After night fell, Cecilia’s room was shrouded in darkness, lit only by faint moonlight filtering through the window, illuminating the two figures on the bed.
Cecilia twirled a strand of golden hair by her ear, her head resting on Rita’s lap, lost in thought about something unknown.
Only after a long while did Cecilia lift her head, gazing up at Rita’s profile, which was bathed in moonlight.
“So, even Jonny can’t analyze the function of this magic circle?”
“That’s right.” Leaning against the headboard, Rita nodded. “The magic itself isn’t complicated, but its structure is completely different from what we know. He said he’ll have to do some serious research.”
“I see.” Cecilia mused, then closed her eyes again. “We’ll need to be extra vigilant these next few days.”
As Cecilia spoke, she casually pointed to the brand-new black one-handed sword propped in the corner.
That was made from the huge piece of carapace Rita brought back; it had only just been delivered tonight by the Artisan, even though they worked overtime for days—it really showed how hard it was to work that material.
Rita was quite fond of this sword. After all, making weapons out of monster parts had a certain monster hunter vibe. If possible, she’d love to have a whole set of equipment like this.
Glancing again at the sword not far away, Rita asked, “So, is that why you want me by your side every night?”
“That’s part of the reason,” Cecilia answered with her eyes closed.
“And during the day?”
“With the Lord Mayor by my side, there’s no need to worry.”
“Oh, right, I never asked—what do you do during the day, Lady Cecilia?”
“Exam. Dorothy, the Lord Mayor, and I watch the recordings and grade them. It’s just going through the process, but it’s still exhausting.” Cecilia replied, “Also, be ready—once this is over, we’ll head straight back to the capital.”
With Angus present during the day, Cecilia’s safety was largely assured, so Rita didn’t need to stay by her side constantly. This allowed Rita to move freely and investigate anything that might be happening in the city—definitely a better arrangement for Cecilia.
Even if she didn’t want to interfere in Sorus City’s internal affairs, as the kingdom’s border city, Cecilia was duty-bound to keep it safe.
This arrangement gave Rita a perfect opportunity. Knowing Dorothy was away, Rita actually had a better shot at searching Dorothy’s house.
As for whether she’d leave traces or how she’d explain it later, none of that mattered compared to finding the recording stone that rightfully belonged to Promi.
Dorothy hadn’t come looking for her, and there was no movement in the city… She could only hope Dorothy hadn’t seen the contents of Promi’s recording stone yet.
The chances weren’t great, but as long as there was a sliver of hope, Rita would try.
The next day, Cecilia left the Lord Mayor’s residence early with Angus and several guards, while Rita crouched idly in the garden, playing with ants.
Neither the maids nor the guards had anything to say; when they saw Rita crouching there, they’d only remark, “Lady Rita really has a child’s heart.”
Of course, Rita wasn’t really playing with ants. She was just waiting.
Before long, a squeaky sound came from underground, and a small mouse poked its head out of the loose soil.
This was the signal Rita had arranged in advance. Getting a mouse to tunnel all the way to the Lord Mayor’s garden wasn’t easy—she’d spent all night controlling them to do it.
Rita patted the little mouse’s head; it immediately burrowed back down. Rita then stood up, picked up her obsidian-like Night Dominator one-handed sword from the ground, told the maids, “I’m heading out for a bit,” and left the Lord Mayor’s residence.
Moving quickly through a few streets, Rita once again arrived at Dorothy’s Civilian Inn.
After learning that Dorothy was up to no good, Rita had discovered this was, indeed, a perfect place to pull some tricks in secret.
First things first—figure out how to open the door.
Rita walked up to the door, preparing to examine it carefully, only to realize that it wasn’t locked at all.
So careless? Or did Dorothy have some other kind of detection magic set up?
To be safe, Rita held her breath and used the detection magic Promi taught her to scan thoroughly for anything suspicious, but found nothing.
Whatever, she thought, I’m already here. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
She stationed a few mice as lookouts; if anyone approached, they’d warn her immediately. She also sent two mice ahead as scouts.
In less than two minutes, the mice squeaked back—seemed like there was no detection or counterattack magic set up.
Makes sense, right? Who would rig their own house with so many spells? What if you stumbled into the bathroom half-asleep and set them off by mistake?
Seeing that all was normal, Rita finally dared to push open the door. The familiar hallway stretched before her, just as before.
Rita strode down the hall and went directly into the room where she’d met Dorothy before. The room looked the same as ever, except for Dorothy’s absence—everything was in order.
The examiners only worked until noon. During the break, Cecilia had mentioned Dorothy would be with them too, but that was just yesterday—Rita didn’t know if Dorothy might come back unexpectedly, so she had to hurry.
No more hesitation. Rita ordered the mice to help her search for the recording stone with Promi’s name on it, and rolled up her sleeves to begin searching herself.
But just as she was about to start, a figure appeared behind her.
Rita’s hand instinctively went to her sword, but in the glass’s reflection she saw the person’s face.
Dorothy?
Wasn’t she supposed to be checking the Exam results? Why was she here?
Rita’s mind spun, and her instinct to attack was momentarily suppressed.
“Lady Dorothy, you’re here after all?” Rita turned her head, replacing her awkward expression with a harmless smile.
“Rita, why did you barge into my house?” Dorothy tilted her head at a curious angle, as if pondering.
“Ah, well…” Rita began to stammer.
At that moment, her fingers brushed something in her pocket, and an idea popped into her mind.
It wasn’t a great plan, but it was better than getting suspected for trespassing.
“It’s like this—I have something I’d like you to take a look at, Lady Dorothy. But your door was open, so I just couldn’t help coming in.” Rita said as she reached into her pocket.
Forget the mice, forget how unreasonable it sounded—if she could make up a convincing excuse, she wouldn’t be Rita.
“Oh?” Dorothy sounded intrigued, looking at Rita with interest, eager to see what she’d produce.
Rita took out a sheet of paper, and before handing it over, carefully unfolded it with both hands.
“This is it. I accidentally found this magic circle.”
Knowing full well it belonged to Dorothy, Rita had to pretend otherwise.
The underground passage was supposed to hide their existence, but honestly, the construction was so shoddy that it wouldn’t be odd for a couple to get discovered.
“Oh, that. I know what it is.” Dorothy nodded, an expression of sudden realization on her face. But her usual arrogance made it seem almost as if she were mocking Rita.
“So, what is it… exactly?”
“It’s mine.”
She admitted it?
A terrible feeling crept over Rita.
For a moment, she even had the illusion that Dorothy was innocent, maybe even framed.
“Rita, where did you find it?” Dorothy asked, her tone gentle, but the arrogance in her expression was fading; now she seemed like a gentle, mature big sister.
Then, Dorothy shook her head: “Never mind. It must’ve been in the passageway, right? I’m surprised it took this long to get found.”
This wasn’t a confession—it was a sign she wasn’t planning to let Rita leave.
Because she was so arrogant, she thought Rita would never walk out of this room, so she dropped all unnecessary pretense.
How foolish, but she had the strength to do such foolish things.
Her intent was so obvious that even Rita instantly sensed the shift in Dorothy’s attitude, as well as the danger looming over her.
“No, that’s not it,” Rita replied.
“Oh?” Dorothy’s gaze shifted.
“This, I saw it under the giant stone gate built by the Night Scarab.”
Dorothy’s eyes widened in surprise, then her gaze sharpened. She raised her hand and struck at Rita.
All of this happened in a split second.
So it was going to come to a fight after all?
But that was fine. Her words had already shifted Dorothy’s attention.
Rita’s tail shot out faster than Dorothy’s hand.
Super-Strengthened Charm Aura 2.0, making its grand debut!
This was the improved version she developed after attending countless online classes—the effect was even stronger than before. At such close range, even if Dorothy reacted, she’d still inhale some.
Against someone at Dorothy’s level, Rita didn’t dare hold back at all. If she died here, what use was hiding her identity?
At a critical moment, Rita was perfectly clear-headed.
Inhale my charm aura and turn into a giggling idiot already!
Rita’s Dream Demonization claws blocked Dorothy’s strike, and she jumped back a few steps, ready to observe Dorothy’s reaction and move in to subdue her.
But Dorothy just waved her sleeve. A gust of wind swept through, dispersing Rita’s charm aura.
With such a high concentration of charm aura, at such close range, Dorothy should have been affected.
But—why did her charm aura fail again?!