Return of the Tower Conqueror

  The Legend Begins (III)

"Have you heard?"

"I've actually seen it."

"No, no, not the fight--in the air! Third Prince!"

"Hush!! Do you want your head to fly?! You mean, His Highness, the King!"

"Yes, yes, the King--he was talking with someone, and he seemed pissed off!"

"Huh? What are you making up? If the King is displeased with someone, His Highness would just kill them."

"No, I'm telling you--he seemed angry, but didn't make a move and just left after throwing his sword down."

"You're disrespecting the King, fool! It's bad enough you're asking for your head to be cut off, why are you dragging me into this?!"

Senna had a strange look on her face as she casually sat in the corner of a local tavern, listening to the chatter of the nearby miners on their break. They're talking about Cain, right?

She chuckled inwardly and shook her head; wanting or not, he always seemed to spread his name and spearhead the game of fame, be it on the outside of the Tower on in here. She stayed inside the tavern for a few more minutes, but having not picked up anything else, she left and returned to the now extremely cramped shack that far, far, far too many people lived in. Doing a quick headcount, she realized with a groan that there were fifteen people in total, a number more fit for a villa or a mansion rather than a shack that could barely fit them all in.

They were forced to actually sleep in shifts since there was too little room for everyone to even lie down comfortably, let alone for the sleeping shufflers. Sighing, and noting that eight were currently asleep, she stepped outside onto whatever was left of the 'porch', taking out a chair from her inventory and sitting down.

"Bored?" a playful voice woke her up immediately, drawing her eyes sideways where she saw Sera pull up a few trashed bricks and sit on top of them, a bottle of water in her hand. She'd become quite addicted to the freshness, apparently.

"A bit," Senna replied. "You?"

"Eh," she shrugged. "Getting to know everyone and listening to my brother apologizing for the 100th time cuts in with my free time. You forgave me yet?"

"Forg--oh," Senna's cheeks flushed slightly as she glared at Sera; the latter fought back a smile and maintained her 'apologetic' expression. "That was a bitch move."

"I mean, yeah, but your overreaction sold it. It's a miracle he hasn't seen through it," Sera teased with a playful smile, causing Senna to sigh.

"Leave us be. It's our thing."

"... it's... enviable."

"Huh?"

"The most love I ever from my own dad," Sera said. "Was when he told me he was trying to find a nice husband for me. Seeing you two... makes me wanna punch you both in the face."

"... sorry."

"You sure he doesn't see through you?" Sera asked with a strange look.

"Nah," Senna shrugged. "Don't ask why. For a smart man, he's actually quite dumb."

"... is he smart, though? He challenged a King to a solo fight when he has a really, really strong group with him."

"That's just Cain bein' Cain," Senna shrugged it off. "He pretty much did the same thing on the first floor."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. The bastard stuck us with some rusty construct that, to be fair, nearly whooped our ass," Senna said. "While he got dragged off to fight the actual floor boss. He never spoke about it, though. Kinda pissed off about it."

"He... he killed a Guardian... alone?" Sera exclaimed with a shocked expression. Senna grinned, finally feeling validated. "Holy crap."

"What? You finally buying his stocks?"

"... what's that mean?"

"Uh--never mind. Anyway, you believe he's awesome?"

"I believe he's fucking dangerous," Sera shuddered. "No, wait. Guy you're describing and the guy I met... there's no way they're the same person."

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Senna chuckled. "I dunno. You... you just kinda have to see him fighting. The moment you do, you immediately think 'whoa... so he is badass'."

"You got some serious daddy issues," Sera commented with a forced 'disgusted 'expression. Senna slapped her angrily as she replied.

"Shut it. Don't come back to me once you experience it too."

"Eeh, I highly doubt it."

"Oh? And you think I didn't? You think my first thought on meeting him was 'sure, this random, middle-aged guy who tells waaaay too many lame dad jokes must be a super-duper badass'? Psh, yeah right."

"... fuck, it's really enviable," Sera sighed. "You're like a young, stupid girl in love. Except, well--wait, you aren't in love with him, right?"

"What?!! No! Fuck you!! What the shit dude?!" Senna exclaimed. "You're in love with him!"

"Nope. Not even close. But you--"

"I'm not in love with him!" Senna said firmly. "You have shits for brains, don't you?"

"..." Sera merely smiled, taking a sip of the water. "That Yuki kid or whatever said it the best," she added, drawing Senna's attention. "He's got the pull very few do. Anyway, enough about the old men. They're the reason we're in this fucked-up mess to begin with. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you strong?"

"Yup."

"How strong?"

"Really strong."

"So you're confident in whipping my ass?"

"I don't like the undertone."

"Eh, it's an acquired taste."

"... you are my age, right?" Senna said. "Whatever. Anyway, I probably can't fight you alone."

"Huh? But aren't you strong?" Sera asked.

"... you're fucking with me."

"Aaah, took you long enough, ha ha ha ha," Sera burst out into laughter, and though Senna put on an annoyed front for a moment, she merely sighed after. "Man, I heard stories about Conquerors, but you really do come in all forms and shapes."

"How strong are you, anyway?" Senna asked.

"Me? I'm a whomper."

"What's that?"

"It means I'm... just a normal person, I'm afraid," Sera said, a self-mocking smile emerging on her face. "Unlike my brothers and sisters, when it came time to buffer me... I recoiled. Nearly died, actually. Got high fever, Mana poisoning, and my lungs collapsed. If a random shaman wasn't passing through the City and took pity on me..."

"... I wanna feel bad for you," Senna said. "But that's kinda lame."

"Ugh, tell me about it," Sera said, sagging back. "Before the Selection, I thought I'd become this badass chick who goes around kicking some serious ass. Turns out, I am a badass, it's just pronounced bad ass."

"Eh," Senna shrugged. "Your ass isn't that bad."

"..." Sera smiled, shaking her head.

"Ah, two young girls bonding," a voice startled them both as they looked up. There, Cain's head hung off the roof, staring at both of them with a wide grin. "How pure and refreshing."

"How... how long have you been up there?" Senna asked with a hopeful tone, one replicated in Sera's expression.

"Oh, I don't know," Cain replied, dropping off the roof and landing next to them. "Probably since around that point when you finally admitted we had our own 'thing'."

"..."

"..."

"I wish we had time to peck away at your embarrassment," Cain said. "But I was being a great dad even with letting you have this much. Pack yo' shit, as they say, we about to toss it. Or stir it. I don't know why, but both those sound real nasty."

"Maybe because 'shit' is involved?"

"Yup, that's gotta be it," Cain nodded. "Anyway pack your s--tuff, we're moving."

"Where?"

"Your daddy managed to secure us a better roof."

"..."

"Is the sour face because of daddy or roof?"

"BOTH!!" Senna and Sera exclaimed at the same time, startling him as the two ran off inside.

"I'm usually not the most aware person," Emma's voice suddenly appeared as she leapt off the roof and landed next to Cain. "But... they were flirting, weren't they?"

"I can't say," Cain said, stroking his chin. "It's kinda fucked up they were using me as a crutch for it, though."

"Yeah! That was weird, right?"

"Suuuper weird. Anyway, let's get this shit going. Fuck, it's ruined."

"Yup. You ruined shit."

"... god that sounded fucked up."

"Tell me about it..."

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