NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44
“What does that mean?!”
The boss gently asked back. His soft demeanor made it all the more impossible to let down my guard.
The Head of the Divine Investigation Office is a ‘being’ to be revered. How could one not be cautious?
Carisia could easily read Kine’s fear of Orthes in her quivering, yet determined gaze.
‘Look at this, really…’
Letting out a sigh in her heart, Carisia gestured to Orthes.
“Yes, Boss.”
“Just wait outside for a moment.”
“Huh?”
Despite Orthes’s questioning, Carisia did not respond. Orthes knew very well that Carisia’s resolve was unshakable in times like this.
“Then, Miss Kine, I hope you enjoy a lovely conversation with the boss.”
With a suspiciously friendly smile, Orthes left the hospital room, leaving just Kine and Carisia behind. Carisia snapped her fingers.
The entire room was enveloped in a complex magic circle. From the floor to the ceiling, perfectly. The golden magic circle reflected in Kine’s eyes.
‘Normally, there’s no need to show the magic circle, but…’
This way, maybe it would reassure the poor little girl a bit.
“Now, the Head of the Divine Investigation Office can’t hear the conversation in this room.”
“What?”
Carisia shrugged.
“Miss Kine, the Head of the Divine Investigation Office, Orthes, has great expectations for your talents.”
“I know…”
“No. You do not know. Orthes sincerely believes that you could become our main force in the battle against the Ten Towers.”
Kine wondered when Orthes had seen her to have such strong confidence. However, the overwhelming sense of resignation and despair outweighed her curiosity.
‘Hehe. If you want to reclaim your family’s corpses, you’ll have to perform well on this mission.’
In Kine’s imagination, Orthes whispered such words as he sent her off to war against the Ten Towers.
“Was gathering all the corpses of the cultists for that reason? To free one each time I achieve results in battle? You don’t need to put a leash on me like that…!”
Carisia was torn between whether to sigh or burst into laughter.
‘Indeed. When Orthes’s eloquence and presence combine, it often leads to catastrophic results.’
“At least I don’t plan to handle you in that way.”
It was hard to believe that this was the same Orthes who seduced her with the Devil’s Temptation. Kine looked up at Carisia, dumbfounded.
“To be honest, the Ten Towers are formidable. As you said, with a ‘leash’ on you, your passive will would only be a hindrance.”
So far, Kine had felt repulsed by the future dragged into battle while under a leash. However, strangely enough, even now when Carisia was saying, “You are not needed in the battle against the Ten Towers,” that same repulsion bubbled up.
That was only natural. Yesterday, Orthes had made her painfully aware of the sorrow deep inside her that she hadn’t even known about.
Kine had no means to resolve or erase her thirst for revenge.
The desire for vengeance against the Ten Towers that had made the Bacchus Cult wander the world, though buried beneath her sorrow, had not vanished.
“So I would like to offer you an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?”
“Whether you simply become a corporate scholarship student of Hydra Corporation or truly join us in earnest to take on the Ten Towers. The chance to choose. If you prefer to stay as an ordinary corporate scholarship student, it suffices to achieve results at Museion and become our billboard.”
In this case, it was explained that Kine’s family corpses would be kept intact and later handed over to her. With trembling heart, Kine awaited the next explanation.
“However, if you truly wish to stand with us against the Ten Towers, Miss Kine, you must stake your very life. At the same time, we will prepare appropriate rewards for your efforts.”
Life. Kine pronounced that word in her mouth.
Her conversation with Carisia was peculiar. Even though they were discussing the danger to her life more directly than when talking to Orthes, something about it felt more trustworthy.
Was it because she was talking to someone whose intentions weren’t wrapped in a suspicious squint?
That could be part of it. Kine calmly settled her agitation and thought.
Ah.
The reason she found trust in Carisia over Orthes was simple. The situation when Carisia sent Orthes away.
‘At least I don’t plan to handle you in that way.’ The implication in that statement indicated that Carisia expressed her different intentions from Orthes.
This hinted at a secret rivalry between the two. If Orthes were fully trusted by the boss, there would be no reason for the boss to pursue a different path.
Kine thought that while Carisia might not be her ally, she was certainly more trustworthy than Orthes.
Carisia was thinking as she looked at Kine.
‘It happens sometimes. This… um.’
‘A person with a pure brain.’
*
Had it been about thirty minutes waiting outside? Carisia emerged from Kine’s hospital room.
“How did it go?”
“Well, I granted a brief grace period. I told her to decide whether she would study at Museion as a mere corporate scholarship student of Hydra Corporation or truly oppose the Ten Towers.”
“It would be difficult to grasp the full extent of the Ten Towers just by thinking alone.”
“That’s why I plan to take her to the review date. She needs to engrave in her mind just what kind of beings she faces when vowing for revenge.”
I found Carisia’s attitude quite intriguing. It was hard to believe she was a harsh boss who would squeeze her employees dry with such generous conditions.
If she were to follow her usual demanding ways, it seemed like she would start one-on-one magic lessons today and have finished the basics in a day, making me self-study until bedtime.
“Was there anything unusual?”
“It’s not the first time someone has jumped in to take revenge on the Ten Towers.”
It seemed that her sense of camaraderie as a fellow avenger brought out a unique reaction from Carisia.
“I had you, but that girl has nothing.”
Carisia’s little compliment made me chuckle. It was hard to claim that I had helped her; she had been a complete mage from the start.
“I can finally get some real rest now.”
“Yes, me too.”
“Huh?”
At my response, Carisia stared at me intently. Her golden eyes were especially piercing today.
Spending a holiday with the boss? That’s a bit harsh, Boss.
…I didn’t have the courage to say that. Rubbing my temples, I headed back to my room.
I could hear Carisia’s footsteps following me.
I didn’t know. Maybe I should just organize the list of wanted criminals by Mage Tower that I had planned to do today.
No. I needed to handle that right by adjusting the distribution of the wanted criminals according to the directors’ organization.
*
While Orthes was sitting at his desk doing paperwork—against his own beliefs—Carisia watched him from Orthes’s bed.
Without even turning around while manipulating holograms and typing, Orthes asked, “Boss, is this watching interesting to you?”
“Yes, very.”
Orthes sighed. It seemed like the higher-ups get a dopamine rush from watching their subordinates work.
Soon, Orthes changed his mind. Since Carisia had come to the room, he should consult her about future action plans.
“If the conflict between the Blasphemia rebels and the Ten Towers intensifies after the review, it might allow for smoother divine investigations in the chaos.”
“It’s not just us thinking that way.”
The Divine Cult. Carisia kept an eye on the movements of the old cult, buried in history.
She didn’t know exactly what their plans were, but as Hydra Corporation collected the sacred relics of the gods, a confrontation was inevitable.
“What should we do when we encounter them?”
“Do as you wish.”
Carisia answered without hesitation. It was natural from her perspective. Orthes’s decisions were always the best.
Orthes wanted to shed tears at that answer. He had expected some guidance but was starting from scratch again.
‘One day, when an employee joins the Divine Investigation Office, I really want to just delegate everything and only sign papers.’
Completing a custom response strategy based on the organization’s capabilities using the wanted criminal data, Orthes promptly uploaded it to the Hydra Corporation’s Ether Network.
Looking over the uploaded documents one more time, Orthes smiled in satisfaction.
He took pride in being a kind employee preparing clear work guidelines, unlike Carisia.
Though it was a holiday and he hadn’t thought about how the directors would receive the uploaded work guidelines under the name of the Head of the Divine Investigation Office.
*
The list of Ether Space criminals, tailored to Arabella’s capabilities, was several times longer than the other directors’ lists.
While other criminals required tracking in the physical realm, the criminals Arabella had to catch could be captured through hacking in Ether Space, which justified the arrangement.
“Aaaah! Come on! On a holiday!”
Arabella despaired over the workload assigned to her.