Chapter 5 (Part 5)

As he drew up mana, he realized his physical condition was worse than expected.

But he couldn’t stop here. Leonardo gritted his teeth to achieve the best result.

“Grr!”

The Pla scattered and fled upon realizing the situation too late, but they couldn’t shake off Grace, who pursued them relentlessly.

Grace threatened the Pla, driving them toward the net.

“I think we’re about to succeed!”

At Grace’s voice filled with excitement, Leonardo also tightened the capture net.

And just before capturing the Pla,

“Ah!”

Grace clutched her chest and staggered, then fell to the ground.

Startled by the sudden situation, Leonardo tried to call her, but his mana scattered unstably and disappeared.

He too clutched his chest and bent over as the now-familiar pain overtook him.

“Ha, Phil, now, at this moment.”

Despite the pain blurring his vision, Leonardo moved his body somehow. Grace, who felt the pain before him, had fainted in agony on the ground.

Holding the collapsed Grace, he squeezed out the last of his mana to heal her.

Soon, his vision turned black.

When he opened his eyes again, Leonardo found himself in Grace’s body.  

Grace, who had regained her senses first, held him and whispered apologetically,  

“I should have moved faster… I’m sorry. I messed up because of me.”  

Time-wise, it wasn’t yet time for their bodies to switch. Grace knew that too, but she felt sorry because she was the one who collapsed first.  

Leonardo, understanding her feelings, faintly smiled and touched her cheek.  

“Why do you say that? Our bodies aren’t in normal condition.”  

“That’s no excuse for a knight.”  

“It can be an excuse. It’s something we couldn’t predict.”  

Saying so, Leonardo lifted the body that felt heavier than in the morning. Grace, who helped him up, spoke with a sullen face.  

“We should prepare to return, right?”  

“Yes, we should.”  

“Why did our bodies suddenly switch?”  

Even considering the time wasted on breakfast, they were still within a safe margin.  

They could have captured the Pla if their bodies hadn’t suddenly swapped at the end.  

“I’m not certain yet… but there seems to be something in the forest that strengthens the magic affecting us.”  

At Leonardo’s words, Grace glanced back.  

Two Pla, which had returned unnoticed, were following them with unpleasant growling sounds.  

“Could it be those things?”  

At Grace’s words, Leonardo looked back.  

Two demonic beasts watching them as if they were an interesting spectacle. Leonardo realized that to resolve this matter smoothly, those creatures were definitely necessary.  

“Maybe it’s the entire forest.”  

At his words, Grace fell silent.  

The two returned to the shelter without speaking and packed their belongings. The items they had prepared for a long stay were repacked and stored in the container.  

Once they tidied up their belongings, there wasn’t much left.  

“Should I head to the Ducal residence like this?”  

Watching Leonardo request delivery owls and two horses, Grace asked.  

Leonardo, after ending the communication, looked at Grace, who had finished her travel preparations. In her simple attire, she looked freer than when he wore those clothes.

“I plan to send the luggage there first and head to the lab.”  

“Ah, that’s a better idea.”  

She was also curious about the well-being of the Knight Order, which she had left unattended for several days.  

Grace, thinking something, smiled mischievously. Then she approached Leonardo and whispered,  

“They must be a mess with lax discipline. Want to watch them roll around?”  

Seeing her laugh, saying it would be quite fun, Leonardo chuckled too.  

Watching her happily laugh at the thought of rigorously training her subordinates reminded him of a nickname secretly circulating within the Knight Order.  

“Indeed, that’s something the official ‘Dog Commander’ would say.”  

“Ugh. Where did you hear that?”  

Grace asked in disgust, and Leonardo laughed softly.  

Still smiling, he said,  

“First, I’ll head to my lab in the 1st Knight Order. To understand the situation more accurately, I need to investigate something first.”  

At his words, Grace nodded.  

Leonardo handed her a return stone and said,  

“If you break this, you’ll be transported directly to my lab. I’ll send the luggage via delivery owl, so don’t worry.”  

Grace nodded to Leonardo, who spoke as if to reassure her, knowing how uneasy she felt.  

As he said, there was nothing more she could do now, no matter where she went.  

“Then I’ll go first.”  

“Yes, I’ll follow shortly after the delivery owl arrives.”  

Grace, smiling as if to say it was okay, broke the return stone.  

As she disappeared from sight, Leonardo let out a long sigh.  

Though it was a bit regrettable to return like this, he would find a way to meet her again.  

Leonardo wanted to have Grace Lowell somehow.  

‘What can I do about this constant yearning?’  

Since that day, he was undoubtedly mad.  

Just because the presence moving back and forth was Grace Lowell, the shell of ‘Leonardo Fernandez’ was not an obstacle.  

He simply found the Grace inside endearing.  

“I’m utterly crazy. It’s severe.”

Was it because everything was new?  

Having never formed a deep personal relationship with anyone, Leonardo didn’t even know what to name this feeling, this emotion.  

Watching the delivery owl flying in from afar, he muttered,  

“I’ll know once I have her.”

Once he completely had her in his hands, by then, he would be able to name this emotion.  

Leonardo looked forward to that day.  

***  

Transported to Leonardo’s lab, Grace was first surprised by the enormous amount of books in front of her.  

Unconsciously, she began reading the spines of the books as if entranced when someone knocked on the door. Then they opened it and came in.  

“Commander, you’ve returned― Who are you?”  

A man with wheat-colored hair neatly combed back stopped as he entered.  

Looking suspiciously between the lab and Grace, he stepped out and then back in, snapping his fingers and saying,  

“Who on earth are you? Who are you to look like the Commander?”  

Faced with the sharp voice of the stranger, Grace decided to first explain that she was indeed Leonardo.  

She imitated Leonardo’s usual posture and lowered her voice slightly.  

“What do you mean?”  

Caleb Martin, the man watching Grace, was simply dumbfounded.  

He opened the door sensing the Commander’s presence, but lo and behold, someone with only the Commander’s shell was mimicking him poorly.  

“Do you think that will make you look like the Commander?”  

Caleb, whose inner thoughts slipped out, furrowed his brow.  

It was even more absurd once he said it out loud.  

Really, that clumsy voice and manner of speaking were so unconvincing that even a passerby would say that’s not Leonardo Fernandez.  

“What on earth are you talking about?”  

Grace, flustered, calmed herself and replied again, but Caleb placed the documents he brought on the desk and said,  

“The Commander don’t speak like that.”

“…Then what should I do?”  

Having tried her best to imitate him, if it’s neither this nor that, what was she supposed to do?  

Grace, feeling frustrated, muttered softly.  

Hearing her, Caleb chuckled and looked straight at her, saying,  

“First, I can’t feel the Commander’s mana from you.”  

“… ”  

“Second, the Commander’s voice isn’t that light and frivolous.”  

Momentarily, Grace almost retorted, ‘But this body is that Commander’s, so the voice is the same,’ but she bit her lip.  

Seeing that, Caleb sighed and added one last thing.  

“Third, the Commander doesn’t bite his lips like you do.”  

At the words of the opponent, who was certain she wasn’t Leonardo, Grace felt like crying.  

She clenched her teeth and held back, and he casually said,  

“Am I wrong, Sir Grace Lowell?”