The young Calliphe kept pushing back her long, flowing golden hair that seemed slightly bothersome.
Lynen, who had been watching, brought a leather strap from somewhere and lightly tied Calliphe’s hair into a ponytail.
“…To summarize the situation.”
He continued speaking while tidying up her stray hairs.
He had just finished listening to Calliphe’s explanation of what happened.
“The Mirror of Truth suddenly activated and drained a significant amount of your magic, and as a side effect, you became younger?”
“That’s right.”
Calliphe mumbled with her gaze lowered.
She couldn’t meet his eyes because her heart felt slightly ticklish while Lynen carefully arranged her hair.
Then Lynen gently lifted her chin with his knuckle.
Lynen’s expression, now facing her, was very stern.
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately after leaving the dungeon?”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it?”
Calliphe replied, sounding somewhat wronged.
“I needed time to think about whether it was reliable. I planned to tell you after organizing my thoughts and coming up with countermeasures.”
“You should have discussed countermeasures with me.”
“You were busy too. You seemed to be working on something earlier. Besides, Noah is my sponsored child…”
“I’m your fiancé.”
“A contracted one.”
“Which means I should be even more devoted during the contract period.”
Huh…?
Calliphe tilted her head in confusion.
Lynen’s typically cool expression somehow looked a bit sulky.
“I care about Noah too. You didn’t think I would consider our contractual relationship when dealing with Noah, did you?”
His tone conveyed considerable hurt feelings.
Indeed, Lynen wasn’t the type to calculate gains and losses when dealing with children.
‘Besides, in <Marino>, Lynen gradually starts seeing Noah like his own nephew.’
She realized she had been insensitive. Calliphe acknowledged her mistake and apologized.
“Sorry. Are you angry?”
After she asked cautiously, Lynen silently stared at her before briefly leaving his seat.
‘Oh no. Is he really that upset?’
He soon returned, unwrapping something with a rustling sound before popping it into Calliphe’s mouth.
“Mmph. Oh, a lemon candy?”
He promptly inserted a second one.
“Mmmph?”
Thanks to this, Calliphe now had one cheek bulging as she chewed with two candies in her mouth.
Lynen stared blankly at her, showing an uncharacteristic hint of helplessness. His eyes looked like someone seeing an unbelievably cute kitten.
Suddenly coming to his senses, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“…Ahem. Hmm.”
“…Why are you embarrassed?”
“Anyway, if you became younger due to magic depletion, it doesn’t seem like a major problem.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“If you’re worried, it might be good to seek advice from someone else.”
“Well, alright. It would be good to check, just in case.”
Calliphe crossed her shortened arms. Lynen secretly bit the inside of his lip.
“The Vice Archmage won’t do. He would remember what I looked like when I was young… Then I’ll have to ask that guy.”
Calliphe manipulated the diamond earring she always wore in case it might be needed.
It was Dovion’s summoning device.
“Come out.”
Whoosh—
A small cluster of light appeared before them, revealing Dovion curled up asleep in striped pajamas.
“Snore… Gack?!”
“Wake up.”
Thud. When Calliphe kicked him, Dovion jumped up in surprise.
“Huh? What, what is it?”
“I have something to ask you.”
“Who are you?”
He patted the head of the golden-haired child standing confidently with crossed arms.
“You shouldn’t kick adults carelessly. You’ll get grabbed by debt collectors saying ‘Got you!'”
Slap!
“Oww! You slapped my cheek?!”
“You seemed half-asleep.”
“Such a nasty temper, just like my benefactor— Ow, ow! Stop hitting me!”
“You shouldn’t hit adults, Calliphe.”
After Lynen’s polite intervention and explanation of the situation.
“So this is my benefactor? Hmph.”
Dovion, looking increasingly disheveled, finally understood the situation.
“…You seem even more ferocious now that you’re younger.”
“Shut up. Just tell me what you know. Can magic depletion cause someone’s body to become younger?”
“Well, I can’t say it’s impossible.”
Dovion answered while searching through his knowledge.
“But seeing that you’re healthy rather than weakened, it seems you have some power besides magic.”
“Well, maybe.”
Could it be due to the contaminated magic? It seemed that because it was attached to her magic, she hadn’t lost all her power.
Whatever the case, Dovion didn’t appear particularly interested unless it involved unusual inventions.
“Anyway, you should naturally return to your original form with time. Drinking a magic potion would make it happen faster.”
“That’s a relief. I’ll drink one right away.”
“Then try my creation! I needed clinical trials anyway!”
Dovion excitedly rummaged through his magic pouch.
But when he offered the potion, Calliphe shook her head.
“No. Take out something else.”
“What? Something more effective? Then you’ll need to sign a liability waiver first.”
“Not a magic restoration potion.”
Calliphe smiled mischievously like a troublemaker.
“Something that slows down magic recovery.”
“…What are you planning now?”
Lynen asked with some anxiety. Ignoring his concern, Calliphe boldly declared her plan.
She had already formulated it while Dovion was searching through his belongings.
“This is an opportunity. Lynen, you remember what I told you about the future, right?”
“Of course I do… Wait, you don’t mean—”
“Yes!”
Calliphe placed her hands on her hips triumphantly.
“I need to enter the martial tournament!”
Ah, headache. Lynen pressed his forehead.
“…What about your identity?”
“As Lynen Ortega’s sponsored child.”
“Without knowing swordsmanship or magic?”
“Right. But I have someone who can fight for me!”
Calliphe shuffled in her slippers toward the sword Lynen had placed in the corner of the room.
She reached out and grabbed the new scabbard beside it.
It was the former King Slime, now a magic sword, which Lynen had kept overnight just in case.
“This one will fight.”
“Huh? Me fight?”
The magic sword asked, half-asleep.
“Yes. You can move the sword when I hold you, right? Can you fight well?”
“Oh! I’m good!”
“How good?”
“Like a weak human?”
That was more than enough.
When Calliphe looked at Lynen triumphantly, he sighed deeply.
“What about your promise to watch Noah’s match?”
“That’s… unavoidable, isn’t it? I can’t protect Noah from the audience seats.”
“……”
“Please take care of Noah for me.”
Though reluctant, this seemed like the best option for now. Lynen could only nod.
Dovion took out a small potion.
“If you drink this, your magic recovery will become very slow. But there’s one thing to be careful about.”
“What is it?”
“You need to keep your magic as calm as possible. If your magic receives a strong shock, you’ll suddenly return to your original form. In a rather uncomfortable way.”
“How strong a shock are we talking about?”
“Hmm…”
Dovion rolled his eyes before answering.
“Like getting hit directly by another spell or aura?”
Lynen frowned deeply. Before he could intervene, Calliphe quickly nodded.
“I won’t get hit on purpose. Simple enough.”
And so, the next day.
Noah, Mihail, Imelen, and Lucilia welcomed a new(?) member.
“Hello, little ones?”
Calliphe, her hair now dyed brown, smiled brightly.
“I’m Ferica.”
Translator
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midori
thanks! i just really love the communication between calliphe and lynen. they have mouths, and they speak! it’s such a simple thing, but so many novels have mis/lack of communication issues.
lolol lynen can’t resist finding everything little calliphe do cute. he’s probably going to be a doting dad if he has a daughter, though he’ll be a good dad regardless