Chương 26: “Nose for Trouble”

"What do you want?" Celestia's voice came out sharper than a whip crack. Liana flinched. Her already fidgeting hands tightened around the strap of her satchel. She opened her mouth, but what came out was barely above a whisper, her gaze dropping to the floor.

"W-were you i-in… forest… t-that day…?" The words came out fragmented, half-swallowed by the girl's own timidity. Celestia could barely make out what she was saying. This was Liana's base personality. In the original novel, the girl had been painfully shy around everyone except Arthur. Around him, she could be bold, assertive, and even sharp-tongued. But strip Arthur from the equation, and what remained was this: a girl who could barely string a sentence together without staring at her own shoes.

It was, frankly, a little pathetic. But Celestia supposed the original author had designed Liana that way on purpose, to make it all the more endearing when Arthur was the only one who could "bring out her true self."

'How romantic.' Celestia scoffed. Celestia's crimson eyes regarded Liana with flat impatience.

"If you're going to speak to someone, then look them in the eyes and speak clearly. That is the basic modicum of respect you owe to the person you're addressing." Liana's shoulders stiffened as if she'd been struck. For a moment, she stood frozen, her silver hair curtaining her downturned face. Then, slowly, she lifted her head. Her pale blue eyes met Celestia's crimson ones directly. There was still fear there, plain as daylight. She mustered her courage.

"W-were you in the forest that day?" Liana repeated, her voice steadier this time, though a tremor still clung to the edges.

"Watching us?" Celestia held her gaze for exactly two seconds.

"No." The word was delivered without hesitation or elaboration. Celestia didn't offer so much as a crack in her composure that might suggest otherwise. Before Liana could respond, Celestia was already turning away.

"If that's all," she said, "I have more important matters to attend to." She walked away without looking back. Her heels clicked against the medic hall's corridor floor. She could feel Liana's gaze on her back. The girl was probably standing there with her mouth half-open, unsure whether to call out again or let her go. Celestia didn't particularly care which. There was no reason to answer truthfully. None whatsoever. Yes, she had been in the forest that day.

Yes, she had watched Arthur's awakening and Liana's subsequent healing miracle from behind a tree like some manner of narrative voyeur. And yes, Liana had spotted her in that brief, inconvenient moment when their eyes had met. But admitting any of that would only complicate things. If Liana confirmed that Celestia had been present, questions would follow. Why was she there? What had she seen? Why hadn't she helped?

And those questions would inevitably draw more attention from Arthur's circle, the very last thing Celestia needed right now. For the moment, it was best to stay out of the main characters' way. She had some leeway, after all. Celestia looked at her status window with a thought.

* Name: Celestia Von Reingarde Race: Human Elemental Attribute: ክዐ፪ጎረጎፕሃ Synchronization: 12% Story Relevance: 19/100 Stats: Strength: H (71/100) Dexterity: F+ (93/100) Speed: H (96/100) Wisdom: F- (20/100) Aura: H- (6/100) Special Stats: Nobility: S+ (101/100) Skills: Noblesse Oblitère (S-Rank) Cooldown: 3 Days Description: Strike infused with Nobility so overwhelming that lesser beings crumble on contact. Damage scales with rank difference. Plebeians may detonate.

Effect: Instantly inflicts massive physical and spiritual damage weighted by hierarchical superiority. Targets may experience fear, humiliation, or sudden existential crisis. * Her Story Relevance sat at 19. Not comfortable by any means, but not dire either. It was enough of a buffer that she didn't need to make any drastic moves against the plot in the immediate term. As long as she kept nudging things here and there, she could maintain her relevance without painting a target on herself.

Celestia dismissed the status window and made her way across campus. The enrollment office for elective courses was housed in an administrative building near the center of Summit Academy. Inside, a bored-looking clerk sat behind a wooden counter, stamping documents. Celestia approached the counter, and the clerk glanced up.

"Name and department?" he asked.

"Celestia Von Reingarde. Noble division." The clerk's glazed expression sharpened slightly at the name, but he recovered quickly and pulled out a fresh enrollment form.

"Electives?" Celestia had given this considerable thought.

"Combat, Aura Control, History, and Elemental Tuning." The clerk's pen paused mid-stroke, and he looked up at her. Four electives was an ambitious course load. Most students enrolled in two, perhaps three at most, on top of their mandatory class. But if the man had an opinion about it, he was wise enough to keep it to himself.

"Alright," he said, resuming his writing. Walking back out into the campus grounds, Celestia turned the choices over in her mind. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Combat and Mana Control were more tentative than mandatory. She didn't expect to learn much she couldn't acquire through practical experience in the Tower itself. But the classes weren't the point. What mattered were the activities that came with the enrollment.

Both electives offered training exercises within the mountain that drew from the full roster of enrolled students. Arthur and his party were probably already enrolled in both. And by signing up, Celestia gained a legitimate reason to meet them 'naturally' within the confines of reason. She could monitor Arthur's growth, observe how his relationships with Liana and the others were developing, and spot any deviations from the original plot before they snowballed into problems.

History, on the other hand, was purely for her own benefit. Celestia's knowledge of this world was still frustratingly incomplete. The original novel had been written from Arthur's perspective, and Arthur, being Arthur, had never cared much for the broader political landscape or the continent's complicated history. He fought and fought, and the narrative followed suit, glossing over centuries of geopolitical context in favor of another convenient power-up or tearful reunion.

But Celestia couldn't afford that kind of ignorance. She was the daughter of a Duke, the head of one of the Empire's most powerful noble houses. The responsibilities that came with that title demanded knowledge. Call it a personal responsibility towards her parents and the original owner of this body. They had given her everything. The least she could do was carry the Reingarde name with the competence it deserved. And then there was Elemental Tuning. This one, Celestia hadn't originally planned to take.

The course was designed for students who wanted to increase their chances of bonding with an elemental spirit, or those who had already bonded with an elemental spirit; those who needed guidance in refining their connection, strengthening the bond, and learn to channel the spirit's power more efficiently. Until last night, Celestia had no reason to enroll. The elemental egg she had won at the auction was currently secured in her dormitory, which Martha should have placed by now.

Bonding with an elemental spirit was not something one attempted blindly. The bonding process required specific techniques and a deep understanding of one's own elemental affinity. Attempting it blindly risked failure, or worse, a violent rejection that could injure both the aspiring master and the spirit within. The professor in charge of the course, Professor Lehrmann, was, by all accounts, one of the foremost authorities on elemental bonding in the Empire. Having access to their expertise was essential.

Four electives and a full schedule on top of her existing obligations. Her days were about to become considerably busier. The entrance ceremony was tomorrow. After the formalities, their first mandatory class would follow: an introduction to the Tower itself. Celestia recalled that one of the Archmages, she couldn't remember which, had invented a new magical device derived from materials found within the Tower.

The device allowed an individual to check their own status, similar to what Tower climbers experienced once they entered, but accessible outside of it. The Archmages intended to use it as a research tool. By measuring each student's baseline and tracking changes over time, they hoped to gather precise evidence on the growth rates of those who entered the Tower versus those who trained conventionally.

It was already common knowledge that Tower climbers grew stronger at an accelerated pace, but "common knowledge" wasn't the same as documented, empirical proof. Starting tonight, she would be living in the dormitory. And after tomorrow, she would climb the Tower. She kept walking, her expression unchanged, but inwardly the weight of it pressed down on her. She was physically prepared. Jade had seen to that over weeks of relentless conditioning.

She was also emotionally prepared, or at least as prepared as someone could be when they knew that the trials ahead involved the very real possibility of death. Her mentality was also somewhat strengthened after that final session with Jade, and most importantly, she had knowledge of the future, an advantage no other person in this world possessed. And yet. Deep down, beneath the layers of composure and strategy she had built up over the past two months, Celestia was scared.

She had only been in this world for roughly two months. Before that, she had been a modern person, someone who commuted to work in an imported sedan and spent her evenings reading and critiquing webnovels on her phone. The most dangerous thing she'd encountered in her previous life was city traffic, and even that had killed her. Knowledge of the future was powerful, but it didn't make her invincible.

The original novel had been written from Arthur's perspective, and Arthur had survived because the narrative demanded it. Celestia had no such guarantee. If she died on the first floor, the plot would continue without her.

'Would I actually survive?' The question surfaced. And yet, beneath the fear, there was something else. She couldn't quite explain it. Celestia exhaled softly through her nose and kept walking. No matter what she felt, the day she entered the tower would arrive regardless. Fear and excitement alike would have to wait their turn. There was still one last thing she had to do. As Celestia approached the female dormitories, she noticed it had come alive since her last visit.

Windows that had been dark were now lit with candlelight, and the sounds of conversation drifted from the upper floors. Students had properly moved in over the course of the week. Celestia stepped through the main entrance, and nothing had really changed since she came here last week, other than a few proper dormitory staff helping out the students with their luggage and other needs. In a rocking chair sat the dormitory's supervisor; she was knitting something, her needles clicking in a steady rhythm.

She glanced up at Celestia's entrance, offered a polite nod of acknowledgment, and returned to her work without a word. Celestia made her way to the staircase to her assigned room on the second floor, room 207. Normally, it would have been dusty due to a week's worth of absence, but thankfully, Martha had cleaned the room and placed the suitcase with the egg on the bed before leaving. She closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair beside the desk.

From within the pocket of her dress, she pulled a small notebook. The cover was a plain black with no title or markings. Celestia opened it to the first page. Inside, written in her own hand, was everything she had managed to remember about Tower of the End. She had started writing this notebook shortly after she'd realized where she was; she poured every scrap of the story she could recall onto these pages. Major characters and their abilities. Key events and approximate timelines.

Boss encounters, floor themes and layouts. Arthur's power-ups and what unlocked them. The identities and motivations of future antagonists. It wasn't complete. Her memory of the novel was imperfect, and the middle arcs were particularly hazy; she had been skimming by that point, frustrated with the repetitive writing. But what she had was invaluable. And it was also incredibly dangerous. If anyone found this notebook, the consequences would be catastrophic. At best, she would be branded a lunatic.

At worst, someone would realize that she possessed knowledge that should have been impossible, and the repercussions would spiral into something she would no longer be able to handle. This was why Celestia spent the afternoon reading. She went through each page methodically, trying to remember everything. By the time she looked up from the notebook, the room had grown dim. The warm light of the afternoon had been replaced by the cool blue of early evening.

'It's already night.' She had been reading for hours. Celestia closed the notebook and stared at it for a long moment. Her thumb traced the edge of the cover. This unassuming little book had been the single most important tool she possessed since arriving in this world. And now it was time to destroy it. She reached under the desk and pulled out a small metal garbage container. Then she opened the notebook, gripped the first few pages, and tore them. The sound of ripping paper felt oddly loud.

She dropped the torn pages into the container and tore out more, working through the notebook in deliberate handfuls until the leather cover held nothing but ragged stubs where the pages had been. She tossed the empty cover in as well. From within the desk drawer, Celestia pulled out a small device, a palm-sized metal cylinder with an engraved stone along its side. It was a firestarter, an expensive little trinket that functioned much like a lighter.

A press of the thumb against a button, a small flame flickered to life at the tip. She held the flame to a crumpled page. The paper caught quickly, edges curling and blackening as the fire spread. The words she had written, the names, the events, the carefully recorded future of this world, slowly shriveled and turned to ash. Then, she threw it into the bin and the flames burned brighter with more to consume. Smoke curled upward in thin ribbons, and Celestia watched it rise until the last page had turned to ash.

The metal container held nothing but a small pile of grey ash and the charred remains of a leather cover. One of her many worries was now gone.