If the master had indeed realized something was off and said those words with intent, then at what point did she notice?

No—considering how strange it was for her to be there in the first place, there had been far too many opportunities for her to figure it out.

The real issue I needed to focus on wasn’t the fact that she noticed.

"Why did she choose to respond in this particular way?"@@novelbin@@

With so many chances to become suspicious, it wasn’t strange for her to have figured it out.

But why had she acted the way she did in that moment?

"When the next full moon rises, go to the hilltop."

"……"

I recalled her words, my brow furrowing.

If she had known I was an intruder, she could have acted then and there.

From what I had seen, she certainly had the power to do so. Then why?

"Was there a reason she couldn’t?"

Could there have been something preventing her from eliminating me on the spot?

"Noya said she wasn’t here in her true form."

Something like a thought projection or an avatar created by separating a portion of her strength.

Directly descending would have caused complications, and since doing so would be too taxing, she had instead appeared in a weaker form, even equipping herself with an unknown artifact.

If she had been so drastically weakened, was it simply that she couldn't confront me?

"No. That’s not it."

I had to deny that immediately.

"Weakness aside… something about it is off."

If this was the method she had chosen, that in itself was the strangest part.

A full moon and a hill?

Why had she relayed that message not to the Black Leader but to me?

And more than that—

"Was it really meant for me?"

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