Several kilometers from Lasviden Restaurant, in a dimly lit room, a young man slowly lowered his hands from his eyes, exhaled softly, and a faint smile touched his lips.

"With this… everything is back on track."

"The Master’s task is now complete," he murmured with a subtle smile.

Vivian, unable to repay her debt, had only one path left: cooperate with the Legion again.

This time, however, the Legion would hold all the cards.

"Pity… I’m still unsure if the test on Li Wei succeeded."

A flicker of deep wariness and caution flashed in the young man’s eyes.

He had every reason to be cautious—he’d probed the former strongest.

Even stripped of power, no truly sharp mind could fully lower their guard around Li Wei.

His past exploits were too brilliant. Excluding Demon King Citadel records, his human-duel victories alone remained unmatched—none could even hope to rival him.

Among today’s peak Chosen Heroes, the one most likely to claim "strongest" had once publicly challenged Li Wei.

What everyone witnessed?

The challenger collapsed on the ground, face covered, sobbing uncontrollably.

"My apologies for not letting Lord Li Wei go all out."

Perhaps only the Demon Lord had ever seen Li Wei’s true power.

Ironically… before the world could witness it, his strength was stripped away.

Shaking off reverence for that legacy, the young man licked his lips.

"Faced with such provocation, did Li Wei refuse the stage because he lost his [Miracles]? Does this confirm his status panel hasn’t recovered?"

Why did past Li Wei inspire fear?

Most elite Chosen Heroes ranked high with one or two [Miracles].

Li Wei’s? Counted in strings.

No one knew his original [Miracle].

But all knew he could steal [Miracles] from other Chosen Heroes.

"What a shame. Had he performed, we could’ve used known Miracles—'Celestial Melody' and 'Dance With Me'—to gauge his current state."

He’d set the trap for Vivian, but spotting Li Wei, he’d bribed a musician via Baise to provoke him—carefully calibrated.

Too bold? Risky. Too subtle? Useless.

Ideal outcome: Li Wei performs. Audience reaction reveals all.

'Celestial Melody' captivates to oblivion; 'Dance With Me' compels movement. Basic traces would appear if his panel restored.

Easier to test than combat Miracles.

But Tsukika’s voluntary performance shattered the chance.

Recalling her breathtaking artistry, the young man shuddered—thankfully, he’d stayed hidden, contacts with Baise strictly one-way.

"Still… what *is* Li Wei’s wife?" he murmured. That silver-haired girl was another unreadable variable.

But… at most, just a musician, right?

…

Late night.

A figure stood silently by the bedside.

The silver-haired little girl slept soundly, hugging her pillow, her ahoge drooping into a lazy "Z".

Li Wei gazed at her delicate sleeping face.

The night’s quiet felt less soothing than her steady, gentle breaths.

"Our daughter’s asleep."

"How much longer will you watch?"

Another slender silhouette emerged from moonlight’s shadow, moving with grace surpassing even an elf’s.

Liquid-silver moonlight traced her silky silver hair, fair skin, and bare, delicate feet.

Tsukika, in youthful form, was breathtaking.

Her flowing white nightgown swayed like moonlight given shape—a goddess of the nocturnal realm.

Crimson eyes, deep and alluring, held the night’s mystery.

Seeing Li Wei unmoved, Tsukika tiptoed close, whispering warm breath into his ear: "If you wanted a lovely sleeping face to admire… why not just look at *me* in our room? Such unnecessary effort."

Li Wei’s face stayed calm, but his breath hitched slightly.

Tsukika smiled faintly, tucking the blanket around their daughter, sliding the stray little hand back under covers—movements practiced, effortless. Li Wei blinked, momentarily dazed.

"You stood here this long and didn’t adjust her blanket? Waiting for her to wake and *trade* with you? No wonder she calls you an unreliable human man. Absolutely correct."

Li Wei froze, then fell silent.

(He’d been lost in her sleeping face… genuinely missed the detail.

—not that he thought she’d catch cold. Her constitution was strong.)

Pushing aside stray thoughts, he turned calmly to Tsukika. "You’re remarkably skilled."

"Care for her alone a few years, and you would be too, Chosen Hero."

Tsukika shot him an amused glance—*he’d dug his own grave*. Only with their daughter did the Chosen Hero reveal such simple vulnerability.

A faint, unexpected twinge stirred in her. She met his eyes. "Honestly… a Chosen Hero like this is rather adorable."

Li Wei: "?"

Every time the Demon Lord said that, he felt inexplicably defeated.

Tsukika smirked, not lingering on the tease—*her* pits were most fun. "Spend a few more nights caring for her. You’ll learn."

"Oh right—I almost forgot. *You*, the deadbeat, always pass out after fun. Leaves me alone to clean up *and* check if our daughter’s sleeping well."

She muttered it with youthful innocence, yet carried a mature, nurturing warmth that tugged heartstrings.

To Li Wei, it felt like profound injustice.

*Was it that he didn’t want to get up?*

*He simply couldn’t!*

His current physique couldn’t match the Demon Lord’s.

Outmatched in bedroom prowess, Li Wei pivoted: "I thought you wouldn’t emerge so soon."

Tsukika tilted her head, thoughtful. "So… lingering by our daughter’s side was *waiting for me*?"

"You did nothing tonight. Didn’t you know what I intended?" Li Wei replied evenly.

(He *had* waited.

After the restaurant incident, they’d left early—promising Yue Lin alternate compensation. She’d seemed quietly pleased, ahoge swaying despite her blank face.

Back home, Li Wei expected… *something*. Instead, Tsukika lay beside him, seemingly asleep.

He’d deduced her intent instantly—but waking her? Guaranteed teasing: *"Can’t go a day without it, Chosen Hero?"*

He dodged the bed-tease… only for the topic to roll right back.)

Tsukika nodded at his calm gaze. "Of course I know what you want."

"…Let’s return to the restaurant now. While it’s quiet."

Li Wei’s vision darkened. "?????"

"Hehe~ Kidding. Even a Demon Lord feels shy about *that* in public."

"Hmph." He almost believed her.

"Not convinced? Fine. Truth: I spared you tonight because you ate too many Chumo Peppers. Worried it might… kick me from inside."

"?"

*Even Chumo Peppers wouldn’t exit from THERE!*

As if reading his mind, Tsukika drawled: "Books say diet affects… *that* taste."

"…Spiciness isn’t a taste." *Regret flooded him. Why discuss this?*

"Really? Practice reveals truth. Want to test it, Chosen Hero?"

"Are you *truly* shy?" Li Wei sighed softly.

"Mmm… maybe you can’t tell, but I *am* shy." She feigned flustered modesty. "Pushing through… all for you."

Li Wei sighed inwardly. Tsukika’s smile softened. "Still… I didn’t expect you’d *wait* for me."

Li Wei steadied his tone. "Why ignore a convenient tool and seek the impractical?"

"‘Tool’? So the Chosen Hero sees me as a tool?" Tsukika pouted, feigning hurt.

Li Wei: "?"

*He* was the tool!

Tsukika’s "mind-reading" smirk returned. "Drop the wronged look. I offer initiative—you refuse effort. What can I do?"

(She always watched him slack off. That precious chance? Undecided. And… a strange, nervous flutter lingered in *her* chest too. She couldn’t name it.)

"Anyway. You already know who it was." Li Wei redirected firmly.

He wouldn’t let the restaurant incident end quietly. Some matters required privacy—and deeper shadows might still watch.

"Mmm~" Tsukika’s eyes narrowed, chuckling. "I knew it… Spit on your face, taunted before your loved one? No way the Chosen Hero stays calm."

"…I merely wish to protect this peaceful life." Li Wei’s lips twitched.

"To guard your happiness? Isn’t that the same thing?"

Li Wei: "...How exactly did you translate that?"

Tsukika pointed at his eyes.

Li Wei froze.

Before Li Wei could make up another excuse, Tsukika blinked and held out her hand.

"What do you mean?"

"To scam Chosen Hero-sama's little handsy," Tsukika said sincerely.

Li Wei: "..."

"If Chosen Hero-sama doesn't want that, we can make a deal instead."

"Can I trade for a day off?"

"Not impossible. The price is finishing the next day's work on the previous day too."

"Then you might as well just kill me."

As they spoke, Li Wei had already reached out and grabbed the Demon Lord's small hand.

The ruthless Demon Lord had a hand that was smooth and soft.

The next moment, wrapped in a blood-red glow, the two of them suddenly vanished.

At the other end of the city, inside a somewhat run-down house, the two figures appeared again.

Tsukika instinctively covered her nose. Her scarlet eyes flickered.

"Looks like we won't be catching the rat."

Li Wei swept his gaze around. In front of him was a cramped house, and inside it, a suffocating stench of alcohol.

A middle-aged man lay on the bed as if passed out. His luxurious robe, completely out of place in this shabby home, had fallen open, exposing a chest and stomach no one wanted to see.

Li Wei was still observing when he suddenly felt a slight weight on him. He turned around and saw Tsukika, now suddenly smaller, clinging to his back. She buried her nose in his shoulder too, using the Chosen Hero's scent to drive away the awful smell.

"I don't want to step on a place like this. It'll dirty my feet," Tsukika explained.

Li Wei said, "If you're such a clean freak, can't you wear shoes?"

"Then do you want me walking barefoot in a place like this?"

"Chosen Hero-sama, don't forget. These feet are attached to me, but in the end, they're for your use."

Li Wei: "?"

Was that appropriate? Was that really appropriate to say in a place like this?

"It's hard."

"I'm talking about Chosen Hero-sama's fist."

Tsukika added another line.

Li Wei really had no way to deal with her. In a muffled voice, he said, "So this is the one you filtered out?"

"Mm." Tsukika answered lightly and glanced at the drunken middle-aged man on the bed.

While covering the hall with illusion, and while Li Wei's special skill was affecting everyone, she had also screened the people in the banquet hall. Through that musician, she found this man and left a mark on him to track him.

But—

"He's already dead."

"At this point, we probably can't get much out of him."

Tsukika spoke flatly.

The middle-aged man only looked asleep. In truth, his brain had already been shredded. Only the body was still alive. His soul and memories had been erased along with it.

Since it wasn't convenient to use the Demon Lord's methods, there were still too many limits.

The human spellwork Tsukika imitated could only leave a tracking mark. It couldn't monitor the target's condition in real time.

Originally, she had left a backup measure too. If any other presence came into contact with the middle-aged man, it would immediately be stained with the mark she left behind.

But...

The one hiding behind the scenes was extremely cautious.

They had prepared something in this man's house beforehand. The moment the middle-aged man returned home, he was killed by the spell left here.

And the tracking mark Tsukika recovered didn't retain any useful information either.

"What a pity. We came a little too late." Tsukika looked at Li Wei. "Will Chosen Hero-sama be a little disappointed? Do you need me to comfort you?"

If they had contacted the middle-aged man immediately, they could've gotten more information out of him. But at the time, they still had to watch out for possible observers on the perimeter, and they had to avoid alerting the enemy.

Not to mention, on human territory, with so many eyes watching, Tsukika had too many abilities she couldn't use.

Unless Li Wei agreed to let Tsukika "seal the news"—which meant killing everyone.

"If you don't talk, that's comfort enough," Li Wei said irritably.

"But I can only stop talking when Chosen Hero-sama's mouth is blocking mine. Oh, something else can block it too."

Li Wei: "..."

"I mean a finger."

Tsukika said it calmly.

Li Wei took a deep breath. "I wasn't here to ask him for that information in the first place."

To begin with, he was only trying his luck. He hadn't expected much.

"Oh?" This time, Tsukika was genuinely a little surprised.

"This guy was probably just a probing move," Li Wei said after thinking for a moment.

"A probe?"

"A probe aimed at me by someone planning to do something."

"Someone's going to make a move on Chosen Hero-sama?"

"Not necessarily. More likely, they're just afraid."

"In their eyes, I'm an uncontrollable risk. For some operation to go smoothly, they want to confirm whether I can be controlled. That also means whatever they're preparing will probably affect me. Or they've decided I probably won't just stand by?"

Li Wei muttered,

"So that's why they pulled that stunt tonight. They wanted me to go on stage and perform."

"A Miracle check..." Tsukika quickly understood what he meant.

When two smart people talked, they didn't need much explanation.

"That is a bit clever."

Tsukika was very familiar with the Miracles Li Wei possessed.

It couldn't be helped. She had experienced them quite deeply in the past.

"But those people could never have imagined that you can recover your strength even without a panel or Miracles. So from the very start, their method of testing you was wrong." Tsukika said leisurely, "If they still won't give up and want to keep probing, or if they plan to drag you into something themselves, then things will get interesting."

"I've got no interest in playing this kind of game with them."

Li Wei shook his head. Since he was retired, why should he bother with all that? The Legion and the other Chosen Heroes weren't there for nothing.

"Mmm, then what does Chosen Hero-sama plan to do?"

"Give them a return gift."

"A return gift?"

"Chosen Hero-sama plans to go catch that rat himself?"

"I never said I was going to catch a rat. I don't have the time or energy for that. This guy is enough."

Li Wei pointed at the dead middle-aged man.