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TL: Thy Unsus

ED: UpsilonProgress-kun

Within the Sea of Trees a little distance away from Fortress Tilia.

In the poor light, a boy with disheveled hair with spots of blonde mixed in—Sakagami Gōta—was thrusting his knife into the ground with intense concentration.

“Hi, hihi……hihihihihii.” (Sakagami)

With a seemingly stiffened smile, he appeared to be drawing something in the moss-covered dirt with his knife. Its appearance looked somewhat like the Us.h.i.+ no Toki Mairi¹, and it looked so strange that his obstructive thoughts weren't clear to him.

It appeared his leg wound had opened due to him working in a trance-like state; the plain cloth wound around his leg was wet with blood. Sakagami, free from his obstructive thoughts and with eyes bloodshot with tenacity, swung his knife while never stopping his movements, despite seemingly being uncomfortable from his leg not moving the way he wanted it to.

Right next to him was a double-headed wolf.

Though it was deformed, I could be inferred that the base was a Fire Fang. Its size was the same as a normal one, but its imposing appearance was different from many kinds of monsters. Its two sets of eyes both had the light of reason; the lie of its long, gray fur was amazing; and it even gave off the air of a king.

There were about 10 other monsters in the vicinity, but among them, only the double-headed wolf appeared to have a will. In that sense, that individual, which could be called “special”, was unmistakably『Berta』.

“I've finished it……!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami cried out in joy.

What was drawn in front of him was a warped circle about 3 meters in diameter.

A complex lines were drawn in the circle. It looked like a child's scribbling, but as far as I could tell from Sakagami's appearance, there was no way that this was such a lovely thing.

“……What are you doing, Sakagami?” (Majima)

A warped smile on his face, Sakagami quickly raised his face.

What was reflected in his eyes after he turned his head was the handle of a spear being swung.

“Gubah!?” (Sakagami)

Having jumped out, Lily swung her spear, flicking up Sakagami's jaw.

Berta appeared to have sensed the attack a moment before, but Gerbera was going over there. As she was going there, it not counterattacking wouldn't be a problem. It could be said that Berta's move to run away was the correct choice.

“GRRrrrAAAAHHHh!”

As Berta retreated, a crimson lotus of flames vomited out from one of its two heads, and to my surprise, a large amount of hail came from the other head, striking Gerbera.

As a result, flames and ice, as well as a large amount of steam, wrapped around Gerbera. But even so, the other monsters immediately attacked Gerbera as she tried to chase Berta, not caring about it.

“……Thou art in the way.” (Gerbera)

Rough Rabbits, Guts Galluses, Treants……there were various monsters, but none of them were an enemy to Gerbera. She literally kicked them off.

But, thanks to their sacrifices, Berta escaped Gerbera.

Though I had told her beforehand to not chase her too far, Berta was able to avoid Gerbera's attack; it really was quite the powerful monster.

The remaining monsters gathered around Berta after it took some distance.

Leaving diverting them to Gerbera, I turned my eyes towards Sakagami, who we'd secured.

“Aaaah……You were toooo slow, Majimsenpai. Now, the ritual is over, you see?” (Sakagami)

Despite having had a spear thrust at him by Lily, Sakagami didn't lose his composure. On the ground under his b.u.t.t, there was the strange shape he had just finished drawing. It was clear that that was what was giving him composure.

“What is that, Sakagami?” (Majima)

“Isn't it obvious? It's a magic circle. One for pulling monsters here.” (Sakagami)

As he said, the shape he carved into the ground with his knife certainly didn't not look like a magic circle. Wasn't this a pentagram? It was a bit different in appearance from what I saw when magic was used in this world, but it undoubtedly a magic circle.

“The same amount of monsters as before will close in again. Hi…hi haha. It looks like you're leading some amazing ones, but how much can you protect?” (Sakagami)

*Kichi*, I heard a sound behind me.

It was the noise Gerbera made in irritation when her nerves were rubbed the wrong way Even without turning around, I understood her feelings. I held her back with a hand gesture.

“That's true. If that were to happen, the few survivors in the fortress still would be overwhelmed for sure.” (Majima)

“Oops. And you're probably thinking ‘it'll work out if we kill him', aren't you? Well too bad. Even if you did, it's meaningless. Even I can't stop it now.” (Sakagami)

“Can't stop it, huh? Yeah, I bet.” (Majima)

I had heard that before.

“You cannot control monsters. You can only pull them towards you at best. With that『magic circle』there. Right?” (Majima)

“Yeah, that's right. You came here because you killed Juumonji-san, right? You desperately gave it your all, and yet it was all for nothing~.” (Sakagami)

Sakagami ridiculed me while holding his stomach.

Even though he should have escaped once he escaped his restraints, it appeared he was still in this place to do this. But,『even if he wanted to escape, whether or not he could escape as he planned to was still another matter』…….

“……Hey, milord.” (Gerbera)

Keeping her voice low, Gerbera spoke to me.

When I turned my head, there was a white figure staring fixedly at the two-headed wolf with eyes red like blood.

“Isn't it fine now?” (Gerbera)

Under her chilling voice, I felt an emotion that made me think of boiling magma.

The fact that Ayame had been injured during Sakagami's recovery was making her blood boil. Seeing her posture, which made it seem like she'd jump out even now, the two wolf heads both growled in unison.

“I understand that thou art trying to be cautious, milord, but it is meaningless to exchange any more words than this with a fool who doesn't realize he's sitting on another's throne.” (Gerbera)

“No, Gerbera.” (Lily)

Thrusting the tip of her spear at Sakagami, Lily warned Gerbera in a rebuking tone.

“We don't know for sure yet.” (Lily)

“Hmm. It's almost certain when you look at that so-called ‘magic circle'.” (Gerbera)

“Still.” (Lily)

Hearing their conversation, Sakagami looked puzzled.

“What? What are you talking about? Or, are you gu-……” (Sakagami)

The end of his sentence faded unclearly.

It appeared he had finally noticed as well.

Noticed that not even a single person here was paying any attention towards him at all.

“Hey, Sakagami.” (Majima)

I opened my mouth, giving his confused appearance a sidelong glance. Exactly as Lily said, I didn't know for sure yet. I had to properly confirm it.

“This is important, so please answer honestly.” (Majima)

“Why are you asking me……” (Sakagami)

“Listen, just answer. It won't take long. Just a few words. Sakagami——” (Majima)

Sakagami bit at it, albeit confused, but I began asking without caring about that.

“——the name ‘Anton'. Have you heard that before?” (Majima)

“……Ah?” (Sakagami)

Sakagami looked puzzled.

That response told me all I needed to know——I gave a tiny sigh.

“Yeah, I thought so. So that's why『you didn't ask it for help』. If you don't know, then that's fine. ……So, please be quiet.” (Majima)

I turned my gaze from Sakagami. Once again, I turned my gaze towards the double-headed wolf.

Eyes full of reason were reflecting us. Wise-like eyes. They closely resembled the eyes of some kind of watchdog.

“You can talk, can't you? If you have some kind of objection, then how about you speak? If you want to talk your way out of this, I think the time for that is now.” (Majima)

Berta stopped growling.

“How……”

In place of that, a low voice came from the inside of its throats.

“How…did you notice?”

It was an abstract way of speaking, but I knew what it was asking.

Apparently, it didn't plan on『talking its way out』. Should this be called “brave”, or was this just because it felt no need to do that……?

“It started when Lily said『Watanabe's scent was coming from Anton』.” (Majima)

Guessing Berta's innermost thoughts, I replied.

“After hearing that, Mikihiko said something. That『It was possible that Watanabe, who died on top of the inner wall, was a Doppelgänger's copy』.” (Majima)

Mikihiko pointed out a strong point.

Lily's nose was excellent, but it wasn't omnipotent. For example; even if the Watanabe in that place was a Doppelgänger's copy, it wouldn't have been possible to determine it in that short period. A Doppelgänger's appearance would turn back to normal from what it was copying when it died, but if they were blown up by an explosion, it would be hard to confirm the corpse.

“But, I myself told Mikihiko that that wasn't possible. Watanabe was a cheat holder. Watanabe, who had his head sent flying, was about to release 5th-rank magic. A Doppelgänger's copy ability only reproduces the appearance. It is absolutely impossible for it to fire 5th-rank magic.” (Majima)

The huge amount of magical power converging in that place was the real deal; even if the power dropped down to below half, that Gerbera was almost dragged into it and killed. That was definitely 5th-rank magic, the trump card of Watanabe, a cheat holder.

“That fact that he was able to use 5th-rank magic, something that even Juumonji can't use, is the biggest proof of them all that Watanabe himself was the one who had his head sent flying. ……But then, why was Watanabe's scent coming from Anton? When I thought that and tried to think back, I realized that there was something strange in how Anton acted.” (Majima)

“H-Hey. What is ‘Anton'? What are you talking about? Explain it to me so I understand!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami spoke in a quivering voice. He had already been completely left behind from this place.

Berta paid close attention to me, ignoring him.

“After Anton killed Juumonji, it ate his corpse. This was an unnecessary action. Unlike Lily, a Mimic Slime, a Doppelgänger's copy ability doesn't need to prey on the target. And, another thing. Anton also risked itself with unnecessary danger. It said that it was『aiming at Juumonji's life』, but if Juumonji just had to die, I was about to deal the finis.h.i.+ng blow a few seconds later. It was not at all necessary for it to『carelessly』come out and go out of its way to put itself in danger.” (Majima)

I thought back upon Anton's appearance, which had somewhat of a mechanical impression.

Every single action Anton showed us felt like blasphemy for Juumonji, but that was just due to its inherent ability as a Doppel-Queen, an illusion ability.

For example; it was only due to a human's sensitivities that we felt disgust when seeing parasitic wasps and caterpillar fungus, but for them, it was merely a way of life.

That was the same. It was not inhumane but also inhumane. Emotionless, like an insect; that might've been why I even felt like it was somewhat mechanical, or why I imagined wriggling insects when I saw Anton. It didn't appear meaningless, but it hadn't seemed like it had a feature that could do things like that, either.

So, that was the key.

“An emotionless thing, resembling a machine—something that could never do pointless things—was seemingly doing pointless things. So rather than tilting my head and going ‘That's weird', it would be more natural to think that there was meaning to it. That is, there was meaning in『killing and eating Juumonji』. And when I thought about it, the answer to ‘Why was Watanabe's scent coming from Anton?' came naturally as well.” (Majima)

Anton was a queen monster. Its body was bigger than a normal Doppelgänger, it was nearly 3 meters tall, and it had『a stomach swelling out so much that it might've swallowed a human』.

“The dead Watanabe was『eaten by Anton』, the same as Juumonji. Watanabe's scent coming from it was natural. At any rate, it's because the person himself was there.” (Majima)

This meant that Gerbera calling it a『scavenger』was unexpectedly on the mark. Though, I didn't know why it『ate the corpse』. Maybe it was because there wasn't enough materials……?

“Watanabe really was killed on top of the inner wall. He wasn't replaced with a Doppelgänger. ……But, what Mikihiko was focused on itself really wasn't wrong. Though Mikihiko's conclusion was wrong, he hinted that『if someone there was Anton's master, then it was possible he could have been replaced by a Doppelgänger』.” (Majima)

If it was just me, then I might not have noticed that. Then, I might not have ever arrived at the correct answer.

“Anton called his master『King』. Even if their loyalty was mechanical, there was definitely respect in it. ……And yet, when Sakagami, the supposed master, asked for help, it hadn't responded to that, even though it was there. I thought it was strange, but it also wouldn't have been strange for Anton's real master to have been someone else.” (Majima)

In addition, that was probably why Sakagami had been easily stolen from Berta by me again.

To put it bluntly, Berta didn't care about Sakagami. Anton ran away after saying『I've fulfilled my purpose』, but this purpose probably wasn't『to divert us so Berta could rescue Sakagami』which I initially thought. The『true master』that moved Anton and Berta, both powerful monsters, behind the scenes was someone else.

——『Someone』who had Sakagami be their cover.

——『Someone』who made Sakagami misunderstand his cheat ability.

Since they could contend with my ability, that『someone』was a cheat holder. That is, that meant they were among the transferees.

There were only 10 transferees staying in Fortress Tilia. Among them, I could exclude Miyos.h.i.+ and his friends who were still alive. Had we not protected them, they would've been killed either by being dragged into the collapse of the inner wall, or by being destroyed by Juumonji's 2nd-rank magic. The story was different if they had been Doppelgängers' copies, but that wasn't possible. There was no way Lily wouldn't have noticed that when we ran away from Juumonji while leaving Silane behind.

So then, as I thought, that meant that that『someone』was among the many people who were blown up on top of the inner wall.

“Their name is……” (Majima)

I tried to speak their name. But, I was interrupted.

“It's a lie!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami suddenly started shouting.

“A lie! It's a lie! It's all a lieee!” (Sakagami)

While screaming one thing, Sakagami started running.

Even we were caught off guard by this. Of course, it wasn't like I forget he existed, but my level of vigilance towards Sakagami was extremely low.

But if, for example, Sakagami attacked me, I could deal with him somehow. I was paying enough attention to do that. But, where he ran was towards Berta who had tricked him the entire time, something I hadn't expected.

“Wh……idiot. Get back here, Sakagamiii!” (Majima)

“SHUT UPPPPP!” (Sakagami)

My voice, which chased after him immediately, didn't reach his ears. After running through the misshapen forest with his injured leg, Sakagami knelt on the ground and clung to Berta.

“Bertaaa! Youuu, you are my subordinate, aren't you! I don't believe it, you told me! You said that I was your master, didn't you! The one who told me how I do it, how I call monsters, was you, wasn't it!? So then, whyYYY!?” (Sakagami)

After hearing those complaints, Berta——for some reason, seemed to have pain float across their eyes.

But, that was also momentary.

“Forget it, Berta. He isn't needed. He's interrupting the conversation between me and Senpai, so please have him leave.”

A boy's voice echoed in the forest.

As soon as he spoke, Berta's hesitation disappeared, as if that was a divine oracle.

*Bagun*, its mouth, lined with sharp fangs, opened and closed.

Everything above Sakagami's chest disappeared. Blood spurted out. And then, I sensed presences of appearing monsters. Dozens of monsters drew near from the surroundings.

“Master!” (Lily)

“……Yeah.” (Majima)

I couldn't afford to be disturbed by the fact someone had lost their life right in front of me. I stretched Asarina long around my body, and prepared to use my sword and s.h.i.+eld.

“Good evening, Senpai.”

Another master that led monsters was coming here.

The time to reveal everything had come.

Translator's Notes

¹ - Some sort of ritual from ancient j.a.pan. ▲

Did someone order a clifffffhanger~?

If you guys notice anything wrong, please let me know!

-Thy Unsus