Chapter 153: Training Opponent (1/2)

Kadol was comparing Alna, who was standing next to Katsuya, with the picture displayed on his information terminal.

“There’s no mistaking it. That’s her. It’s the one with the coat.”

The other men looked at Alna and tensed up.

“So that’s her, huh… Then who are the others? Her friends?”

“No idea. And I honestly don’t care. Our target is that girl. If it’s possible, we need to capture her alive, if not, we’re allowed to kill her. Let’s go.”

Seeing Kadol and his men approaching them, Katsuya’s group started to feel nervous. Kadol and his men had a scary look, at least, it was not a face that one would show to the children from the slum. The people around the area could feel that a fight where someone would die was about to commence, so they moved away from the area.

Kadol came close enough to strike a conversation with Katsuya, he then stopped and pointed at Alna.

“Give us that girl!”

Katsuya moved in front of Alna and stood face to face with Kadol.

“Who are you? And is it true that you’re the one who told that boy to follow us?”

“Just shut up and give us that girl.”

Katsuya could feel Alna trembling behind him, he then shouted back at Kadol as if to counter their intimidation.

“I refuse!!”

Normal people would back down from that pressure, but that was not the case for Kadol and his men. Instead, their expressions tensed up, they reached for their rifles and readied themselves for a fight. Their rifles were still pointing downward, it was obvious that they were willing to fight there if negotiation was out of the question.

Katsuya, Airi and Yumina were also already reaching for their rifles, they were ready to fight anytime. Actually, they also wanted to avoid having to fight if it was possible. And considering how much damage it would cause if they really fought each other there, they were able to barely stop themselves from immediately opening fire.

Kadol had a grim face, his voice was filled with killing intent.

“I’ll say it one more time. Give us that girl. We only have business with that girl and not with any of you. We’re being serious here. If you don’t want to die, leave that girl here and be gone.”

Katsuya repeated once again with a face saying that he had made his resolve.

“…I refuse!”

Kadol and his men reeled back from the pressure coming from Katsuya, it was obvious that he was not your common young boy.

“…Kadol, what’s the plan now? Are we really going to kill them? They’re not normal children, you know?”

Kadol glared at that man who was being meek.

“I know, goddammit!”

Not too long ago, Kadol caused trouble because of his short temper with a certain young boy by the name of Akira. And the result of that was his current sorry state. Not only did he owe a huge debt, one large enough that it would not be strange if he got sold anytime, but he also felt that he was always being hunted by a Hunter who could kill him anytime.

Because of that, he would never look down on his opponents anymore even if they were only children. Kadol remembered that bad memory as he watched Katsuya and his group. Appearance-wise, they looked stronger than Akira and judging by their reaction just now, that might be really the case. Or at least, he did not have any evidence to deny that possibility.

He had no wish to fight someone who was as strong as Akira. Kadol and all of his friends there agreed on that point. But they also had reasons why they could not just back down there.

Kadol and his friends were told by Viola and Shijima to bring them Alna, and if that was impossible, they were even allowed to kill her.

Viola then told him that if he could do that, she would help to convince Akira not to keep hunting him and that she would consider most of his debt paid. While at the same time, she also gave some hints about what would happen to him if he could not do that. Either he would get sold somewhere or given to Akira, whichever the case, nothing good would happen to him if he failed.

That was the same for Shijima’s men too. They were discovered to have been stealing money from the gang or selling inside information to outsiders. Shijima told them that he would forgive them if they could capture Alna, Shijima also properly let them know what he would do to them if they failed.

Kadol and his men there were all desperate. That was why, even if they were facing strong opponents, they could not just back off. But if it was possible, they did not want to fight, and that naive thinking was reflected in their behaviours.

Airi saw that as a good chance, so she then interjected.

“Some people think that the slum city is not that much different from the wasteland, but that’s not true. If you kill someone in the open road, it’ll cause a ruckus. The gang that governs over the territory will get its eyes on you and they might demand peace money for causing trouble in their territory… It’s better if you just forget about that 100,000 Aurum and go back to where you come from.”

Kadol still had his guard up as he replied back.

“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you have in your head right now, but it seems that you don’t understand what’s going on here.”

Airi believed that Kadol and his men must have thought that she was someone who had a connection with the slum city gang. And if that was the case, then it would be one more reason for them to not fight Katsuya’s group. She then raised her voice and tried to warn Kadol and his men that it was not worth the trouble as she tried to convince them to withdraw.

“It’s you who don’t understand what’s going on here. I have some connections with the slum gangs. This would not end well, in the worst-case scenario, they might hunt you down to kill you. I don’t know how strong you are, but there’s no mistaking that it’ll cause some damage in the area if we fight here. In our case, we can just avoid coming here again, so it’ll be all on you. You’ll be the one in trouble if we fight. So it’ll be better if you just withdraw.”

Kadol lightly shook his head.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. We at least already know that much. What you just said doesn’t worry me at all. Unfortunately for you, we already had a talk with the gang who owns this area beforehand.”

Even Airi who was mostly expressionless raised her eyebrows. It was quite surprising for her.

“…That must be a lie. There’s no way you would do something like that just because of that 100,000 Aurum.”

Kadol frowned.

“What the heck is this 100,000 Aurum you’re talking about?”

Airi looked equally confused.

“Alna stole 100,000 Aurum from a certain Hunter… No, I mean, it was a misunderstanding. And you’re basically here because that Hunter is aiming for her life and that’s why you demand us to give her to you, right?”

Kadol immediately raised his voice.

“I knew it, you’re mistaking something here. 100,000 Aurum? That’s so stupid. Do you really think we would do something like this just for the sake of that paltry amount of money?”

Alna was shocked when she heard that.

“T-then, why are you looking for me?”

“Hell if I know. I was just told to bring you in.”

A notification suddenly reached Kadol’s information terminal. When he checked it, he was both troubled and surprised. He looked really troubled as he frowned and said to Katsuya, it was obvious from his face that he was equally confused as Katsuya’s group.

“20,000,000 Aurum. If you give me that girl, I’ll give you 20,000,000 Aurum. What do you think?”

Katsuya could not help but gasp.

“…Hah?”

“You didn’t hear it? It’s 20,000,000 Aurum. If you hand over that girl, I’ll give you 20,000,000 Aurum. I don’t think there’s any need to think about it, give her to us now.”

Kadol extended one of his arms towards Katsuya’s group who were still dumbfounded. Alna quickly returned back to herself and grabbed strongly on Katsuya’s back while trembling. It was a good amount of money just to hand over her after all.

Katsuya could feel Alna who was clinging to him, he instinctively raised his voice.

“Do you really think I would fall for that!?”

“I’m being serious here. Are you questioning it? Well, that’s understandable though.”

Kadol understood Katsuya’s feelings. After all, even he himself could not believe what he just said. But that was what was really written in that message from Viola. He did not question it as he only did what he was told to.

“I’ll give you some deposit first. Tell me your bank account, I’ll immediately transfer the money. Or is it that you prefer cash?”

Kadol was waving, urging Katsuya to hand over Alna as he made his offer, that was enough to make Alna tremble even more.

Katsuya could feel Alna shivering behind his back while there were Kadol and his men who urged him to hand her over to them in front of him. Katsuya, who was stuck in between the person that he had to protect and his enemies replied, or more like, yelled.

“I refuse! I won’t give Alna to you!!”

Kadol’s expression was filled with shock and confusion.

“Y-You? Are you right on your head!? It’s 20,000,000 Aurum, you know!? Are you seriously throwing away 20,000,000 Aurum for that girl!?”

“It’s not about money!! I’ve promised her that I’ll protect her!!”

Kadol and his men who already relaxed, thinking that there was no need to fight, reeled back from the pressure coming from Katsuya’s declaration. Katsuya then put more pressure on his voice and yelled.

“Go away now!!”

Kadol and his men inadvertently took a step back. Although it was involuntary, once they made a move, it was difficult to change the flow now. They could not help but take another step back although they slightly hesitated.

It would end there if Kadol and his men continued and just left that place. When everyone there thought so, a gunshot suddenly echoed.

When Katsuya’s group was talking with Kadol’s group, Tiol slowly slipped away from that place and hid in one of the alleys. Although he could not hear what they were talking about, he could still see them. So he was keeping his eyes on them while hiding.

“W-what should I do? Should I look for a chance to run away? No, that won’t work!”

It seemed that they were still in the middle of some kind of negotiation. If a fight broke there, he might get roped in that fight. That was why Tiol kept his distance as much as possible. He did not leave since he thought that it would be a wasted chance now that he found Alna. He did not want to lose his chance to erase his past mistakes.

A call suddenly reached Tiol who still did not know what to do. He could hear a woman’s voice coming out from his information terminal.

“What’s your situation over there? Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Tiol told that woman what was going on there, then that woman replied with a cold voice.

“I see, I guess this will be the end of our connection.”

“W-what?! Why!?”

“Well, you can’t make up for your mistakes, right? So basically you won’t be able to stay in Sheryl’s gang any longer which means that you won’t be able to give me any insider information, right? Then there’s no benefit of keeping this relation.”

“W-wait for a sec!!”

“Nope, I won’t wait. You don’t have the power to bring in Alna alive nor to kill her, right? I don’t know whether Sheryl would kick you out of the gang or Akira would kill you, either way, you’re as good as dead now. Well, in the unlikely chance that you get lucky, just call me again. So, until next time.”

The call ended there. With this, Tiol also lost his support. He was filled with shock and anger. In that messy state of mind, he remembered a sentence from that call.

“In the unlikely chance if he got lucky.” Those words ran on a repeat inside his mind as he looked at what was in front of him.

Katsuya and Kadol were arguing about Alna. Tiol had no power against any of them. It did not matter who won, even if Kadol won and took Alna away, it was unlikely for him to be able to find Alna again and he would lose his chance to make up for his mistakes by bringing Alna to Akira. But even if he could not bring Alna, it might still help him somehow if he killed her. Of course, that would be impossible normally, but at the moment, Kadol and Katsuya were focused on each other. It was his only chance, there would not be any next time. As Tiol thought so, he believed that his best chance was to kill Alna there, in that place.

Tiol nervously, silently and desperately aimed his gun at Alna and pulled the trigger.

His first shot did not hit anyone. But it was enough to trigger the fight.

Airi quickly aimed her rifle at the source of that gunshot and released a barrage. At the same time, Katsuya and Yumina moved to cover Alna and readied their rifles. Kadol and his men reacted by opening fire at them, Katsuya and his group were dealing with that too. The area was filled with flying bullets within a split second.

—*—*—*—

Akira continued doing mock battles with Erio and the other children. But Alpha suddenly told him to stop the training.

“What’s wrong?”

“The radar picked up something.”

“Monsters?”

“No, it’s a vehicle. It seems that it noticed us and now is heading this way. At least get your rifle ready.”

“Roger that.”

Akira and the other children returned back to Akira’s vehicle. When Akira took off the DVTS minigun from his vehicle, Erio and the other children seemed a bit panicked. Erio, who was relatively calm compared to the other children, asked Akira who seemed to be preparing for a fight.

“Uhmmm, is there anything wrong?”

“It’s just to be safe since it seems that a vehicle is heading this way. If you’re worried, you may hide somewhere.”

“H-Hide? Is it going to be dangerous?”