Entering a Company From Another World! – Chapter 36

This has nothing to do with the main story, but…

Pros and Saber, here we go!!!!

But it was a bust. I gave a victory pose when the rainbow effect appeared, but the art was Berserker… I wanted to scream, “At least make it Caster, with Zhuge Liang!”

I apologize for bringing up personal matters, but I had to say it. (crying)

Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, single.
Girlfriend: Suella Handelberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee) + Recruiter
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Position: Warrior

What’s beyond the door, so to speak.

“It’s so bare,” I muttered.

The feeling of being let down, thinking this was the final hall.
Well, I skipped right through to here without even seeing the beginning, let alone the middle, so I don’t know about any other halls.
It’s not dark, but it’s not exactly bright either.
The deepest hall, visible despite having no apparent light source, is an unimaginably vast stone plaza with no visible ceiling or walls.

“…It’s straightforward,” Memoria said.
“Straightforward… is it?”

Seeing it, I called it bare, but Suella seemed to grasp the opponent’s intention.
Unfortunately, I can’t grasp the intent behind this simply vast space.

“The guardian of this hall is Evia-sama. Therefore…”
“Oh, oh, a perfect place to go all out then.”

That made sense.
Rather than just setting traps, or placing a mediocre guardian, it’s better to fight him yourself when you’ve come this far.
There are no obstacles.
A space designed for a head-on confrontation.
Thanks to the instructor’s words, I finally understood the intention.
I understood, but…

“So, where did the actual opponent go? I can’t see them.”
“That’s strange.”

I still can’t see the opponent.
Along with the instructor, the three of us are striding towards the back, but there’s not even a sign of their presence, let alone their figure.
Are they hiding, or do they not exist at all? We don’t even know that.
After all this fighting, it’s impossible for the final defense to be empty.
That’s why we’re not lowering our guard and proceeding carelessly.

“Hmm? Can you hear something?”
“Yes, I can,” Suella replied.
“I can hear it,” Memoria added.
“I can hear it too,” I said.

At first, it was a murmur, but it gradually grew louder. I initially thought it was my imagination, but if the other members, including myself, could hear it, it wasn’t a hallucination.
More importantly…

“What is this?! What’s with this lineup?! I wasn’t told I’d be facing a General! That stupid older sister, what was she thinking saying it was just a simple job fighting inferiors! A human fighting a Dark Elf, a Vampire, and then an Oni King! I was prepared to fight a human, but this is all for nothing! Dammit! I should have doubted the high salary from the start! There’s no way that sister would pay so much for an easy job!! Ah!! I want to punch the past me who thought, ‘Huh, this job might be good? I can go to that store I couldn’t afford this month twice, right?'”

Even if it were a hallucination, I wouldn’t want such a hallucination.
It reminds me of my past, like the words of a new employee who, seeing “nice coworkers” in a job advertisement with good pay and decent work content, joined what turned out to be a completely exploitative company.
Presumably, they were using some kind of concealment magic.
However, the more I thought about it calmly, the more I understood the reality of being cornered, and my thoughts started to spin, trying to find a way out, only to go in circles and run wild.
Thanks to that, even though I still can’t see them, their voice is leaking out at considerable volume.

“What should I do? Run? No, my sister will definitely have my head later. And I hate not getting paid! So fight? No, there’s no way I can win with a General here. In that case, maybe it’s better to apologize with a dogeza and surprise them. No, plus, if I take one of the women hostage, wouldn’t that give me a chance? I’ll touch their soft, plump bodies and gain a chance. Alright, I win!”

“Ah, sorry Jiro, you’ve ruined my mood, I’m going home.”
“Could you at least punch that guy before you go?”
“Too much trouble. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Leave it to me… Instructor, whoa, he really left.”

There was no way to stop the instructor, who was waving goodbye with his back turned as promised, nor was there any reason to stop him in the air.
Why is it that the quality of the enemy is increasing, but the quality of the final boss is so low? It’s like a cheap novel.
Despite the significant drop in our fighting strength, I feel less anxious than before.

“Is the only consolation that the opponent looks weak? Actually, do Suella and the others think this guy is strong?”
“He’s weak,” Suella said.
“He’s probably using a magic item to hide, but the item is powerful, but the user is unskilled, I suppose,” Memoria added.

Are they both saying the same thing, even though Memoria’s phrasing is sharp and Suella’s is gentle?
Towards the sound, or rather, as the magic power gradually fades, we all fix our gaze on the semi-transparent silhouette.

“…Ah, perhaps it’s because of my insufficient training, but did the supervisor lose to him?”
“…Probably.”
“…”

“Ah, what should I do? I want to go home quickly. Why am I even here? My plan was to study just enough to be able to say, ‘Hooray!’ because my older sister is so capable that I don’t have to worry about taking over the family business, and then live a life of leisure. Where did my plan go wrong?”

The word “impossible” must have crossed everyone’s minds.
If I think I’ve recovered, I fall back down, and if I think I’ve fallen, I start yelling, and if I get angry, I start crying.
In short, he looks weaker than me.
How could someone so emotionally unstable possibly defeat the supervisor?

“Is it okay to attack? Anyway, he’s the enemy, right?”
“He was just asking if we would fight him or not,” Memoria replied.
“From our side, it would be best to suppress him quickly,” Suella said.
“Right.”

We slowly approach.
I approach cautiously, but he doesn’t seem to be paying us any mind, even though he was focused on us just moments ago.

“Eh? Heh!!”
“Eh~?”
“You can see me!?” Jiro exclaimed.
“You’re just noticing now?” Suella retorted.

Thinking it would at least sting, I tried punching him, but he flew away so easily that I almost said “weak,” but I managed to suppress it to a mere grumble.
Perhaps he has some secret plan.

“Damn it! When I mean business, I mean business! I’ll kill you all!!”
He takes out his staff and holds it up, but he looks like an orchestra conductor, leaving him wide open as a combatant.
Thinking he might be luring me in, and considering even that could be a trap, I don’t draw my Ore Tree.
In that case, it would be better to quickly strike him down with overwhelming force, along with his strategy.

“Wait a minute, Gofo!?”
“Weak!”
“Are you an oni attacking the frontliner as a frontliner!?”
“Don’t let a demon say that. I’ve been questioning it myself lately, but I’m technically human,” Jiro retorted.

That concern turned out to be unfounded, as the gentle-looking man collapsed to the ground again with just one blow, or two if you count the first one.
And to deny it, there are backliners like Suella who can completely immobilize frontliners.
What he’s saying is laziness.
That’s why I can easily knock him flying like this.
Haa, I should finish this quickly.

“Hey, what are you doing!? Don’t hit me!? Ouch!? Guu, you better remember this, Atatatatatatatata!? Give up, give up, give up, give up!? Stop it!? My body isn’t that flexible!? Also!! How can a human like you be so strong!? I’m a demon, you know!!”
“It’s probably because you’re too frail,” Jiro said.

I never thought I’d live to see the day I could subdue a demon with joint locks.
Then, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up, I delivered a punch to his face, and it became a routine.
Of course, I didn’t think it was appropriate to use my Ore Tree to cut him down, so I beat him up and then applied a joint lock to his arm when he fell.
Even if he had more strength than me due to his brute force, he wouldn’t be able to break free so easily.
Well, judging by the feel of his arm, he doesn’t have much muscle, so I don’t think his raw strength surpasses mine.
And then…

“Ah!! What are you groping me for!? Are you trying to suck my blood, Vampire!?”
“It looks unappetizing, so no thank you,” Jiro replied.
“Immediate answer!?”
“Found one. It’s a magic-based barrier artifact, and you’ve got a pretty good one,” Suella said.
“Ah!! That!! Give it back!! My sister will kill me if I lose that!!”
“You sure have a lot of nerve shouting when you’re captured,” Jiro muttered. “Memoria, did he have anything else?”
“Two small staffs, eight summoning mediums, ten healing potions, fifteen barrier talismans, and this might be for escape, a single teleportation stone. They’re all top-notch and in a magic bag, so there’s more. His family must be quite wealthy,” Memoria reported.
“So he’s just a rich kid? What’s wrong, Suella? You’ve been staring at his face since earlier.”
“No, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before. What’s your name?”

If we confiscate his items, his threat level can be reduced to a general level, albeit on a fantasy scale.
Memoria, who runs an antique shop, is the one to assess that. Her appraisal eye should be reliable.
And Suella, for her part, seems to find the subdued demon man somewhat familiar.

“Um, I don’t know who I am. I have amnesia from being grabbed earlier.”
“Then, Jiro-san, please try again, this time from a different angle.”
“Hiii!?”
“Is this an old TV show?”

I was so exasperated by his exaggerated act that I couldn’t say anything, but Suella’s method made me laugh.
Well, it’s understandable that the one being hit would scream.
While we’re at it, we want information, so I raise my arm…

“Haa, even such a foolish younger brother is family. Please, don’t hurt him any further,” a deep sigh, filled with emotion, echoed through the hall.
His following words made me stop my hand.

“Supervisor!”
“Evia-sama, is this indeed him?”
“Yes, Nord Nordis. Reluctantly, he is my family.”

I never expected the one I thought was captured would be the one to stop me.

“An-e-ki~”
“No, just punch him once to shut him up.”
“Sister!!”

He stops me and then encourages me, but that’s too much, so I’ll refrain from punching him.

“Supervisor, weren’t you captured?”
“Ah, that was the plan, but thanks to his blunder, the plan is over.”
“Plan?”
“It will be over soon.”

Then, the supervisor, Shaking his head as if he had a headache, quickly deployed a magic circle.

“This is a notification to all employees within the company. Situation terminated. Repeating, situation terminated. Summer salary assessment has concluded as of this moment. All personnel, immediately cease combat operations and proceed with post-operation procedures.”

What did this demon just say?
If my ears aren’t ringing from combat, I think I distinctly heard something about salary assessment.
I hope I’m mistaken.

“Itete… Hey, human! Don’t put so much force into it! Ah, sorry, could you please loosen your grip a little?”
Should I stay quiet for a bit? I can’t help but put more force into it.
Okay, let’s calmly review the situation.
Power outage, report of a terrorist attack, then moving to suppress and liberate.
Then, fought the instructor’s daughter, arrived at the destination, encountered the suspected final boss, but he was weak.
And after suppressing him, the result was a salary assessment… Yeah, it’s incomprehensible from the latter half onwards.

“Suella, did you know about this?”
“No, all my information said was that a rebellion had occurred.”
“Mine too.”
“Of course. Regarding this matter, very few people within the company, including myself, were informed.”
“What do you mean?”
The supervisor, after closing the communication magic, began to explain.

Another side

“In other words, it was a surprise inspection for all employees.”

They look at me with suspicious eyes, wondering what I’m talking about at my sudden revelation.
It kinda hurts, you know.
That’s why I didn’t want to take that job.
Let’s go back about a month.

“I’m an auditor?”
“Yes, this time you will be doing it.”

Summoned by Evia-sama individually, and racking my brain about what I might have failed at, I went to a small conference room. There I received an order to conduct an audit regarding the summer salary assessment.
The content was to assess how well employees from different species, currently mixed within the company, could cooperate in an emergency, and failing that, how close relationships they had managed to build. That was the focus.
The testers, who were initially acting tentatively, have recently become more accustomed and are exhibiting noticeable, arrogant behavior.
This is especially evident towards weaker species like goblins.
Given such reports, the supervisor apparently considered whether they deserved a bonus.
The same applied in reverse: they would judge whether we were treated equally, or if we could work without discrimination, through our emergency response.
And I vaguely understand why this matter was brought to me instead of Suella.
No offense, but I’m pretty good with people.
I maintain a certain distance with everyone at first.
Suella, on the other hand, isn’t very good at drawing those lines.
She doesn’t have prejudices, but she tends to act on emotion.
Even so, she’s been promoted, so she must be good at her job and serious.
However, working behind the scenes and keeping secrets like this isn’t her forte.

“Understood.”
Since I heard the story, I knew Evia-sama wanted me to do it.
Refusal was not an option.
Fortunately, there were other staff members and I could adjust my work, so I had time to plan.
Most importantly, the personnel participating in the audit would receive a bit more bonus, so there was no reason to refuse.
Well, I regretted accepting it after I did.
Because the workload is higher than normal work!
Coordination of the schedule for the day, requests for personnel dispatch from the home country, preparation of magic tools to convert them into magic bodies so that the dispatched personnel won’t get injured, adjustment of the company’s magic concentration, advancing work so as not to interfere with daily operations in anticipation of a long battle, and to ensure the audit goes smoothly, appropriate distribution of personnel, complete surveillance, and even preparatory information manipulation so as not to be discovered.
It was exhausting to act without raising suspicion until the day of the event.

“So, the big sister also had a tough time.”
“Uwaa~” they all exclaimed.
“I wish you’d say something more comforting.”
“Thank you. It’s just water, though.”
“Thank you.”

My audit targets were Jiro-kun’s party and the surrounding employees. There were even auditors among those captured, and some among the dispatched team.
Still, it was undeniably exhausting.

“Well, this method of auditing is a one-off, so just accept it as a valuable experience this time.”

Another side END

“So that’s what happened.”
“I finally understand the points that felt unnatural. I understand, but…”
“You can’t accept it, can you?”
“Yes.”

The most puzzling thing about this battle was the opponent’s bleeding.
It felt like I was fighting a Soul, and their abilities were comparable to Blood, but that dissonance remained.
Also, there were gestures that seemed to show concern for us.
I’ve heard a rough overview, and the reality-defying salary audit method has resolved my doubts.
However, the otherworldly approach was so novel that my mind couldn’t quite catch up, leaving a sense of regret, like a fishbone stuck in my throat.

“Itete.”
“The most painful mistake was entrusting the command to this guy,” said the supervisor.
“Didn’t your sister force you to do it?”
“Fool, if my father hadn’t told me to because you never work properly at home, I wouldn’t have given you command authority. Learn to work a little more from this.”
“Ehh~”

Originally, there was a Duke-class demon accompanying the young man called Nord, but he was sent to the front lines to intercept us when we invaded.
In that situation, we took a shortcut and passed through, so he was hastily recalled. When he arrived, he bumped into the instructor and the battle began.
It was good fortune for us, and misfortune for him.
Either way…

“Tomorrow, I’m resting. Absolutely resting.”
“Do you think the leave request will be approved?”
“Tomorrow is an emergency closure.”

I hope this chaotic salary assessment is a one-time event.

Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, single.
Girlfriend: Suella Handelberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee) + Recruiter
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Position: Warrior

Today’s quote:
I’m looking forward to my summer bonus.
Ah, this cigarette is delicious.

This concludes the current chapter.
A new chapter is scheduled to begin next.
I would appreciate it if you could point out any typos or suggest any feedback.
Please continue to support “Corporate Expansion from Another World!? Rise to Power Record from Job Change!”