Chapter 8
555 Office.
The signboard, as always, looked forlorn yet familiar.
"It's been so long since I've been home!"
Garrick expressed his overflowing emotions as soon as he saw the signboard.
Come to think of it, he must have been on a rather long business trip; his reaction made sense.
I suddenly became curious about Garrick's business trip.
"I'm back, everyone!"
Garrick immediately went wild and dashed into the office.
"Huh? Garrick!"
"Runea! Why have you gotten even smaller?"
As I followed him into the office, listening to their affectionate and chaotic conversation—
"Welcome back, Yohan!"
Runea greeted me with her usual demeanor.
But that was only for a moment. Runea saw the basket in my hand and pounced on it like a hungry cat.
"What's this, alcohol?!"
"It is!"
At Garrick's easygoing remark, Runea skillfully held out her hand.
Garrick slapped her hand with—a common scene in our office, as ordinary as the air we breathed.
By the way, why was the office so clean?
"Runea, the office is clean?"
"Yeah, I cleaned it."
Where did all those documents go? Well, since all the essential information, the main body, would be in Runea's head, it probably didn't matter.
"Hey, what's going on that you even cleaned, something you never do?!"
At Garrick's flustered words, Runea looked alternately at us with a determined face and replied.
"Didn't you guys notice anything strange while coming here?"
Of course, we did.
"It seemed like a Spider came to Jeblin."
Runea gave a subtle smile at my words.
"Our rookie is coming. The boss just went to pick her up."
＊ ＊ ＊
In an atmosphere heightened by the single word 'rookie.'
Having finished setting the table according to Runea's instructions, we then sat together like children, chatting away.
In front of us was a worn-out, black rectangle.
That rectangle, which only used to emit noise even when turned on, was now caught in a spider web.
In other words, it had become a medium for communication.
So, as soon as we turned on the rectangle, a clear screen appeared instead of noise.
The screen showed a magnificent atmosphere with four people standing on a huge stage as a solemn narration continued.
'Tempora.'
A singer group for whom the title of 'the best' no longer feels awkward.
Their first half of the year activities have concluded with their recently successful tour of eight countries.
But it's not the end. An encore performance during the three-day break granted to our Tempora!
Live broadcasts of their performances wherever the members go!
The top sponsor of this Spider is DX,
Along with Bear Goods, Bead, and the Olympia production company.
"Only a three-day break?"
Next to a sulking Garrick,
I, too, had to agree, feeling similarly displeased.
"They need to know their limits, what if they collapse from exhaustion?"
"I know, those damn bastards!"
Runea, watching our reactions, narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"You say that, but your eyes are practically dripping with pride."
Of course.
The rookie of 555 Office.
Polia.
That child had been alone since the moment she first encountered this world.
Unlike me, whose past had been severed,
Polia was a child whose past had been severed.
It was a story I learned quite late, but Beru had been providing immense support for her since her orphanage days, having seen her beauty and talent.
The initial intention might have been a sponsorship started purely with a business investment mentality,
But now, she had undoubtedly become our family, our youngest.
How could we not love that child, who shone so brightly for us, her family?
"Hey, Runea. Does that mean our office is also on vacation for three days?"
At Garrick's question, Runea replied with a dejected look like a dog with its ears drooped.
"Of course, we're all on vacation, vacation!"
She already held an empty bottle in her hand.
＊ ＊ ＊
Garrick and I, sensing that we would run out of alcohol, had to go grocery shopping again.
That's how we created a more proper gathering.
A grill set up in front of the office, Garrick occupying it, suffocating half the meat and grilling the other half.
Since all I know how to do is use a knife, I just diligently chopped the vegetables as Garrick instructed.
Having created a lively atmosphere befitting our anticipation, and now with nothing left but waiting,
Finally, all the members of our office gathered in one place.
"What? You guys started without saying anything?"
Whether Beru, always looking slick, frowned and complained with one raised eyebrow or not,
Garrick, Runea, and I rushed towards the tall, slender woman behind him.
"Polia!"
Wadada!
Runea, running faster than anyone, hugged Polia tightly.
"Our little junior, I missed you!"
"I missed you too, unnie!"
Only after that intense hug, where it was hard to tell who was hugging whom, did Polia look alternately at Garrick and me, who had followed behind.
"Oppa, have you been well?!"
A deeply pulled-down hat, a black shirt with jeans and sneakers.
It seemed like an outfit chosen to hide from the eyes of the outside world, but to me, it just looked like a thin cloth covering a huge jewel.
"Why are you so thin? Are you eating well?"
At my words, Polia laughed good-naturedly and pressed her cheeks firmly with her hands.
"I've gained more weight, you know?"
Following that, Polia looked around her habitually before chuckling to herself once more and taking off her hat.
Black and long hair, like a lustrous night.
Grayish-white eyes like a winter night.
It was definitely the Polia I knew.
"Hey, isn't anyone taking care of the boss…."
"Junior! Come here, sit here!"
"Yeah, eat something. Garrick, the meat?"
"I just transitioned to being the ultimate chef."
＊ ＊ ＊
"So, we were about to do the next song, but Riena was flustered by her flowing sweat! Then she suddenly hugged me, but the fans liked that even more!"
Polia, thoroughly excited, chirped out a jumbled mess of words like a little bird.
Garrick and I listened intently to her story.
Next to us, Runea, drinking alcohol, had begun to exude an aura like that of a weighty executive.
And Beru was smoking a cigarette some distance away.
"In the end, I cooled down Riena's body heat with my ability, but because of that, we both got a new nickname!"
Polia's eyes sparkled even more than before.
"Ice-Fire Siblings! Hehe!"
At those words, Garrick grinned broadly and praised Polia.
"Polia, show us that look. Your performance mode."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Polia confidently stood up and struck a pose with a serious expression.
Following that, a chill began to rise around her.
Polia's face, at the center of that cold air, turned even whiter, and a red tinge began to appear around her eyes.
What was that thing called again?
I had heard that for singers of Polia's type, the concept of a 'worldview' was essential so that fans could immerse themselves more.
Seeing that vaguely known fact with my own eyes now made it feel real.
'The First Snow Crystal Turned Human'—her worldview setting and her current appearance were a perfect match.
Suddenly, I felt relieved.
Polia, because she was just an average superhuman.
Because she was an ability user who only favored the admiration of people.
Not like Garrick and me, superhumans who had to devour both extremes of people's emotions.
"Garrick, Yohan. Can I see you for a moment?"
Beru, who had been smoking a cigarette some distance away, approached and called Garrick and me.
Runea and Polia, seeing this, naturally began to talk amongst themselves.
＊ ＊ ＊
Beru, having entered the office, was slightly startled by the cleanly tidied space before stopping in front of the firmly closed boss's office.
"Aren't you going in?"
At Garrick's question, Beru gestured towards the boss's office door with a generous expression.
"Go ahead and try."
"What is it?"
Garrick, unconcerned, passed Beru and opened the boss's office door.
"Uwaaagh!"
He was immediately buried under a pile of documents that poured out from beyond.
Leaving Garrick buried under the pile of documents, Beru continued speaking without a change in expression.
"You handled the big request quite well."
Then, he took out a black coin from his inner suit pocket and held it out to me.
"As we said before, it's 7 million Runes."
"I'll take good care of it."
Holding the received coin, I felt the slight tipsiness I had been experiencing completely dissipate.
"Seemed like an anticlimactic end for such a big request, don't you think?"
But Beru's following words blew away all my remaining intoxication.
"How was it? Your first contact with Olleerd?"
"You already knew?"
"Wouldn't it be stranger if I didn't?"
"Then why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
Beru tilted his head back with a nonchalant expression.
"What difference would it have made if I told you? It would have only hindered the mission."
Then, Beru crossed his arms and wore an intrigued expression.
"What I find interesting is that Olleerd approached you first."
It's always the same,
When I talk to Beru, I feel like I've become a piece on a game board before I even realize it.
A piece standing tall, waiting to be moved, without knowing the size or shape of that enormous board.
"So?"
"That's all."
Beru shrugged with a brazen look.
"Of course, Yohan, for you it's not the end, but just the beginning."
"What does that mean?"
"A big request, you see, isn't about just one job that ends. It means stepping onto a huge board."
It really feels like he's speaking after reading my thoughts.
"Do you know where the ultimate roots of Polia's group, Tempora, lie?"
"Well, it would be DX, Tempora's agency."
"Even DX is just one of countless branches."
"Then where on earth are the roots?"
"Olleerd."
I unknowingly swallowed hard.
"Olleerd is like the Central Association's all-purpose packaging. It's an organization that creates packaging-like culture and trends to firmly establish the existence of Deliverers in the world."
Beru chuckled at my stiffened appearance and patted my shoulder.
"Saying it like this makes it sound like I'm introducing the headquarters of evil, you don't have to take it too seriously. What's certain is that for Deliverers, Olleerd is indispensable, like thread to a needle."
"So, what's the conclusion you're trying to reach?"
Beru removed his hand from my shoulder and replied,
"It's best to be careful of Olleerd."
Didn't he just say it was indispensable?
What on earth is he trying to say?
Reading my expression, Beru ended all my inner doubts with a very simple explanation.
"The authority to pierce something belongs to the needle, the Deliverer. The thread exists to fill the pierced place. But what happens when the thread gains the authority to pierce something?"
"It would try to wield the needle as it pleases."
"Exactly."
Beru nodded with a cold smile.
Immediately after, he suddenly unfolded his arms and returned to a very generous demeanor.
"There's another request I want to entrust to you."
He immediately started talking about work.
"Runea said she's on vacation starting today."
"It is a vacation. It's something that can be started three days from now."
"What is it?"
Beru grinned and said,
"I want you to provide private security for Polia for a week."
"Was there some kind of threat?"
"There's always a threat. Think about it. What if there's a sasaeng fan among her fans, and what if that sasaeng is a superhuman? What if there are hundreds of them?"
Oh, damn.
"Is it such a serious matter that I need to be a reinforcement?"
"No, there are people far more professional than you in that area guarding Tempora."
"Then why?"
Beru pointed at me with his finger as if pressing me down.
"While you're at it, shouldn't you buy a weapon befitting a big stage? You should at least have a near-masterpiece like Garrick by now. As it happens, Tempora's next schedule is in the western land of 'Belignore.'"
"Ah."
