Thankfully, I didn’t have to defeat the Bandit Hero. I just had to fool him. As long as I could maintain my ruse as this bandit, Hagger, then I could have a chance at stealing the metal.

“Stay in the back. Lower your head. Look respectful.” I told Garnet.

“Uh… I don’t think this is going to work?”

“Do we have another option now? I hissed back.

We ended up walking out into a large room. It had a certain dark malevolent feel to it, like a dungeon boss room, but I had a feeling I had no one to blame but myself for setting this atmosphere. I knew it wasn’t a boss room though, as it wasn’t preceeded by a safe room and there was no door to close behind me. Even the cave-like dungeons had doors. There were large bowls filled with flame that lined the path. At the end of it was a man lounging in a chair, his legs tossed over the edge. This room was grandiose, and the flippant nature of the man filled with life only made me worry further.

“Ah… Hagger! You’ve returned!” The man called out in a friendly manner.

I pulled on my Mimic and took a breath as I waved. “Yes, Boss, I didn’t find anything suspicious up on top.”

“Of course, you didn’t…” He sighed. “Since you’re the thing that is suspicious.”

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“Boss?”

“Quit it… I can see right through your appearance.”

I sighed. “Well, since Xin can, I supposed it makes sense you can too.”

“You know Xin?” This time, he sat up in his chair with interest.

“Yes, we’ve met a few times,” I said, watching him cautiously.

“You seem calm, I like that.”

“You do as well.”

He seemed very relaxed and didn’t look like he was about to attack me. However, I acted similarly. Even after having my plan instantly seen through, I didn’t feel much fear. I didn’t feel fear much after cutting that piece of my soul away. In some ways, that could be a good thing, but I suppose fear was something that also kept you safe. I might have never walked into a cave filled with bandits and tried to Mimic my way through had I felt a bit more fear. Either way, no one would guess we were anything but old friends suddenly meeting.

Garnet had dropped her pretense and glanced between me and the Bandit Hero. If I had to describe the man, he was moderately handsome, with a close cut beard and mustache, and he dressed in leather armor, a bit like me.

“I’ll just be straight with you. The only reason I allowed you down here was because of your dwarf. I’ve been eyeing her for a while.”

Garnet grabbed the back of my shirt, making a noise as she hid behind me. With how flirtatious she usually was, I was surprised she didn’t engage him. He did seem a bit charming. However, she seemed completely unphased by that charm. As for me, I felt a bit angry. I had already lost Carmine, there was no way I was going to lose Garnet as well.

“Calm down! Don’t give me that look.” He waved his hand, and all of the Silvthril appeared from what must have been his Inventory. “I want her to make a weapon out of this. I think you may find that we’re on the same side.”