Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Ailment in Prosperity - 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After discovering the contradiction, none of the information about Mariel could be trusted without a thorough filter.
Wrong information that clashed logically was mixed in.
'Where did I miss it?'
Either Mariel was misunderstanding something on her end, or we were overinterpreting her fragmented statements.
"Ellie. Do you remember the time before I climbed the tower?"
"Before Earthbound Spirit arrived, that would be roughly six to four years ago."
"There were adventurers who entered before me back then, right?"
"There were... but..."
Including myself, adventurers like Amelia and the Sword Saint were officially the first batch to enter the tower.
It was easy to see through this as blatant wordplay.
The tower's concept had been released to the world two years prior, and there was no way the government had left it untouched during that time.
They just hadn't made it public—there were surely personnel deployed in secret.
Yet even in playthroughs where hundreds of floors were breached rapidly through repeated challenges, no traces of previous adventurers were found.
It meant they had all been completely wiped out before I even entered the tower.
"In terms of attempts, maybe about three times? Hmm, probably."
"Three times in two years—that's definitely a low frequency."
"The numbers were much smaller too. The first group was five people, and the largest was around twenty, I think?"
What I wanted to confirm was their origins.
Not their birthplace, but whether they came from other worlds.
"Compared to us, was there a big difference?"
"Hmm? Nothing particularly memorable comes to mind, so they probably didn't stand out. They were just like when you arrived, Earthbound Spirit—adventurers who marveled at everything, knowing nothing..."
"......"
"Actually, the recent adventurers are the unusual ones. They rush through requests, level up fast. It's like their eyes are only on joining guilds."
If there had been an adventurer from Ellie's world, she would have recognized them right away.
Just as there was only one gate to ascend to the second floor, there was only one gate leading into the tower's first floor.
This tower's entrance was unique.
The tower contained worlds where Ellie and Mariel had lived, or worlds that had completely perished.
Sometimes newborn worlds, or days when worlds occupied by other intelligent beings were encountered.
The existence of other worlds was clear, but adventurers played no role in them.
Only my world produced adventurers invited to the tower.
"For a while, I thought they were only coming from other places."
"In the past, most were from the north, with some from the south occasionally. But a few years ago, even when asked, they claimed to be from regions I'd never heard of."
No adventurer reaches the eleventh floor without passing through the first.
The moment Luden became part of the tower—that is, six years ago.
There shouldn't have been any adventurers entering this tower before then.
Terms like north or south weren't ones commonly applied to adventurers.
'Adventurers from regions Mariel knows?'
It didn't make sense.
No one from her world had ever entered the tower as an adventurer.
Such adventurers had never passed through Ellie's request office either.
The moment the elderly enchanter saw Rien and mistook her for an 'adventurer who visited Luden before entering the tower,' something was off.
She held the mistaken belief that adventurers could visit her world too.
Who were the adventurers Mariel spoke of reaching the eleventh floor?
Just who were the outsiders she'd encountered since thirty years ago?
They weren't adventurers.
No—the first thing to question was something else.
Mariel said she became part of the tower thirty years ago, but all the clues contradicted that.
'If she wasn't bound to the tower, why couldn't Mariel return to Luden?'
"We were chosen!"
"That's right. This is the thirtieth salvation festival we're welcoming."
Why did they mistake the day they were saved for thirty years ago?
"Ha... this is tough."
"What's tough?"
"Everything. No answers, just more questions piling up."
And only unpleasant possibilities kept surfacing.
Unpleasant enough to turn my stomach.
"Senior? Where are you going?"
"To savor the tea Ellie brews. They've added a lot of varieties while you were away."
"Suddenly? Well, drinking tea sounds nice, but..."
Senior abruptly left in the middle of our conversation.
'Couldn't he at least say where he's going?'
The request office door had already closed coldly after his departure.
"Sigh... It's tough for me too. Wasn't the mood great just now?"
I'd even seen him smiling while trading light banter.
But in an instant, Senior's mood sank coldly and turned serious.
He pondered deeply to himself, then spouted some nonsense about drinking tea before heading out.
When he's like this, it's hard to approach him.
Hard to block his way or even ask what he's thinking.
"He has that side to him. Like you can't keep up with the speed of his thoughts?"
"You feel that way too, sis?"
"Sometimes."
"So it's not just me."
Does knowing a lot force you to end up like that?
'I have no clue how any of this works. Other worlds? No idea.'
All day, I only thought about getting stronger faster and climbing higher floors. I had zero interest in stuff like this.
"Still, it's nice. He thinks deeply about others' business like it's his own, instead of brushing it off."
"Hmph. That's what you like about him?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
This piques my interest even more.
About their relationship progress.
Love advice is surprisingly fun.
"So, how have you been holding up meanwhile, sis?"
"Huh...? Me?"
"My story's done, so now it's your turn to spill."
Honestly, to any third party, their feelings are already mutual.
Ellie sis seems shy about this stuff, and while Senior's decisive in action, I don't get why he can't make a move in romance.
"You haven't tried anything in the meantime?"
"He seemed busy for a while... and there weren't good opportunities..."
"You're not still in the exact same spot, are you?"
"......"
"For real?"
Ellie forcibly turned her attention to the tea.
There were teapots and cups I'd never seen before, plus tons of tea leaf packets portioned out.
"Ahem, what would you like?"
"Sure. Let's chat over tea. But wow, so many varieties."
"If you don't know, want me to pick something safe?"
"That'd be great."
Ellie pulled out a tea bag from the third spot and started steeping the leaves.
Soon, pale yellow tea flowed from the pot.
It was a flavor I'd never tasted before.
"The request office didn't have stuff like this before, right? Anyone would think this is a pro tea house."
"Lately, interesting tea leaves keep popping up in shops, so I bought a few here and there, and it snowballed."
"Sounds like a good hobby. Tastes great too."
Ellie fidgeted with her index finger as she spoke.
"Well, it didn't exactly start as a hobby..."
"Not a hobby?"
"Hot tea takes about ten minutes to drink comfortably."
"Yeah, usually. Unless you want to burn your mouth, you let it cool."
"If I steep a fresh cup after every request, it gives me an excuse to linger..."
Ellie was making the maximum effort she could.
You can't rudely ignore an offer of 'have a cup before you go' after she bought new leaves.
It naturally leads to spending time in the request office.
Sitting face-to-face over tea is perfect for relaxed chats.
"You've seized the opportunities well, but conversations never advance."
"And... a rival appeared."
"What? Wh-who?"
"They look super close. Always hunting together."
"Eh? Another woman hooked up with him here?"
A resident hunting with Senior?
This feels serious.
"Who the heck is sh—!"
The request office door opened behind me.
Too early for Senior to return—we hadn't even finished our tea.
"What, no Earthbound Spirit? I figured he'd head to the request office first since he wasn't around—oh."
"Guild Master Amelia?"
'No way? A guild master wouldn't wear beginner gear like that.'
But no matter how I looked, it matched too well.
Red hair, yellow eyes, the face I'd seen dozens of times in videos.
Clothes were different, but the person was the same.
"Ah, no, not me."
"......Your voice sounds the same too."
"Eek. I-I'll come back next time!"
Should I tell Fria about this?
"Wait. Is she the rival you meant...?"
What the hell happened while I was gone?
I knocked on the door.
"What's the occasion."
"Are you working?"
"If I was, would I hear the knock? Just taking a break."
Sylvia seemed to be sleeping.
If awake, she'd have scampered right over with her short strides to greet me.
Harman had changed a bit since that day.
"How long you gonna stand there? This old body's joints ache if I stay still too long."
His grumbling way of speaking was the same as ever.
But he had a knack for awkwardly phrasing 'come in already.'
"How have things been lately?"
"How what? Same as every day."
Harman no longer forged swords beyond what was needed.
Having realized what he truly wanted to make, he stopped obsessing over churning out crude blades.
Instead, a new worry had emerged.
"I've been dreaming a lot lately."
"What kind?"
"Mariel leaving me."
"......"
"And it doesn't feel entirely like just a dream."
If I told him the names Linnet and Theo, would he dredge up memories of his children too?
Would that be the right thing to do?