Ch.98Unexpected Visit (3)

The agents sent by Panoptes will likely conduct only a formal investigation and withdraw.

The Ten Towers’ declaration to investigate all magic towers isn’t something that can be completed in a day or two. There’s no need or reason to expend manpower and resources on thorough inspections of magic towers that are already bowing their heads this early on.

Their direct concern is the traitors who allied with Argyrion, not the majority of ordinary magic towers.

Still, there might be that one-in-a-million chance.

‘The Artificial Ten Commandments have been at the bottom of Mount Etna from the beginning.’

This means that even if Panoptes’ audit team decides to “search through Geryon’s and Cyclone’s magic towers while we’re here,” they won’t find anything incriminating.

Since Carisia is generally aware of these circumstances, the current call holds no significance beyond confirmation. I wrapped up the conversation appropriately and turned my head toward Lampades.

“I’m not really much of a social person either.”

This friend jokes well too. Even when I was active in my prime, I never saw a fixer who could find people as well as you.

“Haha, jokes aside. I’ve never seen another fixer with connections as extensive as yours.”

There’s something called bioelectricity. Electrical signals generated by biological activity. Such electricity is also produced in neurons when humans think.

Lampades was exceptionally skilled at detecting this bioelectricity. Whether due to the magical power possessed by each living being, when using magic to detect bioelectric currents, one could sense a subtle “individuality” that identifies each person.

Seeing such a talented friend showing such humility, I must not have paid him enough.

Now I have the authority to privately manage company funds… No. Why would this be private?

My search for Knemon is clearly part of company business. There’s absolutely no hesitation in budget execution.

“Do you perhaps need artifacts other than the Thunder Pearl?”

“No! No, I swear I don’t need any other artifacts. It’s just that I have some matters to handle as a tower master, so it might take a little time.”

Lampades waved his hands dismissively. Indeed, was time the issue?

I calculated the schedule in my head. Thanks to this embezzlement of sacred artifacts, the development progress of the Artificial Ten Commandments had increased significantly.

…And simultaneously, a question that needed to be resolved had emerged.

The question of what exactly the ancient Divine Name Order had done. That was precisely why I was looking for Knemon.

Adjusting Lampades’ extradimensional radar would make the sacred investigation work of finding artifacts much easier. However, finding the ancient artifacts of the Divine Name Order, especially those special artifacts imbued with priests’ souls, was somewhat different in direction.

The Great Temple of Pluto was the order’s last stronghold. Even after searching through such a place thoroughly, only six artifacts were found.

Adding the artifact of Phoebus that I already obtained, there are seven artifacts of the ancient Divine Name Order whose whereabouts have been confirmed. The remaining five most likely disappeared during the war between the Divine Name Order and the Magic King.

To be specific, they probably became spoils of war for the magic towers.

This is precisely where Knemon was needed.

That friend knew the various secrets of magic towers very well. When I was running around in the fixer industry, I didn’t pay attention to such things…

Perhaps Knemon is carefully preserving a list of artifacts owned by other magic towers—information that could become their weakness now that the Ten Towers are pushing for a complete investigation of sacred artifacts.

I wish he had listened better when I suggested we join hands to overturn this rotten magic tower world. I regret those times when I just responded with “Is that so?” showing no interest in magical social reform.

As I was reminiscing, Lampades suddenly asked.

***

“May I contact the people of the tower for a moment? This is my first visit to another magic tower, and I fear causing inconvenience.”

Lampades spoke unusually directly. However, between his straightforward words lay hidden messages.

The unhidden message was a request to protect Lampades Tower from the upcoming auditors. This was an obvious meaning given his mention of the tower’s members.

The hidden message was revealed in his choice of words about “causing inconvenience.” It emphasized his determination to escape by force if necessary.

This was a non-negotiable condition.

Ortes nodded leisurely.

“Of course. Ah, Astrape might be having an age-appropriate conversation with Miss Kine right now, so she might not be able to answer the phone.”

Kine was also a magician raised by Ortes. Placing her with Astrape could be interpreted in two ways.

‘My close associate is with Astrape, so rest assured,’ or ‘Astrape’s life depends on you.’

‘It’s reasonable to assume both meanings apply here.’

If Lampades himself faithfully fulfilled Ortes’s “request,” Kine would become a wall protecting Astrape, but if he deviated from Ortes’s expectations, she would instantly become a dagger to stab Astrape.

Either way, it meant there was no immediate intention to harm the members of Lampades Tower. Lampades shook his head weakly and asked.

“How much time do I have left?”

“Ah. It’s not such an urgent matter. I’d just like you to find him in your spare time.”

“‘Spare time,’ huh. You mean within my stay at Hydra Company Tower?”

The duration of this stay at Hydra Company Tower was about ten days. A rather tight schedule.

To find and bring Knemon within this timeframe would inevitably require Lampades himself to move, and that would mean Ortes was the only one who could protect the tower’s members during his absence.

While Ortes would certainly keep his promise to protect them, finding someone who had fled from Ortes’s sight within ten days was clearly a difficult challenge.

“But I’m curious. Why are you looking for Knemon?”

This was Lampades’ genuine question. Ortes had once promised to visit Lampades someday, but he had never actually used that promise to pressure Lampades.

‘That’s why I went to the promotion review believing Ortes might be dead…’

A rising bitterness. The feeling of a fish caught in a net. But apart from his stinging emotions, a rational question raised its head.

If Ortes were compared to a fisherman, he would be a very patient one. One who wouldn’t show any impatience even if he had to wait years to catch a single fish.

He didn’t even cast a shadow while Lampades was building his tower, only to appear when Lampades was most off guard.

Yet such an Ortes was unusually ordering him to “find Knemon.” What on earth did Knemon do in the past?

‘No. Perhaps I should think differently.’

Maybe Knemon possesses something that Ortes covets…

After appearing to ponder for a moment, Ortes nodded. Perhaps he thought it was acceptable to disclose to Lampades, who would directly carry out the mission.

‘But he won’t reveal all the details. That guy has always been secretive in some corner.’

“Let’s just say I have something I’d like to receive from Mr. Knemon. Please tell him I’ll prepare appropriate compensation. And that I’m sorry about the previous incident.”

“Previous incident?”

Ortes had always thrown himself into the frontlines of extradimensional spaces. He would plunge into the most dangerous requests, return alive as if it were natural, and then accept another request—an endless cycle.

With the frequent deaths of other fixers who accepted similarly high-risk requests simultaneously, rumors circulated that Ortes, with his miraculous consecutive survivals, might be the real culprit behind all those deaths…

Ortes undertook such high-risk requests even when no other fixer accompanied him. It was precisely this attitude, these seemingly extradimensional-obsessed, manic actions, that led to the widespread rumor of him being a doomsday cultist.

If there was something that Ortes and Knemon did together, it could only be exploring extradimensional contaminated areas. Did Ortes make some kind of mistake?

That Ortes?

Reading the skepticism evident in Lampades’ expression, Ortes answered with an awkward smile.

“Haha. When we were exploring ruins contaminated by extradimensional forces, we obtained an artifact, and I conducted some performance tests. But it turned out to be consumable. I gave all the remaining ones to him, but from Knemon’s perspective, it might not have felt like a fair distribution. He seems to have been avoiding me since then.”

It’s a plausible reason. However…

‘Isn’t that too modest a reason for doomsday cultists to fall out?’

“Oh my. I’ve been keeping you too long when you wanted to contact your tower members. I’ll leave you to make your call in private.”

“…Alright.”

Ortes stood up and left the room.

‘I know, and Ortes knows too, that my call is just an excuse. What should I demand as a measure to avoid the auditors’ gaze…’

Lampades fell into deep contemplation.

Meanwhile, Ortes answered another call from the president.

“Yes. The auditors have gone? Already?”