ITITPS 4

Chapter : 4

Then Serena took a step back.

Her eyes still dripped with lingering regret and worry.

“…It seems dinner is impossible now. Let’s go up to the room first, and head to the temple tomorrow.”

She had no intention of yielding on that point.
I had no reason to refuse either—if anything, I was curious about this story, which felt like it had just been newly patched in.

I nodded obediently.

Taking the elevator up from the dining hall brings you straight to the room, not a hallway.

I’ve seen it so many times, but it really is a luxurious map.
It was large enough that even compared to the 1st Prince’s room—another capture target—this one was bigger.

Given overall resources, of course the prince owned more.
But living in a tower over 200 floors tall was a privilege granted only to mages.

I was zoning out, admiring the night view, when Serena approached.
She was still cautious.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“Yes, perfectly fine.”

“…I see.”

It was a game, after all—so I was really fine.
Serena exhaled and sat down beside me.

My pink hair mixed with her red.
It tickled, and I let out a laugh.

And then the choices appeared.

[What is that over there?]

[I’m glad I met you, Serena.]

Ugh. One of the fixed-choice moments.

The first raised stats when awakening, the second raised Serena’s affection.

Had I eaten enough magic-filled food earlier, I could skip the first option, but not this time.

“What is that over there?”

I pointed to the round object hanging on the wall.

It looked like a shabby lump of metal, yet it had been placed reverently inside a glass display case.

“The holy sword, you mean?”

“The holy sword?”

My avatar tilted her head, and Serena smiled.

Normally something twenty years old making that pose would be creepy—but since I’m cute, it’s forgiven, I guess.

“Yes. I’m keeping it for the temple for the time being.”

“It looks different from what I imagined.”

“It’s dormant, since it has no master yet.”

Serena spoke with a laugh.

“They say it changes according to its owner’s will when the prophesied hero appears.
Sadly, that wasn’t me.”

She tried to sound casual, but she was clearly disappointed.

After the massacre of the Neon tribe, she burned with a desire for revenge against the demons.
To her, the holy sword would have been a godsend.

“It’s late. We should rest.”

After staring at the sword for a long time, Serena pulled back the covers.
I crawled in, and she slipped in beside me.

Facing me, Serena smiled prettily.

“Sweet dreams.”

Serena fell asleep quickly.
But I couldn’t.

Chapter 1—the Mage Tower—is effectively a tutorial.

A peaceful stage before the real story, designed to teach you how affection shifts and how choices work.

And the new chapter begins tonight.

“Lady Serena, we are under attack!”

[Chapter 2. Invaders of the Mage Tower]

Almost immediately, a blue window flashed before my eyes.

Along with Adele’s urgent shout, the tower’s alarm blared.

Serena had already sensed something; she was up, fully armed like the trained battle mage she was.

“What’s the situation?”

“Only the top five floors have been isolated. They’ve been caught in a crack.”

A crack.

A dimensional rift only high-ranking demons could create—copying a space from reality to form a dungeon.

Once caught inside, there were only two ways out.

Kill the caster demon,
or destroy the crack’s core.

Serena’s face hardened.

“How many demons?”

“I saw two. How many more there might be…”

“We assume the worst.”

Floors 200 to 196 were reserved for the Tower Master, so no one lived up here.
Which meant inside the crack, it was just me, Serena, and Adele.

Adele’s and my combat ability were negligible; Serena was effectively our only fighting force.

But even she—strongest of all human mages—couldn’t handle a high demon one-on-one.
And if it was powerful enough to create a crack, even less so.

“Adele, stay here with Anastasia.”

But Serena wouldn’t retreat.
Against demons, retreat was impossible for her.
Her eyes burned blue with vengeance.

Clutching her long rifle in both hands, she rose.

“No! If you’re going, I’m coming too!”

Adele had gone pale—he knew Serena’s reckless “shoot first, think later” battle style better than anyone.

“No. Someone needs to look after Anastasia.”

“And you expect me to let you go alone?! Fighting a high demon solo is suicide!”

“And adding you won’t improve the situation.”

Their pointless argument spiraled.
But in the original story, Serena eventually storms out.

While she fights two demon attackers, one slips past to the top floor.

Then, when the helpless protagonist is cornered, the holy sword chooses her.

So I observed calmly.
One way or another, the scene would trigger soon.

Just as I thought that—

“So you were upstairs.”

A low voice echoed.

Someone I knew—someone who absolutely shouldn’t be here.

I turned, heart sinking.

A towering young man with black hair and black eyes—someone impossible to forget—was standing there.

[You have encountered a main character!]

[Name: Ilya Yuriana Zakharov]

[Ilya is a northern grand duke with demon blood.
Though he seems cold, he hides childhood wounds.
Through攻略, reveal his gentle side.]

A blue status window—unmistakable proof.

Ilya looked straight at us and spoke.

“No need to argue. The Tower Master and I will destroy the core together.”

Silence fell.

To be inside a crack, you had to already be in that space before it formed.
So Ilya being here at this exact moment made no sense.

“…We’ll ask why later.”

“A wise decision.”

Given the emergency, Serena shelved the interrogation.
Ilya, answering indifferently, turned toward me.

Our eyes met—and his expression faltered.

“Well? Aren’t you coming?”

“…Sorry. Let’s go.”

He stared at me for a long moment, then only moved once Serena urged him.
Even as the elevator doors closed, his black eyes bored into me.

“Do you know His Grace?”

Adele asked when they disappeared.
If he meant “Do you know him”… well, yes, very intimately.

Ilya had over 25 endings—and some of them marriage endings.

But like all romance games, prior runs don’t matter.
Right now, Ilya and I were strangers.

As I debated what to say, choice bubbles appeared.

[We were connected in the past.]

[We don’t know each other.]

[We’re not on good terms.]

Three this time.
More annoying than a simple yes-or-no.

To win Adele’s favor, option 3 would be best.
But if word spread, that would be disastrous.

I selected the second option.

“We don’t know each other.”

My avatar tilted her head slightly.

[Adele’s affection +3]

“Really? Well, nobles acting weird isn’t exactly new.”

He pretended not to care, but looked relieved.

He hated Ilya’s demon blood—of course he’d react that way.

Most characters disliked Ilya, but Adele and the First Prince Mikhail hated him the most.

“…Anyway, we can’t do anything. Let’s wait.”

With nothing more to say, we fell silent.

Meanwhile, I chose to monitor Serena and Ilya.

After encountering a main character, if certain criteria were met, the player could observe them.

A necessary mechanic for following the story in a romance game.

[Observation function activated]

[Focusing points on Serena]

[Loading screen…]

After a moment, a blue window appeared.
A video began—only I could see or hear it.

Serena and Ilya searched meticulously from floor 199 downward.
Ideally, finding the core before facing demons would be best—but stories never go that smoothly.

“Nothing here.”

“Seems like it’s below.”

Below this point was real demon territory.
The two met each other’s eyes.

“I’ll check the lowest floor. Tower Master, work down from the top.”

“Splitting up is dangerous.”

“Even so, we need to find the core as fast as possible.”

Ilya seemed far more impatient than expected.
His face remained composed—but his voice trembled slightly.

Serena, unfamiliar with Ilya’s usual demeanor, couldn’t notice the change.

They only become comrades with their backs against one battlefield after the player leads them there.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

Serena bolted toward the stairs.
Ilya disappeared beyond the elevator, and the view refocused on Serena.

On 198, she gripped her rifle tighter.
Unlike 199—which resembled reality—this floor was warped.

The stench of rotting flesh numbed her nose.

In a vast, maze-like library, undead and monsters roamed.

“Graaah…”

Steeling herself, Serena slipped into the shadows and raised her rifle.

Unlike real guns, which anyone could shoot with bullets, guns in Raison d’Ert belonged only to mages.

Every gun had a transparent talisman fixed on its right side instead of a magazine—filled with mana.

Hers was only slightly larger than average—the function was the same.

“Hoo…”

Serena took a deep breath and aimed at the undead.
The talisman glowed red in response to her mana.

Clunk.
A lock disengaged.
Magic gathered violently inside the barrel.

Bang!

“SCREEEE!”

Serena’s magic was far too loud for stealth or assassination.

Even with a silencer, undead and monsters sensitive to mana perception wouldn’t be fooled.

If you can’t do it quietly, you blast everything.

A massive explosion consumed the monsters.
Crimson flames tore through the shelves, burning endlessly as long as the books fed it.

There were only monsters here—Serena wouldn’t get hurt.

Originally, she would descend methodically to floor 196, encounter one of the Demon King’s Four Lieutenants and their underling, and suffer a major injury…

But no longer.

‘This is getting interesting.’

Since the story had already deviated, it was highly likely Ilya would take that encounter instead.

Too bad Ilya’s point focus was inactive.

Besides—it was almost here.

I glanced at the holy sword on the wall.

The demon attack event was, in truth, the holy sword awakening event.
Players unaware of the method often got Adele killed here on their first run.

Of course, on the second run it was easy.

I had chosen a spot close to the floor entrance on purpose—so when the low-rank demon burst in…

“Get back!”

Boom!

Right on cue, a huge blast.
Something smashed through the barricade on the stairs and strode in—humanoid, but wrong.

Black hair and black eyes—the demon trademark—and red skin marking him as a servant of Leph.

“So it’s true! Lord Leph was right—there are two humans here!”

God, they talk too much.

Leph—one of the Demon King’s Four Lieutenants.

He’d killed me in a previous run—short-tempered, war-hungry, and chatty.

Naturally, his minions shared those traits.

Perfect early-game power gauge and awakening trigger.

“Kh… Didn’t think one would make it up here…”

“Relax! The other two humans are fighting Lord Leph and my comrade—they’ll be dead soon!
So you two die here nicely!”

But Adele was no match.
He swung a dagger he carried for self-defense, only to be swatted away and sent rolling across the floor.

A choice appeared.

[(Run to check on Adele)]

[(Stay calm and retreat)]

[(Charge the demon with bare hands)]

[(Freeze, trembling helplessly)]

…Every time.
You can feel the malice in that last option.