Poney's ponytail swayed back and forth, as if expressing the excitement in her heart.
Her outstanding traits were explosive power and leg strength. What she excelled at was taijutsu—in other words, close-range hand-to-hand combat.
Finally, there was her exceptionally flexible body, which allowed her to pull off many movements that seemed impossible at first glance.
"My body's been feeling really hot for a while now," Poney muttered.
Then she took a stance and shouted, "Here I come!"
Poney suddenly flung both arms upward, actually throwing the chains into the air and hooking them onto the broken chandelier above.
"What?"
At that moment, Cassandra still did not understand why Poney had done that.
Then Poney took a running start and repeated her earlier trick, spinning rapidly as her body turned into a blur.
The two chains whistled sharply through the air.
The difference this time was that the chandelier was providing the mobility.
Under the acceleration of inertia, Poney shot straight toward Cassandra like a flying cannonball.
The twin-tailed maid stared in shock at this wild, reckless move that seemed to come from nowhere, and for a moment, she actually had no idea how to deal with it.
And this was definitely not something a poisoned person who had lost her strength should be able to do!
Did she still have this much stamina left?
"Oraaaaaaaaaa! Take this!"
Cassandra was forced back again and again.
Seeing that, Poney gave the chains a hard pull, ripping the chandelier free and smashing it toward Cassandra.
Facing that kind of attack, the twin-tailed maid twisted aside and dodged.
But in the next moment, she realized that both sides of her body had been surrounded by the two chains.
Poney grinned proudly.
"Got you!"
She crossed her hands and pulled on the chandelier. The chandelier slammed into Cassandra's back, and Poney leapt over her head, tightening the chains in her hands.
Somehow, she actually bound Cassandra to the huge chandelier!
"How could this be?!"
Cassandra tried struggling twice, but she failed to break free.
With her strength, she could neither snap the chains nor destroy the chandelier.
Although the chandelier was old, its material was extremely sturdy. Even if she used all her power, she could not make it deform in the slightest.
'Damn it.'
She had actually been caught by someone like this?
'No.'
'This girl...'
She was actually very impressive.
Not only were her reactions quick, but her explosive power and decisiveness when making decisions were remarkable.
It was almost as if she acted purely on instinct, and yet that instinct—or perhaps intuition—was exceptionally sharp.
Honestly, she was very similar to Gilberda.
But compared to Gilberda, this little girl might be far smarter than she appeared.
She looked foolish on the surface, but could actually see the essence of a situation.
Could she be the type who seemed simple while hiding real wisdom?
Seeing her plan succeed, Poney happily came over to Cassandra.
"I win! Please tell me where my companions are being held, and hand over the key while you're at it!"
Cassandra stared at Poney for a while, then turned her face away.
Although she had been defeated because of her own carelessness, she did not intend to say a single word.
She simply ignored Poney outright.
Seeing her act like this, Poney grew anxious.
"Hey, what's with you? You lost to me, but now you're not saying anything? That's way too sneaky!"
She had never studied interrogation techniques.
So when it came to how to handle prisoners, she was completely clueless.
Besides, this was not exactly a place where she could do that sort of thing anyway.
"Aaah, come on, please just tell me, okay?"
Cassandra kept a straight face and showed no expression at all, thoroughly ignoring the girl in front of her.
"Ugh..."
Poney fell into distress.
She racked her brain, and then a "brilliant" idea suddenly flashed through her mind.
"Hmph. Even if you won't tell me, I just need to keep doing what I was doing before."
Poney went to the other side of the chandelier, made sure the chains were tightly wrapped around Cassandra, then actually grabbed the chandelier and hoisted it onto her back.
Cassandra, still tied to it, was lifted into the air nearly two meters above the ground!
Honestly, it did not feel good at all.
Cassandra could not help asking, "Hey, what are you planning to do?"
Poney tested the weight on her back.
It was heavy, but her body felt strangely good, as if all her fatigue had been thrown to the back of her mind.
She felt like she had experienced this before, but she could not quite remember when.
"If you won't tell me, then I can only keep searching my way."
Poney started racing through the floor again, kicking open locked doors one after another.
Cassandra, tied to the chandelier on her back, endured the violent shaking and began suffering something close to motion sickness.
"Ugh... put me down," Cassandra said, her face turning pale.
But Poney only replied, "No can do. I don't have the key to the chains, so I can only run around with you like this."
Cassandra: "..."
She felt extremely depressed.
Actually, the key Poney was looking for was on her.
Could this idiot not search her?
That said, given Cassandra's position, there was no way she would kindly remind her enemy of that.
Suppressing her discomfort, Cassandra was carried on Poney's back, utterly disheveled in the wind.
...
Bang!
Bang!
Boom!
On the top floor, Merraid heard the noise continue without stopping, and she roughly guessed that Cassandra might have failed.
She picked up her black umbrella and prepared to head downstairs to take a look.
But before leaving, she suddenly glanced at Akame and Kurome, who were sleeping on the bed.
Only after staring at them for a while did she leave.
And after she left, Akame quietly opened her eyes and softly called out to Kurome.
...
Downstairs, Poney had already searched more than twenty rooms.
But for a castle, the third floor alone had at least fifty rooms.
She had only searched about a third of them.
"Damn it... Cornelia-nee! Gin! Akame! Kurome! Where are you?!"
Poney's loud shout passed through the floors and reached Akame's ears.
Akame had heard all the earlier noises too, but this was the first time she had heard a human voice.
That was... Poney's voice!
Judging by the sound, she seemed to be directly below?
Akame found that Kurome could not be woken up, so she simply wrapped Kurome to her back with the bedsheet.
Then she went to the table, used the curtains to bundle up her companions' equipment, and also retrieved her own sword, Kiriichimonji.
After that, she went to the window...
At the same time, Poney seemed to hear a familiar voice.
She quickly ran toward the direction the sound had come from.
As it grew clearer, she could tell it was Gin's voice, and Cornelia-nee's voice was with her too!
"Hahaha, I'm here!"
Poney sprinted all the way to the room where the voices came from.
She kicked the door, sending the old door flying straight inward.
With a loud bang, a shriek came from inside the room.
When Poney saw the situation inside clearly, Gin was avoiding the flying door beside her in an extremely difficult posture.
Seeing Poney still holding the door-kicking pose, Gin squeezed out a few tears and roared, "Were you trying to kill me?!"
"Huh?"
Poney scratched her head and said a little sheepishly, "Hehe, sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to."
Seeing her arrive, Cornelia said excitedly, "Poney-chan! Are you here to save us?"
Poney gave a silly laugh and rubbed a finger under her nose.
She wanted to enter the room, but after taking only two steps, she got stuck outside.
Looking back at the huge chandelier on her back, Poney finally realized that she could not get in at all.
"Uh, well... can you two figure out how to get out by yourselves?"
"Eh?"
"Hah?"
Poney said awkwardly, "Aha, the chains on me got tangled up with this chandelier, and I used it to trap the enemy, so I can't take it off. And I don't have a weapon either, so I can only leave it to you..."
Gin froze.
Cornelia, on the other hand, did not seem surprised. She only sighed.
A moment later, Gin exploded.
"Hah?! Then what the hell did you come here for?! What's the point of you showing up?! Don't mess with me, you idiot!"
"Ah, I'm not messing with you. I really can't do anything."
"Pfft."
Gin nearly coughed up blood from anger.
If her large blade were here, she definitely would not have stayed silent!
"You cannot escape. Give up! With Lady Merraid here, there is no way any of you will get away."
Suddenly, the twin-tailed maid's voice rang out, making Cornelia and Gin pause at the same time before looking at each other.
Cornelia quickly asked Poney, "Whose voice is that?"
Poney made an "oh" sound, then turned around and set the chandelier on the ground, revealing Cassandra.
Even the normally calm twin-tailed maid felt a kind of social death at that moment.
Cornelia: "..."
Gin: "???"
Gin said, "Hey, what the hell is going on here?"
Poney turned around and explained, "I subdued her, but I didn't have any rope, so I wrapped her up with the chains."
"..."
Eh?
This was way too bizarre!
No.
It somehow made a little sense?
No, no, no! What the hell even was this?!
"Did you ask her where the key is?"
"I did, but she wouldn't tell me."
"Hah? Then didn't you search her to see if she had it?"
Cassandra: "!!!"
Not good.
The person locked in this room...
Was! Not! An! Idiot!
"Huh? Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that?"
Poney looked enlightened, as though someone had finally opened her eyes.
She came to Cassandra's side and began running her hands all over her body.
When she touched certain places, Cassandra's face flushed red, and she said angrily, "Wait! Don't touch me there!"
In the end, Poney found a ring of keys beneath her skirt.
"Whoa, she really had it!"
Gin said excitedly, "Nice! Hurry up and throw the key over!"
"Oh!"
Poney threw the keys to Gin.
Gin caught the key ring in her mouth, then got it into her hands and began trying them one by one.
Soon, she unlocked the chains.
"Haha."
Gin unlocked her own chains, then unlocked Cornelia's.
After regaining their freedom, the two walked out of the room and saw Cassandra tied to the chandelier.
Cornelia stared in complete confusion.
Gin, meanwhile, laughed without the slightest restraint.
"Hahahaha!"
Cassandra's face shifted between red and white, and either way, it looked awful.
She said coldly, "Do you really think you can escape? Lady Merraid must have noticed already and will be here soon. Against that lady, your chances of escape aren't even one in ten thousand!"
Gin grinned.
"Hehe."
"That may not be true."
She unlocked Poney's chains, then fastened them all onto the chandelier, continuing to keep Cassandra bound.
Gin smiled wickedly. "With you as a hostage, that Merraid woman will hesitate as long as she isn't completely heartless, right?"
"You people are despicable!" Cassandra gritted her teeth.
'Damn it.'
Was she going to become a burden to Lady Merraid?
Why did this keep happening lately?!
Could she really call herself Lady Merraid's exclusive maid like this?!
Cassandra scolded herself inwardly and struggled twice, but the chains were far too sturdy.
She could not break free at all.
And even if she did break free, facing three people at once left her with slim odds of victory.
At that moment, a pleasant laugh suddenly rang out.
Cassandra's eyes flickered.
Poney, Gin, and Cornelia instantly turned around and looked toward the source of the voice.
A long-haired black-haired woman had appeared there at some point, holding an umbrella as she covered her mouth and laughed.
Merraid laughed for a while before finally stopping.
She ignored the three girls and instead teased her maid. "Dora, this is my first time seeing you like this. How should I put it...? It's rather cute."
Being teased by her master like that, Cassandra immediately blushed.
She said shyly, "Please don't tease me!"
But Merraid still wore a mischievous smile.
She and Cassandra had known each other for more than ten years.
This maid had always been calm and composed, remembering the ladylike education Merraid had given her and maintaining elegance at all times.
But if a girl had just a little clumsy side to her, her charm instantly multiplied several times over.
And when that clumsiness appeared in Dora, who had always been so perfect, the contrast made Merraid feel it even more strongly.
Poney raised a finger and pointed.
"It's the enemy boss!"
Gin and Cornelia both took combat stances.
But in truth, both of them felt uneasy.
Because the poison inside their bodies had not been neutralized.
Even now, being able to move was already their limit. If they wanted to fight, they were lacking badly in both stamina and weapons.
Right then...
A shadow appeared between the two sides.
The smile on Merraid's face quickly vanished, and just like the three girls, she looked toward the window.
A figure descended from above.
Crash!
A nimble figure landed stylishly inside.
After seeing who it was, Poney could not help crying out, "Akame!"