MHGA Chapter 220 – Yorinobu Arasaka's Decision
Though David now fought with a Gunlance, he still remembered what Kairo Retsu had taught him…
A Hunter's weapon should never be used directly against people.
David had imagined it once—
Using a weapon designed to fight monsters that were several meters, even dozens of meters tall…
against an ordinary person in Night City.
Just imagining it made him stop thinking any further.
So, David limited the Gunlance to mobility, object destruction, and the like.
When it came to actually fighting humans, he stuck to fists and basic physical combat.
But after today's mission, while the Edgerunners were drinking together, David noticed something.
A familiar face stepped out from a nearby car and started talking to Maine.
A four-eyed man…
Literally—his right eye had been modified with three ocular implants, giving him a grotesquely bizarre appearance.
"Faraday…"
David narrowed his eyes, gripping his drink.
One of the top fixers in the region—
and the same man who would later kidnap Lucy to use her in a deal with Arasaka.
Just looking at him made David's blood boil.
As David watched, Maine and Faraday seemed to get into an argument.
Faraday looked visibly annoyed and quickly left.
"Huh?"
David blinked, confused.
"What was that all about?"
———
Meanwhile, at Afterlife, Kairo Retsu and Kazuma were seated shoulder-to-shoulder at the bar, both looking far too at ease.
Kairo waved casually to Claire.
"Claire! Two cups of Granny Felyne's Love!"
"Coming up," Claire replied with a tired expression.
She quickly brought over milk that had been flash-boiled and then immediately taken off the heat, setting it down in front of the two men.
"…You two are the first people to come to Afterlife just to drink milk."
"If it were anyone else," Claire added, "they'd have been laughed out of here by now."
"But who told you guys to be the Hunters who made such a name for themselves in Night City in just two weeks?"
With a final flourish, Claire added a bit of ginger juice to their drinks.
"All right, enjoy."
Kairo clinked shoulders with Kazuma, then casually sipped his milk while surveying the crowd.
People still couldn't stop staring at him.
After all, Kairo had been a frequent visitor to Afterlife over the past two weeks.
Not only had he built a relationship with Rogue, but—
—He and his fellow so-called "Hunters" had, like a pack of monsters, carved out their own ecological niche within Night City.
Some had tried to pick a fight—
but after one well-known merc was stripped of all his cyberware and hauled into Afterlife by Kairo with one hand,
no one dared mess with the Hunters again.
As for mocking them for drinking milk?
With strength like theirs, they could drink whatever the hell they wanted.
Who had the guts to object?
"Ohohoho…"
Kazuma was clearly enjoying himself.
After all, in his world, he'd just been a low-tier adventurer—
famous mostly for being a perverted freak.
This kind of respect was… refreshing.
But before they could finish their milk, Rogue appeared and called Kairo into a private room.
"This is bad," Rogue said grimly.
"You better deal with it—
Something big just happened in Night City."
"What? What could possibly count as big news in Night City?"
Kairo entered the room, slouched lazily into a corner seat, and stretched.
"Whatever it is, it's gotta be Arasaka again. What else?"
He rubbed his nose.
"Don't tell me… someone from the Arasaka family actually showed up?
Okay, now I'm mildly interested."
"…It's worse than you think."
Rogue slammed the table.
"Saburo Arasaka is coming. Did you hear me? Saburo. That damn tyrant.
The absolute core of the Arasaka Corporation."
"Do you understand what that means?"
"There must be something here that caught his attention—
something big enough to bring him here personally!"
"And not just him!"
Rogue leaned in.
"Yorinobu Arasaka is already in Night City!"
"Someone spotted him checking into a hotel."
"First Yorinobu, now Saburo… these major players coming one after another—
It can't be a coincidence."
She stared directly at Kairo.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Yorinobu's here?" Kairo's eyes lit up.
"Well, that's great news…
So where's he staying?"
"…What exactly are you planning?"
Rogue tensed up.
"Do you even realize how dangerous this is?"
"With Saburo's power, if he didn't care about the cost,
he could erase Night City from the map in ten minutes flat."
"I know, I know," Kairo waved dismissively.
"But isn't he planning to come here himself?
He wouldn't nuke the place with himself in it, right?"
"Anyway… thanks for the intel."
Kairo scratched his chin.
"Yorinobu Arasaka, huh…"
"Now how do I get in touch with him…?"
———
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
"What the hell was that thing…"
Yorinobu Arasaka sat in contemplation, reviewing intel about what he had seen earlier from his AV transport.
That silvery, horse-like creature had left a powerful impression.
And those strange individuals wielding oversized weapons…
They made him frown.
"Those people… with the giant weapons…"
Yorinobu sifted through his data feeds—
digging through the intelligence gathered through Arasaka's resources.
Soon, he narrowed down a group that matched what he'd seen.
And oddly enough…
They seemed to have some connection to the very reason he had come to Night City.
That drug.
"A group calling themselves 'Hunters'…
They go around doing good deeds in Night City?"
Yorinobu frowned.
"Good deeds? In just two weeks?"
He scrolled further, incredulous.
Just within that span of time, these Hunters had destroyed over thirty criminal strongholds—
Averaging over two per day.
And that wasn't even counting the countless other incidents…
"The leader of the Hunters…
They call him the 'Guildmaster'…"
Yorinobu's eyes sparkled with interest.
"I'll need to find a way to make contact with him."
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