“Please… take me to the nearest large hospital, quickly.”
“Oh my…! I’ll head out right away…!”
As soon as I arrived at the taxi stand, I pretended to be someone urgently needing to go to the hospital.
After roughly placing the schoolgirl there, I was about to leave the scene alone by getting into the taxi…
“…Why are you…?”
“My… my bag…”
As if there was something important in her bag, she naturally followed me into the taxi.
“…Alright, just get in quickly.”
If I made a scene trying to leave the girl behind in this situation,
My act of urgently heading to the hospital could have been exposed to the taxi driver.
So I had no choice but to get in the taxi with her, and we got off at a hospital about 10 minutes from there.
And once the taxi that had brought us disappeared from sight,
I immediately hailed another passing taxi and began heading back to the base, where Hye-won and Pyro Bomber were likely waiting.
Phew… that’s done.
That took care of the urgent crisis.
If a person covered in blood gets into a taxi asking to be taken to a large hospital,
Who would think he’s a villain being chased by the Hero Association?
The taxi driver had no choice but to assume I was just an ordinary civilian with serious injuries and took me to the hospital.
“You look pretty badly hurt.”
“Yeah, I already got treated… I just didn’t have any change of clothes to wear, ahaha… Sorry about that.”
“No worries, sir. If anything, I should be thanking you for taking a long-distance ride in my taxi.”
The driver of the taxi I was in now too naturally assumed that since I hailed a cab from the hospital, I was just someone returning home after treatment.
And with that, I had successfully shaken off the Hero Association’s pursuit.
Whew… they must be really worried.
Now feeling a little more at ease, I turned my head to look at the schoolgirl who was still following me.
“I’m going to take a taxi to where I need to go. What about you?”
“If… if you could just give me my bag…”
Seeing that she still wanted her bag back,
“I’ll give it back when we get there.”
I decided to return the bag once we arrived, after taking only the students’ phones.
“Yes… and… I’m sorry for the late thanks… truly, thank you…”
“Hearing you say that makes me feel good.”
…
These kids really had a lot of money.
Those brats had more money than expected.
Their wallets were packed with cash.
Even after switching taxis four times with each ride costing around fifty thousand won—
There was still a lot of cash left in their wallets.
“Have those kids ever taken money from you before?”
“…A few times.”
“I see. Well, I’m only after the phones here. Before we part ways, you can keep all the cash in their wallets.”
Originally, I should have returned her bag right away.
But since I planned to convert the phones I had into burner phones for terrorist use,
I had to bring them back to the base.
So in the end—
“Thank you…”
“I’ll give your bag back as soon as we arrive, so just hang in there a little longer.”
I decided to take her with me to the base, where Hye-won and Pyro Bomber would be waiting.
“Use this.”
“…What is it?”
“A blindfold. From here on, we’re heading into my secret base. It’d be a big problem for me if you knew the location, don’t you think?”
“I-I’ll wear it…!”
Once we were close enough to the base,
I tore a shirt into strips to make a makeshift blindfold,
And with the schoolgirl’s eyes now covered, I made my way to the base with her.
Screeeech—
After lifting the metal door hidden in the floor, I walked straight down into the underground with the guest.
“V-Vi… Villain… Hunter…?”
Hye-won looked at me with a stunned expression,
“I’m back.”
Just as I was about to proudly announce the joy of returning alive—
“U-Unnie…! V-Villain Hunter’s back…! A-Abort the mission…! Abort the mission…!”
At Hye-won’s urgent voice over the mic calling to abort the mission, I realized something.
Pyro Bomber… had apparently been about to carry out a terrorist act to rescue me.
But…
“Unnie?? Unnie???”
Judging from Hye-won’s reaction, it was clear that something was seriously wrong.
“I’ll go right away.”
I immediately equipped the communication gear and the recognition-blocking mask.
Then I began moving toward the Hero Association, where Pyro Bomber had supposedly gone to save me.
…
Though I had been incredibly worried due to the sudden loss of contact,
I found Pyro Bomber still waiting at the exact location where the connection had been lost.
Click—click—click—click—
So I hurried over to Pyro Bomber, ready to tell her that Hye-won was worried and we should return to the base.
[Did you find her? Is unnie—]
“?”
Bzzzz—
Suddenly, the communication device in my ear went dead.
…Seems like there’s some kind of signal interference.
Realizing that some form of signal jamming was happening here, I took the device out of my ear.
But even with the interference,
As long as Pyro Bomber had stayed put, all I needed to do was tell her I had returned.
Tap tap.
When I tapped the woman’s back as she stood silently with her eyes fixed on the association—
Clack—
“Hmm?”
I saw Pyro Bomber… pointing the muzzle of a gun at my stomach.
“…It’s me, Miss Pyro Bomber.”
Was it because I was wearing a recognition-blocking mask that she couldn’t recognize me?
Thinking that might be the case, I slowly reached to take off the mask.
Click—
“….!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
Whoosh—
At Pyro Bomber’s bizarre behavior…
I immediately subdued and captured her.
“…Miss Pyro Bomber?”
Sensing that something was wrong, I forcibly removed the recognition-blocking mask from her face…
“…Oh no.”
I saw Pyro Bomber with her eyes completely vacant.
“…I’ll knock you out for a moment.”
…
“…Unnie… did…?”
As soon as we returned to the base, I explained everything I had seen.
“Wh-What… is going on… wh-what is…?”
“…I don’t know either.”
But…
Hye-won was just as clueless as I was about what had happened.
We could only stare blankly at the unconscious Pyro Bomber lying in front of us.
“Um…”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot about you. I’ll send you back right awa—”
The schoolgirl who had been sitting quietly in our base cautiously approached us…
She began rummaging through her bag as if to take something out.
…What is she doing?
At the girl’s actions,
Both Hye-won and I couldn’t help but watch her anxiously, just in case.
And then, after a moment…
The schoolgirl picked up a pretty stone that looked like a pearl… Holding it tightly in one hand, she placed her other hand gently on Pyro Bomber’s forehead.
“…Can I ask what that is?”
“It’s a gem.”
“…A gem? …Is that a real pearl, by any chance?”
“It’s not real. It’s an artificial pearl…”
I didn’t know what she intended to do with the pearl…
But in a world full of people with abilities beyond our understanding, I couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility.
And then…
“One isn’t enough…”
Muttering to herself, the schoolgirl opened her hand again.
At that moment, there was nothing in her hand.
Rustle… rustle…
Leaving the girl behind as she began rummaging through her bag again in search of another gem—
Carefully…
I gently pried open Pyro Bomber’s closed eyelid.
Her once lifeless eyes now had a faint glimmer of vitality, and from that, I immediately realized—
“You… You’re a gem-ability user, aren’t you?”
The girl I had brought with me was an ability user who could activate her powers through gems.
“Yes…”
“No wonder… You were so desperate to get your bag back. Was it because it was full of gems?”
“They’re expensive…”
“…Is it really okay to use such valuable things like this?”
“Artificial pearls… aren’t that expensive.”
“Ha… Well, thank you.”
“It’s nothing. You helped me today… Oh, by the way…! Pearls… they have purification abilities…”
As I continued watching the girl who was trying to purify Hye-won with artificial pearls—
“Ugh…”
Along with a short groan, I saw Pyro Bomber open her eyes.
“……”
The moment she woke up, I gently raised my hand, ready to subdue her again if she showed any sign of attacking us.
“Babe… I-I’m okay now…”
Fortunately, it seemed Pyro Bomber had returned to her senses.
“…The Hero Association… they’re seriously crazy…”
“…What do you mean?”
What came out of her mouth after waking up was completely beyond anything I could’ve imagined.
“They tried to manipulate Mobia’s personality… Those lunatics…”
***
After the MBYHW capture operation by the special villain hunter task force had failed—
Two were dead, one had become addicted to drugs and was currently undergoing treatment, and even the one who had come out of it relatively unscathed…
“I’m quitting.”
She stepped forward in front of me and said she was quitting her role as a hero.
“…Are you serious?”
“Yes. After what happened this time… my parents also said they don’t want me to continue being a hero.”
“Well, you’ve been working hard as a hero since high school.”
“Thank you for recognizing that, Vice President.”
“…Alright. I understand. Good work.”
And so, there was no choice.
I accepted the resignation of Mobia, one of the Hero Association’s top assets, and the moment she stepped out of the office—
Beep—
“Target is Mobia. Since she’s trying to quit being a hero, just turn her into an obedient puppet.”
I immediately sent the signal. We shall make sure she remains a hero no matter what.
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