Hero City, first-floor lobby.
The place that should be the busiest inside the building due to the usual comings and goings of heroes and various incidents was now as silent as if a rat had died.
No, to be precise, it was in a state of calm before the storm.
“Ma, Makoto Clan Head! I get it, so please, for now, put the sword away!”
“I already told you. Bring that child to me first.”
A peaceful afternoon.
…Or at least, it should have been.
Instead, Okami Makoto, the head of the clan, had arrived at the Hero Association with her sword drawn.
Her expression made it clear that she was in a very bad mood.
Like a hero standing before a ‘monster.’
The sheer murderous intent flowing from her body was enough to put the entire building, stretching up into the clouds, on the brink of an explosion.
A few of the association’s executives belatedly came out to greet her, but nothing changed.
Makoto’s demand, sharpened with hostility, remained the same.
She only wanted one thing: to reclaim the ‘possibility of change’ she had once given to her daughter.
“Judging by this presence… Janghoon is exactly 400 meters above my head, isn’t he?”
“Wha, what?!”
“That place is where the Hero Association interrogates criminals and captured monsters, correct?”
“Uh, well…”
“So you dare to take my ‘son-like’ child to such a place?”
Further words were unnecessary.
Makoto lifted her sword high into the sky, as if preparing to slice this very building— the symbol of all heroes— in half.
Step, step.
“That’s enough, S-rank hero.”
“…?”
“Oh, ohh!”
“A-rank hero! Death Strong Girl!”
Of course, some heroes had stepped forward, attempting to stop what they perceived as an overreach.
However.
“Not another… keik?!”
Smash.
“Wh, what?”
“D-De, Death Strong Girl?!”
“You should be grateful that I’m not killing you.”
With speed beyond their perception, arrogant juniors were sent flying, covered in blood.
Even they were powerless to stop the absolute force of Hero City.
The overwhelming strength of an S-rank hero.
At this rate, the skyscraper itself might really be split in half.
“This is my final warning.”
“Eek?!”
“Pl, please calm down, Makoto Clan Head!”
“If you don’t bring Kang Janghoon here, from this moment on, the Hero Association is my enemy!”
Rumble.
‘Weird, why does it feel like the building is shaking a little?’
Inside the interrogation room, I had every right to remain silent, as a proud citizen of Hero City.
So, when I requested a lawyer, Yoon Ha-eun looked as if someone had ruined her perfect meal.
“What lawyer? You’re just a kid! A lawyer?! Janghoon, just tell the truth! You’re a monster, aren’t you?”
“I choose to remain silent.”
“Come on, if you’re honest with your teacher, I’ll consider letting you off.”
“Call me a lawyer.”
No matter what was said, my responses were only two.
The right to remain silent and requesting a lawyer.
“Arghhh!”
Yoon Ha-eun let out a scream more fitting for a monster, but what could she do?
‘Do I look stupid? You think I’d just tell you?’
This is just like that thing in the army.
The so-called “wishing well” where they tell you to write down all your complaints, saying it’s okay—
Only for the entire unit to be punished immediately, and the culprit to be exposed on the spot.
If I confessed now, I’d be locked up in isolation at best.
Only an idiot would admit to anything.
“Damn it… I didn’t expect you to stall like this.”
“Call me a lawyer.”
“I have perfect circumstantial evidence, but… damn it! I just don’t have physical proof!”
“I choose to remain silent.”
Let’s see who can hold out longer.
I’m ready to play this game to the end.
After all, the five stages of grief begin with denial and anger— and next comes bargaining.
“Janghoon, just be honest.”
“I choose to remain silent.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. Hm?”
Since I hadn’t been fully confirmed as a monster, Yoon Ha-eun couldn’t use force.
So, she switched tactics, opting for a more persuasive approach.
“Janghoon, honestly, the reason I’m doing this is that you don’t seem like a bad monster.”
“Call me a lawyer.”
“If you’re my fan, you’d know— I myself am a contractor who made a pact with a monster. So, I actually have a soft spot for them.”
“I choose to remain silent.”
“Look, if you just tell me the truth now, I’ll make sure you get a nice private room. Hm?”
“…No comment.”
“Tsk?!”
But my resolve was firm.
I didn’t need her offer.
Because I had a trump card— someone who could get me out of here safely.
‘Hoshino, please come quickly!’
My lady.
The fox lady who only cares about me.
I was certain the Okami family, who owed me a favor, would take care of this.
“Hey, Janghoon…”
“Silence.”
“Then how about we make a deal?”
“…A deal?”
It was then.
Yoon Ha-eun suddenly stopped persuading me and suggested a deal.
‘Wait, she’s not sure yet, but she’s willing to make a deal with a suspected monster? An S-rank hero?’
In the world of <Monster Frontline>, contracts of power between humans and monsters were one thing—
But any other kind of transaction was illegal.
For an obvious reason.
Monsters never made beneficial deals with humans.
Unless it was an unbreakable contract.
Otherwise, making a deal with a monster usually ended in betrayal.
This was a classic source of trouble (or event) in this world.
An S-rank hero, someone who should know that better than anyone, was now offering a deal to a child she suspected of being a monster?
What kind of deal could it be?
Curious, I pricked up my ears.
Slide, slide.
“…?”
“I could let you off the hook.”
What the hell, is this crazy woman serious?
I had thought she was being weirdly serious before, but now—
With one hand making a circle and the other moving back and forth near her lips, she gave me a lewd grin.
Panting as if in heat.
To this ridiculous sight, I…
“I choose to remain silent.”
“Urgh?!”
And so, I returned to my original stance— choosing silence once again.
Yun Ha-eun was currently facing a crisis.
‘This is strange. Even though he looks like that, Jang-hoon must be that horned-mask monster.’
Of course, there was no physical evidence.
But based on her deductions so far—and more than anything—her instincts were telling her one thing:
Kang Jang-hoon.
That boy was definitely the unidentified horned-mask monster who had saved the ruined Y City from the rampaging monster of violence.
He was definitely a monster.
No, he had to be a monster.
Because she had just dragged an elementary schooler all the way to the Hero Association in A City.
If it turned out that he actually wasn’t a monster… then all of this would be for nothing.
‘More than anything, I’d feel way too guilty towards Jang-hoon himself… and my reputation would plummet into the abyss.’
Her reputation? Well.
That was something she could rebuild through her hero activities.
But if, by any chance, Jang-hoon wasn’t actually a monster, then she was in a situation where she could be sued for child abuse, and she wouldn’t have a single excuse.
So, trusting her instincts,
‘How can I make him reveal his true nature?’
Yun Ha-eun was deep in thought, convinced that Kang Jang-hoon was the horned-mask monster.
She couldn’t afford to let his childlike appearance fool her.
There were monsters out there capable of changing not only their size but even their gender.
Comparing him to the horned-mask monster’s physique, she believed that he must have the intelligence level of an adult.
So, as a last resort, she even attempted to use her “feminine charm.”
But now, even her greatest advantage had failed.
What should she do?
‘Looks like… I have no choice but to call on my contracted monster.’
The solution that came to mind was none other than asking for help.
Monsters, after all, were known to be much stricter about hierarchy than humans.
If she couldn’t do it herself, then she would ask for assistance from the monster she had contracted with.
So, using the telepathic ability that only contracted beings could share, she started reaching out to the monster currently imprisoned in this building’s underground facility.
“Uh, hello?”
‘…?’
“Um, it’s me… Could you help me out a bit?”
To Kang Jang-hoon, it just looked like she was pressing her fingers to the sides of her head and muttering to herself—a rather bizarre sight.
But then—
“Huh?! You’re already on your way up?”
Yun Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled with hope.
A delighted smile spread across her face as Jang-hoon tilted his head in confusion.
Creak.
“Oh! You’re already here!”
As the normally inaccessible interrogation room door swung open, Yun Ha-eun greeted the newcomer with a cheerful smile—
“Is it you?”
“…Huh?”
“Lady Makoto!”
—only to freeze in shock.
Where was the monster she had called for?
And why was she here instead?
“The fox who dared to take my son-like child.”
…Why is Senpai here?!
“M-Makoto-senpai?!”
“Senpai? Shut up. I’ve never had a rude junior like you. If anything, you’re an enemy.”
“Hiik?!”
With her slit-pupil crimson eyes glowing ominously, Okami Makoto finally arrived before Kang Jang-hoon.
Sensing immediate danger, Yun Ha-eun hurriedly attempted to summon a massive shield—one forged from her own contract with a monster—right in midair.
Slice.
“Sl—”
“—ice?”
This was a shield imbued with monstrous power.
Yet, as if it was nothing more than a mere piece of paper, Lady Makoto sliced it clean in half with a single stroke.
“Oi. Bow your head.”
“W-Wha—?!?!”
Now faced with one of humanity’s strongest warriors standing before her, sword drawn, Yun Ha-eun’s heart-shaped pupils filled with tears for the first time in her life.
“S-Save meeeeeeeee!!”