#166 Witch and the Contract of Magic (8)
Once upon a time… well, it was actually closer to today than a long time ago.
A greedy woman entered into a contract with a mysterious wizard.
“Wizard, you said you would take my daughter. Please do so. I can send more girls if needed! I’ll sacrifice as many innocent children as it takes for the sake of my beloved child!”
“Contractor, I shall accept your cunning. As long as you sacrifice your daughter (innocent children), the child you love will be safe. I swear this in the name of my unknown title!”
To prevent one tragedy, and to protect a mother’s love, another tragedy and sorrow arose.
No one raised any objections.
The greedy woman was celebrated by many.
No one doubted that she was offering sacrifices to the wizard.
Even those who did doubt kept their mouths shut.
“Only one a year at best.”
“Only orphans with nowhere to go.”
For such people, how foolish it would be to contend with a wise and renowned woman, right?
The ignorant praised her, while the wise kept silent.
The one who raised objections was a passing witch.
It wasn’t for the sake of justice—witches aren’t exactly paragons of virtue.
It wasn’t out of kindness either—witches aren’t known for their warmth.
But at the very least, the witch had one thing:
The witch possessed a sense of fairness.
The contract between the wizard and the woman was theirs alone.
It was unreasonable in the witch’s eyes for a girl completely unrelated to this matter to be sacrificed.
The witch stormed into the tower ruled by the wizard and stuck a wooden staff right in the center.
Miraculously, the staff grew rapidly, spreading its branches and leaves throughout the tower.
The wizard sent soldiers to stop this, but the witch had her loyal knight by her side.
Meanwhile, the tree continued to grow, causing the wizard’s tower to begin shaking.
In a hidden space beneath the crumbling tower slept the girl offered as a sacrifice.
She tied her long hair to a branch like a rope and carefully escaped from the collapsing tower.
The contract was finally broken.
At this, the wizard—”
“Excerpted from a fairy tale passed down in the region of Donengarten.”
***
Zziiiing.
The Tin Knight’s blue, ghostly eyes pierced through the darkness.
Finding Dorothea’s magic in the tower filled with mysterious powers was as difficult as finding a single grain of black sand in a swirling sandstorm, but for the Tin Knight, it was somewhat doable.
What’s more, the black sand that was once just a fleeting shadow now looked almost like gravel, making it considerably easier than before.
He could have cut that magic right then, but the Tin Knight chose to wait.
He waited for the moment when the black magic became a bit clearer.
When the golden hair swirling on the other side became more distinct, and when swiping his sword wouldn’t harm the girl over there.
And then, in that awaited instant.
Swish!
Though he clearly slashed through thin air, the sound of something being cut resonated clearly.
Immediately after.
“Ahhh!”
The space the Tin Knight cut open fluttered like a cut curtain, and from the gap, a girl with golden hair fell down.
If the knight had the sense to catch her cleanly in a princess hug, it would have led to quite the amusing scene. Instead of catching the girl, he swung his sword above her head.
Clang!
The spears extended to catch the girl were all cut down, along with the soldiers who wielded them.
The girl, who landed on the ground with a sore backside, winced in pain but quickly looked around, her eyes wide.
“I’m out! Finally, finally! I’ve escaped that prison-like tower!!”
The girl gazed at the Tin Knight.
His appearance wasn’t exactly inviting for others to approach him, but the girl didn’t fear him, perhaps because she had seen the shimmering space several times and had received his help before.
The girl, Rapunzel, bowed her head deeply.
“Thank you! I will repay this kindness—huh?”
Rapunzel’s sentence cut short unexpectedly.
The Tin Knight had swiftly approached and grabbed her, wedging her under his arm like a baguette.
“Huh? Huh? Huh?”
Rapunzel couldn’t accept the sudden twist of events and was left confused, while the silent Tin Knight didn’t provide her any answers.
Instead, a Bone Mouse landed with a slap on top of her head.
In the next moment, the Tin Knight lowered his posture.
Realizing what was about to happen, Rapunzel’s face turned pale.
She was wise.
Instead of demanding to know what kind of trick this was from the Tin Knight, she bit down on her lip to avoid biting her tongue.
Sure enough, right after, the Tin Knight charged off.
“──!”
Rapunzel’s vision spun.
She couldn’t grasp where the knight was moving or how he was navigating the chaos.
All she could hear were sharp metallic sounds echoing in her ears, signaling that the knight was engaged in battle.
It felt like several minutes passed, although in reality, it was less than ten seconds.
Finally regaining her senses, Rapunzel opened her eyes.
Before she knew it, she was outside the tower.
Around her were the scowling Black Witch and the dazed Lady.
And the Lord and soldiers, all staring at them in disbelief.
“L-Lady? What are you doing here?”
“Ugh! I feel like my head is going to split open…!”
“Lord, the soldiers are waking up!”
“Wha—wait! Look at that tower!!”
The situation was pandemonium itself.
The Lord’s group, startled to see them bursting out from the tower.
Soldiers waking from nightmares and the tower casting ominous shadows all around.
And amidst it all, a voice that could silence everyone echoed from the tower.
《This is just too much. Not only have you stomped into my yard, but you’ve also taken my fiancée.》
Originally, booming voices were hard to make out, but the words echoing from the tower were distinctly clear as if whispered right next to them.
Dorothea frowned.
“Fiancée? What an elaborate reason for such a trivial matter.”
《Trivial? You speak too lightly of a matter of life and death.》
Though he had just been robbed of Rapunzel and humiliated by the witch and knight, there was no anger in the wizard’s voice.
It was doubtful that he was even being sincere about the fiancée nonsense.
However, Dorothea wasn’t one to dig into others’ motives or complicated backstories to feel better.
While she wasn’t quite at the level of cutting people off mid-sentence like the Tin Knight, she was more than ready to fight if need be.
《Well, I can’t help it. If you really want that girl back, go ahead and do as you please. I won’t interfere anymore.》
However, the wizard didn’t seem inclined to quarrel further with Dorothea.
Treating her like a nuisance, he turned his attention to the Lady.
《Contractor, you clever yet foolish woman. I previously offered you three options. And now the first has been broken.》
The Lady’s complexion paled.
She wanted to protest but couldn’t easily speak up, likely out of concern for the gazes around her.
Seemingly picking up on this, the wizard continued.
《You must choose from the remaining two options.》
《The second one… I won’t reveal it now as it wouldn’t be fair, so I’ll remain silent.》
《Therefore, I will ask about the third and final choice.》
《But remember well: if you choose the third and fail to provide the correct ‘answer’, I will take the price I initially demanded this time for real.》
《I’ll give you ten minutes, so choose wisely.》
The people whispered among themselves, unaware of who the wizard referred to as “Contractor.”
“Options?”
“What on earth is going on?”
“Is he talking about that witch?”
Ignoring the curious eyes directed at her, Dorothea grumbled.
“Talking all high and mighty, aren’t we?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ voices an urge to cut down whoever’s behind this right away!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that bosses are taken down because they need to be!]
“How do you expect to cut down someone whose real body you don’t even see?”
While he might have disrupted the barrier to rescue Rapunzel, that only happened because she gave him a hint with her hair.
Finding an unseen opponent, whether in reality or in some alternate dimension, was an entirely different issue.
No matter how strong the Tin Knight was, battling someone who wasn’t even present in the area wasn’t possible.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests demolishing the tower and seeing if they’ll come out!]
“Are there still people inside that tower?”
The witch wouldn’t hesitate to kill if needed, but that would only be if the other party had malicious intent.
She had no plans to massacre innocent girls just because they were in her way (though she didn’t care about nightmares since she was a witch).
Therefore, Dorothea’s conclusion was simple.
“Anyway, you’ve rescued the girl, right? Your job’s done, so let’s go. What’s the point of trying to bring that guy down?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is shocked!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ states that the boss exists for a reason, and thus must be defeated!]
“What nonsense is that?”
Dorothea was now somewhat influenced by the Tin Knight but certainly wasn’t brainwashed by his thoughts just yet.
Just as she was about to turn to leave,
“…Help me.”
The Lady, who had been keeping her head down, spoke to Dorothea.
The witch’s blue eyes turned to the Lady crouching at her feet.
“Please, I beg you. Help me.”
“Why should I?”
Dorothea’s reply was crystal clear.
The Lady was momentarily at a loss for words at the harshness of that tone.
“You’ve made a contract with that man; whatever the terms are, I’m not interested. But if you made a deal, you should properly pay the price.”
Had Dorothea pressed the Lady with accusations like, “Isn’t it your fault things turned out this way because you hoarded sacrifices?” it would’ve been quite a comical situation. But the foolish and shrewd woman wasn’t that lacking in judgment.
Instead, she fervently bowed her head.
“I will repay you if it is a favor. I’ll apologize to the children I’ve used. But please, not my daughter.”
“Then pick something else. There seem to be two options left.”
“If I choose the second, disaster will befall this territory.”
“What a messy contract you’ve made.”
Dorothea clicked her tongue.
While she had pretended to dismiss everything and run away, truthfully, if she did leave now, the rumors would spread in more ways than one.
Dorothea didn’t particularly care about her own reputation in this small countryside, but it would be rather awkward to just abandon the matter using Adelheid as a scapegoat.
If the Lady remained completely dazed, more “acting” would be necessary, but since it seemed like they could communicate, everything might get easier.
With an air of impatience, she asked the Lady.
“Tell me about the contract. I don’t have time for long stories, just the gist.”
The Lady hesitated for a moment but, seeing the ghostly figures surging up from underground to attack the approaching people, she began to explain.
The wizard had presented three choices.
One was to sacrifice the ‘daughter’ of the Lady every year on her seventeenth birthday.
One was to accept that calamity would come to the territory.
And one was—
“—to guess his name. If successful, all debts would be waived, but if I failed, then he would indeed take my daughter.”
“I’ve researched various texts and confirmed local legends. Yet I couldn’t find anything plausible.”
It was a cruel and sweet option, precisely because it was a trap.
If she could guess the name, she’d escape this tightrope life.
But if she made even a single mistake, she’d lose something most precious.
Like an oasis in a mirage, something desirable yet completely out of reach.
Understanding this, the Lady had resigned herself to devoting her energies to sacrifice.
Like a foolish and greedy queen ensnared in the wicked wizard’s plots.
“What? That’s what it was?”
And alas, such magical contracts can often be easily broken by outside interference.
Especially if the other party is another wizard, what might be impossible can suddenly become possible.
Like transforming a curse of death into a curse of sleep, the witch intervened in the contract between the two.
“Sophia, give me your magic.”
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