Chapter 25

Translator: True Detective

Chapter 25. Legend

Imperial Princess Cassia slowly withdrew the hand she had reached out into the empty air.

The warmth remaining on her fingertips.

And the white light shimmering like an afterimage.

It wasn't a trace of magic or sorcery she was familiar with.

A completely heterogeneous phenomenon deviating from the laws of this world.

Her purple eyes shook complicatedly.

"......It was real."

It was when she muttered low.

Dragging his limping leg, the Captain of the Royal Guards approached urgently.

"...Princess! Are you alright!"

"......Ah, Sir. I am fine."

"That's a relief. But... where did that Knight go?"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Captain of the Royal Guards looked around.

Behind him, the other Royal Guards who stood up being supported were also looking for the Knight in silver armor with expectant eyes.

Not only saving their lives but a benefactor who treated them with precious potions and a warm meal.

It was evident they wanted to offer at least a proper greeting of gratitude.

Cassia remained silent for a moment, then turned her gaze to the distant mountains and opened her mouth.

"......He left."

"Yes? He left? Already?"

"He disappeared like the wind saying he had urgent business. I didn't even have time to catch him."

At Cassia's lie, deep regret washed over the face of the Captain of the Royal Guards.

"Ah......."

He looked down at the ground and sighed.

"To not even be able to bid farewell.... We should have at least asked his name, we were too thoughtless."

"He was truly a person who seemed to come out of a legend. To appear like the wind, solve everything, and leave suddenly...."

"When will we be able to repay this grace...."

Watching that sight, Cassia's heart was fluctuating like a typhoon, unlike her outward appearance.

She saw it clearly.

The sight of him disappearing from this world wrapped in light.

Climber...

Unknown existences handed down only by word of mouth in history.

They were those who crossed the rift of dimensions to climb the Tower and were said to possess power far exceeding common sense.

In some records, they were described as saviors who would save the world, and in other records, as destroyers who would bring ruin to the world.

'It is said the First Emperor also received their help.'

The secret that he was able to raise the Empire from the wasteland and unify the continent was because of the assistance of Climbers was a secret passed down only among the Imperial Family.

To think she would confirm the existence in that legend with her own eyes.

'Nonsensical martial power, mysterious potions, and even those equipment....'

She was certain.

He was a Climber.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain all those miracles.

Suddenly, a faint smile spread across Cassia's lips.

'Besides, what's with that cooking skill.'

The taste of that soup she ate until just now lingered on the tip of her tongue.

It looked like he just roughly chopped up crude ingredients and boiled it, but it had a much deeper and richer taste than dishes made by the Imperial Head Chef.

To think of a legendary existence like a Climber stirring a ladle.

The more she thought about it, the stranger and more laughable the sight was.

"Pfft...."

"Your Highness?"

At the sudden laugh, the Captain of the Royal Guards looked at her puzzled.

Cassia hurriedly managed her expression and shook her head.

"It is nothing."

She returned to a serious expression and looked at the ruined battlefield.

The situation of the Empire was too grim to just laugh it off.

Her father went missing, the front lines collapsed, and the people are starving.

A crisis of internal troubles and external invasions.

To be honest, the Empire is already on the verge of ruin.

With her power alone, no, even combining all the power of the Empire, it was insufficient to block this massive wave.

But he appeared.

An overwhelming variable that overturned a desperate situation single-handedly.

There is no choice.

Cassia clenched her fist tightly.

According to the legend, a Climber could also become a disaster bringing ruin.

But right now, she had no luxury to weigh such things.

Even if he were a devil, if he had the power to save the Empire, she had to sell even her soul.

But.

He looked far from ruin.

Cassia recalled the favor he bestowed upon the soldiers.

Sparing no precious potions for worthless soldiers, cooking for them personally, and even telling her, the Imperial Princess, not to bow her head.

Nowhere in his actions could arrogance or destructive nature be seen.

Rather, a clumsy yet warm human consideration was felt.

'He... came to help us.'

A person who appeared like a miracle just when she was trying to keep the pride her mother spoke of.

The faint ember of hope began to burn in Cassia's chest.

Who he was or where he came from didn't matter.

What mattered was only the fact that he was the Empire's sole hope.

Returning home, there was no way I could sleep after seeing the number 1 billion stamped in my bankbook.

To calm down, I turned on the Tower Gallery like a habit.

As expected, the gallery was already burning with my 11th Floor guide video.

I could see everyone was confused.

Of course they would be.

Because a Maker is using swordsmanship, using magic, and even self-healing.

I chuckled and moved to the next post.

Questions about the background also poured out.

As expected, it became certain that Legendary difficulty is a place on a completely different dimension.

And scrolling down, I saw strangely familiar reactions.

It was practically plastered with posts praising the Imperial Princess's appearance.

Well, she was pretty even to my eyes.

But among the light posts, an unusual title caught my eye.

It was the part I was most concerned about and curious about.

As expected, people noticed too.

The comment section was in an uproar.

Because I too thought they were game-like NPCs, the fact that they know our identity must be a huge shock.

But a refutation post came up below that.

"Ha...."

I touched my forehead while lying in bed.

It became more certain with the veteran's testimony.

That only my difficulty, [Legendary], is special.

And that the people living there are highly likely real existences with flesh and blood, not pieces of data.

Climber...

That one word from the Imperial Princess hovered in my ears.

Certainly, her eyes weren't fabricated eyes.

They were a real person's eyes mixed with fear, gratitude, curiosity, and doubt.

"Real people...."

Until now, I saved them in passing just because it was a clear condition.

But if they are beings with real lives, the story changes.

If I had run away on the 10th Floor, the people in the castle would have been annihilated.

My spine went cold.

Countless lives hung on my single choice.

"It's heavy...."

I turned off my phone and looked up at the ceiling.

An unknown sense of responsibility weighed down my shoulders more than the joy of earning 1 billion.

But at the same time, a strange sense of elation bloomed.

To become someone's hero.

Because that was a value money couldn't buy.

"Yeah, well, what can I do."

Real or fake, what I have to do doesn't change.

Make better equipment, get stronger, and climb the Tower.

Because that is the path for me and simultaneously the path for them.

I have to make burn medicine too, but I was too tired.

"Let's make it tomorrow..."