A period of time before Elena took off the ring, at a villa on the outskirts of the city.
**[Reward Distribution:]**
**[Disposable Magic: Protection of the Witch of Time — Can prevent any form of mana from invading the body for a short period of time]**
**[Disposable Magic: Shadow of the Witch of Time — Can summon the shadow of the Witch of Time to perform a spell once, provided the specific magic circle is known]**
**[System Points: 20 points]**
‘Giving this much? O.o?!’
Previously, she had worked so hard, taking Elena to jump into the sea and draining her System Points to exchange for a ring, only to receive a single spell.
This time? What did she do this time?
She hadn’t done anything. Not only was the mission completed, but she also received two spells plus 20 System Points?!
“System, care to explain?”
The System did not respond.
The room was very quiet. All Ai’er could feel was Fina trembling in her arms and the passage of time.
The last spell had been just enough to solve the Minotaur problem. And the Time Stop and Pain Nullification during the second transmigration… Setting aside the fact that the System didn’t ask for any System Points, the timing of those transmigrations—
It was exactly when she was facing a life-or-death crisis.
“Damn it…”
Everything felt like it had been arranged in advance…
The System did not respond to Ai’er.
Watching the sun gradually sink in the west, Ai’er held Fina, who was still trembling, and sat on the edge of the bed.
Judging from the previous instances—
Since the System gave such an exaggerated “reward” this time, did it… mean that big trouble was about to descend?
**[Is it important?]**
“Is it not important?! Do you know, System? Acting like this will make me have a crisis of trust in you!”
The System’s sudden interruption only made Ai’er even more vigilant.
What could she actually believe now?
**[You want to return to your original world, and this System needs you to sign a contract with a Witch; our goals do not conflict, so you can trust this System.]**
‘Is that so? Ghost knows what your real purpose is…’
However, the System was right about one thing.
The goal.
“You need me to stay alive and complete these tasks—and it has to be me. Is that right, System?”
Setting aside her identity as a transmigrator, the first spell conveniently solved the Minotaur issue, and the Pain Nullification and Time Stop appeared right after she was suddenly attacked…
The System did not respond.
But regardless of what the System actually wanted, the most important thing now was to escape from this place first.
“Then System, I want to spend System Points now. I want to take Fina and escape from—huh?”
Several flashes of silver light suddenly sliced across the locked door.
The moment the sound of tearing erupted, the entire door turned into shredded playing cards. It fell apart and collapsed instantly.
Where the door had once stood, a person dressed in a black robe was now standing.
Behind this person, the scene in the corridor was fully exposed to Ai’er’s eyes.
Several of Sirius’s attendants lay silently in pools of blood, motionless. When Ai’er pulled her gaze back to the black-robed person—
She saw a silver dagger.
The dagger gleamed with a cold light, and the blade was still stained with undried, dark red blood.
A chill invaded Ai’er’s body. Seeing this, two words immediately popped into her mind—
Assassin.
The next moment, the person in the black robe suddenly walked toward Ai’er. Seeing the glinting blade, Ai’er subconsciously hugged Fina tighter, preparing to scream for help.
The person gave a powerful flick, and the crimson on the blade faded. The bright white light of the blade caused Ai’er’s heart to skip a beat.
‘Hell! Just how many factions are targeting me?!’
‘I’m just a silver-haired, golden-eyed beauty with a somewhat unique appearance. Who did I offend? QAQ?!’
“Sy-sy-sy-system! Quickly, think of something! Your Host is about to be finished!”
Ai’er instinctively hugged Fina tighter and drew a deep breath of air into her lungs, vowing to use all her strength to scream three words—
“HELP ME QAQ!”
But Ai’er couldn’t scream. The black-robed person was faster.
The person flashed in front of Ai’er and covered her mouth with one hand. Then—
“Miss Ai’er, don’t be nervous.”
As the black-robed person spoke, they removed the hood covering the upper half of their face.
Tied-up brown hair, a white hair ornament symbolizing a maid’s identity, and a part of a black maid outfit visible under the black robe.
“I am Miss Elena’s maid. You can call me Anna.”
A ma-maid? A combat maid?
Blinking, several images flashed through Ai’er’s mind—for example, the maid squad of a certain skeleton magic user, or a certain assassin maid.
‘Seriously! Stop thinking about these useless things, you idiot Ai’er! The priority is to escape!’
“There’s an intruder! Quick, they’re in the room over there!”
Messy footsteps and shouting echoed from the other end of the corridor.
Ai’er shook her head quickly, let go of Fina, and stood up from the bed at once.
“Miss Anna, what should we do now?”
“I will take you out.”
After Anna finished speaking, she stood up and put her hood back on.
“Miss Ai’er, please excuse my rudeness.”
“Eh? Ehhh?!”
As Anna spoke, Ai’er’s field of vision suddenly shifted downward. She felt a force acting on her abdomen, lifting her up abruptly.
Before Ai’er even had time to react, Anna had hoisted Ai’er onto her shoulder like a sack of rice.
In the next instant, Anna threw the dagger in her hand.
The flying dagger moved as if controlled by an invisible ghost, tracing several silver trajectories in the air. All the trajectories converged toward the wall of the room, like arrows being fired, letting out a roar that tore through the air—
*Boom!*
After a loud crash and a cloud of dust, a large hole was immediately opened in the wall of the room by the floating dagger!
“Go! Stop her!”
The attendants who had already reached the door drew their swords while summoning balls of magic light that looked like fireballs.
Crimson fireballs and cold white blades charged toward Anna together!
But all of this froze the moment the attendants stepped into the room.
In that instant, the dagger that had been thrown out was suddenly pulled back from a distance. While cutting through the magic light balls, it left a terrifying bloody gash on the leading attendant.
“Get out.”
Turning like a waltz, Anna kicked the attendant toward the doorway with a sudden thrust. The flying attendant was like a cannonball, knocking away all the other attendants who hadn’t had time to react. Finally, he smashed into the wall on the other side, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Miss Ai’er, hold on tight. Don’t move.”
“Wait a minute! Take that young girl with us!”
Hearing Ai’er’s voice, Fina, who was sitting blankly on the bed, slowly raised her head.
If she left like this, who knew what kind of abuse the girl would continue to suffer! Furthermore—
If they were to take down Sirius, this girl would become indispensable “evidence.”
Anna frowned slightly. “Miss Ai’er, the orders I received were only to take you—”
“Please.”
Ai’er’s face couldn’t be seen, but the pleading voice caused Anna to freeze for a moment.
She seemed to have thought of something.
Anna looked at Fina, who was still sitting blankly on the bed, looking at the girl’s vacant gaze as if she were waiting to be slaughtered…
Finally, she looked at the bandages on the girl’s legs.
“…I understand.”
When Anna jumped out of the window in the wall, Fina turned her head slightly and saw Ai’er, who was also being carried like cargo.
The kind lady was currently grinning at her.
Under the burning afterglow of the sunset, silver long hair danced in Fina’s dark blue eyes.
The noisy sound of the wind was in Fina’s ears. She couldn’t hear if Ai’er said anything to her, but she had indeed not seen a smile for a long time.
Whether it was from someone else or her own.