“Ah! Come on! I’m in the middle of spiraling here!”

I spun around and fired magic straight at the thick hand on my shoulder.

“Wh- wh- aaagh!”

Wham!

The thugs, reeking of alcohol, went flying and slammed face-first into the pile of baggage stacked in the alley.

Oops. Can’t let people notice I’m a mage.

Which meant it was finally time to use the decorative bow strapped to my back.

“Magic tool, fire!”

Reciting the technique name at high speed, I loosed the bow carelessly.

The bent arrow plummeted wildly at first, then straightened out the moment I pulled on it with magic and shot toward the ruffians.

“Aaagh!”

But I didn’t want to see blood.

Screeeech. Stop.

“Huff—huff—what are you? What the hell is this?”

“You tell me who you are.”

You’ve been sneaking after me this whole time.

“I’m in a really bad mood right now, you know? This isn’t the capital, so I kind of feel like throwing my weight around. I kind of feel like taking it out on whatever’s nearby.”

As my body grew, the vessel that could hold magic inside me had gotten a little bigger too.

So compared to before, the amount of magic I had increased a little. And since I was already used to saving magic, reusing it, and squeezing every last drop out of it, life had been feeling pretty good lately.

Which was to say—

I could protect myself just fine now.

“What the hell is this bean-sized brat saying—! Hey, get up! Go grab— Aaaagh!”

“Hiyah.”

Even though, despite all my brutal training, I still hadn’t become the kind of knight who solved everything with sheer muscle...

When I pulled back the empty bowstring, blue arrows sprang out and drove down around the men like a sudden downpour.

A few large suction-cup arrows appeared too and stuck to their foreheads—pop, pop, pop. I’d embedded memory-disrupting magic circles in them, so they probably ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) wouldn’t remember anything from before or after this.

Good grief... Is it because it’s a festival? Every kind of pest is swarming out.

I brushed off my hands and lightly kicked the woozy men.

Let’s go back for now instead of giving Dad a headache.

Though come to think of it, should I tie these thugs up first? What if they wake up and come after me again?

I was standing there thinking it over when, thankfully, I heard someone running in from beyond the alley.

“Sounds like the town guard knights. Whew, thank goodness. Mister Thugs, this is probably a meaningless thing to say, but all of you should turn over a new leaf, okay?”

Just as I was about to make a run for it— 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

A sudden gust tore through the narrow alley, and the huge hood that had only been half-set over my head flew right off.

“Ah—my hood...!”

Other knights absolutely could not see my face!

I grabbed for the edge of the hood in panic, already sensing failure, and turned sharply away from the incoming guards—

“If you were going to hide your identity...”

A large, solid hand came down from behind me, pressing my head down together with the hood.

“...you should’ve hidden your magic too.”

“...!”

“Of course, that makes no difference to me.”

My whole body went taut.

A cool presence rushed over me like a wave. The instant I sensed that magic, it felt as though every cell in my body rose to attention all at once.

The first thing I noticed was the warmth of the hand resting on the crown of my head.

Then the familiar scent—cool and clean like a forest—mixed with a faint, unfamiliar smell of iron and leather.

And last, the hard, steady feel of the body braced firmly against my back.

Thump. Thump.

What heartbeat was this?

“...K-Kal?”

“For a second, like always, I thought it was a dream...”

His rough voice slid through my sharpened senses. Warm breath brushed my ear, and the fine hairs along my skin stood on end.

Slowly, I turned around.

“Khalid... is that really you?”

“Yeah.”

And then I startled.

“Your face...”

“My face?”

He tilted his chin as he carefully tied the strings of my cloak.

“Why is your face so high up?”

What was this? What was with this height? This size?

Then who had that person from earlier been?

“What are you even saying right after seeing me?”

Khalid smiled faintly, one eye narrowing. His gaze moved over my face with almost obsessive thoroughness.

There was nothing left in his features now that still suggested a boy.

His nose was sharp as if carved, and the corners of his eyes slanted upward in that lazy way they had. But the two tear moles at their ends now carried a different kind of atmosphere from before.

Wh-what is this...

Still unable to hide my confusion, I finally realized the truth. My cheeks heated up all on their own.

So then what exactly had I misunderstood?

Dad... why are you spreading malicious rumors...?

Fine.

Once I got home, I’d give Dad a massage.

I’d pour all my filial devotion into pressing very, very hard on his back and shoulders.

While I was earnestly drafting my ambitious plan for dutiful daughterhood, Khalid—who had been straightening my disheveled hair—suddenly seemed to remember something and asked,

“Ruby, though... why are you here? Who are you with—”

“Out of the way, out of the way! Where are the criminals?!”

At that moment, the actual town guard knights came charging into the alley.

“Ugh, they’re loud.”

The ruckus was so great that the ruffians, who’d briefly blacked out from being knocked around every which way, started to stir again.

“What the hell is this? Why am I tied up?!”

“Th-there was an incredible magical beast! I think some baby magical beast showed up!”

Aaaagh! The men, now awake again, started thrashing however they pleased.

They kicked up such a fuss that the stacks of cargo piled nearby wobbled and began dropping one after another.

“Ugh, let’s just move over there first—”

And right then, one of the wooden crates stacked highest came toppling straight toward me.

Thankfully, I saw it coming. I was just about to hurriedly move my magic when—

“Ruby!”

Someone yanked me hard into their arms.

“...!”

And then came a very bad impact sound.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

I nearly died of shock and shoved at Khalid’s shoulder in a fluster after he took the crate for me while wrapping me tight in his arms. And what was with that shoulder in the first place? He wasn’t wearing armor, was he?

“No, why would you just stand there and take that—!”

“Are you okay?”

“You’re asking me that right now?”

Even at my appalled reply, Khalid only let out a low sigh as if it were nothing. Then he bent slightly and brushed the dust off my clothes.

At our feet, the crate that had struck his shoulder blade lay shattered to pieces.

“Hey, hey, let me see. Let me look. Honestly! Why would you shield me like that?!”

I could’ve moved my magic!

At that, Khalid smiled with a troubled look.

“My body moved before I thought.”

All the strength drained out of me at once. Really, some things hadn’t changed at all.

“Honestly... I can’t even get mad at you like this!”

“Get mad... why?”

“You left with nothing but a note and didn’t come back for two whole years. I was absolutely going to demand an explanation for that first.”

And then I was going to grill you a little over whether you were closer to the Princess than to me now!

“So you were going to get mad at me.”

“What do you think? I was going to kick you in the shin and not speak to you for three days.”

“...”

Khalid stared at me in silence for a moment, then suddenly drew his brows together.

“Ruby, I’m hurt.”

“What? Where?!”

“Here. The spot where that crate hit me stings a little.”

I hurried to lift the edge of his huge cloak and look underneath, but then tilted my head.

“Huh? If you got hit, why does it sting?”

“Ah... actually, it prickles.”

“...?”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Khalid averted his gaze and quietly turned his head aside.

“Sir Khalid!”

Just then, the town guard knights who had been noisily tearing through the alley approached. By now, the men who’d attacked me had all been fully bound.

“When I saw the cloak, I wondered if it might be you, Sir Khalid! It was an honor training with you this morning! But... were you the one who took care of these men?”

The one who looked highest-ranking among them ran over and addressed him respectfully.

Instinctively, I clutched my hood closed and turned away, and Khalid moved in front of me at once, shielding me.

“They were following, threatening, assaulting, robbing, attempting abduction, and attempting murder.”

His low voice fell into the alley.

The thugs listening nearby immediately started protesting like they’d been wronged.

“Whaaaat? We were? We got attacked by a baby magical beast!”

“Shut up, you delinquent bastards!”

Thwack. Another knight hit them, and they finally shut their mouths—but only for a second.

“What magical beast? There are witnesses who saw you following that person!”

Khalid glanced around nearby, then nudged the broken crate pieces together with his foot.

“Here. Evidence of assault and attempted murder. They tried to bring down a crate like this on someone that small and adorable. If that isn’t attempted murder, what is?”

“That’s not true! It isn’t! I told you, some baby magical beast came roaring at us!”

“Shut up, you delinquent bastards!”

In the end, gags were shoved into their mouths.

Because of the memory disruption, they looked genuinely aggrieved, but that wasn’t my problem.

“We’ll deal with them properly according to the seriousness of their crimes. But then—is the victim unharmed...?”

The guard knight craned his neck, trying to look at me behind Khalid. More eyes began turning my way, and just as I thought this might be where my identity got exposed—

“Ah!”

My shrunken little body suddenly lifted off the ground.

Khalid had scooped me up in one motion, hiding me.