Ch.6Business Trip to Partner Company (3)

Ortes slumped down at Tachnia’s bedside. Tachnia could barely twitch his remaining left hand.

With careful manipulation of magical energy, he somehow managed to revive the internal circuits of the control panel connected to the microphone.

“…”

A sudden wave of doubt washed over him. Suppose he alerted his subordinates outside about this situation. Would they be able to subdue the intruder?

As Tachnia was weighing his subordinates’ abilities against the intruder’s and calculating his chances of survival, Ortes spoke.

“I have a few questions to ask you.”

The microphone connection had been crudely restored.

***

“Have you seen a blonde child about this tall recently?”

I raised my right hand to indicate the height.

Given that Kriton had no dealings with the Torres School’s main tower, the probability of Astrape being delivered was extremely slim, but this was a final confirmation just in case.

“What… nonsense are you talking about? I’ve handled thousands of slaves; do you think I remember each and every one of them?”

“Oh? But you personally manage special slaves, don’t you? Wild mages and the like. There must be procedures you need to handle personally before delivering them to the main tower.”

It was a procedure to suppress the mage’s internal magic circuits to a manageable level to prevent them from acting out during transport.

There was only one scenario where Astrape could have been delivered without drawing attention from the Torres School:

If she was among the slaves Kriton had delivered in the most recent transaction. She would still be waiting for this procedure.

Though the probability was absurdly low, I didn’t want to miss this possibility and create an opportunity for Karisia to die.

“I see now, you’re a slave hunter. All this because a slave you had your eye on was sold to our tower…? Kuh, must have been quite a valuable slave.”

“Next time we meet, I’ll introduce myself as such. Let me ask again. Among the slaves you’re currently managing specially, is there a wild mage with exceptional talent in lightning magic? Probably blonde.”

“If we meet again, it would be hell… No, there isn’t.”

Tachnia now seemed completely resigned, answering without even opening his eyes.

There was almost a sense of enlightenment in his words. The posture of someone who realized there was no way to escape death.

In the original story, Tachnia burned with ambition to gain promotion by offering slaves to the main tower.

Astrape’s potential as a wild mage was exceptional, and Tachnia was transferred to the main tower in recognition of offering her.

But Tachnia misjudged Astrape’s potential. As a result, he set the intensity of the magic circuit suppression incorrectly, which later caused Astrape to regain her sense of self.

In a later battle with the Torres School, when Astrape mentioned this fact and mocked Tachnia, he couldn’t hide his fury.

Judging from the emotional reaction described then, he seemed like someone whose lies would be obvious when pushed to this extent.

“None? That’s good news. Then, finally.”

***

“Where would you prefer?”

The words from the beginning of the fight returned. The man was persistently asking how he wanted to die.

Tachnia exhaled a blood-tinged breath and murmured.

“Make it quick and easy. Just cut me down.”

It wasn’t out of loyalty, thinking that marks left on his corpse might cause a war with other schools and harm the Torres School.

He simply wanted to thwart the intruder’s intentions one last time. Tachnia opened his eyes, waiting for the final sight.

The intruder, who hadn’t revealed even a fragment of his name, wore a smile to the end. He slowly raised his high-frequency blade and brought it down.

Without even a sound of cutting, Tachnia’s neck was severed cleanly.

After meticulously retrieving the brain chip that would have been installed in his brain, Ortes activated his magic engraving drive.

A fireball, the basic fire spell, was released. Thanks to the destroyed control panel, the fire prevention system didn’t activate.

After confirming that fire had caught on Tachnia’s body, Ortes stepped out the door.

It was time to return from his business trip.

***

In the midst of the slave escape. Despite having magic engraving drives, the escaped slaves weren’t proper mages.

But the difference in numbers was overwhelming. That was why the Torres School mages hadn’t been able to suppress the escape yet.

If it had been a gathering of non-magical people, the situation would have ended long ago, but magic engraving drives seemed to be endlessly pouring out, targeting the mages’ throats.

Subdue one, and five more appeared; subdue ten, and twenty more poured in.

Until now, they had only used nerve-severing magic to preserve the value of the merchandise, but just as they were about to unleash truly destructive magic…

Suddenly, a crackling broadcast sound rang out. A noise-filled, unstable sound fell into the middle of the uprising.

“Have you seen… about this tall… blonde… child?”

The mages froze at the voice coming through. A broadcast from the supervisor’s office had been activated, and an unfamiliar voice was coming through.

What could this mean?

There was no sound of battle in the broadcast. Only dry questions and answers continued.

The mages hurriedly tried to contact their superiors. There was no response.

In that confusion, the slaves saw hope.

And finally, when Tachnia’s words “just kill me quickly” came through, the mages began to flee.

Among the slaves shouting with joy at their liberation, there was one child with golden hair.

Crackle.

A flash of electricity sparked from her fingertips and disappeared.

The child repeated the words she had heard in the broadcast. Someone saying it was good that she hadn’t been captured here.

It was a similar tone to the nameless man who had been distributing magic engraving drives to people.

Could it be?

It was just a one-in-a-million thought, but…

‘Did he come to save me?’

Astrape looked at the open exit and thought of her distant hometown.

Etna City. A decaying city of vice.

***

What awaited me upon returning from my business trip was an executive meeting.

How could they ask me to attend a meeting right after returning from a trip? I clicked my tongue at Karisia’s misguided work ethic.

After thanking the driver who had brought me here, I straightened my clothes a bit.

I had gotten blood on them one way or another, but changing clothes here would be amateur.

Considering Karisia’s temperament, she was more likely to be annoyed by me being late to change clothes than by the smell of blood on my clothes.

If I had known this would happen, I should have prepared a change of clothes from the start.

After just tidying up my appearance, I headed straight for the meeting room.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Karisia’s cold voice. I opened the door as quietly as possible, worried about what kind of whim she might indulge in this time.

***

As Ortes entered through the door, Kriton flinched. The distinct scent of blood.

There was no need to say whose blood it was. The Torres branch he had been dealing with until now.

‘I suspected as much when he asked for just one seat next to the driver, saying no other personnel were needed…’

Had he really annihilated the branch single-handedly?

Ortes glided in silently and stood behind Karisia, just as he had during the company’s founding ceremony. Kriton noticed Karisia’s lips twitch ever so slightly.

Was it satisfaction or displeasure?

Perhaps the lingering aura of battle emanating from Ortes’s clothes bothered her.

Or perhaps she was satisfied that her subordinate had successfully completed his mission.

Before Kriton could analyze her expression, Karisia’s face settled.

“Ortes.”

“Yes.”

“You told me not to include death in my plans, yet you don’t follow that advice yourself.”

A rebuke? Her expression was unreadable.

Without a trace of hesitation in his smiling face, Ortes responded as if he had prepared in advance.

“The duties of a servant and the duties of a master are different. The methods I use are not suitable for you, Madam CEO, and vice versa.”

Karisia nodded readily.

“Did you hear that, Geryones?”

***

Wow. This is truly a workplace beyond imagination.

The first words of the meeting I’m attending right after returning from a business trip, without even having time to change clothes, are scolding me.

Ah, Madam CEO. This wasn’t necessary.

What I meant was for her to have some attachment to life, but it seems my meaning was distorted because I spoke at an odd time.

I should explain properly when we’re alone sometime.

I was about to answer that the CEO is too important to be in the field where she would make employees nervous, while it’s my duty as middle management to go check things out when needed, when I heard an unexpected name.

“Did you hear that, Geryones?”

Geryones?

That was definitely the name of one of the three tower masters who controlled Etna City before the White Nameless took over.

A mage modified with cybernetic enhancements to have six arms. Each arm had a different elemental magic core inserted, allowing him to manifest up to 7 attributes simultaneously with his main body’s incantations, making him a formidable battle mage.

Come to think of it, there weren’t nine people in the meeting room.

I looked at the tenth figure in the corner.

Two arms on the right. One on the left. The other three arms had vanished, leaving only mechanical devices visible around the shoulders.

Karisia’s cold gaze pierced through him. Addressing the bowed head of Geryones, Karisia spoke as if reading a verdict.

“This is why you’re still alive.”

…What?