Chapter 154: Still Acting Normal

Johannes also knew that the Transformation Suit had a hallucination function.

That’s why he was able to recognize Iris, but he figured that maybe Iris hadn’t recognized him.

So, he’d praised Iris to subtly hint that he was the Superpowered Individual who had defeated the Monster.

He was aware that his usual appearance looked pitiful and lacking in confidence.

He may have been a little crazy, but he wasn’t so clueless that he didn’t know how others saw him.

However, as a Superpowered Individual, he was quite decent.

He thought so himself.

So, he wanted her to realize that it was he who had defeated the Monster that was destroying buildings and fought the Villain on equal terms.

The reason was very simple.

He wanted to look cool.

‘If Iris knew that I was the Superpowered Individual who defeated the Monster… then maybe she’d like me a bit more.’

Unfortunately, Johannes never imagined that Iris might already know about what he’d done at Enraka Church.

And since he hadn’t harmed any innocent people, he didn’t consider himself a Villain.

He was just helping with the affairs of the Enraka Church because of his father’s pressure.

In a way, that was true.

In Gyodam City, if you exaggerated a little, it was half water, half scoundrels, and those who were called Villains were people who used their abilities to harm powerless citizens.

“How was it? That Hero—what did she look like?”

Was he talking about her being pretty?

It couldn’t be Laika or the Monster, so that just left herself.

It wasn’t like she’d call herself pretty, after all.

Iris wanted to know in more detail how Johannes had seen her transformed self through his eyes.

She wanted to hear compliments, and on the other hand, was also curious if Johannes had recognized her as the Hero.

At her question, Johannes gave a shy smile and scratched the back of his neck.

Then he stammered out his answer.

“She… she was wearing white, and, uh, blonde… like you, Iris. She looked like an angel. Pale skin, really cute face…”

“Huh? You even saw her face?”

At that, Johannes paused, pushing up his sunglasses, and shook his head vigorously.

Now that he thought about it, it didn’t make sense to have seen the Hero’s face in detail from afar.

“Oh! No, no, I didn’t see her up close. Just—just at a glance, she looked like an angel… She seemed like an angel descending from the sky.”

With such blatant praise, Iris’s face turned red.

She’d called herself Angel Girl when coming up with a Hero name with Rainbow Girl because the white outfit looked somewhat angelic.

Since then, every time Rainbow Girl called her Angel Girl, her heart had skipped a beat, but to think that Johannes saw her as an angel when she transformed into a Hero…

She was happy, but also embarrassed that it might be too much praise.

She fanned herself and agreed with him.

“Th-that’s right. People who do good deeds even look… angelic. Was there only one?”

“Yeah. O-only one. There… was only one Hero.”

Iris rolled her eyes and shrugged.

It seemed difficult to explain in detail.

There was no need to mention that there had actually been two more.

He thought of her as an ordinary person, after all.

Before long, the two reached the entrance to Main Street, quickly explained to the approaching Police that they hadn’t seen anything, and hurried out of there.

“Now we just need to take the Bus. I didn’t bring my old, I mean, my car today… Oh!”

Iris, absentmindedly heading toward the Bus stop, glanced sidelong at Johannes.

She almost forgot for a moment.

Johannes was the young master from a rich family whose chauffeur usually came to pick him up.

It wouldn’t be bad to hitch a ride like last time.

But just as she was about to ask if his chauffeur was coming, Johannes spoke first.

“M-me too! I’m going to take the Bus. I told them not to come pick me up today. Actually, I think… walking would be fine, too…”

“Huh? Wouldn’t taking the Bus be better than walking? It’s a pretty long way to walk.”

The ride in the Foreign Car had been no joke, so it was disappointing that he’d told them not to come.

Iris, a little regretful, pointed at the Bus stop as she asked.

But Johannes shook his head firmly.

Iris had completely forgotten, but he was still thinking about the promise to take a morning walk.

Since that day, they’d only gone on one more walk together.

After that, he’d called her with a Morning Call every day, but Iris never answered, and while most would have given up, Johannes kept calling every morning and came to Iris’s Neighborhood every day.

It was a heartbreaking display of consistency.

When Iris tilted her head in confusion, Johannes fidgeted with his hands.

“It’s just, uh! For a walk. Remember, we said we’d walk together every morning, but… we didn’t.”

“Oh, right. We did, didn’t we? We went once more after that, but then I was so tired I never did it again. Since the weather’s nice, let’s walk home. That’s a good idea.”

Iris leapt forward and then walked ahead, turning back to face him.

She was wearing sunglasses, so Johannes’s eyes couldn’t be seen, but the gentle lift at the corners of his lips showed he was happy about the walk.

A cool breeze blew, the sunset was coming in, and the weather was perfect for walking.

Most importantly, with two Superpowered Individuals together, it was the safest combination—nothing bad could happen along the way.

Iris continued walking backward, talking as she went.

“By the way, about the Hero—sounds like it was a female Hero. It’s amazing she took down such a huge Monster by herself.”

“In the world of Superpowered Individuals, size and strength don’t always match up.”

He replied absentmindedly, just to keep the conversation going, but the answer was more serious than she’d expected.

Iris, stunned, put on a mischievous smile and asked,

“Really? And how would you know that? You’re not, maybe…”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind. Let’s just go.”

She almost jokingly asked if he was a Superpowered Individual, but stopped herself.

It would have been fun to see Johannes flustered, but what if he just agreed?

She didn’t know how she’d keep the conversation going after that.

The sky was turning redder and the roads were starting to fill up with cars heading home from work.

Just then, an everyday scene unfolded in the middle of the congested road.

“Hey, you bastard!”

“What? I was already in a bad mood because of that Department Chief, and now I run into you.”

When the biker gang member kicked the car, the driver came out fuming, swinging a Baseball Bat.

It was the kind of fight you’d see once or twice a day in Gyodam City.

Watching the two brawl absentmindedly, Johannes turned to Iris with a question that had been on his mind.

“But Iris, aren’t you wearing your mask anymore?”

“Oh? Ah… I don’t have to anymore. It was kind of suffocating.”

Iris rolled her eyes and fiddled with her lips.

There was no need to disguise herself to avoid Laika now.

Or more accurately, it was pointless to hide.

He already knew she was a Hero.

Now, if Laika wanted, he could find her anytime.

Did that mean she should move?

No, she didn’t want that.

Because of the strange rumor that many people who tried to leave Gyodam City disappeared without a trace, she couldn’t just move, and she didn’t want to leave the place she’d lived all her life.

Before she awakened her abilities, she’d wanted to move almost every day, but her feelings had changed dramatically.

Now that she had power, she wanted to make this place, where her precious people lived, peaceful.

She bit her lip, remembering the last thing Laika had said.

‘From what he said, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be looking for me on purpose. We might run into each other by chance, though. What will happen if we meet again…?’

Johannes tilted his head at Iris’s bitter expression, but she quickly smiled and urged him to hurry home.

While walking as if on a leisurely stroll, they ran into two robbers and one cult missionary, but before Iris could step in, Johannes took care of them.

Without using his powers, just pure martial arts.

She already knew he was a martial arts-type Superpowered Individual, but she thought he’d pretend not to know and stay out of it, so it was unexpected.

When Iris gave him a thumbs up in admiration, Johannes grew embarrassed, wiping blood from his hands.

After going through a few minor incidents, their peaceful walk was nearing its end.

At the fork in the road leading home, Iris turned and waved at Johannes.

“Today was fun. Let’s hang out again next time!”

“G-goodbye, Iris.”

“I’ll contact you soon.”

As she started running and then looked back again, Iris made a motion of tapping her phone and smiled brightly.

Johannes lifted his sunglasses and opened his mouth.