"...Do you really think they'll show up?"
A few days later, right after swimming class.
Amelia was nervously scanning her surroundings.
Her expression was full of doubt—would a villain really appear?
"Don’t worry. They’ll definitely be here."
"R-Really...?"
Of course they would.
The Author said they’d be here, after all.
[A service scene *and* the protagonist’s inner turmoil all at once... E, eheh.]
See?
They’re already getting excited about what kind of scene is coming next.
There’s no way a villain *wouldn’t* show up here.
"Hmm, that would be nice, but..."
"No reaction yet."
I tapped the detector in my hand.
It was called a detector, but it was just a round, palm-sized sphere.
It didn’t look like a detector at all.
I’d once wondered if it could detect mana, so I’d tested it from far away by using my ability.
The result? A resounding success.
It had blared obnoxiously loud.
When I asked the club president if it was *too* sensitive for the distance, their answer was priceless.
"It’s student-made, so the performance isn’t great!" or something like that.
So that’s why it couldn’t find the secret passage and just ended up gathering dust in storage.
Wait, why is it so realistic in the *wrong* places?
Could it be... the Author...?
If the performance had been better, it would’ve been too easy to find the hidden room, so maybe the Author forced a nerf?
Nah, would the Author really think that far ahead?
I dunno. Guess I’ll just accept it.
"But aren’t *you* bothered by it?"
"...Huh? About what?"
"I mean, showing your body to guys. Siwoo and that villain."
Ah.
That’s what she was talking about.
So *that’s* the issue.
"I don’t mind."
"Why not?"
"...It’s a secret."
Like I could even explain.
Why would a guy feel embarrassed showing his body to another guy?
It’s not like I’m stripping outside in broad daylight like last time.
I’m not even naked—I’m wearing a leotard.
But right now, *this* body is a woman’s.
Amelia would never understand if I told her that.
Time to change the subject.
"What about you, Amelia?"
"Huh? ...Me?"
"Yeah. I get it, but don’t *you* feel uncomfortable?"
I was originally a guy, so that was fine, but *she* was a girl.
No way the Author would’ve made her a TS heroine, right?
"I don’t mind either."
"...?"
"Well, it’s for catching the culprit."
[Wow. A true heroine’s resolve.]
The Author and I both admired her determination.
Yep, that’s a heroine for you.
Enduring the embarrassment to take the lead in catching the villain—perfect.
Keep it up just like that.
-BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP!
"This is—!"
"Ah, looks like they’re here."
Amelia and I had been chatting so long that the other students had already left, leaving the locker room in silence.
Just as I was starting to get bored wondering when they’d show up, the detector in my hand started blaring loudly.
Seriously, it’s *way* too loud. My ears hurt.
...They just *kept* this thing stored away?
Not throwing it out was already impressive.
Well, at least it worked.
The noise was so piercing it forced its way into your ears whether you wanted to hear it or not.
Naturally, Yu Siwoo heard it from the men’s locker room and rushed in.
"C-Criminal! Where’s the criminal...!"
···What a pushover.
Yu Siwoo, who had been staring at Amelia and me, quickly turned his head away.
His bright red ears made it easy to guess why he’d looked away.
Even so, isn’t he a little *too* weak to women?
Sure, Amelia had a great figure, but to blush just from looking at her like that?
As the protagonist of an Academy novel, he should be used to women by now—he’s supposed to be chasing after them, after all.
"Well, he *is* here somewhere. Want to try finding him?"
"M-me?!!"
"Yes. With your intuition."
"B-but my ability only activates when I’m attacked…"
Right.
I knew he’d say that.
But wasn’t it about time his ability grew a little?
This was already the third incident.
Beast attack, spy infiltration, and now this.
If we counted service scenes and class content, there’d be even more.
If the protagonist didn’t power up soon, the readers would get bored.
Or maybe they already were.
"No, Yu Siwoo’s ability should be danger detection."
"···Huh?"
"There’s a reason it’s called intuition, right? …Come on, focus. Look around you."
[···! Protagonist Power-Up Event!]
Right.
The author really moves fast when they want to.
The protagonist gives up on finding the enemy with his own ability, then gets advice and powers up.
A classic awakening event.
No need for detailed advice.
The author would fill in the gaps themselves.
[···Wait?]
"Is something wrong…?"
He wasn’t addressing anyone in particular.
Yu Siwoo was sweating profusely with his eyes closed, and the author had spoken in confusion, so…
[N-no, it’s just… my ability…? Wait?]
"···?"
What the hell? Why did he cut himself off?
What about his ability—
How could I ask the author without making it obvious?
This was getting frustrating.
But the thought didn’t last long.
Yu Siwoo suddenly opened his eyes and swung his sword through the air.
"···There you are!"
-CLANG!
A sword swung through empty air should just slice through nothing.
But if a sword swung at empty space couldn’t move forward—
…and even made a sound like metal clashing against metal?
The meaning behind that wasn’t hard to figure out.
The protagonist had found the villain.
"How?! My stealth is perfect! I even erased my scent! It’s impossible to see me!"
The flustered villain shouted in shock.
He had every right to be. He’d infiltrated the Academy, only to be stopped by a student.
"Ahaha. It’s neither sight nor smell."
"What do you—?!"
Exactly.
Yu Siwoo’s ability was underwhelming for a protagonist.
It wasn’t flashy, couldn’t instantly enhance his body, and couldn’t produce explosive firepower.
But the more it grew, the more its true value shone.
Touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell.
Beyond the five senses humans possess, Yu Siwoo had one more.
And that was intuition.
A sense that perceived what others couldn’t—a sixth sense.
You could call it a gut feeling. A sixth sense. Whatever you wanted.
He could detect things without seeing them with his eyes, without smelling them, without touching them, without tasting them, without hearing them.
If it ever fully matured, it might even become something like precognition—an incredible ability.
It would probably be a nightmare for villains.
No matter how they attacked, no matter how they ambushed, he saw through and evaded it all.
A simple but terrifying ability.
…And now, that ability had grown even stronger.
An ability that deceived the five senses—it didn’t work on Yu Siwoo.
"Krh—! Damn it!"
Gritting his teeth in frustration, the man vanished from sight in an instant.
…Wow, they called him a chameleon, but he really is invisible.
Is he still standing there? Or has he already moved somewhere else?
Just as I was marveling at his invisibility, Yu Siwoo moved again.
"Kehk?!"
"…Even if I can’t see you, I know you’re there. Hiding won’t help."
[Khh…! That’s so cool! Say more! Say something even cooler!]
Ugh, seriously.
It’s ruining my focus.
It felt like watching a movie while someone next to me made a racket the whole time.
"Y-Yes, Nein…! The great power of the Webermensch, to be bested by a mere brat like you—!"
"…Webermensch?"
[Oh. Right, I forgot to casually drop the name for the protagonist…]
Wait, what?!
…Oh no, I forgot too!
Laira never referred to her organization by name, did she?
She never said “Webermensch.”
I don’t think she ever even mentioned the name out loud.
This is bad…!
"That form of yours… Are you a chameleon?"
"That’s right. The great power of the Webermensch. Interested?"
"No, I’ve just seen something similar before. She was a wolf, though."
Phew… phew…
Thank goodness Yu Siwoo is sharp.
Maybe because he’d seen Laira transform into an animal, he connected the dots to her.
"A wolf…? Ah, right. The new recruit. I heard she died during a mission at the Academy. …Did you kill her?"
"…"
"…Even if I’ve never seen it myself, I can’t let the one who killed a successor of great power live."
Pffft.
Ah, w-wait.
I almost laughed.
When he said “successor,” it reminded me of the ridiculous backstory I’d forced in there.
What was it again?
Something about ancestors being werewolves and… that… thing, and their descendants?
And then Laira being a wolf beastkin made it even funnier.
N-no, I can’t laugh. This is a serious scene.
Somehow, I managed to stifle my laughter and went back to watching the fight.
"Die…!"
The villain, who had vanished in a flash, reappeared behind Yu Siwoo.
Whoa, that’s fast.
…Is he planning to slash from behind?
Just in case, I readied the thread I’d already loosened to fire.
If Yu Siwoo got hurt, that’d be a disaster.
But I didn’t need to shoot the thread.
Without even looking back, Yu Siwoo spun his body and kicked the man in the ribs with a powerful strike.
Superhumans are definitely stronger than ordinary people.
But even superhumans aren’t invincible.
A kick infused with that much mana—even a superhuman would take critical damage from that.
Whoa, did that just rupture his organs…?
"Khaak?!"
"I told you, old man."
Maybe because he’d taken that mana-charged kick to the ribs unguarded.
Clutching his side and kneeling in agony, the chameleon beastkin had Yu Siwoo’s sword pressed to his throat as Yu Siwoo muttered quietly,
"I said I can tell where you are even if I can’t see you. …No matter how fast you try to move, I can see exactly where you’ll come from."
The author was so hyped that they started rapid-firing commentary at me.
Ugh, damn it.
Too loud.