Chapter 28 - A Request From The Corporate Government (2/2)

Sara laughed mischievously as she made a suggestion.

“Elena, I think some of the attention will be s.h.i.+fted to you if you also make a big opening like mine in your suit. So can you please do that too? Just think of it as helping me out.”

Elena smiled and gave Sara a short answer.

“No thanks.”

“That’s just too bad.”

Sara then made an exaggerated gesture to show her disappointment.

Right after that, a young boy came running and stopped in front of Elena and Sara before giving them a big smile. He looked like he was very excited. It seemed like he was the person Elena and Sara were waiting for.

“Elena-san!! Sara-san!! I’ll be in your care today.”

That boy was Katsuya. Airi and Yumina followed behind him.

Yumina looked exasperated as she smiled bitterly and said to Katsuya.

“Katsuya, don’t go ahead alone like that… You’re too excited.”

Yumina said the last part in a small voice that no one could hear as it was mixed with a little bit of jealousy and annoyance. But she immediately returned back to her usual self and politely bowed to Elena and Sara.

“Elena-san, Sara-san, I’ll be in your care today.”

As for Airi, her expression did not change much as she said.

“I’ll be in your care too.”

Katsuya idolized Elena and Sara. Although there were a lot of other feelings mixed in, it was still a form of his admiration towards other Hunters that he recognized to be above him. Of course, there were a lot of Hunters in Drankam who were well above him, but because most of them were always looking down on a young Hunter like him, so he did not really like them. In contrast to them, even after doing several jobs together with Elena and Sara, there was not even an instance where they looked down at him or mocked him or insulted him or showed that they hated young hunters like him. There were even times when they were being considerate of his inferior skill, but that was to be expected. As a matter of fact, he was actually happy when Elena and Sara were being considerate to him.

Because of his past experience, Katsuya was excited when he knew that he was going to do a Hunter request together with the strong, gentle, admirable, and on top of that, beautiful Elena and Sara.

For Airi and Yumina, as fellow female Hunters, Elena and Sara were their idols who they aspired to be. That was why they understood that it could not be helped when Katsuya got excited and so they held themselves back.

s.h.i.+karabe followed behind Katsuya and the girls. He glanced at Katsuya showing this contempt for being so excited but then he immediately returned back to his usual expression and turned to Elena and Sara.

“Are we late?”

“Nope, it’s fine.”

“I see. Well, I’ll be leaving them to you. Just check on them from time to time”

Drankam made a special appeal to Elena and Sara to take request along with Katsuya and his friends. Although it included a lot of details, the bottom line was, they wanted Elena and Sara to take care, train and protect Katsuya, Airi and Yumina. So in short, Drankam wanted them to watch over the young Hunters. Elena and Sara understood this when they accepted the request.

All the young Hunters belonging to Drankam were stipulated to work under other veteran Hunters until they piled up enough experience, abilities and achievements. This was required in order to increase the survivability of young inexperienced Hunters in this line of work where their chance of survival was already low. It was also a method to attract more Hunters into their gang.

Katsuya was deemed quite talented, thus he was a.s.signed to work under s.h.i.+karabe who was regarded as a skilled Hunter in the gang. This was also because it was s.h.i.+karabe who found the hidden talent in Katsuya.

But even so, s.h.i.+karabe did not like Katsuya, thus he was pretty annoyed when he got to watch over Katsuya. This was also one of the reasons why s.h.i.+karabe made an individual request to Elena and Sara to look over Katsuya and his companions.

Seeing s.h.i.+karabe look relieved because he would not have to watch over Katsuya and his friends for some time, Elena felt sorry as she said to him.

“About that request though, I’m really sorry to say this so suddenly, but can you please cancel it?”

Katsuya was surprised since he was looking forward to doing this request.

“Eeeh?! W-what’s wrong?”

s.h.i.+karabe was also shocked, he then asked Elena for the reason while looking a bit displeased.

“What do you mean by that? You’re asking me to cancel the request right before it starts, you know. I hope you have a good explanation for this.”

“Of course, a work request was sent to us from the Hunter Office. I’m really sorry but we’ll be prioritizing that request.”

After hearing Elena’s explanation, Katsuya was very upset and displeased. But that was not the case for s.h.i.+karabe. As a Hunter from Drankam, he only showed a bit of displeasure to Elena who was trying to refuse his request, he then continued to pressure her with a little intimidation.

“So you’re cancelling a request from Drankam just because of that, huh? Do you really think that we will allow you to do that? There will be consequences, you know?”

But s.h.i.+karabe’s behaviour instantly changed with Elena’s reply.

“Even if that request comes from the Corporate Government?”

“…The Corporate Government?!!”

s.h.i.+karabe was surprised, this reason was enough to completely erase his displeasure towards Elena and Sara.

The Corporate Government was a huge a.s.sociation of multiple big companies that ruled over the eastern district. The Hunter a.s.sociation which runs the various Hunter Offices was nothing but one of the working partners of the Corporate Government. Thus for the Hunters, any request made under the name of the Corporate Government was very important. If they refused a request without any good reason, in the worst-case scenario, it might even turn the whole eastern district into their enemy.

“The request is to patrol around a dangerous region near Kugamayama city, but the request was made under the Corporate Government. Although, to be honest, work like this should be made by the city. I don’t know the reason but since the request was sent formally from the Hunter Office, I don’t think there was any mistake. I’m sorry but it’s not like I can refuse this request just because I’m planning to explore around with some of my acquaintances. As for the cancellation fees, the Hunter Office will directly transfer it to Drankam. You’re okay with this, right?”

Elena then smiled as if she was challenging s.h.i.+karabe after giving that explanation.

“Or maybe Drankam wants to take responsibility and negotiate with the Corporate Government? Of course, I’ll rethink about your request if you are able to do that much.”

s.h.i.+karabe smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“Don’t be stupid, I get it. I’ll tell the people in the Drankam… But still, a request from the Corporate Government, huh? What’s going on?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. So there, you have it, I have a lot of things to prepare. I’m sorry but we’ll be leaving. Tell the Drankam’s side that I did meet you directly to cancel the request.”

When the Hunter Office sent a request from the Corporate Government, they usually only sent that request to first-cla.s.s Hunters who usually worked near the Frontline. Although Elena and Sara were recognized as pretty strong Hunters in Kugamayama city, they were not that strong for the Corporate Government to take notice of them. s.h.i.+karabe, Sara and Elena knew this fact well, that was why they had a lot of questions regarding this request.

Sara turned to Katsuya and the other kids.

“Well, so there you have it. I’m sorry for today, see you again next time.”

“….Ah, okay. It’s unfortunate but it can’t be helped.”

Although Katsuya was still not fully convinced, he had no other choice but to accept it. At the same time, his gaze was sucked into Sara’s cleavage, but he immediately looked away. Sara just smiled seeing that.

Soon, Elena and Sara left the place. s.h.i.+karabe then used his information terminal to contact Drankam and discuss this.

Katsuya let out a sigh.

“A request from the Corporate Government, huh…? That is amazing, but it’s too bad that Sara-san and Elena-san had to cancel today’s request because of that… I wonder when I’ll get my next chance.”

As for Yumina and Airi, they both also felt that it was indeed too bad. But after seeing how Katsuya reacted, they felt a bit conflicted and it was shown on their face.

In order to change the mood, Yumina made an awkward smile and said.

“I don’t think there’ll be next time, after all, you were staring at Sara-san’s chest just now. She might hate you for that, you know.”

Katsuya coughed and panicked.

“Did I stare too hard?”

Airi made a short remark that confirmed what Yumina said.

“You did.”

Katsuya started making excuses in panic.

“…Well, it’s just that I was captivated. It can’t be helped, you know. Any guy would agree with me after seeing that. So I’m sure Sara-san would understand…”

Yumina looked amused as she kept teasing Katsuya.

“I think Sara-san won’t understand since she’s a girl.”

Airi also followed Yumina but with a flat expression.

“Curiosity killed the cat, it might be better if you give up.”

Unlike Yumina who was obviously teasing Katsuya, Airi just stated out a fact, hearing which, Katsuya panicked even more.

“T-that’s not it. It’s just that Sara-san was wearing a pendant although she usually doesn’t wear any, and that pendant was made of a bullet which is uncommon. The pendant’s top was sucked into her chest, so I couldn’t help but get curious when I noticed that, you know.”

Yumina and Airi let out a sigh at the same time.

“Now that you mention it, that was unusual for Sara-san to be wearing a pendant like that. It looks crude though, I wonder if someone gave her that as a present?”

“I don’t think Sara-san or Elena-san would buy something like that themselves, so it might as well be a present from someone.”

“That might be a present from her boyfriend.”

Katsuya was lightly shocked.

“B-boyfriend… B-but I heard that Sara-san and Elena-san only work in a team of two. So it’s hard to believe if she has a boyfriend…”

“Her boyfriend doesn’t have to be another Hunter, you know. Moreover, it’s not too unbelievable.”

“It might even be another Hunter who could not join her in Hunter requests since it’ll disrupt his relation with the other Hunters. If that’s the case, then it won’t be strange at all. Or they might have already started negotiation for transfer.”

Yumina and Airi were having their time of life teasing Katsuya who seemed to have a crush on Sara. Thus Katsuya’s torture kept on continuing.

s.h.i.+karabe ended his call in a bad mood. He was annoyed that the negotiation did not end up well. He pushed his displeasure aside and turned to Katsuya and the other kids to inform the result of the negotiation.

“You guys can go back home if you guys want, but if you want to take up more jobs, you’ll have to take the patrol work just like the one that you took this morning with me, so what do you want to do? Today’s work with Elena got cancelled anyway, so I think it’s fine if you guys just go home for today.”

Personally, s.h.i.+karabe wanted them to just go back home for today, but as someone who was taking care of them, he could not say that outright. As such, he could only send a stare saying that he hoped they would just disband.

[…Just go back home. You should be able to understand that I can’t order you to disband. You should also get the hint that something bad might be happening right now from the earlier conversation with Elena. I know that you don’t want to go to a patrol job with me either. Your next chance to go with Elena will come again sooner or later. There’s no need to work hard under me, so just go back home.]

s.h.i.+karabe’s silent prayer did not reach them as Katsuya turned to Yumina and Airi and asked them.

“What to do now? I did prepare my stuff to go for a job and not to mention that I want to raise my Hunter Rank as soon as possible too. After all, with our current Hunter Rank, we can’t take other requests on our own and we can’t go for exploring ruins either.”

Either way, they would still need s.h.i.+karabe’s permission. Katsuya wanted to break off from this situation as soon as possible. If he did, then there would be fewer people looking down on him.

“I don’t mind if you say so, how about you Airi?”

“No problem.”

As for Yumina and Airi, they only followed Katsuya most of the time. Their budding love for Katsuya in their heart pushed them to do so.

s.h.i.+karabe just looked at them with a cold gaze, showing his intense hatred towards Katsuya.

[…Going with majority rule again, huh? Don’t you know that those two won’t oppose if you make a suggestion? Are you doing this intentionally after knowing that fact?]

Originally, there were 5 kids under s.h.i.+karabe. Every time they wanted to decide on something, they would always go with majority rule and Katsuya always won, that was why the other two made a request to be transferred to another team. And so s.h.i.+karabe was left with Katsuya and these two girls.

Looking at how Katsuya was forcing his opinion using this majority rule, s.h.i.+karabe’s hatred towards Katsuya intensified.

Katsuya then turned to s.h.i.+karabe to tell him their decision.

“We’ll take another patrol request.”

“…Alright.”

s.h.i.+karabe then turned his back to Katsuya and took out his information terminal to contact Drankam and take care of the registration for the patrol job. As he was operating his information terminal, he let out a sigh looking annoyed.

“Dammit, if only I didn’t have to look over these brats, I would’ve been able to investigate that request from the Corporate Government by now. I know that we should invest in training the young Hunters, but we’re the ones working hard to pay for their equipment and sacrificing our time doing cheap work together with them for the sake of their training. I really hope the people in the management would pay more attention to this.”

s.h.i.+karabe understood that it was Drankam’s policy and not Katsuya’s fault, but he did not understand that it was normal for hatred to be created between the people who had to make sacrifices and the people who benefitted from other’s sacrifice.

***

Elena and Sara reached home and were preparing themselves for the request inside their vehicle. They checked their ammo reserves, the condition of the vehicle, the big information gathering device and the machine gun installed on their vehicle. They also installed more armour just to be safe and filled the energy tank. This was pretty excessive preparation for a simple patrol in the wasteland.

Normally, Elena would do the information gathering and driving, while Sara would peek out from the vehicle and shoot monsters down. So they were preparing themselves in the area that they were responsible for.

“Say, Elena, about this request though, what do you think about it?”

“I did a bit of investigation, but I couldn’t get anything of worth. But it seems that the same request was also sent to other Hunters near the ruins. Since Hunters like us got this request sent to us directly from the Corporate Government, I think it’s fully expected that there are other Hunters who got the same request as well. Maybe they’re trying to call all the Hunters back to the city.”

Sara looked puzzled.

“Doesn’t that mean that there would be another big-scale monster attack? Hmmm, but again, it’s weird that the Corporate Government would send out a request just because of that, huh? If that’s really the case, then the Defense Squad of the city should be enough to handle them. Not to mention that it would be a perfect chance to show their worth to the people who keep saying that the Defense Squad spends too much money. So I don’t think they would go out of their way to call the Hunters back to the city just to s.n.a.t.c.h the role from the Defense Squad.”

Elena looked conflicted as she agreed with Sara.

“That’s true. It’s because of that, I just can’t understand the reason behind this request. It would be great if it’s just a form of insurance, but that might not be the case. Let’s just prepare everything so that we can stay safe even if anything unexpected happens.”

Elena said that last part with a firm voice as if to psyche themselves up, but then she continued with a soft tone.

“But well, I bet it’ll be alright. After all, we’re doing very well lately. Thanks to that, we got quite a lot of money and we were able to upgrade our equipment. It is as if our time when we were on a slump were nonexistent in the first place. Although I said it as if it were nothing, we were really facing a hard time back then.”

Sara replied back in a small voice.

“It was really bad indeed… And what made us rise back up from that situation was Akira saving us. Not only did he save our lives, he even turned over our situation… I can’t thank him enough for everything that he did for us.”

Elena agreed with her as she smiled and nodded.

“Speaking about Akira, I met him today by coincidence. I was finally able to say my thanks to him and I feel much better now. But don’t worry, just like you, I also promised him about not asking anything unnecessary or telling anyone else about him.”

“You met Akira? Although I thought that I would meet him in s.h.i.+zuka’s shop sooner or later, I didn’t see him lately at all. Where did you meet him?”

“It was in the gathering place where we met Katsuya. It seems that Akira was also taking the patrol request. He told me that he locked himself inside his room after placing his order for an augmented suit in s.h.i.+zuka’s shop. That makes sense though, after all, it would be unfortunate if he went out to the wasteland before getting his augmented suit and got injured.”

“So Akira started to get better Hunter equipment for himself, huh. We should work hard too.”

“Yeah, let’s give our best out there.”

Elena and Sara giggled as they continued with their preparation. Although they could not understand the reason behind this request from the Corporate Government, they were confident that they would be able to do it just fine.

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