Ore wa Mada, Honki o Dashite Inai - CH 67

Unable to Compete with Aniki

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

“So with that, why don’t we start with our debut fight first”

After our small meeting, Emilios suddenly said something like that.

“Debut fight?”

“Indeed. We’ll attack, rob, and scatter bad guys from all over the place to make a name for ourselves. It’s that kind of debut fight”

“We’re already doing it huh”

“Kukekeke, aren’t we the King’s herald. We’ll do it alone first, while we’re still unknown.”

“Ah”

I see, is that so.

Well, His Majesty the King is the king of a country, and he has a lot to do.

Or rather, it’s better for him not to be here.

Since it’s easier…… to fake a lot of things if he isn’t here.

“I understand that we’ll be making our debut. But have you decided where to go? If you haven’t decided, then ――”

I thought I’d leave this place for a while and do some prep work to cheat on things.

“……It’s here”

Murato, who seems to have a taciturn personality, quietly held out a sheet of paper.

“Looks like you have removed obstacles in the way of my objective, huh……”

“Eh? Did you say something?”

Sophia = Dinos looked into my face curiously.

“No, it’s nothing. More importantly, where are we going?”

“……It’s Homeros.”

“Homeros?”

“The vampire huh”

Emilios makes a face of I see. He smirked, and the wound on his other side twitched.

“You’ll have to explain it to me in plain language”

“Vista Homer. He’s a member of a famous merchant family, but in person, he’s just a moneylender.”

“They make terrible malicious loans and collection, and once prey is caught in their net, they mercilessly sucked them up to the bones. That’s how they got the name 『Vampire』.”

“He’s quite the scoundrel.”

“Kukekekeke, we’re aiming for them, so we’re on the side of justice, hmm?”

“That’s the facet”

“……that doesn’t suit me.”

The four people, other than me, who seemed to know each other from the beginning, laughed happily.

“A’re? What’s the matter, you have a difficult look on your face.”

Dinos noticed my state.

“Ah, I’m fine for attacking, but I was just wondering how to disguise myself.”

“I see, you aren’t the same as the king, but you’re also a nobleman.”

“Ah. That’s why it would be bad if my face gets identified.”

“Then I’ll give you a disguise.”

I already know that he is a man inside, or rather, formerly, but Dinos suggested such a thing in a woman’s language, just as he looks.

It fits the purpose with what I’ve seen, though.

“Can you do makeup?”

“I’ve been in a woman’s body for a long time. Come now, sit down, sit down.”

☆

“…… Is this me?”

I looked into the mirror and was honestly impressed.

The makeup applied by Dinos was in the realm of disguise.

The reflection in the mirror was an old man.

The skin on the eyelid is loose and droopy, and the eyes are extremely narrow.

Each wrinkle is very natural, and the tip of my hair remains black, but by dyeing only the roots in white, it creates the impression that the white hair is dyed.

And there’s a large scorpion tattoo on my face.

“How about that”

“Well…… this is amazing”

“Fufun, I know right. Well, this is a two-step process.”

“Two-steps?”

“That tattoo really stands out, doesn’t it? Anyone who sees you will remember you as 『the guy with the scorpion tattoo』, so if I do it a few times and then just put in a scorpion tattoo while you’re young, it gives you a certain mystique.”

“You’re thinking that far, huh”

“How about it”

“It’s the best”

I praised from the bottom of my heart.

It’s a makeup that will keep anyone from finding out that it’s me.

More strictly speaking, it is a make-up to avoid being found out and saying, “Hermes is a great guy as expected”.

With this look, in case I accidentally do something, the great thing is that I am “the guy with the scorpion tattoo”.

“I was actually going to make this to the King. But the King told me to give it to you.”

“Kukekekeke, that’s quite it, isn’t it. What would you do with a make-up that stands out to the king. We’re the ones who needs to stand out, while the King wears plain makeup.”

“……I was careless”

“Well, I can understand why he would be so enthusiastic about showing off his makeup skills when the King asked him to do so.”

The four old acquaintances were getting excited again.

I was by myself, staring in the mirror.

Yeah, this is it.

Even if it is nee-san, even if we are close enough to look at each other.

It was such a great disguise that I would never be discovered.

☆

At that evening

On a moonless new moon night, I, along with the four of them, snuck into the mansion of the 『Vampire』 Vista Homers, whom they had investigated.

The guy’s mansion in the Royal Capital is part of a vast estate, and we climbed over the fence to enter his property.

I went through the garden and stuck to the wall of the mansion, killing the sound of my footsteps and any sign of my presence.

“Muh?”

“What’s up, Scorpion?”

Emilios called me by my pseudonym, “Scorpion,” in a stifled voice.

I replied in a voice disguised as an old man’s.

“No, this guy is a notoriously vicious moneylender, right”

“Ah, that’s right”

“Then, why is it easy for us to get in”

“Certainly, it’s kind of strange”

“……Be on guard”

The five of us nodded to each other.

Thank goodness we’re not the kind of people here who flag things up with lines like “it’s all in your mind” or something like that. (TN: This is kinda funny)

We stay alert and go further.

Our aim is to go to Vista’s study and bedroom.

The key to the mansion’s safe is in the possession of Vista himself, so the plan is to catch him and get him to open it first.

Following the floor plan of the mansion that Murato had obtained in advance, we went around the outside of the mansion, heading first for the window closest to the study.

“Stop! Who are you!”

I saw a man holding a torch in front of me.

Kuh! Did they found out―― as I was thinking so.

“Gueh!”

The man made a sound like a squashed frog and collapsed into a heap.

My distance from the man is almost 10 meters, and none of the five over here have moved.

What’s this about ……?

“Who are you”

“Eh?”

I couldn’t help but let out a plain voice.

The voice that said “who are you?” sounded familiar to me.

I stare into his eyes, catching the torch of the knocked-down man and shining it at his direction――.

“Kyorus!”

“You know him, Scorpion.”

“Yeah, he’s the deputy commander of the Phantom Troupe.”

“What!”

The four people on this side of the room were startled by my words and turned to Kyorus at once.

“They’re suddenly in the game.”

“……Fate”

“Kukekeke, it would have been fun to have the King.”

“It looks like it’s all hands on deck on that side.”

Dinos points out.

Behind the torch, faint figures can be seen.

Apparently, the other members of the Phantom Troupe are also coming.

“…………who are you?”

“Escorpion. We are in the same trade as you.” (TN: Apparently, it is both their name and Hermes’ pseudonym)

Emilios replied.

“Chivalry thieves huh”

“Righteous bandit”

“I see, that’s why you aimed this place”

“That’s how it is”

Kyorus and Emilios nod to each other.

“Now that you know that, what are you going to do about it, Phantom-san?”

“……”

Kyorus was silent and looked at us.

What is it? It’s not at us…… he was staring at me.

“Hey, isn’t he staring at you, Scorpion?”

Dinos said, and I nodded.

Apparently, there was no such thing as a misunderstanding.

When I wondered what was going on, Kyorus looked at me.

“Scorpion, you say. I don’t know why you’re pretending to be an old man.”

“Eh?”

“Scorpion, voice, voice.”

“……Hah”

Oh, shit!

I was too surprised by the appearance of Kyorus that I return to my true voice.

I had done it ―― I thought so, but soon after, I realized that I had made a bigger mistake.

“That appearance, makes you not a simple person. We probably couldn’t compete with you unless it was our Aniki.”

“Uh……”

I’m exposed, I’m completely exposed to Kyorus.

They know it’s me, too.

……That’s right.

It’s a moonless night, so he’s judging more by the information in my voice rather than my appearance.

When I became startled and made a plain voice, I may have been exposed.

“Aniki isn’t here, so I’ll give you this place.”

With that, Kyorus left without a sound, accompanied by the other members of the phantom troupe.

It was a very quick cleanup, as if no one had been there in the first place.

Good, now we can peacefully――

“You, aren’t you awesome”

“Hou gyagyagyagyagya, does it mean that your presence alone could overwhelm that phantom troupe?”

“……As expected”

“Nice work, Scorpion.”

The four of them praised me verbally.

The other party is the Phantom troupe, whom we see as the rival of the Guardian Chivalrous Thieves army.

My stock, has skyrocketed again.