[CH.17] Expelled colleague (Part 1)
One day, the anomaly suddenly appeared.
While handling office tasks, a notification beep signaled the arrival of an email.
"Hmm?"
The sender was from an unknown source. Probably just spam mail. It's a rule of thumb to never open attachments for the sake of online security.
But because it was sent to the company address, the email had to be opened. There was no choice.
What is this?
"Nishina Kazuha is a woman who uses her body to get ahead in her job. She has the worst personality and is completely self-centered. I contacted you because I thought about you."
My heart raced.
Calm down, calm down.
I need to make sure no one else notices...
The recipient's address is unfamiliar, but the domain after the "@" is something I've seen everywhere. It's probably a personal email.
Who could possibly be behind such harassment?
Should I reply? No, that wouldn't be a good idea.
Alright, Nishina-san just went to the restroom. Kubo-san is working on the other side...
"Manager, may I have a moment?"
"What is it, Hanamura-kun?"
I brought my laptop to Manager Mimasaka's desk.
"I received this email from an unknown source."
"Not again..."
Again... that must mean something.
"Could you forward this email to me? Well, it might be futile."
"..."
"I know you understand the contents, but..."
"I don't believe it. I know Nishina-san inside out."
"That sounds like a harassing line. I'm more worried about you."
"How awful!"
"What's going on with you two?"
Unfortunately, Nishina-san returned at the wrong time.
I hesitated to bring up this conversation... so instead.
"The Human Body Puppeteer: Expelled from a Party for Being Useless at Controlling People's Bodies, but Meeting an STR-Maxed Beautiful Girl and Dominating. It's Too Late to Return to the Party Now~."
"Whoa, what's this all of a sudden!?"
"Hehe, Nishina always comes up with such long titles. I was just talking to Hanamura-kun."
"What!? It's still work hours, you know!"
This title is from a new series Nishina-san started recently. It's a bit hard to understand, but that's just how it is.
"Well, I can't help it. I want bookmarks and ratings too! Amateurs won't read anything unless it has a long title."
Despite saying that, her face turned red.
She must be aware of how embarrassing it is.
Well... revealing what's in your head takes quite a bit of courage, I think. I can relate to that.
"Manager, your titles seem pretty unintelligent, too."
"What did you say!? Nishina, I might have to teach you more about romance."
"Oh, come on! I like childhood friend stories, but your works are just too heavy!"
"What are you two making a fuss about?"
Kuhou-san, who had finished her work, approached.
"We're just talking about creative stuff. What do you think about childhood friend stories, Kuhou-san?"
"Childhood friends? Well, they usually end up having a falling out because of a broken engagement, and the guy gets stolen, so it's mostly about misunderstandings, right?"
"Oh... I see."
She said it with such a lovely smile that I couldn't say anything.
Both the manager and Nishina-san seemed at a loss for words...
This girl's genre is a bit different, after all.
But well, the atmosphere has changed, and that's a good thing.
I'll just ignore the email anyway; it's probably the end of it.
That's what I thought.
---
On that Friday of the same week, when I returned to the office after completing my rounds outside, I ran into Nishina-san, who had also just returned from her rounds. Since it was past our regular working hours, I thought I would check my email before leaving.
"Welcome back, Hanamura-chan."
"Yeah, welcome back."
"It's getting hot, isn't it?"
"Yeah, May is just around the corner."
We chatted away while opening our laptops and checking our emails.
Among several emails, there was one from an unfamiliar address.
"Kazuha Nishina has the worst personality and is completely self-centered. You're being deceived."
Oh, this email again.
No matter how many times it's sent, it's pointless...
"Huh!"
This time, the recipient was me, but Nishina-san's name was in the CC field.
It was a pretty blatant form of harassment.
As I turned my gaze away from the computer, I saw Nishina-san with a pale face.
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