The Proven Cliché

The woman who had halted at the foot of the bed gave a light nod of her head.

An overwhelming presence that could not be concealed, and silver-gray eyes that looked cold enough to freeze, yet so beautiful they seemed ready to pull one in.

"A pleasure. I am Lucia Arthea."

Lucia Arthea...!

The moment I heard that name, the vast settings of the game Crimson Mirage flashed through my mind in rapid succession.

Lucia Arthea.

Second daughter of the Arthea ducal house that guarded the North, and commander of the Second Knight Order.

She was a character of major importance, standing at the very center of the main story.

But what truly shocked me was her other side.

This woman... she's the one who turns dark after the ducal house is destroyed by the dark mages later on, right?

Second daughter of the Arthea ducal house—the shield of the North—and the character who alone survives when the entire house is later wiped out by the dark mages' schemes, awakening as a vengeful spirit of pure hatred.

And then, manipulated by that very thirst for revenge, she falls for the whispers of Satan, the great demon of "Wrath" among the Seven Deadly Sins, becoming his subordinate and a mid-boss. A tragic heroine.

As for her strength, there was no need to even mention it.

This place... was the North?

As I stared blankly at her face, Lucia's neat brows drew slightly together.

"What are you gawking at? Lost in some daydream... Is your body still not fully recovered?"

Her cool voice jolted me back to my senses.

"Ah, n-no... my lady."

This was a fantasy world with a strict class system.

Bowing my head and speaking with meticulous politeness was the surest way to raise my odds of survival.

When I answered so obediently, Lucia stepped closer to the bed and crossed her arms. Then she launched straight into full interrogation mode.

"From now on, I would prefer you answer every question I ask with complete honesty, without a single lie. First—what is your name?"

"My name is..."

The very first question left me speechless.

Should I just boldly declare, "I'm Han Do-gyeong"?

No. Absolutely not.

In this world, the name Han Do-gyeong was utterly alien.

She would immediately start grilling me about where I was from, whether I was even a person of the Etheria Continent, and how on earth I had ended up captured in an underground temple on the northern outskirts.

Lies only breed more lies. That was a truth I had learned while reading the faces and fortunes of countless society matrons.

If I tried some clumsy cover story, the inconsistencies would pile up and suspicion would snowball in an instant.

Which meant things would get fucking annoying real fast.

So what was I supposed to do?

In the end, I decided to pull out the single most effective, historically proven cliché for cutting through this mess in one stroke.

"I... I can't remember."

"...What?"

Lucia's eyes narrowed.

I clutched my head with both hands and arranged my face into the most pitiful, heartrending expression I could manage.

Combined with the appearance buff of a fragile, beautiful young woman, even I had to admit the performance looked pretty convincing.

I was a master of acting, after all. Anyone who has worked as a shaman knows why your acting skills inevitably improve.

Being a woman sure helps at times like this.

Think about it. If some rough-looking male character pitifully murmured, "I can't remember...", you'd be lucky if the response was just "So what?"

"I can't remember my name... I don't even know who I am, and where in the world is this place?"

My own performance of total amnesia was so flawless that Lucia pressed her fingers to her temple as if her forehead were throbbing.

"Haa... Well. You were at the very center of that massive magical explosion, so the fact that all your limbs are still attached is miracle enough. You truly... can't even remember your own name?"

"Yes... It's true. My head feels completely blank, like it's filled with fog."

"This is maddening."

Lucia clicked her tongue softly, then pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat.

"Just in case, allow me to explain the current situation. You were rescued last night from a secret temple of the Asmodeus cult. Along with the seven other women who had been imprisoned with you."

I rounded my eyes as if I had just heard something terrifying.

"W-what...?"

"According to their testimony, you single-handedly slaughtered every last dark mage and helped them escape outside. And you did it using some kind of mysterious divine power."

"Th-that kind of thing happened...? I really don't know anything! You're saying I committed such a frightening act?"

Whether she had fallen for the act or not, Lucia calmly nodded.

"Well... the results of our family's appraisal officer examining your physique and mana circuits also match your claim. You have neither mana nor divine power—just the extremely frail body of an ordinary person."

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside.

Whew, thank god. At least I've dodged suspicion for n—

"But there are procedures that must be followed."

Lucia rose from her seat and looked down at me.

"I will need to verify whether your words are true. May I take a small liberty with you for a moment?"

"...What sort of liberty are you referring to?"

"I will need to use a truth-detection magic tool on you."

In that instant, one of this fantasy world's particularly filthy settings flashed through my mind like a lightning bolt.

God fucking damn it!! That's right! The lie detector!!

In the game it had been a sweet item, incredibly useful for prying hidden quests out of NPCs or navigating dialogue choices.

But from the perspective of someone who was currently lying through her teeth, it was the absolute worst-case scenario.

Cold sweat poured down my back like a waterfall.

I had to buy time somehow.

"R-right now?"

"Yes. Frankly, I would prefer not to be this rude to someone who saved people, but since you cannot prove your own identity at all, this is unavoidable. I will fetch it at once. Will you wait quietly?"

She's leaving to get the magic tool?

A single ray of hope pierced the despair.

I nodded as casually and unflustered as I could manage.

"...Yes. I don't know what that is, but if it will prove my innocence, I will gladly comply."

"Your cooperation is appreciated. I will return shortly."

Click—

Bang—

The sound of Lucia leaving the room and the door shutting firmly behind her reached me.

Her footsteps faded down the corridor outside.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!!"

The second the door closed I kicked off the blanket, sprang up, and frantically ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠waved my fingers at empty air.

"Pantheon!! Open!! Shop window, hurry!!"

A dazzling golden panel unfolded in the air before me.

I scrolled downward like a madwoman, hunting through the [Talisman] tab as if searching for lice.

Please, please be there. It's called the Pantheon, right!? There's got to be at least one item for getting out of a situation like this. Right? Right?

Past the weapons tab, past the talisman tab, I scrolled all the way to the very bottom until a special talisman category tucked into the farthest corner caught my eye.

My gaze swept across countless talismans and then locked onto one particular entry.

"Th-this is it!!!"

A full 15,000 Merit!

It would burn through almost everything I had earned from taking down that Preacher earlier, but this was no time to be picky about cold rice versus hot rice.

If I tried to save Merit here, I could end up in an even worse fucking situation.

"Buy it right now!!"

A single talisman of a strange material, mixed with soft blue light and golden dust, dropped onto my palm from midair.

Unlike ordinary yellow talismans, this one looked expensive, covered in mysterious Daoist patterns.

That was when it happened.

Step—

Step—

Step—

Lucia's crisp footsteps were already drawing near again from down the corridor.

"Shit, she's back already?!"

I scrambled back into bed, yanked the blanket over myself, and in the exact instant the doorknob turned I slapped the talisman I was holding against the hair at the back of my head.

Fwaaah—!

The moment the talisman touched my skin, a pleasant coolness washed through me as if it were rinsing my brain clean. Then the paper itself scattered into a white radiance and sank into my mind.

Click—!

The door opened and Lucia entered, holding a stone slate embedded with a transparent crystal orb that glowed with blue light.

"Were you resting? Thank you for waiting. Then let us begin the verification at once."

"Y-yes. Understood!"

Lucia's steps stopped dead one pace from the bed as she spoke.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at me in silence.

A strange stillness filled the air.

W-what? Why is she looking at me like that? Did she notice the talisman?!

The tension was so thick I felt even the sound of swallowing would be deafening.

For a long moment Lucia sharply scanned my face, my shoulders, and the rumpled state of the blanket. Then she tilted her head and slowly opened her mouth.

"...Strange."

"Pardon? W-what is strange...?"

"You are, by anyone's measure, a woman beautiful enough to dazzle the eyes... yet the atmosphere you give off and the way you answer feel oddly like a man's. That reply just now, too—somehow rough and stiff."

"...?!"

Was she a former fortune-teller or something...?

My heart plummeted.

Thinking about it, the problem was my posture.

In my frantic rush to slap on the talisman and lie back down, I had ended up sitting on the bed with my legs crossed like a military sergeant in the barracks, shoulders thrown wide and chin lifted high.

Damn it, I never thought a tiny habit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like this would trip me up.

If I didn't clear this suspicion here, even if I slipped past the magic tool's detection, new doubts would keep chaining on forever.

I have to smother this masculine aura somehow. No matter the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠means, I have to become a perfect woman.

I squeezed my eyes shut and resolved to bury every last scrap of pride from twenty-five years as a man, along with the honor of a military veteran.

In the face of life and death, that kind of thing meant nothing.

Then I desperately dredged up the soft, nasal voices of the Gangnam matrons who used to visit my fortune-telling shop.

I will say it again: I am good at acting.

When you work as a shaman, there are times you have to pretend to be possessed even when you aren't.

"O-oh my? Th-that can't be? I-I seem like a man...?"

I poured everything into acting out the inner feelings of a woman who was a little annoyed at the noble lady but could not show it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and had to hold it in.

The word "oh my" that left my own mouth was so cringeworthy it gave me goosebumps.

A wave of existential despair hit me—was this really okay?

But my acting turned out to be more effective than expected.

Seeing me like that, Lucia gave a small fake cough and averted her gaze.

"Ahem... I-it seems I was mistaken. I must have grown sensitive from overtraining lately. My apologies."

Lucia hastily turned her head, cleared her throat, and looked away.

Whew... fuck, I lived.

Looking a bit awkward, Lucia held the red crystal orb out toward me.

"Very well. Let us set aside that minor misunderstanding and first inquire about that unknown ability of yours."

The real trial had finally arrived.

I swallowed hard and desperately prayed that the spiritual power of the Mind-Shielding Soul-Concealing Talisman seeping into the back of my head would work properly.

Lucia's eyes sharpened as she leveled her first question at me.

"Can you use dark mana?"