Chapter 60: Illusion Smoke Villain – Haze Fog ⑦

This was the real good morning.

I woke up and got ready as usual.
Delta must not notice anything strange.

I still don’t know what kind of ability Villain Delta has.
That means it’s entirely possible they’re keeping me under surveillance right now.

The rescue mission will proceed in secret.
That said… I don’t have any combat ability. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Even if I wanted help from a combat-capable hero or villain, I can’t handle things as smoothly as Haze Fog.
If I put things into words, there’s always the risk those words will reach Delta’s ears.
If I slip up even once, Haze Fog’s hostage will be killed.

"All right, Jin. I’m heading out—don’t follow me, got it?"

"Hah?"

Jin lifted his face from the newspaper, eyes narrowing even more behind his glasses.

That contrarian attitude of his is fine.
I’ve never said something like this before, so if it catches his attention and he follows me, that’s fine too.
If he doesn’t, that’s also fine. I won’t count him as an asset—he’s not someone I can handle anyway.

Flux and Mio will tag along of their own accord, so no problem there.
That just leaves D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.… hmm. Delta seems sharp.

If that mechanical voice I heard the day I first met D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. really was Delta, then Delta also understands D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s speech pattern.
In that case, even the cryptic back-and-forth between us—the kind everyone teases as "practically code"—would be completely exposed.

I opened the closet door and looked at D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s face.
D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. looked back at mine.

When I held his gaze, those restless, darting pink eyes gradually stilled.
Before long, we were locked in steady eye contact.

"Good."

That would do for D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

Satisfied, I shut the closet door.
Jin shot me a pitying look, like I was some lunatic, but I ignored him and moved on to Sudama.

"I’m heading out for a bit. If I’m late coming back, come pick me up."

"Hmph, I don’t mind. But where exactly are ye going?"

"Ah… I’ll text you later."

That’s what I said, but even messages on my phone might be read if hacked.
So contact isn’t possible. Which means everything rests on how much Sudama can manage on her own.
I already told her to ask me if she runs into anything she doesn’t understand on her phone, so if she doesn’t hear from me, she’ll probably come looking, smartphone in hand.

Usuzumi didn’t lift his eyes from the shoujo manga he was reading. Without looking at me, he said,

"Heading out, Ms. Le-le-le?"

"Yeah. And it’s fine if I take out that thing, right?"

"Ohoho, by all means. Good luck."

No one reacted to the nonsense otaku banter between me and Usuzumi. It was routine. He went right back to turning pages.

I left the house. I didn’t have any particular destination.

The only ones left to count on are heroes.
But… none of them are here, and asking them directly would be tough.

So in the end—I just have to believe they’ll come through.

I slowly felt my body dissolve into vapor.
Then, as a sudden gust swept through, I vanished—caught up in the smoke—and slipped away.

I’m counting on you, heroes. Save me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a dimly lit place.

Beneath my feet lay train tracks—subway tracks? Maybe even a disused line.
To think something like that still exists beneath this city.

Haze Fog, cigarette in mouth, stood before me and said:

"Well then, Inori-chan. The time limit’s short. Best assume my betrayal’s already been exposed."

"Don’t rush me. The fact you’re saying that means you’ve got some idea where the hostage is, right? Out with it. I thought you didn’t know anything when you bowed your head back then."

"Well, I figured if you slipped up and blabbed to someone, the deadline would shrink even more. That one’s on me. I should’ve trusted the guy I entrusted my life to a little more."

Fixing the trust between us would have to wait.
Without our lives intact, that wouldn’t be possible anyway.

"Should we run? I’m not exactly fit, and I’m slow on my feet."

"Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. I’ll carry you, mister."

"Oh, surprisingly strong, Usui-chan."

"So that nickname stuck, huh?"

While saying he’d carry me, Haze Fog’s hands were surprisingly gentle. Definitely the type who’d be popular.

He lifted me in a princess-style hold with one arm. Maybe he’s more muscular than I thought—or maybe he’s just expertly using his smoke.

Haze Fog ran lightly—it was closer to sliding or flowing than running.
Even carrying me, I barely felt any sway.

"The hostage is Yura Usui. She’s tied up in a train car further ahead. Loosening the restraints won’t take long, but the problem is the bombs planted around her. Yakko plans to blow up this entire underground area."

"How many seconds until it explodes?"

"Three hundred seconds."

"You gave it in seconds, but I was hoping for minutes…"

"Five minutes."

"Thanks for rephrasing it for me."

Doesn’t matter either way. Whether 300 seconds or 5 minutes, it’s still short.

If there are 300 seconds, maybe we can manage… we have no choice but to try.

"Are the explosives installed in the car?"

"Two locations."

"Can you disarm them, Usui-chan?"

"Twenty seconds."

Cool.

Haze Fog declared the exact seconds needed, carefully set me down in the train car, and vanished into smoke.

Inside, the girl tied up in the car muttered in shock, tears streaking her cheeks.
She looked like a middle or high schooler—or maybe even an elementary schooler, given how much kids grow these days.

"O-older sister… who… are you…?"

Since we shared the same surname, I guessed the hostage was related to Haze Fog.
I thought she might be his wife, but judging by her age, she was his daughter—or maybe a niece.

Cheerful to an almost inappropriate degree, I raised my index and middle fingers in a quick salute.

"Hey, I’m Inori Katagiri. I came here pretending to be a hero."

"A hero…!?"

"Don’t worry, Yura-chan. I’ll definitely save you."

I didn’t have much I could do, but I’d do everything I could.
To give her confidence, I couldn’t show a shred of uncertainty.

Before I could say anything else, the ropes binding Yura loosened.
A faint scent of smoke wafted in—Haze Fog, no doubt. Fast work.

And then…

Even though I’d set up all those flags in advance, the first one to arrive was Raiden.

My short stint as a stand-in hero was over.
The real one was here, and my work was done.

Raiden arrived this time keeping the proper distance from me. The usual swift and stormy style.

"Everyone safe!?"

He was still panicking as always.
Even after being a hero for so long, he still hasn’t learned to stay calm.
He does share some of Haze Fog’s temperament, but maybe he’ll mellow with age.
Haze Fog, though, has too much of that unreliable, easygoing vibe to ever be a proper hero.

"Safe. We don’t need to fight Haze Fog—no time for that. The whole place is rigged with bombs; if we don’t move fast, we’ll be blown to bits. I really, really don’t want that. Give it your all, Raiden."

"Don’t say weird stuff! I’m always giving it my all!"

I know Raiden’s always at full power, but… I could have at least hoped he’d unleash some unknown super-move and solve everything instantly.

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like that was happening.
We’d have to do what we could ourselves.

"Mio, Usui-chan, move ahead and clear as many obstacles from the tracks as you can."

"I’m glad you expected me to be there… but you said we can’t be friends with every villain, right?"

I figured if Raiden showed up, Mio should have caught up—and it seemed that was the case.

"I can’t be friends with all villains, but I did get along with Usui-chan."

"Ha… okay, we’ll talk later."

Mio, dissolved into a water-like form, rushed down the tracks.
Usui-chan had probably gone ahead already. He’s fast.

I turned back to Raiden and pointed down the train car with my thumb.

"Raiden, can we move this car? Let’s make a flashy escape like in Indiana Jones."

"Even if we can’t, we’ll do it. That’s what being a hero is."

Cool.