‘Let me not forget my purpose.’

I double-checked my quest.

[Quest activated!]

[To achieve the hidden ending, you must return Noah’s potential guardian to his rightful place. Deceive the rebel Yulid and join his side.]

[Failure penalty: Unconsciousness for 24 hours]

The quest remained incomplete.

Surely they must know that I’ve betrayed the resistance and joined their side.

‘Does he still not recognize me as an ally?’

When Yulid tilted his head slightly, his fine ashen hair scattered with a soft rustle.

He hadn’t even looked my way since earlier, acting completely disinterested.

‘This feels suspicious…’

Through my uneasiness, I heard his voice.

“Yes, I’ve heard the story. You brought someone interesting.”

“Yes, yes! This woman possesses special abilities. She nullified my black magic twice!”

“Hmm.”

“With her on our side, we can greatly reduce our losses even if those resistance bastards use black magic.”

“That may be true. And what about you?”

“…Pardon?”

The look in his eyes as he gazed down at Nicker was ice-cold.

“What use is a decrepit black magic user now?”

Nicker, turning pale, hurriedly replied:

“D-don’t worry! I can still move. I’ll gather sacrifices on my own!”

“Nicker. You should think before you speak.”

Yulid scratched the edge of his eyebrow, looking troubled.

“Your identity has been exposed to them. How do you plan to gather sacrifices alone?”

“But…!”

“Just clock out.”

Whoosh—thud.

Yulid’s sword sliced through Nicker’s neck.

“…!”

Standing right beside them, I was so shocked I forgot to breathe.

‘Is, is this guy insane?!’

When I saw him in “Marino,” he seemed like just an ambitious villain, but seeing him in person, he was completely ruthless.

“This longsword really doesn’t suit my hand.”

After tossing the sword to the floor, he finally looked at me.

“So you’re the defector who wants to join us.”

“Defector? I was properly scouted… urgh!”

Suddenly, he ripped the earring from my earlobe.

It was one of Lynen’s perception-disrupting magical tools that I had been wearing to conceal my identity when entering the underground city where the Black Hand operated.

“I confiscated it just in case, and I was right.”

Seeing my revealed face, he smiled slyly.

“Hello, Lady Offensa.”

“…”

I covered my bleeding ear. But the chill I felt was greater than the immediate pain.

‘This b*stard is more dangerous than I thought.’

My plan was designed for dealing with a rational person who weighs their own gains and losses, not a reckless madman who acts without consideration, like someone with a death wish.

“Lady Offensa?”

“Why would a noble come all the way here?”

Yulid’s subordinates, who appeared to be his aides, murmured among themselves.

Yulid also asked curiously:

“Why would a fluttering noble lady venture this far? Don’t you value your life?”

“…When my family is in danger, of course I have to step up.”

“Family? As far as I know, you have no blood relatives. You’re not even on good terms with Marquis Offensa.”

“House Offensa itself is my family. It will become mine—”

“Stop the boring talk and tell the truth while you have the chance.”

Yulid looked down at me emotionlessly.

“I’m considering whether to hand you over to my ‘collaborator’ alive or dead.”

“…”

So he plans to hand me over to Henrik.

Gulp. I swallowed dryly.

‘I can’t let that happen. The moment I’m handed over to Henrik, I’m dead.’

Yet I couldn’t honestly reveal my purpose either.

Telling him I was after the brainwashing drug to save the Vice Archmage and the Magic Tower, and to have him executed instead, would only cause me harm.

‘But I did prepare for having my identity exposed.’

I had anticipated he might hand me over to Henrik. So I had thought of a way to buy time at least.

By exploiting Yulid’s weakness.

‘Originally I planned to use it to gain his trust, but now saving my life is more urgent.’

I recalled the duel event between Noah and Yulid from “Marino.”

Yulid was strong then too. He was a formidable opponent for Noah, who hadn’t yet reached adulthood.

‘No matter how much I raised Noah’s swordsmanship or magic stats, he always lost to Yulid, resulting in bad endings.’

But if Noah possessed a monster core as an item, the story changed.

When Yulid approached to finish Noah off, he suddenly experienced extreme pain.

[Yulid]

—Ugh, d*mn it… what’s happening… ARGHH!

Thud!

[Noah]

—W-what happened? He suddenly vomited blood and fainted…

—Oh, there’s something in the blood. This is… a larva?

Yulid vomited what appeared to be larvae along with blood.

‘So that’s why the monster core was the item needed for victory.’

From the circumstances, it seemed the insects reacted to the monster core and went berserk, causing Yulid extreme pain.

When viewing the event, I wondered why he would keep such things in his body, but now I understand.

‘It was Henrik and the Young Marquis’s doing.’

To control the new leader of the Black Hand according to their wishes. From the beginning, it was clear their support was behind Yulid’s rebellion.

Yulid would want to get rid of the insects in his body while cooperating with them.

He’d prefer to remove them without his collaborators knowing.

I decided to use this information.

“…You asked why I came all the way here?”

“Yes.”

“It’s obvious. Because I’m desperate enough to risk danger.”

“Desperate?”

“…It’s a life-or-death matter.”

I placed my hand on my abdomen.

“Young Marquis Caiman fed me something strange. I don’t know what it was, but for the past few days, I’ve been experiencing severe abdominal pain occasionally.”

“…”

Yulid’s brow furrowed after looking momentarily surprised. He probably thought of the insects in his own body.

“What does that have to do with why you came here?”

“Because I had to conceal my identity to meet Henrik, the Young Marquis’s confidant. He would know the treatment, so I planned to pretend to be on his side and extract information.”

“Are you saying I’m working with the Young Marquis?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t know that much? Besides, you just mentioned a ‘collaborator’ yourself.”

“Ha.”

Yulid laughed briefly with an expression that said “See?” His gaze had softened slightly compared to earlier.

He seemed drawn to the idea of learning the treatment from Henrik. By using me, he wouldn’t need to reveal his weakness to his subordinates.

However, he demanded proof.

“How can I believe that?”

“What?”

“How can you prove you’ve fallen victim to the Young Marquis’s scheme?”

“That’s…”

“I think cutting open your stomach would make it clear.”

You, you madman!

“Don’t worry. I’ll close you back up nicely.”

Just as he approached me with a dagger in hand:

“Stay away, you son of a… cough!”

[Quest Failed!]

[You have failed to deceive the rebel Yulid and become his ally.]

[Failure penalty activated: Unconsciousness for 24 hours]

I suddenly vomited thick blood.

“Cough, cough!”

With each cough, a surprisingly large amount of blood poured out. It seemed excessive.

Unconsciousness, they said!

‘This isn’t unconsciousness, it’s losing consciousness due to excessive bleeding…!’

Even as I inwardly exclaimed in disbelief, the thread of my consciousness snapped.

When Calliphe Offensa vomited blood and fainted, Yulid blinked in surprise.

“Did she just kill herself?”

One of his subordinates quickly rushed forward to check Calliphe’s condition.

“She seems to have lost consciousness after vomiting blood from another cause. It appears her claim about being a victim wasn’t a lie.”

“…Really?”

“Should we lock her in prison for now?”

After a moment of silence, Yulid elegantly twirled his dagger before sheathing it.

He had intended to kill this woman who dared to look down on him and infiltrate to use him.

But if she had fallen victim to the same scheme as himself, she could be useful.

“Take our guest to a room.”

A faint glimmer of expectation settled in Yulid’s eyes as he looked at Calliphe.