Provocation
Provocation
The Round Table.
At that solemn gathering filled with countless villains, the man with the red mohawk sitting across from me, Hichkan, was running his mouth.
Well, it wasn't bad as a way to liven up the dull meeting. Besides, watching that kind of thing was the most entertaining part anyway.
The problem was, he was running it at me.
"Come on, let's all think about this. Where are we? This is a place where S-rank villains who each lead their own organizations have gathered, isn't it? So does it make sense for some A-rank villain like that to be here?"
The redhead shrugged as he said that.
In that situation where a few people were looking this way, wondering what was going on with the sudden commotion...
Faced with the redhead who was speaking to me, I just quietly smiled without any particular retort.
Why?
"You rascal!!!"
Because old man Atlas beside me was stepping up on my behalf.
Atlas slammed his fist on the Round Table, practically rising to his feet, and exploded with fury as he shouted at the bastard.
"You spout whatever nonsense comes out of that mouth! How dare you say such things to a friend of Atlas?! You scoundrel!"
"...No, really. Did I say anything wrong?"
"Gal!!!"
Now old man Atlas was almost half out of his chair, seemingly ready to leap over and beat the redhead down. His shouting was so loud that even with translation magic, his curses were almost bleeding through in his original language.
Faced with that, Hichkan was still smirking with his arms crossed, but I could see he was clearly a bit rattled. He probably didn't expect Atlas to step in here.
...No, I was even whispering back and forth with Atlas right here — didn't he see that? Anyway, just as Atlas was about to summon a window to fight this guy...
"Enough."
The clear voice of Celeste, who was seated all the way at the far end, suddenly rang out.
"...Violence can never be tolerated in a sacred meeting. Everyone, please calm yourselves."
"...Hmph, tch."
"..."
Some kind of white, circular barrier appeared around the Round Table, separating the two of them.
Atlas clicked his tongue roughly and sat back down, while Hichkan rested his chin on his hand with a displeased expression.
...Well, in the end, it only finished once Celeste intervened.
Phew. What a sudden ruckus.
The guy with the red mohawk still looked particularly upset, probably because things had not gone as he had planned. Even so, he apparently did not have the nerve to challenge Atlas, a man capable of attacking cities across the globe at the same time, so he merely clicked his tongue and stayed put.
Hmm, this is why people need connections.
And so, the sudden fight was over. There was a chance the atmosphere around the Round Table would have become awkward because of that sudden incident... but as if no one cared one bit, the introductions continued right where they left off, like nothing had happened.
As expected of seasoned villains, they didn't seem concerned no matter what exploded. I supposed everyone was accustomed to this kind of chaos.
Anyway, the meeting proceeded smoothly again like that. But one difference was that a few subtle glances were now directed my way. Precisely, they were looks that said, 'Who's that guy to be such close friends with Atlas?'
Atlas might have looked like an old-timer, but even among these exceptional villains he was one of the strongest. The fact that he was angry on my behalf naturally made them curious about our relationship, especially because I was only A-rank.
That was a problem. I hadn't expected to draw this kind of attention from the very first day.
...No wait, now that it's come to this???
Of course, regardless of what I did, Celeste, the head of the conference, didn't spare me another glance. Well, she'd have known Atlas and I were close, since he had been the one to recommend me in the first place.
Anyway, the order that started with Celeste circled around and around and finally reached the short-haired, blond knight sitting right next to her.
"...My name is Arthur. I'm the leader of the Seven Heavens Knights."
The man finished his introduction briefly.
Someone wearing armor stood out a bit, but since there were people with even more outlandish outfits than his, no one paid him much attention.
However, I alone paid close attention to him.
Arthur. He introduced himself as the leader of the Seven-Whatever, but in short, he's Celeste's right-hand man. Since the Seven Heavens Knights are a subordinate organization under Celeste's Eteria alliance in the first place. You can tell just by looking at him sitting next to Celeste.
For your information, that man's ability is easy to mistake for something combat-related because of the armor and all in his knightly outfit... but that's a cover. He has a more special ability.
It was the ability to assess a person's threat level—or rather, their strength. That ability was how he'd immediately become one of Celeste's core confidants. One of Celeste's goals for the conference was probably to evaluate the other villains' threat levels.
Of course, a weak and harmless man like me was no concern. What sort of assessment could I have received with only teleportation, telekinesis, and perhaps dark tentacles? I wouldn't have been surprised if they considered me C-rank. There was no way Celeste would pay attention to me that day, so if I wanted to demonstrate my influence, I would have to run my mouth some other time.
While I was thinking that, it finally made a full circle and came back to Celeste.
"I am Celeste, the leader of Eteria. And the convener of this gathering, Cathedral."
After unnecessarily restating a fact everyone already knew, she continued in a voice that carried a sense of sacredness.
"...Now that we have finished introducing ourselves to each other."
-I will now begin the main point, which is also the reason I established this gathering.
Celeste began her explanation in a clear and holy voice that remained pure and bright.
Cathedral. A gathering where all villains periodically meet once in a while.
The basic principle of this gathering is that each person shares at least one piece of high-level information they know.
Everyone here runs an organization, and with many ears to listen, they will have various pieces of information.
Let's share information that can be useful — be it the Association's movements, information on supernatural abilities, government politics, or international affairs.
She was suggesting that just as the Hero Association had branches in each country that freely shared information, villains should also gather and hold meetings to exchange information.
At her explanation, everyone nodded in agreement.
As people whose influence extended beyond a single city to countries and continents, they all understood the preciousness of information.
In other words, this gathering is beneficial for everyone.
Even though you have to divulge one piece of high-level information yourself, you can gain dozens of pieces in return. On top of that, Celeste manages it so a certain quality of information is maintained. If you keep offering only low-quality information, you'll be expelled from the gathering eventually.
So the general mood was one of agreement with Celeste's explanation.
She explained that, although they would share information that day as usual, anyone with nothing to contribute could simply pass for that session.
She began to share one piece of information she had prepared.
"Everyone. You must all be aware. The number of ability users is gradually increasing worldwide."
Several people nodded at those words. Well, it's a fact you can find out just by watching the news.
And then, Celeste dropped some shocking information from there.
"Because of this, the International Hero Association, which now has a smoother supply of heroes, plans to dispatch S-rank heroes from hero powerhouses like the United States to other countries. Everyone, please take special care."
The villains' faces hardened.
The atmosphere was one of disbelief that the U.S., which had been extremely reluctant to let its heroes leave the country, would do such a thing. But since it was Celeste who shared it, they couldn't afford not to believe it, so they just kept their grim faces.
Of course, because I already knew about it, I wasn't particularly moved. It wasn't as though they'd dispatch one to Korea anyway. All I had to do was deal with Stardus properly.
Anyway, after sharing her information, Celeste told everyone to take turns and share any information they had, if any.
The vast majority just passed. Well, they probably plan to share next time since they don't need to share today. They weren't prepared anyway.
Still, a few did share information they knew. Even those were mostly short, simple, and speculative pieces of information, though.
While that was happening, my turn was right around the corner before I knew it.
And then.
I thought for a second.
Originally, I hadn't planned to step forward on my first day either. I was just going to quietly pass.
But.
"..."
I looked over at that red mohawk who was still acting all cocky.
...Hmm. I'd already drawn attention because of him anyway.
Wouldn't it be fine to just step up?
And so, my turn came.
I decided to go ahead.
Yeah. Well, the sooner you secure influence, the better. And I even have a suitable sacrifice.
That Hichkan or whatever-his-name-is redhead is going to die in three months anyway, right?
"Hmm..."
After a moment of silence, I spoke.
"This is just something I heard too, but about Germany in Europe."
I started off like that.
As soon as his home country of Germany was mentioned, the redhead turned his head and showed interest.
With that, I continued speaking with a slight smile.
"There's a rumor that something huge is about to hit Germany. I advise you to be careful when going to Germany for the time being."
After saying that, I turned my head slightly toward the redhead.
"...Especially those of you living in Germany. Please be extra careful."
I met the bastard's eyes.
Then I smiled and added,
"Because who knows what kind of tragedy might happen within three months?"
It was a clear provocation, delivered with a slight chuckle.
The redhead didn't just take this quietly.
"You punk! How dare you threaten me!"
The guy slammed his fist on the table.
And not to be outdone, Atlas also slammed the table and jumped in.
"You rascal!!! Now you pick a fight even when he's giving you advice?!"
And so, the fight that was about to break out again was stopped, mediated again as Celeste let out a sigh.
In the end, Hichkan sat back down, his face as red as his hair, glaring this way. Naturally, I ignored him with a smile.
Well, that went well.
There was no way he would believe me, and he would die in that incident three months later anyway, so I no longer needed to worry about him.
My turn passed like that, and just like before, no one seemed to care much about the commotion that had just happened.
They just saw it as the usual kind of pissing contest between villains.
...Of course, when that guy actually dies from that incident in three months, who knows what they'll think then.
Even so, anyone could see that his death would have nothing to do with me, so no one could frame me for killing him merely because I had said this.
They'll just find it strange, though. How I knew it was going to happen. Of course, they could think I was just lucky with a guess... but they might also suspect that there's a chance I really did something.
Obviously, it'd look as though I had nothing to do with it, but suspicion might still linger that I had made some high-level move.
And that suspicion will make me seem all the more threatening.
Yes.
This is the way of the weak.
Making others mistake me for a dangerous guy. Packaging myself to appear stronger than I actually am.
And our redhead here is the scapegoat.
Well, since I wasn't actually going to do anything, perhaps that wasn't quite right. Though who knew how the others would see it?
While I was thinking that, the information-sharing session also came to an end.
With Celeste's final words that we would meet again in four months, the meeting was adjourned.
And so, everyone rose from their seats and headed back down the corridor they had come from.
On the way, the redhead glared at me again, but as expected, I ignored him with a smile. That was the last time I would see him in person. Good luck surviving the next three months.
"Hoo boy. You must have been a bit troubled by that weirdo, but it was still a pretty good meeting, wasn't it? Especially that last provocation of yours was magnificent! It was so refreshing. Hahahaha!"
"Haha, thank you for your help. I almost ran into trouble, but I dodged it well thanks to you, Atlas."
"Hahaha! Not at all, not at all! Of course I had to help!"
Laughing amicably like that, we headed back down the dark corridor we had come through.
Hmm. At last, I could go home.
Now that the big event is over, let's get some rest.
Even if no one had paid attention to me that day, it didn't matter. I could take things slowly from then on.
***
After everyone had left the Round Table.
In that dark place, Arthur reported to his superior, Celeste, in a serious voice.
"...Is that true?"
"Yes, Celeste. Out of everyone here, that man called Egostic... was judged to be the most dangerous, according to my ability."
"...Egostic."
Celeste stroked her own white hair and quietly fell into thought.