Chapter 124: So Close

By the time lunch was over, the small problems Reiji had created were already spreading throughout the company.

Nothing had exploded, nobody had been fired and the building was still standing, so technically everything was fine. However, several departments were now stepping on each other’s toes, meetings were being rescheduled, documents were being sent to the wrong people and approvals were taking longer than usual.

For a normal company, it would have been an annoying day.

For Mayumi, it was apparently an opportunity to create even more work.

Aoi had barely returned to her desk when another stack of documents appeared in front of her.

She stared at it for a few seconds before slowly looking toward Mayumi’s office.

’Does this woman have an endless supply of documents hidden somewhere?’

Her earbud suddenly activated, and Reiji’s voice came through quietly.

"Don’t lose your patience yet. We’re almost there," Reiji said as he continued monitoring the company’s systems from home.

Aoi glanced around before lowering her voice. "I’m trying, but Manager Yamada seems determined to bury me alive."

"Think of it as character development," Reiji replied.

Aoi rolled her eyes and continued working, deciding it was better not to waste her energy arguing with him.

The rest of the afternoon went almost exactly as Reiji expected. The small problems continued piling up, and Mayumi became busier with every passing hour. However, instead of becoming angry, she simply worked faster.

That was the problem.

Mayumi was too competent.

Every time Reiji created a problem, Mayumi found a way to solve it.

Every time Aoi made a mistake, Mayumi corrected it before it could become serious.

At this point, Reiji was beginning to feel like he was fighting a boss who had unlimited health regeneration.

Reiji leaned back in his chair and studied the latest reports again. Something about the situation bothered him. Mayumi wasn’t simply reacting to the problems anymore; she was beginning to anticipate them. Twice that afternoon, she had made decisions that prevented issues before they even reached her desk.

"She’s adapting," Reiji said quietly.

Vel stopped chewing and looked at him.

"Is that bad?"

"Very."

Reiji’s fingers tapped against the desk as he watched another department report come through.

"If she starts noticing the pattern, Aoi won’t get another opportunity."

Vel tilted his head.

"So we need a better plan?"

Reiji smiled faintly.

"Exactly."

"She’s still handling everything," Reiji muttered as he watched the screens in front of him.

Vel, who was still lying beside the computer while eating snacks, glanced at him with crumbs around his mouth. "My Lord, are we losing?"

Reiji looked at the cat for several seconds before shaking his head. "No. But I’m starting to understand why her previous assistant quit."

Vel nodded seriously but still didn’t really get what was going on, didn’t bother himself further as he returned to his food as if that had been the most important discussion of the day.

Meanwhile, Aoi continued working until the clock finally approached the end of the workday.

She had expected Mayumi to keep her until late again, but something unexpected happened.

Mayumi stepped out of her office and looked toward Aoi’s desk.

"Tachibana-san, that’s enough for today. You should go home and rest," Mayumi said, noticing how exhausted she looked.

Aoi raised her head in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. You’ve done more than enough this week, and judging by your face, you’re about five minutes away from falling asleep on your keyboard," Mayumi replied.

Aoi gave an awkward smile.

’She’s actually letting me go?’

That wasn’t part of the plan.

She glanced toward the clock and then toward her computer, her mind quickly running through the situation. The final phase required her to get access to Mayumi’s laptop, but if Mayumi went home now, there would be no chance.

Aoi felt her heart begin pounding.

’Don’t tell me we’re actually going to fail.’

She quickly gathered a few documents from her desk and stood up, pretending to organize them before looking toward Mayumi.

"Manager Yamada, there’s actually something I need to confirm with you before I leave," Aoi said, holding up one of the documents.

Mayumi stopped and looked at the paper. "What is it?"

Aoi quickly pointed toward the hallway. "It’s regarding one of the documents from the afternoon. I don’t want to misunderstand anything, so could you come with me for a moment? I think the file is in the records room."

Mayumi looked slightly surprised but nodded. "Alright. Let’s take a look."

Aoi followed her into the hallway, her heart pounding harder with every step.

This was her chance.

She only needed Mayumi away from her office for a few minutes.

As they reached the records room, Aoi deliberately stopped near the shelves and began searching through the files.

"I’m sorry for keeping you this late," Aoi said while pretending to search.

"It’s fine. Just don’t make a habit of staying late," Mayumi replied.

Aoi nodded before pulling out a random folder and flipping through it.

She had no idea what was inside.

She also didn’t care.

She only needed time.

After another minute, Aoi finally closed the folder and handed it to Mayumi.

"I found it. Thank you for checking it with me."

Mayumi glanced at the folder before nodding. "Good. Then you can head home."

Aoi gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you, Manager Yamada. I’ll leave first."

She turned around and headed back toward the office.

The moment she was out of Mayumi’s sight, her expression became serious.

She wasn’t going home.

She quickly returned to the office and looked around.

Most of the employees had already left.

"Perfect," Aoi muttered as she entered their office. She took a deep breath before heading toward Mayumi’s desk.

Her hands were slightly trembling as she pulled the small flash drive Reiji had given her from her pocket.

’Please let this work.’

She glanced toward the hallway one more time before inserting the flash drive into Mayumi’s laptop.

Nothing happened at first.

Aoi’s heart sank. Then the screen changed. A small indicator appeared.

20%.

She swallowed nervously and watched it climb.

40%.

She glanced toward the hallway again.

Nobody was there.

60%.

Her palms were beginning to sweat.

70%.

Aoi could hear her own heartbeat.

80%.

She tightened her fingers around the edge of the desk.

’Come on...’

90%.

Footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway.

Aoi’s eyes widened.

She looked toward the door, then back at the screen.

95%.

The footsteps became louder.

96%.

Aoi’s breathing became shallow.

97%.

The footsteps stopped.

98%.

She could see the shadow of someone approaching through the glass.

99%.

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

100%.

"Yes." Aoi muttered.

"What are you doing there?" Mayumi voice suddenly came through from the door.