Chapter 183 - [Tower of Lust, 49th Floor] Knight of Pure Love: "WHY AREN'T YOU TWO DATING ALREADY!!!"

Beneath a blue roof, in a Renaissance-style tea house, we were enjoying tea time.

I drank green tea — hopelessly out of place against this backdrop — while my companion guzzled some pricey blend whose name was plastered with English, drained straight through the slit of his helmet.

Ian was off soaring around the sky on a broomstick.

Claiming it was to scope out the situation on the 49th floor, Ian had left me to my own devices. The work itself was getting done diligently enough, so I let that one be and sat down, one-on-one, with the Knight of Pure Love.

"Comrade. Did you have a nice long talk with our little cutie?"

"Little cutie? Who?"

"The Knight of the Beast, of course. The one doggy whose cuteness is in a league of its own, even within our faction."

"Ah—"

I smirked.

"He's cute, all right. Aside from the fact that he's so massive I nearly attacked him on reflex, he's practically the ideal constellation."

"Hm? It sounds to me as though you are saying this body is not ideal?"

He knew perfectly well, and asked anyway. When I dodged the question, he pretended to sulk — though he was, in fact, worried about me.

"How goes it? Did you get your memories back?"

I nodded, satisfied.

"Judging by that reaction, all seems to have gone smoothly. I fretted something might go amiss, but truly, what a relief."

What he was getting at was this: he'd been worried about the memories he'd handed back to me. It had been the same the first time we met — a constellation magnanimous to the point of being downright strange.

"Why are you so good to me?"

Wondering whether there was some other reason behind it, I seized the moment to ask, and he shrugged with theatrical flair.

"Thanks to your exploits, comrade, our dominion has broadened as you see. When one gains, there are things one must return — such is the way."

"Even granting that, aren't you looking after me a little too... personally?"

"A fair question! But then, pray tell, where lies the reason I shouldn't look after you? For this also happens to be one of this body's most cherished hobbies."

"What hobby?"

"Oh, come off it! You know full well."

Creeeak.

He rose slightly in his seat and leaned his helmeted head toward me. Those already-suspicious red eyes curved into crescent moons. With a smile that defied description — the emoticon (^_^) made flesh, if you will — he clamped down on my shoulders and bellowed:

"Now, out with it! Even a crumb will serve! Hand over to me those sweet, honeyed episodes the two of you share and can tell to no one else~!"

"Wh-what episodes!?"

"No use playing the innocent, I say~! How about it? You've finally learned your friend's secret, haven't you!? Hm? Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm???"

Goddammit, this lunatic—

The Knight of Pure Love slammed a fist on the table, breathing hard through the visor.

"Quickly, quickly~! Don't dilly-dally nooow~! The two of you bared your true selves and reunited across the very stream of time, did you not~!? In which case you would have folded her into your arms without a shred of reserve, telling her how hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it has all been! You, of all people, would know just how grueling and merciless a road she has walked! And so you must have poured out upon her every feeling welling up from the very depths of your heart, did you notttt~!!!"

This bastard's entire essence was 'pure love.'

He'd helped me for one reason only: to savor the sweet-and-bitter episodes Seongyeon and I had shared.

"Am I not right!? What happened! What did she say to you!? That it was hard? That she was sad? That she tried her best, that she wants praise, or that she loves you still!? Or... a breakup? Either way, this body says WEL-COOOOME~!! Quickly, quickllly~! Don't keep me in suspense — tell meee~~~!!!"

WOOOHYOOOOOOO!!!

I grabbed the shoulders of the Knight of Pure Love — mere moments from going on a rampage — and shoved him back down into his seat.

Just as he'd said, though: had I succeeded in unmasking us and reuniting, something very much like that probably would have played out.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but... uh, nothing's happened yet."

"...Whuh? Wh-why? Why has nothing happened! Comrade — don't tell me you still haven't caught on to your friend's true identity!?"

Before I could even answer, he hugged his own helmet and vehemently denied the possibility.

"Wait, wait! Your head didn't explode this time, did it! Which means you have realized she's a woman! Wh-why, wh-why, whhhhyyy? Then why aren't you spilling the truth to her and living all sweet and honeyed, the two of youuuu!!!"

"Hey. You unhinged constellation, you. Calm. Down."

"How am I to calm down!? Do you have even the faintest notion how long this body has awaited this day!! All those hints I gave! All that spoon-feeding! I believed that come our next meeting, the two of you would be living your happy, lovey-dovey couple life!! Eating meals, taking baths, exercising, working — through it all, this body floated on the thought of you two. That was my hoarded, treasured delightttt~~!!!"

KIIHEEEHEEEHEEEHEEEHEEE!!!!

He was shrieking, one beat away from tearing the place apart. I whipped out Natalia's Personality Dildo and brought it down on his helmet.

CLAAAANG!!

I'd figured there had to be something inside it, but it rang out clear and bright, like an empty tin can.

"Gwahk!"

"You think I'm hiding it because I want to? What exactly am I supposed to do about the way things turned out?"

"...Ghk! What situation, in heaven's name!? Who — who — is meddling in your love!!"

"It's a long story."

"No one is about to eavesdrop here, is there! Out with it, then! Should the need arise, this body shall lend its aid!"

I had my doubts a constellation was supposed to say that, but someone had already attacked me in broad daylight, so the point was rather moot.

I ordered a fresh pot of tea, and he joined me for another round, listening attentively as I talked.

"Hm. So if what you say is true, comrade, that woman Suni is the ringleader of it all, and the one called Madam may well be her accomplice? And it is on that account that you deliberately withheld the truth of her identity — have I the gist of it?"

Thanks to the Knight of Pure Love catching on in a single pass, my explanation went smoothly.

He chuckled in good humor, then promptly slumped into a deflated posture.

"Nothing in this world ever goes smoothly, be it what it may. Even we constellations fail to mesh with one another — what hope have the mortals below?"

"Even so, there's no excusing laying hands on human trafficking."

"As for that matter, I have resolved to find time and probe your heart on it, so let us pass over it for now...."

The Knight of Pure Love fell deep into thought, then set about hunting for holes in my story.

"Might I see the map in question?"

"The original's in Seongyeon's keeping, so...."

"A printed copy will serve. I shall examine it and confirm whether it matches the map this body knows."

I fished the map out of my item pouch and handed it over. Contrary to his usual image, the Knight of Pure Love went over it with meticulous care.

"It is genuine. The 51st, 52nd, 53rd floors that lie beyond this point... why, even the reaches near the 90th floor — the domain of the Tower Lord herself — are recorded here...."

"So it's no fake?"

"Comrade, this is an authentic article, without a whisper of falsehood. And that is precisely what makes it strange. At the very least, we have never so much as heard a rumor that the girl ever set foot upon the upper floors."

"Could the Tower Lord be unaware too?"

"Had she known, she would surely have forgiven you when you dropped to your knees in dogeza. Lady Song Seongyeon has suffered plenty besides, so she would have deemed this much punishment sufficient. The reason her wrath has not abated to this day is that she believes you took the detour in a past cycle, were caught red-handed, and then went and did it all over again this time — and that brazenness of yours is simply too much for her to stomach."

I know.

That's exactly why I'm waiting for Suni to make contact — to prove my innocence.

Because if I got emotional about it, she would just deny everything and slip away with her skill.

"And yet the more I hear, the less I understand...."

"........."

"Why on earth would she hand you such a map... it is tantamount to the culprit turning herself in, caught in the act...."

That, I don't know either.

If I knew, I wouldn't be sitting here like this.

"That Suni girl — I heard she's in the Tower right now. You know anything about that?"

"I know not. Word of your party breaking through from the 41st floor onward has everyone sharing their networks of intelligence, but I have never once heard that she entered the Tower. Besides, we are coming up on four days now, are we not? Had she been inside that long, word would have filtered out from somewhere by now...."

It wasn't just the madam, either — Yeonyeong had given the exact same testimony.

Suni climbed the Tower, and has not come down since. That was the story.

The Madam was Suni's accomplice, and Yeonyeong belonged to the Cartographer Guild — so it was entirely possible they were both lying....

..........

......So in the end, I was left knowing nothing.

"Let us set this matter aside for the moment. Should it reach the Tower Lord's ears, things could escalate — so this body, too, shall breathe no word of it."

I said I'd be grateful if he did, we exchanged our farewells on that, and I lifted my teacup once more.

"And regarding that skill you spoke of — 'Nectar.' That is something the Tower Lord bestowed upon you quite deliberately."

Having wrapped up that story, I'd slid the topic over sideways, casual as you please.

"I knew it."

"When she laid her curse upon Lady Song Seongyeon, did she not declare that the mark of romantic calamity would fall upon you as well? That skill is the very emblem of it. Hence its outlandish effects. It is, after all, a skill granted directly by the Tower Lord of this Tower."

— It drew in women with jizz.

— It healed wounds with jizz.

— It cured status ailments with jizz.

— It drew in lewd demons with jizz.

— It planted pleasure straight into the soul with jizz.

Especially the wound-healing and status-cure effects were without precedent, which was why potions brewed from the stuff were still being made to this day.

And now that it had hit A-rank, I couldn't even begin to imagine how monstrous the recovery effects had become.

"No matter how you slice it, yours is a setup where women swarm to you and you suffer for it. As proof, take that new thing you got this time... that soul-whatsit... even by my lights, you would do well to be careful with it."

"What does that thing even do?"

Come to think of it, that was the thing that had made Seongyeon's nose burst open bleeding.

Wondering what on earth it could be, I asked — and he, knowing everything there was to know, answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Just as it says. A terrifying power that melts the very soul of any woman you hold and hurls her into climax."

"Soul and all... climax...?"

I scrunched my brow at wording so heinous.

"How much she will feel varies with the individual, naturally... but by my estimation, any woman entangled with you may well lose her mind if you are careless."

What kind of bullshit was that?

Lose her mind?

"We barely got the girls' memories back and made peace with a big round of reconciliation sex, and now you're telling me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they might go insane?"

"I know it is unjust. I do. But such is the skill. ...Er, put thus, I suppose it is hard to grasp — but the women around you do not carry merely one soul, do they? Women who, like you, have lived through cycle upon cycle, bearing a great many souls in their keeping — is that not so?"

"I... guess?"

I, too, carried souls called 'me' within my breast — one for every cycle I'd lived through.

If I was like that, then so were they.

And having just gotten their memories back, that influence would be thicker than ever.

"Whether those souls number one, or two, or tens upon hundreds, this body cannot say... but the long and short of it is this: you have become able to send every last one of them over the edge in a single stroke."

"Souls... climaxing...?"

"Say, for instance, that you embrace but one woman — yet within her heart dwell a few dozen souls. Thrust carelessly, and you may find yourself bestowing upon her the pleasure of a hundred servings' worth climaxing in perfect unison."

A hundred people... climaxing at once...?

"What kind of deranged nonsense is that!?"

"And yet, funny enough, it is the honest truth. You know it yourself, do you not?"

So Seongyeon had tasted that climaxing hell to the point of a nosebleed...

Because the pleasure had reached her souls directly?

Because she'd felt the pleasure of dozens of selves in a single instant?

"So I shall say it once more. Love her as you might, as of this day, sex with genuine feeling is forbidden. If you must have it, then take it slow — slower than slow — with the utmost tenderness and consideration for your partner."

"A-and if, hypothetically, I went all in?"

"Then your lovers — every last one of them — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will die of climax."

"Oh, what the fu—!!"

Right up until now, I'd just taken the whole mark-of-romantic-calamity business in stride.

But this? This was, hands down, the most fucked-up curse imaginable.

"How do I get this thing lifted!?"

"You clear it, of course. Or else you take this map as your evidence and lodge your grievance that the fault was never yours. In any case, you stand upon the 50th floor now, and you will be having an audience with our superior, will you not?"

With that, he gave my shoulder a couple of hearty pats — sort out this business, and see to the rest yourself.

Goddamn Tower.

So in the end, this was it shoving me on toward the conquest of the 50th floor.