WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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

Chapter 28

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Business Trip and Aftermath (2)

It was an untimely walking trip.

Thanks to Arabel having time to spare and keeping me company in conversation, I wasn't bored for a while. Though once I got closer to Etna City, she cut off communication and went to sleep, so from there I had to walk while muttering to myself.

By the time I arrived, it was already midnight. Going through the main gate to get to my room would involve complicated procedures in various ways, so I headed for the back gate.

The firmly closed back gate had a sticker saying "Authorized Personnel Only." But if not me, who else would be considered authorized personnel of Hydra Corp?

As I pressed my pure white ID card against it, I heard the sound of the lock disengaging. This white access pass was something Karisia had issued to me the moment we seized the Lernian Magic Tower and acquired sovereignty over its mana core.

"You've returned."

On my way to the room prepared on the top floor of Hydra Corp. I encountered the President in front of the corridor.

***

"...President?"

'She looks like she absolutely cannot understand why I'm here.'

Karisia smiled faintly and shrugged her shoulders.

"I had a feeling you'd be coming soon. I was waiting."

"My report isn't ready yet."

Ortes's businesslike reply.

Karisia didn't find that attitude particularly disappointing. That was just how he was.

"I know. I'm not so lacking in time management that I'd request a report from someone who's just returned from a business trip."

Ortes felt a strange sensation. It was because he felt he had heard phrases with a similar nuance to what Karisia was saying somewhere many times before.

"Then why?"

"Just. I wanted to see your face. It's late. Sleep well."

Karisia passed by Ortes and headed toward her room. To put it differently, she opened the door to the room next to Ortes's and went inside.

Click. The door closes. The sound of the locking mechanism following it, the metallic clank of something was not heard.

'What is she really thinking?'

Ortes, gazing at Karisia's retreating figure, sank into thought.

If she had said I did a good job on the business trip, I would have understood. The years Ortes and Karisia had spent together were by no means short.

In that case, I would have thought, "Oh, so our President does have human feelings after all!" and gone in to sleep.

But in a case like this, where she just glances at my face and goes in, it was difficult to guess Karisia's inner thoughts.

'Ah, forget it. Her expression didn't seem like she was in a bad mood or anything. I'll think about it after I wake up.'

***

The data Arabel had extracted from the Blasphemia branch proved useful in many ways.

Although it was data stored in a mere branch, not Blasphemia headquarters, and thus didn't contain the secrets of the Ten Towers, it was more than sufficient information for tracking the cult followers which was Blasphemia's original mission.

Cult followers were, in other words, those who believed in the vanished gods that Hydra Corp needed to find.

While Ortes was making his difficult walking trip to avoid any possible tracking by Blasphemia, the Directors had already held several meetings based on the information Arabel had brought.

After discussion, a reasonable division of labor on how to track the divinity was reached. However, Karisia, who held the final approval authority, had not yet approved the Directors' business plans.

The reason was simple. This project fell under the jurisdiction of the Divinity Investigation Office, so all work could only begin once Ortes, the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office, returned.

In truth, there was no need for Ortes at the current point in time. Since the President's authority is naturally higher than the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office, if Karisia approved it, the work would proceed smoothly.

Despite that, why did Karisia refuse by saying, "It must go through the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office"?

The Directors thoughts converged on one point. Authority.

It was to give authority to Ortes.

Before the establishment of the Divinity Investigation Office, Ortes had worked as Karisia's hands and feet without a clear official position. If one were to interpret a position, it would be equivalent to the President's direct secretary, but even that was not an official title.

Therefore, even though Ortes was practically the second-in-command of Hydra Corp, his official authority did not extend to the Directors.

In response, Karisia appointed Ortes as the head of the new department called the Divinity Investigation Office and at the same time granted that department near-infinite discretionary power.

However, because Ortes performed his missions alone instead of commanding the board of directors with the discretionary power granted to him, the hierarchy between the Directors and the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office had become unclear.

In this subtle situation, Karisia stopped the Divinity Investigation Office's work until Ortes's return, thereby impressing upon everyone that, at least in matters related to 'divinity,' the authority of the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office surpassed that of the Directors.

The Directors looked at Ortes, who stood behind Karisia, with uneasy eyes.

Even though a seat had been prepared for the Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office, he was deliberately standing in his usual position behind Karisia. It was probably an expression of loyalty.

It was an attitude proving that, although Ortes had discretionary power that could threaten Karisia, he himself had no intention of ever going against her.

***

'My muscles are sore from all that walking.'

A meeting right after I woke up in the morning. My legs hurt.

I glared at one empty seat. Was it Kaicel or Geryones?

Why aren't they attending the meeting yet. They're just making me stand here longer for nothing.

"It looks like all the necessary personnel are gathered. How about we start the meeting?"

It was the old man Bertrand's much-appreciated suggestion. Karisia glanced at me and then nodded.

***

The first among the Directors to step forward was the demon-beast tamer, Dimedes.

"First of all, Office Head of the Divinity Investigation Office. Don't you think your return was too late?"

Meconion let out an 'oh' of admiration. That human-hunting bastard was actually picking a fight with the second-in-command without fear.

No matter how bloodthirsty he was, could he really not distinguish where he should and shouldn't pick a fight?

Or perhaps there was another reason. As she herself had experienced, Ortes was an extreme President-follower who would forgive most rudeness as long as you didn't touch the President.

"Haha, my apologies. It was a matter where I couldn't let my tail be stepped on."

Tail talk. It was clearly aimed at the demon-beasts Dimedes commanded. So far so good, but if he crossed this line, it was an implication that Ortes would step on them.

Dimedes was impulsive and rude, but not foolish. He had enough ability to interpret Ortes's words.

He stopped his provocation and got to the point.

"Ahem. So, speaking of which. You've already read the work division data for the divinity investigation, right?"

***

What is he talking about?

Complaining that my return from the business trip was too late, I figured that was just a petty tantrum from higher-ups when they're bored, so I let it slide.

But is he saying I should have already familiarized myself with the work the moment I got back last night?

I almost bit my lip. I hadn't expected this.

Had the Directors really installed Karisia's "work people to death" mindset in the few days I was gone? I desperately checked Karisia's reaction.

Seeing that she made no particular comment on Dimedes's words, it seemed that work division data really did exist.

I had no choice but to throw out words that sounded appropriately impressive as usual, grasping the situation, and then brute-force it with intuition.

"Of course. Director Dimedes, are you not satisfied with the work content you've taken on yourself?"

"I'm satisfied with the content. But the person responsible for actually approving the plan was away, wasn't he!"

I recall the things I whispered to Karisia while half-asleep.

I think I said something like, "Dimedes's puppy dogs want a taste of blood, so throw him some wanted fugitives before he harms innocent people."

Since he said he was satisfied, it seemed he had indeed been assigned work related to that kind of human hunting. If so, Neiro would be excluded from wanted fugitive tracking, and most of the work division would likely have been based on what I mentioned last time.

"I'm pleased that you're so proactive about your work. How many demon-beasts can you mobilize right now?"

"Hmph. 120. The President ordered me to gather all my demon-beasts and wait, didn't she. They're all starving."

"Then how many tamers do you have to control the demon-beasts?"

"Thirty tamers who can be deployed to the front lines. I can assign four beasts per person."

He says "four per person," but in truth, the thirty called "people" should also be called "beasts."

Both Dimedes himself and the tamers under his command are ability-users who can transform into the appearance of beastmen by injecting beast genes.

...Is the superficial camouflage. In reality, they are chimeras who maintain human appearance and intelligence by injecting human-genes.

The true nature of demon-beast taming was the chimera's ability as a superior species of demon-beast. Chimeras are made by combining multiple demon-beasts to create even more powerful demon-beasts. They had the ability to dominate the types of demon-beasts that constituted their own bodies.

It had been quite some time since hunting was prohibited after Karisia's arrival.

There must be a limit to how long they can hold out on stockpiled humans, so chimeras experiencing intellectual decline should be appearing one by one now.

Therefore, the current situation is that they are appealing desperately to be allowed to hunt humans as much as possible.

Then, who should I order this bloodthirsty beast to hunt?

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