Chapter 41: Before the Masquerade

"I'll be in your hands."

The membrane covered woman curtsied to me.

The two of us stood atop a rooftop far from her previous place of standing.

I had isolated her from her group as a way to keep unknown variables away.

'But I'm starting to regret showing off.'

Her mana unsettling curled and drooped like a toxic gruel. The colours kept shifting, making it hard on my eyes.

Despite this, I could still see the smirking caucasian behind that fiery red mane. 

I think it was safe to say I was incredibly disturbed.

'It's the woman from the midterms. Seeing her again so soon… You can't expect me to believe it's a coincidence can you?'

I adjusted my mask to make sure it was still on tight, pushing some mana into [Encryption] to make sure my mask stays materialised.

'So why is she here? Obviously for the masquerade, but other than her disguise ability, I don't know much. She could be the one behind this, or she could be in the same boat as me.'

My choice to Encrypt the mask's memory instead of physical form, meant it would disappear the moment I ran out of mana.

'Either way, it wouldn't be too big of a problem if she found me out.'

"Hmm. Your little game earlier was quite rude, don't you think? Although I don't mind a quick test, I do quite dislike being underestimated, Ms Anders."

I spoke in a polite yet slightly arrogant tone, my goal was to create a character separate to my own.

'Whether or not I was convincing would be another story. Especially in front of someone skilled in disguise.'

'Alright, from now on, I'm Uso. An experienced hunter who's blunt but polite. That's the mindset and appearance I'll take from here on out.'

"Oh, don't be so sensitive. I just wanted to make sure my partner was up to standard."

Jain joked as I rolled my eyes.

"Although I don't believe you to be qualified for such an assessment, I'll let it slide." I snapped my fingers and cast a silence spell around us.

"I'd like to hear the details on the mission now."

…

The mission according to 'Pearl Anders' was as follows.

Protect the Masquerade.Make sure any disturbances are captured, not killed.Pretend to be a regular attendee.

Now, I may not be very experienced in this sort of thing, but I'm pretty sure when your partner doesn't bring up the one thing your own employer specifically said to protect, it raises some red flags.

And, normally as Minori, I would've ignored it and moved along while playing it by ear.

But right now, I'm Uso which means-

"What about Homer's ring? Didn't Monument tell you that everything else is second to that?"

Pointing it out would suit my persona, it's also easier to be a bit blunt.

Her face beneath the membrane made subtle twitches, so I ignored them.

"Ahh~, of course, of course, don't you worry about that, I'll take care of that side of things."

The two of us had now begun preparing for the masquerade, Pearl Anders already having informed her lackeys of my presence.

I noted that one or two were still trailing us. It seems they didn't trust us much, but that's to be expected.

'The Masquerade is a place where a lot of important people will be gathering tonight. The purpose of this event is to show off the wealth to other nobles, and since it's an event from the Morgans it probably has something to do with their election coming up in September. Which means it's quite an important Masquerade… which is why it's a bit strange that they're hiring outsiders. Sure I may have worked with them in the past but is it really a good bet?'

'They could either be in a bad situation… or something is happening behind the scenes that requires most of the staff to have eyes on a distraction.'

"Hey, are you really going to attend the masquerade in that?" A slightly mocking voice spoke from beside me.

I had worn a black high collar shirt with a long trench coat over it along with a pair of black jeans. I thought it was pretty professional but my compatriot seemed to disagree.

Looking at the red haired lady's smirk I almost spat out a snarky retort, but I reigned myself in and spoke calmly.

"Yes. I believe it's enough for the occasion."

"Pfft- I mean- Ahem, alright boy, let's head to the tailor and fix you something nice before we get to work."

The pulled a fan out of god knows where and held in to her mouth, smiling slyly beneath it.

My eyes twitched slightly in annoyance at her clear mockery but I just rolled my eyes.

Just as I was about to reply, the woman hooked her arm around mine, her soft skin rubbing against my jacket. I could feel the slight shifts in mana and the milky texture of it even through the barrier of cloth.

A slightly sweet scent entered my nose that made my stomach twist slightly. I recognised it as a rudimentary charm spell.

When I looked down at her through the mask the expression beneath her membrane flinched but her outside remained unmoving.

My eyes beneath the mask were calm but a slightly strained voice came out.

"...Fine, just get off me." 

…

Ding-a-Ling—

Two figures walked out of a tailor shop, their outfits rather clashing yet still harmonious in a strange, surreal way.

The one with blazing red hair and a flowing red dress was none other than Pearl Anders.

"See? Much better than what you were wearing before."

She chided with a slithering voice.

"I look like a yakuza…"

An airy and polite tone spoke from behind an ominous dog mask. Now sporting a black suit with a menacing air. 

This was Uso.

"Well it suits you more than that civilian outfit!" The lady pouted before slapping the man's shoulder.

Uso took a visible step at the force of the slap but made no sound. He then straightened up and adjusted his new clothes.

"It's getting close to the time of the masquerade. We should get a move on."

'I might go bankrupt if I buy anything else.'

Uso thought with a small frown behind his mask.

That's right, after trying on and finding the best suit for him, Ms Anders made the boy pay for his own outfit. And due to having to stay in character, Uso complied, his bank account looking rather scarce.

"Hmm~ you're no fun at all. But fine, I suppose we can make our way to the masquerade."

Uso clicked his fingers to cast another silence spell as the two turned in the direction of the mansion they would be protecting. It was quite a while away and due to it being a weekend, there were lots of people about.

Despite this, the fact was that not many people turned their heads to look at the duo.

A fact Ms Anders decided to comment on.

"Seems like you can make people ignore us? That's quite an interesting spell~. But it seems like I can only pick up on the silence aspect of it though… how does it work?"

The question was half out of genuine curiosity and half a way to sound Uso out a bit. He was after all a candidate she had taken a liking to.

"It's just a simple silence spell though."

Uso lied without caring if Ms Anders would notice or not.

After all, what would she do? 

Kill him?

'Not when there are so many people around at least.'

"Meanie." 

The woman hadn't expected an answer but she still acted disappointed.

"Hmmm~ whatever~ let's just g-"

With a cut of her words her act disappeared, the expression beneath her membrane matched her outwards one for once and she latched onto Uso, dragging him along the street with a sudden increase in speed.

"-Actually I saw a really cute dog just over there! Can we pet it."

 "Hm? Wow-hey, chi- I mean, hold on a second."

Uso was almost shocked out of his persona at the quick change and the sudden steel grip on his wrist.

He was only allowed a second to feel the flicker of overwhelming mana as they left.

But it was enough for him to recognise the person and quickly speed up too.

'What the heck is she doing here!'

The person in question was a shade wearing Yun Seung-Ah, who had looked in their direction suspiciously for a moment, her intuition buzzing slightly.

She looked at the retreating figures with sharp eyes, the cogs in her mind turning but-

"Hey."

"Huak!" 

-A certain korean gunner had other plans.

…

Once we made it far enough, I looked at the red haired woman who was panting and slightly shuddering.

She seemed out of breath and slightly afraid.

But I wasn't exactly amused, as the caucasian beneath that skin was smiling with mania.

We had decided to stop off in an alleyway, away from prying eyes, somehow having lost the following henchmen along the way.

Funnily enough, we had made it close to the mansion after the hour we wasted in the tailor.

"Ahh~ I can't believe such a strong hero was here! I wonder why she's here?" The woman complained, looking genuinely distraught.

It was such a good act, I almost believed it was acting visibly affected in two separate ways as though to check if I could see beneath the membrane. Too bad my intuition was blaring.

'This woman, she couldn't care less about Yun Seung-Ah…her real goal was to isolate me so she could act out of character to probe me.'

"..." I remained quiet for a moment as I let some strings fall out from my body, sweeping and grasping in wide arches before receding in a flash.

I looked beneath Pearl Anders' skin and saw the caucasian woman tracing the lines with her eyes. But despite this, she wasn't surprised, unlike 'that boy'.

My eyes flickered into a slight gray as I encrypted her appearance. Both membrane and without.

'Having some dirt on her in the future could come in handy if she's in contact with 'that boy'.'

Without further adieu I took a step forward and spoke in a polite yet arrogant tone.

"Ms Anders, drop the act already. Your unprofessionalism is atrocious." 

The lady pouted but followed along without so much of a word.