Baito de Aku no Soshiki v1c2

Chapter 2: The Interview

Anyway, I am nervous.

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「 Why did you apply to our organization? 」
I asked a question to the applicant sitting on the other side of the two-way mirror.

「 Because I can get some dough by doing some hilarious things I like. What other reasons are there? 」
That, is the answer he gave me.

Fuu~, I breathe a sigh in a way that no one would notice.

Even evil organizations have their own rules to protect.
First, superior’s orders are absolute. We do not need combatants that are insubordinate.
How can this applicant even miss that matter of fact?

I try to think of a different question while I resist the urge to release another sigh, but I soon give up.
There is no benefit in increasing the number of the defiant ones.
Or, would he be useful as a guinea pig for the human remodeling plan?

After considering various things, I inform the applicant through the two-way mirror that the interview is over. Then I prompt him to leave his seat and that he would be notified about his result.

Hearing the sound of the closing door, I release all of the sigh that I have ama.s.sed.
While it is tiring to talk with the voice changer, this fatigue is mainly caused by the applicants.
Those who cannot seem to listen to orders are too many to count.

I should have introduced myself earlier, my name is Toudou Akira.
I am the Chief of Evil Organization Antares.
You might be wondering why I am the one doing these interviews. The answer is, there is no other way around it for the present.

Normally, I only need to consider whether to approve or to veto any of my subordinates’ invasion plans. And after I finish looking over the budget reports, my job would have ended.

But, because of our combatants’ engagements with the Allies of Justice, half of them are currently admitted to our affiliated hospitals.

The Executive staff are busy, and there is no telling who would get to join if I let any of the combatants do the interviews.

Consequently, it is horrifying.

And that was applicant No. 59602.

Finally, the next is the last one. I am so tired, already. I will send him home right away if he is not anyone decent.

While thinking so, I push a b.u.t.ton nearby for the purpose of contacting people waiting in the corridor.
I face a microphone that has a voice changer built-in, and I call the applicant, the final one.
「 No. 59603, please enter. 」

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Oh c.r.a.p, I am so tired. I am tired from the mental strain.
How should I put it, I cannot distract myself once those groups of perverts all gone.

At first, I just wanted to avoid being together with those perverts. But afterwards, my tension and pressure had been increasing every time one of them left.
Until finally, I actually wished at least one of them would stay here with me.

I shake my head to push that humiliating and miserable thought out of my mind.
It is fine. Even if I fail here, I can sleep at an internet cafe and find another job there.

That is why, I do not have to be nervous, RELAX.

*gacha*

With that sound, the applicant who has finished his interview before me opens the door.
Then, he walks past me.

At that moment, I know. No matter how much I do not want it to come, my turn is finally here.
I am next, as the last applicant for the interview.

He then proceeds to climb the stairs.
Now, I am truly alone here.
And strangely, thinking about it actually calms my heart.

Maybe, it is because I was too nervous that it oppositely cools my head.
Anyway, this is convenient for me.

*bii~*

That kind of sound echoes through the corridor.
Here, I have heard the same sound so many times. Soon, a number will be called to enter the interview room.

A voice comes out of a speaker somewhere.
「 No. 59603, please enter. 」

Then I stand up and walk towards the inner room.

*gacha*

I open the door, and close it as soon as I entered.
At this point, I must keep in mind not to show my back towards the interviewer.

I take a quick look across the room.
The place is about 8-tatami-wide. It has a two-way mirror in the middle, separating between the applicant and the interviewer.

From my side, the mirror is reflecting only myself.
While on the other side, the interviewer should be able to see through it perfectly.

Also, I could not find any places where it is likely to install hidden cameras.
The only thing I see is a pipe chair in front of me.

「 Please have a seat. 」

「 Yes, thank you very much. 」

Listening to a voice that has been transformed with a voice changer, I take my seat.
Then, I face towards the interviewer who should also be sitting on the other side of the two-way mirror. I straighten my posture.

Is my endurance to stare at my own serious face in the mirror also part of the test?
Now I am really curious.

In the mirror, I can see myself making a serious face.
My looks are ordinary, with no particular traits. I have black hair, and I made it short so that I can save up on the shampoo.

I am reminded of how normal I really look.
That is how I feel, no matter how I do not want to.

「 Alright, let’s start with a few questions. 」
The transformed voice echoes.

「 Yes. 」
I give my answer right away.

「 Your name? 」

「 It is Aokura Arihisa. 」

And so, with my livelihood on the line, I face my battle (interview).

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Hoo~ the final applicant looks pretty normal.
Alright then, I need to interview this one seriously. That said, though, he looks really ordinary.

Reading the doc.u.ments about his answers to the prior questionnaire, I start giving him questions of my own.

「 So, looking at your answers to the prior questionnaire, you seem to possess the general morals and common sense. 」

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「 Yes. 」

「 But, it strikes me odd that someone like you would want to work as a combatant in an evil organization. Why is it, that you applied? 」

That is an appropriate question.

「 I have lost the option to choose a normal livelihood. And because of it, I am prepared to face the unusual in order to earn money. 」

「 I won’t probe too much into it, I understand you are here out of necessity. However, sometimes in this job, you will face a life or death situation. Even so, will you still continue? 」

「 Yes. 」

「 According to the doc.u.ments, you are barely a high school student. Are you sure you want to work, risking your life at your age? 」

It is still much better than having to sell my organs.

「 This is the only company that would pay for such an amount even for working part-time. Otherwise, I would have resorted to trade my organs for money. 」

「 Wait a second… is that a joke? 」

Hey now, why is that your question?

「 No, I am not joking. I have been considering that one of my lungs will be the first part I sell. 」

「 Why, are you so desperate for money? From what I know, you should have no debts to shoulder. 」

I thought you said you would not probe too much into it. Well, I made sure not to show about it on face.

Money is important, for many things.

「 It is to earn the living expenses of my brothers and sisters. There are five of them, so a normal job would not be enough. 」

I have five siblings from the orphanage.
But with the orphanage gone, and the caretakers absent, too, they are now living in a shabby place. Although, we somehow managed to negotiate the rent to be 20,0001 per month.
1 ≈ USD 195.

Schools are manageable through scholars.h.i.+ps. But, if I do not have a source of income, they will all have to live in the streets.

……A while has pa.s.sed since my last answer.

Are we still continuing?
Please finish it soon, I have reached my limit to answer without being nervous.
Aa… my tension has returned.

「 Excuse me for the wait. I was ascertaining the truth of your reply. 」

「 I see. 」

「 And, it seems that you were speaking the truth. I apologize for having doubted you. 」

He may be speaking through a voice changer and a two-way mirror, but I can feel his sincerity.

「 Please do not mind it. Usually, no one would actually believe me. 」

I heard him muttering his understanding, but his next statement completely blew it off my mind.

「 About your result, I would say that you have pa.s.sed. 」

Eh? What? Pa.s.sed?
You mean, I am employed?

Aaaaalll right!!

「 Thank you very much. 」

I think I will keep screaming in my head for three days straight.

「 Let me ask you one last question. 」

「 Yes? 」
I wonder what it is?

「 Don’t you think that it’d be better if you can earn clean money for you siblings? 」

That question is easy to answer.

「 There is no clean or dirty in terms of money. At least, the orphanage had existed with a pure objective in mind. 」

「 An answer befitting a member of an evil organization. Receive the details at the receptionist. Your interview is over. 」

「 Thank you very much. 」

Mr. Interviewer,

You told me that I have general morals and common sense. But you know, when the orphanage collapsed, I also lost something inside me.

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After I asked the final applicant to leave his seat, I left the room right away.

「 That child has so much shade inside him. 」

Fufu, he is an interesting one.

Instead of someone who possessed darkness from the start, he was a genuine light that was then tainted black by darkness.

Well, other than that, we have quite a number of new recruits this time. My burden should lessen now.
I feel glad from the bottom of my heart.

And now, I guess I will go home and sleep.