There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 98

<98>

Le Guin stood up.

“I’m leaving.”

“Wait a minute. Please fix my doll before you go.”

Lexion pointed to his replica in the corner of the lab.

It was something he had asked his father to make to evade the surveillance the Imperial Family had placed on him.

Whenever he needed to avoid surveillance, he would use his doll as a stand-in.

Its only flaw was that it could only perform repetitive tasks, but it was much better than nothing.

A magic circle formed on Le Guin’s hand as he placed it on the doll’s forehead.

“It’s broken because it’s been used for too long. I can’t keep doing this for long.”

“It can’t be helped. We need to take Phil to the Magic Tower.”

“Phil is so complicated. Why can’t he just go to the Magic Tower?”

“Honestly, it’s fortunate for us that Phil is still here.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know exactly what he’s trying to do, but he needs our help for it, doesn’t he? If that weren’t the case, Phil would have left to find his own life a long time ago.”

“Is that so?”

“So, let’s make sure to capture Phil’s heart while he still needs us.”

After thinking for a moment, Le Guin looked as if he had made up his mind.

“Alright. I’ll try a different approach from now on.”

Leaving those words behind, the Archmage disappeared in a burst of light. Lexion, left alone, muttered.

“I just hope he doesn’t cause any trouble…”

Weeeeng.

At that moment, his communication stone flickered and vibrated. It was a communication from the Magic Tower.

“Yes, this is Lexion.”

As soon as the communication connected, a shout hit his eardrums.

“Lexion! When is the Tower Master coming back? There’s a pile of work that requires his approval!”

It was Le Guin’s other secretary, who currently handled most of the Tower Master’s duties.

“I’ll tell him to visit the Magic Tower soon.”

A loud sigh could be heard from beyond the communication stone.

“Is that important task still not finished?”

“Yes. Le Guin is trying his best, but it’s not easy.”

“If even the Tower Master is having trouble… Is it a top-tier monster subjugation? An investigation of hidden ancient ruins? Or is he stealing a sacred object strictly guarded in the Great Temple?”

‘Trying to score points with his daughter.’

Lexion swallowed the words to protect the Tower Master’s dignity.

After the communication ended, he shook his head.

“Who would even imagine it?”

That the infamous Tower Master is now acting cute in the form of a cat.

No matter how great the Tower Master is, winning his daughter’s heart was no easy task.

* * *

Philomell’s residence.

Philomell wrote down what she had learned so far on a piece of paper.

First, Elencia changed at some point.

Second, Elencia’s middle name, which reflects her soul, is also different from what is written in .

Third, Elencia uses magical potions of unknown origin.

Fourth, Elencia’s diary has been written in an unknown language since the point she changed.

Fifth, and Elencia’s magic potion bottles are likely from another world.

Sixth, the intruder from another world written in the Book of Gods uses wicked tricks to steal other people’s bodies.

For now, these were the clues that seemed important.

In summary, Elencia is possessed by another soul, and that soul is an intruder from another world, and the wicked trick the intruder uses is a magic potion…?

If so, the letters written in the diary are from another world, and must also be a book from that world.

Philomell bit her lip and fell into thought.

‘Am I being too imaginative? Another world…’

However, for some reason, it was a hypothesis that didn’t seem absurd.

In addition to the six sentences written in large letters, there were several small scribbles on the paper.

Philomell calmly scanned through them.

The phrase ‘‘s author seems to like spicy food like Elencia.’

When Philomell first came up with this guess, she thought that the author of the book might be from the southern region where spicy food is popular.

But if is from another world, then the author must also be a being from that world.

Since Elencia also likes spicy food, it seems that spicy food is generally preferred in that world.

‘Or they both lived in a specific region where spicy food is preferred.’

Philomell made a small note and moved on to the next sentences.

Elencia specifically asked Margaret, who wasn’t even famous yet, to make her dress.

The debutante dress Margaret made was quite similar to the one described in the book.

In the past, these phenomena were considered like fate.

Even if Philomell moved the timing forward by a year, what was supposed to happen would eventually happen.

‘But I don’t think so.’

Margaret said to Philomell, who visited Margaret’s atelier under the pretext of getting a new dress made.

“Well, wouldn’t you know it, the dress I had vaguely envisioned and the dress the Princess wanted were amazingly similar? I really thought you had gone into my head and come out!”

When Philomell praised Elencia’s debutante dress, Margaret spilled the beans about what happened with Elencia.

It was closer to a performance created by Elencia than fate.

It was as if she knew what was going to happen a year later and was fitting reality to it in advance.

Thinking that way, the questions she had felt so far were resolved.

‘The unnatural first meeting with Nasar.’

Why would Elencia, who should have been in the West Palace, come to the South Palace garden and climb a tree?

‘Because Nasar was there.’

The maid who was next to Elencia at the time was Emily. Later, she heard from Emily herself that her mission was to find out where Nasar was when he entered the palace and inform Elencia.

The reason why Elencia bothered to save the cat that was peacefully on the tree was also predictable.

‘To create a situation similar to what would happen a year later.’

The cat was just an excuse for her to climb the tree.

So, does Elencia see the future?

‘That can’t be it.’

She showed several flaws in knowing the future.

If she knew the future, she wouldn’t have fallen into the water trying to get on the boat, and she wouldn’t have let Rozanne ruin the first tea party.

‘Right. Rather than the future… it seems like she knows the contents of .’

Philomell calmly continued her thoughts.

Considering that the book is also from another world, that was a more reasonable deduction.

There is another in that world, or she read that Philomell had before.

Philomell took out the book she had received back from Le Guin from the drawer. According to him, all the investigations that could be done at the moment had been completed.

Elencia, or the intruder who entered Elencia’s body, how did she read in that world?

‘Why is the future of this world written in a book from another world? Why is it written in the language of this place even though it’s a book from another world?’

There were still so many things she didn’t know.

Even after thinking about it, she couldn’t come up with a plausible hypothesis.

Above all, she had no idea what that ‘other world’ was like.

The divine realm or the demon realm from legends?

‘Or another world?’

Philomell tapped the desk with her fingertips, lost in thought.

The content about ‘another world’ written in the Book of Gods was too vague.

‘I wish someone would explain it clearly.’

But all the people who left records in that book were people from long ago. There was no one to ask about the Book of Gods.

“Sigh. It’s difficult.”

It was then, as Philomell sighed deeply.

“Phil!”

Le Guin burst into Philomell’s room. He seemed more motivated than usual.

“What’s wrong?”

Philomell asked, getting up from her seat.

“Let’s go on a trip!”

“…Excuse me? All of a sudden?”

“You haven’t been able to travel because you’ve been living in this stuffy place, have you?”

“I certainly haven’t had many outings that could be called trips.”

The only successor to the throne could not travel freely. There were safety reasons, and there was no time.

At least the times she visited Nasar and Saengen were the closest to traveling.

‘Nasar…’

Philomell’s heart grew heavy as his face came to mind again.

Nasar is currently holed up in the Averyden estate. Refraining from all outside activities, including Elencia’s birthday party.

“You said you felt like I was a friend, so I want to be by your side as a friend.”

When she last saw him, he said that with a forced bright face, but it couldn’t have been easy.

Le Guin carefully asked as Philomell’s expression darkened.

“You don’t want to go on a trip?”

She chose her words.

“Even if you ask me so suddenly…”

If she had to choose, she wanted to go.

It was written at the top of Philomell’s ‘List of things I want to do later’.

Still…

“I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood right now.”

Philomell shook her head firmly.

“Why?”

Le Guin asked with a somewhat heartbroken expression.

“I have a lot on my mind.”

“What’s wrong?”

Philomell summarized and explained to him the story of the Book of Gods and another world. It would have been an absurd story, but he listened to Philomell without showing any signs of it.

After listening to everything, Le Guin said.

“Then we should go on a trip together even more!”

“…Why is that?”

“Because we’re going to meet someone who might know about that old book.”

“How can such a person still be alive when it’s such an old record?”

“The person would be dead.”

After emphasizing the word ‘person,’ Le Guin grinned.

“If it’s not a person, it might still be alive.”

“A non-human being…?”

“The oldest being among all living things in this world. Older than the dragons.”

Philomell realized what he was trying to say.

It was a being she also knew.

“…The World Tree.”

Le Guin confidently held out his hand to her.

“That’s right. Let’s go meet the World Tree now.”