Chapter 83
“Princess, did you have fun at the playground?”
“Ah, no, um.... It wasn’t really that fun.”
“Really? You didn’t like it?”
“That’s not it. I’m an adult, after all. Ahem.”
“Oh, um. I see.”
About an hour later, it seemed Ophelia and older sister Chaerin had finished talking and arrived at the kids’ zone entrance. I hadn’t seen the phone notification, but Ddaengdaeng told me, so I knew.
“So what did you talk about?”
“Eve, do you happen to know something called Silence Laboratory?”
“Ah, SaLab? That tower in Chungcheong-do? I know it. Why?”
“You know about it? This has to stay secret, but Nova might end up acquiring a stake in that tower-type dungeon structure, so I wanted to ask if you were interested.”
“Huh, really..?”
Silence Laboratory had been all over the Hunter Gallery as a huge hot topic lately. If I ever got the chance to go to SaLab.... Ah, but if there were confidentiality clauses or something, they’d definitely stop me from posting it online this time.
At Desert Mausoleum, Ddaengdaeng just did whatever it wanted, and I’d already told it not to casually start a livestream again last time.
“Are you going there, Ophelia?”
“If the Oseong Group successfully acquires part of Silence Laboratory’s ownership, then that might happen.”
“Wow. I see....”
It’s that terrifying tower-type dungeon structure that completely destroyed top-tier raiding parties. Unlike Desert Mausoleum and other dungeon structures that appear buried underground, it transports you to another space, like an entry-type gate.
And unless you clear it or the time limit runs out, you can’t get out again—those kinds of terrifying things.
“It’s... supposed to be incredibly hard, isn’t it..?”
“Yes, that’s right. Nova will probably have to prepare a lot.”
“What about you, Ophelia? What did you decide?”
“I came to ask for the princess’s opinion. The final say belongs to the princess.”
“Ahh.”
Right, I’m the leader, so I need to give the final approval. Kind of exciting, right? You know, like in a comic when the highest-ranking person says, ‘Proceed!’ It feels like that.
“Okay! I’ve wanted to go inside a tower-type structure at least once!”
Tower-type structures that shift space the moment you enter them are extremely rare worldwide. In Korea, besides Silence Laboratory, there’s only one tiny one owned by the Orders Guild in Gangwon-do.
“Ah. W-wait a second.”
But come to think of it, isn’t that incredibly scary? You can’t get out until the time limit is over or you clear it, which is basically the same as being locked up. And if scary monsters came chasing after me, I’d have to run away, but I’m not even good at running...?
What if, seriously, what if. I went there and got absolutely wrecked inside like the Orders Guild did, then came back out...? No, not that either....
‘What if I can’t get out..?! Could I die..?!!?’
“W-well, what do you think, Ophelia..?”
“Hmm. Are you asking for my opinion.”
“No.... Come to think of it, it does seem a little dangerous.... I’m the one with the decision-making authority, though..? But since you might get hurt, I’m asking once.”
Ophelia nodded at my words. Of course she was good at fighting, and she’d even gotten a gun recently, so she was good at ranged attacks now too.... Still, I guess I just didn’t want to see them get hurt because of my judgment.
“I judged that it should be fine.”
“R-really..? Do you think we could do well in Silence Laboratory too?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Mmm....”
I trust Ophelia’s judgment, I do, but....
“Ophelia, you know this, right? I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Uh.... Ophelia?”
“Understood. We will proceed after careful deliberation. It’s a shame, but please bring it up again once a little more information has been released. This is a matter that requires a prudent decision.”
“Ah, right. I understand, Eve, that you’re worried too. Then I’ll contact you again later, Ophelia.”
“Yes, thank you for your understanding.”
Hmm, it wasn’t enough to completely call it off this time. If Ophelia says she’ll think it through carefully, then well, it should probably work out.
“Princess, shall we depart?”
“Ah, okay. You moved everything we got, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’d be hilarious if it were sitting at home. Let’s hurry and go!”
“Yes.”
* * * * *
“Princess, please take this.”
“...Ophelia. Is it hard on you, because of me?”
“It is not. Supporting the princess is my job.”
“Everyone struggles with their own work, Ophelia.”
Inside the bleak bedroom.
Ophelia, who had brought a glass of warm water and powdered medicine in a paper dish, slowly set them on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I have never once thought this job was hard.”
“...Really? That’s surprising. From my perspective, it looks incredibly hard.”
As the girl with the pale, faded hair bowed her head and lifted a hand, Ophelia dissolved the powdered medicine in the glass of water on the nightstand and handed it to her.
—Gulp
“Ugh, blech....”
“Are you all right?”
“Ah.... Yeah, I’m fine. This medicine is still bitter.”
“Should I order it changed so it would be a little easier to take?”
“No. I can’t have you working again. Everyone should be resting.”
“Right?”
“...If it’s for the princess, anyone would gladly work.”
“Tell them not to.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“They always say they’ll consider it.”
The girl smiled faintly at Ophelia’s words, only to clutch her head as another headache rolled in and scream for a long while until her throat went raw.
Watching her like that, Ophelia felt sorry for the reality the girl faced beyond her tightly shut eyelids.
“Ophelia, how old was I again this year?”
“You are 10 years old.”
“I see.... So I’ve already gotten that old.”
The girl looked around with her half-lidded eyes, then pushed aside the blanket covering her lower body and turned over.
“Princess? Where are you going?”
“I just want to look outside for a bit. That should be fine, right?”
“...I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Please don’t. I’m going to do it anyway, so just say okay.”
“Princess.”
For a moment, Ophelia had the words she wanted to say rise all the way to her throat, but in the end, she didn’t let them out. The girl was strongly determined to do what she wanted to do, and if she was going to do it anyway, it was wiser not to clash with her.
“I’ll support you.”
“Thanks. My body isn’t listening to me.”
Holding the girl’s slender shoulders and helping her down from the bed, Ophelia naturally guided her gaze toward the slippers.
The soft wool slippers, made to fit her tiny feet perfectly, kept slipping around underfoot in a room where not even proper light could get in.
Before long, the girl had managed to put the slippers on with difficulty and, with Ophelia’s support, slowly walked around the bed and stood by the window.
“Phew.... Ophelia, could you hold me for a bit?”
“Understood.”
“No, I’ll stand, so could you draw the curtains?”
“Yes.”
At the girl’s request, Ophelia took hold of the deep, dark curtains. They were far too plain, with no ornament or pattern whatsoever, for something hanging in the deepest part of the royal palace, a place otherwise so splendid.
“Will you... keep your eyes open?”
“Yeah. Otherwise there’d be no point.”
“Understood.”
With Ophelia’s firm resolve, the curtains were slowly drawn to both sides. The girl briefly closed her eyes against the warm sunlight, then slowly opened them again.
“Ah.... Right, I see.”
“Princess, I think this is enough.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
There was no intense reaction, no emotion at all. It was just a single moment of opening her eyes to look at the world, then closing them again.
“I want to go back to bed.”
“Understood.”
The curtain quickly returned to its original place, and Ophelia slowly took the girl’s shoulders and guided her back to the bed.
“Thanks, Ophelia. For humoring me.”
“Not at all.”
Lying back down on the bed, the girl blinked as she stared at the pitch-black ceiling.
“Ah, that’s interesting.”
“Is that so.”
“Yeah.”
* * * * *
“Ophelia?”
“...Princess?”
“It’s green.”
We were stopped at a traffic light on the road for a moment, and even though the light had turned green, Ophelia wasn’t moving. Because it was a Rolls-Royce, nobody behind us even honked, so we stayed still for almost thirty seconds.
“...Is that so.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about the conversation we had a moment ago.”
Looks like Ophelia has a lot on her mind. Is she thinking we’re still a little too early to go into the tower?
Maybe it’s because I’m weak..!!?
“Ophelia! Should we take pictures when we get home?!”
“Why would you do that?”
“I’ll blow up my follower count like crazy and become 100 times stronger here! Then wouldn’t we be able to enter the tower without worrying?!”
“...Indeed, that does seem likely.”
“You heard that, Ddaengdaeng! You’re training from now on too!”
—Beep?!
“Don’t do stuff like wolfing down dog treats. Train combat with me. Got it!”
—Beep....
I don’t exactly love posting photos, but reading the comments is fun too. And as I get more famous and my follower count grows, it kind of feels like I’m playing a game.
If I just push a little more, I’ll hit one million followers, and then I’ll brag about it all over the Hunter Gallery.
After driving a few more minutes, our home came into view. More precisely, the huge apartment complex our home was in.
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s huge....”
What kind of apartment complex is crammed together like this? If a bomb or something fell here, wouldn’t everyone be in danger?
No, wait. If there are that many people, there’d also be barrier users and the like.... Maybe it would actually be safer?
“Princess. Do you remember the password to the SNS account I told you about?”
“The password? Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“I asked just in case.”
Damn, the password? What was it again. These days everything’s recorded, and with one tap and fingerprint authentication, it logs you in right away.
“Mmm....”
“You don’t remember?”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
“That’s all right. I’ll tell you again.”
But do I really need to remember it? As long as I have my fingerprint, it logs in anyway.