Upon climbing to the 3rd floor, the Holy Knight Order and a group of mages were at a standoff. They were examinees for the Gate of Ascension who had come from the neighboring Decibel Territory. Since they had known each other before coming up, six mages had come fully prepared, but no matter what, they were significantly outmatched compared to the Holy Knight Order.
It was a situation where victory and defeat were clear. However, unable to give up on the Demon God, the mages prepared their magic to resist, and the Holy Knight Order also raised their mirror-like shields.
Right before the two groups engaged in battle. I intervened.
"We, who climbed the tower following the teachings of Saint René, fighting each other to obtain it—does that make any sense? Even the strength of a single person is crucial. Instead of fighting, let's cooperate and climb the tower together."
Mages are weak. They have no choice but to accept my mediation.
Holy knights are holy knights. They cannot reject my mediation.
Of course, the mages judged my words to be lies, but I easily saw through their magic and warned them. Your magic is nothing but child's play, and the only reason I don't trample you is because of Saint René.
"In the spirit of Saint René. If you pursue knowledge peacefully, I will share that knowledge with you."
And so, the mages of the Decibel Territory also joined us.
The problem on the 3rd floor was finding the focal point using spatial curvature. With a mage from the Decibel Territory present, we used sound reflection to find the answer in just a few minutes. Feeling the importance of cooperation, the Holy Knight Order headed for the next floor without a word of complaint.
Similar things continued after that. As we climbed higher, more powerful and veteran mages appeared, but they surrendered before the might of our group, which already numbered over twenty. There were some mages who resisted, but before anyone could die, Shei and Lankart immediately subdued them.
The defeated ones also submitted and joined us. Because living is better than dying. It is a rational judgment.
Around the time we reached the 6th floor.
"It's already 50 people."
Shei said with an expression of not knowing whether to be happy or annoyed.
Fifty people shared their rations and took a brief breather. The mages analyzed and discussed the tower's problems as they walked around, while the Holy Knights mediated when the mages raised their voices.
Even in a hastily assembled gathering, order emerged. The competitors, who had already formed a group, decided to cooperate and solve this hardship for now, instead of eliminating each other.
"How is it? It's a better sight than killing each other, right?"
"It's better than that, but is this okay? There's only one Demon God, and we don't know how it'll fall into someone's hands."
"It doesn't matter who gets it or how. We should be thinking about sharing the knowledge gained through the spirit of Saint René."
"You really plan to share it?"
"Of course. Have I ever monopolized knowledge?"
Have I ever monopolized or hidden the Demon God after obtaining it? If anything, I've spread it around.
Knowing this as well, Shei only sighed.
"Yeah. Let's go up and see first."
"Climbing the tower is the most important thing."
"By the way, aren't you going to solve this floor's problem?"
"Lankart already solved it. I'm pondering how to implement it."
For some reason, Lankart has been actively trying to solve the problems since the 3rd floor. Thanks to that, it's become easier for me, and I'm just idly lazing around.
Shei asked with a suspicious gaze.
"What are you doing?"
"Me? I'm just waiting for a moment."
"For what?"
"For the people who will come up here."
As soon as my words ended, a door opened in the ceiling. Nearly ten mages flinched a beat late and tumbled down.
Thanks to the sturdy Holy Knights at the front, we were unharmed, but the other side seemed flustered by the unexpected fall. The first mage to fall chanted a spell.
"Anti-Gravity!"
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Slow landing. A survival magic that mages of the Floating Castle must learn to live within distorted gravity. The mage who effortlessly cast a quite difficult magic let out a sigh of relief. Then, discovering dozens of people, they were greatly startled.
"Uh, uh?"
Perhaps not expecting to find so many people on the 6th floor, they purely shrank back, overwhelmed by the crowd. My role is to soothe them before that mage sprays attack magic.
But there was a somewhat familiar face.
"Huh? Senior Avangard?"
At that, Avangard flinched like a small beast, then upon seeing me, quickly scurried over.
"Hu-Hughes?! Why are you here?"
"Why am I here? It's the Gate of Ascension."
"Ah, yeah. Right. So it was..."
"Anyway, I'd like to ask. Why are you here, Senior Avangard?"
Why would a mage who already resides in the Floating Castle climb the Gate of Ascension? This is pulling up the ladder behind you.
Avangard hesitated before answering.
"Well, the Tower of Babel is a tower even we couldn't climb. Babel is a repository of all kinds of knowledge gathered by the Demon Lord. We can't give that up."
"Still. It's dangerous, isn't it?"
"...Huh? Are you worried about me?"
Instead of answering my words, Avangard just chuckled. From somewhere, a tongue-clicking sound was heard, and Lankart briefly glanced over before muttering, "As expected," and turning his head away.
Archbishop Elton approached and asked.
"Are you acquaintances?"
"Yes. He's a senior one year above me."
"Hmm. If it's an acquaintance, there shouldn't be any particularly troublesome matters. I'll leave it to you."
Lacking magical knowledge, the Holy Knights, who possessed magic resistance and divine power, played a role similar to security forces. The knights who had come over in case a physical clash broke out scattered again.
Avangard muttered as he watched them.
"Holy Knights?"
"Yes. We ran into them on the way up, and agreed to travel together until we finish climbing the tower."
"Is that okay? I mean, there's only going to be one relic of Saint René, right?"
"Even if the relic can't be shared, knowledge can. I can't promise the relic to everyone, but I will share the worth of climbing Babel."
"Interpreting the relic won't be that easy. There are many cases where you research for years and only end up empty-handed. I, I was like that too before you came."
"That won't happen to me."
"Hmph. Show-off..."
'But if it's Hughes, he might really pull it off. His magic interpretation ability is superior to anyone else's. If Hughes interprets it for me, I might be able to understand that magic too.'
I'm sorry, but that's still unknown. If René isn't a Demon God and hasn't left an impression in the relic, or if I can't read the Demon Lord's thoughts, I might not be able to understand it. Please understand.
"And Senior Avangard, you also came with other people."
"Ah. These people are..."
Avangard glanced at me but couldn't finish his words. It seemed he had circumstances he couldn't speak of. Of course, with my telepathy, I had seen through it long ago.
'They are other mages of the Crystal Tower who gathered to explore the Demon God's relic. There's no rule saying we can't enter, and we agreed to research it jointly if we obtain the relic. It's a secret that we came down here for now, though.'
The relic of the Spatial Demon God (presumed), René, offered as the prize of the Gate of Ascension. This is a treasure any mage would aim for. A mage of the Floating Castle yielding it out of consideration for future generations? That would truly be an irrational act.
But it's not like everyone came solely to claim this.
"..."
'Hughes's claim to share knowledge won't be a lie. If it were Lankart and Shei, they could have crushed them one by one before all these people united. The moment he gathered them to make it harder to deal with, Hughes's actions gained sincerity.'
Among the group of mages from the Crystal Tower. There was someone who covered their skin with thin ice to distort their appearance, scattered light to disguise themselves, and mimicked the appearance of a tall, slender man.
'Hughes. Your intentions are good. Since you are the king of humans, you won't hesitate to bestow upon humans.'
Blue Tower Master. Elicia Celsius.
One of the five Tower Masters of the Floating Castle, and one who once belonged to the Demon God Cult and glimpsed the secrets of the world.
And the mastermind who sent Lord Johannes as a spy.
'But you must not trust all humans. There are humans in this world who must not be trusted. Humans who turn knowledge that should be a blessing to all into curses and fear are hiding.'
Using the White Tower Master's light magic, she hid her identity with the Mask of White Light, which distorted light to change her impression, and slipped in among the mages of the Crystal Tower. Seeing as even Avangard didn't know, it seemed she had prepared a fake identity from the start.
The Blue Tower Master fiddled with the light magic and silently observed her surroundings. The Holy Knight Order, the mages, and the mercenaries. Having scanned them all, she calmly finished her thoughts.
'No one obtaining it is the best outcome. The Holy Knight Order claiming it is the second best. There is nothing after that. Even if the situation worsens, the Demon God Cult must never obtain that knowledge.'
This was something I had already read in advance with telepathy.
Lord Johannes is the master of the Blue Tower. If he acts as a spy, the information will surely be passed up above him. Naturally, to the Blue Tower Master or the Demon Lord.
But the Demon Lord has no need for a spy. The Demon Lord is close to omnipotent, after all. Didn't the Demon Lord offer the reward for this Tower of Babel?
Then there's only one.
The Blue Tower Master came to the tower as expected, and now the tower will become a bit more interesting.
"Hey, Hughes."
"Wha!"
At that time, Shei poked my side. Startled by the sudden attack that even telepathy couldn't read, I twisted my body.
Shei pouted her lips and said.
"What are you dawdling around for?"
"Huh? When was I playing around?"
"Right now."
"Does it look like I'm playing? I was persuading the new people! I did the exact same thing from the 2nd to the 5th floor!"
"You know them. Just finish it roughly instead of dragging it out."
I've talked so much until now! I spent nearly an hour mediating those who were frothing at the mouth and trying to fight each other on the 5th floor, so that was a flash in the pan!
I was speechless at the truly absurd interruption. In contrast, Avangard seemed to find something to say.
"D-dragging it out is your side...! We're talking after a long time, why are you interrupting?"
"Interrupt? That's my line. You have to climb the tower, so what are you going to do just holding onto him and talking? You should be thinking about solving the 6th floor's problem. Are you going to leave it to Hughes without even trying to solve it yourself?"
"Ugh...! What about you! Why did you come if you're not solving the tower's problems!"
"M-me? I'm not in charge of solving problems."
"Where does such a thing exist! You're the one who climbed by clinging to Hughes! You can't even climb the 1st floor by yourself!"
"Hughes is my colleague, so we're one body!"
"Why only you? Then I'm one body with Hughes too!"
Hey. Why are you arguing over my body among yourselves? I have no intention of sharing a body with anyone.
"Huey. I solved it. I've implemented a pseudo-gravity space with a spherical magic circle, so the response should come slowly now..."
Lankart, who had solved the tower's problem, stopped approaching and made an annoyed expression.
"A woman again?"
"It turned out that way."
"Solve that problem yourself. Don't let it come to me."
"You're worrying for nothing. Have I ever passed a problem onto you?"
"...True. It's because you even solve those kinds of problems that it's you."
Lankart sighed and snapped his fingers.
The 6th floor was a section with shifting gravity like the Floating Castle. Lankart found the inflection point of gravity in the surging gravity field and activated the magic circle. The distortion created a hole in space, and beyond it, stairs were visible.
"Ooh. It worked. It was a gravity inflection point problem after all..."
A Holy Knight who discovered the door opening rose to his feet and muttered.
"Is it the 7th floor now? Where does it end?"
"The Tower of Babel is also a tower, so it must be 10 floors."
"Why? Other towers exceed 10 floors."
"The 10th floor doesn't simply mean the number of floors. The change in digits means it goes beyond existing concepts and requires a higher-dimensional concept."
A mage who overheard his soliloquy explained as if giving a lecture.
"When the concept of numbers didn't exist, fingers were needed to count. But after using all ten fingers, they couldn't count any further. To overcome that limit, numbers were born. Ten means a realm that transcends existing concepts."
"So Babel will also be 10 floors? Do you have conviction?"
"...I don't have conviction."
"Come on. It's just speculation, right? Forget it, let's just go up."
They seem to have gotten quite close even though they haven't known each other for long. Considering that mages and clergy differ in fundamental aspects—their ideology regarding the existence of gods—it's a huge leap forward.
As they had done up until now, the Holy Knight Order entered first. The priestly order and Archbishop Elton followed, and the rest of the mages packed their belongings and moved. Just as nearly sixty people were about to move.
"Halt!"
"It's an ambush, prepare!"
Clang.
The sound of clashing swords. Screams and shouts echoed from beyond.
At the same time, a dizzying scent was felt. The smell of poison and blood crossed over the space. Archbishop Elton urgently threw himself in, and the priests clasped their hands together in prayer.
The tense mages grabbed their staves and pointed them forward. I too, fully tense, pushed past the people and went forward.
And there.
"Heh. You guys give off a fresh scent... nauseatingly so."
"There are a lot of you. It'd be best to thin the herd first."
A group of mercenaries armed with swords, spears, and maces waited, exuding the fishy scent of blood.