I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 134: The Incident on the Luxury Airship (2)

Well, he had just disguised himself in human form, but in essence, he was a giant winged lizard. The fact that he could probably crush me with a single hand was astonishing.

"Yes, I’m sure you were getting bored while waiting. Your performance was quite impressive. For the 3rd task, there weren’t any notable anomalies, but in the 1st task, you ranked 40th out of 1600 participants. In the 2nd task, you came in 1st place out of 525. Your mental fortitude seems to be quite strong, huh?" he said.

"..."

"Aha, you can't speak, can you? I shouldn't have asked that."

What can I say? The old man was none other than Tempest, the great Dragon Lord of Night Haven. He was like a living deterrent to war.

It was as difficult to meet him in person as meeting a global celebrity. How was someone so famous within arm's reach?

There was no need to think too hard about it. He was the examiner for this task... or rather, the interviewer.

'In the original, it was someone else, but... Is this because of Vespera?'

That made it an extremely nerve-wracking situation. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but the interviewer was none other than Tempest, the owner of Night Haven.

If I carelessly raised any suspicions and he came to check on me, my highly suspicious behavior might be exposed right then and there.

So, I mentally gripped myself and nodded with purpose. There was no reason for him to suspect anything, so it would be better to remain calm.

Looking at me like that, what thoughts did Tempest have? He scanned me up and down and then casually stroked his mustache.

"That artifact on your face, is it? Does it have any special function?" he asked.

"...."

"Ah, I shouldn’t have asked. If it had any special properties, the staff would have noticed already. Hmm, no identity, huh? Does that mean the name Yuria is an alias?"

"...!"

I shook my head at his serious question. Tempest was probably asking if I had concealed my identity to participate, but I hadn’t hidden my identity, so I could only answer no.

Although my name was given by Greg after I fell into this world, now my name was Yuria, and that was the only one that mattered.

Fortunately, Tempest seemed to have understood my response and gave a slight frown, as if considering something.

"So, you don’t have a clear identity then. Well, that’s fine. You can be a Fixer even without an identity. It’s a bit strange for a human to have no identity, though," he said.

"...."

That was true, but... I swallowed nervously, trying to maintain a composed expression.

It wasn’t strange for someone from another race to have no identity. Those who came from other worlds couldn’t have a birth certificate or anything like that.

After all, the current system had only been established for a little over a decade. The Fixer Association didn’t care too much about accepting people without identities.

However, the fact that I, a human, had no identity was suspicious, even to me. Still, Tempest didn’t seem to mind too much, and he smoothly changed the topic.

"Alright, then let’s get started. I’ll ask a few questions. If it’s true, nod your head; if not, shake your head. But you absolutely must not lie. This shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"

"...!"

He kindly made the suggestion as if to accommodate me. During the interview, I didn’t even need to speak; all I had to do was nod if the answer was correct.

For someone like me, who had come prepared to face serious disadvantages, this was quite a surprising part.

But then I thought, this wasn’t really a special privilege just for me. After all, not all other races have the same language system as humans.

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With so many different races in the world, how could they all speak human languages?

So, what the association cared about wasn’t whether someone could speak, but whether they had the necessary intellectual abilities.

There were actually rare cases of Fixers who couldn’t speak. While it might cost a few points on the exam, it wasn’t something that would result in a direct disqualification.

It seemed the Fixer Association had a much more open mind than I expected. For someone like me who couldn’t speak, it was a huge relief.

"Well, you’re quite lively. Alright, then, let’s start with the first question..."

Perhaps because I moved my body as if to sit up straighter, Tempest smiled slightly and began asking in a much gentler tone than before.

However, despite the warmer atmosphere, the questions were tough.

If you had to choose between the mission and your teammates, which would you choose? If a plan that could prevent massive damage with minimal sacrifices were to be implemented, would you go along with it? If something is not dangerous now, but could become a major threat in the future, would you exclude it even if there was no direct fault?

These weren’t questions with clear-cut answers, but ambiguous ones where you had to choose depending on your values.

It seemed like Tempest was trying to get a sense of how I thought in everyday life.

After all, if a dangerous person were accepted as a Fixer, the risk would be on the association to handle, so it made sense for them to dig deeper.

"..."

But these complicated questions didn’t stop at one or two, and they soon numbered over ten or twenty. By the time the interview surpassed 30 minutes, I felt like my head was going to melt from the pressure.

So when Tempest finally asked his last question, I slumped back against the soft chair, utterly drained.

Since becoming Yuria, I hadn’t used my brain this much. It felt like the few brain cells I had left had shriveled up from the back-and-forth.

"Ah, my apologies, Yuria. It’s the usual timing for questions like these. Well, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of you lying, so you don’t need to worry too much about the results," he said.

"...!"

"That’s right. You’ve passed. Well, to be honest, it’s rare for someone to fail the interview in a year. Hahaha!"

The interview results were thankfully a pass.

After all, the point of the interview was to filter out those who couldn’t adapt to society. If you answered seriously and logically, it was strange to fail the exam.

Now, the only thing left was the much-anticipated 4th task...

As I closed my eyes, lost in thought, the complicated matters about Vespera, the World Tree Seed, and possibly a third attack weighed heavily on my mind.

I couldn’t let myself be too happy about passing the interview with everything ahead of me.

It would have been great if I could just grab the person in front of me and ask for help.

But there was a high chance I’d be suspected of being in cahoots with him, so I didn’t dare try.

‘I should just secure the Seed first and burn it...’

I absentmindedly shook my legs in the chair, letting my thoughts wander.

But perhaps because I had let my guard down in front of the most powerful person in the world, I didn’t realize what Tempest casually said until it was too late.

"Yuria, if you don’t mind me asking, could I ask you one thing?" he said.

"...?"

"Do you know about the Nexus Project?"

A jolt ran through me. Completely caught off guard by the question, my shoulder shook involuntarily. And at the same time, Tempest’s eyes narrowed, as though he had known all along.

Why was he asking me, at this exact moment?

I froze, my mouth agape, panic setting in.

How did he know?

Barely able to hold onto my fading consciousness, I looked at Tempest with trembling eyes.

He casually tapped his temple with his fingers and said, "A skilled magician knows how to see what’s hidden. I happen to be °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° able to see things like souls... And I’ve encountered a unique soul like yours before. Heh, of course, I couldn’t be sure until you physically responded just now."

"..."

"Yuria... or rather, a psychic. So, where are you from, miss?"

This was bad. Really bad.

If I could speak, I’d probably be screaming.