129 – The Cultist
“Why?”
Ignoring the burdensome gaze, I tried to ask calmly.
Yulia asked the question in reverse without erasing her dissatisfied eyes.
“Really?”
“What?”
“Did you just know the girl?”
Did you care about that? You must have heard my answer from the side, but to the point where you have to double-check like this?
“I told you before. Because it’s the first face I’ve ever seen The other party also admitted that it was an illusion.”
“Hmm…”
To tell you the truth, I’m old friends with Blanca. More precisely, only I know one-sidedly.
The other person will only remember the way I dressed up, so they can’t recognize my current face.
When Blanca brought up such a thing earlier, she was quite surprised.
However, it is only a casual question without meaning. No matter how sharp your intuition is, you won’t be able to figure out my identity right away.
“Really?”
“Why would I lie to you about something like this?”
“Okay. I will believe you.”
She laughed out loud as she saw Yulia, who crossed her arms as if she was patronizing her and gave a flirtatious answer.
Very different behavior from her usual appearance.
While I was wondering why this was happening all of a sudden, an answer popped into my head.
This is not an ordinary place, but a secret space where phantom thief followers gather.
In other words, meeting someone here is tantamount to proof that you have attended a meeting before.
Yes. Julia suspected that I might have tricked her into sneaking into her place.
Surely sharp. You almost got caught.
As I breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that I had narrowly escaped the crisis, the goddess muttered something pitiful.
[Such a stupid guy…]
‘Yes?’
[It has been. Never mind.]
If you’re going to talk, I’ll make you feel better, but it’s frustrating because you’re more curious about it when you cut it off vaguely.
When I glanced at her sideways, Yulia was back to her normal self.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice, so let’s be careful from now on.
“Now what?”
Today’s main character is clearly not me, but her.
I am just a group of people who have been requested and followed.
Yulia, who was worried while touching her chin at my question, pointed in one direction to her and said.
“Let’s go over there and sit down.”
“Okay.”
I went to a corner seat with few people around and sat down. It was okay because it was less noisy after I fell off the stage.
But is it okay to just sit like this?
The last time I came, naturally, Blanca came over and we talked, and then Drake started his speech.
First of all, judging from the atmosphere, it didn’t feel like there was a particular format set. Just freely watch the performance, enjoy alcohol and food, and talk freely with the person you like…
It was literally like a club.
Or was it just that day? I decided to ask Yulia just in case.
“You said you were here before, right?”
“Yes. Although only once.”
“How was it then? Was it the same as now?”
The answer was unexpected. It was because Yulia, who was a bit hesitant, shook her head, indicating her infidelity.
“I think it’s a little different. In fact, it is very different.”
“Really?”
There was little change from when I first came, so of course I thought Yulia was the same.
According to the date, it would have been a long time ago when she first came to the basement, so wouldn’t it be so strange if the atmosphere was different?
“How was it different?”
“···It wasn’t so noisy. There was music that calmed the mind, and it seemed like we got together and talked freely about Raven.”
Certainly, even if I just listened to the words and imagined it, it felt completely different from what I am now.
To compare, it would have been more like an academic conference rather than a club.
As I listened to Yulia’s story, my confidence grew stronger. Drake is not running this gathering out of pure fanaticism towards the thief. The guy was using it as a means to achieve his own goals.
At first, he gathered people who liked phantom thieves and naturally revealed his thoughts subtly. And while gradually changing the atmosphere of the underground, he created the current follower group to turn his attention to entertainment and pleasure.
“Then, how has the atmosphere changed? Do you like it more compared to last time?”
“I don’t know. People here seem to like it, but it’s so different from the gathering I thought.”
Fortunately, I didn’t like it. Rather, they are perplexed by the unfamiliar scenery.
If you get used to it by attending meetings regularly, you might like it, but there was no reason to let it happen.
My goal is to get Yulia to pay attention to the phantom thief followers.
Therefore, it was necessary to make the most of the current situation.
Of course, you shouldn’t move too hastily.
Yulia has a huge fan following of Raven the Phantom Thief. She went beyond liking it simply because she was cool, and considered it a turning point that changed her life.
So, while acknowledging the heart toward the thief itself, I plan to induce people to think that this meeting is wrong.
“From what I can see, this is… It looks like a place just for entertainment. No one is talking about the phantom thief right now.”
“·······.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Julia didn’t openly say yes, but just by looking at her eyes, it was easy to infer that she was quite sympathetic.
“You didn’t come to the wrong place, did you?”
“That’s not going to happen. The woman from earlier recognized me too.”
“Or the topic of the meeting has changed.”
“…Is it really like that?”
Okay. It is shaking properly. At this rate, without a big crowd, I would be disappointed in the meeting, leave the underground, and never come back again.
But if I pour out too much criticism, they might have doubts about my attitude. So I did not forget to pretend to look at it as objectively as possible.
“Actually, I really like the atmosphere here. Except it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Phantom Thieves.”
“That is the most important thing to me. A phantom thief follower shouldn’t have anything to do with phantom thieves.”
“That is not true.”
Very desirable. The look of disappointment in Yulia’s eyes grew stronger.
At this point, even if she suggested that we just leave, she seemed to agree without saying anything.
“Friends. Can you excuse me for a second?”
At that time, an unexpected variable occurred. Someone suddenly appeared and came up to the table where we were sitting and started talking.
Dark bronzed skin and rough impression. When I looked at it up close, I even saw tattoos all over my body.
As soon as I realized who he was, I realized that the plan was tightly twisted.
The head of this group, Drake, appeared in front of us in person.
Yulia blinked her eyes and stared at her opponent, then let out a short exclamation as if she remembered her.
“Ah. The one I saw last time…”
“It’s an honor to remember you. My pretty friend who came a few weeks ago.”
Unknowingly, I frowned at her and moved closer to Yulia. Then, Drake glanced over and smiled slyly.
“But I don’t remember the friend next to her. Is this her first time here?”
“Yes. Any problem?”
“Whoa. Why do the same friends set me up but.”
“…Are you the same friend?”
I can’t remember when I became friends with you.
“Sure. Everyone who comes here is a friend. A friend who admires our hero, Raven.”
“Our hero… That’s what I said last time.”
“Exactly. The talk I had with you at that time was really helpful. I am still grateful.”
A guy who shamelessly sticks his butt into a seat without asking permission.
“But when I happened to hear about it while passing by, I felt like my friends misunderstood something. If you don’t mind, I’d like to explain.”
I want to expel her by telling her to get out of the way, but if I did now, it might only increase Yulia’s antipathy. Rather, it didn’t seem bad to use this as an opportunity to clearly grasp Drake’s true intentions.
And Yulia’s ears aren’t so thin or lacking in backbone that she’d just skip over a few words from a guy like this. Rather, if there is even the slightest logical loophole, he has the personality to persistently inquire into it and put an end to it.
“Of course I understand what my friends think. It would seem that we are busy eating and playing without doing anything. But that is the most important thing in following the phantom thief.”
“Why?”
“Because the hero wants it.”
···What kind of nonsense is this?
I want you guys to eat and play? I never imagined that I would make an excuse for selling my name to something like this. It was such an absurd answer that I couldn’t even figure out what to refute.
Yulia wondered if she had the same thoughts as me.
“Yes…? You want Raven to do that?”
“That’s right. Why would you steal the wealth of greedy, corrupt rich people? All for us to be happy.”
I can’t even snort because I’m full of energy. I’m going to establish a thief religion at all.
I didn’t even have to listen further. Surely Yulia, realizing how pathetic and poor this guy’s logic is, would spur her seat and get up.
“That makes sense.”
“…Eh?”