Mindreader’s False Glory

Ruby turned her head and shot me a provocative look, her eyes brimming with smug satisfaction.

I stood at the edge of the crowd, a faint, cold smile tugging at my lips.

Just as I thought.

A moment ago, I had cursed her in my mind, calling her an idiot, and she hadn’t reacted at all. However, the second I started thinking through specific skill data, she responded immediately.

So her mind-reading skill wasn’t all-knowing. It seemed she could only pick up on the most focused, technical thoughts in my mind.

"Faith, looks like you’ve got nothing left to say now, huh?" A tall figure pushed through the crowd. It was the captain of the guard, Zachary Bridges, and my current boyfriend. He walked straight to Ruby’s side, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead with clear concern.

Then he turned to glare at me, his voice thick with disappointment and disgust. "While Ruby was guiding just now, I saw you standing there, smirking the whole time.

"What? Seeing her succeed makes you uncomfortable? Are you really that jealous?"

Ruby immediately tugged at his sleeve, looking wronged but still trying to play the bigger person. "Zachary, don’t say that about Faith. She’s still my senior. Maybe she just needs time to accept that I have talent. I don’t blame her."

"You’re too kind!" Zachary snapped back, clearly indignant. "Some people can’t produce results themselves, so they try to suppress newcomers. The truth speaks for itself. Ruby’s Spark of Dominion works better than all your data ever did!"

General Thomas stepped forward as well. While he wasn’t as aggressive as Zachary, the way he looked at me had turned noticeably colder.

"Faith, the facts are right in front of us. Ruby clearly has greater talent. The situation we’re in doesn’t allow for delay. We need the most efficient guidance method available."

He paused briefly, then made his announcement. "From today onward, the skills research lab will be under Ruby Barrett’s full authority.

"Faith, you’ll assist her from now on. Learn from her."

The surrounding researchers quickly chimed in.

"Seriously, we used to think Faith was impressive. Turns out she got outshined by her own assistant."

"Ruby’s the real deal. Morgan was stuck for so long, and she fixed him with one touch."

Faced with accusations from every direction, I didn’t break down as I had in my past life. Instead, I calmly removed the Chief Researcher badge from my chest and set it lightly on the table.

"Sure," I said evenly. "Since you are so capable, I’ll leave all future guidance work to you, Ruby."

Ruby hadn’t expected me to comply so easily. A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes, but was quickly replaced by uncontrollable delight.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Faith. I’ll do my best! Though for some of the more complex theories… I might still need your help to check things over."

I looked at her and smiled.

"Don’t worry. For the sake of the base and all of humanity, I’ll do everything I can to help you."