This Villain is Soft - Chapter 53



Only Noblemtl

Episode 53

[Haon. The flow of mana is getting rough.]

“… … !”

Haon, who came to his senses at Blue’s voice, tried to think rationally.

Haon gave instructions, taking a deep breath and tightly clutching his cell phone in his pocket.

“Blue. Look for traces of Mana inside the counseling room.”

[All right!]

Blue spread his wings and flapped them a few times before becoming quiet.

[Scan results show no traces of mana.]

“… … .”

Haon touched the back of his neck that had been giving him goosebumps. It was creepy, like a body ache that had been completely gone for a long time was coming back.

‘Just like Juyeol and I, only the name is the same. That terrorist was taken away by the soldiers after the war ended.’

Haon took a deep breath and calmed his mind, then knocked loudly.

Although he heard the answer telling him to come in, Haon hesitated for a while before opening the door.

And there sat a counselor with the face of a terrorist.

When I saw that face again, my hair stood on end.

“Welcome. It’s been a while. Did you bring a bird with you today?”

“……ah.”

It was only after the counselor came to greet Ha-on that he realized he had been staring at him too intently.

As I cautiously approached and sat down across from him, his face, smiling so friendly, filled my field of vision.

The atmosphere and expression itself were different from that of ‘terrorist Bae An-jae’.

“I, I’ve been here for a really long time… …right?”

“Right. Do you feel like using formal language today?”

“Oh, that’s it.”

The tension gradually eased as the counselor’s calm voice spoke.

“I don’t know if you know, but I lost my memory.”

The counselor was not surprised because he already knew about this. Instead, he confirmed the symptoms that Eunha On had been experiencing.

“When did you first realize you had lost your memory?”

“It’s been about three months.”

“So you didn’t come to the last consultation? Are you still having trouble sleeping?”

Haon thought for a moment. It seemed that Eunhaon also had trouble sleeping, so how should he respond?

I sleep soundly at home in Juyeol’s house, but I still have nightmares when I’m alone.

“… … I think so.”

“How’s your headache?”

“It was bad a few days ago, but it’s fine now.”

“Didn’t you ever remember the memories you lost when you had a bad headache?”

“yes.”

“Have you ever been to a hospital?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Don’t you have any desire to regain your memories?”

“… … Yes. I like it now. Of course, there are things I’m curious about.”

While answering the counselor’s questions, Ha-on suddenly felt surprised that ‘Eun-ha-on’ was receiving proper counseling.

If I just listened to what people around me said, there was no such thing as being rude, but did the counseling help?

“Have I been good at talking about this and that since I came here?”

“Well, it was rare for him to open his mouth first, but he answered well when I asked him something.”

“Then, did you happen to tell any important secrets?”

“The content of counseling sessions with clients is always an important confidential matter.”

“No, that’s not it… … It’s stories about people around me and stuff like that.”

He gave a strange smile and glanced at his previous counseling records.

“Are you asking about Nova?”

“Me, to be exact, Halo.”

His hand stopped.

“… …Halo?”

“Yes. Is there something?”

“Hmm. You said you were looking forward to receiving something from Halo. I guess there’s nothing else.”

There was something to receive? Haon tilted his head. There was no record of such a thing anywhere in the research lab.

Was this also a secret that only he knew, or was it information contained only in Eunhaon’s cell phone that has yet to be found?

‘I keep tracking his phone, but I guess I can’t find him since I still haven’t heard anything?’

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t figure out what it had to do with Halo.

I was worried because it was a consultation with ‘Eunhaon’, but it went surprisingly normally. As a result, my goal of obtaining ‘her’ secret information was left unfinished.

“The consultation is over for today. Although you are unstable due to memory loss, it seems that you are coping well. If you need my help, please come to me anytime.”

The counselor was kind to the mad scientist ‘Eunhaon’ until the end, but Haon had no desire to meet him again.

Because when I looked at that face, a chill and anger welled up from deep within me.

I wanted to say goodbye politely, since it wasn’t his fault.

“Teacher Bae, during that time too… …?”

Ha-on, who had been bowing his head slightly in greeting, raised his head with a pale face.

I felt the boiling energy of mana, as if it would explode from somewhere.

[Haon! Beware of the mana explosion!]

I felt like all the hairs on my body were turning into needles, but the counselor in front of me was calm. It wasn’t the strength I felt from him.

Suddenly, the ground shook with a tremendous noise.

“… … !”

As the counselor grabbed the table with a surprised expression, a red warning light blared loudly.

[G, please move to the shelter immediately! This is an explosion due to a failed forced awakening! I’ll tell you again! Move to the shelter immediately!]

Haon kicked open the door to the counseling room and ran out before the announcement was even finished.

I barely managed to escape the counseling center, entangled with people screaming and running away.

After that, I ran in a different direction from the people.

‘No way. That’s ridiculous.’

The place Ha-on was headed to was the rehabilitation center’s detention center. It was beyond the yellow side door where he had agreed to meet Go-won.

The aftershocks of the mana explosion were felt from there.

Injured guards stumbled out through the side door.

“Oh, it was a plateau, right?”

Gowon? Haon, who had been hiding behind the wall, listened to the familiar name.

“Yes. They said he was caught for an interview and brought up, but he suddenly exploded while they were trying to force him to awaken. I think they sent him a crushed awakening tool as a postal item.”

“Yes? There’s no way you would have given it to me without checking it. Who gave it to you?”

“That rookie who got in through special recruitment. He was acting all messy, but he was standing right next to Gowon when he swallowed it, and then he got caught in the explosion and died.”

“I didn’t know that such an explosion would occur.”

What does all this mean?

‘It wasn’t the plateau that caused the explosion… … It exploded?’

Haon blankly watched the guards moving away, supporting each other, before going through the side door.

Half of the space, like a cafe, was completely blown away, and the other half was littered with objects.

The closer I got to it, the more unbelievable everything I saw.

In the place where the blue light rippled, only a pitch-black, bare floor remained.

There was no trace of the human form left.

‘The plateau… is dead?’

The arsonist, who burned down several people’s homes in addition to Juyeol’s, even led a prison guard to his death when he died.

Suddenly I was confused as to what was going on.

As Ha-on was wandering around in a daze, a sign that said ‘Inmate Storage Room’ suddenly caught his eye.

* * *

Haon entered his lab in a hurry, his eyes fixed on his cell phone.

‘Quickly… …If you just solve this, you’ll know─.’

Phew!

“Ugh… … !”

Haon, who had been fiddling with his feet, stumbled and hit his forehead against something like a wall that suddenly appeared.

A firm grip held my body, which was about to fall.

“What are you doing? Just walk forward.”

“… … ?”

Haon raised his head and rubbed his forehead, his eyes widening.

“Juyeol? What are you doing here?”

“You are the one… … !”

Joo-yeol suppressed his voice from rising and held up his cell phone with the article floating in it.

“There was an explosion at the Kwon Young Rehabilitation Center. It was confirmed that Dr. Eun Ha-on was visiting.”

“What happened?”

“ah.”

Haon bit his lip in frustration.

Since the explosion occurred at the Kwon Young Rehabilitation Center, a landmark in the new city, reporters must have quickly flocked there.

I’m sure he’s already interviewed the rehabilitation center staff and found out that he was in the counseling center when the explosion happened.

And yet, he made headlines as if he was the one who caused the explosion.

‘In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to publish an article like that for fear of retaliation.’

The rumor that ‘Eunhaon’ lost his memory and became a different person spread like wildfire was something I had hoped for.

But this kind of side effect was not pleasant.

“… … I didn’t cause an accident. I went to the rehabilitation center to receive counseling because of disciplinary action, and the explosion wasn’t my fault.”

“Then what happened?”

Haon was a little moved by that reaction.

I can’t believe that Joo-yeol believes my words more than articles from credible media outlets.

But it wasn’t time to be completely moved. He had to know the news too.

“Juyeol-ah. You’ll probably find out soon, but don’t be surprised and listen.”

Haon said with determination.

“The plateau is dead.”

“what?”

“I tried to force awakening and failed… … and the side effect was that I exploded.”

“… … .”

Joo-yeol stared into space with an expression of disbelief.

The face of Juyeol, who was handcuffing Gowon’s wrists, overlapped over his confused face.

The eyes that seemed lost in the darkness and the expression of emptiness. The precarious appearance that seemed like it would disappear at any moment came to mind vividly.

Ha-on suddenly felt afraid and grabbed his sleeve. Ju-yeol flinched, but was dragged along obediently by the slightest force.

“That kid died. Why are you crying? Did you kill him?”

“… … .”

Ha-on felt a pang in his heart at Joo-yeol’s attitude as he tried to speak calmly.

I looked closely at his face as it got closer and asked him quietly.

“Joo-yeol. There’s something I need to check right now. Do you want to check it with me?”

“What is it?”

“I copied the highlander’s cell phone.”

“……what?”