Although I couldn’t hear or see him, I roundhouse kicked directly behind me, putting everything I had into my strike. No one was there yet, but I was certain that was where Dupe would come from.
Right before my attack connected, I caught sight of him.
I knew it.
My heel found purchase, and Dupe went flying several meters, accompanied by a loud whack. He caught himself during his fall.
Attacking first was his mistake.
I grabbed the rod Dupe had knocked away and dashed for him.
This impostor knew I’d use my skill as surely as I knew he would. He broke the agreement, so there was no cause for me to hesitate.
And that’s precisely what confused him.
He didn’t know when I’d vanish. When I invoked Unobtrusive, he’d expect me to strike from the back.
Distracted though Dupe was by thinking about our skills, he never lost track of me.
I remained perfectly in view as I charged, never disappearing. I wasn’t going to use my skill.
My plan was to attack head-on.
Dupe, unable to believe his eyes, reacted a split second too late.
But both of us could easily ward off a frontal attack from someone with our abilities and experience.
I’m sure that’s what Dupe believed anyway.
However, he failed to realize that arms were heavier than people gave them credit for. I was lighter than Dupe, if only just.
By the time he moved to protect himself, I’d already thrust the broken rod into his chest.
“Urk…?!”
A couple of kilograms made all the difference, giving me those few unexpected centimeters I needed.
He must have missed that during my skill misfire at the start of the battle, I reacted slightly too quickly trying to stop him.
If I still had both arms, Dupe would have stopped my blow without any trouble.
The impostor groaned and grimaced, then triggered his skill and disappeared.
“…”
I never expected to have a literal fight with myself.
After a small exhale, I peered into the room where Rila was held.
Her cheeks were pale and her body limp. With her face lowered, she grumbled, “M-my head hurts…”
I intended to praise her for creating a shadow to lead me to her and provide hints about her kidnapper. She hardly seemed worthy of a compliment in this state, though.
“I feel terrible…”
“Hey, Rila.” I crouched down to meet her eyes, and her shoulders flinched. “Look, it’s me. I only have one arm.”
“So it is… What trouble you’ve wrought…”
“Yes. It really was quite a hassle.”
I tried to lend Rila a shoulder, but she couldn’t stand, so I had to carry her on my back.
“Stop swaying. Stop…”
Even her complaints were weak.
“Rila, do you know what he was?”
“I do not… We do have spells that allow the creation of offshoots. However, the caster must also be the source, and I do not believe you are responsible.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of magic like that.”
“Mm-hmm. Thus, regrettably, I can only guess at the culprit.”
“What we do know for sure is the fake me assassinated the king. Then he kidnapped you and fought me.”
“Where has the impostor gone?”
“I stabbed him in the chest with a pole, and he disappeared.”
“You truly show no mercy, even for yourself—both physically and mentally.”
“What are you going on about? I can’t show him mercy just because he’s my double. He told me he intended to take my place. If that’s true, then the assassination was a trap to lure us here…”
“That seems the most natural logic. But he could have avoided the circuitous route and simply come straight to our home.”
That had occurred to me, too.
If he only wanted to kill and replace me, why bother doing away with King Rubens?
“Why do you think he did it?” I asked.
“Hmm… I suppose it was the best way to test himself.”
“You think he did that all to check the extent of his abilities?”
“Is it not the perfect means to that end? Assassinating a king is no trivial effort. In that way, he is a legendary assassin. You arrived after catching wind of the deed, and here we are.”
“That seems just like me… I’m proud of my abilities, but he took things too far.”
“Imagine if this were to spread.”
“A major criminal killing multiple rulers would be trouble.”
I couldn’t kill Dupe if I wanted a chance at clearing up this mess. I’d need to capture him and hand him off to Elvie.
“You may need to accompany me to Hell.” Rila’s voice sounded somewhat jovial.
“Only if someone realizes ‘I’m’ responsible.”
Trying to capture Dupe would be more challenging than fighting him. It wouldn’t go as well as it did this time.
He’d undoubtedly reassessed me by now, taking into account my increased speed because of my missing limb. The same trick wouldn’t work twice.
“Do you think you can capture him?”
“I’m not sure. But…” I couldn’t hold back against someone who was an equal match for me. A little slipup, and I’d lose. “We have other options.”
“Heh-heh. I know what you’re thinking.”
My plan wasn’t tough to guess.
“Right now, it’s the best option.”
Rila wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed in closer.
“I would not mind casting aside my name and identity to travel the world with you. However…”
“However?”
“I have taken a liking to our home.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“You would do well to devote yourself to your efforts.”
“As you wish,” I joked, and Rila laughed.
Once we made it back to Elvie’s estate, Rila was faring much better.
“I was worried about where you went,” Elvie said.
Rila and I had both left without informing the servants. Apparently, Elvie had been trying to locate us.
“Sorry. It was an emergency,” I explained.
“An emergency?”
“We’ll talk later. First, let’s have dinner.”
“I suppose we should,” Elvie agreed, and we all headed to the dining room for a meal. Once it was over, I invited Elvie to the guest room. Rila and I recounted everything that had transpired.
“Two Rolands? How could that be…” Elvie narrowed her eyes with skepticism.
“I know it seems implausible, but it’s the truth. He looked like me, thought like me during battle, and used his skill and moved like I do.”
“I suppose an impostor with your skills could slip past my guards and assassinate the king, but…” Elvie brought a hand to her chin and scowled. “Roland, what do you intend to do? If this comes to light, impostor or not, you’ll be…”
“I know. That’s why I need to capture him. He intends to replace me, so he’ll likely show up again. He might go around killing kings just to test himself.”
“Heh-heh-heh,” Rila cackled to herself as though this didn’t concern her at all. “What a troublesome man.”
“Once he’s decided to assassinate someone, no one will be able to stop him… Ugh, this is just too much to deal with!” For Elvie, leader of the castle guard, this was the worst possible enemy to go up against. “Roland, what do you intend to do? Do you have a trick up your sleeve? You drove him off today, but there’s no telling what will happen next time…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have a new sleeve to pull from.”
“?”
Rila seemed to understand what I was getting at, while Elvie remained stumped, mouth half open.
“I need to head out for a bit.”
“Where to?” Elvie asked, but I left the room without replying.
Rila didn’t try to follow. I guess she was looking forward to finding out if she’d guessed right upon my return.
I set up a Gate out of view on the estate and jumped to another one I’d placed a few days ago.
I moved down the underground passage toward Wawok’s studio.
“Wawok Seiv, are you here?” I called. My voice resounded through the cavern. The caged monsters responded with roars and snarls. Apparently, the vampire master of this place was preparing another shipment of glyph-marked monsters.
“Why, hello, Roland, my boy.”
I spotted the pale vampire farther ahead.
“I need a right arm.”
Wawok grinned triumphantly as soon as he heard the words.
“I knew you’d come around.”
“Just for now. Once it’s served its purpose, it could disappear for all I care.”
“Ha-ha-ha. None of my work is so shoddy as to be tossed out casually. Come.” Wawok motioned with a hand for me to follow.
He led me to another remodeled cave chamber. Books were piled high, and the ground was cluttered with discarded balls of paper. I picked one up and saw it was covered in lines of symbols, several of which were crossed out.
“I rather thought this might happen, so I made one for you.”
“Well, that’s helpful.”
“I know men just can’t resist the desire to become more powerful.”
“I’ve already told you that’s not what this is.”
“I know, I know. It’s all in good sport. Please don’t take everything so seriously.” Wawok lifted an object off a desk. “I just enjoy developing new devices people can wear. This is what I settled on.”
At first glance, it looked like he was holding another collar. However, Wawok corrected me.
“It’s an armband. Put this on the remainder of your limb, and—”
“—it’ll make a new arm?” I finished.
“Not a bad guess! You’ll need to practice to master it.”
“Just tell me what it can do.”
“Right,” Wawok said with a nod. “With this, you’ll be able to access the memory center of your brain and make your mana manifest in specific shapes.”
“Give it to me in simpler terms.”
“The main point is that you’ll be able to construct an arm from magical power.”
“Hmm.”
“You ought to be surprised…” For whatever reason, Wawok looked disappointed. “This will require precise mana control. That’s why you’ll need practice.”
I wrapped the band around my shoulder to try it out. I made sure to pull it tight so it wouldn’t slip off even while I moved around.
This was the fruit of Wawok’s labor. It seemed fitting considering he specialized in mana suppression, control, and amplification.
“You can’t simply funnel mana into the band, you see. To make it function like a proper limb, you’ll need just the right amount.”
I figured that I needed to picture something in my mind that was a little more precise than when I used Magi Raegas.
“You should try it,” Wawok urged, and so I did.
I imbued the band with the necessary power…
“Don’t get too down,” Wawok said. “Even a demon would find this challenging.”
The band glowed faintly, and something like blood vessels grew from it. They formed into an upper arm, then extended down to an elbow, a wrist, and five fingers.