Cactus Fruit and Two Tickets
Thud thud thud thud thud—.
The two nymphs' fists collided. You might think that fluffy, cotton-candy-round punches clashing wouldn't amount to much.
But we absolutely couldn't overlook the fact that Melinoë had once knocked out Magnus—the Pirate King and Mercenary King—with a single flick to the forehead. Her barrage of punches that could crack boulders was a nightmare onslaught in itself.
The astonishing part was that the weird orange-haired nymph Paranoy was countering those punches with her own, nullifying the attacks.
"MeliMeliMeliMeliMeli!"
"ParaParaParaParaPara!"
Thud thud thud thud thud thud—.
Thud thud thud thud—.
In the end, their fight ended without a decisive victor.
Whoosh—!
The two leaped back, creating distance. Around them lay a bunch of people who'd collapsed, unable to withstand the shockwaves from their clashing fists.
It was hell. A battlefield. Call it whatever you want—the key point was that no one could clean up this mess.
Someone had to take responsibility, and it was obviously going to be me.
'It has to be me!'
Plop—.
That's when someone slowly descended from high in the sky. Looking up, I saw a muscular man in a red cape and red panties surveying the total chaos of the event venue, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
"I step away for a moment, and this happens. Audit Team 1, I never imagined you'd try to one-up me on such an auspicious day like today."
Zagreus the prince.
Fwoosh—.
His red-glowing eyes burned as fiercely as Melinoë's, if only for a moment. He landed in the venue, then reached into thin air and pulled out something round, tossing it into the air with a flick.
Paranoy caught it perfectly—and her body started trembling.
"Hieeek…! It's nymph-phobic bean candy…! This Paranoy hates bright red bean candy…! Exchange it for capital-friendly golden honey candy…!"
"Muhuhu, this Melinoë has received honey candy…! Of course, as a mature nymph, this Melinoë doesn't like honey candy or anything…! I'll toss it in the trash…!"
Pat pat pat pat pat—.
Melinoë dashed off somewhere. About a minute later, the Nightmare Goddess herself returned to a scene even more nightmarish than nightmares.
She looked around and made a big show of surprise.
"Ahem, hmm. What happened while I was away?"
"Muhuhu, that Paranoy and Agent Jo got into a fierce clash…! You're the first to counter this Paranoy's 'Wild Beating'…! Impressive indeed…!"
Again? Melinoë was the one who'd fought Paranoy.
Yet Melinoë had vanished from everyone's memories again, and her actions were pinned on me.
"A mere mortal going toe-to-toe with Prince Zagreus's right-hand woman."
"Their punches were so fast, you couldn't even see them."
"Agent Jo, as expected of someone promoted to agent just days after HQ assignment."
Thinking about how much I'd suffered because of this bizarre phenomenon made my blood pressure spike.
But right now, I could actually use it to my advantage. With Melinoë's sudden appearance ruining the charity event, all the blame would fall on me anyway.
So I declared boldly,
"I'm deeply sorry for disrupting Your Highness's charity event. If you'd like to discuss responsibility for this incident, I won't dodge it."
But.
Zagreus's reaction was beyond my expectations.
"No, the real culprit behind this mess is someone else entirely."
As he said that, Zagreus's eyes turned to his own sister, Melinoë.
Melinoë scowled like she was offended.
"What're you looking at?"
Their sibling relationship seemed truly awful. That's what anyone else might think.
Not me. Zagreus's words and actions just now made it seem like he knew about "Melinoë."
It was shocking. Even Hades Chairman had said he knew nothing about a nymph named Melinoë.
The rule was that everyone forgot about her once she vanished. Everyone except me.
But if Prince Zagreus remembered Melinoë?
That meant I had someone right in front of me I could ask all sorts of questions about her.
I opened my mouth to speak—
"Zagreus! You invite us here and drag us into this chaos?!"
"Our collaboration needs more thought!"
"This is expensive! It's covered in dust! Take responsibility!"
Zagreus was soon swarmed by furious event guests. A mere agent like me couldn't even get close.
"Incredible! Amazing! Storming a charity event, exposing your rival's corruption straight-up, and even pinning all the blame on Prince Zagreus! Jo, you madlad!"
Alecto slapped my back with her palm, bang bang.
The chaos at the charity event had turned into a huge boon for our audit team.
"Thanks to you, Audit Team 1 dodged disbandment by the skin of our teeth! Everyone, be grateful to Agent Jo! He's the benefactor who extended your lifelines!"
Benefactor my ass! I felt like death.
Nothing had gone according to plan.
'I admit Prince Zagreus bears some responsibility as the event organizer.'
But if he'd named me as the instigator, I'd have been trapped like a hamster with its paw in a snare, unable to escape blame. With all those execs around, disciplinary pay cuts would be the least of it—firing was a sure thing.
Yet Zagreus hadn't mentioned my name.
Why? Maybe because he knew it wasn't me, but "Melinoë" who'd caused the trouble.
That would explain why he didn't pin it on me. It all fit.
"Lady Alecto, what kind of person is Prince Zagreus?"
The mastermind behind "Business Renewal." I'd ended up working at Happy World because of it, so in a way, he was the root of all my sufferings.
I'd had no interest in learning more about him before. Digging too deep might make it harder to escape this Soul Society.
But now, I was full of questions about the man.
That's when the office door burst open, and a familiar face poked in.
"You're from the Safety Management Team!"
"Who do you think you are, barging in here?!"
The office atmosphere ignited in an instant. The man scanned the room and headed straight for me, tapping my shoulder.
"Whew, Jo. You really landed a big one, huh? Never saw that coming. As expected of an outstanding guy! I, Marquius, acknowledge you—for real!"
It was Safety Management Chief Marquius. His praise made my stomach acid churn.
But Marquius eyed the room with his thief-like gaze and said coldly,
"Still, we can't just let it slide. Audit Team 1 isn't entirely blameless for disrupting the event. Save some face for us too. One employee oughta do it."
Demanding an employee for "face"? He meant we had to offer up a scapegoat.
Otherwise, it'd escalate to all-out war, tearing into each other.
"What happens if we hand over an employee?"
"Demotion should suffice as a show of good faith. Lets us save face without overdoing it."
Demotion! What a beautiful ring to it.
Less ideal than firing, but still a solid option.
"I'll—."
Opportunity was knocking right on my door. As I opened my mouth,
Someone gripped my shoulder hard.
"I'll drink this cup."
It was squinty-eyed Agent Narcissus.
"Jo, I'll be straight with you. They need you on audit more than me. A capable, fearless guy like you will change the world. So stay at HQ. Climb higher."
I was stunned. To think Agent Narcissus, whom I'd just met, thought that highly of me.
"Chief Marquius, where would you send me? Happy World? Or some even rougher bottom rung?"
Narcissus asked about his fate, his shoulders trembling. He must be terrified. Demotion from HQ was more humiliating than death.
Marquius soon replied,
"His Highness Prince Zagreus is collaborating with the surface world. He invited tons of topside bigwigs to this charity event to strengthen ties."
That explained why MZ-gen employee Hedone got an invite—she was the daughter of Eros, a big-shot god up top.
So why bring this up?
"But this incident has made surface collaborations shaky. The Happy World branch planned for the surface faces a rocky start. You'll go there."
Click—.
Marquius held out a ticket.
"A legal surface travel ticket. Not easy to get. Worth about a century of an HQ chief's salary per ticket."
Wait. Happy World's surface branch? Legal ticket to the surface?
'…I can go topside without getting fired!?'
It was astonishing. Demotion? More like ascension!
I couldn't let Narcissus snatch this chance!
"Agent, that responsibility! I'll take it! You didn't do anything wrong! It's mine to bear! My poison to drink!"
"…You'd go that far for me…."
The agent teared up, deeply moved by my words. Then he confessed his true feelings.
"…Agent Jo, honestly, I resented you a bit. Thought you got Apate fired and cut my strings. But you're a hot-blooded man after all."
Still, he steeled himself.
"Even so, this is my responsibility! My ticket to bear!"
"Shut up! That ticket's mine! Gimme!"
"Grab… grab Jo!"
"You loyalty-crazed fool! Jo! I never knew a newbie outsider like you had such love for audit! Makes me, Hector, feel like a heartless coward!"
"Jo, when you said you went to audit—the heart of enemy territory—I was worried. But it was unfounded. I, Marquius, truly acknowledge you!"
"Nuuuwaaaah!"
A ticket to the surface, right there in front of me! So close I could touch it—why wouldn't it stay put!
As I flailed wildly, Lady Alecto laid down the law to Marquius.
"Chief Marquius, demanding one of our guys after your team screwed up? That's a stretch. Can't just hand over family that easy. Give us some time."