Ch.108Solicitation (3)

“Our company’s service remains unshaken even if the sky falls and the earth splits. So, what do you think? Have you changed your mind?”

Knemon nodded. It was truly a thrilling temptation—not just simple destruction, but bringing everything they possessed under his control.

‘And in terms of paying back exactly what I received…’

The Mage Tower that had crushed Knemon’s tower had taken everything that should have been his. Just as Ortes had explained about returning what was received, now Knemon could seize their glory and wealth.

Jumping to his feet, Knemon was eager to carry out the task assigned to him as quickly as possible.

‘A list of sacred artifacts secretly hidden by the Mage Towers. I certainly did research on this before.’

Using sacred artifacts containing the power of the old gods, rather than directly worshiping them, had long existed in a gray area. Information he had collected hoping to use this gray area to sow discord among the Mage Towers.

During these years of seclusion, abandoning magic and everything else, he had become distant from the latest information. But there shouldn’t have been major changes to the materials he had accumulated in the past.

‘Sacred artifacts and relics are the Mage Towers’ trump cards. They’re not items that can be easily bought and sold.’

Since these items don’t commonly circulate, the level of attention they receive when revealed is correspondingly high.

By supplementing his past records with a list of sacred artifacts traded at auction houses and elsewhere in recent years, he could produce a reasonably useful result.

From behind him, Ortes’s voice reached his ears.

“Ah. If you need personnel or equipment for your research, go see Director Arabel. If you tell her the Director of Sacred Investigations sent you, she’ll treat you well.”

…Whatever he thought, it was all in Ortes’s palm anyway. Creepy, but fortunate.

Whether he liked it or not, now that they were in the same boat, the more capable his allies were, the better.

***

Karisia was slowly reading through the directors’ reports. The propulsion system development she had entrusted to Bertrand was progressing smoothly.

“So, what compensation did your friend ask for?”

“Well, he was originally planning to ask us to destroy a Mage Tower. That’s out of the question in our current situation. I persuaded him to accept less.”

A request to destroy a Mage Tower. Karisia could understand that feeling. Wasn’t she herself currently working in secret to destroy Baekgwang?

On the other hand, she questioned Ortes’s claim of having “reduced the compensation.” Vengefulness doesn’t easily subside. If anything, attempting to persuade with half-hearted words would only fan the flames of revenge.

“What did you say to him?”

“Oh, nothing special. Just that after all those years of suffering because of that tower, would he be satisfied with simply destroying it? Why not swallow the tower whole instead? Something like that.”

Karisia sighed.

She could roughly picture the situation. Ortes occasionally—to be honest, quite frequently—made statements that were excessively suspicious.

There was no point in pointing out each of these remarks. Ortes himself considered his way of speaking as “respectful language to avoid raising suspicion,” and above all, the main cause of his suspiciousness was his unique presence that seemed almost otherworldly.

Inwardly resigned, Karisia raised her head to look at Ortes. Judging purely by his facial structure, there might be nothing to fault, but his habitually narrowed eyes were the problem.

“Hoo.”

With a sigh, Karisia cleared away her stray thoughts and considered the compensation for Knemon.

“Could I hear why you thought acquisition would be cheaper than destruction?”

“Yes. Destruction leaves us with no benefit. But it would cause major disruption. If a Mage Tower suddenly collapsed, even the Ten Towers would take notice, requiring more time and resources for cleanup.”

“But couldn’t the simplicity of the process outweigh the inconvenience of the cleanup?”

“Director. You’re not thinking of sending me alone on this assignment, are you?”

“You could handle it, couldn’t you?”

Karisia glanced at Ortes as if to say, “Why are you making excuses?” Ortes shrugged.

“Director, you tend to overestimate me. What have I ever done?”

You’ve done plenty. Karisia recalled Ortes’s actions since she had opened her eyes in this world.

Seeming to realize this was a topic that would become more disadvantageous the more she spoke, Ortes hastily continued.

“The simplicity of the process and the inconvenience of the cleanup might cancel each other out. But what comes after the cleanup is vastly different.”

If a Mage Tower is destroyed, the added value created afterward is zero. One could profit by selling off the tower’s remains, but compared to a properly functioning tower, it might as well be zero.

“But if we install Knemon as the tower master, we can calculate future benefits rather than cleanup costs. Even if the process becomes somewhat more complex, we can secure more definite gains.”

“True, the Ten Towers don’t pay much attention to succession wars in other towers. It’s not like it’s unusual for mages to assassinate each other for the position of tower master.”

Karisia nodded. She hadn’t genuinely intended to oppose Ortes’s plan. She was merely lightly reviewing its feasibility.

“Then we should start with the most basic elements. What’s the name of the tower we need to hand over to Knemon?”

“The Amymone Tower.”

Amymone Tower. Karisia felt a sense of déjà vu. Was it connected to Baekgwang, which had given birth to her?

No. It wasn’t such an old memory. It seemed more recent…

“It’s the root of the Lernian Tower.”

The Amymone Tower could be considered the origin of the Lernian Tower, which had been the original owner of the Hydra Company building.

This didn’t mean the Lernian Tower was a branch of the Amymone Tower. If anything, it was closer to the opposite.

The Lernian Tower had been established by those who were expelled from the Amymone Tower.

“A curious coincidence. Even I didn’t expect history to be intertwined like this.”

“A coincidence, you say.”

She knew all this was coincidence. But would Knemon think the same?

“Our company officially has no connection to the Lernian Tower. Even if something happens to the Amymone Tower, there’s no possibility of us being identified as the mastermind.”

“Seeing you speak so confidently, have you already made all the plans?”

“It’s not grand enough to call a plan.”

Ortes combined the clues he had received from Knemon. As the tower Knemon harbored the greatest grudge against, the Amymone Tower was also the one whose weaknesses he had most thoroughly collected.

“The Amymone Tower has a solid foundation and powerful capabilities, enough to rise to the status of a True Tower. This is the result not only of direct combat ability through magical power but also political work, placing tower-trained mages in key positions in law enforcement organizations like Argos.”

No matter how small or regional Knemon’s tower had been, there must have been some illegal aspects to completely swallowing it. What covered this up was the extensive network added to the True Tower’s power.

Ortes focused on that network.

“Coincidentally, Blasphemia’s L13 has been given the special mission of rooting out Argyrion infiltrators within Argos, hasn’t it?”

Ortes’s lips curled upward.

In principle, members of Panoptes should not be affiliated with any specific Mage Tower. This was to ensure fair judgment unrelated to the interests of any particular group.

However, this was only theoretical. It was natural for one’s arm to bend inward toward the tower where they had built their career before joining Panoptes.

“If we raise suspicions of Argyrion infiltration against Argos agents from the Amymone Tower, the impact will spread to the Amymone Tower that produced them. We plan to start by shaking things up with a tip about hidden sacred artifacts while we’re at it.”

And that’s just the beginning.

“Have you explained the plan to Mr. Knemon as well?”

“Of course. I also made it clear that this is just the beginning, in case he might be disappointed. If there are any points to improve, please feel free to speak up.”

Karisia sometimes thought that Ortes misjudged the weight of his own words.

Today, it seemed he was misjudging quite significantly.

***

Salmoshia, the Audit Director of Blasphemia, had been greatly displeased recently.

The authority to track Argyrion had finally been withdrawn from Blasphemia.

Of course, he understood the reason. It was a sensible judgment that a group with enough power to kill an elder of the Ten Towers couldn’t be confronted by Blasphemia alone.

‘The conclusion that not just a part but the whole of Panoptes must step up is undoubtedly rational. However…’

How many Argyrion spies do they think are inside Argos, the largest subset of Panoptes?

Anxiety, and though unexpressed, envy enveloped Salmoshia.

It was then that a message appeared on the direct line authorized only for inspectors.

The sender was L13.

Seeing that name, Salmoshia felt a sudden surge of expectation.