Chapter 374

Regression (21)

"...Confirmed. Hard to believe, but you really are from Earth. You did enter the Tutorial through legitimate means too... there's something that still bothers me slightly, but that's probably not my concern."

Rahuel, the muscular angel, finished checking by holding my hand, then bowed at the waist.

"My apologies. I made a significant misjudgment. I acted rudely by assuming based on your race alone. I won't make the mistake of judging someone purely by species again."

"R-Rahuel-nim..."

"If you apologize like that so easily... later on..."

"Apologizing for a wrongdoing is a proper duty. Don't interfere."

Rahuel brushed off his worried subordinates. He lifted his head and looked me straight in the eye.

"I still believe a human like you shouldn't be able to emerge from an environment like Earth. There are things that remain suspicious. But digging further than this exceeds my authority. I hope you continue climbing the Tower diligently from here on. My apologies for the trouble."

"Uh, wait. Hold on."

Watching Rahuel talk, I had to hastily revise my plan. I'd assumed he was some rude jerk who despised humans, but now that I'd seen more, he seemed more like a stiff, by-the-book type who followed principle above all. And judging by his bearing, he seemed to hold some rank of his own too.

"I'll accept your apology for now. But is it really genuine? Your attitude doesn't seem like it."

"...It is. I'm often told I'm poor at expressing myself."

"Hm... doesn't feel very sorry to me."

"Why do you say that?"

I deliberately narrowed my eyes at him, stroking my chin as if suspicious.

Why was I doing this? This was an opportunity. A chance to finally get my hands on the information I'd been longing for.

If he'd just been a stupid, human-hating angel, there'd be nothing to gain from him. But this one, he actually seemed like someone I could reason with.

Being the stiff, principled type, he probably wouldn't lie outright. That kind of person might refuse to talk, but wouldn't fabricate things. And with some rank behind him, he probably knew plenty, and being a little slow on the uptake, he might let slip things he shouldn't.

In short, a golden opportunity had finally arrived to pry information out of the angels. I fought to keep the tremor out of my voice and spoke in a deliberately disappointed tone.

"You'll say you mean it, sure, but how am I supposed to confirm that? Anyone can claim they're being sincere. At least humans do."

"We angels..."

"Are different? Even after dragging me into a tower like this out of nowhere, threatening to destroy the world if I don't reach the very top?"

"..."

Rahuel stopped abruptly and looked at me with hollow eyes.

"...That's unreasonable. You, human, are being blatantly unreasonable."

Rahuel answered in a low voice.

"But the fact that I made a mistake is also plain. You must want something, which is why you're pushing this unreasonable line. What do you want. I'll say this now, there isn't much I can actually do for you."

"Now we're talking."

Should I go around the long way? Keep him from noticing my intent? No, I'd just push straight through here. If it went sideways, I could always regress anyway.

"See, on Floor 2, I met an Archangel named Raphael. That's how I got this ring too."

I pulled the ring out of my pocket and showed it to Rahuel.

"But, you know... this floor doesn't seem to have an Archangel in charge. And it's not just here, I've heard rumors that a lot of other floors are missing their Archangels too. All of them 'absent,' or whatever."

By now he'd probably guessed what I was getting at.

"The Archangels. Where did they all go?"

Why were all the Archangels absent? I hadn't known until now, and hadn't bothered digging into it either.

But if I was going to keep climbing the Tower carrying this level of strength, I figured I'd end up crossing paths with other angels quite often. So if I could get information now, I needed to grab it while I could.

"...Why do you ask?"

Rahuel questioned back.

"Aren't you a climber? Shouldn't you be climbing the Tower to protect your own world? Your world must be changing as we speak. You'd barely have time to hone yourself. Why take an interest in the Archangels?"

"That's..."

"Don't try to dodge the question. Even if I made a mistake, that doesn't obligate me to dance to your tune. I'm only extending this courtesy to ease my own conscience, to lighten the debt I feel."

His eyes flared with light.

"What's your real reason for wanting to know about the Archangels. I'll decide based on your answer."

Divine power pressed at me faintly, but there was no need to tense up. I wasn't going to lie, after all.

"You can see it for yourself. My strength isn't normal."

"..."

"Even if I haven't done anything wrong, power that strong draws attention wherever it goes. Even you coming here to check on me proves that, doesn't it? Other players might not have to worry about it, but in my case, running into angels is bound to happen a lot."

I shrugged and looked him straight in the eye.

"Shouldn't I at least get a grasp of the situation? This kind of thing is going to keep happening."

Rahuel didn't answer for a long while. Long enough that the angels behind him grew restless, their faces slowly darkening.

"...I can explain, in the briefest way possible, only what I judge is acceptable to explain. Telling a human 'too much information' would go against the rules. As I said, I do feel a slight debt toward you, but it really is only a slight one."

Having said that much, Rahuel crossed his arms.

"I'll say it again, what I'm able to tell you is extremely limited. There's a very high chance you'll be disappointed once you hear it. I'd recommend instead learning techniques that could make you stronger right away. Use my goodwill to learn practical combat skills."

"Ha, I doubt I'd lose to you even if we fought right now."

"You wouldn't, human. But is every human like you? From what I can tell at a glance, your strength comes from that immense mana of yours, not from technique. Meanwhile, what I'm offering is technique honed by heaven's warriors over a span of time humans can't even imagine."

"..."

"Don't you have someone precious to you too? Someone you want to protect. What will you do if a person like that faces the Tower's trials someday? The technique I could teach you would be a great help then. What do you say?"

I hadn't given it much thought at first, but listening to him, his offer started to sound genuinely appealing.

Yeah, it was appealing, but...

"...I want information."

"Understood. I'll respect your choice."

Even so, I chose information. Putting on my best show of deliberation was just a bonus.

Rahuel, probably thinking to himself about the foolishness of humans, began explaining slowly in a solemn voice.

"You may or may not know this, but among the Archangels, there are those who are older, and nobler still. You've already met one of them."

Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

"They have lived longer than anyone, are wiser than anyone, and stronger than anyone. Setting aside the Greatest One, they are the most..."

"Yeah, okay, got it. And so?"

"...Ahem. The reason the Archangels are away is simple. They all left to search for Michael-nim."

"Left to search? What does that mean?"

I frowned, not quite following. Search for him?

"Michael-nim left his post to search for something. And relatively recently, the other Archangels also left their posts to search for Michael-nim."

"...Why?"

"I don't know. And even if I did, I couldn't tell you. That's the extent of what I know."

"..."

Michael, who had apparently set off on a journey long ago. And the rest of the Archangels, who'd left their posts to search for him.

What Michael was searching for, and why the other Archangels had gone looking for him, I couldn't work out either.

"Didn't I tell you it would be disappointing information?"

"...Guess so."

"And do you understand why I told you this so readily?"

He spread his arm out to the side, and a spear shimmering with divine power formed out of thin air, settling neatly into his grip.

"Even if the Archangels are away on a large scale, it means that isn't some secret worth hiding. We, the heavens, remain steadfast."

He struck the ground with his spear, thump, thump, wearing a confident expression, whether I cared or not.

"Hmm..."

Honestly, I was more than a little thrown off. Sure, he'd padded it with plenty of "this is nothing much" disclaimers beforehand, but I hadn't expected it to actually be nothing much. This felt like the kind of situation that should've handed me some enormous clue. At least a thread to pull.

"Still, well, that's fine."

But it wasn't a total loss. At least now I knew someone named Michael was the reason behind the disappearances, and that could prove useful later. If things ever got truly urgent, I could always go back to Floor 2 and ask Raphael about it.

So, my next move here was...

"I can just ask about the rest again later anyway."

Obvious, wasn't it. Regression.

Might Rahuel notice the regression?

The elder on Floor 15 had said that repeating regression too many times in front of an Archangel might get noticed.

But Rahuel wasn't an Archangel, and I hadn't repeated regression "many" times either. Interpretations of "many" could vary, but at minimum, it should take more than five to count as many. This was also my first meeting with this particular angel.

In short.

"Shouldn't I get at least five questions out of this to make it worth it?"

First, let's go learn that technique he seemed so confident about.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 9.]