[V9C9] Roswitha’s Conflict
Translated by Jodas 9: Battle for the Tower—AWWOOOOOOO—
‘What’s that!? What’s going on??’ Sophie was completely confused.
Rose had come to save Sophie from her confinement, but then Assistant Headmaster Miriam came after them.
After being cornered, Rose had Sophie remove the curse on a cursed ring that was sealing his powers, then shattered Miriam’s ice magecraft. (It was unusually cool for him.)
Thanks to that, she had thought they’d escaped their predicament, only for Assistant Headmaster Miriam to use her trump card: the Ancient Magical Device ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools.’ Now Sophie and Rose were trapped in chains…
Then, for whatever reason, Armster, the Guidance Office’s fidgety Instructor showed up and pleaded for help.
At that point, a wolf’s howl echoed out.
Its howl came not from outside the Wedge Tower’s walls, but clearly from somewhere inside.
(What? What? What in the world is going on? There’s a wolf somewhere on campus now?)
“Assistant Headmaster… Eek! A Monster got underground…!”
In response to Armster’s shouting, Assistant Headmaster Miriam quickly turned to face towards the gardens.
Her beautiful face, like a sculpture of a goddess, never showed any signs of fear. Yet, for the first time, Sophie felt a very human desperation from Miriam.
Crash, crash! It sounded like someone was wildly throwing around furniture. Then, the sound of a door being thrown open with abandon. Worst of all, it didn’t sound all that far away. These sounds were coming from the gardener’s cabin here in the gardens.
“ROOOAARRR!!”
Once again, she heard the wolf, but this time it was clearly much closer than before.
She saw a black shadow between the trees. Miriam lifted her lantern to illuminate its form.
It was a massive creature twice the size of an adult man, with black fur covering its whole body. A wolf that walked on two legs… A Monster known as a Werewolf.
Sophie inhaled sharply.
(Why!? Why is there a Monster here?!)
The Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ had the power to seal and control Monsters. However, That Werewolf did not give the impression of a Monster controlled by that Ancient Magical Artifact’s power.
The Werewolf had something white-ish hanging from its shoulders. Was that not… clothing?
(Wait, that’s a girl!?)
The Werewolf was carrying a black-haired young girl wearing a white dress on its shoulders. She couldn’t see her face, but she didn’t look much different from Sophie.
Miriam raised her voice.
“Fiene! … A single Werewolf with black fur. Capture it, ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools.’”
“Cannot identify target.”
The bracelet on Miriam’s wrist answered dispassionately.
The Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ was an extremely powerful restraint device that could capture anything, be it human or Monster.
However, it had its drawbacks. Its range was limited, and it had difficulties acquiring its capture targets.
For example, imagine one was chasing an enemy with multiple allies. Once they caught up to the enemy, if the user ordered ‘Capture that man,’ ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ wouldn’t be able to identify the target. In fact, there was a chance it might capture one of their male allies instead.
Unless you gave it a precise target, ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ would not activate.
(But why couldn’t it identify the target just now? That definitely is a Werewolf with black fur, isn’t it… Oh.)
It was probably because of that girl on its back. ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ couldn’t decide whether or not to include that girl as a capture target.
Before Miriam could make another order, the Werewolf ran off, with the girl on its back. It was heading towards the three Spires.
“A Monster has infiltrated the Tower! Capture it immediat…”
Assistant Headmaster Miriam raised her voice, but before she could finish her sentence, she coughed. Sophie had heard that she had an issue with her throat.
In place of Assistant Headmaster Miriam who couldn’t raise her voice, the one to shout at the top of his lungs was Rose, still wrapped all around in chains.
“A MONSTER’S HERE!!!! A WOLF ON TWO LEGS CARRYING A GIRL ON ITS SHOULDERS! IT RAN TOWARDS THE SPIRES! SOMEONE CATCH IT!!!”
His voice was loud enough to leave Sophie’s ears ringing.
As Sophie went stiff in shock, Rose turned to Assistant Headmaster Miriam.
“Is something like that okay?”
“……”
Assistant Headmaster Miriam’s face looked like she had plenty of complaints, but without either speaking to Rose or releasing the chains, she ordered Armster.
“Explain.”
“I– I don’t really know! I was in the cabin like always, when that Werewolf burst in all of a sudden…then went underground… then, ahh, it took that girl… the Daughter of God…!”
Armster seemed to be distraught to the point that he was just repeating those incomprehensible words.
“I’ll figure out how to deal with you two later. Instructor Armster, those two are traitors. I’ll seal them with ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools.’ You just keep an eye on them.”
“A– Assistant Headmaster Miriam, what will…”
“I must fulfill my duty.”
The Wedge Tower was thrown into chaos.
A Wolf’s howl reverberated from the gardens, and all across the tower, shouts of “A Monster!” and “It has a child as a hostage!” could be heard.
Roswitha and Ella hid in a bush near the First Spire: White Smoke, then whispered to each other in hushed voices.
“…There’s too much conflicting information. I can’t tell what’s going on at all.”
“I hear it took a girl hostage… Do you think it could be Sophie…?”
Tonight, as part of an operation to let Julius and Sophie escape, Roswitha and Ella had the responsibility of removing the seal on Agniol, stored in the First Spire: White Smoke, then using a fish of water to deliver it to Julius.
The reason Roswitha had teamed up with Ella instead of acting alone was because Roswitha was defenseless whenever she shared vision with her fish of water.
The operation was going smoothly. The two of them snuck into the First Spire: White Smoke, and succeeded in releasing Agniol. Then, they also succeeded in using the fish of water to deliver Agniol’s ring to Julius underground beneath the Second Spire: Golden Needle.
But as she did, the fish of water was destroyed by someone’s attack, so she no longer knew what was going on with Julius.
Then, just as the two of them were about to start running to Julius’ aid, this commotion about the wolf kicked off.
Roswitha drew a small stick out from her cloak.
“First, I’m going to take a look around. Thy irrational devotion, the rain that dwells within thee, O fish who have lost thine eyes, swim forth.”
The stick became enveloped in water, forming a small fish. It would be hard to see anything at night, but it would still be much more effective than running around aimlessly.
The Wedge Tower’s campus was reasonably expansive. First, Roswitha sent the fish flying towards the Second Spire: Golden Needle. To confirm whether or not Julius had managed to escape.
Around the time the Second Spire came into view, Roswitha noticed it.
She could see a massive Monster with black, scraggly fur walking on two legs. Was that the type of Monster they called a Werewolf? It carried a young girl on its shoulders. Certainly, it was a black-haired girl. But it wasn’t Sophie.
“There’s a black Werewolf near the Second Spire: Golden Needle. It’s got a girl on its shoulders, but it’s not Sophie…Ah, just now, some mages came out of the Spire to fight it.”
The Second Spire: Golden Needle was the Spire with the Extermination and Protection Offices. Combat-capable mages were always on call inside.
Among the mages fighting the Werewolf was a man with an X-shaped scar on his face: Dammer.
(That’s the guy who slandered Mama earlier…)
Dammer had insulted Roswitha’s mother, who had been marked by the Primordial Beast in the same way as him before being forced to retire, by calling her a coward who ran away.
But there was no doubt that Dammer was one of the strongest ones in the Extermination Office. He was doing a good job handling the Werewolf.
Ella asked her in a whisper.
“Is the girl on its shoulder a civilian?”
“Looks like it. I think it probably just kidnapped a light-looking little kid from the servants.”
Aside from the mages, there were plenty of people who worked as servants in the Wedge Tower. The people who worked in the dining halls and such, for example. Most likely, that clever Werewolf kidnapped a child to use as a hostage in its battle against the mages.
While a Werewolf was definitely a powerful threat, with multiple Extermination Office mages fighting it at once, it should be well within their capabilities to take it down.
“Roswi, how did that Werewolf get in? There’s no commotion over by the gates…right?”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right…”
As the Werewolf, with the girl on its shoulder, fended off the attacks from the mages, it howled from time to time.
…As if it was trying to call attention to itself. Letting someone know it was there.
Ella gasped in realization.
“That Werewolf, could it be… the Monster that showed up at the entrance exam?”
“Oh right, you saw it, didn’t you Ella?”
“Yes, the howl too… I think it sounds similar.”
The black Werewolf that appeared during the entrance exam was said to have disappeared, without being found.
Monsters couldn’t live outside of the Crystal Territory for long, so every one had assumed that the Werewolf must have returned to the Crystal Territory.
(But now, the situation is different…)
Monsters had appeared in the Darwock Royal Palace, where Monsters should never have been able to reach.
Then could they really say it would never happen in the Wedge Tower?
Suddenly, Roswitha noticed something as she watched the Werewolf’s movement through the fish of water.
(What is that Werewolf trying to do? It doesn’t look like it’s trying to run away at all, and it looks a little on edge…)
Once again, it howled. Even though doing so would draw all of the Wedge Tower’s mages to its location.
—At that point, Roswitha thought of another possibility. She couldn’t help but think of it.
“…Ella, I’m going to that Werewolf.”
“Uh, weren’t we going to go rescue Julius?”
“That too, but that’s not all…”
Roswitha couldn’t bring herself to say the rest of that sentence.
Somewhere in her mind, she hoped that what she was thinking wasn’t true.
The moment Spiremaster Abel, who stood before Julius, heard the wolf’s howling, she lowered her staff.
“…It seems like my priorities have changed.”
Priorities. So dealing with that wolf Monster came before silencing Julius in her book.
“Just as you were the highest priority to Samuel Löwenich, my highest priority is the Tower’s continued existence.”
Abel turned her back on the cell and walked away.
She knew that Julius wouldn’t dare sic Agniol on her as she walked away.
“I cannot let our ceaseless prayers come to an end. Miriam may devote everything to the Daughter of God, but I devote everything to this Tower’s existence… If I did not, then all of those whom we have sacrificed would have died in vain.”
With those last words, he caught a glimpse of this woman’s true thoughts.
“I see… So you’re saying you knew one of the past contractors, then?”
Abel stopped and turned around.
Her face was, as expected, that of a gentle old lady.
“If you work to exterminate this Monster, then I’ll turn a blind eye to your existence for the time being.”
“Kuku… Once things settle down, will you come back to kill me?”
“Depending on how you do during the extermination, perhaps I’ll consider letting you live.”
Abel spoke those words as if she were simply chatting about gossip while knitting, then left the underground cell behind.
Julius opened and closed his shivering hands.
The truth he had realized and the emotions he didn’t want to unravel all jumbled together in his stomach, but there was one thing he knew for certain.
(Right now, all of the Apprentices are working to save Sophie and me.)
Then, in the midst of that, a Monster appeared. Then, there was only one thing for him to do.
“We’re going Monster hunting. Let’s go, Agniol.”
“Let’s go! Let’s go! I’ll burn it to a crisp for you!”
Under these circumstances, there was a high chance that even those without the ability to fight were trying their hardest.
Julius quietly prayed that Finn, with his bad leg, wasn’t getting involved with this mess.