Chapter 48

Raven was someone with extraordinary intuition. To be precise, it was due to the enhancement treatments that his five senses like sight and hearing were several times better than an ordinary person’s, making his cognitive abilities exceptional in themselves.

So, when he returned to his room after taking a shower, he immediately noticed the presence of someone hiding in the closet.

No matter how still they tried to stay or how much they held their breath, the faint breathing and distinct sweet scent emanating from them were just too vivid to ignore.

*Creeeak.*

Without hesitation, Raven swiftly opened the closet door.

And there stood Yuria, still dressed in her usual maid outfit even though it was well past quitting time.

“…!”

Sitting cross-legged on top of the thick blanket inside the closet, she flinched as the door opened. Then, with a somewhat uneasy expression, her shoulders slumped, and she bowed her head weakly.

It was the picture-perfect image of someone caught red-handed while doing something sneaky. Raven subtly glanced around, then lightly furrowed his brow.

‘What the heck is she doing in the closet?’

From his perspective, this was utterly baffling. How was he supposed to process finding a part-timer hiding in his closet while he was out for a quick shower?

After massaging his temples with his fingers for a moment, Raven finally asked the quietly seated Yuria:

“So… hide-and-seek?”

“…”

“Or were you planning some kind of mischievous prank?”

“…!”

“Oh no, careful now.”

*BAM!*

Yuria, who had hurriedly tried to stand up, smacked the back of her head hard against the ceiling. It must’ve been quite the impact because she collapsed back onto the blanket, clutching her head.

After groaning in pain for a bit, Yuria belatedly came to her senses and frantically shook her head at Raven. It was a vehement gesture, as if to say she hadn’t done anything wrong.

So… did that mean there was only one reason she’d gone into the closet?

Raven stroked his chin dryly, looking amused as he spoke.

“The closet does look interesting, doesn’t it? You should’ve just asked. I would’ve let you take a look.”

“…?”

Yuria, who had been on edge, couldn’t help but tilt her head at his odd remark.

Was he serious? Or was this just a way to gauge her reaction?

She stole another glance at Raven and realized he genuinely meant what he said.

Wait—was he really brushing this off so casually, despite catching her snooping around the room?

Yuria was taken aback by his carefree response.

‘What if I were actually a bad guy?’

But from Raven’s perspective, such thoughts weren’t entirely unreasonable. To him, Yuria was… quite simply, the epitome of a harmless herbivore.

Her personality, as he saw it, was incredibly cheerful and laid-back. Even considering her inability to speak, he rarely ever saw her get irritated.

In fact, sometimes when he playfully snatched her precious snacks, she’d just stomp her feet in frustration before quickly forgetting about it. It was almost understandable why Alice doted on her all day.

Moreover, she approached mundane objects with childlike curiosity, marveling at things as if she were someone who had just stepped out into the world for the first time. It was impossible to harbor any suspicion toward her for long.

Of course, for Yuria, it was inevitable. Having never seen the countless wondrous technologies or magical artifacts in her past life, how could she not be curious?

‘Maybe she’s afraid of showing her childish side. Considering where she grew up… that makes sense.’

The fact that this was the first genuinely childlike behavior he’d seen from her in the two weeks since they’d met also played a significant role.

Yuria, who had been handling her tasks without a single complaint, seemed mature and responsible on the surface. But deep down, it raised some concerns.

Yet here she was, secretly hiding in the closet and showing extreme anxiety upon being caught. It added plausibility to the idea that she was trying to act more grown-up than she really was.

On top of that, the fact that she’d chosen the closet—a place filled with nothing but useless junk—and hadn’t been caught rummaging through boxes further supported this.

This closet was essentially a storage space for random odds and ends, completely devoid of anything important. From his perspective, it wasn’t much different from someone suddenly hiding under the bed.

In summary, the clues pointed to this: Her previously established soft and clumsy demeanor, the triviality of the hiding spot, her first-ever display of mischief and anxiety, and her awkward reaction after being caught.

Given how neatly everything fit together, suspecting Yuria of anything suspicious would’ve been closer to irrational paranoia.

Of course, one lingering doubt was whether Yuria might actually be a ghost.

Could he really trust someone with potential ties to the Nexus Project and supernatural abilities?

‘…Even if I can’t trust ghosts, I can trust Yuria.’

Raven chuckled softly to himself.

At least, there was no need to doubt the person in front of him. He trusted his instincts.

Besides, when he’d asked if she was up to something strange, he’d received a genuine emotional response indicating otherwise. There was no need to overcomplicate things further.

“…”

Yuria, who had been nervously darting her eyes around, finally realized that Raven wasn’t suspicious of her.

Somehow, it seemed he had misunderstood her curiosity about the closet as the sole reason she’d gone in. Relieved, she plopped down on the blanket and sighed inwardly.

She had thought the closet door opening was akin to the gates of hell opening, but instead, she’d just been trembling in fear for nothing. Her face flushed hot with embarrassment.

‘W-Well, at least it somehow worked out. And he doesn’t seem to have noticed the Rift.’

Yuria belatedly recalled the setting that only those with special tools or abilities could detect the Rift’s existence.

Then again, if Raven, with his sharp senses, hadn’t noticed any strangeness about the Rift, it made sense that he wouldn’t. Perhaps it was only natural.

In that case, the situation was more or less resolved. With no further business in the closet, Yuria began crawling toward the exit.

Watching her, Raven quietly asked:

“Need a hand?”

“…”

No, I’ll manage on my own.

Not wanting help with such a trivial matter, Yuria firmly shook her head and stepped onto the blanket to pull herself out of the closet.

But unluckily for her, just as she was about to step out, the blanket slid backward with a *whoosh*, causing her body to lurch forward.

Naturally, since half her body was already outside the closet, her head tilted sharply toward the floor.

A potentially dangerous situation!

Yuria barely managed to suppress the telekinetic force reflexively surging out of her.

“…?!”

“See? I told you I’d help.”

“…”

Of course, even though she fell bodily toward the floor, she didn’t get hurt at all.

Raven’s arm shot out just in time to gently catch her mid-air.

Her ears, peeking out from beneath her mask, naturally turned bright red.

How embarrassing to boast about doing fine on her own only to end up like this.

Today was truly a challenging day.

With Raven’s help, she slowly settled onto the floor.

Finally stepping onto solid ground, Yuria bolted out of the room without looking back, grabbed some clothes and a towel, and dashed into the shower.

Stripping off her clothes and mask, she let the scalding water cascade over her face, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

Just how many embarrassing moments had she created today by kicking around the blankets?

Yuria dreaded tomorrow.

*

After finishing her shower and returning to the room with a towel wrapped around her, Yuria slid into the blanket like a burrowing animal.

Tossing her mask aside after pulling the blanket up to the top of her head, she quietly reflected with a sense of liberation.

‘…But if this is the case, there’s no real reason for me to stay here anymore. If the naturally occurring Rift was the cause of the fragment’s creation, then it has nothing to do with the Invaders.’

To think she’d already accomplished her goal on the second day.

While Yuria marveled at her own impressive abilities, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret.

Having experienced the comfort of warm meals and cozy blankets, the thought of resuming her life of sleeping rough in the cold outdoors made her dizzy.

Maybe… just a little longer?

Peeking out from under the blanket, Yuria unconsciously began searching for excuses in her mind.

Since she’d leave anyway once her part-time job ended, staying until then wouldn’t make much difference.

Wouldn’t saving up a bit of money and contributing to a place to live be the most rational and reasonable choice?

Muttering to herself—or perhaps to someone unknown—Yuria pondered quietly.

Then, struck by a sudden thought, her eyes widened.

‘Wait, what if I can use this to awaken Tesseract?’

Kill two birds with one stone. Catch a crawfish while digging a ditch.

A brilliant idea to solve both problems at once had just dawned on Yuria.

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