A massive woman nearly two meters tall appeared, her entire body covered in grotesquely bulging muscles.
The real problem was what came out of her mouth.
“Tersha! Are you here to attend the masquerade too? I thought you weren’t interested in things like this.”
There was no need to investigate further.
That musclebound woman knew Tersha, the person Lola was currently impersonating.
Which meant Ex’s entire con was seconds away from being exposed.
‘Was there ever anything like this in the original story…?!’
Ex did his best to maintain a calm expression, but it was far from easy.
Without the effect of his title, Reckless Duelist, he might have fainted on the spot.
“Ah, uh, ah.”
Lola, however, did not have that luxury.
At the end of the day, she was still just a little girl who liked to pretend she was arrogant and untouchable.
She had absolutely no resistance to situations like this.
In fact, she was on the verge of passing out right now.
“Tersha! Your friend came all this way to see you, and you’re just going to ignore me?”
The muscular woman gave them no time to think.
She casually sat down beside Lola, picked up one of the refreshments on the table, and began eating as she spoke.
“When I tried to talk you into coming with me last time, you acted like you couldn’t care less. I never imagined you’d sneak in here all by yourself. Well, considering your status, I suppose I understand. Still, you could’ve at least told me, couldn’t you? Right, Tersha?”
Despite her appearance, she ate the refreshments with impeccable manners and restrained, graceful movements.
Somehow, that only made her even more terrifying.
All Lola could do was stare at Ex with tears welling in her eyes.
‘Do something!’
‘Just give me a second!’
Ex desperately racked his brain, but he couldn’t find a viable way out of this.
The biggest problem was that he had no idea who this woman was.
‘If she wasn’t in the original story or the setting notes, there’s no way for me to know!’
Thanks to his Intelligence stat, he remembered nearly every detail of the original story’s plot and setting.
Until now, he had used those memories as the foundation for every con he pulled.
But if the information had never existed in the first place, there was nothing he could prepare for.
‘Do we pretend not to know her and run? We still haven’t received the invitation. Should I stall for time? How am I supposed to do that?’
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in a fraction of a second, but the muscular woman moved first.
“Hey, Tersha. Why aren’t you answering me?”
After wiping the crumbs from her fingers with a handkerchief, she placed a hand on Lola’s shoulder.
As a martial artist, she could learn a great deal from something as simple as gripping another person’s shoulder.
One of the things she discovered was potentially fatal for Ex and Lola.
“Why are you trembling so badly? Are you sick?”
Her voice was filled with genuine concern as she examined Lola’s complexion.
Fortunately, Lola’s current appearance closely resembled the Tersha this woman remembered.
Unfortunately, that protection did not last long.
“Hmm? Something feels strange…”
‘Did she notice something unnatural about the transformation magic…?!’
Just as Ex suspected, the muscular woman had sensed the subtle wrongness created by the transformation magic.
She naturally raised a hand toward Lola’s face.
Lola looked ready to burst into tears.
‘This is it!’
The worst possible crisis had just become an opportunity.
“Lady, I believe it is discourteous to touch my mistress’s face without permission.”
The muscular woman’s hand stopped.
A simple appeal to common sense was often enough to make someone reconsider what they were doing.
“What are you supposed to be?”
However, the emotion prompted by that realization differed from person to person.
In the muscular woman’s case, it was anger.
“Is a mere attendant trying to interfere with the reunion between me and one of my oldest friends?”
Her gaze was filled with intense killing intent.
It was powerful enough to stop the heart of someone with weaker nerves.
Her opponent, however, was Ex.
Ex swiftly began piecing together a plausible story.
“As the one responsible for attending to my mistress, I have no choice but to place her safety and health above all else. I humbly ask that you forgive any discourtesy caused by my concern.”
“Are you saying I’m endangering Tersha’s health? Does a mere attendant dare pass judgment on me?”
The woman rose from her seat, her already enormous muscles swelling even further.
Her overwhelming presence filled the entire room.
‘How did she manage to twist my words that badly?’
Drawing the muscular woman’s attention away from Lola and onto himself was good, but Ex needed another plan to carry this sudden improvisation forward.
‘First, I need to take control of the conversation.’
Once he lost the initiative in a conversation, he would have no choice but to let the other person drag him wherever they pleased.
Ex decided to seize back the initiative he had lost.
He immediately lowered himself onto one knee.
The movement was natural, controlled, and appropriately servile.
“Please calm your anger. How could someone such as I dare judge you, my lady? I merely offered a word of caution in my capacity as an attendant.”
“If you’re an attendant, then act like one. Shut your mouth, stay in your place, and don’t you dare interfere.”
This was not going to be easy.
She was in no state to hold a rational conversation.
At this rate, nothing he said would get through to her.
He briefly considered subduing her by force, but one look at that physique was enough to tell him it would be absolutely impossible.
‘There has to be something. Anything I can use…!’
That was when it happened.
“…Cough.”
Lola covered her mouth and let out a quiet cough.
The tiny sound echoed through the room, which had been packed with suffocating tension.
Then she continued speaking.
“You are being far too loud. That is enough. Stop intimidating my attendant.”
Her tone was haughty and refined, carrying the effortless authority of a highborn noblewoman.
Compared to the Lola who normally whined and threw arrogant little tantrums, she seemed like an entirely different person.
“My throat has been in poor condition because of this cough, so I entrusted most of the conversation to my attendant. Marlene. Do you intend to silence me as well?”
At those words and Lola’s commanding gaze, the muscular woman named Marlene shrank back slightly.
Her attitude became noticeably more cautious.
“No, that wasn’t what I meant. I was just so happy to see you that I got carried away…”
“It has indeed been a full year since we last met at the Levrent Banquet, so I am pleased to see you as well. Cough… However, speaking any further is difficult. You may address my attendant from now on.”
When Marlene hesitated and briefly looked away from Lola, Lola glanced at Ex and desperately signaled with her eyes.
‘I… I can’t do any more than this!’
Amazingly, despite the crushing pressure and tension, Lola had managed to summon every last bit of composure she possessed and deliver a convincing performance.
Her acting was far better than Ex had expected.
‘Nobles do receive all kinds of training from a young age, but… Come to think of it, Lola was the only student who stood up to Professor Roxwell when he tried to intimidate the class.’
For someone who looked the way she did, she possessed a surprising amount of nerve.
Thanks to that courage, the entire flow of the conversation had changed.
Ex did not let the opportunity slip away.
“Given my mistress’s condition, Lady Marlene, please feel free to address me whenever you require anything.”
“…Fine. I’m sorry I lost my temper over nothing.”
Marlene sat back down.
Judging by her expression, she appeared to feel somewhat guilty.
She no longer seemed interested in causing a scene.
Instead, she casually introduced a new topic.
“So, what suddenly brought you here?”
Marlene’s eyes turned toward Ex.
It was permission for him to speak.
Before answering, Ex carefully gathered his thoughts.
‘If she’s here, that means she plans on attending the masquerade too. If we’re unlucky, we might run into her again once we’re inside.’
For now, he needed to obtain as much information as possible.
The important part was extracting that information without irritating Marlene.
Fortunately, there was a basic technique for situations exactly like this.
“My mistress came to attend the masquerade for the same reason you did, Lady Marlene. I imagine most of the guests are here for similar reasons.”
The technique was simple.
Pretend to know just enough.
During Ex’s years as an editor, he had discovered something nearly all authors had in common.
Most of the time, when authors asked him a question, they did so without actually knowing what answer they wanted.
Whenever that happened, Ex would respond like this.
‘I think following the direction you originally had in mind would be the best choice!’
There was no possible way for him to know what the other person had in mind.
Yet when he answered that way, most people convinced themselves that they had received a meaningful response.
Then they would say something like this.
“So you heard that ‘item’ is going to appear this time too. Apparently, the organizers have gone all out preparing for this masquerade.”
Exactly like that.
Ex had no idea what Marlene meant by ‘that item,’ but it was unquestionably important information he did not possess.
‘Was there ever an item in the original story that would be discussed like this? No, there wasn’t. For now, I’ll keep pretending I know.’
“That is correct. My mistress is also attending because of it.”
“Kheh. You act like such a prim and proper young lady, but behind everyone’s back, you do everything you pretend not to care about. That’s why you’re my friend. Oh, come to think of it, have you ever seen one in person? The organizers sent me a sample…”
‘There it is.’
Perhaps luck was finally on their side.
Having reached her own conclusion, Marlene began rummaging around inside her clothes for something.
‘I need to get a good look at it.’
Depending on what the item was, Ex would have to decide how to respond.
‘If this turns out to be the worst-case scenario, I might have to stop the entire masquerade, even if it means carrying out an attack myself.’
Considering the most catastrophic incident involving a masquerade in the original story, this clue was critically important.
Ex watched tensely as Marlene began pulling the object out.
“Thank you for waiting. I have brought your ‘invitation.’”
Vald opened the door and entered.
At the sudden interruption, Marlene slipped the object back inside her clothes before Ex could see it.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake!’
He felt as if his insides were about to catch fire, but he could not afford to show his anger while maintaining his act.
“…Very well. You have done good work.”
Ex and Lola accepted the ‘invitations’ Vald handed them.
‘So it really is this.’
They were golden rings.
From the outside, they looked like perfectly ordinary gold rings.
Of course, Ex knew exactly what they were.
‘We got what we came for, at least. I’d like to dig for more information, but we can’t afford to take any more risks. Lola looks like she’s reached her limit too.’
Ex wrapped the ring in a handkerchief, tucked it inside his clothes, and rose from his seat.
Lola followed, gracefully rising to her feet.
“It is getting late, so we will take our leave now, my lady.”
“When we see each other at the masquerade, don’t pretend you don’t know me.”
Marlene spoke as casually as ever while seeing the two of them off.
Ex and Lola left the Ring Circle hideout at a pace that somehow looked both hurried and unhurried.
“Hmm.”
The gaze Marlene directed at their departing backs was exceedingly strange.
***
“My lady, you’re heavy.”
“…I’m telling you, my legs won’t move!”
Once they had put a sufficient distance between themselves and the hideout, Ex carried Lola on his back as they headed toward the academy dormitory.
Perhaps because she had been under far too much tension, all the strength had gone out of Lola’s legs on the way back.
As a result, Ex, who was still in relatively good condition, had been forced to carry her.
As an added bonus, he had to listen to Lola’s furious whining the entire way.
“I knew it! You’re lower than a commoner! Lower than an insect! You’re worse than a demon! You’re like the grime underneath the Demon King’s toenails!”
“Wouldn’t the grime under the Demon King’s toenails be pretty powerful?”
“…Shut up!! Watch where you’re going! If anyone sees me being carried around like this in the middle of the night, my reputation in high society will be ruined!”
“We have Perception Inhibition Magic on us, so don’t worry.”
Ex took the opportunity to ask something he had been wondering about.
“You were pretty good back there. Where did you learn to act like that?”
“Do you think nobles do nothing but eat expensive food and live comfortably? If you’re born with privileges, receiving all kinds of education so you can fulfill the responsibilities that come with them is the bare minimum.”
“I’ve met plenty of nobles who don’t do that…”
“Then they’re the ones doing it wrong!”
Ex suddenly found Lola rather admirable.
She was at an age when most children would want nothing more than to play, yet her entire life was bound by education and responsibility.
The amount of stress she lived with had to be immense.
“Hmm. I’ll try to treat you better from now on.”
“What do you mean, you’ll treat me better?! You’re just a commoner!”
Lola huffed and fumed for quite a while before finally going limp against his back and speaking again.
“So what are these rings? You’re saying these are invitations? We can enter that masquerade just by wearing them?”
Lola’s confusion was understandable.
The golden rings they had received looked completely ordinary.
There did not appear to be anything special about them.
Ex answered her question calmly.
“They’re called Soul Trap Rings.”
“Soul Trap Rings? What are those? I’ve never heard of them.”
“They’re something like artifacts with several different functions. But only one thing really matters.”
Ex took the ring from inside his clothes and examined it as he spoke.
“You can safely assume that everyone wearing one of these is a demon.”
At this point in time, it was a secret of the demons that no one on the human side had yet discovered.
–TL Notes–
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