- My Pov -

Because I don't want the Hero Association staff to see my presence in this place with Mizuki, so I suggest moving places.

"Hey, Mizuki, will you accompany me to the cafe?" I asked Mizuki, who was currently doing small stretches, like stretching her arms and doing a few small jumps.

It would be accurate to say that 'It looks like Mizuki really behaves like in the original story' because Mizuki is depicted in the manga as a very lively and cheerful character, as can be guessed from her running track outfit.

"Cafe? right now?" After a moment of silence when Mizuki seemed to consider my Request, I added, "Yeah, aren't you thirsty after the fight?"

"Hmm, I do, but I'm not used to going to cafes. Normally, I just buy cold drinks from vending machines."

"Then let's go now," after saying that, I immediately walked away to find the nearest vending machine. In the meantime, Mizuki, who was following closely behind me, urgently yelled, "Wait a minute, Kaiser, how about this bag?"

Mizuki then walked beside me and showed me the pink bag that she was holding. It was immediately obvious to me that the bag belonged to the pedestrian who had been stolen by the monster lizard earlier.

"You can return it later. After all, the owner has run away somewhere," I said in a disinterested tone, and Mizuki could only nod as if she agreed with what I said.

Not long after, I finally saw a vending machine not too far away. Since the surrounding area was fairly deserted due to the appearance of the lizard monster earlier, I could spend some time alone with Mizuki without having to worry about being interrupted.

Because Mizuki is a 71st-ranked B-class Hero, she is naturally very well-known and has many devoted fans who adore her for her abilities and beauty.

"How does the hero ranking system work? Will your rank go up after defeating the lizard monster earlier, Mizuki?" I inquired about it while I was selecting a beverage from the vending machine.

Because, if I'm being completely honest, I don't have any information about it, and I've always considered the ranking system used by the Hero Association to be pointless.

"As far as I know, as long as you defeat the monsters and report them, your rank will go up by itself. However, I don't think the lizard monster from earlier will have any impact on my ranking."

Mizuki enthusiastically explained it while leaning next to the vending machine, but I was a little distracted because I was a little surprised after seeing Mizuki, who was slightly taller than the vending machine.

"Is it because the lizard monster just now isn't that dangerous?" I think that's the reason because the higher the rank of a Hero, the more effort it takes to rank up.

"Yeah, you're absolutely right. You noticed that as well. the appearance of the lizard monster didn't even trigger any kind of warning, which means that the lizard monster wasn't even a wolf level threat," After hearing what Mizuki had to say, all I could do was nod my head in agreement. Of course, I was aware of the main reason for that, but I asked just to have a small talk with her.

After that, I checked through the system one more time to ensure that the data pertaining to the disaster level in the One Punch Man world was accurate.

[Wolf: Any possible threat that poses a risk to an undetermined degree.]

[Tiger: Anything that poses a risk to a significant number of people.]

[Demon: Any danger that may befall a city and its inhabitants.]

[Dragon: Any threat that affects more than one city.]

[God: A threat endangering the survival of humanity in general.]

"Hey, what's taking you so long, Kaiser? Have you decided which drink to go with yet?" When Mizuki noticed that I was being quiet, she gave me a firm pat on the shoulder, which caused me to become somewhat startled.

"As always, you are unable to control yourself, huh," I mumbled something quietly, then I pushed the button on the vending machine, and I heard a can fall. After that, I took the can containing my iced coffee from the machine.

"did you say something Kaiser?" As soon as I heard Mizuki's question, I turned away from the vending machine and made my way to a seat, where I remarked, "I'm just saying, that you're so cute."

After hearing my compliment, Mizuki immediately burst out laughing, but after that, she said nothing and focused on selected beverages from the vending machine instead.

I don't know if Mizuki took a long time to decide on the purpose, but she had been standing in front of the vending machine for five minutes, and when I saw the reflection of the glass in the vending machine, I knew why...

'Are all the female characters in this world of One Punch Man so pure?' I said to myself in amazement.

Because the mirror reflection of the vending machine allowed me to see Mizuki's face faintly blushing, and because Mizuki seemed to suddenly realize that she had been behaving oddly, she hurriedly pressed any button that she could find.

*clack

Mizuki hurriedly knelt down and picked up the can of drink hurriedly. Afterwards, she walked over to me while maintaining her usual cheery expression.

As if nothing had happened, Mizuki then sat next to me, who saw her cute behavior and just kept quiet and didn't really mind it too much.

"Hey, Mizuki! When you hunt monsters, do you always go alone?" I asked while cracking open the can of iced coffee I was holding and taking a gulp from it.

Mizuki casually responded, "Yeah, I'm always alone, but if the monster I'm facing is really strong, I usually team up with other heroes."

"Ahh… so sour!" Mizuki exclaimed as she stuck her tongue out and creased her brows in concentration. It turned out that the drink Mizuki chose randomly from the vending machine was yogurt, which explains why it had such a tart flavor.