Ch.107Request (2)

“A mage tower that wants to settle the score? What is this about?

I reflect on Knemon’s personal history. While my social circle is small, that just means I have fewer people I can call friends, not that I’m uninterested in them.

Originally, Knemon was the heir to a mage tower that dominated a certain region. Until one day, when the Central Mage Tower coveted the exclusive magic developed by his tower.

What followed was a common tale. The regional mage tower couldn’t withstand the tyranny of the Central Mage Tower. His tower was absorbed as a branch of the Central Mage Tower, and Knemon was driven out, living as a fixer.

‘So…’

Is this friend asking me to wipe a mage tower off the map as payment?

I stop my hand from reflexively rising to my temple. Strangely, people who knew me from my fixer days tend to overestimate my abilities.

Do they believe I can storm into a mage tower head-on and massacre everyone? I’m not some ninja who suddenly appears and slices everyone up. I’m not particularly skilled in direct confrontation.

“Mr. Knemon.”

Since Karisia said she would pay any price, I can’t simply answer ‘that’s impossible.’

But I can’t blindly endorse a plan to eliminate the Central Mage Tower at this point either.

‘The risk is too great.’

In terms of possibility, it was certainly doable. If I left the internal affairs of Etna City to the directors and went on a business trip with Karisia.

But when a Central Mage Tower collapses, is there a way to manage the aftermath?

‘The problem is finding a way to avoid the now-sensitive gaze of Panoptes and shift the blame to Argyrion or other organizations.’

The timing isn’t right. Therefore, what I need to do is…

“Let’s think about this differently.”

What else but a discount negotiation?

***

Knemon became suspicious about what Ortes was trying to say.

“Differently?”

He wanted to erase his enemies from the world. Could there be a clearer, more definitive revenge than that?

Ortes’s smile deepened.

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Isn’t that what they say?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Mr. Knemon. Your family’s mage tower is still in their grasp, isn’t it?”

Knemon nodded. He had wanted to return to his hometown and live quietly without caring about anything or causing any disturbance, but it was impossible not to hear rumors about those who ruled the city.

“How many years has it been?”

“What do you mean? Since the tower was taken from me?”

Ortes nodded. Knemon counted the numbers in his mind. From the time he fled in disguise until now. It had been almost 20 years.

“About 18 years. What does that have to do with my request now?”

“Isn’t it a shame?”

“What?”

Pure confusion burst from Knemon’s lips. A shame? What exactly was a shame?

In his mind, he recalled Ortes from his days as a fixer. When he posed such enigmatic questions, the answers would emerge much later.

‘Don’t listen to the instructions of the purple sparrow.’

‘What nonsense. Get out.’

In the early days when Ortes was just beginning to stand out, there were many who didn’t believe his words, and they all died.

‘The purple sparrow… It was a carving on the stone wall of the ruins. I thought following what was written would allow me to escape, but it was a trap.’

The chilling part was that the color applied to that sparrow carving had long since weathered away through countless years. To the naked eye, it was just a gray bird.

After artifact appraisers conducted a detailed examination and detected pigment components on the surface, they cautiously suggested that ‘it might have originally been purple.’

This must be another one of those enigmatic questions. Knemon was enveloped in a tension that seemed to be a mix of fear and excitement.

He feared Ortes, but at the same time, he remembered the moments of extradimensional exploration with Ortes that never failed.

To Knemon, Ortes was a dual entity possessing both destruction and glory.

“If Mr. Knemon demands such compensation…”

Ortes lowered his voice. It naturally created tension. The blue light shining beneath Ortes’s characteristically narrowed eyes glowed like a lamp that lures and burns insects.

“It will be over in just one night.”

“…”

The short timeframe of a single night wasn’t surprising. Knemon believed Ortes had such capabilities.

But the part he didn’t understand was ‘just.’ What was ‘just’ about it?

“You suffered for 18 years. Their downfall will take just one night. The balance doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

“You…”

Now he was beginning to understand.

The saying ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ as well.

“Rather than bringing down the Central Mage Tower, wouldn’t it be sweeter for you to hold it in your hands?”

Knemon was speechless. He had guessed from the clues thrown earlier, but to so easily suggest handing over the Central Mage Tower, which stood at the top of all mage towers?

Watching Knemon swallow repeatedly in bewilderment, Ortes continued his whisper.

“You endured 18 years of hardship. 360 days, 18 times. 6,480 days. Compared to that, their downfall will last just one day. So…”

To Knemon, who was trembling with a strange thrill, Ortes murmured in an even gentler voice from his seat.

“Wouldn’t it be fair for them to endure at least as much time in patience as you did?”

“As much as I endured.”

“What would be the greatest humiliation they could receive? To be ruled by the heir of a mage tower they once brought down. A reversal of power they thought was absolute.”

If there were such a thing as a devil’s temptation, this would be it. Knemon felt an urge to join hands with Ortes, almost forgetting his true nature.

‘No. It’s not about forgetting.’

Deep in his heart, something was urging him to ignore Ortes’s apocalyptic madness.

Knemon was terrified of the current situation, being drawn in despite knowing it was according to Ortes’s plan. However.

“Is it… possible?”

The forgotten anger gradually revived. The resentment he had set aside while fleeing from Ortes clung to him like a shadow.

“It will take longer than just one night.”

Ortes nodded with a smile.

***

Great! He’s completely fallen for it.

Looking at Knemon, who was seriously conflicted, I felt somewhat guilty. That friend is quite rational as a businessman. I knew this well from when he ran something like a fixer group.

Even if I really handed him the Central Mage Tower, he wouldn’t act like a tyrant. Rather, he’s more likely to cut out the rotten parts and become a proper tower master.

That was quite far from the bloody revenge Knemon desired, a path that would smell more of ink than blood.

‘But right now, the boss’s work takes precedence over a friend’s request…’

Rather than vaporizing a Central Mage Tower, it’s more beneficial to install a friend as its head. It’s regrettable that I have to calculate profit and loss for a friend’s desperate request, but isn’t this a win-win situation?

Knemon, who had been contemplating, finally nodded as if he had made up his mind.

“…I’m curious about something.”

“Please ask anything.”

“How many years?”

Ah. How long can Knemon remain as the Central Mage Tower’s master?

Karisia isn’t interested in anything other than the downfall of Baekgwang. She probably wouldn’t scold me for promising Knemon a lifetime position as tower master. It’s not overstepping my authority since it’s related to the divine investigation.

Still, if I make a definitive statement here, I might get an earful later.

“As long as the boss wants, it continues.”

***

Once again, it was a moment when Knemon wavered. Surprisingly, Ortes was truly serving his boss with sincerity.

“Were you always the type to be so mindful of others?”

He knew from what he heard from Lampades last night that their friendship wasn’t false, but it was still hard to believe.

That faceless Ortes would address someone with such humility?

It was a provocative question, but Ortes only deepened his already fixed smile.

“Come on. What company employee doesn’t mind their supervisor?”

“What an amusing joke. To think someone would appear whom you’d call a superior…”

“If they provide meals and salary, that makes them an excellent boss. Boss Karisia provides both without any shortage.”

It was truly ironic that someone who sought the world’s destruction was citing daily meals as a condition for a superior.

Knemon considered the time limit of ‘as long as the boss wants.’

“I see. Until the world ends…”

Ortes was doubtful about those words but didn’t think deeply about them. As evident from the Crystal of Phoibos, Karisia wasn’t someone who would take back what she had given, unless perhaps she was returning something she had received.

‘Huh. How did he immediately figure out that Karisia is definite about salary calculations? He already knows the tower master position will be preserved until death.’

Ortes felt somewhat resentful toward his friend who seemed to be trying to exploit his boss, but soon shook his head. After all, what that friend would have to do was important for Hydra Company in many ways.

To encourage his friend’s decision, he gave one more positive response.

“Yes, you’ve got it right.”