The Visiting Guest
by Afuhfuihgs
Estel’s lower lip glistened with saliva. Touching someone else’s tongue with your finger while making eye contact had a subtle magic that changed the atmosphere, regardless of the intention. With a dry cough, I removed my hand from her tongue, and Estel, whose face flushed red beyond a light blush, lowered her gaze.
She looked exactly like the messed-up Estel, but they were only twins in appearance; the contents were completely different. Estel’s discarded settings being revived only happened in my world. The Modest here had nothing to do with the cult. It was just an information guild created by a group of assassins.
Estel took out a luxurious handkerchief from her bosom and slowly wiped her lips, sipping barley tea and shifting her gaze around. I wiped the saliva off my finger on my pants and also drank barley tea, spending some time in silence to let the awkward atmosphere dissipate.
“…Is the verification complete?”
“Yes, there’s nothing wrong.”
Estel, whose flushed face regained its original color, raised her eyebrows at my answer and said in a soft voice.
“That’s a relief. I was a little worried you might make another rude request, especially since you said it was the last one.”
Those were loaded words. Fortunately, my rudeness barely crossed the line Estel had set. I coughed, clearing my throat, and forced a smile.
“Hiding the emblem of an organization belonging to a secret place unseen by others is a natural thing for secretly operated organizations. However, our Modest is only operating secretly for the safety of our customers, and there is no other reason.”
Seeing Estel say that my suspicion was wrong in a slightly chilly voice, I made the smile on my lips even thicker and looked straight at Estel.
“Just a simple information guild… I think the explanation that it’s a secret information guild created by a group of assassins using their abilities is more accurate, don’t you think?”
Our gazes met in the air. As expected, she’s an opponent you can’t let your guard down against. If I didn’t know the true identity of Modest, I would have blindly trusted Estel’s words due to the psychological guilt caused by making continuous rude requests.
I deliberately revealed that I knew the true identity of Modest. Hiding important cards is the principle of gambling, but revealing a card at a time the opponent doesn’t expect is also important in psychological warfare.
Although there was the disadvantage of raising Estel’s guard, it was a calculated move aimed at being able to have a conversation on equal footing by revealing that I knew even the most important secret of Modest, thereby increasing the psychological expectation of me.
Estel’s purple eyes held an interesting light. I could tell that my prediction was correct in those glistening eyes.
“I’m convinced that you’re a completely different person from the dead Ross. How do you know our secret?”
She’s raised her expectations to the fullest. Right now, even if she doesn’t believe my words, she’ll listen to the end to resolve her doubts about me. There’s no need to lower my voice. I simply repeated the explanation I gave to the Estel of the previous world, like a friend rattling on about a fun experience during vacation.
I continued to explain without a break until the cool barley tea in the glass lost its coolness and became lukewarm. Estel, who had been quietly listening to my explanation without any change in expression, was lost in thought for a long time.
“The ancestor of the clan, Parell-ga… This is the first time I’ve heard of it. Could you perhaps show me spatial magic?”
At Estel’s request, I nodded without hesitation and created a dimensional passage. I put my hand into the entrance of the dimension and tapped Estel’s shoulder with my finger, and she startled, widening her eyes even more and shrinking her shoulders.
I took my hand out of the dimensional passage and opened the space warehouse, showing Estel the Spear of Destruction and the lily-shaped badge I obtained as a guest of Modest, and she nodded, making a face that she believed my words.
“With this much evidence, I have no choice but to believe you. There’s nothing that I think is contradictory in the story you told me either. Especially when I see Rosalyn skillfully using the space warehouse she recently obtained… Yes, I’ll believe that you’re Ross from another world.”
If Roel is a fourth-year student, it’s the point in time when the heroines are awakening their abilities to fight the Demon King. It’s also around this time that Rosalyn obtains Patull-ga’s magic book through an auction.
“I’m just grateful that you believe me.”
As I said that and was putting the Spear of Destruction and the badge back into the space warehouse, Estel made an ‘ah’ sound with a look that she had a good idea.
“If you obtain Parell-ga’s magic book here and return to the world you were originally in, wouldn’t you have two magic books?”
Seeing Estel say that with shining eyes, I smiled slightly and shook my head. Did she think I hadn’t thought of that? At first, I was planning to travel to other worlds and head north to copy the Pen of God.
However, I gave up after recalling the words of the Coordinator, who said that even a leaf that crossed over from another world could not avoid the world’s negation and would turn to ashes. Even if I stole something from another world, it would be impossible to use in my world, and there was a possibility that it could become a variable that could touch the laws of causality if I did it wrong.
In fact, the Coordinator I met in the previous world was very wary of even just one leaf from another world shaking the balance of the world.
I briefly explained to Estel what happened in the world facing destruction and explained about the world’s negation. Estel, who had been listening to my story intently, sighed with a disappointed expression.
“That’s a shame. If multiple people could use something called the Pen of God, it would definitely be a big help.”
“That’s right. But even if there was no world’s negation, I don’t think the plausibility would leave it alone.”
Just by returning with the memories I experienced in another world, some kind of cause and effect would be established. I could instinctively feel that the plausibility that cause and effect would create definitely had the potential to become a fatal variable for me.
Estel, who moistened her lips, erased the disappointment from her face and said.
“Still, I’m glad I was able to obtain the information on how the magic scrolls that the cult was creating endlessly were made. I investigated the cult for a long time, but it was information I couldn’t find out at all. Especially since customers with generous spending habits buy all the information related to the cult from us at expensive prices.”
If there’s a customer with generous spending habits at Modest, there’s definitely only one person. Roel’s lover, Bella. It seems she’s a beloved customer here too. No matter what her personality is, a customer who spends a lot of money is the best from a business perspective. Thinking of Bella, I suddenly became curious.
“Is Bella still a student?”
“She’s a fourth-year student, but she doesn’t attend classes these days and is almost always in the Imperial Palace. The last time she appeared at the Academy was three weeks ago.”
She probably isn’t in a situation where she can focus on her studies. Right now, she’s probably racking her brains between the Emperor’s crazy plan and the war between the cult and the church.
“The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace is unusual these days. Rumors that the Emperor hasn’t shown his face due to illness for a long time are spreading throughout the capital. I often hear people say that the Emperor might change soon.”
At Estel’s words, I smiled and asked.
“Isn’t Modest the one who spread those rumors in the capital?”
At my question, Estel let out a faint sigh.
“Haa, there’s nothing you can hide from. That’s right. We spread the rumors at the request of our customer. Spreading false information to a large number of people is also one of the duties of an information guild. But we charge a high price for it.”
If the Emperor suddenly dies, suspicion naturally falls on the successor. To prevent that, they spread rumors in advance that the Emperor might change, eliminating the noise that would arise when the Emperor changes. If the rumor becomes true, the first thought people have is ‘I knew it,’ rather than suspicion.
“Will the rumor become true…?”
Seeing Estel slightly blur the end of her words and expect my answer, I smiled and replied.
“You wouldn’t have paid a lot of money to spread such rumors for no reason, would you?”
“Then you can explain at least a little about what the next Emperor will do in the future, right?”
Seeing Estel smile slyly, I shrugged my shoulders playfully and replied.
“I guess I have to earn the barley tea money, right?”
As I explained to Estel, who was smiling happily, what Bella would do in the future, Estel nodded diligently and stored it in her head.
“That’s definitely an amazing move. I can understand why Rosalyn usually dislikes Bella.”
Estel was about to open her mouth to ask another question when she suddenly jumped up. Her gaze shifted to the wall. I looked at her with a puzzled look as she seemed to be looking beyond the wall, and Estel lowered her head and sent me a look full of embarrassment.
“…A guest has come to Modest.”
“A guest?”
Although it was operated secretly, Modest was a surprisingly famous guild. Even when I was talking to Estel, there were often cases where other guests came and she had to leave her seat. Guests coming was not a special event, but Estel’s reaction was very unfamiliar. Like a host who welcomed a completely unexpected guest.
In a slightly trembling voice, Estel said to me.
“Your brother, Roel, has come to Modest.”
A bug that has lived its entire life as a parasite has sensed a new host and come to find it.
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