Chapter 16 (Part 8)

When Grace opened her eyes in Leonardo’s body, she immediately frowned upon seeing Iris standing with her back turned.  

The overwhelming scent of jasmine filled her nostrils, making her instinctively want to step back.  

“―What is this?”  

If only she weren’t trapped in some kind of confinement.  

Iris, hearing Grace stir, turned around with a bright smile.  

As she slowly approached, she said,  

“I had a feeling it wasn’t really Leo. How could you even think of hiding such an important truth?”  

Grace, trapped in what seemed like a transparent capsule, scowled.  

Sitting in a deliberately defiant posture, she looked at Iris, who stared at her with fascination, and said,  

“Is it really okay to trap someone like this?”  

“Oh, of course. If you were really Leo, I wouldn’t dream of it. But you’re not, are you?”  

Iris sat right in front of her, smiling.  

Then, with a look of pure ecstasy, she stroked the transparent capsule Grace was trapped in and said,  

“Truly, the face is so beautiful. I almost want to keep it locked up like this forever.”

Grace felt chills run down her spine at Iris’s words, which sounded utterly deranged.  

She recalled her master’s words about how mages always had something fundamentally broken about them.  

‘But Master! This isn’t just broken—it’s outright madness!’  

Watching Iris’s eerie expression, Grace wanted to scream.  

“Leo isn’t something you can own.”  

At Grace’s words, Iris tilted her head slightly.  

Then, as if hearing something incomprehensible, she repeated Grace’s words with a blank expression.  

“―Leo?”  

“Yes, Leo.”  

When Grace kindly repeated herself, Iris suddenly slammed both hands against the capsule and screamed shrilly,  

“Who do you think you are to call him that?! Who are you?! Who are you?!”  

Grace tilted her head, mimicking Iris’s earlier gesture, and replied in a flat voice,  

“And who are you?”  

“―What?”  

“Let’s say I’m nobody. What about you? What are you to him?”

At Grace’s words, Iris clenched her fists tightly and trembled with barely contained rage.  

“At least I’m closer to him than you!”  

Iris’s furious declaration made Grace smirk.  

Her mocking expression, as if to say “What are you even worth?” made Iris grit her teeth. Suddenly, Iris laughed and stepped back.  

Pointing at the capsule Grace was trapped in, she said,  

“Do you know what that is?”  

When Grace shrugged, Iris smirked as if she had expected the reaction and said,  

“Have you ever heard of the Forced Soul Separation Spell?”  

“―What?”  

“You probably wouldn’t know, being an ignorant knight. But among mages, it’s a very famous spell. Of course, it’s no longer used.”  

This was because those subjected to the spell often ended up as mindless fools.  

Sometimes, it was said that becoming a fool was the better outcome, as some would end up as living corpses, barely breathing.  

From Iris’s words, Grace realized that forbidden ancient magic existed not only in sorcery but also in magic.  

“If you hadn’t filled Leo’s head with nonsense, this could have been resolved safely.”  

Iris glared at Grace with a face full of hatred.  

Though Grace realized there was some misunderstanding, she didn’t bother correcting it.  

There was no point in trying to reason with someone in such a state.  

‘She’s in no condition to think rationally anyway.’  

With that thought, Grace carefully examined the capsule she was trapped in.  

Seeing this, Iris chuckled.  

“No matter how strong you are as a knight, you can’t get out of there.”  

“Why not?”  

“Because neither physical force nor magic works on it. It was made by a Grand Mage.”  

Iris’s voice, brimming with pride, made Grace shove her hands into her pockets.  

As her fingers brushed against the familiar round orb, Grace bit her lip.  

Seeing this, Iris smiled and approached, placing her hand on the capsule as if admiring a finely crafted sculpture.  

“I will save Leo.”  

“……”  

“Then, Leo will look at me differently.”  

Iris’s voice, filled with ecstasy, made Grace smirk.  

“You said it’s forbidden magic. Do you think you can succeed? With your level of skill?”  

“……I don’t need to listen to the words of an ignorant knight, but I’ll explain just this once.”  

Iris’s pride was deeply wounded by Grace’s remark, which seemed to belittle her abilities.  

That alone was reason enough for Iris to act impulsively.  

While Iris turned to fetch something, Grace quickly tapped on the surface of the communication device.  

‘Please, let this work. Please!’  

Finding a magic circuit within the device that wasn’t hers, Grace tapped on the surface until her fingers hurt.

She could feel the mana left in her body flowing into the device.  

Clenching her teeth, Grace desperately hoped it would work.  

“Where did the blueprint go?”  

While Iris was preoccupied searching for something, Grace stopped tapping when Iris turned around with the blueprint she had been searching for.  

Holding it up with a triumphant smile, Iris said,  

“I’ll explain this just once.”  

“Go ahead.”  

Feigning indifference, Grace exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders, propped one leg up, and rested her chin on her hand.  

Iris’s eyebrow twitched at the insolent posture.  

“Truly, you’re the epitome of an uncultured knight.”  

“Think what you want.”  

Grace shrugged again.  

Even so, because she still looked like Leonardo, her appearance was dazzlingly beautiful, which Iris found strangely unsettling.  

Clearing her throat, Iris began,  

“The device you’re trapped in can identify a person’s unique mana. We believe that the mana each person possesses is their soul.”  

Iris added that the fact each individual has a distinct mana type supported this belief, her lips curling into a smile.  

“Of course, an ignorant knight like you wouldn’t understand,” she muttered before continuing.  

“So, I’ll extract the foreign mana that doesn’t belong in that body. Then, only the original mana of the body will remain.”  

Grace felt a chill run down her spine at Iris’s explanation.  

There was no mention of what would happen to the “extracted” mana. And forcibly removing mana from a person’s body would obviously result in—  

“Are you insane? Do you really think that’ll work?”  

Leonardo, who knew everything about magic, would never have overlooked such a reckless method.  

If it were possible to do this “safely,” Leonardo would have attempted it long ago.  

The reason he hadn’t was because there wasn’t even the slightest chance it could be done safely!  

“Unlike you, I’m an exceptional mage. It’s entirely possible.”  

Grace wanted to scream at Iris’s words, but instead, she grabbed her head in frustration.  

Explaining wouldn’t help; this lunatic mage wouldn’t listen.  

Iris glared at Grace, who was acting ungracefully, and shouted with a voice full of venom,  

“I don’t have time to waste being held back by someone like you. Leo—!”  

Iris trembled with rage as she slowly approached. She placed her hand on the brightly flashing button below and said,  

“So, disappear already.”  

Just as Iris began to channel her mana, Grace suddenly stood up and kicked the capsule—or rather, the device.  

Iris’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected action.  

Grace kicked the device several more times, as if testing its durability, before smirking wickedly.  

“Done with your nonsense?”  

Grace’s kicks were so forceful that even Iris, standing nearby, could feel the vibrations.  

For a moment, Iris feared the device might actually break and quickly inspected it, but it appeared unharmed.  

Grace, noticing Iris’s smirk of relief, kicked the device again and said,  

“Still don’t get it? I’m pretty strong.”  

“W-What?”  

“I mean, you said earlier that this thing can’t be broken.”  

Grace flexed her hands with a loud cracking sound.  

The noise was so sharp that Iris instinctively covered her ears.  

“Of course, it can’t break!”  

“But what if I keep hitting the same spot?”  

Grace grinned.  

She kicked the same spot on the device even harder, causing it to shake violently.  

“D-Don’t do it!”  

The thought of such a scenario had never crossed Iris’s mind, and her face turned pale.  

Not only was she terrified of the possibility of the rare, research-only device breaking, but she was also scared of Grace’s monstrous strength.  

Moreover, Iris had never encountered someone who dared to act so violently and loudly in front of her, a noble young lady.  

“Grace Lowell! Stop it!”  

Faced with an unprecedented situation, Iris’s composure crumbled.  

She looked up at Grace with desperation, but Grace simply snorted and muttered,  

“Let’s see who wins.”  

Adding that they should see who would prevail, Grace kicked the device again.  

With a loud thud, the device shook ominously.  

Iris, terrified that Grace might actually destroy the device, shouted with a pale face,  

“S-Stop! Are you crazy? Do you know how much this costs?!”  

Grace, as if spurred on by Iris’s words, kicked the device again.  

Despite Iris’s claim that it was unbreakable, Grace’s legs were starting to feel sore from the repeated kicks.  

‘But I can’t stop now!’  

Determined to escape, Grace gritted her teeth and kept kicking the device.  

Finally, just as an ominous cracking sound began to emerge—  

“Stop! Stop right now!”  

The door burst open, and someone yelled.