Two Masks

Daily life at the academy flowed by rather ordinarily. As soon as classes ended, I returned straight to my dormitory room, drew my sword, and stood quietly in a corner. Sierra stood beside me, counting the seconds. Almost there... Just when I thought the time had come, blood trickled from my mouth. I immediately deactivated Reverse Heaven. Wiping the blood from my lips, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheathed the blade and collapsed onto the bed behind me.

"How many seconds... did I add?" I asked, turning my head toward Sierra.

[It has doubled. You can now endure for eighteen seconds. Your mastery of the Second Form has also improved remarkably... Even though This Noble One has done so little as your master... You are truly commendable.] Sierra approached me with a bright smile and stroked my hair. It was a relief, at least.

Without a word, I stared at the status window floating in the air.

I had already spent the skill points I recently acquired. However, even though I had invested four skill points into Ghost Swordsmanship as I always did... the level of Reverse Heaven didn't go up. Testing it out point by point, I found that Reverse Heaven's level only increased after Ghost Swordsmanship had risen by another two levels. In the end, out of the nine skill points I had, only three remained. It seemed the requirement for Reverse Heaven had increased from one level per four levels of Ghost Swordsmanship to one level per six.

And here I thought I was close to learning the Third Form... I still didn't know if this was an efficient investment, but... at least my blindfold had an experience boost. If I needed levels, I just had to raise them. If the required level threshold had increased, it only meant the skill was that much more powerful, so I decided to look on the bright side.

At this rate... Having finished my calculations, I spoke to Sierra. "I'm thinking of taking care of a demon today..."

At my sudden remark, Sierra's eyes narrowed. [A demon...? You wish to fight a demon? It has barely been any time since you fought the Lich, yet you already intend to push your body to its limits again? This Noble One is deeply worried that you are overexerting yourself, relying too heavily on the power of that bracelet...] Sierra immediately chided me.

I suppose I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠haven't really rested. Still, this was something I had planned long ago. It was best to eliminate him before it was too late. It was all part of the process to save Eisel Ludwig. I intended to dispose of one of the demons targeting Eisel's life—one who could be considered relatively weak. Because they shared information with each other, letting one slip away would cause all sorts of trouble, which was why I hadn't touched them hastily. It might seem a bit early, but I judged that I could definitely take him down now.

[My disciple, have you ever faced a demon before?] "Not particularly, no." At my absurd reply, Sierra pressed her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "It's fine. The Lich was a first for me too, after all." I offered a smile, adding those words to ease her worries. Although I had fought them countless times in the game, I had never faced one in reality, so it wasn't entirely a lie.

Demons. A race that looked remarkably similar to humans, save for the devil-like horns on their heads. They could absorb and store the life force of living creatures in their horns, increasing their demonic energy—their magi. While the shapes of their horns varied, they all shared a trait: the more magi they possessed, the blacker their horns became. They primarily harvested life force from humans, claiming that the energy of beasts or monsters was inferior. The more humans a demon killed, the stronger they grew. With the gods they worshipped and their way of life, they were a race destined to clash with humanity. That was the demons.

Hearing my explanation, Sierra tapped her lips with her finger and paced around the room. She seemed to be deep in thought. Eventually, she stopped in front of me and spoke. [...You do not intend to enter the demon realm, so you must be referring to those hiding among humans.] Sierra had hit the mark, and I nodded.

Among the demons, there were those capable of concealing their horns. Just as she said, they hid their horns, snuck into human lands, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blended in with the populace, and gathered strength by murdering humans. Those who hid their horns could also perfectly suppress the magi radiating from their bodies, making them nearly indistinguishable from ordinary humans. Of course, humanity was aware of this and had measures in place. For instance, the Holy Church, which worshipped the chief Goddess Henerys, had established a holy knight order specifically to hunt down demons. And the one who managed that knight order was the Saintess.

During the war, the Saintess's role had been to cast large-scale healing magic on the battlefield. However, with the ongoing truce, the conflict had shifted to an invisible war of espionage, which seemed to be why such a duty was assigned to her. For reference, the previous Saintess had lost her life during the war. After a brief interval, the next Saintess to appear was Bernice. Considering her divine authority as a Saintess, she possessed an exceptionally outstanding ability to weed out demons.

But waiting for them to sweep away the demons targeting Eisel would take far too long. Reporting it wouldn't work either. The Church's system wasn't so lax as to act on information provided by someone with an unverified identity. The ones targeting Eisel were particularly cunning. Thus, to eliminate the variables and narrow down the threats, I had no choice but to take action myself. As for the Saintess, whether I could borrow their strength would likely be decided when I made contact with her later.

Sierra, her ink-black hair swaying, drew close and gently embraced me. There was barely any weight to her spectral form. She brought her face close to my ear and spoke, her soft voice echoing quietly in my mind. [This Noble One cannot stop you, can she...? Our disciple has a bad habit of trying to shoulder everything alone...] "..." [You must promise This Noble One that once this matter is settled, you will take a proper rest.] "......Understood." It certainly seemed like a good idea to rest after this was over. She must have had so many questions, yet not a single one escaped her lips. Sierra simply held me in a warm, silent embrace.

Recently, a theatrical adaptation of a fairy tale featuring a saint as the protagonist had been enjoying immense popularity at the theater. Oswald, playing the lead role of the saint, had recently seen his stock as an actor rise dramatically. He had taken over the role after the male actor originally cast for it suddenly went missing.

But this was all the doing of Oswald—or rather, the demon Krektar. Indeed, Oswald was not human, but a demon. His true name as a demon was Krektar. Despite being a demon, he didn't just hide among humans; he was active as a prominent actor whose face was widely known. Thanks to his acting career, he frequently socialized with nobles, allowing him to easily extract valuable information about humans.

On the other hand, he genuinely loved theater, a product of human culture. He loved and cherished the art of acting. Oswald felt a thrilling ecstasy and happiness in performing a double act: acting as a human among humans, while simultaneously acting as another character within the play itself. The other demons around Oswald found him incomprehensible, but he paid them no mind. He believed there was no point in conversing with fools who did not understand art.

"Well, Oswald! We're heading out first." "Sure, everyone did fantastic in tonight's show. Don't be late for morning rehearsal. I'm going to practice a bit more before I leave." "You're always working so hard. Make sure to take care of yourself once in a while." Oswald waved with a warm smile to his fellow actors leaving the dressing room. Among them was a fellow who had made a mistake in tonight's play. He didn't like that. The bastard had ruined his play. Watching the man leave the dressing room, Oswald contemplated whether he should drain his life force and kill him, just like the previous actor who had dared to try and steal his role. Ultimately, he shook his head and cleared his mind. One more time. If he makes just one more mistake. It wouldn't be too late to deal with him then. If an actor disappeared while ticket sales were booming like this, they would have to temporarily suspend the play, which would be a hassle.

Soon, he turned his gaze to a letter resting on the dressing room table. The wax seal tightly closing the envelope was enchanted with magic, making it impossible to open without using demonic energy—magi. It was a letter from his fellow demons. Once the presence of his fellow actors had completely faded, he channeled magi into the wax seal, breaking the envelope's sealing magic.

"Let's see..." He pulled out the letter and read it slowly. The letter contained details about a test subject they had held in the past.

"She's attending Innocence Academy...? A wise choice. It won't be easy to touch her there." Having finished reading, he folded the letter and fell into a brief reminiscence. Memories of the young Eisel, who had been subjected to their experiments, came flooding back. He remembered pointing out her expressionless face, telling her that such a look was unnatural. Oswald had gone on and on, lecturing her on how to appear natural to others and how to act better.

"...Perhaps I shouldn't have done that? To think she would actually stage and act out her own death." Oswald felt a sense of ecstasy at the fact that Eisel had deceived him so flawlessly. But in the end, she had to die. She could not be allowed to live. Her survival was proof of their failure. If things went wrong, it was a matter that could cost him his head at the hands of the Corps Commander. Fortunately, the demon who had sent him the letter seemed to already have a plan in mind.

Even if he's a boring fellow who doesn't know the first thing about art, he's highly intelligent and by far the most competent of us. He'll surely present a solution as soon as the meeting begins. Oswald clicked his tongue as he burned the letter. Just when his life as an actor was finally starting to go smoothly, he hadn't expected a mess like this to blow up.

Just as Oswald finished burning the letter, he sensed someone approaching the dressing room. Soon, a man stepped inside. It was an unfamiliar face. ...A blind man? The dark-haired man had his eyes wrapped tightly in bandages. A stylish black coat draped over him, suiting him remarkably well.

"Hmm. May I help you? This is the actors' dressing room... Did you perhaps lose your way?" "I enjoyed the play, Mr. Oswald," the blind man said in response to Oswald's question. What, a fan...? Oswald found it hard to understand how a blind man could have "watched" the play, but since he could still hear the dialogue, he figured the man must have appreciated his vocal tone.

"Thank you for the kind words. But as I mentioned, this dressing room is strictly for the theater troupe's actors." Oswald spoke gently, maintaining his public image as an actor. Having gained fame recently, he had encountered all sorts of strange followers, so this kind of occurrence was nothing new. However, the blind man's next words rubbed Oswald the wrong way.

"...I felt your acting was a bit clumsy." The blind man was actually daring to criticize his acting skills.

"...And in what way did you feel that?" Oswald's brow furrowed deeply, but curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to hear what nonsense the man would spout. In return for wagging his tongue, however, Oswald fully intended to take his life. Soon, the blind man smiled and spoke.

"I suppose your performance as the human, Oswald, was a bit too obvious."