"Hey, the rope just snapped off!"
"Shit she's using witchcraft! Someone stop her!"
The crowd erupted in panic and curses, but the silver-grey-haired woman on the judge's platform didn't even flinch.
Her eyes were still locked onto mine.
I didn't waste time, I silently sent her a party invite.
She blinked at me, visibly confused. But before anything could happen, the old man beside her leaned forward, alarmed.
"Y-Your Highness? What do you mean?"
"Ah nothing. I'm just tired."
The woman rubbed her forehead and waved her hand dismissively. "The judgment is postponed until tomorrow. Everyone is dismissed."
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"So the witch is not being put to death?"
"But what if she burns someone else?"
"This isn't right!"
Chaos stirred again, but I couldn't help let out a small chuckle seeing how casually the woman dismissed everything.
Across from us, the wealthy nobles sitting in chairs exchanged knowing smirks—almost as if they had been expecting this exact outcome.
Both stages were cleared quickly.
The hooded, bound girl was dragged down by two low levelled soldiers, while the silver-grey haired woman strode off with the old man and the armored knight.
Nobody seemed to be sparing a glance at me anymore, which was good.
"Nightingale, Wendy, hide somewhere close. Don't reveal yourselves, and don't act until I return," I whispered toward the empty space beside me.
"…Fine," Nightingale's annoyed invisible voice answered.
"Roxanne," I said, taking her hand, "come with me."
Wendy looked like she wanted to say something, but I had no time. I just gave her a quick wave before hurrying after the other group.
As I closed the distance, the old man was still pleading desperately.
"Your Majesty, please listen to me! You can't let that witch go-"
"Your Highness, may I have a word?" I called out, loud enough to cut straight through his babbling.
The armored knight swung around instantly, hand going to his sword hilt.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The woman and the old man both stopped and turned toward me.
"Hey, you're the one who shouted 'Release that witch!' too!" the old man sputtered, pointing at me. "I've never seen you around here. Who are you?"
"Who am I?" I repeated with a relaxed smile. "I'm actually an old friend of Her Highness."
I looked directly into the woman's grey eyes.
"Sorry—I didn't have your 'phone number,' so I had to come find you in person."
"Phone… number?" the old man muttered, utterly lost.
But the woman froze, her grey eyes widening in realization.
"Your Highness… do you know him?" the knight asked, his suspicion sharpening.
"Yes," she said quietly. "I… think so."
I stepped closer, keeping my voice low but clear.
"Your Highness, I have urgent matters to discuss with you. It concerns your unique situation. We should speak in private as soon as possible."
I sent her another party invite.
Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment… calculating, before she turned away. "Bring them both," she ordered casually, resuming her walk.
"As you wish, Your Highness," the knight said, bowing before motioning us to follow.
"But, what about the witch-!? Your Majesty!" the old man scrambled after her, but she ignored him completely.
Roxanne and I followed the group away from the crowded square. Behind us, I saw the two soldiers dragging the hooded girl along. She walked barefoot, stumbling slightly, but unfortunately I couldn't help her publicly. Not yet.
'Master, that noblewoman has silver-grey hair… and everyone was calling her Highness. Is she one of the princesses you met at the auction?' Roxanne asked through the party chat.
'No, but she's related to them. I'll explain everything soon.' My gaze lingered on the figure walking ahead.
'Understood… but what about Wendy and Nightingale? Will they be alright?' Roxanne cast a worried glance back at the still-restless crowd.
'Don't worry. They're safe.' I smiled reassuringly. Since both were still in my party, I could sense them moving away from the masses.
We followed the dirt road through rows of worn wooden houses, until an old, half-ruined castle came into view. Cracked walls, old grey paint, overgrown stone, clearly no one had maintained it in years.
Two low-leveled soldiers stood guard at the rusty gate. They bowed deeply to our group and pushed it open with effort. We stepped inside and walked into a barren hall with hardly any furniture.
The silver-grey-haired woman whispered something to the old man, then slipped out a side door with the knight at her heels.
"As you wish, Your Highness," the old man said, bowing before turning to face us.
"I am Barov," he introduced himself, voice polite but assessing. "I manage Border Town on behalf of Her Highness."
He looked directly at me. "May I ask your name?"
"I'm Michio Kaga, an Adventurer and this is Roxanne," I replied with a friendly smile.
In truth, I was surprised to see this old man here as I had seen him just yesterday outside the Imperial Library.
[Barov
Scholar Level 26]
It was the first time I had ever seen a Scholar job, so his name had stuck in my mind. At the time, I didn't imagine the RTW timeline could be mixed into this world, so I had dismissed the coincidence.
Barov nodded. "Her Highness will see you shortly. Please, take a seat. I'll arrange refreshments."
He gestured toward a set of wooden chairs and tables near the wall.
"Alright, thank you," I replied.
"I have to go… and deal with the aftermath. As always," he muttered under his breath before hurrying out of the hall.
"Let's wait here, then," I said to Roxanne, and we both sat down.
I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. Too much had happened too fast, and I needed to steady myself.
My supposedly slow morning had gone into overdrive the instant I saw Nightingale in my dining room.
Though to be fair, the chaos wasn't entirely her fault. I could have let her leave after breakfast—but instead I chose to pry about Border Town. And once she told me Wendy could take me there, I simply couldn't sit still.
Yesterday, after meeting the princesses and discovering the existence of the Witch Job, I had already suspected that the Release That Witch world was blended with this one. Which meant I urgently needed to know the exact timeline I was dealing with. And since the early arc of RTW focuses almost entirely on this rundown little town, coming here myself was the only way to confirm where the story currently stood.
But sadly, none of the girls knew anything about this town.
"Border Town" was such a generic name that I had to ask Mina about Longsong Stronghold instead just to get any lead—and even then, she wasn't confident I would find any Adventurer who had ever been there.
After taking this long journey with Wendy, I completely understood why. The place was just ridiculously far from both Quratar and the Imperial Capital.
And yet, after all that… coming here… seeing the crowd… seeing the girl about to be hanged…
I could hardly believe my luck.
As I had somehow stumbled directly into the opening scene of the Release That Witch story.
Except for one major difference,
instead of a prince overseeing the execution, there was a princess.
That didn't shock me too much. After all, I had confirmed the royal family structure with Mina yesterday. Instead of three princes and two princesses, this world had two princes and three princesses. And when she listed all their names, I became certain that the original male protagonist had been gender-swapped here.
In the novel, the story begins with the sudden and silent death of the fourth prince, whose soul is replaced by a man from Earth. That Earthling then proceeds to save the witch from being hanged.
But when I arrived here, I had no way to know if the original princess had died yet, or if the transmigration had even happened. And the girl was already about to be executed. I wasn't shocked by this divergence; not everything would follow canon in a merged world like this.
So I decided to save the girl myself, just in case, hoping the princess would get replaced soon.
I even kept a backup plan in my mind, asking Nightingale to snatch the girl away if things got out of control.
But thankfully, the princess had been replaced successfully.
By whom exactly… I still didn't know.
In fact it would have been incredibly helpful if she had just accepted my party invite. We could've had a private conversation and confirmed everything over the party link.
Still… she had reacted to my "phone number" hint, so she had clearly realised I was from Earth too.
Hopefully, she would be reasonable enough to allow me a private conversation soon.
If not… I might have to take some drastic mea—
"Respected guest, please help yourselves to some refreshments," a shy, pleasant voice broke my reverie.
[Tyre
Villager Level 33]
Three women entered the hall, each wearing maid uniforms.
A young girl led the way, followed by a middle-aged woman and an elderly woman, all three carrying trays.
The young maid placed an ornate cup on the table before me and began pouring hot tea into it. The other two set down plates containing bread, a slice of cheese, and some dried meat sticks, all neatly arranged in front of me, and none in front of Roxanne.
"I didn't know my friend had such a cute maid working under her," I said, smiling at the girl. "May I know your name?"
She finished pouring the tea, adjusted her apron, and gave a polite, practiced smile.
"I am Tyre, head maid of Her Highness."
"She must really be fond of you," I said, letting my eyes sweep over her for a moment.
Big brown eyes, hair tied in a neat bun, a cute face, a modest maid dress with just a hint of cleavage.
"Yes, she is," Tyre replied warmly. "Please enjoy your refreshments. If you have any needs, feel free to call for me."
All three maids bowed gracefully and exited the hall.
"Master… I also have a maid dress back at home," Roxanne said softly. "Ram and Rem too. And you already ordered one for Sherry, Miria, Lilia, and Anastasia… though theirs will take a few more days to finish."
I couldn't help a wry smile. It felt like Roxanne was gently reminding me that I already had a full, delicious buffet waiting at home, so I shouldn't drool over anyone else's plate.
"I wasn't interested in her like that," I said, stroking her soft dog ears. "And obviously, Roxanne looks much cuter in a maid outfit. In fact…" I smirked, leaning closer, "I can't wait to enjoy my personalmaid Roxanne soon."
"Thank you, Master," Roxanne replied with a radiant smile. "And I'll be ready for Master's love in just a few days." She leaned into my hand affectionately.
I smiled back...
but the moment I glanced at the tea and food in front of me, the smile faded instantly.
Two things had triggered alarm bells the instant I used Appraisal on those maids:
First—the head maid's Villager level was absurdly high for someone her age.
Second—her name: Tyre.
In the original story, Tyre was the maid who assassinated the prince with poison, allowing the transmigrator from Earth to take his place. She was one of the Pirate Queen's hidden pawns, an assassin codenamed "Kingfisher."
If that held true in this merged world…
then this cute, shy girl was potentially a deadly killer… and possibly the one who poisoned the original princess just recently.
I didn't tell Roxanne yet. No need to worry her prematurely.
But I did quietly instruct her not to touch the food.
And I didn't eat or drink anything either.
It would be incredibly stupid to eat something prepared by someone who might have just assassinated a member of the royal family.
Silence settled between us. My mind spun, sorting through everything I now knew and everything I would have to say—or hide—in the coming minutes. Roxanne sat beside me, watching quietly as she sensed how deep in thought I had fallen.
After about half an hour, Tyre returned and bowed politely.
"Her Highness is ready to receive you."
Roxanne and I stood, following behind her. Even now, it was surreal, the contrast between Tyre's gentle appearance and the possibility that she was a trained killer.
We walked through dim corridors, past cracked walls and minimal furniture. After climbing a set of stairs, we stopped before a better-kept wooden door.
"Your Highness, I've brought them," Tyre announced, knocking once before opening it.
We stepped inside.
It looked like an old office, mostly empty, but with a large ornate desk, two chairs in front of it, and a surprisingly luxurious sofa by the wall. The window stood open, letting in a warm breeze.
A silver-grey-haired woman stood before it, staring outside deep in thought.
Then she turned.
Our eyes met again,
and in that single moment, we both understood:
We each had far too many questions…
and not nearly enough answers.
***
[Oleksandr has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]