Chapter 135: Equipment and Training (1/2)

Akira stood in front of the huge building that was embedded into the wall of Kugamayama city. The tall building and the strong wall reflected the economical prowess of the city that maintained them.

There were branch shops of all kinds of companies that were doing business inside the city as well as Hunter Office’s facilities. Some of the people inside that building were the people from the upper district. That building was the goal of those who wanted to reach success in the city, the object of the admiration of those people who wanted to be rich, as well as the monument that reminded everyone of the city’s powerful influence and strength.

Akira looked up to that building. But in his eyes, there were no sparkles like how those people who wanted to reach success looked at that building, nor the strong will to reach that place, nor the admiration for that place.

Alpha then warned Akira.

“Akira, stop smiling. You look embarrassing.”

“Whoops!”

Akira tried to gather himself together. But even so, he still could not completely hide his jovial mood. He still had a big smile on his face, embarrassingly so.

Akira got another invitation from Shiori for a meal. It was an invitation to convey her thanks after saving Reina in Mihazono ruin.

As he remembered what happened last time, Akira completely dropped his guard and immediately accepted the invitation.

Alpha saw Akira did not change much and sighed.

“If you really like the meal in that restaurant that much, you can just go there with your own money from time to time, you know.”

Akira did not reply immediately, but after some thinking, he answered back with a rather heavy tone.

“…As I thought, that would be a no. I don’t feel like going there if I have to pay for it with my own money no matter what…”

When he thought about how much those meals would cost, with his current perception of money, Akira could not allow himself to spend that much money. This time too, he only accepted Shiori’s invitation after making sure that Shiori would be paying. Even for Akira who preferred food more than women, he had no wish to spend that much money on food.

In reality, the current Akira would be able to easily pay that much money if he reduced his expenditure on his expendables and equipment. But those expenses were for the sake of his safety, they were basically his lifeline. Akira kept reminding himself of that while fighting back the temptation.

Alpha smiled wryly and said.

“Well, in that case, let’s hurry up before it’s too late to enjoy this opportunity.”

“You’re right!”

Akira walked happily as he entered that huge building.

Just like last time, Akira left his rifles at the reception desk. The interior of that restaurant was still as luxurious as before, Akira’s augmented suit looked so out of place there. But since half of the customers were also Hunters, Akira did not stick out. This was also because of the location of that restaurant and the type of customers it usually served.

The server guided Akira to his table, but when he arrived, he was very much surprised. Akira thought that Shiori would be alone, just like last time. But this time, Kanae and Reina were also present.

Kanae lightly waved at Akira and said.

“Yo there!! We meet again!!”

Akira looked at Kanae and frowned. Shiori and Reina were wearing high-class suits suitable for visiting that luxurious restaurant. But Kanae was using her usual maid outfit, it would not be strange if someone mistook her as another server of that restaurant.

[…Is this… Normal? Is it just like me who came in this augmented suit? No, wait, but Shiori is using a suit while the servers didn’t seem to be bothered by that maid outfit… I guess it’s just me, huh?]

Akira thought that his common sense might be wrong, but then he thought that it was not like he could do anything about it, so he just shook it off and proceeded to sit on the chair that the server guided him to.

Shiori and Reina saw Akira’s reaction and sighed. Reina then said to Kanae.

“Kanae, can you do something about that outfit of yours?”

Kanae smiled.

“Nope. It’s important for me to keep using this maid outfit for the sake of protecting Milady, and Akira is still using his augmented suit there, so it’s not that much different from that.”

To be honest, Akira did not want to be treated the same as Kanae, but since he was there on their dime, he stopped himself from protesting.

Shiori then tried to change the mood as she said to Akira.

“Akira-sama, thank you for saving Milady the other day. As I promised, I’ll be paying for your meal today, so please, there’s no need to hold yourself back.”

Akira answered back happily.

“Thank you for that, well then, let’s not wait-“

As Akira browsed the menu, he remembered something and asked Shiori.

“…But if this is a gratitude for what happened in the Seranthal building, shouldn’t you invite Elena-san and the other Hunters too?”

“For their case, we have given their team, including you, extra reward as our thanks. Since it also includes the money from Drankam, the reward will take some time to process, but I hope that you’ll find the amount satisfying. As for today’s meal, this is my thanks for accepting a personal request from me back then.”

“Wait, I did?”

“You did take my request to buy me 5 seconds.”

“Oh, that one, huh. I see. If this meal is the reward for that, I’m really glad I pushed myself back then. Well then, if that’s the case, I won’t be holding back.”

Akira bowed lightly, for which Shiori replied with a smile.

Akira then started deciding on what to order from the menu. Just like last time, he could not imagine the kind of dishes simply from the names written on that menu. After trying his best for some time, just like last time, he decided to pick that day’s special course.

Since Akira could not decide on anything, when Alpha saw him pick the ‘default’ choice, she pointed at the menu and spoke to him.

“She did say not to hold back, so how about picking something else randomly?”

“No thanks. The dish that you’re pointing at has this strange name that sounds like a curse chant from the western district. What exactly would come out if I actually ordered this?”

Alpha jokingly replied.

“Hmm, if you chant this name in the western district, it feels like it might summon fire or something. So I’m sure it would be something red and spicy.”

“It doesn’t really matter, I’ll pick the recommended course from the restaurant, I’m sure you can’t ever go wrong with that one. There’s no need to experiment with this precious chance, after all, it’ll only needlessly add the risk that I would regret it later.”

“Oh my, that’s not something I expected from a Hunter who always risks their life in their job though.”

“I already had my fill taking risks only for my Hunter job.”

Alpha smiled mischievously.

“Well, now that you mention it, that’s true. It’s a good thing to be careful. If it’s possible, I want you to be this cautious all the time.”

Akira deliberately ignored Alpha and closed the menu.

After they placed their order, they started talking to each other while waiting for their meals to arrive. Akira was listening closely to Shiori’s explanation about the current state of the Seranthal building.

“I see, so that’s what’s happening in the Seranthal building right now, huh. But even if they secured the first floor, the upper floors are still filled with monsters, right? I wonder if they’re going to be alright.”

“From what I heard, it seemed that someone from the City Management was able to make a deal with the manager of Seranthal building and they’re using some of the building’s facilities to bolster their defence.”

Akira seemed slightly surprised by it.

“A deal with the manager of Seranthal building? Do you mean that Seranthal A.I? That’s amazing. If the city had someone that amazing, they could have sent them in sooner and we wouldn’t have had to go through all of that.”

“I agree.”

Shiori nodded and showed her total agreement with Akira.

Not too long after that, the meals arrived on their table. Akira looked delightedly at the food lining in front of him, he then happily started eating.

In the middle of that, Kanae suddenly asked Akira.

“By the way, I heard that you fought Ane-san evenly though, is that true?”

It might be because Akira was fully focused on enjoying his food that he could not remember something like that, so he tilted his head and asked.

“I did?”

“Eh? But you fought Ane-san before, right?”

Akira’s fight against the relic thieves in the Kuzusuhara ruin was a secret between Akira and the City Management.

So Kanae thought that Akira was playing dumb because of that, but looking at his expression, she realized that he was being serious. So she then asked in a roundabout way as not to infringe on that secrecy.

“I’m talking about that thing in that place, you know?”

“No no no, I remember that I fought Shiori, but I don’t think I fought evenly.”

“Is that so? But Ane-san said so though.”

“I bet it’s just the difference in our opinion. If you ask me, I was the one on the receiving end. At that time, Shiori had to fight me, while at the same time, she couldn’t afford to kill me. Without that limitation, I’m sure she could have killed me. So for me, I don’t think I fought her evenly.”

“Is that so? I see.”

Kanae checked Akira’s expression. It seemed that he was being honest there. As a matter of fact, Akira was indeed being honest.

[This is pretty amazing if he’s trying to play dumb here. If he’s really someone strong, normally, strong people would exude an aura of confidence, but I don’t feel anything like that from him. So is it like it’s really because he’s not that strong?]

Akira did not give off an aura that Shiori and people who were as strong as her usually gave off. And he himself also said that he was not that strong.

Kanae then glanced at Shiori, who was eating her meal with a composed expression. It seemed that she was not bothered by what Akira just said. Judging from how she was reacting, it seemed that Shiori agreed with him.

Kanae then thought that Akira might be really someone not that strong and lost interest in him. If he was just another strong young Hunter, there were many other young Hunters like him in the eastern district, so it did not interest Kanae at all.

Kanae then lightly said to Akira with the tone that she usually used when talking to people who were stronger than average but not by much.

“Well, but even so, you were able to fight against Ane-san and it’s pretty impressive for someone of your age. So I think you can be more confident, you know? Yep, you’re pretty strong.”

Kanae who had lost interest in Akira was about to end their conversation there, but Reina who had not lost her interest continued the conversation.

“…What should I do to become that strong?”

Reina was asking with a serious tone, it sounded as if she was desperate.

The other 3 turned their attention towards Reina. Akira seemed to be at loss on what to say, Kanae was a bit surprised, and Shiori looked rather worried, she somehow had a bad feeling about what would happen next.

Shiori then tried to be considerate as she said to Reina.

“Milady. As I said, something like that is only attainable with hard work and-“

“I’m sorry, Shiori. I’m not asking you, I’m asking Akira.”

“…My apologies.”

It seemed that Reina would not listen to her no matter what she said, so Shiori apologized for rudely interjecting and did not say anything more.

Reina, Shiori, and Kanae turned their attention to Akira, who was rather confused by that heavy mood emanating from Reina and Shiori. But since it seemed that he had no other choice but to answer that question, he tried to think of an answer on his own.

“…Well, if you’re not asking about what’s the meaning of strength or what is inner strength or anything philosophical like that, and if you’re referring to simple fighting power, I would say equipment and training. If I have to pick one, it would be equipment.”

Kanae seemed to disagree with Akira’s answer.

“Whoah, wait, so you’re on that side? Are you one of those stupid people who believe that they can be strong as long as they have powerful equipment?”

Akira flinched a bit, it seemed that Kanae hit the bull’s eye. In his own opinion, he who had Alpha’s support was basically the dream of those stupid people who put emphasis on equipment.

In reality, Akira had gone through a lot of training and multiple near-death experiences, which actually boosted his skill.

But judging from the difference between when he had Alpha’s support and when he did not have it, plus how Akira evaluated himself lowly, Akira could not bring himself to deny what Kanae just said to him. So instead, he tried to make some excuses.

“I won’t go that far, but if I have to pick between training and equipment, I do think that equipment is more important. I know that this is a rather extreme comparison, but I’m just saying that it’s faster if you buy a rifle to fight monsters than to train for 100 years to kill monsters with bare hands.”