Chapter 228 - The Hero of Love and Justice
"...Hero. Look."
It must have been about five minutes after we entered the highway.
Suddenly, Erin shook my shoulder and urged me to look out the rear window.
"Did you find something?"
"...Mm."
In the direction her white finger was pointing, I could see a police car.
It seemed they had come chasing after us. They must have rushed out from the detention center in a panic.
"Pursuers, huh."
"...What should we do? Use an area debuff?"
"Of course not! That would be a catastrophe."
We were in the middle of a public road, surrounded by vehicles traveling at dozens of kilometers per hour.
If Erin were to deploy an intelligence-lowering debuff, the surrounding drivers would all simultaneously undergo regressive infantilization—and I didn't even want to think about what would happen after that.
"Try to have a little more resistance to involving ordinary citizens."
"...I don't think Earthlings die just because a vehicle traveling at this speed causes an accident."
"They do die. They die easily."
"...If they were the same race as the Hero, they should be sturdy."
"I see, so that's the misunderstanding you had. I'm just abnormally strong; ordinary Earthlings are weaker than Goblins."
"...?"
I felt Erin catch her breath.
Since we were in close contact, I could perfectly perceive the sound of her breathing.
"The people of this world can't use magic, and almost no one is born with protections or skills. An adult male's status is barely around 100. An adventurer who would be around C-rank over there could probably kill a hundred Earthlings with their bare hands."
"...How has such a fragile race flourished so much?"
"Don't ask me, I only finished middle school."
Anyway, I steered the conversation back to where it belonged.
"The people here are more fragile than you imagine, so we aren't using extreme measures to shake off the tail."
"...Then what do we do?"
"Let's see."
I pondered while still holding Erin close.
"Injuring the drivers over there is out of the question. The ones chasing us are probably just low-ranking police officers anyway. They're just trying to fulfill their duties; they aren't villains. Let's settle this as peacefully as possible."
"...The Hero is soft, after all."
"I suppose so. I am the Hero of Justice, after all."
Wait, are you saying that while holding a young girl in an 'ekiben' style? Sugitani-san looked at me with eyes of astonishment, but I pretended not to hear.
I pride myself on having a relatively strict sense of ethics regarding life and death, even if I am loose when it comes to women.
If we limit it to the general public of Earth, I haven't killed a single person yet.
"Well, even before justice or morality, acting to prevent as many deaths as possible is like a human instinct, isn't it?"
Do the Mage race lack that kind of sensation?
Their intelligence seems high, but because they are a dry race by nature, their values might be fundamentally different from ours.
"...Does the Hero think that kinship love originates from instinct?"
"It's not something as grand as kinship love. I feel like 'physiological aversion' is closer..."
The conversation derailing into academic directions is Erin's bad habit.
I don't want to unnecessarily tire my brain when we're about to charge into enemy territory.
"Ah, I know. I wonder if I can transfer the ownership of this police car to myself."
"What do you mean by that?" Sugitani-san asked.
"I can use magic to make objects transparent, but there's a restriction that I can't target things unless they are my own property or my comrades."
"An ability with restrictions, I see!"
Since Sugitani-san has been in a cooperative relationship with me for quite a while, she should be counted as a Party Member.
The problem is the duo of female police officers who are looking at me with blatant wariness.
"Would you mind handing this car and the ladies in the driver's seat over to me? Then I can make everyone disappear and shake the tail off smoothly."
"That's an easy request. ...Hayasaka-kun! Kato-kun! You heard what was just said, right? I am presenting this vehicle and you two to Nakamoto-san! Understood!?"
Sugitani-san commanded her subordinate gripping the steering wheel with brisk efficiency. As expected of an elite Public Security official, she's quick to understand, which is a help.
"...It cannot be helped, then."
"It is an emergency, after all."
The female police officer duo gave their consent with voices like female knights enduring humiliation.
Good, that's settled.
A system message floated into my field of vision, announcing that the transfer of ownership was complete.
[Hero Keisuke has obtained a police car]
[Hero Keisuke has obtained Megumi Hayasaka]
[Hero Keisuke has obtained Misaki Kato]
From here, it's my turn.
I cast Concealment Magic on the police car and its occupants, and while I'm at it, I apply Strength Enhancement as well.
"Alright, okay. With this, no one can visually identify this car. It seems it'll still show up on machines, but no one will be pointing cameras at us while driving."
"...Has it really disappeared?"
The woman called Hayasaka asked anxiously.
Our gazes met through the rearview mirror.
"If you want, you can test it. Even if you overtake someone aggressively or ignore a traffic light, you shouldn't hear any horns being honked at you."
"Then, let's try it immediately."
She is a decisive woman.
Hayasaka-san stepped hard on the accelerator and began rapidly overtaking the cars ahead.
"...There really is no reaction."
"You see? Being invisible to those around you is also a quite dangerous situation, so be careful not to get rear-ended."
"I intend to, even if you don't tell me."
I felt somewhat amused, thinking the pursuing police car must be in a state of total panic.
Just as I felt relieved that I could enjoy a drive for a while, I realized the absurdity of the series of events.
"...Hm?"
Wait.
Didn't I just, in the flow of things, receive two female police officers...?
Come to think of it, as a condition for using Concealment Magic, I only talked about the ownership of items.
In the case of humans, they shouldn't be treated as items, but rather joined as Party Members...
Crap, did Sugitani-san misunderstand because of that and hand over her subordinates as if they were objects?
Eh? What's going on here?
This is my first time receiving girls as items.
This isn't a slave trade or anything; what's going to happen?
While falling into a state of semi-delirium, I looked toward the driver's seat.
The one gripping the steering wheel was the petite female officer, Megumi Hayasaka. She had a considerable baby face and an appearance that made her look like a "one-day chief" not unlike Erin. I don't know if it's her natural color or if it's dyed, but her hair was a light brown short cut. Her overall impression was something like "irresistible."
On the other hand, Misaki Kato, sitting in the passenger seat, was also quite a beauty.
Her long hair was tied back, but her eyes were sharp and dignified, giving her the air of a female martial artist.
The fact that she had highly assertive curves, visible even through her uniform, was also a high point. My gaze was practically obstruction of official duties at this point.
"..."
These two are my property—
"Father? Aren't you making a face like you're thinking, 'I'm glad I'm alive'?"
"...The current Hero has the face of someone who just picked up a precious item in the deepest part of a dungeon... It's been a long time since I've seen such a satisfied expression..."
Of course, there's no way I could say my true feelings.
Therefore, my tongue began to spout lies incessantly in auto-mode.
"Look, we managed to let the pursuers pass without a single casualty, right? So, I'm, how should I put it... as a human and as a Hero, I'm incredibly satisfied. It really has to be like this."
"Wow... As expected of Father! You're overflowing with Hero-likeness!"
Following Angelica, whose eyes were sparkling, Erin and Sugitani-san also praised me.
"...The Hero is soft after all... but... that is your good point..."
"To act while even considering the enemy's well-being; you are exactly the man I expected."
While feeling moved that love and justice had been executed without incident, we headed toward Professor Otsuki.
Along the way, Hayasaka-san almost realized something she shouldn't have by noticing, "Come to think of it, wasn't that conversation just now a bit strange?", so I diverted her by saying, "Huh? What's that? More importantly, you should look ahead, a huge truck is coming."