Do you know about stone skipping?
It's a game where you throw a flat stone at an angle, making it bounce across the water's surface to travel far.
When playing by the water, if there are flat pebbles, almost anyone would have tried it at least once.
Osian had also done this in his childhood.
He wasn't very good at throwing, managing only about 2 bounces, but watching that heavy stone running across the water was still a fascinating sight.
And that stone skipping was now unfolding.
-Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hans's body flew helplessly. It was exactly like stone skipping with a person.
-Crash!
Rolling and bouncing off the ground, Hans was smashed into the dock's massive pillar wall.A cloudy dust burst from the impact, and the dock's wall was dented.
From what was visibly apparent, his limbs should have been more than broken, with bones shattering at every joint.
"Oh my. This is too much. Several people ganging up on one."
However, Hans was perfectly fine. In that critical moment, the female figure, Gretel, had protected his body.
Though he seemed to have been somewhat shocked by the initial impact, his initial elegant posture was gone, and he was slightly staggering.
Dust covered his clothing, making it quite dirty.
Hans removed the mask on his face with a somewhat irritated attitude.
Having come this far, he thought there was no point in hiding his identity anymore.
The revealed face was very ordinary. Unlike Gretel, who was a striking beauty, Hans was the type you might easily forget if you passed him on the street.
But that was precisely what made him different. Because that face would hardly be remembered by people.
Once you noticed something suspicious, you couldn't shake off the thought that it was intentionally designed.
"Cat. I didn't expect to meet you again here. Are you following us? From that far away?"
"Yes."
"The reason...I suppose I don't need to ask. You're looking for your mother, right? Why? Do you want to ask why you were abandoned so badly?"
Hans's provocation distorted Diolan's expression.
Diolan, transformed into a massive cat, growled and emitted an ultra-low frequency.
The distant guards stepped back, feeling chilled. The brave guards who would normally subdue criminals were involuntarily terrified by Diolan's overwhelming presence.
"Cat. You must know that such a groaning song can't affect me. Whining like a child proves you're not qualified. That alone disqualifies you."
"Shut that mouth. You have only one thing to say. Tell me where she is."
"Hmm. It seems you have quite strong colleagues."
Hans's fading gaze turned to Osian and Edgar.
His gaze lingered especially long on Osian riding the starlight horse.
He instinctively sensed who was the most dangerous person in this place.
"And seeing you've tracked us this far, I can almost certainly say that the situation at the Saint Tree headquarters has been mostly subdued. Blue Beard's end is near too. What a shame. He wasn't someone to be consumed here."
Though Hans called Blue Beard his brother, he didn't seem sad about his potential death at all.
In fact, Hans had understood the entire situation just by seeing Diolan's group tracking him.
Osian recalled Diolan's words about Hans having the nickname "foolish" being a rhetorical device.
The guy was clever and quick-thinking. He had pieced together the entire puzzle from just a few minor clues.
'If he were simply a brain, it would be fine, but his abilities seem quite tricky.'
Hans had overwhelmed Alensia, the executor, one-sidedly.
Of course, Alensia was not using her full power. She hadn't used all her abilities or the Ark Parts.
Even considering that, there was absolutely no reason to underestimate Hans's skills.
'All these tools Gretel provides. Is there no limit?'
In the story, the foolish Hans cannot solve anything alone. Therefore, he seeks help from the beautiful woman Gretel.
The same was true for the familiar Hans.
Gretel fulfills Hans's every request. She brings mysterious magical spears, shock-absorbing shields, and other mystical artifacts.
Moreover, protecting Hans's body when he crashed into the dock suggested that this unknown entity Gretel was the top priority for elimination.
'If I had to compare, maybe Desperado and Muerte.'
However, Gretel didn't seem to have the intelligence to converse like Muerte.
If anything, she was closer to Hans's summoned creature or familiar.
A familiar of the Great Witch, serving another familiar. She was a uniquely peculiar existence. She wasn't an aide without reason.
"Ah, this is truly troublesome. This wasn't the original plan. As expected of Tirna. All sorts of uncertain things are happening."
Hans muttered to himself, lamenting the current situation.
Originally, he was supposed to escape by taking a airship from here.
"Hans. Answer me. What exactly were you trying to do?"
Diolan asked. His voice was filled with certainty that Hans would not escape from here.
Those words provoked Hans. Hans, who had been shaking his head, glared at Diolan with a sharp gaze.
"Listen, abandoned cat. Do you think you've won?"
"Cut the bravado. Blue Beard is finished, and that frog guy was torn to pieces by my own hands. All that's left here is you, and you've even failed to escape."
"How triumphant you are. Well, I suppose that's inevitable with such reliable allies."
Osian, who had been quiet, spoke at that moment.
"Just one question."
"What? Mystery fixer?"
"Was this Saint Tree incident instigated by you?"
"Hmm? Why do you think that? Wasn't this something the board members started on their own?"
"It seems too calculated for that. Because he is expecting you."
Osian's gaze was fixed on the docked airship.
Even amid the battle, the airship's interior windows remained miraculously intact. William's figure could be seen anxiously watching this side.
"Saying you instigated it seems insufficient, given the way he's looking at you. He's waiting for you to leave, and yet he's still here."
"He's just a trading partner and that airship can't take off right now. Would that idiot even know how to pilot?"
"Wasn't a trade supposed to be between equals? But looking at that scene, it seems clear who holds the superior position in this relationship."
Following Osian's gaze to William, Hans wiped his face with his hand and then laughed.
"Hehehe. This is truly unbearable. Could it be that I'll mess up everything because of that vermin-like human? Yes, that's right. I was the one who provoked that greedy old man. Just scratch him a little, and he immediately opens his eyes wide. How disgusting it was."
"You're admitting this quite easily."
"What's there to hide at this point? The plan has already gone completely off track. If I return, I'll need to modify the approach. I seem to have overlooked too much. First, I'll have to deal with how human's lowly desires were more despicable than my plan."
"That statement is somewhat strange. Do you think you can return?"
Osian narrowed his eyes and stared at Hans.
Hans laughed and countered.
"Is there anything impossible?"
Diolan, who had been listening quietly, could no longer contain himself and pressed forward.
"Does this mean that you instigated this incident? Was she the one who gave the order?"
The fact that Hans had provoked the Saint Tree board members to cause this incident subtly revealed something important.
The Great Witch [Mother Goose] was trying to bring chaos to the Golden City of Tirna.
A being whose single step would make every nation prick up their ears had pointed her finger at Tirna.
The purpose was unclear but what was clear was the current situation.
The massive confusion brought to the city.
Somehow, Mother Goose's familiar had provoked the Saint Tree board members to trigger this incident.
"As expected, you're just like a cat, unable to suppress your curiosity."
"Just answer the question. Was this her command?"
"Cat. This is exactly why you're not suitable. You don't understand Mother's intentions at all. That's why you were abandoned."
Hans stabbed at Diolan's wound.
Diolan's eyes widened. In his memories, the image of the caring woman who had once handed him shoes surfaced.
-I'm sorry.
After handing him the shoes and stroking his head once, she turned her back and left.
-Mom, where are you going?
In those innocent days, Diolan had simply thought she was going out and would return soon, and innocently asked.
As she was leaving, she only slightly turned her head and smiled.
Diolan didn't understand the meaning of that smile.
She left like that and never returned.
Not after a day, not after a week, not after a month.
Whether it rained, the wind blew, or the scorching sun shone, Diolan waited and waited and waited again.
However she never returned, and only then did the foolish cat realize that he had been abandoned.
Diolan's entire body's fur stood on end. His fur rippled like a heat haze, transforming into darkness.
Diolan's body swelled to more than three times its size, emanating a killing intent as if ready to tear Hans to pieces.
Hans's mockery deepened.
"This is why I said you can't do it. How easily you flare up at just a few words."
"Where is she?"
"Do you think I'll tell you?"
"Then, I'll make you tell me."
The moment Diolan took a step, his body froze.
His saffron-yellow pupils looked up to the sky. Osian and Edgar were the same.
Something is coming.
-Bwaaaaaaa!
A thunderous sound erupted from the sky beyond the airship dock's ceiling.
-Ba-ba-ba-bam! Ba-ba-bam!
-Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!
Hundreds of trumpets played a resounding march and dozens of drums vibrated the sky.
Just as everyone wondered about this sudden noise, a crackling sound accompanied the dock's high ceiling collapsing.
The ceiling, built sturdy to prepare for potential incidents, crumbled like rusty metal disintegrating.
Debris from the broken ceiling fell with a rustle. Osian, Diolan, and Edgar stared with wide eyes.
"It's become a cookie."
The collapsed ceiling had transformed into cookies, pastries, marshmallows, and candies as it fell.
And through the now-open dock ceiling, a massive shadow descended.
Painted with all sorts of colorful hues, it was a castle made of confectionery.
The rotating propeller was made of biscuits, the body constructed of cookies, with marshmallows and cream decorating various spots.
The loud march of trumpets and drums resonated from there.
Upon closer inspection, toy soldiers protruding from the castle's various parts were playing the instruments.
"He, Hansel and Gretel!"
One of the guards shouted as if having a seizure. The terror in his voice revealed the identity of the confectionery castle.
"Ha. I'm going crazy. Of all places, why here?"
Edgar, who seemed to know something, furrowed his brow. Even that supremely confident Edgar was now visibly tense.
"What is that? Do you know anything?"
"What? Are you seriously asking me?"
Edgar wrinkled his face at Osian's question, then internally accepted that Osian might genuinely not know.
"Didn't the guard just say? Hansel and Gretel."
"The owners of that castle?"
"The witch's familiars, the twin siblings Hansel and Gretel. They're famous. They killed their creator, the [Candy Witch], and took over her house. That luxurious castle is the witch's witchcraft - a moving candy castle."
A moving candy castle. It seemed unbelievable, but here it was, exactly as described.
"Why would another witch's familiars come here?"
"That's the problem. Their sudden appearance in this situation clearly reveals their sinister intentions."
Hansel and Gretel are not connected to Mother Goose.
Yet they've directly traveled here to rescue the foolish Hans, who is Mother Goose's closest aide.
"Has the Great Witch Mother Goose joined forces with Hansel and Gretel? And that's not all."
Edgar stared at the marching toy soldiers.
"Other dangerous guys have come too. Those soldiers are definitely from the Nutcracker, and I sense even stronger presences."
"Hahahahaha."
Hans's laughter echoed loudly.
As everyone looked at him, Hans opened his eyes wide.
"Did you think you'd caught me? Not a chance. Did you think I didn't prepare a backup plan?"
The seemingly endless march suddenly stopped.
An uncomfortable, breathless silence filled the air, and something shot out from the airship.
It was a cannon shaped like an ice cream cone.
-Bam-bam-bam-bam!
A bombardment rained down from the moving candy castle.