I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 8

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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 8. Blocking Variables
The Guild Master was a person of exceptional perceptiveness.
The moment I sent forth the magical messenger bird I had conjured, he came rushing to the castle.
Then he promptly prostrated himself on the audience chamber carpet.
“My sincerest apologies, my lord! My incompetence has caused you great concern!”
Camilia saw through his transparent performance.
“Clear it all out before sunrise.”
“Those who failed to assemble properly, I’ve already kneaded them… Pardon?”
Camilia did not respond.
Instead, she tapped the armrest of her chair.
Rohengreen Ashen, standing beside her, spoke on her behalf.
“Did you not understand what my lord said? She intends to revoke the Adventurer Guild’s operating license in this territory.”
“I… what?”
“Whatever misunderstanding you’ve harbored, my lord did not seek your assistance. She was granting you a favor.”
Rohengreen Ashen was right.
I could easily clear the first floor without relying on adventurers at all.
Whether the adventurers trapped inside The Tower lived or died was of no consequence to me.
Those with abilities comparable to companion characters typically manage to escape on their own.
The monsters that emerged from The Tower were no different.
Even without clearing them beforehand, once I conquered the boss room before the barrier lifted, they would vanish automatically.
It didn’t matter if I couldn’t clear it in time.
By making the monsters fight each other and reducing their numbers, the guards alone could handle what remained.
Yet I spent considerable coin hiring adventurers specifically to obtain Netanel Fragma.
Since this was no longer a game, I wanted to see if my strategy could be adapted to these new circumstances.
It was a test of sorts.
I had assumed the Adventurer Guild would naturally move according to my wishes.
‘Because that’s how it worked in the game.’
I had spoken of this being reality rather than a game, yet I had forgotten the most crucial thing.
What stood before me were not NPCs following a script.
They were human beings.
Even competent humans who pledge to perform well can fail depending on circumstances.
Adventurers were no exception.
They moved according to emotion rather than logic, prioritizing their own feelings even in the face of the territory’s crisis.
‘I was careless.’
Companion characters like Rohengreen Ashen and Netanel Fragma acted within predictable parameters, so I had assumed others would do the same.
But they were human beings, for better or worse.
A truly troublesome variable, but I had no time to dwell on it.
Once the sun rose, I would enter The Tower immediately.
With every second precious, I could not afford to coax and placate adventurers or consider their circumstances.
Expelling the Adventurer Guild from my territory would be quite inconvenient, but it was not without solutions.
“When uncontrolled strays prowl near the flock, it falls to the master to drive them away with a staff.”
Camilia looked down at the Guild Master with cold eyes as he grew pale and broke into a cold sweat.
“If a stray bares its teeth while the fence lies broken, it deserves to be beaten to death.”
“Y-Your Lordship….”
“A pack leader is still a pack leader, is it not? The choice is yours to make.”
Persuasion? Coaxing? Raising affection? Offering more rewards?
Tedious, pedantic, and far too time-consuming.
Leave now or die.
Efficient, logical, and swift.
Surely this was the solution modern people favored most.
Camilia asked calmly.
“Answer me. Which will you choose?”
After the half-dazed Guild Master departed, Camilia immediately summoned the rest of her party members.
“You called for us, Your Lordship.”
Rohengreen, clad in silver armor with a shield strapped across his back.
“I’m ready whenever you are, my employer.”
Netanel Fragma, draped in a robe embroidered with golden thread and holding a scepter of gold.
Both were reassuringly dependable.
The headache caused by those adventurers seemed to melt away entirely.
‘That’s right. As long as my party members obey, that’s all that matters.’
Camilia boarded the carriage at once, bringing Zehar along with the other two.
On the road toward The Tower, surrounded by its barrier, she turned to Netanel Fragma sitting across from her and asked.
“Netanel Fragma, have you ever entered The Tower before?”
Netanel Fragma smiled brightly.
“Since I haven’t been in the Territory long, not yet.”
‘My, she’s lying without batting an eye?’
The claim about never entering The Tower was true.
But saying she hadn’t been in the Territory long was pure falsehood.
‘Netanel Fragma, you’ve been sneaking in and out of this Territory for over a decade.’
About half of the recruitment quest involved finding traces of the past—where did she think she was hiding?
“You may be a fine priestess, but you’ll never be a good merchant. You’re simply terrible at lying.”
As she rebuked her with the air of knowing everything, Netanel Fragma laughed and responded.
“Oh my, you knew all along and still asked? You’re quite mischievous, my employer.”
[Netanel Fragma’s affection has increased.]
Perhaps because she viewed formidable lords as excellent trading partners, Netanel Fragma’s affection soared.
Truly peculiar taste.
But in a situation like this, it proved quite useful.
“Do you know the decisive difference between The Tower and other dungeons?”
“Hmm, the decisive difference, you say….”
The Tower was a dungeon that was exceptional in many ways.
That it hadn’t been conquered in a thousand years.
That each floor revealed an entirely different world.
That most monsters possessed mana stones.
Truthfully, none of this was particularly unusual.
The Great Labyrinth had similarly remained unconquered for over three hundred years, and there were occasional dungeons where space shifted between floors.
What distinguished The Tower from other dungeons was the existence of an ‘Administrator’.
An Administrator who performed impossible miracles—installing gates to prevent monsters from escaping while allowing people to enter and exit freely.
“If I had to give just one answer, wouldn’t it be your existence, my lord? The Tower exists because you do, after all.”
“Correct.”
“Wow, how exciting. Is there a reward as well?”
“No reward, but I’ll teach you something interesting instead.”
“Something interesting, you say…?”
“The Tower despises me.”
Camilia continued, her eyes narrowing with an enigmatic gleam.
“Having been oppressed for a thousand years, everything within The Tower has come to hate me so intensely they’ve gone mad. Because of this, whenever I enter The Tower, strange things tend to occur.”
“My, that’s a far more terrifying truth than I expected.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I know everything regarding The Tower, including the solutions.”
Netanel Fragma asked with a wry smile.
“So I should listen carefully to what you say… but something tells me the conversation won’t end there. Is there something you want from me?”
I appreciated having such a perceptive ally.
Camilia answered matter-of-factly.
“I wish to place a ‘restriction’ upon you.”
“Ah, I see. So if I disobey my employer and act on my own, there are these ‘strange occurrences’ that would spell disaster for me?”
“The problem is there’s more than one.”
The Tower was a space brimming with variables and malice.
With truly bad luck, even a level fifteen adventurer could die on the first floor.
‘It’s best to minimize variables as much as possible.’
Rohengreen Ashen and Zehar, with their high loyalty and affection, were still trustworthy, but Netanel Fragma was different.
It was better to settle things clearly now than to trust her carelessly like I would an Adventurer Guild member and end up backstabbed.
“The restriction will be temporary and will be lifted the moment you exit The Tower.”
“Hmm… Is this restriction the same method you plan to use on the leaders of the monsters?”
Though vaguely phrased, the question essentially asked whether I intended to use brainwashing not only on monsters but on people as well.
Camilia didn’t hesitate to confirm it.
“Yes.”
An ordinary person would have been horrified.
But Netanel Fragma was no ordinary person.
“A reasonable proposal. What will the restriction entail?”
“During combat with enemies within The Tower, you will immediately obey any command I issue. However, you may refuse orders that threaten your safety or contradict your duties as a priest. The restriction period lasts until we exit The Tower again.”
After deliberating for a while, she held up three fingers.
“Three platinum coins. Nothing less will do.”
“Agreed.”
A fair deal.
Netanel Fragma was quite satisfied, but Rohengreen Ashen, seated beside her, was not.
His blue eyes wavered like turbulent waves.
He’d witnessed a man sell his dignity for three thousand gold coins, and a master readily purchase it—no wonder he looked terrified rather than merely confused.
I was about to placate him, worried his loyalty might waver, when Rohengreen Ashen swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“I’ll take one as well.”
‘Huh?’
“Since this is my first time entering The Tower, I’d like a restraint to ensure I don’t disappoint you, my lord——”
“That’s enough.”
I cut him off before he could finish.
“Restraints exist to compensate for insufficient trust. You don’t need one.”
Rohengreen Ashen’s blue eyes rippled once more, visibly deeper this time.
[Rohengreen Ashen’s loyalty increases.]
His loyalty surged in response.
My blunt refusal seemed to have moved him considerably.
‘The skill only has three uses left, and I need to save them for Named monsters anyway.’
My conscience pricked, I averted my gaze slightly.
Sorry, Rohengreen.
Anyway, I’ll treat you well going forward…

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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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