Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin

Drip… crimson blood splattered in all directions, then streamed down onto the ground.

"..."

Just before Baekya struck Vellen Zahard's neck, Maschenny shoved my elbow, throwing off the angle of my blade.

Because of that, instead of her neck, her shoulder was cut.

With an unsatisfied expression, I turned toward Maschenny.

"...Why?"

"Hoaqin, calm down."

"I am calm. She touched you—so killing her is only natural, isn't it?"

Whether as a warning or anything else—unless there's a special reason, anyone who touches my people should die.

It removes future trouble and sends a silent warning to others. Efficient and simple.

When I looked back at Vellen Zahard, she hurriedly distanced herself from me, and the gray dwarf stepped in front of me.

"Let's stop here, White Whale."

"You don't get to decide that. Move aside, Guide."

"..."

The gray dwarf remained silent, arms spread wide, still blocking my path.

…Tch.

"So even a Guide doesn't always know their own death, huh?"

I raised Baekya.

Of course, I didn't plan to kill the Guide—just knock him out.

The only thing I'm interested in is that woman's neck.

Grab—

"...?"

Crackle—

Maschenny grabbed my wrist.

Electricity spread around us as she formed a Shinsu sound barrier, then spoke in a low voice.

"You idiot…! Who kills a Zahard Princess inside the royal palace?! If you go any further, I won't be able to cover for you by saying you were protecting me…! Please, stop here."

"..."

After staring at her for a moment, I quietly dispelled Baekya.

Seeing my sword scatter into nothingness, both the gray dwarf and Vellen Zahard—who was desperately stopping the bleeding—visibly relaxed.

After briefly scanning them, I turned my back along with Maschenny.

And just as Vellen Zahard let out a sigh of relief—

I immediately launched a Shinsu blade.

Swoooosh—

"Princess!"

"Ahh!"

BOOM—!

"Ha… ha… ha…"

The blade shot out too fast to react to and embedded itself right beside Vellen Zahard's face.

A shallow cut opened on her cheek, blood already flowing.

She stared at me, gasping.

I glanced back at her and smirked.

"Oops, I missed."

"...."

Enjoying her pale, terrified expression, I turned away again and left leisurely with Maschenny.

After we had moved a fair distance down the corridor, a scream filled with fury echoed from far behind—but I didn't care in the slightest.

As we walked toward the palace gates—

Maschenny awkwardly scratched her cheek and looked at me.

"Uh… Hoaqin, are you really mad? I expected to get slapped to some extent, so you don't have to worry too much."

"Mad? Not really. But Maschenny, just like you told me to take care of myself, you shouldn't go around getting hit by others either."

She chuckled and nodded.

"Heh, sure. Though I don't think I'm the type to get hit around."

"Heh, that's true. But seriously—Maschenny, you provoked her and then suddenly asked for help. Aren't you working me a bit too hard? At least give me a thank you, Princess."

I said jokingly.

She puffed her lips slightly.

"...Fine, fine. Thanks for helping. I'll reward you later."

"Haha, I wasn't even expecting that. I'll look forward to it."

"…Ugh. But even if I didn't say anything, you would've stepped in anyway, right? If you acted on your own, it would've been you attacking a Zahard Princess—inside the palace, no less. But since I told you to move first, we can pass it off as you fulfilling your role as my guard. And Vellen Zahard… people like her need to be firmly crushed once, or they'll just keep coming back. That kind of trash. And she picked a fight first anyway."

"…Hmm, now that I think about it, you're right."

As I absentmindedly brushed the fabric of her ceremonial dress and her hair—

the massive palace gates came into view.

"…! Princess Maschenny Zahard is approaching! Open the gates!"

Rumble—

The royal guards hurriedly opened the gates.

"Attention! To Princess Maschenny Zahard—"

"Skip."

"...…"

Once again, the guards didn't get to finish.

Seriously, don't they ever get tired of this?

We exited the palace and arrived in the city.

I had come here early in the morning, yet somehow it was already night.

Time flies.

The city, lively in the morning, was even more vibrant at night.

"Nice night view. So, where are you heading now? I'd like to stay with you, but… starting tomorrow I have to handle duties as a branch head and floor ruler. I'm supposed to learn from Yure."

"Learning from Arie's Sword? You've got it good, Hoaqin."

"Haha…"

"I'm heading back to the Khun family. Need to change out of this annoying outfit. After that, until I get missions from the royal family, I'll spend time keeping other Zahard Princesses and factions in check. Now that I'm a Ranker, this is the perfect time."

I gave a wry smile.

"Looks like we're both busy."

"That's how it is. Hoaqin, see you soon. If you go getting yourself hurt somewhere again while I'm not around, I'll lock you in my room so you can't go anywhere."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep that in mind. I'll be stuck in the main house anyway, so what could possibly happen?"

"Hm. Take care. And… thanks for the flowers."

Maschenny waved the bouquet and said goodbye before boarding a massive floating ship.

It bore the Khun family crest—so she must've called for it.

I stayed there until her ship disappeared, then leisurely moved on.

"E-excuse me… hello!"

"Hm? You're the kid from earlier…"

The flower-selling boy approached me again and greeted me politely.

What is it?

"Why, are you here to sell more flowers? How did you even know I was here?"

"I saw you coming out of the palace with a blue-haired lady from far away! I… I didn't come to sell more flowers… I came to say thank you… because of you, my sister's medicine…"

Fidgeting with his fingers, he looked incredibly cute.

Smiling, I crouched down in front of him.

Matching the child's eye level, I spoke gently.

"You already thanked me when you sold all your flowers, didn't you? Did you really wait all this time just for that?"

"Yes!!"

Ah, cute.

I straightened up and lightly ruffled the child's hair.

"Alright, thank you for coming to say thanks. If you ever become a Regular, come find the ruler of the 78th Floor. Well then—"

"N-no! Um… please take this at least!"

I tilted my head as I accepted what the boy carefully handed over.

"…A butterfly?"

A beautiful violet-colored butterfly softly shimmered as it calmly rested on the back of my hand, showing no sign of flying away.

At first, I thought it was fake, but when I touched it, it moved slightly…

It was definitely real.

But this… no matter how I looked at it, it wasn't an ordinary butterfly.

Even though I'm not an insect expert, I've never seen anything like this in the Tower.

"An old shaman grandpa told me to give it to my benefactor. I'm a bit sad to part with such a pretty and obedient butterfly… but please take good care of it… since you're my benefactor."

"Hahaha, if you want, you can take it back."

"No! He said I absolutely have to give it to my benefactor!"

"If that's what you want… do you have any paper?"

The child pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

I unfolded it, took out a card from my pocket, wrapped it neatly inside the paper, and handed it back.

"That's the price of the butterfly. As for how to use it… your sister probably knows."

"Eh… thank you very much!"

Just like before, the child scampered off adorably.

Watching him go, I quickly took out my pocket device, loaded 100 million points onto the card, and started walking again.

The strange butterfly had somehow moved onto my shoulder, sitting there quietly.

I thought about putting it into a collection case in case it flew away, but it was too much trouble.

Besides, it didn't look like it would run.

After that brief, mysterious encounter, I headed back to the main house.

Starting tomorrow, I had to learn the basics of my duties as a branch head and floor ruler from Yulye.

Flap—

The butterfly's mysterious violet-blue wings fluttered a few times, scattering glowing dust.

....

The first thing I learned upon returning to the main house was that what I did at the royal palace had spread quite far.

Ordinary people, Regulars, and average Rankers didn't seem to know, but among those who mattered, it was already common knowledge.

The Ha Family, of course, went into a frenzy.

Their cherished Zahard Princess—the one meant to bring them power—had her arm cut off by me and nearly died.

Naturally, they couldn't let it go.

Using the fact that I used force inside the palace, they lodged a complaint with the royal family.

The royal family dismissed it as nothing more than part of a conflict between Maschenny Zahard and Vellen Zahard, showing no intention of pursuing it further.

I was treated as part of Maschenny's faction, backed by the Khun Family.

Vellen was backed by the Ha Family.

Taking either side would be troublesome.

When their protests failed to gain any traction with the royal family, the Ha Family turned their attention directly to the Arie Family and filed a complaint.

Under their persistent pressure, the Arie Family made an important decision:

They dispatched an investigator to examine the incident.

And that investigator came to me first.

"Branch Head Hoaqin, I heard you cut off Princess Vellen Zahard's arm. That was self-defense, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And you were said to have attempted to kill Princess Vellen Zahard. That's not true, right?"

"Yeah."

"Understood. The investigation is complete. Would you like to grab a meal together?"

After a very strict and fair investigation, the Arie Family delivered their conclusion to the Ha Family:

—No factual basis found (ruled as self-defense and false claims)—

The Ha Family's continued protests were nothing more than meaningless noise to the Arie Family.