Chapter 42 - The Children of The Defensive Point 14 (1/2)

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

With Alpha’s help, Akira could see an indicator in his vision guiding him to his station in the defensive point number 14. As he followed that indicator, he eventually arrived in front of a building in the middle of a plain opening, there was a shutter in the wall of that building. He could see a stairway leading underground. When he peeked behind that shutter, the indicator was pointing downwards.

“…It’s underground?”

“It seems that the Yarata scorpion made their nest in the underground city of the Kuzusuhara ruin.”

“I didn’t know that Kuzusuhara ruin had an underground city.”

The person leaning beside that shutter noticed Akira and immediately operated a control panel near him, the shutter creaked and slid open.

Akira found it weird, so he asked that man.

“This shutter is also an object from the old world, right? How did you move it?”

“This one can be opened and closed with a b.u.t.ton, you see. Although, we still need an expert hacker to be able to control it. But then again, it’s an old-world relic made using old-world technology, so it’s not like having an expert hacker guarantee that you can take control of the control panel. Since we are on that note, be sure not to mess with the control panel that you find in the underground, in the worst-case scenario, it can trigger an alarm and this place will be overrun with monsters in no time. Get in, I need to close it again quickly.”

The shutter shut after Akira stepped through it. The sound of the steel shutter echoed as it collided with the floor, it was reminding him that he was no longer ‘outside’ in the wasteland.

When Akira walked down the stairs, he suddenly stopped as he saw a huge load of explosives lined up in front of him.

The man from before noticed Akira’s expression, so he explained.

“Those explosives are just insurance in case anything bad happens. If the monsters underground push us up to this point and it’s obvious that it’s impossible to defend this point, we’ll blow those explosives and stop them here. Don’t worry, it won’t explode if you step on it, though, don’t kick or step on them on purpose, okay?”

Akira looked stern and glared at that man.

“…What will happen to us in that case?”

The man laughed as if he was joking.

“If you guys do your job properly, then you guys will be either dead or have fully withdrawn from the underground by then. Work hard if you don’t want to be among the former.”

Akira sighed and continued walking deeper into the underground where the gathering place was located. Although that man said it as if he was just joking, Akira knew that he was serious.

The underground city was illuminated by lightings installed by the people who went down there before Akira, it showed its real appearance after being warped in total darkness for years. Ruins of crumbled shops piled up over one after another, this showed that it was once a bustling place filled with people.

But instead of people, it was filled with monsters right now. The underground city consisted of complex hallways filled with monsters, it caused the underground exploration to be extremely difficult.

The people who had explored first had cleared and installed illumination in certain points in the underground. Although they were able to secure those areas, the underground was still more dangerous compared to the surface above.

As Akira was walking past the already secured hallway, Alpha explained to him the details of the request. Although he had heard a simple explanation from her beforehand, he wanted to confirm the duties of the defense team in detail, so he asked Alpha about it in the middle of their idle banter.

During this Yarata Scorpion Subjugation request, the Hunters were mainly divided into 3 teams – the exploration team, the extermination team and the defense team.

The exploration team was responsible for exploring the underground city when it was filled with total darkness. They had to map the underground city and mark the locations of any nests that they found. The team mainly consisted of the Hunters who were proficient in using information-gathering devices.

The extermination team’s main duty was, simply put, hunting and exterminating monsters. Basically, they had to hunt and exterminate Yarata Scorpion’s nests, expand the secured area and provide support to the exploration and defense team if needed. It mainly consisted of Hunters with excellent fighting skills.

As for the defense team, looking from where Akira was sent to, it seemed that its main duty was to protect non-crucial communication relay stations. Akira looked happy when Alpha explained that to him.

“In that case, then it’s really an easy job that even a small kid like me can do, right? I’m glad I asked.”

“Akira, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but stay vigilant, okay?”

“I know, I know. I’m just glad that it’s not as hard as I expected. I thought it would be some kind of super-hard request since the requester even accepted all of my demands.”

“I really do hope that’s the case.”

As Alpha said that as if she was hiding something, Akira looked slightly worried while making a puzzled face.

“…Alpha. If you’re only scaring me to keep me on my toes, can you please stop it? I’ll properly do my job. Or is it that you’re expecting something to happen?”

“If I have to say anything, I guess it’s a certain someone’s bad luck that made him encounter monster swarms twice in the same day, or got him chased by a swarm of Yarata scorpion after getting dispatched for a rescue request, or made him run alone in the wasteland for an SOS request.”

Akira hung his head low without saying anything back. He knew that he had bad luck and he understood that Alpha was warning him not to do anything that might worsen it.

“…I’ll do my best to avoid any situations where I can only rely on my luck.”

“Yep, you should do that. Let’s hope that your bad luck won’t go so bad to the point where I can no longer compensate it with my support.”

Akira could only smile bitterly to Alpha, but she smiled back teasingly at Akira.

There was an opening in a junction where the hallways met, illuminations and communication relay were installed in that big opening. 8 Hunters who looked bored were guarding the area. It was the defensive point number 14 where Akira was stationed. One of those Hunters noticed Akira who was coming from the hallway, he then laughed and tapped the other Hunter’s shoulder.

“That’s my replacement, so I’m out.”

“Wait!! Isn’t this just another brat?!!”

“Don’t worry, it just means that this job is so easy that they think it’s okay sending children here, you know? Later then.”

That Hunter then smiled mockingly and waved at Mimata, his Hunter friend. He pa.s.sed beside Akira and left the defensive point.

Mimata watched in jealousy as his friend left and proceeded to the surface. After his friend had gone from his view, he s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Akira. It was obvious that he was so disappointed having Akira there, he didn’t even try hiding it as he exasperatedly asked Akira.

“So, what is your Hunter Rank?”

“20.”

Mimata frowned, his face was saying that he was annoyed and displeased.

“Another piggy-backing brat, huh. Why in the world does this station keep getting children…? Just be sure not to get in my way, okay?”

‘Piggy-backing’ was a derogatory term used for the Hunters who got support from other better Hunters and borrowed powerful equipment to get a high rank. They did not have real ability and skill suitable for that rank. Most of the young Hunters from Hunter gangs were piggy-backing Hunters and the whole gang was often mocked for letting young Hunters do that.

Akira did not know the meaning behind that mocking term, but he could somehow feel the meaning behind it from how Mimata said it. Akira also fully understood that he was able to gather all of his achievements thanks to Alpha’s support, so he just ignored it as he asked Mimata.

“Are you the one in command here?”

“There’s no one in command here. We’re just a mismatch of random Hunters, deciding on the person in command would only cause a fight. I have no plan watching over you little brats. If you’re looking for someone to help you, then get along with those kids over there.”

“…Alright.”

Akira turned at the direction that Mimata pointed when he said that. But he suddenly turned around, walked away, and sat not too far from both Mimata and the group that Mimata just pointed, isolating himself from the rest of the Hunters.

The other Hunters looked at Akira, wide-eyed. But he was not bothered at all.

“Akira, are you sure you don’t want to join that group?”

“Yes. I think I’ll just cause a fight if I go over there. But Alpha, if you tell me to go, I’ll go.”

Alpha looked at that group of Hunters once again before she turned back to Akira and smiled bitterly.

“You’re right, let’s not do that.”

The group that Mimata pointed at was Katsuya’s group.

The Hunters in the defensive point number 14 were divided into 3 groups, Mimata’s group, Katsuya’s group and Akira alone.

Katsuya’s group consisted of Katsuya, Yumina, Airi, a young girl by the name Reina and an adult woman by the name s.h.i.+ori.

Mimata’s group thought that Katsuya’s group was filled with piggy-backing Hunters because of such a composition. A group of young Hunters with one adult Hunter, he bet it was a group of amateur Hunters with one veteran Hunter, he a.s.sumed that s.h.i.+ori was there to watch over the other green Hunters. Though in reality, that was not the case. But, it was also understandable that Mimata made that a.s.sumption.

Both Mimata’s group and Katsuya’s group spent their time by having silly talks. As time pa.s.sed by without anything in particular happening, it slowly shaved their vigilance. But they also kept their information-gathering device to focus on a small range scan, thus there was a minimum possibility of facing a surprise attack.

Up until this point, no one doubted it was an easy job that even a small kid could do.

Akira was chatting and studying with Alpha. As a kid who had grown up in the slum city, he was not good with letters and he lacked common sense. In order to learn the knowledge needed to be a successful Hunter, he needed to study the basic knowledge first. He still had a lot of things to learn, that was why he used any idle time he had for studying.

Alpha suddenly turned her head, Akira noticed that and followed suit. He found Katsuya and Reina walking towards him.

Reina pulled Katsuya and dragged him to Akira. She then looked down at Akira who was sitting on the ground and said.

“You, your name?”

“It’s Akira.”

“Why are you sitting here alone? Come with us.”

“No thanks, I’m good here.”

Reina frowned.

“Why? Is it so that you can play hooky by yourself here?”

“I have no plan playing hooky here.”

“Don’t lie, you’ve been just sitting here quietly doing nothing.”

Both Katsuya’s and Mimata’s groups were at least still watching their surroundings, but Akira did not seem like he was monitoring his surroundings at all. Or at least, that was how it looked from outside, so it was understandable why Reina thought he was playing hooky.

But Akira just answered back swiftly but casually.

“I keep my eyes on the scan result of my information-gathering device. That was why I noticed when you guys came over here.”

To be more precise, it was Alpha who was keeping eyes on the scan result and not Akira. Alpha just smiled at Akira but he ignored it.

Reina was obviously annoyed, but she was convinced by what Akira said and decided to stop pursuing that line of thinking, instead, she tried to come up with another excuse to make Akira listen to her.

“Akira, what is your Hunter Rank?”

“Rank 20.”