"Shouldn't you be about done by now? It's been long enough—you should have recovered by this point."
Half an hour later, Zuke walked out of the study in Tatsumaki's home and glanced at her still lying face-down on the couch, unable to hide his exasperation.
Earlier, he had used Tatsumaki's computer to look up information about this world and even played some of its games, giving her plenty of time to recover. It was just some minor superficial injuries—even an ordinary person would have felt a bit better after half an hour, let alone a powerful esper like Tatsumaki.
"......"
Tatsumaki let out a weak sound of protest, her tone still filled with resentment toward Zuke.
But when she lifted her head and saw him casually rolling his wrist, she shuddered and immediately fell silent.
She had gained a deeper understanding of Zuke's unpredictable temperament. If she kept talking back, there was an 80% chance he would spank her again.
Zuke looked young, probably even younger than her, yet he had resorted to this method to discipline her.
Just thinking about how she had been spanked to tears earlier made Tatsumaki wish she could burrow into the ground out of sheer humiliation.
Fearing that Zuke might actually follow through, she finally relented:
"Fine, I'll help you contact the Hero Association's higher-ups, okay?!"
"See? Was that so hard?"
Zuke chuckled, crouching in front of the couch to meet Tatsumaki's gaze.
"What, not worried I'll pose a threat to the Hero Association now?"
Though Tatsumaki didn't particularly like the Hero Association's executives, she had been right about one thing earlier—if they all vanished, the organization would be thrown into chaos.
Most heroes were rule-followers who wouldn't use their powers to extort money. If the higher-ups were killed, the heroes' salaries would likely go unpaid, and the entire system might collapse.
"...Shut up!"
Tatsumaki glared at Zuke. Despite her lingering dissatisfaction, she had no choice but to comply with his demands.
She had noticed that, while Zuke's methods were unorthodox, he didn't seem to harbor the same malice toward humanity as the monsters did.
If he wasn't a monster, then helping him contact the Hero Association's leadership wasn't completely unreasonable.
Besides, hadn't those higher-ups been looking to bolster the Hero Association's combat strength? Delivering such a powerful fighter to them should make them happy, right?
The thought of those bloated, self-important executives suffering under Zuke's whims filled her with a dark sense of satisfaction.
It was the kind of "If I had to suffer, you bastards aren't getting off easy either" mentality.
As for whether Zuke would resort to violence against them… that was practically a given.
Those executives looked down on heroes, believing money could buy their compliance—but Zuke clearly wasn't that type.
The moment one of them mouthed off to him, things would get interesting.
Just imagining it made the humiliation and pain from her spanking feel a little more bearable.
"Alright, since you're cooperating, I'll let you off this time."
Seeing that Tatsumaki no longer seemed inclined to resist, Zuke flicked his fingers.
Instantly, the "clay-like" substance wrapped around Tatsumaki's body peeled away and flowed back into Zuke's arm like liquid.
Just like Majin Buu.
"...So that thing really is part of your body."
[...]
Though Zuke had mentioned it earlier, seeing the binding substance merge back into him still left Tatsumaki with an indescribable feeling.
Now freed, she carefully floated up from the couch—her backside still hurt too much to walk normally.
Even the slightest leg movement sent sharp jolts of pain radiating through her, forcing her to rely entirely on telekinesis for mobility.
Until she found a way to counter Zuke, she decided it was best to play along.
But once she did figure out how to deal with him… Hmph, I'll make sure his ass ends up just as swollen as mine!
"Alright, I've relayed the situation. They said there's a meeting tomorrow about a monster-hunting operation."
After a moment, Tatsumaki set down her phone and gingerly levitated upright.
Given her current condition, she'd have to rely on flight for a while—walking was out of the question.
"So we have to wait until tomorrow to meet them?"
Zuke frowned. He had assumed Tatsumaki could summon the Hero Association's higher-ups immediately.
"You didn't actually think those guys would drop everything just because an S-Class hero told them to, did you?"
Noticing his expression, Tatsumaki couldn't help but smirk.
"Those useless pigs wouldn't gather just on an S-Class hero's word—unless… unless there's a major emergency."
She had almost said, "Unless you go cause a major emergency right now," but hesitated and swallowed the words.
She knew Zuke well enough now—if she did suggest it, he might very well go stir up some chaos.
Zuke ignored her near-slip, but his frown deepened as his opinion of the Hero Association's leadership sank even lower.
Originally, he had planned to intimidate them into submission with overwhelming force, just as he had with the Shinomiya family.
Despite housing many powerful heroes, the Hero Association's executives—with few exceptions—were spineless cowards.
In the original story, they had even attempted to negotiate with the Monster Association. They should be easy to intimidate.
But now, Zuke wasn't even in the mood for that.
Maybe I'll just stuff a "Black Bird: Lover" into each of their ears tomorrow.
Since they valued their lives so much, controlling them with parasitic restraints would be simpler than flexing his power.
It would also serve as a test—whether fear-based submission counted as "acknowledging Zuke as king" for the purposes of his "King's Army" ability.
".........I feel like you're plotting something terrible."
Tatsumaki studied Zuke's darkening expression and instinctively sensed danger.
She silently mourned for the Hero Association's executives for a brief second—
As long as they stay alive to keep the Hero Association running, whatever he does to them… well, that's their problem.
To be continued…
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