episode_0034

Hospital Visit

“Hey, are you okay? Still alive?”

“You came yesterday too.”

After coming to my senses, I diligently spent my time in the hospital. Since suspicion would arise if the person shot recovered too quickly, I pretended to be in pain as much as an ordinary person could. With plenty of money, I rented a very luxurious hospital room, which allowed me to spend a very expensive vacation.

(Thud)

“It’s precious. All natural.”

Hector placed a fruit basket on the table and said,

“Domestic? Or colonial?”

“Of course it’s domestic.”

As I mentioned before, this joint city had become much larger than the original construction plans, and the resident population had increased significantly. As a result, the shortage of food could not be resolved domestically, leading to the necessity of going out to the destroyed land outside the joint city.

Colonies were established in various regions, allowing the joint city to have some freedom from food shortages. However, the major problem was that the lands that were colonies were filled with radiation, monsters, and other very unusual things before they were developed.

In other words, the crops harvested from the colonies don’t taste very good. Not all colonies are like that, but many are.

(Crunch, crunch)

“…”

Seohyun took an apple from the fruit basket and began to slice it with a knife.

“Eat.”

“…”

Then she handed the neatly sliced apple to Arthur and said,

“…Do you have something against me?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“You sure?”

Seohyun said to Arthur in an annoyed tone.

“…….”

“Are you crazy? Why did you get shot and cause trouble?”

“You know? I have good recovery abilities. I’ve already given birth-”

“If something happens to you, Alice-”

“…”

“I’m more important than you guys.”

“Hmm.”

“Your love is heartwarming.”

Jim said as he ate a piece of apple.

“Do you have someone special?”

“Well… I have a daughter.”

“Really?”

“Really?”

Upon hearing that Jim had a daughter, the people around showed interest.

“I’m going to let my daughter live in the Republic. To do that, I need money.”

“You can go to prison.”

Arthur smiled and said, “When the time comes that there’s nothing for me to do, I’ll take responsibility and send you to the Republic with my daughter.”

“Well, thank you.”

“No. Instead, you should work hard until then, okay?”

“…I feel like I’ve made a deal with the devil.”

“Ah, if it’s the devil, consider yourself lucky.”

Hector tapped Jim’s shoulder and said, “Hey, Arthur.”

“Let’s see… so turn this here.”

As Hector entered the hospital room, he saw Arthur solving a Rubik’s Cube.

“What are you doing?”

“Sehyun gave it to me. She said to solve it if I’m bored.”

“A get-well gift.”

“From who?”

“Saber, the hero who saved you… did he save you? Anyway, the hero who saved you.”

“Um, come in.”

(Knock! Knock! Knock!)

Arthur, speaking to Hector, immediately began swiftly turning the cube.

“Done.”

And within a few seconds, he solved the entire cube.

“…What? Wasn’t that your first time solving it?”

“Yeah, you know, I learn things quickly.”

(Snap)

“Mr. Riddle? I’m Saber.”

The handsome man who entered like a nobleman, the hero Saber, greeted them.

“I came to visit upon hearing that you’re recovering well.”

Saber held a suitable get-well gift set in his hand.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of my incompetence that you were seriously injured.”

“No, isn’t it enough that you’re living well? That’s all that matters.”

“Thank you.”

After exchanging words with Saber, they reached one conclusion.

This person is incredibly kind. He’s the typical protagonist from a boys’ comic. Purely kind and someone who can be easily taken advantage of more than anyone else.

“I heard you voluntarily came to Zone F.”

He came here voluntarily as soon as his probation period ended.

As you may have seen so far, Zone F is the place where heroes least want to go. It has the highest crime rate in the Union City, with a significant portion being superpowered crimes (crimes involving individuals with abilities).

It’s a place with a lot of work, no recognition, and difficult promotions – that’s Zone F.

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to have a sponsor?”

The existence that efficiently maintains the safety and security of the United City, a hero. And this existence has a significant influence on the structure of the United City, and what is created in this way is the hero structure or the hero industry.

There are four main components to this.

First, of course, there are heroes. Heroes solve general crimes or special crimes using their abilities as a basis.

The management office, an organization under the government, manages these talented individuals, namely heroes. The management office assesses the heroes, legally grants them law enforcement authority, protects them, and pays them salaries.

And sponsors, they are both individuals and organizations, as well as institutions and companies. First of all, the salary of a hero is no less than that of a public official. However, in such situations, heroes sometimes find it difficult to operate with only the support of the management office.

What emerged in such situations was sponsors. They support heroes financially or in various ways so that heroes can devote themselves entirely to hero activities. In return, sponsors receive various benefits.

First of all, they can ensure safety. A representative example of such a case is the United Bank, where I have visited. The United Bank sponsors many heroes and ensures the bank’s safety for them. Or you can also ask for personal protection.

Of course, besides safety, they can receive other things. The biggest thing apart from safety is popularity. Heroes are popular. Whether strong or weak, high or low in rank, if they are called heroes, they are popular. Companies use this popularity of heroes in their advertisements.

“I don’t have any.”

“I see. Do you have any intention of receiving?”

“…”

Seiver hesitated at my words.

As expected, he seemed reluctant to receive sponsorship like a true hero of justice. In reality, not all heroes receive sponsorship.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t accept sponsorship…”

“Is that so? That’s too bad. Then how can I express my gratitude?”

“Recovering well is how you can show gratitude to me.”

“…Haha, thank you.”

A sincere expression and tone, Saber, I really like this person.

“Well then, would it be okay to treat you to a meal sometime?”

“Hmm… that’s fine.”

“Haha, thank you.”

With that, Saber finished his visit and left the room.

“How was your impression?”

Hector asked as Saber left.

“A typical heroic demeanor, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“At this rate, I wonder if even an S-class hero will come to Zone F.”

“Ugh, what terrible talk.”

“Or maybe an S-class villain is coming.”

“Ugh, what a filthy thing to say.”

“Right? I felt terrible too.”

“I’m planning to be discharged next week.”

“Now my body is starting to feel a bit better.”

“Well, no matter how expensive it is, a hospital bed is still a hospital bed.”

“Boss! Congratulations on your discharge!”

“… Haha, thank you.”

As they left the hospital, Seolha, who had been waiting outside, greeted Asha.

“It’s a present.”

“Why do you keep doing things like this?”

[Mint chocolate]

“…”

What’s this, are they trying to assassinate me?

“Oh, by the way, does Seolha work in the management department?”

“Yes.”

“So, do you go to work at Section F of the management department?”

“… Yes, that’s right?”

Seolha responded with a question to a question.

“Can I contact Saber?”

“Saber?”

“Yes, for the meal treat.”

“Oh, sure.”

“If you’re going home, shall we go together?”

“Yes!”

Asha and Seolha got into the car brought by Hashimoto, who was waiting in front of the hospital.

“If anything dangerous happens in the future, please contact me. Oh, but come to think of it, we haven’t exchanged contact information yet.”

“… That’s right.”

“Let’s exchange now.”

“Sure.”

Asha took out her phone and handed it to Seolha. Then Seolha entered her own phone number into the phone she received.

“Here you go.”

Ah, the A-class hero’s phone number. This could be incredibly useful or incredibly dangerous.

“Boss, we’ve arrived.”

“Oh, right. Good job.”

When they arrived in front of the house, Asha got out of the car.

(Slam!)

“Brother!!”

As she got out of the car, the door opened and Alice rushed out.

(Thud!)

“Ouch!”

And she immediately sat in Asha’s arms. However, the problem was that due to the rapid acceleration and Alice’s mass, it gave Asha a strong impact on his neck.

“Oof, my neck.”

It seemed to hurt Asha as Alice’s head hit his neck.

“Are you okay now?”

“I don’t think I’ll be okay because of you.”

“Oh, Alice, hello?”

Seolha greeted Alice.

“?”

“Don’t you remember? We’ve met once before.”

“…Ah.”

Alice remembered who Seolha was.

“Hello.”

Alice politely greeted Seolha.

“Are you going to live next door now? Come over often.”

“Next door? I’m sure Hector lives next door-”

“Alice, have you eaten?”

Anticipating something strange, Arthur hurriedly interrupted Alice’s words.

“I haven’t eaten.”

“I’ll make it for you.”

“Okay!”

“Oh, would Seolha also like to eat?”

“Sure.”

(Argh!!)

Arthur was cooking in the kitchen, accidentally setting fire to the pan.

“Wow!”

Alice and Seolha looked at Arthur’s spectacle with amazement.

“Oh, why is this catching fire?”

It wasn’t a deliberate show, but rather an accidental fire.

“Alright, the dish is ready.”

Despite the fire, Arthur presented the completed dish stably.

“Do you like steak?”

“I can’t eat it because there’s no meat.”

Seolha said while looking at the steak Arthur made.

“You should eat more to grow big like Seolha.”

“Got it.”

Gathering the vegetables, Alice responded to Arthur’s comment by spearing the asparagus with her fork.

“…Don’t take it out again.”

Seeing Alice trying to remove the vegetable with a knife, Arthur said.

“Ch!”

With a pout, Alice put the vegetable in her mouth.

“You seem more like a dad than a brother.”

“It’s just a small difference. I practically raised you.”

Well, this kind of everyday life isn’t so bad.

(Ding!)

“?”

Arthur, who was eating, checked his phone when a message arrived.

“[Heard you got hospitalized]”

“…….”

(Thud!)

After reading the short message, Arthur suddenly put down his phone.

“!!”

“!!”

Startled by Arthur’s sudden action, Alice and Seolha were taken aback.

“Brother?”

“Boss?”

“…….Sorry, just a moment.”

Fortunately, Arthur managed to compose his expression and left the room.

(Ring ring)

[Hey, what’s going on?]

Then he called Hector on another phone.

“You found my number.”

[Who is this?… Is it that person?]

“Yeah.”

[I’ll look into it.]

“Thanks.”

“……”

Seolha watched Arthur seriously talking outside through the window.