Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin

The aerial garden of the Khun Family main house. Unlike the other areas of the main house, which exuded an imposing but dark and dreary atmosphere, this place was very bright and peaceful. Though it was called an aerial garden, it was merely a small floating island converted entirely into a garden and hovering just a few meters above the ground—but regardless, its grand scale, beauty, and freshness were beyond dispute.

Lady Khun Mascheny and I chose this place as our venue for conversation. Listening to water gently flowing through the channels and birds chirping somewhere in the aerial garden, we strolled through it.

"...My daughter was separated from me the moment she was selected as a Princess of Zahard, spent time at the Royal Palace receiving various forms of education, and then two years after returning to the main house, she became a Regular and began climbing the Tower. Because of that, I was completely in the dark about my daughter's life during the roughly two hundred years until she became a Ranker and returned here. I've heard that you climbed the Tower with my daughter from a young age, Branch Leader. If it's not too much trouble, would you share some stories with me?"

At some point, she had stopped using the title 'Princess' when referring to Mascheny and simply called her 'my daughter.' To me, that felt more natural, and I could sense her affection for Mascheny, which lifted my spirits a little.

"Haha, that's no trouble at all. It's only natural for a parent to want to see the footprints their child has left. Though, it may be a rather long story."

At my words, she nodded with a gentle smile.

"As long as you'd like. As a mother, the more stories there are about my child, the happier I am."

"Hmm... then, let me start with how Mascheny and I first met, before we became Regulars..."

....

Our conversation was long, and the aerial garden's maze was even longer. I carefully traced my memories and wove the tale for her, leaving out only the story of the Hidden Floor and... the slightly embarrassing tale of how we became lovers. The rest, I shared as thoroughly as I could recall.

Her reactions to my stories were generally one of three: a warm smile, wiping away tears at points I couldn't quite pinpoint, or bursting into laughter. The maze's end was still far off, yet the story was already nearing its conclusion. Largely because my memory couldn't capture every single moment of the journey.

"Yesterday, we met after a long time and had a meal together. But Mascheny came with one earring missing. So I made one out of shinsu and put it on her ear, though it's probably dissolved by now."

"Hahaha, for that child to make such a mistake. Could something urgent have happened?"

"...Who knows. One thing I noticed while climbing the Tower with her—she does seem to have changed somewhat from when we first met."

Still adorable as ever, though. I suppose her personality has softened ever so slightly? It might be limited to just me. To use an analogy, it's like going from 'kill painfully' to 'kill comfortably.' But softened is softened nonetheless.

I roughly wrapped up the story and displayed the countless photos carefully stored in my Pocket, showing them to her one by one. They were all photos of Mascheny, or of Mascheny with our other companions. Lady Khun Mascheny smiled brightly each time she saw those photos.

She pointed at one photo with her finger.

"Is this... what I think it is?"

A photo of Mascheny in a hastily thrown-on blue apron, diligently cooking something with a frying pan—while maintaining her characteristically cold expression throughout. Looking at the photo she'd pointed to together, I nodded readily.

"This was... a photo taken while Mascheny was cooking for me when I'd caught a cold."

"A cold?"

"Haha, I'm still not sure if it was actually a cold or not... but what I know for certain is that I caught it while nursing Mascheny, so she got sick first. Then me."

One of the things that happened during the twenty years after wrapping up the main house civil war and searching for Ashul Edwaru. We'd both had quite a rough time. I had no idea what kind of cold could have troubled both me and Mascheny, but looking back now, it was a rather amusing episode.

The next photo showed Mascheny with a wet cloth on her forehead, wearing a plain shirt, half-lying on a bed with only her upper body raised, with me beside her tending to her. Hmm, Luf took this one too. Come to think of it, the majority of photos featuring Mascheny and me were taken by Luf. They say all that remains are the photos—I couldn't help but feel grateful to that kid all over again.

In the photo, I was smiling with a V sign toward the camera, while Mascheny had turned her eyes away from the camera with an uninterested look, only raising one hand slightly as if to wave.

Lady Khun Mascheny let out another laugh at that part. Then she too switched her Pocket to visible mode and began browsing through her gallery. Among the photos I could glimpse, there were plenty showing what appeared to be a young Mascheny as a little girl.

Just as I secretly hoped I might get to see her infant photos, a familiar voice came from behind.

"...Mother?"

At that, both Lady Khun Mascheny and I turned around simultaneously. And soon, I beamed with joy.

She looked exactly like the Lady Khun Mascheny beside me, but with a slightly colder impression. Unmistakably Khun Mascheny Zahard.

I smiled brightly and greeted her good morning.

"Mascheny, good morning. Though I'm a bit hurt you didn't call for me."

She shot me a sidelong glance at my words, then sighed and looked at Lady Khun Mascheny standing beside me.

"...I came looking for you in the first place, but there's an unexpected person here..."

Mascheny looking at Mascheny... ah, with two people sharing the same name, the titles got really complicated. Anyway, Mascheny looked at Lady Khun Mascheny—that is, her own mother—and spoke. Lady Khun Mascheny smiled warmly and gave my girlfriend a light greeting.

"Good morning, Princess Mascheny Zahard. You always used to struggle to wake up at 10 AM, so as a mother, I can't help but be delighted to see you up so early today."

At her words, Mascheny glanced at me briefly, then flustered, stepped forward.

"...! T-ten o'clock? I don't wake up that late—"

"Mascheny, you used to wake up at 11 back in the day too. I know all about it."

"...Ugh."

She grimaced slightly, looked between me and Lady Khun Mascheny, then quickly turned her back again.

"...Leaving already?"

"I came to see you, and you're fine, so that's that. I have things to take care of."

"Haha, you're not sulking, are you?"

"I'm not!"

Oh dear, she seemed quite sulky. How should I cheer her up? She walked away, and just before turning the corner of the maze, she glanced briefly at Lady Khun Mascheny, then walked on and quickly vanished from our sight.

"My daughter has loved sweet things since she was little, so how about giving her something sweet as a gift?"

"Hmm... Mascheny likes bitter coffee though."

"Hehe, she used to challenge herself with bitter coffee from time to time since she was young. She probably wanted to seem grown-up. By any chance, does she put lots of sugar cubes in her coffee?"

"Ah, so that's why..."

So that's why she always piled sugar cubes into her extremely bitter coffee. Even when I told her to just drink cocoa instead, her insistence on bitter coffee was one of Mascheny's defining traits. Thinking about it made the corners of my mouth rise.

Meanwhile, beyond the aerial garden, I could see Mascheny walking off somewhere. We watched her for a while, keeping our place until she finally disappeared from view.

"Shall we walk again?"

"Yes, let's."

"You love my daughter, don't you, Lord Hoaqin?"

"...Cough cough!"

!?

!?!?!?!?

?!?!?!?!??!?!

I stared at her, unable to hide my shock. Lady Khun Mascheny wore a composed expression, tilting her head slightly and raising the corners of her mouth.

"She's a child I gave birth to myself. I can tell at least that much. And... the way you look at each other is far too warm, and the way you speak to each other is far too affectionate. You'll need to be more careful in front of others."

She brought a finger to her chin and continued.

"Truth be told, I had a vague inkling even before meeting you. The expression my daughter wore, the look in her eyes—they were far too similar to what I had when I was in love in my younger days."

"Ah, n-no... um... well... you see..."

Please give me your daugh— no, no, that's not what I meant...

Before I knew it, my warm and pleasant stroll with Lady Khun Mascheny had transformed into an in-law meeting and interrogation scene. I desperately wanted to give my frantically working heart a vacation, and in stark contrast to that wish, my heart was pounding like mad.

"Who whispered love first?"

"...It was me."

Lady Khun Mascheny's gentle expression and warm gaze had vanished without a trace, replaced by an expressionless face and cold eyes that scrutinized every inch of me.

"You did so first, knowing full well what position my child holds."

"....."

I had nothing to say. In the end, the one who couldn't hold back and confessed first was me. I'd known what position she held, and yet I'd been selfish. Facing that transgression so directly, I was rendered speechless even if I'd had ten mouths.

"It was irresponsible... but my child accepted it."

"...Yes."

"My child is a mature girl."

"...?"

"She is not so naive as to easily open her heart over a mere passing infatuation. Rather, she's more thorough, cruel, and cold-hearted than I am. That was the kind of child she was. And yet, when it comes to you, she changes like that. Then she must have truly fallen for you, and—"

She pulled out the Pocket that had been interrupted earlier by Mascheny's sudden appearance. Tapping here and there with her finger, she asked me.

"Does Mascheny trust you?"

"Yes."

For this answer and this answer alone, I responded without a moment's hesitation. She trusted me, and I trusted her. This was one of the immutable constants that would not change even after tens of thousands of years.

Shimmmer—

At some point, Lady Khun Mascheny had spread out and displayed all the photos she'd been keeping. Countless photos of young Mascheny taken with her own mother, Lady Khun Mascheny. Every single one was a happy photo filled with nothing but laughter and warmth.

Young Mascheny was always smiling. Only on this page.

Shimmmer—

The page turned, and as the photos on the next page lined up, I couldn't help but be taken aback by the sudden change. Yes—ever since she'd accidentally shown me a childhood photo, I'd occasionally wondered. Why had that bright child become today's Ice Princess?

"...She's not smiling."

The countless photos of Mascheny displayed on this page. Not a single one showed her smiling. Only photos defined by every cold word imaginable—expressionless, pessimistic, ruthless, calculating. The occasional smile that appeared was closer to a sneer than genuine laughter.

Lady Khun Mascheny recalled the photos, smiled bitterly, and spoke.

"From here on, I'm afraid the story becomes somewhat dark. The reason I sought you out and asked to speak was for this very purpose."

....

Khun Family Main House, VIP Quarters

"The Arie have come, I see."

"Indeed. They arrived sooner than expected, so we had quite a time scrambling to respond."

The room where Hoaqin was staying was on the first floor of the VIP building. The space where a black-haired, red-eyed man and a blue-haired, blue-eyed man were now conversing was one of the rooms on the third floor.

Ha Sancheon, the branch leader sent earlier by the Ha Family, scooped a spoonful of the pudding he'd been served and placed it in his mouth. After savoring its sweetness, he looked again at the Khun Family's negotiation representative before him.

"Our request remains unchanged. In the coming war, let us join hands and strike Arie together."

The Khun Family man smiled slyly, stirring the coffee before him with a spoon.

"Hehehe... even if you say that, such a weighty matter cannot be decided immediately."

Ha Sancheon pulled his chair forward, leaned closer to the Khun representative, and whispered sweetly.

"The Tower is in a turbulent state right now. And it's only going to get worse. Regardless of which direction things go, war is inevitable. You know that as well, don't you?"

At Sancheon's words, Khun Aslan closed his eyes and sank into thought. The Tower had been steeped in peace. Too long a peace. Paradoxically, that had begun to bring chaos to the Tower.

Among the 10 Great Families, excluding Tu Perie, Hendo, Eurasia, and Ari, the remaining Families still craved more land, more power, more authority. Yet unable to make rash moves, they merely engaged in moderate power-checking while watching each other—that was the current situation.

Factoring in the Zahard Royal Palace's current state and the various nations existing on each floor made things far more complex, but setting that aside for now, looking solely at the 10 Great Families' situation, the Tower was already well into a period of turmoil.

"Whether the Arie Family strikes our Ha Family this time, or... our Ha Family strikes the Arie Family, once war begins, many things will change in an instant. The 10 Great Families that have been merely watching each other will gradually begin making dramatic moves."

Sancheon continued.

"If war is ultimately inevitable, shouldn't we be able to seize as much as possible within that chaos?"

At those words, Aslan slightly raised the corner of his mouth and asked Sancheon.

"Are you saying your Ha Family can give our Khun Family as much as possible?"

"Naturally."

Sancheon nodded and unfolded a map of the Tower.

"What we want is simple. Quite modest, really. While we defend against the Arie bastards' assault on the 94th Floor, you simply need to invade and seize the 77th and 78th Floors."

The 77th and 78th Floors. Aslan showed a slight reaction at the prospect of obtaining those two floors. For the Khun Family, which governed the 70th Floor region, those two locations had been quite the eyesore.

Moreover, the attractive elements those two floors possessed were abundant. First, the 77th Floor was one of the least developed floors—if the Khun Family seized it, they could build whatever they wished. On top of that, rumors circulated about mining districts on the 77th Floor where floating stone of such high purity that even the Tu Perie Family had their eye on it could be extracted.

The 78th Floor was similar. Countless experts had predicted that the 78th Floor held an enormous volume of buried resources. Just as the Arie Family aimed for complete control of the 90th Floor range as their key territory, the Khun Family likewise aimed for complete dominion over the 70th Floor range, making those two floors impossible not to covet.

In the first place, the prospect of gaining two entire floors was an absurd advantage.

When Aslan showed a favorable reaction, Sancheon smiled victoriously.

"According to our intelligence, the invasion of the 94th Floor will be spearheaded by the 78th Floor ruler, Arie Hoaqin, leading his branch's elites. Meaning the 78th Floor will be empty during the invasion of the 94th."

"All you need to do is rob an empty house. While you're at it, please take his household members on the branch as hostages. I hear his blood sister resides at the 78th Floor branch. As we'll need them for negotiations, we'd like you to secure his family members, including the girl, and hand them over to us."

Aslan couldn't help but burst into laughter at Sancheon's brazenness.

"Khehehe... you do realize the man himself is currently here at this very main house? And you know full well who this Hoaqin is? He's someone who fanatically cherishes his people. Touch the wrong nerve and we could suffer greatly."

Sancheon answered nonchalantly.

"Hoaqin may be here, but he's not listening to this conversation, so it doesn't matter. And when you eventually invade the 78th Floor, Hoaqin won't be there—so what are you talking about? Besides... for reasons unknown, judging by the military power he's displayed publicly since becoming a Ranker, he's a toothless tiger who didn't even receive the power one should gain upon becoming a Ranker. The fact that there's no need to worry about him excessively... your Khun Family knows that well, don't you?"

"In any case, I trust our Ha Family's position has been sufficiently conveyed. When we defend the 94th Floor, you attack the 77th and 78th Floors. And you secure Hoaqin's family members and hand them over to us. That's the entirety of our demands. Please, make a wise choice."

Sancheon finished and rose from his seat. After he left the room, Aslan remained in his seat for a long while, lost in thought.

The Arie Family had lost four Elders and several direct lineage members in the civil war, significantly shaking their standing—but they still maintained the position of strongest. Should he add weight to their side? Or... add weight to the Ha Family, which could create an easy opportunity to seize the 77th and 78th Floors?

War was coming regardless. Standing by was fine, and siding with one side was fine too. Savoring a leisurely sense of impending victory, he continued to deliberate.