'Who is this man?'
I already considered this castle enemy territory, but I didn't expect to face this sort of intruder. Nevertheless, though I couldn't see through him, I hadn't lost all my bearings. For one such as I could never be defeated so easily.
"Could you be the true master of this castle?"
The tiny change in expression on that carefree face brought me joy. He might have caught me off-guard but there was no way I could let this man be the one to have the last laugh.
"You're surprisingly close. I guess that's the Flamboyant Hunter for you."
"Hmph, this level of deduction is nothing. Perhaps it would be better if I explained how I also know that you're the one that fought that boneman on behalf of the lizard of the forest."
"Oh, I am interested."
Normally it wouldn't be in my nature to talk so much, but I knew with one look that I was no match for this person. They might not want to touch me because of my connections, but I had seen many crazy demons who would throw away such concerns if they felt that their pride was harmed.
Therefore, I needed to play the role of a competent courtesan until he was satisfied by my tongue.
'Besides, I can also use this chance to confirm my theories and draw information out of him.'
"Well, it's really simple once you connect the dots. Someone who can rule over that boneman despite not being of the order of nobility would have to overwhelm it in battle. And since the last time it was involved in serious battle was about twenty years ago, it wasn't hard to guess that you're the person who stopped him from invading the forest."
It was a theory I made up on the spot, but based on his expression I didn't seem too far off.
"Hmm, you really are a sharp one. No wonder you're protected so carefully."
"! Would you mind explaining what you mean?"
I was afraid that I revealed a bit of my true emotion just now, but I quickly regained my composure. The fact that he was aware of the spell cast on me but still showed himself meant he either wasn't reluctant to provoke my superiors or didn't plan on doing anything to me. Either way, using my clan as a threat didn't seem like it could work.
"You don't have to mind it too much, just thinking out loud. By the way, you're rather well known for being a master of disguise, ever had any trouble with experienced mages?"
"I can't say there's never been a time where the Magic Eyes of Perception could see through my disguise, but I always make preparations beforehand. Additionally, demons skilled enough to see past my concealment technique are few and far between so I rarely have any run-ins with them."
I wondered if I was being too loose-lipped, but I didn't feel any sense of discomfort as I answered his questions. Besides, it wasn't as if I was exposing my secrets to him.
-A few hours later.
"Yes, I was sent here to confirm whether or not the undead lord would stand on our side."
***
(My POV)
Wow, this was better than I expected. It was the first time I used Hypnosis on someone, but once I got used to it I was able to easily drag out the information I wanted.
'Good thing she's a nightwalker or else this would have been much harder.'
Mental attacks like Hypnosis only worked on living beings so I was glad there was a distinction between undead vampires and live vampires in this world.
While I digested the details she willingly spilled, I finally managed to get around her concealment technique. I tried to make her remove it herself, but it seemed it was too important so she firmly refused despite being in enough of a trance to tell me both the details of her mission and the ones who sent her here.
[Isma tis Langrey ast Vandread von Wrath
Race: Nightwalker
Strength: 788
Agility: 999
Dexterity: 970
Defence: 698
Skills: Bloodsucking (Special) | Regeneration (Special) | Blood Puppet (Special) | Assassinate (Rare) | Sneak (Common) | Steal (Common) | Knife Technique (level 5) (Rare) | Magic Eyes of Perception (Rare) | Wind Magic (MAX) (Rare) | Perfect Disguise (Special) | Charm (Special) | Torture (Rare) | Blink (Special)
Titles: Flamboyant Hunter | Crazy | Summit of Agility]
[Bloodsucking (Special)
Thirst: The health and mana absorbed from target is proportional to blood sucked from the target. Less effective after repeated use on the same target.
Convert: By giving blood to someone who has been affected by Thirst, changes them into a Vampire Slave.]
[Blood Puppet (Special)
Anyone who has ingested the user's blood will be under their complete control for as long as the blood remains in their system.]
[Perfect Disguise (Special)
Can transform into the appearance of anyone that the user has seen or can form a clear image of.
With a small amount blood or flesh, can perfectly mimic the mental and physical aspects of the person the blood or flesh belongs to.]
[Flamboyant Hunter
Given to one who seeks to make art out of the corpses of their enemies.
All stats +1 after every creative kill.]
[Crazy
Given one who cannot be understood by the common folk as a result of their deranged mindset.
Intelligence improves.
Low resistance to mental attacks.]
'So that's her real name. Rather long.'
Well damn. Just the short-range teleportation of Blink and the time-slowing domain of Summit of Agility would already make her pretty strong, but then she also had the perks of being a full vampire.
While I didn't think I would lose against her, she might be able to land a serious blow with a surprise attack. That made me want to dispose of her even more, but my reason still maintained a tight leash.
'If it wasn't for this spell I could just eat her soul and be done with this.'
Though it was a good thing I noticed it, the spell that had been placed on Isma made it impossible for me to kill her without alerting the caster. And for demons like her, the true name didn't have much power. Therefore, I had to go through the more bothersome route.
On a different note, considering that it took a while for me to get a look at her status even with both the Magic Eyes of Perception and the Dragon Eyes of Truth, this incident made me realize that I needed to get better at seeing through someone's true form. I doubted anyone could disguise as one of my familiars without me noticing, but I couldn't be completely sure.
Incidentally, I was also able to take a glimpse at her real face, but let's just say that she hadn't grown up in the best of environments. Still, without a hint of pity I made sure to wipe her memories of our meeting and also implant the idea that Bony wouldn't be an obstacle to her superiors. Considering her occupation there were obviously things set up in her mind to prevent people from reading her memories, but as long as I didn't try to look at it there was no problem with fiddling around.
"Jeanne, put her to bed."
"Yes, master."
I left the tiding up to Jeanne who removed her invisibility. Isma had already been put in a deep sleep so there was no need to worry about her seeing anything else, and she surely wouldn't be able to wake up even if someone tried to kill her. But such violent thoughts were at the back of mind, how to deal with the current situation was far more important.
'So they really are planning a war. She doesn't know who suggested it, but at this point it doesn't matter. As much as I hate it, I'll have to put myself on the playing board.'
Once Jeanne had finished erasing all physical evidence of this meeting, I stood up and said, "Start preparing. Once Brad gets back, we'll need to go on a little trip."