Chapter 225: The Past (1)
Kkiiiririk— Kkiiieek—
A faint, unpleasant tallic sound was heard.
The two villains standing guard in front of the door knew the source of that sound.
One of them muttered.
“He seems to be in a very bad mood.”
At that, the villain who had kept his mouth shut for nearly three hours panicked and covered his own mouth with his index finger.
“Shh-shh! Are you crazy!”
Even as he lowered his voice, it was obvious he was nervous that even this would be too loud.
“If you open your trap here, you're dead!”
But even that was too loud.
Suddenly, the door stealthily opened.
Through a gap so small only a finger could barely pass, a purple blade suuk— ca out.
And that sword pierced the cheek of the villain who had just raised his voice.
“Shut it.”
A low, threatening voice leaked from inside.
The villain who heard that irritated voice didn't let out a single groan, even though his cheek was pierced.
It was obvious what would happen if he made even one sound of pain.
He trembled and apologized.
“Sowwy……”
Whether that answer was at least not annoying.
The sword that had pierced his cheek pulled back out the sa way it ca.
Kkiiieek—
Thud—
The door closed again, and only the kkiiririk sound from earlier was heard intermittently.
The two villains couldn't even let out a sigh of relief.
Worried that the sound of dripping blood might be annoying, the villain staunched his cheek with all his might using both hands.
If there was any relief, it was that there was no pain despite his cheek being pierced.
The relief of having survived was stronger.
And.
“There's a limit to being loud.”
After giving a light ‘warning’ to my noisy subordinates outside, I returned to the room.
The room was too spacious to be a room for just one person.
But there was hardly any furniture or living necessities inside.
A bed just for sleeping, a desk, a small refrigerator, and a half-empty closet were all there was.
The unnecessarily large room only added to the sense of emptiness and desolation.
But I didn't care at all.
I had no attachnt to this place anyway.
It was just a simple resting space.
I wiped the blood off my sword and was about to place it on the stand next to .
I spun around and swung my sword.
Kwagagagak—!
As the dust cloud from my sword swing cleared, the person standing on the other side was revealed.
A woman, waving both hands playfully, as if dealing with a child.
“Hi-hi?”
Seeing the unhard opponent, I couldn't help but be flustered.
Even if it wasn't my full strength, she didn't dodge it, she blocked it too easily.
An overwhelming difference in capability.
Even an S-rank hero specialized in defense wouldn't be this much.
I forgot to even swing my sword and asked.
“You?”
“Ah, you don't recognize without the mask!”
The woman stuck out her tongue as if saying 'oops'.
She put on a smiling mask and waved her palm again.
The voice modulated by the mask, and the mask itself, there was no need to wonder who it was.
I muttered dubiously.
“Smiley.”
“That's right! Everyone's eternal friend! Smiley is here!”
I clenched and unclenched my empty hand, nervous.
The S-rank No. 1 hero.
Seeing her toughness just now, the possibility of an imposter was virtually nil.
“An S-rank. And the No. 1 hero at that. What's your business here?”
In truth, it was obvious why a hero would co.
She must have co to crush villains.
If there was any relief, it was that Smiley seed to be alone, and I had plenty of subordinates right beyond the door.
Of course, they'd all be wiped out if they attacked, but they could at least buy ti to escape.
But Smiley showed an unexpected reaction.
“Now, now, calm down. I didn't co here to fight or catch you.”
At the unexpected reaction, I faltered.
If not those two, don't tell she ca to kill ?
“I just ca to check out a huge troublemaker I've been hearing about lately.”
I was confused by her completely unpredictable attitude and atmosphere.
But Smiley, who had created this situation, nonchalantly wandered around the room, snooping.
“I'm a guest, you know. How about offering sothing to drink?”
I didn't answer.
Figuring out her true intentions hidden beneath that smiling face was the priority.
“No? If you don't want to, then don't.”
She smiled and wandered the room again, lightly rubbing her finger on the desk and windowsill, checking for dust.
“You seem to clean well, but the room is so desolate. Ah, you can ignore and keep doing your thing!”
She opened the refrigerator and peeked inside.
“Ew. Why is there only water in the fridge? Let's stock up on so coffee or drinks, or at least sothing to eat.”
Watching her, I thought again.
What is this.
It's said that no S-rank or higher, hero or villain, is sane, but she was particularly severe.
For a long ti, she continued to criticize and lecture about my household goods.
It was a good thing I had no important items or docunts whatsoever.
After rummaging around the room for nearly an hour.
“Ah, that was fun. I'm leaving now!”
She said that and, just like that, opened the window and disappeared outside.
Watching Smiley leave just like that, without an arrest or any action, I couldn't hide my dumbfounded expression.
I couldn't even call it a relief.
And the next day.
“Hi-hi!”
She ca again.
And the next day.
And kept coming after that.
She ca to my hideout almost every day.
How she never got caught by my subordinates, and why she was coming.
I couldn't understand any of it.
The days Smiley ca were always random.
And the ti she stayed.
So days, she'd leave after 10 minutes, saying sothing had co up.
Other days, she'd stay for half the day, rambling on and bothering .
Like that, ten days, then fifteen days passed.
Why is she doing this?
News about Smiley never ntioned her being interested in villain rehabilitation.
On the contrary, she only protected citizens, and her process of subduing villains was more sadistic than a typical hero's.
So why was she so interested in ?
My organization was growing fast, but there were still bigger villain organizations and stronger villains than .
In the end, I raised the white flag first.
“Why are you doing this to ? Don't tell you're trying to rehabilitate ?”
I thought that was her purpose at first.
But she'd co and proudly brag about her heroic deeds, or curse other heroes who only sought money, or even talk about citizens who sued her.
She'd even vent her complaints and grievances about heroes and citizens.
“Aww, co on!”
Smiley waved her hand dismissively.
“Does a bad person beco good just because I chant 'be good' next to them? Change only happens when the person has the will to change.”
She held up one hand, then used her other hand to count her fingers.
“I just had a few theories. This is the process of proving them. It's separate from my hero work, and I'm looking for sothing on the side. Ah, and most of all.”
She grinned and added.
“Where else would I go to talk about this?”
Complaints and grievances she couldn't easily say anywhere else.
At least here, there was no worry about them leaking.
Even if they did, who would believe a villain?
I let out a hollow laugh.
“So I was just your emotional dumping ground.”
“Ah, not that! Isn't it just nice to share your daily life? In that sense, how about you? Did you eat anything tasty today? Anything fun happen? Have you seen any cats in this neighborhood?”
“……No.”
Despite my curt reply, Smiley didn't lose her smile.
No, rather, she seed to like that answer.
For the past two weeks, the first day was the first and last ti I had answered her question.
I had ignored her completely until now.
Even if it was just a short, insincere "No."
The fact that I replied was a huge change.
I checked the ti and got up from my chair.
“Go ho.”
“Ah? Why?”
Since I had never blatantly told her to leave, Smiley asked, flustered.
“I have work today.”
No matter how shalessly Smiley barged in, would she shalessly stay when the owner wasn't ho?
But she was more shaless than I could have imagined.
It wasn't a realm of 'going' or 'not going'.
“Ah, then I'll co too!”
Her reaction far surpassed my imagination.
I narrowed my eyes.
The "work" I ntioned was, of course, villain work, which ant cri.
She wanted to follow to that?
But Smiley just smiled and stuck close to .
“I won't get in the way, as much as possible!”
As much as possible ant she could interfere if things went wrong.
Even as she said this nonsense, I couldn't refuse.
No, I knew what her answer would be if I refused.
And just as I expected.
“Truthfully. What are you going to do if I follow? If I say I'm coming, I'm coming.”
It's a world where the strong one is the boss.
***
It had been two months since Smiley started shalessly visiting and acting friendly.
While I couldn't call it friendly, our relationship had improved to the point where I'd at least answer with short words.
And the enemy I faced today was the most dangerous in recent months.
Two S-rank villains.
For , who was barely at an S-rank level, I was hopelessly pushed back by their coordination, and I only managed to defeat them by a desperate gamble that barely worked.
Covered in blood, I let out a long sigh.
“I almost died.”
I looked down at the river below.
If that gamble hadn't worked, I would have fallen into the river below and beco fish food.
I finished my brief reflection and picked up the sword on the ground.
Now that the enemy was unconscious, I had to finish them off to prevent future trouble.
I swung my sword to strike the villain's neck.
No, I was trying to.
Kaaang—!
Before it could land, Smiley's weapon, the Peacemaker, blocked my sword.
I opened my eyes wide, completely unable to understand.
“What is this?”
She'd been watching from afar the whole ti.
Why now?
“Didn't you say you'd only watch?”
That's why she kept watching, even when I was about to die.
Smiley, who always had a smiling face, looked at seriously for the first ti.
“I was going to. But you were about to kill him.”
“Yeah. Isn't that obvious? He tried to kill .”
“It's different from before.”
Even if it was the sa murder, for Smiley, there was a firm distinction based on the situation.
In the midst of a fierce battle, casualties could occur for self-defense.
But this was clearly a one-sided murder, swung with killing intent.
But I couldn't distinguish that difference yet.
Killing an opponent who tried to kill was a natural principle to .
“Right. In the end, that's what it is.”
I looked back and forth between the Peacemaker and Smiley, then let out a faint sigh.
“In the end, all you heroes are the sa.”
Maybe I had been hoping for sothing, deep down.
My extre disgust for heroes.
But I had a faint thought, maybe this one is different.
But reality wasn't like that.
Disappointnt is an emotion you only feel because you had expectations.
“It's not like that! I was trying to protect you...!”
At those words, Smiley hurriedly tried to say sothing, but I had no intention of listening.
“Protecting would have been helping when I was about to die. This is interference. Can't you even tell the difference?”
I swung my sword again with a cold tone.
Kaang—! Kkang—! Kwang—!
Of course, even at full strength, I was no match for Smiley.
The gap in our capabilities was that overwhelming, but I didn't care.
The sense of betrayal I felt was greater than my ability to suppress this unpleasant emotion.
“Wait!”
Smiley, who had been unilaterally blocking my attacks, seed to have decided sothing and grit her teeth.
She re-gripped her Peacemaker and was about to swing it at .
Kwajik-n—! Kugugung—
With an intense vibration, the bridge we were on shook.
With the sound of sothing breaking, the bridge we were on shook.
It was a sturdily built bridge, but it had no way of withstanding S-rank villains fighting on it.
The crack gradually widened, and the bridge split in half.
The civilians had evacuated long ago, but the cars they had abandoned fell one by one into the river below.
Normally, I wouldn't have cared if those empty cars fell or not.
—!
The faint cry from inside one of the cars was definitely not a mistake or an auditory hallucination.
Even as my sword flew at her, Smiley didn't block it but instead turned and ran toward the car the sound ca from.
The car the cry ca from was balanced precariously, about to fall.
Her back was completely defenseless.
A fatal opening that overca the overwhelming power difference.
Right now, even I could land a fatal blow.
Smiley had moved instinctively to save the person, with no defense against my attack.
If I stabbed her in the back... honestly, she had no way to counter it.
And the 0.1 second she faltered, realizing that.
In this urgent situation, it was a fatal gap.
The floor disappeared, and the car tilted forward.
Smiley, flustered, couldn't speed up.
If she sped up, force would be applied to the ground she stepped on, the bridge.
And the collapse would quicken.
And as if I had decided to attack, ti montarily compressed.
She braced for the fatal pain that would follow and squeezed her eyes shut.
I lunged forward and plunged my inverted-grip sword downward.
Kwajik—!
But the sword didn't pierce Smiley.
I had stabbed the trunk of the car that was about to fall off the bridge, catching it.
I pulled the car to safety and let out a small curse.
What is this.
“Dammit.”
An enemy who would be the biggest obstacle to my future plans.
It was a once-in-a-lifeti chance to kill her.
And I blew it to save one brat.
To think I'd repeat this kind of moronic act.
“What's the 'greatest hero' supposed to do, hesitating like that.”
If not for my ti-compressing Trait, that car would have definitely fallen into the river.
Smiley also plopped down, relieved.
No, the emotion she felt wasn't just relief.
With her head bowed low, she muttered softly.
“I finally found you.”
When she raised her head again, tears were welling in her eyes.
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