Air Hero

Sewer mission

After yesterday's celebration, today will be the day that Max is working as a hero with Marie as his support.

“Marie, have you decided on what kind of mission to take?”

Marie slowly operated the computer and tried to access the United Heroes mission board. Even if Max has the money to buy the most advanced computer, Marie won’t be able to utilize it. Right now, it can be said that the most basic computer is the right tool for Marie. She can slowly familiarize herself with the computer and doesn’t feel overwhelmed due to the number of functions, buttons, and monitors of the advanced one.

“Max, I have found one. This one is an investigation mission. Recently, there seemed to be a lot of noise coming from the sewer in the western part of district 3. A few people have been reported to be missing. You only need to investigate, and if there’s something inside the sewer that is out of your capabilities, you’re allowed to go back and make a report. It’s like scouting.”

“Okay, that’s doesn’t seem to be so hard.”

“You can take bus number 5 that will depart ten more minutes from the bus stop nearby.”

“Alright, I’ll take my leave now. Let’s maintain our communication through the intercom. By the way, you’re not doing too bad. That’s a good mission briefing.”

“T-thanks.”

Marie seemed to be surprised with Max's praise, and she smiled in response to that. This is one of the things that Max talked about with Kalina on how to fix Marie’s lack of confidence. Praising her for the things that she has done will slowly increase her confidence little by little.

It was usual for D-rank hero to take public transport since it is cheap, and D-rank mission usually isn’t an urgent one. So, arriving at district three after an hour of a journey using the bus, Max immediately headed to the sewer that is mentioned in the mission details.

“I think… you should ask around the people in the area to see if they know something about the incident before heading to the sewer. Meanwhile, I will try to access the CCTV in the area. But… I’m afraid it will take a long time for me to get access into the system.”

“That’s alright, take your time. Your suggestion to ask around the area is a good one.”

Max isn’t in a rush to ask Marie to get clues from the CCTV either. After all, if there’s nothing wrong, he will just enter the sewer directly.

Max tried to ask around, and indeed, some people who opened shops nearby have heard some kind of noise coming from the sewer. But, unfortunately, fifteen minutes later, Marie hasn’t been able to get access to the CCTV.

Max thought to himself that if it was Rika, she should be able to gain access in a matter of minutes. Just like what she has shown on the mission to catch the Death Doctor. However, Max isn’t here to compare anyone, and he doesn’t want to be overly reliant on Marie for the things that he can do by himself.

“Marie, I will be entering the sewer now.”

“Eh, Max, I haven’t gotten the CCTV footage yet.”

“Don’t worry about that. Can you instead give me the blueprint layout of the sewer?”

“Ok, wait a minute.”

Instead of getting a blueprint, Marie is sending Max a hand-drawn painting.

“Marie, what is this?”

“This is the layout of the sewer.”

“But, this one seemed to be hand-drawn?”

“Yes, I have just drawn that one. If I accessed the United Heroes Database and tried to look for the blueprint, it might take me fifteen minutes or even half an hour. However, if I draw it directly from my memory, it won’t take that long… um… are your perhaps doesn’t like it?”

“No, there’s no problem as long as the drawing is accurate.”

Looking at the drawing, Max takes a glance before entering the sewer through the manhole. The sewer itself is quite spacious as there is no problem for two grown-up men to stand side by side and still have enough room to move.

The sewer itself is pretty dark since there’s no lighting other than the light that occasionally falls into it from the drainage holes.

“Marie, did you forget to prepare a flashlight for me?”

“Um… I’m sorry. I didn’t think that the sewer will be dark. There seemed to be a lightning system inside the sewer, but it might take me some time to turn it on.”

“It’s alright. You can try to turn on the sewer lights while I go out and buy a flashlight from a convenience store.”

Max then climbed the maintenance hole again and found a nearby convenience store. It was fortunate that the sewer isn’t letting out an unbearable stench or the odor will stick to his body, and he will be too embarrassed to visit the convenience store after that.

After getting a flashlight from a nearby convenience store, Max entered the sewer again.

“Marie, can you turn on the lightning yet?”

“Max, I’m sorry… please give me some more time.”

“It’s alright, take your time. I can use the flashlight in the meantime.”

Fortunately, Max isn’t someone who is easily angered, even though he is reckless at times. If he easily gets incensed, he will be angry at Marie a couple of times already.

Using the lightning from the flashlight, Max walked through the sewer. He also keeps paying attention to the layout to make sure that he knows where he is. So far, there’s nothing wrong.

Fifteen minutes later, Marie can finally access the sewer lightning, making it easier for Max to see.

“Max, I’m finally in the sewer system. I’m turning on the lights.”

“See, you can do it if you try. Okay, it will be easier with the lights on.”

After that, Max took one hour to sweep the sewer until he returned to the starting point.

“This is strange? I have spent an hour walking through the sewer to make sure that I won’t miss anything. However, there’s nothing here that’s out of the place. Marie, what do you think?”

“Please wait a moment. I am finally able to get information about the sewer from the United Heroes database. It said that the sewer went through a big renovation two years ago. So the old blueprint might not be useful, and there’s nothing about the new layout blueprint.”

“Even if what you said is true, I’ve swept through this sewer carefully. I don’t think I miss anything.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll look at district three layout.”

“Why are you looking at the district layout?”

“There might be new buildings built and the new renovation including the area into the new sewer system. I am now comparing the old and new layout.”

Max then has nothing to do except walking through the sewer once again to make sure he doesn’t miss anything while waiting for an update from Marie.