19 – Hero Stand (3)
First, it’s important to assess the situation.
Do not panic during troublesome circumstances. This is the basic rule of a hero’s activity.
It was something hammered into me until my ears bled at the Hero Training Academy.
Suddenly, bank villains rushed into the bank.
Their number in sight was only six.
All of them holding crude looking guns, all seemingly handmade.
Among them, one of them.
“hehehehe, this time is said to be the most vulnerable, no?”
Flick, flick, flick.
A man among them was emitting tiny sparks from his fingers.
Based on the fact that none of them held explosives, it was clear that the recent explosion was caused by him.
“Everyone, get down! I said get down!”
“You, the lady at the counter! If you think notifying the police would be fun, think again!!”
Bang──!!!
“Eek!?”
“Aah!!”
The sound of a homemade gun being fired into thin air by one of the villains.
A raw noise, with no attempt to dampen the sound.
But that alone was enough to stir up fear in the venue.
No. On the contrary, the excessive noise was even more effective.
“Guess this isn’t just an ordinary get-together…”
Strategically exploiting the policing vulnerabilities of heroes and the police, swiftly suppressing and taking control of their target. A smooth scheme.
Those guys… They must have rehearsed quite a bit for this….
“What’s the National Intelligence Service doing in times like this…”
He must have been following us from near our house.
Did they fail to notice such an obvious six-member villain group planning a bank robbery?
Or do they really not care about anyone other than Louina?
“Hey. Stop dawdling and get friendly with the floor.”
“Tch.”
The villain who was checking each bank customer lying on the floor, rambled while pointing his gun at me.
He has good ears, indeed.
Of all things, this is happening the moment I get a bit separated from Louina…
…Louina?
Come to think of it, where is Louina?
I cautiously lift my head while lying down.
“Pretty lady. It’s too much, isn’t it? I am being lenient because your face absolutely strikes my fancy.”
“Since earlier, this woman is annoying. She’s not scared of us at all.”
I could hear the conversation of the villains.
It looked like the man with the ability to spew fire sparks was the head of these robbery goons.
They were still surrounding Louina, who was sitting in the waiting chairs.
I couldn’t see her expression from here, but…
“…….”
There was no response from Louina.
It was clear that she wasn’t in a good mood, at least.
“Whimper. Whimper! Whine!”
“Shh, shhh. It’s going to be alright. It will be okay…”
On one side, a girl desperately trying to suppress her sobs, and the voice of a mother trying to comfort her could be heard.
“Shut that brat’s whining up quickly. It’s pissing me off.”
“Ah, yes, understood!”
“Mommy…. I’m scared….. Whimper, sob!”
“Mommy will protect you, so be quiet….”
“Mommy….!”
Despite her mother’s efforts.
The child’s fear and grief seemed to multiply, and her voice began to rise.
“Hey! Did you not hear what I just said!?”
“Whimper, sob! Whimper, sob!!”
“Sigh……. This is why I hate dealing with kids.”
Regardless of only their voices being heard, it was immediately evident that the situation was turning for the worse.
At this rate, a big disaster might occur before the hero arrives.
As a person before being an Academy graduate, my instincts were telling me this.
“Why so noisy over there!?”
“It’s because the brat won’t be quiet……!”
“Sigh. Well, it’s just as well. This lady here still doesn’t quite grasp the situation. I suppose I’ll have to set an example.”
Lumbering. Lumbering. Lumbering.
The villain’s heavy footsteps moved from where Luina was to where the cries of a child could be heard.
Thud Thud Thud!
Sounds of firecrackers echoed.
Danger. Instinct screamed that this was a terrifyingly dangerous situation.
But what could I possibly do in this situation?
What capabilities do I have except for this defective power that can only nullify other powers?!
“Miss. If you won’t listen to us even if it means death, with that ugly scowl on your pretty face.”
Clank!!
The sound of a gun being cocked.
“We could demonstrate by coolly making a hole in this brat’s head, you know.”
“P-Please!! Just spare our child!!”
“Mom! Mommm!!!”
“We have nothing to lose, anyway. If we succeed in robbing the bank, that’s jackpot. Even if we fail, we can just run away. Hey! How much have you collected!?”
“Just two more bags to go! What are you doing!? Hurry up and fill them!!”
From beyond the counter, the frustrated voice of the subordinate villain, sweeping up the money.
The desperate plea of a mother who would do anything to save her child’s life, combined with the child’s loud sobbing.
The atmosphere twisted with madness.
Whether it was enjoying the chaos,
The villain with powers let out a series of low, menacing laughs.
“Now, what will be quicker? The brat stopping his crying by force or you listening to me obediently?”
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
My heart is pounding.
It’s my heart, drumming wildly against my rib cage, its palpitations so strong they seem to resonate on the ground beneath me.
But I am just an ordinary citizen.
I wanted to be a hero, but I ended up an underprivileged being with a defective ability, never making it as a hero.
Yet, even so, I…
I chose a life close to being a hero because I wanted to be a hero!
“Halt!”
“Huh? What’s this all about? You’ve suddenly decided to play the brave hero, you little sh*t.”
I got up instantly from the ground and showed him my scrunched-up face.
The villains that had been occupying the lobby all turned to look at me at once.
Rough as they may be, several dark gun barrels from which bullets were certainly going to be fired aimed at me.
“Honey!”
Immediately after. Luina, who had been still all this time, also sprang up from her seat.
“Huh? Honey? What’s this. Were you two a couple? Things are getting interesting now.”
Clack! Clack! Clack!
A villain with a special ability pulled up one corner of his mouth, pointed the gun that had been aimed at the girl at me instead and began to fire sparks relentlessly.
“Hey, brave ‘hero.’ Didn’t they teach you in school?”
“What… what are you talking about?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“When villains do evil things, you should call for a hero, like a little baby.”
The villain next to him, upon hearing his words, chuckled maliciously, saying, “Help~!” in a deliberately mocking tone with a lisp.
“Do you think I could silently sit and watch what you brats are up to?”
“Do you? Even though your legs are trembling?”
Damn. The instinct to survive is violently shaking my legs.
This would render the courage I gathered to stand useless.
I just need to hold on until the hero comes, any how possible!
“Darling? Can I come to you?”
“Who said you could move? Huh?”
“I didn’t ask you.”
The tone of Luina, who was about to come to me, rapidly turns cold.
At this sudden change, the villain’s face turned momentarily pale.
“Kehehehe! Look at this. The couple together is giving us entertainment.”
Gradually, the villain with powers, with sparkling palms, drew closer to me.
“For this brave hero, I need to show a bit of taste. It’d be boring if I just shoot and kill.”
“If you come here, you’ll get hurt…!”
“Then let’s see you try and make me hurt!!”
Bam!
The villain’s laughing hand came swung towards my head.
With this level of movement, the neutralization of power should be no problem at all.
But what comes after?
The moment when the villain, who’s just realized that his power has been sealed, points his gun once again.
There.
There…
All the calculations that had been racing through my mind abruptly ground to a halt.
“I’ve made a promise with you… I’ve desperately held myself back to avoid killing.”
Thud!!
“Khh…!?”
The moment my fingertips touched the villain.
From the opposite side, Luina, who had quietly approached, was firmly grasping the villain’s skull.
The villain, whose eyeballs seemed about to pop out, was writhing in pain as blood poured from his nose.
“But those who harm you, I can’t ever forgive. Absolutely. Never. Never, never, never, never!!”
Damn it. Of all times, it had to be now, when the nullification I cast on Luina three minutes ago has most likely worn off.
Just like this, Team Leader Itaeseok’s warning is…!!
My wish to give Luina the experience of everyday life is…!!
“Luina — Yuri! Please stop it!”
My screaming plea.
The madness-filled eyes of Luina.
The villains who finally caught on to the situation and rushed toward us.
People who lay on the ground trembling with fright.
It was a moment when all situations were converging into a pit of chaos.
Bang!!
“G…Gah!!?”
Thump Thump!!
“Wha, what.. Ahh!!?”
“Shots fired! Guh─gun…”
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire echoed from the backdoor of the bank.
Villains were dropping, spewing blood from their chests in an instant.
In the meantime.
I quickly moved toward Ruina and abruptly embraced her.
“Heh… Heh… Heh….”
I had only taken a few steps.
But my panting was so fierce it was as though I had just sprinted a 100m dash.
“It’s okay now. Really, I’m okay….”
“……..”
I careful strokes Ruina’s hair to calm her down.
Finally, Ruina lets her sharp, cold gaze soften, and dumped a half-collapsed villain on the floor.
The villain seemed to have broken somewhere.
Lying on the ground, his arms and legs stiffened as if he were playing an invisible piano convulsively.
“We’re the police! Is anyone hurt?”
A thick-voiced man entered the bank lobby soon.
However, the men in suits that followed him didn’t look like police to anyone who saw them.
If anything, they seemed nothing but secret agents from somewhere.
“What took you so long…?”
It couldn’t possibly have been that they came late suspecting that Ruina might interfere…
With a disappointed heart, I coughed lightly towards the ceiling, letting out a hefty breath.