Ch.22If You Leave Them Like That, They’ll Freeze to Death (2)

“Is this it?”

“……Yes.”

A scroll in all black. Its appearance matched her memory. Olivia quickly took the scroll and spread it out on the floor.

[Message Scroll]

– Activated state after absorbing the owner’s blood. Message magic is embedded.

– Time remaining: 6 days

“What are you doing? Not releasing it?”

At these words that sounded more like an order, Calliophe tightly closed her eyes. But she knew better than anyone that there was no other way.

As a Night Raven, she had hunted quite a few witches. That’s why she knew better than anyone what a monster Olivia was.

Such a monster couldn’t be handled by Night Ravens alone. It would be better to just leave her confined in the North.

“Starting to hear someone freezing to death yet?”

“I-I’ll do it.”

Calliophe made a shallow cut on her palm with a dagger. The droplets of blood that formed on her fingertips fell onto the scroll.

The blood-soaked scroll glowed red and created a small magic circle.

It was a sight that could be mistaken for a demon summoning ritual, but in reality, it had nothing to do with demons.

‘No, maybe a little?’

All scrolls of that kind are distributed through the black market. And their creators are all black magicians. More precisely, “relatively safe” black magicians who haven’t made contracts with demons.

The Emperor of the Empire is a capable person. Rather than excluding dangerous elements like black magicians, he chose to gather them in one place and manage them.

Honestly, those who scribble scrolls in the black market are closer to scholars studying chaos than magicians.

Why would someone as high-ranking as a Knight Commander use such dubious items?

First of all, when using mediums like scrolls, no magic is as efficient as black magic. If white magicians were asked to create something similar, even thousands of scrolls wouldn’t be enough.

There’s no reason not to use something that’s cheap and efficient.

‘Of course, this is only possible because we’re Night Ravens.’

A knightly order operating in the open like the Central Knights using scrolls made by black magicians?

They would immediately be labeled as black magician sympathizers and permanently expelled.

Woong.

Calliophe, having completed the release of the scroll, stood up. Then she picked up the scroll and handed it to Olivia.

“Here it is……”

“Give it to me.”

Olivia stared at the scroll intently for a moment. After confirming that the magic had been released, Olivia burned the scroll right away. Calliophe’s eyes widened as she watched the scroll turn to ash in an instant.

“This would have shown the locations of the Night Ravens receiving the message, right?”

“……”

Yes, that’s why she was surprised.

She naturally thought Olivia would use it for blackmail. But Olivia burned the scroll as if it were nothing.

‘What on earth is she thinking……’

As Calliophe stood there dumbfounded, Olivia glanced at her and spoke in a more serious tone than before.

“You know, unlike other witches, I really hate getting involved with humans. That’s why I’ve been holed up in the North for the past few hundred years. If I had kidnapped humans and offered them as sacrifices like other witches, it would have certainly reached your Emperor’s ears.”

Calliophe couldn’t argue with Olivia’s words.

Even in the harsh North, if people had been kidnapped, rumors would have spread somehow. Even if a few years or decades could be attributed to coincidence, the story changes after more than a hundred years.

By then, it’s not coincidence; she really didn’t kidnap anyone.

“I’m thinking of letting you all go alive for now.”

“……What do you mean?”

“Listen to the end. I said ‘for now.'”

“……You have conditions?”

Olivia nodded.

“You Night Ravens have been hunting us witches for generations following the Emperor’s orders, right?”

“Are you asking us to stop hunting witches? That’s not within my authority……”

Olivia shook her head.

“I’m not asking you to stop. To be honest, I’d like to encourage it. I don’t like other witches. It’s pathetic how those worthless beings offer sacrifices just to gain some power.”

“……”

“Just kill all those bastards. I’ll even tell you where they live.”

“Then why don’t you directly……”

“Well, it feels a bit wrong for me to personally kill others in the same line of work.”

Calliophe looked at Olivia with eyes full of doubt. But Olivia’s eyes didn’t waver at all.

Because she had nothing to hide in the first place.

“But you also kidnapped magicians.”

“I did.”

“Then what exactly is the difference?”

“I didn’t take them to offer as sacrifices. Having lived alone for so long, I brought them to train as disciples because I was bored. If you don’t believe me, you can check for yourself in a bit.”

Calliophe, who had been listening quietly, slowly opened her mouth.

“How can I believe that?”

“Don’t believe it then.”

“……Pardon?”

“If you hear about anyone being kidnapped in the North again, then bring your knights. It won’t be too late.”

“Hmm……”

To Calliophe, who was wondering whether to believe this or not, Olivia said:

“You have nothing to lose, right? Honestly, if people of your caliber die here, it would be a significant loss for the Empire as a whole.”

Calliophe found herself nodding unconsciously.

“And you don’t want to come all the way to the North just to die a dog’s death.”

“Hmm……”

That’s true.

Who in the world wants to die?

“And I don’t want to kill you all and end up on bad terms with the Empire.”

“Hmm….. Hmmmm!”

Olivia laughed inwardly as she watched Calliophe struggling to make a decision.

‘What’s there to think about? You want to live, don’t you?’

Calliophe had no reason to refuse.

By now, Calliophe was probably thinking of Olivia as being on the same level as harmless black magicians.

Humans are most vulnerable when they see even a single way out.

“……What are your conditions?”

She asked!

Olivia, who had been licking her lips, grinned.

“If anyone asks what happened to me, tell them I’m dead.”

“……You mean to the Master of the White Tower?”

“Yeah. ‘We killed the witch. But her disciples were already dead.’ Something like that.”

After thinking for a moment, Calliophe said:

“Would they believe that two knights killed both a dragon and a witch at the same time?”

“You can say the witch was brainwashing the dragon. During the fight, the brainwashing was broken, and the three of you fought and won.”

“Oh… If we put it that way, even the Master of the White Tower would believe… Ahem! Ahem!”

Calliophe cleared her throat, seemingly pricked by her conscience.

A moment of silence passed.

Ahem!

“……”

“Are you done with your internal struggle?”

“……Yes.”

Calliophe, her face reddened, hurriedly said:

“So to summarize, we say that we killed the witch in the North, the dragon whose brainwashing was broken went back, and the kidnapped disciples of the White Tower were found dead?”

“And when the Princess sends an investigation team later, you Night Ravens handle it on your end.”

“……”

“What do you think? Deal?”

No matter how she thought about it, there was nothing to lose. No one would die, and they wouldn’t have to be beaten like dogs anymore.

Chivalry?

She was a Night Raven to begin with.

More important than her honor was her lord’s victory, and for that, she could be as cowardly as needed.

‘Whatever happens, I need to stay alive to remain by His Majesty’s side.’

This is definitely not running away.

Absolutely not!

Calliophe slowly nodded.

“I have no reason to refuse.”

“Good. You’ve made a wise decision.”

“But perhaps……”

After hesitating for a moment, Calliophe said:

“Could you also tell us the locations of those other witches you mentioned?”

“For free?”

“For every three witches, we’ll block one investigation team for you.”

Olivia firmly shook her head.

“No. One.”

“One is too few.”

“Want to die?”

“……On second thought, that seems very fair.”

Olivia and Calliophe shook hands.

If Royd Claithian, the Master of the White Tower, had seen this, he would have been furious, but unfortunately, he wasn’t present.

*****

“Aaaaargh! Aramis! Aramis……”

Thud.

Royd’s despairing voice echoed from behind the closed door of the White Tower. Seth, who had been waiting outside, approached.

“Captain. Is this really okay?”

“If they hear that the disciples have been captured by a witch, would they just sit still? They’d go to die at the witch’s hands. This is the best option no matter how you look at it.”

“……”

Seth couldn’t argue with that. Although he felt uncomfortable about concealing the truth, what mattered was that everyone had survived.

“Do you really believe what that woman said, Captain?”

“I have to. If she breaks her promise here, she’s the only one who loses. No matter how powerful she is, she can’t face the Central Knights.”

“She could just kill the three she kidnapped and disappear, couldn’t she?”

“Do you think that would be possible?”

Witches are the embodiment of desire. They want two when they have one, and three when they have two.

‘If she really wanted sacrifices, she would have taken all the magicians in the White Tower.’

But Olivia only took three of them. And those three were sleeping deeply, even snoring.

Of course, if Calliophe had witnessed that brutal training, her thoughts might have been different.

‘No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t add up. Damn it.’

In many ways.

“Enough. Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Calliophe looked back one last time. The blizzard had already calmed down. Behind it, the bright dawn was slowly peeking out.

‘Tsk. When we arrive, I’ll ask to be transferred to the First Prince’s Palace.’

From now on, the Princess’s Palace is off-limits as far as she’s concerned.