The Seoul Hero Academy's summer break ceremony was drawing near.
While I was busy making various preparations to attend once again as a distinguished guest, one significant change had come into my life.
"Hehehehe… Mr. Maxweeell…."
"Victory, are you that happy?"
"Yes!!"
Among the children, Victory had been spending more and more time outside her containment cell.
However, given the number of incidents where she'd turned organization members into ground meat, none of the other researchers would come anywhere near her.
I, too, had to move with certain restrictions.
Of course, there was one being who wasn't afraid of Victory in the slightest.
"Hehehe… Victory, have you been well?"
"Hello to you too, Director Eileen!!"
The very person who had brought Victory to Black Cell in the first place.
The Director had come to visit us.
She was accompanied by special agents, as always.
'She seems to have come to check on Victory's condition, at least on the surface….'
Victory was currently an Acceleration Ability user, and on top of that, she had grown considerably — there was a real chance that if she decided to run, no one could catch her. That was probably why the Director had come down personally.
In any case, the witch got straight to the point with the white rabbit.
"Victory, do you have any thoughts of going off somewhere on your own?"
"Huh? Victory is going to stay with Mr. Maxwell forever."
The mental shackles were considerably stronger than I'd expected.
Whether that put her at ease to some degree, the Director smiled pleasantly.
"See? The timing is perfect."
"Even so, I can't help but worry."
"Maxwell will be there, and the bodyguards are going with her, so it'll be fine."
I was internally sighing under the weight of all that trust when the Director suddenly showed me a tablet, and together we picked out Victory's outfit for the outing.
"This one would be perfect."
"It's summer, so something clean and simple would be best."
"What do you think, Victory?"
"I, I'm fine with anything!!"
In a way, this was the children's first outing into the outside world.
The fact that the Director even said she'd personally help Victory change into her clothes told me just how invested she was in this occasion.
Time passed, and the day of the Hero Academy's break ceremony finally arrived.
Since this was already Gloria and Liberty's second time, they simply told us to have a good trip.
Just like before, I got dressed in the early morning and headed down to the underground parking garage, where I found some very familiar faces waiting.
"Good morning, Mr. Maxwell. It seems we'll be moving together again this time."
"Hahaha, it's an honor to be of service once more."
"The pleasure is mine. I'm counting on all of you."
I hadn't expected the same team from the entrance ceremony to be assigned again, but they were all highly capable, so I decided to take it as a good thing.
"By the way, did the Director give you all a special bonus last time?"
"I never imagined I'd receive that much just for driving. And also…."
"Ahem!"
The head bodyguard and the others nodded in agreement — it must have been a quite satisfying bonus.
But then the driver noticed the twitching rabbit ears peeking out from behind me.
"It seems the child behind you, Mr. Maxwell, is the one joining us for today's schedule… is that correct?"
"That's right. Victory? Can you come out for a moment?"
"Mmmmgh…."
Whether she was in her introverted personality at the moment, Victory hid behind my legs and acted shy.
But after I kept encouraging her, Victory finally revealed herself — dressed in a white T-shirt and a denim skirt — and since everyone accompanying us had already heard about her, they greeted her warmly.
"I never imagined I'd get to see an Acceleration Ability user this close — they're said to be incredibly rare."
"And she even has the Superhuman-type on top of that… I can understand why Director Eileen took such a keen interest."
"I had no idea the rabbit mutant I'd read about in the reports would be such an adorable little girl."
Showered with praise from the adults, Victory's face turned beet red as she wrapped her arms tightly around my leg.
Still, the first impression wasn't bad.
Without much fuss, Victory climbed into the limousine.
She was clearly nervous, clinging close to me the entire time, but curiosity won out — she kept glancing around at everything.
Once the car started moving, Victory buried her face in my chest.
She was like an ostrich that had only stuck its head into a burrow because it was scared.
But the moment the vehicle cleared the underground parking garage, I had her look out at the world outside.
As countless sights passed by, I asked Victory what she thought.
"I, I don't know."
Whether it was her first time seeing an urban landscape like this, her eyes were spinning in circles, and she looked thoroughly overwhelmed.
Even after she calmed down a little, her assessment was remarkably indifferent.
"That's exactly it."
"Huh?"
"Not much to it, right? So you don't have to be scared anymore."
Had she understood what I meant?
Victory slowly nodded, and the visible tension drained out of her.
The driver and bodyguards riding with us watched the two of us with warm, contented expressions.
Since it took a little while to get from Pyongyang to Seoul, I spent the journey looking out at the world with Victory.
****************
We arrived in Seoul faster than I'd expected this time.
And as befitting the capital of New Korea, the city center was quite dazzling — Victory was completely absorbed in taking in the sights around her.
In any case, we'd be arriving at the Academy soon, so I went through the checklist of things to handle there with the head bodyguard.
"Mr. Maxwell, it seems Dean Baek So-a will come out to greet you, just like at the entrance ceremony."
"Again?"
"Last time was your first visit, and this time you're attending as a sponsor — that's likely why she's making the effort."
So Dean Baek So-a — who had accidentally used her one-time Reality Manipulation ability and ended up becoming a genuine magical girl — was coming out to greet me again.
In exchange, the Academy had arranged a fairly large ceremony for the donation presentation inside, among other things.
They were going out of their way to accommodate me as much as possible.
There was even a scheduled one-on-one meeting between me and the mutant students receiving the sponsorship.
This was a genuinely good opportunity for me.
'If things go well, I might be able to properly establish a connection with Red Cat.'
It was also the perfect chance to show Victory how other mutants lived their lives.
Of course, right after the ceremony, Victory would need to wait briefly with the bodyguards, so I'd gotten her permission in advance.
"Don't worry about Victory — go and have a good time!"
"Thank you, really. I'll be back quickly."
I ruffled her hair, and by then we had already arrived at the Academy.
Just as the head bodyguard had said, Dean Baek So-a came out to greet me, her small frame leading the way.
"This is the second time now. It's good to see you, Dean."
"I'm truly delighted to meet again under such wonderful circumstances, Mr. Maxwell. And… you've brought a new guest as well?"
Victory came scurrying out of the vehicle and, once again, hid behind my legs.
It was fairly common for distinguished guests to bring children to the Academy, and since the Director had apparently already given advance notice, Dean Baek So-a greeted Victory with great warmth.
However, the Dean immediately recognized what kind of ability Victory possessed.
"An, an Acceleration Ability user?!"
"Hmm? How did you know that?"
If one were to rank supernatural abilities by tier, the Acceleration Ability fell into the SSS class and was extremely well-known, but still —
Dean Baek So-a could wield magic, the very antithesis of science, so perhaps she had some method of detection.
Even so, it seemed strange to identify the ability just from a single glance at Victory.
What she said next left me momentarily speechless.
"You see, I maintain a constant defensive magic at all times, so I can immediately detect any anomalies in my surroundings."
"When you say anomalies…."
"There is a continuous temporal rift forming around that mutant girl."
Wait — does that mean Victory is using her Acceleration Ability even right now?
I glanced over at Victory, and she had the expression of someone who had absolutely no idea what was going on.
If what Dean Baek So-a was saying was true, then while I was experiencing one second of time, Victory was experiencing something like ten seconds —
meaning she was living in an entirely different timeline.
When I turned to Victory with a questioning look, she squirmed with embarrassment before opening her mouth.
"I, I just… Victory wanted to spend more time with Mr. Maxwell…."
The reason was so utterly simple that I couldn't even argue with it.
And upon hearing Victory's explanation, Dean Baek So-a and her secretary both broke into warm, delighted smiles.
"Pfft, you're really quite popular, Mr. Maxwell."
"Thank you for seeing it that way. But Victory — isn't it tiring to keep using your ability like that?"
"I, I'm fine!!"
Come to think of it, she might have been using her Acceleration Ability continuously the entire time she'd been at Black Cell as well.
But then Dean Baek So-a paused for a moment, and it seemed she had grasped Victory's true value.
"…An Acceleration Ability with no demerits?"
"Good heavens… D, Dean?"
"Secretary An? We'll talk about it later."
The Acceleration Ability was genuinely one of the most broken abilities in existence, which was why it was typically loaded down with all manner of restrictions.
The most common examples: time flowing faster only for the user, meaning the more they used the ability, the faster they aged; or the ability demanding energy proportional to the acceleration, forcing the user to constantly replenish tens of thousands of calories.
But —
"Mr. Maxweeell, if you stare at Victory like that, it's embarrassing…."
Victory was a true Acceleration Ability user with none of those crippling demerits.
******************
Dean Baek So-a kept stealing glances at Victory as though she were looking at an extraordinary treasure.
It was obvious she wanted to turn Victory into a hero.
But since Victory was currently in my care as a Black Cell member, she seemed to be holding herself back from making any moves.
After that, we made our way to the main auditorium, just as before.
The break ceremony didn't draw as many heroes to grace the occasion as the entrance ceremony had, but there was still a considerable turnout.
I received various instructions from the Dean's secretary.
"When the announcement for the donation presentation is made, Mr. Maxwell, please come up to the podium."
"It's quite similar to other events of this kind. And the donation board…."
"We've already prepared everything. Oh, and of course we'll be the ones holding it, so please don't worry about that."
So all I had to do was walk up to the podium and take a photo?
The Academy's firm determination to keep my hands completely clean was becoming increasingly apparent.
In any case, our group headed to the VIP section on the third floor, just as before.
Unlike last time, there weren't many other distinguished guests, so even Victory, for whom this was all new, looked quite at ease.
As I sat chatting with Victory in the VIP section, the ceremony moved along quickly, and it was soon time for the donation presentation.
"Victory, can you stay here nicely with the bodyguards?"
"Yes!! Go on, hurry back!!"
"Everyone, I'll leave her in your hands."
"Don't worry, Mr. Maxwell."
Victory looked cheerfully carefree, which was reassuring, but since she could switch to a different personality in an instant and turn everything into chaos, the bodyguards were on high alert.
With Victory and the bodyguards cheering me on, I headed straight down to the first floor.
A few eyes turned toward the sudden appearance of a man in a suit.
But the announcement that followed made it clear to everyone who I was.
[ We will now proceed with the donation presentation ceremony in support of the educational development of Seoul Hero Academy. We ask Mr. Maxwell Gray, attending on behalf of Black Cell, to please come up to the podium. ]
Bright lights shone down on me to the sound of upbeat music.
Receiving applause from everyone attending the break ceremony, I made my way up to the podium, where Dean Baek So-a stood waiting with the donation board in hand.
The mutant students receiving the sponsorship came up shortly after.
None of them seemed to know quite why they were receiving this support, but among them, a female student with red hair and cat ears stood nervously in place.
It was Red Cat — with more injuries on her body than the last time I'd seen her.
But that only meant she had been pushing herself harder.
I quietly cheered her on inside, and the ceremony's MC promptly moved things along.
[ This sponsorship has been provided by Black Cell. Each selected student will receive thirty million won in scholarship and training support funds. A big round of applause, please! ]
"""Ooooooh!!!"""
Perhaps none of them had expected the sponsorship to be this generous.
Everyone attending the break ceremony let out gasps of amazement and burst into applause.