NOVEL WEB Chapter 198
“While I was lounging around and taking it easy, the outside world was still buzzing with chaos.”
First off, Heros Company kept coming by, suggesting this and that alternative. Of course, I didn’t listen to a single one.
They seemed to be trying to sweet-talk me into working for them, but why on earth would I join their shady organization?
I’d rather die than work under those clowns.
Maybe that’s why Heros Company started spreading the lie that it was Invictus who killed Arman during the operation to take him down, and that my so-called friends helped him do it.
It looked like they were trying to control the media, as neither Minho nor Jinhyeon spilled the truth.
Nevertheless, there seemed to be whispers online that I was the real killer of Arman, likely because some of my friends—maybe all of them—leaked the info on purpose.
Watching people argue over how to trust Heros Company while some praised me as a true hero and others adamantly insisted I would never have done such treachery was pretty comedic.
Sometimes the kids would come around and ask if I was angry about being robbed of my credit, but I always gave the same answer.
Not at all.
I didn’t kill Arman for recognition, so why would I be mad?
My motive for taking Arman down was purely personal revenge, not some cause or justice.
In fact, I felt a little pleased. I agreed that both those who believed in me and those who tried to tear me down were untrustworthy when it comes to Heros Company.
While I may not have achieved the goal of toppling that company, at the very least, I had stripped them of some of their support.
‘That sounds a bit too… anti-social, don’t you think?’
Ageha threw out that critique, but it didn’t bother me since it wasn’t entirely wrong.
However, the medical tests at the hospital were really unpleasant. The staff might have cared, but I still felt like a mere experiment subject.
After spending a whole week there with tests everywhere on my body, the doctors concluded that… they had no idea what was wrong.
They knew the slime had completely fused with me, but beyond that, they didn’t know a thing.
How did it integrate so quickly, like some mitochondria? They also had no clue how it was affecting my body and to what extent.
That said, it seemed to be functioning like any ordinary organ, if not better, so at least for now, there appeared to be no issues—according to the doctors and researchers.
“S-so, uh, should I say that’s fortunate, Blanca? But, um, saying there are no problems doesn’t quite sound like things are perfectly fine…”
After everything was done, Rapis was back to stuttering with concern just like at the start of the semester.
“Of course! We can’t tell if everything is working correctly or if it’s just a patched-up mess, right?”
Still, I figured if my abilities were working well, and my organs were doing their job, there was no need to overthink it.
As I gobbled up the hospital food Rapis was spoon-feeding me, I said, “Well, even if something goes wrong later…”
“We can fix that when it happens. It’s better to leave it alone rather than poke at a problem that hasn’t even come up yet and create new issues.”
“Mmm…”
“And I’m just tired of all these tests! Being treated like an experiment subject or a teaching aid really sucks.”
As soon as I mentioned the experiment subject bit, Rapis’s energy fizzled out and she couldn’t even look me in the eye.
Understandably so. If it were Rapis, she must have seen my exposé a thousand times.
“Forget it, why are you feeling sorry? It’s all the fault of Heros Company.”
Though I was saying not to feel guilty, in reality, I was trying to make her feel a bit more guilty. It seemed like that was the only way to get her to talk.
“B-but, it, it couldn’t have been a pleasant memory…”
“That’s not entirely wrong. It just gets increasingly uncomfortable to discuss, so let’s stop here… Rapis, what about Justitia’s situation?”
When Justitia came up, Rapis looked at me like I’d hit her with a surprise, but as I looked at her expectantly, she finally confessed.
“W-well, we did manage to secure a new recruit. B-but… that’s all we have. No matter how we look at it, we can’t do more than that. Like I suggested, we can’t bring them into our fold…”
So, they had secured someone, but it stopped right there—no more than that. Even for her, it was impossible to go beyond that.
“I wasn’t expecting more. Justitia won’t want that either, plus it’ll be a hassle for your family. Thanks for taking on a tough favor.”
They probably had to make a deal with Heros Company to fulfill this request, since her grandmother and mother would have felt compelled to help the lovely granddaughter and daughter.
…Looking at it this way, I felt like a total jerk taking advantage of a girl’s heart.
But am I wrong? I’ve been in this mess since the start, so maybe being brazen about it was alright.
“Eh-heh… I-i-if Blanca wants, then…”
“Oh, by the way, Rapis. I thought you fixed your stuttering habit not long ago, so why are you back to being a stutterer?”
“Uh, um? W-well, you see… you came back, right? So I figured I didn’t really have to act serious, and it’s much more of a hassle to pay attention while talking…”
In summary, she meant she could fix it if she wanted but didn’t because it was a pain.
“No, that’s not okay, young lady! In just a few years, you’ll be a working adult, and you should start practicing how to speak properly right now. Proper speech is much more pleasant to hear!”
“…Huh? What did you just say?”
Even though Rapis must have heard me, she looked at me like she didn’t get it. Whether she was shocked or if she had absorbed my advice on the spot, she wasn’t stuttering at all.
“You heard me correctly, young lady. After spending a week here, I’ve thought about it and the only place I can rely on now is you. I might be able to find something else if I look around, but here we are. Let’s work well together, young lady.”
“Isn’t it better to wait until I officially join before you start calling me that?!”
Rapis jerked her head away in shock and politely asked me not to call her like that.
Boy, that felt good. I should tease Rapis more often. Eventually, she’ll get used to it and my fun will dull.
As I continued to poke fun at Rapis, the kids must’ve known classes had ended, because they rushed into my hospital room asking how I was feeling, as always.
“Firing on all cylinders! I could go out today and devour a buffet of unhealthy food! Right, Master?”
“Master…?”
Minho, upon hearing that, looked at Rapis as if demanding an explanation.
But Rapis blushed and urged me not to say such things while waving her hands at the kids to clarify that it wasn’t anything.
But it was easier said than done. Like a round of musical chairs, each child asked Rapis what “master” meant, and only when she was about to burst from embarrassment did she spill the beans.
“You two were talking about this…?”
Minho looked at me in a strangely disappointed way, but I just shrugged and said to ask Rapis.
“But if we take a rough guess, the situation being what it was at that time, I figured it had to be a secret suggestion.”
“That may be true, but it didn’t exactly change anything for us, did it?”
“True enough. Even if you knew, you wouldn’t know what to do about it.”
After a long pause, Rapis shyly confessed, as if she had admitted something embarrassing.
“At that time… I was really overwhelmed… So I wanted to keep it a bit exclusive…”
Seeing Rapis admit that it was partly due to her state of mind and the remnants of her animal instincts, the others looked a bit bemused.
“Well, you had no choice then.”
“I can’t say for sure, but if it were Rapis at that time, I get why she might.”
“Agreed.”
“But still, that was a little bit sneaky to just swoop in without saying anything.”
“I’m sorry about that…”
Overall, the kids seemed okay with it. Ageha looked a little disappointed, but once Rapis apologized, she shrugged as if she had nothing more to say.
“Though Rapis’s suggestion was out of greed, thinking it over revealed that there really weren’t many choices. So… that’s how it happened. I could run away if I had to, but I want to stick around you all.”
“If it’s what Miss Blanca wants, then so be it… Rapis, I’ll be visiting you often.”
Ageha’s overly transparent intentions flustered Rapis for a moment, but it seemed like we managed to wrap up that conversation well enough.
“So, hey guys. Are you thinking of going to see the teacher?”
“Teacher? You mean… Geizer?”
“Yeah.”
Checking myself out would take no time at all. And since they brought Justitia, there was no reason to just sit around.
It felt a bit like monopolizing, especially since Rapis had just been called out for that, so I wanted to know if the kids had anything to say.
“If we’re going to see Justitia, I’ll go too. I have things to say as well.”
“Same here.”
And so, the kids had decided: yes.