“Wait.”

Calliphe stopped Raul just as he was about to explain.

“We don’t have time to dawdle. Open the door first—we don’t know when Noah will return.”

“Hmph. Understood.”

Raul produced a piece of wire from somewhere, held it in his mouth, and skillfully manipulated Noah’s door lock with a series of clicks.

‘He’s quite dexterous with just his muzzle…’

While Calliphe silently marveled, the door opened with a soft click. The neat interior came into view, and she quickly slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind them.

“Now, tell me. What do we need first?”

“Your magic sword, my lady. And it would be good to check what those villains have tampered with… though come to think of it, maybe we don’t need to intervene anymore?”

“Hmm?”

Raul tilted his head with a whine.

“I already spilled the juice containing the aura absorption potion, didn’t I? That should have foiled their plan.”

“No, that was just regular juice.”

“What?”

“At first, I also suspected they’d drugged the juice.”

That was why she had been secretly watching them.

‘But something seemed off.’

In the future scene she’d witnessed through the Mirror of Truth, Noah had wielded an aura. Though he couldn’t control it properly and it went berserk, the aura had definitely emanated from his sword. That’s why he was disqualified on suspicion of using artifacts or magical tools.

‘If something had been detected in his body, they would have accused him of taking illegal drugs, not using tools.’

That realization had prompted her to glance at Noah’s window when she felt that eerie sensation.

“That’s when I saw it—flickering light in Noah’s room, along with a human shadow.”

“What? Then their real objective wasn’t to make him drink the juice…”

“Exactly. They wanted to lure Noah away so their accomplice could move freely.”

The accomplice was likely someone Viscount Gallard had bribed to smuggle in the aura absorption potion.

Raul asked in surprise, “Then why did you tell me to spill the juice?”

“Because it annoyed me.”

“…What a terrible personality.”

“Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, this means there’s only one place where the aura absorption potion could have been used, right?”

Calliphe’s gaze shifted to one side—to Noah’s sword propped against the wall.

She took out Noah’s sword and her magic sword Ortie, then looked at Raul.

“Here are the items you mentioned. Now tell me Lynen’s plan.”

“We need to feed the magical beast core I brought to the magical beast residing in that sword.”

“…To make it stronger?”

“Yes. Then we transfer it to the young master’s sword.”

“How can we move something already bound to a sword… Oh.”

Suddenly recalling their dungeon experience, Calliphe asked Ortie, “That’s right—you tried to move from a sword to a shield, didn’t you? But you whined that you could only transfer to another sword.”

—I never whined.

“Anyway, you can move between swords, right?”

—Mmm.

It seemed Lynen had remembered this too and formulated his plan accordingly. Realizing his thinking, Calliphe smirked.

“I get it. We’ll transfer you to Noah’s sword to consume the aura absorption potion—making it disappear without a trace, erasing all evidence it ever existed. Right?”

“That’s exactly it!”

Raul’s tail wagged vigorously.

“That way, young master Noah won’t notice anything strange, and he’ll be able to perform at his full ability.”

Raul thought it was perfect, but Calliphe’s expression remained somewhat dissatisfied.

“Hmm…”

“My lady? Is something bothering you?”

“No, it’s all good. A very gentlemanly solution, just like Lynen.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“If we follow this plan, their scheme simply vanishes—nothing happens, right?”

“Yes, that’s right?”

“Then we lose our justification to go after Viscount Gallard.”

“…!”

“We even secured that quack apothecary as a witness. What a waste.”

Raul’s jaw dropped.

“But that’s not the point! Right now, the young master’s safety is more important than anything else, isn’t it?”

“Hmph. I know that.”

Calliphe pouted.

“I’m just saying it’s a bit disappointing.”

“Phew, let’s please just stick to the plan. If you cause trouble, our lord will get wrinkles between his eyebrows.”

“…”

Somehow, she had no retort to that.

Licking her lips, Calliphe held out the magical beast core Raul had brought to Ortie.

“Eat it. Absorb it.”

—If I eat this, can I get rid of you?

“Would that work?”

—Then I don’t want to eat it.

“You don’t have the right to refuse.”

Calliphe shoved the magical beast core into Ortie.

—Waaah! You’re bullying me again!

“Be quiet. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll be living with me from now on instead of the small human.”

—Gasp!

“If you want to return to the small human, do as I say.”

—Sniff!

Ortie tearfully absorbed the magical beast core. Sky-blue jelly oozed from the blade and gradually swallowed the core.

—May humans perish! Except the small human!

“Yes, yes.”

After consuming the entire core, Ortie transferred to Noah’s sword as instructed by Calliphe.

—I feel strong power from this sword.

“Absorb it all.”

—It’s hard because it’s spread throughout every corner. It’ll take a long time. So boring.

“When you finish, the small human will be extremely grateful, you know? He’ll say you’re the only one who could help.”

—Really?

“Really. He’ll treat you like a boss.”

—Boss!!

Ortie became fired up.

—I’ll protect the small human!

The sky-blue slime wriggled enthusiastically, beginning to consume every trace of the aura absorption potion infused in Noah’s sword.

Raul whispered to Calliphe, “Will the young master really do that?”

Calliphe smiled wickedly.

“You believe that? Should I also promise him a jade bed?”

“Such a terrible character…”

As Ortie worked diligently, gray energy rippled through its transparent sky-blue slime.

Seeing this, Raul gritted his teeth.

“They really did tamper with aura. Such a vile act, knowing how dangerous it is!”

Just as Raul was thinking how fortunate it was that their plan was proceeding smoothly—

—We have a problem.

“A problem?”

Ortie burped uncomfortably.

—The energy is too unstable. It’s difficult to contain properly.

“What? That can’t be. Our lord carefully selected this magical beast core specifically for an aura user of this level.”

Lynen’s calculations had been precise. The variable was that Dillen had forced in so much aura that it strained his own body.

Calliphe crossed her arms and asked, “How long can you hold it?”

—I’m not sure. But there will be more swordplay, right? If there’s too much movement, I might… explode.

“Explode?!”

Raul shook his head frantically.

“No, no! Too dangerous. If you’ve absorbed the aura, come back quickly.”

—I’ve only eaten a little bit. It will take a long time to consume it all.

“How long?”

—Veeeery long.

It would likely take all night.

“D*mn it…”

Growing anxious, Raul quickly proposed an alternative.

“Then let’s just steal the young master’s sword. They’ll provide a temporary replacement for the tournament.”

Using an unfamiliar sword suddenly would affect Noah both mentally and in terms of performance, but they had no choice.

Raul expected Calliphe to agree, but instead—

“Why waste this perfect opportunity?”

“What?!”

Calliphe was smiling ominously.

“An incident is bound to happen anyway.”

“But then the young master will—!”

“Noah won’t be in any danger.”

Calliphe retrieved her own sword, now ordinary after Ortie had left it.

“I’ll recover Ortie before the explosion.”

“But how can you do that during the match?”

“That’s precisely why it’s possible. There will be plenty of opportunities for the swords to clash.”

“…You don’t mean—”

“Yes, I do.”

Calliphe smiled slyly. The little girl with dyed brown hair elegantly flipped her long locks and declared arrogantly:

“I’m Noah’s semifinal opponent tomorrow.”