NOVEL WEB Chapter 80
As soon as we stepped out of the gate, the Hunter snapped back to reality and started thanking us, while cursing his companions.
“Thank you… thank you…! Those bastards! They promised to die together, and then they bail? I’m going to find them and kill them…!”
“I wouldn’t recommend that. If you do, I might have to come after you instead.”
Justitia advised the rescued Hunter with a completely serious expression.
“It’s just… how it is.”
The Hunter seemed taken aback by her response and awkwardly looked away, half-serious by the looks of it.
“Well then, I hope you recover soon. Please resolve things amicably with your companions.”
Justitia waved goodbye to the Hunter as he was handed over to the rescuers and taken to the hospital.
“The rescued Hunter receives assistance from the waiting agents and is transferred to a nearby hospital as soon as they exit the gate.”
“I see. Huh, that doesn’t seem too difficult?”
“Probably not. This is a low-level gate, after all. It’s probably around C-rank at best? Thanks to the Hunters managing things inside, it ended smoothly.”
Minho commented that it wasn’t as intimidating as he thought, and Justitia didn’t exactly disagree.
“Most rescue requests in gates proceed like this. If it’s not a special gate, a Hero is dispatched to bring the Hunters out from inside.”
“So, what exactly is a special case?”
“That would be… just a moment.”
Justitia started to explain but abruptly stopped to check her phone, which was buzzing loudly.
“Another rescue request. Let’s go.”
“Wait, we’re going again?”
I thought one was going to suffice!
Justitia gave me a weird look, as if to say, “Why are you even saying that?”
“Yes. As long as rescue requests come in, we must respond at any time. Isn’t it obvious?”
“Just a moment… No, um, Justitia. Wasn’t that just to give us a taste of things?”
“What are you talking about? This is the real deal. I’ll explain in detail as we go, so follow me.”
Justitia dashed outside as if she wouldn’t listen anymore, and we couldn’t really do much about it either.
“Blanca, didn’t you know about this?”
Minho asked as we ran. I answered him that, of course, I didn’t. I knew what a Hero was, but I never asked how they did their jobs.
“I already told you, we weren’t that close!”
Besides pretending to be oblivious, I seriously hadn’t known. Did rescue requests usually come in this nonstop manner?
Once we got in the car and strapped ourselves in tightly, I finally found some time to ask Justitia.
“Justitia, do rescue requests usually come in this frequently?”
“Yes. Most are low-ranking, so they get resolved quickly, and we move on to the next gate. However, sometimes, we do receive requests from higher-ranking gates.”
“But it didn’t seem like we got that many requests while at the Academy?”
“Of course not. While at the Academy, you’re not a Hero; you’re a student. A Hero isn’t supposed to be active 24/7, remember?”
Did I… remember that? I actually dozed off in the Hero Fundamentals class, so it’s not clear to me.
Minho quickly acknowledged with a “Right, I see.” I decided to stay silent to blend in with the mood.
“Chemicat. Don’t try to brush this off. You didn’t know, did you?”
Whoa.
“I know it looks ridiculous to still play teacher here, but Chemicat, it’s not good to doze off in class.”
I didn’t want to offer lame excuses for knowing—if anything, that would only grab her attention more.
“Anyway! Back to that. What happens to the rescue requests during break times?”
I was aware it was a forced change of topic, but it felt like we’d be lectured more if we didn’t steer away from the subject.
Justitia glanced at me momentarily as if she could see through my intentions, then replied nonchalantly as if she’d let it slide.
“They go to suitable Heroes. Factors like location, abilities, strength, rank, etc… Everything is taken into account, and then the AI designates them.”
“So, the reason you get contacted so often is because…?”
“It means I’m suitable for most rescue requests. Sometimes, I take on over 30 in a single day.”
“Wait, 30?”
“We should be arriving soon. Prepare yourself. It’s a B-rank gate, so you could get hurt.”
Justitia didn’t seem to care at all how shocking her words were to Minho and got out of the car, heading straight for the isolation facility.
“Blanca. Please tell me we don’t have to handle over 30 cases?”
“She said ‘if there are that many.’ So don’t worry too much. It’ll only be about 5 at most.”
——
On to the 19th case, resolved.
“Haaa…”
As soon as I staggered out of the gate, I collapsed right onto the floor.
I’d reached my limit, seriously. The elements I had stored inside were almost out.
If I broke down my body composition, I’d be fine, but that’s a last resort. It’s literally like skinning my bones—
I didn’t want to use that method just to save someone.
And I wasn’t the only one reaching my limits; Minho also moved at a noticeably sluggish pace, looking exhausted.
Katyann seemed okay, but she must have been struggling too. She just had trouble expressing it well.
It must be like that. Please let it be like that.
I took Katyann’s hand as she silently extended it to help me up and gulped down the water we received from the isolation facility.
It tasted horridly lukewarm, but I felt like I would die of thirst if I didn’t drink something immediately.
“Another call has come in. Let’s go.”
However, Justitia, without considering our state at all, mechanically tried to lead us off again as she received another request.
“Justitia…? Could we not eat something first? I’m starving to death…”
Even though I was openly showing how hard it was, being dragged off again like this made it impossible not to complain.
“Alright, Justitia. We’ve been at it from 1 to 8 without a break. Can’t we at least eat dinner first?”
With Minho also stepping in to plead for a break, Justitia seemed to pause, looking at us without any intention of pushing further.
“…Request for a rescue from a C-rank gate, relinquishing duty. Looking for other Heroes.”
Then she turned to us and unexpectedly asked how we felt.
“So, how was it? Saving a person. Was it amazing? Beautiful? Did it feel like a dream come true?”
I nearly asked her what kind of question that was, but seeing her serious face made me realize she was genuinely asking.
I couldn’t answer her question.
My answer definitely wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear.
“…I’m not really sure.”
Minho responded to her question with a simple “I’m not sure.” His expression seemed oddly shocked too.
Could he have not expected such words to come from his own mouth?
“What about Power Words? They aren’t as cool as you thought, huh?”
Justitia continued on without waiting for my reply.
“I understand. It’s tough, and it will be arduous. Of course. I was the same. Being a Hero is like this. The beautiful and impressive things are only what you see on the surface. Just like a graceful swan works hard beneath the water, so do Heroes.”
So if you’re wanting to become a Hero simply because you’ve seen just the bright side, it would be better for you to give up right now.
Justitia’s expression darkened as she said this.
And it made sense. The reason she even stuck with us was that her belief in justice had wavered.
She hadn’t known the dark side of being a Hero; she became one because she idolized the heralds of justice.
But once she realized her ideals didn’t align with society’s justice, she collapsed and joined the Liberators, Justitia.
It was a backstory I knew of since it came from the original, about how she didn’t want to disgrace her name, which was modeled after the goddess of justice itself.
In the heavy moment that suddenly arose, the kids were uncharacteristically silent, failing to respond adequately.
“…Still, I want to be one.”
At that moment, Minho spoke up with a barely-there response.
“I see. If that’s the case, you better prepare yourself. It won’t be easy.”
Although Justitia said that, she seemed to admire Minho’s spirit to some degree.
Oh, right. I should have intervened there. I got swept away in the moment and couldn’t say anything fitting.
“Well, what choice do I have? I don’t know anything else. Plus, sitting still has never been my thing either.”
“With that mindset… I can’t recommend it, but if Chemicat really wants it…”
It seemed like my late attempts at touching her feelings had somewhat hit their mark, but who knows.
“It’s getting late, so let’s head back to our accommodation for now.”
“We have accommodation?”
Justitia called us back, suggesting we eat something and slowly return.
Minho looked surprised at the mention of accommodation.
“Yes. It’s in our office.”
When Minho heard that, he looked more shocked than when Justitia was trying to set the mood earlier.