Chapter 101 – Messenger from the Past (1)
Orthes was an anomaly.
It wasn’t his magical standing in society that made him peculiar. He had no magical power, which barred him from even entering the realm of magic.
People like him, magicless individuals, were rare but existed in the lower echelons of society.
Even if someone like Orthes, who had absolutely zero mana, was uncommon, those with extremely low aptitude for magic—lacking the sensitivity or control to even perform basic spells—occasionally surfaced.
These societal dropouts often threw themselves into a profession known as “troubleshooting,” a line of work that deployed the cheapest resources to handle the most dangerous tasks.
Even as a troubleshooter, Orthes was an anomaly.
He mostly operated in the borderlands of the extra-dimensions.
There was no record of him anywhere before he appeared in those perilous zones.
Troubleshooters in the borderlands usually had two motivations: they either dedicated their lives to combat or had sold their lives to money—or both.
It wasn’t uncommon for a few troubleshooters, after enduring countless hardships, to launder their identities and live quietly in the borderlands where no one knew them. But Orthes was different.
He truly seemed like a man without a past. No matter the method, there was no trace of any “past” connected to him.
This was Orthes’ true anomaly.
Many rumors surrounded him. Some claimed he was a sorcerer from an ancient era who had drifted in the extra-dimensions and only recently returned. Others said he was a homunculus, or a sorcerer’s experiment in amusement.
But none of the rumors ever reached the truth of Orthes, and he eventually vanished after reportedly taking on a mysterious job.
Thus, Faceless Orthes was fated to disappear as nothing more than a piece of urban legend, a subject for idle gossip among troubleshooters.
Today was another such day—a rainy day, with colorful droplets of rain falling from five-colored storm clouds, soaking the seaside with their dissonant chorus.
Drinking a glass of liquor with the sea’s cacophony as background noise, one could reminisce about the past wounds, thinking, “It’s time to forget.”
At some point, all memories of the past would be forgotten, fading into the dull glow of nostalgic recollections. And like the liquor sliding down one’s throat, the memories would vanish.
At least, that’s what Kynemon had believed.
“Hey, Kynemon. Found you.”
***
Kynemon was startled, utterly taken aback. He had cut ties with everything and was living like a ghost in his hometown. So why now, suddenly?
“Orthes’ faceless messenger!!”
Lampades’ face contorted in displeasure at the title, clearly not thrilled with it.
But what could he do? It was the truth. While Lampades had reasons to follow Orthes, he wasn’t exactly Orthes’ disciple.
Lampades had gained a reputation for always trailing after Orthes. He also served as the intermediary for negotiations with other troubleshooters in Orthes’ stead.
On the surface, it appeared as though Lampades, the amicable troubleshooter, was simply looking out for the socially awkward Orthes. But Kynemon wasn’t fooled.
To him, Lampades was undoubtedly Orthes’ most loyal subordinate. After all, during a ruin excavation assignment where both Lampades and Orthes were involved, only the two of them had survived. What else could that mean?
Of course, Kynemon’s assumption was wrong. Orthes simply didn’t like people staring at his face, so he paid Lampades to handle negotiations on his behalf.
Still, that little detail wasn’t known to the troubleshooter industry, and Lampades had no interest in clarifying it.
“Why do people call me that? Orthes’ friend, Kynemon.”
“Friend? You think—!” Kynemon began to shout but quickly deflated. At one point, he had indeed considered Orthes his friend. Back when he thought they were kindred spirits.
Before he saw the bottomless madness hidden behind Orthes’ half-closed eyes and fled in fear, he truly believed that Orthes was his comrade in revolution…
With a bitter laugh, Kynemon slumped into his chair.
“Fine. Lampades, is it Orthes? Has your master come looking for me?”
“I’ve warned you before about your choice of words. Still playing with fire?” Lampades snapped his fingers, and sparks crackled in the air as his hair stood on end. The antenna-like implants attached to his pointed elf-like ears adjusted the current coursing through him.
Kynemon gauged the intensity of Lampades’ magic. It wasn’t a battle stance, just intimidation.
If Lampades had come here intending to fight, he would’ve completed his spell and attacked immediately, without bothering to snap his fingers. Any troubleshooter who survived the extra-dimensional frontlines had that level of speed.
Kynemon raised his hands, signaling he had no intention to fight.
“Whether Orthes is your master or not, it seems he’s sent you. What does he want?”
Though he asked the question, Kynemon already had a pretty good idea. It was likely related to the relic they had unearthed—the one that had caused their falling out.
“He says there’s something he wants from you.”
“Ah…”
Kynemon sighed. So Orthes had come to reclaim that relic after all.
“He says he’s prepared ample compensation.”
“No compensation could be enough for that thing.”
“I don’t know what it is, and I don’t care. My job is just to bring you to Orthes.”
Kynemon let out a deep sigh before speaking again.
“Do you even know what relic Orthes is after?”
“I don’t care. All I know is that I have to deliver you to Orthes.”
Lampades’ resolve was evident, his determination as firm as Orthes’ had once been during their days as troubleshooters. No matter how Kynemon resisted, it seemed Lampades was intent on returning the relic to Orthes.
At the same time, Lampades’ demeanor betrayed a hint of reluctance. It seemed he wasn’t following Orthes out of loyalty, which surprised Kynemon, who remembered a more committed Lampades.
‘If I tell him the truth, he might waver.’
If he was doomed either way, at least he could die after saying his piece.
Kynemon gestured toward the door.
“Come in, let’s talk.”
Lampades cautiously entered, still on guard. Kynemon didn’t seem to be activating any hidden magic circles or enchanted devices. He was far from the man Lampades remembered from their troubleshooting days.
“Do you know why I broke ties with Orthes?”
“No.”
Once inside, Kynemon closed all the doors and began fiddling with the control panel. After some complex button presses and a pull of a lever, there was a low rumble in the living room.
It was the sound of a secret door opening under the carpet.
“You live in quite a roundabout way. Why bother with such a manual security system instead of using magic?”
“Because Faceless Orthes can see everything.”
Lampades didn’t ask what it was that Orthes could see. He had a vague understanding that Orthes’ faintly glowing eyes could perceive mana.
‘But to go this far, to set up a purely non-magical security system?’
Amid his confusion, Lampades descended into the basement. In the center of the hidden room was the relic Kynemon had guarded for years.
“…?”
But the relic didn’t look like something worth Orthes’ obsession or Kynemon’s anxiety.
“Am I seeing this right?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
In the middle of the room was a transparent container holding some liquid. Inside the liquid was a ring attached to a lid.
“It’s a bubble wand.”
‘Has this guy lost his mind?’ Lampades’ face grew serious.
Ignoring Lampades’ confusion, Kynemon carefully approached the bubble wand. He delicately removed the lid and drew out the ring.
Then, with great caution, he gently blew into it.
Lampades, who had been muttering behind him about how crazy this man was, gasped in shock immediately after.
The moment the tiny bubble popped, everything in front of it disappeared.
A gust of wind blew through the basement as the air rushed to fill the sudden vacuum where matter had been erased.
Lampades saw that a circular portion of the stone wall had vanished. It wasn’t eroded or damaged—it had simply disappeared.
“This is the weapon of destruction Orthes and I found in a ruin deep in the extra-dimension.”
“A relic that erases whatever is reflected in the bubble?”
Kynemon nodded solemnly. He recalled Orthes’ words when they had first discovered this terrifying weapon.
While Kynemon had rejoiced, believing he finally had the power to bring down the magic towers, Orthes had coldly whispered:
‘I have no interest in such a thing.’
Disturbed by the obsession and madness in Orthes’ eyes, Kynemon had abandoned his dreams of revolution and run away.
Lampades swallowed hard. What kind of chaos could Faceless Orthes unleash with such a weapon?
What did he plan to do with a bubble that could erase reality?
***
“So, what will you do when this friend of yours, Kynemon, arrives?”
“First, I’ll hand him a keyboard and have him type out a list of all the magic towers that have likely violated the relic ban. We’ll figure out how to loot them as we go.”
It’ll probably take at least a month to meet Kynemon, but by then, I’m sure I’ll have come up with a couple of good ideas. Orthes chuckled.