Footsteps approached from a distance.
Tsukasa looked up, his eyes brightening slightly.
The person approaching was wearing a familiar black-and-white maid's dress, her short pink hair meticulously combed. It was Ram.
She walked with a composed, even slightly nonchalant gait, stepping slowly from the shadows of the main mansion building into the daylight of the courtyard. Her posture suggested she had long since known who would be arriving at this moment.
However, the slight upward curve of her lips still betrayed a hint of hidden surprise.
"Ram-nee!"
The brown-haired girl, Petra, cried out as if she had seen a savior, her voice carrying a sob. "There... there's a Witch Cultist here!"
"I already told you, I'm not some Witch Cultist."
Tsukasa sighed helplessly, his voice sounding somewhere between laughter and tears.
Then he turned to Ram, his brow furrowed and his tone clearly annoyed. "Honestly, who is this little brat? Attacking the moment we meet, how incredibly rude."
Ram walked closer and fixed her gaze on Tsukasa, looking him up and down.
"Your outfit..."
The curve of Ram's lips deepened, it was her usual slight smile, tinged with a sharp tongue.
"To begin with, you look like a suspicious, indecent person. It's not at all surprising that Petra would mistake you for a Witch Cultist."
She paused, a hint of mischief flashing in her red eyes.
"Out there, you'd probably be arrested by patrolling guards as a vagrant or a thug."
Tsukasa twitched his lips but didn't take the bait. He waved his hand dismissively, and his expression soon turned calm. "What's the situation at the mansion right now?"
At those words, the faint smile on Ram's face vanished. She straightened her expression, a trace of gravity flashing deep within her red eyes.
"It's not optimistic."
She stepped aside, gesturing for Tsukasa to follow. "Let's go."
Ram turned and walked toward the main mansion building. "We'll talk as we head inside."
—
The corridor leading to the drawing room was deep and quiet, the sound of footsteps echoing on the stone slabs.
Ram walked ahead, narrating in a steady tone, "Traces of the Witch Cult began to appear shortly after Subaru fell unconscious and you all left for the Royal Capital."
"Sometimes puppet-like things can be seen wandering at the edge of the barrier. More often, it's the feeling of being watched—figures in black robes hidden in the dark parts of the forest."
It was basically consistent with what the villagers had described.
Thinking this, the two of them arrived at the door of the drawing room during their conversation.
Click.
Ram pushed open the heavy wooden door.
The light inside was brighter than in the corridor. However, what met Tsukasa's eyes was not the silver-haired half-elf he expected.
The first thing to occupy his vision was an exceptionally tall female figure. Long pale-gold hair cascaded down like a waterfall, the ends slightly curled. Green eyes looked over with gentleness and a bit of surprise.
Her build could be described as robust, with broad shoulders and long arms. Even the maid uniform couldn't hide that sense of power.
Most striking were the sharp fangs belonging to a demi-human race slightly visible at the edge of her lips.
If she had anything in common with Ram and that little brat named Petra, it was probably only the black-and-white maid uniform she wore.
"Frederica-nee!"
Petra cheered and, like a bird returning to its nest, darted out from behind Ram and lunged at the tall maid, hugging her tightly around the waist. Petra's height only reached a bit above Frederica's waist, making the scene look rather like a human hugging a scaled-up plush toy.
"Hey, Ram..."
Tsukasa stared at this unfamiliar maid with her powerful presence and raised an eyebrow, his tone somewhat subtle. "While I was away, you guys recruited quite a few new people?"
He glanced sideways at the pink-haired maid beside him, a teasing curve at the corner of his lips. "You're not about to be fired, are you?"
Ram didn't even blink, her voice calm and flat. "The possibility of Tsukasa being kicked by Subaru and Rem is higher than the probability of Ram being fired by Roswaal-sama."
Before her voice even faded—
"Ah! Tsukasa?"
A soft voice filled with surprise and disbelief came from behind the tall maid, Frederica.
Emilia peeked out from beside Frederica, her long silver hair swaying slightly with the movement. Her amethyst eyes were wide, staring unblinkingly at Tsukasa at the door.
Hearing the name Emilia used, Frederica was taken aback for a moment, then those emerald-green eyes suddenly lit up. She lowered her head slightly, her gaze circling Tsukasa's conspicuous white hair and face. The surprise on her face was quickly replaced by a warm smile that mixed curiosity with realization.
"So you're Tsukasa-sama."
—
Under Frederica's warm and attentive, even professional, maid service, Tsukasa settled down, a cup of black tea at just the right temperature pressed into his hand.
He listened to Emilia's worried narration while slowly sipping the tea.
From Emilia, he once again confirmed a fact: Roswaal was, once again, absent.
This Margrave, who should have been stationed at the border to protect his people and his mansion, just happened to be absent "coincidentally" again, right when the Witch Cult's activities were becoming more frequent and the atmosphere in the mansion was growing tighter by the day.
Once might be a coincidence, but twice...
Tsukasa set down his teacup, the porcelain clinking softly against the wooden table. His deep blue eyes lowered slightly, his fingertips slowly tracing the rim of the cup.
He murmured to himself, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone in the quiet room, "If nothing unexpected happens, perhaps today, or tomorrow, the Witch Cult will attack."
The frequent probing and spying by the Witch Cult over the past few days had suddenly vanished in the last two days. This abnormal "tranquility" usually meant a more violent storm was gathering strength in the shadows.
The enemy had likely already completed their encirclement and deployment, waiting only for a command.
Break through the heavy encirclement and evacuate with Emilia, Ram, Petra, Frederica, and the small number of villagers Emilia had hidden in the mansion?
The difficulty was too great, the risk even higher. After all, if a fight broke out—facing two Sin Archbishops—the probability of protecting them all while under siege was miniscule.
And...
He looked up at the gloomy sky outside the window.
Crusch's forces should already be on their way. Time was both the opponent's opportunity and their own.
In that case...
"I'm going to deal with the Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult."
Tsukasa set down his teacup and looked up, his gaze calmly sweeping across every face in the room.
"I'll leave the mansion to you all for the time being."