Chapter 303: Rainwales (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 303: Rainwales (1)
Noark did not reject evil spirits, so unlike aboveground, many lived there openly, their identities exposed. Judging from our previous conversation, native Amelia did not view evil spirits in a negative light either.
But the moment I admit to it, it will become my weakness for the rest of my life.
Bjorn Yandel was an evil spirit. To say that was my Achilles' heel was an understatement. It was a bomb that could destroy my entire social life and even threaten my actual life, and the button to that bomb was currently in Amelia's hands. Of course, Amelia and I had a friendly relationship now, but no one knew what would happen later. What if things went wrong for some reason? Not only would I never get a restful night of sleep again if that were to happen, but it would definitely become a cause for anxiety even if there were no particular problems in our friendship. If she ever decided to blackmail me, I would be summoned like a servant and worked like a dog.
"Amelia Rainwales, are you insulting me?" I spoke in a low voice, like the growl of an animal. And rightfully so. Evil spirits didn't lose their memory? That could have been a lie she made up just to feel me out. And even if that medicine really did work like that, I had to make it seem like I'd gotten a defective dose.
"And what if I am?"
"...Huh?" I'd never had anyone respond to me so confidently.
While I was busy being momentarily stunned, Amelia said, "Are you going to attack me? Without my help, it'll be harder for you to get the items in the castellan's possession."
"...Do not test my patience."
Amelia snorted at my words. "The fact that you're saying that is proof that you aren't too angry. Otherwise, you would have rushed at me long ago, like all other barbarians do. Come to think of it, you were strange from our first meeting. I told you to beg for your life despite your honor as a warrior and you didn't even think twice. But now I'm insulting you? Don't you think it's funny to say that now?"
Ha, was this karma? When she laid it all out like that, I had no way of arguing. There was only one approach still available to me. "There must be something wrong with your head for you to laugh at a barbarian like this."
It was an ultimatum. Hesitating any longer would definitely leave me at a further disadvantage here.
As I was puffing myself up with that thought in mind, she said, "Why, are you really planning on attacking me? Just like you attacked the evil spirit hunter who approached you back then?"
Huh? She knows about that too?
"...You—did you investigate me?"
"You're more than a little suspicious. Most people would have done the same, not just me. Well, I'm sure everyone let go of their suspicions after you received a noble title." Amelia continued talking without giving me a moment to interrupt. "But to think you really are an evil spirit. You have talent. How on earth did you get a title? Even if the Ministry of Security cleared you of charges, the palace would have made sure to do a separate verification for something like that."
Oh, there hadn't been anything like that. I didn't know how but it had all worked out. I could use that to my advantage now. "You don't think that might be because I'm not an evil spirit?"
I spoke confidently, my back straight and my shoulders high, but Amelia answered without missing a beat. "As I said before, only evil spirits retain their memory after taking that medicine."
"It was defective—"
"That can't be the case."
Was she a ruler? Because she was rigid. Her guard was so high that nothing I said was working. What should I do?
As I was contemplating this, Amelia muttered, "Hmm, now that I think about it, it's possible the palace kept quiet on purpose. Since you were nothing short of a hero in the city at the time."
What was she going on about now? I was curious about what she'd say next but I felt like asking would only be admitting she was right, so I swallowed back the urge. But it must have been visible on my face.
"Looks like you have no idea what I mean."
"Yeah, not at all. Why should I care about what you're saying in the first place?"
Amelia grinned at my denial. "So you're not going to admit it until the very end?"
"Of course. Because I'm not an evil spirit."
"Well, that's just like you. It's fine. There are ways." Amelia proceeded to pull a compass-sized disc out of her sub-space. It was an object I couldn't not recognize.
Holy—why is this thing here?
When activated, No. 7234: Misplaced Trust made it impossible for anyone within a thirty-foot radius of it to tell a lie. It also happened to be the same item that caused that whole mess in Doppelganger Forest.
"I didn't see that when you unpacked the bag at the merchant company earlier."
"Because I bought it when I was living in the city on my own. I thought it would come in handy being in a city like this. I didn't think you'd be the first person I ever used it on, though."
So that's what this was. You already ran a simulation of exactly how you'd corner me by combining all the cards you had.
"Judging by your expression, I guess I don't have to explain what this is. Well, there's no way an evil spirit wouldn't know."
Click.
Amelia pressed the button at the top of Misplaced Trust. Then she placed it on the nightstand between the beds. The second hand began to move slowly, making a ticking sound.
With the stage set, Amelia turned to me and spoke. "Bjorn Yandel, are you an evil spirit?"
It was checkmate. A suffocating silence followed in which I desperately racked my brains.
What should I do?
The question wasn't whether or not to reveal I was an evil spirit. That cat was already out of the bag the minute she whipped Misplaced Trust out.
It's not a fake.
Unfortunately, the Misplaced Trust was genuine. I tested it the moment she activated it. When I tried to tell the lie "I am a woman," it wouldn't leave my lips at all.
"You have five minutes now. Are you going to stay silent, then?"
This item meant that silence was an answer in itself. The fact that I was an evil spirit had already been established. And so, my concerns were elsewhere.
Do I kill her?
As this was my most important secret, extreme measures seemed appealing.
...Stop thinking crap like that.
I shook off that thought. Killing her would be impossible in the first place. To be honest, it wasn't like I had no chance of winning in a fight against her now, but if Amelia chose to run, the chase wouldn't be easy. Also, if our partnership went sideways here and now, all my plans would be in jeopardy, too.
Besides, she's clearly the type who would be a huge pain in the ass to have as an enemy.
In that case, there was only one option, although it wasn't a barbarian-like solution. Since this woman was into black-and-white thinking, I had no choice but to be her friend if I didn't want her to be an enemy.
As I was contemplating this, Amelia muttered, "Hmm, now that I think about it, it's possible the palace kept quiet on purpose. Since you were nothing short of a hero in the city at the time."
What was she going on about now? I was curious about what she'd say next but I felt like asking would only be admitting she was right, so I swallowed back the urge. But it must have been visible on my face.
"Looks like you have no idea what I mean."
"Yeah, not at all. Why should I care about what you're saying in the first place?"
Amelia grinned at my denial. "So you're not going to admit it until the very end?"
"Of course. Because I'm not an evil spirit."
"Well, that's just like you. It's fine. There are ways." Amelia proceeded to pull a compass-sized disc out of her sub-space. It was an object I couldn't not recognize.
Holy—why is this thing here?
When activated, No. 7234: Misplaced Trust made it impossible for anyone within a thirty-foot radius of it to tell a lie. It also happened to be the same item that caused that whole mess in Doppelganger Forest.
"I didn't see that when you unpacked the bag at the merchant company earlier."
"Because I bought it when I was living in the city on my own. I thought it would come in handy being in a city like this. I didn't think you'd be the first person I ever used it on, though."
So that's what this was. You already ran a simulation of exactly how you'd corner me by combining all the cards you had.
"Judging by your expression, I guess I don't have to explain what this is. Well, there's no way an evil spirit wouldn't know."
Click.
Amelia pressed the button at the top of Misplaced Trust. Then she placed it on the nightstand between the beds. The second hand began to move slowly, making a ticking sound.
With the stage set, Amelia turned to me and spoke. "Bjorn Yandel, are you an evil spirit?"
It was checkmate. A suffocating silence followed in which I desperately racked my brains.
What should I do?
The question wasn't whether or not to reveal I was an evil spirit. That cat was already out of the bag the minute she whipped Misplaced Trust out.
It's not a fake.
Unfortunately, the Misplaced Trust was genuine. I tested it the moment she activated it. When I tried to tell the lie "I am a woman," it wouldn't leave my lips at all.
"You have five minutes now. Are you going to stay silent, then?"
This item meant that silence was an answer in itself. The fact that I was an evil spirit had already been established. And so, my concerns were elsewhere.
Do I kill her?
As this was my most important secret, extreme measures seemed appealing.
...Stop thinking crap like that.
I shook off that thought. Killing her would be impossible in the first place. To be honest, it wasn't like I had no chance of winning in a fight against her now, but if Amelia chose to run, the chase wouldn't be easy. Also, if our partnership went sideways here and now, all my plans would be in jeopardy, too.
Besides, she's clearly the type who would be a huge pain in the ass to have as an enemy.
In that case, there was only one option, although it wasn't a barbarian-like solution. Since this woman was into black-and-white thinking, I had no choice but to be her friend if I didn't want her to be an enemy.
"It would be a shame for this item to go to waste, so I guess I should speak instead, if you won't. What I said earlier about evil spirits not losing their memory to the medicine was not a made-up statement—it's the truth."
I put an end to my lengthy panic. "Yes, I am an evil spirit."
This was my second coming out after Baekho. Amelia didn't look particularly surprised. She'd only pulled that thing out to make me admit it out loud; she must have already been convinced a long time ago.
"That's a strange expression on your face," she said.
"...You'll never know how relieved and suffocated I feel right now."
"For some reason—" Amelia suddenly stopped mid-sentence. At first, I wondered why, but I soon understood what was going on. Misplaced Trust had recognized a lie and silenced her.
"You weren't about to say sorry or something like that, were you?" Was she serious? A rage momentarily surged through me, but I barely managed to push it down.
Yeah, we can't turn into enemies now, can we?
Now that I'd been caught out as an evil spirit, I had to become best friends with this woman, so I should confirm something first. "But are you okay? With the fact that I'm an evil spirit."
"If you're asking if I hold a negative opinion like the people in the city, the answer is no. I once worked on the same team as an evil spirit for over a year."
"...Then why were you so persistent?"
"Because I was curious." I was immediately faced with a second obstacle. Just for a reason like that, she dug into something someone clearly wanted to hide? Right when steam was about to come out of my ears, she averted her eyes. "Strangely, I keep getting involved with you. That's why I was curious. Whether you had anything you were hiding, and whether I could trust you."
Seeing as Misplaced Trust is activated, I don't think she's saying something she doesn't mean... Ha, this makes getting angry kinda—
"Oh, of course, I also figured you wouldn't be able to betray me so easily if I knew your weakness."
That would have been best left unsaid. Well, what could you do with a woman like this?
"I have a question," she continued.
"...Ask."
"If you're an evil spirit, why were you so angry over the death of Yandel Jarku? Was it guilt?"
"That's..."
I don't know, either, was how I wanted to answer, but the words wouldn't come out. So I just honestly admitted it. "Yes."
"Hmm, you're actually a very soft person." Amelia looked at me with amusement. "Is your goal to return like the other evil spirits?"
"...I don't know."
"Because of your comrades? I guess the real you was an affectionate guy as well."
Ugh, why was she so interested in me? I needed to change the topic ASAP.
Click.
At that moment, the needle on Misplaced Trust stopped moving. That meant that it was no longer active.
That's much better.
I quickly changed the topic of conversation. Like it or not, I'd already been revealed as an evil spirit, right? I should start by asking the questions I had been avoiding asking before now to hide my identity.
"But Amelia, why were you looking for Auril Gavis back in Bifron?"
"Oh, I guess you would know about him if you're an evil spirit."
"I don't just know about him. I even met him in person not too long ago."
"You met him?"
"Let's talk about that later. Answer my question first."
"...Because the day my older sister died, he was there."
"What?"
"I figured he must have been involved in some way. Which is why I wanted to meet him and hear the truth. That's all."
Hmm, it was actually nothing special. I thought there would be a bigger secret to it.
No, the fact that the old man was there that day isn't useless information. Perhaps I can figure out what his goal is from this quest.
"Now, then. Tell me. Where did you meet him?"
"Do you know about Ghost Busters?"
"If you're talking about the gathering of evil spirits, yes, to some extent."
Okay, then there was less to explain. "I was sure I wouldn't be summoned since this is twenty years in the past, but I was summoned in my sleep. I met a man claiming to be Auril Gavis there." After going on to explain that I got exposed as a time traveler throughout our conversation, I said, "The important bit starts now, so listen carefully. That old man said that no matter what we do here, the past cannot be changed."
"...He said that?"
"Yeah, at first, I found it hard to believe so I put it to the test. And it went exactly how I told you it did in the labyrinth." Dwalkie and Raven. I tried to change their futures, but even those actions were already a part of this timeline's cause and effect. "So I will ask again, Amelia. Are you still going to try?"
Amelia didn't answer. When I told her this last time, she didn't even flinch, but now that the additional explanation of Auril Gavis had been added, it seemed the weight of my words was different. She quietly gathered herself before opening her mouth. "I will. It's too late to give up now."
Too late, huh? She sounded like someone who bought stocks during a bubble that was about to burst.
"I see. Then I will help." Instead of arguing with her, I expressed my intent to join her. She was a very compassionate woman, after all. If I kept building up our goodwill and ingratiating myself to her like this, she wouldn't consider toying with my weakness.
"...I'm tired. I'm going to sleep." Amelia ended the conversation there and lay back down on her bed. I was a bit stunned.
Huh? Sleep? Shouldn't she be saying thank you right now? That she can rely on me, or that she's glad to have me?
I wasn't expecting anything of the sort, but I never thought she would just lie down without acknowledging my offer. Yikes, that called for a change of plans, then. How could I get brownie points with her?
"Amelia, are you sleeping?"
"...Mm?"
"I-I was just thinking I could give you a m-massage if you're tired."
Silence.
"Ah, right... That's a bit much, right? Sorry to disturb your sleep."
I lay on the bed across from Amelia. Although I closed my eyes, there was no way I'd be able to sleep.
In the middle of a long silence, a question suddenly came flying at me without blinkers. "What was your original name?"
I didn't know why she was suddenly curious about my real name, but I found myself answering honestly. "It's Hansu Lee. Oh, Lee is my last name." Since I'd already been found out, something like my real name wasn't important. Besides, I figured that refusing to answer could affect her goodwill toward me, which was the last thing I wanted. Hmm, yeah, that should have been the case.
"Hans? Then is your name Hans? That's a surprisingly common—"
"What the fuck did you say?" A curse flew from my lips unwittingly. That had crossed the line.
"It would be a shame for this item to go to waste, so I guess I should speak instead, if you won't. What I said earlier about evil spirits not losing their memory to the medicine was not a made-up statement—it's the truth."
I put an end to my lengthy panic. "Yes, I am an evil spirit."
This was my second coming out after Baekho. Amelia didn't look particularly surprised. She'd only pulled that thing out to make me admit it out loud; she must have already been convinced a long time ago.
"That's a strange expression on your face," she said.
"...You'll never know how relieved and suffocated I feel right now."
"For some reason—" Amelia suddenly stopped mid-sentence. At first, I wondered why, but I soon understood what was going on. Misplaced Trust had recognized a lie and silenced her.
"You weren't about to say sorry or something like that, were you?" Was she serious? A rage momentarily surged through me, but I barely managed to push it down.
Yeah, we can't turn into enemies now, can we?
Now that I'd been caught out as an evil spirit, I had to become best friends with this woman, so I should confirm something first. "But are you okay? With the fact that I'm an evil spirit."
"If you're asking if I hold a negative opinion like the people in the city, the answer is no. I once worked on the same team as an evil spirit for over a year."
"...Then why were you so persistent?"
"Because I was curious." I was immediately faced with a second obstacle. Just for a reason like that, she dug into something someone clearly wanted to hide? Right when steam was about to come out of my ears, she averted her eyes. "Strangely, I keep getting involved with you. That's why I was curious. Whether you had anything you were hiding, and whether I could trust you."
Seeing as Misplaced Trust is activated, I don't think she's saying something she doesn't mean... Ha, this makes getting angry kinda—
"Oh, of course, I also figured you wouldn't be able to betray me so easily if I knew your weakness."
That would have been best left unsaid. Well, what could you do with a woman like this?
"I have a question," she continued.
"...Ask."
"If you're an evil spirit, why were you so angry over the death of Yandel Jarku? Was it guilt?"
"That's..."
I don't know, either, was how I wanted to answer, but the words wouldn't come out. So I just honestly admitted it. "Yes."
"Hmm, you're actually a very soft person." Amelia looked at me with amusement. "Is your goal to return like the other evil spirits?"
"...I don't know."
"Because of your comrades? I guess the real you was an affectionate guy as well."
Ugh, why was she so interested in me? I needed to change the topic ASAP.
Click.
At that moment, the needle on Misplaced Trust stopped moving. That meant that it was no longer active.
That's much better.
I quickly changed the topic of conversation. Like it or not, I'd already been revealed as an evil spirit, right? I should start by asking the questions I had been avoiding asking before now to hide my identity.
"But Amelia, why were you looking for Auril Gavis back in Bifron?"
"Oh, I guess you would know about him if you're an evil spirit."
"I don't just know about him. I even met him in person not too long ago."
"You met him?"
"Let's talk about that later. Answer my question first."
"...Because the day my older sister died, he was there."
"What?"
"I figured he must have been involved in some way. Which is why I wanted to meet him and hear the truth. That's all."
Hmm, it was actually nothing special. I thought there would be a bigger secret to it.
No, the fact that the old man was there that day isn't useless information. Perhaps I can figure out what his goal is from this quest.
"Now, then. Tell me. Where did you meet him?"
"Do you know about Ghost Busters?"
"If you're talking about the gathering of evil spirits, yes, to some extent."
Okay, then there was less to explain. "I was sure I wouldn't be summoned since this is twenty years in the past, but I was summoned in my sleep. I met a man claiming to be Auril Gavis there." After going on to explain that I got exposed as a time traveler throughout our conversation, I said, "The important bit starts now, so listen carefully. That old man said that no matter what we do here, the past cannot be changed."
"...He said that?"
"Yeah, at first, I found it hard to believe so I put it to the test. And it went exactly how I told you it did in the labyrinth." Dwalkie and Raven. I tried to change their futures, but even those actions were already a part of this timeline's cause and effect. "So I will ask again, Amelia. Are you still going to try?"
Amelia didn't answer. When I told her this last time, she didn't even flinch, but now that the additional explanation of Auril Gavis had been added, it seemed the weight of my words was different. She quietly gathered herself before opening her mouth. "I will. It's too late to give up now."
Too late, huh? She sounded like someone who bought stocks during a bubble that was about to burst.
"I see. Then I will help." Instead of arguing with her, I expressed my intent to join her. She was a very compassionate woman, after all. If I kept building up our goodwill and ingratiating myself to her like this, she wouldn't consider toying with my weakness.
"...I'm tired. I'm going to sleep." Amelia ended the conversation there and lay back down on her bed. I was a bit stunned.
Huh? Sleep? Shouldn't she be saying thank you right now? That she can rely on me, or that she's glad to have me?
I wasn't expecting anything of the sort, but I never thought she would just lie down without acknowledging my offer. Yikes, that called for a change of plans, then. How could I get brownie points with her?
"Amelia, are you sleeping?"
"...Mm?"
"I-I was just thinking I could give you a m-massage if you're tired."
Silence.
"Ah, right... That's a bit much, right? Sorry to disturb your sleep."
I lay on the bed across from Amelia. Although I closed my eyes, there was no way I'd be able to sleep.
In the middle of a long silence, a question suddenly came flying at me without blinkers. "What was your original name?"
I didn't know why she was suddenly curious about my real name, but I found myself answering honestly. "It's Hansu Lee. Oh, Lee is my last name." Since I'd already been found out, something like my real name wasn't important. Besides, I figured that refusing to answer could affect her goodwill toward me, which was the last thing I wanted. Hmm, yeah, that should have been the case.
"Hans? Then is your name Hans? That's a surprisingly common—"
"What the fuck did you say?" A curse flew from my lips unwittingly. That had crossed the line.