Chapter 74 - Souvenirs From The Ruin Exploration (1/2)

After Akira was guided to Sheryl’s private room, he stopped Sheryl who was about to cling on him. Sheryl looked disappointed, but she then took a seat in front of Akira and smiled.

“So, how can I help you today? You can ask me anything.”

“Well, that’s not why I’m here today. I just got my new equipment set so I was able to start exploring ruins again. So I’m just here to pay a regular visit to the base, I’ve also brought some souvenirs that I got from exploring ruins. Just think of it as my thanks for letting me park my bike here and also letting me sleep here the other day.”

Akira took out the old-world relics from his rucksack and lined them in front of her. Sheryl looked at the relics in front of her wide-eyed. Among all the relics that Akira lined up in front of her, there were dresses and underclothes for girls, handkerchiefs, and female accessories. To Sheryl, all of them looked like expensive high-quality goods.

“I-Is it really okay if I take some of these?”

“You can take one each from the handkerchiefs and the accessories, then you can pick your choice from the rest.”

From what Akira said, Sheryl knew that all the goods in front of her were old-world relics. In short, they were high-quality goods for the people of the slum city. Although she did not know their exact value, she knew well that it was impossible for her to buy them normally.

While on the other hand, Akira thought of them as useless goods since Katsuragi would not buy them. Since both of them had the opposite impression for the relics in front of them, they were a little bit surprised to see how the other person reacted to those relics.

Sheryl made a very serious look as she was browsing through the accessories and the handkerchiefs. Seeing that, Akira thought that he should have given her everything since it made her think that much just to pick her choice. Shortly after, she finally decided on her picks.

“I’ll take these.”

“Alright. Since these are old-world relics, you can at least use them to trick other people by showing it to them. So, make sure to use them well.”

Akira then stuffed back the remaining handkerchiefs and the accessories into his rucksack.

Sheryl looked delighted as she looked at the presents that she just received from Akira. Among all of them, there were some underclothes for adults, basically, undies with erotic designs.

She thought that Akira might have given her those undies since he wanted to see her in it as she glanced at Akira. But after checking his reaction, she completely erased that thought from her mind.

After he finished stuffing the leftover relics back to his rucksack, Akira stood up.

“That’s all for today, I’ll head back home now.”

“You’re going back home now? You can stay here a little bit longer, you know…”

Sheryl, who was so surprised when Akira suddenly stood up, tried to stop him. It was not that often he visited her, but even so, he was going to leave before she could cling on him. If it was possible, Sheryl hoped that he would stay a bit longer or even spend another night here.

She tried to think of an excuse to make him stay longer, but before she could come up with anything, Akira suddenly said.

“I’m sorry but I have a plan to visit another place. I’ll come again soon, just give me a call if anything comes up.”

“I see. It’s really regrettable, but I understand. Thank you very much for your presents. I’m really happy to receive them.”

Sheryl smiled and expressed her grat.i.tude. Although it was a dazzling smile that worked really well on the boys in her gang, as expected, it was completely useless against Akira. But it was not because of her smile, it was because Akira was an apathetic boy who did not trust other people.

“…Well, if you’re really that happy, I guess I can bring you more next time.”

Akira’s expression did not change at all when he said that.

Sheryl then accompanied him until just outside her base and saw him off. After that, she returned back to her private room, laid down on her bed, and reviewed her conversation with Akira just now.

She hung the pendant that she received from Akira on her finger and stared at it. Although she was happy with everything that she received from him, for some reason, she also felt an uneasiness inside her heart. She then tried to think of the reason why.

Was it because it was a pendant that she picked rather than something that Akira himself picked? Was it because Akira gave her that just to prove her relation with him for negotiation? Or was it because he used the word ‘to trick’ back then?

Sheryl thought that it was not a good idea to keep thinking about it, thus she cut her thought there. She was still lying on her bed as she looked at the other souvenirs that she received from Akira. Among them, there were old-world dresses and underclothes.

[…I wonder if I can change the mood between us if I try on another dress]

Sheryl pulled herself up from her bed and started undressing. She remembered that Akira also gave her underclothes, so she decided to take off her undies too. She then extended her hand to pick up one of the old-world undies that she received and opened its seal. When she touched its fabric, it felt so smooth and comfortable, the difference between that undie and all the undies that she had used until now was just like heaven and earth.

[I guess that’s to be expected of old-world relics. I wonder how much this will cost if I were to buy it normally?]

As Sheryl was about to put on that undie, someone suddenly knocked on the door of her room. The person on the other side of the door suddenly opened that door without waiting for Sheryl’s reply.

“Sheryl, Akira…”

Erio’s words were cut short as he entered the room and met Sheryl’s eyes. He panicked and slammed the door behind him as he immediately exited the room.

Erio understood well that he did something really bad, the expression on her face truly projected his inner feelings, it was pure terror.

He could hear Sheryl from the other side of the door.

“Erio.”

“That was an accident!! I just thought that it might be a good idea to get the new members to meet Akira, that’s why I’m here!! And that was just a pure accident!!”

“If it’s about him, he quickly left after he finished his business here. That aside, Erio…”

Sheryl put a pause there. Erio was sweating profusely as he looked at the door to Sheryl’s room.

“There won’t be any mercy next time.”

Although Sheryl said that in her usual tone, it only made her sound more terrifying. Erio swore to himself that he would never ever open that door without a confirmation ever again.

***

Inside the Cartridge Freak, s.h.i.+zuka was talking with Elena and Sara. She was asking them how they were doing lately.

“I see, so your underground city exploration request has finally ended, huh?”

Sara happily replied back.

“Yep, thanks to that, we can go back to exploring ruins.”

Sara was obviously looking happy there, and from the way she worded it out, it sounded as if she got herself free from something.

s.h.i.+zuka who saw that found it rather weird.

“Was it really that bad? From what I heard from both of your stories, it seems that you girls did not find any difficulties and got paid well from that request though.”

Elena smiled bitterly as she answered s.h.i.+zuka’s question.

“That’s not the reason. Sara is so displeased because all of the relics that we found during that request were all taken owners.h.i.+p by the City Management according to our contract. No matter how many relics we found down there, we had no other choice but to bite our lips and hold ourselves back from carrying them back home, you see. I lost count how many times I had to pull Sara by her hair just to drag her away from the relics in front of her.”

Elena smiled after she said that. s.h.i.+zuka imagined that situation and smiled.

While on the other hand, Sara was pouting as she jabbed back.

“Didn’t you also complain a lot about that too?”

“Of course, I did. It was because I had to hold myself back as much as you did back then. I never said that I felt happy about surrendering those relics, did I?”

As Elena answered back so lightly, Sara turned her cheek the other way and made ‘humph’ sound.

In the middle of their silly talks, Akira suddenly entered the shop. They quickly noticed Akira, he also immediately noticed them near the counter the moment he stepped in. He then walked to the counter.

Elena smiled at Akira.

“Long time no see, Akira. I heard that you did some crazy reckless stuff lately, but I’m really glad to see that you’re doing fine.”

Akira smiled back and said.

“Elena-san, Sara-san, long time no see.”

Sara scanned Akira’s body for any visible injuries as she said to Akira.

“I was worried when I heard that you were removed from the underground city exploration request, but it seems that you’re not injured at all. Well, I won’t ask you the details, you can’t tell us anything after all, right?”

“I’m sorry and thank you.”

Sara and Elena were being considerate of Akira’s position, and he was really happy about that.

s.h.i.+zuka found the conversation between them amusing as she joined in.

“So then, what brings you here today? Don’t tell me that you got too excited about your new equipment and so you’re here to get refill ammo.”

“Nope, it’s just that I was able to bring back quite a lot of relics from the ruins, so I just thought of giving some of them away as souvenirs. It’s also a form of my grat.i.tude for always taking care of me, so please accept them.”

Akira took out the handkerchiefs and accessories from inside his rucksack and lined them on the table.

s.h.i.+zuka, Sara, and Elena looked closely at those relics. All three of them were already used to seeing old-world relics, thus they had better eyes than Akira when it came to appraising old-world relics.

Elena scanned through all the relics that Akira brought before speaking to him.

“You’ve got a good collection of relics here, are you sure we may take some of them?”

“Of course. They’re basically just leftover relics after I sold all the expensive relics that I brought back. So please don’t worry about it.”

“Is that so? If that’s the case, then I won’t hold back.”

Sara quickly extended her hands and yoinked the handkerchief and accessory that she had her eyes locked on to. Both Elena and s.h.i.+zuka giggled when they saw that.

“s.h.i.+zuka-san, can I see the modification parts that you have?”

“Sure. Elena, make sure that Sara would leave some for me too, okay?”

“Roger that.”

“…Geez, I’m not that greedy.”

Elena smiled teasingly, which Sara returned with a bitter smile. s.h.i.+zuka smiled and headed to the back room to get the modification parts that Akira asked.

Akira was talking to Elena and Sara while he was browsing through the modification parts. Since he brought more handkerchiefs and accessories than the number of people here, he just told them to share the relics between the 3 of them. So Elena, Sara, and s.h.i.+zuka were also discussing how to divide the relics among them.

Akira picked a modification part that allowed him to get more ammo in a magazine, he then paid for that part and put it inside his rucksack.

After they finished deciding which relics they wanted, Sara looked at the relics that she received. She seemed delighted as she spoke to Akira.

“Since you gave me some good relics, I need to give something back to you. Akira, is there anything you want to know? I might even give you some secret tips about how to work as a Hunter.”

Seeing how Sara happily said that, Elena interjected and gave her a warning.

“Whoa there, Sara, don’t tell him anything unnecessary, okay?”

“I get it, don’t worry, I know where to stop. So, is there anything you want to know?”

Judging from how Sara was behaving, it seemed that she would not withdraw from that place unless Akira asked her something. So he thought of anything that he might ask.

“In that case, can you tell me how to sell relics?”

When Akira said that, Elena and Sara were obviously a little bit surprised. Sara then asked Akira to make sure what he meant by that question.

“Uhhh, that’s a rather specific question. You mean how to sell relics so that you can get more money rather than selling all your relics to the Hunter Office, right? To be honest, I always leave that part to Elena, so I’m not really that informed about that…”

Sara glanced at Elena to see how she reacted.

The way to exchange the relics into a huge amount of money, that was an indispensable knowledge for the Hunters who specialized in exploring ruins. After all, it was not like the people who buy relics from those Hunters had an unlimited a.s.set to pay those Hunters. Moreover, the price of the relics was greatly affected by the supply, the demand, and the current trends. It was a knowledge that they had acquired from hard work and piling experiences, it would allow them to get a better edge to compete with the other Hunters. Thus it was not a thing that Hunters would normally share with the other Hunters.

From that point of view, Akira’s question was actually rather rude. It would not be strange if Elena was offended by that question, that was what Sara was worrying when she glanced at Elena.

But Elena quickly caught the meaning behind that question, she then asked Akira to confirm her guess.

“Akira, you mean the common knowledge that most Hunters would normally know, right?”

“Yes. I actually went to sell all the relics that I brought back from the ruin, but in the end, the person that I sold the relics to was reluctant to buy a portion of the relics that I brought, you see.”

So in short, Akira was less than even a beginner when it came to selling relics. If Elena and Sara were like players who knew the rules, the principle of those rules, and were skilled in the game, then Akira would be a new player who did not even know the rules at all. If that was the case, then there was no reason for Elena to get offended by his question.

Elena smiled.

“If that’s the case, then sure. First of all, can you tell me what kind of relics you brought back?”

Akira tried to remember the relics that he brought back and conveyed it to Elena. Of course, he would be able to completely retrace everything if he asked Alpha, but it would be suspicious if he was able to accurately recall everything. So he decided to try his best on his own.