Work Hell
"Charlotte, another business trip today?"
"Well... it is a business trip, technically, but I'll just be killing time inside the Association building. Doesn't really feel like one, if I'm honest."
"Ah, the mentoring?"
"Yes. I reserved one of the training rooms here for it. I'll probably spend a few hours down there before I come back."
I answered obediently as the Team Leader sipped her coffee and questioned me. I figured I ought to give her a proper report before heading out.
The day before yesterday I'd had a light regular counseling session with Batori. Yesterday I'd met Saran for dinner. And today I was seeing both of them at once. I was starting to feel just how packed my schedule had become — but I couldn't very well scrap plans that were already set in stone. Besides, it wasn't that exhausting yet. I stood up from my desk, coffee in one hand and tablet in the other.
I envied those professional slackers who whiled away their hours sipping coffee, scrolling their phones, and zoning out in front of a single document on their screens. But work was work.
"I'll be off, then..."
And with that, I left for my so-called business trip. A business trip that happened to be located on the third basement floor of the very same building.
I rode the elevator down, and as the doors opened, two women I'd grown reasonably familiar with came into view. They were waiting quietly in front of the assigned training room.
One was a dokkaebi girl with black-and-white hair, even smaller than I was. The other was a beauty taller than me, with dark hair and frightening, snake-like eyes.
Standing there like that, I could almost understand how Batori felt. Next to tiny, doe-eyed Batori, Saran looked overwhelmingly cold and imposing — the kind of presence that could drain the air from a room. If this had been an alleyway instead of a hallway, I was pretty sure every last bill and coin in Batori's wallet would have vanished on the spot.
Not that Saran was the type to do that, of course.
"You're here early! You could've gone inside and started warming up, you know. Shall we head in?"
"Yeah."
"Y-yes...!"
I led the two of them into the training room. As an office worker, I didn't visit this place often, but as an Association employee I frequently recommended it to heroes and knew its functions well enough. Once inside, I operated the controls with ease — flipping on the lights, adjusting the soundproofing so nothing would leak outside, and generally making sure the two of them could spend their time in comfort.
The room could be set with all kinds of backgrounds and environments, but I decided we could change those later as needed.
"What do you think? Cleaner than you'd expect, right?"
"W-wow... I had no idea a place like this was in the Association basement... I never even heard about it when I debuted..."
"Haha... Ah, you're used to this, right, Saran? You've been at this for quite a while."
"Yeah."
Batori was almost certainly the only one using this place for the first time. The proof was written all over her face — she'd been staring around the room in wide-eyed wonder since the moment we walked in. Saran, by contrast, just stood there looking at me.
The difference between them struck me all over again. And that, I thought, was exactly why this would help. Even if it didn't rise to the level of rivalry, they'd influence each other through their differences, and maybe that would help them work through their respective problems. A nice, optimistic thought.
And if it didn't work out... well, that would just be a shame.
"Um... Saran?"
"Yeah."
"I can help set things up like this, but when it comes to the actual teaching after this... you know how it is, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I just need to teach her whatever she's lacking?"
"Hehe. I'll leave that part for the two of you to work out..."
"Yeah. Got it."
Leave it to a veteran hero. Saran understood me without needing a lengthy explanation, and I handed her the tablet that controlled the training room. She operated it like she'd done this a hundred times. A few taps later, several mannequin-like sandbags materialized in the center of the room.
The Association's technology really was something. Batori couldn't contain her amazement — but her moment of delight was short-lived.
"So. What do you want to learn?"
"Ah, um, uh, th-that is... I want to learn how to fight...!"
"...With that body? You use a gun or something?"
"Ah, no...? I usually fight with my fists, but, um... my ability..."
"......Ah."
A few exchanges into their conversation, a rather significant problem occurred to me. I had never properly introduced them to each other last time.
"Haa..."
Maybe all the extra work lately had turned my brain to complete mush. I berated myself and had no choice but to walk back over to them.
"But she's not going to fight in that body. She'd need to use her ability to some degree to actually fight, so teaching her like this is pointless, isn't it?"
"I'll just cheer her on really hard from the sidelines instead!"
"...Whatever."
Batori's ability conditions were a bit particular, which had been part of the snag — but I solved it by switching from spectator to dedicated, enthusiastic cheerleader. And with that, the mentoring officially began.
"Fighting! You can do it! Wow! So cute!"
"Ah, uuuugh..."
A few mannequins, two heroes, and me — standing about ten meters back, cheering Batori on with everything I had. She squirmed with embarrassment at my encouragement, but her body was honest. In an instant, her frame began to grow.
That small, soft 135 centimeters stretched to around 145 — close enough that the difference between us was only about the width of a palm. She'd grown more than I expected from my cheering alone, which was a bit of a surprise. Then again, she regularly shot past 150 when she drew attention out on the actual streets, so it wasn't a real problem.
"If she grows even more from here... shouldn't be a big issue."
"Haha..."
"Fighting!"
"...Shall we start."
"Y-yes...! Please take care of me...!"
"I'll start you with some basic hand-to-hand. You need to know how to use your body before you learn to use a weapon. Especially at E-Class... you'll mostly be dealing with thugs and muggers. Bare hands should be plenty. You get stronger too, right?"
"Y-yes, that's right!"
I'd always thought of Saran as a thoroughly taciturn veteran hero. But maybe six years in the industry had something to do with it — or maybe she just had more of an aptitude for mentoring than I'd expected. She launched into a surprisingly... sociable? No. A thoroughly businesslike, point-by-point lecture, her tone crisp and professional.
"Hand-to-hand is about using your entire body. What matters is how efficiently you use it. Flashiness? Useless in the field. Focus on landing the hardest hits you can and doing as much damage as possible."
"Y-yes!"
Batori was terrified of her... but the mentoring continued all the same. I kept cheering Batori on from the side and periodically shouted encouragement at Saran too, telling her she was doing great.
I was an office worker whose ability had absolutely nothing to do with combat, so the technical talk was honestly over my head. But to the two of them, it seemed to be the simplest thing in the world.
"Memorize the vital points. They're the easiest places to hurt someone — and the easiest places to subdue them."
"Yes...!"
"Some of them can kill, so it's more convenient to aim for the ones that won't."
"Yes!"
"People guard their vitals on reflex. Even if they're not Awakened, it's instinct. Breaking an arm or shattering a leg works just as well."
"H-hk..."
Given the subject matter, it was all a little bone-chilling. But the two of them were carrying on the conversation smoothly enough. Yeah. All's well that ends well.
"Here, here, and here. Cut these with a blade and they'll almost certainly bleed out."
"Y-ye-yes..."
"And the eyes usually mean permanent blindness, so don't aim for those."
"Yes...!"
"I once reflexively went for a guy's eyes and left him disabled. At E-Class, pulling something like that will just get you in social hot water."
"H-hk..."
Batori was receiving all kinds of advice on hero work and picking up techniques besides. And Saran, in the process of teaching, was letting slip stories of her own — the kind she felt comfortable sharing — and opening up, little by little.
"Mm-hmm..."
I was thoroughly satisfied. The situation and the effects I'd envisioned when I first conceived this project were unfolding exactly as planned.
Granted, the mentoring project itself had come out of the Team Leader's mouth. And our dear, ever-so-generous Team Leader had already made it clear there would be no extra pay for this particular assignment, so I wasn't holding my breath. Besides, I was doing this during regular work hours. Extra pay would have been a bit of a stretch anyway.
Anyway.
"Fighting!"
"Eek...!"
I cheered as Batori hammered various martial techniques into the mannequins. Honestly, it was kind of fascinating to watch. Every time a WHAM—! or a WHAM—!! exploded from the mannequins' direction, I had no choice but to admit that Batori was genuinely strong.
Even though her ability wasn't fully active yet and she was still smaller than me, looking at the violence she was unleashing on those dummies, she could probably subdue someone like me in an instant. If we fought one-on-one, I would lose. Guaranteed.
Not that I was particularly sad about it. My body was so soft and squishy it barely qualified as having muscles, and years of desk work had left my stamina — lung capacity included — at absolute rock bottom.
"Hmm..."
Come to think of it, how long am I supposed to stand here cheering?
I entertained that mild flicker of doubt while clapping along, continuing to watch the two of them work. And I kept watching... right up until it was time to clock out.
The next day, I found myself face-to-face with a hell of paperwork I normally never had to deal with.
Today, of all days, I hated our heroes — every last cute, pretty, sleek, or fluffy one of them.