episode_0291

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“You two, do you have a moment?”

“Ah, Captain!”

Hero Association 7th Squad, at their base.

The 7th Squad Captain, Rahe, spoke to two members before their mission.

Spade and Club, who were changing into their mission gear in the ready room, saluted Rahe as she entered.

“I came to see if you were feeling uneasy. You have to face two organizations at the same time.”

“We’re fine. It’s not like we haven’t done this before.”

Spade answered firmly, and Club beside her looked at Rahe with a confident expression.

The mission they were assigned was to raid a meeting place between a domestic villain organization and a foreign mafia organization.

According to the information from headquarters, the number of Awakened individuals isn’t many, but the total number of enemies is expected to be considerable.

Also, since they are involved with the mafia, they might use firearms as if it were natural.

Objectively, it seems overwhelming to assign it to only two people.

However, both of them had already received all the information and were well aware of the desperate numerical difference, yet there was no worry or concern on their faces.

When Spade maximizes her body enhancement, even a submachine gun couldn’t leave a scratch on her.

And Club can manipulate bullets here and there, unfairly dominating opponents from a distance.

Powerful Awakened ones can hold their own against 100 armed civilians.

For the sake of the good citizens who tremble in fear every day due to the crimes of villains and outlaws, the two heroes must prove their strength even more.

That heroes never lose.

That you can all rest a little easier.

They have a duty to let everyone know that fact through their achievements and activities.

“If we had more people, we would have assigned more, but…”

“Two is enough. We have the achievements to prove it, Captain.”

“That’s true, but…”

“As always, we’ll complete it successfully.”

Rahe seemed uneasy for some reason.

She seemed worried about sending only the two junior members to the field, instead of the senior members, Coco or Check.

But the worry was only temporary.

Knowing that worrying too much would only lower morale, Rahe relaxed her expression and patted the two on the shoulders.

“Okay. We’re having a company dinner this week, so you have to come back without a scratch, even if it’s just to enjoy the dinner with a happy heart. Can you do that?”

“Of course!”

Both Spade and Club answered energetically.

They changed from the uniforms they wore inside the base to form-fitting combat suits.

Just before leaving after preparing, Spade asked Rahe casually.

“Um, Captain. What about… the Administrator?”

“Administrator No. 13 said she had to leave for a while for a special mission. Coco went with her to help with the Administrator’s work.”

At Rahe’s words, Spade made a somehow uncomfortable expression.

A face that seemed to be asking someone, ‘What are you up to again?’

Although it is impossible to know Spade’s exact thoughts.

Come to think of it, Spade was the only one who always reacted subtly differently from the other members when dealing with Administrator No. 13.

Rahe couldn’t quite figure out why.

‘Does she… like the Administrator?’

Since she doesn’t know well, it can’t be helped if she makes this assumption.

That’s because there were plenty of elements that could be thought of in that way, such as having a subtle interest in Administrator No. 13, or watching him every moment… or so it seemed.

‘The Administrator is one of the few men in the Association, and he’s young.’

‘He’s also good-looking.’

In Rahe’s generous standards, most men are considered handsome and have unique personalities.

You could say she’s someone who doesn’t see people’s flaws well. Anyway, in her standards, a man like No. 13 is considered to have decent looks.

Because his eyes, nose, and mouth are all properly attached.

‘Awakened ones have fewer opportunities to meet men.’

‘…If Spade wants, should I help her… to get along with the Administrator?’

‘I wonder if the Administrator has a woman he likes. I don’t think he’s dating anyone.’

Her thoughts jumped to the level of a nosy old lady.

There is no one to tell her that it is all a misunderstanding.

***

After sending Spade and Club off, Rahe returned to her office.

There are still tasks left.

But the tasks didn’t easily get done.

The work of the two people she had just sent off, and the matter of Olivia, who was dispatched from 【Ius】, lingered in her mind for some reason.

First of all, Spade and Club.

The two have enough achievements, and they are gradually becoming veterans, so there is no shortage of them to take on this mission.

However, in the case of this mission, the higher-ups issued the mission and designated the two at the same time.

Originally, it is the unit commander’s job to designate the personnel to participate in the mission.

Rahe had a faint sense of unease about this order, which lacked consideration for the members’ abilities, condition, and the commander.

And, Olivia.

She has been thinking about that woman all along, but Rahe has not yet been able to make any assessment of her.

What she is thinking.

She had no idea what schemes or plans she had.

‘If it’s purely for auditing, as she said, there’s nothing to worry about, but.’

But that can’t be.

It is absurd to think that that woman works sincerely and purely for the benefit of the organization.

Rahe doesn’t think much about internal organizational politics, but she knows how certain power dynamics are formed, even if she’s not interested.

And she can clearly tell whether someone’s smile towards her is fake or not, and whether their words are true or not.

—That woman is plotting something.

Moreover, the arrow of that conspiracy is clearly aimed at herself.

Every time she encounters her, she feels a stinging hostility on her skin, so she has a sense of foreboding close to certainty about this.

However, since she doesn’t know the cause or reason for that hostility.

Because of that, she can’t figure out how to deal with it.

“…I shouldn’t be like this, I’m getting a little uneasy.”

Why is her heart so turbulent?

Rahe could only pray that the members who went on the mission would return safely without any problems.

***

No. 13 brainwashed and took over the villain organization 【Mud】 entirely.

Since it was a small organization of only three people, and using the name 【Market】, things proceeded surprisingly smoothly.

It’s a happy thing.

After receiving a call from Olivia, or a European hero belonging to Olivia, No. 13 stopped [eating] the three of 【Mud】 and had them guide her to their hideout.

The place they arrived at after driving was, as expected, an abandoned building located in the 【Closed Area】.

“Excellent?”

No. 13 said, with the calm one of 【Mud】 tucked under her arm, caressing her chest.

They all have decent bodies, but the calm one has the biggest breasts among them.

The calm one is wearing bottoms but has taken off her top and bra, and just twitches and accepts as No. 13 caresses her breasts.

All three of them are completely brainwashed, so even if their bodies are treated like toys, they don’t show any signs of resisting No. 13 or finding the current situation strange.

The place he is in now is inside an abandoned building where the upper half of the building has been blown away.

It looks like completely collapsed ruins on the outside, but the inside is very neatly renovated.

The rooms up to the 5th floor above ground are still maintained, so if they clean it up a little, they can move in at any time.

A building that used to be sold for billions before the large-scale villain terror 【The Great Disaster】 has not lost its luster even after being abandoned for several years.

However, 【Mud】 leaves the rooms on the ground untouched and only uses the basement.

As he went down to the basement with that explanation, the appearance of the basement, which was quite different from the ground, came into view.

At first glance, it was a basement space that seemed to have been completely remodeled while being used as a hideout.

“We only came here recently. Until recently, the hideout we used was an old building on the border between the city and the ‘Closed Area’.”

However, this time, the customer from Europe contacted 【Mud】 and introduced this building to them.

They moved from an old building where bugs came out of the rooms and rust came out of the showers to this luxurious hideout.

There was no reason not to accept it happily.

‘…So they’re trying to dress it up as a plausible organization.’

No. 13, who is a veteran villain who has been rolling around in this world, seemed to know the other party’s intentions even without hearing them.

【Mud】 is an easy-to-handle small organization.

But because of that, when they commit something big and get caught, people start to suspect their backing.

However, if the caught organization has a lot of things, there is less suspicion of backing.

‘Of course, people might expect them to have a backer or a source of funds, but.’

‘…If they see something like that, those thoughts will disappear completely.’

No. 13 arbitrarily opened the door to one of the underground rooms, and inside, there were piles of bags.

When she searched the contents, most of them were empty, but some of them contained white powder neatly packaged.

Drugs.

A commodity whose demand has increased rapidly since the large-scale villain terror 【The Great Disaster】 that occurred worldwide.

In the case of 【Abyss】, to which No. 13 belongs, there are ways to generate revenue in various ways, such as Dorothy’s inventions, Violet’s management, and No. 13’s villain activities.

However, ordinary small-scale villain organizations that do not have such means have few ways to make money.

One of them is trading with criminals such as foreign mafia.

Drugs are probably the hottest trading commodity among them.

However, in the case of 【Mud】, they receive back-world related requests through brokers, and only occasionally get involved in requests such as drug distribution.

Then what about the drugs here? What about this large amount of bags?

The estimate comes out perfectly.

The guys who prepared this hideout set it up together.

So that people who catch this organization don’t think about where the organization’s funds came from.

To give legitimacy to any crime they commit. So that people will think, ‘If it’s this kind of organization, it’s plausible.’

‘They’re doing troublesome things.’

‘That much, that means they’ve been extra careful so that suspicion doesn’t turn when this organization is caught.’

No. 13 was lost in thought, and continued to caress the breasts of the calm one, whom she had been keeping in her arms all along.

As expected, what the strategist or Boss Violet had guessed was correct.

The villain organization 【Mud】 is a discardable piece.

A tool that they plan to use appropriately, suck out the sweet juice, and ruthlessly throw away… a convenient tool to use.

‘What on earth are they trying to do?’

She roughly knows what’s going to happen, but she couldn’t figure out the overall picture and how big it would be.

It’s probably a stage where she needs to watch a little more.

Anyway, what No. 13 has to do doesn’t change.

Look for an opportunity and strike the opponent in the back at a very good timing, that’s all.

It doesn’t matter at all what happens to this organization, and there is no need to worry about it.

Right now, let’s just think about how to mess up the opponent….