This Villain is Soft - Chapter 21
Only Noblemtl
Episode 21
Haon, who had been silently watching the scene with Solmae, asked with a bewildered expression.
“Is it really going to continue like this?”
“Looks like the guy who said he’d buy the whole building has changed his mind.”
“Well then, that’s fortunate… … .”
I was wondering if it ended well.
Chacha was now holding a heavy machine gun over his head and cheering with the people.
“If I have this, I have nothing to fear!”
I like it so much, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t just leave that machine gun alone.
‘What if I rob a bank with that?’
Haon held the top of his phone out towards the machine gun and blasted out mana that was as hot as lava. It was something he had been planning since he came to the old town.
“Whoa! What the heck!”
The gun barrel, which had been heated up in an instant, melted all the way to the belt’s connecting point. Shock and despair spread across Chacha’s face.
“No! My pretty one! Aaaah!”
It was unsettling to see him slumped in front of the machine gun wreckage, clutching his head.
‘I have to return the deposit.’
* * *
A man stumbled out of a container on the dock and fell to the ground. Blood pooled where he had fallen.
Bang bang!
A gunshot rang out inside the container.
The gang member from District 4, who was leaning against the wall and slumped down, gritted his teeth as he looked at his fallen comrades groaning.
“This kid… … . Do you not know that you have been suspended from duty? Where the hell are you acting up like this!”
“Call the police or something. It’ll be like turning yourself in and saying you have smuggled goods here.”
Juyeol, who responded indifferently, frowned as he replaced the magazine. Blood dripped down his elbow.
Even if you were an Awakened person, getting injured was inevitable when fighting multiple gunmen at once. Hiding in the shadows doesn’t make you invincible.
“I don’t know why people give the same answer when asked what they saw there 10 years ago.”
“I guess it was a sudden fire!”
“under.”
Joo-yeol laughed as if it was absurd.
There’s no way a fire could just break out in a house where the gas and electricity were cut off.
Plus, it was raining that day, so someone must have intentionally poured oil and set the fire. In fact, the remains of an oil can were found in a nearby alley.
I had no intention of leaving the investigation into my brother’s death to Ha-on alone. He was not someone I could completely trust.
Not only was it impossible to tell when he would come to his senses, but it was also hard to tell what he was thinking, even though it was obvious that he was thinking.
Born and raised on the edge of District 3 in the old city, as soon as he became a hero, he started hunting down any gangsters that came across in the area.
Since the border between Districts 2 and 4 was just a few steps away from my house, there were quite a few people to investigate, and cracking down on crime in the process was a bonus.
“For a fire to start, there has to be someone who starts it. Isn’t that right? Was that Gowon?”
“There must have been an arsonist! But how on earth do you remember in detail what happened 10 years ago?”
“I remember it in such detail that it’s annoying.”
Joo-yeol let out a crooked laugh.
A fire that seemed like it would erase the rain and dampness that had been falling steadily. A house burning brightly and my brother’s corpse burned black.
It was a memory I’ve never forgotten. I even vividly remember that it happened while I was going to get the waste paper from the convenience store that day.
“This conversation is boring. If you don’t want to get screwed, call someone who knows where the plateau is.”
The gang member swallowed dryly at the foul language. The Ghost, standing crookedly and looking down at me, seemed closer to a villain than a hero.
“If you kill me, it won’t end with just punishment. Will the Hunter just leave me alone?”
The hand that was skillfully turning the gun suddenly stopped.
“That’s a peculiar way of saying you want to die.”
“… … !”
The man, whose spine was tingling, instinctively turned his gaze to his gun, which was a distance away. It was close enough to reach him if he threw his body.
But he remembers the boy wandering the streets with eyes that looked like he was going to kill someone, even though he doesn’t know how the house burned down ten years ago.
The boy’s venomous gaze as he stabbed the large thug’s leg with a shard of broken glass was still as vicious as ever.
At that time, I had not even joined a gang, but I thought that a guy like that would grow up to be the boss of a gang.
Since that guy ended up being a hero, I decided to give up on the gamble of picking up the gun.
I was convinced that if I moved rashly, I really wouldn’t be able to survive.
“… … Don’t tell me I said that. He’s a guy who’s sure to get revenge. He joined the Hanla gang.”
“Halla Gang?”
Joo-yeol’s eyebrows furrowed. The Hanra gang must have fought in District 2 today. If they’re already dead, it’s a problem.
“ghost!”
Then someone jumped into the container.
He was the hero Chaser, with reddish brown hair and a tracksuit with a goblin symbol on it.
Chaser glanced at the container with a blank expression, then grabbed Ju-yeol and whispered.
“Hyung, are you crazy? How can you contact me about something like this when you know I’m back today?”
“Then who do you contact? Hunter?”
“This shouldn’t have happened in the first place… … !”
Chaser, who had just returned from a month-long break, was in a very awkward position.
It was difficult enough to ask a colleague who had been suspended from work for causing an accident to come alone after catching him smuggling in goods, and he had also beaten up all the gang members.
Joo-yeol was already at a loss as to how to explain this to headquarters, but he didn’t care.
“This is what you discovered.”
He just gestured to the boxes stacked in the container and turned around.
“Wait a minute! Are we going to keep going like this? Ghost!”
“If you give me some results as soon as I get back, I’ll just take it.”
“Is your performance the problem now? Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it. Don’t even think about tracking it.”
Juyeol checked the time and got on his bike. It was the most dangerous time in the old town.
* * *
Ha-on, sitting across from Solmae in her clinic, had his eyes sparkling with anticipation at having a clue to the case right in front of him.
Solmae, who had offered warm tea out of courtesy, looked at Haon with an unfamiliar expression and opened her mouth.
“So what did you come to ask me today?”
“I heard that I’ve been visiting you often lately. What did you ask about Joo-yeol, that is, Ghost’s younger brother?”
“Are you talking about the comet that died 10 years ago?”
A puzzled look appeared on Solmae’s face.
“I never said anything about that kid.”
“… … Yes? Don’t you know the culprit who set fire to the house that day?”
“How would I know that?”
Haon was taken aback by the unexpected answer. Given the circumstances, he was certain that Solmae would have a clue.
“So what did you talk about with me?”
“This and that. You asked me mostly about the human body.”
“Human body? Where did I hurt? We had a medical conversation?”
“To be exact, it’s something like drug side effects or genes.”
Haon was confused.
I was disappointed by the conversation topic that had nothing to do with the clues I was expecting, and I began to wonder what ‘Eunhaon’ had been doing.
‘Drug side effects are hereditary…? I don’t think there was any special medication taken in the penthouse.’
I thought that if I just met Solmae, many things would be resolved, but my mind became more complicated.
‘Could it be that he committed fraud to obtain the awakening orb without even knowing who the culprit was?’
It occurred to me that perhaps the guess I had hoped would be wrong might actually be true.
“Sir. Are you kidding me about losing my memory?”
“Why would I do that?”
“… … .”
If ‘Eunhaon’ really tried to use Juyeol without finding out anything, it was too cruel for him.
After that, I asked Solmae various questions, but I couldn’t get any clues about the arsonist.
Ha-on, who eventually left the clinic with his shoulders slumped, tried to think positively.
‘But since we’ve linked the research center’s central system, we’ll be able to access all the important data. There might be a clue there.’
I couldn’t even look around because I had completely replaced the manager with myself while coming to the old town.
It was refreshing to see the tightly locked floors and think that I could change them to my liking.
“Blue. There are so many places in the lab that I haven’t opened, ugh─.”
A hand suddenly appeared out of the darkness, grabbed me by the neck, and pushed me against the wall.
Haon opened his eyes wide as blood rushed to him in excruciating pain.
“Bl, ugh… … !”
I tried to call Blue urgently, but my mouth was blocked. The sense of crisis that was rising sharply sent shivers down my spine.
Blue’s defense system was thoroughly geared towards magic engineering. It had no function set up to automatically repel physical oppression.
“Who are you calling? What are you doing with that old man that you’re coming out now?”
The man glaring sharply and gnashing his teeth was the villain Checker, with a splint and bandage on his nose.
“You crushed my nose and now you dare to step into Area 2 without fear?”
‘The nose… … you tried to stab my neck with a knife!’
As Ha-on struggled with a look of resentment in his eyes, strength entered his hands.
“Why didn’t you send the item I ordered? Why!”
‘You didn’t even tell me the address!’
“If only it had been there, machine guns would have been nothing!”
“Ugh… … !”
Haon, who was thrown to the floor, hurriedly took out his cell phone and aimed it at the checker.
Mana began to form into a round shape, but Checker didn’t wait for her and swung his fist.