## Chapter 158 – Backstabbed by a Trusted Axe (1)
***
The cool October weather was slowly passing, and chilly winds began to blow in November.
The heroes and staff of the Hero Association donned thin coats against the cold, or diligently walked around the headquarters with warm coffees in their hands.
“Hum hum…♥”
And Chae-ri, who had returned from a business trip after a few days, was humming to herself as she headed to her office, wearing a coat over her suit.
“Hello! Team Leader Chae-ri, you seem to be in a great mood today?”
The two female employees at the front desk, who always greeted the staff, looked surprised. As they said, Chae-ri looked much better than usual.
“Could it be… did you get a boyfriend?!”
There was a saying that people’s expressions softened when they made a friend of the opposite gender or got married, so they seemed curious if Chae-ri had some good news.
“Oh… does it look like that? Hmm… maybe it’s similar.”
Chae-ri would normally have frowned and rushed to her office, dismissing it as nonsense.
But today, even after hearing playful questions related to romance, she casually brushed them off with a relaxed expression and a calm tone.
“Ms. Seon-ah… perhaps you’ll understand my expression if you find a good man too. Have a good day.”
She even gave a slightly seductive smile and waved her hand lightly.
“Team Leader Chae-ri… she’s become a completely different person after the business trip. Don’t you think?”
“I know, right…? Usually, she would have just brushed past us, saying, ‘What are you talking about?'”
They were surprised by Chae-ri’s reaction, as if she had become a completely different person.
***
Meanwhile, Chae-ri was in her office, preparing for work.
“Hum hum…♥”
She kept humming happily, drinking the beverage in her tumbler, and not forgetting to wipe the dust off the monitor that had accumulated over the past few days.
– Clatter –
“Hi! Good morning!”
S-Class Hero Iron Maiden, In-yeong, burst through the door. She had excitedly rushed over upon hearing that Chae-ri was back from her business trip.
“You’re here. You came early?
Usually, you’d still be asleep at this hour.”
Chae-ri knew that In-yeong’s average arrival time was 11 AM.
Compared to ordinary heroes who woke up at 6 AM to wait for calls, she came to work extremely late.
Of course, Iron Maiden was on a different level from ordinary heroes, and she only needed to be dispatched for major incidents, not ordinary calls.
The Association didn’t say anything about her arrival time or work performance because she was fulfilling her role as an S-Class Hero when needed.
“Of course! Our secretary is back, so I had to come quickly.
We have to eat together and take care of those hero hunters, right?”
“Of course. That’s what we have to do.”
“Yeah! That’s… right?”
In-yeong seemed taken aback by Chae-ri’s bright response, unlike before the business trip when she had been indifferent and annoyed by being greeted.
‘What…? Did something good happen on the business trip?’
She didn’t dislike Chae-ri’s bright appearance, but she couldn’t help but feel it was awkward and unnatural.
‘Wait a minute… could it be that she got a boyfriend or something?!
But… she’s not wearing a ring or anything…’
For a moment, she had the same suspicion as the front desk employees, but she couldn’t find any evidence that she was dating or flirting with someone.
‘Ugh… I’m so curious…!’
Perhaps the business trip wasn’t as difficult as usual, or maybe the hotel or accommodation she stayed in was very nice.
Or maybe her stocks or coins went up and she made a lot of money, or maybe something really good happened that completely changed her.
In-yeong was really curious about what had happened, but she tried to brush it off, thinking that it must have been something good that she didn’t need to worry about.
“There have been no hero hunter attacks in the past few days…,
and there have been reports that villain attacks have also decreased significantly compared to usual.”
“Of course! I showed them an example a few days ago.
Maybe the other villains are trembling in fear?”
Utopia’s activities, who could be considered hero hunters, had temporarily stopped, but there were reports that villain incidents had actually decreased by more than half after In-yeong’s dispatch.
“But… it seems the higher-ups don’t think so.”
“Huh? What are those old guys complaining about now?”
“Here… would you like to take a look at this data?”
Chae-ri handed In-yeong a few documents as she began her work. They contained the higher-ups’ opinions and evaluations of the recent incident that Chae-ri had mentioned.
“Ha! So, they’re saying it’s a failure because I didn’t catch them in the end.
Do they think I can catch everyone every time? He was stronger than I thought.”
There were a lot of complicated words and explanations, but the conclusion was that In-yeong’s performance was lacking and the results were below expectations.
The higher-ups who commanded and oversaw the Association were dissatisfied with the results.
“And there are two other S-Class heroes. I don’t think they say anything to them?”
“One has been on long-term leave for treatment after suffering a major injury from overseas dispatch a few weeks ago…,
and the other has disappeared altogether. It’s an unavoidable situation.”
There were a total of three S-Class heroes in the Association, including Iron Maiden In-yeong.
Excluding In-yeong, one was on long-term leave for treatment after suffering a major injury from overseas dispatch, and the other had suddenly disappeared a few months ago.
In fact, this was the same as saying that In-yeong was the only S-Class hero who could be deployed to the field, so the Association’s higher-ups had no choice but to rely on In-yeong.
“Haa… is that old man still injured and on leave?
And does that guy go into the mountains alone every few months or something?”
S-Class heroes were in a position where they rarely had to move, so even if they suddenly disappeared or got injured, it was fine as long as they came back.
In fact, the former had been a problem because he was too active despite his age, and the latter’s periodic disappearances were routine.
However, the problem was the timing.
But since there were no other heavyweight heroes who could be considered S-Class, the Association could only wait or request support from heavyweight heroes overseas.
“Hmph… why are they so strict with me! Why are they only doing this to me! Hwaaa!”
In-yeong threw the documents on the table in frustration and ran to Chae-ri to hug her.
“Ah…?”
“I know it’s hard for you. I’m always watching over you.”
Chae-ri, who would normally have been indifferent and barely held her hand, stopped typing on her keyboard and hugged In-yeong tightly.
‘Chae-ri… is hugging me…?♥’
She had only pretended to hug her to play a prank, but Chae-ri was hugging her so tightly and even stroking her hair, making In-yeong’s heart pound.
It was the first time she had shown such a warm reaction in nearly two years of working together.
“Chae… Chae-ri…♥”
“Hehe…♥ An S-Class hero acting like this…,
other people will think it’s strange, you know?”
“It’s okay since it’s just you and me…♥”
“Our junior who can’t do anything without me…♥
And you’ve grown your hair out so much in those few days…♥”
The previous chic and decadent appearance had faded a lot, but Chae-ri preferred this kind and warm feeling.
‘If… if I stay like this, she’ll find out that I like her…!’
Then, for a moment, she worried that Chae-ri would find out that she liked her, and she anxiously rolled her eyes around, waiting for the moment to get out of her arms.
But Chae-ri’s actions began to become much bolder than In-yeong had expected.
“Ahhh?!♥”
Chae-ri gently caressed In-yeong’s cheeks and face while holding her in her arms, and she also brought her face close and gave her a seductive smile.
“Our junior… I’ve always thought you were a cute junior.
But you’ve grown up so much and even hired me as your secretary… you’re really amazing.”
Chae-ri’s enticing gestures didn’t stop at just stroking her cheeks and face, but slowly moved towards her lips.
“Th… uh… uhhh…?♥”
“Hehe…♥”
The feeling of being happy that Chae-ri thought she was cute,
and the embarrassment at Chae-ri’s sudden expression of affection towards her.
In-yeong’s expression, with her slightly drooling lips being teased by Chae-ri,
was truly like that of a teenage girl in love.
“Ah, haha… was I being a little too playful?
I thought you might be hurt because the evaluation from the higher-ups was too harsh and rough.”
Then, when Chae-ri smiled gently and said that it was a joke to cheer her up, In-yeong turned her head away while putting on a confident expression as if nothing was wrong.
“C… cough…! It’s not like the higher-ups have only been doing this for a day or two.
Th… there’s no need to pay any attention to it.”
“Then… read the rest of the documents slowly.
There are still mountains of documents left to read.”
Chae-ri handed In-yeong a tablet containing the files so that she could read and check the documents comfortably.
In-yeong took the tablet and sat down on the sofa.
‘Haa… I almost couldn’t stand it…!
Licking my fingers too… and Chae-ri’s lips too…! Hooo…♥’
In-yeong was flipping through the tablet, pretending to be calm, but her heart was pounding so hard that she felt like she was going crazy.
There was no way she could see the documents that were full of difficult words.
‘Hehe…♥ I’ll slowly train her like this and offer her to Master…♥♥’
Chae-ri didn’t think that In-yeong loved her, but she had already noticed that she had feelings for her that were more than just friendship between colleagues.
That’s why Chae-ri was planning to use those feelings to slowly train In-yeong
and offer her to her new master, Si-yoon.
‘Please wait a little longer…♥ I’ll take you there soon…♥’
