Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The One Who Stays, The One Who Leaves
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Village hall, the place with the gate leading to the second floor.
It had been a while since I last saw the village chief's face.
"...This isn't what I'm thinking, right?"
"This time it's real."
"You said exactly the same thing last time, not a word different."
A good amount of time had passed since I gave up climbing and settled here, but the chief didn't like me much.
He used respectful speech because I was, at least on the surface, an adventurer. Otherwise, he probably would have swung at me.
I fully understood the chief's attitude.
The condition for clearing the first floor was receiving the Adventurer's Proof from the chief.
Because of that, whenever my trait brought me back from the second floor to the first, it was always right before handing over the proof to the chief.
My goal of reaching the top of the tower, with the 714th floor as the last, had crumbled.
On the day I returned to the first floor like that, the adventurers who were the start of the coalition received the proof from the chief just like in the past.
"I received it earlier. It seems you forgot, Chief."
"Ah, you already got it. As I get older, my memory's gotten completely shot..."
At the time, we brushed it off lightly as his mistake, but the next day, when he found me still lingering on the first floor, he realized it was a lie.
Of course, one proof was left over out of the number prepared for the people—it was mine.
And since I'd returned to the first floor after that too, from the chief's perspective, it must have seemed like I called him to the hall demanding the proof, then changed my mind and didn't take it.
Then, as if nothing happened, I'd call him again, go through several rounds, and return to the first floor once more, leaving words like I'd take the proof next time. No wonder he was dumbfounded from his position.
Fooled once, you're the victim; twice, you're the fool; three times, you're an accomplice—but against adventurers, he had no choice but to play along.
"Sigh... Alright. If the adventurer wants to go to the second floor, I can't stop you."
[2nd Floor Gate]
Will you challenge the 2nd floor?
· Condition - Adventurer's Proof (1/1)
Leaving the first floor temporarily was to check the eleventh floor.
I wanted to know if the Mariel in Harman's memories was the same person as the resident in the eleventh-floor village.
Once it was done, it would all be as if nothing happened.
I fully felt the familiar soreness in my throat after so long.
The eyes of the woman residing on the eleventh floor were, damn it all, a beautiful green.
Let's put off talking about that woman for now.
The chief was extending his right hand holding the proof toward me.
"Sigh... Alright. If the adventurer wants to go to the seco─."
"Chief."
I pushed his hand away.
"...No way."
"Sorry. Keep the proof."
"Argh!"
The chief yelled that he'd been tricked again and couldn't hold back his anger.
"Did I become chief for this...? It's soul-crushing..."
"Chief. Act your age and position."
"Adventurer. Don't ever ask me for the proof again. Even if you beg, I won't give it."
The proofs didn't have names on them anyway; they were all mass-produced identical items. He could just give the one I'd taken to another adventurer.
Lately, novice adventurers had been coming to pick them up often, so it should be fine.
The situation flowed like the chief had been bullied by an adventurer, but even without me, plenty of adventurers visited the hall...?
"Wait a moment. Someone will need the proof soon."
"I'm not falling for it anymore."
"I'm not asking for it myself."
An adventurer would come right away.
Today, Rien had said she was heading to the second floor.
Rien had a newly made sword at her waist.
"You ended up using it after all."
"I originally planned to give it to the blacksmith, but he has no intention of taking it."
Of course, the first "decent-looking sword" she made hadn't been discarded and was still stored in her sub-space.
She seemed intent on using the unnamed sword full of question marks as her main weapon.
It had strayed far from the original purpose.
I'd taken Rien to the forge to show her there were no hidden pieces in the lower floors.
The issue with Harman's memories had only a slight expectation; I hadn't intended it.
The result was the opposite.
Harman recovered memories of why he'd started living as a blacksmith and what sword he'd hung his life on perfecting.
Rien had obtained a weapon truly worthy of being called a hidden piece.
It wouldn't have the special abilities or performance she expected, but the situation didn't fit to deliver the lesson I'd originally prepared.
"What did Harman say?"
"That remembering was enough, and he was grateful thanks to you."
A man who'd gripped the sword and sobbed for tens of minutes was razor-sharp about this part.
What Harman wanted to create wasn't the sword itself, but the memories tied to it, so he didn't claim ownership of the sword.
On the contrary, he acknowledged it as Rien's creation and hoped an adventurer would take it and climb the tower.
"And he said to definitely tell you he's grateful too, Senior."
"I'm not leaving the village, so he can say it to my face directly."
"Well, maybe he's shy."
When I first took her to the forge, I'd thought she'd just wasted time and planned to give her info matching that expectation.
Rien fiddled with the hilt now and then, clearly pleased with the nameless sword.
"I'm sorry to rain on your parade since you're so happy, but I have to say it."
Still, I needed to correct her misconceptions.
Rien saw mystery and specialness in items with hidden info.
"Items with obscured information don't mean what you think they do."
"In what way?"
"You swung it yourself, so you know. Its performance is just a bit better than the swords littering the first floor."
Thanks to me handling the hammering, it was sharper than a crude sword, but the structure itself didn't emphasize lethality.
The sword I used had reached epic grade through endless refinements over a long period; that sword was probably rare grade at best.
Filled with question marks meant, literally, the tower hadn't decided anything about the item.
In other words, it hadn't acknowledged it.
That sword's performance followed the physical strength of the metal and the sharpness of its forged shape, without any tower intervention.
"It won't be as strong a weapon as you expect. You'll find much better ones climbing the tower."
"..."
"What I want to say is, the rewards you can get from each floor match that floor's level. The tenth floor's reward is more valuable than the seventh's, and the fiftieth floor's spoils incomparable."
Not pleasant to hear, surely.
But based on my experience, this was the most useful advice for a novice.
And...
From here, it was my personal greed.
I tossed the original advice and added what I wanted.
"If you really want to climb the tower, conquer floors others can't reach, and become a famous ranker everyone knows. Don't look for shortcuts."
I could easily guess why Rien fixated on hidden pieces.
The tower was overflowing with early adventurers, and compared to them, Rien was just a hopelessly weak novice.
I didn't know what grudge lay between Rien and the Sword Saint in the past.
Though once family, Rien spoke of the Sword Saint with considerable distance.
She acknowledged his strength without reservation but saw him as someone to surpass.
She even said he'd despaired her herself, so no familial affection remained.
Her climbing goal was firm.
She probably thought the only way to close that gap was hidden growth elements even rankers couldn't find.
"What you can get from one floor is limited. That's how the tower works."
"So, I'll always be a latecomer?"
"Not what I mean."
Floors were separated, but not unrelated.
The eighty-third floor's reward being key to conquering the eighty-sixth was a prime example.
"Don't chase rewards exceeding the conquest difficulty. Think about how to use what you get."
Even the same reward determines the next conquest's winner by how it's used.
In truth, Rien's entry timing wasn't that late.
Updating guild top records was fierce, but following conquered floors was simpler.
The tower's structure even favored latecomers catching up to pioneers.
Top guilds competing for first weren't all early adventurers, right?
Sword Saint, Amelia—countless rankers entered later than them.
"The eighth floor is magic stone mining. Most sell all the canned stones, but keep plenty of the highest grade ones—don't sell them."
"Wh-why? What's up?"
"There's an enchanter on the eleventh floor who reinforces gear. Give him the stockpiled stones as materials and have him strengthen your sword."
Normally, I'd say save money for a good sword until then, but Rien seemed set on using the nameless one.
Of course, I was leaking this info with that in mind.
Harman recovered Mariel's memories seeing the sword.
Maybe the reverse was possible... I didn't know.
But one side remembering their partner while the other didn't was too tragic to watch.
Just ten floors apart, severing decades of bond.
"An-anything else? Tell me a bit more! Just a little!"
"Come back after the eleventh. There's plenty of useful info."
It seemed more realistic than my goals, so I could give her a push.
Resolving Harman's issue was largely thanks to Rien anyway; this much was fine.
I could help her close the gap until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with rankers.
After that, it was on her.
"Why're you grinning all of a sudden?"
"Heh, my actions scrounging for hidden pieces on the first floor seem so ridiculous now."
"I told you there aren't any."
"What do you mean no hidden pieces on the first floor."
Rien chuckled again.
"It was right next to me, and I didn't even realize, like an idiot."
With that as our last exchange,
Rien received the proof and headed to the second floor.