City A, Hero Association's Headquarters.
"Ahem... Prime Minister Fujiwara, what should we do now?"
The three remaining core council members looked at each other. Finally, Suzuki Shiro, the only surviving head of the Four Great Conglomerates, spoke up first.
Putting aside the heroes who died in the recent battle, only three administrative members of the Hero Association remained.
Even though Shiro's wealth can be said to be endless, faced with the current situation, he was momentarily at a loss about how to proceed.
Maruo was even more clueless.
He became a council member purely due to the special nature of his profession.
This was his first time experiencing such a major event, and his droopy eyes were just staring blankly.
He completely missed his five adoptive daughters frantically @-ing him in the chat group.
"...First, recall the heroes from the front lines. Dr. Nakano, please have your medical team treat their injuries,"
Prime Minister Fujiwara thought for a moment before quickly outlining a response plan, then added:
"Mr. Suzuki, please go to Shuchi'in Academy and manage the situation there. I will visit the Nakiri and Shinomiya Families."
It was clearly impossible for the remaining three to manage the Hero Association alone.
Prime Minister Fujiwara felt the most urgent task was filling the vacant council seats.
Senzaemon, who had his family head's position and council seat seized by Azami months ago, was immediately placed on Prime Minister Fujiwara's list of potential replacements.
'As for the Shinomiya Family... Shinomiya Gan'an and his eldest son, Shinomiya Oko, were dead.'
'So the first heir should be the second son, Shinomiya Seiryu, right?'
'But even so, there were still far too many vacancies.'
The other two nodded in agreement.
But as he was leaving, Maruo seemed to remember something and said:
"Prime Minister, actually, the most important thing right now is how to deal with that man, isn't it?"
Prime Minister Fujiwara was taken aback for a moment, then the wrinkles on his face deepened into a bitter smile.
"What effective measures do you think we can still come up with?"
Maruo was also stunned for a few seconds upon hearing this, then realized he had asked a foolish question.
After giving the Prime Minister an apologetic look, he left quickly with Shiro.
When the chaotic command center was left with only himself, Prime Minister Fujiwara muttered to himself:
"Now we can only pray he truly has no intention of taking action..."
…
While the Hero Association was busy dealing with the aftermath, Lott and Genos pushed open the door of a restaurant named [Yukihira] in City A, a place they frequented.
This shop was recommended to Lott by Chika before, and the two had visited together a few times.
"It's rare to see no one here at this hour, Sensei."
Looking at the empty restaurant, Genos glanced at Lott.
"Everyone was probably scared away by the earlier shockwaves."
Although the main battlefield was Shuchi'in Academy, the destruction caused by the Omega Blaster affected half the city.
The citizens had likely all evacuated.
But even if they hadn't, seeing their faces would have scared them off anyway.
Genos walked into the kitchen by himself and opened the refrigerator:
"The ingredients are still here. How about I cook for you, Sensei?"
Ever since becoming Lott's disciple, Genos's 'housewife' attributes had become increasingly exaggerated.
"If you don't mind, I can cook."
A voice suddenly sounded at the restaurant entrance.
Reflexively, Genos immediately raised his hand, gathering a heat beam aimed at the door.
However, upon seeing the visitor, the vigilance on his face quickly turned to confusion.
"Busujima... Saeko?"
The Shuchi'in Academy's uniform was designed conservatively, with the skirt reaching the knees.
Apart from the calves, almost no skin above the neck was exposed.
But even so, it couldn't hide the tall and curvaceous figure of the young woman before them.
Genos certainly knew her, as she held the 4th rank among B-Class heroes.
And she was also his classmate.
"Finally showed yourself? I was wondering how much longer you'd follow us."
Lott glanced sideways at Saeko's face, which held a mix of charm and valor.
"...My apologies. I wasn't sure how to approach you earlier."
Saeko pressed her lips together.
"What do you want, Busujima Saeko?"
Because he didn't consider Busujima Saeko a threat, the vigilance in Genos's eyes faded, but his hostility didn't decrease much.
After all, she was also part of the Hero Association.
"I..."
Saeko, who usually carried herself with confident grace, opened her mouth slightly.
The words stuck in her throat, unsure how to voice them.
Witnessing Lott's actions had actually stirred a sense of yearning within her.
That's right. After seeing what Lott did to those heroes and council members, she felt a sense of admiration and longing for him.
Her reason for becoming a hero wasn't simply to fight evil, like Bang or Child Emperor-
Nor was it to strengthen herself by fighting monsters, like Superalloy Darkshine or Tanktop Master.
She simply wanted to use a legal method to satisfy her latent desire for violence.
And watching Lott's actions through the group live stream, Saeko felt like Hinamori Momo did long ago when she saw Aizen's smile as he saved her.
She was deeply captivated.
"I admire your methods. I want to be like you, destroying everything without being bound by any rules! Please, make me into someone like you!"
That's what Saeko wanted to say to Lott.
Although she had rehearsed it countless times in her mind while following them.
When face to face, she found herself completely unable to utter the words.