Translator: Athena13

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

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?”

“It’s just that I don’t really trust those people that I meet in the wasteland by pure coincidence. You still remember the trouble that we had when we were in Higaraka residence ruin, right? That’s exactly why.”

“I-I see!”

After Erio told the other children what was going on, they moved to nearby wreckage to hide. Akira, who already finished arming himself, was left alone standing near the vehicle.

Akira checked the vehicle that was coming closer. It was obvious that they were heading straight to him, it was not out of a coincidence. When Akira focused his vision on that vehicle, Alpha enhanced his vision which allowed him to clearly see its passengers.

One of the passengers recognised Akira and lightly waved at him. Although the vehicle was still a bit away from him, that girl was clearly looking at Akira.

Akira lowered his guard and looked slightly annoyed. Reina’s group was in that vehicle, and the girl waving at him was Kanae.

That vehicle stopped not too far in front of Akira, Reina and her maids then stepped off from the vehicle. Shiori and Kanae were wearing maid outfits, just like usual, but Reina was donning a new augmented suit.

Kanae smiled happily at Akira and said to him.

“Young boy!! Long time no see!!”

“…You’re right.”

In contrast to Kanae’s energetic voice, Akira replied rather apathetically. Kanae looked slightly disappointed as she continued.

“You don’t sound that happy. That’s not good enough, no no no.”

“Hell if I care!”

Akira’s gaze shifted from Kanae to Shiori.

“So, what is it?”

Shiori properly started with an opening.

“It has been quite a while since the last time we saw each other, I’m glad that you’re doing fine. We spotted you on our way back to the city, so we thought at least we can say hello.”

“…That’s it?”

“Yes, we don’t have any other particular business. If I have to add something, it’s because someone really wanted to see you and we did not have any reason to refuse it.”

Akira glanced at Kanae, looked completely convinced with a mix of a little sympathy, and said.

“Ahhh… I see.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Shiori lightly bowed and confirmed Akira’s guess.

Akira guessed that Reina and Shiori were simply dragged along by Kanae. But that was not exactly true, indeed it was Kanae who spotted Akira’s vehicle and suggested visiting him, but the biggest reason why they did that was because Reina gave her permission. If Reina seemed to have any objections to it even in the slightest, or if she actually did not really care, Shiori would not have replied in such a concise manner.

Reina seemed a little nervous as she stood in front of Akira.

“Uhmmm… Long time no see, what are you doing in this place?”

“Just a training with some people that I know…”

Akira then explained what he was doing there to Reina and Shiori while Erio and the other children were watching them from afar.

Erio and the other children thought that there was no danger at all as they came out from hiding. But they did not have the courage to get any closer when they saw two of them were in maid outfit and the remaining one, assumed to be the master of those maids, was a beautiful girl with expensive-looking equipment. It was obvious that they were living in two completely different worlds, that fact intimidated them and they did not have the courage to come any closer.

But even so, they were still curious about what Akira and the others were talking about. Erio and the other children were talking to each other about their impression of Reina, Shiori and Kanae.

“Are they Akira-san’s acquaintances? What can I say… They’re really something.”

“Those are what you call maids, right? I wonder if they’re from the inner wall. So why does Akira know them?”

“It might be from a bodyguard job or something since he’s a Hunter. But still, they don’t look like common people. They have this high-class aura around them, unlike those girls from the gang.”

“So basically, Hunters who are doing well get to know those kinds of people, huh? I bet if we can earn as much money as Akira-san, we’ll get to know people like them too.”

All of them agreed that the Hunter supporting their gang was indeed a great Hunter, but past that, all of them had different impressions of Akira. Some of them felt hopeless after knowing how large the gap between them was. Some of them got a little more motivated thinking that if they continued training, they might get as strong as Akira one day. Some of them did not let it bother them that much even after knowing that they were basically living in two different worlds. People would have a different opinion, hope and impression even when they looked at the same thing. And the stronger their feeling to move forward, the faster they would reach the position they admired.

Kanae understood the situation after hearing Akira’s explanation, she then smiled mischievously as a question came up in her mind.

“Ohhh, so you’re doing that kind of training, huh? But with your current skill, I don’t think this training has any use to you though? No matter how many of them, if they’re only amateurs with rifles, I don’t think it can pose any trouble for you.”

Depending on how Akira took it, it might sound like a provocation to him, but he did not get bothered at all as he just casually replied.

“Well, about that, you see, I made some adjustments to compensate for that, so it’s okay.”

From what Akira said, Kanae tried to gauge if it was just him being humble, or if he was simply too dense, or if that was the truth. If that was the truth, that would mean that he was not that strong, or that adjustment that he mentioned was really effective, or it might be even both. Kanae once guessed the reason behind Akira’s real strength and lost interest in him. But after a certain rumour reached her, she got interested in him again.

“I see. In that case, how about letting Milady try a round in that training?”

Reina did not expect that at all.

“W-what? Me?”

“Yup. Akira said that it’s good enough for his training. So it might be a good chance to see how good you are after you got the new equipment and went through your training with us. Not to mention, if Milady keeps training only with us, you’ll get used to our movement and might get bored too. So, since we’re here already, how about giving it a try?”

Reina flusteredly looked at Akira and Shiori. At least, at the moment, none of them looked against it.

Akira then lightly warned her.

“I don’t really mind, but just to let you know, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

Shiori immediately asked a question with a serious face.

“Is it something dangerous? From what I can understand, you are using empty magazines with no bullets and the hits are only decided based on trajectory line calculation, right?”

“I don’t think that it’s dangerous. But it’s not like I gave all of their magazines a check. Moreover, we’re in the middle of the wasteland, monsters might appear in the middle of the training. So I won’t take any responsibility for safety. After all, it’s not like I’m doing a request from you or anything, so I don’t want to get blamed if something were to happen later.”

Before Shiori could say anything, Reina immediately interjected.

“I’ll do it!”

Shiori seemed to be against it, so Reina begged her.

“Shiori, please, I want to give it a try.”

Shiori smiled as if she had given up.

“…Very well.”

“Then, it’s been decided.”

Kanae smiled amusedly that things were going as she planned.

Akira told Erio and the other children what was going on, so they immediately started preparing. Although they were surprised by that sudden mock battle, they seemed to be looking forward to it. Just to be safe, Shiori checked all the training equipment and gave them a full body check, some of the children just let Shiori do that although they were embarrassed and were blushing.

Once the preparation was done, they took their position. Other than Reina taking Akira’s place, there were no other changes. But just to be safe, close combat was prohibited. After all, if Reina punched or threw Erio or the other children, that would definitely kill them.

Reina gathered her focus and waited for the start signal.

“…Akira’s winning rate in this mock battle is about 50%. I wonder how I will perform. If I can get a better winning rate than him, even if it’s thanks to my equipment, it should be enough of a reason to recognize that I’ve gotten stronger. Alright then! Let’s do this!!”

Reina fired up herself for this chance to check how strong she was. But once the mock battle started, she immediately realized something weird. Reina kept winning. Considering her talent as a Hunter and her new equipment that Shiori had especially prepared for her, that result was to be expected. But even so, it was way too easy that she started to question her strength instead.

[Is that all? Or is it because my new equipment is too good? No, even if that’s true, I should not get too prideful. That’s what I’ve decided after all… But, does Akira really have a hard time in this level of mock battle?]

Although Reina felt it was strange, she did not lower her guard and took the training seriously.

Akira, Shiori and Kanae were watching the mock battle from not too far away. They were able to get a birds-eye view of the mock battle from above a crumbled building. They were looking at the individual positions shown in Akira’s information terminal and through the camera installed on the goggles.

Seeing how Reina kept getting overwhelming victories, Kanae brusquely complained to Akira.

“…Seriously now, is that all they got? With just this much, they won’t provide you much training, you know.”

“Like I said, I put some extra adjustments to take care of that.”

“If that’s the case, can you turn on this adjustment that you’re talking about?”

“Alright.”

Akira operated his information terminal while talking to Alpha.

“Alpha, can you give some support to Erio and the other children?”

“Sure. I don’t like it either when Kanae says you’re having a hard time fighting that level of opponents, is it okay if I set my support level a bit high?”

“I leave that decision to you, but don’t make them too strong that I won’t be able to win against them even if I try.”

“Then in that case, how far are you willing to go to defeat them when they have my support?”

Akira’s face twitched but it immediately returned back to normal.

“…It’s a training, so I won’t do anything reckless.”

“Very well.”

Alpha smiled, she understood Akira was basically saying there was no need to use medicine while breaking his own body unless it was a real fight. She then made some adjustments as Akira asked her to.

Reina frowned, she noticed that Erio and the other children were moving a bit differently now.

[…I feel like they’re moving differently all of a sudden, or is it just my imagination?]

Reina kept carefully repositioning herself, checking her information terminal, and setting up ambushes. Normal people would not even be able to react to Reina’s ambush. But Erio and the other children looked less and less surprised. Then finally, during a certain round, one of them suddenly jumped out from behind a wreckage as if that boy was lying in ambush for Reina.

[No, this is because they know my position!!]

A notification appeared on the goggles that Reina was wearing, she borrowed that from Akira. After she read the message in that goggles, she smiled wryly as she understood very well what was going on. The message said that her position was broadcasted to everyone every 10 seconds.

[I see, so this is the adjustment that Akira was talking about. But this is nothing!!]

Reina got even fired up for the training. She then continued the mock battle, won that round, and happily challenged the next round.

But that did continue for long, every time Reina won, a new message appeared on her goggles. The handicap given to her was getting bigger and bigger.

Her position that was originally broadcasted in a fixed interval changed so that it was broadcasted constantly. Her opponents had to take a proper aim to hit her before, but now, they could even just use one hand to hold their rifles to register a hit. Up until now, a hit would be enough to register a kill, but now she needed multiple hits and that number kept increasing. Her opponents started to get more bullets per magazine to the point that it was virtually unlimited. Moreover, her opponents’ bullets started to pierce through wreckages and rubbles.

Reina used her expensive and advanced equipment to the best that she could as she fought desperately, thus showing a fight that was worthy of those equipment. But just as expected, she got shot and lost. After her winning chance dropped way lower than 50%, some of the handicaps were removed and she finally got a victory after a long streak of losing. After that, her handicap got readjusted every time she lost or won until her winning chance was stable around 50 per cent.

Reina smiled bitterly and mumbled.

“So this is what he meant when he said that he only had 50% winning chance.”

But then she smiled as if she just decided to forget about it and said.

“But well, I still can give a good fight with all of these handicaps, I think it should be enough as proof that I’ve gotten stronger. It might be all thanks to my new equipment. If I had these equipment back in the Seranthal building, I would have been able to fight better… I understand it very well now, it’s all because of my stupid pride.”

Reina realised that her resolve to get stronger from back then was the correct decision and smiled.

It was the right time to end the training. Since Akira did not tell her to rest, she kept on doing the mock battles, but as expected, she overdid it. As Reina thought so, she decided to return back to Akira and Shiori.

When she returned back to Shiori, Reina was dumbfounded seeing Akira engaged in a fight with Kanae.

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