Chapter 97: The Horrifying Liar (2)

[97] 15. The Horrifying Liar (2)

Guided by a strangely frightened man, I entered a room where Irene was sitting so casually. She looked as if she owned the place.

“…What in the world is going on?”

“Ah, you’re here, Oppa? Have a seat.”

Irene smiled brightly and gestured to the seat across from her. I did as she said, even though I was still confused.

“You look like you have a lot of questions.”

“Anyone would, if the girl who was just listening to my past with a serious expression on her face suddenly starts acting like a mafia boss.”

Irene chuckled.

“A mafia boss, you say? Well, you’re not exactly wrong.”

I made a puzzled expression, and Irene started to explain.

“Unlike you, *I’m* still alive in this world. And unlike me, who ended up as a pathetic porter, *I* built a huge organization.”

“…You’re saying that this other ‘you’ is the collaborator?”

Irene nodded.

“Persuading her wasn’t difficult. After all, she’s ‘me’. Getting her full support wasn’t hard. She’s also the one who told me where you were. And…”

Irene smiled mysteriously, stroking the armrest of her chair. The light in her blue eyes felt somewhat chilling.

“She’s also the one who ‘lent’ me her organization.”

“Lent you her organization?”

“Have you seen the movie, ‘Masquerade’? It’s a similar situation to that.”

(TL Note: The movie ‘Masquerade’ is about a king who’s being poisoned, so they find a look-alike commoner to replace him.)

…So she’s saying that she’s impersonating to be ‘this world’s Irene’ to run the organization.

However, even after her explanation, a few questions remained.

For example, how did Irene, who was just a civil servant in our world, end up as the leader or head of an organization in this parallel world.

Or why did ‘this world’s Irene’ hand over her organization instead of simply helping her by any other means.

But I pushed those questions aside. It felt like an inappropriate time to be asking such things. I decided to simply store them away in the corner of my mind.

“So, what can we do with this organization of yours?”

“First, this.”

Irene pulled out a Memory Orb from her bosom and placed it on the table.

“What is it?”

“All the information we need. Blueprints of the Imperial Palace, the location of the pocket watch and the essence, the palace’s Imperial Guard’s schedule, etcetera, etcetera.”

I couldn’t hide the astonished expression that came over my face.

“What kind of organization is this?”

“Roughly… something like S.H.I.E.L.D from Marvel? Honestly, I’m not sure about the details either. She just said that she could find out anything I asked for.”

…Just who in the world this ‘parallel world Irene’ is.

“And, Oppa, at this point, there’s something I want to propose to you.”

I looked at Irene, who suddenly put on a serious expression. Tapping the Memory Orb, she said,

“Of course, this alone isn’t enough to steal the essence and the watch. Even if we exclude your crazy girlfriends, we’d still have to break into the Imperial Palace vault.”

Your girlfriends. I couldn’t help but frown at those words. Because they were accurate, annoyingly so.

“So? What are you going to do?”

“…I’m thinking of contacting the Feya Unnie in this world.”

Her words made me hesitate. After a brief moment of deliberation, my answer was short.

“No.”

Irene’s face immediately fell.

“I think it’s our best option. Above all, Feya Unnie wasn’t involved in the plan to ‘kidnap’ you. So she’s the only one out of your…”

“You’re saying that because you didn’t hear the whole story.”

Feya’s obsession was as deep as her guilt. Back when we were first building the mercenary group, she’d get anxious even if I stepped out of her sight.

Of course, the current Feya was much better now, but the Feya here… She lost me. Only God knows how rotten her insides might be.

“Like I said before, I think it’s better to go to the Captain.”

The Captain was a crybaby, but she was also a rational woman. I wasn’t sure what kind of state she was in, but I thought she’d at least listen to what I have to say.

“…You have a terrible eye for people, Oppa.”

However, Irene didn’t seem to think so, shaking her head. Then, with a sigh, she spoke in an impatient tone.

“Well, let’s talk about that later. First, let’s get out of this city.”

Saying that, she glanced out the window. Below, knights were moving about busily.

“I’m sure neither of us want to be caught by Amy.”

I nodded.

“So, how do you plan to escape the city? Teleportation? Or does this organization of yours have a secret route they use?”

“Actually, that’s why I called you here. I wanted to discuss this part with you.”

When I raised an eyebrow questioningly, Irene made a playful expression.

“You’re the one with experience as a fugitive, aren’t you? Come on, don’t you have any good ideas?”

It was a rather sudden question, but I was able to come up with an answer quickly. I had already thought about it when I’d first heard about being wanted.

“Well… it’s a method the Captain wasn’t too fond of, but…”

***

The initial reason I first learned Appearance Alteration magic was because of Parsley.

I was 18 back then, and 18 is an age when you’re overly concerned about your looks. Moreover, my appearance was, to some, hideous, and my girlfriend, well, she was one of the prettiest girls in the Magic Tower.

I just wanted to avoid hearing people say, “Why would she even date someone like that?” I was young back then.

So I learned the magic and went out on a date, using it to appear as my ‘complete’ self. And Parsley…

[Don’t worry about what others think.]

[You’re my lover, no matter what anyone says. Even if you were to turn into a grotesque tentacle monster, you’re mine. It doesn’t matter what they think.]

[A-And, I, I, I, li-like you… n-no matter what you look like…]

…That night, I burned all the appearance alteration magic scrolls I had prepared in advance. I still clearly remember how refreshing the blue flames felt.

I also vowed to never use such magic again.

Back then, who would have thought…

…That I would end up breaking that vow and using it so often.

Irene stared at the mirror with a look of awe.

Her characteristic blue hair and eyes were now a common brown. And it was the same with her face. Her flawless skin was now covered in freckles, and her once captivating eyes were now soft and gentle.

Unable to believe it, she stretched and pulled at her face, muttering,

“This is unbelievable… You can alter someone’s appearance this delicately…?”

“I had to. Otherwise, those Central Knights would catch us.”

I said, standing behind her and straightening my clothes. Irene looked at me and suddenly stiffened her expression.

“…Oppa?”

“What is it?”

A hesitant look appeared on Irene’s face. She spoke in a cautious tone as if she were scolding me,

“Um… I know it’s just a disguise, but don’t you think you’ve made yourself a bit too handsome?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“No, well… I mean… So that’s what you think a handsome man looks like…”

It was only then that I realized what Irene was talking about, and I furrowed my brow.

“You do realize that I only hid the prosthetics, right? And dyed my hair black.”

“…What?”

“Do you have any idea how much mana it would cost to change my appearance completely like you did?”

I grumbled while adjusting my collar.

Because my vocal cords are busted, and I can’t cast spells myself, mana to me was magic stones, and magic stones equal money. It was one of the reasons why I, despite being the vice-captain of a medium-sized mercenary group, was always broke.

Even just walking for a whole day would drain me several silver coins.

“And don’t worry. With just this much, the knights won’t recognize me.”

My most noticeable feature were my prosthetics, and the knights would be focusing on that. But what would happen if they were suddenly gone from my appearance?

Even if they had a portrait of me, they’ll still be unsure.

“Huh…”

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just…”

Irene trailed off, staring intently at my face. Then, nodding her head, she mumbled as if to herself.

“I’m starting to see why you’re so popular with the ladies.”

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

“Stop talking nonsense and get ready to go. It’s almost the time when the gates are the most crowded.”

“Okay.”

…

…

…

From the moment I said the words ‘Appearance Alteration magic’ I had a rough idea. Our plan was simple. It could be summarized in a single sentence.

Boldly walk out of the city gate in disguise.

Someone might object that it’s too simple, but the complexity of a plan isn’t proportional to its efficiency.

In the six months I had spent being chased by the Central Knights, I couldn’t come up with a better method than this. This was especially true because the more I used the magic, the more my proficiency increased, which made it even more effective.

Of course, it also meant that it was expensive…

“So what’s our backstory?”

Irene’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Irene and the inside of the rattling carriage.

“What backstory?”

“You know, like… ‘Shinnnae was originally a farmer from the east when suddenly monsters attacked, and blah, blah, blah…’”

“Ah.”

I forgot about that.

I let out a short exclamation and rubbed my head.

“Okay, choose. Do we go as a married couple, or siblings?”

“Siblings, of course. How could I possibly pretend to be married to you?”

Irene made a disgusted face and waved her hand. I nodded in agreement.

“Then… let’s say we came west looking for work. And for our hometown… let’s make it Axolotl.”

“Isn’t that too simple?”

“So what if it’s simple? We only need to fool the guards at the checkpoint anyway.”

After all, this world doesn’t even have resident registration cards or citizen IDs yet. As long as you have a convincing backstory and appearance alteration magic, you can somehow muddle through anything.

“It’s so… anticlimactic… My fantasy…”

Irene slumped down, the light gone from her eyes. Seeing this, I chuckle and ask.

“What, did you like spy movies or something in your past life? You know, the kind where they use fake identities to extracting confidential information, like James Bond?”

“I preferred Mission Impossible. James Bond was too gloomy with Daniel Craig.”

Irene and I burst into laughter at the same time.

We suddenly realized that this conversation would be nothing but gibberish to anyone else.

James Bond, Daniel Craig, Mission Impossible.

They were words that only we could understand and use in this world. Words that would be considered the ramblings of a lunatic if they were said to anyone else.

Suddenly, I thought that the word ‘siblings’ suited our relationship quite well. After all, she’s the only one in this world who shares the same roots as me.

“By the way, why did the Captain hate this method? I don’t see a reason for her to hate it.”

Suddenly, as if a question had occurred to her, she asked. I scratched my head and answered.

“It was hard to pretend to be siblings because the Captain and I look too different. So we always pretended to be a couple, which was torture for both of us at the time. Of course, now we’re used to it, so it’s fine…”

Hearing this, Irene’s eyes suddenly narrowed. And she said in a grumpy voice.

“I’m starting to think that in your original world you were a host or something…”

“Stop!”

The guard’s voice cut Irene off. It seemed we had arrived at the city gate.

As if to confirm that, the guard’s voice came again.

“Open the carriage door.”

The carriage door opened, revealing a knight. Judging by his white armor, he was a member of the Central Knights.

He walked up to me and said in a cold voice.

“Identification.”

…Wait, what?

“I said, show me your identification card.”

“I-Identification card? I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

A sigh escapes from the knight’s mouth.

“Are you from some backwater village? It’s been a year since the Emperor made identification cards mandatory…”

I looked at Irene, bewildered. But she also seemed to have not heard of it. Her face was full of confusion.

That didn’t last long, as Irene’s eyes turned cold, and she put her hand inside her clothes. It was a gesture with a clear meaning.

“I’m sorry, but if you don’t have identification, we’ll have to take you into custody for a while. Please cooperate quietly.”

I glanced at the carriage window. The city gates had come much closer.

At this distance, we could escape with a short-distance teleportation magic. Of course, that meant I’d be broke again, but that’s better than being caught.

I gathered my thoughts and channeled mana into my bronze hand.

“I vouch for their identities.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the carriage door. And then, we were all shocked.

Golden hair like a wheat field,

Blue eyes reminiscent of a clear sky.

And two hands made of bronze.

The knight immediately stands at attention and salutes loudly.

“Captain Amy! What brings you here!”

Amy, with a gloomy face, stepped into the carriage without answering. She looked back and forth between Irene and me, then said briefly.

“Go.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The knight left the carriage without another word.

And so, the three of us were left alone in the carriage.

In the silence, tension buzzed like a swarm of flies. Amy calmly opened her mouth.

“Let’s have a little chat, Rem.”