"A terrorist attack happened in the capital, you say? What kind of lunatics would pull off a terrorist attack in the capital of all places? That takes some real nerve."
The Leader spoke in a perfectly nonchalant voice.
Declaring the intent to upend the Empire's power structure, to burn away and purify the corrupt wielders of authority who prevented people from living as people.
That had been a mere twenty minutes ago.
As if forgetting entirely that he himself was the mastermind plotting world purification. Speaking with the most guileless expression imaginable.
That divinely inspired performance was certainly astonishing.
But what was more astonishing lay elsewhere.
"......What? It's not a lie?"
The Sword Emperor's True Eye, said to see through all falsehood.
And Boss had most certainly been lying.
"The headcount matching the terrorist group is also a coincidence? Rushing off in a hurry was also a coincidence...... except that makes no sense. So my eyes are broken? ......That doesn't make any sense either."
Yet the Sword Emperor could not discern it.
Boss was toying with them.
Those eyes that pierced every lie and illusion.
Being surpassed effortlessly, the enemy played like a fool.
......How was such a thing even possible?
Rang, having formed a guess, could only stand in stunned awe.
'......Self-suggestion pushed to the absolute extreme.'
Mind control so precise that even those eyes could not detect it. Deception that went beyond fooling others to fooling even oneself.
'He twisted his own personality structure in an instant to create an alternate self that has absolutely no connection to the White Cloud Society? What kind of life has he lived to be capable of that?'
Even spies trained for years struggled to deceive themselves. All the more so if one had to surpass the Sword Emperor's True Eye on top of that.
Self-suggestion that even elite agents could only achieve by relying on drugs or artifacts. The Leader had accomplished it effortlessly.
'Without any tools whatsoever. And in this short a time, he fabricated a false persona and thought pattern to deceive the enemy? Is something like that truly possible?'
What manner of training could lead to such a plane of mastery? What trials and tribulations must one overcome before overwriting one's own personality becomes a trivial feat?
Rang stared at the Leader, expression blank.
"I was wondering why everyone was acting so strange. Turns out the timing overlapped with a terrorist group's operation, and we got mistaken for them. What are the odds that some random terrorist group's schedule would collide with our company's promotional event?"
She could only stare blankly.
An idol she had always wanted to catch up to.
How impossibly far away that idol stood. And what unimaginable path had been walked to reach that height.
It was beyond even her ability to envision.
"......You were mistaken for a terrorist group?"
"Yes, people suddenly started chasing us, so we just ran. You said yourself that the reported terrorist group had the same headcount as us, didn't you? Seems like a mix-up happened somehow."
The Leader conversed with the Sword Emperor as if it were nothing.
They were supposed to be on opposing sides.
If their identities were discovered, that sword would swing and take their heads. The second strongest human in the Empire was right in front of them.
Everyone was tense. Yet the Leader alone showed not a trace of it. It crossed her mind -- could Boss possibly not even know this was the Sword Emperor? That was how absurd the level of composure was.
"This is really going to cause us problems. We should probably go with a different name for our business. Maybe just something safe like Cloud Cleaning after all."
The Sword Emperor quietly studied the Leader's face, checking for tells.
The circumstances were undeniably suspicious.
But the Leader's attitude was so brazen, so confident. It was clearly causing confusion over what conclusion to draw.
"But it really is strange. No matter how incompetent the guards are, would they confuse soap sellers with a terrorist group? More importantly, my gut is telling me you people are hiding something."
The Sword Emperor's instincts were sharp indeed.
"Hiding something? Of course we are. Want to see?"
But the Leader stood a full head above.
"Ta-da -- sample soap. I carry these around for promotion at all times. Consider it fate -- what do you say? It's free, naturally, but if you like it after trying it, I'd appreciate you spreading the word."
A performance that didn't just approach perfection -- it transcended it.
To think that mask had been fabricated on the spot.
Even they, who knew what the Leader truly was, felt as though they could be completely fooled. The more she watched, the more divinely gifted the acting.
"Sorry for the suspicion. You all had a rough time too. That terrorist group must be nasty work. Rather than a coincidence of being mistaken, it's more likely they used you as decoys."
"Hm...... you think so?"
"They could have used illusion magic to overlay their appearance onto yours, for instance. There are plenty of ways to use someone as a decoy."
The Sword Emperor smiled apologetically.
Smiled apologetically, and then...... with perfect naturalness.
Slipped a barb into one final question.
"I'll gladly take the sample. Looks like quality soap at a glance. Could I get a business card, perhaps? I'd like to drop by sometime and buy some as gifts for friends. Haha."
And Rang's face went pale in an instant.
'......There's no way we'd have business cards prepared.'
If they were truly here on business, having them would be the natural thing. But they were no salespeople.
Soap sellers was nothing more than a crude excuse.
Their true nature was an organization aiming for world purification. A group built to topple the Emperor and establish a new nation with Boss as its sovereign.
'The Sword Emperor saw through Boss's acting to the very end and threw out one last test? ......What kind of monster is that?'
How on earth were they supposed to get out of this?
Rang felt the world go dark before her eyes.
Felt the world go dark, and yet --
There was the Leader, smiling calmly before that scheming Sword Emperor.
"Oh, of course. Naturally I have one."
The Leader smiled with perfect composure...... and handed over a business card.
A business card that had been tucked inside a pocket as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"......Squeaky-Clean Adam's Scrub-a-Dub Hygiene Supply Shop?"
"Yes, isn't it quite a nice name? The kids say it's terrible. But I think it has a homey charm to it."
Hearing this, Rang could only stand in shock.
What she'd been certain was the Leader's only weakness -- that naming ability. That catastrophically terrible name. But she'd been wrong.
'......Even that name was a diversionary tactic to avoid suspicion. The Leader's stratagem -- playing the fool to lower the enemy's guard!'
How far ahead had the Leader been seeing? How much had the Leader prepared in advance?
Rang could only be overwhelmed.
"Haha, I feel bad for hassling you over nothing. Next time I'm on vacation, I'll swing by the shop and buy a whole load of soap. Consider that my apology. I'll run your sales way up."
A cheerful laugh as the Sword Emperor departed.
The figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
Long after the Sword Emperor was gone, the members could finally release their tension and breathe again.
And the very first reaction every member showed was, as if by prior arrangement, identical.
""Leader!!!""
Everyone looked at the Leader with shining eyes.
"Boss really is incredible."
"I genuinely thought we were dead this time."
Yet the Leader remained utterly composed.
"What's gotten into all of you? I just did a bit of promotion for the shop. Any salesperson worth their salt needs at least this much people skills. It's the basics."
Boss said this while looking at the members.
That this was the most elementary of tasks.
Toying with eyes that see through every falsehood.
Treating the world as a chessboard, predicting the pieces' movements, seeing dozens, hundreds of moves ahead, and responding with flawless precision.
All of this was nothing more than basic work to him.
"......"
Before such a Leader, everyone could only stand in awe.
Rang was certain.
......The Leader was surely heaven-sent.
***
The most magnificent castle in the Empire.
A palace stained in the blood of the thousands of slaves sacrificed for its construction, yet shining more brilliantly than any building -- the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor of the Empire, Heinkel Leonhart, sat upon the throne with an expression of utter boredom, gazing down at the vassal before him.
"The group that identified themselves as the White Cloud Society has struck Yulia, Your Majesty. We are searching with all available resources, however......"
The White Cloud Society. An irritating name.
But not a particularly large problem.
Livestock too stupid to know their place, rebelling against their master. Insolent, arrogant degenerates were always bound to appear.
"Enough. Come to me."
Tracking them down, capturing and identifying them.
There was no time to waste on such games of hide-and-seek.
What human in the world would play hide-and-seek with ants?
"If an insect offends you, simply crush it underfoot."
Was there any reason to think about it at all?
Analyzing the fighting strength of such insignificant creatures and devising plans against them -- even that was laughable.
"......Y-Your Majesty? W-we truly can handle this ourselves. If you would just give us a little more time......"
The vassal was trembling.
The Emperor looked down at the sight with an expressionless face and spoke.
"His quality as a sacrifice is below standard. But it will do."
The Emperor seized the vassal's head in one hand and......
CRUNCH—!
Crushed it.
Blood sprayed in every direction.
But it did not stain the Emperor's body.
The blood soon took shape, transforming into a bizarre summoning circle.
What bubbled up from within was an eerie black liquid. An aberrant demon made of tentacles, teeth, and eyeballs.
[Crushing the skull yourself. Your methods of offering sacrifices are always so crude. I do prefer my offerings intact, if possible.]
"The brain was too dull to grasp my mood, the eyes were so arrogant as to look me in the face, and the mouth spouted things I did not care to hear. What use was keeping his head attached?"
The Emperor spoke with ease even before the demon.
He himself had long since ceased to be human. Being nervous in front of a demon would be the stranger thing.
[Well, so long as you pay the proper price, I have no complaints. Now then -- what does Your Imperial Majesty desire?]
"To erase one human from the face of this world."
Simply tracking them down and killing them would be cheaper, true.
But whenever rebels appeared, the Emperor always chose this method. ......The mere thought that such arrogant cattle were breathing the same air as him was unbearable for even a single second.
"The price I offer is nine thousand nine hundred humans. Innocent, virtuous souls. The kind you prefer -- I have prepared them in advance."
Livestock being cultivated in the basement.
The supply was not infinite, granted, and some of the cattle had taken their own lives, making the numbers precarious.
But fortunately, the amount needed this time was still available.
"Eliminate the leader of the White Cloud Society, who dared to plot rebellion. The leader of the terrorists who seek to burn down the Empire."
Screams echoed all the way up here.
The screams of sacrifices as the demon devoured their souls.
Payment of the offering was complete and confirmed.
The loathsome rebel should have been erased by now.
......But the demon suddenly wore a strange smile.
[I am terribly sorry about this. The commission has been received, but unfortunately, there is an error in the request. It cannot be fulfilled.]
What in the world did that mean?
Agitation rippled across the Emperor's previously expressionless face.
[You were searching for 'the leader of terrorists who seek to burn down the Empire,' yes? But that is simply impossible.]
Seeing that expression, the demon spoke with a playful smile.
[Because such a human does not exist in this world.]
"......What?"