The Liar's Mask
Apis, the liar, felt a deep sense of relief in her chest. The man she had reunited with looked no different from the vision in her memories. Unlike elves, who seemed to defy the very concept of change, humans had a habit of transforming into entirely different people in the blink of an eye, over the smallest of triggers. Sometimes it was because a long-cherished wish had been crushed. Sometimes it was because they failed to protect something they had sworn to keep safe. Such trivial reasons, which should have faded from memory in a mere few decades. Yet Apis had witnessed countless short-lived races lose themselves and stray down twisted paths simply because they could not let go of those petty grievances—especially during the hundred years since she had left her homeland.
Fortunately, the man she had reunited with had not changed at all. His cowardly nature of fleeing at the first sign of trouble, his foolish inability to ignore those in need, and the peaceful aura that naturally softened the heart when he was around—none of it had dimmed or faded. Apis had no doubt that he would return to their side and that they could reclaim the warm days they had once shared.
"Apis."
She did not know. Apis had no way of knowing who this man was. That cold smile, as if his skin would tear away at the slightest touch. That chilling breath. Not a single piece of the puzzle matched the man she had seen, heard, and felt until now. She could not accept that this person, who seemed to be merely impersonating her old comrade, was the same one who had been chatting amiably with her just moments ago. No—she did not want to accept it.
"I have no intention of returning to the Hero's Party."
It was unpleasant. Uncomfortable. Infuriating. Not because her offer had been rejected. Even though his vacant gaze was directed at her, it was not truly looking at her. That artificial smirk, as if his lips had been forcibly pulled into a smile, seemed ready to utter at any moment that it was already too late, that everything was over.
"Moreover, for the rest of my life, I never want to see the Hero's face again."
Who are you? Who the hell are you? Even though the answer to that question stood right in front of her, Apis could only keep asking herself. Like a frightened child too scared to check under the bed for the monster lurking there. She was simply afraid. Simply terrified. She could not even bring herself to meet the man's pale eyes, shrouded as if in thick fog.
◈◈◈
"What the hell do you mean by that?!"
"Exactly what I said."
Apis grabbed him by the collar. A bone-chilling cold clung to her lungs like frost on a windowpane, disrupting her steady breathing, but she feigned nonchalance and bluffed.
"That's not what I'm asking! Do you even know how desperately Dawna, Victim, and the Hero have been searching for you all this time?! Enough that they're all here right now—"
"They're all here right now, aren't they?"
"····!"
Why? She was the one holding him by the collar, controlling the conversation—yet why was it this man who continued speaking so calmly, while she was the one scrambling to pick up the broken fragments of her words? Apis could not understand it.
"····You knew?"
"It would be strange if I didn't. After all, it was Apis who personally informed me that you were all visiting the monastery together with the 'kids.' Besides, I already knew we would reunite with everyone sooner or later. No matter how hard I tried to run, there was no way I could shake all of you off."
When she had first met the man, she had not brought up the Hero because there had been no time. But now, after sharing the conversation they had missed and feeling the warmth in his words, Apis had thought the fact that the Hero and the others were here would be a pleasant surprise to cap off their talk—a fun twist to shock him. That was why she had saved the topic of the Hero until now.
"Ever since I heard the rumors about the dungeon conquest slowing down about a month ago, I figured a day like this would come. Whether the Hero came alone to find me, one of you came, or all of you came together. Running into you at the village bookstore was unexpected, though····."
The man gave an awkward smile. But in that smooth, oily grin, Apis felt an indescribable, eerie tension. Like an involuntary hiccup that slipped out regardless of one's true intentions—a habitual tic that occasionally surfaced. Right after that, Apis felt fear toward this frail man for the first time in her life.
"····Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why don't you want to see the Hero····."
Apis mustered her courage and asked. The man closed his eyes a couple of times, as if trying to recall where he had left his house keys, then answered quietly.
"Because I don't want to die."
"····What?"
It happened in an instant. A formless, violent force erupted from Apis's hand gripping his collar.
"Say that again! What did you say?!"
"Kuh, kuhk! B-because···· I don't want to die····."
The man's feet lifted into the air. Apis had grabbed his neck with one hand and hoisted his entire body up. Yet even as his airway was blocked and his face turned deathly pale from lack of oxygen, the man did not lose his faint smile, nor did he offer even the slightest resistance to survive.
"Tch!"
"Hah!"
Before long, Apis released her grip. The man crumpled to the floor and gasped for breath as if grateful just to be able to inhale and exhale. He was the one sprawled on the ground, and she was the one looking down at him. Yet it was the man who maintained his composure, while Apis was the one losing control.
"I already wrote it in the letter. I can't keep up with your adventures anymore. It's beyond me."
"Are you seriously saying that····?"
"Of course it's serious····."
"I asked if you're being serious—!!"
"····"
At Apis's desperate shout, the man finally lost his composure and his lips trembled. Apis was angry for a reason. Even if the excuse that came out of his mouth was the most pathetic one in the world. Even if it was vulgar, ugly, and so wretched that everyone would point fingers at it. If that was truly his honest feeling, Apis had been prepared to understand it from the bottom of her heart and respect his choice. She had even steeled herself for the possibility that their long search might end in a tearful farewell because of some unavoidable circumstance he faced. But he had lied. Hiding his true intentions, treating her like a complete stranger. The way he had put up an impenetrable wall, as if she had no right or need to know, filled her with rage.
"What if I break your legs right here and drag you to the Hero by force?"
"I'd have no choice but to beg Apis not to do that····."
"Hah! Is that even a request?"
"It's a plea. How could someone like me ask Apis for something like that?"
A deadly silence pressed down on the air around them for a long while. In the end, Apis was the one who drew her final weapon.
"Can you say the exact same thing in front of the Hero?"
"Of course. I can say it without missing a single word, loud and clear. That I never want to see the Hero's face again."
"····You!"
There could be no firmer refusal. The emotion that bloomed amid the shock, as if an arrow had pierced her heart, was undoubtedly a sense of betrayal. He had refused to show her his true feelings to the very end. She had thought of him as a comrade. As a friend. Even as family, bound by something thicker than blood. And yet—
"····Hic! Y-you bastard!"
In the end, it was Apis who raised the white flag and left first. There had never been any hope of persuading him with words, and she could not bring him before the Hero in his current state anyway.
"I'm sorry····. Apis····."
The liar's insincere apology kept pounding against her back, but Apis chose to ignore that pathetic voice. She wanted to repay even a fraction of the misery she felt right now. It was the only revenge she could exact upon him at this moment.
Even as the sun set and the moon began to peek out, Apis could not fully quell the emotions swirling in her thoughts.
"I'm back····. H-Hero····."
"Apis! Is it true that you found the priest?!"
Now it was her turn to become the liar.