Inside the hotel, Ciel scrunched up her nose, complaining about the acrid smell present, which I couldn't tell. After normalizing herself, she went to the front desk.
"Did you see a demure young woman with a pale young man just now?" she asked pressingly.
The hotel staff who was very confused as to who she was talking to, replied, "The guests' privacy is something we cannot divulge, to whoever you are, sire, madam."
Aiming to help Ciel out, I put the badges we brought, letting the staff check their authenticity. Ciel then added, "If you will not divulge what we wanted to hear, then be ready, since tomorrow you might hear the news of a murder located in this very place."
Visibly shaken, the staff still won't say anything, she asked us to wait until the authenticity of the badges was verified.
Seeing the woman will crumble with a little more push, I beguiled her as if it was Laincelot himself who did so, "Look here ma'am, let me ask you this. Do you want to risk losing your job sooner, but with the potential of promotion since you managed to save a human life, or will you risk the life of your kind, to keep your job just a little bit longer, after which you'll certainly be fired and won't find any places willing to hire you, given your track record. Now, which shall you choose?" I asked, smiling sweetly.
To the pressured staff, the smile of the man in front of her felt genuine, giving her the feeling of safety and peace. His alluring voice and proposition moved her trembling hands, reaching it out for the VVIP guest book. She gave the man what he wanted, feeling content and fulfilled. The staff didn't know who that man was apart from the badge he gave her, but it felt like she had been dealing with a fairy, devil, and god, at the same time.
As we went past the dazed hotel staff through the corridor, I started looking at the guest book that I was given, keen on searching for the madam's name.
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Following Layne from behind him, Ciel stared at the back of the man who she thought she knew. Unable to keep her curiosity from bursting out, she asked him, "Where did you learn that?"
"Learn what?" he replied.
"Beguiling, leading on, commanding, there's a lot of name for that ability, where did you learn that?"
"Oh that, well, I just knew," he said, certainly lying. If he was that good at tricking the minds of people, then why was she able to know that he was lying? Was he just bad at using his abilities to people he knew, or does it have a connection to this feeling she had after meeting him? The feeling of having met him before, of laughing and crying together with him, in a place far far away, a time unknown to her.
Her musing was interrupted by his voice, "This is the corridor. They're in the farthest room, room 221."
A muffled scream could be heard from the end of the corridor.
"Oh no," Ciel said. She immediately formed an invisible barrier using the mana surrounding her.
As the barrier forms, Ciel dons her combat form, rushing toward the room where the madam is.
=======
I still can't believe what my eyes saw. Ciel moved her hands for a bit and a colourful, yet transparent wall that separated this corridor from the others came to be. After doing so, she transmogrified into something like a half-dragon.
Her head grew horns, and her hands and feet, although looked human, were covered in bluish-silver scales that extended from the outer side of her limbs to both her shoulders and thighs. I can't see the full extent of her transformation since she was fully clothed, but the strength and speed she exudes were far greater than everyone present.
Looking at her dashing into room 221, I steeled myself, deciding to gradually reveal the Laincelot within, when push comes to shove. I quickly went after her, with securing the madam first, in mind.
Sounds of clashing steel could be heard from the hallway after Ciel broke down the door to room 221. Peeking inside to not aggravate the situation any further, I saw Ciel battling an abomination. It has an ugly face, one that has been beaten flat by a dwarf's hammer. Its lips was thick, full of warts, and a 100 cm long tongue could be seen dangling from its mouth. It has a full set of limbs, though they were bony and malnourished, along with a set of sharp and thin claws.
Observing the trashed room for the madam's whereabouts, I found her passed out next to the bed, near the door, far away from the combat that's happening right now.
Claw against claw, ugliness against beauty. Both of them seemed fairly balanced in this fight. When Ciel thrust her claw forward, the lamprey either jumps or dodges to its left or right, frustrating her.
A tail materialized from Ciel's backside, catching the lamprey off guard. As it was flung away, crashing into the wall of the room next door, I took this chance to carry the madam away from this place.
Running towards the stairs, I seemed to hear Ciel telling me to leave the barrier. And that was what I did. I left the barrier with the madam, set her outside of the barrier, and try to walk inside the barrier to no avail. It seems the barrier will reject anything outside of it.
Worried about Ciel, I tried my hardest to push the barrier.
"Let me in!" I shouted.
"Stupid fucking barrier, let me the fuck in!" expletives came out naturally.
Even as I push it as hard as I could, even when I hit it as hard as my strength allow, the barrier just held me warmly, as if I was being embraced. It would never let me hurt myself. I tried, and tried, until the reality hit me. 'I' can't do anything. I'm not yet at the level of Laincelot, I'm just some wannabe.
If the one who's holding me back, was myself, trying to stay as 'me'. Then let that self crumble to nothingness, as dust returns to dust, 'I' return to Laincelot.
"Open up the path," the gentleman said to the barrier, as it acquiesced, and opened itself up.
Laincelot, the Verse-Creating Saint, cometh.
