Chapter 31

Sabrina running into me was pretty much a coincidence.

I couldn’t find her anywhere in the party hall, so I came down to the underground parking lot where David’s plan was supposed to start, feeling half-resigned.

But seriously, trying to persuade David all by herself like some pitiful stray puppy?

This must be an alternate timeline where Sabrina and Raven never crossed paths.

“Hmm… In a way, this is kind of fortunate. If Sabrina wasn’t here at all, there’d be nothing I could do.”

Still, it wasn’t such a bad situation.

The worst case would’ve been Sabrina getting hurt or kidnapped and not being present at the hotel at all.

At this point, she’s the only person who knows the true purpose behind this terrorist incident and Nemesis’s conspiracy through David’s information.

As long as I can connect Sabrina with Raven, things should somehow work out.

“Alright. This is my chance. Let’s go down.”

Just as David entered the elevator despite his younger sister’s persuasion, and Sabrina arrived late, collapsing in front of the mercilessly closed elevator doors while sobbing uncontrollably.

Hanging upside-down from the ceiling using telekinesis, I quietly released my power and landed softly on the floor.

“Sob, sniff… Big brother… Hic, hiiic! Wha, what the heck!”

“…”

Did she get startled by someone suddenly dropping in front of her?

Sabrina, who had been crying so pitifully that it made observers feel sorry for her, abruptly stopped her tears and scurried backward like a crab.

There’s nothing quite like this to stop a child’s tears.

Having accidentally given her shock therapy, I puffed out my chest and looked at Sabrina confidently.

Perhaps realizing my presence belatedly,

She hastily wiped her tears with her arm and rose to her feet with a face full of caution.

“What… What are you, a security guard? But you’re just a little kid…”

“…”

“And more importantly, YOU! You were secretly eavesdropping on our conversation, weren’t you?! Are you going to tell on me?!”

Snap.

Sabrina, who had been bawling like the world was ending just moments ago, now clenched her teeth and took on a threatening stance, ready to pounce at any moment.

Oh ho, so that’s the Iron Roaring Fist technique from the original work.

Though she’s about my size, her presence felt like a giant bear. Impressive.

‘Wait, now’s not the time to be admiring this. First, I need to clear up this misunderstanding. I should convey that I want to help, and naturally guide things so Raven’s assistance can make everything proceed smoothly….’

While muttering these thoughts, I suddenly felt an unsettling sense of incongruity.

…Come to think of it, how exactly am I supposed to communicate these thoughts to Sabrina?

“Answer me! Or else, even if you’re a little brat, I won’t hold back! I’ll smash your face with that mask on!”

“!”

Oh no.

I completely forgot that I can’t speak!

In this situation, it seemed like I’d get beaten up without any chance to explain myself.

I vigorously shook my head at the menacing Sabrina to show that I had no such intentions.

Then, I made a scissors gesture over my neck with my fingers to indicate that I couldn’t talk, and raised both hands in surrender.

“You can’t talk? And you expect me to believe that just like that…!”

“…”

Hmm, she doesn’t trust me immediately, does she.

Well, considering her background in the underworld, it’s natural for her to be wary of strangers.

But this was troublesome.

We needed to trust each other and cooperate to barely achieve a good outcome right now. This was wasting our chance and time!

‘Ah! Maybe this will work…’

How should I advance this situation?

As I continued pondering, a great idea flashed through my mind.

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

Yes, once I have an idea, immediate action is key.

Carefully spreading my hand and folding my fingers, I placed them above my head.

Then I mimicked bouncing on the floor, wiggling my fingers playfully.

…What? You don’t know what I’m doing?

I’m imitating cute round bear ears! Can’t you see?

“You… That’s… Raine’s…”

“!”

That’s right! That’s it!

I nodded enthusiastically at Sabrina, whose eyes changed from suspicion to surprise and then relief.

This act was none other than the bear imitation created by the kidnapped princess, Raine.

Aside from her round furry ears, Sabrina didn’t look much different from humans despite being a beastman.

Raine had created this dance to comfort Sabrina, who had been isolated within beastman society because of it.

In other words, for Sabrina, it was a precious memory connecting her with Raine, who was like an older sister.

It was more than enough as a secret signal between them!

…Hmm, it was a bit embarrassing to be dancing like a child.

But seeing her defenses visibly drop, this wasn’t the time to worry about embarrassment.

“C-Could it be that Raine sent you?!”

“…”

“You… Who are you… No, never mind. If you know that, you’re at least not an enemy.”

She relaxed the tension in her shoulders.

It seemed she believed I hadn’t been hiding with malicious intent.

I tried it just in case. The bear dance really was effective.

Feeling relieved, I started thinking about the next step when Sabrina spoke with a truly apologetic expression:

“Yeah. I couldn’t stop my brother. Did you come to blame me for that?”

“!”

“It’s fine. Even Raine, if she knew big brother was going to fight Nemesis alone, would definitely have tried to stop him. There’s no way he can win. It’s like hitting a rock with an egg.”

Despite my vigorous head-shaking, she said this while looking at the elevator with even more downcast eyes.

Then Sabrina, with a face soaked in helplessness, quietly stared beyond the elevator at something, then suddenly smirked as if realizing something and looked back at me.

“I know that much even though I couldn’t go to school. There’s no way big brother wouldn’t know. Right?”

“…”

“My stupid brother knew everything but went anyway. It’s not that he can do it, but that he has to do it.”

Huh?

Saying this in the current atmosphere means…

Wait a minute, that’s not it, right? She’s not having bad thoughts, is she?

“I need to go help my brother. I don’t think I’ll be much help… But I can at least try to lend some strength.”

“?!”

“If you happen to meet Raine again, tell her. It’s not her fault – it’s just two stupid siblings causing trouble on their own.”

No, no, no!

Why is she reaching that conclusion?

She doesn’t want her brother to die, so shouldn’t she be finding someone to help through me?

Why did she suddenly awaken to the idea of helping David directly!

‘Did she mistakenly think that even Raine, who got kidnapped because of me, didn’t give up and kept trying? Ah… This is driving me crazy!’

But looking at Sabrina’s face, now completely cleared of the dark clouds that had hung over it just moments ago, it seemed impossible to stop her now.

Could this be how Sabrina felt when she sent David off earlier?

Watching the clean collapse of the original storyline, I felt like crying.

Ding.

Whether she pressed the button already, the elevator came to a stop.

And without any hesitation, Sabrina stepped into the opened elevator.

If I let her go alone like this, it would just lead to disaster.

Realizing this, I urgently chased after her and jumped into the elevator.

“What? You shouldn’t follow me. Someone needs to deliver the message to Raine, right?”

“…”

“…Do as you please. I clearly warned you. From here on, it’s your fault for following.”

Who’s worrying about whom here.

Sabrina turned her head away with a ‘hmph’, but her expression showed she was secretly pleased that I followed.

I wanted to grab her by the scruff of her neck and drag her kicking and screaming to Raven.

But to do that, I’d have to blatantly use telekinesis, which was a problem.

Though she looked like a cute girl, she was a bear beastman with strength comparable to an average adult male.

If I did that, all my efforts to hide my telekinesis would go up in smoke.

I’d likely become a huge topic of interest as the world’s only superpowered individual, plagued by countless curious onlookers and unwanted attention.

Of course, no one could predict what would happen afterward.

Things might unexpectedly turn out positively.

But one thing was certain:

Once that happened, I wouldn’t be able to maintain my peaceful daily life as a part-time worker at the Fixer Office anymore.

‘What should I do? How should I handle this difficult situation…?’

Inside the narrow elevator rapidly ascending from the basement to the ground level,

I continued thinking deeply, to the point where my brain was throbbing.

And the moment the elevator stopped at the floor Sabrina had pressed:

A change in perspective emerged in my stress-softened mind.

‘…Is it really necessary to stop Sabrina? Why not just help her succeed in the terrorist plan and directly connect David with Raven? Wouldn’t that work?’

It was a completely reckless idea.

Forget about sticking to the original storyline. Wipe out the intermediate process and leave only the result.

Yeah, thinking about it, obsessing over the original work was kind of funny.

Would someone who keeps chanting “original work, original work” actually go beat Drakel and steal the Tesseract themselves?

This isn’t like emergency money you only use when convenient.

Creating detailed plans didn’t suit someone like me who impulsively gets things done anyway.

‘There are two obstacles preventing David’s success: the group of combat robots that David’s firepower can’t penetrate, and Lexi, who possesses extraordinary strength. If those two obstacles were removed, David’s plan could succeed.’

Let’s think outside the box and forget about being bound to the original work.

Couldn’t I remove these two obstacles from David’s path?

‘I might not be able to eliminate them… But temporarily pushing them out of the game should be possible.’

Following behind Sabrina as she exited the elevator and moved forward,

I quickly fleshed out my hastily conceived plan.

‘Without revealing my superpowers, avoiding getting hurt or killed in the terrorist incident, and excluding the combat robots and Lexi. Maybe this… could work?’

My eyes sparkled naturally as the plan fit together perfectly like matching puzzle pieces in my mind.

*

[“That concludes our product introduction… Now we’ll take a short break! Please look forward to the upcoming presentation where you’ll witness a new innovation for the future of meta-humans!”]

At the same time, in the banquet hall where the host announced a brief recess before the main presentation:

After roughly hearing the product introduction, Raven clicked his tongue knowingly.

“…Innovation, my ass.”

“Why? Isn’t a prosthetic limb usable by different species quite innovative?”

“After hearing it directly, it’s clear. This thing existed already. Around ten years ago during the intense fighting.”

“Eh?!”

Alice’s eyes widened in shock.

She thought it was a technology that didn’t exist until now, but it was from ten years ago?

Looking at Raven as if asking for an explanation,

He scratched his ear and answered:

“Why do you think different species can’t use mechanical devices.”

“Well… Isn’t it because mechanical devices don’t channel magic?”

“That’s about half of the reason. More accurately, it’s because every species has different body structures.”

Just as humans differ from orcs, orcs differ from elves in body structure.

And there are countless types of different species.

Trying to lump all different species together was fundamentally nonsensical.

“Huh? You’re right… Thinking about it, there’s no way wooden-bodied treants and fish-like aquamen could use the same prosthetic limbs and have them work…”

“But they say this works? Why is that?”

“Umm…”

Alice thought deeply about it.

But no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t solve this mystery and looked at Raven as if asking for an answer.

“They used the properties of magic. Both treants and aquamen have magic flowing through their bodies. By interpreting the magical reaction when trying to move their bodies to operate the prosthetic limbs, it’s not impossible.”

“Oh, I see! Because they have magic!”

Alice clapped her hands in amazement,

but Raven sighed as if saying that wasn’t the important part:

“The problem with this method is that having a magical reaction means magic is being consumed. Just wearing these prosthetics drains the user’s magic. Moreover, it puts a heavy strain on the body parts connected to the prosthetics.”

“That… is certainly a problem.”

“Exactly. That’s why those who urgently needed arms and legs used them, but thinking they weren’t meant for long-term use, they discarded them. It was like making their condition worse.”

Raven said this while looking at the host’s side with even more subdued eyes.

Nemesis must definitely know about this too. So why were they proudly planning to release this to the market?

As he felt an itchy sensation in his hands while continuing these thoughts,

Alice, who had been looking around, spoke with a somewhat worried expression:

“By the way, Mr. Jin. Yuria, who went to the bathroom, still hasn’t returned. Could she have gotten lost…?”

“Huh? You’re right. Where did that part-timer wander off to?”

Raven scratched the back of his head.

Considering her usual personality, she was quite capable and composed.

And thinking that she was a ghost, he wasn’t particularly worried.

Even so, an employee being absent from their post for this long was unacceptable.

As the boss, he couldn’t just sit idly by.

“Let’s step out and look for her. Continuing to watch this isn’t very meaningful anyway. Let’s take a quick look around outside and grab some food.”

“Yes! Let’s hurry!”

Raven and Alice leisurely exited the banquet hall with unhurried steps.

It was a relaxed pace born from a kind of trust that the small, cute girl couldn’t possibly be causing trouble somewhere.