I Became the Narrow-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

As Orthes opened the conference room door, he looked much more relaxed than before.

So, that’s what it looked like to Carisia. Others didn’t have the experience to detect the subtle change in his expression.

Again, Orthes, who stood behind Carisia, leaned in to whisper.

“I found a way. Argos is about to actively interfere with Blasphemia’s movements.”

Carisia maintained her poker face. That didn’t mean she wasn’t surprised.

It was just that it was nothing new for Orthes to return with ridiculous news after a brief outing.

“Please elaborate.”

Nodding, Orthes stepped forward with a shuffle. He operated the device, recognizing the data on the holographic projector in the center of the conference room.

A map floated in the air. Arabella recalled the terrain depicted on the map. A plain with no particular features. A few artifacts from the old era had been excavated.

But there was no magical value or sacred relics. Only pottery or sculptures giving a glimpse of ancient life; nothing significant enough to shake the academic world or auction houses.

“There are collaborators within Argos.”

What is he talking about?

Orthes’s words left the directors dumbfounded. The ongoing meeting was about the ‘increased difficulty of divine investigation due to Argos.’

If they’ve planted allies inside Argos, the very premise of the meeting would be turned upside down.

“Until now, it was uncertain how much help the collaborators could offer. Hence, it wasn’t considered a viable countermeasure, but I just received contact from them.”

Calm explanations followed. Orthes noted that the collaborators he knew had succeeded in dominating the public opinion within Argos, and serious conflicts were likely to arise between Argos and Blasphemia.

“The area visible on the screen is part of that ‘conflict.’ As you can see, it’s an empty area, but Argos will strongly insist that Blasphemia needs to inspect this location.”

It was a vast plain of uninhabited land, and even if Blasphemia used all available manpower, it would take at least ten days.

Arabella understood the situation. Even if the area seemed insignificant, there could still be ancient items uncovered, hence the request for inspection by Blasphemia, the expert group of that era.

“They’ll probably use the excuse of excavation plans from the Mage Tower related to Argyrion. It would be hard to refuse.”

Both Argos and Blasphemia knew full well that valuable artifacts wouldn’t be found in that plain. It was merely a ploy to mess with Blasphemia.

“We’ll proceed with as many divine investigations as we can during this period. I will update you with Argos’s deployment information as soon as possible, but I will not be accompanying you on-site this time.”

Since Dimedes’s untimely death, Orthes had always accompanied the directors on divine investigation tasks. Was that policy now overturned?

‘Has trust in the directors been somewhat restored?’

Arabella shook her head. The directors’ divine investigations had always been conducted under strictly controlled circumstances. Their ability to cope with unexpected situations had yet to be verified.

Unless the policy was altered by the directors, there must be a compelling reason for Orthes to step away.

“I believe I must attend a meeting with the ‘collaborators.’”

After months of performing various tasks including divine investigation since the establishment of Hydra Corporation, the directors thought they finally grasped the capabilities of Orthes and Carisia, who had unified Etna City.

Regardless of individual combat power, there were limits on a social level. Hence, they had not merely defeated the directors but also integrated them to refine their organization.

What individuals could accomplish and what groups could accomplish were different. It was efficiency in division of labor.

Yet Orthes had just displayed an achievement that far exceeded the scope of what an individual could do.

When on earth?

While monitoring divine investigations and going on formal trips, when did he have time to recruit inside Argos?

‘Is that even physically possible?’

It was an impractical time allocation. He wasn’t living each day as if it were 48 hours long.

Handling such spies wasn’t possible solely through systems. There was an inevitably needed procedure to directly meet and gauge their character and abilities.

As the leader of the information guild in Etna City, Arabella understood this better than anyone.

A subtle hint about Orthes’s identity resurfaced in her mind.

‘If a secret inspector disrupts Blasphemia’s operations, there’s only one reason: Blasphemia itself must be severely corrupted….’

Could Orthes’ collaborators be other inspectors from Blasphemia? Arabella glanced at Divius, who had once been in charge of body modifications in Blasphemia.

I should set a date to talk to him. Without knowing who we’re dealing with, it might drive me insane.

‘Using the board meeting as an excuse, I might shuffle a few tasks off my plate…’

Besides, I couldn’t bear the workload any longer.

Arabella was fully prepared to escape the impending tasks.

*

Before I left, I called Arabella to leave some instructions.

When I step away from the duties of overseeing divine investigations, who will present infiltration routes to the directors and coordinate the troops?

Arabella, equipped with flexible thinking and the ability to adapt while observing multiple locations via drones, was just the right person for the job.

After finishing a brief handover, I moved directly to meet Demus.

It was hard to guess what sort of place the ‘Great Temple’ referred to by the Divine Cult would be. But they were attempting to reclaim a key location using even Argos’s intel personnel, which must be a trump card for them.

It was a place worth checking out for sure.

“Welcome.”

Demus nodded as he spotted me. A few unfamiliar faces mingled around him.

*

“Oh, new faces!”

A narrow-eyed man, who called himself nobody (Utis), cast a curious glance over the priests.

The priest targeted by Utis felt as if he wasn’t merely being ‘looked at’ but ‘pierced through.’ A sensation as if the secrets hidden in his heart were being laid bare.

It felt the same when I met the bishop of Phoibos Proopsios before. There was something about the gaze of prophets that stirred one’s innermost feelings.

“You’re not participants in this meeting, right? Are you Demus’s brothers?”

I wasn’t really asking whether they were blood relatives. It was a question of whether they believed in the same god, the brothers in faith.

The priest of Enyalius flinched. With some thought, it became a straightforward deduction. Being priests accompanying Demus, it was easy to guess they followed Enyalius.

But the truth spoken by a prophet always felt so weighty.

Especially if it was Utis’s words, whom Demus introduced as “the most talented prophet I know.”

“Yes. But it’s best to watch your words.”

Demus pointed to the sky with his finger. The place they gathered was in the downtown area ruled by a mid-sized Mage Tower. The bustling noise of passersby often drowned out the voices of the cult, but the magical drones scattered by the Mage Towers to monitor the citizens were always a concern.

“Haha. Don’t worry. We’re always watching.”

Utis’s smile, which easily dismissed such worries, felt more eerie than reassuring.

Even if prophecies work differently from other sacred powers, did it mean they were always peeking into the future within the stronghold of mages?

“So, Demus, where are we headed?”

Demus surveyed the surroundings. With senses heightened by fighting spirit, he didn’t detect any drones or minions of mages nearby.

With confidence in his own senses and the tranquil assurance from the prophet, he opened his mouth.

“Close to the end of mythology. The last temple that resisted the Mage King, where the great temples gathered.”

“A sacred spot of authority where the cults can unite. The Temple of Aegio?”

A dangerous conversation that could lead mages to label us as mere followers of superstition at any moment. The complexion of the priests of Enyalius turned pale.

“…The twelve strongest cults including Aegio were also wary of the Mage King. So they attacked and defeated him first. The place where the cults gathered to resist until the very end was the Temple of Pluton.”

Hoo. Orthes sighed in admiration softly. It seemed I was about to visit the Temple of Pluton.

“Indeed. Pluton, who doesn’t belong to the twelve gods, but holds an equal stature, could certainly serve as a focal point of resistance. What about the other priests I saw at the meeting?”

“They are all heading out from different directions to lead their groups. They’ll enter by midnight.”

Orthes nodded. To deploy this many priests showed that the Divine Cult was placing significant expectations on this temple’s liberation.

“No matter how much Argos holds Blasphemia back, they can’t hide the divine power that will be unleashed once the temple is liberated. All seals must be removed, and relics retrieved within an hour.”

“I will take care of Bacchus’ share.”

Orthes casually stated he wasn’t interested, indicating that he would only gather the quota due to the last priest of the Bacchus cult he was protecting.

Demus shook his head.

“There will be relics from many minor cults gathered here as well. Let’s think about distribution later; we need to recover everything visible first.”

Orthes nodded with satisfaction.

It felt like I could already envision how many relics I could embezzle.

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