Calliphe spoke indifferently.

“There wasn’t any drug though? Maybe you mixed up the glasses?”

“What? Impossible!”

“If you’re suspicious, why don’t you drink it yourself?”

When Calliphe held out her unfinished glass, the dealer looked at her suspiciously.

His suspicion began to waver as he saw how clear-headed Calliphe appeared.

Did I really make a mistake because I was drunk…?

Just as he put the glass to his lips with that half-doubting expression, Calliphe grabbed the back of his head while forcing the drink into his mouth.

“Drink it all up.”

“Kugh! Wah, ah! M*rder! Help!”

After a confusing few seconds where it wasn’t clear who was the aggressor.

“…Ughh.”

The dealer passed out with tears in his eyes.

“Tsk tsk. I was going to go easy on you for old times’ sake, but you didn’t even appreciate that.”

Calliphe was quite surprised when she saw this man.

Because he was an NPC she often saw in <Marino>.

‘Secret merchant Dobien.’

He was a merchant who would appear irregularly to sell special items that weren’t available in regular shops.

‘Now I remember, he was the one whose affection I raised with Legend 25 Years.’

She thought raising his affection would get her a discount, but he just shared a few useless bits about his past and that was it.

Now that she knew who he was, she could vividly remember his dialogue too.

[Secret Merchant Dobien]

―Before doing this secret merchant business, I worked for an illegal organization. Sigh. If I hadn’t turned a blind eye to my conscience back then and had gotten out, I wouldn’t have become a scapegoat for their cleanup. Thanks to that, I’m a fugitive for life. And I couldn’t achieve my dream either.

―This is the first time a customer has given me such a precious gift. I’m touched.

[You]

―Then maybe you could lower the price a little…

[Secret Merchant Dobien]

―Since you’re so kind-hearted, you’ll help this pitiful me more, right? From now on, prices are doubled.

[You]

―Give me back my drink.

How much she had cursed after seeing that event.

The memory making her angry again, Calliphe repeatedly pounded the dealer’s head with the sharp knuckles of her clenched fist.

“Wake up, conscience conscience! You b*stard.”

[Using the Villainess’s Parenting Method on target ‘Dobien’]

[Conscience +1]

[Conscience +1]

[Conscience +1]

“This is my gift to you!”

After all this, if you still stick around here, that’s your karma.

Unaware that Lynen was secretly watching in bewilderment, Calliphe thoroughly searched the dealer’s possessions.

What she eventually pulled out was another magical tool.

It looked identical to the one Calliphe had received, but was much more intricate and clean.

“As I thought, the one he gave me was fake.”

Fake?

Lynen, who had been observing the situation, gaped slightly.

‘To think the first one handed over was fake. I hadn’t noticed.’

Just as Calliphe was gathering the items and about to leave.

“Miss. Leaving just like that?”

The bar owner and waiter slowly approached. They were in cahoots with the dealer.

“How can you leave alone after doing that to our regular customer? Our losses are severe.”

“Losses, you say?”

Calliphe’s back hit the entrance door as she stepped backward.

“Then let me call in some customers.”

“What?”

Bang! Calliphe threw open the door.

An unexpected sight was revealed.

“What’s all this?”

People were crowded in front of the bar.

And their energy was not normal.

Their stern gazes, which seemed to say ‘How dare you waste our precious after-work time like this,’ were all directed at the bar owner.

“W-why are all these people gathered here?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting!”

At that moment, the boys shouted in unison.

They were none other than the very children Calliphe had sent on errands.

“The event begins now! For exactly one hour, unlimited beer!”

“Pay for one glass and drink unlimited amounts! Hurry while the owner’s gone crazy!”

The boys shouted out the promotional lines Calliphe had instructed them to use.

Bang!

Meanwhile, Calliphe, who had drawn attention by punching the door, grinned.

“Limited to the first 50 people.”

There was a moment of silence, and then.

“Woaaah!”

“Kyaaak!”

People with crazed eyes poured in like a broken dam.

The determination to get compensation for their long wait and the desire for free stuff drove people into a frenzy.

“Get out of my way! I was here first!”

“Owner! Six beers here, quick!”

“Ten here! No, make it twenty!”

“Ah, ah, ah, what is this!”

While the bar owner was being pushed around by the flooding customers.

Calliphe slipped out as leisurely as a cat.

Not only had she achieved her goal cleanly, but she’d even managed to get her revenge without lifting a finger.

Lynen was dumbfounded by this unexpected development.

‘…Is this really Calliphe Offensa? Could it be someone else disguised as her?’

The Calliphe he knew was a troublemaker who would crash uninvited parties and pull noblewomen’s hair just for talking to him.

‘When did she get so clever? No, she always had magical knowledge, but this kind of shrewdness…’

One thing was clear though.

Given how she’d turned this hard-won trading opportunity upside down, she probably wasn’t planning anything dangerous with illegal magical tools.

‘If she were, she would have maintained good relations with the dealer.’

Lynen debated whether to keep following Calliphe.

But just then.

While the bar owner was dealing with the screaming customers, he saw the waiter opening the back door and calling someone.

Soon, several strong men emerged from behind the door.

They each grabbed weap*ns and headed outside. They were clearly going after Calliphe.

“……”

Now that he knew.

As a knight, he couldn’t just ignore someone in danger.

Even if that someone was Calliphe.

Tsk. Clicking his tongue softly, Lynen quietly followed after them.

* * *

I walked through the street that had gotten even more crowded than before.

Though I had been nervous while drinking with the dealer earlier, now I felt fine. In fact, I was in high spirits because things had gone well.

‘Good thing I took the antidote before coming here.’

It helped that I’d taken it preventively, since the meeting place was a bar.

Did the silver-haired man take the antidote too? Even if he had, it probably wouldn’t have affected him much since he was a Sword Master.

‘But he probably couldn’t tell the magical tool was fake.’

Unless you had Calliphe’s keen eye for magic and magical tools, coming from a magical family, you would have been completely fooled.

That must be why the silver-haired man couldn’t get his hands on the magical tool.

‘Because of that, he couldn’t respond to the accident and his eye condition worsened.’

But don’t worry, silver-haired man.

That won’t happen now.

‘It ended well.’

The only worry was that I had to drink faster than expected, but fortunately I was surprisingly fine.

Calliphe’s alcohol tolerance seemed higher than expected.

“Even the drinking habit is exactly like mine.”

While I was thinking that, a passing woman gave me a strange look.

“What’re you looking at?”

“Eek!”

I just asked, but she got scared and ran away.

I hadn’t even smiled, is my face that scary now?

“Anyway… time to go home.”

While looking around for the carriage stop, I saw people returning home with bread for dinner.

That reminded me of something I’d forgotten.

“Right. Our maid told me what day it is today.”

Now that I knew, it felt awkward to just ignore it.

It seemed too late to go to another district now anyway.

After thinking briefly, I turned and went deeper into the market street.

“Bakery… bakery. Ah, is that it?”

I saw the sign I was looking for in the distance.

I walked straight ahead carefully, trying not to bump into people.

But suddenly, someone touched the back of my neck.

I turned around quickly in surprise.

“…?”

There were only ordinary people passing by, nothing behind me.

“What was that?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I entered the bakery. And pointing at an appetizing cream cake, I said.

“I’ll take that one.”

“Ma’am, that’s the sign.”