Ch.134Heroes Have No Time

Yu Anna had a lot on her mind lately.

The Annihilation-rank monster, Black Cat, and the desires of each city’s rulers surrounding it.

“Wasn’t W City a place you could cover alone, Starlight?”

“How many chances do you think we get to research an Annihilation-rank monster?”

“Are you really unable to control it? If so, why is an Annihilation-rank monster protecting humans?”

“As I’ve told you many times, I’m not controlling it.”

The reconstruction of A City after devastating damage, and the unresolved conflict between heroes and citizens.

“After seeing Starlight, I realized heroes should be trustworthy.”

“If only those guys in A City were this good.”

“Black Cat is much more reliable than superhumans.”

“You want us to treat superhumans better even in this situation? We don’t even have enough food…”

“So you weren’t stingy with food for Black Cat, but you’re stingy with food for us?”

“Come on, everyone, calm down! Why are you fighting? We caught the Despair-rank monster, and there were no casualties!”

“The facilities we just repaired were destroyed again!”

Meister’s master code replacement for city reconstruction was taking a long time, and newly repaired facilities were quickly destroyed again by monsters.

This war of attrition with monsters, reminiscent of the early city planning days, was exhausting A City’s superhumans.

Among them, some were raising their voices saying that superhumans should flee, just like in the earlier disturbance.

“Do superhumans need humans? Superhumans are already the new human race adapted to the monster era! Why should we protect citizens?”

“There they go again. Sigh… I can’t take this anymore. Arrest them, Baskerville.”

“Understood.”

Yu Anna arrested superhumans who were increasing citizens’ anxiety and undermining A City’s superhuman solidarity.

“Starlight! What right do you have to lock us up?”

“Don’t you know? Heroes have a responsibility to protect the city. I’ve officially received authority as A City’s responsible hero from Meister.”

Yu Anna warned the superhumans behind bars who were closer to villains.

“I could understand if you were just trying to find your own way to survive, but you keep trying to persuade heroes who chose to protect citizens too. If you want to leave A City, then leave. But leave quietly with others who share your views. Don’t try to take innocent people with you.”

“Those people will die someday if they stay in A City without Black Cat!”

“What’s wrong with trying to save as many superhumans as possible?”

“Are you really making those proposals to save superhumans?”

Only S-rank or higher heroes can move alone through closed zones relatively safely.

Superhumans who want to escape, at best A-rank but mostly C-rank level, would only become monster food if they left.

These people must know this fact.

“You guys are mainly targeting young superhumans with no experience in closed zones. And even some citizens… Who do you think doesn’t know you’re planning to use them as bait for monsters?”

“Ugh…!”

“You guys used to listen to Cage well. Why are you acting like this? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“What’s wrong with finding our own way to survive?”

“That’s right! I heard Cage still hasn’t regained consciousness!”

“We all know it! Cage is dead!”

“I’ve told you so many times he’s not dead… sigh…”

They were acting out like this because of Cage’s absence.

To be precise, it was because they had no one to entrust their safety to.

These people had no sense of duty to protect humans.

They only wanted to survive while enjoying life as much as possible.

If they thought they might die, they would run away.

“We don’t need to worry about food anymore, but repair drones and monster suppression weapons are still a problem. For now.”

“So monsters will keep coming to A City, right?”

Meister’s ability instantly raised the baseline of choices humans could make when facing monsters.

Starlight helps avoid worst-case scenarios.

Baskerville serves as the final deterrent preventing humans and superhumans from turning to crime, and Electris makes maintaining the status quo possible by killing incoming monsters.

They’re holding on, but it’s not enough to reassure everyone.

Traveling between W City and A City, getting involved in A City’s problems, Yu Anna was feeling the reality with her whole body.

Despite facing it several times already, the reality she had endured until now was increasingly pushing to break her.

No matter how hard she tried to achieve ideal results, she wasn’t given the time or space to get there.

Easy choices appeared before Yu Anna multiple times, tempting her.

Terror politics, forceful suppression, purging those who wouldn’t follow—these could solve the immediate problems.

There wasn’t enough time to handle things properly to prevent future issues.

“So that’s why things have blown up like this now.”

Even though it was obvious problems would eventually arise, she was pressed for time.

Yu Anna held her throbbing head while looking down at Cage, who still hadn’t woken up.

Managing A City and the choices Cage had made.

Now facing the same problems that had been presented to Cage before, Yu Anna felt a strange feeling.

“It’s not like this is a test…”

She wouldn’t compromise.

She thought she could buy time if she worked a little harder.

The more she tried to hold on with that mindset, the more exhausted Yu Anna became.

“You know, why are you calling me for this level of monster?”

“My body condition is strange, what can I do?”

“An S-rank hero can’t even manage their own body? Seriously, come on.”

“I’m frustrated too! I don’t know why this is happening.”

“We’re already short on heroes, it’s troublesome if you’re like this too.”

“Hmph, if you know A City is short on heroes, why doesn’t W City send some heroes to support us? You have Black Cat protecting you anyway.”

“We’re short on people too, who should we send…?”

“Just send some A-rank, like Iron Light or something.”

“You mean Iron Might.”

Even Electris, who was responsible for the entire safety of A City, wasn’t in good condition.

“Starlight, wait. Yu Anna, just a moment.”

“When are you going to start investigating the teacher’s death?”

“…Now is not the time.”

“Not the time? You saw it too—in the diary, in anything related to the teacher—there’s no way to see that the teacher intended to kill Cage.”

“Something’s wrong, why would the teacher attack Cage? And the teacher suddenly getting eaten by a monster, where did that monster even come from?”

“The investigation should come first! Even if dozens or hundreds of citizens die, we need to find out the truth…!”

Wave and Vibe, disciples of Yeo Un-jae, weren’t cooperative in protecting citizens either.

“We’re barely avoiding additional casualties for now…”

“It was better when Black Cat was here.”

“When Black Cat was here, we didn’t even need to evacuate…”

“Even if just for a moment, please, Black Cat.”

“Just one week, please.”

Both citizens and heroes were dissatisfied with the current situation and wanted Black Cat back.

As if an Annihilation-rank monster would listen just because they asked.

Yet, despite the mounting stress, Yu Anna tried to keep smiling.

“Now that I look at it, do you have something going on with Iron Might? I always see you with him.”

“What do you mean ‘something’? No way!”

“Calm down, I know it’s strange, I want to investigate too. But right now, citizens’ safety comes first. The teacher would have acted the same way. I’m trying not to disappoint the teacher by staying level-headed.”

“Ugh…”

“Even if we somehow bring Black Cat to A City, W City would end up in the same situation. Should we then send Black Cat back to W City? If the Annihilation-rank gets tired of going back and forth between humans, it would be difficult for me to come support you like I am now.”

“Ugh…”

She calmed them, soothed them, and led them without fighting.

Slowly, but step by step.

“What better solution is there? Would you share your opinions?”

“You want our opinions? While you’re an S-rank hero?”

“Yes, I’m an S-rank hero, just a woman with great strength.”

“No, you don’t have to put it that way…”

“But it’s true! I’m really just a woman with great strength, so I’m not good at problems other than monsters. That’s why I need your help.”

Yu Anna asked both citizens and heroes about what she lacked, and they all thought about solutions together.

If Cage stood like a wall to protect citizens, Yu Anna tried to bring everyone together.

When improvements came from everyone’s collective thinking, Yu Anna moved a little more, fought a little more, and worked a little harder.

Everyone was still frustrated and full of complaints, but things were gradually being resolved.

“…What?”

What broke Yu Anna’s mental fortitude, which had remained unshaken despite extreme stress, was a surprisingly small incident.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Yu Anna! I should have contacted you, but I couldn’t bring myself to…!”

“W-wait, so…”

Yu Anna arrived at W City’s columbarium and headed toward her parents’ urns, followed by the urns of the uncle and aunt she always visited.

Finally, she sat quietly in front of an empty compartment containing only a doll, toys, and a scarf instead of an urn. A staff member approached her and said:

“It was… stolen?”

Someone had broken into the keepsake repository.

A place where the belongings of the deceased were carefully stored.

Given the times, she had heard that such things happened occasionally.

People sneaking into columbariums to steal watches, jewelry, or expensive clothing to sell.

“I’m so sorry!”

The thief had apparently boldly smashed open the locked storage compartment with something like a pickaxe.

Yu Anna, who had already had her parents’ keepsakes stolen before, bit her lip and pulled her hat down.

She wondered if someone had spotted Starlight coming to this columbarium.

She had walked from nearby to be careful, wearing a hat that could completely cover her red hair, plus sunglasses and a mask.

“…Hah.”

After the original owner of the compartment closed the door, Yu Anna couldn’t bring herself to open it, fearing that something invisible inside might fly away if she did.

She didn’t know what was inside, but there probably wasn’t anything particularly valuable.

Just the keepsakes of the uncle and aunt who had saved Yu Anna.

The keepsakes of that child’s parents.

“This is so frustrating…”

Yu Anna, who had been holding back her building emotions, crouched in front of the compartment without an urn and bumped her head against it.

She had been hoping that even the soul of the child whose body couldn’t be found would come here.

But if even the keepsakes that the child had placed there with their own hands for the uncle and aunt were gone…

“This makes it harder to visit…”

Still, Yu Anna couldn’t blame the person who took the keepsakes.

This world is full of people desperate enough to steal even the belongings of the dead to survive.

That person might die at any moment too.

In this world, there’s no time to spare for the dead.

She blamed no one.

The living must live on.

“I really hate this world.”

Between her feet, droplets fell with a plop, plop sound, spreading and drying up instantly.

It was because Yu Anna’s ability leaked out uncontrollably due to her emotional disturbance.

“…Is something wrong?”

“Huh?”

Perhaps those emotions hadn’t fully disappeared yet.

A few days later, after Black Cat’s mealtime ended, as Yu Anna was seeing Black Cat off toward the closed zone—or rather, monitoring to make sure it didn’t go elsewhere—Black Cat spoke to her.

“You smell sweet.”

“What does that mean?”

“Monsters perceive human emotions as sweeter the more negative they are.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

It was well-known that monsters feed on human emotions and fear, but this was the first time she’d heard an expression about the taste.

As Yu Anna hesitated on how to react after Black Cat detected her bad mood, Black Cat turned around and extended its head.

“Being a hero seems quite tiring.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll specially allow you to pet my head.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

Perhaps remembering how happy Yu Anna had been when petting Black Cat’s head last time, Yu Anna felt a bit embarrassed as she reached out to Black Cat’s head.

Soft, fluffier fur than before, the exquisite sensation brushing between her palms.

Yu Anna exhaled a long breath, feeling a small portion of her fatigue melt away.

“Phew…”

“Listen while you pet me. Starlight, I like W City.”

“Eh? Ah, um, really?”

“And I don’t dislike you either.”

“Ehhhhh?!”

In that moment, Yu Anna forgot all her fatigue and fell into intense confusion.

Not dislike? Does that mean like? A confession?

Can monsters even like humans? Black Cat? Why?

“W-wait! I already have someone I… no, more importantly, is that why a monster is protecting humans? Could it be…?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Are you protecting humans so you can… have children with them?”

“Tsk.”

Black Cat clicked its tongue.

“Stop having strange delusions and just build my cat tower.”

“Oh, um… huh?”

Yu Anna’s head quickly burned with embarrassment.

But only for a moment, as her eyes widened at what followed.

“Aren’t you planning to build a cat tower?”

“What? How do you know that?”

“A human showed me something called a cat tower blueprint.”

“Who did that?”

“I like it. It would be fun to have something like that in W City.”

“Ah…”

Regardless of who had shown Black Cat such a thing, Black Cat had directly expressed that it liked the idea.

Yu Anna felt relieved that one of W City’s concerns—what they could do for Black Cat—seemed somewhat resolved.

Black Cat likes W City.

It wants a cat tower built for it.

And its head is soft and fluffy.

“…Thank you.”

Yu Anna thought Black Cat had let her pet its head to comfort her.

Just as she felt a little better at being comforted by someone, regardless of the partial resolution of her worries…

“Senior, this is an emergency communication. Can you hear me?”

An emergency broadcast was connected to Yu Anna through W City’s communication system.

“There’s been a large explosion in B City. An entire mountain in the outskirts has melted down…”

“Sorry, I need to go. Thanks for letting me pet your head.”

“Wae-ong?”

Yu Anna took her hand off Black Cat’s head at the ominous news.

As if eavesdropping on the broadcast, Black Cat frowned and made a curious meowing sound.

“Currently assessing the situation. S-rank heroes of each city, please stand by for possible support.”

Heroes don’t get time to rest.

Yu Anna immediately flew toward the hero headquarters.