The Crusader had said when she abstained on the 34th floor:
『If you must choose only one, let it be me.』
『It's okay.』
『I'm saying this now, but I don't particularly wish for the Ocean Race to seize continental hegemony. Being sufficiently well-off is enough.』
Did the Crusader lie to me, was it all an act?
I don't think so.
Perhaps she agreed with the Count' plan to test [Kim Gong-ja], but I believe she participated in the test not because she doubted me, but because she trusted me.
『I leave the rest to you, Gong-ja.』
She just didn't tell me the whole truth.
The Crusader.
Patricia was almost always like that.
"I expected that you wouldn't fail."
The Crusader stroked the cat's back in her arms.
"The problem was how you would handle failure."
"Handle failure?"
"There's no way the Dokkaebi Race wouldn't discriminate against the Fairy Race. Conflict is inevitable. And even if patched up once, it doesn't disappear. Kim Gong-ja. Even if you stitch up the wounds of conflict, they will open again as years pass. So..."
The Crusader smirked.
"I thought you would be somewhat frustrated."
"...."
"Who would have thought you'd introduce a new art form to the Fairy Race? I never imagined it. The Fire Painting Play! Isn't that right, Count? Even we didn't think of such an idea!"
The Crusader's touch became slightly more intense. The Count cat, receiving the Stroking Divine Art, meowed softly.
"Meow. Choosing the Fairy Race as the revivers of Fire Painting Play was a brilliant move. Fire Painting Play is a kind of stage art, but it's not a common performance. And it's not martial arts, even though it involves aura. It's both art and martial arts. Martial arts and art. Literally, a Martial Artistry… But, vice-chief, your touch is a bit, uncomfortable…"
"Humans discriminate and despise everything! It's impossible to completely heal that discrimination and contempt!"
Pat, pat.
Whether or not the Crusader heard the Count' complaints, she was getting excited.
"There are only two things where people voluntarily and unanimously stop their contempt: strength and beauty. Physical strength stops people from physically messing with others, and aesthetic beauty makes people open their hearts willingly!"
"Vi-, Vice-chief…? Maybe stop stroking now…"
"Fire Painting Play encompasses both! Brilliant. Who would look down on a Fairy gracefully dancing and scattering powerful aura! Ah. It must have changed the perception of the Fairy Race. No, it must have been a turning point in softening the Dokkaebi Race's view on [different races]! Completely!"
"Miaaaoow!"
Hmm.
I understood the Crusader was praising me while being extremely excited, but it was a bit difficult to focus while watching a cat melt like ice cream in real-time.
Wait. Could it be that the Count walking around transformed into a cat and making members of the Merchant Guild wear cat ears was not her preference, but the Crusader's?
That's a dangerous thought. Surely it can't be. Even if it were true, I would definitely respect my friend's privacy…
"...You're not listening and just imagining weird things again, aren't you?"
Seems like the Black Dragon Witch is maxing out her skill in reading my expressions.
"Well, sure. I might be a great guy, but Fire Painting Play was originally a culture held by the Dokkaebi Race children. I just helped a bit so that their inherent talents could bloom fully."
"Did you hear that, Count!"
The Crusader got even more excited.
"I have a [Lie Detector] activated right now! That statement is a truth without a single speck of deceit. Even when he said [I might be a great guy], the [Lie Detector] didn't go off. Isn't that amazing! Count, when you speak, the detector beeps noisily for 8 out of 10 seconds. It's a whole different level!"
"Meeaow, miaaaoow…!"
"Is that so? You think the same as me, Count. That's great! There's no need for further testing. Kim Gong-ja. You not only passed the Count' test, but also solved the most difficult problem in the most effective way. If you become our leader, I will gladly follow you."
Leader.
"Of course, I agree!"
The Heretic Questioner chimed in.
"Some of you might not know this, but I had already sworn allegiance to the Death King right after clearing the 32nd floor! I guess I was a bit faster than the rest of you!"
"...Talking about loyalty is irrelevant here, but yeah, it's pointless explaining to him"
The Black Dragon Witch sighed.
"I agree too."
"...Anastasia."
"I know you don't need the position of a leader."
Her eyes, reflecting the night sky, looked at me.
"But we need you. Not me, not the Crusader, not the Heretic Questioner or the Count, but someone to call the guild leaders who operate independently as 'us'…. Kim Gong-ja. We need you."
"...."
"And you need us too."
The Black Dragon Witch nodded. Was it an unconscious gesture showing she was convinced of something? Or was it connecting this conversation to some other thought?
The answer to my question came from the Black Dragon Witch herself.
"We've been together for quite a while now, haven't we?"
"...Yes."
"I've never heard a single joke about Ukraine from you."
I tilted my head in confusion.
I didn't understand what she meant.
"Eh?"
"Ukraine. My homeland."
"Ukraine? I know that's your homeland, but… a joke? What do you mean?"
"Aren't I quite pretty?"
"...."
Is Anastasia sick?
I looked at my respected friend with a worried face, but she just bluntly asked for an answer, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"I am pretty, aren't I."
"You are, certainly beautiful. It's not for nothing that you and the Heretic Questioner frequently grace the covers of magazines."
"But why haven't you ever joked about it? Like, 'You're beautiful because you're from Ukraine'."
What is she talking about?
Is this more serious than a cold or flu?
Has she become obsessed with her appearance from fighting with six or seven mirrors? Was there a warning in the skill description like [※Note: May cause slight addiction to one's own appearance]?
"...Yes, that's the look. ...You look like you think I'm treating you like a fool, but anyway, it reveals your way of thinking quite clearly."
"I'm still not quite sure what you're talking about."
"I've heard that joke over 300 times in my life. I've been asked if I'm a communist more than 200 times, and about my thoughts on the Nazis at least 50 times. I've been asked countless times which side I supported in the civil war."
"Really?"
"Yes."
The Black Dragon Witch turned her head to look at the Crusader.
The Crusader nodded and moved his jaw slightly.
"Kim Gong-ja never joked with me about Venezuela to me either. Even though I sometimes use beauty jokes or oil jokes to lighten the mood, I've never heard them from Kim Gong-ja."
Oh.
...It's just that I don't know much about those topics?
"I don't have any either!"
The Heretic Questioner laughed.
"Since the beginning, even when talking about my past, the Death King just listened and never delved deeper into my past. Even out of curiosity, he never asked more!"
"Never heard a curry joke either."
The Count cat managed to speak while enduring the Crusader's onslaught.
"Aren't you curious about our religions? Whether we are atheists or not? Didn't you want to ask?"
"Uh…"
"Did you even think about it?"
I hadn't.
"Meow."
The Count laughed.
"You're utterly uninterested in those matters. Absolutely."
I'm not.
"Your indifference is comfortable to us."
"...."
"It's not that you're indifferent to us. On the contrary, you're very passionate about knowing us. You know almost fervently about what we've said, what we've done, and the mistakes we've made. Frankly, you like us. But interestingly, your areas of interest are quite limited, aren't they?"
"...."
"Black Dragon Witch and others think of you as a virtuous person."
Finally, the Count leaped out of the Crusader's embrace.
When she was falling through the air, she was a cat, but by the time she landed, she had transformed back into a human. Her beautiful emerald-colored sari fluttered like a cloak. Whoosh! The sari concealed the Count' shadow between the air and the ground.
"I don't care whether you are a saint or a sinner."
The sari slowly settled.
There, the Count stood, holding a fan, with a cunning smile.
"Your personality could simply be a manifestation of a desire to not be disliked by others. Deep down, there might be a strong desire to be acknowledged by others, so perhaps your behavior towards us is all flattery and fawning."
"...."
"But that doesn't matter to me. What I care about is not where a person's personality originated from, but where it is going and where it has arrived. The destination you've chosen is quite comfortable for us."
Isn't that an overestimation?
Of course, I want to look good in front of these people.
But suddenly, I worried. What if my wish to be liked succeeded too well, to the point that I couldn't handle their affection? Can I always live up to their expectations, my comrades' trust, my friends' faith? Was my success too excessive?
Won't I disappoint them?
"Nisha."
"...."
"That's my real name. You must have heard the Crusader call me that."
That's right.
I knew the Count' real name.
Certainly, when we were fighting against 'The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness,' the Crusader shouted her name. Although the Count never told me her name directly, it was remembered in the back of my mind.
"But you never mentioned my name. Not even a hint that you knew it."
"That's because naturally..."
"Exactly. You've just behaved with common courtesy, as you're thinking right now."
The Count fanned herself.
"That's precisely why we, I, want to establish you as our leader."
"...."
"Become a natural part of our existence. Kim Gong-ja."
The moment the Countess grinned.
[Quest Progress.]
[The Pure Race's voting begins.]
I looked at Sword Saint.
The aggressive demeanor he initially approached us with had completely vanished. Sword Saint was simply watching us, faintly smiling with his wrinkled face.
"Before coming here, I told them to start voting on their own if they didn't hear any sounds of battle after 30 minutes of my arrival. The youngsters followed my instructions well."
"Elder."
"I have already agreed with the Count. I watched whether you all could [really cooperate and progress through the stages] without my help and trying not to participate as much as possible."
[Counting completed.]
[Vote result for option 2: 23.81 percent.]
[Vote result for option 1: 76.19 percent.]
"Not just me, but all the races who directly watched your actions through 'The Lady Who Walks the Mirage' have been observing you."
"...."
"Responsibility is a heavy burden. I too once shouldered the responsibility of leading the tower's conquest from the front. And to take on even a fraction of the responsibility for the purge, I stepped back from the front lines and never again involved myself in the tower's politics."
Sword Saint chuckled lightly.
"In a sense, what stands before you is a [failure]."
"...."
"What you are seeing now is [the worst-case scenario], the outcome of a bitter failure, and the realization of the worries and fears you have. Now, tell me, Death King."
The old man smiled with his eyes.
"Does this failure look so terrible that it's unbearable?"
"...No."
I replied.
"Elder, you are… not a terrible person. Not at all. At least to me, Marcus Calenberry isn't."
"Good."
The old man nodded.
"Then your failures won't be so terrible either."
"...."
"I might be an old man, but don't view failure too dreadfully. Perhaps you, like me, will have a second chance. Someone might appear who makes you reconsider retirement and return to active duty."
[Stage Cleared.]
[The 46th floor stage has been cleared.]
"...."
+
Heretic Questioner
Real name, Bambolina.
Responsible for the Snail Race.
Vote percentage: 77.50%. Stage cleared.
+
Count.
Real name, Nisha.
Responsible for the Fairy Race.
Vote percentage: 88.40%.
Stage cleared.
+
Crusader.
Real name, Patricia.
Responsible for the Ocean Race.
Vote percentage: 98.68%.
Stage cleared.
+
Black Dragon Witch.
Real name, Anastasia.
Responsible for the Bloodsucking Race, Dream Demon Race.
Bloodsucking Race vote percentage: 97.55%.
Dream Demon Race vote percentage: 100%.
Stage cleared.
+
Sword Saint.
Real name, Marcus Calenberry.
Responsible for the Pure Race.
Vote percentage: 76.19%.
Stage cleared.
+
Death King.
Kim Gong-ja.
Responsible for the Dokkaebi Race.
100%.
Stage cleared.
+
"—Hey, hey."
And then.
"Nobody else objected except me. Is this really happening?"
The last voter.
"Everyone's too kind-hearted, that's the problem. Huh? If relationships were just, 'Hey, I like you, hey, I like you too,' then all the psychotherapists would be out of jobs, wandering the streets. Huh? Emotions are emotions because they can't be resolved by words."
Stomping through the jungle's shadows, the one-eyed swordsman approached.
"Hey there."
The swordsman greeted with a 'hey there.'
"I went all out in secluded training, just as you said. I feel like the protagonist of a martial arts novel right now. You know, before agreeing verbally, protagonists in martial arts novels have to talk through their swords first. That's the way of the martial world. My folks say they won't acknowledge any vote or anything until they have a rematch."
Among those gathered here.
Excluding Sword Saint, he was the first person to reveal his real name to me.
"Draw your sword, Kim Gong-ja."
Venomous Snake.
Real name, Liao Fan.
Responsible for the Noble Race.
"Enough of that. Let's have a duel."
Vote percentage.
Undetermined.
[Quest Progress.]
[The voting of the Noble Race begins.]
Voting starts.