Chapter 212: A Sensitive Discussion

Determined to rise in the world, a boy had one day dashed out of the back alleys of the slums, risking his life to plunder a ruin. There, he'd encountered a mysterious woman-a meeting that, for better or worse, had drastically changed the course of his life. He was only a dime-a-dozen, powerless slum child, and yet as he'd conquered trial after trial, he'd grown stronger, until he could now easily defeat behemoths who towered far over his head.

Clothes that wouldn't wear out. Food that was safe to eat! A room...with a roof! The things he'd once longed for as he lurked in the streets he'd already long since obtained. But the boy continued to fight, seeking even more power-for two reasons.

First, to complete the request Alpha had hired him for.

And second, so he would never again have to kill someone he didn't want to kill, or be forced to let them die.

He was now so powerful that he had been hired to guard an intercity transport, laid waste to the giant bugs that had then attacked his convoy, and even come out victorious against a superhuman-yet the power he desired remained a distant dream.

Once upon a time, languishing in those alleys, huddling on the ground like the miserable weakling he'd been, he'd merely wanted the strength to kill anyone in his way. His desire had since changed, but he still needed more power to fulfill his goals.

Thus, Akira would fight on.

?

After returning home from his harrowing battle on the transport and enjoying a luxurious, well-deserved bath in his newly remodeled bathroom, Akira had felt so warm and cozy that he'd headed straight to bed and immediately fallen asleep.

Upon waking the next morning, he sat up and stretched, feeling more refreshed than he had in quite a long time.

Good morning, Akira! Did you sleep well?

Morning, Alpha. Yeah, I feel amazing! That bath last night really did the trick! All of the fatigue of battle had vanished without a trace, and he grinned at her in high spirits.

Alpha smiled at his reaction. Then I suppose all that money you spent on upgrading your bath was worth it?

Sure was! And when I think about how I can enjoy a bath like that every day from now-yowza! It feels even more worthwhile! I guess even someone like me can learn to appreciate the finer things in life.

As high-ranking hunters normally earned far more than Akira ever had, what the boy considered "the finer things in life" were, of course, hardly luxurious by their standards. But he had indeed far surpassed the average hunter's standard of living at last.

Akira left the bedroom and began preparing breakfast. Not that he actually cooked-he just heated up some processed food and plopped it on a plate. However, he'd grown to relish his daily meals, and was now buying more expensive food than before. This meal was quite a bit tastier than anything he'd ever find in a cheap restaurant or store. But after taking a bite and chewing for a moment, he frowned, puzzled.

"Huh... That's it?"

Alpha sensed what he meant and looked amused. Your palate must have grown used to the high-class fare on the Gigantas III.

Intercity transport travel was usually reserved for the wealthy, so the standard of food served on board had to be high enough to satisfy them. While working his security job, Akira had not merely indulged in one or two such meals-he'd eaten that delectable food the entire time.

And now he found he really missed it.

In that case, just buy tastier food from now on, Alpha said matter-of-factly. With the kind of money you're raking in, you could easily afford to spend a hundred times your current food budget.

"Well, yeah, sure, but..."

Something's holding you back?

"W-Well, I'm just kinda worried about getting so used to luxury that I can't settle for anything less," he explained, sounding conflicted.

Alpha gave him a knowing smile. Akira, Akira. Think of the kind of fights you're accustomed to now. You're already used to dropping millions of aurum on meds and ammo, and billions on gear-you have to, just to survive. So it's a little late to be worrying about your standard of living now, don't you think?

"Yeah... I guess so," he admitted with a rueful smile. While he knew, deep down, that Alpha was right, it was tough for him to acknowledge it.

Once you raised your standards, it was tough to lower them again-whether in daily life, combat, or, of course, the hunter profession.

?

Not long after, Akira found himself summoned to the hospital by Inabe. While the boy wasn't subjected to a thorough inspection, he did receive a basic checkup and, aside from a slightly elevated nanomachine count, was given a clean bill of health. After undergoing a procedure to remove the excess nanomachines, he was sent to the same hospital room he'd stayed in before.

As he entered, he discovered Inabe and Hikaru already there, waiting for him.

"I heard you had it rough on the Gigantas III," Inabe began. "Glad to see you've fully recovered."

"Yeah, 'cause I already got treatment on board," Akira retorted. "So why force me through another checkup?"

"That was just a pretext for bringing you here. It would have looked weird to call you down to the hospital otherwise. Besides, I want to personally confirm that you were in good condition. After a battle like that, you might be suffering effects that you're not immediately aware of, and what've you got to lose by getting checked again?"

"Well, yeah, I guess."

Then Inabe grew more serious. "Now, before we move on to the real issue at hand, I need to spell a few things out for you. First and foremost, what I'm about to discuss with you is a matter that pertains to Sakashita Heavy Industries. So no matter how much you dislike what I'm about to tell you, you'll just have to grin and bear it. You'll be compensated financially for your trouble, after all."

Akira bristled at Inabe's tone-he didn't enjoy feeling like he had no choice. Even so, he listened attentively to what Inabe had to say.

While defending the convoy of intercity transports (Inabe began), Akira had gone up against a superhuman named Erde and won by the skin of his teeth. At the time, Erde had been under the mistaken impression that Hikaru was an Old Domain User belonging to Sakashita.

Hikaru was neither a User nor affiliated with Sakashita. She'd been extremely shocked and confused when Erde had declared her to be such. But Erde hadn't come to that conclusion out of the blue-he'd held proof so convincing that he'd put his life on the line to capture her.

And because he'd swallowed that misinformation, he'd ended up fighting Akira and lost his life in the process.

Sakashita had pulled a fast one on him-Harmers had signed off on the scheme, and Shirou had carried it out. The news that Sakashita had a genius Old Domain User on their side, that this individual almost never left the company's grounds, and that the company was planning on transporting them covertly to a distant city was all top secret. Possessed of an excellent information network, Erde and his team had naturally succeeded in uncovering this detail-never realizing they were playing right into Shirou's hands.

By the time their attack on the transport had begun, it was too late for them to notice their intel contained a falsehood. Shirou had maneuvered Hikaru into the role of an unwitting decoy as a faux Sakashita VIP, thus leaving her to face the power of a nationalist superhuman.

Inabe didn't actually name names; he merely told the boy what had happened, and pinned the blame on Sakashita. Akira scowled but accepted his explanation.

"I guess that makes sense," said Akira shortly.

Watching him closely, Inabe warned him again, "Like I said, this time you're dealing with Sakashita Heavy Industries. You can be as upset or angry as you want, but you absolutely must not act on those feelings, do you hear?"

Conflicted, Akira glanced at Hikaru. "That okay with you, though? I mean, they used you as a decoy, and you nearly died."

A frown flitted across Hikaru's face at the memory, but then it vanished, swept away by a smile. "Well, to be honest, I'm pretty ticked off, yeah-but not so much that I want to make an enemy of Sakashita. Despite everything they did to me, they did eventually tell me the whole scoop without covering anything up. Besides, they're gonna compensate me for my trouble, so I can let bygones be bygones."

"Really?" At her words, Akira felt his ire settle down. After all, it was Hikaru who'd been used, not Akira. If she wasn't going to hold a grudge, then he had no business griping either. Besides, he'd had every opportunity to leave her behind and save his own skin-it had been his choice to stay and fight Erde. In his eyes, therefore, it seemed wrong to hold Sakashita accountable for his brush with death.

"All right, then I won't make a stink either. You're cool with that too, right, Hikaru?"

"Yeah, of course! In fact, that'd be a...