I Became the Narrow-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

On the way back after wrapping things up at the Pluton Great Temple, Carisia had analyzed Adoosiam’s core.

‘According to Carisia’s analysis, this golem… codenamed Adoosiam is sending distress signals to two targets.’

One is the Ten Towers, and the other is the minions of the Mage King, who are akin to golems.

Orthes suspected that the “Mage King’s minions” might be Argyrion.

The easiest way to prove this would be to tamper with Adoosiam’s internal circuits to send out another distress signal.

But for Orthes, that was not an option. For the time being, he had to play host at Hydra Corporation, and if Argyrion invaded Etna City, wouldn’t that draw unnecessary attention from the Ten Towers?

He couldn’t just conduct experiments in some remote location either. If Argyrion truly received the ‘distress signal,’ it was uncertain whether they would trust and rush over when a second or third signal was sent.

‘If the intrusion at the Pluton Great Temple was due to this signal, then the chances of using this signal again will be at best just once or twice.’

They would likely think that their distress signals had been leaked to the Ten Towers.

In fact, the moment the forces deployed at the Pluton Great Temple were annihilated, the signaling system would already have been compromised, and the next signal sent would likely be treated as a trap.

However, Orthes believed that Argyrion would fall for this signal bait once or twice.

From their perspective, the achievements from the battle at the Pluton Great Temple would shine like a hero’s legacy.

Generally, traps are dead ends, but paradoxically, traps are also places where the enemy’s forces get concentrated.

The moment a trap is trampled, it means the enemy’s overall plan can be toppled.

Argyrion, believing they have defeated a top-tier enemy like the Elder of the Ten Towers, might think it beneficial to purposely fall into a trap once or twice to crush the Ten Towers’ schemes.

Both the Ten Towers and Argyrion likely understand that to certainly take down Argyrion’s special ops unit, at least one Elder would have to be deployed. But deploying that level of manpower isn’t something one can do carelessly.

At most – though the term “at most” doesn’t really suit them – they’d have the elite combat mages from Panoptes form a blockade, which is the usual limit.

And Argyrion wouldn’t pass up the chance to take down a Panoptes veteran.

That’s why Orthes predicted ‘once or twice.’ Argyrion would likely be overconfident in their battle strength after defeating the Elder of the Ten Towers, but the actual situation would not be as favorable as they predict.

They might even face defeat in combat against Panoptes.

They could tolerate one tough fight or even one defeat. But if Argyrion has the proper mindset, the moment they face two unexpected outcomes in a row, the likelihood of them realizing their strength has been overestimated increases.

From that point on, they wouldn’t deliberately choose to fall into a trap. Unless, of course, they really prepared something groundbreaking.

Of course, Argyrion might not show up at all. No matter how heroic their achievement of taking down an Elder of the Ten Towers might be, if another Elder is lying in wait in a trap, there’s no guarantee they’d win again.

Above all, there was still no solid evidence that Argyrion had come because of the distress signal sent to the Mage King’s minions. There’s also the possibility that all these hypotheses could be discarded.

If that happens, the person in trouble is of course me.

If Argyrion doesn’t show up at all, how am I going to connect the Amimone Tower with Argyrion?

I had, of course, prepared a detour.

Under the name L13, I had already informed Salmosia that the distress signal sent by Adoosiam to the Mage King’s minions was assumed to be using their communication signal.

Now, whether Argyrion appears or not is no longer the issue.

As long as it’s known that this signal was sent from the Amimone Tower, Blasphemia will act accordingly.

“I can’t leave such an important task to others.”

I still couldn’t shake off the absurdity of Dimedes going on an assignment and meeting an untimely end. Considering how to respond at the scene if Argyrion really showed up, I was the best choice.

“I hope Kine’s magical prowess improves rapidly.”

I realized that expecting too much from a kid who had been gathered by Hydra for less than a year was unreasonable. I brushed off those thoughts and headed towards Carisia.

Surely, I should report on the travel plan.

*

Orthes just declared “I’ll be off!” without even bringing a travel plan. It felt rather cold, to be honest.

Carisia didn’t add anything to Orthes’s plan.

“Are you not taking the Elimination?”

Instead, she only left behind a worried piece of advice. Orthes shook his head cheerfully.

“If it were a reasonable situation, I’d take it. But this time, I’m going to uncover the ‘Artifact Concealment Charge’ or ‘Argyrion’s Traitorous Acts’ at the Amimone Tower, right?”

Saying he would ‘uncover’ rather than ‘concoct’ or ‘frame’ was a joke in Orthes’s style.

“But if by any chance I get inspected and it turns out the Elimination is an artifact, how troublesome would that be? I might be treated like a traitor by the Ten Towers.”

In a normal situation, Carisia would have insisted he take it, citing the recent Talo ambush, but even she couldn’t dismiss his excuse.

“You’re someone who’s far more likely to commit a proper betrayal than a hastily concocted betrayal like Artifact Concealment.”

I tossed the remark out, feeling a bit mischievous.

“This time, I’m going in my capacity as a Blasphemia inspector. I have to dress appropriately.”

Orthes brushed aside Carisia’s displeasure with a comfortable smile and added.

“Should a genuine traitor appear at the Amimone Tower, it might be useful for persuasion, but the chances of that are practically nil.”

After hearing Orthes’s words, Carisia pondered.

‘…A genuine traitor might appear.’

From her long experience, Carisia knew that most of Orthes’s schemes were planned with proof that wouldn’t be exposed until the end of the con.

Most of those damning pieces of evidence were crafted from correctly meshing the situations, but sometimes, a real thing would pop up to counter a fake.

What even Carisia couldn’t be certain of was whether Orthes had planned to fish out a real traitor using a fake as bait. The more she rationally and logically evaluated the situation, the more it seemed that such meticulous scenario manipulation was impossible without prior planning.

‘Sometimes he has a bit of a loose side, doesn’t he?’

In reality, Orthes preferred solving problems with brute force if things went sideways.

That sort of intricate con wasn’t exactly his forte.

‘This time, the initiation to corner the Amimone Tower was truly exquisite, but it’s likely just a byproduct of an unconscious action. If only he would use that good brain of his purposefully.’

Carisia’s evaluation of Orthes was remarkably similar to Orthes’s assessment of Carisia.

*

Carisia’s request to modify Adoosiam into an alert system for the Mage King’s comeback yielded meaningful results. First, it was made possible to turn off and on the power by adjusting the core’s circuits. Second, it was possible to control whether or not the ‘distress signal’ would be sent while powered on.

The final function was a mana supply control device. It was a feature prepared for the scenario when the Mage King returns and unlocks higher functions.

If the emergence of a higher authority holder causes the emergency command to shut down the power to fail, the plan was to physically disable the device to stop its activity.

‘It’s still not working as an alert system since I couldn’t decide on the most important part….’

To use this thing as a proper alert system, it would need to be set in a state where ‘communication with the Mage King is possible.’

In other words, it means that Adoosiam could pinpoint its location the moment the Mage King appears.

I still hadn’t found a place to store Adoosiam’s core. I needed a location that was far from Etna City, where Hydra Corporation was based, while also being able to recognize the core’s movements immediately. It seemed impossible to achieve that unless our company opened a branch there.

Arriving at Algoth City, where the Amimone Tower is located, I discreetly contacted Blasphemia.

Actually, ever since an artifact was discovered near the Amimone Tower, Blasphemia had been requesting my support. To prepare for Argyrion’s surprise attack aimed at supporting the Amimone Tower. I readily replied that I would gladly carry out Salmosia’s request and was able to connect with the field agent as soon as I arrived in Algoth City.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the field agent in charge of Algoth City was someone I knew.

“Oh, it’s you, senpai?”

“Niobe! Long time no see!”

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