Most of the monsters have been cleaned up by the time I arrived so I didn’t have to do any more fighting- for now, that is. I don’t want to jinx myself and have like some kind of boss monster pull up when our guard is low.

“Thank you for saving us, Sophie of The Six Hunters!” A bald middle-aged man with sunken cheeks and a sharp gaze thanked profusely. They were shaking hands as Sophie looked away, her face red.

“I-It wasn’t nothing… The one you should be thanking is that boy over there.” She pointed to me just as I arrived.

“Are you saying that young man over there was responsible for that lightning attack?” He gasped. He ran over to me with sparkling eyes similar to a superfan meeting their idol. He grabbed both of my hands and shook them violently.

“Hello there young man! My name is Richard and I’m the leading officer of bunker three! We were in deep trouble when fighting those monsters! Just when we thought all hope was lost, our saviors arrived just in time! I don’t know how to thank you!”

I could tell that this dude is the type to overextend his gratitude if not dealt with quickly. I like the attention and all, but this is way too much. I was signaling to Sophie with my eyes to help me get out of this situation, but she pretended not to notice and was looking away, whistling. So much for being teammates…

“Er… Officer Richard, was it?”

“No need for the formalities! Just call me Richard! Or Rich!”

“Alright then, Richard. Shouldn’t we head inside and uh… talk?”

“Oh, pardon me! Yes, follow me!” Officer Richard finally stopped shaking my hands and let go. The energetic man then went off towards the museum on a brisk walk. Sophie, Iris, and I followed the man inside, climbing up the red steps of the entrance. The brown double doors were destroyed beyond repair as if they were crushed with brute force.

“Excuse the mess. The trolls were banging on our front doorstep and we could do nothing about it. We were surrounded on all fronts, so our numbers were limited. Not only that, but we also had to focus on the safety of the civilians inside.”

“Civilians? There are people other than superhumans here?” I asked the man. He nodded his head and continued guiding us through the ruined museum. The building inside wasn’t as messy as the outside area as many frames and statues were still standing, untouched. The wooden beams were still standing tall, supporting the building. A few of the display cases had western-like objects tucked inside. Chairs and tables were moved to the exits to be used as a barricade against the monsters outside. From above, the glass ceiling had some areas where the airborne monsters had broken through with their large beaks. There were also a lot of glass shards on the floor coming from the ceiling and chandeliers.

“Where are the civilians hiding?” Sophie said, her head swiveling everywhere to locate the regular folk.

“We decided it’d be best to hide them on the second floor instead of the first and third floors since those areas seem likely to be the most dangerous,” he answered promptly. Officer Richard guided us to a set of stairs that led us to the second floor which had even more of those display cases, and in it would contain either a rusted sword or a painting. None of this stuff interested me so I would only look at them briefly. As my eyes wandered all over, Officer Richard stopped us right in front of a large rectangular room on the far end of the second floor. I could hear muffled voices coming behind the door.

“Here we are! I would like to give you a bit of warning. There are also… injured civilians among the group,” Officer Richard's voice trailed; his voice strained.

Hmm? If there are injured people here and he’s acting like this, then that would mean there are people who probably lost a limb or two… or three. I’m not the type to get queasy about these kinds of things so bring it on!

The muffled voices turned dead quiet as soon as Richard opened the door. With my super hearing, I can hear gasps, hushed whispers, and small prayers from them.

“This is Officer Richard! Do not be alarmed!” He shouted loudly right as the door was fully open. I poked my head inside just to see a wave of relief wash over the civilians. There were an estimated sixty people all ranging from mothers holding toddlers, to little kids, to old men and women. To the far-left corner of the room, there were makeshift beds with many injured resting. As expected, there were people who had lost an arm or a leg and were bandaged up. Some had cloth wrapped around their chest with some blood seeping through it. A small pair of superhumans were tending to each and every one of their wounds. Officer Richard ushered us inside, leaving the door wide open.

“I have brought good news! The monsters that have been rampaging outside our steps have been taken care of! You are safe!” He addressed proudly to the crowd. They all breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that they were in the clear, for now. “Not only that, but I have brought along Sophie of The Six Hunters!”

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At the sound of Sophie's name, everyone’s eyes collectively gathered toward Sophie who was awkwardly standing upright, fidgeting with the corners of her shirt underneath the gear. She waved at them.

“It’s really her!”

“Has God answered our prayers…”

“We’re really saved!”

“Mommy, who is that person?”

“Pfft. There’s only one of them here. What good does that do when the whole world is going to end?”

There was a mixed reaction among the crowd as they all mumbled to each other. Personally, I wouldn’t take this kind of disrespect if I were to be badmouthed when I just saved your lives, but that’s just me. Sophie, on the other hand, kept her mouth shut. I edged closer to the girl and whispered in her ear.

“You’re really famous, aren’t you?”

“Fame follows you everywhere once you’re a part of The Six Hunters or an A-Rank superhuman like me,” she muttered.

“Hold on. Did you say A-Rank? I thought the rankings were categorized by numbers.”

“It’s both. The letter rank is there to group people of similar skill levels. It’s similar to how there’s a weight class in boxing such as heavyweight and lightweight. There is S-Rank, which is the highest, A-Rank, B-Rank, C-Rank, D-Rank, and the lowest being F-Rank.”

Oh? That’s nice to know… If Sophie is an A-Rank, then would I be considered the same ranking as her? Or would I be an S-rank? I believe I’m an S-Rank since I’m number one in the world and all.

I looked over at Iris who has been standing still this entire time, her eyes dead set on the sick-bay area. Her hand was hovering over a pouch strapped to her hip. Is she planning on doing something bad?

“Richard,” Iris called out to the Officer who has been chatting with the civilians.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I tell you! That young man over there summoned lightning from the heavens themselves and killed seven flying monsters in one fell swoop! It was a miracle!” Officer Richard sounded like a minister at a popular church spreading the gospel to anyone willing to listen. He was very animated while giving a detailed explanation of what he witnessed, although it was heavily dramatized. He was so into it that he hadn’t noticed Iris had called out to him, so she had to grab the man by the shoulder.

“Yes, may I help you?” He smiled.

“…Do you have any healers in this bunker?” Iris inquired.

Officer Richard frowned and said, “Sadly, our healers were killed by the monsters, so no, we do not.”

“Then, do you have any slips of paper I can borrow? Also, a pen or pencil will be nice.”

Richards gave Iris a puzzled look, but he didn’t ask why so he sent one of the superhumans stationed up front to fetch the materials asked. It didn’t take long to find the items as they brought a small box with them and placed it in front of her. Sophie and I glanced at each other, worried about what she may be planning. Iris could sense our restlessness as she glanced our way and smirked.

“Do not worry. I’m not planning on running or doing anything bad, rest assured.”

First, Iris drew a perfectly round circle that took up the outer edges of the paper. Then, with precise and nimble movements, went on to draw a sideways H with a little swivel coming out of the corners. When I took a peek at her face, she was biting the corners of her lips with a concentrated expression, her eyes dull, almost like she was possessed. Finally, the woman placed her palm, which was glowing blue, on the paper and muttered a single phrase that I had no clue what it could mean.

“There, I’ve finished creating a Support Rune, specifically one for healing.” She wiped off a bead of sweat. “Use this on one of the patients and the pain will subside. To activate it, just rip the paper over them and it’ll do the rest. It cannot regenerate lost limbs though since my rune-making skills aren’t that high of a level.”

Holy shit! She can create runes that easily? That’s baller as hell.

“Not bad lady. You’ve gained some respect from me,” I snickered.

“…Pipe down you brat,” Sshe replied with pursed lips. Iris averted her gaze and faced Officer Richard who was as still as a statue, eyeing the paper.

“Well, aren’t you going to use it? I could also use it for myself…”

“I’ll gladly take this, ma’am! Thank you for your contribution!” Officer Richard took the healing run and ran toward the most battered patient. The man's chest had three huge claw marks which probably came from a wolf. His skin was pale, almost ghost-like. He had a grimace on his face as he twisted and turned in his sleep. Officer Richard did what was instructed and ripped the rune in half over the man and backed away. A green light rose from the paper and enveloped the man. The patient's face contorted for a little bit but was then soothed as the wound was visibly healing. Moments later, the light diminished, and all that remained was a scar.

“Marvelous…” Officer Richard gasped at the sight. Not only has he witnessed one miracle, but two in a single day.

“Truly, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!” He shouted gleefully. “If I may be so bold, are you able to procure more of those healing runes? We still have many patients that need it…”

“I was going to do that anyways. I have enough mana for the job, so it’s no problem.”

“Thank you very much!”

…I should keep track of how many times this guy has thanked us. He’s done it so many times that I might cringe from embarrassment…

While I was watching the pair, I was alerted by a weird noise. Although faint, I can hear someone on the bottom floor running like crazy. They have some loud ass footsteps if I can hear them from up here…

In under five seconds, the doors to the room were flung open as a woman called out to Officer Richard in sharp breaths.

“W-We have an emergency! Our scouts have informed us that a big monster is heading our way!”

“WHAT? TAKE ME OUTSIDE PRONTO!” Officer Richard bellowed. “Saviors, may I request your he-“

I cut the man off and said, “Yea yea, we’re coming.”

“Thank you very much! Let us make haste!” Officer Richard and the woman bolted out of the room in a hurry.

“Iris, you should stay here and help out the patients. Sophie and I will deal with this.”

Iris just waved me off without an answer and continued with her rune-making. Sophie and I took that as an okay from her and left her alone.

“Sophie, this sounds serious, don’t you think? That woman looked like she was on the verge of shitting her pants.”

“I-I think so too… I’ve never seen someone that scared ever…”

She said that it was a big monster and sounded scared as hell, so it might be a chieftain… No, that small threat doesn’t warrant that kind of attention. Maybe a wyvern? Nah, not that either. Wait, could it be a dragon? Please tell me it’s a dragon... I want to see one that’s adult-sized and not some baby like Solgac. Ah, well, I’ll find out sooner or later.