Chapter 36

Three days had passed since the Nemesis terrorist incident occurred.

And until now, Night Haven was burning hot with this topic.

It wasn’t strange at all.

The hotel, which was the banquet hall of Nemesis, stood tall as a high-rise building in the middle of downtown.

But suddenly, after a blackout occurred throughout the entire building, gas started billowing out from inside?

Just this alone was already a major news event that would bring police and journalists rushing in droves.

Not to mention it was a terrorist attack intentionally caused by an unknown someone, and there were even visible signs of combat near the upper floors that could be seen from afar!

Of course, it was only natural that both social media and the news were abuzz with this mega-event.

And just when everyone’s attention was focused, a sudden breaking news report emerged about Nemesis’s large-scale human experimentation plan.

That was more than enough to shock the public who were already captivated.

“What? Kidnapping the poor of the underworld and forcibly turning them into test subjects? Are these guys insane?”

“Hmm… And during all this, there were already people kidnapped. So the prosthetics were made from blood extracted from those people….”

“What?! If you wear the prosthetics made by Nemesis, side effects are guaranteed within a year?! I pre-ordered one!”

Especially for those who were lured by the prosthetics designed for different races and had already applied for pre-orders, it felt like getting hit on the back of the head with a hammer and then stabbed in the back.

The impact spread through the city like sparks igniting a vat of boiling oil.

In this process, the focus shifting from a simple terrorist incident in the city center to the wicked plans of Nemesis happened in the blink of an eye.

“Yes. We’ve completed deployment. There’s an unidentified terrorist roaming inside the hotel now…. What? Arrest every single Nemesis associate and don’t let anyone escape?”

“Hmm, isn’t doing that too suddenly a bit harsh… Huh? Are you accusing me of having ties with them? N-no way! Damn criminals! Arrest them all!”

“A-ah! Weren’t we supposed to help?! Aaack! The police are harassing citizens!”

Suddenly, the police surrounding the hotel to catch terrorists received orders from higher-ups to secure all of Nemesis’ employees.

Some officers had close ties with Nemesis through shady deals, but now that Nemesis’ crimes were exposed to the public, they desperately had to cut those ties to avoid being implicated.

“Mayor Tempest. As per your orders, we sent the Knights to investigate Nemesis Corporation. It seems they secretly planned a large-scale biological experiment and have already reached the stage of gathering investors.”

“Good work, Miss Yeressa. Tsk, damn Nemesis bastards! Knowing how much I hate human experiments like the Nexus Project, they still dare to pull this crap right under my nose? I’ll tear them apart without leaving a single shred!”

Night Haven’s great Dragon Mayor, Tempest, gritted his teeth in anger.

Every day, Night Haven was full of incidents and accidents.

However, there was one thing you absolutely shouldn’t do here, and that was to upset the Dragon Mayor.

The Nexus Project, an experiment aimed at cultivating superhumans over several years involving tens of thousands of war orphans, slum children, or kidnapped victims.

For him, failing to capture the mastermind behind that incident and suffering a blow to his reputation, a secret large-scale human experiment was nothing short of a provocative act scraping at his pride.

“…Mr. Mayor. I understand you’re angry, but please don’t break the desk again. It’s annoying to fix it every time.”

“Ugh, hmm… My apologies for that. At my age, I can’t control my magic very well anymore.”

But Tempest had to temporarily suppress his anger due to his secretary Yeressa’s comment.

Lately, small leaks of magic, common among aging dragons, had been causing intact objects to break unexpectedly.

Given how hard it was to find someone capable enough to be his secretary due to his overwhelming presence as a living being…

If he inconvenienced her too much, he might lose a secretary who was incredibly helpful to him.

“By the way… That young man who caused chaos at the hotel… Ah, what was his name? Darren?”

“David.”

“Ah, yes. David. We should thank that young man. Thanks to him, we learned about the schemes of those rat-like fellows. So… You know what to do, right?”

“There’s too much attention on him due to the commotion he caused in the middle of the city, so we can’t openly favor him. But if he tries to evade tracking using some method, don’t chase him to the end—just let him go discreetly. Understood.”

“Uh… Yes. That’s exactly what I meant. You understand well.”

The police chasing David confirmed that he erased his past records and identity before disappearing, and thus closed the case as an internal investigation.

Since there were no significant casualties and the damage was limited to Nemesis, there was no reason to fervently pursue him.

Moreover, thanks to the focus shifting from the terrorist incident in the city center to Nemesis planning madness in the city, no one raised an issue about it.

Meanwhile, Nemesis’ executives and their associates were arrested and paraded off to court.

Without any room for excuses, they were all sentenced guilty and sent to prison.

With the head of the corporation gone in an instant, the company known as Nemesis vanished into the annals of history.

A single person taking down a corporate giant.

It was like a miracle sparked by some reckless romanticist.

*

While David’s incident was somehow resolved…

I arrived at the Fixer Office dressed in my usual maid outfit and met a familiar group there.

“Oh. Um… Fox?”

“…!”

They were none other than the trio: David, Raine, and Sabrina.

Perhaps my work attire looked unfamiliar to them.

I naturally led the two who seemed somewhat bewildered and the one tilting her head into the reception room.

Raven, who had been heating up the city with their antics, asked what brought them here after hearing from David, scratching their ear lazily.

“They came to express their gratitude?”

“Yes. We’ve received tremendous help from you all, so we came to say our final goodbyes before leaving the city.”

“Well… We didn’t do much. Thank our part-timer; that should be enough.”

“Yes. We received help beyond words. Once again, thank you deeply.”

David bowed deeply from his seat in what was commonly called a kung fu bow.

Expressing gratitude by bowing one’s head was rare in Night Haven—it must have been something he learned from his eccentric kung fu teacher who acted as his guardian?

“…!”

I returned the gesture casually, matching fists and hands as if to say not to mind it.

After all, he was the one who bled and suffered. What did I really do?

Perhaps because I accepted his thanks like that, the atmosphere became quite warm and friendly.

“Let me introduce myself again. My name is David. This is Sabrina, and Raine.”

“I’m Jin, the pink-haired girl is Alice, and the part-timer over there is Yuria.”

“So her name is Yuria, huh? We kept calling her Fox. That was quite rude of us.”

“No, it’s fine. She doesn’t really talk much anyway. She doesn’t seem to care about such things.”

We exchanged introductions lightly.

David nodded as if learning my name, Yuria, for the first time.

At that moment, Sabrina, who had been quietly wearing a serious expression, suddenly approached me and extended her hand.

Soft.

“…?!”

Startled by the ticklish sensation around my chest, I quickly backed away.

What the heck is this after such a long time!

Covering myself with my arms while flustered, I looked at Sabrina, who mumbled faintly with a half-dazed expression.

“Really… a girl… Even more than me…”

Huh? What does she mean by that?

Looking around to check others’ reactions, David was rubbing his forehead with an embarrassed hand, and Jin was grinning as if they found it amusing.

What? Am I the only one missing the context here?

“It seems Sabrina mistook Yuria for a boy… I thought so too until I came here.”

“Ah… Well, you were wearing a suit back then. It’s understandable to make that mistake.”

“Oh my, how cute.”

Ah, so that’s how it was.

It wasn’t an impossible misunderstanding. The suit I wore happened to be for boys rather than girls.

Covering my body lines and wearing a mask on top, it was plausible to think I was just a boy with long hair… Right?

‘But is it really that shocking?’

Even understanding that, her reaction seemed a bit perplexing.

If she simply mistook a friend’s gender, wouldn’t it end with an ‘Oops, my bad~’ kind of feeling?

Amidst this puzzling situation, tears welled up in Sabrina’s eyes.

“Hnnng…! So frustrating!”

She dashed out of the office with her face covered, moving so fast that only the breeze from her hair remained.

“Guh, gulp, gahh…!”

“Sigh… I’m truly sorry for the trouble.”

“Is this… heartbreak?”

“Hahaha… She’s an orphan who grew up without many peers…”

Jin desperately holding back laughter, David blushing deeply out of embarrassment.

And Alice and Raine whispering amongst themselves.

I scratched my head, feeling utterly perplexed.

Ah, so that’s it? Sorry for causing trouble.

“Mr. Jin, just in case, I’ll go after her. You all keep chatting!”

“Alright. See you later.”

Alice got up, saying she’d take care of Sabrina who stormed out of the office.

Since she had been sleeping soundly due to the sleeping gas during the incident, she probably thought her presence didn’t matter much.

Once Alice left, four of us remained in the reception room: me, Raven, David, and Raine.

Then, as if struck by a thought, Raven stroked their chin and asked David,

“Now that I think about it, you said you were leaving the city? That’s unfortunate. There aren’t many places as livable as Night Haven for different races.”

“Hehe… After finishing everything and erasing all past records and identities, I’ve essentially become a person without an identity. It’s difficult to find work in this situation.”

Swiftly.

Raven’s gaze suddenly turned to me.

What? Why are you looking at me? Are you implying we’re both illegal residents now? How absurd.

“Then, will Miss Raine and the younger sister who just left also go together? That might be tough.”

“No, they don’t have any identity issues. For now, I’m the only one planning to leave.”

“What? That’s… not a good idea.”

“You’re right! I think so too! But this idiot is so stubborn.”

“…If you exclude me, the other two have no real reason to leave Night Haven.”

“But I want to stay with you!”

Raine grabbed David’s head, telling him to stop being so stubborn.

But it didn’t seem to hurt him at all; David maintained his posture without even twitching an eyebrow.

Their positions weren’t entirely incomprehensible.

Night Haven was truly a utopia for different races.

Most cities outside required different races to wear necklaces that restricted their magic usage.

Places where you could openly use magic on the streets without worry were extremely rare.

Moreover, due to decades of war between humans and different races, most humans became xenophobic toward them.

Having experienced this firsthand for a long time while attending universities outside, David surely wanted Raine and Sabrina to stay in Night Haven.

But Raine and Sabrina’s stance was different.

Rather than staying alone in the city without David, they preferred enduring discrimination in an outside city to be with him. After all, they were family!

‘Still, strictly speaking, neither option is the right answer.’

Only David leaves Night Haven, or all of them leave.

Whichever choice they made, it would only lead to mutual hardship.

The moment one side feels guilt towards the other, their relationship is bound to crumble someday.

So what should be done here?

It’s simple. We have a boss with a heart as vast as the Pacific Ocean!

“Hmm… Since this is fate, how about working at our office for a while? Evading the Night Haven police’s pursuit requires such sophisticated information manipulation, and we happen to need an employee proficient in computers.”

“…Huh?”

“Eh?”

Raven suddenly offered David a job proposal.

Did they see potential in him? Or was it just plain sympathy?

In any case, it was an offer David couldn’t possibly refuse.

He merely smiled, a hint of a grin playing on his lips.