Penny-Pinching

"Kingpin is the underground emperor of all New York. And not just New York—even most of the criminal underworld across the entire country is under his rule..." Daredevil spoke gravely about Kingpin's deeds.

"Ah!"

"Oh!"

"Wow, he's amazing!"

As Saitama listened to Daredevil's account, he responded woodenly. His expression barely changed, making it seem as though he was only going through the motions. His eyes even kept wanting to close. He did want to know about Kingpin, but Daredevil's story was just too dull. As far as Saitama was concerned, all he needed to know was whether Kingpin was a good guy or a bad guy, and where he was.

But Saitama had been the one to ask Daredevil to tell him about it, so he could only listen while Daredevil went into detail. Whether any of it actually sank in was another matter.

Fortunately, Daredevil was blind. His hearing was incredible—he could practically use his ears like eyes—but ears were still no substitute for eyes. So despite Saitama's expression, Daredevil didn't notice anything amiss. He assumed Saitama was really listening.

"That's what I know about Kingpin. But it's only a small part of the story. His reach is vast, and he's done far more than I've told you." Once Daredevil finished, even he felt a headache coming on. Kingpin was so powerful that Daredevil couldn't help feeling despair.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!" Saitama nodded, his expression unchanged.

"So, Mr. Saitama, are you really planning to go up against Kingpin?" Daredevil seriously "looked" at Saitama.

"Yeah. Huh? Oh. Oh, right!" Saitama had drifted off, but quickly came back to himself and nodded.

Although Saitama's response was a little odd, Daredevil assumed it was because he'd just heard how powerful Kingpin was.

"Since you've made up your mind, I won't try to stop you. Just be careful. Kingpin isn't an ordinary man." Daredevil was a little relieved. Having another powerful person take on Kingpin could only be a good thing for him.

"Is that Kingpin guy really strong?" Saitama asked, now that he was paying attention. He felt it was an important question.

"Hm?" Daredevil was baffled by the question.

"Are any of Kingpin's men really strong? I mean, stronger than you."

"..." Daredevil wanted to swear. So after all that talking, after nearly drying out his throat—and barely paying attention to his own wounds while explaining everything to Saitama—Saitama hadn't taken in a word. He'd slowed the bleeding with a quick treatment, but he was still losing blood. He was practically on the verge of passing out from blood loss.

"Hey, you still haven't answered my question." When Daredevil didn't reply, Saitama pressed him again.

"..." Daredevil.

"Hey, hey, you still haven't answered me."

"..."

"Uh, did you fall asleep? No, you passed out."

"..."

"Oh no, your wounds are still bleeding. You passed out from losing too much blood."

"..."

Saitama carried the unconscious Daredevil back to his place. Why hadn't he taken him to the hospital? Because hospitals cost money, obviously—and probably quite a lot. Daredevil had only passed out from blood loss. He had wounds, but they weren't all that serious, so whether he went to the hospital probably wouldn't make much difference. Well, that was what Saitama thought. It definitely wasn't because he was worried about the cost. Definitely!

"Saitama, why have you brought him back here again? Wait, those are gunshot wounds!" Skye stared at Daredevil in surprise, with a touch of alarm. Gunshot wounds were the kind of injury that would make any ordinary person wary.

"Yeah, I ran into him outside, so I brought him back. I didn't take him to the hospital because I thought his injuries weren't serious enough to need one. Definitely not because hospitals cost a lot of money."

"..." Skye looked at Saitama speechlessly.

Seeing her expression, Saitama realized he'd let something slip. But he could be pretty thick-skinned when he wanted to be, so he acted as if nothing had happened.

"...You were right not to take him to the hospital. Since he's been shot, going there could cause trouble. But what should we do now? I have absolutely no experience treating injuries, especially gunshot wounds. Look at that—there's still a bullet in him, right?" Skye frowned, though she seemed fairly calm.

The reason Skye was so calm was that she'd met Saitama. If she'd encountered someone with a gunshot wound before meeting him, she might have been scared or panicked. But after meeting someone like Saitama, gunshot wounds didn't seem like such a big deal.

"A bullet? I have no idea." Saitama scratched his bald head. He'd only ever fought monsters, and none of them used guns. He did know how to bandage ordinary wounds, though. Before he'd gone bald, he'd often gotten hurt fighting monsters.

Looking at Saitama, Skye felt speechless. He'd brought someone back without even figuring out what was going on.

"Maybe I can try? I've never treated a gunshot wound, but I have quite a bit of experience dealing with injuries." Saitama thought it over. There was no need to spend all that money.

"You have experience? But this is a gunshot wound." Skye wasn't sure. Saitama looked so adorably clueless that she couldn't help thinking he'd be unreliable whenever a task required technical skill.

"It's fine. A gunshot wound, a knife wound, or any other kind of injury—they're not that different. With a gunshot wound, at most you just dig out the bullet and stop the bleeding. No problem at all." Saitama spoke with complete confidence.

Looking at how confident Saitama seemed, Skye still couldn't help doubting him. But she didn't know how to treat this kind of injury, and she didn't know any underground doctors either. Going to a hospital was out of the question, too. So, since Saitama was willing to try and seemed confident, she decided to let him.

"Should we take off his clothes? And his mask?" Skye looked eager. She kind of wanted to see what Daredevil looked like.

"We can take off his clothes, but let's leave the mask on. He wears it because he doesn't want anyone else to know what he looks like. It feels wrong to take it off while he's unconscious." Saitama shook his head.

"Okay. If that's what you think, then never mind. I'll go get a fruit knife." Skye was a little disappointed, but didn't insist.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Just then, the unconscious Daredevil suddenly woke up, sparing him from Saitama's attempt to cut into him.