It was an ill-timed journey on foot.
I wasn’t bored for a while thanks to Arabel, who had time to spare and engaged in conversation with me. But as we got closer to Etna City, communication would be cut off, and I’d have to head to bed, leaving me to talk to myself for the rest of the way.
By the time I arrived, it was already midnight. Going through the main gate to get to my room would involve too many complications, so I headed toward the back entrance instead.
The tightly shut back door bore a sign prohibiting entry to non-essential personnel. But if not me, who else could possibly be considered relevant to Hydra Corp?
Placing my pristine white access card against the reader triggered the unlocking mechanism. This white pass was issued by Carisia immediately after securing control of Lernian Tower’s magic core.
“You’ve arrived.”
On my way to the quarters located at the topmost level of Hydra Corp, I encountered the chairman in the hallway.
“Chairman?”
‘That look clearly says he doesn’t understand why I’m here.’
Carisia offered a slight smile and shrugged her shoulders.
“I thought you’d be arriving soon, so I waited.”
“But the report isn’t ready yet.”
Ortes replied formally.
Carisia didn’t seem particularly bothered by this. That’s just how he is.
“I know. I’m not so lacking in time management that I’d ask someone who has just returned from a business trip to prepare a report right away.”
Ortes felt something odd about the situation. The tone Carisia used reminded him of something he had heard before, though he couldn’t quite place it.
“Then why are you here?”
“Just to see your face. It’s late. Good night.”
With that, Carisia walked past Ortes and entered her own room—technically, the room next to his.
The door clicked shut behind her. There was no metallic sound of a lock engaging.
‘Really, what is she thinking?’
Ortes stared at Carisia’s retreating figure, lost in thought.
If she had simply said “Good job coming back from the trip,” it would have made more sense. After all, the years Ortes and Carisia had shared were far from few.
In that case, one might admire their bond and go to sleep peacefully.
However, it was difficult to gauge Carisia’s intentions when she simply stopped by to briefly see him.
‘Eh, never mind. From her expression, it didn’t seem like she was upset about anything. I’ll think about it tomorrow morning.’
The data extracted by Arabel from the Blasphemia branch proved useful in several ways.
Although these weren’t records from Blasphemia headquarters but rather from a single branch, they contained sufficient information to track down “superstition followers,” which was Blasphemia’s primary mission. These followers were the ones who believed in the lost gods that Hydra Corp sought to uncover.
While Ortes endured the arduous journey on foot to evade any possible pursuit by Blasphemia, the board members had already held several meetings based on the information provided by Arabel.
After much discussion, a somewhat reasonable division of labor regarding how to pursue divinity was established. However, Carisia, who held final approval authority, had not yet approved the executives’ business plan.
The reason was simple: since this project fell under the jurisdiction of the Divinity Investigation Division, all work could only begin upon Ortes’ return as its director.
At this point, Ortes wasn’t actually necessary. Since the president’s authority naturally outweighed that of the director of the Divinity Investigation Division, the operation could proceed smoothly with Carisia’s approval.
Still, Carisia insisted that the process must go through the director of the Divinity Investigation Division. Why?
The board members converged on one conclusion: authority.
It was to reinforce Ortes’ authority.
Before the establishment of the Divinity Investigation Division, Ortes had worked as Carisia’s right-hand man without a clear rank. If pressed to define his position, one might say he functioned as a personal secretary directly under the president, though even this was not an official title.
Thus, despite being the de facto second-in-command of Hydra Corp, Ortes lacked the formal authority that the board members possessed.
Therefore, Carisia appointed Ortes as the head of the newly formed Divinity Investigation Division and granted the department near-unlimited discretion.
Ironically, Ortes used this discretion not to command the board members but to carry out missions alone, leading to uncertainty about the hierarchy between the board members and the director.
In this delicate situation, Carisia halted the operations of the Divinity Investigation Division until Ortes returned, thereby affirming that in matters related to “divinity,” the authority of the director surpassed that of the board members.
The board members looked at Ortes, standing behind Carisia as usual, with uneasy eyes.
Even though there was a designated seat prepared for the director, he insisted on standing behind Carisia as he normally would during normal times. Perhaps this was a display of loyalty.
This stance also served to prove that although Ortes had been granted considerable discretion by Carisia, he had no intention of opposing her.
‘I’ve been walking continuously, and now I have some muscle pain.’
A meeting first thing in the morning? My legs hurt.
I eyed an empty seat. Was it Kaike or Geryon who hadn’t shown up yet?
Whatever the reason, it just meant I had to stand longer.
“We seem to have all the necessary attendees. Shall we start the meeting?”
Thankfully, Elder Bertrand spoke up. Carisia glanced at me briefly before nodding.
*
The first to step forward among the board members was Beastmaster Demedes.
“First, Director of the Divinity Investigation Division, wasn’t your return delayed unnecessarily?”
Mecoonion exclaimed in surprise. Was this human hunter really challenging the second-in-command without fear?
No matter how bloodthirsty they may be, surely they should know better than to pick fights indiscriminately.
Or perhaps there was another reason. Based on past experiences, Ortes was known to overlook minor offenses unless they directly involved the president, making him a fervent supporter.
“Haha, I apologize. Some things can’t afford to be rushed.”
The tail reference was clearly aimed at the beasts under Demedes’ command. It subtly hinted that stepping over boundaries would result in consequences.
Demedes, impulsive and rude as he may be, was not unintelligent. He had the ability to interpret Ortes’ words.
He ceased his provocation and moved on to the main topic.
“Hmm. So, did you read the materials regarding the task allocation for the divinity investigation?”
What is he talking about?
Complaining about my late return is just typical nitpicking from higher-ups, so I brushed it aside. Surely he’s not suggesting I should have reviewed everything the moment I arrived last night?
I almost bit my lip. This was unexpected.
Could it be that in the few days I was gone, the mindset of using people recklessly had taken hold among the board members? Desperately, I tried to gauge Carisia’s reaction.
Given her silence regarding the task allocation material, it seems like such a document does exist.
Here, the best course of action is to play along casually while assessing the situation and guessing the appropriate response.
“Of course. Are you dissatisfied with the tasks assigned to you, Director Demedes?”
“The content is satisfactory. However, wasn’t the person responsible for approving the plan absent?”
I recalled what I whispered to Carisia half-asleep last night.
Didn’t I mention something about ‘Demesde’s dogs craving bl**d, so give them criminals before they attack civilians’?
Since she seemed pleased, it appears he was indeed tasked with hunting humans. Therefore, Neuro must have been excluded from tracking fugitives, and most of the assignments likely followed what I suggested previously.
“I’m glad to see your enthusiasm. How many beasts are currently available for mobilization under your command?”
“Hmph. 120. On the president’s orders, all beasts have been gathered and are waiting. They’re all starving.”
“How many trainers do you have to control the beasts?”
“Thirty trainers are deployable on the front lines. Four of them are top-tier.”
Though referred to as “top-tier,” in truth, all thirty should rightly be called beasts.
This was merely surface-level camouflage. In reality, they were chimeras infused with human essence, maintaining both human form and intelligence.
The true nature of beast training lay in the chimera’s superior ability as the master species over other beasts. Chimeras are created by combining various beasts into a more powerful entity. They possess dominion over the types of beasts that constitute their bodies.
It has been quite some time since they were banned from hunting under Carisia’s rule.
Even with stored humans, there must be limits, so the chimeras are gradually regressing intellectually due to hunger.
Hence, they are desperately appealing for permission to hunt humans.
So, to whom should I assign these bloodthirsty beasts to hunt?
