Chapter 48
After a weekend unusually packed with chaos...
I returned to work, dragging my feet with the desperate hope of submitting my resignation.
Through the towering HQ building,
Past the lobby where employees puffed their chests with pride,
I found myself standing before the office door.
“Wait… I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
After enough time in the workplace, you start developing a sixth sense for trouble.
And right now, every nerve in me was screaming that opening this door would trigger something massive.
Just as I was slowly backing away—
Smack!
Someone grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
“Joy! What are you doing out here? Aren’t you coming in?”
“Director Alecto!”
It was her—the goddess of wrath and vengeance, Director Alecto.
Her light grip froze my entire body in place.
And that was the real problem.
“Director Alecto, I’m really sorry, but I’m not feeling well today. I think I should just go home and rest. Take care—”
“Huh? That’s not even a funny joke. Taking care of your health is the bare minimum for a professional. You wouldn’t neglect the basics, right? Enough jokes. Let’s go!”
“Wait! My stomach hurts! A lot!”
I flailed in desperation, but a mortal like me had zero chance of escaping a goddess’s grasp.
SLAM.
The office door burst open.
And everyone inside shouted—
“Happy birthday, Assistant Manager Joy!”
“Congrats, Joy!”
“Happy birthday!”
Pop! Pow!
Streamers and party horns blasted around me like I’d stepped into a party cannon.
Confetti rained down, sticking to my hair, my face, my soul.
“…Thank you.”
“Here’s your present!”
Section Chief Hector stepped up and handed me something that sparkled like diamonds.
“Bones told me you like spiky things—like torture tools. So I went all out to get you this: a ‘Styx Deepsea Armorfish Spine!’”
It looked like a leftover fish bone someone forgot to throw away.
Was this… workplace bullying?
No, not with how serious Hector always was.
The real issue, though…
“Thanks, really, but… today isn’t my birthday.”
My actual birthday was nowhere near today. So what was this all about?
Then Assistant Manager Narcissus, my mentor, nudged my shoulder with a smirk.
“Today marks the day you became a true member of Audit. It’s your rebirth as one of us.”
“You’re our hero, Joy!”
“Thanks to you, we stuck it to those punks in Security!”
“Didn’t think anyone would have the guts to question the Nymph Flu so directly!”
It was that odd mix of familiar and completely surreal.
Narcissus added, his slitted eyes gleaming.
“While you had Prince Zagreus distracted, we raided the Security Team’s archives. Scored big. Take a look.”
Shaaak—
Stacks of confiscated documents towered like mountains.
I flipped through them briefly—my audit instincts kicking in.
“…A lot of these ledgers have missing sources or vague expenditures.”
“You picked that up from a glance? You really are my protégé! No wonder you’re excellent—you learned from me! Naturally!”
I didn’t learn anything from him.
The man was peak narcissist—literally.
It’s in the name: Narcissus.
Then Director Alecto tidied her feathers and said:
“These are linked to Prince Zagreus’s inner circle. Falsified accounting.”
Falsified accounting…
Cooking the books to make performance look better than it really is.
Someone in Zagreus’s inner circle was involved in that?
“Even he won’t be able to cover this up. If this gets out, it’ll cause a major scandal. Might even crack the established succession plans.”
Which meant…
Lady Melinoe might get another shot at becoming heir.
And if she became the successor?
Then the odds of me escaping Soul Society would…
…plummet to almost zero.
That was a nightmare.
“Please, let me take charge of this investigation!”
I had to bury this scandal—
Even if it meant abusing every ounce of authority I had in the Audit Division.
***
Lunchtime.
After eating, I sat back in my chair—until Narcissus tapped me on the shoulder.
“Got a minute?”
We headed to the rooftop terrace. Quiet and out of earshot.
He started.
“I don’t usually hand out praise, but I’ll make an exception. You’ve earned my respect, Assistant Manager Joy. Reminds me of myself when I first got stationed at HQ.”
“I really didn’t do anything worth praising…”
“You volunteered to dig into Prince Zagreus’s inner circle. You’re the tip of the spear. And you know what happens to the spear’s tip, right?”
In other words, the one who leads the charge… is also the first to break.
“This job was meant for a disposable employee. Someone who could take the fall. The face of this scandal will get all of Zagreus’s wrath. Back off.”
Flick.
He lit a cigarette.
That was the end of the conversation, and we returned to the office.
But the female employees gave him confused looks.
“Mr. Narcissus, were you smoking?”
“Seriously? You, of all people? You’re so obsessed with your health!”
Then Hector walked over.
He dropped a thick file into Narcissus’s hands with a plop.
“I’ve thought it over. Narcissus—you’re handling the Zagreus case. It’ll be a valuable experience. And a chance to clear your reputation.”
“……”
Assistant Manager Narcissus said nothing.
But the murmurs surrounding him grew louder.
“Looks like now that Director Apate got demoted, her whole faction’s getting purged.”
“Narcissus was one of her top guys, after all.”
“Knew something was off when he got moved to the breeziest cubicle.”
“Yep, they always start with the chairs near the draft.”
Narcissus had those squinty eyes that made reading his expression difficult.
But what mattered was that I couldn’t afford to lose the “tip of the spear” role.
“Section Chief Hector! I was the one who volunteered for this case!”
“Assistant Manager Joy!?”
“Wait, what? Joy!?”
Both Hector and Narcissus looked genuinely shocked.
Narcissus even grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“Joy, I told you this isn’t your responsibility. I’m the one who dragged the team into this mess—let me clean it up. If I handle this well, I’ll probably get transferred to an affiliate company.”
That instantly reminded me of Chief Bones, who had also been transferred from HQ to Happy World.
He must’ve taken the fall the same way.
“Please, let me take the fall too!”
I wanted out of HQ.
This place wasn’t meant for humans.
The jobs were high-risk—but worse, the returns were too good. That was the real danger.
“Do you have a plan?”
Director Alecto asked from atop her desk, calmly grooming her wing feathers.
Lately, I’d come to realize that about 80% of her workday was spent fluffing her wings.
Still, now wasn’t the time to judge.
“Yes, I have a plan. And the confidence to carry it out.”
Total lies.
I had no plan. No confidence.
Just a death wish disguised as professional ambition.
Somehow, every promotion I didn’t want had turned me into someone dangerously proactive.
“Good! That’s the spirit a true Audit Team member needs! Then the ‘cooked books’ case is yours, Joy. But be warned—Prince Zagreus’s inner circle is no joke.”
Not easy to handle? Even better.
At last, I was handed the most dangerous task available.
I was fully committed… to failing spectacularly.
As I steeled myself to go home, Narcissus approached and handed me something.
“Joy, you’re the most reckless junior I’ve ever seen. Volunteering for the fire pit… You weren’t normal from the moment you chose Audit over Security.”
“What’s this?”
“My photobook. I don’t give these out to just anyone.”
A glossy, skin-baring photo spread of a man flexing like an Instagram thirst trap.
“This proves how much I respect you.”
“I don’t want it.”
“What? You’re rejecting my photobook? Your restraint is impressive. In that case…”
Slick—
He handed me another paper—with a photo of himself half-naked again.
I was about to gag at his taste when he added,
“That paper has everything I’ve managed to dig up about Zagreus’s right-hand man. There’s barely anything, but it’s better than nothing.”
I flipped the sheet over.
「Nymph」
That’s it. Just two syllables.
I tilted the paper, checked for hidden text—but nope. Just that one word.
“There’s seriously nothing else?”
“He’s that mysterious. All we know is that he was the first carrier of the Nymph Flu. That’s it. The guy’s trail is only just starting to unravel.”
Nymph?
That’s a problem.
Between Melinoe and the E&S members…
nothing good had come out of dealing with nymphs.
Maybe I shouldn’t have taken this case after all.
***
Today, a major charity gala was being held in Soul Society.
The host?
None other than Prince Zagreus—arguably the most powerful figure here.
Executives and division heads from all across HQ packed the rooftop event hall.
Lady Melinoe nudged my side with her finger.
“Don’t make eye contact with just anyone. Plenty of people here aren’t exactly fond of you.”
Honestly, it was the ones who were fond of me I feared more.
They were the type who might promote me for some random reason.
Avoid at all costs.
“Just stay behind me, Joy. I’ll be leaving early anyway. These hollow, pretentious events aren’t my thing.”
She clearly didn’t like this event.
She even clicked her tongue in annoyance.
That’s when Director Alecto appeared—wearing a low-cut black gown that left me struggling to find a safe place to look.
“Didn’t expect our princess to show up to a charity gala. I thought you hated playing backup for Zagreus. You of all people should know this is just a power display for his faction.”
She wasn’t wrong.
This whole event was clearly meant to show off the strength of the Zagreus camp.
Consolidate succession. Cement his claim.
Naturally, that would make Melinoe uncomfortable.
But she just let out a snort and replied with a smirk.
“Alecto, maybe if you spent less time grooming your feathers, you’d think a little deeper. Even Joy here—the lowly mortal—understands the real reason I came.”
…What real reason?
I had no idea.
I was just here as her attendant.
Well… that was the official story.
In truth, I came to poke around the Zagreus faction.
Time to stir up a little trouble with the cooked books case.
Mayhem inbound.
Alecto scowled.
“Excuse me? I don’t spend a day grooming my feathers—I spend seven! You have no idea how hard it is to keep them this fluffy!”
Not exactly something I needed to know.
A whole department run by someone whose main task was feather maintenance?
Audit Team 1… are you sure you’re okay?
Even if I didn’t try, this whole place felt ready to collapse on its own.
But I couldn’t relax. One misstep, and tomorrow’s headline would read:
“Assistant Manager Joy Saves Soul Society Again!?”
I’d seen this pattern before.
And if I knew it was coming, I sure as hell wasn’t going to walk into it blind.
Right then—bam!
Someone grabbed my arm and locked it in place.
“Senpai! Fancy seeing you here! What a surprise!”
Who…?
Who just linked arms with me?!
If this becomes a scandal, I’ll be labeled a “Hellfire Tokusatsu Mask Rider” before I can blink!
Panicked, I turned to look—and saw Hedone, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Hedone? What are you doing here—”
Swoosh.
A sudden heat came from beside me.
I turned slowly…
And there she was.
Lady Melinoe—eyes blazing like a divine furnace about to erupt.
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