Chapter 117 – Confirmation

Confirmation

“The purchase of national bonds was all completed as of yesterday. Now we just have to wait, but…”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“They will go up, right?”

She scraped together all the national bonds that were no different from waste paper.

If they remained as waste paper like this, that in itself would be interesting.

As if listening or not.

Rashid, who was sitting at an angle across the desk, was gently closing his eyes.

“Wait. We are still at war.”

“Yes, I should wait. Although I won’t be able to wait comfortably like someone else.”

“Are you doubting?”

“Unlike someone, because it’s a gamble with my entire fortune.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t resent me even if it failed?”

She swallowed her words, but her expression looked as if she had a lot to say.

“Yes, I intend not to resent you.”

Rashid returned his chair to its original position and opened his closed eyes.

A resentful gaze was watching him.

“Your eyes are saying otherwise, though?”

Aria narrowed her eyes.

“No. I won’t. That is my mistake.”

“Seeing you say that, it seems you are definitely going to resent me. Do you also tell lies?”

“Then, would I say I resent you?”

Rashid smiled faintly.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Just because.”

“I don’t find it funny at all, but it seems my business is amusing to the Chief Inquisitor.”

“Have faith. Wasn’t doing such a thing in the first place all because of your faith in me anyway?”

Sighing softly instead of answering, she asked something else.

“More than that, how is it going regarding the Magic Tower professor? Is there nothing I can help you with?”

He had been receiving periodic contacts from Kaiser.

Most of it was screams to save him, but.

there were definitely results.

The smile faded from Rashid’s face.

“Today. I plan to capture Kane.”

“Today, you mean?”

“All the preparations are finished. Since all that’s left is to go find Kane.”

“What about the work I can help with?”

“You.”

Rashid smiled again.

“You can rest. Since you went through a lot of trouble collecting the national bonds.”

Perhaps displeased by that appearance,

her expression cooled down instantly.

“If it fails, I will resent you. I will resent you plenty.”

“Finally, your true feelings are coming out. I knew it would be like that.”

“There are surely many ways to torment you. I am thinking of various things. Do you think you’ll still be able to smile like that then?”

“Try to have a broader mind. How can it be of any use if your faith in me is so small?”

She narrowed her eyes.

After chewing on it for a moment, she suddenly showed a smile.

“Still, it was somewhat comforting that the Guild Federation acted similarly to me. At least I won’t ruin myself alone. At least three of us will go down. Me, the Guild Federation, and someone.”

Rashid suddenly thought of something and asked.

“By any chance… was it really not you who sponsored the Basilica house?”

“Didn’t I clearly say no back then?”

“That was true. But it’s because there is no one else who would sponsor it. The Abbot said no, the Commander and Vice Commander also said no. If it’s not even Her Highness the Saintess, I have absolutely no idea. Besides, there was no solicitation, right?”

She, who had walked up to the door of the inner chamber before he knew it, turned her head slightly and spoke.

“Even if that were me, would I have said that I did it?”

Her words continued further.

“And that would be the same for other people as well, right?”

She left.

Rashid seemed to fall back into thought.

‘A lie… Does this mean we are back to square one?’

Still, there was one person he suspected the most.

However, since they absolutely denied it, it could only remain as suspicion.

* * *

On the way to the Magic Tower Academy.

There were numerous clerics’ magitech bikes following Rashid’s official vehicle.

Today was the day.

The day to put an end to Kane.

‘Honestly, Kane is not that difficult of an opponent.’

He was an opponent even Kaiser had captured.

‘There are surely many ways to capture him. There is a way to use the Face Changer, and there are several other methods as well. The real problem is Zodiac, who does not step forward to the front and instead assists through the Dharma Division. If we can just cut out the variable of Zodiac, the fight is practically finished.’

The communicator rang.

Checking it, it was Kaiser.

“You are contacting me just in time. As it happens, I am on my way to capture Kane.”

“Was that today?”

“Karl.”

Rashid snapped his fingers to give Karl a signal.

At that, Karl deployed a silent barrier on his own.

Having verified the barrier, Rashid opened his mouth again.

“There’s no need to delay it. More than that, is it certain that the Dharma Division will not step forward?”

When he asked to confirm, he replied in a tone full of conviction.

“Yes, they spoke clearly. There is no need to support and rely on Kane, and they said a better alternative has arisen.”

“A better alternative?”

“Yes, they no longer seem to have much regret over the Divine Primordial Matter. By any chance, is there some other reason I don’t know?”

“There is. Since that method would originally be the most effective.”

“You knew?”

“I knew, but the timing is a bit early.”

It was exactly as he had said.

After Kane’s plan failed.

Zodiac would set out to find another mana source to power the gate.

It usually took time to get to that point, but due to various variables, it seemed he had reached that thought faster than expected.

“He will build a giant artificial crystal on top of the Mana Ore Vein. He will use that as a power source. That way, he won’t need multiple things like the Immortal Heart.”

A single Immortal Heart could not fully operate the gate connecting dimension to dimension.

Therefore, what Zodiac had first aimed for was to create multiple Immortal Hearts through the Divine Primordial Matter.

However, since this went wrong, another alternative became necessary, and that was precisely the giant artificial crystal to be built on top of the Mana Ore Vein.

“It’s no different from an artificial mana stone structure. Unlike ordinary mana stones, it is not a consumable. Since it will be built on top of the Mana Ore Vein.”

“It is practically an infinite source of mana.”

“Right. It usually takes some time to think that far, but it seems that thought was moved forward due to various variables.”

“That… I heard that the witches of the Purgatory Coven have aligned with Kane. Won’t that be a problem in dealing with Kane?”

Rashid laughed.

“It seems you saw the article. But it’s meaningless. They are on the same side anyway.”

“Were the witches who joined them also on our side?”

“I put them on Kane. I attached Veronica, but unlike you, it seems she failed to sow discord. Instead, it seems Kane recruited her in his own way to keep the Dharma Division in check. He made a mistake.”

“As expected, the end with a witch is never good.”

Rashid recalled the dinner gathering from the previous evening and asked him.

“By the way. I heard the Emperor has become very interested in the study of knights.”

“The study of knights? What is that about?”

“Literally. She is building up her martial power.”

“Martial power… That is a development we are completely unaware of.”

“Right. In the first place, this is also the first time in a world where that woman survived.”

“Hmm…”

Kaiser’s low groan was heard over the communicator.

“Still, it will be meaningless. Since the military has already seized everything, the path I proposed is the only way for her to sit on the throne again.”

“I think similarly. Simply having martial power itself that exceeds Ryden’s level wouldn’t mean much. In the end, what matters is the authority.”

“And you hold that.”

“Anyway, I am telling you this so you know. Since we need to keep a close eye on it.”

“I will keep it in mind. But it is already over. As long as she lacks the authority, the woman we remember will not exist.”

“That would be so.”

Beyond the car window.

the towering Magic Tower Academy was visible.

“We have almost arrived. I will contact you again. If there are any anomalies, contact me immediately.”

“Yes, I will contact you.”

The communication ended.

Silence fell for a moment.

The sound breaking that silence was heard from the side.

“The content of the conversation is quite interesting.”

When Rashid turned his gaze to the side, she was sitting there with a stiff expression.

“What is the reason? The reason you let me hear it.”

As she cast her gaze, Rashid showed a mischievous smile.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t calculate? Just to see how you would react.”

After showing various complex expressions, she suddenly turned her gaze in the opposite direction.

Then, she spoke indifferently, pretending to be uninterested.

“I already knew.”

* * *

A professional secretary, who had urgently rushed to the board president’s office, delivered the news that had come from the front gate.

“President! Inquisitors and clerics from the Order have arrived. They say they will summarily try you on charges of blasphemy, what should we do?”

“Furthermore, they are sending everyone inside the university outside. Shouldn’t the Order not be allowed to do this?”

Under normal circumstances, it was something that could not happen.

Kane’s expression distorted.

“From the Order?”

“Yes, they arrived without any notice. Shall I contact the Dharma Division? With that size of force, it might be difficult to stop them without the Dharma Division.”

It was out of the blue.

Why was the Order, which had been quiet, making a fuss only now?

What had they been doing until now?

“I will contact them. You try contacting other places.”

“Yes! Then I will ask for help from other places.”

At the same time the professional secretary left, Kane attempted to contact the Dharma Division, but there was no response.

Inside the board president’s office, where only heavy silence hovered, Kane fell deep into thought.

“…”

Since when was it?

That the relationship with the Dharma Division became subtly warped?

What was certain was that it had been subtly creaking after introducing the man named Kaiser to Zodiac.

Furthermore, from the moment they accepted the witches of the Purgatory Coven where internal strife had occurred, the relationship cooled down rapidly, but they had still been getting along without major issues until recently.

But.

at the truly crucial moment, they were ignoring his calls.

‘Zodiac… what is the reason? Did you betray me?’

Kane, without being shaken, calmly summoned the witches.

Because it was not necessarily only the Dharma Division that could block the Order.

“Oh my, what on earth is this fuss? The Order invading all the way to the Magic Tower Academy.”

Veronica showed herself in the board president’s office.

Although she was a witch he didn’t even want to look at, Kane gently opened his mouth as if coaxing her.

“The Order is stepping forward fearlessly. It is an inquisitor and clerics, can you handle it?”

As expected, the attitude she displayed was detestable to the extreme.

“I have something like an inquisitor allergy. My heart just races whenever I see an inquisitor, you know?”

She spoke while looking only at her own trimmed nails.

“Of course, you know it is prepaid, right? There is no deal if it’s postpaid. We originally operate on a prepayment system, after all.”

Kane grabbed a handful of high-end mana stones and placed them down on the desk in front of him.

“It’s the advance payment. And…”

The magic towers were not yet completed, but they were still functioning in their own way.

Since the core facility was here, although incomplete, the Great Transmutation Circle could be constructed.

If so, there would be no need to worry about the aftermath.

“If you just block them, I will provide you this much more. It won’t be a bad deal. What do you think?”

Responding with a smile, she took the advance payment Kane handed over and leisurely disappeared.

Whether he found her laughable.

Kane, who had regained some composure, looked at the wall made of full glass.

‘Sophia. We will meet soon.’

It was soon.

Although it was not complete.

Since at least the minimum requirements were met, meeting her again might perhaps not be a dream.