Chapter 71

“And so, the stabilization of our influence is proceeding quite smoothly. There are almost no fools left who would dare defy you, Jack. Really, I’m truly relieved that we’re on the same side.”

Letona the handyman finished her report with a subservient bow.

Her face wore its usual professional smirk, which only served to reinforce her overall shifty vibe.

Standing beside her was her assistant, Hack.

Hack stood like a guardian deity, his burly frame imposing as ever.

The man was a man of few words—or rather, no words. I couldn’t recall ever hearing his voice.

Sitting in my chair, I pulled my eyes away from the paperwork to look at the pair of handymen.

“Good work. You’re always a help.”

“No, no, not at all! It’s for none other than you, Jack. As long as someone of my humble caliber will suffice, I shall serve with the utmost sincerity.”

“Haha, cheap words. The only thing you’ve sworn loyalty to is gold, right?”

“…Oh? I wonder about that. At the very least, rest assured that I have no intention of withholding my cooperation from you. Well then, if you’ll excuse us.”

Letona exited the room, remaining aloof and breezy until the very end.

Hack gave a single bow and followed her out.

Left alone, I tossed the documents aside and let out a yawn.

I turned my gaze out the window.

A cityscape filled with construction projects stretching across the horizon met my eyes.

It was far from a scenic view, but it didn’t feel half bad when I considered that all of this was now my property.

Three months had passed since Dorgu’s death.

Alice and I had been spending our days using the Fortress City as our base of operations.

I hadn’t exactly gone around bragging about it, but it became common knowledge that we were the ones who killed Dorgu, and we naturally rose to the top.

At this point, I’d stopped making excuses and was simply utilizing my power to its fullest.

This building itself was a gift.

It was a new construction built on the site of the base I’d blown up during my fight with Minoru.

It was a five-story office building, now recognized as a landmark of the city.

If I said these past three months had been trouble-free, I’d be lying.

Dorgu, who had sat at the pinnacle for years, had suddenly died.

Naturally, countless people scrambled for his seat.

Those who had been watching for an opportunity from the shadows moved all at once, thinking this was their big break.

As a result, wars broke out one after another across the various cities that had been under Dorgu’s control.

Alice and I took the initiative to jump into the fray.

Whenever a hostile faction was identified, we headed out ourselves and annihilated them without question.

It was just a matter of cleaning up people who got excited shouting nonsense in their sleep.

I could blow them up without the slightest hesitation.

It was the kind of work I could handle with a burger in one hand.

It also provided a great opportunity to test out new types of bombs and Golem weapons.

I’m actually somewhat grateful to the guys who tried to stage a coup.

Through that series of events, we ended up reigning as the top brass of the neighboring cities.

As a side note, I’ve hired the two handymen exclusively.

Technically, they aren’t handymen anymore.

They are intelligence agents working solely for me.

I trust Letona when it comes to that sort of thing, since she’s been dipping her toes into shady business since her days as a handyman.

At first, she was hesitant to become my subordinate, but the moment I told her the specific salary amount, the look in her eyes changed and she readily agreed.

She’s a simple woman, really.

While I can’t stand her personality, I don’t mind her when it comes to business.

Letona is cunning.

She’s greedy, but she knows her place.

As things stand, there’s almost no chance she’ll betray me.

I have the track record of killing Dorgu.

Letona is smart enough to understand without being told that defying me means death.

I intend to keep using her as a useful pawn.

“Now then, let’s see how the progress is on this side.”

I picked up the documents piled on the table.

They contained the research details regarding return-transfer magic.

I’d hired mages from the Adventurers’ Guild and had them engaged in trial and error to see if they could somehow construct the spell.

Alice was essentially acting as the lead researcher, conducting various experiments in a dedicated facility.

Returning to my original world remained my primary objective.

I was enjoying the isekai life, but I still couldn’t quite give up on the life I had back there.

Back when I was Dorgu’s subordinate, I couldn’t really move forward with it for one reason or another, but now I had abundant funds, connections, and materials all at my disposal.

There was no reason not to look for a way home.

According to the documents, return magic still didn’t seem feasible.

Crossing between worlds was no small feat, after all.

I’d studied magic myself—only at a beginner level—so I understood the difficulty.

It wasn’t a problem that could be solved by rushing.

I planned to keep providing the funding and wait patiently for results.

Incidentally, I was also secretly devising a method for the destruction of the world in parallel.

Alice was drawing up the plans, with my skills as the centerpiece.

However, that also seemed to be hitting a snag.

It sounds obvious, but destroying the world is difficult.

Alice’s goal was to become the ultimate alchemist.

She wanted to achieve the great feat of exterminating humanity so that no practitioner would ever surpass her in the future.

In other words, she needed to uproot every living creature and civilization.

Needless to say, it was a massacre with a considerably high hurdle.

Much like the return magic, it wouldn’t be realized for some time.

The only reason I couldn’t say it was absolutely impossible was because Alice was tackling it with total sincerity.

Knowing her, it might not be out of reach.

I just had to make sure she didn’t pull the trigger before I made my exit.

While keeping the face of my dangerous partner in mind, I reached for another document.

What was recorded there was a lineup of scouting candidates.

I’d ordered the organizations that surrendered and joined my ranks to report any individuals they found with unusual abilities.

On the surface, the goal was to recruit them as allies, but the reality was different.

To put it bluntly, I was looking for surviving summoned individuals.

Summoned individuals possessed powerful skills without exception.

If they were living their lives by making use of those abilities, they would stand out whether they liked it or not.

I was hoping they would catch the eye of my subordinate organizations.

Right now, I could only search the cluster of cities that had been under Dorgu’s control, but eventually, I wanted to spread the net outside the country as well.

I’d managed to kill two summoned individuals so far.

I had no intention of letting the rest off the hook.

I planned to see this through to the bitter end.

As I flipped through the documents while humming to myself, there was a knock at the door.

A familiar voice called out from the other side.

“May I come in?”

“Of course.”

The door opened, and my partner, Alice, made her appearance.

She sat down across from me and got straight to the point in her usual detached manner.

“I have some good news and some slightly bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Let’s go with the good news.”

I was actually more curious about the latter, but it probably wasn’t the kind of thing that needed to be rushed.

If it were an emergency, Alice would have said so immediately.

Straightening her posture slightly, Alice delivered the so-called good news.

“In the city where Dorgu’s castle stood—the Black Wall City, as you call it—a massive mine was discovered underground. It seems rare magic ores and Spirit Stones can be harvested there. The rampage of the City Core apparently mutated the environment of the Mana Lines.”

“That’s fantastic. It pays to be a good person, doesn’t it? So, what’s the slightly bad news?”

When I asked, Alice pulled out a single letter.

It was sealed with reddish-black wax.

She spoke in her usual tone.

“It’s an invitation from the other three Representatives of Eurea. It seems they want to meet you, Jack.”