「How long are those going to be gone!!!」"Don"t ask me."
Back at the Steward House, Val was lying down on the black, gla.s.s coffee table located between the two sofas while Eva was on the right sofa, drawing something on her sketchpad.
She was slightly scared that the coffee table might break but didn"t care overall.
As for what the two were doing...
「Maybe they"re at the movies.」
"..."
「Or maybe they"re at an aquarium show.」
"...?"
「Wait! No! They are most probably at a love hotel!」
"A love hotel? What is that?"
「Umm... It"s a... hotel specializing in... family bonding!」
"I have a feeling that"s not it."
They were having a dangerous conversation for a 5-year-old.
.
.
.
Back in the fiery streets of New York, a storm was brewing.
And in the center of it all? Our protagonist and the cause of the storm.
Cole was sending out metal objects throughout the city, looking for the mastermind of the city.
-------------------------------
〈Livng Magnet〉(ON/OFF)
► Allows the user to control metals with magnetism. Is also able to detect objects with metallic properties in the vicinity of the user or in the range of currently controlled metals.
► Note: Metals that are repelled by magnetism will be unable to be controlled when the ability is active.
►Note 2: Due to your apt.i.tude with〈Appearance〉, you might accidentally become a different kind of magnet.
-------------------------------
The previous Cole had used this ability as a metal detector to find a bunch of gold and then sold it which made him become insanely rich.
As for the Cole now, he thought that since it was basically magnetism, it should technically be able to detect the iron inside a person"s blood.
He had the metal objects fly across the city, looking for anyone on top of a building. Because considering the fact that they were currently in a society that had supernatural abilities and was common in superhero comic books.
And the fact that the perpetrator would want a clear view of the operation.
Well then again, the villain might have 8th Grade Syndrome(1) and just wanted to be overlooking the city on top of a tall building.
As Cole was doing this, Felicia was staring at hime with a worried expression on her face.
"Master Steward? Are we not going to a.s.sist the people caught in the explosions?"
"There"s no need."
"Eh? What do you mean by that? There are clearly people in distress right now!"
"*sigh*..."
Cole gazed towards Felicia. His disappointed expression alarmed Felicia for a bit.
"Eh? Why is Cole looking at me with a face that says he"s looking at an idiot."
"It"s because those were only illusions."
"Eh? Really?!"
"You can"t smell any smoke or burning flesh. If there really was a giant explosion, there should at least be a few burning bodies. With our sense of smell, it should be easy to tell."
Felicia paused for a bit before sniffing the air a bit.
"Eh? I truly can"t smell anything."
There were also explosions that happened at parks so she should have also picked up the smell of burnt wood but there was nothing of the sort.
Seeing Felicia"s face full of bewilderment, Cole only lightly shrugged. He was long used to the smell of burnt objects.
He would burn a lot of dishes after all and there were times where he charred the surrounding while trying to cook.
"And, oh! There"s the master illusionist. Felicia, please teleport us to that building 10 kilometers north of us, please. "
Felicia snapped out of her reverie and grasped Cole"s wrist and activated her ability.
And a greyish white glow enveloped them once again.
.
.
.
On top of a very tall and conspicuous building, was a man with long and disheveled hair.
He looked like he hadn"t taken a bath for weeks and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about him.
"Hahahaha... Look at those worms writhing around in fright!"
"You used to mock me for only being a party illusionist but look at your face now!"
In truth, the man could not actually see their expressions because he was on top of a building about 70 stories high.
He just a.s.sumed such because he did not want his revenge plan to be a failure and still had 8th Grade Syndrome.
He was still laughing his mind off when two people had appeared behind him with a greyish white glow.
The two were obviously Cole and Felicia.
Seeing the long-haired man laughing like a mad scientist all by himself, Cole and Felicia slightly pitied him.
He probably didn"t have any friends since he was plain-looking and was a Chuuni(2).
"Hahah- What the?! Who are you?!"
The long-haired man seemed like he was planning to cooly turn back while continuing to laugh but could no longer do so when he noticed Cole and Felicia.
"Me? Umm...."
Despite being a cliche villain line where the hero would respond with his cool sounding superhero name, Cole ended up being greatly troubled by it. Now that he thought about it, he always had poor naming sense.
There was a time where the suggested name for his friend"s dog was Dog.
He later got banned from suggesting names quickly after that.
A few seconds of awkward silence pa.s.sed between the two before Cole decided to give up thinking of a name and just punch the guy to hide his embarra.s.sment.
"Ugyuk!"
"Oops"
Cole had punched the man in the gut. He didn"t mean to knock him out but apparently, he had put too much force.
As the man collapsed onto the ground, the fire and smoke slowly started to dissipate into the air, the roaring of gunshots, whisked away by the wind.
The city had turned back to its former tranquil image.
"Still...He had quite the dangerous and useful ability."
"When you at first hear that he can only do illusions, it may seem powerless at first but when used like this it"s possible to cause great trauma to an ordinary civilian."
"*sigh*... Let"s go home. But before that let"s go buy a TV."
"Okay. Still, that was a quick fight."
"Ugh... wait..."
Meanwhile, in the background was the villain trying to beg them to get help for him.
.
.
.
「Haah... Nice and crispy...」
"Uncle Val, hurry up, please. I"m getting hungry..."
"..."
"..."
"Umm... Cole, what is this?"
"They"re roasting a boar... With exceptional control and technique as well, as expected of Val!"
"I didn"t need to know that last part but why is the fire colored purple?"
When Cole and Felicia had come back to the〚Neutral Zone〛one hour later, they were greeted with the sight of a boar being roasted over a purple bonfire.
"Oh! Papa and Felicia are back!"
「Not now Eva. I have to fully on the boar.」
While Cole was staring at the scene in admiration while Felicia in confusion, Eva had noticed them and had called out to them.
Eva jogged towards them and then clung tightly on to Cole"s legs and raised her little head and stared at Cole with puppy dog eyes.
"Hmmm? Strange, Eva is acting cute, do you want something from me?"
Although 99% of people would go "Awwww!" and die of diabetes the next second, Cole would not! He was a man forged by war! (unintentionally) He had built s.p.a.ceships! (unintentionally) He had built lasers! (unintentionally) And loads of other dangerous stuff!
"Tsk."
Seeing that her father had seen through her plot, Eva clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction but still clung onto Cole"s leg.
"I just wanted to ask something..."
"Hmmm....? Then ask away."
Since it was just a simple question, Cole was pondering why Eva would even need to resort to certain "tactics". Eva was glad that Cole had accepted her request and took a deep breath before saying the question that would later cause Val to be in great misery.
"What"s a Love Hotel?"
*SNAP*
"Eh?"
For some reason, Eva thought that she had heard a snapping sound coming from Cole. When she observed his face, he had a dark expression and his lips had formed an evil smile.
"Who told you about that?"
"Uncle Val did. When he was complaining about how you guys were away for so long and said that you and Felicia are probably in one."
Cole plucked Eva off his feet and put her down to the still confused Felicia.
He then dashed straight towards Val and kicked the yet to be fully roasted boar high into the air.
「What the?! Col! Why did you-- Uh...」
Val was planning to reprimand Cole for sending the boar he lovingly tried to roast into heaven but quickly decided not to when he saw his face.
You could see his expression clearly with the light of the still burning purple flames which gave Cole an ominous yet devilish beauty that gave people a sense of dread and attraction at the same time.
Val could only feel the dread though, after all, he didn"t swing that way.
And maybe it was just his imagination but Val thought that he could see a dark and sinister aura coming off Cole.
「C-Col?」
Cole didn"t say anything and simply gave Val a harmless smile. Val ended up letting his guard down a bit after that but instantly regretted it.
Before he knew it, Val was restrained by pieces of metal wires that came out of nowhere and was being held by Cole like a javelin throwing contestant.
「Eh? Eh... Ehhhhh!!!」
And then, in a blink of an eye, he was thrown towards the direction of the〚Fantasia Zone〛
Cole then dusted off the dirt on his hands and caught the roasted boar which just happened to come back to the ground at just the right moment.
"..."
"..."
Thus ended another peaceful day in the〚Neutral Zone〛