I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 71

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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 71. A Guest from the Forest
The path to the bedroom was surprisingly convenient.
It had to be, since Rohengreen Ashen had simply lifted me and carried me there.
Did I really deserve this treatment just for stepping on the hem of my dress?
Even as I thought this, I remained still in his arms.
My dedicated Maid’s gaze had grown rather cold, and the people we passed seemed startled as we moved through the corridors, which did bother me somewhat—yet it was undeniably convenient.
‘I didn’t think my exhaustion was severe enough to make walking difficult.’
The moment I settled into this stable means of transport, my body went limp, revealing that my stamina had deteriorated far more than I’d anticipated.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I had been overexerting myself frequently of late.
It had been quite some time since I began cutting into my sleep hours to expedite the internal appointments and accelerate my progress through The Tower.
Whenever debuffs appeared, rather than wait for them to fade naturally, I would suppress them with healing magic or blessings and continue my activities—more than once or twice.
‘But when something like the Pantheon suddenly emerges on the 2nd Floor, I can’t afford to take it easy. I’ve already lost two weeks because of the patch.’
In a situation where unexpected circumstances and emergency Quests arise like this, how could I possibly rest with peace of mind?
While I was thus silently grieving my misfortune, we arrived at the bedroom.
Rohengreen Ashen lowered me onto the bed with the utmost care.
I thought he would leave immediately after completing his task, but for some reason, he remained standing in place.
“Do you have something to say?”
Since he was staring so blatantly, I asked—and Rohengreen Ashen answered with an expression even more serious and grave than when he’d requested to serve me.
“…If you would permit it, there is something I wish to say.”
‘With that expression, how could I refuse?’
Though I could easily predict what he would say, I responded lightly.
“Very well.”
“I’m uncertain if you’re aware, but everyone has been concerned that you’ve been overexerting yourself excessively of late. Myself included.”
Rohengreen Ashen spoke carefully, watching my expression.
“According to the servants, you haven’t been eating properly and have been sleeping hardly at all recently….”
The reason I don’t eat is that my race is Nephilim.
As a superior race, Nephilim can maintain adequate bodily function by absorbing mana alone.
‘The food they serve is uniformly tasteless and indigestible—how could I be expected to eat it?’
As for not sleeping, it’s unavoidable. There’s simply too much to think about.
Rohengreen Ashen was himself one of the sources of my preoccupation.
Since I couldn’t honestly discuss this, I resorted to the usual transparent excuse.
“Don’t worry. I am being managed quite adequately by Netanel Fragma.”
“My Lord, but….”
“I appreciate your concern, Rohengreen Ashen, but I won’t tolerate overstepping your bounds.”
I brushed my long hair back as I continued.
“If you have time to waste on unnecessary words, go sharpen the blade you’ll drive into the heart of the Plague Lord. That is your role.”
The words were perhaps a bit harsh, but Rohengreen Ashen preferred a lord who acted like a proper lord, so his loyalty should remain unaffected.
His affection could drop for all I cared.
[Rohengreen Ashen’s affection has increased.]
‘Yes, drop it, drop it… Wait? Why did it go up?’
Camilia found herself bewildered, but through the mind-reading spell she habitually cast, Rohengreen Ashen’s thoughts flowed into her consciousness.
【This man truly cares only for the Territory. And yet I….】
It was a wave of emotion that carried an unmistakable sense of guilt.
Camilia studied Rohengreen Ashen’s face.
The delicately crafted features of the knight bore an emotion that was rather complex.
Anxiety and relief coexisted alongside unfamiliarity.
‘I’ve finally raised his affection, so why does he wear such an expression?’
Camilia found Rohengreen Ashen utterly incomprehensible.
“It seems you are preoccupied with thoughts of the Plague Lord, my Lord.”
Since a question had been directed at me, I answered for now.
“Is that not obvious? If there is a demon threatening my Territory, of course I must concern myself with it.”
“You may not realize it, but none of that is obvious at all.”
Rohengreen Ashen met Camilia’s gaze fixed upon him and murmured as if speaking to himself.
“That you would worry for the Territory, for us, and exhaust yourself in this manner—ordinarily….”
He swallowed the words before finishing, but Camilia could discern what Rohengreen Ashen had meant to say.
‘Predictable enough. The Previous Lord would never have done the same.’
Meanwhile, Camilia, despite being a fraud, carried herself far too much like a true Lord.
Even as he found himself drawn to her against his will, such affection felt like a betrayal of the Previous Lord, leaving him conflicted.
Was it possible for a person to be so stubborn and earnest? He was neither a loyal hound unable to abandon even a cruel master, yet he could not bring himself to act.
If loyalty mattered so greatly, he could simply close his eyes and drive his blade into Camilia’s back while calling her a fraud—yet he could not do that either.
At times, it seemed he was not doubting her at all, but rather apologizing for his inability to fully trust Camilia as she strove to revitalize the Territory.
Camilia found Rohengreen Ashen’s attitude difficult to comprehend.
Could he not simply choose one—loyalty or the Territory’s stability—and commit to it?
Rather than continue such a conversation with him, she would find it easier to contend with Zehar Al Rashid for ten hours. He was a time bomb of sorts, but at least he knew clearly what he desired.
Rohengreen Ashen was the complete opposite. He seemed uncertain even of what he himself wished for.
While such humanity was endearing, it was equally inconvenient in its excess.
Because when one’s companions felt too human… how to put it….
‘Hmm.’
Reluctant as she was to admit it, her current mental state appeared rather poor.
That was why she kept entertaining such unnecessary thoughts.
Camilia sighed audibly at Rohengreen Ashen, who stood motionless like a stone monument.
“Very well. Rest.”
Rohengreen Ashen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at those words.
“Rest, my Lord?”
“Have I not said from the beginning that you should rest? It was you who did not believe my words.”
Camilia added in a curt tone.
“I find it difficult to watch my knight behave like a dog that has been kicked. Today, you shall rest thoroughly.”
Only then did Rohengreen Ashen’s cheeks flush as he became objectively aware of what he had done.
“Forgive me, my Lord. That was not my intention….”
“Enough.”
Camilia gestured to Aisha Kandisha, who had been standing motionless like a statue at the entrance, and spoke.
“I won’t overlook this a second time, so there must be no repeat of today’s incident.”
As Camilia leaned into Aisha Kandisha’s embrace after nudging Rohengreen Ashen with her small shoulder, she issued one final warning.
“Remember this well. One person grasping my sleeve and weeping is quite enough—and that person is Zehar Al Rashid alone.”
Stop with the beauty offensive.
Camilia’s blunt command had been conveyed so effectively that Rohengreen Ashen’s ears flushed crimson all the way to their tips.
Flustered, he managed a respectful bow before departing the bedroom.
[Rohengreen Ashen’s affection has increased.]
The rising affection was merely a bonus amid all this.
‘Why is it going up again this time?’
Judging by how he seemed to grow fonder each time the Lord spoke harshly to him or treated him poorly, he was hardly normal either.
Since I had no desire to understand him deeply, I reclined upon the bed.
Just one hour of sleep and then I’d wake to refine my strategy….
If my body felt excessively refreshed upon waking, that would mean I’d failed.
I reflexively checked the Quest window.
Eight hours had already elapsed from the time limit.
It seemed I’d slept quite soundly.
‘Ah, my time….’
I felt regretful enough to die, but it was my own fault for sleeping without being told to wake.
Thanks to that, the fatigue debuff that had dogged me persistently for days was nowhere to be seen. At least that was a relief.
As I threw off the blanket without groaning for the first time in ages and sat up, the bedroom door opened of its own accord.
Entering were the maids who attended to my needs and Zehar Al Rashid, whose expression was somewhat sullen.
‘He must have seen everything through Aisha Kandisha.’
Though his brow was deeply furrowed, the capable Steward attended to his duties first.
“The Adventurer Guild Master has returned. He came with an elf adventurer—would you wish to meet them?”
It seemed that occasionally clumsy old man had managed it after all.
Since this was news I’d been eagerly awaiting, I rose immediately.
“Yes. Do so.”

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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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