I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

Greg’s general store, where the owner returned after a whopping month.

Greg, who took a quick look inside, muttered with a hint of surprise.

“Much cleaner than I expected… Yuria, did you manage this?”

“…!”

“…Thank you. I’m glad you took good care of it.”

He turned to me and smiled.

A 100% genuine smile, not a grain of fake in it.

Guess he was moved by how spotless it was despite being left untouched for over a month.

Well, not that I cleaned it to get praised or anything.

But seeing him happy, it feels like my daily morning cleaning paid off.

Thinking that, I casually crossed my arms and glanced away.

“Is this Greg’s store? Wow, it’s cleaner than I imagined. And not too cramped either.”

Karen, who came in after, looked around and shared her thoughts.

Seeing her inspecting the place, it seemed she found it quite decent.

Even by her standards as a famous artisan, it seemed to pass. Hmm, I feel kinda proud.

Greg replied to Karen with a nonchalant tone, as if it was obvious.

“Not sure what you imagined, but I’m not really into messy places. And isn’t it a bit small by your standards as a top artisan?”

“Hmm, I’m not really into flashy stuff. I actually like this compact, just-what-you-need vibe… It appeals to me.”

“That’s a relief.”

Karen’s attitude didn’t seem fake at all.

The place wasn’t huge, but not uncomfortably small either.

No need to twist her words and take them sarcastically.

If she had genuinely disliked it, I might’ve gotten a bit petty. Good thing she didn’t.

After checking out the display shelves, the inner warehouse, and the workshop,

we gathered around a table in the store.

Then, Greg calmly spoke, looking at me and Karen.

“Alright… Let’s start with the contract. Thinking about it, Yuria couldn’t sign one last time because something came up, right? Since Karen’s signing, you can do it together.”

“Sure.”

“…!”

Even though I don’t have an official status, so the contract might not mean much,

I nodded vigorously, agreeing to his suggestion to sign the contract.

Come to think of it, last time the Blood Night incident happened, and things got messy.

When I worked part-time at the Fixer Office, we just wrapped it up with a verbal agreement.

So, this is practically my first time signing a contract.

But I’ll just skim through the content and sign my name anyway.

“Let’s start with Karen. You have a lot of expertise in artifacts, so it’s better to sign as an artisan. Our main income comes from buying antiques and selling them to those in need with a commission.”

At this point, if I can get my hands on broken artifacts and sell them for a higher price… The base salary should be around this much. And for the items you handle, I’ll give you more than half of the profits.”

“Hmm… The ratio seems slightly higher than the industry average. Is that okay?”

“Coincidentally, given the location, we don’t get that many customers. In fact, if I can get a top-tier artisan like you with these conditions, it’s a win for me.”

“Well then… I’ll humbly accept your offer. Thank you.”

“…?”

Greg and Karen were having a serious conversation. Wow, indeed! This is the talk between a top-tier appraiser and a top-tier artisan!

Other than Greg offering Karen a pretty generous deal, I had no idea what they were talking about.

Well… I guess I don’t need to know the details of the industry.

It’s not like I’m going to be an appraiser like Greg or an artifact artisan like Karen.

Karen owed Greg a favor, and Greg treated Karen with the best conditions.

I guess it’s enough to just keep that much in mind.

“Done?”

“Yeah, I’ve definitely received it.”

Scribble scribble.

Karen signed the contract without much hesitation.

She trusted Greg more than the content of the contract. It didn’t seem like she needed much time to think about it.

After glancing over the returned contract and confirming there were no major issues, Greg handed Karen a copy from inside the shop and then approached me.

“So… next is Yuria, right?”

“…!”

“Your job won’t be much different from before. Sit at the counter, greet customers when they come in. If they want to buy or sell something, call me. When you have free time, you’ll handle cleaning or inventory management. Familiar, right?”

Yep, it’s the same as before.

I’ve already multiplied the shop’s profits just by doing this.

I crossed my arms and nodded confidently as if to say that.

Of course, since I can’t speak, I’m not much different from a balloon doll sitting at the counter.

But just being able to keep customers from running away when they see Greg for the first time is enough for my role.

Honestly, if you don’t know Greg and see him for the first time, he’s really scary.

The intimidation of a 2-meter-tall muscle-bound orc is honestly beyond imagination.

“I’ll pay you a monthly salary. Weekends off, five days a week on weekdays. From morning to early evening. Multiply the hours by the hourly rate… it’s roughly this much. How’s that, do you like it?”

Like it? It’s the best deal ever.

It’s already several times more than what I earned working part-time at the Fixer Office.

Of course, at the Fixer Office, the difficulty of the work was almost non-existent, and they provided room and board.

But there, it felt more like getting an allowance than earning money.

Completely satisfied with Greg’s offer, I gave a thumbs up.

“Hmm, seems like you’re happy with it.”

“Cute.”

“….”

Hehe, if I work like this for a year, I’ll be rich in no time.

I swung my legs back and forth on the chair.

Listening, I immediately picked up the pen on the table.

I’ve never really had a reason to write anything before, but surely I can write my own name, right?

Confidently, I brought the pen to the spot at the bottom of the contract where I was supposed to sign my name…

*Tap.*

The moment the pen tip touched the contract, I suddenly felt like the world was stretching out, as if someone was forcibly pulling light and time like a rubber band—a surreal sensation.

If I stayed like this any longer, I felt like my consciousness would sink deep into somewhere suffocating, and the voice in my head persistently whispered to let go of the pen I was holding.

Don’t speak.

Don’t convey meaning.

Don’t let them understand…

A frozen sensation, as if my hand had pierced through my lungs and gripped my heart tightly. The voice clung to my brain, sticky and persistent.

But then, a fleeting question crossed my mind.

Wait, this isn’t my voice.

Who are you? And what happens if I don’t let go?

[Mama, no!]

*Thud!*

When I came to my senses, I realized I had already dropped the pen. In front of me was Greg, and beside me was Karen. Both were looking at me with worried expressions.

And I… blinked in confusion.

The very short moment from when I picked up the pen to when I dropped it was completely gone from my memory.

This was weird. Definitely weird.

For some reason, I instinctively felt like I shouldn’t pick up the pen again.

Greg, who seemed to notice my bewildered blinking, picked up the pen rolling on the table and casually said,

“Seems like writing is hard for you. That’s fine. This is just a formality anyway. I’ll write your name for you.”

“Uh, um, this is…”

“Enough. You don’t seem to realize it yet, so we’ll talk about this later.”

“…?”

I tilted my head, watching Karen fidget and Greg stop her.

Especially Karen—she seemed extremely anxious, as if she had just witnessed something she couldn’t ignore.

Did I cause that?

I didn’t know the details, but I felt oddly self-conscious.

‘And I think I heard Tesseract’s voice… Oh, my head feels a bit fuzzy. Do you know something?’

[Huh? Mama, why would I?]

‘…Never mind.’

Tesseract’s innocent voice echoed in my head.

Yeah, you don’t know. That’s fine.

Still feeling a bit puzzled, I decided to think about it again later when things became clearer. No point stressing over something I don’t understand.

After that, nothing much happened.

Greg, having been away for a long time, seemed to want to check the items again.

He told me to take the day off and start work tomorrow.

He said I could start coming to work from now on.

Sure, I did clean every nook and cranny of the store thoroughly.

But I have no clue about managing inventory, so I just cleaned it up nicely.

I did need to check if there were any issues with the items we were supposed to sell.

If I sold something to a customer and it turned out to be defective, it would be an awkward situation for both of us.

“Huh… So, is that it for today? It’s still morning…”

Suddenly, I found myself free from early morning.

It felt like school ending early on the first day. It was nice but also a bit awkward.

Now, I could go back to the office, which has become like home, and just chill…

But I came all pumped up, so it feels a bit disappointing to just head back right away.

Maybe, even if I don’t know much, there’s something I could help with?

With that thought, I casually approached him and started hovering around.

Moving stuff, cleaning dirty spots—I could totally handle those chores. It was like a silent protest, saying, “Give me anything to do.”

“Hmm. Yuria.”

“…?”

“Someone might be looking for you. Just sit quietly on the sofa over there.”

“….”

But maybe my hovering around was getting in the way.

He practically shooed me to the sofa near the counter.

*Sniff sniff*, sorry I don’t know how to do much.

I quietly watched Karen inspecting items next to Greg, then plopped down on the sofa.

But who’s this person looking for me? I don’t know many people.

I sat politely on the sofa and quietly watched the store entrance.

And not long after, someone who seemed to be the person he mentioned showed up.

“Yuria, I’m here!”

“…!”

It was none other than the pink-haired beauty, Alice.

Wait, shouldn’t she be at work by now? Why is she here?

As I tilted my head with a question mark floating above me, she smiled brightly and said to me,

“Big sis will buy you some pork cutlet, wanna come?”

“…?”

Pork cutlet? Out of the blue?

I could only stare at Alice, dumbfounded by her sudden offer.