Hero and Brainwashing Massage (Check) (1)
Whoosh! Vrooom vrooom vrooom! Thwack! Thud! Screeeeech! Craaaack!!
In the training room of the 7th Squad's hero base, terrifying sounds of violence echoed relentlessly.
The one using the training room was Check, the hero from the 7th Squad. She was the vice-leader of the base and Spade's mentor, a veteran hero.
Check gripped a long wooden staff with both hands, striking the row of wooden dummies in front of her from varying angles without pause.
Even without enhancing her physical abilities with mana, the staff moved with such dazzling speed that an ordinary person couldn't follow it with their eyes. And despite no mana being infused into the strikes, each blow elicited dangerous creaks from the dummies.
The resounding ferocious noises were hard to believe came from a wooden staff. More astonishing was that the staff remained intact despite producing such racket.
"――"
For a brief moment, her movements stopped.
Check held the staff, assumed her stance, and suddenly drew in a deep breath with a long sssssh.
Her slightly narrowing eyes snapped open wide, and in the next instant—
Her body seemed to waver for a split second before vanishing from the spot.
She reappeared a short distance away.
If someone had been watching from the side, it would have looked like several frames were missing between photos—like teleportation.
High-speed movement that evoked instant travel.
And behind it—
Craaaack craaaack craaaack! Crunch! Rumble...!
A beat after Check appeared, every dummy at that spot shattered and collapsed in unison.
Some bore marks like they'd been sliced by a sharp blade, others were smashed to splinters as if by a massive flail.
All of it, the work of that single wooden staff in her hand.
Even the staff remained unbroken.
Any Awakener with related abilities might understand, but this was pure martial arts and technique—no magic or special powers involved.
The talent and effort required to reach this level were beyond comprehension....
Clap clap clap clap.
As Check checked the staff and the broken dummies while cleaning up, applause suddenly rang out.
At some point, another hero had appeared in the corner of the training room.
"So coooool. As expected of Check. How do you pull that off without using even a drop of mana? It's seriously amazing."
"...Coco? What brings you here?"
"Just dropped by. Yeah, got bored."
She added,
"It was supposed to be my time to train that kid anyway."
Her tone was flat, devoid of much emotion, but the subtle feelings within were discernible.
The "kid" Coco mentioned was Club.
Within the 7th Squad, the senior heroes Check and Coco were in charge of mentoring their juniors, Spade and Club, respectively.
But Club was currently kidnapped by the villain organization Abyss.
That's why the time originally set aside for training was free, leaving Coco to idly visit Check's training spot like this.
Check wiped the sweat from her forehead with the towel Coco handed her and took a swig of her drink.
"...It's not like it's the first day we've seen a comrade get screwed over or die. No need to fret over every little thing. If they die, they die; if they live, they live. That's it."
Check murmured lowly as she drank.
Words that might sound cold-hearted.
Coco just gave a wry smile upon hearing them right to her face.
"You look just as antsy as anyone, Check."
"Me? Nah."
"Come on, you started warming up like crazy the second Captain Rahe told us. Ready to deploy anytime."
"......."
Check had no retort to Coco's words.
They hit the nail on the head.
Earlier today, with Captain Rahe's emergency summons, the 7th Squad held another meeting.
The topic was, needless to say, Club.
Rahe had relayed everything without omission: messages from the villain organization Abyss about Club, confirming her safety, and so on.
She added that since it was enemy intel, its trustworthiness was unknown—and she'd kept it hidden until now to avoid sowing confusion.
In any case, everyone in the 7th Squad breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing Club was safe and would return soon.
They must have.
『The problem comes when we get her back.』
Rahe said with a solemn expression.
Villain No. 13 had promised to return Club.
Without any demands, claiming satisfaction from their "talks" thus far.
As mentioned before, how much could they trust a villain's words?
Trusting them at all was laughable.
The opponent was a cunning outlaw.
A bold, audacious scum who kidnapped a hero in broad daylight.
No way they could be trusted.
Captain Rahe immediately shared her thoughts and concerns.
『They'll surely prepare some trap.』
A reasonable guess.
On the handover day, at the exchange site for Club, something would definitely happen.
Its purpose unknown.
The meeting proceeded and concluded amid such speculations and predictions.
For Club's handover, it was decided that the 7th Squad's veteran heroes, Check and Coco, would be deployed.
Even if something went wrong, the two could handle it; in the worst case, they could escape safeguarding themselves.
"You seem super pumped to rescue your kidnapped junior, huh?"
"Cut the nonsense, you thorny one. As a senior and a hero, I'm just fulfilling my duty."
"Sure, but that's not all, right? Why act so heartless?"
"You asking 'cause you don't know?"
"Hehe, who knows."
Though she'd spoken somewhat coldly, Check was worried about Club.
How could she not be?
A comrade from the same squad, living under the same roof like family bound by duty.
Awakener physiology strained most family ties.
p>Thus, fellow Awakeners and comrades often felt more like family than blood relations.
In fact, Check's gut had been churning nonstop since Club's kidnapping.
If not for "Lesser Rat," she'd have scoured the country like Spade searching for Club.
But she hadn't—because she was the senior, the vice-leader.
She had to set an example, lead calmly, and guide everyone straight.
Acting on emotion usually led to poor outcomes.
To avoid that, she had to stay cool-headed.
"Once you're a hero, you can't forget that you or your comrades could die overnight. Sometimes you sacrifice one for the organization—or have to be sacrificed."
Check wiped her face with the towel and spoke matter-of-factly.
A cool tone.
But the face revealed atop the towel burned like a furnace blaze.
"But we know she's alive, that we can still save her. It's okay to heat up when there's something we can do."
"In this rescue op, I'll go all out. I'll definitely save her—my junior."
"Of course, if we do everything and she still dies, no choice."
As vice-leader, Check was forced to always stay calm and composed.
Even Spade, under her tutelage, had been influenced.
But at her core, Check was hotter-blooded than anyone.
Her passion surpassed even the hot-tempered Spade.
Coco, her longtime friend who knew this side well, chuckled at the sight.
For Coco, she preferred this scorching-hot Check—who could burn your hand just touching her—over the poised, adult-like one straining for composure.
Delighted to see this rare, nostalgic side after so long, Check turned her blazing gaze on Coco.
"Same goes for you, Coco. No matter what, I'll protect you. Even if it costs this one life."
"...Jeez, hitting me right in the feels outta nowhere."
Her face nearly flushed.
More dashing and reliable than any man—it struck straight to the heart.
This old friend sometimes pulled off heartthrob moves without realizing, which was hazardous to the heart now and then.
Might awaken some peculiar tastes.
As the two finished talking and exited the training room—
Waiting right outside, as if expecting them, were Apple and Spade.
Both wore baggy, rough hemp-like outfits.
Spade looked particularly uncomfortable.
What the—? Why these two?
As Check shot Apple a puzzled look, Apple smiled brightly and replied.
"Check, do you have a moment?"
"Ahead of the upcoming Club rescue op, I'd like to recommend a massage for maintaining your condition. What do you say?"