episode_0012

Humans are inherently evil.

This was the thought of Kim Yeon-ha, a woman covertly called Firebringer by men.

Those who call themselves heroes and save people were no different.

They were merely bounty hunters.

They shouted justice but only did things that made money, unworthy of the name of hero.

If that wasn’t the case, they should have chased what was right, not money, back then.

Look at those who call themselves heroes.

They have even less conscience than the average person.

Furthermore, they act like children drunk on power, and some are just misguided humans who think they are always right.

Even the person burning right in front of my eyes was the same.

“Aaaah! Aaaaah!”

A woman screaming in agony, rolling on the floor with her body engulfed in flames.

“Hwaaack! Hwaaaaack!”

“What…”

And Eclipse, looking at the woman with a bewildered expression,

“…”

A man staring at the woman with wide eyes.

Firebringer didn’t even know the man’s name.

Only that he looked unbelievably scary. That was all she knew about him.

He had never told her more than that, and she had never tried to find out.

“…Leave her.”

Then, the man, who had been staring at the woman, closes his eyes as if listening to something.

As if listening to advice from someone he doesn’t know.

But that doesn’t make sense.

He must be thinking.

Since the moment she met him, the man had acted with an expression that suggested she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

In the first place, the first thing he said when he met her was to fight Eclipse.

However.

“…”

Surely, when that man met Eclipse, he told the phenomenon to fight Eclipse, then suddenly changed his attitude as if flipping his hand, and defeated the phenomenon with Eclipse.

As if deceiving himself…

“…”

Firebringer’s gaze turned back to the man.

*

Success.

It didn’t go as expected, but it’s still a success.

I let out a sigh of relief, and Eclipse stares at me intently.

“Are you so happy to save the children?”

“What are you talking about? I was so scared you’d die.”

“What was that smile just now?”

“It was a sigh.”

“You… …No, never mind.”

Eclipse sighs and turns her gaze away from me.

The burned woman was lying there, twitching as if in severe pain.

I should call an ambulance, but calling now wouldn’t be good for us.

Let’s call later.

More than that.

“…”

I turn my head to look at Firebringer.

She stares at me intently.

“…”

“…”

Our eyes meet, and I’m suddenly reminded of the mistake I made.

I didn’t explain enough.

From Firebringer’s point of view, it would seem like I suddenly went crazy, teamed up with Eclipse, and burned a hero.

What’s worse, I suddenly changed my attitude as if flipping my hand, not only punching that Phenomenon guy in the face but also just coming here with Eclipse.

Until just now, she was too flustered to think much about the situation, but now she’s probably wondering why this happened.

How should I explain this?

As I desperately wracked my brain, a metallic voice was heard in my ear.

Think.

Firebringer puts flames in her hands.

This is bad.

As I turn to Eclipse to say something,

-Whoosh!

The flames that Firebringer shot fly towards Eclipse.

“…!”

Eclipse hurriedly crosses her arms, and a thin curtain of darkness spreads as if enveloping her body.

-Bang!

But as soon as the flames touch, the curtain of darkness breaks, and Eclipse, with her body on fire, rolls on the floor.

“Ugh…!”

“Hey! Eclipse!”

I hurriedly approach Eclipse and start frantically covering her burning clothes with the clothes I was wearing.

“Roll! Roll!”

Eclipse rolls on the floor as I say, and soon the fire on her body goes out.

“Are you alive?”

“Thanks to you.”

Eclipse gets up, frowning deeply as if it’s hot,

“That’s strange.”

“…”

A calm voice is heard from behind.

Eclipse takes a stance, and I hurriedly open my mouth.

“Listen, Firebringer, no. Kim Yeon-ha. It’s not what you think.”

How can I convince her here?

I frantically rack my brain.

Should I tell Eclipse to subdue her first?

But Eclipse isn’t in good condition because she was ambushed.

Ah, I should have told her not to ambush if I knew this would happen.

“What’s not different?”

Firebringer smiles gently.

Red hair shines in the moonlight in the darkness.

“You planned everything, right?”

“…”

“All of this. Fighting Eclipse, raising me, everything…”

“…”

This is the worst situation.

From her point of view, it would seem like I’m the culprit behind the orphanage attack.

No, I was the one who planned the orphanage attack, but I wasn’t the one who actually carried it out.

Anyway, this is a problem.

“…”

Eclipse stands next to me, barely supporting herself with her hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll see you back there.”

“I have nothing to say. I’m sorry.”

I need to get through this somehow for now.

“…I knew it.”

Then, Firebringer mutters as she looks at that scene.

“I’ll attack when you signal.”

“Okay.”

Eclipse raises one hand, and I take a deep breath as well.

Let’s get ready.

Then, Firebringer opens her mouth.

“You came to save us after all, didn’t you.”

“…What?”

Did I hear wrong?

At the same time, the metallic voice starts ringing in my head again.

“…”

“…”

“That’s right.”

She smiled shyly, looking at me and Eclipse with blank expressions.

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t come to protect us like this every time.”

“…”

“…You… No wonder you were away every day…”

Then, Eclipse looks at me as if dumbfounded after hearing those words, and Firebringer’s smile deepened even more.

“I was right after all.”

“…”

“Are you a hero, Teacher?”

Hero? Me?

The moment I think that, the sound rings in my head.

“No.”

I answer her question without hesitation.

It was just decided. I can’t be a hero.

“Then you’re a villain.”

“Yeah, well. Let’s just say that.”

How can the survival rate go from heaven to hell with just one word difference?

“Then you and Eclipse are on bad terms…”

“Oh, um. That’s…”

“…Sigh. I’ll explain.”

Then, Eclipse takes her hand off my shoulder and starts staggering towards Firebringer.

“You go over there and free the others.”

“Why me.”

I want to listen too.

“Then what about those people.”

Eclipse points to the people hanging.

“…”

I look at the children hanging from the ceiling.

Could it be because Firebringer shot the fire too strongly earlier?

They were all unconscious due to the heat.

“I’ll free them first, so hurry up and finish talking and come help.”

“Okay.”

Eclipse nods and moves towards Firebringer, and I start climbing the spider web with a grunt to free the people.

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be easier for others to do this than for me?

“…”

Let’s just have the weaker one endure it. That’s life.

*

“What…”

“Just believe it.”

Firebringer looks at Eclipse with a bewildered expression, and Eclipse just blurts out words without saying anything.

“Pardon…?”

“Just believe it.”

“…”

Firebringer’s gaze turns to the man.

The man who is climbing the sticky stuff with a grunt.

“That guy doesn’t want to be called a hero for some reason.”

“Oh, then… Is he a hero?”

“No.”

Eclipse shook her head.

“More than a hero… he’s a villain with conviction.”

“A villain with conviction…”

“You’ve seen it, but that guy attacks fairly if he thinks it’s evil, whether it’s a hero or a villain.”

“His way of thinking is a little different.” Eclipse muttered, sighed, and while Firebringer was looking at her, Firebringer looked back at the man again.

An appearance that anyone could only see as a villain.

She also thought he was a villain when she first saw him.

“…”

But it was different.

Unlike his appearance, his heart itself was on a different trajectory than the average hero.

Just quietly saving others, even calling himself a villain, because he thinks it’s right.

So he knew that the hero would attack the orphanage.

But heroes can’t act freely…

Firebringer spreads her imagination.

The path of pain he has walked, and the path of pain he will walk in the future.

“…Is there anything I can do to help?”

“…There is.”

Then, Eclipse nods as she receives her gaze.

“Become the person that guy wants.”

“…What does that mean…?”

Firebringer asks as if she doesn’t understand, and Eclipse just smiles gently at that question.

*

I saved the people somehow.

The problem is not that.

“Ahahaha! Ahahahaha!”

“Ugh…!”

Eclipse lying unsightly on the floor, and Firebringer laughing like a crazy person and setting fire to the wall.

When our eyes meet, she smiles shyly as if she never laughed like a crazy person.

What is it, what’s going on.