Chapter 8 - Trust (1/2)

Chapter 8, Trust

After arriving back to the city safely, Akira went straight to the Exchange Centre and lined up in front of one of the counters. And just like the last time, that Nojima guy was the one standing behind the counter.

Nojima remembered Akira vividly. But he did not immediately respond to Akira, instead, he acted as if Akira was just another stranger to him.

“Give me your hunter ID if you have one… Wait, it’s you, huh?”

Nojima was rather surprised at how much Akira had changed. The last time he met Akira, he thought that Akira was just another little brat from the slum. But Akira looked so much different now. He actually resembled a Hunter with the equipment that he scavenged from Kahimo and Hayya. But that was not all, the biggest difference was the faint aura that he was giving off, it was an aura of someone who had gone through the baptism of the wasteland.

Just registering yourself as a Hunter does not make you one. But the person standing in front of Nojima was indeed a Hunter, despite being only a newbie.

Looking at him, Nojima laughed a bit as he thought that Akira would not die anytime soon. Then he recomposed himself and started moving into his order of business.

“So, what do you have this time… That’s weird, was that one you brought before due to pure luck alone?”

Although it did not look expensive whatsoever, it was an item that he brought back after putting his own life on the line. Thus, Akira was a little bit annoyed when Nojima badmouthed the item that he brought.

“Well, I’m sorry that it looks awful. But even so, it is a relic of the old world that I brought back from the ruin. I should be able to get the rest of the money from the previous relic with this item… And also, what do you mean by pure luck?”

Akira made a twisted face, which, Nojima just laughed lightly.

“You’ll know soon.”

Nojima took the same tray that Akira used before from the back shelf and used his other hand to operate the terminal. After that, banknotes came out from the machine beside it. Nojima took that money and put it inside an envelope before extending it to Akira while laughing.

“We finished checking the relic that you brought before. For this time, your total payment is 200,000 Aurum.”

Akira’s mind went blank for a sec when he heard that number. He then slowly reached for the envelope and took out the money. After touching and seeing the real thing in front of him, he was dumbfounded. For him, who fought to the death for mere 300 Aurum yesterday, this 200,000 Aurum was simply unbelievable.

Nojima was satisfied with how Akira reacted and laughed.

“There are not many kids who got this much money here, you know? Use them wisely, okay? Well then, go now before you start attracting more attention.”

As Akira regained his composure, he immediately put that envelope into his chest pocket in panic and awkwardly left the Exchange Centre. Looking at how Akira changed back from a newbie hunter to a small boy from the slum, Nojima let out a bitter laugh.

Even after leaving the Exchange Centre, Akira kept moving awkwardly, he just could not calm down. Seeing that, Alpha talked to him with a soothing voice.

“Akira, calm down. If you let yourself shaken by just this much money, it’ll only get worse in the future, you know?”

Hearing these words, Akira, who was speechless after getting the amount of money that he never imagined, inadvertently opened his mouth.

“Hah! Just this much money, you say!? What the heck are you talking about!? It’s 200,000 Aurum, you know!? It’s a huge amount of money for me.”

Alpha locked her stare at Akira as she said to him with a strong tone.

“No, this is just a small amount. It is simply nothing compared to the amount you can earn with my support. Get this inside your head.”

“W-well, even if you tell me so…”

“Moreover, you look like a r.e.t.a.r.ded kid talking to himself now, so be more careful.”

Akira closed his mouth in panic. Because of the huge amount of money that he just got, Akira could become an easy and delicious target. Moreover, he was sticking out like a sore thumb since he was behaving awkwardly.

“Let’s take a rest for today. I’m sure you’re pretty tired after returning from the ruin. Moreover, you’ll only attract more attention if you’re just standing here.”

“Y-you’re right. I understand.”

Akira was calm enough to answer Alpha with a whisper. But he was still looking rather restless on his way to his sleeping place. But then Alpha suddenly stopped him with a serious face.

“It’s not this way.”

“Eh? But my sleeping place is over there.”

“Nope, you’re going to sleep in an inn today. You have the money for that now, right?”

“W-well, you’re right, but…”

Because he just received an amount that he could never imagine, Akira felt really heavy parting with the money. But then Alpha smiled gently to him as if she was reprimanding a small kid.

“If you feel really heavy parting with just this amount, it will only lower the worth of your life, you know. And it’s not like we’re going to use it needlessly. Since you acquired it properly, so you should use it properly too. I’ll give you my support on how to efficiently spend money too… So, you trust in my support, right?”

Akira just could not say no after being told that. Both of them had promised to build trust between them. And so he made a firm nod while trying to calm himself down.

“…Okay.”

“Thank you, so then, shall we go to the inn now? By the way, is it really okay if I pick the inn for you to stay?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave it to you.”

“This way then.”

Alpha giggled as she walked in front of Akira to guide him. As he was following Alpha from behind, he could not help but to worry just how much money he would need to spend for the inn.

It was normal for inns to let their customers bring their weapons. But since they would bring strong and destructive weapons, it would cause death victims and huge damage to the inn if they used those weapons to cause a ruckus. As such, all the customers were expected to behave nicely. It was a basic rule that all the customers should adhere to. Now then, even if you cause someone’s death or some kind of loss to the inn, you would still be considered as a well-behaved customer if you properly pay the inn enough compensation. But since Alpha picked a cheap inn near the slum city, the rule was not very strict here. The inn would gladly accept an armed kid from the slum as long as that kid paid them. Thus, Akira was able to make a reservation without any problems.

Akira reserved an average-priced room. The room was pretty big and because it was an inn designed for Hunters, it had a big empty area for Hunters to do maintenance on their equipment or to just keep all the relics that they had on them. The room even had a bath and a bed too. Not to mention, there were also a variety of foods inside the refrigerator. It was definitely safer to sleep here than outside. There was a stark contrast comparing it to Akira’s sleeping place in the back alley.

“20,000 Aurum for a night huh… That is simply a robbery…”

Akira fully understood why he had to pay so much money for the room. But, Akira did not look happy, even though he was able to sleep in such a luxurious place that was way better than his sleeping place in the back alley. Instead, he made a rather complicated face.

Understanding why he should pay so much money was not the same as actually paying the money. Akira’s hand was shaking as he was paying for his room. Alpha was the one who picked that room. If it was up to Akira, then there was no mistaking it that he would opt for a cheaper room.

Akira let out a sigh, it was clear that he was rather disappointed since he had to spend his money on some needless expense despite the fact that he was against it. Realizing that, Alpha just laughed awkwardly.

“I’m sure there are a lot of things in your mind right now, but how about you relax and take a bath for now?”

“…Bath? A bath?! Yeah, I’m going to take a bath now.”

Akira immediately beaming with happiness the moment he heard the word bath.

There were buildings equipped with baths even in the slum city, but there were only certain people who could enjoy such a facility. Unless it was someone who owned the bath or someone with enough money to pay for the bath, it was impossible to have the chance to enjoy one. For a small kid who was living in one corner of the back alley like Akira, the only thing that he was able to do was to wipe off his body with a piece of cloth using the water not good enough for drinking.

Akira was only able to vaguely remember the last time he went into a bath, as such, he was happily heading to the bathtub.

Akira washed his body while waiting for the bathtub to be filled with hot water. He washed every nook and cranny of his body with a soap that was prepared there and enjoyed the water by using it rather excessively. It was not something that he could do before. He was enjoying such a luxury that was definitely out of his reach when he was living in the back alley. It took sometime before he washed mud and dust off his body and started to make bubbles with the soap.

Once he completely washed his body, he checked the water in the bathtub. He then immediately dipped himself into the hot water tub until the water was level with his shoulder. He relaxed back as he let out a strange moan. He then let the water take over his body as if the hot water just washed all his tiredness. As his face started to ease off, his consciousness melted into the hot water and he could not help but mumble some words.

“How is the water?”

Akira immediately turned into the source of that voice, he could see Alpha was already dipping herself in the bathtub together with Akira. She was sitting in a provocative pose right beside Akira, but the mist prevented Akira from seeing her figure clearly. Water droplets formed on her skin and were sucked into the valley in her chest. The only thing that hid that wonderful body was the mirage and the mist produced by the hot water.

(Silavin: G.o.d d.a.m.n it!!! b.l.o.o.d.y mist of censors.h.i.+p! The enemy of mankind!)

Of course, since Alpha had no real body, she could not really dip herself into the water. She was only showing such an image to him. But since it was an image produced through high level calculation, there was not even a shred of strangeness coming from that image. It was an image produced by calculating the distortion coming from the refraction of the hot water. As long as Akira did not reach his hand for her, she would look perfectly normal. The only thing that showed that her beautiful body was not real was the hot water vapour coming through her body.

Akira’s mind was still numbed from the pleasure as he answered back.

“…It’s heavenly… Why are you naked by the way?”

Alpha giggled mischievously.

“You can’t get into the bath with your clothes on, right?”

“…Well, that’s true.”

He was convinced by Alpha’s answer and gave a slight nod without expressing much reaction in seeing her naked. He turned his head and continued enjoying the bath.

Alpha kept staring at Akira and kept giggling, she made sure to remember Akira’s lack of reaction.

“Akira, don’t you have anything to say after seeing my body?”

Akira looked rather puzzled as he slanted his head. He tried to use his brain, but most of his consciousness had already been melted into the hot water, so he could only answer back in fragmented words.

“…? …Well… You did say… Something about… Computer graphics or something… So like… That’s fake… Right?”

“Yep, you’re correct. But that is not the main point here. It’s more like, do you have a comment, or impression or something after seeing my beautiful body?”

Akira slanted his head again while looking puzzled. After trying to rack his now-shutdown brain, he finally opened his mouth.

“…You have… Huge chest…?”

Alpha giggled awkwardly.

“Well, it’s indeed true. But I was asking for your opinion about my body, or like your preferences and type. But… Your answer just now feels rather bland.”

Although he was just a small boy, it did not change the fact that he was in a bath together with a beautiful girl. But Akira’s reaction there was really weak. It was as if he had no interest in her well-endowed chest, or her glossy skin, or her soft and smooth back. But for Akira who already let the hot water take over him, his eyes were saying that he had no interest at all in Alpha’s naked body.

Before the hot water lulled Akira to sleep, Alpha gave him a warning while giggling.

“You’ll get yourself drowned to death if you sleep here, you know.”

“…Like h.e.l.l… I would let…Myself die here… What… Should I do?”

“Get up from the bath, wipe your body dry, go to your bed and sleep.”

“…Okay.”

Akira got himself up while wobbling from side to side and slowly dragged himself out of the bathtub. Then he wiped off his body, changed to a pyjama and dove onto his bed. He was then immediately a.s.saulted by heavy sleepiness.

“Goodnight.”

“Good… Night…”

The good night that Alpha always said in a soft and sweet voice, Akira could only answer back vaguely due to his sleepiness. And then he went straight to his dreamland.

***

On the next day, Akira woke up not too long after sunrise. Compared to his usual schedule, he woke up really late. All the tiredness that had built-up and the bed that was way better than his usual place in the back alley were at fault for making him wake up so late.

And even after he opened his eyes, Akira was more disoriented than usual. The comfy bed dulled his brain. But then Alpha spoke to him while smiling.

“Good morning, Akira. Did you sleep well?”

“…Good morning, Alpha…? Wait?! Where am I!?”

As Alpha spoke to him, his consciousness returned back, but then Akira immediately jumped in surprise as he found himself waking up in an unknown place. He then looked around him in panic. If he was in the back alley and not wary of his surroundings, then it would be a fatal mistake and he would be dead by now. His face turned really pale as he was panicking.

Alpha answered Akira’s question in a gentle voice in order to calm Akira down.

“This is the room inside the inn that you’re staying, don’t you remember?”

Akira finally remembered what happened yesterday as he let out a sigh of relief.

“…Right, I slept in an inn yesterday, huh?!”

Alpha then pointed her finger in a calm manner.

“For now, how about you get something for breakfast? You don’t need to go to the food distribution place today, so you can take it easy.”

The food was included in the rent and there would not be any refund if he didn’t consume the food. With a happy mood, Akira started preparing his breakfast with the food that he usually would not be able to eat.

The food and the utensils were warm and the drinking water was soothing cold. This was enough to make the food here so special compared to the usually distributed food. Not to mention that he was able to savour such food in a private where there was no danger of anyone robbing food from him. Akira could not help but relax as he was enjoying the food that he could not even imagine he would be able to enjoy.

[As expected of the 200,000 Aurum that I got yesterday]