Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: The Dilapidated Countryside House
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A rickety old countryside house that looked like it might collapse just from looking at it.
The iron gate in the yard was rusted solid with missing teeth, and the weeds in the yard had grown wildly unmanaged for years.
This was it... the kind of creepy old rural house from horror movies where ghosts show up.
Kiiiiiik- The iron gate creaked open with an eerie sound. As we pushed through the ferocious undergrowth reaching up to our ankles, everyone's faces soured. Even Fergus seemed pretty flustered, clearly not expecting it to be this bad.
What should we call this place? An office? Lodgings? After a moment's thought, I decided on "abandoned building."
Yoon Na-rin, who was usually sensitive about hygiene, frowned and spoke to Fergus.
"...Professor Fergus. Is this really it?"
"...Well, I've been working at the academy for nearly 20 years straight. I had no idea X District had fallen into this much disrepair..."
"Even so, you must have heard something before we came. You mean to say you knew nothing at all?"
"...Er. I did hear the security had gotten a bit rough, but I brushed it off thinking, how bad could it be? It used to be pretty peaceful back in the day."
"And that 'back in the day' was 50 years ago."
"......Ugh."
I'd vaguely sensed it before, but this old man had a bit of a scatterbrain side to him. The type who blindly trusts his own experiences, slacks off, and ends up in a bind.
There must have been some info from the Hero Association, but he'd probably only memorized the address and tuned out the rest.
We stepped inside the building. It looked like a crumbling ruin from the outside, but the interior was relatively tidy compared to the exterior.
"Well, since it was lived in by the heroes who were in charge before, the inside still smells a bit like people, at least compared to the outside."
Of course, that was only relative to the exterior. It was just barely livable. Nothing more.
It was nowhere near the level of the office where I'd been staying in B District. The bare minimum furniture for basic living sat forlornly in the vast space.
The B District office where the fun-loving Elise sisters and Floe had been had all sorts of things they'd left behind.
Comic books, TVs, computers, and such. Plenty of leisure stuff to kill time with. But here? Nothing like that.
I never thought I'd miss it so soon. Not even 10 minutes in, and I was already aching for that place. Ahh... my sweet home.
We each picked a room and unpacked. For a countryside house with a yard, there sure were a lot of rooms.
"Once everyone's unpacked, let's start by clearing the weeds in the yard."
Yoon Na-rin shuddered at the sight of the lush yard overgrown with weeds. The damp brush scraping her ankles on the way in must have really grossed her out.
Now, how were we supposed to clear all those weeds? No trimmer in sight. Guess we'd have to pull them by hand or hack them down with daggers one by one.
'Wait... oh?'
I looked at Han U-sol and said,
"Hey, can't you make a trimmer?"
A trimmer was sharp and dangerous if mishandled. With the right intent, it could even hurt someone. In a way, wasn't it basically a weapon?
"Huh...? I'll give it a shot."
Han U-sol focused for a moment, and a trimmer appeared in his hand. Whoa. It actually worked.
"Kehkeh. To think even this works—such a versatile ability! It's a real shame about the penalty that only you can use it."
Fergus laughed and clapped. Come to think of it, we all knew Han U-sol's ability penalty was fake, but Fergus didn't.
'Which means...'
I quickly opened my mouth and poured words at Fergus.
"You're telling me. What a pity, that penalty where only he can use them. If there were no penalty, Han U-sol could make a bunch of trimmers and hand one to each of us, and we'd all trim together. But alas, no such luck. Looks like Han U-sol will have to handle the yard weeds all by himself. Since he's the only one who can use the trimmer."
"Anis...?"
Han U-sol stared at me, his face filled with shock and betrayal.
"I agree."
"Makes sense."
"Kehkeh. No helping it, then."
Reisi, Yoon Na-rin, and Fergus nodded in turn.
In truth, we all knew.
That it was unfair to make Han U-sol do the weeds alone.
That there were plenty of ways to help out even without using the trimmer.
But none of that mattered.
We were just all lazy. After the long trip wearing us out mentally and physically, the grueling labor of weeding held no appeal.
Laziness and fatigue were enough to blind us and unite us as one.
"Good luck~"
"We'll tidy up inside the house a bit."
"Take care, Han U-sol."
"Uh... for real? By myself?"
Ignoring Han U-sol's wail, Reisi, Yoon Na-rin, and Fergus headed to their rooms. I followed behind them, calling out to Han U-sol.
"Fighting."
It was the path you chose. Grit your teeth and bear it.
Han U-sol stared off in a daze.
I went into my room, roughly tidied up, and flopped onto the bed. Looking out the window, I could faintly make out a blue shimmer in the distance. The barrier enveloping the entire city.
Out here in the remote outskirts, it was even visible to the naked eye. The blue barrier shimmering softly in the moonlight was quite the sight.
If X District's security were good, it might've been a tourist spot.
'Anyway, starting tomorrow, we'll be working from here.'
What to do first? Just patrol like in B District? Fergus probably had some idea.
I sighed. Part lament for living in this dump, part frustration at the Hero Association's laziness and incompetence for not even providing a proper handover.
Whatever. Things would work out somehow after waking up tomorrow. I pulled the blanket over and closed my eyes.
Viiiing- From outside the window came the sound of Han U-sol running the trimmer.
'Ugh, noisy. Time to sleep.'
I pulled the blanket over my head.
"If you're going out, wear this."
"What's this?"
"It's the armband that proves you're a hero in X District. Wear it, and at least no one will pick a fight. Put it on and, for your first day, take a light walk around to get your bearings."
Fergus handed over a blue armband. I took it and slipped it onto my right arm.
"I thought we'd come here totally blind with no plan, but the principal had it all figured out."
"Truth be told, it was no plan at first, but I called the association last night and they told me."
"I see."
The sliver of respect I'd had for Fergus evaporated.
I fiddled with the armband by hand. Ahh... this cool, heavy feel. How many years had it been?
I was no stranger to sporting armbands across all sorts of major communities.
Unjust oppression, abuse of power—the so-called armband antics. I had plenty of experience. The screams from crackdowns on floaters? Music to my ears.
"What you all need to do here isn't much different from downtown. Patrols and standby. That's the basics for heroes working in the city."
Though judging by the vibe, it probably won't be as peaceful as downtown. Fergus added.
"But Professor, your armband's a different color."
"Ah, I'm your supervisor, you see. Hence the different color."
Fergus was wearing an orange armband.
"Supervisor?"
"Security here's poor, so some might try to bribe you. It happens occasionally with crime groups big and small trying to grease hero palms. The supervisor watches to make sure you don't take bribes or favors—do anything corrupt. Of course, you lot wouldn't, so it's basically a paid vacation. Kehkeh."
"Hoo..."
Quite the intriguing setup. Apparently, our predecessors got caught taking bribes somewhere.
With the current hero shortage, they couldn't just idle in the outskirts, so off to the front lines beyond the barrier they went.
We stepped out and walked the streets. For the first day, as Fergus said, we took a casual stroll to scout around.
There were brothels here. And bars and gambling dens bundled in. The classic red-light district.
Broke lives living day-to-day blow their cash on fleeting pleasures.
Booze, women, gambling. So X-5 was a neighborhood with some money flowing. Where the cash of clipped-wing moths gathered and circulated.
Money circulating drew tough guys. Bald heads, scarred faces, tattoos plastered on backs.
Yeah. Those were always the ones starting trouble.
"Kinda worrying."
"Yeah."
"They won't pick a fight just 'cause of the armbands, right? That'd be a hassle."
We entered the red-light district. We didn't want to, figuring trouble might brew, but most incidents were bound to happen here. Had to check it out.
People's eyes gathered on us with our armbands. We flinched at first, but the blue bands worked like a charm—no one picked a fight.
Even guys growling at each other like they were about to throw down averted their gazes upon seeing us pass, not wanting the hassle, and quietly went their ways.
Makes sense. Most folks here had some skeleton in the closet. No one itching to stir trouble and tangle with heroes.
Besides, "tough" was only by civilian standards. No way any lunatic would mess with actual heroes.
'...I was worried for nothing.'
My shoulders tensed up unnecessarily. Watching the crowd part like the Red Sea at the sight of our armbands gave me a superiority rush.
"This is... the power of the armband?"
I'd thought it'd be nothing but danger and hassle... but maybe it wasn't so bad? Reisi walking beside me muttered.
I called out to her.
"Reisi."
"Yeah?"
"First time wearing one?"
"Uh-huh."
Really? In that case...
"From now on, I'll teach you how to properly throw your weight around with the armband."