“Swordsmanship lessons! He went into the forest because of a punishment from the swordsmanship lessons!”

“Swordsmanship lessons…”

The memory came back immediately.

“You mean Baron Colven.”

When Servant 1 took the lead, the other two hastily spilled what they knew.

“Y-yes! Noah often gets punished. That’s why we couldn’t say anything. We had no choice.”

“That’s right! He was late because he was swinging a wooden sword in the forest, how is that our fault?”

How ridiculous.

Calliphe didn’t hide her sneer.

“Is that all you know? This makes me want to fire you.”

“What? What do you mean…”

“Me! I know! Baron Colven made Noah steal jewelry!”

At the servant’s urgent words, Calliphe, who had been composed until now, wavered.

“…What did you just say?”

“I-it’s true. When I found out about it, Baron Colven secretly gave me hush money.”

“This bastard was the worst one!”

The other servants seized the opportunity to condemn the confessing servant. It was like a pot calling the kettle black.

But Calliphe didn’t care about them.

‘Previously, Noah was accused of stealing a necklace. Back then, I thought ‘Calliphe’ had falsely accused him.’

Who would have thought it was true.

And to think it was done at the behest of such a despicable person. It would have been better if Noah had stolen out of resentment towards Calliphe.

“Baron Colven threatened us not to reveal this fact, saying he was only collecting tuition fees. So I had no choice!”

“S-see! That guy is the worst. I’m innocent!”

“I’m the truly innocent one!”

The servants barked out their innocence one after another.

By this point, even Calliphe was dumbfounded.

“What nonsense is this? You tormented a child and stole his gifts, yet claim no wrongdoing?”

“If, if Noah had said no, we wouldn’t have done it. Especially with items sent by Lady Calliphe.”

They still wouldn’t admit their wrongdoing. Indeed, people couldn’t be reformed.

Narrowing her eyes, Calliphe nodded.

“I see. We’re done here.”

“Then… which of us will you spare?”

“All three.”

The servants’ faces brightened. Calliphe tilted her head and smiled.

“You’re fired.”

“W-what?!”

“Of course, without letters of recommendation.”

“……!”

The servants’ faces, which had turned pale, quickly flushed red and blue.

“How dare you lie to us, how could you do this!”

“You villainess!”

“Thanks for the compliment?”

Calliphe lightly countered, even playfully winking at them.

“Don’t be sad about not getting recommendation letters. I’ll let your creditors know your money supply has been cut off. You’ll be too busy to feel sad, won’t you?”

“W-what did you say!?”

After properly infuriating the three servants, she gracefully turned around. Click-clack, her footsteps grew distant.

“……”

The servants exchanged glances.

Calliphe, who couldn’t use magic, was just a weak noble lady. With her particularly high pride, if servants were to rough her up, she might not be able to do anything.

Besides, there was no one else here right now.

The servants’ eyes gradually gleamed with malice.

“You’ve always gotten on my nerves!”

The servants quickly approached and roughly grabbed Calliphe, sneering vilely.

“We didn’t want to do this.”

“You brought this upon yourself.”

“……”

Calliphe kept her mouth shut.

Her opponents were three grown men.

Even though Calliphe’s specialty was beating others up, it would be difficult to win.

However.

“If you apologize now and beg us to cancel the firing… Where are you looking?”

Strangely, Calliphe showed neither anger nor fear.

“I’m well aware of how delicate I am.”

“What?”

Suddenly, Calliphe cheerfully waved her hand over the servant’s shoulder.

“Butler. Over here.”

“?!”

When the startled servants turned around, the butler who managed the servants’ quarters was indeed coming this way.

And he had several of the mansion’s soldiers with him!

The butler asked, barely hiding his annoyance.

“Young lady. I came as you said, but what’s this about intruders in the mansion? And in the empty servants’ quarters no less…”

“They’re right here.”

Calliphe nodded towards the servants. The servants hurriedly released their grip on her.

“They tried to kill me.”

“What?!”

“Kill you?! When did we ever!”

The butler and soldiers looked at the servants in shock. The servants desperately shook their heads.

“That’s not true! How could we try to kill the young lady?”

“Indeed, right? The young lady must be causing trouble… I mean, there must be a misunderstanding?”

“Of course!”

The butler and soldiers wore expressions that said ‘that figures.’ It wouldn’t be the first time Calliphe had falsely accused innocent people.

That’s when the unexpected happened.

“We were just going to beat her up thoroughly!”

!?

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. Even the servants who made the shocking statement were horrified and covered their own mouths.

Among them, only Calliphe’s eyes gleamed like a mischievous cat’s.

“No, what I just said wasn’t a mistake! Aagh, what’s going on!?”

“Y-you lot, what were you trying to do! Assault a noble lady, and a direct descendant of House Offensa at that!?”

“And so damn proudly too?”

“Listen to me! You damned bald butler, you’re always so strict, and now you choose to be like this?”

“……!”

Calliphe grinned.

‘The drug works better than expected.’

The illegal potion she obtained last night.

It was a truth serum called <Open, Mouth of Truth>.

The servants who had eaten their fill of desserts laced with the truth serum would be unable to tell even the slightest lie.

‘Even I don’t know when the effects will wear off.’

There’s a reason it’s illegal, after all.

The panicked servants eventually started hurling insults even at the soldiers.

In the end, they were beaten and dragged away by the angry soldiers.

“L-let go! Help! Help me!”

Ignoring their pleas, Calliphe walked away briskly.

“The small fry are taken care of.”

Now it was time to deal with the swordsmanship instructor who had been tormenting Noah for so long.

But she was pondering the method.

“I could fire him right away, but.”

That seemed too unsatisfying to end it there.

Even while driving him out, she needed to pay him back for what Noah had endured.

There was also a need to make an example to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“But I can’t let my actions be seen as just causing trouble like before…”

One wrong move and she might be driven out of the annex too.

As she pondered, she recalled information that the annex servants had been gossiping about.

‘They said that person would visit in a few days, right?’

The timing was perfect. Having made her decision, Calliphe headed straight for her destination.

It was the magical tool management department within the Offensa mansion.

No one stopped Calliphe here. Perhaps they thought there was no need to be wary since she was magic-incompatible, but it was convenient that she could look around freely.

There, Calliphe took a common magical tool. Unlike high-grade magical tools called artifacts, this could be used even by those who couldn’t handle magic at all. Of course, you’d need to be wealthy.

‘Even with a broken string, a golden spoon is still good indeed.’

Once again strengthening her resolve to stick around tenaciously, Calliphe secretly attached the magical tool to the inside of Noah’s clothes.

* * *

Today, Baron Colven was unusually well-dressed.

Moreover, the lesson location wasn’t the old training ground where no one could see or the forest.

“How is it? Quite nice, right? Today I specially borrowed the training ground used by the soldiers. We’ll have to clear out before their training time though.”

“Why is today… different?”

When Noah asked curiously, Colven smirked.

“Today is the day the Vice Archmage visits.”

“Vice Archmage…?”

“Yes. He’s been managing the magic tower in place of the incapacitated Duke. He’s someone even the Young Viscount treats with great respect.”

The purpose of this visit would likely be to discuss the succession of the family head position with the Young Viscount before the grand meeting.

“Perhaps today might be the day Lady Calliphe gets thrown out.”

“……!”

Noah seemed shocked, frozen in place. The child’s hands, which had been fidgeting together, were trembling slightly.

‘Lady Calliphe is leaving? Am I going to be left alone again…?’

Colven, uninterested in Noah, continued with what he wanted to say. He seemed somewhat urgent.

“So this will be the last time I collect tuition fees. Come on, hurry. You brought it, right?”

“Even if I take lessons…”

“What nonsense are you speaking!”

Colven’s greedy gaze turned to Noah’s pocket, where he seemed about to take something out.

“You need lessons to impress the Young Viscount! If we show your progress to the Young Viscount, he’ll let you stay here.”

It was a blatant lie.

The Young Viscount would never be interested in an orphan picked up by Calliphe.

Colven planned to collect his final side income and leave the mansion.

‘Well, if you catch the Young Viscount’s eye and can stay here, that’s a jackpot.’

This was the ulterior motive behind his attention to dress and lesson location.

“Come on, quickly hand over what you brought. What did you bring this time? Lady Calliphe’s ring? Necklace?”

“…Let’s meet the Young Viscount first.”

Noah suddenly said with a stern face.

“I’m going to ask him to let Lady Calliphe stay here.”

“What nonsense!”

Colven burst into a mocking laugh.

“Why would they keep an incompetent and vicious woman who has nothing but her looks?”

“…That’s not true.”

“Ah. Are you taking her side because you think she took you back? Don’t be mistaken. Think she can’t abandon a pet twice?”

At those words, a spark flashed in Noah’s previously calm eyes.

When Noah glared at him with trembling fists clenched in anger, Colven’s expression also twisted nastily.

“Stop talking back and hand over what’s in your pocket!”

Colven tried to snatch what was surely jewelry from Noah’s pocket.

But Noah dodged quickly like a flying squirrel, and then bit down hard on the instructor’s forearm!

“That’s not true!”

“Y-you little!”

Colven violently shoved Noah away.

In that brief moment, firm teeth marks were clearly visible in red on his forearm.

Colven’s face instantly turned crimson as he raised his hand roughly toward Noah.

“You useless thing―”

That’s when it happened.

Thwack!

A rock flew from somewhere and struck the back of Colven’s head.

“Who dares― Huh?”

What answered Baron Colven’s roar was a proud, gentle voice.

“Just your student’s parent.”