Carisia, or the original character Baek Mu-myeong, clashes with the protagonist.
Ding!
Here’s the issue. What is the triggering moment that leads the protagonist to first recognize Hydra Corporation?
Baek Mu-myeong had no significant interest in the management of Hydra Corporation.
Essentially, they only viewed obtaining management rights of the Great Temple as a means to build power and reach the Ten Commandments, indifferent to what the underlings were doing.
Ding!
Thus, the eight directors had the freedom to pursue any “business” as long as they fulfilled the quotas Carisia presented.
Cretone’s chosen method of business was violence, and the product? Slaves.
“What are you talking about? I’m a fair merchant. Even if you are the boss’s right-hand, without proper reason—”
And typically, slave traders in novels end up getting entangled with the protagonist and facing doom.
Unfortunately, Cretone was no exception.
“I’m well aware that your dealings with them are not merely that of a merchant and customer.”
Creak!
Cretone’s body trembled. His skin, stained with an odd hue from green blood, quivered.
“The Torres Faction was involved in modifying your body. You selected skilled individuals among the acquired slaves and offered them up.”
“…Arabella?”
The question of whether the greatest information dealer in Etna City, Arabella, had figured out his secret. I decided to elevate Arabella’s status a bit.
Among the eight directors, she was the most communicative and capable, so granting her some authority that could resonate among the directors would be beneficial in the future.
“No. It wasn’t necessary to ask Director Arabella for help.”
Arabella has the ability to grasp your secret. However, the means by which I acquired your secret was not through Arabella’s Information Guild.
A sentence packed with dual meanings. Whether Cretone understood it, he appeared lost in thought, unable to respond.
In many ways, Cretone’s body was a product of the Torres Faction.
Especially, the neural modifications providing reflexes dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary human were the vision of the Torres Faction.
Though the Torres Faction primarily dealt with electricity, they preferred tinkering with brains rather than spitting electricity from their hands.
Controlling the body ultimately meant manipulating brain electrical signals; it was their style to implant miniature magical engraving drives in the brain and create puppets.
Buzz!
They also developed methods to remodel bodies optimized for transmitting electrical signals.
The Torres Faction’s big dream was, like any other mage, to access the Ten Commandments, but their methodology was rather unconventional.
‘Even if you can’t qualify through skills, can’t you just connect somehow?’
Thus, they dreamed of becoming the ultimate magical hackers who would illegally invade the Ether Space of the Ten Commandments.
However, during the modification work for the body meant to fulfill that dream, the protagonist barged in and ruined everything.
The Mage King Simon, while contemplating ways to contact the Ten Commandments, collided with the Torres Faction and rescued a slave who would become their greatest masterpiece.
A cyborg heroine who controls electricity, Astraphe.
Astraphe’s personal narrative seemed to conclude with a clash against the Torres Tower, but…
Dum dum!
The lingering question of who the first slave trader to sell Astraphe was eventually led to the enmity between Hydra Corporation and Simon.
The butterfly effect caused by Cretone ended up exposing Baek Mu-myeong’s forces, secretly plotting the destruction of the Ten Commandments, to the Mage King.
That chain of events ultimately led to Baek Mu-myeong’s explosive demise, along with the Ten Commandments.
If Carisia dies as in the original work, the world would shift from Arcane Punk to Apocalypse.
Only the powerful can enjoy this, but in a society where civilization existed, it would plunge into a current ongoing apocalypse where only desperate battles against extra-dimensional horrors remain.
Boom!
“I can’t live in such a world.”
I’ve barely managed to secure the ability to survive on my own, and what would happen if the entire world crumbled?
Therefore, my first goal was to prevent Carisia from dying like in the original, and my second was to retire at an appropriate time and enjoy a leisurely life.
I’ve saved enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, so as long as the world remains intact, I’m good.
It’s been quite some time since I pondered how to achieve Carisia’s goals without coming into contact with the protagonist.
In that time, Cretone had been completely silent.
Noticing that Cretone’s thoughts were dragging, I decided to give him an easy option.
*
“How many days until we go to offer slaves to the Torres Faction?”
“Offer? We are equals! It’s business—”
Cretone faced off against the boss’s right-hand. Whether his eyes were closed or opened, a thin line formed, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
The ominous glow of eerie blue light under his eyelids seemed aimed at his heart.
“I’ll handle it simply. I’ll accompany you on that offering trip.”
Thud!
The crude wording hinted at something ominous.
That guy was basically saying he would eliminate the Torres Faction’s base alone.
No confidence or arrogance shone through.
With no particular emotion, just a calm declaration of “it will naturally happen,” akin to saying, “1 plus 1 equals 2,” only tightened Cretone’s grip.
“That’s just a branch of the Torres Faction…”
The only words Cretone could muster were pathetic threats regarding the faction’s might.
Truthfully, he couldn’t even be sure if he was threatening Orthes or making excuses about having to obey the demands of the overwhelmingly powerful Torres Faction.
Upon hearing that, Orthes’ lips curled upward. He always had a smiling face, but this was a particularly assured smile.
“Good.”
Cretone seemed to have given up on understanding him.
“Fine. I understand. I’ll obey the command. But…”
There was one thing he couldn’t get his head around. He hadn’t committed any betrayal against the company.
He merely had a special trading partner.
If they had realized his secret connections, wouldn’t the new force, Hydra Corporation, be pondering how to utilize the connections to the existing powers?
The Torres Faction was a mid-tier faction capable of exerting influence over various cities. Just the tower facilities under their control could not even be counted on two hands.
The slums of Etna City were already under Hydra Corporation’s control, so expanding the trade and receiving serious support from the Torres Faction would place the unification of Etna City within reach.
Why so adamantly order him to sever ties?
“If you support the dealings with the Torres Faction at the company level, you could gain substantial benefits. Have you not even considered the choice to cooperate with them?”
Hummm…
Orthes stroked his chin as if he didn’t understand Cretone’s words.
Then he casually tossed out a remark.
“Our revered one does not entertain endeavors with such small fry.”
*
Cretone got approved for exchanges with the main tower due to the credit of discovering Astraphe and offering her to the Torres Faction.
Given the fact that the trading counterpart was a mere branch, it confirmed that Astraphe had not yet been sold to the Torres Faction.
This meant he could potentially prevent an incident that would attract the protagonist’s attention in advance!
From Cretone’s standpoint, being able to sever ties with minimal losses before the transactions grew significantly would at least be a decent choice, even if he wasn’t thrilled about it.
Cutting ties with the main tower versus severing with a branch had a vastly different level of backlash.
In that sense, saying “good” was accurate, but why Cretone was looking at me with those eyes was a mystery.
Wondering why he was being so difficult, I casually threw out Carisia’s name in explanation, which seemed to intensify the indescribable emotions embodied in Cretone’s gaze.
He blinked a couple of times, shaking off the stray thoughts.
There was no point pondering over what happened a few days ago now.
“How long until we arrive?”
“About 30 minutes!”
The driver of the magical engine trailer provided by Cretone answered, his face tense with anxiety. Behind the driver’s seat, the cargo hold was filled with people gathered as slaves.
“Ah. I’ll take care of everything regarding the disposal of the slaves. You stay prepared to get out beforehand.”
If I started a ruckus once we arrived at the slave depot, the chances of things going awry would be high.
Am I really going to face all the mages of the branch by myself?
If I got caught by the underlings and some top boss requests assistance, saying there’s a mysterious intruder at the main tower, that would complicate matters.
On the other hand, chaotic escapes by the slaves due to inadequate management are somewhat common. That level of hustle wouldn’t warrant immediate reporting to the main tower.
While the underlings are preoccupied with suppressing the slaves, it would be advantageous to take down the responsible directors with communication authority one by one.
“Disposal… are you saying?”
The driver looked at me with a somewhat uneasy expression. It might have sounded a bit threatening.
“Ah, don’t worry. There won’t be any of what you might be thinking. After we arrive, just stay far away, and no matter what sounds you hear, wait until I come out.”
Whoosh!
The driver hurriedly nodded in understanding, and I added one more admonition.
“If you leave first, it’ll be a huge problem for me?”
Beep!
I don’t know how to drive this thing!
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