Hazel looked intently at the woman sitting across from her, her brow slightly furrowed as she waited for her response.
She may not have been in touch with her teacher as much because she was studying and preparing for the university exam, but every once in a while, she would send a letter by the man's messenger or receive one that told her what had been going on these days.
When she read that Flora, her former teacher in the Beyonder world, had joined the group, she was ecstatic and happy.
Not only did her joining them mean that she had recovered from her injuries, but it also meant that Hazel would finally be able to meet her face to face!
Yet, for that very reason, the young Match was now genuinely confused, as the strict and judgmental woman was nothing like she had imagined her to be.
Hazel had imagined her much older, with some wrinkles and gray hair, with deep-set eyes and a permanent frown. But even though she had white hair, she did not look old.
Finally, after looking at her quietly in silence, the white-haired woman closed her eyes and nodded elegantly.
"He told me how you have been doing. Good job."
Simple and to the point, just as she remembered her.
Hazel's brown eyes sparkled, and she almost let out a squeal of delight. As a noble lady, she quickly grabbed the reins that almost slipped out of her hands.
Smiling until she showed a bit of her teeth, she laughed softly and said honestly, "I see you've recovered well, I'm glad."
Internally, Flora raised an eyebrow.
If only her previous student knew that the only reason she even decided to 'take' her under her wing was to use her characteristics to recover, which to her was nothing more than fattening up the turkey before eating it.
She didn't deny it; a part of her was curious to tell her that very thing and see what kind of reaction she would get, but she decided against it. What that could bring was things that would cause unnecessary headaches.
Besides, it was better for Hazel to maintain that wise teacher image than to resent her and cause trouble.
With all that in mind, Flora opened her eyes and looked at her failed plan and said calmly, "I'm not your teacher anymore, but I can still answer some questions. If you have them you can come to me."
Grasping the edges of her robe, Hazel gave a polite bow.
"Then, excuse the inconvenience." She said with a small smile.
Straightening up, the doubt that had been growing in her and itching the back of her neck since Adryan Kenway had become her teacher was revealed to the only person who could answer it.
"Ma'am, why did you choose him to replace you? Not only is he not part of the same path, which somewhat limits what he can teach me, but his situation made him potentially dangerous."
Raising a hand, she quickly added somewhat apologetically, "I have no complaints, Mr K is a great teacher! I just find it strange that he was the one you chose.
"There was no one else more appropriate? Or did the situation make it impossible?"
'If there had been a choice, that guy wouldn't even have been in the room...' Keeping her face calm, Flora took a moment to really think about the question.
There was no way she was going to admit what really happened that night, ever...
To this day, she still has chills when she remembers it, but there is a bit of melancholy in that as well.
'I would still be searching for the treasure without knowing that 'he' was there, waiting for the end of the play that has been going on for millennia... Once I entered, the play would close the curtain and...' Flora couldn't bring herself to finish that train of thought, the answer obvious.
If she hadn't met the redhead that night and tried to kill him which caused her to become trapped in his body, it was very certain that she would still be a rat now that was on her way to a death trap while losing herself more and more because she was parasitizing an animal - all this caused by a single being, just for his amusement and pleasure.
Without knowing it, only two fates were awaiting her.
She would end up losing control because she was parasitizing a rat, or she would no longer be 'her', a fate worse than death.
Yet, amidst all the bad that happened that night, what came next shone like a rising sun after a moonless and starless night. While she had lost her purpose that night, she had gained a new one-no, rather, she had been forced to build a new one.
Her gray eyes moved from Hazel to the long black-haired man in the distance. He noticed immediately that she was looking at him, and her scarlet eyes met his.
Adryan winked in her direction and continued his conversation with the lawyer.
Returning her attention to Hazel and ignoring how amused his current expression was, Flora said honestly, "Because he's the only one I trust."
The young noblewoman looked at this somewhat stunned, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times.
From the letters, she knew the two of them were close, but she never thought it was to this extent...
'The strong hang out with the strong after all...'
A slight blush covered her cheeks, and coughing slightly, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. "Forgive me, I didn't know you had that kind of relationship."
The slight smile that had appeared on Flora's face at some point grew a little bigger. "It's no problem, we made it official a little while ago."
This piqued the young woman's curiosity, "Oh, really? Congratulations."
Pausing for a moment, Hazel added, "When?"
Flora smiled and lowered her voice a little, "Tonight~"
"...Oh...oh my..." The young noblewoman brought a hand to her chest, eyes wide as saucers.
She didn't think her previous teacher was so bold...
On her side, Sharron, who had kept her eyes closed, snapped them open and looked at her deeply. After five seconds, she looked at the black-haired man in the distance, who had frozen.
Satisfied with what she had seen, the wraith nodded imperceptibly and closed her eyes.
While her expression and posture remained unchanged, Maric had known her for years and could notice any changes. For this reason, the zombie also closed his eyes and sighed lightly.
'She's happy...'
His attention moved for a moment to where she had been looking, at Flora and the Hazel girl.
They had spoken too quietly for him to hear what they had said, but considering Sharron's reaction, he could get an idea of what had been spoken.
Observing what was going on on the other side of the room, Adryan laughed a little.
"Well? Are we done with this silly game now?" Vivian grunted a little, a grimace on her face.
Since the guy had shown up and separated from the group, all they had talked about were meaningless questions or things that didn't matter at all.
How are you doing? How are things going? I didn't make you suffer with the contract on Saturday, right? What did you eat Tuesday night? What did you have with it, wine, juice or water? Did it taste good? What time did you sleep?
How she hadn't lost her mind until now was unknown.
"Fufu, it's your fault for being so stiff."
Laughing some more, Adryan tilted his head slightly to the left, mischief shining in his eyes.
"But I'll give you the point, why don't we start from the beginning?"
Her fists clenched unconsciously, and a vein began to throb in the back of her neck, controlling her breathing, which had become raspy. She scuffed a little, "... Again?"
This was the third time already!
The black-haired man winked.
"Yup!"
Vivian's face broke, the corner of her lips pursed into a scrunch as one of her eyebrows quivered.
Knowing he only needed one word to break it, Adryan considered the game over and laughed softly.
"For now, I'll just be Mr K. It's not because you didn't do a good job; you excelled at everything I asked you to do. It's just that... well..." Pausing for a moment, he looked her up and down with a raised eyebrow.
"Honesty can't be returned, being that you're standing before me wearing a mask."
Instinctively, Vivian tensed for a moment more, but just as quickly, she relaxed. She was surprised, but at the same time, she was not.
Needless to say, if the Wise Owl knew her identity was false, he would also know she was using an artifact to change her appearance, however small. This was something she already knew and accepted—an unspoken fact.
What surprised her was that Mr K mentioned it directly.
Raising an eyebrow, Vivian looked deeply at the man before her and said, "And you say so?"
With a rather plain face, free of markings, and a pointed nose with long flowing black hair. Aside from his red eyes and large stature, Mr. K's current appearance was unremarkable.
It was clear that he was also using an artifact to do the same as she was.
This simple man held up his hands and waved them in amusement, "These are precautions, you will understand in the future."
His ruby eyes then moved around those present in the distance, "Besides, aside from me, everyone here is as they have come into the world, Miss Barbarian."
Vivian's brow lowered, her gaze deepening for a moment before refocusing.
If Mr K was the only one who changed his appearance, that meant he was someone recognizable, much if he believed that by seeing him, she could recognize him.
'This only proves that he is a high-level member of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Knowledge. A very high one... Bingo!' The reality that she had someone famous in front of her made the corners of her lips turn up in a small smile, her eyes gaining a certain gleam of recognition.
Controlling herself, Vivian crossed her arms and looked at the Wise Owl calmly, "So, if I show you my true face, you'll do the same?"
"Maybe... or maybe not." Laughing a little, he continued, "Your face or your real name, I don't care which you choose. If you give me one of the two, I'll do the same. What do you say?"
Vivian earnestly tried, but was unable to contain the snort that escaped her. "Just that? I thought it would be something more interesting."
That said, without wasting a second, she reached up with her right hand, calmly removed her glasses, and placed them on the table beside her.
Then, Vivian sunk her fingernails into her neck and pulled, peeling away a layer of skin.
Instead of blood coming out or showing pink skin, the peeled layer took on a deep gray color and was losing its human features, leaving only a flat mask.
With a dry puff, Vivian ripped off the mask, whose colors turned from gray to brown as if it were wood.
Holding the mask in her hand in boredom, the Barbarian raised an eyebrow.
Her hair remained black, but everything else changed. Her face became angular, and her nose shrank a little. Her eyes took on a soft, honey-like color with wide lids and a naturally sharp, hawk-like gaze. Her features were clearly of an Intisian.
"This is me, your turn," Vivian said with an edge, a sideways smile.
The red-eyed man raised an eyebrow in doubt and said in confusion, "Turn for what?"
Hearing those ridiculous words, the woman's face broke into pure indignation laden with annoyance.
Raising a finger, she pressed it hard on the guy's chest.
"Don't play games with me! It's your turn to reveal your face to me!"
The black-haired man blinked, his brow slightly furrowed in genuine confusion. "I don't understand what you're talking about, Miss Vivian. When did I say I would do that?"
The Barbarian's expression fell, as if a bucket of cold water had suddenly washed over her, "W-what are you talking about? If that's what we agreed-
"Miss Vivian, you must be confused. I only said that when the time came, I would reveal my face to you. That you heard otherwise is not my fault." Looking at her with mild disappointment, the wise owl sighed a little and shook his head.
"Please pay more attention to what I say next time..." He grabbed the finger that was still pressed against his chest and calmly pulled it away.
"I hate having to repeat myself." The man finished with his voice dropping a few degrees, causing the woman to tense up.
Stupefied, Vivian stared at nothing in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
"Th-this..." Muttering to herself, the Barbarian couldn't believe what she had just done.
She was a Lawyer. How was it possible that she had misheard and confused the man's words?! It didn't make sense!
'I'm sure he said I had to choose between saying my name or showing him my real face... That's what he said, right? Or was it really when the time was right... I- I... I'm not sure which one it was! What is it?' Vivian bit down hard on the inside of her cheek.
The more she thought about it, the less sense it made!
It was as if her mind had suddenly tried to follow a thread and, by an oversight, it got tangled repeatedly until it was a ball of yarn, not knowing which was the beginning or the end!
Frowning, she brought a hand to her forehead and massaged it in slow twists and turns, then went into semi-cogitation to calm the headache.
'I knew I was pushing myself too hard...' Complaining internally, Vivian cursed herself for neglecting her condition.
After a moment and more normal, she nodded to the man and bowed slightly, "Excuse me, Mr K. I guess I haven't been resting well these days. I'll pay more attention next time."
"I'm glad to hear that..." Mr K smiled slightly, just like a grandfather watching a child do something funny.
"Fufu~" that smile twisted into one worthy of a fox, "You know I was lying, don't you?"
Vivian blinked, as did her mind, genuinely at a loss.
Yet, that confusion quickly turned to magma on the verge of exploding. Veins of seething blood stood out on her forehead.
"I simply wanted to test how much a skill had really changed after advancing to Sequence 5. Sorry about that." Rolling his shoulders shamelessly, the guy winked.
"I really had you fooled~" He chirped self-satisfiedly.
Adryan could barely contain his laughter. The increase in his Gashlighting was much more interesting than he thought.
Not even lawyers, at least Sequence 8 and down, could defend themselves against his tongue, and he had held back.
It took the woman a few seconds to process the information, but once the second six arrived, a vein throbbed. For an instant, for a single instant, she stepped forward, almost lunging forward and wrapping her hands around the neck of the unhappy man, but she stopped.
This was because just the man's last words echoed in her head, which were the best painkiller at that moment.
'Sequence 5... If the leader is such a high sequence, then the rest must be at least Sequence 7...' Controlling her breathing, she frowned slightly and stepped back.
She didn't say anything for a moment. After 10 seconds passed in awkward silence, she said without much assurance, "So, the deal was as I said?"
Even if she now knew that it was all a hoax, she wasn't sure if it was really the truth.
"Yup," Accompanied by the pop of his mouth and satisfied with his welcome gift for the new team member, Adryan turned off Creeping Hunger's Faceless mode.
He kept that same foxy grin as his face contorted, and his black hair quickly took on a bright red hue. The woman's honey eyes widened slightly.
Within 5 seconds, Vivian watched as the man who had once been someone simple without much of a standout quickly became someone straight out of romance novels.
"A little younger than I prefer myself, but oh, mama likes what she sees~" She dragged her tongue, looking him up and down like a prime piece of meat.
Her words made the corners of the redhead's lips tremble slightly.
Watching this prince, the woman bit her lip and winked flirtatiously.
"The offer of drinks still stands, pretty boy. In case you want to follow~"
The smile on the red-haired man's face tensed for a moment before he looked at her flatly.
"I'm not interested," Adryan said, internally stunned.
'Roselle wasn't exaggerating when he said that the women of Intis were bold...' He added in his heart.
Vivian rolled her eyes and stepped back a little with her hands twirling disinterestedly.
"Even your voice is tolerable to listen to now... Tch, your lost."
Vivian then placed a hand on her hip and leaned back a little looking up at him from below, "So, Mr K, what's next now?"