Chapter 29: I’m Done Pretending

Right then, the character with bangs seemed to take them for young ladies coming from the royal capital, which could be quite handy for me.

The timing was just about right.

I gave a subtle glance to my pet nearby, signaling her to stay quiet, and then I feigned a mysterious demeanor, looking around before whispering.

“Alright, now that we’re here, I might as well tell you… actually, my true identity is that of a special envoy sent by Her Majesty Queen Liliya Meikailande of the United Kingdom to secretly investigate Demon Town!”

Seeing the shocked expressions on the character with bangs and Aileen, I deliberately ignored the odd look on Little Dragon Daughter’s face and continued to “honestly” deceive the two.

“Actually, Her Majesty has long been troubled by the poachers, a criminal group, but being so far away from the royal capital, those rascals have been hiding well, and it’s impossible to find an opportunity to take action.”

“Now that the northern borders of the kingdom are in constant conflict with the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, all the clues are pointing toward the poachers, and Her Majesty is determined to seize this opportunity to root out those rats hiding in the darkness!”

“We, on Her Majesty’s orders, are disguising ourselves as traveling guests, but our real purpose is to secretly infiltrate the underbelly here, investigate the details of various poaching gangs, and once the time is ripe, we can surround and eliminate this current chaos!”

“Uh, Ma’am…”

“Hey, you don’t need to say anything! I know what you want to say, but right now, I judge that it’s the best time to reveal our identities! I am the captain of the special investigation team, and this is my decision, understood, Xiao Guang?!”

“Y-yes, understood…”

Under the full-on glare from Priestess, the increasingly perplexed Little Dragon Daughter could only obediently shut her mouth, slightly turning her head away as if unable to bear to look.

“We must find the Ghost Thieves because this group could very well be one of the key nodes in this entire incident, and there is even reliable intelligence proving that this group may be colluding with certain high-ranking officials in Demon Town, working hand in hand!”

“As long as we acquire crucial evidence, Her Majesty will surely exert her authority and bring those deceitful rogues and the criminals who are still at large to justice!”

The black-haired girl placed her hands on her hips, puffing her small chest under her robe, looking utterly like “I am justice!” and it indeed seemed fitting.

“…”

The character with bangs and Aileen exchanged glances; to be honest, while Vilyric’s words sounded exaggerated and unbelievable, they held more credibility than her directly stating “we two can blow up the entire Ghost Thieves.”

The recent strife in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons has indeed been severe, and it is completely reasonable for the royal family, far away in the City of Courage, to send personnel for further investigation; from previous exchanges, the character with bangs had already realized that “these people probably came from the royal capital.”

Vilyric and the others’ fearless demeanor facing Demon Town’s troops last night, appearing openly at their base even when being chased today, also served as powerful indirect evidence.

But expecting them to fully believe it based on this alone was somewhat unrealistic.

Sure enough.

“Even if you say that, a queen’s informant… do you have any evidence? Just so you know, I don’t recognize any of those trinkets of important figures…”

The one questioning was Aileen, and the character with bangs, who had interacted with them longer, appeared to be deep in thought, while Vilyric irresponsibly shrugged, projecting an air of “believe it or not.”

“I do have proof given by Her Majesty, but if you can’t understand it, there’s nothing I can do. In short, this is all I can say. If it weren’t for seeing that you’re both dissatisfied with the city’s current situation and eager for change, I wouldn’t be revealing my identity now.”

“Remember, this is confidential. If it leaks out… hehehe…”

“Uh…”

Aileen looked like she was somewhat intimidated by the deliberately theatrical person next to her and hesitantly glanced at the character with bangs, who after some contemplation, tentatively said.

“Can you show me Her Majesty’s token? Having followed the captain around for more than a year, I’ve seen a thing or two. Sorry, I really don’t care about myself, but I can’t let Aileen get into trouble. If you really are Her Majesty’s secret envoy…”

Huh?

This guy… a mere pauper from the slums can actually understand such things? What on earth did Uncle Lester teach him…?

However, Vilyric indeed held a token from Liliya, and what I previously said was not entirely a lie; I merely adjusted the weight of my reasoning and the logic of the situation a little.

Since they requested it, the Priestess casually took out the special booklet representing the high status of Her Majesty in the United Kingdom and displayed it in front of the character with bangs.

The latter dared not touch it but widened his eyes, seriously examining the text for a long time, his gaze lingering particularly on the magical seal at the bottom, his expression gradually turning excited and fervent.

“It’s… it’s real! Aileen! They… they really are Her Majesty’s people! Do you know what this says? Like the king has arrived, like the king has arrived! Even the City Lord of Demon Town must kneel upon seeing this! Amazing, this city… everyone in the slums…”

“Eh! Really?!”

Perhaps because girls are usually more perceptive, seeing the character with bangs react this way, Aileen’s expression immediately changed dramatically, hurriedly dragging him down to kneel alongside her.

After all, they were just ordinary citizens; something that even the City Lord must kneel before could spell disaster if they weren’t careful.

“Commoner Aileen pays her respects to Her Majesty the Queen!!”

“Ah right… Commoner Cyril pays his respects to Her Majesty the Queen!!”

Seeing these two flustered and adopting the most humble posture they could think of while bowing to the identity document, even though it was a fabricated identity conjured in a flash, Vilyric couldn’t help but marvel… power is indeed too convenient before ordinary people.

Even that rebellious character with bangs had no choice but to bow before the symbol of a nation’s sovereign authority; it was a feeling distinctly different from being overawed by sheer strength.

It’s no wonder so many people strive and expend their efforts for the sake of becoming high-ranking officials; this contrast can truly satisfy one’s vanity.

Unfortunately for Vilyric, it meant nothing significant.

“Ahem, you may rise… no need for formalities. Since you understand that our actions are under Her Majesty’s directive, you must fully cooperate and eradicate this crime group lurking in the city’s shadows, understood?”

Since I had never done something like this before, Vilyric wasn’t sure how a real queen’s envoy would speak in a situation like this, but in any case, saying some pompous and formal words should make me sound confident… right?

“Yes! We will definitely cooperate fully with the royal envoy!”

Seeing the black-haired girl finally retract that ornate booklet, representing the king’s identity, the kneeling duo let out a sigh of relief, their expressions tense and complicated as they rose, looking at Vilyric and the others with noticeably different eyes.

That was an emotion named awe.

Perhaps this is the impact of the gap in status; for some reason, Vilyric suddenly recalled a phrase written by some scholar on Blue Star.

We are already separated by a lamentably thick barrier.

   

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