Hey guys! I'm back with the second part. I've got nothing important to announce in the meantime. So enjoy the second part of the chapter.
City - Z
After living in the apartment for a few days now, Nadia continued to pass the time by reading a book from the shelf and beside her was a stack of at least ten books organized and alphabetized.
As for Assassin, She remained idle in her spirit form. After some time, Nadia closed her eleventh book and stands up from the floor.
"Are you going somewhere?" Assassin questioned,
"The Library," Nadia answered, and picks up a couple of books that she had borrowed, "I'm going to borrow more books. In the meantime, you stay here and keep watch in case a monster roams nearby. If you see one, you are free to engage with extreme prejudice,"
"Understood," Assassin responded,
Nadia puts the borrowed books inside a backpack, then carried them around her back. She then walks out of the door but notices Saitama walking out of his room as well.
"Oh, Hello, Saitama-san," Nadia greeted with a bow, "Are you going out as well?"
"Yeah," Saitama replied, "I'm just going to head out to eat and all,"
"I see," Nadia understood, "Well, I'll be going to the library in City - A,"
"Okay, you be careful out there," Saitama told,
"I will," Nadia said,
The two walked down the stairs together, then went separate ways afterward.
City - A
The streets are still crowded as ever despite hearing about a recent incident of a monster that attacked this city a few days ago.
Nadia was seen walking among the crowd, then spots the library and goes up the steps.
First off, she went to the counter and rang the bell once as she waits for the librarian to come. A few minutes later, the Librarian arrives and immediately notices Nadia.
"Oh, I'm so glad that you've come to visit again, Nadia," The Librarian said, "Are you here to borrow some books again,"
"Umu~ I'm also here to return these books that I borrowed," Nadia said as she pulls out the books she borrowed and placed them on the counter including her own library card,
"And on time as well," The Librarian said as she took the books and signed the return date on Nadia's library card, "I hope you've been doing well over the past few days. I rarely have children come these days,"
"I'm fine, thank you for asking," Nadia said, "I also found a place to stay, so you don't have to worry about me living in the streets again,"
"I'm glad to hear that," The Librarian said, and finishes with Nadia's library card, "Feel free to borrow whatever book you desire. In fact, I recently restocked some books on that aisle over there,"
"Thank you!" Nadia thanked, then went to the designated aisle,
The Librarian simply watched her go while recalling the day she first met her,
Flashback...
The Librarian was on her way to work until she found Nadia sleeping by the steps of her library. She went near her, kneels down, and gently shook her a bit.
When Nadia groggily woke up, she slowly sat up from the ground and rubbed her eyes a couple of times, "Hello,"
"Why are you out here, Little Girl?" The Librarian questioned,
"I'm sorry, I thought that by staying here. I'd hope that I'll be able to enter early and read some books in the library," Nadia answered, "I hope I wasn't much trouble,"
"No need to apologize, but why lie here on the streets? Don't you have a home?" The Librarian questioned, and Nadia shook her head in response,
The Librarian then pitied the girl, but she decided to fulfill her request by offering her hand to Nadia, "Then, How about we open the library together? I happen to be the very librarian of this place,"
Nadia brightens up a little and takes the Librarian's hand. The two then went inside the library and opened the library.
Even with few patrons entering the library at this hour, The Librarian focused on her job while Nadia took a seat and began to read. In a span of three hours, the Librarian was surprised that this little girl had finished reading books containing up to 100 pages on average, properly stacked and organized alphabetically.
But those moments of fascination had come to a short end when the Librarian heard Nadia's stomach rumbling a bit. For that, she decided to offer some of her lunch for her to eat and the two got along even further.
End of Flashback
Ever since that day, Nadia had become a frequent patron of the library. She would read for hours non-stop and finish most of her books of choice on short notice. She even finished a 200 paged book containing history in under 10 minutes and summarized them in a 10 paged notebook.
As for the Librarian, she would occasionally come and transport the finished books back into their shelves with ease as Nadia secretly made even the thickest of books as light as a feather due to the Librarian being in her 60s.
After Nadia's time was finished, she would grab a couple of books that she had yet to finish or read, bring them to the counter, and borrow them from the Librarian.
"You take care of yourself now," The Librarian said, "And always remember to return these books on time,"
"I will," Nadia said, "Thank you very much,"
"You are most welcome, Nadia," The Librarian said,
Nadia then left the library with her finished books and the Librarian simply waved at her as she left the building.
As Nadia plans to make her way back to City - Z, she then heard someone panicking from the distance and turned to the source.
Apparently, it was another monster rampaging and the monster in question was some sort of armadillo and against it was some sort of silver armored knight hero with a Japanese katana on his right hip.
Nadia just stared at the fight and noticed that the hero wasn't cutting through the armadillo monster's armor as if it was stronger than steel. Thus proving itself as troublesome towards bladed enemies.
Normally for this situation, she would have ignored it and let the hero do the work. But the voice in her mind soon called out for her, "The Others want you to fight it. So how about we do just that?"
"Why should I? It doesn't look like he's in much danger at all," Nadia muttered,
"It's not that, actually. You see, the others wished for you to kill the monster not help the hero," The Strict Voice specified, "Besides, I once heard that monsters tend to ramble about how their opponents will not beat them due to a certain ability they happen to possess,"
That soon became true when the monster then openly boasts about its impervious defense as a result of his supposed mutation as an armadillo, "Told you..."
"Ugh... Fine, but this time you handle it. I want to go back home and read my books again," Nadia said, "And don't try to stand out too much."
"Gladly..." The Strict Voice agreed, and a phantom emerged from Nadia's shadow
The Fight
The swordsman clicked his tongue since he has yet to crack the monster's armor while the latter continued to laugh triumphantly at the hero's futilely.
But before the swordsman could proceed with his next attack, he soon noticed the monster's sudden change of expression. The Armadillo Monster hummed in confusion as it stared at someone standing beside the swordsman.
When the swordsman finally noticed and turns his head around, he widens his eyes when the Masked Individual was standing beside him.
'That's...' The swordsman muttered,
Meanwhile, the Masked Individual passed by the swordsman, materialized the Black sword, and embedded the blade in a dark aura.
"Who the hell are you?" The Armadillo monster questioned,
The Masked Individual didn't respond to its question. Instead, he dashed toward the monster with immense speed and thrust his sword directly towards the chest sideways.
Once the tip made it through the thick armor, The Masked Individual pulls his Black sword, dematerializes it, and turns away from the monster.
At first, the monster tried to go after him, but then it began screaming in utter agony as he felt his insides were slowly burning. As if the sword was laced with poison that burns internally and externally. In the next few minutes, it finally dies after spewing tainted blood from its mouth and falls flat on the ground.
Everyone in the surrounding area gapes at the sight before cheering as if this was another hero of the Association while the swordsman remained still with a surprised look on his face.
The Masked Individual then went to the swordsman's side and pats him on the shoulder a few times. Then moved past the swordsman and disappears in thin air as soon as the latter turned around.
"What the..." The Swordsman muttered,
Back to Nadia
Nadia was making her way back to City - Z until a shadow re-enters her shadow, and the latter notices its return.
"How did it go?" Nadia questioned,
"It went well, I only had to burn his insides is all," The Strict Voice responded,
"I see, then how are the others feeling about it?" Nadia asked,
"Disappointed..." The Strict Voice said,
"Of course they are," Nadia remarked, "So tell them this for me,"
As she explained to the voice in her head, Nadia passed by several passersby who couldn't help but stare at her in confusion. Apparently, they felt weirded out as they heard her talking.
They either called her crazy or weird after they were a few meters away from her. Nadia could still hear the comments within earshot, but she paid no attention to them as she kept explaining to the voice in her head.
Once she finished, the voice made its response, "I'll see what I can do..."
"Thank you," Nadia thanked, and continued making her way back to City - Z
However, as she makes her way to the apartment. She spots someone, in particular, hiding behind some post box.
"Saitama-san?" Nadia called out, and he turns to her, "What are you doing here?"
"Uh? Oh, just waiting for my french fry thief to come out of hiding," Saitama answered,
"French fry... thief...?" Nadia trailed out in confusion,
"Yeah, he stole the large french fry when I wasn't looking," Saitama said with resentment, "In fact, I also think he's my stalker,"
"A stalker? Why would any try to-" Before Nadia could continue, Assassin and two of her manifested personalities suddenly appears before her and kneels down, "Assassin?"
"Nadia-sama, we have spotted a suspicious character hiding by the concrete barrier," Assassin reported,
This alarmed Nadia and Saitama as the latter stood up while the former widens her eyes in response.
"What are your orders?" Assassin questioned,
'Is it really?' Nadia muttered, then cleared her throat once before giving the order, "Assassin, you may confront him. But if he engages you in combat, Do what you must,"
"Understood," Assassin said, then went on to investigate along with her two personalities,
"Man, you sure have dependable people," Saitama commented,
"That, she is," Nadia responded, "So don't you worry about that stalker problem for a while,"
"Sure, but I am still upset about him stealing my french fry," Saitama said as he visibly shows his irritated expression,
"If it makes you feel any better, I could just cook up some homemade fries for you?" Nadia inquired,
'She's so dependable...' Saitama commented,
Meanwhile...
The stalker in question was none other than that cyborg. The one Saitama had saved that other day.
He continued to observe Saitama being in the same position for over an hour, but he soon became curious when Nadia comes in and talks to the bald hero.
'Whose that?' The cyborg wondered, 'A relative? Possibly not, but it does seem like they know each other.'
The cyborg then gets off the railing, pulled out a notebook, and started writing down a couple of things.
'I have much to learn after the day is done...' The cyborg declared, then puts away his notebook,
Before the cyborg could leave the area, his sensors detected something within the vicinity and immediately turns to the source. There, he spots a figure of three people wearing skull masks and frowns at them.
"Who are you?" The cyborg sternly questioned,
"That is our question," Assassin stated,
"I'm Saitama's disciple," The cyborg answered,
The three glanced at each other, then turns back to the cyborg, "Why are you here?"
"I'm observing Saitama-sensei figure out the source of his strength," The cyborg answered, "Now, answer me. Who are you,"
"We are Assassin..." The three Assassins simultaneously answered, "And we were ordered by our Master to investigate you,"
"Master? Are you perhaps referring to that girl or Saitama-sensei," The cyborg inquired, and received no response from them, "Answer me,"
Still, he received no response from them.
"I see," The cyborg said, "Then let me ask a different question,"
Even though they weren't responding to him, they still listened to what he was about to say, "What are you exactly? You all don't appear human. Are you monsters?"
The three Assassins then glanced at each other, and back at the cyborg, "We are Assassin..."
"In that case," The cyborg raised his hand, and revealed a cylinder in the palm of his hand, "Incinerate,"
Assassin immediately materialized their dirks, then jumps back to avoid the blast of the cyborg's hand cannon.
With that, Assassin was given the order to engage the cyborg in combat.
Back at the Apartment
Saitama was seen reading some manga while Nadia was cooking some homemade fries for him.
But when an explosion occurred, the two momentarily stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to the sound,
"What was that?" Saitama questioned,
"It's probably that stalker fighting against Assassin," Nadia assumed, "I wouldn't worry about that though. She may not excel in direct combat, but she does have several tricks up her sleeve,"
"You sure about that?" Saitama questioned,
"Trust me, she's that good," Nadia said, then finishes up with the fries and serves portions of it on two separate plates, "I'm finished with the fries, Saitama-san,"
After she had served them on the table, Saitama and Nadia started enjoying the fries while not paying attention to the explosions occurring outside the apartment building.
I'm going to end this part here, as to what comes next. It'll be the fight between Genos and Assassin. But I'm not going to reveal his name since he hasn't introduced himself to Saitama and Nadia just yet. I'll get to that in the next part of the chapter.
That is all I've got to say in this part, more will be announced in the next chapter, if you have questions let me know and I will answer, stay safe from the virus, and I will see you all soon.