There was an odd feeling of relief from those still waiting as we left, as if a tension had been released.
Was this world already aware that I was a demon, something to be feared rather than coddled? I wasn't sure.
***
Van escorted Kid back out of the building, ignoring the annoyed stares as they went.
If even one was directed at the little girl he was escorting, he probably would have done something about it. Whether a tiny guild or one of the other big five, he would have had them utterly destroyed if they showed the poor child any hostility.
But it was all directed at him and the other adults, and while it wasn't their fault the GAS director was an eccentric who cared more about researching new Skills than his day to day work, he at least understood that they'd effectively cut ahead of line and wasted everyone else's time.
So their annoyance was understandable.
If he cared about such things, he wouldn't have made it as a senior adventurer of a top guild.
This was better than being blamed for not saving someone from a sudden wild dungeon, and that too was still better than not being blamed.
Compared to the nightmares he'd faced so far in his line of work, he felt that Kid's sudden appearance was almost welcome.
She was dirty and scruffy as outsider children tend to be, but under that grime and those old imperial clothes, she was a pretty cute kid, wearing her emotions on her sleeve like any child.
She was mostly frightened and annoyed so far, but that was understandable.
And so, he had Suon, his junior, sit next to the kid, while Tavin drove them.
Suon waited until Kid seemed comfortable in the back seat of the car to ask, "Do you want to play another game?"
When Kid's face blanched a bit, he quickly corrected himself. "You don't have to... how about music, do you like music?"
***
The man sat next to me suddenly started asking me things.
'I don't know what they plan to do with me, but I wish they'd get it over with already...'
But music... usually it wasn't something I could afford.
Only technologically enlightened worlds made it available to the masses on demand. Well, the masses could also sing to themselves if they wanted, so it's not like music was rare in more primitive worlds.
It was me who usually couldn't afford it, since I avoided human contact whenever I could.
And the morale boost it gave ordinary people wasn't really something I needed. Likewise, I never really cared for drugs or alcohol.
Being alive was enough.
I didn't have a choice there, or perhaps I did and had already chosen wrongly enough times that I'd long ago learned my lesson.
"I don't need music," I answered frankly.
"Hmmm, but do you like it, or do you dislike it? The truth is, our boss dislikes it, but Tavin and I, we both like it, and since you're the guest, the choice falls on you. Oh, don't worry though, Van won't mind if you want it, and Tavin and I are used to silence, so you're not going to make anyone unhappy or anything."
At first, I thought the stern glare from Van through the mirror in the front of the vehicle meant I should definitely pick no music, but it melted as soon as this guy said not to worry.
So maybe he was just mad his underling revealed his opinions to a guest, or something like that. Politeness often had weird rules like that.
'But since when am I a guest...?'
Was that just irony?
"If it's up to me... usually I don't listen to music... but I guess I'd like to."
After all, music was an expression of culture, and since I currently had no way of escaping the Empire, I'd have to learn as much about them as I could if I was to survive.
Even in lives where I'd been discovered and failed any sort of escape, when I played my cards right, I sometimes could live for centuries.
Basically, until my life became inconvenient to someone in charge.
That wasn't too bad.
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The music was alright too. Oddly acoustic for a technologically enlightened world, but maybe these guys or the Empire just had an appreciation for that kind of stuff.
***
The next bureau was called the Imperial Coexistence and Outsider Relations Administration, or just CORA.
This was a branch too, or so I presumed, unless the imperial government is really just that tiny.
For the first time since I arrived, I saw people that differed from the usual imperial phenotypes, marking them as clear outsiders.
Just like me.
Some just had strange eye or hair colors, others also had unusual skin colors. Exotic features that weren't quite human but didn't make them look wholly inhuman were also common, such as horns, unusual or animal-like ears, tails, claws, and one girl even had wings.
I wondered if her wings worked. Aerodynamically, they oughtn't work very well even for gliding, but perhaps there was a Skill or some innate ability to fly in spite of basic physics.
Although, if everyone came from different worlds, it's also possible hers simply made her wings more usable somehow.
I got the general impression that it probably wasn't uncommon for outsiders to have slightly inhuman capabilities. It was just a hunch though.
Of course, even if that were the case, I couldn't afford to be jealous.
I had a body that could eat anything, as long as it was something a strand of humans could digest, that was basically inhospitable to most diseases, and resilient to most toxins.
My unaging nature was a curse, but it had its perks too.
And now, I couldn't even be killed.
Anyone who didn't know better would be jealous of me, rather than the other way around.
Regardless, unlike at the GSA, after Van signed us in, we sat and waited here.
"Here, kiddo. If you're not hungry, you can just hold on to it."
One of the guys gave me a granola bar. I recognized it from back when I worked with Cierri.
I wanted to reject it, but...
"How much is it?"
"Huh? I'm not selling it to you. If you're worried about that sorta thing, don't be. You're in our custody, so we're legally obligated to feed and take care of you. If you're ever hungry, you just need to say so."
'Ah...'
I didn't want to create friction by forcing them to act out legal obligations against their will, so I just shook my head.
"I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure? You can just hold on to it until you are."
"I'm okay."
Eventually, he relented.
***
This visit was more mundane than the other one.
Had it happened earlier, such as when I was first reincarnated, I'd have been terrified, but I was sure by then that there were already pictures of me somewhere.
Cameras are cheap and privacy is expensive in technologically enlightened worlds as these, after all.
I didn't have to actually do much.
Van filled out a bunch of paperwork, most of it without asking me anything.
He did have a few mundane questions that I had no answers for.
"Sorry if it's a sore subject, but do you have any parents? Do you know what happened to them?"
Since they catalogued me as a dungeon entity, I didn't feel the need to correct them, but I also didn't need to lie. At least, I told them the truth from the perspective of their world.
Even with Skills, dungeon portals, and magic, my real homeland was very likely far out of reach anyway.
"No. I just started existing."
"I... see... and you survived ever since on your own?"
"Mostly, I guess."
"Any idea how or why you became the dungeon boss?"
"I'm... probably the last sentient life from there."
"I... see..."
After such mundane questions as these, I then had my picture taken.
They gave most of the paperwork over to Van, so I wasn't sure what he got out of this visit, and I didn't feel like asking him.
But he immediately handed me a small laminated card that had my picture, my name, and other stuff on it.
When they saw that I was struggling to read it all, Van started explaining it without me even asking.
"I gave your first known sighting as your birthday. If you ever find out what it really is, we can have it corrected. That says you're an outsider, that says you're a dungeon boss, and that says the Lost. Those are just your gender, and your hair and eye colors. Normally, you'd have a refugee ID, but since you're a dungeon boss, you're legally a diplomatic entity."
'A diplomatic entity...?'
***
After that, they took me to another restaurant, where the menu prices were even higher, and the food was somehow even fancier.
I was dirty from living underground for a few years, so I definitely stood out, earning all sorts of stares from the other, much cleaner and more nicely attired guests, but the waiter was professional anyway.
Maybe Van is a big shot or something.
They didn't let me just order the cheapest thing on the menu this time.
"That's just an appetizer. We can order that if you want it, but pick something from here, see, under where it says Entrees?"
In fact, I think they ordered both of the things I picked anyway.
When the waiter brought out a big salad, they put some on my plate.
I hoped that was the whole meal, but then I got a big bowl of soup afterward, along with a bunch of bread.
Even when I worked with Cierri, I didn't eat nearly this well. I couldn't even finish it all.
"So, where do you want to go? If you have a home in the dungeon, we can take you back there. Otherwise, we can get you a hotel for now."
I did not want to stay at a hotel, so I quickly said, "I have a home. I want to go back."
"I thought so. That explains a few things."
'It does? Just for how long have they been watching me?'
I shuddered a bit...
***
The online discussion around the girl continued in real time.
After all, people who frequent public beginner dungeons are usually those with a lot of free time, and the dungeon had been suddenly closed for the day. Even though the boss had been identified and even safely retrieved, the situation hadn't been fully resolved.
Hero194: Man, it's still closed.
RedOwl: It'll probably be closed for a week. I don't know what you're expecting.
Indigo997: Did you get a picture of the girl, at least?
RedOwl: No? Why would I do that? She's just a little kid.
Indigo997: Well, it's just... nobody knows what she looks like.
BlessingDog: I know someone who was around back then. I'll see if I can get him on here.
OutsiderFan71: If there are any pictures, they haven't been posted anywhere. Believe me, I've checked.
RedOwl: That sounds a bit creepy.
OutsiderFan71: I don't mean it that way, geez!
Indigo997: Yeah, me neither! Who do you think we are?!
RedOwl: People with way too much free time.
Indigo997: Urgh...
Of course, no new information had surfaced.
The world outside this small bubble even largely ignored it.
After all, even if they were right and there was a sentient dungeon boss, that wasn't just a minor curiosity. It could be seen as a major diplomatic event.
Even journalists with no moral fiber who'd normally jump on tabloid stories were ruthlessly held back by carefully crafted imperial law.
It was like a perfect storm.
An outsider child who was the sentient boss of a beginner dungeon was an oddity the Empire had never before experienced, and yet it had already thoroughly drafted laws around each piece of this bizarre new puzzle, so everyone already knew how they were expected to act.