To clear up any potential misunderstandings, Sophia hadn't given Adelaide a play-by-play guide, predicting exactly how the other party would react to every word.
That would have been less a matter of strategy and more in the realm of clairvoyance.
She had merely anticipated three possible scenarios, preparing them to react no matter how the situation unfolded.
“If the lord readily permits the investigation of the tower and no one objects, praise him and bolster his authority. You’ll then be able to investigate the tower with his goodwill and a legitimate reason, and from there, it will be Miss Dorothea’s domain.”
“If the lord refuses the investigation, or if he intends to grant permission but faces opposition from his court, then you must act openly furious. Remind them that you called this ‘a matter concerning the honor of your bloodline’ and question how they could possibly ignore it. If they become flustered and concede, all the better. But even if their response remains unsatisfactory, it’s fine. By then, we’ll have already established the justification to force our way in.”
“Finally, if the investigation itself is permitted, but they try to impose some kind of restriction or ask for a delay—”
*
That evening.
The lady of the domain secretly gathered her trusted servants and asked.
“What of them?”
“Lady Adelaide has finished her martial training with the guards and is now speaking with the lord. The servant named Sophia is going around questioning vassals and other servants, asking if there's anyone who might hold a grudge against the tower or the children within.”
“Such a pointless task… What about the other two?”
“The female mage has not left her room since dinner. Judging by the sounds of a man's and a woman's voice from inside, she seems to be chatting with the knight who was with her. The content is just idle chatter.”
“Is that so.”
The lady let out a deep sigh.
Why did people like them have to show up now, of all times?
She was on edge.
Just when she was rejoicing at having obtained a sacrifice that wouldn't trouble her conscience, recent events had been nothing but a series of nerve-wracking incidents.
An intruder appearing in the tower meant to supply her with important sacrifices, and now outsiders declaring they would use that as a pretext to poke around inside.
If she had her way, she would have thrown them in prison or kicked them out immediately, but she couldn't.
If she were dealing with mere wandering adventurers, she could have fabricated a pretext like blasphemy or something else, but her opponents were Lennart.
In truth, while their influence might be significant in the Empire, the Lennart family's power wasn't particularly strong in the Federation, especially in a rural domain like Donnengarten. The problem was that the lord placed his absolute trust and favor in them.
Although the lady wielded immense popularity and influence within the domain, this was only possible because of her title as the "lord's wife."
The legitimacy to rule Donnengarten belonged to the lord, and though he had aged, his boyish nature ensured his influence over the knights and soldiers, if not the other vassals, remained firm.
The lady could offer "advice" to the lord, but if he was determined to push something through, she had no choice but to follow his will.
On top of that, it was unsettling not to know their purpose or the extent of their abilities.
What if that female mage discovered the secret hidden in the tower? And even if she didn't, what if the "mage" found the act of investigating the tower unpleasant, upsetting him?
Either outcome was unacceptable to the lady.
In the end, there was only one thing she could do.
“I’m tired. I plan to retire early today, so if anyone comes looking for me, turn them away.”
“Understood.”
After confirming her servants had left, the lady opened a box she kept deep inside a cupboard and took out the object within.
Tinkle.
It was an old metal rod with a dark, grimy hue.
A small bell was attached to the end of the rod, and it chimed with every step the lady took.
The lady wrapped a cloak around herself and quietly slipped out of the room.
Tinkle.
Despite the bizarre sight of the lord's wife wandering about late in the evening holding a strange rod, no one showed any surprise or tried to stop her.
The soldiers guarding the doors, the servants she passed along the way—all of them walked past her as if they hadn't noticed her at all.
With a look of someone already accustomed to this, the lady proceeded calmly toward the tower.
Tinkle.
The security in front of the tower was tight.
The number of soldiers had doubled, and so many torches had been lit that the area was bright despite the sun having set.
But even they failed to notice the lady.
That wasn't the only surprising thing.
As the lady approached the door, the heavily locked entrance swung wide open on its own.
It was as if the tower itself was welcoming her.
“……”
The lady wore a complicated expression.
The power of the bell she received from the mage, the miracle unfolding before her eyes.
All of it was helpful to her now. Without these things, she would have had to go to great lengths just to meet the mage each time.
But the lady couldn't be entirely happy about it.
While a competent "accomplice" might be good news, a powerful "collector" was nothing short of a tragedy.
But as things stood, she had no other choice. The lady stepped inside the tower.
On the desolate first floor, where only the stairs leading to the second floor stood out, the lady shook the bell in her hand and spoke.
“You’re already watching, aren’t you? Show yourself.”
After a brief silence, a reply came from the empty air.
《Foolish contractor. Your voice is laced with anxiety. What is the rush?》
The words seemed considerate at first glance, but the voice was thick with a mockery it couldn't—or rather, had no intention of—hiding.
“Tomorrow, people intending to investigate this tower will arrive. I tried to stop them, but their status is too high for me to prevent it.”
Though she had known him for a long time, the lady, weary of the foul temperament of a mage whose name she didn't even know, continued without letting her feelings show.
“I came here to warn you of this and to make it clear that this has nothing to do with my own will. Therefore…”
《You're asking me to be careful not to get caught and cause a scene, and not to take out my frustrations on you by mistake, is that it?》
“…Yes.”
Laughter echoed from the air.
《Contractor, you cunning and foolish woman, you never change. You are selfish and greedy enough to sacrifice unrelated children for your own goals, yet at the same time, you are diligent and skilled in your conduct, never growing complacent despite your high station. That competence is what has allowed you to maintain your position until now.》
“However,” the mage added.
《It seems your opponent was one step ahead of you this time.》
Not understanding the mage's meaning, the woman asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
The mage replied.
《It means you foolishly walked into a trap. You should not have come to me now.》
CRASH!
With a tremendous roar, the door that had closed the moment the lady entered was forced open.
Clank. With the sound of heavy footsteps, a knight stormed into the tower.
The lady gasped.
The presence of the knight, clad head to toe in heavy, metallic armor, was truly fearsome.
The blue light shining from the slit of his helm was like a will-o'-wisp, enough to make one shrink back at the mere sight of it.
And behind him, the sharp sound of footsteps echoed.
“—Tch. I was hoping to wait until she spilled a bit more. So much for that.”
Her black clothes, which seemed to melt into the night's darkness, stood in stark contrast to her snow-white skin.
Carrying a large staff and wrapped in a cloak, the witch twisted her lips in disappointment as she strode forward confidently.
“You people….”
The lady’s eyes flew open.
Her shock at the sudden turn of events was brief; she quickly understood the situation.
“Don't tell me you knew this would happen from the start!”
“Who knows? I'm not kind enough to explain everything in detail. Think whatever you like.”
It was quite a blunt way to speak to the lady of a domain.
Yet it didn't feel like disrespect. Forcing the world's etiquette on a witch was a futile act.
Ignoring the speechless lady of the domain, the black witch, Dorothea, glared up at the ceiling.
As if in response, a shape resembling a human face bulged out from the ceiling.
《You have the skill of an angler. So, are you happy with your big catch?》
“And you have all the makings of a criminal. It looks like this isn't the first or second time you've done this. What the hell are you doing, taking these girls?”
《I have already paid a fair price, and I am merely receiving value in return. This is such a contract.》
The ‘mage's’ face formed something akin to a smile.
《Mage of the surface, why do you, an outsider, seek to interfere with our contract?》
“Surface?”
Dorothea's eyebrow twitched for a moment, but she quickly changed the subject as if deciding to worry about it later.
“I don't know who you are, and I don't much care what kind of contract this is. But I have business with that girl you've got locked up. It'll be easier for both of us if you hand her over while I'm asking nicely.”
《Hahaha! Are you threatening me?》
“Do I look like I'm all talk?”
At Dorothea’s words, the mage's lips twisted.
His gaze shifted to the Tin Knight.
《Not at all. With such a fearsome thing accompanying you, I would have a hard time holding my own if it came to a fight. A truly difficult situation. But who said I would fight you?》
“What?”
《All I have to do is hold out until the deadline and collect my payment. By all means, try your best.》
Immediately after.
—GONG! GONG! GONG!
A tremendous ringing echoed from the tower.
It wasn't so much that a bell somewhere in the tower was ringing, but rather that the tower itself seemed to have become one giant bell.
With such a deafening sound ringing out in the dead of night, it was only natural that it would draw the attention of everyone nearby.
Immediately, the sounds of murmuring and shouting began to rise from the surroundings.
“Ha, so that's how you're going to play it?”
Dorothea realized the mage's intention.
Sensing he would be at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation, he had drawn in others to prevent a fight from even starting.
If people swarmed here and saw this, convincing them to avoid any misunderstanding would be incredibly troublesome.
At worst, she might have to face the soldiers of Donnengarten in an all-out battle.
It was certainly a troublesome move.
She had secretly tailed the lady, thinking something like this might happen, but the mage's awareness and detection abilities were better than she had expected.
Dorothea spoke to the lady of the domain.
“Looks like you've been abandoned, doesn't it?”
“……”
However, this was a fine outcome only for the mage himself.
The safety of the lord's wife, left behind here, was not guaranteed at all.
The lady was not so dull as to miss that fact, and the color drained from her face.
“Are you… going to cut me down?”
“If I have to.”
Dorothea didn't deny it.
“You're not going to side with us when the soldiers arrive, are you? If you're with the enemy, then cutting you down is one solution.”
“If you do that, you won't get away unscathed either.”
“If I was afraid of taking risks, I wouldn't have started this in the first place.”
The lady collapsed to the floor as if she had been struck down.
Averting her gaze from the woman, Dorothea placed a necklace made of a skull around the Tin Knight's neck.
“Tin Can. Wait on the stairs between the first and second floors. When I send a signal through that skull, move as instructed.”
Dorothea then created a bone bowl filled with water on the floor.
Beyond the water mirror, the golden-haired girl was watching them with a nervous expression.
“You remember what I told you, right? When I give the signal, cut your hair and leave a handful in the designated spot.”
『-Y-Yes!』
[The 'Tin Knight' asks what to do about the soldiers!]
“Well, he could probably just hold them off with a barrier and they wouldn't get in, but they'd be a distraction.”
Dorothea spun her left wrist counter-clockwise.
A moment later, a birdcage appeared in her hand.
“Let's just put them all to sleep for a while. A nightmare is still a dream, after all.”
One by one, souls that had been in the underworld crawled out onto the surface.
Revealing their hazy forms, they clung to the living, luring them into slumber.
It was the beginning of a night of nightmares that would not end until the witch willed it.