Ch.29Business Trip and Its Aftermath (3)

Ortes looked at Dimedes.

Due to his nearly closed eyelids, it was usually quite difficult to tell where Ortes was looking. But this time, he kindly revealed that he was looking at Dimedes by turning his head. It was a deliberate gesture.

“Director Dimedes.”

Ortes spoke in his usual gentle voice. However, the directors could feel an inexplicable chill in his tone.

“I’m moved by your enthusiasm. Since your determination is so firm, I should do my best to respond in kind.”

A new image appeared on the hologram projector in the center of the conference room. The directors could easily recognize what the image showed.

It was footage of one of the cults that Blasphemia had been tracking. The followers of Bacchus, the god of pleasure, whom the Bacardi Traveling Troupe was believed to worship.

“Our first target will be this Bacchus cult location.”

“Bacchus? The drug addicts?”

Dimedes clicked his tongue. While the blood of addicts was sufficient to maintain intelligence, even Chimeras had preferences.

He was reluctant to taste the stale, unpleasant blood tainted with drugs.

“Why target such insignificant individuals first?”

Not a few silently nodded in agreement with Dimedes’ assessment. Given what they knew of Ortes’ character, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to immediately attack the largest cult.

After all, he was someone who acted without even calculating risks when it came to Carisia’s objectives.

These past few days of business trips were proof of that.

Dimedes had heard that the source of information Ortes brought back was from a branch of the intelligence organization employed by the Ten Towers. This was vouched for by Arabelle and Divius, collaborators in the operation.

It was not known that Ortes’ trip was not simply an intelligence-gathering mission but a full-scale operation that involved killing the Blasphemia branch director. This was because Arabelle and Divius had kept silent about it.

But even this much was enough to add weight to the directors’ fear of Ortes.

By common perception, infiltrating the shadows of the Ten Towers was far more dangerous than exterminating a cult that believed in primitive faith.

“Insignificant, hmm. That’s certainly correct.”

“According to the information, don’t they lack anyone who can use the power of the old gods… the divine power?”

Blasphemia generally classified followers of superstition into three tiers.

Ordinary believers who simply had faith.

Priests who used the power of vanished gods.

And cult leaders who heard the voices of gods as the head of the sect.

It was a general framework that omitted detailed ranks like bishops or cardinals, as the position systems varied greatly between cults.

The Bacchus cult was so fragmented that it wasn’t even certain if a cult leader existed. The location Ortes had pointed out was estimated to have at most one or two priests.

Even Blasphemia’s internal assessment stated, “Not yet worthy of attention.”

“That is also correct.”

A question bloomed on Dimedes’ face. At this rate, wasn’t this just trivial work that would barely help Hydra Company’s purpose?

“We must be cautious.”

Ortes began with those words.

“If one brings rusty arrows to a big hunt, one would be in trouble. It’s only natural to check your tools before diving into a major task.”

It was a provocation, suggesting he didn’t trust their abilities and wanted proof. Dimedes was about to protest but then stopped.

After all, the directors gathered here had all been defeated by Carisia and Ortes. From the perspective of such strong individuals, it was natural to doubt the abilities of the weak.

“But it won’t be as small a hunt as you think. Please look at the location once more.”

Dimedes looked at the hologram again. The gathering place of the Bacchus followers was not within the city.

It was a high-crime area outside the protection of the Magic Tower. A lawless zone where fugitives typically hid.

“You want to catch fugitives too?”

“Yes. More precisely, you need to catch them.”

Every single one, without exception.

As he said this, a smile deeper than usual appeared on Ortes’ lips.

Dimedes felt greater anxiety as the smile deepened, but soon shook it off. This man was not his enemy right now.

“Dead or alive?”

“The fugitives, dead or alive. Just leave the heads as evidence. As for the Bacchus followers, I’d prefer if you brought them in alive.”

“…You’re not coming along?”

“Followers of vanished gods move quickly. I need to find as many as possible before the information expires.”

It meant there were tasks he couldn’t yet entrust to Dimedes, so he would handle them personally. Despite feeling humiliated, Dimedes nodded.

‘At least I’ve obtained permission for the human hunt I need right now. I should move as soon as the meeting ends.’

***

“Why did you do that?”

An indifferent question.

It was what Carisia asked me as I was cleaning up after the directors had left.

“What do you mean?”

“Dimedes. He’s not that incompetent. Couldn’t you have given him a more difficult mission?”

Oh my, Madam President.

Giving someone a difficult mission without consideration, then saying “I have good judgment” if they succeed or “They were worthless” if they fail—that’s not what I’d call good personnel management.

Naturally, I didn’t have the courage to say such things directly to Carisia.

“Dimedes is in a weakened state due to blood deficiency. In the current situation, if he makes a misjudgment on a more difficult mission, his entire organization could be annihilated.”

“Manpower loss, huh.”

Carisia seemed to accept my explanation but then tilted her head and asked:

“I don’t think that matters much. Hydra Company already has enough combat personnel, doesn’t it?”

You and I can’t handle everything by ourselves. I reflexively deleted the words that almost came out.

“There are two reasons. First, regarding why the fugitives need to be eliminated—”

“To avoid drawing attention from the Ten Towers, right? If we only captured the cult followers, the Ten Towers would sense something unusual.”

She’s sharp as always. I nodded.

“But you said there were two reasons. Is it to build achievements for passing the Magic Tower promotion requirements or the Magic Tower listing document review?”

“Yes. Specifically, it’s for the Magic Tower listing.”

Carisia tilted her head again, then stroked her hair near her forehead as she fell into thought.

“Listing. I doubt you’re trying to list our company.”

“Of course not. That would be disadvantageous for us.”

A Magic Tower listing is a procedure for selling shares of the tower’s magic core. It usually involves connecting the tower’s ether space to the Ten Towers’ ether space.

Towers that undergo this procedure can register shares of their magic core for sale, enabling a kind of stock trading.

With good fortune, they might receive investment from the Ten Towers and elevate the entire tower’s level in one go.

But at the same time…

‘It means putting on the Ten Towers’ leash.’

Although magic towers’ cores are connected to the Ten Realms, directly synchronizing ether spaces has a different meaning. It allows direct access to the research achievements recorded in the ether space.

Of course, the Ten Towers don’t demand disclosure of all secrets for a listing.

The size of ether space is proportional to the capacity of the magic core. The mandatory disclosure amount for the ether space to be opened to the Ten Towers—in other words, the initial public offering—is 30% of the total magic core capacity.

When listed, 30% of the arcane knowledge recorded in the ether space becomes available to the Ten Towers and other magic towers.

Of course, there’s a loophole where one can delete the contents of the ether space before disclosure to avoid sharing data. In this case, one would purely be selling the magic and computational power produced by the magic core.

But that defeats the original purpose of “attracting investors.” It’s a loophole occasionally used by formal magic towers with excess magic power.

While this might work for an ordinary magic tower, Hydra Company’s purpose isn’t wealth and glory.

Neither our surface goal of becoming the “11th King” nor our true goal of “the downfall of the White Light” can be casually disclosed.

The reason I brought up the Magic Tower listing—

“Come to think of it, you used to work as a troubleshooter. Did you have a colleague who aspired to become a tower master?”

“…You remember.”

I didn’t think she was the type to remember such trivial personal details. Somehow, Carisia was staring right at me.

“That’s correct. I need to meet that friend, but it’s a bit awkward for me to visit officially.”

In the troubleshooter industry, I’m probably considered missing or dead during an operation. The official survivor count from the mission where I met Carisia is zero, and the actual survivor count is just me.

“I want to use the listing review to make contact.”

“My, are you asking the president to work for an employee?”

I hastily check her expression, but there’s a hint of a smile. It seems she was joking.

Still, important people often don’t realize how destructive their jokes can be.

“This person could be a great asset for your objectives, Madam President.”

“Well, fine. Do as you wish. Will you continue assigning fugitive tracking to Dimedes?”

“Yes. Since Dimedes is prone to impulsive actions, I think it’s appropriate to assign him the task of eliminating fugitives who can be killed rather than cult followers who need to be persuaded or captured alive.”

“This means you’ll still be handling all the field work for the Divine Investigation Office by yourself.”

So it goes again. I’d prefer to just receive reports and stamp documents from a safe place rather than doing physical work myself.

Strangely, situations always push me in that direction. After assigning Dimedes his work and setting up automatic fugitive hunting, I realize there’s no one to replace me in the field.

“Well, things will improve gradually. I’m used to it, so it’s fine.”

“In that case.”

“How about coming with me on the next business trip?”