Chapter 84: A Wizard's Disguise
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: A Wizard's Disguise
“Squeak-! Squeak-!”
A vampire bat summoned from Lilweed's ring landed on the back of his hand and chirped.
It was a Tier 1 summoning spell that used wide-range echolocation, sending out ultrasonic waves in all directions to detect living creatures.
“So the plan is to find the other survivors with this?” Aimus asked.
“That’s right.”
Lilweed quietly nodded.
Yernil's team had formed a temporary truce. At least, until they found their respective party members.
“Let's review the rules of engagement as we go,” the Priest said, quietly following the bat.
“No attacking each other,” Aimus said.
“If we find a Golden Golem or a Blacksmith, we hunt it if we can handle it,” the Barbarian added.
I listed the enemies inside the steel mill one by one.
Ingelam's 5th-floor party, the Blacksmith, and the Golden Golem.
If I had to fight one of the three, I'd choose the Golden Golem.
Next, I'd pick the Blacksmith.
The one I wanted to avoid most was Ingelam's party.
Someone like Yernil would probably find that surprising.
Caleb! Ingelam's party is on the run after getting beaten up by the Golden Golem. Aren't they the weakest?
Maybe so.
But even so, I'm more afraid of facing a party of adventurers.
‘It's because I don't know what magic and special abilities they have.’
I've fought monsters countless times in the game, so I know all their patterns. As long as I fight according to my preparations, I can control the situation to some extent.
That is, as long as a bizarre phenomenon like the Golden Golem and the Blacksmith suddenly appearing at the same time doesn't happen again.
But adventurers are different.
‘What should I do?’
About Ingelam, that is.
The 5th-floor wizard, catching his breath in the blast furnace hallway, hadn't noticed me yet.
I was hidden behind the fountain, and I had the element of surprise.
This gave me three options.
1. Use the Hourglass, which is off cooldown, then ambush and kill him with a Triple Stack Hailstorm.
2. Stay hidden and pretend I don't see him until he leaves.
3. Propose a temporary alliance. After all, they need to kill the special boss too.
Which of the three was the wisest choice?
Back in the steelmaking room, I was about to use the Hourglass and unleash a burst of damage, but I was hesitating now because I didn't have Yernil, Aimus, Back Attack, or Neko's team to back me up.
‘If only I could at least find out what's in the other slots of his Memory Book.’
Depending on what Tier 3 magic he had, I could be the one to get taken down, even if I struck first.
In that case…
Rustle.
Hiding carefully behind the fountain, I muffled the sound as much as possible and unfolded a scroll.
[Watcher]
A magical eyeball that could see through disguises and invisibility slowly rose from the scroll.
I would stick it to the ceiling of the blast furnace chamber and move it around, allowing me to observe Ingelam from above.
The reason I did this was because I expected Ingelam to open his Memory Book.
Just like now.
“Memorize!”
A Memory Book appeared in Ingelam's grasp.
Just as I thought.
He was changing his spells because I'd already seen his Ground-Raising Battering Ram, and besides, that spell wasn't very effective against the Golden Golem or the Blacksmith.
I'll just take a peek at what spells he has registered…
‘Huh?’
Wait a minute.
What is this?
[Memory Book]
▶Spells Owned
-Fireball, Summon Grease, Psychokinesis, Thorn Shot, Resin, Magic Bullet, Pillar of Fire, Mass Disguise.
▶Spells Registered
-Tier 1 Spell Slots (4/4)
① Fireball
② Summon Grease
③ Psychokinesis
④ Thorn Shot
-Tier 2 Spell Slots (1/1)
① Pillar of Fire
This is strange, isn't it?
Having Mass Disguise was normal.
But if this were Ingelam's Memory Book, it should definitely have Earthen Wall, Sculpting, Rock Covering, and that binding spell, Ground-Raising Battering Ram. It should have Noise Suppression Magic, too.
But if the spell composition is completely different, then this is…
‘This isn't Ingelam!’
Fuck.
What the hell is this situation?
That bastard… no way.
Bang!
I immediately vaulted over the fountain and dashed forward.
There were a total of four wizards in the steel mill who could summon a Memory Book right now.
Me, Neko, Ingelam.
And…
“Lilweed!”
The face that looked up, startled, definitely had pointed ears.
The Watcher had broken his disguise. The face of Ingelam was gone, replaced by Lilweed's.
The reason I hadn't realized it immediately when I was observing with the Watcher was because this guy had completely swapped clothes with Ingelam.
Plus, since the Watcher was observing from above, I could only see the back of his head.
“W-what are you talking about, Caleb?”
And he still didn't know.
That his disguise had been broken.
“I'm Ingelam.”
Was this guy always the Yernil type?
“That… th-the thing I proposed. Do you remember?” he asked, his face filled with fear.
“About starting a business together. I was serious. If we work together, I'll make sure you're taken care of…”
“Your disguise is gone.”
“...!”
Lilweed stumbled back, utterly shocked.
At the same time, his lost, wandering gaze happened to drift upward and met the Watcher's eye.
“The Watcher!”
“We've been using it since you entered the steel mill.”
“H-how could you guys get your hands on something like a Watcher?”
Sohen's Watchers are almost all owned by Blackdog, and the few held by the university or Public Security Headquarters would never be lent out for a mere 4th-floor incident!
I could read the thought on his face.
“You don't need to know that. Did Ingelam disguise you?” I asked, aiming my wand right at him.
“Y-yes…”
Lilweed nodded, on the verge of tears.
“Then did Ingelam disguise himself as you?”
“Well… that is…”
“Answer me!”
“Yes…”
Lilweed slowly nodded.
Fuck. This was worrying.
If you use disguise magic to change into a completely different class, you can't use your abilities properly.
For example, let's say I disguised myself as Aimus. I'd only look like a bald, muscular monk on the outside; inside, I'd still be a scrawny weakling who's poured all his stats into Wisdom.
Therefore, the iron staff I'd be carrying would just be an illusion with no substance, and I couldn't use skills with it like Aimus does. And of course, I couldn't fire my own magic from the staff either.
‘But if it's another wizard, the story is a little different.’
After all, magic is cast from a Memory Book through a wand.
After disguising himself, all he has to do is drop the illusory wand and hold his real one. Then he can freely use his own magic even while disguised.
I think I knew why that bastard disguised himself as Lilweed, too.
Because it was safer.
First, the Constables wouldn't try to kill Lilweed on sight. They could kill a wanted criminal, but Lilweed had lost all his party members and wasn't very strong, so they'd probably try to escort him to Public Security Headquarters for questioning.
So, when encountering Constables, Lilweed's face was safer.
And if he met our party members? Lilweed's face was still safer. Ingelam was a much more dangerous figure, so we'd be on our guard.
Even I was considering a silent ambush when I thought he was Ingelam, but because it was Lilweed, I came out to talk.
So, his plan was to use Lilweed's face, ready to cast a spell at any moment, let everyone treat him like a nobody, and then incite them to kill all the Constables, the Golden Golem, and the Blacksmith. Then he'd either kill my party or win them over and escape.
“Where did Ingelam go?”
“I-I don't know either… We were running away and were the only two left. He suggested we switch clothes, so we did, and then the floor suddenly collapsed…” Lilweed rambled incoherently.
I took out a message-sending wand from my belt.
I was about to quickly send a warning to Yernil, Back Attack, Aimus, Neko, and the others, but…
‘Shit.’
The wand was broken.
I remembered hearing something snap when I was tumbling all the way down to the blast furnace during the steel mill's structural shift.
“C-Caleb.”
Lilweed suddenly said, glancing at me nervously. He looked extremely anxious.
“Spare me.”
It seemed that me taking a wand from my belt and examining it looked like I was choosing a weapon for an execution.
“Spare me. Please! I… I just want to be done with all this,” Lilweed sobbed.
“I'll turn myself in to Public Security Headquarters! I'm begging you! I know I've done bad things, but they weren't crimes worthy of death, were they?!”
“Don't give me that bullshit.”
I didn't trust this guy either.
He tried to pretend he was Ingelam. Why? Why did he do as Ingelam told him? When it was just the two of us, he could have confessed honestly and asked me to send him to Public Security Headquarters. So why didn't he?
“You want to kill us all.”
“N-no!”
“Ingelam must have promised to spare you if you cooperated.”
“…”
“Right?”
“Well… Ingelam did suggest that, but I really do want to be done with it now,” Lilweed cried out, tearing at his hair.
“The reason I pretended to be Ingelam was…” he said through his tears. “I didn't have the courage to refuse him… I'm serious. I'm so tired of it all. Please, spare me.”
“…”
At least those words felt sincere.
This guy definitely had much less nerve compared to a wizard like Ingelam.
It was also highly likely Ingelam never considered this guy a business partner in the first place. He probably saw him as a figurehead, a pushover, a gofer to handle annoying tasks.
“I'll cooperate! I'll do anything you say! If I can just get out of here alive…”
Lilweed even threw his wand aside and begged.
“What else did you and Ingelam talk about?”
“W-we didn't really talk much. Only that after he was caught, you guys and Constable Neko found out his true identity…”
“I see.”
I still didn't trust him.
I might show Neko some mercy, but not this guy.
I thought it would be better to kill him rather than drag him to Public Security Headquarters. But.
“I saw you have Mass Disguise in your Memory Book.”
“…”
“Disguise me.”
And…
[It is your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
If Ingelam, wearing Lilweed's face, was with Neko or the other Constables, it wasn't a big problem.
They might be a bit disappointing by my standards, but they were still Constables.
They'd see through him somehow.
What if Ingelam was with Back Attack? I wasn't too worried about that either. For one, rogue types are strong against wizards, and Back Attack is cunning enough not to be easily fooled.
Aimus. I was a little worried because he's such a good person, but isn't he the most experienced adventurer among us? He should be relatively fine.
But Yernil?
She was unpredictable. On one hand, given their bad blood, she might draw her bow the moment she saw Lilweed. On the other, she's soft-hearted, so she might fall for it if he begged for his life with Lilweed's face.
“So, Yernil.”
I should probably give her a heads-up, just in case.
“If you meet Lilweed, be suspicious about whether or not it's really him.”
But she needed to be flexible depending on the situation.
For instance, if Yernil was alone with Ingelam, and Ingelam begged for his life with Lilweed's face to try and manipulate her, it would be safer for her to pretend to be fooled than to get into a one-on-one fight.
On the other hand, if Yernil had many allies with her, like Aimus and Back Attack, it would be better to confirm Ingelam's identity.
“If you have more allies around, test his identity. Ask him this.”
“About that ring,” Yernil suddenly asked Lilweed.
“You said the replica made with it was the one Mrs. Renick was scammed with on the black market, right?”
“What?”
“Give the original back to Aimus.”
“…”
Lilweed hesitated for a moment before answering.
“I'll give it back once we get out of this steel mill safely. I'm sorry about what happe—”
Just then, Aimus suddenly thrust his iron staff forward.
“What's this?”
“The item my wife was scammed with was a pendant.”
“…”
“Who are you?”