Focus Only on Me
Catena struck first. “So who keeps texting you at this hour?”
The mood had been pleasant only moments ago. We’d ordered enough food to feed a small army and even had drinks ready.
No—calm down. I don’t need to make excuses. It doesn’t matter that the person on the other end is a hero with powers far stronger than mine.
“It’s a work partner. A very close one, actually.” I should silence my phone first so it wouldn’t interrupt us again.
“Work… partner?”
“Yes. We help each other out. We’ve grown quite close over time.”
Of course, I couldn’t tell her that the partner in question was Bianca, the woman currently aiming for the top seat in the infamous criminal syndicate Bulph. Yeah, I’d die before saying that. If I did, my neck would be the first to go.
“How close do you have to be to check your messages before even looking at me?”
“…It’s unfair when you phrase it like that. A message arrived, so I checked it. That’s all.”
“It could have been spam.”
Hmm. To be fair, phone ads usually popped up first whenever I turned the screen on. Still, that didn’t justify jumping to conclusions.
“The information about that last incident came through this contact. It could be important, so I looked.”
“I see… that does make sense, but…”
She had a more exhausting side than I expected. I’d thought she was the type who thanked easily and leaned on me without hesitation, but this clinginess was eerily similar to someone else’s. At this rate, my plans might fall apart.
“Even so, you’re going to ignore me? I dressed up so carefully to look good for my number one fan.”
“Haha… I’m sorry. I’ll focus on you from now on. Promise. I’ll even turn the phone off.” I pressed the power button firmly—only for ten new messages to pile up in that instant. I’d have to check them later.
“Well, since you seem sincere, I’ll forgive you. But when you’re with me, you focus only on me, okay? It’s rude to a lady.”
“I will.”
Somehow I managed to soothe her, but I was already exhausted. I couldn’t believe I had to go this far just to rewrite the story.
- Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking I turned my head. The salad arrived first. Except… was this really a salad? Raw salmon, fresh vegetables, and generous amounts of olive oil drizzled over flatfish sashimi.
“Shall we talk while we eat?”
“Sounds good.”
The salmon salad was guaranteed to be delicious, but the flatfish ceviche was new to me. A sweet-and-sour Western-style raw fish dish—surprisingly it might actually work.
“How is it?”
“It’s excellent. Really.”
“I never imagined I’d come to a place like this. It’s quite a secretive spot, you know.”
I already knew that. Thanks to Kerberos burning her own arm to teach me the route.
“In what way?” I asked, pretending ignorance. She was clearly excited; I couldn’t ruin the atmosphere.
“Did you know heroes bring their romantic partners here?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, not just romantic partners… If there’s someone you need to meet in secret, this place gets used a lot. Coming here also signals that you’re someone of considerable status.”
Of course Kerberos had bluntly said people brought lovers here for affairs, but if I’d immediately assumed “romantic partner” I would have misunderstood completely.
“Why is that?”
“They don’t ask questions about the guests. Ever. They don’t remember faces and they don’t keep receipts. Everything operates without records, apparently.”
The part about not remembering faces… well. Still, the masks that deliberately showed they had no eyes left a strong impression.
“What if a staff member is bribed?”
“That’s the interesting part. The staff can’t remember either.”
“Excuse me?”
“Here’s the question. Why can’t they remember?”
Not remembering. Did that mean they erased the staff’s memories?
“…Using abilities.”
“Correct! They wipe the staff’s memories every single day. Exactly one day’s worth.”
“What if they erase the memory of needing to get paid?”
“Ahaha, of course they don’t go that far. If they did, the rumor would have spread already. And erasing memories isn’t as simple as snapping your fingers, apparently.”
“But surely some S-rank heroes or villains can do it.”
Bianca, classified as high-risk, could leave deep claw marks in concrete rebar and possessed physical abilities far beyond human limits. Even Stahlleder—currently drug-addled and staggering—had survived multiple direct hits from explosions comparable to tank shells, and that was when he wasn’t in his right mind.
If physical enhancement types could reach that level, then a memory-manipulating superpower wasn’t impossible. Somewhere, someone was probably toying with people’s memories at will. …Actually, that thought was terrifying.
“I’m nooot sure? At least none are registered as heroes or villains.”
“…What if the very memory of their existence was erased?”
“Don’t say scary things like that. Besides, even S-ranks have weaknesses. The price of their power, you could call it.”
That made sense. Bianca needed an enormous amount of food to sustain herself. Maybe the woman sitting across from me was the same.
“Then, Catena-ssi…”
“Ah, it’s not food for me. I just have to move a lot, that’s all. Most heroes are like that, right?”
Huh. So eating wasn’t the price. Then what was the penalty?
“Mine is surprisingly light. My ability is just chain generation, so unless I’m pulling out enormous chains, the burden isn’t that bad.”
“But if there is one—”
“…Um, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry. That’s the kind of thing that counts as a weakness.”
Fair enough. If an ability had a clear penalty, people would definitely try to exploit it.
“Still, don’t worry. I rarely have to pull out that many chains.”
I’d seen her use an incredible number of chains on the street. I should probably assume the price wasn’t particularly heavy.
“Anyway, they say erasing memories takes a long time. It requires cooperation, and they can only handle about ten people at once.”
“You know the details surprisingly well.”
“It was written clearly in the job posting. In a way, it also advertises that this place is relatively safe.”
Once she finished speaking and our plates were clean, the real dishes began to arrive. For me, a beautiful clam vongole pasta. For Catena, a mountain of plates loaded with various ingredients. Finally, chilled wine was carefully poured into two glasses.
“Wow, this looks delicious. Oh, if you want to try some, feel free to take a bite.”
“Just tasting it would make my stomach explode, so I’ll have to decline…”
“Then shall we toast?”
“Yes, let’s.”
I lifted my glass slightly. It rang with a clear, bright sound. By the way, my eyes kept drifting to her eyelashes. …Surely that helps with her image too.
“Ah, it’s sweet…!”
This wine was so sweet it barely qualified as alcohol, and it made my tongue tingle. Better than bitter, but… it was like they had distilled pure grape sweetness and nothing else.
“…My head.”
The alcohol content must be high; my head started throbbing almost instantly. I had to get home sober later, so I needed to be careful.
“What? Are you weak with alcohol?”
“…I never enjoyed it.”
My body would ache, my head would spin, and my tongue would be coated in bitterness. I hated getting drunk. Vomiting it back up was even worse. I couldn’t understand why I had once dreamed of drinking as a child.
“Hehe. During company dinners I always ended up drinking everyone else’s share. That awful woman.”
“Khk.”
“Anyway, we’re drinking to enjoy ourselves now. You’ll keep me company, right?”
“I can’t drink too much.”
“Why not? Stay with me properly today. Okay?”
“I have proper hero work to do soon, and there are many things I need to discuss.”
“What could there be so many of?”
I subtly reached for my tablet, unzipping my bag.
“Ah, wait.”
She stood up and grabbed my arm tightly. Her grip was weaker than Bianca’s, but it was still more than enough to keep me in place.
“We promised you’d focus on me right now, didn’t we?”
“…I thought we were going to talk about work too—”
“Work talk can wait until next time.”
She poked my nose lightly, then returned to her seat, adjusting the strap that had slipped off her shoulder.
“Because I asked you to focus only on me right now.”
“…Not as Hero Catena.”
“Ah, that’s right. I never told you my name, did I? How strange. Why am I only realizing this now?”
Steam still rose from the food. Without touching her utensils, she pulled a notebook from her handbag and began writing carefully. She even added a signature.
“Here.”
…I obviously couldn’t tell her I had already received her full name and background from Bianca. And the fact that we were only now introducing ourselves like this…
“I’ll greet you properly, Jung-woo-ssi. My name is Geum Yu-seon.”
Not as the Bianca I met first, but as Catena. How was I supposed to respond to that?