Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Suspicious Couple (1)
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"...Acquiring the secret techniques of each Magic Tower?"
Anes stared at Zekiel with wide, bewildered eyes.
Of course, she had known for a while that Zekiel wasn't ordinary. She had even anticipated as much...
...but something this monumental?
She had figured he was carrying some heavy burden, but she never imagined it would be on this scale. How on earth had talk of acquiring secret techniques even come up?
The original mission assigned to Anes and Zekiel.
It was simply to see the conference through without incident.
That alone was a mission of tremendous difficulty. They had to smoothly fill a nearly ten-year void, after all.
And yet...
'Now even that goal feels mundane.'
To record and acquire the secret techniques held by each Magic Tower without missing a single detail? Anes couldn't help but feel a surge of anxiety.
"Yeeees?"
Tether came scurrying out from inside the carriage.
"There's no way you've already been in touch with the 2nd Princess, our Magic Tower Lord, so where on earth did you hear about something this critical?!"
"No need to worry. It came straight from His Imperial Majesty."
"Pardon? H-H-His Imperial Majesty?"
That only makes me more worried!
Between the Magic Tower Lord—2nd Princess—and the Emperor, whose authority was greater was obvious. The fact that this was the outcome of Zekiel's direct conversation with the Emperor was more than enough to shock Anes and Tether.
"Aren't you taking on too much? If it fails for no good reason, His Majesty might be disappointed."
"If anything, I volunteered for it. I wanted to do it."
"..."
Anes unconsciously pinched the bridge of her nose.
Just how did he plan to handle something like this?
Even as his dedicated secretary, Anes couldn't begin to predict the Inspector's actions. Who in their right mind would pull something like this right before departing for the Black Tower?
But Anes wasn't naive enough to throw a tantrum. She couldn't very well march back to the Emperor and demand he take it back, so she tried to assess the situation coolly.
[Success]
Anes scribbled those two words in her notepad.
'If we succeed, it'd be truly monumental.'
Not just good—it could overturn the entire landscape. The fallen prestige of the Imperial Tower would soar once more in spectacular fashion.
'Rising momentum for the Imperial Tower, recognition from His Imperial Majesty... Every element is a perfect foundation for a new golden age.'
She couldn't fathom why the Emperor would entrust such a hopeless tower with this mission, but Anes continued jotting notes and pondering.
[Failure]
This time, she wrote those two words.
'...He didn't assign this to the Imperial Tower out of trust. Maybe he just needs an excuse to purge us outright.'
In simple terms, it felt like a mission the Emperor hoped would fail. For a tower that had disappointed him, what better pretext to dispose of it?
At least, that's how it seemed to Anes.
Every factor pointed to that conclusion.
Having run her own calculations, Anes spoke up. As a bonus, she clicked the cube in her hand, spinning it idly.
"Inspector, that's impressive, first off."
"I know."
His swift acknowledgment made Anes's eyebrow twitch once, but she pressed on calmly.
"I have no idea how you got a private audience with the Emperor, but His Majesty issuing a solo mission like this is unheard of in ages."
"Well, technically it's not a mission—it's a deal."
"Right, right. Please, enough with the jokes."
Anes let out a deep sigh and elegantly swept her hair behind her ear.
"Still, there are far too many concerns. First and foremost, the absurd difficulty."
"Difficulty isn't really the issue."
"Yes, I figured you'd say that. But second, it's about relations between the towers."
Click—Anes's cube spun.
"Acquiring their secret techniques would prevent potential terrorism and be a huge boon for the Imperial Tower. However..."
"However?"
"Relations between the Imperial Magic Tower and the others would deteriorate beyond repair."
"Aha."
"The other towers would band together against the Imperial Tower as their common enemy. Isn't that right?"
Anes stared piercingly at Zekiel.
"Of course, I'm sure you understood all that before accepting the mission? Please..."
"Anes."
Zekiel called his secretary's name casually.
"Yes, Inspector."
"Since when has the Imperial Tower ever been on good terms with the other towers? As far as I know, never."
"Hm?"
Anes tilted her head.
"What are things like between the Imperial Tower and the others right now?"
"Given the current situation... well, of course..."
Anes hesitated.
"They acknowledge the Imperial Magic Tower's supremacy and show at least minimal courtesy. And..."
"That's just them grinning through gritted teeth to lure us out. They're biding their time for the perfect moment to slaughter us. That's what this conference is all about."
"..."
She had nothing to say to that.
"Anes."
"Yes."
"Why are you being so servile?"
"...Pardon? You think I'm being servile?"
Anes blinked, but Zekiel remained unfazed.
"Yeah. Who's the real threat to the Imperial Tower right now?"
"Well..."
The five towers excluding their own.
Those five had long since abandoned the reporting chain, sharpening their own blades. And those blades were obviously aimed at the Empire and the Imperial Tower.
"They're smiling to our faces while hiding daggers behind their backs, and you want us to just smile back? Think that'll make them drop their weapons?"
"..."
"No way. That'd just be begging them to stab us."
Zekiel exhaled a puff of Sunweed smoke.
"We shouldn't be polite or groveling. We need to get stronger. Strong enough that they never dare draw or swing those hidden blades."
Anes had no choice but to fall silent.
Zekiel's words rang utterly true.
She might have grown accustomed to defeat without realizing it, turning servile in the process. She hadn't even been able to imagine the Imperial Tower growing strong again.
But if the Imperial Tower became that fearsome? The other towers might hide their weapons, but they'd never dare use them.
"So, Inspector, you plan to demonstrate the Empire's overwhelming might and preempt any damage that way?"
"Exactly."
Zekiel nodded.
"It's not even a big deal. As the Imperial Magic Tower, shouldn't we be at that level anyway?"
Anes nodded this time as well.
But there was one more thing she wanted to hear.
"Inspector, I still have a question."
"Shoot."
"Even if the Imperial Tower gains that prestige, the others will just hide their secret techniques even tighter, won't they? That's only natural."
"Sure."
"It keeps us safe, but acquiring the techniques becomes harder. If we try to squeeze them out by force, it'll spark all-out war."
Zekiel looked at Anes steadily.
"..."
He stared in silence for a long moment.
Then he pinched the stem of his wilting Sunweed.
"...Anes."
"Yes, Inspector."
"Are you an idiot?"
"Pardon?"
"Why would we just snatch it outright? We take it differently."
"..."
"You don't charge a beast defending its young and rip the cub away right in front of it?"
Zekiel continued as if it were obvious.
"Of course it'd go berserk. Why advertise it? My secretary's such a fool."
"..."
Anes squeezed her eyes shut.
A vein pulsed vertically on the closed-eyed secretary's forehead. She wasn't unaware of sneaking it away. But wasn't that next to impossible?
"So you're saying we steal it on the sly?"
"We're not thieves. That'd be pathetic."
"Then what...!"
"No need to worry."
Zekiel dismissed Anes's concern.
"I already have a way."
"What way? Care to share?"
"How to explain this simply..."
Puff—
"Ah, right."
Zekiel chuckled around his Sunweed smoke.
"We take it so smoothly they don't even notice with their eyes wide open. That's how it's done."
That was when.
Tether shouted.
"Th-th-there! But what do we do now?!"
She checked her wristwatch as she yelled.
"We should have arrived at the village near the Black Tower by now! Only 10 minutes left...!"
"...?"
Right. Departure and arrival.
Zekiel finally remembered what he'd forgotten.
Come to think of it.
...Anes, why hadn't they set off yet?
The Inspector's head snapped toward Anes.
"Anes, why haven't we left yet?"
"Ah, well..."
Anes's expression turned unusually troubled.
She mumbled at her lips before speaking.
"Truth is, it's not that we haven't. We can't."
...What? Why can't we leave?