Chinatsu’s POV
   While the forensic team is busy with the corpse of the creature, Captain Yamasaki Masahiro comes over to where Chinatsu is and starts a conversation with her.

   “So, that was the Hero you told us about, Wakaba? The one who returned from the world called Ifezan?” he asks her.

   She could barely hear him since all the people who work at different media outlets are either reporting the scene live on television or busy asking the police questions. Maebara, the journalist whom Chinatsu hates with every fiber of her being, is being especially loud. She tries her best to shut out his voice.

   “Um, yes.” Chinatsu answers a bit nervously.

   “...I’m sorry, but what was that?” the Captain asks coldly.

   Chinatsu flinches.

   “I am very sorry, sir! What I meant to say is that you are absolutely correct! Sir!” Chinatsu gives him the best salute she can do while shouting from her diaphragm.

   “Good. That’s more like it.”

   Captain Yamasaki was her supervisor when she first joined the police force, just like how she was to Date. He’s an excellent police who’s very good at his job. He’s also extremely strict. Chinatsu was scolded by him a fair lot while she was still under his wings. Even after she was allowed to work solo and even given permission to take someone under her wings, she still gets nervous around him.

   “Both you and Date have spoken to him, yes? What was he like?” he continues to ask.

   “He’s someone who lacks both empathy and compassion. He isn’t patriotic too. It may or may not have to do with the fact that he was treated badly while he was at the other world.”

   Date is having the look of someone who has a lot of things to say, but he’s wisely clamming up. Chinatsu has warned him about the infamous Captain with the nickname Ogre of Chiba when he first got paired up with her, and he seems to have taken the warning to heart.

   “He sounds like a pretty unstable individual. Do you think we can trust him?”

   “To be honest, I think he’s trustworthy. There’s literally nothing that could stop him if he ever decides to turn on us and seize this country or even the world. And yet he isn’t doing it. Instead, all he asked was a somewhat reasonable income in return for helping us. Oh, and he asked for an accommodation just recently.”

   “How curious. If possible, I would like to speak with him one of these days. Say, is it possible to make an appointment with him?”

   Chinatsu could only stare at the Captain. Since when did she became his manager?

   “Well, I would have to ask him first. Despite his strength, he’s kind of socially awkward around people he barely knows. It might be difficult to meet him when he’s not working.” she tells him.

   “I see. What a shame. I guess I have to wait until another creature that we can’t handle make its appearance.”

   It was at this moment that the forensic team is finally done with their analysis.

   “Whatever this creature was, it was stitched together from two different creatures.” the lead officer concludes.

   Chinatsu couldn’t believe her ears.

   “Are you sure about that?” she asks to confirm.

   “Pretty sure. Just look at this.”

   The officer points at the section of the creature where its torso and the lower half of the body meets. It took Chinatsu a while to notice a very faint stitching. Whatever the method that was used, it definitely wasn’t done by using needles.

   “Can this be done under normal circumstances?” Captain Yamasaki asks the officer.

   “Definitely not. Even if these are creatures not from this world, they basically share the biology structures with animals found here. In other words, you can’t just combine their body parts and hope that it can move around like nothing’s wrong. Their cells are supposed to reject those different from them, after all.”

   “Did you ask the Hero about his opinion on this abomination?” Captain Yamasaki asks Chinatsu.

   “I did, but he told me that he has never seen something like this when he was at Ifezan.”

   Chinatsu suddenly remembers something.

   “I remember the Hero telling me that there was a cruel nutjob at Ifezan who experimented around with lots of creatures. Maybe this was one of his creations.”

   Captain Yamasaki raises his eyebrow.

   “Cruel nutjob?” he repeats.

   “His words, not mine.” Chinatsu quickly explains.

   “In which case, that person the Hero mentioned was probably responsible for…this, huh?”

   “And if it isn’t, there’s one other person who might be behind its creation.” Date suddenly says.

   Chinatsu could tell from the expression of everyone here that all of them are thinking of the same person.

   “Is it possible to get a warrant and search his place?” Date asks hopefully.

   “Use your brain, newbie. He’s being backed by the PM himself, remember? There’s no way we can.” Captain Yamasaki tells him.

   “Besides, it’s just your speculation. We can’t get a warrant without any proof.” Chinatsu adds.

   Date hangs his head in shame.

   “I’m sorry for talking before thinking things through.” he apologizes.

   Captain Yamasaki pats Date’s shoulder lightly.

   “Don’t worry about it. You’re still on the stage where you learn and get experiences, so make all the mistakes you need.” he tells him.

   This is exactly the reason Captain Yamasaki gets a great deal of respect from Chinatsu. He may be strict, but he knows when to be kind and forgiving.

   “Well, we’re basically done here. We’ll be in charge of disposing this corpse. All of you can go back, unless you have something else to do.” the officer tells them.

   “Wakaba, bring the others and help with the cleanup of the street.” Captain Yamasaki instructs Chinatsu.

   “Understood. If I may, though, what about you, sir?” Chinatsu asks.

   He looks at the news reporters and journalists with an irritated look.

   “Well, someone has to stay back and entertain these folks. Since I’m the one with the highest rank here, that person has to be me.” he answers.

Jin’s POV
   As Jin has predicted, his first public appearance was all over the news after he got back from school this evening.

   Click!

   “Is he a friend or a foe? Definitely a foe. Just look at how he threatened the poor journalist!”

   Click!

   “He can even make himself disappear! He’s too dangerous!”

   Click!

   “What’s the Government thinking, getting someone like him to help us? He should be put on a wanted list and hunted down!”

   Instead of getting angry, Jin only looked on with amusement. It’s like he’s a misunderstood superhero or something, except that he’s no hero.

   Click!

   “Most people out there might doubt his credibility, but I for one say that he’s here to help us.”

   Oh look. It’s Watanabe Chieko, Watanabe’s mother.

   “Are you sure about that, Watanabe-san? He doesn’t seem like a friendly person to me.” her male colleague states his opinion about Jin to her.

   “How does being friendly has to do with being helpful?” she asks back. “I don’t know about you, but I would rather trust a cold person who gets his job done than a person with all smiles that comes at you with the intention of stabbing you in the back. Besides, he threatened that infamous Maebara Takuma. I’d say he deserves some respect for doing that.”

   Suddenly, Jin thinks he can get along well with Watanabe’s mother, primarily because she hates Maebara as well.

   “Well, you can trust him all you want, but a lot of civilians think differently from you. Please take a look at this.”

   The camera changes to a building that Jin has never seen before. According to the headline on the screen, he’s looking at a view of the National Diet. Hundreds or even thousands of people are standing in front of its front gate holding up signs and banners. Some of them writes “We need answers!”, “Bring him out!”, just to name a few. Lots of riot police are lining up behind the gate with their rectangle shields, all ready to push the protesters back should they decide to be violent.

   “We need some answers! Who is he, where’s he from, we can’t trust him if we don’t know anything about him!” one of them tells the camera when interviewed.

   “What if he ended up being a crazy psychopath? The last thing I want is getting murdered in cold blood!” another says while looking really angry.

   “I love salmon!” a third one yells randomly.

   Jin was about to change channel when he sees the PM and a few other politicians coming out of the building. All of a sudden, Jin has a random question. If this is where PM has meeting with all the other politicians, why on earth does he has his own office at a different location? He should have an office inside the Diet building to make things easier for everyone. While he’s thinking all that, the PM raises a megaphone to his mouth so that he could address the protesters.

   “Everyone, please calm down! I can assure you that the armored person who appeared at Shinjuku this afternoon is on our side!” he tells the mob.

   “Easy for you to say! If he starts going rabid, we’re the first ones who’s going to get it first!” someone yells angrily at him.

   Now that offended Jin. It’s true that he could do kill everyone he sees when he felt like it, but that doesn’t mean he’ll do it for real. If anything, that accusation will end up being the trigger. From the PM’s expression, Jin could tell that he knows that too.

   “Please stop with the baseless accusation! I have talked to him personally, and he isn’t someone who would hurt innocent people!”

   “That’s just an empty promise!”

   “If you want us to believe you, tell him to come here!”

   “Bring him out! Bring him out!”

   The crowd keeps on chanting louder and louder. The PM turns around and say a few words to his secretary. Jin had learned how to read lips when he was at Ifezan, but they were too far away from the camera for Jin to tell what he said. After the PM was done talking, the secretary nods and takes out her phone to call someone. Two seconds later, Jin’s phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket and answers it.

   “Hello?”

   “Good afternoon. My name is Yutani, the Prime Minister’s secretary. We met once at his office. I wonder if you remember me.”

   “I do. What I want to know, however, is how you got my phone number. I don’t remember sharing it with you.”

   “Oh. Um, I took the liberty of getting it from Sergeant Wakaba. I hope I didn’t inconvenience you.” the secretary answers nervously.

   “Not at all. So, how can I help you?”

   “Well, the thing is, there’s a riot going on in front of the Diet Building. Are you aware of it?”

   “Of course. In fact, I’m watching it live at a television right now.”

   “That makes things easier then.”

   It was then when the camera switches back to Watanabe’s mother and her colleague. Jin mutes the television since he could barely hear her over the shouting and screaming that’s coming from the other side of the phone.

   “Yes it does. The answer is no, though.” he tells her bluntly.

   “I-It might be a bit too sudden, but can’t you do something about it? I’m sure that it would only take a little bit of your time.” she pleads desperately.

   “Time has nothing to do with it, Yutani-san. Do you honestly think that the crowd will calm down if I did make an appearance? To them, I’m nothing but a threat. Nothing I say will ever convince them that I mean them no harm.”

   “...I suppose you’re right.”

   “I’m glad that you understand. Please convey this message to the PM: I’ll continue to work for him since he’s paying me my paycheck, but my job is strictly tied to eliminating the threat posed to the country. Anything else isn’t part of my discretion, including facing the wrath of the general public.”

   “I understand. I’ll make sure that he gets the message.”

   “Thank you. And good luck calming the crowd.”

   Now that the locals know about Jin’s existence, it’s Ifezan all over again. When King Atwood introduced him to the public as the Hero that will save them from the Demon Lord, did they cheer loudly and welcomed him? Did they offered their assistance in any way they can no matter how meagre the help is?

   Nope. All of them look horrified. He was so bothered by their reaction he went to the Royal Library later that day to check out about any information about Heroes.

   Turns out the Ustadel Kingdom had an ancient prophecy where a Hero will descent from another world to save the humans from the Demon Lord. And Jin is the Hero told in this prophecy. So why isn’t he cheered on and even feared? He could only think of one reason: they were afraid that once the Demon Lord is gone, Jin will enslave them or something. How ironic. He was summoned to this world to deal with the biggest threat they face. And yet, they’re scared of him more than the Demon Lord.

   Jin had enough of those kind of treatment. Now that he’s back here and somehow has to continue helping out the locals again, he wants to do it while hiding his true identity. Otherwise, he might be treated like he’s a freak again. When that happens, he won’t be able to hold back from being a Demon Lord for real.

   Drat. Thinking of his past has completely ruined his mood. Now that Jin has quit his part-time job, he’s always bored. He would study and do revision every once in a while. Most of the time, however, he would just go outside and wander around aimlessly until he’s hungry. His school doesn’t really allow their students to loiter outside once it’s after school hours, but he always ignored the rule.

   Right now, Jin is in the mood to go to the arcade. So far, he’s not getting paid enough to get himself a new television that could support the resolution of the newest game console, so he had to make do with arcade. On the way there, he met a little girl who’s crying all by herself.

   Oh no. Just, oh no.

   Everyone who saw her just act like like they didn’t saw her. Jin managed to do the same for five seconds before he turned around and walked to the girl.

   “Say, are you lost?” he asks the girl cautiously.

   The girl just ignored him and kept crying. Jin sighs. What has he gotten himself into?

   “Maya!”

   Jin looks towards where the voice came from. A woman who’s probably in her thirties is running towards the girl. Upon hearing the woman’s voice, the girl finally stops crying.

   “Mama!” she squeaks.

   And the two of them are reunited. Jin shouldn’t even have bothered. However, the incident doesn’t end here. The mother glares at Jin.

   “You were trying to kidnap my daughter, weren’t you?” she accuses him.

   “What? No, ma’am. I was trying to help her to look for you.” he denies.

   “Lies! You were definitely trying to kidnap her!” she shrieks.

   In a matter of seconds, the three of them are surrounded by onlookers. Oh, now those people feel like joining in. The same group of people who were fine with a little girl being lost.

   “Like I said, ma’am, I was just trying to-”

   “Save your excuses! Now that I found her, you could just use it as an excuse to get away from being labeled as a criminal!”

   She looks around desperately.

   “Someone, anyone! Please help me to apprehend him!” she pleads from the onlookers.

   All of them are content with just looking and not doing anything. The mother grits her teeth in frustration. She takes out her phone.

   “Fine, I’ll just call the police and ask them to help instead!” she declares.

   This. This is precisely why Jin stopped caring. The moment he cared and became compassionate, this kind of thing happened. Nowadays, being kind without having any ulterior motive is even more difficult than getting the first prize for a lottery. Oh well. He just hopes that Sergeant Wakaba is still clocked in so that she could bail him out-

   “Oh good, you found her!”

   Everyone looks towards the person who spoke. He’s the last person Jin expected to see. Yoshii Ryusuke. The prince of Yokosuba High School. Even though it’s well after school hours, he’s still wearing his school uniform.

   The mother froze in place the moment she saw him. She’s also slightly blushing. If this was shoujo manga, her background would be full of roses or sparkly lights.

   “Do you know him?” she asks him.

   “Of course. We’re classmates. The two of us saw your daughter crying while we were walking together. I decide to look for you while he tries to console your daughter.”

   For some reason, Yoshii is lying to get Jin out of trouble. The mother is convinced, however. She’s not even questioning the fact that Jin is wearing his casual clothes while Yoshii is in his school uniforms.

   “Oh, that’s how it was? Looks like it was all a misunderstanding.”

   “What is, miss?”

   “Um, nothing! It’s nothing at all!”

   The mother puts away her phone. Without anything to see anymore, the crowd disperses immediately and continue on with their business.

   “Thank you for trying to help. Would you like to come to my house for a while?” the mother asks Yoshii.

   One moment she was screaming like a banshee, and in the next she’s acting like a maiden in love. Jin saw on the internet which claimed that the mood of women changes like a storm. Now he knows that it wasn’t an exaggeration. He was also being ignored and still owed an apology even though he didn’t do anything bad.

   Ah, whatever. Jin just wants to go to the arcade and plays some games, so he just left the place. The mother was too busy on fawning over Yoshii to even notice that Jin was leaving. Speaking of gone, her daughter has left her side again. Jin looks around and sees her chasing after a tabby cat. This time, Jin made sure to mind his own business.