Meeting
Meeting
"Kieeeek! I am Reptilian! Stardus, the likes of you are no match for—graaagh!"
"...Too much talking."
After one-punching another villain rampaging in downtown Seoul, Shin Ha-ru headed home.
Today was the day she was finally meeting her friend Lee Seol-ah after a long time.
Even though they were the same age, Seol-ah was usually incredibly busy—running a company as its president while also working as a hero under the name Icicle.
So a day when Seol-ah, who mostly operated in Busan, came up to Seoul like today was rare, and Ha-ru was going to see her for the first time in a while.
...Even though things had been a little awkward since that incident in Busan.
"Hoo..."
Right. Still, that had been my fault.
I'd misunderstood and ended up looking as though I were threatening Seol-ah, who was simply doing her best as a hero.
Of course, I still didn't understand how Seol-ah could smile that brightly at a villain.
When we met that day, I would talk to her more about Egostic.
And I needed to apologize first. I hadn't been able to do it properly because we hadn't met since that day.
With those thoughts, Shin Ha-ru headed to their meeting spot.
...Carrying a little awkwardness.
***
"Oh, Ha-ru! Come in, it's really been so long!"
Contrary to her worries, Seol-ah greeted her with the same bright smile as always.
If anything, her attitude made the guilt prick harder, and Ha-ru apologized once more for what happened in Busan.
"Huh? Oh, don't carry that around in your heart. It was completely understandable. I'd have felt the same way."
Seol-ah just laughed it off as if it had never bothered her to begin with.
Having resolved that past incident, Ha-ru felt a little relieved.
With a light heart for the first time in a while, she shared bingsu with Seol-ah and they talked about this and that.
After talking about all sorts of things, the two of them
finally began drifting toward that subject.
"Ah. And, about Egostic."
The moment that name came out of Seol-ah's mouth, Ha-ru tensed up without meaning to.
Whether Seol-ah noticed or not, she kept talking.
"Last time, he came down to Busan and fought me. That was our first time facing each other."
"Yeah..."
The words made her think of Egostic, who had come all the way to Busan himself while sending just a single underling to Seoul, where she was. She tightened her grip on her teacup without realizing it.
Seol-ah, seeming not to notice, went on.
"That time. I exchanged a few words with him. You know what he said? The reason he attacked Busan was that his airship was already nearby, so he just came by to kill time. Isn't that ridiculous? That villain apparently treats terrorism like a joke."
"Haha... really?"
Listening to her, Ha-ru focused on one part of what Seol-ah said.
...So the Busan attack was just an improvisation to kill time? Not planned like what he did in Seoul before?
Just as she thought that and unknowingly relaxed her grip on the cup.
Seol-ah added one more thing.
"And Ha-ru, from what I saw when I met him? You don't really need to pay that much attention to Egostic."
"Huh...?"
Ha-ru tilted her head at the sudden remark.
...Don't need to pay attention? Isn't Egostic the single most influential villain operating in Korea right now?
She looked at Seol-ah with that doubt, and Seol-ah answered as if there was a reason.
"No, I mean it. After that attack in Busan, I looked into it, and there were practically zero civilian casualties. So do you really need to obsess over him that much?"
"...He's still a terrorist."
"Sure he is, but we're heroes. Why do we do hero work? Isn't it all to save people? So instead of focusing on Egostic, who causes very little civilian harm, I think we should focus more on other villains."
"..."
That doesn't sound right...
While Shin Ha-ru was racking her brain for counterarguments, Seol-ah drove the point home.
"I think you're paying way too much attention to Egostic these days. Last time too... you did. I get that you two are like archenemies or something, but obsessing over only him can't be good for you."
That stung a little, and Ha-ru didn't argue back, just quietly took another bite of bingsu. She really had overreacted by going all the way down to Busan, so she didn't have much ground to argue.
Maybe reading her mood, Seol-ah kept going.
Egostic only attacks occasionally anyway—couldn't they just pay attention when it happens and not be on guard when he's inactive?
Pouring every resource into trying to capture a villain who didn't even hurt civilians was a waste.
Her long point, in conclusion, was to stop focusing exclusively on Egostic. His attack cycles were long and there were no civilian casualties anyway.
"..."
Honestly, Ha-ru didn't really agree with Seol-ah's words. Looking at the things Egostic did, was it even possible to not pay attention to him?
But separate from that, it was true that Ha-ru herself was getting too deeply invested in Egostic. Even if Seol-ah probably didn't mean it like that.
By then, whenever an attack alert appeared, her first thought was whether it was Egostic.
...Yeah. Maybe. Maybe it would be right to care just a little less about Egostic than she currently did. Honestly, lately, when she thought "villain," she thought only about Egostic. Even though there were plenty of other villains.
So Ha-ru said okay for now.
"Yeah. Good thinking. If you get hung up on just one person, all you get is stress."
Lee Seol-ah said that with a bright, satisfied smile.
And as she looked at her,
Ha-ru felt an inexplicable discomfort.
"Yeah..."
A certain intuition had lingered since she saw Lee Seol-ah laughing and chatting in front of Egostic.
And after meeting her today, the suspicion had only grown.
The suspicion that Seol-ah was hiding something from her, and the intuition that there was another reason behind what she was saying.
But suspecting her without any evidence would be nothing more than baseless conjecture, so Ha-ru rejected the thought.
...Right. As her friend, Seol-ah had simply offered advice. It probably looked unhealthy to see her so obsessed with Egostic. What would Seol-ah gain if Ha-ru distanced herself from him?
Seol-ah was her friend. She had only advised her for her own sake. There could not be another reason.
Having reached that tentative conclusion, Ha-ru buried the unease and suspicion deep in her heart and decided to follow Seol-ah's advice. Right. She would stop thinking so excessively about Egostic.
Looking at Seol-ah, who was still smiling, Ha-ru gave her a small smile in return.
...Even though a faint sense of unease remained.
***
After Ha-ru left.
Lee Seol-ah, alone, leaned back in her chair and offered a small apology to Egostic in her mind.
'...I'm sorry, Dain. But you only told me to get close to Stardus. You never said how.'
Smiling faintly, she tilted the last of her teacup.
...The truth was, she knew. Egostic paid far too much attention to Stardus, and Shin Ha-ru had recently begun paying more and more attention to Egostic too.
And if that kept going, and the two of them got too close? What if Ha-ru learned Egostic's secret and they moved past the hero-villain antagonism, and turned into the kind of relationship she herself had with him?
...That would not be a good thing. The two of them were better off staying enemies.
Because Lee Seol-ah was the type of person who, once she set her sights on something, never let it be taken from her.
That was why she had used this chance to point out Ha-ru's excessive focus on Egostic and repeatedly told her—almost as if brainwashing her—to abandon her suspicion and obsession. Ha-ru had always listened to Seol-ah well.
By the end, it seemed to have gotten through, so Seol-ah was relieved.
...Besides, Dain had said he wouldn't stage any more attacks that year. Making Ha-ru keep waiting for him could not be good for her either.
She would keep telling Ha-ru to stop thinking about Egostic whenever they met. It was all for Ha-ru's sake.
Thinking that, Seol-ah recalled Dain saying he would not stage any more attacks that year.
...When he said it, his expression had seemed less like he was planning to rest until then and more like he was preparing for something.
A slightly stiffened face, and a voice pitched lower than usual.
Seol-ah, reading his attitude through the eyes of a businessperson, could only guess.
...Just what was going to happen the following year for his expression to harden the moment he mentioned it?
***
"Believers, the Great Hierophant will now speak."
A dark space.
There, an old man's metallic voice filled the hall.
"Ahem... our proud faithful of the Moonlight Church. Today as always, we await the descent of the eternal moon."
"The day when we finally show the world our radiant moon is near."
"The day when this world, ruled by fallen angels and lesser demons, will be cleansed by moonlight! The day we display our faith! It has finally been set, brothers and sisters!"
"On that night next year, when a great moon fills the sky—the day the Moon God arrives and yin energy is at its strongest—the Moon Priestess herself will punish those foolish apostates!"
"Moonlight, eternal!"
"Moonlight! Moonlight! Moonlight! Moonlight!"
With the old man's words finished, the roar of thousands filled the space.
Only the violet candles fixed to the walls flickered helplessly in the wind.
Somewhere in Seoul, in a place no one knew.
The aura of destruction drew closer with every passing moment.
***
"Looks like those bastards are about to start their shit."
[Dain, what are you talking about all of a sudden?]
"It's nothing."
A cult that wanted to destroy the entire world, not just South Korea.
They would probably begin preparing to move soon.
"Hah... This world is full of misery triggers. I should clean everything up quickly and retire."
Why did world-ending bastards keep sprouting like weeds no matter how many I pulled out...?
It was exhausting.
With that in mind, I opened the Stardus fan cafe.
There was... no other way to heal...!
[Dain. Why do you search for that woman every single day?]
I ignored Desik without hesitation.
I wished he would not interfere with my only hobby.