"Can you all please relax?" I said with a wry smile, glancing around the dining room.
The table was loaded with delicious food, but not a single girl was enjoying any of it. The tension was so thick even Miria kept darting nervous glances toward the far end of the table between bites of her fried fish.
At that end sat the cause of all the stress: a young blonde woman, hood still up, utterly unfazed by the murderous atmosphere around her. She calmly ate her meal with obvious enjoyment, as if this wasn't the most awkward breakfast of the century.
"I'm glad you like the food, Nightingale," I sighed, unable to endure the silence any longer.
"Om nom—yesh… this is so good…" she mumbled, still stuffing her cheeks like she hadn't eaten in a week. "I—I've heard of the Nakiri family's… om… reputation, but this is seriously amazing."
She pointed her wooden spoon at Erina.
"Young lady, you have serious talent—worthy of the name God Tongue!"
The moment she pointed her spoon, Roxanne, Vesta, and Sherry all tensed up, ready to leap in and defend.
"I don't need your praise," Erina muttered, giving her a stink eye.
"I'm sorry, Master," Roxanne said, standing abruptly. "Even if you punish me, I can't just sit and eat beside someone who attacked you." She threw Nightingale a heated glare.
"Setsuna can't either," Setsuna said firmly as she stood.
"Master… I can't even take a bite of this delicious food because I'm worried she has already poisoned it," Vesta added anxiously. "After all—she's a Witch!"
"Ugh—ugh—!" Nightingale choked on her food, eyes wide. "What!? Who told you that?" She stared at Vesta in utter disbelief.
"She's a witch?" Shera yelped in alarm.
"Calm down, all of you," I said quickly, before another girl could jump up. "And I was the one who told them about you being a witch." I met Nightingale's gaze.
"H-How did you even know that…? Seriously, who the fuck are you?" she demanded, her purple eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Don't talk to Master like that," Roxanne snapped, fury in her voice.
"You should really keep your slaves under control," Nightingale muttered back irritably.
"Listen," I said, letting the air grow colder as I activated Intimidating Glare, "just because I've been tolerant doesn't mean you can disrespect them in my own house. These girls are my family. If you insult them again, we will have a serious problem. Understand?"
Nightingale visibly flinched and looked away. She took a breath and let out a quiet sigh.
"…I apologize. I didn't mean it like that," she muttered.
"Good. And Roxanne," I said, softening my expression as I deactivated the glare, "We'll talk about what happened after we finish our meal. I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding. If she were really here to assassinate me, doing it at night while I was asleep would've made a lot more sense than attacking me in a dining room full of people."
"I didn't come here to assassinate or harm anyone," Nightingale said firmly, looking around at the girls—and then at me.
"You put a dagger to Master's throat. That seems pretty harmful to me," Sherry said sharply.
"It didn't even touch him," Nightingale shot back defensively. "In fact my wrists are still hurting from where he grabbed me instead." She pouted, rubbing them.
"Enough," I sighed. "Looks like we aren't going to enjoy this meal until we clear up the misunderstanding. Girls, can you please sit down for a moment?"
Roxanne obeyed immediately, and the rest followed with varying degrees of reluctance.
"Look, Nightingale," I said gently, "we obviously started off on the wrong foot. But neither I nor the girls will feel at ease until you tell us why you were hiding in this room… invisibly."
She crossed her arms.
"I don't need to answer your questions at all," she said defiantly.
Every girl at the table glared at her.
Nightingale exhaled sharply.
"…Fine. Because this food is too good to waste, I'll answer some questions." Her violet eyes locked onto mine. "But you'll have to answer mine too."
"That's so shameless! Master, don't agree to that—she's the one who barged into our house in the first place!" Anastasia protested.
"It's alright," I said calmly. "I know what she wants to know. But listen carefully, Nightingale—what you're asking about involves secrets I only share with people I trust completely."
I pointed at myself, then at all the girls around us.
"So first… show me that you're someone I—that we—can trust."
She held my gaze for a moment before sighing.
"…Alright. Fair enough."
"Good. Then let's start with the basics." I leaned forward slightly. "Why did you come here? Did someone ask you to spy on me?" I asked, genuinely curious now that she had denied coming to harm me.
"No," she said immediately, shaking her head. "You're seriously misunderstanding everything. No one asked me to spy on you."
She hesitated, poking at her food with her spoon.
"I… I was just checking out who the new tenants were in this mansion. That's all."
"…Huh?" I blinked at her. "You came here… just to check us out?"
"Yes." She nodded honestly.
"Why?" Sherry asked, brows furrowed. "Why does it matter to you who lives here?"
"Does this Mansion really belong to you?" I asked, remembering her weird response from earlier.
"No, it does not," she replied plainly.
"But it does matter to you who stays here then," I said, watching her closely.
"…Yes," she muttered at last. "I just wanted to know who was brave enough to rent a haunted house."
"Wait—you were the one who spread those rumors about this place being haunted?" Sherry said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Nightingale immediately looked away.
"Oh, she totally did!" Anastasia gasped, smacking her fist into her palm. "You wanted to buy this mansion cheap by scaring everyone away with ghost stories! But your plan failed when Master rented it first!"
Even I was surprised to realize the rumors about this mansion being haunted were completely fabricated by Nightingale.
If that was fake…
then what about the murder rumors?
Were those connected to her too?
"No! How would I even buy a place this big?" Nightingale snapped. "Where would I even get that kind of money?"
"So you never wanted to buy it," I concluded with a small smile. "You just stayed here for free because everyone thought it was haunted… right?"
"I didn't stay in the main house," she murmured.
"Ah! You were staying in the small house behind the mansion!" Roxanne exclaimed. "I knew I should've cleaned that place yesterday—if I had, I would've found someone living there by scent alone!" she added, clearly frustrated.
"You wouldn't have," Nightingale replied calmly. "I haven't been staying there for a long time. It was just a backup house, that's all."
"Backup house?" I tapped my chin. "Then it must've been prepared not just for you—but for the entire Witch Cooperation Association, right?"
"Witch… Assc–what?!" Shera yelped. "So there are more of them?"
"That's it!" Nightingale shot to her feet, chair scraping back. "Seriously—who are you? How do you know so much about me? About us?"
Her hand drifted toward the dagger at her belt.
"I answered your questions. Now it's your turn. And next time, I won't ask so nicely."
"How dare you threaten Ma—!" Roxanne growled, rising instantly.
"Wait," I said sharply, raising a hand. "It's not an overreaction on her part, Roxanne."
In fact, I had been intentionally mentioning Nightingale's secrets.
If she believed that I knew everything about her and was still treating her kindly, it would be one of the fastest ways to gain her trust.
Nightingale glared at me intensely, clearly demanding her answers.
"I did promise to explain," I said, taking a steadying breath. "But first, let me clear the air."
I looked around at all the girls.
"Now that we know Veronica—Nightingale, if she prefers—is innocent and that the entire situation was just a misunderstanding, I don't want any of you being angry or upset with her anymore. Alright?"
I really couldn't have them all antagonizing Nightingale—she wasn't just a powerful ally, she was one of the absolute top-tier waifus from Release That Witch.
And for our shared future, I needed everyone to get along.
"Understood," Roxanne said with a solemn nod. "Master is magnanimous enough to forgive even such serious offenses."
"Truly, Master is so kind," Lilia echoed.
"Master's heart is—" Ram began.
"—so compassionate," Rem finished smoothly.
"Master is the best," Setsuna added with a bright smile, several girls nodding in wholehearted agreement.
"You—" Nightingale stared at the girls, utterly speechless.
"Uhm." I cleared my throat, feeling a bit embarrassed by the chorus of blind loyalty. "In short… try not to see her in a bad light. And I'd ask the same from you," I added, meeting Nightingale's eyes.
"But Master… isn't she still dangerous? I mean… she's a witch," Shera whispered, trying and failing to hide her mouth behind her hand.
"Shh! She's right there!" Remu hissed, slapping her thigh.
"Hmph." Nightingale snorted looking at them. "It's fine. I'm not here to make friends."
"We can't judge someone based only on hearsay," I said, raising my voice enough for everyone to hear. "I asked you all earlier if any of you actually knew anything about witches—but all you had were rumors that painted them in the worst possible light. Isn't it unfair to judge someone based on that alone?"
Jasmine and Nyx lowered their heads, clearly affected by my words.
"Anyway," I continued, gesturing toward Nightingale, "now you have a real witch right in front of you, and she looks just like any other girl. So instead of making wild guesses, give her a chance. See for yourselves whether those rumors are true."
I turned to Nightingale and offered a small smile.
"You're very different from the others… Michio," she murmured, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
The tension eased.
The air finally felt lighter.
"Master, she's still a criminal if she lives in a house without permission!" Shea suddenly declared, brimming with righteous energy. "Maybe that's why witches have a bad name—because they live in other people's houses for free!"
Nightingale's smile twitched violently, her hand sliding toward her dagger.
Her narrowed violet eyes locked onto the rabbitgirl like a predator deciding which limb to cut first.
Before she could explode, I quickly spoke up:
"Uhm—before I answer your questions, I just need to confirm two things."
I cleared my throat. "First: do you know someone named Anna?"
"No," she snapped immediately. "And how many more questions do I have to answer before you answer one of mine?" She stomped a foot, clearly exasperated.
Her reaction told me everything.
She didn't know Anna—the first female lead of Release That Witch.
There could be many reasons:
Maybe Anna had a different name here.
Maybe she wasn't in this world at all.
Or, most likely… they simply hadn't met yet.
"Alright," I said, "just one last confirmation."
I leaned forward.
"You must know about the Hero, right? The First Emperor of the Empire—Gaelus Imperius Maximus."
The name was one Sherry had mentioned to me.
Nightingale nodded.
"And… how do witches view him?" I asked carefully, a small knot forming in my stomach. Part of me feared witches might see him as the one who started their persecution.
Sherry immediately understood exactly what I was about to do.
Her eyes widened in alarm, and she gave a tiny shake of her head—
a silent plea, clearly against the idea of me revealing that secret to her.
Nightingale folded her arms, unimpressed.
"There are stories that he was friends with witches, even gave them special positions in his kingdom… but well—you know. That's not how things turned out, now is it?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Great," I said, a wide smile spreading across my face. "Then I can now easily give you the answer to all your doubts."
"Finally." Nightingale leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "So tell me—who told you about all this? About witches? About me?"
"Just like earlier—when we misunderstood you—this time you're the one misunderstanding me, Nightingale," I said with a calm smile. "No one told me anything… I simply knew all of it from the very beginning."
"You… knew all of it from the start?" Nightingale repeated, genuinely confused. "How? How could you possibly know?"
"There's a secret," I said softly, looking around the room at all the girls. "A secret only the people I trust most know. Only the girls in this room."
Everyone went silent.
Nightingale stared, waiting.
"The truth is…"
I took a breath.
"I am the Hero."