A Villainess pulled out the Sword instead of the Hero.

“What the…?” 

Staggering to her feet, Morgana accidentally tangled with the blankets and fell backwards onto the bed.

 

Thankfully, with the help of the magic tool, she was able to get back to her feet without any pain, and quickly set down the medicine on her desk.

 

A fountain pen drew a line across the circled area.

 

Bam, when her hand stopped.

 

The curse came out like a sigh.

 “You’re crazy.” 

A schematic lay on the desk, the most basic shape of a magic circle drawn from place to place.

 

At the same time, I could see where the 13th piece would be. The only place that was empty because it couldn’t connect the vertices.

 “The main palace.” 

The main palace, where King Vortigern’s office was located.

  

A bell rang to open the door, and the hustle and bustle of the noisy tavern rushed in at once.

 

Raon greeted his guest as soon as he recognized her.

 “Miss, did you see the letter I sent you?” 

He slammed the ale in each hand down on the table and rushed over.

 “No, jeez. I thought I’d lost my eyes. It’s a mountain, a mountain, and it’s not even a small backyard mountain!” 

Raon spat out, pointing his finger in the air as he paced.

 “Percy said there’s a gemstone mine back there. Since we don’t have a wizard, why don’t we drill a route to sell it to the magic tower, so you can get your hands on some!” “That’s great, I was just looking for a mage to consult!” 

She didn’t mind asking him for favors.

 

After all, he was from Avalon, so it was hard to feel comfortable asking him about the affairs of the royal court of Britain.

 

‘Considering how little has happened so far, I doubt he’s a man of many words.’

 

Raon nodded, as if he’d been waiting for this.

 “Aye, that’s right, now that Tir na Nog is starting to get some good word of mouth, I’ll be rowing as a mercenary when the water comes in!” 

Raon snapped his fingers and wrinkled his nose in amusement.

 “Add magic to speed it up, and there you have it, Kyah!” 

Apparently troubled by the wizard’s woes, Raon huffed and puffed and emerged from near the cash register with a raggedy document.

 

Names and addresses were scrawled across the page, with underlining and notes.

 

Evidently, he’d called the wizards, been turned away, and scribbled profanities.

 

Most of them say,

‘I don’t need money. You’re crazy.’ ‘You want me to send anyone to be a mercenary for your experiments, sicko?’

and so on.

 

Morgana fished a pouch of gold coins out of her tool shed.

 

‘Raon, you’ve been working hard…’

 

Sighing, she held out the pouch to him and nodded, her mouth agape, staring at him longingly.

 

Raon took the papers and wiggled his eyebrows.

 “What’s with the way you’re looking at me, I work for what I get?” 

He clicked his tongue, tilting his head and looking at Morgana curiously.

 “I’m not going to ask you what kind of bastards you grew up with, but don’t judge me. I’m doing this because I like you, and I’ll pay you well and on time, and I won’t be too upset if you screw up.” 

Someone in the distance heard the conversation, and a mercenary drunkenly shouted out.

 “Hey, Mr. Raon. Shouldn’t you be a little sorry for that? That’s pretty shameless.” “Oh, shut up. People make mistakes, apologize, that’s what life is all about. What do you think you guys are?” 

Despite the crudeness of their conversation, there was affection in it.

 

Morgana fidgeted with his hands, feeling strange. His words didn’t make sense, considering the reality of the situation.

 

Right now, Guinevere was in the same boat as her.

 

He flipped through the papers with a chuckle.

 “Relationships aren’t always measured in money. You think I’d keep mercenaries for nothing?” 

Picking up the pouch of gold coins he’d held out and pressing it back into Morgana’s hand, Raon muttered and ran his fingers over the words on the papers.

 “Look at this. There’s a wizard from the Tower… somewhere in here…” 

As he shuffled through the papers, a bell chimed behind him.

 

Without thinking, he turned around out of habit, and there stood Kellive, holding the door open.

 “Lord Confucius?” “Ah, Morgana. Are you okay?” “What?” 

He approached in single strides, covering the distance she’d walked in.

 

His surprised gaze searched her face from head to toe. He wasn’t asking how she was, and asking if she was okay didn’t seem quite right for the situation.

 

For one thing, some of his usually neatly swept hair was disheveled behind his forehead.

 

When he opened his eyes and looked at her, she smiled, a pretty little crinkle in her eye.

 “You’ve never been hit or anything?” “I’ve never been hit, but I’ve been smacked.” 

The mirror had been slammed with a fist. His head tilted slowly after a moment’s pause.

 “And today…?” “Mmm, I rolled on the bed once in the middle of the night because it was new, and I wasn’t used to it.” 

His smile deepened as the words lingered.

 

After a short silence, Kellive reached out and lightly stroked Morgana’s long, wavy silver hair.

 

There was a hint of relief in his softer voice.

 “Well, it’s been a bit of a mess at the royal palace in Britain lately.” “Oh, I see you’ve heard about the Princess!” 

With a court painter involved, it was impossible to avoid rumors.

 

At least, only the best and brightest were allowed into the court.

 

Kellive nodded in agreement. The hand that had been running through et hair now rested on Morgana’s.

 

From the bracelet to the ring, it was all magic tools he’d gotten from the wizard.

 

Nothing more than a barrel of herbs and teas he’d been forced to take when he’d offered to pay for them.

 

By market value, it was a bargain. His fingers toyed with the gemstone on her bracelet.

 

Morgana felt a tickle, and quickly lifted her hand to shake off the shallow sensation.

 

Instead, she smirked as he casually showed off the gem.

 “Come to think of it, Confucius saved them all!” “Yes. I rather like that.” 

The stealthy folds of her eyes made his heart skip a beat.

 

Even though he was clearly looking at her hand, it felt like he was looking at her behind it.

 

‘I’m not sure how to answer that…’

 

I couldn’t tell if his words were a question or a statement.

 

Morgana nodded, assuming it was a question given the flow of the conversation.

 

Raon had finally found the mage, and he held up the papers, pointing to his chin, to the name.

 “Miss, I’ve found him! This is the one in the tower, but he’s from Britain, so maybe he’s friendly!” “Good work, Mr. Raon!” 

Morgana exclaimed in excitement as she rushed over to him and grabbed the papers.

 

Just when Morgana thought she’d finally found a mage in Britain she could afford to hire.

 “Uh, this is a wizard I know.” 

Kellive’s nonchalant voice rang in Morgana’s ears as he poked his head over her shoulder from behind.

 

A small shiver ran down Morgana’s spine at the sound of his voice. He shoved his hands in his pockets and leisurely scanned the list.

 

Whenever he spoke, there was a slight ripple in his voice that bothered her.

 

Despite his smooth exterior, he sometimes felt unexpected.

 

‘Why do I keep looking at this?’

 

Of course, people are attracted to good-looking people.

 

Under the circumstances, I had to keep my wits about me. Just as I was about to do that, I felt a light tap on my cheek with each hand.

 

He gestured to a few people on the list.

 “These are the end of the line. They don’t even have the ability to make tools, but they have egos, so they must have said something harsh to Mr. Raon.” “Huh, so these are?” 

Raon crossed out the names already crossed out in the center, then crossed them out again, and again, and again, until they were completely obscured.

 

In the end, there was no one else worth considering.

 

Her shoulders slumped in disappointment, and behind her, Kellive gently nudged her in the back.

 

When Morgana’s shoulders jerked back in surprise, his soft voice asked,

 “What else do you need this time?” “Nothing… I just thought to ask about the magic circle…” “Do you want me to help you with that?” 

Well, that’s a little awkward when it’s about the royal family.

 

After a moment’s consideration, Morgana quickly picked up a piece of paper from the register.

 

If we’re worried about leaking information, we shouldn’t give away the drawing or the location of the main palace.

 

Tracing the magic circle she’d painstakingly drawn on the map, Morgana handed the paper to Kellive.

 “This is what it looks like. I looked it up in the palace library, but nothing else looks like it.” 

Raon clicked his tongue as he poked his head out of the side of the paper Kellive took.

 “What is this, an explosion or something?” 

The two men stared at the drawing of something wiry and spindly, stretching out like a chestnut.