WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 1

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Founding Ceremony and Business Plan (1)

Click, clack. The sound of heels striking the floor echoed.

It was the only sound occupying the silence-ridden conference room. A woman in a black suit naturally flowed into the seat of highest honor.

Sweeping back her white hair as she sat, her gaze scoured the surroundings.

Though she was seated at the same height, there was an overwhelming pressure as if looking down from a lofty place. Those who received her gaze trembled involuntarily.

“Pleasure to meet you, everyone. I am Karisia.”

Arabel, watching Karisia, thought.

‘No. Not a pleasure at all.’

A mysterious witch who had suddenly appeared over the past few months, shaking up the underworld's balance and grinding down several crime organizations to ashes.

When the radiance of light attribute magic illuminated the darkness of the slums, ignorant fools whispered ‘saintess,’ but Arabel knew her true nature.

It’s just that the magic she wields is of light, that woman’s character is far more vicious than ours.

Would anyone be able to spout nonsense like saintess even after watching a person evaporate into golden light before their eyes?

“In this room, there are those who meet me for the first time, and those who do not.”

Arabel lowered her gaze, letting Karisia’s murmured words go in one ear and out the other.

They were merely wrapped in polite expressions and honorifics; in summary, it was a predictable story.

‘This territory is mine. Don’t act up and bow down, that’s the gist of it.’

But there was no refuting it. Those who had attempted to refute were long gone, having met a splendid death.

“They say an organization with many heads is bound to split. But we will be different.”

Like Arabel herself, there were a total of eight organizations that chose to submit before Karisia. Including Karisia, that made nine heads in this place.

“Shall I borrow a name from an old myth? From now on, we will be called Hydra.”

Arabel bit her lip. Hydra, the monstrous serpent with multiple heads. Its heads are not equal.

Among the heads, there is a special one, the immortal central head.

A masked threat, regarding the difference in status between Karisia herself and the other eight leaders.

“Then, formally now. I declare that our fates have become one under the name Hydra Corporation.”

Arabel, bowing her head humiliatingly, briefly considered the possibility of assassination, then shook her head.

It was because of the man standing silently behind Karisia all this while without a single word.

A man so faint that if you weren’t paying attention, you could barely even sense his presence, the adjective ‘faint’ suited him perfectly.

If Karisia was the central head of Hydra, then that man was the venom that Hydra harbored.

‘Ortes.’

Some call him Karisia’s bodyguard.

Some call him Karisia’s strategist.

Arabel denied both, yet affirmed them at the same time.

Neither bodyguard nor strategist was enough to describe the man. Rather…

‘Trusted Confidant.’

The only limb with whom the unfathomable Karisia shares her inner thoughts with.

Arabel licked her lips as she signed the contract.

If she intended to eliminate Karisia, she would have to deal with that man first.

***

I thought.

‘I’m fucked.’

After having lived in this world under the name Ortes for over a decade, I finally realized my employer’s true identity.

And by extension, the true nature of this world.

Karisia was the protagonist’s enemy, and this world was a novel.

Watching a scene where the term ‘crowning’ felt more fitting than ‘inauguration,’ I began calculating my escape routes.

***

“Employer.”

After the eight leaders who had crawled in to submit under Karisia had all withdrawn, I whispered quietly to Karisia.

Tilt. Her head moved.

“If I may humbly ask, would you permit my resignation?”

A flash of white light brushed against the nape of my neck. Magic fired at literally the speed of light.

How harsh. I glanced at the wall where the light had struck. It was only slightly scorched, as if she hadn’t used it with full intent.

From the very first moment we met, I’d thought her personality was twisted enough, but it seemed it hadn’t improved in the end.

She always overreacts to words like leaving or quitting.

“What’s the problem this time?”

“Let me ask you instead. What’s the problem that makes you want to leave?”

A sweet smile. To someone who’d seen her for the first time, that smile might seem beautiful.

However, I have had already been serving around under Carisia for several years. Yet how many moments could there have been where I genuinely felt happy seeing my boss smile?

“What more could I possibly do to be of use to you, Employer? You’ve already acquired all the organizations in this city, and those that haven’t submitted are nothing more than insignificant scums. Even without me now-”

I couldn’t finish my sentence. Karisia was covering both her ears with her hands.

An outright gesture of ‘I’m not listening, lalalala.’ A childish act unimaginable from her usual composed demeanor.

I couldn’t suppress a sigh. I thought I’d done my part as a founding contributor, but Karisia seemed intent on working me even more.

“Why are you like all this, really?”

“You got the title wrong from the start.”

Title. Back when we first met, she wouldn’t even tell me her name, so I called her 'Employer'. Until now, there was never this kind of complaint.

As I pondered, the faces of those who had just left came to mind.

Ah.

Karisia was now officially President. Even if Hydra Corporation was a semi-illegal business that had gathered the illegal enterprises clinging to the city’s underworld, the title didn’t change.

Given that she was originally of high status, her sensitivity to this kind of title was understandable in its own way.

“Yes, President.”

I whispered with certainty.

At my words, Karisia’s expression twisted slightly. Did I do something wrong? It couldn’t be that.

“Fine. Get out.”

Karisia’s hand waved gently. I knew best that a gentle gesture didn’t mean a gentle heart.

Bowing deeply, I exited the room that would now become the President’s office.

What work would there be for me? I moved my feet, sifting through the faint remains of my memory of the original story.

***

Huu. Karisia let out a sigh. Really, that man is impossible to pin down.

I wonder if you even know that I only soften my voice in front of you. Blinking a couple of times, Karisia fiddled with the fountain pen she had tucked into her suit jacket pocket.

It was something Ortes had acquired from somewhere. Her pale fingers traced the pen’s body.

There was much to do ahead. The founding of Hydra Corporation was merely the first step toward revenge against her family.

The nameless magic towers of the underworld that Karisia had cleared away. First, she would have to renew their magic tower qualifications under her own name.

While reviewing documents to submit to the Mage Association, Karisia raised her head and looked at the door through which Ortes had left.

Despite the time they had spent together, the back of the man who had mockingly requested resignation lingered.

Karisia, unable to help herself, muttered an irritable thought.

“…I told you to call me by my name, you know.”

And yet you never did.

***

Upon returning to my room, I first surveyed my surroundings. In this world, where the bizarre field of magical engineering had flourished, as long as one had money, one could obtain items with a technological level comparable to, or even exceeding, that of the modern civilization I had lived in.

That meant the risk of eavesdropping couldn’t be overlooked.

I had cleaned out the entire building once when we trashed the organization that originally occupied it, but you never know.

One of the eight leaders of Hydra summoned today might have planted items with eavesdropping magic to gather information.

‘I’m no good with magic, though.’

There are people who sell pre-prepared spells for folks like that. I plug a USB into the terminal of my gauntlet.

The exact term is Magic Imprinting Drive, but to me, who remembers life on Earth, the word USB was far more familiar.

With a crackling sound, rust-colored mana light swept through the surroundings. Several decorative items like potted plants and clocks in the room were similarly dyed green.

“My, my. Everyone’s quick, aren’t they.”

I find and destroy the eavesdropping devices hidden inside them. A skilled mage might be able to trace the mana back and catch the culprit, but I’m not a mage.

“I’ll let today’s matter slide. If something like this happens again, I’ll give you the opportunity to have a direct meeting with the President.”

One good thing about serving under a high-ranking person.

You can use their name.

Since this person had already signed a contract agreeing to the acquisition after a defeat, they wouldn’t want to face Karisia head on.

So, shall we summarize the original story?

I picked up a pen.

***

Arabel, who had been holding her breath in a corner of Ortes’s room, felt her composure waver. With the latest camouflage suit for optical stealth and her unique magic suppressing all signs of presence.

Extreme concealment that could even hide the vibration of air or the reaction of carbon dioxide that any breathing creature would naturally produce.

It was a magic that Arabel had desperately honed to survive in the crevices of the city’s underworld while gathering information.

And this man had seen through it as if it were nothing, then said ‘I’ll let today’s matter slide.’ What overwhelming skill was this?

Ortes had said he would ‘give the opportunity for a meeting with the President.’ That likely meant Karisia had already warned that the leaders would attempt to contact Ortes.

The plan to collude with the President’s trusted confidant and plot rebellion was scrapped. Arabel carefully shrank her body even smaller and slipped out through the gap in the door.

‘But surely, that warning wasn’t meant for those who planted the eavesdropping devices, right?’

Arabel shook her head.

Ortes only spoke after destroying each eavesdropping device he found. It was clearly a remark aimed at herself, who had been lurking hidden in the room.

Biting her lip, Arabel accepted that for the time being, she must submit to the authority of Karisia and Ortes.

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