Just as Colin was still reeling from the terrifying power of the magic circle, Liamie stepped forward and asked Azerein a question.
“You’re called Azerein, right? Was your hair brown before?”
Hearing Liamie’s voice, Colin snapped back to reality and realized that Azerein’s hair had actually changed color—from her original blonde to brown. He hadn’t even noticed before! Seems like his observation skills weren’t sharp enough after all.
But it wasn’t really Colin’s fault; he only had a vague feeling of familiarity toward Azerein without being certain who she was, which is why he asked. When Azerein confirmed it, Colin was so shocked that he completely forgot to observe her current appearance.
Seeing that Liamie had indeed asked that question, Azerein touched her hair and said, “My hair color wasn’t like this before. It’s the magic circle that changed it. Strange, isn’t it? Why would it change my hair color?”
At this, Liamie grew even more puzzled. Why had Azerein’s hair changed, but hers hadn’t? Was she an exception?
But soon, Liamie dismissed that idea. She suddenly remembered that the captain of the Holy Knights, Larian, also had a changed hair color. Although Larian’s hair had previously been gray-white, it was now silver. Definitely not his original color!
It wasn’t just him. Other members of the knight order had different hair colors from when Liamie last saw them. Not only the knights—the man named Rant from even earlier had also changed his hair color! Why was this happening?!
Liamie recalled past scenes and suddenly realized that, except for herself, everyone else’s hair color was different from before.
When she first saw Rant, Liamie thought he was a special case and didn’t pay much attention. But now it seemed she was the real outlier?!
But what exactly made her special? What difference did she have that others didn’t?
As Liamie pondered deeply, she suddenly remembered something. The magic circle she had been affected by wasn’t the one from the labyrinth! It was the one Alec reconstructed! Could this be why she was different from everyone else?!
With that thought, Liamie continued questioning Azerein to find out just how different Alec’s reconstructed magic circle was from the original.
“Uh, after you were affected by that magic circle, did something show up on your lower abdomen?”
“What?”
Azerein didn’t understand what Liamie meant and looked at her with confusion, wondering what “that” referred to.
Seeing this, Liamie’s face flushed slightly, but after taking a deep breath, she leaned close to Azerein’s ear and whispered.
“…You know, that… that silver.”
“Silver?”
“…Silver markings!”
“?!”
Azerein was stunned by Liamie’s question. Where would an ordinary person get silver markings? Those were only seen on succubi—there was no way she could have them!
Though she didn’t understand why Liamie asked such a strange question, Azerein answered honestly, “No, I don’t have that! How could I?”
Hearing this, Liamie confirmed that Alec’s magic circle was indeed different from the one in the labyrinth. Probably because Alec hadn’t restored it properly.
But was this good or bad? Liamie wondered. Generally, a reconstruction wouldn’t be as good as the original, so this should be a good thing.
But that was generally speaking! Did this situation look general? They were entering the labyrinth to find a way to restore the magic circle, but what if the method only worked for those affected by the original magic circle? What would happen to her?
Damn Alec. He collected so many strange potions at home, but he couldn’t even restore a magic circle properly! What a useless idiot! The shame of the demon race!
Although Liamie cursed Alec in her heart, she knew it was pointless and just a way to distract herself from thinking about the worst possibilities.
Meanwhile, after speaking, Azerein blushed slightly and glanced at Colin, hoping he hadn’t heard their conversation.
But then she noticed Colin staring straight at her, as if trying to see right through her, making her extremely uncomfortable.
Not only that, but she noticed his gaze drifting downward, almost to her lower abdomen. Azerein hurriedly covered her belly and, blushing fiercely, scolded Colin.
“Senpai! Seriously… you’re such a pervert!”
Colin & Liamie: “???“
Colin had no idea why Azerein reacted that way. He had been reflecting on his previous lack of attention and was planning to carefully observe Azerein’s current appearance this time. Because of that, he hadn’t actually heard the conversation between Azerein and Liamie.
But just as he was about to start observing her lower body, Azerein’s sudden “pervert” accusation left Colin completely baffled. He still didn’t know what had happened—only that she suddenly covered her abdomen and turned bright red.
Wasn’t he just looking? Did changing genders really make someone that sensitive to eye contact?
Colin was full of question marks, and Liamie felt almost the same. She had just come back to her senses from Alec’s shoddy magic circle when she heard Azerein call Colin a “pervert.”
She froze. What had Colin done while she wasn’t paying attention? Why was Azerein calling him a pervert? What on earth was going on?
Though confused, Liamie looked at Colin, hoping he could explain.
But Colin just shook his head helplessly, indicating he had no clue either.
So Liamie turned to Azerein, hoping she would explain why she said that. Colin also looked at her, wanting to know what he had done wrong.
Seeing both of them looking at her with puzzled expressions, Azerein realized she must have misunderstood.
Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she didn’t know how to explain her earlier words. But Liamie didn’t care about that; she just wanted to know why Colin was called that.
After all, Colin was her good friend. Before this, they often called each other brothers. She couldn’t just stand by while someone insulted Colin—that would damage the trust between them.
“So, why did you say that about him?”
When Liamie pressed the question again, Azerein had no courage to answer. Instead, she turned and ran toward her tent, leaving behind two very confused faces—Liamie and Colin.