She clearly only needed to fake a few moves of the Sword of Lingering Affection with Finney to steadily pass the entrance exam for the Clock Tower.
Why did Kaika choose this exact moment to be rebellious and pull such a stunt?
How could Valo have the time to figure that out now?
At this moment, her mind was entirely occupied with how to clean up after her ‘precious daughter.’
In the game’s [Fall of the Country Route], the main perspective and Kaika shared a fate — if either’s identity was suspected, the normal plot would trigger a death ending where the main perspective was captured and executed.
Valo could still find ways to fix things if a mere side character NPC discovered them.
But if someone like the Great Sage found out, she wouldn’t be able to escape even if she were a god-tier player.
Valo glanced at the Great Sage in the nearby stands, who was already on high alert.
Since things had come to this, the only way was to dispel the Great Sage’s suspicion toward her and Kaika.
Thus, taking a deep breath, Valo actually trotted toward the Great Sage!
“Madam Valo, your daughter named Kaika seems…”
The suspicious look from the Great Sage followed, but Valo abruptly interrupted her question!
Before the situation could fall into a trap of self-justification, she played dumb.
“G-Great Sage, what is happening to my daughter!?”
Valo deliberately adopted a panicked and helpless tone, her shoulders trembling slightly with worry.
“I never knew Kaika could use such dangerous-looking magic! Will this magic cause harm to her body?”
“Will it hurt Finney? If… if it’s really bad, please stop this entrance exam immediately!”
Her method was simple: play the innocent. How could a Loli Widow like her understand Fel Magic?
Any issues with the mother or daughter could be blamed directly on that non-existent Cao-style Lolitaphile Demon King.
She couldn’t afford to worry about her reputation now.
This move was indeed effective!
“Fel Magic… most of the Demon Clan cannot even touch it, let alone an Elf.”
The Great Sage pondered for a moment before turning her head. Her gaze was cold and scrutinizing, carrying far more pressure than when she had been nitpicking Valo earlier.
“Madam Valo, isn’t Kaika supposed to be your daughter? Why would she come into contact with magic that only a High-ranking Demon has the chance to master?”
This kind of question was no joke! So Valo also pretended to be flustered while giving the answer she had brewed in her heart.
“Kaika is usually by my side, that’s true, but sometimes she is called away by the Demon King… I don’t dare stop him.”
Before she finished, the Great Sage gave her a helpless glance. It was as if she were looking down on her: ‘You don’t even have the courage to protect your own daughter. As a mother, you really only think of yourself.’
Valo didn’t care. As long as the Great Sage was happy, all she wanted was to dispel the suspicion surrounding her and Kaika’s identities.
“Perhaps the Demon King privately gave Kaika a magic book on the subject.”
Once the Great Sage’s suspicion had dissipated somewhat, her gaze drifted back to the field. Her tone carried a hint of surprise and praise.
“I know a bit about the Fel Magic of the Demon Clan. For someone who isn’t a pure-blooded Demon to be able to practice Fel Magic — which almost only High-ranking Demons can master — to this extent…”
“It seems I must retract my disdain for your daughter from a few days ago. She is very talented, a standout among the young people I’ve seen.”
However, her voice turned serious.
“But Fel Magic is the symbol of the Demon Clan. Since Kaika has mastered it to this degree, one can imagine the contact between her and the Demon King…”
“Madam Valo, what if the Demon King has instilled some bad knowledge or beliefs in your daughter?”
‘Who cares? What does that have to do with me? I can’t wait to cut ties with this daughter who could turn on me at any moment!’
But in this situation, Valo couldn’t rashly distance herself. In this timeline, the relationship between Kaika and her was already at a freezing point.
If Kaika were thoroughly investigated, she would definitely expose Valo’s identity as her mother without a second thought!
Facing the Great Sage’s concerns about Kaika’s identity and background, Valo was left with only one choice.
“Please wait, Great Sage! Kaika… Kaika is definitely not an evil Demon like the Demon King!”
Valo immediately began pleading for Kaika in her capacity as a mother, focusing on a “protect the cub” approach.
However, the Great Sage didn’t respond immediately. The elderly loli was staring blankly at Kaika, muttering to herself.
“But this Kaika… since she can master even Fel Magic, if she were guided a bit and introduced to other types of magic, perhaps…”
Seeing that the Great Sage wasn’t listening, Valo used her ultimate weapon — she performed a spiral sliding kneel and hugged those pale, fair legs!
“Please, Great Sage! I beg of you!”
“What? Uh, you—you—you… what are you doing!?”
As for why she hugged her legs? It was because she felt this was the Great Sage’s weakness.
“If Kaika is judged just because she ‘knows Demon magic,’ how can I, as a mother…”
“Stop, stop! Please let go!”
Sure enough, the Great Sage, suddenly losing her composure, tried to break free from Valo’s leg-hugging!
“I didn’t suspect anything because of the magic Kaika mastered. I was just wondering if I could guide…”
However, before she could finish…
Was it because of the Great Sage’s shout to stop?
The two girls who were still dueling on the field had stopped their actions and were staring straight at Valo and the Great Sage!
After a moment of silence, Finney and Kaika both rushed in front of them like the wind!
Now the Great Sage looked even more flustered. She cleared her throat, feigning composure.
“Ahem, cough! Finney, if you have no objections, Kaika has passed this entrance exam.”
Silence.
The Hero didn’t even look the Great Sage in the eye. Instead, her gaze swept over Valo, who had quickly stood up from the Great Sage’s side.
Her voice sounded gentle, but it seemed more like she was deliberately suppressing her anger.
“Kaika, you’ve qualified. Take Mother and leave first. I have some words for the Great Sage.”
Although she felt her Hero daughter might have imagined some strange scenario again, Valo would have been a fool to speak up now.
Kaika had narrowly escaped the Great Sage’s suspicion and qualified to enter the Clock Tower.
The plan to sever their mother-daughter relationship also had hope.
Valo didn’t want to be the villain who died from talking too much.
What she didn’t know was that as soon as she and Kaika made their exit…
Finney’s gaze toward the Great Sage became serious and earnest.
“Adoptive Mother, what were you saying to my mother just now?”
“She suddenly—”
The Great Sage wanted to explain, but her adoptive daughter seemed to have already reached a conclusion.
“It looked… very much like Mother was kneeling and begging you for something.”
“I hope you can treat her more normally instead of imposing the bad habits and prejudices of some Empire people on her.”
The Great Sage’s toes curled in her shoes!
“Wait, Finney, I didn’t do that.”
“…I hope so.”
After tossing out words that hardly counted as an answer, the girl turned and walked away quickly.
Only the Great Sage was left standing silently in the vast arena.
After an unknown amount of time, once the panic of ‘being misunderstood by her precious daughter’ passed, what the Great Sage felt this time was an increasingly intense feeling of anger and jealousy!
Once could be a coincidence, but twice!?
“That washboard is deliberately driving a wedge between Finney and me!”
The Great Sage was rarely this angry, and she felt even more aggrieved!
Ever since Finney’s mother appeared, the already slightly strained relationship between her and Finney had only grown worse!
“I absolutely cannot let this calculating woman lead Finney astray.”
She had to find a way to make sure Valo never contacted her precious daughter Finney again. As for Kaika, it was fine if she stayed…
After all, Kaika seemed to know what kind of person her mother was.
Kaika herself was indeed an excellent and talented prospect who shouldn’t be polluted by such filth.
After a bit of thought, the Great Sage whispered softly.
“Finney, don’t blame me for being despicable.”
“This is all for the sake of your future and prospects.”