I woke up with a start. Wow, I didn’t realize that I fell asleep. I guess that’s what comfy weather, nice smell of the grass and a stomach full of cookies can do to you. I look at Khriswell. She has fallen asleep as well. As tempting as it is to keep on watching her sleeping face, she might end up catching a cold if she sleeps here. And so, wake her up I must. I shook her as gently as I could.

   “Hey, Khriswell. Wake up.” I told her.

   No reaction. I shake her a bit harder.

   “Come on, wake up.”

   I see her closed eyes twitch thrice. I wait for a few seconds. It’s back to nothing again. I shook her for a third time.

   “Wake up!”

   “Just a few more minutes…” she mumbles.

   “If you’re sleepy, at least sleep inside your room.”

   A few more shakes later, Khriswell finally decides to wake up. She opened up her mouth as wide as she could just so she could yawn. She then rubs her eyes with the back of her right hand. Her eyes slowly moved towards mine.

   “Good morning, Kotaro-san.” She greets me groggily.

   Wow, she’s so sleepy she’s actually looking at me straight in the eyes.

   “Good morning, Khriswell.” I greet back. “We’re leaving. Can you stand?”

   “Um, I’ll try…”

   She tried to get up, but her feet failed to support the rest of her body. If I wasn’t there to catch her, she would have fallen.

   “I’m so sorry for causing you trouble…” she apologized with the same groggy tone.

   “Don’t sweat it. Here, let me give you a piggyback.”

   “There’s no need for there. I, oops…”

   And she almost fell down again.

   “Just climb on my back, okay?”

   “Okay…”

   She did as she was told obediently. It took my entire willpower to ignore the two soft sensations I felt on my back. Once she has settled down, I start walking towards the Church where her room is. Along the way, I got plenty of weird looks. I ignored all of them and focused on carrying Khriswell.

   When I finally reached the Church, I saw three priestesses sweeping the floor with brooms. Two of them are around the same age as Khriswell, while the third one is at least two decades older than them. All three of them are surprised to see me carrying Khriswell on my back. One of the younger priestesses, a girl with bright red hair, approached me with murder in her eyes. I recognize her from the game. Her name is Clara Bellone. She’s Khriswell’s best friend.

   “What have you done to Khris?” Clara demands.

   “Um, nothing. We were just hanging out at the park, and we fell asleep. She was still sleepy, so I carried her back here.”

   “Liar! There’s no way Khris would ever hang out with a boy! I’m going to call the magistrates!”

   “Wait, I’m telling the truth!”

   “And I don’t believe you! Seriously, of all the lies you could have told-”

   “Please calm yourself, Miss Bellone.”

   Her further rant was stopped by the older priestess. The latter curtsied gracefully at me.

   “Good day to you, sir. I am Beatrice Rosamond, the High Priestess of this Church.” She introduces herself.

   Surprised by the sudden self-introduction, I could only incline my head hurriedly.

   “I am Fudo Kotaro. Nice to meet you.”

   Clara scoffs loudly.

   “This criminal can’t even come up with a decent fake name!”

   “...Look, if you have any issue with my name, you can file a complaint at my parents and ancestors. If you’ll excuse me, I still have to carry Khriswell to her room.”

   I do know where it is from playing the game. That said, I’m not supposed to know here, so I had to look at Beatrice-san with a helpless look.

   “Um, where exactly is her room?”

   “Please follow me. I shall guide you to it.”

   “Many thanks.”

   “Please hold on, High Priestess Rosamond! You’re not seriously going to let that man carry Khris back to her room, are you?” Clara asks Beatrice-san with a shocked expression on her face.

   “What else am I supposed to do?”

   “Myself and Iris here are more than enough to take over! Isn’t that right, Iris?”

   The second young priestess nods her head.

   “And that’s how it is. Please hand over Khris.” Clara tells me with a barely concealed anger.

   “Right away. Huh?”

   I was really trying to put down Khriswell, but she stopped me by tightening her grip on my neck. Clara lets out a cry of horror.

   “What are you doing, Khris?”

   “I prefer Kotaro-san…” Khriswell mumbles.

   “That will not do! Get away from him at once!”

   “No…”

   ““No”? Did you seriously just say that to your best friend?” Clara screeched.

   I notice that as this is going on, more and more priests and priestesses are gathering around and looking at us.

   “Look, I know you hate this, but can you endure it? Otherwise, we’ll just be getting unwanted attention.” I whisper to Clara.

   She finally noticed the crowd.

   “...Very well. Please follow me to Khris’s room.'' She agreed reluctantly. “High Priestess Rosamond, please excuse me until I’m done escorting him. Iris, please continue to help High Priestess Rosamond with the floor.”

   “Of course.”

   “Sure.”

   Once we’re inside the building, a mace appears at Clara’s hand.

   “Try anything funny, and your head will be smashed in.” she warns.

   “Duly noted.”

   Khriswell is sharing a room with both Clara and that Iris girl just now, which is why Clara can go inside it like she owns the place. She points at the most bottom one of the bunk beds.

   “Put her down on that bed.” she instructs.

   I do as she said and put Khriswell down on the bed gently.

   “Well, I’m leaving now.” I say to her before I leave.

   “Thank you for carrying me here…” she mumbles.

   I’m starting to think that she’s not asleep at all. I would love to mess with her for a bit were it not for the mace-wielding Clara who’s staring daggers at me. In the end, I left their room quietly. Next stop, Mayrane Hills where the dungeon is.

   I recognize the guards as the same ones I saw last night, which is why they didn’t even ask me for a password this time. I even got information on the dungeon.

   “The monsters inside all the dungeons will reset once every six hours.” one of them told me. “Unless you want to be ambushed on your way back, you’d better return before the time limit.”

   “Many thanks for your info and advice.”

   This time, Lilinsya is waiting for me on the first floor of the dungeon. Her and around forty other of her clones. Heck, the real one might not even be in this crowd.

   All of them wave cheerfully at me when they see me.

   “Hey there! You’re here early!” they echoed together all at the same time.

   I shrugged my shoulders. “I had nothing better to do.”

   They puff up their cheeks at the same time.

   “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say that meeting me is just a way to pass the time now?” they demand.

   “Not at all. I just figured that I don’t want to spend any unnecessary time just before I get my first lesson from you, just in case you’re an instructor from Hell.”

   “...But, I AM from Hell.”

   “Ah, you know what I mean.”

   “I don’t. Not one bit.”

   “It’s a figure of speech. Don’t Daemons have those?”

   “Unlike you lying humans, we prefer to say things straight from our hearts.”

   “Yeah, right! There’s a reason that the Eighth Circle of your hometown is called Fraud!”

   “Drat, you actually knew? I guess I can’t underestimate you too much.”

   “What kind of opinion did you even have on me before this?”

   All the Lilinsya avert their eyes from me.

   “Oh, a VERY intelligent and knowledgeable human that you totally are.”

   “Weren’t you taught to look at the person whom you’re talking to in the eye?”

   “Nope. You humans learn things like manners from your parents, right? We Daemons don’t even have those, so there.”

   As we converse, I made sure to observe each and every one of the clones. None of them have any flaws to speak of. No missing horn or any other body parts, none of them glitched for even half a second, nothing. I guess it’s time for me to step up the game.

   “Ah, whatever. I guess now’s a good time to tell you about my world.” I begin nonchalantly.

   That caught their attention and caused their eyes to sparkle. That said, none of them charged forward like I hoped they would.

   “FINALLY! WELL? GO ON! TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!”

   …Ow, my ears. I really need to find the real one before I go deaf.

   “See, back at my world-”

   “Yeah yeah yeah yeah?”

   “All of these monsters like goblins and trolls and whatnot-”

   “Yeah?”

   “None of them exist in real life. They’re all fictional creatures.”

   “.…………………………………………Huh?”

   Oh good, one of the Lilinsya got visibly depressed, while all the others didn’t have a single reaction. I walk towards the one that flinched and stand in front of her. I then reach out my left hand and flick her forehead.

   “OUCH!”

   I made contact with soft flesh, and once again this is the only one that reacted. Yup, this one’s real.

   “What was that for?” this Lillinsya demands.

   “You’ve revealed yourself.”

   She gasps loudly.

   “I-I--I-I-I-I-I-I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

   All the other clones are matching her movements perfectly, but it was already too late.

   “Now that I’ve found the real you, can you make all the fakes disappear?” I request. “I don’t fancy listening to all forty or so of you talking at the same time.”

   “...Fine.” She agrees reluctantly.

   With a snap of her fingers, all the clones disappeared without a single trace, leaving only the real one behind.

   “And? What’s this about all the monsters inside this dungeon being fictional creatures?”

   I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s as I told you. They only exist in works of fiction.”

   The Daemon slumps her shoulders in a really dejected manner.

   “Are you serious…”

   She got back up in an instant, though.

   “So what’s your world really like?”

   “It’s a pretty boring place for the most part. We don’t have magic nor majestic creatures, there are only humans around, and most of the countries aren’t at war with each other.”

   “...Wow, that IS boring.”

   “You know, I’ve been through a lot lately, and I realized that having a boring life isn’t a bad idea at all. Especially when my home country is one of the more peaceful ones. I definitely don’t fancy having to sleep in fear that I might get caught up in a crossfire between different armies.”

   “Bah, you humans are too fragile and soft. Wars are good, you know? They make you tougher for each one that you survive.”

   “If it’s all the same to you, I prefer to be tough without having to go through wars, thank you. Also, not everyone is as battle-crazy as you.”

   “Sheesh, you sound just like my old master!”

   Upon saying that, Lilinsya showed a melancholy look on her face. I’m quite surprised that this overly cheerful Daemon could even make an expression like that.

   “By the way, why did you start your lesson by making me find the real you among all the fake ones?” I ask in an attempt to change the subject.

   My question brought her back to reality at once.

   “You’re still a beginner, so it’s better if you learn how to differentiate illusions first. Besides, witnessing how the professionals do it firsthand will help you to improve.”

   “Wow, everything you said makes so much sense I’m starting to worry that you ate some weird shrooms.”

   “You’re being really rude, you know? I CAN get serious when I want to! And good job finding the real me by using your brain back there.”

   Her sudden compliment caught me by complete surprise.

   “Well, I couldn’t find the real you by just staring, so I thought I can try to bait out the real one by mentioning the topic you wanted to hear the most.”

   Lilinsya nods her head approvingly. “That’s how you do it. By using our brains, even weaklings like us can overcome strong foes.”

   I raise my eyebrow in surprise. “Wait, “weaklings like us”? You? Weak? Do I have to remind you that you managed to take down a Level 95 dragon like it was nothing?”

   “...Trust me. I’m actually very weak. So what if I’m actually a Marquis? I lost when it mattered the most.”

   …Wow. I had my suspicions, but to think that she actually dropped a bomb like that so casually.

   “Do you want to talk about it?” I ask her. “The part where you lost, I mean.”

   She shakes her head. “What’s the point? We Daemons aren’t like you humans. If we have time to talk, we would rather spend that time fighting and prove ourselves.”

   I shrugged my shoulders. “If that’s what you want. Just remember that my offer is always around.”

   She laughs at that. “Even after I’m done teaching you? Even after our relationship is back to being enemies?”

   “Yup.”

   She laughs again. “You do realize the only reason I haven’t killed you is because I signed the no-killing contract, right?”

   “You mean the one you proposed to sign? Yeah, I remember it perfectly. You were practically crying and begging me.”

   Lilinsya blushed furiously.

   “All right all right! You can stop reminding me of my embarrassing past already!”

   “You were the one who started it.”

   “And I hereby declare that this subject is case-closed! There! Let’s get back to the lesson! For starters, try to create an illusion of yourself. ”

   “How many do you want me to make?”

   “Two will do for a start.”

   “All right.”

   I muttered the words used to activate Cloning, the most basic of Illusion Magics. Almost immediately, two other me appeared on both my sides.

   “Do something simple and make your clones do the same thing.” she instructs.

   I lift up my left hand slowly. At the same time, I willed both my clones to do the same. They did move just like I wanted them to. Unfortunately, the one on my right is slightly slower. Naturally, Lilinsya saw it too.

   “That just won’t do! All the movements of your clones have to match with yours, or you’ll be exposed easily!” she chides.

   “Sorry. That’s one of the many things I could never get right.” I apologize.

   “You were probably overthinking things. When you do that, you’ll end up hesitating, and that hesitation will be passed on to your clones.”

   “What am I supposed to do, then?”

   “You’re controlling your body like it’s nothing, right? Just do the same with your clones. Overall, don’t think of too many “what-ifs”.”

   “All right. Let me try one more time.”

   “Oh, there you go again! And that one is glitching!”

   I made three more attempts. In the end, none of the clones I conjured up satisfied Lilinsya.

   “That will do for now. You can get rid of the clones, no need to waste mana over them.”

   “All right.”

   And poof, both of my clones disappeared without a sound.

   “Hmm, this is more serious than I thought.”

   “What other mistakes did I make besides overthinking?”

   “I took a good look at all of your clones and found that you tend to gloss over small details like a strand of hair, or a nick in one of your buttons. I don’t think I need to tell you this, but these so-called small details might end up becoming a fatal mistake.”

   “Is there any way for me to improve?”

   Lilinsya snaps her fingers, and a full-body mirror appears right in front of me.

   “You know what they say: if you want to create a masterpiece, you have to be good at copying first. Now start copying.” the Marquis instructs.

   “I’m pretty sure no one said that. Ah, whatever I guess.”

   I looked at the mirror and take a look at my reflection. I could only maintain eye contact for a single second before averting my gaze.

   “What’s wrong?” Lilinsya asks.

   “...Nothing.”

   There’s no way I can tell her that I hate my own look so much I avoided looking at mirrors as much as possible. Suddenly, I think I know the reason I have difficulty in making proper clones of myself.

   “That’s it, don’t even miss a single strand of hair. Hey, that one’s too long!”

   “Which one?”

   “THAT one, THAT. See?”

   “I can’t see the difference.”

   “Well your enemies might. You don’t want that to happen, do you? And you forgot a mole there.”

   “Blimey, I didn’t even know I had a mole there.”

   “Say. Can we continue our conversation earlier?”

   “Which one are we talking about?”

   “The one about your world, of course. Are you trying to sneak your way out of your end of the bargain here?”

   “THAT one? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to concentrate here! Can’t it wait?”

   “As a matter of fact, it can’t. I’m also trying to train you to be able to multitask.”

   “You can’t be serious…”

   “It’s either this or being tickled. Your choice-”

   “OH BOY! I have so many things to tell you about my world! I can’t wait! Please allow me to tell you as I’m working my butt here!”

   And so, my first lesson in learning Illusion Magic ended up in partly making magical clones of myself and partly telling stories of my old world to my master.