Chapter 217 – Calmly
“AAAAAAAAH….”
In the Association, Stardus’ office. Sitting there as usual, Shin Haru held her head with a slightly tired expression.
‘…You jerk.’
“Haa…”
Why did I do that. Why did I do that…
A few days ago, Egostic attacked with terrorism. Fighting against him, the new villain who had appeared out of nowhere, and then inexplicably…
No matter how hard she tried to forget it and focus on her work, that moment kept replaying in her mind, and she found herself silently screaming.
…Did a hero really cry and yell at a villain, only to run away in the end? Did she even shed a few tears?
…And did she do it in front of Egostic of all people?
“….Ugh.”
Thinking about that incident, Stardus blushed again.
…I must have been insane back then, truly insane.
[Stardus, how’s your body? Are you okay? If something’s wrong, let us know immediately.]
At that moment, a notification came through the Association’s internal messenger. After checking that it was from the president, she quickly replied that she was fine.
…After her fight with Katana, the president seemed a bit more concerned about her physical condition. It wasn’t entirely strange. After all, when she thought about it, Katana was probably one of the strongest opponents Stardus had faced to date.
‘…Katana, that woman, was much stronger than I initially thought…’
At the time of their fight, she had been so consumed by anger and had fought without thinking clearly. Later, she had heard that Katana was considered one of the top-level villains in the world.
…Honestly, during their battle, she hadn’t noticed any significant difference between Katana and the other villains she had fought against until now. She didn’t seem especially strong.
However,
“Was she that strong…?”
Later, when she read the reports in the news and listened to what the president had to say, it seemed that Katana was indeed a formidable villain. She was originally ranked number one among Japanese superpower holders, after all. So, the fact that she had fought Katana on equal terms had become quite a hot topic, even in Japan.
‘Well…’
…She didn’t exactly engage in a life-and-death battle with Katana. The woman had moved as if it were a sparring match rather than with the intent to kill Stardus. Stardus had no intention of killing Katana either, she only wanted to suppress her. Especially considering that Egostic had intervened in the middle of their fight… Maybe things would have been different if they had a deadly fight.
Lost in such thoughts, Stardus suddenly recalled the last scene of that day. Katana, almost embraced by Egostic, and herself, who had cried and attacked in a fit of emotions.
“Ughhhh…”
Her cheeks turned red, and with a strange sound escaping her, she eventually collapsed onto her desk.
…Why did I do that back then? What got into me?
But, feeling the cold surface of the desk, she quietly pondered.
…Back then, for some reason, she had truly felt a pain in her chest
When she saw Katana, the villain woman, embracing Egostic and holding his hand.
“Why…?”
…Yeah. For some reason, she felt that way when she saw Egostic collaborating with that Katana. It meant that South Korea was in danger. The danger from the villain factions had increased, so it was natural for a hero to react that way. Besides, Egostic was a bad guy, right? So that was probably the reason.
…Yeah, that must have been it.
…
“…”
Was it the only reason?
“…”
She felt annoyed because of that simple thing?
Stardus couldn’t answer that question.
…No, if anything.
It’s you who completes me.
…Cough, you owe me one now.
I’ll take care of the rest.
Maybe there’s no other reason.
Like that, Shin Haru…
Alone in her office on the upper floor of the towering Association building in the heart of Seoul…
She lay there, alone…
Lost in deep thought.
‘…Yeah.’
Eventually, with slightly reddened eyes, she reached a conclusion.
“….That’s it. It’s because of Egostic.”
Said to me.
Looking at me, claiming myself to be your hero but openly works with other people in front of my eyes… It’s normal for a hero to feel uncomfortable!
That’s right. She wasn’t being weird. Perhaps all heroes that have arch-enemies like her would feel the same way.
And if you’re a villain, you should only care about your nemesis, your enemy, right? That’s common sense. Yes, it must be common sense.
…Also, I would know if it was his Ego Stream which he referred to as his family. Since he brought in another famous villain I had never seen before, making me fight her, and he was holding her hand and such.
…As a responsible hero, as an arch-enemy, as a nemesis, it’s normal to feel sad.
Yes. That’s it.
“….Yeah. It’s definitely right to capture and lock them up.”
A villain who kept looking at anything other than their hero needed to be punished. First, you should capture them and keep them by your side. Yes, you should catch villains.
Stardus, who had been lying on her desk, murmured with slightly reddened eyes.
In this way, her head, exhausted from not sleeping properly for a while, stress piled up, and her confused and resentful feelings combined.
She eventually arrived at that conclusion.
[How to ambush the opponent]
[How to make the opponent faint]
[How to capture an teleportation ability user]
[How to catch a fleeing opponent]
…For a while, her internet search history became quite ‘specialized.’
For one person only.
***
[Yes, Da-in. Since we’re meeting next week, I’ll ask you about it then.]
“Yeah. Thanks as always, Seola.”
[Oh, don’t mention it. I’m the one who should be grateful. Thank you, Da-in. You introduced me to Katana, and that’s helped strengthen our two countries’ relationship even more.]
Seola laughed and continued.
…Well, considering that Seola wields influence in the South Korean political field and Katana has essentially taken control of the Japanese Association and government, when the two of them meet, it’s practically a diplomatic summit… They’ve become quite close, but that’s a good thing.
[And about that “Anti-Egostic Broadcast”… is that what it’s called? You have that broadcasting station you established.]
“Oh, yeah.”
I perked up when Seola mentioned it. It was the specialized broadcasting station I set up with a journalist and later sold entirely to her. I thought Seola could manage the ownership better than I could since I had no time to deal with it.
[This time, we’re going with a concept that Egostic has brought an unimportant Japanese villain, and he’s profiting from our country…]
“Oh, that sounds great though. Why?”
[…Well, it’s just that we’re getting a lot of complaints right now, and there are petitions to shut down the program that are going up on our side as well.]
“….Well, you can’t cave to that kind of pressure. Just keep going.”
For those who doubted my identity as a villain, I had no choice but to continue to indoctrinate them. No, what if they praised me for bringing a famous Japanese villain and called it a show? I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t think I was wrong. I had to keep explaining rationally and logically why I was a villain.
Honestly, I’m not sure what’s the point when I had achieved my goal of becoming the villain of villains and even got into the Cathedral… But anyway, I still keep it going.
[…I’m not sure if that’ll work out, but okay.]
That’s right, I need to say a few more words to persuade Lee Seola. Then, we talked about the PMC.
[By the way, I was thinking about meeting the PMC members. What do you think? They’re still under my group’s title, but it feels like I haven’t paid much attention to them.]
“Oh, that sounds good. Now that most of them have completed their abilities, it’s about time we sent them out for practical training. Let’s discuss that when the time comes.”
[Sure. Take a good rest, Da-in. I’ll go see Haru, and I’ll contact you again after that.]
“Yeah, got it. Thanks.”
Click.
After ending the call with Lee Seola, I let out a sigh and put my phone down.
“What are you up to? Want some of this?”
“Hmm? Oh, thanks.”
Just then, Choi Sehee approached me, holding out an ice cream bar. I caught it in mid-air and started unwrapping it.
…It was mango-flavored ice cream.
“Do you have any other flavors besides this?”
“Nope. Remember, Seo Ja-young ordered a bunch of these mango sticks last time.”
“…”
“But this one’s delicious. Why?”
With a raised eyebrow, Choi Sehee watched me take a bite of the mango bar.
It was refreshing and sweet; I couldn’t deny that it was tasty.
As I ate the ice cream, my mind began to wander.
Katana had returned to Japan, seemingly satisfied with the fight against Stardus. She had even mentioned that it was a good experience and said she’d come back anytime if the opportunity arose.
After bidding farewell to Katana, my thoughts turned to a different matter.
Specifically, Stardus. Why did she react that way at the end?
‘…You jerk.’
Yes, I am a bad guy…
That’s right. I’m a villain, and if I’m not a bad guy, then what am I?
But… Stardus’s reaction that day felt odd. It was as if… she was upset, or disappointed.
And…
‘…You jerk.’
Hearing those words made my heart skip a beat.
…Honestly, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started. If I had to trace it back, it might have been around the time when the Statue of Liberty remained intact and when the news of X-Machina’s death was announced.
Strangely, Stardus had been catching my attention more than before.
So why did she cry?
I let out another sigh and leaned back on the couch. …Well, I’ll trust that Lee Seola will find out more about it when she meets Stardus next time.
Listening to the TV in the background, I got lost in various thoughts while absentmindedly enjoying my ice cream.
I also needed to visit Vine Witch sooner or later, but I wondered when that would be.
“…Oh, by the way, Sehee, aren’t you feeling cold?”
“Not at all. It’s quite warm. Maybe it’s because you’re eating ice cream?”
“Is that so?”
…Did I feel the chill because of that?
As I continued to eat the ice cream, I wondered if it had something to do with the chill I felt earlier.
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