303: Nine people are here!

Then, I look forward to working with you, Lady Viridianiola.

The pleasure is mine. Please take care of me.

Dragstalker left the room for a little while.

About eight Imperial soldiers arrived to serve as our overseers.

It seems unusually crowded, but this number has resulted from two factors: the fact that we're moving in groups of four, and the necessity of always having at least two people together for counterfeit detection. These two circumstances have combined to produce this number.

Once the total reached twelve, they moved to a spacious room designated for Vilijaniara, where they would discuss future plans.

"First, let's verify the documents. It'll save us from unnecessary actions if we confirm exactly how far Dragsstarke and the others have progressed in their investigation. Notes."

"Yes, understood. Vee-sama."

Thus, through Memoqui's efforts, more detailed information than what was revealed in the previous room is now being presented.

Um, well.

First, the Taima Mazerkawa began faster-than-light travel toward the Sybrassmith system about two weeks ago, rendezvousing—joining forces—with other ships along the way, and has now arrived here.

The first increase—whether it's appropriate to call it that is debatable—was one additional soldier, about a week ago.

When one soldier was sleeping in the room, the other soldier from the same room left for an errand and returned to find the two of them sleeping peacefully together in the same bed.

Given this situation, with no eyes on them—even surveillance cameras were absent—it remained unclear how the increase had occurred.

"Then, chaos erupted, and the situation came to light. Afterward, similar incidents occurred not only aboard the 'Taima Mazed Kawa' but also on other ships within the fleet. It appears that around a hundred individuals have now multiplied."

"Yet, no one witnessed the moment of multiplication. No one knows how they were brought aboard. Even thorough inspections—including modifications—conducted by specialized analysis vessels within the fleet have failed to determine the cause."

The fortunate thing is that Soldier A', who was reproduced from the original Soldier A, perfectly imitates not only his personality but also, given that it was only assigned to special operations, the high quality of the soldier. Thanks to that, calm and effective responses are being maintained, and no major chaos has occurred.

But since Soldier A' perfectly mimics both personality and abilities, it's impossible to tell them apart. That aspect is particularly troublesome, I must say.

There is no discernible difference between the original soldier and the replicated one.

Depending on the original's personality, some pairs seem to get along as closely as twins, accepting surveillance without issue.

"Then, in this situation, it makes me wonder about the poor quality of Vee's imitations."

Yet even under these circumstances, the fleet—including 'Taima Mazedawa'—continues moving through hyperspace...

About 24 hours ago, a small spacecraft arrived for rendezvous.

It seemed that Vilejianiara and her clones were aboard it.

Additionally, 12 hours earlier, a small spacecraft had rendezvoused here as well, carrying Vilejianiara and her clones.

Incidentally, the names of the small spacecraft they were aboard were 'Black Fog' and 'Barbarian Wolf,' respectively, and they looked nearly identical to the 'Shake Border.'

Even someone who doesn't know me well could confidently declare them fake. Perhaps the cause behind the proliferation within the fleet is entirely different.

Regarding the imitations of Lady Vee, we've just received a report stating that a heavily secured artificial human manufacturing device—showing signs of recent use—was discovered in the deepest section of the ship they arrived on.

Then, I think we've pretty much figured out the fake version of us. It's hard to believe it's anything other than an artificial human built with that exact setup.

"Yeah, I guess that's how it is."

Yeah, I can't help but agree with Vilijanira and Johalis.

While the proliferation within 'Taimamazekawa' has increased to the point where it's indistinguishable by equipment, the fake Vilijanira appears with all equipment—including the ship—and yet the difference in abilities is so obvious that it's easily discernible.

It's a bit hard to treat these two on equal footing.

Incidentally, while the 'Shakeborder' can be considered brand-new or nearly so, the two ships, 'Black Fog' and 'Barbarian Wolf,' seem to be entirely different in composition—certainly not falling apart, but definitely feeling outdated.

Yeah, that kind of difference definitely suggests they should be treated differently.

"Still, let's have Satā analyze them later from a mod-related perspective. We might uncover something useful."

"Understood. That is, if we can get permission first..."

I turned my gaze toward one of the imperial soldiers.

And felt a sense of unease.

"……"

"Satā? ……!?!"

"What's wrong?"

"This is... we've been caught."

"「「「!?」」」"

I began counting the number of imperial soldiers.

Seeing my behavior suspicious, Vilijaniara and Memokushi started counting too.

And even the imperial soldiers themselves began counting...

Everyone realized it at once.

"There's one more..."

The startling realization that the imperial soldiers, who should have been eight, had now become nine.

"Satu"

"Wait a moment. Let's double-check for any overlooked details—whether related to mod settings or spatial positioning."

"Memo, Joharis."

"We'll use the 'Strange Water Mirror.' Lord Joharis."

"I understand."

We immediately began investigating what had just happened.

06/05 manuscript revision