A soft voice. However, the tension rose inversely to the gentleness of the tone.
It’s not a bad thing that Carisia is looking for me.
If only I had answered her request in time. I feigned a smile and brushed off my employer’s tardiness reprimand.
“Haha. Things turned out this way.”
“Like that?”
…I tried to brush it off.
“I’m sure I said I’d go early and come back early this time. But I returned only after an entire city was engulfed by an extradimensional storm and the Proper Tower’s Tower Master fell.”
Carisia’s lips were curved into a smile, but there was no warmth in her tone.
“That’s why I told you to take the crystal of Phobos.”
An unclear statement—was it lament or reproach? I pulled out an appropriate excuse.
“But Chairman, the crystal didn’t really warn of any particular danger….”
Had Carisia seen something truly dangerous through the crystal—like the chaos at the Pluto Temple where two or more elders of the Ten Towers launched an assault—I would have rushed there, setting everything aside.
She left me dozens of messages asking about my well-being but didn’t come herself, confirming this fact. Carisia wasn’t the type to easily let someone as efficient as me fall into others’ hands.
Somehow, upon hearing my words, Carisia’s gaze grew even colder.
“Relics aren’t omnipotent, are they?”
“Rest assured. Even without relics, I am omnipotent.”
“……”
A strict silence descended between Carisia and me. It was supposed to be a joke. Soon, sighing, Carisia flicked her finger—a gesture telling me to come sit closer.
“So. You said you had to see Cnemon first before coming to me. What did you talk about?”
This was a sign that she’d let things slide for now. Strange. I haven’t done anything wrong, yet I feel suffocated for some reason.
“I’ve already dealt with the salary issue. Due to some emergencies in Algus City, I couldn’t fully prepare the compensation for him.”
Carisia slowly listened to Ortes’ explanation. Argeyirion had gone mad, triggering an extradimensional storm, and using that event, Danao was framed as a collaborator of Argeyirion. This manipulation swayed public opinion within Blasphemia, fabricated documents, and ultimately allowed Danao to participate in the Amimone Magic Tower Master election.
“The most helpful part was when Danao personally handed over control of the magic core to Gorgoph. Even if testimonies were secured through dreams shown to other collaborators, without such concrete evidence, it would have been difficult to perfectly deceive Blasphemia.”
With her hands clasped under her chin, Carisia thought.
Perhaps, if she just hired Ortes into the Ten Towers and ignored him for a couple of months, the Ten Towers might collapse?
Of course, logically, this was impossible. But the suspicious half-closed-eyed man standing before her, who secretly seemed thrilled while boasting about his carefully prepared schemes, was one of the least rational people she knew.
After quietly listening to Ortes’ bragging, Carisia finally spoke. From the moment she began hearing the details,
“So, what happened with Argeyirion?”
There were points that needed clarification. An extradimensional storm arose, and Argeyirion appeared. At this juncture, Carisia felt an ominous premonition.
“That Argeyirion summoned the extradimensional storm. The ability to move between contaminated zones using the storm is all true. Apparently, some entity that infiltrated them revealed such magic.”
Though typically referred to singularly as “the Entity,” these beings beyond dimensions were not singular. Just as the gods of this world are not one, the entities of the extradimensional realm were not unified wills or vertical societies but rather many individuals with distinct intentions.
Most extradimensional entities view this world as mere sustenance. Instead of understanding individual humans or societal cultures, they mostly aim to break dimensional barriers and savor the world.
The indiscriminate destruction caused by the invaders stems from these extradimensional entities’ tendencies. However, the entity behind Argeyirion looked very, very different.
Carisia reassessed Argeyirion’s abilities. If they were receiving such direct ‘sponsorship’ from an extradimensional entity in some form, judging their capabilities based on Blasphemia agents’ standards from the past would be inadequate.
Since the time of the Golden Desert Operation, Carisia’s magical prowess had changed significantly. While the quantity and output of her magic remained similar, its depth had evolved.
During the period when she was chased immediately after awakening her self-consciousness in the White Light Tower, she had no time to consolidate the latent magical knowledge within her. Back then, the only attack she could perform was brute-force beams proportional to the amount of magic she poured in.
Now, having evaded Blasphemia’s pursuit alongside Ortes and gained the leisure to focus inward, Carisia was gradually embodying the knowledge within her. Strange magics like the instant-d*ath spell she tested in Elysion were applications of this knowledge.
Among the people of this era, excluding the Ten Towers’ Tower Masters, Carisia was the magician who knew the most about magic. Perhaps even including the Tower Masters.
However, extradimensional phenomena were beyond the scope of even her inner wisdom.
Ortes, as he himself admitted, was nearly omnipotent. Yet, as foreseen by the prescience of Phobos’ crystal, should he become entangled in truly extraordinary events, even he could be in danger.
Carisia deeply disliked the idea that her Ortes might face such dangers.
Tap. Tap. Carisia’s index finger began tapping the table. Ortes, sitting directly across from her, started feeling like a job applicant facing an interviewer.
“It won’t do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need to step in now.”
Hydra Corp’s middle management thought.
If we don’t know what they’ll do, why not just k*ll them beforehand?
Carisia’s declaration was chilling. I don’t know which point of this matter irritated Carisia, but does this mean it’ll be hard for me to get more work?
If she told me during normal times that I no longer needed to work, I would have gladly welcomed it with open arms, but the situation now feels highly significant.
A cold premonition crept over me that I might be getting fired.
“Eh, Chairman. Isn’t it enough that I handle the grunt work and deal with the apprentices alone?”
“Isn’t it true that every time you go on business trips alone, unexpected situations arise? Instead of worrying unnecessarily, I’ll just follow from the start.”
I mulled over Carisia’s words, finding them slightly difficult to understand.
“So… you’re saying you want to accompany me on the trip?”
Carisia lightly nodded.
“For the time being.”
This was far more terrifying than being fired.
Carisia briefly massaged her temples before casually posing a question.
“Regarding the Magic Tower Master election where Cnemon will participate, do you plan to help him?”
“Ah, yes. The reward was for the position of Tower Master, not the candidate for it.”
At Carisia’s snap of her fingers, several holographic images appeared on the table. Upon closer inspection, they were articles summarizing the factions of the Amimone Magic Tower.
“…”
The news that the vacant Proper Tower Master position would be passed to one of the faction members spread rapidly. Likewise, forces seeking to acquire Amimone Magic Tower’s vision by aligning themselves with one of the candidates or manipulating them from behind the scenes grew exponentially.
“Cnemon’s reward wasn’t your personal promise but Hydra Corp’s. I also think it’s proper to do my best to fulfill it.”
Carisia separated candidates other than Cnemon based on certain criteria. Most classifications were according to the size of the ‘backers’ who selected the candidates.
From the neatly organized information, I could sense Arabel’s late-night efforts.
“The competition among factions in the Ten Towers will likely be decided, to put it bluntly, by their backers—or more elegantly, investors. And Argeyirion, if 100 cases exist, will interfere in the Tower Master election as an investor in 99 of them.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Upon hearing my question, Carisia simply stared at me blankly. After a few seconds of silence, I finally understood her intent.
“Because of me?”
“Didn’t Sprigo say that Haltos was confident the situation in Algus City was due to you?”
I nodded. How could Haltos randomly conclude such things without any evidence?
“Then it’s highly probable that the Amimone Magic Tower Master election occurred under your influence.”
“No, how could that be?”
This was pure speculation, wasn’t it? While it’s true I influenced this situation to some extent, to make such a judgment without any clues pointing to my existence is proof of insanity.
Despite my efforts to leave no trace, I now worry about being tracked by some obsessive stalker. How unjust is that?
Carisia crushed my sense of injustice in a single sentence.
“Wouldn’t you think the same way if you were me?”
