In the ruins, Elena and Sarah keep searching for footprints and finally find the footprints of a child. The footprints they found were light and could easily be wiped off if air blew through them. The reason why I was able to find that trace was because of Elena's tenacity and skill. This is definitely Akira's footprint. So, they continued their search with anticipation, hoping to find the rumored unexplored area.

But it didn't work out. They followed the footprints into an abandoned building and searched the entire place, finding nothing of value inside. Still, they continued their search as they found similar footprints in the building. On the other hand, the colorless fog is getting thicker and thicker.

It didn't take long for Sarah to realize that the colorless mist had become so thick that through the binoculars, her vision had blurred. To be on the safe side, she asked Elena.

"Elena, the colorless mist is getting thicker. Can it continue here? ”

Ele

A replied to Sa after an inconspicuous pause

a.

“… Never mind. Although it is starting to affect information gathering devices. We had to quit the search, which wasn't bad. ”

"Is that so? Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if you said that. ”

Elena then asked Sarah in a worried tone.

"What about you? You okay? If the colorless fog starts to negatively affect your nanomachines, we will evacuate immediately. So, if there is, please let me know and don't hide it, okay? ”

"I'm fine. I can't say that it doesn't affect me at all, but I'm fine now. ”

"Well, if you say so. Don't push yourself too hard, though, okay? ”

Sara smiled mischievously at Elena and told her to stop worrying.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine. In a moment's time, I will run away with you on my back. So I have a lot of energy to spare, you know. ”

Elena immediately replied with a smile.

"Oh my gosh, are you trying to call me fat?"

"Nope! I'm talking about your device. It doesn't get any deeper than that. That's all. I'm telling you, that's all. ”

Ele

a and sa

A laughed as they teased each other. At least they can confirm that they're really okay.

Elena didn't lie. Although the fog affected the information gathering device, the effect was not bad. However, it is not good if the fog is a little thicker, and it seems that it is very likely.

If it were another day, Elena would have decided to quit because of the danger. But she couldn't do it today. If they go home empty-handed, they won't get any money. If their financial situation gets worse, there's a good chance Sarah will delay replenishing her nanomachines, which would be life-threatening for Sarah's current situation. Elena wanted to avoid this anyway, and she unconsciously pushed their search longer.

Sara didn't lie either. Her situation is the same as Elena's information collector, and she can cope with it for the time being. But if Sa

a Suggested Ele

a Stopped searching because of a little discomfort from her, Ele

a Definitely. And she worries that if it is not handled well, Elena may not even have the main firepower of her team, and go to the ruins alone. It wasn't what she wanted to happen. Therefore, Sarah pushes herself so that Elena will not worry about her.

Elena and Sara actually have a hard time working as hunters. Some time ago, they could explore more dangerous ruins to make money, but after some difficult times when they couldn't make money, their economic situation quickly declined. As a result, they had less money to prepare expeditions, which in turn reduced the efficiency of their search in the ruins. They are stuck in a vicious circle, they don't make money, but they lose money every time they go on an expedition. This is also SA

a Reason for limiting her nanomachine replenishment. It was precisely because of their difficult situation that they believed the rumors.

Hunters caught in this vicious cycle either hit the jackpot or force themselves to gamble in order to get out of it. If they win their bet, they can become skilled hunters with money again. But if they lose the bet, they get into a deeper predicament by pushing their backlash too hard.

Ele

a and sa

a Bet on rumors to improve their condition. But since they want to get out of the situation, they unconsciously become careless. The fact that they are betting on unfounded rumors is proof of this.

Normally, they'd stop here, but Elena and Sarah have bet they've forgotten to be alert to their surroundings.

***

In addition to Elena and Sarah, there are many hunters who follow the rumors to the ruins of Katsubara City. But most of them have abandoned the search and returned. And most of the people who stayed behind also decided to return because of the thick colorless mist.

But a small part of these hunters did not leave. They are declining hunters lured by rumors. Since the danger is relatively small, this is also their chance to turn the situation around in one fell swoop, so these hunters are still obsessed with the search.

But no matter how much they searched, they couldn't find the rumored ruins. As a result, they become irritated and irritated. Since such ruins did not exist in the first place, they would only become more and more annoyed.

Even if you reach the limit, you can't go home empty-handed. They began to look for another way to get something so that their trip would not be in vain. They would rather continue to search for this rumored ruin, wasting their energy and time, and also began to turn their attention to other prey.

***

Elena walked through the ruins with a hideous face. The colorless mist became faster than she had expected, and the effects on her information-gathering device became severe. The detection range of the device is greatly reduced, so the chances of them being attacked by surprise increase.

（…… It's bad. I didn't expect the fog to become so dense in such a short period of time. What a big mistake. ）

Elena then says to Sarah, while regretting her wrong decision to continue the search.

"Sarah, we can't go any further, we should go back."

"I understand."

"Sorry, the detection range is already small, we should have come back sooner."

"It doesn't matter. There shouldn't be so many monsters on the outskirts. As long as we go back carefully. ”

Seeing Elena reproach herself, Sarah just returned a blameless smile. Elena smiled as well and changed her mood as well, because she understood that there was no point in regretting it now.

Ele

a and sa

a Decided to go back. They are walking through the ruined outskirts in search of vehicles parked there. Normally, the suburbs are relatively safe places, but now they are shrouded in colorless fog and become dangerous places.

Since the fog makes their eyesight worse, the possibility of getting up close and personal with monsters increases. Greatly reduced the survival rate of hunters who rely on ranged attacks.

If they encounter a monster with a strong vitality in the middle of this fog, they will have to engage it at close range. That would be a very dangerous situation.

Suddenly, as Elena and Sarah move through the fog, a gunshot rang out. Given the distortion of the sound caused by the fog, they knew that the source of the gunfire was very close to them, behind a shattered ruin. Sarah prepares her guns while Elena operates her information-gathering device and dedicates all of her resources to detecting enemies.

"Elena, did you find anything?"

"Wait a minute...... I got some signals from where the gunshots rang out. It looks like 8 hunters are fighting 1 monster and they are coming towards us. ”

They could see hunters fleeing from the source of the gunfire, and these hunters were being chased by a giant monster. Although they fought back as they fled, there was no sign that the monster was killed quickly.

Elena analyzed the situation.

"Looking at them, these hunters don't seem to have close-range fire. Moreover, this monster seems to be so powerful that even those hunters cannot defeat it with their equipment. If we don't let it happen, we're engaged, and it seems to catch up with us even if we run away. There is no way, we should defeat it instead of them. ”

"Roger."

Sarah aims her giant gun at the monster, and Elena yells at the hunters who approach her.

"Go away!"

The hunters who heard her words confessed, stopped fighting back at the monster, and continued to run towards her.

The monster is so huge that Elena can easily see it even in a thick fog. It was a huge carnivorous monster, and even though it was covered in thick fur, its muscle lines were clearly visible. It opened its large mouth, baring its massive fangs, trying to devour the hunters.

Sarah, who was aiming at the monster, noticed something strange. Through her sighting device, she could see that the monster was barely harmed, even though the hunters were running away from it while they were shooting at it. She thought that it was probably because of its super vitality that it was able to chase the hunter despite the sound of the hunter's gun. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

[…… Will the thick fur protect it from bullets? Or do these hunters only have weak guns on them? Or did they miss most of their shots because they were shooting while they were on the run? Well, it doesn't matter now, I'll take care of it myself. ]

Sara just pushed the issue aside and pulled the trigger. A huge bullet shot from her large gun hit the monster directly in the head. Blood splattered from the top of its head and fell to the ground. When this happens, the hunters continue to run, ignoring what is happening to the monster behind them.

Elena saw something strange about these hunters. They should show desperation and try to escape from the situation of death that they have identified. But instead, they lack any happiness that expresses their fear of death or that they find someone who can help them.

But she didn't have time to think about why. Due to the dense colorless mist, she let a monster and a group of hunters approach them. And because she prioritizes destroying monsters, she reacts late to these hunters.

The hunters kept running past Elena and Sara without even a word of thanks. Then one of them threw something at Elena's feet.

Elena and Sarah are shocked when they realize that it was a grenade. Sarah, who reacted quickly, immediately grabbed Elena and tried to escape from the place. But they came a little late, and the grenade exploded, throwing their bodies into the air.

Sara protects Elena from the explosion and is able to protect her. But the explosion threw her away from Elena and landed heavily on the ground. After saying that, she was a little confused, but she immediately regained her composure and found herself lying on the ground defenseless. When she got up, she reflexively ducked behind the wreckage.

She then immediately tries to confirm Elena's safety, but she can't find her around her. She was about to call Ele when she heard a man's voice

a。

"That girl!! If you don't want your friends to die, throw your weapons away. ”

Sarah then heard Elena's voice from the same direction.

"Sarah!! Leave me alone!! You can run away freely or shoot these bastards!! ”

When Sarah understands how bad the situation is, with a pained expression on her face, Elena gets caught by those guys.

Every day, many hunters go to the ruins to find precious relics and then fight the monsters that live in the ruins. As a result, many hunters died in the ruins, and their equipment was scattered around the ruins.

Often, the next person to discover these devices will be their new owners. While sometimes a dead hunter would leave a letter asking to receive their equipment as payment for his or her funeral or some sort of item to be sent to his or her family, no one would stick to it. The viewfinder will leave all the equipment.

But some of these hunters with bad character will turn from hunters to robbers in the ruins. Instead of robbing dead hunters, they kill other hunters and take their belongings. Then the bounty would be placed on their heads, and some of them would die as prey for other hunters.

These are the hunters who attack Elena and Sarah. They've already done it to Ele

a and sa

A's gear is salivating. This is the day they transform their profession from skilled hunters to ruthless bandits. Ele

a and sa

A is unlucky. They didn't mean to kill that monster, these were games they had carefully designed to make Elena and Sarah let their guard down.

The gun was pointed at Elena from behind, but Elena looked back at the hunter behind her. But the feeling of the muzzle pressed against the back of her head prevented her from doing anything further.

The hunter pressed the muzzle of the gun harder on Elena's head and shouted.

"Shut up! Do you want to die? ”

But Elena did not show any fear, but shouted loudly.

"Pull the trigger and you're all dead!! Sara!! Don't listen to them!! ”

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?!!"

The hunter behind Elena slammed his gun into Elena's head, and Elena couldn't help but let out a scream. Sarah, who was still hiding behind the ruins, gritted her teeth and looked hideous.

If she had followed Elena's orders and forgotten her, she might have been able to kill all the hunters, but in exchange, Elena would have been killed.

But if she obeys the hunter's orders, drop her weapon. She might be able to save Elena. But on the other hand, it will worsen their situation. They would definitely rape her and Elena, and there was no guarantee of what they would do afterward.

Sara can't choose either.

Then another hunter shouted, as if he was going to make Sara hear him.

"Just kill her!! Then we can move on and kill another girl! ”

"Wait!"

Sarah reflexively shouted back, determined, she dropped her weapon and walked out of the rubble with her hands raised.

Elena shook her head. But Sara smiled at Elena, and there was a hint of bitterness in that smile. Then Sara slowly walked towards the hunter while making a serious expression so as not to draw his attention.

See SA

A approached them unarmed, and the hunters let out an obnoxious laugh. Since Sara seemed to be obediently listening to them, some of them put down their guns. But Ele

The gun behind the abrasion is still in place.

Sara moved slowly as she measured the distance between them.

（…… Never mind. They are now caught off guard...... Or is it too far...... But it doesn't matter. If I could get close to them, I could beat them with my bare hands. ）

If she ignores the consumption of nanomachines and boosts her physical strength to the limit, her physical strength can be improved, even if Sarah has not practiced martial arts before, it will be enough to fight back against those hunters.

But on the other hand, the consumption of nanomachines will also be enormous. In the worst-case scenario, she would spend all her nanomachines and die. And even if she could take care of the hunters without dying, there would only be a short time left to wait for her death.

If Sa

A ignores Ele

A and returns fire with her gun, which minimizes her nanomachine consumption. Ele

A glared at Sa

A is saying that she wants Sa

a Accept this option. But Sara couldn't.

Sarah made up her mind and kept going. It was only a few steps before she had a chance to get revenge.

"Stop there!! Stop and take off your enhanced clothes and armor! ”

The yelling hunter couldn't help but laugh when he saw Sarah stop as she had told him.

"After all, even if I didn't have a gun, I didn't want to be killed by the physical strength of that fortified suit. We did reduce the grenade's firepower so that your gear wouldn't take any damage, but it seems like you're still pretty good at the thought that you'll survive unscathed and not even be unconscious. Don't worry, we'll use them with care. So you listen to me, right? Slowly dismantle. ”

“… I understand. ”

Sara did like what she was told. She took off her clothes and armor. She was also trembling and glaring at them, making them let their guard down even more. Soon, all she had left was her underwear. Seeing this, the laughter of the hunters became even more ugly.

While reassessing her chances, Sara has to endure their gazes.

(Since they mistook my armor for enhanced armor, it means they didn't know that I was using nanomachines to boost my stamina.) It doesn't matter, that's it. ）

Sara kept glaring at them.

“…… I've deleted them. ”

"Is that so?"

Then suddenly the bullet went through Sarah's legs, and Sara fell to the ground. Ele

A screamed and ran towards Sa

Alas, forgetting that she also had a gun on her head.

It was Bubaha, the leader of this group of hunters, who shot Sarah. Bubaha looked at Sara on the ground and confirmed their safety. Then he looked at his men and pointed at Sarah.

"This girl is a nanomachine-enhanced girl. She should be several times stronger than the average person. The piece of cloth she removed was just plain armor, not strengthened. If you don't want to be twisted and torn, you might want to stay away from that girl. ”

"How do you know?"

"You can tell that in her movements and her gear. It's because you can't recognize something like this, you're stuck in amateurs. When a nanomachine-enhanced person is severely injured, the nanomachine will prioritize the treatment of the wound. Therefore, their actions will be affected during this period. But they are still better than normal. So if you want to play with them, use another girl. ”

Bubaha then pointed at Elena, and everyone's attention was on her.

Elena, who ran to Sarah's side, hugged her tightly, and she writhed in pain on the ground.

Sara smiled meekly. The nanomachines inside her prioritize healing her wounds and sustaining life, so she simply doesn't have the conditions to fight. She was in a situation where she couldn't turn the situation around on her own.

“…… Sorry, I made a mistake. ”

"Why don't you run away......?"

Elena's voice trembled as she asked the question she hadn't expected to get an answer to. She thought that if Sara had escaped, then at least Sara would be safe.

“… I'm sorry. ”

Contrary to her answer, Sarah smiled at Elena. That "I'm sorry" contains too much meaning. Sa

a and ele

a looked at the hunter who was approaching them and gave a wicked grin. But the next moment, Bubaha was shot in the forehead and fell straight to the ground.

The sound of gunfire constantly echoed in the air. The other hunters were stunned by the sudden turn of events. And before they had time to be on guard, ten rounds had already been fired at them. Those who were hit fell to the ground, screaming in pain. As for those who were lucky, they began to curse Ele

a and sa

A, think they have other friends. But with that senseless move, their luck ran out.

"Damn you!! Do you have other friends with you, huh......!? ”

Ele

a and sa

a Also surprised by the sudden turn. But Elena was able to calm down immediately. She then took the gun from the hunters on the ground nearby and opened fire on the other hunters who were still able to fight. After that, she searched for people who were still breathing and put two shots in each of their heads, thus stopping them from breathing.

Of course, the other hunters also wanted to kill Elena, but when the bullets flew, they couldn't help it, and focused more on avoiding the enemy's sight. So, in the midst of the chaos, they are more focused on finding ruins and wreckage that they can hide.

When the hunter tries to hide, Elena drags Sara and tries to escape.

"Sarah! Can you walk!? ”

"I can't!! Elena!! It's okay, run from here!! ”

"I won't! Don't be kidding me! ”

Some hunters noticed them and tried to shoot at Elena and Sara, but they were also stopped by gunfire coming from nowhere.

Sarah, who was dragged by Elena, picked up the gun she had dropped on the ground. Elena, who was pulling Sarah, walked towards a building. All this time, the echo of gunfire did not stop.

Ele

a and sa

A inexplicably ran towards an abandoned building near them, Ele

a Pointed the muzzle of the gun outside, carefully observing the surroundings.

“…… Elena, what do you think just happened? ”

"I don't know. A man who was not with them suddenly shot at them. That's what I know so far. I guess the person did it to help us, but it's possible that the person was actually trying to steal the prey of those hunters. Sarah, how are your injuries? ”

“…… It took me about an hour to walk on my own. ”

"I see. Just don't move too much for a while and prioritize using your nanomachines to heal your wounds. Let's analyze where we are right now...... After all, we're not safe anymore. ”

So Elena and Sarah hide in the abandoned building with a hideous face.

Aki

A is moving between the shadows of the ruins while shooting at those hunters. The colorless mist attenuates the gunfire, so the hunters attacking Elena and Sarah are unable to determine his location. As he opened fire on them, their screams echoed through the wasteland.

"Alpha, how many are left?"

"Three of them are dead. There are only 5 people left. By the way, you only killed one of them, and the other two were killed by the girls. ”

"In that case, they were able to kill two of them, huh. Those girls are amazing. ”

"Indeed."

Hearing Alpha's answer, Akira's face froze. Alpha didn't hide the fact that she was in a bad mood, which was evident from her expression and tone.

“…… Uh, do you really hate us for helping those girls? ”

Akira asks Alpha awkwardly, trying not to let her mood worsen. Alpha just replied with a smile, as if to avoid answering. But Akira could feel her pouting.

"I'm not, you know? I do think it's a good thing to help others. Since you accepted my request when you weren't actually strong, you can't die until you're done. I wonder if you really should put yourself in danger by helping some strangers. I don't fully believe your actions. If you die, I'll be in trouble. I've told you about this a long time ago, haven't I? ”

Alpha's support is not free, but a deposit paid to complete her request. So if Akira dies here before she even fulfills her request, then he's taking her deposit and running away. He thinks that's why she's in a bad mood. Realizing that he was being targeted by Alpha, he made an embarrassing excuse.

"Well, about that, you see. I was thinking that as long as I had your strong support, it would be easy to help these girls. So, it would be great if you could see it as a testament to how much I trust your support......"

"I'm glad to think that you believe in my support so much, I'm really happy."

Akira felt a lot of pressure from Alpha's smile, so she could only smile back in embarrassment.

While the monster lured by the hunters was still far away from them, Alpha had already sensed its presence. Then she judged that this was not a monster that Akira could take down. So she plans to let Elena and the other hunters face it and take Akira to safety.

She also told Akira about it. She thought that telling him what was going on with them would make him move faster and avoid getting involved in it before it actually started.

But then Akira did something she hadn't expected. Aki

A did not leave the area and decided to go to Ele

a and other hunters.

And when Ele

a and sa

A condition deteriorates when Aki

A's mood was also affected, and he was really irritable. He asked Alpha something she hadn't expected.

"Alpha, if I had your support, would it be possible for me to wipe out all those hunters?"

"Are you going to save them?"

"Is it impossible?"

Alpha could tell, if possible, Aki

A was going to do so, so she answered the question when she was confused.

"If you ask me if it's possible, I'll say it's possible. But that doesn't change the fact that it's dangerous. I don't think it's necessary to involve ourselves in their affairs, you know? ”

"Is it because of your support that I am also likely to be killed?"

"It depends on the situation. If you prioritize your own safety, I think you'll have a better chance of survival. But of course, the safest option is not to get involved at all. ”

"Anyway, it's going to work out somehow, right?"

If she denies it, then Aki

a would question the usefulness of her support. That wouldn't be good, so Alpha had to agree. Since she didn't understand why Akira was so persistent in helping them, she asked him with a puzzled expression.

"It will. But can you at least tell me your reasons? Because I need to adjust my support actions accordingly. ”

But Akira just kept his mouth shut, hesitant to tell her his reasons.

Alpha could clearly see a hint of hatred, irritation, disgust, and anger in his expression. But she didn't understand why.

Moreover, Akira's expression was even more hideous than when he was attacked in the ruins. But now, he himself is not beaten, and the people who are beaten here are all strangers to him. Despite these facts, his expression was indeed grim. When attacked by 2 Hunters, he lacks both equipment and skills. But he just didn't realize the room for that because he was so desperate. Compared to that time, he was relatively safe here. He is better equipped than before, and his skills are better. The room for manoeuvre that comes from this difference may be the reason for Akira's expression. At least that's how Alpha understands it.

But Alpha analysis says that there is no real reason why Akira's psychological state is so uneasy now.

The silence continued. Akira thinks this is a sign that Alpha won't help him if she doesn't answer, so he gives his reasons.

「…… If those guys stay in the ruins, they might attack me one day. Since I'll be visiting this ruin a lot in the future, maybe it's a good idea to take this opportunity to kill them all, right? And, you also said that I used the luck of my life, remember? So if I help those girls, I might get some of my luck back. After all, luck is influenced by what you do, right? So wouldn't it be nice for us to help them? ”

Hearing this answer, Alpha groaned for a moment.

Akira's reason was just an excuse for him to kill those guys. Akira wasn't looking for a reason to help those girls, but for a reason to kill them. He didn't say he should kill the man to help the girl. But more like he wanted to help the girls kill those guys.

Aki

A may be following the moral values of his vague heart. This moral value judgment of those people needs to be killed. Alpha could understand that far, but she still couldn't understand why Akira was willing to risk her life to stand up for her morals.

The silence continued, and Akira's face slowly turned pale, as if there was no hope.

"If it's really hard to do it with your support, then let's give up......"

Alpha felt that if she continued to interrogate, then Akira would think she was just like those hunters. In addition, Aki

a may lose trust in her support.

For Alpha, those guys' lives are worthless, so she decides to let those guys die in order to regain Akira's trust. Alpha replied as if insulted by Akira's words, hiding his cold decision.

"What are you talking about? As long as you have my back, it's easy, you know. ”

"I see, in that case, I'll rely on you."

"Of course. Let's finish this. We need to act first, from this side. ”

Alpha decides to accept Aki

a. In this way, the fate of Bubach and his friends was sealed by someone who had nothing to do with them or Elena and Sarah.

Aki

A arrives at a safe place and, with the support of Alpha, launches a surprise attack on Bubaha and his friends. Aki

A aimed the TP wire at Bubaha's forehead and pulled the trigger without hesitation. He kept firing to cover the retreat of Elena and Sarah. Even after seeing Elena and Sarah safely retreat into the abandoned building, Crystal's expression did not relax. He only felt that he could complete the false excuses he had made up.

"Akira, we have to move now."

"Roger."

He walks through the ruins, through a building, and dives into the ruins before reaching the next vantage point. Then he pointed the gun at the guys who didn't even shoot him, aimed it at their heads, pulled the trigger with a cold face, and at the same time felt a little uncomfortable. Akira aimed his sight at them, his eyes indicating that he hated the guys more than he hated.

Bullets erupted from the muzzle of his gun, right in the head. The bullet that was originally used to deal with monsters with stronger vitality than humans blew the guy's head into small pieces.

"Akira, we have to move again."

"Roger."

Akira kept moving from one firing point to another so as not to be spotted by the guys. Alpha's instructions were perfect, and the guys had no idea where Akira shot from. As he walked around, Akira sensed something strange and inadvertently opened her mouth.

“…… But it's strange that even though I've been shooting at them at close range, they don't know where I am. ”

"That's because you've been shooting in their blind spots. If you can choose a position that gives you an edge on the ground, that's the best. And, the colorless fog makes it harder for them to spot you. ”

"If it's about the effects of colorless mist, then we're in the same situation, aren't they?"

"No, not even close. My detection capabilities within the ruins of Katsubara City are very different from the detection capabilities of their cheap intelligence-gathering devices. For them, it's as if they're fighting with their eyes closed. If it weren't for this, it would have been impossible to defeat them with your current abilities. That's why it's important that you don't misunderstand the situation and think it's because you have what it takes to fight them. They are not weak opponents. So never think you can take them out easily. ”

"I understand."

Alpha smiled and gave Akira a strong warning.

"As long as you know...... So you really shouldn't get me wrong, okay? ”

"Oh, okay."

Akira replied nervously. Although he answered honestly, he was still a little worried that Alpha would feel that he was going too far. So he refocused and rushed forward.

Alpha knew it when she warned Akira severely.

A man trembled with fear, and he was the only one still alive. All his friends had been reduced to mutilated corpses and scattered everywhere. He was afraid that if this continued, he would also join those corpses, which would make him tremble.

“…… D- Damn it...... What's going on? How could they shoot so accurately in this fog? Why would such good people roam this place? Isn't that unfair......? ”

The ruins of Katsubara City should have been abandoned. The ruins on its periphery have all been depleted, and the interior of the ruins is full of monsters that are not worth exploring. If it weren't for the rumors, no skilled hunter would visit this place. Or at least, the suburbs shouldn't be a place where someone with enough skills can easily kill his friends.

"That damn Bubaha, didn't he say there are only incompetent hunters around here?!! That damn bastard, told such a lie. It's all his fault!! It's all his fault!! Damn it!! ”

It was actually his decision to accept Bubach's invitation to rob other hunters. Now that they have failed, he reproaches Bubaha and spits out curses.

The colorless mist is getting clearer and clearer. But the guy didn't think it would do him any good. He thought that the person who shot at himself and his friends was a man of extraordinary skill who could shoot accurately, even under the influence of fog. So now that the fog had lifted, he felt that the man should be able to shoot at him with more precision than before.

Because the effect of the fog is weakened. The guy's intelligence-gathering device picked up Akira's position. But he can't rely on this information to find and kill Akira. The fact that his friend was killed has been completely overwhelmed by the fear of losing his life. His spirit was completely devastated.

The guy thought that if he continued, he would only be killed. After much deliberation, he made a difficult decision in order to survive. His face twitched, then he threw his weapon away, raised his hands, and slowly crawled out from behind the wreckage. Then he shouted.

"You win!! I give up!! So please leave me alone!! ”

Unsuspectingly, he walked into an open street and looked around.

"I was forced to help that bastard Bubaha! If I don't help him, he'll kill me!! It's not like I'm willing to help him!! I had no choice!! ”

He looked around nervously.

"I—I'm sorry, okay!! I won't do it again, never! I-if you want my money, I've got some left! I'll give someone else the money they have!! I also have some savings! I'll give it too!! I, you kill me, you won't get that money, you know?! ”

His face was contorted with fear, waiting for a response, but no one, no sound, no bullets, no response at all.

"I'll be honest with you!! I'm not lying...!! You—You haven't shot me yet, so you're still thinking about what to do, right? Are you doubting me? Do you think I'm hiding some kind of weapon? Or do you think I'm using a reinforcing cloth, which is dangerous even if I'm unarmed? All right!! I just need to take off my cloth, right?! I'll take off my cloth! So please don't shoot! ”

With that, he took off his cheap reinforced cloth, and Akira stepped out of the shadows behind an alley.

When he saw Aki

A time, the guy was very surprised. He never expected it to be a little boy, so he breathed a sigh of relief. Akira's appearance means that he still has a chance to negotiate with Akira. His fear of death lessened, and his taut face relaxed.

[I—I'm saved. I'm saved now, and now I just have to make a deal with this boy. ]

Then the next second, Akira shot the man. A bullet passed through the middle of his torso.

The confused man's mind remembered a similar scene when Bubaha shot Sara not long ago. At the last second of his life, he doubted Aki

a Whether to mistake him for a nanomachine-enhanced person, as his life and consciousness began to fade away.

"I ...... I...... I...... It's not ......"

In his last moments before he died, he simply muttered about Akira's false assumptions.

Akira kept looking at the man as she confirmed with Alpha.

"Did I find everyone?"

"Yes. Finish. By the way, why did you shoot him? ”

Akira looked puzzled, and Alpha gave her more context.

"If you wanted to kill him, you could have killed him sooner, right? But since you didn't shoot right away, I thought you were trying to spare him, you know. So I ask why you suddenly decided to shoot him? ”

"Oh, that's what you mean? I was going to kill him in the first place, but because it seemed like I could have killed him more safely if I had waited, I decided to wait. Didn't you tell me that they weren't weak, and I shouldn't have mistaken that part? ”

"That's exactly what I said. You've convinced me now. In any case, it's good to be careful. When you give your opponent more time, there is danger, so you should be careful as well. ”

"I understand."

Akira nodded obediently.

Aki

a、Ele

a、Sa

a and Bubaha's party. All these unlucky people are gathered in this area. All of them tried to rise from the ashes. All of these people have gone beyond their limits and gambled their lives in this ruin to reverse their dire living conditions.

Some of them lost their bets and suffered backlash for pushing themselves to the limit and making bad decisions. These people have already paid the full price for their actions. The mutilated corpses of the hunters were scattered among the ruins. This is a common scene in the East End, repeated over and over again, endlessly. It's just one of the things that is common in that place.

It's been a while since Elena and Sarah took refuge in an abandoned building. The sporadic gunfire outside had stopped for a while, and there was no sign of returning.

Sara lowered her guard slightly.

"This ...... Is it over? ”

Elena confirmed this with her information-gathering device.

"Most of the signals from the outside world have disappeared. There is only one signal besides ours. Maybe it was the signal from the guy who was fighting with those guys just now. ”

Elena's information-gathering device has fully recovered from the effects of the colorless mist. So there is no way for Elena to mistakenly identify the signals attacking them and the signals of other people. But there is no guarantee that the signal will come from a friendly person.

"Elena, is that man's signal coming from us?"

"It doesn't seem like that...... But what do you think just happened there? ”

"If we're going to think optimistically, it must be someone who happened to pass by there and decided to help us. After all, it's 8 to 3...... If we don't count ourselves, it's 8 to 1. But even so, that man saved us. That person must be a very good person...... At least I hope so. ”

After Sara uttered her optimistic assumptions about what had just happened. She just stopped talking and didn't tell Elena about her pessimistic assumptions.

[There is a limit to one's kindness. I do appreciate that person, but we don't know what that person will ask us for as a reward. In case it's a man, he asks for our bodies as a reward, Ele

A may object, but I hope he will be content with my body. ]

Elena had been watching the person's signals from her information collector. Then she realized that the signal was moving away from them.

[So that person won't come here, will ......?] If he wants to ask for payment, he will come here as soon as possible. It seems that he doesn't even want to confirm our safety. That could be because he wanted to avoid fighting again, or he just lost interest in us. Or maybe he prioritizes the guys' equipment......]

As she pondered, the signals kept moving away from them. Elena hesitated for a moment, but decided to catch up with the signal.

"I'll be back in a moment. Sarah, you're waiting here. ”

"Are you sure?"

"The colorless mist faded, and judging by its signals, the man did not seem to be hostile to us. So it's going to be fine. I'll be careful, too. After all, I should at least say thank you to that person. ”

Ele

A smiled and comforted Sa

A, then pack your things and go out alone. Since her information-gathering device detected no other hostile signals, she immediately ran towards Akira.

As Elena gets close to Akira, the savior signal in her information-gathering device suddenly starts moving away from her faster. Akira seems to want to run away from her.

But Elena had memorized Akira's location. It's behind a lid. Her voice may reach him, but she can't see Akira. So, she hurriedly called Akira to stop him.

"Wait a minute!! You saved us, didn't you?! I want to say thank you, I want to talk to you! Can you come over for a moment? Please! ”

But, suddenly, a crumpled piece of paper flew in Akira's direction and rolled to Elena's feet.

Elena took the piece of paper and opened it. There was a bullet in the piece of paper, and a short message that read "Don't come over" was illegible.

She didn't understand if Akira had put a bullet in the crumpled paper to make it easier for him to throw, or if it was a warning to her. But at least, she understood that the person who saved her didn't want her to be near her, although she didn't quite understand why. So instead of chasing Akira, she yelled at him.

"My friend was shot and she couldn't move!! I have a car parked on the outskirts of the ruins, so can you protect us when I take my friend to that car?! In addition to the reward for saving us from those guys, I'll give you another reward. I know I'm just burdening you, but can you help us?! ”

But of course, Elena doesn't really have much to offer. In particular, she simply did not have the money to give. In other words, she came to the ruins to make some money. She also needs money to replenish Sarah's nanomachines. Ele

A knew that she needed to negotiate with him and find the payment method he wanted. She had already made up her mind in case he wanted her body as payment.

But then another thing flew to Elena's side from the direction of Akira, this time a box. Elena took the box and looked at it, recognizing it as a pill box from the words printed on it. Inside there was a piece of paper with instructions for the use of the drug written in crooked letters.

Elena thinks the message must be saying something like "use this medicine to heal your friend". She also understands that the people who saved them don't want to accept her request.

Ele

A decided to return to SA

A side, but before going back, she was in Aki

A added some notes to the paper she threw and left it on the ground.

"Okay!! Thank you for the medicine!! I will be back! I've already written my Hu on this piece of paper

te

Code, contact me when you have time, okay? ”

Elena bowed in Akira's direction and ran back to Sarah.

***

Akira waited until Elena was not far from him before picking up the paper she had left behind. There was a string of characters written on the paper, which was Elena's hunter password, but Akira didn't understand.

“…… What is this hunter code? ”

"It doesn't matter until you have your own information terminal. Now, you can think of it as a handy thing that allows you to contact other hunters. ”

"So she has that too. By the way, do I have a hunter password? ”

"Nope. But you should be able to buy your own information terminal and make it available at Hu

te

Office gets one after submitting the application. By the way, Akira, are you okay? ”

"yes, that's okay. We didn't have any particular reason to meet her anyway. Let's go home. ”

"Aren't you going to ransack them before you go home?"

"I'll let them go. After all, they're not here to attack me. ”

"I see."

Aki

A took the 2 Hu that attacked him the other day

te

s. Alpha just didn't understand the difference between those two hunters and the hunter he had just killed. So Alpha concludes that it must be because of Aki

a Ethical values. Akira puts herself in danger without expecting anything in return, even giving away her precious pill box. But then he refuses to protect them as if he doesn't care about them at all. He hadn't even thought about meeting the person he had just saved.

To give Aki

A provides the right guidance, and Alpha tries to understand Aki

a Ethical values for decision-making. But she understands from the moment Akira decides to help Elena and Sarah that there is no point in pressuring Akira for answers. Therefore, she decided not to question Akira at all.

Coming out of the ruins of Katsubara City, Akira has been running.

***

When Elena returns to Sara and tells her everything, Sara smiles mischievously.

"He saved us, even though we were complete strangers to him. He even gave us medicine and left us without asking for any reward or telling us his name. It's no surprise that you fall in love with him thinking that he will leave all the good parts behind, but ......"

When Sara said all of this, it sounded like a great person. Sarah continued with a wry smile.

“…… You don't see him, and you don't know his voice. He won't let you get near him, and his handwriting is terrible. I don't know if he did it on purpose, so we can't identify him from his handwriting...... He is now completely a suspicious figure. ”

Elena said with a wry smile when she heard that the image of the person who had just helped her had suddenly changed.

"Should we stop using the medicine we just received? It won't take long for your wound to heal, right? ”

Elena wasn't trying to make her savior bad. But the person who was going to use it was Sarah, so she didn't want to force her to take the pill.

But Sara shook her head slightly.

"No, I will. After all, if I keep getting hurt like this, it's not good for us. ”

The person taking the medication was her, not Elena, so she didn't have to worry, but Sara couldn't say that because she decided to take the medication. Even so, she took a capsule out of the pill box and placed it in the palm of her hand. A common way to use it is to swallow it as it is. Sarah kept staring at the capsule in her palm, remembering the piece of paper with the instructions on it. This is not the instruction manual that came with the box, but a cheap-looking piece of paper with instructions written in poor handwriting.

"In an emergency or if you need immediate healing, do not use normally, but apply the contents of the capsule directly to the wound. And be careful as it may cause severe pain. ”

This is an instruction written on paper. This is not the usual way to take medicine. In the worst-case scenario, it could even make her wounds worse. Sarah was a little confused, but eventually decided to take her medication as instructed on paper.

She opened multiple capsules and applied the contents directly to the injured leg. As warned in the newspapers, severe pain immediately hit Sarah. With the pain, she could feel something powerfully healing the wound on her leg. Elena looked at Sarah's pained expression, a little worried.

The pain slowly subsided and finally disappeared after a minute. Although she felt slight pain when she stood up, she was able to stand up without any problems. Elena was surprised when she saw it.

"Sarah, are you sure you can stand up?"

"I'm fine, it seems that the medicine is really working. It healed me and I feel like I can fight normally now. Ele

A, how about you try it too? ”

Sarah then took some extra capsules and swallowed them. Since it was no longer an emergency and there was no need for immediate results, she chose to take her medicine normally.

Ele

A decided to listen to SA

A's suggestion, also took the medicine. Although Elena was not seriously injured, she was slightly injured and was exhausted and needed healing. Not long after taking the medicine, she no longer felt pain in her head. From her experience as a hunter, Elena understands that it's not just the painkillers that work, but because the injury to her head is healing rapidly.

Due to the efficacy of the drug, Elena and Sarah's evaluation of Akira changes from a suspicious person back to a savior in a certain situation. Although it made sense, Sara and Elena glanced at each other and smiled bitterly at the fact that they were still doubting their savior just now.

Sara then smiled and changed her mood.

"Well, put everything aside, we at least know that the person who saved us was a very nice person. I don't know where he got this medicine from, but since it's effective, it must be expensive, right? Although he has helped us so much, unfortunately we can't say thank you enough. ”

"I left him my hunter password, but I don't know if he'll read it or if he'll actually contact us......"

"Whether he will do it or not is entirely up to him. But let's work hard so that we can be able to reciprocate this favor when we see Him again. ”

Elena also smiled and changed her mood.

"You have a point. No matter what we think now, there's nothing we can do. How, then, do we plunder those dead hunters as the beginning of preparing to repay this favor? Since the people who saved us don't seem to have any interest in their gear, we can sell it for money to replenish your nanomachines. ”

"Gee, that stranger really helped us a lot today."

"You can say it again."

Ele

a and sa

a laughed as she talked.

Afterwards, Elena and Sarah looted the dead hunter's body and returned to the city safely. They travel to the ruins for an unconfirmed rumor and bet on that rumor. And then because of their mistakes, they almost lost their lives, and there were more important things than that. But the money they stole from the dead hunters and sold them was enough for Elena and Sarah to improve their condition.

In short, Ele

a and sa

A won their bet.