Spot the Difference
by Afuhfuihgs
The girl who introduced herself as Estelle had many differences from the Estelle in my memory. Her height, which I thought was the shortest in the academy, had grown to about average. Her beautiful purple eyes had turned into common brown eyes, and she was wearing everyday clothes commonly seen on the street, not the gothic dress she usually wore.
More than anything, Estelle’s gaze, which looked straight at me without wearing a mask, made it clear that she was not the Estelle I knew, but a different person. Estelle, whose setting as Roel’s mesukaki heroine had disappeared and was only mentioned as Rosalyn’s friend, was this ordinary girl.
Whether she was intrigued that I knew her identity, Estelle asked, her eyes shining.
,How did you know that I’m the guild master of Modest? Only two people in the guild know this fact.”
After contemplating how to answer for a moment, I raised my hand and took off the mask I was wearing on my face. Estelle, who was looking at me, checked my face and slightly flinched with surprised eyes. Her wary appearance was like a stray cat meeting a stranger.
,…Could it be that you’ve been resurrected from the dead?”
,That’s impossible.”
The woman wearing a cat mask standing behind Estelle also seemed to realize who Ross was, and I could see her tensing her muscles so she could pounce on me at any moment. Fearing unnecessary misunderstandings, I spoke about the purpose of my visit.
,I’m just here as a guest of Modest. I know better than anyone that this is the best information guild.”
,In a situation where your identity is not clear, I can’t rashly treat you as a guest of Modest. Since you once sold your soul to the devil, this may also be a trick of the devil.”
It’s a natural suspicion. Not only did I simply resemble him, but I was the same Ross. I smiled quietly.
,I’m a different person from the dead Ross. Would you believe me if I said I’m Ross from a different world?”
Estelle, who frowned slightly as if she had heard nonsense, snorted.
,Even if it’s an unbelievable story, I can believe it if there’s undeniable evidence to convince me. I’m the guild master of Modest, who believes that information is the most powerful weapon.”
Is it like a merchant’s belief? I nodded and reached out to the side where there was nothing. Then, I noticed the masked woman who was wary of me moving her hand to the back of her waist.
Seeing her sending a sharp aura as a warning, as if she would draw a dagger at any moment, I opened the space warehouse with a leisurely gesture to lower her guard. Estelle, who was watching this, looked at me with surprised eyes and stammered.
,Th, that’s…?”
It was a time when Rosalyn hadn’t obtained the magic book yet. It was natural for Estelle, who was seeing a space warehouse for the first time, to look at it with interest. It seemed like she was more greedy than interested, though.
,It’s a personal warehouse that can be used by utilizing the gap in dimensions.”
,…The security is perfect too. It’s a very tempting magic.”
Ignoring Estelle’s gaze, which was looking at me with a merchant’s eyes, I started rummaging through the space warehouse. It was something I had received as a gift a long time ago and had forgotten about after putting it in the space warehouse, so I couldn’t remember where I had put it. After rummaging for a while, I was able to find it under a box of snacks that I occasionally packed for Aria’s late-night snacks.
,This is proof that I’m a special customer of Modest from another world.”
,This is…”
What I put on the table was a badge made in the shape of a lily. It was something I received as proof that I was a customer of Modest when I got the name Lily from Estelle. I presented this as evidence, considering that it was a specially made product that could not be counterfeited.
Estelle, who quietly checked the badge, raised her head and looked at me silently before handing the badge to the woman behind her.
,Amber, go to the room and check it properly.”
,Yes.”
At Estelle’s words, I realized that the woman wearing the cat mask who received the badge was Amber from the original world. I thought it was someone else because her voice and body shape were different… Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t have a fixed appearance setting like Estelle, so her appearance has changed.
Amber, who had left the room with the badge for a while, returned shortly after.
,It’s true that it’s a badge that our Modest gives to customers. But it’s a badge that doesn’t exist in the guild’s records.”
Estelle, who listened to Amber’s explanation, nodded slightly and returned the badge to me.
,To be honest, I can’t believe the story that you came from another world. But since the badge is real and the truth that you know my identity, I’ll treat you as a guest as promised.”
‘As a guest’? Rather than feeling unpleasant at Estelle’s appearance, which seemed to be saying that she wouldn’t take responsibility if something went wrong, a warm smile appeared on my face. Although she looks different, it felt like a choice that was like Estelle.
I immediately told her the reason why I came to Modest, as Estelle seemed to be even more wary of me, wondering how she interpreted my smile.
,Let me enter the Transcendence Academy main building for a while.”
,…Do you have business at the academy?”
As Estelle sent a sharp look as if trying to see through my inner thoughts, I remembered the fact that Ross here had massacred people at the academy and died, and waved my hand.
,Don’t misunderstand, it’s not because I’m trying to get revenge on Roel. It’s just that there’s someone I need to meet at the academy. It’s clear that there will be problems if I enter the academy with my current face. I’m trying to get help.”
When I explained the situation sufficiently, Estelle shook her head slightly.
,I’m not worried. Anyway, Roel is currently spending time with Rosalyn at a warm southern resort.”
At those words, I realized what I had missed. Because I came at the same time as the world I was in, the timing overlapped and the academy here was on winter vacation.
It was a shame that I couldn’t meet the Messiah members of the original world, who were my first goal, but it was still worth checking the academy directly. The core purpose of coming to this world was to see and compare things that didn’t appear in the novel with my own eyes.
,Is your purpose to disguise yourself as a student and meet someone at the academy?”
,Yeah. And I also want information about the students attending the academy.”
When I said the names of the Messiah members, Estelle nodded without much suspicion. It seemed that she judged that it was okay because they were not related to her friend Rosalyn or Roel.
Estelle and Amber left the room for a while, and I waited blankly in the room alone. While organizing my journey so far and making plans for the future in my head, Estelle returned to the room with a man.
,This person is a slime thaumaturge. He can create a face that can’t be distinguished from the real thing by using slime.”
When I looked at the man with interested eyes at Estelle’s explanation, he scratched his head with an awkward smile.
,The slime face only lasts for 3 hours. But the effect is certain.”
That should be enough to look around the academy. When I nodded, the man took out a bottle containing slime from his bag.
***
Disguised as a 3rd-year male student belonging to Modest, I wore the school uniform that Amber had prepared and headed to the academy. I promised to prepare the information of the members when I returned to Modest because it took time to prepare.
Perhaps because it was vacation, it was not easy to find people who looked like students at the academy. I wondered if everyone had taken refuge in a warm place because it was cold. After passing the patrolling security guard, I arrived at the academy’s main building and headed to the club room on the 2nd basement floor.
What would the secret room of Transcendence Academy, which was only mentioned in rumors in the novel, look like? I decided to check it out myself, thinking that there might be differences from my world where the discarded settings were revived.
First of all, the door at the end of the hallway, in a secluded place, was no different from my memory. I was worried if I could enter with the club room key I had… Perhaps it was because they hadn’t changed the existing key, but the key went into the hole without any hindrance and I could easily open the door.
,It’s… the same.”
It was the same as when I first found the club room with the members. The wallpaper with cookies drawn on it that Aria had decorated and the strange skull-shaped pumpkin toys that were hanging from the ceiling were gone, so the inside felt a little empty.
After checking that the closet was working properly, I locked the door again and headed to the place where I had found the corrupt artifact in the past. There was nothing particularly good to gain. There were no differences from my memory either.
I quietly scratched my cheek and recalled the sewer that the black magician had used when he attacked the academy and moved there. But perhaps because they had experienced the attack, a temporary barracks that I had never seen before was installed in front of the sewer. It seemed that the security guard guarding the outside from inside the barracks was controlling access to the sewer.
I chuckled, recalling the time when I stood guard in the army, and turned around, thinking about whether there was anything else to check. In the first place, I, whose place of activity in the academy was extremely limited, had no other places to check. There was no need to check the training ground either.
While walking around the academy and thinking about returning to Modest, I heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere. Drawn by the nostalgic voice that I hadn’t heard in a long time, I instinctively ran after the voice.
There was the lovely girl I knew, Luna.
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