"Haa…"
This heavy sigh came from Jet as he took his seat on a sizeable bed at the far right corner of a spacious room. His gaze was on the girl with him, who sat on the other bed, which was located at the extreme end opposite him.
There was a large window at the corner of the wall that stood beside both beds, causing the dim evening lights to shower in.
There were also Enchanted Lamps to give the room a bright-enough ambiance. Objectively speaking, it was a neat room. A bit minimalistic with the furniture—having only a wardrobe, two bedside tables, a study desk and chair, and of course, their beds—but everything seemed to be in good order.
They had more than enough space to put whatever stuff they wanted to add to the room. It was clearly designed this way so that Adventurers could set everything else up according to their preferences.
Any normal person would look at this place and be genuinely impressed.
However, both Jet and Lux had to admit to themselves as they looked around them… compared to the places they were used to, this place was mediocre at best.
"The bed is pretty uncomfortable." Jet broke the silence, sighing even more.
"I thought I was the only one who noticed."
For the first time ever, Lux responded with her own voice. It was so enchanting and smooth that anyone who heard it would instantly fall in love with it.
The two laughed as soon as they heard each other speak, instantly getting rid of the dreary atmosphere that existed within the room.
"It is what it is. This is the most expensive inn we can get in this City. Unless we want to get a proper house, which won't be worth it since we're just going to be here for a week or so."
"Yeah, I get it." Lux responded to Jet's elaborate explanation with a shrug.
They both took off their hats and hoods, revealing the incredibly attractive faces that they both had. Suddenly, they laughed at each other once again.
"Is that really what you look like underneath the mask?" Lux giggled as her previously human ears became pointy.
Other than that small difference, she remained the same.
"Of course not. You think I'll reveal my face to anyone here? If you had some kind of shapeshifting ability, I would have preferred it if you could also have a different appearance."
Jet put on a dark mask, and soon, his entire body transformed into a completely different form.
His pale skin took on a much more normal complexion, he became a lot taller and bulkier than he previously was.
In no time, he left the identity of Jet behind and took on a completely different one—Ralyks!
"I wonder if you're really buff like that in real appearance." Lux—no, more like the Half Elf, Esme—smiled as she looked at the new person in front of her.
"I am."
"Pfft! I don't believe you."
"For real. I'm pretty buff… I think."
"Then prove it. Show me your true self, Rey… ah, I shouldn't have said your real name, right?" Esme looked a bit nervous, but the guy opposite her merely shrugged it off.
"Sound Magic is active, so I guess it's fine."
"Ah, yeah. I forgot about that." She laughed, itching her white hair.
"You know I won't show you my true form, right?" Rey said with a playful tone.
"Yeah, yeah! It's not fair, though. You've practically seen me naked, yet I can't get even a glimpse at your face."
"H-hey! Why are you bringing that up now? Y-you know it wasn't on purpose or anything…"
The moment Esme heard this reaction from Rey, she made a naughty smile and stared at him in a particularly unnerving fashion.
"W-why are you looking at me like that?"
"How about a trade?"
"A trade? Don't tell me…?!" Even with the black mask covering his face, Rey's bulging eyes could be seen.
"Yes. I'll let you see me nude again. In exchange… I want to see your face."
It was a strange thing for a girl to say. Most guys would never hear those words from any lady, especially if the lady was as drop dead gorgeous as Esme.
Yet… she was willing to make such a bargain?
Rey's silence after hearing this was evidence of how difficult it was to reject such a tempting offer.
The last time, everything happened too fast for him to burn the image in his mind.
But now… now things were different!
"I-I think I—"
"Just kidding! Haha! As if I'd do something like that… hahahaha!"
Esme's loud giggles drowned whatever response Rey would have given to her offer. Thanks to that, hollow silence reigned supreme after the laugh was done.
No one said anything for a while.
Then—
"At least let me see your body."
"No."
"Come on! You can cover your face with your mask, so it's pretty much the same thing!"
"I refuse!"
"Please? Pretty please? I'm dying of curiosity here!"
After an exhausting round of back and forth, Rey finally gave in with a very loud sigh.
"Fine, I'll tell you…" He mumbled, almost as if he was being shy about it. "This is… my true form."
"H-huh?"
"I sort of grew taller and buffer after Leveling Up a lot. So, yeah… I'm pretty much as tall and as buff as my Ralyks persona."
"You're serious?" Esme's eyes widened at the realization.
That meant, all this time, she had been speaking to the real Rey
—with no barrier that wasn't the mask present.
That meant, right now… Rey was—
"Of course I'm kidding. Why would I show you how I truly look like?"
"Y-YOUUUUU!!!!"
If not for Rey's Sound Magic, the next round of arguments—
especially from Esme—would have blown the whole room apart.
Fortunately, it all eventually sizzled out.
… Only after a few hours, though.
"Huff… huff! Are you… done?" Rey asked, his hoarse voice a clear sign that he too had to raise his voice at some point in order to match Esme's.
"Y-yeah… I think so."
With peace and sanity restored within the room, both Rey and Esme finally had the clear mind to discuss what they should have talked about from the start.
"Now that we've made it this far, I suppose it's time to talk about what our next move is." Rey said, looking straight at the smiling Esme.
"Yeah."
As fun as it was to put on new costumes and pretend to be different people, there was a very important reason why they had chosen to do all of this.
"It looks like the plan to establish ourselves worked well, though." Esme commented, recalling the events that led to their current predicament.
"Yeah. A little too well, though."
"What do you mean? I know you used Sound Magic on that receptionist so that everyone in the hall could hear what she said." She stated. "We got the attention you wanted."
It was for the same reason that he agreed to expose their faces in public.
"Yeah, but I had nothing to do with that Barbarian from earlier."
"Really? I thought you controlled him or something." Esme responded casually. "Guess I was wrong."
"Yeah… that guy was just being a natural idiot."
Thanks to that, though, their names became known among the Adventurers pretty early.
"The initial plan was to pass the Heroic Rank Test today and spread our names using that method, so when that receptionist said we would have to take it tomorrow, I was a bit disappointed…"
Esme couldn't see this, but Rey was smiling underneath his mask.
"It's a good thing that idiot approached us and caused such a scene." Rey plopped on the hard bed and stared at the ceiling with a look of gratification imprinted on his face.
His tone also did well to convey his satisfaction.
"Now everything is going according to plan. Right on schedule."