The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 21

Two weeks had passed since the trip to the zoo.

Since then, nothing special had happened.

It was just the same foolish, ordinary routine, even at this very moment.

After lunch, all the children gathered in front of the small TV, watching.

Normally, they would have gone outside to play or played with toys and dolls, but today was different. The TV was airing a tokusatsu show.

The people in ridiculously colorful costumes were fighting monsters, a common hero vs. monster storyline.

It seemed to be a popular show with the kids, as all their eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Ahhhhh! No! How could the protagonist be losing like this?!"

"That despicable villain! How can they do such a cowardly thing?!"

"My heart is racing..."

Seeing them enjoying it, it was so typical of kids.

Unlike the excited children, I was indifferent.

I had outgrown such things, and watching it didn’t stir any excitement in me.

As an adult, I’d rather watch the news to understand how the world was turning. People like me should be watching something more intellectual than a tokusatsu show.

Of course, if I changed the channel, I could imagine the chaos, so I left it on.

"No! Why are they acting like that? Ugh... the protagonist is so frustrating. Please! Listen to the person next to you!"

Yeah, this wasn’t fun at all.

I was watching because I was curious about how the protagonist would overcome the challenges they faced.

As an adult, I didn’t get excited like the kids. I was just here, staying with them to fit in.

Tightening my fist, I wasn’t nervous, but angry.

And just as the climax approached, when the protagonist and their team escaped the trap and defeated the villain...

"Wooohooo!"

"That’s our protagonist! They won again!"

"Hooray...!"

The children jumped up from their seats, cheering.

They were as excited as if their favorite team had won an important match.

"Yes! That’s how it should be!"

I also clenched my fist, holding my elbow with one hand.

When the children glanced at me, I felt a little embarrassed and subtly loosened my stance.

It wasn’t until the ending song finished that I grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

Advertisements. Entertainment shows, kids' channels, the usual content.

But then, something caught my attention on one of the news channels, and I stopped pressing the button.

It was a report about the Sashin cult making another move and committing another act of terror.

Now that I thought about it, the Sashin cult had been more active recently than before.

I wasn’t the only one who thought so. On the broadcast, experts were gathered to discuss this growing concern.

[As you already know, the Sashin cult is a religious group that follows Sashin, one of the four major organizations. They firmly believe that Sashin is the one who will save the world, crazy as they are.]

[The association still can’t figure out Sashin’s movements. We have no idea what his purpose is or what he wants. But one thing is clear: Sashin is extremely dangerous and very powerful.]

[At first, they appeared only sporadically. But in the past few months, Sashin’s appearances have noticeably decreased. Or rather, I should correct myself. He’s been keeping a low profile. And that’s why the cult’s followers are getting anxious.]

[The Sashin doctrine says that Sashin will appear where death is. Perhaps the followers are killing people in hopes of bringing him back through the accumulated corpses and blood.]

[But don’t worry. The association is working day and night to root out the Sashin cult.]

It really felt like there wasn’t a single quiet day in the world.

Thinking back, after I stayed at the orphanage, the Sashin cult activities had completely stopped.

I sighed.

Did the Sashin cult know?

Did they know that the god they worshipped was currently spending their days leisurely at the orphanage?

Blood and corpses... Who are they even seeing as monsters?

Because of them, Sashin’s name was spreading in even worse ways.

‘I guess at some point, I’ll have to deal with them to quiet things down... It’s such a nuisance since they operate like a shadow network. The fixers are working on it, so maybe I’ll just keep watching for now...’

While I was lost in these thoughts...

"Boring."

"Let’s watch something else."

"Give me the remote."

The kids, uninterested in the world around them, grumbled.

I couldn’t blame them, though. A news program wouldn’t be interesting to kids.

I handed the remote to the children.

They switched the channel.

They stopped when they found a channel where idols were singing on stage.

Rena snatched the remote from the other kids.

I knew that Rena was really serious when it came to music, and I also knew what would happen if I disturbed her while she was deeply into a song.

The other kids sulked.

Rena’s eyes sparkled.

She hummed along to the idol’s song.

Just as we were nearing the highlight, the TV turned off.

"Ah..."

Rena's eyes widened, and she turned her head.

Rena frowned, but it didn’t matter to the person who turned off the TV.

"Alright, TV time’s over for today. The weather’s nice, so we’re going to do a big cleaning session."

It was Red.

Naturally, the mention of cleaning brought displeasure to the kids’ faces.

"““Ehh...””"

"Do we have to do it today? Can’t we do it later?"

Even though the kids whined, Red didn’t back down.

"We’re doing it today. You can watch TV after we finish cleaning. And if you don’t help, I’ll eat all your snacks myself."

In the end, the kids, held hostage by the snacks, had no choice but to clean up.

*

Rags, brooms, dusters, and so on.

The children each took the cleaning tools designated for them. In addition, Red had completely changed into cleaning attire.

It was strange, but the orphanage didn’t use cleaning robots.

With Red’s wealth, buying a cleaning robot shouldn’t have been a problem at all.

So I asked the kids about it before, and they told me that Red didn’t want to use them.

It would be much more convenient, so why go through the trouble?

"Alright, everyone, let’s give it our best! No slacking off, let’s work hard."

"““Woohoo!!!””"

When Red raised her hand and shouted encouragement, the other kids followed suit.

With the windows wide open, they began to clean in earnest.

"It’s a race to see who’s the fastest."

"I’m faster!"

They raced while wiping the dirty floor with wet rags.

"Careful... careful..."

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They dusted places that were hard to reach with dusters.

"Smell!"

"Ugh!"

They pinched their noses with their small hands as they threw out the dirty trash.

"Let’s see who’s the strongest."

"Today I’ll show you just how strong I am."

They had broomstick sword fights.

Honestly, that was hard to resist.

Then, when they got caught by Red, they ended up laughing and receiving a playful slap on the head, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I walked away.

"Hehe. Snacks, wait for me. I’m coming."

I slipped away, trying to avoid Red and the kids' eyes, heading toward the kitchen.

The smell of freshly baked treats wafted out from the kitchen, tickling my nose.

Hehe. Such a delicious smell.

I peeked carefully into the kitchen, only showing my face.

"Heh heh~"

Rena was humming a tune as she focused on preparing the snacks.

I saw where the snacks were, and now I just had to wait for the right moment.

I was used to hiding my presence, so sneaking a few snacks away was like eating cold porridge to me.

I knew I didn’t really need to do this.

But secretly sneaking food always tastes the best.

‘This is the moment!’

The opportunity came, and just as I was about to move quickly, someone tugged on the hem of my clothes.

I froze, startled, and quickly turned my head.

It was the blue girl, Ba Da.

"You can’t do that..."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Ba Da pointed a finger sternly at me. She glared at me with piercing eyes.

Being scolded by a child felt strange.

How could I have been so focused on the snacks that I didn’t notice Ba Da?

"Let’s go back..."

I grabbed her pointing finger and shook my head.

I wasn’t about to give up just like that.

Before Ba Da could say anything else, I let go of her finger and moved toward the snacks.

"Ah...!"

I quickly reached my target, snatched up the treats, and even grabbed something to quiet my mouth.

As I was about to leave, I heard a voice from behind.

"It’s not snack time yet. Why are you here?"

I froze.

My mind went blank. I moved my head mechanically to look.

Not long ago, she had been over there, but now Rena was standing behind me.

Oh no...

"What’s in your hand...?"

With a suspicious tone in her voice, I had no choice but to put the snacks back where I found them.

I bowed my head as though nothing had happened and was about to slip away when...

"This isn’t the end, is it?"

She noticed, too.

Sighing inwardly, I took out all the snacks I had hidden behind my back.

What would happen to me now?

I glanced at the door, wondering if I should ask Ba Da for help.

And then, I saw Red, smiling brightly.

Oh, I’m done for.

*

Caught in the act, I was eventually given a fitting punishment.

Kneeling with both hands raised, I wore a board around my neck.

The board had large letters written on it, saying:

[I committed the bad deed of trying to steal snacks.]

"Hahaha!"

"Pu-uh!"

The boys who had been playing with the brooms were laughing at my ridiculous appearance.

Being laughed at by the kids...

I couldn’t take it anymore.

As an adult, my pride couldn’t allow it.

If I let this go, my shattered pride would never recover.

I took off the board around my neck and walked into the room.

Then, I grabbed the rubber hammer and swung it at one of the boys nearby.

Boing!

I gestured for him to come ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) closer with a teasing wave of my hand.

"You wanna try?"

"We have more people!"

"We’ll make you regret this!"

The boys who got caught in my provocation charged at me, but I easily dodged them and kept swinging the hammer.

Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.

After the fight, the boys were out of breath and kneeled in front of me.

Yeah. This is the level difference between me and you guys.

Hehe.

I placed my hands on my hips and looked down at the boys with a smug expression.

Just as I was basking in the joy of victory, a voice with an obvious hint of anger came from behind.

"Who told you to lower your hand?"

Ah...

*

Once again, I had my hands raised high, kneeling before Lily.

Some of the boys were teasing Lily from side to side.

I could hear a dejected sound from behind the mask, but Red’s resolve didn’t waver.

Red looked at Lily, deep in thought.

It was because of the movements Lily showed during the fight with the boys.

The way she swung the rubber hammer, her footwork... it resembled Sashin in some way.

It had only been one encounter, but it had been intense enough to be unforgettable.

‘...It’s just my imagination.’

Red dismissed it as a simple misunderstanding.

Even she knew how unreasonable that thought was.

"Your posture is off. Stand up straight!"