The Fallen Princess
Would you like to challenge the Nightmare difficulty?
The Nightmare difficulty option appeared the moment I set foot on the tenth floor.
Seeing it, only one person came to mind.
The princess.
The princess who had fled from the Tower.
I had a faint premonition that whatever was about to happen would be connected to her.
I didn't hesitate for long.
"I'll do it."
The moment I answered, the scenery of the Tower began to blur and warp.
Step.
I felt the texture of grass and soil beneath my shoes.
Looking up, a dense canopy of trees blocked out the sky.
The damp smell of earth.
The scent of decaying leaves.
It was a forest.
And a highly overgrown one at that.
Moreover, there was something I had instinctively learned while climbing the Tower.
A chilling sensation, somehow.
I could feel that something was lurking in this forest.
"Guys."
The Key Puppet deactivated its invisibility and appeared.
Clack—
At the same time, the door to the Puppet Workshop swung open.
Emerging from it were my small-type puppets.
They were the most suitable for scouting the forest and gathering information.
"Gather information on the area. And let me know if you find anyone about my size."
The puppets scattered in all directions, faithfully executing my command.
"Spider."
Simultaneously, the invisible Spider Puppet slipped into the underbrush.
If anything went wrong, it would protect me immediately.
Honestly, the last Nightmare difficulty was really dangerous.
Because of that, I had to be extra cautious.
I had climbed all the way to the tenth floor and learned to handle my puppets in my own way.
With careful steps, I began to walk through the woods.
A fourteen-year-old girl.
Shorter and smaller than others my age.
Navigating a dense forest in this body was much harder than I thought.
Vines kept tangling around my legs, and the humid air made my clothes feel heavy.
Walking is no joke.
I had intended to walk on my own feet to build up my stamina stat.
But given the circumstances, I was starting to think I should ride one of my puppets.
Click—
Just then, a sound echoed in my ears.
It was the unique signal sent by the Bat Puppet.
I immediately shared the Bat Puppet's vision, and a scene from a distant location filled my mind.
Is that a basin?
Deep inside a basin nestled between mountain ranges.
I saw a fortress reinforced with old wooden palisades and rusted iron plates.
It was clearly a man-made structure.
And there, giant figures clad in animal pelts were moving around.
Humans?
Perhaps because the princess was the only human I had seen in a while, I was startled for a moment. But my eyes quickly narrowed.
No, they aren't human.
They looked similar to humans, but they couldn't be classified as such.
Fangs protruding from their mouths.
Thick, shaggy fur that no human would have.
Eyes and tails that reminiscent of wild beasts.
They were beastmen.
They were keeping watch and passing the time inside the fortress.
The Tower wouldn't have summoned me here for no reason.
There was definitely something the Tower wanted me to do.
Even if I don't know if we can communicate...
I felt like I had to get closer.
However, the distance was too great for me to cover on foot.
I really needed a ride.
Clank—
"Salamander."
The door to the Puppet Workshop opened, and a heavy puppet crawled out.
A massive Salamander Puppet made from various pieces of stitched flesh.
It was originally a giant boar monster.
A saddle for riding was attached to the back of the Salamander Puppet.
I had designed this one specifically for transportation from the very beginning.
The Salamander Puppet lowered its body so I could climb on easily.
Even so, it was still a bit too high for me, so the Spider Puppet appeared to help.
"Thanks."
I thanked the Spider Puppet for acting as a stepping stone and climbed onto the Salamander.
With my elevated view, I could see the forest much better.
"L-Let's go!"
At my energetic shout, the Salamander Puppet began to charge through the forest.
Meanwhile, the puppets that had scattered throughout the woods began to converge toward the basin.
They were all moving in tandem with my advance.
How many puppets have I made so far?
Perhaps because I had worked tirelessly to craft them while climbing to the tenth floor, I now had a decent number at my disposal.
But human greed knows no bounds.
Even with this many puppets, I still felt like it wasn't enough.
For instance, if I ran into something like that monstrous bird again, danger could strike at any moment.
As I was riding the Salamander Puppet through the forest, the Bat Puppet shared its vision with me once more.
Huh?
An unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes.
Atop an altar, a blonde girl was suspended, her arms bound tightly.
Below the altar, a man who looked like a priest and his followers were chanting and shouting something.
It was such an unexpected sight that I froze in shock.
Because that girl...
"It's the princess."
It was the princess I had saved before.
Wait, she said she would be fine once she left the castle walls.
Why was she in this state?
Should I be glad she wasn't eaten by the monstrous bird?
I felt dumbfounded, but the situation was clear.
At this rate, the princess was going to be sacrificed.
This time, the Tower didn't tell me what to do!
If so, it would likely notify me once I achieved a certain goal.
The previous Nightmare difficulty was also about saving the princess, so this one should be the same!
Just then, the priest began to approach the princess.
He was holding a large, wicked-looking knife.
No way.
"Bat!"
The moment I screamed, the Bat Puppet swooped down from the sky like an arrow.
At the same time, its mouth split wide open.
A high-frequency sonic attack erupted from the Bat Puppet.
The priest clutched his ears at the sudden assault, staggering and falling to his knees.
Meanwhile, the Salamander Puppet accelerated even further.
After a full sprint through the dense trees, the basin finally came into view.
Crash!
Smashing through the trees, the Salamander Puppet scaled the outer cliff wall and reached the front of the fortress.
Thud!
The ground shook violently.
"W-What is that?!"
The beastmen guarding the entrance gasped in surprise and pointed their spears at us.
Ignoring them, the Salamander Puppet charged forward at full speed.
It leaped over the fortress walls made of wood and stone with a jumping power that no ordinary salamander could ever possess.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
While the beastmen stood there dumbfounded, the Salamander Puppet dashed toward the altar.
Inside the fortress, there was a village showing clear signs of long-term habitation.
It seemed the beastmen had lived here for a very long time.
Some of them tried to fight back against the sudden intruder, but their spears couldn't pierce the Salamander Puppet's hide.
The Salamander Puppet's skin could secrete a poison that melted iron.
The moment their iron weapons touched it, they simply dissolved into nothingness.
"O-Our weapons are melting!"
"Watch out! It's a monster we've never seen before!"
It's a puppet, not a monster.
But I didn't have the luxury to correct them.
Inside the saddle, my body was being tossed around mercilessly.
I had prioritized speed and destructive power, but failing to test the safety of the ride was a major blunder.
"Ugh..."
I was a battered mess from rolling around inside the saddle.
If I had known it would be like this, I would have just walked.
While I was deeply regretting my choices, the Salamander Puppet finally reached its destination.
It arrived at the altar where the Bat Puppet had been desperately buying time.
Crash!
The basin was structured with the fortress buildings surrounding the altar.
Because of this, we had to smash through several buildings to reach the center.
Even as my vision spun, I could clearly see the princess.
"Spider!"
At my shout, the Spider Puppet extended its legs.
Its long limbs snatched the bound princess, ripping the wooden pillar she was tied to right out of the ground.
Having secured the princess in an instant, we made our escape without a shred of hesitation.
The Salamander leaped over the fortress walls and escaped to the outside.
"Blegh..."
The moment we safely arrived outside, I barely managed to hold back the urge to vomit.
I seriously thought I was going to die from being flipped upside down repeatedly inside the Salamander.
"P-Princess..."
As I crawled out of the saddle, I saw the princess.
Fortunately, she seemed to be intact.
While the Spider Puppet supported her, the other puppets quickly cut the ropes binding her.
"Princess, wake up..."
But as I leaned in to check on her, I froze.
My face slowly stiffened.
Because...
"...She's not breathing?"
The princess wasn't breathing.
Her eyes were hollow.
Her body was covered in wounds.
Her heart wasn't beating.
With a sensation of something snapping in my mind, I hurriedly laid her flat on the ground.
"Guys!"
With the help of my puppets, I tore open the princess's clothes.
Her body was covered in terrible bruises.
How much had she suffered to get here? She bore the marks of someone who had crossed the line between life and death multiple times.
First, CPR.
I placed my hands over the center of her chest and pressed down hard, aiming for a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute.
Then, I tilted her head back, pinched her nose, and delivered two rescue breaths.
Nothing.
I repeated the process.
And again.
Again.
Again.
Again...
About thirty minutes passed.
Yet, the princess's breath did not return.
I panted heavily.
Collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat, I stared blankly at the princess.
She showed no sign of movement.
She was truly dead.
"...Why?"
I had fought so hard to save her that day.
I believed she would be safe, and I had looked forward to meeting her again.
"What did you bring me here to do?"
I questioned the Tower.
At the same time, anger welled up inside me.
Why did the Tower send me here?
Did it send me to this place just to watch her die helplessly?
"What do you want me to do? What is the point of this?!"
A crushing sense of helplessness weighed down on my entire body.
As if mocking my efforts, the Tower had left me with nothing but the princess's tragic death.
But as I raged against it all, a realization flashed through my mind.
What was the Tower?
The Tower presented trials tailored to each individual Hunter.
And the trials it gave were heavily influenced by the Hunter's own innate traits.
And what was my trait?
My skill.
My skill was the Causality Seamstress.
A puppet master who crafted and controlled puppets.
My head slowly turned back toward the princess.
I finally had a vague idea of what kind of trial the Tower had set before me.