Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Director's Granddaughter
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“So, I have a small favor to ask. Would that be okay?”
“A favor……?”
“After the launch ceremony ends, could you meet my granddaughter? She wants to see you. If it’s too much, just let me know.”
The story of the granddaughter who lost her legs to a demon-type mutant.
“No, it’s fine.”
“……Thank you.”
“Um, I overheard earlier that she lost her legs…….”
“To be precise, her lower body is paralyzed. She got caught in an explosion, and her lumbar spine was damaged. But they say the nerves are completely destroyed, and she’ll never walk again.”
“Ah.”
“It’s no different from losing her legs, so that’s how I put it.”
Indeed…… In the end, having legs you can’t use is the same as not having them.
“Is rehabilitation impossible?”
“That’s what they say. We’ve already given up.”
The National Intelligence Service Director’s face was steeped in regret.
“Um, how old is your granddaughter……?”
“Fourteen.”
“Ah…….”
Fourteen. A middle schooler who lost her legs. How immense must the despair that child felt have been?
Just a few months ago, she was walking around fine, and now she learns she’ll never walk again. I couldn’t even begin to imagine that feeling.
She’d truly been robbed of her freedom.
At an age brimming with infinite possibilities, a sigh escaped me before I knew it.
Of course, the world is full of tragedies, but as just one individual myself, stories like this always tugged at my heart.
Since a child like that wants to see me, it wouldn’t hurt to make a visit.
“Understood. Let’s talk details after the launch ceremony.”
“Thank you again. I mean that sincerely.”
* * *
The launch ceremony went off without a hitch.
For one, the fact that I didn’t tremble and delivered everything I needed to say made a big difference.
What the Mutant Crime Management Bureau would do going forward, and the scope of our responses.
I explained all that and declared our resolve to counter any threats from mutants, no matter the means.
I also emphasized faster initial responses than anyone else.
“……And so, for those who’ve suffered tragedies at the hands of mutants to never endure such pain again, we will grind our bones to dust.”
Applause and cheers erupted.
Honestly, it was probably just polite clapping and cheering…… but given what I’d accomplished so far, I could see a few people applauding sincerely.
The bureau was brand new, no one knew what mutants might cause accidents or how we’d handle them…… so that level of reaction felt just right.
They’d watch and wait, for now.
“With that, we conclude the Mutant Crime Management Bureau launch ceremony. I am Director Yoon Seo-hyun.”
Finally, I spread my wings and took flight from the podium.
I had to make sure no one watching got hurt.
Fortunately, the venue was spacious enough that transforming wouldn’t cause any issues.
“Ooooh……!”
As I soared upward, people’s eyes went wide.
These things stick best with a flashy finale.
I could see why the National Intelligence Service Director had told me to transform.
The somewhat subdued reactions flipped in an instant.
With all eyes on me, I shifted back to my true form. An overwhelming sense of freedom washed over me, surging power throbbing through my entire body.
Not omniscience, but omnipotence.
“Ha, hahaha!”
“Woooow!”
“Huh…….”
Painting the high sky as I gazed down, I could feel countless people staring up at me.
Somehow…… it felt like I’d become a god.
Of course, there’s a world of difference between seeing it on video and in person.
No one in human history had ever laid eyes on a creature like this, so their reactions were only natural.
A fun idea suddenly struck me. The bureau’s launch was meant as a warning to mutants anyway.
Don’t try anything stupid.
I’d need an even stronger impact, then.
I gathered the boiling power within me to a single point and unleashed it toward the high sky from my maw.
Whoooong-!
I could feel an overwhelming current of power converging.
If I released this as is, how far would it go?
Probably a breath far beyond the fire show from last time, incomparable in might.
With countless VIPs watching, I playfully tilted my head to the sky and released the power gathered around my mouth.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
A storm of flames incomparable to the one I’d shot in the park blasted toward the heavens. It felt like a pillar of fire straight out of a superhero movie had materialized in reality.
It resembled a natural disaster in every way, yet cheers and gasps of awe rose from below.
They could cheer like that because I’d promised never to turn it on them.
After unleashing it once, I descended onto the vast launch venue in my dragon form, without reverting.
Then, I addressed the crowd.
Of course, I couldn’t move my mouth to speak in dragon form, so I infused my will into words.
[Please look forward to the Mutant Crime Management Bureau’s activities ahead.]
Hearing my voice boom like it was amplified through speakers, the VIPs responded with applause.
* * *
“That was truly spectacular. Seeing it in person…… I’m convinced no one could commit a crime in front of you.”
“Who knows. I’ll keep my guard up at all times.”
“Good attitude. Ah, about my granddaughter…… When might you be able to meet Ha-yoon?”
I gauged my schedule at the National Intelligence Service Director’s words and settled on a specific date.
Being precise like this was easiest for both of us.
“Since my other identity is a university student, I have a free period on Friday, so that should work.”
“Oh ho. You plan to keep attending university?”
“That’s the idea. It’s one of the values I mentioned at the press conference.”
“Sounds like there’s a reason.”
“It’s a bit grandiose to call it that…… I just want to see through the results of my efforts as a human.”
“Chasing footsteps you can never reclaim now, eh?”
“Exactly. That’s why they’re precious. Others might not understand.”
“Haha, true enough. Hard for most to get. Still…… I can empathize, to a degree. Then, Friday it is. My granddaughter’s really looking forward to it.”
The National Intelligence Service Director said this with a wry smile. I wondered what that smile held.
It piqued my curiosity.
“Yes. Ah, Director.”
“What is it?”
“……Do you hate mutants?”
“For once, let me borrow your words from the press conference.”
“My words?”
“Not all mutants in the world are bad.”
“Ah.”
“At first, I hated them all. It wasn’t anyone else—it was my darling girl, beautiful from birth, who ended up like that. So I argued fiercely that we couldn’t ignore mutant-related issues. That’s what started Jeong-ho’s close ties with mutants.”
“……I see.”
“Never found it odd?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mutants appear, and the government’s response is uncannily swift. Any adult knows how sluggish the state usually is.”
“True…… When I awoke, seeing all the guidelines already in place did strike me as strange.”
“I feel like a coward even saying this, but…… in our country, things move fast when a high-ranking official’s family is involved. And I’m no exception. I wasn’t that zealous about mutant issues at first. People don’t act until it hits home.”
“Right.”
“When my granddaughter ended up like that, I finally realized it. These disasters can strike anyone. And I was in a position to prepare for them, to some extent. That’s how all mutant-related work began.”
“Ah…….”
“My thinking gradually shifted after that. No mutant chose it willingly. And the criminal ones are few. Digging deep, I saw mutants aren’t so different from us. In the end, they’re human too—just with different abilities. So I don’t hate them. Hate the criminals, not the innocents.”
Mutants probably owed a debt of gratitude to the current National Intelligence Service Director.
From the moment he faced tragedy, he’d moved to prevent more.
It started personal, but mutants like me benefited from the changes it sparked.
“……Thank you.”
“Hm? What do you have to thank me for?”
“You didn’t fight hate with hate. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to live a normal life.”
“……Haha, you’re embarrassing me. When you see my granddaughter, greet her warmly. Her emotional scars run deep, so she might be a bit prickly, but bear with it generously.”
“Of course.”
* * *
And so Friday arrived.
I visited the hospital room where the Director’s granddaughter was staying, alongside him.
She needed constant care, so she’d been there ever since.
“Ha-yoon! Grandpa’s here!”
“……Hello, Grandpa.”
I gazed at the girl who spoke in a flat tone.
The girl, just starting middle school, showed none of the vibrancy of her peers.
In that instant, my eyes met Ha-yoon’s.
And in the girl’s indifferent gaze, I glimpsed utter despair.
……This child’s condition is worse than I thought.