Chapter 124: The Face Thief?

[Another tale]

Your feet, which had been moving busily, came to a stop.

How delightful.

All the people your were looking for are gathered here.

Vellen, a hero candidate chosen by the fifth holy sword of the Hero, was a man full of ambition.

He firmly believed that he was the protagonist of the world.

And who could blame him?

He was a country bumpkin from a humble village, chosen by a holy sword and backed by the mighty De Villan.

At first, the noble customs had felt awkward and uncomfortable, but now they fit him like a glove.

So much so that he found his old, unrefined self embarrassingly ignorant.

His overflowing confidence was his greatest weapon.

Some dismissed it as arrogance or reckless bravado.

How unfair.

How dare they belittle the leap of a young man trying to overcome his origins.

Of course, Vellen paid them no mind!

That overflowing confidence was his weapon, after all!

He thoroughly ignored those who doubted him.

No, he mocked them!

He never stopped. He kept moving forward.

And now, he has arrived here.

He gives you a smile brimming with confidence.

Then his expression slowly changes, and next comes Magnus, the deputy commander of the De Villan Knight Order, greeting you.

A seasoned warrior, a “master” is the perfect word to describe him.

The wrinkles and scars he carries from the frontlines are marks of pride, not shame; badges of seasoned experience.

He taught you that sword technique is more than rank and mana.

What if the place where you exchanged blows had been a battlefield, not a training hall?

You understand. It’s something you don’t even want to imagine.

Which makes it all the more regrettable.

Because he’s here now.

Next, who is it?

Ah.

You feel a shiver run down your spine.

Because your worst fear has come true.

Tua ye De Villan, commander of the De Villan Knight Order and proud noble of De Villan.

She’s here too.

The commander greets you with a radiant smile.

She’s known as the “Radiance” for reaching 7th tier at a young age, but even more for her cold demeanor that rarely reveals personal emotion.

And yet, she’s smiling brightly?

Are you lucky, or terribly unlucky?

One thing is certain: you know she’s not someone who makes such expressions lightly.

No matter how happy, no matter how glad the moment.

You finish greeting the commander.

You sense that the end is near.

Was the commander the last? Or—

Ah, right. Of course.

You can’t leave her out.

As you may have suspected, everything started with her.

Brienne.

The wandering swordswoman gives you a meaningful look with her usual unruly attitude.

“You were quite helpful.”

She suddenly thanks you.

You thought you had already experienced the worst kind of feeling.

That was a gross underestimation.

Brienne—no, the Face Thief—covers her face with her palm.

And when she lowers it, you see someone all too familiar.

It’s you.

Now you understand why the Face Thief thanked you.

Why the Knight Order members were so easily stripped of their faces.

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have stolen their faces so easily. So, thank you.”

Her words send you into a spiral of regret.

Where did it all go wrong?

The Face Thief impersonated you and sowed discord within the Knight Order.

You worked hard to clear up those misunderstandings and earned their trust.

Back then, you couldn’t have imagined…

That all of it would lead to the worst-case scenario.

Like how the ground hardens after rain, your restored trust with the Knight Order had grown deep.

And the Face Thief took full advantage of it.

Approaching them in your guise, it was shockingly easy to catch them off guard.

Yes.

The gratitude she shows is genuine, from the depths of her being.

If you hadn’t worked to fix your relationship with the Knight Order, would they have survived?

Maybe.

But then, you wouldn’t be standing here facing her now.

A small consolation for you:

She doesn’t seem to be trying to escape.

Perhaps because your faces are so similar, your thoughts align too.

The battle begins.

-: Yep. That’s also exactly what the Knight Order members think.

-[OP]: FFS

-[OP]: I’ve only read the story and I already don’t want to do this quest. If this quest pops up, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist Alt+F4. Is there any way to save the Knight Order? No way to stop the Face Thief’s chaos?

-: Not really.

-: Assassins< and they’re specialized in infiltration and sabotage. An assassin with the constitution of the Faceless One? Yeah, good luck with that.

-[OP]: But come on, just because they stole some faces and lowered their guard, how the hell does one guy wipe the whole Knight Order? Even with the combined levels of the commander and deputy, it’s over 125!

-: First-ever level 125 dual-rankers

-: The Face Thief’s only level 68 tho

-: Level 68 puts her at late-stage 7th tier, Even face-to-face she’s tough, and she caught them off guard in disguise, there’s no winning that

-: And don’t forget she’s cracked with poison too, not just swords

-: Got kicked out of the assassin’s guild but never lost her roots… always carrying her homeland in her heart…

-: + The Faceless One’s constitution is busted AF. Her difficulty rivals any 70+ level boss

-[OP]: WHY is that a random event that can spawn anywhere on the map?

-[OP]: So there’s no way to stop her from causing chaos?
-: Maybe if your stats are so cracked she literally can’t mimic you?
-[OP]: What even counts as “cracked” here?
-: Idk man, just hack lmao
-: She only shows up when your level is below 70. Below that, you will lose your face. Someone posted a full summary on the info board. Unless you’re hacking, forget it.

-[OP]: Then drop the hacks pls
-: [File attached]
-[OP]: WTF it’s just the uninstall file
-: Most helpful cheat in this game tbh

Now that the Knight Order’s suspicion has fully cleared, Risir found himself in a dilemma.

Should I say it now? That I actually can use a sword…

The Face Thief was targeting them.

To prevent further infiltration and respond to surprise attacks, sharing that information was imperative.

But if I say it now, won’t it just make things messier?

After all, they’d confidently concluded, “He used a sword, so it wasn’t Risir!”

And now to go, “Actually, I can use a sword too” that’s just asking for trouble.

Just as Risir was lost in thought, Tua spoke.

“Risir. We’ll take our leave. The Face Thief was targeting Magnus, which confirms that we—Knight Order—are the true target.”

Risir blinked in confusion.

“What? Wasn’t he the one running from you all?”

“If he truly wanted to vanish, it would’ve taken us much longer to track him. But instead, he left a trail for us to follow. I believe even when he attacked the Hero candidate, he already had us in mind. His plan started with the Hero candidate, but it ends with us.”

“So if the Knight Order deploys reinforcements, he’ll simply flee… In other words, he’s thrown down a gauntlet to the Knight Order. And now you’re playing tag.”

“Exactly.”

Tua turned to Magnus and added.

“Magnus, you said he stole your sword.”

“Yes. It happened during combat.”

“To steal a master’s blade mid-fight… That’s an absurdly unfair ability.”

Shaking her head in disgust, Tua continued.

“It seems his mimicry skill surpasses our expectations.”

“Commander Tua. He stole my sword in such a short window. Stealing my face in that time must’ve been nothing.”

“Right. As we all know, Magnus’s case marks the first contact between us and the Face Thief. He successfully stole Magnus’s face, but that’s all. According to intel, his mimicry is near perfect… but not flawless. Fooling close associates is nearly impossible.”

Therefore…

Tua emphasized her next words.

“If that thing is hiding among us, it won’t be wearing our faces. It may be an outsider, but it will have the face of someone who can approach us closely.”

Drey.

Macey.

Pallarg.

These were the first names that came from Tua’s mouth.

“As of now, Lord Pallarg is away on personal matters. According to Drey, he won’t be returning to the mansion for at least three days. So, excluding Lord Pallarg, the remaining two people, no, wait.”

Tua turned her gaze toward me.

“We’ll keep a close watch on the remaining three.”

“Three… Surely you don’t mean I’m included in that?”

“You’re close to Drey, aren’t you? You’re one of the very few who are allowed to directly interact with us in the mansion.”

“Ha…”

There was full trust and belief in Tua’s words.

In a situation where a single misjudgment could lead to the worst possible outcome, Risir now truly felt the weight of his connection to the high noble Drey.

“If the Face Thief were to impersonate you and approach us, it would be difficult for us to respond properly. In the worst case—”

Tua looked seriously at Risir.

“We might not be able to tell the real from the fake, and end up treating you as a threat.”

“You mean… the Face Thief might impersonate me and make you hostile toward me? In the truest sense, to steal the identity of ‘Risir’?”

“Exactly.”

“Then… I’ll need to come up with a way to prove I’m the real one. How about a password or code?”

Tua shook her head.

“That thing was once the master of an assassin guild. A master of infiltration and special operations. A password likely won’t work on it. Worse, it might even use that password to sow confusion among us.”

“…Can the Face Thief copy magic too? If not, then maybe I could use magic every time I meet you to prove myself—”

“It’s much more limited than sword technique, but yes. It is certainly possible.”

“What kind of absurd ability is that?!”

Risir shouted in disbelief.

-…

-…

He ignored the gazes he felt from his inner world.

“Then what should I do? How can I prove I’m the real one when I come into contact with all of you?”

Risir frowned.

So did Tua and the rest of the Knight Order.

As they huddled together in serious thought, trying to come up with a logical solution—

“Tua.”

Drey’s voice came from beyond the door.

“I’m with Macey. I’m coming in.”

Even the Face Thief couldn’t possibly impersonate two people at once.

The Knight Order relaxed their guard and let Drey in.

“I heard from Macey. The Face Thief stole Risir’s face? What happened?”

Drey first checked Risir’s expression, then asked Tua to fill him in.

Tua immediately shared the current situation.

“A way to prove that Risir is the real Risir?”

Hearing the story piece by piece, Drey almost burst out laughing.

And once he heard everything, he let out a small chuckle.

As if to say, Why are you even worrying about something that simple?

“…Drey, you sound like you have an idea.”

“Oh, absolutely. Risir?”

With a meaningful smile, he began speaking to Risir.

“…Drey, you really… even in this kind of situation—”

Tua, overhearing them, looked displeased.

Her interpretation was that Drey was joking around.

“…”

But as she watched, her expression shifted more toward bewilderment.

They were far too serious to be making empty jokes.

“…Well, Risir. Do you think it’s possible? It won’t put too much strain on your body?”

Eventually, their discussion came to a close.

Drey asked for Risir’s opinion.

“…”

Tua and the Knight Order looked at Risir with grave faces.

They feared the word yes would come from his mouth.

“Yes, I think it’s possible.”

“W-Wait a second…!”

At last, the commander of the Knight Order lost her composure.

Rarely showing such pure bewilderment, she questioned both Risir and Drey.

She pointed out how unrealistic their plan was.

“How is this unrealistic? Risir?”

“Yes.”

And then came Risir and Drey’s demonstration (?)

“…”

“…”

“…”

The Knight Order was rendered speechless by the scene before their eyes.

“Well then. Shall we move on to luring that bastard out?”

As Drey about to wrap up their meeting, Risir raised his hand.

“Oh, Risir. Got an idea?”

“The Face Thief. The reason he keeps entangling with the Knight Order must be to steal Lady Tua’s face, that is, her sword technique. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“…”

Tua, still recovering from what had just occurred, nodded.

“In that case, how about this? We create a situation where he has no choice but to appear as ‘Risir’ in front of us. If we can keep that situation going long enough, a chance is bound to come.”

Risir explained the plan he had thought up.

“No…”

Tua muttered without realizing it.

Risir’s plan was too dangerous, too reckless.

It would essentially be laying the groundwork for the Face Thief to steal Tua’s face.

“So what? If he impersonates Risir, we’ll see through it right away.”

“No—”

“No what? Didn’t you see it just now? Could that thing really imitate Risir like that?”

“No…”

Yet even so, Tua couldn’t bring herself to reject their idea.

“Fine, then we’ll go with this. Any objections?”

A flimsy, strange plan relying entirely on Risir was passed.

Something that would never have been approved under the Knight Order’s standard procedures.

“No…”

Tua remained uncertain.

Could this kind of plan really work?

“…You want me to summon an elemental before the sword training? Lady Tua, I don’t understand. As you well know, I’m not an Elementalist. Just because I use both sword and magic doesn’t mean I can use elementals.”

It freaking worked.

“…And now you want me to ascend to the 7th tier? Pardon me, but is this some kind of riddle?”

Five days had passed since the half-baked operation meeting.

Now.

In front of Tua stood a ‘Risir’ caught in the plan.

And not long after—

Another Risir arrived, making two in total.

The three exchanged a few words.

And then, one of the Risirs shouted in frustration.

“I saw it with my own eyes!!! You definitely ate the food I made!!! You must have been poisoned!!! So how are you here—

“What’s that elemental?! There’s no summoning magic in the spells you use before!!!

“Y-Your mana suddenly surged…!? H-How!?

“…”

Watching all this unfold, Tua rubbed her brow with a tired look.

Why, she wondered…

At this moment, rather than joy over the plan’s success, what she felt most was pity for the Face Thief.

And somehow, she felt a kind of camaraderie with the Face Thief.