***Most of the world’s renowned heroes had passed through Korea’s Seonghwa Hero University, which represented Asia. The regular curriculum took four years: obtain a hero license and then begin activities, but exceptionally talented students sometimes served as sidekicks while still enrolled.In that sense, Min Noa was a hero of enormous national stature. He had earned his hero license at eighteen and rushed to the front lines.“Uichan-hyung, Hero.”At that, Uichan looked up from his exam slip. Noa was sitting beside him, smiling.“Not ‘Hero,’ just call me whatever’s comfortable.”“Hmm, then shall I just call you ‘hyung’? You’re two years older than me, after all.”Uichan started to wave his hand, about to refuse, but then fell silent when he realized there was no other convenient term to replace it. Hyung… Brother. Right. Noa was two years younger than Uichan.When Loti from Noatis’s office said someone was coming, it was not hard to guess it would be Noa. He often submitted contracts and came to pick Uichan up.Noatis was the first among the Three Great Heroes to subcontract work to Non-Hero. At first, Uichan had no idea why he was being subcontracted by them. Looking back, perhaps the two had already crossed paths once at the party. Maybe they kept issuing work out of pity for Uichan.After all, Non-Hero was a raggedly poor office—maybe someone wanted to help them out.“Uichan-hyung, don’t you need an ability?”Uichan looked at him in surprise and shook his head. Uichan’s ability, “pickpocket,” allowed him ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to copy other people’s abilities. As Uichan’s employer, Noa could see his personnel information, so perhaps that was why he asked so casually.“No, I already borrowed one from our team leader. It’s fine.”“Mine would be better. It’s a flight ability.”Strictly speaking it was a wind ability, but flight fell under that umbrella, so the comment wasn’t wrong. They were currently in the waiting room of Seonghwa Hero University. It seemed to be Noa’s private waiting room—spacious, yet only the two of them sat there.“As you can see from the request, today’s event is a mock exam. We’re collaborating with nearby schools and grading together. One examiner per three examinees is the plan, and flying makes it easier to oversee everything.”Seonghwa held mock hero exams each term. The school alone could not supervise all examinees, so they invited outside examiners when manpower ran short.Noa had recommended Non-Hero’s Ha Uichan as an outside examiner, judging that someone who could copy others’ abilities would be perfect for the role.Of course, that ability had a time limit—about twenty minutes. And copied powers were far weaker than the original user’s.“That’s fine, Noa. I’m clumsy the first time I use a copied ability, and I prefer something I’m used to.”“Oh, so copying doesn’t make you automatically proficient?”“That’s how it is. So I’d rather—”“Or, would you like me to teach you?”“Huh?”Uichan blinked behind his glasses. When he raised his head, Noa met his gaze with a very serious face.“Try it once. If it doesn’t work, you can give up. The attempt is what matters.”Uichan stared, bewildered, at the hand Noa extended. The scarred hand helped Uichan to his feet. Again, a sour feeling twisted in Uichan’s chest—he silently wished the little ones inside him would grow up with skin unmarked by scars, like Noa’s.Ah… maybe it’d be better if they never looked at heroes at all. Yes, that would be a fine idea. Maybe studying, art, or music would be better. But what if they inherit their fathers’ looks—pretty and handsome? Wouldn’t that increase the risk of kidnapping? Maybe it’d be better to make them heroes who could protect their own bodies.“Hurry. If you don’t do it now, there won’t be time.”“No—I never said I would—”“Let me hold your hand, Uichan-hyung.”When that firm hand wound around his, Uichan flustered. Noa held both of his hands and, with a playful look that urged him on, coaxed him to try. After a few nods, Uichan had no choice but to steal Noa’s ability. The instant the slot filled, he used it.Whoooooosh—.“The power’s a bit low… but this should be manageable for you.”A breeze as if blowing through rock crevices swept around him. A soft green wind wrapped Uichan’s whole body and gently pushed. Under Noa’s guidance, Uichan’s feet rose like butterfly wings.“You’re doing well. I’ll let go of your hands, so try operating it on your own.”His body wavered for a moment, but Uichan stubbornly tried to maintain his balance. Each time he faltered, a large hand steadied his waist, setting him upright. Occasionally the man whispered something.“…It’s thinner than I thought.”Uichan was concentrating so hard on his balance that he could not hear Noa’s mutter clearly. It did not seem very important anyway.As expected, the unfamiliar ability was hard for Uichan to manage. After persistent effort he could clumsily operate it, but he had not realized how hard levitating in midair would be. Could he even use this in the field?“I wanted to ask anyway… so listen, hyung.”Noa, still holding his trembling hands as if nothing, continued casually.“Blacktan’s been subcontracting us lately… When did you get so close to him?”“We’re not close.”“Then you know him?”“I do… but we’re not friends. It’s just a client-vendor relationship.”Maybe they were wary of each other. Uichan had no way of knowing why Noa asked. Whether they were friends or not made no difference to him.“Haha, client-vendor… same with me, then. So when did you first meet Blacktan? There must’ve been a point of contact.”“Why are you asking that?”Although Uichan’s official Non-Hero meeting with Blacktan had been about a month ago, he had actually stood side by side with Blacktan at the party two months earlier. So saying when they first met felt awkward and embarrassing.“Nothing in particular. It’s just that what I’m looking for and what Blacktan is looking for seem to match.”“……Huh?”“There’s something I’ve been searching for lately. It sounds strange, but I have no clue—no idea what it looks or sounds like. Ah, I do know the texture. I think I’d recognize it if I touched it…”Uichan forced himself not to tighten his grip on the joined hands. Nobody who didn’t know would guess the person Noa was seeking was Under Doom. If Blacktan and Noa were looking for the same thing, it meant they might clash over ownership of Under Doom.They had not seen Uichan clearly that night in the dark. So both men could be restless and impatient.“…What do you plan to do if you find it?”Uichan asked in as calm a tone as he could manage, as if it were someone else’s problem.“Oh, um… I suppose I just want to talk.”“Talk… to Under Doom?”“Once, a long time ago, I fought Phantom Thief Kill. I had just become a hero, so I got trounced. Kill, the thief, tried to kill me as a witness, but Under Doom stopped Kill and saved my life.”Uichan blinked hard, puzzled. He could not dredge up the scene Noa described from his memory. Me? Under Doom saved Noa?“Maybe I was young then. A minor.”“When was that?”“Two and a half years ago, maybe…? Before I made a name at Noatis. You probably don’t know, Uichan-hyung. Ah, it’s a bit of an embarrassing period for me.”……Noa had been active since he was eighteen, which means about two years ago. But he hinted he’d been active before that as well, which surprised Uichan—he’d thought Noa had risen to fame immediately after hero registration, which made sense because Noa’s control over his ability had already been exceptional.“So I wanted to talk sometime. I don’t think Under Doom is inherently bad. It bothers me to think someone like that is stuck in In the Hell. But whenever Under Doom sees me, he runs away. Maybe he thought I’d kill him.”“Noa, if by ‘talk’ you mean catching someone and interrogating them, wouldn’t that be more like questioning?”Uichan asked, unaware his fingertips had curled. Noa smiled softly and gently smoothed his clenched hand.“You’re right; the other person might think that. They’d imagine being tied to a chair and questioned by the Association. That’s not my intention. But, hmm… I haven’t really thought about what happens after I find them. I thought I’d meet them on the street.”Noa let out a short laugh at how absurd even he found his own thought. Then he fell into silence, eyes lowered as if lost in thought. Uichan released the copied ability and stepped back onto the ground to free himself from the texture Noa had said he recognized.Then Noa looked up again and said,“Actually… I think it would be best if I protected them. I did think about taking them in, but I hadn’t considered ownership issues or handling. It’d be nice to take care of them and ensure their living conditions. Of course, they couldn’t go out wherever they wanted.”“Noa, that sounds like confinement.”

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