Ch.67S-Rank Candidates (2)

Miss Hoshino.

What on earth should I do?

Of course, I’ve known for a while that the young lady cherishes me.

It would be stranger not to notice when she clings to me so much.

But then there’s Carmilla, who’s as famous in society as the young lady for being a beautiful hero.

This childhood friend who likes me was now puckering her lips, as if asking me to hurry up and kiss her.

Gulp!

Is it… that I’m not drunk enough yet?

Or perhaps I lack courage.

My heart was pounding wildly.

At the same time, I began to rationalize to myself.

Right, this is all for humanity!

I have no choice but to do this for world peace!

Thinking this way, the image of the young lady in my mind could only make a tearful expression with a soft “Ngh…”

‘The young lady gets plenty from me during her heat cycles anyway. This makes us even.’

After all, excluding friends is truly something one should never do.

Especially childhood friends!

So I worried that I might have bad breath since I’d just been drinking.

I quickly gargled with some water nearby, then faced Carmilla again, who would be waiting for my lips.

And then, instead of the young lady’s childish pecking kisses, I was finally about to share my first deep, adult kiss with her…!

“Pfft, puhaha!”

“Hmm?”

Or at least, that’s what I was trying to do…

“You fool. Your expression shows you’re way too tense.”

“Ah, w-was I?”

“Hehe. Yes. The moment I dropped my formal speech and asked you seriously, it felt like you were going to do it reluctantly.”

Reluctantly, she says.

…That’s absolutely not true!

“I have my pride too, and I’ll pass on a first kiss given that way.”

“Oh, then…”

“Eventually, Janghoon, you’ll want to kiss me on your own anyway. I’ll take my first kiss then.”

I could give it to you right now though.

It seemed the good opportunity had flown away because I was too nervous.

However, Carmilla continued as if offering an alternative.

“Instead, about that red-haired female soldier.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll tell you everything about her—which organization she belongs to and where she lives. In return, please help me with the ‘project’ I’m about to undertake.”

“Your project?”

What could it be?

Surely she’s not asking me to support her in monster-slaying.

In exchange for completely revealing someone’s personal information, she wanted something from me.

At that point, I had no idea what it could be.

“Never mind that. Just make some time for me for a week starting tomorrow. Understood?”

“Ah, yes… I understand.”

***

Hero City affiliate.

A-Rank 9th Hero – Carmilla.

As expected of someone with the hero name “Creator Girl,” she excelled beyond me in every aspect, so what kind of help could she possibly need from me?

As promised, the next day I visited C City where Carmilla lives, for the first time in a long while.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been ages since I’ve been here.’

Back when we attended elementary school together, whenever we played after school, we usually went to the Okami family home of Miss Hoshino.

So this was my first visit to Carmilla’s mansion since the day we defeated the radiation monster.

Ding dong.

“Carmilla. I’m here~.”

It’s an impressive house no matter when I see it.

The Okami family home where I live feels like it belongs to a different genre, like Japan’s Edo period.

But Carmilla’s detached house could certainly be called a top 1% residence.

As I rang the doorbell and waited at the entrance…

“My goodness. You must be Janghoon, whom I’ve heard so much about.”

“Huh? …Oh, are you perhaps Carmilla’s mother?!”

“Hehe. Yes. I am Lazerita, Carmilla’s mother.”

Surprisingly, the person who greeted me was Carmilla’s mother, who was once mistaken for a stepmother when her body was taken over by the radiation monster.

Currently, she was Lazerita, a retired A-rank hero.

“I… heard we met when the monster possessed you?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. It’s been a long time.”

“Indeed. Please, come in.”

I’d heard she had reached a severe radiation exposure level after being consumed by the radiation monster for years, but I wondered if she was better now.

Back in elementary school.

On parent visitation days, Carmilla always wore a dark expression.

I wanted to comfort her by offering to visit her mother in the hospital together.

But…

“Mom’s… radiation level is so severe that even I can’t meet her.”

“I see…”

Young Carmilla could only hear that her mother was alive, fearing radiation contamination.

After hearing about Carmilla’s complicated family situation, I remember hugging her tightly.

Incidentally, Miss Hoshino reluctantly allowed our physical contact at that time.

“Is your body better now?”

“Yes… Thanks to extensive rehabilitation therapy, I can finally manage daily life. Well, it meant I had to retire as a hero.”

“I see…”

“But I’m alive, and that’s the best outcome, isn’t it?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

It was because we had split the monster’s heart—which should have been consumed by one person—in half.

While Carmilla, who had relatively mild exposure, could recover safely, the detoxification effect was insufficient for Lazerita, who had been with the radiation monster for years.

Still, she smiled as if it didn’t matter.

Rather, she thanked me and Miss Hoshino for being friends with her young daughter while she was ill.

“By the way, where is Carmilla, and why did you come to greet me, ma’am?”

“Oh, Carmilla is very busy right now.”

“Busy? …I don’t think she’s fighting monsters at the moment?”

“There’s something else. She’s preparing inside, and you’ll understand when you see it, Janghoon.”

“Preparing?”

With those cryptic words, I followed Lazerita into the house.

As soon as we entered, I saw Carmilla in the middle of the living room, dressed more elaborately than usual.

“Carmilla?”

“Ah, you’re already here. Hehe. How do I look? Do you find me exceptionally beautiful today?”

“Yes! Absolutely! What’s with that dress? The silver coating makes it elegantly pretty, and today you’re just… beyond your usual self.”

“…! Ahem, hearing it directly like that… it’s a bit embarrassing…”

She asked for compliments but turned away shyly when I actually gave them.

Even that gesture reminded me of a princess at a ball.

Usually, no matter how dressed up she was, she was just a close buddy, but right now, before being a buddy, she made my heart race.

“By the way, why are you dressed like that? Are you attending some important event?”

“An important event… Well, you could say that.”

“What is it? I’m too curious, just tell me. And why do you need my help for such an event?”

“Because, Janghoon, you are the perfect vessel to support my beauty.”

“Vessel?”

With those puzzling words, Carmilla handed me a “placard” a moment later.

She said we would be going outside soon, and when we did, she wanted me to confidently wave this placard next to her.

So I wondered what was written on it.

Anyone would think she was running for president or something.

Curious, I examined the placard before going outside.

“S-Rank… 14th Carmilla?!”

The content on the placard was nothing but promotion.

It was promoting D City’s first S-Rank Hero, 14th-ranked Creator Girl Carmilla, asking for everyone’s support.

“The Hero Association said there would be a lot of confusion if ten S-Rank heroes suddenly appeared.”

“Oh, so this is…”

“It’s like a preliminary survey to mitigate the confusion! They said if the heroes themselves promote like this, it might reduce anxiety a bit, so I decided to do it.”

***

Humans feel fear from many things.

It can be instinctual or psychological.

It can be social, and one can certainly feel fear from unfamiliar cultures.

But among these, the most fundamental fear that approaches humans comes from “instinct”—what they see with their eyes and feel with their skin.

Ten years ago.

D City had almost reached the worst radiation level, if only for a brief moment.

After the monster was subjugated, most of the radiation had disappeared.

But in the underground sewers beneath Carmilla’s home, which had been a contaminated area.

The monster’s radiation that flowed there caused tremendous changes to the creatures crawling in that darkness.

“We’ve… all grown.”

“Yes, yes.”

“There’s a limit to eating our own torn-off limbs.”

They were, to put it figuratively, semi-monsters.

Altered by monsters but not quite monsters themselves—ambiguous creatures.

However, having obtained power and harboring supreme anger toward humans, their only natural predators on Earth…

Mutant cockroaches, influenced by the radiation monster, had taken human form and grown to about 5 meters in size.

For the past 10 years, they had gained strength by eating each other’s regenerating limbs, and today, when all their growth was complete.

From sprays to slippers.

They waved their antennae and emerged from the darkness, seeking revenge on humans who had “massacred” their kind through all sorts of vile methods.

“From now on… we are the new humanity.”

“Yes, yes.”

“We’ll devour both monsters and humans alike.”