episode_0018

A dungeon like usual. The heart of a dungeon like usual! After neatly beating the Lizardman King who lived hereㅡ I had just deliciously filled my stomach with lizard rice bowl. All that was left was to pack our bags and go outside. “Okay, I’ve stuffed everything in too. Departure preparations are complete~” I said, carrying a large bag on my shoulder and even clapping my hands. But— “Wait, Yuan.” Elice slightly pulled my sleeve from the side. “Lilien hasn’t come yet.” “Huh? You’re right?” I hadn’t noticed while organizing the luggage, but she hadn’t returned yet. “She said she’d go for a spin and come back, but it’s taking a bit long?” “Could it be that she found an interesting ingredient?” The memory that exists, which flashed through my mind the moment I heard that. “Surely she won’t bring something like a mushroom again like last time?” It was enough to make me sigh involuntarily from a slightly ominous feeling. “Well~ at least she’s not the type of human to be ambushed in a dungeon.” Again, this is the heart of the dungeon. Nevertheless, Lilien is one of the handful of overpowered knights in this world. It’s practically rude to worry about her. So the three of us weren’t particularly tense and just decided to sit by the campfire and wait while chatting. The sound of the flames crackling, The warmth of the cozy campfire. A peaceful moment. But— Click, clack, the sound of heels echoing in my ears from deeper inside the dungeon. Soon after, a relaxed voice was heard. “Sorry I’m late~ I got a *little* bit lost, you see?” It was Lilien. She appeared as relaxed and composed as ever. “You’re late! We had a tough time waiting, Lilien!” “That’s right. Thanks to that, Elice lost to me in word chain for 3 consecutive games? Yay~” Arte drew a quiet V with her finger expressionlessly. “Hey! How am I supposed to beat someone with a built-in dictionary! Right, Yuan?” “I saw the ancient magic names coming out in the middle and surrendered a long time ago.” Lilien smiled a little apologetically seeing us like that. “Hehe, sorry. Shall we get going now?” Then she took Elice’s hand and lightly helped her up. The two walked side by side past the campfire and started exchanging small talk. Watching them, I absentmindedly loosened my backpack strap. “Yuan? Did you forget something? Why are you opening your backpack again…” Arte, noticing my action, asked, tilting her head. I asked her, somewhat seriously. “Arte, do you perhaps have something like a bat? With a weight suitable for me to swing.” “Huh? Why that all of a sudden…” “Please. Quickly, quickly. There’s no time.” At my words, Arte responded immediately despite being flustered. “Understood. Please use this.” Arte immediately took out an energy sword from the armory and handed it to me. When I turned on the switch, with a low, thick hum—sound, a soft energy field unfolded around the blade. I slowly swung the sword a few times in the air. “Hmm~ It’s good? This weight and this speed… It’s just right. Thanks, Arte.” “Not at all. But why did you say you needed a weapon?” “Ah~ I’ll be back in a moment~” And then I quietly took a step. In front, Lilien and Elice were still deep in conversation. It’s better the more off guard they are. “Hmm? Yuan, what’s that brutish-looking weapon?” “Indeed? It seems Arte handed it to him?” The moment they turned around and looked at me— I, without a word, and very quickly, swung the sword. Towards Lilien’s face. Thwack—!! The energy sword accurately struck Lilien’s face. “Urgh…!” Lilien was sent flying weakly past the wall and slammed into it with a bang! sound. Only the rattling sound of the greatsword fallen to the floor filled the silent dungeon. “Y-Yuan?! What are you doing! Why, why a fellow comrade without a reason!” Elice shouted in a startled voice. What. You’re the Demon King, and you didn’t notice? I didn’t answer. I just silently held the sword and strode towards Lilien. “Yuan?! Wait, wait, just calm down!” Elice desperately reached out, but I had no intention of stopping. I calmly swung the energy sword and repeatedly beat the fallen Lilien. Clang! Thwack! Thud! “Urgh… Yuan… What on earth… Ugh… Why… Stop…!” The fallen Lilien reached out a trembling hand and pleaded— “You still have strength left to speak? This won’t do, you.” Without stopping, I expressionlessly beat her harder, more roughly. Her very breathing trembled unsteadily. However, there was a hand that grabbed me from behind. “Yuan, stop. I demand an explanation.” Turning around, I saw Arte gripping my collar with one hand. As expected of an automaton, monstrous strength. She’s controlling my movements instantly. “Let go, Arte. I’m in the middle of exterminating it.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this is Lilien! She’s a knight! She’s a human, the same as you, a human!!” Elice shouted, wide-eyed and tearfully. However, Arte turned towards Elice and spoke calmly. “Wait a moment. Lilien’s form is…” At that moment, a strange change occurred in the body of the fallen Lilien. Slither— The color of her skin and armor spread out as if paint was bleeding, and her form began to collapse. It wriggled like slime, and its outline swayed like a child’s scribble. “This is…” Elice’s face instantly hardened. “I don’t know about other things, but I know this monster. I tussled with it before meeting you guys.” I added, resting the sword on my shoulder. “It’s a doppelganger. You guys know about it, right?” Silence. And, the body of the fake Lilien slammed into the wall began to distort little by little. Lilien’s form, which had been slammed into the wall, distorted, and soon turned into a bluish mucous mass. Literally a purple blob slime. A visual that looks exactly like something I’ve seen somewhere. Something… it reminds me of Pokemon’s Ditto. It’s so identical, I wonder if God referenced its design when making this guy. “Okay, who wants to get the last hit. Oops, it ran away?” Before I could even finish speaking, the doppelganger that was crawling and wriggling went swoosh! and disappeared into the darkness. It was in the blink of an eye. As expected, doppelgangers are hard opponents to catch. Even if I did catch it, I wouldn’t want to taste it. Wouldn’t it only taste purple if I ate it? But more than that, the problem was that Elice and Arte were looking at me with eyes half-gone from shock. “Surely… you guys thought it was the real Lilien?” “Ah, no no…. Well… I was just too surprised, I guess… Y-Yuan showed that kind of side, you see, so! Because you suddenly, started beating up Lilien…” She was really flustered, her tongue was twisting at the end of every word. She couldn’t close her mouth, her face was flushed red, and she was trembling. “In the first place, would Lilien be sent flying like that by my attack? Especially when it comes to close combat, Lilien is the strongest among the three of you, right? The fact that she didn’t even dodge and just took the hit when I swung like that disqualifies it.” As I spoke, I folded the energy sword I was holding in my hand. If it was the real Lilien, she would have snatched my wrist and instead performed a “wall slam” on me. And with a slight smile— “This kind of Yuan is lovable too~” and then sliding in for a hug would have been a bonus. At my words, Arte and Elice also slowly nodded their heads. “That’s certainly true. Ms. Lilien is the type to pounce, not be pounced on.” “Still, it’s a relief. If we had caught it before its transformation wore off—” “Elice, would we have had to… eat Lilien?” The automaton suddenly dropped a bombshell statement. “Arte, I’m telling you, the genre is suddenly getting weird…?!” It feels like we’d have to say lines like ‘So this is what Lilien tastes like…’. At those words, both of them burst into laughter with a puff sound. Just as we were chatting by the campfire for a while— Click, clack. Footsteps. “Sorry I’m late~ I was chasing a squirrel-type monster~” A soft and cheerful voice. And Lilien appeared with a smiling face. “You won’t fool me twice?!” Lightning flashed! Elice was already gathering electric brain magic in her hands. “It’s real this time, Elice~” “Hmm hmm~ So something like that happened?” Lilien, having heard the situation, nodded her head as if impressed. “Doppelgangers are truly tricky opponents if you don’t know how to deal with them. You must have all been surprised?” “Right?! Is there actually a way to deal with them? Unless you have excellent intuition like Yuan, I don’t think you’d know.” Then Lilien lightly raised a finger and spoke. “Hehe, it’s not like there’s absolutely no way to deal with them~” “Oh? There is?” “Yes. You can distinguish them by scent.” “Scent? You can distinguish them by smell?” Lilien brought her finger close to her lips and continued speaking in a slightly low, strangely sweet tone. “When you come down into a dungeon… you fight, right? Then inevitably you sweat. Whether human or demon, that’s an undeniable phenomenon.” “What does that have to do with anything?” “Doppelgangers cannot imitate things like that. Traces of combat, the afterglow of movement… they can’t copy those things. So… they give off a subtly sweet scent. Fakes give off the scent of fakes, you see.” “Knowledge increased. Adding to database.” Arte immediately made a gesture of storing memory, swoosh. As expected of an automaton. Huh? Then what about a case like this? “Then… what if it transforms into me, who has almost no activity? There’s no scent, no movement, and I look harmless at first glance?” At my words, Lilien just smiled, then came closer, dyeing that smile even deeper. And in an instant, she hugged me. “Ugh?! Lil-Lilien…?!” Her soft touch gently and firmly adhered from my chest to my spine. The body heat felt throughout my body, Not even wearing plate armor now, this isn’t a knight’s embrace, but rather… “That was a really… naughty question, wasn’t it?” Breath reaching my ear. Softly and moistly, she whispered from a distance where her lips could almost touch. “As for Yuan…” Slowly, wrapping her hand around my waistㅡ “At first, I didn’t know well… but now I can distinguish you even from far away.” “…Wh-What do you mean—” “By scent, by body heat, by gaze…” Her finger very lightly brushed against the nape of my neck. “By that… reaction.” My heart went, thump. It beat one beat louder. “There’s no way… I wouldn’t be able to distinguish you, is there?” And lastly. Lilien, who had slightly lowered her head, very lightly bit my ear. “My… finest delicacy.” The sound of her licking her lips tickled inside my ear. [Eyecatch!] Today’s Monster – Doppelganger A copycat monster putting its heart and soul into casting ‘You don’t know how to deal with it? Then you get hit!’. A skilled individual who perfectly replicates the opponent’s appearance, atmosphere, and even speech pattern, but… Its attractive point is its clumsy tendency where it can’t actually copy the inner strength and magic power. Its unique squishy body is reminiscent of Pokemon’s Ditto, And they say its cute point is how it always wriggles and runs away without fail when its identity is revealed. Is your comrade perhaps a bit nicer and quieter than usual? If so, try suspecting them just once… It might be a doppelganger! “Argh, stop clinging to me! How many times are you going to smell me while clinging like this!” ㅡThe cook who kept getting hugged by his comrades under the pretext of ‘checking’ him