𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭
The All-Rounder was delivered to Wagawa Garage, and after paying for the repairs and ammunition for the damage caused by the machine guns, Chihaya was finally freed from the job.
More than $20000 had already been transferred to the bank account. It’s still not enough to buy an Actanoid for herself, but there’s no need to worry about ammunition. Although being in the red was undesirable, it was easier to accept than having a rental machine destroyed.
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“I’ve grown. . . . . .”
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Nodding to herself, savoring her growth, Chihaya leaves the basement.
Chihaya, who came out to the ground floor climbing the stairs with handrails, peeks outside through a gap in the curtain.
It’s a quiet residential area. There are apartments for actors here and there, and the streetlights are sufficient.
The sun had already set.
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After the Berlette battle, she stayed in the snowy mountains until she handed over the badly damaged mechs and transport vehicles to the Unison Human-Machine Technology team dispatched. Then moved to Wagawa Garage. It’s only natural that time has passed.
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“I stayed up all night.”
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Yawning, she opens the refrigerator. She takes out some vegetable sticks that have been prepared in advance from a container and munches on them while pressing the hot water heater switch.
Soak in hot water and then go to sleep.
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Chihaya browses Actor’s Quest to kill time while waiting for the bath to heat up. She was thinking of deciding on the next request.
Perhaps due to the achievements, the number of requests displayed had increased.
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“. . . . . .Subjugation, isn’t it too many?”
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For some reason, about seventy percent of the displayed requests were for extermination of dangerous creatures in the new world, or for the defeat of Actanoids that are almost like bandits.
The latter, bandit subjugation, offers more money for both down payment and rewards. Chihaya is taken aback that there are so many actors like the Berlette that attacked in the Wagawa upstream mountain range.
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“Let’s get along. . . . . .”
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No matter how it is handled as an accident, it will surely affect the reputation. If identified, there might be backlash.
Even though Actanoids are valuable assets, selling them can have repercussions.
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It seems that Actanoids that engage in banditry are concentrated around the Hai-ju mountain range, the frontier of exploration and investigation. Due to poor radio conditions and the ability to hide Lannoids in friendly territory for ambush, they can create one-sided situations.
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Some even have bounties on Order-series Actanoids.
Order-series are custom-made, so personal identification should be easy. There are no details about the Actor, so Chihaya guesses it’s either self-made in the new world or a very special route to enter the new world.
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“Scary.”
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She decided never to go near the Hai-ju mountain range, and Chihaya scrolls through the request list.
She wants to handle requests as safely as possible, so collection or transport requests are good. Or perhaps, the collection of a badly damaged Actanoid after a mission.
The collection of damaged Actanoids is commonly called scavenging by Actors and is actively accepted. Since Actanoids themselves are expensive, recovery jobs are also offered with corresponding rewards.
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A popular request to quickly and safely earn money, Chihaya was also interested.
However, the coordinates of the damaged mecha are not very clear to avoid being collected first by bandit Actors. In addition, there are many requests for mechs that have become immobilized due to communication failures in the remote new world, requiring a Lannoid-series companion.
As someone who has rented a Rounder-series All-Rounder, it’s a request she can’t take.
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Although few, there are also requests to investigate the ecology of creatures in the new world. It seems unpopular because it’s long-term and the reward is small.
While there are some intriguing requests, they require preparation and study beforehand, so she can’t take them right away.
She was about to start preparing to change clothes, thinking she’d think about it leisurely after a bath.
Her smartphone vibrates.
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“. . . . . .A new request?”
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It seems a request has come in to the Actor’s Quest account.
Direct requests are supposed to be rare. Moreover, Chihaya is a newcomer and hasn’t achieved much yet.
Putting aside the plain cotton panties that held no appeal, she picks up her smartphone.
It was a direct request from Unison Human-Machine Technology.
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“. . . . . .I, I see?”
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It seems that Chihaya, who repelled the attackers on her own, looked like a skilled Actor despite being a newcomer.
Timidly, she read the request and was relieved to see that it wasn’t a combat mission, but immediately tilted her head in confusion.
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“A request for me? Why?”
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The request was for 『the recovery of four heavily damaged All-Rounders and an isolated Jackalope』, basically a scavenger job.
The reward is $10,487. Quite a large sum.
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The heavily damaged All-Rounder is one thing, but the Jackalope is described as isolated, meaning it is probably in a self-propelled condition.
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The Jackalope, a Lannoid-series Actanoid named after the mythical horned rabbit, is a small machine about one meter in height. As the name suggests, it has a cute appearance, with antlers like a deer’s as its antenna.
Being small makes it easy to hide, and it has good speed. It was designed as a field-specific machine to assist in expeditions and is highly resistant to dirt.
Unusually for the Lannoid series, it comes standard with weaponry.
The weapons are directional acoustic devices mounted on both arms, providing sufficient intimidation and confusion effects against animals.
Incidentally, despite its cute appearance, the machine’s price is not so cute. Roughly, it costs $174,790, plus the price of optional parts.
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If it is in a self-propelled condition, they would surely want to recover it. But, being a Lannoid-series Actanoid, it seems difficult for it to return on its own, hence the request.
But there must be something more to it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have requested a newcomer Actor like Chihaya.
She can’t help but suspect that the attackers might be anticipated, and that’s why the task has fallen to her, as she has some experience.
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“One million five hundred thousand. . . . . . Hmm.”
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The amount of the reward pressures Chihaya’s decision.
Moreover, there’s the matter of the mining explosives that were taken by the fern-legged scorpion. That alone must have caused significant damage.
Although Chihaya wasn’t responsible, she felt guilty.
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“$10,487. . . . . .I’ll think about it while taking a bath.”
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――In the end, she accepted the request.
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