Chapter 7

Red, peach, yellow, and green. The colorful pieces of small cloth were sewn together to make a ball, which, when thrown, spun and changed colors dizzily.

Usually, a simple game of juggling would be easy, but it felt more challenging while trying to enjoy a half-body bath, immersed in water up to the waist.

There were six balls in total, each filled with a spice called Hananero. Upon hearing that it would prevent mold, she happily accepted them, but soon, Izumi felt a sense of regret. The spices were roughly ground, and she realized they would quickly become damp in the bathroom. She thought about storing them in a sealed container, but that would defeat the purpose. Resigned to the fact that they might spoil, she left them in a bucket, but fortunately, they had maintained their original texture so far.

She was getting used to juggling with two balls.

Just as she was about to reach into the bucket to add another ball, the window opened quietly.

By the seventh time, the surprise had worn off.

Izumi looked at the window with a sense of "here we go again."

A child stood there, with brown hair reaching down to their shoulders and eyes of a mysterious ash-purple color. They had a gender-neutral appearance, neither boy nor girl.

A large medal, about the size of Izumi's palm, hung from their neck, reflecting the bathroom light.

The child glanced around the bathroom with a cold expression and then sneered at Izumi.

"A witch, huh? You're too old to seduce me. Come back when you're younger."

"Ha!?"

Izumi stood up, holding the ball.

"Who are you calling a witch? I wouldn't seduce a brat like you even if you asked me to."

"Is that so? What else could you be if you're breaking into a tower?"

"I'm an office worker!"

She answered confidently, standing up to the sneering child—apparently a boy. Then she came to her senses.

No matter how much she disliked the child, this wasn't appropriate attire. Izumi blushed as she looked down at herself.

The first time the window opened to a strange world, she was too confused to feel embarrassed. The second time, she was wearing clothes, and the third time, she became slightly self-conscious but quickly shrugged it off. After all, she wouldn't see these people again, so it didn't matter if they saw her. But with a child, it was different. As an adult, standing naked was embarrassing.

"Wait a moment."

She placed the ball on the window frame and headed to the changing room.

Wrapping a bath towel around her body, she hurried back to the bathroom. The boy was holding the ball, examining it curiously.

"…Do you like it?"

The boy quickly averted his gaze from the ball.

"I don't like it."

Is that so?

While saying "this thing" with disdain, his hand remained tightly gripping the ball.

"If you like it, you can have it. As an apology for startling you."

Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, she said this, and the boy glared at her.

"I wasn't startled."

Indeed, the boy had never shown any sign of surprise since they met. To appear so calm when a naked woman suddenly appeared was impressive. Izumi looked at the boy with admiration.

The boy was elegantly dressed. His indigo jacket, though slightly dirty, was finely embroidered and looked very expensive. The shirt underneath had a silky sheen and drape. He wore beige trousers that fit his body and laced leather boots, giving him the appearance of a young noble from long ago.

Izumi returned her gaze to the boy's face.

"Well, it's fine. I have more, so you can have it."

"What do you want in return? My lifespan? My essence?"

Izumi was exasperated by the boy's disdainful gaze.

"I told you, I'm not a witch. What's 'essence'? Can you please stop thinking like that?"

Look, I'm not naked anymore, she said, pointing to the towel. The boy snorted again.

"You only covered your chest and waist."

"Well, yeah, but I'm covering the important parts, so it's fine, right…?"

Muttering in protest, she realized her disadvantage and let her gaze wander behind the boy.

It seemed to be an indoor space. It was twilight, and the room was bathed in a crimson light. The first thing she noticed was the countless rolls of paper scattered throughout the room. Some were bundled together in baskets, leaning against walls, or scattered on the floor, filling the boy's room.

Next, she noticed the light illuminating the stacks of paper. Izumi looked up to find the source of the light and saw several small holes, about ten centimeters square, in the wall about three meters above the floor. Looking up further, she saw a dome-shaped roof.

Lowering her gaze again, Izumi sighed in amazement. The room, including the roof, was entirely made of large stones. The stones, which grew larger as they approached the floor, were irregular in shape but fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, leaving no gaps.

In the center of the room was a thick, large desk, and along the walls were chests and benches. Though not particularly ornate, they exuded a dignified presence, and the carpets at their feet were intricately patterned.

At the edge of one of the carpets was a black hole. Upon closer inspection, it was a staircase leading to the floor below.

The room had an ancient, castle-like atmosphere, and Izumi's eyes sparkled. In fact, she had recently become a bit fascinated with a book on world heritage sites that someone had left in the break room at work.

"What are you smiling about, witch?"

The boy's words dampened her spirits.

"I'm not a witch!" she protested, but then she noticed the ball still in the boy's hand.

A smile spread across her face.

Izumi took two more balls from the bucket.

"These are the spice-filled balls I got the other day. Do you know how to play with them?"

"I don't," the boy replied curtly. Izumi did a mental victory dance.

"I'll show you how."

She threw one ball into the air, and while it was in the air, she transferred the other ball from her left hand to her right. She repeated this a few times and then spoke to the boy.

"Can you do it? It looks easy, but it's tricky until you get the hang of it."

The boy looked at the ball in his hand, annoyed.

"It's just throwing. I can do that."

He threw the ball, but as expected, it went too high, and the ball in his left hand fell.

Izumi laughed.

"You're really just throwing. There's no point in holding two."

The boy silently threw the ball again. This time, it was a good height, but he dropped the ball in his left hand while trying to transfer it to his right.

"See, it's hard. Do you want some tips?"

Izumi rested her arms on the window frame.

"I don't need them."

The boy threw the ball again. He got the height and the transfer right and caught the ball in his left hand. But he stopped there.

"You did it! But you have to keep going."

Izumi said this with a somewhat smug tone.

"I'll get it right next time."

The boy was getting competitive.

He threw the ball, transferred it from his left hand to his right, caught it with his left, and threw the ball in his right hand. At first, his movements were awkward, but he quickly became smooth.

"How's that?"

The boy's nose was in the air. Izumi stifled a laugh.

"Not bad, but try it with one hand."

She demonstrated by throwing two balls with one hand, and the boy imitated her.

It took a bit longer, but he was skillful and quickly mastered the one-handed juggling.

Izumi added more balls from the bucket.

"Try three now."

She threw carefully to avoid dropping them in the bathtub. The balls bounced in the air. It had been years since she had played with balls so seriously, and she remembered practicing hard as a child when she couldn't throw them well.

Watching the boy struggle with three balls, Izumi couldn't help but laugh.

Distracted, the boy dropped the ball, which fell on the desk.

The boy glared at her.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, I thought you were so mature, but when you play like that, you're just a kid."

The boy's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he looked at the ball and smiled.

"Witches must be quite idle. Did you come here just to play with me? What's so fun about playing with a child?"

His words were harsh, but his tone had softened.

"Three balls will take some time."

The boy picked up the ball that had fallen on the desk. As he did, a sheet of paper that had been spread out on the desk fluttered down.

It drifted like a leaf, moving left and right, and floated toward the window. Izumi quickly grabbed it to prevent it from falling into the bathtub.

"It fell."

As she handed the paper to the boy, she glanced at it and was surprised.

"This is…?"

"A map, what of it?"

The boy seemed to be asking what the big deal was.

Izumi ignored his puzzled gaze and examined the paper in her hand.

The paper had a thick, round cross-like pattern, with various colors dividing the inside and text written in it.

"An interesting shape. Hey, where are we on this map?"

The boy leaned in to look at the map.

"If I say this is I-Wabro, would you understand?"

"No, not at all."

The boy looked at Izumi in exasperation.

"Do witches not know how to read maps?" he muttered, pointing to a red area slightly below the intersection of the cross.

"I-Wabro is this red part."

Izumi nodded.

If each color represented a country, this map covered a vast area.

There might be countries she knew. Izumi recalled the names of countries she had heard from people she had met.

"Is York-Zai on here?"

The boy pointed to a spot above I-Wabro. It was nearby. Izumi thought of Theo-Kay's heavy belly and chuckled. I wonder if the man in the blue cloth, who was stranded, had found him.

"Truit?"

The boy snatched the paper from Izumi's hand.

"Hey!"

She protested, but he was already rolling up the map.

"Stand with your feet together and your arms outstretched."

"What?"

"I'll teach you how to remember the map. Just do as I say and spread your arms."

Izumi didn't particularly want to learn geography, but she couldn't think of a reason to refuse, so she spread her arms.

"Got it? Your right chest is York-Zai. Your neck is Truit, your head is Jevus, the country of dragons or paradise. Below your right chest, near your liver, is I-Wabro. Your left chest is a cluster of small countries. Your right upper arm is Insen, your elbow to wrist is Uchu, and your hand is Kousen. Your left upper arm is Sunyu, and from your elbow to fingertips is Toji. And then…"

"Wait!"

Izumi interrupted the boy's continuous explanation.

"It's too much, I can't remember. Knowing the positions of York-Zai and Truit is enough."

After all, the country names were unfamiliar, and her hippocampus had already given up.

The boy chuckled.

"You're quite different from the witches in the legends. Are you really a witch?"

His suppressed laughter seemed to ignore her protests.

After laughing for a while, the boy went to the wall, picked up the map, and threw it into a basket next to a bench.

The light coming in from above had a blue tinge, indicating it was close to sunset.

The stone room was bathed in a violet light, making the inorganic and cold stone walls look melancholic.

If she were a witch, the boy walking through the light streaming in from the high window would look like a fairy, Izumi thought.

"An interesting place. You said it was a tower, right?"

The boy nodded at Izumi's comment.

"Yes, it's called the Tower of the Silent Sinner."

"…What a name."

Hearing the ominous name, Izumi's cheeks twitched.

Once she heard the name, the charming room in the ancient castle only looked like a sturdy prison for sinners. However, it was too luxurious to be a prison. After a moment, she nodded. It made sense if it was a place to confine people of high status.

For example, someone like the boy in front of her…

"Are you locked up here?"

She hoped he would say no. It was unthinkable to overlook the cruelty of confining a child in a tower. However, she had no power to help him. Even if she hid him on her side, it would only change his confinement from a tower to a small bathroom.

"Yes."

Her hope was quickly dashed. The boy nodded casually.

"Did you do something bad? Like, as a punishment for a day?"

She asked hopefully.

"I've been here for about a year."

"Such…such a thing…"

She didn't know what to say.

Stuttering, she looked down, and a small laugh reached her ears.

Looking up, she met the boy's eyes, which held a self-mocking smile that didn't fit his age.

"My father couldn't stop my stepmother from marrying a woman who hid ugly desires beneath her beauty. After my father's death, my stepmother took over the power. That's my 'crime.'"

Now she understood why the boy was so calm.

He must have walked a harsher path than she could imagine. No, he was currently walking a painful life. Despite being a child who should still be playing with balls, he was trying to grow up quickly.

"Is there a way out of here? If there's anything I can do to help…"

Izumi trailed off. Even if he could get out, would he be in danger?

The boy looked up at the tiny holes in the ceiling.

"This tower is said to have been built by a wise king during the most prosperous era of I-Wabro. The strong and wise king once went to the city and heard a beautiful voice singing."

His clear, pre-pubescent voice echoed quietly in the tower.

"The owner of the voice was a beautiful girl, and the king fell in love with her at first sight. However, the girl had a husband and children. She rejected the king, who became furious. The king killed the girl's husband, took her children, and built a tower to confine her. He locked the tower to prevent her from escaping and carried the key with him at all times. The girl, deeply saddened, never spoke again after being confined, but the king didn't understand her sorrow. He visited the tower every day to see the girl he loved, neglecting his duties. I-Wabro, which once dominated the central plains, declined, and in the end, the king killed the girl and then himself. That's one theory—another is that the girl's child saved her."

The boy looked at Izumi, snorted, and concluded the story. Then he lifted the medal hanging from his neck.

"This is the key to the tower that the foolish king carried with him at all times."

The thin chain jingled.

"What? The key? How did you get it?"

"The wise king's era had far more advanced technology than today. The tower's door doesn't need a key to close. There's only one key, and it can only be used from the outside. The woman probably wanted me to taste despair. She threw this to me with a smile before closing the door. Even if my stepmother falls from power, I will never be able to leave again."

A cold fear ran down her spine. Being locked in a place from which she could never physically escape seemed like a terrifying form of mental torture.

"What a thing… Wait!"

Izumi suddenly looked up at the holes in the ceiling.

"Can't you throw the key out through those holes so it can be opened from the outside?"

The boy shook his head.

"The key is too big. It won't fit."

"What about food? If you've been locked up for a year, there must be a window or door for delivering food, right?"

"Why do you think all the books here are rolled up?"

Izumi gasped.

"…There's only a hole big enough for the rolled-up paper?"

The boy's nod seemed to move in slow motion.

How cruel. What a cruel thing to do to a child.

"It's not a terrible life. There's a well underground, and the sewage can be processed. I get three meals a day, and there are plenty of books to pass the time."

—If she could get out of the bathroom and into the outside world, she could have freed the boy, even if it was a different world…

Izumi felt helpless. Standing there in silence, the boy took off the key from his neck.

"Witch, come a bit closer."

Izumi moved closer to the boy, feeling frustrated and helpless, despite wanting to help him.

The boy placed the key around Izumi's neck.

"Thank you. This is my way of saying thanks."

"Wait," Izumi called out, but the boy had already closed the window.