Ch 124
Your busy feet stopped.
How delightful.
Everyone you were looking for was gathered here.
Belen, the Hero Candidate chosen for the fifth Holy Sword of the Hero. A young man overflowing with ambition.
He believed without a doubt that he was the protagonist of the world.
And no wonder, since he, a simple country bumpkin, had been chosen for the Holy Sword and gained the incredible patronage of Devilan.
Even the etiquette of the nobles, which had initially felt awkward and uncomfortable, now fit him perfectly.
Rather, his former self, who knew nothing of formality, felt incredibly uncouth in comparison.
Overflowing confidence was his greatest weapon.
Some dismissed it as arrogance or recklessness.
That’s excessive.
To belittle the leap of a young man seeking to transcend his origins!
Of course, Belen didn’t care!
Overflowing confidence was his greatest weapon!
He thoroughly ignored those who doubted him. He even scoffed at them!
He continued forward without stopping.
That’s how he arrived here.
Belen.
He offers you a confident smile.
Then his expression slowly changes, and next, Magnus, the Second-in-Command of the Devilan Knights’ Special Forces, greets you.
A seasoned warrior to whom the term “Master” perfectly applies.
The wrinkles and scars accumulated on the front lines are not marks of shame, but symbols of pride and experience.
He showed you that realm and magical power are not everything in swordsmanship.
What if the place where you crossed swords with him had been a battlefield instead of a sparring match?
I understand. It’s not something you want to imagine.
In that sense, it’s a pity.
Because he’s here now.
Who’s next?
Oh dear. You feel your body tremble.
Because the situation you feared most has come to pass.
Toua Ye Deviran, the Devilan Special Forces Commander and a noble lady of Devilan’s pride. She is also here.
The Special Forces Commander greets you with a bright smile.
She is known as the “Shooting Star” for reaching the 7th Rank realm before the age of twenty, but she is also known for her blunt personality, never showing personal emotions to others.
To see her bright smile!
Are you lucky? Or unlucky?
What is certain is that you know she is not the type to make such an expression.
No matter how happy or welcome the situation.
Thus, you finished your greetings with the Special Forces Commander.
You know that the end is slowly approaching.
Was the Special Forces Commander the last? Or—
Ah, yes. We can’t leave her out.
As you vaguely sensed, she was the cause of all this.
Brien.
The wandering swordsman looks at you meaningfully with her characteristic bad attitude.
“I owe you a great debt.”
She suddenly expresses her gratitude to you.
You thought you were already experiencing the worst possible mood. It was an unpleasant misconception.
Brien, no. The Face Thief covered her face with her palm.
When she removes her palm, a very familiar person is there.
It’s you.
Now you know why the Face Thief expressed gratitude to you.
The reason why the Special Agents lost their faces so easily is the same.
“If it weren’t for you, I couldn’t have taken their faces so easily. I express my gratitude for that.”
The Face Thief’s words plunge you into anguish.
Where did it go wrong?
The Face Thief impersonated you and sowed discord between you and the Special Agents.
You cleared up the misunderstanding and gained the trust of the Special Agents.
Until then, you couldn’t have imagined.
That it would lead everyone to the worst situation.
As the saying goes, “The ground hardens after the rain,” the trust between you and the Special Forces deepened after resolving the misunderstanding.
The Face Thief willingly used that.
Impersonating you to approach them and render them defenseless was surprisingly easy.
That’s right.
It’s a genuine feeling from the depths of the Face Thief’s heart.
If you hadn’t tried to mend your relationship with the Special Forces, would they have survived?
Maybe they would have.
But, if that were the case, you wouldn’t be facing them like this now.
A small solace is given to you.
It seems they have no intention of running away from you.
Perhaps they think similarly, as their faces resemble each other.
The battle begins.
『Mission: Recover the stolen faces』
『Your current survival count: 2』
▶Destiny 74: Face Thief
✦✦✦
『Title: Wow, the Face Thief’s Destiny Quest is incredibly kind』
Content: As if I might not understand, they emphasize ‘You killed them’ so hard; seriously;
Yes yes
I killed them
I just wiped out all those Special Forces brats.
-: Yes yes, the Special Forces guys think so too.
-『Author』: Ugh, damn it
-『Author』: No, I’ve only seen the story, but I already don’t want to do it.
If this quest pops up, it’ll be hard to resist force quitting.
Is there no way to save the Special Forces?
Can’t you stop the Face Thief’s shenanigans?
-: Not easy
-: Originally, these Assassin< bastards are a profession specialized in infiltration and disruption.
And they even consumed the Faceless One’s Remains? Yeah;; not easy.
-『Author』: But seriously, even if they stole faces to make them careless,
Does it make sense that this guy single-handedly annihilated the Special Forces?
Even combined, the Second-in-Command and Commander’s levels exceed 125.
-: Wow, Level 125, world’s first 20th Rank
-: Level 68 Face Thief is lacking, yeah.
-: Level 68 is 7th Rank rearguard, yeah.
Even a 2:1 fight head-on would be tough, but with the impersonation causing carelessness and a surprise attack, it’s really hopeless.
-: And that bastard is crazy with poison besides the sword.
-: Even though he was kicked out of the Assassin’s Guild, he didn’t lose his roots… a bastard who always carries his hometown in his heart…
-: + The Faceless One’s Remains are seriously OP, so this bastard’s difficulty level surpasses most 70-level bosses.
-『Author』: No, seriously, why the hell does that appear as a random event across all regions?
-『Author』: Then you can’t stop this guy’s shenanigans at all?
-: If your character’s stats are so overwhelmingly powerful that the Face Thief can’t match them, it might be possible?
-『Author』: What’s the standard for that overwhelming power?
-: I?D?K use hacks
-: The Face Thief only appears when he’s below level 70.
Below level 70, you’ll get your face stolen no matter what, yeah.
Someone posted a summary on the bulletin board.
As that guy said, unless you use a hack, it’s probably impossible.
-『Author』: Then share the hack.
-: 『File attached』
-『Author』: Ah, damn it, what’s the uninstall file?
-: It’s the most useful hack in this game.
✦✦✦
Now that he had completely shed the suspicion, a misunderstanding that wasn’t a misunderstanding, Lisir was troubled.
‘Should I reveal it now? The fact that I, can use a sword—’
Without the knowledge of the involved parties, a thug capable of stealing and perfectly imitating a target’s face was targeting them.
To prevent his infiltration and deal with unexpected situations, sharing information was essential.
‘But, if I reveal this, won’t the situation become even more complicated?’
In a situation where the Special Forces concluded, ‘The thug used swordsmanship, so it’s not Lisir!’, to reveal, ‘Huh? I also use swordsmanship’?
It was a self-inflicted wound.
“Lisir. Let’s withdraw. The Face Thief. It’s clear that he targeted Magnus, and that he’s targeting our Special Forces.”
At that time, Commander Toua spoke. Lisir asked in surprise at the content of her words.
“What? Wasn’t the target the Special Forces? He’s the one running away—”
“If he had seriously tried to disappear, it would have taken us much longer to chase him. But he didn’t, intentionally leaving traces to lead our pursuit. He probably already anticipated our pursuit when he attacked the Hero Candidate. His face stealing started with the Hero Candidate and ends with our Special Forces.”
“If the Special Forces mobilize additional forces, he can just run away… In short, he issued a challenge to the Special Forces. The Special Forces responded to the challenge, playing a game of tag called pursuit.”
“Exactly.”
Toua continued, looking at Magnus.
“Magnus. That’s right, isn’t it? He stole your sword.”
“Yes. It happened during the battle.”
“To steal a Master’s sword during a battle. No matter how you think about it, it’s a disgustingly unfair ability.”
After muttering as if she were exhaling, shaking her head, Toua continued.
“It seems his imitation ability surpasses our expectations.”
“Commander Toua. He stole my sword in that short time. So, stealing my appearance in that time would have been a piece of cake.”
“Right. As everyone knows, this Magnus incident is our Special Forces’ first contact with him. He succeeded in stealing Magnus’s face, but that’s all. According to the known information, his imitation is near perfect, but it’s not perfect. It’s almost impossible to deceive those who are close.”
Therefore.
Toua emphasized the following words.
“If he infiltrates among us, he won’t be wearing our faces. He’ll be wearing the face of someone who is an outsider but can get close to us.”
Dray.
Maisy.
Pallag.
Those were the names mentioned first by Toua.
“Here, Duke Pallag is currently away on personal business. According to Dray, he doesn’t plan to return to the mansion for at least three days. So, excluding Duke Pallag, the remaining two people—no.”
Toua’s gaze turns to me.
“We will keep a close eye on the remaining three people.
“Three people… Surely, I’m included in that?”
“You have a close relationship with Dray. You are one of the very few people currently allowed to directly contact us in the mansion.”
“Huh…”
Toua’s words were filled with complete trust and faith.
In the current situation where a momentary wrong judgment could lead to the worst outcome.
Lisir felt anew the weight of his friendship with Dray, the great noble.
“If the Face Thief impersonates you and approaches us, it will be difficult for us to cope. And in the worst case—”
Toua looked at Lisir with a serious face and said.
“We might not be able to distinguish between the real and the fake and become hostile towards you.”
“Does that mean… that the Face Thief might impersonate the real Lisir and make me hostile? In the true sense, to steal the person Lisir?”
“That’s right.”
“Then… I should establish a way to prove to you that I am the real one. How about a password?”
Toua shook her head.
“He’s the former Master of the Assassin’s Guild. A master of infiltration and special operations. A password is unlikely to work on him. He might even use that password to throw us into confusion.”
“…Could he also imitate magic with that ability? If not, I could use magic every time I meet you—”
“It’s much more limited than swordsmanship, but yes, it’s certainly possible.”
“No, what kind of ability is that?”
Lisir exclaimed in disbelief.
-…
-…
He ignored the gazes he felt in his Inner World.
“Then, what should we do? When we contact each other, how do I prove that I’m the real one?”
Lisir’s expression was strained.
Toua and the other Special Forces members’ expressions were strained.
As they racked their brains to come up with a reasonable answer, it was then.
-Toua.
Dray’s voice came from outside the door.
-I’m with Maisy. I’ll come in.
Even for the Face Thief, it’s impossible to impersonate two people at once.
The Special Forces lowered their guard and let Dray in.
“I heard from Maisy. The Face Thief stole Lisir’s face? What happened?”
Dray first checked Lisir’s complexion before asking Toua about the whole story.
Toua immediately shared the progress with Dray.
“A way to prove that Lisir is the real Lisir?”
Dray, who almost burst out laughing while listening to the story intermittently.
After hearing the whole story, he finally chuckled.
As if to say, why are you worrying about such a simple thing?
“…Dray, you seem to have a clever idea.”
“I do. Lisir?”
Dray.
With a meaningful smile, he began talking to Lisir.
“…Dray, you are, even in this situation—”
Toua, who was listening to the conversation from the side, expressed displeasure.
The content of her words.
She thought Dray was making light of the situation.
“…”
However, Toua’s expression became increasingly confused.
Their attitudes were too serious for it to be just idle chatter.
“-…How about it, Lisir? Will that work? Won’t it be too much of a strain on your body?”
The conversation eventually came to a close.
Dray asked Lisir’s opinion.
“…”
Toua and the other Special Forces members looked at Lisir with serious faces.
For fear that the word ‘possible’ might come out of his mouth.
“Yes, I think it will be possible.”
“W-wait a minute…!”
In the end, the Special Forces Commander lost her composure.
She rarely showed pure confusion as she interrogated Lisir and Dray.
She pointed out their unrealistic plan.
“Why is this unrealistic, Lisir?”
“Yes.”
However, Lisir and Dray’s demonstration（?） followed.
“…”
“…”
“…
The Special Forces were speechless at the sight before them.
“Well then. Now it’s time to devise a plan to lure him out?”
As Dray brought up the subject, Lisir raised his hand.
“Oh, Lisir. What, do you have a good idea?”
“The Face Thief. The reason he keeps getting involved with the Special Forces is to steal Commander Toua’s face—or rather, her swordsmanship. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Even though she hadn’t yet recovered her composure because of what had just happened before her eyes, Toua nodded in response.
“Then, how about this? We create a situation where he has no choice but to appear before us as ‘Lisir’. If we maintain that situation, an opportunity will surely come.”
Lisir explained his plan to them.
“No…”
Toua muttered unconsciously.
Lisir’s plan was too dangerous and reckless.
It was like setting the stage for the Face Thief to steal Toua’s face.
“What does it matter? Anyway, if he impersonates Lisir, we’ll be able to tell right away.”
“No—”
“No what? Didn’t you just see? Will he really be able to impersonate Lisir by imitating that?”
“No…”
Nevertheless, Toua couldn’t ultimately reject their opinion.
“Okay, then we’re going with this? No objections?”
A flimsy and bizarre plan that relied entirely on ‘Lisir’ from beginning to end was approved.
It was something that would never have been allowed under the existing Special Forces policy.
“No…”
Toua was dubious.
Will this kind of plan actually work?
✦✦✦
“Summon a spirit…? Commander Toua. I don’t understand what you mean—As you well know, Commander Toua, I’m not a Spirit Master. Just because I use both swordsmanship and magic doesn’t mean I can also handle spirits.”
It worked perfectly.
“…Then reach the 7th Rank? Commander Toua, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is this some kind of riddle, keeping the Face Thief in mind?”
Five days had passed since the baseless operational meeting.
Now.
Before Toua stood ‘Lisir’, who had fallen for the plan.
Shortly thereafter.
Another Lisir arrived, making a total of two Lisirs.
A brief conversation ensued.
Soon, ‘Lisir’ shouted in anger.
“I saw it with my own two eyes!!! You clearly ate the dish I made!!! You should have been poisoned by my poison!!! But how—”
“What about that spirit!!! There was no spirit magic in the magic you used!!!”
“My, my magical power suddenly surged!?”
“…”
Toua, watching the series of events from the side, rubbed her temples with a weary expression.
Why is it?
At this moment, she felt more pity for the Face Thief than joy at the success of the plan.
✦✦✦
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