There were too many items piled everywhere.

“When treasures are stacked so carelessly like this, they really do look like a mountain of garbage…”

Leah gained a new perspective as she surveyed the chaotic hoard. “Can we even find magical armor in this mess?” she wondered aloud, overwhelmed by the disorganized collection that stretched before them.

“It’s more disorganized than I remembered,” Helix frowned, his brow furrowing as he took in the scene. “We might not find it in one go. Let’s at least look around.”

The couple began searching through the treasure vault for the magical armor, carefully examining the scattered items. “This is a gold bar, this is a crystal goblet, this is a platinum tiara,” Leah catalogued as they went along. She felt she might soon view gold as casually as ordinary stones at this rate.

After rubbing her tired eyes and wandering around for a while, she called out to Helix. “I don’t see anything that looks like armor at all. Do you?”

“Strange. I was certain I heard about it before…”

They decided to take a short break before resuming their search. Looking at the treasures piled throughout the vast cave, Leah muttered, “I don’t understand. The library was so well-organized, so why is this place such a mess? It would be so much more useful if everything were properly classified.”

“Well, if bold grave robbers ever came here, it would take them quite a while to search through everything,” Helix reasoned.

“True, thieves wouldn’t bother stealing books,” Leah nodded, accepting his logic. “I should probably leave it as is until I can implement a proper system.”

“Good thinking. There’s no winning against the allure of wealth.”

“…I agree with that sentiment, but why does it sound so much more ominous when you say it?” At her words, he smiled gently—the serene smile of a man who had seen and experienced many unpleasant things in life.

Helix changed the subject. “If we can’t find the magical armor, it would be nice to find something else useful. What would you like to have, Leah?”

“Hmm… maybe a magical communication device?”

“And?”

“What else? I’d love something like an affinity spell.”

“Affinity spell? You mean a spell to be loved?”

As Helix spoke, a ruby necklace sitting in the corner of the treasure vault briefly glimmered with light. However, the couple, focused on their conversation, failed to notice it.

“Leah, aren’t you already loved?”

“Not me, other people… Oh?”

Leah interrupted herself, pointing behind Helix. “That looks like clothing. Could it be armor?”

They quickly got up and approached the item for a closer look. It was a long tunic-shaped garment meant to be worn as a single piece. When worn, it would have long sleeves extending from shoulders to wrists, with a loose fit flowing from neck to ankles. Despite its simple design, it was elaborately decorated with complex embroidery in gold thread.

“Wearing something like this would make anyone look like a grand Archmage,” she murmured.

“Indeed. It seems familiar somehow.”

Helix spread out the magic tunic and examined it carefully. “It appears to have barrier functions. And it seems to adjust its size to fit the wearer…”

“Then this must be what we’re looking for!”

Leah quickly snatched the tunic from his hands and threw it over herself. The garment, which had seemed enormous like a giant sack, immediately shrank to fit her body perfectly.

“Wow, this is amazing! Now we just need to check how the protection works.”

“…Wait, no.”

Helix firmly grabbed the magic tunic that now enveloped Leah’s body. Such magical artifacts often contained unexpected functions that could be dangerous.

‘Leah, why are you always so impulsive!’

He should have recognized this pattern when she had hastily put Azura’s mana fragment in her mouth before. Now she had instantly donned an unidentified garment without hesitation. Internally regretting the situation, he tried to speak as calmly as possible.

“Let’s properly examine this tunic first.”

“…Helix, why does your voice sound so urgent?”

Because I’m worried about you.

Helix held back, afraid that if he opened his mouth, a waterfall of scolding would pour out. He didn’t want to upset her right before he had to leave for the contaminated lands.

“Leah, try taking it off first.”

“Okay… huh?”

Leah became flustered. No matter how much she struggled and pulled, the magic tunic clung to her body, completely stuck. Even trying to remove the clothes underneath didn’t help.

Her face turned pale. “It won’t come off!”

Helix’s face turned ashen. “Wait a moment.”

He examined the magic tunic thoroughly, looking for any explanations or inscriptions. He checked various parts with elaborate embroidery, seams, and gem-embedded sections, even infusing mana into them.

Leah’s ears turned red. “Mmph…”

With Helix touching various parts of her body while infusing mana, she felt ticklish all over, and a warmth slowly began to rise within her.

‘This isn’t the time for that!’

She desperately suppressed her reactions. Getting aroused while unable to remove this strange magical tunic would hardly help their situation.

‘I need to focus on getting this off first… Huh?’

Something felt odd.

She knew her ears and neck were burning hot, but other parts of her body were heating up too. Her mana cores in her heart and lower abdomen began spinning fiercely, making wind and flame elements dance within her body.

“Leah, writing has appeared on the back of the tunic.”

“W-what does it say?”

He muttered something about ancient language before hurriedly reading it aloud.

“This garment is a test given by the great mage Moska to his disciples.”

“A test?”

“It says… it cannot be removed until you surpass your master?”

“What?!”

Leah turned around in shock. Helix had gone pale and muttered, “Come to think of it, I remember hearing that eccentric old man was making such clothing. I thought it was just like him…”

Leah asked urgently, “So what happened then? Back then?”

“To old man Moska? All his disciples ran away.”

“……”

She fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, she remembered a martial arts novel she had read in Korea in her past life.

‘So it’s like… forced seclusion training, but with clothing?’

Even in martial arts novels, wasn’t it only crazy masters who forcibly confined unwilling disciples to train them? And this mage actually made clothing that couldn’t be removed while forcing training?

Feeling suddenly dizzy, Leah held her forehead.

“Leah, are you alright?”

“Ugh…”

She looked up at him and opened her mouth.

“Hey, Helix.”

She swallowed nervously.

“…How powerful was this mage Moska?”

“…He was called the Archmage of Archmages.”

Cold sweat ran down Leah’s back.

“…Helix, you won’t run away from me if I can’t take this off, will you?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Right, that would never happen.”

Her expression, which had briefly relaxed into a smile, became gloomy again.

“But that means I won’t be able to wash properly until I become an incredibly powerful super-duper-Archmage? Should I learn a shower spell? But I don’t have water affinity!”

Helix reacted to Leah’s words like a malfunctioning robot. His head turned toward her slowly, almost creaking with the movement.

“…Shower spell?”

“Yes. I still need to wash even with clothes on, since I can’t take them off.”

Leah can’t take off her clothes.

Helix’s face hardened upon hearing what seemed like a terrifying pronouncement. Nothing could be more frightening than this.

“…Can’t you just quickly become a super-duper-Archmage and take it off?”

He hurriedly sat her down in front of him.

“I-is that possible?”

“Yes.”

Caught up in his decisive answer, Leah nodded.

Helix’s large hands busily infused mana into her heart and lower abdomen.

“Leah, you’re already an Archmage, so with my help, you can quickly become a super-duper-Archmage. Stay strong.”

“Oh? O-okay, I’ll try my best…”

Something seemed odd, but there was nothing wrong with what Helix said. She sat cross-legged, took deep breaths, and concentrated on circulating both her own mana and the mana he was providing throughout her body.

Helix’s mana poured into her at a frightening speed.

Groaning with concentration, Leah suddenly felt something strange and turned to look at him.

“But Helix, is there really a need to rush like this? We could go outside and take it off slowly.”

“Slowly? What are you saying?”

Helix looked serious, clearly disturbed by what he’d heard.

“With that old man Moska, who knows what else he might have done to the clothing. It’s better to take it off quickly and leave it here.”

“…I don’t think he would have gone that far?”

“Leah, you don’t know the personality of eccentric mages from the magical era. Right, this isn’t the time. Let’s try a mana shower quickly.”

“……”

Leah blinked in confusion.

‘Isn’t a mana shower that emergency treatment we used when treating potion addicts?’

But Helix’s expression now looked even more urgent than back then. After a moment of suspicion, she nodded obediently.

“If you say so, I guess you must be right.”

He hesitated. A flash of guilt crossed his handsome face. However, there was no time for lengthy deliberation in such an emergency.

Fwooosh!

Releasing the maximum amount of mana in his long guardian life, the mana shower directed at Leah began.

***

Days later, Leah emerged from Azura’s treasure vault looking haggard and drained.

Neither of them held the magic tunic in their hands anymore, but that no longer mattered. After the continuous guardian-grade rapid mana shower, Leah had become a great Archmage who no longer needed protective gear.

Though she had quickly reached super-duper-Archmage level, she couldn’t enjoy the achievement.

“Ugh…”

Her entire body ached and felt numb. Hearing Leah’s groans, Helix fidgeted anxiously, watching her with concern. She regretted her actions.

‘I shouldn’t have removed the tunic so hastily in my excitement…’

Why had she forgotten that she had taken off all her clothes underneath? And why had Helix continued pouring mana showers on her and clung to her even after the magic tunic was removed?

“…Liar.”

Helix flinched at Leah’s murmur.

“You said you’d make my body immune to pain, but this is contract fraud.”

“Ahem.”

Helix turned his head and cleared his throat.

“I’ve filled you with plenty of mana, so get some good rest.”

Though he spoke apologetically, his face glowed like a peeled egg. His already handsome face radiated happiness.

With that blissful expression, he smiled tenderly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Still, Leah, thanks to you, I feel I can leave with peace of mind in many ways.”

Leah glared at Helix.

‘Why do I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of even though I’ve grown stronger?’

He gently caressed her ear as she looked at him with a sullen face. His touch was full of affection.

“Aren’t you going to wish me a safe journey?”

“Of course you should come back safely.”

Leah made a “hmph” sound and lightly grabbed his collar. As he allowed himself to be pulled closer, she whispered:

“If you get hurt, you’re sleeping in a separate room.”

“…I promise to return completely unharmed.”

Only then did Leah smile slyly.

“You know that I worry about you just as much as you worry about me, right?”

She rubbed her forehead against his cheek and said:

“Come back to me safely. Otherwise, I’ll fall ill. And then I’ll set fires everywhere and destroy things, becoming an evil Archmage.”

“And it’s my job to discipline such evil Archmages.”

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Despite her words, her laughter was refreshing. He also laughed and nuzzled his face against hers.

His beloved partner was so precious.

As much as he regretted their parting moment, her smiling eyes, which made him look forward to their reunion, seemed especially beautiful today. He wanted to hear more of her playful, melodious laughter.

“Leah, I think I’m becoming addicted to your laughter.”

“Just come back quickly and you can see and hear it again.”

Yes, that’s what he would do.

Before her laughter became an auditory hallucination, before the blue sparkle in her eyes became a lingering vision.

“I’ll return as quickly as possible.”