I'm Not Your Dad, I'm a Villain - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The Successor of the Heavenly Demon (3)

***

“On this beautiful starlit night~ I can feel your brilliance~ Will you come to me like a shower of stars~★”

“Kyaaa! Spiritas!!”

“Spiritas, you’re the best!!”

Cheers echoed in sync with the music.

The sound team and broadcast team behind the stage hurriedly moved, worried that the cheers might drown out the music.

They were so short-handed and overwhelmed that one of the staff, while moving equipment, looked at me with a desperate gaze.

“Manager! Can you give us a hand over here?!”

Sure, they pay me for this.

“I’ll bring judgment to the evil villains~! Everyone together now! Ultimate~!”

“Shooting Star~!”

Despite their efforts, Kana and her 50,000 fans enjoyed the show to the fullest.

No, only the fans were having fun. Though invisible to the cameras and the audience, I could see the sweat on her face from behind the stage.

It showed she had given her all in the previous performance.

As I had observed, she was never careless about her stage performances.

“Everyone~ It looks like we’ll have to end the show here today. But you all had fun, right?”

Though there were many aspects of her I disliked as a person, on stage, she always did her best for her fans.

That’s the Spiritas I knew.

But did I always like seeing that side of her? Not really.

“Encore! Encore! Encore!!”

“Ah, an encore?”

“Encore! Encoooore~!!!!”

As the fans’ voices grew louder, Spiritas trembled and looked at me from the stage.

“Um, well… My schedule is a bit tight…”

Don’t look at me like that.

We don’t have time. End it here.

“Oh, whatever! Band team, music please!”

“Hey, you…!”

-Thud, tak!!

Even my vocalized curse was swallowed by the band’s music, and soon her cheers echoed across the stage once more.

…Damn, being nice has its limits.

“Hey, what about the time…?”

“Forget it. Just get ready to move to the next venue.”

Only after she finished the fourth encore and came down from the stage, panting heavily, did Spiritas speak.

I had many things I wanted to say, but we didn’t have time.

“Again?”

“We won’t make it otherwise.”

“Then ignore the encore requests…”

“Just come here!”

Damn. I really hate this.

Reluctantly, I grabbed her waist tightly as soon as we stepped outside the building.

Attempting a back hug on Pangea’s top idol.

If fans saw this, they’d faint, but all I felt at this moment was sheer terror.

“Here we go!!”

With a shout, we soared into the sky.

Everything blurred into afterimages and then turned white, with a roaring sound filling my ears.

Seeing the world at Mach speed is dizzying.

Experiencing it without any protective gear is a clear path to a painful end.

“…Are you okay, Mr. Manager?”

When we arrived at the next venue, a sudden question greeted me.

But lying flat on the ground, I didn’t have the strength to respond.

My muscles and joints were crushed, my frontal lobe felt like it was melting, and my thoughts were in disarray… Damn, now I understand why her previous managers quit within days despite the high pay.

An idol who flies at Mach speed to keep up with a tight schedule.

If not for me, she’d have died hundreds of times.

***

Spiritas.

She possesses an immense amount of superhuman power, surpassing even other S-Class heroes when used purely for physical prowess or energy projection.

Her leap alone approximates Mach speed. Though only for about 2 seconds, she can throw someone with Mach speed force.

But if she can move that fast, why even bother taking the train?

“I can’t do that. I’m still human, needing food and bathroom breaks.”

“…Don’t talk about bathroom breaks while eating.”

“What’s the big deal~ I booked this private room to talk like this.”

“Why you…”

“Ha! Got it!”

“Hey, don’t take my fried egg!”

In our private room on the high-speed train, while we were eating, she stole my fried egg with a bright smile.

“Sorry~ But I’m still growing and need to eat a lot!”

“…Growing, my foot. You just have a poor fuel efficiency.”

And what, I don’t need food?

Even though I have regenerative powers, it’s closer to maintaining my existing physical state rather than creating something from nothing.

Lack of nutrients affects the body. I need food and bathroom breaks to maintain my body, just like you.

“Well, anyway… It’s my power that’s strong, not my stamina. I also have poor control over my strength, so I waste a lot of power except when living without using my superhuman strength.”

“…Is that so?”

Sigh, how did I end up serving this pink-haired brat?

I sighed and mulled over her words.

She wastes a lot of power… I get it.

For example, if a C-Class hero’s capacity is 10, and her superhuman power is 100… No, probably even more, but let’s say 100 for now.

A C-Class hero might use 1 unit of power when using 10% of their capacity, but she would use 10 units of power with similar effort.

Conversely, using a power of 1 unit means using only 1% of her capacity.

Such fine control is difficult, leading to frequent power wastage and resulting in her stamina depleting like any other.

She’s vulnerable to prolonged battles… It’s one of the few weaknesses of someone perceived as a perfect superhuman.

How much does she trust me to reveal such a weakness?

“Want to order more?”

“No, I should stop. I need to manage my figure…”

-Gurgle.

“…Maybe one more bowl?”

*Sigh*, of course.

Go ahead, eat a lot.

We have a lot of work ahead, and you’ll feel miserable if you can’t eat.

***

“Ta-da! Hello, little friends! Do you know who I am?”

“The Magical Girl!”

“Wow~ Sandsprius!”

“Haha, wrong~ My name is Spiritas~”

In between the long schedules, there were volunteer activities.

Though they didn’t pay, charity work helping those in need is good for one’s image.

Delivering needed supplies to the poor or performing for orphaned children…

There’s a reason a mega-star like Spiritas visits a small orphanage in the G district.

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star~♬”

The space might be small, but the cameras and staff’s efforts will turn this into a heartwarming story broadcast across Pangea.

“Haha, this will make for some great footage.”

“It’s a relief that Spiritas likes kids.”

Of course, not everyone can mentally handle this, even if they understand it logically.

Broadcast staff felt relieved watching Kana interact with the kids.

Some heroes turn their backs on such volunteer work…

“Little Star~ Sis~! Shake my hand!!”

“Sure, here you go!”

But playing with the kids like that requires genuinely liking them.

“Big sis~! Did you really come down from the sky?”

“Yup~ I came from the magical star to drive away the bad villains on this land~”

“Magical star? So you can use magic?”

“Well, I can, but… Sorry, my magic is only for evil villains, so I can’t show it here.”

“Then I’ll become a villain!”

“Hey, don’t say such bad things~”

Kana lightly flicked the kid’s head with her hand.

Without superhuman strength, it just made a light sound, but if it had been a villain, a shout of “Ha!” would have split them in half.

Doing that with just her hand… It’s almost like magic.

“I can’t use magic, but I’ll show you a light trick. Look here~”

Kana gestured at me to bring the prepared item.

I placed the heavy box I was carrying in front of her.

Thud. A heavy thud… The box was filled with hollow pipes.

“Ta-da~ A special balloon prepared for you all~”

No, they were steel pipes.

She called them balloons, but the tingling in my arms from carrying the box told me otherwise.

“Fuuu!”

Kana blew into the steel pipe, and it slowly expanded, increasing in volume.

What the hell?

What even is that?

“See, by twisting and tying it like this… Ta-da~ We have a cute doggie~”

Despite the bewilderment of the broadcast staff, Kana twisted and bent the steel pipe like a balloon.

Though astonishing the first time I saw it, I had come to accept it as normal.

What else could magic be?

This is magic.

“Wow~ A doggie!”

“Sis! Make me a bear!”

“I want a dinosaur!”

“Sure, sure.”

More importantly, the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Though the pipes didn’t float like real balloons and were too heavy for the kids to lift… They were having fun.

“Mr. Manager! Over here!!”

As I watched the scene with a pleased eye, Kana, with kids around her, looked at me.

She smiled and struck a pose, as if asking for a photo.

Well, taking personal photos is different from the broadcast recordings.

“Alright, everyone, look here. I’ll take the picture!”

Capturing such moments in photos wasn’t bad.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Even if this was part of a disguise, I could genuinely enjoy such scenes.

But this situation also made me feel a bit regretful.

What if, just what if…

If all heroes could sincerely engage in situations like her…

-KABOOM!

Just as I pressed the shutter with that thought, an explosion rang out.

Everyone froze in shock, turning towards the sound.

“What was that? Where did it come from?”

“Weren’t the fireworks for the next event?”

No, this wasn’t fireworks. Unlike them, I immediately understood the situation and stared at the screen of my camera.

In the corner of the photo, black smoke rising beyond the orphanage.

It indicated that a terrorist attack had occurred in the outskirts where we were.

***

Pangea is a continent divided into 26 districts, governed under a unified government.

Its size is nearly half of all pre-Great Cataclysm continents combined, and larger entities face greater challenges in governance.

While places like City A, where the wealthy and powerful gather, are well-managed, there are many areas where the government’s attention doesn’t reach, leading to neglect.

Such neglect is especially pronounced in the ‘outskirts’ far from the government’s eye.

Here, villains rarely target people for wealth or influence, but for those whose goal isn’t material…

For thrill-seekers, it’s an easy target.

-KABOOM!

Right now, a villain rampaging in the outskirts of District I, Doomsday, was just such a person.

“Kahahahaha!! There’s more than enough kindling to burn here!!”

A man with mechanical devices made of scrap metal hanging from his body.

Whenever the cannons attached to his body fired, fire pillars rose across the city, and people fled from the flames.

But the explosions weren’t the most dangerous part; it was the surrounding destruction.

Vehicles exploded from the shockwave, and nearby buildings lost balance and crumbled, turning the city into a battlefield.

“Yes, explode, explode more!! Everything in sight, burst into flames!!”

“Your head will be the one exploding!”

-Shaak!

With a shout, a pink blur shot from afar.

As it collided with the opposite building, a thud echoed, and a peculiar excitement appeared in the eyes of the goggled terrorist.

End of Chapter