Villain Eaten By The Hero - Chapter 96
96
The dormitory of the Hero Disaster Headquarters was not a bad place to stay. Contrary to its name, the rooms were spacious, and the building had various facilities.
In addition to the basics like a large grocery store, there was a beauty salon, a hospital, a cafe, a library, a swimming pool, a fitness center, and even a small park.
So, with nothing specific to do, Seo strolled through the park. Lounging on a sunbed, he naturally dozed off lazily while soaking up the sun. When he opened his eyes slowly due to the noise around him, Seo found himself surrounded by the friendly greetings of female staff members.
“Hello. Did you have a good dream?”
“It’s a bit chilly, so when I saw you sleeping, I covered you with a blanket.”
“Thanks.”
Seo conveyed a casually grateful response. But strangely, the employees’ faces lit up. There was no particular reason for them to be pleased, and just as he was about to consider it an odd occurrence, a staff m*mber’s finger pointed toward Seo’s side.
“She’s so cute. What’s her name?”
“What name?”
“The cat’s name. It’s your cat, right? It’s been sticking to you like glue since earlier. So cute…”
Only then did Seo notice the presence of a round fluffball resting against his side. A pink cat of a reasonable size was nuzzling against Seo’s stomach.
“Meow.”
“…Not my cat. I’m usually not popular with animals; it’s weird.”
As soon as Seo said that, the fluffy kitten climbed up his thigh and settled there. The cat, with its long and round tail, tickled Seo’s stomach, lifting its round face.
“She seems to really like you, Mr. Seo, I think she wants you to pet her.”
“She really does, look at the way she’s acting.”
The words and finger-pointing were loud, but the cat didn’t seem bothered by the employees’ reactions.
There was no reason to be bothered. In fact, Belze hoped they would make even more noise. It would increase the likelihood of Seo considering her amusing and taking her back to his room.
Belze, the cat, perched on Seo’s thigh, pressed her skinny paws firmly against Seo’s thigh, much to the delight of the staff.
“Meow.”
The sensation of pressing the large thigh with a soft cat paw was different from the feeling when she was human. There was no stiffness in the limbs, the body felt light, and a tingling sensation was felt on the sole of the paw.
While the Hero Disaster Headquarters strongly condemned the act of turning people into dogs or cats, Belze didn’t think it was too bad to become a cat.
There was a feral part of her that wanted to climb up high and pounce, but she was more rational than she expected, and the sensations throughout her body weren’t too bad. It felt good whenever Seo petted her head or played with her ears.
“So cute.”
“Yeah. Oh, she likes it. What should we do… Can we take a picture?”
“Sure.”
Despite the annoying sound of the shutter, Belze ignored everything except Seo. The hand that caressed his ears and head was warm, and everything else felt inconsequential. After a while of nuzzling and purring, Seo suddenly stood up and walked away.
Having transformed into a cat to sneak in, it wasn’t a good idea to lose Seo. Brushing off the hands of the employees who tried to picked her up, Belze quickly followed Seo.
It was hard to keep up with his long stride. However, when someone suggested, “Hey, look at that cat,” Seo slowed down his pace.
He stopped about twenty steps ahead and stood still until Belze approached. Eventually, when she managed to catch up with her short chubby legs, Seo scooped her up.
“Why are you following me?”
“Meow.”
“Do you like me that much?”
“Meowww.”
“…You’re silly. Did you think I would pick you up and cuddle you just because you followed me? You should have scratched and run away when I gave you the chance.”
Belze snuggled against Seo’s snorting chest. There was no threatening presence as amusing as being caught by him.
Belze’s goal was to go to his room, buy some time to get closer, and seize the opportunity to talk. Dropping her wouldn’t change anything; she would follow him like a shadow anyway.
So, as if he had succumbed to the plea to take her along, Seo, relaxing his shoulders, gently embraced Belze. He walked, his fingers playing with the pinkish jelly-like pad on the soles of the paws.
They arrived at the administrative office overseeing the internal affairs of the dormitory. When the office door came into view, Belze suddenly felt uneasy. She wondered if Seo might leave her in the administrative office to find her owner.
As if anticipating her worry, the administrative office staff immediately inquired about her upon seeing Seo.
“Who’s this cat? Are you looking for the owner?”
“No. I came to request some supplies.”
“Ah, I see. Did you decide to raise a cat? It’s cute. I’ll put you in charge of its care when your suspension is over, but you can’t take it inside, so you’ll have to leave the cat here for a while.”
Seo nodded and extended Belze. The cat, toward the administrative office staff. Seeing the cautious expression of the staff, Belze hopped off on her own, curling up on the staff’s thigh. If they weren’t trying to shoo her away, there was no harm in behaving well and quietly.
The administrative staff initially looked surprised, but when Belze showed no signs of moving, they gently petted her back with careful strokes.
Seo was escorted to the supply room by another employee and didn’t return for a while. Apparently, he had to go through security, walk a long way, or take longer than expected to get his stuff. Otherwise, there was no way the three or four employees gathered would dare bring up Seo’s story without knowing when he would return.
“Why did Seo bring a cat when he said he wanted to raise a dog? Cats are aloof, and they can’t even go for a walk.”
“Well, honestly, whether it’s a dog or a cat, it’s not the right time for him to bring one now. He’s facing a crucial moment between serving time or not… If he gets imprisoned, I don’t know what will happen to the cat. It seems like his heart is really not in a good place.”
“Isn’t imprisonment too harsh? Is the situation really that dangerous? Even with what Seo has done, as long as there’s no evidence of collusion, they wouldn’t go so far as to imprison him, right?”
“He might if he messes up. There’s talk about giving him a special mission. This is from the committee’s secretary, who told me that he admitted to having a special relationship with Belze and tried to bring her to our headquarters, but was betrayed, and now he’s in a very difficult position.”
Belze’s triangular ears perked up. The other employees’ ears perked as well, and he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Did he really have a special relationship with Belze? Was it not just a deception by the villain, but genuine feelings?”
“Seo was deceived. While Seo’s feelings were genuine, the other side’s weren’t. So, considering ethical issues and the increased risk of information leakage, they’re even thinking about imprisoning him to prevent any approach from the outside.”
“So, what’s going to happen now? Seo’s heart was betrayed, and his career is ruined. He did accomplish a lot, but it’s all gone now.”
“That’s right. I never thought Seo would end up like this, but you really don’t know what’s going on in the world.”
“That’s right. I don’t know what’s good about Belze……. But what if Seo decides to join the villains? Sometimes people act based on love.”
A young employee raised a valid question, even if it wasn’t necessarily related to love, it was a reasonable inquiry, as people who lose everything sometimes turn to the wrong path.
Belze quietly waited for an answer from the senior staff, who stroked her with a gentle way. The senior staff let out a short groan that was more like a sigh.
“It’s difficult. Seo is a special case under close supervision. There’s a confiscation agreement on his property… and a small chip implanted in his wrist.”
“Oh, is that one of those few more chips ordered earlier this year? The ones that the committee said they could detonate if they had to?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow…. That’s scary. It seems like it would be good to live as someone with abilities, but it’s not that simple. Having a chip implanted and being under surveillance at any given moment, I wouldn’t like that.”
“That’s how it is. But there’s no choice. If people with abilities run wild, it’s not just us citizens who will be in trouble. As long as they don’t cause any accidents, it doesn’t matter to us.”