Chapter 31

    Encountering Sabrina was almost a coincidence.

    No matter how much I searched around the party hall, I couldn’t find her.

    Half giving up, I had wandered down to the underground parking lot where David’s plan was set to begin.

    But who would have thought she’d try to persuade David all on her own, miserably and without anyone’s help?

    It seemed that this was a worldline where Sabrina and Raven had no significant connection to each other.

    ‘Hmm... Well, looking at it another way, it’s kind of fortunate. If Sabrina wasn’t here at all, we wouldn’t be able to do anything.’

    It wasn’t that bad of a situation.

    The worst-case scenario would be Sabrina being injured or kidnapped, and thus absent from the hotel.

    At this moment, she was the only person who, through David’s files, knew the true purpose of this terrorist attack and the Nemesis conspiracy.

    As long as I could bring Sabrina and Raven together, things would somehow start moving forward.

    ‘Alright. Now’s the time. Let’s go down.’

    David remained firm in his decision despite his younger sister’s pleas, boarding the elevator.

    Sabrina, who arrived late, collapsed in front of the firmly closed elevator doors, crying her heart out.

    At that moment, as I hung upside down from the ceiling using telekinesis, I released my hold and quietly landed on the floor.

    “Sniff, hic... Oppa... huhk, huhkyahh! Wh-what the—!”

    “...”

    Sabrina, bawling pitifully enough to make anyone watching feel sorry for her, suddenly froze and scrambled backward in panic when she saw someone drop out of nowhere.

    Startled by my unexpected appearance, she stopped crying instantly and crawled away like a scared animal.

    Well, nothing stops a child’s tears like a shock.

    After inadvertently delivering that “therapy,” I puffed out my chest and stared confidently at Sabrina.

    And then, as if finally processing my appearance, she wiped her tears with her forearm and stood up with a wary expression.

    “What... What the heck, are you a guard? No, you’re way too small for that...”

    “...”

    “Wait, more importantly, you! You were eavesdropping on us, weren’t you? Are you going to snitch?!”

    Thunk.

    The same Sabrina who had been bawling her eyes out moments ago now snapped her mouth shut and struck a threatening pose as if ready to lunge at me.

    Oh, wow, so that’s the Iron Tiger Fist technique from the original story.

    Her build was about the same as mine, but her presence felt as overwhelming as a giant bear. Incredible.

    ‘No, this isn’t the time to be impressed. I should clear up the misunderstanding first. I need to convey that I want to help, so we can smoothly enlist Raven’s assistance...’

    As I muttered to myself internally, I suddenly realized something crucial.

    ...Wait. How was I supposed to communicate all this to Sabrina?

    “Answer me! If you don’t, I won’t hold back—even if you’re a kid! I’ll smash your face in with that mask on!”

    “...!”

    Oh no.

    I completely forgot—I couldn’t speak!

    At this rate, I wouldn’t even have a chance to explain myself before getting beaten up.

    Panicked, I shook my head vigorously at the hostile Sabrina, signaling that I had no such intention.

    Then, I crossed my fingers in an “X” over my throat to indicate that I couldn’t talk and raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

    “You... can’t talk? And I’m supposed to believe that now...?”

    “...”

    Hmm. As expected, she didn’t believe me right away.

    Well, it’s natural for someone from the underworld to be distrustful.

    It’s only reasonable to suspect a shady stranger you’ve just met.

    But this was a problem.

    We were at a juncture where mutual trust and cooperation were the only way to achieve a good outcome. Wasting this opportunity and time was disastrous!

    ‘Ah! Maybe this will work...’

    How could I progress in this situation?

    As I wracked my brain for a solution, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed through my mind.

    A way to calm down the agitated Sabrina and earn her trust.

    Yes, once I had the thought, I immediately put it into action.

    I carefully opened my hands, bent my fingers together, and moved them above my head in an arch-like motion.

    Then, I bounced on the spot slightly, wiggling my hands as if imitating floppy ears.

    ...What? Wondering what I’m doing?

    But one thing was certain:

    If it turned out that way, I could kiss my peaceful life as a part-timer at the Crowley Problem-Solvers goodbye.

    ‘What do I do? Seriously, how do I get out of this mess...?’

    In the cramped elevator shooting from the underground parking lot to the upper floors, I was lost in thought to the point my head began to ache.

    And when the elevator came to a stop at the floor Sabrina had selected, a sudden shift in perspective hit me, born out of the stress muddling my mind.

    ‘...Do I really need to stop Sabrina? If it’s come to this, why not just help her carry out the terrorist plan and ensure David meets Raven directly?’

    It was a bold, reckless idea.

    Forget the original story’s flow. Skip all the intermediate steps and go straight for the result.

    Come to think of it, clinging to the original plot was kind of ridiculous.

    The same person harping on about “sticking to the original” had already taken down Drakel and stolen the Tesseract?

    What was I, some secret emergency stash for convenience?

    Planning things out in minute detail was never my style. Acting impulsively was much more than my speed.

    ‘David’s obstacles are twofold: a horde of battle robots his firepower can’t handle and Lexi, whose strength is completely out of scale. If I can just remove those two obstacles, David’s plan can succeed.’

    Abandoning the preconception that I had to stick to the original plot, I asked myself: couldn’t I remove these two roadblocks for David?

    ‘Even if I can’t eliminate them, I could at least push them out of the way temporarily. That should be enough.’

    Trailing behind Sabrina as she strode out of the elevator, I began fleshing out the hastily conceived plan in my mind.

    ‘Hide my powers, avoid getting caught up in the terror plot, stay safe, and neutralize both the battle robots and Lexi. Maybe... this could actually work?’

    The more I thought about it, the clearer the plan became, like puzzle pieces fitting perfectly together. My eyes couldn’t help but sparkle with excitement.

    Meanwhile, at the banquet hall.

    [ “That concludes the product introduction... Now, let’s take a short break! Please stay tuned for the upcoming presentation, where you’ll witness a new innovation for the future of metahumans!” ]

    As the emcee announced a break before the main event, Raven, who had been half-listening to the product introduction, clicked his tongue knowingly.

    “...Innovation, my ass.”

    “Why? Isn’t a prosthetic that even other species can use pretty innovative?” Alice asked, tilting her head.

    “Listening to them, I can tell—it’s nothing new. This tech already existed. About ten years ago, during one of the most brutal war periods.”

    “What?!”

    Alice’s eyes widened in shock. She had assumed it was groundbreaking technology, yet Raven was saying it was a decade old.

    As she turned toward him, silently demanding an explanation, Raven nonchalantly scratched his ear and replied.

    “Why do you think other species can’t use prosthetics?”

    “Well... isn’t it because magical energy can’t flow through machinery?”

    “That’s about half of it. The real reason is that every species has vastly different body structures.”

    Humans and orcs were as different from each other as orcs and elves were. And with the countless different species out there, it was absurd to lump them all together.

    “Now that you mention it, that makes sense. There’s no way a wooden doll-like treant and a merfolk resembling a fish could use the same prosthetic...”

    “Exactly. But apparently, this one works for all of them. So why do you think that is?”

    “Uh...”

    Alice frowned, trying to figure it out, but when no answer came to her, she looked at Raven, seeking an explanation.

    “It uses the properties of magic. Both treants and merfolk have magical energy in their bodies. If the prosthetic can interpret the magical responses when they try to move, it’s not impossible.”

    “Wow, that’s amazing! Because of magic, huh?” Alice clapped her hands in admiration.

    But Raven sighed, as if that wasn’t the point.

    “There’s a problem with that method, though. If it responds to magic, it also drains magic. Prosthetics like these consume the user’s magic just by being attached. And they put significant strain on the connected body part.”

    “That’s... definitely an issue.”

    “Exactly. That’s why people who desperately needed limbs used them at first but discarded them once they realized they weren’t suitable for long-term use. They do more harm than good.”

    Raven’s gaze grew colder as he looked toward the emcee’s side of the hall.

    Nemesis must have known this. So why were they pushing these onto the market so confidently?

    As he pondered this, feeling his hands itch with a vague sense of unease, Alice, who had been glancing around nervously, suddenly spoke up with concern.

    “By the way, Jin, Yuria hasn’t come back from the restroom yet. Do you think she might’ve... gotten lost or something?”

    “Huh? You’re right. Where the hell did that part-timer go?”

    Raven scratched the back of his head.

    Knowing her personality, Yuria was usually composed and dependable. And considering her identity as a ghost, there wasn’t much to worry about.

    Still, it wasn’t great for an employee to be gone this long. As her boss, he couldn’t just let it slide.

    “Should I step out and look for her? Not like there’s much point in sticking around here. Let’s take a walk outside and grab some food while we’re at it.”

    “Yes! Let’s go quickly!”

    Raven and Alice left the banquet hall at a leisurely pace, their steps unhurried.

    It wasn’t that they didn’t care—it was more that they trusted the small, cute part-timer not to cause any trouble. Or so they thought.