Public Recruitment
Around the time Aile had grown irritable from academic stress and Vira and Levitan were lounging around my lab like a pair of unemployed slackers, the boss called an executive meeting. Unlike the sparse gatherings of the past few months, this one drew a crowd. The Four Heavenly Kings of Evils, the Seven Deadly Sins of Evils, the Three Realms and Six Paths of Evils—every major executive had shown up.
With a full six people gathered in one place, Regalia let out a satisfied hum.
“Everyone here? It’s been a while since we had this many.”
“It’s only six people, though?”
“Out of eight executives, isn’t that more than half?”
“No, it’s literally just five…”
I scanned the faces of the executives in attendance. Galrm was already yawning, clearly bored. Aile, whom I’d kept up studying all night, was nodding off. Vira sat with bright, attentive eyes. Levitan, completely uninterested in the meeting, was busy clinging to my side.
It felt less like an executive meeting and more like a daycare, but regardless—
Five out of Evils’ eight executives had gathered. Each one of them was a top-tier villain capable of leading an entire city or organization. That fact alone made the turnout remarkable.
“—Now then, today’s agenda is the post-mortem report on the recent raid on Z City.”
Regalia spoke while activating the beam projector behind her. The screen descending from the ceiling displayed the spoils acquired from Z City: the businesses once run by Z City, specialty products unique to the region, real estate, bonds, and stocks formerly held by Omega Industries. In short, Evils Enterprise had swallowed up seventy percent of the operations once managed by Omega Industries.
By Earth standards, none of this made any logical sense, yet everyone present accepted it without question. I, however, couldn’t suppress my curiosity and raised my hand.
“Yes, Scientist?”
“No, I just… I don’t understand. I get that we defeated Omega and his people, but what does that have to do with taking their real estate and bonds…?”
“What do you mean, what does it have to do with it? We’re villains. Is there something wrong with villains committing robbery?”
Faced with such a matter-of-fact reply and the others’ gazes that suggested they saw nothing strange about it, I could only nod in silence. After all, even on Earth, wealthy conglomerates and corporations bent the system to engage in perfectly legal forms of plunder. Evils Enterprise was no different—perhaps even more brazen about it.
Assuming there was some complicated behind-the-scenes maneuvering I didn’t need to know about, I let it go. Regalia continued as though the matter was settled.
“We didn’t touch the illegal businesses that were operating in Z City, but we couldn’t just leave them alone either. So we dismantled them completely and split them into smaller organizational units. Galrm, you’ll be making periodic visits to oversee them.”
“Got it.”
“Also, now that Evils Enterprise has grown by absorbing Omega Industries, we’ll be increasing our headcount. We need three people to serve as interviewers.”
“Pass. Give that headache to someone else.”
“I-I’ll pass too…”
“Hmm. Then I suppose it falls to the Scientist, Vira, and Levitan.”
I had been sitting quietly listening when the assignment made me tilt my head in confusion. Hiring more staff because the company had grown was normally the job of department heads or HR managers. Why was it being handed to us?
Still puzzled, I raised my hand again. Regalia looked at me as though I’d asked something idiotic.
“Of course corporate hiring goes to the professionals. Why would we assign it to you?”
“Then what exactly is this?”
“Evils’ recruitment drive. What else would it be?”
“……You’re actually going to interview and hire villains?”
“Obviously.”
Staring at Regalia’s exasperated expression, I let out a hollow laugh. It was awkward to say out loud as a member, but Evils really was just the villain organization born from the Evils Enterprise president’s hobby. And I was once again reminded that the assessment wasn’t far off the mark.
Internet reactions to Evils’ official recruitment notice were surprisingly calm—almost the opposite of what one might expect. Some even viewed the opportunity favorably.
After all, the pay, benefits, and working conditions were on a level never seen even on Earth. The only villain who actually went out on proper operations was Galrm. Most of the rank-and-file spent their time training or pursuing self-improvement inside headquarters. Once they finished their self-study, they would take the qualifications and test scores they’d earned while working as combatants and move on to better positions. In practice, it functioned as employment support welfare for the citizens of E City.
‘This is the kind of thing the government should be doing, not a corporation…’
Given that a single company was handling what should have been state-level responsibilities, it was understandable why Evils enjoyed such a positive reputation. When the organization’s influence reached every aspect of daily life, from the products people used to their everyday routines, there was simply no room left for criticism.
After skimming the general online sentiment about Evils, I realized what my role as an interviewer actually entailed. I wasn’t here to recruit people suited to being Evils combatants; I was here to facilitate the welfare program.
“No work experience for ten years after high school?”
“Y-yes! B-but I applied to Evils because I wanted to try something—anything!”
“Pass.”
Anyone who had once been broken but was trying to stand up again got through.
“Assault, robbery, multiple prior convictions.”
“Yeah. It’s a villain organization, so it shouldn’t matter, right?”
“Next.”
Anyone who applied without even bothering to understand what kind of place this was got rejected outright.
As the interviews flew by in that manner, both Vira and Levitan turned to stare at me in surprise.
“Eight, you seem pretty used to this.”
“Huh? Well, the interviewer role is familiar. My friends kept asking me to do mock interviews for them.”
“Hee~ Really? I’d like to meet your friends sometime. I wonder if they’re from the same kind of crazy world as you.”
I answered Vira’s comment with nothing but an awkward laugh before calling in the next candidate. The man entered the interview room with disciplined movements and greeted us heartily.
“I’m Sten! Please take care of me!”
“Yes, likewise.”
As I checked his résumé, my expression stiffened slightly. I glanced at Vira. She looked back, puzzled.
Leaning in, I whispered while pointing at the relevant line.
“……This guy used to be a hero. Five years of experience.”
“What? Let me see……”
Vira snatched the résumé in shock and scanned it. After a moment she simply shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“He’s only E-class. E-class heroes are fine.”
“They are…?”
“Yeah. He’s not even from E City, so there’s no way he fought us before. Even better.”
Vira explained that while heroes were technically public figures, they could never truly be considered public servants. Their promotion system, based on popularity polls, was absurd. In that sense, a five-year E-class hero had less name recognition than the neighborhood hardware store owner. Hiring a retired hero like Sten was nothing but beneficial for the organization.
Realizing that his former hero status wasn’t an issue, I began the interview.
“Mr. Sten, what made you decide to join a villain organization after quitting as a hero?”
“……They told me I was too old to keep working as a hero.”
“I see.”
“My body’s only real advantage was being sturdy, so I decided to retire this time. But I still need to earn money for my wife and child, and the only thing I know how to do is use my body……”
“An ability that’s only good for making your body sturdy, huh. Could you show me?”
“This is it.”
Sten hardened part of his body like metal. If he could move while hardened, it might have been a decent offensive ability, but the weight made it impossible for him to move like his normal self.
After hearing that all he could do was become a stationary metal sandbag, I nodded and told him we would notify him of the results by text message before sending him out.
Once Sten had left, Vira poked my shoulder.
“……Eight, right?”
“Yes? What is it?”
“No, it’s just—you were staring at that guy with sparkling eyes earlier. You weren’t thinking of cutting off pieces of his flesh to make something, were you?”
“……Do you think I’m a psychopath?”
“Wasn’t it something like that?”
I looked at Vira with genuine indignation. Did she really think that just because I’d found an esper whose body turned to metal, I was going to harvest parts of him to build weapons? That was the kind of thing a mad scientist in a villain organization would do. As a perfectly ordinary, law-abiding scientist, I found the misunderstanding deeply unfair.