When we reached the top of the mountain, the return portal was available for us to use. We crossed the long stone corridor that stretched through the portal, and at the end of it, a blinding light hit us. It was daylight dawning in the normal world.
The presence of Paladin Lerah put all the police officers guarding the gates of the Tower of Babel on alert. She immediately ordered them to take Sun, who was being pulled by a chain of Terminite, to the Central District Police Station.
The police officers nodded immediately and took Sun, who kept his head down.
At that moment, Anton, who had been very quiet until then, raised a hand and asked the Paladin:
"Can I make a request?"
"Yes?" asked Lerah.
"I'm not from this city, and my companion was your current prisoner. Do you know of a place with a phone where I can call my parents or one of my brothers?"
Telephones were a rare technology at the time, especially for most of society. However, it was not surprising that someone as wealthy as Anton had one.
Lerah put a hand on her chin. "I believe there must be a telephone at the Central Police Station. If you would like to accompany me, I can take your statement today, and you will be able to make your call."
Anton just nodded and looked away.
At that moment, the Paladin's attention turned to Kyle, Rosella, and me, who were exchanging words of relief at being back.
"Khum!" Lerah cleared her throat to get our attention. "Everyone, I believe you are all very tired, and all you want is to eat something and take a long shower. For these reasons, I will not require you to give your statements today. But please come to the Central Police Station tomorrow and look for me. I will personally take statements from each of you."
"After that, I will write a letter to the headquarters of the Church of the Golden Halo in Lovikalen to explain your situation. With any luck, they will understand and grant you official Climber licenses, even though you did not fulfill the mission objective."
In response, we placed our hands on our sides and bowed briefly. This made Lerah Carter smile and say,
"You are free to go."
The others and I stood up and began to walk away from the doors of the Tower of Babel and the police officers.
"What do you plan to do now?" Kyle Barlow asked.
"I'd like to go home with a little money, but it looks like the money will have to wait until my second mission. So, as soon as I get my license, I'll go back to the tower," I said with my arms crossed. "What about you guys?"
"I'm going home to sleep a lot," Kyle replied. "The floor of that cave was too hard to sleep comfortably."
He said, rubbing his lower back a little.
Rosella quickly agreed. "Yeah, luckily I had someone's shoulder." She punched my left shoulder lightly as she laughed.
"By the way, I need to talk to you about something," Rosella said, looking at me as she held one of her elbows.
"I-I think I'll go then, to leave you two alone." Kyle adjusted his glasses and quickened his pace, quickly distancing himself. "See you tomorrow at the police station!" He waved.
In the blink of an eye, Kyle disappeared into the crowd that was already beginning to form in the busy square around the Tower of Babel.
I swallowed hard and slowly turned to Rosella, hoping that whatever she wanted to talk about wasn't a confession of love.
Rosella gripped the fabric of her pants tightly, looking down with rosy cheeks. She seemed to be searching for the right words, but when she finally raised her head, she had a resigned and determined look on her face.
"I-I have a favor to ask!"
Her cheeks were still rosy, but I felt that there was no way a 'favor' could turn into a confession.
"All right, go ahead," I agreed.
"As you said, I intended to get some money on our first mission. With that money, I was going to pay for a hotel until I could return to the tower. However, I didn't manage to do that, and it was also very expensive to travel from city to city until someone didn't recognize my face. I don't have any friends in this city who can help me, nor any relatives. So... Please, Brandon, let me stay at your place!"
I widened my eyes when I heard her request. She was a noblewoman, so I thought she would always have some money even if her family was bankrupt.
"It'll only be for two or three nights, until we get our Climber's licenses and can return to the Tower of Babel. N-not that we have to do this together! We have an agreement about the Guild, b-but we don't have to take that partnership seriously for now because..."
I took a deep breath, relieved that it hadn't ended in a confession. I wouldn't have known how to reject her if that had been the case.
"Is that all?" I asked.
Confused, she raised her eyebrows. "Yes... What else could it be?"
I scratched one of my cheeks. "It's nothing. But are you sure? I can help you, but I live in a cramped apartment with my family in a... complicated neighborhood. If you want, I can walk you to the police station. I'm sure you'll be able to get a call to your family there."
Rosella looked away and started playing with a few strands of her blonde hair.
"I would, but my parents had to sell our home phone along with some furniture last month," Rosella said, looking embarrassed to admit it. "The only option I have left is to send them a letter, but by the time the letter arrives in Felsaria, I'll have gotten my license anyway."
"Besides, I don't really care how comfortable your residence will be. Anything is better than sleeping on the street."
My heart couldn't decide whether to take her words as an insult or a compliment, so I just ignored what she said last.
"If that's the case, then it's fine. You can come with me. Since my parents are devout followers of the Church, they would never turn down an opportunity to help someone."
So, we had to walk to my house. I didn't have enough money for two tram tickets, let alone Rosella's.
This was a good opportunity for her to learn a little more about Lovikalen and the reality of the suburbs. The streets were dirtier and busier than she was used to seeing when she passed quickly by in a carriage in places like this.
When we finally arrived in the Bronxord district, we followed Blackwood Ave until we reached the intersection with 220th St. On the corner to the left was a small commercial establishment with a sign above the entrance that read "Mrs. Menendez's Grocery Store". The building next to the grocery store was made of old bricks, and above the entrance were the numbers 871. That was my home.
"Home sweet home," I said as I opened the door to the building.
Like a gentleman, I opened the door for Rosella, who smiled and entered the building. However, her first step inside made the floorboards creak.
Hearing the creaking, she turned back. "Eh?! Do you keep animals here or something?"
I laughed and shook my head. "It wasn't an animal, it was the wood. If you don't step carefully, almost all the boards in this place make that noise. It's okay to do that now, but at night it might wake the neighbors. Come on, my family's apartment is on the second floor."
She nodded nervously and followed me, gradually learning the right way to walk so as not to make so much noise in the old building.
When we arrived at the door of my apartment, I took the key out of my pocket, inserted it in the keyhole, and turned it.
To my surprise, when I opened the door, the first thing I saw was my mother about to hit me with a piece of pipe.
"Calm down, calm down!" I exclaimed, raising both hands. "It's me, Brandon, Mom!"
Fumiko exhaled a sigh of relief before lowering the pipe. "Phew, it's you, Bran... Where have you been for the last two days, young man? You said your first mission would be quick!"
"I had some trouble," I replied, scratching the side of my cheek. "But that doesn't matter now! Why are you home at this hour? And why were you ready to attack anyone who came in?" I asked back.
"I was so worried about you being late that I couldn't focus on work yesterday. So, I asked my boss to give me both yesterday and today off. Besides, this neighborhood is very dangerous. When I heard the noise at the door lock, I thought someone was trying to break into our apartment."
"Yeah, at least you acted fast."
"But I'm so~ relieved you're back..." Fumiko said, moving closer to hug me. "I had so many nightmares about you during the two nights you were away."
I smiled as I felt her massage the hair on the back of my neck during the hug.
"It's good to be home, Mom."
Suddenly, Fumiko grabbed my shoulders, stepped back, and looked deep into my eyes with a tense expression as she said,
"Hey, son, don't be scared by what I'm about to say, but... I think you're being haunted."
"What?!"
"There's a very beautiful girl behind you. She's so beautiful that she can only be a mountain spirit or something." Fumiko's trembling index finger pointed outside the apartment.
I looked back and saw Rosella watching the scene before waving shyly at my mother.
It was then that I had to explain who Rosella was and how she needed help. As I had expected, my mother was moved and, without hesitation, accepted Rosella as a guest for as many days as she wanted to stay. Fumiko said that Rosella wouldn't have the luxury she was probably used to and would have to help with the housework, but she could stay without paying anything.
Rosella was relieved, and before long, I realized how well they would get along together.
My mother had many questions for Rosella because Rosella was a girl of noble birth. At the same time, Rosella had so many questions to ask Fumiko about simple things, such as what a dishwashing sponge was for. This made me start to think that Rosella had not only been raised in a golden cradle, but in a platinum or diamond cradle.
The next day, Rosella and I borrowed money from my father to take the cable car to and from the Central District Police Station.
Of course, my parents already knew about the whole situation and therefore knew we were going to give our statements.
When we arrived at the police station, we didn't find Kyle. We figured he had come at a different time, but early in our conversation with Officer Lerah Carter, we found out that he hadn't shown up to give his statement yet.
After that, Lerah said she would prefer to hear my statement and Rosella's separately. She chose Rosella to be the first to testify.
After ten minutes, Rosella left the room, smiled at me, and gave me the OK sign, saying that everything had gone well.
So, it was my turn. I had already decided that I wasn't going to hide almost anything that had happened because a paladin's ability to read body language could not be underestimated. I just couldn't tell her that I had deliberately led everyone to the Sun Temple Ruins and had faced the dungeon boss alone.
Fortunately, I managed to steer clear of those topics during my account. Lerah listened to the entire testimony without questioning or trying to interfere, only taking occasional notes.
When I finished, she also closed her notebook and rested her ink-stained pen on a cloth beside her.
Then Lerah clasped her hands together and said,
"So far, all of your accounts are very consistent. I believe I have been able to piece together a timeline of events, but there is still one thing that bothers me."
I furrowed my brow, and although I didn't want to ask, I felt I should.
"What would that be?"
"I didn't have enough information to judge you properly yesterday, but after we returned, I requested your application form for Escalador." She said and opened a drawer in her desk, taking out the document she was referring to.
"Here, in the skills description field, it says: Blessed can summon two to three skeletal humanoid figures."
"Now, you just told me that you summoned several skeletons in yet another situation. And there's no point in saying you got confused, because the others said the same thing." Lerah tapped her fingertips on the cover of her notebook, where the details of the other statements were probably written.
I got goosebumps from the Paladin's inquisitive gaze. The way she looked at me made me feel like I was standing before a grand tribunal or cornered in a dead-end alley with a pack of rabid dogs barking at me.
'Urgh... If I deny it, I'll imply that I may have lied in other parts of the statement. However, if I say that I can summon more now than before, she'll know that I've evolved much faster than a normal person would have.'
"Actually, I—" I was about to say that I could 'learn' new Summons when she interrupted me.
"You held back on your test, didn't you?" Lerah asked.
I widened my eyes for a moment, mostly surprised because what she said was much better for me than simply revealing my abilities.
"Yes... I did." I agreed with her.
"I can understand why. Someone coming from a poor neighborhood like Bronxord would attract a lot of attention if they were suddenly ranked C or B. You and your family would have to move immediately because of all the attention, and I imagine you don't have the money for that yet."
"Exactly!" I agreed again. "I planned to stay Rank-D until we saved up enough money, so we could move to a middle-class neighborhood and avoid the problem of lack of privacy. After that, I could retake the ranking test."
Lerah nodded in agreement, smiling as she seemed very proud of herself for figuring it all out before I confessed.
"I would do the same," she said as I continued to talk about how bad it would be.
In fact, I had never thought about any of this and was just going with the flow.
"That's why I have a proposal for you," Lerah said suddenly, which made me immediately stop talking.
"A proposal? What kind of proposal?"
"Remember when I said I didn't believe someone like you could have defeated someone like Blackpearl?" Lerah asked, and I nodded.
"Public opinion will be the same. Even if I'm not the one to reveal what happened in that forest, an instructor died, a considerable part of the Forest of Thorns was set on fire, nobles like Rosella Tynes and Anton Wilxes are involved, not to mention that the woman you know as Sun has already gotten a lawyer. It's only a matter of time before the whole story is splashed across the front pages of newspapers throughout the Kingdom of Durtch."
"A novice Rank-D defeated a Rank-B assassin! Is the ranking system really accurate?" Lerah made a square shape in the air, imagining a newspaper. "I can already guess the kinds of headlines they'll use... That wouldn't be good. Not for the government, the Church, or for you."
"However, the situation may be different if you accept one of my two options." She raised one of her fingers. "Number one. We can say that the police officer in charge made a mistake in his assessment and that you are actually Rank B instead of Rank D."
"Why don't I like that first option very much?"
Lerah smiled without showing her teeth. "Then perhaps you would prefer the second option."
"Which is...?"
"Join us, Mr. Oneal. Become a Paladin. What do you think?"