Chapter 127: The Ability to Evaluate With A Single Glance (1/2)

Elena’s team was waiting for Shikarabe’s team to return back in a hall near the stairs. They already cleaned the room from any monsters and they were in the middle of barricading the other hallways by piling the dead B18 monsters.

Elena, Carol, and Sara were able to casually kick around the dead B18 wreckages that were pretty heavy. It was thanks to Sara’s nanomachine enhanced body, Elena’s augmented suit, and both for Carol’s case.

Due to her side job, Carol enhanced her body with nanomachine so that she could fight even when she had nothing on her. Moreover, it was also to enhance the beauty of her body to help her seduce men. Because of that, she spent a lot of money to enhance her body with nanomachine, then to top it off, she was also using an augmented suit.

Although Carol looked seductive with her already beautiful body wrapped in a sexy augmented suit, as if it was to belie her outer appearance, she was powerful enough to easily send the B18 monster flying with her kick. It was thanks to the amalgamation of the old-world technology that was close to magic.

If not for her seductive outer appearance, it was easy to notice her superhuman strength. And for those who were not knowledgeable about how much such a modification would cost, they would be surprised when they hear the price tag. Most people got their attention diverted by her beautiful and charming outer appearance and did not think about the technical side of things.

After they finished securing the hall, they then took a short break and lightly sighed. They had defeated the other monsters that came to the room, barricaded the entrance to the other hallways, and pushed aside the wreckages that were left inside that room.

Elena scanned the area around the hall with her information-gathering device and checked the hallway that Shikarabe’s team was pushing through. But she could not see any signal coming from that direction.

Judging from the physical strength of Shikarabe’s team, the strength of the monsters, and the distance to the room, if Shikarabe’s team pulled back, she should be able to see them soon. Elena had no idea whether Shikarabe’s team was having a hard time or they were doing well.

Seeing Elena, who was looking in the direction where Shikarabe’s team went with a worried expression, Sara smiled at her and tried to calm her down.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be back in no time. I’m sure that you also thought so when you let them go, right?”

“…If you’re saying that I thought the danger was acceptable, then the answer is yes. Since I’m sure Shikarabe has no plans to die here, so I’m sure that he won’t make a mistake if he decides to retreat.”

Balancing risk and profit was the main job of the Hunters. The moment Elena or Akira or any other Hunters stepped into the wasteland, they would be putting their life as a gambling chip. As such, it was important to make sure that they would get profit worth risking their lives.

Elena already evaluated the risk and decided that it was worth the risk. Although it was not like she had absolute confidence in her decision, she also did not unnecessarily doubt it either. She trusted that the decision she made was correct.

But when she said that it would be fine, it would just be her telling that to herself. And if she said that she was worried, it would only cause her to doubt her own decision. Thus, she tried not to say anything to herself.

But to Sara, it seemed that Elena was trying to be strong, which was a rare thing to do for her. Sara found it rather amusing as she smiled.

Elena tried to hide her embarrassment as she sent an intense gaze at Sara and jabbed.

“…What?”

“Nah, it’s nothing. Like I said. It’ll be fine. It’s true that it’s rather worrying, but I don’t think Shikarabe would go as far as to sacrifice his life to save the rescue targets. I’m sure he’ll make the right decision when things get dangerous. Moreover, Akira is strong enough to even make Shikarabe invite him to hunt a bounty monster, as for that Togami, since Shikarabe allowed him to come, I’m sure that he’s not that weak either. It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Sara might have guessed what Elena was thinking, so she used the words that Elena was avoiding.

“…I know.”

Elena felt like Sara just read her mind, she replied back rather clumsily trying to hide her blushed face.

Carol approached Sara and Elena, she threw a smile at them and said.

“It seems that we can get a short break here. It would be great if Shikarabe’s team can return back while we have the leeway.”

Carol turned her face and looked at the hallway leading to the room where their rescue targets were as she said that. It did not seem like any monsters were going to come out from that direction. They wanted to believe that it was because Shikarabe’s team was still pushing forward while killing the monsters on their way.

“I really hope they will return back safely soon. Right?”

Carol said so as if she was asking if Sara and Elena also felt the same. From the way she sounded and the expression that she had, it seemed that Carol was simply worried about Shikarabe’s team.

Sara replied back casually.

“It’ll be fine, they’ll be back in no time.”

As for Elena, she seemed to be somehow suspicious of Carol, but she agreed with Carol.

“You’re right, I too hope they’ll be back safely soon.”

Carol smiled as she confirmed that both Sara and Elena agreed with her. But then she said something that might cause a worry.

“Well, 2 of the 3 Hunters in Shikarabe’s team are young boys after all. I guess it’s understandable to be worried. I did see Akira’s skill from up close and I know how strong he is, but for that Togami, I can’t say I’m not worried. What do you think?”

Elena was the one who answered Carol’s question.

“He at least has good equipment on him. As for his ability, well, Shikarabe allowed him to join, so I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

Carol nodded in agreement with that evaluation.

“That’s true. I also don’t think he’s that bad either, but I do think that Akira is still stronger than him.”

Elena and Sara nodded in agreement with what Carol said. After Carol confirmed that, she then frowned and said.

“…But, if we look at them from a glance without any prior information beforehand, I think Akira looks to be the weakest one, doesn’t it?”

Sara was a bit surprised.

“Is that so?”

“Yep. That is if we only judge solely based on their outer appearance. Not to mention, his equipment seems to be the worst among them too… I actually can guess the ability of most Hunters just from seeing them and my guesses never missed that much until now… Or at least, that’s what I thought. Akira is the first one who I was wrong about. Honestly speaking, I find that really strange. After all, I’ve never gotten my guess wrong by this much until now. It really made me lose my confidence.”

If she had not met Akira in the Seranthal building and fled together from that building, Carol would not have had the chance to see Akira’s real ability. If she had met Akira carrying the same equipment in Kugamayama city, she would have thought he was just one of those common Hunters in the eastern district, and she would not be that intrigued by him.

Carol then asked a question to Sara and Elena.

“Hypothetically speaking, let’s say if you meet Akira without any prior knowledge about him, do you think you’ll be able to recognize his real ability?”

Elena and Sara thought for a bit, looked at each other, and then started trying to analyze that question again. Sara was thinking about how to answer Carol’s question, while Elena was trying to probe why Carol asked that question, both of them there were thinking about 2 different things.

Sara smiled bitterly and answered first.

“I don’t think I would be able to do that. It’s true that Akira seems weak from a glance, and he sometimes seems nervous when exploring the ruins. If you ask me whether I can recognize his skill without any prior knowledge, I would say that it’ll be very unlikely.”

As for Elena, she answered back with a common answer as if she was trying to give a neutral reply.

“Even if you said to do that from a glance, you can actually pretty much guess the ability of a Hunter from their outer look, body composition, how old he or she looks, and the quality and number of equipment he or she is carrying. So, let’s say if I meet Akira in the relatively safe residential area of Kugamayama city while he’s on his casual clothing, I would say that it’s impossible to see through his real ability in that situation.”

Carol was listening closely to both of their answers. She then smiled as if she was satisfied.

“So, even Sara and Elena can’t do that too, huh? Well, I guess we’re lucky to have met someone who hides his real ability like Akira in a situation where we can actually see his real ability, right? Yep, as I thought, we should hold it dearly.”

Sara smiled and said.

“Well, now that you mention it, we’re indeed lucky.”

Elena’s expression somewhat softened as she said.

“You can say that again. So let’s do our best to properly do our job so that Akira won’t cut his connection with us.”

Carol smiled and nodded showing that she agreed too.

As she was about to continue chatting in a good mood, suddenly, one of the piles of wreckages that they set up to barricade the room moved. The monsters that were on the other side of the pile were trying to either dismantle the barricade or push the pile off.

Carol, who noticed it, slightly frowned as she clicked her tongue. She then immediately ran to that particular hallway with her gun ready in her hand and an obviously annoyed face. She stood in front of the pile and stuck her gun into that pile.

She pulled the trigger while her gun was still pushed into that pile, aiming at the monsters on the other side of that pile. The muzzle-flash flashed the inside of the pile as flashes passed through the small opening among the wreckages. The powerful piercing bullet easily pierced through the pile and hit the monsters on the other side.

Carol kept her finger on the trigger as if she was venting her irritation. The piercing bullets easily shot down the monsters on the other side of the pile and turned them into extra obstacles, preventing other monsters from coming from that hallway.

Carol whispered, it was obvious that she was angry since she got interrupted back there.

“…Good grief, right when I have the chance to gather more info. Can’t these monsters be a little more considerate?!”

From that short exchange, Carol confirmed that Elena and Sara also could not accurately guess Akira’s real skill. Carol at least expected it until that point.

Her real qualm was about Elena and Sara, who did not find it strange how big the gap between how strong Akira looked and how strong he really was. That was the big difference between both of them and Carol.

If Carol had to make a guess, it might be Sara was not bothered by something like that in the first place, but that should not be the case for Elena. She should at least find it strange, question it, and at least make some guesses about it.

But judging from their expression and the tone of their voice when they spoke, Carol did not feel any trace of anything like that from both Sara and Elena.

So in short, Sara and Elena should have the answer to that question, or at least, they should have a good guess to explain the reason why such a huge gap was created. Once Carol confirmed it and understood it, she had successfully completed half of her reason why she talked with both Sara and Elena back there.

But the moment she wanted to make the move to accomplish the other half of her aim, the monsters just came barging in and interrupted her.

[Well, I guess I’ll just leave it as that, it’s a good thing that now I know Elena and Sara know the reason behind Akira’s real strength… Wait, no, dammit! As I thought, it’s really bothering me!]

Since Carol knew about it now, she could not help but be bothered by it. She then put all her irritation in her bullets and vented it toward the monsters that interrupted her.

—*—*—*—

Togami was barely able to follow Shikarabe and Akira.

They were pushing through the hallway against the monsters that filled it, aiming for the room where their rescue targets were. Other than only being able to slowly proceed because of the number of monsters there, they did not encounter any other trouble.