Chapter 11

“You’re late.”

The person waiting behind the door is Z-898.

Alexis Rainier, the Esper with the ability to fortify his body. 

The person who found out I was a woman.

He looked at me curiously and stepped back.

“Yes, I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Name.”

“I am number A-702!”

“Name.”

“What?”

“Your name.”

After some initial hesitation I opened my mouth and answered his persistent question.

“A-Aselia.”

“Aselia?”

“My name is Aselia.”

“I see.”

Alexis didn’t ask further as if he had lost interest after learning my name. Although it was nighttime, his private training room was as bright as daytime. Bright LED lights illuminated the room.

Maybe that’s why the stars were hard to see on the transparent glass ceiling.

“That.”

“Yes.”

I took some items out of the bag. Training could be done alone, with a lower class member or with the help of researchers. It was clear that I would be assisting his personal training alone.

Troublesome grade X’s would intentionally slay subordinates as an excuse for training.

If any grades caused problems, their grade was changed to X grade. Grade X was classified into three classes: X, XX, and XXX. A grade XXX offender was disposed of if one more mistake is committed.

But you couldn’t earn an X-rating for killing a useless person, like myself.

You could earn an X rating when mistakes oversights were committed during an outside mission or if you annihilated researchers.

But if that was the case then why was Kalisten’s grade still Z?

“Aselia.”

“Ah, Mr. Z-898! I’m sorry!”

I was taken aback finding myself lost in thought in front of him and so I straightened my spin and stood at attention. He stood in front of me suddenly.

“You carry it well.”

“… yes.”

All I had was a gun.

His training was predictable since his powers are base on his physical form and the training methods are not very diverse.

“If you want to shoot, shoot.”

This ignorant training method was devised by researchers.

Since he was a physical empowerment psychic and so by raising his powers, he could deflect bullets with his bare hands. But only high level Espers could do that.

“Yes, I will shoot.”

Then I pointed a gun at him and tried to shoot.

This sucks. The weight of the gun was considerable, it was heavier than most dumbbells. Also, what if a bullet bounces off of him and hits me?

Ugh why, why me… There were many other strength reinforcement trainers.

“….”

But if I don’t shoot, I’ll be going against Alexis. Then he might tell the researchers that I’m a woman. Next thing I know, I will be scrapped.

I can’t die like this, I’ve put so much effort into the barely budding affinity with Kalisten.

I couldn’t bear to shoot him head-on, so I purposely aimed the gun a little off. Then I closed my eyes tightly and put my index finger on the trigger.

I tried to calm myself with a deep breath but it was useless—my breath was trembling.

And—

I pulled the trigger.

-Tick!

“Huh?”

“Oh, right.”

He came up to me again very quickly and started rummaging through my bag on the floor. Then, with a metal clanging sound, he took out a square box and handed it to me.

“Bullets.”

“Ah… .”

The problem was that I didn’t know how to load bullets into a gun. I didn’t want to offend Alexis, so I opened the box. Then, with a clatter racket, all bullets spilled out and rolled on the floor.

“Oh… !”

Alexis was staring at me blankly. Mortified and flustered, I tried to pick them up quickly, fearing he would get angry.

-Tick!

As I sat down, the sound of the trigger of the empty gun clicked.

“You just blew my head while sitting down.”

“Oh—I’m sorry—ah… I’m sorry… .”

There was movement on his previously blank face, as he watched me, a smile grew on his face.

It was never a good sign when an emotionally deprived Esper smiled.

“Do you know how to load it?”

“… No.”

As if that fact was highly amusing, his grin grew.

He reached out to me, so I didn’t know what to expect, so guessing, I grabbed his held out hand.

“Pfft—”

“Er… .”

Alexis was a strange person. Didn’t you ask for my hand?

“Give me the gun.”

“Oh… sorry… .”

In a moment of shame, I tried to remove my hand, but he didn’t budge. I tried to pull my hand out of his grip, but he wouldn’t let go.