A Little Devil Inside Me
The factory was no different from the ones I had known in my previous life.
All manner of materials rolled endlessly down the conveyor belts while workers scooped them up and packed them away. The only real differences were that magic had replaced certain chemical and mechanical processes, and mana generators stood in place of fossil fuels.
And most of the workers were stone golems.
"Heh heh. Director, this is going to be fun — protecting humans with these."
It was one of the few properly run high-grade materials factories in the country. Small in scale, maybe, but its value was incalculable. Especially from the perspective of a queen like me.
The Director smiled with quiet satisfaction.
"I put my heart and soul into building this place, you know."
I studied the production line as I spoke.
"Looks like finished goods come out here… Mana Cloth and mana cotton are harvested from bugs and flowers respectively, right?"
"That's right."
"What kind of bug makes Mana Cloth?"
"Magicka Silkworms. They're only B-class, but if you raise them on the right feed inside a high-density mana field, you can get decent quality out of them."
"What about Cocoon Spiders? I heard their raw production capacity is second to none."
"I'm surprised you know that much. But those things are out of the question. Far too vicious. Unless you've got a massive factory capable of round-the-clock mental domination, they actually cost you money."
So even the Director can't handle them?
Cocoon Spiders were A-class magical beasts that spun high-grade mana thread. You could pen them up and breed them, sure — but their combat ability was exceptional. Handle them wrong and half a dozen people would lose their heads.
Of course the Director could manage them if he took personal charge, but stationing an S-class hunter at a factory this small simply wasn't feasible.
I kept asking questions after that, making sure he understood I wasn't some idiot who just wanted the CEO title for show. The Director seemed unexpectedly amused that we could actually hold a conversation, and he started laying out the factory's details in earnest.
"…From convenience-store scale all the way up to this. You've been running things pretty enjoyably on your own. Are you sure you're okay handing it over to me?"
The Director clasped his hands behind his back.
"I was operating it as a charity project anyway. If you use those toys of yours to protect the citizens, you'll simply be doing the work I no longer have to. Besides, I've got plenty of other businesses."
"Then why the sour face?"
He burst out laughing.
"You've got a real talent for getting under people's skin. Deputy Director Kang gives you a hard time on a regular basis, doesn't she?"
"…"
"I already decided to give it to you, so take it with a clear conscience. What worries me is whether you have the time and ability to actually run a factory…"
I held out my hand.
"Then you'll have to hand over the know-how along with it, obviously."
The Director looked down at me for a long moment.
"If know-how alone were enough to run a company, who would ever go bankrupt?"
"Hmm… Beats me. I'm going to succeed, so I'll be fine."
He spun on his heel and strode off.
I'd just discovered another one of his berserk buttons. Apparently nothing made him angrier than having his hard-earned effort and experience dismissed by a bright young thing.
On the way to the silkworm breeding facility, he asked,
"From now on, what's the single most important thing you'll need when doing business?"
"…I don't know. Math skills?"
"Virtue."
"…."
I grimaced, already sensing a long-winded old-man lecture brewing. The Director clicked his tongue and offered his advice.
"Yes, that reaction right there. Pack that away and leave it at home. If you truly want to blend into human society — not just do business, but genuinely belong — then listen."
Somehow this sounds a lot like something Mother would say.
"I'm plenty human already."
"That isn't humanity. That's childishness."
"…"
He'd hit the bullseye, so I fell silent. The Director pressed on with another question.
"Why do you think I'm handing this place over to you?"
"Beats me. Probably because I bluffed and badgered you into it, and you were dumb enough to—"
He cut me off with a smile.
"One more word of nonsense and I'm telling Deputy Director Kang."
I immediately tucked my tail between my legs.
"I don't know. I'm listening carefully, so please enlighten me."
"Because a queen cried."
"That again?"
The Director shook his head.
"This is no simple matter. A high-ranking magical beast like you shedding tears over a human's death — do you have any idea how extraordinary that is? It's unprecedented in the history of mankind. Even setting emotion aside entirely, it creates genuine investment value. To put it in simpler terms… no matter how much protection Deputy Director Kang provided, if your position had been ambiguous, a meeting like today's never would have happened."
He even added that it would have been difficult even with his own will behind it. I opened my mouth to reply, but he raised a hand and stopped me.
"That's what virtue is. The world receives a gift differently depending on who is giving it. So a leader must conduct themselves with dignity and raise their own worth. Especially someone in as precarious a position as yours."
"You talk too much."
"And you have no manners whatsoever."
We both burst out laughing at the same time.
I was laughing because his flash of irritation was funny. What he found so amusing, I had no idea. The fact that he looked like an idiot only made me laugh harder.
The Director suddenly twitched one eyebrow.
"Anyway — so you're not arguing back. Does that mean you agree with me?"
"Hmm…"
It wasn't exactly wrong. The Director was the Director, but I'd felt the same thing often enough in my previous life that I could relate.
Still, dropping a topic like this out of nowhere meant he wanted a logic battle.
I stared at the ground for a moment, thinking, then answered.
"Your advice isn't wrong, Director. For now."
"For now?"
I spread my mouth in a wide grin.
"What you're saying is that the degree of gratitude people feel depends on the giver's status, right? And depending on the situation, some people will just call you a sucker and look down on you."
The Director nodded.
"A bit blunt, but correct."
"So my goal is to beat those bastards to death and build a happy-happy world! A world where people can love and give freely without holding back!"
If that happened, I wouldn't need to wear a mask and become someone else. No more dressing up in suits, no more decking myself out in luxury brands. And above all, I wouldn't have to worry about getting stabbed in the back every time I tried to be generous.
The Director stopped walking and chewed over my words.
"You think that's possible? What you're essentially asking for is a world without discrimination."
"If it can't be done, then I'll make it happen!"
"Oh-ho."
His tone sharpened with interest.
"May I ask why you're so obsessed with a world like that?"
I grew a little embarrassed and covered both cheeks with my hands.
"There's no night at my amusement park."
The Director blinked.
"And?"
"The reason there's no night at the amusement park is because I've always pursued brightness. As a result, the park remains a place of constant happiness. A place that lifts your spirits just by looking at it!"
"Strange. Then why not simply be satisfied with that?"
"…Unfortunately, an amusement park isn't an infinite structure."
"…"
That was why I had wanted to Perfect Reset the Earth.
I didn't have the power to freely reshape the entire universe, so I figured I'd at least tear this narrow little space apart and rebuild it as my personal paradise. Then I'd seal off every gate to the Abyss so no other Royalty could ever come through.
But that damn Kim Seojun had blocked every single scenario. I'd sought help from the spirit mediums of the Abyss, but every outcome ended with another Royal or the Demon God winning. A route where I survived simply did not exist.
Almost as if those human bastards already knew my entire plan…
No. Of course they know. The game players are controlling them.
"Huh? Wait. That's not right. So that's why I reached for the souls of the reverse world… Wait, what?"
My thoughts suddenly tangled into knots. I was clearly a human who had come back from a previous life — so why did the logic keep rearranging itself into me being a magical beast who had to drag humans in?
"Hey, you out there!"
A sudden spike of headache made me clutch my head.
"You there. Want to play with me?"
"What's wrong? All of a sudden."
The Director shook my shoulder, looking puzzled.
The moment I snapped free of the hallucination, my eyes flew wide open and I sucked in a deep breath.
"Director!"
"Go on."
"I just heard a voice! I think I'm going crazy!"
"……A voice?"
There had been a brief incident, but the factory tour still wrapped up successfully.
The Director and I settled the concrete details — when I would take over operations, what steps the process would follow — and then, finally, we moved on to negotiating the future production lines.
The Director asked me,
"Shall we replace the entire biological production division with silkworms and ManaBloom?"
"Hmm… Yes."
"Understood."
"I won't like that answer."
"Ah— wait a second! No."
"No?"
"Nope. Absolutely not."
The Director's brow furrowed.
"When you arrived, you said everything needed to be replaced. That it was all useless."
I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Then the organizations you've been supporting all this time would lose their funding. I'll source whatever else I need on my own, so keep the charity projects running as planned."
"…"
The Director looked down at me for a long moment. I blinked, then added,
"I changed my mind. Unnecessary things should obviously be cut… but anything that might circle back around and create even a little positive impact should be left alone."
"Oh-ho. So, like a person, then?"
"Exactly!"
"Good. But you can't truly do that. In the end, only the morally perfect portion of humanity should remain. Don't forget."
…
I stared into empty air for a moment, then looked back at the Director.
"Director, may I use the restroom for a moment?"
"Go ahead."
"Shut up, you little freak."
"……?"
"You lowlife bastard better die…"