CHAPTER 35: MANDRAKE

Why on earth does such a person hide his abilities and deliberately worship me?

"...You’ll find out soon."

The mirror in front of me no longer reflected anything after the doppelganger’s body disappeared.

After a while, the mirror transformed into a door barely big enough for one adult to fit through. Without hesitation, I opened the door and stepped forward.

"Captain!"

The first person to welcome me was Eden. With a very happy face, he held both of my hands and shook them.

Suddenly, I remembered his face as he pierced the nape of the neck of the doppelganger wearing my face with the dagger he held in his hand.

If that had been acting, he would have won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

"Are you really the leader this time? Where on earth have you been?"

I smiled slightly and pretended to be happy.

"Yes, that’s me. I was watching everything from another space — even when you stuck a dagger into the back of the neck of my skin-covered doppelganger. Fortunately, it looks like you all passed the test safely. Thank you for your hard work."

Although I intentionally said something sharp, Eden didn’t even flinch.

He just scratched his head with a sheepish expression.

"Haha... It’s a little embarrassing to hear that you’ve been watching everything that’s happened! Hahaha! Oh, I’m just saying this in case you misunderstand, leader. I did that because I was convinced he was a doppelganger. Anyway, everything here is an illusion, right? Wouldn’t it be better to act than to fail without trying anything? I have absolutely no ill feelings toward the leader, so please don’t misunderstand!"

"Of course. I don’t think that, so don’t worry."

"As expected, you are the leader!"

Frey looked at me with a worried expression.

"Well..."

"What’s wrong, Frey?"

"It’s okay... right? Is there any pain anywhere?"

Unexpectedly, I was taken aback by her reaction. Maybe it was my imagination, but her moist eyes and slightly flushed face made her look more like a worried girl than a future sword master.

As I stared at her in confusion without saying anything, Charlotte spoke in a high-handed voice.

"What are you doing? Are you just going to stare like a dumb fool? Aren’t you going to answer?"

The way she spoke was quite annoying, but thanks to that, I came to my senses and made a firm determination to fix Charlotte’s attitude soon. I carefully brushed aside a strand of hair covering Frey’s eyes.

"It’s okay. Thank you for your concern, Frey."

I clearly remembered the look on her face when the doppelganger that looked like me disappeared into ashes.

That’s why I was very grateful to her right now.

I thought that maybe she was the first person in this world to recognize me as a true comrade.

"... It’s fortune then, Lord Zeil."

"Thank you for your hard work, Frey."

At that moment, Eden, who had intervened without notice, spoke in a humorous tone.

"Lord Frey, your face turned red! It’s like looking at an adolescent girl. Hahaha! Are you in love with the leader? Of course, we all know that Captain Zeil is an attractive person to everyone regardless of gender, but love between a man and a man must be very difficult! However, I’ll support you both. Even so, we’re still colleagues!"

Frey’s face turned as red as a ripe apple as she waved her hands.

"W-what are you talking about! I’m not like that! I was just worried about his safety as a colleague! How could I have such feelings toward the Captain? Never! Never! Don’t say that!"

As expected, Charlotte, now looking quite furious, rolled her eyes and said,

"Hey, commoner! You just spit that out from your open mouth, right? I think it’s an asshole, not a mouth! Because instead of talking, you’re just spitting out crap! Try saying that again. I’ll really swap your mouth and butthole, okay?"

"Ah... I guess I made a mistake. I’m sorry, I’ll speak more carefully from now on. Sorry, leader. Sorry, Frey."

Frey smiled softly.

"It’s okay. That could happen."

It was hard to believe that someone with such a kind personality would later try to destroy the world together with karl.

"It might just be a joke. It’s okay."

Eden bowed at a 90-degree angle with an impressed expression.

"As expected, you two have big hearts! Thank you!"

"Put off the gratitude until later. Do you all see over there?"

The place I pointed to was blocked by trees, but now the road had opened up.

Because the doppelganger was found, the blocked path was cleared. Perhaps that place would be the final destination of this test.

’The end is finally in sight. To be honest, I doubted I’d make it this far, but I succeeded in the end. With three of the five senses banned, this is enough to aim for a top ranking. No matter what, I only need to be assigned to Class A.’

I continued speaking.

"Maybe the mandrake we’ve been looking for is there."

"Is that true, Captain?"

"Yes, probably."

Charlotte asked,

"How do you know that?"

"Because I got information."

"From whom?"

"Do I have any obligation to tell you that?"

Charlotte bit her lip and glared. Eden, noticing her mood, quickly changed the topic.

"Come on, don’t start here! Let’s go quickly! Don’t you want to get out of this horrible place as soon as possible?"

"...Just wait and see."

Instead of answering, I grinned. We walked toward the newly opened road.

’It would be better if I could receive a mandrake as a reward.’

Mandrake is a type of elixir.

It has a variety of uses and is also used as a magical ingredient, but its original effect is to permanently increase the magical power of the person who takes it.

The effect varies greatly depending on the number of years the mandrake has lived.

The efficacy of a ten-year-old mandrake is only small, but a mandrake that has lived over a hundred years boasts such incredible power that it’s worth its high price.

’For someone like me, who’s relatively lacking in magical power, there’s no item as perfect as this. Magi eats away at your body just by using it...’

"Captain!"

Eden, who was walking at the front, shouted urgently. It looked like he had found a mandrake. However, mandrakes should never be picked carelessly.

"Eden! Stop! The mandrake was picked carelessly—"

"That’s not it."

I moved my gaze toward the place Eden pointed to.

"It’s empty?"

The mandrake was nowhere to be found, and only a large pit was left behind.