NOVEL WEB Chapter 78
While other kids were awkwardly crammed into public transport, we were riding in the ultra-comfy Justitia’s car heading to her office.
Sitting next to Minho felt a bit awkward, so I took the front seat and settled in the back with our heroine candidate, Katyann.
Minho didn’t seem to have any objections, so the ride to the office was pretty quiet. Maybe it was Katyann being quiet that contributed to the stillness.
She was definitely in a situation where she couldn’t speak. But that didn’t mean she was just sitting there without any expression.
After getting in the car, she kept on chatting via text messages.
That probably wasn’t enough reason for Minho to keep quiet, but I thought it was considerate of him.
After all, in the original work, she often showed consideration for those close to her, so it wasn’t all that strange.
Thus, in the silent car, the only sound coming from the back seat was the tapping of virtual keys.
I was curious about what she was saying, but I was trying to redirect my attention elsewhere.
“Katyann, you mentioned you can’t control your abilities, right? Is that still the case?”
Even Justitia, who was typically so uptight, seemed to find the silence a bit odd, so she called out to Katyann and asked if she could still not control her powers.
“Yes… please tell them that’s the case.”
Katyann, instead of answering herself, revealed through Minho that she still couldn’t control her abilities.
“I see. Is it related to your application to be my intern?”
“Uh, she says that… she wanted to know the stories of the old Geisers, hoping it might help her.”
“Ah, I see.”
Justitia nodded as if to say “I knew it” and, as soon as the traffic light turned red, she lowered her sunglasses and looked at Katyann.
“Katyann, you do want to control your abilities, right?”
Katyann didn’t express her feelings through text but nodded at her.
Justitia understood that sentiment well, patting her kindly with her words. To anyone else, it might look rather strange, but there was definitely a reason behind it.
Justitia couldn’t control her abilities when she was younger either.
So, that’s why Katyann wanted to be her intern, and it was why Justitia felt a sense of kinship with her.
Until she turned 22, that is—before her awakening. Justitia had to wear an eye patch.
If she didn’t want to wear the eye patch, she’d at least have to keep her eyes shut or wear something to completely block her sight.
Because she had to fix everything that came into her view.
It wasn’t just the living things but also inanimate objects like cars on the roadside and fountain water that she’d fix, which meant she lived like a blind person most of the time.
If she even glanced at the world for a single second, a disaster would unfold.
And not just disasters for others; she experienced her own disasters too.
It goes without saying that using abilities required mana. Moreover, her fixating ability wasn’t very mana-efficient.
But by indiscriminately fixing everything that came into view, no matter how brief the moment, her mana would deplete in an instant.
If she had to use her abilities due to circumstances, it was normal for her to collapse from mana exhaustion and, if it dragged on, she’d end up shedding tears of blood; that was the Justitia before her awakening.
So, naturally, she couldn’t help but reflect her past onto Katyann.
“Ah, Minho, you might be a bit confused. If you need an explanation—”
“No, it’s fine. I have a rough idea about Geiser’s stories.”
“You, Minho? That’s surprising. I didn’t think it was something worth looking into.”
Justitia seemed genuinely surprised. I mean, it makes sense. It’s rare for someone like Minho, who’s perfectly fine, to know about her past.
On the flip side, it meant that her story was well-known among people with congenital disabilities or those like Katyann who were practically disabled due to their abilities.
“I’m dreaming of becoming a true hero, so I’ve been trying to learn about various things.”
“A true hero…”
Justitia seemed to ponder over those words, lowering her sunglasses again. It was my time to chime in.
“That’s something to think about after graduating from the Academy, right? Isn’t that right, teacher?”
“That’s true…”
“Besides, the term ‘true hero’ is too vague. You should set a more specific goal. Like, at least aim for the rankings—”
“I thought it was somewhat specific… but Blanca does have a point.”
That should suffice. I decided to distract Justitia from thinking too deeply and continued with various chitchat.
With all the interruptions, it seemed Justitia couldn’t concentrate until we arrived at the office.
Thank goodness, it seemed I had managed to make a decent first impression.
“You may have been here before, but it’s polite to introduce it again. Welcome to my office. During this week, you will significantly grow by experiencing a hero’s work.”
“Wow. Clap, clap, clap. What are you doing? You need to clap.”
“Is that… really necessary?”
Katyann awkwardly joined in the clapping, succumbing to the social pressure.
After an exaggerated reaction, she changed into her suit, and her sidekick stumbled in through the office door.
“Uh… who are you kids? Oh. Are these the… intern kids?”
Ignoring us at first, the disheveled sidekick fished out some eye drops from her pocket, dropped a few drops into her bloodshot eyes, and only then did she acknowledge us.
“That’s right. So hurry up and get up, and don’t look such a mess. Let me introduce you. This is my sidekick, Basqana.”
“Uh… okay. Nice to meet…? What am I supposed to say…?”
“There are other sidekicks, but they’re likely too caught up with patrol or rescue missions to join us. Basqana? You should introduce yourself properly.”
Justitia looked intently at Basqana, who briefly froze and then attempted to protest, seemingly feeling wronged.
However, after the literal staring contest, the tired Basqana managed to continue with her self-introduction.
“I mean, what more do you want me to say… Ah, got it. So, my ability is to place curses just by looking. Other sidekicks have abilities related to sight like me or the boss.”
At this point, shouldn’t we rename the office to “Office of Sight” or something?
After that quip, Basqana chuckled a little at her own joke but then quickly sobbed, asking for a break for her eyes before slipping away.
“Understood. But don’t show any disgraceful behavior in front of the future talents.”
“Ugh.”
Watching her with ice packs and some mystery medication head off somewhere in the office made that tiny flicker of hero admiration I had start to fade.
Katyann seemed to feel the same way; instead of her usual half-asleep state, her eyes widened in shock, and she blinked, staring in the direction Basqana had disappeared.
“…Hmm. It’s not common, but heroes often go through consecutive missions. Once one mission ends, another one begins.”
Basqana was unfortunately arriving after her third consecutive mission, so please don’t look at her oddly.
Justitia added that in an attempt to lighten the mood, explaining what kind of work heroes face beyond patrol duties and paperwork.
“In addition to the patrol work and paperwork you may have seen before, there’s a type of job heroes inevitably have to encounter: Hunter rescues.”
As soon as she said that, she sighed, wearing a strangely nostalgic expression.
After all, according to the setup, my rescue was during one of those Hunter rescue missions.
“A rescue… I’ve heard of it. Teacher Geiser often takes on rescue work, earning respect from those hunters…”
“Drop the ‘teacher.’ Just Geiser or Mr. Geiser is fine.”
“Understood, Geiser.”
“Good. Now, getting back to what we were discussing, yes. No matter how much of a hunter they are, they’re still human. They can go missing inside a Gate or find themselves in dire situations where they need help.”
It is the hero’s duty to step in at that time.
Geiser stated this with some flair. Katyann seemed quite impressed, simply mouthing ‘duty.’
Then suddenly, piercing bells rang, and light burst out from the holographic projector embedded in the ceiling.
“…Class C and D are in trouble… missing… last transmission… Hmm. The timing is quite apt. Chemicat. Power Word. Maha. Prepare yourselves. We have a dispatch.”
“Dispatch? Are we heading to the Gate?”
“Yes. You didn’t think this was going to be a cozy internship, did you?”
Justitia smiled, looking rather refreshed as she turned to us.
…Chemicat. So this would be my first activity as a hero.
What a joke.
Swallowing a dry chuckle, I dashed outside after Geiser.