I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 181: Is this real? (3)

"So, I called a lawyer I know to ask what I should do. We decided to meet in person to talk about the details."

Since my conversation with Edel wasn’t that long, it’s probably safe to assume that when Da-eun saw the post, I was still lazily rolling around in bed.

"Mm... Sorry."

"Huh? Why are you sorry, Kana?"

"Because I looked back for no reason."

I had just turned around for a moment because I sensed something odd, but I never expected that in that short time, someone had taken a photo.

...Honestly, I didn’t see it coming.

No, it’s more accurate to say that I didn’t think a photo would be taken at all.

I wasn’t interested in the act of taking photos.

So, when Da-eun suggested we take a picture together, or when people were giggling and taking photos, I didn’t really understand it, but—

‘It’s all memories. Even if time passes and we forget this moment, we can look back at the photo and recall it. "Oh, this happened too." I like that kind of thing.’

When I saw Da-eun smiling like that, I thought, even though I didn’t get it, it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

...But using my photo as your phone wallpaper?

That’s a little much, don’t you think?

That’s not even about recalling memories.

"Well... I guess it’s a bit careless, but..."

Ugh...!

Da-eun suddenly lifted me up and sat down on the couch with me in her arms.

"I don’t want to blame Kana for this. It’s wrong to take random photos of people walking by, but how is it wrong to just look back? Should I only walk around looking straight ahead? It's obvious who’s at fault here, but blaming the victim is strange."

"...Still, like you said, Da-eun, if you wore sunglasses-"

"Maybe it would’ve been better. But either way, it would’ve become a topic, don’t you think? I’m not the one to say this, but wearing sunglasses at night would definitely seem suspicious."

"Is that so?"

"Of course. What’s the point of wearing sunglasses when there’s no sunlight? It’s basically saying you want to hide your face."

I could feel Da-eun’s arms tightening around me, though not to the point of choking, just enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable. But at the same time, there was a strange sense of security that enveloped me.

"I think Kana’s a bit cocky, but she’s always confident. So, don’t get too down about something that’s not even your fault."

"I’m not really down."

I was just a little sorry, that’s all.

Anyway, hearing Da-eun say that, it didn’t seem like I needed to feel guilty.

"Kana is cuter when she’s shameless."

"Shameless...?"

"Yeah! It’s like a cat that proudly sits there after knocking a vase off the shelf and breaking it... Ah!"

"Huh?"

Da-eun, who had been chatting excitedly, suddenly made a surprised sound.

Because of that, I lost my chance to say something and ended up shutting my mouth.

"I think Kana was wrong!"

"...Suddenly?"

It hadn’t even been a minute since she said it wasn’t my fault, and now this?

Not being able to follow her sudden change of attitude, I just stared, and Da-eun carefully set me down before running off to her room.

I could hear noises coming from the room.

Bang! Crash!

"..."

After a series of loud noises, the door opened again.

In that brief moment, I had no idea what had happened, but Da-eun’s well-groomed—well, not perfect, but at least neat—hair was now completely messed up.

I didn’t know if she realized her sleeves were rolled up, but Da-eun came toward me with something in her hand, grinning widely.

And she proudly held it out to me.

"Here!"

"...What is this?"

"This is a gift and a punishment for Kana!"

"A gift? Out of nowhere?"

And if it’s a gift, why call it a punishment too?

"It’s not like you need a special day to give a gift, right?"

"...Mhm."

That’s true, I guess...

On the other hand, isn’t it also weird to give someone a gift when nothing special is happening?

I suppressed the urge to argue and accepted what Da-eun handed me.

The first thing I felt was its soft texture.

It wasn’t the finest quality, but it had that nice, smooth feeling typical of good fabric.

Flap!

When I unfolded it, the fabric revealed its true form.

A white... pajama?

Why?

I tilted my head, and Da-eun gave me an awkward smile.

"I only have two pairs of pajamas, and that’s a bit much, don’t you think? Having more isn’t a bad thing."

"Mm."

"That’s why I bought it. No other reason."

"Hmm..."

"...Really."

That couldn’t be true.

I trust Da-eun, but I don’t trust her.

I know it sounds contradictory, and I know that anyone hearing this would be confused.

To sum it up, here’s the thing.

I know that Da-eun won’t harm me or betray me, but I don’t believe everything she says without question.

She doesn’t lie, but she doesn’t tell the whole truth either.

Of course, as I said earlier, it’s not some malicious scheme, just a light little selfishness that doesn’t matter much.

So, I’m sure the reason she gave me the new pajamas is true, but there must be another reason for it.

I was sure of that.

"I-I don’t like it, you don’t have to—"

Whoosh!

"Taking back something after giving it is bad."

I dodged her outstretched hand and turned my body.

Then, I inspected the pajamas Da-eun had given me.

They were big.

While not excessively large, they were definitely bigger than the clothes I usually wear. I found the reason on the front of the outfit.

The buttons were spaced out, indicating that it wasn’t separate top and bottom, but a one-piece outfit.

I glanced at Da-eun’s anxious face and continued looking at the clothes.

Nothing particularly special stood out, except for a few pink patterns scattered here and there, which wasn’t a big deal.

"Hmm."

"...See? You were just doubting me. I really just thought about Kana."

"It’s not like that."

"What?! Not like that? How could you say that when I like Kana this much?!"

"No, it’s not that."

It wasn’t suspicious, but it was suspicious.

I had another contradictory thought as I examined the clothes again.

"Ah."

"...Ah."

Then, I discovered something I hadn’t noticed before.

The hole for the head was twisted into the fabric.

When I pulled it out, two pointed ears popped out.

"...Cat ears?"

It looked like cat ears attached to the hood, though obviously, they weren’t real cat ears.

But it was clear that they were inspired by them.

As soon as I saw that, everything I had overlooked before began to make sense.

What I thought were just random patterns were actually motifs from a cat’s body, and there were similar ones on the arms and legs too.

The most decisive clue was the buttons.

The pink buttons shaped like cat paws.

I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t noticed it earlier.

"..."

"..."

"...What! Why?!"

"I didn’t say anything."

As we silently stared at each other, Da-eun couldn’t take the heavy silence between us anymore and burst out shouting.

"Yes! I wanted Kana to wear cat pajamas! That’s not a crime! If wanting to see something cute is a crime, then I’ll humbly accept my punishment!"

"It’s not a crime."

I nodded.

Da-eun doing that wasn’t anything new.

I had gotten used to her constantly hugging me whenever she thought I was cute.

"But... it was a bit much."

Earlier, I had proudly said it wasn’t my fault, but now I admitted that I was wrong to fulfill my selfish desires.

Hearing my blunt thoughts, Da-eun clutched her chest.

"...Ugh! Using facts to win... How cowardly!"

"I think the cowardly one here is Da-eun, who attacked me when she had the chance."

"Ah! Stop! My life is already zero!"

If she asked, I would wear it, but I didn’t want to sleep in a hooded outfit.

It seemed like it would be uncomfortable.

Also, I felt a little annoyed by her sneaky attempt.

I folded the pajamas neatly and placed them beside me, ignoring Da-eun’s pouty expression.

"So about that post earlier... don’t you think ignoring it is the best option?"

"Hmm... It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. Maybe that’s the most effective way. You know, 'ignorance is bliss.'"

Back to the main topic, Da-eun threw away her gloomy expression and spoke seriously.

"But on the other hand, the fire could get bigger. Especially with these types of people."

"These types?"

"What do you think is the reason they took a picture and wrote something in such a short amount of time? They’re looking for attention. And the proof... look."

Da-eun held out her phone.

On the screen, there was a community post from someone.

"The number of comments on their post is way more than any other post they’ve written, right?"

"Yeah."

"People like this are dangerous. They don’t care about others, just about their own story."

"Hmm... I see what you mean."

"It’s a bit of a joke, but still."

"Which means, half of it is serious, right?"

"Hehe, yeah, I guess so."

Da-eun smiled and patted my head.

Why does she always pat my head when she smiles?

It was a small question, but I quietly allowed her to do it.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

"In my opinion... someone like this wouldn’t be satisfied with just getting attention once. They’ll probably do something weird to get even more attention. Or to prove that what they said was right."

"Yeah. I think I understand."

I’ve seen it a lot.

Usually, it was from the arrogant nobility.

"So what are you going to do?"

"What do you think?"

Ding!

Just then, Da-eun’s phone rang.

"We’ll do it by the book."

She gave a sharp smile.

"I’ll make them feel firsthand how scary the law can be."