Chapter 358 - 3: His Footsteps Kept Getting Faster and Faster

Chapter 358: Chapter 3: His Footsteps Kept Getting Faster and Faster

Displeased that the Hero Association had made a decision for her without permission, Tatsumaki naturally threw a tantrum like a little child.

In the end, however, she still accepted it. After all, even she understood that since she had been the one to place the seal, she might be the only person capable of keeping this child under control.

"If you want food, order takeout yourself. The landline is on the table. Do you know how to use it? If you don’t, I don’t have time to teach you. I’m very busy."

Tatsumaki folded her arms and stood on the floor, looking down at Yimi. It was rare for her to meet someone shorter than herself, so for once she did not bother floating.

Because Yimi still had doubts about the relationship between Madoka and Tatsumaki, she did not resist and obediently let Tatsumaki carry her home. Compared with the people who had taken her in across the previous worlds, however, this one was far too awful.

She definitely was not Madoka.

Sitting on a stool, Yimi swung her dangling legs. "Are you the strongest?"

"Why should I tell you? You talk way too much. Can’t you just sit there quietly and be a mascot? At least then I’d feel like there was some value in keeping you around."

"Stinky small fry, green-haired dumbass version of Madoka, no panties." Yimi was not about to put up with Tatsumaki’s sharp tongue either. She pointed straight at her nose and fired back.

"You ferret! Who says I’m not wearing panties?!"

"You aren’t wearing any at all." Yimi pointed at the slit in Tatsumaki’s dress that opened above her thigh.

Tatsumaki glanced down at herself, clenched a fist in embarrassed fury, and stomped her foot before shooting back sarcastically.

"Forget it. I’m not even going to warn you not to run around outside. The moment someone like you goes out, you’ll probably get mistaken for a monster and taken out anyway. Break a single thing in my house and I’ll sell you to pay for it, though I doubt you’re worth much. Bye!"

Out of sight, out of mind. She flew out the window.

"Mm." Yimi hopped off the chair, conflicted.

It felt like she had won the argument, but faced with Tatsumaki’s words, the kitty still found herself at a loss for insults.

"System 0.0 no longer provides insult-training services." The System cut her off before Yimi could ask.

Useless.

Yimi looked around Tatsumaki’s home. There was nothing particularly unusual aside from things being scattered around. The TV remote had at least been left neatly beside the sofa. After all, no matter how convenient psychokinesis was, it was still a pain if you couldn’t find something because you hadn’t kept it nearby.

Yimi had learned how to use a remote back in Madoka’s world, so she turned on the TV and changed channels.

She knew televisions often broadcast important information, such as Diego Brando being that blind Dora’s cousin or something.

"Yesterday, a large number of Disaster Level: Tiger monsters appeared in B-City. B-Class Rank 1, Blizzard of Hell, led the Blizzard Group to the scene in time..."

"Rank one?"

The kitty had no idea what the difference between S, B, or whatever classes was. She only heard "rank one."

Yimi stared at the tall woman on television for a while and realized that she looked rather similar to Tatsumaki.

Luck EX was not the same thing as getting whatever she wished for. When she had gone back before and used a Teleport Crystal, it had randomly sent her straight to where she wanted to go, but that had been during a critical moment.

The time before that, when she had used one to look for Asuna, she had accidentally ended up in a hospital. So she could not simply use a crystal to search for this woman who might be the strongest.

Yimi rubbed her belly. For now, she needed to solve the problem of lunch. The green-haired dumbass version of Madoka was the only person who had brought her home without feeding her, but the kitty did not want someone like that petting her head either.

She pulled out one of the bills Kaname Tomohisa had given her as pocket money, slapped it on the table, then ran to the refrigerator and opened it. The only thing she saw was a single fruit on the highest shelf.

She could not reach it, but that was no problem.

Yimi turned back into a kitten and jumped up.

"So ugly."

After going out to find a few monsters to kill for fun and calming her irritated mood, Tatsumaki flew back home.

There was absolutely no reason for her to argue with some brat. She was a mature twenty-eight-year-old woman. By age alone, she was already old enough to be that little brat’s mother.

Right. No matter how unwilling she was, she now counted as the child’s guardian. If the brat annoyed her, Tatsumaki could perfectly well put her over her knee and spank her.

Having calmed down, Tatsumaki walked inside. At first glance, she did not see the brat anywhere.

Did she really run out?

Tatsumaki flew over to the sofa and found a strangely colored cat looking up at her.

A huge patch of fur from the cat’s chin down to her chest was stained red, while the remains of the dragon fruit Tatsumaki had left in the refrigerator lay mutilated on the floor.

Tatsumaki’s expression twisted slightly. "You..."

"Why did you come back in, different clothes?" Yimi asked curiously.

"Couldn’t I have changed because I was cold?" Tatsumaki looked down at what she was wearing.

No. Changing clothes made it feel like the brat had won. She needed to change back.

"Then are you wearing panties now?"

"Shut up! I haven’t even settled the mess you made! Why did you suddenly turn into a cat? You really are a monster, aren’t you?"

"What’s a monster?" Yimi shook her little cat head, transferred away the misfortune of being dirty, then returned to human form. This fruit was really delicious.

She pointed at the television. "I just saw, your mom."

"Hah?"

"She’s called Blizzard of Hell."

So green-haired dumbass Madoka’s mother was actually the strongest person in this world. Yimi now had one more reason to stay.

"..."

Tatsumaki’s face twisted again. She pressed an index finger against Yimi’s forehead. "What made you think she looked like my mother? Fubuki is my younger sister!"

"Younger sister?" Yimi looked Tatsumaki up and down.

She had not even said what came next, yet Tatsumaki already felt thoroughly insulted.

This time, however, she did not explode like a lit stick of dynamite.

"What did the TV say?"

"It said she brought people, and beat a tiger."

"A Disaster Level: Tiger monster? Something like that doesn’t even get ten seconds on the news anymore."

Tatsumaki snorted, stripped off the clothes she had just bought, and tossed them aside. She casually kicked off her black high heels as well. Then she used psychic power to gather the stains Yimi had made on the floor while eating the dragon fruit into a ball and threw it straight out the window.

She flew onto the bed and sprawled out like a starfish, eyes open as she stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. She did not seem particularly concerned about Yimi having turned into a cat earlier.

Yimi walked over and leaned against the side of the bed, staring at her without blinking.

Tatsumaki glanced at her. "Do you still need formula mixed for you?"

If the brat kept quiet and stopped irritating her, then judging by appearance alone, having her around as a mascot might not be so bad.

Yimi patted her. "Where do I sleep?"

"On the floor." That was what Tatsumaki said, but she still shifted toward the corner and made some room for her.

Why did she have to deal with this mess?

* * *

"She keeps saying she’s not a child, so if that’s true, she should stop causing trouble for everyone." Child Emperor complained as he used the tools in his backpack to repair the communications equipment.

The Association’s unauthorized decision had angered Tatsumaki. Her tantrum had only caused some shaking, but she had lost control and damaged important equipment, leaving the entire building without electricity or network access.

The headquarters building had been meticulously constructed by S-Class Rank 6 Metal Knight. Even if all of A-City were destroyed, the building itself might remain undamaged. Yet even so, it still seemed a little inadequate against Tatsumaki.

Heroes who needed to contact the Association were probably panicking by now. For the sake of the Hero Association’s prestige, and because they wanted to conceal the fact that Tatsumaki had caused the mess, the Association was still making up excuses and had not issued any statement.

"Child Emperor-kun, this wasn’t because she was angry at you. Little Tatsumaki probably acted like this because the Association decided something without asking her," Superalloy Darkshine said while chatting with him.

"It’s not like I’m scared of her. I just don’t want her causing trouble for me while I’m working."

Child Emperor held his lollipop between his fingers, his gaze drifting aside. "It’s hard to imagine someone as petty as her not holding a grudge. If you’re saying that, then something more important must have caught her attention, right?"

Superalloy Darkshine rubbed his chin in thought.

"This morning, she brought in a little girl who looked about seven. She asked why I didn’t suspect the girl was her daughter, then when I asked, Tatsumaki said the girl wasn’t her daughter. But when Tatsumaki said that, the little girl looked completely shocked, like she was about to cry."

"Seriously? Is she really not a child?" Child Emperor nearly dropped the lollipop in his hand.

"No idea. It’d be bad if this turned into a rumor, but she really did take the girl out just now. It looked like they were going home."

"Well... even if it’s true, if she’s hiding it herself, we shouldn’t spread it around." Child Emperor kept smiling.

He really wanted to investigate Little Tatsumaki’s background again.

Tap—

A sound came from outside the electrical control room, making both of them look over instinctively.

* * *

Blizzard of Hell, B-Class Rank 1.

She deliberately maintained that ranking instead of advancing into A-Class, preferring to be first in B-Class rather than near the bottom of A-Class.

While making her routine call to headquarters about retaining her rank, the line had suddenly gone dead without any announcement.

B-City was not far from A-City anyway. Although there was a chance she would run into her older sister, whom she did not get along with, Fubuki still brought her people over to check the situation.

After they learned what had happened, one of her subordinates merely happened to pass the electrical control room on his way to the restroom and accidentally overheard that conversation.

He pretended nothing had happened as he walked past.

His footsteps kept getting faster and faster.