101
Ch.101 Another, Cat Out For A Walk.
W-City, Hero Headquarters.
Electress, dressed in casual clothes, enjoyed a sense of relaxation she had never felt in A-City as she sipped cola and munched on potato chips.
Lying sideways on the bed, she held a game controller in her hand. It had been so long since she last lounged like this, playing games.
Lost in thought, Electress reminisced about her daily life in A-City.
Wake up in the morning, spread her abilities to detect monsters with an electromagnetic field, patrol all of A-City to hunt villains, eat, and detect monsters again before bed.
Monsters, whose sole purpose was to devour humans, appeared more frequently and easily in densely populated areas.
As a result, A-City was under constant threat from monsters.
After Meister discovered a temporary solution to repel monsters below the Crush-class, they focused mainly on dealing with Disaster-class and above monsters.
With Kage’s ability, they could eliminate monsters without worrying about collateral damage. So it was just exterminate, exterminate, exterminate, exterminate…
Compared to that, W-City had far too few monsters. To Electress, W-City felt strange.
Despite its population density, the number of monsters was suspiciously low, as if someone had already cleared out all the monsters in the area.
But W-City heroes claimed that even this was a lot for them.
It had been three days since the Black Cat disappeared again.
W-City heroes, fatigued, patrolled daily as monster sightings gradually increased.
Regardless, Electress had been busy catching up on sleep and relaxation.
"Electress, we need to talk."
"Do you not know how to knock?"
Just then, Yoo Anna, looking exhausted, opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.
Electress frowned and activated her ability, blocking Yoo Anna in place.
"Now you’re not even wearing proper clothes…"
"Don’t come any further. If you have something to say, say it from there. You reek of monsters."
"The one that stinks is this room! Air it out, what is that smell?"
Yoo Anna, who had likely just returned from slaying a monster, carried the stench of monster bodily fluids scorched by high heat.
Recognizing the familiar odor, Electress emitted a wave of aggressive energy strong enough to dull the senses as a warning.
Yoo Anna, halted at the entrance, glared at Electress with resentment.
"I can’t stand this anymore. While you’re here, you’re joining patrols too."
"Why should I? I’m not even supposed to be here."
Electress insisted that, officially, she wasn’t in W-City.
From the beginning, Meister’s presence in W-City had been top-secret—even now, while she was recovering from ability overload.
If Electress helped with patrols and the increasing monster sightings, wouldn’t the citizens notice she was here?
"If I’m seen, people will get suspicious. Rumors will spread, and eventually, they’ll find out Meister is here too. Why create unnecessary variables?"
"W-City has its own electric ability users. Wear a helmet, disguise yourself, pretend you’re not you."
"What about guarding Meister?"
"You’re not even guarding her, just lazing around."
"This is guarding! I’m staying within range to appear instantly if needed."
Truthfully, Electress was only lounging in her room for Meister’s sake.
Thinking of Meister recently, Electress unconsciously frowned.
Lately, Meister has changed. Her old habits—barely sleeping, acting erratically, causing trouble—had suddenly vanished.
Her face looked brighter after proper sleep, and she no longer took her usual medication.
When Electress checked on her out of obligation, Meister even attempted conversation, messy as it was, instead of reading her mind and spouting nonsense with reckless ability use.
Despite the other heroes’ warnings, she had never listened before—so why the sudden change? Was there something in W-City?
"If you don’t like me staying in one place, go complain about Meister locking herself in her room."
Even so, Meister remained holed up in her room. She claimed she had something to make and, as usual, refused to come out.
So Electress stayed nearby, keeping watch.
"You don’t even need to guard her from the military anymore, right?"
Yoo Anna’s next words struck a nerve.
"A-City heroes and soldiers were talking. They said you came not just to protect Meister from monsters but also because you don’t trust the military?"
"It’s the opposite. Those stupid soldiers, mere obsolete citizens, don’t trust heroes."
"Yeah, yeah. The heroes from W-City heard that and couldn’t believe how dumb A-City is."
"You wouldn’t know, stuck in a backwater like W-City, but the government has tried to assassinate Meister multiple times. Claims she might recreate the Master Code or knows too many government secrets."
"That was just a faction within the government. Not them, right? You talked with them this time, so you know. They’re just Meister fanatics."
"Hmph."
That so-called dialogue was another absurdity. In A-City, the moment superpower humans tried to talk, those inferior specimens would get angry and refuse to listen. So why was it that in W-City, the heroes were suddenly trustworthy?
"We all protect Meister together, so you should pitch in too. Perfect opportunity, right?"
"What’s so perfect about it?"
"You don’t know W-City’s patrol routes, do you? Take this chance to pair up, get to know the other heroes. Besides Iron Might—"
"Hah? Why are you suddenly bringing up Iron Light or Tight or whatever?"
"You only hang out with him. It’s all over the hero gossip mill."
"Since when? What gossip? What are you even talking about? Ugh, disgusting."
Electress’ voice turned prickly at the mention of the hero’s name. Yoo Anna, startled by the sharp reaction, offered advice.
"Since we’re on the topic, even for an S-rank hero, dragging around an A-rank hero like an errand boy doesn’t look good."
"Errand boy?"
"Iron Might has a good temper, so he tolerates it. But do you know what people are saying? That you’re so deep in superpower human elitism, you won’t even treat lower-tier ability users like humans."
Electress blinked, lowering her voice slightly.
"...What’s it to you? And I’m not using him as an errand boy. He just does whatever I say."
"Same difference."
Yoo Anna, tired of arguing, sighed openly.
"Anyway, starting tomorrow, you’re joining patrols. If we alternate, Meister’s safety won’t be an issue. With your ability, cleaning up Terror-class monsters is nothing, right? Just a short stint, go around with the others. And go easy on Iron Might. He’s nice, but if you keep treating him like a subordinate, people will resent you."
"Hah, since when do I care about others’ opinions? What does it matter if I bully some half-baked A-rank nobody?"
"Sigh…"
It was true that Electress had no real obligation to patrol in W-City. And as Yoo Anna said, if S-rank heroes took shifts, Meister’s safety wouldn’t be compromised.
Ultimately, Electress’ refusal to mingle with the others drew another sigh from Yoo Anna as she turned to leave—but paused.
"Oh, and do you know where Iron Might is? Where is he? Patrol’s about to start, and he hasn’t shown up to switch."
"How should I know where Iron Fight or whatever is?"
"You’re the one always bossing him around."
"Hah, so I’m supposed to know everything? You don’t even know where the Black Cat is, and you’re always ordering him around."
"If you don’t know, just say so. Why the attitude?"
"Mind your own business."
Yoo Anna scowled and slammed the door shut. Moments later, as Electress’ energy subsided, Iron Might emerged from under a blanket in the corner of the room.
"Is she gone?"
"Can’t you tell?"
"Ugh, I’m in so much trouble. I’m totally late for my shift. Why’d she have to come now?"
"Then why did you have to sleep in my room until this hour?"
"Well, you’re the one who—"
"Shut up and put on some proper clothes."
Iron Might hurriedly prepared to leave. Electress, still sprawled on the bed, eating chips, glared at the door in irritation.
"Why doesn’t that Starlight brat knock before opening the door? What if I hadn’t sensed her coming?"
"You don’t knock before opening my door either, Lia."
"Hah? A S-rank doesn’t need to knock on an A-rank door, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah. But, um, could you be careful about bringing up the Black Cat around Senior Yoo Anna? She’s already on edge since the Black Cat suddenly disappeared."
"Worried? About a Despair-class monster? Please. He’s probably just off on another stroll like last time."
As Electress said, W-City heroes assumed the Black Cat had gone to clear out another monster nest nearby. It had happened before, and he’d returned, so they weren’t as worried as last time. But Yoo Anna, who knew the Black Cat could speak, was uneasy about his leaving without a word.
The other heroes, unaware of the truth, joked that Yoo Anna was just anxious because she was running low on the Black Cat essence.
"Senior must really like the Black Cat, huh?"
"A hero who loves and worries about a monster? W-City is full of weirdos."
Thus, the rumors of Yoo Anna being the Black Cat otaku grew worse. And the other Black Cat enthusiasts—W-City’s citizens—were growing increasingly agitated as his absence dragged on.
[Where’s the Black Cat? Where’s the Black Cat? Where’s the Black Cat? Where’s the Black Cat?]
[I’m not worried he’s dead, but for a monster, this stroll is taking a while…]
[Just how far did he go for a walk?! Come home and eat something!]
[Kitty… Where are you? What are you doing? Are you eating well…?]
Literally suffering from the Black Cat withdrawal, some citizens even gathered in parks for group prayers.
"The Mioong faction is praying for the Black Cat’s safe return! All are welcome to join!"
"Pray with us now and receive the Black Cat keychain!"
"Oh mighty feline, who ventures forth to slay monsters for humanity’s safety, may the day of salvation come soon…"
"When will our kitty return~? What is he doing~?"
The sheer sincerity of these gatherings left even the Black Cat Mioong members speechless—not because they believed their goal of freeing the Black Cat had been achieved, nor out of respect for the others’ wishes for his return.
[If the Black Cat really ran away, think of the damage to humanity! We should’ve dissected him first… Next time he comes back, we have to capture and dissect him.]
[Why are these Meowng bastards still around?]
[We beat them up so much, and they’re still here?]
[If the Black Cat did run, it’s because of these idiots. They say he’s smart enough to understand speech—no way he didn’t leave after hearing their crap.]
With the Black Cat gone, the citizens’ nerves were frayed beyond reason. Posting about dissection or liberation on forums got the thread bombarded with reports and deleted instantly, sometimes by moderators preemptively.
"But what if the Black Cat didn’t go monster-hunting? What if he left because he didn’t like W-City?"
"What do we do? Go beg him to come back, obviously."
"But if he settles in another city, shouldn’t we just let him? Don’t they deserve a monster like the Black Cat too?"
"Huh? You…"
"Hey! We got a Whyong here!"
"You’re done for."
"Eek! Why are you— Aah! AAAH!"
Mentioning the Black Cat’s liberation or dissection in public earned you a fist to the face. The Whyong faction screamed as citizens beat them almost to death.
"This is the police! We received a violence report. Stop immediately!"
"Tch! Who snitched?!"
"What’s going on here? Why are you—?!"
"S-Save me! It’s me! I just said we should dissect the Black Cat, and these people—!"
"Ah, carry on. I’ll be leaving now."
"W-Wait! Police! POLICE!"
If by some chance the Black Cat hadn’t just gone for a stroll but truly left W-City, the Whyong were the only possible reason. The citizens, united in this belief, cleansed the Whyong without a shred of guilt—all so the Black Cat might return.
And so, from the battered Whyong to the rest of W-City, everyone waited.
[The Black Cat’s Return Prayer #324]
[When will our kitty return? What is he doing?]
[The downside of having a stroll-loving cat…]
[Kitty! The beef in the fridge will spoil if you don’t come back soon!]