Chapter 668: The 8th Floor of the Tower of Babel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 668: The 8th Floor of the Tower of Babel
Ruel. I'd heard that name before, in the Floating Castle. I didn't know why she called herself the Saintess of Light, but if it was true, it seemed being a saintess was a side gig. The working conditions must be great…
No, wait. I spent a long time in the Floating Castle. Let me think a bit more.
The White Tower is the magic tower that deals with light magic. They handle Lumen magic circles and light-printing magic circles. They manage the Floating Castle's artificial sun and create and sell magic tools that emit light like screens. The upper floors are used for celestial observation, while the lower floors gather sunlight to inscribe magic circles.
Their field of study is light itself. They explore its principles, analyze its properties, and process, control, and utilize it.
After researching and exploring light to such an extent, upon reaching the truth, it's only natural they would fall into faith. It can't be helped.
Because the Saintess of Origin, who foresaw all futures, was born in a sanctuary of the Order of Light.
It must be related to the Divine of Light.
[Are you nervous? Or perhaps on guard? A healthy amount of tension is good, but don't overdo it. I'm different from the other saintesses. I'm rational, intelligent, and overflowing with curiosity! I'll be watching you. Please, keep up the good work!]
And just like that, the voice vanished.
Light magic. And with exquisite control, at that. She must have shot light into my ear, striking the air inside my eardrum at a steady rhythm to mimic sound.
She could probably take my life with that if she wanted to. Not that she would, and with the Divine of Tyr on my side, I wouldn't die anyway.
Why did her voice appear at this specific moment? Perhaps she's testing me, too. She might want to see the outcome of my leadership.
Then I'll have to show her. Nothing about what I have to do has changed.
"Alright, everyone. Our task remains the same. Let's all find a way to ascend the tower."
I clapped my hands to encourage the group. But the mages, still tense from the recent fight, didn't move so easily.
However, Dokjine and Kuram reined in their killing intent and spoke.
"If you don't attack, we'll do the same. It's what Lankart wants, after all."
"Ugh…"
Kuram and Dokjine were powerful and dangerous. But Lankart Spendry was far more dangerous than them. Evil tucked its tail and showed submission before a greater evil.
For now, Kuram and Dokjine were safe. But this was only a temporary reprieve.
Cardinal Elton grabbed me and demanded.
"You. Are you in your right mind? You intend to let such ominous and dangerous individuals into our group?"
"I do. Is there a problem?"
"Did you not just see? The wicked and dangerous aura those two radiate!"
"They did seem dangerous and aggressive. If it weren't for the paladins, many would have been injured or killed. The Saintess's protection is surely with us."
I made the sign of the cross and murmured. It wasn't wrong to say a saintess was watching over us. After all, the Saintess of Light was observing.
"We faced a crisis, but it all ended well. No one died, and they've decided to join us. Now, all we have to do is ascend."
"Can you not smell the stench of blood on them? Do you not see the sins weighing on their shoulders? Vengeance is carried out in the name of the Sky God. You would travel with such villains without punishing them?"
Cardinal Elton tried desperately to persuade me.
Right now, I was the leader of this group.
Cardinal Elton and his paladins were the strongest military force here, but armed with faith, they were conventional and inflexible. Since they didn't know how to ascend the tower, their say was limited, and they couldn't decide where to go.
There were many people to consider, which meant I needed a justification. They could only move with my permission—I, who was well-versed in theology, knowledgeable in magic, and accompanied by Shei and Lankart.
That was the order of things. Indeed, the sight of this arrogant and powerful order of paladins waiting for my command was…
Not very amusing.
I said, "If you truly wish to do so, I won't stop you."
"...You won't stop me?"
"Saint Rene didn't walk the path everyone forced upon her, did she? She headed where no one had gone before. A path was formed because countless disciples followed in her footsteps; it wasn't there from the beginning. If you say you will walk that path, how could I possibly stop you?"
I was telling him it wasn't my business if they fought and killed each other. At my words, Cardinal Elton's expression grew complicated.
'As I thought... this man is no benevolent soul. Mages are all the same, but this one is particularly cold. Theology and faith are nothing more than tools of knowledge for him to exploit.'
The paladins were a powerful force, but here, they were outsiders. No matter what, they couldn't blend in. They already belonged to an organization and didn't follow the rules of the Floating Castle.
The paladins were following my instructions for now, but they hadn't let down their guard against me. That was why they always took the lead when ascending to the next floor. They claimed it was to prepare for danger, but they were likely afraid I would leave them behind.
'Mages are more honest than anyone, which is why they can't be trusted. I must shake them off someday and ascend to the 10th floor to place Saint Rene's holy relic. Before it falls into their hands. But to do that, I must first reach the 10th floor…'
"...Very well. For now, in the spirit of Saint Rene, I will merely watch them to ensure they commit no further sins, but I will not lay a hand on them."
The paladins followed the scripture's teaching to be honest with oneself quite well. The moment Cardinal Elton finished speaking, they tensed up and gripped their swords.
Good grief. How could the mercenaries or mages possibly lower their guard with them acting like that? You'd think they were the only ones with ulterior motives.
'The paladins? Perfect timing! It'll be clean if I can get them to fight and kill each other! Kuram and Dokjine are a handful together, so if I can just incapacitate one of them, I can kill the other myself!'
'While it's an unwritten rule to overlook minor incidents in the Gateway to Success, for an outsider mercenary to kill a chosen one trying to ascend... Yes. As the Blue Tower Master, I cannot forgive it. And personally, I have no desire to forgive it either.'
So many thoughts crossing at once.
The White Tower Master said it, didn't she? That she'd be watching.
This is my answer.
On the board you've set, I'll try to take as many people as I can to the top.
"Uh, um. Hughes."
Not everyone was on edge from the earlier fight. When you have a group of sixty people, those in the back often have no idea what's happening up front. Avant-garde, who had arrived on the 7th floor late, had found the floor's puzzle as usual.
"Yes? What is it, Senior Avant-garde?"
"Here… I tested it with gravity magic like before, and I felt a gravitational anomaly."
Right. Someone had to solve the puzzle. Whatever fighting was happening over there, this was a separate matter.
Avant-garde had already set up a makeshift workshop out of crystal. Dozens of shimmering crystals were swinging like metronomes. While they were all supposed to swing in the same rhythm, the ones higher up were uncomfortably slow.
A gravitational anomaly based on height. He found it right away.
"Whoa. That's Senior Avant-garde for you. You work fast."
"Hehe. Well, it's the same as what we've been doing... But isn't it strange...?"
"What is? The gravitational anomaly?"
"Yeah. The rule of Babel is spatial distortion, but the easiest way to find that distortion is by detecting gravitational anomalies."
"That's because gravity serves as the standard for spatial orientation."
"That's true, but... something doesn't feel right."
Avant-garde grunted, as if an idea was just out of reach. I read her thoughts with my mind-reading ability, but they were too vague for even me to grasp.
Locks exist to be opened, and problems wait for someone to solve them. If there's a lock, it means there's a door.
This puzzle, too, was about finding the spatial distortion. By carefully observing the direction of gravity and correcting the twist, the space returned to normal. A staircase leading upward appeared from a crack in the fractured space.
"If ascending is this easy, I guess we don't need to threaten anyone."
Kuram sounded satisfied as he started walking. The mercenaries led by Dokjine also ascended the stairs cheerfully. Their actions ignored the unspoken order we had followed until now, but no one said a word.
The 8th floor was empty. No new participants appeared while we searched for the floor's puzzle and had a meal. Everyone naturally came to the same realization: the only people left in the Tower of Babel were us.
There was no need to worry about outsiders. No need to worry that someone else might get ahead of us.
Now, we could devote all our energy to guarding against the enemy within.
With only that one fact remaining, the crowd, now nearly seventy strong, waited in uncomfortable silence for someone to solve the puzzle. And when the passage to the 9th floor opened, they steeled their resolve and stepped toward the stairs.
I was the one who solved the puzzle. These freeloaders.