Chapter 14 (Part 2)

After a simple breakfast with Leonardo, Grace stepped outside and realized it had been days since she had felt the sunlight.  

“…Staying indoors too much isn’t good for your health.”  

She muttered a small protest belatedly, but Leonardo leaned in and whispered into her ear as if questioning her statement.  

“Do you have any idea how much exercise we’ve been getting from the activities we’ve been doing together?”  

“…Sir Leo.”  

Grace frowned at his words.  

Looking up at Leonardo with an expression that screamed she had nothing more to say, she asked,  

“You weren’t always a pervert, were you?”  

Her expression, as if she was certain he was a pervert, made Leonardo want to tease her even more. So, deliberately drawing out his words, he replied.  

“—Hmm, who knows.”  

“Don’t even think about saying that you became a pervert because of me. That’s absolutely not true.”  

Grace decisively cut him off, making Leonardo burst into laughter.  

Stretching out his arm, he took her hand, intertwining their fingers one by one. Gazing at her with a soft expression, he said,  

“Honestly, since this is my first time doing these kinds of things with a woman, I don’t know if I was always a pervert or not.”  

Hearing this, Grace met his gaze again.  

“Why didn’t you ever take an interest in women?”  

As if asking purely out of curiosity, with no ulterior motives, Grace’s question made Leonardo pretend to think deeply while looking ahead.  

He pretended not to notice her biting her lips in anticipation of his answer.  

“You weren’t… into men, were you?”  

Unable to wait any longer, Grace’s words burst out, making Leonardo laugh as he lifted her hand and kissed its back.  

“Do you think someone who admires such a strong knight as you could be into men?”

At his cheeky response, Grace lightly slapped the back of his hand.  

Even though she barely hit him, he pretended to be in pain, prompting her to respond more curtly.  

“What admiration? Stop saying nonsense and pay attention to your surroundings.”  

At Grace’s scolding, Leonardo nodded with a smile.  

Before their bodies had suddenly transformed, there was a need to reexamine this forest. They also had to confirm what Hymen and Hara had done here before leaving.  

‘Hymen said I’d understand once I saw it for myself.’  

Scanning his surroundings with lowered eyes, Leonardo realized what Hymen had meant.  

The forest, which had always felt oppressive and eerie, now seemed significantly lighter.  

Grace, who was also looking around, seemed to notice this and exclaimed in surprise.  

“Sir Leo. I can hear birds chirping.”  

In this forest, only the sound of the wind had ever been heard.  

Even the dreamlike space that vaguely resembled this place was filled with silence, devoid of any sound.  

“…Indeed.”  

For the first time during their hunts here, the sound of birds chirping filled the air.  

Leonardo looked around with a curious expression and then frowned as he spotted the Pla. Grace, too, wore a grim expression but remarked,  

“They’re not the ones we know.”  

As if to prove Grace’s words, two of them startled and quickly fled.  

Grace, who had been watching them with indifferent eyes, turned her head in the opposite direction and spoke in a low voice.  

“I think we should drink the potion now.”  

Leonardo glanced at Grace, whose tone had grown short as if issuing a warning, and turned his gaze toward where she was looking.  

There, two Pla—ones they had become far too familiar with—were flying around frantically, looking confused.  

“That might be a good idea.”  

Leonardo discreetly moved his mana to obscure their presence from the Pla and handed Grace a potion.  

Grace drank the potion he gave her and checked the artifacts she had brought in her pocket.  

The two Pla, seemingly unaware of the situation, were flying around chaotically in a way she had never seen before.  

‘I don’t know what it is, but whatever Hymen and Hara did must have thrown them into disarray.’  

Normally, stepping into this place would have made their bodies feel heavy. But now, it felt as light as it had before they had ever encountered such sorcery.  

Grace clenched and unclenched her fists a few times and said,  

“I’ll draw their attention first. You capture them discreetly, Sir.”  

Leonardo, who had never had the chance to properly watch Grace in action up close, found himself mesmerized by her serious demeanor.  

When she didn’t get the response she wanted, Grace turned to Leonardo and frowned.  

“Sir! Is this really the time to have that perverted look on your face?”  

Leonardo reflexively touched his face at her scolding. Then, as if genuinely puzzled, he asked,  

“—What kind of face was I making?”  

At his words, Grace glanced around, even though she knew no one was there, and gestured for him to come closer.  

When Leonardo leaned in, she whispered in a very small voice into his ear.  

“A face that says you want to strip me right here and now?”  

At her words, Leonardo chuckled softly, his throat vibrating.  

It was an incredibly fitting description.  

“Would you permit me?”  

Leonardo whispered back into her ear, just as she had done. Grace scrunched her face slightly and whispered back in the same manner.  

“Depends on how well you work.”  

With that, Grace withdrew with a prim expression, and Leonardo suppressed a laugh as he murmured.  

“I’ll have to do my best, then.”  

Hearing his laughter, Grace also smiled.  

When Leonardo met her eyes and nodded, Grace drew the sword strapped to her waist. Then, at his signal, she pushed off the ground and ran.  

In the past, the Pla would have fled long before Grace even began chasing them. But now, they were startled and only started flying away belatedly.  

“I’ll catch you for sure!”  

With nimble movements, Grace pursued the Pla, blocking their escape routes.  

Sometimes, she cut down trees; other times, she uprooted nearby rocks and hurled them.  

‘Capturing them alive is harder than I thought.’  

Since they were flying creatures, a misstep could end up opening an escape route for them. Grace carefully observed her surroundings.  

‘Ah, if only I could handle aura more delicately.’  

Biting her lip, Grace glared at the Pla fleeing just ten steps ahead of her. She couldn’t stop thinking that if her skills were better, she could have resolved this quickly.  

Since a certain point, she had been unable to progress beyond imbuing aura into her sword.  

Unlike Amelia, who could manipulate, amplify, or project aura at will, Grace couldn’t take that next step. It had always been her weakness.  

‘If I could just pierce a hole in their wings so they couldn’t fly, that would be perfect.’  

A grounded Pla would have no chance of escaping.  

While it might crawl, the butterfly-shaped creature had no way of going far.  

Grace thought of the artifacts she had brought but shook her head and bit her lips firmly.  

‘That would only get in the way.’  

From a distance, she could feel the golden mana of Leonardo.  

It was as if a spider’s web was following her discreetly, waiting for the right moment to capture the Pla.  

‘Manipulating mana so delicately can’t be easy. I need to finish this quickly.’  

Clenching her teeth, Grace adjusted her grip on her sword, picked up a handful of stones from the ground, and began hurling them with all her strength.  

Sometimes without aura, sometimes infused with it.  

Determined to resolve this in her own way, Grace’s eyes suddenly widened.  

‘I think I can do it.’  

Still glaring at the Pla flying a few steps ahead, Grace cut down a tree with her sword.  

Then, breaking off a few thick branches, she hurled them at the Pla’s wings, as if throwing small daggers.  

As if to intimidate them, she continued throwing branches at the Pla before suddenly stopping and shouting.  

“Step back!”  

With that, Grace gripped her sword tightly and fixed her sharp gaze on the wings of the Pla flying ahead.  

Holding two swords crossed together, she clenched her teeth and enveloped them in a blue aura. Then, she swung them with all her might.  

The blue aura, cold and sharp, extended beyond the swords and scattered in all directions.  

“—Grace!”  

Leonardo, standing behind her, shouted in surprise. At the same time, the two Pla flying ahead fell limp.  

Rushing over, Leonardo saw Grace’s expression filled with exhilaration.  

“It’s done.”  

“Grace?”  

Not understanding what exactly had been accomplished, Leonardo could only watch as she repeatedly muttered “It’s done” while staring at her hands.  

For now, he focused on capturing the immobilized Pla with a net.

Like a child proudly clenching and unclenching their fist for the first time, Grace stood there for a long while, looking at the sky before stretching her arms and shouting loudly,  

“I did it! Mom! I succeeded!”  

With a loud flurry, startled birds took off all at once in response to her voice.  

Leonardo, worried that the Pla might have died from an accidental attack, ran over quickly but was relieved to find that aside from their torn wings, they had no other injuries. He glanced at Grace.  

Grace, who had been standing triumphantly and roaring with joy, finally came over to check on the Pla’s condition and asked,  

“They’re fine, right?”  

Her tone suggested she had expected this outcome, prompting Leonardo to pull out an iron cage designed for magical beasts and ask,  

“How did you manage this?”  

Grace, as if it were nothing, pointed to the Pla’s wings and said,  

“Magic works the same way, doesn’t it? You adjust mana delicately to target specific parts.”  

At her words, Leonardo looked back at the Pla.  

Although their wings were in tatters, their lives were not in danger. Realizing that this was exactly what Grace had aimed for, he glanced at her again with newfound appreciation.  

Sensing his gaze, Grace shrugged as if it was no big deal.  

“We’ve been fools all this time. If they can’t fly, they’re completely helpless, but we never thought of that.”  

At her words, Leonardo stared at the Pla trapped in the magical net, glaring at them.  

The creatures seemed a little different from when they were first discovered, but they still appeared capable of “thinking.”  

‘They’re not as sharp as when we first found them, though.’  

It was clear that whatever measures Hymen and Hara had taken had weakened the sorcery spread across the forest.  

Leonardo opened the cage door and used magic to push the two Pla inside. They struggled a few times in resistance but to no avail.  

“Grrrk!”  

The creatures flapped their wings in frustration, clearly upset at being captured. Leonardo, engraving a teleportation spell on the cage, said,  

“Once this is over, I intend to release these Pla.”  

His words were unexpected, causing Grace to look at him.  

Though neither of them said it aloud, they both noticed that the Pla in the cage seemed to be listening intently to Leonardo’s words.  

“Why? No, more importantly, where would you even release them?”  

This forest was regularly visited by the Imperial Knight Order to cull the rapidly growing Pla population.  

Perhaps the unnatural increase in Pla numbers here was also due to the effects of sorcery, but proving that would be difficult.  

“Are you planning to raise them or something?”  

Leonardo shook his head at her question.  

“No, not at all. I suppose I’ve grown a bit fond of them. If they cooperate, I plan to send them back here.”  

Grace, listening quietly to his words, sighed and turned to look at the now calmer Pla in the cage.  

Placing her hand on the cage, she said,  

“Well, they’re clever enough. If they find another part of the forest to hide in, they might avoid being caught in future culls.”  

As if understanding their conversation, the Pla exchanged glances and became even more docile.  

Grace, now looking incredulous, turned to Leonardo, who gave a faint smile. As he layered multiple safety spells on the cage to prevent any accidents during transport, he explained,  

“For now, I plan to send these to Hymen. If he comes up with a proper solution, I’ll request cooperation from the Sorcerer’s Tower.”  

At the mention of the Sorcerer’s Tower, Grace was reminded of the elder sister he had mentioned before.  

“Has Lady Delia returned?”  

“I’ve heard she recently rejoined the campaign. There are reports of previously culled magical beasts reappearing suddenly.”  

“Is that even possible?”  

Typically, magical beasts culled in foreign nations were either large or unique creatures.  

Once dealt with, it usually took a long time for them to reappear. Moreover, the trend recently had been a decline in such creatures.  

“It seems there were more magical beasts that the Kingdom failed to account for.”  

Though Grace nodded at his words, she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling.  

Having finished engraving the spells, Leonardo took out a communication device and contacted Hymen.  

“Hymen, I’m sending you a pair of Pla. They appear to be directly connected to the sorcery here, so I’d prefer if you kept them alive.”  

On the other end, Hymen’s voice erupted amidst a clatter of noise.  

[Send them immediately!]  

“I’ll send them now.”  

[G-good! Hara and I will take a look!]  

With Hymen’s enthusiastic response, Leonardo activated the spell.  

The two Pla stared at Leonardo until the very last moment, as if silently urging him to keep his promise.  

Once the large magical beast cage disappeared, Leonardo turned to Grace with a relieved expression and said,  

“Shall we head back?”  

Grace nodded at Leonardo, who smiled at her as if asking for praise. She extended her hand toward him and said,  

“Let’s go back.”  

Hand in hand, the two returned to their shelter, where they bathed together, changed clothes, and lay side by side on the bed.