“What… do you mean?”

“What do you mean ‘what do I mean’? Are you really that hard? Obviously I’m referring to the old man and his group who are after you!”

“Wait, are you saying they want to kill me?!”

“No, not yet. But when they found out what you did to our little hero over there, THEN they’ll want to kill you.”

Hearing Charlotte's explanation, I was beginning to feel a good amount of trepidation and dread about the future once more. At the same time, I could see that Ailya was becoming slightly depressed. Probably thinking that it was her fault that the situation had become as it had.

Since Charlotte didn’t seem intent on keeping us apart any longer, I made my way over to Ailya as Charlotte allowed the barrier standing between us to disappear. Hugging the little elf, I reassured her that nothing was her fault as I turned to Charlotte and asked:

“But wait, can’t the two of us just change our appearance to fool him? He wasn’t able to notice Alice then.”

“What do you think is the reason that gave you two away?”

“What do you mean?”

“You changed your form and kept the SAME fucking name you idiot!”

“Eh? But…”

“But nothing. The reason they’ll find you out if they already haven’t is because you had to open your stupid mouth to a certain restaurant owner. Thanks to that, that certain restaurant owner let them know what your names and that you two had plans to visit the guild and needed to find a place to stay at. So what do you think will happen once they go looking for an Alex and Alice that are supposed to be a pair of sisters?”

“Uhh, they won’t find a pair of sisters?”

“Correct! They will find That Alex and Alice have in fact been making their way around town! But, unlike what they expected, Alex is no longer the short girl from before and Alice is now an elf! Yeah, doesn’t take a genius to piece the puzzle together from there.”

Thinking about what Charlotte said, it sounded to me like a whole lot of bullshit ended up giving me away. I mean seriously, just because I talked a little with the nice man at the restaurant and asked him for help, I had apparently laid the foundation led the foundation to my demise right then and there. Yeah that’s fucking bullshit! And here I thought that I had avoided any of this stupid shit by getting rid of any evidence that I killed those three boys, but apparently I also need to be on the lookout for every single person that I see. Can’t be telling them too much now, like my fucking name.

Thinking about when Ailya and I changed our forms as I was trying to remember what the hell I was thinking then, I remembered that it was Charlotte who suggested to us that we do so. Remembering this incongruity, I called out to her saying:

“Wait… you’re the one who told us to change our form but didn’t tell us to change our names.”

“Did you say something?”

“No…”

“Anyway, if they haven’t already, they’ll discover you’re identities by tomorrow. And then you’re done for.”

“Is the situation really that bad?”

“Oh yeah you’re fucked.”

“...”

At my silence, Charlotte simply shrugged her arms. However, remembering that she had offered to help us, I deeply hoped that she had a way out as I asked:

“But wait, can’t you do something about it? You said that you’d be willing to help us.”

“Maybe I can~ Maybe not~”

“Oh come on!”

“Fine fine. Yes, the situation is pretty bleak at the moment. Even if I wanted to get rid of them to cut the problem at the root, the truth is I’m not confident that I’ll be able to do so. Which means, the only option we have is to make sure that they don’t find out about what you did to Ailya.”

“What do you mean?”

“The thing is, your [Lord Subordination] is a rather unique thing. Unlike regular [Subordination], there are no visible signs that I could see that would tell me that you have subordinated Ailya. So, as long as we’re careful, no one needs to know that you have her under your control.”

“I see.”

“Also, one of the things we have going for us is that they seem to think that you’re either meant to be one of the companions of the heroes, or the other hero itself.”

“I see… Wait? How do you know all of this?”

“Oh, I trailed them earlier today.”

“And they didn’t notice? The second I used [Veritas] to look at the old man, he immediately turned to face me as if he had sensed what I was doing.”

“That’s thanks to one of my abilities, so don’t worry about it too much. Just know that I could be anywhere and you wouldn’t even know.”

“Can’t you just kill them by using that ability of yours?”

“Unless I know how many of them there are, and take them all out at the same time, it’d be foolish for me to do so. I might be able to take out a few of them without getting discovered, but if so much as one of them is able to discover me then I’m done for. After all, while I can almost perfectly hide myself, it’s not impossible to get clues of my presence. Once they know I’m nearby, there’s quite a few ways to put a marker on me. And even if I manage to take them out without any of them figuring out what happened, it’s always possible that other members of the group will have a way to gather some sort of evidence, since devices that can alert others when a member is in trouble exist. So unless I’m completely certain that taking them out will have no repercussions, don’t count on me to deal with them for you.”

“I see… sounds complicated…”

“It is. That’s why this situation is quite shitty. However, that’s all the reason as to why that misconception of theirs is so important for us. Because we can use their assumption as a ticket out of this mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Really?”

“Yes. For some reason, you seem to exhibit some of the same characteristics that the two heroes do. Those being, that you have gained a sudden powerful ability, and that you are given a new skill and ability every time you level up. So long as we don’t meet anyone who can read a person’s fate, we shouldn’t have too much difficulty pulling this off if these two things about you are leaked.”

“Wouldn’t they notice immediately the distortion surrounding me?”

“The thing is, I’ve never heard of someone who can actually SEE fate. In fact, there are only a handful of people who can accurately read a person’s fate, and that’s all done through direct contact, or by employing the aid of a special magic formation. That’s why, so long as we can avoid them, I should be able to fool the kingdom into thinking that the two of you are the destined heroes. Once the kingdom confirms it, even they should fully believe our lie.”

“But, wouldn’t they see through my fate when they try to read it?”

“…You bloody idiot. Hey, exactly how powerful is Ailya’s transformation ability?”

“AH!”

Remembering Ailya’s tier 10 [Doppelganger], I finally understood what Charlotte’s was implying.

“She should be able to perfectly mimic anyone. Down to their soul and mana signatures. She’ll even have their same skills and abilities, so long as she a higher level than them that is.”

Hearing my explanation, Charlotte let out a chuckle as she answered:

“Fucking hell, she’s got quite the fearsome ability. Then leave confirming that the two of you are the children of destiny to me. If I use Ailya’s ability, I could definitely fool the elders back in the palace into thinking that you are also one of the heroes.”

“Wait, why don’t we try to trick the old man’s group with your idea.”

Taking a deep breath through her nose, Charlotte looked at me with an expression of disappointment, and for some reason acceptance about something as she said:

“You’re not very bright, are you?”

“...”

Although I could feel Ailya getting annoyed at Charlotte’s demeaning remark towards me, I sent her a message to keep quiet so as not to aggravate her and make the situation worse.

“It’s alright, you have me here to think for you. Listen, the group that’s chasing you isn’t as simple a group as you think.”

Then, putting on a solemn expression that let me know that the next words were important, Charlotte looked deep into my eyes as she pointed at Ailya and said:

“The group following you, is the legendary Order of the Grey Heron. And that girl’s mother and father are part of it. Or well, her mother was anyway. The point is, that order was built from the remnants of the old heroes party. No one knows how many members there are exactly, or even who the members are, but there is one person who everyone knows is part of that group. And that’s that girls father.”

Then taking a small pause in order to emphasize her next words, Charlotte continued saying:

“Ailya’s father, Alfred Rondestar, is the strongest man in the world, and the only person confirmed to be over level 500. So if you’re thinking about fooling them, don’t. I don’t know how many people they have in their group, and what their abilities are, but it’s not too far fetched to assume that they’ll have a way to see through our little lie if they so much as get their hands on Ailya or you.”

Hearing Charlotte’s words, both Ailya and I were left stunned at this revelation. After all, what were the chances that the sweet girl who I had subordinated was the daughter of an even greater monster than the mage before me? And thinking back to when Ailya asked me if I knew of her father, I now understood that telling Ailya to look for her father with the powerful fate she had, might not have been such bad advice from the person who left her behind on that day…