episode_0009

I turn my gaze to look at the guy smiling at me.

An unchanging number and the guy smiling at me.

It’s this guy.

“…You have a good impression; you look like you’ll become a very good hero.”

I reach out and tap the guy’s shoulder before moving on.

After that, it was meaningless.

Because no matter who I joined hands with, my survival rate continued to point to the same number.

After finishing the greetings, the elderly man looks at me with a what-do-you-think expression.

“They are diligent children. They are friends who are too pitiful to go astray just because they don’t have parents.”

“That seems to be the case.”

Nodding, I ask a question I’m genuinely curious about.

“By the way, there was a friend who had a very good impression. Is that friend a hero?”

“Ah, you mean Hyeonsang.”

The elderly man nods.

So, his name is Hyeonsang.

“He is a really amazing kid. I heard that the hero side is already eyeing him for recruitment.”

“He must be a very talented friend.”

“Yes. That’s what they say.”

A proud smile blooms on the man’s face.

“…”

What is he up to?

I look at him again, but he just smiles and nods at me.

Anyway, for now, this guy is a person of interest.

Whether he has a great sense of justice, or he is a guy who commits evil while hiding his true nature.

After finishing the greetings, I start working again.

It wasn’t hard work.

It was just a matter of having appropriate conversations at the right times.

Thanks to that, I had enough time to talk with Kim Yeon-ha, Firebringer.

“…Hyeonsang?”

She blinks at my question.

“He’s just… um, he’s like a model student drawn in a picture.”

“I see.”

“Yes. He never misses class and always works hard…”

“Unlike you?”

“…”

Hearing my words, she closes her mouth and then opens it.

“Well, I have circumstances…”

“Circumstances?”

“Yes. I, I have them.”

Firebringer shakes her head with a stiff expression.

I could feel the will not to speak from her words.

Okay. Then there’s no need to pry. After all, even if I knew it now, nothing would change.

“I understand. Then, shall we meet for a while after my work is done?”

“Ah, yes…”

You’re nodding again to seeing me like this without much will.

It’s hard to know what to make of you.

*

After volunteering, I head to the place Firebringer told me about, with the setting sun behind me.

Firebringer is already out and waiting.

“You came early.”

“S, since you called.”

She answers in a trembling voice to my muttering.

Okay. That’s good.

Nodding, I look at her.

“Then, we’ll train to beat Eclipse.”

“A-are we really fighting Eclipse…?”

Hearing my words, Firebringer opens her eyes wide and looks at me.

“Yeah. I got information.”

“Information…?”

“Information that Eclipse is attacking this place.”

“Y-yes…?”

Hearing my words, Firebringer opens her eyes wide.

“Why…?”

Because we decided to do so.

“I don’t know either.”

“…”

Hearing my words, she looks down at the floor and mutters something.

If you say you won’t do it, I’ll have to glare at you again.

Just when I was about to put strength into my eyes, Firebringer lifts her head.

“O-okay. I don’t know why, but…”

“Good.”

“B-but.”

“Hmm.”

Too many unnecessary questions.

“The reason you know that… are you perhaps a hero…?”

To even think of saying such a thing after seeing this face.

“No. I have a personal bad history with Eclipse.”

“…Ah.”

“So, I want to ruin the plan that guy has made.”

“…”

I don’t know what she thinks of the orphanage friends, but at least from what she’s showing me now, she seems to have her own sense of responsibility and conscience.

And if my guess is correct.

Firebringer takes a stance.

“T-then, what should I do?”

Should we pretend to be working together?

No. It could backfire unnecessarily.

You have to be able to act to pretend to be working together, and if you work with Eclipse in a state where you don’t even know how to use your abilities properly, an accident is bound to happen.

And it’s better to develop your own talents.

“First, give up on the idea of fighting head-on and winning.”

This was advice given not just for pretending to work together, but also in preparation for when you actually confront Eclipse.

Because even considering her abilities, fighting experience, and everything else, there was no way for Firebringer to beat Eclipse at the current point in time.

Maybe if some time passes later.

“T-then, what should I do?”

Hearing my words, Firebringer looks at me in embarrassment.

“It’s easy.”

Considering all those things, there is only one answer.

“Attack and finish it in one go.”

“Yes…?”

“Just bet everything on one hit and do a surprise attack.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll tell you from now on.”

The ultimate technique of madness that will shock the main characters in the original work.

As she listens to my explanation, an emotion of shock fills Firebringer’s face, and after listening to the entire explanation, she looks at me with an unbelievable expression.

“H-h-h-how can I use such an inhumane technique… no, how can you even think of such a thing as if it’s nothing…!”

Isn’t that the technique you came up with?

“Do you think you can beat Eclipse without doing that much?”

“…”

After a moment of contemplation, Firebringer makes a determined expression.

“O-okay. I’ll try it once, as you said…”

“Good.”

Then now that a new actor is ready.

“Work hard.”

Do some training on your own. I have to go back and plan with Eclipse again.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“To prepare.”

After answering only that, I turned my back on Firebringer and hurried away.

There was something I had to prepare without telling Firebringer.

*

“…A strange guy?”

Hearing my story, Eclipse frowns.

“Yeah. A strange guy.”

“Judging people by their faces isn’t good… no. That’s not what I should be saying.”

Eclipse mutters, stopping his words and looking at my face.

“Okay. I know what you’re saying, so what should I do when we attack?”

“Send that guy somewhere first.”

“…It’s not difficult.”

Eclipse nods, muttering.

“Good. Then prepare and start the attack as soon as you see my contact.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“And some advice.”

“Huh?”

Eclipse looks at me with a puzzled face.

“It’s good to be thoroughly prepared for defense so you won’t be surprised no matter when a surprise attack or attack comes.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

Eclipse nods and takes a stance again.

“Good. Then let’s practice again-”

“No. I have something to do. I’m going first.”

“…What?”

Leaving Eclipse, who is muttering as if he is dumbfounded, I move my steps again.

Busy, busy.

*

“…He’s not coming again today.”

Firebringer, Kim Yeon-ha, mutters and looks at her hand.

She had no choice but to admit it.

The method the man told her was very far from an ethical method, but nevertheless, it was a technique that seemed to have been created by someone who already knew everything from her habits to the minor parts of her abilities.

Therefore, it wasn’t that difficult for her to practice this technique either.

“…Oh, already…”

Looking at the flame that bloomed from her fingertips, she looks up at the sky.

The sun was already setting, and the cold air of night began to rush in.

She looks up at the orphanage with the lights on.

A place that had been her home since she was a child.

The same place even after more than a decade.

And a place where she will eventually have to leave when she becomes an adult soon.

“…”

She knew it.

That she wasn’t a person who suited a villain.

She had no greed, no hatred for others, and no resentment towards the world.

If there was anything, it was only the desire not to become a hero.

“…”

In the end, heroes were no different.

Heroes and villains are all-

“…No.”

Organizing her negative thoughts, she shakes her head and enters the orphanage.

Those greedy people and villains are no different…

“…”

Her thoughts stop at the strange sensation she feels as she steps into the entrance.

A sense of unease.

Even though it was her home where she had lived for a long time, she couldn’t stop the strange feeling from rising.

Above all, it was too quiet.

“…”

The orphanage is basically noisy.

Because there are children of all ages, it’s a place where there’s always noise and often commotion.

But it’s so quiet?

She lifts her head and looks at the clock hanging at the entrance.

It’s still nine in the afternoon.

A time when it should be very noisy.

But why is it so quiet?

“…”

Slowly, she moves her steps,

-Drip… drip…

The sound of water droplets falling is heard in her ear.

A sound of something slightly sticky falling, rather than water droplets.

Without letting go of her tension, she peeks out and looks at the hallway.

-Drip… drip…

Blood was dripping from the ceiling.

And, there were two corpses lying on the wall.

“…!”

She knew them.

They weren’t close, but they were members of a gang that skipped hero class together.

What’s going on?

While she was thinking that,

-Step… step…

The sound of footsteps is heard, and before she knew it, she reflexively hides her body between the walls.

Whoever it is, if they’re coming without any reaction even after seeing these corpses, they’re probably not normal.

Leaning against the end of the wall, covering her mouth with both hands, all she could do was pray that they wouldn’t come this way.

But as if mocking her prayer, the footsteps only get closer and closer to where she is, and the only place she can escape is the exit.

I have to get out now.

Just as she was thinking that and moving her steps.

Someone grabs her from behind and pulls her back.

“Kyaeup…!”

A rough hand covers her mouth as she screams, blocking her scream.

Who is it? Who is it?

With eyes full of fear, she looks up.

“Shh.”

A familiar face comes into her view.

A face like a villain, yet with an expression that shows no agitation at all.

The man who taught her the technique and the man who said he would use her as his right-hand man covers her mouth and brings his index finger to his lips.

“Quiet.”