“……”

“Even though it’s not the same situation, I thought the Duke of Aberdeen might be going through similar struggles….”

“……”

“That’s why I couldn’t ignore it.”

How could she dissuade a woman who smiled and said this?

Constantine sighed lightly and pulled her into his arms. Saena leaned her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I’ll do my best.”

Saena had no intention of neglecting her duties and dedicating herself entirely to research.

She agreed to try because she had the relevant knowledge and a record of success with Caligo.

She had already warned that it might not work well.

If it worked, great, but if it didn’t, it was beyond her control. It was a matter of her ability….

She didn’t want to give hope and then take it away, so she thought it was important to emphasize the possibility of failure.

“Don’t be busy with research because of that d*mn Guardian Spirit. Only spend an hour a day. No, maybe just an hour a week, and that guy will be grateful.”

“Yes, spending time with you is my priority.”

Saena chuckled in agreement.

“By the way… isn’t today the day?”

She asked while looking at the black diamond set in the Black Sword.

“What… Oh, right.”

“Who’s on duty this time… Ah, it’s me, I guess.”

Constantine sighed.

“Since it’s already late today, let’s do it tomorrow.”

“Hmm… But it might be noisier later….”

“……”

“Let me listen for just 10 minutes and tell him we’ll do it tomorrow. Otherwise, it’ll be a bigger mess.”

Ha. Constantine sighed again and agreed.

He had a lot to sigh about today.

“Can you move it over here?”

Saena left Constantine’s embrace and went to the console table, where she took a ring from the jewelry box and held it out.

The ring had a large black diamond set in it, densely inscribed with Arlesian, just like the one in the Black Sword.

“Only 10 minutes.”

“Yes.”

Reluctantly, Constantine took the ring and began to transfer Caligo’s power from the Black Sword to the black diamond in the ring.

The black diamond gradually darkened, and something seemed to be trapped inside, shimmering.

As soon as Saena took it and held it in her hand, a voice began to echo in her mind.

— Only once a week, and you’re so late! You’re being too unfair! And you’re not even my master! Give me back to my master!

As expected, Saena and Yuri’s joint research had successfully separated Caligo from Constantine.

They didn’t completely remove Caligo but created a place to contain him, effectively separating him.

The inscriptions on Constantine’s body still served as the central control, allowing him to recover and contain Caligo in his body if needed.

“Hmm? No, I can’t.”

— Why not! You’re the worst master I’ve ever seen among all the descendants of Kramer!

“You’ll have to be satisfied with me today.”

Initially, they considered various methods.

A method to block Caligo’s voice, a method to permanently separate him, and a method to materialize him like Morev and control him like other Guardian Spirits.

However, permanent separation had the drawback of losing control if the gem was lost.

Blocking the voice alone left the coldness in the body, which would be passed to the children during the succession.

Other methods were either impossible or beyond their grasp.

After considering all the pros and cons, they concluded that inscribing a compressed version of the control inscription on the gem was the best solution.

The idea came to Constantine while he was infusing Caligo’s power into the Black Sword. What if they compressed the control inscription from his body into the medium and made it recoverable?

This way, they could ensure the power could be recovered if the gem was lost or stolen.

After considering all possible scenarios, they drafted a plan, studied the original inscription’s operation, crafted the Arlesian inscription, and researched the method of inscribing it.

They studied the changes based on the inscribing method, conducted experiments, and more experiments….

It took a long time to achieve success.

When they finally managed to isolate Caligo in the black diamond and Constantine said he could touch Saena without hearing Caligo’s voice, they were overjoyed!

They toasted to their success.

— Ungrateful and unfilial brat!

“Well, the term ‘unfilial’ doesn’t quite fit.”

— What? I heard humans use this term in such situations.

“That’s when you’re talking about parents. But you’re a Guardian Spirit.”

— Oh, is that so? Then what word should I use in this situation?

However, this method that initially seemed successful overall had side effects.

They were truly unexpected side effects.

Constantine, who had separated Caligo into the Black Sword’s gem and paid no attention to him, went out hunting with the sword when the hunting season came.

But for some reason, Caligo couldn’t use his power well. His combat ability had mysteriously decreased, making it difficult to use power like before.

Though initially flustered, Constantine managed to proceed somehow, given his years of hunting experience.

However, he was too accustomed to binding monsters’ feet with Caligo’s power and striking their vital points or necks during that opening. When he bound their feet with Caligo’s power, it was much weaker than before, and several creatures broke free.

When Constantine was injured due to failed power control, he tried to hide it and secretly heal the wounds with the potion, but Saena suddenly found him out.

When she heard the whole story from Constantine, Saena thought this was serious.

Could it be that the ancient Kramers kept Caligo contained in their bodies rather than separating him because of combat power? What if Caligo’s combat ability never recovered to its previous level?

Worried they might have made an irreversible mistake, she and Yuri put their heads together to ponder the problem.

“Hmm…. While ‘ungrateful’ can be used even when not talking about parents, I don’t think my husband is being ungrateful, so it seems wrong semantically.”

— What’s wrong with it! He is ungrateful!

Still unable to figure out what was wrong, they tried talking with Caligo.

When they contained Caligo’s power in the gem and held it, they could hear his voice.

Though it was an unexpected feature, since it worked, Saena diligently engaged Caligo in conversation and listened to what he had to say.

Meanwhile, Constantine had to go hunting again and reluctantly took Caligo with him. Even though the power wasn’t the same as before, it was better than nothing.

But when he returned later, he said using the power went fairly well this time.

Why?

Saena, Constantine, and Yuri brainstormed various hypotheses.

After a while, they concluded that the longer Caligo was left alone, the weaker his power became.

It seemed that Caligo’s power source was his chatter (?).

“First of all, my husband hasn’t received any favor from you.”

— Why not! I have such amazing power and I lend it to him!

“That’s debatable, and….”

So, they decided to assign someone to listen to Caligo’s chatter.

They agreed to spend a few hours each week, at least two to three, playing with (?) Caligo.

If a hunt was approaching or Caligo’s power was needed, they would extend the time as needed.

— Your scent is terrible, but you have some good points. My master never corrected my mistakes!

“Your long life gives you a different perspective. Words can change over time.”

— True! Sometimes they do, but why?

“Language evolves.”

Caligo was very talkative.

When Saena learned the true reason for Constantine’s insomnia, she was quite surprised.

However, she listened half-heartedly and responded appropriately, making it bearable.

Caligo seemed to be more reserved with her, perhaps because he didn’t like her aura.

— By the way, your Guardian Spirit still hasn’t told me how to humanize, remember?

“Hmm? Just ask him directly.”

The responsibility for Caligo’s conversations included not only Constantine and Saena but also Yuri. Strangely enough, Yuri could also converse with him when holding the jewel. Though they wondered if this ability was possible for all beings with spirit power, it wasn’t something they could openly test with others, so they kept this secret among themselves.

‘Ah, why do I have to listen to that bastard’s chatter!’

Naturally, Yuri detested this (as did Caligo), but since having the duty every three weeks was obviously better than every two weeks, they forcibly(?) included him. When Yuri grumbled about why he had to be responsible, they suggested he could try to extract information about spirits and other things that only Caligo would know from living so long, and he agreed.

—He always says he doesn’t know, that’s why!

“Then maybe he really doesn’t know?”

—That’s impossible! Humans have the tendency to keep good things to themselves and not share…

“Time’s up.”

Just as Caligo’s rapid-fire speech was about to begin, Constantine took the jewel from Saena. The voice in her head instantly ceased.

“Oh, already?”

Ten minutes had passed without notice.

As Constantine received the jewel, his brow slightly furrowed, suggesting he could now hear the voice.

“What is it saying?”

“Just the usual nonsense. Don’t worry about it.”

Though Saena wanted to laugh at how Constantine and Caligo seemed like old frenemies at times like these, she barely held it in, knowing he would hate such sentiments.

“Is that so? Shall we go to bed then?”

Constantine nodded and carelessly put the jewel back in its box. Then he led her to the bedroom.

‘Should I ask Caligo tomorrow if he knows anything about Erenhorn?’

In reality, Saena was already frantically planning how to conduct her research.

* * *

They began research on Erenhorn and Duke Aberdeen.

The researchers were, as before, Saena and Yuri.

Yuri, who they thought was just helping Saena, surprisingly enjoyed the research.

“True. When I was desperately working, I didn’t know it was fun, but now it’s quite entertaining?”

He added with a smile, ‘I wonder if it’s because I’m doing it with you, Saya?’

“I’m so happy I can do these things together with you and discuss them too.”

Though it took five years, Yuri and Saena could finally collaborate, making such work possible.

Yuri’s knowledge of Arlesian was impressive, having clearly devoted a significant time studying it.

Without being able to interpret most of the Arlesian inscriptions on Constantine’s body, success might have been impossible.

Saena and Yuri’s Arlesian skills complemented each other, allowing them to interpret and deduce most things.

Moreover, Yuri provided appropriate advice and help with various research and experiments.

Beyond their Arlesian proficiency, their different approaches and tendencies proved helpful.

And this synergy of strengths shone in the Erenhorn research as well.

But it wasn’t entirely easy.

Though it was not as challenging to start as the Caligo research had been, it was definitely different from Caligo’s separation.

“Of course, since the Aberdeen family doesn’t have seals to contain Guardian Spirits, it’s natural…”

Apparently, Duke Aberdeen didn’t use body inscriptions to utilize Erenhorn’s power. Instead, the family had a covenant stone where they regularly offered blood, read the covenant text, and made contracts to inherit power.