Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 63

Chapter 63 – I Had to Play the Villain, Part 3

(Dispel.)

I activated the Skill on the junior high school girl—no, on Alicia’s subordinate disguised as one—and released her from the mind control.

The illusion created by Recognition Inhibition Magic was still functioning, maintaining the appearance that she was under control. I’d already confirmed that the Hero Suits had no countermeasures against this magic at the moment.

Even the water-magic surveillance orbs scattered across the floating fortress—most of which were destroyed during the last intrusion—hadn’t detected any suspicious activity.

Catching Alicia’s eye, I nodded and slowly approached her subordinate while putting on the most wicked grin I could muster.

From here on out, everything was ad-libbed. But luckily—or maybe unluckily—I’d just gotten some excellent reference material for the role.

No point hesitating now. Time to commit.

“Look, we’re kinda strapped for cash. Just ten thousand yen, that’s all we’re asking. You can spare that, right?”

According to Alicia, aggressors and victims in these scenarios are expected to act like there’s been a long history of bullying—even when they’ve had no prior contact.

Taking that into account, we—me, Alicia, and her subordinate posing as the victim—decided on a classic blackmail setup.

“I… I’m sorry. I don’t have that kind of money right now…”

“Hah? You think you get to say no?”

“Guh! I—I’m sorry!”

Compared to my half-baked acting, the exchange between Alicia and her subordinate was so convincing I almost stepped in to stop them. Now that’s what you’d expect from agents of a secret government organization.

Just as I was impressed by their performance—

『That’s enough, villains!』

A sudden voice thundered from overhead.

Looking up, I saw a man in a full-body yellow suit patterned like a tiger—a clear Hero Suit.

『Your evil will not go unpunished! In the name of the holy Hero, I, Lightning Tiger, will deliver justice!』

While he loudly introduced himself, I gathered the jamming drones I’d scattered across town—equipped with Recognition Inhibition Magic—to a central location using Water Magic.

Then, linking up via Sensory Link with a surveillance drone I’d positioned high above, I tracked the Hero Suit’s path of arrival and flashed Alicia another hand signal.

『With this divinely charged blow, tremble before the might of righteousness! Take this—【Rising—』

“—Sorry, but could you shut up for a second?”

Having confirmed all the mechanisms were ready, I silenced “Lightning Tiger” by putting him to sleep using Recognition Inhibition Magic mid-monologue.

Everything was in place.

Just like during the school trip, I used Sensory Link to remotely disassemble the jamming drones and reconfigure them into a massive floating artillery platform.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Both Alicia and her subordinate gave a firm nod.

With the signal given, I synchronized with the cannon’s targeting system and aimed carefully.

“—!”

The instant the artillery fired, a blinding flash erupted above the clouds.

As planned, the light descended slowly toward the sea.

“Then I’ll go nab the real mastermind. I’m leaving this end to you.”

“…Understood. Good luck.”

With those parting words, I used Teleport and jumped into the floating fortress—now likely in full crisis mode.

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—From the memories of a man who once called himself a Hero.

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“Damn it! He beat me to it again!”

The moment we received word that Lightning Tiger had reached the rescue site, every Hero waiting at the launch chute of the base’s lower hangar—including myself—slumped in frustration.

Lately, Super Rescue Sentai: The Heroes had been acting… off.

A few days ago, a massive shock had shaken the entire Base. Since then, none of the founding Heroes—like Doctor the White, one of the oldest and most influential members—had shown their faces.

The only statement from the so-called “Hero” who led us was:

“Continue your operations as normal.”

And that was it.

With all the faction leaders gone, the atmosphere inside the Base had grown suffocating.

In that environment, the only thing keeping us from losing it entirely was—ironically—cracking down on evil.

“Haaah…”

With Lightning Tiger having stolen the spotlight again, there was no reason to hang around. I turned to head back to my quarters.

“Hey, did you hear that just now?”

That was Pink Hop Rabbit, a Hero girl with long rabbit ears and a nervous look.

“Oh, come on. Trying to fake us out so you can grab the next dispatch?”

“No! I’m serious! I really heard something weird!”

Naturally, no one—including me—took her seriously. What mattered now was who got to the next mission fastest.

(She’s wasting her breath…)

With a sigh, I turned back toward my room to rest before the next sortie—

“Wha—!?”

“What the hell?!”

Suddenly, the entire Base tilted hard to the right.

As everyone scrambled to keep their balance, I activated my Hyper Scanning Eye to analyze the disturbance.

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

The answer was obvious.

The second hangar—built right alongside this one—had exploded. Engines and all.

Which meant…

We were falling. The entire Base was crashing toward the ocean.

And more terrifying than drowning was the fact that someone had just destroyed the hangar.

This fortress was supposed to be perfect. Everything the Hero built was said to be flawless. Exploding worker bots? Impossible. Collisions with planes? Avoided by advanced navigation systems. The Base itself was even cloaked from civilian detection.

Yet someone had pinpointed and obliterated our most vulnerable section.

(We… We have to fight…)

I gripped my special bow tighter and scanned for threats.

But then—

“Kyaaaaah!?”

“Uwaaaah!?”

A new impact rocked the Base. The hangar wall had been breached by something moving at incredible speed. Smoke filled the area.

Still—I had my Hyper Scanning Eye!

I peered into the smoke… and instantly regretted it.

There stood a man. Average build. Casual clothes.

That alone would be odd, considering we were 20,000 meters above sea level. But what terrified me was his skin and face—blurred like a living mosaic. I couldn’t tell if it was some effect or just my brain refusing to process what it saw.

But I knew one thing for sure.

That thing was a demon.

“Hiii—!”

I turned to flee, but it was too late.

The man glanced up, scanning the ceiling. Then he crouched… and launched himself at the wall in a perfect sprint, kicking off with superhuman force.

“Gah…!?”

The resulting shockwave slammed me into the far wall.

That was the last thing I remembered.

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Please also check out the new novel.

Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita

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