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Sir Selddup let himself be carried away by Vur. Ashley had always whisked him away without warning; this experience was nothing new. “What are we eating?” the white dog asked, turning its head to look up at Vur from its spot underneath the man’s armpit. “And it’s your treat, right? You can’t force someone you dognapped to pay for your meal; that’s not cool.”
“I want to eat bear,” Vur said. He glanced around the hall. “Where’s the wooden tablet?”
“It’s down there,” Sir Selddup said and pointed to the left. “If you entered normally, you’d have known. Speaking of entering normally, how did you even enter in the first place? The bad owner never lets anyone in her home except for me.”
“The tower sent me to you,” Vur said and turned to the left in the direction the dog was pointing. “Do you know where we can find bears?”
“What floors have you unlocked?” Sir Selddup asked as the dog’s root bracelet flashed amber. A book appeared in Sir Selddup’s mouth, and he spat it out. Instead of falling to the ground, the book floated in front of him, maintaining a set distance even as Vur walked ahead. “According to the ingredient book, the lowest floor bears are located on is the eleventh.”
Vur nodded. After a minute of walking, the wooden tablet came into view, and Vur placed his hand on top of it. “Eleventh floor.”
Vur’s root bracelet flashed amber, and he squinted at the message that appeared in his vision.
“What’s the matter?” Sir Selddup asked. “Don’t tell me you haven’t cleared all the tutorial floors yet. The eleventh floor is practically the real first floor.”
“I didn’t clear that far yet,” Vur said. He squinted. “Sir Selddup, what do you think about rules?”
“Rules?” the fluffy dog asked. “I hate them. A real dog should be free to jump on couches and go on walks whenever he wants. Rules are something the strong created to oppress the weak. Do you think I’d obey Ashley so easily if she weren’t so powerful?”
Vur nodded. “Okay,” he said and tapped on the air. A second later, the ground trembled as if the tower were struck by an earthquake. Despite the shaking, Vur remained in place without moving, waiting for the tremors to end.
Before the last of the vibrations vanished, Ashley flew down from the sky with mana shooting out of her hands and feet. She landed beside Vur and frowned. “What happened?” she asked. “Did you start an earthquake inside my residence?”
Vur shook his head. “No, it wasn’t me,” he said. “All I did was remove some rules: people don’t need to complete advancement exams to advance now.”
Ashley blinked, her expression becoming blank. As someone who defeated all the lords, it made sense for the tower to allow Vur to make new rules. However, rules new rule didn’t make sense. “Why would you do that?” the Light Lord asked.
“A real dog should be free to jump on couches and go on walks whenever he wants,” Vur said, repeating what Sir Selddup said verbatim. “Rules are something the strong created to oppress the weak.”
Ashley’s expression darkened, and she lowered her gaze onto the dog tucked underneath Vur’s arm. Sir Selddup lowered his head and looked up at Ashley, making sure his eyes were large, round, and sad. He whimpered as his tail drooped, and he stared the Light Lord in the eyes with a large frown on his face. A sigh escaped from Ashley’s mouth as she placed her right hand on her hip and shook her head. She looked at Vur. “You know, countless people are going to die because of this change you made.”
Vur tilted his head. “Why?”
“People overestimate themselves all the time,” Ashley said. “They’ll think they’re ready to conquer more difficult floors when they aren’t. The lords added the requirement of completing exams to advance on each floor to make sure people were prepared for what was to come.”
Vur glanced down at the sad-but-not-really dog under his arm. “I thought you said rules were made by the strong to oppress the weak,” he said.
Sir Selddup switched his sad-puppy gaze onto Vur, but it was useless. Vur’s expression remain unchanged as he waited for an answer, and Sir Selddup had no choice but to clear his throat and explain. “Well, I suppose this is what happens when you base your death-involving decisions on a regular old dog’s advice.”
Stella poked her head out of Vur’s chest. “Regular old dogs don’t talk,” she said. “Are you trying to avoid responsibility?”
“I am a regular old dog, but not a regular dog, you know?” Sir Selddup asked. “I’m more like a knight than I am a social engineer. I don’t know how society will change based on large policy switches.” He shrugged. “If Vur wanted a good answer, he should’ve asked a professional.”
“Oh,” Stella said and nodded. “You do have a good point there.” She narrowed her eyes and grinned as she retreated back inside of Vur’s chest. Her voice rang out near Vur’s left elbow. “Deedee! We have to bring you to the third floor, so you can become a certified handyman.”
“I still have to secure dinner for later though,” Diamant said, speaking slowly.
Ashley raised an eyebrow at the exchange between fairy and elemental. She looked at Vur. “Well, I let you know,” she said. “It’s up to you whether you want to change it or not. Ideally, an exchange of power shouldn’t cause unrest, but it can’t be helped sometimes.”
Vur glanced down at his root bracelet. “Can I change it back?”
The wooden tablet in front of the shirtless man flashed three times, slowly.
“What did it say?” Ashley asked Vur.
“Ellipses.”
“What?” the Light Lord asked. “It said ellipses?”
“The punctuation mark,” Vur said and nodded. “It means the tower is speechless.” He placed his hand on the wooden tablet. “Can you change it back or not?” His root bracelet flashed amber, and he turned to look at Ashley. “I have to wait a week to change it back. Remind me when a week passes.”