Mushoku Tensei Redundancy (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Day the Doll Walked (Part 2)

THAT DAY, Elinalise was out shopping with her son, Clive. They went around the shops hand in hand. Elinalise had given birth to and raised several children already, but she still enjoyed going out with her child’s hand in hers. Clive looked a lot like her husband, Cliff. His hair was the same color, and he had Cliff’s mouth. Even the way he thought he was the best without any particular proof was identical. Elinalise remembered Cliff the way he had been when she first met him and found herself drool—uh, smiling.

“Mooom! It’s a pumpkin! Let’s buy a pumpkin! Pump­kin!” he cried.

“So it is,” she replied. “Pumpkins are delicious this time of year.”

“I don’t care about that! Eating pumpkins makes you grow tall!”

“Who told you that?”

“Lucie!” 

Elinalise’s son was a beautiful little boy. His eyes were just like Elinalise’s, and there was no doubt that in the future, elf girls as well as human ones would swoon over him. The only problem was his height: like his father, he was shorter than average. Clive seemed to have developed a bit of a complex about it. At home, he was always going on about how he wanted to get taller.

“What do you want to be so big for?” Elinalise asked.

“It’s a secret!” said Clive, his cheeks a little pink. 

Elinalise already knew the reason was a girl two years his senior, the aforementioned Lucie. He wanted her to think he was cool.

“Here’s hoping you get bigger soon,” Elinalise liked seeing her son acting like a typical little boy. Then, she stopped. “Huh?” 

Elinalise’s long ears had picked up a voice she knew.

C’mon, sweetheart, this is how the world works. I do something for you, you do something for me.

I’m just dying to hear what sounds that mouth can make.

The voices came from an alley. Elinalise looked in and saw a girl being held by two men at the back of a tavern. Among them was a face she knew. Unusually for her, it didn’t belong to either of the men.

“But this is just my voice. You can hear how it sounds.”

“That’s what you think. You’ve got a much prettier voice in there.”

The girl didn’t seem bothered by this, but from what Elinalise knew of her, she wasn’t the type to welcome such overtures. Even if it didn’t show on her face, she was probably in trouble.

Elinalise put down her shopping bags and called out, “Just a moment, you two.”

The men spun around at once. 

“What’s your problem?” said one.

“That girl is a friend of Rudeus’s,” she said. “I’d go find someone else to bother if I were you.”

The two men slowly looked her up and down. “Some­one like you?”

“Heh, and with your baby brother with you. You little slut.”

“Baby brother! My, aren’t you a charmer,” Elinalise cooed, putting a hand to her cheek and smiling coyly. Despite her teasing, she had already picked up that these two weren’t from around here. They were probably roaming adventurers. Anyone from here would have backed off as soon as they heard Rudeus’s name.

“You two…what are we going to do with you?” she wondered.

Suddenly, Clive stepped out in front of her, his face bright red. He had found and picked up a stick while she wasn’t looking.

“Don’t you come near my mom!” he shouted.

“Clive, that’s sweet, but Mama can handle these two by herself. Come back, now.”

“Really?” Clive gaped as Elinalise scooped him up and put him down behind her. Making a note to shower him with praise later, Elinalise put her hand on the sword at her hip.

“What d’ya mean, you can handle yourself? We’re A rank, y’know?” one of the men sneered.

“My, how impressive. You must be very talented to make A rank at such a young age.”

“Pah, it was easy. Seems like you’re pretty confident in yourself.”

“Oh, no. I’m afraid I am quite ordinary,” she said.

The men drew their swords. The blades were well-worn. Elinalise had a sword with her for self-defense, but she wasn’t carrying her trusty shield. That was unfortunate. Depending on how competent her opponents were, she could be at a disadvantage in a two-on-one fight.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” said one of the men. “Once I’ve roughed you up a little, I’ll show you a good time.”

Elinalise did not draw her sword. The men, perhaps thinking that she was frightened, approached slowly, leering at her. Elinalise waited until they were away from the girl, then took a deep breath.

“Eeeeeeeek! Help meeeeee! I’m being kidnapped!” Her scream rang through the alley. The two men were startled.

“Oi!”

“W-we ain’t kidnapping no one!”

But the cry did no more than echo through the alley. No one came from the road Elinalise and Clive had been on. Soon enough, the alley fell silent once more.

“Heh, you yell loud, but we’re behind a tavern in the middle of the day. No one’s gonna come.”

“Come to my room, and I’ll make you scream all you like.”

Suddenly, the doors of the surrounding buildings flew open one after another: bang, bang, bang. A number of men, covered in hair and wearing black coats with a design on the back that resembled a yellow tiger, stepped into the street. These were the soldiers of the Ruquag Mercenary Band, and one of their jobs was to deliver the liquor to taverns. Upon seeing Elinalise, the men all began to call out at once.

“Mistress Elinalise!”

“Just who do you two think you’re messing with?!”

“Thought you’d pick a fight with the Ruquag Mercenaries?”

“We’re here to deliver your beating!”

Around outlaws or people who threatened one of their own, the well-mannered, peacekeeping mercenaries turned rough. There were a little more than ten of them. Even if this were Rudeus, he would have apologized the moment they threatened him. Yup, he’d have been groveling on the ground by now.

The two men, who stood there rooted to the spot, took about two seconds to throw down their swords. 

“Er, sorry ’bout that!”

“We’d no idea you was someone so important. We only got to town yesterday, see.”

Hooray! Rudeus’s honor was safe. If these guys backed down, then Rudeus was no coward. Of course, who wouldn’t apologize if a crowd of extremely hairy men came running toward them?

“How do you want to deal with them, Mistress?”

“They haven’t done me any harm, so go easy on them. Teach them how things work around here.”

“Ma’am!” one of the mercenaries said. “Right, you two, come with me.”

“Um, we were actually—”

“I said come.”

“We’ve sort of got an appoint—”

“Stop struggling.”

The beastfolk men escorted the two adventurers into the tavern. Elinalise watched them go, then went over to the girl.

“Nanahoshi, I haven’t seen you for a while. Is it the day you wake up already? It’s unusual for you to be in town, isn’t it?”

Naturally, this girl was Nanahoshi. 

Nanahoshi nodded, looking totally unfazed. “I woke up last night,” she said.

“You did? Well, for now, let’s go somewhere else. It’s terribly dull around here.” Elinalise took Nanahoshi’s hand, but then she noticed something strange. “Nanahoshi, my goodness. Did you cut your hair?” 

She remembered Nanahoshi having long hair, but it was trimmed up to the nape of her neck. Elinalise was puzzled. At her question, the corners of Nanahoshi’s mouth curved up in a smile. There was something not quite natural about it. It was the smile of someone uncomfortable, perhaps trying to laugh off something they didn’t want to talk about. Or of someone plotting something…

Elinalise, perceptive as she was, immediately had an idea of what was up. “Is something going on? You’re welcome to talk to me, if you like. Are you free now?”

“I have no critical tasks.”

“Why don’t we go find a cafe and sit down?” Elinalise picked up her shopping and took Clive’s hand. He looked a little sulky. “Dear me, Clive, what’s that pout for? Are you disappointed that you didn’t get to protect me? You should be protecting the girl you like, not your momm—wait, Nanahoshi! Whatever are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

With Nanahoshi in tow, they headed for a nearby cafe.

***

“That really was touch-and-go back there. Thank goodness we were in a spot where there’s always someone nearby.”

It was a few minutes later. Elinalise and Nanahoshi were sitting opposite one another in a cafe, each with identical glasses of fruit juice. Nanahoshi had copied Elinalise’s order. Clive, incidentally, had ordered some slightly fancy sweets—the candied fruit that was now affordable thanks to the recent drop in sugar prices.

Nanahoshi’s head and eyes turned this way and that as she looked around the shop. Perhaps it was her first time here.

“Now, what’s happened?” Elinalise asked.

“Due to the large number of events, I am unable to return a single answer. Please refine your inquiry.”

“Did…did you always talk like that?” Elinalise was puzzled, but she reasoned that people who’d had a traumatic experience often spoke differently afterward. When someone felt stubborn, they spoke more stiffly. “Well, then, you should start from the beginning.”

“From the beginning?” Nanahoshi asked.

“That’s right. The very beginning.”

Nanahoshi blinked twice. Then, she began her story. “I awoke last night. When I awoke, Master Zanoba and Master Rudeus were there.”

“Oh, my. How very improper of them, trespassing upon the bedroom of a maiden.”

“The two of them examined my unclothed body. They appeared extremely pleased.”

“They what…?”

“Following that, they examined every inch of my body, had me open my legs, and touched my chest. They then had a debate over whether to use me or not, before concluding that once they were satisfied, they would throw me away. They had me lie down on my bed, then left me there and went to sleep.”

Hearing this was enough to make even Elinalise’s thoughts freeze up for a moment. A scene played out in her mind of Rudeus and Zanoba leering as they stripped Nanahoshi while she slept before forcing her to wake up to service them. Elinalise had known many such men, so it wasn’t hard to imagine.

“Y-you didn’t resist?”

“Resistance is futile.”

“Yes, if it was Rudeus and Zanoba, I suppose it was… Was Lord Perugius not there?”

“It was only the two of them.”

Elinalise wasn’t really sure what Perugius’s daily life was like, but he surely left his fortress sometimes.

“W-was this the first time?” she asked.

“Yes. However, it seems that Master Zanoba and Master Rudeus planned and prepared in advance, so—”

“You mean they may have been planning it for a long time?”

The two of them would have no trouble finding out when Perugius was going out. If they were lucky and Perugius’s excursion coincided with the day Nanahoshi woke up, they could find that out easily, too.

Elinalise was silent. She was a level-headed woman. Thanks to her abundant experience, she had developed the capacity to think coolly and act without anger. But even she couldn’t help but be shaken by the betrayal of people she’d trusted. 

Not Rudeus. Surely not. 

Zanoba, who would never be much of a ladies’ man, was one thing, but surely not Rudeus with his wives and his children who loved him—and he loved them right back! This was the Rudeus who was ready to die fighting Orsted to protect his family. The Rudeus who obeyed Eris in the bedroom. Him, do such things to Nanahoshi? Poor Nanahoshi, who was desperately searching for a way to return home?

Part of Elinalise wanted to laugh at the absurdity. There had to be some mistake. Hadn’t he given his wholehearted assistance to her as she toiled away? Hadn’t he kept helping her even when Sylphie got jealous? Hadn’t he gone to the Demon Continent and fought Demon King Atofe in order to rescue her?

But look at Nanahoshi’s face, Elinalise told herself. Apart from that odd smile earlier, she’s been expressionless as a doll this whole time. Nanahoshi wasn’t laughing or crying, and her hair had been shorn off at her shoulders. Though she might not have seemed the type, Nanahoshi actually took quite good care of her hair. Now, it was disheveled.

Elinalise had never been close with Nanahoshi, but they’d known each other a long time. She was certain she knew Nanahoshi’s expressions. Elinalise had never seen her so shocked before. It was, of course, unthinkable that Nanahoshi would make up such a story. Elinalise didn’t know what to believe. Perhaps it was some trap to ensnare Rudeus and Zanoba.

Yes, of course!

There were any number of magic items that could alter one’s appearance. Though, even using such an item, it would be impossible to infiltrate into the heart of Chaos Breaker to have one’s way with Nanahoshi. To pull it off, one would have to have some idea of Perugius’s movements and be able to freely come and go from the floating fortress. That only left a few candidates. Elinalise was more confused than she’d been in years. She knew only one thing for sure.

“That must have been awful,” she said. She moved to sit next to Nanahoshi, then hugged her tight. She could tell that the girl’s heart had been damaged.

“Master Elinalise, there’s more…”

“That’s all right. No need to say any more. You were so brave to tell me all those awful things. Even if it is a little hard to believe…” She trailed off. “Oh, what am I saying? Such a betrayal of trust is quite unforgivable. I shall make sure Rudeus and Zanoba are punished.”

Thus Elinalise decided that for now she would comfort Nanahoshi in her anguish and put off getting to the truth of the matter until later.

“Did Master Rudeus commit a crime?”

“Yes, he did a very bad thing.”

“What sort of thing?”

“Well, he hurt you. In fact, not only you. It may be that his wives…that Sylphie and Roxy and Eris are hurt too.”

“I am unharmed.”

“It’s your heart that he hurt.”

“My heart…” Nanahoshi repeated.

As Elinalise hugged Nanahoshi, she suddenly realized that something wasn’t quite right—there was a wrong feeling to the girl. Elinalise had embraced a lot of people, so she ought to know. She’d never hugged anyone like this before. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was, but it almost felt like she wasn’t a person.

A shout rang out in the quiet of the cafe. “I found it!” 

Elinalise looked over at the door and saw a man in a dark gray robe pointing at Elinalise’s table. It was Rudeus. Zanoba was right behind him, and they were accompanied by a group of Ruquag mercenaries.

“Seize it!” Rudeus yelled. Elinalise gripped Nanahoshi more tightly and was about to shout at him to wait, when the girl in her arms made her move.

Displaying strength Elinalise never dreamed she possessed, Nanahoshi threw off her embrace, then flipped over the table and leaped out a nearby window. With a crash, Nanahoshi was gone. She was terrifyingly fast, easily as swift as a Saint-tier sword fighter. No one there could keep up with her. Even the mercenaries looked dumbfounded.

“Chairman, Sir Zanoba, it’s too fast,” said one. “We can’t catch it.”

“O-of course not!” Zanoba replied, “It is a doll created by my master. No common warrior could hope to match it in strength or speed.”

“Okay, not the priority right now,” Rudeus cut in. “It seems it hasn’t learned to move covertly yet. For now, send people to hunt for it. Once we find it, Zanoba and I will find a way to catch it.” As he gave his orders to the mercenaries, he came over to Elinalise, looking exhausted. Clive stared up at him wide-eyed, an empty fork in his hand. Rudeus patted him on the head, then checked him for injuries.

Then, he turned to Elinalise and held out a hand. “Sorry about that, Elinalise. Are you all right? It didn’t hurt you?”

“No, of course not,” Elinalise said slowly. Taking his hand, she got to her feet, then asked, “What was all that about?”

“Well, there’s not much to tell…”

Elinalise relaxed a little as he explained. 

I knew I’d misunderstood something, she thought.

***

At home, it was Eris’s job to take Leo and the kids for their walk. She also taught swordcraft to the children, as well as to some of the students at the university, but when it came to housework, her only job was walking. If she didn’t have anything else to do, she went out with them after lunch. Obviously, bringing all the kids would be dangerous, so she usually took two or three of them at most. When Leo was there, Lara climbed on his back as a matter of course, so, in reality, Eris only had to keep an eye on one or two kids at a time.

That day, Lara and Sieg were both on Leo’s back, and Eris had little Lily on her shoulders. They would walk into town and Eris would watch while the kids played in their favorite spots. This was her routine.

Until not so long ago, she’d taken Lucie, Lara, and Arus, and sometimes Clive, too. Back then, the local boys had liked to pull Lara’s hair until Lucie made them stop. Lately, though—maybe thanks to Eris’s training—Lara had started to fight back. 

Eris would turn away for a moment, then she’d look back to find Lara standing there with a scratch on her face or a bloody nose, while the boy who’d gone after her was crouching nearby and crying. Her eyes would meet Eris’s, her face stoic but defiant, and she’d hold up two fingers in a “V” for victory. 

Eris never knew what to say in response. When she was little, she’d often been scolded for getting into fights and making her opponents cry. Nobles’ daughters weren’t supposed to fight, they’d told her. If someone said something mean to her, it was best for her to use her words.

So, whenever Lara got in a fight, Eris would hesitate for a second. Should she discipline her? 

In the end, Eris usually ended up complimenting her instead. Seeing the quiet Lara, proud of herself after fighting off a bully, it seemed impossible not to say: “Well done! That’s my girl!”

On the other hand, Eris would have been furious if Lara made someone weaker than herself cry, like Sieg. She’d spank her until her bottom was glowing if she did that. But the boys in the park were bigger and older than Lara, so praise was earned, Eris thought. 

Maybe she should have considered that, given Lara would be starting school the following year, it wasn’t good to only tell her she’d done well defending herself—but Eris didn’t have that kind of foresight.

Today, they weren’t heading for their usual park, so no fights for Lara. Eris hadn’t changed their destination for any particular reason; she just felt like it.

“Don’t go too far!” she called. 

They’d come to the river on the outskirts of town. Lara and Sieg splashed around naked in the river as they played with Leo. Eris focused most of her attention on Lily, who had recently taken her first toddling steps. 

Lily was nervous, perhaps because the river was new to her. Reaching out, she hesitantly touched it, before shrieking at the coldness of the water.

“Aaah! Mama! Mama!”

“What? Are you scared?”

“It’s cold!” The non-answer made Eris chuckle. She patted Lily on the head. Lily looked just like Lara, but she was a little quieter. That being said, she was more curious. She was fascinated by anything new or that she hadn’t seen before.

“Mama! Sparkles!” For example, she had just found something. 

“Um… Sparkles?”

“It’s sparkly!” Eris followed Lily’s pointing finger and saw something that shone brighter than the light on the surface of the river. A fish. About the length of Eris’s middle finger, wriggling this way and that.

“It’s a fish.”

“Squish!”

“Not squish, fish. Fish, got it? Try saying it. Fish.” 

“Fish! Mama, get it! Get the fish!”

“Okay, okay… You watch me.” Eris rolled her sleeves up, then fixed her eyes on the river. A few seconds later, there was a whoosh and a slap as spray flew up from the surface of the river. In a blink of Lily’s eye, Eris had the fish in her fist. The fish didn’t seem to know what was going on. Its eyes were wide, and its mouth gaped open and shut.

“Here.”

“Oh! Oh!” exclaimed Lily as Eris put the fish in her hands. At this, the fish seemed to at last realize this was a state of emergency. With a wriggling leap, it flipped out of Lily’s hands and dropped back into the river with a splash. “The fish ran away…”

“Heh heh, you’re right.” Just then, Eris sensed a presence behind her. She turned around. “Hold on. Something’s coming.”

Something was approaching from the direction of the town, and very fast. It might be Rudeus in the Magic Armor Version Two, or else someone as fast as her.

“Leo, get those two out of the river and dressed!” Eris shouted. Leo, perhaps sensing it too, replied with a woof, then nosed Lara’s back. Lara went obediently. She could communicate with Leo, so she understood the situation right away. Sieg whined a bit about wanting to play for longer, but when Lara pulled on his hand, he reluctantly got out of the water, then started to dry off with the ­towels they’d brought.

“Lara, help Sieg get dressed!”

Sieg had only just learned how to get dressed by himself. He still struggled with each button, so he’d take ages without help.

Eris was tense. She didn’t sense any hostility from whoever was coming toward them, but it was fast enough that, with the kids in tow, she wouldn’t quite be able to outrun it. If it did turn out to be an enemy, she could probably beat them, but it was still better to prioritize getting the kids to safety.

She’d put the three of them on Leo’s back, then hold the enemy off herself. They also weren’t far from Orsted’s office, where North God Kalman III and Dragon God Orsted lived. If they could get there, they’d definitely be safe.

When Eris saw the approaching figure, she let out a sigh of relief at the familiar face of a girl with black hair. “Oh, it’s you? Hey, Nanahoshi.”

Nanahoshi had been about to run straight past them, but at the sound of her name, she stopped abruptly and looked at Eris.

“Good morning. If it is not an inconvenience, may I ask your name?”

“It’s Eris. What, did you forget?”

“Master Eris. I will remember.”

Eris felt something was off. Nanahoshi’s hair was short, she was fast, and she didn’t sound like herself. But Eris also wasn’t that close to Nanahoshi, so she didn’t have a good idea of what Nanahoshi’s normal behavior was like. It probably wasn’t a big deal. She never was one to get hung up on details.

“You’re really zooming along there. What’s up? Some­one chasing you?”

“Yes… Correction, no,” said Nanahoshi, looking back over her shoulder. Behind her was a wide and empty plain. “It appears I have outrun them.” 

“Whoa! Mama, Mama!” Eris glanced down and saw Lily clinging to Nanahoshi’s legs. Lily patted Nanahoshi’s calves, eyes sparkling. She let out a cry of delight and beamed as Nanahoshi lifted her.

“Good morning,” said Nanahoshi.

“Ah ha ha!” Lily giggled. Then, she grabbed Nanahoshi’s hair and tugged on it, patted her cheeks, and stroked her nose.

Eris had no idea why Lily had taken to Nanahoshi like this. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to impose on her, so she took Lily back from Nanahoshi and put her on her shoulders.

“Hey, Mama! Want some.” Lily reached out for Nanahoshi.

“Don’t be rude,” Eris said.

Lily grumbled, but Eris did not put her down.

Nanahoshi watched them, then lifted up a lock of her hair. “Is it this you want?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Lily mumbled with a little nod. 

Without warning, Nanahoshi yanked out a few strands of hair and held them out to Lily. “Here you are.”

“Yay!” Lily took them happily. Eris had no idea why. She decided it had to be because black hair was uncommon.

“May I ask you a question, Master Eris?” said Nanahoshi, looking at her.

“What is it?”

“Are you the Eris who is Master Rudeus’s wife?”

“Yeah, I am,” Eris answered, puffing her chest out. It did make her feel proud to be called that. She’d given birth to his first son, and here she was looking after the children. Yep, she sure was!

“Will knowing of my existence make you angry with Master Rudeus?” Nanahoshi asked.

“Your existence? Um, I’m not going to get mad just because you’re there,” Eris replied tentatively, unsure of what Nanahoshi was asking. Nanahoshi was Rudeus’s friend. She wasn’t going to get angry just because he talked to her. If he made a move on her, or if he said he wanted her as his fourth wife, then she might be a little bit angry. Only a little, though.

“What about Master Sylphie and Master Roxy, then?”

“They won’t… Oh, wait.” An old memory of Sylphie suddenly came back to her. “Sylphie did once say she just couldn’t, like, ‘accept’ Nanahoshi.”

“Accept? Accept in what sense?”

“No idea. But that girl really loves Rudeus, so she’s got to have her reasons.”

Eris loved Rudy and had no problem saying so, but she had to respect Sylphie’s sheer devotion. Sylphie would put up with anything, even to the point of giving up who she was, if it were for Rudeus’s sake. Eris would die for Rudeus in battle, but that was who she was and what she wanted. She wasn’t very good at doing anything that she didn’t want to, not even for Rudeus’s sake. Sylphie was different. Sylphie would set aside what she wanted for him. Eris respected that.

“Very well,” said Nanahoshi. “I wish to talk to Master Sylphie. Where might I find her?”

“Pretty sure she’s at home today.”

“Understood. Thank you very much for answering my questions.” Nanahoshi bowed, twisted her mouth into a smile, then spun around and set off back toward the town at a walking pace.

“What was that about?” Eris wondered to herself. She folded her arms, planted her feet shoulder width apart, then snorted. Arus had started imitating this pose lately.

“Mama…” 

Eris turned around. She could just see blue and green hair poking up from behind Leo. Right, it was Lara and Sieg. She’d forgotten to make them say “hello” to the family friend. Had that been wrong? Usually Leo came up to people they knew of his own initiative, and she’d remember to make them do their polite greeting then. He’d hung back this time. 

As Eris puzzled over this, Lara said, “That wasn’t Nanahoshi.”

The words inspired in Eris a sense of unease she couldn’t put into words. Her mouth tightened. Up on her shoulders, Lily stretched out the hairs Nanahoshi had given her with a twang. She had to get home immediately. No—the kids were with her. 

Change of plans.

“We’re going to the office. You two get on Leo’s back.” For now, she’d get the kids somewhere secure, then she’d go home. Having made up her mind, Eris put Lara and Sieg on Leo’s back, then began walking toward the office.

***

An imposing atmosphere was hanging over the office when Eris arrived. A number of Ruquag mercenaries she recognized were loitering out front. Along with them, she also spotted Zanoba, Julie, Elinalise, Clive, and North God Kalman III Alexander Rybak, though the usual sense of repulsion she felt was absent. Orsted must’ve been out.

“Eris?! What are you doing here?!” Rudeus came rushing out from the crowd. Eris was relieved to see him. At the same time, she became certain that she was about to uncover the secret of the unease she’d felt earlier.

“We met someone strange on our walk,” she said, not answering his question. A wary look came into Rudeus’s eyes. 

“Who was it?” he asked.

“She looked a lot like Nanahoshi.” 

Rudeus made a face like he wanted to shout, “That was Lupin!” He itched to ask what’d happened, but his concern for Eris came first. “Right, but nothing happened to you, then? You’re not hurt?”

“The kids are all fine.”

Rudeus looked down with a worried expression at Lara, Sieg, and Lily, who was still twanging the black hair.

“What about you, Eris? You’re not hurt?” Once he’d seen the kids were unharmed, Rudeus began to check Eris over for injuries. He examined her from head to toe, touched her face, took her by the shoulders, and turned her around. Just as he reached to squish her breasts, her fist hit his chin with a crack.

“I’m fine! As I’m sure you can see!”

“Mmm, yeah.”

“She didn’t do anything to us. Leo realized she was a fake, so we came here for now.” Eris looked at Leo. For some reason, Lara looked smug. She flared her nostrils with a huff. Eris patted her on the head, then turned back to Rudeus. “So, who was that?”

“Um, well…” 

Rudeus explained what had happened. The doll he and Zanoba had been working on had escaped. They found signs that the teleportation circle had been used, so they determined it was in the Magic City of Sharia. They used the magic circle, woke up Julie, who was dozing the day away at the workshop, then had the Ruquag Mercenary Band begin their search. Thanks to Elinalise’s scuffle, they managed to locate it, only to lose it again. They got word that it had headed out of the city, so Rudeus had used the Eye of Distant Sight to look out from the city walls. That was when he’d spotted it heading in the direction of the office. Guessing that the office was its destination, Rudeus had gotten here first. Then, as they’d been watching the direction they expected the doll to come from, Eris had shown up.

“She didn’t seem that bad to me,” Eris said.

“Maybe not right now. But if we don’t find it quickly, there’s no telling what might happen.” Rudeus’s voice was resolute. 

In actuality, he was convinced that the doll had a flaw. It had several laws inscribed into its core concerning ­human safety, obedience to orders, and self-protection—the so-called Three Laws of Robotics. It had ignored its orders and run away. That meant that, at the very least, there was a flaw in the “obedience to orders” part. For now, all it had done was talk to Elinalise and Eris. No one had been hurt, but it would be wishful thinking to assume this was because the “safety for humans” law was working. If that was also malfunctioning, there was no way of knowing what might trigger a killing spree.

“Eris, could you tell me more about what you two talked about?”

“I mean, it was just small talk. I think it said…” Eris thought back on her conversation with the doll and answered.

Rudeus’s expression grew more and more strained as she talked. When he took his own conversation with the doll together with Elinalise’s and Eris’s, a theory had come to him to explain its behavior. With Elinalise, it had repeatedly asked about Rudeus’s wives. Last night, Rudeus had said they should scrap it because his wives would be angry. The doll had heard him. The “obedience to orders” law might not have been working, but the “self-protection” law was. It made sense, therefore, that it would take defensive action. What would that look like? Eliminating whoever was trying to eliminate it. As far as it knew, the enemies trying to eliminate it were Rudeus’s wives. The ones who would dispatch it were Zanoba and Rudeus, but perhaps the doll hadn’t attacked them because they were already registered as its masters. It seemed contradictory, but if the doll had a bug, contradictory behavior was to be expected.

The doll was identifying and locating Rudeus’s wives. It had to be considering taking them out first. On the other hand, Eris should have been a target for elimination, but it had only talked to her. Did that mean the theory was wrong? 

Not necessarily. The questions it asked Eris indicated that it was investigating which of his wives to eliminate—which, in other words, was the greatest obstacle to it. It probably wanted to take care of that one before the others. Its conversation with Eris had made it all too obvious who the threat was.

“At the end it said it wanted to talk to Sylphie and headed back to town,” said Eris. Rudeus’s face went pale.

“Sylphie’s in danger!” he cried, starting to run frantically off toward the house, but he quickly did an about-face and returned to the office, where he took a deep breath. 

Rudeus looked around, telling himself to stay calm. Here outside the office were the Ruquag Mercenary Band, Zanoba, Julie, Alec, Elinalise, Clive, and his kids. First, Rudeus nodded to Alec, who looked like he had nothing to do.

“Alec, I’m going to leave the kids and Julie here with you. That all right?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

The children’s safety came first. If Orsted were around, Rudeus might have asked him and given Alec a different job, but as he wasn’t, this would have to do. They ought to be safe with Alec watching over them. Julie would probably be fine given that the doll had walked straight by her as she slept, but he had the feeling he’d also mentioned that Julie was against the doll during their conversation at the workshop. It was better to have her stay behind. 

“Eris and Elinalise, you go to the school,” Rudeus said. “It’s possible it might go for Roxy. Some of the mercenaries are headed there already, so you can rendezvous with them.”

“Gotcha.”

“Very well.”

Linia was on her way to the school with a search party of mercenaries. Eris had said that the doll wanted to find Sylphie, but really, there was no way of knowing what it would do. It was better to send reinforcements, just in case.

“Half of the mercenaries are to go back to Aisha and report what’s happened. Tell her that if worse comes to worst, I might ask Sir Perugius for aid.”

“Yes, sir!”

If he could get Perugius to help, then Arumanfi could probably have the doll captured in seconds. He hadn’t expected the problem to blow up this quickly! To his regret, he’d delayed getting word out to people—including the ones at home. 

That said, there was no guarantee Perugius would agree to help.

“I want the other half of the mercenaries to go back to Zanoba’s workshop,” Rudeus continued.

“Understood.”

While the doll was running around all over the place, it was possible that was a diversion, and its real goal was to get away from Rudeus. Part of him wouldn’t have minded letting the danger just run away…but he’d made it. He had a responsibility to see this through to the end.

“Zanoba, come with me to my house so we can make sure Sylphie and the others are safe.”

“Very well, Master.”

“All right, everyone! Let’s move!” At Rudeus’s order, everyone dispersed.

The only ones left at the office were the children, Leo, Julie, and Alec. After their parents had disappeared, they looked anxious.

“How about we play a game until your dad gets back, kids?” said Alec, smiling at them.