Ch.74Future Planning (2)

“Shouldn’t you be telling me something else first? Like whether the Demon King’s revival is true and why you’ve kept it hidden until now?”

“Oh, are you serious?”

Carisia asked with a casual attitude. As if she were asking, ‘Did you eat breakfast this morning?’ I nodded glumly.

“…Yes. It’s true. At least, I’m certain of it.”

“Then why worry about anything else? Unless hearing why you hid the prophecy would help us defeat the Demon King.”

It was unexpected trust.

“But, did you deliberately hide it? I’m hurt. Who trusts you more than I do?”

There was a faint trace of humor in her voice. Though her comment was heavily laced with jest, I remained cautious. Now that Carisia had something to hold against me, it would surely return as several times the workload later.

“It wasn’t intentional. I had planned to tell you someday…”

“And?”

“I forgot.”

Carisia’s gaze was piercing. She made a curious “hmm” sound with an odd smile, then shook her head.

“Well, you’re not one to lie. The Demon King, huh.”

“Aren’t you afraid, Director?”

“He’s someone from thousands of years ago, right? Before fear or terror, it doesn’t feel real. He was defeated once before, after all.”

I could hear Carisia muttering to herself in thought. Something about bombs being the most reliable option.

Really, why does she like explosions so much?

The difference from her usual bomb talk was that this time, the proposal was worth my serious consideration. As a means to defeat that mighty Demon King. If we detonated an artificial Ten Commandments at the site of the Demon King’s revival, would there be a chance to defeat him?

According to the original story, it was certain that the period right after revival was when the Demon King was at his weakest. Nevertheless, his formidable mana control and magical abilities would still be beyond common sense.

If we could detonate a Ten Commandments bomb at the exact moment of his revival, even the Demon King might suffer considerable damage…

The immediate aftermath of the revival wasn’t covered in detail in the original work. He opened his eyes, became enraged at the betrayal, and with fury sought to punish his disciples by heading toward a strong magical presence, only to see the neon-mana signs of 2077’s brilliant skyscrapers, uttered a confused “Huh?” and that was the end of the prologue.

After that, the Demon King traveled the world gathering information and making plans to reclaim the Ten Commandments. The first chapter continued after some time had passed.

In other words, not only was the revival location unspecified, but the Demon King also immediately left that place.

“Assuming the Demon King isn’t prepared for an attack, we could inflict significant damage.”

“You’re not saying we could kill him?”

“Well, I’ve never seen him in person.”

From Arguirion to the Divine Faith Order. The shape of this world had already diverged from the original story in many ways. It was enough to be certain that the world wasn’t following the novel’s course.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t lower my guard against the Demon King, not because he was the protagonist, but because he was the world’s strongest mage.

“Since we still have time, I’d like to address other pressing matters before the Demon King. First, we need to hear from the Divine Faith Order—”

Buzz.

With a vibration, a hologram appeared over my gauntlet. An email had arrived in L13’s account. The sender’s name was a meaningless string of characters, as if randomly generated.

The Divine Faith Order.

Just as I was about to open the email, another vibration sounded. Niobe’s email address.

The Divine Faith Order and Blasphemia. Messages from both.

I looked at Carisia, who nodded. With her permission, I quickly read through the emails.

***

Ortes was scanning the emails with his usual gaze. Carisia’s inner thoughts grew complicated.

The momentous event of the Demon King’s return. And Ortes had dismissed it with a simple “I forgot.”

Rationally speaking, Ortes had no reason to lie to her. And yet.

‘How could anyone forget something like that?’

It was impossible not to be suspicious. Even if Ortes had somewhat impulsive tendencies, he wasn’t the type to be so distracted as to forget such a critical matter.

To be precise, he hadn’t forgotten the fact that the Demon King would return. He remembered it well enough to use it as a bargaining chip in his negotiations with the Divine Faith Order.

He merely “forgot” to tell her.

‘How could he forget that?’

Rather than expressing her disappointment to Ortes, Carisia chose to assess the impact this would have on world affairs. If the Demon King wielded his authority, the Ten Towers would either have to bow before him or fight against him.

Since his reason for returning to the world could only be the Ten Commandments, the Ten Towers, unwilling to surrender them, would inevitably fight.

The decisive factor that allowed the first ten disciples to defeat the Demon King was the Ten Commandments. The betrayal combined with the infinite magical power of the Ten Commandments. Without either one, defeating the Demon King would have been impossible.

As she recalled fragments of ancient history, a pain like a laceration invaded Carisia’s mind. An agony that seemed to tear through to the depths of her marrow.

Until she met Ortes, it had been a familiar pain. Carisia maintained her composure and organized her thoughts.

It was easy to understand if one thought of a seesaw. No matter how hard one tries to lift the other side, the weight classes must first match. The counterweight against the overwhelming existence of the Demon King. The Ten Towers, having lost the Ten Commandments, lacked the strength to oppose the Demon King.

“Should we destroy the White Light first and then face the Demon King, or defeat the Demon King and then destroy the White Light…?”

It was a branching point for the future.

As long as the revived Demon King wanted the Ten Commandments, and Carisia maintained her ultimate goal of destroying the White Light, a collision with the Demon King was inevitable.

“Is there really a need to do those separately?”

It was Ortes who answered Carisia’s soliloquy.

“Pardon?”

“I’ve been thinking about the artificial Ten Commandments bomb plan. If by some chance we really need to use it as a bomb.”

Ortes’s eyes gleamed. Carisia tried to fathom his gaze. Just as Ortes often tried to understand Carisia’s inner thoughts, Ortes’s inner mind was also unknown territory to Carisia.

“Shouldn’t we get the greatest effect from a single detonation? I was thinking we could detonate it in front of the Ten Commandments when the Demon King comes in person to reclaim the White Light.”

“…Are you serious?”

In response to Carisia’s serious question, Ortes made an aggrieved expression.

“No. It just occurred to me because you kept talking about bombs.”

As Ortes made various excuses, claiming he didn’t like crude methods like bombs, Carisia smiled slightly at the sight.

“Let’s set aside talk of a future that hasn’t arrived yet. What was the Divine Faith Order’s response?”

Ortes, who had been grumbling, straightened his posture.

“It’s the second-best option. For whatever reason, they’ve also agreed to actively cooperate in recovering the sacred artifacts. The artifacts might be necessary for the Pope’s ‘blasphemous plan.'”

“So then?”

“We can now target both Blasphemia’s database records and the ancient ruins recorded by the Divine Faith Order for our sacred investigation.”

Ortes explained his plan.

The Divine Faith Order knows Ortes as an insider of Blasphemia. Under the pretext of informing them about areas with minimal Blasphemia surveillance, he can obtain the Divine Faith Order’s own data on ancient temple locations.

With Blasphemia, L13’s status as a secret inspector is still valid, and Niobe remains a viable channel. He can partially access Blasphemia’s surveillance network data.

“This alone won’t be enough. But the Divine Faith Order will track and tip me off about Arguirion’s location.”

Tracking Arguirion through magical means was nearly impossible. They themselves were once Blasphemia agents, who were the foremost experts in magical tracking.

No one is harder to hunt than a hunter.

However, the Divine Faith Order can mobilize its faithful. With the devotees of the god of archery, the god of hunting, or Phoibos’s prophecies, finding Arguirion shouldn’t be difficult.

What if he passes Arguirion’s appearance information to Blasphemia under L13’s name?

Blasphemia would have no choice but to dispatch agents to that area. This would create gaps in their surveillance of the Order’s ruins in that region.

The Divine Faith Order would use this gap to collect sacred artifacts.

In other words:

“I can provide Arguirion’s location to mobilize Blasphemia, and by informing the Divine Faith Order about the weakest surveillance points, I can also direct their movements.”

“The Divine Faith Order and Blasphemia. Any ruins beyond the influence of both sides will be entirely Hydra Company’s share.”

Ortes nodded with satisfaction. He had perfectly succeeded in walking the tightrope between Blasphemia and the Divine Faith Order.

“It’s time to begin our sacred investigation in earnest.”