Chapter 22 - Ordering An Augmented Suit (1/2)
Chapter 22, Ordering An Augmented Suit
Translator: Athena13
Editor: Silavin
Proofreader: p4553r
When Akira returned back into his room, he was beaming. He could not contain his happiness. His eyes were locked onto the bundles of money on the floor. It was the payment that he got from selling relics to Katsuragi.
“8,000,000 Aurum…!!! We got 200,000 Aurum just the other day, and I was thinking that the idea of living in a 20,000 Aurum per day room was already crazy enough. But this is just on a completely different level…”
He had to keep his cool outside, but once he returned back inside his room, there was no more need to hold himself back. When he received the money, he did not react much because it did not feel real to him at that time. But now that he looked at the pile of money for the second time, the reality finally seeped in and he was overwhelmed by it.
Although the amount of money overwhelmed him, he had no idea what he would use it for. After all, if he could come up with some useful ideas on how to use this much money, he would not be staying in the slum city. Akira was simply mind blown by it. So for now, he was acting like a person from the slum city who was just lucky enough to get a huge amount of money.
Alpha then calmly warned Akira who was so excited.
“Let me tell you this beforehand, this money will be gone in no time. To be more precise, we will use everything tomorrow’s afternoon.”
Akira was taken aback.
“U-use everything? It’s 8,000,000 Aurum, you know?”
“Yep. That spare money will be used up in no time.”
“Spare money?! No no no, 8,000,000 Aurum is a huge amount of money, you know?!”
With his sense of money, Akira could not understand what Alpha was saying. He remembered that he had to fight to the death against 5 other slum kids a few days ago just over 300 Aurum. The current 8,000,000 Aurum in front of him just could not be compared to mere 300 Aurum. Thus, the number and strength of the people that would be attracted by this money and the level of the danger that it brought would be simply on an entirely different level. But even so, Alpha said that it was only spare money and Akira’s brain could not fully comprehend that.
Alpha then answered back calmly as if to rectify his sense of money.
“It’s just spare money. Do you know about those medicines used by the Hunters in the Frontline? I’m not even sure you can use this money to buy enough portions of that medicine for one battle, you know? That’s the worth of this spare money.”
“…But still, you just can’t compare me with those amazing Hunters.”
“You need to dream big. It’s for the sake of exploring the ruins that I mentioned to you when we first met.”
Akira was a bit shocked but he did not look fully convinced. He flinched a bit when he heard how Alpha wanted him to rethink his standard. He then asked Alpha.
“By the way. You haven’t told me anything about the ruin that you want me to explore. So, what kind of ruin is it?”
Alpha smiled meaningfully.
“It’s a secret for now. After all, it would be a problem if you know how dangerous it is and decide to give up early on. But the least I’ll say is that it’s not a place that you can reach with your current equipment.”
“I don’t really understand it but… That information in itself was enough to discourage me.”
“Don’t worry. Once you get better equipment, it’ll change your perception of danger too. It’ll change your opinion from impossible to possible. That’s why we’ll use that 8,000,000 Aurum to buy new equipment. Just think that your goal, for now, is to upgrade your equipment. By getting better equipment, you’ll be able to explore more dangerous ruins which will allow you to earn more money. Then we’ll use that money to get better and better equipment. So we’ll go with that cycle to improve ourselves.”
Akira tried to imagine what was lying beyond that endless cycle, but he could not come up with anything.
“So, until the day when you become stronger, have equipment suitable for your strength, and have a different sense of money compared to now, you should give your best effort. Worry not, I’ll also do my best to help you.”
“…Well, of course, I’ll do my best.”
To Alpha who was smiling confidently, Akira could only reply back with a smile.
“And it’s as Katsuragi said, top-cla.s.s Hunters usually don’t buy equipment using cash. It’s because the amount of money that they use in a transaction is enormous. It’s not like they can walk around carrying a large amount of money. Thus, it’s common for them to open a bank account and pay using a card. It might be a good idea for you to open one soon.”
Akira then looked back at the bundles of money on the floor. He could only smile bitterly as he realized that his sense of money had really undergone some subtle changes compared to just a few seconds ago.
“Yep yep, I knew it, you’re messing with my sense of money… Haah, I guess I can no longer live in the slum city.”
“That’s a good development. Do your best.”
Akira smiled bitterly to Alpha who was smiling for a different reason. He then shook it off and said.
“So now, we’re going to buy equipment with this money, right?”
“We’re going to buy equipment that will increase the effectiveness of my support. I guess you should be able to at least buy the lowest level equipment with 8,000,000 Aurum.”
Akira was very surprised as he asked Alpha.
“8,000,000 Aurum only enough to buy the lowest level, huh? What in the world are we going to buy with this money?”
“Augmented suit.”
“Augmented suit? It’s that thing that allows me to carry heavy stuff, right?”
“Yep. But it’s a different story for you. Since you have my support, it’ll allow you to do a lot more things other than just carrying heavy stuff. So you can look forward to it.”
Alpha smiled confidently as she said that.
***
Akira went to s.h.i.+zuka’s shop the next day.
When he entered the shop, he saw s.h.i.+zuka behind the counter resting her chin on her hand looking bored. But the moment she noticed Akira, she immediately stood properly and smiled at him.
“Welcome. Are you here to buy ammo again?”
“Nope. I’m actually here to buy equipment, you see…”
s.h.i.+zuka smiled as if to tease Akira.
“Oh my, it has been quite a while since you bought that AAH rifle, so you’re finally willing to buy new equipment, huh? I’m happy to hear that, you know. After all, it’ll be hard for my shop if I only rely on the ammo trade.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Akira apologized while being fl.u.s.tered. Looking at that, s.h.i.+zuka giggled and apologised.
“I was only joking. I’m sorry. So then, what do you want to ask me…?”
“Actually, you see…”
Akira then let out a sigh and explained the real reason why he was there, to buy an augmented suit.
After hearing his explanation, s.h.i.+zuka whistled.
“…Augmented suit, huh? Well, it’s not like I’m not selling those here, but to be honest, my shop focuses more on guns and ammo. I didn’t put any augmented suits on display, so it’s not like you can browse for the real thing here. And even if you place your order, it’ll take some time before you can get it since I order it from outside. Although I still can do a basic setting for augmented suits, I think it’s better if you buy one from a specialized shop, you know?”
“Is that so? But I don’t know any specialized shop for augmented suits though. And even if I know one, I’m not even sure they’ll let me in. Not to mention that I know next to nothing about augmented suits, so I’m afraid the shopkeeper would swindle me to buying something bad. Sara-san also said to consult with you if I have any questions about equipment, so I’ll be really thankful if you can help me here.”
s.h.i.+zuka smiled happily.
“I can’t refuse if you put it that way. Okay then, if you’re okay with my intuition, I’ll give you a hand. So then, how much money are you planning to spend on this augmented suit?”
Akira was so happy that s.h.i.+zuka decided to help him, so he answered back casually while smiling.
“It’s 8,000,000 Aurum and it’s in cash.”
s.h.i.+zuka was a bit surprised when she heard Akira’s answer, she then looked at Akira as if she was interrogating him.
“…This much money, where did you get that from? Is it from selling relics? You can’t get 8,000,000 Aurum unless you gathered a lot of relics or obtained some high-quality ones, right? Either way, you would have had to go to dangerous areas to get those relics. Although you just got almost killed not too long ago, did you really go somewhere that dangerous already?”
s.h.i.+zuka was able to immediately pinpoint where to get such relics using her intuition and her ability to a.n.a.lyze. So Akira panicked as he answered back.
“Ahhh, well, I was actually stocking up relics for a while and sold all of them in one go. Because it’s common for a small kid like me to get targeted if I go walking around with a lot of money, I was only selling a portion of my relics and hid the rest. Now I just sold all of those relics that I piled up. I’m trying my best not to put myself in danger. And it’s as you said, I almost got killed not too long ago, that’s why I’m thinking of buying better equipment. The reason I decided on buying an augmented suit is so that I can run faster when I get into a dangerous situation. That’s why I’m thinking of spending more money than usual to avoid being in the same situation like back then…”
s.h.i.+zuka’s gaze was intense, but she did that because she was worried about Akira. When Akira noticed it, he started spouting excuses in a panic that he did not know what he was even saying. He was making excuses as if he was a kid who was desperately trying to come up with any excuses that he could to avoid getting scolded.
Akira was not used to having someone worried about him. Even more so when it was unconditional. Although he did not realize it, Akira was actually feeling happy. So he was actually in a panic because of the embarra.s.sment and the guilt that he was feeling when he realized s.h.i.+zuka was worrying for him.
But if it was Sheryl who said that to him, he would have replied back with “shut up” or “stop asking that”. There was a crucial difference between them that Akira himself did not realize.
[Although Akira answered back in such a fas.h.i.+on to dodge her question, there was no deceit in his answer. In order not to do anything too dangerous, it was necessary for him to do something with a little bit of risk. There were no lies in those words too. It was not like he did that because he wanted to, he had to do that if he wanted to survive. After all, for surviving in the slum city as a Hunter he had to take some risk.]
That was what s.h.i.+zuka’s intuition was telling her as she stared at Akira. She then warned Akira with a tone as if she was seriously giving a warning to a small kid.
“Just don’t do anything too dangerous unnecessarily, okay?”
“Okay.”
Seeing Akira sincerely nodding, she replied with a smile and a nod too. She then returned back to her shopkeeper routine.
“Alright then. Shall we hear what kind of augmented suit you want? And since telling me is free, you can say whatever your preferences are.”
As s.h.i.+zuka was listening to what kind of augmented suit Akira wanted, she looked a bit surprised. After all, there was one thing that she did not expect to come from someone who was buying an augmented suit for the first time.
Akira wanted to get an augmented suit that could operate for a long time. It might still have a limit on how long it could be used, but rather than a suit that would give him enough strength to send vehicles flying with his fist, Akira preferred a suit that he could use to increase his overall strength. He was not looking for a thick strong augmented suit that would give him protection equal to a tank or a mechanized soldier, putting on such an augmented suit would take about an hour and help from someone else too. Rather than that, Akira wanted a suit that he could put on and take off easily, something that would not need too much work to put on. Up to this point, s.h.i.+zuka had no questions at all.