Katima punctuated her statement with a proud huff, providing Chris and Krone with a sense of relief. While the princess walked ahead, the elf quickly surveyed her surroundings. She was actually quite familiar with their location—it was strikingly similar to the floor that Graff had smuggled Ein and herself onto. Like her previous entry point, the floor was made of grated metal and featured iron stairs. The trio’s footsteps could soon be heard clacking against the grating as they descended the stairs. Chris had entered the tower at a higher point than she had with Ein, but she quickly took notice of the magic stone pool beneath her.
“I should probably take the lead,” Chris said. She stepped in front of the other two ladies and headed for the lower floors.
Unlike that day, there was no need for them to sneak in. However, the severity of Chris’s wound forced her to take sluggish steps.
“Dame Chris, please don’t push yourself...” Krone said.
“A-Ah ha ha... Please allow me to, just for today. We’re acting for Sir Ein’s sake, are we not?” Chris replied.
“Mrow... Good grief. Go ahead and push your luck, but just don’t faint on us, all right?”
“Do you have the right to say that, Your Highness? I believe you’re the one who cooked up this entire plot.”
“Of course I do. This purrfect plan was created by none other than yours truly, an unmatched Cait-Sìth genius! My work has zero flaws!”
Her logic never made much sense, but it had its uses from time to time. In this case: breaking the tension of a dreary situation with a little laughter.
“What should Lady Krone and I do?” Chris asked.
“Krone will be helping meow. Chris, remain on high alert and act as our guard. An hour will provide us with enough time to remove the device, and it’s not too big either. Once I’ve swiped the basement’s half of the device, I’ll need to scurry off to the roof and nab the other half.”
“I’ll do my best to protect both of you as we head to the upper floors, but we need to prioritize hiding from monsters as much as possible.”
“Mhm! Which also means that that’s really the only real purroblem!”
The two ladies nodded and prepared themselves. Going up to the roof would’ve been a breeze without any monsters around, but there was no one to blame for how things had turned out.
And so, the trio descended many staircases before finally reaching the magic stone pool.
“That reminds meow... Didn’t Ein stop the pool with his Ocean Current skill?”
“Ah, I remember it clearly,” Krone added. “Both you and Ein recklessly went ahead with that plan.”
“A-Ahem!” Chris said, clearing her throat. “I can tell you all about it later! We should focus on removing this device first!”
“Mew’ve got a point. All right then... Ah, found it.”
An additional set of stairs stood on the pool’s edge, leading to a pipe that ran to the tower’s upper floors. Katima located the device underneath the pipe. It resembled a jewel, and Chris felt like she could carry it with both hands. This stone floated between two pipes.
“Huh, I had no idea...” Chris muttered. “When I was here with Sir Ein, I didn’t have the time to worry about these sorts of things.”
“Mweh heh heh,” Katima chuckled. “Mew can refurr to this as the Tower of Wisdom’s center.”
The princess gracefully walked to the pool’s edge and climbed up the steps. She stood in front of the device.
“It gets a bit tricky from here,” she said. Her casual attitude melted away to reveal a stern expression. “From here on out, don’t talk to meow unless I’m speaking to mew.”
“Your Highness, Princess Katima,” Chris started. “You’re making Lady Krone and I worry now.”
“I-Indeed...” Krone stammered. “I had no idea. Is it rather dangerous?”
“Mrow? Well, no, not really,” Katima assured them before she added, “The solidified magical energy is going to go berserk— Pawse for a meowment! Mrooow?! We might die, mightn’t we?!”
Katima’s whiskers started to tremble as she spoke weakly. If they were headed straight for danger, the princess should’ve said as much. It felt foolish to scold the royal—this was par for the course for her anyway—and there was a good chance that Katima had actually hidden the truth from them. Had she not, the ladies would’ve undoubtedly been against it. Katima stared at her companions.
“If mew want to stop meow, now’s your chance,” Katima said, worried about their safety. “In truth, I planned for mew two to wait outside, but with the monsters lurking about, I guess that’s not an option.”
Even when faced with a princess in a precarious position, about to risk their lives, neither Chris nor Krone flinched.
“I shall go and patrol the area,” Chris said.
“Of course,” Krone replied. “I shall be near Princess Katima. Please call for me should you need any assistance.”
“M-Mroooow?! Are mew two not afraid?!” Katima cried.
“Okay, okay, good speech. What are you on about?” Chris replied.
“Hee hee, I agree with the knight over here,” Krone giggled.
This pair of ladies weren’t to be underestimated—if it was for Ein’s sake, they wouldn’t hesitate to risk their lives. In fact, they were most afraid of being unable to do a thing.
“Good grief... I’ve got no other way to describe it,” Katima sighed. Slightly weary but grateful for the support, she started rummaging through her coat and removing a handful of tools. “Nya ha ha! I might’ve been the one to push you around with a royal edict, but I’m sure that we’ll all deserve a good scolding when we get home.”
The princess joked around, hoping to ease the last bit of the nerves. She gripped her tools firmly, her paws filled with confidence as she got to work.