Rumor (3)

"What do you think this child is, your plaything? She's dressed in trashy clothes that look like they're only suitable for dolls."

"..."

Reed had nothing to say in defense.

The first outfit Phoebe had worn was actually clothes for her doll, and Phoebe had chosen the clothes based on her own preferences.

It wasn't as flashy as he'd thought, and it was calm. Most importantly, Rosaria herself liked it, so he didn't care.

"You should be ashamed, Roton."

'...I feel like I'm the only bad guy here.'

Before he could say anything, Freesia turned her head to look at Dolores.

Her face, which had been scolding, was now filled with a playful smile.

"Who is this? As always, you say you hate it, but you're still childhood friends from Escolleia, aren't you? Your concern for your husband's safety remains unchanged."

"I did not come here for that purpose."

"Then did you share a meaningful conversation? If it's a wedding, let me take care of it by mid-June."

"..."

Dolores closed her mouth and glared at Freesia.

Unfazed, Freesia met her gaze with a mischievous smile.

She clearly knew everything and was focused on teasing Dolores.

Click-.

Black shoes tapped against the marble floor as she walked towards them.

Reed looked up at her and spoke politely.

"I didn't hear that you were coming, but if I had known, I would have welcomed you properly."

Then Freesia waved her hand dismissively.

"It's fine, it's natural not to know. Actually, I broke the protective enchantment engraved on the main gate and entered on my own."

"Why did you break it?"

Reed held back from adding 'unnecessarily.'

If the Tower Master of the Black Sky had arrived, they would have opened the gate without question.

"Don't you know my personality? When I see the shoddy protective enchantments that the young ones have made, I want to destroy them. Think about it. These are people who have completed their castles by stacking wood pieces. What do you think? The first thing I want to do is break them and watch them despair."

What a terrible hobby.

Isn't that basically saying she enjoys making others cry?

'She has the same personality as when she appeared in the main story of <Disaster 7>.'

Interestingly, this woman with such a terrible hobby is an ally.

Not Reed's ally, but the protagonist's ally.

However, her shameless and carefree personality, which even teased the protagonist who considered her an ally, hasn't changed.

'At least that's a relief.'

Her unchanging personality meant that Freesia was the same as when she appeared in the main story.

He knew how to deal with her.

"Let me sit down too."

"Please do."

Snap!

As Freesia, who hadn't taken a seat of authority, snapped her fingers, a black shadow began to form behind her, eventually taking shape.

A black chair that hadn't been in the room before appeared.

The chair, crafted with elegance matching her gothic dress, was so imposing that it felt like it belonged to the rightful owner of the room.

Three Tower Masters in the reception room.

It would be a lie to say there was no tension.

She relaxed, as if she were at home, and took turns looking at Reed and Dolores.

"What brings you here, Tower Master of the Black Sky?"

Reed asked the question.

"The whole world knows about what you've done, kid. I came to see that girl you brought in out of curiosity."

Freesia met Rosaria's gaze, then clapped her hands with a bright smile.

"Come here, little bloodsucker, to your Noona."

Somehow, Rosaria knew that the rough expression referred to her and approached Freesia hesitantly.

Freesia affectionately picked her up and looked into her eyes.

Reed, for some reason, didn't find that smile very pleasant.

"Do you like the clothes I gave you?"

"Yeah!"

Her still-childish face broke into a smile.

"Do you know there are even prettier things at my place?"

"Really?"

"Of course."

Freesia smirked.

"If you live with me, I can give you everything you want. How does that sound?"

"…!"

Reed's fist clenched tightly.

He had suspected it since she laid her hands on Rosaria, but now she was blatantly showing her intentions.

'So that was her goal.'

A normal child would have happily accepted the offer.

She wanted to tame the child and then drop her off.

However, Rosaria tilted her head at those words.

"Is Papa coming too?"

"Huh? Papa?"

"If Papa comes too, I'll go!"

It was only after Rosaria pointed at Reed with her finger that he understood what she meant by 'Papa.'

"Well, your Papa can live with us too. I have the ability to do that much."

"We can all live together!"

With an innocent expression, Rosaria ran into Reed's arms.

Reed hugged Rosaria and patted her head.

"Rosaria, it's kind of the other Tower Master to offer that, but this is our home. Living in someone else's house would be a bother."

"But there are toys."

Rosaria looked up with a hint of disappointment.

Given her young age, it was understandable that she would be tempted.

"Do you want toys?"

"Yes!"

Rosaria nodded her head honestly.

As the moments of joy and sorrow intersected between Freesia and Reed, the conversation didn't end there.

"But I won't go without Papa."

Rosaria stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Reed's neck, hugging him affectionately.

Reed held her and showed Freesia a confident smile, one that only a winner could wear.

"Thank you for your generous offer, Tower Master of the Black Sky, but we must decline."

"…Hmph."

Her twisted expression was quite a sight.

Her childish personality was on full display.

Rosaria had done everything she could.

Reed helped Rosaria stand up and spoke gently to her.

"Alright, Rosaria, I need to talk with this lady now, so can you go outside? Go ask Phoebe Noona to play with you."

"Okay!"

Rosaria scampered off.

As she walked, her dress swayed like a Welsh corgi's bottom, making one wonder if she would trip, and forcing them to keep watching her.

Her movements disappeared only when the reception room door closed.

"You've trained her well."

Freesia finally spoke, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

Reed corrected her.

"When raising a child, we use the term 'parenting.'"

"Enough with that annoying 'Papa' act. Didn't you bring that girl here for your own purposes as well?"

She mimicked Rosaria's speech with a roll of her tongue.

It was forgivable when Rosaria did it, but when Freesia did it, it was just unpleasant.

That's when Dolores asked Freesia with a question mark above her head.

"I didn't know the Tower Master of the Black Sky was interested in children…"

It made even less sense that Freesia, a single spinster armed with hysteria, would like children than Reed's adoption.

As expected, Freesia waved her hand dismissively.

"I only like adults. Even if they lack talent, I can use them as skeleton soldiers."

"Then why are you interested in a child like Rosaria?"

"They say she twisted the pillar of the tower into a sphere. That frail little girl."

"The pillar of the tower…?"

Dolores was left in shock.

Freesia raised one eyebrow as she looked at the astonished Dolores.

"What? I thought you were also targeting that little girl, but I guess not?"

"I... "

Dolores couldn't continue her sentence.

She hadn't kept tabs like the Tower of the Black Sky, so she hadn't heard the news before arriving.

Seeing Dolores like this, Freesia's face displayed a mischievous smile.

"It seems your childhood friend only worries about you."

"I came here only to keep an eye on things. It's purely for the relationship between the tower masters."

"Let's leave it at that."

Freesia didn't want to continue the wordplay.

"Child of Silence."

"Yes."

She showed her open palm.

"Five projects."

"What...?"

"I said I would give you five projects being conducted in the Black Sky."

It was an offer filled with more questions than joy.

Dolores couldn't even grasp what Freesia was talking about, but she flicked her fingers.

Thud!

Five makeshift bound books were placed on the table.

"These are top-notch projects. The calculations are 99% complete, and they only need a finishing touch. As long as you're not an idiot who ruins already cooked rice, you should be able to finish them."

As she said, almost everything had been formalized, and the hypotheses had been proven through experiments. It was as if they only needed a period at the end.

'On top of that, they're important main projects.'

The Tower Master of the Black Sky was also known as the eternal girl of the black sky, but she had the characteristics of being the strongest among the necromancers called the "Empress of the Undead."

As befitting her reputation, the projects she had researched were all enhancement spells to strengthen the power of necromancers.

Transferring the authority of these projects meant that Reed, the Tower Master of Silence, would need to grant permission for the use of these spells.

That alone could be a negotiation card.

'In the world of mages, information is the most important.'

The tower master's conference was a compulsory gathering created to respond to the official mages, but they also had secrets from each other.

Freesia had been hiding these projects until now.

And she revealed them to Reed.

"What should I offer you in return?"

"What do you think?"

It seemed like she didn't need to say it.

It was Rosaria.

"How about this? To adopt the little monster who folded the tower's pillar, is this enough?"

Is it enough?

Reed smiled and replied.

"Shouldn't the foundation of a negotiation at least appear to be an equal effort?"

"Are you saying I went too far? I wish that was the case."

"I believe the wise Freesia will understand well enough."

Resting her chin on her hand, Freesia glared at Reed through her fingers.

She certainly didn't mean that she had offered too much; rather, she had wagered too little.

That raised a question.

'What gives him such confidence?'

The projects Freesia had put forth were ones the Tower of Silence could stake its life on.

They were high-quality projects that couldn't be acquired with just money.

As the Tower Master, Reed would have known this.

That's why she couldn't understand why the balance was tipped towards the girl rather than the reputation of the tower.

"Does that mean the girl is that important? One who is fragile enough to burst if stepped on?"

"Yes."

Reed answered without hesitation.

Freesia hesitated for a moment at that response.

There was no smile on her cold, composed face.

She raised her hand again and flicked her fingers.

Snap!

Thud!

Two more books were placed on top of the project stack.

"Let's make it seven."

Upon hearing this, Dolores was even more surprised.

Giving away seven important projects was virtually equivalent to completely eliminating their performance within a quarter.

It was a fatal loss for the tower.

Not only the Tower Master of the Black Sky but also other tower masters had never done such a thing.

On the contrary, Reed responded without batting an eye.

"I refuse."

Squirm.

Her thin black eyebrows twitched.

"How strange. The Tower Master of the Wallin had a reaction, but the Tower Master of Silence remains unmoved."

"Why would I be swayed if I never intended to negotiate in the first place?"

"Why is that? Tower Master of Silence, just a month ago, I saw you scrambling to catch a big fish. But today, you seem uncharacteristically hesitant."

Freesia's narrowed eyes began to emit a red glow.

Seeing this, Dolores tensed up.

In that situation, Reed's calm demeanour was rather strange.

"In that case, let's not talk further and tire our mouths. I'll say just one thing."

"One thing?"

Freesia's face contorted.

The girl wearing a mask's face had turned into a witch.

No, in fact, a sinister mist began to spread behind her.

The white marble was instantly stained black, and everything became sticky like tar.

Cold air started to pour out from one side.

Dolores was countering the mist.

"Black Sky Tower Master, please stop. This is going too far."

"Fine, I'll let you have one more word. Depending on what comes out of your mouth, the fate of your tower will be decided today."

"Black Sky!"

"Stay still. This is between Silence and me. Even if I cause a commotion, you won't be harmed. So..."

Don't interfere.

She sent that look and glared at Reed again.

"You seem to be confused, kid. What we're doing is not a transaction. What I'm doing is sympathy and favor, and you show the appropriate gratitude for it."

The initiative is with me, not you.

It was a self-centered, queenly thought.

There were none who dared to defy her under the Black Sky.

Even though it was said that the tower masters were forbidden from fighting, Black Sky was not bound by such rules.

Although she was the youngest in appearance among the tower masters, she was the second oldest at 131 years old.

She had no intention of being patient, as she was an experienced elder who could have seen everything the world had to offer.

If something was hidden, she would inflict pain to reveal it.

If they didn't listen, she would make them listen even if she had to kill them.

The self-centered queen who thought everything in the world belonged to her.

That was precisely Freesia Vulcan Darkrider.

"Go ahead and talk, kid."

"..."

Reed stood up from his seat.

He walked into the sticky mist of death.

There was not a single moment of hesitation in his demeanor.

"Re-Reed..."

Dolores unconsciously called Reed's name.

Without even acknowledging that he heard her, Reed walked straight with his back straight and his head held high.

Golden hues began to swirl in his slightly open eyes.

It meant that the mana within Reed was resisting the deadly energy Freesia emitted.

He placed one hand on the skull decoration and the other on the handle.

He leaned his face toward Freesia, who was looking up at him with red eyes.

"As I said earlier, I'll say just one thing."

But his resistance was not a simple defiance.

Reed had made up his mind ever since Freesia came for Rosaria.

A deep voice rang clearly in both tower masters' ears.

"Even if it costs me my life, I will not hand over that child."