Rampades’ “soon” was actually more of a ritual expression. Visiting the region where the faceless Orthes lingered required considerable preparation.
Since it was related to Astraphe’s future, a more thorough setup was planned for the visit.
The contact sent this time was akin to a quarterly business performance report stating, “We are conducting this research and have achieved that result, so please refer to the following documents regarding the status of grant allocations.” It was far from the preliminary work for an official meeting.
However, the situation changed rapidly.
The Elder of the Silver Iron Tower was murdered. It wasn’t a power struggle within the Ten Towers, nor a soul evaporated from an incomplete ascent.
Argyrion killed the Elder of the Ten Towers.
Everyone thought it was nonsense. No matter how bizarre the powers of the Eroders might be, the strength of the Ten Towers, built over thousands of years, was even more extraordinary and unpredictable.
How could the Elder, at the top of the hierarchical order of the Ten Towers, be killed by a mere Eroder?
There’s a limit to spreading rumors. Such absurd gossip would only lead to a backlash. Most reasonable judgments considered it a desperate move by Argyrion to shake the authority of the Ten Towers.
But the world wasn’t rational.
Pictures of the Silver Giant were uploaded across the Ether network. Of course, they were anonymous, but the mages could sense Argyrion’s shadow behind that anonymity.
Reports emerged that the Elder Talo, closely tied to the Silver Iron Tower, had gone missing in several Apex Towers.
The gazes of many mages fixated on the Ether network.
If the Ten Towers began deleting that rumor and suppressing the news, it would be akin to admitting the Elder’s defeat.
The Ten Towers had a simple way to suppress the rumors. They could send Talo out to showcase his well-being.
However, Talo hadn’t shown his face since the death rumors started circulating. After several days of ominous silence…
The Ten Towers, unusually, made an official announcement.
It began with the shocking admission that the Elder of the Silver Iron Tower had been killed by an attack from Argyrion.
They revealed that Argyrion was in league with the ancient followers of superstition and declared that they would no longer treat Argyrion as just a mere traitorous faction.
It was a declaration that all of Argyrion and its collaborators would be treated as public enemies of the magical society.
Rather than suppressing the facts, the Ten Towers admitted Talo’s death. However, they couldn’t allow it to be known that Argyrion had single-handedly defeated the Elder.
Thus, they imposed a new accusation against Argyrion of joining forces with the followers of superstition. Coupling it with the wicked schemes of heretics from ancient times lessened the weight of their defeat and heightened the necessity for Argyrion’s eradication.
At the same time, this provided justification for the massive investigation the Ten Towers would conduct in the future. It aimed to scrutinize not only the towers named in Argyrion’s exposé but every group possessing relics.
No matter what, if someone held an ancient artifact, it could be claimed, “Could it be an artifact derived from the followers of superstition?” or “Is it an artifact supported by Argyrion?”
The Ten Towers now held a ticket to wield over every tower in the magical society.
Upon hearing this news, Rampades’ blood pressure spiked dramatically.
The Thunder Orb, which Orthes had almost coerced him into taking, was infused with Argyrion’s technology.
In fact, it wasn’t just an infusion; it was a monster that birthed Argyrion’s gifts melted down entirely. On the surface, it might not look like much, but what if it fell into the Ten Towers’ deep audit?
Rampades’ lifelong dream, the Mage Tower, would vanish into thin air.
Clutching his head, Rampades muttered helplessly.
“What kind of ridiculous situation is this…?”
No matter how he thought about it, possessing the Thunder Orb now could spell the end for Rampades’ Mage Tower if it fell into the Ten Towers’ hands.
Fortunately, he could somewhat predict when the auditors from Panoptes would send personnel for the Mage Tower audit. The best course of action would be to store the Thunder Orb back at Hydra Corporation and retrieve it after the audit was done.
However, the one stepping in here was Astraphe, the very person who received the Thunder Orb as a gift. Upon hearing that Rampades was visiting Hydra Corporation, she had actively expressed her desire to join.
Rampades’ mind became cluttered.
“If Astraphe comes along, the accuracy of the extra-dimensional radar demonstration will definitely increase. While I don’t know why Orthes is looking to search for something extra-dimensionally, he won’t be able to dismiss her easily.”
Just returning the Thunder Orb could signal to Orthes that he was “refusing any further cooperation.”
Due to the Elysion incident, the incorporation procedures into Museion had been somewhat delayed. It might be a decent choice to attach a rationale like studying at the Mage Tower and sneak Astraphe and the Thunder Orb away together…
After much deliberation, Rampades permitted Astraphe to accompany him.
*
Orthes personally welcomed Rampades and his research team. After assigning their respective lodgings and reiterating the written schedule, he requested a private meeting with Rampades.
‘Here we go…’
Rampades steadied his heart.
Orthes was the kind of being with whom any words would seem natural.
Hiding Hydra Corporation thoroughly, he had moved Argyrion to ultimately kill a Ten Towers’ Elder. Even if he pulled out ancient relics and said, “This time, the Ten Towers got it right,” Rampades wouldn’t be surprised.
After all, wasn’t Orthes among the most dangerous factions of doomsday cultists? There were rumors that even other doomsday cultists who had once shared paths with him fled in fear.
What kind of conversation would he call him for?
‘Maybe it’s a constructive conversation about exchanging plans to enhance the studies of the two kids, Kine and Astraphe.’
Rampades involuntarily let out a dry chuckle. No way.
It was far more likely that he would be coerced into joining the plan to overthrow the Ten Towers. Even if, by some chance, Astraphe and Orthes were related, it didn’t seem like Orthes would easily give up on his plans.
‘Right. It might be more feasible for him to create an ark for us to live in after we destroy the magical society…’
Suppressing his emotions, Rampades headed toward the drawing room where Orthes awaited.
“Ah, Rampades. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
What was he going to say? A heavy tension was steadily rising.
Orthes brewed two cups of coffee, handed one to Rampades, and then spoke up.
“Do you happen to have contact information for old friends?”
“What?”
You have friends?
…The words almost escaped his mouth, but Rampades, with superhuman reflexes, managed to paralyze his tongue with tension. Orthes, seemingly oblivious to Rampades’ bewilderment, continued.
“Haha. It seems all my friends from the Troubleshooter days have changed their contact info, so I haven’t heard from them. I hate to trouble you, but I could use their help.”
Rampades recalled Orthes’ stories from his Troubleshooter days.
The word “friend” didn’t quite fit him. His image, driven by something, thrusting himself into the most dangerous tasks on the frontiers of extra-dimensional realms, would be deemed suicidal by any sympathetic view.
Negatively, or objectively, he was a doomsday cultist.
He knew there were followers trailing Orthes without him knowing it. Rather than friends, the word “followers” suited those people. But those groups had also vanished after a while.
“Knemon, do you remember him?”
Of course, he remembered. He was a well-known doomsday cultist in the Troubleshooter industry.
The heir of a Mage Tower that had fallen after losing its magical patent to the Apex Tower. Among those pushed into the Troubleshooter business, it was a common story, but instead of regaining his patent or honing his magic, he would wish for the world to just end.
It was almost natural that Knemon, with his dangerous obsession with extra-dimensionality, would be drawn to Orthes, who rummaged through the extra-dimensional frontiers…
However, even Knemon had long since vanished. Had he been absorbed into Orthes’ secret organization or eliminated by him?
“I have something to ask him. He was an extra-dimensional expert, right?”
‘Did Knemon run away from Orthes…?!’
Just as Rampades was about to answer that he had never been in contact with Knemon and didn’t know him at all…
Orthes began to make a phone call.
“Ah. Yes, Boss. You say a Panoptes agent is visiting? Ah, yes. We have nothing that could be deemed suspicious on our side. So, we volunteered for a purity check. It’s best to wrap it up quickly, right?”
The news that Panoptes’ auditors had stormed in.
A note of certainty that “We have nothing suspicious on our side.” Originally, the auditors dispatched from Panoptes would only search Hydra Corporation, which volunteered for the inspection.
But what if Orthes reported that the external mage visiting their tower was suspicious?
It was an indirect threat.
If Orthes himself went after Knemon, it was clear that Knemon would hide even deeper, so Rampades was to find him and bring him before him.
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