The power of the Hero granted Jon vast magic, but learning specific magic formulas still required progressing step by step like everyone else.
With limited energy during two years of special training, Jon specialized only in War Sequence Spells, with few secondary studies in other schools of magic.
For searching spells, he only prepared a simple and practical ‘Eye of True Sight.’
Therefore, by the time he finally found that secret room, Leah had already emptied ninety percent of the most important item inside—a magic crystal.
Only some odds and ends remained, placed in smaller boxes to pretend nothing had been moved.
Outside the secret room door, before Jon could even find the mechanism himself, Leah had already jumped out from the ventilation duct.
She pounced on Jon’s calf, “pia,” like jelly splattering, her petite loli body morphing instantly, and Jon felt a peculiar ‘softness.’
Leah imitated a cute kitten she once raised, nuzzling her ‘master’ twice in a spoiled way, then bounced aside, raising her head to meet the Hero’s gaze with a bright and innocent face.
“Friend! Like! Gift!”
She cheered in a childlike tone.
Seeing Leah, Jon paused, genuinely surprised.
He gently picked up Leah, cradling her in his palm, and habitually poked her ticklish spots to tease her, speaking in a doting, coaxing voice as if talking to a child.
“Lili, so you were here? Did you find something shiny you wanted to give to your favorite friend?”
“Mm! Friend! Come with Lili!”
After speaking, Leah crawled back into the ventilation duct, waving her tiny hand at Jon with adorable determination.
The gesture was meant to tell Jon to wait a moment while she went inside to open the door.
However, as soon as Leah crawled in, Jon had already smashed through the wall.
A half-meter-thick iron-stone wall was blasted open by Jon, leaving a human-shaped hole.
“So many Pupu… Lili, are you having a tea party with your friends in here? Uh…”
Jon teased, but his gaze suddenly caught on a whole box of sparkling gold coins.
His open mouth looked as if he’d swallowed an apple, unable to close.
He stared in shock for a long time before muttering blankly:
“My god, Lili, this really is a ‘shiny’ gift.”
Leah lifted her head proudly.
“So many gold Korun, and so many jewels.”
Leah puffed out her chest with pride.
“Even richer than the Demon King’s secret vault.”
Leah’s once cheerful smile froze instantly.
Damn it! You still can’t help but mock me! Just how poor and wretched an image of me do you have in your heart!
“Eh, why are there two people here too?”
Jon’s peripheral vision caught sight of two unmoving corpses on the ground.
His first instinct was to rush over and attempt rescue.
Of course, the rescue failed.
Jon stared at the bodies, falling into deep thought.
“How did they die?”
“No way…”
He turned back subtly, glancing over the group of silly, bouncing Pupu in the secret room, and then at the clever, petite, adorable, harmless Pupu Girl ‘Lili.’
Jon immediately shook his head and laughed at himself.
“Impossible, impossible, how could there be a Combatant killed by a Pupu in this world? If so, they’d be selected as a ‘Disgrace of Combatants,’ contending for the title of ‘Weakest Combatant.’”
He reached out and pinched Leah, who was gnawing on a magic crystal in a small box.
“Lili, Lili, do you know how they died?”
Leah feigned innocent confusion, shaking her head.
“Lili doesn’t know! Lili is hungry!”
“Alright.”
It was the expected answer.
Jon didn’t think too much, only poked Leah’s incredibly soft belly, and spoke gently:
“Lili, your gift is too valuable, but your friend really does need it. Once we reach the Imperial Capital, and your friend earns some money, how about buying you magic crystals every day?”
“Okay~”
Leah answered sweetly.
[Such a good thing exists? What a pleasant surprise!]
She thought happily.
Originally, she gave the jewels and gold coins to the Hero because she couldn’t use them.
On one hand, wealth wasn’t like magic crystals, which could be carried out and used on the spot.
Transportation was a real headache for Pupu.
On the other hand… how do Pupu even shop? Hmph.
And now, without a trustworthy intermediary, ‘shiny things’ in her hands were really just ‘shiny things.’
Better to give them to the Hero to boost favorability.
But Leah truly didn’t expect the Hero to be so sincere, accepting a gift from a pet and even thinking of returning the favor.
Normally, people would just treat this as loot rightfully earned after capturing the castle, at most rewarding the pet for its ‘discovery.’
At least, Leah herself was like this.
“Here.”
Jon pushed the small box of magic crystals to Leah and rubbed her tiny head.
“All of these are Lili’s. Lili, do you want water?”
“Yes!”
Jon poured a little, cupping it in his hand and offering it to Leah.
Leah clung to Jon’s finger, leaned in, and lowered her head to lap up the water in small sips.
The slender, pretty lines of the little girl’s figure were completely visible to Jon.
A strange emotion suddenly welled up inside him.
He subconsciously turned his head, too embarrassed to keep looking.
After drinking her fill, Jon left the water bottle behind and went alone to move the heavy jewels and gold.
Leah directed the Pupu to move the last of the magic crystals, delivering them to a remote room she had chosen earlier.
It was a Hot Spring Room, with the main advantage of plentiful water to soothe the Pupu’s thirst during evolution.
A large number of magic crystals sank to the pool bottom.
The transporting Pupu swam underwater, crawling reluctantly over the magic crystals but not daring to ‘eat’ them due to Leah’s orders.
“I am a generous and benevolent king. Don’t worry, I won’t be like other demons, always saying, ‘If I have a bite of meat, you have a bowl to wash.’”
“—At least I’ll share the bone soup with you, right?”
Leah dove gracefully into the hot spring like a swimmer, swallowing magic crystals one by one into her body.
Before long, her slender, flat belly swelled up.
“Ahh~~so satisfying~~~”
Leah’s face was filled with joy and bliss, her innocent eyes tinged with a trace of enchantment.
Pupu’s absorption efficiency was extremely high.
Magic crystals gradually melted into liquid inside her, with vast magic surging through her fluid body, spurring another evolution and shattering the primitive shackles of life.
And as someone who had once ascended the Demon King’s throne, her soul was in perfect condition, so no barriers hindered her.
The already considerable magic within Leah gathered, ultimately condensing into a small, pale pink core—her ‘magic crystal.’
The crystal continued to grow as Leah drank the surrounding water, her body developing with it.
Her size increased, her chest tingled and swelled, and at the same time, the details of Leah’s ‘human’ imitation grew more defined.
Every curve, every detail became increasingly lifelike, even the folds of her eyelids and certain unspeakable forbidden zones took shape, naturally formed and vividly real.
Upon evolving again, Leah looked down and realized she’d grown to the size of a ‘plush toy.’
This size was actually awkward—too ‘miniature’ and not realistic enough to be human, yet too large and strange for a Pupu, easily drawing attention.
Moreover, being too large would arouse the Hero’s suspicion, breaking the ‘harmless’ stereotype of Pupu.
Leah boldly attempted something new—altering her size!
She continuously tightened and compressed her liquid form.
After expending some magic power, the attempt succeeded completely, and she returned to her pre-evolution size.
If she could compress, she could also expand.
Leah tried enlarging herself again.
With prior experience, the process went even more smoothly this time.
Soon, Leah fully mastered this ‘transformation method.’
Leah’s heart soared with joy.
[Wonderful! Maybe soon, I’ll be able to disguise myself as a human! Whether preparing for a comeback or escaping from the Hero’s side, it’ll all become much easier!]
As she thought, Leah suddenly froze.
A bizarre and mad idea flashed in her mind.
[But… do I really need to escape from the Hero’s side…?]