Maria-san―When we were in second grade elementary school, she took us from the orphanage and became our foster parent. She looks like a very gentle woman.

Yes, she does look that way.

Well, to be honest, there are also quite a few kind and gentle aspects to her personality―but absolutely, you must never make her angry.

She’s the only person in this world I believe I must never defy, no matter what

Because honestly… there are plenty of times when I can’t help but think she’s just a devil wearing human skin.

What comes to mind is the various punishments she gave me for failing to meet her expectations.

Being thrown into a boiling hot bath, pushed off a waterfall into the water below, hung from a helicopter and flown through the sky—or made to fight a genetically modified, supposedly “gentle” bear…

Even now, when I think about it, this woman is definitely not human.

It’s absolutely at a level of abuse that could be reported.

…Well, even if I did report it, with money and power, they would cover it up, and I can only see a future where I lose.

Somehow, this person seems to have connections with the police and politicians…

She claims to be in her twenties, but when we first met she was already an adult, and even though her appearance hasn’t changed, I’m sure she’s not actually in her twenties―thinking that, Maria-san smiled at me.

However, her eyes weren’t smiling.

I shivered with a chill and broke out in cold sweat as I opened my mouth.

“What brings you here today?”

“Oh, I was just passing by and thought I’d take a look at your faces. Especially—”

Maria-san stopped speaking there and slowly approached.

Then, she suddenly hugged Hina’s body tightly.

Then—without warning—she wrapped her arms around Hina and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I haven’t been able to see my adorable Hina-chan’s face these past few days…! I need my dose of Hina-chan to survive…!”

“Wa-wa-wa…! Ugh…!”

Hina, who was pressed against Maria-san’s ample chest, had her face buried into the mass of flesh.

She immediately started struggling desperately.

Maria-san… despite her cool appearance, she can’t resist cute things…

That’s why she really loves Hina and has always spoiled her a lot.

Even something as minor as 0.1% of what I’ve endured, Hina hasn’t experienced.

In fact, she’s been given lots of clothes, snacks, and money to be pampered excessively.

“—mm!—mmph!—nn!”

While I was recalling these old memories, Hina continued struggling desperately.

Isn’t this getting a bit dangerous…?

“Maria-san, Hina can’t breathe…”

“Ah, sorry.”

When I tapped her shoulder lightly to stop her, Maria-san finally let go of Hina.

As soon as she was released, Hina jerked her head up with a loud “Pwah…!” and sucked in a breath.

She really hadn’t been able to breathe.

Her eyes were even a little watery.

“Sorry, Hina-chan.”

“I-I’m okay…”

Yeah, that doesn’t sound “okay” at all… Is she really fine?

I want to point that out, but even if I asked, Hina would only say “I’m fine.”

“Hina-chan, I bought some cake. Let’s eat it together, okay? Go get changed.”

Maria-san gently rubbed Hina’s back and urged her to go to her room.

That made Hina show a slightly troubled expression.

She probably already had cake earlier when Furei treated her, and she’s been eating tons of sweets and cakes lately, so she’s starting to worry about overeating.

…Hina’s really growing up into a proper young girl, isn’t she?

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I’ll go change…”

When Maria-san, unaware of Hina’s situation, tilted her head in confusion, Hina suddenly realized it and hurried off to her room with quick little steps.

Even the way she can’t refuse someone’s kindness is adorable.

“Is it work?”

The fact that she deliberately sent Hina away at this moment could only mean one thing.

After becoming a high schooler, I was finally able to live alone with Hina and enjoy peaceful, ordinary days—but every now and then, Maria-san shows up bringing “work,” which always means some kind of headache for me.

“It’s helpful that you’re quick to talk. But… could you take that child somewhere? She looks pitiful.”

Just as I expected her to explain the job, Maria-san pointed behind me.

There, half-hidden behind the corner of the wall, trembling uncontrollably as it peeked in our direction, was a white cat.

It was Myaa-san—the one I rescued last year when I found her at school, covered in mud and in terrible shape.

“Oh… right.”

As instructed, I took off my shoes and stepped into the hallway, slowly approaching Myaa-san.

Since I’m her owner, Myaa-san wasn’t afraid of me and even approached me on her own.

When I gently picked her up, she let out a “Myaa~” sound as if relieved.

It’s definitely because of Maria-san that Myaa-san was scared.

It seems she was born with the trait of scaring animals.

…Well, I don’t even need to think about why.

Animals can probably sense it instinctively—that Maria-san is someone dangerous.

In fact, she doesn’t show mercy to those who oppose her.

For example, when we were still at the orphanage, she caught a man who had kidnapped one of the children and after restraining him, she laughed while beating him with a bat until he fainted.

After that, she handed him over to the police, but before being taken to the police station, the criminal was sent to the hospital.

Even just watching it in secret from my hiding spot back then was enough to keep me from sleeping that entire night.

“―So, what’s the detail of the work?”

After taking Myaa-san to the living room, I immediately got to the point.

Because if we took too long, Hina would come back after changing clothes.

“It’ll be an easy task for you. We created a genetically modified snake that carries a sleep-inducing toxin, but it seems a rookie researcher messed up and got bitten, and the snake escaped. I’ve just sent you the data summarizing its traits and behavior, so could you track down where it is?”

And just like that, with a perfectly lovely smile as if nothing were wrong, this devil threw an outrageous request at me.

This is not something you should be able to say with a straight face.

“I mean, it’s better than a snake with a lethal toxin, but… could you maybe stop creating whatever you want through genetic modification? If this gets out, it’ll be a huge scandal, you know…?”

“There’s no way I can stop now. Genetic research is one of the core divisions of my company, and we’ve produced countless results so far. If those pompous old men in the government find out one escaped, they’ll give me an earful, so find it quickly, alright?”

“…”

Yeah, even with that cheerful smile, it’s still an unreasonable request…

“I’m counting on you, okay? If you don’t find it, I’ll have to make that researcher take responsibility.”

Maria-san said that while giving me yet another sweet smile.

Even though she’ll definitely not let things end peacefully even if I do find it.

“I’ll do my best to track it down, so… please don’t do anything too horrible to them…”

I couldn’t help but plead for someone I didn’t even know, simply because I felt so sorry for them.

“Fufu, I knew you’d say that, Eito-kun. Ah, right. While you’re at it, find this man too. He’s apparently a spy from another country who infiltrated Japan, but he slipped away while being monitored. It’s a good chance to earn some points with the government.”

“That is not the kind of thing you can just add on ‘while you’re at it’!? ”

What an absurd additional trouble she’s throwing at me!?

―I shouted that in my mind, but Maria-san gave me a serious look saying “do it,” so I had no right to refuse.

And three hours later, after I handed her two separate data files pinpointing the likely locations of the snake and the spy, Maria-san left with a bright smile, dropping off a huge stack of cash and a brand-new, ultra-high-performance computer brought by her maid.

…Wait, you want me to keep working!??

Let’s just say it was obvious I wanted to shout that out loud.