The Righteous Thief
The Saintess kept watch while Leo used the key he'd just received to open my door and step inside.
Not long after, he came back out. In his hand was a glass vial. I couldn't make out the contents for certain, but it was almost certainly what I thought it was.
He exchanged a few words with the Saintess, then the two of them moved again. The Saintess seemed to head out of the dormitory. Leo headed toward his own dorm room.
Once both Leo and the Saintess had vanished, I finally emerged from behind the flowerpot. Making no sound, I quickly slipped into my dorm room. Still wearing the cat mask, I opened the window.
Good—being winter, the sun set early, and it was already dark outside. At this hour, even if someone was below, there was little risk of being spotted. I leaned out the window. Carefully planting my feet on the windowsill, I channeled mana and began climbing the wall. Lucky there was a drainpipe to hang onto.
Somehow I feel like I'm improving only at infiltration skills, not combat.
Anyway, I made my way to Leo Epsilt's room window. I already knew where his room was. Clinging to his windowsill, I carefully peeked my head in. It was dark outside, and with the mask, he wouldn't notice me.
Leo Epsilt had already arrived in his room. After confirming he put the glass vial into his desk drawer, I returned through my own window.
Next morning. No—dawn.
Fighting off the oncoming drowsiness, I stepped out of the dormitory. Of course, wearing the mask. No one would be wandering around this early, but just in case. And my choice proved right.
This time it was the crushing sleepiness, plus the certainty that no one was around, that left me nodding off as I moved. But the moment I rounded the corner of the building, my eyes met those of the Princess running in the distance.
Oh? The Princess wakes up at dawn to exercise. A diligence beyond the likes of me.
But perhaps because she exercises when no one's around, her workout clothes were… a bit revealing. No, not that revealing. Maybe it was just her status as the Princess. And the sweat from running hard…
I shook my head vigorously. Damn, what am I thinking right now.
I quickly activated my footwork and slipped back behind the building.
"Wait!"
The Princess shouted from afar. Ignoring her, I headed toward the cafeteria by another path.
Today's hiding spot: behind the trash cans next to the cafeteria building. No one comes there, and I can check the cafeteria entrance—perfect. …Except for the smell, that is.
Anyway, after waiting a while, people started arriving for breakfast. I watched them intently. Then, the one I was waiting for. When Leo Epsilt entered the cafeteria with some of his party members, I quickly headed back to the dorm.
Entering my room, I opened the window and confirmed no one was below. Unlike yesterday, it was daylight now, so I had to move fast. With my now fairly proficient wall-climbing skill, I made for Leo's window.
Despite honing my window-picking technique to leave minimal traces, his window wasn't even locked. Well, I never lock my dorm window either. Who would ever think some lunatic would break into a dorm through a building window right in the middle of the academy?
Anyway, the thought that crossed my mind as I snuck into Leo's room through the window:
This is completely a thief, isn't it?
But well, what I was doing wasn't a bad thing—it was a good thing—so it was fine.
Lord… no.
Goddess, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.
I muttered inwardly as I rummaged through Leo's desk drawer. Well, a goddess who picks someone like Esther as a Saintess. A thief wouldn't be a problem.
I took out the glass vial from his desk drawer. As expected, inside was a single strand of black hair. At this, I laughed.
To think it would really be this simple, Leo Epsilt.
I scanned the floor. Before long, a single yellow hair rested in my hand. I dipped it into the magic dye I had brought, and Leo's blonde hair soon turned black. I removed my own hair from the vial, pocketed it, and replaced it with the dyed strand of Leo's hair.
Good. Mission success.
A few days later, the items I had requested from my family arrived. Everything was proceeding according to Leo's plan, but there was one problem: namely, Leo's magic skill.
Of course, roughly sketching a magic circle on parchment doesn't make a scroll. Making a scroll means embedding the magic itself into the parchment. And of course, Leo didn't have that skill.
But if Leo lacked skill, what he had were party members. No Felice, and Aine had neither the ability nor the trustworthiness. But at least the remaining three women were fairly reliable. Of course, knowing the importance of this matter, he didn't tell them the full plan.
If last time it had been the Saintess, this time it was Veronica. Leo called Veronica Eltwin.
"So, what is it?"
Veronica asked. Leo had felt her attitude was a bit strange lately, but she was still the right person for the job.
"Veronica, do you know how to make scrolls?"
"Uh… well, I can make them?"
She asked why he was even asking. To her, Leo held out Swarlin Parchment, a magic quill, and mana ink.
"Make just one. A binding scroll."
"Uh…? Uh, uh…"
Hearing that, Veronica immediately guessed Leo's plan. To think he'd use such a dirty method!
Raised in the Magic Tower, she was naturally familiar with countless magic tools. She recognized the Swarlin Parchment at a glance—parchment that aids spell activation and vanishes right after casting. Perfect for leaving no evidence.
She also guessed why he wasn't using commercial scrolls. Commercial scrolls were too effective; that was the problem. If one hit Louis directly during the duel, anyone would notice something was off. But making it by hand like this with just parchment and mana ink was different. Unless her master made it, it wouldn't have effects like solidifying someone for several minutes. So people wouldn't notice. As for power, just stopping him briefly was threat enough in a duel.
Veronica hesitated for a moment. Even if she refused, there was the elf. In the process of completing a scroll, magic settles and emits light, so deliberately failing would be noticed. In the end, Veronica began making the binding scroll.
When everything was finished, Leo thanked her, but Veronica didn't hear it. Right now her head was full of Louis. After the last incident, she had thought a great deal. She was so sorry to Louis. At the same time, she was so upset that he had hit her.
What are you doing, Louis! You're really going to get in big trouble at this rate!
If only Louis would apologize to her soon. If he did that, she would apologize too and tell him about Leo's plan. But Louis wouldn't even look at her. As the duel day approached, Veronica grew more and more anxious.
Leo took out mana stone powder, the scroll Veronica had made, and the alchemy solvent with Louis's hair dissolved in it. He smiled slyly. He didn't bother telling Veronica. He began a simple process with the materials. Soon the ordinary binding scroll was reborn as a binding curse scroll targeting the owner of the hair.
A few days after sneaking into Leo's room and switching the hair, I sent a letter home and begged Father for a countermeasure to the potion as well. All preparations were complete, and I smiled.
Today was finally the day of the duel.
I don't even know how the first class passed. The classroom was already buzzing with talk of our duel. Glancing over, Leo's face was extremely confident too. Yeah—just like mine. It was hard to hold back the laughter.
With my now-excellent tailing skills, yesterday I had even confirmed him handing something to Elin Nidia.
Finally, combat practice time. Classmates headed to the training grounds all excited. Well, I understood. Watching fires and fights is always the most fun. So I shouldn't disappoint them here.
Arriving at the training grounds, for once Professor Jon Hayton was awake today. Additionally, there was Professor Ian Dexter, the observer for our duel. Professor Jon welcomed us with an expectant look. Before the duel, Professor Ian sent the two of us to the temporary waiting room.
Was this a normal procedure, or was it Professor Ian acting on Leo's request? Well, it didn't matter much. Normally I wouldn't have noticed. But since I expected it, I soon sensed a presence.