Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 105

Loreil’s fist clenched as a chilling murderous intent washed over him.

He had anticipated several scenarios, but this was the worst of them all.

‘Has she truly obtained information about Princess Deina?’

No, that couldn’t be. Asmo-rina had enforced strict measures to prevent anyone from obtaining Deina’s information.

Before responding, Loreil swiftly organized the clues before him.

‘If she were certain of Deina’s identity, she wouldn’t remain silent. From the start, she brought up the word negotiation. It means she has information to extract from me.’

And she hadn’t referred to Deina by name—she had mentioned the Imperial Palace first.

In other words.

‘She discovered a clue about Asmodina in the Imperial Palace, but she isn’t certain.’

Loreil slowly opened his mouth.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’ve never seen any traces of Demons in the Imperial Palace.”

“How amusing. Then what is this?”

Asmo-rina, her expression twisted with disgust, pulled something from her pocket and hurled it toward him.

What rolled across the ground before Loreil was a human finger, dried blood crusted upon it.

“What is that?”

“Still denying it? You can sense magical power!”

Now that she mentioned it, I could faintly sense magical energy emanating from the finger.

“There was a suspicious human among those coming and going from the Imperial Palace. As expected, when I killed him, I sensed magical power.”

“…Why did you kill him?”

“I was going to spare him. But he refused to answer my questions, so I had no choice.”

Loreil exhaled softly at her continued indifference to human life, treating it as casually as insects. He picked up the severed finger from the ground.

“How does this connect to the assumption that Asmodina is in the Imperial Palace?”

Asmo-rina answered with an exasperated expression, as if explaining to a slow student.

“There are usually two reasons why magical power appears in the blood of non-magical creatures like humans. Either they’re a victim of magical illness, or they’re being controlled by magical power.”

“Controlled?”

“Yes. Puppet magic or brainwashing—that sort of thing. The principle behind such magic is channeling magical power through the blood to control the target. …And there’s one race that excels at this kind of brainwashing: the Baobhan sith, a fairy race.”

She brushed blood from her hair and smirked.

“The Baobhan sith are a race that swore loyalty to Asmodina in the Demon Realm. I’ve even encountered members of their faction in the Empire before.”

Whether that one was a soldier or not, I’m not sure, she added.

“Anyway! The fact that a human showing signs of Baobhan sith brainwashing appeared in the Imperial Palace means…”

“…Asmodina is hiding in the Imperial Palace.”

“Exactly!”

Loreil stared at the cooling finger, lost in thought.

There were too many variables for this to be a reliable deduction. Yet he couldn’t simply dismiss it either.

“Who was the owner of this finger? Do you know his name?”

“I told you—he didn’t answer. A man with brown hair and blue eyes.”

The description was too ordinary to identify by appearance alone. Loreil pressed further with more specific questions.

“Was he a Chamberlain of the Imperial Palace? Or a Nobleman?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Where is his body?”

“I blew him up in a fit of rage. All that’s left is what you’re holding in your hand.”

“…”

A headache bloomed behind Loreil’s eyes, and he squeezed them shut. As always, conversations with Asmo-rina demanded considerable patience.

“Then why did you suspect that person in the first place? You wouldn’t have attacked without reason.”

“Ah, well—for a human, his abilities were quite impressive. So I figured there had to be something going on with him.”

“Explain in detail.”

“His movements were so covert that even I was fooled. He was the most exceptional Assassin I’ve ever encountered among humans.”

‘So his concealment abilities were so extraordinary that he ended up caught by Asmo-rina.’

It was absurd. An Assassin with abilities so formidable that Asmo-rina—who typically disdained humans—would lavish praise upon him, yet he was killed precisely because of those very abilities.

Moreover, the fact that he never revealed his true identity even unto death suggested he possessed an extraordinary force of will.

Though the situation was ridiculous, it seemed to have resolved this complicated affair to some degree.

Loreil exhaled a sigh of relief where Asmo-rina could not see it.

‘The dead man was not among Princess Deina’s retinue.’

The only Assassin at her side was Ivan. According to my investigation, there was no Assassin or spy at her side who surpassed Ivan.

But since I had just met with Ivan, he was naturally safe, which meant the dead man had to be a subordinate of another Imperial Family member or nobleman—not Princess Deina.

‘With such extraordinary skill, he couldn’t be an ordinary nobleman. If he frequented the Imperial Palace, the likelihood of him being Imperial Family was high…’

The Emperor, the Empress, or perhaps Franz, Gilbert, and Jeina.

There were far too many suspects.

At that moment, Asmo-rina spoke in an irritated voice.

“Hey, how long are you going to keep your mouth shut? Won’t you answer? Is Asmodina really inside the Imperial Palace or not?”

Her tone was light, but the killing intent radiating from her was impossible to ignore.

If I ignored her one more time, I would end up like the owner of that finger. Loreil quickly gathered my thoughts.

“First, I cannot trust your words. If you had kept that person alive, perhaps. But since you killed her, I cannot believe this finger came from the Imperial Palace.”

Asmo-rina let out a hollow laugh.

“It seems you don’t understand the situation. You don’t have the option of not believing me. You absolutely must….”

“Then I have nothing more to say to you. A deal built on broken trust is merely a waste of time.”

“…A waste of time?”

Asmo-rina’s voice dropped lower.

Now only one step remained between me and death. Loreil felt a chill run down my spine as I continued speaking slowly.

“Yes, let me turn the question around instead. If I told you there are no traces of Demons in the Imperial Palace, could you believe me?”

“What nonsense? I brought you evidence.”

“No, merely something you claim to be evidence. You’ve already decided on your answer and are asking questions. You have no intention of hearing anything but the answer you want.”

“That’s….”

Asmo-rina fell silent, her words catching in her throat.

“You presented two conditions in our deal. Creating a false identity for me, and cooperating in finding Demons. I have done my best to fulfill those conditions. But what about you?”

“…I said I would kill anyone you asked for.”

“That’s the second condition. To fulfill the first condition I mentioned, what have you done so far?”

The first condition Loreil had wanted was for her to discover my true identity.

It was a condition I’d set to determine whether he truly had connections to the Demon Clan, yet Asmo-rina had failed to produce any evidence thus far.

“While you’re failing to uphold our agreement, you’re now wounding my subordinates and resorting to threats. On what grounds should I trust you?”

Of course, despite my words, the truth was that I had been using Asmo-rina quite efficiently.

Under the pretense of finding clues about Asmodina, I’d handed over information about my political rivals, and in exchange, I’d shifted the danger onto her shoulders.

But she remained unaware of this fact.

I decided to exploit the sense of debt she would feel.

“The Imperial Palace is the heart of our Empire. I cannot simply allow outsiders—much less Demons—to enter. At the very least, there must be proper justification….”

Asmo-rina cut off my lengthy explanation, clearly unwilling to hear more.

“In other words, you’re saying that because of your poor conduct, you can’t trust my word and won’t allow me into the Imperial Palace?”

“…Yes.”

It was a crude summary, but the meaning was the same. As I nodded, Asmo-rina let out a short laugh.

“You’re not wrong. Since you’ve already granted my request, I shouldn’t act recklessly either. And your subordinate was injured because of me, so your anger is justified.”

She nodded repeatedly, as if in agreement.

“Besides, even I wouldn’t accept someone coming with such meager evidence and insisting on it. It could have been obtained from somewhere other than the Imperial Palace. Any nobleman who loves the Empire would rightfully refuse.”

Something felt off.

The Asmo-rina I knew was not someone who criticized herself with such common sense.

“Still, it’s unfortunate. If I could just enter the Imperial Palace once and verify things myself, my suspicions would be cleared. But the Imperial Palace has many Priests, and I’m the type who cannot conceal my magical power, so I cannot enter without someone’s help….”

As her words grew longer, she suddenly smiled brightly and clapped her hands.

“Perfect! There’s no helping it then. If this situation arose because of my mistake, I can simply make it as if it never happened, right?”

“…What?”

Why did it end that way?

Just as Loreil furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to speak.

“So hand over that body.”

“…!”

In that instant, the ground split open and sharp tree roots erupted upward.

Without hesitation, they pierced through Loreil’s abdomen.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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