Ch.94Each One’s Conjecture (1)

Ortes accepted the coat handed to him by the president.

“Isn’t this your coat, sir?”

“I don’t have anything else. What you’re wearing now is more rags than clothes, but you need to wear something.”

Ortes shrugged once and obediently put on the coat. Being free-size, it fit him reasonably well.

“What did you tell the other directors before coming here?”

“I told them to carry on with their work.”

Oh, my head. Ortes let out a sigh. How is the company supposed to function properly like that, sir?

Carisia, who heard Ortes’s grumbling with one ear and let it go out the other, asked:

“How exactly did the partner meeting turn into such a disaster?”

“Ah.”

Ortes rummaged through various parts of his tattered jacket and pulled out a round object about the size of his palm.

It was Adusiam’s core.

“It seems to be a golem created by the Archmage. This thing probably called the Ten Towers, but I’m not sure about Arguirion.”

“The Archmage?”

Showing interest, Carisia took Adusiam’s core from Ortes. Her magical power thoroughly analyzed the structure of the core.

“There are restrictions on its performance?”

“Yes. The restrictions can be lifted through permission from the Archmage or his proxy. I kept it thinking we might be able to use it as an Archmage revival detector.”

Adusiam’s core vibrated as it detected Carisia’s magical power.

“Ten Commandments… white light, detecting… requesting permission to enter higher level…”

Her hand holding the core tensed. Carisia’s hardened expression softened at the golem’s voice, and she tossed the core back to Ortes.

“For now, there are two targets it’s programmed to send distress signals to. The Archmage’s disciples, that is, the owners of the Ten Commandments. And to the Archmage’s kin, golems like this one.”

Ortes’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you saying Arguirion falls into the second category?”

“I can’t say for sure. We have no way of knowing whether Arguirion came because of that signal or appeared for some other reason.”

Arguirion’s proclaimed cause might be connected to the Archmage.

It was an ominous sign.

Ortes decided to remember this as one of the possibilities. He wasn’t sure what Arguirion would ultimately do, but preparing for the worst-case scenario wouldn’t hurt.

Carisia took a deep breath and asked:

“So. Did you get anything worthwhile?”

“Quite a lot. Working as a troubleshooter has given me a good eye for valuable items. I only took the best.”

Carisia, who knew something about Ortes’s eyes, understood that his talk of having a “good eye” was his own kind of joke. With a slight smile, she changed the subject.

“Did any ancient spirits speak to you like last time?”

“They wouldn’t have had the chance. I just stuffed everything in without properly handling them.”

Ortes’s clothing, which looked more like a butchered rag bundle than actual clothes, was actually quite high-end. It utilized barrier magic to significantly increase the storage capacity of areas like pockets and prevent items from easily falling out.

Even the fabric itself was no ordinary material. It was made from the fibers of a giant spider monster called Arachnid, tougher than most steel.

Because of this, the total amount of sacred artifacts stored in Ortes’s clothing was far greater than one might guess from outward appearance.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, I’m not sure if they’re still in good condition.”

Having gathered everything he could before getting caught in the fight between Arguirion and the Ten Towers, it was reasonable to assume that the sacred artifacts had suffered considerable damage, just like his clothes.

“Don’t worry. As long as they’re not completely shattered, the divine power within them will remain, and that’s enough.”

Ortes nodded. The magical theory related to artificial Ten Commandments wasn’t his area of expertise, so if Carisia, who was at the forefront of artificial Ten Commandments research along with Kaicle, said so, it must be correct.

The two continued their casual conversation as they headed home.

***

The elders of the Ten Towers gathered in one place. Not everyone was present, but even this many gathering together was a historic event.

“Talo is dead.”

“By Arguirion’s hand?”

“Circumstantially.”

“Is that even possible?”

The Ether Space became noisy. Throughout the long history of the Ten Towers, it was extremely rare for an elder to be killed for reasons other than succession battles.

“How many years had Talo served as an elder?”

“92 years.”

“Quite substantial.”

Among the Ten Towers’ elders, who were closer to magic than humans, there were monsters who had lived as elders for several centuries. However, surprisingly, excluding a few extreme cases, the skill gap between elders wasn’t that significant.

To be precise, after about 100 years of being appointed as an elder, their abilities tended to level upward.

It took about a century on average to explore all the abilities one could grasp with the wisdom of the Ten Commandments. Beyond that realm, one had to explore on their own. Only the Tower Masters could access the deeper powers of the Ten Commandments.

The deeper realm of the Ten Commandments. The realm of arcane magic beyond regular magic.

Except for a few exceptions who had reached this unknown realm on their own and newly appointed elders, the difference in skill among the elders wasn’t clearly defined.

That’s why the news of Talo’s death was all the more shocking.

“I thought Blasphemia could handle them adequately.”

“According to Salmosia’s report, not just Blasphemia but Argos as well. In other words, it seems there are quite a few spies throughout Panoptes.”

“The matter seems too big to leave to just one subordinate organization…”

The elders recalled an unpleasant and frightening hypothesis related to Arguirion’s “cause.” If that hypothesis was correct, it would explain abilities that exceeded the limits of what a mere group of Corruptors could demonstrate.

“Celestial Officer.”

“Yes.”

The young man summoned to this gathering of the Ten Towers’ most prominent elders was the head of the observers belonging to Eidolon (εἴδωλον), which monitored extra-dimensional realms.

Among those belonging to Eidolon, the Celestial Officer was special.

In terms of examining stellar signs to measure the future, it was the field closest to superstition followers, and because he was assigned the role of tracking the remnants of the Archmage—whom the Ten Towers both feared and respected—and the path of ascension, it was also a position that shared the Tower’s secret mysteries.

“What about the extra-dimensional turbulence you’ve been monitoring?”

“The movements from other dimensions continue to spread. They’re opening doors around the world and attempting to contact apocalyptists.”

“Is there any possibility that an extra-dimensional being is impersonating the Archmage and brainwashing Arguirion?”

“I cannot say for certain. It’s not impossible for extra-dimensional beings who have grasped the remnants of ascension to mimic the Archmage’s actions. However, during our past observations, no extra-dimensional being has acted in such a manner.”

However, the Celestial Officer continued:

“To assert that something that hasn’t existed until now will never exist would be the short-sightedness of a fool. If you ask me to give a definitive answer of possible or impossible, I would say it’s possible.”

“Is it the Archmage’s lingering will? Or an extra-dimensional being that has begun to understand humans more intimately? Either way, it’s undoubtedly a fearsome enemy.”

The elders’ opinions converged. This was not a matter that could be handled by Blasphemia alone.

“We must issue an emergency order to all of Panoptes.”

“But didn’t you say there are spies among them?”

“Only Eidolon is guaranteed to be pure. Hmm…”

Clap. Someone applauded. A form made not of flesh and bone but of deep blue mist. How it made a sound was anyone’s guess.

It was the elder of the Azure Wind Tower.

“Let’s do this. There are those lists that Arguirion exposed, right?”

A base tactic used by Arguirion to shake the magical society. The elders nodded.

“Let’s conduct a large-scale investigation into them. Towers with nothing to hide will cooperate properly, and we can identify those among Panoptes investigators who are reluctant to participate as potential risks, can’t we?”

“Using the investigation as bait to filter out dangerous elements? That’s quite moderate for you.”

“My principle that ‘the more souls, the better’ hasn’t changed. But whether it’s an extra-dimensional being or the Archmage, it’s clear that the magical society must confront this enemy with all its might. How great a loss would it be if loyal servants of the magical society were converted into soul stones?”

Various channels of opinion circulated among the elders. Some used magic to send telepathic messages to each other. Others communicated through mana proxy messengers. After their coordination was complete, a massive operation to root out Arguirion’s spies was resolved.

As silence gradually descended upon the Ether Space, the Celestial Officer suddenly spoke.

“Have the Tower Masters given any instructions?”

“They seem to think that Arguirion’s threat is not significant compared to finding clues to ascension. The Tower Master of the Iron Tower said, ‘If you meet an angel next time, please be sure to capture it alive.'”

The Celestial Officer nodded.

The Tower Masters were not yet moving.

“I will convey this to the others.”

“You may withdraw now. We will soon notify Panoptes of our decision.”