I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 117: The Most Dangerous Among Good People (4)

On his day off, after being ambushed by an unexpected guest, Raven silently reflected.

As always, he had no idea what went on in a woman’s mind.

That thought hadn’t come out of nowhere.

It was because Lily, who had clearly shown her dislike for Yuria earlier, had suddenly flipped her attitude as if she had turned over her own palm.

"Yuria, aah~ That’s right, eat up. Is it tasty?"

"..."

"Hehe, how adorable. Here, have some milk so you don’t choke."

"..."

Lily had seated Yuria right next to her and was now feeding her cookies by hand.

Yuria glanced at Raven for help but, seeing no way out, reluctantly accepted the cookie.

Even though one of them seemed a little uncomfortable with the situation,

the scene itself looked exactly like a mother bird feeding her chick.

Just moments ago, Lily had been staring at Yuria with nothing but hostility.

Now, it was as if Yuria had cast some kind of hypnotic spell on her—utterly ridiculous.

‘Did she hit her head on something? Or maybe bipolar disorder?

Well, whatever the case, it looks like a shift in her mindset, not Yuria’s...’

There was only one explanation that made sense.

Lily had followed Yuria when she went to the kitchen under the pretense of using the restroom.

Whatever conversation they had in that not-so-brief period must have caused this shift.

But even someone as sharp as Raven had no way of guessing exactly what had happened to bring about this result.

The idea that Lily had mistaken Yuria for a love rival and only just realized her mistake was so absurd that he could hardly even imagine it.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

On top of that, Lily seemed to have quickly developed an internal sense of familiarity with Yuria after hearing about her from Alice.

And the more she playfully poked at her and got reactions, the cuter she found her—like a well-behaved kitten.

Still, this was much better than them being openly uncomfortable with each other.

Having sorted his thoughts, Raven decided not to poke at the tangled mess in front of him.

"Ahem. So, can we get back to the conversation now?"

"Hmm? Ah, what are you talking about! Of course, I still want to hear all about it!"

Raven effortlessly steered Lily’s attention away.

As Yuria subtly nodded in gratitude, he let out a small chuckle before continuing where he had left off.

Meanwhile, Yuria took advantage of the moment to carefully adjust her mask and subtly shift away from Lily.

The conversation moved forward, reaching the events that had unfolded in Saint Maria.

A rare vacation during Night Week—

A trip to a resort city—

And then, the absurd undead outbreak that had occurred at the hotel.

Fortunately, the situation had been resolved without casualties.

It was a story dramatic enough to be turned into a movie.

As she sipped her coffee, having listened to everything, Lily mused,

"Hmm... Liberation Army appearing at a resort? That’s just bad luck."

"The important thing is that no one got seriously hurt. Plus, I saved some money out of it."

"Come to think of it, I have been hearing rumors that the Liberation Army is on the move again...."

Could it be that another war was brewing?

Lily trailed off, frowning as she got lost in thought.

She hadn’t directly participated in the previous war like Raven had,

but she was part of the generation that remembered it well.

The idea of the city turning into a burning battlefield again was something she desperately wanted to avoid.

Hearing her mutter to herself, Raven could only shrug in resignation.

"Not much we can do about it. It’s not like anyone can stop them now. They’ve already lost their homes,

and now they’re just setting themselves on fire in a blind rampage.

If another war breaks out this time... we’ll just have to fight again."

"Ugh, what a miserable future. It’s so bleak it’s making me depressed."

A doomed future, already set in stone—that was just too sad.

Lily sighed, then absentmindedly reached over and lightly tickled Yuria with her fingertips.

Unlike Raven or Alice, Lily wasn’t much of a fighter.

The only thing she could do was build weapons.

At best, she wasn’t even capable of taking down a low-level orc on her own.

To her, war was nothing but pure negativity.

An unavoidable nightmare where all she could do was wait for someone else to resolve things.

"..."

Maybe it was because she had an idea of what Lily was feeling.

Normally, Yuria would have pulled away, shaking her head in annoyance.

But right now, with her eyes half-closed, her mood slightly subdued,

she quietly accepted the touch, as if hoping it might provide some small comfort.

Whether Raven noticed the subtle atmosphere or not,

he simply scratched his ear lazily and said,

"Well, don’t stress over it too much. If it’s a bunch of total strangers, that’s one thing,

but the people I know—I’ll make sure they don’t get hurt.

If war does break out again, just hide somewhere safe until it’s all over."

His words were spoken with the same casual tone one might use when commenting on the weather.

But there was no deception in them.

His sincerity was clear.

For a moment, Lily just stared, blinking blankly.

Then she felt her stomach clench, a strange, aching voice squeezing its way out from deep inside her chest.

"...Darling. I love you. Let’s just get married already."

"Thanks, but no thanks. You’re a great craftsman, but you’re way too obsessive."

"Aww, darling, stop pretending! You’re such a tsundere!"

"Do you have some kind of filter stuck in your ears?"

"...!"

Yuria quietly watched Lily as she sang about love.

Then, as if realizing something, her eyes widened in shock, and she quickly averted her gaze.

The reason for her reaction was simple.

She had just noticed a certain physiological change in Lily—

One that indicated she was excited as a woman.

It was an undeniably explicit part of the adult world.

Something that Yuria, quite frankly, had no desire to know about—

A piece of information that was, in every way, too much.

"So, I guess that about sums up everything recent. I don’t really have much else to say."

"Yeah, that’s enough. Sounds like the office was pretty lively while I was gone.

If I get the chance, I’d like to meet that David guy, too."

"Sure. Come by on a weekday. As long as we’re not swamped with work, I’ll let you in as a guest."

With the Saint Maria incident covered, there wasn’t much else to discuss.

The conversation naturally started wrapping up.

After all, they had just returned from the trip yesterday.

There wasn’t exactly any newer news to talk about.

And it wasn’t like he could make up events that hadn’t happened, either.

"So, when are you heading back? It’s already 4 PM."

"Mm... Can I stay the night? I’d love to share a bed with my darling...."

"Not happening. Go home."

Raven coldly shut down her blatant attempt to establish a fait accompli while she was practically drooling over the idea.

It wasn’t that Lily wasn’t attractive,

but he simply had zero reason to go along with it.

Besides, considering his relationship with her younger sister, Alice,

he didn’t want to create any unnecessary awkwardness.

Especially not when Yuria was sitting right there.

Lily, however, didn’t seem particularly shocked by his rejection.

As if she were a seasoned merchant negotiating a deal,

she smoothly lowered her terms and made a more reasonable offer.

"Too bad. But dinner together should be fine, right?

I’ll go home before it gets too late. Just for today—please?"

"...Haah, I guess that’s fine."

"Hehe, success."

Having successfully secured a dinner invitation,

Lily hummed a tune and playfully toyed with Yuria’s fingers, clearly in high spirits.

Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something,

she turned to Raven with a curious expression.

"Oh, right. Darling, isn’t it about time to renew your Fixer License?

If I recall correctly... you’ve got about two weeks left before it expires."

"Huh? How the hell do you know when my license expires?"

"Heh. There’s nothing I don’t know about my darling~."

"You sure do have a way of rephrasing ‘I stole that information.’"

"Ugh... ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ It’s not like I meant to...."

Lily, having been called out completely, awkwardly whistled and avoided his gaze.

Instead, she absentmindedly squished Yuria’s soft, doughy arm—

pressing and molding it like mochi.

But despite her shameless methods,

she wasn’t wrong.

Raven, unconcerned about the fact that she had snooped,

simply mulled it over before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah. The Fixer License lasts for three years,

so I do need to renew it soon.

I should probably get it done as soon as Night Week is over."

The Fixer License was a globally recognized certification,

issued by the International Fixer Association.

Since a person’s skills naturally change over time—

for better or worse—

getting licensed once wasn’t enough.

Fixers had to continuously prove their competence.

The renewal period was every three years.

Though fixers could technically renew it early,

they had to visit the association in person to go through the process.

Because of that hassle, most waited until the last month before bothering to renew.

And now that Raven had officially hit the three-year mark,

he had no choice but to visit the association and get it renewed—

otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to legally run his Troubleshooter Office.

"Well, thanks for the reminder.

I’d probably get an email about it soon anyway,

but I guess it doesn’t hurt to prepare in advance."

"For my darling, anything~! If there’s anything else you might forget,

just leave it to me, and I’ll always remind you~!"

Lily’s eyes sparkled with pure enthusiasm,

as if she were willing to do anything for Raven.

She made herself comfortable on the couch,

clearly intent on staying until dinner—

But then, without warning,

the office door suddenly swung open.

A loud, very familiar voice rang through the room.

Since the door was always locked,

any visitor would have to ring the doorbell first.

Which meant... the person who had just walked right in wasn’t an outsider.

And sure enough, the one who had just arrived—

was Alice.

Having waited for hours outside the research lab to pick up her sister,

Alice was now thoroughly pissed off.

"Unnieeeeee!! I knew you’d be here!!"

"Ugh—Alice...."

"Oh, great! You found her! Take her away, Alice!"

"D-Darling?!"

Lily shot Raven an utterly betrayed look—

as if he had just thrown her to the wolves.

But—

"Didn’t you say we’d have dinner together?!"

That was what Lily clearly wanted to say.

However, Raven simply closed his eyes,

lowering his head apologetically as he murmured,

"Sorry.

But even I think Alice is scary.

For the sake of this office’s peace—just surrender quietly."

"Urgh...!"

"Ahhh!! Found you!! I knew you’d be here!!

Do you realize how much trouble you’re causing for Jin?!?"

"Ow, ow ow ow!! Okay, okay, I’m getting up! I said I’m getting up!!"

Storming into the office, Alice marched straight up to the lounging Lily

and immediately grabbed her ear—yanking it.

This was an age-old tactic Alice had developed from experience.

If left alone, Lily always caused unnecessary trouble,

so the best way to handle her—was with force.

"Sorry about this, Jin, Yuria.

You were probably trying to relax,

but my sister just had to drop in unannounced...."

"Eh, it wasn’t that bad. Just mildly inconvenient."

"...!"

"Haha... Well, I’m gonna take my sister outside for a bit.

Have a great evening!"

Alice gave an apologetic bow before swiftly dragging Lily out of the office.

It was a storm-like entrance—

and an equally anticlimactic exit.

"...She’s gone."

"..."

"Alright, then.

How about we figure out what to eat for dinner?

We still have some time to spare."

"...!"

Now left alone in the office,

Raven and Yuria exchanged glances—

silently agreeing on what to do next.

And so, an entirely ordinary holiday quietly continued on.