This Villain is Soft - Chapter 98



Only Noblemtl

Episode 98

As the new hero headquarters and dormitories began to settle in, Area 2 began to come alive.

As many employees came out onto the street for lunch, the restaurants in District 2 naturally focused more on lunch business than dinner business, and they also needed more workers.

The shopping district, which had been strangely dark and gloomy even during the day, became brighter and people visibly regained their composure.

Even if you have committed no crime, you feel a sense of caution when passing by the police, and your actions have become much more cautious in places where heroes and headquarters staff come and go.

The villains living in the old town initially seemed to be hiding too much and considered moving, but eventually decided to live among the civilians.

Even villains who weren’t part of a gang had to pay protection fees since they lived in the old city, and it was only natural that they didn’t want to feel suffocated.

After that, villains were often seen leaning against shabby railings in broad daylight and watching people absentmindedly.

As Haon had expected, there was not much need for mechanical cranes in Zone 2, and it was possible to manage three zones at the same time.

Then, for a while, an ominous sign was felt in District 3, which had been quiet.

The two-shot suddenly blocked the entry of outsiders and also blocked the path leading to other areas.

It was very suspicious since he was openly declaring what he was going to do, but Haon thought that maybe he was just scared because District 3 was now surrounded by districts that he had occupied.

Until we sensed a sudden change in the flow of mana from Area 3.

Ha-on immediately reported this to headquarters, and Ju-yeol decided to quietly inspect District 3 alone.

Since there was no way to know what was going on, I decided to ride the shadows and check secretly.

Haon couldn’t concentrate while looking around the construction site in District 1 with Nova, and kept glancing at the road.

“self.”

“… … .”

“Honey? You’re not even listening?”

Then Nova thrust her face right in front of Haon’s nose and let out a disgruntled laugh.

“Honey. Are you going to make me feel lonely even though we’re together?”

“Eww!”

He lightly grabbed Haon’s waist as he stumbled backwards in surprise, spun him around, and then put him down.

“Are you not having fun with me? Should I do something like this for you?”

“Oh, no! That’s not possible. I’m just worried that Joo-yeol went to see District 3 alone.”

“… … I sometimes regret it. Did I raise the white flag for nothing?”

“You wanted to have Zone 4?”

“haha.”

Nova burst into laughter and suddenly pinched Haon’s cheek.

“Anyway, if you forget, you’ll be annoying. Ghost must have a hard time too.”

“What the heck! What the heck!”

Haon grabbed Nova’s hand and started to struggle.

His powerful touch was surprisingly painless, but it wasn’t easy to escape either.

At that moment, the sound of a bike quickly approached and stopped nearby.

“I just got home from work and now I have a good fortune. What are you doing?”

Juyeol, who returned from Area 3, took off his helmet and glanced at Nova.

“Wow, you’ve had a hard time.”

Nova let go of Haon’s face and added with a smile.

“We were working too.”

“… … It would be better for you to disappear again.”

“You’ve worked hard, Juyeol. How was Area 3? The flow of mana was unusual.”

“It wasn’t a mistake on your drone.”

Joo-yeol’s expression immediately relaxed at Ha-on’s question and he showed her the pictures he took with his cell phone.

“There are machines running around in Zone 3 too.”

“… … !”

Haon looked through the photos with a serious face.

They had round heads and sickle-like things on both arms, and they looked like locusts, and their eyes were glowing red.

“AI?”

“It seems so, but it doesn’t seem like it was made for the purpose of protecting residents or maintaining the area like the cranes you made.”

“That kind of AI is difficult to create… … Then what was the role of those machines?”

“I’m not sure, but it seems like it has all kinds of detectors and alarms. It detects me even when I’m hiding in the shadows.”

“You got caught? Were you attacked?”

Haon’s eyes widened and he felt Juyeol’s arm and shoulder.

“Okay, okay… … .”

Nova, who had been silent, spoke calmly as he flinched every time Haon’s hand touched him.

“Honey, I don’t smell any blood, so leave me alone.”

“is it so?”

Tiyong, who had been rolling around on the floor, crawled up onto Juyeol’s shoulder and spoke confidently.

[I took good care of my master!]

“I see! You did a great job!”

When Ha-on took his hand away and clapped for Ti-yong, Joo-yeol coughed loudly and showed him another picture.

“I went to a small construction site covered with a tarpaulin, and there was a bunch of those locusts gathered there guarding it.”

AI-powered machine gang members roam around District 3 and even guard certain areas.

“Twoshot joined hands with Bae An-jae.”

Haon muttered in an uneasy tone.

What on earth did Bae An-jae expect from Two-shot? There’s no way he would have made something like that with his bare hands.

“Did you see the two-shot too?”

“No. But each of Twoshot’s subordinates had several bottles of potions.”

“There’s no shortage of gang members in District 3. What are you planning to do with the potions you gave them?”

When Haon looked puzzled, Nova shrugged.

“Of course he thought I would try to take over the 3rd district.”

“I have no intention of doing that… … !”

“Twoshot’s thoughts will be different. The gang members who drank the potion alone won’t be able to defeat his cranes, so he’ll probably get the mechanical mantises.”

Juyeol agreed with Nova’s words with a displeased expression.

“It makes sense, since no one has expanded their territory in such a short period of time as you have.”

“I wish I could go to District 3 myself… … But if I do that now, Twoshot will really misunderstand, right?”

If I could figure out what the mechanical locusts were guarding, my questions might be answered, but given the circumstances, I couldn’t make any hasty moves.

Then suddenly Haon remembered something.

“Juyeol-ah. By the way, I heard that the bosses of the old city often have meetings with the hunters. When do they do that?”

“Is it because you want to meet in two shots?”

“Weaver too. Bae An-jae might have made the same offer to Weaver.”

The things that Bae An Jae could create in this dimension were endless. Since he had so much mana, he could create anything he wanted to create, just like me.

If you get money from Halo and store the data underground near the sea, what can you do in Area 3 or Area 5?

I had an ominous feeling, even though I didn’t know what it was.

“Now it’s time for the Hunter to take a breather, so I’ll ask about it at the meeting today.”

With that, Juyeol checked the time and picked up his helmet.

“I still have some time before I have to get back, but I’ll go first. I need to fill up my bike with gas.”

Then he lifted his arm to put on his helmet, but hesitated. He suddenly frowned and rubbed his side.

At that sight, Ha-on approached Ju-yeol with a sad face.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Nova said she didn’t smell any blood.”

I looked up at him with a frustrated face.

“There were more mechanical warts than I expected, so I just avoided them and bumped into them slightly. It didn’t break.”

“Let’s go see Elder Solmae. We need to apply some medicine. You said we have some time before we get back, right? Let’s go quickly.”

“What kind of medicine are you applying with this? It’s okay.”

Ha-on urged Ju-yeol, pushing his back.

“Juyeol-ah. Hurry up.”

“I told you it was okay, why are you like this?”

He moved his feet without even pretending to hold on and just laughed heartily.

Nova looked at him in disbelief and mouthed the word ‘nonsense’.

* * *

A few days later, in the basement of the central library after closing time.

A meeting of the old town bosses was held, centered around the Hunter.

The headquarters was moved to District 2 of the old city, but the meeting location was still the central district.

“The number of people has been reduced by half since the last meeting.”

The hunter sat down on a chair placed in a circle at appropriate intervals and opened his mouth.

“I hope no one dies today.”

In the lobby on the first floor, just above the stairs, the old town bosses’ subordinates were waiting. Although they were not subordinates, Chacha and Nova were also there.

The first rule of the meeting was that any gang member who took out a weapon or potion had to be executed by the boss himself.

Haon thought it was too cruel a rule, but he said it was something that had to be made after going through many twists and turns.

“Did you hastily schedule the meeting because you were worried that it would decrease further?”

As Twoshot continued to rant, the Hunter handed him a wanted poster.

“It may be unusual, but aren’t there unusual things in District 3 as well?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have a suspect wanted by headquarters.”

“I am confident.”

He crumpled the wanted poster in his hand without even opening it.

Haon couldn’t stand hearing that so he asked Twoshot.

“Is it right to hide Bae An-jae and Halo who ran away from the heroes?”

“They don’t hide. They just wait quietly in an unseen place.”

Two-shot gritted his teeth and defended Bae An-jae, as if he had suddenly come to accept him as an important and great person.

Haon was just confused by his words.

“… … ? They say that they are hiding while waiting for an opportunity.”

“You did very well!”