Translator: Athena13

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

Elenas team started exploring the interior of the Seranthal Building . They started from the first floor and slowly climbed up relying on the map data they got from Carol .

Inside the rooms and hallways, there were metal wreckages that might have been what was left of mechanical monsters, there were also bloodstains that might have been left by Hunters . The bullet holes and scorch marks scattered around the area seemed to be recent . All of these showed just how fierce was the battle that happened in the building . But even so, Elena and her team did not encounter any enemies at all .

When they reached the 5th floor, they found a room with a half-destroyed door . There were scorch marks from bullets around that door and there were traces of monsters trying to get into that door, chasing for the Hunters who must have run inside that room .

When Akira nodded without saying anything, they immediately got themselves ready to break into that room . They readied their rifles and matched their timings to make sure that there would not be any trouble if there were still monsters inside that room . They quickly broke into that room, scanned for enemies, and once they confirmed that there were no monsters inside, Akira sighed and lowered his rifle .

They actually had scanned the inside of the room using their information-gathering device before they went in . Although they did not detect any monsters, it might be simply because their information-gathering device could not detect them, thus, it did not guarantee that there were no monsters inside that room . If they lowered their guards just because their information-gathering device did not detect anything, they would eventually have to pay with their lives for doing something as foolish as that, even more so at the moment when the sensitivity of their information-gathering device was considerably lowered .

It was not like Akira had training on how to work in a team, but even so, as a Hunter with enough experience and skill, he should be able to judge what he should do by observing the other Hunters . And if he knew that, he should be able to judge how good the other Hunters were from how they reacted to the situation when they broke inside that room with no monsters inside .

So, judging from how they broke into that room, it was obvious that Akira had the least cooperative skill in that group . After all, he did not have enough training nor real-life experience to learn that skill .

Due to Alphas training, Akiras ability to fight was indeed superior, but he was not skilled enough to work in sync with other skilled Hunters as skilled as Shikarabe and the others .

The only reason why Akira was not slowing the other Hunters down was simply because of his training and the support from Alpha .

Before they broke into that room, Akira could see the image of himself breaking into that room, where to position himself, where to aim his rifle the moment he broke in, and which direction he should check first . Even if he was not able to follow that guiding image, Alpha would forcefully move his body through his augmented suit .

But in reality, before he broke into that room, before he searched the hallways of the Seranthal building, even before he even stepped inside the Seranthal building, Akira actually had always been in the middle of his training . Because of that, from Elena and the others point of view, Akira seemed to be at least skilled enough to not slow them down .

It was not impossible to see through Akiras real ability from the small deviation when he moved his aim or the small lag in his movements . But that would be nigh impossible except for those top Hunters from the frontline in the easternmost part of the eastern district . And of course, Togami who was there in order to reconfirm his own skill was not an exception .

After all, Togami, Shikarabe, Elena, Sara, and Carol were better Hunters than him . They indeed had higher Hunter Ranks than him, and Togami, who had his confidence shattered last time, confirmed that they were indeed above him when he saw how they moved during the search .

Akiras Hunter Rank was lower than Togami . But from his experience working with Akira during the bounty hunt and from observing his movements up until now, Togami also thought that Akira was definitely someone above him .

Togami looked at the other 5 Hunters with a conflicted expression . Although he was together with Hunters who were above him, rather than feeling safe, he was instead worried that this time he would not be able to get any conclusions again .

Elena checked the inside of that room, she then frowned and mumbled .

This is Going pretty well Really well .

Akira then asked Elena .

Whats wrong?

Hm? Well, its nothing big . But, Akira, since we entered this building, did you see any dead Hunter or monster? Im not talking about the small traces, Im talking about whole wreckage or body .

Akira did not remember seeing one . But he thought that it might be just because he missed them, so he decided to ask Alpha .

Alpha, was there anything like that?

Nope .

No, I didnt see them at all .

Akira actually did not know what had been bothering Elena . But, if answering her question could clear that worry, he thought that he should at least answer it honestly . When Akira thought so, he chose to rely on Alpha rather than his vague memory .

Since Akira answered back so straightforwardly, Elena found that a bit amusing as she giggled .

Sara was smiling too as she said to Elena .

I didnt see any too, is there anything wrong with that?

Since the outside of the building is riddled with monsters and dead Hunters, I just thought that its rather disturbing that we dont find anything like that inside the building . We did not even encounter any monsters either . But according to Akira and Carol, each floor of this building should have been filled with monsters, there were also a lot of Hunters who got killed after arriving here including the Hunters who received that SOS rescue request from Drankam . But even so, we didnt see any corpses from those Hunters nor any dead monsters . Its not like I have no guess at all, but its not a good idea to just accept that guess without confirming it first .

Shikarabe then asked Elena a question .

In that case, lets hear your guesses . Lets start with why do you think we didnt find any monsters?

Basically, I think that after the monsters killed all the Hunters inside this building, they went outside and fought the squads surrounding this building, then they got killed by those squads instead . And since the encirclement also prevents the monsters from the outside to get into the building, so the current Seranthal building is left with no monsters inside .

This time it was Sara who asked Elena a question .

Then why didnt we find any dead Hunters?

The current Seranthal building is actually still active, thus the cleaning drones must have dumped them outside the building . Some of the dead monsters and Hunters outside the building might have come originally from here .

Akira then said .

I see, then why dont we find any of those cleaning drones? And if they did clean the building, why did they leave some leftover wreckages and bloodstains?

They might have a fixed time to do the cleaning and theyre on standby right now . Or it might be because theyre actively avoiding us since they dont have much fighting power . That also means that they somehow can ascertain our positions too . As for the leftover wreckages and bloodstains, its either because the cleaning drones havent cleaned them or its just because they need more time to clean all the small things since they prioritized cleaning the bigger ones first .

Elena answered the other Hunters questions one by one . Akira and Togami were actually just simply asking questions that came up in their minds as they unconsciously lowered their guards . Their expressions were slightly relaxed . On the contrary, after Elena answered questions from Sara, Shikarabe, and Carol, the three of them did not lower their guard at all .

Shikarabe then asked another question .

I see . That does make sense . If thats the case, we should be able to continue the search without much trouble, but Whats your bad take of this situation?

Elenas expression turned slightly stern .

Theyre in the middle of doing their best to kill us . The reason why we didnt meet any enemies is because the A . I manager of this building has taken control of those monsters and that A . I is telling them to hold back for now to reserve their strength as theyre planning to attack us when theyre sure they can trap us and we have no chance to survive their attack . While the reason why we dont see any dead Hunters is because theyre trying to lower our guard . After all, if we spot some dead Hunters, itll definitely get us to be more careful, which in turn might cause us to hesitate from going deeper . Moreover, if the cleaning drones made the building speckless, we might find that strange and instead makes us more vigilant too . Thats why they left the building not fully cleaned . Of course, leaving the building half cleaned like this is indeed strange, but it at least wont make us retreat right away . Instead, it might even lure us in to investigate the reason behind that strangeness . I guess thats the gist of it if Im being pessimistic here .

After listening to Elenas answer, all the feeling of relief inside Akiras heart was blown away .

Carol somehow managed to smile and said .

Well, that does make sense too . So then, leader, what are we going to do from here? I know that you might dont want to do it, but I hope you can bring something to bring us relief after telling us something that scary . There are 2 people here who faced death in this building yesterday, you know .

Carol glanced at Akira, although she was smiling like usual, there was a slight trace of seductiveness in her smile .

Elena looked at Carol without saying anything for a few seconds as if she was trying to read something out of her .

Youre right, lets look at the map first .

Elena renewed the map that the others were looking at . Small points appeared on that map, those points traced their location starting from when they were on the first floor .

These are the information coming from the mini information-gathering devices that I installed . These devices can communicate with each other and the end result is actively sent to me . Since the sensitivity of the information-gathering devices and the range of the short-range connection are lowered inside this building, I put quite a lot of these devices on our way here .

Lines came out from each point and connected them to the other points near to them showing that they were actively connected to each other . While at the same time, it also showed that their communication and scan range was significantly lowered .

To be honest, I want to install them all over the interior of this building, but I didnt bring enough supply since we didnt plan to come here in the first place and I didnt have the time to resupply either . Thats why I only installed enough so that we can quickly secure our escape route .

More points appeared on the map that the other Hunters were looking at, as if it was trying to cover the whole building with those points, it then showed the number of extra devices that they would need if they wanted to do that in red . After that, those extra points vanished .

If these devices pick up anything that threatens our escape route, we will retreat . If not, we will continue to search the building until I run out of these small information-gathering devices . Of course, well also adapt to the situation and retreat if it gets too dangerous .

The human-like images that indicated everyones position in that map then moved up the building while leaving dots on their way up . After that, those images immediately returned back to the first floor when one of the dots turned red .

Even if the monsters really gathered somewhere upstairs, these information-gathering devices will quickly detect them if they go down to the lower floors and try to ambush us . And with how wide the hallways are in this building, we should be able to limit the number of monsters trying to pass through them, and I believe that we should have enough firepower to force a way out from this building .

Extra images appeared on the map that represented monsters, then the indicators that represented the Hunters there started retreating back while using the layout of the hallways inside that building to reduce the number of monsters that they were fighting at the same time .

Elena then finished her explanation with that map as that map immediately returned back to its original state .

Akira looked at that map while closely listening to Elenas explanation .

As I thought, having someone who specializes in analyzing information really makes things easy to understand .

That might be true, but honestly speaking, I think it should have been enough to use only words for that level of explanation . I bet Elena deliberately used that map to help you understand .

After listening to Alphas reaction, Akira tried to sound strong as he said .

Its not like I wouldnt understand if she didnt do that though I just meant that it really makes such an explanation easy to understand .

Is that so? Well, Im sure there will be many occasions where Elena would explain her plan only with words in the future, so I believe that you would understand them with no problem, right?

Im sorry, I hope that you would help me when that happens .

Of course .

Alpha giggled when Akira just easily gave up trying to look strong .

Elena then threw a smile at Carol and said .

This is basically the gist of my plan though, so, how is it? If you have anything you want to say, theres no need to hold back . After all, I have no plans to ignore the opinion of someone who had experienced fighting inside this Seranthal building .

Carol once again glanced at Akira to check on him . After she confirmed that Akira did not seem to have anything to complain about, she then smiled at Elena and expressed her appreciation .

Im good with that plan . Im glad to hear that it seems theres no need to worry too much as we continue exploring this ruin . As expected of someone that Akira trusts so much, it seems that youre pretty skilled in leading an indoor battle too . Its just that I only saw your skill in leading battle outside yesterday, so I was a bit worried . Im sorry if I offended you .

Its fine, dont worry . Thats normal since we are basically trusting our lives to each other in this situation, and I do think that confirming stuff like that is indeed important . Im glad that youre happy with my plan .

Elena and Carol were smiling at each other while trying to hide the strange impression that they were actually talking about 2 different things there . Sara smiled bitterly, Shikarabe just ignored it thinking that it had nothing to do with him, Togami was too nervous that he did not notice it, and Akira there just tilted his head, it seemed that he did not understand what was going on .

They then continued searching the building . Just like Elena predicted, they did not encounter any monsters as they continued exploring further into the building .

There was no monster at all . The wall of Seranthal building blocked all kinds of information including sound, it might be to reduce the effectiveness of information-gathering devices inside that building, but thanks to that, the situation inside that building was completely quiet . It was as if the silence confirmed that there was no one else there except Elena and her team .

Akira continued searching the ruin following Alphas instruction, it also doubled as training for Akira on how to explore a building .

Say, Alpha . Theres no monster at all though, which of Elenas guesses that you think is the correct one?

Which one do you think, Akira?

To be honest, I have no idea at all .

That answer is actually the correct answer . If theres no need to make the choice, its better not to make any when you dont have enough evidence . If you do, you will be more susceptible to information that supports your guess and you will be more likely to reject information that disproves it .

Is that so?

Moreover, whichever the case, it would not change the things that you need to do . If the optimistic guess is correct, then this would be a good training for you . But if the pessimistic guess is correct, then you at least wont get ambushed . So dont lower your guard just because there are no monsters detected, and even if theres really no monsters around, lets continue carefully and take this training seriously .

Youre right about that I actually didnt mean to lower my guard though . So like, did I actually lower my guard there?

According to what I can see, youre at least not that tense for someone who is exploring an unknown dangerous old-world ruin .

Whoops, didnt mean to do that Alright then, Ill be more careful .

Since he did not encounter any monsters, it seemed that Akira had lowered his guard enough for Alpha to warn him . So he collected himself together and continued the exploration .

Not too long after they reached the 15th floor, Elena suddenly told them to hold .

Wait .

Akira sharpened his sense and aimed his rifle at the hallway . The other Hunters also did the same almost immediately .

Elena kept her eyes on his information terminal as if she was trying to confirm something . Her expression then returned to normal as she drew a conclusion and said .

Its not a signal from the mechanical monster, it should be okay .

The other Hunters lowered their guard after hearing Elenas answer . Sara then asked Elena .

So, what was it?

Wait for a sec

After she said that, Elena checked the signal that was coming from a place not too far away from them . She then found a small mechanical device and picked it up . If that small device was mixed with the wreckages of the monsters, no one would be able to tell if that was not a part of the dead mechanical monster, but once it was picked up, it was easy to notice that it was not a part of a mechanical monster .

This one, huh?

Elena mumbled as she looked at the small object that stopped them .

Akira looked at the object that Elena picked up with interest . It looked just like the small information-gathering device that Elena was using . But that was as far as his knowledge went, he did not know anything more than that .

Elena noticed Akira, she then showed the device in her hand and said .

This seems to be a mini relay device . This one specializes in relaying information between Hunters around this device . When a team of Hunters explores an old-world ruin, they need to communicate and exchange information with the other Hunters of the same team who would be moving separately at that point, right? So this device is mostly used for something like that . It might also be used as signs so that they could retrace back their steps when they explore a dangerous ruin . Its also useful for the rescue team to track their location if they get stuck inside the ruin . And of course, some Hunters just leave it as a proof that he or she was able to reach such a dangerous location .

After listening to Elenas explanation, Akira nodded deeply . Elena lightly smiled when she saw how Akira reacted to her explanation, she then ordered her team .

Im sure its left behind by the Hunters who came here before us . Ill analyze it for the time being, so wait for a bit .

Elena then started checking that mini information relay device . When she connected her information terminal to that device, the information from analyzing that device was immediately displayed through the same stereoscopic hologram display device that she and Sara were using .

Elena then continued analyzing the information that was displayed to her . Since she was the only one who could see that display, from the other point of view, it seemed as if she was only standing there while staring at the mini information relay device without doing or saying anything . Looking at that, Akira asked Alpha .

Alpha, it seems to me like Elena-san is only standing there without doing anything though, but shes actually analyzing that device, right?

Yep, thats why you should not interrupt her .

You dont even need to tell me that .

By the way, its not that different to when you talk to me, you know . Thanks to the fact that a lot of other Hunters are also using similar devices, people dont get suspicious of you when you do that though . And even if you suddenly turn your head to look at me, Im sure that the other Hunters will only think that youre trying to see a similar type of display like the one that Sara and Elena are using .

Is that so?

No one else could see Alpha other than Akira . Because of that, if he tried to talk normally to Alpha, it would look as if he was a suspicious person talking to air . Although Akira tried his best to hide it since he knew that himself, it seemed that as he expected, he was not able to completely hide it . So in short, he sometimes made a weird and suspicious move . Akira seemed a bit dejected after he got reminded about that .

After Elena finished analyzing some part of the information from that mini information relay device, she then said .

Shikarabe, this information relay device is owned by someone from Drankam . It seems that its sending a signal in non-standard format too . Shikarabe, did you get anything in your information terminal? It might be some kind of coded signal only recognized by people from Drankam .

Hm? Wait for a sec, let me check .

Shikarabe then pulled out his information terminal and checked it .

Nope, nothing . I bet its either because that signal is too weak or its simply because my information terminal cant recognize that signal . Whats the information broadcasted through the normal format?

Its simply a message asking for help since the monsters are chasing them . Although its written that its an SOS rescue request, it doesnt say anything about who is the issuer, how much is the reward offer, or the duration of the request . It doesnt even contain the Hunter code of the sender . Although its still one of those SOS rescue requests, I bet no one would take this request after reading this message . Its unclear how many of them or where they are . It basically wont change our plan, we might help them if theyre still alive and we find them by chance, but we wont go out of our way to look for them .

Can you send the encrypted signal to me?

Sure . There . I just sent it .

Elena just sent the encrypted message broadcasted by the mini information gathering device to Shikarabes information terminal . Shikarabe then used the decryption software installed inside his information terminal to decrypt that encrypted message . The output from the decryption software was basically another encrypted message and a short message saying for anyone who received that message to send it to Drankams officers .

Since Shikarabe had some connections with the officers in Drankam, he was able to decrypt that encrypted message further . After he checked the content of that message, his face twitched .

Ahhh Goddammit!!!

Shikarabe shouted out his frustration .

Somewhere inside his angry expression, it seemed that Shikarabe thought of something else . Elena was actually interested as to why Shikarabe made that face, but she thought that it must be some kind of Drankams business, so it would be better if she did not try to make any unnecessary guess .

Judging from Shikarabes expression, it was clear that it must have something to do with the infighting within Drankam . Moreover, that message was an encrypted message . Elena thought that it would give nothing but trouble if an outsider like her needlessly stuck her head in whatever that message was about .

Seeing Shikarabe was still deep in his thoughts, Elena then asked him .

I dont know the content of that message, but, is it okay if we continue the search now?

Shikarabe glanced at Elena, he then shifted his gaze to the floor and thought for a bit before looking straight into Elenas eyes again .

In that case, I have a suggestion, no, a request . I want to change our main aim from simply exploring this building to rescuing the owner of that information relay device . Its as you said, that Hunter is from Drankam . I still have my reputation to hold among Hunters in Drankam, so I just cant ignore this message .

Elena then asked Shikarabe a question, trying to probe what might be behind Shikarabes sudden request .

I know its rather cruel to say this, but that Hunter might be already dead, you know . If you want to retrieve their corpse, Im sure the main squad that will come here later will retrieve all the corpses in this building after securing it, so you can save that for later . Theres also a chance that they have escaped the building on their own . We didnt get to meet any monsters up until now . If they barricaded themselves somewhere to escape the danger, Im sure its an easy thing for them to escape this building right now when there are no monsters at all .

After Shikarabe listened to both pessimistic and relatively normal guesses from Elena, he then replied back with a grim face .

No, I bet theyre still alive and still inside this building . Theres a chance that they might have barricaded themselves somewhere so tightly to the point that they even cant confirm the situation outside the room that they barricaded in, or they might be injured so that they cant travel too far . Saving Hunters are also one of the contents of our current request . Not to mention, if theyre survivors from when the situation in the ruin changed, they might have some important key information to understand the reason for that change . Im sure its more profitable than just simply exploring this building, so, what do you think? If you save a Hunter from Drankam, Im sure Drankam will give you an extra reward on top of the reward that you get from the City Management . I can even negotiate with the Drankam side for you .

Shikarabe was not lying, but he had another reason as to why he made that request . Elena knew that very well as she asked Shikarabe a question .

Ill at least ask you this, what if I say no?

Then I wont ask again, I have no plans to convince you to take it . You act as the leader, and I work under you, that was the deal . As a mere Hunter, I have no plans to break that agreement .

Elena then thought it must be something that Shikarabe himself did not want to do, but because of his position in Drankam, he could not just ignore it without putting any effort first . And right now, he was trying to make an excuse out of Elena that he could not rescue the sender of that SOS message .

There was no mistaking it, Shikarabes request was definitely because of that encrypted message . Elena then asked Shikarabe .

One more thing then, whats exactly the content of that message?

I cant say since its secret information only for Drankam people . If you want to know no matter what, you would need to join Drankam . If youre okay with that, I dont mind using my right to tell you the content of that message here . Drankam always welcomes new Hunters who want to join its rank .

Thanks but no .

I see, then, will you take the request?

Elena then thought again, the content of that encrypted message must be something related to the people inside Drankam, something that could not be shared with people outside Drankam . Or at least, it was something that Shikarabe would not willingly tell to people outside Drankam .

Elena calculated all the risks and the profits that the team could gain there since she was the team leader .

Togami suddenly nervously asked Elena .

U-Uhhh, as someone from Drankam, honestly speaking, if its possible I want to take that request too . Drankam also recommended us to rescue any Hunters that we can But of course, its okay if its not possible

Togami was not lying there, but besides that, he was actually aiming for a chance to reconfirm his skill when said that .

After Elena looked at Togami, her gaze then shifted to Akira . Akira then said .

I dont mind either way, Ill follow whatever Elena-san decides .

Carol then followed .

I dont mind too, after all, Akira also said that .

Next was Sara .

Well, we came to this ruin in the first place because of that SOS rescue request after all, isnt it fine taking in that request thinking that its just an extension from our original plan coming here? Not to mention, we can get an extra reward from it too .

Sara sent a meaningful gaze toward Shikarabe when she said that . Shikarabe immediately responded .

I can guarantee that Ill negotiate with Drankam about the reward, but Ill only go that far . Well, Drankam also has its face to save, so Im sure theyll give you quite a lot of money for the reward .

After taking all the opinions from her team members, Elena then realised that among all of them, the only Hunters who had experience fighting inside the Seranthal building were only Akira and Carol . She was originally planning to reject Shikarabes request if either Akira or Carol showed even the slightest sign that they did not want to do it . But they did not show anything like that . So Elena finally made a decision .

Elenas expression changed to a rather serious look as she said to her team .

Alright, our main aim from here and on will change to rescuing those Hunters . Judging from that mini information relay device, we can assume that they left similar devices to mark the places that they went through . So, well use them to help us find their location . Then on top of that, well prioritize searching only rooms where they might have barricaded themselves in . Well immediately pull back once we retrieve the targets regardless if theyre dead or alive . Carol, Ill leave picking the rooms to you . Once youre done with that, decide on a route, and well go from there .

Carol seemed a bit confused as she tilted her head and said .

Ive given you that map though, so you should be able to do that yourself, right?

Elena changed her expression and replied .

I want you to decide based on the information that is not included in that data . I know that you did not give all the information that you have when you gave me that map, right? Or at least, that data map didnt include anything that explains how you escaped from this building yesterday with Akira .

Carols smile immediately vanished . Her gaze turned really sharp and she slightly lowered her voice .

Did you hear that from Akira?

Akira and Togami were surprised by that sudden change from Carol . But the other Hunters were not surprised at all . It showed the difference in their experience .

Elena did not show any change in both her expression and tone of her voice as she answered Carols question .

I did ask him, but he did not tell me anything . He did at least tell me that he got trapped with you in this building, surrounded by monsters . Since both of you did not force your way all the way to the first floor to escape the building, it means that theres another way to escape this building . It must be some kind of secret route, whether its a secret room, or a secret hallway, or a secret elevator, or maybe something else . Honestly speaking, I want that information too as an insurance in this situation . Moreover, I want to avoid the situation where we cant find the rescue targets just because theyre hiding in that secret room, thats why Im asking you to do that . If you want extra payment for that information, you can go ahead and ask Shikarabe later .

Shikarabe immediately reacted when his name suddenly got mentioned there .

Hah, me?

Youre the one who asked us to take that request, the rescue targets this time are Drankam Hunters, right? So at least do something about that extra information cost from the reward .

Elena had a good point there . Shikarabe also knew that very well as he sighed .

Carol did not change her expression as she mumbled .

I see, so Akira didnt tell you, huh .

In that short time when everyones attention shifted to Elena and Shikarabe, Carol suddenly smiled . It was a dark and ominous smile as if it was leaking out Carols inner feeling mixed with a slight tinge of madness and joy .

If any of them there saw Carols face, they would definitely make some kind of reaction . But unfortunately, no one saw her . And because Carol immediately returned her face to normal, no one noticed her change at all .

Carol then smiled as if nothing had happened and said to Elena .

Got it then, Ill get it done ASAP . Is it okay if I just add extra indicators to the map?

As Elenas attention returned back to Carol, she felt that somehow something was bothering her . But she did not know what it was .

? Sure, Ill be counting on you .

But unfortunately, Elena was not in a position where she had the leeway thinking about the thing that was bothering her . So she just quickly decided to forget about it .

Alpha was staring at Carol . It was not like Alpha existed in the same place as the rest of the Hunters, that was why, in order to gather information about the people in that place, Alpha was using different methods compared to normal people . For example, she was relying on the information-gathering devices in that place to recognize 3D objects . And of course, she was also using other methods too . Basically, she did not need someone to be in her field of view for her to be able to see that person .

As such, Alpha was able to completely see Carols expression back there, and that was why she put her guard up against Carol .