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“Those traits still don’t explain how humans are the strongest in the tower,” Tafel said. “Goblins breed faster than humans. I’m not sure what exactly they eat, but I’m sure you’d classify it as garbage too. As for ruining things around them, goblins mess with frontier towns all the time.”
Lindyss shook her head. “You probably can’t see it because you’re a demon; demons and humans are cut from the same cloth after all,” the cursed elf said. “Trees provide so much to so many different creatures: shade, shelter, sustenance. For us elves, they provide a wealth of experience and knowledge, and they’re not stingy with their advice either. Yet, humans cut down the grandest and oldest trees to turn into furniture because they can’t let their sensitive butts touch the ground as they eat.”
“It’s not just about our sensitive butts,” Jasmine said, chiming in with a small voice. “Charcoal is essential in smelting for us, and wood is one of the better materials for making mana conduits.”
“You’re just proving her point,” Ashley said. “While you’re at it, why don’t you tell her about the lakes we can set on fire because of all the junk we’ve thrown in them?
Sir Selddup, who Ashley was using as a footrest, shook himself off, causing the Light Lord to frown and withdraw her feet. Sir Selddup climbed up and wandered over to the campfire where a few fish were being cooked on sticks. The white dog bit one of the fish and pulled it out from the fire, not caring about getting burnt, before returning to his spot by Ashley’s feet. “Humans are the lords of the tower because they’re the only ones who want the position; after all, they created the position themselves,” Sir Selddup said and blew on the roasted fish to cool it down. “It’s inappropriate to call them the strongest individuals. Like you said, there are dragons and phoenixes and elves and dwarves and other creatures like dogs who’re stronger than the lords.”
Lindyss raised an eyebrow. “Yet the tower’s still going to be destroyed by the Oebu Sin?” she asked, turning her head off to the side.
“They’re all too prideful or selfish,” a low voice said, coming from the direction Lindyss was looking. Everyone turned their heads to see Kim Hajun sit up and climb off the ground, his tattered and bloody clothes making him seem like a zombie. “Rather than working together to fight the Oebu Sin, they’ll fight on their own and die miserable deaths or flee the tower at the first signs of it falling.”
“He’s a prophet, right?” Jasmine whispered to Ashley. “How good of a prophet are we talking? The win-the-lottery kind or the a-really-good-computer-would-be-better-than-him kind?”
“He’s the almost-died-to-a-woman-he-didn’t-know kind,” Ashley said, gesturing towards Mary with her head.
“Oh, right,” Jasmine said and nodded. “I understand.”
Kim Hajun’s expression darkened. Although he wanted to tell her she didn’t understand anything, he didn’t exactly hold the strongest of positions. The Wind Lord had a front-row seat to his humiliating defeat, and all of his knowledge of the future was way off because of Vur.
“Regardless,” Lindyss said and clicked her knitting needles together. “We didn’t invite you to our residence to talk about the Oebu Sin. We’re here to talk terms of your surrender.”
“Terms of what now?” Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow.
A faint smile appeared on Lindyss’ lips. “Did you think it’d end so easily after you attacked us?”
“When we did what now?” Jasmine asked, her eyebrow raising even further.
“If you want to make peace, you have to show some sincerity,” Lindyss said. “I imagine large guilds such as yourselves have a lot of information squirreled away: the best ways to grow stronger, locations of rare herbs and such, how to obtain various hidden pieces. We want all your knowledge of the tower; I want everything.”
“That’s fine,” Ashley said and nodded. She stood up and went over to Lindyss’ side and held out her left wrist. “If you connect your root bracelet to mine, you can access the data I have stored.”
Lindyss held her root bracelet against Ashley’s, and streams of amber light pulsed, entering Lindyss’ root bracelet from the Light Lord’s. “These things are pretty convenient, huh?” the cursed elf asked. “I could probably convince E into crafting something similar.”
“That lazybones dwarf?” Tafel asked. “It’ll be tough to convince him to crafting anything.”
Lindyss nodded. “I have my ways,” she said and turned her head towards Tafel. “Speaking of crafting. Shouldn’t you head to the smithery on the fourth floor? You did say you’d practice there an hour a day.”
Tafel blinked. “We’re not going to keep climbing the tower?”
“I prefer not to be stared at like a caged animal,” Lindyss said. “When all the commotion about us dies down, we’ll continue. In the meantime, with the new information about the tower I’m getting, I’ll create a much more interesting itinerary for us.”
Tafel scratched her head. After hearing about the dragon that defeated the lords of the tower, people came crowding to the fifth floor to get a good look at the new strongest being in the tower. Even if the crowd stood at a distance without approaching the group, it was still awkward. “Alright,” the demon said and looked at Vur. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to sleep,” Vur said, his voice deepening as his neck elongated. His skin turned into scales as he polymorphed himself into a dragon. He stretched his neck towards the sky and let out a large yawn as he arched his back, his tail stiffening as it pointed behind him. The ground shook as Vur flopped against it, his body curling into a ball. “Ruling towers is tiring.”
Lindyss furrowed her brow and turned her head towards Tafel. “Actually, why don’t you plan out the itinerary?”
“Me?” Tafel asked and pointed at herself. She scratched her head. “I don’t really want to….”
“Well, someone has to,” Lindyss said and leaned back in her seat, disconnecting her root bracelet from Ashley’s, “and it’s not going to be me.”