Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"Why aren't you doing anything?!" Angelica shouted at Rudy. "He has been insulting you since you talked to him."

"It's best to ignore people like him. The more you worry about them, the more pitiful you feel," Rudy uttered without moving his lips. But he then added, "That's what I would have said in my past life because I didn't have the courage to talk or fight back to the people."

'But not anymore.'

Rudy wanted to let the guard's behavior slide, but there was a reason he couldn't.

Currently, the guard was supposed to guard the water park, but he was doing a lackluster job on that. Not only that, his behavior could drive out potential customers, which was a bad thing for Reina.

'People like him shouldn't be near places like this. But I guess Reina would have hired him because he was charging less or something.'

"Can you call the manager?" Rudy asked for the last time.

The guard frowned his face and uttered, "Get the fuck out of here, you beggar!"

Rudy scoffed out loud and smirked, "Make me."

"You piece of shit—!"

The guard dashed at Rudy, or so he wanted to. But he tripped because his pants fell down. Then, he got up, pulled his pants, and looked at Rudy to see him recording everything on his phone.

"Smile~" Rudy said with a grin on his face.

Of course, Rudy pulled off the guard's pants using telekinesis.

When the guard tried to dash at Rudy again, Rudy tied the shoelaces of both shoes with one another, causing the guard to fall again, but this time, flat on his face.

The man grunted in pain as he rolled on the ground.

Rudy shot a glance at Angelica and asked, "Did I go too far?"

Angelica shook her head and said, "I don't think so."

Rudy saved the video on his phone and decided to upload it on the internet once he got home and connected to the neighbor's Wi-Fi.

"What's going on?" a familiar voice rang in Rudy's ears.

Rudy looked at the entrance to see Reina standing there, wearing a proper outfit suitable for a manager— a suit.

"I heard someone yelling the curse words, so I looked at the monitor and saw—" Reina stopped when she noticed Rudy.

"Rudy?!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?! I couldn't see your face because your back was facing the camera and…"

The guard got up and wiped the blood coming out from his nose. Then, he pointed his finger at Rudy and said, "Madam Reina. This man suddenly attacked me and tried to enter the water park. I tried my best to—"

"You are fired!" Reina asserted with a straight face.

"Madam?" the guard uttered with a baffled look on his face, seemingly trying to comprehend the situation. He couldn't believe his ears and eyes.

"I said you are fired! Get out now!"

The guard glared at Rudy and left while walking awkwardly because his shoelaces were still tied together.

Reina turned to Rudy and asked with an anxious look on her face: "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Rudy was also surprised.

"I watched the footage and saw the guard yelling and insulting you for no reason. And yet, he had the audacity to lie and blame everything on you…"

"Well, you are the one who hired him," Rudy shrugged.

Reina shook her head and said, "I didn't. One of the workers here brought him. And we really needed a guard, so I hired him."

Rudy patted Reina's head and said, "Be careful next time."

"...!" Reina's face flushed for obvious reasons.

But when Rudy realized it, it was already too late. He looked at Angelia to see her staring at him with a judging look on her face.

'I head patted Reina without thinking because she acts like a kid…'

A few seconds later, Reina came back to her senses. She shook her head and took a deep breath before looking at Rudy.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked with a curious look on his face.

"I came to check up on you… I mean, how you are handling the water park. But I guess you are doing good." Rudy let out a weary sigh and uttered, "That was a lie. I had plans with someone, but it got canceled because of the ticket."

"Oh! Then you should have just called me or something. I would have arranged extra tickets for you and your friends.." Reina uttered with a sigh.

"It's okay. The plan has changed tomorrow."

"Oh! That's great news. The ticket window for tomorrow's tickets opens in the evening. But you don't have to buy them, obviously," Reina scoffed.

"Why not? And if you plan to give them for free, then I won't take them." Rudy squinted his eyes at Reina and said, "That's bad business. You can't give special privileges to friends or family in the business."

"To be honest, I knew you would say that." Reina grinned at Rudy and said, "Are you free today?"

Rudy shrugged his shoulders and responded, "Kind of…"

"Great!" Reina rejoiced and said, "Actually, I need your help."

"Pool cleanings again?" Rudy scoffed.

"No." Reina shook her head and said, "One of the lifeguards couldn't make it today due to some emergencies, so do you think you can…?"

"Sure." Rudy nodded and said, "And in return, you will be giving me tickets?"

"Yeah, but that would be like I am underpaying you because the price of two tickets is 10$, while I pay 5$ per hour to the lifeguard."

"To be honest, I think you are charging way too less," Rudy remarked.

"But if I set the price low, more people would come, right?"

"What? No. Change that mentality. And you shouldn't use this in the Waterpark business. Even if you set the price to $1, people who don't want to visit the waterpark wouldn't miraculously come here."

After a brief pause, he added, "Those who want to come here will come here. It's as simple as that."

"..."

Rudy patted Reina's shoulder and said, "We will talk about this later."

Rudy changed his outfit to the lifeguard's outfit and sat on the highchair to watch over the pool.

"This is a great job. Nothing can go wrong here…" Rudy muttered.

"Rudy? Is that you?" someone called out to Rudy.

Rudy looked down to see the principal of his school, standing and looking at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"Are you going against the school's rules and doing a part-time job?!" he asked.

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Thanks, @puremichigan, and @DaoistVtSn8O, for the gift!