"Hey, just to be sure, I'd like to ask again..."
Otto drove the carriage swiftly through the forest. We had left the Sanctuary a few hours earlier.
"Won't there be any problems with the assassins? Can you guarantee they won't attack us?"
"I already told you, it's not dangerous. Besides, you have nothing to fear as long as I protect you."
Despite my statement, my friend sighed deeply and shook his head.
"That's a lie. You love putting me at risk."
"What makes you say that?" I crossed my arms, pretending to be offended.
"You almost made Garfiel hit me over a joke!" Otto pointed an accusing finger at me.
"I wasn't going to let him do it!" I retorted. "And don't you dare tell me OttoRica isn't real!"
"You already came up with a ship name for us?! But I barely know her!"
"However, you two already have great chemistry."
"Why are you so insistent about this?!"
"Because you look pathetically lonely and in need of female affection. You remind me of myself. Damn, I'm using the 'I used to be like you' line again."
"Huh?! You're just projecting!" He exclaimed indignantly.
"Possibly." I admitted matter-of-factly. It's not as if I had any dignity to defend, and I genuinely believed this was for Otto's sake: it would be better than watching him get drunk night after night for the next few years.
Patrasche squealed, giving me a sidelong glance.
"What did she say?" I looked at Otto cautiously and he cleared his throat, acting as interpreter.
"You're the worst."
"Why?"
"When you finally have the attention of women, the first thing you do is break one of their hearts and then you go off with the other one."
I was pretty sure she heard the news. I wondered if Ram told Otto or something. How else would my dragon have found out?
"I don't intend to discuss my love life with you, Patrasche."
"You would lose the argument."
I pressed my lips together to keep quiet.
"No. Don't answer. It's a trap. She wants to get inside your head."
The remainder of the journey would end up being a silent and awkward moment. Finally, the silhouette of the mansion appeared in the distance.
Night had already fallen. I wasn't surprised to see traces of miasma belonging to mabeasts in the vicinity of Arlam and the mansion itself. Undoubtedly, Meili had brought her 'friends' with her to complete the mission.
"Please tell me that everything went well."
We drove through the town quickly and arrived at our destination. I got out first, eager to go and check the situation.
"Wait! You said you would protect me!" Otto was alarmed to see that he was being left alone.
"I do. They won't attack you if you're not a target, but they won't hesitate to kill you if you're an obstacle. Staying here is the safest thing for you."
This shouldn't turn violent, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Bringing Otto with me now would be a nuisance if a fight broke out. That's why I decided to go into the mansion without him.
"Damn. It smells like blood." I began to worry when I detected the metallic scent in the air. It wasn't a very strong smell; therefore, the amount of blood should be quite low.
I could only think of one explanation for that: there was a brief fight with little consequence. Considering Frederica's brutality, Elsa's bloodthirsty tendencies, and the savagery of the beasts Meili controlled, it was highly unlikely that anyone would die without significant bloodshed.
There were four scent trails. Apparently, they all converged at the same point. I headed toward the location where the trails converged and thus arrived at the dining room, where I encountered an unexpected scene.
"I never imagined you would be guests of Master Leandro. Would you like to try my special tea? It's a little bitter, but it's absolutely delicious: I've been told it's to die for."
It was the first time I'd seen that furious gleam in Frederica's eyes. Everything about her radiated murderous intent. The tension in the room was palpable, and it became clear that everyone there was holding back.
"I don't like tea!" Meili declined instantly.
"I'll have to decline the offer. The only thing I need, the only thing that makes me feel at ease, is contemplating the entrails of my prey." Elsa declared her dark passion without any shame.
"You certainly have peculiar tastes, dear guest . In my humble opinion, you should rot in prison for the rest of your miserable life." Frederica sighed, somehow managing to maintain her composure. "I don't understand what kind of business Master Leandro could possibly have with someone of your ilk."
If Frederica thought I was too good to get involved with criminals, she'd be sorely disappointed tonight.
"He's not like a murderer! He saves people! He only fights the bad guys!" Petra joined in defending my reputation. Nothing good would come of this. "And if you're all bad, then he..."
"Will he punish us?" Both Elsa and Meili gave ironic smiles in response to Petra's words.
"You're so naive, Petra!" Meili scoffed. "Didn't you hear that appearances can be deceiving?!"
I could see the change in Petra's expression when that phrase echoed in her mind. She had believed Meili was her friend, and now she was discovering that she never had been. What if I were the same?
Frederica seemed to have a similar thought, because her frown deepened after that exchange of words.
Without further ado, I entered the dining room. There was no point in hiding my presence any longer, as that would only increase the distrust my colleagues felt towards me.
"Leandro!" Petra ran towards me when she saw me, but stopped halfway and her joyful expression turned to apprehension. "When did you get here?"
"Just now." I looked at Frederica. "I should have come sooner, it seems."
"Master Leandro... What does this mean?" She demanded explanations without hesitation.
I bowed my head in apology.
"I'm so sorry. In all the rush I was in, I forgot to tell you my plan."
"Your plan...?"
"Roswaal hired these two to attack the mansion. Petra, Beatrice, and you are the targets to be eliminated."
Frederica paled and Petra's eyes widened.
"Did the Master do that...?" The blonde murmured.
"Why?" The girl was in shock.
"It's too long to explain now. The important thing is that I'm going to stop him and no one will be in danger."
Having said that, I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. I needed to be calm to face the two women I had loved and protected as family in my past life.
Finally, I turned to Elsa and Meili.
"Hey, it's been a while."
"Hi, hi⁓!" Meili greeted me energetically. "You look more ruined than last time!"
"That sounded very personal, brat." I smiled to hide my annoyance.
"What do you want?" Elsa cut to the chase and asked curtly about my intentions. "Let's get this over with."
It hurt to be treated so coldly by someone who was my wife in another timeline, but I managed to remain stoic.
"That's right, you still owe me a favor... Well, I'll be blunt: I want you two to work for me." I pointed to her and Meili.
The two of them seemed surprised for a moment. Then Meili burst out laughing.
"Oh, that was a good one! You're a great comedian!"
"I'm glad to hear it, but that wasn't a joke. I'm serious."
Elsa clicked her tongue.
"If that's what you want, I shouldn't have bothered waiting for you. You're wasting your time." She stood up. "Now, we have a mission to complete."
"Do you think it's not worth leaving the assassins' organization to join me?" I inquired without flinching. "I'll pay you much better than they do."
"That's not important, it doesn't matter at all⁓." Meili shook her head and summoned her mabeast. "Abandoning the assassins would cost us far more than any amount of money."
As Elsa regained her 'fangs', Guiltylowe burst into the dining room, huffing and puffing furiously. Frederica tensed and activated her partial transformation, ready to fight again.
"You two are always going to give me trouble." I sighed.
Just as Elsa was preparing to attack, her body lost all its strength and she collapsed to the ground. Meili noticed this and ordered her pet to attack, but I had already stepped in front of the Guiltylowe.
"Stay still." I ordered in an authoritarian tone.
To Meili's bewilderment, the mabeast backed away and bowed meekly in submission.
"Good boy."
"How did you do that?!" She shouted at me, indignant. "Only I can control them!"
"Do you really think so?" I smiled. "And Petra's the naive one?"
Well, since I possessed a large amount of miasma, my presence was both alluring and dominant to other miasma users. In my life as a hunter, one of the things I learned was that this corrupted essence could be used not only as bait or a disinhibitor, but also for many other purposes.
One of those uses was to dominate mabeasts with my aura. I couldn't give them complex commands, but I could completely neutralize them, taking away their will to fight or flee. Of course, this wouldn't work on mabeasts that were too strong or intelligent, but everything has its limits.
I saw Frederica lunge at Elsa, taking advantage of her defenselessness to inflict as much damage as possible. In the blink of an eye, I appeared in front of her and blocked her claws.
"Master Leandro! Why are you protecting her?!"
"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you." I gently pushed her back. "Everyone here should calm down and speak civilly—"
My voice cut off in a gasp as I felt a knife pierce my back. I'd let my guard down with Elsa. The power of Sloth Authority, in its limited form, wasn't capable of restraining two such powerful individuals at once.
"Elsa..."
"You can blame me for this. Even though you're not my target, I got carried away by emotion. Don't worry, I just want to immobilize you so you're out of the way."
She left her knife stuck in my body and moved to attack Frederica.
"That's enough!" I raged and threw her against a wall with unrestrained authority, but I instantly deactivated it. "Listen to me, damn it!"
I twisted and fell to my knees. The pain from the stab wound was intensifying, but I managed to keep talking.
"I can keep you safe from her."
"Huh?" Meili reacted with perplexity.
"Oh? You mean Mother?" Elsa sounded skeptical. "How would you do that?"
"By finding her weakness. Everyone has one. Besides, even if I can't kill her, I'm perfectly capable of keeping her away."
Elsa was turning the idea over in her mind. Petra and Frederica had stopped behind me; both were alert for any sign of hostility.
"That sounds good, but I need more than just words."
Knowing her, I knew she'd want a test of my abilities. I kept that in mind from the start.
"Okay... You can come with me and see how I eliminate the Great Rabbit. If that doesn't convince you, I'll leave you alone."
"The Great Rabbit?" Meili raised her eyebrows, interested.
Even with these complications, the hard part was yet to come. I would have to convince Betty to sign a contract with me, and I wasn't sure I could do it. Without her, everything would fall apart. I had to succeed, or I would die as many times as it took to do it.
"Yes, part of my plan requires that I-"
I couldn't finish the sentence. At that moment, space distorted and a kind of crack appeared in the corner of the room. Before I could understand what was happening, a familiar figure emerged from the crack.
"Don't mess with me..."
The individual wore the robes of the cultists, but his aura was unmistakably that of someone more powerful than the average cultist. A profound feeling washed over me upon seeing him, and I knew he was another doppelganger.
"Who is that?" Meili pointed at the newcomer, more out of curiosity than fear.
"I don't know, but I'm fed up with the interruptions." Elsa said, annoyed.
"And I'm fed up with the unwanted visitors." Frederica muttered.
My eyes were fixed on the black sword held by my counterpart. Thin and elongated, it looked sharp enough to cut diamonds.
The most terrifying thing was the unsettling silence that enveloped the Doppelganger's presence. It was a killing machine: seemingly, its only desire was to end my life and the lives of anyone who came between us.
He was an enemy you couldn't negotiate with. Forget about using mind games or emotional manipulation. The only good thing was that he wouldn't try to kill anyone but me, as long as it was just the two of us.
"Girls, get out of here right now and don't ask any questions. He only wants me."
I spoke slowly and in a relaxed tone, trying to instill serenity in all of them; especially Petra.
Of course, I couldn't expect four specimens of the most irrational creation in this world (women) to listen to me.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to calm my cravings!"
"I'm sorry, Master Leandro! My duty is to protect the mansion!"
Elsa and Frederica ignored my warning and attacked the Doppelganger.
"Stop! He's not an ordinary enemy!" I stood up and ran toward them, but I didn't even get a step forward. A blinding flash forced me to close my eyes for a moment, and what I saw next made me nauseous.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were smeared with blood, entrails, and hair, among other things. The doppelganger hadn't moved from its spot, but its clothes were soaked in red.
It took me several seconds to realize that the human remains scattered throughout the dining room belonged to the dismembered bodies of Elsa and Frederica.
They were alive three seconds ago.
"..."
With a fluid movement, the Doppelganger removed his wet robe and let it fall to the floor. His face was identical to mine, but there was one detail about him that completely shook me: he looked at me with contempt.
"Fre- Frederica... FREDERICA!" Petra reacted, going from shock to total despair.
Meili said nothing, but her fear was evident. This was no longer a game. What we faced was lethal and unstoppable.
I was still trying to process what was happening. Even with my reflexes, I wasn't able to see the movements the Doppelganger made to cut the two women so many times in less than a second.
"He's very fast, but what about his range?"
There had to be some weakness in him, like his attack range. To test that, I grabbed the girls and took off with them. He didn't move, but he watched us go.
We left the dining room. I frantically searched for the magic of the cross-doors to find the one connected to the library. I found it in a few seconds and went in as quickly as I could.
Betty was sitting in her usual place. Although she feigned indifference, her unease became apparent when she spoke.
"I suppose this is terrible..."
"Where are we?" Meili looked around.
I took a moment to catch my breath before answering.
"In the safest place in the mansion, at least for now. I can't stay, since that guy is looking for me."
I wanted to open the door, but Betty stopped me with her magic.
"What are you doing?" I complained. "The longer it goes on, the greater the likelihood of him finding us."
"Are you stupid?! If you go out, you'll die!" Betty exclaimed, using the common sense I had long since discarded.
"I know, but I need to gather information for my next attempt. This loop is already doomed."
Despite my apparent calm, I was furious. It wouldn't be easy to overcome this challenge, especially if I had to watch these girls die again and again.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn't matter, just let me—"
Again, I was unable to finish the sentence. I fell silent as I saw a spatial distortion forming in front of me. As I expected, a crack appeared right after.
"Watch out!" The girls tried to warn me, but it was too late.
A sword blade emerged from the small crack and pierced my chest. I heard screams, but they grew fainter, more distant. In the end, all was lost.