- Accusations -

He called a ranker who could kill him in a blink of an eye as an unintelligent and immoral person....how amazing was that!

Nathan surprisingly let go of Altaira. The blue haired male fell down on the floor and coughed, holding his throat. He could finally breath normally right now.

"....I will ask you one more time. What do you want from Celeste?" Nathan asked. "How can you be so sure that you won't hurt him in the future?"

"Because that's the last thing I'll do" Altaira answered and looked at the ranker from the floor. "I would rather kill myself than betraying her."

"....bunch of nonsense."

Altaira gathered his strength and stood up again. Indeed, it was hard to win against a ranker. He spent so much energy to withstand the pressure and blood lust.

"Nonsense? You and Noah are indeed a pair of master and disciple. Neither of you give me the chance to prove my worth and the first thing that you guys do is to accuse me for taking advantage of her. What? Just because you guys know what type of person my father is, you'd think I do the same?

Come to think of it. You guys don't really have the right to talk about it. Back then when she climbed the tower all alone, taking tests and enduring the hardships, where were you guys? It was me who protected her for these eight years more. It was me who stayed with her whenever she was happy or sad, whenever she was laughing or crying. And now that the two of you are back, don't you feel embarrassed claiming that I was taking advantage of Celeste when I cared for her the most?"

"......"

His words hit both Nathan and Noah in the same time. This time, when Charlotte glanced at Noah who didn't make any expression, she was able to tell and to feel that there was some kind of guilty feelings inside him. Nathan must have felt the same thing as well.

"Just because you take care of her for eight years.....does it really guarantee that you won't do her harm?" Nathan asked.

"What? Do you want me to swear right here?"

"Promises are fragile like glass."

"Since it is fragile and you don't want to trust me, why bother with the talk?" He asked again. "Nathan, I could care less of what you and Noah are thinking, but I do wish that please don't judge me and see whether I'm worth it or not before you fully understand it. The wall is now broken by you, so you'll deal it on your own. I'm going to leave now if you don't mind."

"......." Nathan didn't say a word.

After saying those words, the five of them could see that Altaira was heading to their way or more like he was going to leave the room and catch them as well.

"Hey, come here!"

Raisin pulled Estrella's hand and did not forget to close her mouth to prevent her from shouting. Charlotte also stood up and immediately hid behind Bam along with Raisin and Estrella. Bam and Noah didn't really understand why the three of them were hiding like that.

"Why are we hiding from him?" Estrella asked, clueless.

"Can't you tell that if Altaira knows that we eavesdrop on him, he'll kill us?" Charlotte asked and made a gesture of chopping her neck with her right hand. "Even if he couldn't kill us, he'll find a way to torment us! I'm not an exception, even when I am his sister!"

"Both Noah and Bam are on different levels. Even if the two of them offend Bam, they won't have to worry about their lives."

Hearing her words, Bam smiled. He didn't really care about it since there was no way in hell Altaira could defeat him. And it wasn't like Noah was going to hide away from Altaira who he disliked.

"Should we hide away as well?" Bam asked with a grin.

"Will you really hide from him or use it as a chance to challenge him?" Noah asked back and Bam just smiled even wider.

Obviously, when Altaira opened the door and stepped outside the room, he noticed the two males were standing there, greeting him.

"Why are the two of you here?" Altaira asked after he greeted them back.

"Simply passing by" Noah lightly answered. "What? I couldn't go across your room now?"

"Well, I'm going to change my room. It's thanks to your master that I have an excuse to get a new room near with Charlotte" said Altaira. And when he said those words, he could tell that Bam's smile stiffened. Though he wasn't really sure, Noah somehow showed a flicker of displeasure but maintained his smile.

When Noah showed a flicker of displeasure, Altaira's blue eyes sharpened for a moment.

'Did I see it wrong?' He wondered.

"Well, I'm going to leave right now. You better warn the trio mice behind you that they better not fall on my hands" Altaira continued with a smirk. The three of them who were hiding behind both Bam and Noah shivered in fear when Altaira said those words. "I'll deal this debt with them one day."

Then, he walked away and did not glance back.

The three of them showed themselves.

"We're done for...." Raisin spoke up gloomily. He felt that half of his lifespan has disappeared and vanished. "He's going to make me do the labor work!"

Charlotte sighed.

"Why are you sighing for? It's not like he's going to harm you" Estrella spoke up. "You even have that monster to protect you right?"

Raisin nudged her for her insensibility. By monster, she must have referred to the strongest regular there, Bam.

"If only that is easy...can't you tell that if my sharp- tongued brother suffered from humiliation once, he'll make sure to repay it twice and thrice?" Charlotte asked back. Having living with her brother for so long, Charlotte was aware of that already and she knew that there was no way to escape from it unless her brother forgets about it.

But it wasn't easy to get someone amnesia.

"I won't let him bully you" Bam declared and patted her head in which Charlotte just smiled weakly.

"I know you won't."

'But you can't underestimate Brother Altaira's persistence.'

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

C

harlotte who was walking around happened too encounter Nathan all alone in Altaira's old room. The five of them had made a deal to walk away and avoid the ranker for some time since he wasn't in the good mood, but she didn't expect that the ranker would still be there. She thought that he would leave already, giving her a chance to get inside and take her brother's things to help him.

Charlotte thought that it was better not to approach him. After the harsh words that Altaira said to him, she was sure that if she comes there and talks to him, it will only add troubles since comforting others was one of her weaknesses.

But strangely, for someone who supposed to have a foul mood, his expression looked rather calm without troubles or problems. His green eyes were locked on the book and that his hands were flipping through the pages whenever he had finished reading them. Charlotte wondered whether Celeste earned her calm and composed behavior from his master or not.

"Since you are there, just come inside. Don't you think that it's rude just to stand there and spy on others?" He asked.

Since she was figured out, might as well just step inside.

"I don't spy on anyone" she said after she walked inside.

"Then why are you standing there?"

Charlotte rubbed the back of her ear and thought about what she should say.

"Well...I was just standing there.....passing by" she lied and looked somewhere else, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"Do you think that stupid lie works on me? You aren't passing by, but you are thinking whether it is a good decision to disturb me or not right?" Nathan asked, eyes still on the book.

"W- why would I think like that?"

Nathan sighed.

"Stop pretending to be stupid. You and the others eavesdropped on me, don't you?" He asked. "Don't be scared. I won't do anything to you."

"Really?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head slightly with her hands on her back, looking worried.

"Yes. I've lived for so long. Do you think a senior like me will bully you?" Nathan asked. "I'm not as narrow- minded as what Altaira said."

Charlotte looked the ranker. He didn't really look old. In fact, for someone who may have lived longer than a thousand years, he looked really young and attractive. But then again, if ages really does matter, then this tower would be really different than the tower they lived in.

"If you don't have anything to do, why don't you talk with me for awhile?" Nathan asked and tapped at the bed, next to him.

Charlotte pondered about it and thought that it may be fine. So, she walked and sat next to the ranker without worry. She was sure that right now, Nathan won't hurt her. She didn't even feel the slightest blood lust from him.

"Um.....Mr. Nathan, can I ask what that book is about?" Charlotte asked, trying to start a conversation.

"A novel" Nathan replied and closed the book. This time, the red haired male looked at her with his light green eyes. "What? Are you interested?"

"Mr. Nathan, so you also read novel?" Charlotte asked with a smile. She was happy that she encountered someone who shared the same liking with her. This may be a good topic for the two of them to discuss.

The two of them discussed about the novels that they ever read and their opinions for a long time that even Charlotte forgot the main reason she came to Altaira's old room which was to help him to move his things away.

"I don't expect that a slayer candidate will have the hobby to read novels" said Nathan. "I thought that you are more interested in fighting and sort of those stuffs."

"Well, I don't really hate fighting with each other. I just don't enjoy killing" Charlotte replied.

"Why is that? Isn't a slayer candidate....supposed to live by killing?" Nathan asked.

Charlotte was thinking on how she should explain her feelings and her reasons. She was rather hesitant since she was unsure whether Nathan would understand it or not or find her even weird and terrifying.

But still, she replied, "I just thought that.....well, it's not like those regulars have ever done something wrong to me. They just do what they should do, and if they don't fight, just like us, they'll die. They also have no choices if they want to get what they want or to defend themselves.

But that doesn't mean that I'll spare those who harm my comrades or myself. A person like me has always been clear with hatred and love. Those who dare to hurt my friends...."

She lifted her right palm before she closed it tightly with angry expression.

"I'll make sure that they pay for it!"

"What you said does make sense" Nathan said and Charlotte looked at him. "There are some regulars who we kill are actually just strangers. They are just a bystanders in our life.....while the others are those who hurt, humiliated and trampled on us."

"At the end, we're all Gods' children, creation. We're all equal, there is no one higher than the others. They are just simply lucky to be born with extraordinary talents....and some of them deserve it for training hard and diligently" Charlotte added.

"It's a shame that the rule of the tower couldn't change easily. If we intend to change what has been set for more than five thousand years, then there will be lots of wars and fights, more people will suffer than what we want. The law of the jungle has been the part of us. Even a baby who has just born should know about that and should be ready for whatever waiting for them."

Charlotte lowered her head.

'It's my world that's the best. At least children don't have to live in a miserable and hellish place. They don't have to learn how to murder others or to act and behave like an adult when they're young--'

When she thought of that, she recalled a certain person.

'Khun Aguero Agnes. Being born in the Khun Family with political struggles, he needs to survive and behave mature like an old man to find himself a path to live. There is no one who cares of him when he's young.....and he's all alone.'

She clenched her fists.

'No wonder he could help Maria that far as abandoning his family. At the time, the word affection and friendliness must be something.....unfamiliar and strange. It can't be defined. But when he gets hold of it, he couldn't let go.'

Perhaps she was like that as well. Being born in a cold family, without her brother to rely on, to give her a piece of mind, something to breath, perhaps she'll end up in the same way like him.

Come to think of it, Charlotte realized that all the years she spent in the cold family as the youngest one there...she had Altaira to care for her. But what about Altaira himself? Who gave him the warmth when there was no one to be with him at the time?