Ch.42Rest? (1)

It was a precious rest after a long time. Right after the meeting ended, several directors requested the allocation of divine investigation duties. However, as the Head of the Divine Investigation Department, I didn’t authorize any tasks.

It was a personnel issue.

To avoid incidents like what happened with Dimedes, we needed either two directors or a combination of one director and myself…

Two directors going on a business trip?

Etna City still has many areas that need maintenance. We can’t carelessly pull out high-ranking officials like directors.

Noi and Dimedes had jobs closer to combat, so removing them from Etna City didn’t cause much trouble. But if Old Man Bertrand or Arabelle were absent from Etna City for days, the impact would be significant.

“Even the ruffian Kriton has become the king of construction sites now…”

Since he’s been prohibited from thuggish behavior and human trafficking, he seems to be getting restless. However, I had no intention of letting him loose.

If he gets involved in slave trading again and attracts attention from outside forces, things would become complicated. Hydra Company needs to remain under the radar until the protagonist arrives and conflicts with the Ten Towers.

The drug dealer Mekonion doesn’t have any immediate tasks within the city. But the problem is that he’s not suitable for external missions in the first place.

‘He’s not the type with strong personal combat abilities, but rather one who commands followers.’

To minimize the impact of a director’s absence, the best option is for me to conduct the divine investigation alone. The second-best option is to go with one director, like this time.

I want to somehow pass the field work of divine investigations to other directors. I grabbed a piece of paper and started scribbling down my thoughts.

“A deployment chart of directors based on combat abilities according to the risk assessment of Blasphemia ruins? You’re writing this right after the meeting ended?”

Gulp.

“President?”

“The door wasn’t closed, so I came in.”

Carisia, waving her hand with a “Hello~”, looked as usual. That is, her usual self in front of me.

She was in casual clothes, having temporarily removed her usual formal jacket and combat gauntlets.

“This is an invasion of privacy. You shouldn’t just come in during non-work hours.”

Carisia laughed, “Ha.”

“Should I chase the president away then?”

I sighed and organized the documents I was scribbling on. There’s no way Carisia would come looking for me without a reason.

Last time she barged in unexpectedly, she fell asleep while listening to reports about the directors’ activities, but she must have had her own splendid reason.

“What brings you here?”

Carisia seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

“That girl Kine. Before entering Mouseion, she needs to erase or hide her divine power, right?”

“Yes. If she’s lost her faith, divine power won’t recharge, so it would be better to consume all remaining divine power to erase it.”

***

At that moment, Kine was praying to Bacchus. Although he was a god who couldn’t save her family from betrayal, she knew no other deity to pray to.

She knew the names of other gods, of course. But the god she and her family had believed in was Bacchus.

Since it wasn’t a prayer just for herself, she had to turn to Bacchus.

“Please protect my family’s souls from that person’s clutches and ensure my will doesn’t break…”

Having her reunion and farewell held hostage, Kine couldn’t defy the narrow-eyed man. But if he tried to use her as a tool for evil schemes, she would never forget the guilt of those wicked deeds.

She prayed again and again that her will wouldn’t be completely tainted by the narrow-eyed man’s evil.

***

“I think differently though…”

Ortes expressed doubt at Carisia’s murmuring. Carisia shook her head and said it was nothing.

‘Did she really say that without any thought? Goodness.’

She looked every bit like a skilled villain threatening someone’s family. Whenever Carisia saw Ortes display such naive behavior that it was bewildering, she couldn’t tell if it was an act or genuine.

“To pass the Mouseion entrance exam, magic skills are important. Among the directors, is there no one suitable as a teacher?”

“No. If we expand the range to include people outside the company, Geryones or Kaikel would be suitable for teaching the basics.”

“I’ll teach the basics then. I have time these days.”

“You personally, President?”

Ortes, stroking his chin, nodded. Setting aside her position as the final decision-maker of Hydra Company, Carisia was indeed the most suitable candidate for magic education.

First of all, her skills were the best in Etna City. The issue was her duties as president, but when she said she “had time,” it truly meant she had spare time.

Having confirmed Ortes’s approval, Carisia dusted off her clothes and stood up.

“About the divine investigation duties.”

“Yes.”

“If it’s difficult to dispatch directors because they’re each useful in Etna City, call in problem solvers or mercenaries. Draft a proposal and submit it; I’ll allocate the budget right away.”

“What’s the point of saving money?” Carisia said with a gentle smile.

***

I want to save money!

…is what I couldn’t say even with a knife at my throat. Carisia doesn’t use knives; she shoots beams.

My goal is to save money and enjoy a luxurious retirement life.

After Carisia left, I reread the papers I was writing. Indeed, deploying mercenaries or problem solvers instead of directors would save time and manpower.

“The issue is security.”

We need to be able to trust the mercenaries. From my experience in the problem solver industry, there weren’t many trustworthy problem solvers or mercenaries.

Having spent most of my time in the problem solver industry after waking up in this world until meeting Carisia, my experience isn’t short.

But it’s not normal to experience betrayal more times than I can count on both hands, even with a long time in the industry.

Employers and colleagues alike betrayed me indiscriminately. I was dumbfounded when I heard, “I’ll betray you before you betray me…!”

Even the request where I met Carisia involved an employer’s betrayal.

Perhaps I looked like an easy target for backstabbing because I lacked reputation. Most of my problem solver career was filled with requests from high-risk areas adjacent to other dimensions and remote villages, so I never made a name for myself.

‘…Since I don’t have good memories, I should focus on work.’

The usual criterion for distinguishing between problem solvers and mercenaries is scale. If you’re a one-person business, you’re a problem solver; if you move organizationally as part of a mercenary company, you’re a mercenary.

Ancient mercenary groups gradually expanded in scale as mercenary companies and dominated the market, changing the meaning of the word “mercenary” to refer to companies and their members.

In that situation, the word “problem solver” emerged to refer to individual-scale mercenaries like the independent mercenaries of the past.

In fact, there’s a sense that problem solvers emphasize the term “problem solver” saying, “We’re different from ordinary mercenaries!”

Though looking at problem solvers’ past careers, most are mercenaries who went independent because they didn’t want to pay the brokerage fees that mercenary companies take.

I recall the list of problem solvers and mercenary companies I had memorized during my active days.

The first criterion for filtering is trust. The second is skill. Names get crossed off one by one.

I search the remaining names on the Ether Network. In this industry, it’s quite common for a business partner who was operating just the day before to die and close shop.

After crossing off name after name…

‘There’s none left?’

Damn. Those cursed mercenary companies. They all fell at the trust criterion. There’s only one way.

“That guy who said he was establishing a magic tower should treat me well.”

On the list of magic towers applying for listing review this time, there was a tower with his name on it. Lampades Magic Tower.

He was the only colleague who didn’t betray me in a request where all other colleagues stabbed me in the back. His character… no, his elf-nature was definitely above the industry average.

When I meet him, I should ask if he’s willing to dispatch his mages.

There’s no Divine Investigation Department work for about a month anyway. Until then, I’ll rest a bit.

‘That’s it for today!’

I lay down on the bed. Maybe I’ve had too many business trips lately; sleep came instantly.

“Hey! Head of Divine Investigation! Hey!”

…or so I thought.

What woke me from my rare thoughtless sleep was a communication from Divius. I had assigned him to dissect Dimedes and Sikton.

“What’s the matter?”

“Something strange came out of that Sikton guy’s head! Come quickly and take a look.”

Haha, damn it.

I clicked my tongue once and changed clothes. They just won’t leave me alone.

***

Looking at Dimedes’ corpse, Divius thought.

‘Because our names are similar, I sometimes got the urge to go that way too. Good riddance.’

About five minutes after sending the message, Ortes’s footsteps echoed in Divius’s operating room.

“What did you find?”

As usual, a faint smile on his face. Either his expression remains the same even when woken from sleep, or he wasn’t sleeping at all.

Divius thought it was probably the latter. Given Ortes’s personality, he wouldn’t be able to rest with a potential danger to Carisia.

‘Hehe. Good. I was right to contact him immediately, even though it was dawn.’

His calculation was correct that Ortes would prioritize matters related to Hydra Company, and by extension Carisia, no matter how tired he was!

Divius guided Ortes to Sikton’s skull.

‘Why am I looking at the mysteries of the human body at dawn….’

Ortes, woken from sleep, felt a headache coming on.