Chapter 70 - Quality of a Hero (2/2)

Katsuya’s impression of the situation was fully cemented. He thought that Akira was chasing the beautiful girl Alna because of some kind of no-good reason.

And so, he was obviously showing his hostility with his glare.

“Do you really think that I’ll just give her to you because you tell me to?”

Akira more or less knew that Katsuya would give him that reply, his expression turned stern thus showing his intent.

Yumina and Airi readjusted their position so that they could jump to Katsuya’s help anytime. s.h.i.+ori slowly moved in front of Reina, who was still confused by the sudden turn of events, as she watched carefully how the situation developed.

In the middle of that situation where everyone’s tension was rising, Kanae was the only one who was still so relaxed. It was not like she was enjoying the situation, it was because she was a battle maniac who loved fighting.

Kanae then interjected with a cheery voice that did not suit the situation.

“So then, why are you chasing her?”

“She stole my wallet.”

Everyone turned to Alna. It was obvious that she was starting to panic. Kanae then asked Alna with the same cheery voice as before.

“That’s what he says, so, did you?”

Alna desperately clung on Katsuya.

“It’s not me!! That boy just suddenly started chasing me with a scary face!!! That’s why I was running as fast as I could!! I’m telling you the truth!!”

Katsuya could not discern whether Alna panicked because she was accused of something that she really did not do, or because she was trying to hide something. But at least he understood very well that she was desperate.

Because of his bad predisposition towards Akira, Katsuya somehow sounded mocking as he asked Akira.

“Do you even have any proof that she took your wallet?”

“Proof, huh…”

Akira went silent as he was thinking of what to say, but Katsuya immediately interpreted that silence as a no.

“You went silent there, so you don’t have any proof, huh? I bet you just dropped it somewhere.”

Akira and Katsuya glared at each other, raising the tension.

Airi then approached Alna.

“I’ll search her, if she had really stolen your wallet, I should be able to find it if I search her body.”

“O-Okay, you can go ahead.”

Alna stepped away from Katsuya and raised both her hands in front of Airi. But before Airi started searching her body, Akira interjected.

“You won’t find my wallet on her. She took out all of my money from my wallet and threw it away to cover up her crime.”

After hearing that explanation, Airi stopped. She thought for a bit and then asked Akira a question.

“How much did she take?”

“About 100,000 Aurum.”

Airi took another look at Alna, who was wearing a complete set of clothes. But the clothes that she was wearing were those worn-out clothes normal for the slum city residents, at least, she did not look like she even had 100 Aurum with her.

Even if she found that Alna was carrying 100,000 Aurum with her after searching her body. There was still no proof that she stole that, she might be carrying that money by pure coincidence.

Airi turned to Akira. Even if she told him to back off since he had no evidence, it did not seem like Akira would withdraw at all.

This time, Yumina interjected.

“Is there any chance that it was just a pure misunderstanding or some kind of other mistakes? Are you really really sure that she’s the one who stole your wallet?”

“There’s no mistaking, it’s her.”

“Do you have any proof why you can say that with confidence? Do you have any proof that you’re not mistaking anything? Did she somehow run away from you after you caught her once before? Was the situation akin to you being with only her in a certain location when you realized you lost your wallet?”

“Well, about that…”

As Yumina asked him those questions in a calm manner without blaming him, Akira was rather troubled by how to answer those questions.

The one who noticed that he had lost his wallet was Alpha, not Akira himself. At least until Alna threw away his wallet, he was chasing Alna purely because he trusted Alpha when she said Alna was the one who took his wallet. He had no other proof why he thought that Alna was the pickpocket other than because Alpha told him so. But of course, he could not say that to Yumina.

Seeing how Akira could not answer her questions, Yumina pressed further.

“Is it because of the information you a.n.a.lyzed from your information-gathering device? I heard that some Hunters always keep their information-gathering device on and focus it to scan the area around them just to be safe.”

“No, that’s not the case either. Or more like, I got my information-gathering device destroyed in a fight.”

“So, is it because someone who was together with you, told you so? If it is, can we go to meet that person and ask for proof?”

“Well… Uhh…”

Yumina’s guess was correct, but no one other than Akira could see Alpha. Thus he could not really say anything back.

“Is there any security camera around the area where you got your wallet stolen? There are multiple security cameras installed on the main road of the lower district, we might be able to find something if we check the recording.”

“…It happened when I was in the slum city, so I think there aren’t any security cameras around…”

As Yumina continued questioning him, Akira’s voice became smaller and smaller.

Compared to when they started, Akira sounded as if he had calmed down considerably. Yumina then continued with her still calm voice.

“I won’t say that you’re lying and I won’t say that you’re mistaken either. I do think that you have absolute proof that makes you say for sure that she’s the one who stole your wallet. But it seems that you have your reason as to why you can’t tell us the details about that. But again, as long as you won’t tell us anything or give us any proof, we can’t just trust your words and give this girl to you. You at least understand my point, right?”

Yumina stated that she understood what Akira was trying to say as well as asking him to understand her point. Akira also understood well why Yumina was taking that stance. So basically, she was not saying that he was mistaken or anything, while on the other hand, she asked him to not fully blame her either. Because of that, Akira was considerably calmed down, and the aura that was leaking out from him had also vanished.

After talking with Yumina, Akira had more or less regained his calm. It was not like Akira himself wanted to rope someone unrelated to his problem too.

The tension in the air had already lessened. It felt like at this rate, that incident would be solved without any fighting. Seeing how the situation had developed, Kanae looked slightly displeased.

“Akira, let’s withdraw here. It’s true that we can’t expect them to trust us without telling them anything.”

Alpha also encouraged Akira to pull back. He also agreed with Alpha’s opinion.

There were many criteria that could be used to decide the winner and the loser, and they were often used to make a clear distinction between the loser and the winner in every case.

Akira, who had gotten his wallet stolen and his money taken by Alna, might be the loser here if he withdrew from this place without getting his money back. Then at the same time, it might mean that it was Alna’s victory for getting protected by Katsuya although she did steal Akira’s wallet, as well as it was Katsuya’s victory for being able to successfully protect Alna, who came asking for his protection.

But again, it was nothing more but a biased evaluation.

Katsuya looked confident since he thought that he had won there. Akira, who was leaking out intense pressure, had calmed down after Yumina talked to him. Basically, he had more or less successfully protected Alna from Akira who was chasing her. It boosted his ego, moreover, since the tension in the air had also died down, it gave Katsuya the leeway to think of something else.

Because of all those reasons, Katsuya suddenly mockingly said to Akira.

“Humph, even if it’s true that you got your wallet stolen, it’s your fault for being careless although you’re a Hunter.”

“Katsuya!!”

Yumina yelled at Katsuya. She then immediately turned to Akira to apologize in Katsuya’s place.

But the moment she saw Akira, Yumina froze.

The aura around Akira had completely changed. The peaceful aura around him from a moment ago had completely vanished, replaced by an ominous aura. It was somehow obvious that Akira would suddenly open fire anytime. Although he was looking down towards the ground, there was a foreboding ominous pressure exuding from him.

Akira then raised his face and looked at Katsuya, and suddenly started laughing.

“You’re right, you’re absolutely right, it’s all my fault.”

Akira continued laughing as if he had turned insane.

“It’s my fault for being so careless. It’s my fault for being negligent. It’s my fault for being barely able to react when my wallet was stolen. It’s my fault for being unable to protect my own wallet.”

Akira’s laughter was getting louder as he spoke.

“But that’s my money, the money that I earned, the money that I got from working my a.s.s off. To reach this point, I had to consume a whole lot of medicines that it’s breaking my own body, all of that just to be able to move my body when I really need to move it. I even had to cross over dangerous bridges that almost killed me numerous times too. Then I got sent to the hospital and lost all of my equipment. That’s the money that I got after going through all of that stuff. But to think that money will be easily stolen from me like that!! There’s a limit to how someone can be so stupid and so pathetic!! Yeah, you’re right, I’m a big stupid dumb guy to make such a blunder!!”

Akira laughed loudly while admonis.h.i.+ng himself. His laughter suddenly died down, only self-hatred and self-reproach were left on his expression.

“But I’ll erase this pathetic mistake from my history. I’ll get my money back and make the person who stole it, regret it. That’s one thing that I can promise you. And now I can finally erase it, or at least, I can deal with it to some point.”

The Akira in the past could not earn that sum of money, and even if he did, he could not get it back if someone robbed his money from him, since he simply had no right to carry any money. But the current him had worked so hard to the point that he could escape from such a situation.

But right now, Akira could not take back the money that was stolen from him. It was as if he had returned to his former self.

Akira wanted to show to the other people, and especially to himself, that he really had escaped from that position, that situation, that world. And that it was all not just his imagination.

Anger and hatred vanished from his expression, the only thing that reflected on his near-expressionless eyes were his target, and the obstacle that was standing between him and his target.

Alna was shaking behind Katsuya’s back. The reason why she did not try to escape from that place was because she unconsciously knew that it was the safest place in her current situation.

Then Akira said in a cold tone.

“Give her to me.”

“…I refuse!!”

Katsuya stood by his decision against the immense pressure from Akira and refused to handover Alna.

The reason why he refused to back down was completely unrelated to his dislike towards Akira. He had already resolved himself to protect Alna, who came for his help, even if it meant that it would put him in danger. He had such a kind of disposition and it would not allow him to hand over Alna to Akira.

Athena13: My old man always told me that having a good intention doesn’t make you a good person, a person is judged by his or her actions and not their thinking.

Silavin: Your old man is a good man.

But seriously, drama aside, Katsuya’s lack of self-esteem really showed off here.

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