Hey, boy, over here.
Sorry. The real one's this way.
No, that's a lie. The real thing is this way.
But actually, you're over here!

　Just when you think you've caught it, the old lady disappears.
　I just keep repeating that over and over again from earlier.

　The old lady's petty lines and face are nerve-wracking to me.
　I want to punch her in that face.

'But it's a nasty skill,'

Unlike the Afterimage skill, the Altered Image skill creates an entity.
　You can produce or erase it whenever you want, and it was completely indistinguishable from the main body.

　There's no doubt that there's a main body somewhere, but if we can't distinguish it from the main body, then we'll have to capture it in a very small way.
　

　Judging that, I ignored the old ladies who were mocking me for a while.
　I ignored the old ladies who were laughing at me and began to search the vicinity.
　But I couldn't find them.

"Now, then, it's a waste of time!
You wouldn't find that in any other place.
Shame. See you next week.

　Either they're so completely out of sight that even I can't find them, or those alter egos are controlling them from a remote location.
　If it's the latter, I'm completely screwed.

　.... wait?
　I suddenly had a question.

　Can it really be possible to create an alter ego with that much performance without limit?
　Isn't there some kind of restriction?

　What I'm worried about is that the moment I catch it, its alter ego immediately disappears.
　Why is it necessary to erase it?
　If you use your alter ego to restrain me or attack me, you should be able to buy that much time.

　Maybe that's exactly what the "alter ego" skill has to do with its limitations.
　Well, it's possible that he's simply having fun pretending to be someone else, but....

It's worth a try.

　I interrupted my search for the mainframe and pounced on the nearest alter ego.

"That's a shame, I'll have to share...

　Thud!

　Before the old lady disappeared, the slash I fired slashed through her.

''Gyaaah!''

　The next moment, the old ladies screamed in unison.
　I nodded, satisfied with their appearance.

''I see. So you mean that the alter egos are sharing the sense of pain with each other? ........No, no. Are you saying that there are no alter egos in the first place and everything is the same as the main body?

　When you think about it, it explains a lot of things.

　There is no distinction between the main body and the alter ego, those things are all the main body.
　So if even one of them is damaged, all of the old lady's blessings will decrease.
　The blessings are shared, and they don't increase in proportion to the number of alter egos you have.

"I was apparently deceived by the name of the skill called 'alter ego'.
Master, you cut the old man down without hesitation!
I thought you didn't like being treated like an old lady?






Now, let's get Mira out of here as we agreed.

　I glare at the old lady.

'Kakka, Mira isn't here anymore. She's back at her parents' house.
To your parents' house?
Yes. You said you were done running away from home.
....

　If that's true, it's a relief, but it doesn't add up.
　What in the world was Mira moving from place to place for?
　Well, if you feel better after traveling, that's fine, but something is stuck.

'What was Mira like?'
He was an excellent apprentice. I, the God of Assassination, personally taught him the art of assassination, and he absorbed everything I taught him in a flash. I didn't expect him to catch up with me in just six months. There's no one he can't kill now.
Wait a minute. Assassination?　Six months?　What are you talking about?

　It was six months ago that Mila left home.
　She must have come here much later.

"Okay, okay, you're sure?　Six months ago, he suddenly appeared in this city, just like your current master, and was running amok in the upper levels. According to him, he thought he could learn the skills of assassination in the shortest possible time by coming here.

　If that's the case, then who was it that I was chasing?
　No, come to think of it, I didn't see Mira.
　The only thing I was after was information about Mira.

　What if it was all a lie?

...The old woman-- Miss Mira, what in the world does she do for a living?
She is the assassin princess. I don't know what is happening to him now, but at least that is what he was given when he was blessed. At that moment, he thought to himself. This is the one I can kill," he said.
Can you kill it?　Who the hell are you........me?

　But if that's the case, why did you go to your parents' house?
　We'll have a better chance of success if we wait in this city.

"Well, you are a very slow learner, aren't you? You are completely unaware of your sister's true intentions. It's true that one day she may turn her back on you, but for now it's someone other than you.

　Besides me who else?
　Dad or Mom?

　...You don't think so, Laina?


　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


That's a long time to be away for a guy who's only been here six months.

　Mira murmured quietly as she looked at the exterior of her parents' home, which she was used to living in.

　The past six months had been the most intense time in her life.
　As soon as she received her blessing, she left her home and went to the prison city by herself.
　There, in what is said to be the world's most unsafe city, she spent her time training bloodily in order to master the vocation she was given.

　And--

I'm sure we can get him now.

　Completely oblivious, Mira sneaks into the house through the bathroom window.
　It's late at night when everyone is asleep, but you can never be too careful.

　Mira's mother, in particular, has unusually keen senses.
　Even if she was asleep, an ordinary thief would be able to detect the intrusion at the same time.
　It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that most of her training in the prison city was to acquire a level of covert skills that even her mother couldn't notice.

　Furthermore, there are now mythical grade demons living there as well.
　Perhaps because of their powerful power, they are less cautious, and they would be less likely to be noticed, but even so, they should never be underestimated.

　Mira continued down the hallway and took the stairs to the second floor.
　She passed her parents' bedroom and then her brother's room at the back.

　Carefully she opened the door and crept inside.
　Then, sleeping on my beloved brother's bed was a woman with red hair - Laina.

　She doesn't seem to notice Mira's intrusion and seems to be sleeping soundly.
　But Mira never let her guard down and approached the side of the bed.

　Then she enters the pause.
　The current Mira would be at a distance where she could finish off her opponent while he was asleep.

''Huh?''

　And, as expected, she was nervous, and it was only when she got here that she realized that there was more than one sleep on the bed.

　In the arms of Laina, who was sleeping on her side.
　There were two little lives being held there.

　A baby.
　A boy and a girl, too.
　They were sleeping close together, seemingly close to each other.

　They both have hair color similar to Laina's, especially the girl one, who looks just like her, even her face.
　And the boy one.

You look just like your brother.