Hearing their similar yet different answers, Sonoka was momentarily stunned before giving them an odd look:
"Perhaps you two should synchronise your answers first?"
At this, Luo Shu couldn't help but retort: "Why 'life partner' of all things?"
"Haven't we pledged ourselves to each other for life?"
Utaha naturally flipped her hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear as she smiled.
Though painfully shy in professional settings, among close acquaintances and in the eyes of the lover she'd chosen for her future, she was extraordinarily bold.
"Committing to a lifetime with someone like me would be exhausting."
Utaha replied with a smile:
"Whether you're exhausting or not is for me to decide, not you. At least for now, I think you're wonderful - that's enough."
Suddenly force-fed this display of affection, Sonoka's expression froze.
'Damn it, what are these two high schoolers doing in front of a 28-year-old single woman like me?!'
Just then, the elevator dinged as its doors opened.
With a crowd of panting senior executives waiting outside, Sonoka swallowed her numerous questions and silently exited the elevator.
Seeing this, Utaha glanced at Luo Shu - who had been about to say more - before following Sonoka first, with Luo Shu bringing up the rear.
The three arrived at the president's office. At Sonoka's indication, Utaha took the seat behind the president's desk while Luo Shu positioned himself behind her, gesturing for Sonoka to stand opposite. After the assistant closed the door, Utaha smiled and said:
"My name and circumstances - I assume you've all been briefed?"
The assembled group remained silent. Observing this, Utaha smiled:
"Then I shan't waste time explaining. Please introduce yourselves."
At this, the grey-haired middle-aged man at the front in a black suit bowed and presented his business card with both hands:
"I am Takada from General Affairs."After his introduction, Itō, the editor-in-chief, stepped forward with an unnatural expression and handed over his business card:
"Editor-in-Chief Itō from the editorial department."
"Miki from the anime development division."
"Mitsuhashi from the finance department."
"Matsumoto from the first marketing department."
"Kurahashi from the publicity department."
With over twenty people introducing themselves in turn, Sonoka Machida, temporarily responsible for collecting the business cards, ended up with a small stack. Had Utaha not gained enhanced mental faculties from her abilities, she likely wouldn't have been able to keep track of everyone.
Even so, by the end, Utaha could only maintain a polite smile and nod, giving the impression she recognised each person when in reality, she couldn't recall a single one.
The thought that Luo Shu was standing right behind her ensured Utaha's smile never faltered:
"Very well, I suppose we've made our initial acquaintance."
"Although my takeover of the company was rather sudden, rest assured, I have no immediate plans to alter any of your current work arrangements."
Hearing this, Takada, the senior managing director, and Itō, the editor-in-chief, secretly sighed in relief.
Publishing work emphasised professional expertise, and unless a president had risen from the frontlines, managing an entire publishing house would be challenging.
Initially, seeing Utaha's youth—just as the provided documents indicated—Takada and Itō had worried she might interfere recklessly.
Now, with President Utaha explicitly stating she wouldn't meddle in frontline operations, they felt somewhat reassured.
However, their relief might have been premature.
"Of course, as a president stepping in during a crisis, I'll need time to thoroughly familiarise myself with the publishing house."
Here, Utaha paused deliberately, glancing at Sonoka Machida with a practised smile:
"The reason is simple."
"Because, for now, I'm still just a minor author under Machida's supervision."
"Mm, The Metronome in Love—a little experiment of mine, a trial run to understand the publishing process."
At this, Itō stiffened, unable to resist turning to glare at Matsumoto from the first marketing department.
Matsumoto was slightly plump, with a head of hair that ranked among the thickest in the company.
Yet now, he couldn't fathom why Itō was staring at him so intensely. Had President Utaha said something else just now?
Wait... The Metronome in Love? That name sounded familiar. Wasn't that one of Machida's titles?
Hold on... wasn't that the one Fuminosuke was handling promotions for? The rom-com that got marketed as a mystery?!
Matsumoto's face instantly drained of colour.
"Matsumoto." Itō ground his teeth, glaring at the marketing department's Matsumoto. "This is your doing."
"What's going on?" Takada was utterly lost.
President Utaha was writing a light novel to test the publishing house's operations—what was the issue?
Didn't it show her commitment to understanding their work?
A president willing to learn from the ground up, from an author's perspective, was surely better than some clueless outsider barking orders, wasn't it?
Seeing Takada's confusion, Itō leaned in and whispered an explanation.
Instantly, Takada's face flushed with rage.
"Matsumoto, what the hell were you thinking?!"
The new president's work was launched, yet the marketing department actually engaged in false advertising, secretly sabotaging it, causing the work to flop and become unpopular.
What on earth is the marketing department doing?!
The junior staff are deliberately causing trouble, and while you, as the leader, don't correct them, it has now escalated to this point, making everyone look bad in front of the new president and lowering their ratings.
Who are they doing this for?
The president just said there wouldn't be any job relocations, and you pull this stunt on me? Do you think we old-timers can't handle a knife anymore?
"I'm really very sorry," Matsumoto, the department head, hurriedly bowed and repeatedly apologised.
At that moment, Takada, the executive, said with a dark expression, "We'll discuss your matter later."
With the new president just stepping in, such a blunder naturally couldn't be made public; at least, it couldn't be openly acknowledged or punished. After all, if it were to be punished, it would look like the president was taking revenge, and he couldn't make things uncomfortable for President Utaha here.
Meanwhile, the higher-ups at the publishing house, who were initially unaware of the situation, began to understand it through Itō's quiet explanations, and their gazes towards Matsumoto took on a subtly unusual feeling.
To pull such a prank that landed on the new president's head was a bit too much.
It's likely Matsumoto will be reassigned, but who knows if it will be to go fishing in Hokkaido or to see the sea in the Ryukyu Islands? Oh, if they're feeling particularly harsh, he might even be sent to Russia to develop new markets.
"It seems some rather interesting situations have arisen," Utaha said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
In reality, she was almost furious.
If she hadn't casually mentioned it, and if it weren't for Mind Reading, she would have thought her work simply didn't fit the market. Instead, it turned out that a junior staff member was sabotaging her?
"No, president…" Takada, the executive, wanted to explain something but was interrupted by Utaha.
"Alright, let's settle the important matters at the upcoming senior meeting later."
Utaha was well aware that today was merely about getting acquainted with the higher-ups at the publishing house and confirming her position; everything else was secondary.
However, in the end, she couldn't resist adding one last remark:
"Executive Director Takada, it seems the quality of frontline staff needs some improvement."
Utaha's casual comment made Takada and Editor-in-Chief Itō break out in cold sweat, realising the new president was probably aware of everything.
What they'd assumed was a routine inspection of publishing operations had now been reinterpreted as both a loyalty test and a competency assessment.
And judging by current circumstances, they seemed to have failed spectacularly.
Below them, Matsumoto, grovelling on the floor, took one look at Takada and Itō's grim expressions and immediately knew - he was utterly screwed.
Only after the disgraced department head Matsumoto had been unceremoniously dragged away by senior management, leaving the room empty, did Utaha finally slam the documents on the table with a thunderous crash.
"Damn it!!"
"Utaha-chan..." Sonoka Machida looked at her awkwardly. Though unclear how Utaha had found out, it appeared she knew every detail about the publishing house's internal affairs.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu, who remained largely uninformed, approached curiously:
"What's got you so worked up all of a sudden?"
Utaha pouted, her voice dripping with grievance:
"My work's been sabotaged. Apparently, the first volume's performance wasn't great, even though they previously said it showed bestseller potential..."
Her ears twitched as her expression darkened further.
Cancelled after three volumes? Who did they think they were dealing with? She'd planned a five-volume arc... well, admittedly recent events had left her without proper outlines, just rough ideas - but that was no reason to axe it at three!
"Sabotaged?" Luo Shu seemed genuinely surprised. "So Kirika actually did you a favour then?"
He wasn't particularly concerned about Utaha's publishing woes. As the company president now, what was there to fear? Just ramp up the marketing.
In fact, those executives and editors would proactively make amends without Utaha even asking.
As for junior staff... well, publishing was a lifetime career in Japan. Workplace bullying, departmental transfers, or perhaps a nice relocation to the African or Middle Eastern branches?
There were always ways to make someone's life difficult.
Utaha sighed at the mention of Kirika Tachibana: "As strange as it sounds, yes. I suppose I owe her a meal now."
Had Kirika not handed this publishing house to Utaha, she might never have discovered the conspiracy against her.
With this debt hanging over her, Utaha realised she'd probably have to act deferentially around Kirika from now on.
How infuriating! This whole mess could have been avoided!
Muttering to herself, Utaha mused: "Sometimes it's not the leadership that ruins things first, but some random clerk at the bottom?"
Luo Shu gave her an amused look: "What's this? Planning to renounce worldly affairs and become Japan's greatest publishing magnate?"
Utaha shot him a glare: "Must you always tease me?"
'I could do more than tease you...'
The flirtatious glance stirred something in Luo Shu, though he kept silent, merely observing Utaha before remarking:
"You seem quite comfortable in this role. The presidency shouldn't pose much difficulty going forward."
"Indeed." Utaha nodded in agreement.
Back in school, it had been manageable, but now in the complex world of the workplace, Mind Reading truly felt like a cheat ability.
The thoughts of subordinates, their hidden secrets—all were laid bare before her. The root of any problem could be pinpointed directly by sifting through the mental chatter of countless people.
If not for the broader external environment, Utaha was confident she could turn the publishing house's personnel into an impenetrable fortress.
As this thought crossed her mind, Utaha suddenly felt as though she were soaking in a hot spring, an indescribable comfort welling up in her heart.
"What's wrong?" Luo Shu was the first to notice Utaha's odd expression and immediately pulled up her personal panel in the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System.
At the same time, alerted by the system notification that Luo Shu was checking her status, Utaha couldn't resist opening the Divine Pantheon system to glance at her own details—and froze in shock.
"This?!"
Meanwhile, Luo Shu glanced at Sonoka Machida and communicated with Utaha through the internal system.
After hearing how her ability had been enhanced, Luo Shu suddenly recalled the bizarre array of abilities among his Familia members.
Perhaps these abilities could also be enhanced under similar circumstances?
After all, no one said unconventional abilities couldn't be useful, right?
The thought left Luo Shu feeling strangely ambivalent.
Somehow, he had the vague sense that Japan might soon become a testing ground for his Familia's abilities...
Surely that was just his imagination?