R’s Special Mission: Preface

“It’s sooo hot...”

The stifling heat had melted Rekka into a puddle of goo.

“You okay there, Rekka? Has your brain melted, too?”

“Yeah... it might have. R, bring me some barley tea...”

Rekka called out for me lazily. R—that was my identifier.

“I am incapable of making physical contact with anything other than you.”

“So useless...”

“How rude.”

Two years have passed since my creation. My outer appearance is approximately that of a ten-year-old girl. Despite my pretty and compact body, I’m an extremely capable individual. Granted, I rarely have the opportunity to demonstrate that to Rekka.

“You know, you could just ask Harissa. She’s in the kitchen anyway.”

“Can’t be bothered to yell...”

He was seriously the spitting image of a hopeless cause.

“Transmission received.”

Just as I was about to tell off the bump on a log named Rekka, a semi-transparent display screen appeared before my eyes. Rekka, of course, didn’t notice a thing. It was only visible to me.

Oh? It was a transmission from the future. Who could it be? Hmm... It seemed to be from one of my superiors.

“Dispatching special mission to Singularity Branch Point Observer R.”

I silently read the message from the future that was displayed on the screen.

“What kind of mission is it?”

I sent a response back to the future. The text I wanted to send was displayed on the screen just by thinking it, so it was a much more convenient method of communication than the computers and phones of this era. It removed the need for typing on a keyboard, so Rekka wouldn’t suspect anything, either.

“Your previously submitted Heroine Report was found to be informationally insufficient.”

“With all due respect, this unit is incapable of venturing more than five meters away from the observation target. There is a limit to what intelligence can be gathered, so please wait for further behavioral reports for additional information.”

“Request denied. Headquarters seeks more precise information in a timely manner.”

“Please explain.”

Even if they asked for more precise information, I couldn’t give them any more than I was already reporting.

“In three seconds’ time, a Mind-Melding Device will be forwarded to you.”

Exactly three seconds later, a palm-sized reader with a red jewel embedded into it arrived.

“This is... a Scarlet Doppel Stone. I’d heard the ore for it was mined, but were you successful in refining it?”

This Scarlet Doppel Stone was the same as the Margaret family treasure, and it had the ability to store special powers. The raw ore to make it was exceedingly rare, but could occasionally be found in space. A small amount had been excavated in the future I came from, but it needed extremely precise refinement to be able to replicate psychic powers properly. Many experts had deemed it a hopeless cause.

“Documents on the refinement process of Scarlet Doppel Stones were obtained through negotiations with the Margaret clan. The refinement process has not been perfected. Consider this a low-quality prototype of the Scarlet Doppel Stone.”

“Huh.”

“...”

Oops, I accidentally responded like my usual self. I could feel the cold silence coming from the other side of the screen. It seemed moods could transcend time and space.

“Ahem. So, what kind of psychic power does it hold?”

I could make a pretty good guess based on the name of the device, though.

“Telepathy.”

Figures. Just as I expected.

“However, as previously mentioned, the Scarlet Doppel Stone used in this Mind-Melding Device is still a prototype. Thus, the telepathic ability stored in it is extremely limited. It is only capable of reading the thoughts of each target once.”

“Understood.”

That certainly felt like a knockoff compared to the psychic powers of Yang Danshey, the leader of the organization Rekka fought against. Granted, in his case, he was born with telepathy and had sharpened his skills with it through extensive training.

“Observer R. Your five-meter movement restriction around Rekka Namidare will now be removed.”

“...”

“You will take the Mind-Melding Device to each heroine and produce a more detailed report. This is the special mission assigned to you.”

“And the time limit?”

“August 31st.”

Hmm, so a little under three weeks. That would be the end of summer vacation. It seemed reasonable considering the number of heroines Rekka had been involved with at this point, but it was surprisingly lax for an order from the higher-ups.

“Understood.”

“Good luck.”

With that, the display screen abruptly closed.

Well... A mission, huh?

“Aaah... I can’t take it anymore. Harissa! Can I turn on the air conditioner?”

“Sure!”

Just as I finished my transmission with the future, Rekka gave in to the heat and picked up the remote for the air conditioner. As soon as Harissa called back to him from the kitchen giving him permission, he switched it on. Cool air came flowing out of the unit.

While it was a pathetic sight to see, he’d done his best to withstand the 31-degree room just for Harissa, who didn’t like the air conditioner. So I guess he wasn’t completely without merit.

Anyway, Rekka probably wouldn’t leave the house for a while now that he’d turned on the air conditioner. This was my chance to make a move. I casually distanced myself from Rekka and went through the ceiling. While we normally couldn’t be separated by more than five meters, that didn’t mean we were always in the same room. We often ended up in different rooms or even on different floors. He probably wouldn’t notice if I wandered off like this.

Now, shall we get going? To peep on all the unladylike heroines... I mean, to complete my important mission.