The Blind Colleague
In Ocean City—
“Aha-hah—! A brave citizen, yay—!”
Ocean Hotel. In the private bar of the highest-rated hotel in Ocean City, Levitan clutched the Brave Citizen Award she’d received from city hall and burst into giggles.
“Even though I’m a villain, though—!”
Maybe it was the alcohol already in her system, but Levitan’s mouth was running far too freely. Her tongue, always light to begin with, had become so weightless it might as well have been a balloon ready to float away.
Regalia watched her carry on and frowned slightly before speaking.
“Levitan. We may be villains, but there’s no need to belittle the award. If anything, it’s beneficial to the organization’s activities. There’s nothing bad about it.”
“Ah— Got it, Boss—!”
“Good. And drink in moderation. As an executive of the organization, you mustn’t behave in a way that damages our dignity.”
Levitan nodded as if she understood, then downed the entire glass of wine in one gulp. Seeing that, Galrm, sitting beside her, declared he wouldn’t lose and started chugging straight from the bottle.
The two beastmen’s drinking contest began, and Regalia let out a sigh, shaking her head.
After shaking her head, Regalia let out a cute yawn and stretch before checking the clock.
“I shall retire for the night. It’s time for bed.”
“Young Lady. Allow me to accompany you.”
“Vira, you may stay and drink longer if you wish.”
“As your bodyguard, I cannot do that. If I left your side, there would be no point in booking a double room, would there?”
“Hmm. If that is the case.”
With that, Vira and Regalia returned to their room. Once the two who could be called the brakes were gone, the beastmen’s rampage grew even wilder.
“Kyaha-hah—!”
“Uwahaha! Not bad!”
“What, you scared?”
“Hahaha—! This time I’m going with this!”
While they gulped down what might have been over-sixty-proof liquor or straight chemical alcohol, Arima watched them with a chuckle and leisurely sipped his wine.
The only ones who couldn’t join this party were me, who didn’t care much for drinking, and Aile, who couldn’t drink at all.
“—Aile. Bored?”
“……Yes.”
“Want to head back?”
“S-Should we?”
At my suggestion, Aile slowly rose from her seat as if she had no choice. The two introverts who hated both alcohol and parties naturally slipped out of the bar.
I didn’t feel the slightest worry that the three drunkards might get into trouble. Who were the people here? S-class villains and the organization’s top combatants with comparable power. If they felt like it, they had enough strength to conquer O City in a single night……
They wouldn’t be in danger just because they were drunk. Thinking that, I boarded the elevator and pressed the button for our floor.
“—S-Sir Scientist!”
“Hm?”
Just as I pressed the button, Aile suddenly canceled the floor and pressed the one for the lobby instead. While I tilted my head in confusion, Aile cautiously spoke up.
“W-Would you like to go see the night sea……?”
“All of a sudden?”
“Y-Yes—! I-I heard the night sea is really pretty! They say if you splash around, it glows fluorescent…….”
Looking at the flustered Aile, I roughly understood what was on her mind and nodded. Right now, she was asking me out on a date.
How could I cruelly trample a young girl’s feelings? I nodded and answered with a light smile.
“Sure. Let’s go get some air.”
For reference, when I explained that the sea glowing at night was a phenomenon caused by bioluminescent plankton, Aile’s expression started to sour.
I had no idea why.
* * *
Slap—! Slap—!
The tide happened to be high, and the sea pushed all the way up to the shore. With dark clouds covering the night sky, neither stars nor moon were properly visible, yet in return the sea shimmered beautifully.
“Wooow……”
Even though she knew about the glowing night sea in theory, this was apparently her first time seeing it in person. Aile kept letting out gasps of wonder. I felt the same.
The translucent emerald beach that had been so beautiful in the morning still sparkled with emerald light even at night. Whether day or night, it lived up to its name.
“It’s so pretty……”
“Yeah.”
“Why…… didn’t I know about this until now……?”
Aile muttered the words and gave a bitter smile. It was a self-deprecating laugh, a sneer directed at her family for never bringing her to a place like this. And pity for herself, born under such a family.
Seeing Aile’s face grow gloomy with melancholy, I carefully comforted her. Her head naturally leaned against my shoulder, and I gently stroked her hair……
‘……Huh?’
And the very next moment, the thought that this might not be appropriate with a minor flashed through my mind. In the distance, someone with rabbit ears was approaching. Aile must have noticed the figure too, because she flinched and quickly put some distance between us.
Aside from Levitan, I had never seen anyone with such long rabbit ears. No matter how famous a tourist spot this was, there couldn’t be two people with ears that long. Aile seemed to share the thought and spoke cautiously.
“Levitan unni……?”
Thud. The doll-like figure stopped dead at the name. Then it started walking toward us.
Tap— tap— tap—.
Along with a bizarre sound I felt like I’d heard somewhere before, it simply walked over without a word.
‘……Something feels off.’
A chill ran down my spine at the eerie atmosphere. The rabbit-eared beastman making the tap-tap sounds soon revealed herself right in front of us. The moment we could clearly see each other’s faces, I realized she looked far too much like Levitan.
But she wasn’t Levitan. Levitan didn’t walk around with her eyes closed like that, nor did she carry a sword at her waist, nor hold a pair of castanets in one hand.
“—Did you just say Levitan?”
Tap— tap— tap—. I finally understood the source of the strange sound that kept ringing out. I’d thought she was striking a wooden moktak, but she was just clacking those castanets.
Aile and I silently stood up and slowly backed away from the woman. We matched our footsteps to the tap-tap-tap rhythm, so naturally our footsteps made no sound.
Yet for every step we took away, the woman took one step closer.
“Where are you going…… Ah, you think I can’t see so you’re trying to run? In that case, I’m afraid you won’t be able to escape. This is why.”
Tap— tap— tap—. After striking the castanets a few more times, the woman pointed to her ears and spoke.
“My ears are that much sharper since my eyes don’t work. And more importantly— it’s not like I can’t see at all.”
She opened her eyes as she spoke. Her pupils, clouded and devoid of light yet still faintly tinged with a bluish hue as if they hadn’t completely lost the ability to receive light, flashed.
Looking into those eyes, I carefully opened my mouth.
“What’s your relationship with Levitan?”
“A friend…… No, an acquaintance…… Or perhaps a colleague?”
“We can’t guide someone we don’t even know—”
The moment I started to speak, the world flashed brightly. Sparks and noise erupted. Before I knew it, Aile had transformed into a magical girl and stood in front of me. I glanced sideways and saw a Japanese sword in the woman’s hand—one I hadn’t even noticed her draw.
“Oh…… So you blocked that.”
“Who exactly are you?”
“As I said earlier. I’m Levitan’s colleague.”
That couldn’t be right. Knowing Levitan’s history, I let out a hollow laugh. Levitan was an orphan. She had no family, let alone friends. The only people she knew were the members of the organization and her police colleagues.
And now someone claiming to be her colleague had appeared? It made no sense.
“You attack first while saying you want to know Levitan’s identity. Did you really think we’d just tell you everything?”
“Usually when I put a blade to someone’s neck, they tell me everything.”
“……Well, that’s true enough.”
After clearing my throat, I glanced toward the hotel. The distance between here and the hotel wasn’t as far as I’d thought. Were the executives still drinking? Probably. When we left, it had felt like they were just getting started.
In that case, it was possible. I fiddled with my wristwatch as I stepped past Aile.
“You want to meet Levitan?”
“Yes. Will you let me?”
“I’ll make it happen. However—”
It wouldn’t be Levitan alone she met.
“Evils.”
Assemble. The moment I said the word, intense light and sound burst from my wristwatch. The same happened with the watch on Aile’s wrist. While the two watches blared with light and noise, a window in the distant hotel shattered and a massive figure leaped out.
Thud—! The tiger beastman landed on the beach with both feet. Space opened behind him, and Arima and Levitan slowly walked out.
“What’s going on, Scientist?”
“—Whoa, what’s with the sudden call? Getting summoned by Eight like this♠”
“……If you were going to teleport, you should’ve brought Galrm too.”
“He just jumped on his own?”
Just like that, the Evils executives had gathered in one place. As I’d said earlier, they had enough power to overthrow an entire city. No matter who appeared as an enemy, there was nothing to fear……
“Ah—! Sir Scientist! That woman’s running away!”
“What?”
“I’ll chase her!”
But the moment Galrm appeared, the mysterious blind swordswoman who had shown herself to us began to flee.
While Aile and Galrm gave chase, I returned to the safety of the hotel with the remaining two. After getting back—
I looked at Levitan.
Sure enough, Levitan had started muttering to herself, as if something about the woman who had just appeared was on her mind.
“……No way. It can’t be, right?”
“If you know something, would you mind sharing instead of muttering to yourself?”
“……She was my former colleague.”
“Colleague? Levitan, where were you before you joined the organization?”
“Uhh— To be precise, I guess you could call her a fellow test subject……”
Levitan gave a bitter smile as she gazed toward where the woman had been.
“She was a friend who was in the research institute with me.”
That smile was filled with both longing and surprise.