I Became the Servant of the Blind Wicked Woman

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Carisia, or more accurately, White No Name from the original work, comes into conflict with the protagonist.

Here's the question: How does the protagonist first come to recognize Hydra Corporation?

White No Name had little interest in the management of Hydra Corporation. She only saw it as a means to grow her influence and reach the Ten Commandments. What her subordinates did was of no concern to her.

As a result, the eight directors were free to pursue any "business" as long as they met the quotas set by Carisia.

Cretone chose violence as his business method, and his product was slaves.

"What are you talking about? I'm a fair merchant. Even if you're directly under the boss, you need a valid reason—"

And usually, slave traders in novels are the type that gets ruined when entangled with the protagonist.

Cretone was, unfortunately, no exception.

"I know that your dealings with them are not just simple transactions between a merchant and customers."

Cretone flinched, his body trembling. His skin, tinged with a strange color due to his green blood, shuddered.

"The Torres faction was involved in modifying your body. You selected slaves with exceptional qualities and offered them to the faction."

"…Was it Arabella?"

He asked if Arabella, Etna City's top informant, had uncovered his secret. I decided to boost Arabella's prestige and standing a bit.

Among the eight directors, she was the most reasonable and competent, so giving her some authority among them would be beneficial in the future.

"No. There was no need to involve Director Arabella."

Arabella has the ability to uncover your secret. But the means by which I discovered your secret did not involve her information guild.

A statement with two meanings. Cretone seemed to understand and fell silent, deep in thought.

Cretone's inhuman body was the work of the Torres faction.

Particularly, the neural modifications that provided reflexes dozens of times faster than an average human were the Torres faction's specialty.

The Torres faction was a group of magicians who primarily dealt with electrical attributes. However, instead of producing electricity from their hands, they preferred tinkering with brains.

They believed controlling the body was ultimately about controlling the brain's electrical signals, inserting tiny magical imprint drives into the brain to create puppets was their style. They also developed methods to optimize bodies for electrical signal transmission.

Like other magicians, the Torres faction's ultimate goal was accessing the Ten Commandments, but their method was quite novel.

'Even if we can't earn the right through skill, we just need to connect somehow, right?'

Their ultimate dream was creating the perfect magical hacker to illegally access the Ten Commandments' Ether Space.

The protagonist stumbles upon their modification process, aimed at creating the ultimate magical hacker, and ruins everything.

Mage King Simon clashes with the Torres faction while figuring out how to access the Ten Commandments and rescues a slave who was to become their greatest masterpiece.

The cyborg heroine who controls electricity, Astraphe.

Astraphe's personal storyline seems to conclude with the battle against the Torres Tower, but…

'The question of who initially sold Astraphe as a slave ultimately leads to the antagonism between Hydra Corporation and Simon.'

The force led by White No Name, secretly plotting to destroy the Ten Commandments, gets discovered by the Mage King due to Cretone.

That butterfly effect spirals, eventually leading to White No Name's explosive demise along with the Ten Commandments.

If Carisia were to die as in the original story, the world's genre would shift from arcane-punk to apocalypse.

In a society where civilization, though only accessible to the powerful, still exists.

It would all collapse, leaving only a desperate struggle against the outer-dimensional horrors in an ongoing apocalypse.

'I can't live in such a world.'

I had just barely managed to secure my survival through various means. If the world were to fall apart, what then?

Therefore, my primary goal was to prevent Carisia from dying as in the original story, and my secondary goal was to retire at an appropriate time and live a leisurely life.

I had saved enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, as long as the world remained intact.

I had been pondering for a while about how to achieve Carisia's goals without contacting the protagonist.

Meanwhile, Cretone had said nothing.

Seeing that Cretone's thoughts were running long, I decided to give him an easy choice.

***

"When is the date for the slave tribute to the Torres faction?"

"Tribute? I have an equal relationship with them! Business—"

Cretone looked at the boss's right-hand man. Eyes that seemed to be permanently squinting, giving no hint of what he was thinking. The eerie blue glow beneath his eyelids seemed to target Cretone's heart.

"I will simplify matters for you. I will accompany you on this tribute."

The ominous undertone in his rough words was clear.

He was saying he would single-handedly eliminate the Torres faction's base.

There was no arrogance or overconfidence in his demeanor.

There was just a calm certainty, as if stating, "One plus one equals two," and this put Cretone further on edge.

"Their faction is merely a branch…"

All Cretone could muster was a weak threat, mentioning the faction's influence.

In truth, he wasn't sure if he was threatening Orthes or excusing himself for complying with the Torres faction's demands due to their overwhelming power.

Orthes' smile widened. Though he often wore a smile, this one was more distinct.

"Excellent."

Cretone gave up trying to understand this man.

"Fine. I will comply with your orders. However…"

There was something he couldn't comprehend. He hadn't betrayed the company.

He just had a special business partner.

If they had discovered his secret network, shouldn't Hydra Corporation, as a rising power, be contemplating how to utilize these connections?

The Torres faction was a mid-sized faction with influence across multiple cities. They controlled numerous Mage Tower facilities.

With the slums of Etna City already under Hydra Corporation's control, expanding their trade and receiving full support from the Torres faction could potentially allow them to dominate Etna City.

Why were they so adamantly against this advantageous deal?

"If Hydra Corporation supported trade with the Torres faction, we could gain significant benefits. Have you not considered cooperating with them?"

"Hmm."

Orthes rubbed his chin as if not understanding Cretone's words.

Then he spoke.

"Our leader does not collaborate with such insignificant entities for grand endeavors."

***

Cretone earned approval for interacting with the main Torres Tower by delivering Astraphe to them.

Knowing that the transaction was with a branch indicated Astraphe hadn't been sold to the Torres faction yet.

This means the event that would attract the protagonist's attention could be prevented!

From Cretone's perspective, this was an optimal choice, even if it wasn't pleasant, as he could cut ties with minimal losses before the trade expanded.

Ending a trade with the main tower had vastly different repercussions than ending one with a branch.

That's why I said "excellent," but I don't understand why Cretone looked at me like that.

Wondering why I was being so stubborn, I threw Carisia's name into the explanation, which only deepened the indescribable emotion in Cretone's gaze.

After blinking a couple of times to clear his mind, he seemed to be contemplating something.

Reflecting on events from a few days ago now seemed pointless.

"How much longer until we arrive?"

"About 30 minutes!"

The driver assigned by Cretone, who was operating the magi-engine trailer, replied nervously. In the cargo area behind the driver's seat, people captured as slaves were loaded in a comatose state.

"Ah. I will handle everything, including the disposal of the slaves. You should leave in advance."

Starting a fight haphazardly upon arrival at the slave collection center could lead to complications.

Facing the entire branch of magicians alone?

If I got caught by underlings and they reported an unknown intruder to the main tower, things would become troublesome.

On the other hand, an escape attempt by slaves due to poor management was a common occurrence. They wouldn't report that directly to the main tower.

While the underlings were busy subduing the slaves, I could take out the leaders with communication privileges one by one.

"Disposal…?"

The driver looked at me with a somewhat disturbed expression. It might have sounded a bit threatening.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not what you're thinking. Just stay a distance away and wait until I come out, no matter what you hear."

The driver nodded urgently, and I added a final warning.

"If you leave first, there will be serious consequences."

I don't know how to drive this thing.

To read over 200 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Denji02