Click clack, click clack— The sound of my new shoes echoed through the long corridor. Just as I was humming a tune, two mbers of the organization spotted from afar and froze like statues.
Their reaction was like that of a rookie soldier who had just co across a commanding officer during a casual stroll. The mbers imdiately halted, raising their hands and shouting a greeting.
“Hail Evilus! How are you, Scientist!”
“Oh— Good morning.”
As I waved my hand lightly, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh when I saw the mbers of the organization zip past . I didn’t rember being treated like this when I first joined the organization…
I wonder how it ca to this.
If there’s a problem, it’s probably because I t the Boss right after I fell into this world.
*
When I first opened my eyes in this city, I thought I had been kidnapped in my sleep. If you think about it, it made sense.
The buildings were so modern that I could swear they were straight out of a city like New York.
It would have been way too hasty to think that I had been transported to another world or fell into so other dinsion.
It didn’t take long for that thought to flip upside down.
[Humanoid in front. Stop imdiately.]
“Ha ha—! Try to catch if you can!”
A police car was blaring its sirens as it struggled to chase after a person running on two legs. Yes, a person.
A police car, capable of easily overtaking a horse, couldn’t catch up to a re human. If such a person existed, they would surely be winning all the dals at the Olympics instead of playing a ga of tag with the police here.
I stood there dumbfounded, watching the whole scene, when suddenly a breaking news alert flashed across a billboard.
[Breaking news: A terror attack by a villain is occurring in City G. Citizens in nearby cities are advised to evacuate to shelters imdiately…]
“…A villain? A terror attack?”
On the screen, I could see a villain spewing explosions from his hands, with heroes in tight suits trying to take him down.
At that mont, I realized I had not been kidnapped. Ah, one of my previous guesses was surprisingly close to the mark.
I had referred to the buildings as having an Arican style. Indeed, this was a world that looked like sothing out of an Arican comic book, filled with heroes, villains, superpowers, and fantasy races…
And here I was, a plain ordinary person with no abilities whatsoever.
*
In this Arican comic book-like world, people rely looked at , the Asian guy with black hair, with curiosity but didn’t imdiately approach to make fun of . Then again, given that there were non-human species lurking about, it would be strange to be t with racism just because of a slightly different skin tone.
Thanks to that, I was able to roam the city without much hassle, but I quickly realized one important fact: this was no longer the world I once lived in. Naturally, the cash and cards I had were completely useless here.
Upon realizing this, I instinctively understood I needed to find a job imdiately. I knew just how dangerous it was for a penniless nobody to wander around in modern society.
‘I can’t even count on the police…’
In a world like this, they might not have any identity cards like back ho, but it was only natural for an administrative organization like the police to have so sort of system for verifying identities.
I was lucky that we spoke the sa language, but it was a massive issue that there wasn’t a single person in this world to vouch for my identity.
Would the police treat soone like —soone without a ho, without status, and with nothing—kindly? No. It would be a miracle if they didn’t throw into prison as an illegal immigrant or deport .
‘Well, surely there’s a job opening. There must be a labor shortage.’
If it ca down to it, I’d even take on manual labor—thinking that, I visited every shop that had “Help Wanted” posted. The owners, upon hearing I was looking for a job, greeted with friendly smiles and offered cold glasses of water.
“So, you want to work here?”
“Yes! I’ll do whatever you need to do!”
“What skills do you have?”
“…Huh? I don’t have any.”
“Get out.”
Sadly, instead of racism, a different type of discrimination was deeply rooted in this world. Discrimination against the powerless. Falling from Earth without superpowers, I was treated as soone akin to an untouchable, unable to even get a job in a convenience store.
After getting rejected by more than a dozen shops, the sun was starting to set. Twilight. The hour of dogs and wolves. A ti where I couldn’t tell if the person approaching was a kind citizen coming to help or a villain ready to cause trouble.
I huddled in a dark corner of an alley, avoiding both the people and the cold.
‘What a crazy world… What’s a powerless person supposed to do to survive?’
As soone with no abilities, no identity, and not even a high school diploma, I was completely helpless. Even manual labor seed out of reach. They said normal folks without physical enhancent abilities were useless.
In this city, where everything existed for the super-powered, there was nothing I could do as soone powerless. Other than curling up and trembling in fear…
“—Sitting here all alone and sulking, huh?”
Click.
And at that mont, soone had approached quietly and patted my head. A soft palm ruffled my hair, and the accompanying scent of milk tickled my nose.
I lifted my gaze slightly to see a young girl standing there. She didn’t seem like an ordinary child. The suited bodyguards standing behind her proved that.
“…I’m sorry.”
I batted her hand away, standing up awkwardly. I knew from experience that getting involved with soone like her wouldn’t bring any good, so I tried to escape the place quickly.
However, the young lady who had found didn’t seem ready to let go of her new toy.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Gah—!”
With a playful voice, the girl grabbed by the neck and sat back down on the ground. She leaned over slightly to match my eye level, given that she was already quite small.
When our eyes t, I felt an inexplicable authority radiating from her. Not knowing her na or identity, I felt an intimidation akin to having the President of the United States standing right in front of .
I swallowed nervously and carefully opened my mouth.
“…Wh-What do you want?”
“Seeing a sad-looking black man sitting alone in a place like this would pique anyone’s curiosity, wouldn’t it?”
“I wasn’t crying…”
“I see everything.”
The girl let out a small giggle and urged to share my worries. The pressure I felt earlier vanished into thin air, replaced by a warmth that wrapped around my whole body, like being cradled in my mother’s arms. The initial reluctance I had about revealing my secrets to soone I had just t, especially a child, slowly began to dissipate.
So, I started talking about my secret.
“I’m from…”
Earth, not this world.
I’m a powerless person with no abilities.
I have no ho, no money, no status, and no one to take care of .
I am…
…
…
…
“—Oh, I see. That makes sense.”
“…Huh?”
Only after hearing the girl’s voice did I realize I had spilled all my secrets. It happened without even realizing it.
Whether she believed or not, my fate was grim. If she believed , I could end up being taken as a test subject sowhere, and if she didn’t believe , she could report to the police as a lunatic roaming the streets.
But luckily, the girl said sothing completely unexpected.
“You have nowhere to go, huh? Then let’s go to my house!”
“Wha? What do you an…?”
“Don’t worry about it! There are lots of empty rooms at my place! You can use one of them! Don’t even think to refuse!”
The girl flashed a big smile as our eyes t.
“I have a lot of questions about you.”
Thus, I found myself heading towards the house of this young girl.
Towards the house of a girl whose na and identity I didn’t even know…
“Oh, I almost forgot. My na is Regalia. You can just call Lia.”
Now I knew her na.
*
Na: Regalia
Superpower: Royal Authority
Description: Exudes charisma akin to that of a king.
*
“Is this place…?”
“This is my ho!”
The mansion I arrived at after getting into Lia’s car was an imnse estate, a size rarely seen even on Earth. It was truly a building that seed plucked straight from a movie or a drama.
I had a hunch that she wasn’t an ordinary girl, but I never imagined she would be living in such a place, so I looked at her with slightly astonished eyes.
“Hehe— Surprised, are you? Didn’t I tell you there are lots of empty rooms in my house?”
“I didn’t think it would be this grand…”
“Kitty, please show him to a room. Ah— Have you eaten yet?”
“…I haven’t had any real food yet.”
“Then let’s prepare sothing simple to eat.”
With that, the girl waved her hand and vanished. When I turned to the woman called Kitty and asked where Lia had gone, the answer I got was sothing I could never have imagined.
“The young lady has gone to bed. Children need to be in bed before ten o’clock if they want to grow tall, you know.”
“Oh… May I ask how old she is?”
“Why does that concern you? Please refrain from asking unnecessary questions.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Follow . I’ll bring your al to your room.”
After so unnecessary scolding, I was led to my room. The room was every bit as luxurious on the inside as it appeared from the outside. The bed was as cozy as a cloud, and the blanket exuded a pleasant fragrance.
Monts later, Kitty entered the room with a cart carrying a simple al.
“Since it’s late, this isn’t a full course al or anything.”
“No, this is more than enough.”
On the cart, there was a steak. If this wasn’t considered proper food, I could only imagine how extravagant a full al would be…
After a brief mont of astonishnt, I began to slice into the steak and eat. Seeing my clumsy attempts with the knife and fork, Kitty frowned in disapproval.
“—Today, thanks to the lady’s kindness, you’ve found a place to stay. But don’t get your hopes up. Once her interest in you wanes, you’ll end up back on the streets.”
“I understand…”
“You need to either prove you can be of help to the lady, or continuously co up with interesting stories to keep her intrigued. I wish you the best in finding one of those two paths.”
With that firm statent, Kitty exited the room. She wasn’t wrong. The fact that I could sleep warm tonight was solely thanks to Regalia’s kindness, born out of so temporary curiosity.
If I wanted to stay here longer, I had to prove that I was of value to her. In this world where powerless people were treated even worse than the untouchables.
‘…Is that even possible?’
Fortunately, the opportunity ca sooner than expected.
“—All done.”
“Whoa—!”
Regalia exclaid in delight while watching a moving toy robot. Seeing Lia’s joy as she bead at the squeaking, wobbling robot, I couldn’t help but smile as well.
Who would have thought she could get so excited over sothing so simple?
‘Maybe it’s because she’s a child.’
I never imagined she would be this thrilled by a robot that rely shot beams from its eyes.
End of Chapter
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