* * *

“Good work, Ms. Serena.”

“Ah, yes.”

Drukan, who had been waiting outside the guild on Serena’s orders, bowed politely.

After being hired as a bodyguard, Drukan had groomed himself according to Serena’s instructions and was staying with his daughter in the servants’ quarters of the ducal residence.

When cleaned up, he really looked like a guard knight.

With his bushy beard and hair cut, his features became clearer, making him look much younger than his age.

His clothes, though not armor, were changed to clean and easy-to-move leather ones, making him look like he was in his late 30s at face value.

She remembered his actual age to be somewhere in his mid-40s.

‘Why didn’t he groom himself before?’

Serena thought as she walked slowly down the street.

‘No matter how I look at it, it’s a waste of human resources…’

His once skinny body was even developing nice muscles, probably due to her orders to eat proper meals every day.

It was almost perfect, but if there was one problem…

‘That wooden prosthetic arm is really worrying.’

A wooden prosthetic, there’s a limit to how cheap it can be.

‘How can he not get infections or something with that?’

Does being a hero make you immune to diseases too?

Serena pondered with her arms crossed.

‘Doesn’t this world have something like magitech?’

In the place where Professor Lemerun was, there was magitech along with alchemy.

Among them, the most actively developed engineering was prosthetics. In other words, human engineering.

Although they couldn’t recreate internal organs, the magitech of that world could freely create human limbs.

If you connected the nerves, it wasn’t just a wooden arm like that, but could move each finger like a real one.

‘……’

Serena felt uneasy.

What if he suddenly gets an infection and can’t go to the saintess later?

And what if that becomes her fault again?

Thinking that far, her anxiety flared up.

“……”

But it’s troublesome to increase her workload here again.

Besides, it’s magitech!

She could well imagine how difficult it would be to create something that had no foundation here, finding magic stones to embed in small pieces and manufacturing it.

‘But what if it becomes my fault?’

This is Serena, who gets looks like ‘What is she trying to throw at whom…!’ even when she picks up trash on the street out of goodwill.

If he gets an infection because of the prosthetic arm, who knows what might happen.

No, on the contrary, if something goes wrong while making the prosthetic arm, wouldn’t that be irreversible?

She furrowed her brow seriously.

“…What a dirty world.”

Serena couldn’t help but mutter.

“Pardon?”

Drukan, who was beside her, blinked and asked back.

“…It’s nothing. But isn’t that arm uncomfortable?”

Serena asked.

‘If he says this state is fine, then I don’t need to help him.’

Serena decided to let it go if he just said he was fine.

She didn’t want things to get troublesome.

“It is uncomfortable.”

But Drukan didn’t do that.

He was extremely honest.

“……”

“But it’s better to have something attached than nothing at all.”

“Ah, I see…”

Serena put her hand to her forehead.

Come to think of it, the world had never been the way she wanted it to be.

[Eighth, make Drukan’s prosthetic arm.]

It was the moment when another line was added to her to-do list.

* * *

“…Where did you say you’re going?”

Magnus barely suppressed the urge to dig into his ears and asked quietly.

“A date?”

“A, a date… Is it a woman?”

“…Where would you find a woman who wants to go on a date with me?”

The majority of people who hate Serena would probably be women.

“…Don’t tell me it’s a man?”

“Yes.”

“All of a sudden?”

“What do you mean suddenly… Didn’t you tell me to meet other people?”

Serena said calmly while cutting her steak and putting it in her mouth.

She was just following Magnus’s words.

Of course, it was also true that she had some expectations for her first date invitation.

“…So, what are you two planning to do?”

Serena tilted her head slightly at Magnus’s words.

What do people usually do?

“Eat…”

Magnus nodded at Serena’s words.

Because that’s what he did with her every day.

“Go shopping…”

Magnus hesitated.

“Walk around together here and there or look at scenic places?”

“……”

Magnus’s lips couldn’t even move now.

Because Magnus had never done such things with Serena.

“Have tea time and then part ways, or maybe have dinner before parting?”

She recited the general date course as it came to mind.

There was a reason why Serena, who had never been in a relationship, knew these things well.

Right, it was because of Kim Chul-soo.

It was because Kim Chul-soo’s daughter had asked her to plan a date course.

Calling her “Unnie~ Unnie~” and clinging to her, most of what she said was ‘Can I ask you for this? Can I ask you for that?’

Anyway, as Kim Chul-soo’s slave, she had no choice but to do what she was asked to do.

Serena wasn’t used to refusing.

“…Seems like you do a lot.”

“It’s normal.”

“Normal…”

Magnus wanted to ask why they couldn’t do these ‘normal’ things for 16 years.

Of course, this was partly Magnus’s fault, partly Serena’s fault, and partly the fault of the uninvited guest who had entered Serena’s body.

“I want to try that too.”

Magnus said honestly.

Because he couldn’t understand.

The fact that she was doing something which he couldn’t do for 16 years with a guy she had met just a few months ago.

“I want to try it too.”

So Magnus said with emphasis.

It was because he realized that things went well when he spoke honestly to Serena.

“Ah, should I plan a recommended course for you after I come back from this one?”

“…Sure.”

“Alright, is it going well with that count’s daughter? Have you talked to her a bit? If you’re going for a date, it seems to be going quite well.”

“……??”

Magnus’s eyes blinked stupidly at Serena’s words.

He pressed his palms against his ears for a moment, with an expression as if he might have misheard something.

“That’s not it…”

“That’s good.”

Serena smiled slightly. Seeing that, Magnus’s words were blocked again.

‘At least this side seems to be going safely according to the original work.’

If she could just maintain the relationship well like this, it seemed unlikely that there would be any fallout later.

At Serena’s smile, Magnus’s heart was pricked. He felt a tingling pain as though he was being poked somewhere.

‘What is this?’

He blinked once.

“The count’s daughter would probably like something more static, right? I’ll go out this time, take a look, and plan something nice.”

“…No, I meant I want to go with you.”

“With me?”

Seeing her expression of unexpected surprise, Magnus’s heart sank once again.

‘What is this…?’

Magnus reflexively raised his hand and pressed his chest.

No matter how he thought about it, it was strange.

‘Am I sick?’

Magnus pondered somewhat seriously.

Otherwise, his heart wouldn’t be constricting and hurting as if it was being stabbed like this.

“Why with me?”

Serena asked.

‘Aren’t we not the kind of relationship to go around doing such things together?’

Or do friends usually do this?

It was Serena’s first time properly making friends.

“Do friends usually go on dates too?”

“…Probably, for bonding, I suppose.”

Magnus, though not sure himself, decided to sell the medicine first.

He was learning some good things from his assistant in the information guild.

“I see, then. If it’s just us going, there’s no need to plan a course, right? Let’s just go somewhere you want to go.”

Magnus felt a bit disappointed at those words.

It felt like sincerity had suddenly disappeared.

‘…Probably not.’

‘It was troublesome, but that’s good.’

And Magnus’s intuition usually hit the mark.

“…Where do you do this thing called a date?”

“I’m not sure? I heard he’s coming to pick me up.”

“I see, but are you sure he’s trustworthy? In my opinion, it’s better not to meet alone like that…”

“It’s fine, Drukan is coming too.”

Serena answered indifferently.

Since Drukan came as a bodyguard, honestly, there was nothing to worry about regarding external safety.

Drukan was really good at guarding.

He always tasted the food first before giving it to her, and if anyone tried to throw something as a prank, he would blow it away with the wind pressure of his sword.

Although they hadn’t encountered dangerous people like assassins yet, he would turn thugs into a pulp to the extent that they wouldn’t die or suffer permanent damage.

It couldn’t be safer than this.

“If you’re talking about that one-armed man…”

“He’s skilled, so it’s fine.”

Serena waved her hand dismissively while eating a cookie.

“He’s probably stronger than you.”

Even in the side story, it was said that although much time had passed and he had aged, losing an arm and an eye, there were still only a handful of people stronger than him.

“…I’m stronger.”

Magnus said, feeling a bit hurt in his pride.