PGCT 08

The Guild Master was an exceptionally perceptive man.

The moment Jehar sent off the magical messenger bird, he rushed straight to the castle.

As soon as he arrived, he threw himself flat onto the audience chamber’s carpet.

“Forgive me, my Lady! My incompetence has caused you concern!”

Camilia wasn’t fooled by the obvious performance.

“Demolish it before sunrise.”

“The fools who failed to assemble properly have already been beaten into sha—… pardon?”

Camilia didn’t answer.

Instead, she lightly tapped the armrest of her chair.

Standing beside her, Jehar spoke in her place.

“Did you fail to understand the Lady’s words? She intends to revoke the guild’s operating rights.”

“W-What!?”

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you’re under, but my Lady did not ask for your help. She was extending a favor.”

Jehar was right.

Even without the adventurers’ assistance, clearing the first floor would be easy.

As for the adventurers trapped inside the Tower, it wouldn’t matter whether they lived or died.

Those with abilities worthy of becoming companion characters usually managed to survive on their own.

The same applied to the monsters outside the Tower.

Even if they weren’t dealt with beforehand, clearing the boss room before the barrier was lifted would make them disappear automatically.

And even if that wasn’t accomplished in time, it wasn’t a major problem.

Once the monsters started fighting each other and their numbers dwindled, the local guard could handle the rest.

The only reason she had spent such a large sum hiring adventurers was to recruit Netanel.

And since the world was no longer a game, she also wanted to see whether strategies could be adapted to reality.

It had been, in a sense, a test.

Camilia had assumed the Adventurers’ Guild would naturally follow her instructions.

Because that’s how it worked in the game.

She had talked about how this was reality rather than a game, yet she’d forgotten the most important thing.

The people before her weren’t NPCs following a script.

They were human beings.

Even competent people who confidently claimed they could handle things sometimes failed depending on the circumstances.

Adventurers were no different.

Unlike game logic, they acted according to emotion, prioritizing their feelings even when the territory was in danger.

I was careless.

Companion characters like Jehar and Lohengrin always behaved within predictable limits, so she’d unconsciously assumed everyone else would too.

But they were human beings—for better or worse.

It was a truly dreadful variable, but there was no time to dwell on it.

At sunrise, she would enter the Tower.

Every second mattered.

She couldn’t waste time coaxing and comforting adventurers while taking their personal circumstances into account.

Driving the Adventurers’ Guild out of the territory would certainly be inconvenient, but it wasn’t an unsolvable problem.

“If a pack of stray dogs prowls near a flock of sheep, it’s the owner’s duty to chase them away with a stick.”

Camilia looked coldly down at the Guild Master, who had gone pale and was breaking into a cold sweat.

“And if one of those stray dogs bares its fangs while the fence lies broken, it deserves to be beaten to death.”

“M-My Lady…”

“You’re still the leader of the strays, aren’t you? The choice is yours.”

Persuasion? Appeasement? Building favorability? Increasing rewards?

All tedious, pretentious, and time-consuming.

Leave. Or die.

Efficient. Logical. Fast.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of solution modern people loved most?

Camilia asked calmly,

“Answer me. Which will you choose?”

After the half-soulless Guild Master departed, Camilia immediately summoned the rest of her party.

“You called for us, my Lady?”

Lohengrin stood there in gleaming silver armor with a shield strapped to his back.

“I’m ready, employer.”

Netanel wore a robe embroidered with golden thread and carried a gold scepter.

Both were immensely reassuring.

Just looking at them was enough to make her forget the headache caused by the adventurers.

Right. As long as my party members listen, that’s enough.

Taking Jehar along as well, Camilia boarded a carriage with the three of them.

As they traveled toward the Tower surrounded by its barrier, she looked at Netanel, seated across from her.

“Netanel, have you ever entered the Tower?”

Netanel smiled brightly.

“I haven’t. I haven’t been in this territory for very long, after all.”

Wow. Lying without even blinking, huh?

It was true that he’d never entered the Tower.

But saying he hadn’t been in the territory long was a complete lie.

Netanel, you’ve been sneaking in and out of this territory for over ten years.

Half of his recruitment quest had involved tracking down traces of his past. What was he trying to pull?

“You may be a good priest, but you’d make a terrible merchant. You’re far too bad at lying.”

When she scolded him as though she knew everything, Netanel merely laughed.

“Oh my, so you knew all along? You’re quite mischievous yourself, employer.”

[Netanel Pragma’s Affection has increased.]

Perhaps because he considered formidable lords excellent business partners, Netanel’s affection rose sharply.

He really did have unusual tastes.

Still, it was helpful in situations like this.

“Do you know the most critical difference between the Tower and other dungeons?”

“Hmm, the most critical difference…”

The Tower was unusual in many ways.

The fact that it hadn’t been conquered in a thousand years.

The fact that every floor contained an entirely different world.

The fact that most monsters carried mana stones.

But none of those were truly exceptional.

The Great Labyrinth had remained unconquered for over three hundred years, and there were other dungeons whose environments changed from floor to floor.

The real distinction was that the Tower had an Administrator.

An impossible being capable of erecting gates that prevented monsters from leaving while allowing humans to come and go freely.

“If I had to choose only one answer, I’d say it’s your existence, my Lady. The Tower exists because you exist.”

“Correct.”

“How exciting. Do I get a reward?”

“Not exactly. But I’ll tell you something interesting instead.”

“Something interesting?”

“The Tower hates me.”

Narrowing her strangely shimmering eyes, Camilia continued.

“It has been suppressed for a thousand years. Everything inside the Tower hates me to the point of madness. Because of that, strange things tend to happen whenever I enter.”

“My, that’s a far more terrifying truth than I expected.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. I know everything there is to know about the Tower—including how to deal with it.”

Netanel smiled knowingly.

“So this isn’t going to end with ‘therefore, you should listen to me,’ is it? Is there something you want from me?”

Sharp companions were useful.

Camilia answered calmly.

“I want to place a restriction on you.”

“Ah. So one of those ‘strange things’ becomes dangerous if I ignore your orders and act on my own?”

“The problem is that there’s more than one.”

The Tower was a place overflowing with variables and malice.

With terrible luck, even a level 15 character could die on the first floor.

The fewer variables, the better.

Lohengrin and Jehar had high loyalty and affection. They could be trusted.

Netanel was different.

Rather than getting stabbed in the back after trusting him too casually—as she had with the adventurers—it was better to settle things clearly.

“The restriction will be temporary. It will be removed the moment we leave the Tower.”

“Hmm… Is this restriction the same method you’re planning to use on the monsters’ leader?”

Though phrased vaguely, he was essentially asking whether she intended to brainwash people as well as monsters.

Camilia admitted it without hesitation.

“Yes.”

An ordinary person would have been horrified.

Netanel was not ordinary.

“Sounds reasonable. What exactly will the restriction be?”

“While inside the Tower, if we engage an enemy, you will obey my commands immediately. However, you may refuse any order that threatens your safety or violates your duties as a priest. The restriction will remain until we leave the Tower.”

After thinking for a long moment, he raised three fingers.

“Three platinum coins. I won’t accept a single coin less.”

“Agreed.”

A swift deal.

Netanel looked thoroughly satisfied.

Lohengrin, sitting beside him, did not.

His blue eyes wavered like waves in a storm.

After all, he had just watched a man sell his human rights for three thousand gold coins—and his employer happily buy them.

Confused was an understatement.

It was terrifying.

Just as Camilia was about to reassure him for fear his loyalty might drop, Lohengrin swallowed nervously and spoke.

“I’ll accept it as well.”

Huh?

“It’s my first time entering the Tower too. I’d like the same restriction so I don’t disappoint you, my Lady…”

“That’s unnecessary.”

Camilia cut him off before he could finish.

“Restrictions exist to compensate for a lack of trust. I have no need of them when it comes to you.”

Lohengrin’s blue eyes widened dramatically.

[Lohengrin Eschen’s Loyalty has increased.]

His loyalty rose along with it.

Apparently, her immediate refusal had moved him quite a bit.

Actually, it’s because I only have three uses left, and I need them for named monsters…

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Camilia quietly looked away.

Sorry, Lohengrin.

Well… I’ll make it up to you somehow…