“…My bag… it’s really expensive…”
I looked down at the girl, who was pouting and insisting her bag was very expensive.
“It’s really that expensive?”
“Yes… I… I spent five years collecting everything in it…”
So that’s why she was so obsessed with the bag.
It was a jewel bag she’d spent five years putting together. Anyone would be attached to something like that.
“Was it to kill the kids who bullied you?”
“…Yes.”
To Sae-eun, the bag represented a goal.
It was something she had clung to, a symbol of endurance throughout the years of school bullying… which is probably why she couldn’t bear to let it go, no matter what.
Also…
“If you had to put a price on it, how much would it be?”
“I collected over two… maybe three million won worth…”
A student who couldn’t even earn money had managed to collect jewelry worth 2–3 million won?
Considering she endured school bullying and even had money taken from her, her obsession with a bag containing over 3 million won’s worth of gems made perfect sense.
And so…
“I see… I’m sorry. At the time, I thought escaping was the only answer, so I didn’t have a choice.”
“…Okay…”
“I don’t know if this will make up for it, but take this and buy the gems you want.”
I pulled out a suitable stack of cash from the stash in my drawer and handed it to her.
“Oh…”
“If you ever want to buy more gems, just tell me. I’ll go with you.”
“O-Oh…!”
She was frozen with her mouth agape and was clearly overwhelmed. This was probably her first time handling over ten million won in cash.
What am I going to do with this underage girl now…
Now the only remaining concern was what to do with her.
For villains whose identities were exposed… the authorities would begin gathering every bit of information, starting with their families and extending to their workplaces.
The police would likely realize quickly that this was a case that originated in school violence…
But no matter how severe the bullying had been, taking another person’s life was still considered one of the most heinous crimes under the law.
“Do you happen to remember your parents’ phone number?”
“Huh…? Oh… I do remember it…”
“Then let’s sleep for today and go make a call together tomorrow. We’ll use a payphone, just for 2–3 minutes. Start thinking now about what you want to say.”
“Okay…”
“There’s an old mattress that a girl named Dream Caster used a while ago. Feel free to use that.”
Deciding to contact her parents the next day, we chose to call it a night since it was already late.
***
Hmph… things are getting complicated.
Late at night, while everyone else was asleep.
Because so many things had happened involving both Sae-eun and Seo-yoon, my head was full of thoughts and I couldn’t fall asleep.
Hmm?
I noticed someone quietly approaching, and turned to check the silhouette—
“V-Villain… Hunter…”
For the first time ever, I saw Hye-won coming to me of her own accord.
“…Is something the matter?”
Instinctively, I realized that something had happened. Something even Pyro Bomber couldn’t fix.
As I carefully sat up in bed, ready to listen to what she had to say…
“Well… um… you see… the thing is…”
Hye-won, who was usually quick to ask all sorts of favors, was now hesitating heavily, struggling to speak.
And then, after a short pause—
“G-Goodnight… I mean…”
“…Alright. Goodnight to you too, Hye-won.”
In the end, unable to say what she really wanted to, she simply returned to her room.
…Is it something too difficult to talk to me about?
Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like a serious problem.
If it were, she wouldn’t have just walked away without saying anything… What is that creature?
“…Did you serve in the military or something?”
“Oops, you saw me?”
“Who wouldn’t, when you’re crawling in like that in plain sight?”
“Hye-won didn’t see me.”
“Ah…”
Pyro Bomber was crawling into my room on her stomach, in a perfect military-style low crawl.
For a moment, I wondered if I should compliment her for pulling it off so flawlessly.
Creeaak—
After carefully closing the door behind her, Pyro Bomber sat upright with proper posture.
She began to explain the reason Hye-won had come by earlier.
“She just didn’t want you to dwell too much on her.”
“…Is something going on with her?”
“It’s not that anything happened. It’s just that she’s bothered by that other girl.”
“…Huh?”
“She probably sees a younger version of herself in that girl.”
…
Hye-won, who is now seventeen…
Saw in Sae-eun, who’s eighteen, the version of herself that still had potential.
Back in middle school, Hye-won eventually snapped under pressure and ended up hurting one of the main bullies. After that, she became a villain.
From Hye-won’s perspective, it was only natural that she found Sae-eun uncomfortable.
They both had suffered bullying since middle school…
But Hye-won had only endured it for a year.
Sae-eun had endured it for over five years… so Hye-won must have started to wonder if maybe there had been a future in which she could have endured it too.
And then…
“Hmm…”
The result manifested in a form that had been somewhat expected.
– Going out with Hye-won for a bit, babe ♡
Hye-won went out…?
“……”
I stared silently at the note.
There was already a place I could guess they had gone.
“Good morning…?”
“Yes. Go wash up and get ready. Let’s call your parents.”
“Okay…!”
Thinking that the two of them would manage things on their own just fine,
I decided to first keep my promise to Sae-eun.
“Um…! Would it be okay if I bought a gem while we’re out today?”
“Sure. As long as you wear your mask properly, you can do whatever you want.”
“Thank you!”
What was the name of the high school Hye-won was supposed to attend? White…High School, was it?
…
“Um, my mom wants to talk to you.”
“??? Me?”
“Yes…”
I had been waiting while Sae-eun made a call to her parents from a payphone,
But when she suddenly said her mother wanted to speak with me, my head filled with question marks.
“Hello?”
When I took the receiver from her—
– I’ve already heard everything…
“Yes.”
– Please take good care of our Sae-eun…
“Uh… yes.”
Don’t make our precious daughter cry.
I thought she might say something like a heartfelt request not to make things too hard for her daughter, even if I was a villain…
– To think that a villain hunter like you is looking after our daughter… In a way, it’s such a relief.
“???”
– Our Sae-eun… she’s not, like… a bad kid. She’s just like you, villain hunter…
“Uh… right…”
– If you could just… let us hear her voice from time to time, we’d be really… grateful.
“I’ll try to stay in touch from time to time.”
– Thank you… thank you so much….
Click—
At times like this, I guess the way people see me… is actually kind of helpful…? Maybe?
…Wait, but I’m a villain, aren’t I…?
Was I actually supposed to be a hero, not a villain…?
But then again, if that were the case… I still need to get my revenge on the Vice President…
“…This is just making me feel weird.”
Well, if Sae-eun’s parents are feeling reassured, that’s at least something.
Just as I was about to head back to the car, worried we might get tracked, so I could let her go buy the gem this time—
Bzzz— Bzzz—
The phone Seo-yoon had lent me started to vibrate.
When I picked it up to check who was calling…
– Vice President, Hero Association –
On the screen appeared the name of the person I’ve spent my whole life hating.
“…….”
Normally, I would’ve just ignored it.
This phone was one Seo-yoon used for work.
Right now, she was just temporarily lending it to me so we could stay in touch…
So, under normal circumstances, the polite thing would’ve been to ignore calls from anyone else…
– Ah, …you answered.
Before I knew it, my fingers had already moved to accept the call.
– Ahem… ahem…
“……”
– It’s true I don’t really have the right to say anything. I apologize… I sincerely want to apologize for what happened that day.
“……”
– …You probably already know, but so many heroes are leaving the Association. I’ve been trying to keep hold of the ones I can using my own money… but we’re still critically short on power…
“……”
– Mobia… I’d like you to help just this once… not for me, but for the citizens…”
“……”
The voice I hated more than anything in this world…
was now offering an apology, something I’d never once heard from him before.
– I’ll grant whatever conditions you want… I was just hoping… maybe you could help with the hostage situation at White High School… haha…
“……”
Conditions, huh…
He said he’d grant any conditions I asked for…
– …Mobia?
“Even if I’m not Mobia, you’ll grant any conditions?”
– …Who are you?
“The person who wants to be the closest to you in this whole world.”
– …Villain hunter?
“Let’s get back to the point. That offer. That you’ll do anything, right? Does it apply to me too?”
If the promise to grant any conditions really applied to me as well…
– .….
“My condition’s simple. I want to meet face to face. Just once. How about it?”
– …Villain hunter. Why are you so obsessed with me?
“I already told you. Because I want to be the person closest to you in the whole world.”
It didn’t seem like a bad idea to piggyback on the terror attack being carried out by Pyro Bomber and Hye-won.
– …Can you do it?
“I’ll handle it. Like a villain.”
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