Chapter 26 - Preparations

Albert gently nudged Ian awake. The boy opened his eyes in a daze but upon seeing Albert's smiling face, dozed off once more.

"Wake up, Ian. You'll be late for school."

Ian let out a groan and shook his head.

"Don't want to go?" He lowly chuckled and pat Ian's head.

Ian opened his eyes and pouted.

"I am going, though?"

Ian sat up and tilted his head.

"I'm feeling a lot better now. Else, I wouldn't have let you sleep with me." Albert laughed and smoothed out Ian's bed hair. Then, as if he had just remembered something, Albert suddenly went serious. "Y'know, last night, when you went into my dream, did you do something to the tree?"

? Ian shook his head.

"I see…" Albert fell pensive. Who wrote 'wake up' on the tree then. Himself?

"MmNn, it's nothing, just curious." He responded to Ian. "Well, let's get ready, shall we?"

—

"Your missions have been decided." Kin told the kids.

"It's a very simple task." Cain took over the explanations and continued. "All we have to do is threaten something a little bit. If they don't listen, then we kill him. Understood?"

""Yessss~"" The twins chimed while the rest nodded.

"Why are we threatening him?" Vin inquired.

"Because he is late in payments. He already missed two deadlines. It will be troublesome if he thinks we're soft."

Kin's organisation actually ran a loaning business as a side. They lent money to the truly desperate while making it abundantly clearly that they are villains. With the insanely high interests rates, they turn a couple thousand into millions and the desperate into slaves for decades. It was an extremely efficient business, though unethical. However, occasionally, a 'customer' would have the wrong idea, hence the threatening.

"I've chosen a few outfits for everyone. I'm sure you'll like them." Joan presented the kids a box.

Albert received it and opened it to reveal multiple masks piled on top of each other, clothes folded neatly underneath. Albert grabbed a mask and observed it. It was white and unadorned just like Kin's mask. However, Kin's mask was a full face one while the one in Albert's hand was merely a half mask, it covered the forehead but stopped just above the mouth.

"You're not official members yet, so you get a half mask." Cain explained.

Albert nodded in understanding and passed the box onto the others. He wore the mask and instantly, he was unrecognisable.

""Woahhh~ You look great, Albert!"" The twins exclaimed in praise.

"T-thank you." Albert smiled and scratched his cheeks bashfully.

"Father, why does Albert totally different now? Even though all he did was wear a mask." Vin couldn't help but to ask. He had wondered that for a while now but could only bring himself to ask now.

"Because it is made with the intent to hide." Kin answered.

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.

"Normally, a mask only hides your face but your figure, posture, and voice can still give you away. However, if the mask is made with a strong desire to hide your identity, it will disguise the wearer. This concealment is even stronger if it is also worn with the desire to hide."

"…How does it work?" Vin furrowed his brow as he tried to work around the logic of it.

"We don't really know but legend says that a really strong ability user used his ability to create a new law for the world which is this. They contribute other mysteries to this ability user as well. However, they say that after he changed the laws of the world, he perished as a result." Cain stepped in and explained.

""Wow."" The twins couldn't help but to marvel at the amazingness of this legendary figure.

"Well, it's just a legend though."

""It's still cool!""

"Well, why don't you try the outfits on?" Joan urged.

""Yes, Mother!""

Everyone went to their own rooms to quickly change and reassembled in the living room. Kin, Joan and Victoria sat on the couch while Cain stood at the side, using his ability so that Victoria could see everyone in their new clothes.

""Boom! Guess who we are!"" Two little critters zoomed into the living room. They wore their half-masks, black jackets with hoodies and white collared shirts inside. They even clumsily wore ties to complete the semi-formal look. It was very cute!

"You two look so adorable!" Joan praised whilst clapping. Meanwhile, Kin was busy taking photos on his camera, clicking away fervently. "Pose for Father, Atlas, Iris."

""How'd you know it was us?"" The twin's eyes widened.

"Ufufu, it's a secret."

"What?"

"Tell us. Tell us."

"Please, Mother?"

"Mmmm, should I? If you kiss me, I might."

Atlas and Iris glanced at each other before nodding. With an oomph, they bounced over towards Joan and gave her a little peck on the cheek, each on one side.

"You're so adorable!!!" Joan pulled the two into a tight embrace and rubbed her face on them.

"So, how…"

"…did you know?"

"It's easy. You twins always appear together. And you're the smallest too."

""But Father said the masks will hide us…""

"The masks may hide you but context clues can still give you away." Kin said, pausing his frantic photography session.

Cain saw that the twins were still puzzled and so stepped in to elaborate. "Well, Atlas is wearing a jacket with a small lion print on it and Iris has a red plat on hers. Madam assigned different clothes to everyone so it was easy to tell who was who."

Kin nodded. "That's why you can't be careless just because you have a mask."

""Oooh, we understand now!""

Kin nodded at them and began to take photos of Vin, Ian and Albert who had arrived not too long ago. They had similar costumes, just different prints on the pocket area of their jackets. Vin had a cool dagger, Ian a sleeping cat and Albert a little seedling.

"Looks like you're all ready for tomorrow." Victoria commented with a smile. "Make sure you get our money, okay?"