I Became the Narrow-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

It was an unexpected walking journey.

Thanks to Arabella chatting with me while I had some free time, I wasn’t too bored for a while. As I got closer to Etna City, I had to cut off communications, go to sleep, and from there on, I’d be talking to myself.

By the time I arrived, it was already midnight. Entering my room through the front gate would involve a complicated procedure, so I headed towards the back gate.

A strict sign reading “No Entry Except for Authorized Personnel” was affixed to the closed door. But who else could be an authorized personnel of Hydra Corporation but me?

When I held up the pristine entrance pass, I heard the click of the lock releasing. This white pass was issued to me by Carisia right after we took over the Lernian Tower and claimed sovereignty over the Mage Tower Core.

“You’ve arrived,” said a voice.

As I made my way to the room set up on the top floor of Hydra Corporation, I ran into the boss in the hallway.

*

“…Boss?”

Her expression said it all – she couldn’t make sense of why I was there. Carisia smiled lightly and shrugged her shoulders.

“I thought you’d be coming soon. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“The report isn’t ready yet, though.”

Orthes replied in his businesslike tone. Carisia didn’t seem disappointed by his demeanor at all. That’s just how he was.

“I know that. I wouldn’t ask for a report from someone just back from a business trip.”

Orthes felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It seemed like he had heard a similar nuance before somewhere.

“Then why?”

“Just wanted to see your face. It’s late. Good night.”

Carisia slipped past Orthes and headed to her room. To put it another way, she opened the door next to Orthes and went inside.

Click. The door closed. The sound of the locking mechanism didn’t follow, klunk of metal was absent.

‘What is she really thinking?’ Orthes pondered while watching Carisia’s back.

If she had at least said something like “thanks for the effort during the business trip,” it would have made sense. After all, the time Orthes and Carisia had spent together was not short.

But really, our boss has feelings after all! I’d guess she went in to get some sleep after that revelation.

Even so, it was hard to guess Carisia’s intentions just from glancing at her face like that.

‘Ugh, who knows? She doesn’t seem angry at least, though. I guess I’ll just think about it after I sleep.’

*

The data Arabella extracted from the Blasphemia branch turned out to be quite useful.

Since it was data stored at a mere branch rather than the main office, it didn’t contain the confidentiality of the Ten Towers, but there was enough information to track the Followers of Superstition, which was Blasphemia’s primary task.

The Followers of Superstition were those who believed in the lost gods that Hydra Corporation needed to find.

While Orthes was enduring that arduous walk to avoid possible tracking by Blasphemia, the directors had already conducted several meetings based on the information Arabella provided.

After discussions, they had come up with a reasonable division of labor to track the divine essence. However, the final decision-maker, Carisia, hadn’t approved the project proposals from the directors.

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

In reality, Orthes didn’t need anything at this point. It’s only natural for Carisia’s authority to be higher than that of the Head, so if Carisia approved it, the work could proceed smoothly.

Nevertheless, Carisia’s insistence on going through the Head of the Divine Investigation Office raised questions.

The directors unanimously agreed on one point: Authority.

It was to grant Orthes authority.

Until the establishment of the Divine Investigation Office, Orthes had worked as Carisia’s right hand without a definite rank. If one had to interpret it, he was akin to a secretary directly under the boss, but even that wasn’t an official title.

Therefore, despite being the second-in-command of Hydra Corporation, Orthes lacked formal authority in front of the directors.

Thus, Carisia appointed Orthes as the head of the new department, granting him near-infinite discretion over it.

Yet, instead of using that authority to command the board, Orthes frequently chose to undertake missions alone, creating uncertainty in the hierarchy between the directors and the Head of the Divine Investigation Office.

In this delicate situation, Carisia held back the operations of the Divine Investigation Office until Orthes returned, engraving into everyone that at least regarding matters related to the divine, the Head’s authority surpassed that of the directors.

The directors looked at Orthes, standing behind Carisia, with uneasy eyes.

Even though a seat for the Head of the Divine Investigation Office was prepared, he stood behind Carisia as usual. Perhaps it was a display of loyalty.

While Orthes had the authority to threaten Carisia, his attitude proved he had no intentions of opposing her.

*

‘On top of walking all this time, my muscles are sore now.’

Waking up to a morning meeting? My legs hurt.

I eyed an empty seat. Kaicle or Geryon?

What could they possibly be doing that they weren’t attending the meeting yet? My standing around was just going to drag on for no reason.

“It seems all necessary personnel have gathered, so how about we start the meeting?”

A gracious remark from Bertrand the elder. Carisia glanced at me and nodded.

*

The first to step up among the directors was the Beast Tamer, Dimedes.

“First off, Head of the Divine Investigation Office, haven’t you taken a bit too long to return?”

Meconion gasped in awe. Did that reckless Hunter just challenge the second-in-command without fear?

Even hungering for blood, should it not be clear where to draw the line?

Or maybe there was a different reason. Like he experienced, Orthes was the type who would overlook common rudenesses as long as you don’t provoke the boss.

“Haha, I’m truly sorry. It’s due to the work that shouldn’t be stepped on.”

Tail talk. It was clearly aimed at the beasts Dimedes managed. Up to here was fine, but going further meant he’d come for vengeance.

Dimedes was impulsive and rude but certainly not foolish. He had enough discernment to interpret Orthes’s words.

He ceased the provocation and got to the point.

“Ahem. So, you’ve read the division of labor for the divine investigation, I assume?”

*

What is this about?

Chastising me for being late on my business trip is just a petty complaint from the high-ups, so I gave him a pass.

Are they seriously saying I should have been fully briefed upon arrival last night?

I nearly bit my lips. I didn’t see this coming.

Could it be that during the few days I was absent, the directors had imbibed Carisia’s mindset of treating them as her subordinates? I desperately cast glances at Carisia.

Since she didn’t say anything about Dimedes’s comment, it seemed that the division of work indeed existed.

At this point, I’d have to throw out some plausible words and gauge the situation, timing my guesses accordingly.

“Of course. Is there something unsatisfactory regarding the tasks assigned to you, Director Dimedes?”

“The content is satisfactory. But the one responsible for approving the plan has been absent, hasn’t he?”

I recalled the whispers I had let slip to Carisia in my sleep.

At that time, I might have said something like, “Since Dimedes’s beasts are craving blood, throw some wanted criminals their way before they harm civilians.”

Judging by his approval, he had certainly been assigned to that area of hunting. So, I guess Neuro is out of the tracking wanted criminals now, and the division of work must have been based on what I mentioned last time.

“I’m glad to see you’re proactive. How many beasts do you have at your disposal right now, Director?”

“Humph. 120. Didn’t the boss order to gather all beasts and have them wait? They’re all starving.”

“In that case, how many tamers can you field?”

“There are thirty tamers you can deploy. I can assign them four beasts each.”

While he said “four beasts each,” the truth is, calling thirty of them just “thirty” is already too much.

Both Dimedes and his tamers had the ability to transform into beastmen by injecting beast genes into themselves.

… Of course, that was a mere disguise. In reality, they were chimeras that injected human genes to maintain their human form and intellect.

The essence of beast taming was a chimera’s capability as a superior species of beasts. A chimera combines various beasts to create even more powerful beasts. They had the ability to dominate the types of beasts that constituted their own flesh.

It has been a considerable amount of time since Carisia prohibited hunting.

Holding out on reserves of humans wouldn’t last forever, and soon, chimeras showing signs of mental decline would begin to emerge one by one.

Hence, it seemed they were desperately appealing to hunt humans now.

So who should I command this bloodthirsty beast to hunt?

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