Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: A Full House
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The day after the monumental event that finally made our fixer agency whole.
With snow whipping around, I scurried to the office with my hands tucked deep in my pockets, only to find a bear metahuman standing blankly in front of the door.
Round bear ears poking out from his green hair, a rather tall frame, and angular glasses perched lightly on his face.
No matter how you looked at him, it was David. What was he doing out here instead of going in?
“…”
“Ah, Ms. Yuria. Good morning.”
“…?”
“Are you asking why I haven’t gone inside? Well… um, I believe I’m a little nervous.”
Nervous… Ah, that made sense.
Although he’d been attending a university in the outer city, he was actually just barely an adult.
Even if he’d had part-time jobs before, this was probably his first time getting a proper one.
Good grief. This was the same person who had charged head-on against a corporation to save a single childhood friend, and now he was acting timid over something like this.
I let out a small laugh and, in place of the hesitant David, boldly opened the door.
Then, thumping my chest with my fist as if to say ‘you can count on me,’ I strode confidently into the office.
“Ah, Yuria… Jeez, at least brush the snow off your head before you come in. Isn’t it cold?”
“Why? I think it makes her look like a doll. Good morning, Yuria! Cute as always today!”
“…?”
But what greeted me upon entering the office was a baffling comment from Raven, who was practically lying down in his chair.
Wondering what he was talking about, I tilted my head and placed a hand on top of it, where I felt the texture of a soft pile of snow.
Yikes?! I-I had a pile of snow on my head? How did I not notice!
I scrambled back outside and frantically shook my head to brush off the accumulated snow.
…Wow, that’s so embarrassing. David must have seen it, so why didn’t he say anything?
I cooled my slightly flushed neck with my palm and returned to the office.
“Good morning to you too, Mr. David!”
“G-Good morning, Ms. Alice. Mr. Jin.”
“Welcome, newbie.”
Inside, I saw David exchanging greetings as stiffly as an old robot.
Hmm, I guess he didn’t have the presence of mind to worry about others. He was completely trembling.
I suppose it couldn’t be helped. I forgave him internally and hung my coat on the rack.
No need to be too hard on someone new to the workforce. Besides, it wasn’t like I was blameless, having been clueless myself.
Hah, anyway. It was such a relief that the office was warm.
My base had no heating and was so cold that it was unbearable unless I was curled up in my sleeping bag like a caterpillar. Maybe I should start thinking about moving soon?
As I had that thought and sat primly on the office sofa, Raven was already guiding David to a newly placed desk.
“Here, this is your spot. From now on, you can work here.”
“Understood. But could you please tell me my duties one more time?”
“Ah… right. Like I said before, there’s nothing major. Both Alice and I are a bit clumsy with computers and the internet, so I’ll need you to assist with my fixer work in that area. If there’s no work, you can do whatever you want in your free time. I don’t really mind.”
“Yes, I understand.”
In short, David was in charge of the office’s computer-related tasks.
You could say his role was to fill the gap left by Raven and Alice, who were computer-illiterate in a world filled with technology far more advanced than in my previous life.
His presence alone would nearly double the number of requests they could take, so from Raven’s perspective, hiring David was a huge plus.
‘If anything, it’s a wonder he hadn’t hired someone sooner… Well, I guess it’s better to be cautious than to hire just anyone and get stabbed in the back.’
Come to think of it, it wasn’t uncommon here for a hired code-runner to just take off with important information or money.
In fact, a client had come in not too long ago asking us to catch a code-runner who had done just that.
Considering that, even putting aside my knowledge of the original story, Raven hiring David might have been a win-win for both of them.
“…”
*Click.*
I silently detached a small camera that had been stuck under the table and tossed it into the trash can.
I hope we can all get along without any problems from now on.
At least until I quit my part-time job!
*
Fortunately, David seemed to adapt to the office quickly.
His nervousness only lasted for the first few dozen minutes after he arrived.
Once a client or two came by and he got into the swing of things, he seemed to realize the work wasn't as difficult as he’d thought, and his expression became much more relaxed.
Raven was never the type to meddle much with me or Alice anyway, and Alice was a golden retriever in human form—the most sociable person I’d ever met.
I was the only one who was a bit shy, but neither of us was the type to approach the other first anyway.
So getting used to the office atmosphere probably wasn't that hard.
When lunchtime finally arrived, Alice and I couldn't help but widen our eyes.
The lunch provided was a luxury bento box that cost almost twice as much as the cheap ones we usually ate.
“…!”
“Oh my, the bento from here is quite delicious. Mr. Jin, how about we order from here all the time?”
“Impossible. I splurged today because the new guy is here. Starting tomorrow, it’s back to the same old cheap bento boxes.”
“Aw, you’re so stingy.”
“Quiet. You should be grateful it’s not cup ramen. I can handle it for a part-timer, but you eat way too much. If I keep buying you expensive bento boxes like this, I’ll go bankrupt.”
“Hmph, sorry for eating a lot. But I can’t help it if I’m hungry!”
*Nom, nom.*
I let their bickering go in one ear and out the other, leisurely savoring the expensive taste I hadn't had in a while.
A cube steak bento. Ever since I started working here, I couldn't spend money as freely as I used to. So experiencing such a luxury was quite a delight.
Perhaps because all my attention was focused on the food, I was late to notice David staring intently at me from across the table.
What are you looking at? Do you need something?
I tilted my head slightly to convey that meaning, and he shook his head as if it were nothing and replied.
“…?”
“Ah, my apologies, Ms. Yuria. I was just suddenly curious if you could see properly with your mask tilted diagonally like that…”
“…!”
“Was it a needless worry? My apologies. I tend to have a lot of useless curiosity about these things.”
Well, I wasn't sure if my meaning was perfectly conveyed.
When I nodded as if to say I could see just fine, he apologized for saying something unnecessary. It wasn't really something to apologize for.
Perhaps she had been watching David and me in our somewhat awkward exchange.
Alice, who had been happily chewing on a thick piece of meat, spoke up as if to change the subject.
“Come to think of it, Mr. David, you mentioned you attended university in the outer city, right? You must be quite the student.”
“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing to say myself, but my grades were good enough to attend on a full scholarship…”
“Wow…! I never got to attend school properly since I was young, so attending a university sounds incredibly impressive!”
“Um, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
There was a genuine sincerity in her words.
Due to her family's circumstances, she had spent her school years training, with her basic knowledge coming from homeschooling.
She must have felt it was amazing to achieve such outstanding academic results not just in high school, but at a university.
Just then, Raven, who had been listening quietly, looked at Alice with a sudden look of curiosity.
“So how did you manage to become a police cadet candidate? Are the police that short-staffed these days?”
“What are you talking about? I just had my sister’s help.”
“Did you get the questions leaked?”
“Hey! I studied my butt off for half a year! Are you calling me a complete idiot right now?!”
Alice flew into a rage, grabbing the smirking Raven by the collar and shaking him violently.
Even though she had quit, being the top-scoring police cadet candidate through her own merit was a point of pride for her.
It seemed that even Raven wasn't allowed to make fun of it, even as a joke. Her reaction was pretty cute.
‘Wait, hold on a minute. Does that mean I’m the least educated person here?’
Let’s think about it. Raven might look like a pathetic old man now, but he was an elite—a licensed fixer, a title not just anyone could get, and a distinguished soldier in his active-duty days.
Alice was born into a prestigious family, had been homeschooled, and had become a police cadet candidate on the verge of being hired after passing the exam with her own skills.
David was a genius from the back alleys who, without any great teachers, got into university with top scores and attended on a full scholarship all thanks to his brilliant mind.
And me? In my past life, I was just an ordinary, unremarkable person, and now I was a pathetic, undocumented resident secretly squatting in an empty building. I was nowhere near their level.
‘…Who cares about education? Right, so what if you’re smart? In the end, what’s important is working in a warm place during the cold winter and eating well. Yep, yep. There’s no need to feel insecure or anything.’
The gears of positive thinking started turning in my head.
No? This wasn't positive thinking. This was common sense.
An inferiority complex is a negative emotion that stems from feeling inadequate or inferior about oneself.
But I’m not inadequate. I’m good at a lot of things. I’m probably the best one here at tormenting back-alley thugs.
Feeling unnecessarily complicated, I took out my frustration on a poor steak cube, chewing on it fiercely.
Perhaps thanks to the sensation of the medium-rare steak, perfectly cooked and meltingly tender, I felt my anger subside a little.
“…Hmm.”
“…?”
As I was taking my anger out on the steak, I happened to look up and met Raven's gaze.
Wasn’t he getting his collar grabbed by Alice?
When I glanced to the side, I saw that Alice was now busy asking David all sorts of questions.
Uh… which meant it probably wasn't a coincidence that our eyes met; he must have been watching me quietly.
What was that about? Did I do something that caught his attention?
As I placed my empty bento box on the desk and tilted my head, Raven quickly averted his gaze as if it were nothing, feigning indifference. He was practically a pro at playing dumb.
‘Hmm… well, it’s probably not important. Surely he’s not getting some weird misunderstanding, right?’
I brushed off the strange feeling, wiped my mouth, and put my mask back in its proper position.
And so, the short lunch break came to an end!
Now it was time to greet the clients who would arrive in the afternoon.