“Slash!”

The aura that Lynen instantly unleashed cut through the monster’s body.

However, it was only momentary.

‘The body becomes blurry?’

The moment the aura passed through, the monster became hazy like an afterimage. Then it regained its clear form.

“So it even has abilities. Quite a powerful monster.”

“Is it tough then?”

“As if.”

If it can’t be solved with power, let’s think about whether there’s not enough power.

Lynen swung countless blades with quick slashes too fast to be seen.

Under the relentless attacks, the monster that had been dodging while flickering like an afterimage finally screamed and fell below the roof.

Lynen quickly caught the falling Noah and handed him to Calliphe.

“Get to safety.”

“Got it!”

Calliphe turned and ran with Noah.

That sight was caught in the monster’s retina.

Several clones burst out from the fallen monster.

The clones passed by Lynen like the wind. Their target was Noah who was being carried by Calliphe.

“Grrrr! Keng!”

How dare you.

As Lynen’s eyes flashed with blue aura, his form became blurry. It was such a fast movement that it left afterimages.

The next moment.

Slash―

The blue aura drew a single line along the sword’s path.

The aura sword, refined to extreme power, became thin as a thread.

That line of light was carved onto the bodies of the seven running clones and.

Swoosh!

Split them all in half simultaneously.

However, due to lack of magical power, the one clone at the very front managed to escape the noose.

“Grrrr!”

“…!”

To Calliphe, the sight of the grotesque wolf leaping toward Noah appeared in slow motion.

In that moment, all thoughts were erased.

Only the instinct to protect remained.

“Get lost!”

Thwack!

Calliphe punched the monster hard on its snout.

But no matter how efficiently Calliphe could hit others, it wouldn’t work on a monster. Rather, it would only hasten death.

However, a strange sensation felt when striking the monster changed the situation.

‘Huh? Did I use an ability?’

No. Though the sensation was similar to back then, this time it wasn’t magical power that flowed out but something else.

‘What was that?’

Before she could identify what it was.

“Kyaang!”

The clone retreated in terror. Its drooping ears showed a frightened demeanor.

The clone disappeared, torn apart by Lynen’s sword.

“Calliphe!”

“Ah, yes!”

Without time to reflect on what just happened, Calliphe hurriedly took Noah and moved to safety.

Lynen, now relieved, slowly looked at the monster’s main body.

“You came targeting Noah. You’re not an ordinary monster but a familiar that received orders. But why?”

“Roar!”

The monster answered with an attack.

As he was about to counter and finish it off.

“Ugh!”

His heart suddenly constricted and all his senses distorted. His vision turned to darkness in an instant, as if a light had been switched off.

It was a seizure from magical power withdrawal.

Crunch!

Sharp, wet fangs mercilessly sank into Lynen’s forearm.

But instead of dodging, Lynen swung his bitten arm to throw the creature away while slashing with his sword.

“Roar!”

The monster, its front legs cut off, frantically fled from Lynen.

As Lynen tried to chase after it immediately, someone grabbed him.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Calliphe?”

“You can’t even see right now! And blood’s pouring from your arm! Are you crazy enough to want to die?”

An angry Calliphe pounded on Lynen’s back.

[Using Villainess’s Parenting Method on ‘Lynen Ortega’.]

[Magic Power +0.1]

[Magic Power +0.1]

[Magic Power +0.1]

Lynen quietly accepted the patting.

Fortunately, recovery was quick since it hadn’t gotten too severe yet.

‘The monster… is already gone. If I had chased after it, it would have been for nothing.’

After briefly searching for the monster’s presence, Lynen used the leather strap attached to his scabbard to bind his arm and stop the bleeding.

“Where’s Noah?”

“Still unconscious.”

Calliphe brought Noah over. Now that he looked, they had been hiding in an alley not far from the battle scene.

Lynen narrowed his eyes.

“You were nearby?”

“I only stayed that close because of Noah. Otherwise, I would’ve been on your back.”

“What?”

She would ride on the back of someone fighting?

Raising an eyebrow, Calliphe crossed her arms.

“You can’t fight freely without me because of your magic withdrawal. Besides, Lynen Ortega can’t be such a fool that having someone as light as me on his back would hinder his skills.”

“The back is a swordsman’s most vulnerable spot. Do you want to get injured riding there?”

“The most vulnerable would be me after you get hurt.”

Calliphe gave him a look of exasperation.

“You need to be safe for me to be safe.”

“That’s…”

“So isn’t it completely foolish to just keep me safe? Rather be in danger together and we can put our heads together to find a solution.”

Lynen was genuinely surprised, never expecting such words from Calliphe Offensa.

It’s rare to hear someone willing to share the risk.

The soldiers and knights he worked with before often said similar things. But when situations actually arose, they were only concerned with their own safety.

Of course, he didn’t know how Calliphe would react in a truly desperate situation. But.

‘The fact that she stopped me before I could chase after the monster means.’

She was already running with all her might while he was fighting the monster.

“…”

Lynen slowly raised his hand and brushed aside the golden hair falling over Calliphe’s forehead.

He could see her red eyes growing round.

“W-w-why are you being so creepy?”

“You…”

Lynen covered her forehead with his palm.

“No fever. So you were in your right mind when you said that.”

…Thwack!

Calliphe kicked Lynen in the shin.

Of course, it had no effect.

While holding back Calliphe, who was growling with the desire to land at least one proper hit, Lynen pushed her forehead away and asked.

“That monster was a familiar. Do you know why it targeted Noah?”

“A familiar?”

Calliphe frowned in confusion. What reason would a familiar have to target Noah?

‘He didn’t have any valuables… wait.’

Come to think of it, she had found a black stone in Noah’s pocket earlier.

It was definitely the one she had been keeping. It seemed Noah had picked it up after it moved on its own again.

‘This didn’t happen in the original story. So the cause of this incident must be something different from the original. The black stone.’

Fact 1: The familiar was targeting the black stone, not Noah.

Another fact that can be inferred from this.

Fact 2: Familiars follow their master’s orders. Therefore, the culprit’s goal is the black stone.

‘Plus, you need to use black magic to handle familiars.’

It’s not just any animal, but summoning and contracting a monster.

Fact 3: The culprit used black magic.

‘…Finally, Fact 4.’

The black stone belonged to the young Marquis.

‘Oh, c-crap.’

This means there’s a high probability that the young Marquis used black magic!

The possibility of a third party targeting the young Marquis’s stone was low. If that were the case, similar monster incidents would have occurred at House Offensa long ago.

But she couldn’t share this information with Lynen.

‘If I start talking about the black stone, the reason why it follows me might come up too.’

And Calliphe has corrupted magical power.

Anyone would find Calliphe suspicious as well.

‘Can I trust Lynen? But the risk is too high.’

After contemplating, Calliphe decided to share what she could.

“It might be related to why I came to meet the High Cardinal.”

“Please explain.”

Calliphe informed him that the young Marquis was plotting through the High Cardinal at the oath ceremony. To frame her as a black magic user.

And that this information came from Dietrich.

Lynen furrowed his brow after hearing the whole story.

“So you met him to change the High Cardinal’s mind. But now that things have turned out like this, it will be difficult.”

“Yeah. They might try to detain us.”

If that happens, they’ll have to sit twiddling their thumbs in the temple prison until the oath ceremony.

Of course, excluding Lynen who’s a duke…

“Anyway, we need to talk. We need the High Cardinal’s cooperation.”

“Do you have a plan?”

Calliphe nodded.

“We’ll have to kidnap him.”

“…Pardon, I must have misheard?”

“If we kidnap and confine him first, they’ll want to talk too, right?”

What kind of moral compass does this woman have?

Lynen suddenly felt a headache coming on.

“Well, since he’s the victim… no, before that, the High Cardinal’s grandson wouldn’t just stand by, would he?”

“Would he really?”

Calliphe glanced at the quest window.

[Sudden Quest Complete!]

[Receive Noah’s survival and Noah’s friend ‘Mihail’ as rewards.]

Friend. What a wonderful word.

In <Marino>, Mihail’s first friend was Noah too. He was also a character who tried to help whenever Noah was in unfavorable situations during various events.

A smile appeared on Calliphe’s lips.

“That kid will make all sorts of excuses to cover for us.”

But he’ll soon realize. The mess at the scene isn’t something a child can cover up alone.

“How much would adults believe what a kid says, even if he is the High Cardinal’s grandson? They’ll probably badmouth me instead, saying I manipulated the child, and try to lock me up.”

“…”

“Then the child, who’s indebted to me and feels guilty, plus now being friends, will become very troubled. What should I do? If that woman gets caught, I’ll be someone who doesn’t even know gratitude!”

“…”

“This is when kind me suggests a solution. Hey kiddo. Even if adults won’t listen to you, they’ll obey your grandfather the High Cardinal, right? If grandfather says it’s all fine and to cover it up, they will. Right? You who proudly threw your weight around at the candy stall would know well.”

“…”

“So let’s persuade him to cover it up.”

Calliphe pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled as radiantly as a rose.

“You’ll help us kidnap your grandfather, won’t you?”

“…”

Instead of voicing the many words swirling in his mouth, Lynen lifted his head to look at the sky.

What kind of woman is this…