Chapter 55
“Ah….”
“Please don’t be so tense. I only asked out of sheer curiosity. If you just answer me, I’ll accept it and let it go.”
‘Aren’t those words and that attitude completely at odds?’
Unlike those mild words, a murderous, intangible aura emanating from Amugae pressed down on my body.
Even I, a perfectly ordinary person, could feel that aura, so there was no way Ruby had missed it.
“Do you want to die?”
Ruby immediately drew her dagger and held it to Amugae’s neck, but he didn’t even blink.
“…My lady?”
To make matters worse, even Heter, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, spoke up.
‘I’m screwed.’
If Heter saw this scene, I’d bet the snack money I’d brought that he would swing a sword first, without question.
Damn… if only the protagonists in the original novel hadn’t mentioned it so casually!
Besides, if I’m being honest… wasn’t this Pungmulnori’s fault for having its existence revealed in the original novel?
If it was a secret organization, it shouldn’t have been exposed in the original novel in the first place!
The ones whose identities had been exposed in the novel were to blame. That was that.
Enough escaping reality. Now I really had to think of a way out of this situation.
“Are you really not going to tell me?”
“The instant you move even a hair, I’ll kill you.”
…As soon as possible.
‘Think… think, Alice!’
In that split second, I recalled countless novels I had read in my previous life and soon found an answer.
“When I was young, a friend of my father’s who visited our territory told me.”
“…Hmm?”
“He even drew me a picture of them wearing masks like these, and that made it stick clearly in my memory. That’s why I asked you.”
“….”
“Judging by your reaction, it seems you know about that group too. But their masks really are unusual, aren’t they?”
This was one of the standard tricks in regression, possession, and reincarnation stories: inventing a fictional person.
It was a common excuse used by web novel protagonists when revealing secrets or information about the future.
And it seemed to work on Amugae as well.
“Hmm….”
He let out a meaningful groan, and the oppressive force bearing down on me began to weaken.
“Did someone like that really come to your territory?”
‘Ruby, read the room.’
Fortunately, Amugae didn’t seem to pay attention to Ruby’s question.
Now it was time to drive in the final nail.
“So I thought he was making it up, but judging by your reaction, I suppose there really is such an organization?”
“Ahem….”
Amugae gave an awkward cough.
Right. He could have quietly let it pass, but he had reacted so sensitively that he’d given away Pungmulnori’s existence. Of course he was troubled.
In any case, it seemed we had gotten past the biggest crisis.
‘Amugae must be affiliated with Pungmulnori, right?’
Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to react that way, nor would it explain the intimidation he had shown moments earlier.
“My lady.”
Just as I was wondering whether I should search Amugae’s belongings, Heter’s voice came again.
Come to think of it, I still hadn’t explained what had just happened to Heter.
“Ah, Heter! You see, the thing is—”
“No, I heard it, too. It’s just that—”
Just as I was about to explain, Heter cut me off.
“It seems we’ll be reaching the checkpoint soon.”
“Oh, really?”
I thought it would take at least half a day longer. That worked out perfectly. They would search our belongings at the checkpoint anyway.
“Halt!”
Before long, the gatekeeper stopped the golem and approached the carriage.
“Could you tell me your name, place of origin, and purpose for visiting?”
“I’m Alice Fortune, from Fortune in the North. I’ve come at the invitation of Egmund of Rudyard Boutique.”
I handed the gatekeeper the certificate I had prepared in advance and the letter I had received from Egmund.
“Hmm… I’ve confirmed it. I’ll only need to inspect the luggage in the carriage.”
“Huh?”
The gatekeeper’s reaction was strange.
The companions listed on the certificate were only Heter and Ruby.
Then shouldn’t he have asked about Amugae? Was he really going to let it go?
“What about him? Are you just going to let him pass?”
“Him? Is there someone else in the carriage?”
“The one sitting beside Ruby right now… huh?”
“What is it?”
When I turned to Ruby, a straw doll sat beside her instead of Amugae.
“Ruby… where did Amugae go?”
“Where is he? Why, right beside me… Eek? What’s this?!”
Ruby jumped when she saw the doll beside her.
It seemed we had been thoroughly outwitted by him.
***
After giving the gatekeeper an account of Amugae, who had found our reaction strange, we were finally able to enter the capital.
“Phew, I can hardly believe it. A person suddenly turning into a straw doll….”
“He must have been a Daoist.”
If he had been a ninja, it would have been a log rather than a straw doll.
Anyway, setting that aside, we first stopped by Egmund’s boutique as originally planned, but—
“Welcome!”
“Wow….”
Pleos Street, famous throughout the capital for its expensive land.
Among them was an especially lavish three-story building with an extravagant exterior.
The sign on the building read:
『Rudyard Boutique』
“You were richer than I thought.”
I had expected him to be wealthy since his boutique catered to nobles, but I hadn’t imagined it was this impressive.
“Hahaha, thank you for the compliment. Our staff will take care of the golem, so please come inside.”
When we followed him into the boutique, the employees’ eyes focused on us.
“Boss, is this her?”
“Yes, she’s the Lady of Fortune who’ll be modeling for this advertisement.”
“Wow….”
“Erasmus, my goodness.”
The employees who had exclaimed in admiration soon approached us with shining eyes.
“You’re absolutely beautiful!”
“When the boss said you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen, I thought he was exaggerating, but wow….”
“Look at that fair skin. Is the secret to it the soap?”
“Boss, boss! Is this gentleman a model too? I need to know!”
‘Oh, boy….’
The chatter around me drained all my energy.
“That’s enough! Can’t you see the Lady of Fortune is tired?! Everyone, get back to your places and get to work!”
“Boo.”
“Tyrant boss!”
“So is that gentleman a model or not?! Please, just answer me—Aaaagh….”
When Egmund clapped, the employees backed off, and we followed him upstairs to the second floor.
“I apologize for my employees’ rudeness. They’re simply very fond of beautiful things.”
“Well, it’s fine. I’m used to people taking an interest in me. But… where are we going now?”
I had only intended to let him know I’d arrived in the capital, but Egmund had suddenly told me to follow him.
“Ah, the person who’ll be photographed with you is on the second floor, so I thought you might at least say hello.”
“Wait, there’s another model being photographed with me?”
This was the first I’d heard of there being another model besides me.
“More precisely, it’s someone who’ll be photographed on the same day as you. The magic tool for photography is expensive to rent, so whenever we rent it, we need to photograph as many models as possible.”
“Ah, I see.”
After all, even renting a magic tool costs a lot.
“But if that’s all, do I really need to meet them?”
If that was all there was to it, it seemed unlikely that we would have much chance of seeing each other on the day of the shoot, either.
“Hahaha, that person introduced themself as a noble from the Eastern Continent… You never know, do you? If you become friends, it might benefit you somehow.”
He turned his head slightly and winked at me.
“…In that case.”
After hearing Egmund out, I reluctantly nodded.
It wasn’t so much the chance to form a connection with someone from the Eastern Continent as my appreciation for Egmund’s thoughtfulness in arranging this for my sake.
I figured becoming friends would be difficult, so I decided to make some small talk and leave.
Crash!
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, a clamor erupted somewhere.
“Will you let go of me this instant?!”
Then came a woman’s soft, melodious voice.
At the sound, Egmund’s face turned pale.
“I-Is that Lady Eunha’s voice?”
It was obvious that something had happened to the person who would be modeling on the same day as me.
“Heter.”
“Yes. Ruby, take care of the Lady of Fortune.”
“Yes, leave her to me.”
Heter followed Egmund’s directions to Eunha’s waiting room.
“How dare you lay a hand on the crown princess! Do you truly wish to be beaten within an inch of your life?!”
“What crown princess could leave the palace to become a model for a foreign country?”
The closer we got to the waiting room, the more clearly their conversation reached us.
‘Hmm?’
That voice sounded familiar.
Bang!
“!”
When Heter kicked open the waiting-room door, we saw an Eastern beauty wearing a rofan-style dress and a thug wearing a mask resembling a yangban mask while gripping the woman’s arm.
“Mr. Egmund! Please help!”
A woman reached a hand toward us. But she wasn’t the important one right now.
“Amugae?”
So this was why he had reacted so sensitively when I mentioned Pungmulnori, and why he had suddenly vanished at the checkpoint!
“…I am not someone named Amugae.”
No matter how I looked at it, you were obviously Amugae, you crazy bastard.