Chapter 2 (Part 4)

Unaware of this, Leonardo neatly plated the dish he had made and brought it out to the table.

“Please eat. If it’s not enough, there’s more in the kitchen, so feel free to help yourself.”

Saying that, Leonardo sat down, and Grace nodded casually, looking at the food in front of her.

Her large blue eyes sparkled brightly.

Seeing that, Leonardo thought absentmindedly.

‘It’s like sunlight on water.’

Like the sea shimmering under the sun.

Leonardo was surprised at himself for having such a thought and flinched involuntarily.

Grace, about to take a bite, paused and asked in an annoyed voice.

“Why? Do you regret letting me eat it now?”

“No, not at all.”

Startled by the unexpected question, Leonardo answered, and Grace squinted at him as if to ask if he was sure.

Leonardo sighed and spoke.

“I’m not someone idle enough to play with food.”

“…Well, it’s an annoying thing to say, but the person who gives food is always right.”

Shrugging her shoulders once, Grace simply thanked him for the meal and began to eat very deliciously.

It was just a simple soup and bread made from preserved food, along with grilled fish.

“Mmm, this is the taste.”

Seeing Grace eat so heartily that it made even those without an appetite feel hungry, Leonardo picked up his fork.

He felt a strange sensation.

Or maybe it had been like that ever since they were left here together.

‘It’s the magic… It must be because of the magic.’

The damn magic that created this situation was making him feel strange. It had to be.

While Leonardo was trying to control his emotions, Grace, who had cleaned her plate, went back to the kitchen to get more food.

Perhaps because the delicious food had put her in a good mood, she returned to her seat with a much softer expression, and Leonardo spoke to her.

“So, Sir Lowell, you think that skeleton belonged to a knight from the 4th Knight Order?”

As soon as she sat down with more food, Leonardo brought up the topic of the corpse, making Grace hold her spoon with a face that lost all appetite.

The delicious aroma wafted to her nose, but the talk of the corpse completely killed her appetite.

Deliberately placing her spoon down with a clatter, Grace narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“You’re asking that on purpose, aren’t you?”

Leonardo feigned innocence.

“No, I just wanted to hear your thoughts, Sir Lowell.”

Grace, her face crumpled as if recalling it annoyed her, reluctantly forced herself to remember the skeleton she had barely managed to forget.

At that moment, Leonardo saw the instinctive disgust and fear flash across Grace’s face and clenched his teeth slightly.

‘It’s not dislike; it’s fear.’

He even felt a bit sorry for Grace.

Unaware of Leonardo’s thoughts, Grace felt a surge of irritation toward him for bringing up the corpse after making such delicious food.

‘No wonder he made me such a meal.’

She knew better than anyone that he wasn’t such a kind person.

Somehow, she felt utterly disgusted.

Grace picked up the bread out of spite.

Pressing the crispy outside and moist inside of the bread into the soft soup with her fingers, she stuffed a large bite into her mouth and spoke.

“Surely you’re not asking because you don’t know the 4th Knight Order’s emblem, right? If not, why are you curious about which insane magician came all the way here and died?”

“…”

“Can’t we talk about the madman who experimented with beasts after we finish eating?”

Leonardo remained silent at her words.

His attitude made it seem like he insisted on talking about the corpse right now, so Grace spoke irritably.

“I mean, after giving me such a delicious meal, do we really need to talk about corpses and ruin the meal right now?”

Seeing her openly show her displeasure, Leonardo bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

Grace, looking at Leonardo bowing his head in apology with a somewhat novel expression, shrugged her shoulders.

For some reason, her lost appetite returned with that apology.

“Okay. I’ll eat as quickly as I can, so let’s talk after we’re done. I have something to say anyway.”

At her words, Leonardo nodded.

After that, Grace began eating with a pleased face, as if she had never been annoyed.

Leonardo tapped the table with his fingers as he watched her eat, oblivious to the white soup on her upper lip.

Thinking he might bring up the corpse again, Grace frowned silently.

“It’s not that, here.”

Leonardo pressed his finger to his own upper lip.

Only then did Grace realize there was soup on her lip and licked it off with her tongue.

Her red tongue flicked out briefly before disappearing.

Watching it as if entranced, Leonardo quickly lowered his gaze.

‘Get a grip, Leonardo!’

Staring at the gleaming knife blade, Leonardo finally calmed his thoughts and set down his fork, feeling full without eating.

In the meantime, Grace seemed to have brought more soup and bread, as her bowl was once again full of food.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?”

“Oh, yes. I’m done.”

At his words, Grace raised an eyebrow, seemingly dissatisfied.

Pointing at Leonardo’s plate with her knife, she boldly said.

“Give me that. You’ll be punished if you waste food.”

Leonardo flinched at Grace’s request for the food he had been eating but reluctantly pushed the plate toward her due to her persistent demand.

Grace received it and ate it with a happy face.

Watching her, he felt something inexplicable stir within him.

“Ah, seriously! Why is this happening again!”

It seemed it wasn’t just a feeling, as Grace, cutting into the meat, suddenly stood up.

Then she pointed downward with the hand holding the knife.

“This! You should get it checked later. Make sure! Make sure!”

Leonardo felt his face flush with embarrassment at his own indecency but nodded shamelessly.

“There’s no problem, but I will.”

“Make sure!”

Grace shouted before resuming her meal.

Avoiding looking in that direction as much as possible, Leonardo waited until she finished eating.

After going to the kitchen five more times, Grace finally returned after finishing the dishes.

“Well, as for what I think, it seems that guy wanted to control beasts using Pla.”

“Beast control is an ancient magic that’s rarely used now. Moreover, only magicians of a certain rank can access that information.”

At Leonardo’s words, Grace shrugged and pointed at the notebook.

“Then how do you explain those suspicious traces?”

Leonardo fell silent at her words. Seeing his reaction, Grace sighed shortly and spoke.

“You already know, don’t you?”

“…You’re right, Sir Lowell. I suspected that as well.”

“Then you must have thought about what to do, right?”

At her words, Leonardo nodded.

He picked up the communicator nearby and charged it with a magic stone, speaking.

“I plan to inform my deputy about this matter.”

Grace, thinking quietly at his words, pointed at herself with her finger.

“Shall I do it instead?”

“It’s not such a simple problem.”

“I don’t understand what the issue is. After all, only the voice will be heard. Isn’t it just about speaking?”

Listening to Grace, who knew absolutely nothing about magic, not even a speck, Leonardo felt his temper rising. However, he was too annoyed to explain each reason, so he handed over the communicator that was almost fully charged.

“I’ve set the communication coordinates, so you can talk, Sir Lowell.”

“Sure, it’s not like it’s difficult.”

Grace said this as she took the communicator from Leonardo. Watching the communicator flicker in a different color from her own, Grace looked a bit troubled and asked.

“But what should I ask?”

In the end, with a curse, Leonardo snatched back the communicator and tore off a small piece of paper, scribbling on it. The paper contained what to ask, necessary items, and future instructions, but.

‘I have no idea what this means.’

Grace forced a smile, trying to smooth her furrowed brow. Leonardo looked at her with an untrusting face, but there was no other way.

“Well then, I’ll make the call.”

Grace cleared her throat.

[Yes, Commander.]

Even before the communication tone rang a few times, someone responded as if they had been waiting. With no time to prepare, Grace, who was already tense, had her voice crack.

“Oh, um, yes! I→ need↗ some↘ things→!”

Leonardo covered his face with his hand at Grace’s words. Even if she spoke normally, there was a high risk his deputy and vice-commander would recognize her, but with such an awkward and stuttering voice, if they didn’t notice, he would have to question his deputy instead.

[Who are you?]

As soon as the deputy said this, Grace’s eyes shook greatly. Then, like a fish, she mouthed words to Leonardo, asking what to do, seemingly worried her voice would be picked up by the communicator.

[If you don’t clearly state your identity, I will not only report the communicator as stolen but also report the kidnapping of the commander to the Knight Order.]

Not expecting them to come out this strongly, Grace was so shocked by the word “report” that she almost dropped the communicator. Seeing Grace looking more timid than expected, Leonardo sighed and took the communicator back.

“About the circumstances of almost getting caught in black magic while investigating magic, order one copy each of the upper and lower volumes, one copy of ‘The Basics of Sorcery,’ one copy of ‘100 Curses!,’ one copy of ’50 Secrets Found in Corpses,’ 50 high-grade antidote potions, 10 curse detection tools, 100 mid-level attack magic tools, 5 magic storage boxes, 100 high-grade magic reagents, 1 set of high-grade magic experiment tools, and a month’s supply of emergency food. Deliver these to shelter number 132.”

As he finished speaking, Grace’s mouth slowly opened. Not only was it impressive how he spoke such a long sentence in one breath, but it was also amazing how he thought of so many things in such a short time.

After a moment of silence, the other party replied to Leonardo’s words.

[……Is this Sir Grace Lowell? Your subjugation must still be ongoing. Understood.]

Realizing that hiding it was already a lost cause, seeing the deputy, who would normally react sharply at hearing Grace’s voice, respond so smoothly, Leonardo felt a headache coming on. However, there were still instructions to give, so he continued speaking.

“Also, check if there has been a magic knight from the 4th Knight Order missing for three months and report back.”

[Yes, understood.]

Grace, too, realized that her poor acting had given her away, seeing someone who had never spoken kindly to her respond so smoothly.

This meant that something had happened that both she and Leonardo needed to hide immediately.

‘No way, they haven’t figured out that our bodies have swapped, right?’

But even if that were the case, wasn’t it even stranger that they were treating Grace Lowell, who spoke so ‘smartly,’ as if nothing was wrong?

‘If it were me, I would have been freaking out, asking who it was.’

Grace was quite good at being objective about herself.

From her academy days to now, she knew nothing but the sword and was interested in nothing else.

If the swordsmanship department hadn’t required an understanding of swordsmanship as a graduation condition…

‘I might still be an academy cadet.’

Seeing such a predictable picture, Grace chuckled wryly.