"Yo."
In the face of Alice's surprise, Sweet Mask merely offered a smile and a greeting.
Compared to his attitude during their last encounter, he seemed undeniably a lot friendlier this time around. There was even a hint of warmth etched into his features as he walked toward her.
"Our last meeting was already half a month ago. I never expected that in just two short weeks, your name would reach my ears through my manager." His words sounded almost like those of a rival, but the man's expression carried genuine joy.
Yet, in response to his delight, Alice only tilted her head in confusion.
Sweet Mask wasn't surprised by this reaction. If anything, this was exactly what earned her his approval.
"No, forget what I just said. I came here because I heard about your actions yesterday."
Sweet Mask brushed past the topic he had just brought up himself, shifting the conversation back to the matter that had just concluded in the conference room.
It was understandable for the Hero Association to know about it, but how did Sweet Mask know?
Then again, considering his ties to the Corporate Faction, it wasn't all that surprising.
Actually, even putting the Corporate Faction aside, his relationship with the Pure Blood Faction was also exceptionally good. His ability to hold down the Rank 1 spot in A-Class so securely relied not just on his strength, but also on the immaculate image he maintained with both sides.
He could rake in money for the capitalists while remaining fiercely dedicated to a hero's character and justice. These two supposedly conflicting traits somehow managed to fuse perfectly within him.
"You probably had to listen to a lot of unpleasant things just now, didn't you? Don't misunderstand, I'm not here to hold you accountable."
Seeing the conflicted look on Alice's face, Sweet Mask jumped to what he assumed was the obvious conclusion. He knew exactly what kind of people made up the Corporate Faction; from the moment Alice was fast-tracked to S-Class, he knew it had to be their doing.
That was precisely why he had rushed over to test her boundaries earlier.
Looking back now, however, his actions had been entirely unnecessary.
At that thought, Sweet Mask's smile grew even warmer. "I just wanted to tell you that you did a wonderful job. You did exactly what a hero... no, what a true champion of justice should do."
"Defending the innocent, eradicating evil—as a hero, there is no achievement more worthy of praise."
It seemed she had finally heard words she could understand and receive validation from.
The gloomy atmosphere that had been hanging over the young girl instantly vanished, replaced by her usual vitality as a smile bloomed on her face once more.
"For a hero, that is only natural!"
"Exactly. But treating such a 'natural thing' as a solemn duty has ironically become a rare quality among most 'heroes' these days." The moment he said this, Sweet Mask's eyes darkened considerably.
However, he quickly composed himself.
"Alright, that's all I wanted to say. Hero Alice, I'll be looking forward to your performance in the future." Sweet Mask smiled at the girl, then stepped past her, walking straight down the corridor.
But just as Alice turned around to politely bid him goodbye, the man looked back over his shoulder.
"Right, if the Association ever asks you to do public appearances, like 'promotional work,' you can contact me."
Sweet Mask drew a business card from his breast pocket, flicking it effortlessly between two fingers toward Alice.
Only after watching the girl catch the card did he continue, "I'll help you handle it when the time comes. I assume you don't want your daily routine cluttered with too many unnecessary events either, right?"
"Bang-bang-ka-bang! Alice has made a new companion!"
Yet, the girl didn't give him a proper answer right away.
Instead, she pumped one fist at her side and held the business card high in the air, striking a pose like a plane taking off while shouting her bizarre catchphrase.
A companion, huh... That really is a childish way to put it.
Sweet Mask let out a helpless smile, though he didn't deny it.
As long as Alice stayed exactly the way she was now, he would undoubtedly be her companion.
"Thank you for the encouragement! See you next time, Sweet Mask!" Recharged by her new companion, Alice was noticeably bursting with energy. Sweet Mask gave her a slight nod before turning to leave.
Not long after he departed, a middle-aged man in a suit approached Alice.
"Lady Hero, could I please trouble you for a private word?" The man had a smile plastered on his face, but his expression was visibly awkward.
"Is there something you need Alice's help with?"
Alice hadn't expected that a single trip to the Hero Association would result in three different groups of people cornering her back-to-back.
"Yes... uh, no... there is a certain VIP who insists on meeting you no matter what. I'm just passing along the message," the man explained. "If you aren't busy... I hoped you could come with me..."
A certain VIP?
A VIP within the Hero Association would either be a high-ranking executive or a top-tier hero, right? Since she had just met with the executives, it probably wasn't them.
A top-ranking hero who wanted to see her... Metal Knight? Or maybe Tatsumaki?
Regardless of who it was, she had no reason to refuse. For one, they were bound to meet sooner or later anyway, and secondly, there was no need to make things difficult for this staff member over such a small matter.
Hearing that Alice was willing to come along, the man was visibly moved and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The two walked away from the conference room, heading into increasingly secluded corridors until they finally arrived before the massive doors of the S-Class Training Room.
I have a bad feeling about this...
The middle-aged man clearly knew that choosing this specific location wasn't a good sign. After telling Alice she could head inside whenever she was ready, he immediately scrambled off to a short distance away to make a phone call, seemingly contacting someone.
Alice thought about it for a moment, then decided to push the door open and walk in.
Though she hadn't been upgraded to the point of being completely invincible, killing her would still be an incredibly difficult task. If things really went south, she could always call for backup.
Completely free of worries, she stepped inside, only to be instantly greeted by a string of complaints.
"What took you so long to get here?! Do you have absolutely no concept of time? If you don't even have a timer function, why didn't you just become a digital watch instead?!"
It was Tatsumaki's voice.
Floating in mid-air, her entire body enveloped in a vibrant green glow, the green-haired 'little girl' stared down at Alice with a comically contorted face of pure disgust.
Just from her tone alone, one could tell how massive her grievance was right now.
Still, just being a little late shouldn't have warranted this much anger, right?
"Who are you...?"
Alice tilted her head. Her pure, innocent confusion made it obvious to anyone that her inquiry held no malice whatsoever, but was simply a question born from the bottom of her heart.
But that was hardly an excuse for the green-haired girl to let the matter slide. Or rather, it was precisely because of this question that Tatsumaki instantly found her excuse to pick a fight.
In the next heartbeat, a suffocating pressure wrapped around Alice's entire body.
As if seized by an invisible hand and violently hurled away, the young girl's figure vanished from the spot, crashing heavily against the wall of the training room.
"Are you provoking me? You mechanical blockhead."
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL