Chapter 231
Who Am I?
Eivass first knocked on the dancer’s door.
Normally, the Ascenders and the roles in the ritual are consistent in gender, personality, and path.
But this is not 100% certain. This is because the roles in the Full Moon Ritual are not randomly assigned but are manually assigned by the Host.
The Host will not deliberately assign a role that an Ascender cannot play, as this would be unfair—although the Hosts do have personal biases based on their respective paths, personalities, and stances. But at least on the surface, they try to maintain fairness and not target a specific path deliberately.
After all, the ritual is dedicated to the Nine Pillar Gods simultaneously.
—In other words, you will only be assigned a role if the Host believes you can play it or is capable enough to handle the mission that the role must complete.
Just like in the ritual where Eivass and Isabel first met—Eivass might be able to play Little Eivass’s mother, but Isabel definitely could not play Little Eivass’s father.
A severe mistake by one participant would only turn the ritual into a mess, a farce, rendering all the analysis, deduction, investigation, and adventure meaningless, which is what the Host must try to avoid.
—If he cannot be assigned a suitable role, then he will be assigned a sufficiently dangerous role early on and let him die quickly to avoid affecting others.
From this perspective, bringing Isabel to the Ascension Ritual was not entirely for the sake of increasing the difficulty.
Precisely because Isabel’s personality is simple, she lacks life experience, and is somewhat socially awkward, she will not be assigned particularly difficult-to-play complex roles. In other words, the role that Isabel plays is the easiest for Eivass to lock onto.
And Eivass, who is the best at playing roles and has outstanding personal abilities, fills in the gaps—because he can play any difficult role, he might be assigned any role by the Host.
Because Merlin dared to kill the receptionist, this attitude has already proven that the receptionist is not an Ascender. There are only seven people left in total.
Merlin does not tell meaningless lies that are easily exposed. Therefore, the woman in that couple is Wisteria, and the Old Supervisor is Quicks or Pure White. Let’s assume he is Pure White for now. The reporter is very likely the Detective… but at this moment, the Detective is still on another floor.
According to Sherlock’s meticulous investigation habits, he might even have been deliberately assigned to the highest floor. This way, Merlin wouldn’t have to do anything and could stall Sherlock for a long time, preventing him from converging with Eivass in time.
And Isabel could only appear in two roles.
—Either the dancer, or his own daughter.
Isabel is versatile and has proficient dancing skills, so playing the dancer would not cause too much trouble; and his daughter is suffering from a high fever, is almost unable to move, and it would not be difficult for Isabel to play an inexperienced little girl.
After Eivass met and spoke with the dancer, Eivass quickly updated his information—
The role Isabel is playing can only be his daughter.
This is because Merlin’s mention of “dancer” was a euphemism.
In fact, the guest in room 205 is a promiscuous stripper. Or, more directly, she is a self-employed prostitute.
“Anyway, I didn’t hear anything, and the rain outside is so loud.”
Perhaps because there was a Supervisor among them, the dancer let the three of them into the room without fear.
She sat cross-legged on the bed, her short skirt only covering one-third of her thighs, revealing almost nothing in this position.
The dancer, who looked about twenty or thirty years old, said with a smiling face, looking at the reporter with a flirtatious gaze: “However… I can make some noise.
“Maybe louder than the rain.”
Compared to the terrifying “Teacher” and the elderly “Supervisor,” the young and handsome reporter was clearly more to her liking.
“I’m just here to ask some questions, beautiful lady…”
The reporter took out a Sterling silver pen from his pocket, skillfully twirled it, and then more skillfully flattered her: “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jacob Alexander, the chief reporter for the ‘Cow and Bay’ newspaper. You can call me.”
Frankly, although the dancer had a good figure and skin, her face was at best mediocre, not beautiful.
That was the reality. People in her line of business, especially one who was “self-employed” and without much restriction, would naturally go to a big city to develop if they had better capital.
Shepherd’s Bay Country’s main industries were agriculture and fishing. The customers were mostly farmers and fishermen. They didn’t have much money.
The dancer had seen many people and naturally knew this was flattery. But who doesn’t like to hear nice words?
Especially when the one saying nice words is a young and handsome guy.
“Oh, it’s you! You’re as handsome as I imagined… no, even more handsome than I imagined!”
The dancer’s eyes lit up: “I often see you in the newspaper. My mother loves your writing—I mean, I do too!”
“That’s wonderful, young and sexy lady. I’m sure you know my purpose for being here…”
Hearing this, the reporter smiled happily and flattered her.
“Ah, let me guess.”
The dancer smiled: “You’re here to investigate the haunted house? This haunted inn?”
“That’s right!”
The reporter snapped his fingers and pointed at the dancer: “You’re so smart!”
“It’s a shame about the storm,” the dancer said.
“Yes, it’s a shame about the storm,” the reporter echoed.
Then, they looked at each other and smiled.
While the reporter was probing for information, Eivass was pacing around the room.
And by using the small mirror the dancer had placed on the table, Eivass finally saw his own face clearly.
He finally understood why everyone’s first impression of him was apprehension—
The “Teacher” Eivass was playing was at least 1.95 meters tall, with black hair and brown eyes, deep features, and his hair was wet and messy from the rain.
He had a stern, square face, thick, slightly chapped lips, and a strong physique with visible pectoral muscles. Standing there, he looked like a double-door refrigerator.
If that were all, it might only evoke a sense of authority and pressure.
But his right cheek had a clear burn mark, his flesh twisted like a worm. There was also a dark scar that ran from above his eyebrow to his cheekbone, covering the burn mark. Even so, his right eye was not blind.
Although one should not judge a book by its cover… just seeing such a terrifying face and being stared at by such a tall and strong man would unconsciously make anyone flinch.
…Teacher?
Heh.
What kind of teacher carries a demon-hunting handgun, has so many scars, and is this physically fit? He’s more like a godfather.
It would be a miracle if he didn’t scare the children.
Daiya looked like a girl around nine to twelve years old. Perhaps she looked a bit older, or younger, but that was roughly her age range. She wasn’t a toddler of four or five, but a young girl who had finished elementary school and was just starting middle school. She wasn’t that light either.
And “Agni” held her with one arm, slung his bag over his shoulder, and held an umbrella, rushing so far in the storm…
What kind of teacher could he be?
A gym teacher? A private shooting instructor, perhaps?
“I think I had a nightmare… I dreamed Dad was naked, swimming in the river.”
The voice of “daughter” Daiya suddenly echoed in Eivass’s mind. Eivass stopped pacing and looked at himself in the mirror, knitting his brows slightly.
If he wasn’t the Teacher.
Perhaps he wasn’t Daiya’s father either? Maybe his and Daiya’s memories had been altered by some power.
Merlin wouldn’t lie to him about something so meaningless.
Then this was most likely the requirement for the mission of “recalling one’s true identity”—that is, [“My True Self”].
—So, who am I?
