Chapter 67

“Phew, that was really lucky.”

“Your usual way of speaking is back.”

After throwing a smoke bomb and running away, I quickly changed my clothes and naturally joined up with Chise.

Gayeon, who had teleported to pick me up after I ran a bit away, moved us, and thankfully, Chise seemed too preoccupied with checking on the heroes to notice I was gone.

‘…But is it okay to be that obvious?’

“Tsukino-san.”

“Ah, Sajan-san! Gayeon!”

“Yes… but, what are you doing?”

“……”

Chise, smiling brightly at me. When I asked her, she tightly closed her mouth.

It was clear she hadn’t thought about the aftermath until now.

‘…Guess there’s no choice.’

“You’re trying to help the heroes, right? No choice then. It’s better to do it together.”

“Yes, yes…? Yeah…”

“By the way, is there anyone here with a body-enhancement type ability? We need to clear some debris!”

“Ah, I can do that!”

“The person with purple hair eating tteokbokki, the woman with yellow hair next to you, and the person wearing the deer mask, please contact the police, hospital, and the Association respectively!”

Reluctantly pretending to help the heroes, I started assisting too. Kind-hearted people naturally joined in, and before I knew it, many others were helping too.

After contacting the police, Association, and hospital, and checking for missing or injured people, the amusement park was quickly restored thanks to everyone’s help.

***

On the way back from the amusement park, we took the subway and headed to our respective homes.

“Still, it’s a relief it was resolved quickly!”

“Yeah.”

Chise, smiling contentedly and swinging her legs next to me.

‘Does helping people make her that happy?’

Seeing her giggling like that, it seems being a hero really suits her.

Thinking that, I glanced at her for a moment, then turned on my phone.

[Terror at Amusement Park in C District!!]

[Thanks to the mature response of the citizens, the damage was minimal.]

[“We can’t just keep receiving help…” Citizens who became heroes themselves.]

Helping her was a bit bothersome, but in the end, it wasn’t a bad situation for me either.

‘Thanks to that, I could blend in.’

Who would suspect a villain among the good citizens who took care of the aftermath?

‘Just write down your name, age, and how you helped people briefly~’

‘…No other questions?’

‘Anyway, everyone else is together, so it’s the same~ Just write it roughly and hurry out.’

I was able to leave after a simple Q&A.

‘Sajan-san, are you here?’

‘Yes, what about Gayeon?’

‘I heard she’s still being questioned…’

Unlike me, Gayeon, being a hostage, had a more in-depth conversation. But still, she’s just a victim and a child.

‘The organization already prepared a new identity, so there’s no problem with her past. There’s no suspicious circumstances, so she’ll be released soon.’

And as I expected, she was released without any issues shortly after. That’s how we ended up on the subway together.

“…So, that’s why!… Sajan-san? Are you listening?”

While I was distracted, Chise was chattering away next to me. Realizing I wasn’t listening, she puffed up her cheeks and glared at me.

“Ah, sorry, Tsukino-san. Where were we?”

“…That person, Akaoni!”

“…Akaoni?”

For a moment, I pondered what she meant.

‘She’s talking about me.’

I realized she was referring to me.

Akaoni.

Translated, it would mean Red Oni or Red Demon.

Overall, wearing a mix of red and black clothes, with a sharp, beast-like mask. Plus, using a club, it was fitting to think of it as an Oni or Goblin.

‘Still, it’s good I wore red clothes.’

If I had worn blue, I might have ended up as a monster that eats people who say, “The inside is cleaner than I thought?”

“Did you see it too, Sajan-san?”

“Yes, I saw Tsukino-san trying to rush in dangerously.”

She grumbled. To hide my mistake, I brought up a topic perfect for scolding her.

“……”

“If that Oni hadn’t run away, I might have faced him directly. I would have stopped Tsukino-san.”

I smiled slightly and looked at Chise. She subtly avoided my gaze.

‘Easy.’

“Ah, anyway! What do you think that person does? What do you think, Sajan-san?”

She quickly changed the subject, acting like she hadn’t heard anything.

‘…Let’s just move on.’

Digging deeper wouldn’t bring any benefits, and avoiding her grumbling was already a win.

“Akaoni… still, he’s not a bad person, right? Thanks to him, Gayeon was safe.”

“But it was a dangerous situation! It’s a relief it turned out okay, but if the villain had noticed, it would have been a disaster!”

“Still, it’s better than the heroes who did nothing.”

“That’s…!”

Can’t argue with that.

Even if nothing else, these heroes were truly useless.

The internet reactions I checked briefly were the same.

The heroes were useless, and the mysterious newcomer seemed better.

Since it wasn’t about Maker, there wasn’t much information due to control, but that’s how it was regarding the amusement park incident.

‘Well, there are probably some trolls just trying to bash heroes, so it’s hard to say everyone shares the same opinion.’

“Hmm… that seems right… no, but still… no, these heroes were definitely… but still…”

Chise muttered with a thoughtful expression at my words. As I watched her,

Ding-ding-ding-

[Next station is…]

“Ah, we’re here already.”

“Whoa, already!”

It was almost my stop, so I got up and gathered my few belongings with Gayeon.

Squeak-

The doors opened shortly after.

“Sajan-san! Today… it was okay!”

“I had fun too, Tsukino-san.”

After a brief farewell, Gayeon and I got off the subway.

“……”

A brief silence.

“…Then, let’s go get some sleep.”

Thud.

“Use teleportation quickly. We need to talk.”

“…Okay.”

As I grabbed the collar of her clothes and lifted her, Gayeon dangled and nodded.

Where do you think you’re running off to?

Today, I must give her a proper lecture.

***

Back at the cafe.

After sitting Gayeon down, I started a long lecture.

“Why on earth did you do that?”

Gayeon always does strange things, but she’s not stupid. She doesn’t do things that would cause me trouble.

So, I was curious why she did this.

“…This.”

She handed me a fox-shaped badge with a somewhat gloomy expression.

“…I wanted to give it as a gift.”

The badge didn’t look new at all.

The white fox was stained with shoe prints, and the edges were chipped with large scratches and wear.

“…So, that’s why.”

“Uh-huh…”

The reason she suddenly got involved with the villain was simpler than I thought.

The villain first appeared at the souvenir shop. Gayeon, who was inside, got caught up in the villain’s terror.

Seeing the gift she wanted to give to her friends with her own money ruined, she got so angry she started tormenting the villain.

“Specifically, how did you torment them?”

“…Like how adults do, using abilities to destroy buildings, controlling with psychokinesis?”

“Wait. So you were controlling them since the building exploded?”

“…Yeah?”

When I tried to leave the park to find Gayeon.

From the moment she appeared, she was already controlling them.

“Then, what the villain said…”

“He said he’d kill me if I didn’t do it.”

‘So, he was a puppet from the start.’

There were more than a few oddities.

Like how he twitched excessively despite causing the terror and some explosions being intentional.

Or how he didn’t even threaten Gayeon, who was right next to him.

Honestly, unless he was an idiot, he should have been wary of sneak attacks, but he wasn’t prepared at all.

If it was all Gayeon’s puppet show, then all the strange points make sense.

‘…Sigh.’

He just messed with the wrong person, got tormented, and ended up dead.

I suddenly felt a bit sorry for him, but if he were truly pitiful, Gayeon wouldn’t have been this angry.

‘But, was Gayeon’s ability always this strong?’

Even with psychokinesis, it was limited to lifting and fixing light objects, not restraining people’s bodies.

Thinking about this incident, it doesn’t seem so.

‘Could it be?’

I threw a question at Gayeon, just in case.

“Gayeon.”

“…Yeah?”

“Did your ability get stronger when you got angry, like something opened up?”

“…Wait.”

At my words, Gayeon closed her eyes for a moment.

“Huh?”

Then she opened her eyes with a surprised expression.

“…Psychokinesis and flames got stronger.”

Gayeon stretched out her hand, palm facing upwards, and activated her ability.

Whoosh-!

Then, flames appeared on her palm.

Much larger than the lighter-sized flames she showed before, now big enough to be called a bonfire.

‘She’s grown.’

An ability user’s ability can grow.

From simply mastering the ability through repeated use, to deliberately injuring muscles and regenerating them to make them stronger, pushing the ability to its limits.

Among these, the most rapid growth comes from using abilities based on intense emotions.

‘Just how angry was she…’

Well, that’s why she caused such a commotion.

“Gayeon, it’s good news that you’ve grown.”

“Yeah…”

“But you know your mistake, right?”

It’s fortunate that Gayeon was controlling things from the start, but her face ended up on the internet.

Of course, it’ll be blurred on regular broadcasts, and I’ve already asked Narin to delete as much as possible.

But once your face is out there, there’s no going back.

“What do you think would have happened if you didn’t hide your face while acting? What if you didn’t have recognition suppression?”

“……”

“You’d be branded a villain instantly, living a life without a moment’s rest. Of course, you couldn’t come to the cafe either.”

“!!”

Of course, our large organization Eclipse wouldn’t let recognition suppression fail, but when it’s time to scare, we must scare properly.

So next time, she’ll think more and act with restraint.

“You could have put me in danger too.”

“…I’m sorry.”

After I finished, Gayeon bowed her head with a gloomy expression.

‘Seems she’s reflected enough.’

I carefully hugged her.

“You know your mistake, right?”

“Uh-huh…”

Then, she started burying herself in my arms like Riru.

“Next time, will you do that, or not?”

“…I won’t.”

“Good, well done. Thanks for the gift.”

I patted Gayeon’s head with one hand and her back with the other.

‘Well, my reliable shield has gotten stronger, so what’s the problem with the amusement park?’

I’m a bit worried about Gayeon’s face being out there, but it’s not my face, and I’ve given her a warning, so she won’t do it again.

“You didn’t leave any traces, right?”

“Yeah. They won’t even know I used my ability.”

“Good job.”

I patted her head happily.

‘…If she grew this much from her first time at the amusement park, wouldn’t she get even stronger by destroying a few more things while traveling around?’

For a moment, I seriously considered a nationwide amusement park tour, but I shook my head and barely resisted the urge.

---