Chapter 19: Liquid Hero: Flux②

Mio’s story about her strip show was ridiculously entertaining.

I had to admit it—her life experience far outstripped mine. Even if I lived twice over, I’d never catch up.

Apparently, though Mio had done a lot of things, being a hero was new to her.

"So what exactly is a hero supposed to do? If it’s just beating villains to a pulp, I’ve done that plenty of times already. It has to be more than that, right?"

"Jin, you ever been beaten up by Flux?"

"If I had, I’d have killed her."

Jin was as hot-blooded as ever. Is killing or not killing really the only way he knows how to communicate?

Also, he didn’t make his eardrums metal this time. Was he actually interested in the strip show story? I knew that if I teased him about it, he’d radiate murderous intent, so I left it alone.

Having someone who used to be a villain hanging around at home, and still choosing not to protect his hearing—that was careless. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if he got complacent and shut his hearing off, but Jin still carried that prickly, feral aura.

"Are villains usually on bad terms with each other?"

"Depends on the matchup. Plenty of them are insane, so it’s rarer to see them getting along. Most don’t have any social skills, and there aren’t many you’d actually want as friends."

"Hear that, Jin?"

"You saying you wanna die?"

For some reason, his killing intent was aimed at me, not Mio. Why? Mio was the one trash-talking villains. Was it just because I’d lumped Jin in with them? Does that mean he doesn’t see himself as a villain anymore? Maybe the rehabilitation plan they tacked onto his clinical trial is working.

"…Wait a second. This person’s a villain?"

"Huh? Didn’t I tell you? He’s Ironclad."

"Stop spreading that around."

Mio’s eyes went wide.

Her iridescent, shimmering eyes were beautiful. Covering her mouth with both hands, she rippled the surface of the water with her shock.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my! Well, that’s different! Ironclad is special—you must get along with him♡"

"Eh, a special case? So Ironclad’s well-regarded among villains?"

"Other way around. He’s the worst♡"

"And Mr. Worst Ironclad, any idea why?"

"Probably because I beat up every villain that came at me."

"Gyahaha! Straightforward enough! That’s what happened the day you came to my place, right!?"

Jin fell silent. Guess I nailed it. Even when he ran into villains he couldn’t beat, if they pissed him off he’d fight them anyway.

So easy to read. Without a bit of psychological strategy, he’s going to run into problems sooner or later. Too straightforward. I’d probably get killed if I said that’s why he can’t beat Raiden.

"My, my, now I’m getting even more interested in you, Inori♡ Living with Ironclad, having Delta gunning for your life—there’s no way there isn’t some deeper story."

"Only thing I’ve got is regeneration, though."

"Well. Then we’ll just unravel that mystery together♡"

Flux was strong. More than anything, her ability was incredibly versatile.

Liquid assimilation and manipulation.

To control a substance, she had to mix in a little of herself, but that small hassle was more than worth the convenience it gave her. Like the typical fluid-type monster template, she had some kind of vulnerable "core" she couldn’t let get attacked—but she was very skilled at hiding it. Unless you had a special detection power like Raiden, you wouldn’t stand a chance.

She also had excellent control and mastery of her ability. She wasn’t like Yukiko or Inferna, who could accidentally over-freeze or over-burn things. Flux’s battle experience made the difference. Her quick decision-making and adaptability were top-notch.

For the record, all these compliments originally came from Raiden, but I was keeping quiet. If Mio got even more smitten with him, who knows what would happen.

Either way, having such a formidable ex-villain join us was as reassuring as it gets.

"Come to think of it, Mio, you were hired by Delta to kill me, right? Do those kinds of jobs come in often?"

"That was the first time Delta ever asked me. I’ve taken on other assassination missions before, though."

"An assassin? So cool!"

"Ufufu, that’s not something to admire."

Not sure either of them had the moral high ground in that exchange.

When Flux learned Yukiko’s real identity—Yukiya’s face—I knew we had to silence her then and there or it would be trouble. Yukiya didn’t have my regeneration ability. Any assassination attempt could have been fatal.

But the legendary assassin Flux was retired now. She was focused on finding her way to becoming a beloved hero.

"First step’s probably managing public perception. Maybe show off doing good deeds? Pick up trash or something?"

"Maybe I should clean up a river?"

"That’s good. We could even start a little school of medaka fish."

"Hauling garbage out of a river’s fine, but then what? If I just dump it illegally on the riverbank, it defeats the purpose."

"Maybe start with a river near an incinerator or waste plant?"

"I could alter the river’s flow to move the garbage, but… is it even okay to change the flow of a river?"

"Sounds like a no."

"Plus the waste plant would end up submerged too~"

Mio and I bounced ideas back and forth, rejecting one after another.

"How about this—protect citizens. Even better if it’s from villains."

"I’ve done that before, but why was I still treated like a villain? What did I do wrong?"

"Assassinations, probably?"

"That must be it~"

I see. Mio didn’t distinguish between good and evil. She piled up good deeds just as readily as bad ones, bad deeds just as readily as good. Was it a try-anything spirit? Or just insanity?

"Maybe it’s not about doing good things, but about not doing bad ones. You do good stuff, Mio, but since you also do bad stuff, it cancels out."

"I see. But self-restraint is what I’m worst at."

"That’s very villain-like~"

"Ufufu. Then I’ll just have to work until people say I’m hero-like instead."

Good to see she had ambition. If only Ironclad would learn from her.