“The Magic Tower has officially begun their hunt.” The Assistant Writer placed a stack of papers on the old table. She wiped her forehead and looked at me. “An official order has been announced in the city. A huge reward will be given to anyone who captures Hamustra’s believers who escaped from prison. A reward of twenty-eight times that amount will be given to anyone who catches or reports the unidentified scoundrel who helped the followers escape. I think they found the thing you left at the entrance to their secret passage.” “That’s good.” I skimmed through the documents. There was a lot of information about the Magic Tower written on the papers, especially about the leader of the Magic Tower, the so-called elder. “I was anxious about their reaction once they found out, but they’re surprisingly slow.” “What exactly did you write for them?” “Just one sentence. ‘The Sword Emperor has returned.’ Nothing special,” I said with a smile. The Assistant Writer’s jaw dropped. “You’re crazy.” “What is common sense, Miss Writer? The average moments of this world and life are probably what make up common sense. And this world is, on average, a mess, which means that being crazy or abnormal is the exact opposite of being a mess. So, you could say I’m normal.” Strange. Why did no one take me seriously when I was dead serious? The Assistant Writer pressed on her forehead and sighed for so long that she could make a hole in the cave floor with her breath alone. “I’ll admit that you’re quite something. Not only do you have Mr. Indoor Librarian’s trust, but you’ve convinced countless other Constellations. You’re probably the first person in history to join the side of way over ten Constellations.” “Thank you for the compliment.” “But you shouldn’t provoke the Magic Tower recklessly like that,” the Assistant Writer said. “The one name that the Magic Tower hates the most in the universe is the Sword Emperor. The Magic Tower elder considers herself to be the Sword Emperor’s archenemies, if we are to use novel terminology. Archnemesis, I tell you.” I snapped my fingers. A quest window appeared before my eyes. I had received quests dozens of times, but the window I was seeing now was different. The letters were so cute and fluffy, as if they had been handwritten. The Great Conquest of the Elder’s Heart★ Constellation: Incarnation of Love and Lust Difficulty Level: SSS Goal: Oh my. There’s a man who claims to be the Sword Emperor’s heir. His title is Death King! He’s a warrior who just reached the fiftieth floor, but he’s already causing quite an uproar! Can he really be the Sword Emperor’s heir? Or maybe he’s the Sword Emperor himself...! (Badump) If the Death King really has a connection with the Sword Emperor, then, oh my! The elder of the Magic Tower won’t sit on her ass anymore because the only person who has driven a stake into her cold heart is the Sword Emperor! (Badump, badump) Will the Death King make the heart of the universe’s most sinister Spider beat again? If so, would that heart beat to the rhythm of affection or hatred? Or perhaps both? (Wink) Any rhythm is fine. The only thing that I, Babbit, want from the Death King is to let me hear the sound of the elder’s heart being torn apart! Break the elder’s heart. To all my followers: assist the Death King with all your might. Please prove to yourselves that you are all worthy of stepping beyond the fiftieth floor. ※Death King, you are currently participating in the quest as a temporary follower. I nodded. “I know that. That’s why I called myself the Sword Emperor’s heir. Well, I’m sure the people at the Magic Tower think I’m the most suspicious person in the universe right now.” I put down the bundle of papers. Before the final vote in Babylon, the Mirage-Walking Princess had told me about the history of the Magic Tower and their people. However, it didn’t include any information about the Magic Tower elder, things like when she was born, and why she stopped at the fiftieth floor and prevented other Hunters from going up higher. The Hunters staying on the fiftieth floor were just as clueless as me. No one knew anything about the Magic Tower elder. The materials that the Paparazzo had gathered were also filled with plausible conjectures and inferences, but there was no guarantee that they were true. “I don’t think they believe that the Sword Emperor actually returned. Not yet.” However, there was one truth that everyone knew. The Magic Tower elder hated the Sword Emperor, so to shake her up, I had to use the Sword Emperor’s name appropriately. “Not yet?” the Assistant Writer murmured. “Yes, not yet. I have information that only the Sword Emperor and the elder know. For example, um... What the Sword Emperor said to the elder when he brought down the sixth spire. If I reveal this, the elder will immediately realize that I’m his heir and will feel the need to kill me as soon as possible.” I had actually spoken those words when I met with the Constellation Murderer on this floor. As soon as the Magic Tower elder heard me, she became enraged and attacked us. —Zombie, by the way, I know a lot of other things to say to piss her off. Yes, your scumminess is very reliable. I had plenty of trump cards to provoke the elder. These cards were probably limited to only me and the Sword Star. “How do you have this information?” the Assistant Writer asked, glaring at me suspiciously. “Do you have a Skill that looks into people’s pasts? Or are you really the Sword Emperor’s heir?” “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have the means to provoke the elder. From now on, I have to use them appropriately.” “Appropriately? What do you mean?” “It’s not enough to simply anger her. The Incarnation of Love and Lust specifically asked in the quest to tear the elder’s heart apart.” I narrowed my eyes. “So, slowly and gradually, I will make her crumble.” —Has the Sword Emperor really returned? —There is insufficient evidence. —But what if he really came back? “We shouldn’t just tell them that the Sword Emperor has returned. That won’t shock them enough. Truth hits people harder when they discover it themselves rather than when it comes from the sky above. Do you get it, Miss Writer? We have to show the Sword Emperor’s return to the elder right in front of her eyes, at the best time and place. To do that—” “We need a script,” the Assistant Writer said quietly. Her expression mirrored mine, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. The scheme was to lure the elder and rip out the emotions from her heart. Hamustra used to have the same look in his eyes. “What do you want me to do?” she asked. I replied, “First, please spread the rumor on the city’s streets.” “The Magic Tower of Magic hasn’t officially acknowledged the Sword Emperor’s return. The elder is probably thinking that a crazy phony is impersonating him to provoke her. But what if the rumors, the stories of the Sword Emperor’s return, are also spread on the streets?” “It would get on her nerves, even if she doesn’t want that.” The Assistant Writer’s eyes lit up. “Okay. What’s next?” “Hey, Death King. What did you do?” “What’s going on, Miss Berserker? You look flustered.” “The Magic Tower mages are going crazy right now. Up until yesterday, they were just sitting back and relaxing after issuing an order to hunt and kill us, but now they’re suddenly forming search parties and patrolling the streets!” *** Follow current novᴇls on novel·fiɾe·net “The elder won’t respond just because there are rumors in the streets that the Sword Emperor has returned. The news is just a little annoying. We have to do more and aim for her heart’s blind spot.” The Assistant Writer quickly moved her quill. “Tell me. I’m writing everything down right now. Tell me all about your plan first. I’ll edit anything that doesn’t seem right.” I enjoyed the sound of her quill tip against the paper. “We’ll use the resentment and anger that have been building among the Hunters on the fiftieth floor. The Sword Emperor isn’t just one Hunter, he’s a symbol. The elder had the fiftieth floor on lockdown, but the Sword Emperor broke through and went higher. The rumor of his return on the streets is an attack on the elder herself. ‘We don’t like the fiftieth floor, where the elder rules. We’re sick of her. We want a person like the Sword Emperor. He’ll return and put an end to these nightmarish days.’” The Assistant Writer moved her quill faster and faster. “I see. Yeah... yeah, I get what you’re trying to do. You’re saying that we should make up a rumor to imply that the elder is a horrible ruler, right?” The Assistant Writer didn’t look at me as her eyes were fixed on the letters her quill was scribbling. The smile on her face spread across the paper. “Ha. Okay. The Sword Emperor’s return is just an excuse. It’s a tool to incite the Hunters who have grievances with the Magic Tower’s reign.” I nodded. “Yes, it’ll also be a sword aimed at the elder’s heart.” —Look, Elder. I’m dead. I pathetically collapsed on the ninety-ninth floor long ago, but why do the Hunters still remember me? Why do they rave about my return? It’s simple. I’m right, and you’re wrong. “As the city becomes more and more excited because of the rumors about the Sword Emperor, the resentment and grievance against the Magic Tower would rise until they can no longer be ignored.” —You’re alive, but you can’t defeat me, someone who’s already dead. I’ve been reduced to a mere ghost, but I’m still stronger than you. “If the elder is just irritated by the Sword Emperor, she probably won’t react much. It’s just a rumor anyway, so she’ll probably let it die down on its own. However, if the Sword Emperor still has a place in her heart, if she really hates him to the bone, she’ll definitely have an excessive reaction. She’ll end up becoming neurotic.” “How can you be sure?” “That’s what hate does to people.” —What do you think? Do you still want to kill me? “I’m absolutely sure that the elder will react in a very aggressive way.” “The Magic Tower dudes lost it completely. Well, they’ve been like that for a long time, but this is on another level. They’re saying that they’ll throw everyone in jail just for mentioning the Sword Emperor. It’s pure madness. Even people chatting innocently at bars were jumped. Why is the Magic Tower doing this? Are they feeling guilty or something? Even those who don’t care about what happens on the floor will start to believe that the Sword Emperor has actually returned. Even though we’re the ones who spread the rumor, it’s a little strange.” “I learned something when I came to the fiftieth floor,” I said. “From this floor onward, instigation and fabrication are our primary means to clear the floors.” [The Incarnation of Love and Lust has given a quest to the followers.] “Has the Sword Emperor really returned? Are the rumors true or not? Those things don’t matter to ordinary Hunters.” [The Last Sword in the Wilderness has given a quest to the followers.] “They all serve Constellations.” [The Lonely Seeker has given a quest to the followers.] “The words of their Constellations are the truth to them, and the contents written in the quest are facts. If the quest window hints at the Sword Emperor’s return, the Hunters will act under the premise that he actually returned, regardless of whether that’s true or not.” [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has given a quest to the followers.] “It’s like how I was regarded as an evil lich and hunted down for it.” [The Eternal Plains Warhorse has given a quest to the followers.] “We spread rumors in the city. The Magic Tower started to persecute the Hunters. Just then, the Hunters’ Constellations started to give out quests, hinting at the Sword Emperor’s return.” [Can he really be the Sword Emperor’s heir?] [The recent rumors circulating in Monopoly City state that the Sword Emperor has returned.] [I don’t know if you still remember, but in the past, the Magic Tower’s sixth spire was toppled...] [Why does the Magic Tower persecute you?] [Or maybe he is the Sword Emperor himself...!] [This will decide the fate of the city.] The Assistant Writer stopped moving her quill, looked up and met my eyes. I took out a handkerchief. The soft texture enveloped my fingertips, bringing me comfort. It was the only spell that calmed my mind. I said, “An alliance army will fight against the Magic Tower.”