Chapter 9

After returning to the base, I was finally able to take a detailed tour of the base with Dusik’s guidance.

Upon entering the front door, there was a spacious hallway leading to the living room—or should I say, the hall? It was a bit too large to be called just a living room. The hall was immediately visible, with rooms lined up on both sides.

I wondered how they managed to get a building with such a structure.

“How did you find a building like this?”

“Of course, we remodeled it.”

Keru, who had somehow appeared beside me, yawned lazily and continued speaking. When Keru was the size of a cat, it used to fly around, but now that it’s the size of a leopard, it walks. If something that big were to fly around, it would definitely be a problem.

“The rooms are where the minions stay. There used to be medium and large-sized minions, but we can’t produce them anymore. Anyway, since everyone here is human-sized now, it doesn’t matter.”

“How many people stay in each room?”

“Three? Four?”

There are seven rooms in total… If three people stay in each, that’s only 21 people.

“With just that, how are you supposed to fight against magical girls?”

“That’s why we couldn’t fight.”

I see.

“The production facilities will be fully repaired in about four days. You caused quite a spectacle, so there were a lot of issues here and there.”

“Really? You should’ve made it sturdier from the start.”

“You were much stronger than we imagined.”

“That’s not a bad thing, right?”

“True. While we’re at it, we’re reinforcing it to withstand your output.”

Since the base isn’t divided into floors like a villain’s secret hideout, the tour didn’t take long.

Every time I entered a room, I knocked before going in. Inside, the culprits—no, the minions. I guess I need to get used to the term.

The minions were spending their time in the rooms, and when I entered, they promptly stood up and saluted.

I never went to the military, so receiving such treatment felt a bit off, but I guess it’s not that strange since even in a company, you stand up and greet the boss when they arrive.

When you think about it, I’m the boss of this company. A salary boss, but still.

“Boss, you’re here.”

They can talk. This is the first time I’ve heard them speak directly since yesterday. Seeing the minion greeting me with an “Oh” expression, Dusik quickly intervened.

“Minions ignore anyone weaker than themselves. After seeing Mother-Body knock out Priqu with one punch yesterday, they’ve acknowledged you now.”

“Oh, really?”

So there’s a survival-of-the-fittest rule here. As I was pondering, the minion who greeted me hurriedly interjected.

“Boss, there’s another reason.”

“Hmm?”

“Boss, you’re so beautiful that everyone was too shy to talk to you.”

“What?”

This isn’t about me. It’s about Dusik.

“Hey, you guys only talk to me if I’m strong enough.”

“Objectively speaking, compared to the boss, you’re… pfft!”

Dusik’s powerful kick landed right between the minion’s legs. Even though I don’t have that organ anymore, I still felt the pain and winced.

With a *poof*, Dusik transformed. Suddenly, a huge man stood behind me, making me shrink back.

“You guys, gather under me tonight. Got it?”

A deep, low voice filled the room. I patted Dusik’s back, told him good job, and left the room, leaving the minion foaming at the mouth on the floor.

Men are truly pitiful creatures.

“Keru, so there’s nothing planned for tonight, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Do the minions eat food?”

“They need to eat to have strength.”

“Do they get paid?”

“Yes. Just a salary? No, when they go into battle, they get hazard pay, and if the battle goes into the night, they get overtime pay. Overtime pay is 1.5 times the hourly rate. But the amount isn’t much since they don’t have families to support.”

“Wait, how do we make money?”

If we’re paying all that, where does the money come from? We don’t seem to be doing anything productive, just spending money.

“Donations. The original goal was world domination, so money wouldn’t be a problem… but that’s easier said than done.”

Wow, even though we’re an evil organization, there are actually people who donate. Enough to keep the organization running.

The world is truly in decline. Oh, before that, there’s something I need to take care of.

“Do I get paid? I haven’t signed a contract yet.”

I don’t want my salary delayed from the first month. I’ve experienced salary delays in small companies before, and it was always a nightmare.

“Luckily, after you appeared on broadcast yesterday, we got a lot of donations. We can last for two or three months.”

“How did you manage until now?”

“Well, Mother-Body appeared on broadcasts, variety shows, and stuff… We scraped by somehow.”

It’s amazing that the organization operated without any productive activities. There’s no visible source of income, just expenses.

“Wait a second.”

“Yeah?”

“I have a question.”

“Ask.”

Keru sauntered over and lay down at my feet, yawning widely. It seems like all it does is yawn.

“During battles, what happens if they die? Do they really die?”

“No, not really.”

They’re pseudo-lifeforms made from magic power, so even if they’re killed in battle, they don’t actually die. They just return to the creator’s magic power. But the current minions are disconnected from their original creator, so if they’re defeated, they return to my magic power.

“Well, to explain it in a term humans are familiar with, they’re like homunculi.”

“I see. But what do they do with their salaries?”

If they don’t really die and just return to magic power…

“They buy delicious food and things they want. Even though they’re pseudo-lifeforms, they have desires, except for sexual ones.”

“Oh, I see.”

Pseudo-lifeforms created from my magic power. They breathe, eat, and live, but they’re not real living beings like humans. Yet they have desires. I thought maybe we didn’t need to pay them, but since they eat and live like people, I guess we have to.

“So, in the end, only magical girls really die, right?”

“Well, that’s how it is. Magical girls are real people, so if they die, they die.”

“The penalty on our side isn’t that severe. As long as the creator has infinite magic power, they can keep creating more.”

“That’s true. But no one has infinite magic power, so…”

“Theoretically, that’s how it is.”

“Right. Anyway, it’s getting late.”

Looking at the clock, it was already past 7 PM. Time to eat dinner.

“Hey, the minions eat too, right?”

There are two types of office workers.

Those who like company dinners, and those who don’t.

But even those who don’t like them usually end up drinking at company dinners, or listening to the so-called “back in my day” speeches from seniors, which they hate.

If you ask me, I didn’t like them, but I didn’t hate them either. I guess that’s what they call a gray area.

The sales department manager I used to work under couldn’t stand seeing an empty glass. He always complained that salespeople these days lack drive, saying things like, “Back in my day, we stayed up for three nights drinking to close a deal.”

I didn’t like that, but the sales department dinners were always at high-end Korean beef restaurants, so I liked that part. So, I ended up both liking and disliking them.

So, I thought that if I ever became senior enough to host company dinners, I wouldn’t force anyone to drink. But…

“Boss, have a drink.”

I never imagined that as the host, I’d be the one being forced to drink.

It had been almost a year since the last company dinner, and everyone was happy. I was happy too, seeing everyone excited about eating meat.

I wanted to treat them to Korean beef, but Keru said even regular beef would be too expensive, so we settled for a pork belly restaurant. That part was fine.

With so many people, we booked a private room, and I sat at the head of the table. Dusik sat to my right, and the minions filled the rest of the seats, ordering meat.

The charcoal arrived, the grill was set up, and side dishes and drinks were neatly arranged. The ordered meat was beautifully arranged on a tray and brought to the room.

*Sizzle—*

Ah, the sound of deliciousness.

And when the meat was nicely grilled, we all raised our glasses and shouted, “Bravo!” That part was great too.

There were 24 minions left. Including me and Dusik, that’s 26 people. Keru said it didn’t need to eat, so it just sat invisibly next to me, absorbing my magic power.

These 24 minions took turns pouring drinks, and I couldn’t refuse. I should’ve refused the first one, but once I accepted, they all started asking why I wouldn’t accept theirs, and I couldn’t say no.

I’m not a lightweight, so I don’t get drunk easily, but 24 shots is about 3.5 bottles of soju. Drinking that much in a short time left me not entirely sober.

“Boss, how about a speech at this point?”

Dusik whispered in my ear. Didn’t we already do that? Oh, we just shouted “Bravo!” and that was it.

Hmm, okay. I’m the new boss, so I should give a proper speech, right? Thinking that, I stood up.

Seeing me stand, Dusik clapped to get everyone’s attention.

“Fill your glasses.”

At my words, those with empty glasses filled them.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard. Now that I’ve taken over, I’ll reorganize quickly and work tirelessly to achieve our goals! And I ask that you all do your best to help me achieve those goals! That’s all!”

“Wooow.”

Dusik stood up first, looked around, and clapped. His sharp eyes seemed to say, “Get the mood right,” and the minions stood up and gave a standing ovation.

“Alright, let’s eat and drink. It’s our first company dinner, after all.”

It was a fun time. Everyone ate a lot of meat and drank quite a bit. When someone said, “Boss, you’re so beautiful,” I just laughed.

“This card is blocked…”

The total came to 730,000 won. And the corporate card I handed over was blocked.

“Huh?”

“The card is blocked, so we can’t process the payment. Do you have another card?”

Keru is nowhere to be seen.

Dusik is nowhere to be seen.

The minions… No, I can’t blame them.

“H-here, use this…”

I handed over my personal card. I don’t use credit cards, so it’s a debit card.

“T-this is a one-time payment…”

730,000 won in one go.

I want to die.