Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Mayor's Ransom
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Run. Run away again. Escape once more. Flee yet again.
From the shining threat named Polaris, we succeeded in tucking tail and running once more.
Bump.
The old bongo truck let out a precarious screech as it raced down the road.
We were now leaving Neo Incheon's outer loop road behind, speeding along a quiet back road.
Only two vehicles remained.
Of the four battered bongo trucks that had set out carrying my splendid vacation plans, half had already vanished into the dustbin of history.
"Misha... Leona... damn it!"
Sniffles from Sniffy.
His enhanced sense of smell was probably picking up even the salty tang mixed into his tears.
"They were precious friends...! If only I'd stayed a bit calmer...!"
A time for self-reflection. A rare sight for a villain.
But that arrow of self-reflection didn't last long before turning toward me.
"No. This is... all your fault, Mayor Lee Garam! It was all part of your scheme from the start. Wasn't it?"
"Scheme? What scheme? There are no schemes in my life. Only improvisation, quick thinking, and regrets."
I spoke the truth. Pure truth, like my life's motto, without a shred of falsehood.
"You deliberately provoked us into jumping that C-rank hero! Leona, Misha...! Our comrades got sacrificed because of your dirty incitement!"
Ah. Is this how Princess Cassandra of Troy felt?
That terrible loneliness of foretelling the truth, yet no one believing you.
No, my situation was even worse than Cassandra's.
I hadn't prophesied. I'd merely stated the obvious.
"Hey, Sniffy. Use that keen nose of yours to sniff out any whiff of lies from me. I was purely worried about you guys. Polaris isn't just some C-rank—she's way stronger than she looks, so don't pick a fight and just bolt. Was that really so hard to grasp?"
"That's exactly the trap! You cleverly scratched our pride, making us lose our rational judgment!"
His interpretive skills were almost admirable.
This guy would ace the literature section.
What a talent for twisting the author's intent this far.
"No. It was the literal meaning. 100% pure fact, no more, no less."
"Shut up! Those cold eyes of yours say it all! You've only ever seen us as pawns!"
Conversation impossible.
Not a failure to communicate.
The very attempt at communication was pointless.
I shut my mouth. Any more excuses would only harm my mental health.
How long had we been driving?
The two bongo trucks entered Neo Incheon's remotest industrial zone.
That was when it happened.
"Huh?"
One of the crew gripping the wheel let out a short sound.
Something ahead.
A small figure crouched in the road.
"A cat?"
Right in the middle of the street.
A calico cat perched in a crack in the asphalt, calmly loafing.
That brazen, comfortable pose.
That haughty, noble bearing.
"Nero...?"
No. Why here, now, of all places—that guy.
Why was City Hall's official mascot and king of Catopia taking a stroll in such a dump?
Had it followed me?
"Oh, a cat."
"Hard to spot strays these days."
"Kuhuhu, perfect timing when I'm bored."
The gang member in the passenger seat grinned sinisterly.
Name... I didn't remember. Not important. And it wouldn't be for much longer.
"Been feeling cooped up anyway—perfect. Tormenting strays is my hobby, but the city's been sweeping them up lately. Hands have been itching."
He opened the door and stepped out.
I reflexively reached to grab his arm.
"W-Wait! Stop! Not that cat! You absolutely can't touch it!"
Everyone in the truck stared at me like I was crazy at my desperate shout.
"What, Mayor? Fuss over one cat?"
"Cat Mayor really loves cats, huh. Worry about yourself."
"That tiny thing can't do jack. One kick and it'll fly to that wall over there."
No. No.
This wasn't worry for me—it was for you lot.
For your lives, your safety, your bodily integrity.
"No, it's not on that level! That one's not just any cat...!"
"Come on, Mayor. Just blowing off steam."
Three gang members snickered as they headed toward the cat.
"Here, kitty. Come play with big brothers."
Knuckles glinted in his hand.
It was over.
I quietly closed my eyes.
Lord, grant this poor soul a painless passage to the next life.
Nero merely yawned lazily, as if annoyed.
Then it let out a low meow.
Nerorong—
The next instant.
The laws of physics took a brief vacation.
Mass went haywire, the scale of existence redefined.
Nero's body swelled.
1 meter, 2 meters, 3 meters...
The small, cute furball transformed in an instant into a monster the size of a large truck.
Myaoong!
Nero's massive forepaw crushed the villains.
"Keuk!"
The scream was very brief.
Crunch.
With the sound of something being pulverized, the scream cut off.
"W-What... that monster!"
"R-Run! Giant cat!"
As the remaining villains panicked and scrambled for the truck.
Nero leaped high.
Target: the No. 3 truck following behind.
Boom!
The bongo truck crumpled into an unrecognizable heap. Windows shattered, metal sheets folding like paper.
The people inside... I didn't want to think about it.
Run again.
Sniffy at the wheel was nearly sobbing. His foot mashed the accelerator to pieces.
The bongo truck wrung out every ounce of power and shot forward.
I glanced back in the rearview mirror.
The giant Nero was no longer pursuing us.
It simply wagged its tail contentedly and meowed 'nyang' in satisfaction.
To that one, it had all been mere play.
"Kuuk... Lee Garam!"
Sniffy howled. His voice was ragged.
"Again! You tricked us again! You knew about that monster cat!"
I didn't reply.
I didn't even feel wronged anymore.
I merely gazed out the window into the darkness with the resignation of a sage who had accepted all.
Yeah.
It was all my fault.
My very birth into this world had been the mistake.
After twists and turns, the bongo truck finally reached its destination.
An abandoned container yard near Neo Incheon Port.
A bleak place where rusted containers were stacked like grotesque towers.
This seemed to be Black Hound's hideout.
The expedition that had set out ambitiously with four bongo trucks.
Only one had returned.
The survivors numbered less than a quarter of the original crew.
The leader Sniffy, me, and one or two terrified underlings—that was it.
As we climbed out, figures emerged from the shadows of the containers.
"Sniffy! What the hell happened!"
"The others...?"
Sniffy hung his head without a word.
His silence said everything.
That was when it happened.
"It's fine. We still have the mayor."
All eyes turned to me.
In their gazes, I saw a faint but unmistakable glimmer of hope.
"Right! We just need God Garam! Demand 100 billion in ransom! No, 200 billion!"
"Buy top-tier gear with that cash! New plasma rifles and power suits from the Songdo research complex! Reborn as a B-rank—no, A-rank villain outfit!"
"Yeah! This failure was just a stepping stone for our big leap! We'll get stronger! It's the era of Black Hound 2.0!"
They hugged each other and cheered.
Hope blooming amid the ruins—truly absurd and utterly baseless.
Optimism, or just plain stupidity?
Probably the latter.
Positivity. Or optimism. Or just a brain devoid of wrinkles.
These men before me had found a ray of hope in utter desperation.
Of course, the source of that hope was me, Lee Garam.
Not a particularly pleasant role, but what could I do?
Creak—
In the end, I was bound to an old chair.
The cheap ropes around my wrists and ankles felt unpleasant.
"Now you look the part."
This was the current state of my golden vacation.
A hideout ringed by rusted containers. The musty stench of dust stinging my nose.
And the sparkling eyes of fools swollen with hope.
"To negotiate the ransom, we'll need a way to contact them."
Sniffy rummaged through my jacket's inner pocket.
His rough hands pulled something out.
My smartphone.
"Oh, latest model, huh? Mayor's got class."
He grinned and waved the smartphone.
Then he brought his thumb to the power button.
No.
Not that.
Of all the buttons in the world, that was the one you must never press.
"No! Stop! Please! Don't turn on the smartphone!"
Sniffy's finger froze mid-air at my desperate plea.
"What?"
He eyed me suspiciously.
"Why so desperate, Mayor? Hiding something in there? Some secret gadget to send a rescue signal behind our backs?"
"No such high-tech crap! It's just a normal smartphone!"
"Then why the hysterics?"
"Don't turn it on! Just don't! The moment you do, we're all dead! Pressing that power button—that instant becomes our collective death anniversary!"
"Ha! Chatty hostage. Now I'm even more curious."
Human folly: tell them not to, and they want to all the more.
Especially types with simple brain structures like these guys.
Press—
Sniffy demonstratively held down the power button long.
The familiar boot jingle sounded, and the screen lit up.
And there it was.
[Missed Calls: Pink-Haired Disaster (47)]
[Messages: 99+]
"...Pink-Haired Disaster?"
Sniffy peered at the screen and tilted his head.
"What is this? Girlfriend? 47 missed calls? 99+ messages? Obsession level's insane."
"Then what about that blonde hero earlier?"
"Oh ho. She'd kill you if she found out? Cheating, huh?"
"Mayor's girl—kinda curious what she's like."
You naive, foolish mutts with brains pure as driven snow.
The contact name says it all.
Disaster. DISASTER!
Not some lover's clingy affection—literal harbinger of doom!
"You idiots! Why'd you turn on the phone! It's got a location tracker! Seria's coming!"
"Seria? That her name? So what? Let her come. Perfect timing—we need her for ransom talks anyway."
They still hadn't grasped the situation.
They didn't know.
Seria Park.
My competent, beautiful, and lethally dangerous secretary.
The woman who pierced foes with cold eyes and whispered poison in a honey-sweet voice.
The fact that once she set her sights on a target, she'd hunt them to the ends of the earth—an incarnation of tenacity.
That was when it happened.
Viiiing—
The smartphone vibrated, the screen lighting up once more.
Caller, of course:
[Pink-Haired Disaster]
"Oh, incoming call—perfect."
One of them shouted excitedly.
"Demand the ransom straight from her."
Sniffy snickered and pressed the call button. Then switched to speakerphone.
"Hello."
[Who is this?]
The voice from the speaker was cold as ice, clear as crystal.
"We have Neo Incheon Mayor Lee Garam. Want him back safe? Prepare 100 billion in cash and one escape helicopter. Alert the Special Task Force, and the mayor dies."
Classic third-rate villain spiel.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Please.
[Mayor Lee Garam?]
The voice from the speaker was cold and dry.
[Don't know anyone like that.]
"...What?"
The grin vanished from Sniffy's face.
[Ignores calls, skips every scheduled duty, vanishes without a word, and gets kidnapped by mere C-rank villain trash. That kind of irresponsible person isn't the mayor I know.]
Huh?
"Seria! It's me! Lee Garam! You're mad, right? Sorry! It was all my fault!"
I shouted desperately.
A very brief silence flowed from the speaker.
[No. I'm not mad at all.]
Her voice was one tone softer and gentler than usual.
The highest-grade danger signal.
[You always stressed how important communication with citizens is. Experiencing daily life firsthand in such a creative way. As expected of the mayor. Admirable.]
She's mad! Totally mad!
100 percent, no, 1,000 percent furious!
The rage from ignored calls, broken schedules, and vanishing without word—all condensed into that sarcasm!
"No! Seria! Wait! Hear me out! This isn't communication—it's kidnapping! A real kidnapping!"
[I see. Then enjoy your kidnapping. I'm busy, so goodbye.]
Click.
Tu-tu-tu—
The call ended there.
Silence fell.
Only the dry machine tone filled the container.
All eyes turned to me.
Gazes filled with suspicion, distrust, and blatant killing intent.
Huh? The atmosphere had turned vicious.