Result-wise, Pamela made the wrong decision.

 

Her opponent was basically already a walking dead. She did not have to rush and could just take her time to kill him. That was what she thought when she was looking at Akira, who was tenaciously surviving the battle. Many of her risen allies were gravely injured. If it was only a matter of time before she could kill him, it was best to minimize the damage. With that in mind, in order to recover the gravely wounded, she ordered them to stand further back while the ones in the front were those who were already dead.

 

This was when she found something strange about Akira.

 

Akira did not seem to be discouraged at all. Normally, in this kind of situation, a person would get extremely reckless. Since they had no hope left, they would try to take as many people down as possible. It would be a suicidal rush, which was not what Akira was currently doing.

 

[He must be waiting for something.] She thought that it was because he was trying to buy time, but that did not seem to be the case at all. Akira did not seem to be waiting for reinforcement. As a matter of fact, he was fighting like a mad man, taking any opportunity of victory, trying to overcome this battle with only his own strength. That was what Pamela judged watching Akira, who was close to the precipice of death, fight.

 

Seeing that he was still alive when she had arrived, showed that Akira was far stronger than she had thought. The cautiousness that came up from that caused her to believe that he had another trump card in hand. A trump card that could turn the tide the moment she was close to victory. This possibility caused her to approach the issue even more cautiously.

 

In the end, Pamela decided to take a slow and careful approach to finish him off. With enough time, Pamela would have a sure-fire way to eliminate him.

 

The dead corpses continued their assault. Those who had lost multiple parts of their bodies, even their heads, aimed their rifles at him and started shooting. Meanwhile, some tried to cut Akira down with their blades. As expected, they were way weaker than when they were still alive. Nonetheless, with their numbers, they were still at least able to put Akira under pressure.

 

Although they were moving as if they did not care if they died or not while they were still alive, in the end, it was a decision that they made to prioritize their objective. Of course, if they could win without killing anyone, then they would do that. Back then, there were still some hesitations on the effectiveness of their move compared to the risk they took on. Even if they were ready to put down their lives, they still wanted it to be utilized to its utmost, which created a gap.

 

However, with Pamela in control, they had completely thrown away that reservation and the difference from that was big. Thanks to that, they were able to compensate for the difference in their diminished fighting strength.

 

Akira was doing all he could to face that assault. He swung his LEO multi-rifle to sweep across his surroundings. He kept evading the bullets while destroying his opponents. But there was no question that he was getting increasingly cornered.

 

Akira did not show any sign of slowing down. Even the thought of giving up had completely vanished from his mind. If his fighting power could be solely determined by his willpower, he would not have that hard a time fighting against them in the first place.

 

In the middle of the chaotic battle, Pamela was waiting for an opening to shoot Akira. If he avoided her shot, he would not be able to evade the others’ bullets.

 

Suddenly, Akira’s augmented suit made contact with the enemy’s blade, releasing a flash of light. This marked his energy cell getting critically damaged.

 

Due to its low energy reserves, his augmented suit moves started to become duller. As he had to avoid the opponent’s blade that was coming at him like a suicidal rampage in his dulled augmented suit, Akira had to jump away. At that moment, just as Pamela had predicted, she sniped at him, and the bullet struck him.

 

Akira was blown away by the bullet. He flew horizontally like a rag-doll and bounced a few times on the ground before landing hard on a collection of rubble.

 

But even so, he was still alive. The moment he understood that he could not avoid the bullet, he used all the remaining energy to receive that shot. Although he did not lose his life, he lost all his ability to fight. His augmented suit went inactive, due to the damage on his body, it would not even listen to his command to move.

 

Pamela finally let out a sigh of relief. She then aimed her rifle at Akira’s head and declared.

 

“Finally. Don’t worry, I won’t even tell you to stand up first. I will also at least let Milady know how hard you fought.”

 

The others also aimed their rifles at him. Just one shot would be enough to finish him off. If they started firing, there would not even be a trace of him left.

 

“Now then, good night.”

 

The moment Pamela was about to pull the trigger, her vision was suddenly filled with white light.

 

The source of that white light was the AF anti-material cannon on Akira’s bike. Since it was shot from far away and its spread was maximized, it completely filled the area in blinding light.

 

It enveloped both Akira and the rest of his opponents. But Pamela and her allies quickly activated their forcefield shields to defend themselves. Thanks to that, they were spared.

 

As for Akira, the light was blocked by the rubble and wreckage between the cannon and him. Naturally, this was not out of luck, it was a carefully calculated shoot made so that it would not injure him.

 

The bike kept shooting its AF anti-material rifle toward Akira while heading straight at him. The moment Pamela noticed that it was nothing but Akira trying to buy time for himself, the bike had already reached its target.

 

Right at that moment, Akira used all the might he could muster to get onto the bike. At the same time, the bike quickly accelerated and left the area.

 

Of course, they quickly started shooting at Akira, trying to hit him. With their augmented suits, if they focused on racing after Akira, they would be able to catch up to him.

 

However, the bike was already set to use its full power to fly off with maximum acceleration. Moreover, the LEO multi-rifles on its arms, as well as its AF anti-material cannon were used to hold them back.

 

The area was filled with lasers and bullets. The rubble evaporated and exploded, filling the area with pieces of debris. The destruction to the area was severe. As expected of the annihilation ray that worked even against the powered suits that attacked the inter-city transport.

 

However, Pamela and the others were fine. Those who were already dead, quickly stepped forward to create layers of forcefield shield, sparing Pamela and those who were still partially alive.

 

Even so, Pamela was knitting her eyebrows. The bike had left at max speed through the clear sky. It was already way outside her reach.

 

“…What a blunder! He got away!”

 

Pamela was somehow able to hold back her frustration by reminding herself of her duty to her master. She then immediately called Latis to let Chloe know the result.

 

Due to Pamela being too careful, she had failed to kill him. If she had thrown away caution and prioritized killing Akira, she would have been able to accomplish it.

 

Even in that hopeless situation, Akira was tenaciously scouring for an opportunity to win, even now. That abnormal tenacity caused Pamela to be careful, which in turn caused her to make such a major blunder.

 

Determination and willpower alone could not win a fight, but those things allowed him to turn the tide from a hopeless situation.

 

—*—*—*—

 

Akira was clinging to his bike as it flew through the sky. In his still hazy mind, he could hear Alpha’s voice from his bike.

 

“Akira! Hold on tight! I don’t have the leeway to pick you up if you fall!!”

 

“…Alpha? I know, but… wait, where are you…?”

 

“We need to get away from here as soon as possible first! Make sure to hold on!!”

 

It was as if Alpha could not hear him at all and Akira found that strange.

 

[My telepathy can’t reach her? No, this is…]

 

Now that he had already gotten away from the battle, and could hear Alpha again, Akira regained some of his cool. He finally noticed that his connection to Alpha had been cut off.

 

“Right… But my augmented suit has already run out of energy…”

 

“As long as you’re on the bike, it’ll charge your augmented suit through a wireless connection. We modified it so that it can do that, remember? Your augmented suit current can only utilize minimum power, and since I’m not connected to you right now, I can’t control your augmented suit! So, make sure not to faint!”

 

“…Roger that…”

 

Inside his hazed mind, close to fainting, Akira somehow managed to stay awake and kept clinging onto the bike. The augmented suit had already charged enough to function in casual mode. So, he was able to move his body, though he hardly had the strength to move his body on his own.

 

The bike kept going on just like that and left the ruin. Eventually, Alpha returned back to Akira’s vision.

 

“Alright. We’ve connected again. Just leave the rest to me.”

 

“…Alright.”

 

Akira said so in relief and finally lost consciousness.

 

After that, his body still continued to move.

 

He pulled out a huge amount of medicine and took them to accelerate the healing of his dying body. Thanks to that, the healing was pretty fast. The healing nanomachines coursed through his body and were fixing his body on the cellular level. His body, which could no longer move without his augmented suit just a moment ago, got fixed. At least, enough for him to make some light movements after a few seconds.

 

Once he managed to recover at a certain point, he pulled out an energy pack from his bike and reloaded it into his augmented suit. He did the same for his rifles’ magazines as well.

 

Alpha was able to have full control of Akira’s body, but it was limited to only emergency cases. Naturally, being on the verge of death was one such case.

 

Akira finally woke up and found himself inside one of the dilapidated buildings inside an old-world ruin. His body had already quickly recovered. He jumped up and scanned the area by pure reflex. Eventually, his eyes discovered Alpha, who was furiously looking at him.

 

“Akira, good morning!”

 

“…Uh, A-Alpha, morning!”

 

Akira winced back from her expression and tried to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. Once he realized that he had survived with his life intact, Akira let out a sigh of relief. And once again, he found himself under Alpha’s sharp gaze.

 

“It seems that your body is alright now. So then, first of all, let’s share information.”

 

“A-alright.”

 

Although he basically lost consciousness, it still gave him a chance to rest, enough for his mind to recover. Moreover, he also had completely calmed down. Which meant that he was receiving the full brunt of the pressure from Alpha.

 

Alpha started her explanation first.

 

Alpha lost contact with Akira when Chloe suddenly laughed during their negotiation. Of course, she tried to restore the connection right away. But she failed. Due to the same kind of jamming effect, she was completely shut off from the old-world domain.

 

So, Alpha immediately tried all kinds of things that she could think of to reconnect with Akira. She was eventually able to connect to Akira’s bike, not through the old-world domain. However, by the time she did that, she found Akira inching toward death.

 

The bike also received some damage from stray bullets. However, thanks to its automatic forcefield armour, it was still intact. Just like how the bike could reroute its energy tank to the augmented suit, it was rerouted to strengthen its forcefield armour.

 

As a matter of fact, due to the modification, she had installed to fight against hacking, the security on the bike was abnormally strong. Thus, taking control through the normal connection took a lot of time. After that, due to the bad connection, although she could not control the bike well, she managed to reach Akira and rescue him.

 

After Akira listened to her explanation, Akira nodded and then said.

 

“I see, thanks for the help. But why did our connection get cut off?”

 

“I have no idea, though, I can make a number of guesses.”

 

Since Akira wanted to hear them despite being only guesses, Alpha once again reminded him that it was nothing but guesses.

 

First guess: it was because of Chloe. To keep the content of their negotiation secret, it was completely understandable for them to use extra potent, thick jamming smoke. After all, if negotiations broke down and it turned into a fight, as long as no one knew the details of what had happened, she could come up with all kinds of excuses.

 

Deadman tells no tale. If they could kill Akira and erase the information, both records of the negotiation and the issue with the ownership of the card would all be erased. The ones who survived could claim without dispute that Akira was the one who attacked them first. They had no other choice but to fight back. It was not a strange ending for those who picked a fight against a large company. That would explain why they would use jamming smoke to cover the area.

 

“I see. But I thought that jamming smoke does not work on old-world domain connection?”

 

“Those had their effect weakened. With the correct device, you could even block old-world connection. High-ranking Hunters tend to have communication devices that use the old-world domain connections. That is why they usually use jamming smoke that can even block off old-world connections, just to be safe. Well, it could also be that they are in a position where they can afford to use them. It could also be that they’re using that kind of equipment all the time to fight the monsters further to the east since those monsters are also using the old-world domain connection.”

 

Even after he got away from the area in the middle of the battle, it still was jammed. For that, Alpha also had a guess. The scale of the battle caused the ruin to get alerted. It identified the area the battle had taken place and jammed any form of connection to prevent any more hostile actions.

 

“Why did that not happen in the battle against those huge, powered suits? Why did it happen this time? Is it because we cause more destruction? Or is there another reason? Everything is still not clear…”

 

Although Alpha shared her thoughts, it was not like Akira was completely satisfied with them. However, at least, he understood that it was not like Alpha knew everything. So, he decided to keep that question to himself for another time.

 

“Well… even if we know the real reason, it is not like we can do anything about it, right? Let’s just put it up as bad luck.”

 

“We might have another option.”

 

“Eh?”

 

Akira tilted his head in confusion, Alpha once again looked at him with a sharp gaze.

 

“That was not fine for me at all. Anyways, I’ve finished telling you my situation, can you tell me yours? After we lost connection, what happened to you?”

 

“Well, actually…”

 

In reality, Akira basically blew his fuse and kicked negotiations off the table. As expected, he could not just say so to Alpha. As he was thinking about how to explain, Alpha suddenly interjected.

 

“Let me tell you this beforehand, I can cross-check what you say with the data from your information terminal, so don’t even try to lie.”

 

“Then, I don’t even need to explain anything, no…?”

 

“Nope, I can only gather information about what you did, not why you did it. So, explain everything to me.”

 

Seeing Alpha look at him with such intense eyes, Akira ended up confessing everything, including his feelings during that time.

 

After Akira finished his explanation, Alpha heaved a huge sigh.

 

“Akira, do you know what your biggest mistake was?”

 

Akira understood that he could safely avoid the battle if he just gave up his pride and just gave her the card. But pride was something that one would fight for even to death.

 

Even so, he understood that it was his fault for completely tossing aside Alpha’s request right when he was so close to finally being able to work on her request.

 

The conflict between the pride and the guilt inside his mind caused Akira to silence himself. Seeing that, Alpha heaved another huge sigh.

 

“It seems like you don’t understand, so let me tell you.”

 

Akira frowned, he did not want to hear it. He did not want to be told that it was a mistake to stick to his pride. His expression started to be coloured by dark emotion that was sealed long ago, deep inside him. The bigger the gap between his past self and his current self, the darker, deeper, and vaster that emotion was. It was slowly devouring him.

 

Alpha then continued with a serious face.

 

“Your first move should have been to try to recover your connection to me. To think that you got that emotional. You did not even notice that you lost your connection. As expected, that’s your biggest mistake. No matter how angry you are, you need to keep a part of you calm, no matter what.”

 

Akira, who thought that he would get scolded for ‘flipping the table’, was taken aback by what he had heard. In response, Alpha made a rather exaggerated frustrated gesture.

 

“Back in Kuzusuhara ruin, you quickly decided to desperately find a way to recover our connection, right? I thought that you would do that as well this time, but to think that you didn’t even notice we lost connection and you continued fighting alone. I know that you were completely enraged, but that’s just a big no-no. You should get a better grip on yourself, you know? Let me at least ask you this. It’s not that you did not notice but you just ignored it, right? Or don’t tell me. You thought you could handle it just fine without my support?”

 

Akira flusteredly shook his head.

 

“Eh? No no no, of course not!”

 

Seeing Akira respond in such a manner, Alpha’s mood slightly recovered.

 

“That’s good to hear. That’s why, your first move should have been to try to recover your connection. You got it?”

 

“O-Okay.”

 

Akira gave a firm nod. Seeing that, Alpha smiled, satisfied. She gently advised him, who still seemed rather troubled.

 

“If you want to kill that Chloe girl, I don’t really mind. I’m willing to give you my support as well. Just make sure not to try and do it on your own, okay? If you want to do it on your own, make sure to do it only when there’s no other option, just like those battles back in Kuzusuhara ruin, okay?”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“Good answer.”

 

Alpha once again smiled with satisfaction. Akira, who still seemed confused, paused for a bit. It was as if he was trying to digest what they were talking about just now, after that, he carefully asked Alpha a question.

 

“…Alpha, uh, are you really okay with it?”

 

When he was about to save Elena and Sara in Kuzusuhara ruin, or when he was about to get off the truck alone and go alone on a bike, and when he was about to jump into Ezont Family’s base to kill Alna, Alpha stopped him.

 

That was why he thought that Alpha would stop him this time as well. Causing unnecessary trouble would only make things more difficult for him. Furthermore, he was extremely close to being able to work on Alpha’s request. He expected Alpha to give him a strict scolding this time, but her reply was completely outside the realm of his expectations.

 

Akira was still confused so Alpha smiled bitterly and then said to him.

 

“If you ask me whether it was okay or not, I will say that it was not okay. Not one bit. However, I know you won’t listen to me at all. I’ve been with you long enough to at least know that much. That’s why, it’s fine. Moreover, my support is just an upfront payment. Considering how that weak Akira had worked so hard and became this strong, I guess it’s fine to make a compromise as a reward.”

 

Akira seemed surprised by how lightly Alpha was taking it. He replaced it with a light smile, which helped to make him calmer.

 

“…I see, well, I’m sorry but I’ll be counting on your support.”

 

“Just leave it to me. I will show you just how great it is to have my support.”

 

Alpha replied with her usual confidence filled voice.

 

Akira, who had finished his break, returned to Mihazono ruin to retrieve the rifles that he had let go during the battle. The jamming had already dissipated, so with the help of Alpha, he was quickly able to find his rifles.

 

Akira brought 4 LEO multi-rifles together with him before the battle. He lost two in order to avoid getting shot. There were another two, still perfectly fine, which were on the arm of his bike, which was used while he escaped. After picking up all four, only one was still okay.

 

Two of his rifles were completely wrecked, with no possibility to fix them. Since they were protected by forcefield armour, once it was gone, those rifles were easy to break. Pamela did very well to make sure that they were not salvageable.

 

Seeing the destroyed rifles on the ground, Akira let out a huge sigh.

 

“They were so expensive…”

 

“If you had prioritized recovering your connection to me, this would not have happened, you know? It did cost you quite a lot, didn’t it?”

 

“I know, I know.”

 

Alpha was stating that in a teasing manner, and Akira smiled bitterly in response. His mood had at least recovered enough to respond in such a manner.

 

“So then, what do you plan to do next? Even if you’re planning to look for her, I recommend you search for a hint about her location first. If she ran further to the east, I hope we won’t be chasing after her. The monsters there are too strong even for your current equipment, you know?”

 

“I know that, but…”

 

As expected, Akira also did not like the idea of going around attacking Lion Steel’s facilities one by one. Moreover, it would be a huge waste of time if he did not make sure that there was a good chance Chloe was there.

 

As Akira was giving a long hum while looking at his options on how to find Chloe, his face suddenly perked up as if he came up with something.

 

“Alright, I guess I’ll ask her first.”

 

Akira hopped onto his bike and paced it toward the person that he had in mind. The information-gathering device that was continuously scanning his surroundings showed 2 blips that came out from the nearby Hunter Office, they were Carol and Viola.

 

—*—*—*—

 

Carol, Viola, and Babalod looked around and were surprised by what they saw. The Hunter Office was completely fine since it was protected by forcefield armour, but most of the buildings around it were decimated.

 

After the battle outside had calmed down, the Hunters inside the Hunter Office came out to search the area as a part of their emergency request. They were to make sure that the area was safe. Thanks to that, they could confirm that the battle had ended. However, they could not confirm if the reason for that battle was completely over. The reason why Carol and Viola came out rather late was because they did not take the emergency request and waited for the broadcast to announce that it was safe.

 

Carol looked around with a worried look. Akira, who should have been waiting for her outside, was unreachable. Either he got involved in that battle or Akira was the reason for that battle. A lot of things were going through her mind. Whether he was still alive, or already dead and much more…

 

“Viola, I want to ask for your help. Can you look for Akira?”

 

“Sure… Though, it seems that he’s at least alive and kicking.”

 

Carol looked at Viola in confusion, how exactly did Viola know without investigating first? However, when Carol looked in the direction where Viola was looking, she immediately knew the reason why. Akira was on his bike, heading toward them.

 

Akira then parked his bike next to them and hopped off.

 

“Akira, you’re alright.”

 

“Yeah, somehow.”

 

Seeing Carol smiling happily knowing that he was fine, Akira looked worriedly as he apologized.

 

“Carol, I’m sorry, but I need to quit the job you gave me. A few things happened and I’m rather busy right now.”

 

“A few? What’s going on?”

 

“Sorry, can we put it aside for later? I also don’t know exactly know what’s going on.”

 

Akira only said so and shifted his attention to Viola. He then frowned as he was thinking about how to ask his question. When he had decided, he once again looked at her. This time, with a deadpan expression, he pointed his muzzle at her.

 

“I’ll be straight, is this your doing?”

 

Viola was going to answer that question with her usual smile.

 

“Even if you ask, that’s just so out of the blue, what exactly are you…”

 

Akira’s muzzle was directed right on top of her temple to shut her up.

 

“Let me tell you this, right now, I’m not in the best of moods. So, give me an answer, straight, honest, clear and concise. I’ll ask you again. Is this your doing?”

 

If she did not give a straight answer, she would be dead. If she said yes, she would be dead. If she did not say anything, she would be dead. There was no hesitation, and no doubt this time. Viola at least already knew that much. To hide her anxiety, something that she could not hold back, she made a stern look and turned to Babalod.

 

Akira followed that and looked at Babalod too. As both Viola and Akira were looking at him, Babalod did not say anything and just shook his head.

 

Akira returned his gaze to Viola. It was a gaze warning her that she had run out of time. Viola used every cell in her brain to analyze all the information that she had and conveyed her conclusion in one word.

 

“No.”

 

Akira still did not lower his rifle and asked Alpha.

 

“Alpha.”

 

“Leaving aside whether it is really the truth or not, she is not lying.”

 

“Wait! So, you can tell the truth while also lying?”

 

“The definition would be different from one person to another depending on their principles and moral codes. That’s why there are no absolutely correct answers. I’m sure she believes that, at least, she had enough reason to convince herself that it was not her fault. Judging from that point of view, she was not lying. Even if we don’t come to the same conclusion from our point of view.”

 

“Ahh, I see.”

 

Akira hesitated, but he eventually decided to lower his rifle. Viola let out a huge sigh of relief.

 

“If it’s not your doing, I have something I want to ask you. I’m looking for Chloe right now. If I’m not mistaken, she’s affiliated with the Lion Steel Eastern District Third Ward Branch. You’re a good info broker, right? Look for her.”

 

Viola tried to return back to her usual attitude. Even if it was only on her lips, she twisted out a smile.

 

“Oh, a request for a job then? I don’t mind looking for her, but if it’s for some kind of negotiation, you can let me take care of that part as well, you know? So, what do you plan to do after finding her?”

 

“I’m going to kill her.”

 

That short sentence was filled with determination. The others there winced back. Even Viola, who had often faced suffocating pressure of killing intent during negotiations, and even Babalod, who was a high-ranking Hunter, both inadvertently winced back in the face of Akira’s strong emotion that they knew was not directed at them.

 

“So then, can you find her?”

 

Viola automatically tried to act normal and replied.

 

“I already know about her. She’s from the same house as the founder of the Lion Steel company. Were you aware of this when you said you’re going to kill her?”

 

“So, does that mean that you’re not going to help?”

 

Akira’s gaze toward Viola changed ever so slightly. It was as if he was only trying to discern if she was an enemy or not. Viola, who noticed it, immediately gave her answer.

 

“What I am saying is that it won’t be cheap. I am an information broker. So, it’s not like I can just give away information for free, it will be pretty expensive. It’s not cheap trying to collect information. Especially when it comes to important people like her. That is why, it’ll cost at least a few dozen billion Aurum, depending on the case, it might even be more expensive. I don’t mean to offend you, but can you pay for it?”

 

After Viola told him that it was only a matter of money, Akira’s gaze returned back to neutral. He then titled his head and said.

 

“T-that’s pretty expensive… But well, that does make sense to be that expensive, I guess.”

 

Considering that it was a piece of information to help him kill someone, a person who had personal maids and butlers protecting her, it would not be strange for it to be that expensive. But Akira did not have the funds. So he started to hum, pondering what else he could do instead.

 

On the other hand, Viola sighed in relief. She did not expect Akira would react that strongly. It was true that depending on the way he interpreted it, it might sound as if she was telling him that it might be better not to try to kill Chloe.

 

That was why she flusteredly tried to emphasize that she was talking about the price. If it was a matter of money, she thought that Akira would not show any hostility, and thankfully, her guess was correct.

 

But unfortunately, it was unclear whether it completely saved her or not. Akira’s face then lit up as if he just thought of an idea.

 

“In that case, let’s do this. If you give me information about Chloe, depending on how valuable it is, I will consider letting you live as beneficial. Unfortunately, I can’t really say how much that would be if converted into money, so you can just give me enough information that you think is worth the same amount of money as that. So, what do you think?”

 

Unlike Akira, who was obviously showing the sign of willingness to negotiate, Viola knitted her eyebrows in deep worry.

 

During the battle in the slums of Kugamayama city, Viola had caused Akira trouble and was once killed by him. After that, based on her deal with Akira, she ended up having to help Sheryl’s gang.

 

That deal caused Sheryl’s gang to greatly develop with her help. Moreover, Viola had also solidified her position inside the gang. Basically, the gang would be in trouble without her around. Since then, time passed and it had become vague if she had fulfilled her part of the bargain or not.

 

But Akira casually brought that up. Even after helping Sheryl’s gang that much, it did not seem to be enough from Akira’s point of view. Viola was able to confirm it, though to her, this was not good news.

 

“…What if I say no to that? Are you going to kill me?”

 

“Not really. I just thought that I might be able to use it in place of money. If you don’t accept it, you can just say no. I won’t force you.”

 

“I-I see.”

 

Seeing Akira reply so calmly, Viola sighed. Half in relief that the negotiation proceeded as she had planned. So, she then continued to confirm the other half thing that worried her.

 

“By the way, since you brought this up, does that mean that you’re still thinking of killing me? If I may, can you give me a precise explanation as to why?”

 

“Even if you ask me, well, if something bad happens? It’s not like I’ve decided on the specifics. Basically, if something comes up and I want to kill you, then I will. If I have to mention a particular example, then if Sheryl asks me to, I guess.”

 

“I-I see. Just to let you know though, I’m well included in the management of Sheryl’s gang, the gang would basically crumble without me, you know?”

 

“So?”

 

Viola’s smile distorted with anxiety. If it had been a short answer, which was akin to a threat, she had thought up ways to counter it. Such threats were a regular thing in many of the negotiations that she had faced, so she already had a list of ways to handle them.

 

But this time, it was a pure question from Akira. That told her that Akira basically had no idea how that had anything to do with not shooting her in the head. For him, it did not give him any reason not to kill her. It was as if that was not worth even a dime, especially when negotiating for her life.

 

Akira had said that he would not kill her even if she said no. That only meant that he would not kill her because she refused. However, the moment she refused, Akira could think that it was meaningless to let her live and just outright killed her right this instant. Viola had at least predicted that much. Including the fact that he was most likely unaware that he was issuing a threat.

 

Viola basically had no other choice but to compromise after receiving Akira’s unintentional threat.

 

“… I basically just need to find where Chloe is, right? After that, we’re even, right?”

 

“That depends on what information you can give me. If it’s useful, then yes. That’s just how people decide on the value of information, no?”

 

For Akira, it was a good thing that he had no need to pay with money and would be able to get highly valuable information.

 

But for Viola, it also doubled as a threat. To her, it was as if Akira would kill her if she gave him useless information. She could not help but frown in face of such a nasty threat and heaved a huge sigh. She then took out her information terminal and pulled out a certain information.

 

“There’s a new Lion Steel facility inside Higaraka residence ruin. There’s a good chance that she’s there.”

 

“Alright, well then, I’m in a hurry here.”

 

Akira only said that much as he hopped back onto his bike. But before he left, Viola frowned and asked him a question.

 

“Are we even now?”

 

“Pray that I can find Chloe there.”

 

Basically, it meant that they were not even at the moment. Viola’s frown only got worse.

 

That was when Carol suddenly interjected.

 

“Wait for a sec, Akira! Are you going now!? Can you at least tell me why you no longer can’t take the bodyguard request?”

 

“I’m going to kill Chloe right now and I want to prioritize that. And, it would be stupid for the bodyguard to get his client into more trouble, no?”

 

“What I’m asking is why it has suddenly turned to this?!”

 

“Sorry, I don’t know for sure myself. If you’re interested, you can try asking Viola. I don’t really care about the reason. I might investigate that part after I kill Chloe and if I’m in the mood. Later then.”

 

Akira only said as much and accelerated off.

 

Carol turned at Viola with an extremely bitter expression.

 

“Viola, can you help me find out what’s going on with Akira? This one is a rush request.”

 

Viola somehow managed to return back to her usual self and teasingly said to Carol.

 

“It would be at a special price, you know?”

 

Seeing how Viola was acting, Carol also returned to her usual foxy attitude.

 

“If you give me a good discount, I’ll tell Akira that it was a good thing he’d spared you.”

 

“Geez, it can’t be helped then.”

 

Babalod glanced at the two girls smiling at each other with their usual evil smile and heaved a heavy sigh. He was already expecting to be dragged into whatever problem they were brewing.