episode_0005

* * *

“I’m back~ Ugh….”

“You’ve worked hard, Spade Senior-nim. How was this mission?”

The Hero Association’s 7th Unit’s base. Spade, who had just returned after completing a mission, entered the waiting room slash lounge area of that base.

Club, a fellow hero colleague who was lying sideways on the sofa in the lounge playing a smartphone game, greeted Spade.

“It was nothing special. There weren’t many of them, and it was all over in less than 10 minutes. Finding their hideout and infiltrating to observe the situation took much longer.”

“Oh….”

Club put down her smartphone and clapped lightly, devoid of emotion.

But it was originally just a reconnaissance mission, wasn’t it? When did it turn into a subjugation mission?

“Were there any Awakened individuals?”

“No.”

“Purge targets?”

“…One person exceeded the standard.”

“Did you kill them?”

Spade pulled off her gloves, throwing them aside with a flick, and replied.

“I killed them.”

There was a peculiar stain on the pitch-black gloves. It was easy to tell it was a bloodstain.

—Purge Target.

Among villains, this refers to dangerous individuals deemed difficult to contain even if apprehended.

They can be ‘purged’ at the discretion of the hero in charge.

It means they are killed because there is no capacity to contain them.

Furthermore, the standards for this vary wildly, so usually, the hero in charge is left to ‘judge’ for themselves.

In the case of the 7th Unit, there’s at least a detailed standard list they memorize and apply to each mission,

but some units completely exterminate villains without any such standard list whatsoever.

In the past, there would certainly have been people saying it was too much, talking about human rights and whatnot.

But in this situation, where the country was shaken by villain crimes of enormous scale just a few years ago, and society is still struggling with the scars, few people bothered to argue about villains’ human rights.

In the minds of most people now, villains are not human; they are likely regarded as nothing more than vermin to be exterminated.

In fact, the government has definitively declared that human rights are stripped from villains.

Therefore, even if a passerby suddenly picks up a stone and smashes a villain’s head, no one will hold them accountable for that act.

Of course, how many villains would be weak enough to be defeated by an ordinary passerby?

Anyway, villains have no human rights.

They are not human.

They are merely pests to be eliminated.

‘That applies… to heroes too….’

For a moment, a useless thought came to mind, but she shook her head vigorously to cast it away.

Perhaps because that unpleasant sensation still lingered in her hand, bad thoughts arose.

She had crushed the neck of the villain who exceeded the purge criteria with one hand, killing them on the spot. Thanks to that, the sensation remained quite vivid in her hand.

To shake off that memory and sensation, Spade forced herself to change the subject.

“More importantly, Club, what happened to those guys?”

“Those fools from 【Abyss】?”

“Yeah.”

“We extracted all the information we could, and now they’re listening to lectures in the underground rehabilitation room. The full 144-hour course of hellish EBS lectures.”

“Wow… that’s really something…”

At first glance, it seems like a light punishment, but it’s 144 hours of non-stop viewing under a hero’s supervision.

Each person even has a urinal at their spot, so they have to take care of their business right there while watching without breaks.

Sleeping is not allowed, and meals are in the form of jelly-like energy supplements. If they don’t watch properly, the viewing time is extended by 2-hour increments – a devilish torture.

Just thinking about it makes one tremble. Usually, by around 30 hours, people start to go into a frenzy, saying it’s better to die, but by around 70 hours, they lose the energy to riot and become quiet. Once they complete all 144 hours, most people are reformed into new individuals – a terrifying rehabilitation method that has been verified multiple times.

Oh, scary.

Oh, terrible.

‘Still, Apple-ssi will be watching…’

D-class Hero Apple from the administrative department.

A fellow hero with large glasses and a modest style, she’s soft-hearted and kind, unable to bear seeing others in distress.

Although it was said they watched 144 hours of EBS lectures without a break, it’s clear she’d secretly provide breaks or snack times in between.

Providing such conveniences to apprehended villains has become an open secret,

yet no one stops her because the villains themselves invariably end up calling Apple-ssi a ‘saint’ and follow her tearfully.

There are differences in degree, but without a single exception.

They weep and appeal, vowing never to harbor ill intentions again and never to hurt Apple-ssi’s feelings, before leaving.

In some ways, she’s the 7th Unit’s greatest mystery and perhaps the most frightening woman.

Anyway, if Apple-ssi is in charge, those villains must be happy… as Spade thought this,

“No, Senior-nim. Apple-ssi is currently on vacation. She returns tomorrow.”

Club resumed her smartphone game, refuting Spade’s words.

“Really…? Then who’s in the rehabilitation room right now?”

“It’s Coco-ssi.”

Ah, damn.

Even though they were villains, Spade felt a little sorry for them.

Coco-ssi is a bit… wow… what are they going to do… how awful…

Former 【Abyss】 members… hang in there… if you’re alive, good things will come someday….

* * *

Shwaaaa—

‘The villain organization 【Abyss】…’

The dormitory floor above the base.

Spade’s room, her bathroom.

Spade cleaned her body, dirty with sweat and various grime, under the shower, lost in thought.

A perverted group that committed trivial crimes every time and was also constantly busy annoying people.

Yet, it was a villain organization deemed high-risk due to the high caliber of its executive members.

However, that organization also began to disintegrate, to the point of being called a downfall, starting two months ago.

It was almost annihilated when Club apprehended the last remaining stragglers recently.

When they interrogated the captured individuals, it seemed only four top executives remained?

That’s truly annihilation. There’s no hope.

Furthermore, one of them seems to have completely fallen into being an incompetent.

‘Number 13.’

That villain, with whom Spade had a bad history in many ways, was beaten half to death by Spade during an encounter two months ago and barely managed to escape.

An irregularity, an Awakened individual despite being male.

Days where she chased him repeatedly, but could never win, only getting defeated in return.

Because her pride as a promising A-class hero was utterly trampled and left in a terrible state,

she desperately chased Number 13, trying to somehow restore her honor.

And the resolution came about very anticlimactically.

For some reason, from what Spade herself observed, he seemed to have fallen into being an incompetent, a non-Awakened individual with no abilities left.

This also matched what she heard through interrogation.

“Something… feels empty.”

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

She chased him so relentlessly, and she clearly beat him enough to feel refreshed, yet she still felt something was missing.

Should she call it incomplete combustion?

Or something lacking?

…Anyway, she felt bad for some reason.

Perhaps because of that, she lacked motivation in everything these days.

“Ugh, what am I even saying.”

Brushing back her wet hair, Spade muttered as if lamenting.

In any case, even if Villain Number 13 had completely lost his power, he hadn’t been apprehended yet.

If he suddenly lost his power, he could just as suddenly regain it.

Therefore, she must apprehend him.

This time, she would definitely apprehend him.

And if she broke his neck or tore out his heart with her own hands and killed him…

She had a premonition that only then would the lingering unpleasant feeling in her heart finally find its place and be resolved.

* * *

Buzzzzz—

As she came out of the bathroom after washing off sweat and fatigue with warm water, her smartphone, which she had left on the table, was vibrating and ringing.

Oh, it was on vibrate, so she didn’t even know a call had come.

She hurriedly reached for her smartphone, but it hung up as if on cue.

When she checked her call history, to her surprise, there were three missed calls.

Good heavens, truly.

‘Apple-ssi?’

She must be on vacation.

If she called three times, she could have just come to her room directly, but since she didn’t, it seemed she wasn’t in the dormitory.

Spade tried to think why Apple-ssi would have called, but she couldn’t guess the reason.

Just as she wondered what was going on and tried to call back, the smartphone in her hand started ringing again.

This made it four calls. Thinking there must be something important, she quickly touched the screen to answer.

“Hello. You’ve reached Spade.”

After finally answering, she somehow felt a strange presence from beyond the speaker. A feeling as if someone was flustered, or had taken a deep breath in tension.

“Apple-ssi? It’s Spade. I’ve answered the call.”

Something felt off, so she repeated herself, but there was still no answer.

Was it a wrong number? But she called four times, so that didn’t seem right.

As she thought that and wondered, a couple of dry coughs, uncharacteristic of Apple-ssi, were heard.

[It’s been a while. Have you been well, Spade?]

For some reason, from Apple-ssi’s number, a thick male voice, not Apple-ssi’s, was heard.