His heart thundering within his chest, Percy gazed between the two people in the small house: one was lying unconscious with his head in the pitcher of beer on the table, and the other was calmly wiping his hands of the moisture that remained on them, showing the reason behind him stepping out of the room.
First… How the hell had he not detected him?
Percy got the answer a moment later: when he tried to use his senses to scan the man in front of him in order to understand his power level, he witnessed the most astonishing thing: it was as if he was talking to someone who wasn't even standing there.
No matter how much Percy checked, it didn't change: there was no shadow, no scent and even no signs of a heartbeat.
What the hell was going on? Was this just an apparition, then?
But if so, that would be even worse!
If it was someone real, Percy was prepared to use another Hero level trinket, of which he had plenty, to disable him… But if it was just someone looking in remotely, then what could he do?
Was it all to end in failure?
No!
"RAAAARGH!"
There was no way that he was prepared to accept this, so to find out the truth and hopefully salvage the situation, Percy lunged forward with a trinket shaped like an eagle in his hand.
This one would be a bit more destructive, but he was already clinching another trinket in his other hand - as soon as he made his attack, he would activate that one, and it would block the location that he was in from prying eyes so that he would be able to clean up all of the damage done before anyone could notice that something was wrong.
However… What he saw in front of him made him stop and almost drop to the floor with hopelessness and despair.
A thick layer of barriers instantly sprung to life in front of the man who was a perfect copy of the one on the table, and from the glow of the trinkets on his neck which had been activated to make this happen, it was clear that this was the Fighter that he had come to target.
Raising his finger and wagging it calmly, he said, "Ah ah ah, not so fast. With the element of surprise and priceless trinkets like those, you would have succeeded if that was me on the table, but it's too late now. Yes, you were successful in knocking out my Peak Champion level little brother, but there is no way that you can do the same to me. So just take a seat… And tell me what you're here for. Right now, you are this close to making me send out the warning and have reinforcements appear in less than three seconds. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't do so. So far, it's only your weakness, and my interest in how you obtained such powerful trinkets that are keeping me from taking that step."
Saying so, the man walked forward and carelessly used his hand to swat at his brother, who was just starting to drown in the pitcher.
The trinket that Percy had used was no ordinary one- it completely tied up the consciousness of one so firmly that they would not move except if they were being killed, and that was displayed quite clearly when the unconscious man smashed into the wall to the side but still did not seem like he would wake up anytime soon.
He just slid to the ground and started to snore, as his face was now free.
He presented a pathetic sight: the beer that he had been submerged in was slowly sliding down his nostrils, and his tongue was also outside for some reason, at the corner of his mouth, making him look like an oversized baby who was sleeping peacefully.
Seeing this, the other man… Laughed.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't control myself anymore! I wanted to enjoy the sight by myself after you had left, but it's simply too much! Oh, look how priceless this is! You should see the way he talks to everyone: all dignified and elder-like. Oh, all that maturity really shines now, doesn't it! Let me take a picture, because I will miss this! Even if I don't show it to anyone in my life, I'll look at it every day and laugh myself to sleep! Maybe this way, I'll not fly into a rage each time he mocks me, or each time my family makes it completely clear that they wish that he took the rest of my talent, too!"
Saying so, the man took out a trinket that was commonly meant to be used as a communication eye and clicked a picture, before tucking it away carefully in his bosom.
After that, he picked up the pitcher of beer which his brother had had his head in until now and emptied it in the direction of the snoring man on the ground.
Making a bottle in the corner of the room float over, he refilled the pitcher, and after filling two glasses, he pushed one in the direction of the chair that had been vacated.
With shaking hands, Percy sat down. He did not yet know what all of this meant, but one thing was quickly becoming clear: it looked like he had failed, and this was the one thing that he had decided that he should not mess up, no matter what.
However… The more he thought about it, the more it became clear that there was nothing that could be done. Even if he used all of the many Hero level trinkets that he had on him at once, the barriers that were still active in front of the man would save him for enough time during which he would be able to send out the warning.
But wait… Hadn't he asked Percy to give him a reason why he shouldn't do so?
This singular fact made him understand that there might be a way to salvage the situation, but if he wanted to use it, he first had to get back to normal.
Thankfully, doing so was a piece of cake, mainly because he was quite used to hiding all of his emotions whenever his father used to beat him to within an inch of his life right before he was supposed to go to some or the other public gathering. Of course, the instances where he remembered his mother's death at the hands of his father and still had to remain calm in front of the man had trained him even further in controlling himself when he needed to, and so, in barely a couple of seconds, Percy was back to how he usually was.
Now, a decision needed to be made. Obviously, the one in front of him was expecting reasons behind his actions. Should he try lying, before looking for an opportunity that he could use to finish his mission?
No… that would take too long, and the plan against Daneel in the central continent was already quickly being carried out. He needed to be in a position to be able to handle whatever was thrown in his way, and for that, he needed to get in contact with the sovereigns of Angaria without alerting the Order.
Could he try bribing him, using the extensive resources that Perfect seemed to have?
Or could he conjure up some other reason?
As if seeing the battle taking place in Percy's mind, the man said, "Let me make something clear, and by doing so, I hope I'll be able to make you understand that it is best for you to just come clean. I am Benjamin Leoinia, and the one that you knocked out was my brother, Jefferson Leoinia. He came to see me in order to have me hand over my duty as we are entering the crucial part of the plan, and after this, I'll be given a large trove of resources which I can retire with until the war. He is a mage, so he was knocked out so easily, but I am a Fighter who has trained in the elusive path which was inspired by the Demonic Panther, a Godbeast which terrorized the land when it was alive back before the establishment of the Empire. Essentially, I can enter a form which allows me to be undetected by most surveillance methods as I can even still my heart and make it stop beating for a period of time, and this was the way that the Demonic Panther used to hide itself while stalking its prey. Another ability that it had allowed it to get a perfect read on anyone that it was following, which meant that it could take note of the heartbeat, pupil dilation and all other factors present in someone to predict what they would do next. Of course, I cannot really do the same thing, but I can tell whether you're lying- and it shouldn't be too hard, especially because you're just a Warrior. It was my Path which allowed me to find you even though you were invisible, too, by the way. True, you might have taken half a foot into the Champion realm, but it's not enough. You have five seconds. Like I said, give me a good reason, or I'll send the warning. Oh, and deactivate that invisibility, it's useless."
Percy's eyes widened as he heard this, as he had gotten the answer regarding why everything had gone wrong.
Still, he managed to remain calm, and decided that in the limited time that he had, he was better off telling the truth. Lying might directly result in him being apprehended by the Heroes of the order, so instead of that, it was better to take a chance. Hence, making his decision, he deactivated the trinket which was draining quite a lot of his Energy and spoke.
"I came to knock you out and contact the ones whom you are supposed to keep an eye on in the Kingdom of Lanthanor. Specifically, I came to speak to the subordinates of the Overlord and work with them to stop the plan of the Order. As for why I'm doing it, it's because I owe him a favor from before he entered the Order. No one knows of this, but he asked me to help him in any way possible when he was being chased around. He also told me that he was being erroneously charged, and that the Overseer was not who he seems to be. That last part might sound absurd, but-"
"Absurd? It's preposterous! So you're part of the group who believe in that stuff… Well, this has been fun, but I'm afraid I have no choice but to have you apprehended. I do feel a little bit of gratefulness because you allowed me to witness my brother in this sorry state, but I'm afraid that that is not enough for me to risk punishment by not following the rules. Hope you have fun in prison!"
"WAIT!"
Benjamin looked like he was about to get up to send the warning, but he suddenly paused.
Rather than the shout that came from Percy's mouth, it was the peculiar glow in his eyes that seemed to have made him curious, and sitting down, he gestured at Percy to speak.
Indeed, Percy's mind had worked very quickly in that moment of crisis where all had seemed lost.
It was the quality of a developed mind to do its best in a situation of life and death, and thankfully, his quick wit hadn't failed him in this moment.
He had connected all the dots, both from Perfect's story, and from what he had heard of these two brothers since coming here.
And this…had given him a bold idea.
"It's obvious that you hate your brother, who must be a perfectionist. I know the feeling! I have…er, had, brothers myself who were always perfect in the eyes of my father. No matter what I did, I was always ignored. So…I often found myself dreaming and hoping that one day, my brothers would mess up so badly that my parents, and all those who adored them and mocked me would have no option but to admit that they had messed up, and that for once, they were not better than me. This is your chance to see that happen! This is a crucial mission, and the odds are that I'll fail to stop it, anyway. But if I do succeed…the failure will be on your brother's shoulders! You know that the Overseer is good enough to make another plan if this one fails, so you lose nothing! They'll just deploy more resources, and I'll be able to die happy that I at least tried! So why not find a much better reason to laugh yourself to sleep? Why not use this opportunity, which definitely won't come again in your lifetime? "
For a moment, it seemed uncertain whether it had worked.
Yet…when Percy saw the expression on Benjamin's face change from one of thought to anticipation, he knew that he had struck the right chord, and this let him let out the biggest sigh of relief in his life.