“What did I just hear?”

Elias asked, and Narce replied with a laugh.

“He said he’ll be an idler.”

“Setting aside how old-fashioned the word choice is… What?!”

“Sorry for speaking like an old person.”

“Luca.”

Elias leaned closer to me and spoke in a soft voice.

“You don’t look like that at all.”

Leo, who had been looking dumbfounded the whole time, added.

“…I don’t want to say this, but I agree.”

“What do you mean I don’t look like that? I can change my appearance.”

“No! Just changing clothes isn’t enough! Your eyes give off a sense of wholesomeness. Besides, an idler is completely useless, as Narce said earlier.”

“I can make him useful. Right?”

I looked around at my friends and continued.

“The answer was in your words. Investor, Federal Committee member’s aide or nephew, and a thug who wants to work there, those were the three, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Each had a problematic point. But what if you combine all three?”

“Uhhh?”

Elias stared at me, rubbing his chin.

“Wouldn’t that make for a pretty useful person? Someone who has high utility thanks to wealth or connections, but if they were a ‘decent’ person, the bastards wouldn’t welcome them. Instead, if they were an idler who’s just played around without learning anything and has no thoughts, it wouldn’t be too strange for them to offer money at an establishment that’s been raided, and they’d be relatively easy to take advantage of.”

“Luca. Somehow my heart aches so much~?”

“It’s not you, so don’t feel stung. What I’m talking about is the type that even parents, school, and society have given up on rehabilitating.”

“Heh, heh heh… Haaaa….”

What was that last part?

Anyway, the more I talked, the more it seemed to point to Elias, so I also decided not to open my mouth further. I didn’t intend for it to sound like him.

Even though he deliberately speaks and acts loosely, his thoughts aren’t sloppy, and even if he doesn’t realize it himself, it shows at critical moments.

‘It happened once already in the Catacombs.’

In the person I will act this time, even such momentary calculations must be eliminated.

“Alright, then all that’s left is to solve the problem of my image not fitting. First, let’s consider this. I appeared in the newspaper due to the 1-1 preliminary test broadcast. I’m a bit worried if anyone will recognize me.”

“Don’t worry~ It was shot from above, so your face isn’t clearly visible.”

Narce replied.

That’s true.

Moreover, there are no mobile phones here, and news is only transmitted via newspapers, so photos of people’s faces aren’t circulating everywhere like on the internet. Because accessibility is low and I am a student of the Imperial Second Academy, media control has been firmly in place, so not many people would know my face.

Also, the fact that the Primrose Path bastards ‘tried to hand me over to Freiburg’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘they knew my face’. They just accessed me using records.

But I need to be careful. In that sense, choosing a persona that is the exact opposite of my image would be good.

“Eli. I think you know best about this area.”

“You want help with disguise?”

I nodded.

I need to hear the opinion of the person who looks most like a thug in our school—more so his appearance than his behavior.

“Uhhh… First…”

Elias thought for a long time, then opened his mouth with a determined face.

“Change your hair and eye color to brown.”

‘Hmm? That’s a neutral color in many ways, but isn’t it a bit off the mark?’

Since a straightforward brown felt a bit off, I changed the color to a bright, desaturated brown. Then Narce clapped his hands together.

“Wow~ It’s Pai’s color!”

“Hmm, good.”

Elias nodded seriously. Meanwhile, Narce said with a face that seemed completely pleased.

“Lucas, can you tell me the color formula for this? I want to do it later too.”

“Okay…”

Does he want to be the same color as Pai? I don’t know why he’d want that, but I wrote down the Equation in the Notebook on the side table and handed it to him.

Elias diligently touched my hair, then parted it on the side and swept it over.

‘Is this right?’

There’s no mirror, but just by the feel, something seems to be going wrong.

The moment I thought that, Elias buttoned up the top button of my shirt.

“Why are you buttoning it up?”

“…….”

Elias untied my Ribbon without answering and tightened it again. I was slowly getting a sense of what Elias had in mind. Elias muttered with vacant eyes.

“Luca has to be like this…”

“No, I said make me look like a thug, not…”

“Luca. Have you ever had 60 days of Unauthorized Absence in your life?”

“Of course not?”

“Right. Everything starts from there. It’s not just about how you dress up. I can’t tolerate this!”

Instead of answering, I pushed Elias away and took the mirror from Leo.

“…….”

It was almost the same look as Leo.

No, it was worse. I looked like I should be stuck in a 200-year-old school dormitory just studying.

‘Is this why they’re friends?’

Right.

Even if he lives with 60 days of Unauthorized Absence, when he looks at others, a wholesome guy might look more convincing. A life he hasn’t lived always looks cooler.

“I’ll just do it myself. Don’t say anything.”

“I styled it well though… Is it strange?”

I would usually listen to him, but not this time.

Then Leo opened his mouth.

“When are you leaving? I’ll tell you and Elias the school situation.”

It’s 6 o’clock now.

I need to be careful from 7 to 12, which is Self-Training Time.

From now on, the school will raise its alert level even higher. It’s chaotic now, but rather, the time at night, when everyone in the dormitory is asleep, is more dangerous.

Until now, our dormitory was run as if there was no Dormitory Supervisor, but from now on, they might start having Roll Call.

“I’m leaving now. Narce. Let’s go for just an hour.”

“Oh, me too?!”

Narce’s eyes sparkled as he pointed to himself.

“Yeah.”

An hour seems excessively short, but I need to make a few appearances to register my presence.

So, the main game will be in a few days.

Leo pushed Elias out of the way and sat beside my bed.

“I’ll help you.”

“Hmm?”

“Before that, Narce, Elias. Can you step out for a moment?”

Elias shrugged, and Leo gave him a look of disdain.

“Haha, alright. Seeing our Leo’s fierce expression makes this friend of 18 years feel so much pain~ No, 17 years, right?”

“Get out.”

Once Narce and Elias disappeared, Leo let out a short sigh and said.

“Is Lucas’s natural eyebrow color black? Can you just make your hair blonde then?”

“Just the hair? That would remind you of big brother.”

“It’s fine. Bleached blonde is different from natural blonde. Change it to that color.”

He wants me to have bleached blonde hair?

Even in the 21st century, that’s a hairstyle students might hesitate to get.

Hydrogen Peroxide Bleaching methods have been developed in this era for almost 100 years now, too. Surprisingly, many things from the 21st century existed in this era as well.

But the case of a New Human noble getting their hair bleached is practically nonexistent…

‘Right.’

I understand.

That’s why he wants me to do it.

I snapped my fingers, chanting the transformation Equation.

Meanwhile, Leo made a call to someone, then disappeared to Bavaria without a word.

About 10 minutes later, he came back with clothes of a pattern I had never seen before and laid them on the bed.

“You want me to wear these? Thanks.”

He nodded and sat beside me.

“Lucas. I said I had a request earlier, remember?”

“…Yeah.”

He said he’d help me if I granted him one request. That also meant he wouldn’t help if I didn’t.

Leo was silent for a long time, then looked at me and said seriously.

“Come back in this state, exactly as you are now.”

“…….”

The tension that had slightly built up suddenly released.

This is the request?

“Then of course I’ll come back in this state.”

“Always.”

So, he means not just today, but for the next week at least, as I will be going in and out of that place.

“Of course, I’ll come back in this state every time.”

I acted with the most trustworthy expression possible, but he was looking at me with a face that said, ‘Let’s see how much you can run your mouth.’

In other words, he didn’t believe me at all.

Besides, I could use that as a strategy in the first place, and even if not, it’s an area I can’t control. Moreover, this guy isn’t someone who would ask for something so pointless.

“Leo. I know very well you’re not someone who would care about things like this.”

“What? Honestly, that remark is a bit absurd.”

“You know what I mean. If you keep acting like this, I can’t help but ask. What’s been going on since earlier?”

In other words, what exactly did he see?

Now no one opened their mouth.

Only the sound of the wind hitting the window could be heard.

He moved his lips without expression, then lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Until you tell me, I can’t tell you anything either, Lucas.”

“…….”

“You don’t understand my request? Then how about this? Lucas, think again about what you were entrusted with in Bavaria and what your position is.”

“…….”

“The people are now relying on you as they would look up to His Majesty the King. You must know that even the entire Empire is relying on you now.”

I listened silently, then nodded.

Right. Since Nicolaus has become a being with widespread Influence, I need to be more careful than before.

“Alright. I understand.”

“Do you only understand when I put it like this?”

Leo laughed weakly, then clicked his tongue.

“Okay. Well, as long as you understand. Promise me. Always come back exactly in this state.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You know that’s not enough.”

Who knows how things will turn out for a person? What do you rely on to give a firm answer?

“I’ll try as hard as I can for now, but just in case, let me ask. What will you do if I can’t keep the promise?”

Leo, who was fiddling with an Artifact, paused for a moment after hearing my words.

Soon, he looked back at me and smiled.

“Well. What do you think will happen?”

At that moment, Elias appeared in the hospital room, tapping his Artifact like Leo, as if he had received a message.

Narce was with him. He seemed to have prepared to go out while we were talking, as his appearance was already unlike a student’s.

Elias looked at me and muttered.

“Woah…”

I could tell just by his reaction. Leo definitely changed it more successfully than Elias.

“This is how you do it, Elias.”

“No, it’s not enough. What you need to create is a thug, not an artist. Huh~?”

“It’s a bit rich hearing that from you. Anyway, don’t you need to make the observer question it for a moment? Like how I feel when I see you, Elias, always wandering around in just a shirt, having sold off your vest somewhere.”

Leo swept my hair forward, which Elias had styled earlier.

“Lucas will handle the rest well on his own. Alright, is this good enough?”

“No. Luca’s expression just oozes intelligence anyway. That’s the biggest problem.”

Elias said with a sulky face.

I don’t know if that’s true, but there’s a way to fix that. I waved my hand and said to him.

“Elias. Do you have alcohol in your room?”

“Yeah.”

“One bottle, please.”

* * *

“Ugh…”

As I retched into the sink, Narce held onto my back.

“I didn’t expect you to drink all of that on an empty stomach… No, I didn’t even know it was possible. Your willpower is amazing.”

As Elias said, if I’m fully conscious, it might show in my eyes. Seeing how he kept picking at it, I figured the only way was to dull my eyes.

‘More importantly, something like this should really be done with Soju.’

Or maybe Gin or Rum.

Doing this with wine that has a premium label on it makes me feel a bit guilty.

I turned on the water and reached out to touch it, then snapped back to my senses and pulled back.

I had been about to naturally wash my face. How could I wake myself up right after creating this state?

I listened to the sound of water running in the sink and muttered.

“You didn’t expect me to drink it all at once? You didn’t use Foresight then.”

“I used it just now. You should vomit into the toilet, not here…”

“Did it say I wouldn’t vomit?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s a relief.”

What kind of conversation is this?

I turned off the water appropriately and raised my head.

Preparation is complete.

Thanks to Elias even giving me a name, it’s okay to go like this.

I wiped the corners of my mouth roughly and gestured to Narce.

Closing my eyes briefly at the floating sensation and opening them again, a street I had never seen before unfolded in my vision.

“Warping this way seems alright then. Right?”

“Yeah.”

I stepped lightly onto the ground and looked around. Narce held my shoulder to steady me.

In the distance, a winding alley could be seen. Thanks to the photos taken at the Prosecutor’s Office, I knew well where this alley led.

I walked into the alley with Narce.

After turning many corners, a path appeared where the sky between the streets was blocked, getting progressively darker.

Narce saw the ground turn into unpaved dirt and smiled, frowning.

—“Wow… It’s amazing that this place had sales in the hundreds of millions~?”

—“Because it’s the biggest street in the Empire.”

It certainly looks old and shabby.

But this is just an exterior created by Disguise Magic; if you peel away a layer of magic, a neat street appears.

—“Looks like some shops have their lights on now that it’s getting towards evening. Where do you want to start?”

—“We should start with the places that were less affected by the raid.”

Anyway, I’m just here to advertise that ‘a person like this has started coming to this street,’ so it doesn’t matter where I go in.

Perhaps the places that were thoroughly raided were closed completely since then, as some shops were clearly filled with dust. The shops open and operating now must have been just bars that weren’t involved in illegal activities from the start.

I pointed to a place at the end of the dark street with a green sign.

—“Let’s start there.”

* * *

“To order three Bottles in this state… I didn’t expect that~ Can you finish it all tonight?”

“I have to, even if it kills me.”

I muttered, glancing around.

There were more people in the shop than I expected.

There seemed to be at least 15 people on this Floor alone.

‘If it’s this many even after the raid, it must have been quite crowded before.’

“Wow~ Your willpower is amazing. I’ll burn mine a bit while drinking.”

He meant he’d burn it with Divine Power.

I simply answered with a light laugh.

‘Must be nice…’

My stomach really isn’t feeling well.

Now I wish I had just ordered by the Glass, but I can’t act that weakly.

Changing my appearance slightly won’t fix my image right away. I have to build it up slowly through my actions over several days.

‘Considering it’s this bad today, even though I didn’t come here to do anything specific….’

Thinking about having to do this for a few more days makes me just want to laugh.

At that moment, Narce looked up with a flustered face.

“Excuse me.”

I turned my head at the sudden voice.

Two Old Humans, both women, stood smiling down at me and spoke.

“May we sit with you?”

I glanced over their appearance.

Both were Old Human women.

Their age was late 20s to… broadly speaking, mid-30s.

They definitely didn’t seem to be Entertainment Industry Workers, and combining their clothes with their distinct elite class 말투 (way of speaking), it seems highly probable they are from a Bourgeois Family.

‘…Hmm.’

Getting entangled with people already wasn’t in the plan.

But more mouths to hear me is beneficial.

Instead of answering, I chugged the rest of the wine in my Glass at once and said.

“If you’re confident you can handle my drunken talk.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep