Esme wasn't wrong in the slightest.
Rey already realized it, but he really felt like he could be himself around her.
The first time he transformed to his true self, only with the mask on, in front of her, it was such a subconscious action that he didn't even realize it until she asked if it was really him underneath the mask.
He had just gotten so comfortable around her.
'Well, I guess she can see right through me…' His smile was hidden under the dark mask, unseen by the girl in front of him.
Before the silence continued for too long, Esme raised up another topic that completely shifted the mood of the conversation.
"Why did you get back so early, though? The meeting didn't take very long, I'm guessing."
As she asked this question, Rey instantly remembered the entire thing that happened in the Guildmaster's office—including how frustrated he felt back then.
"It didn't take long? Are you kidding? It took too long!" His back fell on the bed as he whined, not seeing the smile that Esme gave him as she rested her head on one hand.
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah! The worst part was that I had to act engaged or things would seem off." He added, sighing to himself.
Whenever he was with Esme, this pathetic side of himself just managed to ooze out and he felt like he could vent all he wanted.
Though, sometimes, Rey wondered if he wasn't being excessive.
"Well, if it took so long why are you back so soon?" As soon as he heard that question, Rey thought back to when he stopped the sensory sharing experience the moment they left the Adventurers Guild.
From that point on, his duplicate's body was on autopilot.
'Alicia is definitely going to chew me out later!' He thought to himself, nearly clenching his teeth in obvious guilt.
In Rey's defense, though, he had serious matters to discuss with Esme regarding their plans going forward, unlike the more casual conversation he would have had with Alicia.
In essence, he was choosing business over pleasure—a truly disciplined move.
Yes… that was his true reason!
"In any case, we should get to the serious stuff, Esme." Rey said, returning to an upright sitting posture.
"Alright, alright."
The mood in the room turned a little tense as both parties looked at each other with tension in their eyes.
"About the Guildmaster's plan to—"
"Pfft…"
"Hm? What's so funny?" Rey asked, wondering why Esme just burst out laughing.
"Nothing, sorry. I'm so sorry, carry on."
At this point, Rey's curiosity got the better of him. He just had to know what caused her to laugh like that—especially when they were having such a serious moment.
"Just say it."
"No, it's really nothing."
"Just… come on, don't be like this. Say what made you laugh."
"I told you, it's really nothing."
"If it's nothing, then say it!"
"No! Don't worry about it. Let's continue the talk."
"Esme!"
"About the Grandmaster's plan to… go on."
"It's Guildmaster! Also, just spit it out."
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Come on!"
"We're running out of time, you know?"
"…."
After more back and forths, the room finally quieted down. Despite not using any Skills or even moving from their positions, the two had just engaged in a fierce battle.
The winner was, of course, Esme.
'She didn't tell me till the very end. Damn…' Rey gritted his teeth as he swallowed his wounded pride to continue his earlier statement.
It would be a lie if he said he wasn't still curious about the source of her laughter, but he decided to ignore the nagging feeling for more important stuff.
Business over pleasure, after all…
"Anyway… about the Guildmaster's plan to have us together with the other Heroic Rank Adventurers, it'll affect our initial plans a little."
Their original plan was to function as a Party of two and grind in the Dungeon, as independently as they could.
If possible, they would cut off from the rest of the group just for the freedom to kill as many Monsters and raise Esme's Stats.
"This new plan will have to restrict us, as well as the EXP gained from the entire expedition." Rey sighed.
He really wanted to refuse the Guildmaster's plan, but there was really no good reason he could give to justify it.
'It's a solid strategy, and it will yield the overall best results for the collective.'
Rey had operate under the confines of the persona he had generated, so he couldn't give any response contrary to the ideals he represented as 'Jet.'
'The fact that everyone agreed with the plan shows just how effective it is.'
If he and Lux became the sole contrarians, it would go against everything he had been building up from Day 1.
'And I can't have that, now can I?' He sighed.
"I don't think it's a really bad arrangement." Esme's voice woke him up from his internal analysis.
"Besides, if the whole thing becomes a bother, we can always find a way to separate ourselves from the rest, right?"
As expected, she looked at the bright side of things.
"Well, yeah… you're not wrong." Rey commented, his face still depicting contemplation. "If the current arrangement is detrimental to your growth and my plans, we'll stop going along with it."
He could think of a bunch of things he could do to achieve that end.
"If things go well, it could even end up contributing to your epic grand plan." Esme said with a slight chuckle.
"You really think so?"
It seemed Rey missed the sarcasm there, but it wasn't of primary concern.
"Well, we can only wait and see."
"I suppose you're right…" After Rey said this, the two were silent for a while.
Then—
"Anyway, I was wondering…" Esme began, though in a slightly low tone. "… If we could go on some kind of tour through the ci
—"
"Ah… I gotta go now! We just got back to our rooms and Adonis wants to have a secret discussion with us."
Before Esme could finish, Rey already zoned out, leaving his body in a completely frozen state.
The Half Elf girl stared at it for a while before shaking her head and sighing.
"Never mind…"