“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m not.”

She smiled as if telling him not to worry.

Seeing her put on her characteristically bright smile, not even realizing her eyes were still watery, somehow made his chest ache.

‘I really don’t know what to do with you.’

He wanted Leah to be safe wherever his eyes could reach. But his heart pounded seeing her act according to her beliefs and intentions.

Helix heaved a deep sigh.

“Please at least cause trouble where I can see you.”

***

After properly laying down the children and adjusting their mana flow, Helix explained to Leah.

“A man called Karai told me your location so I could come quickly.”

“Karai?”

“He said he was Count Trow’s spy.”

“What?”

Leah’s eyes widened in surprise.

Helix said that Karai was a spy tasked with secretly observing Leah.

“I read his mana flow, and he wasn’t lying.”

“You can even do that… no, that’s not important right now. So you’re saying a Count Trow’s spy has been following me all this time and neither our knights nor you noticed?”

“He was special. Because he’s a magic user.”

“A magic user?”

Helix nodded.

“Not a proper mage like you, Leah, but he can probably use one or two spells.”

From what he heard from Karai, Count Trow had been conducting these experiments more than once or twice.

He had been doing these human experiments of feeding potions to children for a long time, and Karai said he was the only survivor who became a magic user.

“This potion they fed the children is exactly the same as the Dragon’s mana you drank. He probably became a magic user after drinking Dragon’s mana.”

Leah pondered deeply.

Count Trow had been feeding Dragon’s mana to children. Karai survived alone and became a magic user, and Leah also survived drinking it and became a mage.

“…So if you survive drinking Dragon’s mana, you gain magical abilities?”

“If you survive, yes.”

Helix said with a dark expression.

“Even in my time, there were many who tried to become mages by obtaining Dragon’s mana. It was the only way for those who wanted to become mages but lacked the aptitude to handle mana. However, almost all of them died.”

Dragon’s mana was nothing less than concentrated mana that the human body couldn’t handle. Most humans would go into shock as soon as they absorbed it, and only a tiny minority of suitable candidates would gain a mage’s ability to sense mana.

“That’s strange. How did Count Trow know about this method? This isn’t an era of developed mana and magic like your time, Helix. Everyone thinks it’s just something from stories.”

“I find it suspicious too. It’s also questionable how and where he obtained Dragon’s mana.”

Leah nodded at Helix’s words. She frowned, making wrinkles between her brows.

“So was it Count Trow who tried to kill me?”

Count Trow called Dragon’s mana a potion, and he knew that Leah had drunk the potion. Moreover, he even sent Karai to watch her after she didn’t die.

‘But something feels off.’

If Count Trow really wanted to kill her, he would have used a common poison that was easy to obtain rather than this special potion related to him. That would leave fewer traces and be better for avoiding detection.

“If you’re thinking of tracking down Count Trow, I’ll help with all my might.”

At Helix’s resolute words, Leah found herself looking into his eyes anew.

Those grey eyes she’d thought were just cold at first had been seeming warmer lately. Especially when he focused on her and gazed down intently to meet her eyes, they even felt gentle.

It was like that now too.

That look.

Eyes that seemed to say he would punish Count Trow because he tried to kill Leah.

‘No, no. Don’t misunderstand.’

Leah thought to herself.

Helix was someone who considered his duty as a guardian the most important thing in the world and believed in protecting all the weak. He wasn’t acting this way because Leah was special.

‘And since Helix has a grudge against dragons, it’s natural for him to be so proactive about Count Trow’s case that seems related to dragons.’

Her heart felt scratched for no reason. Leah lowered her gaze as she spoke.

“Let’s save the children first. I don’t know what they were trying to do that they’d go this far killing children…”

“I think that man Count Trow was trying to create mages or magic users through human experiments.”

Leah’s mouth fell open at Helix’s words. She hadn’t thought of it at all, but hearing it now, it made sense.

“No… that’s… insane?”

He spoke before her shocked face.

“In the old age of magic, there were occasionally people who conducted such experiments.”

“Wow, how… the things villains do are dirty whether in the past or present, huh?”

Helix gave a bitter smile at Leah’s words.

“Indeed.”

“What was it like then? Were there many successful cases?”

“Almost all failed. The worst was when a kingdom’s king forcibly fed Dragon’s mana to young people he conscripted to create a mage corps. Many people died, but only a handful became magic users.”

“No way, what kind of madman does that at a national level. What happened to that king?”

After asking, she thought ‘oops.’ If Helix had punished him as a guardian, it might not be a good memory.

He smiled faintly.

“No need for that expression. Though it didn’t end well, I didn’t intervene.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A rebellion broke out, the magic users betrayed him, the magic towers moved to punish him, and finally a dragon whose offspring’s mana had been stolen came and burned down the palace with lightning. There wasn’t even a chance for me to step in.”

At this anecdote that sounded like some magical revenge combo package, even Leah was momentarily speechless.

“…He deserved all that.”

“I agree.”

Having been sick for so long herself, she couldn’t help but be angrier at behavior that played with people’s lives. Leah grumbled internally.

Just what was that king thinking to do such things to his people? Did he think others’ lives were as worthless as flies just because it wasn’t his own?

Count Trow was exactly the same as that king.

He must have thought it was profitable business if he could gain a few magic users even if many children died.

Is being of high status everything? Is having money everything?

As she was fuming with her past life’s commoner spirit she couldn’t shake off, she suddenly realized. She wasn’t in a position to criticize those of high status and wealth anymore.

‘Wait. Then what’s stopping me?’

Leah whipped her head toward Helix.

“Helix, let’s do it too.”

“Do what?”

***

Though Leah’s group didn’t know, the slave trader group originally had one more person. A young man with a fierce look and a scar on his face.

The one who luckily avoided Helix escaped and hurriedly sent a messenger bird to Count Trow.

“W-what is this?”

The Count’s face turned pale with shock when he received the letter in the capital.

“The children we bought were discovered?”

He’d been wondering why there was no contact from slave trader Max, and now this happens. Count Trow wiped away cold sweat.

If this human experiment was discovered, the royal family might investigate the missing vagrant children cases that had been happening in the capital. If the thugs who kidnapped the vagrant children talked, it would take no time for the investigation to reach Count Trow.

‘If what experiments were done, who was behind it becomes known…’

That must be avoided at all costs.

Seeing his father turn white, Lord Trow picked up the letter to read. His face, which had tensed up in sympathy, relaxed.

“Father, don’t worry. This fellow must be out of his mind. Nobles and their attendants attacking the shack… what nobles would be in the north where there isn’t even a lord?”

“You fool.”

“Pardon?”

“Why wouldn’t there be nobles in the north? Isn’t Peirlily there recuperating!”

Lord Trow’s face stiffened. The Count berated his son, veins bulging.

“Of all people to discover this, Peirlily! Since Baron Durford used the potion on Peirlily, if that girl starts getting suspicious, it’s over! If only you hadn’t been secretly carrying around that potion…!”

“F-father, calm down. They only said nobles, so it might not necessarily be Peirlily?”

Lord Trow hastily continued.

“And even if Peirlily did find the children, how would she know what the potion is and be suspicious? Even we don’t know what that stuff really is!”

Though it was just his foolish son making excuses, he had a point.

Even though they’d been secretly buying children and feeding them the potion for over ten years, they couldn’t even guess what it really was.

Count Trow massaged his forehead and caught his breath.

“…We can’t be completely at ease. There’s been no contact from Karai whom we sent to watch Peirlily either.”

Lord Trow was about to ask why he sent that man, but seeing his father’s expression, he changed his words.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“We should eliminate her first before being discovered.”

Lord Trow gulped for a moment.

“Are you serious? The aftermath…”

“Why would we deal with the aftermath?”

The Count, having regained his composure, spoke slowly. His eyes glinted craftily between his wrinkled eyelids.

“It wasn’t us who fed the potion to Peirlily, but Baron Durford. This works out perfectly. I hear he’s been fidgeting nervously?”

Count Trow spoke in a low voice.

“Let’s pluck the lily using Baron Durford’s hands.”

***

At that time in the north, a plot that Count Trow could never have imagined was unfolding.

Leah had called her court physician and Karai to join her plan.

“You’re… accepting me as one of your people, my lady?”

Karai was dazed. He never expected to be brought in like this when he was a spy.

Leah spoke frankly.

“I can’t trust you one hundred percent so there will be safety measures. If you have complaints, you can quit.”

Karai shook his head vigorously.