Villain Retirement

[...All you have to do is choose.]

Liza, Katrina, Esme, Miss Pepondosovich, and Silvie just stood there as Riley presented each of them like they were at a pageant of some sort. Riley was even holding a microphone while pointing at each of them and introducing them one by one.

[...Here we have Miss Pepondosovich. Adorned by an armored crop top with her belly completely exposed to slash attacks – of course, the same as Esme's suit, it is designed by me according to their capabilities…]

"Riri… do you really even have to describe our costumes?"

"Suits…" Silvie leaned closer to Miss Pepondosovich and whispered, "Please… don't call them costumes."

And as the 5 were actually wearing their superhero suits, it truly did seem like they were at a pageant; Riley was wearing a bowtie as well like he was the host… which he actually was.

"This… is somewhat making me shy," Miss Pepondosovich could not help but let out a nervous chuckle as she looked at the hundreds of people in front of her, "You really go out like this while trying to save people…? I think I can almost see your mammary glands from here."

"Wh—no, you don't," Silvie almost covered her breasts before realizing it was impossible because her suit was made from a special material, "And why are you even getting embarrassed? You're like hundreds of thousands of years old already."

"Girl, there comes a point in life that if you lived long enough, your personality just resets because you don't give a damn about anything anymore," Miss Pepondosovich lectured. Silvie wanted to say something else, but she was interrupted by Riley standing in front of her while facing the hopeful applicants.

[Aadriel. Stepped forward.]

And as Riley called for a name, one of the applicants leaped out; his ivory wings, almost covering the rays of the sun before he landed in front of the crowd.

"...I bet Zero would look better if he had wings like that," Liza quickly whispered to Katrina as soon as she saw Aadriel retract his wings and cause a small gust of wind in the process.

"He would and he does," Katrina let out a small confident chuckle while nodding, "You should have seen him during his Paragon days. It was short-lived, but it was glorious… he even had long black hair then."

"W… what?"

[Please, choose your opponent, Mr. Aadriel,] And while the two were busy gossiping about Riley, none of them realized that Aadriel was actually glaring at them since everyone could hear their conversation.

"I choose her," and with his eyes still locked onto Liza and Katrina, Aadriel pointed his finger at the former, seemingly annoyed as even his wing pointed at Liza.

[So, you have chosen Hurricane Liza.]

"That… is not my superhero name," Liza could really only close her eyes in shame as she heard Riley's words.

"Yes," Aadriel did not stray his eyes away from Liza, "I believe she and her variant are discriminating the way I—"

[Fail.]

Aadriel's wings slightly flinched as Riley suddenly failed him out of nowhere, even gesturing to him to get out of the field as he was about to call the next applicant. But of course, Aadriel did not go anywhere at all.

"Why did I fail!?" Aadriel asked as he stood in front of Riley while waving his wings along with his hands, "Give me one valid reason and I'll just walk away. If not, then I am going to make sure that none of my species ever consider applying to this stupid place!"

[Because you chose an obviously pregnant opponent, Mister Aadriel,] Riley did not give Aadriel any mind even as he violently waved his wings in front of him, he just walked away and approached Liza, [Miss Liza here is almost 4 months pregnant, and choosing a pregnant opponent is definitely not a trait of a true superhero…

…Next! Abri, please step forward!]

And as Aadriel heard that, he just turned to look at Liza before very slowly turning his eyes down to her belly. And true enough, if one were to look closer, one would definitely notice a bump on her stomach — but one had to look really, really close.

How could they even notice that when Liza's humongous breasts would be the first thing they see? Her breasts were even bigger than even her variant now to the point that she looked like she was starring in her own adult movie.

Upon seeing this, however, Aadriel just let out a small sigh and started walking away; extremely doubting himself as to how he could even fail to notice something like that — and his species were sensitive to life too, to the point that they were actually the first ones to notice that their biological clock was moving again.

[...Choose your opponent, Miss Abri.]

"I choose her, Liza."

[Hm. Okay, the two of you do not need to fight — Pass. Congratulations on entering the Hero Academy.]

"What—!!!" Aadriel, who was already meters away from the event, could not help but quickly turn around as he heard Riley's words, only to see him shaking the hand of an applicant; with even confetti and party poppers blowing everywhere,

"Why did you even pass—"

Aadriel was about to complain, but he immediately stopped himself from doing so as soon as he noticed…

…that the applicant was also pregnant.

"...I'm going home." And so, the only thing that Aadriel could really do was just fly away in embarrassment… only for him to fall from the sky like a deceased bird as soon as he hit the Academy's invisible dome.

Of course, everyone watched him fall, with Silvie catching her midway just in case he couldn't survive that fall.

[Okay,] as for Riley, he just continued the examinations like normal and intended.

"Then… I would like to choose her, the non-pregnant version."

"Okay, now I get it…" Katrina could really only glance at Liza while stepping forward, "...I think everyone thinks we're the weakest of the bunch, which is actually true, but it still hurts. But you guys do know that I'm also categorized as Class 7, right?"

"...Since when?" Liza could not help but raise an eyebrow as she looked at Katrina.

"I lived in the world of Darkday, sis…" Katrina's eyes turned white as a small smile crawled on her face; the sky, suddenly clearing and exposing everyone to the rays of the sun as a gentle cycle violently danced around Katrina, "...I had no choice but to become stronger."

The applicant that chose Katrina really only took in a deep breath as he saw her. But after a few seconds, he nodded and walked toward the center of the field; his eyes filled with resolution. Unfortunately for him, it did not even take a second for him to be blown off to the side of the field.

"Did…" The applicant still had hope in his eyes, "...I at least impressed everyone with my resolution, right? Fighting spirit is

—"

[Fail,] Riley shook his head as he gestured to the man to just leave, [Fighting spirit means nothing if you can't even survive against your opponent for even a second — you will not even be enough for a distraction. And sometimes, fighting spirit means having the courage to run away…

…Next!]

The exams continued, with Riley failing more than he was passing. Suffice it to say, Katrina was extremely tired from being the applicants' favorite. There was someone who chose Miss Pepondosovich because of her size, but her opponent broke his leg as soon as he tried sweeping her off her feet… and to everyone's surprise, however, Riley passed the guy.

You did not need to beat your opponent, Riley just had to see something in you.

And Riley… was seeing something. Almost all the humans who have applied to the Academy were much better and stronger than humans before — of course, a multiversal war and 600 years would probably have that effect.

There were some who chose Silvie, and of course, Silvie did not immediately make her opponent feel inadequate as she truly tested what all of them were capable of. After the first one who chose Silvie, there were actually more and more choosing her as their opponent — after all, if you choose her, Riley seems to be giving her the reins and deciding whether or not they pass.

[J'alfari, please step forward,] Riley continued to call on the names of the applicants, and this time, Silvie reacted as it was one of the applicants from the interview who made an impression on her — Ambrucx, the tigerlady whose newborns were killed by a supervillain from the same race.

[Who do you choose as your opponent, Mrs. Ambrucx?]

"Miss Pepondosovich," Ambrucx did not hesitate to pick as she bowed her head at Miss Pepondosovich.

"Me…?" Miss Pepondosovich's bunny ear slightly bent as she followed Ambrucx to the field, "...Are you sure?"

"My species is sensitive to the ages of beastmen," Ambrucx breathed in, "I am not confident in passing the test, but if I choose you, I would at least learn something from an Ancient…

…please, give me pointers, Senior."