149 – Mr. Unchain #1
“The executives need to start negotiations right away and get Joey Noi back...!”
“This Carnoy doesn't get what's going on, but it's great 'cause I can just beat 'em senseless...!”
“Free the Liberation Nymph Joey Noi...!”
“Uwaaak! The nymph protesters are pushing in!”
“Stop them! Stoooop!”
In front of Soul Society headquarters.
The teeming crowd of nymph protesters faced off against the skeleton security team blocking their entry into the building.
The nymph protesters' demand was clear: the release of Joey Noi, who had become a hostage in place of the luxury cruise ship and its passengers.
That was it.
“And they want the basic nymph pension system introduced pronto...!”
“Introduce a nymph dignity maintenance allowance...!”
Of course, there were some minor demands thrown in as well—.
The furious nymphs' protest had been raging for two full days now.
Today, it wasn't just nymphs—various other groups had joined the demonstration.
“Tartarus, free ‘Friend of Spiders’ Executive Director Joey!”
“Headquarters, start negotiations for ‘Companion of Animals’ Executive Director Joey!”
Demonstrators from all sorts of places, gathered for different reasons.
The executives listened to their angry roars from a high conference room.
“Our stance is the same as with the Moirae kidnapping. We absolutely do not negotiate with rebels.”
The CEO—Hades—drove the point home like a nail.
No one dared contradict him... but.
“Even if we don't negotiate, we should at least talk.”
Click.
Princess Melinoë pointed at the chart.
“We can't leave Executive Director Joey in their hands like this. The stock price has already started plummeting.”
Indeed, ever since news of Executive Director Joey's kidnapping broke, Soul Society's stock had been draining away like the receding tide before a tsunami—retail investors fleeing en masse.
“We're going iiiin...!”
“Let's go in and beat 'em up...!”
Whoosh—.
Right then.
A frantic radio transmission came in from the first-floor security team.
—Aaaagh! Nymph protesters have breached the main building first floor!—
—CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!—
“The nymph protests are getting more intense by the day. To them, Executive Director Joey is the Liberation Nymph. Of course they're furious if they think that figure is being oppressed.”
“Liberation Nymph? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Nemesis, head of the safety management team, clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Moros, with a mole rat perched on his shoulder, explained in her stead.
“It's like a legend passed down only among Soul Society's nymphs. The Liberation Nymph Joey Noi. They say he frees nymphs from sorrow and pain, making them happy and free—.”
“Hah, since when was there a myth like that in the pantheon?”
Nemesis still looked utterly baffled.
Moros shook his head.
“No one knows who started the rumor or where it came from. But the problem is that the nymphs truly believe it. And in reality, Executive Director Joey's actions have matched their needs perfectly.”
Whatever the case.
Something had to be done to calm the enraged nymphs.
But none of the executives could easily speak up.
It was just like the Moirae kidnapping.
The moment they made any deal or negotiation with Tartarus, it would set a dangerous precedent.
Soul Society wasn't some flimsy outfit that could be pushed around by rebels.
At least, it couldn't appear that way—so headquarters would take no action this time either.
“I'll go.”
But then.
Princess Melinoë made a bold declaration.
“I'll assemble a team, raid their base, and rescue Executive Director Joey.”
“Mel, that's reckless.”
It truly was reckless.
Several executives clicked their tongues at the idea.
“Hoping to rack up some merits in the process?”
“Rescuing a hostage from Tartarus—. It'd make for a fine achievement if you're aiming for successor, Princess.”
To some executives, Melinoë's move looked like ambition-fueled opportunism.
And it just might be.
At that moment, Prince Zagreus, who had been silent for so long, finally spoke.
“My take? I doubt Executive Director Joey—the guy who's surprised us so many times—would botch something like this. It all feels connected, doesn't it?”
“What're you getting at?”
Nemesis scowled.
Soon, Prince Zagreus neatly lined up the pens on the table.
“Helmicus, the cruise ship purchase, getting kidnapped by Tartarus. What if it was all Executive Director Joey's plan? Maybe he deliberately let himself get kidnapped.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Just my hunch. But I don't think Executive Director Joey was actually kidnapped.”
Prince Zagreus.
He spun an astonishing tale from there.
It was so astonishing that some laughed, others scoffed at the absurdity.
“Joey, that guy pulling off a scheme that elaborate?”
“A mere honorary director wagering his own life on something like that? No way.”
# # #
“To get fired. I'll do whatever it takes.”
The day I ascended to honorary director.
I made my resolve.
No more holding back on means or methods.
Even if it was reckless or dangerous, I'd stick my neck out and see.
Getting kidnapped by Tartarus? Could anything be more reckless or dangerous?
But in my view, nothing would be more effective.
“Hey, anyone there? Newspaper, please.”
I was locked in a pitch-black iron cell.
Two days since I'd been dragged here as a hostage.
I couldn't stand not knowing what was happening outside.
So I demanded a newspaper.
A nymph in a skull helmet trotted over and handed me one.
“Here it is...!”
Then another guard smacked the newspaper-delivering nymph's skull helmet with his palm.
Whirr— the skull spun around.
“Hey! You can't just give him the paper he asked for!”
“But he's the Liberation Nymph Joey Noi...! A legendary figure among us nymphs...! This ditch-water nymph Kiris just...!”
“Hey! No excuses! This is why nymphs are no good. Want another knuckle sandwich?”
“Eek... eek...!”
Droop.
The ditch-water nymph Kiris slumped her shoulders.
Apparently, even rebel Tartarus had its share of small, childlike nymphs.
“Kiris! Go clean the dump instead!”
“Snack time's soon...! Cleaning the dump now means I miss snacks...!”
“Oh? You going or not...? Want another whack?!”
Once the commotion died down.
Flutter.
I unfolded the newspaper.
Stories about me the hostage, the nymph protesters, plummeting stocks—the world inside was pure chaos.
All because of me.
Even if I get released safely, they'll pin the chaos I caused on me and demand accountability. High chance I'll be stripped of my position. The real issue is whether Tartarus will even sit down at the negotiation table with me—.
There was one reason I let myself become a hostage so willingly.
To return to the surface, naturally.
‘Please release me quietly to the surface.’
I planned to demand it outright.
Tartarus saw me as a thorn in their side, right?
They couldn't touch me, fearing I'd die and get permanently hired at Soul Society.
So I'd offer to walk away on my own two feet.
Pure profit for Tartarus—they'd accept for sure.
Clang clang.
Then someone approached and banged on my cell bars.
“Joey, come out.”
Scylla led me somewhere.
It was a room you could call a conference chamber.
A crowd sat there cloaked in black robes.
Some faces were familiar.
“Lord Thanatos, long time no see.”
“Good to see you, Joey.”
He was my old boss, Thanatos.
Also Tartarus's legion commander.
Looking back now, my life got all twisted after this guy joined the rebels.
Snap.
A thick chain of ‘hatred’ surged in my heart.
How much grief had this man caused me—!
“Tartarus, what exactly do you want?”
I asked out of genuine curiosity.
Scylla sat and replied.
“To restore the underworld to its true, grand nature. This underworld isn't a theme park. It should be a world everyone fears and reveres, where karmic retribution lives and breathes.”
They were a group gathered to revert Hell to its pre-Business Renewal state.
Apparently dissatisfied with the current afterlife.
“So—.”
“We—.”
“Demand a deal from you.”
Right then.
A group of elderly women shuffled in.
Black wings, crone-like forms.
First time seeing them, but I had a vague idea who they were.
“The Moirae?”
“Yes.”
“We are the spinners of fate.”
“The three sisters of destiny.”
Goddesses who governed and guided the fate of all things in the world!
No god, not even Zeus, could escape their threads.
I knew they'd been kidnapped by Tartarus.
But they looked remarkably hale and hearty.
“You seem to be doing well.”
“We are cooperating.”
“With their goals.”
“We can't reveal heavenly secrets, but—.”
The Moirae cooperating with rebel Tartarus?
This was no small matter.
Didn't look like they were just being coerced either.
“Will you hear.”
“Our proposal?”
“It's not a bad deal.”
“...A proposal?”
“Cooperate with our Tartarus.”
“And you'll achieve what you desire.”
“Your eternal dream—.”
My dream.
They'd help me escape to the surface?
My ears perked right up.
“What would I have to do?”
“Serve as Tartarus legion commander.”
“Bonus pay separate.”
“13,000 years.”
“Shut your mouths, you traitors! You thought you could sway Joey with that?!”
What?
Serve as a rebel in the underworld for 13,000 years...!?
You rebel scum!
Negotiations impossible!!!!
“Pr-Protect the Moirae!”
“Drag out Executive Director Joey!”
“Gaaah! The world is ending!”
I was grabbed by the hysterical skeleton guards and thrown back in prison.
Thanatos approached me then.
“Joey, I have a rough idea why you volunteered as a hostage. But you underestimated us.”
“You know my goal?”
“You came to destroy us from the inside, didn't you? But we won't go down so easily. This group, bound by our own goals, won't crumble now.”
Ahem.
“So we're just going to release you to the surface. To ensure you can't interfere anymore.”
What—!?
Release me to the surface—!
I was so thrilled my heart nearly burst.
But.
With superhuman restraint, I stopped my lips from twitching upward.
If I looked too happy here, they might flip: “Why's this guy grinning? No dice! Detain forever!”
I feigned agony, rage.
“You dare send me—an honorary director—back to the surface? No greater humiliation. Thanatos, you're a terrifying man!”
Tsk!
I clicked my tongue like I was truly furious.
Thanatos smiled, satisfied.
“We'll release you to the surface in two days. Enjoy your final time here—.”
Once Thanatos left.
I secretly clenched my fist tight.
See? Opportunities come to those who keep challenging without giving up!
Headquarters vs. rebels.
Soul Society vs. Tartarus.
The winner in this fight: me, Joey!
Sweet dreams tonight.
As I lay down.
—Joey, you failed the gamble—.
—Your life's the stake. You okay with that?—
Uwaaak! Bunny girl Melinoë appeared in my dream, offering eternal employment!
As I reeled from the nightmare, someone unlocked the cell door and approached.
Whispering in my ear.
“Liberation Nymph Joey Noi...! This Kiris will set you free...! Run away quick...!”