[Inescapable Dream hasn’t returned.]

[Could it be that even it has been defeated?]

[We should inform the master of the facts…]

When the evil spirits were murmuring with anxiety and concern, there was a voice stopping them.

[Stop. Protecting the island is the mission our master entrusted to us. Giving up on this is the same as throwing away our reason for existence.]

[Oh, you!]

[That’s right, you were here!]

Receiving the cheers of the evil spirits, “Worn Skin” put on a fishy smile.

[If the intruders are strong, we can use that very strength. They will self-destruct among themselves in distrust and discord.]

After declaring this, “Worn Skin” quietly began observing the enemies.

For perfect mimicry, analyzing the enemy was essential first.

And, “Worn Skin” came to a conclusion.

[As expected, it would be best to mimic that green-haired woman.]

The metal-armored knight and the golden-haired girl seemed to have high combat power, and the black witch’s magic ability that instantly subdued Haunted Mansion couldn’t be ignored either.

In comparison, the green-haired woman hadn’t shown any special powers so far, and above all, her every move revealed vulnerabilities.

Her appearance, lacking even the instinctive wariness and tension that living beings should have, was truly like a scarecrow standing blankly.

Moreover, she was wandering around observing the flora and fauna of the forest alone, separated from the other companions, so there couldn’t be a better target to aim for.

“Worn Skin” mimicked the form of a dog and approached the green-haired woman.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Hm? Oh my, in a place like this?”

The target allowed the approach all too easily, and after that, it was simple.

Shuk!

The ordinary dog’s form changed grotesquely in an instant, and its tongue, extended like a tentacle, pierced the green-haired woman’s neck.

Rip!

Just in case, it also made holes in her stomach and dismembered her limbs, thoroughly confirming the kill to the point where one might think it was polite to die after being killed to this extent. “Worn Skin” scattered the remaining contents under the cliff to leave no traces.

While the master’s order to the evil spirits was closer to expulsion than killing, that meant to do so if possible, not to enforce absolute non-killing.

After confirming that the waves creating white foam swallowed the fallen corpse without leaving anything behind, “Worn Skin” changed its form again.

Green hair, eyes between red and pink, a voluptuous body with clear curves.

Even the swimsuit wrapped around the waist, which would be called a “pareo” in the Tin Knight’s world.

“Worn Skin”, having finished mimicking Sophia’s appearance, put on an evil smile.

No matter how powerful the intruders might be, there was nothing they could do if stabbed in the back by someone they thought to be an ally.

Even if the enemy’s abilities were so strong that they couldn’t inflict a fatal wound in one go, being attacked by someone who looked like a comrade would naturally cause shock and fear.

Also, by cleverly using the mimicry ability, it would be possible to sow doubt among them about “who is real” and cause discord.

So “Worn Skin” naturally joined the party and—

“What’s this?”

“S-Sophia is in two places?”

About 5 minutes later, it was shocked to see the green-haired woman—the original—casually appearing from the seaside as if nothing had happened.

Dorothea and Adelaide’s eyes widened, and the Tin Knight showed an excited look, but he was originally like that so it wasn’t particularly important information.

“Worn Skin” was also inwardly screaming in surprise, but soon regained composure.

Unexpected, but not enough to ruin the plan yet.

Even though there was only a 5-minute difference, unlike “Worn Skin” who had already been staying among the companions, the original had just revealed herself from the sea.

Moreover, compared to “Worn Skin” who had perfectly recreated even the clothing through an application of the mimicry ability, the original’s clothes were already close to rags, and her hair, which had been neatly arranged back, was now flowing down covering her upper body, wet from the water.

Truly an appearance as if a water ghost had appeared.

Vehemently denying the other might cause a sense of discomfort, as it differs from the original’s observed behavior pattern. Here, I should stay calm.

“Everyone, this is…”

Just as “Worn Skin” was about to open its mouth, the black witch suddenly spoke, “You two over there, stand side by side here.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, understood.”

“Worn Skin” was momentarily dumbfounded, but as the original calmly responded and moved in the direction the black witch pointed, it had no choice but to reluctantly take the same action.

And, right after that.

Slash!

As the Tin Knight swung his sword, “Worn Skin’s” neck was cut, and its head soared into the air before landing on the ground.

It was a strike so clean that it didn’t even feel pain.

H-how, how did they realize I was the fake…!? Was there a secret code I didn’t notice? Or a special means of communication only used among them? Or was my acting poor?

“Worn Skin” was very flustered but still tried to calmly analyze the situation.

As an evil spirit with transformation abilities, it had the ability to ignore some degree of physical damage.

Of course, if it was completely burned or something, there would be no answer no matter what, but having its head fly off like this was still far from a fatal wound.

So it quickly rolled its eyes trying to analyze the surrounding situation and—

Roll.

Soon, it was shocked for the umpteenth time seeing the original’s head rolling on the ground just like its own.

It unconsciously forgot that it was an evil spirit and shouted with only its neck remaining, “Y-you can’t tell which is real or fake, so you kill both?! Don’t you have any comradeship!?”

With its usual intellectual and cool demeanor nowhere to be seen, “Worn Skin” spouted words of indignation full of righteous anger, and Dorothea, Adelaide, and the Tin Knight silently met its eyes.

The three raised their fingers and smoothly pointed somewhere.

“Worn Skin” also turned its eyes in the direction they were pointing.

There was Sophia, completely regenerated as if nothing had happened, looking perfectly fine.

“…”

An indescribably, extremely awkward silence flowed.

“Y-you monsters…”

With those words as its last, the Tin Knight’s multiple slashes rained down on “Worn Skin’s” head.

It was a futile end, but in some sense, it could be called a good death.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if they couldn’t have just distinguished by whether his voice could be heard or not!]

“Ah.”

If it had overheard the conversation the Tin Knight’s party had belatedly, it might have become the first evil spirit to die from anger.

***

Step, step.

Every time you and Sophia took a step, leaves or dry branches crumbled, creating a unique noise.

At a glance, it looked like a simple walk, but in fact, this too was a kind of labor.

“Ah, Sir Tin. That mushroom over there is edible. The red mushroom next to it is toxic even if it just touches the skin, so don’t touch them together.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that he understands!]

After the clear answer, you threw the freshly gathered mushrooms into the basket on your back.

It was a light brown bag made of woven wood, looking like something herb gatherers would use.

The party’s meals were using the food supplies Dorothea had stored in the Gloves of Haider, but no matter how abundant the supplies, if one only used without replenishing, they’d eventually run out.

Sometimes there was a need to procure new food supplies like this.

“That grass over there can be eaten raw if you soak it in water to remove the astringent taste. The fruit next to it has toxic flesh, but the seeds are non-toxic and high in nutrition if roasted.”

Originally, gathering and eating things from the wild was quite a high-difficulty act.

It was physically demanding, there were threats like snakes and poisonous insects, and if one mistakenly ate toxic ingredients, one could die on the spot.

You had a body far from the fatigue of physical labor or physical threats, but you didn’t have the ability to distinguish between edible and inedible ingredients.

Conversely, Sophia didn’t have the physical ability to shoulder heavy loads and roam the forest, but instead, her knowledge was more abundant than anyone else’s.

Of course, sometimes fruits or ingredients she didn’t know would appear, but Sophia dealt with such situations simply.

By directly eating and checking for any abnormalities, a very clear and intuitive method.

“Hmm, this one doesn’t seem good.”

After eating a small green bead-like fruit that had quite a sweet scent, Sophia spat out its contents.

Red spots appeared on her skin, but only for a moment.

As if time was rewinding, the abnormal symptoms that had appeared on her body quickly disappeared without a trace.

You inwardly found this fascinating.

Like the monster that had just mimicked Sophia, and the Witch Mombi, beings with regenerative abilities weren’t that rare in this world.

But while such beings eventually showed the limits of their regenerative powers, Sophia’s immortality was truly in a different league.

You, with the Tin Knight’s body, felt the intuition that you could defeat most enemies, but with Sophia alone, you couldn’t imagine how to finish her off no matter what.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks how Sophia became a vampire in the first place!]

To your question, Sophia calmly answered, “Oh my, do you also want to know the secret to becoming a vampire, Sir Tin? Like the Witch of the South?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that’s the first time he’s heard that information!]

“Well, it’s just speculation for now. But I think there’s no better reason for the Witch of the South or her pupil to be interested in me. Well, just researching my blood won’t be enough to achieve their goal.”

Sophia’s story was interesting in its own way, but that wasn’t what you were curious about.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he’s more curious about what motivated Sophia to research such a method!]

“If it’s that, as I said before, it’s because I was curious. Whether the great God would still accept me even after I committed a taboo.”

That was a very Sophia-like answer.

Fitting for her who was wise, had a strong thirst for knowledge, and had a proud nature in areas difficult for others to understand.

If it were the previous you, you might have been satisfied with this and ended the conversation.

But the current you knew—Sophia didn’t lie, but she also didn’t tell everything.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if it’s also related to Sophia’s dislike of heaven!]

You recalled Sophia’s appearance that you had been observing.

She was always detached in attitude, rarely showing intense emotions.

Even when experiencing great physical pain or being killed by someone, she would lightly brush it off without even seeming to care, so there was nothing else to say.

But even she showed strangely emotional attitudes particularly regarding the heavens… more precisely, matters related to the Kingdom of Heaven.

To your question, Sophia seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before answering, “Why are you curious about that? It shouldn’t be very relevant to this journey.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that he’s curious because he’s curious, what more is needed than that!]

You answered immediately.

Sophia, unusually, showed a troubled expression, “Hmm, what would happen if I say I don’t want to answer?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he’ll retreat for now, then watch for the right timing and ask again when the cooldown times seems to have passed!]

“If I were Dorothea or Adel, you’d probably say, ‘You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,’ no?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that he’s originally the type to act spoiled towards older people!]

This answer was unexpected, and Sophia’s eyes widened.

Then, she burst into laughter.

“Hahaha… Well, that’s true. If that’s the case, I guess there’s no helping it.”

After wiping away the moisture gathered at her eyes, she said, “Still, it’s not possible yet.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if a key item is needed separately!]

“Rather than that, um, if we’re talking about concepts you’ve taught me, Sir Tin, I guess it would be affection level?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ nods, saying if that’s the case, it can’t be helped!]

“Yes, it can’t be helped. I haven’t endured long years for nothing, so my walls are quite thick.”

A playful rejection.

“—Still, maybe not that much is left anymore.”

The last words were small and bitter, as if brushing past.

But when you turned your head to look at her face, what was there was Sophia with her usual detached appearance.

“Well, shall we continue gathering?”

You nodded and followed her.

***

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