Chapter 27
“─So, that’s what you mean?”
“Yes, Boss.”
Omega, the leader of City Z, let out a murmur while listening to his subordinate’s report. He had just obtained new information about the musician he had met at a recent corporate exchange party—the partner of Regalia from Evilus.
This miraculous artist had captivated the corporate giants of various cities with just a single performance. The genius pianist, descending from the moon like he was dancing.
Cling cling cling
‘That guy was kidnapped once, and Evilus spent over a hundred million dollars to get him back…’
This was confirmed through villains trapped in a containment facility and a bank employee who witnessed the transaction in real time. No matter how powerful Evilus was, they couldn’t hide everything perfectly. Especially not from someone of a similar stature.
Spending a hundred million dollars to rescue a hostage was quite a shocking matter. Sending that amount of money to a kidnapper without any guarantee of getting the hostage back was nearly a gamble even for a corporate CEO.
The fact that he sent that kind of money despite lacking any assurance of recovering the hostage, and that the amount was indeed a staggering hundred million dollars—a sum that was difficult to manipulate even for a CEO—hinted at one undeniable truth.
The true identity of Raemon.
“…I see. That guy is—.”
Evilus had recently been making nonsensical scientific achievements. A circuit the size of a palm that boasted processing power superior to any modern computer, and a hover device rumored to have already secured a win at the ABC Awards.
Previously, Evilus was already a cutting-edge corporation in City E, but nothing to this level. Omega had thought there must be a reason behind it—until this missing link fell into place.
“That was the developer of that technology.”
The scientist that Evilus was keeping closely guarded.
Realizing Raemon’s identity, Omega lightly smiled.
“─He showed a flaw! Finally!”
The gap that Regalia had failed to conceal in her frantic attempts. A coincidence revealed by a series of fortunate events that Omega had managed to identify and seize.
The first thing Omega did upon grasping this fact was to block any information from leaking to others. Ideally, he wanted to eliminate those young villain witnesses and the bank employee, but he couldn’t, knowing there were ‘detective’ types who could piece together the truth from a series of deaths.
“Erase the witnesses’ memories.”
“Yes, understood, Boss.”
“And set up an appointment with the mayor of City E. An official visit.”
“Got it.”
In an instant, Omega organized the schedule, eagerly anticipating the moment he would meet that man and bring him to his own city.
*
“Eh? Is that Eight-nyaa~?”
“Levitan?”
“Call me Levi-chan!”
As I was taking a break in the lobby of the evil organization’s headquarters, I tilted my head at seeing Levitan arriving for work. She held a part-time job as a police officer and typically didn’t venture into the evil organization’s HQ.
“What brings you to the headquarters today?”
“Eh—! So mean! As if I only show up when I need something… I’m on vacation!”
“Ah—so you’re on vacation.”
Levitan waved her fingers in a V sign, announcing she could come to the evil organization for the next week. I couldn’t help but silently marvel at her dedication.
Who works seriously during their vacation? Even if she kept it quiet and rested at home, no one would know she was on vacation!
Bam!
There wasn’t a workaholic as devoted as this one. As I gaped at her, Levitan beamed, her trademark rabbit ears perked up.
“Are you surprised to hang out with me, Eight?”
“I’d love to, but… it won’t be fun if I go with you, right? Vira has to come along as backup too.”
“In that case, Vira can join us for fun, nyaa!”
Levitan seemed utterly unbothered by spending her precious vacation time hanging out with someone like me. Truly, she was one of the insiders in the organization.
Refusing an invitation from a woman so eager to spend time with me felt wrong. I nodded, agreeing, and informed Vira of the news.
Naturally, Vira was thrilled at the prospect of escaping the stuffy evil headquarters to soak up some sun.
“With Levi-chan? There’s no problem!”
They both headed straight to the changing room and quickly switched into outfits for going out, while I remained in the lab coat I’d been wearing.
A moment later, the two emerged, and immediately, their expressions soured at the sight of my outfit.
“Eight. Are you really going out looking like that?”
“I just thought I’d ask, do you have any other clothes?”
Nodding in response to Levitan and Vira, they exchanged glances and agreed.
“It’s not a time for dressing casually.”
“Let’s head to the department store first.”
“…What?”
At the mention of “department store,” a dreadful thought crashed over me. As I had anticipated, they dragged me off to the mall, where I had to be their life-size dressing doll.
Ding ding ding
I played dress-up, changing outfits again and again until they were finally satisfied with my appearance.
“Still not enough!”
“Hmm… but I think this is just about passing.”
They systematically inspected my appearance, customized to their tastes, before finally smiling in satisfaction. The shopping hell was finally over, and freedom was on the horizon.
“Well then, off to home…”
“What are you saying? We’ve come out to have fun, so we should enjoy it! Right?”
“Ah…”
After hours of merely trying on clothes, I had almost forgotten the reason we had left the headquarters in the first place. Today was Levitan’s vacation, and we had come out to bond with her…
This torturous ordeal had nearly made me lose sight of my objective. Sighing, I asked where we would go next, and Levitan insisted since we were at the department store already, we should also buy clothes for themselves.
“It’ll be such a pain to come back later! Let’s shop for our stuff while we’re here!”
“Oh—Levitan, you’re so smart!”
“Ugh…”
So, I watched the women shop, comparing clothes that I couldn’t tell apart and complimenting them, returning to stores we had previously visited. I ran around until my feet felt blistered…
After a few more torturous hours, I was finally freed and collapsed at a cafe table. People would think I was having a great time with two stunning beauties, but I couldn’t say it was enjoyable. Not at all.
Crash
“Thanks to Levitan, I finally went shopping after so long. This guy just refuses to leave the lab!”
“Really? So, we come back tomorrow?”
“Maybe?”
“…Tomorrow too?”
“Yep! My vacation lasts a week!”
Realizing that I was going to have to endure this Hellish schedule again tomorrow and the days to come, I sank into despair.
I half-wished I could get sick just to escape… but of course, that wouldn’t work either. If I feigned illness, Boss would just call that scarred-faced doctor from the other world again, and he would recognize right away that I was faking it.
Haa…
“Ah…”
At that moment, a man appeared and casually took a seat right in front of me. He did so so naturally, as if it was his original seat, catching an delayed reaction from Vira and Levitan.
“─Eight!”
“Phew!”
As Vira hugged me up, simultaneously, Levitan kicked at the guy sitting opposite us. However, the bespectacled man nonchalantly blocked Levitan’s kick and dug his hand into his inner pocket.
I braced myself, expecting that man in a suit to pull out a gun—my hand instinctively moved towards my wrist device—but instead, he pulled out a business card and handed it to me.
“Here’s who I am.”
【Omega Industries】
「Director Mew」
That’s what was written on the business card.
“…Omega Industries?”
Levitan flinched at the name, while I accepted the card from Mew and took out the card for my cover.
[Fix-It-All Repair Shop]
Raemon
T.0X-XXXX-XXXX
“Here’s who I am.”
“I know who you are, Mr. Eight.”
“…Who is that?”
“No need to hide. Everyone already knows. That you are the legendary pianist Raemon and also the scientist behind Evilus.”
Mew said this while fiddling with his glasses.
The sun’s reflection danced on his glasses, illuminating his face.
With a sun-like bright smile, Mew made his proposal.
“─Mr. Eight. Would you care to join us at Omega Industries?”
“Is this a recruitment offer?”
“Yes. Indeed. We offer the best conditions in the industry.”
“For example?”
“Hey! Eight!”
As I spoke, Vira shot me a look of shock, and I shrugged towards her. It wasn’t like I was going to accept their offer; I just wanted to hear the number, right? After all, every employee dreams of evaluating their market worth.
And of course, I was an employee too. I wouldn’t just ditch Evilus to jump ship to Omega Industries, but I could at least brag to the Boss about whatever amount they offered, couldn’t I?
Noticing my positive attitude, Mew grinned and took out his smartphone. He jotted down a figure on it and held it out to me.
When I checked the amount displayed on the screen, my expression froze.
Seeing my reaction, Mew thought I was shocked and smiled even more.
“How does that sound? Much better than your current treatment, isn’t it—”
“─It’s not sufficient.”
“…What?”
Surprisingly, the amount Mew offered as the best in the industry was so far above what I was currently receiving that it was on an entirely different level.
And it involved several digits.
End of Chapter
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