Chapter 61: A Chance Encounter.
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"Sorry, we're not compatible. I prefer gentle and cute girls—you're not my type."
Kihara's blunt rejection hit like a perfectly delivered "nice guy card," making Fubuki wish she could take back everything she had just said and let her sister crush him into paste.
Even Tatsumaki couldn't help but frown slightly.
"You clearly have the strength of an A-Class hero. How did you end up liking someone like him? All looks, no substance."
She admitted Kihara was undeniably attractive—exactly the kind of guy that would appeal to certain older women—but in her eyes, his strength was lacking and his personality clashed badly with her sister's. No matter how she looked at it, the two of them wouldn't end well.
"Big sis, you're not exactly—"
"Hm?"
"N-Nothing."
Fubuki swallowed her words.
She knew better than to bring up that topic. The "black-armored knight" her sister had been obsessively searching for was a landmine she had no intention of stepping on.
After all, she had only come here to teach Kihara a lesson—not get him killed.
"You'd better pray you don't run into me alone next time," Tatsumaki warned coldly.
Before she could finish, Fubuki's phone rang.
"Big sis, it's the Hero Association."
"Tch, of all times…"
She snatched the call.
"What is it? Make it quick!"
"…What?! You don't have anyone else for this? Only me? Ugh, useless bunch—I'm on my way."
Just like that, she left as abruptly as she came—so hurried that she even forgot to return Fubuki's phone.
With no way to contact her assistant, Fubuki was forced to walk all the way out of the abandoned zone in Z-City, eventually finding a public phone to call for pickup.
Internally, she made a firm vow:
Next time she saw Kihara, she wouldn't waste a single word—she'd attack immediately.
Meanwhile, Kihara had already slipped away.
Because of Tatsumaki's overwhelming presence earlier, most monsters in the area had fled or gone into hiding. His usual "farming efficiency" dropped sharply.
"Yeah… those sisters really are nothing but trouble," he muttered.
"Maybe next time Tatsumaki shows up, I should borrow Patchouli's magic and teach her a lesson…"
Whoosh—!
Several black projectiles tore through the air, aiming straight for his back.
"Got him! Caw!"
A crow-type monster perched on a rooftop let out a hoarse, triumphant laugh.
"So, what are you planning to do next?" Kihara's voice suddenly came from right beside it.
"Of course I'll return and claim my re—…huh?!"
The monster froze.
Before it could react, Kihara was already there.
His translucent phantom swords hovered around him like loyal guards. With a single step, he closed the distance.
"So fast…!"
A chill of death crept up the monster's spine.
Abandoning offense entirely, it curled into a defensive sphere, its feathers shooting outward like arrows.
A deadly rain of black spikes filled the sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The attacks bounced harmlessly off.
Kihara landed unscathed.
The monster immediately tried to flee, but failed to notice a faint sword mark left on its wing.
In the next instant.
Kihara appeared right there.
Instead of killing it outright, he sliced off its wings and rode it down like a surfboard into the ruins below.
With a swift motion, he drove his blade through its leg, pinning it to the ground.
The wound sizzled, releasing the smell of burnt flesh.
Smiling faintly, he asked:
"Looks like I've become a bounty target for your Monster Association. Care to explain?"
"Pfft! As if I'd—AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
His blade slid downward, splitting the leg clean in two.
"Talk, and I'll make your death quick."
"I'll talk! I'll talk!!"
Through tears and snot, the monster spilled everything it knew—including:
Four Wolf-level monsters were on their way, their abilities, their weaknesses.
Kihara smiled.
"Free experience points delivering themselves to my doorstep? Not bad."
After finishing the crow monster, he waited.
As expected, the remaining four arrived.
With prior knowledge of their weaknesses, defeating them was effortless.
From them, he learned one more thing:
They all belonged to the same faction and were acting under both their group's orders and a bounty issued by the Monster Association.
"So more enemies will keep coming?"
A grin spread across his face.
"Perfect."
Elsewhere—
"Tenka, all the monsters we sent were wiped out."
"Hm… so that human isn't as weak as we thought. Since when are B-Class heroes this strong?"
"Stop underestimating him," said Onihebi irritably. "The Monster Association is already questioning our usefulness. If we don't show results, we're in trouble."
"Fine… send someone to gather intel in Z-City."
"You still won't deploy kaiju, huh…"
"Our strength as kaiju users is too limited. We need to stay hidden and collect more kaiju cores first."
"Yeah, yeah—I've heard it a hundred times."
"Chise, Shizumu—can I leave this investigation to you?"
"…Alright."
The next day—
Kihara brought Minami Yume back to Z-City, planning to bribe her with gifts so she'd stop calling him a "perverted tights enthusiast."
As they walked through the streets, two figures happened to spot them.
Chise froze the moment she saw Yume.
"…Shizumu, doesn't that girl look like the one who got dragged into that incident back then?"
"…Yeah," he replied quietly.
"…But she should be dead."
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Thank you for reading.