Chapter 25: Heroes Are Those Who Overcome The Irrational (2)
The meeting with Yumir was postponed.
I returned to the scene to assess the situation.
Of course, I wasn’t naked.
I was very much dressed, and none of the others looked at me strangely.
‘If they think it’s strange, it would be socially detrimental to me.’
I looked at myself reflected in the full-length mirror.
While I looked like I was wearing normal clothes, just like when I left after eating earlier, in reality, it wasn’t clothing.
It was ‘mana’.
Just as Yumir, the Solar Platina Knight, created armor with mana as a protective shield, I, too, used mana as clothing and returned to the scene.
A Goblin’s imagination became reality.
Namely, the naked Goblin.
Now, I had stepped outside wearing clothes made of mana that can only be seen by very special people.
There was only one person in the world now who met those special criteria. While that person may be watching this, they would understand everything.
[Uh? Senior, can you look at this screen?]
[Why? Is there something strange?]
[This man and woman were there when they entered the restaurant, but after the accident, they’re gone.]
[What? This…this smells fishy. The man and woman disappeared at the same time. It doesn’t seem like they were just buried in the restaurant building. We need to investigate this.]
What if someone inadvertently rewound the CCTV later and started tracking me because they realized I had disappeared?
A Goblin should not give any excuses.
Even if I pretended to worry about coming to the scene that had reached a state of peace, it was still the correct move to be on the scene.
“Ah, are you okay?!”
A restaurant staff member spotted me and smiled brightly.
“I was worried that something might have happened to you! The woman you came with…?”
“She left earlier. She was quite startled.”
“Ah. So, she’s not dead then?”
“Yes. She’s perfectly alive.”
“That’s a relief….”
The staff member struck a line through something that looked like a list.
I was even more relieved.
If the names Do Ji-hwan and Yumir had not been erased from that ‘missing persons list’, Yumir and I would surely have been investigated.
‘It’s not really for my own benefit, but while I’m at it, I might as well clean up after myself properly.’
I initially came to hide my identity, but since things turned out this way, I had no choice but to take care of Yumir as well.
“So, what happens now? As for the bill…”
“Once the situation has been sorted out and all the checks by the Taeguk Watch are complete, you will be charged.”
“Oh, please charge me. I will pay for it.”
“Really? That’s a relief. You can just send it to my account.”
“Are you the owner?”
“Yes.”
Even the meal cost.
“Ah, thank you. You’re willing to pay for the meal even after such an accident.”
“I just did what I had to do. It was a delightful meal, after all.”
I cleanly finished the money calculation so the owner wouldn’t end up with situations like ‘I can’t let this money go! I will investigate everyone, ah, these people! They were in the restaurant but disappeared outside! Are they missing?! Do I need to claim insurance?! No! I can’t afford higher insurance rates! I must find out their identities!’.
‘Yumir is quite careless.’
As a hero hopeful, who wouldn’t have a significant problem even if her identity was exposed, she didn’t return after leaving several traces that could expose her identity.
‘Or did she become careless because of me? Is she off guard because of me?’
She could have been shocked that her identity was exposed to me.
Since she seemed to be a delicate woman, the fact that she was exposed to the Goblin, and the fact that her identity was revealed, might be greatly distressing to her now.
‘I should teach her next time.’
Things like how to erase one’s existence and escape.
Or how to create an alibi that confirmed the existence of a person who suddenly disappeared.
Or even how to use mana to create clothes, so that others wouldn’t suspect anything.
… Of course, once all the mana was used up, one was essentially left naked, but it didn’t only last for a mere 3 minutes or something like that.
It could be maintained for at least 2 hours.
That’s plenty of time to get back home.
“You must be upset since your restaurant was destroyed.”
“Well… at least I had insurance, so that’s a relief.”
The owner began to smile brightly.
“The rampaging demon… Lilith, was it? If only Lilith had appeared, the insurance money might have been less, but the Goblin also showed up.”
“What does Goblin have to do with insurance?”
“Ah, you don’t know? Damage insurance, so to speak, the insurance that you can get when villains cause damage to your property, also has tiers. Since Goblin showed up, I naturally can get the insurance based on the Goblin’s ‘S-tier’ level!”
“So, the higher the danger level of the villain that appears, the higher the amount of the insurance claim?”
“Yes! Hehe, so it’s really fortunate. I’m grateful to the Goblin.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but that won’t happen again.”
Someone’s voice was heard from behind us.
“Ah, you are…?”
“I’m Snow White. You must be the restaurant owner, ah.”
Snow White opened her eyes wide in surprise at seeing me. I acted as ignorant as possible and gestured towards the crowd.
“…Ahem. I apologize.”
Fortunately, Baek Seol-hee tactfully pretended not to know me.
But I couldn’t help but wonder if I was imagining the slight sense of disappointment in her eyes.
“There won’t be any application of S-tier insurance to the restaurant just because Goblin appeared.”
“What? Why?! What does that mean?!”
“Because the Goblin didn’t cause any damage to the restaurant.”
Baek Seol-hee explained the insurance criteria somewhat rigidly, and the restaurant owner pulled at his hair with a frustrated face.
“Ah…! Damn, it would’ve been better if he had at least kicked towards the building…!”
“…….”
Sometimes in moments like this, humans seemed so base and weak, making the situation bitter. I wondered whether this was due to this world being a world of superpowers or if people like this actually existed in reality.
“Damn, then the families of the deceased….”
“I will arrange to deliver a condolence payment to the deceased through a fund. Please contact our foundation later.”
“Eh?”
The owner’s face brightened.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes. So if any of the bereaved mention that a person died in the restaurant, treat them with a heavy heart. Don’t harshly say that it’s not your responsibility. They… have lost a family member.”
“Ah, I understand. You’re indeed S-tier….”
“…….”
Baek Seol-hee nodded slightly and turned her head towards the slowly receding rubble of the building.
She was gritting her teeth.
Looking at the debris, I felt ‘anger’ emanating from Baek Seol-hee.
Perhaps that anger was towards something similar to what induced an ability user to transform into a demon, how the Red Scarf went on a rampage -
“Hey, is that blood? Wow, a person really died.”
“Why did the moron cause a rampage? Hehe, but we got to see a new side of the Golden Knight and the Goblin, so was it a gain?”
“A sacrifice for the greater good… Ahem. It wasn’t really a big deal. Anyway, it was a good show. Hehehe.”
I hoped so.
I hoped that it was not anger coming from a disdain for humans.
Beep beep.
I quickly pulled out my smartphone and sent a message.
Soon, Baek Seol-hee saw the text on her smartphone and subtly smiled.
Beep.
A reply arrived.
[Thanks for encouraging me. You too, Ji-hwan! >?<]
“……She uses weird emoticons.”
After putting my smartphone away, I immediately returned home.
As quickly as possible, before my transformation wore off before my mana was all used up.
After returning home.
I immediately undid my transformation for a quick mana recovery as soon as I opened the door.
Paaang!
In an instant, I was naked.
Although it was quite something to be naked right at the front door, I confidently went inside and turned on the TV.
[At 1 PM today, in the southern area of Sejong Island….]
The rampage of the demon Lilith.
The appearance of Solar Platina.
The emergence of Goblin’s second form.
Despite various incidents, the news spewed out all kinds of stories using video footage taken by bystanders at the time.
However, there was hardly any mention of the deceased.
It was not because there were few people but because death was all too familiar to the people of this world.
When a villain went on a rampage, people died.
It was a proposition that was now, somehow, accepted as a matter of course.
“……Starting with a spectacle even before the entrance ceremony.”
I stood up from the sofa and opened the wardrobe.
Inside were seven suits that the leader had bought for me.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t wear these on a date… Ah, if I had worn them…”
Surely, the clothes would have been disassembled down to the atomic level by mana.
It was horrifying just thinking about it.
“It’s really inconvenient.”
To transform, it was necessary to emit mana.
And mana was emitted from the body through the skin, causing any clothes worn at the time to ‘disappear.’
In other words.
The moment I transformed, everything on my body was subjected to the powerful force of the emitted mana, causing it to explode.
The Taeguk Watch seemed to have some resistance to this, but there was no reason to risk wearing it during transformation.
So did I take off my clothes somewhere before I transformed?
‘Where is there time for that!’
Villains didn’t pick their time and place.
They could appear at someone’s wedding celebration or attack in the middle of a date.
If I could save even one more innocent person from a villain faster, then my clothes tearing and disappearing were not an issue at all.
“…Still, I shouldn’t transform while wearing such expensive clothes.”
For the leader’s sake, at least.
Ba-ba-ba-bam.
The telephone rang.
It was her call, right on time.
“Yes, Chairwoman.”
[What the!!!!]
She started yelling as soon as the call connected.
[Every time I see the data screen, why are you naked!! No, that has been solved, but more than that!! That transformation, what is it!!]
“…Huh.”
[You should have shown me that cool thing first! This is NTR! It’s a betrayal!!]
How should I respond?
“Well, aren’t I somewhat like a one-man army?”
[So?]
“To reaffirm my affiliation, I designed it to be similar to my superior.”
[Superior? No, don’t tell me….]
“Yes. The opponent seemed quite strong, so I had no choice but to bring it out.”
I delivered my prepared lines.
“I redesigned my image anew, as if I’m the leader’s right-hand man or as if I’m the leader’s Goblin.”
[…Next time, show it to me first. Understand?]
I’m relieved.
[Hmm. I showed a bad side of myself. I’m sorry. You must have had a reason for doing it. But still, be careful. That place is practically enemy territory.]
This was a genuine response.
“Of course.”
[Oh yes. I will keep the video carefully. Your naked body that only I get to see…hehe. It’s impressive.]
“The leader has already seen my naked body more than once or twice-”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The call abruptly ended.
“…….”
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