In This World, Police Face the Mastermind(6)

Damn those higher-ups. I can’t help but sigh.

The Commissioner was pleased and said we did well, but apart from him, the higher-ups and the media are questioning why it took us 5 days to clear out the supervillains despite our success.

Well, this is just what “some” media and politicians, and idiots fighting for power with the Commissioner are saying, but. It still feels bad.

And there’s an explanation for these people too. The reason it took 5 days to arrest these guys we caught wasn’t due to a lack of personnel or capability.

There’s one reason why it took us 5 days.

Those damn things are having power struggles by joining forces with other supervillains.

But making the expression “joining forces” meaningless, these bastards, as soon as they saw Mina, would push the person next to them to fight and run away.

This is not a metaphor. They literally pushed each other and ran away.

Mina is the only one who can face a supervillain, but these supervillains are desperately running away from the hero.

They wouldn’t even fight with the police, so we had to drive them like herding sheep, which is why it took 5 whole days.

Looking at their behavior, I suspect if they’ve heard something from Sai. Or maybe they’re just afraid of Mina.

Supervillains who kill people with their superpowers in their arrogance, even if they lose, believe that their defeat was purely due to bad luck piling up, and they still believe they’re the strongest.

The reason why the alliance of supervillains only appears in the latter part of the novel, I think, is because it takes time for these incarnations of baseless confidence to realize reality.

But these guys refused to fight Mina at all costs.

Isn’t that clearly strange? It’s fortunate that we caught them all, but the fact that it took more time than expected cannot be denied.

They say they don’t know anything about Sai, but how can we properly believe that?

“What kind of shit are you plotting…”

Curses come out automatically. But I swallow them and receive warm water on my face.

This is the shower room. Currently used by the special task force, but originally it’s the shower room in the office that the Special Investigation Team used.

Even though I returned to the office after cleaning up the case, since I’m treated like the captain of the special task force, I had to do field cleanup and report writing.

I’m finally finishing work and washing up when everyone else has already returned and is resting.

It’s outrageous enough to have been given an unwanted position, but to have so much work too!

I said I would use everything I needed to, but it’s more tiring than I imagined. I experience again that I’m not someone who would work wearing a hat even if I died and came back to life.

Come to think of it, the Commissioner said he would create a special task force centered around me, but how could a mere Inspector lead such a special task force? Is rank just something to cook soup with?

Surely my position as the captain of the special task force is a kind of showmanship for citizens trembling with anxiety, and once the team stabilizes, someone else will come here.

I just need to be patient and endure until then. That’s what will happen. I hope that’s what happens.

…Damn it.

“Detective~ Are you done washing? The police officers are asking whether you want to eat jajangmyeon or jjamppong for dinner~”

As I’m sighing deeply, Mina calls out to me from outside the shower room.

Mina, who could have gone in earlier but stayed to help me with report writing and field cleanup, and returned with me.

I don’t know if she’s already finished washing, which takes longer for girls, or if she’s stopped by briefly before washing, but since she’s asking about the dinner menu, I was about to answer but momentarily closed my mouth.

This is the Special Investigation Team office building, there’s a jajangmyeon restaurant nearby that I frequently use, and if it were just the special task force people who don’t know me well, I wouldn’t mind, but the captain is also here.

The captain must know that I always order jajangmyeon because I can’t eat jjamppong at all, so why did Mina come here?

Is that person keeping quiet as revenge for me dragging him in? What a petty person. You should have been prepared to be retaliated against when you tease people.

I clicked my tongue at the captain’s pettiness while rubbing the shampoo I had poured on my head into my hair and said:

“I’ll have gan-jajang. Double portion. And ask them to add some chili powder. There’s a regular place I often eat at on the street opposite the office! From there—”

“—Eh, what?! I can’t hear you clearly!”

“I said! Jajang—! Oh, never mind. Wait!”

It seems my words aren’t being heard well because of the water noise.

I quickly wiped off the shampoo on my head, roughly shook the water off my head, and opened the door to tell Mina what to order while covering my body with a towel.

“Ah. You could have just told me again…hurhbub!”

Suddenly Mina’s deflating sound shook my ears. The steam escaping from inside made my vision slightly blurry so I couldn’t see ahead, but that was momentary.

As my vision returned, what I saw was Mina blushing while looking at me in front of the shower room door.

More precisely, she was making a gesture of covering her eyes with her hands, but the gaps between her fingers were open, making the act of covering itself seem meaningless. So she’s pretending to cover but actually looking at everything.

Furthermore, she had taken off the flight jacket she usually wears. I was curious about the structure of her spandex, and now I see it seems to be a structure where you lower the zipper on the back to take it off and put it on.

But what material is that spandex made of that it doesn’t tear easily despite such intense fighting? Perhaps the material name is “censorship”?

I stopped such inadequate idle thoughts and scratched my cheek before saying:

“I’ll have gan-jajang double portion. With added chili powder. The captain should know, but tell them to order from the shop across the street?”

After finishing what I was about to say, I tried to go back in. But Mina was staring at me blankly, whether she heard my words or not.

Looking at Mina, who was turning her face tomato-red and trembling while looking at me, I wondered, why is she acting like that?

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Mina. Receiving my gaze, Mina made her already reddened face even redder and slowly looked at me with a forced smile, saying:

“Ha, haha. I see you exercise harder than I thought. Your body is really nice and cool— Ah, this isn’t right… What nonsense am I saying…”

After saying something strange suddenly, Mina seems to have felt self-loathing and crouches, making groaning sounds.

Seeing her like that, I realized this preposterous kid is having strange thoughts while looking at my body.

It’s not even a teenage high school boy, what is she doing? I shook my head and looked at Mina, then noticed the toiletry bag she had brought.

Was she planning to wash up after telling me the menu I wanted to order?

But the toiletry bag only has things like travel-sized shampoo and soap sold at convenience stores, with nothing that young girls would typically carry around.

No, where did she throw away all the things I bought her before? I contorted my face and asked:

“Hey, where did you put all the cosmetics and such I bought you before? I researched and bought everything for you, telling you to dress up nicely since you have a pretty face…”

When I pressed down on her head forcefully, Mina exaggerated her pain as usual and said:

“P-pretty? I’m happy to hear that, but there’s no way I could bring such things in a situation like this… No, more importantly, walking around like that proudly is sexual harassment…”

“And staring at it like that isn’t sexual harassment?”

“…”

Mina became tight-lipped and watched my reaction. After seeming to think for a moment, she actually began to look at me again proudly.

It was as if she was trying to show with her body that she had done nothing wrong.

But Mina’s face had turned redder than before, to the point where one might wonder if human skin could turn that red, so it wasn’t very credible.

Thinking she’s at that age, I turned my body away, pretending not to notice.

“—If you’re going to wash, use the third shower. The water flows well there. Wash behind your ears too. You should wash thoroughly.”

“Hey! Shouldn’t you be embarrassed too, mister? It makes me seem like I’m the only strange one! Should, should I take off my clothes too?! I’ll take them off!”

Mina rattled on, saying it’s rather hurtful to have no reaction. I snorted at her and mentioned an old incident:

“Remember that time in winter when you jumped into frozen water alone and got sick and suffered? When I came to buy medicine for you and make porridge, do you remember what you did after secretly stealing and drinking the soju I bought for myself?”

“Ah.”

Mina made an incredibly empty face at my words. Now her face was contorting with shame of a different kind, but I continued regardless:

“You vomited and cried and made a complete mess. Do you know how much trouble I went through changing your clothes? Embarrassment? To that little kid back then? Impossible.”

“And think about your age. Your hair isn’t even dry yet, seriously.”

“Ugh, ughugh…”

Mina recalled the past events and wanted to rebut, but realizing that digging deeper would only uncover her own dark history, she just puffed her cheeks in frustration.

Her appearance made me exasperated. What could be good about a 35-year-old uncle for her to act like this?

It’s funny to see her act boldly in her own way while still feeling embarrassed in this situation, which confirms she’s a child.

But I just can’t shake the thought: what’s wrong with liking someone her own age?

I wish a prince on a white horse who doesn’t appear in the original work would show up and take Mina away, but knowing her personality, it’s hard to make such a request to the prince on a white horse.

I worry if she’ll be able to get a proper job later. She’s the type who would throw everything aside and rush to save people first if an incident occurred on the day of the college entrance exam…

After heaving a deep sigh, I went back into the shower room and said:

“First love usually doesn’t work out.”

“…Since it’s my first and last love, it should be fine.”

“Don’t talk about last love when you’re just a high school student.”

Seeing Mina speaking proudly with a grin, I thought it was such a childlike thing to say and laughed in return.

First and last love? Isn’t that a line you’d only see in a third-rate romance novel?

I recalled an internet story about a high school couple who submitted a marriage registration form to a government office saying they were each other’s first and last love, only to break up and cause a huge fuss.

This too will eventually be a day when she can laugh and move on, saying it was a mistake from when she was young.

I was about to go back to the shower room and finish the shower I hadn’t completed.

But because Mina was asking in an awkward posture as if trying to change the awkward atmosphere, I couldn’t go back in.

“Detective. But do you know why that woman, Sai, is doing all this? You said you’d tell me before, but you still haven’t told me.”

“Ah, did I?”

I said I would tell her about Sai’s purpose after destroying the laboratory, but I was so busy that I couldn’t tell her.

But would she believe this even if I told her? She’s destroying the world to make me look back at her?

It’s nonsense that even a cheap B-grade movie scriptwriter wouldn’t come up with. That’s why I couldn’t tell the special task force either.

I will tell Mina, but even if she doesn’t believe it, let’s just smile calmly and move on for now. With that in mind, I sighed and told her about the purpose Sai had mentioned.

“That person said she’s destroying the world to make me look back at her after rejecting her. That if her crimes were no longer crimes, there would be no problem.”

“…What?”

“…If you can’t believe it, forget it. I just—”

As I was trying to mutter “just said something random” with a hollow laugh while turning around. Good heavens. Mina was looking at me with terrifyingly wide, bright red eyes, as if suffocating.

Mina’s current appearance was emanating a terrifying pressure that momentarily reminded me of Sai.

As I stiffened my body, Mina confidently entered the shower room as if her blushing at seeing my body earlier had been a lie.

Then, standing in front of me with a smile like a flower scattering, Mina said:

“Detective. Just in case I need to say this. You must not forgive such nonsensical acts to stop that woman. That, absolutely not, okay?”

“Of course, not.”

I’m saying this because I never intended to do such a thing in the first place. No, more than that, why is she acting like this? Is the child jealous? Was she always this jealous?

When I nodded, feeling appalled, Mina nodded with satisfaction.

Are all congenital superpower users this emotionally volatile? It’s really terrifyingly scary. Horrified by Mina’s sudden change, I stepped outside.

I saw the captain and special task force members arguing about whether to include Palbochai in the menu in the office.

Yes, Palbochai is important. I watched them warmly as they were more heated about this than when investigating cases.

Ah, not “warmly,” but “pathetically” is the right word.

I thought the people gathered in the special task force were somewhat capable and competent, but in the end, they’re all idiots.

But I’m also part of the special task force. Does that mean I’m an idiot too?

For a brief moment, I had a lot I wanted to say. But I decided not to voice them. On second thought, Palbochai seemed like an important topic.

---

“But Captain. How are we going to catch that Justice bastard? I heard there’s chaos around that area right now.”

Slurp, the youngest police officer in the special task force [excluding Mina, of course] asked during our late dinner.

Justice, who is located near Gimpo Airport and is estimated to have information about Sai, is currently our special task force’s next target.

If it were a simple matter of reorganizing and rushing in to catch him, the youngest wouldn’t ask such a question.

According to information Yuna-ri has secured this time, Justice believes, as he did before, that he is justice and the real, proper hero.

Before, people wouldn’t have listened to such words from that Justice bastard.

The problem is that the bastard is now ranting about stopping criminals that even the police couldn’t stop and protecting people.

The people in that neighborhood, who can’t trust the police and know that the military can’t do anything against supervillains, are cooperating for survival since the only one who can protect them somewhat is that Justice guy.

In such a situation, Justice’s followers, who existed before, have gathered at that location and become a group that writes “vigilante” but reads “gangster,” causing more trouble.

Yes. Previously, we only had to deal with supervillains and a few criminals.

But now, to catch Justice, we have to deal with ordinary citizens who follow Justice.

If Justice and his subordinates avoid fighting with Mina and run away like the guys we caught this time, the success of the operation is also uncertain.

But honestly, I wasn’t worried.

No matter how strong one’s power is, a stupid person can’t even do bad things properly—that’s the truth of the world.

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. Here, the guy he wants to catch and kill is right in front of us. If our special task force captain just wags his tail a little, Justice will pop out on his own?”

The captain says what I was thinking with a smile. The captain’s tone annoyed me, but. His words were correct.

I heard that Justice caused a commotion even inside the prison, saying he would definitely kill me if he went outside.

I found it quite strange that the guy didn’t rush at me immediately and built up his forces first, but anyway, he won’t be able to resist if I approach.

Of course, he must have prepared something. He must have thought things through. Or Sai might have done something.

But Justice’s intelligence is extraordinarily bad, so it’ll be easy.

“Then, we just need to endure for a few more days.”

“We don’t even need a few days. A day will do.”

“A day?”

At my words, the special task force people looked at me as if surprised, but. I shrugged my shoulders.

The approximately 5 days it took to succeed in the operation wasn’t just about being beaten by some weird guys.

If we can’t quickly find out where Sai is and what she’s doing, it will become unmanageable.

Looking at what Sai has declared, the next thing Sai does will be something that can destroy this society itself.

To prevent that, we would need to defeat Sai, but as we know, it’s impossible for me or Mina to win against Sai in a direct confrontation, no matter how hard we try.

Our fight ultimately means a time struggle where we need to interfere and stop Sai before she does something.

But everyone probably knows this, and deliberately bringing it up in this situation would only lower morale.

Therefore, instead of this fact, I mentioned something else.

“A day is enough for such a minor villain.”

“Haha! That’s right!”

People laugh.

Since I’m officially the one who physically beat and captured that Justice guy, it will also help boost morale if I say this.

Oh, by the way, I’ve already told the special task force people that defeating Justice was accomplished thanks to Yuna-ri’s help.

The special task force people know that I knew Yuna-ri from before and was barely able to defeat him using a test version.

Thanks to that, the special task force people don’t say strange nonsense like the violent crime detectives did before. That was really fortunate.

“But… why is that hero girl sticking to you like gum and not letting go? Did you fight?”

One of the police officers asked, pointing at Mina who was clinging to me like a squirrel. Those eyes were warm, as if looking at a cute child, but. The gaze directed at me had a little suspicion lingering.

I tried to find something to say about that gaze, but realizing I had nothing to say, I quietly closed my mouth.

Mina isn’t saying anything after washing and coming out, just doing this. I was worried she might catch a cold since she’s not even drying her hair.

But as I was thinking that, I wondered, am I perhaps an overprotective dad?

Wait a minute. I really seem like an overprotective dad.

No, that can’t be. It won’t be. I stroked my chin, then added chili powder to my jajangmyeon bowl.

It was delicious.