"Wait! What are you doing!?"
After Sayomaru had assigned the Security Force Police members their duties within the Hero Association building and returned to the top-floor conference room, she was met with a deeply shameless scene.
Zuke was sitting in the conference room's main seat, while Tatsumaki had practically plastered herself all over him, her slender, petite body entwined around Zuke's limbs.
The conference room window nearby was open—clearly, Tatsumaki had just flown in directly through it.
Otherwise, with the Security Force Police's equipment, if someone had entered the Hero Association building through the main entrance, they would have been detected and reported to Sayomaru.
"Huh? Is this person your subordinate?"
Tatsumaki, who had already glued herself to Zuke, stiffened upon hearing Sayomaru's voice at the conference room door. She detached herself from Zuke as if nothing had happened.
She looked back at Sayomaru—the other woman had a large metal cross-shaped shuriken on her back, and her limbs showed signs of training.
"Is she a new hero who joined the Hero Association? One you've taken a liking to?"
It was no wonder she thought Sayomaru was a hero. After all, the main theme of this world was Heroes vs. Monsters—Sayomaru's appearance looked quite proper, so she was naturally assumed to be a hero.
"I am not from the Hero Association. I am Sayomaru of the Security Force Police."
Sayomaru retorted somewhat displeasedly—although the Security Force Police also apprehended criminals, their role was more akin to a special law enforcement unit.
They had established facilities across multiple dimensions. In terms of professionalism, they were far superior to these heroes who often acted independently. At the very least, situations where people disobeyed orders wouldn't occur.
But precisely because of her professionalism, seeing Zuke actually hugging and clinging with Tatsumaki made Sayomaru even angrier:
"Doing that kind of thing with a minor is illegal! Zuke, as the leader of the Security Force Police, you should at least abide by such basic requirements~!?"
That's right. The reason for Sayomaru's anger was mistaking Tatsumaki for a minor—if Tatsumaki were just a high school student, a step away from adulthood, Sayomaru might have turned a blind eye.
But Tatsumaki looked like a middle school student, even somewhat like an elementary school student. This, Sayomaru could not ignore!
"Who's a minor!?"
Hearing Sayomaru's words, the expression on Tatsumaki's face instantly changed—she was very sensitive about her height and figure, hence why she drank milk daily.
Because she was a famous S-Class hero in this world, Tatsumaki rarely got mistaken for a middle or even elementary school student due to her physique.
But Sayomaru wasn't from this world; she was from the Security Force Police Zuke brought from another dimension, so she naturally didn't know Tatsumaki, leading to this misunderstanding.
Fortunately, Zuke had already told her about the Security Force Police beforehand, so Tatsumaki knew Sayomaru wasn't deliberately trying to provoke her but was genuinely unaware of her situation.
Somewhat annoyed, she pulled out her ID and tossed it to Sayomaru, saying:
"Look carefully, this is my ID! It has my age on it! Don't get it wrong!"
Sayomaru was taken aback, then looked down and opened the ID—it indeed listed Tatsumaki's date of birth. Calculating based on this world's time, Tatsumaki was actually 28 years old?
This was awkward. A puzzled look appeared on Sayomaru's face. How did Tatsumaki look 28 anywhere?
"See? Anything Zuke and I do is perfectly legal."
Seeing Sayomaru's somewhat embarrassed expression, Tatsumaki waved her hand dismissively, looking triumphant.
"Hurry up and leave, don't disturb us. Report whatever you need to Zuke later. I'm still waiting to receive my reward from him."
As she spoke, Tatsumaki started moving towards Zuke again.
Sayomaru, standing at the conference room door, wore a conflicted expression—logically, now that she knew Tatsumaki was an adult, she had no reason to be angry with Zuke.
But for some reason, seeing Tatsumaki approach Zuke again, a fire still burned inside her that she couldn't vent—it clearly wasn't because Zuke had broken any rules, but for another reason.
She looked up at Zuke, mustered her courage, and shouted at Tatsumaki:
"That's not right! My contribution to the earlier operation was clearly greater! Even if it's about rewards, he should reward me first!!!"
She shouted this with full confidence, causing Tatsumaki, who was walking towards Zuke, to pause. She turned back and looked at the blushing Sayomaru with a strange expression.
She could tell Sayomaru probably had little experience in this area, so she couldn't help but offer a reminder:
"...Um... the reward I'm talking about might not be an ordinary thing. Are you sure you understand what I'm referring to?"
"Of course I know! Isn't it just that kind of thing?"
Sayomaru seemed to throw caution to the wind. Gritting her teeth, she tightly closed the conference room door and also walked towards Zuke.
After reaching Zuke, she looked at him, her face bright red:
"Wha... What about it? Can't I do it too?"
"It's not that you can't.... but are you sure you're prepared?"
A playful smile touched Zuke's lips as he looked at the extremely flustered Sayomaru and posed the question to her.
However, instead of answering verbally, Sayomaru somewhat clumsily pressed herself against him—seemingly imitating Tatsumaki's actions from when she had burst into the room.
After wrapping her arms around Zuke and hooking her leg around his, Sayomaru even looked back at Tatsumaki challengingly.
"..."
A vein twitched at Tatsumaki's temple—although, based on contribution, Sayomaru's Security Force Police was the main force, so her wanting a reward from Zuke wasn't an issue.
But this woman was deliberately provoking her, which Tatsumaki couldn't tolerate—she wasn't one to take a challenge lying down!
Perhaps sensing Sayomaru's complete lack of experience, Tatsumaki simply walked over as well, a hint of vengeful smile on her face:
"It seems you know nothing about these matters... In that case, let this senior guide you."
"Wai... Wait!"
Sayomaru, feeling Tatsumaki also approach, immediately panicked—but before she could say more, she felt her mouth sealed.
Zuke's face had moved in, cutting off her chance to speak.
Since Sayomaru had volunteered herself, Zuke certainly wasn't going to give her a chance to back out.
To be continued…
Dear Readers,
I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates over the past two months.
During this period, my company relocated its TSF (Temporary Site Facility) to an area right next to active wellheads where our projects are ongoing. Unfortunately, there is little to no internet connectivity at the site, which has made translating and posting chapters extremely difficult.
I recently returned home on a seven-day vacation, but I fell ill shortly after arriving. Even so, I did my best to translate chapters in bulk so that you would still have content to enjoy.
I kindly ask for your understanding if the translation quality is slightly lower than usual. Managing multiple projects and translating in bulk within a short timeframe has been quite demanding.
I am hopeful that stable internet connectivity will be available at the site soon. Once that happens, I will do my best to return to a more consistent and regular update schedule.
Thank you very much for your patience, support, and continued readership.
Regards,
Senatus Alpha