Without waiting for the elevator doors to fully open, Cole instantly jumped back as far as possible. His eyes gained a dangerous glint and became an empty void that would cause anyone who stared into them to burst into a cold sweat.He crouched his body down and readied himself to dodge or accept any attack that came near him.
To the observers, they didn"t have time to question Cole"s actions before an explosion of dust and shrapnel blew them away.
Within the dust cloud, Cole could see a vague silhouette. Nearing 2 meters in height, presumably a woman and had what seemed to be two horns on her head.
"Oi..."
"Are you the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that was recommended by one of those sh*tty geezers?!"
As the dust cloud finally faded away, Cole could fully see the woman"s features.
Tanned skin and bright red hair. Eyes that were a reddish-orange in color and had the familiar power b.u.t.ton shaped pupil all Mechanicas had. Her arms and legs were covered in vambraces and greaves that were black in color and had glowing red streaks running along them giving them a sci-fi look.
She was also tightly grasping a Battle axe that rested on her shoulders.
There was metal plating around her neck that reached until her collar bones and extended until her back. There were ram horns situated on top of her head that were black in color but were by no means natural with its metallic look and sheen
Her bronze abs were clearly revealed and she only had crop top to cover her chest.
She was wearing a sleeveless fur coat and black loose straight trousers. Her black greaves also somehow turned into high heels...
Cole wondered whether or not that was a practical choice of footwear and if she actually felt pride in showcasing her abs rather than shame but he still focused on the threat in front of him.
She had a dominating presence and it felt like not a single thing could force her to retreat. Full of bravery and courage and possibly hotheaded. That was what Cole a.n.a.lysed her personality to be.
〔Good Luck, Bad Luck has been activated - Result: Bad Luck〕
"Ha?"
〔Due to a misunderstanding from the higher-ups, one of the main founders and leader of〈S.T.E.L.L.A〉, Aries, has come to beat the c.r.a.p out of you. If you survive this, good luck will come your way shortly after.〕
All of a sudden, a thread of alert messages appeared before his eyes, reminding him of a skill that he pushed to the side.
"Looks like I"ll have to re-examine my "Skills" after this."
Cole reprimanded himself as he nearly forgot the existence of Skills just because he barely used them as it reminded him of a certain FFF-ranked apt.i.tude.
He knew himself that wasn"t a proper excuse especially with a t.i.tle like "Weapon Master"
"Oi, didn"t ya hear me, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"
Cole stayed silent to Aries blatant provocation. He couldn"t find any weak spots in her stance and from her physical features, Cole could tell that she was probably a Defense-type Mechanica. Meaning that he would be troubled if he were to make a fight drag on.
He weighed his options and thought of anything he could use while minimizing the damage that will be done to the surroundings.
Cole then decided to use one of the Skills he had been neglecting so much.
〈Keen Sense〉
〔〈Keen Sense〉has been activated. 〕
〔〈Vital Points: Fully Guarded. 〉〕
〔〈Weak Points: Money〉〕
A total of 3 messages appeared in Cole"s view. He had guessed as much for Aries"s Vital spots. But he didn"t expect that a "Weak Point" meant an entirely different thing.
"..."
Cole desperately wanted to sigh in both disappointment and bewilderment at this new discovery. But he couldn"t when there still was a ram that could potentially bash his head into a million pieces blocking his way.
His gaze shifted for a bit, looking for signs that could somehow confirm what exactly his department should be doing.
The floor was mostly filled with computers and holographic screens and looked like a typical office department. There were a few screens that had charts displaying the increase and decrease of stocks over the months and years.
There were also similar charts that went over the cash flow of the organization.
A door with a label that was hovering over it that said "Accounting" in the distance and another one that was labeled "Justice Department" with one more labeled "Human Resources"
He did this as fast as possible with minimal movement. His suspicions from earlier were confirmed and although he disliked the fact that he would be burdened with a lot of stuff, he was able to form a plan that"ll probably work against his opponent.
Although he was a weapon master, that didn"t necessarily mean he would plunge into fights w.i.l.l.y-nilly.
"Ma"am Aries, first of all, as much as I"d like to straighten out our misunderstandings. There is a far more important thing I"d like to discuss."
As Cole said this, he stood up straight and straightened out his crooked tie and faced the woman before him with not a single trace of fear.
"Haa? You have the nerve to talk to me as if you"re some? When not even I, the official Leader of this organization has fully accepted your position?"
Her harsh tone became somewhat more dignified midway as if to showcase her superiority. Cole just shrugged it off and decided to get straight to the point.
"Ma"am Aries, whether you like it or not, I have been recommended as the new Libra Department Head by Queen Lucille of the Demon Realm and have been entrusted to deal with the organization"s Finances, Accounting, Human Resources, and Justice departments."
"Lucy did?!"
"As such, I hope that as the Leader of our organization you"ll be able to properly reimburse the damage you have done to company property and pay any injuries that may have occurred to the people involved from your personal a.s.sets."
As Cole said this, he pointed towards the bodies sprawled among the rubble and leftover elevator parts. At least there wasn"t only one elevator in existence in the entire building.
"Guh!"
When she heard her own a.s.sets involved, Aries"s strong and fearful expression immediately changed into what one would wear when they heard their parents, siblings, beloved or dog (or any other kind of pet) got hit and isekai"d into another world by Truck-kun and maybe his cousin Car-kun.
She dropped her axe, or attempted to do so before she carefully placed it on the ground and put her hand to her chin and pondered for a good while.
Aries would cast glances at Cole from time to time as if to read his mood but Cole"s face remained expressionless.
"...Did I just a.s.sume things...?"
"...He mentioned Lucy and she has a good eye for people..."
Of course, Cole had no idea of knowing whether or not Lucille actually played a part in his employment in〈S.T.E.L.L.A〉, but with the constant starry sky names popping up here and there along with the fact that she was one of the main sponsors.
Cole actually just bet on the fact that the important sponsor Gemi was talking about the time was probably Lucille. There weren"t any other candidated for the position and if anyone said it could be Val, Cole would personally remind them of the time Val first flew through the〈Neutral Zone〉
After muttering a few more things for a while, Aries dragged Cole into his office where he hadn"t even had a chance to personalize yet and immediately prostrated before him.
"I"m deeply sorry!!!!"
Cole didn"t have those "Eh?" or "Huh?"moments where the protagonist would SOMEHOW not understand why person X was apologizing and forgive them all too easily when the act they did really deserved some sort of punishment.
"It"s fine. Since it seems you are genuinely sorry for what you have done. I just hope that you will properly pay for the damage you have you caused with your own personal a.s.sets and not company money."
Aries nodded her head so intensely that the floor slightly shook and Cole could see a few drops of blood coming from her forehead.
He was slightly surprised that her horns didn"t stop her from doing so.
"Anyway, since you are supposed to be my boss, I think it"s time we formally introduce ourselves and Miss Leader can clarify as to what exactly I"m supposed to be doing."
Cole sat on one of the nearby sofas that was already moved in and set as a default furniture piece.
Aries also got up and sat on the sofa opposite of Cole and took the nearby tablet and opened up a few files for Cole to read. She had already switched back to her leader image and it was as if the lamb apologizing on all fours was a lie.
She handed the tablet to Cole and when he saw the first page, he instantly hated his intuition but he didn"t let it show in his face.
〔Libra Department Head Duties:
- Supervisor and Department Head of Finances, Accounting, Human Resources and Justice〕
"And since you have such an importnat position, I"ll go take you to meet the other Department Heads later. Familiarize yourself with your new works.p.a.ce.
When Cole thought about all the stuff he will have to deal with from now one, he wondered if accepting this offer was truly the correct decision. And this was only the start of Cole"s first day at work.