Is he?
Or is he not?
His appearance certainly resembled Father's.
-Where is your home? Your parents?
The same face as Father in his youth.
The same scent.
The same kindness.
Every one of my senses was screaming, 'Lupus is Father'.
But not the eyes.
The soul.
Father possessed an ordinary, yet wonderful soul.
A soul that was blue, sometimes darkened, and occasionally shone brightly.
I loved that soul, which was similar to that of an ordinary human, but had a special quality unique to Father.
But that man's soul was completely empty.
There was nothing there.
That's why it should be described as empty, not dark.
I had never seen such an unfeeling soul before.
"A soul doesn't change so easily, so he can't be Father. But… why am I still drawn to him? Is it because of his appearance?"
I wanted to be more certain.
So, on the pretext of helping him, Tamamo entered the kitchen.
I deliberately gave him hints, making no effort to hide my gaze as I stared straight at him.
Naturally, he noticed something was off.
But he didn't react.
Tamamo was slightly irritated.
The reason for his wooden attitude was because of that woman, Johanna.
The traces of their lovemaking that filled the room.
I can understand a man and a woman having a good tumble.
But doing so with the same face as Father is unforgivable...!
'Father was chaste his entire life! Don't you dare get cocky, talking about taking his purity!'
Johanna had never said such a thing, but….
What can you do?
He was so identical that if not for the soul, I would have confirmed him to be the same person.
One of the wishes she had upon becoming a Heroic Spirit was to be reunited with her Father.
It was impossible not to become obsessed.
He, like Father, enjoyed salty food, but he changed his eating habits for that woman, Johanna.
Love. A slightly complex emotion for Tamamo, but she could understand it.
Of course, she could never understand that woman Johanna, who burst into the kitchen and made a strange, disgraceful scene.
Perhaps because she's a woman of the church, she's a natural enemy to a yokai like Tamamo.
Though that was likely not the only reason….
After the food was prepared and only needed to be served, Tamamo stopped Lupus.
"Excuse me. May I ask one question?"
"...Go ahead."
Up close, the resemblance was even more striking.
For a moment, I almost mistook him for Father and nearly caused a misunderstanding.
"Fa—... Sir Lupus, do you know a child by the name of Mizukume?"
Tamamo asked bluntly.
If he were Father, he would never forget her.
Because she, of course, always remembered Father.
Because she died holding Father in her arms, right up to the very last moment.
That's why, the moment she heard the words from his mouth,
Tamamo was able to make her decision.
"No. I've never heard of her."
"Is that so. Please excuse me."
This man is not Father.
He is merely a person born with a very similar appearance.
After the boisterous mealtime had passed, Tamamo approached her Master and whispered in her ear.
"Master? That man, Lupus, is the source of the Singularity. Let's deal with this with a Mikon☆~ and go back."
"Eh, really?"
"Yes. He's emitting a wavelength that's perfectly identical to the one I felt from the barrier, so I'm certain. It's a classic mistake made by novice practitioners of formations~."
"You can figure that out? That's amazing."
Tamamo was a yokai of many talents.
She had long since seen through the meager abilities of Lupus—the being who constructed and maintained this Singularity.
"A fabricated world created by an ordinary person with immense magical energy. He's repeating a very elementary mistake."
"What's that?"
"Fundamentally, it's the limit of the domain. Next is the weakness of its world-building. And finally, a lack of ability to maintain it."
Explaining each one would take too long, so she decided to explain only the final, crucial part.
"This Singularity is closer to a barrier. It's different from a typical Singularity. After all, there's no intervention from the Mage King."
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh."
"To maintain a barrier, a meticulous structure is required to support it. Otherwise, it just becomes a sieve that leaks magical energy. It also becomes very easy to break."
"Then if we just smash this barrier to bits, the Singularity will be resolved, won't it?"
Tamamo nodded at Ritsuka's obvious question.
"As expected of you, Master. That's right. But as I said, this Singularity is the work of a beginner. Should I say it was flawed from the very conception stage?"
"How is it flawed? Besides, hearing that Mr. Lupus is flawed, I can't really imagine it."
Tamamo enthusiastically agreed with Ritsuka's words. Her tail wagged nonstop.
"Right, Master? How could someone with that face be flawed? That's just ridiculous! ...No. Considering I'm the one who made Father that way in the past, perhaps it isn't so strange. Of course, that's something I need to reflect on…."
"Aah. Tamamo's gone weird. I'm going to bed."
Just as Ritsuka was about to throw herself onto the bed, leaving the gloomy Tamamo behind,
Tamamo snatched her arm, stopping her movement.
"Ahem. That was a Tamamo-miss☆.... Please focus again."
"Ugh. What a pain."
Tamamo cleared her throat a few times. Then, she once again continued her explanation, adjusting it to the perspective of the ordinary Ritsuka.
"The reason it's flawed is that the caster created a world he doesn't fully understand himself. The people have no names, and their appearances are also crude."
"That's true. Except for Johanna-chan and Mr. Lupus, everyone's faces were weird."
"Yes. Because it's a world created from someone else's memories, the caster's understanding is insufficient, making the world weak. And because the caster's own memories must not be mixed in, its completeness is diminished even further."
"Why? Why did he use someone else's memories, and why can't his own be mixed in?"
"That's probably... because it's a Singularity created for the purpose of escape, wouldn't you say?"
She wasn't certain. Tamamo said that from this point on, it was in the realm of speculation.
But it was likely 90% correct. And so, Tamamo explained without hesitation.
The being known as Lupus created this world in order to forget.
Forget what? His own past.
"You mean he did it because he received a huge shock? So much that he wanted to escape to another world?"
"The desire to go to another world for the purpose of escape is perfectly natural, you know? There are many of them in your world too, aren't there? Those kinds of books."
"There are tons of isekai stories. Ah! I get it. That's a good analogy~."
She understood completely.
Ritsuka started to feel a little sorry for Lupus.
"That's so sad. To create a world just to forget. Meanwhile, some of us are working our butts off! He should make a world like that for me!"
"Oh my. Calm down, Master. This problem will be over soon."
"Why will it be over soon? Mr. Lupus is an Executor, so he's super strong. If we try to break the barrier, won't he just take us out first?"
"Of course, our own fighting strength is meager, but as I said, this world is for the sake of 'oblivion'."
The way to torment someone who wants to forget is to constantly make them remember.
It was so obvious it didn't even need explaining.
"If we make him remember the things he's forgotten, the Singularity will collapse on its own."
"Whoa. It feels like we're doing something really mean."
"We are, in fact. But, it can't be helped. It's a necessary task."
There were still six of the Mage King's Singularities left.
They had no time to wander in a Singularity they had merely stumbled upon.
"What will happen to Johanna-chan?"
"I wonder. This Singularity was likely created according to his memories... so she will probably meet the same end as in those memories."
"I'll have to ask Mash tomorrow. I feel like Mash would know."
"Good night." Ritsuka dived straight into bed.
Tamamo wished her a good night. Then she closed the door.
Before dematerializing,
Tamamo said to herself, alone in the hallway.
"The barrier itself would probably collapse just by detonating the talismans. There's no need to go through all this trouble, but... I absolutely cannot forgive him for fooling around with a woman while having the same face as Father. A slightly petty revenge☆ ...shall we say?"
Tamamo smiled eerily.
Just what kind of plan had she concocted?
The time when she would realize its danger had not yet come.