“Are you sure it’s okay to let him run off like that on his own?” Gaegukja Yeol asked Lindyss. The cursed elf was sitting on the ground, lifting and observing the magical weapons before placing them down again.
“Sure,” Lindyss said. “Why not? Just because I own his soul doesn’t mean he isn’t his own person.”
“Well, as the creator of that undead, if he commits a crime, you’ll be held responsible,” Gaegukja Yeol said. “It’s like how we blame pet owners for not picking up after their animals instead of blaming the animals for having biological needs.”
“That’s alright,” Lindyss said and picked up the ampal. “All he wanted to do was get revenge on someone who had killed him. If the tower’s going to punish me for that, I’ll ask Vur to go on a rampage.”
Gaegukja Yeol’s expression darkened. Would she ever reach the level of strength required to ignore the tower’s rules? Her gaze shifted from Lindyss to Vur to Tafel. “How did the three of you become so strong?”
“Must be an environment thing,” Lindyss said and held the ampal out, pointing the palette at Gaegukja Yeol.
The flaming woman took a step to the side and cleared her throat. “The world you come from, are there others as strong as you?”
“Yep,” Lindyss said, swiveling the ampal to point at Gaegukja Yeol once more. “There are plenty of existences out there who’re stronger than us too.”
“Can you please not aim that at me?” Gaegukja Yeol asked, stepping to the side once more. A frown appeared on her face. “It’s hard to believe there are people stronger than you when you’re already as strong as—if not stronger than—a lord.”
Lindyss shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you believe it or not,” she said and placed the ampal down. She picked up the manaso and squinted at it before letting it drop back to the ground. “If you’d like, when we go back, we can bring you with us.”
Gaegukja Yeol blinked her orange eyes, the flames contorting. “Will you keep me alive?”
“The dead live very good lives there,” Lindyss said, not answering the flaming woman’s question.
Erin poked her head out of the cursed elf’s hair. “She’s joking,” the fairy queen said. “Sure, there are dragons and phoenixes and strong adventurers, but it’s a really safe world. There’s laws and stuff like in the tower.”
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“The laws that can be broken by the strong?” Gaegukja Yeol asked.
“Well, yeah,” Erin said and tilted her head. “But isn’t that always the case? In any society, the laws are determined by the strong few, and they can twist them to favor themselves.” The fairy queen nodded. “Right, the laws back home are much simpler to remember than the ones here. Don’t wake things when they’re sleeping, don’t anger things that can kill you, and don’t smell tasty. If you obey those three simple laws, the chances of you dying decreases drastically.”
Gaegukja Yeol furrowed her brow and rubbed her chin. “Well,” she said, drawing out the word, “I suppose great risks have to be taken to achieve great gains. Do you think we could send some of the Extreme Heat Clan members to your world to train them to your level? If it’s the environment that makes the difference, then they should be able to grow stronger quite quickly.”
“Would that work?” Tafel asked. “How do we get home, anyway? We were told we could open a portal back home to connect the tower to Erde, but no one ever explained how. Kim Hajun did say it involved money.”
“Once you clear the fiftieth floor,” Gaegukja Yeol said, “you’ll obtain the privilege to connect your home to the tower. You have to complete a special mission assigned by the tower, but once it’s done, the portal home should be established.”
“Fiftieth floor,” Tafel mumbled. “That seems so far away. It’s already been a few days since we’ve entered the tower, and we’ve only reached the second floor. At this rate, it’ll take half a year or more to return home.”
“Not necessarily,” Gaegukja Yeol said. “Some stages are easily cleared. The second floor, for example, if you want to proceed to the third floor, all you have to do is defeat an instructor of your choice.” The flaming woman glanced up at the ceiling. “Some other floors are more difficult; they could take over a year to clear if you’re unlucky.”
“It’s a good thing Vur’s lucky,” Lindyss said, glancing to the side where Vur was packing the inside of the grassy spider with a layer of soft moss. “Though, I imagine if Vur wanted to go home, the tower wouldn’t put him through a special mission.” A soft smile appeared on the cursed elf’ face, causing Erin to shiver.
“What?” the fairy queen asked. “What are you thinking about now?”
“Remember Volearden, Vur’s great-grandpa?” Lindyss asked. “If he really is in the tower on the ninety-first floor, I think I know why he hasn’t opened a portal to Erde.”
“You know?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The tower’s scared,” Lindyss said. “If it’s scared of Vur, it should be scared of Volearden too. Essentially, the tower is like a nation, and we’re its mercenaries. If the mercenaries it hires can overthrow the tower and turn it into their home, the tower wouldn’t like that at all. If we ask, it’ll probably open a portal back to Erde, and once we go through, it’ll close the portal before we could even say goodbye. Volearden must’ve understood that, so he chose to remain inside the tower instead of returning home for a certain reason.” The cursed elf stroked her chin. “I wonder what his objective is.”
“No way,” Gaegukja Yeol said and shook her head. “The tower still has its lords. They’re capable of defeating dragons who act out. It shouldn’t be afraid of opening a portal to your home.”
Lindyss shrugged. “We’ll find out when we reach the ninety-first floor,” she said. “We’ll just have Vur ask Volearden some questions.”