All mysterious beings placed under the control of Hero Headquarters.

Rintaro nearly burst out laughing at Asaka’s dreamy words. However, there was no sign of her joking.

「We would like to ask for your cooperation as you are the person closest to the mysterious beings.」

「Are you going to lock them in capsules one by one and make them fight? That would save you the trouble of killing them.」

「No, you’re mistaken. Our goal is not to “dispose” of the mysterious beings, but to “protect” them.」

「Did you mistake that for “confinement”? Just like this.」

Rintaro deliberately snapped the chains that bound his arms. A grating metallic sound rang out, but Asaka paid it no mind and opened a file of documents.

「If you have empathy for mysterious beings, I think you will agree with my proposal.」

Asaka then activated the projector. A dazzling light illuminates the entire white wall and formed an image.

An offshore facility with a bare steel frame, like an oil drilling plant, was projected on the wall.

「We will establish a mysterious being sanctuary on an artificial island in the Pacific Ocean, where they will live together. Of course, the island will be completely isolated from the outside world, but they will be much safer than they are now!」

Rintaro looked back and forth between the image and Asaka’s face.

From Asaka’s steel-masked expression, it was impossible to read the truth of her words. But her words about protecting the mysterious being did not seem false.

「I see… so in the end, since you can’t get rid of the mysterious beings, you’ll just use a dustpan to collect and isolate them on the sea.」

「Yes, I know that’s a bit harsh, but you’re basically right. Construction is currently on hold, but even at this stage it can accommodate about 5,000 people. We call it ‘village’.」

「A mysterious being village is it… I didn’t think we will go back to the time before the dawn of civilization.」

Many legends of mysterious being villages remain throughout Japan.

In the past, mysterious beings would create settlements in deserted places such as mountainous regions, where they lived quietly and unbeknownst to the public. Most of the tales of “yokai” that had remained in Japan since ancient times were related to these mysterious beings.

However, in addition to the postwar population explosion, the number of mysterious beings moving to the cities exploded with the Showa period’s archipelago remodeling boom, and the mysterious being problem came to the forefront.

When beings far beyond humanity were unleashed into the wild at a time when communication networks were in their infancy, the results were clearer than fire. Although a small percentage of the mysterious beings were rational, most of them were known to loot and kill in urban areas.

The Hero Headquarters is an organization that was originally established to deal with individual mysterious beings who disrupt public order.

In recent years, however, these mysterious beings have lost their place in the world of information technology and have gradually begun to form groups again. Unlike the mysterious being villages of the past, it is not easy to find them hiding in the darkness of urban centers.

The conventional “whack-a-mole” approach of the Hero Headquarters had reached its limits.

The Village Plan was conceived during the time of Director Morikuni to protect not individual mysterious beings, but the entire mysterious being community itself. It was an effort to restore the relationship between humans and mysterious beings to the way it should have been.

Asaka revived this plan, which had been scrapped.

「You are not betraying Arc Dominion. Rather, the opposite is true. You and I, as ambassadors of peace, will lead them to a new place of rest.」

Asaka’s words were full of confidence.

She believed that she could draw Rintaro into this plan. She had analyzed that Rintaro’s joining the mysterious being organization as the villainous mysterious being Death Green, despite his human body, was not motivated by a destructive urge or a grudge against the Hero Headquarters.

Underlying Rintaro’s actions, which can be read from numerous reports, was his strong will to protect the mysterious beings from “disposal”. Therefore, the principle behind his actions was strangely consistent with Asaka’s ideal of the Village Project’s objectives.

「Fuh…… Fufufu……」

Hearing her words, Rintaro grinned and a laugh escaped his mouth. Caught in the atmosphere, Asaka also relaxed her cheeks just a little.

When Asaka was recommended to become Chief of Staff at Morikuni’s suggestion, she told him that she wanted to restart the Village project. Morikuni had a difficult look on his face, but it was none other than Retto who gave him the push he needed.

『Now you can live with Saya-chan huh, Asaka-san!』

Asaka hadn’t told Retto anything, including the true identity of Rintaro. However, he was the only one who could see through Asaka’s true intentions.

To spend the same time again with her only relative who had turned into a mysterious being. This was the ideal world that Samejima Asaka envisioned.

Now it is about to become a reality with the acquisition of an important piece, Rintaro Kuriyama.

However――

「What a dreamer. Did Peter Pan take you by the hand? The best you could hope for is to fall headfirst out the window and break your neck.」

Rintaro said as if to throw up. His eyes were stagnant, as if he was ridiculing the ideals of others.

「People are not rational creatures that can play nice just by changing the way the world works. A peaceful village is a dystopia that exists only in your mind.」

「What… Don’t you also wish for peace for the mysterious beings?」

Rintaro’s mocking attitude brought a hint of heat in Asaka’s words.

「Okay. If you’re not convinced, I’ll explain a bit more.」

「No, that’s enough. What exists between humans and mysterious beings is fear, a lack of understanding. As long as many people fear mysterious beings, the peace you envision will never come true.」

「…………!」

A dry “paan” sound echoed through the basement.

Her hand impulsively slapped Rintaro across the cheek.

With her dream completely denied, Asaka dropped her eyes to the palm of her hand. Perhaps because she had used too much force, a tingling sensation began to spread through her fingertips.

How many years has it been since she let her emotions get the better of her and resorted to violence?

However, Rintaro, who had been slapped on his cheek, showed his white teeth and smiled.

「Your face looks more human now. I like it more because it’s uglier.」

「Kuriyama, Rintaro……」

At that moment, the door to the basement interrogation room banged loudly.

「Asaka-san, please open up! It’s me, Retto, the Apprentice National Something!」

It was a passionate voice that could not be mistaken. Retto slammed his fist against the locked iron door.

「It’s too dangerous to be alone with Death Green! Please let me be there!」

Asaka had not told Retto or anyone at Hero Headquarters that Death Green’s true identity was Kuriyama Rintaro. This was why she had shooed everyone away, but it seems this ended up making Retto more worried.

「Asaka-san! Heeeey! Please open the door!」

「Kurenai-san, I believe I asked you to look over the documents that have piled up at headquarters.」

「I didn’t really understand, so I just stamped everything!」

「I understand. It was my mistake to leave you alone.」

At the same time that Asaka unlocked the door, the door was opened with great force.

「It opened!」

「I opened it.」

「Hey hey! We meet again, Death Green! We’ve met, Umm, how many times has it been?!」

When Retto stumbled into the basement, the moment he saw Rintaro he showed his vigilance by jumping side to side like in kabaddi. He kept a certain distance and moved side to side noisily, no doubt in preparation for a sudden attack, but it was extremely annoying.

「Is this the next one? Please, no. I’m not happy about being kissed by this guy.」

Rintaro sneered at Retto, but Retto himself stopped moving completely.Then, like a tin toy that had run out of grease, he turned his head towards Asaka with a grating noise.

「A- A- A-Asaka-san, did you kiss him!? Death Green!?」

「I didn’t.」

「Damn you Death Green! Where is it, Asaka-san? Where did you kiss?」

「I didn’t.」

「Damn, that was a lie! Death Green has tricked me again! Asaka-san, Death Green is a dangerous guy after all! Hide behind me here!」

With the noisy Retto appearing, Asaka was actually regaining her composure. However, as long as Retto was there, it was also true that they couldn’t move the conversation forward.

「Don’t worry, this binding won’t be removed easily. And it might be a good idea to give it some time.」

「Hah, you’re right. I wonder which one of us needs to cool down?」

「……………………」

Since she wasn’t getting the answer she wanted, she had no choice but to torture him again. Asaka ignored Rintaro’s provocations and pressed the button on the internal line.

「This is the interrogation room. We’re done talking.」

『Understood. And Chief of Staff Samejima, a mysterious being appeared in front of the entrance, so we “disposed” it.』

「It’s within reason that the mysterious beings would recapture Deathgreen. But just one?」

『Yes, she mentioned the name Death Green, so I thought she was probably one of them. It’s some kind of female mysterious being with a lot of swords coming out of her body.』

The report leaked from the speaker audio and was heard not only by Asaka but also by everyone in the room.

「I understand. Is the mysterious being still breathing?」

『I think we went a little too far, she probably won’t last long if we leave her alone. I’ve shot her in the legs so she can’t move.』

「Then please treat the patient after capture. After her recovery, I will talk to her directly.」

「Asak-san! Asaka-san!」

Asaka quietly glared at Retto, who kept calling her name during the call. “Well then,” she muttered softly before quietly hanging up the phone.

「What is it, Kurenai-san?」

「Hey Asaka-san, it’s not that easy to break free from Death Green’s restraints, right?」

「Yeah, that’s right…………!?」

What caught her eye were two chains hanging from the ceiling. However, the man who was supposed to be tied there was nowhere to be seen.

In less than ten seconds, Rintaro had taken advantage of the moment when the two people took their eyes off to remove the joints from his wrists and escape from the restraints.

「No way… Retto-san, please go after him!」

「Gugugu……!　It won’t open, Asaka-san!!」

The iron door was carefully secured from the outside.

………………

…………

……

At the entrance of the North Chiba Branch, dozens of heroes surrounded a lone mysterious being who had collapsed.

Her name is Swordminus, the Sword Mountain Mysterious being, and when she was a person, her name was Kenmochi Minato. She is one of the inner circle of the heinous mysterious Death Green, a mysterious being whose name appears only briefly in a corner of the wanted list issued by the Hero Headquarters.

Even though she is a mysterious being with two names, it is still absurd for her to take on the hero army all by herself.

「Yay, yay, I did it! I’m sure the Director will praise me for this!」

「But it took a lot of effort. How can I say this? It’s uncanny……」

「Damn, I messed up a little. Ouch…」

「She was a formidable opponent, but she was outnumbered. So there are really someone who dare to take on this number of heroes alone.」

Minato rushed to the rescue of Death Green before anyone else, and her attack was tremendous, causing no small amount of damage to the heroes.

But that made them get serious. If they went head-on, there was no way that heroes who could use their numerical advantage to their advantage would lose to mysterious beings.

In addition, the morale of the heroes was high with an important person in residence, and the Sword Mountain mysterious being was beaten up even more severely than usual. Even though the mysterious being boasted a strong body and high regenerative power, many bones were broken and a tremendous amount of blood flowed from her head and shot leg.

「Rin…… ta- ro……」

With trembling vocal cords, she called out the name of the captured man. With broken arms and bullet-pierced legs, she crawl toward him, trying to get as close to him as possible.

What motivated Minato was a strong sense of responsibility. Perhaps an even stronger emotion.

The heroes were indeed getting cold feet at the sight of Minato, who was still trying to advance after being hit by so many attacks all over her body.

Above all, mysterious beings still has a special move, “self-destruct” as a last resort. They can’t let her self-destruct inside the Kita Chiba branch office building.

With weapons in their hands, the heroes chased after Minato, who was crawling on the ground.

「The Chief of Staff said not to kill her but. If she goes any further, we’ll have no choice but to finish her off.」

「So she is going to crawl and move forward. She must have been very fond of Death Green…………」

「Ha- Hawawa…… Hawawawawawa…………」

All the heroes present were speechless when they saw the person in front of them.

「Rin…… taroo……」

「……………………」

The man silently embraced Minato’s bloodied body. Minato’s chest glowed a pale green, and a sword appeared from it.

Among the thousands of swords that Swordminas, the Sword Mountain Mysterious being, has created so far, it clearly had a dark-colored glow that was different from the others.

When the man received the magic sword, Minato closed her eyes and quietly lost consciousness, as if satisfied.

「Death…… Green……」

Finally, one of the heroes opened his mouth, but it was all he could do to call out his name. A chill pervaded the area, making it impossible to even swallow one’s spit.

None of the heroes were able to move against the negative aura that rose from Death Green’s entire body.

The man slowly stood up.

The ideal of harmony between mysterious beings and humans that Asaka spoke of was cut to pieces by the cruel blade of reality.

The eyes behind the glasses turn a perfect dark color, reminiscent of a starless night.

「Who was it.」

The voice was deeper and colder than the depths of the earth, and it felt as if it was coming from the heart of each of the heroes facing each other.

The man opened his mouth again.

「I’m asking you who did this?」

---

<194: Sweet Words
196: The Demon Sword and the Heinous Mysterious Being>