Babel was far wider than it appeared. I walked silently for nearly five minutes, but nothing came into view. Ceiling, walls, floor—all that was visible were endlessly continuing bricks.
Just how many bricks were needed to build this tower? People often liken countless numbers to grains of sand on a beach, but I thought even that would be insufficient to build this Babel.
Strange. No matter how much spatial magic is involved, it shouldn't be like this. When viewed from outside, it wasn't this far.
"Miss Shei. Did we change direction somewhere along the way?"
"Not at all."
Shei had her arms crossed and was frowning.
Traveling together like this, I could gauge her mood without reading her thoughts. Right now, Shei had become extremely sensitive. Babel's distorted space was disrupting her qi.
We hadn't changed direction, had kept going straight, yet the corridor still showed no end.
"Hmm. An endlessly continuing space. This must be the first trial."
That doesn't make sense. If someone could create infinite space, who would buy houses and land? There must be some trick.
Magic, like sleight of hand, is nothing more than an absurdly simple trick once you understand its mystery. A card trick of flipping the same cards in sequence may look impressive, but it's often just memorization. Once you peel back that layer of mystery, only absurd truth remains.
Thinking normally, we must be circling the same space. I asked Shei.
"Miss Shei. Has our direction ever changed?"
"Not even once has it deviated. It hasn't veered anywhere. We've been going straight this whole time."
"Hmm. How curious."
Since spatial magic is involved, it's probably not such a simple trick... This is tricky.
I'm someone who solves problems with telepathy. By reading the minds of those who pose the problems and finding the answers, I've been called a genius. But I'm weak when it comes to problems like this where no person is involved.
Shei spoke without turning her head even slightly.
"This kind of thing should be solved by a mage. Hughes, Lankart. Isn't this your specialty? Solve it quickly."
Lankart gave a light snort.
"You idiot."
"What?"
"Huey already knows the answer. The reason Huey is choosing his words right now isn't because he can't solve this, but to explain it in a way even an idiot like you can understand."
Hey hey hey. What does that mean? Are you calling Shei an idiot right now?
At that, Shei slightly raised her eyes and glared at me.
"Really?"
"No, well."
Lankart's expectations of me are too high, and he sincerely believes in them. The strongest 'Huey' he imagines is a genius who, while physically weak, is intellectually superior to anyone else in this world. Lankart himself is a person worthy of being called a genius of the century, but for him to rate me even higher than himself is overwhelming to keep up with.
But I can't show weakness either. This guy Lankart is constantly waiting for a chance to test me. He fashions himself as my friend and follower, but no one watches and tests me more than Lankart. If I show weakness, I might get torn apart.
I said.
"Not quite. I was thinking about how to deal with this. Unlike Lankart or Miss Shei, the means I can use are limited."
"So you know the method?"
"Yes. As a magician myself, I can easily see through a trick of this level."
"What does sleight of hand have to do with magic?"
"It means they're the same kind of trick. Watch."
I threw a card backward. The card spinning in a curve flew and lodged itself between the bricks. Then I walked forward slowly counting. How far had I walked? Far in the distance, a card lodged between the bricks appeared.
Shei found the card and spoke as if having a great revelation.
"A card? I got it. This space is repeating!"
"...."
Her sparkling eyes turned toward me as if seeking praise. I smiled awkwardly.
Did you just realize it's repeating now? That can't be right. How should I explain this.
"Speaking as if you just realized an obvious fact... What is that? Are you trying to seduce Huey by appealing to your stupidity?"
"Wh-what? Seduce? That can't be! Who seduces someone with stupidity?"
'If it were anything else, maybe!'
Would anything else work?
As if representing my inner feelings, Lankart sighed and said.
"If we were circling the same space, both Huey and I would have known long ago. This is a spatial curvature problem."
"Spatial curvature?"
"In magic, a circle is the most common form of shape. It symbolizes equal force radiating from a single center. In the world of magic, a circular arc is the same as a straight line. This corridor we're walking appears to be a straight line, but it's a circle at the exact same phase from the center of the spatial magic."
"Hmm."
'What does it mean that a circular arc is the same as a straight line...'
You wouldn't know if you're not a mage. That's something that comes up in magic circle theory. So don't nod and pretend you understand. It makes you look even worse.
"Climbing the Tower of Babel is the same as entering a magic circle and interpreting its structure. The reason Huey walked a full circle was to survey the entire magic circle. Do you understand?"
"Yeah. Roughly."
"I can tell you have no idea."
"What did you say!"
"It doesn't matter. Huey will solve the problem anyway, and you just need to swing your sword as Huey tells you."
Shei, whose ignorance had been exposed, fumed and shouted.
"If you're so great, then you solve it!"
"You idiot. I've already solved it. I'm just waiting for Huey's insight."
"Why? Not confident?"
"Confidence? This isn't a matter of confidence. It's a matter of judgment."
Shei might have said that to provoke him, but Lankart didn't care in the slightest.
"Huey is superior to me, so I wait for Huey's judgment. It's only natural to follow the judgment of the superior."
"...Hughes is?"
"The superior person stands above. That's the rule of the Magic Federation. And Huey is superior to any human I've ever seen. He'll even know the answers I couldn't find."
...No, I didn't really find anything more.
Right now it's just me, Lankart, and Shei. Only three of us. The smartest person in this space is Lankart, and I, who reads Lankart's thoughts, reach a similar level.
What good is telepathy? If there's nothing to read around, it's just useless. Other than Lankart, something that could be of help.
"So what? Should we just break the walls?"
"Hold on!"
There isn't any!
Shei raised Jizan as if she'd smash the corridor at any moment. I quickly stopped her.
"If you want to get outside, you can smash things randomly, but if you want to climb Babel, you need to find the answer and head to the correct space."
"So where is that correct space!"
"Let me see."
We're circling the same spot, but we've been going straight without even slightly veering. Then it can't be the walls on either side. So it's either up or down.
...And the number of bricks on the ceiling and floor is different. There are more bricks on the ceiling. The size is the same, but the vertical count is different.
"Miss Shei."
"Yeah?"
"The bricks on the ceiling. Please remove three rows. Not less, not more, exactly three rows."
"Okay."
Shei swung Jizan without a moment's hesitation.
Whatever the case with her head, her swordsmanship had reached mastery. Even if she lacks talent, her honed swordsmanship drew a beautiful arc and destroyed exactly three rows of bricks from the corridor ceiling as it passed.
Vibrations ran through the corridor, loud rumbling echoed, and the broken bricks should have scattered like dust.
But nothing happened.
The distorted space returned to its original state. The three missing rows of bricks disappeared as if they had never existed. What lay beyond was a void that seemed to twinkle with distant starlight.
The infinite void above the sky that I had seen when flying to the Floating Star with Lankart was spread out before my eyes. I said.
"Space?"
But only for a moment. The corridor unfolded.
A clicking, interlocking sensation came from beneath my feet. The ceiling moved as if a wound were healing, filling in the three missing rows of bricks.
Sealed ceiling. Interlocked space. The corridor stretched out straight just like before, but something was different. As the number of bricks on the ceiling and floor became equal, the spatial curvature changed to a straight line.
"Hughes. There's something up ahead."
Feeling the sense of discordance disappear, Shei opened her seven-colored eyes. With the far-seeing eyes of the Ram's Eye, Shei discovered a door at the end of the corridor and shouted.
"It's a door! There's a door up ahead."
"The hidden door was revealed as the space unfolded."
"So this is how it works? Spatial magic is rare so I didn't know. Certainly, with this structure, it would have been difficult on my own. Even if I use artifacts, I don't know much about magic theory."
No one even asked you... You're not a mage so it's fine if you can't solve it. Why do you care so much? Is your pride hurt?
I only thought that in my head. But my friend didn't hold back.
"Don't mumble about just a first floor problem. Huey likes stupid women, so just squeal next to him. He'll take you along just fine."
"...Hughes. Can I get rid of this guy?"
"Endure it. She's capable at least."
I want to remove him too. But this problem was also one Lankart solved and I read it. He's my cheat sheet. Can't help it.
Lankart held his head high and said.
"That's right. I am capable. This is the difference between you and me."
"Hughes solved it, so why are you acting like you're so great!"
"There are infinitely many ways to solve spatial curvature. You can calculate using light observation magic, or reverse-calculate the curvature using gravity magic. Huey simply solved it in a way even an idiot could understand."
"...."
'I just removed some bricks, I still don't understand...'
What is that thought? Are you admitting you're an idiot?
Opening the door, ascending stairs appeared. It meant we had passed the trial. Shei carefully stepped on the stairs and spread her senses. Surprisingly, no sense of discordance was felt on the stairs. It seemed the Demon King hadn't installed traps or problems on the stairs.
Shei led the way up and asked.
"Do we just go up like this? We must be the first ones to pass, right?"
"Not likely. As I said earlier, the spatial curvature problem is tricky, not unsolvable. Several people have probably already passed ahead of us."
"...I didn't ask you."
"I know. But Huey would wrap it in pretty words, so I spoke directly instead."
"I don't need that!"
Shei fumed and threw open the next door. Then she froze.
"...Huh?"
A large, spacious hall on the second floor appeared. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling like a banquet hall, and carpets were laid on the floor. Across this luxurious hall that didn't suit a magic tower at all, there was a large door, and no matter how you looked at it, that seemed to be where we needed to go.
Glass chairs and tables were placed here and there, but that wasn't the important thing.
"Are they examinees?"
Because seated at the tables were clergy and holy knights wearing white priestly robes.
Among them, the oldest and most robust-looking clergy member drew the sign of the cross and stood up. Even time seemed unable to wear him down, as the contours of muscle were visible beneath his clothes.
Is he a clergyman, or a martial fighter? Is he one of those called monks?
Archbishop Elton approached us gently but imposingly.
"To receive guidance just as we were wandering lost—this too must be the guidance of the Heavenly God. I am very pleased to meet you like this. Excuse me, but may I ask for directions? Do you know how one can climb this tower?"
'If they refuse to tell me willingly, it won't be too late to deal with them then.'
Why on earth is the Holy Knight Order in a magic tower?