A dark room was filled with strange devices. It contained glowing panels and monitors displaying graphs. The sound of cooling fans never ceased.

In the center of that room, a girl was operating an electric screwdriver attached to the end of a mechanical arm. She seemed indifferent about her appearance because she wore plain white clothes and her short hair was unkempt. She had goggles on her forehead and oil stains on her cheeks.

Her name was Kita Yoshie. Her talent in virtual alternate dimension research had dragged her into a conspiracy which had ultimately put her on Akuto’s side of the demon king war. She was now working for the government once more, but she spent most of her time lost in her own interests and inventions. Even on weekdays, she could be found working in this storehouse rented from Constant Magic Academy.

“Heh heh heh. I’ve finally finished it.”

She looked up with a grin.

A doll lay before her.

The “doll” was a L’Isle-Adam with top-cla.s.s artificial intelligence. They were often used for simple work and often did not have humanoid appearances. This doll had a smooth surface with almost no unevenness. It looked a lot like a drawing doll or a base form that would be fleshed out later. It was lying on a large work bench.

Yoshie reached for a round switch at the center of its face where a nose would go, but she hesitated to press it.

“Mnn. Was this an invention of G.o.d or the devil? Will I regret calling this detestable existence back from the deep darkness?”

She had a way of speaking in a roundabout manner. To be blunt, she was heavily obsessed with video games.

“Boss, I see you are speaking in an embarra.s.sing way again.”

She heard a sudden voice from behind her.

A small L’Isle-Adam entered the room.

Despite what she had said to Yoshie, she spoke in a strange old-fashioned manner. And her appearance was no better: she was dressed like a samurai, her ponytail was long enough to reach her feet, and the sword on her back was twice her height.

Her name was Keisu. She had been created to seal the original demon king, but with that role complete, she spent her time helping Yoshie.

“Hm? Why are you here?”

Yoshie turned around.

“Why would you ask that? You are the one that called in a guest.”

Keisu pointed behind her.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Yoshie picked a cleaner up from the ground, sprayed some on her hands, wiped it off with a hand towel, and used a leg to push a chair out toward the guest.

“You look busy.”

Akuto walked into the room and casually slid into the chair as if meeting an old friend. Yoshie’s personality was not very feminine and she enjoyed topics that had little to do with the real world, so he acted without reservation around her.

“I was busy, but I just finished.”

Yoshie stood next to him and rested her elbows on the table.

“You mean that doll? Or is it a L’Isle-Adam?”

He indicated the work bench with his chin.

“It’s a doll, but it’s a pretty dangerous one.”

She gave a proud smile.

“Dangerous? Is it illegal?”

“You can’t call it illegal when no laws have been made about it,” she said confidently. “In other words, it goes beyond what existing laws have made a decision on.”

“But you’re still sure it’s dangerous?” he asked.

She nodded.

“That’s why I called you. Oh, but I don’t mean it might explode or go on a rampage. I wanted to get your opinion.”

“My opinion?”

“Yeah. Basically, this is a doll that copies someone’s personality.”

She pointed her thumb at the smooth doll.

“It copies someone’s personality? So it’s something like necromancy?”

His eyes opened wide.

“It’s not quite the same. Necromancy checks the data logs saved by the G.o.ds, but this copies the personality to a virtual alternate dimension.”

Akuto leaned forward in interest.

“I see. It is true our physical bodies sometimes remained here while we were sent to a virtual alternate dimension.”

“Yes. I made a robot that uses that to copy a personality. I was originally thinking about where a human’s soul is.”

“Since that led to making this, does it mean the soul actually exists and it can be copied?”

“Yes. It’s kind of weird, but just as the G.o.ds insist, there is a way to take the human soul to another dimension and reproduce it there. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“It does sound like something I should keep in mind.”

He nodded with a serious expression.

“But the real question for today is what to do with this thing.”

Yoshie shrugged with a troubled look.

“What do you mean?” asked Akuto.

She walked back to the work bench and beckoned him over.

“Come over and take a look.”

“It has a pretty large build.”

He looked down at the doll lying there.

Yoshie placed a hand on top of it and spoke.

“Making it is good and all, but I realized that it can be misused like crazy. It looks smooth now, but it creates the outer appearance of whoever presses the b.u.t.ton on its nose here. It covers itself in the same kind of solidified mana that Hattori-kun’s copies use.”

“So you would have two of the same person? That could get strange.”

“Yeah, that’s why I added a safety device into the copied personality. It’s made to know it’s a fake and to not cause any harm to people.”

“I’m interested, but you should destroy it after one test given the possibility for misuse,” he said while folding his arms.

Yoshie nodded.

“I had a feeling you would say that. I just wanted a push in the right direction. Well, that and some data.”

“Some data?” he asked.

Yoshie grabbed his hand and pressed the doll’s nose with it.

“Wait!” he cried out in surprise.

With a low hum, the doll’s surface began to glow and mana condensed around it.

“Sorry, sorry. I thought I would test it on you. But don’t worry. This won’t be too big a deal.”

She clasped her hands together as she apologized.

“But…are you sure this will be okay?”

He looked worriedly down at the doll.

“Of course, of course.”

She waved her hand irresponsibly.

Meanwhile, the mana finished condensing and the light vanished.

An exact copy of Akuto now lay on the work bench.

“Wah!” he cried out in shock.

“Looking that surprised is a lot like insulting yourself,” said the second Akuto as he sat up.

“That does sound like something I would say.”

Akuto’s eyes opened wide.

“That’s because I’m made to be exactly the same,” said the second Akuto. “Even though I’m aware of it, being a fake isn’t the best feeling. A quick experiment is fine, but if you don’t have a specific role for me, I’d like you to erase this copy as soon as possible. I don’t particularly want to talk with myself.”

“Agreed. Then again, I suppose it makes sense I would agree with you.”

“Exactly. You just need a few minutes to gather data, right?”

Yoshie smiled as she responded to the two Akutos.

“Just chat for about an hour. But having two of the same personality together is pretty interesting.”

“I don’t find it interesting.”

“Naturally, neither do I.”

“Now, then,” said Yoshie. “I would prefer if you did not simply speak with yourself.”

“Yes. I would prefer to speak with you than with myself. And we haven’t had many chances to have a nice conversation.”

“I would like some suggestions on how to act from now on. Keena just acts too freely.”

“I see you have already learned how to split up your role and speak one after the other. But remember that there’s only one of me. I’m going to busy for just a one-on-one conversation.

Yoshie laughed.

“N-now this is interesting.”

A black shadow lurked in the entrance to the storehouse.

It was Nozomi the natural born janitor. She wore a maid uniform around her small body and her forehead glittered as she peered into the storehouse.

She had ended up eavesdropping while performing her janitor job. She had been unable to resist looking inside and there she had witnessed the two Akutos.

“Based on the conversation beforehand, does it transform into whoever presses the b.u.t.ton?”

She then began making strange calculations in her head once again. She did not reach too farfetched a conclusion, but her plan was plenty selfish.

“I know! I’ll borrow that doll, make a copy of the empress, and have her do what I say! And then I’ll become the empress. It’s perfect!”

Her talent as a janitor then fully showed itself. She ran quickly over to the control panel outside the storehouse, rang the emergency alarm, and cut the power.

“Wah.”

“The lights have gone out.”

“This isn’t right. The emergency power isn’t coming on. Let’s head out.”

The three people inside spoke.

Hearing them, Nozomi ran back to the entrance, s.n.a.t.c.hed the fire extinguisher, and sprayed it the instant the three exited.

“Wah!”

“Hyah!”

The color white filled the area and the three…no, just two let out screams.

She did not overlook that only one was unfazed.

—The doll must not have been concerned about the fire extinguisher!

After making a (for her) wonderful deduction, she grabbed the arm of the unfazed one.

“This way!”

She tugged on the doll’s arm and ran.

“Ah. Are you sure?”

The doll had Akuto’s personality, so it obediently followed her lead.

She then used all her ability as a janitor to keep the real Akuto and Yoshie from following. She ran down a back way while tugging on the doll Akuto’s hand. In only her short time there, she had perfectly memorized the confusing structure of the school.

“Wait!”

“Where are you going!?”

Akuto and Yoshie’s voices quickly grew distant behind them. There were pa.s.sageways even the students were not aware of, so it was not difficult for Nozomi to escape.

“Heh heh heh. This should be far enough.”

While hiding in the s.p.a.ce behind a maintenance panel, she turned toward the doll.

“So what do you want?”

The doll had the exact personality and appearance of Akuto, so he approached Nozomi more kindly than necessary after she dragged him here.

“W-w-well, th-the thing about that is…”

She hesitated to speak.

Unsurprisingly, she had almost no experience in speaking with boys. Having Akuto so close to her in this small s.p.a.ce was proving too much for her.

“C-could you move a little farther away?”

“Sorry, but I think that has more to do with you bringing me into this small area. ...Excuse me a moment. This might help.”

He grabbed her waist with both hands, lifted her up, and set her down on a panel just a bit higher than his chest.

“Hyaah!”

She let out a surprised shriek, but once he set her down and she found a fair amount of s.p.a.ce around her, she settled down. But this put his face quite nearby.

“U-u-umm…”

She blushed and shook her hands around.

But he placed a hand on her head as if being affectionate to a child.

“So will you tell me why you did that?”

“I-I… I’m not a child, y’know. I have a job!”

“My apologies. You just looked quite young. Actually, that might be rude too.”

“I’m probably older than you.”

She puffed out her cheeks.

“Then I apologize again. Anyway, I a.s.sume you had a good reason for doing what you did.”

Akuto fixed his sitting position.

“W-well… I actually wanted to use your power to create a copy of the empress.”

When she gave an honest answer, the look in his eyes changed.

“I think you know you shouldn’t do that,” he said seriously.

He then forcibly held down her shoulders.

“Wait. What are you doing?”

“You have to ask? Let’s get back to where I should be. And…”

“Hyah! No! I’ll scream.”

“I would prefer to avoid misunderstandings, but if someone comes by, I just have to hand you over to them.”

“Gyaaah! Noooo!”

She frantically flailed her arms and legs.

“Stop struggling so mu- Ah!”

After a quick shout, Akuto stopped moving.

Nozomi’s hand had hit him directly on the nose.

“Hyaaaah! …Oh, right. The switch.”

She gave a sigh of relief once she realized Akuto had stopped moving.

“But what will happen now that I hit the switch?”

“Not good. That girl was the one from the other day.”

Akuto shook his head.

“Is she trouble?” asked Yoshie.

“Yes, she is,” he answered. “You probably didn’t notice, but she caused a major incident the other day. The problem seems to lie in her personality. I think she has overly abundant imagination and drive, but she does not how to handle real situations.”

“That does sound bad.” She checked the storehouse’s panel and then shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with the storehouse. This really isn’t good. It means she was after the doll. She really isn’t a good person.”

“No. She might be planning to misuse it in some way. She seems to want to become empress, so she might try to copy Keena.”

Yoshie let out a sigh when she heard that.

“Then we should be fine.”

“Why?”

“It isn’t that easy to misuse. While it won’t harm humans, it won’t necessarily obey them either. And even if she wants to use the position of empress, this is Keena we’re talking about. That won’t get very far.”

“Hm. I guess you’re right,” he agreed. “And the current copy is of my personality, so nothing should happen.”

“Heh heh. Don’t be so sure. It looks like you still don’t know how troublesome your own personality can be.”

Yoshie laughed lightly and Akuto looked confused.

“Eh?”

“Just talking to myself. But there is one problem. One part is weak to impacts. If you press the switch too hard, it can cause a malfunction.”

“A malfunction?”

Yoshie looked worried, but she shook her head.

“It’s nothing to worry about. Normally, it will just copy whoever pressed the nose and the previous personality is erased. But when too much of an impact is applied to the nose and it malfunctions, there is a possibility of the personalities mixing together. Outside of a truly terrible combination, that would merely create a slightly twisted personality.”

“A truly terrible combination? You mean like a personality with overly abundant imagination and drive but with an inability to handle real situations combining with a personality with a great ability to handle real situations but too much sense to act on it?”

Yoshie smiled.

“Yeah, just like that.” And then her expression froze over. “That would be the Sasahara Nozomi girl and you, wouldn’t it?”

“H-huh? If it can’t move, that means I can escape, right?”

Nozomi tried to jump down from the panel, but strength returned to Akuto’s hands holding her shoulders.

“Hyah!”

When she shouted out, Akuto looked up and smiled at her.

“You need not escape. Don’t worry. I understand now.”

“U-understand? Understand what?”

Nozomi trembled at the unusual atmosphere.

But he merely whispered gently to her.

“I will steal the imperial throne. All I need to do is seduce Keena and I will be emperor.”

“Wait! You can’t do that. I need to become empress!”

“My becoming emperor is just as good. After all, I will treat you well. Once I sit on the throne, you can sit by my side.”

“How can you say that?’

“Because I am you,” said Akuto.

Nozomi then figured out what was happening.

“So that’s it! The personalities mixed together!”

“Exactly. And now that you understand, just leave it all to me.”

He smiled at her again, but she shook her head.

“Y-you can’t. I want to be empress…”

She insisted on resisting, but Akuto suddenly pressed his fingers against her mouth.

“Such a hopeless girl. I need you to remain silent.”

“Mh…mh…mgh…”

She continued to shake her head.

Akuto grinned and slid his other hand from her shoulder to her neck. The sensation made her jump.

“Ee!”

“I will make certain you cannot resist, little kitten.”

With a chuckle, Akuto moved his fingers down from her neck and brought his head in toward her.

“Wfwaaaaaaahhhh…”

She let out a scream and her entire body trembled.

“Hm? She’s collapsed,” said Yoshie when she found Nozomi.

“Then it did something to her?” asked Akuto in surprise. “I thought it wasn’t supposed to harm people.”

The two of them had found her after beginning a search.

“She’s breathing.”

Akuto ran over and held her up.

“She’s just unconscious.”

Yoshie peered at her face.

Nozomi’s face was flushed and she was breathing heavily.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Akuto shook her.

“N-nnnn…”

She blinked several times and suddenly screamed when she saw him.

“Nooooo! Stop! Oh, but don’t stop!”

She clung to Akuto and began panting even more heavily. It was so sudden that Akuto instinctually pulled away.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

But as if in a trance, she pursued him and pressed up against his body.

“Nyaaaaah! Have your way with meeee!”

“Waaaah! Please spare me!”

He forcibly ripped her from him and held her in one hand by the nape of the neck. Only once she was dangling down like that did she come back to her senses. Her struggling came to a sudden stop and she looked embarra.s.sed.

“Ah… Are you the real one?”

“Yes. I am not the doll you stole. Also…what happened?”

Akuto was clearly reluctant to ask.

She blushed and shook her head.

“N-nothing happened. Y-yes, he just suddenly karate chopped me on the neck!”

As she spoke, she began fixing her disheveled maid uniform.

Akuto turned toward Yoshie with a troubled look.

Yoshie shook her head while blushing.

“Don’t look at me. But…um, I think I know what happened here.”

“No, I just wanted to say I wouldn’t do that,” he explained.

“Don’t say anything to me. This is embarra.s.sing for me as well.”

Yoshie gave an embarra.s.sed bitter smile, but her expression grew serious as she touched her goggles and turned toward Nozomi.

“Anyway, the doll escaped I a.s.sume? Please don’t tell me he said he wanted to became the emperor.”

A look of shock filled Nozomi’s face.

“H-how did you know?”

“I knew it…”

Akuto and Nozomi exchanged a glance.

“This mixture of personalities is bad news. But he can’t harm humans, so this can’t be too bad, right?”

Akuto tried to stay positive, but Yoshie immediately shook her head.

“Knowing you, you probably don’t have a clue, but you can get girls to do what you say by doing that to them.”

Yoshie pointed at Nozomi rather than speak in any more detail.

“I can get girls to do what I say? Eh? Really?”

Akuto’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Yes…well…it depends on the girl… At the very least, it should work with a girl who doesn’t hate you. Anyway, the worst part is that the doll has a girl’s personality as well, so it knows the ideal way to…um…approach a girl.”

Yoshie was usually quite candid, but she hesitated to speak here.

“Um, so… How should I put this? Does that give you any idea where the doll is?” asked Akuto as he let Nozomi down.

“I-I don’t know! Wahhhhhhh!”

As soon as she was freed, Nozomi ran off with the speed of a frightened animal.

“Ah, she escaped again.”

Akuto scratched at his head in annoyance.

“Capturing the doll is more important,” urged Yoshie.

“How do we do that?”

“Our only choice is to check with all the girls you would have the easiest time seducing.”

“Seducing? What are you talking about?”

Akuto was not sure what to say and Yoshie merely sighed.

“Just follow my instructions. First, let’s locate them telepathically. Um, let’s start with Fujiko-kun.”

She pulled out her terminal and began searching for the proper number.

Etou Fujiko was at a café managing the girls’ dorm’s management data, but she looked over to her student handbook when the telepathic call light flashed.

But she rejected the call just before answering it.

“Etou-san.”

After all, Akuto had called out to her. The telepathic call had been from Yoshie and it was obvious who took precedence there.

“What is it, Akuto-sama?”

She smiled at him and he gave a slightly mischievous smile in return.

“I’d like to speak in private.”

“Oh? It is not often that you make an invitation like that.”

With her eyes sparkling, she stood up and took his hand while leaving her café cup behind.

He held her hand back and red tinged her cheeks.

“Shall we go for a walk?”

“No, I want to be alone with you.”

“My! Then we can go to my underground room! What is with you all of a sudden? I am so happy!”

She clung to his arm.

“I have something important to discuss with you,” he said the instant they entered her underground room.

“Anything you wish to discuss is important to me,” she said while snuggling up against his arm.

“That’s good to hear. So… It seems there is a copy of me walking around.”

With her still clinging to him, he sat on the velvet sofa. She leaned on his shoulder and looked up at him.

“A copy?”

“Yes. Yoshie-san created a doll that can copy a person’s personality and appearance.”

“My!”

Fujiko’s mouth opened in surprise.

Akuto looked back at her with a serious expression.

“Anyway, it malfunctioned and is now quite dangerous. It seems to be after the imperial throne.”

“The imperial throne?”

Despite repeating him, she did not seem to really be listening. She was simply looking up at him while blushing.

“Yes. It seems to want to use Keena to kill me and rule the world while using Keena as a puppet. That’s why I want you to prove that I am me.”

“Prove that you are you?”

She looked up at him absentmindedly.

“Yes. Please give me some kind of accessory. When I meet my copy, I can use that as a sign that I am the real one.”

After saying that, Akuto traced his hand across her cheek.

A twitch ran through her back as he did.

“Ahn. In that case, how about a kiss mark? I could leave them all over. Then we would be one removed shirt away from using the evidence of our love to prove who is the real one. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

Fujiko brought her lips toward his neck.

“That sounds great.”

She laughed and moved his hand from her cheek, to her hair, and to her head.

“And if I help, I would get a reward, wouldn’t I?”

She drew back as if ticklish and brought her face in close to his.

“Of course. I was just thinking about kissing you. The rest will have to wait until after I destroy the fake.”

He drew in the hand behind her head to bring her lips in closer.

But…

“Oh? What kind of a reward would that be? I said I would give a kiss to prove who is the real Akuto-sama. I am not about to kiss a fake.”

She smiled cruelly and tore herself from the doll Akuto.

The doll Akuto looked confused.

“What? Why would you think I am the fake?”

“Oh? I could tell right away. It is an issue of love.”

“Love?”

Fujiko crossed her arms confidently and looked down on the doll Akuto with contempt.

“Simply put, I can just tell. After all, there is something different about you. As if someone else is mixed in. You reek of the kind of ideal boy a timid girl would think up.”

“Kh…”

The doll Akuto bit his lip.

“Based on what you said, I a.s.sume you truly are after the imperial throne. And if you are trying this, I can also a.s.sume you cannot harm humans just like all the other L’Isle-Adams. Am I wrong?”

She spoke with a challenge in her voice and he could only shake his head regretfully.

“That’s exactly right. What are you going to do? Are you going to hand me over to the authorities?”

“Hm. That is a good question. It was quite exciting until I realized you were a fake. Perhaps I should simply forgive you.”

“Eh? You’ll forgive me?”

“Yes. What you are planning sounds quite enjoyable. You are trying to ‘convince’ girls like that until you have won over Keena, aren’t you? I want to see you try that.”

She laughed in amus.e.m.e.nt.

The doll Akuto was clearly confused, but she continued on.

“If any of the others cannot tell you from the real Akuto-sama, it will prove that I love him more deeply than them. And any girl who you do seduce will be awkward around him afterwards. That would be most welcome. Go seduce Hattori Junko and Soga Keena.”

She then transferred Junko and Keena’s numbers into a telepathic communicator that did not use magic and handed it to him.

“You do not have a registered communicator, do you? Use this. I think you will fail in the end, but do your best.”

The doll Akuto accepted the communicator with a complicated expression and waved at her.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ll make this work until the very end.”

Left all lone, Fujiko sighed.

“I doubt it will work out, so perhaps I should have told him to give it up. It can take some doing, but there are countless ways of telling a doll from a human. Perhaps he has some reason for trying so desperately hard.”

Junko was surprised to receive a telepathic call from an unregistered number. Those were fairly rare. She was doubly surprised when she answered it and it was from Akuto.

“What is it? Don’t you have your own communicator?”

“Stolen?”

“Understood. Where should I go?”

“Understood.”

After ending the call, Junko grew suspicious.

“I should probably be on my guard.”

Calling her out like this was a little odd for Akuto. And then he had asked her to go to the mountain. It could easily be a trap.

She gripped her sword and approached the arranged spot while making a wide circle around the mountain area. But despite being so cautious, she did not spot any kind of trap.

“Sorry about the wait.”

While still cautious, she approached Akuto.

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, things have gotten very bad.”

He suddenly grabbed her right hand with both hands.

“Wha-…? Why are you holding my hand…?”

She turned her head and mumbled.

But he stared straight at her.

“Sorry. I was just worried. The thing is, a copy of me is walking around.”

“A copy?”

She looked back at him in surprise.

“Yes. Kita-san created a doll that can copy people and it is trying to throw me out.”

It did not look like he was lying, but something bothered her.

“So that’s why your handbook was stolen. But wait…”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s difficult to prove that I am the real one. Also, Etou-san has already fallen for the lies of the fake.”

“Etou-san has?”

“Yes. She claims to love me, but she can’t tell the real me from a fake. It really is horrible. You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

Akuto brought his clasped hands up to his face and begged her.

“Uuh… Wait just a second.”

She drew her head back a bit.

She had initially felt something off about this Akuto, but seeds of something like antagonism entered her heart when she heard that Fujiko had been deceived by the fake. If she could distinguish the real one from the fake, it would mean her feelings for him were greater.

“Don’t worry. Trust me. If you see two of me and need to know which one is real, you only have to believe the one Etou-san says is fake.”

He continued to press her for an answer.

“A-again… Wait a second.”

She shook her head reluctantly and stepped back.

But he did not let go of her hand and stepped forward.

“Do you not like me?”

“I-I did not say that.”

“You’re afraid, aren’t you? Don’t worry. You can leave everything to me.”

“I said that is not it… You are acting weird.”

“Weird? Are you doubting me? In that case, I will have to prove that I am the real one.”

He let go of her hand, grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and lifted her head.

“W-wait… What do you mean ‘prove’?”

Even her ears blushed red and tension filled her voice.

“Only the real me can satisfy you.”

He brought his face in towards hers.

“Y-you idiot… Stop…”

She brushed his fingers from her chin and lowered her head.

“You don’t want to?” he whispered.

“Th-that is not the issue.”

“Then you are merely afraid, little kitten. Don’t worry. Just leave it to me.”

He placed his hand on her head, caressed her hair, and covered her face with her hair.

“Ah…”

She felt her spine tremble and she raised her head.

“Now, be mine.”

He slowly brought his face in towards her.

“Ee… I already said…um…”

She shook her head back and forth but finally closed her eyes and opened her lips slightly.

“Yes, just like that…”

And he approached those lips.

“I-I can’t!”

She shoved him away.

He staggered backwards and fell to the ground.

“You don’t believe me?” he asked in confusion.

She intensely shook her head.

“That is not it! It isn’t… But there really is something strange about you today. You might be the fake.”

“You can’t mean that…”

“N-no. Do not make that face. But the boy I know would not do something like this just to get someone to trust him. That is what I mean.”

She stated all that while breathing erratically as if in pain.

Akuto stood up and shook his head in disappointment.

“In that case, I understand. But it isn’t easy proving that I’m the real one. I guess I have to ask another girl.”

Those words brought a painful sensation to Junko’s heart.

“A-another girl? Do not say it like that. It sounds like you are toying with my heart. Saying that will…um…hurt me.”

“I’m aware doing that is wrong, but I’m worried I will disappear if I can’t prove that I’m the real one.”

“I-I understand… But can’t you just ask Korone? We might have to use special equipment to tell if you are a doll, but she should be able to tell right away.”

Akuto opened his eyes in surprise.

“Korone could tell? I guess you’re right. I hadn’t thought about that.”

“As long as you understand now. Just do not say anything more about having another girl trust you.”

She looked away from him.

“I will always trust in you. And I will make sure I am ready by the next time we meet alone like this…” Junko looked back at him with the eyes of a maiden. “We can continue this then. …He’s gone!?”

Akuto had already vanished, leaving only the unique thick air of the mountain.

“Wh-what is with him!? I do not care if that was the real one or not! The next time we meet, I am letting him have it!”

She stomped on the ground in anger.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems the demon king is seducing girls, one after another.”

“Apparently a fake has appeared and some major commotion is coming, so he wants us to join his side when that happens.”

“I heard the one the empress says is real is real, so we should help that one.”

“What is he trying to do? …More importantly, has he successfully seduced any of the girls?”

“From what I hear, it’s going really well. Most of them are completely falling for him.”

“Does nothing else matter to a girl as long as he’s strong!? And doesn’t he already have Etou-san and a ton of other girls!?”

“He’s apparently seducing more nonetheless. He’s even won over some who already had boyfriends.”

“But won’t the guy attack him for that even if he’s the demon king?”

“Yes. That’s why he keeps seducing the girl, getting punched by the guy, and then running away.”

“That’s horrible. What is he trying to do?”

“Who knows. Last I heard, he was on his way to where Korone-chan and the empress are.”

A stir had run through the school. Everyone knew Akuto was on a rampage and both girls and boys were either following him around or running away from him.

When he heard what was happening, Akuto gave a troubled look to Yoshie.

“What should we do?”

“Even if Nozomi’s personality has messed it up quite a bit, this is still partially your own fault. You could easily seduce all these girls if you tried.”

“I didn’t choose to be born that way.”

“Don’t get mad. Anyway, where is Keena? We need to hurry up and protect her.”

Yoshie sat in a chair and crossed her arms and legs. They were back in the storehouse/laboratory. They had split up to search for the doll, but that had failed, so they were back here to put together a plan.

“Can’t you detect her location?” he asked.

Everyone had their own unique mana, so it was not hard to trace an individual.

“No, not without extremely high access rights. I could hack in and do it, but I don’t want to risk it. This school has been under strict observation ever since the empress came here.”

“Then what about Korone rather than a human? Also, she should be able to tell which one is the fake. And if we knew she was with Keena, we could stop worrying.”

“It is true she would be able to detect the fake. It wasn’t exactly made to hide that it’s a doll.”

“Well, it was an experimental model. I just wish you hadn’t had it copy me.”

“Yeah, about that…”

Yoshie rotated her chair 180 degrees, uncrossed her legs, spread them, placed her hands between her legs to lean forward, and grinned.

“To be honest, I had it copy your personality so I could try to seduce it while alone with it I wanted to see how it would react.”

“Eh?”

Akuto was dumbfounded.

She kicked off the ground to move the chair toward him and looked up at him from below.

“It shouldn’t be that surprising. Girls get embarra.s.sed about things, you know? I thought I could practice on it rather than trying it out for real. And part of me hoped I would be satisfied with just practicing.”

“You mean…”

“I wanted to try some exciting things with someone who looked just like you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he panicked.

“Wait. This is hardly the time for this. If we don’t find Korone, Keena is in trouble.”

“That’s the problem right there. You’re so attached to Soga-kun, so sometimes I think some unfair things. Like how nice it would feel to keep you all for myself.”

She boldly drew his head in close and placed his forehead against hers.

“I-I didn’t think you felt that way…”

There was clear confusion in his voice.

“That’s because you’re dense. When I talk about video games, society, or the existence of the soul, you forget I’m a girl and have a completely serious discussion with me. How could I not fall for someone like that?”

She looked into his eyes with her own shimmering eyes.

“A-again… This really isn’t the time…”

“I am doing this because it is the perfect time. I actually know exactly where Korone is. She is not with Soga-kun, so Soga-kun might be in trouble.”

She actually gave a cruel look for once.

“What!? Please let go. I have to go!”

“No. If Soga-kun falls for you, I’ll be lonely. So can’t you make me feel wonderful just for a little bit?”

“That’s why you’re doing this…?”

“Yes. I know it’s selfish. But…I’m a girl too.”

Yoshie gathered strength in the arms wrapped around Akuto’s neck and stood up.

And then…

Meanwhile, Keena was in the imperial reception room that had been specially installed recently. Other than the rice bin, it was a perfectly normal room.

She had been napping there, but she opened her eyes to a sudden visitor.

“Oh, A-chan. What is it? Want to join me?”

“That might be nice, but it is hardly the time. A copy of me is after you.”

He crouched down in front of Keena as she lay carelessly on the sofa.

“Hm, that’s not good,” she said sleepily.

“Could you take this more seriously? My copy hopes to win you over and rule using your power.”

He spoke seriously, but Keena did not seem to have completely woken up.

“What do you mean by win me over?”

“He will get you to accept him and… To put it simply, he will stay by your side and use your power as empress.”

“Oh, having you by my side would be nice. A-chan, stay with me forever.”

She nodded blankly before embracing Akuto and pulling him onto the sofa.

“W-wait,” he said embarra.s.sedly.

“We’re just going to sleep. Dozing off feels really good. And dozing off while holding someone in your arms is the best.”

She nestled up against his cheek.

“This is exactly what I meant by winning you over, so stop,” he said worriedly. “What if I were the fake?”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t checked, but I know you’re real. I could feel it when I pressed my cheek against you. Good night.”

Keena kissed his cheek with a soft expression.

“Ah… I told you to stop. Just to be sure, you know I’m the real one, right?” he asked.

“Yeah. Real or fake, you’re A-chan. No matter what happens, I’ll be on your side. If someone says you’re a fake, I’ll tell them they’re wrong.”

Keena was half asleep as she spoke.

Akuto smiled a bit.

“Honestly, there’s no helping you… But I’m glad to hear that.”

Yoshie hit the switch on the back of the doll Akuto’s head where it was hidden by his hair.

The doll Akuto collapsed limply and the surface mana scattered, leaving only the original smooth doll.

“I do feel bad about being selfish, but I’d be too embarra.s.sed to tell the real one.”

She called Keisu back into the room and had her take care of the collapsed doll.

“And I know you didn’t want to disappear,” she said to the doll. “You may have been a copy, but you had a soul, so you would have no purpose without a meaning to your birth. That’s probably why you were so desperate. You had to have known your ident.i.ty would be discovered even if you temporarily won over the empress. …I really am sorry I did this for such a selfish reason. I need to be more honest.”

“Boss, why is Akuto-dono collapsed here?”

Keisu looked up at her questioningly.

“That’s because this is a doll.”

“I know that, but I could have sworn this was the real one.”

“I was pretty sure the real one would be worried enough to head for Keena while out looking for the doll, so I decided to contact the doll myself. He must have been worried once he realized Korone could tell he was the fake. I immediately realized it, but I decided to trick him in order to switch him off.”

“I see. But it sounded like you were talking about something complicated.”

Yoshie shook her head.

“You don’t have to understand. I just felt I needed to apologize to him about something. Oh, but I also need to apologize to the real one.”

She scratched at her head.

“Why?”

“Because I indirectly made the school hate him even more.”

Just as she was saying that, Akuto was leaving the reception room. He had already received word that the doll had been deactivated and he had set Keena to sleep.

He was feeling oddly exhilarated, but that proved to be a mistake. As he walked casually down the hall, he ended up in a crowd of students and finally noticed the strange atmosphere surrounding the entire student body.

“Um, did this cause a lot of problems by any chance?”

What happened next was much too gruesome to write here.