Chapter 70
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Chapter 70
At her words, Kibon's eyes widened slightly. Anastasia continued, her voice trembling.
"I'm c-curious at all hours, and when you're out of sight, I c-can't stop thinking about you, and I don't know exactly what this feeling is, but... I just k-keep wanting to see you, so c-coming to work isn't so bad! This f-feeling is just... hard to name, that's all!"
Kibon had worn a skeptical expression throughout, but flinched slightly at the words "hard to name." Then, with a dazed look, he murmured.
"Surely not..."
His voice trailed off like a groan, and then, as if bewildered, he murmured again.
"...C-could it be... Could it be that I... No, that can't be right."
At the same moment, Anastasia's eyes went wide. I sighed inwardly as well.
Good heavens.
'Could it be that I... No, that can't be right.'
Without question, that was the absolute worst response he could have given in that moment. To make matters worse, Kibon's face bore the expression of someone struck by sudden realization.
His voice trailed off like a groan.
"Ah..."
Ah ah ah ah?
The one person who should have vehemently denied it—instead, after "Could it be that I... No, that can't be right," he let out ah ah ah ah ah ah?
I stared at Kibon in shock.
"Y-you... Did you just s-say ah...?"
I pressed my forehead in exasperation.
'That's the kind of reaction you keep off the record at a drinking party!'
Though rumors would spread regardless!
Anastasia breathed heavily, then spoke in a deliberately artificial voice.
"A-anyway, if y-you're in a lot of pain, I c-can make you some c-coffee. J-just let me know if you n-need anything."
She added this to Kibon, who sat momentarily stunned, her breathing ragged. Her eyes gleamed with the unmistakable look of someone who'd caught something juicy.
"As your Team Leader, this is a service I would absolutely never normally provide to an Intern like you. Understand?"
She'd said he lacked the qualifications to be Team Leader, that he wasn't a necessary presence...
Yet if he were reassigned, she'd be the type to cry all night for ten days straight.
That was when it happened.
"XX!"
The office door burst open.
Before I could say anything, a harsh voice rang out.
"Namia Loapi, that's you, right? You manipulated the soundproofing scroll, didn't you? You XX..."
At first, I thought a blood-soaked zombie was charging at me.
It was a middle-aged man whose face was so covered in blood that his features were unrecognizable.
His eyes gleamed as he lunged toward me.
"I won't die alone!"
It was Riedan, who had been beaten by the Empress until his limbs hung limp.
From a distance, Luca Class came running with the Imperial knights.
"You're supposed to be in treatment! Hey! Hey! Criminal!"
Many thoughts flashed through my mind in that brief moment.
It was clear he'd escaped in a fit of rage during his treatment.
'Being a clever human, he must have grasped the entire situation in an instant.'
And he seemed to have rushed over wanting to land at least one punch on me.
Well, the conclusion was simple.
'I'll take a hit, so what.'
I quickly resigned myself to the thought.
There was no possibility of me winning a fight against that man when I couldn't even lift a single box of scroll paper.
It would be unpleasant, but I'd been hit plenty of times back at the Loapi Marquessate, so it didn't matter.
'If I get hurt badly enough, Luca Class will handle it right away.'
The opponent wasn't even holding a weapon, and it was clearly nothing serious.
I was going to take the hit anyway, but since it seemed a shame to just accept it passively, I backed away and quickly let my mouth run.
"Oh my, we're adding another crime to our criminal's record, aren't we? Can you hear the sentence getting longer? There are witnesses overflowing this place, aren't there?"
I generally didn't waste energy on pointless words, but today, perhaps because I'd eaten a lot, the provocative remarks came pouring out.
But in that moment.
'...What?'
Suddenly, a massive back filled my entire vision.
It was Kibon.
'Kibon?'
Without a word, he stepped in front of me and clenched his fist.
Everything seemed to sink into my eyes in slow motion.
'No! Kibon is an Intern!'
Civil servants hitting each other was one thing, but Kibon was an Intern without job security.
No matter how much of a criminal I was, there could be problems if he struck a civil servant.
"Kibon, you're not even in a position to act cool!"
I shouted sharply and grabbed Kibon's arm to pull him back.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
Huh?
Kibon hadn't done anything, yet Riedan collapsed.
Then he rolled on the ground, clutching his eyes.
"Hey, hey, where are you—!"
It was Anastasia. She'd thrown coffee grounds into Riedan's eyes.
"You crazy low-ranking fool... Ahhhhh!"
As Riedan tried to get up, glaring at Anastasia, she poured hot water on him this time.
So she really did have coffee grounds and hot water on standby at all times....
Anastasia's eyes gleamed as she spoke.
"Not a low-ranking fool—I'm the Team Leader of the Scroll Department Management Team. You look like a criminal, so how dare you set foot here?"
Kibon and I froze in place behind her.
After a moment had passed, Kibon grabbed me and backed away.
Scalding water was beginning to flow in our direction.
"Luca Class."
I spoke calmly as I saw Luca Class arrive belatedly.
"I should get some burn treatment too."
"...Yes."
Luca Class nodded with an equally bewildered expression. I sighed at Riedan, who was still screaming.
"A man who only wielded a pen comes charging in relying on nothing but his physique—and look at the state he's in. He couldn't even cross the threshold of the Scroll Department he despised so much. And now we're adding attempted assault to the charges?"
"Y-y-you insane.... If the R-royal family saw your lack of manners like this...."
"Yes, they absolutely won't see it. There's no royal family here, is there?"
I spoke kindly to Riedan, and the knights who had drawn near quickly restrained him again.
In the meantime, Luca Class glanced at Anastasia and muttered.
"Your Team Leader is the best. Seriously."
He seemed so shocked that he'd even forgotten to use formal speech with me.
My thoughts aligned with his. She was the finest Team Leader for protecting the Finance Minister.
'...Good grief, what a commotion this turned out to be.'
At least it was fortunate that the other staff hadn't arrived yet.
Once Luca Class, the knights, and Riedan disappeared, the office fell silent again.
Anastasia began tidying up the coffee grounds and kettle with a composed expression.
"Um, by the way, Kibon."
Anastasia stared intently at Kibon, who was brushing coffee grounds off my clothes.
"Th-there really is someone you like in this office, right? You didn't say no to what I said."
Anastasia, who had protected the Finance Minister, was even sharp-tongued.
"Of c-course! I w-won't ask who it is."
Anastasia's eyes gleamed as she continued.
"B-but what kind of woman do you like, Kibon?"
It was obvious she meant 'I won't ask who, but I'll try to deduce what kind of woman she is.'
Besides, there were only four women in our department, including me.
'Oh no.'
I sighed deeply and thought.
'Kibon is such a rigid, principled intern that he won't slip through this like an eel.'
Team Leader Anastasia was Kibon's superior.
His characteristic was to obey with an arrogant tone. Therefore, he would certainly speak the truth in that same haughty manner.
Sure enough, Kibon answered without hesitation, bluntly.
"It seems I like a warm woman."
"Huh, w-what?"
"Preferably one who is obsessed with me."
Then Anastasia muttered as if all the wind had been knocked out of her sails.
"Ah, no way. It w-wasn't the Finance Minister."
Huh?
"I th-thought it was the Finance Minister."
What does that mean? Why isn't it me?
I was about to glare at Anastasia and protest when—
"The F-Finance Minister was incredible when he left. When the F-Finance Minister was leaving, he said that while Namia Loapi's abilities are remarkable, for some reason being around you makes his heart feel desolate."
Hmm.
I had nothing to say.
"Ah, seeing you tease that criminal earlier made me feel so uncomfortable and desolate."
Wait, the person who defeated that criminal was you, and now you're saying this...?
I merely opened my mouth, yet somehow I'd become the custodian of your emotional well-being.
"And, and our Finance Minister doesn't obsess over anyone, right? I mean, you dislike wasting energy, so you must be indifferent to everyone."
That was true.
"Well, anyway, Kibon, you certainly have peculiar tastes."
Anastasia continued speaking to Kibon with greater interest than ever before.
"To, to like a woman who's obsessive... I've never heard of such an unusual ideal type before."
"Yes. But I do like such a woman."
Kibon added slowly.
"One who constrains me, clings to me, suffocates me..."
I looked at Kibon and clicked my tongue.
Good heavens.
Everyone lives according to their own preferences, but his ideal type is truly bizarre...
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