Even as the Tin Knight’s party sailed far away, the mages didn’t dare to pursue them.

It was a bit different from being frozen in fear.

Certainly, the enemies were strong, but not overwhelmingly so.

There were many mages following the Tower of Control, mana was abundant, and even at this moment, reinforcements were slowly gathering.

If the fight continued, it was a battle they would inevitably win someday.

Yes, if the fight continued.

That would have been the case if someone kept urging them on.

And Skoll and Hati, who should have been giving orders, were now crushed under an unidentified mass, turned into a bloody pulp.

“…”

People stared at the red blood slowly spreading on the ground, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Even though the Rognir royal family had fallen from being the sole ruler of Aeolia to one of four towers, their blood was still considered noble.

Especially within the Tower of Control, not a few people recognized them as essentially royalty.

And the death of royalty they imagined was something more dramatic and noble.

A grand battlefield, a dignified duel, a solemn last will. Even a scaffold watched by thousands. Something like that.

No one expected them to die so suddenly, without much meaning or solemnity, like an unexpected accident.

In a sense, it was similar to the shock of seeing a human who had been playing by stepping on ants die from an ant bite.

They didn’t know the anger of the ants.

The grief of those who died without knowing why in the grand chess game of those with power and authority.

They didn’t know that the girl who learned of this grief, while kind, was not indecisive.

In fact, it didn’t matter if they didn’t know.

They would soon learn whether they liked it or not.

***

While the Magic State was one nation, in reality it was a union of four, and in each tower there were figures in positions similar to diplomats dispatched from other towers.

And now, the diplomats belonging to the Tower of Control were running around in all directions as if their feet were on fire.

Tower of Foresight.

“It seems your domain has been quite noisy lately.”

“Thank you for your concern, Tower Head Geldnir. But rest assured, while unidentified subversive elements are currently spreading rumors, our Control elites will capture them all and perfectly uncover whose plot this incident is.”

“Oh, is that so? I thought it was just a baseless rumor, but seeing you respond so seriously, it seems the scale of the incident is larger than I thought.”

“That’s not the case. However, isn’t it right to quickly and strongly respond to suppress an incident early rather than being careless about a small matter and letting it grow?”

“That’s not wrong. Ah, if you need our help, just say so. While our fighting skills might be questionable, we’d be better at finding and investigating things.”

“While we truly appreciate your consideration, this is our problem, so there’s no need for your tower to trouble yourselves.”

“Hmm. Well, I’ll take it as such then. I suppose if we poked around here and there and happened to obtain some strange information, it could become troublesome.”

“…Surely that wouldn’t happen. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

What is this? How much does he know?

The diplomat who finished the pressure interview with Medir Geldnir, the head of the Tower of Foresight, felt ominous and uncomfortable towards the old man whose appearance was only middle-aged but whose expression was unreadable, but in fact, this level was only low difficulty compared to other towers.

After all, for the diplomat dispatched to the Tower of Annihilation, even opening his mouth was a hardship.

“—Explain.”

While it was common for powerful figures at the level of tower heads to have ages that didn’t match their appearances, Frandol Herteite, the head of the Tower of Annihilation, was truly a young tower head.

And she was also the top mad dog of the Tower of Annihilation.

She was leaning on a sofa with her crossed legs on the table, which was a serious diplomatic discourtesy.

However, instead of pointing this out, the Control diplomat forcibly moved his drying mouth to speak.

“It’s, it’s all a misunderstanding. While the detailed circumstances are currently under investigation, once we catch the culprits, the correct truth will surely be revealed.”

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding.”

Frandol made a motion of cracking her neck left and right with a crunch, crunch.

It was more like the behavior of a neighborhood gang boss than the head of a nation, but perhaps because of that, it stimulated a more primal fear.

“Fine. I’ll believe you for now. But if those words turn out to be lies, it will be unpleasant in many ways. For you, and for your tower. The price for making us look like clowns will never be cheap.”

It was a direct declaration without any diplomatic niceties.

And as if to prove that those words were not empty, the three spirit birds protecting the city raised their mana with a cry.

The diplomat cursed his fate for being assigned here of all places, but even what he experienced was only medium difficulty in comparison.

The true high difficulty was elsewhere.

***

Turning the clock hands back a little, just before the Tin Knight’s party landed on the island.

“T-those are them! If they enter the island like this, who knows what those evil necromancers will do, we must stop them here right now!”

“Hmm.”

At the words of the diplomat from the Tower of Control, the captain of the guard in charge of coastal border security let out a thoughtful hum.

Feeling no sense of urgency in that attitude, the diplomat pressed the other again.

“What are you doing!? Before they land, quickly attack—“

“Look here. While I allowed you to come along like this because of your tower’s important matter, moving troops is still my authority. There’s no reason for me to be interfered with by you. Or perhaps your tower considers us your subordinates?”

“T-that’s not the case, but…”

The diplomat inwardly spewed curses.

The role assigned to him by the Tower of Control was insurance.

In the unlikely event that the culprits broke through the encirclement and crossed the strait, it was to set up a situation where the Tower of Protection would clash with the culprits.

Moreover, among the instructions he received was to “induce the Tower of Protection side to launch a preemptive attack.”

If the culprits showed hostility towards the Tower of Protection and counterattacked, the battle would naturally intensify, and after that, no matter what they said, their right to speak would be greatly weakened.

Of course, like most insurance, this was an operation where it was best if it wasn’t used at all.

After all, there was no guarantee that the Tower of Protection would move exactly as they wanted.

Sure enough, instead of launching a preemptive attack as the diplomat demanded, the guard captain shouted to those who had crossed on the raft through amplification magic, “To the travelers over there! You are currently suspected of various charges including the murder of tower mages! If you peacefully disarm and submit to investigation, you will be treated according to proper legal procedures, but if you refuse, we will engage in combat!”

“Please wait! If they use some bizarre method, there could be great damage!”

To the diplomat’s words, this time the guard captain didn’t even respond.

The diplomat gritted his teeth.

The culprits seemed to mutter something among themselves, then one of them slowly walked forward.

The green-haired woman smiled gently without showing any particular fear of the arrows aimed at her, then put something she was holding on the ground.

Immediately after, something placed on the ground—a flute particularly full of mana—sang vigorously.

《Oh friends! Listen to my story, listen to this tale!》

《You must know the truth that the oppressors tried to hide, this story they tried to conceal!》

《Those called criminals were not criminals, and those who claimed to be victims were not victims!》

《Everything was a prepared script, and even now they are trying to use innocent people on their script!》

《Friends, do not be deceived!》

《Friends, you must not be used!》

《Friends, call the wisest witch you know!》

《The great mentor who created the towers will prove the truth of my words!》

The voice was playful, but its content was venomous.

Feeling gazes starting to stab into the back of his head, the diplomat desperately raised his voice, “T-this is slander! Are you going to believe the words of these unidentified people over the blood allies we’ve been with for a long time as members of the same Magic State?!”

“My, you talk a lot.”

While glaring at the diplomat as if displeased, the guard captain didn’t lower his guard against the green-haired woman—Sophia.

After all, the diplomat’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

“I understand what you want to say. However, this is a matter of procedure. If you comply with the arrest first, we can listen to your story sufficiently afterwards, so please follow instructions for now.”

“Does that mean you can’t let us meet the Witch of the North immediately? Is that how I should understand it?”

“No one has the authority to say who can or can’t meet that person the first place. If she hears the story, she will judge for herself.”

“I see.”

Sophia quietly smiled.

The guard captain didn’t realize it, but his words and attitude implied that “the Witch of the North is here in the Tower of Protection”.

Because Sophia spoke with the premise of, “You have the Witch on your side, right?” so naturally, the guard captain also misunderstood that “These people already knew the Witch of the North was here when they came,” in fact, it was just a guess with a somewhat high possibility.

And while Sophia was buying time like this, Dorothea and the other companions were quietly timing their restart in the back.

While they had no intention of actively fighting the Tower of Protection, if they simply complied with demands to disarm, the Tower of Control might send assassins at any time.

Of course, if they suddenly killed a suspect arrested by another tower, dealing with the aftermath wouldn’t be easy, but originally people could do anything when cornered.

The party started plotting in the back.

“The encirclement is quite solid. The soldiers’ weapons and armor also look like magic tools.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says we should just push through with a hit-and-run!]

“I think it’s better not to hurt people unrelated to the incident as much as possible.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says then he’ll blow them away with wind pressure instead of hitting them physically!]

“Alright, then somehow break through the encirclement, scatter flutes while running around various parts of the island, spread the story until they can’t easily touch us, then renegotiate after seeing the situation—“

It was while the party was talking like this.

Adelaide’s eyes widened, and she pointed her finger towards the sea.

Dorothea quickly turned around, thinking that perhaps pursuers from the Tower of Control were flying in, and then gaped blankly.

A jet-black hull. Golden sails. A pirate emblem made of jewels.

A pirate ship that was dazzlingly flashy whether seen up close or from afar had already approached near the coast.

At the front of the splendid ship, Cap’n Bill, holding a girl tightly bound with ropes in one hand, shouted towards the party:

“Oh! Dear mateys! Me has been waitin’ and waitin’ to meet ya! Ya’d better not think of running away like last time! If ya do, this ‘ere young lady will become shark food!”

“I-I’m sorry…!”

Everyone gathered on the coast froze.

The pirate ship that suddenly appeared at a speed impossible for ordinary ships, the crew members with inhuman appearances on that pirate ship, and even the girl with impressively long flowing hair captured by those pirates.

When too much information poured in at once, they couldn’t figure out how to act and just stiffened up.

Adelaide’s face froze in surprise.

Although her hair color had changed from blonde to reddish-brown, perhaps due to the effect of the medicine Dorothea gave her, the girl’s identity was undoubtedly the temporary companion they had once traveled with.

She had been with them during Cap’n Bill’s re-attack, but because the situation was so chaotic, Adelaide thought she would have just been forgotten, but to think he remembered and took her hostage.

Towards this sudden crisis that wasn’t in their plans, Dorothea opened her mouth, “Do whatever you want. I’m not her nanny or anything.”

“Huh?”

“Eek.”

The surprised sounds of the hostage and kidnapper rang out simultaneously.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken