Looking at the tiger-headed monster whose eyes blazed with fury, Smile Man and Spring Mustachio pushed aside their worry for the young girl’s condition.

Flanking her on either side to shield her behind them, they stared tense-faced at the beast.

To their immense relief, the tiger monster was clearly in terrible shape as well.

His fur was still charred black, and though his muscles appeared more swollen than before, his heavy, ragged breathing betrayed the fact that he was at the very end of his rope.

Yet, this was no reason to let their guard down. It was precisely at the end of its life that a creature might experience a sudden burst of rally-strength, unleashing a force far more terrifying than before.

"Alice! Find a way to use that attack from earlier...!"

Smile Man wanted to coordinate a plan. With the two of them holding the front line, Alice delivering a fatal blow was undoubtedly their safest bet. But before the words could even leave his mouth, a massive, razor-sharp claw was already bearing down right in front of him.

How is that possible!? How did he get so fast all of a sudden!?

CLANG!

The expected surge of agony never came, nor did the gruesome sight of tearing flesh.

By the time Smile Man registered what was happening, he saw a massive white object hard-blocking the claw right before his eyes.

Subconsciously looking down, he realized that the girl who was supposed to be behind them had somehow appeared out in front.

"This strength!?" The tiger monster stared in utter disbelief at his own claws, unable to advance even a single inch. This was an attack he took immense pride in, one capable of shredding steel with ease!

"Alice won’t let you hurt anyone!"

Ignoring the shock of everyone present, the girl hoisted the Sword of Light—which stood a good head taller than she did—directly upward, tossing the tiger monster’s claw aside as if it weighed absolutely nothing.

Immediately after, the muzzle of the Sword of Light tilted upward at an angle. Ensuring her trajectory was aimed safely at the sky, Alice pulled the trigger without a moment’s hesitation.

"Light—!"

A brilliant blue flash illuminated M-City once again.

"This... this thing..." Can it fire consecutively? And without needing to charge?

Spring Mustachio felt his springy, bouncing mustache go completely limp.

"Ta-da!"

Seeing that she had defeated the enemy and resolved the crisis, Alice instantly struck a mission-complete pose.

"Alice has completed her first commission! Together with everyone, we defeated a Demon-level monster!"

What kind of speaking style is that? Well, whatever, she’s a hero after all.

Spring Mustachio, who considered himself a highly normal individual among heroes, chose not to dwell on her eccentric personality. Instead, he scanned their surroundings.

Resolved it together with everyone... where is everyone? She doesn’t mean us, does she?

"Unbelievable..."

Having just contacted Alice, the handler named Yamagami offered his assessment.

As a newly minted A-Class hero, she had actually resolved this crisis in such a short amount of time? Is she really just an A-Class?

No, as it was her first mission, and for a hero who had already undergone testing, the credibility of this ranking wasn’t actually that high.

In fact, while Alice was en route earlier, he had already planned to speak with other departments about thoroughly checking the data of this robot—no, this newcomer.

"Right... isn’t this kid part of the Blizzard Group?" Yamagami rubbed the space between his eyebrows, sensing that his peaceful days were over once again.

In any case, he needed to get this newcomer re-tested for her capabilities as soon as possible... Oh, right.

Yamagami looked over the hero file in his hands a few more times.

In the file, Alice’s ID photo didn’t look rigid at all. Instead, she looked brimming with youthful vitality and innocent charm; just a small smile from her felt instantly healing.

This kid looked like she could be packaged and promoted quite well.

"Resolved!? So fast!?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Receiving Alice’s call, Lily looked at her wristwatch in utter disbelief.

Had it even been two hours yet?

"Yes! The area Alice was just in had no signal, and I had to help everyone with search and rescue activities, so I couldn’t call Lily right away."

On the other end of the line, the girl’s voice showed no signs of exhaustion whatsoever, sounding as energetic as ever.

"It’s fine, as long as you’re okay, Alice..." Lily didn’t care about any of that; she was just thanking the heavens that the girl wasn’t hurt. But then, curiosity got the better of her. "But for it to be this fast, did King already step in by the time you arrived?"

"Huh? Alice didn’t see anyone named King."

Ah? She didn’t see him?

Don’t tell me Alice went over there and wrapped up the battle in just a couple of moves on her own?

After a moment’s thought, Lily stopped dwelling on it. As long as Alice was perfectly fine, her mind was at ease. Otherwise, not only would she feel terrible, but she also wouldn’t be able to face Fubuki-sama.

"Alright then, remember to come back soon, Alice."

"Okay! As soon as the mission to rescue the citizens is over, Alice will head right back!"

Then it probably won’t be anytime soon.

Contrary to what Lily expected, however, the search and rescue mission wasn’t actually that difficult.

If previous rescue missions were difficult because saving people required all sorts of heavy machinery and manpower, now the problem was... how to find more people.

There was absolutely no need to worry about the speed of the rescue.

Debris and obstructions from collapses that would normally take the rescue team ages to clear only required two or three moves from Alice to be swept away. Combined with her incredibly high movement speed, she was essentially on-call the moment a survivor was located.

She didn’t stop for a single moment on the post-disaster battlefield, showing not an ounce of fatigue. Every time she rescued a survivor, she would flash a pure and joyful smile.

All of this was captured by the Hero Association’s operations team and kept as footage.

The day after Alice returned to the Blizzard Group, a call came from the Hero Association, and a message was simultaneously sent to Fubuki.

It was time for Alice to take the written exam and physical fitness test.

Regarding this matter, neither Fubuki nor Alice was particularly worried.

After all, as stated before, if Alice wanted to learn the theoretical knowledge of something, she could do it incredibly fast. As long as there was data, she could master it in an instant.

No matter how tightly guarded the Hero Association’s exam questions were, they couldn’t be completely airtight. Besides, it wasn’t exactly top-secret material; almost all of it could be looked up online.

While she wasn’t worried about the exam or the fitness test, Fubuki was still a little anxious about Alice heading out.

The first time she ran out alone, she ended up in a police station. The second time, she got dragged into a Demon-level battlefield, and it was a sudden dispatch order that took her from one city to another.

Granted, this sudden mission had brought them a substantial income, which was more than enough to recoup the two-million-plus Fubuki had spent before, but Alice’s knack for getting into trouble kept Fubuki on edge.

After all, this child had been fostered with her by someone else, and her own path to becoming stronger down the line relied on the child’s guardian. From a purely selfish standpoint, let alone becoming a hero, she didn’t even want Alice stepping out the front door.

That was why she had used various methods over the past month to draw Alice’s attention, keeping her cooped up inside the headquarters.

Fortunately, this girl absolutely loved playing video games and was perfectly quiet when interacting with a console. In that regard, she was actually very easy to take care of.

A pity... that she ended up choosing the profession of a "hero" in the end... though for Alice, who constantly threw around the word "heroic protagonist," this was probably exactly what she wanted to do.

With a sigh, Fubuki decided to personally escort Alice to the Hero Association again.

Aside from Alice’s testing, Fubuki also wanted to know just how much power she currently possessed.

Up until now, she had only used that Sephira Crystal two or three times, and she hadn’t channeled any immense amount of power from it.

She could feel that the energy she drew upon was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the total reserves within the gem—equivalent to filling a disposable paper cup from a massive water barrel.

Yet, even that fraction of power was several times stronger than her own original strength, allowing her to easily instant-kill a Tiger-level monster.

In fact, because it had been so effortless, she had no idea what the actual upper limit of this power looked like.

This trip to the Hero Association presented an excellent opportunity. Even though there was currently no way to replenish this energy, if she didn’t even understand the limits of the power at her disposal, she would only find her hands tied by her own hesitation.

Thus, the two of them took the train together to A-City.

Well... even though they had made some money recently, they still needed to economize. They hadn’t reached the point where they could splurge recklessly just yet.

Once the payout from Alice’s recent mission cleared into their account, they would have more than enough to buy a relatively prestigious car. They could even buy two—one for daily use and one to keep up appearances.

Stepping off the train, Fubuki ignored the bizarre glances from the surrounding crowd as she pondered.

It was no wonder people were looking at her strangely. A woman dressed in an exquisite plush coat and an elegant dress, with a pearl necklace around her neck, possessing aristocratic and beautiful features, was actually squeezing onto a crowded train right alongside them.

It really did look like two entirely different worlds colliding.

Fortunately, once they walked out of the train station, a high-end black sedan sent by the Hero Association was already waiting for them outside.

There was no need to worry about the weight and size of the Sword of Light.

The Hero Association had come prepared long ago, sending a specially lengthened vehicle. With an extra row of seating, there was no concern about fitting the massive weapon.

Taking the car all the way to the Hero Association headquarters, the receptionist waiting for them stepped forward, guiding them with a polite smile.

Even though she accompanied her for testing, Fubuki didn’t need to retake the written exam. Furthermore, with one being an A-Class and the other a B-Class, their physical testing areas were not in the same place; both were assigned to specialized testing zones.

Soon, the staff led Alice to a sealed room made of an unknown metal on all sides, boasting exceptional airtightness and structural strength.

Alice wasn’t the only one in the room. There was also a tall man with medium-length blue hair, dressed very fashionably.

He possessed a handsome, striking face that naturally drew people’s eyes, but his expression was rather cold, making him look as though he were in a terrible mood.

Alice noticed that his gaze was fixed right on her.

"Hello. You must be the one here for the test today," the blue-haired man—Sweet Mask—said as he walked over to Alice.

Everyone knew him as an individual who loathed evil with a passion, showing absolutely no mercy to wickedness, whether it took the form of monsters or criminals.

But very few people knew that when facing evil, even if the opponent surrendered, was completely defenseless, or had lost all will to fight, he would still ruthlessly choose to eliminate them.

Not only did he hold this stance toward monsters, but he also held incredibly high expectations and demands for heroes, particularly those in the S-Class.

Because he refused to let weak, useless heroes carelessly promote to S-Class, he willfully halted his own advancement, remaining the long-standing Rank 1 of A-Class.

However, this didn’t mean he operated on double standards. While he was strict with others, he also demanded that his own heart remain beautiful and upright.

Before even becoming a hero, he used to perform good deeds in obscurity—clearing trash from the roads, helping the elderly cross the street, and the like.

Operating this way, he leveraged his popularity and money-making capability to become the "poster boy" of the Hero Association, while simultaneously wielding a certain amount of authority and taking on a role akin to a "hero evaluator" within the organization.

And today, the object of his evaluation was this "little girl."

"Hello! I am the ’heroic protagonist’ Alice!" Facing Sweet Mask’s icy expression, Alice flashed a smile completely devoid of shadows, as if she couldn’t feel his hostility at all.

Seeing this, Sweet Mask narrowed his eyes.

A so-called robot was merely something that executed pre-programmed behaviors by selecting choices based on current circumstances.

If he were to think that way while facing a girl with such a crystal-clear smile, he wouldn’t be fit to be called a hero.

With that, Sweet Mask’s icy demeanor softened considerably. "Before the test, I have a question to ask you. Do you truly understand the meaning behind becoming a hero—or what you call a ’heroic protagonist’?"

"Meaning?"

Faced with Sweet Mask’s question, Alice tilted her head.

"Someone who cannot comprehend the meaning of a hero doesn’t deserve to be one. Don’t you think so?" Looking at the puzzled Alice, Sweet Mask’s face grew cold once more.

"If you don’t even understand this, what right do you have to call yourself a hero? To put it plainly, someone like you is nothing more than a weapon of war that just happens to eliminate bad guys."

His words could easily be described as sharp, and could even be taken as a form of provocation and insult.

However, the girl wasn’t bothered by these words in the slightest.

Instead, she asked him in return, "Is it really because they understand the meaning of a heroic protagonist that a heroic protagonist can be called one?"

"?" Sweet Mask frowned.

"Alice feels that a heroic protagonist isn’t an ’identity’ bound by a ’meaning,’ but a ’person’ who saves everyone and is recognized by everyone." Alice beamed at him.

"Even though the current Alice hasn’t become a recognized protagonist yet, Alice will do what a protagonist is supposed to do, and I will become a protagonist recognized by everyone!"

"..."

The girl’s words didn’t directly answer Sweet Mask’s question; it could even be considered a deflection.

However, the reason for this deflection wasn’t that the girl was ignoring the question presented to her, but rather that she fundamentally rejected the premise of the question itself.

The hero she spoke of wasn’t the kind of hero Sweet Mask talked about, but rather the concept that existed in fairy tales from years ago, in video games, and within fantasy worlds.

Were those the heroes in her eyes? Was that how she viewed herself?

"...Let’s leave it at that for now."

After a long silence, Sweet Mask spoke. "You may begin your test."

This didn’t mean Alice’s answer had passed muster in his mind.

It was just that... he needed more time to observe whether this robot was merely reciting a pre-set program, or if she was truly becoming the "heroic protagonist" of her own fantasies.

He would let time provide the answer.

--+--

T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL