“Huh? Why is there a strand of Duoluolisi’s hair here?”
Dailina pinched two silver strands of hair and stared at Xi Ya in confusion.
‘When did this hair fall in?’
Xi Ya had already thought up all sorts of excuses on the way back, and had rehearsed various scenarios in his mind where Dailina would suspect him.
But he never expected her to find her hair in the diary notebook.
‘What do I do now?’
No, he had to respond quickly.
“Huh? Where did this hair come from?”
Xi Ya asked, forcing calm.
“I found it in this page, stuck in the crease.”
Dailina turned the diary notebook around to show Xi Ya.
He leaned in closer, as if studying how the hair had gotten caught in the page’s seam.
“Oh, so it was stuck in here. I didn’t even notice.”
“This white hair… could it be the culprit’s? I heard vampires mostly have white hair… no, this hair is a bit long and looks rather soft—not like a man’s hair…”
On the surface he appeared to be calmly analyzing, but his heart was already pounding wildly, feeling like it was going to leap out of his throat.
“Silver-white, it must be Duoluolisi’s.”
As she spoke, Dailina brought the hair close to her nose and gave it a gentle sniff.
It smelled like lilies—the same scent as Duoluolisi.
“Mm, the smell matches. This is definitely her hair.”
Dailina stared at the two strands, her gaze certain.
“I-is that so…”
Xi Ya nervously turned his head to the side.
‘Is Dailina’s nose that sharp? She can even remember the smell of her hair?’
‘And what did I smell like after transforming? I never really paid attention.’
Xi Ya didn’t dwell on it.
He snuck a glance at Dailina and saw that her gaze wasn’t on his face, so he quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. When I was investigating the cave, I noticed someone had been there.”
He planned to shift the topic to the story he had prepared.
“Someone was there?”
“Yeah, there were a lot of different footprints on the ground. Also, there was a burnt smell inside. That smell came from three charred corpses at the very back. I also found traces of Light Mana residue on them. The culprit is a vampire, so they can’t touch the Sacred Flame. I don’t think the vampire set the fire—it must have been someone else.”
Xi Ya spoke quickly, afraid Dailina would drag the conversation back to those two strands of hair.
“Mm…”
Dailina listened and then lowered her head in thought.
Xi Ya watched her contemplative expression and breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Good, the topic’s been shifted.’
‘As long as I can steer it toward the excuse I prepared, I should be able to muddle through, right?’
He suddenly remembered those spy movies from his past life—how those agents could remain expressionless and answer smoothly even with guns pointed at them.
‘How did they manage to lie without getting nervous? Even with strong mental fortitude, it’s hard to be completely calm, isn’t it?’
‘Even if it was acting, those spies really existed in history. Anyway, I really admire them—how they stayed so composed even under the threat of death.’
“It must have been Duoluolisi who set the fire,” Dailina said, looking up.
“On the way back, she told me she had been to that vampire’s cave and had read his diary.”
“No wonder her hair is in this diary notebook…”
“Wait, huh? Duoluolisi said she took the diary notebook, so why is it in your hands?”
Dailina suddenly remarked.
Xi Ya was stunned.
‘She said that?’
‘Wait, on the way back she did say something like that—that she had taken the diary notebook.’
‘It’s over, it’s over. How do I cover this up?’
Xi Ya hadn’t expected to reveal such a big flaw.
How could he not have thought of that?
‘Calm down, calm down… I can still explain.’
“I found it outside the cave. She probably dropped it by accident when she was leaving.”
Xi Ya thought the excuse was reasonable but very flimsy, because he hadn’t acted at all like he’d lost the diary notebook on the way back.
“I see…”
Dailina didn’t press further, but her gaze lingered on Xi Ya’s face for a brief moment.
Xi Ya didn’t dare stop.
If this continued, he would expose more flaws.
“After I got the diary notebook, I meant to come straight back, but a Blood Eagle attacked me on the way.”
“You ran into that Blood Eagle, Xi Ya?”
“Yeah, all my injuries are from its claws. I had a lot of trouble taking it down.”
“You took it down? That’s amazing.”
“No, no, actually I couldn’t have beaten it originally, but I noticed it was injured. One of its wings looked like it had been cut by a blade, so it wasn’t flying fast. I took advantage of its dive and caught it off guard—burned it to death with Fire Magic.”
By this point, Xi Ya’s heartbeat had steadied compared to the beginning.
He felt he had grasped the secret to lying—mix in some truth, and it wouldn’t be so nerve-wracking.
“That’s still impressive.”
“Not really… That’s about all I have. What about you? Did you find anything when you went out last night?”
Xi Ya shifted the topic back to Dailina, finally wrapping up.
“Yes. Quite a lot happened on my end.”
Dailina sat down on the edge of the bed, placed her hands on her knees, and began to recount her experiences from last night.
After that, the two exchanged the information they had gathered.
Or rather, it was Xi Ya doing all the analyzing.
He already knew the ins and outs of the entire incident.
But he noticed that whenever Dailina mentioned Duoluolisi, her tone seemed to soften, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.
That expression was like a girl whose heart was beginning to stir.
‘Whoa, no way.’
‘No way!’
Xi Ya gasped inwardly.
‘Could Dailina be… into her?’
“Should we go tell the village chief now?”
Dailina interrupted his thoughts.
“Ah, oh, sure,” Xi Ya snapped back to reality and replied.
“But give me a moment to rest first. I’m in agony all over.”
“Mm.”
Dailina set down the notebook, walked to the door, and glanced back at him.
“Xi Ya, you rest well. I happen to be a bit sleepy too—I’ll go sleep in my room for a while, and then we’ll go together.”
“Okay.”
The moment Dailina closed the door, the tension in his heart finally eased.
‘That scared me. How is Dailina so perceptive? Did I really have that many holes? I thought I was about to be exposed.’
‘Good thing I didn’t talk too much with Dailina on the way back, or she’d definitely have seen through me.’
‘Still, I barely managed to bluff my way through…’
Next door, Dailina returned to her room, closed the door, sat down on the bed, and flopped backward.
She stared at the ceiling, her mind in chaos.
When she had discovered those two strands of hair, Xi Ya’s expression had started to look unnatural.
His reactions lagged, his speech suddenly sped up, and his eyes darted around, unable to meet hers.
The same thing happened when he mentioned the diary notebook—his reaction was just like someone lying.
‘Is there something he’s hiding from me…’
Dailina closed her eyes, full of questions.
‘Is there some kind of relationship between Xi Ya and Duoluolisi?’
‘Both are commoners, the way they talk seems similar, and every time Xi Ya hears Duoluolisi’s name, his left eyelid twitches slightly.’
‘Could it be…’
Dailina’s eyes snapped open.
An absurd thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Could the two of them be…?’
‘No, that’s too ridiculous. They’re different genders—how could they be the same person?’
She shook her head and rolled over, burying her face in the pillow.
‘Really, what am I thinking…’
‘I must be going crazy thinking about Duoluolisi.’