What Have You Made...
"What on earth have you made...."
"Miss, I'm here."
"This is weird...."
As Chloe entered Marian's bedroom with a bright smile, Marian looked puzzled, her face sullen.
"What's so weird about it?"
"I definitely slept with you last night, but when I woke up, I was in my own room. Was it a dream....?"
Come to think of it, unlike yesterday, Viola had carefully carried the soundly sleeping Marian up to the second floor today. Being transported on the back of a top-class maid, it was no wonder Marian hadn't noticed anything unusual even while ascending the stairs.
In that case....
"Did you have a dream like that?"
"Was it a dream?"
"It must have been a dream. A dream you wanted to have, Miss. You wanted to sleep with me that badly?"
This was also a perfect chance to tease Marian a little.
"Th-that's...."
Was it because she had no immunity to such teasing? Chloe tapped the end of Marian's nose, now red as a beet from embarrassment, and flashed a seductive smile.
"Even being with me doesn't make the pain go away completely, so why do you want to be with me so much?"
"That's not true...."
"Pardon?"
"It does stop hurting when I'm with you...."
Marian spoke timidly, her spirit somehow deflated.
Being with you stops the pain. It meant that the psychological comfort made things easier than being alone.
In that case, Chloe truly couldn't push Marian away. After all, she was a different breed of teacher from the ragtag assassins of her old group. If her student was in pain, she'd make it stop. If she was struggling, there'd be no lessons.
"If it really stops the pain, then we should sleep together from now on, right?"
"Huh...? For real?"
"Of course. If it helps you sleep comfortably, it's only natural."
Of course, while Chloe spoke matter-of-factly about sharing a bed, this was the first adult Marian had encountered who listened to everything she said. An adult who granted every wish she voiced. Like a irresponsible uncle spoiling his niece with all the sweets she wanted, indulging in carefree pleasure....
Well, I'm more like an aunt now, not an uncle....
Either way, Marian desperately needed someone like this, and Chloe was the adult who fit her ideal perfectly.
In short....
"Chloe!"
"Ah, there you go again."
Marian was moved by Chloe yet again. And whenever Marian was moved, she had a habit of hugging Chloe.
She barreled straight into Chloe's body, wrapping her arms around her and starting to bounce around in excitement. It was a display of affection befitting a twelve-year-old girl, and Chloe smiled faintly at the innocent sight, scooping Marian up into her arms and heading to her bathroom.
"Why the bathroom? Are we gonna wash up?"
"We're not washing. It's not bath day today."
"Hng...."
Marian, who had secretly been hoping for it, let out a disappointed whine. To soothe her regret, she climbed into the empty bathtub and looked up at Chloe.
"Why are you getting in there?"
"Just...."
Whenever they bathed together, Chloe would always undress Marian first and ease her into the warm, full tub. Then Chloe would start undressing herself, slipping naked—without a single blemish—into the tub....
"Because I'm disappointed...."
"Pardon?"
"You know, that feeling."
The tub was empty now, and Marian was still dressed, but.... If she stayed like this, maybe Chloe would undress like usual, climb in, and hug her tight.... That lingering disappointment.
Every time their bodies pressed together, Marian's heart would thump wildly—and she loved that fluttering feeling.
"Hmm...."
While Marian struggled to pin down her own emotions clearly, Chloe, for her part, inspected the layout of the bathroom attached to Marian's bedroom.
No windows.
Even as a bastard child, she was still an officially recognized noble lady, so the bathroom was structured to prevent any view from outside. From the entrance, there was a separate toilet stall at the far left end, with the bathtub between it and the door. Straight ahead from the entrance was the sink, and at the far right end was a shower room with a showerhead.
They say nobles do it a lot in those shower rooms....
Did it feel especially romantic in there or something? Chloe couldn't really relate, so she didn't pay it much mind.
Anyway.
"This spot should work."
"What spot?"
"Our secret passage."
Chloe tapped the awkwardly empty space between the sink and the shower room, producing a solid thunk.
The bathroom's thin, elongated layout left just such a leftover space.
"Secret passage?"
Marian's interest was piqued more by the words "secret passage" than anything else, and she climbed out of the tub. No more trudging out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and knocking on Chloe's door—didn't that mean she could visit anytime? Of course she'd be excited.
"Yes, and it doesn't seem like any pipes run through here, so I'm thinking of breaking through. Want to stand behind me for a sec?"
"Yeah!"
Marian eagerly stuck right behind Chloe's back like glue, ready for the show, while Chloe pulled out her prepared tools and got to work.
Laser artifact.
It was a construction-site artifact that stored intense light magic, specialized for cutting stone with beams of light.
"Miss, put these on."
"Sunglasses...? These are sunglasses, right?"
"Yes."
She didn't forget to hand over the sunglasses artifact as safety goggles, then activated the laser while wearing them, tracing a square outline.
She needed a passage big enough for an adult to pass through comfortably, so she planned a generously sized rectangular hole.
"Whoa...."
The stone floor began to grind away with a harsh screeching, vibrations rumbling out and shaking both Chloe and Marian's bodies violently.
Air purifier artifact.
Of course, the resulting dust was swiftly sucked away by the air purifier artifact, keeping things comfortable.
Next.
Glider artifact.
Once all four sides were cut, the severed section—which would normally crash down—had propellers with glide magic attached, making it descend slowly. The chunk that fell into the bathroom below could be cleaned up later when Chloe went downstairs....
And finally, the grand highlight.
Time to install the secret passage artifact.
"What's that...?"
"The door."
"Door...?"
Of course, this artifact didn't look like the classic attic trapdoor one might imagine for a secret passage. It just resembled a plain rectangular wooden frame.
But.
"If you slot it perfectly into this square passage...?"
"Huh...?"
It blended seamlessly into the surroundings, the rectangular passage turning exactly the same color as the surrounding floor.
"The passage disappears, right?"
"It disappeared...?"
It vanished completely. But that wouldn't serve its purpose as a secret passage.
"Miss, put your hand here?"
"My hand?"
"Then, like when making an artifact, infuse some mana."
"Got it."
And with mana infused...?
"Whoa...!"
The hidden wooden door revealed itself, beginning its role as a true secret passage.
"This is a secret passage only you can open, Miss. Anyone can pass through if you open it for them, but if you don't, no one can—not even me."
"Not even you, Chloe?"
"Of course not. That's how it works."
"Wow...."
Was it the thrill of having her own secret passage? Excitement sparkled in Marian's eyes.
"But that's not all. Shall we open it?"
"Oh, right."
Marian swallowed dryly and opened the secret passage door, revealing—not anything else—a ladder.
The magical ladder appeared without warning, tempting Chloe to head downstairs.
"Now you can come visit me anytime, Miss. And of course, if anyone's threatening you, come through here to reach me."
"Who's gonna threaten me?"
"You never know."
Plus, this passage could double as an escape from assassins, making it a two-birds-one-stone solution.
Anyway, with the secret passage installed...
"Shall we do the lesson now?"
"Eek...."
"The hugging hour?"
"I'll do it before lesson's end. We're doing a special lesson today."
"Special lesson?"
"We're making an offensive artifact."
"Offensive?"
"You could call it a thief-catcher artifact."
"Ah...!"
It had been half a year already, but Marian still burned with the desire to catch thieves alongside Chloe. The sight of Chloe plummeting from under the roof with that thief (or not) in the dead of night was lethally memorable, even haunting her dreams sometimes.
"I wanna do it! I wanna! If we make that, I can catch thieves too, right?"
"Of course. Assuming a thief shows up."
"Hehe."
Marian, buzzing with excitement, declared she'd make it diligently to catch thieves, and Chloe chuckled, proceeding with the lesson on crafting the offensive artifact.
To check the final product, they headed to a secluded, empty lot in the corner of the Grand Duke's Castle....
"Miss...."
"Ch-Chloe...!"
"What on earth have you made...."
Slime-covered tentacles burst from the security artifact, binding Chloe's entire body.
They spewed sticky slime, wrapping her up tight....
"This is gonna make me lose my mind...."
It was maddening. The recipe for the artifact they'd made together was perfectly ordinary....
But Marian's mana was apparently more special than expected.
The range was insanely vast.
Chloe never could have imagined it turning out like this....
And yet, here it was.