I Became the Narrow-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss – Chapter 99

Chapter 99 – An Unexpected Visitor (4)

“Yes, have the inspectors already left?”

“They did, after granting full access to the mana core of the tower and even revealing some confidential Ether Space documents. It was all very formal.”

“Goodness. You can’t handle work that carelessly.”

Orthes shook his head.

‘These agents nowadays… Blasphemia was so diligent and passionate when we played this game of cat and mouse.’

If the Panoptes agents knew what Orthes was thinking, they would have collapsed from stress on the spot.

A full 90% of their increased workload was directly connected to Orthes, and the remaining 9% was caused by the butterfly effects of Orthes’ schemes.

If a passing Panoptes agent shouted, “If we get rid of you, the whole world will return to normal!” and attacked him, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.

But such a future was impossible.

Even Orthes himself didn’t fully understand the consequences of his actions.

The butterfly that brought the storm rarely knows it’s the cause of the chaos, and those caught in the storm often don’t hold a grudge against the butterfly.

What Orthes was aware of, however, was that his words and actions were constantly increasing the workload of Panoptes agents.

“Oh, Boss. Don’t you think it’s about time we started using Geryones for the divine investigation tasks? It’d be best to let Director Arabella, who likely has some spare time now that the inspectors have left early, manage the details of the schedule.”

And Arabella, too.

***

After a while, when I returned to the reception room, Lampades had a few requests.

“Could we relocate our tower’s accommodations? I’ve heard there’s still some unrest. Perhaps a safer location?”

That was a reasonable request. While Etna City was constantly rebuilding after destruction and technically in a lull, outsiders might perceive things differently.

The worst-case scenarios in magic tower disputes were numerous—being suddenly killed in the crossfire, or being kidnapped by a rival tower and used as leverage, to name a few.

‘Could it be that the Panoptes inspectors did such a cursory job because of this?’

If the inspectors assumed that the reason I requested an early inspection was to avoid false accusations by rival towers, their lax attitude made sense.

It was a classic tactic in tower disputes: accuse a rival tower to the Ten Towers, immobilize them, and seize control of the situation.

While this tactic was outdated and rarely used, in the current exceptional circumstances where the Ten Towers had bared their fangs, it could be effective once again.

The Panoptes agents likely thought, “These guys are too busy fighting each other to commit any real acts of treason. Let’s wrap this up quickly and investigate more suspicious targets.”

“That’s unexpected…”

“What is?”

“Ah, just talking to myself. Of course, I can move you. Please give me a moment.”

The Hydra Corporation’s headquarters had plenty of empty rooms. Even the top floors, which Carisia and I used, still had vacant rooms.

Back in the days of the Lernian Magic Tower, this building housed at least dozens, if not hundreds, of people, including test subjects.

Now, the only regular residents were Carisia and me.

Oh, and Arabella, conditionally. Carisia had been making her work late for some reason. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Aside from exceptions like Arabella, most non-investigation-related work was handled by the directors’ private organizations, and they only came to the Hydra headquarters for meetings or reports.

‘Let’s exclude the top floors. Carisia wouldn’t want anyone else in her space.’

The middle floors wouldn’t satisfy Lampades, who was asking for “safety.”

The middle floors weren’t ideal for escaping either upward or downward. That left only the underground levels…

“Is there a problem?”

“No, not at all. I’ll move you to the underground shelter at the Hydra headquarters.”

“Shelter?”

“It has excellent protection and facilities. I’ll provide you with the master key to the underground area.”

***

Orthes casually pulled out a keycard from his pocket and handed it to Lampades. His gesture was light, but the meaning behind it was heavy.

The right to freely use the Hydra Corporation building without reporting it to the president. Either Orthes was deeply trusted by the president, or the president was his puppet.

I remembered the conversation at Elysion. When told that Orthes wasn’t a good person, the president responded, “I already know that.”

Did she trust Orthes despite knowing the truth, or was she being skillfully manipulated, unaware of his overreach?

“Just avoid the third underground floor. That’s the Hydra Corporation’s storage area, not suitable for living. Some of the items there are sensitive to environmental changes, so please refrain from entering.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

Lampades quietly considered how to draw Kynemon out. Where should he start tracing Kynemon’s footsteps? Was Kynemon even still using his name?

If Lampades could find him within ten days, his subordinates’ safety would be assured.

***

Kine finally faced Orthes again after a long time.

Since Orthes’ plan to enroll her at Musaeion had fallen through, he had been very busy.

While she had spent her time practicing magic, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being an outsider.

Then today, a new assignment was suddenly handed to her.

“Do you remember Astraphe, whom you met at Elysion? You two are about the same age, so why don’t you have a chat?”

She wasn’t sure why she was being asked to build a friendship, but Kine followed Orthes’ orders diligently. After all, none of her family’s bodies had been returned yet.

She felt that by doing even these small tasks well, the day her family could rest in peace would come just a bit sooner.

After cursing Bacchus with a mix of rage and prayers, Kine carried out her mission of talking with Astraphe.

In truth, calling it a “mission” felt childish.

It had started as a light-hearted conversation meant to break the ice but somehow devolved into a heated debate over the “strongest magic attribute.”

‘What started as an attempt to lighten the mood turned into a battle of pride between lightning and darkness magic!’

Kine couldn’t believe how sensitive she had become about the slights against dark magic. After all, magic was merely a tool for her revenge.

‘But learning magic is actually fun…’

The fact that their conversation devolved into a “who’s stronger” argument wasn’t exactly the bonding experience Orthes had intended. She wondered what Orthes would say when he heard about this.

With slight tension and trepidation, Kine opened her mouth in front of Orthes.

“We didn’t really fight, right?”

“Well… it was just a friendly debate that got a little heated.”

Orthes’ reaction was unexpected. Kine had expected to be scolded for wasting time, but all he did was ask for the details of their conversation.

“That’s great. Please continue being a good friend to Astraphe while she stays here.”

Kine’s mind spun. What was he thinking? Surely Orthes hadn’t sent her just because they were the same age?

Feeling like she was in the middle of a maze, Kine asked,

“What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Well, what could you need to do to be friends? If you’re seriously asking, I don’t have many friends myself, so I can’t give you an answer.”

“…Who said I was asking about how to make friends?!”

“Oh, wasn’t that what you meant?”

That smug smile always made her blood pressure rise. Kine let out a long sigh and replied in a deflated voice,

“The whole point was for me to enroll at Musaeion, right? That was the mission, and that’s when Bacchus would release the followers.”

“It’s not about releasing them as a reward for completing the mission. It’s about making sure your magic is strong enough to let the souls of the followers rest in peace.”

“Yeah, yeah. But now that I can’t go to Musaeion, I don’t know what to do.”

Orthes stroked his chin, the faint blue glow beneath his half-closed eyelids piercing into Kine.

“When I initially sought you out, it was for Musaeion, of course.”

For the first time, Orthes began to talk about his grand plan.

***

I explained various things to Kine.

Starting with how exceptional her talent was and that, because of it, the Black Dark Magic Tower would almost certainly extend an invitation to her.

I also outlined how she could climb the ranks within the Black Dark Tower by achieving research results and the methods she could use to do so.

“In the end, the role I hope you will play is to seize the **Spartoi** of the Black Dark Tower.”

“The soldiers made from the souls of priests, like the ones we saw at Elysion.”

“Yes. You are more suited than anyone to handle those spirits. But, you know—”

“You don’t have to enter the Ten Towers through Musaeion alone.”