4
It’s been two weeks since Adelie began her third stint in jail.
Hideout City’s residential area is filled with rows of prefabbed mass-housing units, and the commercial district is now handling various types of foodstuffs, helping to relieve our supply shortages.
As for the giant lake not too far from Hideout City, we’ve slowly been building a road in that direction while doing our best to avoid upsetting the Bashin tribe.
Around the Grace Kingdom, there are countries other than the demon realms and Toris.
We’d been building up relations with those countries, with Alice taking the lead on the matter…
Basically, everything is going according to plan so far.
“So surrounded by a huge group of Heroes, the mutant Panda Man says, ‘Attack me if you want. I’ll accomplish my goal even if I have to force my way through every last one of you.’ Those words were intimidating enough that none of the Heroes lifted a finger to stop him…”
“Wow! Panda Man’s impressive!”
“He’s so cool! I wanna meet Panda Man and cuddle him, too!”
We’re all in Viper’s room, aka my favorite hangout spot.
There are two chimeras listening intently to my story of Panda Man’s accomplishments.
“A-and was Panda Man able to safely go to the zoo and hug the kids?”
“Yeah, the kids were ecstatic. They got to hug Panda Man and even squish his paw pads. I seem to recall the mutant tiger man watching them enviously from the shadows…”
“I wanna squeeze Mr. Panda Man’s paws, too! I’d gnaw on them if I could!”
As the two chimeras are getting all excited, Viper, who has been hard at work, tilts her head and comments:
“Um… I think the Heroes didn’t attack Mr. Panda Man because they were being filmed by those ‘television cameras’…the ones filming the Washington Convention you mentioned earlier. I believe the Heroes would’ve gotten yelled at by all sorts of people if they attacked Mr. Panda Man while in front of the cameras.”
Viper’s observation riles up the two chimeras, who are totally starry-eyed over Panda Man.
“Viper, what a terrible thing to say! You’ve been thoroughly corrupted by Kisaragi…”
“That’s right, Ms. Viper! There’s no way Mr. Panda Man is that much of a schemer!”
“I—I see, my apologies! Yes, you’re right. It was wrong of me to make judgments about Mr. Panda Man’s character without having met him! I’m sorry!”
The chimeras nod with satisfaction at Viper’s contrite apology.
“See, look at this picture, Viper. There’s no way this supercool Panda Man would be that nefarious!”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Russell? Mr. Panda Man is adorable, not cool. Just look at him! He’s got that cute little puffball tail that makes you want to nibble on it. When I meet him, I’m definitely going to nibble on his tail, or maybe his ears…”
Thinking back on it, both Panda Man and Koala Man always made sure there were TV crews around when they were facing off against the Heroes.
They always gave envelopes to the TV crews once the battles were over… I wonder what that was all about.
But never mind that…
“Hey, Russell, should you be slacking off in here? I know you’re the Kisaragi Corporation’s maid and mom figure, but your actual job is creating water, right?”
This chimera still looks like a girl when dressed as a maid, but he doesn’t seem to mind being loved by everyone. It also looks like he’s grown pretty fond of the outfit, despite his protests.
“Since there are cheap water crystals being sold in the city of Grace, I’ve got less work to do. That woman really did mess with what I’m doing. Us chimeras are created to be useful to people, so we actually kind of like working…”
Seriously? I wondered why he was so willing to work despite being a former member of the Demon Lord’s Army’s leadership. But if that sort of disposition is coded into a chimera’s DNA, then it makes a bit more sense…
I can’t help but glance at the other chimera scarfing down snacks next to Viper.
“…What is it, Boss? Is there something you wanna say to me?”
“You’re the same kind of creature as Russell, right? Is there a difference in personality between male and female chimeras?”
…I defend myself against Rose, who sets aside her snacks and lunges at me. The sirens suddenly started going off in Hideout City.
“An attack by monsters or savages? But everyone seems to be in a bit of a panic, all things considered.”
There are several types of alarms, and depending on how urgent the situation is, the sirens will repeat more quickly.
“Ha-ha! It’s finally my time to shine, Boss! I mean, I’m not just eating and sleeping all the time for no reason! I’m preserving my strength for moments like this! It’s time to show everyone the power of a combat chimera!”
Rose, who was grappling with me, then leaps out the office window.
We’re technically on the second floor, but I guess that doesn’t matter to a combat chimera.
As he watches Rose leap out the window, Russell shakes his head with a fond sigh and stands up.
“She’s so reckless, it makes me wonder if we really are the same species. But it’d be good to show people our true power. I feel like no one’s been taking us very seriously lately. I need to show everyone that I used to be a member of the Demon Lord’s Army’s Elite Four…!”
Russell smiles at Viper as he speaks.
“…? Oh yes, please be careful, Russell. You’re wearing a short skirt, so don’t move around too much, okay?”
“I didn’t ask you to worry about that! That look I gave you meant that you, Viper, the former Demon Lord, should show off your power, too!”
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