I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 111: Aftermath at Saint Maria (5)

Clatter, clatter.

The loud noise of dishes and utensils colliding continued without pause.

The steady rhythm and tempo of the clatter almost resembled a piece of music performed by an orchestra.

Chop, stab, tear, chew, swallow...

Rather than a meal, the scene unfolding was more akin to an act of violence against food.

Holding a fork and knife in her hands, Reine blinked curiously and remarked,

"It's amazing that all of that can actually fit inside your stomach. Could it be that the secret to strength is eating well?"

"Huh? Hmm... well, pretty much. Whether it's a body or a machine, you need fuel to keep it running."

"In general, an athlete's basal metabolic «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» rate is known to be about 10% higher than that of an average person. However, after running some calculations, I found that both Raven and Alice have a basal metabolic rate approximately 1.5 times that of a normal human. At that level, they could be compared to a fully grown gorill—"

"W-what the hell are you even saying?!"

Whish!

In an instant, Alice, who had just been labeled a gorilla, flared up and hurled a bone straight at David.

The blunt bone, moving with the precision of a dart, shot toward David's temple like it was being sucked in by some invisible force.

Thunk!

A powerful impact rang through his skull like a church bell tolling.

The sheer force made David lower his head forward, instinctively falling silent.

Yes, the weight of truth... could be unbearably heavy.

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—Wait, come to think of it.

A question suddenly popped into my head.

If Alice ate this much on a regular basis, just how much did she actually weigh...?

"Yuria, why did you stop? Want me to get you something?"

"...."

Nope. Let's just not think about that.

It definitely wasn't because Alice, sitting right next to me, was smiling with her eyes. No way.

Feeling an eerie chill run down my spine, I shook my head once and turned my gaze downward, staring at my plate.

There, sitting in front of me, was a steak larger than both of my palms combined.

A beautifully seared ribeye steak, glistening in a rich brown hue.

The contrast between the outer crust and the pinkish-red center peeking through the cut edges was almost sinful—so tantalizing that just looking at it made my mouth water.

'French cuisine is great and all, but when it comes to meat... nothing beats a steak.'

That’s right.

Stuffing a piece of meat into your mouth, savoring the texture and juices—it was the pinnacle of meat dishes, steak.

Right now, we were at a steakhouse, where they grilled huge cuts of beef right in front of us.

And to top it off, the one sitting on my plate was a dry-aged steak.

The deep, concentrated flavor that came from aging the meat for weeks was something no ordinary steak could hope to match—it was on a whole other level.

Thinking about how much this single cut of meat probably cost...

Damn, how much did all of this even add up to? Was the hotel going to go bankrupt at this rate?

Just as I was closing my eyes to fully immerse myself in the rich, matured flavors of the steak—

A loud, very familiar voice rang out from nearby.

"Hahaha! So this is where you were eating, Raven! You’ve got quite the eye, picking the best steakhouse in Saint Maria! As expected!"

Ugh. That enthusiastic, PTSD-triggering voice...

Still chewing my steak, I slowly turned my head—and there he was.

Victor, the blond, muscle-bound man.

However, he looked completely different from when I last saw him at the restaurant yesterday.

One of his arms was wrapped in a thick cast, and his head was bandaged, covering one of his eyes.

On top of that, he seemed to have injured his leg as well, since he could barely walk on his own.

Supporting him at his side was a young boy who looked... intensely determined, almost like some kind of fiery, hot-blooded protagonist.

What the hell had happened in just one day for him to end up like this?

I was so genuinely shocked that I stopped moving altogether, staring at him in a daze.

Meanwhile, Raven, as if entirely unfazed by Victor’s battered state, simply lifted his head from his plate and greeted him.

"Huh? Oh, Victor. You came for steak too?"

"Of course! This place’s dry-aged steak is famous all over the world! And, well... nothing helps recovery like a good piece of meat!"

"Hahaha!"

Despite looking like a walking mummy, Victor let out a cheerful laugh as he naturally joined our table.

Unlike last time, there was no urgent reason for him to eat and leave in a hurry, so he seemed intent on taking his time with this meal.

But seriously... what the hell happened yesterday for him to end up like this?

Chewing my steak quietly, I tugged at Alice’s sleeve, curiosity getting the better of me.

Without stopping her feast—casually gnawing on a massive tomahawk steak as if it were cotton candy—Alice summarized the events of the previous night.

"Yesterday, Victor was guarding a warehouse full of artifacts when he had to fight Morte directly. Oh, Yuria, you probably don’t know who that is, huh? Anyway, he’s a really dangerous guy. That’s how he ended up like that."

"Hah! He was an opponent far beyond what I could handle alone. If Raven hadn’t arrived in time... I don’t even want to think about what might’ve happened. No matter how many times I thank him, it wouldn’t be enough."

"Well, it wasn’t like I could have taken him on alone either. We both helped each other out."

Listening to the conversation, I started piecing together the situation in my head.

So Victor had been guarding the auction artifacts when Morte launched a sudden attack.

Morte was one of the strongest among the Septenary Guard, and on top of that, he had a group of high-ranking undead guarding him.

There was no way even someone like Victor could have handled that alone.

But he had no choice but to hold his ground.

If he hadn’t managed to keep Morte occupied, the entire hotel would’ve been overrun with undead in an instant.

So he fought with everything he had, disregarding his own safety... and in the end, with Raven's assistance, they somehow managed to drive Morte away.

‘The reason there weren’t massive casualties... is because Victor put his life on the line to fight back, huh...’

Nodding slightly in thanks, I lowered my gaze, pressing my fork into the steak with a complicated feeling.

Fortunately, his injuries weren’t fatal, and he would recover in time.

But still—this whole incident at the Saint Maria Hotel wasn’t in the original story.

Which meant this was a butterfly effect—a deviation in the timeline caused by changes in the past.

‘Maybe it’s because the Liberation Army failed to capture Karen despite mobilizing two members of the Septenary Guard. They probably need to preserve their forces for war.’

Logically speaking, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I hadn’t leaked any intel to the Liberation Army, nor had I told them to attack the hotel.

They were the ones who got impatient and decided to act on their own.

So what was there for me to feel guilty about?

...Yet, I couldn’t fully deny my involvement either.

At the end of the day, my choices had led to unexpected collateral damage elsewhere.

Maybe that’s why—despite all my reasoning—my emotions sank lower and lower.

I really had no idea where things were heading anymore.

Frustrated, I bit down on my steak harder than necessary, grinding my teeth against the meat.

Annoyingly enough, it still tasted damn good.

Just as I was trying to distract myself by forcing my focus on the food,

Victor suddenly brought up a topic that sent an uncontrollable shiver down my spine.

"By the way... there's still no news, huh? About that missing Cat Saint?"

"...!"

Cat... Saint?

The moment I heard that combination of words, I stiffened instinctively.

My ears perked up as I subtly rolled my eyes to the side.

Raven, looking unimpressed, leaned back in his chair and continued,

"Oh, yeah. Alice said she went to the restroom, but after that, it was like she never existed in the first place."

"Hmm? Even with dozens of fixers in this hotel? She must be pretty skilled."

"Tch. I told her not to run away... but she must have had some kind of special method."

Cold sweat started trickling down my back.

I had been feeling sluggish just a moment ago, but now—

My entire body tensed up at the realization.

They were talking about me.

I was the ‘Cat Saint’ who had vanished without a trace.

I was nervous. Really nervous.

I knew better than anyone that acting suspiciously would only make things worse.

But still—what if they figured it out?

I had used a power that no one on Earth should have access to.

If they found out my real identity, I had zero backup plans.

'Stay calm. There are almost no beastkin in this world who can hide their ears and tail.'

'As long as I have no mana signature, they’ll never suspect me.'

...But then again—

Both Raven and Victor had spent years fighting against all kinds of non-human races.

If anyone could realize that a shapeshifting ability was possible, it was them.

Even the slightest hint of doubt could snowball into a major problem.

And unlike Raven, who might have my back—Victor...?

If he found out, it could lead to trouble.

For ‘the sake of humanity,’ he might force me into something I couldn’t escape from.

I had to change the subject. Immediately.

But no words came to me—

I was completely frozen, unable to act.

Was I really just going to sit here and wait for the storm to pass...?

"Uh... uh-hm. Jin, now that I think about it, I have a question. That thing Morte took... what was it, exactly? It looked like some kind of crown."

Just as my mind was spiraling,

Alice suddenly cleared her throat and asked Raven a question.

It was—

A perfectly timed home run.

A topic switch that could pull the entire conversation away from me.

Raven glanced over at Victor, shrugging.

"You’d know better than me, Victor."

"Ah, right. That was the Queen’s Blasphemous Tiara—an artifact with immense value. I can’t go into details here, but it was supposed to be revealed at the very end of the auction."

"Hmm... I see. So then..."

"Yeah. To be honest, this is a major crisis. Who knows what they plan to do with it...? Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

Victor was deliberately withholding information about the artifact’s ability.

And for good reason.

Discussing it in a place like this, where anyone could be listening, was too risky.

Because that artifact—

The Queen’s Blasphemous Tiara—allowed instant teleportation.

A function that, under normal circumstances, would require massive amounts of magic to pull off.

Sure, it had limitations—

A cooldown period between uses, and a cap on how many people could be transported at once—

But even with those drawbacks, it was absurdly powerful.

Rubbing his temple as if he were developing a migraine, Victor sighed.

And then, covering his eyes with one hand, he muttered in a grim tone,

"At this rate... something big is bound to happen soon."

He spoke not as if he feared it might happen—

But as if he already knew it was inevitable.