Chapter 135

“Four days later, the Kakubari secretary and other relevant executives are scheduled to come for an on-site inspection. It’s not that they’re particularly dissatisfied with the work speed; rather, it carries significant formal meaning, so please don’t worry and focus on your tasks.”

“Yes~! You’re also working hard, Hyung!”

“……”

Arms that were raised high, as if presenting at a conference, suddenly twisted around.

The not-so-average chest covered by plain gray underwear swayed elastically as the hand moved.

The tracker glanced at Marina, who cheerfully or perhaps frivolously mimicked a salute in her underwear, then left back out of the warehouse since the business was concluded.

After all, there’s only one entrance to this dormitory, the main path they used when they first came in, so it wouldn’t matter much whether they were inside or right outside, as the entrance would be free for them.

However, considering how just at the beginning of the work, they quietly observed us, it’s impressive that they’ve managed to drive away a mega-corp elite agent, who completed a high-level training process, by simply making them feel embarrassed and disgusted.

It’s true that there’s fashion that’s extremely revealing even in bustling areas, but if one is openly flamboyant like that, it would be difficult to respond, hmm.

I lifted my head and examined the additional air conditioning units densely installed near the ceiling and the CCTV cameras tangled in between.

Those security cameras are definitely watching, so the gaze of surveillance hasn’t really disappeared, but at least having removed a person uncomfortable for all kinds of reasons from the same room is appreciated.

…How will they manage the fact that even Nana and Ken find it difficult to have a place to look?

“♪~ ♬, ♪~”

“Ugh…! Auw…”

Ken, who was inspecting the servers I finished restoring, caught sight of Marina, who was largely exposed, and once again buried his face into the keyboard.

I caught a glimpse of meaningless gibberish abruptly adding to the well-structured lines of code.

I don’t know what is intentional and what is just natural acting, but I wish they could refrain from actions that decrease work efficiency a bit…

It’s not too bad for me, as the longer Ken’s work input is delayed, the more leisurely I can observe things.

“…sigh.”

With a plain breath—not a sigh at all—I averted my gaze and fiddled with the newly acquired server hardware.

Whether it had attempted data recovery on its own several times or if it had been scratched somewhere during the transport process, the cable plugs into the internal socket with a peculiarly soft feeling, making my shoulders less tired.

But even while mechanically performing the repetitive work, there were indeed several points that caught my attention, leading my thoughts elsewhere.

– …If she seems suspicious, I’ll raise the alert level and block access. –

“No. That’s just a temporary fix. …The fundamental issue is our greed, after all.”

Not long ago, our team leader smoothly laid bare their thoughts and firmly drew an invisible line, bringing us closer and making it easier to face each other.

However, no matter how aligned our hearts may be or how kind a person appears, and even if we cultivate intimacy…

What mattered most was clearly establishing that we are a temporary partnership united for the purpose of compensation.

Even if Zero was deployed to monitor us, they likely don’t have any immediate desire to stab me in the back, making the effort pointless. The most important thing is whether my predicament, akin to a bug in a lion’s body, could give rise to a motive for ruining my situation.

In other words… If evidence related to an intruder who has been promised a ‘bonus’ or data that could yield even greater rewards were to surface.

At that moment, whether it is intentional or unintentional, the likelihood of the two selling me out increases infinitely beyond zero.

From their perspective, I could be perceived as a nasty person prioritizing selfish desires over money that could contribute to our shared benefit.

…And when I weigh my life against my conscience, it’s questionable whether people who came to make money would reject the promise of tens of millions to billions of credits.

It’s a harsh thing to say, but even without the need for a literal enema, the fewer heads there are, the less mouths there are to share the spoils…. Yup, I’ll stop here.

If I can part ways smiling, having met decent project partners, that would be the best.

But if that doesn’t happen, I must continue to entertain worst-case scenarios… This is tough. It would have been easier if I had encountered characters I knew from a game, but even the seemingly high-level secretary Kakubari is a blank in my memory, let alone Marina or Ken.

“Hmm……”

I paused my work for a moment and glanced at the two.

….I smacked the foolish robot trying to glare at me on the back of the head to prevent it from doing so.

In fact, the very act of trying to answer the age-old riddle of how far one might fall when promised immense wealth is nonsensical.

It is likely more productive to evaluate the characters of those I face rather than make hasty generalizations.

If so, it seems more appropriate to keep an eye on Ken, who is young and timid but has a wealth of experience working in corporate settings and a high likelihood of restoring dangerous data compared to Marina, who is openly busy humming and candid about doing this for money.

…Should I try to test the waters a bit?

Once I made up my mind, I acted quickly.

I quietly shook myself off and stood up, then approached behind his computer, which was spread wide to the sides, and without startling him too much, I lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, kid.”

“Y-Yes?!”

I sat down next to him after giving a gentle pat on the shoulder, and the boy reacted as if he hadn’t expected me to approach first.

His hair slicked back by a headband could easily give a thuggish impression, but aside from his expensive-looking glasses, he appeared generally innocent and youthful, which complemented his timid personality with an added touch of persuasiveness.

Though his shoulders tensed up and waist recoiled as he seemed to brace himself against my approach, I didn’t sense even a hint of malice from him.

…If this reaction were acting, then it might be inevitable for me to be deceived.

Anyway, Ken’s gaze came to my face, then dropped slightly, and then jumped back up frantically, creating quite a ruckus.

Thinking back, I believe I had asked more boldly questions in front of the secretary or the tracker, so why does he react so sensitively to me or Marina, making such a fuss?

“……”

Seeking an answer to my trivial question, I stared deliberately into the quivering boy’s eyes. Whatever it was, he seemed to keep his jacket loosely draped around his chest, perhaps trying to be comfortable….

“You… you’re quite the lecher. I thought you were just an innocent kid, but seems like you’re a bit more aware.”

“W-Wait?! This is absolutely a misunderstanding!!”

Ziiiip….!

I immediately felt terribly embarrassed and zipped up my jacket all the way to my chin.

And what misunderstanding? How can I hide the longing glances?

Women are sensitive to sexual gazes, so why do I have to experience cliches like, “Guys, be careful when you sneak a peek; it gets found out~” from the receiving end! I don’t want to broaden my understanding in such a manner!

“…Anyway! Why are you stepping into the black market? I heard last time that you were doing just fine as a consultant in the light.”

“Eh? Ah…”

He trailed off, seeming to grasp the gist of my question and why he was fooling around.

While Marina bluntly dismisses story-telling and grumbling about misfortunes, I believe the ability to create strong bonds through empathy within a short period is perhaps the most potent force among social animals like humans.

…Just as much as a nasty person like me might try to exploit that calculatively.

While Ken was choosing his words, I subtly stole a glance at his computer monitor.

Even though I’m practically clueless with engineering or programming, it was clear that it wouldn’t bring me much assistance.

However, it also meant I had reached a level of impatience where I felt the need to find reasons to trust or distrust him, even in a place like this.

Soon enough, as he slowly opened his mouth, all my attention couldn’t help but focus on him.

“Um… Did Anastasia have a family while growing up?”

“….”

Thank goodness. It’s a topic that I can relate to.

But it’s vague. Normally, it wouldn’t be the case, but for me, it’s a question that can yield a variety of answers.

Moreover, the difficulty lies in that returning a question with a question makes it hard to grasp the original intent.

What is the wisest way to conduct myself… hmm….

…Would it be acceptable to confirm which side they are asking about: the biological family or the adoptive family, or between this world and the previous one? If I ask that, it’s likely I’ll receive a bewildered look, right?