Chapter 7: The Modern Butler

It was mayhem. A single person alone was utterly slaughtering the Paradisers, when they were able to take down even a few A-Class hero with their suits alone. Then again, it can't be blamed on them. After all, that single person was Hito Soba, also known as the 'Heavenly Dragon'.

"H-h-h-holy shit! Ru-" A Paradiser said after witnessing the sheer battle power of Soba, but it was too late, as he was already upon him, and with a swift flash his head was disconnected from his body.

Every second a Paradiser died either swiftly or gruesomely, with blood splattering all over the place. Not only that, the power-suits that could destroy a large building were like paper in front of Soba.

"Damn. I guess he didn't need help. He's actually pretty strong... Well, they're terrorists or something, so it's probably okay to kill them..." Saitama said to himself, but then a head rolled towards him, a face of fear and resignation on it.

"...It's probably okay, right?" Saitama asked himself, as he wasn't certain anymore. Meanwhile, Awada was still huddled under the table as per Soba's instructions, whereas Yona literally couldn't hear anything with Saitama's hands over her ears, and her eyes were focused on her ice-cream and her ice-cream alone.

Hammerhead had long since ran away, since he knew that fighting with the 'Heavenly Dragon' was basically seeking death. All he did was get paid by an organization to test out their battle-suits, not get slaughtered by a Dragon-level threat in human form!

"Accepting their proposal was stupid! I knew this was a bad idea!" Hammerhead thought to himself. Sure, he wanted to break in and actually get them himself, and was willing for a few casualties on his side, but then, some robots had actually OFFERED them the suits so they could collect battle-data. Sure, there wasn't any bloodshed, and he was allowed to do anything he wanted with the suits in exchange for the 'battle data' the robots kept on talking about, but he was sure that something was off...

'I can't care less if they hired the 'Heavenly Dragon' to kill us or he was just there by complete coincidence, I'm getting out of here!" Survival was the one and only thing on his mind currently.

Out of nowhere, however, a person dressed in a butler's uniform had suddenly appeared before Hammerhead.

"Ah, so here you are, Hammerhead. But where are your other followers?" The butler asked. He was a young man that had an androgynous appearance, but looked more like a woman due to his delicate features. He also had black hair with large grey eyes. His hair was also tied in a topknot.

"Huh!? Who are you supposed to be then!? Ah, you know what, I don't care. All I care about is getting the hell away from here!" Hammerhead said frantically, as he continued running away.

"I'm afraid-" The butler said, suddenly pulling out three kunai, and throwing them at Hammerhead, aiming for his vital points. Barely registering them, Hammerhead had only noticed them in the nick of time as he raised his hands to block them.

"-that I'll have to bring you back by force. Dead or alive means nothing to me." The butler suddenly smiled. The difference was, it didn't look like one of a human's. It looked more like a demon's smile, being unnaturally curved.

Hammerhead then realized that this was no ordinary butler. After all- WHAT BUTLER HAD THROWING KNIVES AND PINPOINT ACCURACY!? (a certain hell of a butler does)

"Who are you?" Hammerhead asked again.

"I didn't answer the first time, what makes you think I'd answer this time?" The butler said with disdain.

This angered Hammerhead. First, the 'Heavenly Dragon' showed up. Okay, that he couldn't do anything about. Now this prissy, wishy-washy cunt had tried to attack him? Hammerhead?

"You know what, I found a perfect outlet to let my stress out on now. I don't stand a snowflake's chance in all 9 layers of hell against the 'Heavenly Dragon', but hell itself'll freeze over if I'd let some pussy-butler get the better of me!" Hammerhead said, cracking his knuckles.

"What a rude and crude man. Very well, A shame I could not bring you to Mr Zeniru, but I'll simply present your head to him, I suppose." The butler smiled again, this time taking out a ninjato from the inside of his suit.

{Meanwhile, the remains of what used to be Zeniru's largest Ice-Cream Parlor...}

Soba exhaled deeply, looking at the carnage he caused. He had to say... he went slightly overboard. Blood, viscera, shattered pieces of battle-suits...

He even promised to William that he won't get in another fight until they settled their rematch! But then these assholes...

"Sigh... Well, what's done is done." Soba unclenched his fists, heaving a sigh.

"Damn, Soba. Isn't that a little much?" A voice sounded from behind Soba, causing him to turn back.

The person who stated Soba's destruction was none-other than Saitama. His hands were no longer covering Yona's ears, as there were no more screams of death, seeing as everyone else had died. Awada meanwhile was still huddling under the table, covering his ears, doing as Soba said.

"We should clean up a bit. Awada doesn't deal well with blood, or guts." Saitama said, sighing. "Not to mention, you and those suited-guys really wrecked the place. Saitama said, looking around.

There was almost nothing left of the previously largest Ice-Cream Parlor, belonging to Zeniru, it was now 'pile of rubble', belonging to Zeniru. Only Saitama's table had survived the carnage. Well, mostly because Saitama was the one destroying any rubble coming their way with one hand while still covering Yona's ears. And just in time, she had finished her ice-cream.

"Fuaaaah~ Thanks for the meal~." Yona said, patting her belly, which had not changed in shape, despite devouring about 20 kilograms of ice-cream and fudge in the span of ten minutes, which again, pretty much defies the law of conservation of mass.

"The wonders of Yona, indeed. 20 kilos of ice-cream. Gone." Saitama commented.

"Hey, it was delicious, okay?! Oh, wait, where's the rest of the building?" Yona asked, just only noticing the destruction of the ice-cream parlor they were in.

"Let's go, for now." Saitama said, picking Yona up, much to her chagrin, while motioning for Soba to pick up Awada.

[Later, An inconspicuous alleyway...}

"Well, we're finally away from the destruction, now we can talk." Saitama said, laying down Yona, while Soba slowly put down Awada, and poked him, saying, "It's alright, you can get up now."

Only then, did Awada open his eyes and uncover his ears. "I-is everything over? Are we okay?" He asked adorably.

"Yep. We're okay." Soba replied. "Still, why did we end up leaving?" Soba asked.

"Well, if we're the only ones there, the owners probably won't care if we did it or not, we'll probably be the ones they'll ask compensation from." Saitama answered.

"Ah... I see." Soba mused. "That makes sense. Well, we better leave. Let's go collect that bonus already." Soba sighed. This was too much excitement for one day. Also, only Saitama knew about Soba slaughtering everyone else that appeared, Yona was none the wiser, and Awada was huddled like an obedient rabbit, so he didn't know anything. The only one left was Saitama.

"Also, Saitama, could you keep that on the down low?" Soba asked, hoping Saitama won't reveal his actual fighting strength. If he did, it'd cause a lot of problems.

"Keep what on the down low?" Saitama asked, not getting the point.

"Thanks." Soba said, misunderstanding that Saitama understood what he meant.

"Okay... so we should go then-" Soba wanted to leave, but at that moment, the universe shoved a middle finger in his face, in the form of a stray kunai. He expertly dodged it, obviously.

Yes. They happened to be in the same alleyway as the one that Hammerhead and Sonic were fighting in.

"Hmph. You think these petty tricks are enough to take down me?" Sonic jeered. Hammehead was looking worse for wear, however.

"Tch! Fighting in an alleyway is my forte! Don't think I'd go down so easily!" Hammerhead managed to crack a smile in that situation, though. In an alleyway, a single second was enough to turn the tables entirely!

"Eh? I missed one?" Soba wondered aloud as he noticed Hammerhead. His voice, attracting both Sonic and Hammerhead made them both turn to look at him.

Sonic didn't recognize him. But Hammerhead...

"H-H-H-H-H-He's here!" He barely managed to get those words out before sprinting off like a madman. It also wasn't hard-

thwack

-for Soba to catch up instantly and trip Hammerhead.

"Hey, hey, weren't your group acting all high and mighty earlier, huh?" Soba said, his voice dropping the same way as when he had slaughtered the other Paradisers. Soba was obviously still mad.

"Okay, time to cover your ears and think happy thoughts, guys." Saitama said, motioning for his coworker's to cover their eyes and ears, which they did. He didn't want them to think bad about Soba, after all. He may not really care much, but it seemed like a dick move to let his reputation drop into the gutters.

Meanwhile, with Soba, his killing intent was radiating off his body like spears being pointed at anyone close to him. Even Awada and Yona felt the chills as they shivered slightly. Only Saitama and Sonic seemed unfazed.

"Well, there seems to be someone capable of combat here. If he can radiate this much killing intent, he's no stranger to the art of the kill, alright..." Sonic thought.

"I-I-I-I-I just wanted to get out of work, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME-" Hammerhead said, before begging profusely with his life.

"I see you have a relationship with this fellow?" Sonic asked, walking towards Soba.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. This asshole tried to attack us while we were just minding our own business." Soba responded.

"I'd ask to leave him alive, if possible. Mr Zeniru would like to see him alive." Sonic requested.

"Oh, that's fine." Soba said, his previous killing intent disappearing like it was never there.

"He can control his killing intent to such a fine degree? This changes things. He must be a hidden master..." Sonic thought. "Well, Zeniru would be interested in meeting you, actually. Would you mind coming with me?" Sonic asked.

"Eh, sure...?" Soba answered, unsure if he heard that right. Zeniru, President of the multi-trillion yen business Zeniru Ice Cream, that Zeniru?

"Hey, Soba, don't we need to go collect that bonus or something?" Saitama asked.

"We actually still have tomorrow to collect it, so it'd be fine. Also, not like this might take all that long, right?" Soba reasoned.

"But why are we actually going through with this again?" Saitama asked. "I wanna just go collect that bonus already."

"True... but still, he said he's connected with Zeniru... right?" Soba said, a look of greed on his eyes. Having a connection with such a powerful individual would only bring benefits! And according to this butler, he might've actually helped Zeniru out by killing the Paradisers!

"Ah... I get it. But I don't really need it, though. I mean, I already know Genus, and Zeniru is even further below him." Saitama thought, understanding what Soba was hinting at.

"Right. You already know Genus... well, contacts are still good, right?" Soba sighed. Saitama already knew Genus, and a favor from him was basically priceless. Even if Zeniru competed with his entire wealth, the 3rd most powerful person on Earth, Chairman- well, former Chairman Genus was basically comparing a feather and a 10 ton weight. Even if he was retired, he was sure to have some personal fortune, right? And that personal fortune, even if it was just 1% of his original net worth, would trounce Zeniru multiple times over.

Needless to say, Soba envied Saitama for having such a priceless connection. He was basically set for life! That favor would be worth maybe three or four entire city blocks, or at the very least, 5% of the entirety of City A! 5% may not seem much, but remember, this was City A, the literal center of mankind, being the very first city built for the world-unification program held back in the 27th Century. Hundreds of years later, City A still thrives!

"Well, then, this way." Sonic said, leading them. Meanwhile, Hammerhead was obediently following them, considering he can absolutely ZERO chance of escaping.

[30 minutes later, Zeniru's posh-penthouse...}

"Man, this place is still impressive." Saitama commented. Even after seeing it many times before, actually being right next to the building, and actually about to enter the building, it was another thing entirely.

"Being right next to your target yet being unable to accomplish your mission..." Hammerhead mentally groaned, as he had arrived to where he wanted to wreck right after destroying his main source of income, yet he was unable to do anything. He wasn't restrained by chains or anything, those would be nothing against power armor. But he was mulled into obedience, seeing as the 'Heavenly Dragon' was right in front of him. Seeing how he had destroyed his underlings's battle-suits like butter, he knew better than to resist. Not mentioning using 100% of the suit, 100 suits at 100% capacity were basically jokes in front of the 'Heavenly Dragon'.

The butler moved to the lift, and pressed a button which was purple in color, and a poop logo on it.

"Whoever designed the button should be fired. This isn't like balancing a million-ton gold ice-cream statue on a building, this is just a logo. Don't tell me the poop was intentional?" Saitama inwardly sighed. Out of all the possible designs, a purple poop ends up as Zeniru's logo on his lift. It HAD to be intentional, or else someone was fired.

Entering the lift, they soon realized one small problem.

Hammerhead's suit was too big, and even if they could fit, they would be squeezing.

"Take off the suit. It's too big, and suit or no suit, you won't win against us." Sonic, realizing this, ordered Hammerhead. Well, not like Hammerhead could do anything about it.

"EH!? B-but I'm not wearing anything underneath..." Hammerhead said, to which Yona blushed, whereas Soba and Saitama sighed. Awada and Sonic had no reaction.

"Hmm, standing before Zeniru unclothed would be less than sightly... very well. I, Hammerhead and... that reminds me, I haven't gotten your name?" Sonic asked Soba.

"Oh, right. I'm Soba, Hito Soba." Soba introduced himself.

"Ah, Mr Soba. Well then, me, this cretin-" Sonic pointed to Hammerhead, much to his displeasure at being called a 'cretin. "-and Mr Soba will be going first. If you could take the next lift?" Sonic asked the other three, compromising of Saitama, Awada, and Yona.

"That's fine." Saitama responded.

As Sonic, Hammerhead and Soba entered the lift and left, Awada and Yona looked to Saitama for answers.

"...don't look at me. I'm not telling. At least, for your own good." Saitama responded. He didn't want his coworkers to blame him for their nightmares, right? Not to mention they'd distance themselves from Soba for who knows how long after learning he basically brutally butchered a bunch of people? Well, it was the norm for Saitama, whom was a wannabe-hero back then, to see blood, guts and viscera. But these two...?

They might gain PTSD for all he knew. Last time Awada fainted because someone accidentally broke their arm in the office. Well, it could be justified by the fact that it was bent weirdly and really out-of-place. It also looked like it really hurt. Then again, breaking an arm tends to hurt anyway, so yeah. And Yona cried over a paper-cut. Now imagine knowing that Soba had killed... tens of hundreds of people. At least, maybe around a hundred or so.

"Come on, what happened earlier? The whole place was wrecked!" Yona asked.

"No." Saitama said simply.

"Please?" Yona asked again, not wanting to take no for an answer.

"Oh look, the lift's arrived. Let's go." Saitama said, changing the topic.

{The Top Floor, Zeniru's main residence...}

"Hmph. So this is Hammerhead, the one who led the so-called 'Paradisers' in an attempt to destroy my house?" A fat, tan blond man spat, looking down on Hammerhead, whom was kneeling before him.

"Sonic, I am impressed at your handiwork. To finish them all off so fast within such a short period of time, no less?" Zeniru praised Sonic.

"It was not me, whom killed them all, Mr Zeniru. Instead, it is this man, over here." Sonic pointed at Soba.

"Oh, him? Thank you for your efforts, then! I didn't think someone like Sonic would appear! I'd hire you as my bodyguard, but I already have Sonic, over here." Zeniru said, pointing at Sonic. "But, a deed like this must not go unrewarded. I'll pay you as much as you want- within reason, of course." Zeniru said, laughing at the last part. Of course, he could afford practically anything, with only a scant amount of things he wouldn't be able to afford.

"O-oh! Thanks!" Soba thanked sheepishly. "A-any amount is fine, really."

"Hmm... alright. How's 200 million yen wired to you account? I trust you have one?" Zeniru asked.

"O-of course! T-thank you very much!" Soba thanked, bowing at a 90 degree angle, the same way he did when Genus was in front of him.

"Hahahaha! No need to be so anxious, I'm a very friendly person, really." Zeniru said, getting off his chair, patting Soba on his shoulder.

"Anyway, I need to be going. Please, go ahead and enjoy the refreshments before you leave!" Zeniru offered. He then ordered another butler to wire the money to Soba's account, and then he left for another room immediately.

"W-where'd he go?" Soba asked Sonic.

"Oh, Mr Zeniru was in the middle of some business earlier, but then he was interrupted when he heard that the paradisers were launching an attack on him." Sonic answered.

"I see. What was he doing?" Soba asked again.

"Well... let's just say it's better off if you don't know." Sonic said vaguely.

"Oh... must be rich people kinks. I heard rich people can afford anything to fulfill their sick desires... Hopefully his isn't that bad..." Soba thought.

{In Zeniru's private room...}

"Now this. This is the life." Zeniru said to himself. What he was currently doing in his room was-

"Would you like some tea, goshujin-sama?"

-being served by his genetically-engineered catgirl maids.

"Man, I lost count how many times I had to continue funding the underground scientists to research genetic engineering just for this. The moment I heard that they had a breakthrough, I literally came in my pants right then and there." Zeniru thought. "Of course, I would love some." Zeniru answered his slave-maid.

The only reason they were slaves were because they were literally Zeniru's property. But other than that, he still treats them humanely.

"Of course, Master Zeniru." The maid answered, before a loud clang sounded out from the other room.

"What was that?" Zeniru asked.

"Sigh...That must be-" The catgirl-maid sighed, but was then interrupted by another loud clang, with another, blond-haired catgirl maid stomping out the room, covered in what seems to be whipped cream.

"Master Zeniru! Please allow us to be more strict with-" Before she finished her sentence, a third catgirl leapt out of the room, completely white.

"Nishishishi... catch me if you can~" The third catgirl-maid teased, being covered entirely with flour and whipped cream.

"That's enough!" The first catgirl maid ordered sternly. She had black hair and brown eyes.

"Nyeh... big sis is no fun~" The catgirl in all white teased.

"L-lil sis! Stop! Master Zeniru is watching!" The blond-haired catgirl said, which finally quieted the flour and cream covered catgirl.

"HAHAHAHA! It's fine, it's fine. Just remember to take the lessons seriously. After all, your seniors are teaching you with their heart and soul." Zeniru mused.

"See, even master is alright with it~" The flour covered catgirl relaxed after hearing that Zeniru didn't mind.

"M-master, please don't encourage her!" The blond-haired catgirl complained.

"It's fine. You may be my maids, but you are my beloved children and pets first and foremost. Being a maid is just an added bonus." Zeniru said. "The uniforms are crucial, though." Zeniru added.

Usually, being the child and pet of someone at the same time would be morally wrong, but the catgirls themselves technically didn't even exist, being tightly kept secrets themselves, known to only a select few, Zeniru could call them whatever he wanted.

"Yes master~" The three said in unison.

"This is better than heaven itself. If someone discovered a method to manipulate DNA to the point they can create a new species, if the first thing they did wasn't creating catgirls, something is wrong with their brain." Zeniru thought, enjoying his little slice of paradise.

{In an inconspicuous takoyaki shop...}

"Achoo!" A certain genius sneezed.

"Genus Alpha! Are you alright?" A clone of Genus's asked.

"I'm fine. I just sneezed, that's all." Genus answered.

"Strange, didn't we do away with sicknesses like the common cold already when we genetically altered ourselves?" The clone wondered.

"The viruses must've evolved. I'll make it a point to re-engineer ourselves. Improving the physical capabilities of our bodies would be useful, as well." The original Genus, codenamed Genus Alpha made a mental note.

"That, or someone's talking behind your back." Frog-man suggested as he unpacked the new frying equipment.

"Utterly unscientific." The two Genuses said immediately.

{The hallway between the lift and a massive door}

"SaitamaSaitamaSaitamaSaitamaSaitama-" Yona continuously annoyed Saitama to tell her what happened.

On the other hand, Saitama simply ignored her with the divine ability of making people disappear. Well, at least for himself. It was a useful skill no matter the occasion.

Awada was simply walking on the other side, awkwardly accepting the current situation.

"We're about to enter their room. Yona, for the love of my printer, please at least behave." Saitama sighed, before pushing the door open to see-

-Soba and the butler that escorted them earlier locked in an intense battle.

"Not bad... not bad indeed. You truly are a masterful warrior. Some from the village wouldn't even hold a candle to you." Sonic commented, smiling gleefully- well, more like a maniac.

"You're not so bad yourself. Your physical strength needs work, but your speed is excellent! I'm impressed. Really, I am." Soba praised.

"Sigh...now what?" Saitama sighed.

"E-eh!? When did you guys get here?!" Soba asked, shocked.

"Literally just earlier." Saitama deadpanned.

"W-what's going on?" Yona asked.

"All because I agreed to a bout..." Soba facepalmed, before explaining,

"I'm a former underground pro-fighter. I kept this a secret." Soba revealed to everyone.

Everyone, with the exception of Sonic and Saitama, was obviously shocked by the revelation.

"So he used to be part of the underground like me? Intriguing." Sonic thought.

"A former pro-fighter? I wonder if he's strong..." Saitama wondered.

Awada had a look of surprise on his face, and Yona had her mouth wide open.

Awada was the first to break the awkward silence by asking, "S-so you were formerly a pro-fighter?"

"Yep. A damn good one, if I say so myself." Soba confirmed.

"So your previous job description of being a former soba-chef was a lie?" Awada asked.

"Ah- no, I was an actual soba-chef after I quit underground fighting. I was damn good at it as well, actually. Come to think of it, I'm pretty good at making noodles in general." Soba explained.

"I-I see... phew..." Awada said, sighing in relief. "At least the documents don't need changing."

"Oh right, about that, I may as well come clean, I actually am homosexual. I lied about that bit in my resume." Soba confessed.

At that confession, everyone, including Saitama and Sonic was shocked.

"N-no way~" Awada said, slumping down in defeat.

"Hey, I already confessed to being a former underground fighter, being gay isn't all that much of a surprise, is it?" Soba asked.

"Well, no. I can speak for Awada here, changing the employee documents are actually a massive hassle. Despite all the high-tech computers, we keep personal documents in paper form only to protect a good bit of your privacy. Even if it is just about your sexuality. The fact that you're gay, though..." Saitama then went into contemplation.

"Now that makes more sense... I was wondering why that there were two guys under that horse-" Saitama wanted to say, but was then interrupted by Soba.

By interrupted, Soba tackled Saitama and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Shhhhhh! I already confessed two secrets, Saitama, please don't reveal this one yet- or rather at all!" Soba pleaded.

"Ah, oops. Almost let that slip." Saitama nonchalantly said.

"'Ah, oops'?! You almost let out my deepest secret! What the hell man?!" Soba said, panicked. A second later, all of his pride and respect would've been completely gone.

"Now I'm really, really curious! What's with the secrets?!" Yona yelled.

"Soba's an underground fighter, and he's gay! I know that now. But what horse? What guy? Why the secrets?!" Yona said in exasperation.

"Yeah you're not getting the answer." Saitama answered simply.

"GRRRRR!" Yona growled, jumping at Saitama, comically biting at his head.

"So anyway, was there anything we were needed for?" Saitama asked, ignoring the rabid Yona currently biting his head.

"Hm. Not really, no. Mr Zeniru simply wanted to reward Mr Soba for taking out the Paradisers." Sonic answered.

"Okay. Can we go now?" Saitama asked.

"Well, you can go any time you'd like. Zeniru has already wired the money to Mr Soba's account." Sonic said. "But, I'd prefer to finish the bout with Mr Soba." Sonic added.

"Hm? Ah, right. Why were you guys fighting earlier?" Saitama asked.

"Well, I was interested how Mr Soba could take down those Paradisers so easily, and so I requested that we have a little spar." Sonic explained.

"And so we ended up sparring for a bit, until you guys came along." Soba added.

"Uh-huh. Alright we can go now, right?" Saitama asked.

"I said that you may already leave, but if possible, I'd prefer if I could finish the spar with Mr Soba if possible." Sonic said.

"Fine. Soba, finish up quickly, would you?" Saitama groaned. "We'll go first."

As soon as Saitama and the rest left, Sonic and Soba looked at each other, and said,

"Alright, Sonic. Let's finish this, eh?"

"Of course, Mr Soba. I wouldn't want to keep you waiting."

[An indefinite amount of time later...]

"Ah, Soba caught up to us." Awada noted after a gust of wind blew by and Soba appeared.

"Hey, guys." Soba said, stopping his sprint, and walked at a normal pace like everyone else.

"Jeez, if you're so strong, why not be a hero?" Yona asked.

"Maybe cause of the better pay." Saitama reasoned.

"Yep. I actually thought about being a pro-hero if getting another, more stable job didn't work out." Soba answered.

"Actually, some A-Class and all S-Class heroes get paid a lot! Compared to our pay, anyway." Yona said.

"Well, not accounting Awada's." Saitama looked at Awada.

"Well, being a Branch Manager of the Operations Department, Awada obviously has better pay." Soba added.

"Come on, guys! Being a Branch Manager isn't all that much..." Awada said humbly.

"Seriously? You get a miniature cooler in your office and you say it's not all that good? Oh yeah... having a mini-fridge and a personal office is not all that good..." Saitama said sarcastically.

"What's his monthly salary again?" Soba asked.

"Around 3 million yen." Saitama answered.

"Actually, it's only 2.7 million yen..." Awada clarified.

"Monthly." Saitama added.

"Rich guy..." Soba and Yona said in unison.

"Now, now, it may seem a lot, but really, it's not! I mean, Miss Shiro from the Finance Department makes way more!" Awada said.

"Well, duh. She's the Chief Financial Officer. Of course she gets paid more. Hell, I think she's running to get a CEO position now." Saitama retorted.

"Oh, right. I never asked. Who's this 'Miss Shiro' we've heard about?" Soba asked Saitama.

"Yeah, yeah, who's that? I sometimes hear you and Awada talking about her whenever you guys were in the lounge!" Yona asked as well.

"Ah, I forgot you guys came in a bit later than us, so you were trained under someone else." Saitama said.

"Miss Shiro... brings back memories..." Awada said, smiling.

"When I and Awada first joined the company, she was our senior." Saitama answered.

"Sometimes she's fierce..." Awada smiled.

"And sometimes she's really kind." Saitama reminisced.

"Sometimes she's incredibly good at work! That time we struggled to finish that pile of paperwork, she knocked it down in less than an hour!" Awada praised her.

"...and sometimes she messes up. Real bad." Saitama snickered.

"Hahaha! Oh, right! That time she accidentally got us to the wrong city at the wrong time and the wrong day! All at once!" Awada remembered.

"Ah, the only time I saw her face was anything but pale-white." Saitama said, stifling a laugh. "I've seen red paint less red than her face at the time."

"So... she was the senior that trained you two?" Soba asked.

"Yep. We were all part of the first batch of interns, so us both were working under Miss Shiro at the time, before we actually became real employees." Saitama answered.

"Ah... our internship. I remember that I needed Saitama to basically carry me at the time." Awada said, remembering his intern days.

"Hmph, don't need to say any more. Had I not helped you so much, you might not have even been able to secure the job." Saitama said jokingly.

"Yep, I might even be stuck in internship forever!" Awada joked back.

"Well, anyway, Miss Shiro was the senior that trained me and Awada, and is the current Chief Financial Officer, and I think she's planning to run for a CEO position soon enough." Saitama answered Soba's question.

"Wait... the Chief Financial Officer? You can't be saying that- wait, hold on..." Soba then went deep in thought.

"Miss Shiro... Shirosagi Tsukikari... ARE YOU SAYING YOU GUYS WERE TRAINED UNDER SHIROSAGI TSUKIKARI, THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER!?" Soba yelled in shock from this revelation.

"Dude. We literally just said that." Saitama said after uncovering his ears. "Also, stop shouting. We're still in public."

True enough, some people stopped what they were doing and looked at them due to the shout earlier.

"We should get going." Saitama said, walking briskly, as so to get away from the current location as fast as possible as to not attract attention.

[15 minutes later...]

"...and we're in Greyreach." Saitama hinted at an Elder Parchment V: Ymirsk reference.

...which was sadly not understood as the three others looked at him in confusion.

"Come on. Yona and Awada I understand. But Soba? Seriously, did you not play games in your childhood?" Saitama asked.

"I did, but I don't think I'm getting that reference at all?" Soba said, still confused.

"Elder Parchment V: Ymirsk. What the hell." Saitama said disappointedly. "What did you play as a kid? Angry Barrels?"

"Ouch... I never got the opportunity to play Elder Parchment V: Ymirsk, so I don't know understand that reference. But Angry Barrels... dude, my heart." Soba said, comically clutching his heart in anguish.

"Mobile Gamer." Saitama said, as all his respect for Soba, however minuscule the remainder was, had utterly evaporated into nothingness.

"I'm not!" Soba defended himself vehemently.

"Whatever. Anyway, we're here." Saitama said, pointing out that they had arrived back at their main workplace in City A, Meliorem Group Headquarters.

"I always wondered what 'Meliorem' meant..." Yona wondered aloud, looking at the name of the building, advertised on itself.

"I think I read this before. It meant 'improve' in Latin or something..." Soba tried to explain.

"It is. Meliorem means 'improve' in Latin. The first chairman, Genus the 1st, said that it was a group whose goal was improvement of humanity in general, hence the name." Awada explained.

"Hey, how do you know that?" Soba asked.

"Well, we're told that when we first join. Remember when we first join, there's a New Employees Reception Event, right?" Awada asked.

"Oh, yeah. Was that part of the long speech that they had at the time?" Saitama asked.

"Yep. And also, once you get to a position higher than a floor manager, like a branch manager, you get to go for another gathering, and there's a second speech during THAT reception, but it's not as long, though." Awada said.

"What we also got as part of being a branch manager is our own personal office, like I do, and we also have a poster of the first chairman, with his famous quote underneath, which was 'Strive to improve, for that is what makes a human.' That poster is in every single personal office." Awada added. "Hey, Saitama, didn't you notice the poster in my office? It was always right beside the coffee maker."

"Really? I never noticed." Saitama said, stroking his chin in thought.

"Saitama's not the observant type, huh?" Soba joked.

"Shut it, you mobile gamer." Saitama shot, which caused Soba to comically clutch his heart in agony again.

{Saitama's Cubicle, 15 minutes later...]

Going back to the everyday grind, Saitama was back in his cubicle, doing his work. After everyone collected their bonus, everyone went back to their respective places at once.

"Alrighty. The 500,000 yen bonus! Time to splurge when I get back. Been some time since I had good hotpot. Though trying out new foods isn't all that bad either..." Saitama said to himself.

Putting the bonus into his wallet, it went from normal-sized to stupid-thick. Anyway, Saitama was actually allowed to go back for the day, since he and the others were actually expected to finish up a few days later, they were basically free until then. Soba had already left, Yona was back in the lounge enjoying juice, and Awada... Awada had stuff to do. As Branch Manager, he was obviously way busier than everyone else.

Saitama... Saitama just went back to work. Since he was actually free until then, this actually counted as overtime, so he'd enjoy another pay-boost. Money was something that drove Saitama to the utmost limits. Well, then again, it drove everyone to the utmost limits. It just worked on Saitama a little better.

Getting on his computer, he received the assignments he was given, and started work.

[6 hours later, 5.p.m...]

Saitama stretched himself, as he yawned. As world-shakingly strong as he was, sitting in the same spot for over 6 hours doing work would be more boring than watching paint dry.

Getting up from his desk, everyone was still doing work as usual. It was only 5, after all. Everyone was allowed to go back home at 6 p.m, but with the OT pay? No way in hell. 5,000 yen per hour was serious cash. As Saitama's 6 hours weren't considered working hours, he was paid the usual OT-amount, which was 30,000 yen. A few more hours and he would have enough to pay for a month's rent. 10 hours of work for one month of rent? That was pretty much unheard of. Well, it had something to do with Saitama's place of living being dirt-cheap.

"I'll to go the lounge for a bit. Get some sandwiches." Saitama said, getting up to go to the middle-floors.

{The Lounge-floor...}

Saitama arrived at the lounge, moving towards the snack bar. The previous mayo and seaweed sandwiches were replaced with... ham and cheese. Well, at least today's sandwiches made sense.

Grabbing a few, he ate one while bringing the rest to his cubicle. He was planning to eat while working.

{Saitama's cubicle (again)}

Placing the other two sandwiches on the side, he went back to work. But as he turned the screen on, he saw a notification.

"Hm? Out of aluminium... Wait, didn't I already ask Awada to get them to restock on aluminium already? We were critically low on aluminium already, which was why I sent word to Awada..." Saitama wondered. "Why do we need aluminium, anyway? Doesn't the main company just like, manages the other company subsidiaries?" Saitama asked himself.

"Well, if you wanna do something right, you gotta do it yourself, I guess. I'm just going to go look for the guys in charge of stock myself." Saitama said, getting back out from his seat.

Sighing, he said to himself, "I hope this doesn't end up like that one time..."

{Basement...}

As the lift opened, Saitama was greeted with the as-usual musty smell of the storerooms. The basement was used as a storage facility for stock, like old computers, toilet paper, file binders, etc. Everything that would be needed would be located here. Well, everything inorganic, at least. But apart form that, anything conceivable that could or would be used in an office setting was there. Everything, too. Aside from things like those, there were also other things.

Such as toilet paper, detergent, a Cthulhu shrine, adult diapers, sleeping bags, sacrificial knives, ironing boards, guns, ammunition, gas masks, potted plants...

Wait... something wasn't right there.

Guns? Ammunition? Gas masks?

"Eh? When were these here?" Saitama said, looking at the guns poking out from a duffle bag, along with some gas masks and ammunition. Those were definitely not meant to be here...

The security guards's armory was on the 6th floor, and all they had were handguns, tasers, and batons! And they were only authorized to carry Five-SeveNs!

...When did security get AK-47s, Galil-ARs, Sawed-Offs, Tec-9s... and some grenades? And was that a Negev?

Okay, something was definitely going on here.

As Saitama picked up a gun to take a look, a voice called out from behind.

"Ey, someone found the stash!"

Turning around, Saitama saw it was a black-skinned man wearing a suit, followed by some other people whom were all wearing formal attire. They were all wearing sunglasses. Except one, who was wearing aviator ones, which made him look more intimidating.

"Oh? Good. We don't need to waste time. There's already a hostage ripe for us to use." Another man said. He was wearing aviator sunglasses and had the look of a seasoned veteran.

"Boss, you think we should get another one? Just in case?" A thick-bearded man asked.

"We should, but I think one's enough. Not like they'd be able to resist or anything." A man with a buzz-cut suggested.

"Don't underestimate them. All of them have received at least some level of self-defense classes provided, so don't go thinking they're your average civilian. If you turn your back on them, they'll be able to take you by surprise." The leader among them warned.

"Alright. You there, put yo hands up if you don't wanna die!" The black-skinned one said, pointing a gun at him.

"Sigh... come on. Really?" Saitama mentally sighed. Well, he could just take them all down now. But as he thought about taking them down, he remembered a certain something from his employee manual. Yes, he did read his employee manual, just not all that much. He hadn't even gotten through half of the book before losing it somehow.

Either way, there was something else stated in the manual.

"Section 4;21, if an employee is taken hostage and/or used by malicious forces against the company, the employee will not only be not responsible for the act, but the employee will also be given money as compensation due to failure of security and paid leave (depending on situation) if deemed unfit for work."

Remembering that, a smile came onto Saitama's face.

"Hey, what'chu smiling for, huh? I said get yo ass down!" The black-skinned man threatened, cocking his Desert Eagle.

"Alright, alright." Saitama said, getting down on his knees and placing his hands behind his head.

"Compensation, huh... I wonder how much." Saitama thought to himself.

Here's Chapter 7! Give reviews on your opinions, and as usual, more information below.

1) Soba being gay was just a twist I thought about in the very last second. I literally went: "Hmm, what should I do to make an unexpected twist that won't help the story whatsoever in the short run? Oh, I know! Make him gay!" It IS actually part of the story, though, despite being meant to be only a joke. Who knows, maybe it'll be helpful in later chapters or something. And yes, I know. It seems like I'm making fun of gay people. Don't worry, no actual offense meant. Though if you'd like it to offend you, I'm perfectly happy with that.

2) Saitama got his job 31536000 seconds after he started training.

3) Elder Parchment V: Ymirsk is an obvious nod to Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, with Ymirsk being an anagram of Skyrim. Angry Barrels was meant to be a knockoff of Angry Birds, before I searched it on Google just in-case and I realized that someone had actually made a video on that. Well aren't I the uncultured swine?