I Became the Servant of the Blind Wicked Woman

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

Orthes looked down at the biotic fiber hair he held in his hand. It had been severed from the main body, and the main body itself was already dead.

As the residual magic that fixed the hair in the form of a blade dissipated, the biotic fiber lost its focal point and scattered strand by strand.

Niobe looked at Orthes. The devastated magic train and the branch manager, now in a sorry state. Orthes stood before the branch manager's corpse.

With a trembling voice, she asked, "Why?"

Orthes shrugged. The branch manager's hair scattered from his hand, resembling the scattering of ashes after cremation—a scene of mourning.

"Only the person who had to die died."

However, the words that came out were different. The tone felt more ruthless than cold.

Niobe felt a dissonance between the Orthes who used to smile cheerfully as a clumsy 'straggler agent' senior and the current Orthes.

What amplified the fear on top of the dissonance was Orthes's characteristic faint smile. Whether during their encounter with the Vicada Traveling Troupe or now, Orthes always smiled.

"Alright. Everyone, come out."

When Orthes boarded the Charlotte branch, he had assessed that there was 'almost no' sign of life in the passenger compartment. Conversely, this meant there were at least a few people.

From the chaotic compartment, Blasphemia agents slowly revealed themselves, each gripping their weapons tightly.

Orthes thought, 'There are more than I expected.'

He had expected five or six, but there were nearly twenty.

However, showing confusion here would be a rookie move. A master who can pay off a thousand debts with a single word never loses their smile.

Half of Orthes's smile was a tool of intimidation. If you push someone into a deadly trap and still smile after they fall into it, it naturally makes them think, 'Did something go wrong?'

That moment of hesitation was a survival strategy Orthes used in battles where life and death were decided by a single moment of doubt.

However, the Blasphemia agents facing that smile now felt differently.

There's a theory that smiles originated from the threatening posture of a beast baring its teeth. Orthes's expression was similar to that.

A madman who had brutally killed the branch manager using the branch manager's own magic.

One reason the Blasphemia agents didn't immediately attack Orthes was this fear.

There was another reason too.

"First, I think I need to explain."

Orthes slowly scanned the revealed agents. The agents tried to read Orthes's emotions from his face, but his almost closed eyes served as a powerful shield.

"Branch Manager Nardanit of Blasphemia's Charlotte branch conspired to commit treason."

It was a calm but shocking statement. Niobe muttered a short question, 'What?' in confusion and betrayal.

What bewildered her even more was the reaction of her seniors.

Half, or maybe seventy percent of them, bit their lips upon hearing Orthes's declaration. Clearly, they had already colluded with Nardanit.

"Oh dear. When your scheme is exposed, you shouldn't let your expression give it away so easily, juniors. It makes it too easy to identify you."

The lack of people in the Charlotte branch was due to Nardanit's intentions. Blasphemia agents are guaranteed a certain period of rest after their missions.

Using his authority as the branch manager, Nardanit subtly adjusted the mission assignment cycles to overlap the rest periods of the rebels.

His plan was to have all the recruited members of the rebels' faction converge during their rest period and join the rebels with the entire Charlotte branch.

Among the Blasphemia agents gathered in the Charlotte branch, seventy percent were recruited into the rebel faction. They were bewildered by the sudden assassination of their leader and couldn't decide on their next move.

Understanding the situation, Niobe asked in astonishment, "Orthes… who are you?"

***

It was done. I almost cheered with joy. With this atmosphere, I could fool them all.

The aftereffects of forcing my eyes open to block the self-destruct magic were still severe.

Taking on five-to-one would be no problem, but twenty-to-one required some consideration.

Moreover, if an entire Blasphemia branch were wiped out, it would become a problem in its own right. The elders of the Ten Towers' retirement home would start paying attention at that point.

It was still too early for a direct confrontation with the Ten Towers.

If a specific timing had to be chosen, it would be best to wait for the protagonist's arrival. Moving in the background while the resurrected Mage King drew the Ten Towers' attention would be more efficient.

"Well, first, I must apologize."

I began to deliver the prepared response. Sometimes, deceit is more effective than total eradication.

If I throw in the problem of traitors into the already understaffed Blasphemia, they wouldn't have the capacity to pay attention to a remote city like Etna.

"My name is not Orthes, and this face isn't mine either."

***

"A inspector wouldn't reveal their true name and face."

Niobe stared blankly at Orthes—or rather, inspector L13.

Was the codename he gave real?

"It's unfortunate to have to use a false identity even when meeting old colleagues, but it's work."

The inspector shrugged and added a few more words. To infiltrate the Charlotte branch, he had to use Niobe, who had been dispatched to the Vicada Traveling Troupe. With the Hydra Corporation monitoring the troupe, he had approached under the guise of an executive.

I did find it strange from the beginning. Blasphemia agents aren't supposed to pursue personal gain, yet he was being promoted to important positions within the Magic Tower.

Unless he intended to betray the organization, it wasn't the attitude of someone who wanted to return to the organization.

But to think everything from our first meeting until now was a disguise.

What stopped Niobe from shutting down her thoughts was the training she received as a Blasphemia agent. Agents are trained to infer the whole from small clues, a psychological analysis method to extract the most truthful information from the words and actions of their subjects.

The hair scattered as if in mourning and the mention of 'old colleagues.' The branch manager, Nardanit, and the inspector must have been acquainted.

"Nice to meet you, juniors. I am a inspector. I don't think there's a need to tell you my name or codename. It's better if we don't meet again. Forget my face too, since it's not mine anyway."

Niobe felt as though there was a tinge of sadness in the playful tone.

"Branch Manager Nardanit of the Charlotte branch conspired with traitors to hand over the entire branch to them. This situation has been reported to the Blasphemia audit office, and the entire Charlotte branch is now under audit."

Of course, Orthes wasn't sad at all.

"The database files will be submitted as evidence after my audit, so from this moment on, no one is to tamper with them. Agents from the headquarters will come to handle the situation soon."

Orthes intended to create an excuse to tamper with the database himself. While he wasn't an expert in video manipulation, Arabella would handle it well.

"Those who sided with Nardanit's plan, please put on magic suppression cuffs and wait. That's all."

As Orthes headed toward the database, he thought of the reporting system of the Blasphemia audit office.

It's natural for secret inspectors to erase their traces, so it's not unusual, but how to guide the audit team is the problem.

Summoning the audit team without meeting them face-to-face is crucial. Revealing a false identity to the world would be disastrous.

'Originally, things like this are handled thoroughly through handover. I need a reason why the inspector couldn't meet the follow-up team and left urgently.'

Orthes quickly decided on the 'reason.'

'They said the survivors of the Golden Desert operation returned with extra-dimensional contamination. Reporting that I left the scene to track down the contaminated would suffice.'

The false report Orthes prepared was simple.

『Treason of Charlotte branch manager Nardanit confirmed. The perpetrators are extra-dimensional contaminants. Note: The contaminants are presumed to be agents who participated in the Golden Desert operation. Left the scene to track down. Will send a proper audit team as soon as possible.』

'Even though I know quite a bit about Blasphemia from turning their branches inside out, I'm not familiar with the document formats. It's more convincing to write it concisely, giving the impression that it was written hastily while chasing traitors.'

The magic core and its surroundings are the key parts of a magic train. To conceal the location of the magic core, special barriers are often installed to erase its presence.

But it seemed that the special barriers' magic had all been destroyed by Orthes and Nardanit's fight. Orthes could easily follow the magic emitted from the core to get closer to the database.

Opening the database door, Orthes looked around.

"It should be here somewhere."

He was looking for Arabella's spider.

***

Meanwhile, Arabella had been troubled by the message Nardanit tried to send.

A secret Blasphemia inspector? What does that even mean?

She had suspected that Orthes and the president might be high-ranking members of the Ten Towers when she and Divius were summoned, but…

Were they still active members?

The sound of Orthes's approaching footsteps through the screen only added to Arabella's confusion.

"Director? There's no one around here right now, so could you come out for a moment?"

Despite her worries, Arabella couldn't afford to delay any longer. The spider drone slowly crawled to Orthes's feet.

"I need your help. With the surveillance camera footage stored here."

'What?'

Arabella felt a different kind of frustration

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