Meeting the Chain Girl
A few more days had passed since I met Chain Girl. Stahlleder's forces began crumbling in an utterly pathetic way. Unable to supply or consume his drugs, Stahlleder grew increasingly vicious yet weaker by the day. Now, the executives beneath him were fighting among themselves over their own interests.
But even with its fangs pulled, a tiger is still a tiger. Stahlleder was brutally suppressing the police's continuous interventions, staining his hands with blood. And he did it with extreme cruelty.
“Is this all you’re bringing me, or….”
“You told me to get it! Our guys are struggling too, you know?!”
This was supposed to be an investigation to figure out how far his methods went and why the police were growing more cautious. Yet here was evidence of him committing unspeakable acts against them without hesitation. Truly a villain.
“I heard these are even spreading as videos. A warning and a money-maker at the same time.”
“What?”
“Snuff films. You don’t know?”
…Good god. Just looking at the results made me want to throw up. To think they were filming the entire process.
“Anyway, thanks to that, Werewolf and Titan have broken away from the pack. They must’ve decided there’s no future with Stahlleder anymore.”
“That’s… good news.”
“Even so, those two aren’t pushovers. Most of Stahlleder’s manpower has been absorbed by them.”
“I heard some came over to our side too?”
“The ones who treated me like a dog didn’t come. And the ones with enough balls to act like dogs were the ones with real power anyway.”
That would be troublesome. Roughly considering how far these forces had spread through the underworld….
The red-light district, prostitution, and club areas were firmly under Werewolf’s control. Something about it being perfect for dark tastes that mixed animals and humans. I found it hard to understand, but when she mentioned there were people who could subtly show off animal ears, I nodded slightly.
The illegal weapons business and logistics were handled by Titan, and still were. It wasn’t just his physique that grew; his strength increased along with it, making him ideal for transporting goods. Of course, he had a talent for destruction too.
“So in the end, you’re saying we need to completely eliminate these three.”
“I’d love to rip them out by the roots, but you said I can’t.”
“We have to replace them gradually. If we pull them out all at once, it’ll be hard to fill the void. Didn’t you say you were going to swallow this entire organization?”
Getting rid of the existing structure, operations, and the people with all the connections at once wasn’t easy. Once they were dead, you’d have to rebuild the network from scratch.
“…Right.”
Of course, that fact probably wasn’t easy to accept emotionally. The ones who had laughed behind her back, beaten her whenever they felt like it, picked fights, and stolen her share. The ones who tormented her under the organization’s protection, trusting their own executives. If it had been me on the receiving end, would I have been able to accept it this calmly?
“We’ll create their successors, and once those successors fully understand the work, we’ll replace them. Then you can deal with them personally… That’s how we’ll do it. I told you before, right?”
“Just give me a heads-up when the time comes. I don’t want to have to think about every little thing myself.”
In times like these, I should just be grateful she listened to my opinion so simply. When I gently stroked her hair, she let out a huff through her nose. She said she hated being treated like a dog, yet here she was.
“So. What’s this hero plan?”
Even if she didn’t like it, she still didn’t like it. Bianca eventually stood up and perched on the chair. She wouldn’t even look at me properly. Or maybe she was displeased that other external forces kept getting involved.
“Do you know the term ‘divide and conquer’?”
“I told you I don’t. I hate complicated stuff, you know that.”
She understood explanations perfectly fine. Her head wasn’t bad at all. Besides, it was a strategy I had already used and would continue to use effectively.
“It means pitting people who hate each other against one another so we can reap the benefits.”
“Like how we’re crushing Stahlleder right now?”
“But that alone isn’t enough… The police will probably send out heroes soon.”
The police wanted to be the main players. But the moment they started taking even the slightest damage, they dispatched heroes. In return, the heroes gained fame, and the police gained control by managing and supervising the area. It was practically a mercenary tactic.
“If heroes get seriously involved, things will get noisy. They’re different from the police. If they start poking around everywhere, the businesses will collapse. Once Stahlleder dies, all the complaints from the drug business will come flying at me.”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Has anything ever gone against my plans so far?”
It was a little embarrassing to say that with my own mouth… Bianca roughly ruffled my hair.
“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want. If you need help, just say so anytime.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Bulph doesn’t get tangled up in this either.”
To do that, let’s see…. How should I find Chain Girl?
Finding the hero office was surprisingly easy. If I searched on an internet map, the location popped up like a congressman’s office. The more successful ones even plastered their faces and slogans all over the building.
[Your Angel, Angel]
That slogan was a bit hard to look at, though. The Angel I had seen was far from angelic.
I climbed the stairs and reached the front of the office, but I quickly realized this wasn’t my destination. The sidekick position was vacant. I had sensed the atmosphere back then, but I hadn’t expected her to act this quickly.
“Still, I can’t leave anything to that foul-tempered bitch.”
Did I have to search for Chain Girl the same way I had searched for Bianca? But this time I’d have to comb through the entire city and residential areas. That seemed… way too exhausting.
Oh, right. If the relationship between a hero and their sidekick was similar to a contract position, maybe some paperwork remained. In that case, once evening came, I could commit illegal trespassing… or something like that.
“Excuse me.”
While I was lost in thought, someone with a tired voice brushed past my shoulder. …A familiar face. She was wearing an eye mask, but I couldn’t miss that dark brown hair and equally deep eyes. Long eyelashes and a once-lively… No, that lively energy was completely gone now. Anyway.
“You’re Chain Girl, right?”
“I used to be…?”
Used to be? And what were those dark circles?
“Ahem. I was wondering… if you remember me.”
Unlike back then, I wasn’t wearing a helmet and my body wasn’t covered by a black cloak. Instead, I had on a mask and sunglasses. Would she recognize me…?
“Who are you?”
Well. It was my fault for expecting anything. So I said something only she and I would understand.
“Number One Fan. On top of the truck. Does that ring a bell?”
“…!”
Her eyes widened at last. She was so startled that she dropped the bundle of documents in her hands.
“Y-you… how.”
“Sorry. It would’ve been troublesome if the police caught me.”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble I was in?!”
“I didn’t think about it at the time, but now that I’ve come to see you again… I think I understand.”
As I picked up the fallen documents one by one, I suddenly caught sight of a single sheet.
[Hero Resignation Application]
“What is this?”
“….”
Without answering, she snatched the paper back and tried to stuff it into the bundle. Her eyes glared at me irritably, but instead, I took off my sunglasses. To look her straight in the eyes.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Why should I?”
“I’m your first fan.”
Did those words shake her a little? She couldn’t look at me and stared at the ground instead. I placed a hand on her trembling shoulder.
“You’re the reason I was able to stop that truck. If it weren’t for you, wouldn’t it have led to an even bigger accident?”
“They said the police would have handled it even without me. That both you and I… were just in the way.”
“If you’re going to argue like that, then Angel shouldn’t have gotten involved either.”
“Exactly…!”
She reacted violently to the word Angel. If my guess was right, they had pinned all the blame on Chain Girl.
“While I was gone, what exactly happened? Can I hear about it?”
“…Anyway, I’m finished in this industry now. Why do you even want to hear it?”
“You’re going to give up your dream just because of a twisted hero like Angel? Isn’t that a waste of your talent?”
I said it hoping it might encourage her again. The response was quite good. The lifeless look in her eyes slowly began to revive.
“You can freely manipulate chains and your power is strong too. If you just reinforce your precision, you have every chance of becoming an excellent hero.”
“Angel and the police—”
“Do you really think competitors will say anything good about their rivals? Besides, the police never welcomed heroes in the first place. They only keep quiet for those with powerful backers.”
In the original story, Justice had also faced ‘slight’ setbacks. He was sabotaged by jealous colleagues in the same industry, and the police even investigated him. How had Justice solved it? He had coincidentally caught a backroom money deal, and it turned out to be with a politician who was backing both the police and the heroes.
That damn coincidence, coincidence, coincidence. Anyway, what mattered now was Chain Girl’s reaction.
“Of course I… don’t know everything, but I at least know I can’t just let talent like yours be buried. So even if you quit being a sidekick….”
I carefully pulled out the single sheet that had been roughly stuffed among the documents and held it out to her.
“Could you reconsider this one thing?”
“You’re telling me to become a hero instead of a sidekick….”
“That’s right.”
“…But how? If you’re not in the position of a sidekick or hero, private sanctions without permission are illegal—”
I snorted.
“It’s only illegal on paper. Did all the strong and famous heroes start as sidekicks?”
There had been no sidekick process in how Justice became a hero. He had brilliantly suppressed villains and revealed his overpowered nature, so the police had been too busy taking photos with him. The same would happen with Chain Girl.
“You’re saying I could become like that—”
“Yes. Chain Girl. You definitely can.”
Her hand was trembling because she couldn’t fully believe it, so I gripped her shoulder more firmly. I gently wiped away the tears that had begun to fall.
“We matched our timing together before. So I know. There’s definitely a possibility.”
“…No one. No one has ever said anything like that to me before.”
I patted her back, which was starting to shake with sobs, and comforted her. She quickly regained a bright expression. Her mental strength was surprisingly resilient.
“Okay. Then… I guess it really is too early to give up. Maybe meeting like this was fate.”
“You will definitely become a hero. I’ll help you with everything I’ve got.”
She grabbed the hand I held out and gave me a firm handshake. The way she wiped her tears and lifted the corners of her mouth… Hmm. Her face was definitely attractive enough to be a topic of conversation. It was such a waste for all these characters to remain mere supporting roles. Why had the original story been like that?
“Then does that mean you’ll be my sidekick?”
A sudden question came while I was deep in thought. Me, a sidekick?
“That’s—”
“Wait a second. Let me finish one thing first.”
With that, she tore the resignation form to shreds right in front of my eyes and marched straight into the office. A moment later, a commotion erupted from beyond the door.
“Are you done talking right now?!”
“Yeah! All you ever do is preen your feathers and put on makeup, you bitch! We’re finished!”
…Oh. Good god.
A torrent of curses poured out, followed by the door being violently flung open. Now laughing so hard her face looked like it might tear, Chain Girl grabbed my wrist—
“Let’s go!”
“W-wait!?”
“Hey!!!”
Ignoring Angel, who came running after us, she sprinted away. Why was every supporting character I met like this?