Mind Reading

My vision gradually came back.

"…number here?"

The area around me was noisy. A low murmur of voices, or something like it.

"Is number thirty-nine here?!"

Huh?

By the time my sight had fully returned, people were rushing about in every direction.

"Is this the Management Bureau?"

"That's correct."

Jeez—she scared the hell out of me. Sierra had answered from right behind my back.

Why doesn't this girl ever make a sound?

But this place… it just looks like a community center.

I used my skill and swept my gaze around.

So my skill wasn't omnipotent after all.

"It's… pretty modern."

"Is it? I've never seen the outside of the tower, so I wouldn't know."

Sierra held a slip of paper out to me.

"Number thirty-nine."

"We're number thirty-nine?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Sheesh. It wasn't like I was talking to a robot. Still, she was funny sometimes. She really committed to the bit.

I took Sierra's queue ticket and stepped up to the reception desk.

"Number thirty-nine?"

"Yes, here's the ticket…"

The clerk snatched it out of my hand and kept filling something out without looking up.

Needlessly rude, the way they handle this. Don't worry. I'll be calling your complaints office.

"Uh… you're the administrator of Tower No. 72?"

"That's right."

"First time I've seen an administrator from there."

The clerk gave me a strange look, then went back to rummaging through the paperwork.

"You're a Temporary Administrator. This form, please."

"What? I'm temporary?"

"Yes. Fill this out."

My fist tightened for a second. Not that I was any good in a fight, but it pissed you off, you know? Could they not just talk a little nicer?

I scrawled magic stone supply in the reason-for-application field and left it at that.

Don't pop this up at a time like this.

Looks like the system had only just found out too. That I was a Temporary Administrator.

"You're done. Wait over there."

I ducked my head instead of answering and went back to Sierra.

"Did you complete the application successfully?"

"Yeah, I guess it went fine."

Annoying as it was, the annoying ones were usually good at their jobs. They were probably just treating people like a machine because the petitioners never stopped coming—but I still wished it didn't have to feel like that.

"First time at the Management Bureau, I take it?"

Someone spoke up from behind me. For the first time since I'd become an administrator, I actually felt a little goodwill from another person.

I turned around as I answered.

"Yes, yes. I was just assigned this time—GAAAAAH!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin and went sprawling.

Sitting there behind me was a goblin. A goblin in a tailored suit, wearing spectacles.

"Administrator. That was quite rude just now."

Sierra, whispering it right into my ear for some reason. I already know without you saying it, so shut up…

"Haha. Human administrators often react that way when they first see me."

Why did he seem more gentlemanly than me, the actual human?

I dusted off my backside, stood up, and led with an apology.

"I'm sorry. I've never seen a non-human before, so I was startled."

A swift apology was always the right call. With that, I had defended human dignity once.

"Not at all. I'm Durk Meissen, Administrator of Tower No. 32."

The goblin offered his hand first to me as I stood there with my head still bowed. A video title that had surfaced on my YouTube algorithm before I'd become an administrator flashed through my mind.

What am I even thinking right now.

"Ah. I'm Lee Rowon, Administrator of Tower No. 72."

"Tower No. 72…?"

People always reacted weirdly whenever I said Tower No. 72. Look at this goblin right in front of me. He was wiping his hand.

"Tut tut. Shaking hands with a man who's about to die is a bit… distasteful."

Huh?

About to die?

This guy—this goblin—was being pretty harsh right now.

"I'm going to die? Me?"

"Are you saying that because you don't know what Tower No. 72 is?"

What? What was that supposed to mean?

I must have been wearing a completely vacant look, because the goblin shook his head in slow disapproval.

"Disqualified as an administrator, I see. You haven't even finished assessing the situation."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

That was when Sierra stepped in front of me.

"Insulting a fellow administrator constitutes a violation of Administrator Law Article 43."

Si… Sierra…

For the first time, she actually looked cool. No—she looked insanely badass. Like a lawyer.

"Oho… You already have a secretary?"

The goblin looked Sierra up and down.

"Having a secretary must be convenient. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Assuming you can actually operate the tower, that is. Kahaha."

"Administrator number thirty-nine! Please come in."

In a situation that felt ready to explode at the slightest touch, someone called my number. I shot the goblin a look—just a tiny, tiny glare—and took Sierra with me.

"Sierra. Don't react. He's just picking a fight."

"His hostility toward us was unmistakable."

Why is she summarizing what I just said.

"I will wait here."

I waved her off and went inside. All I wanted was to wrap this up and go home.

When I opened the door, a man in sunglasses was waiting, and beside him a woman with a ponytail… wait, was that a fox? A beastkin stood there.

"Ahem… You're the administrator of Tower No. 72?"

Starting off informal like that, he was probably someone fairly high up around here.

"Yes, that's correct."

There was nothing to gain by getting on the bad side of people like that. Be as polite as possible, gain a little more, lose a little less. That was how I survived in this world.

"First of all, how are you even alive?"

That was already the second time I'd heard something in that vein. And then, suddenly, I thought I heard Rhea's voice.

I hate all administrators, you know?

Ah? Was it because of Rhea?

"Director. That's an inappropriate remark."

"Ahaha. My apologies. This is the first time anyone from Tower No. 72 has come to the Bureau, so I slipped up."

He picked up a sheet from the desk, checked it over at a leisurely pace, and nodded.

"Magic stones, huh… Well, you would need quite a lot."

Bang—

He slammed a stamp down on the report.

"Huh? Is that it?"

"A supply once a quarter is standard, so come pick it up. And, how's the administrator life treating you?"

Well… a vampire who attacked the moment I arrived, one bat, and a secretary who was basically a robot. Still…

It hadn't been unmanageable, had it?

And then it hit.

So the alarms did come through? But I'd just fixed that—how was it already destroyed?

A status message followed right on its heels.

What's with her now?

"Something in the empty air? You don't look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well."

"What? Ah, no. I'll be going first."

"See you at the regular meeting, then."

"Please travel safely."

I yanked the door open and hurried out.

"Did it go well?"

"Sierra. We have to get back right now."

"What? But we still…"

"Hurry. Hurry."

There was no time. Something had clearly gone wrong.

"Yes, understood."

Except Sierra didn't do anything. She just stood there looking at me.

"What are you doing? I said we have to go."

"Returning to the tower is something you must do, Administrator."

Ah, she was doing this again. If I complained why didn't you tell me sooner, she'd just say you didn't ask. Guaranteed.

"How do I do that?"

"Simply think of returning."

Return. Return. Please just return.

The world around us began to turn blue again.

Grab—

And Sierra took my hand.

"Why are you holding my hand?"

"Otherwise I cannot transfer."

Ah. This was the first time I'd held a girl's hand.

I was still having that useless thought when we were already back on the third floor.

"Haa… teleporting makes me dizzier than I expected."

"So why did we come back in such a hurry?"

"Just follow me for now."

We headed into the third-floor dungeon where Bibi and Rhea had been.

"Rhea! What are you doing!"

The shout I'd thrown out simply scattered into empty air.

Not here…?

"Where have you been all this time?"

The voice was Bibi's. Though the way she spoke was different.

Bibi descended slowly from the sky, her face blank.

"Do you have any idea whose wrath that careless little outing of yours has provoked?"

"What did I even do? I went to get magic stones."

"Magic stones… over a handful of magic stones."

Bibi let out a hollow laugh.

"Lady Rhea could have bestowed a few paltry magic stones herself. And yet."

"You ignored her and left for somewhere else, did you not?"

What kind of bullshit is that. I need her permission to go do my job?

I didn't say it. The atmosphere was too off to actually put it into words.

"So where is Rhea now?"

"It's already too late. Lady Rhea is likely trying to kill you by any means necessary as we speak."

"That's enough."

Rhea's voice came from behind me.

When I turned around, her eyes were redder than before, and dead.

I'm so screwed.

This is UFC. The affection score won't even display.

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did you come back to confirm, I wonder."

I'd definitely come here to get angry. They'd wrecked the fifth-floor equipment I'd just finished repairing, for one. I wanted to raise my voice at these bastards who had no idea what kind of looks I'd gotten out there, or what I'd gone through to come back.

And that was when the status window appeared.

At a time like this?

Remaining points…

Oh boy. I'm screwed.

Still, this was a system that always pulled out exactly what I needed at the right moment. There had to be a reason this was showing up now.

Level up.

"Have you come to drive me out for destroying the fifth floor?"

"Or… have you found it in yourself to die for me?"

Those… were her inner thoughts?