An A-Class Hero's Home Call
After that, it really was a piece of cake.
I started the briefing right in front of the Association President, and the idea had pulled me in immediately.
Days passed, and before I knew it the position of Special Agent had been created right inside the Welfare Bureau.
Technically it was no different from any other staff member… except that the workload was far heavier on field visits and face-to-face counseling, paperwork was slashed to the absolute minimum, hours were far more flexible, and the salary had jumped to 1.5 times what I was used to.
It was, quite simply, an exceptionally special post.
Even if it was only temporary.
“Anyway, you finally got to take it easy, huh?”
“Well… I still have work to do, though.”
“But isn’t it a little easier than what you were doing before? Lupang can finally relax. Just come in when you have to meet a hero, otherwise it’s pure vacation time.”
“…Lupang is at his best when he’s working and playing at the same time. Just playing without working is plain old rest.”
“…You were employed by the company with that mindset?”
“Nah.”
I’d spoken without thinking the moment the Team Leader casually asked about Lupang, who she clearly knew nothing about.
Anyway.
From now on I would be working as a Special Agent for a trial period.
The heroes I would counsel were Batori and Saran, the ones I’d already had, plus the newly added A-Class hero Baek Eun-hwa—three in total.
“Hehe…”
I was grinning.
I kept grinning because it felt that good.
“It really does look like you’re happy.”
“Well, all I have to do is come in for two days a week. The actual meetings with heroes are separate, and the paperwork load has dropped dramatically. Of course I’m happy.”
I slowly packed the bags I would need to take home while chatting with the Team Leader.
Because I had already been doing so many field visits and paperwork had been slashed to the bone, there was no need to come into the office at all.
But in preparation for the inevitable serious Lupang moment… the directive was still two mandatory office days a week.
Two days? That was basically a win.
A benefit. A bargain.
“Hehe…”
“…So, shall we start today?”
“I think so. First I’ll take the documents and supplies home, organize them, and then we can schedule once we’ve talked.”
Especially with Baek Eun-hwa there was still nothing firm yet.
I’d received her contact information, but reaching out felt awkward in a different way, and Batori and Saran already had their schedules, but Baek Eun-hwa’s was still completely open.
“Oh, right… Saran’s finally officially on your roster now?”
“Yes. The extra pay comes with it.”
“I knew the moment I begged the Association President she would just roll it out immediately. Why did we drag our feet on this for so long…?”
The Team Leader spoke with a displeased expression.
Actually, after I’d started handling Saran I had repeatedly requested follow-ups from the upper management, and the Team Leader had done so many times as well, yet nothing had been resolved.
Then the moment I went straight to the Association President… it had been handled the very next day.
Of course I could be a little angry about that.
“Well, the Association is also a bit of a mess, you know.”
“You’re not wrong.”
There was no need to feel too sorry about it.
Even though the organization called itself the Hero Association, I knew better than anyone that it was really just a rather ordinary corporate entity.
“Anyway, good job. When you’re free next time, send in a big order of coffee for the other staff in the office?”
“That sounds like too much work.”
“Ugh. You’re hopeless as a boss.”
“I’ve been here longer than you, Team Leader. Several months.”
“Staff. Quiet.”
“Ugh.”
Anyway.
After we finished chatting, I finished packing and headed home.
It was a weekday, yet I was home.
Without even using paid leave, and everything was perfectly fine.
“Damn it…”
Charlotte, changing your gender wasn’t enough—you can even change your work schedule now…
I felt genuinely impressive all over again.
Of course, this had been made possible by the Team Leader’s advice, but I was the one who had created this situation and the one who had gotten her to spare me time in the first place.
No harm, no foul, right?
I simply lay in bed and enjoyed the comfort.
“……”
By the way, I’d been wondering about this for a while.
Why was there such a nice, floral scent coming from my bed?
My one-room apartment was large enough, but since it was originally a one-room I figured the scent should have been everywhere, yet it only lingered strongly around the bed itself.
Was it because the scent was too strong?
I pondered it.
My head was already fuzzy from not working for so long, but honestly I was just having fun.
Not having to go to the office was the same as going to the office anyway.
Total scam.
-Ringtone! Ringtone!!
“……”
While I was lying there sprawled and doing Lupang-level Lolis, the phone rang.
The caller was someone I had never contacted before.
But I had seen her recently, so I answered right away.
“Hello?”
-Hello. Charlotte… Special Agent, correct?
“Yes, that’s me. Baek… Eun-hwa-nim, may I ask what I can help you with?”
-It’s nothing special. Come to my house as I told you last time. We can’t discuss this over the phone.
“Understood.”
It was nothing major.
I was simply doing the work I was supposed to do as a Welfare Bureau staff member.
Because I’d already done way too many of these visits in the past, I felt no reluctance, and besides, Baek Eun-hwa lived in one of the more expensive neighborhoods.
It wasn’t like I was unfamiliar with visiting a resident in a luxury building in a wealthy district separate from the bustling commercial area.
Normally when I met normal heroes I always used the same café.
This time I was being invited to her actual home…
“I see. So even A-Class heroes do this?”
Normal heroes had been satisfied with a room-divided café, but being invited straight to someone’s house felt strangely novel.
Anyway, the moment I returned home from work—I mean, from the office—I began changing back into my usual clothes.
Blouse, skirt, coat, beret… nothing too different from before, yet it still looked neat.
After all, the reason it was fine was because I was pretty.
“Oh…”
I dressed fully and took the subway and bus to the wealthy northern district.
Starting from the streets that were clearly different from the bustling commercial center—high-rise buildings everywhere—I could feel how expensive the area was.
One of the buildings I was looking at now probably could have bought several factories in the eastern industrial zone.
“Hmm……”
I wandered around the northern district’s wealthy area, which I rarely visited, and before long I reached the house Baek Eun-hwa had mentioned before.
It was an extremely tall, glittering building, different from the others.
I entered the password given to me at the intercom, took the elevator up, and slowly… climbed to the 40th floor.
“Wow…”
40 floors?
My one-room apartment was the highest floor here—only four.
Even the rich are rich, I guess.
Of course I didn’t spend money on my apartment, but honestly I was surprised.
“You’re here. You made me wait quite a while. What took you so long?”
I stepped out of the elevator and walked a short distance down the corridor, and the front door of the house opened.
Immediately a white-haired beauty appeared and came to greet me, which felt unreal, but I didn’t show it.
After all, I was here on official business.
Of course it was only natural to be surprised that I was meeting an A-Class hero and arriving at her home, but as a Welfare Bureau staff member I had to stay calm.
“…I took the subway and bus, so it’s no wonder it took more than thirty minutes.”
“…Why don’t you have a car… Ah.”
“……”
Ah.
An A-Class hero earns a ridiculous amount of money, after all.
Just look at Saran… she already drove an expensive car, and with extra income from endorsements, it was only natural.
Of course she had a car or something like that.
I hadn’t been thinking that far when I spoke.
But watching her stop mid-sentence with a surprised expression, I realized it really was true.
“Well… come in.”
“Yes.”
Anyway, I had completely entered Baek Eun-hwa’s house.
There was a soft, warm fragrance in the air, mixed with something sweet, and it was strangely pleasant.
I wondered if I would ask her later where she bought the diffuser.
“Hmm…”
“Why?”
“This is the first time I’ve had someone over at my house.”
“Oh.”
It wasn’t a big deal.
Having someone over at your house was hardly difficult.
“Well, shall we sit and talk? No need to stand.”
“Yes, as you wish, Eun-hwa-nim.”
“…Even though we met in a private space, aren’t you treating me too casually?”
“Then should I call you Baekyeou-nim?”
“……Call me Eun-hwa-nim.”
“Yes.”
Anyway.
So I started talking seriously with A-Class hero Baek Eun-hwa.
It wasn’t like the bar where we made drinks and turned it into a garbage disposal, but something more sincere.
This time, unlike before, the conversation had actually become work.
I had to approach it with far greater seriousness.
Even though I loved, enjoyed, and did Lupang a lot, this was a completely different kind of conversation.