With the armored military transport serving as a decoy, Akira’s and Elena’s own vehicles charged ahead, unloading everything they had into the rest of the horde. Akira and Sara rained grenades down on the machines, reducing them to a mountain of scrap. Carol fired rounds as powerful as CWH proprietary bullets from her massive handgun, taking out multiple enemies with each shot. And behind her mounted machine gun, Elena mowed down the rest.

  A new batch of A24s poured in to reinforce their numbers, but so intense was the firepower from Akira and the others that the newcomers could hardly put up a fight. In no time at all, the building’s grounds had become a battlefield dominated by gunfire and littered with pieces of broken machinery.

  Meanwhile, the hunters inside the building were watching what they could of the battle through the desert utility vehicle barricading the entrance.

  “They made it! We’re really gonna be rescued! They broke through all those monsters!”

  “Get the vehicle out of the way, quick! While they’re keeping the enemy at bay, we’ve got to get everything ready for transport!”

  “Carry the injured to the entrance! Hurry!”

  The hunters immediately sprang into action. If they let this chance pass them by, they would be goners. Summoning the last dregs of their energy and spirit, they all pitched in to prepare for escape.

  Shikarabe’s team pulled up to the front of the building and braked so hard that the transport spun a half-turn, leaving the back hatch facing the building’s entrance. But the hunters’ vehicle was still in the way. Those trapped had been working to move it as quickly as they could—but the vehicle was bulky enough to withstand the attacks from the A24 horde, and the humans’ powered suits were nearly out of energy.

  Shikarabe couldn’t wait around. Popping open the back hatch and leaping out of the transport, he delivered a powerful kick to the obstacle. Even though several hunters hadn’t been able to even make it budge, his costly, high-spec powered suit packed more than enough punch to send the vehicle flying.

  “We’ve got five minutes!” he commanded. “Living or dead, get all the casualties on board!”

  Some of the wounded had already been carried to the entrance, and Shikarabe started to load them into the transport. But one uninjured hunter tried to clamber aboard first.

  Shikarabe grabbed him. He didn’t just toss him out of the vehicle—he carried him all the way back to the building and flung him in.

  The overeager hunter’s face was wracked with panic. “What the hell?! What gives?!”

  Shikarabe glared at him. “If you’re well enough to move on your own, you wait your turn. The immobile ones go on first.”

  “Screw everyone else! I’m gonna survive!” The man ignored Shikarabe and desperately tried to force his way back.

  Annoyed, Shikarabe gave another swift kick, and the man crumpled to the ground, out cold. No longer able to move on his own, he now technically fulfilled the condition for being able to board. But with the toe of his boot, Shikarabe punted the man’s body off to the side, leaving him for very last. The rest of the hunters recoiled in fear.

  “I repeat!” Shikarabe barked. “Load all the casualties on board, dead or alive! It doesn’t matter if they’re a headless corpse or a severed head—I said everyone! Don’t just stand there, get a move on!”

  The hunters began working even faster.

  While Shikarabe loaded the wounded onto the transport, Akira and the others finished mopping up the last of the A24s in the area. That gave the entire team more room to breathe, but they weren’t in the clear just yet. All that gunfire had undoubtedly alerted other monsters to their presence, including the swarm of machines they’d broken through (without defeating) on the way here. If they hung around much longer, more robots would be here before they knew it.

  Elena contacted Shikarabe. “What’s your status? I’d like us to be out of here within the next minute if possible.”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem. We’re almost done on our end.”

  “Understood. Then...” Her voice trailed off.

  A new wave of enemy reinforcements had started to appear—an armored A24 had smashed through an upper floor window and was racing down the side of the building, aiming its artillery and machine gun at the defenders.

  The next instant Akira gunned it down. Alpha’s scouting had revealed the monster’s presence beforehand, and Akira already had his CWH trained on a window just ahead of the machine’s path. The proprietary bullet punched through the A24’s torso. Its mangled husk fell from the building, landing on the roof of the transport vehicle with a deafening crash.

  But the danger wasn’t over. More A24s began pouring from the other windows. Sara and Carol joined in fending them off, but it was impossible to take care of so many.

  “Make that thirty seconds!” Elena shouted to Shikarabe.

  “Roger that!” Inside the lobby, Shikarabe had no way of knowing what was going on outside. But he understood that something must’ve happened for Elena to shorten the time limit, so he hurried to evacuate everyone by the deadline, without a word of complaint.

  At that moment, the remains of the destroyed A24s that had been used to block off one of the building’s corridors blew apart, and intact A24s poured in. The machines had broken through at last.

  Shikarabe immediately took point and fired at the approaching horde. His bullets destroyed the newcomers, shredding them into a mountain of scrap metal that resembled the one that had just been blocking off the passage. But he couldn’t keep it up for long—the barricades sealing the other corridors were also being blasted apart one after another by the A24s on the other side. As Shikarabe retreated toward the entrance, he shouted to the other hunters, “We’re leaving! Hurry up!”

  The hunters managed to load the last of the wounded into the vehicle. The A24s had already made it inside the lobby. Shikarabe didn’t stop shooting until he’d made it back to the transport and hopped aboard.

  “Floor it, Togami!” he shouted as he manually slammed the back hatch shut. A moment later, a barrage of heavy artillery and gunfire struck the back of the transport. As if propelled forward by the impact, the armored transport peeled out of the area at maximum speed.

  Akira and the rest of the team fell in right behind. Taking out all those A24s would’ve been difficult, but merely outrunning them in these vehicles was a cinch. Sending a final curtain of gunfire toward their pursuers, the hunters had no trouble escaping the building’s grounds.

  Chapter 114: To Repay a Debt

  Now that Akira and the others had successfully recovered the refugees, they all made a beeline for the clinic. Groups of A24s attacked them just as they had on the way here, but these were dealt with in a similar fashion as the convoy headed to the ruin’s entrance. Once enemies were no longer pursuing them, Akira sighed in relief from the bed of his truck.

  “All right! Looks like that’s all of them,” he said.

  “The trip back was a lot easier this time, huh?” Carol said, wearing a placid smile. “By the way, Akira, I’ve been meaning to ask—you’ve been driving this truck the entire time, right?”

  “I’ve got it on automatic right now, but yeah. Why?”

  Carol immediately saw the wariness on his face—he was clearly hiding something. But she didn’t let it show that she’d caught on.

  “Oh, I was just thinking you’re even more amazing than I thought! Even with automatic assist, normally it would be impossible to control a vehicle and gun down monsters at the same time! And not just in an open expanse like the wasteland, but in a ruin, no less!”

  The one actually at the wheel, of course, was Alpha, and Akira had been on guard lest Carol suspect something. But now, thinking that she just wanted to praise him instead, he relaxed. “Yeah, I guess,” he said with a small smile. “I mean, if I couldn’t handle that much, I wouldn’t have headed to the factory district on my own in the first place.”

  “Fair point. I suppose compared to fighting a gigantic tank on the side of a building, it’s not that big of a deal.” She laughed. Then, just as casually, she added, “Come to think of it, how is your automatic drive so precise? Does it increase its accuracy by obtaining data from the ruins or something? I think I heard somewhere that more expensive vehicles are capable of that...”

  “Huh? I mean, this one was pretty pricey, but I don’t think it has a feature like that.” It doesn’t, right Alpha?

  It does not, she confirmed.

  Akira nodding to Alpha’s response without realizing it.

  Wearing a nonchalant expression, Carol observed his reaction closely. Thanks to the keen observation skills she had honed through her side job, she could tell when a man was lying to her.

  He’s not fibbing. That much was easy enough for her to see. I wonder...

  In fact, she couldn’t have cared less about Akira’s vehicle. What mattered was whether or not Akira was obtaining data from the ruins. And having inferred that he wasn’t, she was secretly a bit disappointed.

  So he really is just that talented. Well, I’m almost certain there’s something he’s not telling me, but it’s probably unrelated. After all, if Akira was one of those, he wouldn’t have hired me to guide him through the ruins in the first place. She had been suspicious of Akira ever since witnessing his outstanding scouting ability in the ruins, but now she concluded that she’d apparently been mistaken.

  “Something wrong?” Akira asked.

  “Huh? Oh, no—it’s nothing.” Seeing Akira’s concerned expression, she thought she might have accidentally let her inner thoughts show on her face. She smiled alluringly in an attempt to cover it up.

  “From your expression,” he went on, “it looks like something’s bothering you.”

  “It’s really no big deal. But if you’re really that concerned, I can tell you one thing that’s on my mind.”

  “What would that be?”

  “You couldn’t care less about my body,” she complained, “but you practically drool over Elena’s and Sara’s. What do they have that I don’t? Frankly, I don’t believe I lose to them in looks or figure.”

  Akira sputtered in surprise.

  “Or maybe they strike you as the types who might indulge some kink of yours?”

  “That’s awfully rude!”

  “Rude to you or to them?”

  “Both!”

  “Oh, don’t worry! Despite how I may seem, I can keep a secret. That sort of trust is important during my side job too. My lips are sealed, so come on, tell me!”

  Akira gave a deep sigh but said nothing. Carol shook her head and gave a small smile as if to lament, What a shame! Just like she’d expected, she hadn’t gotten any closer to an answer.

  Then a call came in from Elena. “Akira?”

  “Y-Yes?!” Given the kind of conversation he’d just been having about them, he was startled, and it showed in his voice.

  Elena found his panicked reply odd but cut right to the chase. “I’m picking up some pretty large readings coming toward us from behind—multiple, in fact. My guess is some gigantic machines are bearing down on us. If you two feel like you’ll have trouble taking them down with your current equipment, we’ll figure something else out, but what do you think? Can you handle it?”

  Can I handle it, Alpha?

  Absolutely!

  “No big deal.”

  “Really? Then perhaps we should at least provide backup. Sara and I are headed your way.”

  Elena’s vehicle, which had been at the head, moved to the side to let Shikarabe pass and fell in alongside Akira’s truck, leaving some space between them. Sara waved and pointed to the heavy weapon she was holding.

  The reason for that gesture appeared behind them—an enormous multilegged tank very similar to the one they’d seen just outside the defensive wall. This one was nimbly making its way between all the debris and wreckage on the road, gaining on them from a distance.

  In his augmented vision, Akira could see the monstrosity clearly. Its mere presence was intimidating, on a whole different level than to the A24s. Sure, he’d already taken down a similar tank the other day, but that was precisely how he knew he couldn’t afford to let his guard down now.

  He watched the tank’s turret swivel and the muzzle of its cannon turn to face them. Suddenly, something blasted a gigantic hole in its side—a powerful shot had instantaneously pierced it through. The impact stopped the monster in its tracks and sent it flying sideways, spinning through the air. Centrifugal force snapped its legs off like twigs as it bounced along the road and rolled to a stop.

  Shocked, Akira reflexively turned in the direction the bullet had to have come from. Sara was standing there—a smug, triumphant grin on her face.

  Whoa... She took it out in one hit!

  Well, Elena and Sara wouldn’t have taken this job in the first place if they weren’t equipped for it, Alpha commented.

  I suppose so.

  “Hey, Akira,” Carol piped up suddenly. “This will probably be our last fight for today, so let’s talk about how we’re splitting the pay. Based on our performance so far, how much do you think each of us deserve?”

  “Hmm...” Akira considered Carol’s support a big help, and he had no intention of asking for a bigger cut than he thought he deserved. But he wasn’t going to dock his own pay unnecessarily either. “Probably about seventy-thirty... No, more like eighty-twenty?” He was offering a ballpark estimate roughly based on the number of enemies they’d each taken down (notwithstanding that his superior equipment had allowed him to accomplish more), taking care to leave plenty of room for discussion.

  At that, Carol looked cocky. “That so? Then I guess I’m going to have to make it at least fifty-fifty by the end of this fight. Get ready, Akira!”

  Leaving Akira looking puzzled, Carol swiftly swapped out the magazine on her large handgun, then equipped an optional energy pack. Holding the gun steady with both hands, she fired at a brand-new tank, much larger than the others, that had just appeared. The sheer force of the massive bullet rent the air as it sped toward its target. While it didn’t pierce through the machine’s exterior, it didn’t need to—the tank’s body was instantly crushed, as though it had been struck by a large fist.

  Akira couldn’t help but gawk at her. She just gave him a smug grin similar to the one Sara had earlier. Carol’s, however, was ever so slightly strained.

  “Wow! You took it out in one hit too!” Akira exclaimed. “Nice job. All right, now it’s my—”

  “Sorry, no more turns for you today!”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I said I was gonna make it fifty-fifty, right? From this point on, I’m not letting you do anything but drive.”

  “No way, you can’t possibly...” Akira began dismissively, but quickly swallowed his words. A new behemoth had appeared—and Carol had dropped it in no time flat. Sure, he’d readied his CWH, but the enemy had been too far away for any such shot to be effective. With Alpha’s support he wouldn’t have missed, but the air resistance would have weakened the bullet’s force, preventing him from destroying the target in one hit.

  The next enemy showed up. Akira aimed, but again it was so far away that shooting was meaningless. Yet Carol destroyed it like it was nothing.

  He started to panic. “W-Wait, you can’t be serious!”

  “You bet I am. I might be a surveyor, but don’t forget I’m also a hunter like you. You may have not hired me for my combat skills, but I won’t stand for you thinking I’m so useless that I only deserve twenty percent. I told you to get ready, didn’t I? That’s because I sure am!”

  Sara annihilated the next multilegged tank. Akira had assured them that he and Carol would be able to handle things, which Elena and Sarah had understood to mean Carol would be watching his back. The two women had decided to pitch in and help Akira fight instead of leaving him to take down the majority of the enemy on his own. The end result? Akira was left with nothing to do.

  “R-Ready? Ready for what?” he asked Carol, looking almost fearful.

  “To go in the red!” she replied with a stiff smile. “These bullets, well, they’re really expensive.”

  Her gun was large, but it was only a handgun. How was it one-shotting targets at that distance? The secret was most likely her ammunition—and ammo like that was sure to be ridiculously expensive.

  Akira almost bought that answer when something clicked.

  “Hey, you don’t have to go all out like that when I’m here!”

  “Actually, I do. So you better put your best foot forward too!” she declared, turning a cocky grin on him before lining up her next shot.

  Looking desperate, Akira hurriedly readied his CWH as well. Alpha! Back me up!

  But Alpha seemed indifferent to his plight. I’ll support you like I always do, of course. But you’re asking too much if you think I can somehow make your weapon match the strength and range of hers.

  Y-You can’t do anything about that?! At this rate, Carol’s going to end up with the majority of our pay! Didn’t you say we’re going to need money to get stronger?!

  I did, but my hands are tied here. Sorry. Besides, you were fully prepared to go in the red by the time you hired Carol, weren’t you?

  Well, yeah, but—

  Oh, so you admit it? Alpha asked, lightly admonishing him with her gaze.

  Akira looked away. He’d acted like he was ready to lose money, true, but he was only thinking of taking a small hit—not something like this.

  Look, Akira. I’m not going to say you shouldn’t have gone to help Elena and Sara, and as long as you’re fine with it I don’t care how many expenses you pile up. Just don’t make it a habit to work without any regard for profit, okay?

 

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