For Hayashi Maki, someone like Roswaal really wasn't worth worrying about.
Right now he had no intention of killing Roswaal, either.
Roswaal was the lord of the border territory, Emilia's benefactor and supporter. Killing him now wouldn't win him Ram's heart, and it would only leave a bad impression on Emilia. There was no point.
On top of that, with his own strength and his ability to revive, Hayashi Maki truly had nothing to fear from any assassination attempts Roswaal might try.
And if Roswaal really wanted to resurrect Echidna, he would eventually have to rely on Hayashi Maki. They might even end up working together.
Roswaal wants to resurrect Echidna.
Hayashi Maki wants to claim Echidna, to make a contract with the Witch and bring her over to his side. In a way, their goals are aligned.
Anyway, that wasn't what mattered right now.
What mattered was successfully contracting this troublesome little maid, Ram.
An hour later.
Hayashi Maki lowered his head and kissed the sweat-damp pink-haired girl lightly on the forehead, then pulled the blanket up over her before putting his pants back on and leaving the room, refreshed.
Yes.
He'd been very direct about it.
No hesitation at all — he'd taken Ram completely.
Once the contract was complete, he gained a new ability.
[Gift of "Oni Possession": from Ram, one of the twin oni sisters, you have obtained the skill Phase.]
Phase — that was the ability granted when an oni goes into their "oni possession" state.
Not bad at all. From now on, Hayashi Maki could literally stand still and let attacks pass straight through him.
The term "oni possession" itself amused him.
After Hayashi Maki left, Rem opened the door, eyes brimming with tears as she threw herself into her sister's arms.
"Big sis Ram! That man… he… he did that to you…"
Her small fists clenched, magic power swelling around her, that single purple horn flickering in and out as rage surged through her.
Ram smiled gently and raised a hand to stroke her younger sister's blue hair.
"It's alright. Hayashi Maki-sama was… surprisingly gentle."
Rem: "..."
She was still angry. That shameless man had done that to her sister.
"Alright, don't be mad, Rem. Try getting along with him first. Roswaal-sama has already acknowledged it, so we just need to do our jobs properly."
Ram didn't mention that her broken horn had been restored.
The timing wasn't right.
For all these years, Rem had lived feeling guilty about Ram losing her horn for her sake.
Rem had gotten used to training hard to make herself stronger, and to taking on the role of protecting her sister.
There was another point Ram understood clearly:
Rem had always been jealous of the power Ram once had as a one-horned oni. If Ram suddenly told her she'd regained that strength, Rem might lose the sense of purpose she'd built her life around.
For Rem's sake, Ram really had worried herself sick.
…
Back to Hayashi Maki.
After leaving Ram's room, he went to the baths, washed up, then changed clothes and casually opened another door.
What met his eyes was a tiny, blonde girl sitting on a step stool reading.
"Yo, Beatrice-san, we meet again," Hayashi Maki said with a blink, then walked into the Forbidden Library with a grin to greet her.
"Ugh, Betty doesn't want to see you at all. If you don't have any business, get out. Don't bother Betty when she's reading!"
The little girl turned her face away, clearly not wanting to look at him.
But Hayashi Maki noticed her hands tighten slightly on the book she was holding. Her heart clearly didn't match her mouth.
The book in her hands was blank — obviously a copy of the Gospel Echidna had left her.
The so-called "Gospel" was essentially a limited version of "World Memory", an externalized fragment of authority.
Echidna had touched the core of the world's memories, acquiring them and becoming omniscient and nearly omnipotent.
That power was coveted by other witches and by the Witch Cult, and in the end Echidna was defeated by a powerful enemy and perished, leaving behind the Sanctuary — her grave.
Before she died, Echidna told Beatrice to wait in the Forbidden Library for "that person" to appear someday, saying that person would come and take her away. The Gospel would show her when that person appeared.
But centuries had passed, and the Gospel remained silent.
Beatrice had turned that book over and over thousands of times, but after a certain point no new "instructions" from Echidna ever appeared — only blank pages.
So now, she felt only despair.
Hayashi Maki's arrival still hadn't made the book respond.
Faced with Beatrice's scornful expression, Hayashi Maki just chuckled and held out his hand to her.
"Don't be so cold. I actually came here to pick you up, Betty-chan. I'm that person."
Beatrice's eyes went wide, her expression suddenly overflowing with emotion.
"You're lying!"
"If you were Betty's 'that person,' then why isn't there a single line in the book about you?"
As she spoke, the hem of her dress fluttered and a surge of powerful mana erupted from her small body.
The airflow whipping through the room set the doors rattling loudly.
Hayashi Maki just kept walking toward her with a smile.
"That's easy — Echidna can't leave the Sanctuary anymore. Her power's run dry. With the distance, and the barrier in the way, she can't send you proper information."
"But I am your 'that person.' Don't believe me? Then one day let's go to the Sanctuary together and ask Echidna to her face."
Beatrice wavered at that.
"You're serious? But… Mother is already… already dead!"
Hayashi Maki smiled at her. "Do you really believe she's gone? She's a witch. Even if the body dies, the soul doesn't vanish that easily. Otherwise what's the point of the Sanctuary existing at all?"
Hearing this, Beatrice was shaken once again.
The mana roiling through the room subsided.
But she still wasn't ready to fully trust him.
She clutched the book to her chest and stared at him.
"You're really not lying to Betty? You're really that person, the one who's come to take Betty away?"
Hayashi Maki simply scooped the little girl into his arms.
"Of course. I came here to take you out of here. From now on, this book will be for recording our story. It won't be blank anymore."
Held in his arms, Beatrice's small body trembled, and clear tears suddenly spilled from the corners of her eyes.
"Uu… you… you finally came. Why didn't you come earlier to get Betty? Being all alone is so lonely… Betty has been waiting for you for hundreds of years!"
"Sorry. It took a lot of doing for me to get here — all kinds of reasons. But I'm here now. From here on out, you won't be alone anymore, Beatrice."
As he spoke, he gently wiped away her tears and held her close, comforting her.
From that moment on, their contract was sealed.
With the contract formed, Beatrice no longer needed to draw on the mana of others in the mansion through the Forbidden Library to live — she would now live on the magic supplied by Hayashi Maki.