Chapter 158: Chapter 159

Translator: Athena13

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

Akira was holding down the trigger of his DVTS minigun while still standing on top of his vehicle. Although he was aiming at the enemies in front of him, the shaking from the vehicle prevented him from hitting his shots. He tried to sweep horizontally with his DVTS minigun, but due to the shaking, his stray bullets even landed on the third floor of the mansion.

“This kickback is no joke! Alpha, can you do something about this?!”

“Nope. As I said, I haven’t finished taking control of the augmented suit so I can’t help you fix your aim or anything else that includes controlling your augmented suit. So use your own power to try to stabilize it. Or do you still want me to try?”

Akira tried his best to hold his DVTS minigun while thinking that it was rather too reckless of him to go to a real fight with his new equipment without getting used to them first. It was difficult to stand firm on top of the shaking vehicle. If Alpha was not controlling his vehicle, he would have been thrown off the vehicle by now. Thanks to that, he was only able to randomly scatter bullets to the enemies in front of him.

But that was enough to suppress his enemies down. The modified DVTS minigun could easily turn a monster into minced meat in a matter of milliseconds. If it hit a human without strong armour, it would normally be a death sentence. As more and more of his enemies chose to hide behind covers, less and less of them had the leeway to shoot at Akira.

“Akira, hold on tight!!”

Akira flusteredly held on to his vehicle. Almost at the same time, Alpha made a 90 degrees turn. When she did that, countless bullets came from behind and drew a line on the ground as it tried to catch up with Akira, it came from the machine gun on top of Katsuya’s vehicle.

“Shoot back now!! At this rate, he’ll one-sidedly keep shooting on you!”

Akira grabbed at his vehicle with one hand and used his other hand to aim his DVTS minigun at Katsuya’s vehicle.

“If it’s impossible to properly aim at him, at least keep it aimed at one point, I’ll try to help by adjusting the vehicle’s position.”

“Roger that!!”

Akira stopped trying to aim just like he was told to. He used his augmented suit to hold down his DVTS minigun aiming at one point before pulling the trigger. As the effect from the shaking of the vehicle, Akira’s aim, and the kickback that threw off his aim had been minimized, Alpha adjusted the vehicle position to aim at Katsuya.

Katsuya’s vehicle was riddled with bullets, shaving off the armour platings covering his vehicle. From Akira’s point of view, the fire sparks coming out from the bullets hitting the armour plating made it look like he was shooting fireworks as he was also listening to the bullets that went past him and landed behind him. Every time they released a barrage, a flower-like flash illuminated the dark courtyard.

Alpha focused her aim more to interrupt Katsuya’s aiming rather than to destroy his vehicle. Some of the released bullets hit the machine gun on top of Katsuya’s vehicle and interrupted its aiming. And even before the control device on that vehicle was able to readjust its aiming, more bullets hit that machine gun. It was in order to preserve the durability of Akira’s vehicle which had less armour.

In less than 10 seconds, they already exchanged enough bullets to kill a few hundred normal people. At first, Katsuya tried to force his way relying on the armour platings of his vehicle, but when the control device of his vehicle alerted him that a certain part of his vehicle was badly damaged, he noticed that Akira was focusing his aim at one point trying to break through the armour of his vehicle. Katsuya then clicked his tongue and made a turn to escape from Akira’s barrage.

Alpha used that opening to accelerate the vehicle and put more distance between them. At the same time, Akira quickly switched to his A4WM automatic grenade launcher and scattered grenades in Katsuya direction to prevent Katsuya from chasing him any further.

Akira had a stern expression plastered on his face as he said.

“That guy finally retreated, huh. But still, to think that he would raid the base from the front just to save a pickpocket, is that guy even right in the head?”

Alpha looked exasperated at Akira. She had no idea if Akira just simply did not realize what he too was doing, or if he understood what he was doing but was just ignoring it for now, or he was surprised to find someone who was as reckless as him.

“I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear that from you, you know. You’re basically doing the same thing as him, right?”

Akira raised his eyebrows as if he was telling Alpha that it was rude of her to say that to him.

“I came here fully willing to resolve this peacefully if they just hand over Sheryl and that pickpocket to me, you know. If it’s needed, I was even willing to negotiate. That was why I was obediently waiting when they told me to until that guy came. But after that guy came, the situation changed and negotiation seemed to be out of the question, that’s why I had no other choice but to take drastic action. So I don’t want you to lump me together with a guy who came here with a battle vehicle and acted so arrogantly the moment he came as if he was fully expecting for a fight right from the start, you know.”

There were many parts of Akira’s argument that were actually subjective to individual interpretations. But since he honestly thought that they were not the same, Alpha decided not to point it out.

“I’m glad to hear that you were actually willing to resolve this matter peacefully. Now, if only you would keep that up a little more, I would be really happy.”

“It depends on whether the other side would respect that or not. But people tend to not let me do that, so as long as that’s true, I don’t see any reason to stubbornly stick with it.”

If he only put out his argument and opinion, then let others take the decision, more than often things would not go as he wanted to. That kind of pessimistic thinking was carved in Akira’s head, that was the main reason why he stayed alone and did not get involved with any gangs when he was living in Slum City. He always thought joining a gang would give him more loss than what he could gain.

In the harsh-living condition of the slum city, living as a group rarely had more minus than the plus, of course, excluding special cases like Akira. Akira understood that if he affiliated himself with a gang, he would often get blamed and when the push came to shove, he would be the first one to be abandoned. As such, he was basically always alone. Had Alpha not delivered the shock that disrupted his usual way of thinking, he would have refused the deal that she offered to him right off the start.

Alpha understood without knowing the detail that there was a deep reasoning why Akira was like that. While at the same time, she also found that beneficial for her too.

“Well, it’s true that it’s useless to try to negotiate with someone that won’t even listen to you. I don’t think it’s a bad move to just abandon a negotiation with a low chance of success.”

“I know, right?”

Akira’s stern face relaxed for a bit, it might be because he thought someone finally agreed with him.

“We’ll break through the mansion from the entrance not too far ahead. You’ll have to leave the vehicle behind and search the inside of the mansion after that. Since you’ll be leaving your vehicle behind, there’s a good chance that you’ll lose it too, so just keep that in mind.”

Akira sighed.

“So I’ll lose my vehicle again, huh… “

“If you’re lucky, you won’t lose it.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not a lucky guy.”

Akira thought for a second if he was cursed to keep losing his vehicle or something.

Once the squad from Ezont Family finished their preparation, they immediately scrambled to the courtyard to fight the invaders. All of them were either former Hunters or were in the army before, they were not like those amateurs with rifles.

As they were passing through an atrium into the courtyard, Akira’s vehicle suddenly busted into the atrium. Akira paced his car to its full speed before he charged it into the door of the mansion. Ezont Family’s squad acted immediately and started shooting the vehicle. The vehicle was riddled with bullets in no time, but Akira was not in it.

When those people were shooting at the vehicle, Akira jumped into the atrium with his DVTS minigun ready in his hand and opened fire just like that.

Akira got some of them in his first opening barrage, but those who survived immediately spread out. Some of them set up a portable wall and used that as a cover while shooting back at Akira, some of them moved away from the group before shooting back at him, some of them lied down on the ground, or used Akira’s vehicle that just broke in as a cover, or used the full power of their augmented suit to jump away. Basically, they spread out so that Akira would not be able to finish all of them in one sweep.

Akira could see the trajectory of the incoming bullets thanks to Alpha’s support. He unconsciously compressed his time perception while trying to evade those incoming bullets, but since he was not used to his new augmented suit yet and the number of the incoming bullets were too many, some of those bullets hit him.

But the moment those bullets touched Akira, his coat blew those bullets away. Akira’s coat was made of nanomaterial equipped with force field armour and it drew from his energy pack. It was even light enough to be used with an augmented suit, but compared to the armour plating for vehicles, it had a very bad cost-to-benefit ratio. Not to mention once the energy pack was emptied, it would turn into a common coat. It was a very expensive piece of equipment to use.

Alpha warned Akira who just got shot.

“Try evading better. Even if it’s alright to get shot a few times, every time you get hit, your energy reserve will also get hit pretty badly.”

Akira did his best evading and shooting back as he replied.

“I know!! But it’s just that they’re too many! It seems that I didn’t get enough of them with the surprise barrage!”

“Make sure to finish those who are already lying on the ground, otherwise, there’ll be no end to them, you know?”

Those who got hit and just fell unconscious on the ground were resurrected by their augmented suit. When the augmented suit read a disruption in its user’s life signal, it would inject its user with medicine, accelerator drugs, and other battle stimulants to wake them up and allow them to temporarily continue fighting for a short time.

When Akira saw that, he could not help but frown.

“So a few bullets is not enough to neutralize them, huh!?”

Akira desperately evades the incoming bullets while shooting back at his enemies. Even with his compressed time perception, he could not stop moving. If he stopped for a second, he would be a sitting target. At the moment, he needed to keep moving around while shooting back with his DVTS minigun to keep his enemies suppressed and throw off their aims.

In the middle of that fierce battle, no one was watching Akira’s vehicle that was already stopped after breaking into the atrium. That was when it suddenly started running again as it forced its way through the atrium as if it was trying to run over the Ezont’s soldiers. Of course, it was Alpha controlling that vehicle.

Akira quickly shot those who were distracted by his vehicle. Moreover, he quickly ran along beside his vehicle while using it as a cover. He did not stop shooting at his enemies while running, confusing his enemies even more. Alpha gave Akira instructions to match his movement with his vehicle, thus he was able to effectively shoot down his enemies one by one.

Ezont Family’s soldiers were killed one by one, some of them were run over by Akira’s vehicle, some of them got shot down by Akira, some of them were blown away by Akira’s kick. The fierce battle died down as more and more dead bodies kept piling up.

As the dead bodies finally outnumbered those who were still alive. Akira slowly but surely got the upper hand in that fight, but that was when another sudden change in situation happened. A reinforcement suddenly poured in from inside the mansion.

Akira started considering pulling back and assaulting the mansion from another side. If Alpha told him to do so, he was planning to do so right away. Alpha then gave Akira an order.

“Akira.”

“Temporary retreat?”

“Force your way into the mansion.”

Although Akira was surprised by that unexpected order, he had a stern face as he looked at the direction Alpha was pointing at. He then gathered his resolve and started running. Akira had to pass through several positions where he had no cover in order to follow that order, but he did not hesitate at all.

Ezont Family’s soldiers were surprised by the sudden charge that looked nothing more than just a reckless and pointless action, but they immediately aimed their rifles at Akira. Right when they were about to pull the triggers on their rifles, another barrage suddenly came from the courtyard followed by another vehicle that crashed right into the atrium. Katsuya was chasing Akira while scattering bullets from the machine gun fixed on his vehicle as he rammed his whole vehicle straight into the mansion.

Akira used that opening to slip past those soldiers. He held his DVTS minigun in one hand and randomly shot bullets at those men while running.

Of course, those men could not just ignore the battle vehicle inside the atrium, they shifted their focus from Akira and focused their firepower on Katsuya’s vehicle. Some of the reinforcements who came with rocket launchers fixed their aims at Katsuya’s vehicle and pulled the trigger.

The rockets did not have a hard time finding their target, as those rockets hit Katsuya’s vehicle that was inside the atrium. The fire from the explosions even reached outside of the mansion and the shockwave shook the whole mansion.

—*—*—*—

Sheryl, who was also being held inside the mansion, looked very confused. She no longer looked sad anymore.

[…What’s going on? It seems that there’s something going on outside for a while now…]

She was able to notice the change in the situation from the room that she was locked in. She could hear the siren going off outside accompanied by the sound of people running around.

Sheryl thought of using the current chaos to escape, but she could not find any ways to do so. The only door in that room was locked and she did not have anything that she could use to force it open. Although there was something going on outside, it did not change the fact that she was not able to get out of that room on her own.

But even so, she tried her best to think of the best decision that she could take in that situation. She was trying to regain her calm so that when the opportunity presented itself, she would not miss it and would be able to react calmly.

If she kept looking down while crying, she might overlook something that she could have done, she might have unconsciously ignored some chances that she could have used. She kept telling herself that while taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

Then something happened. The door to that room suddenly opened and a few men came into the room. The man who was leading those men aimed his rifle at Sheryl and held out her information terminal that was confiscated before.

“If you don’t want to die, give Akira a call.”

Sheryl extended her hand and took that information terminal with a serious face.

—*—*—*—

After Akira went through the atrium, he kept running into the deeper part of the mansion through the hallways. He loaded a new magazine into his DVTS minigun while running. He had to pay for the price of using his new augmented suit, which he was not used to yet, with a few pills of medicines.

“That was pretty dangerous. I thought I keep myself vigilant back then, but those guys were pretty strong.”

Akira inadvertently compared the strength of the people that he just fought to those robbers that he fought in Sheryl’s base excluding Zalmo, who he had especially extra trouble fighting against. But if he included his current equipment, these people were a little stronger than those robbers.

As Akira thought that it was to be expected that the guards defending such a huge base would be rather powerful, he then regretted the fact that he was unconsciously looking down at them before. But he did not regret his decision to raid the base.

“But still, didn’t that guy come to this place to save that pickpocket? So why is he chasing after me desperately?”

“He might have misunderstood that you know the location of that pickpocket and decided to kill you first.”

“What a pain in the neck!”

As Akira looked immensely annoyed, Alpha suddenly made a suggestion to him.

“If you think that it’s already way outside your calibre, you can decide to withdraw, you know. That fight just now was pretty bad after all, right?”

“Well, it’s true that it was rough, but I somehow started to get the feeling of how to use this augmented suit from that fight. As expected of an expensive augmented suit, it doesn’t seem hard to operate. That’s why I should be able to give a better fight next time. It’s rather unfortunate that I still can’t get your support, but I don’t think I’ll withdraw yet.”

Alpha understood that Akira was not trying to sound strong from the way he said it. While at the same time, rather than being happy with his ability to adapt, she thought that she needed to be careful with it. Akira was able to get used to his new augmented suit to the point that he did not worry about it at all just after a single fight. That ability to adapt was way above her expectation.

Although Alpha was worried about that kind of thing which was outside her prediction, she did not show that on the surface. She was still smiling like usual as she said.

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“That’s good to hear then, let’s hurry up.”

“Did you get their locations?”

“Unfortunately, I still can’t find them. I guess we have no other choice but to check all the locations where they might be held. I’ve always been keeping my eyes on the information-gathering device for any signal that might indicate their locations, but I still got nothing until now.”

Akira seemed a little bit disappointed.

“…I’m sure I can easily find them if I interrogate one of those guys, but with how strong they are, I guess that’s out of the question, huh.”

Akira did not have the leeway to take his time interrogating one of Ezont Family’s soldiers. If he did not fight them with the intention to kill, he might get killed instead. If he did not do that, he would get overwhelmed fighting those people.

Alpha suddenly turned to Akira and said.

“Akira, I know where Sheryl is.”

“Oh, you got it? So what was that just now when you said that you can’t find her?”

“I got her location now so it doesn’t really matter, does it? I’ll guide you there. And also, she’ll be calling you soon. Just tell her what I’ll tell you. I’ll also be the one connecting you to her, so there’s no need to use your information terminal.”

“Hm? Okay.”

Akira thought that instruction was a bit weird, but he also did not want to use one of his hands to hold his information terminal. He knew that there must be a good reason why Alpha told him to follow her instruction while talking to Sheryl, so he just ignored the questions that came up in his mind.

—*—*—*—

Sheryl used her information terminal that was returned to her to call Akira. It was the information terminal that Akira lent her the other day. She made a call with a stern expression and it did not take that long for her call to connect. Akira’s voice could be heard coming out from her information terminal.

“Sheryl? Where are you?”

Before Sheryl could answer, the people inside that room quickly covered her mouth and took over her information terminal. The guy who took Sheryl’s information terminal then yelled a threat.

“So you’re Akira, huh? If you don’t want this girl dead, throw away your weapons.”

“Who is this?”

“Are you being serious here? I’m really going to kill this girl, you know?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t even know you, so it’s not like I can take you seriously even if you tell me so…”

From his voice, Akira sounded more like he really had no clue at all rather than just playing dumb, and it really irritated that guy.

“Are you really attacking this place without knowing who owns this place!? Don’t play dumb with me! If you’re going to play dumb again, I’ll really kill her now! I’m not bluffing here, I’m being serious!”

Akira paused before replying.

“…Let me get this straight first. I came here after hearing from Viola that Sheryl is being held in this place after she made a blunder during a negotiation with Ezont Family, then Viola also said that at this rate Sheryl might get raped and killed to make an example out of her. So I just thought that if she’s still alive, then I’ll get her out, but if she’s already dead, I at least can take revenge in her place. Thought it might be too late to say this, but to be honest, I’m not even sure if that information is correct. So, is that really what’s going on here?”

That man frowned the moment he heard Viola’s name. His expression saying that he knew how horrendous that Viola girl was.

“It’s true that this girl refused an offer from the boss. That’s why we’re holding her here.”

“I see. Then, how about the information that a pickpocket called Alna is also here? I also got that from Viola.”

“Does this have something to do with that pickpocket?”

“Because of a personal reason, I want that pickpocket dead, you see. So if she’s really here, I’m just thinking of killing her while I’m here.”

That man raised his voice.

“I don’t care about your personal reason or what not! That pickpocket has nothing to do with this right now, does she!? The only thing that matters here is if you would obey us or not, and if you won’t, then we’ll kill this girl!!”

Akira paused for a bit again before replying.

“…I have two things that I need to confirm first before I can give you my answer.”

Since it sounded that Akira might accept his demand depending on the things that Akira wanted to confirm, that man calmed down for a bit.

“Oh, so what is it?”

“Is Sheryl really alive? And if the girl who you have with you is really Sheryl or not? I want to know those two things first. Judging from the guys who were mocking me in the entrance, it won’t be strange if you guys already killed her, you know. After all, it seemed that you guys are not scared if I came here to take revenge. So if Sheryl is already dead, then it won’t be strange if you guys took her information terminal and used it to call me in order to trick me. In the first place, it’s weird for Sheryl to come to this place alone without asking me to accompany her. It doesn’t seem like you guys kidnapped her either, and even if I wasn’t able to accompany her, she should have at least given me a call. There’s also a possibility that someone stole her information terminal, used it to ask for a meeting with your boss, and said something that she shouldn’t have to your boss, so the person that you have there might not be the real Sheryl. If she’s really Sheryl and she’s still alive, then I don’t mind listening to your demand. After all, I don’t want to throw away my weapons just to save someone who’s pretending to be Sheryl, you see.”

That man clicked his tongue after hearing how paranoid Akira was. But since he was trying to confirm the identity of the hostage, that in itself meant that Sheryl had some value as a hostage. He then extended that information terminal to his friend who was covering Sheryl’s mouth and signalled him.

After that man let Sheryl off, she took that information terminal. The other men were still pointing their rifles at her as she started talking to her information terminal with a stern face.

“…It’s Sheryl… Uhhh, I’m being held here but I’m not injured. So, uhh, I’m okay at the moment. Ah, yes, it’s the real me. Please believe me.”

Sheryl somehow sounded rather awkward. It was both because she was buying more time while thinking about what she could do in that situation as well as because she was so surprised and delighted to find out that Akira really came to save her.

“So you’re okay, right? Then, why did you come here alone? I was there with you when you went to Shijima’s base, remember?”

In reality, considering the fight that almost happened because of Akira back then, it was enough of a reason not to bring him along again. Sheryl could not understand what Akira was thinking about that matter, if he just did not notice it himself yet, or if he was just putting that aside for now, or if he thought that it was way better to do so rather than having to face this kind of situation.

“I-I’m really sorry. Viola introduced me to Ezont Family and brought up that offer to me. Judging from what I could gather from her that time, I figured that I didn’t need any bodyguard for this.”

“I heard that you refused their offer though, did they tell you to give up your territory again?”

“Although it might sound suspicious, they wanted us to work under their gang. So I think it can be interpreted that my territory will be Ezont Family’s territory too. But if I have to make a guess, I believe that they were talking about the chain of command, and in that chain of command, they wanted Akira to be in it too. So, since I thought that it’s not my place to decide that, I refused their offer.”

“…I see, so that’s what happened, huh?”

Sheryl was a little surprised since Akira too sounded surprised. She thought that since he never considered himself as a part of Sheryl’s gang, he would not have any interest in such matters.

One of the guys there then snatched Sheryl’s information terminal again.

“You confirmed that she’s the real Sheryl now, right? Then let me tell you this again, if you don’t want this girl to die, throw down your weapons. I’ll send you a location, come to that location with your hands up an-“

Akira interjected.

“You’re going to kill me there, aren’t you?”

“…Don’t make me say it again. If you don’t follow my instruction, we’ll kill this girl. That’s all you need to know.”

“…I’m a Hunter, you know?”

“Hah?”

“Working as a Hunter means regularly risking my life. And risking my life is the most that I will do. I have no plans to go along with something that would definitely kill me. That’s why I can’t accept your demand. In the first place, if I die, there’s no guarantee that you guys won’t kill Sheryl too. This won’t even be a negotiation. I’ll make a suggestion here instead, if you hand over Sheryl and kill that pickpocket, I’ll leave peacefully. And make sure that you guys don’t interrupt me on my way out either. This way both of us won’t have to face any loss, what do you think?”

That man exploded in anger.

“Are you f*cking kidding me!? Do you really think that we would accept that offer?!”

“I’m saying here that I’m willing to forgive you for threatening to kill my lover. Isn’t that enough for a reason? Or is it that there’s no place for negotiation?”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“I see.”

Right at the next moment, Akira kicked down the door to that room. He already had rifles in each of his hands. Everyone in that room was frozen by that sudden turn of events, Akira used that opening to fix the aim of both of his rifles and immediately opened fire. The closed room and the close range did not give them any chance to evade nor to shoot back. In the next moment, those guys were lying on the ground, drowning in their own blood after being riddled with bullets.

The scene inside the room was turned into a macabre in a split second. Akira looked at the dead soldiers there and said.

“It’s your fault for saying there’s no chance for negotiation, so I won’t accept any complaints, okay?”

Of course, no one was complaining there. Deadmen could not complain after all.

Akira was actually just buying time when he was talking to Sheryl and the other guys. The moment Alpha said that she knew where Sheryl was, Akira already knew that it was really Sheryl and that she was still alive.

He also was not doubting the information from Viola. Although Viola might have had a bad intention when she shared that information, for some reason, Akira was sure that Viola would never lie. She would only share real information, though not everything, to manipulate people.

He was only buying time to make sure that Sheryl was alright until he arrived. That was the only reason why he did that. But if they had accepted Akira’s offer, he was willing to peacefully leave too. But of course, he did not think that they would accept his offer right from the beginning.

His demand would get refused, he at least got that guess correct. Since he made that offer while assuming right from the start that the negotiation would break down anyway, that result was fully under his expectation. Akira himself did not notice how twisted his way of thinking was.

Sheryl was dumbfounded by the sudden change in front of her, but once she registered what just happened, she made a troubled face. She was happy that Akira even called her his lover and came here to save her, but at the same time, she shuddered at the fact how Akira did not even bat an eyelash massacring everyone in that room and stared coldly at the dead bodies in the ground to top it off.

Akira lowered his rifle and turned at Sheryl. Sheryl tried her best not to show fear on her face.

“Well, just to be safe, are you okay? I was trying to be careful as not to shoot you by mistake…”

“Ah, yes. I’m okay, thank you very much for coming to rescue me.”

Sheryl bowed and thanked Akira while giving off a calm smile at him.

Akira did not seem to be bothered that much, it looked as if he just finished cleaning up some small stuff.

“…Well, I did say that I’ll help you out if something were to happen. Though it’s not like I’ll come to your rescue every time, I can at least rescue you if it’s only this much.”

For Sheryl, Akira seemed so reliable from that short exchange. While at the same time, she also thought that if she ever made an enemy out of Akira, he might clean her up like what he did just now.

Putting aside whether Akira was a good person or not, one thing was for sure, he had a very low moral value and had almost zero aversion toward killing other people. To top it off, he had the power to do so although he obeyed a vague set of moral values. Sheryl thought that it would be scary to have him as an enemy, but that also did not erase how scary he was even if she had him as an ally.

Sheryl understood that she loved Akira and she depended deeply on him. That was why she wondered if her fear was her self-defense instinct kicking in for the scary person in front of her. She could not help but wonder if that fear would subside if she could gain more power. She felt insecure as those thoughts ran through her mind.

Akira lightly sighed, with this, half of his goal why he came to that place was achieved. Although he did encounter some soldiers on his way to that room, they were not as strong as the people that he fought back in the atrium. Not to mention that he had also already gotten used to his new augmented suit, so he had no problem fighting through those soldiers and it gave Akira some leeway.

Alpha smiled at Akira and suggested he withdraw now.

“Well, we’ve rescued Sheryl now, so let’s get out from this base.”

Akira slightly pouted.

“I still have a pickpocket to kill though.”

“Even if you say so, it’s not like you can hunt for that pickpocket while protecting Sheryl, right? She’ll be dead if you go around while taking her along with you, you know? It’s not like you rescued Sheryl just to get her killed, right?”

Alpha wanted Akira to get out from that base as soon as possible. That was why she decided to help him rescue Sheryl. She wanted to avoid the situation where he killed Alna, which caused Katsuya to have some grudge against him which definitely would cause more trouble later down the line. Moreover, it would be great if Alna got killed by chance in the middle of the ongoing chaos. That was why Alpha wanted Akira to leave that place as soon as possible.

Akira looked conflicted. He understood Alpha’s argument, but he could not just leave either.

“Well, one thing for sure, we shouldn’t stay in this place. Let’s move somewhere else where you can better ascertain the current situation. It would be troublesome if they send some reinforcements to this room, so let’s hurry up.”

“You’re right.”

Akira turned to Sheryl.

“Sheryl, we need to hurry up and move somewhere else. I’m sorry but I might need to carry you rather roughly.”

“I understand, please don’t worry about it.”

Akira used one arm to pick her up. Sheryl then said that she felt like she might fall, so she extended her arm around Akira’s neck and back as not to get in his way too much. If he wanted to prioritize the ease of moving around, Akira could just carry her under his arm, but Sheryl kept that to herself.

Akira then followed Alpha while carrying Sheryl, who was hugging him tightly.

Sheryl felt really happy that someone she loved was hugging her even when she was in that situation. As she thought that she was rather a calculating girl for feeling like that, she smiled bitterly and most of her worry from just now was already gone.

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