Ch.109Each One’s Preparation (1)

Knemon felt bewildered by Charisia’s sudden summons.

He had never neglected his assigned duties. In fact, he hadn’t even had time to attempt any negligence.

It hadn’t even been three full days since he was brought to Etna City. Even if he hadn’t performed his duties properly during those three days, anyone would understand if he claimed he was still in the adjustment period.

‘Was my compensation demand too excessive? …No.’

Knemon shook his head as he contemplated his compensation.

Ortes had promised Knemon the position of Tower Master at Amimone Tower. What he had initially demanded was simple destruction. Ortes’s proposal was a far more sophisticated and intelligent form of revenge than he had imagined.

Hydra Company’s capabilities were powerful enough to readily make such an offer. If it had been something beyond Hydra’s power to accomplish, Ortes wouldn’t have proposed it in the first place.

Knemon headed to the president’s office with unresolved questions.

In the office, Charisia sat alone. The pressure weighing on Knemon’s shoulders intensified at the prospect of a private meeting without even Lampades present.

“Please, sit down.”

Charisia gestured. Her elegant demeanor exuded the composure of an absolute ruler who reigned from the shadows.

“I apologize for disturbing you during your busy schedule.”

“…Why did you call for me?”

An enigmatic smile formed on Charisia’s lips. Knemon thought that smile somehow resembled Ortes’s.

‘Lampades said she was truly similar to Ortes…’

Now he understood what that meant.

“I was curious about something.”

“About Amimone Tower? I’ve already forwarded all my research to the Director of Sacred Investigation, and I’m currently conducting additional research on the sacred artifacts held by other towers.”

“Ah. This isn’t about such official matters. It’s about your ‘friend,’ Knemon.”

“Ortes?”

You probably know him better than I do. Knemon was wise enough not to voice the thought that crossed his mind.

‘…There were rumors that Ortes could sometimes read minds, but surely the president doesn’t possess such abilities as well.’

If the president could do everything alone, there would be no need for subordinates. Since she had taken Ortes under her wing, there must be some irreplaceable quality about him.

“Yes. About Director of Sacred Investigation Ortes.”

Knemon waited for her next words in chilling tension.

“What exactly did he do during his time as a fixer?”

“…?”

Knemon’s confusion intensified at the unexpected question.

***

I was busy making phone calls. I was working hard so I could eventually live a life of leisure without having to move around much, but lately I’ve been experiencing firsthand how exhausting work can be even with minimal physical activity.

“Yes, Audit Commissioner. The line security is guaranteed…”

Recently, Salmosia had become my most frequent call recipient. I needed to lay the groundwork early to make the net around Amimone Tower more tightly woven.

“Demos. It’s me. Are the preparations proceeding as planned?”

My second most frequent contact was Demos, who served as something of a negotiation proxy for the Divine Name Order. Around the time Lampades brought Knemon, my business with him went like this:

‘The Ten Towers’ surveillance network has become more precise due to the connection with Argyrion. How can we overcome this crisis?’

He added that ‘with the power extracted from sacred artifacts and the blessing of the Great Temple, they would have the power to stand against the Ten Towers with just a little more time.’ I judged this to be closer to half-bluff.

Their capabilities would certainly be amplified to some degree, but it would be impossible to gain overwhelming power enough to confront the entire Ten Towers.

If one Great Temple with some additional sacred artifacts could challenge the Ten Towers, why did they lose during the Mage King era when the Divine Name Order had at least thirteen Great Temples on their side?

So I neither probed nor questioned these unguaranteed boasts. Offering criticism would only likely increase resentment.

Instead of criticism, I offered a way to overcome the situation.

To be honest, it was a way to overcome the situation ‘in a direction favorable to me.’

And this method was the most crucial element in overturning Amimone Tower.

***

Demos looked at Erichtonia, the High Priestess of Glaukos, standing before him. Since obtaining Pluto’s Great Temple as their base, enormous changes had come to the Divine Name Order.

The most significant change was the emergence of ‘factions.’

For the Divine Name Order, which had originally united for survival, factional disputes were a luxury.

While opinions might differ on certain matters, once a decision was made, absolute obedience to the result was expected. Supporting the outcome with all the Order’s strength was the policy.

Had it been otherwise, they would have been crushed under the power of the Ten Towers long ago.

However, the new power that came into their hands—sacred artifacts and the Great Temple—presented the Order with a different future than before.

Not everyone needed to obey a single will. Even divided power could allow for survival, or perhaps more.

This possibility of division manifested most dramatically regarding the Pope’s plans.

There had always been those who disagreed with the Pope’s plans, but they had set aside their objections because the meeting’s vote had adopted the Pope’s plan by a narrow margin.

Even when the Pope’s plan seemed like the only means of survival, a significant number of opposing votes were cast. The radical and alien nature of the future the Pope envisioned ran that deep.

But now the situation had changed.

A new means of survival that didn’t depend on the Pope had appeared. The Order had succeeded in finding the remnants of power from the forgotten mythical era.

Of course, this alone wouldn’t have been enough to create a faction opposing the Pope.

What united those with nothing in common but a vague sense of rejection into a single faction was Pluto’s Great Temple.

More precisely, it was the Priestess of Pluto who controlled it.

After the Great Temple came into the Divine Name Order’s possession, the Pluto Order had no choice but to lift the veil of shadows and step forward. The Priestess of Pluto, the sole legitimate heir to the Great Temple, gained authority rivaling that of the Pope.

At some point, word spread that the Priestess had opposed the Pope’s plan but had been forced to cooperate. The information spread so subtly that it was impossible to trace who had revealed it.

Thus, the Divine Name Order split into two factions.

Those who supported the Pope and those who supported the Priestess. The future of division that Kore, the Priestess of Pluto, had feared came to pass exactly as she had dreaded.

‘…’

However, not everyone could quickly decide their position like Joaquin, who stood with the Pope’s faction, or Prodito, who sided with the Priestess.

Demos was one of those moderates—or more precisely, one of those who hesitated, unable to make a decision yet.

“So, Erichtonia. What’s your assessment of Ortes’s answer?”

Erichtonia had decided to support the Priestess as soon as she appeared. She agreed with most of Kore’s assertions, but reserved judgment on one: that ‘Ortes is dangerous.’

And to test Ortes, she had asked a question through Demos.

“Well, when we asked how we could hide our existence, he answered that we shouldn’t hide at all. That doesn’t seem like a proper answer to me.”

“But isn’t the ingenuity of his strategy too remarkable to dismiss?”

When asked about ‘a way to temporarily avoid the Ten Towers’ attention,’ Ortes had given a completely different answer.

‘Don’t try to hide.’

‘You’ve merely been used as a pretext to justify Argyrion’s propaganda. Panoptes might believe that justification created by the Ten Towers’ elders.’

‘So, normally, your traces shouldn’t be found. But if your traces are genuinely revealed, the magical society will fall into greater confusion.’

In the current situation where the Ten Towers’ censorship had intensified under the pretext of controlling sacred artifacts, Ortes advised using that pretext in reverse.

By actively leaving false traces to make the world believe that Argyrion and the Divine Name Order were working together, wouldn’t the attention directed at the Divine Name Order decrease as they pursued Argyrion?

‘If he were truly a threat to us as the Priestess claims, he wouldn’t have suggested such an effective method…’

The Priestess remained silent about why exactly she considered Ortes dangerous.

That’s why they posed this question to verify Ortes’s danger. If Ortes truly intended to betray the Divine Name Order, he would give a trap-laden answer to exploit the Order’s vulnerability before it could fully grow.

After all, the Divine Name Order, once able to properly wield the power of the Great Temple, would possess strength rivaling the Ten Towers as in days of old.

But Ortes’s answer, while adventurous, contained no trap.

Erichtonia nodded. It was an acknowledgment of Ortes’s strategy.

“Yes. Not bad. But I question its feasibility. Wouldn’t the chaos in magical society require the matter to escalate at least to the level of the Justice Tower?”

“He said he had prepared for that.”

“Prepared?”

Demos uttered the name of the tower that Ortes had designated as the most appropriate place to leave traces.

“Amimone Tower.”