Seleneum—the holy land of adventurer guilds.
Among its streets, the most bustling stretch of District One housed the guild hall of a newly formed guild that had made its nest there.
Around the guild hall's wooden table sat an unlikely combination of men and women, facing each other.
Three young adventurers.
And one knight in a worn uniform.
"Bwahahaha! Kael, is that seriously true?! How does a wyvern just die of old age mid-flight?!"
Leon—a blond adventurer with a sword at his hip—burst out laughing the moment the knight finished speaking, clutching his stomach.
Across from him, the black-haired knight Kael let out a low groan.
"…"
The two female adventurers seated on either side of Leon began snickering and piling on.
"Lay off, Leon. Don't tease him too much. Kael's probably already a wreck knowing he's about to get discharged from the Lumen Kingdom's knighthood."
"Pfft! Ellen, you're the worst one here."
"Discharged? Is that all he'd get? A knight handpicked as the sole escort who let the princess fall—isn't that a hanging offense?"
"Kael, it's been a good run. Farewell…"
"I keep telling you… I wasn't the one riding it…"
Kael protested, but all he got in return was louder laughter.
"Pfft! So you're saying there were four people on that ancient wyvern—including the rider? Bwahahaha!"
"Heheh. Unbelievable… At that point, shouldn't we be impressed it even got off the ground?"
"Stop, Kael, you're killing me… my stomach hurts…"
"I'm not trying to be funny…"
Knight and adventurer.
In general, these two professions despise each other—like cats and dogs.
But these four were different.
They were childhood friends who had shared every hardship and joy together since long before the Academy.
Part of it, of course, was that Kael's origins were far too provincial.
By imperial standards, the knighthood of the tiny kingdom he belonged to—Lumen—didn't even measure up to a mercenary band. And that was being generous, especially with only one black-haired knight to speak of.
"So let me get this straight—you sent the princess and the old chancellor off to the great Continental Supreme Council in a hired carriage, and then you crawled all the way here because you were scared of getting kicked out of the knighthood? Bwahahaha!"
"I didn't crawl anywhere, Leon. Say that one more time and I won't hold back."
"Ooh, scary."
Kael glared, but Leon just propped his chin on his hand and laughed it off.
"So we finally find out who the real top student at the Academy was? I should round up all our classmates. Puena, you handle the cookies."
"On it! Ellen!"
The knight Kael—the butt of the joke.
He had no pretense around these free-spirited adventurers.
With Leon, the male adventurer, he'd been a healthy rival throughout their Academy days, constantly trading the top spot back and forth. And with the two female adventurers, Puena and Ellen…
Kael had absolutely no awareness of how he actually felt about them—but the truth was, he harbored feelings for both women at once.
The reason a man of knightly virtue could carry such an improper arrangement in his heart was simply that he was too oblivious to even recognize those feelings as love.
The proof was that he'd let them both join Leon's guild without a word of objection.
Leon, on the other hand, knew everything.
He knew that Kael was in love with both of them at the same time.
He knew that he himself had taken on the role of keeping Kael from ever realizing it.
Of all the people in the world, Leon cherished his friend Kael more than anyone.
"Kael. There's something I need to tell you."
The smile faded from Leon's face.
"Forget all that—why don't you leave that little kingdom behind and join our guild? I'd even give you the guild master's seat."
"What are you suddenly talking about, Leon? I'm a knight of Lumen."
Leon leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"Some incredible intel just came in."
"…What kind."
"It leaked from the Supreme Council. The Gate Keeper who used to dominate the tower's first floor has vacated her post, and the miasma that once radiated from the entire tower has noticeably thinned."
"…?"
"So the Council is planning to assemble a continental joint expedition and march on the Demon King's Tower in the near future."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Leon, I'm sorry, but that's hard to take seriously. I don't mean to belittle you, but how would a lone adventurer like you have access to something that classified?"
Leon smiled again.
"The world's information always reaches those who follow the scent of money first."
Kael replied, still unconvinced.
"Hmm. Even assuming that information is accurate, the expedition won't accept adventurers."
At that, all three of them collapsed to the floor simultaneously.
It looked as though Kael had drawn his sword and cut them all down in an instant.
Roaring laughter.
The three adventurers laughed so hard their chairs nearly toppled backward.
"Bwahahahahahaha!"
"Heheh. Kael, you're genuinely pure-hearted! Ahaha."
"Hehehe… you haven't changed one bit…"
As Kael stared in bewilderment, Leon spoke up.
"Kael. Listen carefully. Our party isn't trying to join the Council's expedition."
"Then what…?"
"We're going to get to the tower before they do and clean it out ourselves."
Kael shot to his feet.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
But Leon continued without changing his expression.
"It's not even illegal. If anything, the Council has been paying adventurers to scout the tower and encouraging it all along, hasn't it?"
It was insane.
"Leon! Before the Empire passes judgment, you'll lose your lives!"
"The Second Tower Rush has begun."
Leon's eyes gleamed.
"Five hundred years ago—back when the tower's Gate Keeper hadn't yet taken her post. During the First Tower Rush, how many families rose to become founding heroes of new nations, and what level of power did their retainers attain? We sat through enough history lessons to be sick of it."
In the hundred years after the Demon King was defeated by the Hero and the tower was first erected—
Testimonies from adventurers who had entered and returned spread the rumor: the tower was a goldmine.
On the tower's 100th floor lies an inexhaustible Golden Treasury.
That was soon proven true, and the Tower Rush began.
Leon was claiming that era had come again.
"Before the expedition arrives, we go in first and take everything."
"Stop talking nonsense. It's too dangerous."
"I'm not saying we clear the tower and kill the Demon King. I'm saying we raid the floor-100 treasure and get out."
"Even for that, three people is far too few!"
"No—the tower favors a small, elite group. Combat experience doesn't get split among too many people. My ancestor who climbed the tower said so himself."
Kael's brow furrowed deeply.
"Why do we need to get there before the expedition in the first place? As I understand it, the Golden Treasury on floor 100 has gold prepared for everyone who reaches it?"
"The Scabbard of the Holy Sword will lock down and monopolize the tower after the expedition. That's obvious. Before long, no one but them will be allowed inside."
Kael's gaze wavered.
He'd heard countless jokes from Leon over the years—but this time, it didn't feel like one.
Leon's face was more serious than he'd ever seen it.
"You're really… serious about going to the Demon King's Tower, Leon… Puena… Ellen too."
Ellen spoke with a confident expression.
"Kael, don't you trust us? Since graduating from the Academy, have you ever seen a party stronger than ours?"
"……"
"That's right! Have you forgotten our group of four? We made every professor's jaw drop—they said even our headcount wasn't normal!"
Kael was at a loss for words.
Then Leon spoke, his expression firm.
"Kael. If you come with us, you can lift that poor backwater kingdom you've given your life to—in a single stroke. You could become a real pillar of strength for the princess you care about third most."
That remark dug right into Kael's chest.
"Huh? Third? Who's first and second?"
Shhring—!
The blade at Kael's hip slid halfway out of its scabbard.
In an instant, the air in the guild hall went cold.
Kael's gaze cut toward Leon like a blade.
"My friend. That remark just crossed a line."
"Whoa, whoa. Easy."
"Don't take the kingdom's name so lightly."
The blade caught in the scabbard strained to come free.
"Alright, alright. I apologize."
Even so, Leon kept his sly smile and pressed on relentlessly.
"But even if you go back to the knighthood—I'd still want you to join us for this one."
"Leon, you really are something else…"
Puena and Ellen chimed in.
"We've always been a group of four! That's another thing that drove the professors crazy—they said even the number of us wasn't normal."
"Kael, it's time you tasted some real money! If the chancellor knew that someone who was practically co-valedictorian was living this broke, he'd weep for the Academy's reputation!"
"True… at least change that worn-out scabbard…"
Kael set his jaw and pushed the half-drawn sword back into its sheath.
Click.
"…I'll think about it."
He didn't mean a word of it.
Kael was only thinking about how to talk these reckless childhood friends out of this.
*
In the end, he couldn't find the words to stop them.
Kael had neither the information nor the persuasion to change their minds.
Whether or not they sensed what was in his heart, as Kael walked out of the guild hall, Leon's playful voice sailed after him.
"Don't think too long! If you come crawling back as a wanted fugitive from Lumen Kingdom on charges of dereliction of duty, I'm cutting ties—just so you know~!"
*
And then came the day of departure.
Kael's reply never came.
The three-person adventurer party left Seleneum that night.
At this point in time—
The Council's expedition hadn't even begun selecting its members, let alone set out.
Leon—top of the Imperial Academy in swordsmanship.
Ellen—top in magic.
Puena—second in magic.
Eccentrics who had turned down every mage tower's recruitment offer and refused every knighthood's summons to open their own adventurer guild.
The Academy's cautionary tale. Its living legend.
The three troublemakers known alongside Kael as the Rusted Golden Riders reached the Demon Realm in roughly seventeen hours.
Hmmm—
That was possible thanks to Ellen's prized 6th-circle spatial transfer magic.
They punched straight through the great mountain range in a single leap.
Puena, whose gift for support was almost supernatural, fed mana to sustain Ellen's magic—and during the cooldown between transfers…
Whoosh—!
Leon tucked both women under his arms and cleaved through the open air on his own two legs.
At last, the sky turned blood red.
They had entered the domain of the demon race.
But there wasn't so much as a single ant—not even a weed.
After the Demon King fell, the demon race had scattered to the winds. The Demon Realm was left an empty husk, and those who remained had taken refuge inside the Demon King's Tower.
Crossing that desolate wasteland, they soon came upon it.
A pillar standing as though it were the axis of the world itself.
"This is…"
They looked up, but it was pointless. There was no top to find.
They didn't hesitate.
They pushed open the massive first-floor door of the Demon King's Tower and walked inside.
The three adventurers swallowed hard and gripped their weapons tight.
But.
In the vast hollow of the first floor, just the same—
Not a single soul in sight.
"What…?"
"The Gate Keeper on the first floor wasn't replaced… she just vanished entirely?"
Puena gripped her staff and scanned the surroundings. Leon turned to Ellen and asked.
"Ellen, what do you sense from the second floor?"
Ellen closed her eyes and focused.
"I don't feel any dangerous miasma at all."
Leon nodded.
"Let's head up carefully for now."
And so they climbed to the next floor.
But.
"Again?"
When they opened the door to the second floor, the situation was the same. Nothing.
They kept climbing.
Third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor…
The empty landscape repeated itself.
10th floor.
20th floor.
30th floor.
It was unbelievable.
The tower had been vacated.
It wasn't just the Gate Keeper on the first floor—it seemed as though every demon in the entire tower had vanished.
In the midst of that bewildering situation, Ellen spoke up.
"Could someone have already come through? Maybe they swept it clean and that's why there's nothing left."
"That's impossible. The tower's monsters don't disappear—supposedly, they're provided equally to every party, just like the Golden Treasury on floor 100… at least, that's what I was told."
Leon said it, but he wasn't confident.
His ancestor had left those records a full four hundred years ago, and the change in the tower had only occurred three days prior.
Honestly, he couldn't even begin to guess what kind of change had taken place.
Still, they decided to keep climbing the tower's stairs.
Even if someone had already come through—even if that was why the tower was empty—if that party hadn't yet reached the Golden Treasury on floor 100, there was still a chance.
"If we can just make it to floor 100…"
40th floor. 50th floor.
The numbers kept climbing.
And finally—
The three-person adventurer party set foot on the stairs leading to the 60th floor.
Creeeeak—
It was just as they opened the door.
"Oh…"
There was something there.
It wasn't a monster, finally appearing.
The moment Leon saw what lay ahead, he lowered the hand he'd raised toward his sword hilt.
"So there really was someone here before us…"
"Well, that's anticlimactic…"
"We're only on floor 60, it's fine!"
They didn't perceive the girl as a threat.
And for good reason.
In the center of the vast hollow where the girl stood…
A tent.
A chair and a plank of wood.
A device spitting flames.
A pot of food set atop it.
All of it was laid out there.
So it was only natural to think:
"She set up camp here…"
Puena called out a cheerful greeting.
"Hello?! That's quite a unique tent you've got set up there!"
The occupant of the 60th floor turned her head.
A frilled, all-black gothic lolita dress.
A beautiful girl with silver hair tied in twin tails and striking blue eyes.
"Wow… she's really pretty!"
In one of the girl's hands was a cup, steam curling gently from it.
But.
She had just dropped it.
The moment she saw the three adventurers, she went pale as a sheet and began to fluster.
Hmmm—!
Ellen reflexively deployed her spatial transfer and barely caught the cup as it tumbled toward the girl's knees.
But that sudden closing of distance seemed to startle the girl even more—her complexion went ashen.
She looked on the verge of fainting.
Even so, she moved this way and that, as if searching for something.
Ellen grabbed her by the shoulders to calm her down and spoke.
But it seemed to have the opposite effect—the girl thrashed wildly.
"You don't have to be so frightened… we're not bad people!"
"We were surprised too, honestly—we didn't expect anyone to have gotten here first…"
"She's adorable!!!"
The girl was trembling, her face drained of color.
And yet her appearance was otherworldly.
"Eek— up close she's so cute. How old are you?"
"Oh wow, she's genuinely beautiful. Did you come to this tower alone?"
"Leon. Stay away from her. You're disgusting."
"I haven't even done anything yet…"
Ellen shot a warning at the blond-haired Leon, then turned to the girl and said:
"Would you like to join our party?"
"……"
The girl couldn't answer them.
She couldn't understand their language—but even setting that aside, to the girl's ears, their voices sounded like—
"W҉̢͕̞̰̅͋͆͠o҉̨̯͇̀͞u҈̢͓̖͆̔̿͝l҉̨͓̟̇̕d҈̧̞̙̎̃̕ ҈̢͙̫̪̒͞y҈̡̩̭҇̒o҉̨͉̠͙͛͒͡u҉̟͓̌̃̚͢͡ ҉͇̈́͐͜͡l҈̨̜̋̕į̷̮̤̔̕k҉̢͕̞̰̅͋͆͠e҉̨̯͇̀͞ ҈̢͓̖͆̔̿͝t҉̨͓̟̇̕o҈̧̞̙̎̃̕ ҈̢͙̫̪̒͞j҈̡̩̭҇̒o҉̨͉̠͙͛͒͡i҉̟͓̌̃̚͢͡n҉͇̈́͐͜͡ ҈̨̜̋̕ǫ̷̮̤̔̕u҉̢͕̞̰̅͋͆͠r҉̨̯͇̀͞ ҈̢͓̖͆̔̿͝p҉̨͓̟̇̕a҈̧̞̙̎̃̕r҈̢͙̫̪̒͞t҈̡̩̭҇̒y҉̨͉̠͙͛͒͡?҉̟͓̌̃̚͢͡"
A noise that scraped at the inside of her skull.