As usual, I was lounging around in the lab when
the door suddenly burst open, and a woman with white hair rushed in.

"Levi-tan! I’m back!"

Back! Back! Back!
She enthusiastically shouted about her return for quite some time, and then promptly threw herself on top of me as I lay on the couch, completely covering my body.

“Ugh!”
“Ei-tan! Long time no see!”
“…Levi-tan, you’re heavy.”
“The weight of love~!”
“I said you’re heavy…!”

After struggling to push Levi-tan off me, I finally managed to catch my breath. I glared at her as she pouted, clearly upset by my rejection. Despite having removed her excess muscles during her treatment, making her weight similar to that of an average adult woman, she somehow felt heavier every day.

Was her body slowly reverting to its beastwoman form every time we used Levi-tan’s genetic structure? A thorough examination seemed necessary.

“So, where have you been all this time?”
“Huh? I quit my job and came back.”
“Quit your job?”
“Yep! Levi-tan is a police officer, right? And since police officers are technically public servants, I couldn’t just quit whenever I wanted… I had to wrap up my work, hand everything over, sign non-disclosure agreements, and all that stuff. I only came back after finishing everything!”
“Even considering all that, it felt like you were gone for a long time.”

Blushing, Levi-tan gave me a mischievous look.

“Wellll, just as I finished, I went into heat….”
“…You what?”
“If I had seen you then, Ei-tan, you’d already be a father by now! So I avoided you and went somewhere else!”
“Humans don’t even go into heat… Did one of my experiments go wrong?”
“Dunno~? Then I was busy with my cycle after that.”

Watching Levi-tan mutter about how tough it was dealing with her period for the first time in her life, I found myself at a loss for words. As a man, I had no place in that conversation, and any comment would feel awkward.

Still, the thing that bothered me more was the idea of her "heat." The fact that Levi-tan, now supposedly human, still retained the estrus cycle of a beastwoman was troubling.

‘Both menstruation and heat are hormone-related… does her brain still think she’s not human, but a beastwoman?’

This was definitely worth investigating. While humans don’t technically go into heat, what Levi-tan described as “suffering” didn’t align with typical human biology.

As I pondered the additional experiments I could perform on Levi-tan, she had already climbed onto my desk and crossed her legs in a seductive pose.

“That’s why, as a celebration of my resignation, I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“I want to go to the sea! I’ve never been there while I was working!”

Her words reminded me of Levi-tan’s history. As a child, she was born an orphan in City Z and lived as a test subject. After escaping, she never left City E.

Neither City Z nor City E was coastal, so she had never had the chance to see the ocean.

“Let’s go—! To the sea!”

With Levi-tan’s enthusiastic insistence, we decided to take a trip to the sea.
To Ocean City, famous for its beaches.
It was at the tail end of summer.

"Th-the sea!"

Aile stuck her head out the window and shouted, though she quickly shrank back inside like a turtle retreating into its shell.

As she said, the vast ocean sparkled with a beautiful blue in the distance. The emerald beach, said to be the most beautiful in the world, stretched before us.

Even just from a brief glance, it was easy to see why this city was so famous. Such beaches were rare even on Earth.

“Boss, are you sure this is okay?”
“Hm? I can still work from here, so it’s fine. What’s more important is building team cohesion within the organization.”
“Well, if that’s the case….”

To my surprise, Regalia had joined us for this trip. What started as a simple celebration of Levi-tan’s resignation had snowballed into a full-blown vacation for the entire evil organization.

Our boss, insisting that she couldn’t be left out of such an event, tagged along, working remotely while participating in the trip. Seeing her work even at a vacation spot made me realize once again how lucky I was not to have gone independent from the organization.

‘If I had left, I’d be just as overworked as she is….’

I silently thanked my decision to remain a scientist for the evil organization as the bus finally arrived at the hotel. As the executives began disembarking, a hotel staff member approached us with a cheerful smile.

Seeing his smile, I wondered if he was unaware of who we were or simply an incredibly professional individual. After all, everyone here was an S-rank or A-rank villain, considered extremely dangerous by the Hero Association.

If he knew and could still smile like that, he was exceptionally professional. But it was more likely he simply didn’t know.

"─I’ll show you to your rooms."

Following the hotel staff’s guidance, we headed to our rooms. Like true villains, the first thing we did was check the security of the rooms, scanning for hidden cameras, listening devices, or bombs. After that, I added my own security measures with my surveillance systems, while Arima reinforced the rooms with her magic.

“…We came all this way, and it’s not even a private room?”
“It’s for security reasons. Unless you’d rather share a room with Galm?”
“No, I think I’ll stick with Arima, thanks.”

For security purposes, we were paired up in rooms: Regalia with Birana, Aile with Levi-tan, and Arima with me. Those considered less risky were allowed private rooms.

Once we had our swimsuits, we headed to Ocean City’s famous emerald beach. As expected of a popular tourist destination, it was already packed with people.

It was possible there were other villains among the crowd. Birana, wearing a rash guard, scanned the area, her eyes darting back and forth.

“Ei-tan!”
“Sc-scientist!”

Just as I was setting up a parasol and chairs, Levi-tan and Aile approached me cautiously, having changed into their swimsuits—a white bikini for Levi-tan and a sleek black one-piece for Aile. Both of their figures were undeniably striking, drawing attention from everyone nearby.

“You both look great.”
“R-really!?”
“Do you mean it…?”
“Yep. I bet the guys won’t be able to take their eyes off you.”

Hearing my compliment, both of them giggled happily before urging me to join them in the water. I pointed to the parasol and sunbeds I was still setting up, saying I’d join them later.

Satisfied, the two of them ran off to the ocean. Even Aile, who normally disliked sunny places, was drawn to the allure of the beach. That alone showed just how captivating this place was.

After finishing setting up the sunbeds and lying down in the shade to enjoy the view, Regalia naturally sat down beside me, fiddling with her tablet.

“Aren’t you going to join them?”
“And what about you, Boss?”
“I still have quite a bit of work to finish….”
“Then I’ll stay here and guard you.”
“Haha—You? Guard me? How reassuring.”

As the two weakest members of the organization exchanged light banter and enjoyed the ocean breeze, we spotted Galm, dripping wet, walking towards us from the water.

Coming closer, he shook off the water and smacked his lips in distaste.

“The water tastes weird.”
"…It’s the sea, Galm. Haven’t you seen the ocean before?"
“Of course I have. That’s not what I mean. Go taste it yourself.”
“What? Wait—hey!”

Before I could protest, Galm grabbed me with his massive arms—thicker than most men’s torsos—and dragged me to the ocean. Unable to escape his grip, I was forcibly dunked into the water.

After gulping down some of the seawater, I stood up, looking at Galm in confusion.

“What’s wrong? The water seems fine to me.”
"Fine? This?”
“Yes. It doesn’t seem too polluted or anything….”

Wasn’t this incredibly clean for seawater? I assumed the city took good care of its beaches.

But Galm stared down at me in disbelief.

“What do you mean…? The water should be completely clean.”
“Huh? Isn’t pollution inevitable with technological development?”
“…?”
“?”

We both stared at each other, tilting our heads in confusion.