The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 31

Meanwhile, Red, who had been outside.

On her way back after finishing the job, a device she had given to Nina activated, and a text message appeared on Red's phone.

It was a sizable amount of data.

Stopping the car in one place, Red slowly read through the material that had been sent to her. Her expression hardened with each passing moment.

The information Nina had found in the abandoned orphanage.

Her worst fears had become a reality.

Although she had hoped deep down that it wasn’t true, reality was harsh.

Isaac had used the children from the orphanage he ran to commit fraud. An act she could never forgive.

Even though she had anticipated this, seeing the true face of someone who had once been a colleague was shocking.

Red closed her eyes.

Her face grew dark.

What weighed on her heart more than the ugly truth was the fact that the device she had given Nina had worked.

‘What a fool... why did you go off on your own...’

She didn’t consider herself particularly close to Nina, though they weren't enemies either.

They had connected while Isaac and she were on good terms, and after their falling out, they had barely crossed paths.

A rather neutral relationship.

Even so, the death of an acquaintance troubled her heart.

Fixers and death are inseparable.

In this world, death was all too familiar, an event as common as anything else.

It would be easier if she could accept it like everyone else, but even at the highest level, it was hard for her to remain unfazed by someone’s death.

The corners of Red's eyes twitched faintly.

She prayed silently for Nina’s soul.

‘Isaac...!’

Determined to face the situation, Red turned the car around and headed back to the orphanage.

On her way, she suddenly received a message that there was a problem at the orphanage.

Normally, Rene took care of all such matters.

The fact that she was contacted meant that something serious had happened.

Red’s hesitation was brief.

She turned the car and pressed the accelerator hard, speeding toward the orphanage.

When she arrived, the sight that greeted her made her frown.

The entire yard was filled with signs of intense combat.

What concerned her even more were the numerous shards of ice and familiar traces of magic scattered around.

Red immediately realized who had come.

“Red-ssi...”

Rene, waiting in the yard, saw Red and her expression brightened briefly, only to darken immediately.

Rene explained everything that had happened—how the Sashin-kyo followers and Isaac had attacked, and how Lily had followed them, trying to protect everyone.

After finishing her explanation, Rene gritted her teeth in frustration. Her clenched fists were trembling with anger.

“...I’m sorry. I was here, but I couldn’t protect them. I should’ve done better... I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Rene lowered her head deeply.

Red placed a hand firmly on Rene’s head and patted it strongly.

Rene groaned slightly from the rough touch, but Red held her hand there until it stopped trembling.

When Red removed her hand, Rene lifted her head.

Her blue hair was in disarray. Seeing this, Red couldn’t help but smile faintly.

“It's fine. You did your best. It would have been tough to stop Isaac with just a clone, especially here.”

Her voice wasn’t scolding.

Red didn’t think it was Rene’s fault. The circumstances and environment had simply been unfavorable.

Red knew both Rene and Isaac’s abilities well.

If it had been the real Isaac and not this place, she was certain that Rene would have won in a hundred battles, every time.

“It’s okay. You haven’t lost anything. What was taken can be taken back.”

No one had lost their life.

That was enough.

What was broken could be fixed, and what was messy could be cleaned up.

If she went to Isaac and brought Lily back, everything would return to normal.

“But why did Isaac take Lily? Did he say anything other than that he was saving the world?”

Rene shook her head.

“What I’m sure of is that Isaac seemed to know something about Lily.”

“That nonsense about not letting her exist in this world... what a ridiculous thing to say.”

“I don’t know what it means, but when I think about it, Isaac seemed really interested in Lily.”

“I thought there was a reason he kept watching her. But I never expected him to do something like this.”

“Why would he do something like this?”

“We’ll get the details from him.”

This incident had happened suddenly. When things unfolded like this, it was bound to lead to consequences.

Isaac wasn’t the type to act without caution.

That meant this event had likely been impulsive.

Red thought it was probably because Isaac’s ugly deeds had started to leak out.

After gathering her thoughts, Red moved her legs to start the journey.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“I...! I’ll come with you.”

“No. I’m going alone. You stay here and clean up the yard. Think about how shocked the kids will be if they see this mess. And it’s about time, anyway.”

“But... okay. I’ll leave the cleaning to you.”

Just as Red was about to leave, Rene spoke up.

“Red-ssi...”

“Hmm?”

“That kid... she took off her mask and showed me her face.”

Red’s eyes widened.

It was quite a shock to hear that the kid, who had avoided showing her face until now, had taken it off by herself.

But seeing Rene’s sad expression, Red realized it wasn’t just a boastful remark.

“She didn’t cry, but she had such a terribly sad face.”

Rene remembered it vividly, as if it had just happened.

The moment Lily took off her mask, Rene had been struck with disbelief.

She had doubted whether she was seeing reality.

To think such a person existed in this world. [N O V E L I G H T] She was still a child, yet unnervingly beautiful.

When those blue eyes gazed at her, Rene felt a slight blush.

She felt so insignificant in comparison to that face.

At the same time, her heart ached deeply.

The pain was far worse than the wounds caused by Isaac.

Those blue eyes, filled with sorrow, held a strong will.

A will to not be saved.

And after a slight bow of thanks, she put the mask back on.

“If Lily hadn’t followed, the damage would’ve been worse. It’s almost as if we owe her for her help. So...”

Rene, though she thought of Lily as a pitiful child, couldn't fully dismiss the doubts that lingered in the back of her mind.

The past was veiled in mystery.

She could vaguely sense the immense magical power contained within Lily's small frame.

As someone entrusted with protecting the children of the orphanage, Rene couldn’t afford to overlook even the slightest danger.

Therefore, she treated Lily like a child, but she never let her guard down.

However, over time, Rene’s wariness gradually started to fade.

She began to feel, albeit faintly, that Lily cherished the other children at the orphanage.

And after witnessing Lily throw herself to protect Rene, her doubts were allayed.

Lily wasn’t a dangerous girl.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

The child Isaac claimed shouldn’t exist in this world was definitely not that girl.

“Please, bring her back.”

“Alright.”

At Rene's earnest request, Red answered without hesitation.

Red hurriedly set off, determined to punish the villain and retrieve Lily, so that they could face an ordinary tomorrow.

***

Hmm.

This place really brings up unpleasant memories.

Following Isaac, she ended up at some abandoned building, then entered an underground passage and soon arrived at a suspicious location.

The place was filled with strange devices, machinery, and odd objects.

This was a laboratory.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Though Red didn’t know what kind of experiments had been conducted here, it was certainly not a normal place.

‘The smell of blood is thick in the air. It seems like many people have died here.’

A chilling energy wrapped itself around her body.

The so-called "fixer" had truly committed horrific acts.

Had this so-called professional ethics been thrown into the trash?

Red was trapped in a cage of light, unable to move.

She could easily escape, but for now, she decided to watch the situation.

Rolling her eyes and glancing around, she turned her gaze to Isaac.

Isaac was focused on manipulating some mechanical device.

A moment later, Isaac approached her.

“Shall we have a little chat while we wait, kid? And by the way, wearing a mask while talking to someone, isn’t that a little rude?”

Isaac placed his hand on her face and forcibly removed her mask.

Seeing her unmasked face, Isaac’s expression drastically changed.

He dropped the mask he was holding and stared at her, mouth slightly open.

His eyes, which had previously been indifferent, were now filled with deep greed and desire.

He grinned lasciviously.

“Hahaha, so you weren’t some hideous monster under the mask. I didn’t expect such a beautiful face. Now I’m tempted to use you in my experiments, it feels like a waste not to.”

Isaac’s hand reached up to gently stroke her smooth cheek.

A chill ran down Red’s spine, and she felt a wave of nausea.

Ugh. She almost felt like vomiting.

What’s so good about this body? He really is a sick human being.

“Why aren’t you speaking? You seem to have a lot of questions. Oh, right, you can’t speak. Try moving your mouth a bit.”

Red squirmed, as if telling him not to touch her anymore, and pushed his hand away. She glared at him and moved her mouth.

[Are you sure about this?]

Isaac’s eyes were full of regret.

He squeezed the hand that had been gently stroking her cheek, his expression souring.

Ugh.

Isaac didn’t respond, as if he didn’t understand what she was conveying.

The silence dragged on.

Red had made sure to move her mouth simply so it would be easy for him to read, but fortunately, he wasn’t unable to understand. Isaac eventually spoke.

“Honestly, you’ve messed up my original plans. I was only going to bring you in, but because you resisted, the mask broke, and I ended up showing my face to Rene.”

Isaac sighed deeply and continued.

“But whatever, it doesn’t matter. Even though it’s a hassle, there’s no other way.”

Isaac tapped his forehead with his finger.

“Forgetfulness can be erased. There are plenty of places where you can pay to have such procedures done. Sure, it’s a little unsettling, messing with the brain, but I’m sure it’ll work out. If only you’d come along quietly from the start, it would’ve been so much easier.”

Red frowned, disgusted by the way he was blaming her, but she asked the next question.

[Do you know who I am?]

Yes, this was what she had been wondering.

Isaac seemed to know something about her.

Curious to find out if there was useful information, she asked, but Isaac’s response was disappointingly vague.

“That’s a question you should be asking yourself.”

Isaac placed a finger under her chin and lifted it, staring intently at her face, as if trying to confirm something.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a face like yours. With a face like that, it shouldn’t be strange if you’ve shown up before, but why haven’t you? Did you forget about it after making it?”

Red looked at Isaac, trying to read his face.

He didn’t seem like he was lying.

He truly didn’t know anything about her.

So why had he said such things to Rene?

Was it just a bluff to shake Rene’s confidence?

“What are you? What’s your true identity?”

Red remained silent. She didn’t know either.

She moved her mouth again.

[Then why me?]

Isaac had likely targeted her from the very beginning.

Now, all the signs of his attention toward her made sense.

But what was the reason behind it?

It didn’t seem like he knew she was the Reaper, so that couldn’t be it.

And he didn’t seem to know her very well, either.

There was no obvious reason to target her.

Fortunately, Isaac seemed quite talkative.

Like a teacher receiving a good question, he kindly answered her.

“Have you heard the saying, ‘One loach can muddy the whole pond’? Simply put, your existence is a bug to me. If I leave a bug unchecked, things won’t run properly. I originally planned to learn more about you, but unfortunately, I don’t have time for that right now. So, I’m going to use you for an experiment. Who knows, you might be the last ingredient I need for my masterpiece.”

Masterpiece?

Red turned her gaze past Isaac toward the huge glass container.

She could feel an overwhelming energy coming from there, something far greater than Isaac’s presence.

Was that his pet?

And a masterpiece? She could guess what kind of experiments were being conducted here.

She asked the final question that had been bothering her the most.

[What’s your goal?]

Since she arrived at this place, she had been wondering what Isaac was trying to achieve by conducting such horrible experiments.

As a fixer, it seemed like he wouldn’t lack for money or reputation.

In other words, there was no reason for him to get his hands dirty.

What could he possibly be after?

Isaac’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.

It looked like he had finally received a proper question, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

He spoke with the tone of someone about to reveal something amazing.

“To save the world.”

What?

“You don’t get it? I understand why you’re confused. It’s hard to believe that someone trying to save the world would prepare a laboratory like this and perform such dangerous experiments. But the world doesn’t run according to my desires. I don’t want to do this either, but what can I do? To protect the whole forest, sometimes you have to make drastic decisions.”

Isaac’s smile grew even more cruel.

And he gently stroked her cheek again as he spoke.

“So don’t feel too wronged. Everything is just the foundation for saving the world. In fact, it’s quite an honorable thing.”