CHAPTER 32: WHO IS DOPPELGANGER? [1]

"Ha... We all know a doppelganger can’t tell lies. If I were one, then everything I’ve said would be true. I just spoke a few words to my reflection in the mirror and came straight here."

Eden raised a brow.

"You talked to yourself in the mirror?"

Charlotte immediately cut in.

"See? Didn’t I say so? I and commoner never talk to ourselves in the mirror."

I felt irritation rising in my chest. Brushing a few strands of hair away from my face, I fixed my gaze on Charlotte.

"Fine. It’s natural to be suspicious in a situation like this—I get that. But if you’re going to accuse someone, at least have a proper reason. Charlotte, I know you’ve got a grudge against me, but if you keep throwing baseless accusations, I won’t stay quiet."

Charlotte’s eyes flickered, just for a moment. To me, she was just another suspect, no different from the rest.

"Huh? Getting angry already? That makes you look even more suspicious. If you’re not a doppelganger, prove it. That’s not how you usually act, is it?"

"Not everything that comes out of your mouth counts as logic. If you call me a doppelganger and we all fail the test because of it, will you take responsibility? What if I’m not the one?"

Eden smiled gently, trying to ease the tension.

"Captain, you seem unusually worked up. Please, calm down a little."

But Charlotte wasn’t done. She leaned forward, fanning the flames.

"Responsibility? Fine, I’ll take it. If you’re not a doppelganger, I’ll grant you any favor you want. I swear it, in the name of the Mege Dukedom."

I stared at her, baffled.

Charlotte Mege—someone who prides herself on her noble honor and authority—was putting her family name on the line, convinced I was a doppelganger?

Why? What made her so certain?

"What makes you so sure I’m a doppelganger, Charlotte Mege?"

I hadn’t even realized how cold my voice had gotten until the words left my mouth. It was sharp enough to make the air around us freeze.

Charlotte met my gaze and answered without hesitation.

"Just a feeling."

For a second, I was speechless.

"A feeling? That’s your reason?"

At that moment—

"Stop! Both of you, stop!"

Frey, who had never been annoyed before, shouted with great intensity.

"Please stop arguing for no reason. We don’t have much time left."

It was as she said. The time given to us was until the sun set.

Looking at the current situation, it seemed like there were less than six hours left, no matter how long it took.

"... I’m sorry. As Frey said, it seems we don’t have much time, so we need to find the doppelganger as efficiently as possible. Luckily among the misfortunes, the forest gave us some hints."

Eden intervened and said,

"Ah! The shadow! They say doppelgängers have no shadows. Then, among them, the one without a shadow...."

Eden shifted his gaze one by one.

"Unfortunately, I don’t think that method will work."

The sun was blazing strongly in the sky, showing off its presence.

However, because the forest surrounding us was so dense with trees, we couldn’t see individual shadows.

It was as if they were being playful on purpose.

Eden realized this fact late and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Ah... That was a piece of cake."

Frey said,

"I heard about doppelgängers from my father when I was young. The worst monster that replicates not only the appearance of humans but also their experiences and memories. Due to its nature of duplicating the original, it is said to be a disaster-like entity that mixes into large-scale punitive forces and takes the lives of countless people. However, it is said that doppelgängers have several characteristics that distinguish them from humans."

I asked Frey,

"As expected! Lord Halton must have actually experienced a doppelganger."

Frey nodded.

"That’s right. My father said that it’s close to impossible to distinguish between a doppelganger and a human based on their external appearance. They’ve already copied the original once and are no different from humans. In fact, the doppelganger’s blood is also said to be red like ours."

Eden trembled with a goosebump expression on his face.

"Ugh, how can you do that as a mere monster? It’s scary."

"They said even mamologists haven’t figured it out yet. Oh, exceptionally, it is possible to copy the appearance and memories of beings who have reached a certain level, but it’s said that all of their abilities cannot be imitated. Scholars speculate that it’s the limit of the species, but... anyway, going back to the main topic, it’s said that the biggest characteristic of a doppelganger is its smell."

"The smell?"

"Yes. It is said that the doppelganger’s whole body emits the smell of a rotting corpse. That’s why they work hard to hide their smell."

"Hoo! Then shouldn’t we just find someone among these people who smells rotten?"

Charlotte, who was worse off, looked at Eden with a pitiful face.

"Tsk. Stupid commoner. Have you forgotten what we banned?"

Only then did Eden realize and laugh cheerfully.

"Ah...! We’re limiting our sense of smell, right? I had forgotten about it until now. I guess I’ve adapted to life without being able to smell. Hahaha!"

"Is now the time to have a good laugh? The information Frey gave us wasn’t bad in itself, but it can’t be applied to our current situation."

"... I’m sorry."

When Frey looked like a downcast puppy, Charlotte, embarrassed, spoke urgently.

Although Charlotte is overbearing to everyone, she seems to truly value Frey.

"No! Frey! The information you provided was really good. Unfortunately, it just didn’t fit our current situation."

Shadows and smells are all features that can clearly identify a doppelganger, but unfortunately, they couldn’t be applied in this situation.

Even without ’luck.’

Is all of this really a coincidence? Can we dismiss all of these as coincidences? To say it was a coincidence, I felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort in this situation I was in.