The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl

Chapter 10: Let’s Find Out What Kind of Place This Is (1)

The place I was guided into resembled a small room that was a mix of a reception area and an office.

The wallpaper was faded, and every item inside looked worn and old.

I sat on the sofa. Rene sat across from me.

We sat with a table between us, staring at each other’s faces.

Rene clasped her hands together and lowered her head with an extremely apologetic expression.

“I’m really sorry. My kid was kidnapped by bad people once before. Although they were rescued safely, there’s no guarantee it won’t happen again. So, I’ve been doing everything I can to prevent that from happening again… Were you very scared?”

Her intensity was undeniable.

A typical child would have burst into tears on the spot, and even the most brazen thugs would have been terrified by her aura, running away with their tails between their legs.

But I was fine.

There was no need for her to apologize.

To be honest, my attire was suspicious as well. If someone saw a suspicious-looking person wandering around, it was only natural to react that way.

Safety first, after all.

Being considerate, I nodded as if to say I understood.

“Really? You’re very brave. Most people would just try to run away.”

Rene praised me, saying I was amazing.

But amidst her compliments, I felt a strange sense of incongruity.

I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

Was it just my imagination?

“Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to keep wearing that? Why not take it off over there?”

When Rene pointed to my hood and mask, I shook my head.

“Is that so? Now that I think about it, Red said you cover your face because of some circumstances. Is that true?”

I nodded.

“If it’s a matter of circumstance, I understand. If you’re hiding your face because you’re embarrassed about how it looks, don’t worry. There’s no one here who would mock you for something like that. Well, if your face is really funny, we might laugh, but we wouldn’t mean any harm, so don’t take it personally.”

Rene chuckled softly.

It wasn’t that I didn’t remove it because of some significant reason.

No one knew that the Grim Reaper’s true identity was a girl, so showing my face wouldn’t really be an issue.

It’s just that my face was so incredibly lovely that I didn’t want to show it to others for no reason.

They say beautiful flowers attract bugs. And some people might try to pluck the flower with impure intentions.

I was simply preemptively blocking any troublesome situations.

“Red said you couldn’t speak either. Is that true?”

I nodded again.

Rene looked at me with a pitiful expression.

‘So, she has that kind of look too.’

Red, the dessert shopkeeper, and now Rene had all looked at me like that when they learned I couldn’t speak.

Most people usually reacted indifferently when they heard I couldn’t talk.

“It must be uncomfortable to keep moving your body to communicate… Wait just a moment.”

Rene got up from the sofa, walked to a desk, and rummaged through the shelves and drawers.

A moment later, she returned to the sofa holding something in her hands.

She placed the items she brought on the table.

They were a piece of paper and a pencil.

I understood what she meant.

“Can you write?”

I nodded.

I grabbed the pencil and tested it by writing on the paper.

[Why. No. Orphanage. Security system?]

It wasn’t a complete sentence.

For someone who had nodded confidently, it was terribly inadequate.

Yeah, I know. But what can I do?

This isn’t the world I used to live in.

Naturally, the writing system here was entirely different, and no matter how long I had lived here, I hadn’t received any proper education, so my skills could only improve so much.

Thanks to some reincarnation perk, I could listen and read without issue.

But annoyingly, writing relied entirely on my own ability.

This pitiful result was the fruit of my blood, sweat, and tears.

‘Damn it. If I could read and listen, couldn’t they have made writing easier too? What’s the deal with this?’

While grumbling inwardly, I glanced at Rene.

She stared at the paper with a sorrowful expression but quickly changed her face when she noticed me watching.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she answered my question.

“Because I’m here!”

The change in her expression earlier bothered me a lot, but I didn’t press her.

Instead, I focused on what she had just said.

I didn’t understand what she meant, so I drew a question mark on the paper.

Rene crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.

“Actually, this older sister is really good at fighting. Since I can protect the children well enough, we didn’t install anything.”

Her confidence was so overwhelming it felt almost arrogant.

If an ordinary person said that, I would have dismissed it as mere bragging.

But her confidence wasn’t empty.

She wasn’t as skilled as Red, but she clearly had real abilities.

I could tell just by looking at her.

Still, that was that.

Didn’t she mention earlier that a child was kidnapped?

In the end, she couldn’t protect them, could she?

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Rene’s demeanor changed dramatically.

The confident aura she had been exuding vanished instantly, and her proud smile flipped upside down.

Then, with slumped shoulders and a drooping head, she muttered in a deeply dejected voice.

“…That’s what I thought once. Haha….”

I didn’t know how to console her, so I flailed my arms awkwardly.

Fortunately, Rene recovered on her own.

“Actually, even if I wanted to install one, we’re barely making ends meet with the orphanage expenses.”

So, it was a money issue.

A very realistic reason.

Does it cost that much?

I tapped the paper where I had drawn the question mark with the pencil, prompting a faintly bitter smile from Rene.

Even though I stared at her, she didn’t say anything.

Normally, I wouldn’t insist on prying, but people tend to want to know even more when told not to.

Isn’t that what they call reverse psychology?

Anyway, her attitude made me more stubborn, and I kept my gaze fixed on her.

After about three minutes, she sighed.

“Fine, I give up. It’s not really a secret or anything. I just didn’t think it was something a kid needed to know. But if you’re that curious, I’ll tell you a little.”

Rene roughly explained the reason.

In simple terms, the orphanage’s expenses, taxes, and various other costs left no room for such installations. Even with Red’s support.

“Running an orphanage in an outer city because of the lower costs is still barely manageable.”

Rene sighed.

Her face looked tired.

But she quickly erased that tiredness from her face.

“By the way, I didn’t hear why you came here. What brings you here? Just to see Red?”

The expression and voice were extremely kind.

But why?

I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was probing me.

Was it just my imagination?

Although she was smiling outwardly, was she actually wary of me?

There didn’t seem to be any signs of that. What exactly was it?

Well, for now, I decided not to overthink and just reveal why I came here.

With that in mind, I began writing as clearly as possible for Rene to understand.

[Red. Proposal. Declined. One-time. Tour. Possible?]

‘Even I think this looks ridiculous. What kind of explanation is this? I might as well communicate through gestures.’

Feeling embarrassed, I was tempted to rip the paper apart immediately.

As I was about to scribble over it and rewrite, Rene spoke.

“Oh, so you turned down Red’s proposal but got curious about the orphanage and decided to visit.”

She understood this?!

Rene waved her hand nonchalantly.

“Red gave me a heads-up, saying that a kid might stop by later and not to be too cautious.”

No wonder she let her guard down so easily just because I showed her a terminal.

It all made sense now.

“If Red were here, she’d be thrilled. Now that I think about it, I haven’t properly introduced myself. Let me do it again. I’m Rene, the director of Sunny Orphanage.”

Rene extended her hand for a handshake.

Wait, she’s the director?

I calmed my slight surprise and shook her hand.

‘What’s this? She’s gripping my hand tightly.’

While I wondered about it, Rene spoke again.

“I’d love to show you around right now, but it’s snack time for the kids. Would you like to wait here and join me later, or would you prefer to explore on your own for now?”

Curious about the snacks, I decided to wander around alone.

* * *

While the Grim Reaper visited the orphanage, Red was carrying out a mission.

The mission’s difficulty level was quite high—one that could make even seasoned, skilled Problem Solvers tense.

Yet Red handled the task with ease.

This was to be expected, as the mission was relatively trivial for someone of Red’s caliber.

Considering her skills, it would have made more sense for her to take on missions more suited to her level.

Normally, that would have been the case. But there was a special reason she didn’t.

‘Another dead end. Let’s look around a bit more to see if there’s any clue.’

Red began to slowly inspect the now-settled scene.

Her eyes scanned the scattered corpses, as though searching for something, while she flipped through the documents the deceased criminals had left behind.

‘Huh? What’s this…?’

Her busy hands stopped moving.

A strange light flickered in her eyes.

Although it wasn’t the information she was searching for, it was hard to ignore.

As she was about to read the third document, her coat pocket began to buzz with the sound of a phone.

Red paused her reading and answered the call. It was her colleague, Stal.

“Yeah. Everything’s wrapped up here. Got it, I’ll head out soon.”

Red gathered the documents under her arm and stepped outside.

As she left the scene, she found the area bustling with the Problem Solvers who had participated in the mission.

Glancing around, Red spotted an Orc sitting on a bench in the distance.

Even from afar, the Orc looked exhausted.

Walking toward him, she confirmed her suspicion.

Up close, his body was covered with bruises and scratches.

“What’s with your condition? Did your body stiffen up from sitting in the office too long?”

Red chuckled, teasing him, but her colleague Stal furrowed his brows at her remark.

“Not everyone’s like you. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No, but I found something else.”

Red tapped the pile of documents tucked under her arm.

“What is it?”

“It’s a list of people the Grim Reaper Cult is keeping an eye on.”

“Was Lena on it?”

“No. But I found someone I know….”

Red gestured for Stal to move aside.

When he stepped aside, Red plopped down in the open space.

Stal spoke up.

“By the way, are you sure the Grim Reaper Cult was involved in Lena’s kidnapping?”

“Skull masks and iron staffs. Lena said the people who kidnapped her were dressed like that. Who else but the Grim Reaper Cult wears such bizarre outfits?”

“It doesn’t make sense. Why would they kidnap Lena? Honestly, I’m not even sure it was really them. Costumes like that are easy to acquire. Someone might’ve disguised themselves to frame the Grim Reaper Cult.”

“That’s possible. If anything, it’s strange they’d wear such conspicuous outfits when they’d normally try to hide their identity. It’s too obvious.”

“There’s something else I don’t get. How did they slip past Rene?”

Red fell silent, lost in thought.

Rene.

The dependable little sister who was the director of Sunny Orphanage and protected the children on her own.

Rene’s abilities were extraordinary. Her unique power allowed her to keep a constant watch to ensure nothing unusual happened to the kids.

Evading Rene’s surveillance to kidnap a child was no simple task.

At least, not without knowing Rene very well.

The problem was, the only person who knew Rene’s abilities in detail was Red herself.

“To be honest, I’m also puzzled about how they managed to kidnap a child without Rene noticing. It should’ve been impossible without knowing her well.”

Red tilted her head upward to gaze at the sky.

The bleak, overcast sky seemed to reflect the current situation perfectly.