WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ I Became the Slit-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

Chapter 006

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Business Trip to Partner Company (3)

Ortes sat down by Taknia's bedside. Taknia could only barely twitch his remaining left hand.

A cautious movement of mana. He had succeeded in somehow reviving the internal circuit of the control panel connected to the microphone.

"‥‥‥."

A sudden wave of futility washed over him. Even if he informed his subordinates outside of this situation. Could they subdue that intruder?

As Taknia weighed his subordinates' abilities against the intruder's, searching for a chance of survival, Ortes's words fell.

"I have a few questions for you."

The microphone's circuit was connected, albeit crudely.

***

"By any chance, have you seen a child with blonde hair, about this tall, recently?"

I raised my right hand to indicate an approximate height.

Given that Cryton had no dealings with the Toress School's main tower so far, the probability that Astrape had been delivered was extremely low, but this was a final check for that one-in-a-million chance.

"What... crazy talk are you spouting? There must be thousands of slaves that have passed through my hands. You think I'd remember every single one?"

"Oh? But don't you personally manage the special slaves? The ones like wild mages. There must be procedures you need to handle yourself before delivering them to the main tower."

It was a procedure to suppress the magical circuits inside the mage to an appropriate level, preventing them from running wild during the transport process.

A scenario where Astrape wasn't drawing attention from the Toress School, yet had been delivered nonetheless, just one possibility.

If Astrape was among the slaves Cryton had delivered in his most recent transaction. She would still be in this procedure queue.

It was an absurdly low probability, but I didn't want to miss a case like this and create an opportunity for Karisia to die.

"So you were a slave hunter after all. You're pulling this because a slave you had your eye on was sold to our Magic Tower first...? Kheh, must have been a damn valuable slave."

"Next time I meet you, I'll introduce myself that way. I'll ask again. Among the slaves you're currently managing personally, was there no wild mage with particularly outstanding talent for lightning magic? She would likely be blonde."

"Meeting you again would be hell... No, there isn't."

Taknia was now answering with his eyes completely closed, as if utterly resigned.

His words even carried a certain air of detachment. A posture like someone who had realized there was no way to avoid death.

In the original work, Taknia burned with the desire to be promoted by offering slaves to the main tower.

As a wild mage, Astrape's potential was exceptional, and Taknia was promoted to the main tower for the merit of presenting her.

But Taknia misjudged Astrape's potential. As a result, he set the intensity of the magical circuit suppression incorrectly, which caused Astrape to regain her sense of self.

Later, during the battle with the Toress School, when Astrape mentioned this fact and mocked him, he couldn't hide his fury.

From his emotional portrayal at that time, he seemed like the type whose lies would show when pushed to this state.

"If there isn't, then that's fortunate. One last question then."

***

“So, How would you like it done?”

The words from the beginning of the fight came back. The bastard was persistently asking how he wanted to die.

Taknia spat out blood-mixed breath and murmured.

"Make it quick. Just cut me down."

Perhaps the scars left on his corpse might incite war with another school and cause the Toress School harm. His answer didn't come from such loyalty.

He simply wanted to ruin the intruder's intentions, even in his final moment. Taknia opened his eyes and waited for the last sight he would see.

The intruder, who hadn't let slip even a single piece of his name, had a smiling face till the end. He slowly raised the high-frequency blade and swung it down.

Smoothly, without even a sound of severing, Taknia's neck was cut.

Ortes meticulously retrieved the brain chip that would have been implanted in his head, then activated his Magic Imprinting Drive.

A basic fire spell, Fireball, was released. Perhaps because the control panel was smashed, the fire prevention system didn't activate.

After confirming that Taknia's corpse had caught fire, Ortes stepped outside the door.

Now it was time to return from the business trip.

***

In the heart of the slave uprising. Though they had Magic Imprinting Drives, those captured as slaves were not proper mages.

But the difference in numbers was overwhelming. That was why the Toress School mages hadn't managed to suppress the escape yet.

If it had been a gathering of incompetents who couldn't use magic, the situation would have ended long ago, but Magic Imprinting Drives kept pouring out endlessly, targeting the mages' vital points.

Suppress one, and five pour in. subdue ten, and twenty pour forth.

Until now, they had only used neural severance magic to preserve the value of the goods, but just as they were about to start using destructive magic in earnest,

Suddenly, a crackling broadcast sound rang out. A static-filled, unstable voice fell into the midst of the uprising.

「By any chance ‥‥ have you seen a … child, about this tall?」

The mages froze at the voice that flowed out. A broadcast was coming from the responsible party's office, and an unfamiliar voice was coming from it.

What could that possibly mean?

No sounds of battle could be heard from the broadcast. Only a dry, emotionless exchange of questions continued.

The mages urgently tried to contact their superiors. No answer came back.

In that moment of shock, the slaves saw hope.

And finally, when Taknia's words to 'Make it quick.' burst out, the mages began to overwhelm.

Among the slaves shouting with joy at their liberation, there was one child with golden hair.

Crackle.

A flash of lightning flickered at her fingertips and vanished.

The child repeated the words she had heard from the broadcast. Someone's murmur saying that it was a good thing she hadn't been captured here.

It was a tone similar to that nameless man who had distributed the Magic Imprinting Drives to everyone.

Could it be.

A one in a million story, but still.

'Had he come to save me?'

Astrape looked toward the open exit and recalled her hometown, far away.

Etna City. The decaying city of vice.

***

What awaited me upon returning from my business trip was an executives meeting.

How could they ask me to attend a meeting the moment I got back from a business trip? I was astonished at Karisia's misguided work ethic.

I left a word of thanks to the driver who had brought me here and tidied up my clothes as best I could.

I had gotten blood on me here and there, but going to change clothes now would be a novice move.

Considering Karisia's temperament, she'd likely be more annoyed by me being late because I changed clothes than by my clothes smelling of blood.

If I'd known this would happen, I should have prepared a change of clothes from the start.

I only adjusted my attire a little and headed straight for the conference room.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

Karisia's cold voice. Worrying about what whim she might be on this time, I opened the door as quietly as possible.

***

At the sight of Ortes entering through the door, Cryton flinched, his body trembling. A distinct scent of blood.

He could tell whose blood that was without being told. The Toress branch he had been trading with all this time.

'I had my suspicions from the moment he asked me to leave only the driver's seat empty, saying he didn't need any other personnel...'

Had he really come back after destroying the branch single-handedly?

Ortes, walking in without a sound like a shadow, took his place behind Karisia, just as he had at the company's founding ceremony. Cryton noticed a very subtle twitch at the corner of Karisia's mouth.

Was it satisfaction, or displeasure?

The lingering scent of battle from Ortes's clothes might be annoying her.

On the other hand, she might be pleased that her trusted subordinate had returned from carrying out his mission successfully.

Before Cryton could analyze her expression, Karisia's face hardened.

"Ortes."

"Yes."

"You told me not to put death into my plans, yet you yourself do not keep that advice."

A rebuke? He couldn't read her expression.

Without a single tremor in his smiling face, Ortes spoke naturally, as if he had prepared in advance.

"The duties of a servant and the duties of a master are different. The methods I use are not suitable for you President, and the reverse is also true."

Karisia nodded readily.

"Did you hear that, Geryones."

***

Wow. This is truly a workplace beyond imagination.

The first words of the meeting I attended right after finishing my business trip, without even changing clothes, were criticizing me.

Ah, President. You didn't need to go this far.

What I meant was for you to have a little more attachment to life, but it seems I said it at such an odd time that the meaning got twisted.

I'll have to explain it properly when we're alone sometime.

I answered that the President was too high up, so employees get nervous when she's on the field, but as middle management, it's my duty to go out and check things when there's work on-site. Then an unexpected word reached my ears.

"Did you hear that, Geryones."

Geryones?

That was definitely the name of the Magic Tower Master who had occupied one of the three Magic Towers in the city before the White Nameless conquered Etna City.

A mage with six arms through prosthetic body modification. Each arm had a mana core of a different attribute implanted, and combined with his own incantation, he could simultaneously manifest up to seven attributes, a combat mage.

Come to think of it, there hadn't been nine people in the conference room.

I looked at the tenth figure in the corner.

Two on the right. One on the left. As for where the other three arms had gone, only the mechanical devices near the shoulders remained, the rest vanished.

Karisia's stern gaze pierced through him. Toward the bowed head of Geryones, Karisia spoke as if reading a verdict.

"That is the reason you are alive."

...What?

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