After putting enough distance between myself and the surface, I escaped underground and silenced my presence as I heard Yuanna’s voice yelling in anger.
These days, I employ a method of hiding my presence underground and then resurfacing near a suitable shelter entrance, where I resume my human form.
When the situation is over, people exit the shelters, and I can casually walk out ahead of them, blending in and escaping without difficulty.
“Hm, lucky day today.”
I never imagined there would be a kebab stand here. Even though I underwent monster transformation earlier, I indulged in a hearty meal and savored it while mingling with the humans on the streets.
The people around me were glancing about and chatting, mainly discussing Yuanna and Black Cat.
“Did we miss it again today? Is Black Cat alright?”
“No, the problem is Yuanna, isn’t it? Wasn’t she alone in W City because she is an upper S-Class Hero? Other cities usually have at least two S-Class Heroes.”
“If it’s a really important city, there are sometimes two or three upper S-Class Heroes… It doesn’t seem possible for Yuanna alone to handle things here.”
Their conversations predominantly centered on doubting Yuanna’s strength as a Hero.
W City’s strongest Hero, the concept of an S-Class Hero being equivalent to a Despair-Class Monster, is common knowledge to those living in the Monster Era. This has been proven by S-Class Heroes in other cities who have tackled Despair-Class Monsters alone.
But why can’t Yuanna capture one by herself?
Maybe because she keeps running away.
I, overhearing these conversations, started imagining what would happen if I fought Yuanna like an ordinary monster instead of escaping.
Monsters can easily sense each other’s strength through core resonance, but humans, lacking such capability, appear infinitely weak. Unless the monster is particularly intelligent, wouldn’t their frustration with weaker opponents cause them to attack recklessly, thinking they’re about to devour something, only to die instead?
Yuanna is strong.
This, from the perspective of a monster perpetually fleeing from her, is something I can affirm with confidence every time we meet.
“Shouldn’t this be investigated? Like whether she got the upper S-Class rank through influence?”
“Yeah, she is quite pretty, isn’t she? Maybe she’s benefited from her looks?”
“Do monsters care about human appearance?”
“No, it’s not the monster that considers it, but the Heroes judging Yuanna.”
“Eeeh… So devious…”
“Hm…”
I remember hearing similar discussions as a child, which made me feel unpleasant.
It’s similar to when someone called me to fix a car fire and then filed a complaint demanding I pay for repairs. Why do people criticize those who try to protect them?
“Isn’t Black Cat behaving strangely? Why aren’t the buildings damaged?”
“Isn’t it possible that it’s not a Despair-Class Monster?”
“Well, isn’t everything fine with the buildings?”
“Hey, there are strange things embedded in the buildings everywhere. Like in our building, there’s a pipe connecting us to a neighboring building, creating a passage. We’ve been using it to chat during lunch breaks.”
“Is a Despair-Class Monster supposed to do such things… Is it really not a Despair-Class Monster?”
The truth is, it’s because of me.
Since I’m not behaving like a typical Despair-Class Monster, it seems like people only see Yuanna’s lies.
Either she inflated the strength of a weak monster or her own abilities.
Once people start doubting her, everything seems suspicious.
Yet, I can neither let myself be captured by Yuanna nor kill her.
From what I’ve overheard, it seems my actions have somewhat damaged Yuanna’s reputation, causing me a slight sense of guilt.
“Hm… Though Yuanna doesn’t seem weak to me.”
“What? Do you like her?”
“Hm… No, not really.”
I made a slight attempt to take Yuanna’s side but quickly gave up.
It’s foolish to claim to be her fan when surrounded by people determined to criticize her.
I am not that foolish a monster.
…Although, this issue might resolve itself naturally when another Despair-Class Monster visits W City.
A hero can do nothing for a monster.
Yuanna can only wait for the right moment.
And that day came sooner than expected.
#
[Doesn’t Yuanna need to retake her Hero test?]
[How can someone considered on par with a Despair-Class Monster fail to capture it 22 times?]
[Now it’s at 23 attempts.]
[Thank you, Mr. Black Cat, for surviving again today.]
“Ugh…”
Today, as she missed Black Cat once again, Yuanna let out a heavy sigh upon seeing the deteriorating public opinion about her.
Even Yuanna herself felt she had no explanation for the citizens.
[Is the Hero ranking system trustworthy?]
[Do you think the government is some kind of joke?]
[Without combat footage or such, how can we tell if Yuanna is really an S-Class Hero?]
However, Yuanna herself felt deeply wronged.
The suggestion to retake the Hero test— despite her record of defeating a previously-confirmed Despair-Class Monster— seemed absurd.
If she couldn’t capture Black Cat, maybe it implied that it wasn’t actually a Despair-Class Monster, right?
She couldn’t understand why people were so vocal about trivial matters like this.
Monsters that caused so many casualties or were genuinely dangerous were being treated as mere tools to gauge the power of heroes.
Isn’t the important part the effort to eliminate dangerous monsters?
Such matters should not be the focus. Just doing my job well is enough.
Despite this thought, the mounting stress was overwhelming for Yuanna.
Black Cat keeps getting faster.
Still, it’s slightly slower than me, and it’s at this level. If it gets any faster… I shudder to think what people will say then.
If only Black Cat was some other Despair-Class Monster… While having such absurd thoughts, she scolded herself for failing to catch it.
“No, I just need to get faster…stronger… that’s all.”
This strange entity, Black Cat, was growing at an alarming rate compared to other monsters.
To catch up with Black Cat, Yuanna too must strengthen herself.
Ironically, while chasing Black Cat, Yuanna realized that her powers had refined slightly.
Through continuous encounters with a worthy opponent that she narrowly misses each time, she began strategizing on capturing Black Cat in various ways, inadvertently honing her abilities in the process.
I wonder if this works, I wonder if that method might work. Unlike other monsters that rapidly increase casualties, Black Cat had caused almost no harm, providing her many chances to experiment.
Thus, Yuanna will definitely catch Black Cat one day…
Somewhere down the line, although she couldn’t predict exactly when.
“Ah… Yes… The Despair-Class Monster-hunting Yuanna here… What is it?”
With a weary sigh, Yuanna wearily answered the call from her couch. She was startled enough to jump to her feet upon hearing the message.
“A Despair-Class Monster from A City is heading here?”
#
The Despair-Class monster, Mirage, escaped from A City.
The characteristics of this monster described to Yuanna from A City bore an uncanny resemblance to Black Cat.
A monster that continuously changes its form, avoids combat whenever possible, and disappears the moment attention is diverted.
“Is it possible that Black Cat could be of the same type?”
“Possible, but Mirage could be a higher-tier entity.”
“Why?”
“The levels of casualties differ vastly.”
Mirage apparently sprays an intense mist that mesmerizes humans. Those mesmerized eventually die, drawn uncontrollably to Mirage.
At first glance, this sounded somewhat similar to Black Cat’s supposed charm due to it’s cute appearance. As she thought about Black Cat’s form, Yuanna pondered whether they might be of the same species.
“And this video… This is why the monster is named Mirage.”
A staff member from the W City Monster Department played a video received from A City for everyone.
A man in black armor, one of A City’s S-Class Heroes named Cage, was seen using his power to create an impregnable fortress to capture Mirage, the monster.
This fortress is his superpower: impenetrable barriers capable of holding even a Despair-Class Monster within confines.
Cage traps the monster in an enclosed space and then slowly eliminates it.
The current “ring” strategy used by heroes originated from mimicking his tactics. Cage has successfully eliminated over a dozen Despair-Class Monsters while minimizing casualties.
“This is…”
The dragon-shaped monster Mirage captured in Cage’s barriers suddenly vanished into thin air only to reappear outside the enclosure.
It transformed into a giant serpent-like fox and attempted to escape. As Cage approached to trap it again, Mirage transformed into a giant butterfly and soared into the sky.
Indeed, it was very much like Black Cat.
Both choose to flee rather than fight heroes, making them hard to pin down due to their ability to transform into various shapes.
If they were of the same kind of monster, this could be serious.
“Should we use the ring strategy to pit the Despair-Class Monsters against each other?”
“Considering one Despair-Class Monster has already been eliminated, and this one seems quite strong, there’s a chance Black Cat might hunt it down.”
The heroes casually talked about Black Cat hunting down monsters.
W City has become Black Cat’s domain. Despite refusing to fight Heroes directly, Black Cat hunts monsters extensively.
Lately, Black Cat has been responsible for the most monster eliminations in W City.
For Black Cat, the incoming Despair-Class Monster would likely be perceived as an intruder infringing on its territory.
With a strong territorial concept inherent in monsters above a certain rank, it’s unlikely they would ignore an invader.
They previously used a similar strategy and set up a confrontation between Black Cat and a wolf monster.
But Yuanna judged it was risky to repeat the same tactic this time.
“…No, it’s dangerous. If they’re of the same type, calamity could ensue.”
“Are you worried Mirage and Black Cat might team up?”
A known trait among monsters is that the more similar they are, the more likely they are to cooperate rather than fight.
Given past examples of wolf monsters, should Black Cat team up with Mirage— despite Black Cat causing minimal casualties, it would likely prioritize protecting Mirage.
Moreover… in extremely rare cases, monsters from the same species can reproduce.
If they were from the same species and Mirage fled to W City to seek protection from Black Cat…
Mirage needed to be eliminated before meeting Black Cat.
“Issue a full evacuation of W City. All Heroes gather and stand by. Regardless of the cost… we must eliminate Mirage before it reaches Black Cat.”
At this moment, the primary target was shifting from Black Cat to Mirage to prevent the worst-case scenario.
