60 Bait & Switch

"What we should do is create a fake opportunity for the monster to kill me, and once it takes the bait, we catch it red-handed," Shesmu explained, leaving Sakura perplexed at his earlier whisper.

While Shesmu and Hector's party were ironing out the details of their plan, Sakura turned around towards Ryuji saying, "You've been awfully silent. That's not quite like-"

When She turned around, Ryuji, who was supposed to be next to her, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell did this guy wander off to?"

Sakura looked around only to find Ryuji taking food off the tables like a storm. Cakes, meat, ice cream, nothing could survive his deadly rush. By the end of his journey, Sakura could swear that he put on twenty pounds of fat. His stomach was bloated out of proportion, leaving Sakura not knowing whether to be disappointed or surprised.

"Well, I think that's it for the plan. We can discuss more details once we actually know what the trial will be like," Shesmu concluded.

"Yeah, I agree with that assessment," Hector replied. He then put his hand for a shake. "It was great talking with you, Shesmu. Let's do our best on the battlefield."

"Yeah, let us do so." Shesmu accepted Hector's handshake before the latter went back with his party to the table on which they sat on before.

Shesmu made his way through the palace chamber and into a corridor. He entered a toilet before letting out a sigh. He opened the tap, refreshed his face, and stared at the mirror.

"Hey, are you good?"

Sakura's voice woke Shesmu up from his reverie. He turned around to look at her before making his way out of the toilet.

"Yeah, I'm good. It's just that I don't like social gatherings too much."

"Yeah, tell me about that," Sakura replied with snark. "I haven't seen you talk that much since the moment I met you."

Shesmu didn't respond to Sakura's teasing, making her uncomfortable. Looking for a way out of the awkward silence, she said, "So why did you bring me all the way here, couldn't we talk at the table, since Hector's party left?"

"I'm waiting for a certain someone," Shesmu replied. "But forget about that, you asked me before whether it's good to trust Hector's party? I'm not trusting them, I'm giving them an opportunity. If the monster is within them, then the betrayal will be easily predictable."

"Oh, interesting. So, you're putting multiple baits at the same time." Sakura's expression turned serious before she continued, "But you can't leave yourself too vulnerable, else everything will be for naught."

"I know that, but that's the risk you gotta take if you wanna win against that bastard."

Once again, an awkward silence ensued between the two, one that Sakura broke with a question. "What about that person you're waiting for? Who's that?"

"You'll meet them soon enough." Shesmu looked up as a man-made his way to the corridor. Clad in a black cloak, black hair, and black eyes, the man was the definition of the ninja look.

"Speaking of the devil, here he comes," Shesmu said with a smile.

Sakura looked around, anxious, before she blurted out, "Hey, isn't that…"

"Yeah, Arthur's very own assassin." He then looked at the assassin before continuing, "You made a signal for me before to come here. So here I am, what do you want?"

The assassin was visibly uncomfortable due to Shesmu's aggressive tone. However, the latter didn't break eye contact with him. The assassin looked away before saying in a meek voice, "Arthur-Arthur has been acting strange ever since we entered this tower. It's as if he is not the same Arthur anymore."

"I see, then why did you not bring that up before? If you suspected him of being the monster, why not tell it to everyone and decide how to go from there."

"No, you don't understand." His voice was higher than before. Fear was clear in the assassin's eyes as he talked. "If I were to be wrong and Arthur was the same, then not only would I be suspected to be the monster, I would also-I would also be expelled from the guild."

Shesmu listened to the assassin's speech before he asked, "What's your name? You haven't told me that, yet."

"Axel."

"Axel, good name," Shesmu responded. He then smiled as he asked, "So Axel, what you want me to do, is to take that burden for you, isn't that right?"

Axel didn't respond to Shesmu's question. He just looked away, avoiding any kind of confrontation.

"Sure, I can do that for you." Axel's face brightened. It was as if the king decreed his pardon.

"But under one condition." And his face darkened once again.

Shesmu didn't care about Axel's emotional rollercoaster, he just stated his condition. "I want you to report to me every move Arthur makes. If he turns around twice when he takes a nap, I want to know. If he cleans his ass with his left hand instead of his right, I want to know. Do you understand me?"

"Yes-yes, sir." Shesmu's tone left no room for negotiation.

"Here, add me as a friend. That way you can report to me at any time."

"Right away, sir."

[Alex sent you a friend request. Do you accept?]

[Yes | No]

Shesmu answered affirmatively in the depth of his mind. In the corner of his vision, Alex was registered in his friend list, before it disappeared seconds after.

"Great. Let's do our best, the both of us, to catch the imposter red-handed. I'm counting on you." Shesmu smiled at Alex, making the latter feel awkward at the change of tone.

However, he still smiled back at Shesmu and responded with more enthusiasm than before, "Yes, sir. We will definitely catch him."

Alex made his way towards his party while Shesmu stood in his place, silent.

"Well, that was weird," Sakura commented. "But damn, I didn't know that you could be this scary and aggressive."

"The situation called for it, so I had no choice." Shesmu shrugged.

"That said, I wonder why this guy decided to talk with you. Are you suspicious of him?"

Shesmu stayed silent for a few seconds before he said, "Suspicion is natural. While the story he told us about Arthur being different can be convincing, the most likely scenario is that he is being used by Arthur to spy on us. He probably told Alex that I am the monster and that he should infiltrate our ranks."

Shesmu's voice became more excited the more he talked. A savage grin, not akin to anything he showed before, was plastered on his face. "But it doesn't matter what he wants to do. The more they play close to me, the better it is. That way, I can control the ebb and flow of the battle as much as I want."