Chapter 15

A few days had passed since I crossed the river with Orpheus.

I’d expected to be chewed out for releasing a special inmate right before the Grand Audit, but—

“Not a completed sentence but an annulment? Director Bones, what are you talking about? You mean the contract was voided?”

“Exactly. Orpheus’s punishment contract was completely annulled after a board decision. Now that he’s regained his memory, he’s no longer an inmate of Happy World—not even an ex-con. Just another resident.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Hmm, a good point. Let me rephrase. Not just any resident—a tone-deaf, god-awful singer of a resident.”

Not parole. Not sentence completion. But annulment.

It meant wiping away the fact that Orpheus had ever been a prisoner in Happy World. As if none of it had ever happened. No criminal record. Nothing.

“Joy, you know this already. Orpheus was punished for breaking a taboo. That taboo was arriving in Soul Society while still alive.”

“Right, that’s what I understood.”

“But Joy, you’re alive too, and you’re working here as an employee. Look into past cases—Psyche, Theseus, Heracles… They all did the same.”

There were many who had entered the underworld while still alive.

And were they all punished?

Of course not.

“Heracles and Psyche became gods, and Theseus lives it up in Elysium. Coming to the afterlife alive isn’t such a big sin after all.”

So then, why was Orpheus the only one punished?

The reason was obvious.

“He just got on the wrong side of our great CEO. You could call it a personal grudge. But who dares to question the will of a god?”

Zap.

It hit me like a jolt of lightning.

Everything suddenly made sense.

“But this Grand Audit is different. The new hire on the audit team? Ruthless. From outside the system. Doesn’t care about the authority of the execs.”

The first Grand Audit since the corporate reform began.

The new audit team was hungry to prove themselves.

If they came to Happy World and started reviewing inmate punishment records—and if it was discovered that Orpheus had been unfairly punished—

‘They’d never turn a blind eye.’

The CEO, who made the decision based on personal bias, would be disgraced.

The President and Vice President would be implicated for letting it slide.

But no one wanted to touch Orpheus’s case first and risk drawing the CEO’s ire.

That’s why my move changed everything.

“Joy, because you took the first step, the rest of us had the courage to act. Thanks to you, we can pretend the wrongful punishment never happened.”

How did it come to this?

All I wanted was to use that loud singer to get fired and change jobs.

“To think you bore that burden knowing full well the CEO might turn on you…”

“If the audit team had caught wind of this, it would’ve haunted us for years!”

“Manager Joy, I’ll follow you to the ends of the underworld… sniff!”

I didn’t even have the energy to curse anymore.

That’s when it happened.

The first-floor lobby erupted into chaos, and Markius came running in a panic.

“Director Bones! Someone from the audit team just arrived!”

Even Krates, who’d been all smug and sharp-edged lately, looked horrified.

“It’s not even audit day yet! Damn it! What are you all doing?! Move, move, MOVE!”

The office turned into a war zone.

“Shred these files—now! If the auditor sees them, we’re dead!”

“Hide them! Basement! NOW!”

“Nooo! We’re out of time!”

At that moment, Happy World truly lived up to its other name: Hell.

Even Director Bones’s bony skull looked rattled.

“No… it couldn’t be. Not her. The new hire. The one they call the Demon of the Audit Team… Even I’ve heard the rumors. No mercy. None. Absolutely none.”

Who in the Greek pantheon could terrify Director Bones like this?

To earn the nickname “Demon,” she’d have to be a goddess of vengeance or war.

Tap, tap—

High heels clacked through the office.

A woman strode in, clad in the signature audit uniform. Long golden hair. Horns on her head.

“Relax, everyone! I’m just here for a look-see! Someone ruined the prey I had my eyes on, so I came to check it out. Now, which one of you is the ‘Demon’ Manager Joy?”

BOOM!

Her voice boomed like thunder.

She walked right up to me and extended her hand.

“You’re the only one not trembling. That’s the kind of guts you need to be called a demon in Happy World. You must be Joy, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Astaroth!”

Wait, Asta… what now?

The woman flashed a grin, revealing her sharp fangs. I was too stunned to reply.

“Didn’t think you’d void Case A-09C before the audit. That was my prize. I was gonna tear into that one myself! You really got me there. But don’t let your guard down just yet.”

Her blue, snake-like eyes gleamed wickedly.

“If there’s any fraud, I’ll strip it bare—from your boxers to your socks!”

Then she cackled and stormed off.

A walking hurricane of chaos.

***

“Who… or what… is Astaroth?”

She felt like she came from a totally different universe.

Director Bones wiped phantom sweat from his skeletal brow.

“Even I don’t know the full story. Like you, Joy, she was hired through the company reform initiative. Technically, she’s on loan from another organization.”

So she’s a transfer hire.

And despite being new, she holds exec-level power.

All because of this weird “corporate reform.”

Definitely a demon. No doubt in my mind.

Probably tortures people for fun.

‘Wait a sec…’

Is this really a bad thing?

This terrifying demon locking her eyes on me for audit?

Maybe… just maybe… this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.

‘The first step to a comeback always lies close by.’

I started flipping through the mountain of paperwork Astaroth had thrown into chaos.

About an hour later, something curious caught my eye:

“Budget Usage: Garden Plot Project”

“20 Gold for a 30-pyeong plot”

“Location: Near Asphodel Fields”

Was this the same budget request from last year when they claimed planting flowers around Happy World would boost office morale?

At first glance, the document looked ordinary. But having scouted half the underworld for land for Chronos’s Office Site Project, I could tell just how ridiculous the price was.

“Land near the Asphodel Fields only went for about 10 gold per 30 pyeong last year. But they bought it for 20 gold? That’s a 10-gold markup!”

After digging deeper, I found more properties purchased way above market value.

The first thought that came to mind? Embezzlement.

“How did no one notice this huge discrepancy until now? Whoever pulled this off must be pretty slick.”

The scent of a scandal lingered in the air.

And if I could throw myself into the middle of it—maybe, just maybe, this could be my ticket out of here.

I started with the realtor listed on the receipt. She was a skeleton with a crack across her skull—kind of reminded me of Bones.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Do you recall anything about the transaction for this land? Like who made the payment? Someone who bought 30 pyeong for 20 gold?”

“I can’t give out customer info. I got brained with a hammer over that when I was alive.”

Skeletons made gender hard to guess, but her voice was distinctly that of a picky woman.

In her office, Orpheus’s hit track Song of the Nymph was playing.

That music wasn’t cheap—trust me, I know. I’d purchased it using company funds.

Clearly, she was a fan.

“Miss, would you like Orpheus’s autograph? If you cooperate, I can arrange a handshake and even get you front-row seats to his next concert.”

“…Really!?”

I immediately rushed to the multi-unit housing complex and dragged the sulking clown to his feet.

“Orpheus, we’re going!”

“Go? Go where? Leave me alone. I’m a coward. I hid away because I was too scared to face my successful ex-girlfriend. I’m a cockroach… no, something even lower….”

Could someone really be this depressed?

I felt a pang of guilt—it was kind of my fault—but there were more important matters at hand.

“Orpheus, remember you said you owed me? Time to pay up!”

I dragged him to the realtor’s office.

To my surprise, the realtor got mad at me.

“This clown-faced joker is Orpheus? I trusted you because you work for Happy World, but you’re just a con artist, aren’t you?! Are you even really an employee?”

What the…?

And then, the deflated Orpheus, who had been little more than a rag doll since Elysium, finally opened his mouth.

“The beautiful nymph… for whom do you weep…”

“Oh! That’s—! That’s Orpheus’s legendary hit Song of the Nymph! My favorite—!”

The realtor’s eyes lit up.

“This sounds nothing like him! You scammer! Get out! Get out, I say! You’ve ruined my ears!”

Unbelievable.

At times like this, there’s only one solution.

Clink—

I pulled a few gold coins from my pocket.

No family to feed, no expensive habits—I just hoarded my salary. She snatched the coins with her bony fingers.

“Ahem. Now that I think about it, I do remember. Some handsome guy came in and bought the land. Very handsome. I remember clearly—I like handsome men. I even have the records.”

The buyer’s transaction matched the amount missing from the company receipt.

In fact, some properties were bought for less than what was listed.

The unknown man had used company money to buy land, falsified the receipt, and used the leftover funds to buy more land—for himself.

“Someone’s embezzling from Happy World. Bold move.”

“Go check this address. It’s where he bought the land. That’s all I’m telling you—unless… you want to grab a drink sometime? Maybe I’ll remember more if I’m tipsy… Hehe… Hello? Are you listening?”

I memorized the address and headed out with Orpheus.

What we saw there was… breathtaking.

A massive field of blooming flowers.

Orpheus burst into tears.

“Ten-thousand-year blooms…! So hard to grow… nearly impossible to make them flower. My lover, Eurydice, she adored them… sniff...”

Someone used company funds to create this garden.

But why?

Didn’t matter.

I was planning to transfer the land into my name anyway.

“Manager Joy, caught embezzling company funds to grow a flower garden—!”

Perfect shot. Clean framing.

If Astaroth found out, she’d tear me apart.

Which meant I’d be fired in no time.

Orpheus had come in handy after all.

“You said these flowers are hard to grow?”

Touching the soil, I noticed a subtle dampness.

Thanks to the blessing of 《Cultivation》 from Chronos, I could tell these needed daily watering.

“Someone will come by to water them today.”

Whoever it was, I’d wait.

Sure enough, a woman approached and began tending the flowers.

I walked up to her.

“Good afternoon. I’m Manager Joy, from the Punishment Enforcement Division.”

“Oh my! You’re Joy? The one my husband keeps talking about? It’s so great to meet you! What brings you here? If you’re looking for my husband, he hasn’t gotten off work yet…”

“…Husband?”

“Oh dear, where are my manners. I’m Kshalri. My husband works in the same division as you—Krates from Team One. You know him, right?”