Chapter 97 – An Unexpected Visitor (2)
Lampades’ mention of arriving “soon” was more of a formal courtesy. Visiting the territory of Orthes, the faceless figure who loomed in the shadows, required considerable preparation and resolve.
Given that this visit was connected to Astraphe’s future, Lampades was preparing even more thoroughly for the occasion.
The message Lampades had sent was akin to a quarterly business report, stating: “We are conducting such-and-such research and have achieved the following results. Please refer to the attached documents for the status of the disbursement of support funds.” It was far from an official meeting.
However, the situation had changed drastically.
An elder of the Silver Iron Magic Tower had been murdered. It wasn’t due to internal power struggles within the Ten Towers, nor was it an incomplete ascension attempt that caused the elder’s soul to evaporate.
The elder had been killed by Argyrion.
Everyone thought it was nonsense. No matter how bizarre and terrifying the power of the Eroders was, the Ten Towers, with their millennia-old history, were even more incomprehensible and unpredictable.
How could an elder, one of the highest in the hierarchy of the Ten Towers, be killed by a mere Eroder?
There were limits to spreading rumors. Such absurdity would likely backfire. Most people’s “rational” judgment was that this was a reckless attempt by Argyrion to undermine the authority of the Ten Towers.
But the world was not rational.
Photos of a silver giant were uploaded all over the Ether Network. Though posted anonymously, the mages sensed Argyrion’s shadow behind these anonymous users.
Several regular magic towers, closely allied with the Silver Iron Tower, confirmed that the elder, Talo, had disappeared.
The gaze of mages across the world focused on the Ether Network.
If the Ten Towers were to suppress this rumor by force, it would be tantamount to admitting the elder’s defeat.
The simplest way for the Ten Towers to quash the rumors would be to have Talo show up and demonstrate that he was alive and well.
But since the rumors of his death began, Talo had not appeared even once. After a few days of ominous silence, the Ten Towers made a rare official announcement.
It was a shocking statement, acknowledging that the elder of the Silver Iron Magic Tower had been killed in an attack by Argyrion.
The Ten Towers further revealed that Argyrion had allied with ancient cultists and declared that they would no longer treat Argyrion as a mere renegade faction.
They announced that Argyrion and all of their collaborators would be considered enemies of the mage society.
Suppressing the truth would have only sown more doubt, so the Ten Towers admitted Talo’s death. However, they couldn’t let Argyrion claim full credit for killing the elder.
Thus, they added the charge that Argyrion had formed a new alliance with the cultists who followed ancient superstitions. By introducing this additional allegation, they reduced the weight of their defeat and heightened the need to eliminate Argyrion.
This also served as justification for the large-scale investigation the Ten Towers were about to launch. They would not only target the magic towers exposed by Argyrion’s list but would also investigate any group possessing ancient relics.
Anything could be turned into a suspicion—”Is this relic of cultist origin?”, “Could this artifact have been supplied by Argyrion?”
The Ten Towers now held a weapon they could wield against any magic tower in the mage society.
When Lampades heard this, his blood pressure skyrocketed.
The Thunder Jewel that Orthes had practically forced onto him was infused with Argyrion’s technology.
No, it wasn’t just infused—it was entirely made from the monstrous creature that gave birth to Argyrion’s talents. Though it couldn’t be identified by appearance alone, if the Ten Towers conducted a thorough investigation and found it?
Lampades’ life-long dream of establishing his magic tower would disappear in a puff of smoke.
Tearing at his hair, Lampades muttered in despair.
“What kind of situation is this…?”
No matter how much he thought about it, holding onto the Thunder Jewel would spell disaster if the Ten Towers came knocking.
Fortunately, the timing of the Panoptes agents’ visit for the magic tower inspection could be predicted. The safest move would be to store the Thunder Jewel at the Hydra Corporation until the inspection was over, then retrieve it later.
However, things became complicated when Astraphe, the recipient of the Thunder Jewel, insisted on coming along as soon as she heard about the visit to the Hydra Corporation.
Lampades’ mind was spinning.
‘If Astraphe is there, the accuracy of the extra-dimensional radar demonstration will definitely improve. Even if Orthes is trying to search for something in the extra-dimension, he won’t easily dismiss us if we have Astraphe with us.’
Returning the Thunder Jewel alone might be seen as a sign to Orthes that he was refusing further cooperation.
With the Elysion incident delaying the process of joining the Musaeion, it might be better to come up with a cover, like sending Astraphe on an academic exchange, and hide both her and the Thunder Jewel for the time being.
After much deliberation, Lampades decided to allow Astraphe to accompany him.
***
Orthes personally greeted Lampades and his research team. After assigning each to their accommodations and reviewing the schedule that had been sent in advance, he requested a private meeting with Lampades.
‘The time has come…’
Lampades steeled himself.
With Orthes, nothing was too strange to be said.
He had hidden the existence of the Hydra Corporation and orchestrated Argyrion to assassinate one of the elders of the Ten Towers. Even if he now pulled out the ancient relics and said, “This time, the Ten Towers guessed right,” Lampades wouldn’t be surprised.
Orthes had always been one of the most dangerous types of apocalypticists. There were rumors that even other doomsayers who once worked with him had fled, terrified.
What would he discuss with him now?
‘Maybe he’ll talk about something constructive, like an academic exchange to help further Astraphe and Kine’s education.’
Lampades chuckled to himself. As if.
It seemed far more likely that Orthes would try to recruit him into some plot to overthrow the Ten Towers. Even if, by some chance, Astraphe turned out to be related to Orthes by blood, he didn’t seem like the type to easily give up his plans.
‘Yeah. Unless he’s offering to build an ark for surviving in the ruins after the mage society is destroyed…’
Suppressing his emotions, Lampades headed to the reception room where Orthes was waiting.
“Ah, Lampades. I’m sorry to trouble you like this.”
What was he going to say? The heavy tension began to rise.
Orthes brewed two cups of coffee, handed one to Lampades, and then broke the silence.
“Do you happen to have the contact information for some old friends?”
“What?”
You have friends?
…Lampades almost blurted this out, but his instincts kicked in, and he used every ounce of his self-control to paralyze his tongue. Orthes, seemingly oblivious to his shock, continued.
“Haha. You see, I’ve lost contact with some of the people I used to work with. It seems their numbers have changed. I need their help with something, though I feel a bit embarrassed to ask.”
Lampades recalled the rumors surrounding Orthes from their days as troubleshooters.
The word ‘friends’ didn’t seem to fit. Watching him throw himself into the most dangerous missions at the farthest edges of the extra-dimensional frontier, one could have mistaken him for a death-seeker.
At worst, he was a doomsayer.
He knew that some people had followed him, but they weren’t so much friends as ‘followers.’ And even those followers had disappeared without a trace.
“Do you remember Kynemon?”
Of course he did. In the troubleshooter world, everyone knew the apocalypticist.
He was the heir to a magic tower that had collapsed after its magical patents were stolen by the Regular Magic Towers. Many of those who became troubleshooters had similar stories, but rather than trying to reclaim his lost rights or improve his magic, Kynemon concluded that it would be better if the world just ended.
It was only natural that Kynemon, with his obsession with the extra-dimension, would be drawn to Orthes, who also roamed the dangerous borders of the extra-dimensional frontier.
But even Kynemon had long since vanished. Either Orthes had recruited him into his secret organization or eliminated him.
“I have something to ask him. He was an expert in extra-dimensions, after all.”
‘So Kynemon had been hiding from Orthes…!’
Lampades was just about to say he had no contact with Kynemon when Orthes began a phone call.
“Oh. Yes, boss. You say a Panoptes agent has arrived? Ah. Yes. Well, there’s nothing here that could be considered suspicious, so we volunteered for the purity inspection. It’s better to finish quickly.”
The news that the Panoptes inspectors had arrived.
Orthes’ certainty that there was ‘nothing suspicious on our side.’ Normally, the Panoptes inspectors would search only the Hydra Corporation, which had volunteered for the inspection, and leave.
But if Orthes reported that the visiting mage from Lampades’ magic tower seemed suspicious?
It was an indirect threat.
Orthes was essentially demanding that Lampades find Kynemon and bring him to him, knowing that Kynemon would only hide deeper if Orthes sought him directly.