Chapter 37: Two Faces (1)

“Well done.”

Marin, who was waiting for us on the surface, greeted us with his usual composed tone, his hands clasped behind his back.

“I believed you would surely succeed.”

Marin, with a faint smile, looked over each of us, and when he saw Miki, who had come up last, he showed a reaction of surprise.

“There's one new face.”

But he didn't seem particularly surprised.

Rather, it was closer to not caring.

“…!?”

It was Miki, on the other hand, who was startled the moment he saw Marin.

Then he looked up at me and asked in a cautious tone.

“P-Perhaps, is that person…?”

“Yes, that's Sir Marin of Stout.”

“…!”

It would be safe to say that among those who worked as knights in this vicinity, there was no one who did not know Marin's name.

In fact, not limited to this vicinity, Marin's name was widely known throughout the continent.

Marin, the likely next Knight Commander of Stout, was called the role model for all knights, and because of that, he was often regarded as a role model that fellow knights wanted to meet at least once.

“Ah──”

As you can well see from how Miki, who hadn't been nervous at all in front of statues or elementals several times his size, had now completely stiffened and broken down.

“M-Michael Iro── no, my name is Michael! It is an honor to meet you, Sir Marin!”

So much so that he almost inadvertently revealed his identity, which he had been trying so hard to hide.

“A polite friend. The honor is all mine, Michael.”

However, that was because Miki didn't know.

We had explained to Miki to some extent about the request we had received and what had happened so far, but there was a limit to how much we could tell him.

For example.

“…Why are you here?”

The story that Ibi had already smelled the ‘scent of a con artist’ from Marin── that she had [Intuition] of the aura of [Deception].

“Is a busy person like the acting Knight Commander taking a stroll this far out, alone, without any subordinates?”

If she hadn't [Intuition] it at that time, Ibi probably wouldn't have been so wary.

“…What are you plotting?”

But she had [Intuition], and that was not the case.

“I seem to recall you saying you couldn't leave your post.”

“I did.”

As if to dispel our wariness, Marin gave a grin.

“Aqua sent me.”

And then he said in a much softer voice than usual.

“That friend has a tendency to worry a lot.”

Of course, it was a lie.

“I told him you would surely be able to find it on your own, but he asked me to help since you were going to find an important item for our Stout.”

“And not to watch us in case we took it and ran?”

“Aqua didn't say it like that, but I won't deny that I didn't have such an intention at all.”

“Ha, just deny it for once.”

“I hope you understand that the trident you found is that precious to our Stout.”

He was, indeed, the Marin everyone knew, who frankly confessed things that would not help in dispelling our wariness at all.

A man of principles who was a soldier to the bone.

The unbuyable, f*cking rigid son of a bitch.

“──So, from now on, I will take it.”

Such a Marin, suddenly held out a hand to us.

“If you hand over the trident, I will personally take it to Aqua.”

So he said.

“Of course, I will make arrangements so that you can receive your reward as soon as you return to Stout.”

Coming from him, it was a proposal that didn't seem to have any problems.

“How about it?”

Except for the very minor problem that if we handed over the trident to him here, he would disappear with it.

And he would only reappear much later, after the story had progressed quite a bit.

If that happened, Aqua's request would naturally be treated as a failure.

And as a bonus, Aqua wouldn't even believe us when we said we had found it and given it to Marin, who then disappeared, so we would have to leave Stout almost as if we were being kicked out.

And not just Aqua, but no one would believe that Marin had betrayed us and Stout like that.

So much so that even among the players (especially if they hadn't seen the [Intuition] event in advance), there were quite a few who, after naively handing over the trident to Marin here, couldn't easily accept the fact that he had betrayed them.

Of course, it just didn't make sense.

Why would that upright, principled soldier suddenly betray them?

Even if we were to concede a hundred times that he would betray the outsider players, what about Stout, which he had protected for decades?

For what reason?

“Can’t we just go back together?”

“Hm?”

“If Sir Marin were to escort us to Stout, we would feel incredibly secure.”

At my slick probing, “There would be no chance of the trident being stolen by someone else on the way back, and Sir Marin could also keep an eye on us in case we had any other ideas, so wouldn't it be good for both of us?”

Marin let out a chuckle, hoot, and replied.

“It would certainly be good for me too, but as you said, I am a busy person. I couldn't be away for long, so I used teleportation magic.”

“And you only brought a scroll for your own return?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Well, it was a plausible answer.

That he used teleportation magic because he was busy, and that he had only brought one 「Teleport Scroll」, a very expensive item.

All were understandable reasons.

“──I’m sorry, but.”

If only it weren't a lie.

“I cannot hand over the trident.”

“…Why not?”

“Because you are a con artist.”

“──!”

“……What?”

“You heard me.”

And the reason he betrayed them, which people couldn't understand at all.

“…I have lived my life as a knight without compromise. I have been called by various derogatory names because of that attitude.”

He said.

“But to call me a con artist… you are the first.”

If you knew, it was actually a very simple reason that made sense right away.

“Can you perhaps state a valid reason for that insult?”

So of course, I could.

“This one said so.”

“……?”

“What──”

“That you smell of a con artist.”

“No, you crazy──”

Suddenly, Ibi, who was next to me, hit my arm with all her might and whispered in a horrified voice.

“You crazy bastard…! You’re selling me out here, now?!”

No, I was just joking about Ibi being the reason.

However, it wasn't a complete joke either.

“My companion may have a cynical view of the world, but she's pretty good at reading people's impressions.”

I gave Ibi a reassuring smile, then looked back at Marin and said.

“As you said, the Sir Marin that people know is certainly not a person who fits the word ‘con artist’.”

Right. So it was a simple reason.

“If you really are Sir Marin, that is.”

“…!”

The person in front of our eyes right now was not Marin.

“Right.”

To be more precise.

“──You’re the fake, you bastard.”

He was a puppet who had been ‘suggested’── to think he was Marin.

One who was taking the place of the already dead Marin.

Even Ibi, who had already [Intuition] that something was fishy about him, reacted as if I was talking nonsense.

However.

“…….”

Not this ‘Marin’.

The man had a blank expression, as if he had been hit hard.

That was what ‘suggestion’ was.

Just as Rine behind me now had no memory of who she was, and only knew that she was a slave.

“What in the…”

That guy really thought he was the Marin of Stout.

“On what grounds are you making such an absurd claim……?”

At least, until this moment.

“…Hey, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I kept thinking about what you said. Why does that ‘rigid son of a bitch’ smell like a con artist?”

“And your conclusion is that he's a fake?”

“Who knows.”

“…Who knows?”

The most effective way to break a suggestion is to deny it head-on.

“For now, I'm just probing.”

Of course, if the suggestion is strong, it won't break so easily.

And the suggestion placed on that guy now was a very strong one.

After all, it was a suggestion personally cast by one of the Demon King's army executives.

“What is that…”

But, at the very least, you can create a crack.

“Let's see if he takes the bait.”

The basic principle of suggestion is to plant a thought that was not originally in the mind in some form.

“──Hmm. Grounds, you say.”

Once a thought is planted, it never disappears, and soon, it completely consumes the person's mind.

“Just as my friend is good at smelling people, I'm good at smelling one thing too. The smell of a good story. Because I'm a bard.”

So, the opposite is also true.

To break a suggestion.

“But from you── what should I say, you keep smelling like a character in a story.”

First, you have to plant the truth in their mind.

“The smell of a guy who sold his soul to a devil.”

Continuously.

So that it spreads again and covers it.

“……An absurd, slanderous accusation.”

Indeed, he was dumbfounded and immediately denied my words, but, “I have misjudged a person. I thought you were just light-hearted, but I didn't think you were the kind of person to make such a low-quality joke.”

“Then prove it.”

I had no intention of stopping.

“……What did you say?”

“If you were the real Sir Marin, you would have cut the four of us down long ago.”

Not a joke, for real.

The original Marin was a renowned master on the continent, so if he wanted to, he could have easily taken care of four level 4 people on his own.

“But you're not Sir Marin, are you? You fake bastard.”

Of course, that's only in comparison to the original, who was a continent-level master; this puppet right now could also cut us all down on his own if we were not careful.

After all, he was the highest-level enemy we could encounter in Stout.

At level 8, twice ours.

“…Hey.”

Just then, Ibi poked my arm again.

“What the hell are you planning to do?”

Then, while her gaze was still fixed ahead, she whispered in a small voice that only we could hear, just like before.

“Tell me you have a plan.”

“I do.”

“What.”

“A plan to fight.”

“You crazy…”

“It’s the only way.”

As long as we didn't hand over the trident, that guy had no intention of letting us live.

Even if we were to hand it over now, he wouldn't.

“…What if he really is that guy? You said he's f*cking strong.”

“If he really is that Marin, he wouldn't kill us no matter what insults we hurl at him.”

I said he could cut us down earlier, but he wasn't the kind of man who would cut people down without hesitation just for insulting him.

He was the role model of knights, that Marin.

Well, he might beat us up and take us with him.

“And if that guy isn't Marin, we won't die.”

But that guy is 「Marin」.

We can beat him.

He's a boss that's meant to be beaten.

“Trust me.”

Saying this, I looked at my companions one by one.

First, Miki, who had been gaping and at a loss for what to do, watching the strangely unfolding situation, finally seemed to have made up his mind after hearing my words and quietly nodded.

As Miki raised his shield, the hesitation from before was no longer felt.

It was the same gaze he had when he ran towards the statues.

“I will follow you, Sir Yubin.”

And Rine, with her usual emotionless expression, raised her staff.

Finally, Ibi, who had watched both of their reactions.

“……Hah.”

Let out a deep sigh.

“F*ck, seriously.”

And then, with a dry laugh, she shook her head and drew the daggers from both her hips.

At that, my lips curled up as well.

With this, our position must have been clearly communicated.

“……Right, so that's it.”

Sure enough, 「Marin」, seeing us in our battle stances, nodded his head repeatedly as if he finally understood.

“You have no intention of returning to Stout.”

As if, like the real Marin, he was convincing himself of the reason to draw his sword.

“No, we are going back?”

I immediately cut off his words and said.

“It's you who won't be going back, you fake bastard.”

“…Good.”

Shreuk!

「Marin」's sword was drawn.

“I will cut you down as you wish.”

At the same time, without taking my eyes off the sword.

“──Keep this in mind.”

I whispered to my companions again in a small voice like before.

“Don't look at my face from now on.”

As I took off my mask.

And, I pressed the button.

『Every time you transform, the number of your parents will multiply, you shapeshifting son of a bitch!』

“──!?”

The ‘battle start’ button.