Ch.201Episode 39. The End of a Fateful Connection (2)

“Something… feels like I’m back to my daily routine.”

“That’s not really appropriate to say after trampling all over us!”

Gu Yeonhwa, who had been sprawled out on the training hall floor, suddenly sat up and spoke.

The other students couldn’t get up like Yeonhwa and were just panting heavily. They probably didn’t even have the strength to agree with her opinion.

“Gu Yeonhwa.”

“Yes!”

“With that energy, you could go another round, right?”

“…”

Yeonhwa blinked at my words for a moment, then collapsed back down, bracing herself against the ground. She then pressed her forehead, complaining of dizziness.

“Ugh! Suddenly my whole body feels like it’s burning…! This must be the instructor’s electric—”

“This?”

I closed the distance in an instant and grabbed her from behind.

Zap!

“Hyeeek!”

When I flicked a spark near her ear, she jumped up in shock. She hastily retreated on her knees, covering her ears and watching me warily like a wild animal.

“W-when did you get here, hero!”

…Are you a villain? Why are you saying lines that a villain would say?

“‘When did you get here’ is informal speech.”

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll scream!”

“In that situation, you should at least threaten to shoot a meteor. What are you, a civilian?”

“I’m still a student, so technically I am a civilian.”

“At minimum, you’re a trainee, you know?”

After a year, I thought some of the special class students might have matured, but Gu Yeonhwa showed no signs of it.

…Or maybe that’s not quite right?

Well… she does show some maturity occasionally. Very occasionally.

“You’ve got good energy. So can you go one more round?”

“…I don’t think I can.”

“If you can say that much, you can do it. Get up.”

The fact that Yeonhwa alone could move was possible because she had focused on building her stamina more than the others.

Her “Materialization” ability is based on her imagination, so she often focuses on quantity and quality rather than efficiency. That’s why she inevitably needed good stamina.

“Ah… but I’m so tired…”

Despite her whining, Yeonhwa trudged unsteadily toward me. She listens well. Good girl.

“Push your stamina to the limit. Until you can’t move anymore.”

“That’s not easy, you know…”

“Are you complaining right now?”

“No, I’m not.”

With her lips already pouting a foot long, her answer had about as much credibility as something you’d give to a dog.

I moved closer to her and whispered in her ear.

“If you follow along well, I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Really?!”

“Y-yeah.”

Yeonhwa’s eyes lit up as she instantly closed the distance between us. To exaggerate a bit, she moved at a speed too fast to react to.

“Then please come with me to the summer Comic World in August!”

She shouted loud enough for it to echo throughout the training hall. The collapsed students painfully lifted their heads at the sound, seemingly trying to figure out what was happening.

“And of course, cosplay is included! In that case, I’ll specially listen to what the instructor says!”

She said this while cutely clasping her hands in front of her chest.

“…Somehow it feels like our positions have been reversed? Do you want to die?”

“I’d rather not.”

As she answered nonchalantly, I placed my hand on her face and firmly pressed her temple.

“Gyaaaah!! It hurts! It hurts…!”

“It’s a massage.”

I said as I released her. She staggered away from me about two steps and protested.

“Who gives massages like that?!”

“Anyway, in short, you’ll listen well if I go on a date with you, right?”

“Uh… what?”

Yeonhwa asked back stupidly, looking dazed. I approached her with a grin and gently stroked her head.

“Yes. I’ll go on a date with you.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly call it a date…”

Yeonhwa mumbled with a reddened face. It seemed her feelings for me hadn’t changed. That’s a relief.

I removed my hand and distanced myself before the other students’ gazes could sharpen.

Zap!

“Well, that’s enough talking. Let’s start again. Don’t space out.”

I clenched my fist.

* * *

“Is there still no news of Akcheon’s movements?”

After finishing my shower, I contacted the Association President.

Most of Akcheon’s suspected hideouts had already been discovered, and most of the organization’s members had been captured by heroes.

Akcheon was on the verge of collapse, but five core executives still remained at large.

Five of them.

[Unfortunately, that’s correct. However, my intuition tells me it won’t be long now.]

“We need to catch them as soon as possible. That’s the only way citizens can feel safe.”

[…I didn’t know you had such a sense of duty as a hero, Yujin. You’ve changed a lot.]

“Haha…”

I laughed awkwardly. I was just making up a plausible reason.

In truth, I didn’t care about the citizens; I wanted to eliminate any possibility of those damn people contacting the special class students. Though at this point, they probably wouldn’t be persuaded anyway.

“By the way, how is the production of eX response potions going?”

[We’ve secured most of the potion factories with that focus. But we don’t know which areas they’ll attack or in what numbers, so it’s difficult to decide how to distribute the supplies.]

“If we knew what Akcheon was targeting, it would be easier…”

Akcheon had already targeted the Academy once and failed.

Would they target the Academy again?

The Academy is certainly a place where feeding eX potions to create monsters would be highly efficient. However, Ha Yuri could come to the Academy’s aid at any time, and Lee Bangsil had installed some countermeasures before leaving.

Moreover, there’s Principal Yoon Kyungbin, myself, numerous instructors, and four students who are beginning to reach S-rank.

They wouldn’t be able to breach the Academy.

But we should consider the possibility.

If they infiltrate in a way we haven’t thought of, the damage would be devastating.

Then, thinking differently, what if they’re targeting the special class as in the original story?

I can’t completely rule out that possibility. And if that’s the case, I planned to kill them all rather than sending them to prison.

“For now, I think it’s best to distribute the supplies across the country as they’re produced.”

[Understood.]

“And let’s coordinate not only with heroes but also with firefighters, police, and medical personnel to prepare for any situation.”

A villain who has consumed an eX potion is a being that only an S-rank can handle. Even a mediocre A-rank could be subdued in one blow depending on which villain used the eX potion.

“Finally, please tell non-heroes to absolutely stay away from those monsters. Minimizing casualties should be our top priority.”

[…That goes without saying.]

The Association President sounded pleased, with a hint of laughter in his voice.

[Yujin.]

“Yes?”

[You’ve become a real hero now.]

A real hero…

I wonder. I still think of myself as a willful kid who only knows how to spout plausible-sounding words.

“…I just hate Akcheon.”

[I hate them enough to want to kill them all too. But we can’t do that. That would make me a villain as well.]

“Then I’d arrest you. Gently.”

[Puhah! Hahaha! That would be much appreciated.]

Just as I was finishing my call with the Association President and placing my phone on the drawer, a voice came from behind me.

“Are you done with your call?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m done.”

Yu Ari, as if she were my wife, was wearing an apron and placing side dishes on the table until it nearly broke. And in the center was something that made me doubt my eyes.

“…Oysters?”

“You’ll need a lot of energy today.”

“Ah… yeah… right…”

Looks like I’ll be squeezed dry again today. But shouldn’t I share these with the others?

They might complain if I monopolize them…

* @ *

“The operation begins tomorrow night.”

“…Can we really lure out Yujin with this?”

“We can. Yujin has shown a particularly protective attitude toward the special class students. The fact that he requested escorts for the special class students’ parents and immediately went to Yeonmuhui after dealing with Pagun—it’s all for that reason.”

After thoroughly investigating Yujin’s activities, Starlight discovered that the special class was Yujin’s only weakness.

“So first, we’ll attack the homes of the special class students. When we attack their homes, the special class students will react, and Yujin won’t be able to just sit still at the Academy.”

“That’s certainly true, but… I’ve heard that Paris’s inconsistency between words and actions didn’t work on Yujin. Doesn’t that mean it’s impossible to break him mentally?”

“Even so, what we need to do remains unchanged. If we can erode his rationality, his mind, even a little, that’s enough. So when the operation begins, inject the eX potion or kill without hesitation.”

He planned to use Cloud’s hallucinations.

While Cloud wasn’t lacking in direct combat ability, her abilities specialized in mental manipulation. Just like Paris.

However, since Paris had always been rated higher in mental specialization, there was inevitably some anxiety.

“We’ll lure Yujin out of the Academy and kill him first. Let’s start by removing the biggest obstacle. You don’t have any objections, right? Soleta, Flo.”

“Right. None.”

“…Right.”

The two answered, but they weren’t pleased with his plan.

All of Yujin’s past actions had been enough to create aversion, fear, and anxiety.

And Cloud felt the same way, thinking to herself:

‘If things go wrong, I’ll have to run away…’