NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48
Raven had an exceptional instinct.
To be precise, it was due to the enhancement procedure that his senses—sight, hearing, and others—were several times sharper than those of an ordinary person, making his cognitive abilities extraordinary.
So, after finishing his shower and returning to his room, he immediately sensed the presence coming from the closet.
No matter how much one held their breath and froze in movement, the faint exhalations and the distinct sweet scent emanating from the person were far too clear to miss.
Creak.
Without hesitation, Raven quickly opened the closet door.
There, despite it being past working hours, was Yuria, still dressed in the usual maid outfit.
“…!”
Startled, she shivered as she sat cross-legged on a thick blanket inside the closet when the door swung open.
With an uneasy expression, she drooped her shoulders and lowered her head, looking like a caught criminal caught in the act.
Raven casually moved his eyes around to survey the area and frowned slightly.
‘What’s she doing hiding in the closet?’
From his perspective, it was truly baffling.
To find a part-timer in the closet after just a quick wash—how should he even process this?
Pressing his fingers against his forehead, Raven finally asked the sitting Yuria, “Uh… Playing hide and seek?”
“….”
“Or were you planning to pull some kind of prank?”
“…!”
“Oh dear, watch yourself.”
Bam!
Yuria, trying to jump up too quickly, smacked her head against the ceiling.
Was it a strong hit? She clutched her head and plopped back down onto the blanket.
After curling up and groaning for a moment, she snapped back to reality and vigorously shook her head at Raven.
It was a clear expression, as if to say she had definitely not done anything wrong.
Then… the only reason she had entered the closet must be a single possibility.
Raven stroked his chin dryly and said, as if truly amused, “The closet looks weird, right? You should’ve just asked. I would’ve let you take a look.”
“…?”
Yuria, who had been wound tightly with tension, tilted her head at his nonsensical comment.
Was he serious? Or was he just testing her reaction?
Glancing at Raven’s expression, she soon realized he was genuinely speaking.
No, was he really just brushing off the situation of being caught snooping around in his room like this?
Yuria felt flustered at his exceedingly nonchalant reaction.
‘What if I really was a bad person?’
But for Raven, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to think that way.
In his eyes, Yuria was… harmless, a pure innocent animal no matter how he looked at it.
Yuria’s nature was remarkably optimistic and laid-back, and even considering she couldn’t talk, it was hard to catch her showing annoyance even once.
Even when she occasionally playfully stole the snacks he treasured, her short little tantrums were quickly forgotten. He could totally understand why Alice kept her around all day.
Besides, she was like a kid who had just come out into the world—fascinated by the simplest and most ordinary things. Thus, any thoughts of suspicion would simply vanish.
Of course, for Yuria, it couldn’t be helped. How could she not be curious about the marvelous technologies or magic scattered everywhere, things she had never seen in her past life?
‘Is she perhaps afraid of showing a child-like demeanor? Considering her upbringing… I guess it’s understandable.’
The fact that this was one of the first child-like behaviors he had seen in these past two weeks also had a considerable impact.
Yuria, who usually carried out her duties without complaints, looking like there was an adult inside her, was somewhat impressive but also raised some concern in him.
Yet here she was, sneaking into the closet and quaking in fear when caught? It gave an odd credibility to her otherwise mature—no, she should be mature—behavior.
Plus, the fact that she was hiding in a closet filled with junk with no significant items made it all the more amusing.
From his perspective, it was no different than hiding under the bed.
In summary, all the clues pointed to this: her previous clumsy appearance, the incredibly trivial hiding place, her first appearance of deviation and anxiety, and even her damp response immediately after being caught.
It seemed almost unreasonable to suspect Yuria in this perfectly fitting situation.
Of course, one thing did linger on his mind: that Yuria might actually be a ghost.
Could he trust a paranormal being potentially connected to the Nexus Project?
‘…I can’t trust ghosts, but I can trust Yuria.’
Raven chuckled inwardly, thinking.
At least the one right in front of him was not particularly suspicious. He believed in his instincts.
Moreover, now that he had received heartfelt reassurances that she wasn’t scheming anything odd, there was no need to drag the conversation further.
“….”
Yuria, who had been anxiously glancing around with her eyes, finally realized Raven wasn’t suspicious of her at all.
Whatever the situation was, it seemed she was merely misunderstood to have been curious about the closet. She sighed with relief internally while sitting back on the blanket.
Until the closet door opened, she had thought it was like the gates of hell opening, but instead, she had been trembling in fear for no reason. Her face suddenly flushed with embarrassment.
‘W-well, it looks like I managed to slip by somehow. He doesn’t seem to have any clue about the rift…’
Yuria recalled that without special tools or abilities, one couldn’t even detect the existence of the rift, which could be why Raven hadn’t noticed it.
That certainly could be the case; if Raven had sensed the oddness of the rift, he would have surely caught onto it, so perhaps it was only natural.
Thus, it seemed the situation had come to an end. Yuria crawled toward the outside to get out of the closet, wanting to no longer stay there.
Watching her, Raven quietly asked, “Need a hand?”
“….”
No, I can get out on my own.
Yuria, who didn’t want to be helped for such a trivial matter, firmly shook her head and stepped out of the closet.
However, unfortunately for Yuria, just as she was about to step out, the blanket she stood on slipped away behind her, causing her to tumble forward.
With half her body already outside the closet, her head quickly leaned down smack toward the floor.
It was a potentially dangerous situation that could lead to a serious accident!
Yuria instinctively suppressed the telekinesis that was about to burst forth.
“…?!”
“Oh dear. I did say I would help.”
“….”
Of course, although she fell headfirst, she didn’t get hurt at all.
Raven’s arms reached out and caught her softly in midair.
The ears that popped out beside her mask turned bright red naturally.
She had boasted that she could manage well on her own, and now this embarrassing incident?
What a rough day it was.
Yuria was slowly lowered to the ground with Raven’s help.
Finally touching the floor, Yuria dashed out of the room without a backward glance, hastily gathering her clothes and towel for the shower and bursting into the shower room.
Then, with the hot water streaming down her face after stripping off her clothes and mask, she tightly shut her eyes.
How many shameful moments had she created today?
Yuria was utterly terrified of tomorrow.
*
After finishing her shower, Yuria rolled into the blankets like a burrito.
Then, finally pulling the blanket up to her head, she threw her mask outside with a swift motion.
Feeling a refreshing sense of liberation, she quietly thought, ‘…But with this, there’s no longer any reason to stay here. If the naturally formed rift was the cause of the fragments, then it’s not necessarily related to the Invaders.’
Who would have guessed she’d complete her objective on the second day?
Yuria found herself secretly amazed at her own exceptional abilities, yet felt a hint of disappointment.
After all, now that she was enjoying the warmth of a bed with meals provided and considering going back to the chilly outside to once again live in a situation of one-arm and no-footed… it made her dizzy.
Maybe, just a little bit longer?
Peeking her eyes out from the blanket, Yuria found herself unconsciously searching for an excuse in her mind.
She was going to leave once her part-time job ended anyway, so staying here until then shouldn’t make huge differences.
Would it be the most rational and logical thing to save some money to contribute to home?
Yuria mumbled to herself, pondering, not really knowing who she was speaking to.
Then suddenly, a thought swept through her mind, making her eyes widen.
‘Wait a minute, maybe I can awaken the Tesseract with this?’
Killing two birds with one stone. She had come up with a great idea to solve two problems at once.