Chapter 93 - Snakes Do Not Shed Tears

The Dandolo mansion, family conference room.

The chairperson's seat there belonged to the master of the family.

Which meant, it belonged to Rico Dandolo.

But right now, Tilda was taking up that seat as if it were only natural.

She was using the place as if she had every right to.

"Where is Henri?"

"He said there were trade matters to attend to and that he would not return until tomorrow."

"I know that much. He was acting so sickeningly clingy. I'm asking if there's any chance he might suddenly barge in."

"There is not."

"Then that means this mansion is mine for tonight?"

Tilda smiled.

"Before long, this Dandolo mansion will be yours, Lady Tilda."

"You will be able to stand proudly at the top of this mansion not as a daughter-in-law, but as its master."

They were the types to flatter her whenever the opportunity arose.

They were all people cooperating with Tilda after being promised a share.

"It will be like that. So shouldn't we focus on our work?"

Tilda prepared the groundwork to gradually deepen the schemes she had set up between Stephan and Muchit.

"Stephan is currently confronting Herman. He is trying to oust him over management rights, but it does not seem to be easy."

"What about Muchit?"

"It would be accurate to say Muchit is sharpening his blade. He is preparing to have a massive clash with Stephan."

"Even so, a blade is closer than money, so wouldn't it be better to further deepen the checks against Muchit?"

Tilda fiddled with her lips and replied.

"No, we just need to corner Stephan. Getting that bastard kicked out of this game is the most important thing."

"Understood."

"The groundwork for the other side is already solid, right? If we spread the evidence that the mercenary company is actually a bandit group across the Empire, they will fall to ruin in an instant."

"That is correct."

"Then we will prepare as you have instructed."

The underlings moved systematically on their own.

Tilda gave a satisfied smile.

Everything was going smoothly.

It felt like watching puppet dolls dance on a small theater stage.

She was drenched in the ecstasy that it would all soon fall into her hands.

'It feels like everything will be resolved once I just find the will...'

The contents of the will stated that after Rico Dandolo's death, everything would be passed down to Henri.

It stipulated that until Henri's child turned 19 and could take care of themselves, no one else would be named successor, and all assets would be handed over to the vice chairman.

For Tilda, who wanted the Dandolo trading company, it was the most fatal will, which was why she was going through all this trouble.

Everything would progress like falling dominoes.

The start was small, but by the end, it would cause ripples so massive that no one would dare try to stop them.

She would become the master of everything.

Just then, a servant of the mansion hurriedly opened the door, came in, and whispered into Tilda's ear.

"My lady, there is good news. We received word that the will has been obtained."

"Is that true?"

How could things in the world work out so perfectly?

Tilda's eyes sparkled, and the servant nodded.

"The servants delivering the will are currently waiting at the front door."

"Understood. Let's go."

It was the icing on the cake.

With a light step, Tilda walked to the front gate accompanied by the servants.

"What is this?"

But there was no one at the front gate.

She walked all the way up to the gate just in case and checked outside, but there wasn't a single carriage in sight.

'They said they came to deliver the will, so where the hell are they?'

The moment Tilda's annoyance was about to flare up,

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew in, flinging the windows open and extinguishing all the candles on the chandelier.

"Oh my?"

"What's with this sudden gust?"

"What are you doing? Bring a mage! Light the chandelier again at once!"

The servants panicked while the butlers calmly gave orders.

The mages belatedly chanted to light the candles on the chandelier with magic.

It was then.

The place that had plunged into darkness suddenly brightened.

No, to be exact, only a portion of it lit up.

It was like a spotlight on a stage.

The light illuminated the top of the central staircase, drawing everyone's attention.

A woman was standing there.

It was a pink-haired woman wearing a mask.

Seeing her appearance, everyone let out a word.

"What's with that disgraceful outfit?"

"Oh my, how scandalous..."

She was wearing a bunny girl outfit that revealed her body's contours, the kind you would only expect to see in Halim.

She wore a swallowtail-like coat so she wasn't exposing bare skin, but in the conservative Empire, just revealing her body's contours was an unacceptable look.

Wearing a white mask fit for a masquerade ball, she opened her mouth.

"When all the world falls silent!"

The woman shouted vigorously like a circus showman.

"And injustice descends to plunge the world into chaos!"

An awkwardness could be felt, but she was trying hard to hide it by raising her voice.

"I descend here to carry out justice from within the shadows!"

Having had their attention stolen by her appearance, the people each threw out a remark.

"Who the hell are you bitch!? Do you know where you are to be intruding!?"

When one of the servants asked, the mysterious pink-haired masked woman laughed haha and shouted.

"As for who I am, I am Pepe of the Bunny Swallows! I have come here for the justice that everyone turns away from, to put a stop to the atrocities occurring in this mansion!"

"What?! Where do you think you are, spouting such nonsense?!"

"Where else could it be? When the whole world knows that this is the place where all wealth and evil gather to hatch wicked plots!"

The mysterious masked woman tapped the floor with a cane and made exaggerated gestures.

The servants, enraged, threw out their protests.

"Do you know how many people the elder Dandolo has fed and supported, for you to say such a thing!"

"Rico Dandolo! I didn't know there were so many loyal to his children! But why do you only spout loyalty with your mouths?"

"What kind of bullshit is that!? Do we look like petty cowards who aren't loyal to the elder!?"

"How truly deplorable! You are blind with your eyes open, and deaf with your ears unblocked! How can you bring a witch into the house and then pretend not to see her?"

"A witch? Who exactly is supposed to be a witch?"

At the word witch, everyone panicked and looked around.

Tilda Pascal also looked around anxiously.

She hoped that damn phantom thief was just taking a shot in the dark.

"Tilda Pascal!"

The woman called out her exact name.

Then, another spotlight shone on the spot where Tilda was standing.

All attention focused on her.

"You filthy dog of a witch. Why are you pretending to be a frightened pup?"

Receiving all those stares, Tilda panicked.

"You wicked snake who devoured your father-in-law, devoured your husband, and is now even trying to devour your own blood. Your evil deeds end now. I will clearly show everyone here just what reins you hold to control this mansion!"

It was right when the masked woman tried to pull something out from inside her jacket.

Upon seeing that object, Tilda's pupils shrank.

"There she is! An intruder!"

At that moment, numerous soldiers stormed in through the doors.

Crossbows were clutched in their hands.

"Fire!"

SWOOSH!

The crossbow bolts were let loose and flew toward the pink-haired phantom thief.

BANG BANG BANG!

Right before the bolts reached her body.

Pure white smoke burst out from the mysterious pink-haired phantom thief's body.

It completely obscured the vision of the entire area.

"Aaaah!"

"Cough, cough!"

"It's an intruder! Don't let her escape!"

The attendants fled, and the soldiers moved busily.

In the midst of that, Tilda was looking up at the spot where the pink-haired phantom thief had been standing.

'Where is she.'

She was trying to track the woman's movements through the pure white smoke.

'Where is she?'

She had to find her.

She had to find that woman before anyone else.

"My lady!"

Right then, someone pulled on Tilda's body.

"Please evacuate this way!"

Thinking that Tilda had momentarily lost her senses from the shock, the servant led her away.

She acted like a panicked person and allowed herself to be pulled along by that hand.

"I will escort you to the shelter right now. We will head there—"

"No!"

Tilda cut those words off.

"There's no need to go all the way to the shelter. I'll hide in my room."

"Understood. Then this way...!"

The servant escorted Tilda and guided her to her room.

"You must not come out! Please wait until the situation calms down."

"I know."

The door closed.

Tilda paced around with an anxious look on her face.

She tapped the door with her index finger.

At that moment, a bright red barrier spread out from her finger and completely covered the door.

Now, there was no one who could bypass this door.

"What was up with that crazy bitch?"

Tilda's face distorted fiercely.

She had drawn attention with a scandalous outfit and called herself Pepe.

"Bunny Swallows? What the hell is that? Just who did something like that to screw me over?"

A phantom thief from an organization she had never heard of or seen.

She also tried to think of who could be behind it.

Stephan? Muchit? Herman?

Or was it some bullshit trick Rico Dandolo had set up long ago, before she poisoned him?

But that wasn't the issue.

'How do they know that I contracted with a witch?'

A garden contract had the advantage of not being discovered unless one cast magic right in someone's face.

Tilda had always used her magic cautiously.

She had exercised extreme caution to make this mansion her own.

There was no way anyone could know.

'Even if we assume they found out...'

There was one thing she couldn't understand.

How could they have figured out what the medium was?

The thing that the phantom thief who introduced herself as Pepe had tried to expose.

She had been interrupted right as she tried to pull it out, but Tilda had caught a glimpse of its outline.

An item thin and small enough to hide in one's bosom, yet handy.

And the medium Tilda had established also took that kind of form.

Maybe...

'There's no way.'

Tilda could not be certain.

Even if she wanted to brush it off as a simple attempt to intimidate her, it was difficult to be sure if that was really the case.

She had to check for herself.

Tilda moved.

The place she moved to in her spacious room was a desk drawer.

The place where a framed portrait of herself rested.

She opened the drawer.

Inside was a single picture frame lying face down.

She tried to flip the frame over to check it.

"I figured it'd be somewhere in your room, so that's where it was?"

A voice pierced the silence.

Tilda flinched in shock and turned around.

In the spot where absolutely no one was supposed to be, a man was standing.

A brown-haired man with a ponytail.

Similar to that scandalous phantom thief, he was wearing a mask and watching her.

"W-What are you? How did you get in here...?"

"How do you think? When that pink phantom thief was drawing all the attention? Or was it from the moment I grabbed your wrist and led you away?"

Only then could Tilda grasp the outline of this absurd situation.

The woman speaking like a showman was merely bait.

Their true goal had been to make her approach the medium and check it herself.

The brown-haired man gestured with his chin and asked.

"So that thing in your hand must be the real medium for the garden contract?"

Tilda reflexively hugged the frame to her chest and screamed.

"Die!!"

At that moment, a magic circle was drawn, and the head of a snake burst out from within it.

With white scales and golden eyes, the snake was the exact typical form recorded in literature.

"Wow, it seems you really did form a contract with Yor Philiaz. I guess this is the intel power of Black Bandana."

The snake of Yor Philiaz.

It possessed a dangerous, lethal poison that would melt one away without leaving a trace the moment they were bitten.

The snake flicked its tongue and coiled around Tilda, threatening the intruder.

"How cute."

Zed was of the Red-Eye Clan.

The Red-Eye Clan possessed the ability to scatter and nullify the magic power of a magic circle.

Despite that, Zed did not reveal those eyes.

The reason was simple.

There was no need to use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken.

He leaned his body forward and sprinted as if springing off the ground.

"Kill him! My snakes! Hurry up and kill him!"

Dozens of snakes moved noisily, chasing after the man's figure.

However, they could not catch up to his figure.

The man was an acrobat who easily dodged the attacks of two wolf monsters.

SWISH!

A thinly sliced aura moved, leaving behind a whitish afterimage.

Every time a line of aura was drawn, the heads and bodies of Yor's snakes were separated and rolled across the floor.

It didn't take long for dozens of snakes to become dozens of chunks of meat.

"Urk!!"

Tilda's face changed.

Her face morphed into that of a snake, intending to spray venom.

But by the time she finished her judgment, the brown-haired man had already closed in right in front of her nose.

"Nope!"

"Aaaah!"

He struck the back of her hand hard with the pommel of his dagger.

Tilda's hand, which had been gripping the medium, went slack.

The brown-haired man nimbly snatched it and stepped back.

"Let's see here. What medium did our heartless witch prospect decide to use..."

Flipping the frame over, the brown-haired man let out a gasp, "Huh."

"Wow, I didn't see this coming..."

"G-Give it back!! Right now!"

Tilda shouted as if screaming.

But it didn't work on the brown-haired man.

The brown-haired man took the painting out of the frame and grabbed it with both hands.

"Nothing personal. It's just a job, you see."

RIIIP!

He forcefully tore the item.

The paper ripped apart as easily as a cheap flyer from a market street.

"Ah...!"

Then, bright red energy began surging from the torn piece of paper.

That power grew stronger and condensed until it caused a shockwave.

BOOM!

"Whoa!?"

Zed's body was pushed back.

Tilda, who was further away, sprinted over like a beast and picked up the scraps of paper.

"No...!"

Tilda grabbed the torn pieces and tried to forcibly stick them back together.

"Ah...! No...!! This can't be happening!"

Spilled water cannot be gathered back up, and a shattered medium cannot be restored.

At that moment, a gloomy aura began to envelop the surroundings.

He felt a bad premonition.

"Looks like it's time for my exit. See ya!"

Not wanting to get swept up in the mess, the brown-haired man quickly left the scene.

Tilda was not capable of such incredible agility.

She fell to her knees on the spot and trembled in fear.

She was coming.

She was coming.

SSSSS.

What echoed in her ears was the sound of a snake's tongue.

Something long and damp sweetly licked the shell of her ear.

"- Hehehe..."

And a gloomy chuckle.

Unable to look behind her, she froze in place.

Tilda's complexion turned pale.

"- Pitiful Tilda. Poor Tilda. Your contract has been broken."

"N-No, it hasn't."

Tilda replied, trembling.

"I can fix this, Lady Yor! Please...!"

"- No, you have failed. Did I not tell you to protect the medium of our contract no matter what? But you failed to protect it."

The voice laughed as if amused.

Tilda pleaded with her once again.

"I will kill that man! I will prove my capability!"

"- There is no need for that, little one. Your ruin was already foretold the moment you harbored greed beyond your station."

A long strip of flesh brushed past her cheek.

What followed was a sneer.

Tilda begged, tears dripping down her face.

"Please, do not abandon me. I will become your loyal dog. Please, just one more chance..."

She begged and begged again.

The answer she received in return was this.

"- Snakes do not shed tears, you incompetent fool."

The moment the aura vanished, she felt a sudden change.

The something that had enveloped the mansion suddenly disappeared.

The spell that made up Tilda Pascal was undone.