032 – The Left Hand is a Sleeping Draught

Poke… poke…

“Milady?”

“Eeh?…”

I opened my eyes to the feeling of someone poking my cheek.

Ella, already changed into her school uniform, stood beside my bed, poking my cheek.

“It’s the entrance ceremony today. Shall we get up now?”

“Ah… *sniff*… Thank you for waking me… *sob*…”

I was just about to get up and get ready when—

“Drink this, it’ll help you wake up.”

Ella offered me a cup filled with some sort of drink.

“Thank you.”

I received the cup from her.

And as soon as I was about to drink it…

A pause…

I experienced the instinctive stopping of my hand.

Because…

‘…!!!’

This color…

This smell…

This situation…

‘I’ve tasted this elixir before!!’

The elixir I had placed on my desk…was now in my hand.

“…”

I’d seen it somewhere.

To wake up in the morning, pouring coffee is more effective than drinking it.

For a moment, I had the urge to pour the elixir on my bed to wake myself up…

“Mi-hyun-nim?”

But I was that pathetic kind of guy, unable to resist the woman’s sparkling eyes as she hoped I would drink the liquid quickly.

Glug… Glug…

‘Ughhh!’

I’d rather lick Ella’s feet than drink the elixir…

‘But that’s a reward?’

*Gurgle…*

‘Ah…’

I was being punished now for having such wicked thoughts.

“Drink it all up!”

“*Guhuk…*”

After drinking the entire elixir, it dawned on me.

‘Oh, right…’

I was definitely going to return this elixir…

But half-asleep, I just did as Ella told me and ended up drinking it…

“This…”

“Yes?”

“This… actually, I was saving it to return to Ms. Ella…”

And so, in all honesty, I tried to explain that I was holding onto the elixir to give it back…

“I had a feeling you’d do that, so I made you drink it when you were half-asleep and out of it.”

At that moment… I realized.

I had no memory of seeing an elixir in this room last night…

Ms. Ella, last night, when I went to take a shower, had already seen the elixir on the desk.

And to prevent me from realizing I was going to return it, she hid the elixir while simultaneously changing the subject with a cat story…

‘How meticulous…!’

To go to such lengths, to devise such an elaborate plan, just to get me to drink one elixir…

“I concede defeat…”

After cleanly acknowledging my defeat.

The loser must lick the feet of the victor and wail his defeat…

“Maybe I’m tired, but I keep getting these strange thoughts…”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing. I’ll go take a shower.”

Judging from the strange thoughts that kept popping into my head since morning, I decided to shock myself awake with cold water.

And so, I got up from the bed, about to go take a shower…

When I remembered that Professor Layton hadn’t been monitoring me lately.

‘Well, there’s no real reason to watch the Professor anymore, is there?’

Now, there was no need for me to check the Professor’s location every single time to see if I was being watched.

“…Spy.”

I quietly changed the target of my Spy skill in the status window.

…

The unremarkable freshman orientation ended.

The unremarkable explanations from the professors were finished.

“Where should we eat?”

“The cafeteria, of course!”

“Want to eat out?”

“Did you have a place in mind?”

“I saw a place on the way here that looked really good.”

Amidst the groups of three and five, deliberating over where to have lunch.

‘The Professor told me to come to his office during lunch break, didn’t he?’

Recalling Professor Layton’s instructions to come to his office during lunchtime.

Holding the notebook filled with information gleaned from the Doppelganger, I headed straight for the Professor’s office.

‘This Academy is seriously huge.’

It takes a full ten minutes to walk from the lecture hall to the Professor’s office.

I marveled once again at the immense size of the Academy, before knocking lightly.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Professor.”

“Ah, Mister Mihen. Come in, come in.”

And promptly, I entered Professor Layton’s office…

“Hm?”

A familiar face was already seated within.

“Allow me to introduce you, Mister Mihen. As you may already know, this is my daughter.”

“…Father?”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Lillian Eisolde. I am Mihen.”

“Ah… hello…”

Seated, Lillian Eisolde offered a quick bow, her expression clearly flustered.

It was an expression that seemed to demand an explanation from her father.

“Ah, no need to worry, Lillian.”

Professor Layton kindly began to explain the situation to his daughter.

“That your papa is the Headmaster within the Academy, that remains a secret, dear.”

“…And this person?”

“Mister Mihen is trustworthy, Lillian. Papa vouches for him.”

Lillian Eisolde looked up at me, a hint of wonder in her eyes at the Professor’s words.

Lillian Eisolde was one of the most important NPCs within the Arcane Campus, so I wouldn’t have minded currying a bit of favor.

But alas, I was due to attend Noble Etiquette of Dining, Part 3.

“Here, a notebook containing the information I gathered regarding the Doppelgangers. It’s merely a summary of what I discovered in a day, so it’s not much, but I’ll leave it on the table.”

“Indeed. Hm? You’re already leaving, then?”

“Yes, I already have a luncheon engagement with Miss Ella.”

“Ah. Seems I scheduled this meeting too late, then. In that case, I must also deliver this to you quickly. The Archmage requested I be sure to pass you this note.”

Receiving the note Professor Layton handed me, I immediately left the office and headed for the restaurant where I had arranged to meet Miss Ella for lunch.

*

“…Miss Ella? That name sounds familiar…”

“Ella Eloise, of course. The Margrave’s daughter, and the Eloise Margraviate’s next head.”

“…The freshman my father was so keen on introducing to me… is *that* person?”

“Precisely. Regrettably, she’s busy today. I’ll attempt to reschedule for a later date.”

Lillian Eisolde began to piece together the scene she had just witnessed.

‘Father, the Margrave… the Archmage…’

Receiving the unreserved trust of her father, once hailed as the Magic Kingdom’s foremost swordsman.

Having a luncheon appointment with the Eloise Margraviate’s future head.

Receiving a private note from the Archmage…

For a mere Academy freshman… the scale was far too grand.

Therefore…

Slyly…

She drew the notebook resting on the table closer, and began to read the words that a man named Mihen had written…

—

– It is currently estimated that approximately 800 Doppelgangers are hidden within the Magic Kingdom.

– The method the Doppelgangers used to infiltrate Doppelgangers into the Magic Kingdom was the ‘Position Transference’ spell.

– The Doppelganger capable of using this particular magic is confirmed to be a single individual. Currently, it’s understood that Doppelganger entity designated Mikhail, the one utilizing ‘Location Shift’ magic, has been eliminated.

– Furthermore, it has been verified that Doppelgangers who attempt to mimic the form of a Vampire suffer complete bodily rupture.

.

.

.

—

“Huh?..”

The sheer quality and volume of information was so staggering, I couldn’t help but doubt my own eyes.

‘..Impossible.’

It just wasn’t possible.

The history of humankind was proof enough.

Every time we’d tried to capture a Doppelganger to extract information, they’d unhesitatingly chosen self-destruction.

The sum of human knowledge about Doppelgangers amounted to little more than… accounts from adventurers who’d encountered them firsthand.

“…Papa.”

“What is it, Lillian?”

It was as if someone had infiltrated the very heart of the Doppelgangers’ hidden stronghold, a place humanity hadn’t even managed to locate, and gleaned this intel.

Contained within this notebook were… facts that a human being simply shouldn’t possess.

“Mihan… That man, he seems to have a bit of a problem with exaggeration, don’t you think?”

That was… my initial impression of him.

A man prone to hyperbole.

Even if he enjoyed Papa’s trust, was chummy with the next head of the Eloise family, and garnered the attention of the Archmage…

The quality and quantity of information, the kind that would only be attainable by infiltrating a Doppelganger settlement…

It simply couldn’t be gleaned by a single individual.

And as he himself had claimed, not in a single day, either.

“My dear daughter. Blood runs true, does it not?”

“Hm?”

“I thought much the same as you, at first. That Mihan was a rather… dangerous fellow.”

“Exactly—”

“However, I shall refrain from explaining myself further at this time.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll arrange a meeting someday. You can have a conversation with him directly.”

Papa’s reaction to my words…

Was strangely knowing, as if he’d already anticipated my skepticism.

*

Inside the cold, dark, and dingy cube of a prison cell made of iron bars.

‘I’VE ALREADY BEEN KIDNAPPED BEFORE!!!’

If I had known that “Kidnapper Gets Kidnapped, Season 2” was premiering today,

I wouldn’t have changed the target of my eavesdropping skill from Professor Layton this morning…

‘Haa…’

Though approximately 20 meters separated us, I gazed upon Miss Ella, imprisoned in a cell identical to my own.

“…”

The woman watched me, silent and steadfast.

Perhaps she thought she was enduring this situation in her own way.

But a tremor…

Even from this distance, I could see her hand, gripping the iron bars, tremble almost imperceptibly…

I knew then that Miss Ella was afraid.

‘No choice, then.’

That sight steeled my resolve.

“Left hand, a sleeping draught… right hand, the road to the afterlife…”

The afterlife, maybe not, but I’d show these pathetic kidnappers what a truly effective abduction – fueled by sleeping draught strength – really looked like.