When Ram saw Nanashi return, she recognized him immediately.
This was the Nanashi Lady Emilia had spoken of.
Lifting her skirt slightly, she bowed politely. "Master Nanashi, I am the maid Ram."
Rem, who had been checking on her sister, came out right after and bowed as well.
"Master Nanashi, I am the maid Rem."
"No need for that," Nanashi said, waving a hand.
He studied Ram, eyes sharp. Her lips trembled slightly, like she wanted to speak.
He asked directly, "Do you have something to say?"
Ram hesitated—then nodded.
"Lord Roswaal…"
At that moment, the others came outside as well.
"Nanashi, you're back!" Nami ran up to him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked curiously.
Nanashi pointed at the jester-like figure in front of him.
"This guy."
"Sir Nanashi, what's wrong with Lord Roswaal?" Emilia asked, puzzled by Roswaal's frozen demeanor.
"I told him not to move," Nanashi replied calmly.
"He's full of dangerous ideas."
This made Ram step forward defensively.
"Lord Roswaal is exceptionally wise."
"My sister is right," Rem added.
"Yes, Lord Roswaal is the only magician who supports my candidacy in the royal election," Emilia said. "He's helped me immensely."
"I believe Nanashi has his reasons," Bronya cut in. "He wouldn't target someone without cause."
Ever since becoming the Great Guardian, Bronya had learned the hard truth of the phrase: You can know a person's face, but not their heart.
"I'm too lazy to explain it all. Let him speak for himself."
Nanashi looked at Roswaal coldly.
"Tell them your identity. Tell them how you took in Ram and Rem. And tell them your true reason for supporting Emilia."
The words were like a command.
Roswaal's mouth moved on its own.
"I am Roswaal A. Mathers—a commoner who was granted magic 400 years ago."
Nami's eyes widened.
"400 years ago? You're four hundred years old?"
Saeko frowned. "How are you still alive? You don't even look old."
Roswaal was disturbingly calm, as if he'd accepted his fate.
"I extend my life by taking over the bodies of my direct descendants. This current body is one of them. A vessel for my soul."
"!!!"
Using your own children as vessels for immortality…
Even Emilia and Ramrem looked at him now as if seeing him for the first time.
Puck's ears twitched as he raised his fluffy right paw.
"I saw that coming a long time ago."
Emilia blinked, confusion clouding her wide eyes.
"Then… why didn't you tell me, Puck?"
"Well, Leah needs help to reach her goal, and he happens to be the most suitable person in the entire kingdom."
Puck tilted his head, playing pitiful without a shred of shame.
"Leah won't blame me, right?"
He really was just a little furball with no sense of restraint.
Emilia: "…"
Roswaal continued, voice low and deliberate.
"Everything I do is guided by the Gospel. Ram and Rem are essential pieces on the board."
"I wasn't the one who destroyed the oni tribe—I simply stood by and watched. When only two of them remained, it was easy to gather the pieces I needed."
"Pieces…"
That word hit Ram like a slap.
She stumbled back in disbelief.
"Big sister!"
Rem caught her, hands on her shoulders, steadying her.
Ram's face had gone paper-white.
So everything—everything about her and Rem—had simply been a matter of strategy?
Just pawns in someone else's Gospel?
"The Gospel…"
Nanashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Echidna's Gospel?"
Roswaal's eyes widened, and a twisted grin spread across his face.
"Yes… yes! The very Gospel left behind by the teacher! Its instructions are always right!"
Nanashi's eyes sharpened with interest. He pointed toward Ram.
"If the Gospel told you to kill Ram—would you do it?"
"Of course."
Roswaal didn't hesitate. His answer was cold, absolute.
"…"
Ram's face paled even more. Bright tears began to well in the corners of her eyes.
"You bastard!"
Rem exploded in rage. Her horn burst forth in a blaze of blue, and her eyes burned crimson. She'd entered her demon state.
The chain hammer was already in her hand, ready to swing at a moment's notice.
Yet Roswaal remained eerily calm.
He was just a piece on the board, after all.
That expression only made Rem angrier.
"Rem, don't act impulsively!" Emilia called out, trying to stop her.
"Roswaal clearly has more to say."
"Roswaal," Nanashi said, "check your Gospel. Look for the next move."
As soon as Nanashi gave the order, Roswaal's body loosened, free to move again.
With a sinister chuckle, he pulled out the book and flipped it open.
"Read it," Nanashi instructed.
Roswaal obeyed.
"Kill Ram, and the Witch of Greed will be resurrected!"
His breath trembled with excitement as he read the last line.
This was it.
The opportunity he'd been waiting for!
The key to reviving his beloved teacher!
HAHAHAHA!!!
He laughed maniacally, magical power erupting from his body.
Magic circles flared to life—fire, ice, blades of wind—dozens of deadly spells launched toward Ram all at once.
The sudden chaos shocked everyone—Bronya, the others—they were stunned.
Even Ram froze.
Lord Roswaal… he really tried to kill me… without hesitation… just because of what that book said…
She gave a pale, heartbroken smile.
It was all fake, in the end.
Just her own foolish hope.
The last remnants of it shattered in an instant.
"Watch out, sister!"
Rem leapt in front of Ram, firing icy spikes and swinging her chain hammer to defend her with all her might.
"Relax. If something could happen to you right in front of me…" Nanashi raised a finger and snapped it, "then I'd be an embarrassment to my own power."
Bang!
In an instant, all of Roswaal's attacks shifted course, shooting up into the sky and vanishing harmlessly.
Roswaal himself wasn't so lucky.
An ice spike pierced his side. Then the chain hammer smashed into him, sending him flying.
He coughed blood mid-air before slamming into the ground, rolling a few times before going still.
Rem retracted her hammer, still stunned.
Nanashi grinned. "Feel good, smashing him like that?"
Rem looked down at the hammer, clenched her fist, then glanced at Nanashi.
She nodded seriously.
"Yeah."
"Ara ara, Nanashi," Shinobu chimed in, her eyes gleaming with curiosity,
"Are you perhaps interested in those two girls?"
It was obvious she'd been nudging Roswaal toward that outburst from the start. All she'd said was the truth.
Nanashi didn't deny it.
"Yes. I'm very interested in the maids—Ram and Rem."
"Unlike Roswaal, who manipulates people in their darkest moments, we walk a straight path. We speak plainly and fight openly."
He placed a firm hand on each of their heads.
"How about it? Want to work with me from now on? I promise you a future far better than serving that clown."
"…"
There was no deceit in Nanashi's clear gaze. Not a hint of it.
Rem hesitated, unsure, and looked to Ram for guidance.
"Sister… needs magic."
Ram's broken horn—without it, she couldn't survive.
"Want to hear about employee benefits?" Nanashi grinned, pointing at her forehead.
A golden light poured from his finger into the shattered base of Ram's horn.
Magic began to pulse around her.
"Big sister!" Rem cried out.
Before their eyes, the horn began to regrow.
Ram's magical energy surged as the horn formed perfectly—restored to what it had once been.
Her power reached a new peak.
"Sister, your horn—it's back!" Rem's eyes filled with tears.
That broken horn had been her lifelong guilt.
Ram, still enveloped in warm light, slowly raised a hand and touched the oni horn on her head.
"Am I… dreaming?"
"No dream," Nanashi replied. "Now then—shouldn't I be getting an answer?"
"Our employee benefits go far beyond this."
He added, "I may use people, sure. But I will never treat you like pawns to be discarded."
His words were blunt but sincere—too honest to doubt.
"…"
Ram and Rem looked at each other and found the answer reflected in one another's eyes.
In perfect unison, they lifted their skirts and bowed slightly, voices soft as silk.
"Master."
Nanashi nodded, clearly pleased.
"Good."
"Eh?" Emilia blinked, still dazed. Everything was happening so fast…
"Ahem…"
Roswaal coughed violently as he struggled to his feet, blood on his lips and murder in his eyes—directed solely at Ram.
That venomous glare made Ram tremble. The last thread of hope she'd held for him finally snapped.
A large, warm hand settled on her head.
"Don't worry. He can't hurt you anymore."
Nanashi's calm voice brought comfort. Without uttering a command, he had already seized control of Roswaal's body again.
"I hope you won't hate me for this, Ram. My people tampered with the Gospel. I let him act that way on purpose."
"..."
Ram's expression wavered. "You didn't have to tell me that, Master."
Nanashi ruffled her hair gently, smiling.
"I don't want there to be any distance between us."
"My methods may be despicable—but unlike Roswaal, I won't lie to you. I'll always tell you the truth, because I want Ram and Rem... not just pawns."
His cruelty was deliberate:
Letting Roswaal speak the truth.
Having Echidna rewrite the Gospel.
Forcing Roswaal to show his most twisted, authentic self.
Completely shattering Roswaal's image.
"…"
Ram and Rem stared at Nanashi, dumbfounded.
"Sigh... Nanashi's flirting skills are getting scary good," Lemuel muttered, shaking her head.
"Tch. Why does he always go after the prettiest girls?" Nami pouted.
Shinobu smiled knowingly.
"Nanashi sincerity and kindness are rare. Anyone would be drawn to that."
Saeko nodded in agreement.
"He's always honest with those he cares about. That's what makes him different."
Esdeath, on the other hand, wore a different expression.
"The man I've set my eyes on... will get everything he wants."
For her, honesty and desire—especially unfiltered ones—were virtues. That was the essence of strength.
"…"
Bronya glanced around and suddenly felt out of place among this gathering of strange yet tightly bound people.
Should I say something too? she wondered.
A peculiar look flickered in her eyes.
Are all of them seriously involved with Nanashi…?
After a long silence, Ram finally smiled—genuinely and radiantly—for the first time.
"Thank you, Master."
Nanashi, seeing the burden lift from her heart, returned the smile with relief.
Then he turned his gaze to Roswaal, who was still slumped on the floor and bleeding.
"One last question. Answer honestly."
Emilia's expression was strained, sadness weighing heavy in her eyes. She could no longer deny it—Roswaal had always been using her.
Roswaal glanced at her, eyes dull and lifeless.
"The Gospel guided me. And only if Emilia becomes king will I have the chance to face the dragon… and kill it."
His voice grew more erratic, eyes wild.
"Only by killing the dragon... can the teacher be resurrected!"
It was clear now—his entire mind was twisted around that single obsession. Teacher. Gospel. Dragon.
He had gone completely mad.
Nanashi's voice cut through the tension.
"You're going to die… but the real shame is—your teacher is still alive."
"What…?" Roswaal's crazed rambling came to an abrupt halt.
Nanashi leaned in, voice cruel and mocking:
"And what's more… your beloved teacher, the Witch of Greed—Echidna—is now my slave. My toy. It was by my order that she rewrote the Gospel."
The calculated provocation hit its mark. Roswaal's face twisted in disbelief, fear, and fury.
He wanted to ask. What did it mean that she was still alive? A slave? What happened?
But he would never get the answers.
His body began to break apart—crushed slowly as if caught between grinding millstones. Inch by inch, he was reduced to ash, flames devouring him without mercy or spectacle.
A fitting end for someone so obsessed with knowledge… left to die with questions he'd never answer.
Nanashi turned away.
Emilia stood there, visibly shaken.
He could tell she needed time.
"Let her rest. Take her inside."
"Yes." Ram and Rem moved without hesitation, gently guiding Emilia back into the castle.