Chapter 1. Hero and Sidekick

The article was not much different from what he had read yesterday. Riela, who had vanished without a trace after a confrontation with Villain Vector at H Department Store, had still not been found.

Carbon stared at the article with sharp eyes, his expression growing grave.

Knock knock.

“Carbon, I’m coming in.”

The door opened with a youthful voice. His sidekick Hyde came toward him, her short bob swaying at her jawline.

“What is it?”

“I came to go over today’s schedule with you.”

“I thought I told you that wasn’t something you needed to handle. That’s something you can leave to Bambino.”

Bambino was a staff member at Carbon’s office. She mainly handled visitors and schedule management, and before Hyde joined, she had taken care of Carbon’s calendar as well. It was one of her responsibilities.

But at some point after Hyde arrived, Hyde had taken over everything related to Carbon. No one had assigned it to her or pushed her into it. It had simply happened on its own.

Carbon worried that Hyde, young and new as she was, might be taking on too much out of some misplaced sense of obligation. But Hyde always gave the same answer.

“I know. But I just… want to do it myself.”

Seeing Carbon’s serious expression, Hyde quickly changed the subject before he could say anything more.

“Well then, let me go ahead. A client is scheduled to visit in an hour, and this evening there’s a charity party hosted by T Corporation. And……”

Hyde’s voice as she recited the schedule in her soft, measured way was like a lark’s song. It was high but not sharp, carrying a strange, gentle rhythm that made you want to keep listening. The reason people around her would quietly lean in whenever she spoke was precisely that quality in her voice. Carbon was no exception. Even when he was in the middle of something else, he would naturally find himself focused on her whenever she gave her reports.

‘That’s a useful ability in its own right.’

A hero had to earn the support of people. Carbon wanted to draw out the best in his sidekick’s strengths and help her grow into someone who could stand on her own.

Hyde had graduated from the Hero Academy the previous year and become Carbon’s sidekick.

He had not taken her on immediately. He had set up his own independent office because he preferred working alone, and having never kept a sidekick before, he turned Hyde away when she came asking for the position and told her to look elsewhere.

She looked fragile, and he assumed a firm refusal would make her give up right away.

He was wrong.

“I want to be with you, Carbon. I want to repay what you did for me.”

Carbon tried to send her off by saying she owed him nothing, but Hyde was immovable. Live your own life, do what you want for yourself. No matter how many times Carbon tried to reason with her, she would not budge.

“This is what I want to do. To stay by your side and be even a little bit of help to you.”

Even after repeated rejections, Hyde was not cowed. Her large, round, light-brown eyes shone with a quiet defiance, and beneath her soft exterior was a core of steel that had nothing to do with her appearance. Carbon saw it clearly.

He could not keep pushing away someone who met his gaze without flinching. With a sigh, he gave her a conditional yes: one year to learn the work, and then she would move on somewhere else. That was how Carbon’s office gained a one-year contract sidekick.

Aside from his rookie days when he had no choice but to work alongside other heroes, Carbon had always operated alone. Having a sidekick constantly at his side felt strange.

But once he adjusted, he began to understand why other heroes kept sidekicks.

Hyde was diligent and eager. She threw herself at every task with stubborn determination, and the work she had fumbled through at first became second nature to her before long.

She was polite, considerate, and genuinely caring toward others, so even if you tried to find fault with her, you couldn’t help but think well of her.

In fact, the entire staff of Carbon’s hero office had grown so fond of her within weeks of her joining that they started calling her by the nickname “Hydie.” She was simply the kind of person who was made to be loved.

Hyde was useful in combat situations too. Her physical abilities were nowhere near Carbon’s, naturally, but what mattered was her power.

Every hero possessed a kind of superpower. Carbon’s was superhuman strength, and Hyde’s was shadow manipulation. She could bind enemies with shadows, scout ahead, and fill a supporting role with precision. Her ability complemented Carbon’s well.

On top of that, Hyde made up for what Carbon lacked.

Approachability.

Carbon had drawn attention and popularity from the moment he debuted, thanks to his exceptional skill, but there were people his reputation simply did not reach. Those meeting him for the first time, and young children especially, took one look at his imposing appearance and froze up, making it hard for him to help them.

But when Hyde stepped in with her harmless, sweet face and spoke to them gently, even people who had been hiding in fear at the sight of Carbon would soon be talking freely.

Work efficiency had surged after Hyde joined. She was particularly outstanding in civilian evacuation, hostage management, and volunteer coordination.

Even so, Hyde had not yet reached the position of a trusted partner in Carbon’s eyes.

“And that’s everything for this week! I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

She said it with a sideways glance, and it was obvious she was hoping for praise.

“Right, thank you.”

Hyde beamed, and dimples pressed into her cheeks. Her face already looked young enough to pass for a student, and smiling made her look younger still.

‘She does her work sharply, but she’s still such a kid.’

Hyde had just turned twenty-two not long ago, a full-fledged adult. But to Carbon’s eyes she looked ten years old. Probably because his first memory of her was still so vivid.

The feeling had never left him. Pulling a small, trembling child from the rubble of a building torn apart by a villain’s attack, holding her, telling her it was over now. The child had looked up at him with big, tear-blurred eyes.

Eyes that held something far too complex and deep for a child who was only eight years old. Carbon had been caught by those eyes, and his heart had followed.