Chapter 109 (1/2)

Index

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

Carol had already finished her meal, she was only sitting there sipping her after-meal tea. While on the other hand, Akira was still enjoying the meal in front of him, it was simply because he took his time to enjoy each and every meal that he ordered and he did order quite a lot of meals.

Carol had also already transferred the 40,000,000 Aurum compensation money that she had promised for the relics that Akira had lost. Akira then casually confirmed it, said his thanks and returned back to eating.

Normally, the amount of money that a Hunter earned regularly was proportional to his or her skill. So it was not strange that it did not faze Akira when he received that amount of money since he was strong enough to kill the automatic weapons. But compared to that, it was completely different from when Akira was lamenting over the relics that he lost when he shielded Carol.

Carol had no idea how in the world Akira killed the autonomous weapons. The more she thought about it, the more she was confused, and the more she was interested in the young boy in front of her.

Alpha then said to Akira.

“Akira, you got a message from the Hunter Office.”

“A message?”

Akira pulled out his information terminal and checked the notification message from the Hunter Office. It was an emergency SOS request from the Drankam, to be more precise, it was a request to join the rescue team sent to rescue the Hunters trapped in the Seranthal building.

The situation inside the restaurant started to get agitated. When Akira glanced at Carol, she was also focusing on her own information terminal. And it was not only Carol, but all the Hunters inside that restaurant were also checking their own information terminals. It seemed that the notification message was sent to all the Hunters in the area.

Akira could hear some Hunters around him talking.

“They’re asking me to go inside that ghoul building? It’s that building that would eat anything that goes inside it no matter whether it’s a Hunter or monster, you know? I have no plans to go there myself.”

“Is that so? I don’t mind taking it though.”

Hearing what their friend said, the other Hunter snorted and said.

“Whoah there, what are you talking about? It’s the Seranthal building, you know? It’s one of the 7 great mystery of Mihazono ruin. It’s exactly because Drankam knows that they can’t challenge that building even after they prepare themselves, that’s why they’re issuing this request. And looking at the details of the request, the corpses of the monsters will be owned by the Drankam, the ammo expense is paid by ourselves, and the basic reward is small. So, is there any reason why we have to take this request? I bet that SOS request was sent by one of those Hunters through the insurance company contracted with Drankam, and I’m sure even Drankam only sends their Hunters although they don’t want to because they’re in a contract with that insurance company. Some of those insurance companies usually have contracts with private security companies or Hunter gangs to make sure that they would definitely take the SOS request issued by that insurance company. After all, normally, no one would want to take on such a dangerous request. Like seriously, who would want to take this dangerous request with such small reward?”

The other Hunter just smiled and shook his head before replying.

“Well, it’s true that it’s not a profitable request. But let’s think carefully here, if we look at it as a request from Drankam that would give us a boost in our Hunter Rank, it’s actually not that bad. After all, nothing bad can come from raising our Hunter Rank. Moreover, we can get this SOS request participation written in our Hunter Record. I heard that you get a big Hunter Rank boost if you take an emergency request issued by the Hunter Office due to the Hunter ethics improvement program from the Corporate Government. I also heard that some corporations, which is mindful of its public standing, tend to choose Hunters who participated in such emergency requests. And to top it off, although it’s not like it’s my aim, for those Hunters who want to form a connection with Drankam, this might be a good chance for them.”

After hearing his friend’s opinion, the other Hunter then interjected.

“Hmmm, Drankam, huh? It has grown into a rather big gang and I heard that it has a good standing with the City Management at the moment after completing those bounty requests. So, I guess it’s understandable that some Hunters want to join that gang. But I heard that it focuses only on accepting young Hunters lately and it rejects application by most of the common veterans. Ahh, I see, so those Hunters who got rejected might take this request as a chance to prove their skill, huh.”

“It seems that Drankam is deepening their relationship with the Kugamayama City Management and the Hunter Office. So for those who want to hop on the bandwagon, this might be a good chance. Drankam itself has its reputation to uphold, so I’m sure they’ll also properly prepare their Hunters for this request. It’s indeed as you said, for Hunters who want to improve their track record and get a boost in their Hunter Rank, this is actually a perfect chance to do just that.”

“Hmmm, so you’re planning to take this request, huh?

“It’s as you said, it’s a dangerous place that it has even become an urban legend… So if only someone would accompany me there.”

That Hunter then smiled bitterly at what his friend said.

“…Alright alright, I get it, but you’ll pay for the ammo, okay?”

“I’m glad that I have a partner who would understand.”

After those Hunters finished their meals, they took a short rest there before leaving the restaurant. They were close enough for Akira to hear their conversation, so basically, they were paying more or less the same expensive meal as Akira, which meant that they were powerful Hunters able to afford such a luxury.

After listening to those Hunters, Akira said with interest.

“It seems that people react differently to this kind of request, huh?”

Alpha at least tried to confirm it with Akira.

“It seems that I need to educate you about that too. So then, what’s your plan? Are you planning to take that request?”

Akira then answered back with the exact answer that Alpha had predicted.

“No. I’m done for today. I’ve gathered enough money for the day and I’m already tired right now.”

Akira then returned back to his information terminal to refuse the request.

Carol suddenly asked Akira a question.

“It seems that you got that message too. I’m refusing that request though, how about you, Akira?”

“I’m refusing it too.”

Carol smiled since Akira gave the same answer as her.

“Thought so. I have no plans to go anywhere near that building for the time being.”

As Akira placed his information terminal aside and was about to take another bite of the meal in front of him, suddenly a notification reached his information terminal, it was a call from Shiori.

“Akira here. I’m sorry but I’m in the middle of eating right now. If it’s not an emergency, can you call me again later?”

“I’m really sorry, this is an emergency. I’ll keep it short, so can you please give me some of your time?”

“Alright, what is it?”

“Akira-sama, I want to make a request to you to escort Milady. As for the period of the request, if it’s possible, I want you to start from right now and it’ll be until we can guarantee Milady’s safety. At most, it’ll take the whole day today. And since we don’t have much time right now, if it’s possible, I wish you’re okay with postponing the negotiation about the reward to later. But please don’t worry, I swear on my loyalty for Milady that I would definitely pay you with a suitable reward.”

“…This has something to do with that emergency request to the Seranthal building, doesn’t it?”

“It seems that you’ve heard it as well. Yes, Milady decided to accept that emergency request. So I want to ask you to protect Milady during that request-“

Akira immediately interjected.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t take that request.”

Shiori went silent for a few seconds.

“…Is it okay if I ask why? If it’s because we don’t agree on the reward beforehand, we can quickly decide on the advance payment and I’ll immediately transfer it right now. And if it’s hard for you to meet up with us right now, I don’t mind if you meet up with us later. If it’s something that we can help with, we’re willing to make compromises.”

“The answer is still a ‘no’. I won’t take that request and I don’t plan to negotiate about it.”

Akira could feel that Shiori was a bit surprised and bewildered on the other end of the call as he continued.

“Ahhh, it’s not like I refuse because I don’t like you or anything. The reason why I won’t take that request is simple, it’s because I don’t want to go anywhere close to that Seranthal building, I don’t want to die after all. So, sorry about that.”

Shiori sounded very serious as she carefully asked Akira a question.

“…Is the Seranthal building so dangerous even Akira-sama would say something like that?”

“Well, it’s at least dangerous enough for me to refuse any request that doesn’t promise me enough money. Of course, it might be just me being a coward though. I can’t tell you the details, but something happened that causes me to hesitate to go anywhere near that building. That’s why I won’t accept that request. I’m sure you have your own reason as to why you need to go there, which in that case, make sure to be extra careful. It’s in the middle of an old-world ruin after all, so anything can happen. For example, your information-gathering device might lose sensitivity inside that building and you might suddenly not be able to use your information terminal there. Or if you’re not careful enough, you might get surrounded by mechanical monsters without you realizing it or you might even find the monsters using the facilities inside that building. So yeah, I won’t accept it, later then.”

Akira only said that and ended the call. He then put his information terminal aside one more time before returning back to eating again.

Carol was curious about what that call was for. But it might annoy him if she needlessly butted into his business there, so she was putting on a smile indicating that she was not bothered at all.

After Akira cut the call, Shiori looked at her information terminal with a grim face. Kanae approached her and asked a question.

“We’re ready to go. Ane-san, how is it? You’re trying to invite that young boy Akira, right?”

“I got rejected.”

“That’s really unfortunate. I actually wanted to see that boy’s skill from up close. So then, what is with that face? You look grimmer than usual for someone who just got her request rejected.”

“The real problem is the reason why he rejected it. He rejected it without giving me any chance to negotiate saying that he doesn’t want to die so he would refuse to get anywhere close the Seranthal building.”

Unlike Shiori, who looked really concerned, Kanae was smiling amusedly.

“I don’t know why exactly Akira would say that, but if someone as strong as Ane-san would even go that far to say something like that about that place, then it seems that this will be interesting.”

Shiori glared at Kanae.

“…I’ll at least go and recommend Milady not to take the request. As for you, go and recheck our equipment… No, redo the preparation. Make sure that we have enough equipment to survive a ruin exploration in a ruin with zero survivors.”

Kanae smiled and said.

“Roger that. But isn’t it impossible to change Milady’s mind at this point? This request is basically a compulsory request, if Milady won’t participate, she might get kicked out of the gang. After all, some people from the Katsuya faction hate Milady since they think Milady abandoned Katsuya back then. That’s also exactly the reason why Milady could not participate in the bounty hunting too, remember? But well, I guess that was a good thing from Ane-san and Milady’s point of view though.”

Among the young Hunters in Drankam, Reina was actually keeping herself in a delicate neutral position in between the Katsuya faction and the anti-Katsuya faction. That was also the reason she came to Mihazono ruin only with Kanae and Shiori. The Katsuya faction treated her as if she was from the anti-Katsuya faction while the anti-Katsuya faction treated her as if she was from Katsuya faction. Because of that, she was having trouble making friends in Drankam.

“One of the requirements for Milady to be allowed to work as a Hunter is that she must be a member of Drankam. So Milady might take it as telling her to stop working as a Hunter if Ane-san tries telling Milady to change her mind, right?”

Kanae said those words as if it was none of her business. Shiori was still glaring at Kanae as she said to her.

“…I know. But I’ll still recommend Milady not to go there. It’ll at least let Milady know that we’re going to a very dangerous location.”

“Alright then. I’ll go and redo the preparation. I’ll reorganize the prepared equipment with the assumption that we’ll end up in the red this time… It has been quite a while since the last time I fought without worrying about the expense, I can’t help but look forward to this.”

Kanae smiled happily when she said that.

Reina was about to head over to a location that would even make Akira refuse Shiori’s request without further discussion. While on the other hand, Kanae seemed to be looking forward to it. Shiori was fed up with Kanae.

Shiori instantly grabbed the sword dangling on her hip and Kanae quickly reacted to that by keeping her distance from Shiori. Shiori killed the emotion inside her and was exuding an ominous aura. She then said in a low voice while oozing out the anger within her heart.

“There’s a limit on how much I can bear with your behaviour.”

Kanae kept smiling.

“It’s so like you not to pull out that sword here you know, Ane-san. Ah, that’s a compliment by the way. It’s good that you stay calm. That’s why they trust Milady to you and that’s also why Milady really trusts you.”

Kanae stared back at Shiori while smiling. If Shiori really pulled out her blade and tried to kill Kanae there, it would lower their fighting power for protecting Reina. But Shiori knew well that Kanae was smiling at her not because of that.

Kanae was actually smiling because she did not mind either way whether Shiori would pull out her blade and try to kill Kanae there, or that she would not pull out her blade there which meant that she would get to go and fight monsters later. Kanae would not make any provocation if the latter were to happen. It was because it was her principle and courtesy toward the people who employed her, it was her attitude toward her own job. But if that came from Shiori, then she would be happy to respond.

Shiori let go of her blade and said to Kanae.

“…Go.”

“Roger that.”

Kanae just smiled and went to reorganize their equipment.

Shiori took a few deep breaths, reminding her of her loyalty to Reina, and finally regained her composure. She made sure that she could put on her usual smile to her master before going to try convincing Reina.

Akira returned all the way back to the Kugamayama city together with Carol. Due to Carol’s request, he dropped her near the red light district of the lower district.

Carol, who just stepped off from Akira’s vehicle, invited him.

“Since this is a good chance, how about coming with me to get some drinks?”

Akira shook his head and said.

“Sorry but no thanks. I keep myself away from alcohols since they lower my decision making skill and reaction speed.”

After all, there were many occasions where drunk people came into the slum city and ended up as dead corpses. Akira had seen something like that happen in front of his eyes numerous times before, so he had no wish to put in even a drop of alcohol inside his body. And now, after knowing that a disruption in his consciousness would also affect Alpha’s support in controlling his augmented suit, he was actively avoiding alcohol even more.

Although there was a type of drug sold in the eastern district which would instantaneously snap someone out from a drunken state, Akira had no plans to drink any alcohol to the point that he would need that kind of drug.

Alcohol and women, these two things were the gate to ruin a man, and Carol was really familiar with both of them, but both gates were shut closed in case of Akira. Carol could not help but to smile bitterly and said.

“…So you don’t drink alcohol and don’t play with girls, huh. That’s a pretty healthy lifestyle you’re having.”

Akira looked slightly irritated as he said.

“A Hunter’s biggest asset is their body, so it’s a good thing to have a healthy body.”