I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 101: The Enigma Auction Showdown (2)

Rising faint smoke from below and people collapsing helplessly to the floor.

The stage was blindingly bright, yet the light illuminating the outside was so dim.

Shadows tangled chaotically in the sinking, thick darkness.

This... Something's definitely wrong.

Almost simultaneously as I came to that conclusion, Alice shouted beside me.

“Yuria! Sabrina! Hold your breath for a moment! We’re getting out of here right now!”

Without a hint of hesitation, Alice tightly tucked Sabrina and me under each arm.

It felt like we were being treated like baggage, but given the dire situation, there was no time to dwell on trivial matters.

Even if we looked a bit ridiculous, it was better to get out of here quickly.

Thanks to the countless experiences we’d had so far, I managed to stay calm and quietly took a shallow breath alongside Sabrina.

“Hhrrrk!”

“...!”

“Here we go!”

Thud, thud, thud!

Alice took three running steps on the floor and leapt high into the air with all her might.

Her leg strength was so extraordinary that in the blink of an eye, the ceiling was practically within reach.

Of course, being the owner of incredible raw strength capable of stopping a car without any magic, it wasn’t surprising.

Carrying two small individuals under her arms was apparently no different from holding plush dolls.

On top of that, all the massive meals she’d consumed were clearly to maintain this remarkable physique.

Reflecting on it, I couldn’t help but feel a newfound appreciation for her tendency to stuff her cheeks full at every meal.

“Excuse me... coming through!”

Swish!

Kicking off the ceiling and walls several times, Alice skillfully maneuvered toward the exit without encountering any obstacles.

With one knee bent, she slipped through the gaps that had already begun to fill with a gathering crowd at the exit.

Wait, she moved that quickly without brushing even a single hair against anyone?

Her athletic ability was genuinely amazing—something I could never dream of replicating with my lackluster physical capabilities.

While hanging awkwardly from her side, I found myself clapping in admiration.

Locking eyes with Sabrina, who was mirroring my reaction with applause of her own, I had to wonder—were we starting to share the same wavelength lately, or was it just my imagination?

“Haha... Thanks. I’ll let you down here. This spot seems free of gas, so it should be safe to breathe now.”

“Oh, yes! Thank you!”

“...Yeah.”

Huff, huff.

Taking Alice at her word, I eagerly inhaled the fresh outside air.

Although, to be honest, stepping outside the auction felt more like stepping indoors, as it was warmer than the interior.

“Ahhh! Someone collapsed! It’s poison gas!”

“Move! Get out of the way!”

“Don’t block the exit—hurry up and leave!”

As we regained our composure, the situation inside seemed to have come into focus for those still there.

Chaos erupted near the auction exit, as people scrambled to escape.

Having suddenly inhaled the gas and collapsed unconscious, they instinctively sensed danger and thrashed to survive—it was only natural.

However, with other exits blocked for security reasons, the narrow exit became a bottleneck. A frenzy of pushing and shoving ensued as people tried to escape.

Without Alice, we likely wouldn’t have made it out, either, instead getting trapped in the crowd, unable to move forward or back.

Just imagining it sent a chill down my spine.

“Ugh... At this rate, people are going to get hurt!”

Watching the situation unfold, Alice grimaced and muttered under her breath.

Indeed, if this continued, the gas wouldn’t be the only thing causing injuries—the chaos itself would become a problem.

Nearby, a few fixers assigned to maintain order were desperately trying to control the situation.

Yet, perhaps due to the lack of a particularly famous or influential figure among them, the confusion showed no sign of subsiding.

‘Wait a minute... Where’s Victor? With his level of charisma, he should be able to calm this down in no time.’

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As I scanned the area briefly, a thought struck me.

Victor’s sharp blond hair, which should have been easy to spot, was nowhere to be seen.

Given what we discussed earlier at the restaurant, there’s no way Victor wouldn’t have anticipated a situation like this. So why...?

‘Victor is a top-tier fixer among top tiers. He wouldn’t have left his post due to carelessness or something ridiculous like that. Which means...’

There must be a reason—something serious enough to prevent him from guarding the Enigma Auction.

No matter how I looked at it, that seemed to be the only logical conclusion.

Still, no matter how much I realized the situation was spiraling out of control, nothing changed.

The exit remained a battlefield, and the number of casualties continued to rise.

Alice, too, seemed to pick up on the gravity of the situation.

Taking a deep breath to calm her emotions, she looked at me, then at Sabrina, and spoke with a serious tone.

“Both of you, stay close and don’t wander too far if possible. Sabrina, I’ll lend you my communicator. Relay the situation to Raven, and then to your brother David,” Alice said sharply, her commanding voice cutting through the chaos.

“Y-yes! I-I’ll do that!” Sabrina stammered, nodding frantically.

Alice’s usual soft and playful demeanor had vanished, replaced by an overwhelming charisma that left no room for argument. Her tone was so sharp that Sabrina, startled, repeatedly nodded like a frightened puppy.

Perhaps finding Sabrina’s reaction endearing, Alice removed her mask with a quick gesture, revealing a reassuring smile to both of us. Then, without hesitation, she sprinted toward the exit, her voice booming loud enough to shake the air.

“EVERYONE, STOP MOVING!!!”

The sheer power of her voice, amplified by her formidable lung strength, rippled through the crowd like a shockwave. It was as if her vocal cords alone had become a megaphone, commanding immediate attention.

Even those consumed by fear and confusion hesitated at the overwhelming force of her shout. Taking advantage of the moment, Alice raised one arm high and bellowed, her tone steady and authoritative.

“Calm down! Rushing and shoving will only slow you down! Follow the fixers’ guidance and evacuate in an orderly fashion! Everyone can get out safely if you cooperate!”

“A-and who are you to give orders like that?!” someone shouted back, their voice tinged with panic and defiance.

“I’m following direct orders from Victor, the Double Number Fixer tasked with protecting everyone at this auction. If you don’t comply, I’ll have no choice but to knock you out and drag you out myself.”

Alice delivered the lie without so much as blinking, her unwavering gaze sweeping over the chaotic crowd at the exit.

The sheer conviction in her eyes seemed to convey an unspoken warning: disobey, and she would break every bone in your body if it meant saving you. The resistance in the crowd faltered, and people reluctantly began to follow her instructions.

Some had indeed seen Victor in the hotel earlier, which lent credibility to her words. Additionally, other fixers, already trying to minimize damage, quickly rallied to support her efforts and guide people outside.

Phew. At least the situation at the exit wasn’t spiraling into disaster anymore. As I observed Alice managing the crowd with her commanding presence, Sabrina, who had been attempting to contact Raven, furrowed her brows in frustration.

“Yuria, what do we do? Raven isn’t answering! Something must’ve happened!”

“...!”

No response from Raven?

He specifically told us to contact him if anything urgent came up. And this is urgent!

Crossing my arms, I deliberated for a moment, unsettled by the lack of communication.

Victor was missing, and now Raven wasn’t responding either. My gut instinct had been spot-on—something big was going down.

We had no choice but to relay the situation to David and Rein.

I made a gesture by forming round bear ears over my head, signaling Sabrina to contact David. Thankfully, she seemed to understand immediately and began trying to reach him.

“Uh, huh? My brother isn’t answering either?”

“....”

David, too?

It might’ve made sense if it was just Raven, but even David wasn’t picking up?

David, who had gone out with Rein on a date, suddenly becoming unreachable? That didn’t add up.

Feeling an uneasy sense of foreboding, I quickly pulled Echo from my pocket and asked it directly.

“Echo, is this hotel’s communication being jammed?”

[ Yes. A strong jamming signal is currently flooding the hotel. It’s likely that any electronic devices relying on signals are completely unusable. ]

A jamming signal...

Just a few minutes ago, the electronic auction systems were working perfectly fine.

The jamming must have started spreading right around the same time the suspicious gas filled the auction hall.

So that’s why I can’t reach Raven or David. It also explains why there’s no external support arriving.

Hah, but I bet the ones behind this mess never imagined we’d have Echo, which isn’t affected by jamming signals.

Smirking to myself, I prepared to use Echo to send out a message.

But just as I was about to type, my ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ hand froze mid-motion.

I suddenly realized I couldn’t include any meaningful content in the message.

‘Wait, I can’t even explain that I’m under some sort of curse and need help. Sending a blank or vague message would just confuse them—they wouldn’t even know where we are.’

It was a maddening predicament.

This curse, or whatever it was that blocked me from communicating effectively, made it impossible to rely on typical methods of coordination.

Even using Echo to bypass the jamming might lead to misunderstandings about its abilities.

What should I do in this situation? Clutching Echo tightly, I racked my brain for a solution.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to think.

The commotion near the exit, which Alice had been managing, suddenly flared up again.

“Argh! M-my shoulder!!!”

“Aaaah! Someone got stabbed!”

“Ugh! Please, calm down!”

What the hell?

Whipping my head around, I saw Alice’s back as she restrained a struggling individual with her strength.

Was something happening over there?

Sabrina and I exchanged uneasy glances as we watched the scene unfold.

Alice quickly subdued the thrashing person by choking them unconscious. Turning to the nearby fixers, she shouted urgently.

“Be careful not to inhale too much of the gas! If you do, you’ll lose control and start attacking the people around you!”

It was a shocking revelation.