Chapter 58: Even Roswaal Has Noticed... (Patreon)

"Oh?" Leaning against the wall of the pavilion on the lawn, Roswaal caught sight of that platinum-haired figure and waved with a smile. "All done with your business, miss? Looks like you're heading off."

Even Pandora had to admit — Roswaal, in this moment, struck her as more than a little strange.

After all, anyone wearing an expression that seemed to say they'd seen through everything was bound to come off as odd...

"Yes, I'm off now."

This time had ended in failure, but she'd learn from it for next time. Still, it had been her first attempt, and first impressions mattered a great deal (though who exactly had fallen asleep last night with a book as a pillow, she wondered)...

Seeing this, Roswaal let out a sudden sigh. "Seems Beatrice's answer didn't sit well with you, miss... Well, that's just how Beatrice is."

"Something like that..." Pandora simply spread her hands. "And you, Mr. Roswaal? Did something happen?"

"Ah — it's nothing much. Just that the group weren't satisfied with the place I found for them, even though I'd explained everything to them beforehand."

From the sound of it, they must have gone to the Sanctuary...

Pandora nodded. "Mm, that's not right of them. You're the one offering help, after all."

Roswaal shook his head helplessly. "Well, well, that's just how it is. In this world, there are always people who, once they've gotten what they wanted, still aren't satisfied. If it were me..."

He trailed off, stopping abruptly.

"Well then, thank you for your hospitality. I'll take my leave now."

Seeing this, Pandora understood well enough what was on his mind, so she didn't press the topic further and simply turned to go.

"Mm..."

Roswaal nodded too, falling silent.

Not long after Pandora left—

"Do you know who she is?"

A voice, somewhat heavy with weight, came from behind Roswaal.

"Ahh — Beatrice, you actually came all the way out just to see me. I'm so touched."

Roswaal, snapping out of his thoughts, turned around and waved, speaking in a flippant tone.

Beatrice only frowned at him. "Beatrice is being serious."

That stern expression made the smile on Roswaal's face fade away bit by bit.

"If that lady were merely a noble, it wouldn't be enough to put that look on your face, would it?"

Even his usual drawl was gone.

Over the past hundred years, he'd come to know Beatrice's temperament well — when she wore an expression this genuinely serious, something significant had happened, without a doubt...

Beatrice nodded. "That woman's name is Pandora — the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora. If not for Mother, Beatrice would have had no way of knowing this at all..."

At those words, Roswaal's pupils shrank sharply. "A... a witch..."

Judging by Beatrice's manner, she wasn't joking at all... So that meant — just now, he'd... said farewell to a witch?

Beatrice nodded. "Yes. Beatrice suspects that although it was that demon who injured your ancestor — Roswaal A Mathers — back then, that woman's hand was surely behind it as well."

"Cough... cough..."

Hearing news that landed like a bomb, Roswaal choked violently and broke into a coughing fit.

"What's wrong with you?" Watching the terror written across his face, Beatrice sighed. "Thanks to that demon, your ancestor also lost..."

"So... all of this happened because of... her?!" A storm of emotion surged through Roswaal.

Beatrice merely shook her head. "No. Beatrice already said — it's just a guess."

"A guess?"

"Yes. Going by what Mother described and what's recorded in the library, the Witch of Vainglory — Pandora — should be an utterly irredeemable creature, one with a thoroughly wretched character. But..."

As she spoke, she looked seriously at Roswaal.

"You could feel it too, couldn't you? When that woman was with us, there wasn't a trace of malice in her — quite the opposite, she seemed genuinely warm, and none of it felt like an act..."

That was also the part that puzzled her most.

"True enough..."

Roswaal let out a breath and nodded.

If Pandora had shown even a trace of malice, he'd have... no. Having learned his lesson from that previous failure, he would absolutely have sent her to eternal rest under cover of "night" — even if it turned out to be a wasted effort...

Paying no mind to Roswaal, lost in thought with his head bowed, Beatrice looked out toward the distant mountain forest. "What do you plan to do from here? She'll probably come calling again..."

"Come calling again?"

"Yes. The reason she came was to invite Beatrice to travel with her..."

Just thinking of Pandora's talk of "keeping her all to herself" versus "sharing her," Beatrice's feelings grew tangled and complicated.

"This time Beatrice didn't agree, and she..."

Beatrice still remembered — before leaving, Pandora had said the word "next time"...

If this were the usual Roswaal, at a time like this he'd surely say, "Our Beatrice can't be so easily lured away, now, can she!"

But right now, he wasn't in any mood for that kind of joke...

"Since she's a witch, then — what's her Authority? Did Beatrice figure it out?"

Knowing an enemy's abilities was the basic prerequisite for dealing with them.

Beatrice was quiet for a moment. "It's... altering reality..."

But... Beatrice showed no sign of continuing, which led Roswaal to believe that was all she knew.

"Altering... reality..."

Those four words alone were enough to leave Roswaal struggling to breathe.

If she could alter reality, then his teacher...

"Looking at it this way, this really is a tricky situation..." he said, glancing at Beatrice. "Still, since it wasn't her who brought about our ancestor's downfall, then there's no need for us to move against her, is there?"

This left Beatrice a little puzzled. "Did you eat something bad last night that addled your brain, to end up looking so much like some creature that does nothing but bounce around on mountaintops?"

Roswaal: "..."

Why was she suddenly looking down on him like this...

"That's enough. Beatrice isn't as idle as you are." Beatrice merely glanced at him before turning and walking back into the manor.

As for whatever Roswaal wanted to do, or however he'd do it, she had no interest in meddling — nor any real say in the matter...

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