## Chapter 53 – Showdown at the Rest Stop (2)
***
“Alright! We’re here at the rest stop. Everyone out!”
The vehicle pulled into a parking space at the rest stop, and Dohwa’s voice announced the arrival of a short break and some free time.
“Ughhhh…! Oh man.”
“Nyaa…? Are we there yet?”
While Chaeryeong and Siyoon stretched, waking from their naps…
“Cola! Walnut pastries! Waffles! So-tteok so-tteok! Kyaaaa!”
Jiwu’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at the rest stop sign.
The rest stop snack time she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
“Wait! Before you go out, we need to decide something.”
Siyoon grabbed Jiwu’s wrist as she tried to dash out.
“As you all know… except for me, everyone needs to be careful about moving around.
The two of you are active heroes, and Chaeryeong is wanted by the Union.”
“I guess you’re right…”
Jiwu had applied for leave from the Union, but she was still officially registered as an A-rank hero.
Dohwa was also active as a hero, working on the operation with Lumi and responding to call-ups.
Of course, even if they ran into Union officials, they could somehow explain away these two.
However, Chaeryeong was currently the most closely watched wanted person by the Union.
If they were to run into Union officials or heroes in this crowded place,
something very unpleasant could happen.
“Does anyone need to use the restroom or need anything?”
“Nyaang? I don’t need the restroom! I’m a little hungry though….”
Chaeryeong curled her hands into cat-like paws and rubbed her face,
then gently rubbed her stomach with her other hand, looking peckish.
“Then I’ll just buy some snacks for Chaeryeong.
Let’s go one at a time. I’ll go last.”
“Kyaaaa! Walnut pastries! Cola! So-tteok so-tteok! Tornado potato!”
At the words “one at a time,” Jiwu grabbed her card,
shouting out snack names as she burst out of the car.
“Jiwu! Jiwu! I need to pee! Hey!!”
Dohwa, who hadn’t even unbuckled her seatbelt, urgently called out to Jiwu,
but her shout couldn’t reach Jiwu, who had already run far away.
“I don’t think she can hear you anymore. She’s already run all the way over there.”
“Sigh… she’s still like a kid sometimes.”
“She seems pretty excited though. It must have been a while since she went out.”
Dohwa unbuckled her seatbelt and sighed deeply,
but she smiled, thinking of Jiwu’s excited figure running off.
– *Ting-*
As they were waiting for Jiwu to return,
an alert rang from the hero-exclusive device in Dohwa’s pants pocket.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a message from Hero Ice Queen…
She’s asking if you can come out to see her right now….”
“We’d have to drive to get back to S City.
I guess I should tell her it’s a bit difficult right now?”
Even though it was a simple matter of coordinating schedules and locations,
Dohwa looked flustered, as if there was a big problem.
“That’s not the problem… Ice Queen is asking you to come to this rest stop.”
As soon as Siyoon heard Dohwa’s words, he understood why she had made that face.
“It doesn’t seem to be about Chaeryeong… another executive must be nearby.”
“Hmm….”
Another executive being nearby meant that other heroes, including ‘Ice Queen’ Seol Lumi, would be coming soon.
Just as he feared, they could be exposed for having Chaeryeong with them.
Of course, it would be great if the heroes could take care of the Dark Knights executive,
and they could contact Kaiser before that happened.
However, according to what Chaeryeong had said and the Union’s data,
it was clear that even several A-rank heroes attacking together would not be enough to subdue him.
“I need to bring Jiwu back quickly. Wait here for a moment.”
Dohwa urgently grabbed Siyoon’s arm as he opened the car door to go get Jiwu.
“Are you sure… you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be right back.”
***
Somewhere in the rest stop parking lot where Siyoon and his group had parked.
‘I need a reply soon…’
A-rank hero ‘Ice Queen’ Seol Lumi, accompanied by Union agents.
Wearing similar casual clothes as before, she waited for Dohwa’s reply in front of a Union vehicle.
– *Ting-*
“Yes, this is Ice Queen. Ah… I see. Understood.”
She received information through her device from someone,
then frowned slightly and fell into thought.
‘Ignition needs to reply soon so I can go or not… why is he so late?’
A tip from an agent that the villain ‘Executioner’ had been spotted near the rest stop.
Lumi, who was driving on the nearby highway for another operation, received the handover
and was trying to request help from other heroes.
“Tch…”
However, all the heroes who could quickly come nearby were already on other missions,
and Dohwa’s reply was also sluggish.
‘I have no choice…?’
According to the information she just received, the villain ‘Executioner’ was disguised as an ordinary citizen,
likely using this place for a brief regrouping before joining other executives or the leader.
Perhaps because she had already failed once to capture Chaeryeong,
she was anxiously pacing back and forth, unlike her usual calm and rational self.
‘He was last seen near the men’s restroom parking lot three minutes ago…
He’s probably in the restroom or the food court now.’
Unable to wait for Dohwa’s reply, which hadn’t come even after several minutes,
Lumi decided to head to the place where Executioner was last seen.
She locked the car door, put the key in her pocket,
pulled her mask down to her chin, and pulled her hat low as she began to look for him.
‘He shouldn’t have left yet… where is he?’
She tried to look around as inconspicuously as possible,
but she couldn’t find Executioner anywhere.
Of course, finding a specific person among the many people visiting the rest stop was not an easy task.
However, Executioner had an appearance that would make him easy to spot among the crowd,
so Lumi opened her eyes as wide as possible and quickly scanned around.
“Oh!”
Long, black hair dangling like wet seaweed.
Pale skin like a corpse and a tall height. A man matching that description came into her view.
Lumi quickly chased after him as he tried to enter the men’s restroom,
but he had already gone inside before she could get close to him.
‘Should I… wait until he comes out?’
It would be impossible for her, a clearly female, to enter the men’s restroom.
She stood there quietly, waiting for Executioner to come out of the restroom.
– *Tap tap tap-*
‘What’s that sound…?’
As she was leaning against the wall next to the men’s restroom,
she heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from somewhere.
“He’s in there! That guy went in there!”
Three men wearing black suits and sunglasses.
They were very familiar to Lumi, a hero: Union agents.
‘What’s going on…? I told them I was coming… did another hero come?’
The agents shouted, pointing at the entrance of the men’s restroom where Executioner had entered,
but there didn’t seem to be any other heroes accompanying them.
Then, they quickly ran to the entrance of the men’s restroom,
approaching Lumi, who was leaning against the wall.
“Did you see a tall man enter here?”
The agents didn’t seem to recognize that Lumi, who was wearing casual clothes, was the hero ‘Ice Queen.’
“He went in there. And… this.”
Lumi showed the agent her device,
conveying to the agents that she was a hero.
“Ah! You’re a hero!”
She was startled by the loud voice of one of the agents and raised her index finger to her lips,
but the agents didn’t see her signal because they were looking at the men’s restroom.
“Since you can’t go in there, Hero, we’ll go in first.”
“W-wait a minute!”
To make matters worse, the agents didn’t know that she was waiting for Executioner,
and thinking they had cornered him, they tried to rush inside without listening to her.
“I’m waiting for the villain Executioner to come out. Please wait a moment.”
Lumi approached the agents and explained to them why she was standing there,
and the agents stood on the other side of her, waiting for Executioner to come out.
After a very short time,
Executioner, having finished his business in the men’s restroom, walked out.
– *Tap tap tap- Thud!*
“Ugh!”
“Ahem.”
Someone walking in the opposite direction of Executioner suddenly bumped into him,
knocking him over because they were looking elsewhere.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you hurt… anywhere?”
“…I’m fine.”
Executioner nonchalantly helped him up,
and the man, who didn’t seem to be hurt either, stood up and apologized to him.
– *Tap tap tap-*
Suddenly, the agents who had been waiting for him pulled out guns from their pockets,
aiming them at Executioner, who had helped the man up and was about to pass by.
‘Not now…! No!’
– *Bang-*
Surprised by the agents’ sudden actions, she desperately waved her hands,
but the bullet had already been fired from the end of the gun.
Executioner, unable to dodge the bullet that flew from an unseen place,
was hit accurately in his side and thigh.
“Hmm… so you’ve chased me this far?”
However, he didn’t seem to feel any pain as he sighed deeply,
looking at the agents who had fired the gun.
“I didn’t want to do this in a crowded place… but I guess I have no choice.”
