Chapter 131: The Augmented Suits of The Dead Hunters (1/2)

Kurosawa was aiming his huge rifle from outside the Seranthal building, his rifle was so huge as if it was ripped off straight from a tank. There was no need to question its power nor its price.

He was checking the enemy’s situation using his aiming device. He confirmed that his shot hit its target from the flash of the force field armour. But it was a whole different question whether it damaged its target or not.

Kurosawa’s face twitched, his target was doing fine. Although it must have at least significantly lowered the energy reserve of its force field armour, the special, expensive, bullet that he used there did not give him the result that he was expecting.

Kurosawa made an exasperated face as he mumbled.

“That didn’t work, huh. So, they want to secure that building with that huge monster there. I guess that explains why they dispatched those squads to surround this building.”

He then checked on his men.

“Anyone injured?”

“No. Everyone was able to escape from that monster unharmed. No one was left behind either, we’ve confirmed that. In the first place, no one here is weak enough to get injured fighting those smaller monsters that were flowing out from that building.”

“Alright then. Everyone, get behind the portable walls and keep suppressing the monsters. Safety is number one here, there’s no need to save your ammo. If the portable wall gets too weak, immediately pull back. Get about 10 Hunters for transporting equipment and focus more on materials that can be used on walls. We can retrieve the equipment for detecting monsters later, it seems that the sensitivity of our detection devices is doing well outside the building. Prioritize more on strengthening the barricade while suppressing the monsters coming out from that building. If we keep this up, even though we would fail to secure the first floor of that building, we should still be able to save some of our reputation. If the monsters are pushing back too hard, retreat and regroup with the squads surrounding this area. There’s no need to get too reckless.”

“Roger that!”

Kurosawa saw his men leave before aiming back at the huge monster in the front hall of the Seranthal building. Seeing that the monster was completely fine, Kurosawa’s face turned sterner.

[…I will try to shoot some more and if it still doesn’t work, I will have to give up on destroying that monster. It’s impossible to get into that building without killing that monster. If that’s the one taking command of the smaller monsters, it would mean that we’ll be able to deal a big blow on their force if we can kill it, but… Should I contact the squads surrounding the area and ask them to send the humanoid soldiers to kill that big monster?… I guess that would be a no… I don’t even have the rights to do that and I don’t think that they’ll help us anyway. Well, once the main squad is here to secure that building, someone from the upper echelon will give them the order to give us support if that is really needed. Although I don’t know when that would be, it’s not my place to be thinking about that.]

Kurosawa gathered himself together and pulled the trigger. The bullet that was shot from his rifle had the same firepower as a tank warhead, it flew straight at the humongous monster, destroying some B18 monsters on its way there.

Once again, Kurosawa confirmed that he hit his mark, but it did not seem to affect that monster at all. He checked again and lightly sighed because of a completely different reason.

“What is it? I’m busy right now, I have no time to take care of trivial stuff.”

Katsuya was standing not too far from Kurosawa with a stern face.

He looked seriously at Kurosawa and said.

“I have a request.”

“Nope!”

Kurosawa gave an instant reply without looking back at Katsuya. There was no space for negotiation. Katsuya was a bit surprised by that firm rejection.

Lilina, who was next to Katsuya, suddenly butted in. Although she was stunned too, she forced herself to say something there to help Katsuya.

“We haven’t even said anything yet!! At least listen to what we have to say!!”

Kurosawa looked obviously annoyed as he clicked his tongue, just like last time, he replied without looking at Katsuya and Lilina.

“I bet you want my help to retrieve your men that got left behind in that building, right? My answer is no. We have no reason nor obligation to help you. Why should I put my men in danger just in order to save your men? So no. I myself don’t want to do it, and I’m sure my men don’t want to do it too. We’re here putting our life at risk for a chance to get money, we’re basically here to exchange our life for money. We’re only here for that request because we judged that the reward that we might get this time is worth using the power that we have worked hard to attain, the expenses of our consumables, and the risk of death that we’ll face. We might be willing to do that for our comrades, but I don’t see any reason to do that for free for another group that is hostile to us.”

Unlike Kurosawa’s group that immediately left the Seranthal building without wasting a second. Katsuya’s group, who saw Kurosawa’s group leaving, thought that it was weird and did nothing else. After all, in their mind, Kurosawa’s group had just wasted their hard work to secure the first floor. So, they ended up withdrawing late from that building.

Because of that, some of Katsuya’s men did not make it and got left behind. It was unclear whether they were still alive or already dead. If they were to be optimistic, those Hunters might have barricaded themselves somewhere, waiting to be saved. But if they were to be pessimistic, those Hunters would be already annihilated by now. Katsuya prioritized more on the former, he could not bring himself to take the latter guess.

Katsuya, Yumina, and Lilina were about to try to negotiate with Kurosawa out of kindness, sense of virtue, and arrogance respectively. But Kurosawa who was still shooting there spoke first.

“Are you going to tell me that it’s exactly because we’re in this situation that we should be helping each other now? Don’t make me laugh. It’s true that helping each other is a good thing, but that is if we both have the capability and willingness to help each other. For the willingness side, well I can understand your feeling, so I’m not really against negotiating with you, but it’s a whole different story for the capability. I and my men think that you guys will only be dead weight to us. We don’t think that you have the ability to help us, so it won’t be helping out each other, it’ll be us one-sidedly helping you. And if we do that, then it’ll be out of our kindness. But I and my men don’t have the leeway to act out of kindness at the moment. As in matter of fact, we’re already helping you guys out by letting you guys use our portable walls. So you should be grateful for that.”

To be honest, Kurosawa only allowed Katsuya’s men use his group’s portable wall since otherwise, Katsuya would only have two choices: either fully pull back his men, or lead them to a suicidal charge into the building. Both choices would lower the overall fighting strength of the Hunters and that would be disadvantageous for Kurosawa.

Kurosawa was only letting Katsuya’s men use his portable wall for his own profit.

Katsuya tried to think of another solution out of his stubbornness, Yumina tried to think of another solution using logical calculation, and Lilina tried to think of another solution out of desperation because of the sense of defeat that she felt there, Kurosawa continued.

“Are you telling me that you’ll pay me then? But the answer is still no. When money is involved, it would be a formal request. I, as the commander of my men in this place, have no right to accept another request at the moment. If you insist, you should talk it out with those people in the Hunter Office who are negotiating on how they are going to form the main squad. It’s useless to talk to me about that.”

That shut all of them up. They tried to think of anything that they could say there, but nothing came up. Kurosawa then continued.

“We’re in no position and we have no reason to accept your request. If you get it now, then just shut up. You’ll disrupt my concentration if you keep making noise here. You’re basically bothering me by doing that, and if you keep bothering me, I’ll have you removed first. After all, bothering the command here will expose the whole group to more danger. Just so you know, I have no qualms injuring you so stop bothering me.”

Kurosawa did not even glance at Katsuya. But Katsuya and his friends obviously felt a sense of pressure and hostility emanating from Kurosawa.

Katsuya, Yumina, and Lilina could not think of anything to say in that situation. They just stood there in silence. Katsuya cursed his own weakness, Yumina seemed immensely worried for her comrades that got left behind, and Lilina gritted her teeth in anger.

Among them, Airi, who was silent and thinking up until now suddenly spoke.

“In that case, I want you to take command of this group too. You can get all the credits while we’re under your command. Then, I want you to finish our original goal of coming here, to secure the first floor of Seranthal building.”

Katsuya, Lilina, and Yumina immediately turned to Airi, they looked completely shocked. Airi kept staring at Kurosawa with a serious expression.

Kurosawa stopped shooting and looked at Airi. He looked both surprised and a little troubled while staring back at her, trying to read the meaning behind her words.

Airi locked her gaze with Kurosawa’s and continued.

“If you have the command of our group, it’ll reduce the damage to your men. Your commanding skill should also be able to compensate for our weakness to some extent. I believe that this is a good deal for you, with no money involved, so?”

Kurosawa thought for a bit before answering back.

“…So basically we can push the dangerous roles to you to safely achieve our goal, and if we can secure the first floor of the Seranthal building, then you’ll be able to rescue your friends, huh… That’s indeed a suggestion worth thinking about, but it’s not like we can accept it right away. Or more like, shouldn’t convincing your leader come first? If you leave all the achievements to us, then why are you here in the first place, the one who will take the responsibility for that will be your leader, right? Or is it that your leader gave the full right to you?”

When Kurosawa asked that question, Airi sounded rather disappointed as she replied.

“…No, I don’t have such a right.”

“I see. That wasn’t a bad suggestion, but keep those things that I asked you in mind first before you make such a suggestion next time.”

Kurosawa only said that and ended the negotiation there, that was when Katsuya made his resolve and suddenly said.

“Alright alright!! You can claim all the achievements!! I’ll take full responsibility…!! So please, save my men.”

It was as if Katsuya let out his real feeling there as he lowered his head. It was obvious that he was being really serious.

The way Kurosawa looked at Katsuya changed from a mocking gaze to a respectful gaze for someone that he was negotiating with. He then started to think about that suggestion seriously.

Katsuya waited with bated breath for Kurosawa’s answer. Kurosawa had not said anything yet, he was still thinking with a serious expression.

Kurosawa finally made his decision, he sounded as if he felt sorry about it as he said.

“As I thought, the answer is still no.”

Katsuya and the other Hunters there understood that it was the decision that Kurosawa made after thinking seriously about it. Katsuya had a pained expression as he asked a question.

“…Why is it still a no? Is it impossible to change your mind no matter what?”

“I won’t deny that it was a good offer. But it did not resolve the most important worry that I have, so as long as that worry is still there, I, as the one who will take the command of your men, can’t take that offer.”

Airi asked.

“…What worry?”

“Even if I take command of your men, there’s no guarantee that your men will listen to my orders. So, without that guarantee, that offer is basically off the table.”

Katsuya who heard that desperately begged.

“I’ll make sure that they’ll listen to your orders!! I promise you that!!”

Kurosawa shook his head and replied with an honest tone.

“It’s not like I’m doubting you here and I’m not saying that your men don’t trust you or anything. I’m sure that you will follow my orders and I’m sure that you’re on good terms with your men and they trust you. But that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll follow my orders. Their trust and faith in you might even be the very reason why they wouldn’t listen to my orders. I’m sure that some of them would not move on my orders and will only move on yours. In the first place, I doubt that they’ll all definitely listen to your orders as well. After all, at the moment, there is already someone from your team who entered an area that they should not. Am I right?”

Kurosawa glanced at Lilina, who immediately froze.

Kurosawa returned his gaze back to Katsuya and continued.

“I bet there are others who disregard your orders too, right…? I can see that I’m right, huh. I bet they won’t listen to my orders when they don’t even listen to yours. That will be the end of this negotiation. I refuse your suggestion. It’s nothing personal, I know you want to rescue your men, honestly speaking, I feel the same too. But as the leader of my team, I can’t afford to expose my men to needless danger. Well, we’ll at least provide you with support fire if you want to try to make a run to that building. So, just tell us if you decide to do that.”

After he said that, Kurosawa left that place to check the other location, he then gave some orders to his men before aiming at the entrance of the Seranthal building again.

Katsuya, Lilina, Yumina, and Airi who were left there looked down, dejected. Especially Lilina. She seemed to be the most dejected. She then asked with a voice that sounded as if she was about to cry.

“…Was it… My fault?”

“…It’s at least not your fault alone.”

Airi’s vague comforting words did not have much effect on her.

—*—*—*—

Elena told her team to stand by on guard while checking the current situation that they were in. It was so that none of them tried to shoot at the humongous monster which might cause all the other B18 monsters to shift their attention to Elena and her team.