✦ Chapter 98 – Ezekiel 223.38 (5) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝
A Doppelganger.
A being that looked exactly like the original, an omen of misfortune. It was a well-known superstition that encountering one brought bad luck.
I slowly furrowed my brow.
Even if I couldn’t be sure about misfortune, discomfort was certain.
Was this how it felt to discover a mirror image of yourself roaming free in the world? It was unfamiliar and bizarre.
‘It’s a little different from how I am now.’
The first feeling of unease was about the timeframe.
The fake Ezekiel did not perfectly match my current appearance. To be precise, it resembled me from about ten years ago?
The face definitely held a youthful air.
*Thud— Thud—*
I observed the fake Ezekiel’s movements as it entered the room. Just like looking into a mirror, the similarity in mannerisms, the precision of its movements, was uncanny.
‘It’s highly probable this person knows me very well.’
Meanwhile, the other members began to chatter amongst themselves.
“The host has arrived. It seems things are about to begin.”
“Antlered Mage was bound to end up like this. She was way too arrogant! This isn’t just a casual gathering place for friends.”
Among them, a person approached me.
One woman, her face veiled in opaque fabric, leaned in and whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.
“Hey, how did you do it?”
“What?”
“Come on, you know exactly what I mean.”
The veiled woman glanced around before leaning in even closer, her voice barely a whisper.
“Did you meddle with the world? Exploit something? … You must have used some kind of unfair advantage, right? I’m quite interested in that kind of thing too. Tell me how. I’ll pay you handsomely.”
“What nonsense.”
I was flabbergasted.
No matter how squeaky clean they pretended to be, beneath the surface lurked a desperate desire to walk the path of darkness.
“I can do things beyond your wildest imagination. So—” she pressed.
“Just live an honest life. Honestly.”
I clicked my tongue in disappointment and tuned her out.
And at that moment…
“Silence.”
*Click—!*
The fake Ezekiel snapped its fingers. The door slammed shut as the room plunged into darkness, save for a single spotlight illuminating the round table.
“Let us begin. The Secret Gathering.”
“With just the six of us? Seems about right.”
Six figures, myself included, stood around the table, maintaining an equal distance from one another.
The fake Ezekiel fixed his gaze on the cat-headed member, then gestured towards me with his chin, as if asking for my identity.
“Ah, he’s a new member. We had a bit of a disagreement with Antlered Mage, and he won the duel, and drove her out—“
The cat-face rambled on, but the fake Ezekiel shook its head, seemingly unconvinced.
“The rules of the gathering. Did you explain them?”
“Oh, right! I’ll explain them right away!”
As cat-face scurried over to me, I fell into thought.
‘Its way of speaking doesn’t resemble mine in the slightest.’
It was strange.
The fake Ezekiel could imitate my appearance and mannerisms perfectly, yet its speech patterns were completely different.
There were two possibilities.
First, it might be intentionally speaking differently because it had no intention of fully impersonating me.
Second, my way of speaking might be so unique and ingrained that it was simply unable to replicate it.
“Hey, new member.”
Cat-face addressed me.
“You’re probably unaware since it’s your first time….But every Secret Gathering has a theme. No matter how knowledgeable you are, you won’t be able to participate if you don’t have information related to the theme.”
It tapped the round table with a claw.
“Pretending to know is also forbidden, meow. The virtual world interferes with every part of our brain, so if you lie, it’ll show up on the round table and expose you…”
It wasn’t just a free-for-all of random information. They decided on a theme beforehand, gathered information related to it, and then shared their findings. It was far more organized and intriguing than I had initially imagined.
‘This is surprisingly elaborate…’
In any case, if that was how it worked, then the most important thing was the theme.
“What is the theme for this gathering then?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit tricky this time…”
Cat Face scratched its head.
“This time, the theme is… the Imperial Princesses, meow.”
“…Princesses?”
It was a completely unexpected topic.
I had assumed they’d be discussing magic or the situation in the Demon Realm, considering the exchange of information between Magic Towers. Never did it cross my mind that the topic would be the princesses.
Perhaps interpreting my silence as a sign of disapproval, Cat Face nodded as if understanding.
“Too tough for you? It’s alright. You can come back another time.”
“No. He knows. He knows a lot about them.”
At that moment, someone else interjected.
It was the fake Ezekiel.
Our eyes met across the table; a bizarre sensation, to be sure. Having a conversation while staring directly at my own face… Surreal didn’t even begin to describe it.
“Why do you think I would know them well?”
“Your alias. The Emperor’s name.”
The fake Ezekiel gestured towards my alias with his chin.
“Impersonation is a grave offense in itself. But if you can’t live up to the name…the consequences will be far more severe.”
He shrugged at me as if to challenge me.
“Isn’t that right?”
I shrugged back once in response.
“Well, I suppose so. Fortunately, it’s a topic I’m well-versed in.”
Though I replied with a smirk, it was not a lie. Within the Empire, no one knew the princesses as well as I did. Such a person simply did not exist.
And so, the meeting began.
“As always, I shall go first.”
The one who volunteered to go first was a man with a massive compass where his head should be. Such was the beauty of virtual reality; anything was possible.
“The Fourth Princess has been on a winning streak lately.”
The Fourth Princess, Chain.
The richest individual on the continent.
The round table shimmered, bathed in a faint golden glow.
Instinctively, I understood.
It was a mechanism that indicated the validity of a statement, whether true or false.
The members’ reactions were predictably negative.
“…It’s not exactly news that the Fourth Princess is rolling in dough. Even a stray dog could’ve told us that, meow.”
“Seriously? This is what you’re going with?”
“Everyone, calm down and listen until the end, please.”
There was a calm confidence in the Compass’ voice.
As if he were certain he had something truly remarkable to reveal.
“Did you not hear me say ‘winning streak’? I’m not talking about her business ventures. The Fourth Princess, who used to spend her days swimming in mountains of gold acquired through shrewd business deals, has shifted her focus to…gambling. And she’s been sweeping the gambling dens clean,” he declared.
The members merely blinked, still unimpressed.
I, too, didn’t think much of it yet.
“So…your valuable information is… to avoid gambling dens?”
“I guess so, though I’d been thinking of visiting one soon.”
Compass smirked at their reactions.
“My, my… It seems you’re all sorely lacking in the information department.”
He then confidently raised a single finger.
“The question isn’t how much she’s won. It’s why she’s suddenly obsessed with amassing wealth through gambling. And I’ve acquired information regarding her motives!”
It was at that moment the fake Ezekiel finally showed a flicker of emotion; annoyance.
“Get to the point. We don’t have all day.”
“Ahaha, understood. It seems a certain individual who was present at the scene overheard the Fourth Princess muttering something under her breath. A single phrase, but oh-so-valuable.”
“…Quickly.”
“Dowry! She said she’s preparing a dowry!”
A deep silence descended.
It was only after a long moment that the members began to murmur.
“Dowry?”
“A dowry? Is the Fourth Princess preparing for marriage?”
“That’s a
However, those doubts didn’t last long.
*Shaaaaaaaa—!*
The round table erupted in a brilliant golden light.
“
“Impossible!”
Compass, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed glee, drank in their stunned reactions.
“She’s been hitting every gambling den, regardless of their reputation or betting limits. She’s been sweeping them all clean. You’d think she was trying to buy the entire continent as a dowry…” he mused.
I, on the other hand, didn’t react at all.
Or rather, I couldn’t muster any reaction.
The truth revealed by the round table was simply too shocking.
‘The Fourth Princess is preparing a dowry?’
The question was, for whom?
It wasn’t even a question worth pondering.
I had sent letters of proposal to all five princesses. Thus, it could only mean…
‘Me.’
She was preparing for a marriage with me. Of course.
Why she was desperately amassing all that wealth remained a mystery. Such a marriage should have been feasible with her current fortune.
…It meant she wasn’t preparing for an ordinary marriage. My head began to ache already.
“It seems the Magic Towers will need to be on their toes.”
“Indeed. There’s no telling what kind of excuse she’ll use to pressure them for funds. You all know how tenacious she can be.”
Their words barely registered in my mind.
And then…
“It’s my turn, meow.”
Cat-face cleared its throat.
“Good thing our information doesn’t overlap. Mine’s pretty big, meow.”
I straightened up, focusing all my attention on it.
‘Thank goodness I decided to participate in this Secret Gathering.’
A thought I repeated to myself a hundred times over.