ch61-ch80 · 095-ch79

Chapter 79

So, Sai and Hexaria had successfully broken through the twenty-fifth floor.

The Floor Boss 'Shadow' had been Sai's master Brad, and Brad had forcibly summoned Sai's senior disciple Cyril to make the fight even.

But to send Cyril back, they would have to reach the thirtieth floor.

There were several things Sai and Hexaria needed to do now.

'Now, where to start... First, the stream...'

The first thing to check was, in fact, the stream.

'Huh? Did the radio interference clear up...?'

'It seems the interference resolved when we ascended to the twenty-sixth floor earlier.'

They didn't know how much the viewers had seen of their fight.

How had the battle against the Floor Boss 'Brad' been received?

...It might be dangerous to check carelessly.

But the stream appeared to already be broadcasting.

So Sai and Hexaria switched to Japanese.

"I'm gonna mute the audio for a sec."

"Yeah, do that."

The first thing to do was hold a strategy meeting, but there were too many things to consider.

It would be disastrous if all of it was heard by general viewers.

"I'll hide this idiot for now."

Hexaria cast concealment magic and hid Cyril's form.

She was still dreaming, and it was probably best to let her sleep for a while.

"Then, let's go home once... no, let's head to the Adventurer's Guild first."

Surpassing the twenty-fifth floor had been the wish of adventurers fighting in Shinjuku Tower... of the Japanese people. So it would be better to share the news that they'd cleared the twenty-fifth floor, and it was probably better to discuss things this way.

Rather than hesitating and talking later, it was better to act quickly and deal with it.

Speed itself could be 'power' in this situation.

"Not bad. Let's do that."

And so, Sai hoisted the still-sound-asleep Cyril onto his shoulder and teleported to the first floor using the teleportation device.

There, a large crowd of adventurers were waiting for their return.

As always, the adventurers kept a certain distance, but they were blocking the way to the Adventurer's Guild.

But as always, when Hexaria said "Make way," the path opened up.

Still, the adventurers had a lot they wanted to say about this incident.

They didn't come closer than a certain distance, but words flew at them: "Congratulations on breaking through the twenty-fifth floor!" "Sai-san, what were you talking about on the stream!?" "What the hell was that Floor Boss!?"

Apparently, though they couldn't control their own feed, parts of the stream had been visible.

They really needed a full strategy meeting.

Sai wanted to hold his head, but he ignored the surrounding comments and headed to the Adventurer's Guild, approaching the front desk without even wiping off his sweat.

Though no one around seemed to notice, he had a sound-asleep Cyril slung over his shoulder.

"Sa-Sai-san, Hexaria-san!"

"Sorry. There's a lot we need to talk about..."

"Y-yes! It's about the twenty-fifth floor breakthrough, right! Please wait a moment!"

The receptionist, who already seemed to know what was happening, immediately showed Sai and Hexaria to a meeting room.

◇

Gathered in the meeting room were Sai and Hexaria, the adventurer party 'Wakou,' and relevant personnel from the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild.

"Sai-san, Hexaria-san, first of all — congratulations on breaking through the twenty-fifth floor."

"Yeah, thanks..."

Sai received the congratulations from the 'Wakou' adventurers, but his expression was stiff.

Once everyone was seated, the discussion began.

The first to speak was a guild staff member.

"Honestly, with the communication issues, there's a lot we don't understand, but the Floor Boss 'Shadow' was..."

"His name is Brad Gabelatory. He was an adventurer called the Great Hero in the other world. My former master."

"An other-world person, you say...!"

They had seemed to be speaking familiarly, so they really were close.

But Sai's face was bitter as he said this.

Because that man was supposed to have died long ago.

"But that man..."

Just as Sai started to explain, Hexaria cut in.

"I shall explain. I saw it with my own eyes and understood. That was a type of living spirit."

"A living spirit!?"

Even Sai was surprised at Hexaria's words.

If that was a living spirit, then Brad hadn't 'died.'

"Is that so!?"

"Yes. They likely created a body meticulously modeled after Brad and placed Brad's soul within it."

"Wait, but despite that, he was exactly like Brad in every way!"

Sai himself had pursued Brad.

Even the fluctuation of his magical power was the original's.

He couldn't believe it was a mistake.

"Yes. I had considered various possibilities before, but that was a golem — a so-called 'doll' — built with a level of precision exceeding my expectations. Even I could not create something like that."

Even Hexaria, the peerless developer of the age, couldn't make something like that.

That's how much technology had been used for that 'Shadow' Brad.

"The reason his form was previously just black mist was likely that there wasn't enough ambient mana, and Shinjuku Tower itself was forcibly moving him. As a result, until recently, he could only appear as a monster of black mist."

"So that black mist was..."

"One could say it was the materialization of Shinjuku Tower's will."

The thing that Shinjuku Tower's will had been forcibly moving had, with the increase in mana, restarted... awakened as Brad.

But such super-technology.

If something like this was possible...

"The one capable of this..."

"Yes. It must be obvious who can do such things."

Sai and Hexaria continued their conversation, leaving the people around them behind.

Unable to hold back, one of the guild staff spoke up.

"Th-that person is..."

To that question, Hexaria answered with a sigh.

"Simply put — a being called a god."

"It's gotta be a god, right..."

Sai looked up at the ceiling.

So it really was a god.

A middle-aged adventurer returnee from another world and an other-world High Elf said this so matter-of-factly, and the relevant personnel around them were shaken.

Shinjuku Tower. Demons.

Even in this modern age, which had begun to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural to some extent since the 2000s, the existence of gods was still met with skepticism.

The world still couldn't accept beings it had never seen.

People born and raised on Earth found it hard to believe.

"It is likely that the creator of Shinjuku Tower... no, of the dungeons called towers all over the world, can be considered one of the gods of the other world."

But even so, these words couldn't be ignored.

One of the guild staff raised their voice in something like a scream.

"Th-then, you're saying all the current problems are the fault of Hexaria-san's world!?"

"No. At the very least, the gods of Earth must have also approved this phenomenon."

"E-Earth's side...?"

"Yeah, that figures..."

Sai and Hexaria spoke with remarkable composure.

Whether gods really existed.

Even in a world where the supernatural had arrived, they remained an unreal existence.

That was what gods were.

A member of 'Wakou' who had been listening quietly raised their voice.

"Uh, so to sum up Sai-san and Hexaria-san's opinion... is it right to understand that Shinjuku Tower was created through a collaboration between Earth's gods and the other world's gods?"

"Yes."

Hexaria answered firmly.

Hearing that, the 'Wakou' member made a face of distaste.

He was also a member of the Self-Defense Force. While he himself was required to operate as an adventurer — not deploying for regional disaster relief like regular SDF members —

He had joined the SDF to protect citizens, and if problems occurred within Shinjuku Tower, he might be ordered to conduct disaster relief within the tower.

Even in a world layered with the supernatural, reality was still reality.

When problems arose because of gods, how great would the impact be?

But right now, asking questions about the existence of gods was pointless.

Repeating 'why' wouldn't get them answers.

They needed to discuss the matter at hand.

Another 'Wakou' member raised their hand.

"Let me ask too. Going forward, is it correct to say that the floor twenty-five Floor Boss won't be 'Shadow' anymore, but that guy Brad?"

"Yeah, I'll explain that part."

He couldn't keep letting Hexaria do all the explaining.

He passed the baton of explanation.

"First, it's confirmed that from now on, the twenty-fifth Floor Boss will be Brad. I confirmed it with Brad himself."

"Ugh..."

Due to the radio interference, they hadn't been able to watch the stream properly, but they got the impression he was sharper and more formidable than 'Shadow.'

And they knew well how strong Sai was from the recent mock battle.

That Sai had been beaten down until he was battered and bruised.

So for the 'Wakou' members, this was nothing but bad news.

"However, from now on, Brad will give advice on how to fight."

"Huh, advice?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I don't know how he plans to communicate since the languages are different, but think of it as part of training."

That's right.

This was what Sai had arranged with Brad before they parted.

Apparently, even when he was 'Shadow,' Brad's consciousness had been present to some extent, and he had felt the 'Wakou' members were "wasted potential."

But when he was 'Shadow,' Brad couldn't speak.

With the increase in mana, 'Shadow' had awakened as Brad.

He could move even better than when he was 'Shadow,' and though his power was limited, he could operate fully.

Thus, going forward, he apparently planned to give advice while fighting.

Sai didn't know how he'd manage it, but being able to learn from the other world's 'Great Hero'...

It was a huge gain.

Still, there was the language barrier.

Since he couldn't explain verbally, reading his intent would inevitably be difficult.

But it was still a fight between fellow adventurers.

There was a lot to learn from the battle itself.

It seemed the bad news had turned into good news.

Continuing on, the next topic was about Sai.

Hesitantly, a 'Wakou' member spoke up.

"So, Sai-san. I knew because I read the report, but the language you were speaking with Brad-san..."

"Yeah, that was the other world's language."

"Honestly, during the stream, the video and audio kept cutting out, but it wasn't Japanese — it was a language I've never heard before, and..."

"...Yeah. I'm gonna have to figure out how to handle it, but I need to explain things to the public."

The fact that Sai had spent thirty years in the other world.

This was information that had not been made public.

Of course, there had been various speculation due to his relationship with Hexaria, but no confirmed information had been released.

But he decided to go public with this opportunity.

Because of the Cyril situation too.

Rather than clumsily hiding or covering things up, this would be better.

He had no idea what kind of impact it would have, and there was anxiety.

Maybe sensing Sai's expression, Hexaria, sitting beside him, spoke to him.

"I am here."

"Appreciate it."

Just as Sai made up his mind, the topic moved to the next issue — a massive bomb, in a sense.

The beastman who had been released from concealment, though still traveling in dreamland thanks to Hexaria's charm ability.

"Lastly, that... the one currently sleeping..."

"She is one of our associates."

"That idiot Brad summoned her because I was here."

Sai wanted to stop Hexaria from calling his master an idiot, but this was Brad's massive blunder. No — he understood that Brad had done the Forced Summon precisely because Sai and Hexaria were there.

"As for her, like Saria, we'll probably need to have an adventurer license issued. Sorry..."

Sai bowed his head to the guild staff.

Going forward, just like with Hexaria, it was certain that Cyril would cause trouble.

"No, we have the precedent of Hexaria-san, so I think we can manage that. More importantly..."

The staff member's gaze was fixed on Cyril's ears.

It was natural to be curious. What kind of being she was.

"As you can see, she's a beastman."

"Oooh!"

"Hmm. So the kemono level is about 1..."

"Less than I thought."

Guild staff and some of the 'Wakou' members raised voices of excitement.

Sai couldn't help but think (Cyril-nee's already pretty old, you know... maybe it's better not to say that).

They weren't excited about that aspect in particular, but the middle-aged man from another world didn't understand what they were excited about.

First a High Elf, now a beastman.

It was like the world of video games had come to life.

They weren't without fear and anxiety, but seeing a real beastman — a person with beast ears — for the first time, their curiosity and interest won out over fear.

"As a supplementary explanation, my sister Cyril came here through a spell called 'Forced Summon,' which is normally impossible. This is also thought to have been arranged by the other world's god, but Brad has promised not to do any more Forced Summons, so you can rest assured that no more other-world people will be showing up."

At Sai's explanation, except for those who were excited, the relevant personnel breathed a sigh of relief.

Other-world people inevitably caused problems.

In Hexaria's case, because she was overwhelmingly strong, it didn't lead to ongoing chaos — but if more other-world people appeared, what would happen?

Unimaginable chaos would likely ensue.

The handling of Cyril was left to Sai and Hexaria.

Partly for humanitarian reasons, but also because they couldn't entrust other-world people to anyone else.

After that, they sorted out several more points to confirm, and the meeting for the day ended.

Explanations to the Earth side still remained, but this would do for now.

There was still a mountain of things to do, though...

And so the emergency meeting ended.

There had truly been too many surprises today.

But there was still work to be done.

He wanted to rest soundly, but that wasn't possible.

Still, first he wanted to go home.

Sai decided to gently pinch the cheek of the peacefully sleeping Cyril.

================ Thank you very much for reading.