Chapter 45: The Child Who Lost Both Legs

“So, about that… would it be alright if I asked you a small favor?”

“A favor… sir?”

“After the launch ceremony, could you meet with my granddaughter? She wants to see you. But if it’s too much, just let me know.”

It must be the granddaughter he mentioned—the one who lost her legs to the demon-type mutant.

“No, it’s alright.”

“……Thank you.”

“Sir, earlier I thought I heard something about her losing her legs…”

“To be precise, she’s paralyzed from the waist down. She was caught in the explosion and suffered damage to her lower spine. But the nerves were completely destroyed—they say she’ll never walk again.”

“Oh.”

“That’s why I said she lost her legs. It’s no different, after all—if you have legs but can’t use them, it’s the same as losing them.”

“Is even rehabilitation impossible?”

“They say so. It’s already been ruled out.”

The Director’s expression was filled with sorrow.

“Um… How old is your granddaughter…?”

“Fourteen.”

“Oh……..”

Fourteen.

A middle schooler—who lost her legs.

How deep must that sense of despair have been for her?

To realize that just months ago, she was walking just fine… but now, she’ll never walk again.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must feel like.

It’s like her freedom was completely taken away.

To suffer something like that at an age full of limitless potential—I let out a sigh without meaning to.

Of course, the world is filled with tragedies, but in the end, I’m still just a person.

Hearing these kinds of stories up close hurts.

If a child like that wants to see me, maybe it’s worth going to see her at least once.

“I understand. Let’s talk more about it after the ceremony.”

“Thank you again. Truly.”

The launch ceremony went very smoothly.

The biggest thing was that I didn’t get nervous and said everything I needed to say.

I explained what kind of work the Mutant Crime Eradication Agency would be doing going forward.

What kinds of situations we could respond to, and how far our jurisdiction extended.

I also declared that we would respond with everything we had, no matter the threat caused by mutants.

What I emphasized most was the speed of our initial response.

“……To ensure that those who’ve already suffered from mutant-related tragedies never have to face them again, I will devote myself completely.”

Applause and cheers erupted.

Honestly, some of it was probably just out of politeness…………

But since I had done quite a bit up to now, I could tell that some people were clapping sincerely.

The agency was still new, and we had no way of knowing what kinds of mutant-related incidents would occur.

Or how we’d even handle them when they did.

Given that, this kind of response seemed like the most reasonable one.

It felt like they were saying, We’ll be watching.

“This concludes the launch ceremony of the Mutant Crime Eradication Agency. I’m Yoon Seo-hyun, the Director.”

To end it all, I spread my wings and flew up above the stage.

I had to make sure no one watching would get hurt.

Thankfully, the venue for the ceremony was wide enough that I felt confident transforming wouldn’t be a problem.

“Whoa……!”

As I took flight, the eyes of the crowd went wide.

This kind of thing needs a flashy finale if you want it to leave a lasting impression.

Now I understood why the NIS Director had asked me to transform.

The crowd’s lukewarm reaction shifted in an instant.

In that moment when all eyes were fixed on me, I returned to my true form.

Compared to my human body, I felt overwhelming freedom.

I could feel raw power pulsing through every part of me.

Maybe not omniscient, but definitely omnipotent.

“Ha, hahaha!”

“Uwaaah!”

“Whoa……”

Soaring high in the sky and looking down below, I could feel countless people staring up at me.

It honestly felt like…

I had become a god or something.

I mean, there’s a huge difference between seeing something like this in a video and seeing it in real life.

Especially since, in all of human history, no one had ever seen a creature like this before—of course their reactions made sense.

Suddenly, a fun thought crossed my mind.

The whole point of launching this agency was to send a warning to other mutants.

Don’t try anything stupid.

And if that’s the case, it needed to be even more impactful.

I gathered the surging energy within me into a single point and aimed my mouth toward the sky.

Wooooong!

I could feel the overwhelming force concentrating.

If I let it out as it was now… just how far would it go?

It would probably be on a whole different level from that little fire show I did last time.

With countless dignitaries watching, I playfully gazed toward the heavens and released the power building around my mouth.

KWAHHHHH!

A fiery storm shot toward the sky, incomparable to the one I had launched in the park before.

It was like a pillar of flame from a superhero movie had descended into the real world.

It looked almost like a natural disaster bearing down—but from below, all I could hear were cheers and gasps of awe.

The reason they were able to cheer like that.

Was because I’d already promised I wouldn’t turn that power on them.

After releasing that burst of power, I didn’t undo my transformation and simply landed at the massive launch venue.

Then, I spoke to the people.

Of course, in dragon form I couldn’t move my mouth to speak, so I conveyed my will instead.

[I hope you will support the future of the Mutant Crime Eradication Agency.]

My voice rang out as if through a loudspeaker, and the honored guests responded with applause.

“That was truly incredible. Seeing it in person… I feel certain that no one would dare commit a crime in front of you.”

“Well, you never know. I’ll make sure to always stay alert.”

“A good mindset. Ah, by the way—my granddaughter… Ha-yoon. When might you be able to meet her?”

At the NIS Director’s question, I considered my schedule and picked a specific date.

It’s better for both sides to be clear about these kinds of things.

“Well, I have Fridays off from class, so I think I’ll have some time then.”

“Oh-ho. By the way, do you plan on continuing university?”

“Yes, I do. One of the values I mentioned in the press conference was my university life, after all.”

“So you must have a particular reason.”

“It’s a little grand to call it a reason, but……………. It’s simply because it’s the result of the efforts I made when I was still human. So I want to see it through to the end.”

“I see. So it’s a path that can no longer be retraced, and you’re following it to the very end.”

“Yes. That’s why it’s precious. Others may not understand it, but to me, it matters.”

“Haha, that’s true. Most people wouldn’t get it. But still………… I do understand it, to some degree. Alright then, let’s meet on Friday. My granddaughter is looking forward to it.”

The NIS Director said that with a bittersweet smile.

I couldn’t help but wonder—what was behind that smile?

I suddenly found myself curious.

“Yes. Ah, Director.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you… not hate mutants?”

“In this case, let me borrow the words you used in your press conference.”

“My words…?”

‘Not all mutants are bad.’

“At first, I did hate all mutants. Because it wasn’t just anyone—it was the child I had adored since birth who ended up like that.”

“That’s why I argued so strongly that we couldn’t ignore the problems caused by mutants. It was from there that Jeong-ho began getting closely involved with them.”

“……I see.”

“Have you ever found it strange?”

“Strange… in what way?”

“How quickly the government responded after mutants appeared. Any adult knows how slow our country usually is when it comes to action.”

“True… I did wonder about that when I woke up and saw that all the guidelines were already in place.”

“To be honest, even saying this makes me feel a bit cowardly………… But our country tends to act faster when something happens to a high-ranking official’s family.”

“And I was no different. At first, I wasn’t all that passionate about mutant-related issues either. People don’t act until something happens to them personally.”

“That’s true.”

“When my granddaughter ended up like that, I finally realized. That disasters like this can happen to anyone.”

“And that I was in a position to help prevent at least some of it. That’s when all of the government’s mutant-related efforts truly began.”

“Oh……..”

“And over time, my thinking changed. I realized that no one becomes a mutant by choice. And that only a small number of mutants actually commit crimes.”

“When I dug deeper, I saw that mutants weren’t really all that different from us. In the end, they were human too. Their abilities are different, but still—human.”

“So I don’t hate them. We should hate criminals, not ordinary people who’ve done nothing wrong.”

I couldn’t help but think—maybe all mutants owe the current NIS Director a word of thanks.

He was someone who, from the moment he faced tragedy, took action to prevent others from suffering the same.

It may have started as a deeply personal matter, but the changes that came from it helped all of us, including me.

“…Thank you.”

“Hm? What do you have to thank me for?”

“Because you didn’t try to solve things with hatred. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to live my life like anyone else.”

“…………Haha. Now you’re making me shy. When you meet my granddaughter, please greet her warmly. She might be a bit prickly, since the wounds in her heart are still fresh—but I hope you can be understanding.”

“Of course.”

And so, Friday arrived.

I went with the NIS Director to visit the hospital room where his granddaughter was staying.

Since she still needed a lot of assistance from others, she remained in that hospital for the time being.

“Ha-yoon! Grandpa’s here!”

“……Hello, Grandpa.”

I looked at the girl who greeted him with a flat tone.

She had just entered middle school, but there was none of the energy you’d expect from kids her age.

For a moment, my eyes met with the girl—Ha-yoon.

And in that accidental glance, I saw a trace of despair in her eyes.

She’s in worse shape than I thought. This child…