Ch.25Chapter 1. Heroes Are Those Who Overcome Unreasonableness (2)

After postponing my meeting with Ymir, I returned to the scene to assess the situation.

Of course, I wasn’t naked. I definitely appeared fully clothed, and no one thought anything strange about me.

‘If they did think it was strange, I’d be socially dead.’

I looked at my reflection in a utility pole mirror. I was wearing ordinary clothes just like when I left after eating, but they weren’t actually clothes.

They were ‘mana.’

Just as Ymir, the Solar Platinum Knight, created armor using mana as a shield, I too had wrapped myself in mana-clothes to return to the scene.

A goblin’s imagination becomes reality.

The so-called naked goblin. Right now, I was wearing clothes made of mana that were visible only to very special people.

The criteria for those special people included only one person in the world right now, and that person might be watching this but would understand everything.

“Oh? Senior, look at this screen.”

“What? Is there something strange?”

“This couple was in the restaurant when they went in, but they’re gone after the accident happened.”

“What? This smells fishy. A man and woman disappearing at the same time. They don’t seem to be buried in the restaurant building. We should investigate.”

What if someone reviews the CCTV footage later and discovers I disappeared, then starts tracking me?

A goblin shouldn’t leave any clues. Even if I’m just pretending to be concerned at a scene that’s reached a stalemate, showing up is the right answer.

“Ah, are you okay?!”

A restaurant employee spotted me and smiled brightly.

“I was worried something might have happened to you! Um, the woman who was with you…?”

“She went home first. She was too shocked.”

“Ah, I see. So she’s not dead, right?”

“No. She’s perfectly fine.”

“That’s a relief…”

The employee drew a check mark on what looked like a list.

I’m even more relieved.

If our names—Do Ji-hwan and Ymir—hadn’t been removed from that “missing persons list,” we would certainly have been investigated.

‘I’m not deliberately taking care of her, but since I’m at it, I might as well clean up thoroughly.’

I originally came to hide my identity, but since things turned out this way, I had no choice but to take care of Ymir too.

“Excuse me, what happens now? About the bill…”

“Since everything’s been confirmed by the Taegeuk Watch, you’ll be billed after the situation is resolved.”

“Ah, please send the bill to me. I’ll pay for it.”

“Really? That’s great. You can send it to my account.”

“Are you the owner?”

“Yes.”

Even the meal cost.

“Ah, thank you. I can’t believe you’re willing to pay for your meal despite this accident.”

“I’m just doing what should be done. It was an enjoyable meal.”

I settled the bill cleanly to prevent the owner from thinking, ‘I can’t let them get away without paying! I’ll investigate everyone—wait, these people were in the restaurant but disappeared outside! Are they missing?! Do I need to file an insurance claim?! No! I can’t raise the insurance premium! I must uncover their identities!’

‘Ymir is quite careless.’

Perhaps because she’s a hero aspirant whose identity being revealed wouldn’t be a big problem, she left several clues that could expose her identity and hasn’t returned.

‘Or did she become careless because of me? Is she being cautious around me?’

She might be shocked that I discovered her identity. She seemed like a sensitive woman, so she might be very distressed now that a goblin has seen her naked and discovered her identity.

‘I should teach her next time.’

How to erase one’s identity and escape. How to create an alibi to prove the existence of someone who suddenly vanished. Or how to create clothes using mana like I’m doing now, to avoid raising any suspicion.

…Though if the mana runs out, I’d immediately be naked, but it doesn’t just last for three minutes or something.

At least two hours. Enough time to get home.

“You must be upset that the restaurant was destroyed.”

“Well… fortunately, I have insurance.”

The owner started grinning.

“The rampaging demon… Lilith, was it? If only Lilith had appeared, the insurance payout might have been small, but the Goblin showed up too!”

“What does the Goblin have to do with insurance?”

“Oh, you don’t know? Damage insurance—the insurance you can claim when villains damage property—has different tiers. Since the Goblin appeared, I can naturally claim insurance based on the Goblin’s ‘S-class’ rating!”

“The more dangerous the villain that appears, the higher the insurance payout?”

“Yes! Hehe, so I’m really fortunate. I’m even grateful to the Goblin.”

“I’m afraid that won’t happen.”

Someone’s voice came from behind.

“Ah, you are…?”

“Snow White. You must be the restaurant owner—oh.”

Snow White’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw me, and I pretended not to know her, gesturing toward the crowd.

“…Ahem. I apologize.”

Thankfully, Baek Seol-hee tactfully pretended not to know me. But was it my imagination that her eyes showed a hint of disappointment?

“The S-class insurance won’t apply to the restaurant just because the Goblin appeared.”

“No, why not?! What do you mean?!”

“Because the Goblin didn’t cause any damage to the restaurant.”

Baek Seol-hee explained the insurance criteria somewhat stiffly, and the restaurant owner clutched his head in despair.

“Aah…! Damn it, if only he had kicked the building or something…!”

“……”

Sometimes at moments like this, I find humans quite materialistic and pathetic, but I wonder if this is because this is a world of superpowers, or if such people exist in reality too. It’s quite disheartening.

“Damn it, then the bereaved families…”

“I will provide condolence money to the deceased through my foundation. Please contact our foundation later.”

“What?”

The owner’s face brightened.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. So if the bereaved families mention that people died in the restaurant, please respond with sincere condolences. Don’t be harsh by denying responsibility. They… have lost family members.”

“Ah, I understand. As expected of an S-class…”

“……”

Baek Seol-hee nodded lightly and turned her gaze toward the gradually clearing debris of the building.

Crunch.

Looking at the debris, Baek Seol-hee’s grinding teeth revealed her “anger.” Perhaps that anger was similar to what caused Red Scarf to lose control and transform into a demon—

“Hey, isn’t that blood? Wow, someone really died.”

“Why did that idiot have to go berserk and show off? Hehe, but I guess it’s a win since we got to see the Platinum Lady Knight and the Goblin’s new form?”

“A small sacrifice for the greater good… Ahem. I shouldn’t say that. Anyway, it was a good show. Hehehe.”

—at least, I hope her anger wasn’t directed at humans.

Beep beep beep.

I quickly took out my smartphone and sent a text message. Soon, Baek Seol-hee checked the message on her smartphone and smiled slightly.

Beep.

A reply came.

-Thanks for encouraging me. Fighting to you too, Ji-hwan! >ㅊ<

“…She uses strange emoticons.”

I put my phone away and immediately returned home. As quickly as possible, before my transformation wore off, before the mana ran out.

* * *

After returning home.

For quick mana recovery, I immediately undid my transformation as soon as I closed the door.

Poof!

I instantly became naked.

It was awkward to be naked right in front of the entrance, but I confidently walked inside and turned on the TV.

-Today at 1 PM, in the southern area of Sejong Island…

The demon Lilith’s rampage.

Solar Platinum’s appearance.

The Goblin’s second form appearance.

There were various incidents, but the news was using footage captured by bystanders as reference material and pouring out all kinds of stories.

But there was almost no mention of casualties.

Not because there were few people, but because death was too familiar to people in this world.

When villains go berserk, people die.

It’s a proposition that people now accept as natural.

“…Quite spectacular, even before the entrance ceremony.”

I got up from the sofa and opened the closet.

Inside were seven suits that the Chairman had bought for me.

“Good thing I didn’t wear these on the date. If I had gone out in these… phew.”

The clothes would certainly have been disintegrated at the atomic level by mana. The thought alone is horrifying.

“It’s really inconvenient.”

To transform, I need to release mana. And mana is released through the skin from inside the body, causing clothes to “disintegrate” in the process.

In other words.

At the moment of transformation, the powerful mana force emitted from the body causes everything worn to explode.

The Taegeuk Watch seems to have some resistance to it, but there’s no reason to wear the Taegeuk Watch when transforming.

But what about taking off my clothes somewhere before transforming?

‘Who has time for that?!’

Villains never choose their time and place.

They can appear at someone’s wedding celebration, or they might attack during a date.

If I can save even one innocent person from a villain more quickly, the tearing and disintegration of clothes is no problem at all.

“…Still, I shouldn’t transform wearing expensive clothes like these.”

For the Chairman’s sake, at least.

Ring ring ring.

The phone rings. It’s her call, right on cue.

“Yes, Chairwoman.”

[What the hell!!!!]

She immediately got angry as soon as I answered.

[Why do you keep appearing naked in the footage?! Well, that’s been resolved, but more importantly!! That transformation, what was that!!]

“…Hmm.”

[You should have shown me that cool form first! This is NTR! Betrayal!!]

How should I respond?

“Well, I’m kind of a one-man army, right?”

[So?]

“To reaffirm my affiliation, I styled myself to look similar to my superior.”

[Superior? C-Could it be…]

“Yes. The opponent seemed a bit strong, so I had no choice but to use it.”

I delivered my prepared line.

“I redesigned my look to feel like I’m directly under the Chairwoman, like your right-hand man. To give the impression of being the Chairwoman’s goblin.”

[…Next time, show me first. Understood?]

That’s a relief.

[Ahem. I showed an unseemly side of myself. I’m sorry. I’m sure Manager Do had his reasons. Still, be careful. That place is practically enemy territory.]

She seems to have calmed down.

“Of course.”

[Oh, by the way. I’ll cherish the footage. A naked body only I can see… pfft. Amazing.]

“It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve seen me naked—”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The call ended abruptly.

“……”