Episode 175 — Before Conquering Floor 50 of the Tower of Lust, the Women Grow Increasingly Suspicious

The mood had gone awkward. The Madam was carefully reading the room.

I'd planned to collect my buff and slip out quickly, but I'd gone and said something I shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry to ask this with Rhea here... but since it's come up, might I ask one more thing...?"

I considered refusing, but I had a feeling that if I rubbed her the wrong way here, I might never see that buff at all.

Doing her best to look as though she knew nothing whatsoever, she stretched, gathered herself, and put the question to me.

"By any chance... are you seeing Ms. Seres as well...?"

And barely one second after the words left her mouth, she looked like she regretted ever saying them.

Idiot.

"You mean Seres?"

"From what I remember, you conquered the last stretch of the Tower with her at your side... and if the rumors are to be believed, people in the guild say the two of you are so close you're practically a married couple...."

"...Uncle?"

Rhea's gaze sharpened. It was the look of a girl wondering whether he was stepping out behind her mother's back.

To think she'd fish my answer out of me this way....

I'd managed to dodge the first question, but with the Madam coming at me like this, there was no escaping an answer now.

"Uncle. What is going on? Don't tell me — behind Mom's back...?"

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it? Why are those rumors going around?"

"Because I'm seeing both of them."

"Mmmuuuh—!?"

She was startled clean out of her wits. Her horns shot straight up, and her tail went rigid, standing on end like a dog's.

"T-two of them!? You're two-timing — with my mom on the line!?"

"Now, now, Rhea. Don't get the wrong idea. It is two-timing, but I wasn't the one who proposed it."

"Mom's the one who proposed it!?"

Technically, Seongyeon was where all of it began — but that part I couldn't say. I had no intention of letting the Madam find out I'd seen through Seongyeon's true identity.

"For the record, both of them are well aware of the two-timing."

"If they're aware of it... then... you went on a date with the two of them again today — Mom included!?"

"I did. That's why I didn't want to bring it up in front of you. No matter how you look at it, I'm a lecher and a piece of garbage, aren't I."

"You didn't need to say it out loud — you're already human garbage!!!!"

Rhea hollered at me. But it came out more flustered than furious, so it wasn't frightening. She'd just learned that her own mother was sharing one man with another woman — naturally the poor girl was flustered.

Was I about to get knifed again?

...This cycle's Rhea wasn't that kind of girl. She'd been brash from the very start, but our relationship had never been built up to the point where she'd come at me like that.

In any case, I protested my innocence while Rhea reeled.

"Exactly! What about my mom!? You promised her a date today — why did you suddenly show up here!?"

"...She's probably still at the hotel."

"You walked out and left her there?"

"I just told you. Something came up, and there was nothing I could do...."

………

The glare of a sixth-grade elementary schooler was scathing. Knowing how sharp Rhea was, of course she understood exactly what we'd been doing at that hotel. And now the man who'd come straight from there was telling her he'd left his woman behind — she couldn't hide her disappointment.

"I really am sorry. This isn't an excuse, but I don't normally treat your mom that way, I swear. Y-you know how your uncle is, right? Huh?"

"You expect me to take the word of a man who two-timed his way into a hotel room with three people? A man who left Mom behind over 'work,' no less?"

I smiled awkwardly. There was nothing else to be done. I could hardly blow up at family over woman trouble.

"Auntie Olivia, please say something too! I'd already caught on that he and Mom were in that sort of relationship, but two-timing? I never dreamed it!"

"W-well? Even so... two-timing here in the Tower, where both sides know about each other... doesn't that actually make it healthy...?"

"...Auntie!?"

Rhea's tail shot up again — she'd never imagined the Madam would refuse to take her side.

It surprised me too. The Madam had worn open displeasure at the news that I was dating Brigitte. And yet the news that I was also two-timing with Seres brought a flush of color to her face.

"I'm perfectly fine with it. As you know, I run this sort of establishment... I'm remarkably open-minded when it comes to matters of that nature."

With that, she broke into a soft chuckle, her expression brighter than before. I had no idea what she was smiling about. If she were Suni's partner, the last thing she'd want would be to watch me hitting it off with the women around me....

"Anyway, that's that, and this is this! Uncle, two-timing!? And with my mom of all people — don't tell me...!"

"What?"

Rhea slammed a fist down on the table.

"Are you after the stepfather position!!"

"...Ghk!"

"Pfft."

I scrunched my face; the Madam laughed. From that point on, the mood loosened so completely that I felt like a fool for ever having been on guard against her.

"Why are you laughing!? I'm being serious!"

Rhea planted her hands on her hips like a class president and fumed, eyebrows level, tail lashing like a whip — gyaaah!

...Sharp as she was, she was still a child, and it was adorable.

"No matter how much you and Mom love each other, you know it doesn't count unless I give my blessing, right!?"

"Ah, ah, right, right. Of course I know...."

"No! You know nothing! If you want to become my dad, you'll have to become a more responsible man! Mom's scatterbrained enough as it is — we cannot have a scatterbrained stepfather joining the family on top of her!"

She fumed, red hair flying every which way.

"Then what would you have me do...?"

"What do you mean 'do'! You have to live decisively! Go on plenty of dates with Mom, show your face at parent observation day, eat meals together as a family of three ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— you have to spend time together like a real family!"

It was a surprisingly modest request. And at the same time, a heartbreaking one. Because for Rhea, even this small happiness was something she could hardly allow herself to hope for.

"All right. Got it. I can't manage dates right this moment, but parent observation day? I'll show up any time. That'll do, won't it?"

"Mom's always talking like that too, and she never shows up~!?"

She eyed me suspiciously — surely Uncle wasn't a liar too — but I brushed her off, promising it would be fine. Time was the one thing I had to spare, after all. As long as the Tower wasn't turning, there was nowhere that would come calling for me, so I swore I'd go without fail and held out my pinky.

"You promise?"

"You heard me."

Her tiny pinky hooked around mine, and our thumbs pressed firmly together. So this tiny hand just reverse-raped me, huh....

No. The Rhea of the future and the Rhea of the present are different beings. Let's shelve that thought.

"Chang-ki. What on earth could require you to come all this way for buffs? Going by what Rhea said — leaving Lady Brigitte and Lady Seres behind — it must be quite the matter, yes?"

"Right! That's what I've been saying! You said you were out dating Mom and Seres at the same time! Is it something dangerous!?"

Still, they were considerate enough to ask after my circumstances. Good kid. I hadn't expected the Madam to be so accommodating either, which left me unsettled — but with Rhea there as well, I answered without a single lie.

"Ian just got in touch with me. I don't know what the situation is, but he says he needs my help, so I'm going to run up the Tower — lend him a hand and take a look around."

"Ian?"

"Didn't he come see you, Madam?"

"He came by around lunchtime for a buff. He told me he'd take stock of the situation, stop by the safe zone on Floor 45, and then head on up."

So he'd collected his buff and been climbing steadily. And even so, he was leaving his guild members behind to request my help — what on earth was going on?

"...Could it be the gimmick is dangerous?"

"The gimmick, yes — Floor 41 was extremely dangerous even back when it briefly opened before. The succubi that dwell there are all aggressive, with a ferocious will to invade. Worse, they're cunning: they learned that our hunters doted on the succubi of the Floor 31 side, and once disguised themselves as those very succubi to stage an invasion."

So they'd used their fellow succubi of the same Tower as a smokescreen and run espionage operations. Terrifying, honestly. It went a long way toward explaining why every guild was digging in and fighting it out on Floor 41.

"And the gimmick?"

"Simply put, it's a brainwashing type. As long as you keep your aura wrapped around your mind, you're safe — but let so much as a crack show, and things will turn dangerous in a hurry."

"Getting one-shotted with your aura down is the same whether it's a high floor or a low one, isn't it?"

"It's fundamentally different. I said 'brainwashing,' didn't I? Back then, hunters sometimes turned against their own. Please be careful."

Brainwashing, hm. A gimmick that suited this perverted Tower to a tee. It was enough to make every gimmick before it seem positively gentle.

"So I should plan for the possibility that Ian's turned enemy too?"

"I couldn't say. But if he went so far as to call you, I imagine he's all right. The fact that he didn't summon his own guild members means there's a reason behind it."

Fair enough — if it were truly urgent, he wouldn't have left me this much lead time.

There had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be a reason he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠calling on me, I concluded, and rose from my seat. At that, the Madam stepped around in front of me and drew three golden cards from inside her coat.

"You didn't have to go all the way to gold-grade."

"It's Floor 41 we're talking about. The last floor the rankers bypassed rather than conquer — and the floor that once felt the Tower Master's wrath. A distress call has come from a place like that; go prepared for whatever might happen."

Her body began to glow.

Flash! The golden cards broke apart, and the shimmering residue that poured out of them clung to my body before melting away.

The aura I carried swelled by leaps and bounds — even without actively channeling it, I found myself sheathed in aura from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head.

Gold-grade buffs really are different, all right. With this much, brainwashing shouldn't so much as touch me — and that was exactly what felt off.

Between the way she'd treated Rhea and me, I couldn't help doubting whether the Madam was truly an enemy at all.

She doesn't seem like someone capable of acting that well.

No matter how I looked at her, she was the type who wore every emotion on her sleeve. When she'd heard I was dating Brigitte, her disappointment had been naked on her face. When she'd heard I was two-timing with Seres, her delight had been just as naked.

And for someone supposedly running a 'human trafficking' operation, she was unfailingly kind to me.

…

So which side was I supposed to believe?

"Uncle. Uncle."

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Stop staring into space. I'm leaving now too, so let's go out together. And since you're headed that way anyway, escort me to the guild."

With that, she extended her hand — as though she were a princess. Well, the beloved daughter of the most successful guild in the world was, for all practical purposes, exactly that.

"Sure. Good timing, actually — I've been wanting to hear about your school. Talk to me on the way: how school life is treating you, whether you're getting along with your classmates."

"What do you even get out of hearing what an elementary schooler does at school?"

"Why not? I'm allowed to ask, aren't I?"

"Look, I get liking a responsible man, but suddenly playing daddy is just gross."

Her tongue was barbed, but even as she lectured me she gripped my hand tight and fell into step beside me. At the sight of her snickering with glee, a fatherly love I had no business feeling came bubbling up.

When I held the door open for Rhea, the Madam saw the two of us out with a parting request.

"Oh, that's right. If you happen to find Lady Suni on your way up, could you tell her I'm looking for her...?"

"She's in the Tower too?"

"Yes — the gate to Floor 40 has opened. She dashed inside the moment it did, off to make another of her maps...."

The Madam's expression had gone dark. Wondering why she would make such a face, I studied her — and she said something unexpected.

"It's already been three days since she stopped by the Aralia. She should have reclaimed her collateral long ago, but there's been no word from her at all. Her buff has lapsed too, and the skill she left as collateral has passed into my ownership...."

She took a golden skill card from her coat and showed me its contents.

"This is one of Suni's skills too?"

"Yes. As it happened, when Lady Suni was due for her buff, every golden card I held was already in use — as collateral. So I took one of her skills as collateral instead, and then things came to this...."

She handed me the golden skill card. Being another person's skill, neither the Madam nor I could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make use of it.

"Her main skill should still remain with her — I don't believe she's dead — but you never know. Could you return it if you happen to meet her?"

Because of that earlier matter, I'd been keeping Suni and the Madam apart from each other — and yet it turned out the two of them hadn't managed to meet at all.

It could all have been a lie, of course — but the Madam didn't strike me as the type who could lie.

"Understood. If I run into Suni, I'll pass along that you're looking for her, and I'll see that the skill is returned."

I told her I'd come back to the shop if our paths didn't cross, and set off. Between Ian's call for help and Suni's disappearance, yet another Tower climb brimming with questions had begun.