Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin

— Young Master Hoaquin, I've transferred a sufficient amount of points to the Pocket you specified. It's admirable to do good deeds, but please remember to think of yourself first before doing so next time.

"Alright. Thanks, Hawol. I owe you one. Is this the first time we've talked since Leblanc noona's funeral?"

— Yes. Contacting me again after a hundred years, and asking for money at that… Have you finally put down the burden in your heart?

There was a strange hint of expectation in Hawol's voice, but unfortunately, my answer shattered it.

There was nothing else I could say.

"...No. I'll never put that burden down."

— …I understand. If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Beep—

The call ended, and immediately after, a notification rang out announcing the transfer.

I checked the amount.

100 million points.

Not quite what I used to have, but still more than enough to live extravagantly like a newly rich fool if I wanted.

It really drove home just how absurdly wealthy I'd once been.

Throwing away 1.3 billion points without hesitation…

Yeah. I really had zero financial sense.

"...The money came through?" Maschenny asked casually, already sipping wine from a glass after we'd secured a place to stay on the 89th Floor.

"Yeah."

A penniless Zahard Princess and a Ten Families heir.

What a ridiculous pairing.

One I never wanted to experience again.

"Have the servants bring the Pocket with your money in it. Let's go walk around Diamond Street instead."

"Why bother?"

"Because we're finally going to enjoy all the things we missed thanks to a stingy princess."

"...Get out of my house."

"Haha, I'm joking. Anyway, you're coming too, right?"

"I don't care."

....

Diamond Street.

An entertainment district near where the wealthiest residents of the 89th Floor lived.

It was also the place that had tempted me earlier with all kinds of shiny, unfamiliar luxuries back when I was flat broke.

This time, I'll really splurge…

Maschenny and I changed into casual clothes and headed out.

Well—we tried to.

An entirely predictable problem surfaced.

"…Maschenny, don't you have any casual clothes? What about the ones I bought you before?"

"That was a hundred years ago. You think those would still fit me when I was still growing?"

She then stared at me as if to say What about you?

I was still wearing the same white martial robe as before.

"…Now that you mention it, mine don't fit either."

We'd both grown a lot since our D-Rank Regular days.

Clothes from a hundred years ago not fitting was only natural.

But still—did that mean Maschenny hadn't bought any casual clothes in nearly a century?

"Well, it can't be helped. Let's just buy mine, yours, everything."

Hawol sent 100 million points…

That should be enough, right?

With my nonexistent sense of money, I decided it probably was and headed for Diamond Street.

.....

If the Yeon Family dominated accessories using Zygena flowers, then the Eurasia Family ruled the textile industry.

To the point that "Eurasia" itself was treated as a brand.

Their bedding—yes, even blankets—along with their clothing products were famous for their outstanding quality and design.

On top of that, the 89th Floor's specialty fiber, "Astra Thread," was considered the best all-purpose fabric in the Tower.

Naturally, this floor was the Eurasia Family's most important business hub.

Which meant—

The clothing sold in Eurasia-run shops on the 89th Floor was nothing short of spectacular.

"As expected of a princess, everything suits you perfectly!" the department store manager exclaimed endlessly.

"…I see."

Maschenny reacted indifferently, clearly annoyed.

Still, the manager personally attending us—this really showed how much weight the title Zahard Princess carried.

Seeing her irritation, I stepped in.

"Sorry, sir. We'll take a look on our own."

"Ah! My apologies—please call if you need anything."

Only after the staff disappeared did we finally relax.

Maschenny held a dress up to herself, glanced once, and tossed it aside without hesitation.

"Why'd you throw that away? Do you know how much that costs?"

"Meh."

"Then how about this?"

I grabbed a hoodie from a rack and handed it to her.

It wasn't elegant or charismatic at all—but it was casual wear, so who cared?

"You used to wear hoodies all the time, remember?"

"…But as a princess, I should consider my dignity—"

"That's for when you wear blue dresses. This is casual."

"…Hmm."

After a moment of thought, she added it to the purchase list.

That alone made me laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just funny."

"You picked that as a joke, didn't you."

Her narrowed eyes made me panic.

"Haha, of course not! It genuinely suits you."

"Then you're buying one too."

"Huh?"

Before I could react, she tossed me the exact same hoodie from the men's section.

…Well, fine.

Though honestly, her fashion sense was terrible.

Eurasia clothes and she managed to pick something this bad?

Maybe that's why she only ever wore blue dresses.

Still, it was a gift.

After shopping for a bit over two hours, we headed down to the checkout floor.

Normally, the manager would've handled payment on the spot—but no one showed up.

"…There's really no one here."

Then suddenly—

A huge commotion erupted in the distance.

The same manager and staff rushed past us, even more frantic than before.

"W-We're so sorry! Someone truly incredible has arrived—!"

Someone more important than a Zahard Princess and a direct Arie heir?

I was curious—but whoever it was wasn't in my line of sight, so I let it go.

The staff hurriedly completed our payment—including the clothes we'd changed into—and ran back.

"Maschenny, what now?"

"Up to you."

"Then let's go there."

I pointed at a drink shop.

It was the drink stand I couldn't afford earlier.

But instead of looking where I was pointing, she was staring at my hand.

"…Why? Ah—"

Scars.

Because I was wearing clothes with slightly shorter sleeves, raising my hand exposed my wrist.

The moment she saw the countless scars carved into it, her expression darkened instantly.

Sorrow. Regret. Pain.

Seeing those emotions reflected on her face made me, the one who caused the scars, feel strangely guilty.

No—maybe it wasn't strange at all.

Tap—

She grabbed my wrist and looked straight at me.

Sharp and cold, yet gentle and warm.

"Promise me," she said firmly.

"That you'll never do something this stupid again."

"…Alright. I promise, Maschenny."

I answered without hesitation.

I didn't want to make her anxious by dragging it out.

"…Then should we buy the drink and head back?"

"Yeah."

....

After indulging in luxury here and there, we returned to the residence.

Maschenny was taking a shower, and I was on the rooftop, drinking canned beer.

Haha… this really felt atmospheric—night breeze, city lights, everything.

Shooooo—

"Seriously, this is noise pollution at this point."

For a while now, countless floating ships had been zipping through the sky in every direction.

I didn't know what was going on, but every time one passed by, the noise was awful.

This would be a problem if it kept up while trying to sleep.

"…Huh? Found you!"

"W—What?!"

At the same time someone poked my back with a finger, a voice I'd never heard before rang out.

Caught up in enjoying the scenery, I hadn't noticed anyone approaching—and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Hehe, you seem really surprised."

"…Who are you?"

When I spun around, there stood a small girl I'd never seen before.

Red hair fluttering in the wind, an innocent smile on her face.

She stood with refined posture—like she'd received noble upbringing.

In response to my question, she gave a clumsy yet elegant bow, like a young European noblewoman.

"Hello, mister. I am the child born between the Tower's greatest Wave Controller, Eurasia Blossom, and the Tower's greatest Sage, Po Bidau Gustang—"

"…Huh?"

"—Eurasia Enne."

For a moment, I questioned my own hearing.

But the unnatural shinsu flow around her, and her appearance—matching what little I remembered from canon—left no room for doubt.

"…Kid, how old are you?"

"Eight years old!"

Eight years ago…

That was when I was hiding deep in the Outer Tower, not showing my face at all.

So that's why I didn't know.

" You're young."

"Hey! Everyone says that! I'm not young!"

She puffed out her cheeks in protest.

Haha. Cute.

Thinking about what she'd go through in the future was… a bit grim, though.

"I'm over a hundred years old, you know. Compared to me, you're definitely young. So—why did such a distinguished young lady come all the way here?"

"You're the one who went to the department store earlier, right?"

Ah. That "important person" must've been her.

"Well… yeah."

"You were really interesting! You felt kind of like my mom and dad… or like the other Family Heads I saw before! So I got curious and came to take a look!"

"So? What's your impression up close?"

"Hmm… you're a really pretty mister?"

I couldn't help but laugh at her innocent answer.

Kids really are cute—Anna, Maschenny back then, all of them.

"…Hey, where are your attendants? You didn't come alone, did you?"

"Mister, you're a Regular too, right?"

"Yeah. A Rank A Regular."

"Then are you climbing the Tower to become a Ranker?"

"..."

I hesitated.

Climbing the Tower…

Honestly, I was still afraid.

Afraid of reaching the 99th Floor.

Afraid of facing what awaited me there.

"No… I'm not climbing right now."

"Why?"

Kids really had no sense of tact.

I gave an answer simple enough for her to understand.

"I'm carrying a burden. A very heavy one."

She tilted her head, clearly not understanding.

I was about to explain more—when her next words stopped me cold.

"Then why not carry it while climbing?"

"…Carry it?"

"Yeah! Do you really have to put it down? And do you even need to carry it alone? You were with that pretty lady earlier—wouldn't she help you?"

Wouldn't she carry it with you?

I froze.

But inside my head, something clicked—loudly.

And then—

"Haha… hahaha… hahahahaha!"

"H-Huh? Did I say something weird?"

"No. You didn't say anything wrong."

She was right.

I could just carry it.

It was my burden—so I should carry it.

Stopping just because it was heavy made no sense.

It was obvious.

Painfully obvious.

Why had it taken me this long to realize?

"Then why did you want to climb the Tower in the first place?"

"To protect my friends."

I couldn't stay buried here anymore.

If I wanted to protect the friends I still had left, I had to climb with them.

I looked at Eurasia Enne.

She looked away shyly under my gaze—adorable.

This kid had helped me more than she knew.

I owed her something.

"Hey, kid."

"I told you, I'm not a kid!"

"Alright, Enne. Don't you want to know about your parents' childhood?"

"Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden?"

"You won't understand yet. But remember this—

If you want to see the childhood of Flower Shrimp and the Noble Wave, go to the Hell Train. They left something there."

"The Hell Train? And then?"

Quick mind—definitely Gustang's blood.

She was confused, but clearly intrigued.

"Go to the end of the Hell Train. I'll guide you there."

"But you're here."

"Haha. You'll understand when you get there."

Her eyes sparkled.

Whether or not to tell her about her future—I'd leave that to the me waiting there.

"Alright. You should head back now."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to be mistaken for a child kidnapper. If we're found like this, it'll get really troublesome. You can imagine that much, right?"

"…I guess you're right. Goodbye, pretty mister."

"Haha. Goodbye."

Just like she came, she vanished silently.

Right before jumping off the building, she turned back.

"What's your name?"

"Hoaquin."

"I'll remember it. Then… really goodbye!"

She leapt down, landed effortlessly, and ran off into the distance.

The rooftop returned to silence.

Then—

Bang!

The door burst open.

Maschenny stepped out and grabbed the beer can beside me.

"Was someone here?"

"There was. A great white shark."

"…?"

"More importantly, Maschenny."

"What."

"Let's climb the Tower."

"..."

She stared at me for a moment.

Then her lips curved upward.

"Now you finally look like the person I knew."

She stepped closer.

"—Here."

"…A gift?"

"Haha. That actually makes me really happy."

I scratched my head awkwardly and looked up at the Tower's ceiling.

I still can't forgive myself.

My burden is still heavy.

But I won't put it down.

I won't stop.

I'll carry it—and climb.

Yeah.

After a hundred years…

I've rested long enough.