383 – Mercenaries of the Tower 3

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: Posted in discord

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The Tower was a monster that devoured people.

For ordinary citizens of the kingdom, not adventurers blinded by greed, this perception was deeply ingrained. The notion that the Tower was a monster that ate people and grew in size was like a ghost story.

And why wouldn’t it be? When village youths who found farming and hunting trivial left for the city with dreams of success… they’d simply vanish, swallowed by the Tower. It was a terrifying space that spewed out endless monsters from deep underground, against the Goddess’s will.

Monsters more vicious than those in the outside world were born every hour, and without the strange tools made by mages, you couldn’t even find your way. As a result, even when comrades died, their bodies often couldn’t be retrieved. Only markers were brought back. Even the hastily formed mercenary group I met last time could only grab the intact adventurer gear and flee, unable to collect the bodies crushed by ogres.

That’s why the Tower was a monster that devoured people.

…But that was supposed to be metaphorical.

“W-what nonsense are you spouting! This is the kingdom, you say?”

“Just look at that motionless sun. What could it mean for the sun to be so high in the night sky when the moon should be out?”

“But we were in the Empire, clearly on the northern front…”

“What are you talking about? We were in the western Empire.”

“Um, what do you mean Empire? We had just set foot in the kingdom.”

Badengah’s mercenary band had been resting after fighting monster waves in the northern Empire.

Mages were moving to obtain experimental goods in the western Empire.

Merchants had just crossed from the southern Empire to the northern kingdom, along with knights from the checkpoint who got swept up in it.

The Tower had really swallowed people. Not in a metaphorical sense, but literally gulping down people from the continent and sending them to the 52nd floor.

Han Se-ah pretended to use magic to check the minimap, confirming we hadn’t been transported to some unknown space. We hadn’t flown or moved anywhere. People had just been randomly summoned around us while we slept.

“What the hell is going on…?”

-What’s the gimmick this time? What’s the point of summoning people?

-I can’t even guess how the story will unfold, but these aren’t all doppelgangers, right?

-Fuck, being kidnapped by the Tower while you’re only doing the tutorial. Sounds messed.

-Logging in and there’s a bunch of dark male characters everywhere lol what’s going on?

-Why are there so many of them on the 52nd floor, am I the only one who doesn’t know?

Leather Pants Union, Dark Mammy Squad, Kiddo’s Toy Foundation, the Guild of Teacher’s Mighty Greatsword—names I never wanted to know popped up like mushrooms after rain, spewing all sorts of nonsense.

No matter how much speculation they threw around about why the Tower’s safe zone kidnaps people from all over the continent, no one could guess or find any clues. So, the chat was naturally filled with useless chatter.

“Aah—no wonder your face looked familiar. You’re the hero!”

“Could you sense the magical waves…?”

“Ah, haha… I was asleep.”

The main reason for all this was that Han Se-ah, who was supposed to control the stream and the viewers, had been caught by the mages.

The Tower had swallowed up humans.

The Tower’s mana had affected the space, transporting people from the Empire to the Kingdom at a great distance without any harm to their bodies or supplies. A perfect manifestation of magic, ignoring the usual limits of distance!

The mages, extremely excited, had latched onto Han Se-ah and started talking non-stop. And the other party members who could save her were long since intrigued by the Empire.

“This sword has a peculiar design.”

“It’s more of a hook than a sword. It’s meant to catch and tear apart creatures with tough skin.”

Katie became interested in the mercenaries’ equipment used for monster waves and began chatting with them. Grace, wary of the centaurs, climbed onto the merchant’s carriage to keep watch due to the overwhelming number of people.

Irene was talking with the merchant leader, who was a devout believer, promising donations to the temple if they made it back alive. So naturally, only I, the party’s main tank, could interrupt the mages’ chatter.

But as always, Han Se-ah’s troubles were my amusement.

“…I understand what the others are doing, but what about Roland? I’d rather joke around with Roland or discuss party plans.”

—-Looks like Grace went up the carriage to help keep watch, but she’s got her eyes closed.

-Is she sleeping or meditating? I dunno.

-Haha, the hero’s conversation won’t be interrupted, carry on.

-Oh, the master of the Holy Sword is meditating, so how dare you interrupt him?

-Roland, the tank, decided to abandon his role like a dog.

So I pretended to meditate, sitting cross-legged on top of the carriage with my eyes gently closed.

If I did this in my modern body, people would have thought I was just dozing off, but a robust 6★ tank in full armor sitting like this set the right atmosphere.

In reality, I was just browsing the web through a holographic window whenever the invisible camera wasn’t focused directly on my face.

After a few days of awkwardly continuing our journey while playing our roles, we finally arrived safely at Harpy City without incident.

The eyes of the Empire’s people widened in astonishment.