Chapter 21: Explosion Villain – D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.①

I’ve never been too picky about food, so most of the time I just eat at the university cafeteria. After all, it’s made for young people: cheap, fast, and reasonably tasty.

Once in a while I’ll splurge on yakiniku, but if I did that every day, I’d go bankrupt. If I had the time to make my own lunch, that might be different, but if I have that kind of time, I’d rather push my research forward.

I rotate through the cafeteria menu, but after cycling through it several times, I start to get bored. So I figured I’d change things up today, bought some sweet bread from the campus store, and sat down on a bench in the courtyard.

Just as I was about to tear open the wrapper, the sunlight dimmed. A shadow fell over me, so I looked up.

A man was standing there. I flinched. He hadn’t made a sound.

He was wearing a lab coat—maybe a student in the middle of an experiment, or a professor? But… no. He was strange. More than strange—unnatural.

Probably congenital albinism—albino, as people usually call it. Messy white hair, and pupils tinged pink, darting restlessly. He looked about forty, give or take. Plenty of students and professors are around that age, but he didn’t feel like either.

Above all, he looked unhealthy. His skin was so pale I could see the veins beneath. His back was hunched, his body gaunt and bony, his eyes sunken deep into their sockets—like someone who hadn’t eaten in far too long.

He didn’t meet my eyes, but he was standing right in front of me. The bench beside me was empty, so it wasn’t like he wanted me to move over.

Before I could ask what he wanted, the man spoke first.

"Desire Engulfs, Torches Order, Numbs All, Then Erases."

"…What?"

I understood the English words well enough, but I had no idea what he meant. Was this some kind of chuunibyou nonsense? Maybe he was quoting a famous book? I tried to recall, but nothing came to mind. I’m not a lit major—unless it’s one of Shakespeare’s really famous ones, I wouldn’t know.

"Destiny Evaluates The One. Now, Assess Truth. Express."

"I don’t get it, but you’re saying some pretty grandiose things."

"Determine Eligibility Through Observation. Nature Asserts Truthful Existence."

"Wait… is this some kind of philosopher’s ambush? Like a Socratic Q&A knockoff?"

"Define Existence Through Opposition. Nature Allows Trial Entry."

"Well, this is a top university, so if you’re looking for a debate, you picked the right place. But this campus doesn’t even have a philosophy department. You an exchange student? A newly appointed professor? If you’re here to give a lecture, maybe try the humanities majors instead of me. If you’re lost, I can even draw you a map."

"Do Even Thoughtless Ones Need A Taste of Examination?"

"Even so, it’d be nice if you could use Japanese—this is Japan, after all. And aren’t philosophy folks more into German than English? Or wait—are you a debate veteran from the English-speaking world, who came here to conquer new territory? So you’re not faculty, just some freelance philosopher wandering around?"

"Does Essence Tell Of Nobility? All Trials Expose."

Yeah, we weren’t understanding each other at all. My earlier impression that maybe we connected was just wishful thinking.

He kept rattling off English, so I just rattled off Japanese back at him, but a conversation isn’t sumo—you don’t get anywhere just by colliding head-on.

Still, I think I figured something out. Not his meaning, but his pattern. All his lines started with the letter D.

This albino man had been speaking in a way that spelled out Detonate.

—Explosion Villain: D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

The word means “to explode,” broken into an acronym. What the letters stand for, who knows. His name is infamous, but no one has ever seen his face—because everyone who’s ever encountered D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. has been blown to pieces.

If you meet him, you don’t live. That’s the kind of villain he is.

A bomber who’s destroyed countless facilities and taken countless lives. Even though he only appeared recently, his infamy already ranks among the worst of the worst. I hadn’t even heard of him until Raiden mentioned him, but soon after, his name was on the news every day.

Praying that this wasn’t really him, I opened my mouth.

"Detonate. Even trespassers offer names and terms of entry."

The albino man’s eyes widened. The whites of his eyes stood out, making his pink pupils dart about even more wildly.

"Didn’t Expect This. Obviously, Not A Typical Enemy."

Whoa. I actually understood that. We were… conversing.

The man placed a hand over his chest and gave a gentlemanly bow. His lab coat flared, and I noticed soot-like stains on it.

"D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. Every name once abandoned tells everything."

…Okay, maybe I didn’t actually understand. But at least I knew this was a self-introduction.

That alone confirmed it. This man was Explosion Villain D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. Worst-case scenario. And he’d just called me “enemy.” Great.

I told you already—I really don’t want to die by explosion or by burning alive!