‘Long time no see, Ban.’
Evelyn, wearing a light suit, entered the bar, shaking something in her hand.
‘I was wondering what to bring as a congratulatory gift for the opening… you know?’
‘I have no idea what you mean.’
Lenox, sitting at the bar on the first floor, taking a sip of his drink, shook his head.
‘Is that something someone who brought a basket of vegetables should say? And you haven’t changed at all.’
‘I grew them myself, so rest assured. They’ll be very good for your health.’
‘……’
Moreover, looking at the contents, it was the same pile of vegetables Lenox had received yesterday.
As he slid it down the bar, Jorden took it with a sulky expression.
Evelyn, who seemed pleased by the scene, sat next to Ban and opened a bottle of whiskey.
Despite her striking appearance, she blended in with the people very naturally.
Is it not that difficult for a top-class archer to blend into their surroundings?
‘Because of what happened last time, I have something to discuss.’
She said it casually, as if it were nothing.
‘It’s not something we can talk about here, so let’s find a place… is that okay?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Your glass hasn’t moved in a while.’
The moment he heard Evelyn’s words, Lenox realized he had been holding his left arm still, without moving it at all.
‘……It’s nothing. I just have some things on my mind.’
The timing was so bad it made him wonder if Evelyn had really noticed Lenox’s identity.
However, looking at her current behavior, it seemed her attention was focused on something else rather than trying to expose Lenox’s secret.
It was enough if he wasn’t caught right away.
Lenox, quickly gathering his thoughts, got up and led her to his temporary office.
It was a place he often used to stabilize his mana core after the Cartel’s work, so it was a bit dusty.
After closing the door and roughly wiping off the dust, the preparations were more or less complete.
Evelyn leaned against a chair by the window and turned her head at the sound coming from outside.
In the bar’s backyard, Drey and other staff members were sparring with each other.
It seemed they had become interested after the sparring between Wayan and Manson, and it had become a regular event.
She stared at the scene for a while, then smiled softly.
‘It looks good. We do similar things sometimes. It’s effective for measuring the members’ skills and boosting their training motivation.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Of course, I’ve never lost first place there either.’
‘……’
Instead of responding to her pointless words, Lenox tapped the desk.
A heavy wave of mana instantly enveloped the surroundings, blocking out all outside sounds.
Lenox, taking out a thin cigarette from his pocket and lighting it, stared at Evelyn.
‘So, can you tell me why you’re being so hesitant about what you want to say?’
‘……’
‘I’ve known you since I started working in this field, so it hasn’t been a short time. The only time you came to me directly was when you had a request for me.’
He remembered their last conversation when she needed information about Parden McQueen.
She had said it was difficult to make time easily as the scope of her work had recently become unusually broad.
She had said she was too busy dealing with things outside of Vulcan and that it would be difficult to help Lenox anymore, but the fact she had come to Lenox now proved the situation was not normal.
However, instead of answering Lenox’s question, Evelyn turned her head slightly and started talking about something else.
‘Ban, do you remember the day we first met?’
‘……It was a day hard to forget.’
How could he forget the day he was destroying the factory with Dylan and met that crocodile giant?
That transcendent strength that had surpassed the limits of a species with his bare body was still vividly etched in Lenox’s mind even after more than two years.
‘Right. Even when I saved your and Dylan’s lives back then, I never imagined you would become like this.’
‘……’
‘Others might think you were hiding your skills, but I know. There’s a huge gap between you back then and you now. And you have the talent to make that unbelievable growth understandable.’
Evelyn rested her chin on one arm and lowered her head.
Black hair flowed down, hiding her expression.
‘Back then, because I saved your life, I have the right to know.’
Was it a delusion that the green light shining through her hair felt so cold?
‘I thought I had pulled that possibility out of the swamp of Pandemonium… but I wonder if you walked into that swamp yourself.’
‘Evelyn, you……’
‘Ban.’
Evelyn, interrupting Lenox’s words, asked in a cold voice.
‘What is your relationship with the black magician of Pandemonium?’
‘……’
Lenox, putting down the hand holding the cigarette, quietly looked at Evelyn.
It wasn’t strange that she suspected Lenox’s relationship with Myung.
If it was Evelyn, who appeared late at the scene when Myung appeared, accelerated the ritual, and talked with Oliviera, she would have noticed his appearance.
Even Lenox himself didn’t think Myung would appear to help Lenox during the executive council meeting, so how would Evelyn, who had been helping Lenox in every way, feel?
Rather, the fact she came to Lenox only after everything was settled proved how much patience Evelyn had with Lenox.
How long she had been agonizing over this question, and how much she had prepared herself to accept the truth she didn’t want to face.
It would be impossible for Lenox to guess all of her inner thoughts.
‘He told me to come to Pandemonium.’
That’s why Lenox answered honestly.
For himself and for her as well.
‘He asked me if I had made a decision, and said that a mage like me was needed.’
‘……’
‘I refused, and he agreed. But he said that others would be different… that’s all.’
‘……How am I supposed to believe that?’
‘Well. I don’t know either.’
Lenox closed his eyes.
‘But I haven’t forgotten the value of the life you saved back then.’
‘……’
‘At least I think I answered you honestly about that much.’
Silence filled the room.
How would Evelyn interpret Lenox’s answer?
In the worst case, Lenox might have to directly confirm whether she knew the secret of the Azure Eye organization.
The green light that had been faintly flashing through her hair slowly faded.
Evelyn’s face, when she raised her head again, was that of an archer who was as composed as usual.
‘Okay. If what you said is true… there’s one thing you have to do.’
‘A thing to do?’
Was she talking about a request?
Just as Lenox tilted his head slightly, Evelyn took out a bundle of papers and placed it on the desk.
It was a newspaper that was lying around in the bar.
Among them, one article stood out.
‘[Bleyber Magic Tower, finally returning to normal.]’
‘[After unexpected troubles, back to the main axis of the steel industry.]’
‘[The spokesperson of the Magic Tower avoids mentioning the disputes that have occurred.]’
‘There was a time when news of the Bleyber Magic Tower was cut off after the conflict between the Magic Tower and Pandemonium, which caused a disruption in the nearby steel industry.’
‘……’
‘Not long after, the Magic Tower started to operate normally, but nothing is known about what happened to Pandemonium. The Magic Tower is trying not to acknowledge the dispute itself, and they are keeping their mouths shut about the internal situation with tight security.’
‘So?’
‘The upper echelons of the city council suspect that Pandemonium and the Magic Tower have reached a compromise after the dispute.’
Evelyn’s eyes turned sharp.
‘In other words, there may be evidence of negotiations with Pandemonium or its members remaining inside the Magic Tower. That means…’
‘Does that mean the Bleyber Magic Tower can be controlled by the city by exploiting the weakness that the Magic Tower is colluding with Pandemonium?’
Lenox also straightened his posture at the interesting prospect.
It wasn’t a bad idea to target the collaborators and extract as much profit as possible, rather than targeting Pandemonium itself as an enemy and starting a pursuit.
After all, it was too inefficient for the city government to catch and kill the members of Pandemonium one by one.
The reason they leave Crocken alone, even though they know he often roams the city streets at night, is because they can’t afford the sacrifices that would occur in the process of killing him.
‘Right. As you know, the Bleyber Magic Tower, or more precisely, the Magic Tower’s Western Continent branch, is located in a remote volcanic area. This side doesn’t have to bear the losses that occur in the process of tracking Pandemonium.’
‘I see…’
‘The agreement between the two cities has been completed, and the city council has already issued an order. A few agents who were working in the field and I will form a team and move directly. And Ban, I want you to participate in this operation as an external advisor to the agent.’
Was it a search and seizure of the Bleyber Magic Tower’s Western Continent branch?
He understood why Evelyn had come to him.
Although it was nominal, Lenox was still an external advisor to the agent, and it would have been difficult to find a mage with that much skill.
Furthermore, if magical insight was needed at a time when a full investigation of the Magic Tower was necessary, it was needless to say who would be the most helpful mage in that position.
He never imagined the series of causes and effects he had faced in the autonomous territory would lead to this… but to be honest, it was interesting.
In fact, all of this started when Lenox disguised himself as Weizen and put the drug lord into a coma.
At the time, it was an attempt to turn suspicion to Weizen and other mages of the Magic Tower, but he never imagined it would work so well.
However, there was one thing that bothered him…
‘If you suspect I belong to Pandemonium, you should never propose such an operation to me.’
‘……’
‘If something really happened to the Magic Tower, and I betrayed you in the process of finding out about it, the operation itself would… Ah, I see.’
Lenox only realized Evelyn’s thoughts after saying that, and chuckled.
‘You never thought from the beginning that I had joined Pandemonium. Was this a long introduction to propose this job?’
‘Well, it’s not exactly like that.’
Evelyn also smiled as she looked at Lenox.
‘If you’re not a member of Pandemonium, you can just prove it directly in front of them.’
‘……’
Even if she said that, she wouldn’t have come directly like this if she really had no doubts.
Was she participating in this operation to borrow Lenox’s power and, at the same time, to directly confirm he had nothing to do with Pandemonium?
Or, considering her position as an agent, there was a possibility she had received additional orders from the upper echelons…
Lenox put aside such thoughts for now and nodded.
‘Okay. It’s true there are circumstances that could be suspicious, and I’m interested in this matter.’
The Bleyber Magic Tower was a sanctuary that was the headquarters of the unique flame-heat magic Lenox had acquired.
Even if he didn’t talk about Pandemonium, if he could visit that place directly, there was a high possibility he could gain magical achievements or inspiration.
Considering Lenox’s newly awakened mental realm ability, it was essential to increase the ‘branch points’ through various experiences.
However, he had no intention of volunteering for free.
‘Even so, you’ll have to offer me a price that’s worth me leaving my place right now.’
Now that the business was stabilizing, there weren’t many things that required Lenox’s power, but it was true there was some risk in leaving the city.
Since it hadn’t been long since he was appointed as an outside director of the Cartel, no one would touch the business unless they intended to make enemies with the Three Heads, but he couldn’t just follow Evelyn’s words without any conditions.
‘You don’t have to worry about the reward. Almost all of the budget I requested from the upper echelons for this job has been approved, so if you use that money, you’ll be able to meet almost all of your requirements.’
‘Okay. Then…’
Lenox roughly summarized the requirements he had in mind and told Evelyn.
She accepted most of the requests, but she frowned when she didn’t immediately understand the last condition Lenox had made.
‘……You want that?’
‘It’s practically the biggest requirement.’
Lenox said with his arms crossed.
‘I don’t think there will be another chance if it’s not this time?’
‘Haa……’
Evelyn sighed deeply and nodded slightly.
‘I knew you weren’t like a mage… Okay. Anyway, it’s a request within my ability to handle.’
‘The deal is done.’
Lenox smiled and held out his hand.
‘I look forward to working with you on this operation.’
That’s how the two of them simply set a meeting place and time and parted ways.
Basically, what Lenox had requested as an advance payment was an entry pass to the closed society called the Eightfold Fortress, one of the Three Heads [The Three Heads are the three most powerful criminal organizations in the city].
In addition, a quantity of all kinds of elixirs that were consumed in the battle with McQueen, and a copy of the medicine formula that was separately stored in the agent’s vault.
Numerous catalysts used to draw and maintain magic circles, and one personal request related to Evelyn.
It was a contract of a scale that could obtain artifacts or relics from the agent’s vault after the job was done, regardless of the success or failure of the operation.
After Evelyn left, Lenox stared blankly at the object on the desk.
A piece of shabby paper with a gold border diagonally across it.
A temporary ID that allowed entry to the center of the Eightfold Fortress.
It was the most closed and secretive organization among the Three Heads, and one of the few blind spots in the city where Jenny’s eyes and ears didn’t reach well.
Even among the huge cities that were expanding with various interests intertwined, it was a special area where all kinds of illegal activities and corruption were rampant, and the influence of the city government didn’t reach.
A slum that was like a small country within the city, formed by rapidly increasing its power and seizing territory, centered on an unauthorized building area that was built in the meantime.
Although people from the Eightfold Fortress were often seen outside the city, it was almost impossible to enter it unless they followed their own rules.
But that’s why there were strange things circulating that weren’t easily available in the city.
There was a rumor that there were places where time flowed abnormally fast compared to other ruins, even in the forbidden areas inside the fortress.
That was what Lenox was aiming for.
If it was an artifact or relic handled in such a place, it would surely be helpful to Lenox as well.