Chương 99: So you think you're immune to charm?!

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On the aft deck.

"Here you go, buddy!"

A wandering knight wiped the apple in his hand, then forcefully broke it in half, and threw one half to the soldier standing guard next to him, which made the latter grin.

On the surface, this ranger seemed very friendly.

But in his heart, he was mocking the soldier's naivety and foolishness.

This is because he is not a ranger from the Iron Axe Mercenary Group at all, but a shapeshifter named Worras.

At that moment, he was chatting with the soldier while gathering information about him.

After that, he ended the conversation, leaned over the gunwale of the boat, and gazed at the riverbank, pondering in his mind: So far, things have gone relatively smoothly.

Although this group was stronger than he had anticipated, and his painstakingly gathered merfolk were quickly wiped out, leaving him almost no time to dispose of the corpses, he even accidentally lost his usual knife.

But he still managed to sneak in.

The most difficult phase is over. With his flawless transformation techniques, none of these foolish humans can see through his tricks anymore!

Next, I need to find an opportunity to let the princess see my performance and increase her trust in me.

And then—hehe—

"Hey, Darian!"

When Worras was suddenly called by his fake name, he turned around and saw that it was the vice commander. He immediately obeyed the order.

"Beaver Town is just ahead. The boat will dock for an hour to rest. I want you to use that time to go to town and buy some cured meat. If you can get beaver meat, that would be even better."

"clear!"

Wallas took the money bag from the deputy commander, and after a few minutes when the ship docked, he disembarked to look for merchants in town.

Because the town was very small, he found the shop easily.

At the same time, I saw several other boatmen coming out of the shop, their faces full of dazed smiles, as if they were drunk.

Worras squinted, feeling something was off.

He went into the shop, told the shopkeeper, who had a hooked nose and a goatee, what he wanted to buy, and the shopkeeper chuckled, took out the item, and then stated the price.

"Eight gold coins? That's almost ten times the normal price! Why don't you just rob someone?!"

Even as a monster, Worath was somewhat taken aback when he heard the price.

"Hey, hey, don't rush me, my price is actually very reasonable————" The store manager quickly grabbed Worras's sleeve and tried to explain.

But after explaining, he pointed to Worath's back and secretly chanted a spell.

This is?

Charm!

Wallas immediately deduced the store manager's intention.

So that's how it is. This shop is a shady business, and the owner is a cunning merchant who can use magic.

As soon as he sees outsiders coming from the river, he tries to charm them and make them spend more money unnecessarily!

Those smiling boatmen from before were probably the ones who fell for it, right?

Now, he wants me to get infected too!

Oh---- What a joke!

When have we shapeshifters ever been afraid of charm spells?

Wallas smirked, having already made up his mind.

This unscrupulous merchant's actions presented him with an opportunity.

While everyone else fell for the trick, he didn't. Instead, he brought the information about the shady shop back to Holcher and the other high-ranking members of the team, which left them with the impression that he was determined and not easily swayed.

Maybe that princess will notice him because of this.

In this way, he can gain more trust and complete his tasks better.

Ha, he's a real genius!

Thinking of this, Woras immediately shook off the shopkeeper, angrily cursing him for maliciously using magic, and then turned and walked towards the ship.

To his surprise, as soon as he stepped outside, he saw the pastor of the Peiguoti family, Jonia, standing there. She tore open a scroll, revealing her eyes with a strange light, staring at him intently as if a cat had seen a mouse, a weasel had seen a chicken, or a Space Marine had seen the heretic Furyk.

"That's right, he's the shapeshifter!"

"Wait, I'm here to buy meat! What do you want? I need to see the commander!"

The next second, before Worras could react, Jon and Grace emerged from behind the wall, one on the left and one on the right, using a stun spell and a physical stun spell respectively to pin him to the ground.

Inside the shop, the shop manager, who originally had a hooked nose and goatee, shook his head and regained his original handsome appearance.

Yes, the store manager was Richard in disguise.

Everything that just happened was part of his plan.

The principle is simple: since shapeshifters are not afraid of charm, he does the opposite and charms everyone else. The only one who is not affected is essentially a shapeshifter.

What? You're asking if someone can't get through it just by willpower or perception?

The answer is difficult.

After all, Richard is now a level 6 bard with a full 19 points of charm, a value that is much stronger than that of lower-level professionals.

If anyone else manages to survive this, then even if they aren't a shapeshifter, they definitely have some other problem and deserve to be hit by a True Knowledge spell.

present.

"H-How is this possible! How did you find me?!"

Worras finally realized he had been exposed. His face was filled with horror, and he deactivated the transformation spell, revealing his white eyes and strange, gray-blue, hairless skin.

"We have no obligation to explain to you, monster!"

Jon muttered a curse under his breath, then unconsciously began to admire Richard in his heart.

Without the poet's ingenious idea, it wouldn't have been so easy to find the shapeshifter this time.

He had previously wondered why the princess valued a poet so much.

The reason that she is good at fighting alone seems insufficient, since the princess herself is quite capable in combat.

Now, he vaguely understood.

Perhaps he should learn from Holcher and befriend the poet privately. Of course, as a middle-aged nobleman, he certainly wouldn't be so rude.

Suddenly, everyone in the team, from Holcher to Jon, began to look at Richard in a new light.

Here.

The group succeeded in their operation, immediately cleaned up the scene, released the original shop owner and apologized to him, and then escorted the shapeshifter back to the ship.

Then, Isabella, as a paladin who had sworn an oath of conquest, personally interrogated the shapeshifter.

"One good news, two bad news."

After the interrogation, she gathered the core members of the team together and said, "The good news is that he has no other accomplices, and the rest of the team are trustworthy."

"The bad news is that Darian, whom he replaced, is dead, and his body has been thrown into the river—" Isabella observed a moment of silence for three seconds, then had Amelie take out a bag of gold coins and give it to Holcher.

Holcher accepted the gold coins and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness!"

Isabella nodded and continued, "The remaining bad news is that this guy does indeed take orders from the vampires and has already reported our whereabouts. Soon, the vampire pursuers will swarm us."

Everyone's faces immediately hardened.

Isabella concluded, "Everyone, speed up! We must reach Longspear Fortress before nightfall tomorrow!"