The Villain's Sister - Chapter 38

When I gently stroked the child’s hair, damp with sweat and blood, the crying stopped.

The first time my ability awakened was right after I regained consciousness from being beaten into a coma by Andrew.

Just as no one questions how they know how to walk, I instinctively understood my power.

If a wound was caused by trauma, no matter the type, I could heal it.

I could regenerate dead nerves and even restore lost eyes.

However, healing my own wounds required a lot of research and effort.

Still, with that ability, I healed Raphael’s wounds while he was being transferred to prison after the trial.

The moment Raphael realized I had awakened a healing power, he was shaken and immediately forced a promise out of me.

“Never reveal this power. Never use it on anyone.”

The powerful, the villains, and those who need your power will turn this world into hell to possess you. So promise me you’ll never use your ability, even if it means I die from my injuries.

I’ve never seen Raphael so terrifying.

His gaze was so intense it made me understand what it meant to have a glow in one’s eyes.

That’s why, even when he got hurt clashing with Big Bear, he never showed me his wounds.

One look at the wound and it’ll be obvious I used my ability. If the injury heals overnight, villains who know Raphael will start to wonder, and they’ll surely realize that I’m an esper with healing powers.

‘I’m sorry, Raphael. But I can’t just ignore a dying child.’

She’s just a kid, barely five or six years old.

She probably won’t even remember this properly, and even if she tells someone, they’ll just think she’s spouting nonsense from the shock.

Once the wounds were fully healed, I picked the child up again.

“Let’s go find your mom.”

I had to evacuate quickly and wait for Johan to return.

***

“Why are you here?”

Tristan from the Organized Crime Division ran into Johan because the department store hostage situation was so large in scale that they were short on manpower and called for support.

As soon as he heard gunshots from inside, he entered from the rear and saw Johan taking down the robbers.

‘Is he ex-military?’

His restrained movements and the way he used the terrain gave it away.

Tristan fired at the robbers who had come down from upstairs, responding to the commotion and supporting Johan.

Johan, who had cut down the robbers with a knife, glanced at Tristan and smirked.

“Not bad.”

“You too.”

Johan hid behind a display stand and took a gun from a fallen robber.

He took position with practiced ease and shot down the rushing robbers.

While Johan covered the front, Tristan had his back and watched the rear.

“Where are the other officers?”

“They went to the children’s play area on the sixth floor. Bombs were confirmed on the seventh floor.”

“Disgusting.”

Johan watched as Tristan’s bullet hit a robber’s thigh with pinpoint accuracy.

Perfect aim. His eyes narrowed.

Tristan didn’t seem all that different either.

This guy—his annoying tone sounded familiar.

Boom! Boom boom!

The explosion from above wiped out the questions from his mind.

“Damn it.”

Hopefully the hostage evacuation was finished.

The situation on the first floor was mostly under control, so they had to head upstairs now.

“Giselle isn’t here too, is she?”

“I came alone.”

“Good. Leave the rest to us and go now. You did well protecting the hostages on the first floor by yourself.”

If he hadn’t come with Giselle Deva Moltke, and if he hadn’t run into someone who knew his face, he would’ve transformed into Red Shadow and killed them all.

Suppressing the urge to handle it all like he usually did, Johan replied, “You’d better be careful.”

He seemed like a capable officer, so he probably wouldn’t die.

After confirming that Tristan was heading upstairs, Johan exited the department store to look for Giselle.

***

After helping the child find her mother, I received a blanket from the police.

Avoiding the news vans, I crouched next to an ambulance.

Gunshots continued to echo from the department store.

Glass shattered, and police officers frantically moved about, communicating through radios.

Johan came out through the back door of the department store.

Covered in blood, he raised both hands to show he was unarmed to the police aiming guns at him.

“No! He’s with me! He’s not one of the robbers!”

Thanks to the hostages who had been held with us vouching for him, Johan was immediately escorted to the ambulance.

“Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

His shirt, which had been white just that morning, was now completely soaked as if it had originally been red.

He replied indifferently, “I’m fine. Are you all right?”

“I’m okay.”

“Then what’s with the blood?”

Johan reached out and grabbed my shoulder.

Maybe he hadn’t realized what he was doing, but he quickly pulled his hand back, clearly flustered.

He scowled as if annoyed with himself.

“It’s someone else’s blood, so don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Yes. This place is dangerous, so let’s go somewhere else.”

Neither of us could afford to be caught by the police and give our real names.

So we fled the scene in haste, but we had nowhere to go.

Raphael had already moved, and the old place was emptied.

I hadn’t even heard the new address, and if I showed up in this state, Raphael would probably explode with rage and do something reckless.

Walking down the street covered in blood and looking like a beggar drew a lot of stares.

With a sigh, Johan took me to a nearby clothing store.

He paid for a set of men’s and women’s clothes he found and led the way.

“Where are we going?”

“A hotel.”

“What?”

“Where else can we go like this? First, we need to get the blood off. I ran into Tristan Lindbergh at the scene. If it gets out that we were involved in the incident, it could expose your identity. It’s better to go to that cop’s place in a few days.”

“Oh…”

Whoosh!

Johan tossed something to me.

It was my wallet, the one I’d brought to the department store.

“You… kept this?”

“I didn’t keep it. You handed it to me earlier with the shopping bags.”

“Oh. Right. Let’s go. We can use this to pay for the hotel.”

We headed to the most luxurious—and therefore safest—hotel on Mist Island.

When I tried to get a separate room, Johan stepped in.

“A twin bed room is fine.”

Is this guy insane? He wants to stay in the same room with me?

When I looked up at him in disbelief, he whispered, “Big Bear is probably already after you. Are you really willing to take that risk?”

“…A twin bed room, please.”

***

As I soaked in the warm water, the sharp tension in my body eased.

The clotted blood washed off, and the reddish water looked grotesque.

I’d treated the bullet wound in my arm, leaving no trace, but I still vividly remembered the pain.

A lot had happened that day, and so many thoughts surfaced, but none took clear form.

All I could grasp was that my heart felt tangled.

‘I don’t know either.’

Forget the original story and powers—right now, I just want to rest.

I couldn’t stop trembling.

A gut feeling told me I’d be plagued by nightmares starting tomorrow.

When I stepped out after drying off, I saw Johan shirtless, tending to a wound.

A bullet had clearly grazed his side.

“You’re hurt. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“You kept quiet because you thought I was upset? Since when did you worry about me so much?”

Coming from an antihero who kills villains and civilians alike if they get involved in crime, this was absurd.

“Let me see.”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

Looking closely, the skin was split open.

“It’s a wound that needs to be disinfected and stitched.”

Dust had gotten in through the torn fabric and could’ve caused an infection.

I thought, being an antihero, his body would be as tough as steel…

But then again, in the original story, he was a soldier who became disabled due to injuries in the war.

‘Wasn’t it that he healed himself because he was a wizard?’

I’d assumed becoming a wizard gave him the power to heal external injuries, but seeing this wound linger proved otherwise.

“I said I’m fine.”

“You’re not. So shut up.”

Johan is Red Shadow.

He’s a genius wizard and a powerful hero.

But he’s still human.

He can die if shot. He can bleed if wounded.

Just like Raphael, who risks his life daily in gang wars as a villain, Johan chooses to face danger head-on.

I really didn’t want to realize that this way.

“Get changed. We should go to the hospital.”

“No.”

“If you’re worried about your identity, we can skip insurance. I’ll pay.”

Johan’s face twisted strangely.

From the look on his face, it wasn’t about his identity or insurance.

He was clearly uncomfortable.

No, more accurately, he was extremely reluctant. Which meant…

“…Don’t tell me you’re afraid of hospitals?”

His flinch made me chuckle involuntarily.

What now, really?