Awakener's Guide to Climbing the Tower

Ding!

「 〔 SYSTEM NOTICE〕

Required Party Members for the next Floor: 6

Current Party Members: 4/6

Entry Denied. 」

Hiiro read it twice then he placed both hands on his hips as he glared at the blue screen. "We defeated nearly a hundred monsters, but counting to six is where the Tower becomes strict?"

"We’ll wait." Misha looked toward the darkening sky. "Someone else may arrive before nightfall."

"That’s unlikely." Caius’ answer came too quickly.

Misha turned to him with a questioning look.

His gaze remained on the window, though his grip had tightened faintly around his weapon.

"It’s almost night," Caius continued as though he had not noticed her reaction. "Astrid has used more than half of her mana. Hiiro will collapse the moment he stops pretending he isn’t tired."

"I am not tired." Hiiro immediately straightened but meeting the blond boy’s gaze made his shoulders lowered by an inch. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "I could become tired later."

Caius’ attention returned to Misha. "Your stamina potion will wear off soon." His eyes briefly moved over the way she held her weight. "The fatigue will hit harder once it does."

Misha’s brows drew together. That much he could have guessed, right?

Then he continued, "And your possession lasted around ten minutes during the siege. You likely used it on the earlier floors, that’s why you didn’t use one on this floor, right?"

Misha went completely still. The field seemed quieter around them after he said those words.

Her fingers curled against the handles of her daggers. "How do you know about that?"

Hiiro looked between them in confusion and Astrid stopped adjusting the sword on her side.

Caius did not look away. "Your eyes changed during the siege and your movements changed with them."

"But that doesn’t tell you it was possession." Misha stepped closer as she studied him.

"No." He remained calm. "The glow disappeared shortly before you were thrown toward the wall. You had been fighting differently for several minutes before that. Also, ten minutes was an estimate."

It was a reasonable explanation, too reasonable. He had noticed details most people would have missed while an entire city was collapsing around them. That alone made Misha doubt him.

Was he watching her the entire time?

Hiiro raised one hand between them. "Are we all going to pretend that wasn’t a deeply strange thing to know?"

"No." Misha kept her eyes on Caius. "We are not."

Astrid watched him silently. Something in her expression changed, not suspicion exactly, more like a new piece had appeared in a puzzle she had not known she was solving.

"What exactly do you know about me?" Misha glared at him, her voice lowered.

Caius held her gaze. For the first time since they met, his calmness did not resemble patience. It looked like a locked door.

"Enough to know that you should rest." His answer came quietly.

"That wasn’t my question." Her thumb pressed against her dagger’s hilt.

"I know, it wasn’t." His voice softened. His gaze traveled for the briefest moment not toward her but beside her, toward the empty air where King floated.

King’s tail stopped moving, his golden eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Misha noticed both reactions. "You..."

He turned away from her. "We should recover our mana and wait for two more climbers."

"And if no one comes?" Astrid asked as she secured her sidearm.

"Some will." A faint smile touched his face.

Misha’s suspicion deepened. "You sound so certain."

"I’m not. I’m just hoping for a miracle tomorrow."

The atmosphere grew heavier.

Misha opened her mouth and was about to say something when Hiiro clapped his hands once.

"Well." He looked around the others. "This has become ominous."

No one answered.

He slowly lowered his hands and released a pitiful sigh. "Tough audience I have here."

"You still haven’t answered me." Misha followed Caius with her eyes.

Hiiro raised one finger again, apparently incapable of respecting tension for more than a few seconds. "I also have several questions about the glowing-eyes-and-ghost-possession situation."

"You will ask none of them." Astrid turned toward him.

Hiiro pressed a hand against his chest. "I would ask respectfully."

"No." She began walking toward the village.

"Um, then, politely?"

"Hiiro."

"How about with sensitivity?"

Astrid looked over her shoulder making the boy lower his hand.

"Later then..." he muttered.

Misha barely heard them since her attention remained fixed on Caius.

The boy simply adjusted his staff-spear and placed it inside his storage before he started walking toward the village without offering another answer.

Misha wanted to keep pressing until that calm expression of his cracked. Yet he had already given her an explanation that didn’t satisfy her no matter how plausible it was so she could only watch him walk away.

===

The village before them looked as though everyone inside it had simply stood up and left in the middle of an ordinary day.

Astrid chose one of the larger houses near the center of the village. It had two floors, several small bedrooms, and enough intact furniture. The pantry was still stocked, loaves of bread sat inside a wooden cupboard, dried meat hung from hooks near the kitchen, and several bottles of water and fruit liquor remained sealed beneath the counter.

Nothing smelled spoiled but that did not stop Astrid from inspecting every item before allowing it anywhere near the table.

Hiiro watched from the other side of the table with rapidly fading patience.

"You’ve checked that one three times." He leaned forward, following the bread with his eyes. "Has it confessed yet?"

Astrid ignored him and broke the loaf open. The inside appeared soft and perfectly normal.

Hiiro reached for another loaf while her attention was occupied.

By the time Astrid looked up, he had already taken two large bites. She watched him chew in silence.

Noticing her gaze, the boy slowed down until he stopped chewing.

"You could have waited." She placed the bread on the table.

"And let starvation claim me while you interrogated every crumb?" Hiiro swallowed and clutched the remaining piece to his chest. "No thanks, I chose survival."

"You ate before we knew whether it was safe."

"That was the test." Hiiro lifted the bread slightly. "If I collapse, don’t eat this one."

Misha stood near the doorway and stared at him. There were many things wrong with that plan, she had no idea where to begin.

Caius apparently did. He reached across the table, took the bread from Hiiro’s hand, and placed it beyond his reach.

"We divide the supplies first." He began sorting the food into four portions.

Hiiro stared at his empty hand as though he had just been betrayed by someone he trusted deeply.

"You’ve known me for less than a week," he said, looking at Caius with wounded disbelief, "and you’re already treating me like this."

"You’ve known us for less than a week," Caius replied as he divided the dried meat next, "and you were already eating someone else’s portion."

He crossed his arms with a pout plastered on his lips. "I was checking it for poison."

Astrid placed a smaller piece of bread in front of him.

"You’re welcome." She sat down.

Hiiro looked at the bread, then he looked at her. "This is significantly smaller than the one I had."

"You took two big bites during inspection." She reached for her water.

"That was professional risk!"

"..."

Caius slid a portion of dried meat toward him. "Eat quietly."

Hiiro looked offended. "You say that as though my voice is somehow disruptive."

Both Astrid and Caius looked at him with a blank stare.

Hiiro paused for a second before he picked up the bread with another small pout.

Misha watched them from the corner.

They had known one another for only a few days, yet the shape of their arguments felt strangely familiar. It reminded her of younger days with her brothers.

A faint smile touched her lips. The ache followed immediately after. It always did.

She looked away before the memory settled too deeply. She adjusted the cloak around her shoulders. "I’m going upstairs."

Hiiro glanced toward her with a half piece of bread still in his mouth. "You’re not eating?" He swallowed too quickly and coughed once.

"I have my own supplies."

Caius looked up from the table. He nudged one portion toward the empty chair beside him. "You should still take something."

Misha’s gaze moved toward the food, then toward him. His expression remained open and calm, but that only made her more aware of the questions he had avoided to answer properly.

"I’ll eat later." She stepped toward the stairs.

Caius studied her for a moment. He seemed as though he wanted to say something more. Instead, he gave a small nod. "The room at the end of the hall has only one window." He returned his attention to the food. "It will be easier to secure."

Misha stopped with one foot on the first step.

How did he know which room she would prefer?

Perhaps he had checked the house before she entered. That was the only reasonable explanation. But... she entered the place a few minutes after him so was there enough time for that?

His reasonable explanations had started feeling even more suspicious.

"Good to know." She climbed the stairs before the thought showed on her face.

Behind her, Hiiro’s voice drifted from the dining room.

"Can I have her portion if she doesn’t come back?"

"No." Astrid and Caius answered at the same time.

Misha shook her head as she reached the second floor. She chose the room farthest from the others and as Caius said, it had only one window.