There Is An Imposter Among Us

"The Calamity Objects appeared to be attacking from three different directions!" Lupina exclaimed.

I didn't have much expectations for Lupina at first, but her beastly instinct happened to be a great boon for our little bastion. 

Not only that her melee combat was much more reliable than I thought, but she was able to fully utilize her ability, Feral Rage, that put her in a state of berserk, while also not succumbing to the instinct.

She was able to turn on and off her Feral Rage consistently and anytime she wanted. However, she could be clumsy from time to times after using most of her brain cells to keep up with the pace.

She needed to be supervised to ensure her survivability, and also my survivability in return.

"The threat on the west has been dealt with, yet I can't fathom how Lupina always misses the first shot when she uses a ballista, despite aiming for such a long time," Verina said after single-handedly defeating the enemies beyond the west wall from the south wall.

It might be a little bit hyperbolic, but Verina was probably the greatest addition to this wood-made bastion.

Her skill and experience was actually akin to a hard-boiled veteran with how she reacted to any of the threats and anomalies, and it was always reassuring when you're with someone who was an expert on that said department.

She was also the oldest in the group if we compare the age of our soul or mental. I wonder if her young biological age was due to her proficiency at ohrtender?

Regardless of the individual, I held some older people in high regard, especially if they came from a place or profession where the people quit or die young.

She could be rather chatty and flirtatious at times, much more than Lupina, surprisingly—bir it was easier to stomach it since she contributed a lot to our survivability.

"Way to go, Verina!" Tahlia cheered. "Man, this makes me want to be an ohrtender like you. Do you think I got the chance?"

As for Tahlia, I didn't really have anything going on with him. This feminine cat-boy had been dilly-dallying the moment he begged to stay in our bastion for safety, right before dusk arrived.

He wasn't the most helpful, but he wasn't the most riddance either. In fact, he managed to hold his own tail for the whole ordeal.

Regardless, having an extra man-power had always been helpful in a small bastion like this. 

He was also another male in this bastion, despite not looking like one—so I expected him to have some accountability to perform better in front of the female of the group.

Unless his psychology was different than the average male, somehow not possessing any instinct to impress their female fellows.

Wait, I forgot that I'm no longer a man in this world, which means that this puts Tahlia as the sole male-figure in this bastion.

"There's no sign of any advancing Calamity Objects," I announced. "We might get a large downtime until the Ordeal of the Midnight."

"If I count it right, we have twenty more minutes until we struck midnight," Verina said before she chugged a quarter of the remaining portion of her Potion of Lifeline. "Depending on the kind of major threat we're facing, our strategy will shift drastically."

"I wonder if we can do it, just with the four of us," Lupina questioned. There wasn't a single hint of discomfort in her voice however. In fact, she appeared to be excited. "Huehuehue, I can imagine the tale that I can share at the tavern, and maybe some citadel will recruit me for their military with this achievement in mind!"

"Won't most citadel just accept whoever into their military as long as you have functioning limbs attached to your torso?" Tahlia said as he shrugged. "Don't think that being slightly luckier will make them treat you as their VIP."

"Don't worry about that, Lupina is just that dumb," Verina followed up.

Lupina grinned, trying her best to hold her annoyance. "I know that my intellect is lower than average, but that doesn't make me incapable to discern mockery,"

"Won't that make her fit better in the military?" I jested.

Verina looked baffled, despite her eternal poker face. "That's a good point you put there, Narc."

"Ahahaha! Even Narc acknowledges it!" Tahlia pointed as he laughed excessively.

"Why does everyone start to call me Narc…"

"Welcome to the bullied club, miss fairy." Lupina extended her hand with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm not as victimized as you, though."

It had always been conforming to having these kinds of talks whenever the ordeal was in its downtime.

It was akin to how drafted soldiers with their comrade-in-arm, reassuring each other with not-so-serious banters to raise morale despite the imminent chance of dying on the battlefield.

I was also helped from the fact that I stopped stressing with my cursed obsession of facial imperfection. Just the thought or recollection of how my face looked was enough to put me at great ease.

I really needed to start working on some sort of mirror to appreciate this blessing even further. 

I didn't even care if I turned into a woman or a monster as long as I could see this face at all times.

Speaking of self-reflection, I somewhat realized that I had never checked Tahlia's detail screen.

What was my past self thinking?? No wonder that I didn't really have much of an opinion of him… 

As such, I decided to peek into this cat-boy's information and possible deep secret. I wonder what kind of information that I could find, fufufu.

The moment I opened Tahlia's detail screen, I was struck by an eerie realization.

—

[Wandering Imposter]

[Description: The Wandering Imposter is an entity that seamlessly integrates itself into the bastion's hierarchy as a familiar persona. They implant a fake memory and history to every individual within the bastion, making them believe that this entity is part of them from the start. Unlike others, this entity can remain in overworld outside of the Ordeals]

[Hint: Depending on the persona and form that the Wandering Imposter take, they will either become beneficial or detrimental to have around]

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