[DCI] Chapter 80 - Corporate Myths (Patreon)

I honestly wasn’t sure if this was just a coincidence, but as I stared at the woman who was clearly looking right back at me from under those unique glasses, only one thought spun through my head.

“J?” My brows rose in mild surprise and an unasked question.

Aurora gasped next to me, her eyes widening even more. “You are on a first-letter basis with a KSO?”

I turned to her with a slight frown. “Who?”

“A Key Supervision Officer.” The feline girl glanced between me and the smiling lady. “That’s one step below the Chief Supervision Administrator and then the CEO!”

“That sounds important.” I faced our mysterious guest once more.

“Only on the first two floors. Most people here aren’t even aware positions like those exist. They can simply tell that my attire doesn’t match the usual staff they come in contact with on a daily basis,” Justitia answered with a patient tone. 

“So, you aren’t just some random handler who checks if we are behaving and distributes the rewards,” Aisha chimed in thoughtfully.

“If you are wondering if I lied to you about my role in the organization, I can assure you that I have never been dishonest during our initial exchange,” our so-called handler replied, emphasizing that very specific word heavily.

The reason for that was obvious. She wasn’t supposed to get in touch with her charges after the enrollment if that part was true.

“That simply means you have not lied to us directly. You still could have omitted the uncomfortable or sensitive truths,” Levia pointed out.

“Well, I can neither confirm nor deny that.” Justitia’s smile grew a little. “But, that’s just how corporate speech is. Isn’t that right, Lucas?”

“She’s not entirely wrong.” I nodded faintly. “However, even without directly confirming or denying the selected statements, it’s fairly easy to pinpoint the answer with accurate questions that eliminate the incorrect conclusion from the equation.”

A single golden brow rose above the upper edge of the pure black glasses, matched with a knowing smirk of realizing where I was going with this.

“So, besides scouting me, supervising my performance, and grading my work, there are some other tasks in your job description that aren’t so open to the public, like…” I joined my hands and put them against my lips. “Let me think… Mental state evaluation? Isn’t that right, J? Or should I call you Supervisor J?”

An amused chuckle escaped our supervisor’s delicate lips. “I’ll gladly fill you in on my responsibilities, but not everyone here is qualified to hear that conversation. Right now, I have been allowed to debrief you personally after the recently finished Emergency Assignment, and also have you fill in a survey related to the previous appointment.”

She snapped her fingers, and with a golden flash, a sleek black clipboard appeared in her hand, with a number of printed pages held underneath the clamp.

“Therefore, if you are willing, I would like to take this meeting to a more secluded location,” Justitia added, politely waiting for my response.

I shared a look with my mates.

“But we just spent a Free Meal Ticket to order.” Aisha sighed deeply.

“No worries. I’ll have everything delivered to the prepared conference room. You’ll be able to submit further requests from there too. And, in case you find yourselves unable to consume your meals with peace of mind, I’m authorized to refund your submission,” the woman in black replied.

“If that’s how it is then I see no reason to inconvenience you any longer,” I said, shrugging lightly while taking a peek at all the attention we had garnered.

“Thank you for your understanding.” She lowered her head politely. “Please, follow me, then.”

Giving the still-shocked catgirl a reassuring pat on the shoulder, I started squeezing out of the booth along with my ladies. Aurora joined us fairly quickly and we walked after Justitia, all the eyes on us as we headed for the nearby staircase in a single file. She didn’t pay the onlookers a sliver of her attention, focused on her task like a true corporate professional.

We took the steps up and passed four turns to reach the second floor. To our furry friend’s astonishment, we avoided the entrance to the hallway and continued.

“Third floor?!” Aurora paused mid-step and gripped the railing firmly while gaping at our guide in disbelief. “I’ve never been so high… Am I even allowed…?”

“You took part in that Assignment too, have you not?” Justitia smiled at her warmly. “For today, you are. And for your information, the conference rooms start on the fourth floor.”

If we could see the feline lady’s skin, it would definitely be blanched right now.

Resuming our trek, we climbed the wooden steps in pairs. There was enough space to fit three people so we didn’t block the path completely in case anyone was coming down. Fortunately, it seemed that luck was on our side.

“Are they that interesting?” J asked with the tiniest smirk, turning her head more my way.

Looks like I had been caught red-handed.

“They are an unusual choice, but yeah. And they clearly suit you,” I answered honestly, glancing at her glasses less covertly.

“Thank you.” She inclined her head appreciatively. “No matter how clean and exquisite, a blindfold still made a lot of people slightly uncertain and weirded out. Thankfully, I was able to switch to a more modern alternative. Now they are just intrigued and sometimes intimidated.”

“Who even wears shaded glasses inside, not to mention a blindfold?” Shuri wondered out loud.

I looked over my shoulder to remind our newest member not to be rude to our superior, but Justitia let out a gentle chuckle before I could do that.

“My innate qualities make it rather difficult to comfortably converse with most individuals.” Our mysterious handler stopped, turned to face us, and took her glasses off.

Two hypnotizing rings of shimmering gold gazed down upon us in the form of gleaming and glimmering irises that kept constantly changing like infinity pools. As I met them straight ahead, a slight feeling of judgment washed over me, like I was being evaluated under a scrutinizing gaze. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but maybe there wasn’t much weighing on my conscience or something. I had no idea how any of this worked.

J put her sunglasses back on and I could hear a few deeper inhales, the girls coming out of their brief daze. The person behind it offered all of us an apologetic smile before starting to slowly walk once more.

“So it’s true… You are her…” I whispered under my breath.

“Her?” Levia picked up on it.

“The Goddess of Justice,” I responded.

Something thudded on the wood and we found Aurora with her hands on the stairs after stumbling hard.

“You have a goddess as a supervisor?!” she squeaked flabbergasted, unable to catch a moment of rest.

“It’s been a while since I have been last addressed by that title.” Justitia showed a reminiscing smile. “Ex-goddess. And only on paper. I’m not exactly divine, although I am eternal. Back then, the position was open, and my abilities fit the idea behind it rather well, so I was suggested for the post. It was a difficult but entertaining period. I decided to let go of the mantle after the migration. I think it was a good judgment on my part as I was offered this job not that long after and found it rather enjoyable. My skills certainly are of great help in this field.”

I absorbed the extremely brief piece of unknown history like a sponge, disappointed it had ended so quickly. My eagerness hadn’t gone unnoticed and brought out another quiet chuckle from the ex-goddess as we ventured forward.

“Does that mean the rest of the pantheon still functions together in some other realm?” I asked hopefully, wishing to learn just a little bit more.

“No, not exactly. Many pantheons have moved into the Defender business around that time. They are managing their own guilds for the most part. Some are still worshiped in their current regions, but it’s a bit different from what you know,” she graced me with more information.

It matched with what Aisha had taught me in the beginning.

“I see…” I stroked my chin ponderingly. “If you were offered this position, there’s a high chance the offer came from someone who knows you well. That means it’s quite likely this organization might be in the hands of one of the major gods. I don’t remember the exact details of the relationships between specific deities, and I have no idea if they weren’t completely made up, but knowing from experience that a satisfied employer tends to reach out to an effective contractor once more if the opportunity arrives, is the CEO of DCI perhaps Juno?”

I shot my shot in the dark, but you never knew when you might score a hit.

Justitia met my eyes again, albeit I could only assume she did as she faced me with the black bar obstructing my view, and displayed that same tiny smirk as she had down there in the lobby.

At that moment, I knew I had won.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” she responded with the words she most likely was obliged to.

I pumped my fist in victory, catching a flash of a defeated smile as she turned ahead.

We reached the fourth floor soon after and entered a similar hallway to the one my party had first ended up in. J took us to one of the fancy doors three intersections later and I noticed it lacking the knob. She took off one of her leather gloves and pressed her palm onto a ceramic plate next to the entrance. Something flashed green underneath and the door popped open.

Damn. They even had handprint scanners in this place.

But, that wasn’t the only modern element on this entire floor. Stepping into the unlocked chamber, we found ourselves in a cozy wooden room of the same fantasy style as everything else we had seen up to this point, but with the opposite wall replaced with floor-to-ceiling rectangular glass panes resembling those huge-ass windows in rich meeting areas of enterprise skyscrapers. The view was spectacular too, directed at a beautiful forest glade surrounding the building. We could spot some mountains in the distance and lots of trees.

Our handler gestured at us to sit down and we seated ourselves in front of a sizable school desk capable of fitting about five people behind it. There were plenty of them here, some linked together to form an auditorium. But, it was clear that any formations could work here, including a round table combination for important company conferences.

After closing the door, Justitia dragged a chair to the opposite side of our desk and dropped onto it with a heavy sigh.

“Finally, we can relax. I knew it would be a challenge bringing you here without slipping up on the way, but gods, you are too smart for your own good.” She laughed openly. “Earth humans were always clever. Lacking when compared to other beings, they had to be.”

“No monitoring?” I looked around curiously. “I would have expected some with the level of security we have witnessed.”

“Technically, these sessions are supposed to be recorded, but I’m in a high enough position to decide if that’s necessary,” our interviewer explained, then quickly held her hands up. “And before you ask, yes, I’m aware of how it sounds. What if someone forgoes the recording to maliciously frame an employee or partake in some unsavory deals or such? Well, each Supervisor signs off a document that gives our supervisor access to our memories in the face of an official internal investigation related to a registered incident.”

“That sounds… Awful…” Aurora shuddered in her seat.

“Just don’t do bad stuff and you have nothing to worry about.” J shrugged lightly. “This is also the reason why people with mind-altering abilities are not accepted for these positions.”

“And it’s also where your ability comes in handy,” I pointed out. “As long as it works as I think it does.”

“It’s a slightly more advanced lie detector, yes.” She nodded in confirmation. “I can tell if the person I’m locking eyes with has something they consider unfair or unjust towards another on their conscience. It’s not a flawless inspection, but it works rather well on mortals.”

“That’s a quite important piece of information about one’s innate talents to be revealed to complete strangers,” the feline girl added.

“Do you think they will stop at me after they learn about the leak?” Justitia raised a brow at her, making the furry lady swallow thickly. “We live together or we die together. Metaphorically speaking.”

“I think sink or swim would have been a more suitable expression.” I snickered.

“Mine conveys the message better.” She flashed me a small grin. “Anyway, I’m so happy to finally meet you. And your team, of course. Hi there, ladies. And Aurora.”

“I never expected it to actually happen,” I admitted. “But let me take this opportunity to properly thank you for all the support along the way.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Our mysterious benefactor looked away rather comically. “But you are welcome. I’ve kept my eyes on you for a little while and was really excited to see you finish the test with flying colors. I knew you had potential and you constantly keep proving me right.”

“Ah, yes. The game. Are all the humans we’ve seen here from Earth too?” I asked what I had been wondering about for a moment already.

“No. On the contrary, Earth is just a small branch of ours. There are currently many more companies and guilds focusing on securing your world from the inevitable outbreaks than those recruiting Defenders. Which was quite the opposite before the modern era,” Justitia answered. “However, it was a world we were familiar with so it was only natural we tried our hand at connecting with it once more. And your technology has been a great help to us. I kind of regret we haven’t stayed longer to witness the development firsthand.”

“Why would it have changed?” Aisha frowned thoughtfully. “Aren’t humans out there technically better candidates now, knowing much more about themselves and their capabilities, also more closely associated with folklore and the general culture of the so-called fantasy?”

“You would think so, but no. It’s one thing to consume works of fiction or science and another to live through them.” She shook her head. “In the past, people were better suited mentally and physically to be thrown into a Dungeon to fight monsters. A common guard from the past era would fare better than a common police officer from the current age. I don’t mean to sound rude, but… humans of Earth have grown somewhat weaker since our departure.”

“Rough times make strong men, strong men make peaceful times, peaceful times make weak men, as the popular saying goes.” I chuckled wryly. “There might be some truth to that. Anyway, I assume you are one of the Supervisors tasked with overlooking that branch?”

“Correct.” J smiled proudly. “I look for compatible souls, point them out to the Testing Department, watch over their progress as they interact with a personalized examination program, and judge if they are suitable to become valuable Defenders. It’s how I found you.”

“Have you lost any recruits during your time?” Shuri inquired hesitantly.

That smile disappeared from Justitia’s lips faster than the oni could finish her sentence.

“There’s a reason why any communication with the candidates past the enrolment is forbidden,” our overseer replied with a note of melancholy in her smooth voice. “We aren’t supposed to grow attached to them. As much as I dislike that, I can’t say that it isn’t for the best. Unfortunately, death in this occupation is just a matter of time. It’s also a statistic for each Supervisor’s scouting talent, as cold as it sounds. So, yes, I watched people’s names disappear from the list of my referrals multiple times. No one’s judgment is perfect. Not even the Goddess’ of Judgment.”

I couldn’t say that I was able to completely sympathize, but I had a coworker disappear like that once, so I could at least partially understand how she must have felt during moments like those. Calmly reaching out, I placed my palm over her gloved hand and squeezed gently. She responded with a grateful nod, most likely aware of my entire past if the company had screened me through and through.

“Anyway, after a century or two, you learn to live with it. It’s important to focus on the positives or the negative thoughts are going to affect your work and may lead to a lapse in judgment, causing even more mistakes and grief. Every Supervisor is extremely careful and picky about their candidates. No one wants to lead someone straight to their death. And some just don’t want to lose their bonuses.” Justitia chuckled while shaking her head.

“Empathetic people like you are fairly rare in big companies. Can’t deny that most of them are profit-driven,” I added in agreement. “But, leaving the details of the Devil’s Deal you guys are offering to people, I wanted to ask about your duties towards us after the contract has been signed, especially now that we can actually meet face-to-face.”

“Not a problem. I know I can trust you with a lot of things. Plus, you might only be a Senior Representative, but your performance has piqued the interest of some important people so you could be considered closer to a Beginner or even Intermediate Agent,” she complimented me with a proud expression. “After the CSA examined my report regarding the Betrayer incident, they were impressed enough to allow me to suggest you for Emergency Assignments that I was certain you and your ladies would be able to solve.”

“So it really was you!” Aisha slammed her fist on the table.

We could not see it, but I just knew Justitia blinked at her in surprise. “Pardon?”

I smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. “We were kind of about to celebrate our survival in that difficult Dungeon when the request dropped…”

“Lucas ingested two doses of a stimulant during his efforts to defeat the enemy while keeping us safe,” Levia said calmly but sternly. “We were finally starting the process of relieving him of the unpleasant side effects such actions have caused when the time-sensitive Assignment arrived, forcing him not only to delay the treatment but also consume another dose to alleviate some of the discomfort.”

J’s eyes widened to the brim behind the glasses as she pressed her palm to her lips. “Three? Is everything…?”

My draconic mate snorted. “Lucas is tough stuff. He held on until we were done and let it all out when we were safe. We had to run back as quickly as we could, though, waiving our rights to all the loot.”

“You should have said you want me to split—” Aurora turned to her but Levia interrupted her with a delicate shake of her head.

“All the greatest treasure of this universe has no value in front of our beloved master’s well-being,” my wise and caring mate declared. “The spoils of that battle are rightfully yours.”

“So this was the reason behind the troubling physical reading at the end of both Dungeons, worsening after the second one…” Our Supervisor showed a concerned expression, then snapped her fingers once more. “I’m truly sorry for causing you so much trouble. Please, accept this as my honest apology.”

A silvery jar the size of a fist materialized atop the desk. It resembled a honey pot complete with a fancy lid from all those traditional households and a lot of children’s TV series from my childhood.

“What’s that?” Aisha took it into her hands, lifted the lid, and sniffed the crystal-clear substance.

We were all able to notice the minty scent it emanated.

“A cleansing balm. I’m glad you have already dealt with the issue, but you should use it to make sure that there is no permanent leftover backlash from the high dosage,” Justitia explained seriously. “In the future, you can apply it to nullify the side effects quickly, even ahead of time. Just keep in mind that it will reduce the effectiveness of the stimulant if applied one after another.”

“That is a precious gift.” Levia nodded appreciatively.

“Best way to apply it?” I asked while forcing Aisha to close the lid so that the mixture didn’t lose potency.

“Most simply rub it all over the patient’s chest area since it absorbs almost right away, reaching the crucial organs momentarily,” the former goddess answered. “However, the more sensitive the tissue it’s applied on is the more potent the effect. Therefore, some use it as a lip balm or such.”

My crimson-haired girlfriend grinned at me impishly, already thinking of other ways to utilize this refreshing medication.

“Looks like your food is here.” J glanced towards the entrance and the door flung itself open, letting a flood of colorful spheres inside.

The Pixies flew into the conference room with baskets attached to their ethereal bodies, hanging off the cute entities on equally charming ribbons. They sailed our way and daintily lowered the woven tableware onto the table. Rose seemed to have taken charge and led her new friends around, shooing them away after their job was done, and closing the door behind them. She, of course, stayed behind with us, bobbing joyfully over all the food she had brought us.

“Please, help yourselves while I further explain what my role is and go through the real reason behind this meeting.” Justitia gestured at the dishes invitingly and summoned a mechanical pencil to join her clipboard.