The Second Floor Is Too Suspicious (3)
The Second Floor Is Too Suspicious (3)
Five candles, lined up in a straight row.
"Hup!"
I swung my sword hard, and every flame went out at once.
For someone who'd reached a certain superhuman threshold, a parlor trick like this was as easy as breathing.
"Well done."
The resident who'd introduced himself as blacksmith handed me a Silver Badge, looking satisfied.
I took the badge and tucked it away. A silver emblem appeared above my head.
Silver-grade really was that easy to get.
Now I understood why the roadblockers at the square just let Silver-grade people pass. They were handing out tasks so simple that anyone could do them.
"Here's your sword and scabbard."
"Ah, you can keep them. I have plenty."
"..."
He'd handed me that sword specifically for the candle-cutting test, and now he was telling me to just take it. I'm not the type to refuse a gift, so I gave him a nod.
"By the way, if I collect a whole pile of Silver Badges, can I get the reward multiple times?"
"I doubt it. I've heard that reward calculation is based on your highest-grade badge."
"Ah. Thank you."
So grinding like a maniac to hoard a thousand Silver Badges was off the table.
Given how low the difficulty was, duplicate rewards would've been unreasonable anyway.
In the end, if I wanted a proper reward, I'd need Gold-grade or higher.
But what gnawed at me was whether a hidden reward existed at all.
And the thing I found most suspicious? The Bronze Badge.
Silver Badges alone were absurdly easy. If you had basic knowledge and skill, you could pick one up without breaking a sweat.
So why did Bronze Badges even exist? No—they could exist. That wasn't the issue.
But why were there beggars inside the Tower?
My useless imagination kept getting the better of me.
I kept thinking: what if that person who looked like some random beggar was actually a hidden master with unimaginable power?
What if that commoner shuffling past, scratching his backside with dirty hands, was secretly an archmage?
"...Guess I should do some grinding."
I had a strong feeling that if I thoroughly checked every person carrying a Bronze Badge, something would turn up.
When I finished thinking and looked up, the players hurrying through the streets looked a little different to me.
Getting a Silver Badge was pathetically easy.
Yet not a single emblem floated above their heads.
The reason they were still scrambling through these streets... was to find clues.
"Excuse me, is there any kind of legend in this city? A tragic story, something like that..."
"Nothing like that here."
"Come on, don't be like that... here, take this."
"Hey, what's with you? I told you, there's nothing."
Some were shoving food at residents—wherever they'd gotten it—fishing for useful rumors.
"Please take me as your disciple!"
"...?"
"Just give me one chance! I'll work hard!"
"Please, what are you doing..."
"I know I'm not worthy in your eyes! But if you grant me just one chance...!"
"Uh... I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm just a beggar..."
"...Tch. Another dead end."
Others were bowing their heads to any beggar they could find, begging to become a disciple.
So I wasn't the only one who thought there were way too many Bronze-grade residents.
"...Hunting for clues myself might actually be less efficient."
Either way, once you earned a badge, an emblem appeared above your head.
And once the emblem appeared, the roadblockers guarding the square in the city center would block your path and stir up trouble.
If something really was hidden here, it would reveal itself just by waiting.
All right. Let's sort things out.
First: looking for a hidden reward goes on the back burner. It's not worth pouring time into when I'm not even sure it exists.
Second: find out the exact criteria for what counts as violence. Even if I score a great reward, it's meaningless if I can't break through the roadblockers camped at the square. But investigating that inevitably involves regression. Best to test it on an unavoidable regression loop.
And third: figure out what tasks are required to earn a Gold or Platinum reward.
So what I need to do right now is...
"A Gold Badge, huh..."
Go see the so-called nobles.
I turned my steps toward the lavish mansion visible at the far end of the street.
Getting into the mansion was surprisingly easy.
Maybe it was the leather armor I was wearing, or maybe some kind of magic—the massive front gate just swung open on its own.
"Hello. I'm Kim Jun-ho."
"A pleasure. I am Baron Licht."
The man who introduced himself as Baron Licht had an air of deep antiquity about him.
A neatly trimmed mustache. A uniform that looked freshly pressed. Even a monocle over his left eye.
He matched perfectly with the mansion's interior, which was done entirely in deep crimson tones.
He was like a man out of an old masterpiece. He truly looked the part of a nobleman.
"Now then. I'd like to ask what brings you here... but I imagine the reason is obvious."
Baron Licht smiled, almost playfully.
"You want a Gold Badge. Or perhaps a Platinum Badge, yes?"
From inside his coat, he took out a badge that gleamed with brilliant golden light.
"If it were up to me, I'd gladly hand this over... but a noble must maintain some dignity. And these Gold Badges do have a certain scarcity, wouldn't you agree?"
"Fair enough."
"Which means... you'll have to pass a suitable test before I can give this to you."
Baron Licht tucked the badge back into his coat and walked toward the teapot sitting at one end of the parlor.
"Coffee, or tea? Which would you prefer?"
"...Tea, please."
"An excellent choice. Our coffee doesn't seem to suit climbers' palates."
He took out tea leaves and began brewing with practiced ease. The faint fragrance of the leaves was pleasantly aromatic.
Contrary to what the resident on the street had said, Baron Licht seemed perfectly normal.
I had a feeling this man would actually answer my questions.
"...How did the people here end up entering the Tower?"
"...A simple question."
Baron Licht answered without turning his head.
"Faith. We entered because of our faith in God."
"...Faith?"
"Yes, faith. God asked whether we would enter the Tower... and the deeply faithful City Master nodded..."
"The City Master...?"
"A promising knight from the surrounding region. Now she serves as the watcher who guards this city. She looks down from above and sees who breaks the rules."
"..."
"Ah, and don't get any foolish ideas about trying to see her just because you're curious. She is clad in God's grace, and has transcended humanity."
Looking down from above to see who broke the rules.
The structure seemed to be: if violence occurred, the City Master would appear.
If I stacked an enormous number of Hero stacks, could I hold my own against the City Master? Hard to say. He said she'd transcended humanity, so probably not.
"There we are."
His brewing finished, Baron Licht returned to his seat and handed me a teacup.
I took a sip. A faint, tingling sharpness spread across my tongue. I'd never tasted tea like this before.
"...The flavor is quite unique."
"That's its charm."
Baron Licht grinned. I smiled back.
"So... what must I do to receive a Gold Badge?"
"You must prove yourself."
He drew the golden badge from his coat once more.
"You may not realize this, but... we've been here for quite a long time. You climbers cannot leave this city, but outside... it is paradise, in the truest sense. Fruit, animals, fish, vegetables... an endless bounty of food, scattered everywhere. No one ever worries about starving to death."
"..."
"And so life inside the Tower is stable... but utterly, profoundly dull. Repetition, repetition, and more repetition. There's no crisis. We crave new stimulation. I don't know what tasks the other old codgers assign, but... I enjoy tasks with a certain edge to them. Like the tea you just drank."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"Kidnap someone and bring her here. A young woman who sells fish on the street. Her name is Emily. You may injure her body, but you must not touch her face."
"..."
"Oh, and don't worry about the Tower's rules. Violence between climbers is forbidden, and violence between residents is also forbidden... but violence between a climber and a resident is not prohibited. Preventing it is my role... and I have absolutely no intention of preventing it."
Baron Licht stroked his mustache as if this were perfectly ordinary.
Was this really the same man who'd gone on about a noble's dignity moments ago?
"..."
The resident from earlier had been right.
This man... wore the shape of a noble, but his conduct was anything but noble.
"...Suspicious."
And I found it so unbearably suspicious that I couldn't let it go.
Because it felt like the Tower was deliberately steering my thinking.