BANG—!

The impact left me recoiling back on my chair, smashing against the floor as I raised my head to look at the rat who stood before me, his face frosted all over as he tried to reach for the device on the table.

"No!"

I didn't let him.

Despite being on the floor, I still acted, hurriedly dragging myself toward the table, my palms scraping against the cold surface as I reached for the device, just barely managing to shove it away from him before his fingers could graze it.

"….!?"

The rat's expression twisted further, his eyes widening with a crazed glint as the device scattered across the floor, clattering against the tiles. Without hesitation, he lunged toward it, his desperation clear.

"Fuck off!"

Pushing myself up, I smashed my shoulder against the rat's body, knocking him off balance.

BANG!

"Ukh!"

His body staggered back a couple of steps.

That was all the time that I needed to reach for the device and grab it with both hands. At the same time, I turned my back against the wall while staring at the rat, his gaze locked firmly on me.

A tense silence followed as the rat's eyes turned white.

One that made every nerve in my body tense.

Eventually—

"How… did you manage to hide that from me?"

The rat shattered the silence around us.

"I could've sworn I had checked everything in the room. How did you manage to hide that from me?"

I paused, staring back at the rat.

But soon, I smiled as I showed the black device to the rat.

"This? Well…"

I inwardly laughed while thinking about the item.

"You can say that this isn't just a special recording device."

This was an item that had been given to me by the Guild Master. It was a recording device that was completely undetectable. There were several other, more intriguing functions of the device, but this was all that I needed to deal with the rat.

"…I know full well about your capabilities. With your node and Decree, I'm sure nothing can get past your eyes. Since that's the case, I just used something that you wouldn't be able to see. I've recorded the entire conversation, and I now have enough proof that you're trying to frame me."

I had now gathered the perfect piece of evidence to give to the Guild Master to kick the rat out of this Guild.

"….."

The rat's face underwent a series of changes as I spoke.

Eventually—

A pair of dimples surfaced on his face once more as he looked around the room before settling his gaze on me.

I could feel a sudden shift in his demeanor, and my body tensed once again.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Alright, you got me."

The rat muttered, his claps growing louder.

"…You really got me."

I started to have a bad feeling, stepping back.

But—

"…..!?"

The moment I did, the rat lunged in my direction.

'This bastard!'

I knew instantly what he was trying to do, but he was a lot faster than I was, his hands shooting toward my waist with startling strength before lifting me clean off the ground.

"Ukh!"

He smashed my back against the wall, the impact rattling my spine and knocking the air out of me as he struggled to free his hands to strike my head.

"F-fucking… r-rat!"

Of course, I didn't give him the chance to do that, lunging forward with a burst of adrenaline and grabbing him by the hair, yanking his head back with all the strength I could muster.

"L-let go… bastard!"

"Fuck you!"

"Ekh!"

".....!!!"

It all turned into a messy scuffle from that point forward. I grabbed his hair, he slapped my face over and over, the buttons of our shirts flew across the room, and in my desperation, I even went as far as clawing at his face.

"Ahhh! My face...!"

The rat's wails brought a twisted sense of joy to me, but it didn't last. He drove his elbow straight into my nose, and I heard a soft yet unmistakable crack echo through my skull.

"Fuck!!"

Blood started to spill, and just as the two of us were about to strike again, a loud clank echoed through the room, and several people rushed in.

"Stop!"

"…Stop it immediately!"

"Get the two of them off each other!"

The voices were familiar, but I was so absorbed in my rage and hatred for the rat that I barely registered them, my focus tunneled on getting one more hit as I lunged forward.

'One more. Just one more...'

But—

"Stop!"

A hand grasped my arm, stopping me in my tracks as I tried my best to push through and get one more clean hit.

The rat had stopped a long while ago, his eyes locked onto mine with an innocent look, and that was when I also stopped, finally taking note of all the people and eyes that were present in the room.

The Section Chief, Kyle, Zoey, Rowan, and several others…

They were all present in the room, staring at me and the rat.

It was only once I fully processed their presence that I stopped, my arm lowering in the process as Kyle finally let go of me.

"Have you calmed down?"

I didn't answer Kyle's question, keeping my gaze fixed on the rat as he calmly assessed the surroundings. Eventually, the Section Chief looked at him.

"Are you okay…?" He asked the same question Kyle had asked me, but his reaction was different.

"I…"

He bit his lip, his eyes trembling as he looked at me. I took a look at his face, taking note of his hair, which was a mess, and the several bruises across his eye, alongside the scratches and blood leaking down his nose.

Although I knew I was probably in no better state, I found great joy and pleasure in his state.

I had dreamed of such a sight for quite some time.

"I… I am not okay."

The rat trembled, his face showing clear signs of fear as he looked at me.

The Section Chief turned his attention towards me, his brows furrowing for a moment as I opened my mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the rat as he pointed at me.

"I-I… he att-acked me out of nowhere. I… found his secret and tried to confront him about it, a-and as a r-result, he attacked me…!"

I had to say, his acting was top-notch.

For a moment, I even started to believe him myself.

"He attacked you because you found out his secret?"

"Y-yes."

The Section Chief's eyes narrowed.

"What secret did you find?"

"T-that's…" The rat looked hesitant, his lips quivering and face turning paler. He looked legitimately scared, and seeing this, the Section Chief lowered himself to the rat's eye level and placed his hand over his shoulder.

"You don't have to be scared. I'm here. Nothing will happen to you here, don't worry."

The rat's lips quivered further, his head bobbing up and down in a sort of agreement as he looked at the Section Chief.

I thought about speaking in this situation, but realized I wouldn't be able to get any words out until he spoke.

And soon—

"J-jester…"

A trembling hand pointed in my direction.

"H… he's the Jester."

All eyes turned on me.

I became the sole focus of everyone's attention.

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