Chapter 126

“…Ms. Rampage?”

“What’s up, Chubby?”

“Um… The image of you eating while remotely launching attacks to exterminate enemies… As a magical girl, it feels… kinda twisted, don’t you think…?”

“So what?”

—

With the appearance of a Marquis-Class monster, I shoved the remaining rice cake into my mouth while finishing the extermination. I summoned the light cross sword I made earlier, aimed, and fired an [Energy Blast] to wrap things up. Chubby seemed shocked by my actions and finally called me out on it after a long time. But really, what’s the problem with exterminating while eating…?

—

“By the way, that light cross sword of yours is amazing!”

“Right? It’s a bit of a shame I have to allocate my mental capacity separately to use it. Would’ve been better if it were AI-controlled.”

“That’s being too greedy…”

—

Chubby immediately recognized how impressive the light cross sword is. As time goes on, it feels less awkward and unnatural, and now I can wield it as if it’s part of my body. It’s so convenient and satisfying. Half of my time in the Exclusive Training Ground was worth investing in this.

—

“…But, you’re only developing skills that have nothing to do with your talent…”

“Yeah, I know. But this is what works for me. In the end, all I have to do is go into a rampage, right? That itself is an absurdly powerful ability, but since that’s all I have, I need to get stronger in other ways too.”

“You’re going overboard!”

“So what?”

—

Since it’s over for now… Oh, before that, I should catch some superhuman criminals. I heard they’ve been popping up again lately, so it’s time to instill some fear. Sigh… Why is it that there are still so few self-proclaimed heroes with a hero complex around here? In places like America, there are tons of kids obsessed with being heroes, doing all sorts of weird stuff. How is everyone so extreme…? Ah, thinking about this makes me curious about how hero-obsessed those self-proclaimed heroes overseas are. Maybe I should visit America next time? Speaking of which, Gravity… no, Gravity said she’s coming today. I’ll think about going to America later.

—

“Are there any superhuman criminals active right now?”

“Hmm… If I had to pick, there’s a terrorist threat targeting the Blue House. Want to check it out?”

“Huh? A Blue House terrorist threat? Isn’t that just some attention-seeker messing around online?”

“Well, yeah… but you never know!”

“True. Let’s go.”

“Got it!”

—

Tsk, I wonder what idiot decided to stir up trouble online this time… Don’t they know that even joking about terrorism is a serious crime? Honestly, there are too many brainless morons causing problems. Plus, this terrorist threat post… it’s clearly written by some middle schooler. Probably around 12-15 years old?

—

“By the way, do you know what happens when kids become superhumans?”

“From what we’ve gathered, the biggest issues are bullying and violence at school!”

“Really? Well, I guess it makes sense. Kids get obsessed with their powers, bully others, act like they own the world… Immature kids, what do you expect?”

“Why do humans enjoy tormenting others so much…?”

“Even other humans don’t know that. Maybe they weren’t raised properly at home, or they’re mentally ill… There are probably many reasons, but no one has figured out exactly why yet.”

“I see!”

“Well, there are probably other reasons too, but at least with superhumans, the problem is that no one can stop them from acting out once they’re obsessed with their powers. That’s what broke the chains.”

—

Surprisingly, the problems caused by kids gaining superpowers at school are pretty big… But I can’t just interfere recklessly, and even if I did, it’d be too much of a burden. Since it’s a nationwide issue, meddling in every little thing would take too much time. For now, I’ll just observe unless things get out of hand.

—

Anyway, in a little more time, no new superhumans will be born, and then we can slowly correct or eliminate them. I’ll try to correct them if possible, but depending on what they’ve done, killing might be necessary. I don’t spare kids just because they’re kids. Well, I do give them more leeway, but I won’t tolerate rotten trash. Just look at the countless juvenile crimes in the news. Kids who commit crimes from a young age, filled with antisocial tendencies, are incurable cancers. Statistically, there’s no record of such trash reforming as adults. So believing in ‘redemption’ is just as stupid as it gets.

—

“Hmm~ Security’s tight.”

“Well, there was a terrorist threat!”

“But doesn’t the president work somewhere other than the Blue House these days? That’s what I heard.”

“I’m not too familiar with the details…”

“Well, that makes sense. I don’t know much either, so how would you?”

“…Ah! Over there, I sense a superhuman’s unique magical energy!”

“Oh, there?”

—

Judging by the looks of it, it’s probably a superhuman with some stealth-related ability… By the way, I didn’t hear how they planned to carry out the terrorist attack. Speaking of which… they’re holding a smartphone. And from the way they’re tapping the screen horizontally, are they filming this? What on earth are they doing…? Well, since they’re a superhuman, I should go check it out.

—

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

“?!!”

“…Is it really that surprising? Even if you have a stealth ability, it doesn’t mean you can’t be detected, right?”

“…I, I’ll… kill you…?”

“Huh?”

—

Hmm… From the looks of it, it’s a boy, around middle school age? With that bowl-cut hairstyle that only delinquents would have… And the scared look is probably genuine. There’s no weapon or anything that suggests terrorism. The only thing left is this kid’s ability… From the forced fading presence, it seems like a stealth or similar ability. So, they probably didn’t plan to actually carry out a terrorist attack, just wanted to mess around…

—

“You know, even threatening terrorism is a crime. Even if you don’t do it, just writing about it is a crime.”

“……”

“Hey, aren’t you going to answer? By now, the police are probably at your house talking to your parents. Do you think staying quiet will help?”

“Po, police…? Well, I’m still a minor!”

“How old are you? When’s your birthday?”

“…? 16. My birthday… already passed.”

—

Hmm… If they’re 16 and their birthday has passed, they’re already 15 in international age. So they’re past the juvenile protection age, why are they still relying on that? And why the sudden polite speech? Did they get scared? They were all confident when talking about the police, but now they’re nervous when I asked their age?

—

“Then you’re past the juvenile protection age. Anyway, from the moment you made the terrorist threat, the police have been investigating your personal information from the site. Didn’t you know? Did you think the authorities were a joke after seeing all the news?”

“……”

“Sigh… Whatever, you’re going to the police station, so reflect on your actions. You’re just a kid, so you’ll probably get off with a warning. Nothing big will happen. Got it?”

“……”

“…Hey, answer me. And if you use your ability to commit crimes again, I’ll really kill you next time. Got it? I’m only giving you a warning because you’re still a kid.”

“…Yes.”

—

Seriously… Instead of just killing them, now I have to deal with correcting this brat. And since they know who I am, they’re so scared they can’t even talk properly… Sigh, today’s the day Gravity is visiting, so I want to hurry back, but what do I do with this…? Should I just dump them at the police station and leave? …Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. It’s not really my job anyway.

—

Speaking of which, it’s the end of the world when superhuman kids are doing such extreme things just for attention or fun. I guess I underestimated the bizarre ideas immature teenagers can come up with. Who would think of writing a fake terrorist threat to secretly film armed security with their stealth ability? Did they think they’d get attention from that? Or did they just think it was really fun? Whatever it is, it’s a really stupid idea.

—

Anyway… I dragged this kid to the police station and dumped them there. Then I headed home. Since Gravity is coming over soon, I cleaned up a bit as soon as I got back. There were some liquor bottles and snack bags lying around, and the kitchen was a mess from baking bread. I can’t welcome a guest in such a state.

—

“…I’m home…”

“…Hey, at least ring the doorbell at the entrance. Don’t just use [Gate] to barge in.”

“…Okay.”

—

Just as I finished cleaning and was about to prepare to welcome her, Gravity appeared behind me through [Gate] and clung to me. Oh, and this time, she didn’t bring that huge rabbit doll… wait, she had it strapped to her back. I don’t know why she’s carrying it around this time, but it’s cute, so I won’t bother asking.

—

“Ow…”

“You’re lying down as soon as you get here?”

“At home, I can’t lie on the floor…”

“Ah, American households usually wear shoes indoors, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Meow?”

“Ah, kitty~…”

—

Wearing shoes indoors… That’s a culture I can’t understand. In movies, they even climb into bed with their shoes on… Isn’t that super dirty? Don’t they get athlete’s foot or something? Ugh… That’s just gross.

—

“By the way, do you take off your shoes at home?”

“Umm… yeah… at home, I wear slippers…”

“Ah~ so you wear slippers. Your house must be pretty clean then.”

“…Yeah.”

—

Also, stop hugging that rabbit doll with all four limbs while lying flat on the floor… Seriously, you’re not a baby, what are you doing…

—

“…! I want bread…”

“Bread? Ah~ perfect, I was just thinking you’d want some. Here, eat as much as you want.”

“Bread~…”

“Good?”

“…Yeah, really good.”

—

Gravity, who perked up at the smell of bread, quickly ran to the kitchen table and sat down. She grabbed the bread I placed in front of her and started munching away. Honestly, I wonder if she even thinks about anything other than sleeping and eating. I’ve only ever seen her do those two things, so it’s hard to imagine her doing anything else…

—

“By the way, how do you usually fight?”

“…?”

—

I suddenly got curious and asked, but with chocolate smeared on the corner of her mouth and her head tilted, I don’t know how to react. Hey, stop blinking your eyes like that.

—

“…I use Black Hole. Mini.”

“Mini Black Hole?”

“…Yeah.”

“Okay… What else?”

“My wand… I throw it with gravity and hit…”

“I see.”

—

I see, she speaks a bit oddly, but that’s probably how it goes. She creates a small, black hole-like gravitational force to tear things apart or accelerates her wand with gravity to deliver powerful blows. She probably also uses various辅助手段 like pinning enemies down with gravity to make it harder for them to move. Looking at it this way, Gravity’s talent is pretty impressive. To think that someone with such a demeanor and speech could crush demons and monsters with such a terrifying ability… The gap is surprisingly huge.

—

“Ah, cookies~…”

“Do you like cookies more?”

“…? I like bread more. But… cookies are good too…”

“…I see.”

“Nom nom…”

“…Meow.”

“Kitty… snack…”

“Hey, you can’t have bread and chocolate. If you want a snack, have this.”

“Okay…”

“Meow.”

—

She really loves bread… Well, since she’s visiting after a long time, let her eat as much as she wants. Just don’t eat enough to bankrupt me.

—