The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
An orphanage located in the slums of Valhalla City.
This place, often called the "ant hill" by outsiders, is notorious for its poor security.
Yet, even in the mud, flowers bloom.
Even in this infamous street, there were children with pure, untainted souls.
“Waaah! Dale's here!”
“Iris, we missed you!”
“There’s a guy I’ve never seen before.”
“Hah, hah. Camilla, please, just once—could you step on my cheek with those heels?”
[PR/N: Missed this guy ngl.]
As we arrived at the orphanage, a horde of kids rushed out to greet us.
“Why am I here...?”
Juliet, who had been dragged along to help carry supplies, looked around the orphanage in bewilderment.
I patted Juliet on the back and grinned.
“Is this your first time volunteering at an orphanage?”
“...It’s my first time even being in the slums.”
Juliet nodded, still in a daze.
Well, it made sense.
As a wealthy young master from one of the richest families in the Republic, he’d never have had a reason to come to a place like this.
“Well, since you're here, consider it a new experience. Play with the kids.”
“Play with the kids...?”
Juliet’s gaze shifted to the children of the orphanage.
For kids living in a slum orphanage, they looked relatively clean, but their clothes were still covered with grime and dirt.
“...With those kids?”
The unmistakable look of disgust flickered across Juliet’s face.
He recoiled as if he had encountered a filthy wild animal on the street, backing away from the approaching children.
“Ah.”
“Hm...”
The children, sensing Juliet's reaction, seemed to understand its meaning.
The kids, who had been approaching Juliet with curious eyes, stopped in their tracks, shivering slightly.
“Let’s, let’s go somewhere else!”
“Y-yeah!”
The children scurried back toward the orphanage and peeked out from behind the door, watching Juliet with wary eyes.
It felt natural in a way.
These kids had probably seen many adults react the same way Juliet did.
“Oh.”
Juliet glanced at me, looking flustered by the kids’ reaction.
“S-sorry. I was just caught off guard.”
“Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to them.”
I gestured toward the children with my chin.
Juliet swallowed nervously and nodded.
“Um... kids?”
He hesitated as he called out to them, but the children hiding behind the door didn’t lower their guard.
Juliet seemed troubled by the kids’ unwillingness to open up.
Then, as if he had a bright idea, he opened the backpack slung over his shoulder.
“I, uh, bought some bread from the school store on my way here. Want some?”
“Huh...?”
“Bread from the school store!”
The children's eyes lit up at the sight of the bread in his bag.
They approached the backpack cautiously, like predators approaching prey, and gathered around it.
“...Did you buy this?”
The boy at the front of the group, Leo, looked up at Juliet and asked.
Juliet quickly nodded.
“Y-yeah! I bought all of this myself!”
“Wow, you bought all this bread?”
“You must be rich!”
“Amazing!”
The kids’ eyes sparkled at the thought of Juliet buying what seemed to be over a hundred pieces of bread by himself.
“Y-yeah.”
Juliet awkwardly scratched his head, taken aback by their reaction.
“Wait, is that the limited edition ‘Mint Chocolate Bread’?”
“That one’s really hard to get! How did you get so many?”
The children looked at Juliet in amazement.
As the attention focused on him, Juliet seemed a bit overwhelmed.
He cleared his throat before speaking.
“I’ve got a knack for buying bread. The school store has a huge bread section, so you must look carefully for limited editions.”
“Wow! That’s so cool!”
“You’re the bread king!”
“King of Bread!”
The kids gazed at Juliet with starry eyes, full of admiration.
Juliet blushed and smiled sheepishly.
“K-King of Bread? That’s a bit much...”
“......”
A rich young master who was happy to be praised for buying bread, huh.
‘In your past life, you had quite the temper... How did you turn into this?’
Maybe it was my influence?
I smirked as I watched Juliet surrounded by the children.
At first, he had recoiled at the mere approach of the children, but now, he was smiling as he handed out bread to them.
“You must be hungry. I bought plenty, so eat as much as you want.”
“Thanks, bro!”
“Hehe, at first, I thought you were scary, but you’re not!”
Finally, the children let their guard down and approached Juliet.
“What’s your name?”
“Are you friends with Dale?”
The kids asked, looking up at Juliet before they started eating.
Juliet glanced at me before answering cautiously.
“My name is Juliet Kang and... uh... Dale and I...”
“We’re friends.”
I draped an arm over Juliet’s shoulder as I spoke.
Juliet’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
With a slightly emotional expression, he shed a tear and nodded enthusiastically.
“Y-yeah! Dale’s my friend!”
“Wow! He’s really Dale’s friend!”
“If he’s Dale’s friend, we can trust him!”
The last bit of caution on the children’s faces vanished completely.
“Juliet brother is so cool!”
“Just like ‘Powerman’!”
“Yeah, yeah! You even have the same blonde hair!”
The children laughed brightly as they ate their bread.
Juliet scratched his head shyly, looking at the kids gathered around him.
“Uh, uh, thanks. But... ‘Powerman’?”
“He's a famous hero among the kids in the slums these days. He takes down vile criminals and protects the weak.”
A kind-looking old priest walked out from the orphanage.
“And you are...?”
“I’m Antonio, the one in charge of the orphanage. You must be Juliet?”
“Ah, yes.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Thank you for getting the bread. The kids have been going on and on about wanting the bread from the Hero School's store... You’ve eased quite the headache for me.”
Father Antonio made the sign of the cross and bowed his head.
“How have you been?”
“It’s been a while, Dale. How are things with the Saintess these days? Any progress?”
“P-priest! Is that the first thing you ask when I get here?!”
Iris squealed in embarrassment, her face turning red.
Father Antonio just chuckled softly at her reaction.
“To an old man like me, there’s nothing more important. I have to see the Saintess have children before I die, you know.”
“W-we’re not even married yet, and you’re talking about children...”
Iris glanced at me, coughing awkwardly.
Then, she tiptoed over to Father Antonio and whispered something in his ear.
“But... how many kids do you think we should have?”
“Well, you should aim for three.”
“T-three?!”
Iris swallowed hard, clenching her fists.
“...”
Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear that.
“By the way, has anything happened at the orphanage lately?”
“Hmm. Happened, you say...”
Father Antonio’s face suddenly darkened.
I had expected him to laugh it off with a “Nothing out of the ordinary,” so I tilted my head in curiosity.
“Has something happened at the orphanage?”
“Rather than the orphanage, there’s been an unsettling incident in the ‘Ant Hill’ recently.”
“An unsettling incident? What kind?”
Iris, hearing this for the first time as well, widened her eyes in interest.
“Well...”
Father Antonio furrowed his wrinkled brow and continued.
“Recently, there’s been a series of assaults targeting blonde women around the slums.”
“Assaults?”
“Yes, according to the victims, someone suddenly attacked them from behind and cut off parts of their hair.”
“...Cut off their hair?”
“And before doing that, the attacker would even smell it, apparently.”
“Ugh.”
It wasn’t just unsettling; it was downright creepy.
Father Antonio sighed deeply as he continued.
“The real problem is that one of the victims was a ‘hero.’ A fairly strong one at that.”
“One of the victims was a hero? Does that mean the culprit is also a hero?”
“Most likely.”
Unless they were armed with magical tools, only another hero would be able to deal with a hero.
Unless it was a demon with the blessing of the Demon God.
“This really is a disturbing case.”
“Although no children have been targeted yet... it's still worrisome.”
There were several blonde girls in this orphanage as well.
“Has the Valhalla City Police done anything?”
“Since it happened within the ‘Ant Hill’... And because no one was seriously harmed, only their hair was taken... the police aren’t very concerned.”
Father Antonio shook his head bitterly.
“Still, because of how creepy the case is, a few heroes, including ‘Powerman,’ tried tracking down the culprit... but they were either overpowered or lost track.”
“The culprit must be quite strong.”
“Yes.”
Father Antonio nodded, sighing deeply again.
“Sigh. Why would the Seven Gods bestow their Stigma upon such a depraved person...”
“Is it possible the culprit is a demon?”
“According to the victims, they didn’t sense any demonic energy. And if it were a demon, they wouldn’t have stopped at just cutting hair.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded and narrowed my eyes.
‘A hero who ambushes blonde women and cuts off their hair.’
Even if no lives were at stake, it was definitely a creepy case.
However, what made it feel even more disturbing to me was—
‘I’ve never heard of this happening in my previous life.’
Even if it happened outside the school, this kind of creepy case would have made waves and been talked about.
‘In terms of sensation, it’s even bigger than a murder case.’
A hero attacking blonde women and stealing their hair.
It was the perfect story for gossips to latch onto.
‘The fact that this didn’t happen in my previous life...’
Means it’s likely one of the ‘changes in the future.’
‘I have no idea what caused this change, but...’
It’s definitely worth investigating.
“The culprit is targeting blonde women, right?”
“Yes. Especially young, beautiful ones.”
“Beautiful blonde women, huh...”
Come to think of it, the only blonde woman I know is Rosanna Helios.
‘But I can’t exactly ask Rosanna to come here.’
As I pondered, an idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Oh? Wait a minute.’
Isn’t there a beautiful blonde flower (well, a guy) blooming right beside me?
“...Huh?”
Juliet looked at me with a face that screamed, ‘No way...’
“Juliet.”
“Dale... No... You’re not thinking...?”
“Hahaha.”
“N-no, don’t laugh!!!”
I grabbed Juliet by the shoulders and grinned.
“Didn’t you say we’re friends?”
Friends should help each other out when they’re in trouble, right?
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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