The Counts glare at Brian was as piercing as a blade.

Count Brunn. This ugly pervert peeped at me and my people.

My Lady! Everything is due to my negligence!

Count Brunn closed his eyes tightly.

He also snuck a peek at Lana when she was having a bath last time!

Sayre raised her voice from the side. Kynemeia glanced at her direction before facing the Count again.

Thats how it is. I trust youll handle it well this time.

I will not disappoint you this time.

She smiled and nodded, Thats right. You cant just let that pervert walk around in my fief with his head held high.

I trust you.

Brian, who had his head lowered all this time, got on his knees and crawled towards Kynemeia.

M-My Lady! Please have mercy

Ugh, Kynemeias body shuddered as she broke out in goosebumps.

If you call out to me one more time, Ill cut off your tongue.

Brian covered his mouth with both hands in a hurry.

And you werent supposed to beg for mercy from me.

Kynemeias gaze slid to Lana.

L-Lana. I-Its all my fau

As Brian folded his hands together, Lana gave him a sweet smile.

I seem to hear a dog barking from somewhere.

Well, youre right.

Brian, who couldnt even attempt to address Kynemeia, sunk into despair. When the Count clicked his tongue and yanked him by the scruff of his neck, the six pieces of white gold coins poured out of his embrace.

! Oh noes!

Lana quickly snatched up the fallen coins and scurried over to Kynemeia.

Thank you very much, My Lady.

Lana bent her waist at 90 degrees.

If you werent here, My Lady, my sister and I wouldve

Its okay.

become murderers.

Hmm?

Upon hearing such unexpected words, Kynemeia muttered, It truly wasnt a false charge?

It meant that they originally wouldve killed him before setting off to roam the battlefields.

What very good timing If she were a little bit later, she wouldve had to head north to find Behemoth.

By the way, heres your money.

Lana said as she extended the white gold coins. Kynemeia looked at them.

You know

Breaking her silence, she folded Lanas fingers, pressing the coins tightly into her hand. Lanas eyes widened in confusion as she clutched the money.

Sayre, Lana. All of this is the investment Im proposing to you.

Pardon?

What do you think?

This, all of it?

Lanas mouth fell open and Sayre, who was by her side, let out a screech. Even though it was pretty much a done deal judging by their expressions and gestures, Kynemeia still asked again on purpose.

Will you make a contract with me?

Yes!

Yes, yes! Yes!

Sayre and Lana brightened as they embraced each other. Kynemeia smiled as she gazed at the sisters.

* * *

Everything was smooth sailing afterwards. Brians parents scraped together all of their possessions to raise the settlement money. Considering the parents sincerity and Lanas opinion as the victim, Kynemeia settled the case by putting only their son in jail. And Sayre and Lana, who came to the Grand Dukes castle, readily signed the contract.

You can live in the Grand Dukes castle as well. Or if you prefer, I can make you a workshop in another area.

Kynemeia laid out the suggestion because she supposed they would feel too uncomfortable to continue living at their current residence.

Thank you for your consideration, but its fine, were comfortable with our current place.

They wont be able to harass us. All of them know that were acquainted with Lady Mia.

Okay, she replied smilingly.

The sisters then gripped onto their hammers.

Moreover, we have these hammers.

Right. We have our hammers.

Kynemeia swallowed the question Just what are you planning to use those hammers for? without giving voice to it.

Its a bit shocking to find out that their murder charges werent falsehood

So the characters dont always say the truth. Well, its a useful discovery.

Since everything went smoothly up until the contract signing, there was only one thing left to do for Kynemeia: re-engraving the incantation on her body.

KYAAAAAA!

She continuously shed tears the entire time the incantation was getting done.

It must be painful.

That night, Nanny Vanessa came to Kynemeias bedroom and soothed her wrist. The incantation on her thin wrist that vanished before was now back.

No. Its not painful at all.

Truth be told, it hurt like hell. Engraving an incantation was essentially melting a magic stone and branding the skin just like a tattoo. There was no way it didnt hurt. Vanessa brushed a kiss on Kynemeias forehead.

Please be careful, dont invoke it by accident again.

Mhm. I wont.

She sighed softly and hugged Vanessa tightly. It wouldnt end with just a sigh if she told her nanny that she was almost kidnapped by a stranger. Kynemeia knew that she would be worried, so she only mentioned that she invoked the incantation by accident.

Sorry for always making you worry lately, Nanny.

So you do know. I thought you didnt.

I know Nannys feelings like the back of my hand.

Gosh.

Kynemeia peppered kisses on Vanessas cheek. As Vanessa smiled and said it tickled, she tucked the giggling girl into bed.

Right, Young Lady. Who were those people earlier?

Hm?

Those hammer-carrying ladies.

Ah

What should I say? Her eyes wandered as she agonized about it.

Mhm, those Unnies are Slimes

Yes?

Theres this toy called slime

Kynemeia once again launched into an explanation that it was in truth a squishy toy for children rather than the monster slime.

So those Unnies are The master artisans of Slimes

Oh my! The master artisans of slimes, to think theres such a thing!

Dark shadows settled over Kynemeias face.

No, theres no such thing as the one-top or master artisans in the slime world. There are no such people Im sorry for lying, Nanny

Story 3 Slime

It had been a few months since Kynemeia invested in Behemoth. During that period, Sayre and Lanas workmanship in smelting a sword out of monsters bones evolved to the point that they were now capable of mass production.

Hyaa, now my future of being murdered vengefully is also getting farther away.

Was what Kynemeia leisurely thought. On the other hand, the retainers couldnt curb their astonishment.

My goodness. Youre saying this is really a sword smelted from monsters bones?

Yes, Count Brunn. The shape is a bit stubby, but it can still be used like any other sword.

If the tip were any thinner, it wouldnt be able to withstand the force of striking monsters. It would be fine if Aura complements it, but for soldiers that cant use Aura, this would be more comfortable.

Sayre and Lana proffered supplementary information one after another.

To think that such a sword could be developed

Its all thanks to the Lady.

Right, right. Its because the Lady told us that we can smelt monsters using Aura, and she even provided us with the chance to make it happen.

They both smiled thinking of Kynemeia. If it werent for her, they definitely wouldve killed that pervert and fled to roam the north. Moreover, after what happened with Brian, the people around who used to regard them in distaste started to cling onto them while wagging their tails.

I didnt know you were acquainted with the Lady of the Grand Duke I brought some food here, have some and

Thats what Im saying! Turns out you had such an acquaintance! So theres this sword I want to commish

Brian, that guy, I knew karma wouldve gotten to him. That jerk always put on airs and put his hands on women just because his family is slightly well-off.

They wouldnt have been able to witness all of those things if it werent for the Lady, so their feelings were a bit bitter and complex, but

They looked at each other and held in their laughter.

You dont have to go out of your way like this. You dont need to act that strangely either, just act like how you always do.

We no longer accept personal commissions. Were already busy enough as is.

It honestly felt more gratifying than anything. The reason they remained in such a countryside, contrary to the reason they gave Kynemeia, was actually because they wanted to see those people acting desperate and as far as that goes.

This sword! Itll definitely make big bucks!

They were even able to smelt a sword out of monsters bones with extremely high durability and good tolerance for poison! The sisters could envision a glorious future of them perching atop a pile of money.

Escape the life of destitution!

O Money, come into my arms!

To those ladies, Kynemeia was no longer a mere adorable Grand Dukes daughter, but more like the Golden Messenger of God. They even started to say nonsense like As expected, those gold locks arent golden for nothing, which then escalated to Its the gold of gold and Shes the Golden Messenger to each other.

Hoo!

And hearing all this, the retainers couldnt contain the feelings bursting within their chests. In their hearts, she was the Lady that they gave birth to and raised. To think that the child they considered as their daughterwho would be pretty and cute as long as she grew up healthilywould achieve something so impressive.

I didnt expect our Lady to grow up this much!

What did I say! Our Lady is an esteemed faaaaaaairy!

Right, youre right. To think that all this time I couldnt recognize the esteemed faaaaaaairy.

As expected, she is the esteemed faaaaaaairy!

While Count Dennis, followed by Count Brunn and Baron Romeo, started to go crazy with the esteemed faaaaaaairy chant, Marquess Eli who still had his reasoning intact beamed at the sisters as he asked,

Well provide assistants to help you, so can you mass produce this? This is a very valuable sword.

Yes! As long as we have the time and materials.

Only

Of course we can!

Sayre and Lanas eyes fired up. Clink clink, it felt like their ears could already hear the sound of money rushing in. Everyone was in good spirits then. But suddenly, as he was inspecting the sword, Baron Romeo noticed something and carefully wondered,

Though, about that thing called slime

Ah, thats right. Didnt the Lady say she was going to make a toy called slime?

Count Brunn chimed in with a nod.

Slime?

Slime?

The monster slime? A question mark appeared on top of Sayre and Lana.