WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 112: Give Me the Money

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"I'm not asking you to give me an answer right away. It's simply what I want, so there's no need for you to accept it unconditionally, Branch Head."

With that, Kyle rose from his seat.

"I came here to make a request today, so I'll deal with that first."

"Wasn't the compensation unsatisfactory?"

"If I insist on getting only what I want and drag this out, the head of the Armaments Bureau, one of the Central Branch's key personnel, might die in there."

"Haha!"

Orban burst out laughing at that. He clenched and unclenched his hand, then rose from his seat as Kyle had.

"Well now, Sir Kyle, you are quite different from what I expected in many ways. So you mean to say you'll head to the Third Research Building right away?"

"Yes."

"For the sake of our Central Branch?"

"I'm curious too."

"Very well. I'll go in with you."

"What?"

"Surely you're wary of the possibility that there may be excessive danger inside as well."

Without a trace of hesitation, Orban smiled, baring his teeth.

"Isn't it dangerous in there?"

"Yes, it probably is. But if we overcome that danger together, it will create a bond between us. As for our partnership, let's discuss it again after we make it out alive."

It was a statement that couldn't help but surprise Kyle a little. Orban was the branch head and a member of the family that ran the company, yet he intended to enter personally.

'He wants to become the head of the company that badly.'

Orban might have wanted to use this opportunity to forge a connection with Kyle, but their agreement to help one another for mutual benefit had made him bolder, and more desperate. Clenching and unclenching his fist, he headed for the closed door.

"I won't be a burden."

Orban added that because Garcia Rubalt, Duke Oun and the current head of Crow Company, was a superhuman counted among the Ten Peaks.

The Rubalt family was not a Martial family, but for generations, the owners of the Crows had considered it a virtue to possess enough martial strength to stand at the forefront of a battlefield.

* * *

Kyle, Orban, and his secretary Layla took a car from the Central Branch headquarters to the research grounds.

There had been a small commotion before they left. It was inevitable when Orban, the branch head, announced that he would go to the Third Research Building himself, and Layla had tried to stop him so fiercely that the veins stood out in her neck.

Naturally, Layla's persuasion failed. In the end, she came along too, which was why the three of them were now riding together.

"Layla was an agent who distinguished herself on the dark frontier."

In the uncomfortable silence created by Layla, who sat with a stiff face and kept biting her lip, Orban spoke up.

"She graduated from the agent training institution our company operates and is only one step away from the Boundary Realm."

Layla only continued biting her lip without answering.

"That's impressive."

Kyle nodded calmly. He had known Layla was strong from the moment he first saw her.

The Boundary Realm. It meant that she had opened the head, the Upper Dantian. Still, not everyone in the Boundary Realm stood at the same level. Just as strength varied enormously within the Form Realm of the Lower Dantian and the Will Realm of the Middle Dantian, the same was true of the Boundary Realm.

If anything, the gap was even wider in the Boundary Realm. Lizet, whom he had fought on Beltua Island, had also been in the Boundary Realm.

He had never actually fought Layla, but he didn't think she was stronger than Lizet.

'The distinction between realms seems vaguer than it used to be.'

They arrived at their destination while he was thinking that. Deep inside the tightly secured research grounds, west of Avens and surrounded by high walls, Kyle got out through the open door and turned his head.

Beyond a severe-looking barricade, he saw a mass of pitch-black darkness. It was the darkness that had swallowed the entire Third Research Building. He had watched footage of it beforehand, but just looking at it made his stomach churn strangely and sent prickles across his skin.

[Ugh...]

Jor let out a pained groan. That darkness held the same concentrated, ominous unease he had felt when first entering the Cultivation Floors and the Secret Realm.

"We do not know the exact situation inside."

Orban stepped out after him and approached Kyle's side. Unlike Kyle, he didn't seem to feel any unease from the darkness. This sensation came from Kyle's innate Spirit Root.

"The only thing we have confirmed is that Aia Vernes, the head of the Armaments Bureau, is still alive. The receiver she always wears is still detecting biological signals."

At Orban's gesture, five people waiting in front of the barricade approached. They all wore black clothes and vests, helmets fitted with goggles, and bracelets around both wrists.

"These are the Central Branch agents who will be entering with us."

They were all around Layla's level. Orban had said the Central Branch was a peaceful place. It truly seemed to be so. The agents before him did not look especially formidable for agents of the Crows, the continent's largest private military company.

Of course, that was only because Kyle's standards were too high. He had the experience of his previous life, and he had seen too many of this era's strong people since childhood while growing up in Alastor.

'The Crows' main forces must be tied down on the dark frontier.'

For this peaceful Central Branch, these people were the elite. From the Central Branch's perspective, they really were doing everything they could to protect Kyle. Five people at the threshold of the Boundary Realm, no, six including Layla. Lentz had not lied when he said they would protect him with all they had.

"Please put on the equipment."

Several researchers carried over large boxes. Inside were helmets, goggles, vests, and bracelets identical to what the agents wore.

"The inside will be saturated with the mana of dark magic. That power is like poison to humans and causes mental confusion."

A researcher explained.

"This equipment was invented by our Central Branch. It has already been proven effective against mana."

They continued rambling about the equipment's reliability. The magic inscribed on it reacted with high-quality mana stones and the wearer's own mana to form a barrier around the body. It seemed unnecessary, but Kyle put it on as instructed.

Whoosh...!

When he activated his mana, a faint light wrapped around his body. Looking back at the darkness while covered in it, he no longer felt the same unpleasant sensation as before. They had said it was a proven product, and its effectiveness was clear enough.

"Can we go in like this?"

"Yes, please."

Orban answered. Layla was still biting her lip, while the other agents wore expressions of clear dissatisfaction.

They couldn't help it. The Central Branch had tried every method available to it up to this day, yet it had failed to even scratch the black thing that had swallowed the building. They had heard rumors about Kyle, but could Alastor's young master truly cut through that darkness?

Kyle himself wasn't entirely certain either. He had only been told that Baal should be able to cut it. Raising a hand as he passed through the barricade, he opened the Dimensional pouch of the Out-of-Place Artifact.

Whoosh!

Baal sprang out.

[Arghhh!]

The moment Kyle gripped Baal, a loud voice rang out. Baal's Dokkaebi, which had popped out with a bounce, waved both fists wildly and screamed.

[You wretch, you wretch! Master, how dare you leave this Baal stuffed inside that damned space for so long!]

Naturally, Baal was not in a good mood. It had been stuck in the Sword Garden for five hundred years, and though it had finally gained freedom, it had not enjoyed even a moment of the slaughter it had yearned for all that time. Forget slaughter, that damned master only summoned it when necessary and used it as a Sword Technique Primer.

[You summoned this one to teach swordsmanship to that stupid pig again, didn't you?! This one, this one will not comply! This one refuses to be a primer! This one is a sword made for slaughter, I say...]

'Maybe you can today.'

Kyle gripped Baal tightly in one hand and raised it above his head. Only then did Baal startle and look around.

Ever since being pulled from the Sword Garden, Baal had only seen two places.

The Sword Wolf Knights' training grounds, and Kyle's private Cultivation Chamber.

But this was neither. Baal was briefly flustered by the unfamiliar scenery, then its eyes widened at the wall of darkness looming in the direction Kyle was heading.

[That is... dark magic! Master! Are we going to slaughter a dark mage?!]

'We'll have to go in and see.'

[O, oh, ohhh...! Can I, can I cut something? Finally? After five hundred years? Will this Baal drink blood at last?!]

Baal clung around Kyle's waist and made an enormous fuss. Its spirit body was visible only to Kyle, and he couldn't feel its weight unless he was conscious of it, but it was impossible not to notice a pale girl clinging to his waist and being dragged along.

'Why are you making such a fuss? I've fed you blood a few times already.'

[You only cut chunks of animal flesh that were already dead and butchered! This one wants to cut something living!]

'So, can you cut that?'

[Heh heh heh! Of course I can. I can cut it, and I will!]

Baal gave a crooked smile. Its spirit body seemed to vanish completely, then a sinister single eye flashed open in the center of Baal's blade, just as it had when Kyle first met it.

[There is nothing this Baal cannot cut!]

Crackle.

Heat seeped into the palm holding Baal. The sword itself was clamoring for mana. Kyle granted its wish and released the mana of the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon.

Crackle!

After devouring the mana, Baal's blade became covered in a vivid blood-red glow. It crackled like electricity as it completely covered the blade, which already resembled a vicious kitchen knife.

"Wow."

Kyle let out a low exclamation. He had swung Baal a few times before, but this was the first time he had poured power into it like this. The light covering Baal now was far sharper and more destructive than Aura or Sword Force.

The sword of annihilation.

Baal's red glow split the darkness. The darkness that the Central Branch had been unable to open by any method was cut apart with absurd ease before Baal. Without hesitation, Kyle stepped into the darkness.

"Move in!"

Orban, who had been staring blankly at the sight, shouted. The seven of them, including him, ran into the darkness after Kyle.

Once everyone had entered, the divided darkness wriggled closed.

* * *

When he entered the Cultivation Floors, and when he entered the Secret Realm on Beltua Island.

He had experienced things that were alien and bizarre. In the Cultivation Floors, he had felt countless gazes beyond that murky sky. In the moment he entered the Secret Realm, he had seen an eye covered in pure white wings.

So he had expected to experience something like that again.

Unexpectedly, nothing happened.

Nothing happened as he cut open the darkness with Baal, opened an entrance, and walked deeper inside.

The darkness simply parted before every step he took. He felt no creepy gazes either.

He just walked.

Even when he turned to look behind him, he saw nothing particularly wrong. Orban, Layla, and the agents merely followed with tense expressions.

As they crossed the darkness, the darkness blocking the way ahead cleared.

The Third Research Building.

He could see the research building that he had seen on a screen before it was swallowed by darkness.

"Huh."

Kyle had been walking at the front with Baal, feeling a faint thrill of anticipation. He couldn't help making a dumbfounded sound.

"We're here?"

He had moved forward expecting and bracing for something to happen, yet they had reached the research building without encountering anything at all.

"Arriving does not mean everything has been resolved."

One of the agents spoke with a stiff face.

"The purpose of this mission is to recover or destroy the Black Cube, and secure the survivors. The real mission begins now that we have reached the research building."

Leading the way, the agents strode past Kyle.

"We will take the lead from here. Sir Kyle and Branch Head, please follow while maintaining a distance where we can protect you. As for responding to the situation, please follow our team's judgment."

The agents' role in this mission had been to protect Kyle from the beginning. If Alastor's favored young master got caught up in the Central Branch's accident and lost his life, it would be a disaster.

That was why the agents couldn't help reacting sharply. It had been Orban's unilateral decision to bring Kyle into this incident.

Click.

Two agents pulled out metal rods, guns. Two others drew swords, while the remaining one gripped a short wand. Once the five were ready, they cautiously approached the research building.

Kyle shrugged and followed after them. If things became truly dangerous, he would have to protect his own life, but for now, he respected their role.

"Huh?"

As they approached the research building, a guard stuck their head out of the guard post in front of the main entrance.

"B-Branch Head? Why are you here?"

At the end of a neck stretched long like a snake, a large dangling face asked with a broad smile.

'What is that?'

Kyle stared at the guard in momentary confusion. While traveling after leaving Gladiheim, he had used a tablet to identify the people trapped in the Third Research Building's darkness. That man's face definitely belonged to one of the Third Research Building's guards.

But the guard's neck was stretched out. It writhed like Jor's body, yet the guard was smiling and speaking as though nothing was wrong.

"Braaaanch Head?"

The guard swayed their neck, stretched more than a meter long, and smiled broadly. It wasn't only the neck. Their head had swollen to roughly three times the size of an ordinary person's. Between lips split into an enormous smile, fist-sized teeth gleamed white in a neat row.

"Why, why did you come, sir? It's working hours right now!"

Their voice was full of laughter and excitement, as if they were thrilled about something. Kyle briefly considered whether he should swing the Baal in his hand at that monster. Only seconds ago, the agents had asked him to leave judgment of the situation to them.

"Central Branch employee benefits must be excellent. Or perhaps the staff training is that good."

Kyle spoke lightly.

"To turn into that and still not lose your smile, happily going on about it being working hours."

It was meant as a joke, but no one laughed. Orban's expression, standing beside Kyle, crumpled in an instant. A moment later, the agent at the front spoke.

"Situation red. Begin confirmation protocol."

Keeping the barrel of their gun trained on the guard, the agent spoke.

"What's your name?"

The guard, who had been dangling and swaying, gave an even wider smile.

"My, my name? I'm Malcolm Brax! I work at the ma-ma-main gate of the Third Research Building. Today is my sixteenth year and one hundred eleventh day on the job!"

"When did your shift begin?"

"Six this morning! I took over the shift just a little while ago! My predecessor was Bern!"

"What time is it now?"

"Three in the afternoon!"

Malcolm answered without hesitation, but even Kyle could tell that something was strange. His shift had begun at six in the morning, and he had supposedly taken over only a little while ago. Yet the current time he gave was three in the afternoon. Eight hours was not what anyone would call a little while ago.

Still keeping the gun trained on Malcolm, the agent raised one hand behind their back. At the signal, another agent pulled a small device from their pocket. On the screen Kyle glanced at, Malcolm's identity was being checked.

"Identity confirmed. Malcolm Brax, main gate guard for the Third Research Building. Record shows he was assigned to duty forty-three days ago."

"Estimated Status Grade C-2. Personality may remain. Communication possible. Bodily transformation in progress. Memory recognition impairment confirmed."

The agents quietly assessed the situation. Hearing them, Kyle's brows drew together.

This was not the first time Crow Company agents had encountered something like this. They were confirming the situation without becoming overly flustered.

"You should have told me about this in advance."

"We weren't certain about the situation inside the darkness, so we didn't tell you beforehand."

Orban answered with a bitter smile.

"What is a Status Grade?"

"Dark magic borrows power from the outer gods. Its mana mutates beings. Status Grade is our company's internal classification for mana mutations. If the body has transformed but the personality remains, it is C. If the original personality has disappeared, or something imitates fragments of the personality, but it does not cause anomalous phenomena, it is B..."

"Anomalous phenomena?"

"It means they do not possess strange, unreasonable abilities. To put it in terms Sir Kyle can understand, the Boundary Realm. Causing phenomena through will alone is, honestly, an unreasonable thing, isn't it?"

"Just looking at that stretched-out neck seems unreasonable enough to me."

"Think of it as a monster. Surely monsters like that can exist too."

In other words, beings affected by the mana of dark magic were naturally treated as monsters. Homunculi like the vampires created through dark magic five hundred years ago had also been treated as monsters in those days, so it wasn't exactly wrong.

"Malcolm, did anything unusual happen during your shift today?"

Even while Kyle and Orban talked, the agent at the front continued questioning Malcolm.

"S-something unusual?"

Malcolm tilted his head. His massive head swayed so hard it looked as though it would snap his neck.

"Um, something, something unusual. There was! Bern! He said he got a bo-bo-bonus! Because his work attitude was diligent!"

Malcolm's smile began to twist.

"That, that bastard Bern, every night! He sleeps! Secretly! Secretly, I tell you! He even brings wo-wo-women in! But diligent work attitude? Bonus! At night! There's nothing to do! The morning shift is more fucking awful!"

Crack, crackle.

Malcolm's face began turning bright red.

"Fucking! Shitty! Job! They give overtime pay to people who just slack off! Why don't I get any? They said they'd ra-raise my pay! My, my, my salary has been frozen for five years!"

His already swollen face turned crimson, and veins bulged one after another. His protruding eyes snapped toward Orban.

"Goddamn money! Why won't you raise it? You said you would! Sales keep rising, so why doesn't my salary go up?"

"Maybe give him a raise."

Kyle muttered as Malcolm's cries grew more frantic. Orban made a face like he had chewed something foul and said,

"If we raise everyone's pay every time they ask, would that even be a company?"

"Give me the mooooney!"

Malcolm screamed. His elongated neck swung like a spear shaft, and the red-hot head at its end flew forward with its mouth gaping wide.

"Raise to Grade C-1. Terminate."

The agents spoke flatly.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Dozens of bullets blew Malcolm's head apart.

Footnotes:

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