I Never Agree with any of This?!

"Ahem, please maintain order, and we kindly ask that you refrain from asking any irrelevant questions."

Beside me, Kuroi sternly instructed the crowd of people in front of us who were apparently called 'reporters' to ask more intelligent questions. She was here acting as the spokesperson, while I was simply sitting here like a figurehead, or so I thought.

After her warning, they finally started asking better questions.

"In that case, could you tell us what changes will occur globally now that dungeons have been appearing for nearly two and a half years?"

That is an incredibly broad question, I thought to myself. I leaned over and whispered my answer to Kuroi.

"In the world of the past, dungeons existed, but their presence was seen as both a stroke of luck and a terrible misfortune."

"Umm, why is Miss Kuroi answering instead of Miss Asteria?"

"Do you have a problem with me? Miss Asteria feels she does not need to answer you directly because she is unfamiliar with modern terminology. Now, next question."

Even though my face remained entirely expressionless, internally, I was deeply shocked by what Kuroi had just said. It was so incredibly harsh!

Despite that, a bald man in the front row asked the next question.

"Is Miss Asteria currently single?"

"That is a stupid question. I will pass on that. Next."

I understood why it was a stupid question, but couldn't Kuroi have answered a little more gently? The bald man looked completely devastated. Besides, how many times did I have to do these 'press' things anyway? The government just kept forcing me to attend them.

This went on for quite a while. Kuroi answered every single question while I just sat there in silence. Eventually, the two of us returned to the office.

♦ ♦ ♦

"What is actually happening?!"

I stared at several strands of silvery-blonde hair that had just fallen from my head into my hand. The cool air blowing from that humming box on the wall felt like the morning breeze, even though I was absolutely certain it was midday.

"Everything feels completely wrong."

"How badly did nodding to everything put me in this position?!"

I fell silent as I recounted what had happened to me. Thinking back on it, everything had progressed entirely too fast. It felt like the blink of an eye, but I was told nearly three years had passed. And now, I was here.

"Miss CEO."

"I think I met those two people in black suits... then the PM... then I met Tanaka... then Kuroi... and the next thing I know, I became a Si-Eee-Oh!"

Speaking of Tanaka, I remembered him inviting me to eat and drink delicious things whenever I needed to sign something. But after I met Kuroi, he completely disappeared and just dumped me in this office.

"Miss Asteria, could you please sign this document?"

"And now I have to work here every single day."

"Oh, look! It's the 'Lady Knight of the People'!"

"That's right!" I reminded myself. "There is also that ridiculous nickname!"

I snapped myself out of my spiral and looked forward at Kuroi. As usual, she looked incredibly strict with her black glasses and shoulder-length black hair. It made me raise an eyebrow, confused as to why she had come into my office.

"Umm, could you repeat that again?"

"I need your signature here."

"Ah… alright."

I looked down at the paper, tried to read the contents, and clicked my tongue in frustration. Gripping the pen in my hand, I slammed my fist onto the desk. The force caused the pen to pierce straight through the solid wood and embed itself into the floor below.

"W… whhh..."

"Pardon?"

"Why am I doing this? Fueh~"

I felt like I had completely lost my way. Even when I signed papers I didn't understand, it felt like an automatic reflex now like my hand just moved completely on its own.

I looked straight at Kuroi, my vision turning slightly watery. Moving gracefully, she walked over to the door, closed it, and then shut the window blinds facing the outside office.

"Uwehh, why did it turn out like this?"

I slumped over and sobbed onto my desk, letting out my frustration over everything that had happened. To me, waking up in my castle still felt like it happened just yesterday.

"I mean, isn't it weird that I am here doing office work?!"

"Uweh, I want to go back to my castle and sleep forever~"

After a few moments of crying, I sighed, leaned back in my heavy chair, stared up at the ceiling, and covered my face with both palms.

"Are you done?"

"Hah~ yeah, I'm done."

She genuinely did not care about my tantrums at all. She just calmly asked me to sign the paper again.

"Here, use my pen. Please do not break it."

I fixed my posture, sighed again, took Kuroi's pen, and signed the paper as usual. She took it back but didn't move from her spot in front of my desk.

"You know, I think you should learn to actually read the papers you sign in the future."

Hearing that felt like a physical arrow had just flown across the room and pierced my head. I realized that my habit of blindly nodding was exactly why I was in this position in the first place, but…

"But you know I don't even understand what is written inside them! What is 'ROI'? What is a 'Chart'? What is the point of all this?~"

Slouching back down, I sighed and looked away. I didn't want to bother with anything right now, but Kuroi just stood there like a statue.

"You know I am here to help you with everything. If you do not understand something, you can just ask me."

"R-really, Kuroi?"

When she said it like that, my eyes widened with genuine hope. But then, I saw her smile. I immediately squinted my eyes in suspicion. This was Kuroi we were talking about, the woman who preached 'efficiency' above all else.

"Wait… are you only doing this so I can sign more papers?"

"No."

She said that while looking sideways, refusing to meet my eyes. I frowned, stood up, and pointed directly at her obvious lie.

"Lie! You are clearly lying to me! Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

"Sigh~ what do you expect from me? Besides, my job is to assist you."

"Then you become the Si-Eee-Oh (CEO) instead!"

"Well, I cannot help you with that."

I felt completely defeated hearing that. Slumping back into my chair, I felt so dejected I probably looked like a withering corpse.

"After this, you have a scheduled meeting with a representative from Company O, and in the afternoon, you have a meeting with the heads of each department."

"Th-that… are you a sadist or something?"

Kuroi's expression remained completely unchanged when I called her a sadist. It made me realize that she truly was a cold-blooded human, even though I was supposed to be the cold-blooded vampire here.

This also raised a question about how people actually perceived me. I looked at Kuroi and asked.

"Kuroi, aren't people scared of me?"

"Why would they be?" Kuroi slightly tilted her head.

"Because I am a vampire and... other things?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. At first, maybe others including myself thought you were just cosplaying."

"C-cosplaying?"

“What is that?!”

I thought to myself.

"But you know, with monsters and many other strange things appearing, we humans adapt pretty quickly. So, it's not considered strange at all."

"But you guys adapt way too quickly for me, dammit!"

At this point, I felt genuinely sorry for my poor desk. It was my fourth one, and I was probably going to break it again from my tantrums. With every sigh, I felt my life energy slowly depleting.

"Hah~ I wonder how your fans would react if they saw their 'Lady Knight of the People' acting like this. On the battlefield, you always look so stoic and cool."

"That is only because I never know what to do! Hic. Also, what are fans anyway?"

Every time there were a lot of people around me, my body would completely freeze in panic. I forced my expression to remain flat because I didn't want people staring directly at my nervous face.

"Hmm, they are like your worshippers, maybe?"

"W-what? Why would they worship a vampire like me?! What kind of heretics are they?"

"Perhaps. But you know, with the way you look, you appear to be in your mid-twenties. You look exactly like an angel with your silvery-blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and beautiful face."

"Eh… ehehehe, are you sure about that? Hehehe~"

I could feel my face burning bright red from the praise. After all, nobody had praised me like that in a millennium. Hearing it was more than enough to put a silly smile on my face.

"However, even though people see you like that, you are an absolute failure when it comes to work, and your personality is incredibly childish."

Crack.

I froze in my seat. When Kuroi bluntly said that to me, I physically felt something inside my soul shatter.

"Sh-should you really say that right after you just praised me?"

"I wasn't praising you. I was simply stating how the public views you."

“She really is the devil incarnate, I believe it now. How can humans be this cruel?!”

"But whatever. If you just slouch around and the work isn't finished, it will become my fault as well. How about this: after this week is over, you can have a holiday, and I will bring some food, snacks, and soda to your apartment."

Since I started working here, I had moved into an apartment in the city. It was too inconvenient and far away if people needed to meet me for work at my castle.

I glanced at Kuroi with watery eyes, and she simply nodded to confirm her promise. Trying to recover my composure, I lightly slapped my desk.

"This is all that Tanaka guy's fault."

"What about Mr. Tanaka?"

"That guy completely trapped me into becoming a Si-Eee-Oh! If it weren't for that delicious food called steak and that wine... guh."

The memory made me clench my fists. All of this happened because that average-looking, black-haired man named Tanaka lured me into a proposal to build a company using delicious food as bait.

"Anyway, Miss Asteria, it is time. Please follow me to the meeting with Company O to discuss our collaboration."

"Eh? What is that?"

"Just follow me."

As we moved or rather, as Kuroi dragged me into another room I saw an old man with a massive belly and golden-blonde hair already seated inside. I immediately thought his hair looked entirely fake, or at the very least, completely unsuited for his face.

"Ohoho! If it isn't the truly famous Miss Asteria. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The fat old man approached me, and we shook hands. As I sat down, Kuroi took the seat beside me. The two of them immediately started talking about something, while I just sat there with a completely blank mind, understanding absolutely nothing.

"As you know regarding our product credibility, bla bla bla…"

"Oh, of course I know that about Miss Asteria's company, bla bla bla…"

"That is why, bla bla bla…"

"About that…"

As their conversation dragged on and on, I didn't move a single inch.

“What are they even talking about?”

“Also, is the person sitting in front of me actually a human? Are we entirely sure he isn't a pig that learned how to talk?”

“Wait, why did he suddenly ask for my hand in marriage? And why did Kuroi suddenly get mad about it and say it was improper?”

“Did something bad just happen? Was that supposed to be a clue for me to do something? Eh?”

I felt the conversation becoming incredibly heated as I glanced back and forth between Kuroi and the man. I figured it was finally time for me to step in.

"Ah…"

"Oh, did Miss Asteria want to say something? Is it about the marriage proposal?"

"Ah… yes. Get out of here."

I blatantly said that right to his face, offering only a thin smile as mana violently accumulated in the air in front of me. A crimson sword forged from blood materialized out of thin air, pointing directly at the fat man's throat.

"W-What is the meaning of this?!"

"Get out. Now. Can you do that?"

"Th-this is incredibly rude!"

With a face of sheer disbelief, the man scowled deeply at me. His hair looked like it was about to fall right off his head as he stood up and briskly ran out the door.

"I will remember this! I will make sure other companies know never to work with your company again!"

Blam!

As the door slammed shut and the man left, I looked at Kuroi with a proud smile.

"Hah~ I must say, that was a very good job on my part. What do you think, Kuroi?"

Kuroi heavily wrinkled her forehead, one eyebrow twitching upward as if deeply questioning my life decisions.

Seeing that expression, I knew I had really messed up. I sighed heavily and slumped back into my seat.