It happened in the blink of an eye.
For a moment, I’d thought she was attacking me, but I never imagined she’d move like that.
I hadn’t expected to take a hit from Flare like this, but I didn’t feel bad about it.
I’d thought she’d be blinded by hatred and forget a hero’s duty, but look at that. A hero’s still a hero, through and through.
“That’s right. A hero’s duty is protecting people.”
Looking down at the collapsed Flare, I muttered softly.
“It’s too bad you didn’t have to step in, Nyangsik.”
“Meow~”
Thud, thud. I’d said it to Nyangsik, the lion slowly approaching from behind, but despite his massive frame, he let out a long, lazy yawn just like a cat.
Yeah, I guess he didn’t really care.
“Aghh, what kind of bolt from the blue is this?”
“You okay, Makina?”
“I’m not okay!”
Makina, who’d been knocked over out of nowhere by Flare, scrunched up her face and let out a sharp shriek.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be injured anywhere serious.
“Hehe, yeah. By the way, Makina, you’ve got quite the talent for acting. I really thought you were some other civilian.”
“Hmph, this much is nothing.”
She turned her head away as if annoyed, but she couldn’t hide her reddened ears.
“Yeah, anyway, good work. There are no bystanders caught up in this, right?”
“Do you think I’d miss something like that?”
“I was just asking, so don’t get so worked up.”
I’d made sure there were no civilians nearby before launching the attack, after all.
Thanks to that, even though Flare had spammed wide-area attacks far beyond my expectations, we could wrap things up quietly without any civilian casualties.
“She’s an S-rank and all, but I guess it’s because she only has a year of experience. She doesn’t know to check her surroundings.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I was really startled, you know.”
Though she’d been preparing for contingencies, Fl apparently hadn’t expected to get caught up in an entire building, and Makina’s eyes were full of annoyance as she looked at her.
“Well, anyway, it ended fine, so shall we head back now?”
I’d repaid her for making the donuts and achieved every objective, so I suggested we clock out, but for some reason, neither Makina, nor Pureung, nor Nyangsik warped away.
“...Hey, guys? Why aren’t we leaving?”
“You call that something to say?”
Makina placed her hands on her hips, looked up at me, and snapped decisively.
“What if you send the kids back first, stay here alone, and get hurt again?”
“*Cough*... No, that really just happened because I let my guard down...”
“And Jinu! You were planning to heal her after sending us away first, weren’t you?”
...This kid and her sharp instincts.
Hit where it hurt, I averted my gaze, and Makina shouted with her eyes blazing.
“That woman tried to kill you, so what healing are you talking about! Just tell her to get treated at the hospital!”
With a face full of dissatisfaction, Makina pressed on.
“And she needs to feel what it’s like to get a hole in her stomach! That’s the only way she’ll know what she’s done.”
“You’re not wrong, but—”
I was about to add, “Though what I made wasn’t exactly at the level of just a hole,” but I quietly closed my mouth under Makina’s piercing glare.
And that aside, the sirens approaching from the distance meant there was neither time nor leeway to use recovery.
I felt a little uneasy about it, but what could I do except trust the skills of a hero-specialized hospital?
“If you were just going to get revenge, you should’ve stopped at that. Why bother testing her on some hero’s duty? What a pain.”
I wanted to say, “For someone who claims that, you participated awfully enthusiastically,” but I didn’t bother opening my mouth this time either.
Yeah, as Makina said, my goal had been revenge at first.
If you’re a villain, shouldn’t you thoroughly punish anyone who wrongs you?
But ever since hearing that conversation with Nova, it had kept bothering me.
You could call it a kind of instinct honed from reading countless webnovels.
Flare’s hatred and ideology were extreme, but if handled well, she seemed like she could become a good comrade for Nova.
Our Nova has plenty of qualities as a hero, but the problem is she’s too soft and gentle.
Of course, that’s part of Nova’s charm, but to move forward as the protagonist in this harsh world, wouldn’t it be reassuring to have a resolute comrade like Flare by her side?
No matter how much I helped Nova grow, since I couldn’t be by her side, there were limits.
That was why I’d marked Flare as a comrade worthy of entrusting to Nova’s side, but if hatred took precedence over her duty as a hero, she could end up being a bad influence on Nova instead.
So I’d tested Flare this time, and the results were satisfactory.
Even if she went crazy at the sight of a villain, she hadn’t forgotten a hero’s duty at the critical moment.
Confirming just that was enough.
“Hero’s duty my ass. She made such a mess, will she even be able to continue her hero activities?”
Makina, on the other hand, didn’t seem to think so.
True, there were no casualties, but Flare had collapsed a building. On top of burning roads, sidewalk blocks, utility poles, and cars, she’d melted them completely.
No matter that it was against a villain, punishment was certain. Given the existing controversy over her excessive use of force, she wouldn’t get off lightly.
An indefinite suspension, a demotion review, or even prison time—
“Nothing much will happen.”
“Nothing? After causing all this?”
Logic would say Makina was right, but the world wasn’t so easygoing.
“Just watch the morning news.”
And the next morning, just as I’d predicted, the news was brazenly broadcasting last night’s aftermath.
Footage apparently shot from a helicopter high above showed horrifically melted asphalt and collapsed commercial buildings, over which the announcer’s urgent voice overlaid.
『Last night around 11 PM, the villain Sigma, who has recently been carrying out a string of terror attacks, and his subordinate Deviant committed a large-scale terror attack in the heart of downtown Seoul. S-rank Hero Flare, who was patrolling the area, immediately responded, but due to fierce resistance from the villains, significant damage occurred, including the destruction of nearby commercial buildings. Flare succeeded in stopping the terror after a fierce battle, but was also severely injured and is reportedly receiving intensive treatment at a nearby hero-specialized hospital.』
“See?”
“Wh-what the hell?!”
Makina shrieked in disbelief as she watched the news.
Well, from the perspective of a kid who didn’t understand how this business worked, it was more than understandable.
No matter the controversy over Flare’s excessive suppression, she was one of only three S-rank heroes in the Republic of Korea.
In these times of surging villain crime, no one was going to cast aside an S-rank.
Moreover, thanks to Makina and me evacuating people beforehand, there were no casualties and no witnesses, so from the Association’s standpoint, wouldn’t it be easy to fabricate whatever they wanted?
“Sheesh, but to pin everything on us, even things we didn’t do!”
Makina puffed her cheeks out, looking wronged.
“That’s just how the adult world works in this business.”
“Aren’t you upset? Those weren’t even your doing.”
“Keke, what’s there to be upset about? I’m a villain anyway.”
My standing would only rise, not fall, so there was nothing to lose.
Makina seemed to understand, pouting her lips, but she still didn’t look convinced.
“B-but if S-rank heroes are so important, is it okay to broadcast that she got beaten like that? If they say she couldn’t even catch one villain and was disgracefully defeated, she’ll become a laughingstock...”
Before Makina could even finish.
『Breaking news. Just moments ago, the Hero Association officially designated the villain Sigma, who carried out last night’s downtown terror attack, as an S-rank villain, the highest threat level.』
At the news delivered with a stiff, composed expression, Makina and I both naturally turned back to the screen.
『According to an emergency briefing by the Association’s Strategic Response Bureau, Sigma has been identified as possessing plant manipulation abilities to freely control massive plants, as well as mass teleportation abilities that make his allies disappear entirely. In addition, he commands a subordinate villain with superpowers rivaling an S-rank hero and has been classified as a super-high-risk group threatening national security. The Association has activated an emergency response system for Sigma and his organization, Deviant, and is concentrating all efforts on apprehension.』
After that, panelists came out and began chattering about me with serious faces, but there was something I understood even less.
“Plant manipulation? No, I can understand the teleportation, but since when is plant manipulation my ability?”
I’d shown myself disappearing with the warp device Makina made, so I could understand them mistaking my ability for teleportation, but plant manipulation out of nowhere?
I was wondering just why plant manipulation had come up.
“Hey, maybe they thought that because of the train?”
“The train?”
“I mean, right before the train stopped, you caught it with vines. Even after you disappeared, the vines would’ve remained, so don’t you think they mistook that for your ability?”
“Ah.”
Only after hearing Makina’s words did I understand why the Association had misunderstood my ability.
Well, the vines wrapped around the train hadn’t been ordinary in size, so anyone would think of a superpower.
On top of that, the only Deviant I’d shown on broadcast was Pureung. Since I hadn’t shown a subordinate who handles plants, it was understandable they’d misunderstand and think I did it.
“Puh, puhaha! Kikik, they say I’m a plant and teleportation ability user! Oh, my stomach!”
“I guess it’s possible since you never showed your ability directly, but are you laughing right now? You became an S-rank villain.”
“Kehehe, so what? My stock’s gone up, so it’s not a bad thing.”
Pureung—to be precise, Core Relic-Accel alone could overwhelm an S-rank hero, and I still had seven more Core Relics.
Simply put, I had eight S-rank subordinates under my command, so being designated an S-rank villain was natural, but I hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly.
It was probably to make Flare’s defeat more palatable to those above, wasn’t it?
Whatever the case, it seemed the Association’s plan to divert all the blame aimed at Flare onto me had succeeded.
Not just on the news, but all over the internet, news about me overwhelmingly eclipsed news about Flare.
Right, I didn’t want Flare’s hero activities to be hindered either, so I’d play along with their spin.
“—But that doesn’t mean I’ll just sit still.”
“What are you gonna do?”
Seeing Makina looking at me with eyes full of excitement and anticipation, a smirk formed on my face.
It seemed she’d gotten a taste for terrorism after trying it a few times.
“What do you think?”
I’d been too caught up with Flare to pay attention to Nova. Isn’t it obvious?
“I’m gonna commit some terror.”
And something truly spectacular at that.
Did they say plant manipulation? In that case, I’ll bring him along this time.