Chapter 16: Inevitably, the Heroine

I Hate Hurting People (2)

The emotions reflected in the eyes of the villains scattered around were probably surprise.

Even I, who was wielding this sword, thought so. With ten villains, it was honestly a question of how many I could take down. I didn't think I could subdue them all, even with Aisha's Ability.

And there was one more thing. Aisha's original fighting style, utilizing a 'sword' in combat. The process of this battle, which began without certainty, was something that far exceeded my expectations.

Swish-

The guy who summoned another villain to fight me, I figured his Ability had reached its limit, so he was my first target. The Ability 'Black Hole' was not only tricky to use, but I also realized in the previous fight that his physical abilities weren't that great.

You can't become a complete hero with just an Ability. Even if that Ability possesses unimaginable power, you need physical skills to react proactively to situations. The martial arts Aisha had built up to become a hero, and the physical skills she possessed, were like a dance.

The body remembers, but the mind can't even recall a fragment of it. My body creaked with a bit of awkwardness, but before I knew it, my arm was naturally drawing a line in the air. Like snow falling in the middle of winter melts when it touches the ground, the sword disappeared as it reached its opponent.

Swish-

The sword, pulled up diagonally to the right to avoid the black sphere, severed the villain's wrist.

"...!"

Something foul tried to surge up from below, through my throat. Constantly scratching at my throat, my mind, unable to adapt to this horrific situation, screamed.

...It's okay, you've seen this a lot.

I calmed myself down like that. It was good to feel disgusted at cutting someone, to feel fear at the sight of spurting blood, but not now. What I needed now was only composure.

My heated heart cooled down like that.

The most effective way for one person to face many is to overwhelmingly suppress one person to show off their strength. It worked out nicely, didn't it?

No one dared to approach me easily anymore. Everyone was outside the range of the sword's swing, and the villains flinched and backed away even at a simple step. I don't even know who the villain is anymore. Blood-soaked ice, and one person glaring at the many.

No matter how I look at it, aren't I the villain?

I looked down at the guy clutching his wrist and groaning. I didn't intend to cut off his wrist... well, I hope he understands. I never intended to kill him, it was for suppression.

"Ha."

A burst of laughter came out on its own. No matter how I think about it, isn't being a hero too disadvantageous? No matter how precarious the situation, you always have to move with the goal of suppression. I had many complaints here and there, but my Ability was specialized in suppression.

I didn't need to use my Ability anymore. Against villains who were terrified, it was enough to just wield what I had. It's an Ability that doesn't fit the season. But that's why it was more threatening. In a street where flowers are scattered, a blizzard is a paradoxical scene.

Snowstorm,

Now that I had the momentum, there was no need to give it to the side with more numbers. So, I put emphasis on strength. Even if the villains get hurt more than necessary, that was the only way for me to gain the upper hand.

Falling vertically from the sky, the ice captures the stars. The ice swirls along the drawn line. The flames flickering in the villain's hands, the body made of rock as hard as stone, are eventually carved away and eventually crumble.

With each step, villains fall, and when the last one remains-

One of them screamed.

Aaaah-

"You know very well that there's no one here."

"D-Don't come!"

"You guys came first."

There was one thing I felt while dealing with them. This strange silence. I thought it was probably a planned terror. In the original story, the whole story of this incident was not uncovered. Xenon couldn't properly deal with the villain with the Black Hole Ability who appeared at first. The building collapsed due to the villains who appeared from all sides, and citizens who couldn't evacuate were seriously injured.

...And there were no heroes who appeared during that fight.

No matter how I look at it, this situation was strange. Isn't it too big of a scale to just think of it as trying to do something to Xenon? What on earth are they aiming for? No matter how much I think about it, there were not enough clues to find any more leads.

Even in the original story, it was only known as a simple villain attack and ended, and the name Hera Carmen came out later.

When I subdued the last guy, my expression was stiff.

...The fact that I can't know anything right now was so annoying.

"...Haa."

A cold breath escaped. I used my body in the middle, but I couldn't avoid putting a strain on my body as much as I used my Ability while dealing with ten people. It was compatible with Xenon, but it wasn't so compatible with me, so it ended sooner than I thought.

"Dizzy..."

Even so, it was true that I needed a break right away. Gathering the Moonlit Night, I pulled up the school uniform jacket I was wearing. It's cold, my heart was full of wanting to go into the blanket and roll around. But dealing with those scattered villains is the end of the job.

The indescribable feeling that comes from the memory of cutting someone's wrist earlier shakes me inside, so I wanted to rest without thinking even more.

But... I can't do that. If I leave it like this, I or the heroes will be in trouble.

Still, if there's a harvest, it's that I easily finished the big incident that Xenon had to go through, and... probably a greatly increased practical exam score. Even so, I'm a student, and the corners of my lips slightly went up at the thought that my exam score had increased.

Tap tap-

As I stretched and tried to collect the villains, I heard footsteps in the distance.

"Wait, hold on!"

"...What."

"I'm Jace, a hero from District A. Where are the other heroes?"

"Haven't seen them?"

At that one word, the hero who introduced himself as Jace's eyes widened.

"What? Even so, it's been 20 minutes since the alarm went off. I came running because I didn't get a call that the villains had been subdued, but there's no way no one came."

"Really."

"...Then what are those people lying down?"

"Villains. I'm a student from the academy here to take a practical exam."

"...I heard there was a student here to take a practical exam. Are you telling me you subdued ten people alone?"

As if he couldn't believe it, Jace, who was looking at the faces of the fallen villains, nodded and contacted someone.

"..This is District A, no additional support is needed. All villains have been subdued."

While manipulating the communicator, he narrowed his eyes and quietly muttered something, then looked at me and smiled slightly.

"Looking at your face, some of them are guys I know, I thank you. To subdue ten villains alone even though you're not a formal hero. You might become a top hero when you debut."

"...Thank you."

"I said there was a practical exam, but it's going to be difficult to proceed any further. I need testimony about the incident, and the work to restore the damaged site will begin. I'll tell the school about the situation, but did you come alone?"

"There's one person, but..."

I don't know where he is now. Adding that, I followed Jace to District A.

#

"...Are you okay?"

"I'm fine except for a little stinging."

When did I get hurt? Wiping the blood flowing from my neck, I answered as if it was nothing. A melee fighting nine villains at the same time, I subdued them relatively easily, but in the meantime, there was a wound on my neck as if something had cut it. If it was a little deeper, I would have been seriously injured.

"I'm sorry. If we had gone a little faster-"

"It's okay. I can't blame the heroes."

Hera Carmen probably stopped the heroes from going out. As if to prove that my thoughts were correct, a breaking news was being reported on TV that the District B hero office was sealed off due to the collapse of the building.

"It's unsettling. The timing is too good to be a coincidence."

"...I agree."

"Well... you're a student. From now on, you can leave it to the adults. I've contacted your friend, so he'll probably be here soon."

I nodded absentmindedly. By the way, where is he now? The dazed face from earlier came to mind, and my head was dizzy for no reason. I solved the problem well, but I was a little sorry that the relationship had gone extremely wrong.

That's what I wanted, though. Even so, what should I call this unsettling feeling?

Phew-

I sighed with my lips pouted. Should I get some sleep? As I thought so and rested my head on the headrest of the chair, I heard noise from one side.

Shhh-

"...What's that sound?"

Jace muttered and approached the office door. What could be wrong? I rested my head again, and after a while, I felt it was quiet and closed my eyes.

It's quiet.

Because it was already dawn, there were only the hero Jace and me in the office. Now that the person named Jace has left, this office is completely left to me alone. Enjoying the silence, I rested my head on the cold pillow.

...Cold?

Ding- An alarm rang in my head momentarily. At the same time as I lifted my head, I scattered ice in all directions. Splash- It's not the sound of hitting the solid wall of the office. Isn't it a sound like cutting through water? Water, when my thoughts reached that point. I realized the identity of the presence I felt in front of me.

"...You are."

"Puh, hello?"

She was dragging Jace, who used to be a hero and who I had just talked to, as she approached.

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