Chapter 105: Plan of Action

"Hmm, I guess there won’t be any problem, even though she passed out and I might have kept going for a few more rounds after she did. This time she didn’t stop breathing, so it’s okay, right?"

Anyway, I made sure not to repeat my mistake, and this time I stopped before she stopped breathing—though I couldn’t stop after she passed out—but I consider that progress.

After I was done, I cleaned her up and dressed her.

And as quickly as I could, avoiding being tempted again, I took her back to the massage room where Silvia was still asleep—that candle was a marvel.

I still remembered the three ongoing missions; I couldn’t let my guard down until the very end, so I left the room.

Now that I was out, I looked toward the other room, where Iris and Amy were; I wanted to see what was going on there, but what I saw was that...

’/_ \I guess you’re done too—too bad; I was thinking of joining in.’

Yeah, I thought I was still in time to join the fun over there, but it looks like it ended there too.

There were Amy and Iris, who was still taking on Astan’s appearance. Amy looked asleep, yet there was a big smile on her face as she held Iris close.

Iris, on the other hand, was awake and heard my mental message.

’Oh! You’re done too... Lea’s alive, right?’

’Of course. I didn’t let myself get carried away. I see you didn’t let yourself get carried away either.’

’No, you know, I’m still Iris, even though I changed my appearance. My self-control is still better than yours when we sync up.’

’Yeah, I still don’t get how Iris is the more level-headed one between the two of us.’

’More than that, Astan is the problem, and Iris is the door that lets him out faster, hehe~’

’Oh! That makes sense—Iris’s side breaks all of Astan’s restraints, and he’s always been a beast in bed.’

’On the other hand, Astan’s side is what keeps Iris from losing control too quickly and makes her act more moderately.’

’Technically, we both always start at a middle ground, but from there on, the divergence begins. Hmm, maybe testosterone and estrogen... hmm... Nah! It doesn’t make sense to think about it. Who cares?’

’Yeah, who cares? Iris, Astan? What does it matter? What matters is that nobody died today.’

’But you know, it’s weird that we’re talking as if Iris and Astan were other people.’

’Well, it’s not that weird. I mean, technically neither you nor I are really either of them. We’re a new being; our identity is somewhat ambiguous.’

’Yeah, you’re right. Hey, what if we give ourselves names? Something like Astirix, Iritarx.’

’Oh! That sounds great, but why the X? Oh, I get it—it’s from the equation (Iris X Astan), right?’

’Exactly—it’s math. So, you take one and I’ll take the other?’

’Hmm, but having more names sounds...’

’Yeah, now that I think about it, it sounds cumbersome. Better not.’

’Yeah. Oh, but getting back to the topic, do you know what happened to me?’

’No, but I’ll find out eventually.’

’Ha! That’s true, but I’ll tell you anyway. You know, on my end, I’m the one who almost died—that was wild, huehue~.’

’Oh, that sounds dangerous... but also awesome.’

’It sure was—I went to Valhalla and came back, huehue~’

’Oh! So what was it like?’

"A little damp, but glorious—you’ll find out later.’

It seems Iris had as much fun as I did.

I’m also looking forward to seeing what happened, and eventually I’ll find out.

The synchronization worked in an interesting way.

The last time we used it, when we returned to normal, we both remembered both perspectives.

It was curious—I originally thought this ability worked like this: a personality of the other person was created, and that personality merged with the other person.

But now I feel like, instead, it’s as if our souls were split in half and each of us exchanged half of our soul with the other, and then those two halves merged within each of us—and that’s why we can remember the other’s perspective when we finish the synchronization.

’By the way, did you use the card on Amy to find out what she wanted?’

Yes, I haven’t confirmed yet how things went on this side with the missions, but Amy brought a total of four missions with her; only one had a specific limit before she left, and that was the mission we had to focus on.

____________________

"A Place to Return To"

Objective:

Fulfill what Amarillys Kibershade longs for most before ending the session.

Rewards:

+5 free stat points

Catalyst Card

2,000 Myrr

Failure Penalty:

-2 Charisma

+3 Corruption

____________________

As for the rest, just like with Azalea, there was no real limit, and they could eventually be completed—unless we make a very serious mistake that causes our relationship with Amy to break down.

Now, regarding this mission, it’s difficult to pinpoint Amu’s longing with certainty.

Due to Amy’s mental state—the confusion she’s experiencing—it’s hard for us to know if she really knows what she wants, even if we ask her directly.

Not to mention that she still lacks, in some ways, logic and common sense.

The simplest explanation would be to think it’s related to the last time she visited, but we did so many things last time that there’s still more than one possibility.

So I thought about using the remaining "Revelation Card" to ensure the results, find out exactly what Amy wanted most, and meet her expectations.

It would also help us figure out more precisely which direction to take our relationship with Amy.

That card could come in handy later, but I consider my lovely Amy a priority, and I don’t think it’s a waste at all.

I thought Iris had used it, but...

"No, I haven’t used it yet. I figured that if I recreated the last time as best as I could, there was a chance I could pull it off—you know, I even had to act like a jerk again just in case."

"Well, that must have been tough; she must have gotten a little sad."

"True, but she handled it well—it was just a moment, and she bounced back right away. She’s becoming a stronger and stronger woman—one who won’t be easily upset."

"That’s good to hear. Well, I guess it didn’t work, since that mission is still active..."

"Yeah, so I plan to use it as soon as she wakes up."

"That would be best. By the way, can I join you guys?"

"Of course, but don’t do anything. Amy’s already exhausted."

"Okay."

Putting the mission aside—which I’ll complete, even if I have to make Amy stay late—

I wanted to join them and share a warm moment.

I’d like to do that with Azalea, but it wouldn’t be good if Silvia woke up. Anyway, without waiting any longer, I walked into the room where they were.

There I saw Iris already returning to her original appearance, while still being held in a hug by the sleeping Amy.

I didn’t get a chance to ask why they were on the floor, but I didn’t think it was important.

Without giving it much thought, I joined in the moment of calm as I hugged Amy from behind.

I really liked the feeling last time; it’s not bad to experience it again.

’Hey, System, I’m not paying off any debt, so you can wake me up, right?’

[That’s correct]

’Okay, if you see Silvia or Azalea wake up, wake me up. You can do that, right?’

[Affirmative, cost: 3 Myrr]

’Damn, you’re charging me?... Well, it’s only three Myrr—fine, go ahead.’

It seemed I could use the system as an alarm after all. Even though it charged me, it wasn’t much, so everything was fine.

And with that, plus Amy’s warmth, I quickly felt drowsiness wash over me.

I guess I was a little tired from the exciting afternoon.

I didn’t notice how much time had passed, but it had definitely been more than five hours, so a good nap would be just what I needed.

..

.

’Hey? Wake up. Hey, wake up, damn it!’ (???)

’Huh? System?’

For a moment, I didn’t get it. The system suddenly sounded very human.

I remembered asking it to wake me up, so I made the connection right away, but—

’No, damn it, I’m not the system. But that’s not the point. Some important things have happened over here, and Amy needs to get back as soon as possible.’ (doppelganger)

Oh, it’s my doppelganger. I wonder what could have happened. He sounded a little rushed, so, even though I didn’t want to, I opened my eyes.

There I saw Amarillys right in front of me.

I was still holding her. Her body heat was wonderful and comforting; it tempted me to fall back asleep, but I noticed something: she was awake.

She had her back to me and wasn’t moving, but I knew it the moment I saw her—she just seemed to be pretending to sleep. For some reason, that seemed cute to me.

’Hey, don’t waste time. This is really serious! There’s been a murder in the castle!"(doppelganger)

"huh! Wait, let me... oh, damn it!"

The mention of a murder finally made me realize that the situation was no joke, and I woke up quickly.

I sat up and quickly looked through the doppelganger’s memories.

"Murder!" (Iris)

Iris also seemed to be on the same channel and stood up at the same time as me; we were still in sync.

I quickly caught up on what had happened on the doppelganger’s side, the current situation, and whether it was really that bad.

"Amy, you have to go back to the palace. How long will it take you?" (Iris)

Iris had already beaten me to it and asked Amy—yes, time was truly of the essence in this unexpected situation.

"Huh? I have to go back? /_ \¯"(Amy)

Amy stopped pretending to be asleep and immediately looked sad about it, but that wasn’t the point.

"Amy, tell me how long it usually takes you to get into the palace using your method." (Iris)

"...U-um, I think an hour, hmm, maybe more."

"Ugh! Damn it! That’s way too long."(Iris)

"Is something wrong, big sis?" (Amy)

Yes, that was way too long. The situation called for a quicker solution.

The doppelganger needed to impersonate Amy, but it wasn’t just about the appearance—there was one more requirement.

But among the things I had, there was something that would solve it.

Quickly, a deck of cards appeared in my hand.

I didn’t take it out of my storage; this deck of cards resides somewhere inside my body, following a logic I don’t understand.

This deck of cards is one of the rewards Iris and I obtained during the anomalous event, after killing that group that was following us.

Heart of Jester

Yesterday, I had enough time to ask the system about the rewards and other things I hadn’t had time to ask about before.

Both the Heart of Berserker and the Heart of Jester are artifacts with somewhat unique functions.

This could be the solution to the doppelganger problem, but the issue was how to give it to him.

He, in fact, knew this too and tried to summon it, but it seemed that wasn’t something a doppelganger could do.

There were pieces missing to put the puzzle together correctly.

I had to think of a solution quickly, and at that moment, a scene popped into my head.

Yes, it was the scene where I was wildly ramming into Azalea from behind, but what’s most important is what I did at that moment as if it were perfectly normal.

A jar of oil appeared in my hand. I’d taken that jar from my storage, but I’m Astan.

Before we synced up, I didn’t have that ability, let alone be able to put anything in there.

’Hey, see if you can use the storage and take out what’s in there.’

’Ah!... Yeah, I can.’(doppelganger)

Well, with that, the piece of the puzzle was in place. I pulled the three of hearts and a king of spades from the deck of cards.

It was the first time I’d used this device, and I hadn’t yet tested its performance, but so far the system has never been wrong about how things work, so this time I’ll have to trust it.

"Amy, can you do me a favor?"

Anyway, now that there was a solution, everything depended on the doppelganger.

Or so I thought, but the doppelganger had just discovered something unexpected on that side, and if we weren’t overthinking it—and we were right—the situation could be even worse.

I needed to come up with a way out of this situation.

I didn’t forget to factor all the rewards, cards, and other things we’ve obtained into the equation; I’ll use whatever it takes.

The three of us began to come up with a plan of action.