6. The Gyaru Alchemist

Creeeak—

The sound of a door opening echoed through the 10th floor.

The 10th floor felt like... a library, of all things. Bookshelves lined every wall, and a violet haze hung in the air.

"Nobody's supposed to come in here??"

The boss, swallowed up in a deep hood, turned toward us.

Which meant I still couldn't see a thing. What did this one look like?

I couldn't even swear that thing was human. Then again, I'd already seen beastfolk and even traded words with a goblin, so being nervous here was ridiculous — and yet my nerves were on edge all the same.

"Who...? Huh? It's Mosquito unni!"

Mosquito unni? Did she mean Rhea?

I stole a glance at Rhea.

"It's been a while. Still living that dreary little life of yours?"

If Rhea's inner voice ran this hot, then this girl was officially certified as another weirdo.

Haah... well, if anyone down here were normal, the tower wouldn't be in ruins in the first place.

I took a quick look around the boss's chamber.

An alchemist this time. Back on Earth, alchemy was probably a profession that died out centuries ago.

Still, my interest was piqued. Wasn't that originally the art of making gold?

Just then, a robe fluttered before my eyes. Right in front of me.

"!"

"Staring into empty space? What are you looking at? Everything here is my precious research material. Don't tell me — you're actually interested?"

Why was she so fast? I hadn't even seen her move.

Was this what the raised administrator level bought me? Information that had been hidden from me with Rhea was on display now.

Which, honestly, made me curious about Rhea's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window too. I'd certainly heard plenty about the scale of hers.

Rhea's status readout came through in far more detail now as well. Last time, it had all been censored out of view.

"Um, hello? We're mid-conversation here. Where are you even looking? Wanna die?"

WHAM—

"That is no way to speak to the Administrator. You will mind your manners."

Crimson light was leaking from Rhea's hand.

Uh, whoa? She wasn't about to kill the girl, was she?

Elysia, for one careless remark, had been rammed straight into that bookshelf.

"Lady Rheaaa! That was so cooool!"

"The 10th floor boss hardly looks strong, if you ask me. The report made no special mention of her either."

Everyone passed judgment on Elysia in their own way. And I was with Sierra on this one.

How to put it... she just didn't have Rhea's presence. Rhea had given me actual chills the first time I laid eyes on her, but Elysia felt less like a floor boss and more like a university TA.

"Ughhh..."

A groan drifted up from the pile of wreckage.

"Mosquito unni! Since when is attacking someone out of nowhere a thing?!"

"Oh? You survived? I would have been grateful if you hadn't."

"Haah... if I still had my strength, I wouldn't be getting slammed into bookshelves like this."

As Elysia rose to her feet, the robe slid right off her.

I had pictured Elysia as the glasses-and-freckles type.

Everyone does, don't they? Back in school, the kids obsessed with their majors always had that look.

But no — she was a pretty girl too?!

Elysia was gyaru through and through. Pink twintails, an adorable face — she was even wearing a school uniform.

The Gyaru Alchemist...

You know what? Not bad. The pairing weirdly worked. And it didn't hurt that Elysia was seriously pretty.

"I take it that is rather to your taste, sir."

Sierra murmured quietly from behind me.

"She just looks like a student, that's all. Pretty, sure, but I'm not that kind of shameless bastard."

"'If she weren't a student' — that is how it would sound, sir."

Could this thing not hide her inner voice? The whiplash was getting to me. Could I please have a toggle, so it was off except when I actually needed it?

The system could be genuinely convenient at times, but on points like this it was downright unfriendly.

Wait — it was just me not turning it off? A heads-up that an on/off feature existed would have been nice. In any case, I was grateful Rhea had gotten angry on my behalf, but that girl was a precious resource too, you know.

I held out a hand to Elysia, still slumped on the floor.

"You're Elysia, right? You look young — how old are you?"

Given the school uniform, she'd probably been summoned to the tower in her late teens. You didn't age inside the tower, so that would explain the look.

"Why are you talking down to me? Rude much. How old are you, huh, you little XXX?"

Not just gyaru-looking. She was gyaru.

"You're not a student?"

I snapped back into formal speech at once.

"Student my ass. I'm over three hundred years old. Also — how did you know my name?"

Elysia patted the dust off her knees as she stood.

Hold on... if she was over three hundred, then what exactly did that make Rhea — the one she calls unni...

I answered, breezing lightly past the parts I'd rather not touch.

"Ah — I'm Lee Rowun, the newly appointed Administrator."

At that, Elysia — who had been cursing me out mere seconds ago — came darting up to me again with sparkling eyes.

"An Administrator??? Whoa. It's been ages since I saw one! After the last one left, Mosquito unni killed every single one of them!"

"Spare us the useless commentary, if you please."

Rhea cut her down flat.

She clearly didn't like Elysia, and yet there was nothing awkward about how she dealt with her.

Were the two of them close, then?

Not a pairing that made sense on paper. A vampire lord and a gyaru alchemist.

Then again, only a real tower could pull off a combo like this one.

Just how many more strange ones were waiting among the other bosses?

"I told you to send me the corpses, at least, unni? Aren't you curious what happens to an Administrator when they die? Why didn't you kill that one?"

"This one happens to be competent. You, by comparison... frankly, you hardly look fit to fulfill your role as a boss."

So 'useless means dead,' basically. And, uh, Elysia? I'm standing right here? Talk of 'why didn't you kill him' happens to be an extremely touchy subject for me?

"Tch... that's because I've got no mana, okay?! I burned it all on experiments and the whole floor shut down!"

Elysia hopped up and down in protest.

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

"But listen to this! I can kill every last one of them even without mana! If I use the drug I developed—"

And here was my cue to make my entrance.

"I'll fix it."

"Fix what?"

Elysia asked, tilting her head.

"I'll repair it so your mana supply comes back."

"Whoa! You can even DO that?? Guess there was a reason you didn't kill me~. How do you fix it? Magic? Or is it some separate skill??"

This one had a truly impressive number of questions. Maybe that was the baseline requirement for being an alchemist.

"Sierra, how much magic stone do we have left?"

"Approximately 8kg remain, sir."

"Okay. That's enough to fix the 10th floor and still repair some of the others too."

"It should be sufficient, sir."

"Why do you talk down to me but use honorifics with her? Wait, now that I think about it — who even is she?"

Right, this was Elysia's first time seeing Sierra.

"She is the Administrator's secretary."

Rhea answered in my place.

"Aha... so she's a secretary? If a secretary has come to our tower, that means..."

Elysia made a show of pondering, slowly and deliberately. In that moment, she genuinely looked every bit the scholar.

"The Management Bureau means to run our tower as well. Am I reading that right?"

"So it would seem."

Good. So you two were planning to pitch in on operations too, right? I refused to be the only one out here getting put through the wringer.

"Though I've never even seen a climber. Mosquito unni kills them all. And the weak ones get wiped out by unni's little sister too."

Was she talking about Vivi?

"It's aaall for Lady Rhea's sake! It's really nothing~. Hehe."

Behind Rhea, Vivi was beaming with pride, squirming bashfully.

You're bragging about that?

"You'll be seeing them around plenty from now on."

I said that while keeping my eyes on Rhea.

Right, Rhea? You are going to start sparing people? Why did it feel like she was refusing to meet my gaze?

"Then we shall begin with the mana supply unit."

Sierra closed the matter out cleanly.

At times like this, her decisiveness was a godsend.

I had no intention of dragging everyone along, anyway — I could manage the trip alone. Besides, I had a fair guess where the mana supply unit was located. They all sat in similar spots, as it turned out.

"I'll be back."

I led the way out, and Sierra fell in behind me. That much was only natural, I figured. Secretary and all.

Then Rhea followed after us as well. I had left her behind last time, so I could hardly object this round.

Then Vivi trailed after Rhea. Kin did stick close to their master, presumably.

And last of all, Elysia came bounding out with a spring in her step.

Why is everyone following me?

Every one of them had an excuse that technically checked out, but still...

"And why are you coming along, Elysia?"

You didn't have to, you know.

"Because I'm curious, okay?! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠About how you're gonna fix it!"

Curiosity never failed to move people. I'd been endlessly curious as a kid myself, and it had gotten me into no small amount of trouble.

So fine — I'd just keep her at my side. Remembering the fiasco from leaving Rhea behind, this was honestly the safer call.

"Alright... let's go."

Repairing the mana equipment wasn't hard. This was my third time, after all.

A few gestures into the empty air from me, and the machinery was fixed, good as new.

Except...

Now this was a first.

"Huh? It's exactly the same?"

"It's different from the 3rd and 5th floors, sir. Back then, the mana came flooding back the moment you finished the repairs."

"Administrator — what could be causing this?"

Everyone was staring at the situation in bewilderment.

Detailed Inspection.

This time I cast it in my head. I'd tried it out loud once before — kind of embarrassing. And there were plenty of eyes on me here.

The moment I willed it, the skill activated — and the answer appeared.

There was a corpse here?

Right here?