"…So, you're saying you're not a terrorist?" "Hmph—Of course not. Why would I do something as petty as that?" "Well, then… who could it be? Anyway, I understand."

Galm, who had been detained by the police and heroes of O City, was released after only three hours, thanks to Eblis Corporation’s legal team and lack of evidence.

After the boss discovered that the evil organization had been framed by that rabbit beastwoman, Hani, she ordered me to bring her in.

Being nothing more than a scientist, I had no choice but to obey, opening my eyes wide in determination to capture that arrogant rabbit. I felt much like a turtle ordered by the Dragon King to bring back a rabbit’s liver.

"Eit-tan? What are you doing?" "First, I need to create the tools to capture her."

As I connected my wristwatch to my pad and began working on several things, Levi-tan, eager to meet Hani as quickly as possible, started whining impatiently behind me.

But I ignored her complaints and focused on my work. I knew well enough that rushing off blindly would only result in failure. After all, Galm and Aile had already lost track of her. She wouldn’t be easy to capture.

‘Both Galm and Aile lost her. It won’t be easy.’

Was it because she was a rabbit beastwoman? Or was it the power of her superhuman abilities? Either way, the fact that Galm, who ruled the land, and Aile, who ruled the sky, failed to catch her meant I would need more than ordinary means to capture Hani.

To catch her, I would need some kind of net or weapon that disregarded space and time, locking onto her without fail… Of course, such things didn’t exist, at least not here in this world.

'She said she had good hearing...'

Recalling Hani’s own words about her keen hearing, and combining that with the physical data I had obtained from Levi-tan, who was a similar experimental subject, I developed software that would exploit those traits to trap Hani.

Soon, I had created something that would work perfectly against someone with such acute hearing. I stood up and turned to Levi-tan.

"It’s done." "Really!? I’ll go gather the others—!" "No, it’s just the two of us." "Huh? But…" "It has to be just the two of us."

Levi-tan tilted her head, puzzled by my insistence, but this was the only way. Hani wasn’t a fool. If we rushed at her with a large group, she would never show herself.

Especially if she saw Galm or Aile again. She would likely flee to a place that even satellites couldn’t detect.

In the worst case, she might not show herself until our vacation ended.

‘Working during a vacation is bad enough; I’m not dragging this problem back to the office.’

Since Hani was targeting Levi-tan, if Levi-tan and I wandered the streets alone, Hani, who would surely be watching us, would eventually reveal herself.

Given the level of her hearing, I couldn’t even hide our allies nearby as backup. At worst, she could detect who was around just by listening.

"I’ll inform the boss. Shall we go?" "Go? Where to?" "Where else?"

We were going for a stroll.

So, Levi-tan and I wandered through the streets, waiting for the unsuspecting beast to walk into our trap.

Eight and Levi-tan walked along the beach. Despite the events that had unfolded earlier in the day, people were still out enjoying the scenery, as if nothing had happened.

Well, no one had died, after all. It had just been a fight between a hero and a villain in a hotel. That was a common enough occurrence in any city.

"Oh! Eit-tan, let’s get one of those!" "…You do realize we’re not here for fun, right? We’re here to lure the enemy." "I knooow! But we don’t know when she’ll show up, and it’s better than being tense the whole time, right?"

It was a reasonable point. And as a scientist, I always followed logic.

So, we ended up buying overpriced, low-quality snacks, typical for a tourist spot. The taste wasn’t great, but we succeeded in creating a touristy atmosphere.

Levi-tan, for her part, acted as though she had completely forgotten about the mission. To me, it looked that way, but considering her physical abilities, I was sure she was still on high alert.

‘When is she going to show up?’

I discreetly checked the time. Three hours had passed—plenty of time for the enemy to have spotted us and confirmed that we were alone.

I had even taken precautions to hide the wristwatch I usually used to call for reinforcements. Of course, given that Hani used her hearing rather than sight to detect people, I wondered if all these precautions were even necessary.

‘Come on already. I’m getting bored.’

The two of us moved further into a more deserted area. Soon, there were only couples around us, likely heading to secluded spots with their own plans.

Levi-tan flashed a mischievous grin and pointed toward a rocky area hidden from view.

"Eit-tan." "What?" "They’re doing something over there. Wanna go watch?" "…Have you forgotten why we’re out here?"

"You're no fun."

Ignoring her teasing, I continued walking. That’s when a deeply tanned man, who had clearly spent time under the sun, approached us slowly.

He closely examined Levi-tan’s rabbit ears and face before finally speaking.

"Levi-tan?" "Yes? Who…?" "Looks like it’s you. Your sister’s waiting for you over there. She said she’s waiting up on the hill…"

Levi-tan glanced at me, and I nodded in understanding. She nodded back.

Who would have thought they’d call us out first? The confidence must have come from Hani’s ability to easily determine that we were alone and her skill in escaping from any situation.

Following the man’s direction, we headed up the hill, where we waited for quite some time until Hani finally appeared.

Before long, I heard a sudden click—like the snap of castanets. I turned around to see that Hani had silently appeared behind me, a katana pointed at my throat.

"—Please don’t move, either of you."

It was the dramatic entrance of a rabbit beastwoman wielding a katana.

Levi-tan, upon seeing Hani’s face for the first time in a long while, couldn’t hold back the flood of emotions and tears welling up in her eyes.

But that was that, and this was this.

Regardless of their history, no matter how much Hani had once been a comrade or a fellow experimental subject, Levi-tan couldn’t tolerate anyone threatening me.

"What are you doing, Hani?" "Levi-tan, I’ve come to rescue you…" "Put the sword down, or do you want to die?"

Hani lowered her head at Levi-tan’s harsh words. It hurt to hear her old friend curse at her like that, especially since she was convinced Levi-tan had been brainwashed by this scientist, after enduring who knows what kind of experiments.

Hani stepped back, keeping the katana trained on me. As long as she held me as a hostage, Levi-tan couldn’t act rashly, even if she had been brainwashed.

"Scientist, was it? You, release Levi-tan from her brainwashing at once." "…What?"

"I know what you’ve done. You took Levi-tan and subjected her to suspicious experiments, brainwashing her in the process."

With a sword at my throat, I realized that Hani had a serious misunderstanding.

But I didn’t bother to correct her. I simply let it be.

"No."

"…What?"

Hani frowned, taken aback by my outright refusal. Up until now, no one had ever refused her demands in this situation. She had never expected a rejection.

This was a first for her. She had always believed that holding a sword to someone's throat was an effective method of negotiation.

While Hani pondered that, I moved my neck closer to the sword. Moments later, the sharp katana slashed across my throat.

"Wha—!?"

Hani was shocked to see that, despite the blade cutting through, my neck remained perfectly fine—without a single drop of blood.

As she struggled to understand how I had performed such a trick, I shrugged and gave her a knowing look.

"You thought you could just wave a sword around and I’d comply? Big mistake."

"…Do you have some kind of regeneration ability?"

"Nope. I’m powerless."

"That can’t be right. I’ll just have to check again."

Hani readied herself to strike once more. Levi-tan tried to rush forward to stop her, but I gently held her back.

There was no need for her to interfere. I stepped forward, exposing myself to the blade as if inviting Hani to try again.

"Let me tell you something—you won’t be able to lay a finger on me today."

No sooner had I finished speaking than Hani swung her katana again. This time, she used the back of the blade, perhaps unwilling to kill.

Just like before, the blade passed cleanly through me without leaving a mark.

I let out a soft chuckle at the sight.

"I told you, not a single hair on me will be touched."

"Rrgh…!"

Clearly frustrated, Hani continued swinging her sword over and over, as if trying to exhaust all her efforts in one day.

A significant amount of time had passed. The sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and red. Yet, Hani continued to swing her katana.

Alone, cutting through the air.

"What… what is she doing?"

Levi-tan, confused by the scene, muttered as she handed me a Hawaiian juice she had been holding. I casually pulled out my wristwatch from my pocket.

The watch was buzzing loudly.

To Levi-tan, whose hearing was slightly better than a normal person’s, it was nothing more than a noisy alarm. But to Hani, whose hearing was sharp enough to distinguish between people and objects, she was seeing something entirely different.

Right now, Hani was fighting against an enemy that didn’t bleed, no matter how many times she cut it.

"It’s a simple trick."

"Simple…? What’s simple about it?"

"Sound carries a lot of information. You can even tell what’s on a computer screen just by listening to the fan."

Hani’s hearing was like a full-range radar. She trusted the information her ears gave her completely.

Little did she know, what she was seeing was nothing more than an illusion visible only to her.