Chapter 12 - Reason to Kill (1/2)

Chapter 12, Reason to Kill

Akira was moving between the ruin’s shadow as he was shooting at those Hunters. The colourless mist dampened the sound of the gunshot, so the Hunters who were attacking Elena and Sara could not pinpoint his location. Their screams echoed through the wasteland as he opened fire at them.

“Alpha, how many of them left?”

“3 of them are dead. Only 5 people left. By the way, you only killed one of them, the other two were killed by those girls.”

“They were able to kill 2 of them in that condition, huh. Those girls are amazing.”

“Indeed.”

Akira’s face constricted after hearing Alpha’s answer. Alpha did not hide the fact that she was in a bad mood and it was obvious from her expression and tone.

“…Uhh, do you really hate that we’re helping those girls?”

Akira awkwardly asked Alpha trying not to worsen her mood. Alpha only replied with a smile as if she was trying to evade answering. But Akira could feel that she was pouting.

“I’m not, you know? I do think that helping other people is a good thing. Since you took my request while you’re actually not strong, you can’t die until you accomplish it. I wonder if you really should put yourself in danger for helping some strangers. I’m not fully convinced by your action. It will be troublesome for me if you were to die. I did tell you about this before, didn’t I?”

Alpha’s support was not free, it was a deposit payment for accomplis.h.i.+ng her request. So if Akira died here without even completing her request, then it would be the same as him running away with her deposit payment. He thought this was the reason why she was in a bad mood. Realizing that he was being glared on by Alpha, he made an awkward excuse.

“Well, about that, you see. I was thinking as long as I have your wonderful support, then it was an easy thing to help these girls. So it would be great if you can think of it as proof of how much I trust your support…”

“To think that you believe in my support this much, I’m so happy, I really am.”

Akira could feel a great pressure coming from Alpha’s smile, as such, he could only smile back awkwardly.

When the monster that was lured by those hunters was still away from them, Alpha already detected its presence. Then she judged that it was not a monster that Akira could defeat. And so she was planning to make Elena and the other Hunters face it and lead Akira to safety.

She also informed that to Akira. She thought that by telling him about their real situation, would make him move faster to avoid getting himself involved, in case a battle really started.

But then Akira did something that she did not expect. Rather than moving away from the area, Akira decided to go towards Elena and the other Hunters instead.

And when Elena and Sara’s situation worsened, Akira’s mood was also affected and he was really agitated. He asked Alpha something that she never expected.

“Alpha, if I have your support, is it possible for me to eliminate all of those Hunters?”

“Are you planning to save them?”

“Is it not possible?”

Alpha could see that Akira was planning to do that if it was possible, so she answered that question while being puzzled about it.

“If you ask me whether it’s possible or not, I would say that it is indeed possible. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s dangerous. I think there’s no need to get ourselves involved in their matters, you know?”

“Is it because there’s a good chance that I’ll get killed even with your support?”

“It depends on the situation. If you prioritize your own safety, I think you’ll have a better chance at survival. But of course, the safest choice is for you to not get involved with them at all.”

“So in short, it will somehow work out, right?”

If she denied, then Akira would question the usefulness of her support. It would be bad if that happened, that was why Alpha had no choice but to approve it. Since she could not understand why Akira was so persistent about helping them, she asked him with a puzzled look.

“It will. But can you at least tell me your reason? Since there’s a need for me to tailor my support actions accordingly.”

But Akira just shut his mouth, he was hesitating to tell her his reason.

Alpha could clearly see a trace of hatred, irritation, disgust, and anger from his expression. But she could not understand why.

Moreover, Akira’s expression was grimmer than the time when he was a.s.saulted in the middle of the ruins. But now, it was not like he himself was getting a.s.saulted, and the people that got a.s.saulted here were total strangers to him. Despite all of these facts, his expression was really grim. He was lacking in both equipment and skill at that time when he was attacked by 2 Hunters. But he just did not have the leeway of realizing that since he was so desperate. Compared to that time, he was relatively safe here. He was better equipped and more skilled than before. The leeway created from that difference might be the reason why Akira was making this expression. At least Alpha understood as such.

But Alpha a.n.a.lyzed that there was no real reason as to why Akira’s psychological condition was so disturbed now.

The silence continued. Akira took that as a sign that Alpha would not help him if he did not answer her, and so he stated his reason.

“…If those guys stayed in the ruins, they might attack me one day. Since I’ll frequent this ruin from now on, it might be a good idea to use this chance and kill them all, right? Moreover, you did say that I used my life worth of luck, remember? So If I help those girls, I might get back some of my luck. After all, luck is something that is affected by what you do, right? So isn’t it fine if we help them?”

After hearing that answer, Alpha contemplated deeply for a while.

The reason that Akira worded out was only an excuse for him to kill those guys. Akira was not looking for a reason to help those girls, but a reason to kill the guys. He did not say that he should kill the guys to help the girls. But more like he wanted to help the girls in order to kill the guys.

It was possible that Akira was following the vague moral values inside him. And that moral value judged that those people needed to be killed. Alpha was able to understand that far, but she still could not understand why Akira was willing to risk his life to stick to his moral values.

The silence continued and Akira’s expression slowly turned pale as if there was no hope for him.

“If it’s really something difficult to achieve even with your support, then we can just give up though…”

Alpha felt that if she continued the interrogation, then Akira would consider her to be the same as those Hunters. Moreover, there was a danger that Akira might lose trust in her support.

For Alpha, the life of those guys was of no value at all, so she decided that those guys would die in order to get back Akira’s trust. Alpha replied back as if she was a bit insulted by Akira’s remark while hiding the cold decision that she made.

“What are you talking about? It’s easy as long as you have my support, you know.”

“I see, in that case, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Sure. Let’s finish this. We need to move first, come this way.”

Alpha had decided to accept Akira’s request. With this, Bubaha and his friends’ fate had been sealed by someone that had nothing to do with them or with Elena and Sara.

Akira reached a safe place and launched a surprise attack at Bubaha and his friends with Alpha’s support. Akira aimed the TP Line at Bubaha’s forehead and pulled the trigger without even a shred of hesitation. He kept shooting to cover for Elena and Sara’s retreat. Even after he saw Elena and Sara had safely retreated into an abandoned building, Akira’s expression did not loosen up. He only felt that he was able to accomplish the false excuse that he made.

“Akira, we have to move, now.”

“Roger that.”

He moved through the ruins, pa.s.sed through a building and dove into wreckage before reaching to his next vantage point. He then directed his gun towards the guys who were not even shooting at him, aligned his aim to their head and pulled the trigger with a cold face while feeling a little discomfort. As Akira aimed at them through his aiming device, his eyes showed that he was feeling disgusted more than hatred towards those guys.

The bullet spewed out from his gun, hit the guy right on his head. The bullet, originally made for fighting the monsters that had huge vitality compared to a human, blasted the guy’s head into small pieces.

“Akira, we need to move again.”

“Roger that.”

Akira kept moving from one shooting spot to next to avoid getting discovered by those guys. Alpha’s instructions were perfect, those guys did not even have an inkling as to where Akira was shooting from. While he was moving around, Akira felt something weird and inadvertently opened up his mouth.

“…But still, it’s weird that they don’t know my position although I’ve been shooting at them from a pretty close range.”

“It’s because you’ve been shooting from their blind spot. It’s for the best if you can choose positions that will give you a ground advantage. Moreover, the colourless mist is making it harder for them to spot you.”

“If it is about the effect of the colourless mist, then we’re in the same condition, aren’t we?”

“No, not even close. There’s a great difference between my detection ability inside this Kuzusuhara City ruins and the detection ability of their cheap information gathering device. For them, it’s as if they’re fighting with their eyes closed. If it was not because of that, it would be impossible for you to win against them with your current ability. That’s why it’s important for you to not misunderstand this situation and a.s.sume it is because of your ability that you are able to fight against them. They’re not weak opponents. So don’t ever think that you can take them out easily.”

“I understand.”

Alpha gave Akira a strong warning while smiling.

“It’s good as long as you understand… So you really shouldn’t misunderstand, okay?”

“O-Okay.”

Akira nervously answered back. Although he answered that honestly, he was a bit worried that Alpha thought he was getting ahead of himself. So he refocused himself and rushed forward.

Alpha actually knew that when she gave Akira the stern warning.

A guy was trembling in fear, he was the only person who was still alive. All of his friends were already turned into mutilated corpses scattered around the area. He feared that at this rate, he would also join those corpses and it made him tremble.

“…D-dammit… What’s going on here? How can they shoot so accurately inside this mist? Why someone so good is roaming in this place?? Isn’t that just unfair…?”

The Kuzusuhara City ruins should already be abandoned. The relics in its outskirts were all exhausted and the inner part of the ruins was filled with monsters that it was not worth exploring. If not for the rumour, no skilled Hunters would visit this place. Or at least, the outskirts should not be a place visited by someone with enough skill to easily kill his friends.

“That d.a.m.n Bubaha, didn’t he say that there were only incompetent Hunters around this area?!! That d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d spouting such a lie. It’s all his fault!! It’s all his fault!! Dammit!!”

It was actually his decision that he took Bubaha’s invitation to rob other Hunters. Now that they failed, he was blaming Bubaha and spewing out curses.

The colourless mist was getting clearer. But the guy did not think that it was anything good for him. He thought that the one who was shooting at him and his friends was someone with superior skills, who could shoot accurately even under the effect of the mist. That was why now that the mist was getting cleared, he thought that person should be able to shoot at him more accurately than before.

Since the effect from the mist had weakened. The guy’s information gathering device picked up a signal of Akira’s position. But he could not rely on that information to seek and kill Akira. The anger from the fact his friends were killed was already completely overwhelmed by the fear of losing his life. His spirit was completely crushed.

The guy thought he would only get killed if he continued. After thinking hard, he made a difficult decision in order to stay alive. His face twitched, then he threw his weapon down and slowly came out from behind wreckage while raising both of his hands. He then shouted.

“You win!! I give up!! So please spare me!!”

He walked into an open street defenceless and looked around.

“I-I was coerced to help that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Bubaha! He would kill me if I did not help him!! It’s not like I willing to help him!! I had no choice!!”

He looked around nervously.

“I-I’m sorry, okay!! I won’t do it again, ever!! I-If you want my money, I still have some! I’ll also give all the money that the others have too!! I also have some savings! I’ll also give that too!! I-If you kill me, you won’t be able to get that money, you know?!”

His face was distorted by fear as he was waiting for a reply, but there was no one, no voice, no bullet, no reply at all.

“I’m telling you the truth!! I’m not lying…!! Y-you haven’t shot at me, so you’re still thinking about what to do, right? Are you doubting me? Do you think that I hid some kind of weapon with me? Or do you think that I’m using an enhancing cloth and that I’m dangerous even when I’m unarmed? Alright then!! I just need to remove my cloth, right?! I’ll remove my cloth! So please don’t shoot!”

After he then took off his cheap enhancing cloth, Akira came out from the shadow behind an alley.

The guy was so surprised when he saw Akira. He never imagined that it would be a small boy, so he felt relieved. The fact that Akira showed himself meant that there was still a chance for him to negotiate with Akira. His fear of death lessened and his tense face loosened up.

[I-I’m saved. I’m saved at the moment, now I just need to make a deal with this boy.]

Then the next second, Akira shot that man. A bullet tore through the middle part of his torso.

Inside the head of that confused man, he remembered a similar scene not too long back when Bubaha shot Sara. On the very last second of his life, he wondered if Akira mistook him for a nanomachine enhanced person as his life and consciousness started fading away.

“I… I… I’m… Not…”

In his last moment before his death, he only murmured Akira’s wrong a.s.sumption.

Akira kept looking at that man while confirming with Alpha.

“Did I get everyone?”