I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

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The human brain is naturally designed to lose its speech when it receives a mental shock.

Strong stress activates survival instincts, suppressing the language functions that are not immediately needed.

Negative emotions are prioritized lower in processing by the brain to resolve them first.

Psychological defense mechanisms get triggered to protect oneself from shocking experiences.

Well, there are various theories about this. But in the end, there was one conclusion.

A strong shock turns a person into a fool.

Thus, having become a fool, I blinked vacantly and thought.

“The shop is closing…? Then what about me?”

Thanks to the tesseract, I felt absolutely no fatigue, enjoying a refreshing morning.

Greg delivered the shocking news to me that the shop would need to be closed for a while.

It was extremely bewildering.

Right after I had separated from my ghost self, what kind of thunderclap of news was this?

“No, boss! What am I supposed to do now!
I need to work to eat! Take responsibility!”

As I spun around Greg in a flustered manner, demanding a detailed explanation, he calmly clasped my head with his hand and said in a very composed voice.

“First, calm down. There was a small accident while you were gone. A few vampires suddenly showed up.”

“…!”

So vampires came to the shop.

And from what I heard, it seemed like they didn’t just come one or two at a time but swarmed in.

That made a bit more sense.

Generally, a group of vampires is a much trickier opponent than a single vampire.

Blood served as a physical medium, and the more they gathered, the stronger the magic they could use.

So, no matter how strong Greg was among orcs, it must have been tough for him to fully protect the shop.

“Well… they were almost all a bunch of nobodies, so I managed to fend them off with my fists, but….”

…Wait, what?

From what he was saying, it sounded as if he had beaten them all away by force.

But if I thought about it, the current state of the shop wasn’t exactly in shambles.

Had a few windows disappeared, and were there small holes in the wall?

Looking at it outwardly, the shop didn’t seem like it had been through enough to close for a long time.

Hence, I tilted my head, wondering why there was a need to close, and Greg answered my doubts with a bitter smile.

“Why are we closing the shop? Huh, during that time, a few items got caught up in it… and unfortunately, an important emotion artifact got broken.”

“…!”

An emotion artifact, could it be those glasses filled with emotion magic?

I widened my eyes in surprise, looking at Greg.

It’s unfortunate that the glasses broke…. That made sense as to why the shop would need to close.

Essentially, it meant that our shop’s most important item for sensing emotions was now out of commission.

To put it in restaurant terms, it was like losing all the chef’s knives.

Of course, they could compromise and serve food without the knives, but…

If that would lower the quality, it would be better to close the shop and get new knives.

“Ugh… why did that have to break? This means I can’t even throw a fit and demand to work. Still… won’t it be fixed soon?”

I cautiously looked up at Greg, holding onto a sliver of hope.

Alright, I’ll admit it.

Closing the shop? Okay. That’s a valid reason.

So, when will the closing end?

Three days? A week? Ah, surely it won’t take a fortnight.

It seemed he caught on to the meaning of my gaze quickly as he gently rubbed his chin and answered.

“Probably, even at the shortest, we’ll need to be closed for at least a month.”

“…!!”

A… month?

I trembled at the unexpectedly lengthy period.

A month is way too long.

With the money I have saved up, I can hold out for about four days.

This is not okay! At this rate, I’m going to starve!

In various ways, feeling urgent, I tugged on Greg’s sleeve and protested vigorously.

But was it really unavoidable?

He gently let go of my hand that grasped his sleeve and added more.

“Fixing an artifact is expensive. If we go to the master craftsman in Night Haven, it’ll cost at least several hundred thousand credits, and it could take months. So while I close the shop for a bit, I plan to visit a friend abroad. Considering the travel time and the time to fix the artifact… even a month is pushing it.”

“…!”

“Want me to take you with me? Yuria, do you… have a passport?”

“….”

…A passport? Of course, I don’t have one.

Losing all momentum, I simply lowered my head in disappointment.

Well… listening to the story, it truly seemed unavoidable.

If I asked whether there was a skilled artisan who could fix artifacts in Night Haven, naturally, there wouldn’t be none.

Considering that Greg doesn’t have many connections in the city, an artisan he could reach out to would charge ridiculous amounts of time and money.

So it made perfect sense for him to plan to visit an overseas artisan to save both time and costs.

Even if I were in the opposing position, I would have taken a short break and gone outside of Night Haven.

But… what about me, left behind here?

Having given up on being a ghost to work and eat here…

As I felt a small sense of betrayal washing over me and sulked while kicking the floor lightly,

Greg chuckled and playfully ruffled my hair.

Don’t touch me! I’m sad right now!

Unlike usual, feeling particularly feral, I rejected his affection, glaring at him as if I was about to bite his hand.

He replied, as if to say, “What are you worrying about?”

“Hmm, don’t worry too much. Although we haven’t signed any contracts yet, you are still my employee. Of course, I have thought of something.”

“…!”

“Follow me. I’ll introduce you to someone reliable who can fill in while I close the shop for a while.”

Wha… what?!

For a moment, my mind struggled to comprehend, only to later be touched by Greg’s heavenly kindness.

Truly, I believed in you! The best boss of the age who is devoted to his employees!

As if I had never felt gloomy, I beamed a bright smile from behind my mask and followed Greg.

Well, I had no idea who this reliable person was.

But since Greg went so far as to say that, he surely wasn’t a malicious employer who would stab me in the back without even paying.

It was as if warm sunlight burst through clouds that had been dark and heavy before.

“By the way, Yuria. You seem to have gotten a bit more affectionate lately.”

“…?”

Then, out of nowhere, Greg casually threw me that remark.

Affectionate? Me?

I frowned, wondering what nonsense he was spouting, before suddenly recalling the behaviors I had displayed until now.

Like spinning around Greg like a child.

Peering up at him eagerly or bouncing on the spot.

Pulling on his sleeves or shaking my head to throw off his hands…?

…No, no, no.

This was simply because I couldn’t vocalize anything. It was just that my non-verbal expressions had increased a bit.

After all, this was merely supplementary behavior for smooth communication. It was unavoidable! Try being a mute!

Thud thud.

I punched Greg’s thigh, irritated.

Who’s being affectionate right now?

Does that mean someone who gets anesthesia for gum disease is also a cute little affectionate child?

Of course, Greg’s skin was as hard as a rock, so my hand just hurt instead.

This felt awfully unjust.

*

Walking around the busy streets of Night Haven during the day felt very awkward.

After falling into this city, I had spent the majority of my time in the western labyrinth, and when I first came to Night Haven, it was night, not day.

It was practically my first time to saunter confidently through the streets like this.

“Wow… there are really so many people.”

It was clear enough to tell that it was a big city, as countless people were jumbled together like a tsunami in the streets.

Not only were there lots of people, but there were also holographic advertisements scattered all around, causing my mouth to water involuntarily.

Particularly striking was that most of those people were of various exotic races, boasting an array of unique characteristics.

It felt so strange that I seriously wondered if I could just sit on a bench and watch people for what felt like an eternity.

“Yuria, don’t wander off too far, or you’ll get lost. Come this way.”

“….”

Was he sensing that I was too distracted by my surroundings?

Greg extended his large hand, looking quite like a pot lid, urging me to catch hold of it.

…Um, to be honest, I didn’t really want to grab on.

Not that I disliked Greg, but I couldn’t get the thought of his earlier remark about how my “affection had increased” out of my head.

Of course, I didn’t particularly want to behave affectionately to others at all!

Once a person begins to consciously note something, every little action tends to become a focus of concern.

It’s like when you think about the position of your tongue or swallowing saliva, and it suddenly feels awkward.

‘But it’s better than forcing myself to get lost here.’

Still, being contrary in such a crowded place felt odd.

People should be living rationally and logically.

I tried to look as grown-up as possible by lifting my chin slightly and nonchalantly reaching for Greg’s hand.

How’s that? Doesn’t this seem better?

“Ugh… ugh. Then, let’s go.”

“…?”

What was that? Did he just grin a moment ago? Was it just my imagination?

I blinked in confusion before finally matching my pace with his.

Perhaps it was because his height was about double mine.

For every one step he took, I had to take about four short steps. Still, thanks to him walking slowly, nothing uncomfortable occurred.

And just how long did we walk?

When we reached the end of the bustling area, where the number of people passing by began to dwindle,

Greg came to a halt as if to signal that we had arrived and looked up.

Naturally, I followed suit and glanced upward…

I was instantly frozen, stunned by the sight that met my eyes.

“Wait….”

I recognized this building.

In fact, I might have been aware of it since I entered this street corner.

Thinking back, it made perfect sense.

How many people would know a taciturn orc whose social skills were almost nonexistent?

And among those, a fitting job where they would temporarily accept a homeless child as a worker?

Realizing it now was somewhat comical. Was the effect of becoming a fool still lingering?

‘This… Crowley’s Problem-Solving Office is… the place where the protagonist is!’

The office of the protagonist and his party, no less.

Caught off guard, my mind went blank, completely unprepared for this surprise.

And unfortunately for me,

Just like a stake being driven home, a second shock struck immediately.

“Wait? Greg? Yuria? What brings you here?”

“Pink haired girl, we meet again. Is Raven inside?”

“Well… Jin lives here, so he’s probably inside. I’m just now getting to work myself.”

At the worst timing, Sakuragi Alice showed up.

And just like the finishing touches, she continued with her remark about looking for the protagonist.

No way, this reliable job Greg mentioned…

‘Could it be a part-time job at the problem-solving office?!’

They say bad luck trips you over itself while you’re already down.

All my hardships to avoid the protagonist’s group suddenly felt like they had gone up in smoke.