Chapter 1: The Powerless
Click clack, click clack— The sound of my new shoes echoed through the long corridor. Just as I was humming a tune, two members of the organization spotted me from afar and froze like statues.
Their reaction was like that of a rookie soldier who had just come across a commanding officer during a casual stroll. The members immediately halted, raising their hands and shouting a greeting.
“Hail Evilus! How are you, Scientist!”
“Oh— Good morning.”
As I waved my hand lightly, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh when I saw the members of the organization zip past me. I didn’t remember being treated like this when I first joined the organization…
I wonder how it came to this.
If there’s a problem, it’s probably because I met the Boss right after I fell into this world.
*
When I first opened my eyes in this city, I thought I had been kidnapped in my sleep. If you think about it, it made sense.
The buildings were so modern that I could swear they were straight out of a city like New York.
It would have been way too hasty to think that I had been transported to another world or fell into some other dimension.
It didn’t take long for that thought to flip upside down.
[Humanoid in front. Stop immediately.]
“Ha ha—! Try to catch me if you can!”
A police car was blaring its sirens as it struggled to chase after a person running on two legs. Yes, a person.
A police car, capable of easily overtaking a horse, couldn’t catch up to a mere human. If such a person existed, they would surely be winning all the medals at the Olympics instead of playing a game of tag with the police here.
I stood there dumbfounded, watching the whole scene, when suddenly a breaking news alert flashed across a billboard.
[Breaking news: A terror attack by a villain is occurring in City G. Citizens in nearby cities are advised to evacuate to shelters immediately…]
“…A villain? A terror attack?”
On the screen, I could see a villain spewing explosions from his hands, with heroes in tight suits trying to take him down.
At that moment, I realized I had not been kidnapped. Ah, one of my previous guesses was surprisingly close to the mark.
I had referred to the buildings as having an American style. Indeed, this was a world that looked like something out of an American comic book, filled with heroes, villains, superpowers, and fantasy races…
And here I was, a plain ordinary person with no abilities whatsoever.
*
In this American comic book-like world, people merely looked at me, the Asian guy with black hair, with curiosity but didn’t immediately approach me to make fun of me. Then again, given that there were non-human species lurking about, it would be strange to be met with racism just because of a slightly different skin tone.
Thanks to that, I was able to roam the city without much hassle, but I quickly realized one important fact: this was no longer the world I once lived in. Naturally, the cash and cards I had were completely useless here.
Upon realizing this, I instinctively understood I needed to find a job immediately. I knew just how dangerous it was for a penniless nobody to wander around in modern society.
‘I can’t even count on the police…’
In a world like this, they might not have any identity cards like back home, but it was only natural for an administrative organization like the police to have some sort of system for verifying identities.
I was lucky that we spoke the same language, but it was a massive issue that there wasn’t a single person in this world to vouch for my identity.
Would the police treat someone like me—someone without a home, without status, and with nothing—kindly? No. It would be a miracle if they didn’t throw me into prison as an illegal immigrant or deport me.
‘Well, surely there’s a job opening. There must be a labor shortage.’
If it came down to it, I’d even take on manual labor—thinking that, I visited every shop that had “Help Wanted” posted. The owners, upon hearing I was looking for a job, greeted me with friendly smiles and offered cold glasses of water.
“So, you want to work here?”
“Yes! I’ll do whatever you need me to do!”
“What skills do you have?”
“…Huh? I don’t have any.”
“Get out.”
Sadly, instead of racism, a different type of discrimination was deeply rooted in this world. Discrimination against the powerless. Falling from Earth without superpowers, I was treated as someone akin to an untouchable, unable to even get a job in a convenience store.
After getting rejected by more than a dozen shops, the sun was starting to set. Twilight. The hour of dogs and wolves. A time where I couldn’t tell if the person approaching me was a kind citizen coming to help or a villain ready to cause me trouble.
I huddled in a dark corner of an alley, avoiding both the people and the cold.
‘What a crazy world… What’s a powerless person supposed to do to survive?’
As someone with no abilities, no identity, and not even a high school diploma, I was completely helpless. Even manual labor seemed out of reach. They said normal folks without physical enhancement abilities were useless.
In this city, where everything existed for the super-powered, there was nothing I could do as someone powerless. Other than curling up and trembling in fear…
“—Sitting here all alone and sulking, huh?”
Click.
And at that moment, someone had approached me quietly and patted my head. A soft palm ruffled my hair, and the accompanying scent of milk tickled my nose.
I lifted my gaze slightly to see a young girl standing there. She didn’t seem like an ordinary child. The suited bodyguards standing behind her proved that.
“…I’m sorry.”
I batted her hand away, standing up awkwardly. I knew from experience that getting involved with someone like her wouldn’t bring any good, so I tried to escape the place quickly.
However, the young lady who had found me didn’t seem ready to let go of her new toy.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Gah—!”
With a playful voice, the girl grabbed me by the neck and sat me back down on the ground. She leaned over slightly to match my eye level, given that she was already quite small.
When our eyes met, I felt an inexplicable authority radiating from her. Not knowing her name or identity, I felt an intimidation akin to having the President of the United States standing right in front of me.
I swallowed nervously and carefully opened my mouth.
“…Wh-What do you want?”
“Seeing a sad-looking black man sitting alone in a place like this would pique anyone’s curiosity, wouldn’t it?”
“I wasn’t crying…”
“I see everything.”
The girl let out a small giggle and urged me to share my worries. The pressure I felt earlier vanished into thin air, replaced by a warmth that wrapped around my whole body, like being cradled in my mother’s arms. The initial reluctance I had about revealing my secrets to someone I had just met, especially a child, slowly began to dissipate.
So, I started talking about my secret.
“I’m from…”
Earth, not this world.
I’m a powerless person with no abilities.
I have no home, no money, no status, and no one to take care of me.
I am…
…
…
…
“—Oh, I see. That makes sense.”
“…Huh?”
Only after hearing the girl’s voice did I realize I had spilled all my secrets. It happened without me even realizing it.
Whether she believed me or not, my fate was grim. If she believed me, I could end up being taken as a test subject somewhere, and if she didn’t believe me, she could report me to the police as a lunatic roaming the streets.
But luckily, the girl said something completely unexpected.
“You have nowhere to go, huh? Then let’s go to my house!”
“Wha? What do you mean…?”
“Don’t worry about it! There are lots of empty rooms at my place! You can use one of them! Don’t even think to refuse!”
The girl flashed me a big smile as our eyes met.
“I have a lot of questions about you.”
Thus, I found myself heading towards the house of this young girl.
Towards the house of a girl whose name and identity I didn’t even know…
“Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Regalia. You can just call me Lia.”
Now I knew her name.
*
Name: Regalia
Superpower: Royal Authority
Description: Exudes charisma akin to that of a king.
*
“Is this place…?”
“This is my home!”
The mansion I arrived at after getting into Lia’s car was an immense estate, a size rarely seen even on Earth. It was truly a building that seemed plucked straight from a movie or a drama.
I had a hunch that she wasn’t an ordinary girl, but I never imagined she would be living in such a place, so I looked at her with slightly astonished eyes.
“Hehe— Surprised, are you? Didn’t I tell you there are lots of empty rooms in my house?”
“I didn’t think it would be this grand…”
“Kitty, please show him to a room. Ah— Have you eaten yet?”
“…I haven’t had any real food yet.”
“Then let’s prepare something simple to eat.”
With that, the girl waved her hand and vanished. When I turned to the woman called Kitty and asked where Lia had gone, the answer I got was something I could never have imagined.
“The young lady has gone to bed. Children need to be in bed before ten o’clock if they want to grow tall, you know.”
“Oh… May I ask how old she is?”
“Why does that concern you? Please refrain from asking unnecessary questions.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Follow me. I’ll bring your meal to your room.”
After some unnecessary scolding, I was led to my room. The room was every bit as luxurious on the inside as it appeared from the outside. The bed was as cozy as a cloud, and the blanket exuded a pleasant fragrance.
Moments later, Kitty entered the room with a cart carrying a simple meal.
“Since it’s late, this isn’t a full course meal or anything.”
“No, this is more than enough.”
On the cart, there was a steak. If this wasn’t considered proper food, I could only imagine how extravagant a full meal would be…
After a brief moment of astonishment, I began to slice into the steak and eat. Seeing my clumsy attempts with the knife and fork, Kitty frowned in disapproval.
“—Today, thanks to the lady’s kindness, you’ve found a place to stay. But don’t get your hopes up. Once her interest in you wanes, you’ll end up back on the streets.”
“I understand…”
“You need to either prove you can be of help to the lady, or continuously come up with interesting stories to keep her intrigued. I wish you the best in finding one of those two paths.”
With that firm statement, Kitty exited the room. She wasn’t wrong. The fact that I could sleep warm tonight was solely thanks to Regalia’s kindness, born out of some temporary curiosity.
If I wanted to stay here longer, I had to prove that I was of value to her. In this world where powerless people were treated even worse than the untouchables.
‘…Is that even possible?’
Fortunately, the opportunity came sooner than expected.
“—All done.”
“Whoa—!”
Regalia exclaimed in delight while watching a moving toy robot. Seeing Lia’s joy as she beamed at the squeaking, wobbling robot, I couldn’t help but smile as well.
Who would have thought she could get so excited over something so simple?
‘Maybe it’s because she’s a child.’
I never imagined she would be this thrilled by a robot that merely shot beams from its eyes.
End of Chapter
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