Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Leonardo, with his ears turning red, couldn’t lift his head out of shame, so Grace Lowell handed him a tissue and said,  

“It seems like you don’t know this, so let me tell you. Women must always use tissue to wipe after even the smallest business.”  

“…….”  

“If I could, I’d show you how it’s done myself, but…….”  

“No, thank you!”  

Before she could finish speaking, Leonardo shouted.  

As if she expected that, Grace shrugged her shoulders. Then, taking a step back, she said,  

“So, after you urinate, you have to use tissue to wipe from front to back.”  

“…….”  

“Well, since you just did it, you probably felt where the urine comes from.”  

Listening to her, Leonardo wondered why she was teaching him how to wipe after urinating so casually, as if she didn’t know any shame.  

If it were him, he would have run away from this place immediately.  

“As for defecation… you can wipe like men do.”  

Grace said, furrowing her brow as if something was bothering her.  

Then she added,  

“It’s good to wipe after doing your business, but don’t touch anywhere else.”  

“……Pardon?”  

Unconsciously, Leonardo lifted his head to look at Grace.  

He had a small hope that she wouldn’t casually say what he was thinking.  

But Grace was always unpredictable.  

“Oh, you don’t understand when I say it like that. I mean the hole. Don’t touch there.”  

With that, Grace told him to clean up well and left the bathroom.  

Even after she left, Leonardo held his head in his hands and suffered in silence. Honestly, why should he be the one feeling ashamed?  

But, in truth, Grace also felt the same embarrassment.

‘You’re crazy, Grace Lowell. A hole! Couldn’t you find another word?’  

Seeing Leonardo acting as clueless as she was, she felt she had to explain something properly.  

Moreover, even though it was her body, the person inside was someone else, and watching someone else do their business was…  

‘Why am I embarrassed?’  

It was truly embarrassing. So much so that she never wanted to experience it again.  

But for that, Leonardo needed to know the proper way to clean up. Seeing as they seemed to be in a similar situation…  

‘But I don’t want to let Leonardo touch there!’  

She didn’t want him to touch a part she didn’t even know well by accident.  

She hadn’t considered that warning him might make him curious enough to try touching it. She just thought that if she warned him, he naturally wouldn’t do it.  

‘But still!’  

Grace scratched her head and stomped her feet in frustration.  

‘Ugh! Just die, Grace Lowell!’  

She felt like she was already married off.  

Not that she wanted Leonardo to take responsibility.

But no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with a suitable alternative.  

Eventually, Grace resolved to live by threatening anyone, her face set with determination.

‘It’s not like I don’t plan to marry.’  

Having reached that conclusion alone, Grace nodded.  

Only later did she realize she had been having unnecessary thoughts.  

“Oh, a message came through the communication channel.”  

Preoccupied with various thoughts, Grace hadn’t noticed the message coming through the communication channel. She picked it up and tapped the surface.  

“Did you find out what I asked?”

Clearing her throat and trying to mimic Leonardo’s tone as much as possible, Grace spoke, and the other person paused for a moment.  

Just as Grace was getting nervous, thinking she might have been caught again, the other person responded.  

[There was one missing person from the 4th Knight Order. His name is Jacob Baudouin. He was such an eccentric that everyone thought he was holed up somewhere.]  

At his words, Grace fell into thought.  

If someone hadn’t been seen for months and no one thought it was strange, it meant he often disappeared like that.  

“Did he often leave his place like that?”  

[……Yes, he did.]  

A slightly nuanced answer came back.  

Grace reorganized her thoughts and instructed the other person.  

“There is a skeleton suspected to be Jacob Baudouin’s in Shelter 132. He is suspected of black magic, so send a preservation box.”  

[Yes, understood.]  

“One more thing. Investigate Jacob Baudouin’s laboratory, house, usual hangouts, acquaintances, and everything without missing anything.”  

Another peculiar silence followed her words.  

The other person seemed to sigh shallowly before responding in a calm voice.  

[Yes, I will do as you said. Do you have anything else to say?]  

Grace almost asked for a large delivery of meat at his words.  

Clenching her teeth, she barely restrained herself from saying it, and just as she was about to say it was fine, Leonardo answered instead from behind.  

“Sir Leonardo plans to stay here with me for about a month to observe the situation. So send plenty of ingredients as well, mainly meat.”  

The other person fell silent again at his words.  

Grace also hadn’t expected him to say what she wanted to say, so she turned her head sharply to look at him.  

When their eyes met, Leonardo frowned as if asking why she was staring.  

[……Understood. I will carefully send what you requested.]  

Before he finished speaking, Leonardo added,  

“Send intermediate magic stones and high-grade blessing potions as well.”  

Grace was astonished at his words.  

With a mage of the Mage Tower’s master level here, asking for magic stones was a statement likely to arouse suspicion from the other side.  

But for some reason, the other side simply replied that they understood and disconnected the communication.  

After confirming the communication was completely disconnected, Grace shouted,  

“Are you crazy? Acting all smart by yourself, are you trying to spread rumors that there’s something wrong with me everywhere?”  

At her words, Leonardo silently handed her a potion.  

Grace almost reflexively threw it, but she barely stopped herself. Looking at the pale pink potion tightly gripped in her hand, she said,  

“This is the blessing potion you mentioned earlier, isn’t it?”  

“Yes, it is. And they already know there’s a problem here.”  

Grace looked baffled at his words.  

She hadn’t said anything, and the only thing that could have given her away was her awkward acting. What exactly did they know, and how?  

“I can’t tell you how they know; it’s confidential.”

Grace immediately accepted his words.  

She also knew the importance of confidentiality as a knight.  

“Then there’s nothing we can do. But why this?”  

“Blessing potions contain a faint holy power that weakens black magic. Additionally, they alleviate various status ailments.”  

Hearing his explanation, Grace recalled the lesson she had about the potion’s effects.  

Spinning the bottle around, she said,  

“It also amplifies the abilities you have.”  

“That’s correct.”  

“……Since Jacob, or whatever his name is, used black magic, you brought it thinking it might help?”

Leonardo nodded at her question.  

Grace, who thought he would immediately suggest drinking the potion, placed the bottle on the table and said,  

“While it’s certain he researched black magic, we’re not sure if it’s related to us. It might be better to try it after the causal relationship is clear.”  

Leonardo nodded in agreement with her words.  

He looked out the window and said,  

“So I’m thinking of going back to the scene.”  

“……That’s a good idea. Shall we move now?”  

Grace stood up and picked up her sword.  

The two swords tailored to Grace Lowell’s body looked quite adorable in Leonardo’s hands.  

Feeling anew the height difference between herself and Leonardo, Grace grumbled,  

“I should have been born a man.”  

“…….”  

Feeling Leonardo’s gaze on her, Grace smiled as if it was nothing and continued speaking.  

“Well, it’s not that women can’t reach high levels, but there’s an inevitable difference in the growth process.”  

“……The Marquis and the Countess are present, aren’t they?”

At his words, Grace thought of her mother, Amelia Lowell.  

Privately, she was her mother, publicly her master, ‘Countess Karon,’ and furthermore, one of the few sword masters of the empire.  

“If mom knew I said this, she’d smack me on the back of the head.”  

Precisely because of that, Grace always felt she couldn’t escape Amelia’s shadow.  

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch up.  

“Enough, that’s not important right now.”  

Grace turned her body, saying they should go out quickly, and flung the door open.  

Then, very close by, she heard the characteristic cries of the Pla. As if waiting, a couple of them started crying in chorus…  

“……Creepy.”  

Unconsciously muttering that, Leonardo pulled Grace behind him and stepped forward.  

And as soon as he stepped out, he saw two Pla watching the place.  

The Pla growled as they saw hi

Grace stared blankly at the man standing in front of her.  

Did he know he was in ‘Grace Lowell’s’ body and act like that, starting from there?  

‘……I’m stronger than him in sheer physical strength, though?’  

No matter how she thought about it, his actions were incomprehensible.  

But looking at the back blocking her, she felt strange. When she thought about what this feeling was, it corresponded to ‘feeling good.’  

Grace didn’t understand that either.  

‘What’s there to feel good about?’  

But her random thoughts didn’t last long.  

One of the Pla, as if threatening, flew towards them.