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Ludovic asked me with a slightly worried look, and I gave the obvious answer.

I can\'t leave this place. There\'s no one to replace me.

Even if others use their aura or magic to perfectly protect the emperor, if I leave this place once and come back, the others will inevitably suspect me.

Because there\'s a possibility that the monster might have imitated me and entered during that time.

"If the mission takes a long time and I need to get some sleep, please have at least one person protect His Majesty by my side. It would be even better if you could block him with an impenetrable barrier."

"Can\'t you sense the monster\'s approach even while you\'re sleeping?"

"I can."

My sixth sense is always active, even while I\'m sleeping. In fact, that\'s why I used to have trouble sleeping. My senses became too sensitive.

When Hypnos, the god of sleep, put me to sleep, I slept without knowing he was taking the Black Lotus, but that was the power of a god.

"But you\'ll be uneasy. There\'s no way for me to convince you that I can sense the enemy\'s approach even while I\'m sleeping."

At my words, the Zodiac members thought for a moment, then shrugged at each other.

"You\'re right. We\'ll try our best to accommodate you. It must be agonizing to keep waiting here."

I smiled and nodded at Ludovic\'s consideration.

However, my mind was still not at ease.

\'The moment he suggested the possibility of the monster imitating me, I knew this would happen. That I would be completely tied down here.\'

But I couldn\'t not say it. That would be much more dangerous.

However, the entire Zodiac is gathered here.

No matter how great the enemy is, is it possible for them to break through all of them and assassinate the emperor? They must have known this would happen when they tried to harm the emperor.

\'Did that monster believe its surprise attack would definitely succeed?\'

If not...

If it had predicted that the entire Zodiac would be gathered and that I would join them here...

...If my being stuck here was the enemy\'s intention from the beginning...

\'...Is the emperor really what the monster is after?\'

***

When Pascal arrived at the prison with Daisy and Monty, the three of them were speechless. Even Pascal, who had already witnessed the monster\'s mimicry, had no words for the sight inside the prison.

"...It has already perfectly replicated him."

"Indeed."

Daisy\'s reply.

As she said, what was inside the prison was no longer some konjac monster.

The guard was imprisoned inside the cell. Of course, a guard who looked exactly like him was staring at his own face from outside the cell.

"...How is it? Can you tell them apart?"

Pascal asked the two Zodiac members.

Daisy frowned and looked back and forth between the guard inside the cell and the guard outside.

"...It\'s going to be difficult."

Monty shared the same sentiment.

"The breathing pattern, gait, even the flow of mana are all the same. At this point, it\'s not mimicry. It has become that person from the inside out. Mimicry is generally for deceiving others, but this has no such purpose. It\'s closer to the result of trying its best to become that person."

While Monty was explaining, the monster inside the cell, with the guard\'s face, muttered quietly.

"Hoh, mana... chest... my... ne... mo, momo, mo, objective."

Daisy frowned at the sight.

"...After appearance, is it language next?"

"Frondier said this thing \'learns\'. It feels like watching a child growing at high speed."

"A child that tries to kill the emperor, though."

Pascal added the final words.

At that moment, the monster\'s eyes turned towards Pascal.

And then it blinked a few times.

Blink, blink.

Then suddenly,

Blinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblink—

Its eyelids lifted and closed repeatedly at a speed impossible for a human. Not only the speed but also the grotesque movement was definitely not something a human could imitate.

"...It\'s clear that the one inside is the monster. I was wondering if they might have switched places while I was gone."

"Please don\'t say such scary things."

The guard said with a pale face.

Daisy tilted her head.

"What is it doing?"

The monster blinked dozens of times in a second. Then, at some point, its entire body melted like ink.

For a brief moment, it was definitely in the form of the konjac monster.

But immediately after...

"...!"

It had become Pascal Schlitz.

"...What the..."

By that point, those watching the prison began to feel a surge of instinctive disgust and fear.

"How long did it take to change just now?"

"...About three seconds? Counting is meaningless at this point."

"Right."

Pascal\'s smile faded for the first time in a while.

He wasn\'t surprised that the konjac monster had turned into him. There was something more chilling than its speed.

“……That sword.”

Pascal opened his mouth.

“It copied my sword. It even copied the clothes that I’m wearing right now.”

“……I see.”

Daisy and Monty nodded.

The monster that was changing its appearance inside the prison every second wasn’t naked, even when it was a prison guard or Pascal. It was wearing clothes.

That meant that the clothes and weapons weren’t real either. The monster had copied them.

“You said earlier that it can imitate the flow of human mana.”

“……Yes, it can.”

“If it really can imitate things perfectly, then right now, that sword probably has the same sharpness and strength as the sword that I’m holding.”

“That’s very possible.”

“Then.”

Pascal looked at Daisy and Monty.

“Don’t you think it might be able to imitate something more than just that?”

“……What do you mean?”

“Like, for example, the incantation, ‘Come forth.’”

“……!”

Daisy and Monty’s faces instantly hardened at his words.

Pascal continued.

“If the monster’s imitation is really ‘learning’ at a high speed, just like Frondier said.”

First, its physical appearance, then its voice, then language.

If that’s the case, then next─

“What will happen after it learns everything that humans are capable of?”