ALL NOVEL Chapter 33
“Boss!”
Knock, knock. The door opened without a sound. It seemed they hadn’t locked it, or perhaps hadn’t closed it properly in the first place.
There aren’t many people who would search for Carisia all the way into the personal bedroom rather than the boss’s office, but isn’t the sense of security a bit too lacking?
What should I say? Nah, I’ll just let it slide. She probably knows how to handle it.
Honestly, I should be more worried about intruders than Carisia. If I run into a person who specializes in death beams, my life might end in an instant.
“Come in─”
As I waited in front of the open door, a lazy voice reached my ears.
“Wasn’t your belief that you didn’t want to have a private meeting with the boss outside of work hours?”
Giggle. That’s a cheeky joke…
…That has to be a joke, right?
“It’s as the wise boss said. I just came to report that I might be going on another business trip.”
“Huh?”
Carisia’s expression was filled with disbelief. She must think I’ve eaten something weird to want to work right after coming back from a business trip.
While the other directors might not know me well, Carisia has probably figured out I prefer to avoid work as much as possible.
“What’s going on?”
Her voice oddly became curt.
“There’s been no word from all the beast tamers accompanying Director Dimedes. Noiro and I will go confirm the situation and handle it.”
“That sounds serious.”
Carisia rested her chin on her right hand. I bet she’s thinking that it wouldn’t matter if a guy like Dimedes just disappeared.
“Although Dimedes’s death wouldn’t be a huge problem, it would definitely make passing the listing review documents difficult.”
See? I knew it.
To Carisia, Dimedes probably isn’t worth much. Considering chimera’s taste for humans, he’s more of a headache than an asset.
It wouldn’t draw the Ten Towers’ attention if a few civilians from the border city were eaten by chimeras, but you never know when there’s a but in play. This kind of self-destruction might actually be an opportunity.
It’s surprising she cares about the listing review that I proposed.
“Take this.”
Carisia threw me something shining. It was the Relic of Phoibos crystal I had handed to her on the way back to Etna City.
“…I gave this to you to use, boss.”
“I’ll be cooped up in Etna City for a while, preparing redevelopment plans. It’s not like I’m in any danger. Just take it.”
I hesitantly accepted the crystal that felt a bit off. It seems I should have some means to protect Carisia.
But since the boss’s will is this firm, there’s no other way as an employee. The crystal, slightly smaller than my palm, seemed too big to fit in my pocket.
“Then…”
I recalled the explanation from the original story. The crystal can shrink or grow in size depending on the user’s will. The smaller it gets, the narrower the range of prophecy, but the interpretation becomes easier. Conversely, a larger size allows reading further into the future but complicates the prophecy.
As for the danger I might face, it would likely be a direct attack. It’s better to shrink it for convenience.
As I concentrated on the Relic of Phoibos, indeed, its size decreased. At this size, it wouldn’t look out of place tucked into a pocket.
“Make sure to finish up quickly and come back.”
That was the end of Carisia’s send-off.
I bowed and left the room.
*
“I heard you infiltrated the Ten Towers’ subcontracting organization during your last business trip. How did you do that?”
Inside the Magic Engine Train departing from Etna City, Noiro asked.
It’s quite complicated to simplify Blasphemia as just a “subcontractor of the Ten Towers,” but under Carisia’s order, which said, “You extracted the information, so you should explain,” Arabella had no time for detailed explanations.
The directors, unless they had special backgrounds like Divius, would have trouble knowing about the secret organization Blasphemia, so someone had to explain it…
Arabella was about to burst from thinking about the last message from Branch Chief Charlotte: “Orthes is a secret inspector of Blasphemia.”
Orthes’s request for a message while escaping the Charlotte branch only accelerated her confusion. The recipient of the message, whose address was not specified, must belong to Blasphemia’s high ranks.
Would Carisia’s command to “explain Blasphemia” be a test to see if Arabella had caught on to Orthes’s true identity? Who could say?
Speaking too freely might lead to unforeseen trouble.
In her turmoil, Arabella concluded that “what’s important is the content of the information, not its source,” and explained Blasphemia as vaguely as possible.
The only one who might guess where and what Orthes had done would be Divius, who had once been part of Blasphemia.
Because of that, most of the directors of Hydra Corporation viewed Blasphemia merely as a kind of highly secured information guild. They could never guess that all its members were combat mages who had undergone special bodily modifications.
Still, the name Ten Towers held weight.
If there was anyone capable of infiltrating an organization associated with the Ten Towers, possessing the skills needed for stealth and tracking must mean they had something to learn as a hunter too.
Noiro anticipated some secretive method, like a special magic disguise or tracking magic.
What sort of extraordinary means had the boss’s trusted aide used to deceive the ears of the Ten Towers and penetrate their shadows?
“There’s no special method. I persuaded someone who knew the entrance to gain entry through the front gate.”
“Through the front gate!”
“Yes. There was a bit of a commotion when I came out, but there were no clues left behind at all.”
Well, that just reflects his arrogance. Getting in through the front gate means he is skilled enough to employ high-level disguise techniques without anyone on the team noticing.
No doubt about the “commotion during the exit.” By saying “no clues left behind,” he must have sabotaged the organization’s database that records things like CCTV.
“Indeed. Is this the level required to be the boss’s trusted aide?”
Noiro quietly admired.
‘What’s that? Is that guy also aiming for a higher position?’ Orthes felt uneasy about the unusual ambition. Even after experiencing how Carisia handles people, he still wants to get closer?
‘Divius too. Why are these directors so eager for more work?’
Usually, higher-ups are supposed to be somewhat lazy, so that the underlings can be more comfortable.
*
The beast tamer Dimedes set off for a location filled with bizarre rocks.
While monster stones are excavated here, it’s unprofitable, and more importantly, there’s no Great Temple to oversee the area, drawing wanted criminals to the stony plains.
It was quite a trek even from the nearest Magic Engine Train station. Upon getting off at the station, Orthes entrusted Noiro with tracking the traces left by Dimedes and his team.
Naturally, Orthes had never specialized in tracking techniques. His philosophy was to let the experts handle the work whenever possible.
‘There’s no way that someone skilled enough to infiltrate an information organization through the front gate would know nothing of tracking. Why would he specifically hand the task to me?’
This isn’t a mere show of sharing accomplishments. Noiro quickly caught onto Orthes’s intent.
‘Is he testing my skills? I can imagine what would happen if I fall below his standards.’
…Or so he thought.
‘Dimedes’s blunder might cause the directors to reevaluate their usefulness. I must do my best.’
Noiro took out the tracking agents he used to follow the beasts Dimedes commanded. He plugged the agents into the gauntlet and activated the command.
Usually, when people think of magical operating auxiliary devices, they imagine enchanted gear that cuts and transplants into the human body. Various types of magical operating auxiliary devices, or mana proxies, existed.
Noiro was using a proxy gauntlet connected to augmented reality visible through a gas mask. The saliva or fur components of the beasts that reacted to the tracking magic appeared on the display inside his mask.
“You’ve probably noticed this already, but it’s this way. Thankfully, Dimedes isn’t thorough in managing the beasts. There are still plenty of traces left.”
*
I don’t really know—
I followed Noiro, who was explaining things like a guide.
“Hmm, there are signs of moving around here for a while. Is it because of the butcher shop? The beasts seem to have been a bit hungry. But they didn’t rampage here; they headed straight outside the city.”
“That’s what was reported, right?”
I skimmed over Dimedes’ report while riding the Magic Engine Train. In the first-day report, he surely indicated that he immediately sought out the Bacchus Cult upon arrival.
Noiro seemed to speak hurriedly.
“No matter how strange Dimedes is, he wouldn’t mess around in a report to the boss. All the directors have that level of loyalty.”
*
“Could it be that I would doubt the loyalty of the directors?”
Phew. Noiro sighed in relief. He hadn’t expected to begin verification from such a fundamental aspect.
In the current situation where Orthes was considering dismissing the entire board because of Dimedes’s blunder, clearing up unnecessary misunderstandings quickly was wise.
“However…”
Noiro’s nerves were on edge.
“This incident is so beyond the norm.”
It was indeed bizarre for a director and his team to disappear collectively while trying to catch some drug addicts.
Noiro gritted his teeth at Dimedes. He’d always been uncomfortable with him, but now his situation was at stake because of that guy.
I need to quickly find that corpse and bring it back to Orthes.
“The traces of the beasts also lead straight towards that stone field, just as in the report. I’m moving right away.”
Seeming pleased with the swift response, Orthes nodded cheerfully.
Noiro thought, once he gets back, he’ll boast to the other directors that their heads are still attached to their bodies because of him.
*
Damn. I should’ve bought something to eat when I got off the train.
I lamented my lack of preparedness for not bringing a lunch box.
With Noiro being so enthusiastic about work, it didn’t seem like the atmosphere to suggest going for a meal. I could only follow with a smile.