Chapter 664: The First Floor of the Tower of Babel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 664: The First Floor of the Tower of Babel
Babel was far more spacious than it appeared from the outside. We walked in silence for nearly five minutes, but nothing new came into view. Ceiling, walls, floor—all I could see were the endless bricks that made them.
Just how many bricks did it take to build this tower? People often compare countless numbers to the grains of sand on a beach, but it felt like even that wouldn't be enough to build Babel.
Strange. Even for spatial magic, this is too much. From the outside, it didn't look this far.
“Shei-ssi, did we change direction at any point?”
“Not at all,” Shei said, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
When you travel together like this, you can guess how someone feels without having to read their mind. Right now, Shei was on edge. The distorted space of Babel was fraying her nerves.
We hadn't changed direction, had only walked straight ahead, yet the corridor still seemed to have no end.
“Hmm. An endless space. I suppose this is the first test.”
It didn't make sense. If someone could create an infinite space, who would bother buying houses or land? There had to be a trick.
Magic, much like stagecraft, is often nothing more than an absurdly simple trick once you understand its mystery. A card trick where the same card is flipped over and over might look amazing, but it’s often just a matter of memorization. Once you peel back the layer of mystery, all that remains is an absurdly simple truth.
The common-sense explanation was that we were walking in circles. I asked Shei.
“Shei-ssi, have we ever changed our direction?”
“It hasn't wavered once. We haven't drifted to either side. We're still going straight.”
“Hmm. That’s strange.”
Since spatial magic was involved, it couldn't be such a simple trick… This was tricky.
I was a man who solved problems with mind-reading. I’d been called a genius for reading the minds of those who posed the questions and finding the answers. I was weak when it came to problems that didn't involve people.
Without turning her head, Shei spoke.
“Shouldn't a mage be solving this? Hughes, Lankart. Isn't this your specialty? Hurry up and figure it out.”
Lankart let out a light scoff.
“You fool.”
“What?”
“Huey already knows the answer. The reason he’s choosing his words carefully isn't because he can't solve it, but because he’s trying to explain it in a way that even an idiot like you can understand.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s he saying? Is he calling Shei an idiot?
Shei’s eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at me.
“Is that true?”
“No, it’s just…”
Lankart’s expectations of me were too high, and he genuinely believed in them. The ultimate ‘Huey’ he imagined was a genius whose mind surpassed anyone else in the world, even if his body was weak. Lankart himself was a genius of the century, but he rated me even higher, which was a heavy burden to bear.
Still, I couldn't show any weakness. That bastard Lankart was always looking for a chance to test me. He claimed to be my friend and follower, but no one scrutinized and tested me more than him. If I showed any weakness, he might just tear me apart.
I said, “It’s not quite like that. I was just thinking about how to handle it. Unlike you or Lankart, my options are limited.”
“So you know the way?”
“Yes. I’m a magician, too, so I can see through a trick like this easily enough.”
“What does stage magic have to do with real magic?”
“It means they’re both just tricks. Here.”
I tossed a card behind me. It spun through the air and lodged itself in a crack between the bricks. Then, I started walking forward, counting slowly. After a while, a single card, stuck between the bricks, appeared in the distance.
Spotting the card, Shei spoke as if she’d had a great revelation.
“A card? I get it. This space is repeating itself!”
“…”
Her eyes sparkled, looking at me as if expecting praise. I managed a troubled smile.
Did you think it was actually endless? Of course not. How do I even explain this?
“To state the obvious as if you just figured it out… What is this? Are you trying to seduce Huey by showing off your stupidity?”
“Wh-what? Seduce? Of course not! Who seduces someone with stupidity?”
‘I’d use something else if I were trying to!’
Would anything else even work?
As if voicing my own thoughts, Lankart sighed and said, “Both Huey and I knew from the start that we were walking in circles. This is a problem of spatial curvature.”
“Spatial curvature?”
“In magic, a circle is the most common geometric shape. It symbolizes a uniform force extending from a single center. In the world of magic, an arc is the same as a straight line. This corridor we’re walking on looks straight, but it’s actually a circle, with every point equidistant from the center of the spatial magic.”
“Umm.”
‘What does he mean, an arc is the same as a straight line…?’
Only a mage would know. That’s something from the study of magic circles. So stop nodding like you understand. It just makes you look worse.
“Climbing the Tower of Babel is the same as entering a magic circle and deciphering its structure. The reason Huey walked a full lap was to survey the entire magic circle. Do you understand?”
“Yeah. Mostly.”
“I see you don’t understand at all.”
“What did you say?!”
“It doesn’t matter. Huey will be the one solving the problem. You just swing your sword when he tells you to.”
Her ignorance exposed, Shei seethed and shouted, “If you’re so smart, why don’t you solve it?!”
“You fool. I have already solved it. I am merely waiting for Huey’s knowledge.”
“Why? Not confident?”
“Confidence? This isn’t a matter of confidence. It’s a matter of judgment.”
Shei’s words were meant as a taunt, but Lankart paid them no mind.
“I wait for Huey’s judgment because he is superior to me. It’s only natural to follow the judgment of one who is superior.”
“…Hughes is?”
“The more superior being stands on top. That is the rule of the Mage Federation. And Huey is more superior than any human I have ever seen. He will know the answers that even I could not find.”
…No, I haven't really found anything more than you have.
Right now, it was just me, Lankart, and Shei. Only three of us. The smartest person in this space was Lankart, and by reading his thoughts, I was on a similar level.
What good was mind-reading if there was nothing useful to read nearby? Something helpful besides Lankart…
“So what is it? Should I just break the wall?”
“Wait!”
There’s nothing!
Shei raised Jizan as if she was about to smash the corridor to pieces. I quickly stopped her.
“If you want to get outside, you can smash things randomly, but if you want to climb Babel, you have to find the answer and head to the correct space.”
“So where is this correct space?!”
“Let’s see.”
We were walking in circles, but we hadn't drifted even slightly from a straight line. That meant it wasn't the walls on either side. So, it had to be either up or down.
…And the number of bricks on the ceiling and the floor is different. There are more bricks on the ceiling. Their size is the same, which is odd.
“Shei-ssi.”
“Yeah?”
“The bricks on the ceiling. Please remove just three rows. No more, no less. Exactly three.”
“Okay.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shei swung Jizan.
Whatever her brains, her swordsmanship had reached a master's level. Though she claimed to have no talent, her well-honed skills drew a beautiful arc, striking the corridor ceiling and destroying exactly three rows of bricks as it passed.
A vibration should have run through the corridor, a roar should have echoed, and the shattered bricks should have scattered as dust.
But nothing happened.
The distorted space began to right itself. The three missing rows of bricks vanished as if they had never been there. Beyond them was a void, like a distant expanse glittering with starlight.
The infinite void above the sky, the one I had seen when I flew to the Floating Castle with Lankart, spread out before my eyes. I said, “Is that… space?”
A moment later, the corridor straightened.
A clicking sensation, as if something had locked into place, traveled up from under my feet. Like a wound healing over, the ceiling shifted to fill the gap left by the three rows of bricks.
The ceiling was sealed. The space was aligned. The corridor stretched out just as straight as before, but something was different. The number of bricks on the ceiling and floor was now the same, and the spatial curvature had straightened into a line.
“Hughes. There’s something up ahead.”
Sensing the distortion was gone, Shei activated her Seven Colored Eyes. Using her Farsight, the Indigo Eyes, she spotted a door at the end of the corridor and exclaimed.
“A door! There’s a door ahead.”
“The space unfolded, revealing a hidden door.”
“So this is how it works? Spatial magic is rare, so I didn't know. I see now, this would have been difficult for me alone. I can use relics, but I don’t know much about magic theory.”
I didn't ask… You’re not a mage, so it’s fine if you can’t solve it. Why are you so bothered? Is your pride hurt?
I only thought it in my head. My friend, however, did not.
“Stop muttering over a simple first-floor problem. Huey likes stupid women, so just stand by his side and squeal. He’ll take you along.”
“…Hughes. Can I get rid of him?”
“Patience. He’s competent, at least.”
I want to get rid of him too. But I only solved this problem by reading Lankart’s mind. He’s my cheat sheet. I have no choice.
Lankart held his head high and said, “Yes. I am competent. That is the difference between you and me.”
“Hughes was the one who solved it, so why are you acting so high and mighty?!”
“There are infinite ways to solve spatial curvature. One could use light-observation magic to calculate it, or reverse-calculate the curvature with gravity magic. Huey simply solved it in a way that even an idiot could understand.”
“…”
‘I just removed the bricks, I still don't really get it…’
What was that thought? Are you admitting you’re an idiot?
Opening the door revealed a staircase leading up. It meant we had passed the test. Shei cautiously stepped onto the stairs, spreading her Qi Sense. Surprisingly, she felt no distortion from the stairs. It seemed the Mage King hadn't bothered setting traps or puzzles on the staircase.
Shei led the way up, asking, “Do we just go up like this? We must be the first ones to pass, right?”
“Unlikely. As I said before, the spatial curvature problem is tricky, but not unsolvable. A few people have probably already gotten ahead of us.”
“…I wasn't asking you.”
“I know. But Huey would have sugarcoated it, so I gave you the direct answer instead.”
“I don't need it!”
Shei fumed as she threw open the next door. Then she froze.
“…Huh?”
A large, spacious hall on the second floor appeared. Chandeliers hung from a high ceiling like in a banquet hall, and carpets were laid across the floor. Across the luxurious hall, which seemed completely out of place in a mage’s tower, was a large door. It was obviously where we needed to go.
Glass chairs and tables were placed here and there, but that wasn't what was important.
“Are they the other challengers?”
Sitting at the tables were priests and paladins dressed in white vestments.
Among them, the oldest yet healthiest-looking priest made the sign of the cross and rose to his feet. Time itself seemed unable to wear him down, and the contours of his muscles were visible beneath his robes.
Is he a priest or a martial artist? One of those monk types?
Cardinal Elton approached us, his presence gentle yet intimidating.
“To send us a guide when we were lost and wandering… this too must be the guidance of the Sky God. I am very pleased to meet you like this. Excuse me, but may I ask for directions? Do you know how to ascend this tower?”
‘If they refuse to tell us willingly, it won't be too late to deal with them then.’
Why in the world is the Order of Paladins in a mage’s tower?