Fortunately, I managed to convince Rosella not to enter the boss room we had found.
It wasn't hard to do, since she knew it would be practically suicide, but it still took some harsh words to persuade her.
As we walked toward the stairs leading to the fifth floor, a heavy silence settled between Rosella and me.
I could have bet she was wondering how I knew enough about her situation to not only reveal she was in debt, but also that she had hit rock bottom.
To be honest, when I said it, I didn't think much about it.
I was more focused on keeping her from finding out that I had already defeated the boss.
If a few hours had passed, I wouldn't have worried about it.
Why? Well, the entity—or divine being—that created the Tower of Babel had a peculiar sense of humor.
As in any MMORPG with dungeons, bosses in nearly all of the Tower of Babel's dungeons revived after a certain amount of time.
That time varied from one dungeon to another. Some revived in hours; others could take months or even years.
Take the Hurbungo Troll on Level 12, for example.
People defeated the dungeon boss in a forest and decided to turn the area into a night market.
The night market eventually started opening during the day, and people began building bases around it because they were spending months inside the Tower and needed a safe place to sleep.
On the fifth anniversary of the Troll's defeat, the market was crowded with people celebrating.
That's when the Troll returned and, with a single swing of his club, destroyed the tents and killed many people.
From that day on, the Church began warning everyone not to build in boss zones.
I still didn't know whether Laufus would return or not, because, theoretically, I had taken his soul and made him my servant.
But Rosella could sense that a recent battle had occurred and that the boss was no longer there.
Luckily, my words were enough to distract Rosella and make her focus on something else.
I could feel the back of my neck burning from her gaze.
I knew what she wanted to ask, but she didn't say anything, and soon I lost my patience.
"Are you going to ask what's on your mind or not?" I asked, stopping and glancing back briefly.
She jumped slightly, then quickly pointed at me. "I knew it! You can read minds!"
"What?!" I exclaimed, overly dramatic, before quickly trying to return to the expressionless look people expect from a protagonist.
"Khum... I mean, what did you say?"
"I said you're a mind reader! You figured out I was screwed earlier, and now you 'accidentally'," she made air quotes with her hands, "figured out I was thinking about it!"
A bead of sweat slid down my cheek—not from nervousness, but from sheer indignation.
Rosella Tynes had always been seen as an innocent character, but dumb? That was new to me.
"Although, come to think of it, it does make sense she'd think that," I thought, massaging my temples.
"Her family's situation is practically a state secret. It would be strange—or at least suspicious—if some random guy like me knew about it. I need to think fast and come up with a better explanation."
"I'm not a mind reader," I finally said.
Rosella stopped, crossed her arms, and stared at me with lowered eyebrows and a humorless mouth.
"Then what are you?" she asked.
"I'm just someone who notices people a lot and thinks even more. I know you have an important last name, but if someone as unimportant as you—like Anton Wilxes — is accompanied by a bodyguard on his first mission in the Tower, I can only assume you ran away from home or are out of money. Probably both. And considering the way you looked toward the Boss's room, it was just as I said... I've seen that look before. Fear veiled by greed. I felt the same when I looked at that door and imagined finding piles of gold."
Rosella's gaze drifted as she listened to me, moving farther and farther away.
[Your understanding of the character Rosella Tynes has increased.]
When I saw the system screen appear, I flinched slightly. I knew this window was tied to my [Character List] skill, but I still didn't understand how this ability could be more useful than just helping me recall some information.
Sure, information was important. But what did it mean that my understanding of Rosella Tynes had increased if everything I said to her was already something I knew?
"You're right..." Rosella muttered suddenly, snapping my attention away from the screen. "Your reading of me was spot on. I can't believe I let all that show so clearly that even a commoner noticed."
"Commoner?" The word felt like a stab to the chest.
"You must promise me you won't tell anyone what you know!" Rosella demanded, this time with a serious look.
"More promises? Seriously? In line, you made me swear not to tell anyone who you were—even though you introduced yourself with your real name. Then you announced both names to the guard and caused a scene anyway."
"Erh..." She scratched the side of her head. "Words aren't exactly my strong suit."
"I'd say people aren't either," I muttered, curling my lip slightly.
"Promise! Please, you have to promise!" Rosella insisted, extending her right hand with only her pinky raised.
I stared at her pinky. Was she a child or something, thinking a pinky promise was enough to protect information like that?
Crossing my arms, I said,
"I can promise to keep something like that to myself, but you don't expect me to do it for free, do you?"
Her eyebrows shot up. "What? You want money or something?"
"I could probably charge a lot for keeping this kind of secret, but what I really want is something else."
She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a contemptuous look.
It took me a moment to process what she thought I meant, and I sighed.
"I don't want you. I prefer taller women with... well, more curves overall," I said bluntly. "What I really want is for you to join my Guild."
"Join your Guild? But you're a rookie — just like me."
"Yes, I am. But the easiest way to get rich in this world is by joining a Guild. I can't stand being bossed around, so I want to form my own. And having rich—I mean, talented—members like you is the bare minimum for a strong start."
My proposal was sincere. Having Rosella Tynes as a partner wouldn't weaken the military strength of the true protagonist, Hunter Ruse, but it would help me achieve my goals and secure a valuable ally. She might be mentally limited, but her sword skills and social connections more than made up for it.
"Hmm... Can I think about it?" Rosella asked.
That hurt my ego a little, because in the original story she applied to join the Hunter Ruse Guild, but there was no reason to complain too much. I knew she would accept in the end.
"Yes, you can think about it."
Finally, we continued on our way and returned to the fifth floor. I had walked almost the entire fifth floor before finding the staircase to the fourth, and I had drawn a mental map in my head. So, it wasn't hard to find the way back down.
I just didn't expect things to be even worse than on the lower levels.
The place was crawling with Hollow Knights, and in the center of the first chamber, we found Anton Wilxes and Kyle Barlow, both completely surrounded by a small horde of monsters and fighting for their lives.
"Fireball!" Anton exclaimed, and a sphere of flame shot out of his hands toward a Hollow Knight, but when the ball hit the monster, nothing happened.
"I told you to stop using that attack! It's not effective against these monsters!"
"Shut up! Fire is effective against everything!"