“Stupid girl, can’t you even manage this level of staging? There’s nothing more effective than silencing the rabble, stained with dirty hatred, who know nothing of mourning the wounds of their own protectors. This is just a reminder that, without the shepherd, the sheep will be left as prey to the wolves.”
“Yes… I suppose so…”
“Sometimes, a superhero must feign weakness. To guide these base creatures in the right direction…”
“Ah, got it. I understand. Let’s just head back to A City already.”
What’s the use of making the citizens so anxious…? Even while thinking this, Yuanna envied Cage’s ability to manipulate public opinion so effortlessly, unlike herself.
There were times when the stress caused by citizens who act as they please, oblivious to the truth, was too much even for Yuanna to bear.
Not that she intended to follow it, but from a hero’s mental health perspective, Cage’s methods weren’t half bad.
As if to prove this, at the train station connecting the cities, many people were gathered waiting for Cage.
Having left only bandages on his head, neck, and arm, as well as the parts of the blanket that were visible, Cage lay back in the bed and pulled the covers over himself.
When Yuanna, with other A-Class Heroes, helped Cage out of the ambulance, he faced the camera with dignity, even while feigning pain, and waved with his injured hand.
—
[Wowww! Cage! Cage!]
[Cage-sama! Please don’t be in pain!]
[Don’t die!]
[Cage-sama! It was on W City News! Are you okay with your injury?]
[Cage-sama, H, just one word about Black Cat!]
Watching the citizens cheer for Cage like this left Yuanna feeling somewhat exasperated.
Though she was playing along with the act to avoid worsening the false reports of their conflict, even the reporters who usually couldn’t stop prying were asking only polite questions, making it all the more irritating.
“Look, you base ones, to lead the herd sometimes requires this kind of showmanship. If you don’t know that, then learn.”
“I’d really like to beat the hell out of some of these reporters.”
No matter how noisy the crowd, Superheroes of S-Class could still hear the quiet murmurs of their conversation.
As Yuanna pushed the bed into the train, two A-Class female Hero allies of Cage bowed to her.
“Ms. Yuanna, truly… thank you this time.”
“Thank you for saving Mr. Cage.”
Then, with a smiling face, Cage called out to the citizens through the window using a completely different tone.
“Starlight, I am grateful for your help this time…. But don’t think this makes you a victor over me.”
“Haa… that nonsense again? What’s this talk of winning against a hero?”
“Loser or not, they always say the same thing… but I’ll admit, Starlight… you’re either on par with me or slightly beneath.”
“Alright, I’ve already grasped the fact that your intelligence is on par with, or slightly beneath, mine. Let’s just go.”
“Starlight.”
When Yuanna, who was tired of dealing with Cage, was about to leave the train, Cage called out to her again in a serious tone.
“…Be careful, Black Cat isn’t an ordinary monster.”
“Yeah, yeah, I already know that much.”
“Listen carefully. Black Cat is….”
“That guy who attacked Black Cat alone clearly knew it, right? Anyone can see that two S-Class Heroes fighting it together would be advantageous.”
“Yuanna! A monster with so many abnormal abilities is abnormal in itself, defying any logic! If it weren’t for that, I would have…!”
But Yuanna left the train without hearing Cage finish his sentence.
“Starlight! What’s happening with Black Cat?”
“Is it safe? Now that Cage has also been defeated, isn’t Black Cat an unmanageable monster for W City, which now has only one S-Class Hero…?”
“Back off, everyone, back off, or you’ll get burned.”
Yuanna used her powers to drive off the swarming reporters, then surrounded her body with flames and took to the sky.
While flying, Yuanna recalled what Cage had said.
That Black Cat was not ordinary—she already knew that much.
Especially after that day, after she had addressed the fleeing Black Cat.
“Really… what kind of monster is that cat anyway…”
[Black Cat sighted! Black Cat sighted in District 7!]
Just then, the monster warning rang in Yuanna’s ears as she flew.
Startled, Yuanna altered her flight path towards District 7.
—
“Exact location? Please report the current situation.”
[Location is District 7! Turtle Park, currently… uhh, it’s carrying children on its back and flying around…?]
“Huh…”
Confused by the operator’s voice, Yuanna sighed and increased her flight speed.
Come on, seriously? What kind of monster carries children on its back?
Anyway, it’s probably not going to eat them, right? It’s just playing around, isn’t it?
“Ugh, really!”
A monster should be normal to a certain extent, you know!
—
#
Upon arriving at the site in response to the call, Black Cat was flying around protecting children from an unexpected Phantom Dog and a flock of blood crows.
After entrusting the children to Black Cat upon arrival, Yuanna watched with a troubled expression as Black Cat, who fled at a speed incomparable to when she initially ran away, mercilessly slaughtered the monsters, and then examined the children to ensure they were uninjured.
—
“Waaaaaouugh…”
“Hey! I told you to stay away from people, didn’t I?”
“Don’t hit him! Don’t hit our Black Cat!”
“That lady’s mean!”
“Ah, um… children…? I know, sister won’t hit Black Cat anymore, yeah? Let’s go to the shelter, okay?”
“But Black Cat ate the mean monsters!”
“Black Cat, not Bu-rae-kke, and Monsters, not mean monsters. Wait, why does this kid’s pronunciation suck this much? Did he lose his baby teeth?”
“Ung, my baby tooth fell out. What’s a baby tooth?”
“That’s right… Hey, will you stop trying to come closer? I told you not to.”
“Waaahhhh…”
After confirming that the kids were unhurt, Black Cat was driven away by Yuanna and started eating the monster carcasses one by one.
The grotesque scene of blood and flesh spraying everywhere prompted Yuanna to point at Black Cat and take advantage of the moment.
“Look, Black Cat is a scary monster like that. If you keep going close, it might suddenly eat you.”
“Black Cat’s not scary! Black Cat’s nice!”
“Gah… Hey! Didn’t I say you shouldn’t keep going near people, especially kids?”
“Waaaahh! That lady’s scary!”
“I’m not a lady! I’m older than you, not your lady! Come over here, you troublemakers!”
“Waaaahh! Mommy!”
“Aaaah!”
Feeling powerless against the child who insisted Black Cat wasn’t scary, Yuanna snatched the children into her arms and flew slowly to place them in the temporary shelter.
After clearing away all the children and being alone in the deserted city center with Black Cat, Yuanna waved her over while she could see Black Cat’s caution.
But Black Cat, fearing another beating from Yuanna, carefully slipped into the shadows. Yet, she jumped back out at Yuanna’s next words.
“Come out. I’ll buy you some beef.”
“Waaah?!”
“Ugh…”
What was she thinking? Why does this monster seem cute somehow…? With her back turned to the beef-seeking Black Cat, Yuanna carefully made her way to a nearby butcher shop, avoiding security cameras, and took out her hero registration card.
The hero credit card and access card for closed facilities unlocked the butcher’s shop, which had been locked along with the monster alert.
Yuanna grabbed a portion of beef from inside, made a self-service payment at the register, and then threw the beef to Black Cat.
“Uooo…”
“What? Not going to eat it… No! Wait! What… Huh! Seriously.”
Black Cat grabbed the raw beef Yuanna had thrown with her mouth and jumped onto Yuanna’s back.
Realizing Black Cat was treating her as a barbecue grill with the sound of meat sizzling, Yuanna angrily grabbed the meat and wedged it between her palms.
“What kind of monster knows the taste of grilled meat? Here, done! Happy?”
“Uungoo…”
“What! Isn’t this enough?! Do I have to supervise the cooking for you too?”
“Uwaang!”
After thoroughly grilling the meat again, Yuanna threw it into Black Cat’s mouth and glanced around.
Stealthily, carefully… If the surveillance camera caught this, and worse, Starlight finds out she’s feeding a monster, the consequences would be obvious.
“Unyaunga…”
“You make such a cute noise… Do you really like beef that much?”
—
Hearing the adorable noise Black Cat made while receiving the meat, Yuanna felt a tickling sensation in her ears. She pulled out her smartphone to take pictures of Black Cat.
With no break between chewing and swallowing the beef, Black Cat opened her mouth again for more.
Seeing the child-like drooling mouth, Yuanna found it ridiculous and grilled more meat.
Could it be that this monster was only attacking people to eat beef?
“Do you like human meat or beef better? If it’s human meat, say Kyaa, and for beef, say Meow.”
“Waoung.”
—
Amazing! A monster that prefers beef over human meat!
They had tried to domesticate monsters by giving them a lot of beef before, but the monsters didn’t stop eating humans.
This special individual, who prefers beef over human meat, is that why it’s helping people… because humans make beef taste good…?
—
“This beef is because you’ve been behaving well, but if you keep letting people pet you, growl, okay? Understood?”
“Uuungooo…”
“And… No. Don’t scare the kids too much. Wait, should it scare them… Ugh, really… How did I end up talking to a monster like this?”
“Waoung.”
“Alright, I’ll give you more meat… Ugh, really…”
—
Yuanna sighed, recalling the day Black Cat defeated Cage.
Was Black Cat really different from other monsters? As she wondered and asked, Black Cat nodded.
The fact shocked her greatly.
—
-How do you understand human speech?
Just in case, but really…? A monster understanding human conversations? Though Black Cat’s intelligence is higher than expected, it also means Black Cat is that much more dangerous… and also that more people will try to target it.
A monster that doesn’t attack humans and understands human speech.
What’s more, Yuanna even had a short conversation with Black Cat.
—
-Why are you always protecting people instead of acting as a monster should and attacking humans?
-Grrr…
-What’s this? Do you dislike attacking people? You don’t want to…?
– Wuoung.
-M, really? No, wait, am I really having a conversation with a monster right now?
—
Unlike other monsters that mimic or manipulate human dialogue patterns for information, Black Cat communicated openly with Yuanna without any aggression.
While keeping her guard up, Yuanna aired out her grievances with Black Cat.
—
-You shouldn’t just let anyone pet you. The guy with the tranquilizer gun last time, that happened because you were so carefree, didn’t it?
-Grrr…
-Hold on, are you male? Do monsters even have sexes?
-Kyaaa!
-Ah, okay, I won’t look then… Wait, I already saw everything when you fly. Are you accusing me of sexual harassment now by trying to look at your back now?
-Kyarrrr…
-Okay, anyway, just stop getting too close to humans. Don’t cause unnecessary trouble…
—
After saying that, Black Cat really began baring her teeth at approaching citizens.
Still, even while rescuing people from other monsters, the fact that Black Cat was listening to her made Yuanna feel warm inside.
At the same time, it also made her realize that Black Cat might cause even more trouble to people.
If the fact that Black Cat could communicate became public, the pseudo-religious groups advocating for harmony with monsters, clueless rich people who believe monsters can be tamed, and the people from the government’s monster research department would all gather in W City.
—
And so, Yuanna chose not to report this to the higher-ups.
As a hero, it was her duty to report information about monsters but, Black Cat was a special case.
Recording this information wouldn’t help much in dealing with other monsters, and more importantly, it would unnecessarily provoke Black Cat.
Then there’d be another incident where Black Cat loses its temper like before, causing city damages, noise, and accidents all over again…
—
Thus, Black Cat for now… let it remain as is.
Not exactly sheltering the monster, and not like Yuanna could capture it alone anyway, and it’s not attacking humans.
Like Cage said, it’s like leaving an unexploded dud, which made Yuanna also feel her decision was wrong.
Yes, she felt it…
—
“It’s cute.”
—
Yuanna cautiously extended her hand to stroke the head of Black Cat, who was quietly chewing her beef.
At that moment, startled Black Cat leapt back and sank into the shadows before she could be stopped, fearing another blow.
Yuanna froze in her outstretched position, stunned.
“No, no, it’s not that… I just wanted to stroke your head too… Aghhhh…”
—
You let other people stroke your head.
Yuanna sighed, staring at the ground where Black Cat had sunk into.
Yuanna reported Black Cat’s escape to the communication device.
“This is Starlight. We lost Black Cat.”
—
Next time, I’m definitely stroking that head.
—
