“Phew…”

As the last glimmer of life faded from Fular's eyes, Lea suddenly released her grasp and rolled off her, her chest still heaving heavily.

She looked at her blood-stained hands, pursing her lips, struggling to hold back the urge to cry.

Killed someone again...

How awful.

She really didn’t want to.

But... but there was no other way. In that kind of situation just now, if she hadn’t acted, Moen would have been in danger.

It had to be done, right?

Speaking of Moen...

Lea abruptly raised her head, only to find herself face-to-face with a dumbfounded expression.

The two stared at each other in silence.

Looking at Moen’s stunned face, Lea’s little heart suddenly leapt into her throat. For some reason, she felt incredibly nervous.

“It’s not… not what you think.”

Lea vigorously waved her tiny hands, hastily explaining:

“I… I’m not someone who likes sneaking up on people or stabbing them. I… I just…”

“That was amazing.”

At that moment, Moen finally snapped back to reality. Taking a glance at the lifeless Fular on the ground, he inexplicably rubbed his waist before exclaiming with admiration:

“Lea defeated Barton all on her own? Even though she’s never been skilled at combat.”

Lea managing to defeat Barton was truly beyond Moen’s expectations.

After all, even in the original book, as a saintess, Lea was exceptionally gifted in many respects, but her direct combat abilities were remarkably lacking. That was an established fact.

Yet, now that the young girl stood here, she had either escaped from Barton or defeated him.

Since Barton had not shown up, he could only be dead now.

Moreover, judging by the proficiency of her earlier stealth approach followed by a critical stab to kill… Barton’s outcome might’ve been rather miserable.

Amen…

Moen couldn’t help but start praying silently.

“Lea, you’re incredible.”

Looking at the girl, who for some reason seemed to be dazedly staring at him, Moen praised her again:

“I had thought you might only manage to shake him off, but I never expected you’d directly defeat him. It’s far beyond what I imagined. Truly impressive.”

The tone was gentle, the smile warm.

There was no hint of deeper meaning in his words—it felt like the genuine concern and admiration of a kind person.

But Lea just continued staring blankly at Moen’s face, as if dazzled by his smile.

Then she lowered her head.

Her eyes fell to the now eternal stillness of Fular’s body.

She flexed her small fingers in the air.

As if trying to summon the sensation from a moment ago.

Hmm.

Lea’s lips curved ever so slightly.

This feeling...

Wasn’t quite as terrible as she had imagined.

“...Huh?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Moen caught a glimpse of the girl’s profile and noticed the faintly unsettling smile on her lips. A sudden shiver ran down his spine.

Wait a minute, could my casual praise just now have triggered some kind of new personality trait in her?

No way… right?

“Ah, by the way.”

Before he had time to dwell further, Moen suddenly grew a little uneasy and asked nervously:

“Um… Lea, did you happen to see something strange just now?”

“Something strange?”

Lea, her breathing now steady, lifted her head and asked with confusion:

“What do you mean exactly?”

“I mean… uh, some kind of thing… on me just now?”

“Something… on Moen?”

Lea thought for a moment, shaking her head.

“Nope. When I came over earlier, I just saw that person casting magic, so I quickly concealed myself and moved closer. I didn’t pay attention to anything on your side.”

“Really?”

Moen breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good. That’s a relief.”

That was close.

In that crucial moment just now, he naturally hadn’t had the opportunity to activate his Alchemical Domain, so his crimson flames had been entirely exposed, without any concealment.

For others, he might’ve been able to concoct some story to cover it up, but Lea was the future saintess of the Life Church. If she found out about his connection to the Dark God, all of his previously prepared get-out-of-jail-free cards would fall apart. Worse yet, he wouldn’t even need Ariel to move against him—Lea might immediately act to “uphold divine justice” and eliminate him as a heretic posing a threat to humanity.

Thankfully, she didn’t notice.

“But… I really do need to thank you, Lea. You truly saved me this time,” Moen said with a smile.

“It’s… it’s nothing at all.”

A faint blush crept across Lea’s cheeks.

“You’ve saved me so many times before.”

“That’s different. Back then, I was the one dragging you down, so it was my responsibility. But this time, you truly saved me.”

Moen crouched down, rummaging through Fular’s belongings as he spoke casually:

“Just now, I really thought I wouldn’t make it. I’ll definitely need to properly find a way to repay you.”

“...”

Lea lowered her small head, shyly scuffing the ground with her toes.

Her little hands were secretly clasped behind her back.

She flexed them slightly once more.

...

“What are you doing?”

Lea curiously eyed Moen, who was squatting on the ground, busily rifling through Fular’s belongings. To her, he looked like someone with a particularly eccentric hobby who could be arrested by the empire’s law enforcement at any moment and thrown into a cell for life, branded a degenerate.

“Obviously, it's the joyous process of collecting loot!”

Moen’s eyes sparkled as he rubbed his hands together with excitement:

“Isn’t this the most anticipated part after ending a battle?”

Just like the protagonists in novels, after a fierce life-and-death battle with an enemy, they would collect loot from their foes to fuel their next ascent to power. It was the kind of scenario that brings a surge of satisfaction just thinking about it.

But soon, Moen was disappointed.

“Why is she so broke?”

Moen looked disdainfully at the items in his hands.

Other than a single ornate-looking spatial ring, there were just a few poorly crafted trinkets that in a duke’s mansion would only be fit to decorate the door panels.

The nearby staff had already been tossed aside—it was useless to him, and additionally… it was of abysmal quality.

“That’s it?”

Moen sighed in frustration.

“How’s anyone supposed to feel satisfied with this?”

Defeating the BOSS only to receive some worthless junk—this would definitely get lambasted as a terrible plot point in a game.

In the end, all his expectations hung on that spatial ring.

After thinking for a moment, Moen took out Elizabeth.

While forcefully breaking it open might risk damaging its contents, it was the only choice available.

In novels, where characters could “effortlessly erase the spiritual imprint within the ring with a mere thought,” such scenarios didn’t exist here. The rings here were made with specialized magic and alchemical craftsmanship.

Without the corresponding magical activation sequence, removing the spiritual imprint was akin to trying to unlock a door without its key. You either had brute force or nothing, and even brute-forcing it wasn’t simple—not when his lock opening skill, currently at level 8, was entirely useless.

Fortunately, with Elizabeth, this wasn’t a problem.

As the blade descended, the robust magical apparatus shattered instantaneously.

Its contents burst forth like scattered petals, raining down upon Moen in a chaotic flutter.

“Moen…”

Lea’s icy tone reached his ears.

“This… this is what you mean by loot?”

“...”

After a brief silence, Moen slowly removed the thin, lace-frilled fabric that had landed on his face.

Huh, a purple one, complete with lacework. While its design fell far short of the aesthetic of the Senior Sister’s collection, it was still suggestive enough to make a man’s mind wander.

Feeling Lea’s scornful gaze—the kind reserved for trash—Moen’s mouth twitched.

Crap, he forgot. Of course, there would be intimate apparel among the personal possessions inside.

“Ahem.”

Moen exhaled, using his magic to repel the surrounding articles, and coughed awkwardly:

“You’ve misunderstood. I have absolutely no interest in such things.”

“... Is that so?”

The girl didn’t look convinced, her skeptical eyes roaming up and down his figure.

Recalling a certain incident, Moen, feeling guilty, hurriedly changed the subject:

“A-Anyway, Lea, if there’s anything you like, feel free to take it as compensation for losing some of your own belongings earlier.”

Without waiting for her reply, Moen turned away abruptly and began digging through the scattered items. Yet, even after rummaging for ages, he failed to find anything appealing. Muttering something about “novels being full of lies,” he finally grabbed a relatively pure magical crystal and sat down to restore his magic.

Lea blinked, diverting her gaze back to the scattered items on the ground.

Unlike Moen’s disdainful perspective, she soon identified several valuable items.

Intricately crafted magical artifacts, magic scrolls, and high-purity monster cores…

“They’re nowhere near as worthless as he claims.”

After all, these were the possessions of a true Tier-4 mage. They would be enough to make many drool with envy. In fact, the collection was so impressive that Lea began regretting not having taken Barton’s spatial artifact as well.

Could it be…

Lea sneaked a glance at Moen's profile.

Was he saying those words on purpose?

The girl’s wild imagination began to churn once more.

Ultimately, she decided to say nothing; instead, she quietly set aside a few items that would be quite useful to her.

“Hm? A book?”

Suddenly, Lea’s eyes gleamed as she picked up a plain, unassuming black book from the ground.

It bore no title, only a faint, sinuous engraving of a seductive female figure on its cover.

A mage’s personal collection of books… Could this possibly contain some rare, forgotten magical knowledge?

The book-loving girl was suddenly thrilled. Without a second thought, she opened it right then and there.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Snap.

The book slammed shut in her hands as her cheeks flushed bright red.

“W-What on earth is this?!”

The book’s text and illustrations… they were so… so explicit.

And those so-called “techniques”…

How could anyone possibly need to learn them? Weren’t such things an innate, instinctual behavior?

“T-This is outrageous…”

Why would anyone even have such a shameless book?

Recalling the scandalous content she’d just glimpsed, and thinking back to that small scrap of lacy fabric barely large enough to cover anything, Lea fiercely spat in her mind. As expected, this mage had never been a decent person at all.

But, however...

Lea sneaked another glance at Moen, confirming that he was still focused on recovering his magical energy and hadn’t noticed anything on her side. She let out a long, relieved sigh.

Then.

Lea looked around again.

After ensuring that, at this moment, no one would notice her little movements—

As if possessed.

She secretly tucked the book into her chest.

“I... I’m just doing this so I can find a safe place to destroy it later...”

The girl’s cheeks remained red as she clenched her fists with determination and muttered to herself:

“That’s right, just to destroy it…”

“I won’t read it!”

“Absolutely not!”