SAAE 27

Chapter 27

“Ahem! Anyway, just think of it as a silly dream and forget it.”

I patted Isael’s shoulder—whack, whack—trying to ease the awkward mood.

Isael nodded in reply.

“If I’d known that thing I saw in my dream was really one of those Camelot Empire bastards, I wouldn’t have let him leave my dream so easily.”

…This kid. Why does he keep saying such adorable things?

“Alright, alright.”

I patted his shoulder a few more times and asked,

“Are you fully awake now?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll introduce our Third.”

“…Third?”

Isael looked at me like he couldn’t believe what he just heard.

I pointed to Third, who’d been hovering near us for a while now.

“Say hi. This is Third. And Third, this is Isael.”

Third fluttered its tiny hand in greeting.

Isael just stared at me, bewildered.

I glared at him meaningfully.

“You’re supposed to respond to Third’s greeting, you know?”

“….”

Isael let out a disbelieving little laugh, then gave Third a slight nod.

Third jumped up and down as if that alone made it ecstatic. It looked really happy.

It even tried to inch closer to Isael, but Isael pretended not to notice.

‘Seriously, he has no social skills.’

No wonder First and Second avoid him.

Anyway, that’s not the important part right now.

“Third can use magic.”

“I see.”

“….”

Way to kill the flow of a conversation.

I was planning to explain why I summoned Third in the first place, but never mind—it’d be better to just get to the point.

“Thanks to Third, we were able to figure out what kind of space the next floor is.”

“….”

“My clairvoyance couldn’t see what was down there. I figured it must be protected by some special magic—and I was right.”

I explained the environment of the next floor to Isael.

What awaited us on the 6th floor was a space that recreated the most painful memory of whoever arrived there.

Naturally, this space appeared differently for each person, meaning that the moment anyone entered the 6th floor, the whole group would be forcibly separated.

So we each had to overcome our own trial and open the door to reach the 7th floor.

When I finished explaining, Isael asked for confirmation:

“So you’re saying we’ll be separated, and each of us has to get out alone?”

I shook my head.

“Third said it can keep us from being separated.”

“How?”

“It’s going to cast a powerful barrier on us. One that other magic can’t affect. Right, Third?”

When I looked at Third, its little head bobbed up and down rapidly.

Isael spoke seriously.

“Barriers can break.”

“I know. But this is the only option, so we have to try.”

I trusted Third.

After all, it was the one who broke Louis’s magic.

“Anyway, if this works, the two of us can take on the next floor’s trial together.”

With someone by your side, no matter how painful the memory, escaping would be far easier.

After falling silent for a moment in thought, Isael suddenly asked something unexpected.

“Is it important to you that we don’t get separated?”

“Of course?”

“…‘Of course’?”

Isael looked blank.

“Then you would’ve been fine even if we had been separated?”

“If there was no other way, I thought it couldn’t be helped.”

“…Isn’t that too coldhearted?”

I had absolutely no intention of being separated from Isael.

‘Separate from Isael?’

Absolutely not.

Until we got out of this tower, I planned to keep him right next to me so closely that he wouldn’t have the chance to think about anything else.

“That’s not coldhearted… I just thought everyone would manage on their own.”

“That is coldhearted. It’s too much. You’re freezing, freezing cold.”

“….”

“I couldn’t even sleep, worrying about how to keep us together…”

“….”

“But you? You slept with your legs stretched out like nothing’s wrong? And then you say something that heartless…?”

“I misspoke. Sorry.”

Isael looked at me with a flustered face, his red eyes trembling.

He was so obviously panicking that I decided to stop teasing him.

As I smirked, Isael finally realized I had been messing with him, and his expression stiffened.

“You…”

“The whole point of the floor is to separate the group. So I figured sticking together would be important.”

I held out my hand to him.

“Let’s go open the door.”

“….”

“Oh come on. We can’t just sit here forever.”

Isael let out a small sigh, then finally took my hand.

But he didn’t get up using my strength—he pushed himself up with his other hand on the ground.

Then why take my hand at all?

Anyway, with Isael and me in Second’s arms, we arrived in front of the floating door again.

I was about to say directly to the door, ‘Felix, I’m so sorry for abandoning you.’

Creeeeak—

The door opened.

“…What? A trap?”

Through the small gap, I saw stairs.

I instinctively looked at First, who answered.

—Condition fulfilled. Not a trap.

When did we fulfill the condition?

I had spoken out loud earlier about whether abandoning Felix was a sin.

If that counted as a confession, that was ridiculous—but fine.

But Isael?

He didn’t say anything.

‘He was asleep?’

I stared at First with confusion. First flicked a look at Isael and said:

—Innocent soul. Noble sacrifice.

For a moment I had no idea what that meant.

But then a possibility struck me.

‘…Is it saying Isael died trying to save his sister and that’s why he entered the tower?’

Because of his “noble sacrifice,” his sins were washed away or something.

Whatever. The door had opened and it wasn’t a trap—that was what mattered.

“It says it isn’t a trap. Let’s go.”

I pushed the door fully open.

And as expected, stairs stretched endlessly downward.

“Third.”

I took Third’s hand.

Then I turned to Isael, who was walking ahead, and ordered firmly:

“Isael, hold Third’s hand too. Hurry.”

“….”

With a short sigh, he surprisingly obeyed right away and took Third’s hand.

I was going to explain that physical contact was required for Third’s barrier magic to work, but…

‘Did puberty end?’

Where did the rebellious attitude go?

Why is he listening so well?

I looked at Isael with proud eyes.

Then Third looked up at me like it wanted praise too.

I patted its head, then looked back at Isael.

“Don’t ever let go of Third’s hand, got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Holding Third’s hands, the three of us went down the stairs together.

And that’s how we reached the 6th floor.

“This place is…”

A space spread out before us—one that wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.

“This is the imperial palace.”

“The Glory Hall.”

It looked exactly like the imperial palace of the Lyernis Empire, our homeland.

Startled, I looked down at Third.

Had even Third’s barrier been unable to completely block the magic of the 6th floor?

At least Isael and I hadn’t been separated—that was something.

“Brother!”

“…Beatrice?”

A bright voice came from somewhere, and Isael reacted instantly.

As he hurried forward, I spotted the person standing ahead—and my eyes widened.

‘Beatrice?’

Isael’s younger sister, Beatrice.

The princess who should be imprisoned on the final floor—the 9th floor—was standing right there, smiling adorably.

Was I wrong this whole time?

That couldn’t be… but the sight was so vivid that I grew confused.

Meeting Beatrice here?

‘No, what is this?’

It was so unexpected I could only stare blankly as Isael threw his arms around Beatrice.

And then—

“Rosie.”

A voice sounded—a voice that absolutely should not be able to appear here.

“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere.”

Only then did I understand.

Ah.

None of this was real.

I slowly turned around to face the speaker.

There stood an impossibly handsome man—elegant even in simple clothes.

I knew he had been handsome even when we were young.

Because I had grown up looking at him.

“…Dominic.”

He—and the rest of that family…

The ones who put me on the altar and sacrificed me…

Were surely all living happily out in the world beyond this tower.

Peacefully. Joyfully.