Regalia’s eyes sparkled in disbelief as she looked at the woman in front of her.

“Bira? No, wait… your arms and legs…”

“Hehe— looks like they’ve come back, Miss.”

Bira scratched the back of her head shyly, moving so naturally that it was hard to believe it was a movement she couldn’t replicate with prosthetic limbs. Regalia stood there, mouth agape.

This was the same woman who had once lost her limbs while protecting her. It was a disability that seemed beyond any method of repair.

Regalia, momentarily frozen in a tsunami of emotions, composed herself and carefully asked, “…What happened?”

“When I whined about wanting new limbs, the scientist made them for me!”

“The scientist… I see.”

Regalia forced a wry smile, realizing she had overlooked this possibility. After all, the scientist had previously healed Galm’s injuries and restored him to his prime. So, repairing Bira’s disability should’ve been a walk in the park.

She should have thought of this sooner and helped Bira with her injuries. This was Regalia’s oversight. She lowered her head towards the woman before her.

“I’m sorry, Bira. This was my blunder. I could have thought of it…”

“No, no, no! Please, lift your head!”

“The thought that your suffering could have been minimized with my help is truly unbearable.”

“I’m fine! If there’s a fault, it’s with me for locking myself away in the hospital without showing my face…”

While the two of them exchanged apologies, they realized that this endless cycle of apologies had turned into uncontrollable laughter. They had been so gloomy when they each had lost a limb, but here they were, bursting into laughter over the mere fact their limbs had returned!

Is this the mystery of the human body? After a good laugh that had them doubling over with cramps, they finally calmed down and looked at each other.

“I’m glad to see you’ve regained your spirits.”

“Of course! Not just my limbs, but I’ve also got my powers back! Wanna see?”

“…Your powers, too?”

As Bira demonstrated her abilities, Regalia felt a jolt of shock. Bira’s powers were based on her limbs; losing them meant losing her abilities as well.

But restoring her limbs wasn’t the end of it; her powers were back too? This implied that something even more remarkable had occurred here.

As Regalia stared at Bira with a serious look, Bira seemed to get jittery and awkwardly withdrew her powers.

“Um… I guess using my powers without asking was a bit out of line, right, Miss?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then it’s fine! Ah! Now that I have my powers back, does that mean I can return to being your bodyguard?”

Bira beamed at the thought of going back to her former position, as Regalia’s protector, a trusted confidante in the Eblis Corporation.

However, Regalia regrettably had no plans to reinstate her as a bodyguard.

“My bodyguard position is already filled. I can’t take on new ones now.”

“Ah… Right? I suppose it’s a bit greedy for someone who’s been out of practice for years to try and take a spot amongst the elite, huh…”

“That’s not it. Bira, if it’s you, I believe you have the skills to take on the bodyguard position right now.”

Seeing Bira’s disappointment upon being declined, Regalia couldn’t help but smile. Unlike others, she believed in Bira.

This was the same woman who, during the last assault, risked losing her own limbs just to save her. If her powers were back along with her limbs, there was no reason not to utilize her.

It just wouldn’t be in the capacity of her bodyguard.

“So, what do you think about the scientist?”

“Huh? Of course, I think highly of him! He’s the one who fixed my limbs…”

“Good. From now on, you won’t be guarding me, but instead…”

Regalia entrusted the life she valued more than her own to the person she trusted most.

*

“So, starting today, I’m your personal bodyguard!”

I chuckled nervously at Bira’s unexpected appearance while I was busy repairing an old machine brought in by a customer. Bodyguarding? What was that about?

“Weren’t you an executive? What’s this about one executive guarding another?”

“It’s the boss’s orders! And besides, you’re kinda weak, Scientist, right? Galm said you’re just a frail guy.”

“Using Galm’s standards, pretty much anyone else is a weakling too…”

“Ah—! No backtalk! This is a decision! You trying to refuse the boss’s orders? Keep it up and I’ll start crying!”

“Now that you have all your limbs back, if you do cry, it won’t hit as hard, you know.”

“Wha—!?”

Seeing Bira’s shocked face, I turned back to the broken machine. Her words about not needing to refuse her bodyguard role rang true. Refusing wouldn’t send her back anyway.

It was the boss’s orders after all. No matter how much I declined, as long as the boss wanted her here, my rejection wouldn’t matter.

I wasn’t about to defy the boss either. She was the one who saved me when I just fell into this world—a person I could never discredit.

“Why betray? I can enjoy carefree pleasures here with no worries.”

The boss was one of the few good people in this world. Just looking at how she entrusted unlimited time and budget for research to a mere engineer proved that. When you have a kind person like her, you’d savor the sweetness while you could. Turning independent would just invite hell.

“Just don’t interrupt my work.”

“Okay! As your bodyguard, that’s easy-peasy!”

Bira patted her chest confidently, reassuring me. As I finished repairing the watch, I shifted my focus to the next broken item.

Running this repair shop was like a part-time gig. I could finish my work quickly in about thirty minutes, wrapping up an entire week’s worth of tasks.

Once my work was done? Freedom! Time for myself, where nobody interfered. It was a short period, but the sense of accomplishment from finishing my tasks made it worthwhile.

“—Hey, finished with work?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Then let’s go right now!”

Just as I was about to head to my bed with my prepared books, Bira’s interruption made me realize there was an uninvited guest after all.

From the tone of Bira’s voice, it was clear she was an extroverted person. It’s just that her limbs had been cut off, leaving her outgoing nature somewhat diminished.

Now that those limbs were back, she was bursting with all the social energy she had built up over the years.

“Why do we need to go out…?”

“Why? Staying cooped up all day, you’ll rot! You need to see the sun! Get some fresh air! That’s essential!”

“That’s what you want, Bira… I just wanted to stay in bed all day and read a book.”

“Are you some literary boy? Let’s go out!”

Feeling drained from her pestering, I wondered if it was right for her to be my bodyguard. What kind of bodyguard would get worked up about dragging their charge outside?

Outside the blankets is dangerous, especially with a world full of superpowered villains. You can’t just stroll out without worries…

Ignoring Bira’s whining and finally sitting on the bed, she stared at me in shock.

“Aren’t you going out?”

“—Nope. I’ve decided not to take a single step outside my house today.”

“Oh? Well, if you’re not going, then I guess I’ll have to call Levitan and Galm here. They don’t know my limbs have healed, so let’s celebrate here—”

“What are you doing? Bira.”

Standing at the shop door, I shrugged at Bira, still perched in her chair. Seriously—how long was she planning to just lounge in this room on a day like today?

With a look of pity, Bira stared back at me in disbelief.

“…You really don’t want those two to come?”

“Who would misunderstand that? Why would I hate it? I just think it’s a waste to stay indoors on a day like today.”

“Since you don’t want me to call them, then I won’t…”

With those words, Bira finally headed out of the shop with me.

The bright sun shone down upon us.

She was right; the weather was too good to waste on staying inside.

*

Children were running around in the center of the park.

Some of the kids stood out from the rest, having spikes sprouting from their legs to help them run faster or even flying through the air.

Superpowers. In this world where everyone is born with powers, seeing them use their abilities was hardly surprising.

“Ugh—! It feels so good to walk on my own two feet again!”

Bira stretched her limbs with joy, her new muscles settling in nicely.

I couldn’t help but smile faintly, realizing the treatment had worked better than I expected. Honestly, I hadn’t anticipated the same effects for everyone in this world. With the presence of superpowers, and their respective organs growing directly in their bodies, it made me question if they were truly human like me.

‘Looks like everything has stuck well.’

While there had been no reports of limbs regenerated through medicine going wrong, the variant side effects could still pop up for people like them.

As I watched Bira happily flaunting her limbs, she soon caught my gaze and grinned playfully.

“What are you looking at? Hmm? Do you find my new limbs that captivating?”

“It’s certainly noticeable. Right arm and left leg, after all.”

“…Did you really have to specify that?”

Dressed in a casual outfit that barely disguised her form—sleeveless top and shorts—Bira’s white skin was fully visible.

So the freshly regenerated limbs, with their contrasting skin tones, stood out even more.

“At this rate, it looks like you just got a tattoo on one side.”

“Who even tattoos themselves like this…?”

“Maybe someone from a different culture?”

“Wow…”

—Aaaah!

Amid our harmless banter, we heard a scream in the distance. Instinctively, we turned to see a monster attacking a person.

Bira gasped, “Oh! A Galm!”

“A Galm…?”

“Yeah. Those are animals that have awakened their abilities. Unlike humans, animals have a lower chance of awakening powers.”

She began to state the theory that beastfolk descended from awakening species, along with all sorts of nonsense that only a local would know.

While she rambled on, the awakened creature continued to chase and terrorize people as they scattered in every direction.

Soon, the creature noticed us watching from the park bench. The instant our eyes met, it dashed madly towards us—faster than a car.

“Um… Should we stop that?”

“Yeah. We should.”

“When…?”

“Now.”

As the creature charged at us, Bira swung out her right arm. A barrier sprang from her palm, blocking the creature.

The awakened creature, hurtling towards us at over a hundred kilometers per hour, slammed into the barrier and crumpled against it, as if it had just crashed into a solid wall.

Although it was squashed, it wriggled still—quite a grotesque sight.

“Wow— it’s been a while since I’ve had a nice warm-up!”

“…You call that a warm-up?”

“Yeah. This is nothing too impressive, right? Not like a bomb going off or something.”

Only then did I realize why the boss had sent her to me.

She was an elite who used to be the bodyguard of Regalia, the heir of the greatest corporation, Eblis Corp.

With her ability solely dedicated to protecting someone, she had become an internationally employed superpowered individual.

*

Name: Vira

Ability: Barrier Field

Description: Projects a barrier from her extremities that defends against physical interference. Previously lost due to exposure to 150 million-degree heat.