With movements that felt intensely like those of a thief, Fíliya cautiously approached the shipyard.
From the corner of the wall, she looked up and immediately spotted that room—the one belonging to her.
She remembered that she had kicked out the window and an entire wall that day... Hmm, the wood used for these repairs indeed didn't quite match in texture and color.
Next, Fíliya began to look for spots that were easy to climb. What she wanted to do was scale to the very top of the shipyard and then invade the building from the roof.
The reason she wasn't using magic was, of course, because the moment she emitted any mana fluctuations, this infiltration operation of hers would end in failure.
"Tsk tsk... how am I so amazing? Have you ever seen a mage with such agile movements? Maybe if I went to learn martial arts, I'd achieve some small success too?"
After climbing onto the roof in two shakes of a lamb's tail, Fíliya immediately put on a narcissistic face.
"A clumsy fellow like Frieren would definitely have no way to climb up from below, so I win again."
Miss Fíliya continued to smile; although it was unknown what exactly she was winning at, she simply felt that she had won.
Of course, while falling into this state of narcissism, her words were all murmured in a volume suppressed to the limit, so they shouldn't attract anyone's notice.
After getting enough of her narcissism, Fíliya went directly to the skylight that allowed entry into the house from the roof, and then slowly groped her way in.
Infiltration successful!
Fíliya felt her heartbeat accelerate by a few beats; this feeling of being a thief made her feel very stimulated.
So, what should she do next...?
Fíliya narrowed her eyes and began to think. She didn't dare use Mana Detection, so she also had no way to confirm the locations of the others.
"I can't hear any movement... Anyway, let's go catch Aura first."
Fíliya made up her mind. Aura, that lazybones who spent half the day sleeping, was in all probability lying like a corpse in her own room.
However, things never developed according to Miss Fíliya's expectations.
She did indeed creep up to the front of Aura's door, but the instant she wanted to reach out and turn the door handle, a figure suddenly appeared before her eyes.
"Lady Fíliya..."
Before the final word could leave her mouth, Linie was directly pinned to the ground by Fíliya like a famished tiger pouncing on its prey. Fíliya then immediately covered Linie's mouth with her hand.
Fíliya only rejoiced that Linie was a very calm child. Even though she had suddenly discovered Fíliya just now, her voice when calling out hadn't been very loud, so... her plan shouldn't have failed completely yet!
"Linie?! What sickness is Aura having now?"
A voice instantly came from downstairs. The moment she heard this voice, Fíliya's body instantly froze, because that was clearly Solitär's voice.
But at the same time, Fíliya felt somewhat relieved. Her act of taking in Aura and Linie was indeed correct... No matter how much Solitär verbally disdained Aura, the existence of Aura and Linie had indeed allowed Solitär to break free from her long-standing loneliness.
Next, Fíliya took a deep breath, then frantically winked and made faces at Linie, attempting to imply something with her eyes.
Linie instantly nodded, indicating that she understood.
This made Fíliya heave a sigh of relief, thinking that Linie was indeed a worry-free good child, completely different from Aura. She was so smart; she understood with just a hint.
Thus, Fíliya very satisfyingly released the hand covering Linie's mouth, so she could reply.
"Lady Solitär, Lady Fíliya is back."
Linie's voice echoed through the building.
Upon hearing Linie speak those words, Fíliya's vision instantly went dark. Her body leaned directly back, and she collapsed completely onto the floor.
In this instant, whether Linie was a natural airhead or naturally malicious no longer mattered. Fíliya only knew that her plan to 'deliver a surprise' had completely failed.
...
At this moment, Fíliya was being firmly tied to a chair with rope. Although she could break free from this kind of ordinary rope with a single thought, she still didn't dare to do so, because what this rope represented was a kind of symbolic 'punishment,' or perhaps one could call it 'fun.'
"So a little thief entered the house... To actually have the guts to steal from us. Aura, what do you think we should do?"
There was an unconcealable excitement hidden in Solitär's tone. Ever since she saw Fíliya, her eyes seemed unable to look away.
"Hmm... how about making her be a maid for a month? It's time to let this fellow who only knows how to order people around taste the flavor of being ordered around."
"That makes sense. Then let's punish Fíliya to be my exclusive maid for a month. You have to listen well to your master's orders, okay?"
Solitär chuckled lightly and reached out to pinch Fíliya's chin.
"Huh? Solitär, did you just unauthorizedly tamper with my idea?"
"Shut up."
"Tsk... by the way, Fíliya, how did you get in? We didn't detect even a bit of mana fluctuation."
Aura consciously dared not oppose Solitär, so she very naturally changed the subject.
"Just came in like that. I suppressed my mana to the limit, then climbed up to the roof with my hands."
Miss Fíliya, who had been thoroughly netted, had also lost all her fighting spirit and became exceptionally honest at this moment.
"Impossible! Suppressing mana is a very tiring thing. It's fine if you remain in a static state, but you said you climbed up to the roof with your hands... how could such vigorous activity guarantee that mana remains in a suppressed state the whole time?"
Aura, for once in a blue moon, issued a follow-up question like a good student.
"Heh heh... because during this time, I researched this problem together with the fellow who is the best in the world at 'Mana Concealment.' 'Even under vigorous exercise, one can still conceal mana'—this is the result we achieved."
"The fellow who is the best in the world at 'Mana Concealment'..."
Solitär mulled over the content of Fíliya's words, then furrowed her brows.
Although not certain, her heart still arrived at an answer.
"Did you meet 'Frieren the Slayer'?"
Solitär asked tentatively.
"Mmh, sometimes fate is just wonderful... By the way, Solitär, you're still holding that?"
As Fíliya spoke, she pouted her lips; the direction she pointed to was naturally the stuffed doll in Solitär's hand that closely resembled Fíliya's own image.
Hmm... as expected of me, even the doll generated by the [Substitute Magic] is so cute.
Miss Fíliya's narcissism syndrome seemed to show a trend of worsening.
"It's already become a habit; holding it feels quite natural too..."
Solitär explained with feigned relaxation, but in any case, she had absolutely no intention of putting down the doll.
Just then, Linie at the side suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and spoke abruptly.
"Oh! I get it. Actually, Lady Fíliya, you wanted me to cooperate with you and lie just now, right?"
After Linie's words left her mouth, whether it was Fíliya herself, Solitär, or Aura, they all fell into a kind of silence.
At this moment, the inner thoughts of the three were surprisingly identical... which was...
Linie, you girl, could your reaction be any slower?!
____
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