Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 170

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 170. The Tower – Western Train (4)

At my question, everyone exchanged glances before three hands went up.
Diana, Bogard Dellington, and Elliot.
I’d known Diana could ride horses since childhood as a farmer’s daughter, and Elliot’s skill made sense given that horses were the primary transport of this era alongside trains, but Bogard Dellington knowing how to ride was unexpected.
Bogard cleared his throat softly and spoke.
“Back when I was in university, I saw this Western movie where the protagonist spun a bolt-action rifle once on horseback to reload and fire—looked so cool I decided to learn. Haven’t done it in ages, so I’m not sure how well I’d manage, but I do know mounted archery as well.”
So it was true what they said: the finest enthusiasts were always Western enthusiasts.
This furry gentleman was starting to seem rather impressive.
“We have enough horses, at least.”
With over twenty bandits attacking, nine horses had survived the gunfight without injury.
“But if two people share one horse, what do we do with the other two?”
We weren’t children—putting three on a single horse was out of the question.
Park Jeon-bin raised his hand slightly, offering a suggestion.
“If I go alone, I think I could manage to ride one.”
King Kong looked puzzled at Park Jeon-bin’s words.
“Alone? Wouldn’t it be perfect if we went together?”
“Well… I was thinking of controlling the horse using a kind of ability. Since I’ve never ridden before, it would be a bit awkward to do it with someone else.”
Controlling a horse with an ability, then.
Now that I thought about it, could the Vampire use Mesmerism?
Since Bogard had gained the Wolf Man’s ability from The Tower, Park Jeon-bin, who could control blood, might have received the Vampire’s ability.
I raised my hand as well.
“Then I’ll try riding alone too.”
“You have an ability as well?”
“No. I’ve never ridden a horse before, but I did try horseback riding a few times as a child. Otherwise, I can just run on foot. I’m confident I can run faster than a horse using my ability.”
At my words, Lee Su-young and Diana, both party members, nodded.
“Ji-woo’s running really is fast. If he runs alone, he could probably hit a hundred kilometers per hour?”
Everyone found Lee Su-young’s statement reasonable.
Though they clearly took my hundred kilometers per hour as an exaggeration.
“Then we should pair people up to share horses.”
At King Kong’s words, Elliot approached him.
“I’ll ride with you.”
His muscular build did seem reassuring.
Diana naturally chose to ride with Lee Su-young, her fellow party member and someone of the same gender, while Bogard was left with Kwan by process of elimination.
Once the riding pairs were decided, Elliot pulled out a military map from his pocket and spoke.
“The nearest city from here is about twenty-five miles away. Let’s just go there and catch the transport train again.”
Twenty-five miles… roughly forty kilometers, I calculated.
No matter how many times I heard it, I never got used to miles.
Bogard asked in response to Elliot’s plan.
“We have horses—why not just ride straight to our destination?”
Elliot shook his head firmly at Bogard’s suggestion.
“We can’t. We won’t arrive within the time limit riding horses, and the horses won’t have the stamina to endure it.”
It was true—if we traveled without rest, we’d need to keep switching horses, which wasn’t easy.
If it were just Elliot alone, he could stop at a military post and requisition fresh mounts, but we were eight people. They wouldn’t lend to us.
That was when I spoke to Elliot.
“Let’s go here instead, not there.”
When I changed the destination on the map, Elliot asked uncertainly.
“That location is quite far. We’d need to travel nearly fifty miles.”
To persuade Elliot, I pointed to an RPG-7 lying on the ground nearby.
“Earlier on the train, didn’t you say bandits rarely attack military transport vehicles? But given that they used such unusual weapons, weren’t they targeting you specifically rather than the cargo?”
At my words, Elliot turned to look at the bandits being bound by soldiers, startled.
“My route has been exposed?”
“Either it was exposed, or they deliberately led you into a trap. From the enemy’s perspective, capturing you now was ideal, but if they couldn’t manage that, they might have been trying to influence your movements.”
Elliot’s expression grew serious at my words.
“But there are no military transport vehicles at that location.”
“Precisely why it would catch them off guard. Even without military transport, there are civilian trains, aren’t there?”
I could see railway lines drawn on the map, which meant trains would run through there.
“That’s true, but….”
“There’s no need to rely on military transport when we leave. We might actually arrive faster taking the direct route back.”
Elliot nodded, looking convinced by my argument.
With my escort target persuaded, I gestured toward the train and spoke again.
“Before we depart, let’s gather whatever supplies we can from the train. Some of us don’t have long-range weapons.”
Only myself, Lee Su-young, King Kong, and Park Jeon-bin actually had long-range attack options.
Our party had obtained multiple Steam Guns from the 21st Floor, so technically Diana possessed a personal firearm, but neither Lee Su-young nor Diana seemed fond of guns—probably because of the recoil—so I was the only one toying with mine like a plaything.
Diana had shown reluctance to attack people or harmless animals earlier, firing only warning shots.
Or perhaps her aim was simply so poor that it merely resembled warning fire?
Either way, suppressing fire helped with covering others. Besides, asking a healer-tank to provide DPS was greedy in the first place.
“Excellent! You can never have too much ammunition!”
Bogard entered first, and the others followed him inside to gather ammunition.
I gave them a warning as they collected the rounds.
“Only take what fits in your inventory and a spare magazine’s worth for immediate use. We can’t exactly board the train brandishing weapons openly. And don’t forget—two people are riding each horse.”
Horses had their limits when it came to weight capacity.
Once I issued the caution, everyone grabbed a reasonable amount of ammunition.
After everyone had gathered ammunition and spare weapons from the train, I swept the remaining powder into the Subspace Cube.
It probably wouldn’t run short under normal circumstances, but you never know when you might need reserves.
Before mounting the horses, I casually collected the RPG-7 we’d used and stashed it away.
There was a certain satisfaction in looting like this.
Who knew? Maybe I could scavenge a few warheads too.

* * *

We galloped across the grassland on horseback.
With two riders mounted, we weren’t moving at peak speed—roughly thirty to forty kilometers per hour—but handling the horses directly proved exhausting.
Park Jeon-bin seemed to manage his mount skillfully with his ability, but since I’d never ridden before, Diana kept pace beside me, soothing my horse as well.
“You’re doing well, so don’t get too tense. Horses are intelligent—if you just maintain your balance and stay calm, they’ll automatically match the herd’s pace and gallop along fine.”
“My backside’s starting to hurt.”
“That’s because you’re sitting too rigid. Think of moving with the horse as it moves, and give your body some rhythm.”
“During my riding experience, the instructor said to keep my back straight….”
“That’s right. You should keep your back straight unless you’re trying to minimize air resistance for an all-out sprint. As your body drops, apply a bit of force through your legs as if rising up slightly, maintaining the rhythm slowly… hmm, how exactly does one apply Lightness Skill to this rhythm?”
Diana peered at me with obvious confusion.
It took me years to master Lightness Skill, so I wished she wouldn’t look at me like that.
I’d studied recorder, drums, and guitar to develop a sense of rhythm, but applying an instrument’s cadence to other pursuits proved difficult.
Though it did help somewhat.
After roughly two and a half hours of riding, the way station city began to appear on the horizon.
Fortunately, we reached our intermediate destination without any trouble.
I suspect we’d come a greater distance than the nearest city with military transport vehicles, which worked in our favor.
The city was fairly large in scale, yet had no tall buildings.
After all, modern high-rise construction didn’t begin until the late nineteenth century, and since we were still in the mid-1800s, skyscrapers didn’t exist here.
The streets were lined mostly with three- or four-story structures, and horses and carriages moved busily through the thoroughfares.
Once we entered the city, Elliot spoke to us.
“Let’s dispose of these horses first.”
Keeping the animals with us wasn’t practical.
“A city of this size should have a resident horse dealer. These mounts are spoils you’ve seized, so it only seems right that you receive the payment. Should we take dollars or Credits?”
In this version of the United States, they apparently used both dollars and Credits.
Being part of The Tower’s world, it was only natural.
“Since we’re selling in a hurry, we won’t get full price, but the horses are young and healthy, so we should manage about 120 dollars per animal.”
At Elliot’s words, King Kong frowned and raised his voice.
“What? 120 dollars? That’s hardly pocket change for a kid—a measly 120 dollars?”
“Pardon? Pocket change? 120 dollars is an ordinary laborer’s annual wage. There are countless people who don’t make that much….”
Bogard interjected in response to Elliot’s rebuttal.
“Look, you have to account for the time period’s economic value. 120 dollars in the 1860s would be worth at least thirty or forty thousand dollars in our era. Given that horses are fairly common here, this price seems reasonably accurate even at the lower end.”
In the twenty-first century, horses existed only for racing, harness racing, or leisure sports, so a small quantity of premium breeding and selective cultivation drove the market.
But in the nineteenth century, horses served as the traveler’s primary means of long-distance transit—nearly indispensable—so the volume of horses as a commodity would be far greater here.
At Bogard’s explanation, King Kong’s scowl softened and he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ah, I see. Ahem! I was mistaken for a moment. Sorry for raising my voice like that.”
Bogard seemed quite intelligent.
When I’d glimpsed him back on the 10th Floor, he’d struck me as just another gruff, baseball-obsessed hooligan of a farm owner, but occasionally when he spoke, you couldn’t help but sense a keen intellect beneath the surface.
Maybe that’s why people say you have to travel with someone to see their true nature.
I spoke to Elliot.
“We prefer Credit. We won’t be staying in this country much longer, after all.”
“Understood. I’ll sell them right away and bring back the money.”
Elliot led the horses to where the horse trader was, and about ten minutes later, he returned with a sack of Credit.
“We got about 350,000 Credit per horse—roughly equivalent to thirty-five million won. We could have gotten more if we’d taken dollars, but the price came down a bit when we insisted on Credit.”
“Well, it’s supplemental income anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Let’s split 250,000 Credit among the seven of us, and since we have the extra, everyone can buy their own train ticket.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at my words.
“The sun’s still up, but if we take a train now, it’ll probably be a night train. Does anyone have objections?”
Elliot carried an exceptionally expensive pocket watch—the sort that would be considered a luxury item in this era, befitting a high-ranking official.
His watch showed that it was nearly four in the afternoon.
“A night train might actually be safer.”
“Rather than waste time and risk being caught by our enemies, I think it’s better to leave quickly, even if sleeping arrangements aren’t ideal.”
The general mood was to leave without delay and not give our pursuers extra time to catch up.
I’d hoped we could rest comfortably at an inn, but that couldn’t be helped.
“Then let’s head straight to the station.”
At the station, when we went to buy tickets, the fastest trains had already sold out of the popular second-class and sleeper cabins, leaving only first-class seats and cramped third-class standing room.
Since it was a night train, anyone who could afford first-class naturally went for the sleeper cabins, and second-class—the most affordable option for decent travel—sold out quickly, which was unavoidable.
We naturally bought first-class tickets, at least so we could manage some sleep.
Whether because of first-class standards or the era itself, the ticket prices were steeper than expected.
But the higher cost was worth it—the seats were spacious and fitted with thick cushions.
Once I’d boarded and settled into my seat, I asked Elliot a question.
“Where did those slavery advocates get the weapon they were using?”
At my question, Elliot hesitated for a moment.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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