Night swiftly dispersed the moment the sun rose.
Light descended upon the land once more.
Yet Sika City had still not recovered from the atmosphere of the curfew imposed three days earlier.
Even with the sun directly overhead, there were few pedestrians in the city.
In fact, ever since the fire at the viscount's estate two days earlier and the disappearance of the respected Viscount Sika, the entire city had been on edge, jumping at shadows.
Had the viscount's younger sister not stepped forward to manage Sika City temporarily, a major upheaval would probably have broken out.
Many people felt fortunate because of this.
But even more were astonished.
No one had expected the viscount's sister, who had lost her husband years ago, to possess such ability.
They could not help developing sincere admiration for the baroness.
After all, even a man would have struggled to restore order so quickly to a city on the brink of chaos.
The noblewomen in particular seemed to be seeing the baroness for the first time. Thus, when she invited them to an afternoon tea gathering, they began making meticulous preparations, while their husbands became exceedingly cautious even as they strove to present themselves in the best possible light.
Compared with their wives and lovers, those men knew far more.
At dawn the following day, when Viscount Sika's death was confirmed, certain people in Sika City immediately began stirring up trouble, while several bands of brigands near Sika Territory eagerly prepared to act.
But that very night, those people disappeared one after another.
The brigands they had contacted disappeared as well.
Neither living people nor dead bodies could be found.
Then, the next day, more fools who "failed to understand the situation" stepped forward, only to disappear in turn.
The successive disappearances were enough