Chapter 291: Strength And Weakness

The next day, Akira slept through the morning and past the afternoon due to fatigue. After he woke up, he went to get something to eat and went to take a bath, inside the base's great bath.

He entrusted his body to the warm water, which sapped away his exhaustion. Normally, he would enjoy such a warm bath without any worries. However, this time, he still seemed rather tense. His sighs were not from the bath but from exasperation.

Seeing that, Alpha, who was also in the bath with him, could not help but ask.

"Akira, are you alright? Do you need more sleep?"

"No... Well... It's true that I'm still tired, but that's not it..."

He no longer had a bounty on his head, his monster designation got removed and Chloe was dead. Even so, Akira still was not content with this outcome. It continued to weigh down on his spirit.

Alpha smiled and tried to cheer him up.

"In that case, let's take the whole day to recuperate. You worked hard yesterday. It can't be helped if you still feel tired after going through all of that."

"...Yeah."

Akira gave a deep nod and tried to brush off that feeling. However, he was not able to do so and slowly returned to his previous state.

That was when a call from Shizuka suddenly reached him. Akira picked up the call via telepathy with Alpha.

"Akira, it's me. It seems that you've gone through quite a lot recently, but I'm glad that you're fine."

"Thank you very much and sorry for making you worry, Shizuka-san."

"You really did make me worry, good grief. Can you imagine how shocked I was when I found out that one of my shop regulars became a bounty target?"

Shizuka was speaking in a joking manner, which Akira then tried to lightly laugh off. At the very least, he was able to make a chuckle, albeit an awkward one.

"Uhh, about that, because of this, I will soon go purchase ammo and medicine from Shizuka-san's shop, so please let this slide."

"Good grief, it can't be helped then."

They then continued to chat about how they were doing lately in a buoyant mood. The flow of the conversation naturally cheered Akira up. Right around the point where he sounded a little springier, Shizuka's tone changed to a scolding one.

"Akira, this might be nothing but my imagination, so just ignore it if you think that it's just my misunderstanding."

"Eh? Ah, okay."

Akira was taken aback by this sudden change but gave a firm reply. Shizuka continued slowly and clearly.

"I'm sure you've gone through a lot lately and I'm sure you'll have to face a lot of things in the future. If it's something that you are going to do for your own sake, please do so without holding back. You've simply become someone with the capability to do that."

Akira was expecting Shizuka to be scolding him because of what had happened. Thus, he was surprised by those unexpected words. Shizuka then continued by putting more emphasis on her words.

"But, if by any chance you do it for our sake, you should stop. Please don't make us the reason for you to use force."

Akira had gone through multiple rampages in the past. Most of the time, it was because of revenge or self-defence. He reacted extremely violently when triggered, he was like a landmine, completely docile in other circumstances.

However, he was slowly changing. Previously he only recognized those around him as either hostile or not hostile. Now, he started to recognize others as friends and allies. It was indeed a good thing, but at the same time, it also gave Akira more trigger points.

If it was for the sake of self-defense, Akira would stop once he was able to protect himself from the enemies. However, if it was for the sake of revenge, the aim was to kill, not to protect. To annihilate his enemies, in such a scenario, it was possible for Akira to never stop. His retribution could grow larger due to hatred, fear, or regret. He might even start to hunt anyone with the slightest relation to his target down to the very last person.

There was no doubt that Akira would meet his end eventually if he went down this path. However, how many people would he drag down to hell before that happened? The world was not naive enough to let him go on a rampage forever, such destruction would be massive, and it would be his own undoing.

With that worry in mind, Shizuka conveyed her warning clearly to him. She firmly wanted to prevent Akria from going down this path. The first and foremost way to prevent him from doing so was to draw the line of avenging those important to him.

"It's just something I think we all share the same sentiments on. It's not like I'm telling you to not care about us. We are happy that you think of us. But I want you to stay calm, think things through, and consult with others more... Akira, are you listening?"

When Shizuka called him, Akira snapped back to reality. He gave a bitter smile and replied with his usual tone.

"Yeah, I'm listening. I'm sorry for not consulting with you. But, Shizuka-san, as expected, it's not an easy subject for me... Like, I don't think I could have done what you suggested, Shizuka-san. I had become a bounty target, wouldn't it be difficult to ask for advice at that point?"

"Hmm, you have a point. I don't know what to say if you put it like that."

"Right? As I thought... that's why I did that..."

Akira then continued talking casually with Shizuka. As they conversed, he could feel the weight in his heart slowly being lifted.

The source of that feeling was his inability to process the feeling of helplessness. Although it all started when Chloe threatened him, the two main reasons why he did not back down were because Chloe looked down on him and that she threatened those he had identified as his friends.

Akira then tried to solve both issues with his own power. He decided to do so because he thought he had the power to accomplish it. He had to admit there was a level of pride and ignorance mixed in this decision of his.

However, in the end, Akira basically failed to accomplish both. Although it had come to an end, Alice could have easily killed him and left the other side alive. And Chloe was killed by Alice, which was more than likely out of Alice's whim. In the end, his actions and wishes did not have anything to do with the outcome.

Akira had already thought that he was no longer his old self. That he had grown stronger. To prove that to himself and to others, he used violence fuelled by his strong emotions. However, his opponent did not even see him as someone worthy of being considered an enemy. Even the target of his violence got taken before he could swing his fist. This gave Akira the feeling of helplessness.

Even so, the fist that he had raised was still up. In the worst-case scenario, he might go and look for another reason to bring that hammer down.

Akira then realized something. After listening to Shizuka, he was about to distort his originally pure intentions. The fist that he had raised was originally done so to protect his friends. Now, he had almost ended up using his friends as an excuse to use his raised fist.

Now that he had realized it, stopping himself was easy. It also helped him accept the fact that he was indeed still weak. To put it in another way, it gave Akira the strength to admit that he was still weak.

"...So well, with that, I ended up using quite a lot of my ammunition. I have to resupply soon so, I'm sorry, but is it okay if I place my order now?"

"Sure, but as expected, I can't get you any annihilator warheads. So please don't expect me to have those."

"I know... Now that I think about it, I wonder how did Katsuragi get those...?"

"There are these kinds of amazing merchants out there, huh? I have to work hard to make sure my regulars don't run off to them."

"Don't worry about it. I will be visiting your shop sometime soon, so I'll be in your care."

"Alright, I'll be looking forward to it. See you."

Shizuka then closed the call. Akira stretched out his body and smiled. It was as if he had accomplished a huge task. He was finally able to put a lid on the previous incident.

"Alright then... I guess I should get out soon."

But Alpha sighed and looked exasperatedly at him.

"...What?"

"You always listen to everything Shizuka has to say. In all honesty, after watching how you're so obedient to her every word, I would prefer it if you did the same to me as well, you know?"

Akira looked away from Alpha's gaze and laughed awkwardly.

—*—*—*—

Although no one knew the full details of what had happened, in the end, Akira won, and his bounty was taken down. He was also no longer recognized as a monster by the city. For Sheryl's gang, that was a huge win. They were elated that they had won a battle where they were greatly outnumbered and were in a tight spot. At the same time, they were also greatly saddened by the death of their comrades, who had lost their lives in that battle. The whole gang was flooded with emotion, but after a single night, they calmed down to some extent.

However, for Sheryl, this was not the end. She was swamped with work as the boss of the gang. She was so busy that she could not head straight to the bath immediately after she heard that Akira went in after he woke up.

When she finally found an opening to wedge in some free time for herself, she immediately went to the bath. However, when she entered the changing room, Akira was already in the middle of wearing his clothes.

"Akira... you're already done?"

"I did take my time though? I'm pretty sure I'll pass out if I spend more time inside the bath."

"I see..."

Akira was not lying, He did spend quite a long time inside as he took his time chatting with Shizuka. However, that did not change the fact that Sheryl had missed her chance to get in the bath together with him. That regret was obvious from her expression. Now that Akira was no longer recognized as a monster, he no longer had any reason to be staying in her base. The more she thought about it, the more awful she felt. That the next opportunity was so far away, making her regret missing this opportunity even more.

Once Akira finished putting on his clothes and had left the room, Sheryl simply silently followed behind him.

"Hm? Sheryl, aren't you going to take a bath?"

"I wanted to get in with you, but since you've done, I'll take one later."

"I see."

They had gone together multiple times before. It was definitely bold of her to do so, and she almost said something bold in response to his question. That 'every chance to get into the bath together with you is a precious occasion'. However, she did not end up saying it. She just sighed as per usual at how nonchalant he was.

"Akira, do you like older girls?"

"It's not like I have any particular preference, but... That was out of the blue, where did that come from?"

"Nothing, it's just that I saw you with Elena-san, Sara-san, and Carol-san. I just thought that you have quite a lot of mature women as your close friends."

"Isn't that simply because there are a lot of adults among Hunters?"

"...Yeah... That must be it... Yeah..."

Even if she acted a bit jealous, as she had expected, Akira's reaction was as dry as ever. Sheryl could not help but sigh again.

"Akira, I just remembered. Shijima said he wants to meet you face to face. What do you plan to do?"

Akira tilted his head. It seemed like he had completely forgotten who Shijima was. Thus, Sheryl had to remind him that he was the boss of a gang. Thanks to that, it refreshed his memory.

"Ahhh, that guy, huh? If it's about the gang, tell him to discuss that with you."

"About that, he said that it has nothing to do with gang business. When I asked him what he wanted to talk about, he said that he can't tell anyone else other than you. So, I have him waiting in the guest room. Should I just send him off?"

At one point in the past, Sheryl was just the boss of a small gang in the slums. Meanwhile, Shijima was the boss of a medium-sized gang. At that time, Sheryl was in a lower position in terms of power. However, that power hierarchy had been completely overturned. Furthermore, with Akira emerging victorious from the recent battle, it only served to widen the power gap between the two gangs.

Even so, the two gangs have gotten along for a long time. Therefore, Sheryl was not willing to shoo Shijima away or used force to make him state his business with Akira. Furthermore, since he mentioned it had something to do with Akira, she had to act with more precaution. Sheryl told him to wait in the guest room, and that there was no guarantee that Akira would meet him.

"...Well, if he's already here, might as well meet him before I leave."

Akira was in a good mood after talking with Shizuka. Therefore, he just simply thought that it would not hurt to see Shijima for a bit.

When Alicia told Shijima, who was waiting in the guest room, that Akira would meet him soon, Shijima inadvertently frowned.

[And he's seriously going to meet me...!? You could just say that someone like me isn't worth your time, you know!? Why the heck are you earnestly coming to meet me?!]

Although he was the one who asked to see Akira, he was hoping to get rejected. The reason why he chose to come here today was because he thought there was a good chance Akira would refuse to meet him.

However, despite his wishes, not too long after, Akira came into the room together with Sheryl. To add salt to the wound, Akira was planning to head back home as soon as Shijima's business with him was done. In other words, Akira was carrying all his equipment. With a 50 billion bounty target standing fully armed and ready to fight anytime in front of him, as expected, Shijima tensed up. Thinking that it was counter-effective to be overly cautious and scared, he tried his best to give off the same aura as back when Akira was just a small, unknown Hunter and he was a boss of a medium-sized slum gang.

Akira sat face to face with Shijima.

"So, what is it?"

"If it's possible, I want to be covert about this..."

Shijima said so and glanced at Sheryl. However, Sheryl did not show any reaction to his glance.

"Tell me why you are here first. If it's about gang business, I will leave it to Sheryl and go back home."

"...It's about the third ward branch of the Lion Steel company, are you okay with her listening?"

As Shijima expected, Sheryl's face turned dire. This was why he had refused to explain why he was there to her beforehand. In the worst-case scenario, he might get killed the moment he tried to explain.

Akira thought for a bit before turning to Sheryl.

"It's up to you, I don't mind either way."

"...Just to be safe, I will take my leave. If it's something that is okay for me to hear, please tell me what it is later."

"Alright."

Sheryl gave a light bow and exited the room. Shijima saw Sheryl off with conflicted eyes. Being left alone with Akira meant that he might be able to slowly manipulate Akira with words. However, at the same time, it also meant that there would be no one to stop Akira if he went on a rampage. To help calm himself down, Shijima forced himself to see this from a positive point of view.

"So, what is it?"

Akira threw the same question as before, Shijima made his resolve before opening his mouth.

"The Lion Steel Company Eastern District Third Ward Branch wishes to make peace with you. So, I'm here today as a negotiator sent from their side."

Akira raised his eyebrows and tilted his head; He did not expect that at all. However, Shijima could not help but see that as him being irritated. From Shijima's point of view, it was only natural because he had mentioned Lion Steel third ward branch in front of Akira. He tried his best to put a lid on his welling anxiety.

The conflict between Akira and Lion Steel had met its end. However, to be more precise, it was forced to end in peace due to the intervention from the main branch. At the moment, although they were not fighting against each other, those from the third branch still saw Akira as hostile.

The manager of the third ward branch, Beltram, thought that there was no need to prolong this conflict any further. At the very least, as long as there was no order from the main branch to continue the fight, Beltram had no wish to continue the third branch's conflict with Akira.

However, it would be naive to assume that Akira also had the same opinion. From the point of view of common sense in the Eastern District, picking a fight against the Lorentz family was simply unthinkable. Although they were certain that Akira would not do something as pointless as attacking the main branch, they feared he would have no problem causing a battle of the same size as before if it was against a branch.

Furthermore, Akira was scheduled to get front-line equipment from Sakashita Heavy Industry sometime soon. He might avoid engagements at the moment, but there was a good chance that he would try to attack the Lion Steel branch once he got his powerful equipment.

Naturally, if it ever came to that, unlike last time, Beltram would use the full might of the third branch to fight back. Compared to the incident with Chloe, it would be a force that was incomparable in size, which would have no problems eradicating Akira. However, considering the expenses needed to create, deploy, and manage such a force, Beltram wanted to avoid this even if it meant that he had to be the one who directly worked on it.

To do that, the third ward branch needed to negotiate a peace treaty with Akira. However, the third ward branch still needed to keep its prestige and still act as a large company. Thus, they could not simply declare that they had backed off because of a Hunter. If they did that, other companies would look down on them and it might become a trigger for more conflicts. Thus, considering both ends, the money and manpower needed to fight against Akira and to prevent other hostile companies from acting up, they needed to make it look as if Akira was the one who sued for peace.

Naturally, Beltram knew that this was an extremely difficult feat to pull off. If Akira was someone who would listen to others' demands without trying to fight back, he would not have fought against Chloe.

However, even so, they still could not afford to continue this fight. They had to negotiate for peace. Thus, Lion Steel used its resources to look for someone who could act in their stead. They came up with one person. Someone who started with a hostile relationship with Akira, and just like Chloe, went as far as to threaten Akira's friends, but somehow managed to find peace with Akira by paying a huge sum to him.

It was extremely easy for Lion Steel to scare Shijima into doing their bidding.

Shijima continued the difficult negotiation, which placed his own life in danger. If he was able to handle things peacefully, Lion Steel would owe him a favour. However, if he failed, only death awaited him. The only difference would be whether it would be Akira killing him now or Lion Steel killing him later. With that in mind, Shijima desperately continued to negotiate.

"...So, uhh, the third ward branch wants to make peace with you but... They want you to pay a small sum to them... Wait, calm down, listen to everything I have to say first, okay?"

Akira's expression only showed bewilderment and doubt. However, Shijima could not help but perceive his expressions as him being on the verge of exploding. Naturally, that would be horrendous considering Akira had the firepower to literally blow up the whole slums. Therefore, Shijima was desperately trying to convince Akira while preventing him from exploding.

"So then, about the money, they asked for three hundred Aurum."

On top of the unexpected subject, Shijima worded out an unexpected number. As expected, it only got Akira to feel even more confused and unsure of how to react.

"...Three hundred? Like, three hundred million Aurum? Or three hundred billion?"

"No, it is just three hundred Aurum."

After Shijima repeated, he put three 100 Aurum coins on top of the table as if to establish what he said further.

"This much."

As Akira's expression slowly turned into pure bewilderment, Shijima thought that he was close to succeeding and made the push to seal the deal.

"I know that you don't like being looked down on, so this negotiation is basically the opposite of that."

Shijima then said with a livelier expression as if to entice Akira.

"I know people say there is nothing more expensive than free stuff, but that is a huge lie. As expected, free stuff is cheaper than having to pay, you see, there is something cheaper than free. There are things that would lose their original value by putting a cheap price tag on them, you know?"

People's actions do not always coincide with the rule of law. Some actions were not to be committed, not because it was written in a book. Rather, it was common sense not to do so. When a law gets enacted with a fine in place, it is declaring a price tag for said offences. People's perception of such offences might shift from common sense not to commit, to monetary acceptance - they could do so as long as they could pay the fine. As such, more of such offences might take place, especially if the fine was cheap.

"Even after all you've done against the Lion Steel Company, you can get out scot-free only by paying 300 Aurum. Don't you think it's an excellent offer to mock them? You will also be able to have a peace treaty with them, you know? Isn't it just perfect?"

Shijima believed that no one was insane enough to refuse such an offer. Even though he offered with a lively attitude, he was trying his best to hide his desperation. Shijima knew his words were nothing but cheap trickery. If Akira were to refuse, he had no other way he could think of to convince him.

"Hmmm, but still..."

Seeing Akira mumble, Shijma's voice started to tremble.

"I-Is there something that you don't like?"

"Not really. It's just... let's leave me aside for now. Do you think they will be okay with me mocking them like this? Don't they need to convince their men for this deal?"

"Ahh, I see, about that. Don't worry. In the end, this offer is just for the company to keep up appearances. If you accept, they can make a public statement, stating that you paid a sum of money to form a peace deal. They will definitely not state the exact amount of money that you paid. Those who don't know the details would naturally assume that you have paid a huge sum."

"...Is that so? Is that how things work?"

"Yeah, it is as simple as that... But well, as expected, they wouldn't want you to go around leaking the amount you've paid. I'm sure they'll bring that up later. To keep it a secret. But that would be a different negotiation at a different time. The only thing that they asked me to do is this... So, what do you think?"

Akira hummed for a bit before finally nodding.

"Alright, should I just transfer the money? Because of what had happened, it has become extremely difficult for me to carry around this small of an amount... I did live out in the wasteland for quite some time after all... Wait, in the first place, where should I transfer the money to?"

Shijima immediately pointed at the three hundred Aurum on top of the table and offered it to Akira. He wanted to strike before Akira could change his mind.

"I'll give this to you, so you can pay it right here, right now."

Akira's expression immediately turned serious as he shook his head.

"No, if I'm going to pay, I will do it properly."

Shijima sighed deep inside his heart after watching Akira's problematic side come up. However, to not sour his mood, Shijima decided to let Akira do as he pleased. He took out his information terminal and told Akira where to transfer the money.

"Transfer it to this address, you don't mind if it's my account, right? Since I'm the negotiator from their side this time."

"It's fine."

Akira took out his own information terminal and completed the transfer. Once he received notification that the transfer went through, a peace treaty between Akira and Lion Steel Third Ward branch was formed.

Shijima was tottering as he was leaving Sheryl's base. Fatigue immediately struck him in one go after he had concluded the deal with Akira. The whole time, he felt like he was walking through a minefield. The feeling of elation from being able to get out alive supported his shaking legs as he returned back home.

For a negotiator, who had successfully concluded his deal with a highly dangerous opponent, Shijima was extremely gloomy. He knew he had gotten lucky. That he was able to handle it just fine this time. However, if there was a second time, there would be a third, fourth, and so on. Thus, Shijima had no confidence that he would live if he was asked to do something like this again.

For now, he decided to not think about it as he heaved a huge sigh and waded through a portion of the slums which had been turned into a mountain of rubble.

After Shijima left, Akira gave Sheryl a brief explanation before he left the base to head back home. He informed Sheryl that he had made a peace deal with the third ward branch, but did not share that he had to pay 300 Aurum to do so. Hearing that, Sheryl sighed in relief.

Once Akira arrived back home, he put his equipment down and stretched his body.

"I'm finally back."

The feeling of finally being home hit him. He was finally able to relieve the tension he felt, which latched onto him during the days when he was aiming to kill Chloe. The feeling of freedom was overwhelming.

Even Alpha was smiling happily as she said.

"It is indeed great. Since you have made peace with Lion Steel, there's no need to worry about ambushes and you can take a good rest... But still, it was rare for you to be willing to make a compromise like that. It was quite unexpected of you."

During his negotiation with Shijima, Akira was asked not to say anything about the amount to outsiders. He easily agreed to this, which took Alpha by surprise. Akira simply gave a soft smile and explained.

"Well, I don't want any more trouble than this. It might be weird for me to say this after going through everything, but it would be really troublesome to have Lion Steel staring at my back all the time. So, I am least willing to make that much of a compromise."

Everything he said were all his honest feelings. However, it was also true that such a conclusion was reached only because of his conversation with Shizuka beforehand. Had he not lowered his fist before he negotiated with Shijima, Akira might have used this as a reason to bring it down.

On top of that, the 300 Aurum price tag played a small role in changing his heart.

That 300 Aurum was a small amount for him right now. At the same time, it was the same amount he first received after he officially became a Hunter.

On one hand, it was a small amount of money, but on another, it was the first amount he had earned through risking his life. The mere fact he was able to form a peace treaty with a large company like Lion Steel filled him with mixed emotions. A conflicted feeling of accomplishment.

"I see. Either way, being able to avoid any unnecessary conflict is a good thing. We can now just wait patiently until your front-line equipment from Sakashita Heavy Industry arrives."

"You're right."

Right at that time, a notice from the Hunter Office reached his information terminal. When Akira read through the content, he could not help but knit his eyebrows.

"Bounty target notice, it says that it's a notice for a new bounty target...?"

Akira told himself that it should not have anything to do with him as he slowly read through the notice.

The new bounty target was not Akira. However, he was slightly surprised to see the name written being someone he knew.

—*—*—*—

Yesterday, around the time when the city officers, including Inabe, were receiving an explanation from the Lion Steel company about what had happened, Yanagisawa was not in the city. He was staying inside a particular room in the Seranthal building back in Mihazono ruin.

"If you're done with your investigation, it would be great if you can deliver my agreed-upon payment already."

"Very well, as I have promised, here is your reward."

Seeing Olivia declare with a nod, Yanagisawa was smiling, satisfied.

Yanagisawa was helping Olivia in her investigation. Everything from slowing down the Kugamayama City Management's reaction to allowing Akira to stay near the city. Naturally, the huge battle that took place was also part of the investigation as well.

And as payment, Yanagisawa was to be given a certain piece of information.

Yanagisawa, who was smiling happily up until now, suddenly turned solemn.

"Now then, I want to get information about the people who are working together with those AIs."

"That would be rejected."

Yanagisawa tensed up; his face turned stern.

"...What do you mean? That's not what you had promised."

Yanagisawa's voice was filled with intimidation, enough to freeze even veteran Hunters in the vicinity.

Even so, Olivia was not bothered by it at all.

"I agreed to share information with you, but I've never said that I will share everything we know. The quality and the amount of information that we're willing to share depends on how well you did your part."

"...I'm pretty sure I worked pretty hard back there."

"That does not concern us. Our company is willing to adapt our decision depending on the current situation. Since we were forced to share national military-grade information with someone outside the company, that alone took away most of your achievements."

Yanagisawa had no other choice but to withdraw after Olivia stated such a thing to him. He then carefully chose his words to ask her.

"Then, how about you tell me what I am allowed to ask considering my contribution to your investigation?"

"That will also be rejected. The method that we use to decide the value of information is also a form of information. Moreover, not giving you the information that you're looking for can also be interpreted as giving more information than what you're asking for. That would mean paying more than what you deserve."

Yanagisawa scratched his head, he understood Olivia's argument. If he kept asking questions regarding what information he could get, Olivia might treat it as a part of his payment, which would inevitably cause him to spend his achievements. Yanagisawa understood that doing this might lead him to end this rare opportunity without being able to get any valuable information.

"Then just tell me if those AIs have people working with them around here... No, right now, in the deeper part of Kuzusuhara ruin... No, do those AIs have someone working under them who is strong enough to go to the deeper section of Kuzusuhara ruin? Not on the route made by Kugamayama city. No, scratch that, can you recognize those people? Wait, no, can you find any individual with over 90% chance?"

"Yes."

Yanagisawa's expression grew even sterner.

[So there are, huh...! And they must be pretty powerful! Did those AIs strike some kind of deal with high-ranking Hunters who are coming to Kugamayama city lately? But Hunters are not allowed to go too deep into Kuzusuhara ruin. We made use of it being an area under Tsubaki as an excuse... Did they break through all the restrictions we have set up?]

"Can you tell me their name?"

"No."

Yanagisawa could not hide his shock.

[So, she won't even tell me their name, huh!? Does that mean this person is very important to the old-world Lion Steel company? Is it their patron? Wait, it might be someone from the current Lion Steel company. Since Olivia's negotiation with representative Alice went well, they might have made information regarding that person a secret...? No, that can't be. If it is connected to the current Lion Steel company, the number of people working with those AIs would increase significantly. Telling me the names of their important employees would be extremely valuable information. Is that why she refused?]

Yanagisawa did not know how many more questions he could ask. With that in mind, he carefully chose his next question.

"In that case, give me the current picture of just one person that satisfies my conditions. You can zoom out as much as you want with that person in the middle. Well, do so till you can show that picture to me."

If Olivia refused, then Yanagisawa must have made a fatal mistake in his estimation. However, even if he exhausted all his achievements with this one request, it would give him enough information to readjust his next moves. Yanagisawa concluded as he waited for Olivia's reply.

"Certainly."

Olivia then showed a 3D image in front of Yanagisawa, but the person in that image was not someone that Yanagisawa expected at all.

"This person... She's from Katsuya's...?"

It was the picture of someone who was in Katsuya's faction, Airi, taking an aim at Akira.

—*—*—*—

There were few from Katsuya's faction who agreed to join Chloe's side. They acquired powerful equipment thanks to the funds provided by Chloe. However, they were rallied under Airi due to their local network and not the Lion Steel company's third ward branch. Due to their strong desire to kill Akira, just like Airi, it was easy for her to take over the local network, and command them.

After Airi was done gathering allies, she quickly left Kugamayama city using the opening created when Akira and the others started fighting under the thick jamming smoke.

Inside Airi's enhanced vision, Alias pouted her lips as she stated.

"I'm pretty sure that our original agreement was not only for you to gather manpower, but also to provide him with support."

"Absolutely not. There's no reason for me to help the person who killed Katsuya. At least I'm holding myself back from attacking him."

According to her contract with Airi, Alias even had the permission to interfere with her self-identity. Even so, Airi could still refuse Alias' request due to her deep-seated hatred.

Alias sighed.

"It can't be helped then, but you should do the rest properly as per our contract."

"I know."

Airi had not been turned into Alias' remote terminal even when the latter had the ability to alter Airi's self-perceived identity. Alias knew this had something to do with Airi's deep-seated hatred. Therefore, Alias had to be careful when dealing with matters related to it. For now, since she could not do much about it, she decided to just let it slide.

—*—*—*—

After Shirou returned to his hideout, he quickly proceeded to analyze the data that he gathered in the slums. Not only did the data confirm Tsubaki's and Olivia's presence, but it also held the key to defeat those giants back in the slums. He hurriedly checked the data to see if he could extract any other important information from it.

However, without the help from an old-world AI like Alpha, and without access to Sakashita Heavy Industry's facilities, he needed more time to analyze it. Even so, he was able to process the data at a relatively good pace.

In the middle of processing, he received information about a new bounty target.

"Lion Steel has put up a bounty for someone again, huh? Oh? It's for a group of Hunters with someone by the name of Airi leading that group, huh..."

The reason for this bounty was because the group had abandoned their contract with the Lion Steel company. Seeing that, Shirou frowned and mumbled.

"Contract? I bet it's about attacking Akira, right? So, those who abandoned their accepted request will get a bounty on their head, huh? But I'm pretty sure the third ward branch has already made peace with Akira though..."

It was indeed as Shirou had thought. The third ward branch did not put up that bounty due to their own will. It was something that Yanagisawa had requested. There was a time lag between when the bounty was placed and when Yanagisawa discovered Airi from Olivia. Yanagisawa did not want to make any unnecessary waves that might cause those from anti-rebuild to notice him, that was why he waited for some time before putting up the bounty.

"Well, I bet the bounty was put up because of something different."

In reality, Shirou's guess was spot on. Nonetheless, he simply pushed matters related to this bounty aside and continued analyzing the data.

Not too long after that, once he was almost done decrypting the data, he suddenly froze in shock. He was able to clearly see an image of the girl next to Tsubaki and Olivia.

"Haruka...?"

Shirou knew Haruka.

"Haruka... Why... Are you there...? W-what's going on?"

Shirou was greatly shaken and confused. The girl in that picture was a friend that he wanted to save. He wanted to save her so much that he was willing to betray Sakashita Heavy Industry. Never would he have imagined her to be somewhere so close.

—*—*—*—

The slums had turned into ruins after the battle. However, renovation and rebuilding were already starting. The heavy construction machines that Inabe sent were working hard to remove the rubble.

Among one of the mountains of rubble, no human nor machine was nearby. It looked completely ordinary, like those around it until it suddenly moved. An arm broke out of the rubble, followed by a human scream. It was Levin.

A moment later, Babalod also emerged. Both were buried under the rubble in the middle of the battle and just woke up after being knocked unconscious. Thanks to the rubble on top of them, they were spared from the energy wave released by the giants.

Babalod lightly scanned the surroundings and sighed.

"I don't know what's the situation, but... At least we are still alive."

"...Yeah, we're alive... We're alive?? We're alive!! We survived!!!"

Levin shouted in delight. His happy voice echoed through the slums. At the very least, until he realized that his debt had just multiplied after his equipment got completely ruined.

I would actually like to see Akira take on the whole of Lion Steel. Well, we only have like 5 chapters left till we catch up to the raws. Also, this chapter is ~6.8K words!

This is > 1.5x a regular chapter!

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