“A friend who’s a half-elf Dark Guild master that’s lived for hundreds of years, if it was before I would’ve said what fairy tale nonsense is this…”

“Most humans don’t know of our existence.”

The half-elf Dark Guild master showed a slight smile.

Master Keron was an androgynous beauty with orange short hair and a slender figure. Their elegant body lines and proud, mysterious gaze somehow resembled Helix.

Leah unconsciously narrowed her eyes.

‘Come to think of it, they called Helix an old friend?’

Though friend seems a bit distant for their relationship. As if reading her thoughts, the Master spoke to Helix.

“I didn’t know you were still alive, Guardian.”

There was a faint trace of resentment in their tone. Helix’s shoulders tensed briefly at that.

“…I didn’t know I would be released into the world like this either.”

“Released… does that mean you were imprisoned all this time?”

The Master asked in surprise. Helix confirmed with silence.

“Who would dare imprison the Guardian?”

“Dragonlord Azura.”

“That…!”

No wait, what’s with this atmosphere.

Feeling suddenly like a stranger in her own home, Leah cut in.

“Hey, I get that it’s been a while since you met, but instead of just you two, could you explain the current situation?”

“That’s a fair point. I too am desperate for an explanation.”

“I’m the one who needs explanation the most here.”

Leah, the Master, and Ruyan all looked at Helix at the same time.

Helix sighed.

“…I suppose I should start from when Leah woke me from being trapped in Azura’s lair.”

***

When Helix finished his explanation, occasionally punctuated by Leah’s comments, the Master and Ruyan became serious.

“…So Lady Piert has been poisoned twice recently. The second time was our doing.”

“Do you know who the client is?”

“In principle, we’re not supposed to know, but.”

He looked at Helix and Leah.

“Since you saved the Guardian and are his contractor, we cannot be on the opposing side.”

The Master spoke in a low voice.

“As you suspected, it was Count Trow.”

For a moment, the three went quiet.

Leah and Helix had nothing to say since it was too predictable, while Ruyan was too furious to speak.

“That, that damned old man…!”

“But there’s something that bothers me.”

The Master continued while calming Ruyan who was about to jump up.

“Something that bothers you?”

“Count Trow strongly emphasized that he was making the request as a proxy for ‘a high-ranking person who cannot be named.'”

“Isn’t that just their ploy to escape responsibility?”

“I don’t think so. Count Trow has dealt with our guild for a long time, so he has no need to use someone else’s name.”

The Master said.

“Either he really made the request as a proxy, or he wants rumors to spread. Or perhaps both.”

“True.”

Leah nodded.

“It was strange. The assassination attempt aside, the cookie incident wasn’t something a seasoned old man like Count Trow would do. Using something as special as Dragon’s mana to harm me would leave an easy trail to follow.”

“So you think the perpetrators of the two incidents are different, Lady?”

“I’m just saying we can’t be certain they’re the same people yet. They might not be, right?”

Helix cut in.

“We also need to find out if the one who first fed Dragon’s mana to Leah is connected to the Dragons.”

“Dragons? When they’ve been extinct for so long…”

“I too believed that and thought the Dragon’s mana Leah consumed was a relic.”

Helix continued.

“But when Leah’s mana balance was disrupted by the poison this time, the Dragon’s mana inside her went berserk abnormally. Just like how Dragons used to try to subjugate mages they created with their mana in the past.”

The Master’s expression grew serious too.

“That’s something Dragons would do. They were incredibly possessive creatures.”

“Indeed. If it was a surviving Dragon’s mana that flowed into Leah… it’s dangerous.”

Leah gulped.

“Well… even if Dragons are alive, Helix will take revenge so it’ll be fine eventually, right?”

“They could torment you until then, couldn’t they?”

Helix said worriedly.

“You became a mage thanks to Dragon’s mana, but… honestly, Dragon’s mana isn’t something humans can handle. It’s like a novice rider forcibly holding the reins of a powerful wild horse.”

He continued. Saying that whenever her body’s balance is disrupted, the Dragon’s mana would surely act up through those gaps. If there was a Dragon who considered Leah their mage, they wouldn’t miss those chances.

“No, I don’t lose my body’s balance that easily…”

“What nonsense lie is that.”

“……”

She had nothing to say.

She became healthier after becoming a mage, but originally Leah Piert was the weakest of the weak, a sunfish on the verge of cardiac arrest.

Without mana’s power, she would return to that state of health.

‘Absolutely not!’

Seeing her hardened expression, Helix spoke softly.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen.”

Her nose suddenly stung with emotion.

Perhaps due to the emotional stress from this assassination attempt, his handsome face had become somewhat gaunt.

‘Every time I get sick or face assassination threats, Helix will suffer like this again.’

She felt both reassured and sorry.

‘I don’t want to keep pushing Helix like this.’

Leah racked her brain hard.

‘I can’t have my health mortgaged to some Dragon who may or may not be extinct.’

Whether ghost or real, seeing how they spoke in her dream and how Helix and the Master talked about them, they were someone she didn’t want to get involved with.

‘What can I do? There must be a way… Even in the dream that unpleasant one just left, so I might have something…!’

She suddenly lifted her head.

“Helix, check my physical condition.”

“Physical condition?”

“Yes. Something might have changed.”

Helix took her wrist with puzzlement. After checking her pulse, he muttered.

“…Double core?”

***

“Double core?”

“You created another mana core.”

Leah blinked.

Of course, she had created another mana core in her dream using Helix’s mana.

‘If the dantian mana core falls, I can make a mana core in my heart!’

But to think that dream was real. She had wondered, but now that it became reality, she felt dazed.

Helix said.

“Moreover, fortunately the existing mana core in your dantian didn’t break either.”

Leah’s face brightened with joy.

The Master, who had been listening anxiously from the side, said.

“Th-then Lady… you now have two mana cores?”

Ruyan also drew in a breath.

“Does that mean she’s twice as strong?”

Leah quickly turned her head to Helix.

“Helix, is that true?”

“I just said so, didn’t I? Double core.”

“…So that’s what that meant.”

Leah shook her head, unable to grasp it.

“There’s something good that came from nearly dying.”

“You might become the youngest grand mage at this rate. Having two mana cores, in magic history there were only a few…”

“It’s not all good.”

Helix cut in.

“It’s an extremely rare case and… double core requires twice the mana.”

In a world dried up of mana like now, it could actually be dangerous.

“Hmm… like a supercar with bad fuel efficiency? But right now we’re in an oil shortage?”

“…What’s a supercar and what’s fuel efficiency?”

Leah, who had inadvertently spoken her thoughts, quickly waved her hand.

“Anyway, so it’s strong and cool but needs mana supply to be useful.”

“That’s right.”

She found herself looking at Helix before quickly collecting herself.

Helix couldn’t always be by her side supplying mana. He was a guardian, and he had his goal of taking revenge on Dragons too.

‘Moreover, I shouldn’t act like I’m entrusting my mana to Helix. We’re just in a contract relationship after all.’

Leah spoke bravely to Helix.

“Don’t worry too much. For now, until the mana supply issue is resolved, I’ll take it slow and adapt without being greedy.”

Helix was silent for a moment at her words.

“…I could help.”

“But Helix, you hate being treated like a mana supply battery.”

He did hate it.

But somehow, he felt hurt by Leah saying that.

‘Is it burdensome for me to give mana?’

Though she seemed used to making requests and having others serve her, having grown up as the sickly only daughter of a ducal family, Leah always maintained boundaries. While she would push through with kindness even if the other person was a bit uncomfortable, with requests she would only ask within limits that wouldn’t burden the other person.

‘I thought that side of her was good too, but…’

The thought that she would draw lines with him too made his mood sink. He blurted out.

“You can ask more of me, Leah.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you my contractor?”

“That’s why we should be more careful with each other.”

It was truly the right attitude, but right now it didn’t resonate with Helix.

“Our contract is far more special. Didn’t we promise each other full support?”

“W-we did, didn’t we?”

“Yes.”

So ask more of me.

He couldn’t add the last words and just nodded his head firmly.

***

Meanwhile in the capital of the Kingdom of Peiren.

When news of the bribed assassin was cut off, Baron Durford turned pale.

“They failed!”

He burst out in anger at Lord Trow.

“I trusted and assigned them because they were assassins introduced by the Trow family!”

“That can’t be… they were recommended as one of the most skilled in the underworld.”

“Then whoever recommended them must have been cross-eyed. How could they fail such a request? You’ll have to take responsibility for this!”

Baron Durford fumed.

Yan Trow, the eldest son of the Trow family, said to him.

“I deeply apologize. If you could tell us where you sent them, I will take responsibility and send the next assassin.”

“Ah, well that.”

Baron Durford suddenly stammered in confusion.

“Do, do I have to tell you even that?”

“But unless you tell us, we can’t handle the aftermath…”

“Bah, enough!”

At the Baron’s behavior, Lord Trow was certain.