Chapter 102 (1/2)

Chapter 102

Translator: Athena13

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

Reina and her maids knew that they were attracting people’s attention . The differences in their expressions showed how they felt about it . s.h.i.+ori prioritized her master and her duty over other people’s gazes, Kanae was smiling as she did not even give a care at all, while Reina looked slightly annoyed .

Reina looked at the other Hunters’ reactions to s.h.i.+ori and Kanae and sighed .

“…As I thought, we’re attracting a lot of attention . ”

The other day when they were walking through Kugamayama city lower district, they were also garnering attention . Though Kanae was the only person in a maid outfit at that time . So it was totally understandable that they were gathering a lot more attention with both s.h.i.+ori and Kanae in maid outfits in the middle of an old-world ruin .

s.h.i.+ori tried to cheer Reina up .

“We will attract less attention once we go into the ruin, so just bear with it for now . ”

s.h.i.+ori understood that they were attracting a lot of attention because of their maid outfits and she understood that she was putting Reina in more unnecessary stress . But there was a reason why she kept her maid uniform on, after all, it was not like she could just take off her outfit just because it was attracting some attention .

Kanae smiled and said to Reina .

“We just need to get used to this . After all, once Milady becomes a famous Hunter, Milady will attract a lot of attention no matter what outfit Milady uses . So, like, this is a good chance to get used to it, right? Of course, that is if Milady doesn’t plan to be just one of those ordinary Hunters . ”

s.h.i.+ori glared at Kanae, so Kanae averted her gaze .

“Hm?”

When Kanae averted her gaze somewhere else, she caught a familiar face .

Most of the Hunters in that place looked at Reina and her maids with suspicion . Akira, who noticed that, understood that his common sense was correct the previous time and spoke to Alpha in a good mood .

“Alpha, I knew I was right . It seems that walking around in maid outfits in the middle of the wasteland is not normal even for the Hunters, you know . ”

“That seems to be the case indeed . Well, common sense is indeed important, but it’s also important not to be held back by common sense . Sometimes you need to doubt common sense and be more open to different things . After all, you can expect weird things from the old-world culture . ”

“I know… Wait, what were we talking about, again?”

Akira felt like Alpha just diverted the subject as he tilted his head . But she just ignored that and continued .

“It’s not like we have any business with them, so let’s just head to the ruin . ”

“You’re right about that . ”

Akira did feel for sure that Alpha was changing the subject, but he just decided to forget that and head to the ruin .

At that time when Akira was about to turn and was still looking in Reina’s direction, Kanae’s gaze met with his gaze .

Kanae smiled, she looked really excited as she suddenly called Akira with a loud voice .

“Yo there!! We meet again!!”

Reina and s.h.i.+ori quickly noticed Akira too . Akira, who was about to leave that place, stopped . Kanae then approached him, half-running .

“Are you here to hunt for relics too? What a coincidence!! Ah, I’m Kanae by the way!”

Akira was a bit surprised since Kanae came at him with such a high spirit .

“…I’m Akira . ”

“I see!! Akira-shounen!! Nice to meet you!!”

Akira was actually a bit overwhelmed by that overly excited reaction from Kanae .

Reina and s.h.i.+ori also came to Akira . Since Kanae noticed him, it was not like they could just ignore it and go somewhere else .

s.h.i.+ori carefully spoke to Akira .

“…Akira-sama, it has been quite a while . ”

Reina also followed up by nervously giving her greeting to him .

“…Uhm, long time no see . ”

Akira was a bit fl.u.s.tered as he awkwardly replied .

“Y-yeah, it has been quite a while since the last time . ”

With what happened in the past, Akira, Reina and s.h.i.+ori, all 3 of them were not sure on how to interact with each other .

But then Kanae said to him with her still high-spirited att.i.tude as if she could not read the mood at all .

“It’s actually our first time coming here! Do you usually come here?”

“No, this is also my first time . ”

“I see!! What a coincidence!!”

Kanae replied back in such a high-spirit, she was sticking out so much as if she was in the wrong place .

Although at first, Akira was not really sure how to interact with Reina’s group including Kanae, after seeing how Kanae was behaving, he stopped worrying about it .

Akira lightly sighed . He then turned and spoke to s.h.i.+ori, who might be the most worried person in that place .

“Back then, I was not expecting that you would believe what I said and help me out . So I’m already thankful enough that both of you decided to stay neutral . So well, yeah, you have my grat.i.tude . ”

“Thank you for your understanding . ”

s.h.i.+ori bowed deeply to Akira . For now, she was able to confirm that he had no grudge against Reina or her .

Although s.h.i.+ori originally regretted the fact that she was caught completely off guard when Kanae suddenly called Akira, and that she could not stop Kanae back then, she started to think that it might be a good thing that Kanae did that .

s.h.i.+ori took another close look at Akira . He was carrying better equipment compared to the ones that he was carrying in Kuzusuhara underground city .

She unconsciously a.s.sessed his fighting power . If she and Kanae fought Akira in a 2 vs 1 fight, there was no mistaking that they would be able to kill him . Although either she or Kanae would also get killed in that fight . But if Reina also joined in, it would be extremely difficult to win against Akira since she had to protect Reina . And honestly speaking, s.h.i.+ori did not think he would let that weak point slip off when it came to that .

Thus s.h.i.+ori concluded that it was not wise to be hostile against Akira .

Akira then casually asked a question .

“So then, what business do you have with me? If it’s just saying h.e.l.lo to an acquaintance, then I’ll head to the ruin now . ”

“I understand, please be careful out there . ”

s.h.i.+ori was about to end their conversation there and let Akira go, but Kanae suddenly interjected .

“This must be some kind of fate to meet here!! So why don’t we go together?”

Reina and s.h.i.+ori looked at Kanae in panic . s.h.i.+ori was about to scold Kanae, but before she could do that, Akira quickly replied back .

“No, thank you . ”

Reina looked a bit down since Akira replied almost instantly without any hesitation . She turned into the self-deprecating mode as she wondered if it was because she would only slow Akira down and it was something that could not be overturned even with the help from s.h.i.+ori and Kanae .

Kanae giggled mischievously and said to Akira .

“Geez, you’re so cold . To think that you would refuse such an offer from a group of beautiful girls, don’t tell me that you’re already sick of girls in your age . ”

Akira seemed obviously exasperated .

“I just don’t want to stick out by walking together with people in those outfits . Moreover, it’s a ha.s.sle to fight over where to go and how to divide the money . Honestly, why are you even wearing that maid outfit here in the first place? You do know that you’ll attract people’s attention, right? Or is it that you have that kind of hobby?”

“It’s my master’s hobby, you see!!”

Kanae said that without any hesitation . Thanks to that, she sounded very convincing .

Akira glanced at Reina and looked obviously weirded out .

“…I-I see . ”

Reina, who was down, quickly refuted in panic when she realized that Akira was misunderstanding the subject .

“That’s not true!! It’s not my hobby!!”

“Ah, right, of course . ”

It was obvious that Akira did not believe her .

s.h.i.+ori smiled bitterly and explained to Akira to correct his misunderstanding .

“To be more precise, it’s the hobby of our master, Milady’s father . We’re officially working for him . These maid outfits are practically the best armours that we have . Actually, when we requested equipment, the upper echelons sent us this maid outfits and rifles . We understood that we gathered a lot of attention with these outfits . But considering its quality as an armour and how it’ll help us protect Milady, I think it’s better to keep using this outfit although it attracts people’s attention . ”

“By the way, we’re also using augmented suit under it . ”

Kanae then lifted her skirt with her left hand and pointed at the black tight-looking augmented suit under her skirt with her right hand . There was a good chance that s.h.i.+ori and Reina were also using similar augmented suits . As Akira thought so, he did not question it at all .

“So as we explained, this is not out of Milady’s hobby . I hope you can understand that . ”

s.h.i.+ori tried to confirm that Akira understood that point as she slapped Kanae’s hand that the latter was using to lift her skirt .

Akira’s expression suddenly changed as if he realized something .

“Ahh, I see . So that maid outfit must be an old-world relic, huh . I heard that old-world fabrics are so strong that they are often used in place of armour . And then you complement it by using an augmented suit under it, right?”

Akira used all of his knowledge to come up with a plausible explanation . After all, normally, it was unthinkable that a maid outfit could withstand a fight against monsters . But if it was an old-world relic, then it would be completely possible . That was what Akira thought .

But then s.h.i.+ori rectified his answer .

“No, this is not an old-world relic . I heard that it’s specially ordered from a corporation that normally works on Hunter armour . ”

There was a short silence before Akira asked another question .

“Do tell me if I’m mistaken… Honestly speaking, why would you need a maid outfit that can withstand fighting monsters? Maids are those people, right? They usually work to take care of a house, right? So why would you even need such a strong maid outfit? When you said it’s out of a hobby, does it mean that it’s that kind of hobby, like, putting maid outfits on Hunters?”

“No, I heard that every maid working in the main house is using the same type of maid outfit . This outfit might be a leftover from the main house . ”

Akira frowned, he tried to make sense of all the information that he just received .

“…You’re talking about the guards, right? They’re just people trained in combat wearing maid outfits, right?”

“No, it’s true that some of them are guards, but the maids who mainly work on taking care of the house also get the same set of equipment . Moreover, all the maids in the main house are required to be able to fight, they even have to go through a specialized lesson for that . ”