episode_0021

Preparation

“Alright! Let’s greet our new colleague for ‘Mad Tea Party,’ Glinda.”

“Hello, I’m Glinda.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

People stared at Glinda as she greeted them in front of the house.

“Huh?”

“A kid?”

“She’s not a kid.”

“Hey, watch what you say, or you’ll get caught.”

Hector said to Arthur with a worried expression.

“She’s already done plenty to get caught.”

“…True.”

“Oh, and Glinda will be staying at our house from now on.”

“There’s only one room left… Wow, your ability is impressive too.”

Hector, lost in thought, spoke to Arthur while looking at him.

“?”

“Right now, there’s one man and three women living in this house.”

“Hey, speak properly. Alice is family.”

(Swish)

The hand pointing at Alice pointed to Glinda next to her.

“She’s a kid.”

“What?!”

(Swish)

Finally, he pointed at Seohyun.

“She’s Oh Seohyun.”

“…?”

“Ah.”

Hector understood Arthur’s words, while Seohyun looked puzzled.

“And those two are also staying here, just like that?”

Hector and Jim come to my house every day. Thanks to them, the house was finally noisy.

“Oh, tomorrow, let’s go shopping with Seohyun and Alice. We have nothing anyway.”

“Why?”

“…It’s a long story.”

.

.

.

.

“Sigh! Sniff!”

Seohyun, who heard the story about Glinda, was holding back tears that seemed about to burst.

“Sob! Sob! Poor thing.”

Alice, leaning against Arthur, was shedding tears little by little.

“…”

Jim also had an expressionless face, but it definitely showed a hint of sadness.

“Sobbing!! Sniff!”

And Hector was wiping his tears and runny nose with a tissue, sobbing.

“…”

Among these people, only Arthur calmly sipped his tea, wearing glasses and reading a book.

“Aren’t you sad, brother?”

“I’ve already heard.”

Arthur replied to Alice’s question.

“When I first heard, I cried too.”

“…”

“…”

Upon hearing that Arthur cried, red-eyed Seohyun and puffy-faced Hector looked at Arthur.

“You did?”

“You did that?”

And they looked at Arthur with different expressions, each containing the meaning of “You did that?”

“…didn’t cry, but tears welled up.”

“Still, it’s a significant development, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Nonsense.”

(Sigh)

“Come on, it’s time for the kids to sleep well.”

“Ugh…”

“I’m an adult, you know?”

“Growth period is inherently endless.”

Arthur closed the book and ushered the children into the room.

“Sigh.”

After putting the children (one of whom insisted they were an adult) into the room, Arthur came back down and sat at the table.

“Alright, let’s make a plan.”

At Arthur’s words, Hector took out his laptop.

“First off, we’re keeping an eye on the Union Bank in Sector C.”

“Sector C? Aren’t there many heroes there?”

That’s why it’s more impactful.”

“…Good, are we ready?”

“We’ve secured access to the sector gate, police communication network, and hero communication network. But there’s a big problem.”

“What is it?”

“There will be one resident hero.”

“Can we handle it?”

“It depends on who it is.”

Arthur took out a pocket watch.

“I don’t have a hobby of killing good people.”

…

“…”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

As Detective Layton entered the corridor filled with corpses, the Special Forces officer saluted.

(Creak!)

Passing the bodies, Detective Layton opened a thick armored door.

“…”

Upon opening the door, he saw the body of an old man lying on the ground, with a silk hat placed on top of his head.

“What’s the cause of death?”

“Lungs filled with blood, heart ruptured.”

“…”

“At least it’s certain that he didn’t die from external shock. There are no traces of it.”

“Mad Hatter.”

Looking at the hat placed on the old man, Detective Layton said,

“Since it’s a villainous crime, report it to the bureau.”

“Yes.”

“Briefly and accurately.”

“Yes, first, all security at the mansion was disabled. A staff member was found unconscious in the control room, and signs of hacking were evident. Thanks to that, the alarm didn’t go off, and even with such a heavy armored door, it was easily opened. And look here.”

Detective Layton’s junior female officer pointed to a spot.

“From the knife marks, it seems like two people fought, but no bodies were found. It seems that after the battle, one of them disappeared, and it’s not likely to be Mad Hatter.”

“Mercenary?”

“That’s likely.”

“I urgently hired a skilled mercenary. It means he knew he was going to be attacked.”

“Yes, but he was quite secretive, wasn’t he?”

“What are you talking about?”

“His information was locked up by the National Security Agency.”

“The NSA?”

National Security Agency

It is an intelligence agency that specializes in domestic and foreign espionage activities under the direct control of the president. Contrary to its original purpose, its authority surpasses that of any other government agency.

“…Find a connection with Mad Hatter; there must be something related. He didn’t just come to kill well-off people out of sheer madness.”

“Have you only seen him once? How do you know so much?”

“I can feel it, a different kind of madness from what I’ve seen so far.”

“How is it different?”

“He’s perfectly mad.”

* * * * * * * *

Hero Management Bureau Office

The bureau responsible for managing and registering all heroes and individuals with abilities in the metropolitan city, undoubtedly the most influential institution in this age of heroes.

In such an office of the bureau

(Bang!!)

With a forceful push, Snow Flower, Yi Seol-ha, entered a certain office.

“…”

A middle-aged man, sitting in the office eating cup ramen, looked up at Yi Seol-ha with noodles in his mouth.

“Oh, were you having your meal?”

(Slurp)

“What?”

“Mad Hatter has been found, hasn’t he?”

“Huh?”

(Gulp)

As the man swallowed the broth, he opened the table and laid out a paper file.

(Thud!)

Upon seeing the file, Yi Seol-ha immediately grabbed it and started reading. Meanwhile, the man finished all the cup ramen.

“Ahh, refreshing.”

The man, seemingly satisfied after finishing the broth, said,

“It seems like it’s definitely Mad Hatter.”

“Well, for now, that’s how it looks.”

“For now?”

“Yeah, an old man was murdered. He’s definitely not connected to Mad Hatter.”

“Of course not. Mad Hatter isn’t the kind of villain who kills unrelated civilians.”

“…Ha.”

Yi Seol-ha’s words prompted a surprised reaction from the man.

“?”

“The detective investigating the case also said the same thing.”

“Detective Layton?”

“Yeah, the information about the old man is restricted by the security agency. That’s why I asked for the information to be released.”

“Please release it.”

“Yeah, how many people do you think have access to information that the bureau can’t reach?”

…”

“This person is definitely not an ordinary person.”

“Mad Hatter will probably start his activities soon. So we need to go back quickly.”

“Hey-”

(clink)

“Hmm? Who was here first?”

As the office door opened, another woman entered. Silver hair, fair skin.

“Luna!”

It was S-class hero, Luna.

“Sister! Are you okay?”

Seolha approached Luna and asked.

“I’m fine, but are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“The manager said you suddenly fell for some B-class villain.”

(thud!)

“Ahem!”

(whoosh!)

When Seolha looked at herself, the man coughed and turned his head.

“Adults shouldn’t eavesdrop.”

“But why suddenly a B-class villain? Oh, could it be that thing you missed… right, Mad Hatter?”

“Right.”

“Why is someone who usually doesn’t care much about villains suddenly so concerned?”

“Just a feeling, you know.”

“A feeling?”

“It’s the intuition of a su~~perhero who says this person is a dangerous villain.”

“Oh my.”

Manager Park Jong-hoon from the Management Department 3 chuckled at Seolha’s words.

(ring!)

“Oh, just a moment.”

Manager Park Jong-hoon answered the phone for a moment.

(clack)

“Yes, Director… No, I can do it now. Yes, I’ll see you shortly.”

(clack)

“Sorry. The director wants to see me. Anyway, Seolha, remember you can’t leave until you finish everything here.”

“…Yes.”

Reluctantly, Seolha responded to Manager Park Jong-hoon’s instructions. Satisfied, Manager Park Jong-hoon left the office.

“So, is undercover investigation fun?”

“Well…”

“Looks like it’s fun.”

“It’s bearable, I guess.”

“So, any suspicious individuals?”

“The most likely suspect is our boss.”

“…Our boss?”

“For now, he’s my employer.”

“True.”

Arthur Reed was at the top of Seolha’s list of Mad Hatter suspects.

But that was natural, as Arthur was the only suspect.

“Similar build, same white hair, and the timing of business appearances.”

Only these three things had made Arthur Reed the prime suspect for Mad Hatter, the sole suspect, and simultaneously a meaningless suspect.

Iseolha, not Snow Flower, had two reasons for infiltrating Arthur’s casino. Firstly, it was to quickly suppress Mad Hatter’s appearance, and secondly, if Arthur Riddle was being watched and found to be the Mad Hatter, he would be arrested.

“Who is he?”

“…”

Iseol thought about Arthur Riddle, whom she had seen so far.

“…Kind.”

“Kind?”

“Yeah, and… handsome.”

“Huh.”

“He didn’t seem like someone who would do bad things, especially since he has a family. He has a pretty sister. They seemed harmonious.”

“If such a person is a villain, there are two possibilities: either he became a villain unavoidably or… he’s truly insane.”

“Are there any cases of villains having a harmonious family?”

“…Probably not. Even if there were, it would be extremely rare.”

“Still, I hope Mr. Arthur isn’t a villain.”

* * * * * * * *

“Achoo!”

“Cold?”

“Maybe because I slept with the window open.”

Arthur said as he wiped his nose.

“It’s far, very far.”

Driving the car, Arthur looked at the window and said, “Wait.”

“We’ve arrived,” Gary, a gunrunner (and smuggler) sitting in the passenger seat, said.

After staring blankly out the window for several minutes, they arrived at a huge warehouse.

(Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!)

As they arrived at their destination, several cars following Arthur’s vehicle disgorged men in black suits and silk hats, Arthur’s subordinates.

“Do you have any intention of hiding the fact that you’re the Mad Hatter from me?”

Gary asked Arthur, looking at the men who appeared to be the Mad Hatter’s subordinates.

“You probably knew when you saw the weapons I used, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, honestly, I found out from the news. And your shooting form was just like yours.”

“If my identity is revealed, you’re the most likely one.”

(Swish, swish, swish)

At Arthur’s words, Gary was surrounded by Arthur’s subordinates.

“…Boring.”

Without any change in expression, Gary looked at Arthur and said, “Damn, that’s not the reaction I was hoping for.”

(Click!)

Arthur’s subordinates opened the warehouse door.

(Aaahh!)

Inside the warehouse, there were a myriad of weapons ranging from pistols to rifles, shotguns, grenades, machine guns, anti-tank weapons, miniguns, missiles, and so on.

“Alright, everyone take what you want. Arm yourselves well.”

“Yes!”

(Scramble)

At Arthur’s words, his subordinates rushed to the warehouse to grab weapons.

“Looking at the numbers, it seems like we’ll easily surpass fifty people.”

“Really? Quite persuasive, I must say.”

“Even if each person gets just one rifle, it won’t come cheap.”

“………”

“Payment?”

“Will you take credit, sir?”

“Hahaha.”

“Bro, manly macho statue of loyalty, please take credit.”

“Hehehe, if you’re going to ask for credit, you shouldn’t joke around.”

“Oh, no!!”

And so, with such extravagant shopping, my bank balance dwindled like receding water.

“…Hm?”

In one corner of the massive warehouse, something very special caught Arthur’s eye. As if by fate, a cold machine captivated his gaze.

“…How much is that?”

“What…that? No, I can’t sell that. It was so hard to obtain.”

“I’ll give you twice its value.”

“This isn’t something you buy with money.”

“Four times.”

“Deal, but are there even buyers for that?”

“You have to find them.”

I stand corrected. It wasn’t extravagant shopping. It was a very beneficial and worthwhile shopping experience.