Chapter 65
[Lily’s POV]
Following the soldier was a piece of cake. All I had to do was slink from cover to cover and use my to keep track of him without having to expose myself.
As someone who lied to the people around me every day, I could smell this amateur’s bullshit from a mile away. The real question was what their purpose was. The whole fight was probably staged by this guy and his friend ‘Samuel’, though the other guy they targeted seemed to be genuine.
The soldier had left the academy campus and soon made his way to a flower shop that had yet to open. As if that wasn’t suspicious enough, he went around the side of the building and knocked on the window that faced away from the main street. Naturally, the knock itself was clearly coded.
Immediately afterwards, the soldier moved back to the side of the building, where a side door was opened for him.
The process wasn’t bad, assuming these weren’t people with access to high-level magic, but compared to my employer, this was subterfuge better suited to the prehistoric era.
I sent my in, diving into the soldier’s shadow.
The interior of the shop was clearly not what one would expect from a flower shop. The place was empty aside from a single table and two chairs, a typical secret hideout setup.
Only one person was waiting inside for the soldier. Interestingly, he was dressed as an Imperial soldier.
“What went wrong?”
The Imperial asked, skipping any greeting.
“There was some interference; some freak in a dog costume grabbed Sam.”
Sam? As in Samuel? Don’t tell me these idiots are using their real names?
“And? We planned for this. Just go get him.”
“I tried, the dog didn’t care about the uniform, now Sam’s with Klaus Eisenruf.”
“Shit… alright, it’s not the end of the world, he won’t talk anyway.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we should silence him to make sure.”
“No, from their perspective, this was just a schoolyard brawl that got out of hand. If someone ends up dying in custody, they’ll launch a full investigation.”
“So what? With nobody left to talk, they won’t be able to trace anything back to us.”
What an interesting conversation I’ve stumbled across… but their bickering—while entertaining—wasn’t telling me what I wanted to know.
I moved my according to my will, scanning every nook and cranny of the interior.
I decided to sniff around a little more.
A box of clothing was hidden behind the panels of the wall in a hollowed-out section. My eye phased through, and with my darkvision, making out the details was easy enough. The only real problem was that I couldn’t physically rifle through the box to see what lay beneath the upper layer.
Still, I could tell these belonged to those men who still couldn’t agree on whether or not to kill their colleague. After all, the three dead bodies that had also been crammed into the place behind the wall were in their underwear. It didn’t take a genius (although I am one) to figure out where those men got their uniforms.
Looking at the original clothing was likely the only way to figure out the identity of these men, considering their faces looked identical to those of the dead men. Most likely, they were using illusion magic to falsify their appearance, just like I did to hide my true form.
The clothing was nothing special, just what I would expect from any random commoner, but there were some folded-up cloaks that bore an insignia of some kind. Although it was at an angle where I couldn't make out the full picture, I committed it to memory nonetheless.
I was no investigator or doctor, nor was I as weirdly perceptive as Rex; all I could really say was that they were probably stabbed through the chest.
If I were only planning on sharing this with Rex, I wouldn’t have bothered committing anything else to memory. But this seemed like something my main employer would want to hear about.
To that end, I took careful note of the location of each little bruise and scrape. Wasn’t I such a good girl?
There was nothing left to see, so I returned to listening in on the two idiots.
“Fine, we’ll leave him be. If an opening presents itself, we can always try breaking him out.”
“Good. Now, I have my own update to share. The Emperor’s freak arrived an hour ago.”
“What!?”
The man in the Solean outfit immediately broke out into a cold sweat. Contrary to expectations, the other, more professional-seeming man looked similarly concerned and did not chide his partner.
“I know… the good news is that he doesn’t seem to be aware of anything yet. Plus, it seems like he doesn’t want to be noticed, so he probably isn’t launching any kind of investigation.”
“Yeah, but… the boss alway said…”
“I know. We’re screwed no matter what we do here, so what do you think? Bail?”
“I can stomach the boss’s punishment for failure. But I’d rather die than fall into the hands of The Umbral Arm. Yeah, screw it, let’s bail.”
The two men wasted no more time pulling back the panel and changing clothes. They discussed their escape plan as they went, but I was already recalling my and hurrying away.
I was advised that my employer would be coming here, but I had thought it would be another couple of days… The Umbral Arm, the man who hired me, was already in Borderton.
And if these guys had spotted him, it could only be because he wanted them to see him. They would likely vanish without a trace before they ever returned to their boss.
***
[Rex’s POV]
Guy had indeed concocted an interesting event for the festival.
“Do I really need to be involved in this?”
Lloyd tugged at the uncomfortably tight clothing he had been stuffed into.
“Yeah, man, you’re like, the most famous guy in the academy at the moment. Besides, the girls will it.”
Guy emphatically encouraged him while forcibly placing a ruff collar around his neck, making him look like a giant shuttlecock in my eyes.
Guy himself was dressed in a vibrant clown outfit, complete with face paint and a big jingling hat.
“Haha, yes, listen to the Vespertille, this will boost the morale of your peers.”
Bridgit seemed to be enjoying herself as well, probably because her outfit was rather tasteful. She looked like a butler, with a vest and suit pants; her hair was tied back in a professional manner.
“Don’t worry, Lloyd, we’ll be up there with you the whole time. Besides, your part doesn’t have too many lines to remember.”
Zachariah encouraged him as well, though it was easy for him to talk as he just looked like his usual self. He wasn’t in uniform, but still wore high-end noble clothing, and his hair was neatly combed to accentuate his refined look.
“See? Everyone will love it! Here, let me apply your blush.”
Guy began assaulting Lloyd with a makeup brush.
“Peh! Pfft! Ah!”
Lloyd sputtered and coughed in the wake of his makeover, and I chose that moment to make my presence known.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“I don’t know what this is, but I like it, woof.”
“Oh, Rex. Sorry, but all the roles are filled. You can help out with the backstage stuff if you want.”
Guy greeted me with a fist bump.
“Call me Chapu, woof.”
The four of them cocked their heads in unison.
“Chapu?”
Zachariah asked.
“Just go with it. This is clearly a theatre show of some sort, but how did you prepare it on such short notice, woof?”
I directed my question back to Guy.
“Oh, I didn’t. A friend of mine from the arts club told me about it a while back. I just offered to help out. And seeing as these guys hadn’t been assigned anywhere yet, I pulled them in too.”
“Why didn’t Rex get dragged along?”
Lloyd complained.
“Well, the story is about romance in high society…”
He trailed off, looking at me with an apologetic half-smile.
“But Rex is an actual noble!”
Lloyd didn’t understand the implication and continued to protest.
“Sure but… c’mon man…”
Guy trailed off, and to Lloyd’s dismay, everyone—myself included—nodded along in perfect understanding.
“He’s right. Nobody would believe I’m a noble; I just don’t have that vibe about me. You, on the other hand…”
I gleefully dug Lloyd’s hole deeper, eager to see him flounder on stage.
“Argh…”
His shoulders slumped, and he retreated to review what I assumed to be the play’s script.
“So when’s the show start?”
I asked the remaining three.
“We’ll be running one show each day, starting from midday. The play goes for an hour and a half.”
Guy explained.
“Hmm… The petting zoo opens at that time, and I can’t be away from that bumbling, stressful lot. I should be able to make it on the last day, though.”
“Perfect, all the kinks should be ironed out by then anyway! But are the animals really that hard to handle?”
“I wasn’t referring to them.”
“Oh… Haha, gotcha.”
I waved them off, taking one last look at Bridgit.
“...What?”
“That looks good on you.”
She raised her brow but accepted the compliment with a slight nod. I've always been a fan of the tomboy look, what can I say?
Lily still hadn’t returned, but I knew her skillset well enough to know she wouldn’t have been caught, so I chose to trust in her and not pursue. Besides, my own subterfuge skills began and ended with turning into a cat. If she caught, I likely wouldn’t fare any better.
So who should I check in with next? Axel would be my first choice, but he ditched the whole festival from the start, saying he was too close to a breakthrough to get distracted. A breakthrough on what exactly? I had no idea.
That just left Meztili, Felicia, and Oliver.
Luckily, they were all in the same place: The workshop area of the support class building.
Upon arriving there, I was greeted by a gaggle of children who came running and crying before latching onto my legs.
“Uwaaaaah! Save me, Chapu!”
“I wanna go hooooome!”
“Daaaaddyyy!”
The children tugged on me from every angle, their apologetic parents trying their best to settle them all down.
The reason for their fear was easy enough to see for myself.
HAUNTED HOUSE
ENTER IF YOU DARE
That banner stood threateningly over the entrance to the workshop, and out the front was an ominous figure in a black robe and comically oversized witch’s hat.
“Don’t worry, children. Chapu has come to purify this place with his bark of light, woof!”
I struck a heroic pose and bravely pointed at the building.
“Go with your parents now, children. I shall make sure nobody else comes to harm, woof!”
The children cheered, and their laughing parents led them away. Should I have told them off for letting such young kids into a haunted house? Maybe, but I knew how funny doing that was from personal experience. Though my son and I had done it to scare my wife, so it wasn’t exactly the same.
I pulled the top of my mask down, obscuring my face. With a slow breath, those memories were suppressed.
With my mind cleared, I approached the mysterious witch.
“Hey, Tilly.”
“...I know not of whom you speak, brave adventurer.”
Meztili spoke with a deepened voice, keeping her head down so that the brim of her hat obscured her face. There was no point, really, since she was still bandaged up as usual, but it seemed she was just getting into her character. I could relate to that.
“Right. Okay then… Chapu has come to conquer this house of horrors, woof!”
“Hehe… entry is five silver per person; there is a prize if you can make it all the way through. Please call the safety phrase ‘I give up’ if you need staff to escort you out.”
“Chapu has no fingers with which to provide monetary payment…”
Meztili paused, then reached up into the tin around my neck. Apparently, I had received a few donations without noticing it.
“Payment has been received. Will you enter now?”
“Yeah, let’s get sta—”
“Waaaaiiit!”
Lily came running up from behind, visibly out of breath.
“Haa…haaa… man, running is hard.”
She caught her breath and produced five silver pieces.
“Chapu isn’t complete without his Chippy, we’ll enter as a duo!”
“...Twenty silver.”
Meztili’s voice returned to normal.
“Huh? But he just—”
“Twenty silver.”
“You heard her, Chippy, pay up. Woof.”
I wasn’t sure why Meztili was scamming Lily in particular, but I also didn’t care.
“...Whatever.”
Lily handed over the money, and we entered the building.
Right away, I was blown away by the sheer effort that had gone into converting the place into a haunted house setting. Naturally, the larger workstations that were bolted to the floor could not be removed, but the staff had done a fantastic job at working them into the setting.
It was really more of a haunted factory than a house, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. Cosmetics had been applied to give the place a long-abandoned atmosphere, and subtle clues of something nefarious could be found all over, from dried blood to scratches on the inside of the door we just entered through.
“Pretty neat, huh?”
Lily commented.
“By the way, I spied on them while they were setting the place up. Want to skip straight to the exit?”
Temporary walls had been set up to create a maze of sorts. This, coupled with the simulated horrors within, was the challenge we had to face to receive our prize.
“If we need to, sure, but let’s take our time and enjoy ourselves first. You can update me as we go.”
We got started. No monsters jumped out right away; instead, it looked like they were setting the atmosphere by having people hidden behind the walls make creepy sounds. From scratching softly on the wall to moaning quietly, they were hitting all the right spots.
“So, what did you find?”
I kept my voice low as Lily and I casually strolled along.
“It’s crazier than you probably expected. Those guys were impostors.”
“That was predictable.”
“Yep, but did you predict that they had killed the people they were posing as and stuffed their corpses in the walls of a flower shop?”
I looked at her to confirm she wasn’t just screwing with me. Seeing that she wasn’t, I responded.
“Any idea who they are?”
“Nope. Look at this, though.”
She showed me a piece of parchment with a weird symbol on it.
“This was on some cloaks they had stuffed away. I couldn’t get a good look, but do you know it?”
“No. Is this the best image you could get?”
“Yeah, and they already left, so I can’t go back and check again.”
“They left in their disguises?”
“No, they were getting changed.”
“So why didn’t you wait for them to put the cloaks on so you could get a full picture?”
“Ah… crap.”
She put her hand over her mouth with widened eyes. She was probably kicking herself mentally after missing something so simple.
“Dumbass.”
“Shut up.”
We rounded a corner to find a whimpering figure curled up on the ground.
“Oh, look, a poor innocent little girl, you should go help her, Rex.”
“That’s the most cliche setup ever. You go trigger the event.”
“You would subject a fair maiden to such a terrifying fate? How could you?”
The figure was wrapped in a white, bloodstained sheet and had long, wet, black hair that covered their face.
I stopped walking so that Lily would overtake me, then I softly kicked her behind, forcing her forward.
“Fiiine I'll do it… Hey, ghostie, you’re in the way.”
She stood over the whimpering figure, but received no response.
“I bet you have to touch them.”
I suggested.
“Hiya!”
Lily smacked them over the back of the head with an open hand.
“Ow! Er, I mean, aaaaaah!”
The girl attempted a high-pitched screech, but after Lily broke their character, it seemed they couldn’t commit to it.
The second-year girl stood there awkwardly, waiting for a reaction from us.
“Aaaah. So scary.”
Lily and I spoke in perfect unison, our voices completely monotone. With a crushed expression, the girl meekly walked past us, and we continued as normal.
“So, any idea who they were impersonating?”
I continued the earlier topic.
“Samuel of Hambleton, Alek of Tarnby, and Adrian of Graufeld. They’re all commoners from small villages and have few connections. Basically, the kind of people who won’t cause much of a fuss if they disappear.”
“But wasn’t one of them a royal guard? Samuel said that the Soleo soldier was a guard for the King.”
“Nah, that was total crap. He is— a soldier, but just some rank-and-file nobody who was here to sightsee on his vacation. Bad luck for him, huh?”
“They clearly knew what they were doing, by targeting these guys… anything else?”
“Nope. That’s all I got.”
“Hmm. Be my sounding board for a second.”
Instead of spiralling into conspiratorial speculation, I may as well use Lily to bounce ideas off of and see what sticks.
“Shoot.”
She nodded, kicking away a fake rusty saw blade that shot out of the ground.
“So whoever they were, they were here to stage a conflict. They impersonated a nobody and targeted yet another nobody; the only difference between them was that one was from Soleo, and the other from the Empire. Am I right?”
“Yep, probably trying to fan the flames of conflict or something.”
“So who stands to gain from that? And who would be willing to kill people from both sides just to shake up relations between the nations somewhat?”
“Greedy merchants, power-hungry nobles, ambitious commoners, the kingdom, the empire, me, you…”
Lily’s list covered practically everyone.
“Why would you or I be counted?”
“Come on, I already know you have murder in you, and with your lofty goal, you’ll have to cross people from all sides sooner or later. As for me, well, you know what I am. Do you think I wouldn’t go that far if it benefited me well enough?”
I had no retort. She was right, I would take drastic action if I were certain it was for the greater good. But that didn’t help answer my question.
“I’ll rephrase it; who has the means and is to do something like this? Nobles with money and influence, a third party who wants both sides weakened, maybe a radical terrorist group?”
“All possible. Why do you care so much about this anyway? Does it really matter to you what happens between the nations?”
“Of course it does. You think I could get anywhere without any kind of backing? Besides, it can only benefit me to be aware of any suspicious occurrences happening around me.”
As I finished, one of the temporary walls suddenly violently blew apart. It was a great jump-scare, but as someone who entered the maze expecting such a thing to happen at some point, I still remain unfazed.
“Raargh! Run if you ca— oh, Rex!”
The werewolf that came crashing through the wall removed its head to reveal Felicia’s grinning face.
“You’re not meant to break character.”
I commented.
“Nyahaha! It’s not like you would run from a werewolf anyway, right?”
True, I would probably want to observe it if I ever ran into one.
“I guess it’s fine, we’re just about to call it here anyway. Come visit the petting zoo if you get time.”
“Sure! But why are you also dressed as a monster?”
“How dare you, mutt! Chapu is a glorious and heroic dog of the people!”
Lily jumped to defend Chapu’s honour. Good work, Chippy. We cannot let this offence go unpunished.
“Huh? Chapu?”
“Chippy, let’s chase this wild animal out. Lead us to victory, woof!”
“Right!”
Felicia wasn’t given time to recover from her confusion before we chased her all the way to the exit. No monster or trap could slow our righteous charge.
“Wh-what is going on here!?”
Felicia, intimidated by our fierce expressions, was thrown to the ground as we kicked down the door leading outside and tackled her to the ground.
There were more children outside, upset from the horrors of the haunted house, but upon seeing their heroes conquer the wicked wolf, they broke out into cheers.
“...I don’t know what’s going on, but here’s your prize.”
Oliver, who was waiting by the door dressed as some kind of evil scientist, handed Lily and me our just reward.
They were a matching pair of bracelets with small hand-sewn animals attached. Lily had a fox, but mine was superior, as it looked just like Tiara.
