episode_0190

This life is a debt I owe to the Boss.

Therefore, until this breath ends, I will always be on the Boss’s side.

I swore that way.

I resolved that way.

If it is truly for the Boss, I can roll in the mud as much as necessary.

If the Boss wishes, I will not hesitate to burn and slaughter everything in the world.

Everything is for the Boss.

Everything is for the Boss.

For one villain named Violet, to whom I owe this body and life.

Number 13 will burn all of that without reservation and offer it unsparingly.

* * *

“The video is real. There are no signs of editing.”

Apple, who had reviewed the video received from the Boss, said so.

“I can’t say 100%, but there’s a high probability that it’s a real video.”

Apple asks with her eyes if this is enough of an answer.

And there was nothing more to ask. Or, was there one more thing?

“Apple, did you know about the incident back then?”

“…I’ve investigated most of the information about the Squad 7 members.”

She probably knew.

Apple was a spy, after all. If so, she would have investigated the personal details and special incidents of the people around her.

“Of course, I had no idea that the other party was Violet-nim’s younger sister. I couldn’t have imagined such a connection.”

“…Okay.”

I said I understood, and stood up for now.

I heard the story about the video, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

Anyway, next is my turn to hear the story from her.

* * *

“It happened, something like that.”

In the reception room of the Squad 7 base that I visited.

Spade, who was summoned there, answered Number 13’s question with a plain voice.

Sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, Spade was looking at Number 13 with a suspicious expression, as he suddenly asked such a thing. There was also a hint of wariness. Considering the current situation, that was understandable.

Nevertheless, perhaps seeing that Number 13’s expression was serious, or simply because she wanted to end the conversation with him quickly, she skipped the unnecessary words and readily began to talk about what he asked.

“I was still in high school at the time… I can’t forget that, honestly.”

Tilting the drink can in her hand in front of her mouth, Spade murmured in a barely audible voice.

“That kid was about middle school age. She was young even to me, who was a high school student at the time, and now that I think about it, she seems like nothing more than a child.”

“Until then, I was just an ordinary citizen registered with the state, leading a normal life except for being under some surveillance.”

“But from that point on, my life completely changed. It was from then that I received active offers from the Hero Association.”

It was almost forced, Spade said with a distant expression.

At the time, she had apparently just come to the nearby department store with a few friends she had made at school.

But in such an ordinary scene, a villain suddenly appeared who could turn anything she touched or looked at into a bomb and detonate it.

The inside of the department store became a scene of chaos due to the villain, and Spade’s friends were also thrown into a panic.

“I later confirmed in the report, but there were no casualties.”

“Some people were injured, but that was just because they were pushed around by other people in the chaos.”

“In the first place, that woman said it back then.”

—I can’t stand killing people anymore.

—If you don’t want to die, get out of here right now.

—Flee to a place where my eyes can’t reach.

A young girl, dragging flames and dust clouds behind her, and detonating everything she touched as if to show off, shouted desperately.

Instead of detonating people, she was only detonating that building, again and again and again.

While barely resisting her desires and urges, she eventually couldn’t bear it and tried to detonate a person.

“I thought my friends would die if I stayed there.”

“Even if it wasn’t my friends, ordinary people who had done nothing wrong were about to die for no reason.”

“I thought that shouldn’t happen.”

“When I thought that, my body moved on its own.”

The bomb-villain eventually failed to overcome her desires and tried to approach a person nearby, emitting killing intent.

And at the moment when Spade began to feel killing intent from her, her body was already moving on its own.

Just like that, just like that.

With her bare hands, she pierced the villain’s heart in an instant.

Spade frowned and hardened her face, as if the memory of that day was vividly coming back to her.

That was her first murder.

It was to save people, but the fact that she had killed the other person without a word, without even trying to subdue or stun them, was something she couldn’t believe, even though it was her own action.

“I told you, I was just a student back then.”

“Just a normal student, except for being under some state surveillance.”

“But at that moment, I could clearly see where that kid’s heart was.”

“It felt like I was looking at a strategy guide on how to kill the other person.”

“There haven’t been many incidents like that since then… but anyway.”

“Check Unnie told me I have a talent for murder.”

“I don’t know if she thought that far, but I think I vaguely realized it back then.”

“I realized that I could never live a normal life.”

Fortunately, thanks to Spade’s efforts, the incident could be concluded without any casualties.

And Spade’s efforts were conveyed to the Hero Association as they were, and from that day on, she was notified to enlist as a hero.

Whether they liked the fact that she was willing to kill to protect citizens.

Or whether they were dazzled by the boldness and talent of cutting off a person’s life in an instant without any training.

Perhaps it was both, but either way, it wasn’t very welcome to her.

Anyway, having no other choice, she became a hero.

* * *

“I heard the story well.”

When Spade’s lengthy story came to an end, Number 13 nodded while sitting on the long sofa.

“But when I looked it up, there was almost no information about the incident at that time. Do you know why?”

“…Well. I don’t know that far. Was it because I was a minor? I didn’t even have hero qualifications. Maybe the Association was considerate of me, or maybe they were just trying to take credit for it.”

In fact, if you check the news articles at the time, it only says that the Hero Association quickly responded and suppressed a villain who was trying to carry out a terrorist attack at a department store.

After finishing the story, Spade crumpled the drink can and threw it into the trash can next to her, then looked at Number 13 with a puzzled expression.

“So, why are you suddenly asking about that? Do you know that villain kid?”

“I was just curious. We have a bit of a connection.”

“……Hmph.”

Spade reacted coldly to Number 13’s answer.

In any case, he confirmed that Spade was the perpetrator of the incident at the time. The video was not wrong, and she admitted it herself.

If he wants to fulfill the Boss’s wish, he can just take Spade to the hideout as she is.

After that, the Boss can bake or boil this woman as she pleases.

Of course, Number 13 doesn’t have the power to subdue and drag away Spade, who is an active A-class hero, but if he calls other heroes from Squad 7 who are currently in the base, that’s nothing.

Even if that’s not the case, he can take other members of Squad 7 hostage and give them orders.

‘Take her away…’

It’s not difficult to take Spade away.

A single word would be enough.

However, for some reason, Number 13 has an expression that he doesn’t like.

And it’s unknown whether or not Spade noticed Number 13’s expression.

Because she was looking down, as if she was unusually dispirited.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I went to the memorial hall… I went there a few times because of that kid.”

Spade suddenly muttered.

The memorial hall that Spade is talking about is a space to commemorate those who died due to villain crimes.

It is not an institution operated by the state. Villains are not given human rights.

However, it is probably a space created by people who have villains as family members or acquaintances. Number 13 only knows that such a thing exists.

“You went to the memorial hall?”

“…A few times, after that incident. But I stopped going a long time ago.”

Spade said with a small sigh.

“I was afraid I would see that kid’s family. Of course, I don’t know who they are, and I probably wasn’t known to them either. …Still, just in case. I’m conspicuous in many ways.”

Spade’s voice was calm, but her red eyes were gloomily submerged.

Number 13 looked at such Spade, then crossed his arms again and groaned softly.