NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43
“This came from Sikton’s brain.”
Divius showed what looked like a squirming pile of thin threads. Was this the distorted appearance of a parasitic worm from a horror story I heard long ago?
The peculiar thing was the color. It shone with a silver light.
“That’s silver.”
“Just silver? Precious metal silver?”
“Right. Silver used as a magic catalyst or to make ornaments.”
“Is it like the brain-hacking device used in Silver Iron Tower?”
“No magic can be felt at all. Yet, it just… moves. It’s like magic.”
It wasn’t a positive kind of ‘magical.’ It referred to an abnormal phenomenon, a term used to describe something that couldn’t be explained.
Something that wasn’t magic but was similar in nature. There were many abilities comparable to magic, like fighting spirit or holy power, but they had all faded into the background. If a mage called it ‘something magical’ at this point, there was only one answer.
“It’s an extra-dimensional product.”
Divius nodded.
“It seems to have crawled into the brain and manipulated emotions and perceptions. Dimedes’ brain is the same. While Bacchus’s holy power might have used it to get them drunk and disarmed….”
The mechanical hand hanging from the doctor’s waist stretched out and brought a glass tube containing Dimedes’ corpse.
“A small silver fragment was found in this individual’s brain too. The other chimeras seem to have completed the brainwashing just with the holy power, but it seems Dimedes resisted to the end and had this silver thread inserted.”
I felt an urge to sigh. Was Bishop Sikton also a kind of eroder? Lately, it seemed we were hearing a lot about eroders, like the traitors from Blasphemia.
“So there was an eroder hiding in the cult. This is an ominous sign.”
“It’s ambiguous to call Sikton an eroder. There are no extra-dimensional waves in his body. Sikton himself probably received this injection from an eroder.”
I understood why Sikton desperately wanted to open the door to the extra dimension. Wasn’t he actually given a command to create a passageway connecting to the extra dimension?
An eroder using other beings to scheme. Quite a clever move. The traitors from Blasphemia had exhibited just such a behavior pattern.
“Have any guesses?”
Oh no.
My contemplation was brief. I couldn’t make such an important decision alone.
“I’ll consult the boss first and then get back to you.”
Normally, sharing classified documents required the superior’s approval.
*
“There’s something we need to discuss. Please come to the room once confirmed.” It was a message from Orthes.
Even though it was Etna City filled with choking volcanic ash and there was no refreshing morning sunlight, Carisia felt extremely invigorated.
After finishing her washing and grooming as quickly as possible, she headed to the adjoining room. Orthes was seated at his desk, checking news from the ether network with a hologram projector embedded in his gauntlet.
“Oh, boss.”
“You seem to be enjoying work these days? Calling me in on your day off.”
Orthes’s mouth twitched slightly. That was his reaction when he was about to say, “What on earth are you talking about?” but stopped.
However, Carisia didn’t pay much attention to Orthes’s demeanor.
When they were alone, he might complain about not wanting to work, but in the end, he was the one handling the most challenging tasks of Hydra Corporation.
“I reported on Blasphemia earlier and mentioned the ‘rebels.’ Do you remember?”
“The participants of the Golden Desert Operation. So you’re saying the agents who fell into the extra dimension during the fight with us have returned as eroders?”
“There was an extra-dimensional brainwashing device implanted in Sikton’s brain. It’s presumed to be the work of an eroder.”
Carisia understood everything, even the parts that Orthes didn’t need to elaborate on.
The elite forces of Blasphemia who participated in the Golden Desert Operation were secretly working to open the door to the extra dimension.
Orthes went on to reveal the secrets about the Divine Cult that he had heard from Sikton. Information that couldn’t yet be disclosed in front of the directors.
After hearing everything, Carisia nodded.
“For now, that’s good news. Let’s hold off on informing the directors for a bit.”
“Is this really good news?”
“We have two new enemies against the Ten Towers. We might execute the plan to destroy White Light even earlier.”
Carisia started to twirl a lock of her hair with her right hand. It was a habit she had when deep in thought. As her index finger wrapped around her hair more than five times, she opened her mouth.
“Using the Artificial Ten Commandments as a bomb against the White Light Tower—”
“Absolutely not.”
Orthes sharply interrupted Carisia’s statement. It was a demeanor neither of them would show in official Hydra Corporation settings.
“I was joking.”
“It didn’t sound like a joke to me.”
Having deflected the tension with humor, Carisia began calculating the situation calmly. Since Orthes was disguised as a secret inspector, the information about the Blasphemia traitors had made its way into the Ten Towers.
The traitors couldn’t have reached a consensus, as their originally agreed-upon branch head had not shown up, so they would have likely realized their plan had been exposed.
If it were an ordinary eroder, bent on destroying everything, there was a high chance they wouldn’t be capable of such calm reasoning. But the Blasphemia traitors seemed to maintain a considerable level of rationality…
“When does the Ten Towers usually get the busiest?”
“They get busiest during trans-Mage Tower events. Recently, it would be the Mage Tower establishment practical test happening in Elysion.”
“That’s when they’ll come.”
A brief yet crucial sentence that eliminated all essential explanations. That alone sufficed for understanding between the two.
The traitors were weak compared to all the Ten Towers’ strength. Therefore, they would likely commit some shocking act, like a terror attack, to distract them during the busiest time for the Ten Towers.
The perpetrator of the terror would likely be a pawn implanted with some directive, like Sikton. Even if they managed to find the agent who created the puppet, they would have already erased their memories to prevent tracing back to the traitors’ true base.
“Was Sikton a sort of rehearsal for the puppet to be used in that terror? Killing two birds with one stone while the Blasphemia agent came to investigate Bacchus’s cult?”
Carisia’s reasoning wrapped up like that.
“…Should we hold off on attending?”
Orthes cautiously asked. Carisia shook her head.
“Let’s go. We need to see the Ten Towers’ formidable prowess at least once. You contact the individual you intended to recruit as soon as we arrive.”
Nodding, Orthes took out a crystal relic from his possession. As it lay on the table, Carisia pushed it back again.
The two of them pushed the relic back and forth a few times.
Orthes and Carisia then stood, raising their respective hands.
The shapes of the hands they thrust forward silently were different. Orthes spread his five fingers wide. Carisia made a tight fist.
“…You cheated, didn’t you?”
Until now, Carisia had never won against Orthes in rock-paper-scissors. Orthes shrugged.
“Regardless, the crystal relic should belong to you, boss. If I won fair and square, that’s only natural, and if I won by trickery, wouldn’t it be more dangerous for someone who didn’t realize that?”
*
Kine tried her best to calm her racing heart. It had already been two days since she was trapped in this sickroom.
The food coming out was bland but neatly arranged; however, she couldn’t even bring herself to touch it as she found it hard to guess what was actually inside.
She still hadn’t met those narrowed-eyed individuals again since the first day. Kine vowed firmly that when they met again, she wouldn’t waver.
Giiiing-
The door that had been closed opened with a mechanical noise. Behind it was the very same narrowed-eyed man.
‘Who is it…?’
In front of the man stood a beautiful woman with white hair. In her well-pressed black suit contrasting with her white hair, she carried an imposing presence that seemed to intimidate people.
“Boss. This is Kine.”
Boss. Kine rolled that word around in her mouth.
So then…
‘Is that person above the narrowed-eyed guy?’
“Nice to meet you, Kine. First, please take a look at this.”
The boss sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed and handed over a stack of papers. There were complicated characters scribbled all over.
Though Bacchus’s cult was a vagabond, that didn’t mean they were lacking in knowledge. Kine could easily read the first part of the document.
“Scholarship application?”
She read the next paragraph. Hydra Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Company. Scholarship applicant, hereinafter referred to as applicant.
Under the definition of the words was a densely written account of what ‘Hydra Corporation’ could offer to Kine herself.
“What does this mean?”
Even knowing the identity of this contract, Kine questioned it. It was a devil’s contract. It was the will of solidifying the agreement made yesterday.
Her questioning now was a pitiful resistance to delay that moment just a little longer.
*
‘Sign it quickly. Quickly.’
I cheered for Kine’s resolve.
Kine’s potential had already been proven. In just one year, she could blossom into a talented mage.
If that were to happen, then the divine investigation work would be entirely…!
I envisioned a happy future and quietly cheered.