Chapter 6

The helicopters from the association finally arrive and start surveying the area to find any survivors. Military armored vehicles flood the ground and begin rescuing them.

"I should leave now."

First, I remove the white particles from cement on my back.

The curse of wearing something flashy like white clothes is that they're easy to get dirty.

"I should change my Hero design from now on..."

Saitama already left before the helicopters arrived, after inviting me to play games at his house.

"Well, I had a nice talk with him."

Smiling, I grab the scabbard from the floor and look at it. It looks bland now that the katana has vanished.

"A pity, I wasted so much money just for it to leave my hand after one swing..."

But I'm happy that it wasn't in vain. After all, I was able to kill the monster and prevent more lives from being lost.

Thud!

I gently place the scabbard back on the ground.

Hup, hup!

I jump on the ground like a boxer.

This feels really comfortable...

As my feet are about to touch the ground again, my eyes sharpen and I put strength into my legs.

Boom!

With a loud sonic boom, I ran towards the direction of City D, where I currently live.

While running, I thought about something.

"It's been a while. I should eat at that place again."

The ramen shop.

I lack money right now, but it's not that costly, and it's really good.

With that idea...

"Should I also establish a restaurant?"

Hmm.

The only pros I could think of for establishing it were to eat there whenever I want and make some money while I was away.

But it won't be that easy...

One of the main reasons was that my family doesn't have a secret recipe or any recipe at all.

"Ugh! I should try making a recipe myself so my line could pass it through generations. But if it doesn't do well, I will just find a new business idea."

Minutes later, I arrive at the ramen shop.

As usual, they have a decent number of customers, even with their extremely good ramen, which wasn't that costly.

The brown-haired girl welcomed me again, and I sat in my seat.

The owner seemed pleasantly surprised by my appearance.

"Oh, you came again!"

"Haha, I was just passing by, smelled the aroma again, and couldn't resist."

He smiled and looked at the clothes I was wearing.

"Why are you wearing all white today? Are you perhaps a secret idol?"

I chuckled.

"I'm a hero now. I thought this outfit wouldn't be bad for my debut before the association puts my photo on the website."

He laughed a little, then started observing the dust on my clothes.

"Based on your expression, you wouldn't wear something like that again. Come here again on Wednesday, my friend visits this shop regularly, and he's good at making outfits for heroes."

I raised my brow a little.

Now that I think about it, the old man doesn't look like a regular old man.

His arms look solid, and if I think of myself as a regular citizen again, I would think he's extremely intimidating.

"Are you perhaps a hero?"

"You figured that out? Yes, but I already retired. I'm a former A-Class hero, but I wasn't that popular, and my name is probably forgotten since I retired a year ago and established this ramen shop."

"Whoa.."

I wonder what his power is.

Based on his physique, it's between being really strong like Tank Top Master or a martial artist.

Or maybe both?

Anyway, I shouldn't ask anything more than necessary.

There are still more customers waiting.

"I must have talked quite a bit. What's your order, young man?"

"That one, please..."

As I was waiting for my meal...

"Whoa!!!"

The girl from the entrance, perhaps the old man's daughter, was staring at me with admiration. I felt her eyeing me since I entered the shop, but this...

"My father is quite cool, right?!"

"Y-yeah..."

The girl who was serene like the ocean was actually energetic...

"By the way, what's your rank?!"

"Uhh..."

Her face is quite close...

But how should I say it?

If I tell her that I'm S-Class, she might think I'm lying and get mad at me.

If she believes it and somehow other customers also believe it, there will be an uproar here, and I wouldn't be able to eat in peace...

However, if I lie and tell her that my class is lower, and the news about me spreads after my debut, she might get mad at me.

I honestly don't have any experience with women...

"Amy! Don't bother the customers again!"

"Yes, father."

Amy puffed her cheeks and turned around.

"Phew~"

What a troublesome girl.

Thankfully, the old man was able to save me in time.

After some moments, the old man came out, holding a bowl of ramen.

"I apologize if Amy bothered you. She's quite a fangirl of heroes."

"Haha, I can see that."

"Well then, enjoy!"

The next day.

I opened my eyes when I heard my alarm clock ring.

Before standing up, I looked at my phone first.

It had one notification.

And the only contact I have is the Hero Association.

"I expected them to promote me after defeating a Demon-level monster, but I didn't expect to rank up this much..."

They moved my rank from Class S rank 17 all the way to rank 10.

Is my knowledge about every S-class hero's strength lacking? Could it be that the lower ranks are really weak?

If that's the case, then I get why they moved my rank up so much.

And.

I deserved this, not only because of my strength but also because I was the first to kill the purple monster and saved many lives because of that.

"Now, I should think about getting some money..."

Some of my last bit of money was spent on the ramen I ate yesterday.

I estimate that my money will last not more than a week.

"Had I not quit my job..."

But no matter how much I regret it, I couldn't get it back. More like, I wouldn't enter that job again.

I was a Class S hero now. This month's earnings were many times higher than my former job...

And I was happy in my current job...

"...!"

While I was thinking, an idea suddenly emerged.

"Why haven't I thought of this before?"

Not all the villains in this world are monsters. There are also criminals who occasionally do things like robbing a bank with their power, killing, and sometimes causing destruction similar to monsters.

The news rarely shows them, as talking about powerful monsters is more intriguing. They only show them when they cause too much destruction similar to that of a monster.

Thus, the Hero Association occasionally puts bounties on them, which heroes and other people with superpowers take on, hunting them in return for the reward money.

The criminals have ranks similar to the Hero Association ranking: C, B, A, and S.

Of course, like the heroes, the higher the rank, the more powerful and dangerous they are.

And.

The better the reward they have.

Klak-

I will beat them half dead once I meet them.

They definitely deserve what's about to come to them.

However...

"I don't know how to find them..."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"Hopefully, the Hero Association has information about some of them."