Ch.2Founding Ceremony and Business Plan (2)

# Business Plan.

That’s the first word I wrote on the blank page.

It was the most convenient title to explain away if someone happened to discover my notes about the future.

I plan to burn it after organizing all my thoughts, but there’s a non-zero chance that Carisia might suddenly visit my room and ask what I’m writing, so this feels like preparing an excuse in advance.

No matter how suspicious the contents of a business plan might be, she’d probably just think, “Ah, he’s talking nonsense again” and move on.

Even if Carisia were to look over my shoulder at this document right now, she’d dismiss it as trivial fantasy.

Instead of making grandiose ten-year or hundred-year plans, wouldn’t she scold me to focus on what needs to be done tomorrow?

The first thing that came to mind was the number 2077.

The title of the “original work” that forms the foundation of this world was something like “The Demon Lord Who Returned in 2077.” Whether it was resurrection, return, or some completely different word, I’m not certain.

My faint memories are frustrating.

‘Damn. If I’d known this was a novel world, I would have written everything down before forgetting.’

The title isn’t important. Convincing myself of this, I wrote down a few connected words.

2077. Resurrection. The Ten Commandments of the Demon Path (魔道十誡).

In this world, the first to systematize magic was the “Demon Lord,” the protagonist of the original work.

When the Demon Lord ascended to heaven, he divided his wisdom into ten attributes and left behind the first artifacts known as the Ten Commandments.

The disciples who inherited the Ten Commandments each established their own schools, becoming the founders of the Magic Towers, and modern mages also strive diligently to become chosen ones who can access the Ten Commandments.

…That’s the history known to this world, but the truth written in the novel is somewhat different.

The Demon Lord’s disciples murdered their master as he attempted to ascend, tearing apart his powers and claiming them for themselves.

In other words, the Ten Commandments were literally the fragmented powers of the Demon Lord himself.

The murdered Demon Lord successfully resurrected across vast stretches of time thanks to a contingency plan he had created in case his ascension failed.

The novel begins with him bewildered by the gap between the mythical age of his death and the distinctly cyberpunk era of 2077.

The backbone of the story is how Simon, the resurrected Demon Lord, recovers the Ten Commandments to regain his ability to break through the heavens and ascend.

‘So our employer is Simon’s enemy.’

Strictly speaking, Carisia wasn’t Simon’s enemy from the beginning. She appeared as a competitor in his quest to recover the Ten Commandments, and ultimately they ended up fighting to the death.

The reason was simple. The Demon Lord’s goal was to access the Ten Commandments to recover the wisdom he lost during his resurrection.

Other mages who weren’t Demon Lords coveted the Ten Commandments for the same reason.

They wanted to obtain the accumulated wisdom of countless mages from the mythical age until now who had accessed the Ten Commandments, bringing themselves closer to ascension.

But Carisia was different.

Carisia wanted to destroy the Ten Commandments.

More precisely, the Ten Commandments of Light.

At this point, I clutched my head in frustration. I was berating myself for not recognizing the antagonist who competed with the protagonist over the novel’s most important element.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Carisia in the original work didn’t have a name.

‘The Middle Head of Hydra,’ ‘The Nameless Witch,’ or more simply ‘Baekmumeong (White Nameless).’

Those were the names used for Carisia in the novel.

Damn. When that impressive-looking kid said, “I have no name to give you,” I thought she just didn’t want to associate with someone as insignificant as me.

It was too bothersome to keep calling her “miss” all the time, so I gave her a name I found from some research institute.

“And now it’s come full circle…”

My head hurts.

Just going by the white-haired girl who shoots death beams, I should have thought of Baekmumeong first. But the name Carisia blinded me, leading me to face an identity I couldn’t have imagined.

Only when I heard the name Hydra Company at the founding ceremony did I realize her true identity.

Strangely, even though we became quite close, she never told me her real name. Either it was a secret too important to share with someone just moderately close, or she truly had no name.

I stare at the word ‘Light’ scribbled under Ten Commandments on my business plan.

Baekmumeong exits the story by destroying the Ten Commandments of Light with a grand spell that costs her life.

Since she disappeared while still nameless, there was no opportunity to discover her real name, and only rumors circulated that she might have been a test subject from the White Light Magic Tower.

Baekmumeong’s death becomes a turning point in the original work.

It was the catalyst that completely destroyed the dimensional barrier—already riddled with holes from the Demon Lord’s incomplete ascension and subsequent ascension attempts by latecomers—allowing extra-dimensional magical power to pour in earnest.

In other words, she was responsible for pushing this already cyberpunk-esque world of magical disparity further into the abyss.

I vaguely remember reading that the method she used to destroy the Ten Commandments of Light was too violent, and the world couldn’t handle the aftermath.

While destruction is inherently violent, the problem was that she didn’t gradually dismantle the Ten Commandments but shattered them all at once.

The accumulated desire for ascension from all the mages connected to the Ten Commandments burst forth simultaneously, destroying the dimensional barrier.

I understand that with the Demon Lord in pursuit, Baekmumeong’s only option was to destroy the Ten Commandments with magic that consumed her own soul.

So my task is…

***

“Madam CEO. You shouldn’t be a fool who includes dying in your plans.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

Maybe I just need to make her develop an attachment to life?

“If you have time for such empty words, please focus on your work. I’ll be away for a while.”

***

Three days after Hydra Company’s founding ceremony.

Carisia announced she would be absent to update her Magic Tower Master registration.

The eight leaders, now called directors, were dismayed.

No matter how confident she was in her abilities, how could she leave during this chaotic period right after establishing the organization?

What if several directors united to plot a rebellion?

Though she had seized control of the organization with overwhelming power, Carisia was still human.

She wasn’t an untouchable being like a grand mage attempting ascension. If people gathered, prepared their means, and waited for the right moment, she could be killed.

Once she obtained the authority of the Magic Tower, there would truly be no way to resist her, so if an assassination were to be attempted, this would be the final opportunity.

At least a few of the eight directors believed this.

Just as they were considering this, Ortes, who stood behind Carisia, spoke up.

“Madam CEO. You shouldn’t be a fool who includes dying in your plans.”

It was a statement that shook those contemplating the risks and returns of rebellion.

Carisia’s eyebrow twitched. A reaction suggesting it wasn’t even worth listening to.

Calmly leaving only the instruction to “focus on your work,” Carisia exited the conference room.

Arabelle swallowed, guessing the hidden meaning in that exchange.

‘Telling us to focus on work during her absence… Anyone can see this means she’s appointing an acting CEO.’

Even after Carisia left, Ortes remained standing with the same faint smile. Not taking the empty seat was a silent indication that only Carisia could sit in the CEO’s chair.

“The CEO moves as swiftly as ever. Well then, directors, I believe you all have plenty of time. Would each of you care to have a conversation with me?”

“Not here, in the interview room.”

Arabelle hoped she wouldn’t be the first interviewee. Being third or fourth would be ideal.

That way, she could get clues about what happened inside from the appearance of previous visitors.

“Director Arabelle, you’ll be first. Is that alright?”

How could she possibly shake her head? Arabelle forced herself to manage her expression and nodded.

***

In this world, the term “Magic Tower” has two main meanings.

First, Magic Towers as schools formed by mages with similar ideologies.

Second, Magic Towers as facilities that purify extra-dimensional magical power and supply it throughout the city.

Typically, the first type of Magic Tower forms around the second.

The Magic Tower Master qualification that Carisia went to update is also related to the second meaning.

After the head of Lernian, the original owner of the Hydra Company building, evaporated, the tower’s magic distribution device has been operating automatically.

But if Carisia is officially registered as the Tower Master and gains free control over the tower, a third of this city, Etna City, will truly become her property in every sense.

In this world, magical power holds the same position as electricity or water in the modern society I lived in.

But just as one can survive without electricity or water, there are ways to get by without magical power. A mage could directly supply their own magic.

However, that would be extremely inconvenient and troublesome.

Arabelle seemed like the type who would hate such inconvenience the most.

She might secretly plot to take the Tower Master position if Carisia died before official registration, but after Carisia completed the registration, she would unhesitatingly bow to her.

For good reason.

“Director Arabelle, what percentage of your body has been mechanized?”

After all, she was a human who had undergone magical-cybernetic implant procedures and couldn’t survive without magical-electricity.