Chapter 14
*
Early morning.
A leisurely life begins with a cup of coffee.
I stepped outside the shop, holding my cup of coffee.
The sun had just risen, painting the ground a dazzling white. For the busy office workers preparing to head to work, it would likely feel like an annoying glare. But for those who truly appreciate it, it was the embodiment of life energy that injects vitality into the world.
I took a sip of my coffee, basking in the sunlight. Just as I was about to head back inside, filled with caffeine and a sense of superiority, someone stopped me.
“─There you are.”
“Hmm? Ah—Are you that hero from yesterday?”
“I came to express my gratitude. May I come in for a moment?”
“Uh? Sure, come on in.”
Turning slightly, I realized it was the woman I had seen the other day, and I greeted her warmly. I definitely couldn’t afford to look suspicious.
After all, I was an executive of an evil organization. A scientist of evil.
And standing right in front of me was a hero.
*
“Excuse my intrusion.”
Upon entering the shop, Niberna immediately handed me a box of pastries. High-end desserts from an upscale confectionery. They were pricey items, quite burdensome to buy on a meager hero’s salary, yet she deliberately chose these.
The person in front of her might be a hidden artisan. To gain a good rapport with him, it was better to bring an expensive item rather than cheap snacks, even if it was a bit of a financial stretch.
“This is a token of gratitude for saving me the other day. Please accept it.”
“Ahaha—thank you! It looks delicious. Should I brew some coffee to go with it?”
“…If it’s not a bother.”
And there was another ulterior motive behind this. She hoped the shop owner would also offer her a dessert, and they could enjoy it together. If she had to spend money anyway, she wanted to try a fancy dessert she normally wouldn’t dare to buy.
In a distant future, if the owner of this shop turned out to be a true hidden master and she managed to recruit him for the Hero Association, then spending money on these pastries would be negligible.
“─Here, take it.”
“Thank you.”
The owner returned with a plate, a fork, and coffee. After receiving it, Niberna bowed her head slightly, grateful, and shivered as the coffee aroma wafted her way.
Honestly, normally I wouldn’t care for black coffee, but for some reason, the sweet aroma dominated my senses. Cautiously lifting the cup to my nose, I was overwhelmed by the rich chocolate scent filling my nostrils.
It was a fragrance that seemed perfectly suited to pair with the dessert she had brought. When Niberna dared to taste the coffee, she realized that its flavor wasn’t much different from its aroma. Just like the dessert she had brought, this coffee was top-notch, not falling short at all.
‘If someone like me, who knows little about coffee, can tell it’s extraordinary, it means it must be exceptionally expensive…’
Even the sofa she was sitting on and the table in front of her were absurdly lavish. There weren’t any price tags, but Niberna instinctively knew their worth.
After all, it was more comfortable than the sofa she had sat on while acting as a bodyguard for a corporate executive, and the table seemed to be made of even more exquisite materials. Both were way too fancy to be used in a small corner shop like this.
Looking around and taking in the lavish decor, Niberna began to wonder what kind of place this was and who the owner could possibly be.
‘It says it’s a repair shop… but…’
It was hard to believe that all this had been furnished with the profits of a mere repair shop. The wallpaper, tiles, and even the lighting were all top-notch. One could easily think it was a shop run by a wealthy hobbyist or perhaps a front for a villain organization to launder money.
Having devoured the dessert she had brought without a trace, Niberna realized it was time to voice her gratitude.
“Thank you very much for your help yesterday. Without you, I might have lost my life.”
“It wasn’t that serious. Even if I hadn’t been there, someone in this city surely would have found you and contacted the hero.”
“No, really. Had I been just a bit less lucky, I could have died right then and there… Thank you once again.”
Bowing deeply, she expressed her gratitude, prompting the shop owner to awkwardly gesture for her to stand up. As she straightened her back, Niberna naturally began to question the owner.
“─The shop is quite neat.”
“Yes. It just opened recently. About a week ago.”
“Congratulations! Do you get many customers?”
“No. In this week, you are the one and only customer I’ve had.”
“…I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s alright. I didn’t set up this shop to be especially busy.”
Through their brief conversation, Niberna learned that his name was Raemon. She also found out that he hadn’t opened the shop out of necessity but simply for his own satisfaction.
Just as expected—no wonder everything here seemed so unnecessarily extravagant… It felt more like the hobby of a rich young man.
While chatting, Niberna decided to check on the costume, just to see how he would react.
“By the way, do you remember who came to pick me up yesterday?”
“I think it was just an ambulance.”
“I see. Was my suit removed?”
“Huh? Oh no. I took it off because you seemed to be having trouble breathing.”
“Oh, I see…”
She’d found it. Niberna, not expecting such a straightforward answer, paused for a moment and gazed at the shop owner. Sensing her unease, he quickly waved his hands in denial.
“Oh, I only took off the suit; I didn’t see anything like lingerie or skin. You were wearing what looked like leggings underneath.”
“I’m aware. …And I’m not the kind of person to get mad because someone saw my underwear, especially not someone who saved my life.”
“That’s a relief.”
Did she really look like a certain type of scoundrel just because of that? Niberna mentally went over her actions. Fortunately, she hadn’t done anything that crossed the line of politeness.
In that case, maybe it would be okay to ask him to join the Hero Association? After all, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try. Judging by the way he ran this rather unprofitable shop, he didn’t seem like the type who only worked for money.
Niberna decided to take action. One of her few strengths was that once she made up her mind, she acted without hesitation.
“Mr. Raemon. Actually, the suit I wore yesterday isn’t an ordinary one. It’s a special suit made for me by the Hero Association, and it’s impossible to remove it by yourself without special equipment.”
“Ah… Is that so?”
“Yes. Normally, I can put it on and take it off using the equipment attached to the suit, but, unfortunately, that equipment malfunctioned yesterday.”
The damage had occurred during her fight with the villain Galm. When she woke up after fainting, the suit was clearly irreparably damaged. But when she fainted again and woke up at the Hero Association?
Miraculously, the half-destroyed Hero Suit was restored to its original state, as if nothing had happened.
It was hard to believe that the owner of this little corner shop possessed such technology… But Niberna wasn’t one to disregard reality. No matter how unbelievable it seemed, she believed in the evidence.
“In other words, your skills are quite exceptional, even by the Hero Association’s standards. What do you think, Mr. Raemon? Would you be interested in using your skills for the betterment of society—”
“Oh, it belonged to the Hero Association? I thought it was your personal item, Niberna.”
“Uh? Yes, that’s right. It’s an Association item.”
“Well then, there’s no need for me to charge for repairing it. If it’s the personal item of the hero saving the city, I wouldn’t mind fixing it for free… Here’s the bill.”
The owner interrupted Niberna and handed her a bill he had pulled from somewhere. Looking at the date on the receipt, it was clear this wasn’t something he had hastily prepared; it was written around the time she had fainted. So, it wasn’t something he had concocted to rip her off…
Well, if it would help win him over, she could pay up without much fuss. In a pinch, she could always get the Association to cover it. With that thought, Niberna glanced at the amount at the bottom of the bill.
“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand… million…”
But no matter how many times she counted, the numbers seemed to go on infinitely. When she finally glanced at the total at the bottom of the bill, her eyes trembled and she stared at the shop owner in disbelief.
“T-This is…?”
“It’s the bill. It includes the cost of materials and labor.”
“B-but, I mean…”
Now, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t pay, but she also couldn’t just casually say she’d pay up. As she had always said, heroes were half civil servants, and like civil servants, their salaries were meager. There was no way she could afford such a sum.
“Seven hundred twenty months of installments…!”
“I don’t accept cards.”
“W-What the…!”
And thus, Niberna was expelled from the shop.
With a bill sporting a six-figure amount clutched in her hand.
*
Watching the hero disappear into the distance, I let out a sigh of relief. Somehow, I had managed to avoid the prospect of being dragged into the Hero Association.
Big sigh ‘That could have gone south very quickly.’
From my brief analysis of Niberna’s personality, she wouldn’t even propose the idea of joining the Association until she had secured the funds to pay off the bill. In fact, she simply couldn’t.
I doubted she would even think about requesting money from the Association. Hadn’t she mentioned it? The suit I had repaired couldn’t even be taken off or repaired without special equipment? No one would think a simple repair shop in a back alley had such advanced skills. Moreover, the Hero Association didn’t even know her suit had been damaged. I’d repaired it and sent it back in pristine condition.
So, naturally, the Association wouldn’t believe Niberna. They certainly wouldn’t fund her. Of course, even if she managed to scrape together some money somehow, I wouldn’t be joining the Hero Association.
Disdainful look ‘Being a hero pays poorly. They earn less than the researchers at Evilus Corp. Why should I do that…’
Even if they offered me a lot of money, I still wouldn’t join. After all, I was an executive of an evil organization. A scientist of evil.
Well, judging by how our boss operated, it was more like children playing pretend than an evil organization.
Yet, surprisingly, Niberna didn’t give up. She continued to visit the shop every day, pestering me with all sorts of requests.
“Hello, Mr. Raemon.”
“Mr. Raemon, my microwave at home broke down today…”
“Mr. Raemon, do you know how to look at computers too?”
I looked at her, incredulous, as she brought in yet another broken item.
“Is the suit repair bill still outstanding?”
“…I’m sorry. I am trying to get it sorted, but it’s difficult unless you prove you have those skills.”
“Ugh, that’s how the Hero Association rolls, huh?”
“It’s not that bad! It’s just that, uh, they have budget issues…”
After sending her off with an embarrassed smile, I was about to enjoy my time alone when, all of a sudden, someone slipped into the shop.
A smiling girl with chestnut hair. Ayle.
“S-Scientist! I came to visit…!”
“Oh, Ayle. Welcome.”
“But that person just now…?”
“A hero.”
“A-a-a hero…?”
Upon hearing that Niberna was a hero, Ayle looked around in shock. As an executive of an evil organization and an evil magical girl, she surely must have felt uneasy about showing her face to a hero.
Luckily, Niberna had left a long time ago and had not brought any other heroes to the shop.
“B-but why was a hero here…?”
“I helped her a bit not long ago. Then she started inviting me to join the Association…”
“A-Ah, no!”
When I mentioned that I had been invited to join the Association, Ayle suddenly gasped as if something grave had happened. I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of joining. But she’s really persistent, so it’s becoming a bit concerning.”
“P-persistent…?”
“Yep. She comes by every day to bother me…”
“I-I’ll take care of it…!”
“You, Ayle?”
How did she plan to handle that?
I chuckled to myself, nodding my head.
“If you manage to do that, it’ll be a real help.”
“Y-Yeah… Don’t worry…!”
And so Ayle and I chatted while enjoying the dessert left behind by Niberna. Of course, the conversation quickly turned to topics of otaku culture related to magical girls.
Fatigued sigh ‘It’s exhausting…’
Niberna was a hero. When there were no villains around, she spent her time training like a hero and doing boring paperwork that had nothing to do with being a hero. If the work dragged on, she wouldn’t be able to finish until late at night, just like now.
Staring blankly at the night sky, she sighed. A bright full moon adorned the night sky beautifully.
‘What excuse should I come up with tomorrow…’
As she gazed at the moon, Niberna recalled the owner of the Fix-It-All shop. She had been visiting him persistently, embodying the belief that no tree stands tall after being struck ten times.
She felt as if she was drawing closer to him, but the problem was that she was quickly running out of excuses to go see him. There weren’t any more things to break.
‘Maybe I should just seduce him into being my boyfriend…’
As Niberna pondered this on her way home—
A heavy silence descended upon the world.
Instinctively reacting as a hero, Niberna responded to the strange situation.
“─What a beautiful night with the moon out.”
“…And who are you?”
“Oh my, don’t you recognize me?”
Niberna froze upon seeing a woman in a black dress appear before her. A face she had seen plenty of times before. There was no way a hero wouldn’t recognize this villain.
The nightmare of magical girls in City H. The evil magical girl was standing right there.
“No, this is City E… What are you doing here…?”
“Hehe, that’s an interesting question.”
The evil magical girl flashed a captivating smile.
“─It’s simply because I don’t like you.”
“…You’re insane!”
Moments later—
The magical bombardment from the evil girl overwhelmed Niberna.
*
