Neither Adelaide nor the girl at whom the sword was pointed could move, both frozen in bewilderment.

Adelaide was confused by the scene so different from her expectations, and the girl seemed unable to properly understand the situation she was in.

So, it was the third parties around who broke the silence.

“Kyaaaah!”

“W-what, who is it!?”

“Guard! Mr. Guard!!”

To be honest, their actions could hardly be called wise.

If they unnecessarily provoked the intruder with loud noises, and the excited criminal swung the sword wrongly, the girl in front would suffer a terrible fate.

However, Adelaide was an exception.

She, who had merely knocked out even the guards who might have been accomplices of the criminal, couldn’t possibly swing her sword at innocent civilians.

This isn’t the place, I need to look somewhere else!

Adelaide quickly withdrew her sword and, leaving the confused girls behind, swiftly climbed the next set of stairs.

But even on the next floor, Adelaide couldn’t find what she was looking for.

The structure of the third floor was almost identical to the second, and while there were fewer people than below, there was enough sense of life.

At least, it was far from the strange space with many doors that the mouse had seen.

The fourth floor didn’t even have anything that could be called rooms, instead there was a large space with desks and lecterns installed.

The fifth floor had only one large bell and large, wide windows.

And that was the end.

There was no sign of stairs leading up anywhere.

“Where on earth…?”

A bewildered murmur echoed emptily.

***

The next day.

The Donnengarten domain was turned upside down.

A mysterious intruder had attacked the Tower of Learning managed by the lord’s wife, knocking out the guards and wandering inside before escaping.

The lord was indignant about this incident and immediately ordered to find the culprit, but the search operation faced difficulties.

The guards hadn’t even properly seen the attacker who had suddenly rushed at them in the darkness, and the testimonies given by the girls inside the tower were also inconsistent.

“I-I think the hair was long!”

“No, they were wearing something like a hood. And I think the build was big.”

“Huh? Wasn’t the build small? Though I think the weapon was big.”

The guards simply thought the girls couldn’t remember properly due to the confusing situation, but precisely, it was the combined work of the “magic mask that prevents proper recognition of appearance” prepared by the Lennart family and the “gem that blurs presence” given by Dorothea.

Unless they were skilled individuals with sharp eyesight, ordinary girls had no chance of seeing through Adelaide’s identity.

Of course, in this world, there were hunches, even without physical evidence.

It was perhaps natural that suspicion would be directed at Dorothea’s party, given that such an incident occurred just on the day they arrived.

However, the party didn’t actually face interrogation.

“Of course. It’s not just any Lion Duke’s bloodline, but confronting a representative instructor of the dojo would be a huge burden. Unless there’s physical evidence, even more so.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that lord didn’t seem like he’d care about such things!]

“He, in his own way, seems to have an atmosphere of not doubting even a speck that ‘the respected martial artist of the Lion Duke’s bloodline’ would do such a thing. Well, it also feels like other retainers are more suspicious of us but can’t speak up because of that.”

At Sophia’s words, Adelaide could only give a dry smile, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Although she didn’t think her actions were wrong, as they were to save someone, it was quite conscience-pricking to agree with the lord who kept talking about “definitely catching the culprit” or “showing Adelaide the skills of Donnengarten soldiers” throughout breakfast.

At this point, it was almost suspicious whether he knew and was teasing them.

The three people who had been having light conversation soon turned their gaze to Dorothea, who was keeping silent alone in one corner of the room.

She was glaring at the water mirror with a deeply furrowed brow, having been in that state continuously since last night without sleeping a wink.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if there’s been any progress!]

“…I can tell the space is distorted. But, the magic formula is too bizarre. Before even considering if it’s difficult or easy, I’ve never seen this system itself before.”

Just as a skilled swordsman knew how to deal with not only swords but also spears or arrows, skilled mages also had some knowledge about schools other than their own specialty.

If not, proper response would be impossible.

However, regarding this mysterious magic, or rather this power that might not even be magic, applied to this tower, Dorothea couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she tried.

As if quite hurt in her pride by this fact, Dorothea’s face was sullen.

“Umm, will that Rapunzel be alright? It’s already the third day she’s been trapped there, and she’s not even eating properly,” Adelaide spoke while looking at the water mirror, as if trying to change the atmosphere.

Having heard the news that the first rescue attempt had failed, she seemed quite discouraged and was spending most of her time curled up sleeping.

Her cheeks were quite gaunt, and while at first the “guards” had brought proper meals, after several escape attempts, it changed to just bringing a little water and grain powder once a day.

The party guessed this was probably a means to drain her strength.

“She’ll be fine for a while. The fact that they’re giving food at all means they have some use for keeping her alive. It’s troublesome that we don’t know what that ‘something’ is.”

“If it’s difficult to infiltrate from this side, how about helping her escape from that side?”

To Sophia’s question, Dorothea shook her head. It seemed she had already considered this method.

“I’ve already had the mice go around here and there. Just because you go down the stairs doesn’t mean you can actually go down.”

“How about completely escaping to the outside?”

“It’s questionable whether she has the ability to break the wall, and even if that were possible, there’s no guarantee she’d land safely on this side after jumping down.”

Dorothea clicked her tongue softly.

“As long as it’s a space based on the same ‘tower’, it feels like we might be able to figure something out if we investigate this tower here and there.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says can’t we just investigate directly!]

“Do you think they’d let an outsider in to investigate in this situation? Tch, if I knew it would be like this, I shouldn’t have caused a commotion carelessly.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says at times like this, a change in perspective is important!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that a spirit of turning crisis into opportunity is needed!]

At the Tin Knight’s words, Dorothea made an expression of disbelief.

“Are you just going to keep talking nonsense?”

“Hmm, no, it might be unexpectedly effective.”

When even Sophia supported the Tin Knight’s words, Dorothea also listened more seriously to the “plan” she was talking about.

“…Will that work?”

“It’s not like the suspicion towards us will disappear if we keep silent, anyway. Or, are you going to give up?” Sophia asked with a smiling face.

It seemed like even if Dorothea said, “I didn’t have any obligation to save her in the first place, so I’ll just give up,” she would agree without any objection.

That was why Dorothea felt more determined.

She nodded.

***

“Oh, is that truly your intention, Lady Adelaide?”

“Yes. We would like to assist in resolving this incident.”

“Of course, if you do so, I would be extremely grateful, but…”

At Adelaide’s proposal, the lord wore quite a complex expression.

And to erase emotions other than joy from that face, Adelaide read out the lines that had been prepared by Sophia.

“You welcomed us wholeheartedly, without even a proper promise, when we visited. To repay this kindness, and also to resolve any possible ‘misunderstandings,’ we cannot just sit still.”

“While I understand repaying kindness, what do you mean by misunderstandings?”

“This incident, isn’t the timing too contrived?”

Adelaide narrowed her eyes slightly and raised her chin a little.

This was because Sophia had advised her to make as “haughty” an expression as possible when saying these lines.

“…Perhaps something got in your eye? Do you need a handkerchief?”

“Ahem. Ah, no.”

Adelaide quickly gave up.

While she could manage to recite prepared lines, acting with expressions wasn’t something she could do on the spot. Especially not for Adelaide.

People had their aptitudes.

After a small fake cough, Adelaide continued speaking, “When committing a crime, the surest way to avoid being suspected is to prepare another suspect. An incident that happened ‘coincidentally’ right after we arrived in this domain. Wouldn’t people’s attention naturally focus on us?”

“That can’t be! How could the proud Lion Duke’s bloodline commit such a petty crime?”

“While I appreciate your trust, Lord, others might not see it that way.”

At Adelaide’s words, the retainers around either averted their gazes slightly or covered their mouths with their hands.

It might be possible to question them here, but according to the script, that would be a wrong move.

“Of course, I don’t mean that’s bad. Even I would have found it suspicious. What’s bad isn’t the person who suspects, but the person who induced such suspicion, I think, ahem, yes, I think.”

Adelaide moistened her lips with the tea in the cup for a moment.

Speaking such blatant lies while knowing the truth kept making her mouth dry.

She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of people could spout such lies without changing their expression at all.

She was worried that things might go wrong due to her clumsy acting, but fortunately, the lord, who seemed to have a simple mind, moved according to their intentions.

“Induced suspicion, that is, you mean the culprit deliberately chose last night as the execution date to direct suspicion towards you?”

“Yes. This is a ploy to drive a wedge between our friendship with you, Lord, and also a scheme to tarnish the honor of the Lion Duke’s bloodline. Therefore, we want to cooperate in finding the culprit.”

“Oh. If that’s the case, I can hardly refuse. Please, do help in finding the culprit, Lady Adelaide.”

While inwardly bowing her head repeatedly saying, “Lord, I’m really sorry,” Adelaide began the finishing touches, excusing herself that this was all to save the girl.

“Since the culprit wandered around the tower as if searching, I think there’s a high possibility that traces of the culprit, or ‘something’ the culprit is looking for, might be in the tower.”

“However, Lady Adelaide. The soldiers have already thoroughly searched the interior, but couldn’t find anything plausible.”

“Physical search isn’t the only kind of search. We have a mage skilled in these matters, so if you give her authority to investigate the tower, we will surely uncover the tower’s secrets.”

“Oh, you had such a person? Ah, come to think of it, there was a woman holding a staff. Indeed, I’ve heard many mages had eccentric personalities, so that’s what that outfit meant,” the lord muttered to himself, nodding in understanding.

Adelaide thought it was fortunate Dorothea wasn’t here.

“Very well. Then right away—“

“Please wait a moment.”

Just as the lord was about to give permission, a woman who had been silent all along interjected.

The woman, who had a very modest yet intelligent impression, spoke in a calm tone, “Due to last night’s incident and the soldiers’ search, the children in the tower are in a very startled state. If strange people wander around the tower again in this situation, the burden the children will feel will be by no means small. Please reconsider, my lord.”

“Hmm, my wife, I understand your concern, but when you think about it, isn’t finding the root cause quickly more beneficial for the children?”

“I’m not opposing the search itself. However, the children will need time to regain their composure, so please grant a short grace period.”

“The lady’s words are right, my lord.”

“Young girls at their prime age have experienced such an incident, so the shock must not be small. You must give them time to collect themselves.”

At the lord’s wife’s words, the retainers who had been standing like folding screens also opened their mouths in unison.

Only the military figures, including the guard knights, remained silent.

The lord made a thoughtful expression for a moment, then furtively looked at Adelaide.

“Hmm, Lady Adelaide. Would you please grant a grace period of about a day? After that, I will even empty the tower so that you can fully dedicate yourselves to the investigation.”

Adelaide bowed her head for a moment.

On the surface, it might have looked like a silent protest to show her discomfort, but in reality, it was to hide her surprised expression.

It was exactly the development Sophia had told her about.

With a feeling like the Wu general, who confirmed the southeast wind was actually blowing, Adelaide agreed to the lord’s proposal.1

Footnotes

1. 1. TL Note: Reference to the battle of Red Cliff where Wu (a chinese state) general, Zhou Yu's strategy depended on the southeast wind.

***

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