“Um… you’re Eyelashes, the B-Class Rank 2 hero, right?”
Eyelashes looked deeply moved that Lu Yao knew him.
“I’m honored! I never imagined Lord Lu Yao would know who I am.”
Could he be my fan?
Eyelashes couldn’t help thinking.
“No. Didn’t you introduce yourself when you all ganged up on that monster earlier?”
And then failed.
And got beaten up instead.
“R-Right.”
Awkward.
Eyelashes decided to ignore such minor details.
“Anyway, Lord Lu Yao’s supernatural ability is truly impressive! Of course, Lady Fubuki’s ability is also incredible, but the two are powerful in different ways!”
“Oh?”
Lu Yao became curious.
“How exactly are they different?”
His intention to flatter was practically overflowing.
Probably because of Fubuki.
Instinct was difficult to describe.
It was something abstract.
But Lu Yao possessed a sense capable of detecting emotions, hostility, and even rough intentions from people around him.
For example, while walking down the street, if someone posed a threat, strong thoughts would inexplicably surface in his mind.
They told him the threat’s direction and general danger level in an abstract yet unmistakable way.
So with most members of the Blizzard Group, Lu Yao could basically tell what was going on at a glance.
But instinct was merely instinct.
As long as something caused no real harm, Lu Yao usually didn’t bother commenting.
The world was complicated.
If something didn’t concern him, he generally preferred observing from the side.
That was why he didn’t particularly dislike or reject someone like Eyelashes.
Hearing Lu Yao ask for his opinion, Eyelashes immediately became energetic.
“The supernatural ability Lord Lu Yao described is the power to create various tools from thin air, correct? And when you defeated the monster, I assume those weapons were produced by that ability?”
He continued excitedly.
“Considering how easily Lord Lu Yao defeated a monster that overwhelmed the entire Blizzard Group, if you became a hero, you would undoubtedly qualify for S-Class!”
Eyelashes didn’t truly believe that.
But flattery had rules.
You had to exaggerate.
People liked hearing compliments.
If you merely embellished someone’s genuine strengths, they might not even realize you were flattering them.
Unfortunately, that logic didn’t work very well on Lu Yao.
A person’s understanding of truth and falsehood was relative.
Eyelashes’ statement was obviously insincere.
In his mind, S-Class heroes and everyone below S-Class existed in completely different categories.
If another person said the same thing, however, they might genuinely believe it.
Rather, he could tell whether the speaker personally believed what they were saying.
If Lu Yao actually wanted to determine whether information was correct, he would gather evidence from multiple channels.
So he merely smiled at Eyelashes without comment.
Fubuki, however, became visibly excited.
“That’s right! Yao, you should become a hero too!”
She leaned closer, eyes wide with completely undisguised expectation.
“A professional hero?”
“Exactly!”
Fubuki nodded rapidly.
“Our whole family is basically in this line of work! I know you’re a university graduate and all, but I’ve heard of people with graduate degrees becoming heroes too, so there’s absolutely no problem!”
I’m actually a university graduate in this setting too?
Lu Yao was surprised.
But yes.
Apparently he was.
If he rummaged around inside his memory, he could find plenty of academic knowledge.
He hadn’t forgotten everything the moment he walked out of university.
So the local version of him had genuinely been educated.
That was actually valuable.
After all, this was the future.
Certain fields of science had already advanced beyond his twenty-first-century Earth.
Even basic scientific knowledge considered common sense here could represent unrealized goals in his original era.
Whether all of it remained universally applicable was another matter.
Science was humanity’s system of knowledge formed by observing and understanding the existence, movement, and rules of the objective world.
Its subject was the universe itself.
If the universe changed, then science naturally changed with it.
Although this world looked extremely similar to Lu Yao’s original one, the small differences had already produced enormous consequences.
In Lu Yao’s world, humans didn’t possess supernatural powers.
Excessive stress caused mental illness rather than turning someone into a monster.
No amount of exercise could make the human body harder than steel.
But aside from those differences, most things were surprisingly similar.
While his thoughts wandered, Lu Yao answered Fubuki.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt—”
Before he finished, Fubuki immediately cheered.
“Great! From now on, the two of us can become an esper hero duo! We’ll aim straight for S-Class and eventually surpass my sister!”
There are multiple things wrong with that sentence.
Fubuki grabbed Lu Yao’s shoulders.
“No time to waste! Let’s go right now! Oh, and Yao—once you become a professional hero, don’t forget to join the Blizzard Group!”
She paused.
“No, wait. You’re already a member!”
Lily, who hadn’t managed to join the conversation, also looked expectant.
The advantage goes to whoever is closest to the target!
“Yes! Exactly, Lord Lu Yao!”
Eyelashes hurriedly added.
“Team operations are common among professional heroes! There’s Tanktop Master’s Tanktopper Army, Atomic Samurai’s three disciples, C-Class alliances that frequently operate together, and so on! Among them, our Blizzard Group is the most formally organized!” This story is hosted at NovelPing.
The world of professional heroes is this complicated too?
It was understandable.
Anyone capable of becoming a professional hero—even C-Class—generally possessed physical and combat ability beyond ordinary people.
But monsters were powerful.
Fighting alone reduced victory rates and increased the risk of death.
So forming parties to hunt monsters was simply more rational.
Contributions would be divided among members, but for most professional heroes, steady progress mattered more.
Lu Yao had already been considering becoming a professional hero anyway.
If so, he might as well follow the flow.
“I don’t really mind.”
He paused.
“But Fubuki… you haven’t been doing anything bad, have you?”
Lu Yao didn’t call her “Big Sis.”
It still felt awkward.
“W-Well…”
Fubuki avoided his eyes.
“W-What exactly counts as something bad?”
“Let me think.”
Lu Yao narrowed his eyes.
He swept his gaze across everyone present.
“For example—being so overwhelmed by Tatsumaki’s strength that you think gathering more people will let you challenge her. So you start suppressing anyone who might threaten your rank, or coercing promising heroes into joining the Blizzard Group… things like that.”
A chill ran down Fubuki’s back.
Her younger brother suddenly carried an intimidating authority that made her instinctively want to shrink.
Not only Fubuki.
The other Blizzard Group members were sweating heavily.
“N-Nothing like that!”
Fubuki tried denying it.
But facing Lu Yao’s eyes, even her voice lost confidence.
Were Yao’s eyes always this sharp?
It feels like I can’t hide any lie from him.
He used to be so gentle and quiet…
Ah.
I remember now.
Whenever Yao got angry, he always looked like this.
Even my sister was afraid of him.
Fubuki remembered the fear of being dominated.
In her memory, Lu Yao had been casual, quiet, calm under nearly any circumstances, and rarely angry.
He possessed a strange charm.
That was one reason Fubuki felt closer to and more affectionate toward her younger brother than toward her older sister.
But on the rare occasions Lu Yao did get angry—
She remembered every single one.
Eventually, Fubuki lowered her head.
“Sorry.”