Chapter 104 : Chapter 104

Chapter 104 - Crossroads of Choice (1)

“Master! Are you alright!”

When the aftermath of the explosion subsided and the ringing in his ears stopped.

Artier could hear the voice he had so longed to hear.

“You’ve come, Collie.”

“Aaaah?! Master’s arm!”

“Arm?”

At those words, Artier looked down at his own arm.

The guard on his wrist was torn to shreds, and blood was flowing profusely.

‘Ah, so I broke the shield after all. Still, it’s a relief that only my left arm is injured.’

There was no pain, as if all the nerves were dead.

But he couldn’t even muster any strength.

As Artier collapsed to the floor, Collie took out his staff with a whimper.

“J-just hold on a little… I will treat you immediately.”

“Okay. Please.”

Reinard and Tersion were still looking beyond the dusty space.

“He’s not the type to die from just this.”

“That’s right. Since he copied a magician who focused on defense rather than offense.”

Pat! Pat!

As soon as those words were finished, homing magic circles appeared on Tersion and Reinard’s bodies.

“They’re coming.”

[Reinard uses Fire Shield (Lv.2).]

The shield of burning flames incinerated the mana arrows, and Tersion immediately shot an arrow.

“Reinforcements at the perfect moment. Were you buying time?”

A wounded Doppelganger walked out of the dust.

The creature, speaking even with its arm blown off and its neck bent, seemed to have no intention of imitating a human anymore.

“It really is a Doppelganger.”

“Even Doppelgangers feel pain. What a tough bastard.”

Snap.

The Doppelganger set its bent body back in place with its own hand and smirked.

“You got me.”

“If you submit quietly, I’ll let you go without pain.”

“What a joke. Do you think that means anything to me?”

The creature raised the grimoire with its one remaining arm. It intended to attack at any moment.

Tersion sighed and shot an arrow.

Kwang! Pepeong!

The fight did not last long.

The surprise attack was fatal, and Tersion’s Arrow Ray was a bad match for Gerard. As a skill that ignored defense, it pierced through Gerard’s Shield as well.

“Everything will be as Gortera wills. The empire is already…”

With those last words, the Doppelganger returned to its true form.

Its grayish-white skin and abnormally long limbs once again reminded them that it was not a human but a monster.

“……That’s a name I’ve never heard before. Could that be the leader of the Hellmorphs?”

“Hey, are you two alive?”

Tersion ignored Reinard’s mumbling and immediately looked for the two.

“Miss Jeina is fine. But master’s wound will require holy magic.”

Collie looked like he was about to cry.

Artier realized something and said firmly.

“It’s not your fault, Collie.”

“But…”

“You did your best. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“No. Not at all.”

Artier looked at his ruined left arm.

‘Of course that’s a lie.’

Even if he held it in, he couldn’t stop the trembling.

Still, it was bearable.

The throbbing pain, the feeling of his blood growing cold, was no longer awkward.

He was adapting to this world.

“A single injury cannot represent the whole, so if the whole is intact, the single part is also intact.”

[Collie uses a skill.]

Paat!

As a brilliant light caressed Artier’s body, the wounds on his body slowly disappeared as if being rewound.

When all the wounds were healed, Collie collapsed, panting, and pouted.

“Lies don’t work on me, sir.”

“You’re right.”

Artier couldn’t help but chuckle.

“So what are you going to do?”

Tersion asked.

“Are we going to keep going or go back? To be honest, whichever we choose, we need to rest for a while.”

Everyone agreed with her words.

They were low on stamina, and almost everyone’s mana was at rock bottom.

“I’ll set up a camp here, so let’s rest for now.”

“We have no choice.”

Artier barely managed to set up a magic circle by scraping together his comrades’ mana.

Thanks to that, they were able to avoid the poison gas, but mana recovery was slow. It was because this was an underground cave, not the surface.

“The mana recovery speed is about half as slow as on the surface.”

“Can’t be helped. We’ll just have to rest twice as long.”

The party, gathered around the campfire, talked about what to do next.

“The fact that monsters have allied with the Hellmorphs is a serious problem. We should report to the Papal State immediately and return.”

Reinard said.

“It’s just that monsters have been added to the list of enemies. I understand reporting, but what’s the reason for insisting on returning?”

“Because we are not prepared.”

“What do you mean?”

“We only came prepared to fight Hellmorphs. We didn’t come prepared to fight Doppelgangers. An unprepared battle results in more losses than gains.”

Besides, Doppelgangers were high-level monsters.

They were in a different league from the Gnolls Artier had faced in the past.

“I have a different opinion.”

Tersion also touched her mask.

The fact that her pose was the same as Reinard’s was clearly intentional.

“They’re definitely hiding something here.”

“What’s your evidence.”

“That thing said it earlier. That there was an order to kill all humans who come here. Usually, you don’t do that in a place with nothing.”

“I don’t think it’s that important a statement. In the first place, the order to kill enemies who have infiltrated our territory is extremely common.”

“Isn’t the scale too large for a common response? Besides… this is the rearmost area for you humans, like the southern part of the empire.”

Indeed, the Hellmorphs they had met so far were much weaker than the ones they had met on the front lines.

Until they met the Doppelganger here.

“This is practically like they knew about us and prepared.”

“How could that be possible. We decided to come here on the day we were isolated by the snowstorm. Even if there was a spy at that time, there would have been no way to contact them.”

Flinch.

As Ben’s existence was mentioned, Jeina’s whole body momentarily stiffened.

Artier hurriedly opened his mouth.

“They weren’t after us.”

“Hmm?”

Reinard was looking at him.

Artier quickly racked his brain.

Even if it wasn’t them, there was one other visitor the Doppelganger could have predicted.

“……The Imperial expedition team.”

They must have departed from the empire. And their destination must have been clear.

If only one condition was met, it was highly possible that they knew about this in advance.

“I think they already have their eyes in the empire.”

At his words, the atmosphere turned cold.

“Is there any evidence.”

“There’s no clear physical evidence. But isn’t it strange? Look at the empire’s actions now. In Condestraden County, the count even tried to make a deal with them.”

It could just be that the evil nature of humans was revealed.

It might be more of that, but the question of ‘what if?’ was certainly plausible.

“Leader, if there is no clear evidence, it is better not to report to the Papal State.”

“No, even if it’s just a guess, it’s right to report this. That way, the Papal State can also be careful.”

Artier said so and took out the communication orb.

When he infused it with a little recovered mana, the communication orb began to send a signal.

“That’s a relief. It’s transmitting to the Papal State.”

“It’s really useful, except for the ridiculous price, huh?”

10 seconds passed since the signal was sent. Artier continued to stare at the crystal orb.

After 15 seconds, a new face appeared in the crystal orb. It was someone Artier didn’t remember.

Communication received from the Papal State. What is it, Leader Artier?

……It seems the communication officer has changed. Who are you?

I am Bishop Herman.

A person with chubby cheeks, a rare sight in this world. A person with golden curly hair that was truly eye-catching.

At his answer, Artier tilted his head and asked back.

Are you really a bishop?

In the Rata faith, the position of bishop was an incredibly high rank. The only positions above it were cardinal and pope.

From the outside, the man looked too young to hold the title of bishop.

……Actually, I’m still an acolyte priest.

As expected, he immediately bowed his head at Artier’s questioning.

I was temporarily managing this place at the bishop’s request.

Ropin was not the type to entrust his work to others. Feeling anxious, Artier hurriedly asked more questions.

Where is Ropin?

The bishop went to the imperial palace this afternoon.

The imperial palace? For what?

He was asked to give a congratulatory speech on the crown prince’s birthday.

A congratulatory speech…?

Tersion, who was listening to the story from behind, was dumbfounded.

“They’re having a birthday party at a time like this? Is the empire really that thoughtless?”

“On birthdays, they hold a banquet throughout the capital, albeit briefly. It could be for the sake of public sentiment, but…”

“What a load of crap. Are all the people in the capital idiots?”

“Of course not. The rumors have already spread as much as they can.”

Artier was troubled.

Was it okay to convey important information to someone he didn’t even know?

What was the possibility that he was a Doppelganger?

Is there anything you wish to convey? I will pass it on to the bishop.

……No. I think I should deliver it myself. I’ll contact you again later.

In the end, Artier ended the communication with those words.

‘Because this is a situation where you can’t easily trust anyone.’

The party was watching him put away the crystal orb.

Now that things had come to this, their next move depended entirely on Artier’s decision.

“What are you planning to do.”

Reinard was on the side of returning, while Tersion was of the opinion to go deeper inside.

Artier found himself looking at Jeina.

“……”

She said nothing.

She seemed to have a lot on her mind. It seemed that after experiencing several incidents, her blood was also gradually cooling.

“For now, let’s find our remaining comrades.”

Artier decided to postpone the decision.

“Whether we move forward or not will be decided by a majority vote later.”

“But how do you plan to find out? The people here could be distinguished thanks to the spirit creature you have a spiritual contract with, Leader, but it won’t be the same for others.”

“I just thought of a way. I think we can get Collie’s help again this time.”

“Eh?”

Collie, who had no idea what was going on, became a fool.

“How do you plan to use me?”

“You have the ability to distinguish lies.”

It was something he had casually mentioned when Artier was getting his wound treated earlier.

Collie, being a Spirit Creature, was better at reading the flow of mana than others, so he could see through lies.

“It’s possible, but… will that work on Doppelgangers?”

“It will. In fact, it will work because they are Doppelgangers. They copy the host’s abilities exactly.”

“That makes sense.”

Tersion said.

“If you can see through them, that’s great, and even if you can’t, it’s still strange enough. It’s rare for there to be a human you can’t see through. Right?”

A smile spread across the lips of Collie, who had realized something.

Artier also grinned.

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