Chapter 151: The Counterattack Begins
Chapter 151: The Counterattack Begins
"Tsk, tsk. If you were that hungry for it, you should've just told this old man..."
"Oh, please."
The Association Chairman grumbled incessantly as he found the keys and released me from the holding cell. He kept muttering about how he knew this would happen and that I should've just come to him instead. For an older man, he had a surprisingly cute side to him.
"If I’d told you, you would’ve just made me do a threesome with Queen again. Or maybe some other woman. Believe it or not, I’m a Magical Girl who’s an idol to young girls; I don’t want to be someone’s mere concubine."
"What are you talking about? Compared to you, the others are nothing... K-Khem. Anyway, I get it. Next time I have you, I won't bring any other women to the bed."
"Are you making me your primary wife, then?"
When I laughed playfully, the Chairman let out a hollow, exasperated chuckle.
"Primary wife, my foot. They say young people these days are selfish, and they’re right. Just look at you—how many men do you have? And you’re saying that to me..."
"Waaah, I don't know! So, are you not going to pack my pussy, Daddy? Even though it’s a perverted pussy that sucks and slurps on your cock?"
As I acted coy, clinging to his arm and rubbing my breasts against him, the corners of the Chairman's mouth twitched. He looked pained, trying so hard to act dignified while clearly enjoying himself.
"You’ve really become a total female now. When you first became a girl, you used to blush and get embarrassed at the slightest prank. Now, you’re the definition of a female, acting cute for a male and flaunting your body."
"U-Ugh..."
Being told I’d put out for several men or that I was a concubine didn't faze me at all. But that last comment stung a little. I’d known the Association Chairman since the moment I’d transitioned from a man to a woman. From my days as a shy girl who knew nothing of lewdness to the perverted female I was now, he’d seen it all.
‘Actually, I was the one who blatantly seduced the Chairman first.’
It started after the Slime subjugation. I’d come out carrying slime offspring inside my womb, unable to escape the erotic haze, and showed my disheveled state to the man who happened to be there. Back then, I’d even soaked my pussy just from him giving my butt a "naughty" spanking without any real ill intent.
At the time, the Chairman didn't see me as an object of lust or a cock sleeve. It was only me who looked at the fatherly Chairman with greedy eyes. Of course, even then, he was a villain who used his hero rank to threaten and bed various female heroes, but at least his demonic clutches hadn't reached for me yet.
So, the fact that we were in this kind of relationship now meant I was the one who made the first move.
"I feel this way just looking at you, so I wonder how the guys who knew you when you were a man would feel."
"D-Don't say things like that. It makes me anxious. Not that there’s any way for them to find out, anyway."
"You never know. There might be a villain with telepathy, or one who can see memories..."
"Kyahhh...!"
To him, it was just a joke, but to me, it was a bone-chilling hypothetical. I was terrified to even imagine the reaction of my middle or high school classmates if they ever ran into me and realized that Magical Girl Floss was actually their old male friend.
"O-Okay, enough small talk! Hurry up and destroy the Core. We don't know who might show up."
"Hmm, I suppose so. It’s not like I entered through legitimate means, either."
"Oh, come to think of it, how did you get in?"
"Is it so surprising for a citizen to visit a police station? Haha."
The Association Chairman brushed it off vaguely. I figured he’d used either physical force or political power—likely both. Since he was a man who’d worked as a hero with strength enhancement abilities, his physical power remained superhuman even in his old age.
"I just have to use force and break it, right?"
"That’s what it seems. Right after the Core is destroyed and the Common Sense Alteration zone is deactivated, people tend to lose consciousness and collapse. We should use that window to delete any videos or photos of you and leave quietly."
"Nothing was filmed, so I think we just need to handle the CCTV."
"...No one took a picture of these tits?"
"Don't try to flatter me. It won't make me like you more."
Despite my words, I felt good inside. However, since it was a Common Sense Alteration zone, I was treated as a literal toilet, so it was true that no one bothered to take videos or photos. People might take pictures of food at a famous restaurant, but no one goes out of their way to take high-quality photos of a toilet in a restroom.
"Now then..."
I gripped the Core of the Common Sense Alteration zone in my hand, intending to crush it. The Core was a brilliant bead that fit perfectly in my palm, so it shouldn't have been difficult.
"Huh?"
But just before I applied pressure, something strange happened. The brilliant bead, which had been emitting a soft glow like a mood lamp, suddenly lost its light. The moment the Core ceased to be a Core, both the Chairman and I widened our eyes.
"I-Is it supposed to be like this?"
"No. I handled my assigned zone first and rushed straight here, so I know. In my case, it wasn't like this. I just held it and squeezed, and it broke. It never lost its light while it was still intact."
"I don't know why it's doing this. I haven't even done anything yet..."
If this happened, what would become of the Common Sense Alteration zone? It seemed like something had gone wrong with the Core.
"Uh...?"
The answer to that question wasn't hard to find. My heightened senses were screaming at me. One by one, the people in the police station were waking up from the Common Sense Alteration.
"Mister, this..."
"I don't know how it happened, but it seems the Common Sense Alteration zone has been deactivated regardless. Whether the bead is crushed or loses its light, the result appears to be the same. It’s a bit puzzling why mine had to be broken while yours lost its light before you could even touch it, but..."
"There's no point in worrying about it now. Let's just manipulate the CCTV and get out of here."
"Right, good idea."
It was just as the Chairman said. As the Common Sense Alteration zone dissolved, almost everyone—from the criminals locked in the cells to the police officers dozing off on night duty—was returning to their senses.
"Ugh, uuuugh..."
"What... my head..."
However, just as the Chairman predicted, they did collapse, losing consciousness. Perhaps it was a brief recovery period needed to transition from the altered state back to reality. Some even began to snore loudly.
"Going back to sleep... yawn..."
"I had a weird dream..."
Furthermore, they would remember everything that happened in the Common Sense Alteration zone as a mere dream. I was truly satisfied with this consequence-free defeat play. In hindsight, if I’d known it would be like this, I might have just enjoyed myself in my Magical Girl form instead of coming in my civilian form.
Anyway, making the most of this brief window, the Chairman and I erased all traces of my presence at the police station and made a clean getaway.
*
While returning home in the Chairman's car, we talked about various things. There was some lewd talk, but the conversation was mostly about work.
Given the recent surge in incidents, it seemed he was quite concerned in his capacity as the Hero Association Chairman.
"I'm telling you this now that it's over, but this Common Sense Alteration zone incident was a massive loss for our side."
"...Really?"
The news that the damage from the Common Sense Alteration zones was severe felt particularly foreign to me. It wasn't just because I enjoyed being victimized in those situations. The Common Sense Alteration event, which the Hypnotist had so ambitiously planned, hadn't actually lasted that long.
"Didn't it only last a few days?"
"Those few days are the problem. There wasn't just one or two Common Sense Alteration zones, so even though it was a short-lived incident, the damage was excessive. The Gates that appeared elsewhere while our hero forces were spread thin are also a problem."
"I wouldn't know much about that, but I guess you'll be busy starting tomorrow. There must be quite a few backlogged Gates."
"The Hypnotist... it's all because of that guy. From what I can see, he seems to be a high-ranking member of that group calling itself the Villain Alliance."
The Chairman gritted his teeth.
Ultimately, all the recent incidents pointed to a single source: the Villain Alliance. Whether it was the Magic Tool Maker's remote onaholes, the Beast Tamer who tamed boss monsters in Gates to build his forces, or the Hypnotist who created Common Sense Alteration zones to toy with numerous heroes.
The Common Sense Alteration incident, in particular, had a massive practical impact on society. To put it bluntly, the areas that became Common Sense Alteration zones turned into lawless lands where order and morality ceased to exist.
‘Though I used it quite effectively for my defeat play.’
It was undeniable that the negative impact they were having on society had reached a significant level. It was predictable that if left alone, the scale of their villainy would only grow.
However, the Hero Association was always in a position of being unilaterally attacked. After all, heroes had to deal with not just villains but also monsters from the Gates, so the balance was bound to be off. While it was unavoidable, I could empathize with the Chairman's frustration.
"Don't you think it's time for us to launch a counterattack?"
"But... we don't even know where those guys are gathering to plot."
"I suppose it's time to tell you. I actually had something to discuss regarding the Villain Alliance."
I sensed a familiar atmosphere. It was the precursor I felt whenever the Chairman was about to assign me a task.
"I wondered why you came to find me first, and it turns out you just wanted to give me work?"
"N-No! This is something I could have told you later. I came to pick you up purely because..."
"Ahaha! I know, I know. I can't even make a joke."
I chuckled softly at the sight of the Chairman vehemently denying it while his cheeks trembled. I knew better than anyone that the reason he’d sought me out first was out of genuine worry.
"So, what is it? The task you want to give me."
"It's... an infiltration. Though after seeing this police station incident, I'm not sure if I should trust you with an infiltration."
"Hey, you can trust me. I'm a woman who gets things done when I have to."
The Chairman glanced at me in the passenger seat with an anxious look even while driving, but eventually, as if deciding to trust me, he let out a sigh and spoke.
"Queen used her precognition. She said a high-ranking member of the Villain Alliance will appear on a luxury liner in the Pacific—a VVIP-exclusive cruise that only the world's wealthiest can board."
"...Who is it?"
"It's not the Hypnotist, the Magic Tool Maker, or the Beast Tamer. She said it's a fourth, as-of-yet unidentified individual. However, she doesn't know what their ability is or what they look like."
"Precog... it's such a useful yet vague ability, honestly."
Knowing a Villain Alliance executive will be on the ship but not knowing their face or power? It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. With my detection abilities, I could certainly distinguish someone who wasn't an ordinary human, but other heroes might have their identities exposed and end up in trouble instead.
"...Infiltration, I see. So that's why you need me?"
"I can't say your infiltration skills are great even as a compliment, but you're the only one who can sniff out a villain whose presence is the only thing we know."
"Ahem, I am quite confident in that area. And I'm actually pretty good at infiltrating."
"A girl whose hobby is getting caught and humiliated is good at infiltrating...? Khem, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. I'll prepare everything you need. You'll be going in as an employee."
"An employee?"
Infiltrating as an employee to find a Villain Alliance executive hidden among the world's elite? Even just hearing the outline made it sound quite interesting.
"The problem is, the employees' uniforms are a bit... unique."
"How unique can they be? Can they really be worse than a Magical Girl dress?"
"Well, um... since they're employees for the ship's internal casino, they're quite provocative..."
"You're making such a fuss... I told you it's fine. It's not like I haven't worn lewd clothes once or twice."
I just laughed cheerfully and patted the Chairman's shoulder with a relaxed smile.
*
However, now that I’ve actually infiltrated as a casino employee on the cruise, my thoughts have changed a bit.
‘Mister... I didn't know it would be this much...?’
...What on earth does a casino employee have to do with a reverse bunny costume?