Something Kei said made me notice a few details, and a feeling of suspicion welled up inside me.
Thinking back, among all the times I'd personally witnessed Arisu being replaced, there were several incidents that stood out.
There hadn't been any special objects involved, nor had we been in any unusual location. I had simply been fulfilling one of Arisu's ordinary requests when Kei suddenly appeared, startling me so much that my fists clenched even tighter.
At first, I'd assumed someone had gotten impatient and was trying to stop me, but there were obvious inconsistencies.
For example, according to Himari's analysis, after forcibly seizing control from Arisu against her will in the Forgotten Land, Kei should have been severely weakened and unable to appear again for quite some time.
Yet during Arisu's subsequent turn on cleaning duty, the same thing happened again.
Although I'd immediately managed to push her back out.
Of course, it was possible that someone's deduction had simply been wrong.
But there was another possibility.
"...Could it be... mana transfer?"
I searched my brain and barely came up with what seemed like the most appropriate term.
Kei froze for a moment, then her expression darkened. She clearly understood what I meant and immediately shot back,
"How should I know what you did to Arisu's body, or to my consciousness? You shameless, filthy bastard. To humiliate someone, you actually modified things specifically for that purpose. I should kill you another hundred times... No, even a thousand times wouldn't be enough!"
What does that have to do with me? If you're looking for someone to blame, go find the General Student Council President.
At that moment, I vaguely heard several overlapping bursts of laughter. It sounded like delirious muttering or someone completely losing it, but I was already used to that.
I let out a cold laugh.
"If you can kill me, then go ahead and try. But little Kei, you wouldn't want to make Arisu sad, would you?"
Hearing that, Kei clenched her fists, her voice turning icy.
"Arisu wouldn't blame me over something so trivial."
I couldn't even be bothered responding to something she probably didn't believe herself.
"So, did you hear what we were talking about earlier? You know what Arisu wants you to do, don't you?"
Arisu herself couldn't stay up all night, but if Kei took over instead, it wouldn't matter.
That was probably what she'd been thinking.
To be honest, there was hatred between Kei and me that couldn't easily be resolved. But as long as there was no way to remove her from Arisu's body, I had no means of taking revenge.
Besides, during the Arius operation, Kei had brought me the Sword of Light and joined forces with Mika to hold off the Sanctum Council.
Naturally, that had also been at Arisu's request.
But the fact that Kei had accepted meant that, at least for the moment, she wasn't my enemy.
At the very least, I was broad-minded enough to set aside my prejudice and view her as a useful asset.
Kei suddenly froze.
She closed her eyes and thought silently for a while. Then, with a grim expression, she reached beneath her skirt and tugged downward with both hands. Before I could react, she turned around, bent over, swept her long hair aside, and lifted the back of her skirt, all in one fluid motion.
Her jet-black hair brushed against the floor.
Bracing herself against the wall, she spoke in a cold voice that barely concealed her humiliation.
"Since no one's around... hurry up and get it over with, you beast."
...
All of a sudden, I really wanted to know what exactly Arisu and Kei had been talking about.
It felt like someone had been influenced in ways beyond measure and had grown completely crooked, far beyond anything I could have imagined.
Even if change was the norm, this was way too far.
Just as I was about to sink into contemplation and sigh at the state of things, the petite girl's body suddenly trembled.
Then she stiffly but quickly straightened up and restored her clothes to normal.
Kei's face was flushed bright red as she glared at me.
"Why didn't you explain it first?!"
It seemed she'd finally spoken with Arisu inside their shared mental space.
I raised my chin and smiled mockingly.
"Weren't you the one jumping to conclusions? If you didn't know, why not just ask?"
"...It's all your fault."
After standing there in silence for quite some time, she finally muttered,
"You made both Arisu and me suffer such humiliation..."
Perhaps even she realized how embarrassing it had been, because she awkwardly changed the subject.
"I already know about the task. While Arisu is asleep at night, I'll take her place and play games with the others. That's all, right?"
I nodded, then remembered something.
"You'd better wear a pair of blue contact lenses too..."
Just in case your identity gets exposed.
Before I could finish speaking, however, Kei's eyes instantly turned the exact same brilliant blue as Arisu's.
Only the perpetual scowl on her face still gave away who she was.
Fortunately, her completely different demeanor made it easy to tell them apart.
"You don't need to remind me."
Kei replied coldly.
"I've already substituted for Arisu in class before. I'm perfectly capable of handling something as simple as a disguise."
Seeing the oddly proud look on her face, I almost said something.
In the end, I decided it would be better to wait until Arisu came back out and discuss it with her directly.
Then I asked,
"By the way, has Arisu ever let you play games before?"
If she'd never played games at all, even farming a simple event could end in disaster.
"No. I've only watched Arisu play."
Kei paused before continuing,
"Even so, this kind of simple mechanical work only requires a little practice. I'll master it easily."
Instinctively, I wanted to make fun of her inexplicable confidence.
But then I remembered she was a high-performance AI, and I began to hesitate.
Until I thought of Arona, the perfect counterexample.
As expected, I'd better test her first and see whether she was actually up to the job.
So I said,
"Come to Schale tonight."
"What are you planning to do?"
Kei immediately became wary.
"As expected... you're planning to do something to Arisu and me again..."
I quickly cut off her wild imagination and explained the real reason.
Instead, that only made Kei even angrier.
"You're doubting me? I was born as the Key, the loyal aide who stands beside both the Princess and Arisu. Are you saying I can't complete a task entrusted to me?"
Setting aside whether she was actually loyal or not, why did her wording sound so strangely familiar?
It felt like I'd heard something almost identical somewhere before.
I didn't dwell on it.
In any case, this wasn't something she got to decide.
So I asked,
"Arisu, are you free tonight after club activities?"
The girl's expression changed in an instant, finally settling into a bright smile.
Her voice became lively once more.
"Arisu is free anytime!"
"Then it's settled."
I smiled as well.
"By the way, there's something else I'd like to ask you."
Arisu tilted her head and blinked innocently.
"What is it?"
I asked softly,
"Can you tell me more about having Kei attend classes in your place?"
The black-haired girl's face instantly filled with panic.
If I hadn't known, that would have been one thing.
But now that I did...
It was time for correction. 💢👺 ❗