arc3 · 145-ch145

Chapter 145: Criminal Gang of Awakened ①

"Onii-chan..."

Maybe worried that I'd stopped, Umi was looking up at me with a concerned face.

"Probably they won't come this way. Don't worry."

I answered, half as if telling myself. Even though my physical abilities have gone up, I have no intention of getting into a big fight with an Awakened.

I don't intend to, but what if they come this way? Normally, when an Awakened commits a crime, the special police, organized by combat-type Awakened, deploy to handle the suppression.

They're not that numerous, but there have been cases of Awakened committing crimes in the past. It's the fate of those who couldn't become explorers, yet couldn't fit into society either.

Such criminals usually get caught quickly. Of course — there's no way they could beat someone awakened to a combat job.

But in the past, there was an Awakened who committed a truly awful crime. That guy awakened as an Axeman, and after passing the Explorer Exam, he rose to B-rank, then stepped off the path.

One day, that Axeman took the outrageous step of raiding a special prison built to hold Awakened, in order to rescue his comrades.

Using his skills, he broke the walls and let not just his comrades, but a large number of Awakened prisoners escape. Of course, there were also prison guards who were Awakened with combat jobs.

However, those who don't dive into dungeons and belong to the special police — even though they're combat-type — are mostly still low-level, or retired explorers. The Axeman mowed down the guards and the Awakened who came to support, and in the end, freed a large number of criminals and escaped without being captured.

I don't know where he is or what he's doing now, but it's true that people like that rarely exist. I don't even know if the one rampaging nearby really is an Awakened or not, but I decided to prepare just in case.

I connected to Asahi, which was being reinforced at Yamamoto Electronics. Judging by the fact that it worked, it doesn't seem like it was forcibly powered down. Next, I summoned Hayate. Yep, that worked too.

Checking with Hayate's camera, it seems they were replacing frames and bodies with mithril. I explained the situation to President Yamamoto and asked him to keep working without cutting Asahi's power.

Of course, President Yamamoto was worried for me and advised me to get as far away from the scene as possible so no one would ever notice I'm operating it.

Grateful for the president's consideration, I sent Hayate flying toward us at full speed.

▽▽▽

From the conversations of the people around me, I learned an incident had occurred at city hall, so I got into a taxi, and while heading home, I rushed Hayate to the scene.

(This is a worse situation than I thought, isn't it?)

While I was in the taxi, Hayate arrived at city hall and was filming the situation with its telephoto camera, but it looked more dangerous than I expected.

The one rampaging seems to be a single Awakened, and he's holding something like a metal rod in his hand. Is that a mace? If so, this man might have awakened to the Stavesman job.

The man was wearing an armor suit and protectors like he would when diving into a dungeon, and swinging the mace in his hand as he entered city hall. Several police officers who rushed over and people who seemed to be store security were lying on the ground.

Only someone awakened to a combat job can suppress someone awakened to a combat job. And it depends on level. If this guy's level is high, it might take time to suppress him. In other words, the damage will only increase.

(I can't overlook this. The explorers I admired would never hurt ordinary citizens they should protect — I absolutely cannot forgive that!)

At this moment, I resolved for the first time to attack a person.

Before entering the building, he seemed to be shouting something. Has he gone crazy, gotten desperate, or does he have some goal?

But, even if you rampage in a city like this, you'll get caught eventually, right? Is he so crazy he doesn't even know that? Or does he have a way to escape even from here?

While thinking that, I felt a small incongruity in a person in the camera footage of the surroundings. Not like the worried onlookers, not like the rubberneckers — more like someone observing the man's movements and the movements of the crowd around him.

I thought I'd chase after the Stavesman right away, but I had a bad premonition, so I decided to watch the situation from above for a bit. Fortunately, it seems no one has noticed Hayate's existence yet. I raised the altitude even higher and used the telephoto function to try to get a grip on the situation, centered on the mysterious person.

At the same time, I summoned Shiden and sent it this way. I figured if that mysterious person was the Stavesman's accomplice, we'd be better off responding with multiple drones.

However, Shiden's attack is too powerful. I wonder what would happen if I fired that at a person. Would an Awakened not die? Either way, I'll keep Shiden's attack as a last resort.

KASHAAAAAN!

"Kyaaaa!"

"Danger! Get down!"

"Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?"

A few minutes after the man entered the building, a large window glass on the fifth floor shattered and fragments rained down to the ground. While the rubberneckers outside the building panicked, the Stavesman appeared from the broken window, holding a woman in his arms.

"Oi! Can you hear me! If you want me to release these people, release my comrades in the special prison!"

It seems the man's goal is to get his comrades in the special prison released. He's shouting his demands at the media and police who've gathered.

"Calm down! First, release the hostages! Then we can talk!"

A police officer who looks a little high-ranking is shouting with a megaphone, but...

"Are you stupid!? If I release the hostages, you'll rush in, right!? Well, I'll crush all of you anyway!"

Well, yeah, that's exactly what would happen. But this Stavesman is properly answering back. He doesn't seem desperate or crazy.

While that was going on, the special police Awakened seem to have arrived. Sword, short sword, and gauntlets — three people. They look quite young. Will they be okay?

"Hey, you Awakened over there, right? You can come into this building, but for each person who enters, I'll drop one hostage from here. If you've got that resolve, come in! Gahahaha!"

At those words, the police officers' faces clearly turned pale. The three themselves didn't know what to do either, and started consulting with the police upper ranks.

(Oh, Shiden has arrived. I'll have Hayate infiltrate from behind the building. Shiden will keep watch on that suspicious person.)

I had Hayate go around behind the building and, searching with the telephoto camera, found an open window. I let it infiltrate from there, aiming for the fifth floor where the Stavesman is. The other floors have already been evacuated, so there's no one there.

Shiden landed on another building's rooftop and kept watching the suspicious person so as not to stand out. For now, he seems to be contacting someone on his cell phone. With this, it really looks like organized crime.

"Onii-chan, will it be okay?"

"The special police are here too, so it should be fine. Anyway, let's evacuate."

While monitoring the criminals with Parallel Thinking, I didn't forget to take care of my little sister. I'm gradually getting better at using Parallel Thinking.

While heading home with Umi, Hayate aimed for the fifth floor, and Shiden kept watching.