Rebuild world volume 1 p.., p.1
Rebuild World: Volume 1 Part 2, page 1
Chapter 15: Thank-yous and Debts
Akira found himself standing in the midst of an endless whiteness, a space as barren as if it had never finished being created. But he felt neither nervous nor surprised; at some dim level of awareness, he realized that he was dreaming.
A gorgeous woman stood beside him. Her face, almost impossibly beautiful, revealed her to be Alpha, the woman he had met under mysterious circumstances back on his first day as a hunter in the Kuzusuhara Town Ruins. Although she looked perfectly real to him, no one could touch her, and almost no one could even see or hear her. But despite her secrets, to him she was his savior. She always wore a cheerful smile for him, except when he was in danger, and so he always thought of her as having that expression.
Which was why he was slow to recognize her now. Her face was blank, and her gaze focused straight ahead, like a puppet without a puppeteer. Yet he could hear her speaking:
“Attempt number one: failure. Destination not reached. Continuation impossible due to death of subject. Support procedures require review.”
She spoke as if she were merely reading through some records. Her voice gave no indication of interest as she continued:
“Attempt number two: failure. Destination not reached. Continuation impossible due to death of subject. Combat support procedures require review.”
She rattled off a few more records. “Attempt number fifteen: failure. Destination not reached. Continuation impossible due to breach of contract. Subject living but declined request due to injury. Guidance procedures require adjustment.
“Attempt number sixteen: failure. Area One reached. Continuation impossible due to death of subject. Combat support procedures require additional review.”
Alpha’s expression never changed. Was she completely oblivious to Akira’s presence?
“Attempt number eighty-seven: failure. Area Seven reached. Continuation impossible due to death of subject. Combat support procedures require additional review.
“Attempt number eighty-eight: failure. Area Four reached. Continuation impossible due to breach of contract. Subject living but declined request due to loss of motivation. Guidance procedures require adjustment.”
She kept droning on, but gradually a pattern emerged from her words, a story of slow but persistent progress toward some unknown goal.
“Attempt number 497: failure. Area Nine reached. Continuation impossible due to death of subject. Combat support procedures require additional review.
“Attempt number 498: failure. Final area reached. Continuation impossible due to breach of contract. Subject entirely hostile. Disposal complete. Overall guidance procedures require additional review.”
And then there was one last item, different from all the ones that came before:
“Attempt number 499: in progress. Destination not reached. Assessing particulars. End of report.”
When Alpha finished speaking, the infinite whiteness vanished. All that was left was her figure, standing out clearly in the total darkness, and even that quickly dimmed, blurred, and melted away. Akira’s consciousness faded with her, until at last all awareness was gone.
Akira woke with the lingering sensation that he’d had a strange dream, but he couldn’t recall what it was about. Then he realized that he was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room, and the shock swept away any trace of the dream from his mind. Not long ago, Akira would have leaped up and begun scanning his surroundings in a panic. But now he was surprised rather than alarmed, his mind still muddled with sleep.
Back in the alleyways of the slums—his old home—this sort of carelessness might have gotten him killed. But he’d been living better since becoming a hunter, and as even the cheapest hotel was far safer than the streets, he no longer woke up on full alert. His greatest source of confidence, however, was the now-familiar person watching him, her usual smile reassuring him that all was well—Alpha.
Good morning, Akira, she said. Did you sleep well?
Akira sat up in bed and attempted to put two and two together.
The room looked too lived-in for a hotel. His body had been wiped clean of the blood and muck of battle, and his clothes had been exchanged for a set of lightweight white pajamas. He was in perfect health—totally rested, refreshed, and free from pain. So his sleepy brain turned to other questions.
Morning, Alpha. Where are we? he asked with evident confusion.
Alpha simply pointed to the door, just as a woman he recognized walked in.
“Akira! I didn’t know you were awake,” said the newcomer, surprised to see him up.
Her name was Sara, and she was one of a pair of female hunters whom Akira had once rescued. But he had kept out of sight at the time and avoided contact with them afterward, so they didn’t recognize him as their savior. Sara used nanomachines to enhance her physical powers; she kept her supply stored in her chest, which grew or shrank accordingly. At the moment, both had definitely been growing. Out in the wasteland, she had to squeeze her swollen breasts into an elastic suit of body armor; at home, however, she wanted to give them some room to breathe. Showing a little skin was a small price to pay for comfort, and so all she wore at the moment was a baggy shirt—large enough for her greatest bust size—and her underwear.
“How do you feel?” she asked, smiling with concern as she approached the boy. “Don’t force yourself out of bed if you’re not feeling up to it yet.”
Akira took her easygoing attitude as a sign that they were in a safe place.
“I’m, uh, fine,” he said truthfully.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Sara replied, relieved to see him in good health. “Welcome to Elena’s and my home. Don’t worry about your stuff; it’s all in the other room. We washed your clothes and put them there too, but I can bring them over if you want to change.”
“Oh, I’ll get them myself.”
“Let me. You’re a guest, so take it easy. I’ll be back with them in a sec.”
Akira had been caught up in the moment until Sara left the room. But once the door closed behind her, he began to panic.
Alpha, what’s going on?! he demanded.
First of all, you’re in a safe place, so calm down, Alpha replied serenely.
Easy for you to say, he grumbled.
They’ll get suspicious if you know too much right after waking up here, and you can’t exactly tell them that you got the details from me. Start by trying to remember as much as you can about what happened before you passed out.
I passed out? Akira repeated uncertainly. Then he remembered. Oh, that’s right. I collapsed in the truck after the fight with all those monsters.
◆
Shortly before Akira fainted, a pack of monsters had attacked him in the desert. The beasts had been pursuing the truck of a merchant named Katsuragi, and poor Akira had gotten caught up in their assault. Even when Akira and the traders had joined forces, they’d stood no chance against the vast horde. There they would have fallen, lost in the billows of dust that arose in the monsters’ wake, had not Sara and her partner Elena come to their rescue, responding to an emergency job request that Katsuragi had posted online during the chase.
The jaded Akira, used to his rotten luck, found it difficult to believe that hunters he had once saved had just happened to save him in turn. Inside the trailer of Katsuragi’s semitruck, which doubled as a mobile store, he bowed to Sara and said, “Thank you so much for saving us. I would have died without you.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m getting paid,” she replied, smiling. “The job turned out easier than we expected because you guys took out so many of them.”
As they chatted, Sara showed Akira her good-luck charm—a pendant fashioned from a rifle cartridge, which she wore nestled in her cleavage. The sight grabbed Akira’s attention, and Alpha was quick to tease him for it. Akira quickly turned their conversation to the trailer’s cargo.
Meanwhile, Elena and Katsuragi negotiated the compensation for the emergency listing.
“You’re broke? Are you kidding me?” Elena demanded.
“No, no—not broke, exactly,” Katsuragi hastily responded, flinching. “Don’t get me wrong: I have every intention of paying you. I’m just a little short on liquid assets at the moment.”
The attractive Elena glared at him even harder. “If you couldn’t pay on the spot, you should have put a special clause in your listing. Do you realize how much our ammo cost?”
“I...I know, but it was an emergency listing,” Katsuragi argued, reflecting privately that it was unwise to anger a beautiful woman—especially one who had just annihilated a swarm of monsters. “You can’t expect me to stop so I can write out those little details while I’m running for my life! I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on you, I swear! Look at the merchandise we’ve hauled all this way!” Katsuragi made a broad sweep with his arm that indicated his cargo of high-end gear, which he had transported at risk of his life from the Front Line. Such equipment was out of reach of all but the most successful hunters. “A hunter like you ought to know what a fortune all this gear will sell for! Just be patient, and I’ll have your money in next to no time—plus a little extra to sweeten the deal, of course! How does that sound?”
Seeing that the trader wasn’t all talk, Elena calmed down a bit. She eyed the cargo appraisingly, considering the proposal. Katsuragi watched her closely, looking for the right moment to seal the deal.
Akira took the opportunity to examine the goods as well, as did Sara, who—experienced as she was—ha
Even Alpha seemed a little impressed by the quality of the equipment. I can hardly wait until you can use advanced weapons like these, Akira, she remarked.
Be patient, I’m working on it, he replied. Which one would you like me to work toward, hypothetically speaking?
Of the selection here? This one, I suppose. Alpha pointed to a cannon that looked far too massive for an ordinary human to carry. The cumbersome barrel, with its enormous dark mouth, looked more appropriate for a humanoid mech. On its side it bore the logo of its manufacturer.
No way in hell could I lug this thing around, Akira protested.
Wait until you get a powered suit. Naturally, a gun like this is out of the question until then.
A powered suit, huh? Sounds pricey. And I can’t even imagine how much one of these guns costs.
That’s true, putting together a set of gear to match this gun won’t be easy, Alpha admitted. I suppose I’ll have to be a little patient after all.
Akira reflected that he would need gear like this someday if he ever hoped to hold up his end of his deal with Alpha. Thinking of how much work it would take to get there, he groaned.
Just then, Sara followed his gaze, and her eye fell upon the same weapon. “Wow! Check this out, Elena!” she cried. “They’ve got a Ragnarok!”
Elena hurried over, equally surprised at finding a weapon they had only ever seen online. “You’re not kidding!” she said. “Doesn’t this thing fire annihilation warheads?”
“You bet it does,” Katsuragi interjected, swaggering up to emphasize his financial prospects. “It’s the cream of this shipment. If you knew what I went through to get my hands on—” The merchant noticed the way Elena was eyeing the gun and suddenly grew apprehensive. “Wait, what do you have in mind?”
“You could just barely handle it, couldn’t you, Sara?” Elena murmured, wearing the smile she reserved for haggling.
“Hang on! Let’s not rush things!” Katsuragi pleaded frantically. “Don’t ask the impossible! I can’t give that up!”
“But unless you have money, we’ll just have to select our payment from your stock.”
“Be reasonable! That gun’s worth way more than I owe you!”
“You’re the one being unreasonable here,” Elena snapped, spearing the merchant with a glare. “Do you expect us to sit around waiting for our money? You haven’t covered our ammo or our fee, and we don’t know when—or even if—you’ll be able to. We have lives to live too, you know.”
Katsuragi recognized that Elena’s anger was partly a negotiating tactic, but he was still at a loss to respond. As a businessman, he knew that it was his fault if he couldn’t pay. He himself had had no scruples about taking the money, goods, rights, and sometimes even lives of defaulting customers in the past. Realizing that he didn’t have a leg to stand on, and sensing that Akira and Elena were acquainted, he cast a pleading look at the boy.
Does he expect me to bail him out? Akira wondered.
I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but don’t butt in and get yourself mixed up in their business, Alpha cautioned.
I know. Akira held his peace and looked away from the trader. If he sided with anyone, it would be with the hunters who had just saved his life.
Katsuragi looked glum, as if hurt by a close companion—all a ploy to solicit sympathy, of course. Elena, however, seemed utterly unmoved, so he sighed and grimly persevered in bargaining from a position of weakness. In the end, thanks in part to his heartfelt pleas, he managed to strike a deal: Elena and Sara would stay on as the merchant’s bodyguards—for an additional fee, of course—and he would forfeit the Ragnarok to them if he failed to pay up by a set date. The hunters agreed, as much to keep an eye on the traders as for the money.
I guess negotiating’s harder than it looks, Akira commented, impressed by their cutthroat bargaining.
With all that money on the line? Absolutely, Alpha replied brightly. You risk your life hunting to get paid too, remember? They put everything on the line for the things they’re haggling over, so it’s no surprise that they brought out every trick in the book.
I get that. I was just thinking that I could never argue like that. Although I guess I’ll have to someday. He had just witnessed a clash between veterans, and the skirmish—so different from the kind of fighting he was used to—had shaken his confidence.
Have no fear, Alpha responded with self-assurance. You’ve got my support! So don’t worry about trap clauses or tricky contracts—just leave that side of things to me.
Thanks. You’re a real lifesaver. Suddenly, the boy’s vision blurred. Huh?
Is something wrong?
Not really, but my eyesight’s a little off.
Everything around him began to swim and fade out. His strength gave out, and he collapsed on the spot, unable to pick himself up. Vaguely, he saw Elena and Sara rushing toward him. He thought that they were saying something, but he couldn’t make out the words—only that they seemed frantic.
Yet somehow he could still see and hear Alpha clearly. The difference did not strike him as strange.
Well, you’re bound to be physically and mentally exhausted after going up against that many monsters, she said, smiling down at him as usual. It’s all right now, so get some rest.
Her reassurance helped calm his muddled thoughts, and he promptly blacked out.
◆
Despite remembering everything leading up to that moment, Akira still didn’t understand how he’d ended up sleeping in Elena and Sara’s home.
Is some of it coming back to you now? Try asking Sara for the details next, Alpha said, seeing his look of confusion return. I’ll fill you in on the rest later, okay?
All right, Akira agreed. But it proved impossible for him to wait calmly for Sara’s return. He knew he was safe, yet felt nervous anyway—and the paradox made him feel even more agitated. So he was hardly at ease when Sara returned with his clothes. The fact that she remained watching as he dressed himself did nothing to help.
“Would you like a hand?” Sara asked kindly, mistaking his awkward movements for signs that he was not fully recovered.
“I...I’m good,” he managed to say.
“Are you sure? You shouldn’t push yourself when you’re just getting back on your feet.”
It felt so strange to Akira to have someone sounding concerned for him that he found himself struggling even more with his clothes—until he noticed Alpha laughing at him. After that, he took care to stay calm and quickly finished changing.
“Um, Sara, would you mind bringing me up to speed?” he asked, pulling himself together. “I remember everything until I passed out in Katsuragi’s truck, but, uh, nothing after that.”
“Of course,” Sara replied, nodding sympathetically, and sat down beside him. “For starters, you’ve been out of it for three days.”
Akira started. Sara looked him in the eye and gently recounted what he had missed out on. As soon as he had collapsed, she and Elena had checked to make sure he didn’t have any major external injuries. Stains on his clothes showed that he’d suffered considerable blood loss, but the medicine he’d taken preemptively had fully closed his wounds and kept his breathing and pulse stable. The massive doses that he’d taken in quick succession had healed his injuries so rapidly that they’d left scars, but that was all—nothing worse. So the hunters had concluded, to their relief, that his condition was stable and that, even in the worst case, his life was in no danger.
“You really frightened me when you collapsed,” Sara added. “I’m glad you’re all right. And I’m sorry for pushing you to stay on your feet when you were that worn out from fighting.”
“Don’t be,” Akira replied. “I thought I was fine too, right up until everything suddenly went black. Sorry I startled you.”
With Akira out cold, Elena and Sara had urged Katsuragi and Darius to hurry back to the city, and the merchants had raised no objections. Since Akira had shown no sign of waking, the hunters had decided to bring him to their home and put him on bed rest until he recovered on his own. As far as they could tell, he was suffering from an overdose of medicine—not fatal, but probably requiring several days of sleep.
“Elena, Katsuragi, Darius, and I all talked it over and decided that you weren’t in bad enough shape to need a hospital visit,” Sara added.
