I'll Be Villain to Everyone! Except for my Cat...-Chapter 59: Died and Came Back

Everyone has days when you wake up... and don’t want to get out of bed.

Mr. Nobody spent the early hours of the next day lying on a floor mattress in his rented apartment in Como.

With music playing in the background from a vinyl record player he’d built from scratch, he lay on his back and idly messed with that strange puzzle

"Combination 13... Combination 17..."

He hadn’t figured out yet what the puzzle wanted after the twelve-second delay. Instead, he tried various combinations of interactions with the many cells on the sides of the puzzle. Maybe he was hoping for a sudden breakthrough during this process.

Of course, the number of such combinations could approach infinity... But right now, he didn’t mind getting lost in it.

"...Paymax, run new combinations. From thirty to forty."

"Done... Mr. Nobody, would you like to know what’s being discussed in today’s news broadcasts?"

"Go on."

Paymax’s voice instantly changed to a monotonous female one. Apparently, he was playing a recording of a recent news broadcast.

"...That concludes our report on the sudden terrorist attack. The KCPD’s statement about the case doesn’t look very optimistic and mostly boils down to one phrase: ashes and destruction. No witnesses and no chance of finding a lead... as if nobody had ever been there."

"..." Still fiddling with the puzzle, Mr. Nobody couldn’t help but smile.

However, Paymax continued playing the recording.

"...And although no eyewitnesses to the incident were ever found, the public didn’t miss the obvious details and hallmarks of this case. Here are comments from some of the people interviewed."

"..." The recording briefly gave way to static, and Mr. Nobody unconsciously pricked up his ears.

"...As if no one was even there, you say?" an elderly voice sounded. "Hah, that even sounds obvious. If it seems like no one was there, then, of course... it was Ghost!"

"..." Mr. Nobody blinked in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, the voices of other citizens could be heard on the recording.

"Ashes and destruction... Haven’t they caught this Ghost yet?"

"It’s obvious, Ghost! Everyone understands that, including the KCPD!"

"Hah, so that means it’s true..."

"Ghost! It’s Ghost, I swear!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"He’s back... Ghost is back!"

"..." Mr. Nobody was speechless.

"...As you can see, public opinion on this matter is unanimous. Ghost has returned. KCPD hasn’t mentioned that name yet, and the reason may lie in the fact that this case has already been referred to higher..."

"...Cut it, Paymax."

"Done."

Along with the recording, the record player stopped playing music.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

"Haa..." Mr. Nobody sighed wearily and, setting aside the puzzle, turned onto his side. "Ghost’s already been caught. Don’t talk nonsense."

The next ten minutes passed in silence.

Mr. Nobody had no desire to get out of bed today, but...

"You’ve received a message marked ’Urgent’ from your broker, Marcel," Paymax said.

"...I told you not to bother me today. Send him my apologies."

"...

"

"Paymax?"

"Mr. Nobody... With your permission, I would advise you to pay attention to this message."

"Short version..." he said cautiously.

"...Open bounty contract. A bounty’s been placed on someone’s head within 24 hours. That someone... is Ghost."

"What the... Wait, so they’re hunting me?"

"You’ve misunderstood. The first unlucky mercenaries tracked the target’s location before dying. This data is available to all free Diamond-rank mercenaries... As you’ve already realized, it’s not you."

"..."

"Looks like Ghost really is back."

...

That very day, as the embrace of night once again enveloped Concord.

*Drip, drip...* Thick, crimson blood crawled down the walls and across the ground.

There was no longer enough room on the ground for the pools of blood. They flowed toward the walls, forming narrow streams that, in turn, made their way toward the ordinary streets.

The narrow, dark alley was littered with mutilated corpses. Some of the bodies were missing limbs, others their heads, and still others had been reduced to raw meat.

However, charred flesh was visible on most of the fresh wounds.

*Squish!* A sharp black heel plunged into the head of one of the bodies lying on the ground.

Blood spilled once more.

The body stopped twitching.

"N-no, please...!" Desperate pleas rang out from one of the far corners.

Apparently, he’d decided to try his luck, having heard that his comrade, who’d been pretending to be dead, had already been finished off.

"..."

There was no reply.

Only the piercing the hard click of heels on the floor was now drawing closer to that corner.

"N-no... I really don’t know anything! We were just ordered to deliver everything Dirty Baals needed and make sure they pack the girl up!"

The man’s once-white shirt was now completely soaked in red. Even his dark tie was now being used to cover a horrific gash on his neck.

However, the most terrifying thing was that the man now had no eyes.

As if under intense heat, they had melted and simply flowed out.

He wouldn’t even be able to see what would cause his death.

"P-please, spare me! The order came from above, got it?! I’m just a messenger!"

*Thud* With a sharp click, the heel stopped in front of the screaming figure.

"...Who?"

The cold voice merely spoke.

Anyone who had heard that voice even once could tell it was special. In some, it inspired admiration; in others, excitement; but for most, it was associated with...

Terror.

"S-senior Comrade! I don’t know who he is or what he looks like, but that’s exactly what everyone says about him!"

"..." A barely audible sigh was heard.

"I-if you spare me, I’d try to find out..."

*Screech!* A searing, bubbling sound rang out, as if a red-hot soldering iron had been run across the flesh.

Dark-purple flames flared into claws and appeared on the hand clad in a black glove. The fiery claws ran across the neck again, as if through butter, and in an instant decapitated the man.

Over fifteen corpses lay scattered.

Some of them were mere failed mercenaries, but most were men in formal suits.

Now the dark alley was filled with the repulsive stench of smoke and fresh blood.

Black heels approached a small section of wall and floor not yet marred by the carnage.

After a while, the heels crouched down on the ground.

"Haa..." came a barely audible sigh.

A narrow slit opened in the thick black helmet, through which one could make out lips.

A moment later, a cigarette was already inserted into that opening, and soon a dark purple claw lit it.

Silence reigned in the dark alley, barely interrupted by the quiet sounds of smoking and the patter of blood droplets...

"Wow... Looks like things got pretty wild in here, huh?"

A comment rang out, jarringly out of place.

A moment later, someone else appeared in front of the man smoking.

He descended from the roof on a grappling hook and dangled upside down in front of the smoker.

"..." There was no reply.

However, the fact that the smoker had even forgotten to take the cigarette out of his mouth likely indicated at least some surprise.

Meanwhile, the man who had suddenly appeared seemed to be in high spirits.

"I never would have thought this meeting would actually happen... Ghost."

"..."

"By the way, why did the rumors never mention that you were this... a girl?"