Chapter 133: Proxy War (1)
Orthes could read that Carisia’s feelings were half in jest. The other half, as he expected, was mixed with frustration.
But it wasn’t the kind of anger he had anticipated.
What kind of state are you in?
They had agreed that if things got dangerous, they would call for each other.
The moment Carisia sensed the surge of magical energy from afar, she dropped everything and headed straight for the source of the explosion.
Only to find Orthes, covered in the aftermath of the blast, grinning as if nothing were wrong. While his usual demeanor brought her some relief, there was a tinge of irritation in her expression.
“Didn’t I tell you to call me if things got dangerous?”
It didn’t seem like he was hurt badly. At most, he might have some scratches. Still, it was a close call—a blast like that could have easily resulted in severe injuries if he had been caught in its full range.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m the one who set it off,” Orthes responded, giving a poor excuse.
Carisia, sharp as always, quickly pieced together what had really happened from his flimsy attempt to brush it off.
“So, it was an explosion you caused, huh? Seeing as you can’t use magic, there must have been a magician nearby. And considering the residual traces of multiple attributes, quite a few mages must have gathered just to chase you down.”
Damn.
Orthes inwardly cursed. Working under such an astute boss was truly a hassle.
“Boss, before we get into details, let’s change locations. Algoth City hasn’t finished its extra-dimensional containment efforts. While the Ten Towers did imply we could ‘kill each other if necessary’ by choosing this place as a testing ground, it wouldn’t be good for us to get caught on the very first day of the summons, especially before the real tests have even begun.”
Carisia stared at Orthes for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
They had gotten a little aggressive tonight in hopes of drawing out Argyrion, but the efforts yielded little result. If Argyrion had shown up, they could have turned the Ten Towers’ attention entirely onto them, but that hadn’t happened.
Grumbling at each other, Orthes and Carisia headed back to their accommodations on the outskirts of Algoth City.
When they arrived, the inn they had been staying at was in ruins. Half of the roof had been blown off, and underneath the wreckage, mages lay groaning, half-dead.
***
“I sent word! I warned you!”
Kine shouted, her voice filled with anger. She tried to grab my collar, but since she was too short to reach, she clutched at the hem of my shirt instead, her childish frustration evident.
“An ambush, huh?”
It wasn’t unexpected. In fact, that’s why I had assigned Kine to be here in the first place—to handle just such a situation. But even so, it had surpassed my expectations.
To think they’d attempt assassination before the official format of the trial had even been announced, during the prelude.
“Strange. I wouldn’t have thought they’d move this quickly,” I muttered to myself.
Kine, overhearing my words, looked up at me and met my gaze.
“You and the boss flipped Algoth City upside down, didn’t you?”
“Wait, why am I just ‘you’ and the boss gets ‘boss’?” I protested, a bit miffed.
Kine ignored my petty complaint. Well, considering Carisia was the top figure here, I guess it made sense. It seemed that old saying about children being perceptive was true.
“Well, yeah, the boss might’ve gone a bit overboard,” I admitted.
“Exactly. I don’t know who it was, but someone must’ve thought, ‘We can’t fall behind with all that noise they’re making.’ After all, we’re relatively unknown.”
Kine’s muttering had a certain weight of experience to it, despite her young age. It was likely knowledge she had picked up firsthand while wandering as a follower of Bacchus. When chaos erupts, the weakest are always the first to be devoured.
“You did well, though. Dark-attribute magic isn’t the best for direct combat, especially without a necromantic catalyst. But you adapted those curses beautifully.”
“Well, the thing is…” Kine trailed off, gesturing for me to lean closer.
When I bent down, she whispered, “I used the sacred doctrine of Bacchus to throw them into mental disarray and subdue them. But I’m not sure if that guy, Kynemon, noticed or not.”
Ah, the sacred doctrine of Bacchus, designed to lure people into a state of madness. It certainly paired well with curses that gnaw at the mind. Admiring the synergy of magic and the sacred doctrine, I responded to Kine.
“It’s fine.”
“Huh?”
“Whether he noticed or not doesn’t matter. In fact, it’s probably better if he did.”
“What?”
“I was planning on letting him know about it soon anyway.”
I had intended to get people from the Divine Cult involved. There was no way to keep it hidden forever.
“Kynemon isn’t the type to blindly follow authority. He might actually like this news.”
***
Kynemon’s expression was grim.
“You certainly have a rough way of handling your subordinates.”
Carisia didn’t reply. She simply let out a short ‘hmph,’ a noise that could have been either a sigh or a murmur of amusement as she surveyed the wreckage around her.
“I understand you’re trying to shake things up and influence the Tower Lord competition, and that you wanted to test my abilities in the process. However.”
Kynemon shot a glance at Kine.
“That child is one raised by Hydra Corporation, is she not? Leaving someone like her on a battlefield like this seems far too harsh for what’s supposed to be a mere trial.”
Finally, Carisia turned her gaze toward Kynemon.
Her mind raced. Truths and lies intermingled. What answer would make it easiest to keep this man under control?
‘Letting Kynemon continue to believe that this is all part of a planned trial by Hydra Corporation would probably be the most effective,’ she thought.
But…
She glanced at Orthes, who was speaking with Kine in the background.
There was a certain confidence she had in Orthes—almost a belief that no matter what she said, he’d manage to throw the situation into even greater confusion with just a single sentence. Trusting that instinct, Carisia decided to be honest.
“To be frank, we didn’t anticipate this. We’ve been focused on finding certain enemies, so we weren’t paying attention to our own allies. I apologize.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know the skills of your servant Orthes well. And it’s not just him, is it? You’re here too. How could you fail to protect yourselves from one mere ambush?”
“Well, that’s because Orthes was ambushed.”
“What…?”
“If you want the full story, you should ask him yourself,” Carisia said, gesturing toward Orthes.
Seeing the signal, Orthes began to walk over at a leisurely pace.
***
“Kynemon.”
Orthes looked around as he approached. The attackers had all been dealt with and lay unconscious or worse. There were no surveillance artifacts nearby, either.
Now, he could speak more openly.
“The situation in this city is getting complicated.”
“Complicated? How so?”
“Well, a suspicious creature that has lived for a very, very long time has secretly infiltrated the Tower Lord selection process.”
Kynemon’s brow furrowed. He suspected Orthes might be referring to himself with that description of a “creature that has lived for a very long time.”
“It’s quite dangerous, actually. Even with me here. And even if I borrow those ephemeral clones, there’s no guarantee we can deal with it.”
Kynemon was taken aback. He knew the level of destruction Orthes could cause when using his water clones. For Orthes to admit he might not be able to handle something implied that whatever they were dealing with was no ordinary creature.
“So, you were too preoccupied with this thing to pay attention to what was happening here?”
“I tried talking it down, but it decided to ignore me in the end.”
Kynemon immediately recognized the creature’s wisdom. The fact that it had cut off Orthes mid-conversation and avoided his poisonous words—only a truly clever being would do such a thing. An enemy with that kind of intelligence would be a serious threat.
“So, I called in an extermination team that specializes in dealing with things like that.”
Orthes’ phrasing was strange. The idea of a company that hunted creatures dangerous enough to stand against Orthes was bizarre.
Kynemon had long since retired from the problem-solver business, but if such an organization existed, he would’ve heard of it. And if they were part of the Mage Towers, they’d already be here competing in the Tower Lord selection.
“They’re not exactly the kind of people who can operate publicly.”
“…Surely you don’t mean?”
Dangerous names flashed through Kynemon’s mind. If Orthes had aligned himself with groups that would plan to burn the world down, it made sense.
“They call themselves the Divine Cult. You might know them as the most powerful sect of priests, often dismissed as superstitious zealots.”
Kynemon’s vision darkened. Now it made sense.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t there an incident where one of the elders of the Ten Towers was killed by Argyrion?’
The Ten Towers had blamed Argyrion’s ability to
kill an elder on the wicked methods of those “superstitious zealots.” And now Orthes was saying he had called in the most powerful of these priests to deal with a creature.
The implication was clear: the creature Orthes was talking about could very well be a Tower elder.
After all, who but an elder could have the power to slip out of Orthes’ grasp?
It was a strange but compelling conclusion.
‘Only an elder would be able to escape Orthes.’
And if Orthes was telling Kynemon this story, it meant only one thing…
Kynemon realized he had passed the test. He was now part of their plan to set the world ablaze.
“I understand. I’ll cooperate fully.”
“That’s what I expected from you! I knew we’d be on the same page,” Orthes said, laughing heartily and patting Kynemon on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Carisia, watching from the side as she fed Kine some chocolate, was thinking the same thing.
‘I didn’t even lie this time, not once…’
How did people get fooled so easily?
She wasn’t sure whether to sigh or laugh.
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