As the sun set and hungry dogs and people began to leave the streets in search of their own food, we quietly slipped out of the inn, ‘Cold Sun,’ where we had stayed for the past few days.
Our destination, of course, was that Dungeon.
‘The Tomb Ruins are near the east gate of Aurax.’
For now, our goal was simply to make it there safely.
Tirvaen was preoccupied, casting detection magic to track the movements of the City Guard.
“……Your Highness.”
Karls turned around with a shocked expression.
A face was briefly visible in the second-floor window of the inn.
It was none other than the rookie scammer, Thomson.
“Did you really say that to Thomson? To sell us out?”
“Yeah.”
“S-So, then? That guy agreed to do it right away?”
Karls stammered in his fluster.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Why? Feel betrayed?”
“To be honest, yes.”
“Oh, come on. When did Thomson ever become one of our crew? It’s only been three or four days, Karls.”
“Well, that’s true, but……”
Watching Karls’s face fall so suddenly made me laugh again.
It had only been a few days, but it seemed the two of them had grown a little attached to each other while dodging the City Guard and going on adventures together.
I nodded to myself.
‘Yeah, that’s only natural at their age.’
At this point, Karls was only twenty.
And though she tried hard to hide it, Tirvaen was nineteen.
I hadn’t asked, but I doubted Thomson was any older—if anything, he was probably younger.
That’s why it was so easy for them to become friends and trust each other so quickly.
But I was a bit different.
‘Inside, I’m thirty-one.’
Thirty-one, who grew up in an orphanage and made it this far through all kinds of hardships.
With that much life and experience, it was hard to trust people easily.
So I never trusted Thomson one hundred percent.
‘If only I had a Mind Reading Skill or something…’
Of course, that didn’t mean I didn’t trust him at all.
He trusted me enough to escape from the Black Society, after all. He’d taken the ‘Back Alley Life-Changing Opportunity’ I offered.
‘So I have to make sure I pay him back for that, too.’
That’s why I planned this whole thing.
Just as I promised, I would give him a chance to change his life—and then, when the time was right, we’d part ways.
That was the purpose of the last mission I gave Thomson.
“When we’re far enough away, he’ll turn us in.”
“No, I mean—how could he do that…”
“But, Thomson will mix in some strange information about us when he does.”
“……Strange information? What do you mean?”
“I mean he’ll plant Counterintelligence in the City Guard to throw them off our trail.”
“……!”
Karls’s face finally brightened.
Counterintelligence.
In other words, Thomson’s job was to spread ‘false information.’
He was going to report us, but mix in half-truths and half-lies.
“He’ll probably be honest about how we tricked Lucard and stayed at Cold Sun, but…”
The more important part.
“He won’t answer truthfully about exactly who we are, or where we’re heading. He’ll say something completely off the mark.”
Right now, we were heading toward Aurax’s east gate, but Thomson would tell them we’d gone west instead.
Tirvaen, listening, nodded her head.
“I see. If truth and lies are mixed together, it’ll be hard to sort them out.”
“Yes. In the end, Thomson will have done the City Guard a favor, but we won’t get caught.”
And since Thomson brought back the Scam Contract, Lucard wouldn’t just throw him away.
“That’s why you left him behind.”
“He always said it was his childhood dream to join the City Guard. Having two people suffering with me is enough.”
“Your Highness? It’s always been my childhood dream to become Commander of the Imperial Knights, but the future Emperor doesn’t seem to be putting in much effort on that front?”
“Oh, my disciple? It’s always been my dream since childhood to become Five-Colored Spire Lord. Can’t you make that happen for me, too?”
…Well, that left me speechless.
As we exchanged such silly banter—
PEEP! PEEEEEP!
A loud whistle sounded from behind us.
The City Guard was exchanging emergency signals.
I nodded.
“Looks like Thomson’s on the move.”
“Can that guy really lie well?”
Honestly, he seemed more skilled at pickpocketing than lying.
“But he must have picked up a thing or two in the back alleys, right?”
Thankfully, whether Thomson spun his story right or not, the City Guard we passed didn’t even glance at us.
They were probably gathering in the west district of Aurax, where they’d been told we were heading, to launch a search operation.
Thanks to that, we made it smoothly through the east district and reached the gate.
“……Alright.”
I stopped and turned to the two.
“We’ll part ways here.”
Their faces immediately twisted into a mess.
“Are you abandoning us too, after Thomson? No way! Absolutely not!”
“Devotion turns you into a doormat, they say! You rotten disciple! How dare you!”
“No, that’s not it!”
What I meant was that we’d be splitting up for just one day.
Because that Instance Dungeon, ‘Tomb Ruins’ Sealed Passage,’ was solo only.
There was no need, nor was it even possible, to enter with the two of them.
And more importantly, they had their own tasks to handle.
“You two go ahead and attend the ‘Rite of the Crimson Wind.’ Keep an eye on the situation there.”
“The situation? What exactly do you want us to watch for…?”
I gave a simple answer to the puzzled Karls.
“Eve Rotwyler.”
Karls’s eyes widened slowly.
I could sense it.
“She’ll definitely be there.”
So the situation would be anything but simple.
The ritual itself was already complicated.
The children thrown into the hunting ground each had to hunt down the target assigned to them and return.
Targets that were a bit too dangerous for kids around eighteen.
So they had to work together.
They would form parties according to their abilities and interests, and hunt each other’s targets as a group.
In the process, the kids would recruit, compete, and betray each other.
If they failed the ritual, they’d have to prepare and try again.
Or they might never get another chance.
In this harsh and brutal process, the kids would learn to judge and understand each other.
‘After they become adults, it will decide what kind of relationships they have.’
So, it was a harsh coming-of-age ritual for entering the adult world.
But the Order of Kishiris had added their own cruel scheme to this already brutal event.
……A plan to empty out a whole generation of boys, expanding the power of the Kishiris Priestesses.
‘I came this far on the condition that I would stop that.’
Now it was time to act.
But there was someone else there with a similar goal.
‘Eve Wyler.’
The one who had fooled me so completely in the Empire would be there.
I couldn’t predict how Eve would act here.
She wasn’t just an NPC…
‘She’s a player, just like me, wearing the skin of an NPC.’
When two or more players go after the same quest, a choice is inevitable.
‘Competition, or cooperation.’
Which would it be?
……What kind of faces would we make when we met?
“You get what I’m saying, right? Master, you too?”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
“Yes, leave it to us.”
The Rite of the Crimson Wind was held at ‘Dark Cliff,’ a forest in the northeast of the city.
“Oh, Master? You know the way there, right?”
“Of course.”
While Karls ran my errands, Tirvaen had studied the map of Aurax in the inn room, memorizing the city’s layout.
So she knew the fastest route to Dark Cliff.
That was to go out the west gate and head straight along the forest path.
“Take care, then.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Your Highness.”
The two gave me a worried, brief farewell.
“Oh, wait!”
I called them back.
I’d just remembered something truly important.
“Master, are you going to go like that?”
What? What about my face!”
“No, not that. You’re supposed to be eighteen-year-old ‘En Alledro,’ remember? But right now, you don’t look the part at all.”
“!”
That was the problem.
Karls was nineteen-year-old ‘Kal,’ and I was seventeen-year-old ‘Shian.’
And the little witch was now eighteen-year-old ‘En.’
That’s what it said on our IDs.
‘But that face is still the old witch, isn’t it?’
Anyone with working eyes would never believe she was a blossoming eighteen-year-old.
“What are you going to do?”
“W-What if I just say I’m a girl with Progeria?”
“Yeah, let’s not joke around. You have Disguise Magic, right?”
“Disguise Magic? Well, I do, but…”
Watching the flustered witch, I smiled inwardly.
‘She doesn’t just have it—she’s using it right now.’
Tirvaen Sui was nineteen, but by the tradition of her masters, she hid her real appearance and acted as an old witch.
‘So if she wants to look like an eighteen-year-old, all she has to do is cancel her Disguise Magic, not cast it.’
But for her, showing her real face was taboo, so she hesitated.
Knowing this, I was dying of laughter inside, but I held it in and pressed her.
“Come on, use your Disguise Magic. They’ll check our IDs at the gate.”
“B-But that’s a bit…”
She was really hesitating.
A little frustrated, I glanced at Karls.
And, clueless as ever, Karls flashed a beautiful smile.
“Hurry up, Sui, Sir. I’m very curious about what you looked like in your youth.”
“……?”
“As someone who knows the mature and experienced you now, I can’t help but look forward to how beautiful and strong you must have been.”
…What a line.
‘Did this guy go to some kind of academy for honey-tongued sweet-talkers?’
Improv skills, check.
And the effect was immediate.
“R-Really? You’re really looking forward to it, Sir Silion?”
Tirvaen’s eyes trembled wildly.
I didn’t even need to persuade her anymore.
Just one more smile from Karls was enough.
“……If you say so, I have no choice.”
Blushing to the nape of her neck, Tirvaen instantly canceled her Disguise Magic.
And finally, her true self was revealed—a girl with bright red hair.
‘Tirvaen Sui.’
She looked so young and delicate, you’d believe she was only fifteen, not eighteen.
Was she beautiful?
Well, it felt a bit too soon to say. Tirvaen just looked like a girl.
I felt a strange sensation as I looked at her.
‘So this is what she really looks like.’
A little different from the face I’d seen on the monitor.
I glanced to the side, smiling, and suddenly froze.
“?!”
Karls, who’d been all smiles and sweet words until a moment ago—
“Uh……”
Now had his mouth hanging open, frozen in shock.
No way?
“Does it look weird?”
The little witch, apparently unused to releasing her Disguise Magic, smiled awkwardly.
“N-No, it’s very, very nice, Sir Sui.”
Very nice?
What’s so nice about it?
“Hey, why’s your face red? And why are you stammering all of a sudden?”
“W-When did I! We’ll be off now! Please take care, Your Highness!”
Karls hurried off, dragging a bewildered Tirvaen behind him.
“Ha……”
Left alone, I wondered if there was a bamboo forest around here.
A bamboo spear.
I need a bamboo spear!
ROFL