88 – Encounter
Sometimes it is.
When unexpected people appear in unexpected places.
Serena, who appeared from the forest and broke my ribs, was like that, Christine, who appeared from the forest and threw a rock out of nowhere, was like that, and Charlotte, who appeared in the middle of the city with a transfer door open.
Come to think of it, all three were like that.
Anyway, that’s not what’s important, the key is that situations often arise where he wants to be here.
“Charlotte…?”
For example, Charlotte, who is sitting elegantly with her legs crossed at the central table on the first floor of the headquarters building of a criminal organization that is out of the shadows.
After checking the corridors and rooms in order from the top floor to the second floor, it was the scene I encountered as soon as I came down to the first floor to check the first floor again.
Until I entered the building, the first floor, which had been dark like midnight because not a single light came in, was lit up with bright lights.
Charlotte, dressed in a black uniform as always, seemed to be savoring the scent and taste with her eyes closed while holding a steaming cup in her right hand.
The slender right leg resting on the thigh of the left leg twitched regularly. The black boots worn at the end did not have a speck of dust on them.
Perhaps hearing my absurd murmur, Charlotte turned her bright red eyes towards me.
After confirming me, the corners of Charlotte’s eyes curved in a soft arc, and the teacup she was about to bring to her mouth was placed back on the small plate on the table.
“It’s been a while, dear. How are you?”
The voice was so calm, unlike my complicated feelings. It was like a voice whispering sweetly right next to you when you woke up in the morning.
“Good night, why are you here?”
“I’ve said it before. All these territories belong to me, so the king always needs a reason to look around his territories.”
“A reason is of course necessary. Didn’t I tell you to find and kill the black blooded monsters? What about that?”
“I brought one of my doppelganger. The doppelganger’s orders are my orders, so there won’t be any problem.”
“I think it’ll be problematic enough. It’s fake after all.”
“Fake…”
At my words, Charlotte chuckled and laughed.
Rather than a mocking smile or a genuinely funny smile, it was closer to the laughter of a parent watching a child unfolding his or her own logic.
“Even if it’s fake, how can you tell it apart?”
“uh?”
“I asked how you could tell me apart from my doppelganger. What you believe to be real may be fake, and what you believe to be fake may be real. It’s a very simple reason. They do not have the knowledge to recognize that the doppelganger is fake, and that is why they firmly believe that the doppelganger is the real Charlotte de Gargantua and will follow the doppelganger’s orders at the cost of their lives. Isn’t it the same as not having the ability to tell if it’s a doppelganger?”
It was a long story, but in the end the point was this.
For those who cannot tell the difference between the real and the fake, the doppelganger is no different from the real one, so the doppelganger’s orders are Charlotte’s orders.
It was a pun that I had heard so much, and it was also a half-truth.
Charlotte’s doppelganger magic was as sophisticated as creating another human clone, so most people couldn’t even tell them apart.
No, at the point where the Royal Knights and the Royal Magicians can’t tell them apart, it can be said that there is virtually no one in this kingdom who can figure it out.
At best, it would be Christine, who has the ridiculous ability to nullify mana, or Serena, who can instinctively read the flow of mana.
And Charlotte was quietly asking me with her last words. Can you tell if the Charlotte in front of you is your doppelganger or the real Charlotte?
He replied calmly, as his intentions were clearly visible.
“I can tell them apart, of course. I’ve been with you for years.”
“Then, explain it once. You’re so confident, I’m sure you’ll believe that you can figure out the answer. If not…”
The red eyes staring at me shone bloody red. It was a level of killing that ordinary people would die from the pressure just by looking at it, but I didn’t care.
It was because I knew that if I couldn’t tell the difference between the real Charlotte and the fake Charlotte, I would get angry with that bloody momentum.
It may not make much sense that I’m just pouting, not blowing my neck and bursting my body, but it’s absolutely true.
And I must have calmed down Charlotte for a while. Taking advantage of that gap, he listened to all the requests that were more intense than usual.
“The Charlotte in front of me right now is real. Didn’t you think I wouldn’t be able to guess?”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“Because there’s no way you’d put a fake in front of me.”
As if expecting me to answer like this, Charlotte smiled even softer. There was a lot of love in the eyes that looked at me.
“That’s the correct answer. As the king of this country, I should reward the faithful who figured out the correct answer.”
After saying that, Charlotte spread her arms wide and tilted her head slightly. The well-protruded chest vigorously asserted itself in the middle of the chest.
“Come. As a sign of congratulations to loyal subjects, Jim will hug you tightly.”
“The ulterior motive is obvious. It’s not a reward for me, it’s a reward for you.”
“Did you hear?”
“What are you doing when you didn’t even have the heart to hide it in the first place?”
“Then I’ll change my words. Give a reward to the poor woman named Charlotte who worked hard to kill the black blood monsters for you.”
“Huh? Hey, wait—”
As Charlotte uttered those words, her limbs stiffened. I tried to open my mouth, but no voice came out.
It was puppet magic. Magic that completely deprives the affected target of body control and manipulates them to move according to the will of the caster.
He was even ordered to commit suicide by holding his breath.
Considering that it is impossible for humans to commit suicide by holding their breath, you can imagine how powerful this magic can be.
What’s even more sinister is that this magic can only take away control of your body, while keeping your consciousness intact, so you have to keep your eyes open and watch your body being manipulated.
If you add mind-stealing magic to this as a bonus, a walking slave completely deprived of free will will be born.
And Charlotte used this magic for the purpose of getting me to hug her, which is debating whether or not to ban it in the Mage Tower because of its danger.
“Come, dear. Come and give this poor woman a hug.”
Hearing those words, his body creaked and he began to approach Charlotte, who had her arms wide open.
My super-regeneration ability considered even this situation where magic permeated the nervous system and muscles as damage and restored it to its original state.
Simple and simple to say, this magic was magic that required extreme precision in its use. It’s only possible because it’s Charlotte, and it’s possible to put it into action because it’s Charlotte.
Since he had no intention of continuing the meaningless resistance since he was already enchanted, he calmly felt his body move as Charlotte led him.
His face was wrapped tightly around his chest.
A soft yet soft feeling touched his cheek. A peculiar body odor, not knowing whether it was Charlotte’s smell or the smell of the uniform she was wearing, crept into her nostrils.
Charlotte made me put my arms around her waist, then wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged her tightly.
Because of the command to hug me as hard as I could, my arms held my waist literally until it was crushed. Suddenly, I heard a crack in my arm bone.
Of course, there was no way that Charlotte would be in danger if someone like me hugged her tightly. Even though I hugged her to the point that my arms could not bear the strength and broke, Charlotte was fine.
A voice soaked in lust flowed from the bedside.
“Since you’re doing this, it feels like I’m hugging you with only your head left.”
“Do I really have to use that strange metaphor?”
“It’s strange, isn’t it something you’ve already experienced?”
“That’s what you asked for, Charlotte, so I did it once. Why on earth did you want to hug my neck in the first place?”
Once upon a time, at Charlotte’s request, she cut my throat and held my head in her arms. It was a story that meant that time.
“Don’t try to understand a woman’s mind carelessly. A woman’s mind is so complex that you can’t even imagine.”
“…”
When it came out like that, I had nothing to say. Charlotte laughed a little and stroked my hair with her hand, probably because she thought she had won since I had kept my mouth shut.
Still, the puppet magic on my body was not resolved.
I buried my face in Charlotte’s chest and hugged her waist, and Charlotte hugged my neck and rubbed my cheek against my head.
“Now I must answer your question.”
I wondered what kind of question she was asking, but right after seeing Charlotte, I remembered the question I asked in bewilderment about why you were here.
“You’re saying that now?”
“My dear, why do you think I came here?”
Despite my grunting, which had become absurd, Charlotte was just saying what she had to say as if she didn’t care at all. He quietly gave up and shook his head.
Although I failed because I was still hooked on puppetry.
“……I don’t know.”
“A black blooded monster.”
As soon as the sound came out of Charlotte’s mouth, I involuntarily tried to raise my head, but failed due to the puppetry magic. Charlotte continued.
“It has something to do with it.”
