unnaturally high ability to

detect enemies, but she did not think that it was because he
might be someone who could connect to the old-world
domain. It was because she knew that being an old-world
connector did not equal having a great ability to detect
enemies. Of course, it was not completely unrelated, but that
also did not give a definite proof either. Carol knew that very
well.

That was exactly why Carol credited Akira's skill to detect

enemies as one of the rare talents that those great Hunters
had. She did not even consider the possibility that Akira
might be able to connect to the old-world domain.

——Honestly speaking, I want to ask a lot of questions

about it. But I guess I should do that later and not here.
 If Carol tried to poke about that information from Elena
and Sara here, of course, Akira would be able to hear her
too, and it might cause trouble later down the line. If she
wanted to gather information about Akira, she should at
least do that somewhere where he could not hear her, and
she should choose her words wisely as not to cause any
suspicion.

Moreover, she should be able to deduce whether it was

something that she could ask Akira directly or not by seeing
how Elena and Sara would react to her questions. So for
now, Carol tried to calm the curiosity that was welling up
inside her heart as she tried to keep her poker face.

After they looked around the inside of the building, they

ended up with the conclusion that no one was there. Elena
then told the rest of the team to stop searching and head
back to Shikarabe.
 Chapter 120: Troublesome Stuff

After Elena, Sara, Carol, and Akira returned to Shikarabe,

Shikarabe listened to their explanation and understood the
current situation. He then sighed and looked disappointed.
Although the SOS request that they took was considered to
be completed after searching the target area, the reward was
far less compared to if they returned back with the rescue
targets.

With this, not only Shikarabe ended up coming all the way
there while forced to bring along a burden with him due to
the gang that he was in, but his first request of the day also
ended up badly. He then let out all of his disappointment
and psychical tiredness together with a sigh before
continuing.

"So our first request for today is a dud, huh. I feel like
today will be an unlucky day. So then, what's the plan next?"

Elena answered his question.

"We didn't use much ammo, so I'm thinking of heading to

the next request-target right from here. Although, I don't
mind heading back too in case you guys used most of your
ammo when we were not around."

Shikarabe glanced at Togami, he thought that Togami

would make a complaint. But unlike what Shikarabe was
expecting, Togami was still standing there with a serious
face while properly keeping his eyes peeled.

Shikarabe was wondering the entire time while waiting for

Elena to return, he was waiting for Togami to act out. In the
end, nothing happened at all, which indicated Togami had
changed. This questionable fact made Shikarabe feel a little
bit disturbed as he continued.

"We're okay with that, after all, nothing happened at all

when you were gone."

Elena watched Shikarabe's face closely. Although it did

not say that nothing had happened, it did not seem that it
would affect his performance during the rescue request
either.

"I see, in that case, let's hurry up and head to the next
location."

"...Hmm? Wait for a sec, I just got a notification from the

Hunter Office, give me a few seconds to check it."

Shikarabe noticed that a notification from the Hunter

Office had reached his information terminal. As he pulled
out his information terminal and was about to check it,
almost at the same time the same notification reached
Togami, Elena, and Sara too albeit a little later. Sara also
pulled out her information terminal to check the details of
that notification as she turned to Akira and said.

"It seems that we also got notification from the Hunter

Office too. Akira, wait for a bit while we check the details."

"Okay."

The people who received those notifications started

checking their own information terminals and they reacted
differently when they read the details of that notification.

Elena and Sara looked obviously annoyed as if they just

got roped into something troublesome. Togami on the other
hand, seemed rather excited as if he just got something that
he had been waiting for. While for Shikarabe, he seemed a
bit panicked and extremely irritated.

Elena and Sara then started talking to each other.

Shikarabe immediately used his information terminal to call
for someone and he seemed to be negotiating with the
person he was calling, he also sounded really displeased.
While Togami just stood there waiting for Shikarabe to
finish his negotiation.

Suddenly, a call reached Elena's information terminal.

Elena stopped discussing with Sara and picked that call with
a stern face, she then started talking with whoever on the
other side of that call in a bad mood.

Akira frowned and asked Alpha.

『Alpha, do you have any idea what's going on?』

"Nope. But looking at this, one thing for sure, it doesn't

seem to be anything good."

『Thought so...』

When Akira checked Elena, Elena sounded a bit angry,

which was rather rare for her.

"...Leave that aside for now... Yeah, that's right. You

should at least know where we are right now, right?! We're
in the middle of the ruin, we're in a situation where we
might get attacked by a swarm of monsters any second, you
know?! At least give us some time to relocate!! Or are you
actually trying to kill us or something?!!"

Elena then cut the call and immediately gave Shikarabe

an order.
 "Shikarabe, we'll head back now."

Shikarabe was still talking in his information terminal as

he glanced at Elena and nodded to convey his affirmation.
He then signalled Togami to get into the APC with his hand
and went to the APC himself while still on the call.

Elena, who was not even trying to hide her displeasure,

was taken aback when she noticed that Akira was looking at
her. She then lightly sighed to calm herself down before she
apologetically said to Akira.

"Akira, I'm sorry, but is it okay if I tell you the details

later? We need to return back to the Hunter Office for now.
I'll tell you the details after that."

"Sure, I don't mind, is it better if we hurry up then?"

"No, it's fine. There's no need to hurry up... After all, we

have no obligation to go that far."

Elena was only mumbling in a small voice in the last half

of her sentence before she returned back to her vehicle. Sara
smiled bitterly and followed behind Elena.

Akira turned to Carol. Carol seemed so relaxed and calm

there. Unlike Akira who did not understand what was going
on at all, it seemed that Carol had some inkling about the
current situation.

Akira then threw a question to Carol.

"Carol, do you have any guess about that notification that

the others just received?"

"Nope. But it's not like I have no idea at all though. I

gathered some information regarding the Mihazono ruin
yesterday, so I at least have some guesses."

"So, what is it?"

"Rather than making poor guesses, it's faster if you hear it

from someone who is directly connected to it. That aside, we
need to hurry it up if you don't want to get left behind."

"Whoops!"

When Carol pointed that out, Akira immediately hurried

up back to his vehicle, Carol followed suit behind him.

Carol looked at Akira and thought.

——Normally speaking, for a Hunter as strong as him, he

should have the ability to gather that level of information.
But it seems that Akira is basically an amateur in gathering
information, huh... I wonder if I can make my move from
that side?

Seeing from how Akira was behaving yesterday and today,

Carol was sure that Akira properly recognized Elena and
Sara as beautiful girls.

Akira did say in the past that he had more interest in food
than girls. But it was not like he had no interest in girls at all
either, being able to confirm that was already a huge success
for Carol.

So with that in mind, Carol compared herself to Sara and

Elena, the 2 girls that Akira properly recognized as the
member of the opposite sex. Although both of them were
indeed beautiful, she did not think that her beauty would
lose to any of them. As in matter of fact, Carol had gathered
and spent a lot of money to polish her body, as such, she
actually thought that she had a better figure than Sara and
Elena.

Of course, it depended on the personal taste whether

someone was attractive or not. But Carol did not think that
the difference between her and Sara and Elena was that big
as to make such a factor so important, unless Akira was only
interested in a very limited type of girls. But according to her
experience, she did not think that was the case at all.

Carol thought that there might be some kind of particular

requirement for Akira to properly recognize someone as a
member of the opposite sex. After all, unless that was indeed
the case, it was unnatural for him to be so disinterested in
her at all. But the reason why she thought so might simply
be because she had absolute confidence in her own body.

But Carol had no idea at all what this particular

requirement might be. Which meant that she either had to
do something to investigate what this particular requirement
was, or she should change the way she approached Akira.
Akira was indeed a Hunter who was very skilled at fighting,
but in contrast to that, he was utterly lacking in knowledge
as a Hunter. She might be able to get closer to Akira by
sharing that kind of knowledge with him. And the closer she
got, the easier it would be for her to investigate the type of
girl that he liked.

——Well, I guess there's no need to be in a rush here. Let's

be patient about this.

Carol was sitting next to Akira, who was driving his

vehicle, while smiling and thinking about her next plan.

***
 Elena and her team were able to return back to the
Hunter Office without any incident at all. They did not even
encounter a single monster on their way back. Although they
detected some monsters, those monsters let them pass
through without trying to attack them. Akira who thought
that those monsters called for reinforcements and were
waiting to ambush them on their way back. So, that ending
felt rather anti-climatic.

When they stepped off from their vehicles, some Drankam

Hunters and Hunter Office staff were already standing by
near the Hunter Office as if they were waiting for Elena's
team. Elena was obviously annoyed and sighed when she
saw them.

Elena was going to negotiate with them from here. And

judging by the fact that those people were already waiting
for them there, it seemed that she would not have the chance
to explain the current situation to Akira and Carol.

Elena then glanced at Carol and remembered that she was

rather skilled in negotiation too. She then suddenly asked
Akira a question.

"Akira, is it okay if I borrow Carol for a bit? From here, I'll

have to get into a rather, no, a really annoying and
troublesome negotiation with those people."

"I don't mind though, but..."

Akira then checked on Carol. Although he hired her as a

guide, she even helped during the battle too, and now Elena
asked her to help to do some negotiation. Akira thought it
would be way outside of the role that she was paid for, so it
would not be strange if Carol refused.

But Carol just casually said.

 "Sure, I'm okay with helping out."

Akira was a bit surprised by that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep, I'm here because you hired me. So I don't mind

doing that much."

Akira slightly bowed.

"I see... Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Carol smiled at Akira as if it did not bother her at all while

taking a note of that strange and sudden change of attitude
from Akira.

Elena then said to Sara and Akira.

"Well then. We'll be temporarily parting ways here. Sara,

can you explain to Akira what's going on for the time being?"

"Sure, I'll leave the negotiation to you."

Elena, Carol, and Shikarabe headed to the Hunter Office's

branch. But before Shikarabe left, he gave Togami an order.

"Togami! Take my APC back to Drankam temporary

base!! After that, just wait for the next order from Drankam
there!!"

Togami flusteredly replied.

"Wait for a second there! What will happen to me after

this?"
 "Like hell if I know?!"

Shikarabe sounded annoyed when he shouted back and

just left it at that. Togami seemed like he could not
completely accept it, but he then dragged himself back to the
APC and did what Shikarabe told him to do.

Akira and Sara were told to move their vehicles so as not

to block the way, so they did. After Akira relocated his
vehicle, he stepped off from the driver seat and stretched out
his body, that was when Sara came to him.

He then asked Sara a question.

"So then, what is going on? It seems that both Shikarabe

and Elena-san looked pretty annoyed though."

Sara seemed to be hesitating for a bit before she opened

her mouth.

"Well, there's just this troublesome thing. Although I said

that, I'm not really sure what's going on in Shikarabe's side,
but I think it's the same reason why we're also roped into
this troublesome thing."

"It's that notification from the Hunter Office, right?"

"Yes, the content of that notification is a rather

troublesome thing from the Hunter Office that we usually
receive from time to time. So about that though... Well, it's
not that simple, but to explain it properly..."

"If it's something that is hard for Sara-san to talk about,

then there's no need to do that."

"Ahh, no, it's fine. The message itself doesn't contain

secret information or anything like that, not to mention that
Elena also told me to explain it to you. So I actually hope
that you would listen to it."

"I understand then."

"So, about that, it's basically a request to join the efforts to

investigate this strange change in Mihazono ruin."

Sara then started to explain the content of that massage

from the Hunter Office to Akira. After listening to that
explanation, Akira made a stern face.

"...So they're sending a squad to Seranthal building, huh?"

"Yep. They put up all kinds of excuses for sending that

squad and I don't really know all the details. Some people
said that it's for investigating the source of this recent
change in Mihazono ruin, others said that it's for rescuing
the people who are stranded inside that building, or it's for
taking control of that whole building. It is not even clear
whether that information is true or it's just someone's guess.
But one thing for sure, it seems it has been decided that a
squad will be dispatched to that building, and it seems that
it's going to be a pretty big squad."

Akira made a grim face as he remembered what he had

gone through inside that Seranthal building.

"Uhh, is it possible to refuse it?"

"Well, although it's not a compulsory request, I think it's

pretty unlikely."

In order to give a boost to the defense squad from

Kugamayama city that the City Management had
dispatched, and to convince the people of the inner wall who
paid them, the City Management decided to issue that
request to the Hunters who had successfully hunted a
bounty monster in the past.

With that monster swarm incident the other day and the
appearance of the bounty monsters not too long ago, it
seemed that the people in the inner wall were starting to feel
insecure. But it was not like they could just demand the city
defense squad to dispatch soldiers to solve it. It was difficult
to readjust the strength of the city defense squad in case
anything bad happened while making sure that the people in
the inner wall felt safe at the same time.

Moreover, the hunt for bounty monsters also got pretty

famous within the inner wall. And the story about the skilled
Hunters dispatched to take down those powerful monsters
that even warrant a bounty must have calmed down the
people inside the inner wall. Not to mention, it would also
increase the available budget for the defense squad, it was
like killing two birds with one stone.

Because of that, although the request to join that squad

was not a compulsory one, it was like half-compulsory. If the
Hunters refused that request without a good excuse, it might
cause them trouble later. After all, it might cause more
unrest in the inner wall since they might think that even the
Hunters who defeated the bounty monsters refused to take
that request. Thus those Hunters were pretty much forced to
take that request.

If the City Management had its eyes on a certain Hunter,

there was a good chance that Hunter would have a hard time
staying in that city. In the worst-scenario, they would not be
able to sell relics and buy ammo. Thus eventually forcing
them to go to another city.

There were not that many Hunters who were ready to face
that consequence just to refuse such a request, at least, they
would try to negotiate a suitable amount of reward for doing
that request. In the first place, the City Management would
not have issued that request if they knew that the Hunters
would not take it. Moreover, losing skilled Hunters was also
not something that the City Management wanted.

Sara explained everything regarding that subject plus

some other related information that Akira might not know
yet.

"Well, so basically, that's it. That's why Elena is trying to

negotiate with the City Management about that troublesome
request."

Akira listened closely and understood Sara's explanation,

but a question suddenly popped out in his mind.

"I see... But, I never thought that Elena-san would be that

angry, is it that the reward offered was really that bad?"

Sara hesitated for a bit before answering.

"...Well, that is... Uhh, you know. The reward is not that
bad and I'm sure Elena is trying to pull it up higher too. I
have no problem with the reward and I don't think Elena has
any problem with it either... It's just that, well, they basically
just cut in while we were doing another request and they're
bringing a request that is hard for us to refuse. Moreover,
they even started trying to negotiate in the middle of the
ruin where we might get attacked by monsters any second.
So it's no surprise that it causes Elena to get mad."

"Now that you mention it, well, that's true."

Elena was also a human. It was only to be expected that

she might get angry from time to time. And in this case, a
request was pushed to her while she was in the middle of
doing another request, it might completely throw her
schedule and preparation into disarray. Elena might have
also gotten angry because of her sense of responsibility as
the leader of the team. Things did make sense if Akira saw it
from that point of view.

Sara was relieved when she saw that it seemed Akira

accepted her explanation, she then immediately tried to
change the subject before Akira brought it up again.

"By the way, Akira, you didn't get that notification? Didn't
you also hunt the bounty monster in Shikarabe's team?"

This time, it was Akira's turn to hesitate before answering.

"Ah, well, you see, I'm basically not allowed to talk about
it, so..."

"I see, if that's the case, I won't pressure you. It just got
me curious for a bit. I'm just wondering how did you
perform during the bounty hunt."

"I didn't do anything big, as in matter of fact, I'm not even

sure if I deserve the reward that I received."

Akira thought that it should be fine to tell Sara that much

when he said that.

Sara did not say anything for a while, it seemed that she
was thinking about something. Her expression suddenly
changed as if she just realized something, she then smiled
and said to Akira.

"Ahhh, so basically you accepted a request from Shikarabe

without going through the Hunter Office to help him as an
extra personnel in order to hunt the bounty monster, and
then you guys were able to successfully kill the bounty
monster, huh."

Akira gasped, Sara was able to accurately guess what

happened just like that. As he looked at Sara with a
surprised face, she looked back at him with a smile. He then
asked Sara a question.

"...That was enough for Sara-san to make that guess?"

Sara smiled amusedly as she answered Akira's question.

"Since you said that you're not even sure the reward that
you got matched your contribution, it meant that you
properly received the reward, which meant that you took
that request. At that time, the only request that Shikarabe
offered you was only to help him hunt the bounty monster.
Then, judging from the fact that you didn't get that
notification from the Hunter Office, that means that request
is only a request among Hunters and the Hunter Office has
nothing to do with it. Since Shikarabe hired you, it means
that he knew you would at least pull your own weight. That's
why he didn't hire you only to be a driver. When you said
that you didn't do anything big, basically it's because the
main firepower during that fight against the bounty monster
was Shikarabe and his friends. Then as for you, in order to
give support to Shikarabe and his friends, I bet you used
expendable equipment that Shikarabe gave you to attack the
bounty monster as well as trying to keep its attention off
from Shikarabe. When you said that you're not sure you
deserve the reward that you received, I can make a guess
that it's at least not a small amount of money. Shikarabe
himself would not pay that much money unless the bounty
hunt was a success. That's why I can say for sure that you
were able to successfully kill the bounty monster... You can't
confirm whether I got it right or not, okay? It'll violate your
duty of confidentiality, after all."

Akira hung his head low.

"...I'll keep my mouth shut."

"That vehicle is not the same vehicle that you bought from
Shizuka, right? Is it a reward from Shikarabe? Although I'm
not that knowledgeable about vehicles, that one is pretty
expensive, you know. Although you received that as a
reward, you still said that you didn't know if it was worth it,
huh. Akira, it must have been a hard fight."

"I can't say anything."

"Akira, you're an honest kid, aren't you?"

Sara giggled seeing how Akira was pouting.

She then changed the mood and said.

"I'm sorry, my apologies. By the way, just so you know,

the ones who can't refuse that request are only Elena and
me, so it's completely okay for you. After all, that request
didn't get issued to you in the first place. I know that you've
gone through something really bad in Seranthal, right? So if
you don't want to come, you don't need to force yourself.
After all, this wasn't in our plan at all when we invited you."

Akira's expression returned back to normal.

"No, I'll come along too if it's okay with Sara-san and
Elena-san."

Although it was true that the situation had changed

greatly from their initial plan. But for Akira, that was not the
case at all. After all, he originally came to Mihazono ruin to
help Elena and Sara.

Sara then asked Akira one more time.

"We're more than happy to have you, but are you really
sure it's okay?"

"Yes."

Sara's expression turned serious as she said to Akira.

"...Is it because you know you might be able to get some

profit from it? Despite the danger, you are moving for
profit?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. Yes, something like that. I want to get better
equipment after all, so I'm in need of money right now."

Akira sounded a little surprised, but he immediately tried

to match his excuse with what Sara said.

Sara did not say anything back for a few seconds, she then
smiled and said to Akira.

"...I see, got it. But, there's no need to be reckless, okay?"

"I understand."

Akira answered back firmly.

As she listened to Akira's reply, Sara then thought.

——This boy is really bad at lying. Or more like, he's bad

at trying to trick people in general, huh?

Sara confirmed that Akira did not decide to come with her
for money.
 Moreover, she guessed that he decided to come along in
order to help her. Although it might be nothing but her
wishful thinking, she had no proof that refuted it.

As Sara thought that Akira decided to set his foot again in

a place where he almost got killed in order to help her and
Elena, she felt both happy and pathetic at the same time. But
even so, since she felt more happy than pathetic, she did not
make a saddened face.

Sara decided to use that feeling as the motivation to grow

stronger and smiled.

Akira was talking with Sara while waiting for Elena to

return back from negotiating.

Akira then asked Sara a question.

"I wonder how long will it take until Elena-san finishes?"

"It depends on how hard the negotiation is, so, I don't

really know myself. But I'm sure the City Management
doesn't want to spend too much time on negotiating just to
get late in dispatching the squad either. So I think it would
end before afternoon even if it means that the negotiation
fails."

"Fail? But it's not a request that you just can refuse,
right?"

"Basically, yes. Which also means that there are

exceptions. If they can't agree on the conditions that we put
on no matter what, then, we'll refuse to take the request even
if it means that we need to change our base of operation to
another city. If I'm to make an extreme example, they might
only pay us a small amount of money just to be expendable
pawns. Well, I'm sure Elena will properly do her job so that
something like that would not happen unless something
unexpected happens."

The one that Elena was negotiating against must be

someone who was used to having a hard negotiation. If it
was him, Akira would have been swept by the flow of the
negotiation and forced to accept a very bad deal. As he
thought so, he made a conflicted face and mumbled.

"...That sounds rough."

"That's why most of the Hunters hire other people to

handle the negotiation for them. In my case, Elena would do
that for me, that's why I don't have to do that. Akira... You're
bad with negotiation, right? In that case, it might be a good
idea to hire someone to do that for you."

"Hmmm, I see, I'll think about it."

Akira thought that he was not that great of a Hunter yet,

so he would not get roped into such a troublesome
negotiation, and he did not need people to negotiate in his
place yet. But one day, he might need one, so he just kept
that in mind for now.

In reality, Akira was already someone who could easily get

roped into troublesome stuff. The reason why he did not
realize it himself was simply because he had no misgivings
in killing other people and he did not care about the trouble
that killing other people might cause. In the worst-case
scenario, it was okay to kill, that kind of thinking was a
normal thing in the slum city.

Normally, people would try to find a way to solve their

problems peacefully, but Akira simply ignored that way of
thinking. It had been etched into Akira's mind that the other
person always guaranteed to look down on him and his life,
there would not be any chance to negotiate, nor
compromise. It might be also because of this that Akira was
overly lax to certain people.

Although Akira had escaped the slum city, his mind was
still somewhere inside the slum city where he knew no other
way to protect himself except to kill.

That indeed had caused troubles for him in the past, but
Akira always credited that to his bad luck, or at least, he
understood that he reaped what he sowed when that
happened.

Sara then turned her gaze to the Hunter Office. Elena was
still negotiating there. Since there was still no call from
Elena, it showed just how hard the negotiation that she was
having over there.

——As I thought, I bet they're bickering there.

For Sara who very well understood Elena might be having

a hard time, she imagined the scene of Elena trying her best
negotiating in the Hunter Office's branch and sighed.
 Chapter 121: Troublesome Negotiation

As Sara had guessed, Elena was having a difficult time

negotiating. When Sara explained the current situation to
Akira, she deliberately hid some information including the
reason why Elena was so irritated to the point that she
raised her voice.

Although it had been decided that the squad sent to

Seranthal building would consist of the Hunters that
successfully hunted a bounty monster in the past. And with
that many Hunters that would be sent to Seranthal building,
they would need to have a clear chain of command so that
they could work together effectively. But at the same time,
this chain of command could be the source of another
trouble.

The City Management was originally planning to use the

same chain of command used during the bounty monster
hunt. After all, it was to be expected that the Hunters who
led the group that successfully hunted the bounty monster
should at least have a good commanding skill. Even the
group that was able to successfully hunt the Big Walker
actually had a sudden team reconstruction before they were
dispatched, and yet, they were able to kill the Big Walker
with that team. The City Management thought that the
Hunters would sort out any problems regarding the chain of
command by themselves.

In order so that the Hunters had the same chain of

command in the field, they needed to take someone who was
already a leader of a team or an officer from an organization
or a gang. Thus, the City Management let the team with the
most contribution during the bounty hunt to pick the squad
leader.

Which in this case, meant the City Management left that

decision to Drankam since Drankam bounty hunt team had
contributed greatly during the bounty hunt. Most of the
independent team from the Drankam were also able to
successfully kill a bounty monster too. Moreover, the gang
also contributed greatly in defeating the strongest bounty
monster. Thus, it was no surprise that the City Management
left the details of the investigation squad to Drankam. So,
the current plan was to let Drankam decide the strategy and
the leader of the team, then the other Hunters would work
under Drankam's command.

But in the end, an unexpectedly lot of Hunters

complained about that.

When the situation in Mihazono ruin suddenly changed,

Drankam issued the SOS rescue requests to the Hunters
around the ruin. This resulted in a lot of Hunters getting
trapped inside the ruin. Most of the rescue targets for the
current SOS rescue request were actually the Hunters who
got trapped from the previous SOS rescue request.

Although they ended up judging the situation only from

the result, this basically meant that Drankam had sent a lot
of Hunters into the wasteland just to get them trapped there
only for a small reward. There was not a small number of
Hunters who fortunately were able to return back alive while
their companions got killed back in the ruin, and most of
these Hunters ended up holding a grudge against Drankam.
Due to a lot of Hunters getting trapped in the ruin because
of that SOS rescue request from Drankam, the current public
opinion of Drankam had already significantly fallen.
 While on the other hand, some people in Drankam were
thinking of using this chance to increase Drankam's
reputation in Kugamayama city.

There were a lot of other Hunter gangs in Kugamayama

city beside Drankam. If Drankam was able to make the
investigation a success with the strategy that Drankam itself
decided, there was no mistaking that it would definitely
make Drankam even more renown. So, if someone not from
Drankam took the command and participated in that
investigation and made it a success, it would give a boost to
the reputation of the gang that Hunter was affiliated with.

Moreover, there were also Hunters who were worried if

Drankam took command of the squad, people from
Drankam might push the dangerous jobs to the other gangs.

Because of those reasons, a lot of Hunters refused to have

Drankam taking command of the squad.

Then to top it off, there was also an in-fighting within

Drankam itself.

Drankam had already dispatched its Hunters to Mihazono

ruin, and that particular squad was formally commanded by
Katsuya. So any reinforcement who joined that team would
basically work under him.

Inside Drankam, there was friction between the young

Hunters and veterans, there were also some young hunters
in the gang who were members of the anti-Katsuya faction.
Although they were not as bad as Shikarabe, a lot of Hunters
in Drankam refused to work under Katsuya, enough for the
gang not to be able to just ignore those Hunters. They
demanded to shift the command from Katsuya to one of
them or for the City Management to accept the extra
conditions that they imposed for that request, and in order
to do that, they even dragged the upper echelons in
Drankam to get involved in the negotiation.

Then, to top it off, each Hunter had different aims during

the negotiation. Some of them demanded as much rewards
as they could get, some of them deliberately picked a fight
against the other gangs in order to be able to refuse that
request while keeping their reputation, while some of them
tried to get special favour in exchange for taking that
request.

With all kinds of people gathered there, each of them was

aiming only to bring profits to themselves, or to the gangs
that they belong in, it was only to be expected for the
negotiation to turn complicated.

At the moment, there were a lot of people gathered in the

Hunter Office branch of Mihazono ruin including the
negotiators from Drankam, leaders from various Hunter
teams, and people from the request brokers that some of the
Hunters were contracted with, Elena was one of them. They
were trying their best to reach a consensus.

All of them gathered in the cafeteria of the Hunter Office

branch. Carol and Elena were also there, Carol was sitting
next to Elena on one of the tables in the cafeteria. Sitting
opposite to them was a negotiator from Drankam by the
name of Maeda.

Elena and Maeda were talking to each other with a stern

face, while Carol was listening to them with a relaxed smile.

After that Maeda listened to a report from one of his co-

workers, he then cut the call on his information terminal,
sighed, and said to Elena.
 "...I just checked with Drankam side again, and as I said,
the answer is still a no. We can't accept the conditions that
you put up."

"I see then. It means that we have no deal here, yes?"

When Elena said that, Maeda's face twitched.

"You do know that we can't have that here for the sake of
both of us, right? It's a request from Kugamayama City
Management, you know? You do know well how angry
they'll be if we keep dragging this negotiation without any
good reason, right?"

Elena did not waver at all, her expression did not change
as she replied.

"Of course. I bet the City Management wants us to quickly

finish this negotiation so that they can dispatch the squad to
take control of Seranthal building as soon as possible."

"If you understand it, can you at least lower your

demand? The longer we drag this negotiation, the more the
City Management would hate both of us."

"Just to let you know, in order to save us from that, we

already lowered our demand as low as we can, you know?"

"...You demand 5 times the original reward offered by the

City Management and for us to pay some of that reward in
advance as the condition to join the squad under Drankam's
command... Then you say that it's already as low as you can
go? You know that we can't accept that demand no matter
how you look at it, right?"

"That's because we recognize this request is much more

dangerous than Drankam is willing to admit. Like I said, it's
the lowest we can go. If we had more time, I would have
demanded even more reward, you know?"

Maeda was staring at Elena with a stern face, there was no

trace of deception in Elena's expression and words. Maeda
then sighed.

"...Seriously now, are you for real? This is a request from

the City Management, you know? If you keep insisting on
making such impossible demand, we have no other choice
but to tell the City Management that the negotiation has
failed because you keep making that demand. Are you sure
you're okay with it if the City Management thinks of you as a
Hunter who can't be reasoned with?"

Hunters spent their days fighting dangerous monsters in

the old-world ruin, so in order to have a winning chance
against those monsters, they had to bring along powerful
weapons, and it would be an overkill using those weapons
that were designed to kill monsters on humans. So, for the
sake of maintaining order in the eastern district, the City
Management had no other choice but to get those Hunters
armed with powerful weapons under their control.

The cities of the eastern district, the corporations that

were in control of those cities, and the Corporate
Government that controlled those corporations, all of them
were doing all kinds of things to maintain order in the
eastern district. There were times when they made use of the
Hunter Office to threaten the Hunters so that they would not
get ahead of themselves and go on a rampage in the eastern
district.

They sometimes had to reason with the Hunters and

reminded them to keep their behaviours in check, or some
other time, they had to convince some Hunters to not wreak
havoc. There were even cases where they had to act as
arbitrator between 2 Hunters in conflict or offer certain
benefits to persuade certain Hunters. Or if nothing worked,
they sometimes blatantly threatened Hunters to just stop.
But the City Management would only do these kinds of
things if they saw that those Hunters could be reasoned
with.

As for those Hunters who could not be reasoned with, the

City Management saw them as equal to monsters. Those
Hunters were treated as threats against the public order in
the eastern district, usually a bounty would be put for their
heads and they would be killed by other Hunters.

Being recognized as someone that could be reasoned with

was a very important thing in the eastern district where
most of the people knew how to fight and powerful weapons
were freely distributed around.

Although no one could tell what kind of effect it would

bring if Drankam informed the Hunter Office that Elena was
a Hunter who would only make one-sided demands and
would not listen to other people, it was obvious that it would
bring some level of harm toward her.

Most of the Hunters in Kugamayama city already knew

that Drankam was deepening its relationship with
Kugamayama City Management. So of course, Elena also
knew about that too. Thus Maeda lightly threatened Elena
there hoping that it would ease her demand.

But then Elena stoically said.

"You can go ahead and do whatever you want. But don't

you forget that I'll also explain to the City Management why
the negotiation with Drankam side ended up in failure. I'm
pretty sure that they can understand my reason, that's why,
if it's possible, I hope you can just let me negotiate directly
with the City Management."

Elena did not waver at all. Maeda who saw that put both
of his hands on his face in frustration. Elena herself knew
that Maeda was also stuck in a difficult position, but that did
not mean that she should lower her demand just because of
that.

"By the way, just to let you know, you're the one who
suddenly butted in when I was negotiating with the City
Management in the first place, you know? So I have no
reason to play nice with you."

"We've been giving you requests through Drankam.

Although it doesn't mean that you have the duty to accept all
of our demands, you can at least make some compromises,
can't you?"

Elena's face turned slightly irritated.

"You've used that favour entirely in the last request that

you gave us. To be more precise, although we've agreed on it
in the contract, we did not make any complaint when you
cut a big part of our reward money last time."

Elena thought that she was keeping her poker face and
that she was calmly assessing the situation, but in reality,
her face was slightly changed and a part of her real feeling
was starting to leak out, Maeda also noticed that.

Maeda was using a glasses-type information terminal.

That information terminal was connected to Drankam's
server and was showing information about Elena on its
transparent display. To be more precise, Maeda was looking
at Elena's request history.
 Maeda picked the last request that Elena accepted and
checked its detail. The record also contained the subject
about the reward cut too. But it only said that both sides
agreed on that reward cut and there was no problem with it
at all.

——What the heck is with this 'no problem at all', this is

one heck of a problem, isn't it? Who the f*ck wrote this
report... Mizuha? That new officer who just got promoted
from the administration department, huh? She's an officer
now though, is she that stupid as to write 'no problem at all'
here? Or is it that someone from the other faction
overwrote the report? Seriously though, I really hope they
would stop roping me into this infighting problem between
factions. It's really making my job difficult. Wrong
information like this is really fatal during negotiation.

Although Maeda was a member of Drankam, he did not

belong to either faction. To be more precise, he was more of
a neutral faction, and this faction chose to keep itself from
getting involved in the infighting.

——With more infighting inside the gang, more

negotiations are happening lately. Most of the negotiators
are ending up arbitrating among Hunters inside the gang,
and so, fewer negotiators are available for negotiating
with people outside the gang. Good grief, I really hope they
would do something about this... Whoah. This is not the
time to worry about that, I need to do something about this
negotiation first.

Maeda shook off his irritation while still lamenting how

he got roped into such an annoying situation.

Drankam side could not afford to accept Elena's demand.

After all, Elena was not the only Hunter that Drankam had
to negotiate with. If the other Hunters discovered that
Drankam accepted Elena's demand, they would use that
information to demand more rewards too.

But with that being said, Drankam could not afford to

have the negotiation break down there and let Elena
negotiate directly with the City Management. Drankam was
the one who used its connection with the City Management
to butt in when Elena was negotiating with the City
Management, as such, if he reported back to the City
Management that he failed, there was no mistaking it that
the City Management would lower its evaluation of
Drankam.

But the more time he spent trying to reach a deal there,

the worse the evaluation from the City Management would
be.

Maeda, who had no idea what to do there, shifted his gaze

from Elena to Carol. Although he was sure that Elena had
the last say there, since Carol was sitting next to her, Carol
might be able to somehow affect the direction of the current
negotiation. Thus in order to change the mood, Maeda
turned to Carol and spoke to her.

"Carol-san too, I'm sure you don't think it's a good idea to
be stuck in this place forever, right? If we keep being
stubborn here, no one would win, it'll only bring trouble to
both of us, yes?"

Carol was still smiling as she asked Maeda a question.

"In that case, can you at least tell us how Drankam

organizes its Hunters and who will take the responsibility for
making the plan?"

"...Will it even make any difference if we tell you?"

 "You won't then?"

"Like I said, it won't make any difference, right?"

"It's part of making compromises, no? If the one who will

take command is a skilled and experienced Hunter, then we,
as the Hunters who might be working under that Hunter,
would feel safer, right? I want you to understand that we
asked that much rewards since we feel uneasy about that
part."

"Are you saying that you can't trust the leader that
Drankam picks?"

"I won't go that far though, but like, you know, a lot of
Hunters are trapped inside the Seranthal building because of
the last request that Drankam issued, right? I heard that it
was enough to cause panic among the insurance
companies."

"So you're saying that it's Drankam's fault? No matter

how you look at it, no one could have predicted something
like this would happen, yes?"

"It's not like I'm saying that Drankam is at fault here. But,
I want you to understand when we say that Seranthal
building is a really dangerous place."

"It's exactly because we know it's a dangerous place that

we're forming a big Hunter squad in order to save those
Hunters inside the Seranthal building. We're asking the
other Hunters to work under the same leader here to
prevent them from moving independently and cause trouble
during the operation. I'm sure you can understand that too
from reading the detail of the request."
 "We do understand that point. That's why I'm asking you
who will take the lead of the squad. If we know that the one
taking the lead is a competent Hunter, we can feel safer
following the orders from that Hunter. And if it's someone
that I know, I can also more or less predict that person's
commanding skill. Which in that case, I can explain to Elena
and I maybe can even convince her too. That way, Elena
might be willing to lower her demand and we might be able
to finally find a compromise that we both can accept. Do you
understand why I asked you that question now?"

After she said that, Carol threw a smile at Maeda. Maeda

understood well that he was in a disadvantageous position
there as he was barely able to react to her reasoning.

"......Yes."

"I'm glad to hear that, so, will you tell us now?"

After Carol said that, Maeda suddenly went silent. Carol

understood the situation that Maeda was in as she smiled at
him and said.

"If you won't tell me, I won't be able to say anything to

Elena, you know?"

Maeda hesitated.

"...We haven't decided yet."

"I don't mind if it's just a guess. If you can tell us of any
particular person or any particular faction that might get
chosen, it's at least better than nothing."

"...We're still in the middle of discussing that."

 Maeda sounded as if he just forced himself to say that and
he immediately hung his head low for a bit after he said that.

Carol was really happy that she got the answer that she
was hoping for, but she did not show that on her face,
instead, she made a rather troubled face and said to Maeda.

"I'm sure Drankam also understands the importance of

this request since it came from the City Management, right?
And I'm sure Drankam also understands very well that it
should decide on the leader as soon as possible, right? If you
guys can't decide on the leader even in this situation, I can't
help but feel worried about your commanding skill. If you
think the reward Elena demanded is to compensate for the
danger that this request might cause us, then unfortunately
enough, I don't think that Elena's demand is unreasonable at
all."

After listening to what Carol said, Maeda let out a long

sigh. A part of him actually agreed with Elena and Carol's
reasoning. But, due to his position, he could not express it.

Maeda then complained inside his heart.

——Ahh, I can't take this. I don't have anything that I can

use to convince them. To hell with this, I'll just let them
negotiate directly with the City Management. I'm sure the
upper echelons would make some complaints later, but it's
their fault in the first place for taking too long. It has
nothing to do with me, it's not my fault.

Honestly speaking, Maeda was actually a dutiful person.

But there was a limit to how far he could keep going. The
infighting between the people in the upper echelons caused
trouble to his job and he also agreed with some arguments
that the other party was making, so he concluded that if he
stubbornly tried to continue the negotiation there, it would
be nigh impossible to achieve his original aim. It really
lowered his motivation and caused him to start considering
just letting Elena negotiate directly with the City
Management.

From that sudden change in Maeda's behaviour, Carol

immediately noticed that Maeda had given up on the
negotiation. She then smiled at Maeda and said.

"This might be unrelated, but I think it's a bad idea not

doing anything until the main squad is formed. At the very
least, you guys could have sent some smaller squads ahead,
yes?"

Maeda looked confused there for a moment, he tried to

think what was the meaning behind those words before he
said anything back.

"...Are you telling me that we should use you as a

reconnaissance team and send you ahead in order to prevent
the City Management from bothering us for the time being?
Even if you said that to me, I have no right to say anything
about the strategy used in this operation. And even if I have
that right, that would be the decision that Drankam should
make as a whole, not me alone. I can't let your team go for
something like that, after all, we need you to join the main
squad since there are not that many Hunters in Drankam
who are skilled enough to be dispatched to Seranthal
building. Not to mention, I'm sure only those Hunters who
have something to complain about this chain of command
would want to join that reconnaissance squad. In the first
place, we don't have Hunters to spare for that squad, or at
least, I can't spare you any Hunters to form such a squad."

Carol smiled mischievously.

 "So basically, we can do that if we have someone who has
a say on the strategy used by Drankam, or at least someone
who has some connections with the upper echelons in
Drankam, right?"

"...Well, that would be true, but..."

Maeda looked a bit confused.

Carol then pulled out her information terminal and called

someone. The person that she was calling almost
immediately picked up her call.

[Carol, what now? You should know well that I'm really
busy, right?]

It was Shikarabe, he sounded like he was in a really bad

mood, but in contrast to him, Carol replied in a good mood.

"Oh my, I called you thinking that I might be able to help

you, you know... Are you sure you're okay treating me like
this?"

[What do you mean?]

"I'm actually looking for more Hunters so that we can take

that request from the City Management as an individual
team though. I'm sure you're also having a hard negotiation
over there, right? I bet that you're in a panic right now since
at this rate you'll get assigned to work under that Katsuya
guy, right?"

After Carol said that, there was a few seconds of silence.

From that silence, she confirmed that her guess was correct.

Shikarabe's calm voice then could be heard from Carol's

information terminal.
 [......Why do you think so?]

"It's because you're talking to me right now."

[Hah?]

Shikarabe could not help but to leak out his real feeling
there with that reaction. Hearing that, Carol then giggled
and continued.

"The request from the Kugamayama City Management is

basically issued to the Hunters who successfully hunted the
bounty monsters not too long ago. But then I bet that
because of some reason, those Hunters who were in your
team when you hunted the bounty monster could not come
to the Mihazono ruin at the moment. After all, if that was
not the case, you would have picked those Hunters and
already formed a team with them instead. I bet you're trying
to find replacements for those Hunters but you still can't
find enough people at the moment, right? After all, if you
did, you would have been dispatched to Seranthal building
by now. And if you're already heading to the Seranthal
building, it would mean that the operation is already
underway and you would not be roped into the infighting
inside the Drankam about who should take the lead of the
squad, which would mean that you would not have picked
my call, right? But you did not ignore my call. Since you
can't go with the same team that you were together with
during the bounty hunt, Drankam must be trying to get you
into another team, for example, another team that also has
successfully hunted a bounty monster too. And then, that
exact team that's also already in Mihazono ruin right now is
the team that Katsuya leads. Since Drankam cannot afford to
keep dragging out the request from the City Management, I
bet that the officers from Drankam are pressuring you to
join Katsuya's team, right?"
 Shikarabe went silent again after Carol said that.

Carol's guess was completely correct. The upper echelons

in Drankam were pressuring Shikarabe to join Katsuya's
team.

The only thing that Carol got wrong was Shikarabe's

actual plan. Carol thought that as this situation continued,
Shikarabe would eventually break under the pressure from
Drankam and join Katsuya's team.

But in reality, Shikarabe had no plans to join Katsuya's

team no matter what. If his only option was to join Katsuya's
team, he would rather accept that request from the City
Management and head to Seranthal building alone. But of
course, he wanted to avoid that if it could be helped, that
was why Shikarabe was looking for more personnel for his
team.

Shikarabe then sighed as if he just gave up there, he then

annoyedly asked a question to Carol.

[Yeah yeah, you got that right. I'm more or less in that
situation right now. So then, how are you going to help me
out? I'm super busy right now, so I won't take any stupid
ideas, okay? So then, tell me what do you have in mind.]

It was not like Carol brought that subject to Shikarabe

because she wanted to help him out. Shikarabe himself knew
that very well, he also knew how dangerous it was to get
indebted to Carol. But he thought that it was way better than
working under Katsuya, thus he decided to take Carol's offer.

Carol then explained her idea to him, Shikarabe registered

that plan inside his head and analyzed it. He was not
pondering whether to take her suggestion or not, he was
pondering if it was possible or not. He then finally reached a
conclusion.

[Alright. I'll convey that to one of the officers in Drankam

who might agree with your plan. Tell whoever negotiator
that you're talking with right now to let you talk with an
officer from Drankam by the name of Arabe.]

"Okay, later then."

Carol then ended the call and asked Elena.

"I ended up pushing the negotiation without your

permission though, is that okay?"

Elena at least did not show any displeasure as she said.

"It's alright. I have nothing to complain about with your

suggestion."

Elena's main goal was actually to avoid working under

Drankam since it might get her in the same situation as the
previous time when she accepted that request to hunt the
bounty monster. Back then, not only did Elena and Sara
have to cover for the rest of the team, they were even
insulted for being useless and got their reward cut.
Moreover, if things were to happen again this time, it would
not only affect her and Sara, but it would also affect Akira
and Carol too. That was why Elena refused to step back.

Of course, Drankam had its own indicators that it used to

evaluate Sara and Elena, and it seemed that Elena and Sara's
performance during that request was far below what
Drankam was expecting from them. So from Drankam's
point of view, it was simply that they had no other choice but
to do what they did.
 But if that difference was a fatal one, it would have been
better if both of them stopped working with each other. It
would have been better if Drankam hired other Hunters who
could accept the evaluation that Drankam gave.

While at the same time, although it was not like Elena did
not feel anything when Carol just pushed the negotiation
without her permission, thanks to that, Elena was able to
fulfil her main goal. So she had no complaints about it.

Carol smiled a bit smugly to Elena and said.

"Is it okay if I take it that it was worth it taking me with

you here?"

Although Elena was a bit bothered by the way Carol was

acting, she then said.

"...? Well, you're right, you're a big help. Thanks to you, it

seems that we can avoid getting roped into a troublesome
situation."

"Can you please tell that to Akira too?"

"Sure, but can you tell me why you want me to do that?"

"It's to increase my value in his eyes since he's the one

hiring me at the moment. Since I've been useful, it's normal
for me to want to let my employer know that I did well,
right? After all, if Akira knows that I'm useful, he might pay
me a lot of money later. So, will you do that for me?"

Although there was something that was still bothering

Elena, she also understood that Carol had a good point
there. In the first place, it was exactly because Elena did not
agree with the evaluation that Drankam had about her that
she did not want to negotiate with Drankam this time.
 "...Sure... I'll properly convey that to Akira."

Carol smiled as she thought that it would leave a better

impression on Akira if he heard it from Elena instead of
hearing that from Carol herself.
 Chapter 122: Worthless Life

As Akira was waiting for Elena and Carol together with

Sara, he suddenly received a call from Carol. The same also
happened to Sara, except that it was from Elena.

Akira opened his information terminal and accepted the

call. When he did that, Carol's happy voice could be heard
coming out from his terminal.

[Akira, just want to let you know that we did pretty well
over here, I'll tell you the details of the request later. I did
my best to get a deal that you might like, you know.]

"I see."

Since Akira only reacted rather flatly, Carol once again

gave her report again, but this time she put more pressure to
make sure that Akira was listening to her.

[...I properly did my job during the negotiation and got a

deal that Elena is also satisfied with. If you think that I'm
lying, you should ask Elena once we group up.]

To be honest, Akira was actually not doubting Carol. He

was a bit weirded out by the reaction from Carol as he
thanked Carol.

"...? It's not like I'm doubting you though. Thank you,
you're a big help."

[You're welcome. We'll be waiting in the parking lot near

the Hunter Office, can you pick us up together with Sara?]

"Alright, we'll head there soon."

 Akira closed the call and returned back to his vehicle. Sara
also got more or less the same report from Elena. Both of
them then headed to the Hunter Office to pick up Elena and
Carol.

***

Carol made a conflicted expression as she closed her call

with Akira and stared at her information terminal. Judging
from that short exchange, she was able to confirm that she
scored some points to get closer to Akira. That in itself was
well under her expectation and she was happy that she was
finally able to make some progress.

But, during that conversation, Akira's reaction was

completely different when Carol brought up Elena too. To be
more precise, Akira showed more interest in Elena's
situation rather than his own situation. Or at least, that was
what Carol could catch from that short exchange.

——It seems that Akira really cares for Elena. From what
I can gather from Shikarabe, it doesn't sound like Akira has
any reason to like Elena that much though... As I thought, I
won't be able to know the reason unless I directly ask either
Akira or Elena, huh. But I feel like Akira would just try to
play innocent if I ask him, either that, or I feel like Akira
himself actually has no idea why he's that invested either.
Which means...

Carol glanced at Elena. Personally speaking, she was

better at extracting information from guys, but she had no
other options in this case. The real problem was whether she
had enough time to do that or not. Akira and Sara would
arrive there soon and it would be better if she did not bring
that up during the operation. And she did not know if she
would have the time to ask Elena and Sara after the
operation was done.
 ——I guess I need to be more useful so that he would
invite me again next time, huh. We're going to head to the
Seranthal building after this, it's a dangerous building that
the City Management even decided to gather Hunters who
successfully hunted the bounty monster to send to that
building. Although this is not out of our own volition, we're
going to head to such a dangerous place together. I'm sure
that it would at least get us close even if it's only for a bit.

As Carol thought so, she remembered that she almost got

killed the last time she was in that building.

——Well, let's focus on returning back alive for now.

Being a Hunter meant risking one's life for money. But

even so, it was not like those Hunters expected themselves to
get killed. If it was possible, they wanted to at least have the
right to decide when and where to die. Carol reminded
herself of the dangerous place that she was going to head to
from now on and pulled herself together.

***

After they grouped up, they then went to the city district
of the Mihazono ruin. Since the Hunter Office had secured
the area, they did not get to meet any monsters.

Elena already gave a detailed explanation about the

current request right after they grouped up. Their main job
this time was to scout the Seranthal building and check the
inside of the building before the main squad that still had
not fully established yet was dispatched there.

The composition of the team was the same as this

morning. Akira, Carol, Elena, Sara, Shikarabe, and Togami.
The only difference was that the leader of the team changed
from Elena to Shikarabe.
 But that was only for formality since it was a request that
came from Drankam. On the paper, Shikarabe could not
bring Varga and Yamanobe who were also present when they
defeated the Tank Tarantula, thus, he was given other
personnel to replace Varga and Yamanobe.

So in reality, the leader of that team was still Elena.

Shikarabe used his connection with Arabe, an officer in
Drankam, to convince Drankam's side so that he was
allowed to do that.

With this, Elena had the highest say on what the team
would do inside Seranthal building. But that did not mean
they could not just leave Seranthal building without her
consent. As in matter of fact, the other Hunters could freely
explore the building and decide to retreat anytime they felt
that they were in danger.

Akira looked around his surroundings while driving his

vehicle.

The road leading to Seranthal building was cleaned of

rubbles and wreckages so the main squad that would be sent
later could quickly reach Seranthal building. He could see
humanoid robots moving heavy rubbles and wreckages off
the road. It was a scene that would make people who had an
interest in robots to watch them cleaning the road for a
while. But, Akira had no interest in such a thing at all.

Akira made a rather stern face when he suddenly said.

"...So, this is why we didn't encounter any monsters this

morning when we went to that empty building, huh?"

The main road heading to Seranthal building was

protected by walls so that monsters would not block the
road. Those walls were tall and looked pretty durable, there
were also some tanks and humanoid soldiers stationed
around those walls as well as armed soldiers.

Carol who was sitting next to Akira expressed his

agreement with what he just said.

"It seems that since most of the monsters in Mihazono

ruin gathered around the Seranthal building, there are not
that many monsters roaming in the other locations, huh.
And it seems that a fierce battle is also still in progress
around that building even now, I can understand why the
City Management decided to dispatch Hunters who had the
experience of hunting bounty monster."

Most of the tanks present were shooting at monsters. The

warheads released by those tanks accurately hit the
monsters, exploded, and turned those monsters into a new
pile of wreckage.

While the humanoid weapons were pushing the medium-

sized monsters back using their huge weapons that they
were carrying, countless bullets rained down on those
monsters and shredded them to pieces.

As for the armed soldiers, they were using the wall to

shield themselves from the monsters while shooting back at
those monsters focusing more on the small monsters that
were hiding behind the wreckages and rubbles.

Akira looked at the ongoing battle around him and

frowned, he then mumbled.

"...Are we really going to be okay?"

Akira skipped most of the details in his question there,

but Carol immediately answered that question while looking
relaxed.
 "I think that it'll be alright. Looking at the current
situation, I'm sure that the defence line will still hold while
we're scouting the inside of Seranthal building and I'm sure
that this road won't be filled with monsters on our way back
from that building. Although the squad dispatched by the
City Management was hard-pressed to secure the road to the
Seranthal building, once the supply route is also secured,
they should be able to hold out just fine for the time being."

The equipment used by the squad securing the road to

Seranthal building were mostly transported from the Hunter
Office parking lot through the road leading to Seranthal
building that they just secured. As long as this route was
secured, the Hunter Office should be able to sustain its
upper hand for the time being.

"Not to mention, they're also planning to send the main

squad later, so I'm sure they'll keep this road secured. So as
long as nothing really bad happens, I'm sure they'll be able
to secure this road while we scout the Seranthal building."

As Akira looked at the squad guarding the main road, he

thought that they indeed looked exceptionally powerful. He
then mumbled.

"Isn't it faster if they just send in these people rather than

waiting for a squad of Hunters?"

Carol smiled bitterly as she looked at Akira who found

such a thing to be weird.

"Well, I'm sure that one of the reasons is because they

can't bring along their tanks and humanoid weapons inside
that building. But more than that, I'm sure that it's a matter
of cost."

"Cost?"
 "Yep. The real problem would be the cost, it's basically
cheaper to just hire us, Hunters. It's only my guess but I
think that squad is a part of the city defence squad. So I'm
sure some of them are from the inner wall. Those people
from the inner wall should have gone through a certain level
of education before they went through extra training and
were sent to the outside of the inner wall. Basically, they
already spent a lot of money from the day they were born. So
if the City Management sends them to somewhere as
dangerous as Seranthal building and gets them killed, it
would inflict a huge economic loss for the city. Not to
mention, if they have families, then the City Management
needs to pay for the annuity. And if they have insurance, the
city should pay for that too. I can't even imagine how much
money the city would lose if the city opts to send those
people."

Seeing how Carol said that while lightly smiling, Akira

sighed and said.

"So basically that's because it's way cheaper to send us,

huh. And the rewards that they have to pay for us which is a
pretty big sum of money from our point of view is relatively
small compared to the amount of money that the City
Management might lose if they send the city defence squad."

"Yep, basically that's the gist of it. If I have to add

anything, that might be also the reason why they don't pay
that much attention to Seranthal building until now. There
are many ghost stories in Mihazono ruin that are related to
Seranthal building, then there are many Hunters who lost
their lives in this ruin which I bet is also because of
Seranthal building. This ruin might turn safer if they just
destroy that building, but they don't do that since it means
that they'll lose all the old-world relics inside that building.
It's understandable that they have no plans to kill the goose
that might give them golden egg, and even if that goose
becomes a monster that kills everyone around it, as long as it
keeps producing golden eggs, it's highly unlikely that they
would kill it."

Akira was making a conflicted face as he sighed.

"...Well, it's true that Hunters only risk their lives going to
wasteland if only they know that it's worth it."

Akira understood that reasoning and even agreed with a

part of it. If the Corporate Government decided to destroy
that building, there would be opposition coming from the
people who were getting profits from that place. But even so,
there was also a part of it that Akira could not help but to
feel bothered with, and that showed in his face.

Carol giggled and said.

"If you don't like how they treat you as if your life is
worthless, you should work hard to increase the value of
your life."

"To be more precise, what do you think I should do?"

"You can just keep on making more money. This is the

eastern district, and we are Hunters. If you are alive, you can
make so much money, to the point that the Corporate
Government would not want to lose someone like you, and if
you become strong enough to be able to make that much
money, the Corporate Government would be more careful
dealing with you, both for the better or for the worse."

Akira smiled bitterly.

"I still have a long way to go, huh."

 "That's just how it goes, especially for us, Hunters. Since
we work by risking our life, so risking our lives alone is not
enough to make others respect us. We need to keep showing
results and obtain enough money worth risking our lives.
And of course, the more money that we gather, the higher
the value of our lives."

Akira understood what Carol was saying. He also agreed

with what she said. But he could not just laugh it off like
Carol.

"Seriously, that sounds really rough."

Alpha smiled and said.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. You have my support and

around the time you complete my request, you'll be strong
enough that the Corporate Government won't be able to
treat your life as worthless. Basically, you just need to get
strong enough and everything will be solved. So just leave it
to me."

『...You're right about that, I'll be counting on you.』

Although Akira felt that what Alpha said there was not
exactly about the same subject that he was talking about, he
still calmly replied with that.

The squad around the Seranthal building formed an

encirclement with the Seranthal building in the centre. They
erected some kind of line of defence to make sure that no
monsters would be able to get inside that encirclement as
well as to make sure that the monsters coming out from the
inside of that building would not escape the encirclement.

As Elena and her team approached one of those squads, a

soldier waved at them and signalled them to stop. And when
they did, that soldier approached the front-most vehicle.

The front-most vehicle was Shikarabe's. This time

Shikarabe did not come with his APC, instead, he was
driving another wasteland vehicle just like Akira and Sara. A
huge Drankam mark was painted on the side of Shikarabe's
vehicle.

Shikarabe then said to that soldier.

"We're the reconnaissance team sent to Seranthal

building, let us pass."

"They already told us about your team. I'm sorry but can
you proceed by legs? This defensive wall takes a lot of time
to set up, close, and open. You can park your vehicles over
there."

After listening to that soldier's explanation, Shikarabe

made a stern face. The defensive wall installed in that place
was not the same as the defensive wall that his team went
through this morning. It was a stronger defensive wall that
did not even have an opening for a vehicle to go through.

"Is this area that dangerous that you guys have no other
choice but to use this defensive wall?"

"No idea. But after the Seranthal building is secured, we

were told to use that building as the second base in this ruin.
So you guys can think of this defensive wall as the defensive
wall for that second base."

"With so many of you guys around, isn't it faster if you

guys go ahead and at least secure the first floor of that
building?"

That soldier obviously looked slightly annoyed as he said.

 "Give us a break, will you? Even if it's an order from the
people from above, I have no plans to go to a place where the
City Management even opted to dispatch Hunters who
successfully killed a bounty monster in the past, you know.
That's your job in the first place, isn't it? So don't just throw
that on us."

Those soldiers were actually dispatched by private

military contractors in Kugamayama city, they were not a
part of the city's defence squad, and they were not Hunters
like Akira and Shikarabe, who regularly hunted for relics in
the wasteland. They were basically people who specialize
only in guarding bases and similar facilities.

And those people looked at Hunters with fear and awe.

Their impression of the Hunters was not wrong. But in

order to attain such an impression on the Hunters, they had
to get enough education, which meant that they must have
lived their lives in safety up until now and had spent a lot of
money for that education. Some people who could not afford
such a luxury would turn into Hunters, then slowly get used
to the dangers that they faced every day and distorted their
sense of danger, which in turn would give them an excuse to
face even more danger.

From another point of view, it was not wrong to say that

the Hunters were the gathering of those people with a
broken sense of danger. Moreover, from those soldiers' point
of view, the Hunters who went to hunt the bounty monsters
out of their own volitions were the craziest among the crazy.
So, from their point of view, Akira, Shikarabe, Elena, Sara,
and the rest of the Hunters there were basically the craziest
among the crazy Hunters. And strictly speaking, they were
not wrong to think that way.
 Shikarabe explained the situation to the other Hunters,
they then decided to walk toward Seranthal building.

After they finished their preparation and walked past

through a small opening on the encirclement net, one of the
soldiers who saw them off said to another soldier.

"...They're bringing two boys with them though, but all of

them are the Hunters who successfully killed a bounty
monster, right?"

"I bet they're from Drankam. I'm sure you heard about it
too right that there's a young boy who is exceptionally skilled
in that gang, I heard that boy had successfully hunted a
bounty monster. So one of them might be that boy."

"Ahh, now that you mention it, I did hear about that too. I
guess that must be the one with that expensive-looking
equipment, but then who is the other boy?"

"No idea. It doesn't really matter anyway. That aside, I

really want to go back to the city. Why in the world did we
get dispatched to this place?"

"I heard that some big-shot from the City Management is

scheduled to visit the Seranthal building for negotiation or
something. So we're here basically to make sure that it's safe,
and that's why they're doing anything that they can to secure
that building and to even make that building a second base if
it's possible."

"Are they seriously thinking of doing something like that

in this situation?"

"Yep, they're thinking of doing something like that even in

this situation. So in order to make sure that their plan would
go smoothly and that big-shot won't get killed, they send
more soldiers than they normally would, and we're basically
a part of that operation."

"I don't know how great that Mr big-shot is, but he's a real
pain in the neck. The ruin is more dangerous than usual at
the moment, that guy should have postponed his plan or
something."

"If I'm not mistaken, he's the head of the long-term

strategic department, Yanagisawa, was it again? Well,
judging from our situation, he's basically that great of a guy
so the Corporate Government can't say no to him."

"Good grief, I really hope those people in the upper

echelons can understand our suffering in the field."

They then continued complaining about the guy who was

the main reason why they were dispatched there while kept
on the watch.

After passing through the encirclement net, Elena's team

carefully approached the Seranthal building. There were
wreckages of dead monsters and corpses of the dead
Hunters scattered around the area that they had walked
through. Once they reached the building's entrance and
confirmed that no monsters were spawning out from the
entrance, they finally stepped their feet inside of the
Seranthal building.

The first floor of the Seranthal building was basically a big

atrium hall with some receptionist desks. Akira looked
around the hall and tilted his head. The inside of the hall
was unnaturally clean. Although there were some bullet
holes in the ceilings and walls as well as some rubbles
scattered inside the hall, there were neither dead monsters
nor dead Hunters.
 While they were exploring the inside of the building,
Alpha suddenly said to Akira.

"Akira, I'm sorry but I need to leave you for a bit."

『Eh?』

"Don't worry, I'll be back right away. I don't detect any

monsters around either, so there's nothing to worry about."

After she said that, Alpha's image immediately vanished

from Akira's views.

『Alpha?』

There was no response when Akira called for her. Akira

could also feel that his augmented suit suddenly felt heavier
and the reading coming from his information-gathering
device also slightly worsened. Those two proved that he had
lost Alpha's support.

Akira could feel nervousness creeping up inside him.

——Calm down. She said that there are no monsters

around and she'll be back soon. It'll be alright, just calm
down.

Akira tried to slowly take a deep breath to calm himself

down. The current Akira had the ability to analyze his
current situation in order to calm down his nerves.

The other Hunters noticed that slight change, but since

they already heard that Akira almost got killed the last time
he went to Seranthal building, they thought that he got
nervous since he had to visit Seranthal building again.

Elena then gave an order to her team.

 "According to what I heard from Akira and Carol, the
sensitivity of our information-gathering device might
decrease down as we go deeper into the building. So make
sure to keep your eyes on your information-gathering device,
check if the reading starts getting worse, make sure that it's
still connected to my information-gathering device. Since I
also heard that even the local connection might also get
affected, you might lose connection with the other
information-gathering device if the signal gets pretty bad.
And lastly, check that you can still see the map of Seranthal
building and the location of the other Hunters in your
information-gathering device."

Akira could see the map of the Seranthal building

displayed on his goggles as well as the scan result of his
surroundings. It was the data that he received from Elena.
They already set their information-gathering device to be
able to exchange information with each other before they left
the Hunter Office branch.

Akira then glanced at Carol, Carol was not using any

equipment to display extra information. Akira found that
weird, he then threw a question to Carol while pointing at
his own goggle.

"Carol, are you sure you're okay with not using anything?"

Carol smiled full of confidence and replied.

"My body is actually an enhanced body, so basically both

of my eyes are also modified eyes. That's why I don't need to
use such a thing."

"Is that so?"

Akira stared deeply into one of Carol's eyes. Carol smiled

proudly while staring back at Akira.
 "...It looks like normal eye though?"

"Well, that's because it's made of a certain nanomaterial

that imitates biological tissue. So, what do you think? It's
pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Like I said, it looks like just normal eye."

"Don't you think that it has a different glisten or

something?"

"...Now that you mention it, there might be some... No,

I'm not really sure though? Hmmm."

Akira made a long 'hmm'. From the other point of view, it

looked like Akira and Carol were staring deeply at each
other.

"Akira, are you done with the checks?"

"Ah, right, sorry. I'm not done yet."

Akira flusteredly answered back, he then remembered

that Sara also had an enhanced body just like Carol. And he
noticed that she was also not using goggles, just like Carol.

Like with Carol, Akira also asked the same question to

Sara while pointing at his goggles.

"Sara-san, do you also don't need to use goggles? It seems

that Carol has both of her eyes modified."

"Eh...? Ah, about that, huh? Elena and I are actually using
this."

As Sara finally understood Akira's question, she then

pointed at a hair ornament-like object that she was using.
Akira who saw that tilted his head in confusion. Sara then
smiled and explained.

"This is basically a mini display device. It's projecting

stereoscopic hologram images just a few millimetres in front
of my eyes."

Akira looked even more confused than before.

"Is it really okay to put that in Sara-san's hair? It looks

really unstable though? Won't it cause the image to move a
lot and hard to see?"

"It's fine. The image itself doesn't sway at all so it's very
easy to read the information projected in that image. And
when it's blocking my view, I can just simply move it outside
my view too. It's really convenient since I can control it with
my sight."

"What kind of technology do they use to make such a

thing?"

"No idea. To be honest, I don't know anything at all about

the technology. But the manual says that it's based on some
kind of old-world technology. So I'm sure the researchers are
doing their best to answer that exact same question."

"I see."

Akira's expression changed from confusion to

confirmation. To be more precise, he actually gave up
pursuing that question any further. The old-world
technology, that one sentence had the power to solve such a
question in one go.

There were also other people who asked the same

question as Akira and that was totally understandable. Even
after the exceptionally talented people of the eastern district
were brought up to spend their time studying such a thing,
they still did not have enough knowledge to fully understand
the mechanism behind it. That was what it meant to be an
old-world technology.

The moment Akira heard the word hologram, it reminded

him about the holographic girl that he saw the last time he
came there. He once again scanned the whole hall, but he
still did not spot that hologram.

"......She's not here."

Sara tilted her head and asked Akira.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that I remembered something when you

mentioned the word hologram."

Carol immediately realized what Akira was talking about

and scanned the area too.

"You're right, she's not here."

Elena finally realized that Akira was looking for the A.I
that managed that building. From the information that she
gathered, a certain hologram would welcome anyone who
entered that building. But she did not see anything like that
at the moment.

"Seranthal, the A.I managing this building, huh? I was

actually thinking that we might be able to gather some
information from her about the current situation of the ruin.
But it seems that we can't do that, huh. Akira, don't just
stand there looking for that A.I, are you done with your
checks yet?"
 "J-Just a little bit more."

Akira flusteredly returned his gaze back to this

information terminal. Since Alpha was no longer around, he
had no other choice but to do the adjustment manually.
After testing a few settings, he understood well that it only
worsened the reading, so he gave up and returned the
setting back.

Shikarabe was still adjusting his information-gathering

device when he suddenly asked Elena a question.

"By the way, how did you get this map of the interior of
Seranthal building? This isn't the data from Drankam, right?
Did you get it yourself before coming here?"

Carol immediately interjected and answered Shikarabe's

question.

"That map is actually from me."

Shikarabe looked a bit surprised.

"...Are you sure you're okay with that? If it's originally

from you, it means that it's from one of that information
protected with a named license, so that you can't share it
freely, right? Don't tell me that you're planning to take
everyone's share of reward for yourself using this."

Carol replied with an expression saying that she was

offended by that remark.

"Oh my, that's so rude of you to say that although I gave

that data for free for the sake of everyone's safety. Don't you
think so too, Akira?"
 Akira was surprised when Carol suddenly roped him into
that conversation.

"Eh? Ahh, well, it's true that it's great to have this map.
Thanks."

Shikarabe was still looking at Carol with a distrusting gaze

as he said.

"My bad, I didn't grow up in an environment where I can

just trust free things given out of "pure kindness". Moreover,
I know just how precious the map of Seranthal building is
and it's not something that you can call cheap. Since when
did you turn into a kind person?"

Akira also grew up in such an environment. So when

Shikarabe pointed that out, he started to get suspicious too.

Carol noticed that slight change, so she immediately tried

to explain her reasons to Shikarabe.

"Geez, that's so rude of you. I'll do at least that much to

help someone who helped me to get out from a deadly
situation in the past as well as his trusted friends too, you
know. Well, if I really need to say something to convince
you, it's basically a map from when the ruin was still in a
normal state. Not to mention, the old-world ruin often
changes so suddenly in such a short time span. And even if
the interior of the Seranthal building has not changed that
much, it would not be strange that the interior of the
building is changed after all the battles between the Hunters
and the monsters that happened inside this building, you
know. That's why the price of that map from before the state
in the ruin changed should have significantly lowered by
now. Moreover, once the main squad that will come after us
secures this building, I'm sure that they'll release the latest
version of the map. And when that happens, the value of this
map will be lowered even more. That's why I decided to just
share it for free, do you understand it now?"

Carol was not speaking to Shikarabe in order to convince

him, even Shikarabe knew that much. While on the other
hand, Shikarabe also understood from there that no matter
what she was scheming, Carol would not cause any trouble
during that request.

Shikarabe basically had no interest as long as it would not

cause any trouble for him. Thus, he signalled to Carol that he
had no plans to pursue that question any further.

"... I see, I get it now, sorry for suspecting you."

"It's fine as long as you get it now."

Shikarabe and Carol then smiled at each other as if they

were talking through telepathy with each other and ended
their conversation there.

The reason why Carol shared the map data was not only to
make sure of her own safety, it was also for selling a favour
to Elena and Sara as well as to win Akira's trust. Thus, she
could not afford to have Shikarabe messing up her scheme.
That was why she said that to Shikarabe.

Carol then glanced at Akira, and as she planned, Akira did

not seem to be suspicious of her any longer.

Elena then said to everyone, especially to Shikarabe.

"If you guys are done with the preparation, should we go

now? And also, hold yourself from causing any unnecessary
fight."

"Sorry about that. I'm ready here, let's go."

 Elena then looked at the other Hunters, Akira lightly
nodded and signalled that he was ready too.

Akira renewed his resolve and tensed up his whole body.

With Alpha still not around, he had no other choice but to
rely on his own skill to follow Elena and the other veteran
Hunters. He reminded himself to do his best as not to slow
down the other Hunters.

"——I'm back, were you missing me?"

Akira's resolve was immediately wasted. Alpha appeared

back in his view as she smiled mischievously at him.

If Akira had to be honest, he would have to answer

Alpha's question with a yes. So in order to avoid that, he
instead asked Alpha a question.

『Where have you been?』

"It's nothing big, just a small thing that I needed to do.

It's nothing to worry about."

『 If it's really not that important, don't do that again.

Where do you think I'm right now?』

"That's not what I meant when I said that. It was at least

something that demanded me to leave you for a while just
to do it. I don't mind telling you the detail, but in order to
do that, I need to tell you all the applied conditions which
will take about 30 hours of oral explanations, then I need to
make sure that you understand it, then I'll still need your
permission after that. So, do you still want to know?"

『No thanks."

"Thought so."
 Alpha smiled amusedly after getting the reaction that she
already predicted from Akira.
 Chapter 123: Shikarabe's Request

Elena's team started exploring the interior of the

Seranthal Building. They started from the first floor and
slowly climbed up relying on the map data they got from
Carol.

Inside the rooms and hallways, there were metal

wreckages that might have been what was left of mechanical
monsters, there were also bloodstains that might have been
left by Hunters. The bullet holes and scorch marks scattered
around the area seemed to be recent. All of these showed
just how fierce was the battle that happened in the building.
But even so, Elena and her team did not encounter any
enemies at all.

When they reached the 5th floor, they found a room with
a half-destroyed door. There were scorch marks from bullets
around that door and there were traces of monsters trying to
get into that door, chasing for the Hunters who must have
run inside that room.

When Akira nodded without saying anything, they

immediately got themselves ready to break into that room.
They readied their rifles and matched their timings to make
sure that there would not be any trouble if there were still
monsters inside that room. They quickly broke into that
room, scanned for enemies, and once they confirmed that
there were no monsters inside, Akira sighed and lowered his
rifle.

They actually had scanned the inside of the room using

their information-gathering device before they went in.
Although they did not detect any monsters, it might be
simply because their information-gathering device could not
detect them, thus, it did not guarantee that there were no
monsters inside that room. If they lowered their guards just
because their information-gathering device did not detect
anything, they would eventually have to pay with their lives
for doing something as foolish as that, even more so at the
moment when the sensitivity of their information-gathering
device was considerably lowered.

It was not like Akira had training on how to work in a

team, but even so, as a Hunter with enough experience and
skill, he should be able to judge what he should do by
observing the other Hunters. And if he knew that, he should
be able to judge how good the other Hunters were from how
they reacted to the situation when they broke inside that
room with no monsters inside.

So, judging from how they broke into that room, it was
obvious that Akira had the least cooperative skill in that
group. After all, he did not have enough training nor real-life
experience to learn that skill.

Due to Alpha's training, Akira's ability to fight was indeed

superior, but he was not skilled enough to work in sync with
other skilled Hunters as skilled as Shikarabe and the others.

The only reason why Akira was not slowing the other
Hunters down was simply because of his training and the
support from Alpha.

Before they broke into that room, Akira could see the
image of himself breaking into that room, where to position
himself, where to aim his rifle the moment he broke in, and
which direction he should check first. Even if he was not able
to follow that guiding image, Alpha would forcefully move
his body through his augmented suit.
 But in reality, before he broke into that room, before he
searched the hallways of the Seranthal building, even before
he even stepped inside the Seranthal building, Akira actually
had always been in the middle of his training. Because of
that, from Elena and the others' point of view, Akira seemed
to be at least skilled enough to not slow them down.

It was not impossible to see through Akira's real ability

from the small deviation when he moved his aim or the
small lag in his movements. But that would be nigh
impossible except for those top Hunters from the frontline
in the easternmost part of the eastern district. And of course,
Togami who was there in order to reconfirm his own skill
was not an exception.

After all, Togami, Shikarabe, Elena, Sara, and Carol were

better Hunters than him. They indeed had higher Hunter
Ranks than him, and Togami, who had his confidence
shattered last time, confirmed that they were indeed above
him when he saw how they moved during the search.

Akira's Hunter Rank was lower than Togami. But from his
experience working with Akira during the bounty hunt and
from observing his movements up until now, Togami also
thought that Akira was definitely someone above him.

Togami looked at the other 5 Hunters with a conflicted

expression. Although he was together with Hunters who
were above him, rather than feeling safe, he was instead
worried that this time he would not be able to get any
conclusions again.

Elena checked the inside of that room, she then frowned

and mumbled.

"...This is... Going pretty well... Really well."

 Akira then asked Elena.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Well, it's nothing big. But, Akira, since we entered

this building, did you see any dead Hunter or monster? I'm
not talking about the small traces, I'm talking about whole
wreckage or body."

Akira did not remember seeing one. But he thought that it

might be just because he missed them, so he decided to ask
Alpha.

『Alpha, was there anything like that?』

"Nope."

"No, I didn't see them at all."

Akira actually did not know what had been bothering

Elena. But, if answering her question could clear that worry,
he thought that he should at least answer it honestly. When
Akira thought so, he chose to rely on Alpha rather than his
vague memory.

Since Akira answered back so straightforwardly, Elena

found that a bit amusing as she giggled.

Sara was smiling too as she said to Elena.

"I didn't see any too, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Since the outside of the building is riddled with monsters

and dead Hunters, I just thought that it's rather disturbing
that we don't find anything like that inside the building. We
did not even encounter any monsters either. But according
to Akira and Carol, each floor of this building should have
been filled with monsters, there were also a lot of Hunters
who got killed after arriving here including the Hunters who
received that SOS rescue request from Drankam. But even
so, we didn't see any corpses from those Hunters nor any
dead monsters. It's not like I have no guess at all, but it's not
a good idea to just accept that guess without confirming it
first."

Shikarabe then asked Elena a question.

"In that case, let's hear your guesses. Let's start with why
do you think we didn't find any monsters?"

"Basically, I think that after the monsters killed all the

Hunters inside this building, they went outside and fought
the squads surrounding this building, then they got killed by
those squads instead. And since the encirclement also
prevents the monsters from the outside to get into the
building, so the current Seranthal building is left with no
monsters inside."

This time it was Sara who asked Elena a question.

"Then why didn't we find any dead Hunters?"

"The current Seranthal building is actually still active,

thus the cleaning drones must have dumped them outside
the building. Some of the dead monsters and Hunters
outside the building might have come originally from here."

Akira then said.

"I see, then why don't we find any of those cleaning

drones? And if they did clean the building, why did they
leave some leftover wreckages and bloodstains?"
 "They might have a fixed time to do the cleaning and
they're on standby right now. Or it might be because they're
actively avoiding us since they don't have much fighting
power. That also means that they somehow can ascertain
our positions too. As for the leftover wreckages and
bloodstains, it's either because the cleaning drones haven't
cleaned them or it's just because they need more time to
clean all the small things since they prioritized cleaning the
bigger ones first."

Elena answered the other Hunters' questions one by one.

Akira and Togami were actually just simply asking questions
that came up in their minds as they unconsciously lowered
their guards. Their expressions were slightly relaxed. On the
contrary, after Elena answered questions from Sara,
Shikarabe, and Carol, the three of them did not lower their
guard at all.

Shikarabe then asked another question.

"I see. That does make sense. If that's the case, we should
be able to continue the search without much trouble, but...
What's your bad take of this situation?"

Elena's expression turned slightly stern.

"They're in the middle of doing their best to kill us. The

reason why we didn't meet any enemies is because the A.I
manager of this building has taken control of those monsters
and that A.I is telling them to hold back for now to reserve
their strength as they're planning to attack us when they're
sure they can trap us and we have no chance to survive their
attack. While the reason why we don't see any dead Hunters
is because they're trying to lower our guard. After all, if we
spot some dead Hunters, it'll definitely get us to be more
careful, which in turn might cause us to hesitate from going
deeper. Moreover, if the cleaning drones made the building
speckless, we might find that strange and instead makes us
more vigilant too. That's why they left the building not fully
cleaned. Of course, leaving the building half cleaned like this
is indeed strange, but it at least won't make us retreat right
away. Instead, it might even lure us in to investigate the
reason behind that strangeness. I guess that's the gist of it if
I'm being pessimistic here."

After listening to Elena's answer, all the feeling of relief

inside Akira's heart was blown away.

Carol somehow managed to smile and said.

"Well, that does make sense too. So then, leader, what are
we going to do from here? I know that you might don't want
to do it, but I hope you can bring something to bring us relief
after telling us something that scary. There are 2 people here
who faced death in this building yesterday, you know."

Carol glanced at Akira, although she was smiling like

usual, there was a slight trace of seductiveness in her smile.

Elena looked at Carol without saying anything for a few

seconds as if she was trying to read something out of her.

"You're right, let's look at the map first."

Elena renewed the map that the others were looking at.
Small points appeared on that map, those points traced their
location starting from when they were on the first floor.

"These are the information coming from the mini

information-gathering devices that I installed. These devices
can communicate with each other and the end result is
actively sent to me. Since the sensitivity of the information-
gathering devices and the range of the short-range
connection are lowered inside this building, I put quite a lot
of these devices on our way here."

Lines came out from each point and connected them to

the other points near to them showing that they were
actively connected to each other. While at the same time, it
also showed that their communication and scan range was
significantly lowered.

"To be honest, I want to install them all over the interior

of this building, but I didn't bring enough supply since we
didn't plan to come here in the first place and I didn't have
the time to resupply either. That's why I only installed
enough so that we can quickly secure our escape route."

More points appeared on the map that the other Hunters

were looking at, as if it was trying to cover the whole
building with those points, it then showed the number of
extra devices that they would need if they wanted to do that
in red. After that, those extra points vanished.

"If these devices pick up anything that threatens our

escape route, we will retreat. If not, we will continue to
search the building until I run out of these small
information-gathering devices. Of course, we'll also adapt to
the situation and retreat if it gets too dangerous."

The human-like images that indicated everyone's position

in that map then moved up the building while leaving dots
on their way up. After that, those images immediately
returned back to the first floor when one of the dots turned
red.

"Even if the monsters really gathered somewhere upstairs,

these information-gathering devices will quickly detect them
if they go down to the lower floors and try to ambush us.
And with how wide the hallways are in this building, we
should be able to limit the number of monsters trying to
pass through them, and I believe that we should have
enough firepower to force a way out from this building."

Extra images appeared on the map that represented

monsters, then the indicators that represented the Hunters
there started retreating back while using the layout of the
hallways inside that building to reduce the number of
monsters that they were fighting at the same time.

Elena then finished her explanation with that map as that

map immediately returned back to its original state.

Akira looked at that map while closely listening to Elena's

explanation.

『 As I thought, having someone who specializes in

analyzing information really makes things easy to
understand.』

"That might be true, but honestly speaking, I think it

should have been enough to use only words for that level of
explanation. I bet Elena deliberately used that map to help
you understand."

After listening to Alpha's reaction, Akira tried to sound

strong as he said.

『...It's not like I wouldn't understand if she didn't do that

though I just meant that it really makes such an explanation
easy to understand.』

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure there will be many occasions
where Elena would explain her plan only with words in the
future, so I believe that you would understand them with no
problem, right?"
 『 ...I'm sorry, I hope that you would help me when that
happens.』

"Of course."

Alpha giggled when Akira just easily gave up trying to look

strong.

Elena then threw a smile at Carol and said.

"...This is basically the gist of my plan though, so, how is

it? If you have anything you want to say, there's no need to
hold back. After all, I have no plans to ignore the opinion of
someone who had experienced fighting inside this Seranthal
building."

Carol once again glanced at Akira to check on him. After

she confirmed that Akira did not seem to have anything to
complain about, she then smiled at Elena and expressed her
appreciation.

"I'm good with that plan. I'm glad to hear that it seems
there's no need to worry too much as we continue exploring
this ruin. As expected of someone that Akira trusts so much,
it seems that you're pretty skilled in leading an indoor battle
too. It's just that I only saw your skill in leading battle
outside yesterday, so I was a bit worried. I'm sorry if I
offended you."

"It's fine, don't worry. That's normal since we are basically

trusting our lives to each other in this situation, and I do
think that confirming stuff like that is indeed important. I'm
glad that you're happy with my plan."

Elena and Carol were smiling at each other while trying to

hide the strange impression that they were actually talking
about 2 different things there. Sara smiled bitterly,
Shikarabe just ignored it thinking that it had nothing to do
with him, Togami was too nervous that he did not notice it,
and Akira there just tilted his head, it seemed that he did not
understand what was going on.

***

They then continued searching the building. Just like

Elena predicted, they did not encounter any monsters as
they continued exploring further into the building.

There was no monster at all. The wall of Seranthal

building blocked all kinds of information including sound, it
might be to reduce the effectiveness of information-
gathering devices inside that building, but thanks to that, the
situation inside that building was completely quiet. It was as
if the silence confirmed that there was no one else there
except Elena and her team.

Akira continued searching the ruin following Alpha's

instruction, it also doubled as training for Akira on how to
explore a building.

『Say, Alpha. There's no monster at all though, which of

Elena's guesses that you think is the correct one?』

"Which one do you think, Akira?"

『To be honest, I have no idea at all.』

"That answer is actually the correct answer. If there's no

need to make the choice, it's better not to make any when
you don't have enough evidence. If you do, you will be more
susceptible to information that supports your guess and
you will be more likely to reject information that disproves
it."
 『Is that so?』

"Moreover, whichever the case, it would not change the

things that you need to do. If the optimistic guess is correct,
then this would be a good training for you. But if the
pessimistic guess is correct, then you at least won't get
ambushed. So don't lower your guard just because there
are no monsters detected, and even if there's really no
monsters around, let's continue carefully and take this
training seriously."

『You're right about that... I actually didn't mean to lower

my guard though. So like, did I actually lower my guard
there?』

"According to what I can see, you're at least not that

tense for someone who is exploring an unknown dangerous
old-world ruin."

『 Whoops, didn't mean to do that... Alright then, I'll be

more careful.』

Since he did not encounter any monsters, it seemed that

Akira had lowered his guard enough for Alpha to warn him.
So he collected himself together and continued the
exploration.

Not too long after they reached the 15th floor, Elena
suddenly told them to hold.

"—Wait."

Akira sharpened his sense and aimed his rifle at the

hallway. The other Hunters also did the same almost
immediately.
 Elena kept her eyes on his information terminal as if she
was trying to confirm something. Her expression then
returned to normal as she drew a conclusion and said.

"...It's not a signal from the mechanical monster, it should

be okay."

The other Hunters lowered their guard after hearing

Elena's answer. Sara then asked Elena.

"So, what was it?"

"Wait for a sec..."

After she said that, Elena checked the signal that was
coming from a place not too far away from them. She then
found a small mechanical device and picked it up. If that
small device was mixed with the wreckages of the monsters,
no one would be able to tell if that was not a part of the dead
mechanical monster, but once it was picked up, it was easy
to notice that it was not a part of a mechanical monster.

"...This one, huh?"

Elena mumbled as she looked at the small object that

stopped them.

Akira looked at the object that Elena picked up with

interest. It looked just like the small information-gathering
device that Elena was using. But that was as far as his
knowledge went, he did not know anything more than that.

Elena noticed Akira, she then showed the device in her

hand and said.

"This seems to be a mini relay device. This one specializes

in relaying information between Hunters around this device.
When a team of Hunters explores an old-world ruin, they
need to communicate and exchange information with the
other Hunters of the same team who would be moving
separately at that point, right? So this device is mostly used
for something like that. It might also be used as signs so that
they could retrace back their steps when they explore a
dangerous ruin. It's also useful for the rescue team to track
their location if they get stuck inside the ruin. And of course,
some Hunters just leave it as a proof that he or she was able
to reach such a dangerous location."

After listening to Elena's explanation, Akira nodded

deeply. Elena lightly smiled when she saw how Akira reacted
to her explanation, she then ordered her team.

"I'm sure it's left behind by the Hunters who came here
before us. I'll analyze it for the time being, so wait for a bit."

Elena then started checking that mini information relay

device. When she connected her information terminal to
that device, the information from analyzing that device was
immediately displayed through the same stereoscopic
hologram display device that she and Sara were using.

Elena then continued analyzing the information that was

displayed to her. Since she was the only one who could see
that display, from the other point of view, it seemed as if she
was only standing there while staring at the mini
information relay device without doing or saying anything.
Looking at that, Akira asked Alpha.

『 Alpha, it seems to me like Elena-san is only standing

there without doing anything though, but she's actually
analyzing that device, right?』

"Yep, that's why you should not interrupt her."

 『You don't even need to tell me that.』

"By the way, it's not that different to when you talk to
me, you know. Thanks to the fact that a lot of other Hunters
are also using similar devices, people don't get suspicious of
you when you do that though. And even if you suddenly
turn your head to look at me, I'm sure that the other
Hunters will only think that you're trying to see a similar
type of display like the one that Sara and Elena are using."

『Is that so...?』

No one else could see Alpha other than Akira. Because of

that, if he tried to talk normally to Alpha, it would look as if
he was a suspicious person talking to air. Although Akira
tried his best to hide it since he knew that himself, it seemed
that as he expected, he was not able to completely hide it. So
in short, he sometimes made a weird and suspicious move.
Akira seemed a bit dejected after he got reminded about
that.

After Elena finished analyzing some part of the

information from that mini information relay device, she
then said.

"Shikarabe, this information relay device is owned by

someone from Drankam. It seems that it's sending a signal
in non-standard format too. Shikarabe, did you get anything
in your information terminal? It might be some kind of
coded signal only recognized by people from Drankam."

"Hm? Wait for a sec, let me check."

Shikarabe then pulled out his information terminal and

checked it.
 "...Nope, nothing. I bet it's either because that signal is too
weak or it's simply because my information terminal can't
recognize that signal. What's the information broadcasted
through the normal format?"

"It's simply a message asking for help since the monsters

are chasing them. Although it's written that it's an SOS
rescue request, it doesn't say anything about who is the
issuer, how much is the reward offer, or the duration of the
request. It doesn't even contain the Hunter code of the
sender. Although it's still one of those SOS rescue requests, I
bet no one would take this request after reading this
message. It's unclear how many of them or where they are. It
basically won't change our plan, we might help them if
they're still alive and we find them by chance, but we won't
go out of our way to look for them."

"Can you send the encrypted signal to me?"

"Sure. There. I just sent it."

Elena just sent the encrypted message broadcasted by the

mini information gathering device to Shikarabe's
information terminal. Shikarabe then used the decryption
software installed inside his information terminal to decrypt
that encrypted message. The output from the decryption
software was basically another encrypted message and a
short message saying for anyone who received that message
to send it to Drankam's officers.

Since Shikarabe had some connections with the officers in

Drankam, he was able to decrypt that encrypted message
further. After he checked the content of that message, his
face twitched.

"Ahhh...!? Goddammit!!!"
 Shikarabe shouted out his frustration.

Somewhere inside his angry expression, it seemed that

Shikarabe thought of something else. Elena was actually
interested as to why Shikarabe made that face, but she
thought that it must be some kind of Drankam's business, so
it would be better if she did not try to make any unnecessary
guess.

Judging from Shikarabe's expression, it was clear that it

must have something to do with the infighting within
Drankam. Moreover, that message was an encrypted
message. Elena thought that it would give nothing but
trouble if an outsider like her needlessly stuck her head in
whatever that message was about.

Seeing Shikarabe was still deep in his thoughts, Elena

then asked him.

"I don't know the content of that message, but, is it okay if

we continue the search now?"

Shikarabe glanced at Elena, he then shifted his gaze to the

floor and thought for a bit before looking straight into
Elena's eyes again.

"...In that case, I have a suggestion, no, a request. I want

to change our main aim from simply exploring this building
to rescuing the owner of that information relay device. It's as
you said, that Hunter is from Drankam. I still have my
reputation to hold among Hunters in Drankam, so I just
can't ignore this message."

Elena then asked Shikarabe a question, trying to probe

what might be behind Shikarabe's sudden request.
 "I know it's rather cruel to say this, but that Hunter might
be already dead, you know. If you want to retrieve their
corpse, I'm sure the main squad that will come here later
will retrieve all the corpses in this building after securing it,
so you can save that for later. There's also a chance that they
have escaped the building on their own. We didn't get to
meet any monsters up until now. If they barricaded
themselves somewhere to escape the danger, I'm sure it's an
easy thing for them to escape this building right now when
there are no monsters at all."

After Shikarabe listened to both pessimistic and relatively

normal guesses from Elena, he then replied back with a grim
face.

"No, I bet they're still alive and still inside this building.
There's a chance that they might have barricaded themselves
somewhere so tightly to the point that they even can't
confirm the situation outside the room that they barricaded
in, or they might be injured so that they can't travel too far.
Saving Hunters are also one of the contents of our current
request. Not to mention, if they're survivors from when the
situation in the ruin changed, they might have some
important key information to understand the reason for that
change. I'm sure it's more profitable than just simply
exploring this building, so, what do you think? If you save a
Hunter from Drankam, I'm sure Drankam will give you an
extra reward on top of the reward that you get from the City
Management. I can even negotiate with the Drankam side
for you."

Shikarabe was not lying, but he had another reason as to

why he made that request. Elena knew that very well as she
asked Shikarabe a question.

"I'll at least ask you this, what if I say no?"

 "Then I won't ask again, I have no plans to convince you
to take it. You act as the leader, and I work under you, that
was the deal. As a mere Hunter, I have no plans to break that
agreement."

Elena then thought it must be something that Shikarabe

himself did not want to do, but because of his position in
Drankam, he could not just ignore it without putting any
effort first. And right now, he was trying to make an excuse
out of Elena that he could not rescue the sender of that SOS
message.

There was no mistaking it, Shikarabe's request was

definitely because of that encrypted message. Elena then
asked Shikarabe.

"One more thing then, what's exactly the content of that

message?"

"I can't say since it's secret information only for Drankam
people. If you want to know no matter what, you would need
to join Drankam. If you're okay with that, I don't mind using
my right to tell you the content of that message here.
Drankam always welcomes new Hunters who want to join its
rank."

"Thanks but no."

"I see, then, will you take the request?"

Elena then thought again, the content of that encrypted

message must be something related to the people inside
Drankam, something that could not be shared with people
outside Drankam. Or at least, it was something that
Shikarabe would not willingly tell to people outside
Drankam.
 Elena calculated all the risks and the profits that the team
could gain there since she was the team leader.

Togami suddenly nervously asked Elena.

"U-Uhhh, as someone from Drankam, honestly speaking,

if it's possible I want to take that request too. Drankam also
recommended us to rescue any Hunters that we can... But of
course, it's okay if it's not possible..."

Togami was not lying there, but besides that, he was

actually aiming for a chance to reconfirm his skill when said
that.

After Elena looked at Togami, her gaze then shifted to

Akira. Akira then said.

"I don't mind either way, I'll follow whatever Elena-san

decides."

Carol then followed.

"I don't mind too, after all, Akira also said that."

Next was Sara.

"Well, we came to this ruin in the first place because of

that SOS rescue request after all, isn't it fine taking in that
request thinking that it's just an extension from our original
plan coming here? Not to mention, we can get an extra
reward from it too."

Sara sent a meaningful gaze toward Shikarabe when she

said that. Shikarabe immediately responded.

"I can guarantee that I'll negotiate with Drankam about

the reward, but I'll only go that far. Well, Drankam also has
its face to save, so I'm sure they'll give you quite a lot of
money for the reward."

After taking all the opinions from her team members,

Elena then realised that among all of them, the only Hunters
who had experience fighting inside the Seranthal building
were only Akira and Carol. She was originally planning to
reject Shikarabe's request if either Akira or Carol showed
even the slightest sign that they did not want to do it. But
they did not show anything like that. So Elena finally made a
decision.

Elena's expression changed to a rather serious look as she

said to her team.

"Alright, our main aim from here and on will change to

rescuing those Hunters. Judging from that mini information
relay device, we can assume that they left similar devices to
mark the places that they went through. So, we'll use them to
help us find their location. Then on top of that, we'll
prioritize searching only rooms where they might have
barricaded themselves in. We'll immediately pull back once
we retrieve the targets regardless if they're dead or alive.
Carol, I'll leave picking the rooms to you. Once you're done
with that, decide on a route, and we'll go from there."

Carol seemed a bit confused as she tilted her head and

said.

"I've given you that map though, so you should be able to

do that yourself, right?"

Elena changed her expression and replied.

"I want you to decide based on the information that is not

included in that data. I know that you did not give all the
information that you have when you gave me that map,
right? Or at least, that data map didn't include anything that
explains how you escaped from this building yesterday with
Akira."

Carol's smile immediately vanished. Her gaze turned

really sharp and she slightly lowered her voice.

"......Did you hear that from Akira?"

—Akira and Togami were surprised by that sudden change

from Carol. But the other Hunters were not surprised at all.
It showed the difference in their experience.

Elena did not show any change in both her expression and
tone of her voice as she answered Carol's question.

"I did ask him, but he did not tell me anything. He did at
least tell me that he got trapped with you in this building,
surrounded by monsters. Since both of you did not force
your way all the way to the first floor to escape the building,
it means that there's another way to escape this building. It
must be some kind of secret route, whether it's a secret
room, or a secret hallway, or a secret elevator, or maybe
something else. Honestly speaking, I want that information
too as an insurance in this situation. Moreover, I want to
avoid the situation where we can't find the rescue targets
just because they're hiding in that secret room, that's why
I'm asking you to do that. If you want extra payment for that
information, you can go ahead and ask Shikarabe later."

Shikarabe immediately reacted when his name suddenly

got mentioned there.

"Hah, me?"

"You're the one who asked us to take that request, the

rescue targets this time are Drankam Hunters, right? So at
least do something about that extra information cost from
the reward."

Elena had a good point there. Shikarabe also knew that

very well as he sighed.

Carol did not change her expression as she mumbled.

"......I see, so Akira didn't tell you, huh."

In that short time when everyone's attention shifted to

Elena and Shikarabe, Carol suddenly smiled. It was a dark
and ominous smile as if it was leaking out Carol's inner
feeling mixed with a slight tinge of madness and joy.

If any of them there saw Carol's face, they would definitely

make some kind of reaction. But unfortunately, no one saw
her. And because Carol immediately returned her face to
normal, no one noticed her change at all.

Carol then smiled as if nothing had happened and said to

Elena.

"Got it then, I'll get it done ASAP. Is it okay if I just add

extra indicators to the map?"

As Elena's attention returned back to Carol, she felt that

somehow something was bothering her. But she did not
know what it was.

"...? Sure, I'll be counting on you."

But unfortunately, Elena was not in a position where she

had the leeway thinking about the thing that was bothering
her. So she just quickly decided to forget about it.
 Alpha was staring at Carol. It was not like Alpha existed in
the same place as the rest of the Hunters, that was why, in
order to gather information about the people in that place,
Alpha was using different methods compared to normal
people. For example, she was relying on the information-
gathering devices in that place to recognize 3D objects. And
of course, she was also using other methods too. Basically,
she did not need someone to be in her field of view for her to
be able to see that person.

As such, Alpha was able to completely see Carol's

expression back there, and that was why she put her guard
up against Carol.
 Chapter 124: Continuing The Exploration

Elena and her team changed their main goal to rescuing

the Hunters left trapped inside the Seranthal building. They
also adjusted their exploration method to fit their new goal.

Up until now, they explored all the hallways and rooms

from the first floor using their information-gathering devices
to map out the inner layout of the building before. But this
time, they only searched the rooms that Carol indicated and
immediately went to the next floor once they were done.
Their travel speed changed, so much that it surprised Akira.

Since they restarted their exploration, Akira always

searched the rooms following the instructions from Alpha.

The level of the difficulty of the exploration suddenly went

up compared to before. Since they increased their
exploration rate, they did not have much time to check their
surroundings and make decisions. And if they were late in
doing so, it would cause the next action to get delayed, thus,
increasing the accumulated stress, lowering their
concentration, slowing them down, and eventually affected
how careful they were in doing their searches. It was only a
matter of time before Akira could not endure the
accumulating stress.

Seeing how Akira was accumulating stress pretty fast,

Alpha decided to stop the training.

"Akira, you should take a break. I'll do the search, so you

should calm down and take a rest."

『...Alright.』
 Akira let out a light sigh. Although it was not like he
completely lowered his guard, he fully relied on Alpha for
detecting enemies now, thus, he could relax a bit as he
followed Elena and the rest of the Hunters. Akira also
started to move more sluggishly than before, but since Alpha
also mended that through his augmented suit, it was not that
apparent. Therefore, the other Hunters did not reprimand
him.

Now that Akira got some leeway, he then asked a question

that had been bothering him for a while to Alpha.

『Alpha, there's something that I want to ask, though...』

"Oh my, if you have so much leeway as to make a

pointless chit chat now, it might be a good idea to restart
your training again."

Akira went silent. Well, it was true that Akira was talking
with Alpha through telepathy, so he did not make any
sounds nor he did move his mouth, but even so, he suddenly
went silent. Anyone who could notice that would think that
conveying silence through telepathy was indeed a
meaningless action. And the only thing there who could
notice it was Alpha alone.

Alpha smiled mischievously and said.

"I'm just kidding, so, what is your question?"

Akira then frowned while still in silence as Alpha was

smiling amusedly at him. If it was a competition of being
obstinate, Akira had zero chance of winning. Akira knew
that well, his face turned displeased as he sighed before his
expression returned to normal and said.
 『 ...I just thought that we're moving faster than before
since we changed our main goal. I'm just wondering if that's
really alright. Ah, that's not right, I actually think that it
should be okay, but...』

Akira was trying to gather his thoughts as he was speaking

with Alpha. Alpha quickly guessed what he was trying to ask
even before he could finish his sentence, she then
immediately answered.

"You basically don't doubt Elena's order. That's why you

have no complaint about it. But that would be your
subjective opinion. It's not like you, yourself, fully
understand the effect of that order, evaluate it, and finally
conclude by yourself that it should be fine. If I have to word
it differently, if Shikarabe or Togami make the same
decision, you would've questioned it. So you want to know
if I also think that it's not a bad decision, and if I do, you
want to know the reason why. You're basically wondering
if the increased searching speed affects the quality of our
searches. You're also wondering that if you only look in the
places where you might find one of those mini information
relay devices, you might be missing some devices on your
way. It's not like you can ask about that to Elena right now,
you can actually just ask her later, but since it's bothering
you and you have the chance to ask me, you decided to ask
me now, right?"

Akira frowned and was a bit weirded out by Alpha's

words. He then said.

『...Well, yeah, something like that.』

Although Akira was trying to hide it, Sara was able to

accurately guess what happened when he joined the bounty
hunt with Shikarabe only with the limited information that
Akira shared with her. And this time, Alpha was able to
quickly guess what he was thinking even before he finished
gathering his thoughts.

Akira was actually feeling a bit scared that it was only a

matter of time before they could completely read his
thoughts even without him saying anything.

Alpha then started evaluating Elena's decision.

"I do also think that Elena's decision is the right decision.

Although it ultimately depends on how you are going to
evaluate that decision, and I'm sure that even you are not
expecting Elena to have a god-like level of commanding
skill, to successfully lead a team of Hunters filled with
amateurs through a deathly battlefield, right?"

『Well, yes.』

"Then, there should be no problems. Elena is doing a

good job analyzing the current situation and adapting to
the new information. I can at least say that much. So, if I
have to start from the searching speed..."

Alpha suddenly stopped there and forcefully moved

Akira's body through his augmented suit. Akira was putting
too much attention on Alpha's explanation that he
significantly slowed down. Akira, who realized that,
flusteredly pulled himself together and aimed his rifle at the
intersection that the team just passed through.

Alpha then smiled at Akira and said.

"As I thought, isn't it better if we talk about it later?"

『...You're right, let's save that for later.』

 "Alright then. But if talking with you slows you down
that much, then I won't be able to talk to you when you're
exploring an old-world ruin, huh. I'm sure you'll feel lonely
too because of that. Do you think I need to train you to do
that?"

Alpha said that while still smiling, while on the other

hand, Akira pouted when she said that.

Elena and her team continued deeper into the building.

They did not encounter any monsters as they explored the
building, but unfortunately enough, they also did not get to
encounter any of their rescue targets.

They searched only the rooms where there was a good

chance the Hunters who they were looking for might be
barricading themselves. But all of them were empty rooms.
Although they did find some traces of battles and
bloodstains that might be from the Hunters and some other
traces showing that someone was once there, they did not
find any Hunters at all, not even their corpses.

A change happened when they reached the 20th floor. As

they were about to explore the 20th floor, Elena suddenly
told them to stop.

They immediately put their guards up and scanned their

surroundings. They noticed that the 20th floor looked
completely different from all the other floors below it.

There were Hunters' corpses, wreckages, rubbles, and

still-moving monsters. Judging from their outer looks, they
should be the A24 monsters that they fought in the
Mihazono ruin's city district, but they were badly damaged,
their torsos were dented and some of their limbs were
blasted to pieces. Some of them lost their legs, while some
others lost their wheels. But that did not hinder them from
moving around as they were able to nimbly avoid the
corpses and the wreckages that were scattered on the floor.

Shikarabe looked around and mumbled.

"...So, they only finished cleaning the lower floors, huh.

Well, I guess it's better than having them waiting to welcome
us here."

Looking at what those monsters were doing there, it did

not seem like they were waiting for Akira and the other
Hunters. But judging at the dead Hunters on the floor, it did
not seem like they would peacefully let them pass either.

Elena immediately tried to think of a plan to clear up

those monsters.

——I bet they're patrol drones. And judging from how

they are moving around, it doesn't seem like they've noticed
us yet. Is it because their sensors are broken or something?
Are they not exchanging information with Seranthal's
security facilities? Or is it because the very thing that is
lowering the sensitivity of our information-gathering
devices is also affecting them? Are they autonomous
drones? Are they here for reconnaissance? Or is that they're
simply roaming aimlessly after their control devices got
destroyed or something?

Elena thought of so many possibilities, then after going

through all of those options, she then said to Sara.

"Sara, kill them."

"Roger that."

Sara aimed her anti-material rifle at those monsters. Just

like the information-gathering device, the aiming device of
her rifle was also affected by the Seranthal building, thus, its
accuracy was worsened.

But, it did not cause much trouble for Sara's ability. She
aimed her rifle at the torsos of those monsters and pulled
the trigger once she was sure that her shots would hit.

The bullet that flew out of her rifle's muzzle hit its target
accurately. That bullet was designed for firepower rather
than piercing power, as such, it easily blasted A24's torso.
The impact threw its body and scattered its inside around as
it rolled over on the ground. It did not take that long before
the next A24 also got blown away.

Elena told her team to stay on guard while she was

observing the A24 that had turned into wreckages on the
floor.

Akira suddenly realized something weird.

『Alpha. It's about the monsters that Sara-san just killed,

from the outside, they look like mechanical monsters, it's
not like they're actually biological monsters, right...?』

Alpha found that question rather strange, but even so, she
decided to recheck the dead monsters that were scattered on
the ground. They were made of metals and some kind of
nanomaterials. They did not seem to be biological monsters.

"Well, from what I can see, I believe they're mechanical

monsters. What's wrong?"

『 Nah, I'm just wondering about what's the meaning of

killing mechanical monsters. Judging from what Sara-san
did back there, does that mean to break them and render
them unable to move...? That still doesn't sound right,
though?』
 "Oooh, I see."

From how Elena worded it, Akira was wondering if they

were actually biological monsters that looked like
mechanical monsters. It was a subject that could easily cause
a debate.

Alpha then thought, Akira just encountered a monster. So,

it might be better to let him focus more on watching his
surroundings instead of thinking about something else. So
she was wondering if she should scold Akira instead.

But it was not clear yet whether it was really unnecessary

or not. Being critical and extra cautious made people more
careful, and sometimes, it might even be the trump card to
escape a hopeless situation. An ability to think outside the
box and come up with an unthinkable solution was an
invaluable skill.

In order to polish that skill, there was no other way but to

keep being critical and always ask difficult questions. If
Alpha scolded Akira, there was a good chance that Akira
would obediently do that, thus, reducing his chance to polish
his skill in thinking outside the box.

If it was about the ability to detect enemies, Akira would

not be able to get better than Alpha. Thus, Alpha decided
that she should encourage him to polish other kinds of skills,
although it was unlikely.

Alpha then answered Akira's question.

"It could be interpreted as putting a short gap in between

executing the actions that would kill and when the target
could be assumed dead. So applying that to mechanical
monsters, I would say that Elena told Sara to leave a small
time gap, from the moment she started shooting at those
monsters until when those monsters fully stopped moving
anymore. Or, maybe even put no time gap at all if it was
possible. That was what Elena asked from Sara. Although
it's nothing but a guess, I believe that's the gist of it."

『Is it not enough to just destroy them?』

"Let's say if those monsters are a part of the building's

security. They might immediately call for reinforcement
when they're attacked, or maybe they won't. They might
only call for reinforcements once they judge that they can't
win only with their firepower. This condition might also
include the damage done to its own body. Some of them
might have a self-repairing system, then they would repair
themselves, check the damage on their bodies, and if it's
above the threshold, they would call for reinforcements. So
in order to stop them from doing something like that,
there's a need to completely stop their functions with one
shot. That's why Elena used that word. I think you can
interpret her like that."

『 If they're really a part of the building's security, won't

they already know our location and would call for
reinforcement the moment we destroyed them?』

"We don't know how much these monsters are

exchanging information with each other. Maybe Elena
wanted to check that too, that's why she gave that order, or
maybe, she wanted to know how many monsters would
come here just from the sound of the gunshot. It should be
hard to ascertain our position only from that gunshot
inside this building, you know. After all, something is
reducing the sensitivity of your information-gathering
device inside this building, but we don't know for sure if
that also affects the monsters. Moreover, if they're really a
part of the building's security, even if their sensors are also
affected, they should have already known our location from
the sensors scattered all over the interior of this building.
So these monsters might as well know our location from
that shared information. I think Elena is trying to check
that too."

Akira looked a bit surprised, he did not even consider that

at all. It might be because he always relied on Alpha to
decide on what to do during a fight. After listening to Alpha's
explanation, it reminded him of his lack of skill in that
department.

"I can make other guesses too, but let's just stop here.
Now that we just encountered some monsters, you need to
be more careful from here and on."

『Just tell me one more thing then. About that thing that
you just explained to me, is that a normal thing for Hunters
to know that? Am I the only one who doesn't know that
far?』

"It might be just simply because Elena thought you

would understand what she wanted to convey only with
those words. Elena and Sara seem to have been working
together for a long time, so I bet they can tell what each
other is trying to say without actually saying it. I bet she
would add an extra explanation if she was to give the same
order to you. But judging from the content of that order, I
think it's as you said. If you're bothered by that, you should
put more effort into studying from now on. I'll help you too,
you know?"

Alpha smiled mischievously, Akira returned that with a

bitter smile.

『 I guess I still have a long way to go before I can be a

proper Hunter, huh?』
 When Alpha said that she would help him, she was
actually saying that she was willing to increase the difficulty
of the training and the study. Akira at least knew that much.

Togami confirmed the change of the situation as he

continued watching his surroundings. The monsters were
now scattered on the ground while Elena was scanning the
area with a serious look. That was all the changes there for
now.

Togami who was seriously watching his surroundings

suddenly made a confused expression, he then looked
slightly troubled.

In the back of his head, he was thinking that there were

no longer any monsters in that area and there did not seem
to be any reinforcement coming either, which in that case,
should it not be better to continue the search? After all, in
order to reach their rescue target as soon as possible, it
might be better to hurry up.

Togami then asked Elena.

"Uhhh, aren't we going to continue the search?"

Elena did not even turn or change her expression as she

replied.

"Sorry, I don't have the time to explain it. If you have any
questions, just ask Shikarabe."

"But, like, you know, we've been doing this for a while
now and..."

Since Togami did not seem likely to step back anytime

soon, Shikarabe said with an irritated voice.
 "Just shut up."

Togami flinched and immediately turned to Shikarabe.

Shikarabe was exuding a level of antagonism toward him.

Shikarabe had this serious expression, he did not even try

to hide his irritation as he said to Togami.

"Listen here, Elena is busy, so don't interrupt her."

"...Alright."

Togami just backed out obediently, Shikarabe was rather

surprised by it. It was true that Shikarabe put a little bit of
extra intimidation there to make sure that Togami would not
get ahead of himself and worsened the situation there. But
with that being said, it was still a bit weird for Togami to be
so obedient like that. Or at least, to Shikarabe, it did not
seem that there was any sign of grudge when Togami backed
out.

——What the heck is with this boy? Since when he

becomes this obedient, it's true that it's a good thing though,
but still...

Although Shikarabe was really surprised, he immediately

decided to just forget about it for now. They encountered
some monsters just now, so as long as it did not hinder
them, there was no need to think too much about it.

Togami then reassessed the current situation. From his

point of view, including that level of caution against the first
group of monsters they encountered inside that building, he
thought that they were wasting time and were just delaying
rescuing their targets.
 This team was formed on such a short notice, so it would
be normal for some of the team members to complain if they
found the order given to them by their leader was just a
waste of time or meaningless. But other than Togami, no one
there was complaining.

——So basically she's doing something important, and

Shikarabe also thinks so too. But then, how about the other
Hunters? Do they also understand why she's doing that and
understand its importance too? Is it only me who doesn't
understand it?

Actually, there's one more person there who did not

understand why Elena had not given her orders to continue
the search yet, it was Akira. But Alpha gave him an
explanation that answered his question.

Togami thought that he was the only person there who did
not understand something that everyone should already
understand. So he used all of his brainpower to keep
thinking about the reason why Elena gave that order to
stand by there.

Elena then pointed her finger toward a hallway leading to

another opening on the right.

"Sara. If it's possible, let it pass. If it gets dangerous, just

destroy it. There's no need to wait for my order."

"Roger that."

Sara aimed her rifle toward the entrance of that hallway,

she then lightly smiled and said.

"We don't really know what's going on here, so isn't it

safer to just destroy it."
 "I leave that decision to you."

Sara looked at Elena, she was making a serious face when

she said that. Sara then got herself ready while still looking
pretty relaxed.

The map of the 20th floor was displayed in Akira's

goggles. It was showing the hallway that Sara was pointing
her rifle at. After Elena gave the order to Sara, a red dot
suddenly appeared on that map located somewhere deeper
in that hallway. It was the indicator for enemies.

Alpha then enhanced Akira's vision, thanks to that, he was

able to see through the walls.

Akira was able to see the monster indicated with the red
dot on the map, that monster was also painted red in his
vision. Although he was not able to see the shape of the
monster, he was at least able to see that there was a monster
there.

Alpha then said to Akira.

"They're enemies, I'm sure Sara can take care of them.

But just to be safe, get yourself ready too."

『 Alright. But still, the display looks rather blurry, is it

because of that thing that affects the information-gathering
devices?』

"Yep, that's correct. Don't drop your guard just because

you see the same information as from the map."

Akira aimed his CWH anti-material rifle toward the

hallway. He was aiming at the monster way deep inside the
hallway and behind the walls.
 Shikarabe and Carol were also aiming their rifles in ready,
but they were aiming toward different hallways. It was
because they believed Akira and Sara would be enough to
handle the monster shown on the map. Moreover, they also
understood that just because the map did not show any
monsters in the other hallways, it did not mean that there
definitely were no monsters there.

Togami also readied his rifle while looking at Akira, he

was surprised when he realized Akira was aiming his rifle
toward a wall.

——Where the hell is he aiming at?

Togami shifted his gaze from Akira to the wall that Akira
was aiming at. But it was just a plain wall without anything
that might garner attention. Togami then looked at Akira
again with a weirded out face.

The red dot in the map started to approach Elena and her
team. It would not be long before they encounter each other.

As the red dot, the enemy, kept getting closer and closer,
Akira started to be able to see the shape of the monster
through his enhanced vision. The image of the enemy
started getting better and better. It was because the closer
they got to each other, the better his information-gathering
device was reading that monster.

Akira followed the enemy with his eyes. As they got closer,
the image of the monster on the other side of the wall was
also getting clearer.

It was the same type of monster as the ones that Sara just
killed, the A24-type monster. But this one was only slightly
damaged, it nimbly moved over the wreckages on the floor
as it travelled through the hallway and eventually showed up
in front of Akira right when he was aiming at the entrance of
the hallway.

Togami who was watching Akira's movement was taken

aback. He realized Akira was looking straight at the monster
in front of him.

——That guy is following a monster with his eyes?! How

did he do that?!

Togami was so surprised that he focused more on Akira

rather than on the A24 monster that just appeared. If that
monster had already known their location beforehand and
immediately released a shot there, it would have been a fatal
opening.

Fortunately enough, or more like, as Elena had predicted,

the A24 monster just continued walking through the hallway
without paying any attention to Akira. Sara confirmed that
the gun growing out of its back was not aiming at anyone
there. She was still aiming at that monster's gun while
letting it pass, just like Elena told her to.

That monster continued walking past through the

wreckages of the other A24 monsters that Sara just killed
and left that place, that was when Elena told Sara.

"Sara, destroy it."

Sara did not hesitate at all as he immediately shot a bullet

at the monster.

The first shot hit its machine gun and tore it off from the
monster's body, the impact also threw it off balance.

The second shot hit the monster's torso and threw its
body as it rolled on the ground.
 As it was tumbling over, Sara released her third and
fourth shots. The third shot hit its legs, pierced through its
armour and went through its torso, while the fourth shot
pierced its body and slammed its body to the wall behind it.

That monster was rendered harmless in just a few

seconds. It then tumbled over to the ground, twitched as if it
was squeezing the very last drop of life that it had, and
finally completely stopped moving.

Sara confirmed that she killed it as she lowered her rifle.

Elena looked at the monster that Sara just defeated and
hummed.

Akira looked at that monster that still mostly retained its

original shape and asked Alpha.

『 That was a little bit different compared to when Sara-

san took out the first group.』

"That's because the order from Elena was different too. If

my guess is correct, after she disarmed that monster with
the first shot, she released the rest of the shots with the goal
of checking how durable it is."

『I see.』

"Monsters of the same type or species usually have the

same structures. Since Sara just showed you how much
damage you can cause by shooting at which part, you
should properly use it as a reference the next time you shoot
at them, okay?"

Alpha was smiling as usual when she said that. But in

contrast to her, Akira was making a stern face. It was true
that Sara just showed how effective it would be if he shot at a
particular part of the monster. But even so, he had no idea
where he should aim his shot at.

In that short display, he needed to discern which one was

the monster's control device among all the small pieces of
the monster that were scattered. Then, he should guess from
there the location of the control device before it got
destroyed, then finally guessed the weak part of its armour
where he could snipe that control device. But of course,
Akira could not do that.

『So, should I first prioritize destroying the monster's gun

just like what Sara-san did?』

"That's a good idea, which in that case then, you just

need to be able to accurately aim at the monster's gun while
it's still moving and without my support."

『...So, what's the right answer?』

"The right answer would be that your aim depends on

how good you are at shooting. With your current skill, I
think it's better if you aim at its torso to break its balance
and lower its accuracy. You need to at least be able to hit it
to do that though."

『You're right about that, the first step would be to hit my

shots.』

He might still need a lot of time before he could shoot as

accurately as Sara, Akira then sighed.

Togami suddenly asked Akira a question.

"...How did you know its location?"

Akira frowned.
 "It's shown on the map, right? Or is it that it didn't show
up on your map?"

Togami seemed obviously confused as he said.

"That's not what I'm asking about, I'm talking about how
you followed that monster when it was still behind that
wall?"

When Togami asked that question again, Akira finally

realized what Togami was talking about. Normally, people
would not be able to see through a wall, it was thanks to
Alpha's support that he could do that. Although he was a bit
surprised inside, he made effort to not show it on his face.

"The location of the enemies on the 20th floor is shown as

red dots in the map, right? If you look at that, you can more
or less guess the real location of the enemies."

"They're basically nothing but a rough approximation. But

back there you were accurately tracking that monster when
it was still behind the wall. How did you do that...?"

Togami was not convinced by Akira's explanation as he

pressed for more answers. That was when Shikarabe
suddenly interjected.

"Akira, there's no need for you to answer all of his stupid

questions. Just ignore him. I bet this guy thinks that
everything that he can't do or understand are all strange
things. There's no need to listen to him."

Although it was unclear why Shikarabe said that, it was

not a bad suggestion for Akira. So Akira just nodded and
said.

"Got it."
 Togami looked at Shikarabe with a bit of hostility, but
when he saw Shikarabe's face that was mixed with a bit of
mockery, he immediately looked down and hung his head
low. And then he returned to monitoring his surroundings.

Shikarabe looked at Togami with a slightly surprised look.

It was true that Shikarabe interjected to stop Togami from
picking a fight with Akira, but he also expected Togami to
pick a fight with him when he did that. But just like last
time, Togami just meekly obeyed his order.

——He really has toned down, huh. Honestly though,

what happened to this boy?

Although Shikarabe still had no idea why Togami turned

so obedient, seeing how Togami stopped being selfish, he no
longer thought of Togami as a spoiled brat for now.
 Chapter 125: The Hunters Who Barricaded Themselves

Even after Sara destroyed the second monster, Elena still

ordered the team to stay on watch in that hall. There were
corpses of dead Hunters, wreckages of destroyed monsters,
monsters that had been rendered harmless with their bodies
almost fully intact, they were looking at these while still on
stand by in that room. The time that they spent there was
crucial to gather and analyze all the data that they could get
there. But it was only a matter of time before it turned into
simply a waste of time.

——Judging from how the monsters reacted, it seems

that they don't know our location. It might be because their
ability to share information and contact each other is also
lowered just like how the sensitivity of our information-
gathering devices are also lowered. If it's blocking them
from calling reinforcements, it might also be the case for
their ability to contact each other, no, maybe they can but
only for the monsters on the same floor? Then, even if it's
true that the manager of this building has turned hostile to
us, then why is their ability to contact each other affected
the same way as how the sensitivity of our information-
gathering device is affected? Is the manager of this building
not sharing information with these monsters? Is it because
they're under different management? Or is it because these
monsters are broken or something? Or is it simply because
they're not working under the management of this
building? Or is it that they're trying to trick us here?

When Elena's display showed that her information-

gathering device had finished gathering and analyzing all the
information that it could get there, Elena decided to finally
move on.
 ——I've finished analyzing the monsters here. We should
be able to detect the same type of monster better now, it'll
at least increase the sensitivity of our information-
gathering device. There doesn't seem to be any
reinforcement, but I don't think it's a good idea to stay here
any longer, it would be a waste of time if we keep staying
here longer. I guess it's time to go then.

Elena then said to the rest of the team.

"We'll keep up our method and speed just like before.

Although you can see the result for the radar on your map,
don't drop your guard just because there are no monsters
detected. Just fight the monsters that block our way, there's
no need to kill all the monsters, prioritize more on searching
the area. But of course, safety is still number one. That's all,
let's go."

They immediately started moving again, and as Elena

ordered, they kept the same speed and method although the
situation on the 20th floor was completely different
compared to the 19th floor.

There were puddles of blood mixed with wreckages of

monsters on the floor as they continued their search on that
floor. There were traces of destroyed barricades and the
Hunters who must have frantically fought those monsters.
The Hunters' hands that were poking out from a pile of
wreckages of dead monsters were still holding their rifles
even now. Rubbles and wreckages blocked the hallways and
the corpses of the Hunters who created those piles scattered
inside the hallways.

The monsters there already turned the Hunters on that

floor to corpses, and the still-moving monsters now quickly
turned their attention to the new enemies that just stepped
into that floor.
 Alpha gave Akira an order while they were in the middle
of moving.

"Akira, to your right."

『Roger that.』

Akira who was running immediately stopped at the

intersection in front of him and aimed his rifle to the right.

He gathered his concentration and compressed his time

perception as he fixed his aim at the target that he could not
even see. He then tracked the A24 monsters that passed
through the next intersection and pulled the trigger the
moment they showed themselves.

Akira was able to see the location of the control device

inside the monster's body due to Alpha's support. Alpha also
indicated the location where Akira's bullet would easily
pierce its armour and destroy its control device. As Akira
tried to align his aim, a trajectory prediction line extended
from his CWH anti-material rifle's muzzle.

The bullet that flew out from the CWH anti-material rifle
hit the weak point of the monster. It destroyed the monster's
outer armour and pierced through its innards, it went
straight for the monster's control device and destroyed it in
one shot. The monster that had lost its brain immediately
stopped functioning and just crashed into the ground with
the momentum that it had when it flew out from the
intersection due to inertia.

『Alright!』

Akira nodded and immediately started running again.

When he had a chance, he quickly turned to Alpha and asked
her a question while still running.
 『How was that?』

Alpha smiled and warned him.

"If I didn't fix your aim, it would have missed the

monster about 1 metre to the left. You need to try to keep
calm while fixing your aim as fast as possible."

『...I see.』

Akira felt slightly depressed, he felt pretty good with

himself after that shot, but it turned out that it was all
thanks to Alpha's support.

But Akira quickly pulled himself together, he knew that he

had no time to lament. He then commented about the other
factor that increased the difficulty of sniping monsters there.

『 But still, this place is pretty bad. It would have been

much easier if they cleaned this place just like what they did
on the lower floors.』

Because of the fierce battle that happened beforehand

there, the leftover of that battle blocked the way and made it
more difficult for Akira to move around. Wreckages of dead
monsters scattered on the ground, they were leaking out oils
which then mixed together with the blood from the dead
Hunters. These were preventing Akira from moving too fast.
They did not have a stable footing and the floor was slippery
from the oil and the blood. Sniping alone was already hard
enough, but the environment there increased the difficulty
even more.

Alpha then answered Akira's question.

"The cleaning drones might have been destroyed by the

other mechanical monsters."
 『...Wait, they're not friends?』

"We don't know for sure if those monsters are working

under the command of the manager of this building. They
might be a completely separate swarm that somehow
entered the Seranthal building. Of course, this is nothing
but a guess though."

Akira made a troubled look, but he immediately returned

his face to normal.

『 This has really turned into something super

complicated. It might have something to do with the current
abnormality in Mihazono ruin, but well, I guess it has
nothing to do with me, huh. Well, it's true that I might be
able to get 10,000,000,000 Aurum if I know the reason
behind it, but it's not the time to be thinking about that right
now.』

Alpha smiled at Akira and said.

"That's true. You came here in order to help Elena and

Sara out of your own volition after all. So you need to
concentrate more on that. But if you've had enough of it,
you can tell me anytime. I'll immediately readjust your
course of action for moving separately from the team."

Akira sulked for a bit, but Alpha just ignored it and kept
smiling at him.

It was true that he actually just ignored Alpha's opinion

and dragged her for his own selfishness to help out Elena
and Sara. That was why he thought that it was
understandable for Alpha to poke at him like that, so he just
ignored it and decided to move on.
 Shikarabe aimed his rifle at the monster that was located
behind a pile of wreckage and pulled the trigger. The
piercing bullet that he was using was able to pierce through
the pile of wreckage and hit the monster behind it. He was
able to destroy the monster's vital component in one shot
and killed that monster.

Shikarabe was able to ascertain the enemy's location from

the data that he was receiving from Elena.

——It's amazing how accurate this information that she's

sending to me is when the sensitivity of my own
information-gathering device is this bad. It's great that I
can take it easy. I can see now why Arabe is always trying
so hard to get Elena and Sara to join the gang, though it
always ended up with a failure.

Shikarabe was honestly impressed by Elena's ability and

smiled bitterly remembering how his friend worked so hard
for it although it ended up with failures.

While Carol had a large gun with her that could blast the
monsters in one shot. It was also thanks to Elena that she
was able to quickly detect the monsters that hid in difficult-
to-spot places.

——Elena's ability to process information is really

nothing to scoff at, Sara is also moving accordingly to keep
Elena protected. It's understandable that Akira looks up to
them. I guess it won't be easy to impress Akira with my
Hunter skill, huh. Well, let's just do my best.

Carol was also impressed with Elena and Sara's skill. So

using that as a reference, it seemed that it would not be easy
to try to show off her Hunter skill to Akira.
 Togami was desperately trying to catch up with the
moving speed of the rest of the team. He did not complain at
all as he used all he got to use that chance to show his skills
to other Hunters.

His powerful equipment supported him to push his way

through difficult situations. But that was not enough for him
to match the current speed. He was barely able to follow the
rest of the team.

Togami checked at the other Hunters while fighting the

monsters. Just like Akira who was able to track a monster
that was invisible to him, Shikarabe and the other Hunters
could also predict accurately where and when the enemy
would appear or shoot accurately through wreckages or
rubbles.

Togami was also receiving the same information from

Elena just like the rest of the Hunters, but even so, he could
not use it to perform as well as the other Hunters.

His expression turned stern.

——So it's normal for them to be able to do that, huh?!

While on the other hand, I can't do that at all... At least for
now though, I'll definitely learn how to do that too as soon
as possible!!

In the past, excessive praises pushed him to grow, but this

time, frustration and the feeling of patheticness pushed him
to grow. Togami recognized his own skill and his pathetic
performance here, he was scolding himself as if to tell him to
fight back while pushing himself to the limit.

Elena kept scanning the surroundings while going deeper

and deeper into the building. And of course, he was also
keeping his eyes for any signals from their rescue targets
while scanning her surroundings. At the same time, she was
also marking the route that the team would take on the map.

Sara was fighting the monsters they encountered while

making sure that Elena, the leader of the team, was properly
protected. Sara's display was showing the information that
Elena had analyzed and sent to her. Thanks to that
information, Sara was able to effectively remove the
monsters that were blocking their way forward and any
monsters that approached the team.

Elena and Sara basically work together as a team of two

when they did Hunter jobs. Depending on the request that
they took, they sometimes had to work under a different
team, or sometimes, as the leader of the team, but that was
not enough to break their habit of working as a team of two.
It was simply because they understood and trusted each
other, they knew that it was the best option and they trusted
that fact.

Sara then contacted Elena through the transceiver.

[Elena, who is this rescue target that we're trying to

rescue this time? Or more like, is there really any survivors
in this situation?]

[This is only my guess, but I think it's very likely that

they're still alive. Or at least, it seems that Shikarabe thinks
so. If Shikarabe's aim this time is to retrieve the borrowed
equipment or the corpses, I'm sure he would have chosen
another option. That's why he asked us to do this even
though he doesn't want to.]

That answer did not fully convince Sara. She looked

around at the wreckages of dead monsters that were
scattered on the ground and said.
 [The people who fought these monsters might be the
Hunters who accepted that SOS rescue request, right? So
basically, they must be the Hunters who were in this ruin
yesterday. I'm sure most of them only had enough supplies
thinking that they would return back during the day, right?
And even if they brought with them extra supplies, I'm sure
they had used most of them to fight all of these monsters.
And if they are strong enough to handle all of these monsters
in that situation, I bet they've already escaped the building
by themselves though.]

Judging from the average strength of the Hunters in the

Mihazono ruin, the state of the Hunters who accepted that
SOS rescue request, and the leftover of the battles in that
place, Sara's experience as a Hunter was telling her that
there was zero chance their rescue targets were still alive.

Elena actually had the same thought as Sara. But even so,
she believed there was a good chance that their rescue
targets were still alive, and that reason might lie in the secret
information that Shikarabe would not tell her.

[I actually agree with you. But even so, Shikarabe still

believes that they are still alive. They might have some team
members who specialize in close-quarter combat, or they
might bring with themselves way more supplies than most
Hunters would, or they might be way stronger than most of
the Hunters in this ruin, or they made sure to barricade
themselves somewhere to make sure that they would be able
to return alive. So judging from that, they might still be alive
even now. Don't you think that's plausible too?]

[Well, that does make sense, a lot of Hunters went to this

building after Drankam issued that SOS rescue request after
all. So it won't be strange if some of them are actually that
skilled.]
 Sara was convinced by that answer, but even so, Elena
who answered Sara's question felt that something was still
bothering her.

It was the reason why Shikarabe made that expression

back then. Judging from there, there was no mistaking it
that it must be something troublesome, something that
forced Shikarabe to adjust his action assuming that their
rescue targets were still alive. There was no telling how
much that something might affect the other Hunters later.

Elena then carefully asked Shikarabe.

"Shikarabe, I didn't ask you this since I thought it must be

information that you can't share, but at least I'll ask you this
now. Can you at least tell us the name of our rescue targets?"

Shikarabe's expression turned clouded.

"It's not secret information. But, in case if that person is

already dead or if we fail to rescue that person, it's way
better if you don't know that person. Not telling you here is
actually an act of kindness. But if you want to know no
matter what, I don't mind telling you."

"I won't ask any further then. And also, if that's really the
case, if we have to negotiate with them afterwards, I'll have
to ask you to lead the negotiation for us, yes?"

"Roger that. It might include inside information about

Drankam, so it might be better if I'm the one to do that
anyway."

Elena understood a few things after listening to

Shikarabe's answer. One thing for sure, it was not someone
that Shikarabe did not know. He knew about this person
that they were trying to rescue. And it was someone that
might bring trouble later to the point that Shikarabe made
that annoyed look the moment he decrypted the message
from that person.

Elena thought that it was better to just get this request

done with and move on. Which meant that they had to find
their rescue targets and escort them back to safety as soon as
possible.

***

Reina, Shiori, and Kanae were barricading themselves

inside a room on the 30th floor.

The entrance to that room was heavily barricaded. They

used wreckages from the dead monsters, portable barriers,
and furniture found inside the room to barricade the
entrance. They abandoned their chance to get out from that
building and prioritized more on making sure that no
monsters could get inside the room.

Shiori was taking care of her weapons while using the

wreckage of monsters as her chair and table. The cut surface
of that wreckage was clean, Shiori cut that wreckage with a
single swing of the blade dangling on her hip.

Her blade was housed in a black sheathe, both the sheathe

and the blade were made using old-world technology. The
blade was so sharp that it cut through the monster like a hot
knife cutting through butter. The sheathe itself was
equipped with a feature that automatically repaired the
nicks and any other damages on the blade. Among all the
equipment that Shiori had, it was her most prized
equipment. Kanae was also using the wreckage of a dead
monster as a chair, she was sitting next to Shiori.
 There was a huge dent on the body of the destroyed
monsters, it was created when Kanae punched those
monsters. Thanks to her powerful augmented suit and
trained body, she was able to make a huge dent on the
monsters' armours that could easily ricochet bullets and
crush the innards of those monsters.

The monsters that Shiori and Kanae were sitting on were

the monsters that they defeated when they secured that
room. Of course, it was not comfortable sitting on them, but
thanks to their augmented suit, they had no problem sitting
on those wreckages for a long time. Although there were
other soft things in that place, they gave them all to Reina.

Kanae smiled at Shiori and said.

"Well, what can I say, I'm glad that we made sure we're
ready for anything, right?! Thanks to that, we're able to
survive this far! We still have quite a lot of ammunition and
food! We should still be able to stay here for some time, yep
yep!!"

Shiori stopped her hands and glanced coldly at Kanae who

was still smiling widely at her.

"That aside, it's pretty amazing how everything that young

boy Akira said is true. Our information terminal quickly lost
any connections and we can't use it to contact anyone. Then,
the sensitivity of our information-gathering device also
significantly worsened, then to top it off, we got surrounded
by swarms of monsters. Hm? Ahh, the facilities inside this
building are still working well though. It might be just
because we didn't check it, but I wonder what actually
caused it."

Shiori was looking at Kanae with a colder gaze than usual,

but Kanae just ignored it as she kept smiling at Shiori.
 "But again, if Ane-san didn't ask Akira to escort Milady,
we wouldn't know about that and we might be dead by now.
Our destiny might have changed for the better the moment
Ane-san did that. After all, it's because Akira told us all of
that that we decided to buy the map of the Seranthal
building. Thanks to that, we were able to quickly find this
room that looks strong enough and easy to defend. Although
it was a bit more expensive than usual, I'm glad we bought
that map."

Shiori looked even colder toward Kanae, she then sighed

and looked mildly annoyed as she said.

"So then, how many more times do you need to say that
before you stop talking about it?"

Kanae had been talking about that multiple times until

now. That was the reason why Shiori's gaze turned colder
and colder towards Kanae.

But then Kanae casually replied.

"If you don't like talking about that, how about you come
up with something else to talk about? I don't mind listening
to your story about Milady here, you know. After all, I have
nothing else to do right now."

Shiori obviously looked irritated as she said.

"No thanks. After all, every time I do that, you always try
to refute it and we always end up debating each other."

"I was just pointing out that Ane-san is too overprotective

and spoiling Milady too much, you know?"

"You're 100 years too soon to say anything about my

relationship with Milady."
 "No no no, it's a good idea to listen to a third party's
opinion sometime, right?"

It might be because they had been stuck inside that room

for such a long time that their decision making skill was
affected. Shiori replied with something that she would have
never said normally. Then right when Kanae started getting
bored making small talks to kill time, she suddenly said to
Shiori with a serious face.

"...So then, Ane-san, are we still going to stay here?"

Shiori replied with a serious expression and a rather

heavy voice.

"...Yes."

"I see. I'm fully leaving that decision to you though. So I'll
follow all of your orders, but putting us aside, isn't it getting
worse for Milady?"

As Kanae said that, she glanced at Reina who was lying on

her back. She was lightly wounded during the fight, but her
wound was already completely healed after using medicine.
Although they rationed their food and drinks, there should
not be any problems at the moment. There was no reason for
them to worry about Reina.

Kanae was actually talking about Reina's mental

wellbeing. It had been 3 days since they barricaded
themselves inside that room.

This was not the first time where Reina had to stay inside
an old-world ruin for multiple days. But they had done that
under a safe situation. They had enough people to keep
watch on turns, then to top it off, they had a safe route they
could take any time they were in danger. It was not a
situation where she was only barely able to reach a safe place
in the middle of a fierce battle against a swarm of monsters
which was filled with gunshots and screams from the other
Hunters.

Moreover, they could not make any contact with the

people outside, and their information-gathering devices
were barely able to pick up anything. Judging from the
sound of the monsters trying to get inside, that room was
still surrounded by monsters. So, basically, they were
surrounded by killing machines that did not get tired nor
hesitated in killing them.

If that situation continued, there was no surprise that they

would feel mental exhaustion. Although Reina was still
somehow holding out at the moment, it was only a matter of
time before she hit her limit. Forget fighting, she might even
lose her willpower to move her body.

If the situation developed to that point, Shiori and Kanae

would have to fight through the swarm of monsters while
protecting an extra burden in order to escape from that
building.

If Reina's situation worsened, it would risk the lives of

everyone in that room. And if they stayed inside that
building, Reina situation would only grow worse.

Shiori knew she had to make a decision to try to escape

that building before Reina lost her willpower. Shiori herself
knew that very well. That was why she was making a serious
and somehow pained expression as she said to Kanae.

"...I know. But it's not the right time yet."

There was still hope that a rescue team would reach them.
Although she did not know the extent of losses here, with
that many Hunters dead in this building including the
Hunters from Drankam, it was very likely that Drankam
would decide to do something about it since it had its
reputation to uphold. There was a good chance that another
rescue team would be dispatched even after knowing the
possibility that it might cause them more loss.

While at the same time, the monsters outside might leave

that place if they wait long enough. If those monsters
flooded the Seranthal building because all of those Hunters
entered that building, then now with most of those Hunters
dead, those monsters might eventually leave the building.
And if it was just a temporary abnormality, those monsters
would eventually leave if they wait long enough.

But in the end, those were just possibilities. It might even

be just her wishful thinking, but even so, as long as those
possibilities were not zero, Shiori had to consider them as
she needed to decide whether to stay inside that room or try
to force their way out.

If she made a wrong decision, Reina might get killed. She

might end up killing Reina with her bad decision, that
thought weighed heavily on her mind and dulled her
decision-making skill.

Kanae more or less knew that Shiori was also having a

hard time there, she then thought.

——Ane-san is way too overprotective of Milady.

Honestly speaking, nothing good can come up from mixing
up personal feelings in your job though, I wonder if we're
really going to be okay?

If Shiori's decision was affected by her personal feelings,

then Kanae would have to make her own decision. Which
meant that it was up to her when to try to escape that
building while Reina was still able to move. In the worst-
case scenario, she might even need to kill Shiori to do that.
But if she was lucky, they would be able to get out alive just
fine. But she had no idea how much luck she would need to
be able to do that.

Shiori herself also should have known that very well. That
was why she might make her decision before it reached that
situation. Kanae did trust in Shiori's skill, but just to be safe,
she then decided to remind Shiori.

"I know that it's my job to protect Milady even if it kills

me, but it's not like I'm going to just easily throw my life
away, you know?"

"I know."

Shiori's voice sounded somewhat heartless, but it at least

showed that she understood what Kanae wanted to convey.

Reina opened her eyes. Although, in reality, it was not like

she was sleeping, she was actually only in a half-asleep state
all this time as she had given up forcing herself to sleep.

She tried to pull herself up and she could clearly feel that
her body was growing weak.

She understood that she was being a useless burden. The

only thing that she could do right now, the only thing that
she could barely do at the moment for the sake of the other
Hunters there, was to preserve her strength as much as
possible so that she would be able to quickly move her body
if the chance to escape that building finally showed up, or if
they had to run away again if the situation suddenly
worsened.
 Reina herself understood that she was barely able to even
do something like that, she was completely crestfallen, the
shadow in her expression was even mixed with self-
depreciation to the point that was close to depression.

Reina took a deep breath and let out a big sigh, she was
trying to expel her feeling of hopelessness and fear inside
her heart with that big sigh. She then tried to make a smile,
if she kept making a depressed face, it would only make
Shiori and Kanae worry even more for her.

"...Alright then, it'll be fine."

Reina told that to herself as she smiled.

She then went to Shiori, Kanae noticed her.

"Milady, good morning, it's still too soon for the shift
change though."

"It's okay, I just can't get a good sleep so I ended up

waking up sooner. I got bored just lying down all the time."

"I see, well, although it might be sooner than scheduled, I

guess we can change shift now."

Kanae stood up and headed to the bed. When she turned

her back to Reina and Shiori, her expression turned grim.

——She's already reached the point where she can't even

get good sleep, huh. This is getting pretty bad...

Kanae, Reina, and Shiori. It was only a matter of time

before they had to make their own decision. Kanae thought
so as she laid her body on the bed.
 Chapter 126: Forcing The Way Forward

Reina, who just exchanged shifts with Kanae, asked

Shiori.

"Shiori, did anything happen when I was resting?"

Shiori smiled gently to calm Reina.

"No. Nothing happened in particular. Or at least, I don't

see anything that might worsen our current situation. So
please be at ease."

"...I see."

Reina was a bit weirded out since Shiori answered back so

firmly, she then forced a smile.

Reina understood very well that she was the very reason
why the situation was getting worse from here and on out.
Her dejection was slightly leaked out of her forced smile.

Shiori then made a suggestion to help Reina take off her

mind from the current problem.

"Milady, since you've woken up, let's get a bite. I'll prepare
the meal right away, so please wait for a bit."

"...Alright."

Reina was still a bit overwhelmed by Shiori's reaction as

she was barely able to reply back.

Shiori immediately made the preparation for the meal.

She somehow magically transformed a part of that room into
a luxury restaurant, it made a rather awkward scene against
the backdrop of the old-world ruin's room.

She put a clean white tablecloth on top of a portable table,

then she placed warm food on top of it. Although all of them
were foods designed for Hunters, they were from expensive
products that might even be much more delicious than most
of the self-proclaimed high-class restaurants out there.

The portable foods were designed to reheat themselves

when opened, and their containers were designed to keep
the foods from going cold, the soup there was even steaming.

If a Hunter who did not know what was going on suddenly

saw this scene, there was no mistaking it that he or she
would be completely dumbfounded.

Shiori and Reina were sitting facing each other while they
were having the meal. Shiori decided that it was better to
take the meal together with Reina rather than standing next
to her and serving her.

Consuming food is important even when they were

barricading themselves. Reina's face relaxed as she took a
spoon of the delicious meal. Shiori, who saw that, smiled.
Reina, who could feel Shiori smiling at her, blushed and
tried to throw a conversation to change the mood.

"I know it's a bit too late for me to be saying this, but this
reminds me that these portable meals are really something."

"The usual portable meals from Drankam are cheap

portable meals after all. The portable meals that we're
having right now are from a different supplier that I've
selected. Although they're pretty expensive, I believe that
their quality to price ratio is pretty good compared to the
other foods usually sold in the wasteland. Some people don't
care much about the food that they eat while some others do,
and I'm sure it's impossible for Drankam to distribute this
level of portable meals to all its Hunters. Indeed it's better to
eat the usual portable meals if we're together with the other
Hunters, but since there are no other Hunters at the
moment, I believe it should be alright to take these portable
meals."

"Now that you mention it, that does make sense. I feel like
it'll cause trouble if we eat this kind of portable meals while
the other Hunters are getting the usual ones."

Reina imagined a situation where she was eating a

luxurious looking meal while the other Hunters around her
had to nibble on their Hunter ration, she then lightly smiled.

Reina and Shiori continued chatting while having their

meal when Reina suddenly asked Shiori something that just
came up in her mind.

"Say, Shiori, do you think that our current situation has

something to do with the Mihazono Ruin's ghost story?"

Reina heard about 3 ghost stories of Mihazono ruin from

Shiori.

The ghoul building. From time to time, a lot of Hunters

and monsters in the Mihazono ruin would suddenly vanish.
According to that ghost story, the real cause of that was
because the Seranthal building grew hungry and ate them.

The second story was about a door that would suddenly

appear out of nowhere inside the Mihazono ruin. It would
bait the Hunters to enter that door with relics, but when they
entered, the door would shut and the Hunters were never
seen the outside ever again.
 The third story was about the lonely ghost. It was said that
the dead corpses of the Hunters left in the ruin sometimes
suddenly started moving on their own and attacking the
other Hunters. They must have been longing for more
friends.

Shiori thought for a bit before answering.

"I can't say for sure. If I have to make a connection, it

might be related to the story of the ghoul building. But it's
also not normal to find this many monsters in this place, not
to mention, they're abnormally strong, even stronger than
the Hunters who took that SOS request. I'm sure the Hunter
Office already knows about that fierce battle too. The level of
abnormality is too big to blame everything on a ghost story.
So I believe that it's not related to that."

"I see. I just thought that if it's related, it might give us

some hints on how to get out of this building."

"It's common for weird things to happen around old-

world ruins, which might develop into ghost stories later.
That's why let's not drop our guard and keep being careful...
I understand that in the past you loved to explore the
mansion, Milady. But please don't do that here, if you get
inside that vanishing door from the ghost story, it would be
hard for me to find you, you know?"

Shiori smiled teasingly when she said that.

While on the other hand, Reina remembered her past self

and could not help but to make a bitter smile.

"I know."

After that, they continued having a silly talk while taking

the meal. Once she was done and got her stomach filled,
Reina regained some of her energy. Nutritious food was the
main fuel for fighting, that was why they were worth their
price.

As Shiori was cleaning after the meal, Reina suddenly

apologetically said to her.

"Shiori, I'm sorry."

Shiori tried to think of the reason why Reina was

apologizing. Although she could come up with several
guesses, it did not change what she would reply with.

"Milady, there's nothing for you to apologize for."

"But if I had properly listened to you and decided not to

come here, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"Neither I nor Milady could have seen this coming. I also

only thought that this Seranthal building would only be a
little bit more dangerous than what Drankam thought it was.
I also did not expect it to be this bad. Although it might be
an exaggeration, I believe that being able to see this coming
at that time would be close to predicting the future. If I knew
that something like this would happen, I would have tried
everything that I could do to stop Milady back then... After
all, I'll never let you go to a dangerous place just to get killed.
I hope that Milady could at least believe me about that."

Shiori had a serious look when she said that to Reina.

Even if Reina somehow doubted Shiori's loyalty, Shiori's
devotion will not waver. But even so, Shiori still held the
desire of Reina trusting her.

Reina herself trusted Shiori more than anyone else, she

thought of her as one of her family that she had been
together with through thick and thin. For her, Shiori was like
a reliable sister.

Sometimes, that level of trust caused her to make selfish

requests to Shiori, and the current situation was the result of
one of her selfish request.

Reina replied with a serious face.

"I know, and I do trust you."

Shiori smiled happily, she looked somehow satisfied. But

her smile then changed to a teasing smile.

"In that case, as I explained just now, I hope Milady

would understand that there's nothing for Milady to
apologize."

"Alright alright."

Reina smiled, her expression was saying that she

understood Shiori just pulled a good one on her.

After cleaning up the table, Shiori returned to check her

equipment. She returned back to the wreckage that she was
using as a seat. From there, Shiori could see Kanae who was
lying down not too far from her and Reina who was sitting
close to her.

Shiori looked at both of them for a few seconds, her face

then turned rather stern. She took a deep breath to calm
herself down, her expression turned back to normal, and
then she said to Reina.

"Milady, if I may?"
 Seeing from how Shiori was acting there, it seemed that
she had something important to talk about.

"Sure, what is it?"

"We're barricading ourselves inside this room for days

since we hope that the situation outside will get better with
time, hoping Drankam might send out a rescue team for us,
or the monsters that were surrounding this room might
leave. But with that being said, we can't keep barricading
ourselves inside this room forever. If we keep ourselves
inside this room without no means to check the situation
outside, we can only hope that the situation outside is
getting better, and sooner or later, we have no choice but to
dismantle the barricade and try to make a run for it."

They could not check the situation outside and they could
not make any contact outside either. Due to the unknown
source that was lowering the sensitivity of information-
gathering devices inside that building, they could only detect
a few metres outside the entrance, and they knew nothing
about the area further than that. They could only wait and
hope there that the situation outside was getting better.

If they got unlucky, the situation outside might have

actually turned worse than before when it was filled with
monsters, screams, and cries.

Reina then replied back firmly in order to expel the fear

and worry that were creeping inside her.

"...Alright, so then, when are we going to do that? Is it

soon?"

Seeing how Reina replied back so firmly like that, Shiori

made her resolve too.
 "We'll do it once we've finished all the preparations. We
need to dismantle the barricade and Kanae just took a rest
not too long ago. We have several strengthening drugs too,
but they'll take some time before the effect kicks in. Other
than giving Kanae more time to rest, we have other
preparations to do. We'll try to make our run once we're sure
we're 100% ready—"

—As Shiori was explaining things to Reina, Kanae, who

was sleeping suddenly opened her eyes and sprung up.

She stared at the wall as if she was checking something

outside that room, she was in a stance as if she was ready to
fight anytime.

The moment Shiori noticed that, she immediately stepped

in front of Reina to protect her while keeping her eyes on the
barricaded entrance. But Shiori did not see anything out of
the ordinary.

"Kanae, what's wrong?"

Kanae looked amused as her rare talent was telling her

that a presence that she liked was somewhere close.

"Ane-san, we need to get ready to break out of this room,

this might be our only chance."

Kanae was beaming when she said that.

***

Elena's team just reached the 30th floor. To be more

precise, they were climbing the stairs from the 29th floor to
the 30th floor and were checking out the situation on the
30th floor.
 Akira's face twitched when he saw the situation on the
30th floor. The same also happened for Carol, Elena, Sara,
Shikarabe, and Togami, although at different levels.

The reason why Akira and Carol looked far more

concerned than the other Hunters was because of their
experience. They could see countless monsters filling the
hallways in front of them.

Fortunately, there were no monsters at all near the stairs,

thanks to that, they were able to check out the situation on
the 30th floor from a relatively safe place.

Sara frowned.

"Elena, what should we do about this? Or more like, are

we still going to push forward?"

If it could be helped, she actually did not want to proceed

forward. After all, that would mean that they had to fight all
of those monsters for the sake of the Hunters who might
already be dead by now. Elena easily caught what Sara was
trying to say.

Sara evaluated that this was as far as they could go safely.

But Elena was still unsure, she was still facing forward,
looking at the monsters in front of her, she then said with a
stern expression.

"If we have no extra information, the right choice, in this

case, would be to pull back, but..."

Shikarabe immediately intervened.

"So in short, you have a piece of information that

warrants us to push forward, right?"
 Elena then answered Shikarabe's question.

"On our way here, I found similar information relay

devices like the one we found back on the 15th floor. The
content of those relay devices is also the same so I thought
that there's no need to tell anyone. But then, basically, I also
found similar devices here but with different content. Look
at your map."

Elena updated the map data that the others were

receiving from her to show an indicator that was pointing at
a particular room on the 30th floor.

"If we are to trust the data from that relay device, the
people who owned those relay devices should be in that
room."

Carol sounded slightly impressed as she said.

"So basically they ran all the way from the below up to this
floor and barricaded themselves inside that room, huh. Well,
it's true that room should be able to hold for a long time
against all the monsters outside as long as they properly
barricaded the entrance. And it won't be strange for them to
find that room if they bought a map of Seranthal building
before they came in here. Shikarabe, you know all of this,
that's why you guessed that they're still alive, right?"

Shikarabe's expression did not change as he replied.

"Possibility wise, yes."

"I see."

Carol knew that she should not pursue any further as she
said that.
 Akira made a rather stern face as he looked at the
indicated room in the display map.

"They're in a rather troublesome place, huh."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

Elena also agreed with Akira's opinion. It was obvious

that from the way she said it that things would get
complicated from here.

If the location was too far away, Elena would have not
hesitated and immediately decide to pull back there. She
then could just convey that information to the main squad
that would come to that building later and hope that they
would rescue those Hunters.

But if they were close enough, they could just break

through the monsters' encirclement, secure the hallway to
that room, and check the inside of that room. Then from
there, they could escort their rescue targets out if it was
possible, but if there were too many Hunters, or there were
badly wounded Hunters, they would have no other choice
but to ask those Hunters to keep barricading themselves
inside that room and convey the information to the main
rescue squad.

But the problem was that the room was not that far but
not that close either. That was why Elena was hesitating.

They already spent most of their energy to come all the

way here. Elena tried to calculate all the factors before
finally made her decision, the dangers that they had to face if
they pushed forward and the possibility of rescuing their
targets now.

Elena then ordered the rest of the team.

 "I'll break the team into two — My team, and Shikarabe's
team. My team will secure the hallway while Shikarabe's
team will go and try to reach the rescue targets. Everyone
will try to open a path for Shikarabe's team to go through
while reducing the number of monsters. I'll leave the timing
to Shikarabe when he'll try to make the run. Once we group
up again, we'll immediately retreat no matter what the
condition of the rescue targets. And also, if the encirclement
is too hard to break through, we'll just give up on rescuing
the targets and immediately retreat. The moment either I or
Shikarabe decides that it's impossible to rescue the targets,
we'll immediately pull back, okay?"

Shikarabe then asked Elena a question.

"Well, I was the one who asked you to rescue them, so I

can understand leaving the job to break through the
encirclement to me, but who will be in my team?"

"If it's possible, I want you to go alone."

"No, that would be impossible."

"I do understand that you want to stay in a safe situation,

but we don't have enough manpower to spare here, so just
pull back if you think that it's impossible. If you think that
it's difficult to break through the encirclement unless you
take too many people from my team, I'll stop this plan here
and call a retreat now. And also, Sara will be on my team, so
you can't pick her."

Shikarabe frowned and made a stern look as he pondered.

Elena basically told Shikarabe to take the least firepower
needed just to barely be able to secure the rescue targets.

If they took everyone to reach the room where their

rescue targets were, it was indeed pretty much guaranteed
that they would be able to reach that room, but in the worst-
case scenario, they might get surrounded and have no other
choice but to barricade themselves inside that room too.
Shikarabe understood that Elena wanted to avoid that. After
all, there was no guarantee that the main squad would come
for them later.

After thinking for a few seconds, Shikarabe finally made

his decision.

"Akira, come with me."

Shikarabe believed that Akira was the second strongest

person on the team. Moreover, he believed that he had not
seen Akira's full power yet, and he knew sometimes, Akira
had an abnormal ability to detect or react to enemies.

Although there was no guarantee that bringing Akira

along would give him a better result, Shikarabe was sure that
he at least would not slow him down, and Elena should at
least be okay with bringing Akira along. Thus, he decided to
put his bet on Akira's unknown real ability and proposed to
take him into his team.

"Sure."

Akira answered back casually.

Togami suddenly raised his voice and requested to go

together with Shikarabe's team.

"...I'll go too!"

Everyone there turned to Togami, whose expression there

was saying that he was resolute to go too.
 Shikarabe looked at Togami and was honestly at loss on
what to do. He glanced at Elena to see her reaction if he took
Togami from her team too and thought for a bit before
replying back.

"Alright then, the men will break through the

encirclement while the girls will secure the hallway. Elena,
you're okay with that, right?"

Elena looked at everyone present before replying.

"Okay."

Everyone nodded back to Elena.

Carol lightly smiled and said to Akira.

"If only I'm in your team too, I would be able to show you
how good I'm at fighting but... Well, it is just too bad."

Akira smiled confidently.

"Didn't you already show me enough when we returned

back to this ruin and found it in this state?"

"Is that so? In that case, make sure to come back here
alive and see how good my skills are again. So I can expect a
good reward from you, okay?"

"Well, in that case, I just need to secure the rescue targets

and balance out your contribution with mine this time."

Akira and Carol were smiling at each other while lightly

poking fun.

Shikarabe then turned to Akira and Togami.

 "I'll say this beforehand. I won't give you detailed orders,
just observe and adapt to the situation."

"Roger that."

"...Alright."

Akira replied casually while Togami took a small pause to

gather himself together before replying back.

Sara smiled at Akira and said.

"Akira, be careful and don't get too reckless, try not to

make a mistake when to pull back, okay?"

"Of course, Sara-san too, be careful."

Akira nodded firmly and said that, Sara too replied with a
firm nod.

The monsters that filled up the hallway were from the B18
type. They were the upgraded version of the A24 type.
Although they were relatively weak, they were equipped with
force field armour and extra guns. Their ability to fly around
was also better than most of the other monsters. Compared
to the legged monsters that had a problem moving around
inside that floor that was filled with rubbles, wreckages, and
corpses scattered on the ground, they were able to move
around much more freely. They were semi-autonomous
monsters usually stationed to guard different facilities.

The B18 type had enough firepower to easily defeat

common Hunters, but they did not show any sign of hostility
toward Akira and the other Hunters. It might be just simply
because they were outside the monsters' patrol range. Or
maybe, it was simply because the lowered sensor sensitivity
also affected the B18 type monsters. Whichever case, the
Hunters had the first initiative there.

The Hunters readied themselves to start the rescue

operation, they warmed up their bodies, sharpened their
senses and perception. They prepared themselves to head
into a fight against the monsters that would not hesitate to
kill them and to reach their hand for the victory that lay
behind it.

Elena then started the countdown.

"I'll start the countdown, 5, 4, 3..."

Akira readied his rifle and waited for the countdown. The
Hunter's equipment were specially made to give the Hunters
some chance to fight against the monsters that were way
stronger than a normal human and to even give the Hunters
the upper hand against them. To give the Hunters the ability
to kill before killed, to destroy before destroyed, to defeat the
monsters before getting overwhelmed by them, no matter
what kind of monsters that they were facing.

"...2, 1, zero!!"

They immediately jumped into the 30th floor and spread

out into the hall room, they aimed their rifles at the B18 in
front of them, fixed their aim, and pulled the trigger without
a trace of hesitation. The place was filled with flying bullets
in an instant as bullets rained down on the B18 monsters,
tore off their outside armour, pierced through their metallic
wiring, crushed the inside of their bodies, and ultimately
destroying them.

The Hunters who had the first shots quickly turned the
B18 monsters into scraps.
 Akira kept his finger on the trigger of the DVTS minigun
on his right hand as he aimed to the hallway. Countless
bullets flew out through its muzzle against the B18 monsters
in that hallway. Although most of the monsters there had
already turned into scraps, Akira kept on shooting bullets in
that direction.

Although the B18 type monsters were equipped with force

field armour that could easily hold out against the multiple
bullets that were flying out of DVTS minigun, with the
energy output of the B18 monster, it was not enough to keep
the force field armour active except for only for a short time.
Once the force field armour ran out of energy, the bullets
easily passed through and dented the monsters' bodies. It
eventually opened a hole in their bodies and destroyed the
inside of the monsters as the impact threw them further
back into the hallway.

After they secured the hall entrance, Elena's team

immediately reinforced their position while Shikarabe's
team immediately went to their rescue target.

Shikarabe did not completely destroy most of the B18

monsters that he fought, he only stripped most of them from
their weapons to render them harmless or destroyed their
means to move around and turned them into useless flying
devices with nothing but a robust defense.

He then kicked them right to the entrance of the hallway,

he kicked only the monsters with still active force field
armour deeper into the hallway. The kicked monsters flew
and broke through the rubbles blocking the hallway as it
flew further in and crashed against the other monsters while
blocking the bullets coming from deep inside the hallway.

Shikarabe did that again and again to block the bullets

coming from the hallway while forcing a way through the
encirclement.

"Let's go!"

Shikarabe only said that and immediately went into the

hallway, Akira and Togami were a bit surprised how
Shikarabe forced his way into the hallway, but they quickly
followed him from behind.

Akira thought about Shikarabe's powerful kicks while

running behind him and mumbled.

『 Those were pretty powerful kicks, is that the power of

his augmented suit?』

"His augmented suit is on a different level compared to

yours after all."

『 Well, I guess it's normal for powerful Hunters to have

powerful equipment, huh. I bet they're super expensive
though.』

Alpha smiled teasingly and said.

"You'll be able to buy that kind of expensive equipment

sooner or later. After all, you'll need those to accomplish
my request."

『 I know, well, it seems that I still have a long way to

go.』

Akira smiled bitterly as he imagined how much money he

would need to buy that kind of equipment and how much he
would need to work to get that money.

Alpha smiled full of confidence and replied.

 "Oh my, it's actually sooner than you might think, you
know? It'll be fine with my support."

For some reason, Akira felt that mention of the time gap
being shorter than what he knew, also meant that his
suffering would be doubled.

Shikarabe led the way into the hallway. Akira imitated

Shikarabe and used the destroyed B18 to hide from the
incoming bullets while creating obstacles to prevent the
monsters from entering that hallway as he followed behind
Shikarabe.

Akira kicked the dead monster in front of him. Thanks to

Alpha's support, the monster that he kicked flew straight to
another monster with very high accuracy as if he had kicked
a lot of monsters in his life. The powerful kick released from
his augmented suit transmitted the full impact of the kick
into that monster and sent it flying into the hallway with a
high speed.

Shikarabe saw that and thought.

——The augmented suit that Akira is using...It is the

PWD Silence from Nejima R&D corp, right? But I don't
remember it being that strong and I don't think Akira is
that strong either. Did he get some kind of upgraded
version or something?

There were many Hunters in the eastern district who used

augmented suits, and of course, in response to that, there
were many types of augmented suit distributed in the
eastern district.

But compared to the number of augmented suits

distributed in the eastern district, the number of the
modified augmented suits in the eastern district was
extremely low. One of the reasons was because the
technology used in those augmented suits was secret
information, thus, it would be extremely difficult to modify
them without the help of a specialist.

Of course, there were many Hunters who tried messing

with their augmented suit, but they only did that to the spare
augmented suits that they had. To top it off, most of them
tend to leave the control device alone. Since even if they
tried, the best that they could do was usually just to readjust
some options that were not shown in the usual display.

If they tried to go even further than that, most of the time,

it normally ends up in a disaster. If they tried to mess with
the ventilation, they might lock the suit and get themselves
killed from suffocation. If they tried to mess with the force
field armour, it might cause the force field armour to be
projected inside and get themselves crushed inside the suit.
There were many unfortunate stories like that going around.
And of course, the guarantee for those augmented suits was
annulled the moment they try to modify their augmented
suits.

It was common-sense among the Hunters to not mess

with their augmented suit or not to try to modify them if
they did not want to get killed.

But of course, there were exceptions. There were cases

where a modified augmented suit with upgraded output
power and guaranteed safety appeared. They were usually
made by people with high technical skills in order to show
off their ability, or by a newly found corporation to show off
its capability, or by some corporation in order to gain extra
capital. Because of that, these kinds of augmented suits
would appear in the black market from time to time.
 If Akira's augmented suit was really one of those modified
augmented suits, it would not be strange for it to be stronger
than the public catalogue spec. If that was the case,
Shikarabe could easily understand that power. But even so,
he still found something bothering him.

——It's rare to find a Hunter who has the connection to

get that kind of equipment. But again, I really can't say for
sure.

Akira was actually using an augmented suit with a control

device that was already fully under Alpha's control. So
looking from that point of view, it was not a mistake to say
that he was using a modified augmented suit.

Shikarabe could guess that Akira was probably using a

modified augmented suit, but that was as far as he could go
and all the guesses that could come up from that fact made it
more difficult to estimate Akira's real ability.

It would be really troublesome if he got on Akira's bad

side, Shikarabe was really glad that he was able to peacefully
resolve the problem about the reward for the bounty hunting
request from last time. As Shikarabe thought so, he decided
to be more careful around Akira, the boy that threw off his
intuition.
 Chapter 127: The Ability to Evaluate With A Single Glance

Elena’s team was waiting for Shikarabe's team to return

back in a hall near the stairs. They already cleaned the room
from any monsters and they were in the middle of
barricading the other hallways by piling the dead B18
monsters.

Elena, Carol, and Sara were able to casually kick around

the dead B18 wreckages that were pretty heavy. It was
thanks to Sara's nanomachine enhanced body, Elena's
augmented suit, and both for Carol's case.

Due to her side job, Carol enhanced her body with

nanomachine so that she could fight even when she had
nothing on her. Moreover, it was also to enhance the beauty
of her body to help her seduce men. Because of that, she
spent a lot of money to enhance her body with nanomachine,
then to top it off, she was also using an augmented suit.

Although Carol looked seductive with her already

beautiful body wrapped in a sexy augmented suit, as if it was
to belie her outer appearance, she was powerful enough to
easily send the B18 monster flying with her kick. It was
thanks to the amalgamation of the old-world technology that
was close to magic.

If not for her seductive outer appearance, it was easy to

notice her superhuman strength. And for those who were
not knowledgeable about how much such a modification
would cost, they would be surprised when they hear the
price tag. Most people got their attention diverted by her
beautiful and charming outer appearance and did not think
about the technical side of things.
 After they finished securing the hall, they then took a
short break and lightly sighed. They had defeated the other
monsters that came to the room, barricaded the entrance to
the other hallways, and pushed aside the wreckages that
were left inside that room.

Elena scanned the area around the hall with her

information-gathering device and checked the hallway that
Shikarabe's team was pushing through. But she could not
see any signal coming from that direction.

Judging from the physical strength of Shikarabe's team,

the strength of the monsters, and the distance to the room, if
Shikarabe's team pulled back, she should be able to see them
soon. Elena had no idea whether Shikarabe's team was
having a hard time or they were doing well.

Seeing Elena, who was looking in the direction where

Shikarabe's team went with a worried expression, Sara
smiled at her and tried to calm her down.

"Don't worry, they'll be back in no time. I'm sure that you

also thought so when you let them go, right?"

"...If you're saying that I thought the danger was

acceptable, then the answer is yes. Since I'm sure Shikarabe
has no plans to die here, so I'm sure that he won't make a
mistake if he decides to retreat."

Balancing risk and profit was the main job of the Hunters.
The moment Elena or Akira or any other Hunters stepped
into the wasteland, they would be putting their life as a
gambling chip. As such, it was important to make sure that
they would get profit worth risking their lives.

Elena already evaluated the risk and decided that it was

worth the risk. Although it was not like she had absolute
confidence in her decision, she also did not unnecessarily
doubt it either. She trusted that the decision she made was
correct.

But when she said that it would be fine, it would just be

her telling that to herself. And if she said that she was
worried, it would only cause her to doubt her own decision.
Thus, she tried not to say anything to herself.

But to Sara, it seemed that Elena was trying to be strong,

which was a rare thing to do for her. Sara found it rather
amusing as she smiled.

Elena tried to hide her embarrassment as she sent an

intense gaze at Sara and jabbed.

"...What?"

"Nah, it's nothing. Like I said. It'll be fine. It's true that it's
rather worrying, but I don't think Shikarabe would go as far
as to sacrifice his life to save the rescue targets. I'm sure he'll
make the right decision when things get dangerous.
Moreover, Akira is strong enough to even make Shikarabe
invite him to hunt a bounty monster, as for that Togami,
since Shikarabe allowed him to come, I'm sure that he's not
that weak either. It'll be fine, don't worry."

Sara might have guessed what Elena was thinking, so she

used the words that Elena was avoiding.

"...I know."

Elena felt like Sara just read her mind, she replied back
rather clumsily trying to hide her blushed face.

Carol approached Sara and Elena, she threw a smile at

them and said.
 "It seems that we can get a short break here. It would be
great if Shikarabe's team can return back while we have the
leeway."

Carol turned her face and looked at the hallway leading to

the room where their rescue targets were as she said that. It
did not seem like any monsters were going to come out from
that direction. They wanted to believe that it was because
Shikarabe's team was still pushing forward while killing the
monsters on their way.

"I really hope they will return back safely soon. Right?"

Carol said so as if she was asking if Sara and Elena also

felt the same. From the way she sounded and the expression
that she had, it seemed that Carol was simply worried about
Shikarabe's team.

Sara replied back casually.

"It'll be fine, they'll be back in no time."

As for Elena, she seemed to be somehow suspicious of

Carol, but she agreed with Carol.

"You're right, I too hope they'll be back safely soon."

Carol smiled as she confirmed that both Sara and Elena

agreed with her. But then she said something that might
cause a worry.

"Well, 2 of the 3 Hunters in Shikarabe's team are young

boys after all. I guess it's understandable to be worried. I did
see Akira's skill from up close and I know how strong he is,
but for that Togami, I can't say I'm not worried. What do you
think?"
 Elena was the one who answered Carol's question.

"He at least has good equipment on him. As for his ability,

well, Shikarabe allowed him to join, so I'm sure he's not that
bad."

Carol nodded in agreement with that evaluation.

"That's true. I also don't think he's that bad either, but I
do think that Akira is still stronger than him."

Elena and Sara nodded in agreement with what Carol

said. After Carol confirmed that, she then frowned and said.

"...But, if we look at them from a glance without any prior

information beforehand, I think Akira looks to be the
weakest one, doesn't it?"

Sara was a bit surprised.

"Is that so?"

"Yep. That is if we only judge solely based on their outer

appearance. Not to mention, his equipment seems to be the
worst among them too... I actually can guess the ability of
most Hunters just from seeing them and my guesses never
missed that much until now... Or at least, that's what I
thought. Akira is the first one who I was wrong about.
Honestly speaking, I find that really strange. After all, I've
never gotten my guess wrong by this much until now. It
really made me lose my confidence."

If she had not met Akira in the Seranthal building and fled
together from that building, Carol would not have had the
chance to see Akira's real ability. If she had met Akira
carrying the same equipment in Kugamayama city, she
would have thought he was just one of those common
Hunters in the eastern district, and she would not be that
intrigued by him.

Carol then asked a question to Sara and Elena.

"Hypothetically speaking, let's say if you meet Akira

without any prior knowledge about him, do you think you'll
be able to recognize his real ability?"

Elena and Sara thought for a bit, looked at each other, and
then started trying to analyze that question again. Sara was
thinking about how to answer Carol's question, while Elena
was trying to probe why Carol asked that question, both of
them there were thinking about 2 different things.

Sara smiled bitterly and answered first.

"I don't think I would be able to do that. It's true that

Akira seems weak from a glance, and he sometimes seems
nervous when exploring the ruins. If you ask me whether I
can recognize his skill without any prior knowledge, I would
say that it'll be very unlikely."

As for Elena, she answered back with a common answer

as if she was trying to give a neutral reply.

"Even if you said to do that from a glance, you can actually

pretty much guess the ability of a Hunter from their outer
look, body composition, how old he or she looks, and the
quality and number of equipment he or she is carrying. So,
let's say if I meet Akira in the relatively safe residential area
of Kugamayama city while he's on his casual clothing, I
would say that it's impossible to see through his real ability
in that situation."

Carol was listening closely to both of their answers. She

then smiled as if she was satisfied.
 "So, even Sara and Elena can't do that too, huh? Well, I
guess we're lucky to have met someone who hides his real
ability like Akira in a situation where we can actually see his
real ability, right? Yep, as I thought, we should hold it
dearly."

Sara smiled and said.

"Well, now that you mention it, we're indeed lucky."

Elena's expression somewhat softened as she said.

"You can say that again. So let's do our best to properly do

our job so that Akira won't cut his connection with us."

Carol smiled and nodded showing that she agreed too.

As she was about to continue chatting in a good mood,

suddenly, one of the piles of wreckages that they set up to
barricade the room moved. The monsters that were on the
other side of the pile were trying to either dismantle the
barricade or push the pile off.

Carol, who noticed it, slightly frowned as she clicked her

tongue. She then immediately ran to that particular hallway
with her gun ready in her hand and an obviously annoyed
face. She stood in front of the pile and stuck her gun into
that pile.

She pulled the trigger while her gun was still pushed into
that pile, aiming at the monsters on the other side of that
pile. The muzzle-flash flashed the inside of the pile as flashes
passed through the small opening among the wreckages. The
powerful piercing bullet easily pierced through the pile and
hit the monsters on the other side.
 Carol kept her finger on the trigger as if she was venting
her irritation. The piercing bullets easily shot down the
monsters on the other side of the pile and turned them into
extra obstacles, preventing other monsters from coming
from that hallway.

Carol whispered, it was obvious that she was angry since

she got interrupted back there.

——Good grief, right when I have the chance to gather

more info. Can't these monsters be a little more
considerate?!

From that short exchange, Carol confirmed that Elena

and Sara also could not accurately guess Akira's real skill.
Carol at least expected it until that point.

Her real qualm was about Elena and Sara, who did not
find it strange how big the gap between how strong Akira
looked and how strong he really was. That was the big
difference between both of them and Carol.

If Carol had to make a guess, it might be Sara was not

bothered by something like that in the first place, but that
should not be the case for Elena. She should at least find it
strange, question it, and at least make some guesses about it.

But judging from their expression and the tone of their

voice when they spoke, Carol did not feel any trace of
anything like that from both Sara and Elena.

So in short, Sara and Elena should have the answer to that

question, or at least, they should have a good guess to
explain the reason why such a huge gap was created. Once
Carol confirmed it and understood it, she had successfully
completed half of her reason why she talked with both Sara
and Elena back there.
 But the moment she wanted to make the move to
accomplish the other half of her aim, the monsters just came
barging in and interrupted her.

——Well, I guess I'll just leave it as that, it's a good thing

that now I know Elena and Sara know the reason behind
Akira's real strength... Wait, no, dammit! As I thought, it's
really bothering me!

Since Carol knew about it now, she could not help but be
bothered by it. She then put all her irritation in her bullets
and vented it toward the monsters that interrupted her.

***

Togami was barely able to follow Shikarabe and Akira.

They were pushing through the hallway against the

monsters that filled it, aiming for the room where their
rescue targets were. Other than only being able to slowly
proceed because of the number of monsters there, they did
not encounter any other trouble.

But, the number and the strength of the monsters were

already above what Togami could handle. Akira and
Shikarabe forced their way forward relying on their
firepower, as for Togami, he was barely able to follow them
while picking the monsters that the other two had missed
since both of them prioritized more on pushing forward as
fast as they could.

It did not seem that Shikarabe had any plans to slow

down just to let Togami catch up. Akira also did not seem to
be willing to get left behind to help Togami fight against the
swarm of B18 monsters. Although both of them had no plans
to leave Togami behind, if Togami could not catch up with
them and if he could not follow them unless they helped
him, then there was no helping it. That's what both Akira
and Shikarabe thought about that situation.

If they slowed down there, it meant that they would have

to face more monsters. It would endanger them as well as
Elena's team that was waiting for them back in the hall near
the stairs. So, in order to reach their goal as soon as possible,
they prioritized more on pushing forward rather than
waiting for Togami.

Not to mention, Togami was the one who forced his way
to join Shikarabe's team. So Akira thought that Togami
would not want them to lower the speed nor to assist him.
And even if Togami wished for that unconsciously, both
Shikarabe and Akira had no plans to comply at all.

Togami became desperate and pushed forward. He did all

he could as not to get left behind by the other two. After all,
even he knew well that getting left behind in that situation
simply meant death.

Togami glanced at Shikarabe and Akira who were fighting

the monsters in front of him. They were using the layout of
the hallway and the wreckage of the B18 monsters that they
defeated to hide, they also kicked the dead monsters and
used them as a shield against the incoming bullets as they
did not show any hesitation at all in fighting the monsters in
front of them. They sometimes showed themselves in the
line of fire of the enemies, but they were able to shoot the
enemies down way faster before they got shot as they kept
their upper hand in that situation.

Togami watched how the Hunters who were better than

him were moving around, it was as if they were showing the
difference in their skills. Togami was making a dejected face.
His desperate face was mixed with pain, envy, jealousy,
regret, and disappointment in himself.
 But looking from the other people's point of view, Togami
was actually doing pretty well. His sharpened concentration
reached the end of his 4 limbs as he moved them around
quickly, showing the skill that he had polished through daily
training. Seeing how the other Hunters who were better than
him were moving around, he quickly imitated them and
boosted his skill even more.

Togami was using every single ounce of his power there,

his movement was already above his usual limit. As he was
working together with the other Hunters who were better
than him and trying desperately to catch up with them, plus
from the daily training that he had gone through, his talent
started to bloom there.

Togami himself noticed that he was moving better than he

expected. When he realized that, he could feel compliments
for his growth starting to echo in the back of his mind.

But that was not enough. It was far away from enough for
him to have the same pride in himself that he once had.

Togami could see how Shikarabe, who had better

equipment than him, was moving very well suitable for
someone who was using those powerful equipment. While
on the other hand, there was also Akira, who although was
using worse equipment than him, was able to perform really
well. Even with his high-quality equipment on, Togami was
barely able to catch up. This all meant that he was truly
lacking in skills. This single fact prevented Togami from
feeling satisfied with his current skill level.

Right at that time, suddenly a B18 monster flew to his

right. Togami immediately froze up the moment he saw that
monster. His reaction was late, as he tried to aim his rifle at
that monster as fast as he could, but that monster had
already fixed its aim at him first.
 The logical side of Togami shrieked that he would not
make it on time, he prepared himself to welcome death.

But suddenly, that monster crashed down in a single shot.

Togami was taken aback and turned in the direction

where that shot came from. He could see a CWH anti-
material rifle's muzzle pointed in his direction, it was Akira.
Akira had noticed that monster ahead of time, he
immediately turned back, readied his CWH anti-material
rifle, and sniped that monster before it could shoot at
Togami.

Akira then just casually turned around again and

continued fighting the monsters in front of him as if he did
something that was nothing unusual. But behind him,
Togami was watching Akira's back with teary eyes as if he
was about to cry.

"...Dammit!!"

Togami himself was not sure to whom he said that to and

why he said that, he then picked himself up and continued
forward.

Akira was pushing his way forward aiming for the room
that was not that far ahead of him. He used his CWH anti-
material rifle to fight the B18 monsters. The special ammo
that he used could easily break the forcefield armour, pierce
the monster's body all the way to the other end, and then hit
the other monster behind it.

The monster that got its control device destroyed in one

shot turned into big wreckage, Akira then used his
augmented suit to kick it to the deeper part of the hallway
and crashed it into the other monsters. He was also using
the wreckage to shield himself from the monsters in front of
him as he kept pushing forward.

In reality, Akira's augmented suit was not designed for

CQC. But thanks to Alpha's support, the augmented suit
would harden only the moment his kick connected.
Furthermore, Alpha was also doing other small adjustments
like transmitting the shock from the kick to Akira's whole
body to reduce the burden on his leg. But of course, there
was a limit to how far that could continue.

—The moment Akira kicked a monster, suddenly a

strange sound came out from his leg. But rather than pain,
Akira could feel something else that was equally bad and
twitched.

『 It just made a 'crack' sound though!! It did!? Didn't

it?!』

Alpha smiled casually at Akira and replied.

"Don't worry, your leg is not broken."

『That doesn't mean that everything is fine as long as it's

not broken, you know!??』

"It'll heal up in no time. Aren't you glad that you bought

that expensive medicine?"

『That's not the problem here!!』

Akira swallowed another pill of the medicines that he

already had in his mouth when he said that. It seemed that
he had gotten so used to it to the point that he was using the
2,000,000 Aurum per box medicine without any hesitation.
 The medicine that he had taken beforehand quickly fixed
the source of that strange sound, his bone, together with the
muscle that got torn up from the kicking. And before the
effect of the last medicine that he took had worn off, Akira
swallowed another pill to make sure that any injury in his
body would immediately get healed.

The current situation was actually way above what Akira

could handle. So in order to be able to face that situation,
Alpha was controlling Akira's body through his augmented
suit and moving his body around pretty violently.

His muscle was torn when he suddenly accelerated, his

bone cracked when he suddenly stopped. In order to avoid
enemies' shots while shooting back at them, Akira had to
shoot from positions where he could not properly take in the
kickback from his rifle, so in order to do that, he relied on
the power of his augmented suit and put his body in even
more burden. And when he kicked the wreckage on the floor,
the impact was transmitted to his leg as if he was dragging it
on the floor.

So for Akira, fighting in that situation was the same as

crushing his body bit by bit. The medicine that he took
beforehand would then immediately heal any injuries, and
only by that, was he able to sustain himself in that situation.

Akira kept on complaining to Alpha through telepathy

while fighting the monsters there, then Alpha would respond
back while smiling as usual. That silly talk that he was
having there helped him to keep his calm in the middle of
that battle filled with flying bullets from both directions. It
served as a support to Akira's mental state.

As long as Alpha was smiling like usual, it meant that his

life was not in danger. No matter how many times bullets
passed close to his face, no matter how many monsters that
he was facing, as long as Alpha was smiling like usual, Akira
was sure that he still had the upper hand.

Even if that was only his misconception, that kind of good

misconception was something that he needed in that
situation. He did not need any pessimistic opinion that
might disturb his calmness. Akira somehow was already
over such a thing as he continued fighting without showing
any hesitation and even having a confident smile plastered
on his face.

Looking at that Akira, Alpha somehow smiled in

satisfaction.

Akira suddenly asked Alpha a question.

『 We've gone quite far though!? How far away is that

room from here!?』

"It's not that far ahead, just a little more."

Alpha pointed his finger toward a huge pile of dead

monsters not too far from him.

『What's up with that pile?』

"The entrance to that room is basically behind that pile of

wreckage. I bet the people who barricaded themselves
inside that room killed the monsters that were trying to
enter that room and eventually created that pile."

Akira's face twitched, he seemed a bit disturbed.

"Do we really have no other choice but to remove that

while fighting the monsters?"
 『If I have to add more, I would say that you would need
to secure the entrance while checking the inside of the room
too. Otherwise, you'll get trapped inside that room.』

"Good grief, what a pain in the butt. Is there anything we

can do to remove that pile in one go...?"

—The moment Akira said that, the pile in front of that

entrance was suddenly blown away.

***

Reina, Shiori, and Kanae stood in front of the entrance of

the room where they barricaded themselves.

Although they were in the middle of barricading

themselves inside that room, Kanae noticed fighting was
going on outside and decided that it was their chance to
escape. They immediately finished all of their preparation,
and now they were ready to go out.

There was a good chance the monsters that they were

running from were still roaming outside the room, and there
was no mistaking it that those monsters were in the middle
of a fight against something else.

The most important thing was not the fact that the
monsters were fighting against something else, but that they
were in the middle of a fight. If they had to make an
optimistic guess, they might be fighting against a squad sent
to rescue them.

But there was no guarantee that those Hunters could

reach that room. Moreover, they might be just completely
different Hunters fighting against the monsters for a
completely different reason.
 Their best chance there was to use the chaos happening
outside to slip away and make a run. Both Shiori and Kanae
thought so, they knew that they might not get another
chance.

Kanae was smiling casually and turned to Reina.

"Milady, are you ready?"

Reina looked slightly nervous.

"I'm okay. We can go anytime."

They were about to plunge themselves into a place that

was filled with monsters. It was understandable for Reina to
feel nervous. Reina repeatedly took deep breaths to calm
herself, she could feel her heart was thumping so hard to the
point that it was so deafening for her.

Shiori then gently said to Reina to help her calm down.

"Milady, no matter what happens, Kanae and I will

protect you, so please don't be worried."

Reina looked at Shiori and smiled.

"I know, I'll be counting on you."

"Just leave it to us."

Shiori smiled back confidently at Reina.

Shiori had set up portable walls to barricade the entrance

to that room, and there was a pile of dead monsters on the
other side of that wall. Kanae carefully approached that
portable wall while getting herself ready.
 She then squeezed her fist and pulled it back.

"Well then, here we go, 3, 2, 1..."

Kanae was smiling from ear to ear, she was excited to join
in on the fight. Reina had a serious look on her face as she
resolved herself and gripped her rifle tightly. While Shiori
also had a serious look, which showed her devotion toward
Reina.

"—Zero!"

Kanae then blew away the portable wall and the pile
behind it with a single powerful punch from her right fist.
 Chapter 128: Still-Growing Hunters

Akira was completely dumbfounded when the pile of

monsters that was blocking the entrance to the room
suddenly got blown away.

From there, Kanae and Shiori jumped out. Kanae

immediately punched a B18 monster while Shiori swiftly
sliced a B18 monster near them. The punched monster
crashed into the wall with a loud banging sound, while the
sliced monster was beautifully cut into two symmetric pieces
and fell down to the floor.

Akira immediately noticed that those were Kanae and

Shiori, both of them also immediately noticed Akira too. Not
too long after that, Reina also jumped out from that room.
The moment she was out, she immediately looked around
and checked her surroundings.

Shikarabe quickly grasped the current situation and

shouted.

"We're heading back now!! Akira, you take the rear!!

Togami, escort them back to the hall! Let's go!!"

Right after Shikarabe gave that order, he immediately

made a 180 degrees turn in order to secure the hallway back
to the hall.

Kanae grabbed Reina's arm and pulled her along since it

seemed that Reina still did not fully understand the current
situation. She then glanced at Akira and spoke to him in a
good mood.

"I'll leave the rear to you!!"

 Kanae was waving at Akira with her free hand and a big
smile on her face. Reina was half-dragged by Kanae as she
passed beside Akira, she was still obviously dumbfounded.

Shiori elegantly stopped and stood next to Akira.

"Is it alright to leave the rear to you alone?"

"Just go."

Akira did not hesitate at all. Both of them were busy, after
all.

Shiori slightly bowed at Akira before quickly catching up

with Kanae and Reina.

Togami just stood there frozen for a few seconds, his brain
could not process what just happened, but he eventually
returned back to reality and flusteredly tried to catch up
with the other Hunters.

Now Akira was left alone in the rear, Alpha was floating
next to him while smiling.

"Aren't you glad that you don't need to search inside that
room now?"

『 You can say that again. We just need to return back

now. Thank goodness we're in the last part of this search. It
went better than I thought it would.』

"I'm sure that the rest of the job is not that hard, you just
need to return back with the rescue targets. But you should
not lower your guard yet, okay?"

『Yeah, I know.』
 Akira pulled out his A4WM automatic grenade launcher
and aimed it at the hallway. The A4WM grenade launcher
immediately spewed out grenades, it was not a weapon
designed to be used indoors. Even if the inside of the old-
ruin building was resilient, Akira still had to be careful using
that rifle. Even though it was a powerful weapon, it would be
meaningless if it ended up destroying the interior and
blocking the hallway, that was why Akira did not use it until
now.

But he only needed to head back now, so Akira thought

that it was even advantageous in that situation if he ended
up breaking the wall and blocking the hallway to prevent the
monsters from chasing them, so he pulled the trigger
without holding back at all.

Grenades flew from its muzzle into the hallway and

swallowed the swarm of monsters coming from the deeper
part of that hallway with explosions. The shockwave from
the explosions did not have anywhere to escape inside the
closed hallway, thus, it was blown right back at Akira.
Because of that, a huge wreckage suddenly just flew right
past Akira.

Akira staggered as he gasped.

"...Whoah!?"

Alpha amusedly looked at surprised Akira and said.

"That rifle is not designed to be used indoors, so you need

to be careful."

Smokes raised inside the hallway and blocked the view.

Akira kept his eyes on that cloud of smokes for monsters but
he did not see any disruption in the smokes. So he then
decided that it should be fine as he turned around and
started running back while still keeping his eyes for more
monsters.

Reina, Shiori, and Kanae were running following

Shikarabe, who was guiding them back to the hall where
Elena and the rest of the Hunters were waiting. Since
Shikarabe destroyed most of the monsters on their way to
the room, they had not much trouble on their way back. It
was not like there were no monsters at all, but Shikarabe,
Shiori, and Kanae could handle them just fine.

They then heard explosions coming from behind, it was

the sound of Akira using his A4WM automatic grenade
launcher.

Kanae glanced behind her.

"That Akira seems to be having fun back there. But still, I

didn't expect to find him in this building. I guess this must
be some kind of fate, huh?"

But Shiori quickly warned Kanae.

"Stop with the chatter and focus on the fighting."

"It's fine, I can chat this must basically because I have the
leeway... Here!"

Kanae kicked a B18 monster that suddenly appeared in

the hallway when she said that. As her leg that was wrapped
in black tights and a pretty big shoe extended out under her
maid outfit, she drove a powerful kick into the B18 monster
near her.

Kanae's maid outfit actually had a good defensive

capability, while her black tights was a part of her
augmented suit. Shiori was also using the same equipment
as Kanae except for the boots. The ones that Kanae was
using were specially designed boots for CQC. Not only was it
exceptionally robust, it was also equipped with mini force
field armour that could create short force field burst. It was
specifically designed to boost the power of the kick of its
user.

The B18 monster that Kanae kicked was blasted as if it

was a cannon.

Shiori immediately focused her attention on another B18

monster that appeared in the opposite direction and cut it
with her blade. Shiori's blade was able to easily cut open the
B18 monster as if it just ignored the force field armour and
went straight for the monster's body.

Shiori sighed, exasperatedly.

"No matter whether you have the leeway or not, it's

shameless to make unnecessary chit-chat, you know? They
should've taught you that right, Kanae?"

But instead, Kanae tried to make an excuse.

"They taught me that random chatter is important to calm

down my nerves during a long fight though? Didn't you also
do that with Milady?"

"Your unnecessary chatter is not the same as my

conversation with Milady."

Shiori and Kanae showed enough leeway to make that

exchange while keeping their guard up and making sure that
Reina was safe.

Reina was running behind Kanae and Shiori. The swarm

of mechanical monsters that surrounded them when they
were barricading themselves inside the room were mostly
gone. The moment they came out from that room, Shiori and
Kanae immediately killed any monsters near them. Reina
had considerably calmed down compared to when she was
inside the room.

Reina, who regained some of her composure, finally

noticed Togami who was looking in her direction. She then
somehow sounded a bit harsh as she asked Togami.

"...What?"

Togami flusteredly replied.

"No, it's just that... If I'm not mistaken... You should be on

the same team with Katsuya, right?"

"...I was. But I'm no longer in Katsuya's team. So, what

about it?"

"Well, Uhh... No, it's nothing."

Togami finally looked away. Reina kept staring at Togami

with a confused look for a few seconds before she just
casually returned her view forward.

Togami lightly sighed and thought.

——What the heck am I doing...

Togami was actually only glancing at Reina when she

suddenly looked back at him. When that happened, he
thought that he should at least say something and just spoke
out anything that came up in his mind about Reina. That
was all there was to it.
 But Reina sounded a bit annoyed when she replied.
Togami was slightly overwhelmed by that and decided to
just cut their conversation short.

Although Togami did not realize it himself, he actually

glanced at Reina since he felt a sense of camaraderie with
Reina.

Togami was together with the other Hunters who were

better than him. Although this was only his self-evaluation,
he believed that he did not contribute much, it could even be
said that Akira and Shikarabe were protecting him along the
way. Or at least, he did not think that he contributed much
or did anything that he could be proud of during that rescue
operation.

At that time, Togami caught sight of Reina who was

protected by Shiori and Kanae. The scene of her being
protected by Shiori and Kanae inside a place that was far too
dangerous for her to be, and the fact that it seemed she
lamented her situation there. It was basically similar to the
situation that Togami was currently in. As in matter of fact,
Reina's skill was indeed relatively closer to Togami than to
Shiori or Shikarabe.

When Reina suddenly spoke to him, Togami did not even

realize that he was staring at her and could only react
flusteredly and throw out a random subject. But in the end,
it seemed that it somehow annoyed Reina and it left him
with a strange feeling of self-admonishment.

Reina also lightly sighed and thought.

——Why in the world did I do that...

The reason why Reina reacted harshly was because

Togami's question reminded her of her own patheticness, so
it was her venting to Togami.

In reality, Togami's impression of Reina was simply one of

the people from Katsuya's team, that was all there was to it.
The only reason why he remembered her was simply
because he saw Reina on Katsuya's team from time to time
back when he had a one-sided rivalry with Katsuya.

But on the other hand, Reina knew Togami to some

extent. She knew that Togami was a skilled young Hunter in
Drankam, he might as well be the second strongest young
Hunter in Drankam after Katsuya. People in Drankam had
their attention on him and they hoped that he would be the
beacon for the anti-Katsuya faction. She also knew that
Togami was a skilled Hunter who successfully hunted a
bounty monster with Shikarabe and a handful of other
Hunters.

So in short, Reina saw Togami as a Hunter who was above

her, just like how Togami saw Shikarabe.

So when Togami asked Reina if she was still in Katsuya's

team, to Reina, it sounded as if Togami was asking her why
an incompetent Hunter, who could do nothing but tag along
with Katsuya, was in this place.

Reina's logical side was telling her that was not what
Togami meant and it was nothing more than her
imagination. But since she thought like that once, it was
hard for her to change it now.

Reina realized that she just vented her anger at Togami

and she hated herself for doing that.

If only they were in a safe place and they could take their
time talking to each other calmly, Reina and Togami could
be able to get along. But unfortunately, they did not have
that luxury at the moment. The still-growing Hunters, both
of them, just pulled themselves together for now and
somehow moved on from that worry.

Akira was still shooting grenades using his A4WM

automatic grenade launcher while retreating. His retreat was
going very well, even too well that Akira started questioning
it.

『The monsters stopped coming. I don't think it's because

I've defeated them though... So what's going on here?』

Alpha casually answered his question.

"They might have decided fighting frontally would be

ineffective, so they might be avoiding you right now."

Alpha was not smiling like during the last battle, but she
did not seem worried either. Her expression was neutral.

"Either way, let's use this chance to retreat."

『You're right.』

Although it was not as dangerous as before, Akira still

could not lower his guard on his way back.

Shikarabe led the group in the front while fighting the

enemies that were blocking their way back to the hall where
Elena and the other Hunters were waiting. Once they
returned back, Shikarabe immediately scanned the situation
and finally sighed in relief.

Elena immediately approached Shikarabe.

"How was the rescue?"

 "It went well, we secured the targets and retreated back
without any trouble. Give us your next order to get out of
this building. We basically recovered 3 Hunters and they're
not badly injured."

Elena looked at Shikarabe, then looked at the hallway

where Shikarabe came from. Not too far from the entrance,
she could see Reina, Shiori, Togami, and Kanae running,
then also Akira a little further behind them.

Elena's face slightly relaxed after she confirmed that

everyone was alright. But she then immediately pulled
herself together and gave the next order.

"Sara! Carol! We're pulling back!!"

Carol and Sara who were guarding the entrance to the

other hallways gathered around Elena when they heard that.

Elena then asked Shikarabe.

"Shikarabe, is it alright to count those 3 Hunters as extra

fighting hands?"

"Yes, but only two of them. And keep in mind that those
two are here to protect the other one."

"Got it. Shikarabe, you lead them down to the 19th floor.
If the situation down there is still the same as before, we
should be able to get a short rest."

"Roger that!"

Shikarabe waved at Shiori, signalling her to follow him.

After Shikarabe confirmed that the other Hunters got his
signal, he immediately moved out to lead the way down to
the 19th floor.
 Shiori, Reina, Kanae, and Togami appeared out of the
hallway and they did not stop running as they went straight
to the stairs. Elena was obviously surprised when she saw 2
maids and a young girl passing through the hall.

She then mumbled while still looking at Reina and the

other two Hunters.

"...Maid outfit? No, more than that, I feel like I've seen
them somewhere before..."

Elena tried to dig through her memory, but Shiori and

Kanae's maid outfits distracted her from remembering them.
Sara and Carol finally grouped up with Elena, Sara then
asked Elena a question.

"...Elena, about those Hunters though..."

Sara seemed to be thinking of the same thing as Elena,

but Elena responded back prioritizing her position as the
leader of the team.

"They're the rescue targets. We'll also move out once we

meet up with Akira. Shikarabe said that two of them are
basically bodyguards for the other one and it's okay to count
them as extra fighting hands. Since I sent Shikarabe down
ahead, they should not face any trouble going down. We'll
join with Akira to guard the rear while retreating too. After
all, the monsters from the 30th floor might chase us on our
way down."

Sara looked a bit bothered as she nodded.

Carol also seemed a bit bothered.

"If my eyes didn't trick me, I saw 2 of them are in maid

outfits though..."
 "Since we can count them as extra fighting hands, there
should be no need for us to protect them. So just put that
back in your mind first and you can ask about things that
have nothing to do with escaping from this building later."

"O-Okay."

Sara and Carol seemed a bit confused, Elena could

understand their feelings. But it was not like she had the
answer to that either and it was not the place to ask that
question now. So Elena decided to prioritize more on
escaping that building and save any questions for later.

Akira was running through the hallway, his face slightly

relaxed the moment he saw Elena and the other Hunters.

『 It seems that Elena-san and the others didn't face any

trouble either.』

"Akira, keep running! It seems that Shikarabe and the

rest of the Hunters have gone down first."

Alpha urged Akira to hurry up. Akira was a bit surprised

by that but complied and started running faster.

The moment Akira entered the hall where Elena was, one
of the barricades that blocked the way to the other hallways
suddenly burst open as a relatively big monster burst into
the room.

That big mechanical monster smashed its way through the

barricade with high momentum. So the moment it broke in,
the barricade was forcefully blown away, crashed into the
ceiling, wall, and floor as they made loud banging sounds.

One of the wreckages was even sent flying towards Elena

even though she was far from that barricade. Although it
really surprised her, she was able to nimbly evade the
wreckage that flew straight at her. The same thing happened
to Carol and Sara, but they skilfully kicked the flying
wreckages aside.

The big monster was more or less tall enough and wide
enough to block the whole hallway alone. It was wrapped
with a robust-looking body. Although about 10 metres of its
body had extended out of the hallway, it was not its full
length yet, there was no telling how far its body extended
down the hallway.

Akira ducked and evaded the flying wreckage as he was

running to where Elena was. He then quickly turned around,
aimed his A4WM automatic grenade launcher at that big
monster, and pulled the trigger. The grenades flew out
straight to that big monster, stuck on its armour, and
exploded.

The impact forced that big monster down into the floor
and kept it flat on the floor. But then a part of its lower
armour suddenly peeled off and legs with wheels appeared
under those peeled off armours.

It seemed that Akira was able to somehow stop that

monster momentarily, but Elena immediately shouted at
him.

"Keep running!!"

Akira immediately ran toward the stairs and was about to

go down the stairs.

In that instant, a part of the monster's big body peeled off,

exposing the guns under it. On the next moment, it shot
indiscriminately inside the room as if to make sure that it hit
all nooks and crannies around it. Loud gunshots followed
with a barrage of bullets filled the room, it hit everything
indiscriminately, wall, floor, ceiling, and even the wreckage
of the other monsters.

Akira, Elena, Sara, and Carol quickly jumped down the

stairs and barely avoided the bullet storm. It was a rather
intense situation.

They then hurried to catch up with Shikarabe who went

down earlier. The situation below the 30th floor did not
seem to have changed much, there were no extra monsters
at all. And since they already destroyed most of the monsters
on their way up, they were able to quickly and safely go
down.

Sara was still running when she suddenly asked a

question to Elena.

"Elena, did that huge monster not trigger your radar?"

Elena frowned.

"...Sadly enough, yes. Not only the sensitivity of my

information-gathering device is lowered in this building, the
dead monsters that we used to block the other hallway were
also producing weak signals that might have interfered with
my information-gathering device. I'm sorry."

It seemed that Elena felt responsible for that, Sara just

smiled at her and replied.

"Don't worry about it. If you couldn't detect it, then

there's really nothing we can do about it. It's not like I'm
blaming you here, right Akira?"

Akira lightly smiled and agreed to what Sara just said.

 "Yes, I agree with Sara-san. So please don't worry about
it."

Akira then sent a glance to Carol, who understood what

Akira was trying to say.

Honestly speaking, she was not interested in blaming it on

Elena at all, but at the same time, she also wanted to know
why she could not detect a monster that big.

Back then, Carol noticed that Akira suddenly ran faster. If

Akira did that because he knew about that big monster, it
would mean that he was able to detect a monster that Elena
could not. But then again, Akira's surprise did not seem to
be fake the moment he saw that monster.

Although she still had some questions, it was not the time
to ask those questions. Carol held her curiosity back as she
smiled at Elena and said.

"The fact that no one detected that huge monster means

that it might have some kind of special camouflaging device
that exploits the lowered sensitivity of our information-
gathering device. Or maybe that the setting adjusted to help
to detect the smaller monsters is not good at detecting big
monsters. But if we readjust the setting to focus more on
detecting big monsters, we will have trouble with the smaller
monsters instead. So I think this is where it's important to
make a compromise, I'm just happy that we could survive
that big monster without losing anyone."

After saying that, Carol checked Akira's reaction. Akira

seemed to be listening closely to her and nodded in
agreement.

It seemed that she made the right decision there to even

put up a reason as to why Elena was blameless in order to
score some point with Akira. As Carol thought, Akira seemed
to lack common knowledge for Hunters and he was showing
interest in such a thing. After Carol was able to confirm that,
she kept her poker face although she was smiling happily
deep inside.

After Elena heard supportive words from her best friend

that she was together with for years and a young boy that
she got along well just recently, plus extra reasoning that
Elena was pretty sure Carol said mostly for someone else,
Elena pulled herself together and smiled. She sounded
delighted as she said.

"Thank you, now I know that there is such a kind of

monster too, I'll be more careful next time."

Sara smiled satisfied seeing that Elena had cheered up.

"But still, how did a monster that big get inside the
hallway? I wonder if that thing is a part of the security of this
building."

Akira seemed interested in that subject too.

"It doesn't seem to be an extra security monster though...

Not to mention, with its size, I don't think it can move
around freely inside the hallway. Carol, do you have any
guess? You're pretty knowledgeable about the Seranthal
building, right?"

Carol frowned and said.

"As far as I can tell, I don't remember monsters like that

guarding this building before. In the first place, with a body
that big, I don't think it's possible for that monster to come
from outside of the building... I really have no idea why that
thing is in this building."
 There was no one present who could answer that
question. So they decided to just shelve it for now and move
on.

They were able to reach the 19th floor and group up with
Shikarabe without any trouble.

Reina and Togami were breathing heavily, compared to

them, Akira looked completely normal. Rather than the
difference in their physical strength, it was more because of
the medicines that Akira kept consuming. But Reina and
Togami, who saw Akira, could not help but misunderstand.
They looked at Akira with a mix of surprise and amazement.

Elena then gave an order to everyone there.

"We'll head out again after 5 minutes. Until then, make

sure that you have everything ready."

Akira immediately checked his equipment. He pulled out

reserve ammo from his rucksack and reloaded his rifle even
if he only used it once. He also replaced the empty reserve
magazines attached around his body, refilled the medicines
in his pocket, and replaced the energy pack of his augmented
suit.

While in the middle of doing that, Akira suddenly

mumbled.

"...I used quite a lot of my reserve supply this time."

DVTS minigun extended magazine, CWH anti-material

rifle special ammo, A4WM automatic grenade-launcher
grenades-magazine, medicine, augmented suit energy pack–
all of them were expensive consumables. But Akira did not
remember wasting any of them, it was a necessary expense.
 But still, when he imagined how much expense he had
accumulated there, he could not help but to smile bitterly
and lightly sigh.

Alpha then teasingly smiled at him.

"Just in case if you want to know, I can tell you how

much you've spent until now."

『No thanks.』

Akira answered back firmly. After all, if he was worried

about the money that he used to fight the monsters, it might
force him to pay that cost with his life later. He thought that
he could worry about it later after he returned back alive.

『 ...It should be alright, I should be able to earn more

money. Not to mention, I made quite a lot of money
yesterday too. As for this request, Carol and Elena-san
should have properly negotiated the details with the City
Management. And since we successfully rescued Reina, I
should get an extra reward from Drankam too, it should be
alright.』

Akira was telling himself that it should be fine. He should

not think how many days the money that he spent this time
would have bought in the inn where he once lived, or how
many times he could eat in that luxurious restaurant that he
visited once out of Shiori's invitation with the money that he
spent that day. Akira kept telling himself not to think about
it.

Alpha just smiled and said.

"You're right, it should be alright, maybe. You should be

able to end up with huge profits from this request. That's
why, if you want to get extra motivation, it should be
alright to use the reward that you get this time to eat a
meal in that luxurious restaurant where Shiori invited you
in the past."

『I know you're saying that on purpose!!』

Akira tried his best not to show his emotion on his face.

Alpha smiled at Akira who was trying to keep his poker

face and said to him.

"Oh my, that's not true at all. I'm just saying that since I
think it's totally okay to reward yourself with something
like that after working this hard. It's not like I'm teasing
you for taking this dangerous request from Elena without
thinking much about the reward, you know."

Alpha was still smiling like usual next to Akira, while

Akira just silently continued checking his equipment. His
face only twitched for a bit in response to what Alpha said to
him.
 Chapter 129: Reinforcement Squad

Akira was still pouting after Alpha poked fun at him, but
then Kanae suddenly spoke to him as if she could not read
the mood.

"Akira! We meet again!!"

"...Yeah."

Akira replied as if he was not interested in talking with

Kanae at the moment, but she ignored that.

"But still, what a coincidence to meet you in this place. If

you're going to come here, you should have come with us
right from the start, you know?"

"I'm here not because I planned to come here right from

the start and it's not like I came to this building to rescue
you in the first place. You should ask Shikarabe for the
details."

"Is that so? Well, whichever the case, thanks for saving
us."

For some reason, Kanae was looking at Akira with

interest. In contrast to that, Akira looked at Kanae with a
little suspicion. It was because he had no idea why Kanae
was so interested in talking to him.

To be more precise, it was just that Kanae had no

reservation when it came to approaching someone else,
while on the other hand, Akira was being careful to anyone
who approached him without any good reasons. Both of
them simply did not suit each other.
 Kanae was interested in Akira's strength, a part of it was
because she could not figure out how strong Akira was.

From the story that she heard, she knew that Akira could
fight evenly against Shiori when she was using her trump
card in the underground city of Kuzusuhara ruin. Shiori's
trump card was a special accelerator drug that increased
concentration, sharpened sense, and slowed down time
perception. The price of using that drug was putting one's
brain under immense stress that might render its user
paralyzed for a few days, but in exchange for that, it could
completely transform its user into a superhuman while that
drug was still in effect. So, the only people who could fight
Shiori in that state must be powerful people.

But when Akira faced Katsuya during that incident with a

pickpocket girl, even after Akira released an excessive level
of killing intent, he ended up slowly retreating back. In
reality, since Kanae left that place with Reina and Shiori
early, she could only hear what happened after they left from
the other people. But from what she heard, it seemed that in
the end Katsuya did not hand over that girl to Akira, and
Akira just silently left.

It was true that Katsuya was a powerful Hunter, but

compared to Shiori with her accelerator drug, he was
obviously weaker. So, since Akira retreated back from
Katsuya, then it would mean Akira was not that strong.

While on the other hand, Shikarabe and Akira got pretty

close to the room where Kanae was hiding with Reina and
Shiori. When she was about to go down the stairs, Kanae
glanced around to check the situation, and judging from
what she could see, they would have fought their way
through the monsters to get that close to that room, which
meant that Akira must be pretty strong.
 And that Akira was now right in front of her. Kanae was
pretty confident in her ability to evaluate someone with her
eyes. And from what she could see, Akira was indeed pretty
strong for a Hunter of his age, that was all there was to it,
nothing more. So in short, Akira did not seem that
particularly strong. She could not feel a trace of vigour,
pressure, or aura that strong people usually had. He seemed
to be just a common Hunter like all the other Hunters in the
eastern district.

Kanae had enough reason to think that Akira was not that
strong, while at the same time, she also had enough evidence
to believe that Akira was pretty strong. Because of that,
Kanae could not say for sure how strong he really was.

She was smiling while guessing Akira's real strength.

——Yup, no idea at all. I can't really tell if Akira is strong

or not. Honestly speaking, I want to poke at him to see how
strong he really is, but as expected, I shouldn't do that in
this situation.

Kanae's impression of Akira was simply someone whose

strength was unknown to her.

Even for someone like Kanae, she knew that she had to
prioritize her current duty at the moment. So in short, if they
were in a different situation, she might have already poked
at Akira right now. Kanae honestly felt a bit bummed by
that.

Togami and Reina were really stressed out as they were

trying to catch their breath, but after staying in that safe
place for some time, both of them eventually were able to
calm down. Once they had calmed down and had enough
leeway to put some of their attention to the current
situation, both of them immediately directed their gaze to
things that bothered them the most.

For Reina, it was Carol. While for Togami, it was Kanae

and Shiori. But technically speaking, both of them were
bothered by the same thing, their appearances.

Reina looked at Carol and thought.

——What is with that augmented suit? It's really

something... Or more like, no matter how you look at it, it's
designed for seducing men, right? Although I heard that
some old-world augmented suits have that kind of design,
it's the first time for me to see someone actually using it. Is
it just an augmented suit from the current era but with an
old-world design? Or is it an old-world relic? Whichever
the case, I'm impressed that she's actually using it. Is it a
matter of getting used to that design? The curve is pretty
intense too... Is it just that it looks intense simply because of
the design?

Reina looked really bothered as she was staring at Carol's

augmented suit.

At the same time, Togami looked at Kanae and Shiori's

maid outfit and thought.

——That thing is a maid outfit, right? And maids are

those people who serve in a big mansion for rich people,
right? So why are there maids in this old-world ruin? Are
those maid outfits actually old-world relics with strong
defensive power and they're using it in place of normal
armour? But for some reason, they look pretty much used
to it though, it doesn't feel like they're Hunters. But
Shikarabe said that our rescue targets are Drankam
Hunters, right...? Wait, he might be talking about Reina
and those two might be Reina's maid... But again, why
would a Hunter have maids?

Togami seemed so confused as he was staring at Shiori

and Kanae.

Shiori was standing next to Reina, offering her a stamina

drink. Reina thanked Shiori and drank it.

Shiori noticed that Togami was looking in her direction,

but she did not pay much attention to it. She herself
understood that her maid outfit would attract some
attention. And as long as she was there as Reina's maid,
there was no need to put too much attention to what other
people thought or said.

After Carol finished her preparation, she nibbled on a

ration that looked like grilled rice dumplings. Although it
looked like a simple snack from the outside, it was actually
infused with restorative and healing properties. It also
replenished the nanomachines that she used during the last
fight. For Carol, consuming that food was equally important
as replenishing her reserve ammo.

Carol also noticed that Reina was looking at her, but she
just ignored that. Although the design of her augmented suit
was made to seduce men, it sometimes also attracted
attention from the other women. Some women who were not
used to seeing old-world design often threw glances at her
out of pure curiosity without any ill will. There were also
girls who did not like having a Hunter in that appearance
near them. Even Carol herself knew that much. She thought
as long as Reina did not complain or say anything about her
appearance, then there was no reason to be bothered by
that.
 Kanae then turned to Togami who was looking at Shiori,
so she then looked at Shiori before shifting to Reina, who
was next to Shiori. Since Reina was looking at Carol, Kanae's
eyes soon ended up on Carol.

Kanae was somehow smiling amusedly, she then threw a

smile at Carol.

"Whoah! That augmented suit is really something!!"

Akira was caught by surprise, he did not expect that

Kanae would go and ask that question. Akira looked around
and noticed that most of the Hunters there had the same
impression as him.

Carol was lightly surprised as she turned to Kanae. After

all, to her, it did not seem like Kanae was someone who paid
attention to appearances.

Carol smiled confidently as she replied to Kanae's remark.

"I won't deny that, but I don't want someone in a maid

outfit to say that to me."

Akira unconsciously nodded lightly. What Carol said did

make sense and Akira could feel that the other Hunters
there would agree with him.

Kanae smiled back and said.

"This is a maid outfit. It would be great if you don't treat it

the same as that augmented suit with a design that is
obviously for seducing men. No matter how you look at it,
your design sticks out far more than this. Or is that you're
already used to that design?"

Carol smiled and replied.

 "That's weird for you to say that when you voluntarily use
that maid outfit and come all the way here to an old-world
ruin when there are many armours out there with the same
fighting capability. I don't know whose maid you are, but I
wonder if that person doesn't think that it'll be sticking out.
Or is it out of fetish or something?"

Kanae and Carol were smiling at each other. Although it

was not exactly a friendly exchange, it was not a hostile
exchange either. It did not feel like they were challenging
each other and picking a fight.

As Akira was looking at both of them with a slightly

troubled face, Kanae suddenly turned to him and threw a
question.

"Akira, which one do you think is weirder?"

Akira obviously looked troubled when Kanae suddenly

threw that question at him, but then Carol asked a similar
question to him too.

"Oh, good idea. Akira, which one do you think is the weird
one? Which one do you think sticking out the most?"

Instead of answering their questions, Akira asked a

question to both of them.

"...Why are you both asking me?"

Kanae and Carol replied with similar answers as if they

had already decided to do that beforehand.

"Isn't it fine? It's just out of curiosity."

"Isn't it fine? It's just out of a whim."

 Akira looked around, Elena and Sara were holding back
their laughter. Shikarabe looked like he did not care at all,
Reina and Togami looked at Akira as if they were waiting for
Akira's answer, and Shiori was just standing next to Reina
with a neutral face.

Akira could feel an awkward mood drifting in the room,

he then answered back honestly.

"Personally speaking, if it's on the first sight, I think the

maid outfit sticks out more. For Carol's augmented suit, it's
just a normal augmented suit with an old-world design after
all... And I bet that it's not normal to see maids whether it's
only an outfit or a real maid in the old-world ruin."

Akira's response was extremely biased since he had

already become used to seeing old-world design because of
Alpha. His opinion might be very uncommon for people
around his age. As in matter of fact, Reina and Togami were
obviously surprised by Akira's answer.

After listening to Akira's answer, Carol sported a winning

smile. While on the other hand, Kanae lightly waved her
hand left and right while shaking her head too. She then
spoke to Akira like a veteran talking to a complete beginner.

"Akira, it seems that you still don't understand how wide

this world is."

Akira casually replied.

"Yeah, I've been pretty much living in a narrow world

until now after all. Sorry about that."

Elena lightly giggled as she joined in.

 "We should go soon, if you have the time for silly talk like
that, I trust that you've finished your preparation, yes?"

Akira's expression turned serious.

"Yeah, I can go anytime."

"Ready when you are."

Kanae sounded like she was in a good mood as she said

that and returned back to Reina.

Carol still kept her eyes on Kanae when she answered

Elena's question.

"Yeah, no problem here."

Carol was looking at Kanae as if she had a question in her

head.

——I feel like she asked me that because she was probing
for something though, is it only my imagination? Is that
simply out of habit? It doesn't seem her companions are
bothered by that either...

Carol just concluded that Kanae did that simply out of

habit and decided to stop thinking about it.

Once Kanae returned to Reina and Shiori, Shiori

whispered to Kanae.

"I don't know what you were planning there, but hold
yourself from doing anything that might cause a fight."

Kanae replied back as if it did not bother her at all.

 "Well, isn't it fine? It seems that Milady was wondering
about it, so I was asking that question in her stead. It's no
good you know, Milady, you should not stare at a Hunter
whom you don't know well that intently. Depending on that
Hunter, it might be interpreted as picking a fight after all,
okay?"

Reina pouted and tried to deny it.

"...It's better than asking that question straight at her,

after all, it's more or less the same as already picking a fight
when you do that, you know?"

Kanae was still smiling as usual when she replied back.

"I don't have any problem if she accepts it, that's the
biggest difference between me and Milady. Milady, don't tell
me that you think it's okay to be a bit cheeky just because
we're protecting you and we'll definitely do something about
it when things get bad? Don't tell me that's why you keep
glancing at her? It's a big problem depending on whether
you do that on purpose or not, you see."

Reina could not say anything back. Although she did not
do that on purpose, it was also true that she could not give a
straight answer if she was asked whether she did that
thinking that Kanae and Shiori would definitely do
something about it if things went bad.

Shiori lightly sighed.

"Just try to behave yourself. If you get ahead of yourself,

I'll cut you."

"Yes ma'am~!"
 Kanae replied back in a good spirit. It was hard to say
from her personality whether she responded positively to
behave or that she was happy because it sounded like Shiori
was willing to fight her. But at least, Kanae decided to just
shut up, so Shiori did not pursue any further.

Kanae glanced at Akira and thought.

——I tried to surprise Akira there with that sudden

question, but it seems that he did lower his guard. It also
seemed that he was pretty much relaxed while we were
talking. As I thought, I guess that Akira is not really that
strong, huh? Or was that only an act? Or is it that he's
someone who totally changes when he's in the middle of a
fight? Uhhh, I still don't have enough material to make any
conclusion.

Kanae was thinking so as she lowered her evaluation of

Akira. After all, that was what she could get from her own
observation if she did not include stories that she heard from
other people.

Kanae was smiling, she was hoping that there would come
a chance when she could get better information to accurately
predict Akira's real strength.

After everyone finished their preparations, Elena then

explained the next plan.

"We'll go down to the first floor from here and escape the
building from the front entrance. Let's hope that the squads
securing this building are still alive."

Shikarabe felt there was something strange in how Elena

worded her plan.
 "Is there any reason for us to worry whether the squads
outside are still alive or not?"

Elena lightly nodded.

"Yes. You already know that I left mini information-

gathering devices on our way up to make sure that we have a
safe escape route, right? So basically, the mini information-
gathering device on the first floor near the entrance got
some signals. It seems that multiple entities entered this
building."

Carol then said to Elena.

"Can you tell me exactly the shape of this something that

entered this building?"

If they had a human-like form, then it might be the other

Hunters. Or at least, that was what Carol was hoping, but
Elena lightly shook her head and said.

"Unfortunately, the device was not able to identify their

shapes, and the sensitivity is lowered inside this building. So
I can't say anything about their shapes. The only thing that I
can say for sure is that something came into this building.
Although I did say multiple entities, it might be the same
object going in and out of the building multiple times on
purpose to trigger the signal multiple times. So I can't really
confirm the numbers too."

This time, Akira was the one who asked a question to

Elena.

"Is there any chance that they are a reconnaissance team

just like us or might even be the main rescue squad?"
 "That possibility is not zero. But if that's really the case, it
might be the reconnaissance team. After all, it's unthinkable
for them to send the main squad after sending us, the
reconnaissance team, into this building without waiting for
us to return first. Either way, just keep in mind that we
might spot other Hunters on our way down, make sure not
to shoot them by mistake."

"Understood."

Akira nodded firmly. Elena lightly smiled and nodded

back at him.

Elena's face then returned back to her serious face.

"The real problem is if that's not the case, which would

mean more monsters just entered the building, that would
also mean that those monsters broke through the
encirclement made to secure this building. There's a good
chance the situation outside the building has turned
dangerous, although the possibility is pretty small, I
recommend you to at least keep this in mind. After all, no
one can tell what will happen from here on."

Elena remembered the big monster that attacked them on

the 30th floor as she warned everyone.

"If no one has any more question, let's move out."

With that sentence, they started the operation to escape

the building.

***

While on the first floor, 2 groups of Hunters were

debating each other, they were the group made of Hunters
from Drankam and another group that was made of Hunters
unaffiliated with Drankam. All of them were Hunters who
successfully hunted bounty monsters in the past.

Back then when they were in the middle of debating on

how to secure the Seranthal building, Elena's team finished
their negotiation first and was sent ahead as a
reconnaissance team. When that happened, there were 2
groups who felt that they got jumped ahead by Elena's team.

The first group was the Hunters not affiliated with

Drankam and refused to be working under Drankam. They
thought that sending Akira ahead was the decision that the
Drankam side made. They thought that Drankam gave
preferential treatment to that team stating an excusing that
they brought back useful information for the operation.

That was not exactly wrong, Shikarabe did say that too
when he negotiated with Drankam's side. As in matter of
fact, the information that they brought in might have
actually be used in that operation.

So in order to calm them down, Drankam decided to

make a compromise and send them as another
reconnaissance team.

The second group was the young Hunters in Drankam

that belonged to the Katsuya faction. To be more precise,
they were able to get dispatched ahead because of support
from within Drankam, from Mizuha.

Mizuha was rather concerned by the fact that Shikarabe

was the leader of the first reconnaissance team. She also
knew well how much Shikarabe hated Katsuya's guts. She
was worried that Shikarabe was planning to use the
achievement from this chance to influence the composition
of the main squad or even to change how Drankam would
treat Katsuya.
 So in order to fight back against Shikarabe, Mizuha even
made some compromises about the main squad so that she
could send ahead another reconnaissance team to the
Seranthal building.

After that, both teams were sent to secure the first floor of
the Seranthal building so that Elena's team would not be
able to monopolize the rewards. They thought that it might
be hard for Elena's team to do that since they had limited
equipment and manpower, but it would be an easy job for
them since they brought more people and carried better
equipment. Of course, they could just gather information
and bring it back too, but if they ended up bringing back the
same information as Elena's team, then Elena's team which
would have returned back first would claim the reward first.

Although both groups of Hunters were not that hostile to

each other to the point that they would try to kill each other,
there was no mistaking it that they would be disrupting each
other's job. Even a small accident could immediately turn
into a fight. The leader of each team was only barely able to
calm their respective team down.

Near the outer side of the front entrance to the Seranthal

building, a Hunter by the name of Kurosawa was shouting
orders to his team with an annoyed face. His equipment and
the aura around him clearly showed that he was a powerful
Hunter.

Kurosawa was the leader of the team which killed the

1,500,000,000 Aurum bounty monster, Maimai. He was
taking the lead of the anti-Drankam team this time.

Kurosawa looked at his watch and clicked his tongue.

"...The sixth squad isn't returning back at all although I

told them to properly watch the time. Send the eighth squad
in. Tell them to ask the squad securing the A, B, C and D
stairs if the sixth squad went to the second floor without my
permission or not."

Another Hunter next to him then replied.

"I bet they'll be back if we just wait a bit longer."

Kurosawa glared at that Hunter.

"We can't check their situation at all from the first floor.
There are 3 possible reasons why they are late. First, they
might be trapped somewhere and can't return back. Second,
they might not be that competent to be able to return back
as we originally planned. Or third, they might be pretty
stupid as not to listen to my order. But whichever the case,
we treat them as MIA. There's no need to wait for them."

"Alright alright, I'll send the next—Oh, there they are."

The sixth squad stepped out from the entrance. Kurosawa

signalled them to come with his finger. Once they stood in
front of him, Kurosawa then asked them a question that was
mixed with insult.

"From what I can see, it doesn't seem any of you are

injured? Were you almost killed somewhere or something?"

The leader of that squad sighed and answered that

question.

"We were about to return back on time when one of those

kids picked a fight with us, you see. If you tell us that it's
okay to shoot them, we would have been able to return back
on time though."

"Where?"
 "Hallway C7."

Kurosawa clicked his tongue again when he heard that.

He then gave a signal for the sixth squad to just go and take
a rest before he headed to where the Drankam side's leader
was.

The leader of the Drankam group immediately noticed

Kurosawa. The other young Hunters around him looked at
Kurosawa with hostility, but Kurosawa did not care about
them at all as he said to the leader of the Drankam group.

"It seems that some of your people picked a fight with my

men, can you at least properly discipline them? I don't mind
if you want to keep on playing around here, but I have no
plans to tidy up your mess."

That young Hunter glared back at Kurosawa as if he was

trying to put Kurosawa under some pressure.

"If that's really the case, we're sorry. And also, stop saying
something like that, everyone here is being serious."

That young Hunter responded back just like a Hunter

should. The impression that he was giving off was different
compared to those new green Hunters or former Hunters. A
skilled Hunter would be able to immediately recognize his
real strength and disregard his young age.

That was also the case for Kurosawa, he knew that the
young Hunter in front of him was a rather talented Hunter.
Although for now, he was nothing more than a skilled young
Hunter, it was only a matter of time until the ‘young' word
get dropped.

The young Hunter in front of him might be a stronger

Hunter than him in the future, but that was still in the
future, not now. Kurosawa looked down at the weaker
Hunter standing in front of him and said to him with
mockery.

"I'm being serious here. If we objectively evaluate your

performance, that would be the result. I'm not a Drankam
Hunter after all, so I'm not obliged to choose my words just
to keep your mood, am I right, Katsuya-kun of Drankam?"

—The leader of the Drankam team was Katsuya.

Katsuya glared even more intensely at Kurosawa, but

Kurosawa just ignored him.
 Chapter 130: Huge Turret

Kurosawa's group and Katsuya's group were in the middle

of securing the first floor of the Seranthal building. But they
were working completely separate from each other. They
had agreed beforehand to operate separately to reduce the
possibility of causing trouble, and they also agreed if any of
them retreated, the other party could continue searching the
building.

And just like before, there was something inside that

building that prevented people from making any contact
from the inside of the building. Because of that, Kurosawa
and Katsuya stayed outside the building to keep contact with
Kugamayama city and the Hunter Office while giving orders
to their respective group.

Airi who was next to Katsuya looked coldly at Kurosawa.

"...Is that all?"

Kurosawa looked at Airi, his expression then returned

back to normal. He could see a resolve from Airi's eyes, so he
had no plans to mock someone with that kind of resolve.
people like her were not to be underestimated no matter
how weak they were. After all, they often used insult and
mockery as fuel to strengthen their resolve, which eventually
fueled their growth.

——And here I thought that they are just a group of

stupid children who mistook the power of their equipment
as their own skill when they defeated the bounty monsters,
after all, they could only get those powerful equipment
because of the extensive sponsor and support that they
received... But it seems that's not exactly the case, huh.
 Kurosawa's evaluation of Katsuya's group had gotten
better, although only slightly. He then faced the person who
caused that change and said to her.

"Yeah, that's at all. We've agreed beforehand to handle

different areas to make sure that we don't disrupt each
other. So just be careful next time. Later then."

He already conveyed what he wanted to say and was sure

that Katsuya understood that he wanted them to stop
wandering into his area. Although at first, he was planning
to complain about other things too, he decided to back down
as a form of respect to Airi.

When Kurosawa was about to leave Katsuya alone, he

suddenly stopped, he saw a girl come out running from the
entrance of the Seranthal building.

Kurosawa stopped thinking that it might be some kind of

emergency, but judging from how that girl was running, it
did not seem to be the case, so he decided to just forget
about it and returned to his post. That girl, Lilina, ran
straight to Katsuya and said to him as if she was venting her
anger.

"Katsuya!! They mocked us again!! You should go there

and say something to them!!"

Katsuya tried to calm Lilina down.

"Lilina, calm down, tell me what happened?"

"What the heck is wrong with those people sounding so

arrogant like that?! We're also Hunters who successfully
hunted a bounty monster, you know?! They should show
some respect for us..."
 When Lilina was about to explain what happened to
Katsuya, or at least, what she thought she was doing, she
saw Kurosawa walking away. Although she did not know if
that was Kurosawa, she knew for sure that person was not
from Katsuya's group, and that was enough of a reason for
her.

Lilina then stopped Kurosawa.

"You, stop there! I know that you guys are strong Hunters
who have defeated a bounty monster, but we have too! Just
because we're doing well, that's not a reason for you to keep
sabotaging us out of envy!"

Kurosawa stopped, he looked obviously annoyed as he

sighed and turned around.

"So, where is it?"

Lilina seemed confused.

"What do you mean by where?!"

"What a dunce, I also received a report that some Hunters

from your group picked a fight with my men, so I'm asking
you where that happened."

"Isn't it obvious already?! It's on the first floor of the

Seranthal building!! Are you too stupid to even make such a
simple guess?"

"Seranthal building has multiple floors and it's pretty big.

There are also countless individual rooms inside it. So where
exactly is it on the first floor?"

"It's not in a room, but in a hallway. What about it?"

 "Which hallway?"

"Is that even important?! What's wrong with you and your
stupid questions?!"

Lilina talked back at Kurosawa with a prickly tone,

venting out her anger at him.

Kurosawa's gaze shifted from Lilina to Katsuya. He sighed

on purpose to express his exasperation and mockery. He
then said to that Katsuya with a tone that obviously showed
he was ridiculing Katsuya.

"Seranthal building is a dangerous place where many

Hunters lost their lives after stepping inside. So, it won't be
strange if you get suddenly attacked by a swarm of monsters
out of the blue when you're inside the building. Not to
mention, for an unknown reason, the sensitivity of
information-gathering devices is significantly lowered inside
that building which makes it harder to accurately detect
things around you. And with the inability to contact each
other, Hunters have no other choice but to only judge
whether they are looking at friends or foes solely on their
visions. So of course, Hunters get more high-strung inside
that building, and when you encounter another group of
Hunters roaming around in the same area, there's a good
chance that it might cause misunderstanding and even fight
too. So, in order to avoid unfortunate accidents, it's
important to refrain from unnecessarily interacting with the
other group. That's exactly why, for the sake of safety and
profit, our operation areas are properly divided from the
beginning, or at least that's what I understand. The patrol
time and route are decided beforehand and we are properly
following it. It's designed so that when any of us encounter
someone else inside that building, they don't need to spend
too much time checking if they're friendly or not and just
can make an assumption that they are hostile. And if any of
us can't return back on time, it can be assumed that there's a
fight inside the building. The report that I got is saying that
the fight happened in C7 hallway. It's obviously inside our
territory and it's not a place that you can enter by pure
chance. So as long as you don't enter it on purpose or unless
you get lost inside the building, you should not be able to go
there."

Kurosawa's expression changed from mockery to hostility.

"I don't know whether it's just stupid Hunters who

entered that place on purpose or it was just stupid Hunters
who got lost inside that building, but in this case, we're
basically not the one at fault even if we suddenly opened fire.
Whichever the case, are you seriously sending such stupid
Hunters inside that building? Do you seriously want to pick
a fight with us that much?"

Lilina was overwhelmed by Kurosawa's pressure, but she

was somehow able to talk back.

"We just passed through it for a bit! There's no need for

you to go that far, isn't it?!"

Kurosawa's gaze was still fixed at Katsuya.

"The report said that my men got into a fight. So basically

it meant that your men did not withdraw from that place
and even caused the patrol squad to return late, I bet it's
because your men did not let my men go, right? And you still
said that you just passed through it for a bit? Ahh, I see, I
know it might just be a bit for you, I guess this is where our
understanding of how important this kind of thing differs.
You should get that straight first without roping us in. We're
not Hunters from Drankam, so we have no plans to tidy up
after your mess."
 Kurosawa was exuding an aura that only those powerful
Hunters had. There was no trace of joking or mockery in his
face, he was using a tone that he would only use to talk
against people who he recognized as enemies as he spoke to
the leader of the other group, Katsuya.

"Listen here, we have no wish to fight you because it's too

much of a hassle to have to fight you while we have to fight
the monsters too. So at least just don't get in our way. Don't
make me decide that it's faster to just clean all of you from
here and continue securing this building all by ourselves.
This request is from the City Management and you guys are
Hunters from Drankam, that's why we're holding back as
much as we can, but there's a limit to that too. So sort your
mess out by yourselves. Got it?"

After Kurosawa said that, he immediately ran back to his

post without waiting for a reply since one of his men
contacted him and told him to get back.

Kurosawa was still looking obviously annoyed as he

thought.

——Although there seem to be some proper Hunters

among them, I guess the majority are still those stupid
ones, huh? Can we really secure the Seranthal building
while avoiding getting into a fight with them? Are we
seriously going to work with them once the main squad is
here...? Good grief, I swear it's better if we just leave this
operation to Drankam people without roping us too, isn't
it?

Kurosawa was thinking about what to do next as he ran

back to his station.

Lilina was overwhelmed by Kurosawa's presence, but once

he left, her anger quickly welled up again.
 She was about to burst with anger even now.

"...W-What the heck is wrong with that guy?!"

Yumina tried to calm Lilina down.

"Lilina, I understand your feeling, but just calm down for

now, okay?"

In contrast to that, Airi threw short but harsh words.

"Lilina, shut up."

Lilina was about to say something, but she stopped

midway after she saw Yumina and Airi. Yumina looked at
Lilina with a rather stern face, while Airi was looking at
Lilina with her usual expressionless face but mixed with a
tinge of hostility. Both of them were staring at Lilina, putting
pressure on her.

There were other girls beside Yumina and Airi around

Katsuya. But Airi and Yumina had been together with
Katsuya for a long time. Their Hunter Rank was the second
highest in Katsuya's team, only after Katsuya. Their pressure
was enough to shut Lilina up, and even scared her.

There was no mistaking it, both of them were angry. If

Lilina said anything, there was no mistaking it that both of
them would get even angrier. Thus Lilina just shut up
without being able to even make any excuse.

Katsuya was basically a kind person, if someone weak

came to him scared, no matter the reason, he would extend
his hand. And even more so when it was someone from his
own team and a beautiful girl to top it off.
 Katsuya also felt slightly scared since he could also feel
Airi and Yumina's anger, but even so, he tried his best to
make a smile and calm Lilina down.

"Well, Lilina, just calm down for now... Are you good
now? Well, let's proceed with the report. Since you returned
back faster than originally planned, it means that you have
something you want to report as soon as possible, right?"

Lilina calmed down after she saw Katsuya's gentle smile.

But she still could not fully calm down, as she flusteredly
tried to piece her words together.

"...W-Well, uhh, we met them when we were about to

head back, and, uh..."

Airi interjected.

"You can save that for later, first tell us why did you
return back sooner than planned."

"W-well, uhh, it's nothing big, but..."

Lilina was hesitating, which only made Airi angrier.

"Just spit it out..."

"T-The elevator moved..."

"Is that all?"

"Uhhh, we've agreed beforehand that we won't go to the

second floor until we secure the first floor, right? Since the
elevator started moving, they might use it to go to the upper
floor without securing the first floor first. I just thought that
I need to let Katsuya know this as soon as possible so that
they won't steal a start..."
 Lilina mixed her own guesses in her report.

After Kurosawa returned and received a report from his

men, he frowned and asked if his men were sure they were
not mistaken.

"Are you sure about it?"

"Yeah, the elevator moved."

"So basically, no one went to the upper floor without my

permission and the elevator started moving, is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's as long as we believe the floor's display on

that elevator. The Hunters who are stationed near the first-
floor elevator also said that they heard the elevator moving.
The elevator on the first floor started moving and we have
nothing to do about it, and there's no fool among us who
would go upstairs without permission."

Kurosawa's face turned grim as he thought.

——Did any of their men go upstairs and call for the

elevator? No, it might be from the squad that went into this
building before us... Wait, but the elevator is supposed to be
unusable, right? So why has it started moving out of the
blue? Did something change in the building...? I have a bad
feeling about this...

Kurosawa then looked at his men with a serious face and

said to them.

"Inform everyone inside the building to return back as

soon as possible, everyone, understand? Just leave the
portable information-gathering device behind. Tell them to
get back here, now. Also, tell the other Hunters who are
transporting the dead monsters outside the building to stop
immediately, and gather here. Also, prepare their weapons.
Use all the portable walls to form a barrier, take some
distance from the entrance so that you can safely focus your
fire on the entrance, and form a barricade around the
entrance."

Kurosawa's men were surprised when he suddenly gave

that order to them. After all, it sounded as if Kurosawa had
given up securing the building. One of them looked
bewildered and said to him.

"Whoah, are you sure about that? We're almost done

securing the first floor, you know? Are we really going to just
abandon it?"

"It's fine. In the first place, there's another group who are
working together with us in this place and they're not
friendly to us. So even if we secure the first floor, I still doubt
if it would be really safe. Moreover, it's not like I can trust
those children to properly secure the area they're
responsible for. And even if no monsters come out from the
building, we can just restart the work to secure the building
again later."

"But, we'll definitely lose a lot of time to secure the

building, is this moving elevator really that dangerous?"

The amount of the secured area basically affects the

reward that Kurosawa and his men would receive. Kurosawa
put some pressure on his words as he replied to his men who
were against retreating from the building.

"It's my intuition. So this is just to be safe. You've decided

to work under me when you joined this team, so stop
yapping and start working. I know that it's a coward's
decision, but you accepted to join this team knowing fully
that I'm a careful person. If you want to question my
decision, you can do that later."

Kurosawa was indeed a skilled Hunter with good

commanding skill, but judging from that point of view, he
sometimes made cowardly decisions. There were many
occasions where he focused too much on pessimistic guesses
during the ruin exploration and gave an order for his men to
withdraw although they could have gathered valuable relics
if only they pushed just a bit further.

But thanks to that, Kurosawa's team had a high

survivability rate. He was different from most of the Hunters
in the eastern district who would happily take a high risk
just to be able to return back with a lot of relics, instead, he
preferred to maintain a long term profit.

Even during their fight against the bounty monster

Maimai, no one got killed in Kurosawa's team, not even
badly injured.

Now that Mihazono ruin had turned dangerous enough

that it was more or less the same as an unexplored ruin, the
other Hunters understood that Kurosawa's cautious nature
was an important factor in making sure that they would be
able to return back alive from the Seranthal building.

Kurosawa's men looked at him with a serious expression

and said.

"Roger that, we'll do it right away."

"Hurry up then!"

Kurosawa urged his men to hurry up with a serious face.

Even if his decision was a mistake, he would not regret it.
After all, just in case if that decision was not a mistake, then
it meant that he would have saved a lot of Hunters from
facing their ends in that building.

***

Elena's team was able to reach the first floor safely. But
right when they stepped on the first floor, the Hunters who
have a good intuition immediately frowned, their expression
turned grim, Akira included.

But before Akira was able to ask Alpha about it, she
suddenly said something that he could not ignore.

"Akira, sorry but I'll need to leave you for a bit."

『Again?』

"It's for the sake of improving your current situation."

Alpha only said that and immediately vanished from

Akira's views. Akira could also feel his augmented suit
suddenly become heavier.

Although Akira's face turned even grimmer, he was still

able to maintain his calmness. After all, that was not his first
time, and he thought that he just needed to pass the
entrance to escape the building.

But that line of thinking also caused Akira to not notice

something. Unlike last time, Alpha did not say that it would
be alright, or that she would be back in no time, or that there
was no monster around.

Elena then explained the current situation to the rest of

her team.
 "There's a big signal reading in the large hall near the
entrance. It would be great if it's from a forward station
made by the reinforcement team, but that might not be the
case. So keep your guard up."

All the other Hunters nodded, they then carefully moved

into the hallway.

As they came closer and closer to the hall near the

entrance, they started to spot dead Hunters spilling fresh
blood. They were fresh corpses and it seemed that they were
killed by gunshot.

Shikarabe checked the equipment of those dead Hunters

and frowned. There was a Drankam mark painted on their
equipment.

"Their equipment is from Drankam. I bet they're young

Hunters from Drankam, they should be working in teams...
So the fact that they didn't retrieve the dead bodies means
that were attacked and did not have the leeway to do so."

Elena looked at everyone and said.

"Just to be safe, we'll treat the signal from the hall as an

enemy. I'll change the route based on that assumption. This
doesn't change the fact that we'll have to be careful."

They continued walking through the hallway, ready for

battle. They found other dead bodies, but this time, they just
ignored them.

Akira unconsciously gripped his rifle tight, he tried to

control his breath to calm his nerves down.

Akira had a stern expression as he called for Alpha.

 『Alpha! Are you not done yet?』

—Alpha did not respond back at all.

***

At the same time, in a vast empty white space, 2 girls were

standing. It was Seranthal, the A.I manager of the Seranthal
building, and Alpha.

Alpha seemed obviously annoyed as she said to Seranthal.

"Explain yourself!"

Seranthal was expressionless, but it was somehow obvious

that she was also annoyed.

"I'm not violating any agreements that we made

beforehand. I didn't block your way when you explored the
building and I'm not preventing you from getting out of the
building either. It's as we agreed on."

"Then why are you using the elevator?"

"That happened outside of my control. It's true that I'm

the manager of this building, but there are other people too
who have permission to use the facilities inside this building
without going through me. Especially for the users of the
50th floor and above, they have the rights to directly use the
elevator. The security drones also have that right. So I bet it
was the B18 that used the elevator."

"I found B18 drones on the 30th floor too though."

"They're just exercising their rights to defend themselves.

I'm also actually troubled here with those drones roaming
inside this building without my permission. And I also feel
sorry for it. But, it's not like I can do anything about it. I'm
really saddened that they're creating a mess inside this
building."

Alpha and Seranthal continued talking to each other,

none of them seemed to be willing to back down.

***

Elena's team eventually reached the receptionist desk

near the entrance, they confirmed the current situation from
the piles of rubbles and wreckage inside the hall and the
holes in the walls.

There were also many dead bodies lying around the hall, a
fierce battle must have happened there. Those corpses were
still clad in augmented suits and they were still gripping
their rifles.

The front hall of the Seranthal building had a tall ceiling

and tall entrance doors. It even extended all the way until
the third floor of the building. Elena's team noticed that
there were other things inside that hall that was not there
when they came into that building.

Reina could not help but mumble the very thing that
everyone there was thinking.

"...What in the world is that?"

There was a huge mechanical monster in the front hall. It

was so huge to the point that it was obvious it would not fit
inside the hallway of that building, heck, it would not even
fit the entrance of the building. Its body was enveloped in
armour plating, it did not have legs, wheels, caterpillar
tracks, or anything that it might use to move its huge body.
It did not seem that it would be able to move except by
flying. And even if it could move, it would not be able to get
into the building because of its size.

This monstrosity seemed to be stationed there to guard

the building against any trespassers.

Kanae smiled amusedly and said.

"This thing is pretty huge. How did this thing get inside
this hall?"

When Kanae said that, the elevator in that hall suddenly

opened and several B18 monsters came out from it. Most of
them went straight out from the hall, but one of them
approached that big monster and climbed it.

That B18 monster then stopped right on the head of that

big monsters. Then on the next moment, that B18 monster
suddenly exploded as if it activated its self-destruct protocol.

Then one of the armour platings of the big monster slid

open, multiple arms came out and gathered the wreckage of
that B18 monster and pulled them inside its body. The dead
B18 monster became one with the huge monster–a new
armour plating, a new machine gun–thus making its already
huge body even bigger.

Elena nodded, her face was grim.

"I see. So it's staying here because there are materials

available here. It's one of those monsters that can fix itself..."

Sara smiled wryly.

"Then, that means that the snake monster on the 30th

floor must be there to consume the wreckages too.... I get it
now, it's true that there are many materials available in this
building."

More B18 monsters appeared from one of the hallways

and headed outside the building, but suddenly, one of them
was sniped and exploded.

Another bullet also hit the big monster, when that

happened, a blinding light flashed.

Akira frowned.

"...That light, force field armour, huh...?"

It reminded Akira of the powerful powered suit that he

fought in the past in the Kuzusuhara ruin.

Shiori was observing that huge monster with a serious

face.

"And judging from that light, it's a powerful force field

armour. It would have been great if that single snipe was
able to damage its body..."

They waited with bated breath, then a part of that

monster's armour plating crumbled down, exposing a new
armour plating right under it. That armour plating then
popped out as if to replace the armour plating it just lost.

All of them thought about the exact same thing without

saying anything.

Shikarabe's face twitched.

"Carol, you're knowledgeable about this building, right?

Do you know any secret route that we can use to escape this
building? In this situation, I'm willing to pay any price you
ask."

Carol shook her head.

"Unfortunately, the front entrance is our only exit right

now."

"Really?"

"Yes, it is. Even if you pay me 10,000,000,000 Aurum, I

can't give you what I don't have."

Akira, who was hoping that there was another way to

escape the building, looked obviously disappointed. He did
not think that big monster would just let them pass through
peacefully. If they wanted to get out of that place, they had
no other choice but to destroy that monster. And judging
from the fact that it was able to take that single snipe shot
just fine, it would be a difficult task to accomplish.

——Since we're already on the first floor, can't we just

open a hole in the wall and escape through it...? No, that
won't work. Carol also said that the entrance is our only
logical choice. If only Alpha was here, I could ask her why it
won't work though...

Unfortunately enough, Alpha was still away. At this rate,

Akira would have to fight without Alpha's support.

Akira's expression tensed up as he tried to call for Alpha

again.

『Alpha?! Are you really not done yet!?』

And again, no reply at all.

 Chapter 131: The Augmented Suits of The Dead Hunters

Kurosawa was aiming his huge rifle from outside the

Seranthal building, his rifle was so huge as if it was ripped
off straight from a tank. There was no need to question its
power nor its price.

He was checking the enemy's situation using his aiming

device. He confirmed that his shot hit its target from the
flash of the force field armour. But it was a whole different
question whether it damaged its target or not.

Kurosawa's face twitched, his target was doing fine.

Although it must have at least significantly lowered the
energy reserve of its force field armour, the special,
expensive, bullet that he used there did not give him the
result that he was expecting.

Kurosawa made an exasperated face as he mumbled.

"That didn't work, huh. So, they want to secure that

building with that huge monster there. I guess that explains
why they dispatched those squads to surround this
building."

He then checked on his men.

"Anyone injured?"

"No. Everyone was able to escape from that monster

unharmed. No one was left behind either, we've confirmed
that. In the first place, no one here is weak enough to get
injured fighting those smaller monsters that were flowing
out from that building."
 "Alright then. Everyone, get behind the portable walls and
keep suppressing the monsters. Safety is number one here,
there's no need to save your ammo. If the portable wall gets
too weak, immediately pull back. Get about 10 Hunters for
transporting equipment and focus more on materials that
can be used on walls. We can retrieve the equipment for
detecting monsters later, it seems that the sensitivity of our
detection devices is doing well outside the building.
Prioritize more on strengthening the barricade while
suppressing the monsters coming out from that building. If
we keep this up, even though we would fail to secure the first
floor of that building, we should still be able to save some of
our reputation. If the monsters are pushing back too hard,
retreat and regroup with the squads surrounding this area.
There's no need to get too reckless."

"Roger that!"

Kurosawa saw his men leave before aiming back at the

huge monster in the front hall of the Seranthal building.
Seeing that the monster was completely fine, Kurosawa's
face turned sterner.

——I will try to shoot some more and if it still doesn't

work, I will have to give up on destroying that monster. It's
impossible to get into that building without killing that
monster. If that's the one taking command of the smaller
monsters, it would mean that we'll be able to deal a big
blow on their force if we can kill it, but... Should I contact
the squads surrounding the area and ask them to send the
humanoid soldiers to kill that big monster?... I guess that
would be a no... I don't even have the rights to do that and I
don't think that they'll help us anyway. Well, once the main
squad is here to secure that building, someone from the
upper echelon will give them the order to give us support if
that is really needed. Although I don't know when that
would be, it's not my place to be thinking about that.

Kurosawa gathered himself together and pulled the

trigger. The bullet that was shot from his rifle had the same
firepower as a tank warhead, it flew straight at the
humongous monster, destroying some B18 monsters on its
way there.

Once again, Kurosawa confirmed that he hit his mark, but

it did not seem to affect that monster at all. He checked
again and lightly sighed because of a completely different
reason.

"What is it? I'm busy right now, I have no time to take

care of trivial stuff."

Katsuya was standing not too far from Kurosawa with a

stern face.

He looked seriously at Kurosawa and said.

"I have a request."

"Nope!"

Kurosawa gave an instant reply without looking back at

Katsuya. There was no space for negotiation. Katsuya was a
bit surprised by that firm rejection.

Lilina, who was next to Katsuya, suddenly butted in.

Although she was stunned too, she forced herself to say
something there to help Katsuya.

"We haven't even said anything yet!! At least listen to

what we have to say!!"
 Kurosawa looked obviously annoyed as he clicked his
tongue, just like last time, he replied without looking at
Katsuya and Lilina.

"I bet you want my help to retrieve your men that got left
behind in that building, right? My answer is NO. We have no
reason nor obligation to help you. Why should I put my men
in danger just in order to save your men? So no. I myself
don't want to do it, and I'm sure my men don't want to do it
too. We're here putting our life at risk for a chance to get
money, we're basically here to exchange our life for money.
We're only here for that request because we judged that the
reward that we might get this time is worth using the power
that we have worked hard to attain, the expenses of our
consumables, and the risk of death that we'll face. We might
be willing to do that for our comrades, but I don't see any
reason to do that for free for another group that is hostile to
us."

Unlike Kurosawa's group that immediately left the

Seranthal building without wasting a second. Katsuya's
group, who saw Kurosawa's group leaving, thought that it
was weird and did nothing else. After all, in their mind,
Kurosawa's group had just wasted their hard work to secure
the first floor. So, they ended up withdrawing late from that
building.

Because of that, some of Katsuya's men did not make it

and got left behind. It was unclear whether they were still
alive or already dead. If they were to be optimistic, those
Hunters might have barricaded themselves somewhere,
waiting to be saved. But if they were to be pessimistic, those
Hunters would be already annihilated by now. Katsuya
prioritized more on the former, he could not bring himself to
take the latter guess.
 Katsuya, Yumina, and Lilina were about to try to negotiate
with Kurosawa out of kindness, sense of virtue, and
arrogance respectively. But Kurosawa who was still shooting
there spoke first.

"Are you going to tell me that it's exactly because we're in

this situation that we should be helping each other now?
Don't make me laugh. It's true that helping each other is a
good thing, but that is if we both have the capability and
willingness to help each other. For the willingness side, well
I can understand your feeling, so I'm not really against
negotiating with you, but it's a whole different story for the
capability. I and my men think that you guys will only be
dead weight to us. We don't think that you have the ability to
help us, so it won't be helping out each other, it'll be us one-
sidedly helping you. And if we do that, then it'll be out of our
kindness. But I and my men don't have the leeway to act out
of kindness at the moment. As in matter of fact, we're
already helping you guys out by letting you guys use our
portable walls. So you should be grateful for that."

To be honest, Kurosawa only allowed Katsuya's men use

his group's portable wall since otherwise, Katsuya would
only have two choices: either fully pull back his men, or lead
them to a suicidal charge into the building. Both choices
would lower the overall fighting strength of the Hunters and
that would be disadvantageous for Kurosawa.

Kurosawa was only letting Katsuya's men use his portable

wall for his own profit.

Katsuya tried to think of another solution out of his

stubbornness, Yumina tried to think of another solution
using logical calculation, and Lilina tried to think of another
solution out of desperation because of the sense of defeat
that she felt there, Kurosawa continued.
 "Are you telling me that you'll pay me then? But the
answer is still no. When money is involved, it would be a
formal request. I, as the commander of my men in this place,
have no right to accept another request at the moment. If
you insist, you should talk it out with those people in the
Hunter Office who are negotiating on how they are going to
form the main squad. It's useless to talk to me about that."

That shut all of them up. They tried to think of anything

that they could say there, but nothing came up. Kurosawa
then continued.

"We're in no position and we have no reason to accept

your request. If you get it now, then just shut up. You'll
disrupt my concentration if you keep making noise here.
You're basically bothering me by doing that, and if you keep
bothering me, I'll have you removed first. After all, bothering
the command here will expose the whole group to more
danger. Just so you know, I have no qualms injuring you so
stop bothering me."

Kurosawa did not even glance at Katsuya. But Katsuya

and his friends obviously felt a sense of pressure and
hostility emanating from Kurosawa.

Katsuya, Yumina, and Lilina could not think of anything

to say in that situation. They just stood there in silence.
Katsuya cursed his own weakness, Yumina seemed
immensely worried for her comrades that got left behind,
and Lilina gritted her teeth in anger.

Among them, Airi, who was silent and thinking up until

now suddenly spoke.

"In that case, I want you to take command of this group

too. You can get all the credits while we're under your
command. Then, I want you to finish our original goal of
coming here, to secure the first floor of Seranthal building."

Katsuya, Lilina, and Yumina immediately turned to Airi,

they looked completely shocked. Airi kept staring at
Kurosawa with a serious expression.

Kurosawa stopped shooting and looked at Airi. He looked

both surprised and a little troubled while staring back at her,
trying to read the meaning behind her words.

Airi locked her gaze with Kurosawa's and continued.

"If you have the command of our group, it'll reduce the
damage to your men. Your commanding skill should also be
able to compensate for our weakness to some extent. I
believe that this is a good deal for you, with no money
involved, so?"

Kurosawa thought for a bit before answering back.

"...So basically we can push the dangerous roles to you to

safely achieve our goal, and if we can secure the first floor of
the Seranthal building, then you'll be able to rescue your
friends, huh... That's indeed a suggestion worth thinking
about, but it's not like we can accept it right away. Or more
like, shouldn't convincing your leader come first? If you
leave all the achievements to us, then why are you here in
the first place, the one who will take the responsibility for
that will be your leader, right? Or is it that your leader gave
the full right to you?"

When Kurosawa asked that question, Airi sounded rather

disappointed as she replied.

"...No, I don't have such a right."

 "I see. That wasn't a bad suggestion, but keep those things
that I asked you in mind first before you make such a
suggestion next time."

Kurosawa only said that and ended the negotiation there,

that was when Katsuya made his resolve and suddenly said.

"Alright alright!! You can claim all the achievements!! I'll

take full responsibility...!! So please, save my men."

It was as if Katsuya let out his real feeling there as he

lowered his head. It was obvious that he was being really
serious.

The way Kurosawa looked at Katsuya changed from a

mocking gaze to a respectful gaze for someone that he was
negotiating with. He then started to think about that
suggestion seriously.

Katsuya waited with bated breath for Kurosawa's answer.

Kurosawa had not said anything yet, he was still thinking
with a serious expression.

Kurosawa finally made his decision, he sounded as if he

felt sorry about it as he said.

"As I thought, the answer is still no."

Katsuya and the other Hunters there understood that it

was the decision that Kurosawa made after thinking
seriously about it. Katsuya had a pained expression as he
asked a question.

"...Why is it still a no? Is it impossible to change your

mind no matter what?"
 "I won't deny that it was a good offer. But it did not
resolve the most important worry that I have, so as long as
that worry is still there, I, as the one who will take the
command of your men, can't take that offer."

Airi asked.

"...What worry?"

"Even if I take command of your men, there's no

guarantee that your men will listen to my orders. So, without
that guarantee, that offer is basically off the table."

Katsuya who heard that desperately begged.

"I'll make sure that they'll listen to your orders!! I promise

you that!!"

Kurosawa shook his head and replied with an honest tone.

"It's not like I'm doubting you here and I'm not saying
that your men don't trust you or anything. I'm sure that you
will follow my orders and I'm sure that you're on good terms
with your men and they trust you. But that doesn't
guarantee that they'll follow my orders. Their trust and faith
in you might even be the very reason why they wouldn't
listen to my orders. I'm sure that some of them would not
move on my orders and will only move on yours. In the first
place, I doubt that they'll all definitely listen to your orders
as well. After all, at the moment, there is already someone
from your team who entered an area that they should not.
Am I right?"

Kurosawa glanced at Lilina, who immediately froze.

Kurosawa returned his gaze back to Katsuya and

continued.
 "I bet there are others who disregard your orders too,
right...? I can see that I'm right, huh. I bet they won't listen
to my orders when they don't even listen to yours. That will
be the end of this negotiation. I refuse your suggestion. It's
nothing personal, I know you want to rescue your men,
honestly speaking, I feel the same too. But as the leader of
my team, I can't afford to expose my men to needless
danger. Well, we'll at least provide you with support fire if
you want to try to make a run to that building. So, just tell us
if you decide to do that."

After he said that, Kurosawa left that place to check the

other location, he then gave some orders to his men before
aiming at the entrance of the Seranthal building again.

Katsuya, Lilina, Yumina, and Airi who were left there

looked down, dejected. Especially Lilina. She seemed to be
the most dejected. She then asked with a voice that sounded
as if she was about to cry.

"...Was it... My fault?"

"...It's at least not your fault alone."

Airi's vague comforting words did not have much effect on

her.

***

Elena told her team to stand by on guard while checking

the current situation that they were in. It was so that none of
them tried to shoot at the humongous monster which might
cause all the other B18 monsters to shift their attention to
Elena and her team.

Someone was still sniping that big monster, although it

could not kill nor destroy it, it at least continued shaving the
power of its forcefield armour. Elena was hoping that it
would eventually destroy the monster.

But as if to cut that hope short, the sniping suddenly

stopped. It might be just a temporary pause, or the person
sniping had already completely given up, Elena hoped that it
was the former. But after some time, her face turned grim as
she made her guess.

——It seems that they judged that it was ineffective and

decided to completely stop, huh. Or maybe the situation
outside got worse and they don't have the leeway to keep
sniping... I hope that it's the former.

Elena then gave an order to her men.

"Unfortunately, it seems that we can't rely on the squads

outside to take care of this situation. That's why we have to
try to kill that monster and get out of this place ourselves.
We'll split the team into two, one to fight that monster and
another one to cover the flank."

Elena looked at Shiori and Kanae. Shiori had a blade

dangling on her hip and Kanae had a fighting gauntlet on
her fists. Both of them were equipped for close combat. If
they specialized in close combat, it would be counter-
effective to have them fight the big monster, they were also
there as Reina's bodyguard in the first place. So, Elena
thought that it would be better to have them assigned to the
flank team.

But Shiori suddenly spoke.

"I'll join the vanguard then."

Elena was a bit surprised by that.

 "Are you sure? Or more like, are you okay with that?"

"Of course, no need to worry."

Elena hesitated, but she decided to accept Shiori's offer. It

seemed that even Reina's bodyguard would prioritize
fighting that big monster even if it meant that they would be
separated from their target for protection. After all, it would
be way safer if they could defeat that monster as fast as they
could. Elena also thought that it might be because Shiori had
an idea of how to defeat that big monster.

Elena then said.

"Alright. The flank team will be Shikarabe, Kanae, Reina,

and Togami. Shikarabe, I'll leave it to you."

Shikarabe understood what Elena meant. Although his

team had 4 people, it actually only had 3 people who could
fight decently, or maybe even only two–Shikarabe and
Kanae. Elena was basically saying that in the middle of
fighting the monsters, he would need to keep one person
safe no matter what and he had to decide what to do about
the other Hunter that he had brought into the team.

"Roger that, let's go."

Shikarabe then led his team to reposition themselves.

Kanae was about to follow Shikarabe when she noticed
Reina was just standing there with a conflicted face, so she
grabbed Reina's arm and took her along. Reina was looking
worriedly at Shiori, who replied back with a smile that was
saying that there was no need to worry.

Togami also had a conflicted face as he followed

Shikarabe. He was assigned to the flank team because Elena
saw him as someone who was under Shikarabe, and it was
not because Elena thought that he would be useless even if
he was in the vanguard team. Togami knew that but even so,
it was hard for him to align his thoughts to that fact.

Akira, Elena, Sara, Shiori, and Carol took their positions

to start shooting. They were hiding in a hallway, behind
rubble, behind a wall with a hole, or behind anything that
might protect them while they were waiting for Elena's
signal.

Akira was very nervous. He repeatedly took a deep breath

to try and calm himself down.

——Calm down. Don't panic. Calm down your nerves.

Just do what I should do the best that I can. That's all there
is to it. Back then, when that big snake ate me, I also lost
connection to Alpha. The situation that I'm in right now is
not as bad as when I was inside that snake's stomach.

He left anything that would slow down his movement on

the floor, that included his rucksack, CWH anti-material
rifle, and DVTS minigun. After all, he had no confidence to
be able to move around quickly without Alpha's support if he
had those things on him.

If he carried everything with him, it would be even

difficult for him to walk. Until now, he was able to maintain
his balance in that situation with the help of Alpha's support.
But now that he did not have that support, it would be
impossible for him to go on a battle while carrying all of
those things.

Akira looked at the A4WM automatic grenade launcher in

his hand and smiled bitterly.

——I have 2 rifles that don't need strict aiming, I'm glad I
bought them.
 The A4WM automatic grenade launcher and DVTS
minigun were rifles that did not need strict aiming, while the
CWH anti-material rifle needed proper aiming to hit its
target.

The distance to the monster could be considered as a close

distance for a fight in the middle of the wasteland. In that
range, Akira should have no problem aiming with his CWH
anti-material rifle.

But currently, Akira could not do something as dangerous

as peeking out from the rubble and taking his time to get a
proper aim. If he got unlucky and got the monster already
aiming at him, there was basically zero chance that he would
survive.

Even if that monster had a big body, Akira did not have
the confidence to properly hit his shot even if he used the
time compression too. After all, if he missed, it would
immediately spell his doom.

So Akira decided to carry the rifle that he could shoot

without too much aiming. He put some medicines in his
mouth, ready to swallow it the moment Elena gave the order
to start attacking. He had made his resolve as he was waiting
for that signal.

Elena sent an order through the communication device

before starting the battle.

"Although I'm sure there's no need for me to spell this

out, once we start shooting, I'm sure the other smaller
monsters would focus their attack on us too. If it's possible, I
want to leave them be. So just ignore the smaller monsters
as long as they don't attack us, focus your firepower on our
main target. But I don't forbid you from attacking the
smaller monsters here. And if you think that the situation is
getting too dangerous, you can make your own decision."

On the other side of where Elena and her team were, a

stream of B18 monsters was still flowing out from the
building to the outside, passing next to the big monster, and
it did not seem that it would stop anytime soon.

"Well, let's go then, in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Zero!"

—Elena, Sara, Carol, Shiori, and Akira started shooting

simultaneously with that signal.

***

In a big white space, Alpha and Seranthal were still

talking to each other.

Seranthal looked mildly annoyed as she said.

"You asked me to let some visitors in, and this time, you
want me to take that back? You're always like that. Even the
access to the information on the common floor is supposed
to be a secret, you know. How far do you want to trample
over my right before you're satisfied?"

Alpha answered back with a rather neutral expression, but

there was a strong pressure emanating from her neutral
face.

"I ask nothing more than what I need. If you won't accept
this peaceful offer, then I have no other choice but to resort
to the non-peaceful solution."

Seranthal glared at Alpha, but Alpha's expression did not

change at all while she was waiting for Seranthal's answer.
After a short silence, Seranthal answered back with an
obviously hostile tone.

"...I've removed the permission, you can go ahead and

confirm it."

Alpha smiled.

"Yep, I just confirmed it, thank you for your cooperation."

"If that's all, then leave, and never come back."

"Personally speaking, I also hope I don't ever need to

come here again."

Alpha then vanished from that space. After that, Seranthal

showed an expression that she would never show to a visitor
and released a deafening roar until she felt satisfied.

***

Akira was desperately shooting back at the monsters. He

gathered his focus, compressed his time perception, peeked
out from where he was hiding, aimed his rifle at the big
monster, and basically just shot his A4WM rifle pretty much
randomly. He then immediately returned back to hiding
before the enemy fixed its aim on him.

He prepared himself to meet death every time he peeked

out, and when he found the monster was already aiming at
him, he would flusteredly return back to hiding. He moved
from one hiding spot to another while listening to the sound
of countless bullets ricocheting around him and the fear
when he saw huge warheads mowing the location where he
just hid not too long ago. Then from there he would start
shooting again, rinse and repeat the cycle.
 If Akira did not have his time compression, he would not
be able to confirm where the monsters were aiming and
evade them on time, he might even get killed the moment he
peeked out. He would not be able to do anything in that
situation if he did not have that time compression.

——Good grief, I'm so glad I learned to compress my

time perception... How long can I keep this up? Will I last
until we can kill that monster?

Every time Akira peeked out and shot, he could feel stress
that almost crushed his heart and body. Both his brain and
his body were begging for a rest, but he just ignored it,
clenched his teeth, kept his focus, and pushed his body to
keep moving nimbly with the help of his augmented suit.
Although he was somehow able to fight in that situation
because he forced himself that hard, it was only a matter of
time before his mind or body would give out. The pulsing
pain in his body and head was telling him that he did not
have much time before that would happen.

Akira crushed the growing fear inside him as he

desperately continued fighting back the monsters.

In the battle, the Hunters actually had the upper hand.

Not only was the main target stationary, it also had a huge
body, an easy target. As long as there was no sudden change
in the situation, the Hunters would not miss their shots.
While on the other hand, the big monster had to divide its
attention to multiple locations, so its firepower was
significantly thinned out.

Moreover, the other B18 monsters just kept on moving

outside the building even after the Hunters started shooting.
Thanks to that, the Hunters could focus their firepower on
the big monster alone.
 As the Hunters there started to think that they would be
able to win at this rate, they started to relax and lowered
their guard, that was the moment when a sudden turn of
events happened as if it was waiting for the Hunters to lower
their guards.

Although Akira did not have as much leeway as the other

Hunters, he also started to unconsciously lower his guard
and looked down on that big monster. That caused him to
start looking around his surroundings which would have
been a dangerous thing normally.

When Akira looked around and saw the dead bodies

scattered around him, he thought that he would join them if
he was not careful, and that made him realize that he had
lowered his guard. Akira smiled bitterly. As he was about to
focus back on fighting the big monster, that was when,
fortunately, he noticed the change as his gaze was still
directed at the dead bodies.

The dead bodies that he was looking at suddenly moved

slightly, one of them aimed his rifle at Akira.

Akira instantly predicted the trajectory line from its

muzzle and evaded it by pure reaction. The dead Hunter
pulled the trigger and Akira was barely able to evade that
shot.

Akira was completely taken aback. He quickly aimed his

A4WM at that dead body and was about to pull the trigger,
but he immediately realized that it would also injure himself
if he pulled the trigger there. So he stopped his finger from
pulling the trigger. Instead, he quickly swapped his A4WM
rifle with his A2D assault rifle and shot at that dead Hunter.

Bullets barraged that dead Hunter, destroyed its limbs,

and blew its body away. But that short opening when Akira
swapped his rifle gave enough time for that dead Hunter to
also shoot at Akira. Although it did not hit Akira's vitals, the
impact and the pain from the hit threw Akira off-balance.

That short exchange with death caused Akira's brain to

accelerate, in that slow-moving world, Akira immediately
swallowed all the medicines that were already inside his
mouth and pushed his body back up. Right when he was
back standing, he noticed that the other dead Hunters in the
area already started moving on their own.

When Akira was about to aim his rifle at the dead Hunters
that were carrying rifles, the dead Hunters that were not
carrying weapons immediately started running in his
direction. Akira forced his body to move with the help of his
augmented suit to evade it while enduring the pain that was
rushing throughout his body, he prioritized shooting the
dead Hunters with rifles first.

He sent a kick towards the head of a dead Hunter that got

too close to him and released a few shots at the other dead
Hunters at the same time. Akira was fighting back
desperately and was able to barely repel the attack of the
dead Hunters. His fighting skill that he had polished
through countless training allowed Akira to barely survive
that fight.

Back then, Alpha helped Akira by indicating the

dangerous locations with red marks. Akira was in a wide-
open area, so he had no idea what made them dangerous.
But right now, he was able to identify dangerous locations
even if it was in a closed space. Although he no longer could
see the trajectory prediction lines, he was able to quickly
predict where the enemies were aiming.

They might be nothing more than his imagination, but

Akira let that sensation take over his body as he continued
fighting back.

But when he saw one of the dead Hunters kept attacking

him although it had lost its head, Akira finally realized
something.

——I see, it's the augmented suit, huh! So just like me,
someone else is controlling their augmented suit!

Akira thought that the dead Hunters would stop moving if

he crushed their heads, but it seemed that he was too naive.

——Good grief, I guess everything is possible inside the

old-world ruin, huh!? So basically, still-moving dead
Hunters are normal over here?!

Akira kept on fighting as he thought that the current

situation really reminded him that the old-world ruin was an
amalgamation of things that were out of common sense.
 Chapter 132: Trump Card

Shikarabe's team in the flank was also attacked by the

dead Hunters, but unlike Akira who responded in panic,
Shikarabe and Kanae were able to calmly handle the
situation just fine. It was not because they expected
someone to control the dead Hunter's augmented suits, it
was more because of the difference in their ability to handle
a sudden turn of events like that.

After Shikarabe took care of the dead Hunters around

him, he went back to the hallway and shot down the dead
Hunters that might attack Elena's team.

Shikarabe had already noticed that those dead Hunters

were moving around because someone took control of their
augmented suit. He had a grim face as he mumbled.

"Good grief, this is exactly why you shouldn't buy cheap

augmented suits, what a huge pain in the neck!"

There were many augmented suits that could be accessed

from the outside. It was to help it to work in tandem with
other equipment like an aiming device so that the
augmented suit could help stabilize the aiming.

Depending on their users, some augmented suits could be

set to be more open to external access, there were many
different reasons why they did that. For example, it was so
that the other Hunters could control and use the dead body
as a decoy. Some Hunters forced the other Hunters to use
that kind of augmented suit to make use of the other
Hunters even when they were badly injured.
 Of course, normally, it did not cause any trouble. After all,
an augmented suit that could be easily accessed by anyone
would not sell well in the market. That was why most of the
augmented suits in the market were equipped with a safety
function to protect them from unauthorized access. And as
expected, the better the protection, the more expensive the
augmented suit would be. While on the other hand, it was
very rare for people to try to hack into someone's safety
feature. So it was a rather delicate balance.

Kanae lightly smiled and said.

"Well, this is a huge surprise. How did they hack into the
dead Hunter's augmented suit? But well, this is an old-world
ruin after all, in front of their eyes, our technology might be
nothing but primitive. While on the other hand, these might
be augmented suits that use their users' biological signature
as a key, so their safety feature is significantly lowered down
even when the users get killed."

"Well, I really can't say for sure."

When Shikarabe saw Kanae smiling happily, he looked

back at her exasperatedly.

A young girl in a maid outfit, equipment tailored for CQC,

loved fighting, a total oddball. She was a rare kind of person
even for Shikarabe. Although he had nothing to complain
about her fighting strength, Shikarabe had no plans to
associate too much with her if it can be helped.

Kanae loved fighting too much. Associating with someone

like her would dull one's sense of danger. Only battle
maniacs could get along with the other battle maniacs. If
someone else tried to get along with them, he or she would
get killed in no time, or at least, that was what Shikarabe
thought.
 Kanae noticed that Shikarabe was looking at her, so she
just smiled back and said.

"Oh, did I just mesmerize you?! Oh my, you're making me

blush here! I love strong Hunters too, you see!! So you're
more than welcome if you want to try to hit on me! Ah, but
I'm a bit busy at the moment, so it would be great if you can
save it for later."

Shikarabe obviously had given up on trying to fix that

misunderstanding.

"Sorry, but even for me, I would choose who I want to hit
on. I have no wish to try to hit on a battle maniac. Especially
when she's fighting monsters in close range in a maid
outfit."

"Ah, this is just because I enjoy punching them directly

more than shooting at them, you see. There are a lot of cases
where I can't bring rifles with me during my job. You look
pretty strong yourself, want to do some light duels some
other time?"

Shikarabe's face twitched, he bet that Kanae would not

stop only with light duels.

"No thanks."

"That's just too bad."

Kanae honestly felt bummed by Shikarabe's answer.

Togami and Reina were evacuated to a safe hallway.

When the dead Hunters started to move, Togami and Reina
reacted late, thus forcing Shikarabe and Kanae to help them.
After that, they were escorted to a safe place and they were
warned not to go out so as not to get in the way of the battle.
 Reina checked her surroundings and peeked out, Kanae
who noticed that immediately warned her.

"Milady! Get back, it's dangerous out here! If Milady gets

injured, Ane-san would slice me, you know?!! Is this some
kind of harassment?! If it is, that's so cruel!!"

Shikarabe shouted at Togami.

"Togami, don't just stand there! Get her back in the

hallway! It's your job in the first place to keep your eyes on
your surroundings!! And don't let her get out from there! I
put you there to guard her you know?! Or is it that you don't
know what's the meaning of guarding someone?!!"

Togami grabbed Reina's shoulder and shoved her back.

When Reina was pulled back, she could also feel that it
was out of her patheticness. Thus, she instinctively glared at
Togami.

"Even I want to know what's going on outside too, you

know!!"

Reina had a fierce look that she once had in the past, but
the moment she saw Togami, her expression completely
changed to a troubled face. Togami had a stern expression,
but somewhere in his face, there was a trace of weakness, it
was as if he was about to cry. He then asked Reina a
question.

"Am I... Really not good enough?"

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"Am I really that bad to the point that my escort target

would just ignore me to check the situation themselves? Am
I really that useless?"

Togami's expression was asking Reina to deny it. When

Reina saw that, it reminded her of herself.

Reina responded back with a whisper.

"...That's not it."

"...Is that so? Then please step back. During that surprise
attack just now, we could not do anything at all, we let the
other two Hunters take care of everything. I'm your escort at
the moment. Although I have no plans to die, at the
moment, it's my job to get killed first before you... So please
at least let me do my job."

Reina obediently walked behind Togami, who peeked out

and checked the situation.

"...Sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

Reina did not know if Togami was apologizing because he

shoved her back too hard or it was an apology for something
else. But in the end, Reina did not ask him either.

After that, Togami started to take his duty to protect

Reina seriously.

The vanguard team finally took care of all of the moving

dead Hunters. Akira got shot two more times, but he was
still able to repel the surprise attack. While Elena, Sara,
Carol, and Shiori did not face any trouble at all. The only one
who got injured in that surprise attack was Akira.

Elena tried to confirm everyone's situation.

 "Is everyone alright?"

Akira answered back while enduring the pain.

"I'm alright."

Elena immediately replied with a worried tone.

"Akira, are you really alright?"

"I'm okay... If there's anything, it's just that I set my

augmented suit in battle mode, so it's consuming more
energy than usual. I'm not so sure if my energy reserve is
okay. I'm sorry but when I run out of energy, please let me
withdraw temporarily to put in a new energy pack."

When Akira knew that he would be going into a battle

without Alpha's support, he set his augmented suit to battle
mode. Thanks to that, it was able to absorb most of the
impact from the bullets that hit his body, but in exchange, it
was actively using a lot of energy. It was only a matter of
time before Akira ran out of energy and rendered useless in
that battle.

Elena then worriedly said to Akira.

"Alright. There's no need to hold back, just quickly retreat

when things get too dangerous. How about the others?"

The other Hunters told Elena that they were fine.

Elena then said to the whole vanguard team.

"I'm glad that everyone is okay. Well then, I have some

bad news here, it seems that a part of the monster swarm
started to move differently. It seems that they're avoiding us
while trying to reach Shikarabe's team. If we don't take care
of them, we might get attacked from both sides later... Or
more like, we're already in that situation."

Some of the B18 monsters that were heading outside the

building changed their aim to support the big monster. It
was as if they changed their plans after confirming that the
Hunters survived that surprise attack.

"There's no need to hold back, use everything you have,

you can use any trump card that you still have hidden up
your sleeves. I'll handle the negotiation later to make sure
that you'll get compensated for that even if those cost you a
few million aurums."

Elena mixed a bit of a joke there before closing the

communication.

Akira smiled bitterly, his trump card was not with him at
the moment.

——No, that's not right. A trump card is not something

that you casually use all the time. Without Alpha's support,
I only amount to this much. I'm just someone who is fully
reliant on a borrowed power, on something that is only lent
to me.

When Akira thought so, he realized that his augmented

suit, rifles, and even medicines were nothing but were given
to him. He then lightly mocked himself for getting too
conceited.

When Akira was about to start shooting again, Carol and

Shiori approached him. They started shooting at the big
monster while asking Akira a question.

Carol was the first one as she worriedly asked Akira.

 "Akira, are you really okay? It seems that you're moving
slower than usual though."

"I got shot, so it might have caused me to slow down."

Carol tried to be careful not to change her expression. She

had seen him get shot when he covered her, but back then, it
did not seem to have affected Akira's movements at all. So in
short, he was lying and Carol knew that.

Shiori pursued even further.

"To be honest, it seems that your movement was slowed

down even before you got shot."

Akira frowned. Both Shiori and Carol were keeping their

eyes on him even before he got shot.

Akira sighed and then replied with a serious face.

"I apologize if I'm slowing everyone down, feel free to just

abandon me."

Carol did not stop shooting as she flusteredly said.

"...Ah, it's not like I think you're taking it easy, I didn't

mean that when I asked you that question. I was just
worried since you didn't move like usual."

Shiori also did not stop shooting as she tried to probe

what might be behind Akira's words there.

"I'm not suspecting you for cutting corners, not at all. But
I could not find any reasons that might cause your
movement to worsen."
 Akira shot out a couple of grenades at the enemy before
he hid again. Shiori was still staring at Akira as if she was
waiting for an answer.

It seemed that Akira finally gave up as he gave a mildly

vague explanation.

"...If I have to say something, it seems that I consumed

too many medicines since we returned from the 30th floor.
When I use the full power of my augmented suit, it puts my
body in immense stress and I'm compensating that with
medicines. But I feel like it's a bad idea to keep consuming
medicines at this rate. The last time I overused medicines, I
fainted for 3 full days out of exhaustion. I thought that it
would be really bad if I faint in this situation, so I decided to
reduce my medicine consumption."

Akira was not lying, even if that was not fully convincing,
it should at least be enough to hold back their suspicions. As
Akira thought so, he glanced at Shiori and Carol.

Carol and Shiori seemed to be somewhat convinced by

that explanation, but it was not like they just accepted
Akira's explanation as it was.

They added extra guesses based on their experiences and

knowledge on top of the new information that they just
received from Akira.

Carol unconsciously nodded lightly.

——Although he said that it's because of the medicines, I

bet he's taking medicines with strength enhancers or
something. Judging from the fact that he fainted for 3 days
out of exhaustion, it should be a pretty strong drug. If his
slowed movement is because of the kickback from that drug
after it ran out of effect, then his reasoning does make
sense. After all, the kickback of an accelerator drug is really
not something so scoff at.

Carol was definitely sure of half of her guess as she asked

Akira a question.

"Akira, do you usually modify your time perception? I

mean like, you know, when things around you run on slower
time than they should."

Akira was surprised by that question.

"Oh, you can tell?"

Carol smiled satisfied thinking that she opened one of

Akira's secrets.

"Well, pretty much, this is a common knowledge for

Hunters, you see."

Although, unlike what Carol guessed, Akira actually was

controlling his time perception with his own power without
help from a drug. He was surprised since he thought that
Carol had guessed that out, while Carol thought that Akira
was surprised since she was able to guess that he was using
accelerator drugs. They misunderstood each other and no
one there could point that out.

Shiori then asked Akira with a serious look.

"Akira-sama, you said that you fainted out of exhaustion,

right? Is this something that might kill you?"

Akira tilted his head, he thought that it was weird for

Shiori to ask a question that had an obvious answer.
 "No, but if I faint in this situation, I'm pretty sure that I'm
dead."

"Which means that the exhaustion itself is not life-

threatening, so the kickback from the drug is not that strong
and it would be fine as long as you can take a rest in a safe
place for a few days after that, correct?"

"...Well, yeah, that's true."

They were still shooting at the monsters while having that

conversation, in that situation, they did not have the chance
to just focus on their conversation.

Carol immediately returned to hiding behind rubble after

releasing some shots, she then glanced at Shiori.

"What is it? Are you telling him to use the accelerator

until he faints since it's not life-threatening? Like he said, it's
stupid to do something like that in this situation. And
looking at the current Akira, it seems that the kickback is
already at a pretty bad level."

The reason why Akira was moving slower was simply

because he was still inexperienced. But since it would be bad
if he tried to explain the truth to both of them, Akira chose
to not say anything.

Shiori thought that Akira's silence was due to him getting

annoyed. But even so, she made a request to him.

"Akira-sama. I know it's rude for me to ask this. But, if

you take extra medicines without worrying about the
kickback, is it possible for you to stop that monster for at
least 10 seconds? If it's possible, if you can give me 10
seconds, I guarantee that I will destroy that monster without
fail. So please, will you consider taking extra medicines?"
 Akira and Carol inadvertently turned at Shiori, they were
completely surprised. Shiori kept staring at Akira, waiting
for an answer. Carol, who just returned back to her senses
frowned and opposed that plan.

"Whoah, wait, 10 seconds? If a single person gets the full

attention of that monster for 10 seconds, it's more than
enough to turn that person into minced meat, you know?
You basically want him to get its attention off of you, right?
Isn't that just impossible?"

Shiori did not reply back to Carol, she kept staring at

Akira, waiting for his answer. Shiori thought that Akira had
never shown his full power yet until now. That was why, she
thought that if it was Akira, he might be able to accomplish
her impossible request.

No matter whether he was using extra medicines or not, it

was impossible for Akira to do what Shiori just asked him to
do. Akira's own skill was nowhere near enough to do that.
He was sure that he would definitely be turned into minced
meat before 10 seconds even passed, there was no question
about it.

Right when Akira was thinking what he should say to

refuse that request...

"——I'm back, how is it? Do you miss me?"

Alpha suddenly appeared in Akira's views.

Akira's face immediately turned stern, he was fighting

back as much as he could from making a relieved face. Alpha
was still smiling like usual when Akira replied back with a
complaint.
 『 Yeah yeah, I really missed you. To be honest, I really
wished that you would have returned back sooner, so, can
you do something about this situation?』

Alpha was smiling confidently as she said.

"Just leave it to me."

Akira regained his composure after he heard Alpha's

reassuring reply. His mental state was freed from excessive
anxiety as it returned back to its optimal state for fighting.
His stern face relaxed for a bit and he started explaining to
Alpha.

『I see. So, Shiori asked me to be a decoy and buy her 10

seconds though. If I can do that, it seems she will take care
of that thing. Honestly speaking, I really want to get out
from here as soon as possible, so, 10 seconds, can we do
it?』

"As long as you have me, rather than being a decoy for
10 seconds, it's better to just kill it yourself though. Ask her
to reduce the length, it's much more dangerous to keep its
attention on you without killing it for an extended time
without any good reason."

Akira then asked Shiori.

"Can you make it 5 seconds less?"

"5 seconds, huh..."

When Shiori asked for 10 seconds, she was expecting that

Akira would try to make a compromise before eventually
accepting her request, but 5 seconds was a lot to ask.
 ——5 seconds... That might be the limit of how far Akira-
sama could go... I guess it would be meaningless to ask
more than that, huh.

Shiori earnestly bowed to Akira.

"Very well, 5 seconds, I'll be counting on you, Akira-

sama."

Carol looked at Akira with a flabbergasted expression.

"Akira, are you being serious here? It's still really

dangerous even if it's just for 5 seconds, you know? That 5
seconds is long enough to get yourself killed out there."

"Yeah, but as I said before, if this situation continues, my

augmented suit will eventually run out of energy. If this will
end the battle, I can at least do that much. Without my
augmented suit, I'm the same as dead in this situation
anyway."

Seeing how Akira seemed to have suddenly regained his

confidence, Carol found that rather suspicious, but she then
smiled and said.

"Alright then, I'll give you some support too, be careful."

"Yeah."

Akira, Carol, and Shiori repositioned themselves. Akira

was hiding behind a pile of rubble away from Shiori and
Carol. He had his CWH anti-material rifle in one hand and
his A4WM automatic grenade launcher in the other. He was
standing with his left leg on the ground and his right leg
against the big rubble in front of him.
 That rubble was big enough to completely block Akira's
view. But for the current Akira, that did not matter at all, he
was still able to see the big monster behind that rubble just
fine.

Akira then said to Alpha.

『Alright then, let's do this.』

"This will put your body under immense stress, are you
sure you're ready?"

『Yeah, if it's enough to kill that thing, I can give you my

resolve as much as you want. It's my responsibility after
all.』

Just like he said, Akira had a resolved look on his face.

Alpha returned that resolved look with a happy smile.

Akira needed to keep that big monster occupied for 5

seconds. In normal situations, that was a very short span of
time, but in the middle of a battlefield where bullets were
flying all over the places and one might get killed out of the
blue, 5 seconds was long. So in order to survive those 5
seconds, Akira gathered all of his focus and compressed his
time perception as much as he could. Inside that distorted
world where everything around him was running a beat
slower than him, Alpha was the only one who was still
moving around normally.

"Well then, let's start!"

With that signal from Alpha, Akira pushed the rubble in

front of him with his right leg and made it fall forward
toward the direction of the big monster. Alpha controlled
Akira's augmented suit to increase its output to its
maximum ignoring the stress that it put on its user. The big
rubble fell over and slid on the floor with a very loud sound.

Akira's right leg that pushed the rubble and his left leg
that supported that force against the floor were put under
immense stress, Akira could clearly feel the bones inside
both of his legs cracking. Of course, the medicines that were
still active inside his body immediately started fixing those
cracks, but Akira did not wait for them to completely heal
his bones as he immediately started running as if he was
chasing for the sliding rubble in front of him.

Since the augmented suit hardened and acted like an

exoskeleton to support Akira's both legs, it was able to
absorb the impact from the ground so as not to disturb the
healing on the cracks of both his legs. Thanks to that, Akira
was able to run even with broken legs.

All the machine guns on that big monster turned as much

as they could to aim toward the incoming rubble. The impact
of the bullet storm that swallowed the sliding rubble was
enough to stop that rubble from slipping further. Right after
that, all the machine guns on that big monster immediately
fixed their aim at Akira who was charging at that big
monster alone.

Akira was running while using the rubble in front of him

as a shielding, he kept repositioning himself to make sure
that he would not get hit by the bullets that passed through
the small openings and cracks on that big rubble. It was an
impossible feat to execute without Alpha's support.

Countless bullets flew right next to Akira, but none of

them hit him, not even his equipment. Akira did not slow
down at all as he kept on charging forward.
 Akira raised his A4WM automatic grenade launchers and
pulled the trigger, he did not even aim, it was as if he was
just shooting grenades randomly. But thanks to Alpha's
calculation, all of the grenades that he shot flew in a
parabolic trajectory and landed at the big monster.

Some of the machine guns fixed on the big monster's body

changed their targets to the flying grenades. They moved as
fast as they could to intercept the incoming grenades.

Right at the next moment, Akira raised his CWH anti-

material rifle in his right hand and pulled the trigger. The
CWH special bullet flew past the grenades and hit the weak
points of the machine guns that were trying to intercept the
incoming grenades. More than that, it pierced through
multiple force field armours and hit one of the energy
sources that were supplying energy to those force field
armours.

As one of the energy sources of the monster was

destroyed, a part of its force field armours temporarily
stopped working. When grenades landed on that
unprotected side, the explosion transmitted into the inside
of that monster, thus, temporarily stopping it.

It was not a coincidence, it was something that can only

be done with full knowledge of that monster's anatomy, and
of course, that was only possible thanks to Alpha's support.

Akira kept on shooting his CWH anti-material rifle and

A4WM automatic grenade launcher in succession, thus,
prolonging the state where that big monster could not
retaliate. But it was not close enough to kill that monster,
the humongous monster was created from multiple B18
monsters, thus, it had multiple energy sources and control
devices. So, Akira's attacks were only able to stop that
monster temporarily.
 Inside that slowed down world, Akira asked Alpha.

『How many seconds to go?!』

Since he was in compressed time perception, he did not

know how many seconds had passed. What he knew was
that the big monster was still alive and kicking.

So Alpha who was measuring the accurate elapsed time in

place of Akira answered back.

"It's already 5.14 seconds."

That telepathic exchange happened in a split second.

Akira started to feel doubt. He had already bought enough

time as he had promised, but the enemy was still alive and
well. Shiori had not fulfilled her promise. Because of that, he
could not help but glance at where Shiori was.

When he saw Shiori, Akira was taken aback. Shiori

jumped out from behind rubble and charged straight at the
big monster. She placed her hand on her sheathed blade,
ready to pull her blade anytime. Judging from the length of
that blade, she should not be able to reach that big monster
from that distance.

Just like Akira, Shiori was running in compressed time

perception. She was using her accelerator trump card.

Shiori had studied CQC and swordsmanship. If she was

fighting against an enemy with rifles inside a closed room,
even if that enemy was using a machine gun, Shiori could
close the distance in an instant.

But leaving the smaller monsters aside, Shiori's blade was

not even close to being big enough to take care of that huge
monster. She herself knew that.

Shiori had decided to use her other trump card other than
her accelerator. The time that Akira bought for her was for
Shiori to use her trump card.

When Shiori saw Akira jump out from behind the rubble,
she also jumped out from behind the rubble and started
running towards the big monster. Inside that distorted
world where Shiori could even trace floating sands, she
thanked Akira for buying her time as he promised. This
time, she had to fulfil her part of the promise. She gathered
her concentration and gripped the blade dangling on her
hip. She held the handle with her right hand and sheathe
with her left hand. She focused on her blade and took a
sword-drawing stance.

Shiori gripped hard on her blade's handle, used all the

strength of her augmented suit and pulled out her blade. On
the next moment, a huge blade of light cleanly cut the huge
monster into two. The other B18 monsters around that big
monster were also sliced with it. When that big blade of light
hit the huge monster's forcefield armour, a blinding light
flashed. That blinding flash of light came from the force field
armour trying to convert any kinetic energy into light, it was
the proof that the slice cut through the other force field
armours that were still working.

After cutting that monster horizontally, Shiori then cut

that monster vertically. But she did not stop there, she kept
flinging her sword, cutting the big monster and the B18
monsters around it to smaller pieces.

Akira was dumbfounded watching that scene of this

monstrosity being sliced and diced by a gigantic sword of
light. Suddenly, his left hand started moving on its own and
shot multiple grenades from his A4WM automatic grenade
launcher at the monster. It was Alpha controlling Akira's
augmented suit.

The huge monster was left vulnerable after being sliced by

Shiori, then to top it off, it was mowed by the grenades from
Akira, it then finally stopped moving.

The sword of light that extended out from Shiori's blade

vanished and the rest of the blade crumbled to dust. Shiori
then sheathed her sword, of which only the handle was left,
and breathed out.

Akira returned back to himself and immediately aimed his

rifles at the hallway where B18 monsters might come out, he
then asked Alpha about what just happened.

『 Alpha, that one just now, is it that thing? Old-world

technology thingy just like the one that I used with that knife
back in Kuzusuhara ruin.』

"In a sense, yes, I believe that blade was created using

the technology recovered from analyzing old-world relics.
Although the length of the blade and the sharpness is not
that good, it's at least good enough for a single-use
weapon."

『...It is not that good?!』

"Back in the Kuzusuhara ruin, you were able to easily cut

through pillars and walls, remember? Although it depends
on the items, old-world relics are way more amazing than
that."

『 ...I feel like you should not compare that with an old-
world relic though.』
 "Oh my, that's not true at all. In order for you to
accomplish my request, you will have to get similar level of
equipment, you know?"

If Alpha's statement was true, it sounded as if Akira

should be able to easily find that level of equipment. He was
once again reminded of how scary the old-world ruins were.

The other Hunters watched what happened with wide

eyes, but they quickly returned back to reality and started
moving again. They returned to the hallway while making
sure that their escape route was still safe and waited for
Shikarabe's team to come too. Togami and Reina quickly
grouped back with Elena's team. Not too long after that,
Shikarabe and Kanae, who were holding the B18 monsters
back, finally grouped up with Elena's team too.

Although the other Hunters also saw that flash of light

and had some questions about it, they just shelved it for now
and prioritized more on escaping the building. After
confirming that everyone was alright, they immediately
headed to the building's entrance, hoping that the situation
outside would be better than what they faced just now.
 Chapter 133: Extra Trouble

When Elena's team was fighting in the first-floor atrium

of the Seranthal building, Kurosawa, Katsuya, and the other
Hunters outside the Seranthal building were fighting the
B18 monsters flowing out from that building.

Although their fight was nowhere easy, they were

somehow able to maintain the upper hand.

The B18 monsters were relatively strong monsters.

Compared to the usual monsters roaming in the Mihazono
ruin, they could be considered as powerful monsters. Even a
single B18 monster could wreak havoc, but even so, the
stream of B18 monsters coming out from the Seranthal
building did not seem to be going to stop anytime soon.
Normal Hunters would have died by now.

Kurosawa and his men could handle the fight just fine.
They had properly prepared themselves and had taken
enough distance from the building while giving up trying to
secure the building. Because of that, even if they took it easy,
the B18 monsters would not be able to push them back.

Kurosawa and his men maintained that situation where

there was basically very low danger to their lives.

Katsuya and his men were also fighting back the B18
monsters while hiding behind the portable walls lent by
Kurosawa and his men. But in contrast to Kurosawa and his
men who were not hard-pressed fighting the monsters,
Katsuya and his men seemed to be having a hard time.

Kurosawa and his men had zero casualties and zero

injuries, they had no reason to try to go to the Seranthal
building again. But for Katsuya, some of his men were still
left inside the building. They might be still alive and it might
be too late if he did not try to save them soon.

But of course, Katsuya could not do that at the moment.

His negotiation with Kurosawa ended up in failure and it
was rather impossible for Katsuya and his men to try to
rescue their comrades alone. Katsuya was making a stern
but pained face, he was high-strung since he could not
rescue his men, and his emotion was starting to spread to
his men there.

And then, among all of Katsuya's men, there was one who
felt a soul-crushing level of guilt, Lilina.

A lot of Katsuya's men were blaming Lilina. It was

because Katsuya told the rest of his men what happened
with his negotiation with Kurosawa. It was not like Lilina
was at fault there, but the other Hunters who could not
rescue their friends were looking for an easy target to direct
the blame.

Lilina felt the others' gazes at her, she had a stern

expression. It was a mix of anger and hatred with a slight
trace of fear and guilt.

——Am I at fault here? Am I the only one at fault here?!

And so, Lilina was also trying to look for an easy target
from around her to direct the blame, that was when she saw
Kurosawa, who seemed to be fighting back the monsters
without much trouble.

——Look at that! He's not having a hard time fighting

back the monsters, isn't it?! So is there any need for him to
barricade himself so much like that?! That's just so stupid!!
 From Lilina's eyes, it seemed that Kurosawa and his men
were able to easily fight back the B18 monsters. But her
mind that was looking for a target to direct her anger caused
her to lower down her evaluation of the B18 monsters rather
than noticing that Kurosawa and his men were strong
Hunters.

As her irritation peaked and she could no longer hold it

back, Lilina let her emotion take over. She immediately
jumped out from behind the portable wall to shoot down the
B18 monsters preventing her from saving the other Hunters
left inside the Seranthal building.

She ignored Katsuya and the other Hunters behind her

who shouted at her to stop what she was doing. She
repositioned herself to a portable wall that was closer to the
Seranthal building and peeked out to aim at a B18 monster.

If Lilina had to make any excuses for why she did that, it
could be said that her action there was to push the front line
forward. She thought that if someone that they blamed
courageously pushed forward, the other Hunters who were
holding grudges against her would start fighting more
vigorously out of pride and ego. And if that happened, it
would definitely help to rescue the Hunters left inside the
building. But that was all nothing but Lilina's own opinion.

Lilina was doing pretty well, she had shot down multiple
B18 monsters on her own.

The B18 monsters there immediately focused their

firepower on the one person who just left the enemy's
formation. Lilina had no way to evade it. Even the portable
wall from Kurosawa was not strong enough to block that
much focused firepower. As expected, she was barraged with
bullets.
 Lilina fell down in the pool of her own blood. It was by
pure chance that she did not immediately die. While lying
there waiting for her inevitable death, she could see from her
blurring vision Katsuya running desperately at her, trying to
rescue her.

Lilina then smiled happily, she thought that it should be

alright since Katsuya was coming for her. That was her last
thought before she took her last breath.

Katsuya, who saw Lilina get shot, left his post as the
commander and jumped out to help her. He destroyed the
B18 monsters on his way as he desperately tried to reach
Lilina, but when he reached her, she was already dead.

Katsuya looked at Lilina. To him, Lilina's gaze was as if

she was blaming Katsuya, why he did not come to save her.

Katsuya then closed his eyes. He remembered his

conversation with Sheryl and reminded himself that he had
decided to stop creating ghosts out of his dead comrades.
When he opened his eyes, this time, he saw Lilina's smile,
she seemed to be happy that Katsuya had rushed to her.

But that did not change the fact that he failed to save his
friends again. He let the creeping anger inside him take over
his body, his expression turned stern as he shouted at his
communication device to give an order to his men.

"Everyone! Get back!!"

Katsuya then abandoned his position as the leader of his

team, he abandoned his duty, stood up, and started shooting
at the B18 monsters around him.

In a blank white space, someone smiled.

 Kurosawa was flabbergasted as he saw Katsuya fighting
the monsters. It was really out of his expectation.

Katsuya was fighting multiple B18 monsters at the same

time, and the one pushing back was Katsuya. He was
shooting down the B18 monsters around him one by one,
maybe he was able to do that because of the powerful rifle
that he was using.

He was moving without a shred of hesitation, it was as if

he knew exactly where the enemies were, how they were
moving, where they were aiming, and where their weak
points were. Although most of the B18 monsters there
already changed their targets to Katsuya, he was still able to
maintain the upper hand.

It was as if he was a Hunter who was extremely powerful

that it was strange for him to be here. Such thoughts entered
onlookers minds as he lay waste on the B18 swarm.

Kurosawa could not help but mumble.

"...So strong. I see now, it's no surprise that he got to take

the command, huh. Wait, no, but still..."

His words could be interpreted as both amazement and

exasperation.

Kurosawa looked around. His men were also amazed by

Katsuya's action. Some of Katsuya men were even cheering
him on.

It was not like Kurosawa had any kind of hatred or grudge

toward Katsuya, but he felt some kind of feeling that was not
exactly a compliment either. But for now, he decided to put
that aside, he had to give an order to his men in this
situation.
 "Everyone, provide him with support!! Push the line
forward slowly!!"

One of Kurosawa's men looked at Kurosawa and said.

"Are we going to help him?"

"He's taking the decoy role even though no one asked for
it. This is a perfect chance, we can take it easy in this case.
And although I told you to push the line, of course, safety is
number one... Stop anyone who wants to join him, there's no
need to accompany him in doing something that reckless."

"Ooh, I see. Roger that!"

Kurosawa's men started to make their moves. Kurosawa

watched his men pushing forward. It seemed that his worry
was proven untrue, so he sighed in relief before continuing
to shout commands.

Kurosawa and his men slowly but surely pushed the front
line forward. The number of B18 monsters around the
Seranthal building was obviously decreasing.

And when he finished most of the B18 monsters in the

area, a flash of blinding light came out from the building's
entrance. It was when Shiori cut down the huge monster.

Kurosawa looked towards the Seranthal building's

entrance and noticed Elena's team come running out from
inside.

"So that's the reconnaissance team, huh. They defeated

that huge monster. That's pretty impressive."

With this, there should be no problem getting inside the

Seranthal building again. Kurosawa immediately ordered his
men to move out.

***

Elena's team that just came out from the inside of the
building was so surprised when they saw the situation
outside, but even so, they did not stop running. Elena was
running in the front, leading the team while checking for
enemies with her information-gathering device. They kept
their guards up while running through a huge field filled
with B18 wreckages.

Unlike the inside of the building, Elena's information-

gathering device was working well. So in order to not get
ambushed like last time, Elena carefully checked the
surrounding area for any signals. And when she found a
signal, she immediately warned the other members of her
team.

"A signal from the right, keep your eyes out for any
enemies."

Akira immediately turned his focus toward the position

that Elena sent where that signal came from. There were
dead Hunters there, all of them were using augmented suits.
Akira had a bad feeling about what would happen.

『Again, huh. Alpha, can you tell if they can still move?』

"No idea. One thing for sure, those Hunters just died
recently and their augmented suits still have enough energy
to move. So possibility wise, it's not zero."

『Do you have any idea how and why?』

"I can make multiple guesses. Someone might be

somehow controlling them, or maybe the software in their
augmented suits was modified to move on their own. But as
long as you don't get caught in a surprise attack, you
should have no problem defeating them. Due to the various
limitations on their signal speed, local storage size, and
other limitations, they should not be able to do any complex
movements. After all, you were able to defeat them all alone
before, right?"

『Well, yeah.』

The moving augmented suits that Akira fought inside the

Seranthal building were not that dangerous. It was just that
he was caught by surprise. If those dead Hunters were as
strong as him with Alpha's support, he would have been
dead by now.

Since Akira did not have those limitations, he thought

that it was because he could connect to the old-world
domain. Although he still had some questions and doubts
about it, he decided to save that for later.

But that was when Akira's bad luck came up again. As the
result of a complicated chain of events and Akira's bad luck,
one of the Hunters who was using a modified augmented
suit stood up. As if it had received an order to simply stand
up and shoot any nearby enemies, it immediately aimed its
rifle toward the nearest Hunter, and that nearest Hunter was
Akira.

Akira calmly pulled up his CWH anti-material rifle, aimed

it at the augmented suit's control device clearly indicated
with the help from Alpha, and pulled the trigger.

Bullet flew and opened a huge hole in that dead Hunter as

well as destroying the control device of the augmented suit.
That dead Hunter then fell down to the ground and
completely stopped moving.
 Katsuya, who saw that by pure coincidence shouted.

"——Lilina!!!"

—That dead Hunter was Lilina.

Katsuya ran toward Akira. For Katsuya, who did not know
what was going on, it seemed as if Akira just finished Lilina
who was actually still alive.

Akira was about to shift his aim to Katsuya by pure reflex,

but Alpha stopped him through his augmented suit.

Akira frowned and asked.

『Alpha?』

Alpha replied with a serious face.

"Calm down, we can't afford to cause a needless fight in

this situation."

Akira kept staring at Alpha. It seemed that it was not

enough to fully convince him, so Alpha continued.

I'll properly give you support next time, so just calm

down for now.

『...Alright.』

Akira hesitatingly lowered his rifle.

Shikarabe gave a signal with his hand to Elena and the

other Hunters to go ahead, and then he stood next to Akira.

Shiori also recommended them to hurry up, so the rest of

the Hunters went ahead and left Akira and Shikarabe
behind. After all, they were finally able to escape the
building, so Shiori thought that it would be very
unfavourable to get involved in another troublesome fight
right now.

Katsuya ran all the way to Akira and stood in front of him.
He was slightly shaking while glaring at Akira. It was even
weird that they did not start shooting at each other yet.

Shikarabe then asked Katsuya.

"What?"

"...What... You say?"

"You were running to us, so I bet you want something

from us, right? So, what is it? If it's nothing, then get lost."

Katsuya's glare shifted to Shikarabe.

"...Why did you shoot her?!"

"Someone is somehow controlling the augmented suits of

the dead Hunters, so we had to neutralize them. That's all
there is to it."

"...She might be still alive, you know!?"

"No, she's dead. I bet it's exactly because she's already

dead that the security of her augmented suit got disengaged
which allowed someone else to control it. We were also
attacked by similar means back in the building too. I bet
some of the monsters that came out from the Seranthal
building modified her augmented suit or something."

"Do you really think that I'll just shut up and accept that
explanation?!"
 Katsuya did not accept Shikarabe's explanation as he kept
glaring at Shikarabe.

To that, Shikarabe looked back at Katsuya with hostility.

"I see, in that case, it means that she's still alive, her
augmented suit was not hacked. But even so, she aimed at
us. So, basically, one of your men intentionally aimed her
rifle at us, right?"

Shikarabe took a fighting stance. Although it was not like

he was aiming his rifle at Katsuya, he was ready to start
fighting anytime anyone made a suspicious move.

Katsuya reeled back.

"T-That's not what I meant..."

Shikarabe was still glaring at him.

"So then, what's your explanation? Go on."

Katsuya could not answer back.

Akira and Shikarabe just stood there against Katsuya in

silence. No one said anything. That was when Kurosawa,
Yumina, and Airi approached them, they quickly noticed the
tense mood and frowned since they did not know what was
going on except for the fact that they were on the brink of
fighting each other.

They just finished fighting the monsters, so, Kurosawa

thought that it was unwise to fight against other Hunters in
this situation.

Kurosawa lightly sighed and said to Katsuya.

 "I have no idea what's going on here, but are you sure you
don't want to use this chance to rescue your men trapped
inside that building? I'll tell you this, my men will stand by
near the entrance to secure the area first, we have no plans
to help you in looking for survivors."

Katsuya looked at Kurosawa, Airi, and Yumina, and then

his gaze returned back to Akira and Shikarabe. He somehow
made a frustrated look before he turned and ran into the
Seranthal building. Yumina and Airi immediately followed
behind him.

Kurosawa looked exasperatedly at Katsuya as he left that

place. He then turned to Shikarabe, lightly smiled at him,
and said.

"——Yo there, Shikarabe, long time no see."

Shikarabe frowned.

"Kurosawa, don't tell me that you're the leader of the

Hunters outside the Seranthal building."

"Yep, but only half of them, I lead the Hunter group

unaffiliated with Drankam. I don't know what happened, but
they're not under my lead, so I won't accept any complaints
about them. Well, putting that aside, as the leader of the
next team that will go there, can you give me any
information that you have to share?"

Shikarabe sighed as if he was relieved, he then calmly

replied.

"Sure. Akira, I'll stay here. Tell that to Elena and the other
Hunters too. As for Shiori... Well, I guess it doesn't really
matter, huh. Just return back to the Kugamayama city ahead
and follow Elena's order from there. Tell Togami to do his
job properly as an escort."

"Alright."

Akira lightly nodded and went to catch up with Elena.

Kurosawa kept watching Akira who was leaving that place

as he said to Shikarabe.

"So that's the Akira that you told me, huh. Is he as strong
as that Katsuya?"

"No idea, he might as well be."

"I see, there are so many strong young Hunters lately that
it's rather scary... Well, leaving that aside, it's rare to see you
picking a fight with someone that quickly."

Shikarabe frowned again.

"Is that so? I think that was normal though."

"No no no, the usual you would not take a fighting stance
so quickly... Well, I guess that doesn't really matter now,
huh. So, what happened inside that building?"

"...Well, all kind of things."

Kurosawa smiled wryly.

"I have no idea what happened, but that must have been
rough for you too, huh."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

Shikarabe sounded really tired when he said that.

 ***

Elena and the other Hunters were waiting for Akira near
where they parked their vehicles. After they grouped up with
Akira and listened to his explanation, they headed back to
Kugamayama city. Shiori, Reina, and Kanae were in
Shikarabe's vehicle with Togami driving.

When they left Mihazono ruin, they finally lowered their

tension. Although they were still in the middle of the
wasteland, it was much safer than Mihazono ruin.

Akira was resting in the driver's assistant seat, he asked

Carol to drive in place of him. Both his body and mind were
already at the limit. He wanted to get back to his home as
soon as possible, take a good bath, and sleep like a dead log
on his bed.

Carol glanced at Akira and smiled bitterly. It seemed that

it would be useless trying to seduce Akira in that situation,
she also refrained from striking a conversation to let him
take a rest. As for Carol, she still had enough energy, after
all, her body was enhanced with nanomachines.

Akira completely lowered his guard as he was resting his

body and mind. After a short break, he regained his physical
and psychical strength, and it gave him the leeway to start
thinking about something else. He then remembered all that
happened inside the Seranthal building.

『 ...Alpha. As I thought, it still bugs me though. Where

were you when you left me? And what were you doing?』

Alpha smiled.

"Oh my, that would need you to listen to a 30 minutes

long explanation of the ToS though, are you sure you want
to know?"

Akira's face twitched.

『No, I don't think I can stand that. But still, like, can you
at least give me something? Or is it something that you can't
tell at all without that ToS?』

Alpha frowned, she seemed a bit troubled.

"Well, let's see. If I have to take out the only things that I
can tell you, I was trying to fix the source that lowered the
sensitivity of information-gathering devices inside the
Seranthal building."

Akira was a bit surprised, he sounded dissatisfied with her

answer as he asked.

『 ...Was that something so important that you have to

temporarily take off your support?』

"There are many factors to consider when you decide on

your priority. If I was able to do that, you'll have an easier
time fighting the monsters and you'll have a better chance
to escape that building in one piece. Especially for Elena,
who focuses more on detecting enemies and looking for
their weak points in order to have the upper hand in a fight.
Sara will also receive some benefits from that too. So
basically, I decided that after thinking about the whole
team too, you see. Of course, it's also because I believed that
you should be able to handle the situation just fine by
yourself."

『I see, well, you're not wrong there.』

It seemed that Akira finally accepted Alpha's explanation,

Alpha then continued.
 "Although, like I said before, if you had wanted to just
abandon everyone else and prioritize on escaping that
building yourself, then I would have stayed with you back
there. So, do you prefer that?"

『No... As I thought, I couldn't do something like that in

that situation...』

Alpha's face changed to a serious expression.

"Akira. This is a good chance so I'll tell you this. If you

don't want to get other Hunters in trouble when you lose
my support, you should refrain from working with other
Hunters. I've warned you before too that I might lose
connection with you inside an old-world ruin. Elena and
the other Hunters must be thinking that your usual
performance is the one when you have my support. In case
if you suddenly can't live up to their expectation, it might
lead to a fatal mistake. So if you don't want something like
that to happen, you should refuse their invitation from the
beginning."

Akira seemed conflicted, a lot of feelings were mixed

inside his head.

Alpha then continued with a gentle voice.

"Well, I won't tell you to force yourself, this is not

compulsory. In the end, you're the one to decide. But, at
least keep this in mind, okay? I'm sure you know this all too
well, no one can tell what might happen inside an old-
world ruin."

『...You're right.』

Alpha smiled.
 "Well, of course, if you're strong enough that basically
there's almost no effect even if you lose my support, then
you wouldn't need to worry about that."

Akira smiled bitterly, he then decided to move on and

said.

『 That's true. I need to get stronger in order to do that

request from you too.』

"Yup, I'll be counting on you."

Alpha smiled back when she said that, but behind that
smile, she was thinking about something else.

During this request, Alpha actually kept less secret than

usual from Akira so that Carol would be able to easily poke
around for information from him. And if it was possible,
Alpha wanted to use that reason so that Akira would be
more careful around Carol and somehow put some distance
from Elena and the other Hunters too.

But unfortunately, Carol never tried to poke in too far. So

if Alpha tried to warn Akira using that reason, it might be
counter-effective and Akira might get suspicious of Alpha
instead.

No one could tell how much it would affect Akira, so she

just hoped that Akira would put some thought into it as she
planned for the future.

***

Soon, they were able to return safely to Kugamayama city.

After they stepped off from their vehicles, they grouped

up again. Elena was exhausted as she spoke.
 "Well, good work out there everyone. A lot of things
happened back there. And with this, this party is dissolved.
I'm also thinking of stopping any plans to go to Mihazono
ruin after this... To be more precise, I want to take care of
the negotiations ahead, well, I still have some negotiations
left to do after all. Akira, can I borrow Carol again?"

"Sure, I don't mind. Carol, I'm sorry but can you help
Elena-san again?"

Carol happily replied.

"Of course. I'll return back with a huge reward, so you can
rely on me."

"I'll be counting on you then."

Seeing Akira smiling at her when he said that, Carol

smiled back at him.

Elena then said to everyone.

"I'll send the details of the reward to everyone later. And if

you have anything to say, you can talk to me first. So then,
that's it, thanks for the hard work."

After Akira said his goodbyes to the other Hunters, he

stretched out his body, returned back to his vehicle, and
headed to his house.

Togami and Reina had a conflicted face as they saw Akira

off. Although they were looking at Akira with different
feelings, both of them had the same reason, it was because
both of them wanted to be stronger.

During this request, Togami was able to reassess his

strength, and the result was that he was weak. He was able
to confirm it, and this time, there was no doubt about it.
Although he got temporarily dejected back inside the
Seranthal building, he was able to reflect on what happened
during the day while he was escorting Reina and on their
way back to the city. He finally made a firm base for him to
start.

He knew that he was weak. From here and on, he just

needed to become stronger. Togami said to himself, made
his resolve, and started walking forward firmly.

While on the other hand, Reina was doubting herself.

After she was able to return safely from a dangerous
situation and the tension in her was released, she ended up
remembering the horrible situation that she was in, and got
even more dejected.

After Reina left Katsuya's team, after she left that safe
place, she devoted her time to work as a Hunter despite the
fact that she still had to have Shiori and Kanae escort her.
But still, she was able to regain some of her confidence as a
Hunter.

But all of the confidence that she worked really hard to

gather was destroyed in an instant. It felt as if all her hard
work was nothing but in vain, what happened today was
telling her that and got her even more dejected.

Seeing how Togami moved on forward firmly, it felt like

Reina was being left behind.

Reina had no idea what to do so that she could get

stronger.
 Chapter 134: Yanagisawa's Business

The first floor of the Seranthal building was reinforced so

much that it looked like a forward base.

That was where Yanagisawa and his men made an

appearance. The mood on the first floor immediately
changed, it was obvious that someone of high ranking was
present. Yanagisawa just ignored that mood and proceeded
through the first-floor atrium to one of the receptionist
desks. Due to the fighting before, the receptionist desks were
completely destroyed to the point that they were
unrecognizable.

Yanagisawa started speaking while facing empty space.

"I want to ask for permission to enter the facility."

Nothing happened. Yanagisawa's men tilted their heads

while checking up Yanagisawa's expression. Yanagisawa
then once again said.

"I want to ask for permission to enter the facility. The rule
states that even when it's inactive, I should still be able to
apply for a visitor permit. If you won't follow it, then I have
no other choice but to take another alternative. With this, at
least you know that I tried to follow the proper procedure,
right?"

When he said that, Seranthal suddenly appeared in front

of Yanagisawa. Seranthal then gave a very formal
introduction before answering Yanagisawa's query.

"Dear customer, the building is not open at the moment,

anyone with no business in this building is not allowed to
enter. So please leave the building."

Yanagisawa smiled.

"I'm Yanagisawa. I can't make a proper connection

because of some reasons, but I'm the one who made the
application to visit the 60th floor. Can you check it?"

"My apologies, but there's no such visitation application

to this building."

Yanagisawa's smile slightly clouded.

"...Is that so? I confirmed that the application was

properly received though."

"There is no such visitation application during the closing

of this building in our record. We're really sorry, please try
sending the application again."

Yanagisawa placed his hand on his chin.

——Did I make a mistake when I sent the application? Or

is it that I can't send an application when I properly make a
connection? It can't be helped, I guess I'll try using that.

Yanagisawa pulled out a black card from his pocket and

showed it to Seranthal.

"I have some business on the 60th floor. Just let me pass."

When Seranthal saw that card, she smiled and lightly

bowed.

"Understood, I will guide you, over here please."

 Seranthal walked and guided Yanagisawa and his men to
one of the elevators.

The way past the elevator was sealed with a strong

barricade. Seranthal, who did not have a corporeal body
walked through that barricade.

Yanagisawa smiled at a guard near that barricade.

"Sorry, but can you open the barricade."

That guard nervously replied.

"I'm really sorry, it's a type that once set up, it can't be
opened or moved. I'm really sorry."

"Aaah, I see. Well, it can't be helped then. —Nelia, cut it

down."

A girl with cyborg body stepped out from Yanagisawa's

men. She was wearing a rather exposing bodysuit. Although
she had a nice figure and beautiful face, the bodysuit from
her neck down seemed to be made of a mix of metal and
rubber. It was obvious that it was not a fleshy body.

—She was one of the relics thieves that Akira fought back
in Kuzusuhara ruin, Nelia.

Nelia stood in front of that blockade and frowned, she

then swiftly cut the blockade down with her blade. The
blockade wall that was even strong enough to withstand tank
warhead was cut into small pieces in a blink of an eye and
crumbled down to the ground.

Yanagisawa smiled.
 "Well done. Want to go grab some food together next
time?"

"No thanks."

"That's so cold. I'll take you to a good restaurant. It's a

restaurant with high reviews and delicious foods, you
know?"

Nelia looked at Yanagisawa with very cold eyes. Her

cyborg body was not equipped with devices to digest food.

Yanagisawa just smiled and gave an order to his men.

"Nelia will accompany me, the rest of you stay here until
we return."

Nelia looked surprised.

"Why won't you take everyone?"

"Eh? You want to know?"

Nelia, who saw his smile decided to not ask further.

"Nope, not really."

"The biggest factor is because I know I can blow your head

off with one push of a button."

—A bomb was planted inside Nelia's head.

As long as she had not paid enough contribution to

overweight a death sentence or as long as she could not
escape the position that she was in, that bomb would stay.

Yanagisawa then passed over the cut down blockade and

went ahead. Nelia lightly sighed and followed behind him.
 "Ah, by the way, ask for a replacement for the barricade
too!!"

Yanagisawa said to the rest of his men before leaving that

place.

***

Elena and Sara were taking a rest in their home. Both of

them were completely in their relaxed state. Because both of
them were very tired after returning back from Mihazono
ruin, they did not make any complaints about each other's
appearance that day.

After Akira left, Elena had to finish up an extremely

troublesome negotiation. Thanks to the help from Carol,
both of them were able to secure a good amount of reward.

Elena had nothing to complain about Carol, who was good

at fighting as well as negotiating. Normally, she would have
used this chance to form a connection with Carol. But there
was still one thing that was bothering her, it was something
that Shikarabe had told her about Carol.

"Say, Sara. What do you think about what Shikarabe said

back then? You know, that one when he said that Carol was a
bad girl."

Sara thought for a bit before replying.

"Hmmm, well, she is someone who would use that

augmented suit out of her own volition after all, if it still
bothers you, how about asking Shikarabe? He did say to ask
him after that request if it still bothers us, remember? So I'm
sure it's okay if you ask him now."
 Elena thought for a bit. It was not like she wanted to look
for Carol's bad sides. She just wanted to check if Carol was a
problematic person or not and if she should stop trying to
associate with Carol. But, Carol had some connections to
Akira. For someone labelled as a ‘bad girl' to be around
Akira, Elena could not help but wonder.

"You're right. I guess I'll do that."

Elena took her information terminal and called Shikarabe.

It was also set so that Sara could listen to their call once they
were connected.

[It's Shikarabe. Elena, huh. Did something happen with

the request?]

"Nope, it's not about the request. I just remembered that

there's something I wanted to ask you. It's about what you
said about Carol back then. You did say that you'll tell me
the details later, right? Carol really helped me during the
negotiation, so I was thinking if it's a good idea to get along
with her, but then I remembered what you said back then."

[Oooh, about that, huh.]

Shikarabe paused as if he was thinking about what to say.

[Well, uhh, you saw it for yourself that she was using that
attire. So I'm sure you can make some guesses yourself. If
you don't want to be seen under the same light as her, you
might want to refrain from associating with her. I guess
that's the gist of it when money is not involved. If you want
to know more about the details... Well, I guess I'll need to
have you pay me 500,000 Aurum.]

Elena's expression did not change at all as she operated

her information terminal.
 "Done, can you check it?"

Shikarabe was surprised as he asked.

[...The heck? You really paid the money?]

Honestly speaking, Shikarabe only said that to let Elena

and Sara know that he actually did not want to talk much
about Carol. After all, Carol was such a notorious woman,
who caused so much trouble, that you would normally need
money to know more details about her. He did not think that
Elena would really pay him.

Elena, herself, would not have paid if the one who brought
Carol to the team was not Akira.

Although Shikarabe only said that half-jokingly, now that

he really got paid, he had to properly tell Elena and Sara the
details now. Elena and Sara could hear Shikarabe sigh, he
then continued with a serious tone.

[I can tell you the details, so, is it okay to tell you now
through this call?]

"Sure."

[Carol's main job is being a Hunter, but she's also selling

her body to other Hunters as her side job. Although she
would serve almost anyone, her customers are mostly based
on her taste. She has no fixed price either. She sometimes is
willing to take as little as 100 Aurum. But, I bet she only
does that to let her customer have a taste of her body and
ask for more money next time. It's basically like an entry
price for a narcotic. She'll increase the price every time the
same person asks for her again, in the end, she sometimes
asks for a few billion Aurum just for a night. Moreover, I
heard that her aim is not simply the money, but it's the
money that the Hunters get from risking their lives. I heard
that is the exact reason why she will only accept Hunters.
After all, risking life is a professional hazard for being a
Hunter. So I guess that perfectly fits her taste.]

Elena then asked a question.

"Well, at least I get it that she's a problematic person, but

was there any need for me to pay 500,000 Aurum for that
information?"

[It depends on each case, but she basically has caused so

much trouble that asking for more detail about it will cost
you that much money. To be more precise, 12 people
already dead because of her.]

Elena's expression turned stern. Shikarabe then

continued.

[The number of Hunters who died because of her is

simply too much to ignore. Each Hunter had a different
reason behind their death. Some of them got into a fight
with their friends to get enough money to pay Carol, some of
them got killed fighting other customers over Carol, some of
them got killed trying to force Carol although they didn't
have enough money. The real problem starts here. Some of
those Hunters were veterans from Drankam.]

Elena's expression turned even sterner, she understood

the severity of the subject.

[In the past, Drankam took a special request from the City
Management. At that time, they were given secret
information about old-world relics for the request, but that
information got leaked out. And after an investigation, it was
found that someone leaked that information to Carol.]
 "And the one who leaked that was a veteran Hunter from
Drankam, huh?"

[To be more precise, there's a good chance that was the

case. From what I heard, the Hunter paid Carol with that
information instead of money. That Hunter should have
known what would happen to him if he leaked secret
information from the City Management, but even so, it
seemed that his mind got so messed up that he did not care
about consequences. It's still unclear whether Carol sold that
information to someone else. That Hunter told Carol in a
cheap inn where she might have set some audio recorders or
something.]

"So then, what happened to that Hunter next?"

[He was furious and went to kill Carol, but he ended up

getting killed instead. By the way, I was the one who killed
him. At that time, I accepted a request from Carol to be her
bodyguard. I don't know if Carol had known that Hunter was
coming to kill her beforehand or not. But one thing for sure,
Drankam did not leak that information to the public.
Nonetheless, Drankam still took the responsibility for the
information leak.]

Elena and Sara were listening to Shikarabe with stern

faces. From what they heard, it seemed that Carol was far
more problematic than both of them had thought.

[The 12 dead people are also the number that came up

after an investigation. In reality, there might be even more
people who got killed. Well, basically, a lot of people get
killed just by associating with her. So with all of this info, I
have no other choice but to see her as a problematic girl. But
putting that aside, Carol is indeed a skilled Hunter. I heard
that she's making profits out of information that she
received from the other Hunters in place of money.
Depending on the subject, she can also gather information
about old-world ruins through negotiations. So depending
on how you get along with her, it might be really profitable.
But if you slip-up, you might get yourself in big trouble.]

Shikarabe then changed his serious tone to a more relaxed

one.

[I guess that's the gist of it. I believe that I gave you

enough information for what you paid for. I won't take any
complaints, okay?]

Elena replied with a serious tone.

"...Don't worry, that's good enough."

"I see. Do invite me again if you get any profitable

requests, okay? Later then."

Shikarabe then ended the call. Elena and Sara looked at

each other, both of them had an expression saying that they
were worrying for someone.

***

Shikarabe was drinking together with Kurosawa in a pub.

The table in front of them was a big table designed to
accommodate the server girls too. But the ones sitting on
that table were only Shikarabe and Kurosawa. That in itself
was a rather luxurious way of using that table.

Shikarabe and Kurosawa were enjoying their expensive

drinks while talking about the current popular topics among
Hunters, which included what just happened in Mihazono
ruin too.
 Kurosawa there threw a question to Shikarabe in a good
mood.

"By the way, what happened to the Hunters whom you

rescued back there?"

Shikarabe sounded totally uninterested as he answered.

"No idea. I bet they're negotiating with the Drankam's

upper echelons even now."

"I heard that one of the maids that you rescued even
threatened Drankam."

Shikarabe looked slightly surprised. He looked a bit

annoyed as he said.

"Even you have heard about that too, huh..."

"Well, yeah."

The secret message for Drankam officers that Shikarabe

deciphered inside the Seranthal building was basically a
rescue request from Shiori that sounded closer to a threat
message.

It was basically a request to send a rescue squad as soon

as possible under the assumption that Reina was still alive.
And if Drankam ignored it or failed in rescuing Reina, it was
written in detail what would happen to Drankam. As a
matter of fact, Shiori had already made a reservation with
the related party to carry on the aftermath and that
reservation was impossible to take back unless Reina
returned back alive.

According to the information that Shikarabe received

from Arabe, a Drankam officer that he got along with, it
seemed that Shiori was not lying and it would be impossible
to play dumb about it.

Shikarabe did not have any other choice but to make that
request to Elena back there and ended up roping Elena's
team to rescue Reina too.

Shikarabe sounded really annoyed as he spoke.

"That rumour is true. It's exactly because of it that I did

not have any other choice but to rescue them. It was really
ironic since Drankam was the one who sent them to the
Seranthal building in the first place."

Moreover, Reina was one of the young Hunters, and the

one who took care of her mess was Shikarabe, a veteran
Hunter in Drankam. There was no mistaking it that people
in Drankam were trying to blame each other in their meeting
and Shikarabe basically ran away from participating in that
meeting. Although it gave Arabe a headache, Shikarabe had
no plans to help him out.

Shikarabe's face turned stern as he said.

"I know that there must be a special reason why they are
in Drankam. But I never thought that they're this
troublesome. I always thought of them as a rich girl
dreaming to be a Hunter and her bodyguard until now..."

Kurosawa lightly laughed.

"They even brought along a bodyguard in their Hunter

job. So isn't it obvious from the first glance that they're
troublesome people?"

"I did think that there must be a special reason for that.
It's just that I never thought they have enough power to
threaten Drankam, you know. Do you think that people who
normally have that much influence would be frequenting the
wasteland?"

"Nope."

"Exactly."

Kurosawa remembered when Shikarabe escaped the

Seranthal building with the other Hunters.

"Well, if they're just simple beautiful maids, I have no

complaints at all though."

Shikarabe smiled as if he was poking fun at Kurosawa.

"If you're really that interested, you can just go to the

third floor and asked one of the girls to wear that outfit
though."

It might be because of the alcohol that Kurosawa replied

back with something unexpected.

"No no no, you don't get it. It's also important to have the
air around them saying that it's their real job. Just a simple
costume won't be enough."

"What the heck are you expecting from them? They're

even strong enough to kick and cut down mechanical
monsters, you know."

"The heck?"

"So basically, when we were inside the Seranthal building,

you see..."
 Shikarabe and Kurosawa continued enjoying their time in
that pub while getting drunk.

Then Kurosawa, who was still more or less rather sober,

checked how drunk Shikarabe was. And when the timing
was right, he asked Shikarabe a question.

"By the way, about that boy who you told me, that
Katsuya..."

Shikarabe immediately frowned.

"Can you just stop? You'll ruin the mood."

"Come on, don't say that. I saw him back then, he is

indeed a strong Hunter. It's no surprise that he got
appointed to be the leader and I can understand why you
told me that he at least has the talent. But his commanding
skill is rather questionable. I won't say that the has no talent
there, but at least, he's not as good as you said he was."

But then Shikarabe mockingly said.

"I don't remember ever recognizing his commanding skill,

although, I admit that he's a talented Hunter. Of course, a
Hunter also needs to be able to work in a team. But in the
end, it's usually just a motley crew of several Hunters. I don't
consider the ability to command such a group of Hunters as
an essential skill."

"Well, I know it's weird for me to say this since I'm the
one who brought this up, but that's kinda true."

"Right? It's true that Katsuya is a talented Hunter, I admit

that. But that's his individual skill as a Hunter. Even if he
can be a powerful Hunter, that does not mean he can take
command of a group of Hunters."
 Kurosawa lightly frowned.

"Then, why was he the leader of that Drankam group?"

Shikarabe sighed, it was as if he was trying to convey his

feelings about that subject by doing that. He then made a
conflicted face as he said.

"It's basically the result of the things happening in

Drankam."

Shikarabe began talking about what was going on in

Drankam as well as his own guesses while drinking the
alcohol.

In the beginning, Drankam only dealt with stuff regarding

its members' activities as Hunters. But as it grew bigger and
bigger, it started to turn into a company seeking profit, even
to the point that making profit was one of the main aims of
the whole gang at the moment.

The gang started to pay wages to its Hunters. In exchange

for bringing profit to the gang with their Hunter activities,
the Hunters were paid back with money. That in itself was
not a bad thing, but some veterans in Drankam did not like
that change.

The Hunter activities that the Drankam Hunters could do

were limited for the sake of the growth and profit for the
whole gang. The officers started to amass more power to the
point that their request could be taken as a compulsory
order. As such, more and more Hunters started to have a
problem with the changes. The gang also started taking a cut
from the rewards that its members received for all kinds of
reasons, that cut then would be used for the sake of the
whole gang. Eventually, some people started to feel that they
did not get enough benefit from the gang compared to the
amount of money that they paid to the gang.

The biggest advantage of weapons lent by Drankam to its

Hunter was that the members could get their hands on
powerful weapons with a relatively small amount of money,
but at the same time, it also forced them to be dependent on
the gang. If they went against the order of the Drankam
officers and got themselves kicked out from the gang, they
might have no other choice but to go to the wasteland
unarmed. Thus, they would have to obey the orders from the
higher officers even if they did not want to.

The rivalrous factions inside the Drankam other than the

one between the veteran Hunters and the young Hunters,
was the infighting between those who knew the old
Drankam and those who did not.

One of the reasons why Katsuya was assigned to

command the Drankam group was to pull him into the
management's side. For officers who were not originally
Hunters like Mizuha, it was a perfect chance to put a
spotlight on Katsuya, who was one of the examples of the
success of their newly proposed plan, and they could almost
definitely use this chance to push their agenda even further.

And at the moment, the new faction was more prominent

within Drankam. Mizuha's renewal plan with Katsuya as its
spearhead had a good reception from the people in the inner
wall, thus they received a lot of support from the City
Management side.

Shikarabe explained all kinds of things regarding that

subject while complaining to Kurosawa.

Kurosawa smiled bitterly.

 "So it's the transformation phase in Drankam, huh?"

Shikarabe annoyedly said.

"If you just sweep everything under the rug saying that it's
because the gang is in the process of change, it will never
end, you know."

Kurosawa just smiled bitterly at Shikarabe who let out a

big sigh. Shikarabe then made a serious face as he said to
Kurosawa.

"So, what's your aim this time?"

"My aim?"

"I thought that you invited me here to gather up

information about what's happening inside Drankam. And
since you're willing to listen to me complaining, instead of
paying it back with money, I gave you more information
than I would usually do. But it doesn't seem that it's your
aim, so, what exactly do you want to know?"

Kurosawa smiled wryly, it seemed that Shikarabe had

completely read his intention. Then he also made a serious
face and said.

"There's something that's bothering me, you see. So I

want to know your opinion about it."

"Oh, what is it about?"

"Back then when you were still fighting inside the

Seranthal building, well, I'll skip the beginning, but
basically, I saw Katsuya fighting against the monsters. So, at
that time, I felt something strange, something felt weird. I
can't really explain it, but it's basically this different feeling
that you get when you listen to a formal description of
something compared to when you listen to a fiery
description of the same exact thing. I felt like the other
Hunters also got a little bit excited back then, enough to
even make me worry if the other Hunters would jump out
and follow Katsuya. Thankfully, no one did that, but still, it's
still bothering me even now. So, do you have any guess
about that?"

"No, I have no guess at all, why do you ask me?"

"You were the one who took care of him, right? Did you
ever have the same feeling too?"

Shikarabe tried to dig through his memories. But he could

not remember anything that resembled what Kurosawa was
saying. So he lightly shook his head and said.

"Sorry, but nope."

"...I see."

Kurosawa seemed a bit disappointed, it made Shikarabe

even more curious.

"Are you really that bothered by it?"

"Yeah. I got myself excited when I saw it. For the sake of
holding the command, I always train myself to stay calm and
rational. It's just like how you train your intuition. Honestly
speaking, I'm pretty confident in my skill to stay calm, but
that confidence is wavering from what happened today, you
see. So I was thinking if someone with a good intuition like
you have some kind of guess why that happened."

This time, Shikarabe was the one who seemed dejected.

 "Intuition, huh..."

"What's wrong?"

"Honestly, recently my confidence in my intuition is also

wavering, you see."

Shikarabe then continued talking with Kurosawa while

sipping his drink.

***

The whole of the 60th floor of the Seranthal building was

a single room. The wall, floor, and ceiling of that room were
all white. Yanagisawa stood in the middle of that room.

Nelia was standing near the elevator door inside that

room while looking at Yanagisawa. She was ordered to just
stay there and she could not move anything below her neck.
Yanagisawa held the highest command over her cyborg
body, so without his command, she would not be able to
even lift her finger.

Nelia looked around the white room while glancing at

Yanagisawa from time to time, she was making a guess of
what kind of room it was while killing time.

——This room might be a special room to be used for

augmented reality. I bet those people who can connect to
the old-world domain can see all kinds of things inside this
room. The reason why he brought me along is to protect
him during close-range combat, so basically, he didn't
know what he was going to find in this room. This place is
some kind of old-world facility and he has some kind of
business to take care of here. He's also the reason why the
City Management sent people to secure this building...
Ahhh, I really have no idea what's going on here, but I
really want to know.

Nelia continued thinking about the situation that she was

in while lamenting about it at the same time.

Yanagisawa brought with him a device to help him

connect to the old-world domain. He could see a beautiful
girl standing in front of him. Of course, that girl had no
corporeal body and she was using a similar attire as Alpha
when Akira met her for the first time.

Yanagisawa frowned.

"Why are you naked?"

That girl replied apologetically.

『 Unable to confirm the connection. The connection is

important to verify individual identity. Please recheck your
connection setting before trying again.』

Yanagisawa showed his black card again and said to her.

"I can't connect to the old-world domain at the moment

because of several reasons. Can't I use this device as a
replacement? Is the right from this card not good enough?"

Yanagisawa tried all kinds of things to make contact with

that girl. But that girl always returned the same reply.

"...Dammit."

Yanagisawa gave up and tore the connection device from

his body. That girl immediately vanished from his views.
 ——What to do now? Should I focus more on fixing my
body first? Or should I bring someone else who can connect
to the old-world domain to this place? If only I can connect
myself to the old-world domain again, they should be able
to recognize me. But if I bring someone else, that person
might betray me down the road.

Yanagisawa had a stern face when he returned to Nelia.

——My visitation application is only deleted from

Seranthal's side. It properly got sent from the issuer side,
why is that? Did Seranthal get reset when that abnormality
occurred in Mihazono ruin? But if that's the case, why
didn't they erase the record from the issuer too? Is it
because that's not the cause?

Yanagisawa still had a stern face as he entered the

elevator. Nelia, who had already gotten her freedom to move
around, was with him. The elevator's door then closed and
they returned back to the first floor.

——In the first place, why did the security level in

Mihazono ruin suddenly change? Is it because we
dispatched several humanoid soldiers and tanks to ensure
my safety? Did that trigger the security level in Mihazono
ruin? If that's really the case, why didn't it happen sooner?
Is it because they knew about me and someone forced the
security level to change from the outside?

Nelia smiled and suddenly asked Yanagisawa a question.

"—You've stopped smiling, you know?"

Yanagisawa looked at Nelia with an expressionless face

before he returned to his usual smile.
 There were many reasons why the situation in Mihazono
ruin suddenly changed, and one of those reasons was —
Akira.

On the first day Akira came to the Mihazono ruin,

everything that happened inside and outside of the
Seranthal building was properly recorded by Seranthal.
During that time, Akira was able to fight back the monsters
extremely effectively thanks to Alpha's support. This
information was also sent when Seranthal sent an
application for extra reinforcement.

The security of that ruin then analyzed that information

and changed the threat level inside the ruin. It changed from
simple thugs with weapons to organized trained soldiers.
And when it was still in that state, some groups of Hunters
came to Mihazono ruin.

The rest was just a domino effect. That group of Hunters

who arrived in the Mihazono ruin was assumed to be
invading the ruin, so the ruin security sent drones to drive
them off. But in response to that, the Hunters sent tanks and
humanoid soldiers. So the security sent stronger drones to
fight them back, then this cycle continued and caused a large
scale change inside Mihazono ruin.

So basically, it was a chain of events that brought about an

unexpected result. That was all there was to it.
 Chapter 135: Equipment and Training

Akira stood in front of the huge building that was

embedded into the wall of Kugamayama city. The tall
building and the strong wall reflected the economical
prowess of the city that maintained them.

There were branch shops of all kinds of companies that

were doing business inside the city as well as Hunter Office's
facilities. Some of the people inside that building were the
people from the upper district. That building was the goal of
those who wanted to reach success in the city, the object of
the admiration of those people who wanted to be rich, as
well as the monument that reminded everyone of the city's
powerful influence and strength.

Akira looked up to that building. But in his eyes, there

were no sparkles like how those people who wanted to reach
success looked at that building, nor the strong will to reach
that place, nor the admiration for that place.

Alpha then warned Akira.

"Akira, stop smiling. You look silly."

"Whoops!"

Akira tried to gather himself together. But even so, he still

could not completely hide his jovial mood. He still had a big
smile on his face, embarrassingly so.

Akira got another invitation from Shiori for a meal. It was

an invitation to convey her thanks after saving Reina in
Mihazono ruin.
 As he remembered what happened last time, Akira
completely dropped his guard and immediately accepted the
invitation.

Alpha saw Akira did not change much and sighed.

"If you really like the meal in that restaurant that much,
you can just go there with your own money from time to
time, you know."

Akira did not reply immediately, but after some thinking,

he answered back with a rather heavy tone.

"...As I thought, that would be a no. I don't feel like going

there if I have to pay for it with my own money no matter
what..."

When he thought about how much those meals would

cost, with his current perception of money, Akira could not
allow himself to spend that much money. This time too, he
only accepted Shiori's invitation after making sure that
Shiori would be paying. Even for Akira who preferred food
more than women, he had no wish to spend that much
money on food.

In reality, the current Akira would be able to easily pay

that much money if he reduced his expenditure on his
expendables and equipment. But those expenses were for
the sake of his safety, they were basically his lifeline. Akira
kept reminding himself of that while fighting back the
temptation.

Alpha smiled wryly and said.

"Well, in that case, let's hurry up before it's too late to

enjoy this opportunity."
 "You're right!"

Akira walked happily as he entered that huge building.

Just like last time, Akira left his rifles at the reception
desk. The interior of that restaurant was still as luxurious as
before, Akira's augmented suit looked so out of place there.
But since half of the customers were also Hunters, Akira did
not stick out. This was also because of the location of that
restaurant and the type of customers it usually served.

The server guided Akira to his table, but when he arrived,

he was very much surprised. Akira thought that Shiori would
be alone, just like last time. But this time, Kanae and Reina
were also present.

Kanae lightly waved at Akira and said.

"Yo there!! We meet again!!"

Akira looked at Kanae and frowned. Shiori and Reina

were wearing high-class suits suitable for visiting that
luxurious restaurant. But Kanae was using her usual maid
outfit, it would not be strange if someone mistook her as
another server of that restaurant.

——Is this... Normal? Is it just like me who came in this

augmented suit? No, wait, but Shiori is using a suit while
the servers didn't seem to be bothered by that maid outfit...
I guess it's just me, huh?

Akira thought that his common sense might be wrong, but

then he thought that it was not like he could do anything
about it, so he just shook it off and proceeded to sit on the
chair that the server guided him to.
 Shiori and Reina saw Akira's reaction and sighed. Reina
then said to Kanae.

"Kanae, can you do something about that outfit of yours?"

Kanae smiled.

"Nope. It's important for me to keep using this maid outfit

for the sake of protecting Milady, and Akira is still using his
augmented suit there, so it's not that much different from
that."

To be honest, Akira did not want to be treated the same as

Kanae, but since he was there on their dime, he stopped
himself from protesting.

Shiori then tried to change the mood as she said to Akira.

"Akira-sama, thank you for saving Milady the other day.

As I promised, I'll be paying for your meal today, so please,
there's no need to hold yourself back."

Akira answered back happily.

"Thank you for that, well then, let's not wait—"

As Akira browsed the menu, he remembered something

and asked Shiori.

"...But if this is a gratitude for what happened in the

Seranthal building, shouldn't you invite Elena-san and the
other Hunters too?"

"For their case, we have given their team, including you,

extra reward as our thanks. Since it also includes the money
from Drankam, the reward will take some time to process,
but I hope that you'll find the amount satisfying. As for
today's meal, this is my thanks for accepting a personal
request from me back then."

"Wait, I did?"

"You did take my request to buy me 5 seconds."

"Oh, that one, huh. I see. If this meal is the reward for
that, I'm really glad I pushed myself back then. Well then, if
that's the case, I won't be holding back."

Akira bowed lightly, for which Shiori replied with a smile.

Akira then started deciding on what to order from the

menu. Just like last time, he could not imagine the kind of
dishes simply from the names written on that menu. After
trying his best for some time, just like last time, he decided
to pick that day's special course.

Since Akira could not decide on anything, when Alpha

saw him pick the 'default' choice, she pointed at the menu
and spoke to him.

"She did say not to hold back, so how about picking

something else randomly?"

『 No thanks. The dish that you're pointing at has this

strange name that sounds like a curse chant from the
western district. What exactly would come out if I actually
ordered this?』

Alpha jokingly replied.

"Hmm, if you chant this name in the western district, it

feels like it might summon fire or something. So I'm sure it
would be something red and spicy."
 『 It doesn't really matter, I'll pick the recommended
course from the restaurant, I'm sure you can't ever go wrong
with that one. There's no need to experiment with this
precious chance, after all, it'll only needlessly add the risk
that I would regret it later.』

"Oh my, that's not something I expected from a Hunter

who always risks their life in their job though."

『 I already had my fill taking risks only for my Hunter

job.』

Alpha smiled mischievously.

"Well, now that you mention it, that's true. It's a good
thing to be careful. If it's possible, I want you to be this
cautious all the time."

Akira deliberately ignored Alpha and closed the menu.

After they placed their order, they started talking to each

other while waiting for their meals to arrive. Akira was
listening closely to Shiori's explanation about the current
state of the Seranthal building.

"I see, so that's what's happening in the Seranthal

building right now, huh. But even if they secured the first
floor, the upper floors are still filled with monsters, right? I
wonder if they're going to be alright."

"From what I heard, it seemed that someone from the City

Management was able to make a deal with the manager of
Seranthal building and they're using some of the building's
facilities to bolster their defence."

Akira seemed slightly surprised by it.

 "A deal with the manager of Seranthal building? Do you
mean that Seranthal A.I? That's amazing. If the city had
someone that amazing, they could have sent them in sooner
and we wouldn't have had to go through all of that."

"I agree."

Shiori nodded and showed her total agreement with

Akira.

Not too long after that, the meals arrived on their table.
Akira looked delightedly at the food lining in front of him, he
then happily started eating.

In the middle of that, Kanae suddenly asked Akira.

"By the way, I heard that you fought Ane-san evenly

though, is that true?"

It might be because Akira was fully focused on enjoying

his food that he could not remember something like that, so
he tilted his head and asked.

"I did?"

"Eh? But you fought Ane-san before, right?"

Akira's fight against the relic thieves in the Kuzusuhara

ruin was a secret between Akira and the City Management.

So Kanae thought that Akira was playing dumb because of

that, but looking at his expression, she realized that he was
being serious. So she then asked in a roundabout way as not
to infringe on that secrecy.

"I'm talking about that thing in that place, you know?"

 "No no no, I remember that I fought Shiori, but I don't
think I fought evenly."

"Is that so? But Ane-san said so though."

"I bet it's just the difference in our opinion. If you ask me,
I was the one on the receiving end. At that time, Shiori had
to fight me, while at the same time, she couldn't afford to kill
me. Without that limitation, I'm sure she could have killed
me. So for me, I don't think I fought her evenly."

"Is that so? I see."

Kanae checked Akira's expression. It seemed that he was

being honest there. As a matter of fact, Akira was indeed
being honest.

——This is pretty amazing if he's trying to play dumb

here. If he's really someone strong, normally, strong people
would exude an aura of confidence, but I don't feel
anything like that from him. So is it like it's really because
he's not that strong?

Akira did not give off an aura that Shiori and people who
were as strong as her usually gave off. And he himself also
said that he was not that strong.

Kanae then glanced at Shiori, who was eating her meal

with a composed expression. It seemed that she was not
bothered by what Akira just said. Judging from how she was
reacting, it seemed that Shiori agreed with him.

Kanae then thought that Akira might be really someone

not that strong and lost interest in him. If he was just
another strong young Hunter, there were many other young
Hunters like him in the eastern district, so it did not interest
Kanae at all.
 Kanae then lightly said to Akira with the tone that she
usually used when talking to people who were stronger than
average but not by much.

"Well, but even so, you were able to fight against Ane-san
and it's pretty impressive for someone of your age. So I think
you can be more confident, you know? Yep, you're pretty
strong."

Kanae who had lost interest in Akira was about to end

their conversation there, but Reina who had not lost her
interest continued the conversation.

"...What should I do to become that strong?"

—Reina was asking with a serious tone, it sounded as if

she was desperate.

The other 3 turned their attention towards Reina. Akira

seemed to be at loss on what to say, Kanae was a bit
surprised, and Shiori looked rather worried, she somehow
had a bad feeling about what would happen next.

Shiori then tried to be considerate as she said to Reina.

"Milady. As I said, something like that is only attainable

with hard work and——"

"——I'm sorry, Shiori. I'm not asking you, I'm asking

Akira."

"...My apologies."

It seemed that Reina would not listen to her no matter

what she said, so Shiori apologized for rudely interjecting
and did not say anything more.
 Reina, Shiori, and Kanae turned their attention to Akira,
who was rather confused by that heavy mood emanating
from Reina and Shiori. But since it seemed that he had no
other choice but to answer that question, he tried to think of
an answer on his own.

"...Well, if you're not asking about what's the meaning of

strength or what is inner strength or anything philosophical
like that, and if you're referring to simple fighting power, I
would say equipment and training. If I have to pick one, it
would be equipment."

Kanae seemed to disagree with Akira's answer.

"Whoah, wait, so you're on that side? Are you one of those

stupid people who believe that they can be strong as long as
they have powerful equipment?"

Akira flinched a bit, it seemed that Kanae hit the bull's

eye. In his own opinion, he who had Alpha's support was
basically the dream of those stupid people who put emphasis
on equipment.

In reality, Akira had gone through a lot of training and

multiple near-death experiences, which actually boosted his
skill.

But judging from the difference between when he had

Alpha's support and when he did not have it, plus how Akira
evaluated himself lowly, Akira could not bring himself to
deny what Kanae just said to him. So instead, he tried to
make some excuses.

"I won't go that far, but if I have to pick between training

and equipment, I do think that equipment is more
important. I know that this is a rather extreme comparison,
but I'm just saying that it's faster if you buy a rifle to fight
monsters than to train for 100 years to kill monsters with
bare hands."

Kanae's expression turned to a smile.

"No no no, Akira boy, you can't put too much trust on
rifles. As in matter of fact, even when we already have rifles
and tanks now, people are still polishing martial arts, right?
If you get yourself an augmented suit designed for close
combat, you should be able to fight monsters just fine. There
are actually more Hunters than you think out there who
don't use rifles to fight monsters, or at least, there are
enough of them for corporations to make equipments for."

"In my opinion, I would rather shoot them from afar with

a rifle than getting close to fight them. In the first place,
when you bring up that talk about augmented suits designed
for close combat, it already means that equipment is more
important, right?"

"Akira boy, equipment alone is not enough. It's also

important for you to train yourself and get yourself familiar
with those equipments."

"That's exactly why I did say training and equipment, yes?

Hunters can die anytime, so we can't afford to spend too
much time training. I'm just saying that it's better to get the
best equipment you can afford to compensate for that. So
why does that make me one of those stupid people?"

But then Kanae firmly replied.

"That's because you picked a bad analogy there."

"...I-Is that so? I see."

 Akira just accepted that answer although he was not 100%
convinced by it. No matter what the subject was, it had some
convincing power when you said it firmly after all. Even
more so when it came to someone like Akira who had no
confidence in his own knowledge and common sense.

Reina listened seriously to that conversation and thought

about it, it did surprise her and made her unsure. After
hesitating for a bit, she then said to Akira.

"...Uhh, but even if you say to get the best equipment that
I can afford, I heard that it might cause me to mistake the
power of my equipment as my own skill, get ahead of myself,
and get myself killed instead though..."

Akira replied casually.

"If getting ahead of yourself only gets you killed, then you
just need not get ahead of yourself. It'll at least reduce the
chance that you might get killed by something else other
than getting ahead of yourself. So, if I have to choose, rather
than lowering my equipment just so that I won't get ahead of
myself, I would rather get good equipment enough for me to
get ahead of myself but be extra careful so I won't actually
get ahead of myself."

It was something that was easy to say but difficult to

practice. In the case of Akira, although he had Alpha's
support which was great 'equipment', he got himself almost
killed several times, which was why it was easy for him to
not get ahead of himself.

Reina then asked another question.

"...There are a lot of stupid people like what Kanae said,

they get ahead of themselves just because they have
powerful equipment, so, what's your opinion about them?"
 "...Hmmm, even if you ask me so..."

"Let's say that you get your hands on a powerful

equipment and someone sees you using it, do you get
bothered by how people would think of you? Or what's your
own opinion about yourself in that situation? Things like
that."

Reina asked with a serious face, she looked rather

desperate as she was waiting for Akira's answer.

Akira was a bit confused since he did not understand how

Reina's question connected to her expression, but since they
were paying for his meal, Akira seriously thought about it
first before replying.

"...I'll be extra careful so no one would catch me off guard

and try to attack me out of the blue?"

Hearing that answer, Reina was completely

dumbfounded, Shiori was lightly surprised, while Kanae just
smiled bitterly. Akira realized that he just gave a rather
weird answer, so he tried to just let that slide as he focused
back on his meal.

What Reina wanted to ask about was Akira's opinion

regarding those people, whether Akira felt disgusted, hatred,
envy, jealousy, or anything like that. But his answer did not
even touch that subject at all.

So in other words, Akira was simply saying that those

things were irrelevant. His answer really hit Reina hard, it
felt like he just indirectly gave a harsh critique to her who
was always bothered by it.

While listening to that conversation, Shiori checked on

Reina after Akira gave his answer while thinking about what
to adjust in Reina's equipment. She then said to Akira.

"In that case, Akira-sama. Let's say that there's someone

who is against using high-level equipment that doesn't
match that person's real skill and let's say that you have to
convince that person to do so, what would you say to that
person?"

Reina immediately looked at Shiori, there was a trace of

reproach in her gaze toward Shiori. But Shiori did not look
back as she fixed her gaze at Akira.

Shiori had recommended Reina to renew her equipment

several times in the past, but Reina always refused it.

In Drankam, Hunters were allowed to borrow equipment

from the gang depending on their Hunter Ranks. The higher
their Hunter Ranks, the better the equipment they could
borrow. That was one of the reasons why the young Hunters
in Drankam prioritized raising their Hunter Ranks.

Most of the equipment used by the young Hunters in

Drankam were borrowed equipment. Only some of them
were using their own equipment. Reina was no exception.

In contrast to that, most of the equipment used by the

veteran Hunters were their own equipment. Of course, they
could borrow equipment from Drankam too, but the
available equipment for them to borrow with their Hunter
Ranks were mostly weaker than what they already had.

This basically stemmed from that program to give

preferential treatment for the young Hunters. Since they
raised the quality of the equipment available to borrow for
low ranking Hunters, the high ranking equipment did not
get much attention and was left with rather low-quality
equipment. Thanks to that, the quality of the available
equipment leaned toward the low ranking young Hunters. It
was also in order to increase the survivability rate of the
young Hunters as this policy did produce results.

In the long run, it would allow more Hunters to gather

more experience. It was a good thing for the gang. But that
was also enough to earn some grudge from the veteran
Hunters as they mocked those young Hunters as stupid
people who mistook the power of their equipments as their
own skill.

Reina was bothered by that kind of thing. It was because

she was in a position where she could get better equipments
if she wanted to.

But even so, Shiori still recommended Reina to get better

equipment. There was no problem with getting better
equipment on her own. And by getting better equipment
with money, she would be seen as a fool who had nothing
other than her equipment not only by the veteran Hunters
but also by the other young Hunters and Katsuya's faction.

Although Shiori asked that question casually, there was a

sense of seriousness leaking behind it, and it made Akira a
bit confused. But still, since he was there because they paid
for the meals, Akira seriously thought about it before giving
his answer.

He casually said.

"I won't even try to do that."

Shiori was surprised.

"It's not about whether you'll try or not, it's more about
what would you say to that person if you have to try to
convince that person..."
 "This is only my guess, but I'm sure that person has his
own reason not to do that. For example, that person might
not be buying better equipment because of money. Maybe he
is able to purchase better equipment anytime he wants.
Then, he must not be doing so out of a certain personal
reason, it might be because of some kind of value that he
sticks to, or that if he does, then it would be completely out
of his selfishness. I'm sure he doesn't want to buy better
equipments because of reasons like that, right? After all,
although he can do his job much more safely by getting
better equipment, he's not doing that out of his own volition,
right? So, to put it simply, he must be risking his life out of
his pride or something, he must be ready to die when he
forces his pride like that. Even if for the other people, that
reason is just simply ridiculous or foolish, for him, that
reason must be important enough for him to just ignore that
fact and push with his own selfishness and pride. So for
someone who has resolved that much, I'm sure it would be
useless no matter how much a stranger like me tries to
reproach him. So I don't think I have any chance to convince
that person. I can also understand the strength of those
people who have resolved themselves, that's why, since even
trying would be meaningless, so I would have given up right
from the start."

After Akira said that, he glanced at Shiori to check if he

said anything strange again or not. Kanae was just smiling
mischievously. Shiori was also smiling, it was near
impossible to read what she was thinking behind that smile.
While Reina looked down with a stern face.

Akira, who sensed how awkward the mood got, thought

that he might have said something strange again.

"...Well. If I have to at least try even though I know that it

would be completely useless, so that I can say that I've tried,
then I would at least speak up about it..."

Shiori lightly nodded while smiling.

"Thank you very much for your valuable opinion."

Akira got flustered a bit.

"...Uhh, well, I'm sorry that I only gave you an answer that
might not be useful at all..."

"Please don't be, it's a very valuable opinion."

Shiori was honestly smiling right from the bottom of her

heart.

Akira still felt slightly awkward as he returned to his meal.

Shiori and Kanae also started eating again, but Reina was
still looking down for some time before she started eating
too.

After that, they continued enjoying their meals while

talking to each other. Although he was a bit bothered by how
Reina was reacting, since Kanae and Shiori did not say
anything, Akira decided not to say anything too.

As they continued enjoying their meal and slowly reaching

the end, Reina started to show some changes. She raised her
head and seemed to be seriously thinking about something
as hesitation slowly erased from her expression.

When Akira finished his meal and drank his coffee,

Reina's expression had already changed to a more resolved
one.

After they were done, Akira deeply bowed to Shiori.

 "Thank you very much for the meal. It was a great meal,
thank you again."

Shiori smiled at Akira and replied.

"Likewise, thank you very much. If the chance presents

itself again, I hope that you would accept my invitation."

Akira smiled bitterly.

"Of course... But if it's possible, I hope it won't be after

doing something as risky as this the next time."

"I can't agree more."

Shiori was smiling happily when she said that.

Akira then left that building and stretched out his body.

"Well well well, that was really great. I sure want to go to

that restaurant again, I wonder how long will it be for the
next time though."

Seeing how Akira sounded a bit sad, Alpha smiled at him

and said.

"You can go to that restaurant with your own money

next time, you know?"

"Stop it, don't try to tempt me like that. I might really end
up going there with my own money if you do that."

"It would be troublesome for me if you don't grow up to

be a powerful Hunter who thinks that amount of money is
nothing but a spare change, you know. Although I think it'll
take some time until you can do that, let's be patient and
keep giving our best, okay?"
 "I know, so please wait patiently for me until I can be that
strong."

Akira replied with an uppity tone, he then walked back

home while chatting with Alpha.

***

While on the other hand, Reina, Shiori, and Kanae were

still inside the restaurant. They were sitting at their table,
the plates and coffee cups were already cleaned off. They
were just sitting in their respective seats while waiting.

Kanae looked rather bored. Shiori waited silently without

saying anything. Both of them were waiting for Reina to
finish reorganizing her feelings.

After listening to Akira's answer, she asked herself some

questions and came up with a conclusion.

——Akira did say that I'm risking my life only out of my

selfishness, that I must have a reason that I think is
important enough to do so, and that he won't even try to
convince me since I must have resolved myself... But that's
not true, I don't have that kind of resolve. That's why, it's
just out of my selfishness, nothing more. It's out of my vain
pride, I endangered myself as well as Shiori and Kanae
because of something like that. I'll be able to do better if I
get better equipment. I didn't even notice that although it
was something so simple that those stupid Hunters always
say.

Reina then looked at Kanae and Shiori, she made her

resolve and said.

"Shiori, Kanae, I'm really sorry about everything until

now."
 Reina then asked Shiori with a serious face.

"Shiori, I know that I've always refused it, but can you
please help me renew my equipment? If it's possible, I want
to get the best equipment available. I don't mind what others
might say of me."

Shiori smiled happily.

"Of course, you can count on me, Milady."

With seriousness still on her face, Reina turned to Kanae

and said.

"Kanae, I'll be counting on you to protect me."

Kanae was smiling like usual.

"Sure, that's my job in the first place after all."

Reina then continued.

"And also, if I may, I want both of you to train me so that

I'll become skilled enough to use the equipment that I'll be
using from here and on, and so that others will not think
that I'm fully reliant on my equipment."

Kanae gave a challenging smile.

"Milady, are you sure you want to do that? It'll be hard

training, you know?"

"I've decided to do it."

Reina's resolve was obvious from her tone.

So Kanae smiled back at her and said.

 "Ohh, that's great then!! It seems that Milady will finally
graduate from being a total amateur! I had a lot of thoughts
about it when Milady decided to challenge a dangerous place
without proper skill and equipment and was fully relying on
Milady's bodyguard. But this time, Milady will finally be able
to start as a proper beginner."

Shiori then joined in, she had a serious expression as she

said.

"Well then, in that case, first I'll remove all the scheduled
training in Drankam. From here, Milady will be training
with both of us. Since it won't be an easy training, I hope
that Milady is ready... And also, Kanae!! Watch your
mouth!!"

Shiori glared at Kanae, but Kanae just glanced at her and

ignored it.

Reina thought of what lied in front of her and repeated

her questions and answers inside her head.

——What should I do to become stronger? It's simple, I

just need to decide to be strong and put real effort into
becoming stronger. I wasn't even doing that until now, but
this time, I'll properly become stronger!!

Reina made her resolve to attain strength with her own

effort.
 Credits

Source/Translator:
divinedaolibrary.com

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