009 – Herald of Justice

Come to think of it, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

‘It was like this the first time I used Abduction, too.’

The day I saved that woman, Ella Eloise, from the carriage.

The status window hadn’t given me the name of the coachman who had blocked the carriage door.

‘That early morning… It was the same in the alley.’

The moment I rescued the woman named Lumia.

The name of the man who had plunged a knife into her lower abdomen in that alley… The window never showed it.

‘..The status window doesn’t even work on animals.’

It only shows information for living people.

And that status window isn’t showing information for the man over there…

“..Nah, no way.”

Unless the status window is bugging out again.

Could that man possess the ability to defy the Status Window?

Was he not… human?

“…Doppelganger?”

Coming from someone who had played Arcane Campus, I knew.

That within the Magical Kingdom, several Doppelgangers were hidden, disguised as humans.

However…

Back when I was playing Arcane Campus… I don’t particularly recall being harmed by a Doppelganger.

Or more accurately, because the Doppelgangers never touched my daughter…

I didn’t bother researching Doppelgangers, or remember ever setting out to subjugate them.

“…Could he really be a Doppelganger?”

Thus, I lacked certainty regarding the current situation.

Whether that man was a Doppelganger, or possessed a hidden ability unknown to me.

Within this circumstance, my use of a Scrying spell was… merely in case.

That was the sole reason.

…

I lay on the cozy bed, covered by a blanket.

My gaze remained fixed on the Status Window.

Beyond the Status Window, the woman who had been talking to the man for so long…

“…Oh.”

She began to shed her clothing, layer by layer, before my very eyes.

“…Ohoho…”

I wasn’t privy to the conversation between the two.

But it was certain that the man, whom I suspected to be a Doppelganger, had seduced the woman.

Look at that.

The two of them, alone inside the dormitory…

“Ehehehe… Smooch… Ooh.”

Wiping the drool from my mouth with a quick swipe of my hand.

I fleetingly wondered if I should slip my own pants down, just as…

“…Huh?”

—

Daisy Ruin (25)

[Abduction] – Active

[Scrying] – Daisy Ruin

—

As Daisy turned to grip the wall… from within her dormitory room’s bathroom.

I could see a woman walking out, bearing an identical resemblance to Daisy Ruin.

Yet, like the unidentified man, the Status Window offered no information.

“…!!”

What in the world was going on?

I was just about to enjoy this heartwarming scene after so long… that’s beside the point.

“How dare you! Laying a hand on Daisy, guarded by Mikhail, the apostle of justice!”

It was certain.

Someone who looked exactly like Daisy Ruin, but whose name didn’t appear on the status window.

The woman walking calmly out of the bathroom was no human being, but a doppelganger.

“A doppelganger got into the Academy.”

Daisy Ruin, flustered and in her undergarments, stumbled backwards.

Suddenly, a man stepped behind her, fiercely locking her neck in a headlock.

“Crazy…!”

I leaped out of bed, about to bolt out of the dormitory.

“..What do I even do, going out there?”

Even if I rushed to her dorm room right this instant…

I realized there was nothing I could do.

“If I fight, I’ll lose, right?”

After a quick assessment of my abilities, I looked back at the status window. There, I saw the woman had now lost consciousness.

“..Damn, I gotta save her first..!”

There was no question whose side I should be on in a fight between a doppelganger and a human.

“Kidnapped.”

He kidnapped the unconscious woman.

“Saved her!”

The woman lay collapsed and unconscious in front of the shoe rack, her neck stained crimson.

This meant… the doppelganger truly intended to knock her unconscious, or even kill her.

‘Clearly, they were trying to replace a student.’

Even without a thorough understanding of this world, I realized the situation was dire.

It meant doppelgangers were attacking even the most talented Academy students.

*Squeak-*

I reached to inform a professor of this fact and opened the door, but,

*Squeak…*

I immediately closed the door again and turned around.

“Hmm…”

A variety of simulations flashed through my mind.

First.

I dash outside and grab any professor I can find.

I explain to the professor that a doppelganger has infiltrated the Academy.

As proof, I show them the woman collapsed in my room.

Right…

A woman in her undergarments, neck red and swollen, unconscious.

And in my room, of all places…

“..That’s a one-way ticket to expulsion, isn’t it?”

With the first method, expulsion might be the best-case scenario.

“Ugh…”

Second.

Bolt outside and seize the first professor you see.

Explain to this professor that a doppelganger has infiltrated the Academy.

As proof, present the woman collapsed in my room.

Of course, she would be fully clothed, so there wouldn’t be any issue.

Therefore, explain it this way:

‘I have kidnapped this woman!’

(Omitted Details)

Imprisonment in the imperial dungeons.

“A lot has been omitted in between…”

This second simulation also skips over many details…

Since there’s no way to explain the ‘kidnapping’ magic or the ‘eavesdropping’ magic.

The final destination would inevitably be Mikhail’s execution as a kidnapper.

“…”

I lacked the confidence.

I simply did not have the confidence…

To explain why a woman was passed out in my room, clad only in her undergarments, without involving kidnapping magic.

“…Oh, the hell with it.”

But aside from these two simulations, if the unconscious woman were to awaken, I could naturally extricate myself from this entire affair.

“Heave-ho.”

After carrying the woman, still in her underclothes, to the bed.

Opening the wardrobe, I selected one of the five sets of male academy uniforms displayed there and dressed her in it.

“Is it a little large, perhaps?”

The Archmage must not have known my clothing size, as he provided five uniforms in varying sizes.

I never imagined they’d come in so handy.

“Indeed… the Archmage’s beneficence is boundless.”

After dressing the woman in the somewhat oversized clothing.

I tore the clothes I had been wearing into strips and wrapped them tightly around her eyes.

If she were to open her eyes and recognize me… avoiding the outcome of the second simulation would seem nearly impossible.

This was the conclusion I reached to keep my identity a secret as much as possible.

“Now, I simply have to wait until she regains consciousness, I suppose?”

*

It was impossible not to be swayed.

A man I’d been admiring had called me out, speaking all the words I longed to hear.

A man I’d been admiring had called me out, acknowledging my feelings.

Thus, I was ready to give him everything, body and soul…

But the man was not the ‘him’ I adored… but rather a doppelganger disguised as him.

“Who is next?”

“It’s Matt. That fool is crushing hard on Daisy Ruin. You just need to seduce him.”

“Understood.”

Was it because they intended to kill me anyway?

The doppelganger, who so openly discussed their next target in front of me… strangled me.

“Ghh!…”

Breath constricted.

Darkness encroached.

When I tried to use Ether to escape the situation, I had already… just fainted.

…

“!!!”

Upon regaining consciousness, all I saw was darkness.

‘..Am I alive?’

Just in case, I cautiously wiggled my fingers and toes…

Feeling puzzled that they moved perfectly fine, I carefully began to move my body.

‘…A bed?’

It was the same bed I fell asleep on every night, so it only took a moment to recognize the familiar softness.

Then, feeling something foreign against my eyes, I carefully raised my fingers…

‘…It’s an eye mask?’

I could tell that the darkness was due to an eye mask.

‘What’s going on? What… happened…?’

Trying my best not to make a sound, I turned my head.

‘…’

A man was sitting at the desk, nodding off.

The man’s face wasn’t the same as the man disguised as the doppelganger I fought.

Nor was it the doppelganger who looked exactly like me.

‘A doppelganger? A doppelganger…’

I didn’t know why, but it was clear I had survived, at least for now.

As I began to envelop my entire body in Ether, hoping to escape this place…

“Huh?…”

The man, whose face had slipped from his hand propping him up, opened his eyes.

Swiftly…

I carefully pulled the eye mask back down, trying not to be noticed that I was awake.

The pitch-black darkness obscured my vision once more.

But as long as I had Ether, I could escape this place at any time.

‘I need to escape outside… and somehow bring back the Professor.’

Listening for the man’s movements with my ears…

“Ugh… Haaah…”

He seemed to stretch and yawn…

“Seriously, still not awake?”

“…”

“I need to get them out of here so I can sleep too… Haaah… What to do? Should I just toss them outside like this…”

“?”

He began to utter words difficult to grasp.

Tap…tap…

“Hey there.”

‘???’

Following the incomprehensible words…

the man initiated actions equally hard to fathom.

His actions felt like an attempt to rouse me from slumber.

“Well… can’t exactly expect much from someone who’s passed out… sigh… leaving her outside now, the doppelgangers would surely descend…”

‘????’

Judging from his soliloquy…

it seemed my encounter with the doppelgangers wasn’t some mere hallucination.

Alongside that, it appeared this man had indeed rescued me…

‘…If he saved me, then why blindfold me?’

Blindfolding me… perhaps it was to conceal the fact that *he* was the one who saved me.

‘If that’s the case…’

*Twitch!*

Deliberately, I twitched my body.

The man, noticing my movement, abruptly ceased his muttering and fell silent.

‘Gotta play along, it seems.’

I didn’t know why he wished to conceal his identity.

But first and foremost, he was my savior, and that much wouldn’t change.

I decided to act as he desired.

“…W-where… am I…?”

Just in case, I kept my entire body fueled with aether, while feigning the voice of a bewildered woman.

“You’re awake?”

Where had the dull tone from moments ago vanished? The man suddenly adopted a low, resonant voice.

“I extracted you from the clutches of doppelgangers, just before they could claim you.”

“Ah… so then…?”

“Yes. You owe your life to me.”

“Thank y-“

“However, nothing in this world is free. I saved your life.”

‘…So, there was an agenda.’

I could sense that his rescue came with strings attached.

“I require funds.”

“Oh, how much…”

No matter what, ultimately nothing trumps living,

So, I prepared to silently accede to his demands-

“2000 shillings.”

‘…Not 20 million, but 2 thousand?’

What.

This person… why are they so plain…?

‘This man… what is he?’