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A moment later, I returned back to the inn’s vicinity.

The boy calling himself Baa was nearby too. After confirming that there was no one other than him around, I undid my illusion, returning to my original appearance.

“Thanks for the help tonight.”
“You’re her favorite, so I don’t mind this much.”

In that sense, I had to thank that White God too.

“I see. I’m departing tomorrow so I can’t thank her directly, but convey my thanks to her please.”
“Got it.”

I only had words to give her at the moment. That made me feel a little bitter.

But I had to return back to the inn soon or it’ll get found out that I slipped out and will get questioned by Maria and Lyell. Though I had a substitute there, it probably wouldn’t be able to deceive them for long.

If they realized I slipped out at this time, it wouldn’t be hard to arrive at my real identity.

“Sorry, but I have to return quickly.”
“I know that. She’s not the one to mind such things, so feel at ease. That said, she might start sulking really annoyingly.”
“That somehow sounds scarier.”

I swung my arms and sent my thread to the second floor, but then I realized it.

A fatal and serious mistake that I made.

“Crap, I forgot to retrieve my katana…”

Fortunately, I remembered the location pretty well, but I had no time to run back and get it. Lyell would most likely come to check on me once he returns.

Thus, feeling a little unhappy, I invoke my Teleport spell, returning back to the plaza. I ended up wasting my magic power, but still managed to take back my katana, which would’ve become a piece of evidence, back before it led to anything.

I just had to return back to the room, switch out with Fafnir and pretend I was sleeping all this time.

Lyell seemed to have believed me, but he should still have some doubts. If I had proof that I was asleep in my room during the entire situation, those doubts should disappear too.

Just as I sent my threads to the window and sneaked inside the room, Finia with an angry expression came to my sight. I reflexively bent back and almost slipped on the window frame.

Next to her was the kneeling me…or rather, Fafnir with my appearance.

“Uwah?!”
“Where have you gone to, Lord Reid?”
“W-Well…”

She quickly approached me with a frown as I clung to the window frame and avoided the fall. I somehow managed to crawl inside, closed the window behind me, and motioned her to calm down.

“Wait, wait, I had a reason I really couldn’t ignore this time, or rather, it was a matter of my pride as a man—”
“You are a girl now, Lord Reid.”
“Well yeah, but no!”

I ended up having to sit down before her and listen to her sermon.

I mean, she didn’t tell me to sit, it just happened naturally. Maria had thoroughly driven it into me to sit down whenever someone was angry at me.

“It was still safe because I was the one to discover that you slipped out, but it would have turned into an uproar if Lady Maria or Lord Lyell had seen it.”
“I left my body double for that reason.”
“They would’ve easily seen through the Polymorph spell that I managed to see through.”
“How did you realize it?”
“Her tail was peeking out.”
“What?”

Hearing that, I moved my gaze to Fafnir, which made her bow and curl up.

“Umm, I ended up falling asleep for real, and my tail came out.”
“Are you as clumsy as your owner?! So the spell itself wasn’t interrupted or anything, right?”
“Well, our Polymorph is something slightly different from magic.”

Making excuses while waving her hands around made her look exactly like Whitey.

Her true nature was a Dragon of ancient times, so her body was appropriately large. Had the spell gotten canceled, she would’ve blown up the entire inn.

That said, I wasn’t exactly qualified to blame her too much for this. I was the one who slipped out and asked for a substitute to begin with.

Besides, I had a lot of debt towards Whitey. I would be barking up the wrong tree if I started blaming her so pedantically now.

“No, it’s fine. I was the reason for this, so I am the one to blame too. You don’t have to apologize.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yeah. You can go back. Thanks for today.”
“I see. Okay then, see you.”

Saying that, Fafnir spread her wings near the window side and flew out. She probably judged that staying any longer would just keep Finia’s lecture going. She probably inherited that quickness to run away from Whitey.

“Now then, Lord Reid?”
“I mean, sorry. But look, I heard Kufar was still alive.”
“Huh?!”
“But it’s fine. I locked him up inside the Labyrinth. There’s someone monitoring him too, so he shouldn’t be able to come back out.”
“T-That’s good then…”

She sounded relieved when she heard her Kufar was neutralized. More importantly, I had something to tell her.

“By the way, Finia. Lyell hasn’t realized that I slipped out, right?”
“Yes. Soon after you went out we heard an intimidating roar, so he headed to investigate it. Lady Maria did come to check on you, though.”

Hearing that my neck stiffened with a crack. Maria was incomparably sharper compared to Finia. Even more than Cortina in some cases.

If she saw my substitute, there was plenty of chance that she saw through it.

“Um, she didn’t realize it, right?”
“No. She was still not asleep at the time. Speaking of, who was that girl? She had a tail.”
“Ahahah, well let’s just say she’s Whitey’s acquaintance.”

If I suddenly said she was a species of ancient dragons, Finia might’ve fallen down from shock, so I decided to just laugh it off and dodge the question.

“More importantly, those roars came from Devils that Kufar summoned. Lyell and I already dealt with them.”
“Huh, you and Lord Lyell?”
“Fortunately I managed to disguise myself in time, so he didn’t find out my identity. If Maria proves that I was here, his remaining doubts should go away.”
“I see, that’s good.”
“Still, I never thought a twin-bladed Devil would show up.”
“Huuuh?!”

She was shocked as expected. That Devil was a fated enemy even for her.

“B-But with Lord Lyell, you should’ve dealt with it with ease, right?”
“Well, there were two of them. We ended up defeating each of them respectively.”
“Two of them?!”
“Both Lyell and I have improved our skills since that time. I did have some trouble though.”

I didn’t receive much damage after fighting against that Devil. I managed to easily avoid its sword attacks too. The problem was what came after. Specifically, my body which was strengthened using Enchant and Thread Manipulation.

By using those at the same time, I managed to gain enough mobility to overwhelm that Devil.

Naturally, that came with a big cost.

My body was creaking from pain even now. The improved mobility did not come with improved endurance. In the worst case, I could’ve even broken my bones and joints just by dashing explosively.

“Well, it’s still a good trump card, I guess.”
“Trump card?”
“Yeah. Just talking to myself.”

A trump card that may break my body. If she heard I had something like that, she would definitely ban me from using it. However, there would surely be cases where I would have to use it in the future. For that reason, it was better to just keep it a secret from her.

“But yeah, anyway, I want to coordinate the story with you. Let’s say you were constantly in my room and watched me. We have Maria’s testimony too, so if you say that there should be no problems.”
“I do not mind that much, but…”

Finia seemed a little lost.

“Is there something troubling you?”
“No! It’s just, master Kufar… I mean, Kufar was something like a parent who raised me, but he’s also your enemy, so I felt a little complex. A little too late to be thinking about this, however.”
“I see. I thought he was a hopeless guy, but I guess I have to thank him for raising you.”
“Yes, but it feels quite complex.”
“It really does.”

The two of us exchanged glances and broke into a small chuckle.