It was a dire situation.
The kind of scenario where even making light-hearted jokes felt out of place—a full-blown emergency.
It was so severe that even Tesseract, normally calm and composed, couldn’t sit still and seemed fidgety. This was not something that could be ignored.
“ Hmm? Mama, did you call me? ”
Ah, sorry. Not for anything in particular.
Anyway, there are some things that little ones don’t need to understand!
I poked Tesseract a couple of times with telekinesis to play for a bit, then settled back into the cramped closet, resuming my somber mood.
Let’s think. What day is it today?
“ Thursday! ”
That’s right, just like Tesseract said, it was Thursday. More specifically, it had been five days since Aisha’s request was completed.
And it had been three days since Greg was supposed to return. Actually, it was already evening, so by tomorrow, it would be the fourth day.
With that in mind, I slammed my forehead into the soft blanket in frustration.
Greg... why haven’t you come back yet? You promised to return!
“What are you doing in there, making such a racket?”
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
“...!”
Uh, nothing!
Peeking out of the closet door, I saw Raven standing there. I quickly shook my head to insist that I hadn’t been doing anything and shut the door again. This time, I folded my arms and sat still, hoping to avoid another scolding.
Setting aside Raven’s irritation, this wasn’t something I could just let slide.
If Greg didn’t come back... I wouldn’t be able to leave the Troubleshooter Office.
‘I was counting on Greg’s return to leave this place, get a room, and start working somewhere with a higher hourly rate.’
One of the main reasons was that working at the Troubleshooter Office barely paid enough. Even working from morning till evening only felt like pocket money.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Raven was exploiting me. He wasn’t in a financially comfortable situation either, and he was already doing me the favor of letting me live here.
Demanding more pay would have been unreasonable. I wasn’t being treated like a pushover or anything, so I didn’t have complaints about the low wages.
However, trying to work here and pay rent for a separate room was definitely a challenge. It wasn’t as if I was here for convenience—I had no choice.
‘I just need Greg to come back so I can finally get moving. Staying at Raven’s place like this forever is ridiculous!’
My grand dream of living quietly in some corner of Night Haven, far from any annoying entanglements, seemed to drift further away every day.
...Huh? You’re saying the person claiming to want peace and quiet is holed up in a closet? Well, even so, there are things that need to be done. Who knows? The world might end tomorrow.
That’s why I was feeding the remaining energy from the rift to Tesseract, preparing for anything that might happen.
Instead of criticizing me, you should be praising my responsible attitude, even amidst the chaos. Got it? Got it?
“ Mama, yummy! ”
Oh, you think so?
Curled up on the blanket like a pill bug, I secretly pulled out Tesseract.
Even in the dim light, the faintly glowing form of Tesseract was so lively and adorable that I couldn’t help but smile.
Is this what it feels like to raise a child? They’re so cute you just want to feed them more.
‘But why do I have to be “Mama”? Even when I ask, all it says is “Because Mama is Mama!” No further explanation. I don’t get it....’
Anyway, life lately had been like this:
If Greg contacted anyone, it would be Raven, not me, since I didn’t have a communicator. So, every hour, like a nagging bird, I poked Raven to ask if there was any word from Greg.
When the day ended with no news, I would retreat to the closet in the evening, roll around for a while, then sleep in my room.
The next morning, I’d wake up and repeat the same routine.
Given what I knew about the original story, something big was bound to happen soon. But all I could hope was that it wouldn’t happen until I was out of here.
Then, out of nowhere, an idea struck me like lightning.
With the money I’d saved from a month of part-time work, maybe I could finally buy my own communicator?
In the cozy darkness of the closet, my eyes sparkled at the brilliance of my self-devised plan.
*
The next morning, Friday.
Alice, feeling rather down about the possibility that Yuria might leave soon, arrived at the office with a heavy heart. But the moment she stepped in, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Yuria sprinting down the hallway with a mop in hand.
“...!”
“Oh, good morning, Yuria. You’re full of energy today,” Alice greeted hesitantly.
“...!!”
It was a bizarre sight.
Just yesterday, Yuria had seemed as wilted as a plant deprived of water. Yet today, she was zipping around like a toy with fresh batteries.
Alice quietly passed by Yuria, who was gleefully mopping the floor like it was a dance routine. She approached Raven, who was sprawled on the sofa, and whispered conspiratorially.
“R-Raven, what’s going on with Yuria? Did Greg finally contact her?”
It was a reasonable question.
Anyone could tell that Yuria had been feeling down lately, clearly due to Greg’s extended absence. With no word from him even after the promised month, her mood had visibly soured.
But now, she seemed so cheerful and energetic that the only logical explanation was that the issue had been resolved.
However, Raven’s response shattered that expectation.
“Nope, no contact. She just started acting like that this morning. Must’ve had something exciting happen.”
“What? No contact from Greg, and she’s still like that?”
Alice tilted her head in confusion, clearly struggling to understand.
Yuria was known for her transparency; she wasn’t the type to hide her feelings easily. But she also wasn’t one to have such drastic mood swings without a reason.
Something was definitely up.
Alice glanced at Yuria darting around the office, tapping her lips thoughtfully with her finger.
“There’s definitely something suspicious about this. It’s like some kind of ridiculous mystery is hidden here...!”
“Or maybe she’s just happy about something,” Raven suggested with a shrug.
“No way! Yuria isn’t that simple! She wouldn’t just—ow!”
“Calm down. If it’s something serious, she’ll talk to us. You’re overreacting,” Raven said, gently chopping the top of Alice’s head to stop her from spiraling further.
“If you’re so curious, instead of guessing, why don’t you just ask her directly? That way, you don’t end up making weird assumptions.”
His advice was practical, as one might expect from the eldest in the office. Misunderstandings and unnecessary confusion were inevitable when you tried to guess someone’s feelings without clear communication.
“Hmm... You’re right. Thanks, Raven. I’ll just go ask her!” Alice said, nodding decisively.
“Good. Let me know what she says—I’m curious too.”
“Ehehe, you’re so funny,” Alice chuckled, skipping over to Yuria.
Without beating around the bush, she asked Yuria directly why she was in such high spirits.
“....”
“Uh, Yuria?”
“...!”
Yuria, clutching the mop in her arms, tilted her head in thought before bringing her finger to the lips of her mask in a playful gesture. The message was clear: It’s a secret.
“Oh, I see. Well, good luck with whatever it is!” Alice responded with a cheerful smile, though her expression quickly crumbled as she returned to Raven. She cupped her mouth with her hands and wailed dramatically.
“Waaah, Raven! What do we do? Something’s definitely going on!”
“Calm down! She looks happy, doesn’t she? It must be something good. Relax!” Raven exclaimed, trying to pacify her.
As Raven struggled to deal with Alice’s near-meltdown, David arrived at the office right on time.
After greeting Yuria, who was still bustling about, David approached Alice, now crouched by the sofa in near tears.
“Is something going on with Yuria? Yesterday, she looked like someone who’d eaten spoiled pizza, but today she seems like someone who’s just doubled their stock portfolio.”
“No idea. Nothing happened,” Raven replied.
“Mmh... rayyoohhck...” Alice muttered, her face buried in her hands.
“Well then, this must be... a mystery!” David declared dramatically.
“Please don’t start that too. Alice alone is already enough to handle,” Raven groaned, rubbing his forehead.
Between Alice’s overreactions and David’s tendency to get carried away ever since Aisha’s case, Raven felt like the sanity level of the office was on a steady decline.
If this kept up, there wouldn’t be a single functional person left in the Troubleshooter Office.
Raven glanced at Yuria, who had now switched to using a duster instead of the mop. She didn’t seem to have a significant reason for her good mood, but just to be sure, he made a mental note to check in later.
Little did he suspect that the source of her excitement was something as simple as planning to buy a communicator. For now, Raven could only wonder silently, oblivious to Yuria’s secret motivation.