I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 110: Aftermath at Saint Maria (3)

When I woke up, I felt uncomfortably trapped.

No—rather, it was more like I had woken up because of that discomfort.

Did I sleep in a weird position and get a cramp? That had never happened before...

Still groggy, I slowly blinked and took in my surroundings.

And soon enough, I found the culprit.

‘When the hell did they get into my bed?’

The source of my discomfort was none other than two unexpected intruders—Sabrina and Alice.

They were clinging onto me, effectively pinning my arms in place.

No wonder I felt so restricted.

If I remembered correctly, I had definitely fallen asleep alone.

Which meant that at some point, these two had snuck into my bed while I was completely passed out.

Seriously, there were plenty of ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) other beds in the room—

Why did they have to squeeze in here?

I stared at the two, who were still sound asleep, feeling mildly exasperated.

Then, carefully wriggling free, I slipped out of bed.

I wasn’t exactly the strongest person, but I was flexible enough to escape without waking them.

‘What time is it...? 10 AM. So, I slept about six hours.’

Yawn. Six hours was decent.

Ruffling my messy hair, I rummaged through my luggage for my essentials.

Fox mask, Tesseract, and Echo.

At this point, if I lost even one of them, I’d probably feel anxious as hell.

[ Mama, good morning.... ]

[ I just want to go home already.... ]

Tesseract and Echo both sounded exhausted, most likely because I had burned through too much stored energy during yesterday’s fight.

Well, nothing I could do about that.

I gently pressed them to my forehead, as if offering silent reassurance, before tucking Tesseract inside my clothes and Echo into my pocket.

Then, I quietly left the bedroom.

“...!”

“Oh, you’re up early, Yuria. You seriously sleep so little. What are you, an old man?”

As I adjusted my mask and walked into the living area, Raven greeted me from the sofa, where he was lazily sprawled out.

Dressed in loose pajamas, with a snack stick hanging from his mouth, he looked... incredibly unbothered.

Which was odd.

Raven was known for sleeping in—he had an extremely relaxed sleep schedule.

Considering that we had stayed up late dealing with Morte, there was no way he should be up at this hour.

‘...Ah. Did the fight with Morte trigger his old habits?’

Thinking about it, it made sense.

Raven had only developed his lazy sleep habits after leaving the military and becoming a fixer.

But after such an intense battle, his old discipline might have kicked in instinctively.

“...”

Well, if that was the case, I didn’t need to worry about it.

He could handle his own condition just fine.

Returning his greeting with a simple nod, I headed to the sink to wash my face before coming back.

Then, I sat down at the edge of the sofa, leaning against the backrest, and pulled out Echo.

There wasn’t much to do until the others woke up.

I figured I’d kill time here until lunch.

But apparently, Raven misunderstood my intentions.

Lazily sprawled out, he suddenly shifted upright, then patted the empty seat next to him.

“Why are you sitting all the way at the edge, huh? Just sit properly.”

“...?”

“If Alice sees you like that, she’s gonna start whining about me hogging the whole couch. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me tired.”

Wait, I wasn’t trying to hint at anything...

Scratching my head, I sighed and shifted closer, taking the inner seat.

Raven had a point.

Alice did have a tendency to be overly protective—

If she saw me sitting uncomfortably, she’d definitely make it his problem.

And honestly?

There was no reason to stubbornly cling to the sofa edge.

As I settled in, I caught a faint, fresh scent from Raven.

Had he just taken a shower?

Maybe he couldn’t sleep, so he washed up instead.

“...”

“...”

For a while, we just sat there in silence.

Even though Raven and I were sitting side by side on the spacious sofa, we didn’t really talk.

He was watching some random TV show that didn’t look all that interesting.

Meanwhile, I was busy messing around on online forums using Echo.

Not in a way that would traumatize someone like I used to—

Just harmlessly mixing up alternate accounts and main accounts of rude commenters to confuse the hell out of them.

At one point, I had felt bad about messing with a site admin too much—

So I sent them some expensive wagyu beef to make up for it.

In return, they had begged me to stop and even gifted me a special account, which meant I could now stir up chaos with much less effort.

Maybe next time, I should send them a health supplement or something.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Raven suddenly spoke—

Without even turning his head from the TV.

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“Yuria, how’s the general store job? Still holding up alright?”

“...!”

“Hah. Yeah, makes sense. You were already working there before taking the part-time job at my office. No way it’d be hard for you. Stupid question.”

Raven chuckled to himself, realizing his own mistake.

After all, I was stuck working at his place because I had temporarily lost the general store job.

It was kind of a dumb question, yeah.

But I didn’t really mind.

Seeing me nod firmly, he let out a quiet laugh, then fished something out of his pocket before handing it to me.

I blinked.

What was he giving me?

Taking the mysterious object, I examined it closely—

It was a small, thin metal bracelet.

“...?”

“It’s a gift. Your mask was from Greg, right? Thought about it and realized I never gave you anything as your boss. So, just think of it as a ‘farewell gift.’”

“...”

A farewell gift?

We literally see each other every day.

I didn’t know how to react, so I just rolled the bracelet around in my palm for a moment—

Then, deciding to accept it properly, I bowed my head slightly in gratitude.

It was a heartfelt gift, after all.

No reason to turn it down.

The bracelet was a chain design, made of linked metal loops.

A simple silver color, lightweight, and thin enough to not feel burdensome.

I slipped it onto my wrist—

And it was surprisingly comfortable.

Almost like I wasn’t even wearing anything.

Feeling satisfied, I held up my arm and showed it off to Raven.

He gave me a small, approving smile, then said—

“That’s a good luck bracelet. Try to wear it every day. It’s useful.”

“...?”

A good luck bracelet?

It didn’t look like anything special.

Tilting my head in confusion, I glanced at him—

But Raven just shrugged and returned his focus to the TV, offering no further explanation.

Well, whatever.

Getting a present was nice.

Feeling a bit awkward, I poked his shoulder a couple of times.

Not that I expected him to get it, but the gesture basically meant:

“Men who act like tsunderes are annoying. But I’ll let it slide this time.”

Eventually, the rest of the group started waking up one by one.

Third place: Reine.

Fourth place: David.

Fifth and sixth: Alice and Sabrina, together.

Now that I thought about it, this ranking was...

Pretty much in order of responsibility levels.

Which meant that I, of all people, had managed to place second.

Honestly?

That was kind of satisfying.

Once everyone had washed up, we gathered in the living area.

As Alice toweled her damp hair, she turned to Raven and asked—

“Jin, are we heading home today?”

“Huh? Why, you in a hurry to leave?”

“No... not really. It’s just... after everything that happened yesterday...”

Her question made perfect sense.

Not even half a day ago, the undead had rampaged through this very hotel.

Naturally, she wanted to know the plan.

Most of the regular guests were probably rushing home after the shock of the attack.

So what about us?

Everyone turned to Raven, waiting for his decision.

“If even one of us wants to leave, we’ll go. But honestly? I feel kinda bad for the hotel.”

“Huh? Why?”

“This wasn’t Saint Maria’s fault. If anything, they were unlucky victims just like us. Who the hell could’ve predicted that a necromancer was hiding inside, planning a terrorist attack?”

He had a point.

Sure, the hotel’s security measures hadn’t been perfect—

But no one could realistically predict something like this.

And considering how well they handled the crisis, preventing any casualties, they had done their best.

“That’s... true.”

“Right? So, as professionals, it’d be better if we stuck around and helped lighten the mood. It’s part of our job as fixers.”

“Jin...!”

Alice looked genuinely touched.

She was the type who couldn’t stand by when people needed help.

So to her, Raven’s words must have sounded incredibly noble.

But David, adjusting his glasses, saw through him immediately.

“And what’s the real reason?”

“Heh... well, the hotel owner personally asked us to stay for a few more days. They want us to help restore their reputation—basically, make it seem safe again. And in exchange... we get to use all the facilities for free.”

“Wait... you mean...”

“That’s right! No food expenses! We can eat all we want! When’s the last time we had a deal this good?!”

“...Wow.”

“...So it was just business.”

Figures.

If that was the case, why pretend to be all righteous?

Everyone gave Raven a flat stare.

But honestly?

I found myself quietly laughing instead.

This was just so like him.

“Alright, then! First order of business—lunch! Let’s go! Today, it’s my treat!”

“...Are you really treating us?”

“Technically, it’s thanks to his negotiation skills that we’re getting free food, so... he’s not wrong.”

And just like that—

We followed Raven, heading toward the hotel restaurant.

Free hotel food?

Now that was a deal worth taking.