I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad
Chapter 178: Dance with Alice (1)

Another Friday evening—always burning hot, all year round.

Maybe it was a universal law that the thought of “no work tomorrow” lifted everyone's mood.

Even in Nighthaven, you could see the heat of Friday night hanging thick in the air.

The kind of excited atmosphere that made it feel like a waste to just stay inside.

But me? I was lazily rolling around in the closet like it was the most natural thing in the world.

It’s not like Raven, the guy I lived with, was the type to go out on nights like this.

And neither Alice nor Sabrina had come by to see me today.

Besides, this was Nighthaven—a city where danger could come out of nowhere at any time.

Handling Rift energy from inside the closet had its own kind of importance.

The only real downside is that I can’t give infinite energy to the Tesseract. Ugh. I can’t believe the Tesseract actually has a storage limit.

The Tesseract—an Object imbued with a special Invader power.

It was easily the more exceptional of the two Objects I had.

It could pull out alternate timeline potential and amplify my strength several times over.

If anything deserved energy investment, it was this one.

But right now, the Tesseract wasn’t connected to the Rift.

Because I’d discovered it couldn’t hold any more energy—and that meant it was time to move on to the next thing.

I wonder what kind of ability this one has.

The object I carefully lifted in both hands was crescent-shaped.

It had been inside the Archmage’s Orb from the Saint Maria Hotel.

Considering the Tesseract and Echo were already off-the-charts in their respective fields...

I couldn’t help but be excited about this crescent-shaped Object too.

Of course, there was no way to tell what power it held just by looking at it.

All I could do was keep pouring energy into it until it woke up.

Well, guess I’ve just got to wait and let time do its thing now... Should I mess around in Echo for a bit? I’ve been really into this game lately.

I curled up like a pill bug and pulled out Echo on the soft blankets.

For the record, the game I was playing was an online mahjong game—still going strong even in this world.

It was a multiplayer game, but you could just tap to discard tiles like it was single-player.

Perfect for someone like me who couldn’t talk to people.

Also for the record, I was using an account Raven let me borrow.

I bugged him for it, tagging along like a lost puppy, and he gave in real fast.

Not that I’m good or anything. But time flies when I’m playing.

Hmm-hmm-hmm.

As I lay on my stomach, kicking my legs while tapping away at the game—

Clack.

Suddenly, the closet door slid open, and a familiar face peeked in.

Obviously, it was Raven—the one and only landlord.

“Yuria. Stop rolling around and come out. Someone’s here for you.”

“Huh?”

Someone’s looking for me? At this hour? Without even messaging?

Still in a light outfit—shorts and a T-shirt—I tilted my head and grabbed my mask from beside me, slipping it on as I hopped down to the floor.

If someone just dropped in unannounced, it had to be either Alice or Sabrina—couldn’t be anyone else.

As I padded out of the closet and toward the office, just as I’d suspected—

There stood Alice, waving with a smile, wearing nothing but a thin kimono and no coat.

Wow. Alice is sexy today too.

Maybe it was the changing season—spring had melted away the winter chill.

Even in that stiff Japanese-style kimono, she looked ridiculously attractive.

I could only imagine what kind of overwhelming presence her chest would unleash when summer came...

“Aaah, Yuria! Onee-chan’s here!”

“Alice, nyan.”

“Hi hi! Heehee, sorry for dropping in without a heads-up! I was passing by and suddenly thought of you...”

Flop.

Dragging my slippers across the floor, I plopped down beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And without missing a beat, Alice slid her hand under my butt and lifted me right onto her lap.

It’s not winter anymore... I’m definitely going to sweat like this...

But even as I thought that, the soft, pillowy comfort of her body made me close my eyes.

If nothing else, this sensation alone made a person feel stupidly happy. I had no complaints.

“Yuria, Onee-chan brought some bread too... You’ve been into these lately, right? Chocolate donuts.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll feed you~! Aaah~”

“Aaah~”

Taking off my mask for a moment and setting it on the table, I opened my mouth like a baby bird.

Alice brought a perfectly sized piece of donut straight to my lips.

This chewiness and sweetness... definitely the bakery guy’s flavor.

Guess Alice had been dropping by that place I recommended.

Keep going, Alice. That place needs loyal customers or we’re screwed if it shuts down.

Now I totally got where Sirocco was coming from when she handed me that extra bread.

As I nestled comfortably in her lap, treated like royalty—

Raven, who’d sat down nearby, shook his head with a sigh.

“You two sure get along. Anyone would think you’re real sisters.”

“Pfft, we’re closer than sisters! I can’t stand touching my real one!”

“That’s a bit harsh. You should be nicer to Lily. She’s helped you out a lot.”

“I know, but it’s kinda awkward to act all close now... Still, I don’t treat Yuria badly, so that’s gotta count for something, right?”

If I’d treated Yuria like I treat Lily, I’d have folded her in half by now.

Alice grinned brightly, and she wasn’t joking one bit.

Come to think of it, even though they were sisters, Alice and Lily couldn’t be more different.

If Alice was the diligent, rule-abiding, model student...

Lily was like a yankee-type—impulsive and rule-breaking.

What the heck was the Sakuragi household like for them to turn out this different?

I munched on my chocolate donut, quietly thinking of the two completely unalike beauties.

“Oh, right! I came here to ask you something. Yuria, are you free tomorrow?”

“...!”

“No plans, huh? Hehe, then how about going flower-viewing with me? There’s a spring flower festival happening nearby. We can look at the flowers and eat tasty stuff!”

A spring flower festival, huh. I thought about it, snuggled in Alice’s lap.

I didn’t have anything planned for tomorrow anyway. And festivals meant delicious food.

After a short moment of thought, I nodded big, like it didn’t matter either way.

I didn’t really love or hate flowers, but if it meant hanging out—I was in.

Maybe Raven felt left out.

He sat across from us and asked Alice with a slightly sulky expression:

“Hey, what’s with the secret two-person date? Ask me too.”

“Jin-shi, you’re invited! Or better yet, let’s invite everyone who’s free! David-san, Greg-san...”

“Hm. If it’s tomorrow, there’s a good chance a bunch of people can’t make it.”

“Then we’ll go with whoever can! I’ll message everyone right now!”

True to her words, Alice immediately pulled out her terminal and started firing off messages left and right.

Turning sudden inspiration into action—she really was the embodiment of momentum.

Still, maybe because she asked the night before, and it was already evening...

Most people replied that they already had plans.

David’s group had a family outing.

Greg said he had to leave the city for the whole weekend...

In the end, we got a surprising combination of girls with nothing going on:

Me, Alice, Raven, Karen, and Lily.

“Karen... Isn’t she that girl from the store Yuria works at? The one who always walks around with her eyes closed.”

“Yeah. She said yes right away when I messaged her! Heehee, this could be a great chance to get closer.”

“...”

In the original story, they barely had any connection—so Karen joining the group really showed ❀ ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) how far we’d drifted from the source material.

Also... Lily’s coming too, huh. Hmm. Hopefully nothing weird happens.

I let the last bite of donut melt in my mouth and quietly prayed that this weekend would stay peaceful.

Time passed uneventfully.

And the next day—Saturday morning—arrived.

No rain. A light breeze. Absolutely perfect festival weather!

The air was so refreshing I couldn’t help but wear a big smile from early in the morning.

There wasn’t a trace of winter left—no matter where you looked.

Spring, flowers, life—it was the kind of day that made you think of nothing else.

Creatures of every race strolled down the sunlit streets in pairs, basking in the warmth.

Children wandered around holding cotton candy in one hand, the other clasped by a grown-up.

Couples linked arms and fended off the spring chill with shared body heat.

Even in Nighthaven, it seemed, springtime’s greenery could soak into people for one blissful day.

Down the open streets, a modified cleaning truck rumbled along, loaded with clunky attachments.

“Hyah-ha! Who cares about spring and flowers?! Outta the way! I’m not insured if you get run over!”

“Lock down Sectors 7, 8, and 13! The target is rampaging across the center line!”

As always, Nighthaven refused to play by common sense.

Didn’t matter if there was a flower festival—some people were still gonna go wild.

But if those maniacs had one misfortune today...

...it was that today, thanks to the festival, there were lots of outsiders in the city.

“Uh, boss? There’s some guy standing in the road...”

“What?! I can’t slow down now! Just run him over!”

“O-okay! Got it!”

The souped-up cleaning truck screeched along the asphalt at full speed—

—and slammed into the poor outsider who had just started crossing the street.

CRUNCH!

The front bumper twisted grotesquely, and the truck crumpled in place like it was folding in half.

The impact was so massive the driver coughed up blood and collapsed.

But the man who got hit?

He simply kept walking forward, calmly brushing dust off his fist.

“Tch. Is this how this city treats outsiders? Disgraceful. Far too dangerous for my frail daughter to live in.”

The one muttering was an elderly man, hair streaked with patches of white.

His hair was a heavy red—like it had been soaked in blood—and mixed with streaks of snow-white.

Two horns poking from his forehead made it clear he wasn’t human.

A small giant, newly arrived in Nighthaven, began striding forward.

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