Volume 9, Chapter 33 – A Timely Challenger

“Th-Thank you?”

Completely misunderstanding why Lin would say that, Yisi, feeling the strange gazes of the surrounding passersby, quickly asked. She shouldn’t have done anything deserving Lin’s thanks. On the contrary, as the culprit who caused Lin to faint, she should be the one apologizing.

Very solemnly, Lin straightened her black hair and skirt, then bowed deeply to Yisi.

“It might be presumptuous to suddenly say this, but I must thank you, Yisi.”

“No, I mean, what exactly did I do for you to thank me?”

“Well…” Glancing left and right at the men groaning softly and preparing to get up from the ground, Lin looked apologetic. “I’ll tell you what happened later, Yisi. For now, please allow me to take these people where they belong.”

Thumping the butt end of her scythe heavily on the ground, Lin switched back to the cold expression Yisi had first seen. As her aura changed, a squad of Duchy of Chloe soldiers led by Red charged into the crowd, quickly tying up the men who were about to flee.

“For offending an invited guest of the Chloe Kingdom, Cardinal Yisi Enya of the Ymir Church, according to the kingdom’s laws, you shall be sentenced to hard labor in the mines. Spend the rest of your lives there.”

“Eek!?” A non-human scream escaped the stall owner’s mouth. He immediately switched to a fawning expression, knelt, and shuffled towards Lin, pointing at Yisi. “My lady, were you deceived by her? How could there be such a young Cardinal? And that Yisis Enya…”

Looking lazy, Red put her hands behind her head and explained with disinterest.

“Ah~ ah~, this is why I hate you frauds from the Empire. Using the Cardinal’s name but not even knowing her real name. This silver-haired woman is the newly appointed Cardinal of the Ymir Church, granted the Crest of Saint Mistilteinn. If this were within the Ymir territory, you should at least be prepared to have your tongue cut out. Count yourself lucky.”

“H-How could this be…”

Remembering his earlier bragging about the Cardinal’s crest, the stall owner’s face instantly turned an ashen color mixed with despair. He crawled towards Yisi, preparing to beg for mercy, but Yisi felt no sympathy for such a person. Pretending not to see him, she turned and rejoined Camilla and the others who had arrived. Evildoers should go where they belong.

…

After Lin and Red took the soldiers and the frauds to prison, Yisi’s identity as a Cardinal was exposed, and many people on the street began to approach her, hoping to get a glimpse of her. If they were just looking, Yisi would at most feel constrained; compared to words of praise, she could endure it. But the problem was, many people took out crosses or small sculptures, hoping for her blessing. Added to the countless people coming forward to offer flowers, the plaza quickly turned into a chaotic scene, forcing Yisi to abandon her sightseeing and flee to a deserted, remote alley.

“Haaah, finally survived.”

Wiping non-existent sweat from her brow, Yisi let out a long sigh. Edith, who had followed behind, wore an exasperated expression.

“Who told you to reveal your Cardinal identity? Serves you right. Ultimately, being popular is something to be happy about. Isn’t the feeling of being revered wonderful?”

“I can’t relate to noble ladies like you, Pepe. Wait, where’s Tiffany?”

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“Here.”

Held horizontally in Laxy’s arms like a princess, Tiffany waved expressionlessly at Yisi—though Yisi felt there was a hint of a smile on that face, it was probably her imagination.

After confirming that Camilla and Mary had also followed properly, Yisi stood up straight.

“Hah, that’s good.”

“Miss Yisi, should we head back to the mansion now?”

“Hmm… It’s still a little while until lunchtime. We should have shaken off that crowd. Let’s continue looking around the streets. Ah, Refina, give me the things in your hand.”

Due to the limited size of her storage space, Refina could only carry the newly bought fabrics in her hands. Although the paper bags weren’t piled mountain-high yet, carrying them for a long time would still cause muscle soreness.

“Eh? I’m fine. Leave carrying things to me. As a maid, it’s my duty.”

“A maid’s duty… Should I carry something too?”

“Miss Laxy is merely wearing a maid outfit; she is not a real maid, so please don’t worry about it,” Refina answered with a smile.

“No, Refina. If it can go into storage magic, putting it there is easier, right?”

Although Refina was a maid, and from a normal person’s perspective, carrying things for her master, Pepe, was natural, from the perspective that Refina was still a young girl—even if her strength value was much higher than an adult man’s—walking empty-handed while letting a beautiful girl carry things felt too embarrassing.

Amidst Refina’s exclamation of surprise, Yisi put the fabrics into her own storage, then remembered something.

Over the past week, she had remade a batch of trigger-activated magic items but hadn’t had a chance to give them to her companions yet. As new types of items that had gone through several failures and multiple improvements, their practicality and safety were already quite reliable. She had abandoned her initial idea of combining offense and defense, instead turning them into items that integrated defense and enhancement. It could be said that as long as they weren’t hit by a Tier 3 single-target spell enhanced with [Penetrate], her companions would absolutely not be severely injured in one blow. Furthermore, considering the specific needs of different professions, she had made minor adjustments to each item.

Take the bracelet-type item she prepared for Pepe as an example. The characteristic of trigger-activated items is that the magic stored within is triggered when an attack reaches a certain threshold. For nobles unfamiliar with combat techniques or those who only cast magic from a distance, it’s practically the only means of self-preservation. However, for warriors like Pepe, Mary, and Refina, who must charge to the front lines and engage enemies at close range, trigger-activated items could potentially interfere at critical moments.

For instance, the [Barrier Bracelet] Yisi had uniformly crafted for her companions had the effect of automatically deploying a protective wall when hit by Tier 3 magic, blocking the incoming spell. It sounded very useful at first, but in actual use, when Yisi fought Edith who was wearing the trial version, the passively deployed barrier hindered Edith’s attack. The enveloping barrier formed acted like a cage, trapping Edith inside, unable to attack or move. Therefore, Yisi had adjusted the trigger-activated bracelet into an item that required the user’s active trigger to activate. When the wearer entered a combat state, they could choose to prevent the bracelet from activating automatically.

Distributing the six adjusted bracelets according to size among her companions, Yisi slightly puffed out her meager chest, looking expectant of praise.

Seeing the bracelet and recalling the experience of being trapped inside, Edith looked disgusted.

“Isn’t this the bracelet you gave me the other day?”

“No, no, it’s completely different. This is the improved final version. After Pepe injects magic power into it, it won’t be triggered anymore, so you can fight without worry.”

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Although it wouldn’t be useful in actual combat that way, the purpose of trigger-activated items was primarily to prevent sudden attacks; it was normal for them not to be effective on the front lines.

“And I’ve also inscribed enhancement magic specifically suited for Pepe on it. As long as Pepe injects magic power into the bracelet, the enhancement magic inside will trigger, strengthening Pepe’s physical abilities.”

“I see. That’s not bad.”

Slipping the bracelet, engraved with exquisite patterns and reflecting a scarlet gold luster under the sunlight, onto her wrist, a faint smile appeared on Edith’s face.

She must be satisfied.

Yisi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. More than the magic circle engraved inside, the patterns on the bracelet were what had cost her the most time. The magic circle just needed to be carved precisely to function; with the assistance of the [Foundry Platform – Tier 4], accurate carving wasn’t difficult. But the surface patterns were for decoration and aesthetics, not something that could be done simply with tool assistance. For someone like her, lacking artistic talent, carving patterns according to her companions’ preferences was quite a challenge.

Incidentally, Camilla’s bracelet was engraved with patterns of ice crystals and flames, while Edith’s and Refina’s had stylized bats. Mary’s, Tiffany’s, and Laxy’s featured a stylized sun, gems and water droplets, and holy symbols and angel wings, respectively.

“The pattern on each bracelet is different.”

“Mmm, water drop.”

Compared to Mary’s happiness, Tiffany frowned unhappily.

“Don’t you like the water drop, Tiffany?”

“Nn, gold coin.”

She meant to replace the water drop with a gold coin. Yisi had engraved the water drop pattern thinking about how Tiffany often needed to replenish water.

“Then I’ll change it to a gold coin pattern for you when we get back.”

“Also, green.”

“Yes, yes, and paint it green.”

“Nn, encouragement.”

The pouting lips turned into a satisfied smile. Tiffany stood on tiptoe and patted Yisi’s head like an adult.

“Onee-sama, did you engrave flames and ice crystals because I’m a magic caster?”

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On the other side, Camilla carefully put on her bracelet. Under the sunlight, because she had rolled up her sleeves, the smooth skin pressed against the bracelet reflected a snow-white, translucent light. Combined with the small text carved in the Ymir language on the side of the bracelet, the halo it emitted was as beautiful as a fairy’s blessing.

The text meant ‘Camilla.’ Feeling that just ice crystals and flames were too monotonous, and considering Camilla might like text, Yisi had added her name. This design only appeared on Camilla’s bracelet.

Noticing the text on the inside of the bracelet, Camilla first tilted her head strangely, then held her hand up to the sunlight to observe it. Her free left hand gently traced the text, feeling the uneven texture.

“This is… Mary, come here for a second.”

“Okay~”

Gently taking Mary’s right hand, which wore the bracelet, Camilla examined it carefully. A faint smile appeared on her beautiful face. She then walked over to Edith.

“May I see your hand?”

“How rare for you to greet me proactively. Go ahead, look.”

Intrigued, Edith extended her hand, adorned with red nail polish. Camilla skipped past her fingers and looked at the bracelet. Her soft fingertips slid along Edith’s wrist to the end of the bracelet. Her slightly tense cheeks gradually relaxed, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Not here either.”

“What’s not here?”

“Nothing.”

Saying this, Camilla swung her own wrist as if showing off, a proud expression on her face, and tucked it into the sleeve of her formal dress.

“Ah, it’s a girl’s secret.”

With a look of complete understanding, Mary nodded thoughtfully with a smile.

For a moment, Yisi felt like Mary had grown up.

What exactly did this little one understand?

She didn’t even see Camilla’s bracelet.

Camilla, radiating happiness, walked behind Yisi. While the others were still examining their bracelets, she linked arms with Yisi.

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“Thank you, Onee-sama.”

Looking up at Yisi, her face was full of joy. Her ruby-like clear eyes, set against her brilliant golden hair, held a slightly swaying reflection that seemed to have the allure to pull one in. Coupled with the pleasant fragrance emanating from her collar pressed against Yisi, Yisi couldn’t help but feel her heart flutter.

Beautiful as a fairy.

Although I think Camilla misunderstood, it’s better not to correct her.

Is this considered doting on my little sister? Her surface consciousness thought this, but her subconscious knew the real reason.

The skin pressed together soon separated, the loss of warmth bringing a pang of regret, but it couldn’t be helped. Yisi quickly turned her attention to Laxy’s question.

“My Lord, although you adjusted the bracelets to allow manual triggering, this only benefits those on the front lines. For Camilla and Tiffany, who are magic casters in the rear, if they deactivate the bracelet’s effect during battle and the enemy has assassins, it might become difficult. Magic casters cannot react to changes in their surroundings as quickly as warriors.”

“Ah, that’s fine. I’ve considered that.”

Since these were bracelets tailored to each companion’s characteristics, she had naturally considered the flaw Laxy pointed out. For this, the active magic she had added to Camilla’s bracelet was not enhancement magic, but a spell called [Eye of Protection]. Just as Pepe’s bracelet would cast enhancement magic when she infused it with magic power, strengthening her physical abilities, Camilla’s bracelet would cast [Eye of Protection] when infused. Its effect was to perceive objects approaching within ten meters and feed all perceived information back to the user’s senses, essentially adding a third-person perspective eye. Once danger was detected, Camilla could then activate the trigger item’s magic barrier.

However, the more powerful the magic, the greater the cost. [Eye of Protection] placed extremely high demands on the user’s mental strength. For most magic casters, once they used [Eye of Protection], they could hardly spare the focus to use other magic. This was the one aspect Yisi couldn’t optimize; Camilla would just have to gradually adapt.

Of course, there was also a riskier, more offense-oriented option. For example, Tiffany, being a slime girl, could naturally see in 360 degrees—her eyes were merely an effect of her ‘Mimicry’ magic; in reality, her entire body could function as eyes. Therefore, as long as Camilla stayed close to Tiffany during battle, she wouldn’t have to worry about sneak attacks. However, this choice effectively bound Tiffany and Camilla together, which was clearly not a wise option for the ever-changing battlefield.

“All that’s left now is field testing. Let’s go to the dead city—”

“Ah, found them! Lin, they’re here!”

Red’s voice rang out from the other end of the alley.

Lin and the other two arrived in front of Yisi. They must have been searching for a long time, as beads of sweat dotted their foreheads.

“Hah—hah—, finally found you! Wait up, we have something to discuss with you.” Leaning over with her hands on her knees, the red-haired Red panted as she spoke. “Lin’s level is much higher than before, and we haven’t had suitable opponents to train with for a long time, so we were hoping you could help…”

Is this an opponent delivering themselves to my doorstep?

Smiling, Yisi nodded in agreement.

“Yes, of course.”