Ch.39From Now On, Whoever Moves is the Culprit (1)

I survived, for now.

As soon as Lady Makoto entered the interrogation room, I was able to stand up from my seat.

But the real problem was just beginning.

“I’ll kill you.”

“P-please spare me…!”

“Lady Makoto! You can’t!”

“That person is an S-class hero just like you! She’s an invaluable asset that Hero City cannot afford to lose!”

“So?”

“…Pardon?”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

Lady Makoto seemed like an adult version of Miss Hoshino.

This isn’t good.

Even though Yoon Ha-eun was a threat to my identity, she was an essential fighting force that Hero City couldn’t do without.

But that blade-flashing state of hers, as if she was hunting monsters, was extremely troublesome.

This meant that when the original story began ten years later, the plot would be completely messed up.

So.

“Die.”

“Wh-what?! A-are you serious?!”

Just as Lady Makoto’s flash of light was about to demolish the entire building.

I lunged.

“L-Lady Head!”

“…!”

I threw myself into the arms of the clan head who had become scarier than any monster.

Somehow acting like a terrified child, I squeezed teardrops into the corners of my eyes as if begging her to stop.

“It’s enough now, let’s go back. Okay?”

“But…”

“Everyone’s safe. So let’s just go. Please?”

If this continues, Hero City itself might collapse before the original story even begins!

Even if I fail, I should at least make it to the starting line!

If I get a game over without even getting to play the game, I’d be so upset I’d come back as a ghost.

And perhaps my feelings reached her.

“Alright, Jang-hoon. You’re all I need!”

Lady Makoto sheathed her blade, bent down, and embraced me tightly.

I shouldn’t be thinking this in such a situation, but as my face pressed between her ample breasts, I felt less moved and more aware of how good she smelled.

Well, at least the situation seemed to be resolving nicely…

“W-wait a minute!”

“…?”

…or so I thought.

“B-but Jang-hoon could still be a monster, I’m telling you?!”

Why is this woman digging her own grave even when she’s being spared?

Is this the “stubbornness” that turned a 15+ game into an 18+ one?

Just when not only I but all the other Hero Association executives who had come up with Lady Makoto were starting to relax.

With Yoon Ha-eun’s persistent objection, the atmosphere in the interrogation room went from bad to catastrophic.

“…What?”

I saw it that day.

The enormous beast lurking inside Lady Makoto.

As her pupils began to split between her blood-red eyes, the sight was so terrifying.

No joke, all the monsters I’d defeated until now seemed cute in comparison.

“L-Lady Head. You can’t!”

“…No, Jang-hoon. This is a matter between women.”

“Suddenly it’s about women…?”

“Yes. This is a ‘battle of pride’ that only women with wombs can understand.”

What nonsense is that?

It just looks like they’re having a power struggle because neither can apologize first.

Anyway, I couldn’t let this continue.

Yoon Ha-eun, who insisted I was a monster even though she knew she might die, and Lady Makoto, who didn’t care about any of that and just wanted to kill her.

If I left these two alone, not only the Hero Association building we were standing in, but potentially the entire City A could be reduced to ashes.

“L-Lady Head, please calm down!”

“That’s right, Lady Makoto! This is an interrogation room!”

“Yoon Ha-eun, hurry up and bow your head in apology!”

So the Association executives and I tried to somehow stop both sides from this imminent clash.

“Sword, don’t come out.”

That’s when it happened.

Click.

“…?!”

As Lady Makoto tried to draw her sword from its scabbard again.

But as if the scabbard and sword were fused together, it wouldn’t budge at all, leaving her completely bewildered.

On the other side, Yoon Ha-eun had summoned a large sniper rifle from thin air and was about to fire a shot, but.

“Bullets, don’t fire.”

Another voice echoed in my head.

Simultaneously.

Click, click.

“…Malfunction?”

No matter how many times she pulled the bolt, the bullets wouldn’t fire, leaving Yoon Ha-eun equally confused.

Meanwhile, the ability to effortlessly control the “weapons” these two were using.

Recalling my experience with in-game buffs, I soon realized who had stepped into this interrogation room.

“Seriously, what are heroes doing fighting each other when they should be eliminating monsters?”

“You are…”

“Ah, ‘Weapon Monster’ ma’am!”

Yes, the Weapon Monster.

The blacksmith-concept NPC from <Monster Frontline> who always welcomed me whenever I tried to spend some cash.

I wondered if I’d ever meet her after the game became reality, but I never imagined it would be like this.

“Ha-eun, what do you think you’re doing against an adult? Do you think I made a contract with you so you could shoot guns like this?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

A red-skinned goblin walked up beside me.

Her handle-like twin horns and outfit consisting of just shorts and a bikini were equally provocative in both reality and the game.

But well.

This creature was none other than the monster who had contracted with Yoon Ha-eun.

‘The culprit who turned the genre into 18+ and her monster. Looking at it now, maybe that outfit itself was a hint?’

The Weapon Monster casually walked past Lady Makoto and flicked Yoon Ha-eun on the forehead.

However, during this time, no one else in the interrogation room could move.

Because even though she was an ally to humanity, the Weapon Monster’s danger level was “Special Class” – the first and last of its kind in Hero City’s history.

Special Class monster.

A danger level assigned when it’s determined that a single entity could annihilate Hero City by itself.

In other words, if a Special Class monster appeared, Hero City was essentially finished from that day forward.

Perhaps because of this powerful setting, the Weapon Monster never appeared as a gacha character during the five years I played the game.

Thanks to her arrival to mediate the fight, the atmosphere in the interrogation room was forcibly calmed.

“Oh. So you’re Okami… Sanae?”

“Okami Sanae was my grandmother’s mother.”

“Ah, is that so? Then you must be Okami Sakura…”

“I’m Okami Makoto. Sakura was my mother who passed away ten years ago.”

“Ah, I see. Sorry, sorry. I’ve made so many swords for the Okami family heads that I’m starting to forget who’s who.”

“It’s quite alright.”

I never would have guessed that all the Okami family swords were crafted by the Weapon Monster.

This was TMI that never appeared in the original work.

Meanwhile, Lady Makoto bowed respectfully, perhaps showing courtesy to the blacksmith who created swords for her prestigious swordsmanship family.

However, the killing intent flowing from her body still remained.

“Both of you need to calm down first.”

“…!”

“Weapon Monster…”

Noticing this, the Weapon Monster naturally positioned herself between the two.

“No matter how annoyed or upset you are. Does it make any sense for two of only five S-class heroes to fight each other?”

“Ahem…”

“Ha, haha…”

“Back in my day, this was unimaginable.”

There it is, the “back in my day” talk.

That speech pattern hasn’t changed whether it’s ten years later or now.

In the original work too, when spending money, the Weapon Monster would gaslight you by casually mentioning the past, saying things like you should spend money well when you’re young.

Thanks to that, my broke self at the time was once fooled into breaking my savings account when she said buying all package items made me a real man.

Besides, from someone who’s lived at least 1,000 years, when exactly is “back in your day”?

“Your enemies are monsters, right? Aren’t they?”

“That’s right…”

“Yes…”

“Then apologize to each other now! Or if you really don’t want to, suggest going out for drinks later. These things should be resolved over drinks.”

I have to agree with that.

It’s the golden rule to dissolve awkward atmospheres with alcohol.

Indeed, a character presumably modeled after Busan uncles who would cure hangovers with morning drinks.

It was nice to see her smoothly defusing the tense situation.

So, now we can finally wrap this up and…

“By the way, what were you two fighting about in the first place?”

I really want to leave now.

“Well… it’s about that child I brought in. His name is Kang Jang-hoon, a student in my class.”

“Huh? Oh, I didn’t notice there was a child here. …Ha-eun, don’t tell me you’re finally acting on all that shota talk? You always seemed a bit heavy down there…”

“It’s not like that?! Even I follow the law! Anyway, please listen!”

The Weapon Monster tilted her head as Yoon Ha-eun, as her contractor, explained everything that had happened.

“…so I brought that kid in because I think he might be that horned mask monster.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“But there’s no physical evidence!”

After hearing the whole story, Lady Makoto immediately tried to draw her blade again, protesting that they were treating a child like her own son as a monster.

But the Weapon Monster, now mediating between the two, thought for a moment and then:

“Are you two idiots?”

“”…?””

“If you want to check whether he’s a monster or not, just do a simple physical examination in the underground ward.”

“”……Ah!””

Such a simple solution.

Besides, regular health check-ups were essential for young boys anyway.

“Makoto clan head, was it? Since you’re already here, why not get your son-like child some flu shots too.”

“Ah, yes… well, that much is fine…”

“L-Lady Head…?”

“That’s right, Jang-hoon. Since we’re here, let’s get you a physical examination and a shot, with the flu going around these days.”

And so, at the suggestion of the Weapon Monster.

Under the proposal of that Special Class monster, I found myself on the verge of being completely screwed.