“Hah! So you basically had a vacation? Can’t blame you.”
It was way past the curfew time.
Leon and Marissa somehow managed to avoid the persistent gazes of their teammates and elves so they could talk one-on-one.
The sudden revelation of Marissa being transported back in time caused Leon to have many questions, although it was instead he who was bombarded with those questions.
Marissa is hard to argue with at normal times, and with her eyes shaking as if in a frenzy... Leon didn’t even want to try.
It took a pretty long time, considering that he skipped through a lot.
Now, at last, Leon could start asking questions.
“And how are you with Naty? I hope you’re not ignoring her like last time?”
…or not.
“...Why does this matter?”
Leon’s eyes strayed to the side, this was one of the topics he skipped over in his recitement of previous events.
“Oh c’mon. I was there. I saw you lame~nting over your lost love. No way you’re missing this opportunity, right?”
Her tone was joking, but Leon didn’t feel like laughing.
“...”
An awkward silence engulfed the room. Leon had a hard time thinking about this as of recently.
He had sworn to himself that his previous life would not have control over him. That all the connections he once cherished would perish, alongside his full name.
It was for the greater good, he thought.
Although, deep down, he knew, that was just being selfish.
For a while, he was going strong, his time in Ganesh, that was.
But after… When the team finally assembled, when he got to relive those distant yet precious moments… Sometimes he simply couldn’t stop the emotions from rushing in.
Day after day he feared that he might do something he will regret… or come to regret something he didn’t do.
So instead of an answer, Marissa got a sigh.
“I haven’t told you about something important yet… this timeline is not the same as it was.”
“Huh? What is that supposed to mean?”
And so Leon proceeded to tell about changes that he noticed, both caused by him and… not.
Marissa’s smile slowly dissipated upon hearing this.
“...So there are new friends and enemies.”
“Yeah… We need to be careful going forward.”
“Jack does kind of fit the description of that fucker.”
“...I know. Haven’t been able to prove anything though.”
“Oh, is that why you soundproofed the room?”
“I’ll be doing this often from now on.”
“Paranoia is getting to ya, huh?”
“...Don’t put it like that…”
“Pffft, haha…”
Suddenly, Marissa fell silent.
“There… is one thing I wanted to tell a bit later… but now that I think about it… I might’ve met him before.”
“What!? When?! Where!? Here!?”
“Whoa, whoa, let me speak!”
“...sorry.”
“Let me start the story from a few days ago.”
.
.
.
-Mixen’s PoV-
“This forest is definitely not normal.”
As Mixen went further into the elven forest, he saw unbelievable flowers, trees and bushes.
He was quite close to the middle, so the variety of colours was quite overwhelming.
‘This definitely couldn’t have existed back in my old world.’
“Ha~ I’ll have a hard time learning all of this new flora…”
“Meeow?”
“Why would I need to? Oh, that’s just my hobby… not even mine actually. But it can quite useful for making medicine or makeup.”
“Meow?”
“Yeah, makeup. You’d be surprised how efficient it can be… Huh?”
As Mixen was approaching the middle of the forest, he saw something out of place.
Something that looked like a huge dome made entirely out of mana.
“The hell is this?”
Mixen stopped in front of it.
Looking at it, it was definitely mana, however, it didn’t have a colour.
It was the first time he’s seen mana without colour at this scale.
He carefully observed it.
He tried to touch it, but there was nothing to touch, his fingers went through it, consumed by mana.
‘Is this a barrier? Would make sense. I do remember hearing rumours about a barrier protecting the capital village… but if they have such a technology, why not set it up at every village? I saw other villages, there was none. Then is this an artefact maybe? Or…’
Mixen’s internal mumbling was interrupted by Whitey.
“Meow?”
“Huh? Sorry, repeat that?”
“...meow.”
“I don’t look stupid! What’s with the insults!?”
“Meow.”
“You… Wait… Can you not see this?”
He quickly relaxed his eyes and stopped concentrating on feeling mana.
Closing his eyes and opening them after a few seconds, Mixen looked at the world with his normal sight.
And what he saw was…
.“Nothing?”
It was just a continuation of the forest. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“...Okay, I might’ve looked a bit stupid. Let’s go Whitey.”
‘The barrier won’t see through my ability, right?’
He took a step forward, deciding to take it slow, as the village is obviously up ahead.
Walking for a few minutes with Whitey treading the air beside him, he stopped.
“Why does this place look familiar?”
As someone great at remembering terrain, he started suspecting something.
‘Besides, shouldn’t the village be visible already?’
And so Mixen looked at everything from a different perspective.
“...It’s on the left?”
The barrier was in a different place now.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
He flew back to it in a few seconds and tried to go in again.
Except now, he was observing the barrier very closely.
‘It moved!’
When Mixen took a step into the barrier nothing happened, but with the next step the distance between him and the barrier grew.
‘I need to experiment a bit to figure it out.’
Like a child that found a new toy, he took a step in again, and then another, it happened again… But Mixen noticed something.
Whitey moved too.
He didn’t understand how that could happen… Although it didn’t take a long time for him to figure it out.
It was he who was moved.
So now, instead of concentrating on the barrier, he observed himself.
His steps were firm. One step, another…
‘...I turned?’
It felt very natural. His body made a few small turns and came out of the barrier by itself.
.
.
As if he was controlled.
.
.
The excitement started fading away.
The moment he fully understood how the barrier worked… Mixen’s face full of curiosity darkened.
His expression tightened, brows furrowed.
Whitey looked at him the whole time. The sudden change startled her.
“...Meow?”
But Mixen didn’t answer.
When she looked closer at his face… it was a face she has never seen him make.
.
.
And she was scared.
Whitey unconsciously tried to distance herself from him.
Mixen didn’t notice it.
It was as if he couldn’t notice anything around him right now.
As if he was in a trance.
And he took a step again.
This one was different.
Slower.
Yet the weight behind it was dozens of times heavier.
He opened his mouth, mumbling something to himself.
“Nobody…”
His voice sounded deep and low.
“Nobody.”
Anger could be felt coming from his words.
“Nobody can control me.”
And he took another step… being engulfed in mana.
.
From Whitey’s perspective… he just disappeared.
Soon after she dropped to the ground.
Their connection was gone.
“Meow!?”
…Poor kitty started panicking.
.
.
Inside the barrier was filled with mana.
Mixen couldn’t feel anything around him because of it, and his veil also dissipated.
.
.
He didn’t care.
.
Through sheer will and mental power, he resisted the powers of the barrier.
“...nobody…”
He was repeating that like a mantra.
The whole world blurred as he was moving further inside the barrier.
Until…
He saw a wall.
It looked like a huge glass wall.
Behind it was an enormous tree and a village beneath it.
Mixen looked at that tree.
His eyes were bloodshot.
“You…”
Yet again his body tried to move by itself, now harder than ever.
“You!”
He raised his arm, preparing to throw a punch.
“You dare to try!”
His voice could never reach his target.
So he did the only thing he thought could reach it.
Mixen let out the full extent of his Killing Intent.
It was filled with his anger, his hatred, his regret…
With every memory he never wanted to remember.
…that he now won’t be able to forget.
“And control me!?”
His punch landed on the barrier.
.
.
It did not sound like something getting hit.
Instead, it was akin to a gunshot… no, an explosion.
The barrier shook and the whole village felt the ground rumble.
But the barrier itself was unscathed.
.
.
Mixen stood there.
.
.
Pain from his broken arm woke him up.
For some time he didn’t move… He just calmly thought for a minute.
And gave out a laugh.
“Getting angry at a tree… How silly.”
He shook his head.
Soon after Mixen turned around and walked back.
‘...It is not often that my headache becomes worse…’
Weirdly enough, he had no problem getting out of the barrier.
But that was probably because he was going out of the barrier and not in… probably.
After exiting the barrier, Mixen finally noticed that his connection to Whitey was broken… and nervousness kicked in.
The forest was filled with animals that could rip a small animal to shreds in seconds… even the collar might not save her.
So Mixen started looking.
But he didn’t need to. She was at the same place… trembling.
Whitey couldn’t see him, as he was still invisible.
He immediately dropped his ability and ran up to Whitey.
“Meeeow.”
She was close to tears.
Now Mixen truly felt bad.
It was undoubtedly his fault.
“...I’m sorry.”
Mixen picked her up and hugged her tightly.
Only then did she finally stop shaking.
“*Sniff* Meow…”
It was very weird hearing a cat sniff.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m stupid, I know.”
For a few minutes, Mixen stood there, holding Whitey and gently brushing her fur.
When she finally calmed down, Mixen smiled at her.
“It’s time to go.”
He tried to pick her up with wind magic, but Whitey firmly clung to his arm.
“Ow ow ow, can you at least do that to another arm?”
“Meow!”
She turned her head from him, clearly saying ‘No!’.
“Okay, okay…”
Mixen didn’t really know where to go, so he strolled around the barrier slowly.
He didn’t fly or run in hopes for his headache to subside…
.
.
But it never did.
.
.
.
“Hm? What’s that?”
A tree caught his eyes.
In a forest so full of never-before-seen plants and trees, he saw something familiar.
A pine tree.
Of course, it wasn’t his first time seeing a pine tree in this world.
However…
‘...It shouldn’t grow here?’
This tree doesn’t fit among all those colourful ones, moreover, it isn’t the kind that would survive for long in this region.
Others might have overlooked it, but Mixen was keen to spot such details.
“Meow?”
“Mm? Oh, yeah, that one seems different, don’t you think so?”
Mixen pointed at the pine tree a few hundred metres away.
“Meow? Meow.”
After going up to get a better view, Whitey nodded.
“Even you can tell… Let’s check it out.”
Mixen was observing the tree from up close in less than half a second.
He was done by the time the kitty caught up.
“Yup, totally normal pine tree. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Mixen nodded and chuckled to himself.
“Meow…”
Sounding a bit disappointed Whitey began to leave.
“Oh, no, no. You misunderstood me a bit.”
“Meow?”
“Look around. Do you see any regular trees here?”
“Meow…”
Whitey quickly scouted her surroundings.
Forest was indeed filled with otherworldly trees, even for this world’s standard.
“And if you look closer… The plants are so tightly packed that most occupy each other’s space, having weeds and such… but not this one. It’s clean as if someone was looking after it.”
And so, Mixen was sure.
This tree was somehow special.
‘But what is so special about it?’
Inspection with plain sight revealed nothing.
…Although mana sight was different.
‘Found it.’
A small string of mana connected to the barrier.
It was coming from a hole in the tree.
The hole looked natural before, but now… it looked more like a socket.
Mixen then turned to Whitey, who was excited for something to happen.
He noticed that excitement so he decided to play with her for a bit.
“So~, I have good news and bad news.”
“Meow!”
“The good news is that I found how to enter the elven village!”
“Meow! …Meow?”
“Yea~h, the bad news is that we need a key…”
“Meow…”
“But fret not! We still have ways to go in!”
“Meow!?”
“First! We can just brute force our way through!”
“...meow.”
“Well, yeah, me neither… But we have a second option!”
“Meow!?”
“We can find the key!”
“...”
“...Okay, that’s also not really a viable option.”
Whitey now looked a bit angry.
“Heh, if this was a game, it would totally be lying somewhere nearby.”
Whitey expression changed to that of confusion and she tilted her head.
“...Right, that isn’t something you would understand.”
“...”
“I will stop messing with you. We’ll just do things the usual way.”
“...Meow?”
Mixen smiled playfully at her.
“Wait for someone to open the door for us, of course! The wind doesn’t need an invitation if the door is open!”
“Meow!”
“Yeah! That’s indeed great!”
Mixen was happy to see Whitey having fun.
He himself wasn’t pretending or suppressing his inner child.
‘...Reminds me of better times.’
Of memories that are the most precious and the most hurtful.
.
“Meow?”
“No idea. Not too long… hopefully…”
.
.
.
The excitement yet again disappeared after a few hours of plain waiting.
Whitey got bored of looking at different bugs and mushrooms quickly enough.
So she started pestering Mixen.
“Meow.”
“What?”
“Meow.”
“Hungry?”
“Meow.”
“And what can I do?”
“Meow.”
“Should I go and try to destroy it?”
“...meow.”
“So what should we do?”
“Meow!”
She turned away and flew to the pine tree. As if in retaliation or in frustration she started clawing it.
Whitey behaved more like a child today than usual.
“Ha~, let’s go look around a bit more, I guess that won’t hurt.”
“Meow? Meow!”
“But I’ll go full speed.”
“...meow.”
“Ho-ho, I see you’re desperate. Hold tight… Ouch, ouch, another arm, please!”
“Meow!”
“Fine, fine!”
.
.
.
It didn’t take Mixen long to find someone of interest.
He ignored a few patrol elves who didn’t seem to have anything to do with the capital.
But there was someone who certainly was going to the Elven capital.
‘So he came now?’
It was a person who Mixen knew, it was hard not to know him.
“Is that the second prince?”
A prince that gave up on succession and was known for his “unique” lifestyle.
‘The fallen prince.’
That was what they called him.
“Meow?”
“Yeah let me get closer.”
‘Leon doesn’t seem to be coming, huh?’
.
.
“Are you two retarded!? Or maybe you’re messing with me!?”
A boy not much older than Mixen was barely keeping up with two knights escorting him.
Sweat was visible on his face, but even more so the saliva flying out of his mouth while shouting.
He looked similar to Leon in a way.
His face was indeed handsome enough for Mixen to want to spit on him.
However…
“How unsightly…”
“Meow?”
“Him… Blood flowing through his veins isn’t called “royal” for no reason. Yet his talent is wasted… and I don’t even want to talk about his behaviour…”
Meanwhile, the prince stopped and shouted to give him water.
“I see he lives up to the rumours.”
“Meow?”
“He’s known for how awful he is. Treating subordinates as slaves, ogling every beautiful woman that catches his sight, and only caring about his outer appearance… In smaller circles, he’s known as a gold mine. Various Earls, Marquesses and even some Dukes use him to gain both money and influence. Even if he’s a prince only in name… That is still a position lower to only the King himself.”
“Meow?”
“...Did I… interpret that right? Did a cat just ask me if I’m interested in politics? Ha~h it seems I’ll go senile before even turning 17…”
“...meow?”
“...No. I’m not. Never, ever again will I meddle in that... I just like collecting information. Both public and secret. A sick hobby of mine… As someone I knew once said… ‘There is no useless information, you’re just not smart enough to know how to use it’... You never know what might come in handy.”
‘...Who was it that said that?’
“How much more will this torture continue for!? I will make sure you are punished after we’ll be back!”
The prince was flapping his arms around like a fish because he didn’t have enough strength in them.
“Young Master Roland, it is still some time until we get to the capital. Do you perhaps want to set up a camp or take a rest in a nearby village?”
“You want me to live with those ugly and dirty farmers? Never! Only the High Elves are worthy of serving me!”
“Meow?”
Whitey tugged Mixen.
“Hm? You want to know about high elves?”
She nodded.
“Heh, that’s a common misunderstanding among nobles. Most people don’t even know of that term. It is secretly passed among those who have been to the capital village as a tourist… It’s a translation error. There is no difference between elves and “high” elves… Just that one’s position is higher. Like a captain or a chief. In other words, those with merit… Why am I explaining it to you again?”
“Meow.”
“...You’re curious, huh?”
“Meow.”
“...How vast is your vocabulary again?”
“Meo-”
“AGH! THERE”S A SPIDER! KILL IT! BURN IT! BURN THE ENTIRE FOREST IF NEEDED! AAAH!”
Another fact about the prince. He is comedically scared of spiders.
“...Should we just steal the key?”
“Meow.”
“Unanimously”
‘...The question is how.’
The key was most probably inside the spacial bag on the prince's belt.
It was practically impossible to steal from it.
‘Well… I do have a plan, but whether it works or not depends on how stupid that prince is.”
Mixen took out a small knife from his ring.
“AAAGH YOU USELESS BUNCH! DO SOMETHING!”
Roland fell on his royal butt and screamed yet again.
His two escorts weren’t very passionate about saving him.
So the prince tried to take matters into his own hands.
He valiantly grabbed something from his bag and threw it at the finger-sized spider.
“DIE!”
It was a half-empty water bottle.
And it missed.
But the brave prince didn’t despair, and threw another random item at the spider.
Missed.
Mixen almost forgot about his plan while laughing at this sight.
The process repeated itself until…
“Sir! You can’t just throw that so carelessly! That’s our only way to the capital!”
‘...Bingo.’
What the prince threw was a small wooden amulet with a detailed gravure.
“Dammit! Shut your mouth and pick it up then!”
The grass is thick, but it couldn’t go far… or that would be the case if the mischievous wind didn’t take it for himself.
“That was easier than I thought it would be.”
‘...just a coincidence…’
“Meow!”
Whitey started tugging on Mixen’s shirt.
“Wait, wait. We can’t just steal such a precious thing, can we?”
“...meow?”
“Give me a minute.”
Mixen took out a small piece of wood and a string.
Looking at the original amulet, he started carving the exact same copy.
The key was by no means simple in design, but it didn’t even take 5 minutes for Mixen to perfectly replicate it.
“Me~ow!”
“Cool, right? One of the side-effects of having good dexterity.”
Mixen was flipping the knife in his hand as he said that.
“Meow?”
“Hm? Hard word? Let me rephrase it… I’m good at things that require precision, I guess?”
“Meow.”
Whitey nodded.
Mixen dropped the fake amulet near the prince himself.
“Found it! Ha! See? As if nothing had happened.”
“Ha~. It’s getting annoying looking at him. Let’s go check out the elven capital?”
“Meow!”
.
.
.
“Meow!”
Whitey was trying to snatch the key from Mixen to place it herself.
“Hey, hey! Easy! We can’t just use it and go in! It’s definitely highly guarded.”
“Meow? Meow!?”
“I know that we are hidden. I don’t know about you, however, I want to experience the Elven Capital as it is! And not during an intruder alert!”
Mixen unintentionally raised his voice due to Whitey’s impatient behaviour.
“...meow…”
Now she felt as if she did something wrong.
“*Sigh*”
Mixen put his hand on Whitey’s head and gently pet her.
“It’s fine, I’m also excited. I’ll figure something out, just give me a minute.”
He already knew a few methods that would let them quietly experience the capital… but all of them took a lot of time.
Then, an idea appeared.
Mixen started taking out various things from his ring.
Herbs, weird medicine, bowls, empty flasks, flasks filled with unknown liquids.
He started mixing some things together, and some he started heating up.
Whitey looked at him like at a madman.
“Meow?”
Mixen looked at her with a mischievous smile.
“You’ll see. Keke.”
‘It’s been so long since I did something like this. Fortunately, I didn’t forget the recipes… It’s strange that the faces of people seem to disappear, but small things like this keep resurfacing in my mind… annoying.’
The last strokes were made by Mixen a bit more aggressively, nevertheless, he finished his work.
“Done!”
“Meow!?”
“Yeah! Now to apply it!”
“...meow?”
As he said that, he started putting it all on his face.
Cream, spray, powder.
It would take quite a long time to put it all on.
And it didn’t take as long for Whitey to understand what Mixen was doing.
“...Meow?”
“Yup. Makeup.”
She looked at him for some time, head tilted to the side.
“Heh. Just give me like, ten minutes, it’s a tedious process.”
For some reason, Whitey didn’t retaliate.
Instead, she carefully watched Mixen, as if enchanted.
It is hard to describe how skilful he was with makeup.
And even harder for Whitey to understand why he would learn to do it to such an extent.
Some time passed, and Mixen was done.
“So? How do I look?”
“...Meow?”
It wasn’t as evident from the side, but now that Mixen was facing her…
His face was completely different.
Not only was it smoother and cleaner, it was thinner and even the jawline seemed different.
A never seen before face was in front of Whitey.
No… She did see it before.
It was the face of Prince Roland.
“They are expecting the prince to come, right? So we’ll give them a prince.”
“Meow!”
“Hehe, I know, I know. People would kill for this sort of makeup… That’s why it was only used as a weapon.”
“Meow?”
“Well, that doesn’t matter anymore. Okay, I still have to create a mask.”
“Meow?”
“No, this is just makeup… Ah, that reminds me, I need to change my hair. Good thing our eyes and complexion are about the same… The clothing… It didn’t seem like he had anything special on him. Just some aristocratic clothes with a few enchantments… It should be fine if I wear something similar, right? Meh, they shouldn’t suspect anything from the start. Now then…”
Mixen took out a hand mirror.
“Ew… Looking like this sure feels disgusting. Okay, I probably need to cut my hair quite a bit.”
Mixen had long hair, while the prince’s hair was rather short.
He took out scissors and placed the mirror on a nearby branch.
After untying his hair, it started slightly swaying from the weak wind.
Because Mixen rarely did so, it seemed rather unkempt.
He started carefully observing it, painting in his mind how to properly cut it.
But inside his mind, the face he saw in the mirror was not that of a prince.
He saw a face resembling his.
Not quite like him… older… even more tired than his own.
His eyes were that of his old self.
Brown eyes that he now wears lenses to replicate.
The face in the mirror was blurred… it was a face of a dead man.
And the only thing that remained the same… was his hair.
‘...Yeah… it’s the same.’
So Mixen put away the scissors.
“Meow?”
“...It’s to not forget…”
“...meow?”
“...eyes are now different, so the hair is the o-. A wig should suffice, no? He has a rather popular hairstyle, so I’m sure I have one… It won’t look weird on me, will it?”
It did.
However, after making some attunements, he got it to be seamless.
Mixen soon showed his triumphant expression to Whitey, like a child bragging.
She had a rather concerned expression instead.
Mixen either ignored that or just didn't notice.
'Unfortunately, I don't think I can create a mask like this…'
"Well, the only thing left is to act like him!"
'...can I even do it without a mask…'
"...meow."
"Yeah, yeah, let's go. I know how excited you are."
It was easy to tell who was more excited right now, but nevertheless, as Mixen placed the amulet into the socket and a light appeared out of it, her ears sprung up in excitement.
A magnificent scene was in front of them.
A tree the size of a mountain and countless wooden houses understand it, some even built on the base of the tree itself.
But in front of them was a gate with two guards standing like statues.
They clearly noticed Mixen, but they didn't act.
After observing the surroundings both with his sense and eyes, he slowly started moving.
Whitey has already flown into the village looking all around, so Mixen was forced to bring her back using the string of the Veil like a leash.
She was not happy about it.
"It takes too much mana on a large distance."
He said quietly while barely moving his mouth.
"Meow…"
Mixen was now pretty close to the gate, so he wanted to strike up a conversation.
"He-"
"NAME YOURSELF!"
"…"
That was so out of nowhere and loud that it made Mixen flinch… also almost kill the poor guard…
Mixen quickly fixed his posture.
"*Cough*. I am called Roland Andrew Gold! The prince of the Kingdom of Gold! How dare you raise your voice at me?!"
Mixen tried to act like the prince would, and although his words were believable… his intonation was way off.
'...I have never done it like this before… damn.'
Whitey was currently imitating a certain human expression… rolling on the floor laughing, that is.
The guards didn’t care all that much about that, they gave each other a quick glance and one of them went into the village very quickly.
A mere few moments later he was back with someone.
“Excuse us for our rudeness, Prince Roland. You came earlier than expected.”
It was a girl with darkish skin, unlike other elves Mixen met so far,
…She looked somewhat familiar.
“I came when I wanted to come. And it isn’t you who’s supposed to apologize.”
Mixen held his head up, looking at two guards with an arrogant gaze.
His act was becoming better by the second.
‘...if I take some parts from that one… it’s manageable.’
Guards looked a bit nervous and were about to kneel down.
The girl spoke before that.
“I don’t think a simple apology will be enough, sir Roland. But before that, may I ask where are your knights?”
“None of your business… And who are you again?”
His tone shifted from simple arrogance to slight anger.
“Ah, excuse my lack of knowledge.”
The girl bowed her head, as per the royal family’s greeting tradition.
“My name is Marissa. I am an acting general of the capital village.”
“Huh?”
Just for a moment Mixen lost hold of his expression, but quickly hardened his face again.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, I see they give out high positions to just anyone in here… Or are you some sort of a witch?”
Carefully picking the intonation, Mixen now was sure he could nail this role.
‘Now I remember… She looks exactly like Melissa… even her name is similar.’
“Ah, no, no, of course not. I’m actually 19 years old.”
“... I will not ask further, as I am here not on a political trip, but merely a personal one… however…”
Mixen took a few steps forward, now, right in front of Marissa, he smiled.
“Won’t you be my guide, to atone for your rudeness?”
‘She’s too good-looking for the horny prince not to fall for her.’
Marissa was moved aback but managed to hold in her expression.
“O-Of course… but can you answer where your knights are?”
“Out in the forest, camping.”
“Camping?”
“It’s a punishment. They upset me, so they are punished.”
“...”
“Shall we go in?”
“...yes”
She was experiencing a complicated set of emotions.
.
.
The village looked even more beautiful from the inside.
A lot of the elves gave Roland weird stares, but it was to be expected.
…at least Whitey was having fun.
“...Is it fine, you being without guards?”
“The first thing the guide says is a question. You are a very poor guide.”
“That is-”
“What for do I need guards in here? Or… is this a threat?”
“What!? No, no. Please don’t misunderstand!”
“Ahaha, I’m just joking, girl.”
He carefully placed his hand on her shoulder.
And immediately felt acute pain… However, Marissa didn’t move…
“Whitey please… I’m acting…”
There she was, claws deep in his arm, invisible.
Mixen didn’t have to worry about being heard, but he was no ventriloquist.
“...please don’t make jokes like that…”
She looked rather cute to Mixen… but he couldn’t help but notice how hard her fists were clenched.
…he didn’t want to get hit in the face, so he decided to stop… for now.
“*Sigh* Fine. Then be a proper guide.”
“...weren’t you here before?”
“So what? Places change.”
“... people too…”
.
.
.
After a while of walking around enjoying the village and getting some lacklustre explanation for everything Mixen found himself in a very remote corner of the village.
It was in exactly the opposite corner from where the gate is.
Few buildings were here, more trees than anything, and… there were no people here.
Mixen felt something was off.
‘I was careless.’
He momentarily checked the surrounding.
No one.
‘Is she confident in taking me on by herself?’
Thinking it was a trap, he was mentally prepared for anything.
His outer appearance was nevertheless the same.
‘When did they figure it out… Or was it just she? They don’t get reports on the surrounding areas that often, so they couldn’t find the real prince yet… Was it my acting? Or maybe the fact that I’m without guards? She knew the prince was here before, have they met? Maybe they knew each other?’
While Mixen’s mind was trailing of into the deep, Marissa finally stopped.
‘My reaction time, or your speed, let’s check.’
“We are alone now.”
‘...Trying to get information? Obvious move.’
He smiled.
“We are indeed.”
He took a few steps forward to her, still acting like a douchebag.
But she stopped him halfway.
“Is it necessary?”
“Hm? Repeat that?”
“There is no one here to watch. Do you have to keep up those pretences?”
‘She’s figured me out, huh.’
But Mixen felt it was too early to open up, and…
‘Why did she have to have us all alone for that? Isn’t it better to have backup… or is she that confident?’
“I don’t quite get what you mean.”
Mixen quickly signalled Whitey to move aside.
“I’ve heard rumours… about you… That you were improving yourself.”
“Hmm? Obviously? I am improving myself every single day. ”
“That’s not what I meant… Like…Changing… ever so slightly…”
‘There’s no such rumours though? And definitely not in the elven capital.’
“...I don’t understand what you mean… And is that the reason you brought me all the way here?”
‘Have I… misunderstood?’
“That-... is so…”
“You are quite boring… I will restrain myself from insulting a general, however, I will say that you seem undeserving of that position.”
Being an acting general meant being good at strategising… She, however, was now doing things very unfit for that description.
“This has ruined my mood, and it’s getting quite late, please point me to my living quarters.”
“No! I-I mean… please wait.”
Marissa was behaving very weirdly as if she didn’t know what to say.
“Y-You don’t need to do this around me… I’m… I’m a friend!”
‘This is not how someone would behave due to mere rumours… She knows something even the information guilds don’t know… interesting…’
“...Have we met?”
She took some time to answer that.
“...maybe.”
“C-”
Mixen was about to push for more information, but then noticed someone in the corner of his eyes… and remembered why he was here.
‘I’m not here just for my own enjoyment… this can wait.’
“I suddenly feel very sleepy. Please show me my quarters.”
“S-Sorry?”
“Have you not heard me?”
“I-I did… but…”
“But?”
“...I will show you your room.”
“Good.”
.
.
.
‘I shouldn’t rush it, Prince Roland won’t trust me so easily… Why did he have to come before I came up with a plan!? And how he acts is so freaking annoying right now! I wanna hit him! Damn it!’
.
.
.
