Translator: Athena13

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

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.”

Kanae’s expression turned to a smile.

“No no no, Akira boy, you can’t put too much trust on rifles. As in matter of fact, even when we already have rifles and tanks now, people are still polishing martial arts, right? If you get yourself an augmented suit designed for close combat, you should be able to fight monsters just fine. There are actually more Hunters than you think out there who don’t use rifles to fight monsters, or at least, there are enough of them for corporations to make equipments for.”

“In my opinion, I would rather shoot them from afar with a rifle than getting close to fight them. In the first place, when you bring up that talk about augmented suits designed for close combat, it already means that equipment is more important, right?”

“Akira boy, equipment alone is not enough. It’s also important for you to train yourself and get yourself familiar with those equipments.”

“That’s exactly why I did say training and equipment, yes? Hunters can die anytime, so we can’t afford to spend too much time training. I’m just saying that it’s better to get the best equipment you can afford to compensate for that. So why does that make me one of those stupid people?”

But then Kanae firmly replied.

“That’s because you picked a bad analogy there.”

“…I-Is that so? I see.”

Akira just accepted that answer although he was not 100% convinced by it. No matter what the subject was, it had some convincing power when you said it firmly after all. Even more so when it came to someone like Akira who had no confidence in his own knowledge and common sense.

Reina listened seriously to that conversation and thought about it, it did surprise her and made her unsure. After hesitating for a bit, she then said to Akira.

“…Uhh, but even if you say to get the best equipment that I can afford, I heard that it might cause me to mistake the power of my equipment as my own skill, get ahead of myself, and get myself killed instead though…”

Akira replied casually.

“If getting ahead of yourself only gets you killed, then you just need not get ahead of yourself. It’ll at least reduce the chance that you might get killed by something else other than getting ahead of yourself. So, if I have to choose, rather than lowering my equipment just so that I won’t get ahead of myself, I would rather get good equipment enough for me to get ahead of myself but be extra careful so I won’t actually get ahead of myself.”

It was something that was easy to say but difficult to practice. In the case of Akira, although he had Alpha’s support which was great ‘equipment’, he got himself almost killed several times, which was why it was easy for him to not get ahead of himself.

Reina then asked another question.

“…There are a lot of stupid people like what Kanae said, they get ahead of themselves just because they have powerful equipment, so, what’s your opinion about them?”

“…Hmmm, even if you ask me so…”

“Let’s say that you get your hands on a powerful equipment and someone sees you using it, do you get bothered by how people would think of you? Or what’s your own opinion about yourself in that situation? Things like that.”

Reina asked with a serious face, she looked rather desperate as she was waiting for Akira’s answer.

Akira was a bit confused since he did not understand how Reina’s question connected to her expression, but since they were paying for his meal, Akira seriously thought about it first before replying.

“…I’ll be extra careful so no one would catch me off guard and try to attack me out of the blue?”

Hearing that answer, Reina was completely dumbfounded, Shiori was lightly surprised, while Kanae just smiled bitterly. Akira realized that he just gave a rather weird answer, so he tried to just let that slide as he focused back on his meal.

What Reina wanted to ask about was Akira’s opinion regarding those people, whether Akira felt disgusted, hatred, envy, jealousy, or anything like that. But his answer did not even touch that subject at all.

So in other words, Akira was simply saying that those things were irrelevant. His answer really hit Reina hard, it felt like he just indirectly gave a harsh critique to her who was always bothered by it.

While listening to that conversation, Shiori checked on Reina after Akira gave his answer while thinking about what to adjust in Reina’s equipment. She then said to Akira.

“In that case, Akira-sama. Let’s say that there’s someone who is against using high-level equipment that doesn’t match that person’s real skill and let’s say that you have to convince that person to do so, what would you say to that person?”

Reina immediately looked at Shiori, there was a trace of reproach in her gaze toward Shiori. But Shiori did not look back as she fixed her gaze at Akira.

Shiori had recommended Reina to renew her equipment several times in the past, but Reina always refused it.

In Drankam, Hunters were allowed to borrow equipment from the gang depending on their Hunter Ranks. The higher their Hunter Ranks, the better the equipment they could borrow. That was one of the reasons why the young Hunters in Drankam prioritized raising their Hunter Ranks.

Most of the equipment used by the young Hunters in Drankam were borrowed equipment. Only some of them were using their own equipment. Reina was no exception.

In contrast to that, most of the equipment used by the veteran Hunters were their own equipment. Of course, they could borrow equipment from Drankam too, but the available equipment for them to borrow with their Hunter Ranks were mostly weaker than what they already had.

This basically stemmed from that program to give preferential treatment for the young Hunters. Since they raised the quality of the equipment available to borrow for low ranking Hunters, the high ranking equipment did not get much attention and was left with rather low-quality equipment. Thanks to that, the quality of the available equipment leaned toward the low ranking young Hunters. It was also in order to increase the survivability rate of the young Hunters as this policy did produce results.

In the long run, it would allow more Hunters to gather more experience. It was a good thing for the gang. But that was also enough to earn some grudge from the veteran Hunters as they mocked those young Hunters as stupid people who mistook the power of their equipments as their own skill.

Reina was bothered by that kind of thing. It was because she was in a position where she could get better equipments if she wanted to.

But even so, Shiori still recommended Reina to get better equipment. There was no problem with getting better equipment on her own. And by getting better equipment with money, she would be seen as a fool who had nothing other than her equipment not only by the veteran Hunters but also by the other young Hunters and Katsuya’s faction.

Although Shiori asked that question casually, there was a sense of seriousness leaking behind it, and it made Akira a bit confused. But still, since he was there because they paid for the meals, Akira seriously thought about it before giving his answer.

He casually said.

“I won’t even try to do that.”

Shiori was surprised.

“It’s not about whether you’ll try or not, it’s more about what would you say to that person if you have to try to convince that person…”

“This is only my guess, but I’m sure that person has his own reason not to do that. For example, that person might not be buying better equipment because of money. Maybe he is able to purchase better equipment anytime he wants. Then, he must not be doing so out of a certain personal reason, it might be because of some kind of value that he sticks to, or that if he does, then it would be completely out of his selfishness. I’m sure he doesn’t want to buy better equipments because of reasons like that, right? After all, although he can do his job much more safely by getting better equipment, he’s not doing that out of his own volition, right? So, to put it simply, he must be risking his life out of his pride or something, he must be ready to die when he forces his pride like that. Even if for the other people, that reason is just simply ridiculous or foolish, for him, that reason must be important enough for him to just ignore that fact and push with his own selfishness and pride. So for someone who has resolved that much, I’m sure it would be useless no matter how much a stranger like me tries to reproach him. So I don’t think I have any chance to convince that person. I can also understand the strength of those people who have resolved themselves, that’s why, since even trying would be meaningless, so I would have given up right from the start.”

After Akira said that, he glanced at Shiori to check if he said anything strange again or not. Kanae was just smiling mischievously. Shiori was also smiling, it was near impossible to read what she was thinking behind that smile. While Reina looked down with a stern face.

Akira, who sensed how awkward the mood got, thought that he might have said something strange again.

“…Well. If I have to at least try even though I know that it would be completely useless, so that I can say that I’ve tried, then I would at least speak up about it…”

Shiori lightly nodded while smiling.

“Thank you very much for your valuable opinion.”

Akira got flustered a bit.

“…Uhh, well, I’m sorry that I only gave you an answer that might not be useful at all…”

“Please don’t be, it’s a very valuable opinion.”

Shiori was honestly smiling right from the bottom of her heart.

Akira still felt slightly awkward as he returned to his meal. Shiori and Kanae also started eating again, but Reina was still looking down for some time before she started eating too.

After that, they continued enjoying their meals while talking to each other. Although he was a bit bothered by how Reina was reacting, since Kanae and Shiori did not say anything, Akira decided not to say anything too.

As they continued enjoying their meal and slowly reaching the end, Reina started to show some changes. She raised her head and seemed to be seriously thinking about something as hesitation slowly erased from her expression.

When Akira finished his meal and drank his coffee, Reina’s expression had already changed to a more resolved one.

After they were done, Akira deeply bowed to Shiori.

“Thank you very much for the meal. It was a great meal, thank you again.”

Shiori smiled at Akira and replied.

“Likewise, thank you very much. If the chance presents itself again, I hope that you would accept my invitation.”

Akira smiled bitterly.

“Of course… But if it’s possible, I hope it won’t be after doing something as risky as this the next time.”

“I can’t agree more.”

Shiori was smiling happily when she said that.

Akira then left that building and stretched out his body.

“Well well well, that was really great. I sure want to go to that restaurant again, I wonder how long will it be for the next time though.”

Seeing how Akira sounded a bit sad, Alpha smiled at him and said.

“You can go to that restaurant with your own money next time, you know?”

“Stop it, don’t try to tempt me like that. I might really end up going there with my own money if you do that.”

“It would be troublesome for me if you don’t grow up to be a powerful Hunter who thinks that amount of money is nothing but a spare change, you know. Although I think it’ll take some time until you can do that, let’s be patient and keep giving our best, okay?”

“I know, so please wait patiently for me until I can be that strong.”

Akira replied with an uppity tone, he then walked back home while chatting with Alpha.

While on the other hand, Reina, Shiori, and Kanae were still inside the restaurant. They were sitting at their table, the plates and coffee cups were already cleaned off. They were just sitting in their respective seats while waiting.

Kanae looked rather bored. Shiori waited silently without saying anything. Both of them were waiting for Reina to finish reorganizing her feelings.

After listening to Akira’s answer, she asked herself some questions and came up with a conclusion.

[Akira did say that I’m risking my life only out of my selfishness, that I must have a reason that I think is important enough to do so, and that he won’t even try to convince me since I must have resolved myself… But that’s not true, I don’t have that kind of resolve. That’s why, it’s just out of my selfishness, nothing more. It’s out of my vain pride, I endangered myself as well as Shiori and Kanae because of something like that. I’ll be able to do better if I get better equipment. I didn’t even notice that although it was something so simple that those stupid Hunters always say.]

Reina then looked at Kanae and Shiori, she made her resolve and said.

“Shiori, Kanae, I’m really sorry about everything until now.”

Reina then asked Shiori with a serious face.

“Shiori, I know that I’ve always refused it, but can you please help me renew my equipment? If it’s possible, I want to get the best equipment available. I don’t mind what others might say of me.”

Shiori smiled happily.

“Of course, you can count on me, Milady.”

With seriousness still on her face, Reina turned to Kanae and said.

“Kanae, I’ll be counting on you to protect me.”

Kanae was smiling like usual.

“Sure, that’s my job in the first place after all.”

Reina then continued.

“And also, if I may, I want both of you to train me so that I’ll become skilled enough to use the equipment that I’ll be using from here and on, and so that others will not think that I’m fully reliant on my equipment.”

Kanae gave a challenging smile.

“Milady, are you sure you want to do that? It’ll be hard training, you know?”

“I’ve decided to do it.”

Reina’s resolve was obvious from her tone.

So Kanae smiled back at her and said.

“Ohh, that’s great then!! It seems that Milady will finally graduate from being a total amateur! I had a lot of thoughts about it when Milady decided to challenge a dangerous place without proper skill and equipment and was fully relying on Milady’s bodyguard. But this time, Milady will finally be able to start as a proper beginner.”

Shiori then joined in, she had a serious expression as she said.

“Well then, in that case, first I’ll remove all the scheduled training in Drankam. From here, Milady will be training with both of us. Since it won’t be an easy training, I hope that Milady is ready… And also, Kanae!! Watch your mouth!!”

Shiori glared at Kanae, but Kanae just glanced at her and ignored it.

Reina thought of what lied in front of her and repeated her questions and answers inside her head.

[What should I do to become stronger? It’s simple, I just need to decide to be strong and put real effort into becoming stronger. I wasn’t even doing that until now, but this time, I’ll properly become stronger!!]

Reina made her resolve to attain strength with her own effort.

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