Ch.110Storm Brewing in Anemone (1)

Hydra Company had no presence in the magical society.

This was only natural. In a world where magic towers with histories spanning decades, centuries, and even millennia existed, a newly established tower that hadn’t even lasted a year, let alone ten, was like a duckweed floating on water—no one knew when it might disappear.

Of course, there were exceptional magic towers that distinguished themselves immediately upon establishment.

Towers that discovered arcane knowledge from ancient ruins, were founded by direct disciples of the Ten Towers, or possessed unique elements like brilliant original magic created by a suddenly emerging genius—such towers naturally attracted attention from the magical community.

However, Hydra Company didn’t fall into any of these categories. Karisia wanted it this way, and Ortes made it happen.

Though known for aggressive expansion and high combat capabilities, they were merely a power contending for dominance in Etna City. To forces capable of influencing the entire magical society, they appeared as just one among countless magic towers.

This remained true even considering Karisia’s abilities demonstrated during the Elysion terror incident, as she deliberately avoided flaunting her position as the company president.

Hydra Company became a name mentioned only when investors considering Kaicle Tower discussed factors that might negatively affect stock prices alongside the disappearance of the tower master.

Therefore, the interest Amymone Tower showed in Hydra Company far exceeded the average interest level in magical society.

Their reason for interest was singular: Hydra was responsible for bringing down Lernian Tower.

The founders of Lernian Tower had been exiles from Amymone Tower. If Hydra Company were to use Lernian’s legacy when formally entering magical society, Amymone Tower would have welcomed it.

Given the founders’ origins, Lernian Tower’s research inevitably carried Amymone Tower’s influence. By exaggerating this connection, Lernian Tower’s legacy could be framed as plagiarized work from Amymone Tower.

Using this as leverage, they could gradually expand their influence over Hydra Company and eventually attempt an acquisition, as they had done with numerous other towers.

However, contrary to Amymone Tower’s expectations, Hydra Company merely engaged in small territorial disputes within Etna City. Eventually, Amymone Tower lost interest in them.

This would prove to be one of the worst misjudgments in Amymone Tower’s history.

Even if they had continued monitoring Hydra Company, it’s questionable whether they could have realized that Hydra was behind the storm that would soon engulf them.

***

The beginning of their misfortune came from Panoptes. Major towers typically placed their own mages in various positions within Panoptes to maximize exploitation of legal gray areas.

And now, an undismissable allegation had been raised against an Argos agent from Amymone Tower.

“Collusion with Argyrion?!”

Danaos, the master of Amymone Tower, screamed. What madness was this?

Unlike his predecessors, Danaos himself had no grand ambitions. Joining hands with Argyrion to bring down the Ten Towers and truly rise to the top of all magic towers?

Ridiculous. Even now, he enjoyed wealth and power close to the pinnacle—why would he engage in such a gamble that couldn’t even be called an adventure?

A pastoral life of collecting patents from minor towers that would bring steady income—that was all Danaos wanted.

“Damn it. What’s going on? I’ve been feeding gifts to Argos higher-ups as much as possible.”

Danaos ruffled his hair and slowly reread the report.

“Blasphemia?”

Those bastards. Danaos gritted his teeth. While Argos, Eidolon, and Blasphemia nominally divided Panoptes into three agencies, Argos held the most substantial power.

Argos had the largest number of members and handled the most common categories of work.

Blasphemia and Eidolon were closer to secret organizations that acted only for specific purposes, making it impossible for them to be publicly known.

However, as the master of a major tower, Danaos needed to be well-versed in the internal power struggles of Panoptes.

“Just my luck. Damn, have I been caught in a ranking battle between the two factions?”

It might not be just a ranking battle. The fact that Argyrion was an infiltrator from Blasphemia was also spreading secretly. The more non-Blasphemia collaborators Argyrion gained, the less burden their organization would bear.

“It’s strange that suspicion has fallen specifically on my tower. Is there a mage within Blasphemia who wants to check our tower?”

Danaos thought of major towers expanding in similar fields. There were countless major towers annoyed by his indiscriminate expansion, but few would consider his business a serious competitor.

The know-how accumulated over several generations couldn’t be overturned by a few patents from minor towers. Likewise, rather than competing with other major towers in their specialized fields, Danaos was focusing on diversifying his business by collecting patents.

‘This means those who harbor enough grudge against my tower to do this are limited. Either other major towers competing with us for market share in our specialized fields or…’

Danaos considered the possibility that a competing tower had orchestrated the current situation but eventually shook his head. Amymone Tower might be just the first target—with the Ten Towers’ policies like sacred artifact inspections, major towers needed to focus on internal discipline.

That left only one remaining candidate.

The remnants defeated by Amymone Tower.

It was plausible that survivors from minor towers who had luckily escaped might have joined Panoptes to find a way to survive. If they had decent talent and were recruited into Blasphemia, they might have launched such a retaliatory accusation.

“Hmph. This is the extent of revenge that such people can manage.”

Using the friction between Blasphemia and Argos to report Amymone Tower agents was an idea anyone with a functioning brain could come up with.

However, without finding real evidence of collusion, the accusers would face backlash.

Naturally, Amymone Tower hadn’t nurtured traitors. Danaos was a man who loved the system more than anyone.

With the authority and power of a major tower, ambiguous suspicions would naturally be buried with time. When that happened, the false accusers would be ostracized within Blasphemia, creating a natural opportunity to deal with them.

Real power struggles don’t happen this way.

Even with false accusations, the battle only begins after preparing meticulous evidence to make them true. The defeated losers who dared bare their teeth at Amymone Tower lacked the ability to create such evidence.

This is the difference between those with power and the defeated.

“To handle this quickly, I should at least find out who spoke first. I’ll need to track down those with connections to Blasphemia.”

And the next day.

Amymone Tower was additionally charged with concealing sacred artifacts.

***

“Wow. We’re off to a smooth start!”

Knemon trembled as he listened to Ortes’s explanation. From the first step of the plan—using Blasphemia to report Argos agents from Amymone Tower—it was beyond his comprehension.

How could one recruit Blasphemia and manipulate their intentions while sitting in Etna City?

But this development was even more dramatic. Fragments of sacred artifacts had been discovered in bulk in the city where Amymone Tower was located.

“They’re merely ‘residuals’ with their divine power extracted, not proper sacred artifacts. But this too can be disguised as Amymone Tower’s doing. We can claim they removed divine power from sacred artifacts to avoid detection during inspections, planning to restore the divine power after the inspections were over.”

Ortes was kindly explaining the concept behind this theatrical production. A plan only possible for someone who could manipulate Blasphemia and Argos with one hand while procuring a pile of sacred artifacts of unknown origin.

Knemon realized why Ortes had said “it would take some time to give you the position of tower master.”

If this was just the first stage, how deep a pit was Amymone Tower going to fall into?

“What’s the second step?”

“Oh, nothing special. The Ten Towers are being so aggressive now because of Argyrion, right?”

“If it’s because of Argyrion, are you going to summon them or something?”

“Oh, as expected of you, Mr. Knemon. You’re quick-witted!”

‘What madness is this person talking about?’

Knemon stared at Ortes in astonishment.

Ortes smiled slightly, thinking of the Adusiam core he had secured from Pluto’s Grand Temple.