Chapter 50

Niobe felt a sense of relief at the firm order given by Rank L13.

She had not even been out of the Blasphemia training camp for a year. Though she had shed some of her rookie appearance, making on-the-ground decisions in such large-scale operations still weighed heavily on her.

In this situation, a reliable superior officer appeared.

Whether it was during the fight with Branch Chief Nardanit or when he instantly took down the deranged Elysion guard—his skills as a secret inspector were truly deserving of his reputation.

‘If I stay by this person’s side, even if we fail the mission… I won’t die, right?’

Niobe’s sense of burden lifted, and her mind grew calm.

Ortes felt a serious sense of pressure from Niobe’s bright gaze directed at him.

‘What am I supposed to do about this?’

After knocking out an apocalyptic cultist who was causing chaos on the Museion admissions office road, he hadn’t expected Niobe to show up.

‘Considering the surveillance cameras spread throughout Elysion… No, that’s not it. Argeyirion and Ten Towers are continuously fighting over broadcast lines. About half of Elysion’s electronic systems are likely compromised.’

The most convenient method for the Ten Towers to track down Argeyirion operatives infiltrating the city would be through CCTV footage.

Elysion is one of the cities in this world with the densest surveillance networks.

Even if they entered via alternate routes instead of the main gates, once stepping foot into Elysion, their actions would inevitably leave traces on video recordings. Given that key members of Argeyirion were former Blasphemia agents, all their personal information, including appearances, must have been secured by the Ten Towers.

Using elemental intelligence to search through the videos wouldn’t make finding their trail difficult.

If Argeyirion had thought things through, they should have made preparations to interfere with the Ten Towers’ tracking.

And those preparations likely involved an attack on Ethereal Space using hackers. Since they had already hijacked the broadcast lines to issue a terror statement, it was certain they brought along a hacker.

‘If my reasoning is correct, Elysion’s surveillance network isn’t recording anything right now.’

How should he handle this Blasphemia rookie agent he’d accidentally encountered twice?

***

Let’s weigh the risks and returns regarding how to deal with this kid who considers me an ally.

‘Elimination must be removed from the options.’

The risk is too great.

The city’s surveillance cameras might not be functioning properly.

However, when Ten Towers agents conduct group operations, they usually carry life activity detectors. If the life signal of any agent disappears, it indicates the presence of danger.

A location where life signals are lost becomes an immediate point for additional reinforcements.

‘I can pass off not having such a detector as part of being a secret inspector whose position shouldn’t be revealed, but there’s no way to disable Niobe’s detector.’

Detectors aren’t the only concern; there could be potential witnesses in unseen blind spots.

No matter how unremarkable my face may be, someone will remember and report seeing someone killed in broad daylight. It’s best to avoid drawing attention from the Ten Towers.

‘…That would be fine, except I keep running into the kid who was present at the fake secret inspector scene.’

Because of that apocalyptic fanatic blocking the entrance to Museion’s admissions office, this commotion occurred. If the street had been empty, I would have quietly slipped in and retrieved Kine by now.

Another option comes to mind.

‘Use her?’

There’s no sign of caution in her behavior towards me. This means Niobe still believes I’m a secret inspector.

‘If I explain well, I might be able to take Kine out without raising suspicion among the others inside the admissions office.’

“Excuse me.”

Just as I was pondering what to say to Niobe, she spoke first.

“Should I use honorifics…? You’re my senior, right?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. Just call me casually. It’s better for people to think I’m just a clumsy agent who returned after failing rather than spreading rumors about being a secret inspector—it complicates things.”

It really does complicate things.

‘Especially if other Blasphemia agents come along with you, the situation will spiral completely out of control.’

***

At Museion’s admissions office, around a dozen children gathered under the supervision of the admissions official.

‘Is there no support from the professors…?’

The main building of Museion and the examination site were located separately to avoid disturbing the education of Museion students.

But now, due to this design, there weren’t enough personnel to protect the students. A communication came in stating that the main building had been fortified, making it difficult for professors to leave freely.

‘Can the admissions applicants and I survive the terrorist attack?’

The admissions official shook off the increasingly ominous thoughts. The Ten Towers would soon suppress the situation.

Knock. Knock.

At that moment, a knock came from the barricaded door, sending tension coursing through the official’s body.

Looking around, the official saw the children trembling with anxiety.

Though not a combat mage himself, driven by a sense of duty to protect the students, he stepped forward with his staff.

“Is anyone there?”

An oddly chilling voice caused him to grip his staff even tighter.

“For heaven’s sake! That’s not how it’s done!”

Then, a soothing female voice broke the tension.

“We’re the emergency rescue team dispatched by the Ten Towers. We’ll give the password; could you please confirm the code word?”

“Ahh… Turtle, Turtle!”

“Resurrection. Please open the door!”

The admissions official sighed in relief. They were saved.

***

As soon as I entered the admissions office, I looked for Kine. Her expression showed confusion upon seeing me enter alongside the so-called Ten Towers emergency rescue team.

According to Niobe, the emergency rescue team was the cover identity for Blasphemia agents currently dispatched in Elysion. There was even an actual order to assist in rescues if time allowed, so it wasn’t entirely false.

It would be impossible to explain to Kine, who looked at me with bewildered eyes, something like, “Oh, my friend over there is a Blasphemia agent, and I ended up here while trying to fit in.”

So, I’ll give her the simplest explanation possible. Detailed explanations can wait until we return to Etna City. I sent a brief message via the communicator embedded in my gauntlet.

“This is just a temporary identity. We’ll escape soon, so avoid any actions that might raise suspicion.”

“Astra…pe—!!”

Suddenly, a strangely familiar voice called out an unfamiliar name from behind me. I turned around hurriedly.

Running toward me was my old friend Lampades.

‘Hold on. Astraphe?’

Could it really be that Astraphe? She didn’t seem to have been captured by Torres Tower, so I hadn’t paid much attention.

I spotted a flash of golden hair in a corner near Kine. A name and appearance I thought I’d never encounter again. Undoubtedly, it was the lightning mage destined to become the protagonist’s companion later.

‘Where did Lampades meet Astraphe?’

At least, it seemed she hadn’t been sold into slavery in Etna City, which was fortunate. Hopefully, talk of Etna City’s slave syndicates wouldn’t provoke the Wizard King into invading.

***

Lampades arrived at Museion’s admissions office, having pushed through a flood of silver magic and a few crazed mages. He breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that despite the bizarre signs of intense fire damage on the road leading to the admissions office, the building itself appeared intact.

But that relief vanished the moment he shouted “Astraphe” and entered the building.

The man standing with his back turned was unmistakably familiar—an image Lampades both knew well and wished to forget.

The figure he was looking at was none other than Astraphe.

The man spun around. His eerily glowing narrow eyes and ever-present smile amidst the chaos struck Lampades.

Perhaps it was precisely because of the situation that the smile hadn’t faded. Maybe everything was unfolding according to this man’s plan.

There stood Ortes.

“Hello, nice to see you again, Lampades. It’s fortunate that you’ve come.”

“What are you doing here…!”

“I came because I was concerned about our scholarship student. Isn’t that similar to your reason?”

Lampades refrained from asking why Ortes had been staring at Astraphe instead of the scholarship students.

Ortes must have known about Astraphe’s overflowing talent. Even the other transfer applicants, though perhaps not equal to Astraphe, were undoubtedly prodigies.

In such a tense situation, how easy it was to gain favor as an adult who came to rescue them!

‘If I hadn’t shown up…!’

Astraphe and the children might have fallen completely under this man’s deception. In fact, since he hadn’t exposed Ortes yet, the good impression he’d made on the children probably remained intact.

‘Whatever his intentions are with the children, I can’t let him succeed…!’

“Ortes, let us help protect the children together. The upper-level examiners at the Magic Tower are setting up defensive formations; moving that way will be safe.”

Upon hearing this, Ortes signaled someone. A young girl with an inexperienced aura approached.

Ortes whispered a few words to her.

“…Yes! Everyone, please pay attention! I am part of the emergency rescue team dispatched by the Ten Towers. We will now move to a safe location under the guidance of Master Lampades!”

Even recruiting such an innocent-looking mage as one of his pawns?!

Lampades silently gasped in shock.

***

Phew. What a relief.

Sure enough, that guy has a strong sense of responsibility. Even in such a dangerous situation, he’s a role model trying to protect the kids.

I’ve already roughly explained to Niobe that this face’s original owner is an acquaintance of mine, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Now, all we need to do is wait for the Ten Towers to restore order and then slip out of Elysion!