Editor(s): Speedphoenix, Joker
“I just can’t seem to get away from this place, can I?” I muttered under my breath as the now familiar city ca into view. I really hadn’t ever expected to co back to Alfyro more than once or twice. Every single one of my visitations had seed likely to be my last. And yet, I now found myself returning so often that I’d even set up a portal straight to it.
The old governor’s city was where Nell and I had decided to et up. The plan was for to join her and her team on a carriage that would take us straight to the city nearest to the dungeon. Lo and behold, they were already there and waiting. A small, lightly armoured escort featuring a pair of familiar figures was standing right by the city’s main gate.
“Oh, hey! Over here!” Nell began waving to the mont she noticed approaching.
“Hey Nell, looks like you’re just as full of energy as always,” I said. “I know we just talked recently, but I’m still happy to get to finally see you in person again.”
“I’m uhm… I’m happy too, but could you uhm… keep that stuff for when we’re alone? It’s kind of embarrassing with everyone else listening in…”
She awkwardly glanced at the other mbers of her order as I ruffled her hair. I love how shy she is. It’s totally adorable.
“Alright, fine. But once we do finally get a mont to ourselves, I’ll make sure I go so far overboard you can’t help but cringe.”
“I’d really rather you not go out of your way to go overboard if you’re aware of it…” She was a bit exasperated, but also very clearly happy at the sa ti.
“So that’s how the Masked ister looks without his mask? He’s a lot younger than I thought,” said a paladin.
Hearing his words prompted to spin around, grab the usual, clown-like mask out of my inventory and put it on before once again turning to face him.
“Young? What are you talking about? My age is as mysterious as I am suspicious. Don’t just randomly go assuming my age.”
“I’m not really sure there’s any point in trying to hide it anymore, Yuki,” whispered Nell. “If anything, having that mask on is just going to make you grab even more attention…”
Oh yeah… Riiiiight… That was a thing, wasn’t it? Unlike her, I had totally forgotten about the fact that my mask was now sothing widely recognized. Wearing it was going to get nothing but stares.
“…You never change, Masquerade,” said an exasperated Carlotta. “I see you’re still just as fond of fooling around as you were the last ti we t.”
“Yeah, yeah, enough about ,” I took off my mask as I held my arms up in a shrug. “How about introducing your n?”
“Not a bad idea.” She turned to her squad. “You heard him, introduce yourself. Start from the left.”
At her command, each of the paladins quickly briefed on their identities. I wasn’t too interested in the particulars, but noted that, Nell and Carlotta aside, there were five of them, of which two were won. Though they were weak enough to pale in comparison to their commander—and not even worth comparing to Nell—each was still about twice as strong as the average soldier.
“You sure this’ll be enough to plow through a dungeon?” I asked.
“I would’ve liked to bolster our forces a bit as well, but most of my n are out on another job. This lot’s all we had available,” the knight lady said with a frown. “Still, I’m confident that with you, Nell, and I all present, we’ll be sure to succeed. I’m honestly quite grateful that you agreed to co. It would have been much riskier without you.”
“Eh, there wasn’t any reason for not to. I’ve got a bit of a vested interest in conquering dungeons myself.” I said. “Oh yeah, I’ve been aning to ask this. How strong’s the demon lord, this ti around?”
“The answer to that question is, most likely, very. It managed to defeat the party put together to exterminate it,” she answered. “We’d best stay on our guard.”
Huh… interesting. I’m really starting to look forward to this.
“Where’s Enne?” asked Nell. “Is she not coming?”
“Nah. I’m having her stay ho this ti.”
Normally, Enne and combat went hand in hand. There was almost no reason not to bring her along if I knew I was getting myself into a fight. Almost. My signature weapon was super strong, super cute, and definitely end ga-worthy, she also happened to have an extrely long blade. It just so happened that, according to Nell, the dungeon we were raiding consisted mainly of narrow corridors, corridors in which I wouldn’t be able to swing Enne around. Moreover, I was also going to have to account for the fact that I was fighting in a group. Swinging Enne around could very easily equate to a death sentence for any paladin unlucky enough to accidentally step into her massive range. And so, much to both our disappointnts, I’d ended up deciding to leave the sword girl behind.
“Who’s this Enne you two are talking about?” asked Carlotta.
“She’s his favorite sword,” answered Nell. “Do you rember the long, red blade he used the first ti he helped us?”
“…I suppose I do, now that you ntion it.”
Oh, right, Carlotta’s never actually t Enne.
“Her full na is Zaien, we just call her Enne for short,” I said. “She’s so cute she might as well be an angel. I’ll bring her along and introduce you two next ti.”
“An… angel?” She cocked a brow.
“Uhh, my bad, I misspoke. I ant an archangel.”
“…Just to be clear, we are talking about a sword, right?”
“Yup.”
“…Well, to each his own, I suppose.” The knight lady stared at as one would a weirdo.
Oh co on… Don’t look at like that. I know you’re probably thinking that I’m a degenerate with a sword fetish or sothing, but that’s only because you don’t know what sword girls are. I was speaking the truth, the whole truth, and only the truth. I swear it. Hell, I’m like 200% sure that even your stubborn mask’ll crumble the mont you see her.
“Is there anything that you need to do before we depart?” After taking a mont to recompose herself, Carlotta cleared her throat and brought the conversation back on track. “I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”
“Nah, I’m all set,” I said.
I had already gotten literally everything I needed before leaving the house. My inventory was stuffed with a tric boatload of miscellaneous, useful tools and items. Heh heh heh. Tremble in fear, demon lord. Tremble and grovel before , for your days are numbered. My arrival will mark your end!
“Excellent.” She turned back towards her troops. “Well? You heard the man, get the horses ready for departure imdiately!”
“Yes ma’am!”
The other paladins saluted, and then imdiately retrieved a pair of carriages from the checking station. Each of the well-constructed vehicles was engraved with the sa crest that decorated the knights’ armour.
“Masquerade, you will be joining Nell and I in the first carriage, the one in front. The rest of you will be sharing the second. Move out!”
***
“Oh yeah, so I’ve been aning to ask. Why’d you end up asking to tag along anyway?” I posed the question to the order’s commander, who currently happened to be in the middle of looking at the cards in her hand with a scowl.
Nell and I were family, and I’d already worked with the holy knights on multiple occasions. But even so, I found it odd that they were requesting my aid given that I wasn’t one of them. As far as the church was concerned, there was no reason for them to ask of all people to show up, even if they were short on hands.
“I’m not quite sure of the real reason myself,” responded Carlotta. “The brass inford us that we were free to ask you for assistance if necessary, in spite of the fact that we’re typically barred from requesting help from outside sources. Knowing your incredible capabilities, I saw no reason not to go ahead and do what was effectively instructed.”
Oh… I get it now… I rolled my eyes internally. I bet this is that crafty old bastard’s handiwork. The suspicious circumstances, which had even the holy knight’s captain baffled, was far too convenient to be a re coincidence.
“…I guess he’s telling to put my hands where my mouth is and live up to what I said,” I muttered, too quietly for anyone else to hear.
Of course, while I was certainly willing to step up and protect Nell, as I’d told him I would, I was not by any ans happy about him using . Knowing that I was dancing in the palm of his hand irritated to no end. I knew I should’ve killed him when I had the chance. God fucking damn it.
“What’s wrong?” asked Nell.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I took a breath and regained my cool. “Your turn, Carlotta.”
“R-right…” stamred the knight. “Then I suppose I’ll take… this one!” Her face contorted in a mix of shock and despair the mont she flipped the card around.
“Making a face like that’s only making it obvious you just drew the old maid,” I said with a laugh.
“I think that’s the first ti I’ve ever seen Carlotta react like that…” said Nell, with a wry smile.
On a typical day, playing cards would’ve entailed playing President, Trump, or so other relatively complex ga. But as Carlotta had no experience with my world’s gas, we started with the easy-to-understand classic that was old maid. Unsurprisingly, she ended up losing.
“The cards themselves are fairly simple, but the gas are much more complicated than I expected,” she said. “But, I’ve now morized all the suits, symbols, and corresponding numbers.”
“Wait, seriously? Already?”
I couldn’t help but not believe her. We’d only played a single ga of old maid.
“You managed to do a number on while I was still adjusting, now it’s ti for to pay you back in kind.”
“Uh huh… So what’s this?” I asked, as I held up a jack.
“The eleven of diamonds,” she replied, imdiately.
Uhhh… wow. This lady knight’s got one helluva head on her shoulders. Though I guess that really shouldn’t surprise , seeing as how she’s in charge of a whole order and whatnot.
“Alright, fine. Challenge accepted,” I said. “The training wheels are coming off. I’m going to show you just how deep the mind gas can run.”
The gas we played back at the dungeon had long escalated beyond the realm of casual. I’d been made to learn, through them, that this world’s people were higher spec than those that I’d known prior to my reincarnation. Their enhanced senses allowed them to hear heart rates and discern subtle changes in one’s expression amongst various other insane feats. And they would use all the information they gleaned from their observations to aid in determining the contents of their opponents’ hands.
When Lefi and I played, it almost always ca down to a contest of predictions and calculations. And that’s pretty much why I always win. Lefi’s poker face totally sucks.
“That’s just what I was hoping to hear,” said the knight with a grin. “I’ll see through and stomp every one of your techniques.”
With our shit talking out of the way, we shuffled the deck and moved onto round two.
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