WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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

Chapter 2

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Founding Ceremony and Business Plan (2)

Business plan.

The first word written on a blank sheet of paper.

It was the most convenient title to make excuses with if someone happened to find these jottings about the future.

I planned to burn it all once my thoughts were sorted, but there's non-zero chance that Karisia might suddenly come into the room and ask what I was writing, so it felt like preparing an alibi in advance.

No matter how suspicious the content written in a business plan, people would just brush it off with, "Ah, he's spouting nonsense again."

Even if Karisia happened to look over my shoulder at this document right now, she'd dismiss it as trivial fantasy.

She'd probably scold me to think about what I need to do tomorrow before dreaming up such grandiose plans like decade-long or century-long schemes.

The first thing that came to mind was the number 2077.

The title of the 'original work' that forms the foundation of this world was something like The Mage King Who Returned in 2077. I wasn't sure if it was 'resurrection' or 'return' completely different words.

I could only blame my faint memories.

'Damn it. If I'd known this was a novel world, I would have written everything down before I forgot.'

The title isn't important. Convincing myself, I wrote down a few words.

2077. Resurrection. The Ten Magical Commandments (魔道十誡).

It was the original work's protagonist, the Mage King, who first systematized magic in this world.

When that Mage King ascended, he divided his wisdom into ten attributes and left them behind. That first artifact was the Ten Commandments.

The Mage King's disciples who inherited the Ten Commandments each established their own schools, they became the founders of the Magic Towers, and modern mages also rigorously train to become the chosen ones who can access the Ten Commandments.

…That was the history known to this world, but the truth written in the novel was somewhat different.

The Mage King's disciples murdered their master who was attempting ascension, tore apart his power, and claimed it for themselves.

In other words, the Ten Commandments were the fragmented power of the Mage King himself.

Thanks to an insurance policy the murdered Mage King had prepared in case his ascension failed, he succeeded in resurrecting across a vast span of time.

The novel opened with him bewildered by the gap between the mythical age he died in and the truly cyberpunk era of 2077.

The backbone of the story is that the resurrected Mage King Simon regains the Ten Commandments and recovers the ability to pierce the heavens and ascend.

'So my employer is Simon's enemy.'

Strictly speaking, Karisia wasn't Simon's enemy from the start. She appeared as his competitor during the process of reclaiming the Ten Commandments, and eventually they ended up fighting for each other's lives.

The reason was simple. The Mage King aimed to access the Ten Commandments and recover the wisdom he had lost during his resurrection.

Other mages, not just the Mage King, sought the Ten Commandments for the same reason:

To gain the countless wisdom accumulated by mages from the mythical age to the present who had accessed the Ten Commandments, and thus draw closer to ascension.

But Karisia was different.

Karisia wanted to destroy the Ten Commandments.

Specifically, the Ten Commandments of Light.

At this point, I tore at my hair. A self-reproach for how I could not have known about the rival who competed with the protagonist over the novel's most important material.

But it couldn't be helped.

Because the original work's Karisia had no name.

'The Central Head of Hydra,' 'The Nameless Witch,' or more simply, 'White Nameless (白無名).'

That was the name used to call Karisia in the novel.

Damn it. That arrogant-looking kid had said, "I have no name to tell you," so I thought she just wouldn't want to associate with a rootless person like me.

But calling her 'Miss' every time was annoying, so I just took a name from a research lab I happened to find and gave it to her.

"After all that going around and around..."

My head hurts.

If I'd only considered the fact that she was a silver-haired girl who shoots death beams, I should have thought of White nameless first. But the name Karisia blinded me, making me face an identity I couldn't have imagined.

It wasn't until I heard the name Hydra Corporation at the founding ceremony that I realized her original identity.

Strangely, even after getting quite close, she never told me her real name. Either it was a secret she couldn't share with someone only moderately close, or she never had a name in the first place.

I stare at the word 'Light' scrawled beneath the Ten Commandments on the business plan.

White Nameless exits the story by destroying the Ten Commandments of Light with a grand spell that sacrificed her own life.

She vanished nameless, so there was no time for her real name to be revealed, leaving only speculation that she might have been an experimental subject from the White Light Magic Tower.

White Nameless's death becomes the turning point of the original work.

The catalyst that completely breaks the dimension barrier, already riddled with holes due to the Mage King's incomplete ascension and subsequent ascension attempts by latecomers, causing extradimensional mana to pour in.

This means she is the very cause that drives this world, already a cyberpunk magic power gap society, to fall even further into abyss.

I vaguely remember a description that because the method of destroying the Ten Commandments of Light was too violent, the world couldn't withstand the aftermath.

Of course, destruction can't be non-violent, but the problem was that she didn't slowly dismantle the Ten Commandments bit by bit, instead she smashed them all at once.

Something about the accumulated desire of mages for ascension, channeled through the Ten Commandments, erupting all at once and destroying the dimension barrier.

I understand, since in a situation where the Mage King was chasing her, the only option White Nameless had was to shatter the Ten Commandments with a spell that burned her own soul.

So, what I need to do is….

***

"President. You must not become a fool who includes dying in your plans."

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

Shouldn't I just make her grow attached to life?

"If you have the leisure to speak such nonsense, please focus on your work. I will be away for a while."

***

Three days after the founding ceremony of Hydra Corporation.

Karisia announced that she would be away to handle the change of Magic Tower Master.

The eight leaders, now called Directors, were taken aback.

No matter how confident she was in her power, was she really going to leave during the chaos of a newly established organization?

What if some of the Directors united and plotted a rebellion?

Karisia had taken control of the organization with overwhelming force, but she was still human.

She wasn't an untouchable being like a grand mage attempting ascension. If you gathered people, prepared means, and waited for the right moment, she could be killed.

Once she obtained the authority of the Magic Tower, there would truly be no way left to resist, so if they were going to attempt assassination, this was their last chance.

At least a few of the eight Directors believed that.

Just as they were thinking this, Ortes, who had been standing behind Karisia, opened his mouth.

"President. You must not become a fool who includes dying in your plans."

It was a remark that destabilized those weighing the risks and returns of rebellion.

Karisia's brow twitched. A reaction suggesting she found it not worth hearing.

She calmly left only the words "focus on your work" and exited the conference room.

Arabel swallowed hard, guessing the hidden meaning behind that exchange.

'Focus on your work while I'm away. To anyone, this means handing over the role of acting president.'

Even after Karisia left, Ortes stood there with a faint smile on his face. Not taking the empty seat was probably an unspoken sign that only Karisia could sit in the president's chair.

"The President is indeed quick on her feet. Well then, Directors, I understand you all have plenty of time. How about each of you have a talk with me?"

"Not here, but in the interview room."

Arabel prayed that she wouldn't be the first interviewee. Third or fourth would be ideal.

Because she could harvest clues about what would happen inside from the appearance of those who visited before her.

"Starting with Director Arabel. Is that alright?"

How could she dare shake her head? Arabel forced her expression under control and nodded.

***

In this world, the word 'Magic Tower' has two major meanings.

First, the Magic Tower as a school formed by mages with similar ideologies.

Second, the Magic Tower as a facility that purifies extradimensional mana and supplies mana throughout the city.

Usually, the first type of Magic Tower is formed around the second type.

The qualification of Magic Tower Lord that Karisia was going to renew was also related to the second type of Magic Tower.

After the head of the Lernian Magic Tower Master, the original owner of the Hydra Corporation building, evaporated, the tower's mana distribution device has been operating automatically.

But if Karisia officially registers as Magic Tower Master and gains free control of the tower, one-third of this city, Etna City, would become her property in the truest sense.

Because in this world, mana is no different from electricity or water supply in the modern society I lived in.

But just as you can survive even if the electricity and water are cut off, there are ways to live even if mana is blocked. Mages could supply mana directly.

However, that would be incredibly inconvenient and troublesome.

Arabel was the type of person who would hate that inconvenience the most.

If Karisia died before official registration, she would rejoice and scheme to obtain the position of Magic Tower Lord, but if Karisia completed registration, she seemed likely to bow before her without hesitation.

And that made sense.

"Director Arabel, what percentage of your body has been replaced with prosthetic modifications?"

Because she was a human who had undergone magical prosthetic surgery, unable to live without magical electricity.

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