Chapter 90
The Church’s Might — Part 1
Editors: Joker, Speedphoenix
"I don't mind if he joins us . I'm sure you know already, but we aren’t exactly in the best of spots . We're willing to take all the help we can get, so we'd be glad to have him on board . Especially if he's strong," said the knight named Carlotta . "Anyways, why don't we head inside?"
God damn Nell, talk about trust . I almost can't believe they're actually going to let me inside just 'cause you vouched for me . I followed the hero, who traced the other knight's footsteps as she made her way inside the run-down shack .
"What was that…?" I was assaulted by a minor sense of discomfort the moment I walked through the door; an unpleasant sensation shot through my body . The hell…? Did they do something to me just now…?
"Wow . You actually noticed that?" The knight regarded me with a surprised gaze . "I guess that means you really are fairly strong after all . "
"What did you just do…?" I asked .
"No need to be so alarmed . It wasn't anything out of the norm," she replied . "While, yes, Nell did introduce you to us, and that does account for a certain degree of credibility, we're not so foolish as to let just anyone enter our ranks without prior inspection . The fact that you were able to enter the door means you don't bear us any ill will . "
Carlotta took what looked like some sort of document from a man that came from further within the building and began to skim through it, muttering as she did . "It looks like you're human… And that the mask is just a normal mask . I was almost expecting it to be some sort of magically enhanced device…"
"Huh…?" Hearing the report caused Nell's face to contort with surprise . She looked like she was about to say something stupid, I gave her the look and used my eyes to tell her to keep quiet while shrugging in response to her confusion .
"What else were you expecting? I only came to help, after all . "
"Hmmm…" she seemed to give me another judging, suspicious look . The tense air lasted for a good bit, but she eventually relaxed . "I see . I hope you'll excuse us for how rude we were being then . "
"All good . " The calm natural manner in which I spoke failed to relay my real emotions . The truth of the matter was that my heart was pounding . Hooooooooooly shit . This woman be scary . She totally managed to get me to relax the moment before she tested me, just so I'd drop my guard . And she even managed to smile like nothing was up . Goddamn, she's terrifying . I need an adult .
Oh man, I'm lucky I actually listened to Nell when she was talking about how they had items that would let them ID people . I would've been taken off the field before I even got to swing if I hadn't had any countermeasures in place . The reason that the item Carlotta used to analyze me had identified me as a human was obviously not because I had experienced yet another rebirth . Rather, it came in the form of a skill, a skill I had only recently acquired: Disguise .
Disguise was what I had ended up choosing over the remote-controlled golem strategy that I had in mind at first; it was just a better use of DP . The skill seemed more or less identical to the one that Lefi used to stop me from seeing her stat numbers . It showed my enemies what I wanted them to see and hid what I didn't . Of course, I had already set up my character sheet to look a certain way in advance .
***
General Information
Name: Wye
Race: Human
Class: Thief
Level: 35
HP: 1603/1603
MP: 1167/1167
Strength: 411
Vitaility: 443
Agility: 682
Magic: 451
Dexterity: 638
Luck: 72
Skills
Martial Arts III
Stealth IV
Detect Enemies III
Sword Arts I
Titles
One Who Judges
***
My name, Wye, came from the first letter of Yuki, my actual name . Now, I know where you're going with this . Yeah, I know I sound like a goddamn simpleton, but that's not the point . What matters is that I didn't forget that I needed a pseudonym .
All my stats had gone through a bit of tweaking . I adjusted them all to make them significantly lower than the hero's . My class, thief, was just one I happened to think of and like . I went along with the whole thief theme by giving my falsified agility and dexterity stats a little bit of a boost . The only skills I left on my character sheet were ones that were likely to be found on an actual thief, and I'd intentionally kept all their levels fairly low . Apparently, level 5 skills were only supposed to be found amongst the truly skilled, so I avoided them like the plague .
While I could have just left my title section blank, I felt as if not having anything would've made my stat page seem a bit empty, so I kept the most normal one visible and hid the rest .
I had no idea what the item in question allowed the knight to see, but either way, I assumed I would come off as someone that was fairly capable as far as humans were concerned either way .
Of course, the stats I had on display were a far cry away from my actual stats .
***
General Information
Name: Yuki
Race: Demon Lord
Class: Demon Lord of Judgement
Level: 43
HP: 3101/3101
MP: 10442/10442
Strength: 911
Vitality: 926
Agility: 818
Magic: 1161
Dexterity: 1423
Luck: 73
Skill Points: 0
Unique Skills
Magic Eye
Translation
Flight
Skills
Item Box
Analyze VIII
Martial Arts IV
Primordial Magic V
Stealth V
Enemy Detection V
Sword Arts II
Weapon Transmutation IV
Enchant IV
Trap Techniques I
Greatsword Arts II
Disguise II
Crisis Detection I
Titles
Demon Lord From Another World
Supreme Dragon’s Owner
One Who Judges
One Hostile to Humanity
DP: 104356
***
I was coming along fairly well, if I did say so myself . My level had risen, and most of my skills were a good bit higher than they'd been just a while ago . I was particularly proud of Sword Arts, which had finally risen to its second level . Hnnng .
I'd also gotten several new skills: Greatsword Arts, which I had naturally obtained while swinging a massive blade all willy nilly; Disguise, which I bought with DP for the purposes of this outing; and Crisis Detection, which seemed pretty damn useful as far as I was concerned . Unlike the Greatsword Arts skill, the Disguise skill had been levelled artificially; I had dumped all my skill points into it in order to provide it with a bit of a boost . Like many other skills, its effectiveness was based on both its level and the difference between my stats and the stats of those around me . That was why I was able to deceive many others despite the skill being only level 2 .
"Wye, was it? I'm going to refrain from asking exactly who you are for now . I've no problems with you since you don't seem to be harbouring any sort of malicious intent," said the lightly armoured female knight . "Can I count on you to use those skills of yours to help our cause?"
"That's why I'm here . "
"Thank you . I do appreciate it given how understaffed we are . " She nodded . "Alright, why don't we make for our destination? For real this time . "
And so, Nell and I followed Carlotta deeper into the shabby excuse of a building . I looked around our surroundings from behind my mask as we moved, surveying every last detail out of sheer curiosity . But soon, I was stopped . The hero tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in a voice too quiet for anyone but me to hear . "What did they do? Why do they think you're human?"
"Oh, you know, just messed with my stat page a bit" I whispered back . "And, see, I told you there wouldn't be any problems . "
"To be honest, I was feeling really anxious and on edge . Thank goodness nothing happened . "
Me too . Me too . The she-knight honestly deserved to have found me out . The way she had come snooping the moment I let my guard down had me spooked . Chances were, she'd been planning it all right from the start .
"Over here . Watch your feet . The floor here isn't exactly in the best of states . " Carlotta issued a few instructions after stopping in front of what looked like nothing more than just another wall . “May the Lord guide us to salvation . ”
A secret panel rose to reveal a hidden pathway the moment she finished reciting some sort of phrase or passcode .
“…Woah . ” I blinked a few times as I looked on in astonishment . Holy shit . Is that a secret passageway? Fuck yes! I've always wanted to try using one of these!
The door the knight had opened seemed to lead deeper underground . Dim lights hang from the passage's ceiling, illuminating a dull looking path .
"Let's go . " And with her words as the cue, the knight once again began to lead us .
I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement rise within me as I followed .
***
TL Note: I might change the way I've chosen to word some of the skills and titles and stuff soon . I'll make retrospective changes once I'm done deciding what things should be called .
Editor's note (Joker): Hey, guys! Joker here . Looks like Yuki had everything figured out . But really, it was fairly obvious . Isekai protags who aren't human who decide to mingle with humanity usually get a Disguise skill like that, or they're sent to that world with it . Same old hat trick, but Yuki actually had to work for it . Okay, well not work . More like… give Lefi a chocolate bar and let her rack up the DP for it . On an unrelated note, I've been playing a ton of Ace Attorney Trilogy for PS4, plus Yugioh Legacy of the Duelist . They're both pretty fun games, and I'm happy I bought them . Okay, let see the Letter Sack today… *rummages around* Oh, neat . Six letters today . Thanks so much guys . Thanks to Cielitojeff, ~Fran Fan (or rather as they'll soon be known, Tonatsi), kx, Zehd Cashew, sakana-kun[CS-chan mk . vi], and kotarou inugami . Dicky satria gets an honorable mention for asking a question to me, but it was something that Boss Young'un did . Remember, if you've got a question you'd like to ask, leave it in the comments with the hashtag #AskJoker and I'll reply . Get noticed by your senpai today . And with that, I'll leave y'all here . See y'all in the next chapter!