The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 24

I picked up the watering can filled with water and poured it over the flower bed.

A thin stream of water sprayed out, dampening the brightly colored flowers. The sound was pleasant.

“Grow well, little ones.”

They say plants grow well when you speak kindly to them.

Unfortunately, I can't speak, so...

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I tried to send some positive words in my mind but stopped because it felt uncomfortable.

No matter how much I said it in my head, it still felt a bit cheesy.

I simply wished them to grow well, quietly in my mind.

If my thoughts reach them, they’ll grow well, right?

Tap.

I set the watering can down on the ground and crouched down to leisurely admire the flowers.

I tapped the petals with my fingers, gently brushing them. A strange sensation passed through my fingertips, and I couldn't help but smile.

Since I woke up in this world, I’ve never had a proper hobby.

There wasn’t much room for that, and in a world like this, finding a suitable hobby is hard.

“If anything, treasure hunting in the garbage dump or eating desserts, that’s about it.”

Since I came to the orphanage, my hobbies have increased.

Tending to the flower bed.

It’s not because I find flowers beautiful, or because I had this hobby in my past life. It just happened that way.

At first, it was a simple way to pass the time.

When I wasn’t hanging out with the kids, I wandered around the building and stumbled upon the flower bed in the yard.

Since then, I started watering it from time to time.

“This is actually not bad after doing it for a while. The kids think it’s a hassle, so they don’t do it much.”

Looking at flowers gives me a strange feeling.

It’s hard to find flowers outside. No flower festivals or anything like that. At least not in the outer city.

The place is filled with buildings and debris, so there’s no space for flowers or plants to grow. It’s an environment unsuitable for plants to thrive.

This world.

“Sometimes, when walking on the road, I see flowers growing through the cracks... but when I come back, they’re either covered with debris or withered.”

Unless someone takes care of them, it’s rare to see.

Since it doesn’t make money, hardly anyone does it.

Maybe that’s why this flower bed in front of me feels special.

“What a truly messed-up world... How did I end up here...?”

It’s a futuristic city with advanced technology, but ironically, that’s what led to the world’s devastation.

It’s not just plants; animals are the same.

Animals I could easily see in my past life can only be seen at the zoo, and even then, they’re either holograms or androids.

Real animals are only seen in the wealthy neighborhoods, or so I’ve heard.

Of course, I don’t know if that’s true since I’ve never been there.

I could check if I wanted to, but I don’t really feel like going.

Maybe I’ll change my mind one day.

But not today.

As I started to feel a little too sentimental and down, I shook my head and brushed it off.

“I should get up soon.”

Just as I tried to stand, I heard a soft patter of footsteps approaching from behind.

Before I could turn around, the owner of those footsteps flew into my back.

The impact almost made me stumble, but I barely managed to keep my balance.

“Lily!”

Two delicate arms wrapped around my neck.

Turning my head, I saw the familiar yellow-haired girl—Rena.

“Are you watering the flowers again today?”

I nodded.

“You’re so diligent, Lily.”

I felt a bit awkward from the compliment and shook my head a little late.

“Do you like flowers?”

For a moment, I hesitated.

It’s not that I dislike them, but I wouldn’t say I like them enough to be confident about it. I’m not sure if I like them or not.

Rena looked at me with a puzzled expression at my hesitation.

“Isn’t that why you’re doing it?”

I wasn’t sure. I tilted my head as a sign of uncertainty.

“I like singing. That’s why I enjoy singing. How about you, Lily? Do you enjoy it?”

It was a tough question.

It was definitely a simple question, but I couldn’t answer it.

In the end, I shrugged my shoulders as a way of saying "I’m not sure."

“Eh~ what’s that?”

It seemed like my answer wasn’t satisfying.

But she didn’t ask any more questions.

Rena puffed up her cheeks slightly, but then seemed to notice something and her cheeks deflated.

Her small finger pointed at somewhere in the flower bed.

“Oh, look! A sprout has come out from the seed you planted.”

It really had. The seed I planted.

It sprouted so quickly.

It’s truly amazing.

At that moment, Rena withdrew her arms from my shoulders and dropped to the ground.

Then she clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking serene.

“I’ll sing a song so these little ones can grow well.”

Rena started singing.

A calm melody filled the air. It was a beautiful song.

I had a feeling they would grow well. Maybe they would even grow tall enough to pierce the clouds.

Imagining such a sight made me giggle.

Rena finished her song, singing the last lyric.

“Now, let’s go to the secret base.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

She flashed a bright smile and extended her hand toward me.

The secret base.

It was the place I first met the children at the orphanage.

Originally, it was Rena’s secret place, but after she was kidnapped, I think she shared it with the other kids.

The kids love playing in the secret base, and Rena loves singing.

“I actually came up with new lyrics, ‘Pabat!’ and I need someone to listen to it. I’ll give you the special honor of hearing it first.”

The honor, huh?

I grabbed her small hand and stood up.

As I held her hand tightly, preparing to walk to the secret base, someone grabbed my hand from the opposite side.

It was the blue-haired girl, Ba Da.

When did she arrive?

“No... Lily has to read books with me...”

Since the time we went to the zoo, my relationship with Ba Da had grown much closer.

We’ve been spending more time reading books together like this.

“Eh~ I said it first, so I’m going first.”

“No, I’ll do it first. We’re at the best part right now...”

“I didn’t make a promise, so it’s my turn.”

“My turn...”

Hey, excuse me, but I’m not a rope in this tug-of-war.

As they both pulled on my hands, it was clear I was about to be torn in two.

The two girls started tugging on me, their tension growing, each pulling in the opposite direction.

Stop!

At this rate, I might really get torn apart.

*

A quiet office room.

Red was sitting on a chair, resting.

She had her head tilted up, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Soon, Isaac’s face appeared faintly on the ceiling, and her expression tightened.

Red closed her eyes as if she couldn't stand the sight of it.

“Why does he keep coming...?”

He visited often, and recently, they kept running into each other. She really hated it.

Then, out of nowhere, the words of Isaac’s junior, Nina, seemed to echo in her ears.

Maybe it was because her eyes were closed, but the voice sounded vivid.

“Why do you hate the boss so much? What exactly did he do to make you treat him like that?”

Red didn’t answer that question.

She couldn’t.

“...”

Maybe it was because of her deep thoughts, but soon, Red drifted into sleep. And she dreamed.

The scene in the dream was something from long ago.

It was the reason Red started keeping her distance from Isaac.

That day, Isaac was attending the funeral of the children from the orphanage he had run.

Isaac, Red, and a few other fixer acquaintances were present.

The weather was unbelievably bad.

The sky was overcast with thick clouds.

Heavy rain poured down.

A heavy silence filled the air.

Everyone there was holding black umbrellas, making the atmosphere even more oppressive.

“You did well. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“The kids must have been really happy during the time they spent with you.”

“It’s this kind of world. There was nothing that could be done.”

Everyone said comforting words to Isaac.

Whether those words could truly comfort him, Red didn’t know.

“Who could have done something like this?”

“There’s no trace left, so we can’t even guess who did it.”

“There must have been plenty of security robots and systems installed...”

“The location was just bad.”

The children had gone missing.

At first, one or two disappeared, but soon, they all vanished on the same day.

There were no traces of the children or the culprit anywhere.

Isaac used all his power to search for them, but there was no result.

Not a single trace was found, so the search was declared a failure, and the children were considered dead.

It was decided that the chance of them surviving in this cruel city was slim.

Although their bodies were never found, a grave was made, since it felt wrong to leave it like that.

After the funeral.

One by one, people left, and only Red remained.

Isaac stayed in front of the children’s graves, unwilling to leave.

Watching him, his head bowed in silence, Red felt a deep sympathy.

Since Red had taken care of the orphanage's children as well, she could deeply understand how painful Isaac’s heart must have been.

No matter what words she spoke, they wouldn’t reach him, but she wanted to try to ease his pain a little.

Just as Red was about to approach Isaac to comfort him, she stopped when she saw his side profile.

A smile was spreading on Isaac’s lips.

Isaac quickly covered his mouth with his hand, sensing her presence.

He turned toward Red and lowered his hand.

The smile was gone.

It was as though it had never existed in the first place.

Isaac spoke.

“...I appreciate your concern. I’m fine... I’m fine, really...”

His voice trembled, as though he was desperately trying to hold back his tears.

His expression also showed deep sadness.

Red wondered if she had seen it wrong.

But at that moment, just as thunder rumbled and light engulfed the ground, Red saw it.

Isaac’s eyes.

In those eyes, there was no trace of sadness or despair.

They didn’t look like the eyes of someone who had accepted it with calm resignation.

They looked just like the eyes of those consumed by desire, or those who had achieved their desires.

A chill ran down her spine, and she felt a coldness in her heart.

“Red... What’s wrong?”

“...It’s nothing...”

That was when it started.

That was when Red began to find Isaac uncomfortable.

The dream scene scattered like mist.

Red slowly opened her eyes.

“Back then, to dream of that...”

Red pressed her eyebrows tightly.

She might have seen it wrong.

Maybe, as she kept getting lost in these strange thoughts, her mind was drifting in the wrong direction.

But her intuition, honed from handling countless fixer jobs, told her it wasn’t just her imagination.

So Red began to investigate secretly.

As she gathered the data, she felt an unease.

The location of the orphanage Isaac ran seemed strange. The areas where the security systems were installed and the placement of the security robots were also odd.

On the surface, it looked fine, but upon closer inspection, there were too many flaws to ignore.

It seemed like just a bad feeling at first, but the doubts only grew deeper.

However, it was just a hunch. There was no concrete evidence.

Afterward, Red became busy with her fixer work and lost ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ focus on the investigation.

But as she kept running into Isaac, her suspicions returned, and she finally decided to ask Nina for help.

“What’s going on, Red? Why did you call me here all of a sudden?”

“I’ve been curious about it. Why do you treat Isaac like that?”

“I guess you’ve decided to speak about it now. But that’s not my place to talk about. You should speak with the boss.”

“...I’ll do that. But before that, would you like to go with me to the orphanage Isaac used to run? Just the two of us.”

“Eh? What are you saying? Wait a second... What do you mean by that? It sounds like you think the boss is involved in something bad. Are you saying the boss got involved in something suspicious?”

“...I’m not sure either. That’s why I want us to go and check together.”

“Why are you dragging me into this? What are you going to do if I tell the boss? You should go alone.”

“Because it’s you. And maybe you’ll notice something I didn’t.”

“....”

“What will you do?”

“If we don’t find anything, you’ll have to apologize to the boss for all the rudeness you’ve shown him so far.”

“I’ll do that. You can choose the time. But everything we discussed here has to remain a secret from Isaac.”

“...Understood.”

Now it was time to confirm whether the suspicions were true.

As someone who was once a colleague, there was a part of her that hoped she was wrong.

Red waited for the call.