Floor 32, The Sky Whale Protectors (3)

Ha Heijeong's second run, Floor 32.

The community of the dead.

"It's a royal airship, you see. The airship has a tracking device installed."

A tracking device?

Well, some kind of anti-theft system, I supposed? So that was how the pursuit squad had known exactly where to chase us. I'd simply assumed it was part of the trial the Tower had prepared…….

But one question remained.

"Couldn't you have just removed the tracking device before flying?"

"If you remove it, the whole thing stops working! Revlin! Prepare the cannons for firing!"

The moment I raised the question, Roxanne answered in a rush and began directing the elves. The distance between us and the pursuit squad was closing at a frightening pace—their airship was simply faster to begin with, and we couldn't move at full speed ourselves, not while we had to guide the Sky Whales.

"Haah……"

A deep sigh escaped my lips.

I'd expected to slip past without a fight under the shadow veil……. Honestly speaking, I hadn't wanted to fight them at all. They lived on a different planet, sure, but they were still people who looked just like us. I didn't want to kill them for the sake of saving the Sky Whales.

'Of course, I'm hardly one to talk, working alongside elves who slaughtered a punitive force for the sake of a hidden mission……'

I couldn't help the complicated knot in my chest, a quiet revulsion I couldn't quite shake.

No. Enough. I deliberately shook my head and cast the thought aside. Since I'd started climbing the Tower, I had resolved to do only what was in my power to do. Besides, there was no point in going soft-hearted now. The dye was cast. If I wanted to pass Floor 32 safely, I had to shake off their pursuit.

It was no longer a matter of the Sky Whales' lives versus the pursuit squad's—it had become a matter of mine versus theirs. I watched the approaching airship and turned my mind to the battle to come.

Airship against airship.

'What exactly am I supposed to do?'

Well, nothing sprang to mind. I had no idea what form a battle between airships would even take. If it didn't come down to close quarters, all I could do was hurl lightning at the hull and hope for the best…….

While I was still thinking, the pursuit squad's airship spat red shells into the sky. They weren't aimed at us. The shells burst high in the dim early-evening heavens, like a message being sent.

Sure enough, one of the elves called out to Roxanne.

"Lady Roxanne! It's a communication signal! What do we do?"

Roxanne bit her lip instead of answering. After a moment's deliberation, she sighed.

"We can't outrun them anyway. Send back a communication signal."

"Understood!"

I found it a little puzzling. These were elves who so distrusted humans that they hadn't even wanted to speak with the punitive force. Yet here they were, agreeing to negotiate while the Sky Whales were still following behind them. It didn't add up.

"Aren't you giving up on the fight a little too easily?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As I asked, a red shell climbed skyward from our own airship. Roxanne shook her head with a resigned expression.

"No. Even against a combat airship, we'd struggle to sink one or grapple with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one up close. And…… their numbers are far greater than I expected."

Apparently the gap between a combat airship and an ordinary one was substantial. Well, just looking at the weaponry mounted on their hulls, the difference had been plain enough.

Still, "more than expected" nagged at me.

"More than expected?"

"Yes. I knew a pursuit squad would come once we stole the airship, but I never imagined six combat airships would be dispatched. Two at the very most, I thought……"

Six combat airships—far more than Roxanne had anticipated. I could have brushed it off, but something about it felt off. Roxanne was acting as the elves' leader; she wasn't green enough for her predictions to be that far wide of the mark. Which meant the appearance of six combat airships was not a normal state of affairs.

We still had four days left, but…… this raid was probably the single most dangerous moment of Floor 32.

"We should withdraw the veil, then?"

"Yes. We've agreed to communicate, after all."

I immediately pulled back the veil covering our airship. The Sky Whales, of course, remained hidden within it. Roxanne glanced at me with faintly widened eyes—without the veil, she couldn't see them either.

"Just in case, I'll keep the Sky Whales concealed."

"Ah, I see. Thank you."

The pursuit squad's airship was drawing ever closer. I set my mind racing. We had agreed to communicate, yes, but it was what came after that worried me. They were not about to simply let us go. Negotiations would end in battle—that much was certain.

'You told me an airship-to-airship fight was out of the question.'

And we had the Sky Whales in tow on top of it. An overwhelmingly lopsided situation. But this was a trial the Tower had prepared; there had to be a solution hidden somewhere. They had been the ones to request communication first, so the thread to pull was most likely buried inside that conversation. Stay calm. Wait. A way out might present itself.

Barely had the thought finished forming when a fury-filled roar erupted from the deck of the oncoming pursuit airship.

"The bastard who dares to impersonate me and conspire with elves to steal an airship—come out this instant!"

Up on the combat airship, a plump man was bellowing in our direction. He looked for all the world like a spoiled young heir to some wealthy house. The person beside him moved to soothe him.

"Lord Letra, please compose yourself."

"Do I look like I can compose myself right now?!"

Letra?

That was a name I'd definitely seen in the punitive captain's journal. What was it again……? Ah—that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right. Letra Delrheim, Captain of the Punitive Force.

The instant the memory surfaced, a chill crawled up my spine. That spoiled brat was the real punitive captain?

'Then who was the captain before I was summoned?'

Who was the captain who had arrived aboard that airship, spent a week marching with the punitive force, and written the journal I had read? It felt as though a ghost had walked over my grave. Was it simply the Tower arranging things for the trial's sake—or was something unfolding that I knew nothing about……?

I was thoroughly lost.

"The fake captain who impersonated me—if you don't want to die, come out here and kneel right now!"

At the brat's—no, at Letra's words—Roxanne turned to stare at me in shock. She, too, had completely lost the thread of what was happening.

"An… impostor captain?"

"Haha……"

"Is that true?"

Having no answer, I laughed awkwardly, and Roxanne shot back at me with a blade in her voice.

What was I even supposed to say……. I couldn't drag this out. One wrong move and I'd shatter the elves' trust along with everything else.

After a moment's thought, I found my answer.

"Yes."

"No—how could you—"

"I heard they were sending a punitive force to capture the Sky Whales. I didn't want to stand by and let them die."

I deliberately cut across Roxanne's agitated words. Speaking quickly, giving her no room to think, I watched her pupils waver. Her expression softened into something almost moved.

"……If that's what it was, you should have simply told us from the start."

"That's not what matters right now. Let's deal with this situation first."

I turned the pursuit squad's objective over in my mind again. They had come to reclaim their stolen airship and arrest the impostor wearing the captain's name.

Airship-to-airship combat was impossible. And for whatever reason, that brat over there was the key to clearing this floor.

'Judging by his temperament, I doubt he's open to reason……'

Then a flash of inspiration struck me. I turned to Roxanne, who was watching me with worried eyes. Meanwhile, Letra bellowed again.

"We'll spare the elves! Hand over the impostor at once!"

When our side gave no reply, Letra vented his anger on the helmsman for no reason at all.

"Helmsman! Just fire already!"

"Lord Letra, this is a royal airship. We cannot fire without cause—and they have not yet given their answer."

"I'll take responsibility, so I said fire, damn it!"

Let this drag on much longer and they really would open fire. I gave Roxanne a faint smile.

"I'll go."

"What? No! If you go, you'll die! If I reveal my identity, they won't be able to bombard us. I'll do the talking."

"No, I have a plan. Don't worry."

"Kwon Suhyeok!"

Leaving the anxious Roxanne behind, I slipped the axe and dagger into my subspace. Then I stepped out onto the deck and raised both hands.

"I'm the impostor! I'm coming to you!"

"Yes! So it was you all along! Come quickly and kneel!"

Letra clapped his hands together, beaming with delight. Such behavior in a situation like this……. Honestly, what a child. Well, he was a parachute appointment, after all.

The moment I stepped forward, the combat airship drew its hull flush against ours, and soon a broad wooden plank was laid out between the two decks. It was an invitation to cross.

Letra stared down at me with an imperious sneer.

'The soldiers on deck don't seem worth worrying about…… one helmsman and four guard soldiers.'

Needless to say, none of them looked stronger than I was.

I stepped onto the plank with both hands still raised, signaling that I bore no hostility. Every eye in sight turned toward me—the pursuit squad's, and even the elves'. The soldiers on deck leveled their guns at me, but I felt no fear whatsoever.

If anything, walking the narrow plank high above the open sky felt like some sort of courage trial. Like crossing one of those glass skywalks at a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tourist attraction, I supposed. Such were the absurd thoughts filling my head as I crossed over onto the pursuit squad's airship.

"The impostor shall confess his crime and kneel this instant!"

How many times had he repeated that same line now? Was that really the full extent of his vocabulary? Already growing bored, I turned to face Letra. When I met his glare head-on, his eyes bulged wide.

"Kneel within three seconds or we shoot! Kneel, now!"

What a precious little creature.

It was almost funny, watching him carry on with no idea what was about to happen to him. Instead of kneeling, I flashed Letra a wide, sunny smile.

And in the same instant, I unleashed Thunderflash.

Within time slowing to a crawl, the warping terror in the corners of Letra's eyes was crystal clear.