"So, are we all in agreement that Anna should stay here?" Rolena declared with a confident smile.
"No." Nightingale shook her head immediately. "If this solution is truly the way to survive the Day of Adulthood, then she should come back with me. Here, she'll have to live in hiding. And if the temples come knocking, you won't be able to protect her."
"It's the opposite," Rolena shot back. "If she goes with you, she'll live as a fugitive—constantly on the run. When will she even have time to use and release her magic properly? Unless your Witch Cooperation Association has a truly safe place to stay—which, considering my knight discovered one of your camps just outside the town, clearly isn't the case."
"…We did have a safe place before," Nightingale muttered, her eyes flicking briefly toward me.
I couldn't help but smile wryly. She was talking about the small house behind my mansion.
"Exactly," Rolena said smugly. "So it's better if Anna stays here. Instead of wasting her magic in secret, she can work for me and earn money while doing so. In fact, you should bring all the witches from your Association here—this town could become a place where they live and work without fear."
"And what about the villagers?" Nightingale pressed, her eyes narrowing. "Did you forget the crowd that was very eager to hang Anna this morning. How do you plan to deal with that, Princess?"
"That…" Rolena hesitated, then sighed, glancing at me for help. "I'm sure we can figure something out."
"How about this," I said, stepping in before the argument escalated further. "Let Anna stay here for one week. After that, Nightingale, you can approach her with your offer. Anna can then herself decide where she wants to go."
"Perfect," Rolena said, clapping her hands once in approval. "She's the one at the center of all this. So she deserves the right to choose."
Rolena had a smug smile on her face confident that she could convince Anna to stay,
"Hmm… I suppose that works," Nightingale said with a nod. "Still, you're only the second person I've met who isn't afraid of witches—and is curious instead, Princess." She smiled faintly at Rolena.
"Well, I don't like blindly believing what others say out of ignorance," Rolena replied, twirling a strand of hair with a wry smile.
"Hmm… The rumors about you paint you in a very different picture," Nightingale said, studying her strangely.
Rolena could only let out a hollow laugh.
"Alright," I said, folding my hands together. "Next, there's another major issue we need to discuss."
'For this, it's better if we don't speak out loud,' I added, switching the conversation to the party chat.
Although first I obviously had to briefly explain its function to the shocked Nightingale.
'The longer I stay around you, the less I understand how you're capable of doing all this,' Nightingale muttered, rubbing her temple.
'Mm-hmm. I already know—anything is possible for Master,' Roxanne said smugly.
'Yeah… I'm starting to realize Michio is basically a cheat code,' Rolena added with a smirk.
'Focus,' I cut in firmly. 'Nightingale, you may not know this yet, but someone tried to assassinate the Princess today—by poisoning her.'
'What?' Nightingale's shock was immediate. 'Then how did she survive?'
'I suppose I just got lucky,' Rolena replied with a wry smile.
'In any case,' I continued quickly covering up for her, 'I'm certain the culprit who ordered this is one of her siblings—most likely the Pirate Queen, Garcia. And at the top of my suspect list… is the maid, Tyre.'
In fact I had wanted to switch to party chat from the beginning—not just because Nightingale could eavesdrop while invisible, but because it was possible that Tyre herself might be listening to our conversation from somewhere.
'So you're telling me all of this because… you want me to catch the assassin—is that it?' Nightingale said with a faint smirk.
'Yes. Whoever poisoned Rolena is probably panicking right now because of the failed attempt,' I replied calmly, drawing on my canon knowledge. 'I doubt they'll try poisoning her again so soon. More likely, they'll attempt to contact their master for new orders. But still we can't take any chances. So until that person is caught, Rolena can't afford to eat or even drink anything prepared here.'
I glanced at Nightingale. 'With your abilities, tracking them down shouldn't be difficult.'
'Hmph. I get the idea,' Nightingale said, crossing her arms. 'But why should I help her?'
'I can pay you,' Rolena interjected quickly. 'In fact—why don't you work as my bodyguard?'
'…No,' Nightingale replied after a pause. 'I can't stay here. I still have responsibilities at the camp.'
'I think you should accept,' I said, meeting her gaze. 'This way, you can keep an eye on both Anna and Rolena. You'll also be able to judge for yourself whether this is truly a safe place for your people.'
'You're serious?' Nightingale asked, clearly surprised.
'That's a brilliant idea,' Rolena said brightly. 'You can stay here and protect me. I'll provide a generous salary, as well as food and lodging.'
Nightingale fell silent, her eyes shifting between Rolena and me as she considered it.
'I truly believe this could be a good opportunity for the witches,' I added earnestly. 'Please, think about it.'
'…Alright,' Nightingale finally said with a quiet sigh. 'I accept.'
'Good,' Rolena exhaled in relief. 'Now I can finally rest easy.'
Roxanne and I exchanged smiles as the tension in the room finally eased.
"Alright then, we'll take our leave," I said, standing up. Roxanne rose beside me.
"What? You're leaving already?" Rolena stood as well, clearly startled. She lowered her voice and stepped closer. "Listen… Why don't you and Roxanne stay here? It would help all of us if we stick together."
"I'm sorry, Princess, but I have a house back in Quratar—and people waiting for me," I replied, the image of the mansion filled with lovely babes flashing through my mind. "However, I will visit you tomorrow."
"Well then, just bring them here," she said bluntly, stepping forward and grabbing my hand. "I really want you to stay."
"That…" I couldn't help but smile wryly. If I actually brought all 18 girls with me here, Rolena would definitely label me a hopeless pervert on the spot.
'Michio,' she pleaded through the party chat, her tone suddenly far more vulnerable, 'I've been poisoned, roasted by fire, nearly assassinated by an invisible witch, and my first day in this isekai isn't even over. And now you want to leave me alone?'
I gently squeezed her hand.
'Rolena, we both have our canon paths to walk,' I replied softly. 'You need to focus on Border Town and the witches if you want to move forward. Similarly, I need to focus on labyrinths to grow stronger. Only when we've both gained power will we actually be able to survive in this world.'
'But you haven't even told me everything about my story yet,' she said anxiously.
'I will—slowly,' I assured her. 'Knowing everything right now won't help. It'll only weigh you down. For now, focus on these two witches. They're the key figures in your story.'
She exhaled, shoulders slumping. "Alright… you win," she said aloud. "But I'll be waiting for you tomorrow."
I nodded. "As you wish, Princess."
Before leaving, I quietly reminded Nightingale of a few things to watch out for in regards to Tyre.
"Goodbye," I said, turning and giving them both a wave as I headed out.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Roxanne added, bowing politely as she followed.
"I'll be back," Nightingale said as the door closed—vanishing into the mist.
"Great…" Rolena muttered, glancing around the now-empty room as she sank back into her chair with a sigh.
---
'Master, Nightingale is following us,' Roxanne said through the party chat as we left the castle.
'Thanks,' I replied with a smile.
'If you were planning to show me where Wendy is, it's fine. I can already sense her location through the party bond.' I sent Nightingale a message through the party chat.
'Oh. Well… I was actually going to remind you about your promise to help Wendy with shopping,' Nightingale replied, her voice amused. 'Good thing you remembered.'
We walked through the quiet, empty streets for a while before she spoke again.
'There's something else I wanted to ask you,' she said.
'Go on,' I replied.
'When you asked me to bring you here… did you plan all of this?' Her tone sharpened.
'Saving Anna moments before her execution. Having a strange princess as a friend who openly favors witches. Making me stay behind to protect her. Even figuring out a solution to the Demonic Torture which is one of the biggest problem of us witches.'
She paused.
'It all lines up a little too perfectly.'
I slowed my steps slightly.
I knew she was still within the mist.
And I knew that if I lied—
she would know immediately.
'Honestly, I didn't know things would turn out this way. Even I was shocked when I saw Anna about to be hanged,' I said with a sigh.
'All I can say is… maybe it's my heroic luck guiding events to unfold in our favor.'
And I wasn't lying.
I knew about Anna from the story and I even knew about Rolena.
But I had no certainty that I would even find them in this Border town.
It was an absurd coincidence that I arrived at the exact moment Rolena transmigrated into the dead princess's body—and at the exact moment Anna, the female protagonist, was about to be executed.
Not only that, but in the original flow of events, Nightingale and Roland were never meant to meet this early. Nightingale was supposed to arrive weeks later, investigate the executed witch, discover Anna was still alive, and only then begin forming a partnership with Roland.
Instead, I had befriended Nightingale beforehand and brought her here deliberately, hoping to force an early meeting and accelerate the story's progression.
I was just hoping for it to happen, but it somehow really worked out.
However by doing so, I had also shattered the known timeline—pushing both Rolena and myself into unknown territory.
Still, this world was already an alternate version. Worrying about butterfly effects now was pointless.
All I could do was move forward, betting on the few constants I believed wouldn't change—even in an AU like this.
'So it's all just… you being lucky?' Nightingale muttered, baffled.
'Maybe,' I replied lightly. Then I changed the subject.
'Now I have a question for you. Is Cara the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association?'
'You know Cara?' Nightingale asked, surprised. 'And no—she's one of the leaders. Wendy, Scroll, and Cara all three of them founded the Association together.'
I nodded, relieved. At least the canon hadn't changed in this aspect.
'I don't know her personally,' I said. 'But is she still pushing for everyone to search for the Holy Mountain in the Impassable Mountain Range?'
The Impassable Mountain Range—according to Sherry—was the massive stretch of mountains sealing off the Empire's northern border.
The snow-capped peaks visible even from here…
were likely part of that very range.
'How do you know about her then? And how do you even know the Association's plans?' Nightingale demanded, clearly alarmed.
'Do you have a spy among us? Do you know the future? Or is God himself whispering secrets about witches into the Hero's ears?!'
She sounded genuinely exasperated now.
'For now… just accept it,' I said, deliberately sidestepping her questions.
'I knew you'd say that,' she muttered with a long, tired sigh.
'Can you arrange a meeting with Cara for me?' I asked, glancing at the thinning crowd still lingering in the square.
'That would be difficult,' Nightingale replied. 'Cara doesn't trust anyone who is not part of the association.'
'What if you told her my identity?' I suggested after a moment's thought.
'I don't know… I could convince Wendy and Scroll,' she said apologetically. 'But Cara probably wouldn't believe me even if I told her that you are the Hero. And right now as you said, she's completely obsessed with finding the Holy Mountain, so she would most likely just dismiss my claims.'
She paused, then asked in alarm.
'Wait. You asked about Cara and the Holy Mountain. Then do you… know something about the Holy Mountain itself?'
Of course I did.
I knew from the story that the Holy Mountain the Witches were searching for... was a lie—or more accurately, it was just a fool's dream.
In fact this Holy Mountain was the very reason I had chosen to reveal myself as the Hero, to tell Nightingale far more than I should have, even at the cost of making her doubt me. All because I wanted to make her and other witches trust me completely and stop them from chasing this foolish dream.
Because if I didn't stop them early—
if the witches followed the canon path in search of the Holy Mountain—
Then what awaited them wasn't salvation.
It was tragedy.
A future where almost the entire Witch Cooperation Association would be wiped out.
Having all these lovely witches die just because of a fool…
I refused to let that happen!
***
[Gorama27 has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]