Rick the Liar (1)

An unkempt, off-white man walks calmly down a hallway he's been walking down for the past 20 years.

A man with gray hair and lavender eyes that looked exactly like Nox's. He was Garen, Nox's oldest brother, who had now come to disagree with his father.

'…Hmm. This aura… means someone with talent is nearby, two of them.'

Garen was walking through the hallway. He felt his own power manifest, one he'd inherited from Theo: the ability to shape the talents of others.

Intuitively, he knew that there were several hands in this manor that would be quite favorable to him, so he began to make his way to where he felt the reaction.

He arrived at the dining room where the maids were gathered.

"Hey, you."

Garen called out to one of them, a girl with special qualities.

She was a green-haired, porcelain-skinned girl who looked barely older than his youngest sister. She turned her head and replied.

"Yes. What can I do for you?"

"I am Garen, the first of my clan. Who are you? I don't recognize you."

"I'm Zitri, Young Master Nox's personal maid."

"Hmm… the youngest maid."

Garen smirked. His useless little brother had a maid of this caliber. It was ridiculous. Resources unnecessary for a scumbag who couldn't even recognize talent.

He crossed his arms.

"Serve me instead of Nox, and I'll pay you three times what he pays you, and you can start working for me tomorrow. ...."

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline."

"...?"

Garen showed a rare sign of bewilderment at this completely unexpected turn of events. The emotion on his face was clear.

His brow furrowed.

"Why? I value talent, and you have it, and Nox doesn't have the power to help you."

He himself would one day ascend to the head of the Rinehafer family.

How could she refuse his offer?

He deliberately belittled his younger brother, as if to show her how wrong the previous maid had been in her judgment.

I deliberately put down my youngest brother and said it with the intention of telling him how wrong the previous maid's judgment had been. Once again, it was the same reply.

"You'll ... regret it."

Ignoring the heat rising in his face, Garen set off in search of the source of his financial resources, this time on the other side.

His destination was Elena's small workshop. It was a space Nox had created for her in the past, filled with all sorts of expensive medicinal ingredients to help her fulfill her talent.

There, too, Garen spoke boldly.

"I am Garen, the next Lord of House Reinhafer. Follow me."

Garen thought that this time he would be successful in his offer.

However, he was once again taken aback by the response.

"Uhm… but I've already agreed to marry Young Master Knox, I'm sorry!"

"...."

Garen eventually had to leave, having scouted neither Stormbringer nor two talents.

No one saw him off as he left the manor.

Not even his own father.

Garen muttered under his breath as he stepped outside.

"I gave you one last chance. Father."

* * *

"Are you all right, Young Master, your dark circles have set in quite deeply lately. Do you want me to call a professional masseuse?"

"No. That's not what this is about. Dammit…."

"You didn't get into any accidents while I was gone, did you…?"

Even Zitri, who has returned, is starting to suspect me.

I'm sure I've done some things wrong.

But not this.

Why am I the one who has a stalker?

It's been less frequent lately, but I don't think he's given up yet. Lars, you crazy asshole. What the hell is wrong with you?

Anyway, I couldn't be bothered to elaborate, so I quickly changed the subject.

Because this wasn't the only problem I had right now.

"So. You said the eldest brother came back to the family?"

"…Yes. He left shortly afterward, but... seemed to be a bit of an oddball, and Lord Theo didn't even go out of his way to see him off."

Theo is quite fond of his son.

I thought it was strange that he didn't see off the firstborn, who was supposed to take over the family name.

Something must have caused a rift between them.

'It's hard to tell because there's very little conflict between them in the first part of the story, but... something is going on.'

I thought calmly.

Garen, why on earth was he meeting the Patriarch at this point?

At the very least, he's not an ally, and certainly not one of the villains.

One of House Reinhafer's greatest talents.

He's a danger to me as well.

Many times more dangerous than Theo, who is staking his claim on me anyway. It's best to wait and see what happens here.

Just as I was forming my own judgment, Zitri spoke up.

"...Ah, yes. Speaking of which, Young Master Garen has a suggestion for me."

"A suggestion?"

"Yes."

I had a vague idea, but I asked anyway.

"And what was it?"

"He asked me to become his maid, and he said he would raise my salary."

"...How much?"

"Three times."

That's a lot of pestering.

I've been doing a lot of things that cost money lately, and it's been bugging me.

Fucking family business.

I crossed my arms and blurted out.

"If it's a salary, I'll match it, so don't worry about it and focus on your work...."

"Phew. Oh, sorry."

(puheub)

What is this mockery?

"No way… have you already decided to join Garen?"

Naturally, I don't want to lose Zitri.

After all, I spent a lot of money on this unit. Even if it had the trait of [Single-mindedness], it would have caused me a lot of trouble as the game became a reality.

It's the first unit that truly stood by my side, so I want to protect it no matter what....

"If that's the case, tell me your terms. I'll make it work."

I said it in a way that didn't sound like an asshole, but Zitri puffed and laughed again.

…What's with the mocking attitude?

What's up with this girl who usually just reports the situation with a cold expression?

Does she really want to follow Garen that badly?

'I can't…!'

My stomach was in a lurch, but Zitri's expression softened.

"No matter what you're imagining, I'm not following Garen-nim, and my salary is more than enough as it is."

"Then why did you laugh ...?"

"I can't tell you."

Zitri said, giving me another determined look.

But I was just as insistent.

"It's a command."

"I laughed because ...I just remembered something funny."

"Don't lie."

"...."

Finally, Zitri didn't open her mouth.

It's not a big deal, so we'll leave it alone, but it's kind of creepy.

What the hell was Zitri laughing about?

By the way, Garen, you better watch out for this asshole.

How dare he think to steal my precious recruit?

"If you get caught (after I become stronger), I will never let you off the hook."

* * *

"Be my pupil."

"That's the hundredth time you've said that to me, please stop beating yourself up."

The next day, I'm walking down the hallway, still shaking off Lars' persistence.

I've said it before, but I don't think there's any particular reason for Professor Rath's obsession. I honestly don't see any reason to gloat over controlling a demon the size of an imp.

In the first place, Inner Lunatic is all about exterminating demons. Naturally, there are a lot of demons.

It's basically a world that borrows its setting from Solomon's 72 Demons.

As a result, there are a lot of high-level demons that are humanoid, beastly, or otherwise not even comparable to imps.

Take, for example, the demons that will be possessing Nox's body.

Baal.

The highest of the Archdukes, the number one demon in the hierarchy.

He'll be the bane of your existence, and the final villain of Part 1.

'The demon Baal approached the weak Nox, who was abandoned by his family, and stole his body. His power is such that even with 3 Swordsmen and 4 Sages all working together, he is difficult to defeat. In the end, we have no choice but to grow our units and wage anti-demonic warfare. We can't just file papers under anyone.'

It was a good choice to turn down Lars' offer. But contrary to his expectations, the rumors were still spreading.

-What… him. That's him, isn't it? The one who turned down the chance to be Professor Lars' pupil? How could he do such a thing? Isn't that a chance to get noticed by the Emperor once and for all?

-Even if he's an asshole….

-I can't believe he'd be intimidated by an imp in the first place. -Is that even possible?

-I'm sure they're all lying.

-No way.

-He's kind of an asshole. I'm not just talking about the family name, am I?

I cover my face with one hand in disbelief and start laughing in the hallway.

"Hahaha…."

-What's wrong with him…? He's handsome, but he's scary like that....

-Dude, don't make eye contact! Nox von Reinhafer… They say he's got the blood of an incubus, and a lot of girls have already fallen for it!

-Is that true…? That's why the imps are so afraid of him...!

-There are dozens of victims already…!

-That's true… I caught a glimpse of him the other day… He was pretty good-looking for a pretender....

The rumor mill was running wild.

It's what it is.

'Shit. I don't know. I will go my own way.'

As make my way down the hall to the next lecture. With a strange sense of loneliness and an inexplicable sense of being followed.

"Nox-gun… somehow I'm going to make you my assistant...!"

I try to ignore the voice that is now trying to be friendly.

* * *

At the Eldain Academy, the required courses for new students were five in total.

[History of the Ackheim Empire] / [Horsemanship] / [Etiquette and Chivalry in Academy Life] / [Basic Physical Training] / [Basic Imperial Magic]. They may be boring, but they're important.

This is especially true of Basic Physical Fitness.

Physique is a stat that's hard to build up later in life if you don't do it early on, so I'm doing my best to take the classes.

If it's pull-ups, it's a bit of an illusion.

"Inhale… Huh… Huh…!"

"Hmm… Your physical strength isn't bad, but it's not up to the monstrous level of the prestigious knight families, and your talent isn't that prodigious."

The instructor in charge of [Basic Physical Training] looked at me and said that.

I don't even remember his full name, but he had a long mustache and wore his hair slicked back over his forehead.

His trademark round glasses were quite striking.

"Is that so?"

I asked, trying to sound unsure.

He must be too, because right now my stats aren't objectively that bad; they're near the top of the list.

Later, due to the effects of the Time Limit trait, I won't be able to raise them above 15, but few people can figure that out.

The professor in front of me seems to be different.

The man who introduced himself as Hans crossed his arms and prodded my muscles.

"You're well-muscled and balanced, but for some reason… I think there's a definite limit to your growth."

'He might have a surprisingly good eye.'

I raised my personal assessment of Hans a bit.

I was worried about him being an extra, but apparently a professor at Eldain isn't just anybody. He realized at once that I was in trouble.

I'm not sure how he'll react when he realizes it's a time limit.

Would they look at me with a blank stare?

Or will they think I've been given a fitting punishment for the scum of the earth?

In any case, I don't know at this point.

-That crazy bastard… Doesn't that mean his moniker of 'Ashen Eagle' isn't for nothing? What kind of stamina does he have?

-Talia von Steiner is no joke! How did she get that body? We're only fifteen!

There's a murmur of voices.

Praise for the strongest units.

Hagiya, I can understand their reaction. Even if fifteen is an adult here, the body is still growing. Their bodies are not yet complete.

Not even physically.

That's why the ones who are looking good now were already talented to begin with.

Paracelsus and Talia von Steiner stand out in particular. They had followed the typical knightly path.

"And that concludes the lesson. I expect you all to do better next time."

With that, Professor Hans shook his head.

He had a lean, muscular body. He was more of an instructor than a professor.

Anyway.

The [Basic Physical Training] class has ended.

I was the first one out into the hallway, recalling what I had to do next.

I didn't want the eyes of the other units watching me to see when I left.

Instead, a speck stuck close to me.

It was Talia, who quickly gathered her things and ran after me.

"How was class? Your stamina seems to be up quite a bit now!"

"…So-so."

I said, looking at Talia as she persistently clung to my side in the hallway.

Somehow, she didn't seem to be in a better mood than usual.

Why?

She didn't sound any different than before, but something seemed to be bothering her. It's probably nothing to worry about, but….

Regardless, I felt a little bad for her, seeing her troubled face.

One of the main heroines, if not the favorite.

As a fan of Inner Lunatic, this made me feel unnecessarily weak.

So I hesitated for a very long time before I spoke to her.

"Is something wrong?"

I regretted it immediately.

Wasn't this innocent little girl's sword destined to pierce my heart after all? There was no point in me worrying about her here.

As I rubbed my aching chest, Talia spoke softly.

"It's just… it's nothing… it's just… the atmosphere of the academy seems a little different than I thought it would be."

I paused, waiting for her to continue.

Talia looked around and continued in a small voice.

"I thought I'd be able to make friends with my peers here without any barriers…? But everyone says there's a clique of nobles and commoners... there."

"There?"

"...Some people are just too quick to judge people based on rumors. Anyway, that made me a little worried."

It's a pretty in-depth story. The noble-commoner conflict, which will be the main episode arc of Inner Lunatic, also stems from this.

I muttered to myself.

"Well, time will tell, I suppose."

"Huh, Nox, what do you mean…?"

"You can't be friendly with everyone anyway. You already know that, don't you?"

I said nonchalantly. I wasn't here to give her some grand theory or life lesson, just the hard truth.

As we all know, nobles and commoners are different.

Especially in the world of Inner Lunatic, there's a lot of discrimination between commoners and nobles, and it's a lot to take in.

In such a situation, the commoner students of Eldain do not get along with the nobles, unless you are a madman like Paracelsus.

With the exception of a few major characters, it's better to say none at all.

In the later episodes of the noble-commoner war for control of the academy, the two factions clash heavily, causing many casualties.

It's a problem that extends to the entirety of the Inner Lunatic Continent.

Traditionally, revolution begins with young blood.

And it is in Eldain that the most talented of the young commoners are gathered, so it is a flashpoint, a spark that grows into a fire that consumes the vassal states.

It will eventually overthrow the bloated nobility of Arkheim.

'... Of course, that episode is still a while off.'

Thinking appropriately, Talia says, as if she's finished organizing her thoughts.

"I'm sure it is… I know, I know, everyone else thinks it's hard to be an accomplished worker except for Emma. I don't want that...."

"That's what this place was from the beginning. It's a place that's been wrapped up in a nice story, but in the end, nothing has changed, whether it's out there or in here."

With that, I headed back to my quarters.

Next class tomorrow.

For now, I'm heading to District Four, because of Paracelsus, to buy the rest of the ingredients I didn't get because of that madman.

I let Zitri rest for a while. I'm sure she's tired from all the traveling.

For your information, I've put her to rest with a pillow of sleeping herbs. Now I can listen and let the nagging go in one ear and out the other.

…But is it really okay to get used to something like this?

* * *

"What? I didn't expect to see you in a place like this."

... I've met an unexpected person in District 4.

There's good news and bad news.

First, the good news: it wasn't Paracelsus who caused the accident.

The bad news is…

I have a villain in front of me.

It's deeply embedded in the main storyline, torn between the imperial court and the commoners. The worst person to ever walk the walk.

Rick the Liar.

He smiles at me when I walk into a shop in District 4 to buy some tools.

A spy character who betrayed Eleanor in Act 3 and supported the Arkheim Empire. But why is he here…?

Okay, calm down, let's think about it.

Shit.

What can I do here that won't derail the main story?