Cursed 37: The Modern Occult

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Chapter 37: The Modern Occult

“Well, come in come in~.”

Boss Nagi waves Honoka and me into the Happy Life Work’s office.

Ugh.

As I’m holding my head in my hands, Honoka asks,

“I’m afraid to ask, but exactly to what extent has the news of Kousei been spread?”

I don’t want to know, though…

Boss Nagi laughs, saying

“Well, basically, you’re both pretty famous news on this side, see~? Like, celebrities endangering children famous?”

What’s with that metaphor?

It’s terrible and outdated.

I let out the breath I’d been unconsciously holding and ask,

“… Just so I know, exactly how is news conveyed through this side of the veil?”

“Hm?”

Boss Nagi tilted her head at my question and held up a smartphone.

“BBS and news sites on the Veil side of the net?”

“Veil side of the net? There’s something like that?”

Un… well, there’s the ‘dark side’ of the net that ordinary people don’t know much about, so maybe it’s not strange that there’s a way to keep people from the other side of the veil from tripping over this side’s internet content in a world with magic and supernatural stuff.

“Well, mundane people are naturally unable to see this stuff, and of course the stuff is encrypted or whatever with magic – anyway, there’s magic~ involved~.”

Boss Nagi really is a natural at being irritating.

Something about the way she says perfectly normal things makes you think that she isn’t actually saying perfectly normal things.

I’m starting to understand what Fushimi-san was talking about.

Even so … I hold my head in my hands.

I had thought it might be okay, because news about me and Honoka would have spread by word-of-mouth, or maybe by the gods and youkai and stuff, so people would know about us, but really, how many people could know?

If people really wanted to recruit me or whatever, they wouldn’t spread it around that much, and only a handful of people (comparatively) should be close enough to the gods to hear about me, right?

At best, it would be an impressive rumor, right?

Yeah, I had completely forgotten that even though there was THIS side and the OTHER side of the Veil, it’s not like THIS side wouldn’t take advantage of, or even make improvements on, the mundane technology available.

Or more like, why wouldn’t there be gossip reporters and competitive news sites on THIS side of the Veil?

I had been thinking of them as two completely separate cultures, but when I think about it seriously, there’s no way that would be true, huh?

Even though manga and light novel shows the people who secretly deal with supernatural stuff as being old-fashioned and behind-the-times, why wouldn’t people who live in both worlds try to take advantage of that?

Although youkai and stuff should be cut off from the OTHER side of the veil, the people who are involved live in the infinitesimally small ‘in-between’ live side-by-side with technology and the supernatural.

Oh shit, is this going to be my life from now on?

I don’t know anything about technologically-advanced supernatural stuff!

My previous world’s manga didn’t prepare me for this – I mean, neither does this world’s fantasy prepare me for this!

Even more so with this world, since youkai are all thought of as ancient history.

In my previous world, there were a lot more people who believed that supernatural stuff happened all around us in the modern era.

Not that there aren’t mundane people on the OTHER side of the veil who think there might be supernatural stuff around in this world, but there are way, way fewer.

You don’t hear about ghosts and stuff nearly as much.

The belief in fate and astrology, for some reason, is stronger in this world though.

I can’t really get into it myself.

I mean, karma and fated meetings are one thing; the idea that who you are and what you’ll be being determined for you when you’re born is a little…

A-anyway, the problem is, news about Honoka and my existence apparently went viral.

“So guys like those head-hunters will be coming?”

“Head-hunters – well, that’s accurate enough~. Strictly speaking, they’re like corrupt idol scouts?”

“That’s enough, I get it. So they broker out work to people and make a killing out of it.”

I sigh, then it hits me.

“Huh? So they’re kind of like you guys?”

“That’s insul~ting. Those guys aggressively solicit someone into signing a contract, then work you like a horse for little pay, y’know? It’s practically slavery, y’know? That kind of thing is like, waaaay too troublesome, y’know? Happy Life Work is faaar too lazy to do something like that. If you want a job, come look for one. If you want something done, come look for someone to do it. We’re just a place for people to meet. Hm? Why do they even bother going through us, I wonder~?”

If the Boss doesn’t know, who would?

Suzu-chan cuts in on our conversation, with a bit of exasperation, saying,

“No, we properly do the job a work agency does. Aside from being a confidential database of employees and employers who wish to be listed with us, as well as being an advisor for filling positions, we also provide various confidentiality packages and act as a neutral party in negotiations and audits. Boss Nagi, please don’t say irresponsible things.”

“’Ka~y.”

Watching Suzu-chan reprimand Boss Nagi, Honoka suddenly spoke up.

“I don’t really understand how things work between organizations in this day and age, but this place, does it have enough backing to be allowed to remain a neutral party?”

Uh… I think they said something about how Boss Nagi was exiled from a pretty prominent clan, so no one wants to take her in.

Eh?

Even if they don’t want to take her in, can’t they coerce her to do things?

If she’s exiled, there’s no way the clan would stick up for her… right?

I mean, I guess if it was a clan that was super worried about their image, they might step in if … no, that still seems unlikely.

When I ask if Boss Nagi had backing enough to really remain neutral, she said,

“Mm~ it’s a li~ttle different, see? No one wants to take me and my people in because they don’t want to get on that clan’s bad side, but as for not harassing us, well~ I’m pretty strong, see~?”

No way.

There’s no way no one’s ever tried to take you on just because you’re strong.

There’s power in numbers, and when the powerful gather in numbers, there’s just no way you could build your ‘untouchable’ status just by being strong.

Strong people tend to want to topple other strong people in a conflict, after all.

Suzu-chan sighed.

“That’s not wrong, but that’s not right either. When Boss Nagi first barged in here, at first people didn’t want anything to do with her, but then everyone found out it was pretty convenient to have a completely unaffiliated neutral party around in town, for various reasons, and the situation has evolved into one where we’re actually prized for our neutrality.”

I see.

I ignore Boss Nagi and ask,

“Then, Suzu-ch – san, the reason I should join this ‘neutral party’ is-?”

“Yes, the potential fighting over you would most likely die down, because you’d also become a ‘neutral party’ that anyone could possibly commission.”

“…That doesn’t really sound all that great, to be honest.”

I really don’t want to be a gopher for the entire supernatural side of the world, after all.

To that, Suzu-chan shook her head and said,

“No, it’s much better if you go through us to deal with people, even if you don’t join our staff and remain independent. In the first place, as long as they follow the rules, they can’t directly commission you, and therefore they can’t coerce you to do anything they want. We’re an employment agency, after all. There has to be a contract made before work is done.”

“And everyone would follow the rules, since the larger organizations would be holding each other in check. The advantages of a neutral party isn’t something to laugh at, when it comes to relations between powers in the supernatural world,”

Honoka said, chiming in, but Suzu-chan said,

“Well, that might be … but there are also laws, you know? Even on this side of the Veil. Legislation has made a lot of things easier over the years.”

Magic law making.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, similar to mundane laws.

I take a deep breath, leaning backwards to think about what I now know.

So, Boss Nagi approached me, because she knew that this explosive spreading of all my information was going to happen and moved in order to mitigate that.

… Eh?

Does that mean that she ACTUALLY was thinking about my best interests?

Somehow, it’s WAY more persuasive when Suzu-chan explained it…

Even when Kei-san explained it, I was still pretty suspicious of them.

I mean, I never thought that there would be legal contracts in place.

Before, it kind of felt like, ‘Okay, make a decision to join a faction, and that’s it, for your lifetime as long as you’re involved in the supernatural.’

Even if I joined the ‘supposedly neutral’ faction, it’s still a faction, and a small one without much power-backing.

But after Suzu-chan explained it, I get it.

Happy Life Work is allowed to remain neutral, because with all the political red tape that’s strewn throughout the supernatural world, having a truly neutral party is pretty damn convenient.

If I join them, there will be much less of an outcry because I won’t technically ‘belong’ to anyone.

Everyone who is still interested in me has the same opportunity to still … ‘use’ me, but there are procedures, and if I refuse, they’ll have to acknowledge my refusal.

Because I’m kind of ‘public property,’ the people I refuse need to honor that system, or the premise of Happy Life Work will collapse as a truly neutral party that helps with employment, and the organizations on this side of the Veil will lose their neutral party.

So basically, other organizations won’t tolerate aggressive head-hunting or monopolization.

Even if the other organizations could care less, just having other people on my side would probably make things a lot easier.

And I’m speaking as a loner with 15 years of experience.

“… Can I hear a little bit more about the contract? I’d be a part-timer, right? And I could quit… maybe not whenever, but there’s no hidden binding clause?”

“Correct. As a part-timer, we’d like a 2-week notice before you quit, but of course emergencies happen. Happy Life Work prides itself in the no-strings attached clauses in our contracts. After all, we are a truly neutral party through and through. We’d lose a lot of trust if it was found out we were binding people to our side, see. Ah, although you’re only doing part-time, in the future, if you wanted to work full-time…”

Already scouting me for long term?

Well, it seems like Happy Life Work’s only full-time employees are Boss Nagi, Kei-san, and Suzu-chan, and the only one who looks responsible is the ghost.

She might be desperate for help.

As Suzu-chan switches into explaining Happy Life Work’s employee benefits and staff contracts, I hear Boss Nagi muttering,

“What, am I just air?”

As Kei-san snickers in the background.

Suzu-chan definitely does all the explaining in-house, huh?

Ah, wait.

She’s a ghost, and not everyone can see and hear her.

I’m surprised Happy Life Work operates as well as it supposedly does, with Boss Nagi at the helm.

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<a/n: This might be kind of interesting, because we as onlookers can see why there’s the distinct differences between Kousei’s common sense and the rest of the world’s, but Kousei is still having a hard time because he can’t break from his prev world’s common sense.
Maybe if he wasn’t a loner for so dang long in this world he might have been able to transition more easily, but … then the story would be quite a bit different.
—
For those wondering about my comic site… well…
I tried so hard to rectify Classism inside my head, but ever since I started writing again (wfb’s prototype being the first story I’d written in 10 years), I began to feel like it would make a better novel than a comic.
I don’t know why I was stubbornly trying to force it into comic form, but I have awesome tunnel vision, so maybe it’s less of a mystery than I think it is.
Anyway, I’m planning on attempting a high-fantasy novel with it. I’m honestly kind of scared since, let’s face it, the novels on this site aren’t written to be ‘literature,’ so this will be the first ‘serious writing’ with a defined plot that I’ve done in a long, long, while.
What does that mean about the comic site?
… It should not surprise you that my brain has already filled the hole.
Returnees from Another World, with a world very similar to Cursed’s, sans Blessings, will start mid-January 2019, probably updating 2xs a month or something like that.

I’m going to have to change Classism’s title… Brain Bug that Won’t Die was one candidate, but I feel like it’s not descriptive enough.>

16 comments

  1. Yeah, there’s a criminal lack of high magitech – high/conceptual/linguistic-based magic linked in with technology — in fiction. Would love to see more of it.

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    1. unfortunately, i won’t be delving too far into magitech for this story…
      I like that stuff, but liking something and being able to skillfully write it are two different things

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    2. Huh… Magitech…. Maybe there is a trick to it? It is a combination of two very difficult things. Technology has issues with being plausible while magic can easily get out of control, and can bug people for being inconsistent in the wrong ways. Both can really benefit from a clear idea of what the author wants to get from them. People like to say that all magic can be studied and is just a new set of toys for engineers to play with, but that is not necessarily true. A consistent magic is good for expanding options, whether for a protagonist with all of the powers, a medieval army with instant communications and logistics while loyalty is rewarded with resurrection, following an inspiration that just won’t be satisfied unless everyone can generate explosions at will… reliable magic has many uses, but can be studied and refined and ought to be subject to everything that technology is, such as a thousand-year-old gun out of legend being kind of disappointing… That all plays to magic as a form of empowerment.

      Magic can also serve as a source of mystery, and this takes things off of the rails a bit. Compartmentalisation of magic is easy and, barring something like heredity magic that persists or a government program to make the most of their wizards, will result in all refinement of magic being the product of individual, largely amateur efforts and thus limited. An obvious example of this is Superman. Him and his kin all have pervision and the ability to make people hotter just by looking at them, but everyone else has no access to these abilities at all, so finding limitations and new uses and such is up to them(and their foes). Obviously this is attributed to alien genetics, but saying it is magic works just as well, and has the added bonus of no biologists glaring at you.

      Then there is the “magic is fickle” approach, where it changes too much or is too complexly arbitrary to be predicted consistently. Magic could have a mind of its own, perhaps it is a product of influence from an endless series of different parallel worlds, a dozen differently-sane fairy-courts might constantly argue over the rules, each new generation of gods thinks they now how to do it better, it really is almost completely random, but favours the person using it enough that it is still popular…

      I feel that using magic to make technology possible is just technology rather than magitech. Steam-punk can use magic to justify its existence, but it is still steam-power no matter how much your boilers might be perpetual energy sources or your pipes might be perfect insulators. I feel that, for proper magitech, there should be a constant awareness of how it would be different without the magic. People know how guns work, the bullet goes over there and makes a hole. A magic gun that makes a hole over there is kind-of pointless. A magic wand that makes houses eat people is extremely light on the technology. A magic gun that shoots a bullet that turns a homogeneous solid mass into a quadruped that starts thrashing around madly should respect the issues of a gun, such as aiming, visibility, recoil, wear, and logistics. The reader really ought to be able to understand the interaction between the magic and the technology, so the technology should be kept at a level that the target audience can comprehend. “Explosion pushes bullet out of tube” or “Inviolable fulcrum plus invulnerable lever equals leverage” is simple and can be sensibly tinkered with, “stygofauna enzyme manipulation” will probably have people scratching their heads looking for relevance…

      While technology needs to be consistent, it doesn’t need to be reproducible. One person forges a meteorite into a gun and it shoots dragons, another sees this, finds their own meteorite, and ends up with a gun that is otherwise normal for a gun, except that it responds to harsh language by becoming an enraged hippopotamus for ten minutes(and they said that throwing a gun at someone’s nose was never a good plan). So magic can be as fickle as you like in magictech, so long as it becomes static once forged, which could be its own source of heresy to get the magic versus technology conflict. No matter how temporary and ultimately-harmless the condition, no fairy wants to be crystallised into a bullet for years waiting for someone to shoot it head-first into some other fairy crystallised into a plate of armour, and no military wants their ammunition to unionise.

      All things considered, magitech should probably have simple technology and magic that is consistent in how much influence it has, so that the reader can follow along and consider other applications and combinations. Even if your magic leans more towards the mysterious and less towards the predictable it should still be possible to leave the reader with some sense as to a range of possibilities(sans outliers, though they should remain outliers and not just have Earth find a new cheat skill under every rock and a lovestruck god behind every tree.) and types of interactions.

      So hey, maybe if you doodle around with what sort of themes and limits you might want out of magitech then you might get inspired! and inspiration makes everything easier. Is not a new story idea exactly what you want right now? *diabolical snickering*

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      1. I disagree on a number of points, but I think the core of it is this:

        I’m a physicist. Pretty lights don’t count as “magic” to me. That’s why I specified *high* magitech. The Nasuverse does it quite well – computers who tap into the *concept* of simulation so as to generate information in ways that would be impossible mundanely, a gun that shoots mortality itself so as to impose death on the immortal, wards that draw on the absoluteness of mathematical proof.

        Anything that can be done doesn’t qualify as magic; whether it’s a laser the size of a continent or a fireball conjured with a flick of the wrist is irrelevant. To be “magic”, I want something that reaches beyond mere causality, and posits a fundamentally different set of “physics” to the world.

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      3. I agree that magitech needs to be hard to implement to actually be magical, but in order to be technology it will need to be a set of rules rather than the whims of spirits. So you can’t have magitech be fickle, but rather magitech should be the result when a magical world progresses past the medieval era, as long as magic in that world is not controlled by some outside force, such as spirits or fairies. In other words people don’t write magitech because 1. It needs to fulfill a separate purpose to technology, 2. It needs to have rules and a lot of things that can make magic easy to write invalidates those rules, and 3. It still needs to feel like magic rather than technology.

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  3. “therefore they can’t coerce you to do anything you want”
    shouldn’t it be “anything they want” or “anything that you don’t want” ?

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  4. Good luck with the new story, as well as continuing with all the other projects. Most people don’t realize just how HARD writing is, and turning out GOOD writing on a continuing basis is exponentially harder. I’m a little jealous truthfully, but far more thankful for your work.

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