episode_0005

Hero.

When many people think of heroes, they might imagine someone selflessly helping others while living a humble, everyday life behind the scenes, but that’s absolutely not the case.

According to the logic of the capitalist market, heroes are driven entirely by money.

Going out to save the weak.

Usually, it’s funded by taxes.

Responding to situations that suddenly erupt.

Also taxes, and if it’s not enough, they even proceed by receiving a certain amount of tribute from the citizens they save.

That’s why people usually try to become heroes if they’re successful.

In the past, professions with the suffix ‘-sa’ such as doctors and lawyers earned a lot of money, but now there’s no profession that earns as much as a hero.

They’re even morally praised.

Because they save people’s lives and receive applause for their spectacular performances.

Of course, receiving tribute is a bit of a flaw, but in a world where public order is so shattered, the general public thought that collecting tribute was better than dying.

But the man had no way of knowing these detailed settings.

In the first place, the work he read was a hero story that focused on action and characters, and such settings weren’t set in detail.

Eclipse also had never been a hero, so she only knew about the tribute, but she didn’t know exactly how much it was.

“…Usually, they ask for about two hundred per person.”

The bank manager, after hearing her questioning, answers with a worried expression and glances at Eclipse.

Is she going to hear this and increase the money even more? Then it’s going to be really hard to make a living.

In fact, Eclipse’s expression was becoming more and more serious as she heard those words, and the bank manager could only fret as he looked at that expression.

But unlike his worries, completely different thoughts were running through Eclipse’s head.

She’d been tricked.

She was only thinking about that.

They said they would pretend to be villains together, but

Hadn’t he perfectly divided the roles into good and bad?

Even that consideration was unnecessarily cruel.

Her pride wouldn’t allow her to ask for more money here, but not taking the money? That was too heroic.

A gray zone between villain and hero.

That’s what Eclipse thought of herself now.

No, to be exact, it was the self that the man had created for her.

“…”

“Um…”

“Give it to me. Before I change my mind.”

“I, I will give it to you.”

While the bank manager went to get the money, Eclipse rested her hand on her chin and pondered.

She’d been played. Completely.

And she decided to go and confront him about it.

*

“Why did you do such a thing?”

I mean, what thing?

Eclipse glared at me while pointing her finger at me, and I could only look at Eclipse with bewilderment because I had no idea what nonsense she was talking about.

Then, a sound pops up in my head.

No, my survival rate!

The survival rate, which had been 0.55% just a moment ago, had dropped by a whopping 0.15%.

I don’t know what’s going on, but the fact that the survival rate has returned to normal is enough to confirm that something is happening.

“Hey. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. No matter how much you say that with that expression that you know everything…!”

What do I know everything about?

I have an expression that I don’t know anything about.

When I looked at Eclipse with wide eyes as if I was embarrassed, she took a step back.

“Are you trying to threaten me now?”

No, I just looked surprised, I just widened my eyes, that’s not an expression that I’m going to kill you.

I really need to go somewhere and get plastic surgery or something.

“…I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“…If you’re going to keep pretending you don’t know until the end…”

The survival rate is dropping again.

“Wait.”

“…”

I stare at Eclipse.

Let’s sort out the situation.

First of all, Eclipse thinks I tricked her.

The priority is to somehow overcome the situation first.

Even if I want to say something, this cursed face is misinterpreting everything I say.

Even if I say, ‘It’s all for you,’ it’s a hypocritical thing to say as if I’m selling her to a slave trader.

Yeah. It’s not like I haven’t experienced it once or twice.

What should I say in this situation?

Not good.

Not good.

“…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

And Eclipse questions me even more.

“Why don’t you say something?”

“…Haa.”

First, I answer with a sigh.

What should I say in this situation?

I turn my head slightly and look at Eclipse, and she avoids my gaze again.

Why did you avoid it this time? Is it because I look scary? Or what?

Maybe it’s because of the villainous act.

Eclipse hates heroes, but she doesn’t have a good feeling about the actions of villains either.

If I had to say it, it would be to the extent that she could be seen as a fence-sitter.

I made such a fence-sitter do the work of a completely black villain, so she must be in a bad mood.

I just need to comfort her.

“Everything is hard at first, no matter what it is.”

Eclipse stops.

She stares at me.

Yeah. Villain work is all hard.

“But everything has meaning.”

“Meaning?”

Yeah. That villain act has meaning too.

Mainly the meaning of you living, and me surviving together.

“You and I have to establish a new order.”

An order where you can do villainous things and still be safe, and where you can plan and pull it off well.

“…”

Eclipse, who had been listening to my words, looks at me.

“But what about you?”

Why me? This is the method I thought of to survive.

“I don’t care.”

No, rather, I have to.

“…”

“Hey, someone had to walk this path anyway.”

There’s no way I’m the only one who thought of this kind of cheating. Someday, a world will surely come where heroes and villains collude with each other and share profits amicably.

I’m just stepping on it a little faster.

I look at Eclipse with sincerity, and Eclipse avoids my gaze.

This cursed face.

“…Why are you going so far…”

And Eclipse mutters in embarrassment.

Because I have to live. And incidentally…

“For you.”

Because you have to live too.

“…”

Eclipse didn’t say anything.

She just stood still,

“…Haa…”

She took a deep sigh, brushed off her knees, and got up from her seat.

“…”

Did I mess up?

Did I do something wrong?

Do I have to start over from the beginning?

Then, who should I start with, and how-

“Okay.”

And Eclipse nods her head as if cutting off my thoughts.

“I’ll let you trick me this once.”

“…Thank you.”

Yeah. Thank you. If I trick you once, you won’t be tricked twice.

I thought so in my mind, and I deliberately lowered my head so that Eclipse wouldn’t see my face.

I’m the only one who gets tired if she misunderstands again after seeing my face again.

“…Then, what are you going to do next?”

“Ah. Next, you mean.”

I hurriedly check the survival rate.

It’s back.

No, it’s increased.

I did it.

I let out a sigh of relief and continue talking.

“Listen carefully.”

*

Eclipse stares at the man with a fierce impression and sinks into thought.

‘For you.’

A man who strangely knows a lot about herself.

No, it wasn’t strange.

He clearly knew a lot about herself.

When did she know? When he started giving advice about her abilities.

When he started to enlighten her about her abilities, saying things that she herself didn’t know as if they were obvious.

Thanks to that, she felt like she had gained the results that she could have obtained after several years of training in one go.

A man who appears at the right time and gives her what she wants.

‘I don’t care.’

Even though he willingly takes on the role of a villain for her sake, he’s a man who doesn’t feel even the slightest burden about it.

“…”

Could he be someone I know?

Eclipse starts to search her memories and shakes her head.

No. If she knew him, there’s no way she would forget that face.

How could she forget the face of a real villain who looks like he’s plotting an insidious plan even when he’s just smiling?

But still.

“…”

Eclipse looks at him again.

He clearly knew Eclipse.

No, if he didn’t know her, there’s no way he would know so much about her.

Not only her abilities, but also every conversation they have, she could feel that he was paying attention to her.

“…”

Eclipse frowns as she searches through her past memories.

Really, is it really impossible that he’s someone I don’t know?

Or…

Memories that she doesn’t even want to bring up.

Memories that she forgot completely when she was young.

“…”

In those memories that she abandoned, is he still remembering her?

It was impossible to know.

“Did you listen carefully?”

“…”

“Hey, Eclipse, I said did you listen carefully.”

“Oh, o-okay. I listened carefully.”

And, she nods her head as she hurriedly answers the man’s words.

“Okay. Good. Then I’ll get the equipment.”

And the man gets up from his seat.

“…Where are you going?”

“Where am I going.”

The man smiles slyly.

“I’m saying let’s go attack the orphanage.”

“…”

Am I really sure I know this guy?

Only Eclipse’s agony increased.