Chapter 83 - The Way to Sell The Relics (1/2)

Sheryl was in her private room, talking with Akira through her information terminal.

“…I understand. See you tomorrow then, I’ll be waiting for you… Yes, good night.”

Akira then ended the call. Although she was smiling all the time when she was talking with Akira, her face immediately showed her tiredness the moment the call ended. She then let out a big sigh.

[I guess Akira won’t come here today, huh. That’s just too bad.]

Her call with Akira was basically him telling her that he would not come to the base for today since it was already pretty dark outside. To be honest, Sheryl wanted to use that as an excuse to make him sleepover in the base again, but her wish was not granted.

A lot of things happened that day and she was extremely tired both physically and mentally. Since her bathing time was around the corner, she decided to take a good rest while in the bath.

After Sheryl grabbed her stuff to take bath and exited her room, she suddenly heard her gang members making noises. It seemed that Erio and the other children were excitedly sharing their stories from the wasteland. Since someone got killed, the story became even more intriguing for the other children. But then on top of that, the reason that guy ended up dead was because he took Sheryl hostage and tried to kill Akira, thus the other children could not help but feel excited as they listened to the story.

Erio noticed Sheryl. It was the perfect chance for him to escape from all the other children who were bombarding him with questions.

“Oh, it’s the boss’ bath time. Sorry but I have to go and guard the bath.”

“I’m sure you’re tired, you can take rest for the remainder of the day.”

Sheryl believed that everyone who went to the wasteland that day must be very tired right now, that’s why she said those kind words to Erio. But Erio shook his head and said.

“No no no, don’t worry, I’m good. It’s not really that tiring to just stand guard anyway.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s up to you.”

Sheryl found his reply a bit weird, but she did not pay much attention to it and continued heading to the bathroom.

Since she went out to the wasteland that day, Sheryl took more time was.h.i.+ng her body. She carefully cleaned her body before she dipped herself in the bath.

As her tiredness was melting into the warm water, Sheryl relaxed and recollected all which happened that day.

Sheryl always organized everything that she needed to review every day, she would self-evaluate her actions and use them as references to how she should react in the future. But since she was more tired than usual, the only memory that was replaying in her mind was the memory that left the biggest impression on her. It was the moment when Akira saved her when she was taken hostage by Sebla.

Sheryl smiled as she kept replaying that memory inside her head. Every time she did that, the scene would change bit by bit making Akira’s action look much more heroic and the scene became overly dramatized.

Soon, her smiling face turned into something different, maybe because the scene that was playing in her mind had already turned into a completely fictional scene.

She noticed that her body got increasingly relaxed as her head sunk deeper and deeper into the warm water. Engrossed in the soothing feeling, she eventually submerged her head in the water but she was able to pull herself up in a panic before any accident could happen.

“…That was dangerous.”

She knew that if she continued staying in the bath, it might happen again. Thus she told herself to be more careful as she continued enjoying the bath.

The same thing repeated at least twice before she decided to finish her bath.

Erio and Alicia were standing guard in front of the changing room. It was essential to make sure that no one tried to peek at Sheryl and got themselves kicked out of the gang.

Alicia glanced at Erio. It was obvious from his face that he was awfully tired, thus Alicia worriedly said to him.

“Sheryl also told you that you can take rest, so why don’t you go and do that? I’m sure you’re very tired too, right?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m taking rest here. The other children would bombard me with questions if I take rest somewhere else. It’s tiring to answer their questions. I’ve even told the same story for about 5 times already!”

Erio sounded really tired when he said that. When he went to the wasteland with the other children, he was carrying a weapon despite it being only a cheap gun. Because of that, the other children seemed to be comparing him with Akira, who did all the amazing hard work back then. They were asking Erio what he did in the wasteland.

“…It’s true that I was carrying a gun. But there’s no way I can do what a Hunter does on a daily basis out there, you know. Every time they asked me what I did and I said that I didn’t do anything in particular, they would look at me with a shocked face. There are even some children who began complaining and telling me what I should have done. But they would immediately shut up when I say that they should take the gun the next time we go out to the wasteland. Those d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”

Erio sounded really annoyed. Alicia’s expression changed as she heard his reply, it was a mix of worry and fear.

“…There’s a plan to go again?”

“…I don’t know, you should ask Sheryl about that.”

To be honest, Erio did not want to ever go to the wasteland again. But if Sheryl told him to go, he then would not have any other choice but to go. Leaving that part aside, Sheryl’s gang was actually a pretty comfortable gang. Thus he could not afford to make Sheryl angry at him and get kicked out of the gang.

Erio’s expression changed into something that showed more fear and worry than Alicia. So, Alicia tried to cheer him up.

“I’ll ask Sheryl not to a.s.sign you with the same members as this time if you get sent to the wasteland again.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

“By the way, it’s not like you did anything that might anger Sheryl, right?”

Erio averted his gaze, Alicia noticed that and pressed Erio for an answer.

“Wait, what did you do?”

“No, nothing. She should have forgiven me after sending me out to the wasteland today. Maybe, I hope so.”

“Seriously now, what did you do?!”

Erio looked fl.u.s.tered as Alicia kept pressing him for an answer. There’s no way he could tell his lover, Alicia, that he saw Sheryl naked. He tried his best to avoid having to answer Alicia’s question.

At the same time, Akira was taking a bath in his own house. He planned to go straight to the bed and sleep after finis.h.i.+ng his bath.

Although he did not realize it until he was in his own home, he was actually pretty tired that day. The moment he took off his augmented suit, he could feel all of his tiredness in one go. He was only able to avoid falling down to the ground after squeezing all of the power that he had left to keep himself up. Akira then quickly finished the minimum level of maintenance for his equipment and decided to take a bath first before going straight to the bed.

Akira took his time enjoying his bath as he let his body float on the comfortable warm water. He could feel tiredness melting away from his body as he made sure not to fall asleep by accident in the bath.

“Akira, there’s something I want to talk about.”

“…Yes?”

Akira looked absent-minded as he turned to Alpha. Alpha was also inside the bath together with him. Or to be more precise, she was projecting that kind of image into Akira’s view. Alpha used her fictional image to the best of its potency, she adjusted her already beautiful body to fit Akira’s taste.

Normally, people would at least give some kind of reactions when they saw Alpha’s naked body. But Akira’s reaction was really dull, it was not clear whether it was because he was too tired to give any reaction or it was because he had already gotten used to it. Humans could really get used to almost anything.

Seeing how Akira was looking at her with no more than usual interest, which was showing almost no interest in her body, Alpha thought a lot of things in the back of her mind as she struck up a conversation with him.

“Although a lot of things happened today, we also got quite a lot of relics. So then, when is your next plan to go to the wasteland again?”

Akira obviously looked confused.

“Next time? Are we going to do that again? Together with Sheryl’s gang?”

“Yep.”

“With what happened today, I honestly don’t think that Sheryl would accept the same offer next time though. In the first place, what about my ammo expense? I did use quite a lot of bullets today, I don’t think Sheryl can pay for them, you know?”

Alpha smiled smugly.

“If it’s about that, then there’s no need to worry. Since there was no need to hide the destination, I made sure to take a general-purpose subjugation request too. And with the number of monsters that you defeated, it should at least give you some money to cover for the ammo, right?”

“I see. I did use quite a lot of ammo after all. It’s good to know that I don’t have to worry much about it.”

The ammo expense was paid from Akira’s own wallet and he did not expect to have to fight a swarm of monsters. It was good news for him that he could minimize the unexpected expense. But that was not enough as a reason to invite Sheryl again.

“…But still, I think Sheryl would still reject that offer, you know?”

When Akira said that, Alpha looked back at him with a serious expression and said.

“I’m sorry but I prioritize your growth more than Sheryl’s interest. Also, I’ll have to prioritize your training for the sake of my goal. Since I had to help you during today’s escort mission, it means that you failed the training. I need you to get stronger, so it would not be a good thing to reduce the chance for you to train. And just like I told you before, Sheryl will also get some benefits from this offer.”

Akira looked hesitant. It was because he knew well that he did not have enough strength.

Alpha frowned.

“If you really don’t want to do it, I won’t force you either. I don’t want you to hate me for forcing you after all.”

Akira continued talking with Alpha after that. Although a lot of things happened, Sheryl did get quite a lot of profit in the end. So it was basically up to Sheryl whether to take that offer again or not.

“I’ll at least ask Sheryl about it. If she agrees, then I’ll do it again.”

“Alright then. Next is about you.”

“About me? If it’s about the mistakes that I made today, can you do it tomorrow instead? Even if you tell me now, I might just forget it.”

Akira was only half-conscious as he was enjoying the bath. It was not a situation where he could properly react to a review discussion.

“That’s not what I meant. When that guy asked you what’s so different between him and you, and you said that it’s all about luck, remember? I don’t think that’s true. I know more than anyone else how hard you’re working yourself. After all, I always stick around you since the day we met. Not to mention, the reason why you were able to meet me was because you worked hard to the point that you were able to go to the ruin, right? That’s why I don’t think you’re the same compared with that boy and I don’t want you to have any similar thoughts.”

Alpha smiled smugly at Akira as she said. In that smile, she was actually saying that she didn’t make any mistake in choosing Akira.

Akira looked a bit surprised when he heard her, his expression then turned back to normal as he said.

“…it’s not like I think I’m the same as him. I do think that I have worked hard before I met you and I keep working hard even after I met you. But that guy might have also given the same amount of effort too, he might have even given more effort than me. But it’s a completely different matter whether his effort gave him result or not.”

Akira looked down as he recalled his past. His gaze was directed at the swaying water surface.

“…I know that I’m giving effort, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t think it’s anywhere near the effort that I gave before I met you. That’s why, I’m just lucky. I won’t say that’s it, but I think the contribution from my luck is too big to ignore. Which means that boy is just unlucky. That’s why I don’t really think that everything he said was false.”

There was not a trace of self-deprecation or empathy in Akira’s face. It was just his objective evaluation of himself.

“I’m really happy to hear that you actually think so highly about meeting me.”

Alpha smiled teasingly as she slid closer to Akira. Akira immediately realized what he said and bashfully looked away from Alpha.

After Akira finished his bath, he went straight to the bed and fell asleep. Alpha looked at the sleeping Akira and began her reflection.

Alpha recognized and praised Akira’s hard work in order to increase her likeability. She even considered his personality when she said that, but Akira’s reaction was duller than what she expected.

She thought that the way she worded it out was counter-effective, there was a need to fix that flaw.

Alpha had always been and would always be observing Akira.

***

The next day, as previously decided, Akira visited Sheryl’s base. He directly went straight to Sheryl’s private room.

The moment Akira put his rifle down and sat on the sofa, Sheryl sat on top of his lap and clung to him as if it was a normal behaviour.

Sheryl looked a bit bothered, it seemed that clinging on Akira while he still had his augmented suit on did not feel too good. She placed both of her hands on Akira’s shoulders, extended her arms, and complained straight to Akira’s face.

“It’s hard, can you take it off?”

“No.”

Since Akira refused, Sheryl started to grumble.

“Isn’t it fine? It’s not like you’ll lose anything.”

“I’ll lose my augmented strength. It’s a pain in the a.s.s to put it back on too.”

“That’s just too bad.”

Sheryl looked disappointed as her hands reached behind Akira’s back and she clung on him again. Akira, who started to get used to her, just sighed.

“So then, Sheryl, where do you want to start?”

“Alright. First of all, about the relics that we brought back, what should we do with them?”

“Even if you ask me… You can do whatever you want with them.”

“But you should at least decide your share and the other details…”

Akira tilted his head.

“My share?”

“Yes, although we only lent you manpower, we did contribute by sending some of my gang members to the wasteland. So, it would be great if you could decide on the share that the other children could accept. But of course, I’ll help to convince them no matter what you decide.”

These children went out to the wasteland because of Sheryl’s order. They had to collect relics while under the fear of getting attacked by monsters, and to top it off, they did get attacked by a swarm of monsters. Thus it was understandable that they would be angry if they only got a small number of relics as payment. Of course, Sheryl could shut them down by telling them what happened to Sebla who betrayed her, but it would not erase their dissatisfaction. That was what Sheryl thought.

Akira noticed that Sheryl was misunderstanding something there, so he explained to her in order to clear up her misunderstanding.

“What are you talking about? Those relics are all yours and your gang’s. That’s why I’m telling you to do whatever you want with them.”