The Call of the Emerald Sea
It was a typical day in the lab in Ocean City, where I was happily tinkering away as usual. Suddenly, the door burst open and a white-haired woman came charging in.
“Levitan-! I’m back!”
Back-! Back-! Back-! After belting out her return announcement for a while, Levitan leaped onto the sofa where I was lying and sprawled right on top of me.
“Ugh-!”
“Eight! Long time no see!”
“……Levitan, you’re heavy.”
“It’s the weight of affection-!”
“Still heavy…!”
After thrashing around and finally shoving her off, I caught my breath and glared at Levitan, who now wore a dejected expression from being rejected. I had removed all the unnecessary muscle mass from her body during treatment—far more than a normal human would ever need—so her weight should have been no different from an average adult woman’s……
Yet somehow, it felt like she was getting heavier every day. Was her body reverting to beastman form whenever she used the Leviathan genes? Additional testing seemed necessary.
“So? Where have you been all this time?”
“Huh? I came after quitting my job.”
“Quitting?”
“Yeah! Levitan’s a police officer, right? Even if she’s technically a civil servant, she can’t just quit whenever she feels like it…… I had to wrap up my work, hand things over, sign confidentiality agreements, all that stuff. I finished everything and came back!”
“Even so, it feels like you were gone for quite a while.”
At my remark, Levitan’s face flushed as she looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Ehehe- Right after I finished everything, my heat cycle started……”
“……What started?”
“If I’d met you back then, Eight, you’d already be a dad by now! So I went somewhere else to avoid you!”
“No, humans don’t have heat cycles…… Did my experiment go wrong somewhere?”
“Dunno-? After that I was busy dealing with my period.”
Watching Levitan mutter about how difficult it had been since it was her first time experiencing menstruation, I found myself at a loss for words and simply stayed silent. It was an extremely awkward topic for a man to chime in on.
Of course, there was something that bothered me even more than the period itself. The heat cycle. The fact that this thing which should only exist in beastmen still remained in Levitan, who had become human, was unsettling.
‘Whether it’s menstruation or heat cycles, they’re ultimately hormonal…… Does her brain still think she’s a beastman rather than human?’
This was worth researching. Humans did have something similar to heat cycles, but not to the extent Levitan described as “suffering.”
While I was pondering the additional experiments I could run on Levitan, she had somehow climbed onto the desk and crossed her legs into a seductive pose.
“In that sense, I’ve got something I want to do to celebrate Levitan’s resignation.”
“What is it?”
“The sea! I want to go to the sea! I’ve never been once while I was working!”
At those words, I recalled Levitan’s background. Born as an orphan in Z City when she was young, she had lived as a test subject, escaped somehow, and had never left E City since. Both Z City and E City were inland cities with no connection to the sea, so she’d never had a single opportunity to see it.
“The sea-! The sea!”
Overwhelmed by Levitan’s passionate insistence, we ultimately decided to take a trip to the beach. To Ocean City, famous for its shores. It was the tail end of summer.
* * *
“Th-the sea-!”
Aile shouted, sticking her head out the window. Of course, right after saying that one line, she immediately shrank back like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Just as she said, a vast blue sea sparkled in the distance. Emerald beaches. The most beautiful shoreline in the world. The scenery of Ocean City came into full view. A single glance was enough to understand why this city was so famous. Even on Earth, there hadn’t been many seas like this.
“Boss, are you sure this is okay?”
“Hmm- I can handle work from here, so it’s fine. More importantly, strengthening the organization’s unity matters more.”
“If that’s the case……”
Surprisingly, Regalia had joined this company trip as well. What started as a small resignation celebration trip suggested by Levitan had gradually grown until it became an official Evils organization vacation.
The boss had insisted she couldn’t be absent on such a day and came along, saying she would handle work remotely if necessary. Watching her work even while on vacation made me once again grateful that I hadn’t left the organization to go independent.
‘If I had gone independent, I probably would’ve ended up just like her……’
While thinking that staying as the evil organization’s scientist had been the right choice, the chartered bus arrived in front of the hotel. As the executives filed off the bus, a hotel staff member approached with a bright smile.
Seeing that smile, I wondered whether he was unaware of our identities or simply an extremely professional employee. After all, everyone here was an S-class or A-class villain regarded as extremely high-risk by the Hero Association.
If he could smile like that even while knowing the truth, his professionalism was remarkable. More likely, he simply didn’t know.
“—This way, please.”
Following the staff member’s guidance to our rooms, we villains naturally checked the security of each room first. After inspecting for hidden cameras, listening devices, or bombs, we added extra measures using my security devices and Arima’s magic.
“……We came all the way here and we don’t even get private rooms?”
“We have no choice for security reasons. If you don’t like it, want to room with Galrm?”
“No, I think Arima is better.”
For security, we paired up two to a room. Regalia with Vira, Aile with Levitan, and me with Arima. Galrm, who would be fine even if left alone, was given his own room.
After changing into our swimsuits, we headed to Ocean City’s emerald beach. As expected of a famous tourist destination, it was already packed with people.
Perhaps some of them were villains like us. Vira’s eyes, hidden behind her rash guard, darted left and right.
“Eight-!”
“S-scientist……!”
While I was setting up a parasol and chairs in one spot on the beach, Levitan and Aile, now changed into swimsuits, approached me cautiously. A pure white bikini and a jet-black one-piece swimsuit. Both had exceptional figures, and their charm was enough to draw anyone’s gaze.
“They suit you both.”
“Really-!?”
“R-really……?”
“Yeah. The guys are going to fall head over heels.”
At the compliment, both of them beamed with delight and immediately urged me to go into the sea. I pointed at the still-being-set-up parasol and sunbed, saying I’d go in later.
They told me to come join them later and ran straight into the water. The fact that even Aile, who didn’t particularly like sunny spots, was acting this way showed just how captivating the sea was.
After finishing the setup and lying quietly under the shade enjoying the view, Regalia naturally took the spot beside me and fiddled with her pad.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go play?”
“What about you, Boss?”
“I still have quite a bit of work left……”
“Then I’ll consider it my duty to protect the boss.”
“Haha- You protecting me? How reassuring.”
While the evil organization’s weakest duo bantered with pointless jokes and enjoyed the sea breeze, Galrm came trudging over from the water, completely soaked.
He approached us and shook off the water, then clicked his tongue and frowned slightly.
“The water tastes strange.”
“……Well, it is the sea. Have you never seen the ocean before, Galrm?”
“Of course I have. That’s not what I mean. Go taste it yourself.”
“What? What are you—Whoa, whoa-!?”
Galrm grabbed me and carried me straight to the sea. Trapped in his forearms, which were thicker than an average adult man’s torso, I couldn’t escape and was forcibly dunked into the seawater before he finally let go.
After swallowing some seawater, I looked at Galrm with a puzzled expression. The taste wasn’t bad at all.
“Why? It seems fine to me.”
“Fine? This?”
“Yeah. The pollution level doesn’t seem that bad either……”
Seawater that wouldn’t cause any harm even if drunk? How clean was this water? It seemed the city itself was managing it.
However, upon hearing my words, Galrm looked down at me in disbelief.
“What are you talking about…… It’s common sense that there shouldn’t be any pollution at all.”
“Huh? Isn’t some pollution inevitable with scientific advancement?”
“……?”
“?”
We stared at each other, tilting our heads in confusion.