Okay, just relax, there’s no reason to panic, and plenty of reason not to. I’m well-disguised, even I could barely recognize myself after covering up my scars, putting on the colored contacts and dyeing my hair red.

"I, uh, don’t suppose they’re here to help with the Monster outbreak issue, are they?" I inquired wryly.

"Highly unlikely, I doubt they even know about it, the Knights have never helped with our issues unless it directly affects the Nobility in some way," She shook her head with a frown, before plastering on a phony smile as she headed for the entrance, waiting for all the Knights to enter before walking in after them.

I quietly followed after her, doing my best to appear calm. It should be fine if a bit of nervousness shows up on my expression...all the other Adventurers in here look pretty on edge right now.

"How may I help you gentlemen?" A middle-aged man greeted the Knights politely, but a definite look of nervousness in his eyes.

He’s the Guildmaster, I briefly met him this morning when Rosary introduced him. He seemed pretty nice, I feel kinda bad for him. What was his name again? It was something pretty forgettable...I could remember it if I really tried, but it’s not worth the effort.

"Sorry for the trouble, we’re looking for someone, you see. A young Heretic boy, with dark blue hair and a scar down his left eye. Have you seen anyone matching that description in the last few days?" One of them stepped forward and inquired with a smile.

Oh, it’s her again...the acting Knight Commander, Aries Velenet. Ah, that’s right, I let her see her healing myself right before I escaped. I was honestly just flexing, plus I was in a lot of pain, but I guess it worked out in my favor...them being aware of me being a Heretic is fine by me. After all, I can switch out my active Attribute at will.

"O-oh, uh, no...sorry, can’t say I’ve seen anyone like that. And we haven’t encountered any Heretics, at least not as far as we know," He shook his head in response.

"Tch, this is a waste of time! Let’s just check the Status Bars of everyone here until we find that little bastard!" Snapped one of the other Knights, the tension in the room spiking as he looked around at the Adventurers threateningly and condescendingly.

"That’s enough. Of course, we’ll do just that, it’s a good suggestion. However, I forbid any unnecessary violence," Responded Aries firmly.

Based on their expressions, most of the other Knights definitely don’t like the way she does things. How long before one of her disgruntled underlings tries to assassinate her or something? Hm, but that said, there are a couple of Knights who are looking at her with respect.

"All of you Commoner scum, stay right where you are! Act suspiciously and we won’t hesitate to cut you down!" Exclaimed one of the other Knights.

"No, there won’t be any of that! Our job as Knights is to protect the people, not to harm them. You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Shot back Aries icily.

The Knight she admonished scowled with an irritated look on his face, but he shrunk back and stayed silent all the same. Well, speaking from experience, she is pretty strong, so it makes sense that she can keep them in line.

"We’ll cooperate with your search as best we can, feel free to take your time," Remarked the Guildmaster nervously.

"We’re grateful for your cooperation. This won’t take long, we’ll be out of your hair as soon as we can. Alright, men, begin the search...view everyone’s Status Bars one by one. Again, we’re only looking for a Heretic, I forbid violence against anyone with the Dark Attribute," She commanded, before the Knights dispersed and approached the Adventurers.

I grimaced as one of them approached Rosary and me, frowning as he spotted me.

"Hey, Commander, aren’t we looking for a kid? So shouldn’t we just be checking the Status Bars of the kids in this town?" He called out to her.

"No, it’s possible he had some sort of transformation or illusion type Skill that let him change his appearance. The appearance we saw might have been false, and even if it wasn’t, he might have changed his appearance after escaping," She pointed out in response.

I should count myself lucky that they’re checking our Attributes instead of Soul Weapons...I’d probably be screwed if that was the case.

"What about their Soul Weapons? That kid had a whip, didn’t he? That’s an unusual Soul Weapon, there probably aren’t many people with a weapon like that," Remarked one of the other Knights.

Huh?

"Oh, good call. Sorry to ask, but I’d like all of you to bring out your Soul Weapons, please," Requested Aries, looking around apologetically.

Crap! I spoke too soon, damn it! And if that wasn’t bad enough on its own, to make matters worse, some of the Adventurers were staring at me, even Rosary just gave me a subtle side glance. Is my cover blown? I swear, if anyone here sells me out, I’ll kill them.

First though, I’ll hide in my Pocket Dimension the instant that happens, hopefully they’ll assume it’s a warp portal instead and think I’m gone. Ugh, come on, checking our Attributes should be enough on its own!

"What’s the hold up, woman? You deaf or something, bitch?" The Knight who approached us growled at Rosary impatiently.

"Oh, my apologies, sir. Here you go," She smiled as she held up her left hand.

"Tch, and your Soul Weapon?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"If it’s okay, I’ll show you afterwards. It’s the type that manifests on both hands, it might be difficult to view my Status Bar if I manifest it," She smiled in response, her left eyebrow twitching slightly in irritation as she held herself back.

"Hmph, what a pain," He muttered, as he roughly grabbed her hand and ran Mana into in, before he let out a slight chuckle as he sleazily caressed her hand, Rosary’s shoulders shuddering in disgust in response...that bastard, I’m so jealo-...I mean, repulsed.

Her Status Bar then popped up, and out of curiosity, I snuck a peek while her focus was on her hand, which the Knight was continuing to effectively molest.

Well, now, Diamond rank...just like I thought, she’s definitely not just a receptionist. I gave her a slight smirk as she glanced at me in her peripheral and noticed, before looking away as the Knight finally let go of her hand, subtly wiping it on the back of her dress before clenching her fist tightly before holding up both hands.

"Now, then...Manifest Soul Weapon: Venom Claws," She chanted, gloves with sharp, pointy ends on the fingers appearing on her hands.

Huh, all the Adventurers are staring at her with looks of disbelief in their eyes...if she really does disguise herself when she’s not a receptionist, they wouldn’t recognize her, but they would recognize her Soul Weapon, it’s a pretty unusual one.

"Alright, brat, you next," The Knight stared down at me disdainfully.

"Uh-huh. Here you go," I replied as I held up my left hand, subtly moving my right hand behind my back and manifesting my Soul Weapon while his attention was on my hand...I’m so glad he’s not touching it in the same way he did with Rosary’s...unlike her, I’m not so sure I’d be able to hold myself back.

Right as my Dragon Whisker manifested, I shrunk the whip end to its absolute minimum, moving my hand out from behind my back as I did...there, perfect, now it just looks like a dagger with knuckle spikes on the handle, the whip end little more than a nub.

"Tch, this one’s Dark Attribute too. No luck over here!" He called out to Aries, who glanced this way and nodded in response, before he turned back to me as she looked away, "Piece of shit Commoner brat, wasting my time..."

Piece of shit Noble asshole, wasting my time...as he moved his hand towards my head, aiming to flick my forehead, I felt a twinge of irritation and hatred welling up inside me.

He’s wearing metal gauntlets, there’s no way I’m just gonna stand here and let him hit me. As he flicked out his fingers, I swiftly dropped down and pretended to fiddle with my shoe straps.

As he missed, I grimaced as his foot began to raise, before stopping and setting it back down, and then walking away while muttering to himself. If he really had tried to kick me, I would’ve cut off his leg.

Even if I’m not using the whip part of my Soul Weapon, the dagger on the other end of the handle is just as sharp and penetrative as the whip is, so I’m far from defenseless.

Anyway, a few minutes later, the Knights were done checking the Attributes and Soul Weapons of every last Adventurer in the Guild. Naturally, they didn’t find what they were looking for. The moment I fooled them, that was it, they weren’t going to find anything.

"My apologies for taking up so much of your time, Adventurers. We will take our leave shortly. We will remain in town till tomorrow afternoon, once we have fully searched the area. Thank you for your cooperation today. Now, if you’ll excuse us," Remarked Aries with a bow, before heading out.

The other Knights followed after her, most of them with sour looks on their faces. Must have been tough for them, interacting so closely with so many Commoners and not allowed to torment them like they usually do.

I kept my gaze down as she walked past me...despite my disguise, I shouldn’t take any chances. If she recognizes me, it’s over. I should just-...h-huh?

I briefly raised my gaze as Aries walked past me, and in that moment, I got a glance at the faces of one of the Knights following her, and there was something unpleasantly familiar about his face...my eyes widened in recognition as a realized where I’d seen him before.

H-he’s...he’s one of the Knights who attacked my village...!

Something instantly snapped inside of me as the horrific images of that day in my memory flashed through my head, immense hatred overcoming my mind. I’ll...I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him!

I felt a massive, furious surge of rage and murderous intent starting to rapidly well up and burst out inside me, as I began to manifest my Soul Weapon in a blind fury-...suddenly, I felt a sharp pinch on my shoulder, snapping me out of it.

I glanced that way, to see Rosary slowly moving her hand away, giving me a brief side glance with narrowed eyes. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to compose myself, bottling my rage and hatred.

That was close...I was about to snap just then. No, I did snap, I completely lost it. I wasn’t thinking at all. The only thing on my mind was killing that bastard in the most brutal way imaginable.

Yeah, no doubt about it, just another second, and I would have attacked that Knight without a second thought. Calm down...this isn’t the time or place, I’ll only make things harder for myself if I act now. But I’ll get to him soon enough, count on it. I’ll do it at my own pace, there’s no need to rush...

They’re almost gone, but it should be easy enough to find them again while they’re still in town. I’ll get my chance before long. I then let out a quiet sigh of relief as the last of the Knights walked out the door and shut it.

Oh, crap...all the Adventurers are looking this way. Of course they are, I am a young boy with a whip Soul Weapon, fitting half the description the Knights gave of their target. I’m grateful that no one sold me out, but-...

"I can’t believe it, are you really Rose Thorn, Miss Rosary!?" Exclaimed one of the Adventurers.

Huh?

"It has to be, I’d recognize that Soul Weapon anywhere!" Chimed in one of the others.

"This is crazy, my mind is blown!"

"Yeah, same here, can’t believe we finally see who’s behind the mask!"

Ah, that’s right, I almost forgot...Rosary having to bring out her Soul Weapon totally blew her cover. My sympathies. But also, her alias as an Adventurer had ’Rose’ in it, even though her name is Rosary?

How did no one figure it out before now? It seems like she did a pretty half-assed job of hiding it. Oh, but then again, it’s kinda like hiding out in the open...most people would probably just write it off as a coincidence.

"Damn those meddlesome Knights," She groaned under her breath, an exasperated look on her face.

Well, at least her being forced into the spotlight is taking some attention off me. Maybe I should take this opportunity to sneak out while they’re all focused on her...

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