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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Andrea said while getting ready to go out.
“First, the start of the morning is a cafe.”
“?”
I had a question mark on my face.
What on earth did morning have to do with a cafe.
It was a statement that lightly ignored my common sense.
Andrea, who had been watching my reaction, clicked her tongue, tsk tsk, and wagged her finger.
‘What now?’
“Famous singers are originally like that.”
“What does that m—.”
“The set routine determines the condition of the day. Even if you say you don’t understand, this can’t be helped.”
“……”
“You’re the manager, right?”
The words ‘stop with the nonsense and just get in the van’ rose to the tip of my tongue, but I managed to swallow them.
It was me who had said I would be her ‘one-day manager.’
It wouldn’t hurt to play along with Andrea’s whim for just one day.
“…So where are we going?”
“The mille-feuille here is quite good.”
The place Andrea, who had said the name of a high-end French dessert, had guided me to was a cafe with a dignified atmosphere.
‘So there are cafes in the upper level residential areas too.’
【How may I help you?】
“Two double-shot espresso-based lattes, with non-fat milk, dark roast beans, and plenty of chocolate drizzle and chocolate java chips. Ah, and we’ll also have a mille-feuille. Use only natural fruits for the ingredients.”
Andrea recited a complicated order.
If ‘magic’ had required a spell, I thought Andrea would have become a pretty great mage.
As an ‘I’ who rarely went to cafes, I had no idea what that order was.
A serving robot soon came to us, who were sitting at a terrace seat.
“Try some, I told you it’s delicious.”
‘It did look delicious.’
At Andrea’s words, I nodded my head.
For now, from the drink.
“Hmm.”
I let out a short groan.
My impression was as follows.
…….
‘I can’t drink it, it’s too sweet.’
The price was definitely about 10 times different compared to the mid-level.
But the taste wasn’t 10 times different.
I quietly put down the coffee cup.
This should not be called coffee. It was a chocolate drink with the name of coffee.
I didn’t know if I had a pancreas bioware implant installed in my body. But it was a menu that was difficult for a person with less than two pancreases in their body to eat.
In any case, since Andrea was eating well, I just idly stirred the contents of the coffee cup with a straw and watched her.
‘Our Andrea. She eats well.’
Not much time had passed.
But Andrea, who had finished the dessert in an instant, began her explanation of the day’s schedule again.
“After the cafe is a walk. There’s a nice walking path near here.”
“Hoo, a walk sounds nice.”
I answered, nodding my head.
Usually, the upper level area had good air quality, to the extent that you didn’t need a mask. There was no room for health problems to arise.
I could understand up to this point.
But I couldn’t just let the next thing she said slide.
“The next schedule is the zoo.”
“Pardon?”
I asked Andrea, doubting my ears if I had heard correctly.
“You said this was a set daily routine, right?”
“That’s right.”
“……”
Andrea, who had correctly understood the meaning of my silence, shrugged her shoulders.
“Of course, it might sound like a lie.”
‘It doesn’t sound like a lie, it just seems like a lie.’
Andrea continued to speak.
“But it’s true.”
“……”
“The newborn panda is so cute, you feel healed just by looking at it.”
The panda being cute was one thing.
I, who had belatedly come to my senses, asked Andrea with a feeling of ‘just in case.’
“…So if we go to the zoo, the daily routine is over, right?”
“Of course not.”
Andrea’s smiling face was slowly being compared to the face of a devil. I was slowly starting to understand the reason why Andrea’s nickname was ‘Devil’ or ‘Red Horn.’
Andrea, who had cleanly denied my words, looked at me.
“After that, there are about five more places, not many.”
“……”
“But it’ll be over before 12 at night, so don’t worry too much.”
“Ah.”
Hearing Andrea’s last words, I let out a short groan.
Today’s ‘day’ was just beginning.
And I belatedly realized that the main ‘manager’s work’ had not even started yet.
I stealthily raised my hand.
With a very reverent, and also polite posture, I presented my opinion to Andrea.
“Can I just go home?”
“Absolutely not.”
“……”
Ah….
‘So this is what ‘going to work’ is. I’m starting to respect all the people who live in this world.’
I shut my eyes tightly.
It was autumn.
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As we passed through the tunnel made of thick bulkheads, a brilliant black and blue galaxy spread out.
Even if it was a hologram-rendered image through a shield, its beauty did not fade.
Even if the reality was full of clouds and pollution.
Andrea, who was sitting in the back seat, asked me.
“Are we there already?”
“Yep, we’ll be there in just a little bit.”
I answered her question, checking the navigation’s guidance.
Just a few minutes until arrival.
I checked the back seat through the rearview mirror.
Andrea was rolling around, hugging the panda doll, a souvenir she had bought at the zoo, tightly.
She must have had the same schedule as me. But there was no sign of fatigue.
I tried hard to swallow the yawn that was coming out.
I asked the carefree-looking Andrea.
“Did you have fun today?”
“Yeah.”
‘Then that’s a relief.’
I went through all sorts of hardships while being dragged around.
If she had said it was an unpleasant day, my glass-like mental state might have cracked.
I shook my head slightly to come to my senses.
In any case, our main purpose was the ‘concert.’
And that’s why I had become a one-day manager.
Although I was very tired due to my trash-like physical characteristics, the day’s schedule I had gone through today was too precious to just let go of my mind here.
“Going into the underground parking lot?”
“Ah, after making a left turn here.”
Following Andrea’s guidance, I drove the van into the large dome.
It was a little later than the expected time.
It was partly because we had followed Andrea’s ‘routine,’ and also purely because I wasn’t a good driver.
“Wow, look at all the people.”
The start of the performance was already close.
The flow of the audience also seemed to be large. It was a relief that there was a separate road and entrance for authorized personnel.
Feeling the rattling vibration of the road, I turned the vehicle toward the underground parking lot.
The deeper we went down to the underground levels, thankfully, the complex crowd gradually disappeared.
Before long, an identity check was conducted through a surveillance camera.
Andrea held out her wrist as if she were used to it and finished the scan on the machine.
【’Andrea Rose’ and 1 other person. Identity has been confirmed. Welcome.】
As we arrived at the floor for authorized personnel, not a single one of the ordinary people who had been swarming around was to be seen.
Soon, Andrea, who had gotten out of the car, stretched languidly.
“Whew.”
I asked Andrea, turning off the engine.
“We can just go right up, right?”
“Yeah, the elevator is over there.”
“Finally, the end of the day is starting to be in sight.’
Of course, if you thought about it, the main manager’s work would be starting from now, but I ignored the uncomfortable truth.
We slowly moved our steps toward the elevator without a word.
Being tired was one thing, and the fact that the surroundings were quiet was also one of the reasons.
A wide underground parking lot.
Only the sound of our two footsteps echoed quietly.
If I took a step, Andrea would also follow me.
As if we were in sync, a constant rhythm followed in order.
As if Andrea had also felt that atmosphere,she soon smiled bashfully and stuck to my side.
“Hey, your arm.”
“What does it matter?”
Perhaps because we had played together all day, it was an Andrea whose sense of distance had become strange.
Even if it was a floor for authorized personnel, I didn’t know what she would do if she got caught by the paparazzi.
“You’ll be misunderstood if you do this to others too.”
“I don’t do it to others.”
…….
‘I don’t know anymore.’
No matter how clueless I was, I couldn’t not know the feelings that the other women, including Andrea, had for me.
And as such, it was hard to push them away.
Of course, my timid personality was also one of the reasons.
And in fact, since Andrea was stronger than me, I couldn’t push her away by force either.
A quiet silence followed.
I stopped in front of the elevator. I slowly waited for the elevator to come.
“……”
I could tell that Andrea was looking at me now, even without lowering my head.
Just as I was thinking that I wished the elevator would arrive quickly and this atmosphere would end.
Andrea opened her mouth.
“…As I said before, today was fun. Really.”
Only then did I lower my head.
I looked at Andrea.
“…I heard that the three of you went to an amusement park together before, so I suggested the zoo because of that.”
Andrea gently turned her gaze forward.
“Well, it’s true that I wanted to see the panda too.”
‘I really can’t resist a panda.’
I, who had let out a small laugh, continued to speak to Andrea.
“It’s a relief you had fun. And don’t worry too much, did you really think I would believe that story about the routine?”
Although I had said it lightly to change the mood, on the contrary, that point seemed to have pleased Andrea.
“And that’s what I’m grateful for.”
…….
The atmosphere was getting stranger and stranger.
Perhaps because she was a famous singer, but as I was looking down at her like this, it felt like I was going to fall into Andrea’s red eyes. Her eyelashes were also very long.
Huh?
‘Was Andrea’s face this close?’
And as if that wasn’t enough, it seemed to be getting closer and closer—.
Ding-dong.
“Hey, hey. The elevator’s here. Let’s get in.”
Thankfully, the elevator arriving before that was faster.
I turned my gaze toward the elevator.
And
“Welcome.”
I saw Eve.
I carefully rubbed my eyes.
It was to doubt if I was seeing a hallucination.
““……””
‘It’s really Eve. …By any chance. Were you watching everything?’
Just as I was about to ask Eve that question.
The light that had been illuminating the surroundings disappeared in an instant.
The elevator.
The lights.
Even the LED of the fire safety equipment.
All the light disappeared, and darkness spread out.
And in the darkness that had become the underground, the only thing that was shining was Eve’s white eyes.
I carefully gathered my mana.
I created light and illuminated the surroundings.
I didn’t know the exact, clear reason, but for some reason, I swallowed dryly.
‘…Eve, Eve?’
As if she had noticed my thoughts, Eve calmly opened her mouth.
“There may be room for misunderstanding, but I will make the excuse that this is not a situation I created.”
“……”
“It’s true.”
At this time, it was a little hard to believe.
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