The Princess of the Black Tower

Is this... right? Is what I'm seeing really a girl? In a world where everything has become abnormal, a girl who looks this normal? I instinctively realized that this couldn't possibly be normal. Nothing about it made sense. Maybe the monsters had fled in that direction because of her. Right before she appeared, hadn't they been desperately running in one direction?

Besides, the girl was walking barefoot through this insane world... Barefoot, when even combat boots wouldn't be enough. That was clearly abnormal. She might have the appearance of a girl, but she was likely some kind of terrifying existence.

"..."

Frozen in fear, I stared at her. The girl who had been waving her hand stopped. She tilted her head, as if puzzled by my stillness.

At that moment, I felt like some insane choice had been presented to me. Should I greet her back? Or should I close the door? Either way, I had no idea what the outcome would be. And if she really was some terrifying being, closing the door wouldn't mean anything anyway.

After a moment of hesitation, I awkwardly waved my hand.

"Ah, hello?"

I greeted her the same way she had greeted me. Only then did the girl smile brightly.

What the...! The encounter message didn't appear until I greeted her, and now it's suddenly popping up? And what the hell is this "useful hint" supposed to mean? Encounter possible when Reality Recognition Value is 7,000 or higher? And now there's even a title...!

Even as I reeled in shock from the sudden flood of messages, I grasped the most critical piece of information. Just as I suspected, the girl before me was not human. She was some kind of anomaly called the Princess of the Black Tower. A special anomaly significant enough to trigger both a hint and a title. And that Black Tower... it must be the one visible in the distance. As I thought, she was an existence that only appeared when the Reality Recognition Value changed.

The vague fear I had been feeling now materialized into something concrete. A terrifying tension gripped my entire body when the girl spoke.

"Human, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's been so long since I've seen a human. What were you doing here?"

Her tone was completely ordinary. She asked the question in a way that sounded almost ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠harmless at first glance. Accepting this situation was incredibly difficult. A being that was clearly some kind of horrific anomaly was speaking to me so casually? It wouldn't be strange if she reached out with those slender fingers and scraped out my brain right now.

Having died twice already and had my stats inflated, I was extremely cautious. I carefully chose my words in my head. I had to survive. I couldn't afford to offend this existence. At the same time, I needed to find a way to escape alive. Since she seemed willing to talk, I decided to try guiding the conversation. Maybe normal communication was possible.

"I wasn't really doing anything... I was just hiding."

"Hiding? Why?"

"Well, there are monsters outside."

"Monsters? Ah, you mean the black hounds."

Those are hounds? No matter how I looked at them, they were 2.5-meter-tall bacteriophage-like monsters with two long legs. How could anyone call them black hounds?

"Are you scared of the hounds? Why?"

Her tone was filled with curiosity. It didn't make sense, but I felt like this girl was genuinely innocent. She looked exactly like a curious young girl.

"Well... aren't they dangerous?"

"But you're a mage, aren't you?"

What...! She thinks I'm a mage?! Could she sense the grimoire's aura from me? Is that why she thinks I'm a mage?

My heart raced. From our conversation so far, I didn't sense any hostility. She had even approached me first, greeted me, and started talking despite knowing I possessed a grimoire. I needed to keep this conversation going as long as possible.

"Couldn't you just drive them away with your magic? Why would you be scared?"

"Um, well, actually, I'm not a mage."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The girl's head tilted.

"I just happened to obtain a grimoire. I'm not really a mage or anything."

"Oh, so you haven't been a mage for long?"

That's not what I said.

"But how can you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already see the Tower? That's unusual. I thought you were a transcended mage."

"..."

Transcended...? I didn't fully understand, but the girl seemed puzzled that I could see the Tower despite not having been a mage for long. The reason I could see the Tower was because my Reality Recognition Value had increased. From this, I could infer... maybe the Reality Recognition Value was an indicator of a mage's rank?

Seeing my silence, the girl nodded.

"I see. I'll help you."

"Excuse me? You'll help me?"

"You want to drive away the black hounds, right? I'll teach you. It should help."

This was the first time the status window had ever given me a warning! The thing that had been completely useless until now was suddenly reacting like this! It meant I shouldn't learn it! I had to refuse!

"N-no, it's fine. I'm not a mage. I don't want to learn magic."

"Hmm?"

Hmm?

"You're saying strange things. Alright. If you don't want to learn, then there's nothing I can do."

I'm alive!

—Thump, thump!

What would have happened if I had accepted that knowledge just now? Just imagining it made my mind feel like it was flying off into some distant void. I absolutely must not learn it. The status window had sent me an extremely intense warning for the very first time.

But something felt off. The girl seemed to have accepted it, but her expression looked somewhat disappointed. Was it because her goodwill had been rejected?

I quickly made an excuse.

"It's not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I don't want to learn... I just don't like this grimoire. Ever since I got it, the world has become strange."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"After the grimoire activated, I started seeing monsters that weren't visible before—like those black hounds you mentioned—and people started acting weird too. So I became scared of learning more."

I didn't have time to measure my words. Lying to this kind of existence was terrifying, so I just told the truth. Since she had shown me goodwill, I decided to approach her honestly. Honesty in response to goodwill—that seemed right.

"..."

The girl looked puzzled by my words, tilting her head while lightly brushing her lips with her finger.

"I don't understand. You're saying the world suddenly changed?"

"Yes... that's right."

"But the world has always been like this."

That can't be true...! The world wasn't originally like this. It only looked twisted because my Reality Recognition Value had increased. Yes, that was the key. Lowering this value.

"A-anyway, I want to go back to how things were. To the world before I obtained the grimoire."

"You mean you want to □□□□ your soul?"

I couldn't understand. And I probably shouldn't.

"I don't know..."

"I don't really understand what you want."

After saying that, the girl spun around.

"I'm going back."

She's leaving...! When the extremely dangerous girl said she was going back, I finally felt like I could breathe again. Being alone with an unidentifiable existence like her was more mentally taxing than I could have imagined.

But if she was going back, did she mean that Tower?

"To that Tower?"

"Want to come with me?"

My mind went blank. Just by meeting this girl, I had seen multiple messages I'd never encountered before. Endings. Yes, endings. My regression ability had endings, and the status window seemed to want me to collect them. I had vaguely sensed this, but the message [Collect more endings] gave me certainty.

"..."

The Black Tower in the distance. To enter a specific "ending branch" there, I apparently needed several more endings. Ascendant... Devourer... I couldn't even begin to guess what they meant. But I could tell that the Black Tower was extremely important. And that I needed to collect those endings.

"What happens if I go to that Tower?"

"Who knows? What do you think will happen?"

"What exactly is that Tower?"

"Even if you ask, hmm."

The girl seemed to have trouble explaining the Black Tower.

"You'll understand once you become a higher-ranking mage. But you don't want to become a mage, right? Then you won't understand."

I understood.

"I'm going. That was fun. I hope we meet again."

The girl turned and walked toward the Tower. I called out one last time.

"Wait!"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know how to lower a mage's rank?! Do you know the method?!"

"I can tell you that."

Really?!

—Swish.

The girl extended her arm and pointed to the right. I turned my head to look in that direction. Over there... yes, that direction. The very battlefield where the two Bureaus were fighting after the vampire incident broke out.

"I can feel it from over there. Find the Pure White Shell. If you obtain it, you'll be able to lower your rank."

"What is the Pure White Shell?"

"You'll know when you see it. Once your rank lowers, you won't be able to see anymore."

The girl saying this looked disappointed.

"Check your grimoire. There might be a spell to drive away the black hounds. Well then, goodbye. Take care."

—Rustle.

With those words, the girl vanished without a trace.

I could only stand there blankly for a while, staring at the Black Tower.