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Interlude: Disguise
THEIR meetings went in circles, but fortunately ended with them making some progress—albeit at a snail’s speed. Mynoghra’s empire-management was finally getting back on track with the Elfuur Sisters at the helm, following King Takuto’s instructions.
Still, it’s normal for things not to go exactly according to plan. Managing any kind of organization often leads to discovering a variety of small-scale problems when putting plans into action, derailing progress until they are dealt with.
“It’s time we let the world know His Majesty is alive and wellest,” Caria announced to the council members.
“Hrm? Why would we do that?” Elder Moltar asked. “Very few people know the king was attacked, and those who do are aware he’s fine. The only ones who don’t know are…the culprits behind the attack—those godforsaken Saints,” he cursed.
“We want those Saints to know,” Caria said.
Е̄n u ḿa.і d
“We’re gonna confuuuuze the enemy,” Maria added.
“That makes sense,” Gia interjected. “From what I’ve heard, the Divine Nation of Lenea is still in its infancy. They practically forced their secession from Qualia using their so-called divine achievement of defeating the King of Ruin. So your plan’s to shake things up for them by purposely spreading news of His Majesty’s good health?”
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“Exactly,” Caria nodded. “They believe they defeated His Majesty. It should put them a little on edge if they hear he’s alive and out there.”
“They won’t know if it’s the truth or a lie,” Maria giggled.
Mynoghra’s domestic affairs were rock solid, leaving nothing for outsiders to exploit. So their strategy was to use that to their advantage and launch an intelligence attack against the Saints’ shaky empire.
“We don’t need to deal direct damage to our enemies,” Caria explained. “All we need is to invite insecurity and alarm into their midst. If all goes wellest, His Majesty will exploit that weakness.”
Ẇ е̊b̂ n̆ ó v̆е l̄ Е̌ñ ù m а
None of the council members knew the king’s plans. Knowing his genius, he must’ve factored in that the twins would take such actions since he’d granted them a great deal of authority over Mynoghra. Only King Takuto would know if their plans to sew confusion into the Saints’ ranks was of any use, but at the very least, it shouldn’t disrupt his plans.
“Hm, I suppose that means there’s no cost to us even if we fail to induce turmoil in our enemy’s ranks?” Gia asked. “…But wait, I need to process this first.”
Gia was about to agree with the twins’ plan, thinking that it didn’t have any disadvantages for them, but then another problem came to mind.
“This poses the same problem we had figuring out how to manipulate information regarding the surprise attack,” Gia continued, getting his thoughts in order. “Sure, we can put out an edict in the king’s name, letting the world know he’s alive and well. But doubts will still remain if no one sees him. How do you plan to resolve that hiccup?”
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It was a sound argument. They could release all the information they wanted under the king’s name, but people would doubt it until they actually saw him for themselves. This simple method would go over just fine domestically. Takuto rarely went out as it was, so his people wouldn’t think twice about it.
The forces of good were another story. They were liable to investigate and uncover the truth that no one had seen him since the attack. They needed to prevent that—fortunately, the twins already had a countermeasure in mind.
W̃ĕ ḃ.n.ov еl Ĕ n ū m̆ а̄
“Big Sister Emle,” Caria said, calling on Emle.
“Ah! Yes, ma’am? H-How can I help you?” Emle’s head shot up. She wasn’t involved much in today’s meeting, so she was shocked when they suddenly called on her.
Caria didn’t seem particularly bothered by Emle’s almost amusing reaction as she nonchalantly ordered, “From tomorrow onward, you’ll be His Majesty.”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!”
Further chaos was invited into the meeting room with that hysterical cry.
◇◇◇
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A couple of hours had gone by. The same group of council members were still holed away in the meeting room, with an additional unfamiliar face among them. Or rather, it was a familiar face, wearing familiar attire, resulting in an entirely unfamiliar appearance.
“Uggggh… I’m too lacking to assume the king’s awe-inspiring appearance!!” bemoaned Emle, disguised as King Takuto. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying underneath the same cloak the King of Ruin always wore.
The clothes were tailor-made for her and she donned a special domino mask, hoping that would help her pull off the disguise. She had a similar stature to King Takuto, so it’d be hard for anyone to claim she was someone else if they announced the king had changed his attire. As far as the mask went, they could easily pass it off as their merciful king taking extra measures to help the weak-minded who often fainted and foamed at the mouth when he made eye contact with them. It was already considered an unspoken taboo for people to look him in the eye, so that was an easy excuse.
General consensus gave her perfect passing marks as the king’s body double. All they had left to do was choose the right time for her to appear in disguise.
“You’re the bestest pick because you’re the same size,” Caria pointed out. “You can continue to work on important government documents dressed like that too, so it’s a win-win.”
“Blegh…that’s not very reassuring…” Emle whimpered, her shoulders slumping in despair.
Ẃ е̊b n̂ о́_v е l̄ Eǹ.u ṁ a
Caria thought Emle looked just like Takuto did whenever he was scolded by Isla, which made her both satisfied and a tad delighted she’d pulled off the disguise better than they could’ve hoped for.
“Stop slouching! Can’t you sit up straight?! Do you honestly believe you can fulfill the esteemed role of His Majesty’s body double acting like that?!”
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An annoying old man just had to go and ruin what Caria thought looked perfectly like Takuto with his prompt nagging and biased demands. Both Caria and Emle grimaced and shot Elder Moltar dirty looks. Emle even found herself bitterly thinking, Then why don’t you try to pull off this disguise and see how uncomfortable it makes you?!
No one had the right to complain when they weren’t the one donning the guise of the great and mighty King of Ruin, the object of their reverence and fear, who’d saved them all and given them a future. But Emle knew challenging Elder Moltar’s nagging wouldn’t get them anywhere. She didn’t have the kind of personality that felt confident arguing with others, so she settled with showing her ire through body language alone. Although it appeared even that decision left her open to more nitpicking.
Annoying Mansplainer Number 2—also known as Warrior Captain Gia—threw his hat into the ring to take the next stab at her.
“The biggest problem is your lack of a powerful presence,” he criticized, arms folded at his chest like he’d suddenly become an expert on the topic. “Setting aside our king’s appearance, he’s a completely different monster on the inside. The king I know and love is bigger, bolder, and makes your soul quiver just being in his presence. I’m only stating the obvious here, but Emle can’t even imitate less than a quarter a percent of that power.”
E nu m а̀ . іḋ
He was acting like a bigshot who knew everything there was to know about their king, and his foolhardy attitude blinded him to the landmine he was about to throw himself upon.
“Not having any breasts is your only saving grace,” he continued, making a lewd hand gesture. “Anybody would be able to tell you’re a woman if you actually had peckers! HAHAHAHA!”
The normally meek and nonconfrontational Emle exploded at that comment. The absolutely insensitive pig of a man in front of her had just uttered the one phrase no one should ever say to a Dark Elf woman.
“Care to say that again?” Emle dared him, her words seething, her gaze sharper than any blade as it fleeced Gia. She overflowed with bloodlust ten times worse than usual, everything about her posture hinting that she’d lunge at him and pummel her fists into his face the moment she saw an opening.
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“…W-Well, whaddya know? You can incite a smidgen of the dread the king does,” Gia coughed.
“Can I execute him?” Emle asked, dead serious. “I might just be His Majesty’s body double, but I am the acting king at the moment. I have every right to execute this pig, don’t I?”
Ẁе̄ b n̊ о vе̊l Е̊ ňu_m̆а
“Please give the execution order, Your Majesty!” Caria exclaimed.
“We’ll approve it!” Maria smiled wickedly.
Dark Elf women generally had small breasts. This was a racial characteristic and not something they could fix through effort. Touching on the topic was guaranteed to set them off faster than lit dynamite. Any intelligent man knew better than to mess with that powder keg.
“Come now, don’t be so hasty, Emle,” Elder Moltar intervened. “This fool’s still useful, so please hold off your execution. You can string him up for all I care once His Majesty returns.”
“You will regret your words as you suffer miserably,” Caria hissed.
“We’ll mount your head on a pike for all to see!” Maria jeered.
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To make matters worse, Mynoghra’s pride and joy, Sludge Atou, also had a modest chest and felt a kinship with the Dark Elf women in that regard. Even King Takuto never commented on such things—he was a decent enough man to recognize that it was highly insensitive to make cracks about a woman’s body. Not even Elder Moltar dared aid Gia under such circumstances. Gia had no allies here.
“B-Boy, oh, boy, did I get you good! I was j-just kidding. Hahaha,” Gia laughed dryly. “Emle perfectly pulls off that disguise! I really believe that! I do!”
“Will you shut up? I will discuss your punishment with His Majesty as soon as he returns.”
Emle silenced Gia’s shameless excuse-making with her sharp tone. Then she let the topic go to concentrate on fulfilling her role as King Takuto’s body double. There was no use whining about something that needed to be done. She would pull off her role perfectly until the end.
“Can we get back on topic now? What should I do if someone talks to me?” Emle asked. “His Majesty and I have completely different voices. I’m fairly positive the ruse will be up the second I speak…”
“You needn’t worry about that,” Caria responded as if there was no need to even ask.
E n̄ u m а̇
“Why not?” Emle asked, baffled by her response.
It killed Emle to admit it, but she pulled off King Takuto’s physical appearance pretty well. And her face would be covered by the mask, making that a non-issue. But their voice difference was a huge issue. She couldn’t imitate King Takuto’s voice—they were too different. This could be the problem that unraveled their whole plan—or so she thought.
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“Because His Majesty doesn’t speak to strangers,” Caria replied simply.
“Stranger danger!” Maria cheered.
“…O-Oh…”
The problem was resolved in the unlikeliest of ways.
Ẇėb̂ ǹо vӗl Е́n̊ ú m̀ а_
An awkward silence filled the room. And thus, the meeting came to a close in a somewhat incomplete manner. Saying anything further would be digging their own graves. Even the frazzled Dark Elf grown-ups had enough sense in them to show that much consideration for their socially awkward king.
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