Being a Villain is My True Calling

“Haah…”

Exiting the room, Phantom Luna let out a deep sigh.

‘Change my affiliated association? What is that supposed to…’

‘It was just a suggestion, after all.’

The abrupt proposal left her at a loss for how to respond.

‘Discussions with the Japanese association have already concluded.’

‘Over here…’

‘I can secure a higher mission fee and salary for you.’

‘……’

‘Don’t need money?’

She couldn’t refute his confident assertion, as it rang true.
Money was something she sorely needed.
A great deal of it, in fact.

‘…May I have some time to think it over?’

However, it wasn’t a simple matter of changing districts, but rather relocating to an entirely different country, so some contemplation was inevitable.

‘Sure, no problem. You still have plenty of time left in your exchange period, so think it over~’

Seeming to sense her unease, Optimus nodded readily in agreement.

‘But here’s a tip, it would be better for you to come over to our side.’

‘…Pardon?’

‘There are certain circumstances…’

While ending their conversation with that cryptic remark, it did seem she needed to deliberate further over his proposal.

-What? Puhahaha!!
-Yah, don’t laugh!

As she walked, she noticed some heroes lounging in the break room.

The branded coffee shop beverages in their hands reminded her of a particular cafe.

“…Should I go there?”

She did owe them gratitude for their previous assistance, having departed without a proper farewell.

“Hmm.”

Yes, let’s pay them a visit.
Resolving to check on their wellbeing while getting a change of scenery, Chise altered her course and exited the Heroes Association building.

“Hmm.”

Early morning.
Lounging on the sofa, I was browsing the community’s reactions.

‘The response is explosive.’

From those praising me to those simply insulting the association and heroes, denouncing Lee Doo-geub, and plain internet trolls.

So consumed by hurling insults at one another, the actual item I had stolen hadn’t even been mentioned yet.
If they knew what I took, wouldn’t they question my motives then?

‘Like asking why I would even bother stealing something like that.’

I recalled the withered tree branch, currently undergoing composition analysis by the Professor.
An ordinary-looking branch with no inherent abilities on its own, merely emanating a mystical aura that marked it as a relic.

Which was likely why Lee Doo-geub included it as the final aggro item in this auction.

‘Without even knowing its true value.’

In any case.
After surveying the overall community reactions, I rose from the sofa to check the time.

‘Still morning.’

With nothing else to do, I could open the cafe, I suppose?
I had no missions or other tasks scheduled for today, after all.

‘Though for that, it would be easier to wake Ga-yeon…’

“Unngghh…”

Turning toward the sound revealed Ga-yeon tossing and turning, having kicked off her blanket.

“……”

‘I’ll let her sleep a bit longer.’

I approached Ga-yeon, gently covering her with the blanket again before softly stroking her head.

“Oppaaa…”

A few hours later, the drowsy Ga-yeon teleported us directly to the cafe in an instant.

“Still sleepy?”

Nodding sluggishly while rubbing her eyes, Ga-yeon leaned against me for a hug.

‘She’s still quite fatigued, it seems.’

Ordinarily, upon witnessing Ga-yeon’s lingering drowsiness after waking, I would have come alone.
But she insisted on joining me, so here we are…

“In that case, Ga-yeon can go upstairs and keep sleeping. I’ll handle the work.”

“Mmm…?”

“It’s because of my insistence that you came like this, so please rest comfortably.”

“Unngghh…”

After a momentary pause, Ga-yeon nodded in acquiescence to my words.
I guided her upstairs to the bed and tucked her in before returning downstairs.

‘Shall I begin the opening preparations, then?’

If I started now, the cafe could open around lunchtime.
Grabbing a cloth, I began wiping down the tables.

‘Phew…’

At a secluded cafe near District F.
Unlike the surrounding buildings, this cafe exuded a refined charm standing solitary.
Pausing before the entrance, Chise took a deep breath.

‘…Shall I go in?’

Steeling her inexplicably tense nerves, Chise opened the door.

Jingle~

The bell chimed as the door swung open.

“Welcome, oh…?”

Inside was a handsome young man.
Upon making eye contact with Chise, he trailed off in surprise, eyes widening.

“Ahaha…hello…?”

“Tsukino!”

Gahn Yi-an emerged from behind the counter, his face brightening as he strode over to her.
Then, his expression quickly turned concerned as he regarded her intently.

“You’re alright, aren’t you? You haven’t, I don’t know, been in the hospital this whole time or anything?”

“Huh? Oh no, nothing like that!”
“Really?”
“Really! I may not look it, but I’m quite tough, you know? I safely escaped back then!”

Relieved by her reassurances, Gahn Yi-an exhaled heavily.

“Haah…thank goodness…do you know how worried I was?”
“You were?”
“A villain suddenly appeared, and the person you were with went missing. I couldn’t find you at any of the shelters, so of course I was worried.”
“Ah…”

‘Of course, I know exactly what you were up to while you disappeared.’

Concealing his inner thoughts, Gahn Yi-an maintained his neutral expression as he regarded Chise.
Glancing around awkwardly, she began haltingly explaining:

“Actually…back then, I happened to reunite with my group by chance…!”
“Your group?”
“Yes…”

Claiming she had fortuitously rejoined her companions, enabling her safe escape from the terrorist incident.
Chise offered an awkward smile as she finished her tale.

“I see.”

Gahn Yi-an simply smiled at her nonchalantly in response.

“Well, I’m glad it worked out in the end. The situation was a bit hairy, but you managed to regroup with your companions.”

“Y,yeah, I suppose!”

Was it his willingness to accept her words at face value?
Stumbling unnecessarily, Chise averted her gaze, eyeing the menu instead.

‘…Since I’ve come to the cafe, I should order something.’

No matter how well acquainted with the owner, she was still technically a customer here.
Moreover, it seemed their conversation would continue for a while, so simply occupying a seat without ordering would undoubtedly be rude.

“Will you be placing an order?”

Seemingly having quickly assessed her intentions, Gahn Yi-an began preparing a beverage without prompting.

“Yes. It seems I’ll be staying for quite a while!”
“Alright then. What would you like to drink? As for the payment…”

“Oh, it’s fine today!”

Hohoho!!

Letting out that signature boisterous laugh reeking of dissonance, Chise regarded Gahn Yi-an confidently.

‘I scrimped and saved my meal money specifically for today!’

While she had indeed imposed upon his kindness last time, a hero couldn’t keep freeloading like that.
So she had cut back on minor expenses to afford today’s beverage.

Chise reached resolutely into her pocket with an assured expression.

“I have my wallet right he…!!”
Rustle rustle.

“My wallet…!!”
Rustle rustle rustle…

“My, my wallet…eh…?”

Her self-assurance crumbled in an instant, face flushing with genuine dismay as she frantically patted down all her pockets.

“I, I definitely had it right here…”

Chise’s voice grew increasingly muted, on the verge of tears from the shame and embarrassment.
Just as she resignedly searched her pockets once more:

“Tsukino.”

“I’mmm…sorryyy…”

Gahn Yi-an brushed it off with a lighthearted chuckle.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about payment.”
“Buut…”
“You can settle it next time.”

Another debt…!
After already imposing on his kindness so many times, she couldn’t bring herself to be a further nuisance.

“If it truly bothers you that much, you could keep me company for the price of a drink.”
“Pardon?”
“To be honest, I’m feeling rather bored right now. Our little part-timer is napping upstairs.”

I’ll serve you a drink if you’ll be my conversational companion. How about it?
Gahn Yi-an flashed a bright smile.

“Then…an iced Americano, please…”
“While our cafe’s coffee is quite tasty, the bitterness might be a bit too intense for those unaccustomed to it.”
“……”
“How about a sweet fruity smoothie instead? We happen to have plenty of ingredients that need using up soon.”
“…Thank you.”

After a momentary pause for consideration, Chise tightly closed her eyes and expressed her gratitude.

Gulp gulp.

“Ah, thank you.”

Taking the smoothie I handed her, Chise immediately began sipping through the straw.

“!”

After tasting it, her eyes widened comically in surprise.
It was rather amusing to witness.

“Is it good?”

“…Well, it’s…passable, I suppose!”

Chise averted her face sharply as she spoke, sipping away at the smoothie with exaggerated nonchalance.

‘So dishonest.’

Letting out an amused snort, I fetched a coffee for myself before joining her at the counter.

‘How should I steer this conversation?’

In a way, this presented an opportunity to foster a closer rapport with her while potentially gleaning information about the association.
After briefly mulling over my opening, I opted for lighter casual topics first.

‘Probing too personal right away might put her on guard.’

Starting with casual subjects like the day’s weather or recent trends…
I slowly transitioned our idle chatter toward more personal matters.

“…So you came here for work, not leisure?”
“It would seem so. And today I’m specially on vacation!”
“Puhah! Alright then, thanks for sparing me some of your precious time.”
“Ahem!”

Once our conversation flowed more comfortably, I deftly extracted some information about the association.

“What about those acquaintances you mentioned coming with from Japan…?”
“Ah, they’re friends, but also colleagues in a sense.”
“Doesn’t it get lonely? Being in such an unfamiliar place with hardly any fellow countrymen must make you homesick…”
“Heheh, there are far more of us than you’d think? While I do miss home sometimes, having everyone around makes it feel just like Japan, so it’s fine.”

She also offered occasional work-related laments.
While edited versions, the content clearly pertained to the association once elaborated.

‘I knew the association was currently hosting an exchange program…and that the party venue was a special mission assignment last time…’

However, frustratingly, most of the information she provided merely echoed what I already knew.

‘I had hoped conversing with Chise might reveal why she ended up in this exchange program despite the original storyline’s divergence.’

Was it simply a butterfly effect caused by my presence?
In any case, I began casually probing for any unknown information she might divulge.

“So how much longer were you planning to stay in Korea, Tsukino?”
“Hmm, originally I was supposed to relocate after a few more months, but…”

My casual inquiry prompted a contemplative pause from her.
Did this involve unknown information?

“Is something the matter?”
Quickly sensing her reticence, I regarded her with an inquisitive expression.
After a momentary silence, Chise exhaled heavily before replying:

“Someone at my workplace suggested I continue working in this country instead of relocating.”
“I see…”
“Suggested by someone, you say?”