WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 663: Tower of Babel, Floor 8

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Ruel. I had heard that name in the floating castle before. I did not know why she called herself the Holy Maiden of Light, but if it was true, being a Holy Maiden seemed to be a side job. The working conditions were good, too...

No. I had spent a long time in the floating castle. I should think a little harder.

The White Tower was a magic tower that handled light magic. It worked with lumen magic circles and light-printing magic circles. It maintained the floating castle's artificial sun, produced and sold magical tools that emitted light like screens, observed celestial bodies in its upper levels, and gathered sunlight to inscribe magic circles in its lower levels.

What they studied was light itself. They explored its principles, analyzed its properties, processed and controlled it, then put it to use.

After studying and exploring light until they reached the truth, it was only natural that they would fall into faith.

The First Holy Maiden, who foresaw every future, had been born in the sanctuary of the Church of Light.

It was probably related to the Demon God of Light.

[Are you nervous? Or are you on your guard? A little tension is good, but don't overdo it. I'm different from the other Holy Maidens. I'm rational, intelligent, and overflowing with curiosity! I'll keep watching you. Keep trying!]

Then the voice vanished in an instant.

Light magic. With extraordinarily delicate control, she had sent light into my ear. She must have struck the air around my eardrum in a steady rhythm to imitate sound.

She could even take my life if she wanted to. She would not, and I would not die anyway, since I had Tyr's Demon God.

Why did I hear her voice at this particular moment? Maybe she was testing me too. Maybe she wanted to see the results of my guidance.

Then I should show her. Nothing about what I had to do had changed.

"All right. Our task remains the same. Let's find a way to climb this tower."

I clapped my hands to encourage everyone. The mages, tense from the fight moments ago, did not readily move.

Only Poison Centipede and Kuram withdrew their killing intent and spoke.

"If you won't attack us, we'll do the same. That's what Lankart wants, too."

"Ugh..."

Kuram and Poison Centipede were both powerful and dangerous. Lankart Spendry, though, was far more dangerous than either of them. Before greater evil, lesser evil tucked its tail and showed submission.

For now, Kuram and Poison Centipede were safe. Only for now.

Cardinal Elton grabbed me and demanded an explanation.

"Are you in your right mind? Do you intend to bring people that ominous and dangerous into our group?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Did you not see what just happened? The evil and danger those two carry!"

"They were dangerous and aggressive. If not for the Holy Paladins, several people could have been killed or injured. The Holy Maiden's protection must have been with us."

I murmured as I made the sign of the cross. It was not wrong to say the Holy Maiden was protecting us. The Holy Maiden of Light was watching us, after all.

"There was a crisis, but everything ended well. No one died, and they decided to join us. Now all we need to do is climb."

"Did you not smell the blood on them? Did you not see the sins resting upon their shoulders? Vengeance is carried out in the name of the Celestial God. Will you not punish such evildoers and instead travel alongside them?"

Cardinal Elton desperately tried to persuade me.

I was the leader of this group now.

Cardinal Elton and his Holy Paladins were the strongest fighting force, but armed with faith as they were, they were rigid and inflexible. They did not know how to climb the tower, so they had little say and could not decide where we went.

Many people were watching for cues. That was why they needed justification. They could only move if I, who was well versed in both theology and magic and traveled with Shei and Lankart, gave permission.

That was the order here. Truly, seeing this proud and powerful group of Holy Paladins wait for a single instruction from me...

It was not that entertaining.

I spoke.

"If you truly wish to do so, I will not stop you."

"...You will not stop us?"

"Saint Rene did not walk the road everyone forced upon her, either. She went where no one had gone before. A path emerged only because countless disciples followed in her footsteps. There was no road in this world from the beginning. If you say you will walk that path, how could I stop you?"

Fight each other or kill each other, I did not care. Cardinal Elton's expression turned strange at those words.

'As expected... This man is not a good person either. All mages are like that, but this man is cold as well. Theology and faith are nothing more than knowledge for him to use.'

The Holy Paladins were a powerful fighting force, but they were outsiders here. No matter what they did, they could not truly blend in. They already belonged somewhere else and did not follow the floating castle's rules.

The Holy Paladins followed my instructions for now, but they had not lowered their guard around me. That was why they always took the lead when heading to the next floor. They claimed it was to prepare for danger, but they were probably afraid I would leave them behind.

'Mages are more honest than anyone. That is why they can be trusted less than anyone. One day, I must leave them behind, reach the tenth floor, and place Saint Rene's relic there before it falls into their hands. But first, I have to reach the tenth floor...'

"...Very well. In keeping with Saint Rene's spirit, we will only watch them to ensure they do not commit sin. We will not lay a hand on them."

The Holy Paladins were quite faithful to scripture's instruction to be honest with themselves. The moment Cardinal Elton finished speaking, they gripped their swords with obvious tension.

Oh, dear. Would mercenaries or mages lower their guard around them like that? Do not show your hand so openly. Anyone would think they were the only ones with other intentions.

'The Holy Paladins? This worked out perfectly. If we set them against each other and they kill each other, everything will be clean. Kuram and Poison Centipede are troublesome together, so if even one becomes unable to fight, I can kill the other myself!'

'It is an unwritten rule to overlook trivial incidents at the Dragon Gate, but outside mercenaries killed the chosen people climbing the Dragon Gate... Yes. I cannot forgive that in my capacity as the Cyan Tower Master. Personally, I do not want to forgive it, either.'

So many thoughts were crossing one another.

The White Tower Master said she would watch, did she not?

This was my answer.

On the board you prepared, I'll try climbing with as many people as possible.

"Um, Hughes."

Not everyone was tense because of the fight. With around sixty people, those at the back often did not even see what happened at the front. Avant-garde, who had crossed onto the seventh floor late, had found the seventh floor's challenge as usual.

"Yes? What is it, Senior Avant-garde?"

"I tested gravity magic here, like before, and I felt a gravity anomaly."

Right. Someone had to solve the problem. A fight might be breaking out over there, but this was a separate matter.

Avant-garde had already made a makeshift workshop out of crystals. Dozens of glittering crystals swung like metronomes. They were all supposed to swing at the same rhythm, yet the metronomes positioned higher up were uncomfortably slow.

A gravity anomaly based on height. She found it immediately.

"Wow. As expected of you, Senior Avant-garde. You work fast."

"Hehe. It was the same as what we have been doing so far... But isn't it strange?"

"What is? The gravity anomaly?"

"Mm. Babel's rule is spatial distortion, but the easiest way to find a spatial distortion is to look for a gravity anomaly."

"That is because gravity provides a reference point for spatial direction."

"That is true, but... Something does not sit right with me."

Avant-garde groaned as though inspiration was about to come to her, then slip away. I read her mind, but her thoughts were too vague for me to grasp anything, either.

Locks existed to be opened, and problems waited for someone to solve them. Once we found the problem, solving it was easy. If a lock was in place, it meant there was a door there.

This challenge was also about finding spatial distortion. Once we carefully examined the direction of gravity and corrected the twist, the space returned to normal. Stairs leading upward appeared through a crack in space.

"If it is this easy to climb, I will not need to threaten anyone."

Kuram moved with satisfaction. The mercenary group led by Poison Centipede climbed the stairs laughing and chatting. They were ignoring the order everyone had tacitly established, but no one criticized them.

There was no one on the eighth floor. No new participants appeared until we found the eighth floor's challenge and finished eating.

Everyone naturally came to realize it. We were the only people left in this Tower of Babel.

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 strength to guarding against enemies within the group.

With only that fact remaining, the crowd, now nearly seventy strong, waited in uncomfortable silence for someone to solve the challenge. When the passage to the ninth floor opened, each of them steeled themselves and headed for the stairs.

I solved the problem. You parasites.

Footnotes:

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