The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl

Chapter 21: It’s Cleaning Time!!!

Two weeks had passed since our trip to the zoo.

Nothing special had happened since then.

A mundane, foolishly ordinary daily life continued, even at this moment.

After lunch, all the children had gathered in front of the small TV to watch something.

Usually, they would go outside to play or entertain themselves with toys and dolls, but today was different.

The TV was airing a tokusatsu show.

It was a typical hero-versus-monster story featuring characters in ridiculous, colorful costumes defeating monsters.

The children seemed enchanted by the show, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Aaaaah! No! Isn’t the protagonist going to get caught like that?!”

“That despicable villain! How could they do something so sneaky?”

“My heart is pounding…”

Seeing them enjoy such things showed just how childlike they still were.

Unlike the excited kids, I remained indifferent.

I was past the age where such things could excite me.

As an adult, I preferred watching the news to understand how the world worked.

Adults like me ought to watch educational programs instead of tokusatsu shows.

Of course, if I changed the channel now, it would cause a commotion, so I left it as it was.

“No! Why are you doing that there? Ugh… The protagonist is so frustrating. Please! Just listen to the person next to you.”

Yeah, I wasn’t watching because I found it entertaining.

I was just curious about how the protagonist would overcome the challenges they faced.

As a mature adult, I didn’t get excited like the children.

I was simply staying in this spot to spend time with them.

Tightly clenching my fists had nothing to do with tension; I was just irritated.

As the show reached its climax and the protagonist and their team escaped the trap to defeat the villain…

““Wooaaaaaah!””

“Of course! The protagonist wins again!”

“Hooray…!”

The children jumped up and cheered.

They were as excited as fans whose team had won an important match.

‘Yes! That’s how it should be!’

I clenched my fist tightly, gripping one arm with the other.

When Bada noticed my behavior and gave me a sideways glance, I awkwardly relaxed my posture.

Only after the ending song finished did I seize control of the remote and switch channels.

Commercials, variety shows, kids’ programs, and news—it was the usual lineup.

Then, I paused on one news segment.

It reported that the Grim Reaper Cult had committed another act of terrorism.

Come to think of it, their activities seemed to have significantly increased recently.

It wasn’t just me who thought so; even the experts on the broadcast were debating the topic.

[As you all know, the Grim Reaper Cult is a pseudo-religious group that follows and worships the Grim Reaper, one of the Four Great Organizations. They’re crazy lunatics who firmly believe the Grim Reaper will save the world.]

[The Association still hasn’t been able to accurately track the Grim Reaper’s movements. No one knows his true goals or desires. What we do know for sure is that he’s extremely dangerous and incredibly powerful.]

[Previously, sightings of him were sporadic, but in recent months, his appearances have drastically decreased. Actually, I should rephrase that—he hasn’t shown himself at all. That’s why his followers are growing uneasy.]

[According to their doctrine, the Grim Reaper appears wherever death lingers. Perhaps they’re killing people to create corpses and blood, hoping the Grim Reaper will reappear.]

[But rest assured, the Association is working tirelessly day and night to eradicate the Grim Reaper Cult.]

The world never seemed to have a quiet day.

Thinking back, there hadn’t been any activity from the Grim Reaper since I began staying at the orphanage.

I sighed.

Did the Grim Reaper Cult even know?

Their so-called god was leisurely spending time at an orphanage right now.

Blood and corpses? They made me sound like a monster.

Because of them, the Grim Reaper’s name kept spreading in a more negative light.

‘At some point, I need to deal with them to quiet things down… But their decentralized structure makes them so annoying. Maybe I’ll just wait and see, since the Problem Solvers are already moving.’

As I pondered, the kids around me grew restless.

“This is boring.”

“Let’s watch something else.”

“Give me the remote.”

The children, uninterested in world affairs, grumbled.

It couldn’t be helped—current affairs programs were dull for kids.

I handed them the remote.

The children began flipping through channels.

They stopped at a music program featuring an idol performing on stage.

Lena snatched the remote from their hands.

When it came to music, she was utterly serious, and everyone knew not to mess with her when she was engrossed.

The other kids looked sullen.

Lena’s eyes sparkled as she hummed along to the idol’s song.

Just as the performance was reaching its highlight, the TV abruptly turned off.

“Ah…”

Lena’s eyes widened, and she turned her head.

Though she frowned, it was useless against the person who had turned off the TV.

“Alright, that’s enough TV for today. The weather’s great, so it’s time for a big cleaning session.”

It was Red.

Naturally, the kids’ faces filled with discontent at the thought of cleaning.

“““Ugh──.”””

“Do we really have to do it today? Can’t we do it later?”

Despite their whining, Red didn’t budge.

“We’re doing it today. You can watch TV again after cleaning. If you don’t clean, I’ll eat all the snacks myself.”

In the end, with their snacks held hostage, the kids had no choice but to clean.

*

Cloths, brooms, dusters, and more.

The children grabbed their assigned cleaning tools, and Red had even changed into a full cleaning outfit.

Interestingly, the orphanage didn’t use cleaning robots.

Given Red’s wealth, she could easily afford one, but she chose not to.

I once asked the kids about it, and they said it was because Red didn’t want them.

It would’ve been easier to use them, so why go through the trouble?

“Alright, everyone! Let’s give it our all! No slacking off!”

“““Oooh!!!”””

As Red raised her hand to rally them, the kids followed suit.

With the windows wide open, the big cleaning session officially began.

“Let’s race to see who’s faster.”

“I’m faster.”

While soaking a rag to wipe the dirty floor, the kids turned it into a race.

“Carefully… carefully…”

Using a duster, they reached for places where dust had gathered beyond their reach.

“It smells!”

“Ugh!”

Pinching their noses with small hands, they threw away the dirty trash.

“Let’s see who’s stronger.”

“Today, I’ll prove I’m the strongest.”

They even started sword fighting with brooms.

Honestly, that one was hard to endure.

Eventually, Red caught them, and they ended up receiving playful smacks on the head, leaving me chuckling as I moved along.

‘Hehe. Snacks, wait for me. I’m coming.’

I sneaked away toward the kitchen, avoiding the eyes of Red and the kids.

The scent of freshly baked snacks wafted from the kitchen, tickling my nose.

Hehe, such a delicious smell.

Carefully poking my head into the kitchen, I observed the situation.

“Hmm hmm~”

Rene was humming a tune as she focused on making the snacks.

I located the snacks and waited for the perfect moment to act.

Hiding my presence had become second nature to me, so sneaking a couple of snacks was practically effortless.

I knew there was no real need to do this.

But snacks stolen in secret always tasted the best.

‘Now’s the time!’

As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I moved swiftly, but suddenly, someone tugged on the hem of my clothes.

Startled, I froze and turned my head in a hurry.

It was Bada, the blue-haired girl.

“You shouldn’t do that…”

She raised her index finger and scolded me with a sharp look.

Being reprimanded by a little kid left me feeling a bit strange.

I must’ve been too focused on the snacks to notice Bada’s presence.

“Let’s go back…”

She grabbed my raised finger, but I shook my head.

I wasn’t about to give up so easily.

Before Bada could say anything else, I released my hand and moved toward the snacks.

“Ah…!”

I quickly reached my target and snatched some freshly made snacks.

Grabbing an extra to keep her quiet, I turned to leave.

“Isn’t it too early for snack time? What are you doing here?”

A voice from behind froze me in place.

My mind went blank, as if my head had turned into a sheet of white paper.

I mechanically turned my head to look.

Rene, who had been across the room just moments ago, was now standing right behind me.

This is bad…

“And what’s that in your hands?”

Her voice carried an ominous tone.

Reluctantly, I put the snacks back where I had taken them from.

I bowed my head as if nothing had happened and tried to leave the kitchen.

“It’s not just that, is it?”

Of course, she noticed.

With a silent sigh, I pulled out the snacks I had hidden behind me.

What was going to happen to me now?

I glanced toward the door, wondering if I should ask Bada for help.

But Red was standing there, smiling brightly.

Oh no. I’m doomed.

*

Caught red-handed, I was punished accordingly.

I knelt on the ground with both hands raised high, wearing a signboard around my neck.

The signboard bore bold letters:

[I tried to sneak snacks and committed a bad deed.]

“Ahahaha!”

“Puahaha!”

The boys, pausing their broomwork, laughed at my ridiculous appearance.

Being mocked by the kids was unbearable.

As an adult, my pride wouldn’t allow it.

If I just let this go, my shattered pride would never recover.

I took off the signboard and stormed into the room.

Grabbing a toy hammer, I immediately swung it at the closest boy.

Boing!

Then I beckoned to the others with my hand.

“Want to try me?”

“We outnumber you.”

“You’re going to regret this.”

The boys took my bait and charged at me. But I easily dodged them and kept swinging the toy hammer.

Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.

After a while, the boys grew exhausted and knelt before me in defeat.

That’s right.

This is the difference in skill between me and you all.

Hmph.

With my hands on my hips, I looked down at them triumphantly.

As I basked in the joy of victory, a voice tinged with anger came from behind me.

“Who said you could lower your hands?”

Ah…

*

Back to raising both hands in the air, I knelt once again.

Beside me were the boys who had mocked me earlier, now sharing my punishment.

From under the mask of shame, faint whimpers could be heard, but Red’s resolve remained unshaken.

Red watched me with a pensive expression.

Her thoughts lingered on the movements I had shown when fighting the boys.

The way I swung the toy hammer, my footwork—it all vaguely overlapped with the Grim Reaper in her mind.

She’d only clashed with him once, but the impression had been so strong that it was hard to forget.

“…It must be my imagination.”

Red dismissed her thoughts as a mere misunderstanding.

It didn’t make any sense, after all.

“Your posture is off. Hold your hands up straight!”