Doppelganger (2)

In a dark cavity, five men were conversing, wary of each other.

Everyone was paying attention to each other, but there was one person unfocused.

[Human friend, can’t you speak?]

Demon.

It was the voice of the demon.

[Yes, I am the demon.]

“Anyway, doppelgangers should never be allowed out!”

“But there’s no way right now!”

The group’s harsh voices were heard.

The topic went round and round, and there was no clear answer.

Anxiety and fear added to the perfect situation to confuse people.

Rather than recognizing that there is no logic in their own words, they mistakenly thought that everyone else’s understanding was lacking.

In the midst of the frustration, the voices grew louder, and finding a solution seemed to keep getting farther and farther away.

[You seem to know what kind of existence I am. right?]

The demon, the doppelganger, was inside me.

A thought came to mind in an instant.

Should I tell my friends?

[Oh, you better not do that, human friend, but if you really want to die with me, I won’t stop you.]

The Paladin and Knight continued to explain the dangers of doppelgangers.

The Wizard stood in the center and kept quiet.

The Mercenary was annoyed and started shouting, “So what am I supposed to do?”

[Do you think those friends will save you? The moment you speak, they will kill us together with no regrets. Human friend, don’t you think so too?]

That’s probably true.

They will not feel sorry, or even the slightest remorse.

I don’t mean that these people are heartless scum.

However, they were people who knew the dangers of doppelgangers better than anyone else, and my value was quite low compared to that.

I am just garbage that crawled through the dungeon and died by stepping on a trap unluckily, a few people died like that every day.

When entering the village, soldiers followed me for surveillance, and the houses with young daughters were locked.

I always had to be looked down on with contempt until I fell asleep.

The Adventurer was such a being.

The reason he was included in this great party was not that he was a great adventurer, but because he was one of the few who survived until now.

Perhaps there was a different reason for having him in the party.

He was clearly aware of his position and value because he had approached the threshold of death more often than anyone else.

However

“It was only 10 years ago that only two doppelgangers destroyed an entire Dwarven city.”

Is it right for me to hide the doppelganger in order to live?

The desire to live was shining, but is it right to sacrifice so many people for that light?

Although I was destined to live like garbage and die like garbage.

[My human friend doesn’t seem to know much about me. right?]

The doppelganger broke his train of thought and spoke again.

[Why don’t you ask?]

… what.

I didn’t know what the doppelganger was suddenly saying.

[What happens to a human being who’s been hit by a doppelganger?]

I looked around in doubt.

I kept looking at the knight that was explaining the doppelganger, and as if he felt my gaze, he turned his head and looked straight at me.

… What, does that man have eyes on the side of his head?

He’s wearing a helmet too.

Is it a coincidence?

“Is there anything you want to ask?”

I nodded my head suddenly.

[Ask. What happens if you get hit by a doppelganger?]

I did as the doppelgangers said.

“What exactly happens to a person who has been attacked by a doppelganger?”

The knight nodded his head as if I had asked a very good question.

He looked like a teacher lecturing people at school.

I’ve never met a teacher in person, but I thought maybe they would be something like him.

“A doppelganger kills a person and immediately melts the body of that person away. And they can imitate the person they killed. In other words, we already have a doppelganger mixed in. To avenge that person, you must catch the doppelganger. There is no need to feel guilty or sorry because they look the same. Rather, it is the right thing to do to soothe the soul of the deceased by killing the doppelganger who is imitating the victim. .”

The knight explained.

Good voice, accurate pronunciation, and easy-to-understand explanations.

He was really like a teacher.

[This is a great story. That knight is good at explaining. I wish he had become a teacher rather than a knight.]

Even the doppelganger agreed with me.

[That’s not important, my friend. Didn’t you notice something strange in that Teacher Knight’s explanation?]

What’s weird?

Is there something wrong with the description?

[No, that was an accurate explanation. But isn’t it strange? You were not killed by me, and you were not eaten by me. Rather, you maintained your ego. Isn’t that right?]

… It was.

However… … .

[Wow, you think even this is a demon’s trick? That is an exaggerated delusion. If I eat you, I will get all your memories and be able to imitate you perfectly. It would be better for me to act to deceive your party than to leave your ego alone.]

It was a difficult argument to refute.

What a surprising demon.

The demon’s acting power is certainly enough to deceive humans.

That’s why it’s a demon.

[Let me tell you one thing. I’ve been sleeping in that coffin over there for over 400 years. 400 years is no small amount of time for a demon. I won’t have much time left in my life.]

The demon doesn’t lie.

Only when he declares he is telling the truth.

[During that long period, I grew old. So even though I took a place in your body, I couldn’t kill you. The same goes for anyone other than you. Now I have no power left to kill and imitate anyone

[That means I’m harmless.]

[Of course, I am hiding in a friend’s body, but that’s not a big problem. No one dies, and no city perishes.]

[I just want to live. Even for just a little bit longer.]

[How about you, friend?]

The demon’s voice was calm and polite.

Like a teacher who kindly informs you of the obvious.

I was moved by that voice and agreed.

I wanted to live

More than anyone else.

* * *

[Are your worries over?]

It’s not over yet.

The doppelganger said he was harmless, but there is no fool in the world who truly believes a demon’s words.

But I also wanted to live right now.

[Isn’t that enough?]

Ignoring the demon’s words, I got up.

The group’s eyes naturally turned towards me.

The guy who had been quiet with his mouth shut until now abruptly stood up, so their gaze naturally moved to me.

In fact, in my position, it is natural to shut up and not come forward until the problem is resolved.

But if you really do that, you never know when your neck will run away.

The discussion of the party continues, and when the words, ‘But does it matter if that adventurer dies?’, I will die on the spot.

It would be nice if the adventurer was the doppelganger after killing him, and if not, ‘Well, it couldn’t be helped.’ One word and I would be forgotten.

I didn’t want to die like trash.

Like my fellow adventurers.

“I have something to ask.”

The knight’s eyes lit up when I said I had a question.

“How much time do we have left?”

“7 days.”

the knight said.

“We have more than a month’s worth of food, but we should see the time limit as when the rescue team arrives, not the moment we run out of food.”

The knight looked like he was trying to find the doppelganger before the rescue team arrived.

How can I change that thought?

“Then we don’t have much time left. I have one suggestion.”

It was necessary to calm the chaos within the cave even if it’s just a little bit.

I knew all too well how reckless and cruel people can become in chaos.

And the victim of such confusion will most likely be me.

I suggested that anyone who would like to present a topic speak with me in the common center.

Fortunately, the mercenaries and wizards agreed.

Soon, everyone in the party agreed.

It was great that the sorcerer told me that he was discussing it in the tower as well.

There is a difference between speaking in a place that attracts people’s attention and a place that does not.

I think a little more about my words, and I calm down.

“Magician, there is something I want to talk about in the middle for a moment. Could you please go to your seat?”

I tried to speak as politely as possible.

If it had been outside the dungeon, it might have been branded as cheeky with this single sentence and I would have turned into a dead body without even realizing it.

Even if this wizard stood still, the people under him would not have left me alone.

Why are you arrogantly talking to the lord of the tower?

“Okay.”

But the Wizard followed my instructions and retreated from the common center.

The Wizard naturally retreated in the opposite direction from where I was approaching.

When I return to my seat, the wizard will be opposite

My place will be the darkest.

It was a small harvest.

[Human friend, you were the type to think deeply about even the smallest things.]

There is nothing you can do to survive as an adventurer.

In the world of adventurers, dozens of people die for really trivial reasons.

“I’m going to ask you another question. Once you’ve uncovered a doppelganger, it’s about how you deal with the demon.”

“Rather than that, shouldn’t we start by discussing how to reveal the identity of the doppelganger?”

The Paladin spat out.

“Oh, let’s listen. It’s not the first time you’ve said this.”

Fortunately, there was the mercenary on my side.

In my heart, I expressed gratitude for the fact that the mercenary was on the same page as me.

And me in the past who pretended to recognize the mercenary at a drinking party.

“Hmmm.”

“If we find the doppelganger, is it possible to deal with it alone with our party?”

“It’s possible.”

The knight answered immediately.

He was the one who seemed to be confident.

With the magic of the lord of the tower, we will be able to defeat the doppelganger. Of course, if the doppelganger interferes in the meantime, I don’t know, but I can stop the doppelganger. It won’t be long, but I can definitely stop it for a moment.”

Crazy.

Can you two kill demons?

It’s too pretentious.

[No, my friend. In my opinion, that knight is more dangerous than the wizard. And don’t forget that I am weakened.]

The demon denied my expectations.

I knew that the Lord of the Magic Tower was great, but that knight was also unusual.

You only need two people to kill a demon.

Too little.

That was enough power to spark the crazy idea of ​​killing the remaining party members.

“What if one of you two is a doppelganger?”

At once, the knight and the wizard tried to talk, but I quickly swung my hand to break it up.

“What if, that’s the worst case scenario.”

“Yeah, didn’t the paladin man say that anyone in the party could be a doppelganger. Let’s talk about it first.”

Once again, I sent my heartfelt tribute to the mercenary and the past me.

A long discussion ensued.

I stayed quiet.

Because my power was at an insignificant level.

When the knight is the doppelganger, it was concluded that if me and the mercenary and the paladin protect the wizard somehow, there is a slight chance of winning.

When the wizard is the doppelganger, it was concluded that it would be the same if the knight were the main element, the paladin and mercenary were assistant, and I attracted attention like a fly.

Of course, the odds didn’t seem high at all.

“If one more person loses here, the odds are…”

“It will be very low.”

The paladin answered.

It was the answer I wanted.

“You shouldn’t attack anyone with hasty guesses.”

“Of course.”

I wanted this one agreement.

“The bottom line is that we don’t have many opportunities. We don’t know how yet, but we must find the doppelganger on the first try. Hmm… I think that’s the point I want to talk about.”

Saying that, I came down from the center.

Instead of going back to my seat, I approached the paladin.

The paladin seemed to dislike me at first, but later, as a more orderly and constructive discussion began, his gaze on me suddenly softened.

He hates demons more than anyone else, and he is a great man who wants to kill them blindly.

He was the most dangerous thing for me.

I came close to him.

“I want to ask you one thing.”

“Why do you have to…”

The paladin didn’t discuss it all together, and he asked as if I was talking to him separately.

“I want to ask you personally.”

“Hmm, tell me.”

“When the demon is possessed. Is there any way to bring out the demon so that the possessed person is not hurt?”

Yes, I’m talking about my story.

“A doppelganger is not a possessing…”

“I’m just asking, just in case.”

“…No. Killing the demon and burning him as well is the only way to purify the tainted soul.”

[Haha, I’m sorry, my friend.]

Damn it

Damn bastards.

You can’t even do this while collecting taxes every month.

Incompetent priests.

Like an incompetent god.

[I agree. Hihi.]

Aside from the feeling of chewing shit, my expression was shown in a restrained way with gloomy regret.

“Why is that? As I explained earlier, a doppelganger is not a possessing demon. It is a demon that kills and imitates someone.”

No.

I have one doppelganger whispering inside me right now.

“I was just asking. I just asked. Then there’s really no way to save those who have been attacked by the demon.”

The paladin nodded his head.

With skeptical eyes.

I said yes, and stood up.

I returned to my seat.

Be brave when you return.

When I returned to my seat, the mercenary sitting next to me greeted me.

“Wow, friend, are you good at talking?”

“Thank you, thanks to you, I was able to talk to the end. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to come forward.”

“What are you talking about! If you speak so coherently, everyone will listen to you. Thanks to you, the atmosphere has calmed down, you did well, you did well. Even in your hometown, when you started talking, everyone listened.”

The mercenary patted my back and said.

Along with stories of the past that I do not know.

Who is the friend that the mercenary remembers?

Even while we were talking like this, the paladin’s doubts were not resolved.

His gaze was fixed on me as I returned to my seat.

Those gazes would even reach the mercenary sitting next to me.

My behavior of being friendly with the mercenary.

My question on asking how to rescue the victim possessed by the demon.

My topic was not about how to find the doppelganger, but after finding the doppelganger.

If the paladin’s head wasn’t full of shit, he would soon be able to arrive at one thing.

The adventurer knows who the doppelganger is.

So far it was true.

However.

‘That adventurer suspects the mercenary as a doppelganger. Were there any subtle differences that he could discover because they were close friends?”

He would think so

While talking with the mercenary while laughing, my eyes met with the paladin.

He quietly nodded his head.

I nodded my head slightly at him.

Fortunately, the paladin was moderately stupid.

[There was one more demon here, hahaha]

The demon watching me laughed as if it was funny.