I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 12

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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 12. Managing Party Members Isn’t Easy
‘I’ll use Mind Reading.’
As Camilia cast the spell, an intangible force drained away.
I wondered how the skill would actually manifest.
In the game, when you used Mind Reading on an ally character, a narration usually appeared.
【You carefully peer into Zehar Al Rashid’s heart…. Anxiety, fear. You sense the terror that what’s happened can never be undone.】
Something along those lines.
If I succeeded in finding useful information at this moment, a dialogue choice tagged with [Mind Reading] would be added to the subsequent conversation.
‘In most cases, that was the correct answer.’
It made sense—reading someone’s heart and offering them what they wanted to hear was naturally the right choice.
I’d gambled on that belief and gone ahead with it, but now….
【My lord….】
‘Huh, I can hear it.’
A ‘resonance’ that resembled Camilia’s voice yet wasn’t quite a voice at all began to echo in my mind as I waited in tense anticipation.
【Do you wish to know if my tears are false or true?】
‘What? It’s a thought, but it sounds just like speaking….’
【You don’t trust me.】
Camilia met the gaze of Zehar Al Rashid, whose eyes glistened with tears as he stared at me, and instinctively understood.
I’d been caught.
‘Caught? For this?’
Mind Reading was a buff that applied to the caster, unlike brainwashing or charm.
Since it wasn’t a hostile spell, the chance of being detected was less than 1% unless used repeatedly and consecutively.
Yet of all moments, the mastermind behind the scenes had to detect it.
What kind of absurd bad luck was this?
But instead of trembling, tearing at my hair, or panicking, Camilia spoke with complete confidence.
“…How foolish. If I needed to distinguish truth from falsehood, I would have commanded you to speak only truth—why would I bother peering into your mind?”
Zehar Al Rashid’s face filled with bewilderment, as if he hadn’t expected her to brazenly deploy such a ‘so what?’ response.
Camilia let out a silent scoff.
‘What. Why. Even a stagnant pride shouldn’t crumble just because things got complicated, should it?’
A flag had been raised, but that wasn’t the same as reaching a bad ending. There was no reason to surrender and cower without even trying.
After all, I hadn’t done anything yet.
“I was the one who chose to face the Grim Reaper, and I was the one who recklessly endangered this unstable body. There’s no reason for you to feel guilt, yet you weep so—isn’t it natural that I’d be curious?”
【Still, you don’t trust me…】
Camilia coldly cut off Zehar Al Rashid’s thoughts before hearing more.
“How utterly foolish you are. Would I, of all people, trouble myself to understand the sorrow of someone insignificant and worthless?”
She raised her pale, slender hand and traced his cheek, following the path of his tears.
“Incomplete memory and body though I may be, I am your master and your lord. Your pain and sorrow should belong to me alone.”
“That is….”
She cupped his jaw and drew him closer, whispering.
“Why? Wasn’t your mind the object of your loyalty?”
“….”
“Have I wronged you in some way?”
Zehar Al Rashid’s lips trembled for a long moment before his eyes fell downward.
“No…. No, my lord. How could you possibly be at fault? Especially not toward me….”
“Then answer me this. What caused you such sorrow and anguish?”
“….”
Zehar Al Rashid did not answer.
More precisely, he could not answer.
For there existed no language or symbol in this world capable of fully expressing his grief.
‘Not to mention how I nearly turned myself into a frozen lord in a moment of madness. That would be rather difficult to explain.’
Regardless of the reason, the prolonged silence was unsettling.
His hesitation to respond meant his reason had returned.
Though no dice rolled and no system window appeared, I was certain of it.
Zehar Al Rashid had been ‘persuaded’ by my sophistry.
“If you truly wish not to speak, so be it. If you do not wish to rest in my hand, then I need not force the matter.”
As I attempted this subtle push-and-pull, a far more rational resistance returned than before.
“That’s…! No, my lord. I was worried about you…. If only I had done better, none of this would have happened….”
“It is in the past.”
I gently cut off his words and spoke.
“What matters is that I am unharmed, and that I am here beside you.”
“…But you were not unharmed, my lord.”
The fact that he continued to object even as I tried to move past it showed just how deeply my collapse had wounded him.
I understand his feelings, but I do wish he would refrain from planting bad ending flags so carelessly.
‘Though it seems I managed to pull up the flag somehow…?’
The eerie chill vanished. The warmth returned to Zehar Al Rashid’s hands holding me.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief and tapped his cheek.
“If you are so concerned about my body, then help me up. How long do you intend to keep me sitting on the floor?”
“Ah…?”
Zehar Al Rashid’s gaze reflexively dropped downward, and his face flushed crimson.
He had only just realized he was sitting on the floor, cradling me in my thin nightclothes.
“My apologies, my lord. What manner of impropriety have I committed…!”
Once his senses returned, Zehar Al Rashid became competent once more.
He summoned the maids to assist with my washing and change of clothes, while he himself stood nearby with hands clasped respectfully, summarizing what had transpired during my unconsciousness.
The Territory had sustained almost no damage.
The guards who handled the aftermath had only sustained minor injuries.
We had rescued far more adventurers than expected from The Tower.
“It is all thanks to you, my lord. They say that wherever you directed us to search, the answer was invariably correct.”
Of course it was.
‘I had simply told them the locations for the “Lost Adventurer Search” and “Adventurer Corpse Search” quests.’
I opened my mouth as a maid draped a robe across my shoulders.
“Where are Rohengreen and Netanel?”
“Both are waiting at the Outer Castle.”
“Good. I was hoping to see them anyway.”
“Then shall I show them to the Reception Room…?”
“No, the Office.”
Zehar Al Rashid gazed at me with eyes still glistening with moisture, his expression pleading.
It seemed he was asking whether I might rest for just one day, so I answered with my eyes alone.
‘I can’t. The lord has much work to do.’
Once again, Zehar Al Rashid lost this silent exchange.
With a sigh, he lowered his ruby-red gaze and surrendered.
“…Very well. I shall show you to the Office.”
Rohengreen Ashen was the first to enter the Office.
He hadn’t even removed his armor, having stood motionless waiting for half a day.
Tense as he was, he couldn’t easily relax his expression even upon seeing my face.
“There is nothing to worry about. As you can see, I am unharmed.”
At my words, Rohengreen Ashen finally released his tension with a sigh.
Netanel Fragma, who entered next, was the complete opposite.
Having bathed and rested thoroughly upon leaving The Tower, her skin gleamed with vitality, and her hair shone with lustre.
Even her gait carried ease and grace.
When our eyes met, instead of offering a greeting, she smiled brightly and offered a prayer.
“Blessings. The exchange of the Golden Scales.”
Only after transforming me from a sickly lord to a delicate one did she finally offer her regards.
“Thanks to you, employer, I had a most enjoyable experience. And the Golden Scales’ coffers have been quite filled as well.”
I nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
Then I opened my mouth with a measured tone.
“I have something to discuss with you, Netanel.”
Netanel Fragma’s golden eyes widened.
“With me? You’re not about to say you’re revoking my pardon because my insufficient skill caused you to collapse, are you?”
“No. This is something far more important.”
I declared solemnly and gravely.
“The Territory has no money.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“I cannot pay the Golden Scales their tribute.”
“….”
Netanel Fragma continued smiling enigmatically, but the system window was honest.
[Netanel Fragma’s affection has drastically decreased!]

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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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