169 – Comedy
Estel came out of the room and found a bottle she had never seen before. Inside the bottle was wriggling something resembling an animal’s intestines, which glowed red and made it unpleasant to look at.
As if she had read my wary expression, Estelle smiled innocently. She showed her white teeth and affectionately caressed her bottle, making her look full of affection.
“Ah~ This is not a big deal. It’s just the intestines of my favorite volcanic poison toad.”
She was almost fooled by Estelle’s usual calm voice. Are you good at acting? ? It was obviously an organ that had been taken out of the body, but the wriggling as if it was still alive somehow made me frown.
“… Isn’t that poisonous?”
With her flustered expression on her face, Estelle nodded her head as if it were her correct answer, and burst out laughing at her.
“It’s poisonous, but~ Ai, isn’t it a big deal? It’s just that the intestines and the blood vessels are just twisted, and the pain of the blood vessels bursting every time you walk? Even if you eat it, you will not die.”
“If it is that painful, wouldn’t it be better to die?”
Estelle’s mouth smirked at my question. That look is very appropriate to the word bad boy.
“Even if you were good at acting, you wouldn’t have to eat these things. It is entirely your fault.”
I didn’t answer that, I just looked at the bottle on the table.
“… Is there an antidote?”
“Of course not. First of all, is it poisonous? I’ll mix it with a cool potion and give it to you. Don’t worry~”
If you take off that mask right now, you can bet that he is smiling. With a sigh, I picked up the bottle Estelle handed me.
“How do you want to try it now?”
I shook my head without hesitation at the gentle voice’s recommendation. The once in a lifetime experience of eating such a terrible thing is enough. It’s best not to experience it at all.
“This experience is good enough once. Today, we only practice movements and lines.”
Perhaps she thought I was scared, Estelle said in a pitiful voice.
“Haa~? You know that your plan is a failure if, on the same day, you eat poison and get sick, unable to take a single step in front of everyone, shaking and passing out, right?”
The question came to my mind, but I didn’t say it. Expecting her sincere response from Estelle is the equivalent of Aria promising not to eat her chocolates and sweets. Simply put, ignorance is the answer.
I answered in a confident voice.
“The thing I am most confident in is my mental strength. It’s enough without rehearsals.”
In fact, if it wasn’t for that much poison, the Berserker’s effect might not have been activated, so I couldn’t complain too much. Certainly, a brief sting may be a good thing for me.
I have experienced the pain of twisting my intestines many times with indomitable courage. This time, indomitable courage will show great success. I want to believe that.
“Okay. Because when things go wrong, you’re the one who’s funny. Do it!”
Estel, who spits out very irresponsible words, became even more hateful today. Wasn’t it our common fate… ?
***
The Modist meeting started as planned. Participants who minimized exposure with masks and robes began to fill their assigned seats.
I watch from behind a special wall as the attendees take their seats. After being here for a long time, sweat began to form on my forehead. Rather than being nervous, the desire to finish it quickly was greater.
In my hand is the bottle that Estelle gave me, containing the wriggling intestines of a volcanic poison toad. It’s been a few days, but since it’s still wriggling, it could be that it has high vitality, or it could just be wriggling. Whatever it is, it’s not a question that I really want to know the answer to.
One good thing, Estelle says, is that you don’t have to chew the intestines, just swallow them and feel the pain right away. So you have to swallow it in one bite. I don’t want to die remembering the texture of this intestine in my head.
“Lily. Are you ready? Don’t be nervous and just do what you practiced.”
Amber’s kind voice came through the wall. She let out a big sigh and replied that she was ready, when a voice said that she would send a signal soon.
Finally, I put my hand on the cap of the bottle while replaying the lines and lines in my head. My palms are damp with sweat from tension. I earnestly hoped that Estelle was exaggerating.
Tick-tock- Along with the sound of knocking on the wall, Modist’s guild members emitted colorful lights using trick magic at the place where the dimensional exit was being made. At the same time, an improved giant dimension exit was created in a designated space.
As if a black hole had appeared, it boasts a tremendous presence because of its gimmick magic. It is a very different image to the extent that members who often see my space magic often mistake it for another magic when they see it. Of course, there are circumstances in which it is inevitable.
Among the participants is Bella, who has experience of seeing my space magic. It was obvious that things would get complicated if he found out that Lily was me, so he improved his space magic to deceive Bella separately, and prepared magic for tricking the eye with the help of Modist.
If Bella is cheated, the other contestants will have no doubts either.
After creating the dimensional exit, I immediately opened the cap of the bottle. A great stench filled her nostrils, as if she had opened a jar of rotten meat for a long time. It felt like someone had punched me in the nose.
I forced myself to swallow my intestines, holding back my rising nausea. As soon as the intestines came in contact with the gastric juice, it must have melted as it was, and a sharp pain came right away as if the position of the organs were reversed.
“Euuu… !!!”
I repeated it desperately, clenching my lips. Go to Estelle who is holding the antidote. As I repeated it, a familiar message popped up in front of me.
[ Indomitable Courage is activated. ]
With the feeling that the pain is going away, I moved to the other side of the dimension entrance. My vision changed and I saw masked people seated at a long table. The sudden appearance drew numerous gazes from the table to me.
I was about to say the lines I had prepared in advance, but a sudden extreme pain came. It was as if I could hear the sound of blood vessels bursting in my ears. I forcibly suppressed the blood that was trying to regurgitate through my esophagus.
If you open your mouth, you will immediately vomit blood. The description of poison is not an exaggeration. Rather, it is a correct evaluation that it has been reduced. As if resisting the intense pain, mana began to swell like mad throughout his body.
I lowered my head involuntarily to endure the pain, and met eyes with a person wearing a deer mask sitting at a nearby table. I realized that the effect of the berserker had been activated by the violent shaking of the eyes and the shaking of the whole body.
Did you get scared by the madness in your eyes? When I turned my gaze, the deer mask exhaled violently.
It went according to plan. Now it’s time to go back to your assigned seat. A deep sense of helplessness pressed down on his shoulders, as if blood had drained from his body. Because most of the mana was used to create an exit to a huge dimension, the mana was also exhausted.
After unlocking the dimensional passage that was being maintained, the dimensional exit that boasted great majesty disappeared without a trace. At the same time, I moved to an empty seat.
With every step I took, I felt pain as if my intestines were being ripped apart. No, I can’t help but think that it’s really torn. It feels like my blood vessels have melted and cling to my flesh, and my stomach has swelled up with blood flowing backwards.
Even if you have indomitable courage, this is such a pain. To put up with this, it was clear what had happened to Estelle’s hair.
I managed not to lose consciousness and sat down next to Estelle. Could she have made a mistake? She looked around, but everyone was eager to avoid my gaze, except for a few with shining eyes.
“Welcome, Lily. Is this your first meeting?”
Estel’s voice that asked me was completely different from usual. No, it was someone else’s voice. I wondered if this might be Estelle’s external voice.
‘Thank you for inviting me.’
Originally, these were my lines. Although he is arrogant, he is polite to the guild leader of Modist. However, an unexpected variable occurred. As soon as he arrived at the seat, his indomitable courage was over.
It was because the goal wasn’t to get the antidote from Estelle, but simply to sit down.
In an instant, the distant pain became clearer. I couldn’t even breathe because of the pain that seemed to melt my intestines and throat.
Originally, Estelle handed me a drink containing an antidote to commemorate the first meeting, but I couldn’t stand the pain any longer.
If this continues, I will really die… !
That was the only thought in my head. As I managed to swallow the flowing blood, I took the golden cup from Estelle’s hand without answering.
I could hear people gasping for breath in my actions, but what was important to me now was to calm the burning pain in my gut.
I gulped down the potion and antidote from the golden cup. I almost jumped in admiration at the refreshing feeling that instantly spread throughout my body and eliminated the pain, but fortunately I was able to come to my senses when I saw Estelle glaring at me with scary eyes.
I pretended not to know anything about Estelle’s eyes, as if she was angry at not acting as planned.
Because of Bella knowing my voice, I imprinted a voice modulation artifact on the mask. Thanks to that, a strange voice came out as if many voices overlapped.
“Let’s start.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Now, the real acting begins to fool everyone.
Sheeesh