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Or only for the past few days?

I couldn’t say.

Could there be another explanation?

Perhaps, for example, he’d simply used his own memories to create a puppet for a more efficient division of labor, yet here I was, throwing a massive fuss over nothing—

—Hope circuit overloooaaad!

...Damn.

I suddenly recalled a warning my third senior brother had given me, and I snapped back to reality.

I shoved aside my wishful thinking and faced the facts.

"Are you all right?" Headmaster Alderson asked, sounding concerned.

At this moment, I had a gut feeling: I should not reveal any of the information I’d gathered.

Especially not about the Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon.

A strange expression crossed Dean Alderson\'s face. “Young Hero Luan?” he asked.

Did the puppets also mirror the original’s thought process?

If they did, that meant I needed to fool the archmage himself.

He seems to have already picked up on something, so I’d better choose my words carefully.

I opened my mouth and, in a somewhat stolid tone, said, “...I met with Professor Alec.”

I had to organize my thoughts as I spoke so I didn’t look suspicious or awkward.

On the outside, I kept my tone calm, but on the inside, my brain was practically steaming as it worked at full speed.

“And I saw a picture of Spirit Mountain.”

“Oho... Sounds like Professor Alec was more cooperative than expected.”

“He didn’t seem entirely stable. His tone and demeanor were calm, but his lectures were full of disturbing madness. He even spoke about the downfall of The Empire,” I said, a hint of anger in my voice. “These are dangerous ideas for a professor to hold, so why hasn’t he been dismissed?”

I felt a pang of guilt toward Professor Alec, but with all due respect, I had no other excuse.

Headmaster Alderson looked at me with a strange look in his eyes.

“Is that what you called me here to tell?”

“Yes, sir.”

“...Hmm. Then why did you ask to see Leone?”

Thankfully, I’d predicted this question, so I had an excuse ready just in time. “In the photo Professor Alec showed me, there was a black sun. Solar eclipses are a sign that a demon lord has been summoned, which means the entire demon zone is under its domain. I thought Leone might know more about it.”

Alderson glanced at Evan. “And this young hero?”

It felt as though he was implying, Wasn’t he brought here under suspicion of being a vice-cult leader?

I shook my head. “Evan is a trusted ally and friend. He did exceptionally well during the training camp, and if all goes well, he’ll be joining Heroes with me.”

“I see... so you’re working together in advance.”

I nodded in agreement.

I felt Alderons’ gaze sweep over Leone and Evan.

Thankfully, they were astute enough that even I had trouble reading them. Leone maintained her smile, while Evan caught Alderson’s eye and casually nodded in acknowledgment.

I wondered, Is Alderson convinced? Or has he just decided to let it slide for now?

Alderson allowed the slightly suspicious situation to pass. “As you mentioned, Professor Alec’s ideology is a bit extreme... but he’s neither mad nor an idealist,” he said, his tone ambiguous. “The academy needs individuals with diverse perspectives. In education, what matters most is creating an environment where no single viewpoint is favored over another.”

That meant that Alec wasn’t meant as a cautionary example...

Alderson wanted people to build and broaden their horizons by observing a variety of people.

It would be strange not to mention it at all, so I decided to bring up the cult first. "Isn’t it dangerous?” I asked. “I don’t mean to be rude, but he could be a pawn of the cult, couldn’t he?"

I carefully observed Alderson’s expression, but there was no noticeable change.

According to Leone...

Headmaster Alderson was “unaware that he is a puppet.”

But all this raised a question: Where was the real Alderson?

Could he already be dead?

Alderson Maveur, one of the Archmages of Seven Colors?

“No need to worry. Alec is not a cultist, I can assure you of that.”

“...”

Under normal circumstances, I would have believed him, or at least trusted him to some degree. After all, he was an archmage.

But now, it felt like his words had some hidden meaning.

Suddenly, a question arose in my mind: If Alderson had fallen victim to the demon lord... when could that have happened?

“...”

I realized I was missing an important piece of information.

I didn’t even know when the demon lord had been summoned.

***

We talked for a while, trying to avoid suspicion the whole time, before leaving the Tower of Trials.

Leone didn’t say much, but just before I left, she looked at me and said...

—I’ll see you next time, when things are over.

There was likely some hidden meaning to that, but I had so much to think about that I pushed it to the back of my mind.

And it wasn’t like I didn’t plan to meet Leone again soon enough.

I pondered and considered and mulled over the situation carefully, but I always came to the same conclusion.

“This is real fucked up.”

The more I thought about it, the more this situation seemed worse than when Ahop had been summoned in the training camp.

Evan had been silently following me since we left the tower. He waited until fewer people were around to say, “You see? Why the Academy is already half done for?”

“You knew?”

“Sort of. I just didn’t realize Headmaster Alderson was already a victim.”

“...”

“I told you, didn’t I? That we wouldn’t be able to escape this.”

I was trying to figure out how to respond when I spotted a bench under a streetlight.

“Let’s sit down,” I said.

“Sure.”

We sat down on the bench.

Of course, we didn’t sit side by side but instead at opposite ends, as if an invisible wall stood between us.

It looked somewhat ridiculous, but...

I suddenly realized that this was the current relationship between me and Evan.

We could sit on the same bench and talk, but there was enough distance between us that we couldn’t quite be called friends.

I muttered, “Is the real Headmaster Alderson dead?”

“Well... I’m not sure about that either. But it’s unlikely that he’s in any condition to make a move.”

“I can’t believe that an Archmage of Seven Colors has already fallen victim to the demon lord.”

“We’re up against a demon lord, so it’s not entirely impossible.”

“A sacrifice...” I muttered.

The biggest question had been how the demon lord was summoned without sacrifices.

But now we knew the answer.

“The sacrifices were replaced with puppets.”

* * * * *

* * * * *

Alderson’s puppet was indistinguishable from a real person.

The puppets could replicate memories, habits, and actions. They could even handle mana. The puppets were perfect imitations.

Evan offered me a small smile. “Every student at the academy is required to climb the Tower of Trials. In theory, Headmaster Alderson could create a puppet of every single student.”

Of course, the headmaster had mentioned that making such puppets took considerable time...

But for upperclassmen, students who had been at the academy for more than three years, he might just have been able to do it.

“Even so, it wouldn’t be easy. Some students share rooms, and some of them would inevitably sense that something was off.”

“Maybe that’s why those ghost stories were spread—to cover it up. You’ve heard the nonsense going around about the research wing, right?”

A slight chill ran down my spine.

If he could manipulate even simple rumors at will, he effectively controlled all of Kartell Academy.

I suddenly let out a dry, forced laugh.

I had come here to find out about a demon zone only to discover that this was a demon zone.

“The situation is too fucked up for just the two of us to handle,” said Evan.

“It’s like trying to literally break a rock with an egg,” I replied. “Finding allies won’t be easy, and leaving the academy is obviously out of the question. As far as I know, leaving or contacting anyone beyond the academy grounds requires faculty approval.”

“And with the headmaster being a puppet, the faculty cannot be trusted either?”

“Exactly.”

Evan looked at me and said, “...So, Luan, why don’t we just kill the prince and princess? Think about it: If two members of the royal family die, the imperial family will intervene without us having to contact them. It’s the most reliable way to bring in reinforcements. And putting reinforcements aside, the chaos alone will make it easier to move in secret.”

“...”

Was I starting to lose my mind as well? Evan’s bullshit was starting to sound more and more reasonable.

Even so, I shook my head. “No,” I said. “First, let’s secure a few people we can trust, one at a time.”

“How? You’re not planning to check whether every single person is a puppet, are you? That would take too long, and it might give away our intentions.”

I agreed with that, though I didn’t say so. Instead, I glanced at Evan and said, “While Headmaster Alderson’s puppets are impressive, I confirmed something in the Tower of Trials.”

“What?”

“There is a specialty unique to our Great Houses, something that even those puppets cannot replicate.’

“Uhhh... Blessings?” Evan tilted his head and said, “So you’re going to tell the other young heroes everything that’s going on?”

“I’ll keep quiet about you, but the rest, I’ll share. I plan to bring them in one at a time, not all at once.”

“There’s always the risk of leaving a trail.”

“I know, but at this point, it’s a race against time.”

I looked up at the sky.

Right at this moment, the moon, which had been hiding behind the clouds, revealed itself.

It was a bit beyond a half moon.

“There’s only about a week until the full moon. Let’s settle things before then.”

***

I returned to my dorm room and opened the door to find Hector, who was back earlier than usual.

His face looked to be in a better condition than when I’d seen him before.

Without a second’s hesitation, I got straight to the point. “Elder Brother, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“What’s up?”

Without a doubt, Hector would be a valuable asset.

He might not meet Evan’s standards, but I thought differently.

Hector and Charon were good enough to be thrown into battle immediately.

“How many blessings do you have, Elder Brother?”

“Eight... Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“Can you show me one? Whichever is fine.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Glad to hear that.”

If he had refused, I would have used a sparring session as an excuse to drag him out and beat him up a bit to see his blessing.

“...?”

Hector shook himself off, then looked at me and said, “Most of my blessings focus on physical training, so all I can show you right now is... this.”

Hector drew his sword and pressed his palm against the hilt.

Clang!

Suddenly, the number of blades increased.

“That’s cool. What kind of blessing is that?”

“It’s a duplication blessing. It’s nothing fancy, but it lets me temporarily duplicate objects.”

“That sounds pretty impressive to me.”

“Not really. The duration is short, and the duplicates have far worse durability than the original... so it’s difficult to use in battle.”

“Still, it seems like a good match for your Shadow Sword.”

Hector nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I’ve been researching ways to integrate it naturally.”

“Ah.” I nodded in agreement, but my mind was elsewhere.

I was thinking about the puppet checks.

Hector could use his blessing, and I could feel him breathing, so the Hector in front of me was definitely not a puppet.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk with you about.”

“What is it?”

“Do you happen to know what’s going on in the academy?”

“...”

Hector looked at me in surprise, and seeing that, I was a bit taken aback as well.

The look on his face didn’t seem to say, What are you talking about? It was more like... How could you possibly know that...?

“You know about it too?” I asked.

“Yes, but... I’d like to hear your side first,” Hector said.

I decided to go along with it for now.

I told him about the uneasiness I felt here, the suspicious behavior of the two royals, the rumors in the research wing, and even the true identity of Headmaster Alderson.

The only thing I didn’t mention was Evan’s true identity. Naturally, I also kept quiet about the information he’d given me—the fact that the demon lord had already been summoned.

“...Hm.” As expected, Hector wasn’t surprised.

He must have realized the situation was more serious than he had thought.

“I understand what you’re saying. I didn’t think things had progressed that far...”

“Did you know about it too?”

“...Just that the academy is a dangerous place now.” Hector looked at me, his expression dead serious, and said, “Luan, you’re bringing this up because you want my help, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then could you come with me to meet someone right now? I swear upon my name, they’re someone we can trust, and they know much more about this than we do.”

“Who is it?”

Right now, other than Evan, there didn’t seem to be anyone trustworthy enough, much less who could afford help.

I was skeptical of Hector’s words at first, but the moment I heard the name, I couldn’t help but reconsider.

“Barter Goodspring. He might be able to help us.”

____