Chapter 38
When we arrived at the Ootsuki household . it was almost 8 PM .
Sponsored Content
The lights on the second floor aren’t on, and the only bright room in the house was only the living room .
Ayako-chan said that her room is on the second floor .
It’s not yet time for a high schooler to go to bed, so perhaps she’s still relaxing with her family .
…It seems like this Ayako-chan is living her normal life as she wished .
I concealed myself with the Concealment spell and pressed the intercom .
Ringing the doorbell at this time would be considered thoughtless, but this is the most peaceful method that I could use .
After a while, I could hear some footsteps accompanied with someone saying “Yees”
It’s the voice of the madam…as in the owner of the Ootsuki bookstore .
She opened the front door .
“Hmm…? Nobody is here . ”
Was it a prank? she asked herself as she looked around, while I tried to slither inside next to her .
Angelica and Ayako-chan also followed suit and stepped in .
“Was that wind!?” Perhaps having a faint feeling of someone brushing against her, the shopkeeper hysterically yelped .
The three of us, completely invisible, proceeded stealthily through the Ootsuki house’s hallway .
The Concealment spell should also erase our footfalls, but we moved silently anyways just to feel safe .
As I followed Ayako-chan’s guidance towards the living room, we went closer to the other Ayako-chan .
The black-haired girl is watching the TV as she had a friendly chat with her dad .
No matter how you look at her, she looks just like a human, so it’s likely that she is one .
Checking her status and casting Dispel, I tried everything I could to try and investigate her .
Yet the result all says that she’s just a normal human named Ootsuki Ayako .
Long story short, yes, right now there are two Ayako-chan in existence . It’s a truly uncanny spectacle .
It made me truly realize that there is two of the exact same person .
Her father that she’s intimately talking to looks just like me . We look alike so much that I wouldn’t argue if someone says that he’s what I would look like in 20 years .
So here we have an artificial lookalike and a natural lookalike . It’s hard to believe reality if two pairs of lookalikes are all present in the same room .
“I’ll do the physical checkup next, okay?”
As I was getting confused on my own, Angelica went in front of me .
Perhaps she’s going to check if she’s a homunculus like she did to the other Ayako-chan before .
…wait .
Sponsored Content
“You’re going to touch Ayako-chan around in front of the other Ayako-chan?”
“Because I want to quickly get it over with . ”
“Don’t you have any compassion?!”
“I do, but it’s all for you . I’ve nothing to give other people~”
As Angelica said that, she suddenly seized Ayako-chan by her nape .
I feel like I shouldn’t look at what comes after, so I closed my eyes .
“…Hya!?”
Oh yeah, I can’t be hearing anything too .
I brought my hands to my ears and waited for everything to pass .
Several minutes passed .
I felt the hem of my shirt getting tugged so I opened my eyes .
“I’m done . ”
She looks like she was just done doing chores, but the face of the Ayako-chan behind her was red down to her neck while some of the buttons of her pajama was unbuttoned .
Meanwhile, her dad that looks like me looked disturbed as he cleared his throat over and over .
“…Ayako, I don’t know what you’re trying to do…but you shouldn’t do that in front of your father…”
“…N-No…m-my body just suddenly turned weird…”
Confirming the Ayako-chan who flopped over on the sofa with a sidelong glance, Angelica said “She’s a human, through and through . Ayako-san has multiplied . There are two of her at the same time, without a doubt . ” with a businesslike tone .
But the other Ayako that was with us was obviously enraged after seeing her other body’s foolishness exposed to her family like that .
“THINK . OF . WHERE . WE . ARE!” she yelled as she grabbed Angelica .
“What do you want me to do? I’m sleepy, and dad’s already tired too . I want to quickly get it over with and go home . ”
“T-Think of what you would feel if it’s done to you!”
“…if it’s done to me? Hmm…if a girl is touching me all over when dad is looking—”
【Angelica‘s sexual arousal has reached 70%】
“—I’d be aroused . ”
“You beast!”
As Ayako-chan hits Angelica, the latter said “my bad” over and over .
Sponsored Content
“I’m sorry, I said I’m sorry . I don’t understand, you know? Is it that embarrassing if your male parent heard that voice of yours?”
“Of course! Isn’t that obvious!?”
“…? Since you’re related by blood, then it should be fine if you’re seen, right? That’s what the books said, at least . ”
“Huh…?”
“I thought anything goes in a family, but apparently there’s a lot of taboo stuff too, huh . ”
As the two was still in chaos, I whispered to Ayako-chan .
(Sorry about her . How should I say it…since she was born, she was taken to a place like a monastery . She was always there living with other girls that weren’t her relatives, so she never had any real family, so she never really understood how a family works . Heck, she barely even knows the common sense in society . )
(…s-so she never saw her own father?)
(That would be so . )
(No way…!? How is she even alive!?)
(Huh?)
(Girls are creatures that can’t live without her father, you know…!? If she didn’t hear her father’s voice for three days she’ll have trouble breathing, you know…?)
I really wanted to say that it’s a symptom of a severe fathercon, but I held myself back .
(So you see, I became her father figure instead . )
(…So that’s it…Nakamoto-san, you’re Angelicsan’s life support system, aren’t you…)
I don’t know what she’s thinking about, but Ayako-chan’s eyes turned very gentle .
With her eyes brimming with sympathy and even tears, she looked over at Angelica .
You’ve lived well in a situation where it’s like your lungs are torn off…, she said in a whisper .
“What is it? Why does Ayako-san suddenly look so kind . ”
“It’s compassion . Don’t worry about it . ”
Ah well, we did what we have to do .
Thus, we went back to my apartment .
“Anyways, what was the method of multiplying people that you were talking about, dad?”
You said even you could do it, right? asked Angelica as she rolled about on the bed .
…your skirt’s flapping open, that’s improper, I said, and she fixed it .
“I don’t really mind if you see though?”
“That’s not good . ”
Sounds of water splashing could be heard from the bathroom .
Ayako-chan is currently taking a shower .
That‘s dangerous, and this is also dangerous .
“How did she multiply? Tell me please”
Angelica asked me over her shoulder as she lied face-down .
Both her pose and her expression made her look like a cat .
“She’s split into two halves . That’s about it . ”
“Talk about vague . If people can multiply by being split into two, then nobody would be having a hard time . ”
“But if I want to do it, I could…it’s practically possible, but it would be crazy . ”
I took a thousand yen bill from my wallet and held it in front of Angelica .
“That’s a bill, right? It’s a bit weird seeing that you use paper as a currency . ”
“It’s more convenient than coins . It’s more convenient if you have a lighter currency for a large amount, right? Wouldn’t it be hard to walk around with tons of coins in your pockets?”
“That’s true, but…Anyways, what’s that flimsy money got to do with anything?”
I made a cut in the middle of the bill as it creates a ripping sound .
“Is it okay for you to do that?”
“Not exactly, but I can give you an example with this . ”
“How about you rip it again?”
“If two thirds of it remains, I can exchange it with a proper one in the bank . ”
It would be bad if they don’t put that limit, I said .
“I didn’t know that when I was young . I overheard that you can exchange a damaged bill with a fresh one at the bank, so I thought that if I cut it clean in the middle, I could get two of the same bill from exchanging each side . My mother laughed at me when I told her though, and she told me that at least two-thirds of it should remain . ”
So, I continued,
“Back when I was a hero, there was a time when my head was chopped clean off . I was fine because I casted the Regeneration¹ spell beforehand, but it’s not something I’m inclined to experience again . ”
No matter what happens, a spell cast would still be active .
Let’s say someone got shredded into pieces and they’re hanging on to their life .
What would happen if the Regeneration spell is cast on them?
The “biggest part” would be designated as a main body and that part would regenerate completely .
In the case when I was decapitated, my torso became the main body and I regenerated a head, and I lived as I was before .
“Here’s how it went as I recalled: After I felt the intense pain on my neck, I lost consciousness . The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes after that was my head lying on the ground . The head that’s lying on the ground was my previous head, and my eyes met my previous head’s . I was surprised . I didn’t want to think about it, but I think that head also had his own consciousness . It took a moment before that head dies, but at that short interval, two of me existed . ”
Thinking about it, I started thinking that perhaps this life I’m living now had only begun right at that point .
After all, my brain had been trained by magic . I’m the second Nakamoto Keisuke .
“Dad…why do you look so composed?”
Crying, Angelica came and hugged me .
I’m thankful of your consideration, but that incident happened more than 10 years ago . I’ve come to terms with it since long ago .
“Don’t mind that . I’m just thinking that this me is very convenient…Anyways, if someone were to misuse this power, then they can multiply other people, don’t you think?”
“…”
Angelica kept quiet .
“They can split someone into two, each with equal mass . Then, if they cast a Regeneration spell on them, both parts would be the “main body”, and both would grow into a person each . ”
I remembered of an experiment I did on starfishes and planarians .
If cut them into two with a scalpel, the two parts of those creatures would regenerate into another .
“Even if it’s possible theoretically, no one could do it . ”
“I thought so . ”
Angelica sniffled on my back .
“That’s…impossible anyways . I’ve never heard of a monster who could cut someone so perfectly in two and can cast such high-ranking Regeneration spell . ”
“I can’t say I know of someone like that as well . ”
“…Someone like that would be classified as a hero . ”
If that’s the case, then it would be understandable .
The skill Sacred Sword that the hero possesses combines Light and Heat to create a severing Light Sword .
If that was used, then the wound from the cut would be immediately burnt off and not bleed .
Wouldn’t that be the reason why Ayako-chan wasn’t bleeding if she was cut from behind?
“There isn’t really just one other world, right? Perhaps there’s another me from another dimension…or even there’s a me that was summoned in the same world but at a different time period…”
To my statement, Angelica responded with a nasal voice;
“A summoned hero other than you?”