NBAA Vol. 6 Chapter 2 Part 4
“What?”
Reito tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what Ferris was talking about.
Ferris explained further: “Maria-san told me that she didn’t want Mr. Reito to stand out from the crowd. If you dyed your hair with this Silver Sand, applied some simple makeup, and changed your clothes, no one will recognize you.”
“Um…”
Reito frowned, but surely, if he became too famous, the chances of people in the kingdom finding out about him were high. Reito was in a position where his life was in danger from the royal family, and it would be bad to have rumors about him circulating. Given this, it was certainly possible that Reito might need to disguise himself.
But then, he wondered if it would not have been a problem if he had not participated in the Combat Tournament in the first place. When he wondered if Maria had other intentions, Ferris said, “You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you, Mr. Reito? You’ve at least heard of the great swordsman, haven’t you?”
“Oh, you mean the one who was active in defeating the…Rotten Dragon?”
It is officially reported that Maria of the Hailstorm Guild and Princess Nao were the two who slayed the Rotten Dragon.
However, in Adventure City, a rumor was spreading that there was another hero on the spot who wielded a broadsword and that this person had slain the Rotten Dragon.
The rumor was correct, and the identity of the great swordsman was Reito. However, Maria had covered up the story and made sure that the kingdom did not hear about Reito.
Ferris nodded and continued her story.
“That’s what I mean. There are a lot of people in this city right now who are wondering if this hero really existed.”
It was true that tourists and skilled martial artists were gathering from all over to confirm the rumor that a swordsman handling a broadsword had contributed the most to the defeat of the Rotten Dragon. Because of this, Reito was unable to yield his broadsword in public, and he had no choice but to look for a weapon that he could equip in its place.
Ferris said with a twinkle in her eye: “I want Mr. Reito to use this hero story to become a popular figure. As a representative of the Dalton Trading Company, I want you to win and win and win and let the world know that our company has such a skilled man as its escort!”
“You mean you want me to pretend to be a… hero and take part in the tournament?”
“You can do that, can’t you? Maria has actually told me about this hero.”
Ferris said with a smile. Apparently, she has been told some of the circumstances by Maria.
If Reito plays an active role in disguise, the rumor will spread that the identity of the great sword hero is Dalton’s bodyguard, and Reito will be able to live in dignity if he takes off his disguise. Also, there would be no loss for Reito even if he did not perform well at the Combat Tournament. It will cause trouble for the company, though.
For Reito, it sounded like a good deal.
“Well, we would like them to win, but we don’t want to go that high. But we also don’t want our representative player to lose in a disgraceful manner, so we will do everything we can to help!”
“Please put this on when you participate.”
Alice brought before Reito a new garment tailored to his size. She also offered him a black hair wig and a new tub of water for dyeing his hair.
Reito decided to ask Airis about his opinions.
『Airis…… what should we do?』
『I think we’re going to have to take this on. The more prominence you get in the tournament, the more people will know that you’re not the hero of that great sword.』
『I see…』
He maturely decided to wear the equipment Ferris had provided.
“Well, let’s have Mr. Reito take off his clothes first.”
“Hey, I thought you had a husband already!”
When Reito made a deliberate gesture to cover his chest, Ferris approached her, wagging the fingers of both hands.
“Heh heh heh …… young boys have such beautiful skin.”
“Here you are, sir, in the changing room.”
Alice intervened nonchalantly and led the way to the changing rooms. There seemed to be a changing room exclusively for staff members, and they changed there first.
“Here’s what you’re wearing.”
“It’s kind of black all over, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
He was given a black garment and chainmail, also in black. While wondering if he would have to pay for it if he broke it, Reito put on the chainmail and put on his clothes over it.
At that time, Reito remembered the “Chain,” a sacred weapon he had acquired the other day.
Reito invoked spatial magic, took out the “Chain,” and wrapped it around his waist in place of a belt. With his current attire, it is not noticeable in terms of color.
He then puts on a wig. His hair was strangely long in the back, so he gathered it back with a hair clip.
『I think it’s like this. How’s that?”』
He asked Airis.
『You look good. Now all you need is to dye your hair and disguise your face, and you’ll be perfect.』
『I should have brought Suramin or Hitomin.』
The slimes made it easy to change appearance.
Having finished changing for now, Reito opened the door to the changing room. Outside, Ferris and Alice were already waiting, nodding in satisfaction when they saw Reito’s outfit.
“Oh, it’s not bad, is it?”
“It looks good on you.”
“Thank you very much…”
“Please, have a seat here.”
As Alice put on the gloves, the maids who had been waiting by her side ran out and brought in the crate that she had just brought in.
She first put the gloves in the Silver Sand, then rubbed them through Reito’s hair. He was sitting in a chair. With dexterous movements of her large palms, she dyed only his hair.
“Please let me know if you are in pain.”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“I’m done.”
“Oh, my God.”
“She does a pretty good job, doesn’t she? I also have Alice dye my hair when I have noticeable gray hair… TMI?”
When Reito checked his hair, it was dyed silver beautifully. All that remained was to apply water, which would fix the silver sand on his hair and finish the dyeing process. The maids, who had prepared a water bucket, soaked a hand towel with water and gently rubbed Reito’s hair with the cloth.
“Let me know if you have any pain.”
“You’re gonna get your face a little wet.”
“Ohhhh…”
He felt as if he had walked into a beauty parlor without knowing it.
Eventually, Reito’s hair dye was finished.
“All done.”
“Oh, silver hair gives a different impression. The only thing left now is the face.” Ferris was looking closely at Reito’s face.
“The way you say that makes me sound like I have an ugly face.”
“I think only makeup won’t be enough. How about wearing a mask?”
“No, no, no! That’s too obvious!
Ferris shook her head at Alice’s suggestion. Then she looked at Reito’s face, thought about what she could do to help, and clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something.
“I’ve got it! You know that magic trick eye patch? We can use that. That way, we can hide the redness of Mr. Reito’s eye and give him a new look. What do you think?”
“Oh, come to think of it, the color of his eyes would give him away.”
Currently, Reito frequently changes the color of his eyes under the influence of his “Sword Demon” title. And his eyes have been turning red more frequently recently.
If Reito in disguise becomes famous, it is not impossible that some people will notice the common eye color and come across Reito’s existence.
Ferris instructed the maid to bring an eye patch.
“Mr. Reito, can you put this on?”
“Sure, but I don’t know if I can fight well with one eye closed…”
“It’s all right. That’s what magical tools are for.”
Reito took the eye patch that was given to him and had no choice but to cover his right eye. However, somehow, his right eye, which was supposed to be blocked, was able to see the scenery through the eye patch. It was as if he had been fitted with a pair of glasses without glasses.
“What is this?”
“It’s cool, right? I made it up as a trick for children. I don’t know how it works, but I’m pretty sure you can cover one eye with it, right?”
“Well, it’s a little uncomfortable, but… it’s no problem.”
“Now, I just need to do a little make-up and…”
Ferris instructed the maid to apply makeup to Reito’s face.
“That’ll do it. From today onward, Mr. Reito will be the representative of our Dalton Trading Company, the ‘Black and Silver Swordsman’! The combination of silver hair and black clothes is enough to make you stand out!!”
Satisfied, Ferris nodded, and Alice and the other maids applauded. Reito checked his own appearance in the hand mirror.
“…Now that you mention it, this isn’t a disguise. It’s cross-dressing.”
“It’s cute, so why not?”
“Hmm, well, it’s less likely to give me away.”
If we disguise ourselves so well, Reito thought, there is no danger of being noticed.
Ferris continued.
“Now all we need is a name. We can’t let him compete under his real name, so how about… Rena?”
For some reason, I feel like that’s a very familiar name for me.
『I think it’s because it was the first name Aira tried to give you as a newborn, Reito.』
Airis’s voice echoed in his brain. I didn’t know that – Reito was lost in thought and deep emotion.
“No, but Rena is a bit conventional… so let’s name this place Luna, after the guardian goddess of our trading company!”
“Luna……?”
Alice gave a supplementary explanation to Reito, who tilted his head puzzled.
The Dalton Trading Company worships as its guardian god an otherworldly being named “Lunot-sama,” who was a friend of the first chairman, Dalton-sama. It is said that thanks to this person, we overcame many crises and grew to become the best company in the empire.
“Huh, Lunot… it may be a coincidence, but I have a relative with the same name.”
“Hm? Relative…?
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
The otherworldly being had the same name as a boy relative who was a good friend of Reito’s when he lived on Earth. And, although Reito reacted to the fact that he had the same name as him, he figured he shouldn’t share that information with anyone.
Anyway, it was decided that when Reito competed as a company representative, he should go by “Luna.”
Ferris speaks spoke to Reito: