Ch.124Payroll Settlement (1)

“I think I’ve covered most of the three-letter names. There’s one I haven’t mentioned, but no one in this neighborhood has heard of it, so let’s skip that. Four letters. This one doesn’t quite feel right to call a true name either, but…”

Nevertheless, if I had to choose something closest to a “name” in this world, that would be it. It was a designation I had decided upon myself.

“It’s Ortes. My friends call me by this name. I’ve used five or six-letter names before—”

Having started with the name Utis as instructed to list them in order of length, I soon realized there was no one left to hear the next name.

Danao had closed his eyes. His neural activity was gradually flickering out. It seemed his body, which had reached its limit, had finally given up trying to sustain life.

“Sigh…”

Things turned out quite differently from what I expected, but somehow the job was done.

Damn that Arguirion. To think I’d end up wasting the artifact I borrowed from Knemon after begging him so desperately, just to deal with them.

Initially, the plan was to secretly place the extra-dimensional artifact in a hidden storage and then socially exile the Tower Master. Somehow Arguirion rushed in almost like having a fit, forcing me to rely entirely on improvisation.

“First…”

I should return to the Tower Master’s chamber and restore the communication relay of the magic core that I had disconnected.

The informants who saw the illusion will testify that Danao was also their comrade, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to stage the situation I wanted.

***

After the news that an Elder of the Ten Towers had been murdered, the flow of the magical society remained consistent.

That’s not to say it wasn’t chaotic. All other news was swept away by the torrent of unified anger from the Ten Towers, leaving no room for other topics to gain attention.

But now, another storm had hit the magical society.

Traitors associated with Arguirion were now common talk, but this time the scale was different.

The Master of the Regular Tower had betrayed them.

Over a dozen Argos agents raised by the Amimone Magic Tower, and even the Amimone Tower Master himself.

This was as far as the rumors went among ordinary people. However, among those in higher positions, those who held key posts in Magic Towers and knew a secret or two about magical society, rumors began to circulate that the person who uncovered this massive conspiracy belonged to Blasphemia. The political landscape within Panoptes had been turned upside down.

Salmosia clapped her hands in delight at the favorable situation created by L13.

“So. What did he demand? Did he say he doesn’t need supplies like enchanted wear or artifact maintenance?”

“He demanded nothing. He only said that he had compiled a list of clean candidates for the interim Amimone Tower Master position from factions without treason charges, and asked for a fair competition…”

Niobe continued her report while hiding her bewilderment. Her senior had finished everything before reinforcements even arrived, then left after saying he would handle the aftermath.

Salmosia praised him as “truly an exemplary inspector,” but Niobe sensed something strange.

Rather than noble reasons like professional conscience or sense of duty, she felt something much more plain and realistic—a kind of fatigue.

‘By something…’

He seemed to be chased. A certain urgency was evident even through his smiles. While this could be explained as hostility toward Arguirion who was shaking the magical society, Niobe felt it was somehow different from her senior’s previous demeanor when pursuing Arguirion.

***

‘Damn it.’

As soon as the extra-dimensional storm cleared and the wide-area communication network was restored, dozens of alerts poured into my gauntlet-type terminal one after another.

They were messages from Carisia asking why I hadn’t been in touch.

***

Knemon faced Ortes, who looked particularly tired. He had eyes and ears too. It was obvious that this man was behind the catastrophe in Algoth City.

Knemon knew Danao. He was a man with greed as vast as all the greed in Algoth City combined, if not the entire world, and an even greater sense of self-preservation.

That’s why Danao’s prey was always Magic Towers weaker than his own. His method was to slowly grow by hunting safely and surely.

Such a Danao would never do something as crazy as joining hands with Arguirion. A man with a temperament closer to a merchant than a mage, who thoroughly pursued risk and return.

Yet the world now believed that Danao had colluded with Arguirion.

Knemon’s reward from Ortes was supposed to be a Magic Tower. But how could a Magic Tower openly known to have colluded with Arguirion remain intact?

Thanks only to its position as the Regular Magic Tower, the Amimone Magic Tower hadn’t been shattered yet, but it had essentially received a death sentence.

“Haha, Mr. Knemon. I’m terribly sorry.”

Therefore, the unexpected beginning of their conversation was the opposite of what Knemon had anticipated.

“Huh?”

“I have quite a few things to apologize for… First, about that soap bubble. I used it once.”

“What?”

From the moment Ortes suddenly asked to borrow it, claiming he needed it to take over the Amimone Magic Tower, Knemon had given up hope of getting the Bubble of Erasure back.

After all, items “borrowed” with promises of return rarely actually come back.

Knemon raised the bubble vial he had received in bewilderment. The contents, reflecting the light from the ceiling, had diminished ever so slightly.

“Originally, I planned to use it as leverage to bring down the Amimone Tower Master and secretly return the actual item to you, but things got complicated and I had to use it once. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you in the future.”

“S-sure.”

Knemon trailed off. He had assumed Ortes recovered the Bubble of Erasure because it would be an effective weapon if he ever rebelled against Hydra Company. A preemptive block against the possibility of betrayal, one might say.

Ortes returned the dangerous artifact with the same casual attitude he had when he tossed the Bubble of Erasure to Knemon in the extra-dimensional contamination zone.

“And about the Amimone Tower Master appointment.”

Knemon almost choked. Wasn’t this the Magic Tower that Ortes himself had rendered beyond recovery? The position of Tower Master in a Magic Tower that would soon be dismantled and have its interests distributed held no meaning.

“For this too, I can only apologize. Originally, I planned to have the Tower Master qualification certificate sent to you simultaneously with my return, but things will have to take a roundabout path now.”

“What?”

“The Amimone Magic Tower will not be dismantled. I’ve arranged matters with Blasphemia.”

After calmly confessing that he manipulated one axis of Panoptes, Ortes dropped an even more shocking statement.

“Mr. Knemon, you have been entered as one of the Amimone Magic Tower faction leaders to participate in the Tower Master selection competition. I wish you the best of luck.”

***

Not understanding the situation, Knemon pressed Ortes for a detailed explanation. Ortes explained as follows:

If they completely purged the Regular Magic Tower, the aftermath would be significant. There were gray elements who had unknowingly traded with Arguirion and found themselves trapped when Arguirion revealed their true colors.

If they were to erase the Regular Magic Tower, which could be considered the core layer of the magical society excluding the Ten Towers, from records, there would be no chance of recovery for any Magic Tower that had ever dealt with Arguirion.

“—Therefore, keeping at least the name of the Amimone Magic Tower is a declaration of intent that ‘we will let you live.’ If only the Tower Master changes, the Tower remains. It’s an implicit message that even if you betrayed us, you’ll be spared if you bring us the head of the colluding Tower Master.”

“No. What I’m curious about is how I ended up on the list of candidates for the Amimone Tower Master.”

“Haha. Isn’t the octopus-like expansion of the Amimone Magic Tower famous? They crush Magic Towers that resist to the end, but leave those that submit in some form, even as factions. I prepared documents stating that Mr. Knemon’s Magic Tower was among those factions absorbed through such mergers.”

Knemon finally understood Ortes’s intention.

This was a test. ‘I’ll give you a chance to become a Tower Master, so prove your ability.’ It must be to check if Knemon’s skills, having been away from the field for so long, were below standard.

At the same time, the reward was incredibly sweet. This Amimone Tower Master selection competition was an official procedure certified by the Ten Towers. In other words:

It was an opportunity to permanently record in the history of magical society that his vanished Magic Tower had actually swallowed the Amimone Magic Tower.

“I can only apologize for how things turned out.”

By this point, even Ortes’s suspicious smile was welcome. Even that snake-like expression asking him to show his skills could be gladly accepted this time.

“…I’ll do my best.”

***

I was relieved that Knemon understood the situation. But the relief was short-lived.

“Hmm.”

It was because of the boss in front of me. I had escaped the request for a talk immediately upon my return by using Knemon as an excuse, but now I had no choice but to face her alone.

“You’re a bit late.”