Chapter 75 - The Result of The Second Exploration (2/2)

“It’s nothing. I was just lost in my thought for a bit. It’s been a while since the last time we went hunting for relics, and not to mention, we’re in an unexplored ruin. I might be just a little bit too nervous, but I’m okay.”

[Akira not only saved my life, but he even shared valuable information with me. There’s no way I can betray his trust. Not to mention that if I look at Akira like that, Sara would beat the c.r.a.p out of me.]

Elena reflected on what she was thinking and erased that foolish thought that she had just a moment ago.

Akira, Elena, and Sara reached the bottom of the stair and continued going deeper into the ruin. Sara took the front and Akira took the rear, while Elena in the middle made sure to keep their surroundings in check.

Elena and Sara used flashlights to illuminate the way in front of them. Although using a strong light inside a dark ruin like this would allow monsters to quickly discover their location, Elena and Sara still decided to use a powerful flashlight because the monsters which lived in such a dark place would have relied more on their sense other than their vision in the first place.

One of the reasons why Elena and Sara decided to use powerful flashlight was also to inform other Hunters about their position. Basically so that other Hunters would not mistake them as monsters lurking in the darkness. It was also to quickly identify any hostile Hunters in case they met any. If they spotted other Hunters with that light but the other Hunters did not do the same, then those Hunters might be planning to ambush them.

But in the end, it was a very subjective matter. Some Hunters just did not want to get discovered by other Hunters inside the lawless and dangerous wasteland. So basically it was a matter of guessing whether they did not turn on their flashlight because they did not want other Hunters to attack them or because they were thinking of ambus.h.i.+ng other Hunters.

Akira, Elena, and Sara explored the ruin at a pretty high pace. It was because there were not that many places to check in the hallway and they did not encounter any monsters around.

Akira was walking not too far behind Elena.

Elena was equipped with multiple information-gathering devices. She was using a belt to strap those information-gathering devices around her body. Depending on where she strapped her information-gathering devices, and because of the material of her armour, they somehow boosted her already charming bodyline.

But of course, Akira had no time to spend admiring her charming figure from behind. Since he did not have Alpha’s support this time, he had to keep his eyes peeled for even the slightest change around him.

In the middle of the exploration, Akira checked the enemy-scan information displayed through his goggles multiple times. He turned and checked his back frequently, and also did not forget to check the information a.n.a.lyzed from the aiming device installed on his rifle.

Seeing how Akira was so high-strung, Elena smiled gently at him and said.

“Akira, you won’t be able to stay for long if you’re that nervous, you know? Calm down. I’m also keeping my eyes on our surroundings, so you don’t have to be that tense.”

“O-okay, I’m sorry.”

Akira took a deep breath to calm himself down before following Elena from behind.

Looking at how nervous Akira was behind her, Elena just thought.

[He’s way too nervous compared to when we were in the Kuzusuhara underground city ruin. Well, we’re exploring an unexplored ruin after all, but it’s also true that getting too nervous is also a bad thing…]

But even so, considering Akira’s fighting ability that she saw in the past, it was also true that he looked unnecessarily nervous.

[…Well, given his age and his experience as a Hunter, I guess it’s to be expected, huh. Back then, we also had s.h.i.+karabe with us, not to mention, we were sure that we could meet up with the other Hunters if we went back. So I guess it’s nothing strange if he’s more nervous compared to back then. But it should be fine, Sara and I just need to cover for him.]

As Elena thought so, she then stopped worrying about it and continued their exploration.

Akira, Elena, and Sara were able to reach the big open-hall where Akira stopped last time without encountering any trouble. When Sara peeked inside the shops in that big hall, her eyes sparkled.

“Ohhh, it seems that this shop is filled with stuff. It will be perfect if we can find a lot of relics here too.”

Akira hesitated for a bit.

“Ahhh, I already cleaned that place last time. So I think there won’t be any relics left there.”

But Sara did not change her expression as she said.

“Is that so? Well, it’s fine. Elena, I’ll leave the lookout to you. Akira, help me.”

Sara then went inside that shop. Elena just stood at the entrance of that shop while scanning the area around for any suspicious signals. Akira followed Sara and entered that shop.

Sara and Akira checked the stuff inside the shop. Since Akira had cleaned that place once before, there was nothing that looked valuable on the racks. At least, that was what Akira thought.

After he and Sara looked around the shop once, Akira then said.

“It doesn’t seem there’s anything valuable left here. So let’s go back.”

“What are you talking about? We’re going to take back home anything that looks expensive, you know.”

Sara smiled when she said that while Akira tilted his head.

“What exactly are we going to take back home?”

“That thing there.”

Sara pointed her finger, Akira turned his head toward the pointed direction. Sara was pointing at a display shelf which contained food-like things that were already past their expiration date to the point that they more or less turned into a block of dirt. Akira seemed more confused than before.

The trio walked back while dragging a cart. On that portable cart, there was the display shelf where the foods that were already turned into dirt were on. Sara and Akira had taken out that shelf from the shop from before.

The rattling sound of the cart’s wheel echoed through the hallway.

Akira looked at the shelf on the cart while pus.h.i.+ng it from behind.

“…Well, I guess it’s true that this shelf is an old-world relic too.”

Sara heard that mumble.

“Basically, everything that you find inside an old-world ruin is all old-world relic, you know? That includes the wreckages and the walls too. The only difference with the usual relics is whether they fetch you money if you bring them back with you.”

“So this shelf can get us a lot of money, huh?”

Sara smugly answered that question.

“There’s a good chance that it will, at least, enough for us to bring it back with us.”

It was not like Akira did not believe Sara, but he was still not convinced and it was clearly visible on his face. Elena could guess what Akira was thinking when she saw his expression. So she added on to Sara’s explanation.

“Old-world shelves, especially the food shelves, sometimes have some kind of preservation functions. And when you find one that does have it, it can fetch us a lot of money.”

“Preservation function, huh. But the food inside it has basically turned into a bundle of dirt, so like, isn’t it broken already?”

“It’s simply just because it doesn’t have any energy source. The machine itself doesn’t seem to be damaged. And even if it is damaged, it could still be fixed with a simple TLC. And even if it’s completely broken, the researchers would still happily buy it.”

“Ohhh, I see.”

“The real problem is to spot the shelf that has such a function. In this case, we have no other choice but to rely on our intuition as Hunters. There were cases in the past where a Hunter found a plain-looking box that actually had a high-tech preserving function. So basically if you find relics inside a box, it might be a good idea to bring the box too with you.”

Akira was convinced by that explanation given by Elena. It was also reflected on his face. Elena who saw that smiled in satisfaction.

After that, the trio finished their exploration without any trouble. They went back and forth between where they parked their vehicle and the ruin to carry the relics out. They took out a portable cart from inside Elena and Sara’s vehicle, it was a portable cart that could be attached behind their vehicle. After they piled all the relics that they carried out into that cart, they attached that cart behind Elena and Sara’s vehicle and left the ruin to head back to the city.

And just like when they met up, in the middle of their way back to Kugamayama city, they separated and took different routes back.

Akira was talking with Elena and Sara through his information terminal on how to sell the relics. Elena tried to reconfirm again with him through the information terminal.

“Are you really sure that it’s okay to leave selling the relics to us? It might even take a whole month, you know?”

“Yes. It’s not like I’m hard-pressed for money right now anyway, and if it takes that long, then it means that it might sell for a really high price too.”

“Fufufu, alright then. I need to keep my pride as the person who taught you how to sell relics. So you can look forward to it.”

Akira could hear Elena’s laughter from the other side of the information terminal. Sara then interjected.

“We got a good relic and we didn’t encounter any monsters, it’s a really good ruin site. If it’s okay with you, do you want to go to that ruin together again next time?”

“Sure, when will be the next time then?”

“Let’s see. Well, we have a lot of things to take care of too, it would be at least next week or maybe even later. I’ll call you again when we come up with a date. Later then.”

Sara and Elena then closed the call. Akira let out a sigh and turned to the a.s.sistant driver seat.

“Alpha.”

“Yes?”

The moment Alpha replied, her image suddenly appeared sitting next to him. Akira’s face twitched and stiffened the moment he saw her image. This was because although he knew that she would definitely appear, he tried to put more effort to make sure that his expression did not change.

It seemed that he was about to say something to Alpha but decided not to.

Alpha, who noticed that slight disturbance in Akira’s feeling, smiled teasingly and asked.

“Were you lonely?”

“…Yeah, I was!!”

Since he did not want to lie to Alpha, Akira tried to hide his feelings by snapping back at her instead. Alpha just smiled in return.

Akira glanced at Alpha and saw that she was smiling as if enjoying his reaction. But it made him pout even more as he pushed the pedal deeper and paced his vehicle faster toward the city.

As Akira traversed through the wasteland on his way back to the city, there were some people who were watching him from afar.

“Is he gone?”

“Yep, it should be fine now.”

“Alright then, let’s trace back their footprint.”

(p4553r: More like their tire prints. lol)

The guy who was watching Akira from afar picked up his telescope. It was a pretty huge telescope.

“Is there any need to keep our distance from them to the point that you have to use such a big telescope?”

“Are you stupid? He’s also a Hunter. If he finds out that we know he’s searching an unexplored ruin, there’s no mistaking it that he would try to kill us!! Being over-cautious is just perfect in this case.”

“Well, because of that, we’re having a tough time looking for his footprints for the last few days though. But before that, did he really find an unexplored ruin? It’s nothing more but your intuition, right?”

Seeing the other guy doubtfully asking him such a question, he became annoyed.

“I did tell you the reason, remember? When we pa.s.sed each other on our way to the wasteland the other day, he was returning back to the city. But there’s no nearby ruin from the direction where he was coming, so there’s a good chance that he was on his way back from a newly discovered ruin.”

They were the Hunters who were driving in the opposite direction when Akira was on his way back to Kugamayama city the other day. Judging from where Akira was coming, how he was taking more distance from them than usual, and from how he was being careful, they guessed that Akira was on his way back from a newly discovered ruin.

Of course, they had no definite proof for their guess, so it was not an exaggeration to say that it was purely out of intuition. Luckily enough, that guy’s intuition was really sharp, while on the other hand, Akira was really unlucky that he was found out with such scarce proof.

“His route this time is completely different from his previous route, you know?”

“If he did that intentionally, it means that he doesn’t want other Hunters to know where he went, right?”

“Doesn’t that also mean that he simply went to a different ruin from before?”

“Good grief, just shut up!! Yeah yeah, I know it’s just from my intuition!! If you have more complaints!! You can just leave!!”

That guy suddenly snapped and shouted at the other guy.

“Geez, there’s no need to snap back like that. Isn’t it because I trust your intuition that I’m here right now? I’m sorry, okay?”

That guy tried to laugh it off as he followed the other guy who still seemed annoyed as he went silent and walked to the vehicle that they parked not too far from them.

“After all, if it’s really an unexplored ruin, we might strike it rich in one go. Not only we’ll be able to live the way we want to, we might even be able to buy a house inside the wall. I just want to make sure if I can really put my hopes up this time, you know. Cheer up, there’s no need to be that angry.”

“…Humph, let’s go.”

After that, they joined with their other friends who were posted in a different location. Then, they used their information-gathering device to find the footprint that Akira had left and traced it back while keeping their eyes open for any locations that looked like an old-world ruin. They eventually arrived at the wreckages where the ruin that Akira found was located.

Elena was also being careful to make sure that no one would be able to trace back her footprint. The reason why those Hunters were able to reach that particular area was more because of their pure luck rather than for their skill. Statistically speaking, it would have been highly unlikely for them to be able to trace back all the way to that place.

Although, it was not clear yet at that point whether their luck was more of good luck or more of bad luck for finding that place.

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