Before the Assault on the Tower of Lust's 50th Floor, the Women Grow Ever More Suspicious

………

"…Was it, by any chance, something expensive?"

She stared at me, the very picture of awkwardness — her expression one of genuine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry, as if she feared she'd blown up something important through her own blunder.

"Nothing like that. Uhh… if anything, it was free?"

"Free?"

I opened my mouth to say something more, then thought better of it. There were other things I needed to ask first.

"Anything feel off anywhere? Body aches, headaches, anything else of the sort?"

"No. Aside from feeling a little down, I'm perfectly fine."

So that was how it was. For whatever reason, her memories hadn't come back right away.

…Why, though?

"But why did you call me over, then? Was there something else you wanted to say?"

"N-no, it's nothing. Go on, get back to it. Call me if you start feeling sick or anything."

"……?? Yes."

Nayami turned to leave, and I huffed out breath after breath, frustrated at how nothing was going my way. Feeling stifled, I pulled out a cigarette — and right then, as if to talk a man out of his smoke, my phone buzzed.

…Ian?

He'd had the thing switched off until just moments ago, so wondering what this could possibly be about, I answered. The instant I picked up, something on the other end went boom, boom, boom, and the caller himself sounded busy as all hell — I could hear him running flat out.

"Hello? Ian?"

"Y-yeah, hello!"

"You're Changki, right!?"

As if this world held more than one Hong Changki. When I said as much, Ian hurriedly cried out.

"I-I'm just! Really busy right now, that's all!?"

"I know you're on vacation! Can I ask you one favor!?"

It wasn't exactly a vacation. We'd cleared the 40th floor just recently, and I was keeping an eye on the situation for a while — the business with Suni and the Madame. Thanks to that, I was a man with time to burn, so I asked, easygoing.

"What is it? What favor, all of a sudden?"

He sounded insanely busy over there, shouting in a rush.

"I'm on the 42nd floor right now!"

"If you're free, could you come get me out of here!?"

"No — scratch that! Not 'if you're free' — you have to come save me, no matter what!"

"Please! I'm begging you here!"

What the hell was this now? Save him from what, exactly?

"I know I'm being shameless, asking this!"

"But you're the only one I've got left to turn to!"

"I'm seriously begging you here!"

"I don't want to air this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠idiotic spectacle in front of the whole world~!!"

"Hold on. I can't even tell what you're saying, so calm down and talk. You're a guild master, aren't you? What about the Evil Eye kids — why are you coming to me with this?"

"Because right now we're in a state we can't let the guild kids see!!"

"So I can't call anyone else!"

"If I did, it'd be all over the rumor mill before I knew it!"

"…Rumor mill?"

Ian had gotten himself into trouble on the 42nd floor, and he was asking me for a rescue — and yet, curiously, he was chatting away on the phone without a care in the world.

"Can't you explain a bit more? I need to know what's actually going on too, don't I?"

"I told you, I don't want to say it over the phone!"

"I don't want anyone seeing this kind of thing in the first place!?"

"Please — can't you just come and see for yourself!?"

Knowing his personality, there was no way he'd drag me into something while withholding the details unless he had a reason. Figuring he had things he couldn't voice — same as with Seongyeon — I let it slide.

"What's my deadline? If it's that urgent, I can head out right this second."

"N-no! It's not that dire!"

"But no later than tomorrow night!"

"Before the advance team camped on the 41st floor makes it up to the 42nd!"

"Either way, just get here faster than anyone else!"

"And bring potions!"

"You have to bring those status-cure potions you brew, too!!"

I had plenty of potions, sure….

…seeing as [raw ingredient: my own jizz] and all….

But from the way Ian talked, it wasn't his neck on the line that had him frantic — it was 'a certain something.' Had something really happened that absolutely couldn't be seen by anyone else? Even the deadline he'd given was 'arrive before anyone else reaches the 42nd floor'….

"Ghk!? It's back!"

"These creepy-ass bastards!!"

"Giiive it baaack!!!!!!"

The line went dead on that shout. I couldn't make out what he'd howled at the end, but one thing was certain: he needed me.

"Haah."

I pocketed my phone, hid my face behind both palms, and tipped my chin toward the sky.

"What is it noooow~~!!!"

Why did a bastard like me never get a single day of rest? No — what really baffled me was why, even on the days I did get off, I couldn't even get any sex and ended up like this instead.

…………

Swallowing my irritation, I headed for the Dureupnamu Pub. I'd planned to keep my contact with the Madame or Suni to a bare minimum, but with things as they were, I had no choice. Neither Seongyeon nor I had ever let the Madame see through what we were really up to. All I had to do was get my buff like always, make small talk, and leave.

"So, like I was saying — no matter how I look at it, those two are acting suspicious…."

"…Huh. Is that so?"

…………

…Just get the buff and go. That was the plan — at least, until about ten seconds ago.

What a fucking naive thought that had been.

"…Oh? Uncle Changki."

"Hello, Hero."

Our daughter-to-be — striking red hair, adorably curved horns — and the gloomy beauty greeted me. Our kid beamed at the sight of me, while the Madame, Olivia Crow, sat beside Rhea at a table out in the main hall.

Why is Rhea here of all places?

The back of my neck throbbed again. When I walked over stiffly instead of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smiling, my clever girl read me instantly.

"Oh, nothing strange happened. Aunt Olivia and I were just catching up on how we've been."

She made a show of glancing around, so I looked around with her. Just as Rhea intended, there wasn't a whore or a half-dressed woman in sight.

"No need to worry. There's no one here today. Rhea and I really were just having a nice long chat…."

"That's right. The two of us have talked like this before, too."

Acting as if it were nothing at all, so precociously composed — I was at a loss for words.

That brazen nerve. That's Rhea for you.

Between the Natalia business and everything else going sideways around me, I'd managed to forget it for a while.

"So if you've come here, Mr. Changki… is it for your buff again…?"

"Yeah. Something came up that needs me to climb the tower."

"It hasn't even been that long since the 40th floor opened… and you're going up again…?"

"Not for the raid. I have my reasons."

I skipped the details and took the seat beside Rhea. My original plan had been to grab the buff and slip away, but with Rhea here, that was a different story. Ian hadn't told me to come running this instant, anyway — so I relaxed and wedged myself between the two of them.

"What were you two talking about with the Madame?"

"About Mom."

"Huh? About Sis?"

I'd only just seen that past for myself, no less. And something about the Madame discussing Brigitte with Rhea at her side felt off. I eyed her warily, half-wondering if they were plotting something nasty.

"You can look at me like that all you like; I never asked about anything strange. I didn't even invite her here, for that matter…."

"…Is that so?"

"Yes. I'm the one who asked her for advice."

"If you came here to talk about Sis… did your mom pull some stunt again?"

"No. Don't say things people could take the wrong way. I didn't come here to talk about Mom having done something wrong."

Then what is it? I propped my chin on the table and cocked my head at her — and she dodged my eyes.

"…What's wrong?"

"It's… it's something that concerns you too, Uncle…."

"Concerns me too?"

"Yes."

I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I stared holes through her. Even then she kept stalling, so I turned to the Madame — who likewise avoided my eyes.

"…What exactly did you two talk about to get reactions like this?"

I nearly broke into a cold sweat wondering if they'd genuinely discussed something dangerous. Things kept piling one atop another as it was — the last thing I needed was for something else to blow up here.

"Stop stalling and spit it out. I won't get mad."

"Isn't that the stock line parents always use right before they scold their kids?"

"I mean it. When have you ever seen me get mad at you?"

"Th-then… please don't take this the wrong way?"

Rhea spoke carefully, her face flushed scarlet.

"I'd been thinking that you and Mom might be dating… so I was consulting Auntie about it…."

"Uncle? Hold on — is there anyone else in your life you'd call Uncle besides me?"

"I do mean you, Uncle Changki."

…Huh.

…………

…Where in the world had she caught on to that?

"Why all of a sudden? What brought you to that conclusion?"

At my flustered question, Rhea shrugged and answered with pride.

"Every time Mom calls you, Uncle, her voice goes all thin. When I'm nearby she tries not to let it show, which only makes it more suspicious. I snuck a peek while she was texting you, and for some reason there were an awful lot of hearts. Today, too, I knew she was going out to meet you — and when I listened in, I heard she'd headed for that street over there."

With that, she jabbed a finger at the air ahead — pinpointing, with perfect precision, the red-light district I'd only just slipped out of.

"And that's why you consulted the Madame…?"

"Yes. Aunt Olivia owns this street, after all. I figured that as OP, she might know something, so I asked."

"…And what did the Madame say?"

Under our combined stares, the Madame waved her hands and laughed awkwardly.

"This is the first I'm hearing of it. It's true that I rule this street, but my business reaches far too wide for me to keep tabs on every little detail. And outside of Lady Brigitte's affairs I hardly ever see her to begin with — much less her love life. How would I possibly know…."

Saying she was, if anything, the more curious one, she quietly removed her morning veil. This was the first time, in this loop, that I'd seen her bare face. Pretty black hair streamed down past her waist, and her dark eyes gleamed with awkward uncertainty.

"Are the two of you… truly dating?"

There were many meanings packed into that gaze.

For the past three days, I'd been asking myself whether the Madame might really be Suni's accomplice. If she was, then why? Why would a woman like this ever lay a hand in something like human trafficking?

"I would love to answer you, but that's hardly the thing to say in front of a child…."

My answer, after all, would amount to confessing that I'd been messily enjoying myself with Brigitte.

"I see… So you… and Brigitte…."

She — who in this loop had no real connection to me beyond the buffs — crumpled the veil in her fist. And she looked visibly crestfallen, as if she were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one who'd been dumped.