Floor 36: Preparations (1)
Ha Heijeong belatedly wore a look of realization on her face. The Tower wasn't made of such lenient stuff. It wasn't that it lacked intent—if it knowingly helped someone's plan, it would incur a penalty for doing so.
"Uh... probably?"
"Why all of a sudden? That's not like you."
"Huh? No, it's just... since you were forcibly made neutral..."
Ha Heijeong trailed off vaguely. Did that mean she was that angry? Well, having her vent on my behalf had eased some of the frustration I'd been swallowing. A feeling of gratitude rose up unbidden, tugging a smile to my lips.
"Thanks for coming all the way out here. I'll handle the rest myself."
"...Right."
"Which way is the nearest city? Telling me that much should be fine, right?"
"Yeah, that much is okay. On my way over, I saw a perfectly good city over that way."
Ha Heijeong pointed with her finger toward the one o'clock position. I committed the direction to memory and nodded.
In the meantime, Ha Heijeong climbed onto her broom with a slightly reluctant expression. It was only natural. Now that our conversation was finished, there was no reason to waste any more time here.
"I'll get going then."
"Yeah, get back safe. You worked hard coming all this way. Thanks."
"Thank me for what? Forget it. Do your best out there."
"You'd better not troll me after offering to help."
"I won't troll, but don't expect me to bust a gut either. Oh! Right—be careful when you enter the city."
"Huh? Be careful?"
I threw the question back at her, but instead of answering, Ha Heijeong simply flashed a sly smile.
A meeting of barely ten minutes. When I thought about how she'd flown through the sky for over four hours just for me, my gratitude deepened all the more. But I'd already thanked her twice. Any more and she'd probably find it burdensome, so I simply waved.
"Go on. See you later."
"Heijeong! Safe travels!"
"Right, I'm off. Bye, Dobby."
Ha Heijeong soared up into the sky without a trace of lingering attachment. Her retreating figure shrank quickly into the distance—but before long, she stole a glance back over her shoulder. When I waved again with a grin, she whipped her head forward sharply.
After roughly an hour of walking in the direction Ha Heijeong had pointed, a city began to come into view in the distance. It was around then that I encountered a group of Dwarves.
On the road near the city, a crowd of climbers had gathered in a tight cluster. Fifty or so, maybe? They were huddled together muttering among themselves with grave expressions, and as I approached, one of the climbers spotted me. The obsidian armor, the axe, and Dobby. The climbers recognized me at a glance.
"Oh! It's Kwon Suhyeok!"
"Whoa? Seriously?"
At that very moment they all came swarming toward me, and like a pack of enormous puppies, it was a little overwhelming.
"Kwon Suhyeok, sir! Hello!"
"Wow, it really is Kwon Suhyeok. Hello!"
"...Hello."
The moment the greetings were exchanged, everyone started introducing themselves by name, but there were so many of them that memorizing them all at once was impossible. Hmm, given that they were gathered here like this, they were probably climbers of the neutral faction...
The climbers were the first to throw out a question.
"Did you also choose the neutral faction, Kwon Suhyeok?"
"Haha, yes. Are you all neutral as well?"
"Yes, all of us are neutral."
Just as I'd suspected—they were neutral climbers. None of them were familiar faces. Which meant they were climbers ranked somewhat lower...
My curiosity was piqued a little.
"Hmm, why did you all choose neutral, if I may ask?"
Truthfully, this collective floor had been a decent opportunity for lower-ranked climbers. So long as the faction they chose emerged victorious, they'd receive additional rewards. Compared to the risks they'd have to shoulder, it was arguably a profitable deal.
"Ah, I picked neutral because I was worried I'd end up fighting my own party members."
"For me, even if they're of a different planet's species, killing intelligent beings feels... a little wrong..."
Ah-ha. I nodded subtly at their answers. Fair enough—it made sense, given a situation where you might end up at odds with your own party members. And for those averse to bloodshed, I could understand completely.
"And why did you...?"
"It just sort of worked out that way. By the way, why is everyone gathered here?"
"The humans won't let us into the city. Even when other climbers tried to persuade them, they wouldn't budge. They said they'd attack if we came any closer..."
"I'm sorry, what?"
When I asked him to repeat himself, the Dwarf who seemed to be the group's spokesman explained the situation. The neutral climbers, each summoned to random locations, had banded together at first. There was nothing one could accomplish alone. Then, when they'd gathered roughly fifty strong, they'd tried to enter the city and been refused. That was why they were camped outside it, he said.
Needless to say, it was news I hadn't heard—because I hadn't been listening when they'd announced the humans would be choosing the human faction.
Is that what Ha Heijeong meant when she told me to be careful?
Probably because of the penalty, she'd only given a warning without spelling it out. They won't attack, but they'll be hostile, huh.
Honestly, it didn't matter much. It would be a bit of a hassle, but I could just infiltrate with the Shadow Veil. Once I got my hands on a map, I could commandeer an airship—or failing that, a car—and make my move.
One of the climbers pressed anxiously.
"Kwon Suhyeok, what do we do?"
"..."
"We," he says...
I hadn't planned on moving with them at all, yet here he was speaking as though I'd naturally joined up. Wasn't that getting a bit ahead of themselves? Well, from their perspective, I suppose it was only natural.
Hmm, what should I do...
Of course, I had no intention of moving together. I needed to abduct the elf chief and threaten the kings. Moving quietly and alone would be far better than dragging a bunch of unremarkable climbers around. But I'd built up a certain image by now, and I couldn't exactly come right out and tell them to get lost.
And yet something brushed across my mind.
Wait a moment—I might actually need a few people...
When it came to keeping watch over the crew of the hijacked airship, or intimidating the kings, wouldn't it be better to have more than one person? Besides, I'd be moving with Dobby anyway. Having climbers by Dobby's side to fill out the numbers might put my mind somewhat at ease. I also wanted to hear what ideas the climbers had. They might have come up with something I hadn't thought of.
"I only just heard about being locked out of the city, so I'm a bit thrown off myself."
"Ah, I suppose you would be."
"Do you all have a plan worked out already?"
"Hmm, we've talked it over, but honestly we don't really know what to do."
The spokesman climber continued in a troubled tone.
"It's worse with no information at all. The one idea we had was to act as mediators when the large-scale war breaks out later, but we don't know if we can even manage that on our own..."
I'd expected as much, but there was nothing to gain here. I understood, though. Just as he'd said, with no information, fifty neutral climbers couldn't exactly craft a plan.
So—what would it be? Take them along, or leave them behind? I weighed both options in my head.
They wouldn't outright curse me for moving alone, but...
If I moved solo and the neutral faction ended up winning, there might be grumbling afterward. That I'd abandoned the other climbers to pocket the rewards for myself. Climbers wouldn't spare a thought for the hardships I'd endure to earn it. On the other hand, bringing them along would add a bit of hassle, but it would also make certain things easier.
The deeper my thoughts ran, the more my heart tipped toward one side. All right. I'll take them with me.
"Hmm, I've just thought of a good idea."
Grab both factions' leaders and force them into negotiations. Even to my eyes it was a rather audacious plan, but the climbers called it brilliant and showered me with praise. Rather than underestimating the trial, their faith in me seemed to exceed all expectation. Considering everything I'd shown them so far, it was only natural—but I couldn't help feeling a little burdened by it.
Thanks to them, the details of my plan shifted somewhat.
Fifty-three climbers.
After securing the map, I would have to hijack an airship—no substitutions, no cars.
Once the plan was set, I split the climbers into two groups. Bringing every single climber into the city would have been inefficient. I decided to move with the five highest-ranked among them, while the rest would fan out across the plains to search for any other neutral climbers who might be out there.
Getting into the city afterward wasn't particularly difficult. The guards stood sternly at the gates, but they couldn't see through the veil.
We hid ourselves in an alley and discussed how to proceed.
"Now we need to get our hands on a map... how should we go about it?"
"A map?"
"Yes. Even if we steal an airship, we still need to know the way."
"Hmm, wouldn't a general store have one?"
As we were talking, one of the climbers raised a question.
"But do we even need a map?"
"I'm sorry?"
Long straight hair and bronze skin—it was the woman who'd introduced herself as Cecilia.
We just talked about this... is this person an idiot?
I stared at her, wondering what she meant, but Cecilia instead looked back at me as if it were obvious.
"Wouldn't the people piloting the airship already know the way?"
"Oh..."
She had a point. If we were going to seize an airship anyway, there was no need to procure a map separately. So the fool was me.
When I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, the other climbers glanced at one another and laughed. It wasn't mockery—it was the kind of laughter meant to ease the atmosphere.
"Haha, so Kwon Suhyeok's human after all."
"...I'm sorry."
"No, no. We hadn't thought of it either."
"Exactly—you're from a different world, of course you wouldn't know."
It didn't feel bad, exactly, but their excessive flattery only made me more embarrassed. I hurriedly changed the subject.
"Then let's move straight to commandeering the airship."
"Yes, sir."
"The airships have been shuttling back and forth near the center, so there's probably a dock over there. Let's move."
The elf terror attacks had just swept the entire nation, and the mood inside the city was grim. Instead of civilians, soldiers with guns and weapons patrolled the streets, and vehicles mounted with what looked like cannons rumbled back and forth across the roads. Every now and then I caught sight of familiar Dwarves, but since we were infiltrating, there was no way to greet them.
The dock we arrived at looked busier than the streets outside. People were hauling supplies and weapons around, and the airships had their engines running as if preparing to launch at any moment. They'd depart the instant loading was complete—a favorable situation for us.
Last time it was a royal airship, which is why we got chased, if I remember right.
We needed to avoid royal airships at all costs. This time, luck was on our side. There were dozens of airships here, and given the circumstances, many bore no particular insignia. Presumably the private vessels of merchant guilds had been conscripted for the wartime effort.
"We'll go for that one."
When I pointed, from within the veil, at an airship that had just started its engines, the climbers nodded. There were too many soldiers at the dock to hijack one openly. Boarding the airship stealthily came first—we could take it by force once we were clear of the city.
With so many people moving cargo, we advanced with the utmost care. Fortunately, I already knew the airship's layout thanks to the individual floor. The plan was to hide among the stacked cargo on the broad deck and take the captain hostage.
This way.
Once aboard, I guided the climbers with hand signals. Then, after waiting perhaps twenty minutes, the airship finally rose into the sky.
Its speed was unmistakably slower than the airship I'd ridden before. Probably because it was a civilian vessel, but I felt a twinge of disappointment all the same. Well, at least there's no worry about being pursued...
When the distant silhouette of the city had faded to a blur, we initiated the operation. If we revealed ourselves too soon, we might get shot up with signal flares for nothing, so we approached the captain with our Shadow Veils still active. I positioned myself behind the captain, then directed the other climbers with my fingers—they were to take the nearby crew hostage simultaneously as well.
Once everyone had claimed their positions, I spread three fingers to signal the countdown.
Three, two, one—
The moment I folded my fingers down, I released the Shadow Veil.
"Nobody moves!"
"Hwaagh—!"
As I barked the command and pressed my dagger to the captain's throat, a bizarre, deflating scream burst out of him. The captain, startled out of his wits, lost the strength in his legs and collapsed in a heap. Hmm, being a civilian vessel, the captain's combat ability seemed to be below par.
"From this moment on, this ship is under our control—"