The Simulacrum

Let me see. Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Coat? Check. Beany? Check. Bag? Check.

After concluding that I'd got everything, I slipped into my outdoor shoes and called out, "I'm off to visit the Knights!" towards the first floor.

"Take care!" my sister responded with a muffled voice from behind the closed door of her room.

There really wasn't much else to say, so I promptly Phased out of my living room, and a blink of an eye later I was looking at the cloudy skies hanging over the city. Or, at least, I presumed they were cloudy, as it was well after sunset. Around six in the evening, to be precise. It was cold too, and if the weather forecast wasn't pulling our legs, we'd be getting some snow in the next couple of days. White Christmas was around the corner.

More importantly, I sneakily glanced around, hopped over a short picket fence, and continued on my way on foot. Phasing directly to my destinations all willy-nilly was a bad habit of mine I had to temper, especially now that I made it the defining trait of my Bel alter ego, so I picked a neighboring placeholder I marked specifically for this purpose and teleported to their backyard first. It was a small effort, but the last thing I needed right now was for Roland to get suspicious. That man was unnecessarily sharp at times.

In any case, I soon reached the Dracis mansion, and I could feel all nearby eyes focus on me when I got close. Security around the estate was even higher than usual thanks to the upcoming conference, though it was mostly just for show, considering the Knights were already inside. Once I reached the main gate, the nameless security guards opened it for me at once, and I slipped inside. I gave the men an appreciative nod, just on principle, and they returned it before retreating back into the heated gatehouse post-haste.

"Oh. Good evening, future young master," a certain braided blonde maid greeted me as I entered the foyer. She was dressed in her usual French maid outfit and carried a feather duster. I had no idea why; I've yet to encounter a single speck of dust since the day I woke up in this world. But then again, Snowy also spent a lot of time sweeping the room and wiping the windowsills when she was cosplaying, so maybe it was a 'maid-thing' I just couldn't understand? Either way, I pocketed my knit cap and gave her a reserved smile.

"Hello, Melinda. I see you're hard at work as usual."

"A maid's work never ends," she said in a tone that kind of sounded like an advertising slogan. There was a short beat hanging in the air, but when I didn't react, she added, "I'm afraid Milady isn't back yet. I was told she would be spending the evening in the company of Miss Sennoma."

"I know. I'm here to visit the guests. Are they behaving themselves?"

"Yes. Surprisingly so. I believe they are in the gymnasium at the moment. Do you require guidance?"

"No, I know my way around, but thanks for the offer."

"Understood. In that case, I'll announce your visit to the master of the house."

I figured she meant Abram, so I said, "Tell him I'm not planning to stay long."

"As you wish, future young master."

She gave me a curtsy before walking away, and I didn't tarry for long either. By now I was familiar enough with the estate where I no longer needed any directions, and in a few short minutes, I reached my destination without any other encounters. Or rather, I ran into a few placeholder maids here and there, but they just greeted me and continued with their jobs. The fact that the term 'future young master' was spreading among them was a little annoying, but with all the titles I already collected, I didn't really mind it that much anymore.

I straightened my coat and entered the side building without any reservations. I was prepared ahead of time thanks to peeping with Far Sight, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little taken aback by the tidal wave of grunting noises that washed over me the moment I opened the door.

The gym inside the Dracis mansion was divided into two parts. On my right, there was a pair of wide-open double-wing doors leading into a large workout area full of exercise equipment, while on the left, there was an identical entrance opening into a full-sized indoor tennis court. The net in the middle of the latter was currently tucked away somewhere, and in its place, there was a small gaggle of men dressed in tracksuits violently slamming into each other. At first glance, it kind of reminded me of rugby practice, just without any protective gear. Or a ball, if we're at that.

The image was further reinforced when the biggest guy in the middle called out, "A' richt, a' body! Back intae poositions! We'll stairt fae ten-seventeen!" from the top of his lungs, and the Squires rushed to rearrange themselves at once. Then, without any signal required, they rushed forth to dash, circle, and ultimately smash into each other again. The sounds of impacts were a little disconcerting, but it was none of my business, so I quietly entered the other door and closed it behind me.

This place was more like a professional fitness saloon, with bright lighting and some quiet yet catchy nineties pop music in the background. It was probably good for maintaining one's tempo while exercising, I figured, and the room also provided all the other tools necessary, from complex workout machines with way too many pulleys to simple treadmills and pressing benches. Speaking of the latter, two of the Knights were currently occupying one of those, with Arnwald lying on his back and Roland spotting for him. They were, naturally, wearing the same kind of tracksuits as the rest, though they already had their casual clothes sorted out and delivered to their quarters. But then again, when else were they supposed to wear these other than when they were exercising?

Sir Eagle was no spring chicken by any means, but he was still in great shape, so much so that the other Knight only had to help him when they reset the barbell onto the racks once they noticed my arrival.

"Brother Leonard," the Knight with the epic sideburns welcomed me as he sat up, and after catching his breath and wiping his forehead, he added, "We weren't expecting a visit at this hour."

"It's not that late," I said as I strode over, and only then did I properly greet them. Once the formalities were over and Roland walked around the bench, I exaggeratedly looked around and asked, "Where's Penny?"

"She was here a minute ago," the Griffon Knight answered as he also craned his neck.

"Oh well. Let's hope she'll be back soon." A shrug later, I put my bag onto the recently vacated bench and opened it up. "In the meantime, can I ask your help with something?"

"Certainly," Anwald agreed at once, so I figured I might as well start with him. I took out a small, rectangular metal case, just big enough to snugly fit in my palm, and handed it over to him. He opened it without any prompting required, and after peeking inside, sent me a questioning glance. "A watch?"

"Don't let appearances fool you. It's a freshly enchanted artifact."

"Is it now?" the man mused as he took the black sports watch out into the open and observed it from up close. It was fairly a big, rugged, yet at the same time kind of sleek instrument, with silver highlights and a black leather strap. I urged him to put it on, and he did so without much hesitation, only to freeze and stare at his wrist with a bewildered expression. "Brother Leonard?"

"Yes?"

"What exactly is this thing?"

Roland was also looking at me funny, so I flashed them a reassuring smile.

"You could feel it at once, huh? Neat. That means my reproduction of the connection array was a success."

"Could you please explain in a way we can understand?" Mr. Griffon cut in a tad impatiently, so I reached out and lightly tapped on the lens of the watch still on Arnwald's hand.

"Let's start from the beginning. You remember that I took your measurements a few days ago?" They both nodded, so I continued with, "It was for the sake of this. Since you're going to be operating in the open from now on, we can't have you running around in your armors. It's just way too conspicuous. So, I had an idea: since my friends already use enchanted items like this watch for quickly changing into their defensive gear, I tried adapting the same magitech for your use. There are still a lot of kinks to iron out, but a key early goal in the project was replicating the enchantment that connects you to your gear through your Oaths. Without that, you won't even have access to mana, and couldn't activate the rest of the tool's functions. Speaking of which, could you put your thumb here?"

"Like this?"

Arnwald's finger wasn't quite at the right place, but after some finagling, I managed to get him into position and told him, "Good. Now, try to inject some mana directly into the watch."

"I'll tr— Oh?"

He couldn't even finish his response, as his hands lit up with a soft green light. It only lasted for a second, after which the glow subsided, leaving the two knights completely stumped.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Roland inquired with a hint of skepticism in his voice, so I gave him a big nod.

"Yes. It's just a simple light effect to see if the core enchantment is working."

"So, if I understand you right, you're planning to replace our equipment with these tools?" came the next question from the Griffon Knight, and this time I could only manage an ambivalent shrug.

"Maybe in the long term? Right now, I just want to get the connections down pat, and then I'll give you a warded uniform you can wear in public. I don't think I can fully replicate all the effects of your armors yet, but I've already hired some specialists. It's only a question of time."

"It's impressive," Arnwald commented on the side as he kept turning the light on and off. "I never knew you had a talent for enchantments, let alone such a tremendous one."

"To be fair, there wasn't much of a chance for such talents to bloom in the brotherhood," Roland noted while thoughtfully rubbing his jaw.

"Indeed. I don't think anyone could deny you've changed a lot in the short time you've spent on this island, Brother Leonard, and in some truly unexpected ways as well."

"Indeed," Mr. Griffon whispered with a strange glint in his eyes. "Why, you even made it onto the honors list, I hear."

My eyes narrowed on their own as I glanced at Roland, but he remained smugly silent, so I had no choice but to ask him, "Where did you hear that?"

"From Sister Penelope," Mr. Eagle answered in his stead, and Roland let out an amused chuckle.

"Why, she's been bragging about it to us ever since she came home."

"Seriously?" The two of them nodded in unison, and I couldn't stop myself from sighing even if I tried. "It's not exactly an achievement worth boasting about though."

"Don't be too hard on her," Mr. Griffon warned me out of the blue, throwing me on a loop. "She's been getting better lately, so please don't scold her."

"No, I wasn't going to scold her in the first place, but… what do you mean by 'getting better'?"

"She's much less short-tempered as of late," he told me frankly, and Arnwald nodded along as well.

"Sister Penelope also stopped speaking in a low voice."

"It was about time," Roland grumbled and sent me a glance like I was supposed to have something to do with that.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, that's right. You lost some of your memories," Mr. Griffon mused. "She started doing that after you told her that she should stop playing around and grow up."

He was probably looking for some kind of reaction on my end, so I told him, "Sorry, but I wash my hands of this whole affair, as I've no idea what you're talking about whatsoever. Still, I guess it's a good thing that she stopped doing that; it couldn't have been good for her vocal cords."

The two Knights remained completely silent, as if I just said something weird, but before I could ask what they were on about, we were interrupted by a new voice.

"Brother!"

I turned towards the door, and found Penny in her school gym clothes all but dashing over to our side, with about half a dozen water bottles hugged to her chest. It looked like she was about to drop them at any second, so I met her halfway and took some off her hands.

"Easy there, kiddo."

"Ah, thank you." She flashed me a grin, but then it got replaced by a frown. "You should've told me you're coming over!"

"I did. The last time I visited, I said I'd come by to do some calibrations."

"But you didn't say when!" she complained, and after we put down the bottles, she turned to me with her arms crossed. "Also, what does it mean to 'do some calibrations' anyways?"

"Brother Leonard meant this," Mr. Eagle spoke up as he showed his wrist, and Penny's eyes lit up with curiosity at once.

"Whoa! What's that? Brother, did you buy that?"

"It can also do this," Arnwald spoke with a chuckle, and he used the enchantment to brighten his hands again.

"Ooooh?" Penny sidled closer to him and stared at the watch with sparkling eyes. "It's enchanted? But what does it do? Why does it glow?"

"It's just a placeholder effect," I cut in, and explained my plans to her as well, and once everyone was on the same page, I waved for them to come closer. "Since you're all here, I might as well have you test yours as well."

Saying so, I took out two more rectangular cases and handed them over to Roland and Penny, and before long, both of them were playing around with their watches like it was Christmas morning. Apparently, even the calm and collected Griffon Knight wasn't immune to the charm of new toys.

"Wow! This is so weird! N-Not in a weird way, but it is!" Penny exclaimed, and Roland apparently shared her sentiment.

"This really does feel just like a piece of our equipment," he noted as he repeatedly turned his own light on and off.

"That's right!" my alleged sister agreed, but then she turned a troubled look at her wrist and added, "It's really neat, but… does it have to be this bulky?"

"Sorry, but there are certain size limitations with the base enchantment arrays."

To be fair, the watch itself wasn't that big, but it was a men's watch, so while it looked the right size on Roland's and Arnwald's arms, it did feel a bit oversized on hers. She probably wanted something more girly, but at the moment, I had to work with what Gowan could provide me. But on the topic of girly…

"By the way, there was another thing I promised you," I told her with a smirk, and gestured for her to come closer.

"What is it?"

I reached into my bag, and after purposefully keeping her in suspense for a few seconds, I theatrically retrieved a larger rectangular box. Penny's eyes opened as wide as saucers, and she let out an honest to goodness squee.

"I-I-Is that a Pearfone XI?!" I nodded. "I… Is it for me?" I nodded again. "Really? Really really?"

"Of course," I told her with a practiced brotherly smile and handed it over. She snatched it out of my grasp like she was expecting that I'd yank it away, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "You said you wanted one, so here it is. Consider it an early Christmas present."

"Can I really keep it?"

"Of course. It's yours."

For a short while, Penny vacillated between being touched and apprehensive, but before long, she threw all reservations into the wind and lunged at me, catching me in a bear hug.

"Thank you, brother! You're the best!"

"Easy there, kiddo," I said once I steadied myself, and reflexively rubbed the crown on her head. "It's just a phone."

"It's not just a phone! It's the Pearfone XI!" she vehemently responded as she balled her fingers into fists and glanced up at me. "It's the newest Pearfone model with the latest operating system, the next-generation proprietary CPU, the best set of cameras on the market, and a one-hundred-and-twenty hertz refresh rate Super-LED screen!"

"Calm down. You don't have to try and sell me this thing. I already bought it," I chided her while rubbing her noggin just a touch more forcefully. "Oh, but before I forget it, there's one more thing."

Once again, I reached into my bag, and this time I pulled out a smaller package.

"What's that?" she inquired while trying to take a closer look, so I turned it around so she could see it through the transparent part in the front of the box.

"While I was at it, I also got you a protective case. I tried to go for something unicorn related, and this was pretty much the only one that wasn't just straight-up tacky."

She remained silent for a while as she stared at the embossed silver unicorn crest on the back of the rugged black case, and I was just about to get worried when she snatched it out of my hand and exclaimed, "It's so cute! I love it!"

"I'm glad to hear it."

I flashed him another of my brotherly smiles, and it was only then that I noticed that the other two knights in the room were giving me odd stares, so I blurted out an uncertain, "What? Is there a problem?"

"No, I wouldn't say so," Roland responded ambivalently, while Arnwald seemed to be considering my question a bit too deeply.

"Please excuse me for being frank, Brother Leonard, but I believe losing your memories might have been unexpectedly fortuitous."

Before I could ask what he meant by that, Penny detached herself from me and gave me a beaming grin.

"I'll go show this to Duncan! He's going to be sooo jealous!"

"I believe Brother Duncan is still in the middle of interception drills," Mr. Eagle noted, but by this point, the girl was already halfway out of the room, so he slowly shook his head and picked up a water bottle.

I was just about to ask him what he meant before, but I was caught by a quickly approaching Mr. Griffon.

"Leonard?"

"Yes? Is there a problem?"

"No, not a problem, but more of a question," he answered a touch hesitantly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I understood it right, you copied the ability of our equipment to grant us the power of mana, right?" I nodded. "Does that mean you could, if given time, completely replicate the enchantments on them, and create brand new armor set?"

"Depends. I can probably do it with your gear, or my armour, but things like Cal or Ascalon are impossible for now, and Penny's armour is also a little troublesome."

"But it is possible," he stressed, and once I nodded, he sent Arnwald a meaningful glance. "So we not only have the King in our ranks, we might also be able to expand our numbers for the first time in centuries."

"I hear you, Brother Roland. This is certainly going to prove an advantage."

An advantage in what sense, I couldn't tell. Nor could I ask, because Penny returned in the company of the ornery Mr. Minotaur.

"Sae noo ye'r throwing yer gear around just tae impress Penny-gurl, huh?" he grumbled the moment he got into earshot, so I flashed a toothy grin at him.

"Hello, Duncan. I'm also happy to see you."

The guy could only muster an irritated 'Bah!' at my chipper response. In the meantime, Penny came over to my side and tugged on my hand to get my attention, and then pointed at the bag still on the bench.

"He has a watch too, right? Can I show it to him?"

"Sure, be my guest."

There was no need to say it twice, as she already fished out the last watch-box by the time I finished speaking. He was much less impressed than the rest, though considering his personality, it was expected. Once I confirmed that his enchantment worked as well, I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention.

"Thanks for the cooperation. Please put the watches back into their cases and return them to the bag. Now that I know the connection arrays are operational, I can start working on the functional arrays."

"Whit foonctions?" Duncan blurted out, and so I had to explain my plan with these second-generation Magiformers for the third time today. Once I did, the big guy uttered, "Ur we aff tae wear uniforms? Whit kind?"

"The design is still up in the air, but once the prototypes are functional, modifying the outfit itself is relatively simple, so I can listen to your requests then. Any other questions?" The group remained silent, so I closed my bag and said, "In that case, I think I should get going and—"

"Wait, brother!" Penny called out to me in a hurry and even grabbed hold of me. "You just came here!"

"True, but now that I gave you your phone and tested the enchantments, there's nothing else for me to do here," I pointed out, but she shook her head and pulled me along.

"There's plenty of things to do! We haven't trained together in ages!"

I was feeling hesitant about that, so I tried to excuse myself by telling her, "Are you sure? Don't you want to get familiar with your new phone first?"

"I can do that any time! Come on! Let's spar like we used to!"

I really wanted to refuse her, but she was giving me the dreaded puppy eyes, and as much as I wanted to deny it, they were annoyingly effective.

"Oh, fine. But only with training weapons."

"Of course!" she beamed at me.

"Och? In 'at case, ah an' a' challenge ye!" Mr. Minotaur declared out of the blue with a wolfish grin plastered on his face, but it wilted the moment the girl dragging me along sent a glare at him.

"I've got dibs, Duncan! Wait your turn!"

"Aye, aye, sure... " the big guy grumbled, and even though I still had my reservations about this sudden sparring business, the thing that disturbed me the most was definitely the sickeningly wholesome looks the older Knights were giving us. Not that I could see them for long, as I was soon ushered into the other room for a whole evening of exercise that, in retrospect, turned out to be quite agreeable, a few small bruises notwithstanding.

"How's the Peking duck?"

I glanced up from my plate, and blurted out a flabbergasted, "Excuse me?"

"The Peking duck," Emese repeated from the other side of the dining table. She was wearing a simple beige dress, but at the same time, she had her wavy hair loose, giving her a kind of wild, unbridled look that contrasted with the elegant way she was eating her meal. When I didn't anything, she let her fork down and asked, "Could it be that it doesn't fit your tastes?"

"Oh no, nothing of the sort. It's perfectly tasty, just..."

"Just?" the man of the house, currently wearing a short-sleeved white shirt that showed off his impressive arms, also pressed me, so I resigned myself for an explanation.

"It's just that if my friend knew I was eating something rare like this, I'd never hear the end of it. He's something of a foodie."

"Your friend sounds like he has a distinguished palate," Sebastian noted on the side while simultaneously cutting a piece of meat with military precision. Since this was a family dinner, he was also eating with us, something he apparently only did in private to uphold his cover as a simple steward. "Shall we package a portion for him?"

"If you insist. I'm sure Josh would appreciate it."

"By 'Josh', do you perhaps mean the Bernstein boy?" When I nodded, the incognito dragon let out a thoughtful hum, and muttered something along the lines of, "Maybe yesterday's leftovers then?"

"Don't be petty, gramps," Abram called him out, but the old butler only responded with a dismissive groan.

It was around this point that I noticed the door of the dining hall opening ajar, followed by the wings being thrown wide open when my gaze met with the newcomer's.

"Leo!" the princess called out to me in pleasant surprise and she rushed inside. "Why didn't you tell me you'd be staying over for dinner? I would've come home sooner!"

"I originally didn't plan to, but on my way back from the Knights, I was kidnapped by mom-in-law."

"Kidnapped?" the lady of the house repeated my words in a dangerously low tone.

"Abducted?" I proposed, but it only made her frown at me harder, so I ventured an uncertain, "Interdicted?"

Emese mulled it over as if tasting the word in her mouth, ultimately stating, "I'll allow that terminology."

"Thank you very much," I said with a cheeky smile. My next option would've been trying to mix the words into something terrible, like 'kiducterdicted', but thankfully I never had to use it. Crime against the English language: successfully avoided.

So, anyway, while we were talking, Elly kiducterdicted a chair and took a seat right next to me, so close our shoulders nearly touched, and somehow a set of plates and utensils materialized in front of her while I wasn't looking. It probably had something to do with the maids sneakily hustling and bustling around us. She also sidled closer and entwined our arms, eliciting a surprised hiss from me.

"Ah, sorry!"

She tried to retract her arm, but I carefully pulled her closer instead and told her, "Don't worry. My arms are just a little sore at the moment, that's all." Once she calmed down, she looked at me with unconcealed curiosity, so I sheepishly admitted, "I sparred with Penny, and might've overexerted myself a little."

"Did you win?" Elly asked at once, and I flashed a reassuring smile.

"I certainly didn't lose."

To be fair, I didn't really 'win' either, as it wasn't a contest, but let's not get bogged down in semantics. That said, my knightlier sister turned out to be scary fast even without her gear, and if not for my precognitive reflexes, I would've probably ended up in a much sorrier state. She was satisfied by my performance though, and some extra training was never a bad thing, so I had little to complain about. Besides the sore muscles, of course, but I had Angie for fixing that.

"That's good," the princess noted with a solemn nod, but a blink of an eye later she perked up again and asked, "What were you talking about before I came home?"

I glanced at her, then back at my prospective in-laws, and had to say, "That's a good question. What were we talking about before the Peking duck?"

"I believe it was something about your novel ideas about making money," Sebastian answered my inquiry while theatrically sloshing the red wine in his tall glass, and after taking an elegant sip, he also added, "Something related to an electronic store, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Ah, that's right." I gave the occasionally annoying but generally all right old lizard an appreciative nod and faced Abram again. "So, as I was saying, while the music streaming service is turning a tidy profit for the company, if we're going to run a proper organization here, we'll have to shore up our finances, and it has to be legal income. We can't have the Knights get disillusioned, after all."

"Naturally," the Dracis patriarch agreed on the spot, and was looking at me expectantly, so I proceeded to bounce my first idea off him.

"Unfortunately, the opportunity for creating a social media monopoly already slipped through our fingers, but there are still a few fields ripe for exploiting. First off, we should branch out the streaming services to cover movies and TV shows."

"Would people be interested in that?" came the next question from Emese.

"I can guarantee it. The infrastructure already exists for one reason or another, and the demand should be there as well. If we can be the first to take advantage of it, it can turn into an enormous golden goose, and since there's already some infrastructure in place for the music streaming service, it could be implemented quicker than my other ideas. Ideally, I'd like us to break into the e-commerce sphere and eventually merge the other services under one big umbrella, but making an online marketplace from scratch is not something that can be done in a day, so we should focus on streaming for now."

The family remained silent, right until Sebastian put his glass down and let out a pent-up breath.

"I loath to admit, but I don't really understand these newfangled internet services, so I can't say I feel confident in your proposal." He paused here to give me a meaningful look, after which he continued in a slow, level voice. "That said, I can feel that you are confident in your idea, and since we owe you a lot, I believe it's only fair we follow your initiative."

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Abram exclaimed in the company of a loud belly laugh. "Don't worry son! We'll support your plan! Money isn't even a question!"

"It sounds like it would require a large initial investment though," Elly mused by my side, and when I looked at her, she hastily clarified. "I mean, it's common sense that you need money to make money, but don't you already need funds for establishing this new organization with the accur— Erm… Knights? Should we really divide our assets at a time like this?"

"A good point," Emese agreed and waited for me to respond.

"Honestly speaking, funding isn't our biggest bottleneck at the moment." The Dracis couple looked me like I just told them the sky was a cow made of gluten-free pasta, so I figured I better clarify myself. "While money is definitely vital for things like procuring equipment or building materials, plus the ever-important wages I'll have to pay sooner or later, there are many vital things I need right now that no amount of cash can buy."

"Such as?" Emese prompted me.

"Mostly things related to enchantments. I can get a few custom-made tools from the Critias School's Artificer Department using my connections and doing a few favors here and there, but it's unrealistic to rely on them for any industrial scale manufacturing. Not only that, but there are a couple of rare and exotic materials required for the more elaborate enchantment jobs that are only produced by certain other Schools, and you can't exactly just buy those with money."

"I've heard that!" Elly interjected all of a sudden. "You specifically said, 'with money'! I know what that means! You already have other plans in motion, but you're just trying to keep us in suspense."

"Guilty as charged, but if you already knew, then why are you ruining my pace?" I griped as I carefully pinched her cheek, but she only let out a silly giggle, so I let her go with a shake of my head and told the others, "As Elly has graciously pointed out, I already have ways around this roadblock that don't require money. Artificers are big on exchanging ideas and the concept of equivalent exchange, so I can use my own understanding of the trade to barter with them. Of course, this has its own pros and cons. For a start, there's only one me, and I'm busy as is. While doing some freelance enchanting costs me nothing, it would eat up a lot of my time, and I'd have to do a lot of it to gather everything I need."

"That's not a good idea," Elly chimed in. "Judy's going to be mad if you get sick again."

"Sick?" Emese raised a brow at her daughter's comment. "You get sick from enchanting?"

Before I could answer, the princess nodded in my stead and explained, "He gets a fever and all woozy from overdoing it, so Judy's been doing her best to moderate Leo's bad habit of overworking himself."

"You should listen to her, my boy," Sebastian commented between two sips from his wine. "Your health is vital."

"That almost sounded tautological, but yes, I know. That's why I said that I can't rely only on my own work to gather all the resources I need, and just throwing more money at the problem won't fix it either. In any case, this is something I have to deal with on my own, and there's no deadline looming over my head, so I'll figure something out sooner or later."

"Speaking of deadlines," Mama Dracis interjected, using my own segue to add, "The date of the conference is officially decided."

"When did that happen?" Elly uttered in mild alarm, and her father let out a low chuckle.

"This morning." He tapped on the table with his finger and explained, "The opening banquet will be held this Sunday, and then the conference will last for the entire next week."

"You have a lot to talk about, huh?" I spoke my thoughts aloud, and a bit of consideration later I added, "So I have until the end of this week to whip the Knights into a presentable shape and ready for the official founding of our new organization. Joy."

"Oh? You want to unveil your plans during the banquet?" Papa Dracis mused aloud. "There's really no need to rush; you'll have plenty of opportunities during the conference. You should just enjoy yourself at the party and mingle a little."

"Wait, hold your horses. Could you go back a bit," I called out with a palm raised. "I'm invited to the opening party?"

"Of course you are," Elly told me like it was completely obvious, and Emese followed it up with a similar sentiment.

"It's only natural. You're part of the family."

"In spirit, maybe, but not legally speaking," I pointed out, and Sebastian raised a brow at my objection.

"Now that I think about it, the boy isn't wrong. He isn't in the family register, and he's not even engaged to the young missy yet."

"Oh, that's right!" Abram suddenly exclaimed with an expression that said he had an idea. "Why don't we announce your engagement during the banquet?"

"Wait, what?"

My words were completely lost in the excited clamor of the family, with Elly's voice rising over them with an alarmed, "But what about Judy?"

"Let's invite her too and you can get engaged to her too," Emese answered with an impish smile, causing my girlfriend to shake her head so hard she whipped me in the shoulder with her hair.

"No, Judy's getting engaged to Leo too!"

"Of course. Everyone should get engaged to everyone," mom-in-law declared like it was a given, and my girlfriend couldn't really find a good way to object. As for me, I've long since given up on this whole topic. Knowing Emese's personality, I knew it was only a matter of time she'd bring it up.

"Leo!" the princess shook me just as I was about to drink some water. "Say something!"

"Excuse me, I zoned out for a moment. Who am I not getting engaged to again?" She was just about to start pouting, so I inhaled deeply, rested a hand on the top of her head, and took a sip from my glass, in that order. "While I do think it's a bit early, I'm not against the idea on principle."

"You're not?"

The question, surprisingly enough, came from Sebastian of all people, so I gave him a shallow nod.

"Not particularly. It would not only help legitimize the Knight organization under my command, but it would also help ward off certain unwanted suitors."

Also, just because we were engaged, it wouldn't mean we'd have to get married next week. We were both minors, for a start, so even if my in-laws got worked up over it, we'd have to wait a couple of years to tie to proverbial knot, and by then it will surely become apparent if our relationship was meant to be.

"Ah, by suitor, do you mean Naoren?" Abram blurted out, and I responded with a shrug.

"Probably. Was that the name of the guy who was bothering you?" Elly nodded, with my hand still tousling her hair. "In that case, yes. It probably won't do much, but it would give me a good excuse to bounce him off during the banquet."

"So you can't recall his name, yet you already know about Naoren Feilong's participation in the conference," Sebastian remarked on the side, and I could once again only shrug. Honestly, it would've been weirder if a named potential rival didn't show up in a scenario like this. The fact that he ended up as my adversary instead of Josh's was a little annoying, but Elly didn't seem to like him at all, and I really couldn't bother to pay too much attention to unrequited runner-ups.

"He's going to represent the Feilongs during the conference," Sebastian added, and all of a sudden my previously waning attention was rekindled with a sense of alarm.

"Hold on. How old is this guy again?"

"I'm not sure. I think he's twenty-three? Maybe twenty-four?" Abram pondered aloud. "Darling, when were we invited to his coming of age ceremony?"

"It was four years ago, so he should be twenty-four," Emese answered, and my frown deepened at once.

"And he's representing the entire clan by himself?"

"He's a prodigy our Eastern brethren put their hopes upon," Sebastian replied in a disinterested tone. "He took control of his clan right after he came of age by deposing his grandfather."

"Is that normal?"

"Not at all," came the answer from Emese, and her husband nodded along.

"The Eastern Draconians are big on tradition. Filial piety, seniority, those kinds of things. Normally he couldn't rise above his elders like that, but Naoren's just that competent, I suppose."

"Oookay, so maybe I should pay some attention to this guy after all," I muttered in a hushed voice.

Not as a love rival, of course. On that front, I was still confident, but if this guy was also the representative of the entire bloc of Eastern Draconians, and we're guaranteed to butt heads over the princess, it could spell disaster for my plans of introducing the Knights as our internal peacekeeping force. In the worst-case scenario, he might oppose me on principle, and if his bloc backs him up, it would be the equivalent of taking two steps forward and one step back in regards to the Knight situation.

How do I avoid that? That was a difficult question, so I figured I might as well start working on it right now. I had a feeling the opening banquet this Sunday would inevitably turn into a social battleground, and I needed to prepare for it.

"Can I have a request?" The Dracis family looked at me as if the question itself was silly, so I hastily continued with, "Can you tell me about the Eastern Draconians in detail? What should I look out for, social faux pas, those kinds of things?"

"Certainly!" Abram exclaimed with a toothy grin and poked his wife with his elbow to get her attention. "Look, honey! Leo is getting fired up!"

"I can see that myself," the lady of the house grumbled as she poked him back, and he let out a throaty chuckle.

In the meantime, Sebastian quietly finished his meal and linked his fingers.

"Let me give you a quick summary," the old man started and used his head to gesture towards Abram. "As the rascal has already mentioned, our Eastern brethren are much more traditional than us. Unlike our bloodlines, they didn't mingle with the high society of humanity. During my travels before I met my third love, I spent some time wandering Asia, and all the Draconian families I encountered were either ascetic clans or mountain hermits. It wasn't until the end of the last century that they began to involve themselves with human affairs, so they still adhere to many old customs."

"Such as?" I prompted him, and Sebastian remained silent for a while as he pondered.

"First and foremost, you must be polite to their elders. Even the Feilong boy must pay proper respect to his seniors, despite being their clan head. You absolutely must not be disrespectful to them," he told me firmly. "I've heard from miss Sennoma that you have a bad habit of antagonizing people in power, so I would recommend reigning in any such impulses."

"It's not entirely in my control, but in my defense, it hasn't happened in a while now."

He acknowledged my response and continued with, "They are also very insistent on respecting social hierarchy. You have to remember to address them by their titles, and never use someone's given name unless you're in private."

"Got it. Don't be rude; especially don't be rude to the elderly. Now, what can I use to improve my image?"

"They are going to pay you a certain amount of respect just for being part of the family," Emese interjected.

"That's right!" Abram followed her up with his usual lack of an inside voice. "If you want to make a good impression, just do things they like!"

"Such as?"

"They like their booze!" Papa Dracis declared, and Sebastian exhaled a sigh in exasperation.

"What the rascal is trying to say is that they are social drinkers."

"Well, that's out for me. I'm a minor."

At least on paper, but that was beside the point.

"There's also gambling, but I don't recommend it," Abram spoke up again, this time with a troubled frown. "They don't like poker, and their dice games are confusing."

"They also really like dueling," Elly cut in, sounding just a touch desperate to contribute to the conversation.

"You're right!" Abram exclaimed again. "I have to bring several changes of clothes whenever I visit them, because I always get challenged to duels by everyone. It's crazy! Last time, I stayed over for three days, and I was challenged seven times!"

"Before my injury, I was also challenged a few times," Emese added a tad awkwardly. "It's considered impolite to refuse a challenge, but… Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I grumbled in a low voice, and mom-in-law cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Then why are you holding your head like that?"

"Don't mind me; I'm just already seeing my future, that's all…" I griped from behind my face-palm. "This is so goddamn predictable…"

The rest of the family was getting increasingly more baffled by me, so I shook off the sense of foreboding trepidation handing over my shoulders. I'll blow up that bridge when I inevitably get there, so let's focus on the main topic.

"Okay, so duels are apparently a thing they just conveniently do. Fine. Any other odd recreational activities I should know about?"

"Well, if we're talking about those, there are also the—" Abram began, only to fall silent and slap the top of the table with a loud "Ha!", startling everyone in the room.

"What?" his wife glared at him with a tangible sense of disapproval, but even that couldn't damper dad-in-law's enthusiasm as he pointed a finger at me.

"Son! Do you remember what we just talked about? About the rare materials you need for enchanting?"

"Yes?" I answered a touch hesitantly, and he instantly flashed me a grin so wide it threatened to split his face.

"I just remembered a way we could solve your problem by throwing money at it after all!"

"An auction?"

Judy sounded rather intrigued as she swiveled around on my chair, so I pushed myself up from the bed and answered, "That's what dad-in-law told me yesterday. It's something they just do whenever there's a big congregation of Eastern Draconians."

"So it's a tradition?"

"Something like that," I said with a shrug.

In case it wasn't obvious, we were in my room at the moment. Judy came over after school, and we've been discussing things, experimenting, and fooling around in equal measure, as usual. I was on a break at the moment, so she took my place in front of the PC, and the conversation somehow ended up on this particular topic.

"That's unexpected," my dearest assistant murmured under her breath, so I shrugged again.

"It's just a thing they do. Old Draconians are apparently unabashed compulsive hoarders. They probably got it from their scaly side of the family tree. Sebastian slowly collects whatever cursed curio tickles his fancy over the span of decades, while the Eastern Draconian elders prefer holding big, fancy auctions to gather all kinds of unique stuff in one fell swoop."

"I still don't see how that's going to help you. We're looking for rare materials, not artifacts."

"One and the same. The latter just requires some disassembly first," I responded with a smirk. "Not only that, but they say that a lot of independents and even some of the Schools view these auctions as a chance to sell their wares to the highest bidder, so it should be a good opportunity to get our hands on some extra rare things. Abram said he'll spread the news, and we even managed to get Sebastian to put up a few of his less sentimental doodads for auction to drum up some interest."

For the first time in a while, my stoic girlfriend looked downright flabbergasted.

"How did you manage that?"

"I had Elly use puppy-dog-eyes. It was super effective."

She let out an eminently impressed hum, much to my gratification. Sebastian might be a Scrooge, but even millennia-old dragons are weak against their great-granddaughters.

"When will the auction be held?" came my assistant's next question, and one I could only frown at.

"I haven't the foggiest. Unless the Simulacrum decides to be helpful and conjures up a venue out of thin air, it should take some time to organize it. My bet's on doing it after the conference."

"So the weekend after this one." I nodded a tad ambivalently, but Judy didn't seem to mind, and instead she asked the most obvious question. "Are we going to participate?"

"Not if we can help it. It sounds like it will lead to all kinds of annoying shenanigans. Let's just leave it to the people already experienced with this kind of stuff."

"So, Abram and Sebastian."

"Yep. We'll have more than enough annoying crap to deal with already, so the last thing I need is getting involved in a crazy bidding war scenario with all the related tropes."

"By 'annoying crap', I presume you mean the Eastern Draconians' penchant for dueling. The thing you mentioned this morning." I grunted in the affirmative. "It does sound like an awfully convenient plot device for some engineered conflicts."

I couldn't agree more if I tried.

"I know, right? It's so in your face, in any other circumstances, I'd half expect it to be a red herring."

"I don't think the Narrative is subtle enough for something like that."

"And that's precisely why I'm already preparing for the inevitable."

"Are you planning again?" she inquired, and after some consideration, I shook my head.

"I wish I could, but for that, I'd have to know what to expect. Which, if I might add, would be much simpler if not for the Chinese Draconians coming up with half a dozen different kinds of duels just to complicate my life."

"So no nefarious secret plans this time around," she noted, but before I could object to her choice of adjectives, she cut me off by asking, "In that case, can you tell me about those half a dozen different duels you mentioned?"

I glanced at the clock, then back at her, and ultimately uttered a simple, "Sure."

"A moment, please," she said and swiveled the chair around, only to do it in reverse once she picked up her phone from my computer desk. She assumed her usual note-taking position, then gestured to me with a soft, "Proceed."

I inhaled a deep breath, properly sat up on my bed, and did just so.

"After a long discussion with the men of the Dracis family, I narrowed things down to three different and distinct kinds of pains in the ass our future guests could inflict on me."

After the preamble, I waited for Judy to stop typing, and only then did I elaborate.

"The first is the closest thing to a proper duel. It's about two combatants squaring off in a ring surrounded by witnesses. However, if dad-in-law's description was accurate, it's less of a deathmatch, but more of an elaborate pissing contest with magical martial arts. First one side makes a fancy move, then the other, and they keep going back and forth until one of them gives up. Gawking onlookers are optional, but highly recommended."

"Sounds fairly simple to me."

"Sure, but since I have no flashy magical moves of the martial variety, I really want to avoid this one. Unfortunately, since this is for people in the same 'generation', I'd probably get challenged to one by Elly's unwanted admirer sooner or later."

"In that case, you better start learning some of those super attacks. I recommend practicing one that lets you fire laser beams from your sword."

"… I don't think that's a thing, even in magical swordsman circles," I pointed out, and I should know. I was technically the leader of the oldest operating group of swordsmen who ever magicked in the history of sword-magicking. That said, I made a mental note to ask Cal about this later, just in case.

Meanwhile, Judy scoffed at me and declared, "Please, Chief. I have it on good authority that a swordsman cannot be considered as such if they cannot fire beams from their sword. It's a quote originating from famous Japanese samurai and Shinsengumi captain, Okita Soji."

"Let me guess: you found it on the internet."

"Obviously," she told me with gratuitous solemnity, only to then add, "It's a well-known fact that every quote on the internet is perfectly sourced and always accurate, and it must be true, because Mark Twain said so. Or was it Winston Churchill? One or the other."

"Oh, I see. In that case, it must be true indeed," I said with an unsubtle roll of my eyes, then continued in a more serious tone. "I'm not planning to learn how to shoot beams just yet, because I'm not going to play along and duel the guy in the first place."

"But then what about your image as the famous and powerful Chimera Slayer of Critias?" Judy teased me (or at least I hope she did), and so I promptly rolled my eyes again.

"Oh please, Dormouse. I'm rich, unnecessarily influential, and I have not one but two awesome girlfriends already. Why would I need to prove myself to anyone?"

"A fair point," she soon concluded, tapping at her phone. "I believe we were at the kinds of duels the Eastern Draconians would theoretically use to annoy you."

"Right," I whispered and took a deep breath to center myself. "The first one was for people in the same generation, as nebulous as that sounds. The second most probable kind I could get tangled in is the reverse of that: it's a kind of 'duel' for different generations. Though, on second thought, calling it a 'contest' might be more accurate. Or maybe trial? Anyhow, the first part of this flavor of kerfuffle is apparently the same, with the squaring in the ring and all that stuff, but instead the 'elder' is supposed to strike the 'junior' with three 'techniques', and if the latter can still stand on their own legs at the end, it's considered their win."

"That's an odd tradition," Judy noted, and I vehemently agreed.

"I've no idea who came up with this or why they still call it a duel, but it's a thing, and it could happen for the banalest of reasons. Emese said she was once challenged by an elderly Draconian who was a guest at her parents' house just because she wasn't giving her 'face', whatever the hell that means. Nothing came of it, but if her anecdote can be used as an indication, it's likely something older Draconians of the Eastern persuasion might be a bit overzealous about."

"And since you have a track record when it comes to misappropriating older people's faces, you realized you are very likely to get involved in one such duel. Very self-aware of you, Chief. I'm proud of you."

"Oh, ha ha ha. Very funny. Also, what does 'misappropriating someone's face' even mean?"

"I don't know. I'll research it later."

That exchange required another eye roll, and once I was done with that, I returned to the topic at once.

"So, these two kinds of challenges are the most likely to crop up during the Eastern Draconians' stay, but there's one last possibility that would be simultaneously the most annoying and the least troublesome: a no-holds-barred duel within a Purple Zone. It's considered a serious deal, so it cannot be invoked just because someone looked at someone else funny, but it's also the biggest deal, as it can be used to settle serious disputes."

"That sounds kind of like the Knights' Arbitration," Judy noted on the side, and she wasn't exactly wrong.

"Kinda, but with the one difference that large-scale collateral damage is not only a possibility, but expected. According to Sebastian, they used to be extremely rare, because a full-fledged fight between older Draconians could ruin the countryside, but ever since the Eastern Draconians got more involved with the world and got exposed to Purple Zones, they are becoming more common."

"And you expect to get challenged to one of these?"

"Depends. Elly's unwanted admirer will likely try to challenge me to the first kind, there are a million and one scenarios the second kind could be triggered, while I have a sneaking suspicion I'll get challenged to the last type over the Knights. Either way, I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, as usual."

"Very prudent of you."

"Thank you, I'm doing my best as usual."

"Anything else to add to the topic of suspiciously convenient dueling traditions?" When I shook my head, Judy put her phone away and asked, "Should we get started with the experiment then?"

"We might as well. It's getting late, and you'll have to go home soon."

"Time flies in good company."

That unexpectedly cheeky comment drew a small chuckle out of me, and I agreed with a perfectly honest, "It sure does," as I got off the bed.

"Before we start," my assistant stopped me on my track just as I was about to reach for the collection of identical white mugs on my shelf. "I'm in the mood for some hot cocoa. What about you?"

"I certainly won't turn down a cup of tea," I answered absentmindedly, and Judy rose to her feet at once.

"Very well. I'll ask Neige if she also wants one. I'll be right back."

And just like that, my girlfriend left the room. It was a little sudden, but then again, she did tell me the last time that watching me play with tea mugs made her thirsty, so maybe she's just thinking ahead. In any case, since she vacated my chair, I changed my destination and sat down in front of the PC instead.

Since Judy was the last one to use it, there was an eclectic mixture of open tabs in my browser, ranging from wiki articles about French philosophers to the obligatory funny animal videos. This time it was a tiny otter, and it was pretty gosh darn adorable.

But putting the cute furballs aside, there was one familiar tab with a notification mark on it, and after suppressing whatever flavor of breath was about to escape my throat, I opened it up.

However, contrary to my expectations, it wasn't Mike who was filling up my PM box on the hub this time.

"MoroseMoose: Hey, Admin?"

"MoroseMoose: Sorry for bothering you over something like this, but I'm getting spammed all day today."

The messages were roughly twenty minutes old, but I still typed out an answer.

"Admin: ... Is it Ninja?"

Moose's avatar lit up the moment I finished typing my educated guess.

"MoroseMoose: Of course it's him."

"MoroseMoose: He's been pestering me for advice with his girlfriend."

"MoroseMoose: Even though I'm literally the last person on this planet anyone should ask for love advice."

"Admin: … Aren't you already married?"

"MoroseMoose: I don't see how that fact has anything to do with the topic whatsoever."

"MoroseMoose: More importantly, can you give him some advice in my stead?"

"Admin: Why me?"

"MoroseMoose: Aren't you dating Assistant?"

"Admin: I don't see how that fact has anything to do with the topic whatsoever."

"MoroseMoose: Ouch."

"MoroseMoose: Touché."

"MoroseMoose: "Seriously though, he's going to drive me crazy at this rate. Can't you do something?"

"Admin: Just mute him."

"MoroseMoose: Wait, I can do that?!"

"What are you doing?" came a sudden question from behind me, and right after that my favorite 'I

"I'm teaching Moose how to mute the PM notifications on the Hub."

"Is W1ng3n1nj4 being a nuisance again?"

Needless to say, she still pronounced all the numbers in Mike's online nickname, but by this point, I was sure she was doing it on purpose, and pointing it out would've been my loss, so instead I told her, "As usual. He's stressing over his relationship with Ammy."

"I still have a hard time believing that's a thing that happened off-screen," my girlfriend noted, and that finally made me glance up at her.

"Speaking of that, what exactly qualifies as 'off screen' anyway?"

Judy pondered the question quite seriously, so I used the opportunity to take a sip from my tea. It was great, as usual. I don't know if it was due to the old butler's tutelage or just her own efforts, but by this point I had to admit the tea she made was better than my own brews. I was just about to praise her beveraginary handiwork, but I was beaten to the punch by her answering my previous question with one of her own.

"Who's the point of view?"

"That's a good question," I mused between two sips. "But I raise you a better one: if there's a point of view, who's watching?"

"If anyone can figure that out, it's you," she responded before taking a sip from her own cup, and I couldn't really argue with that.

"Well then, I guess we should get started and hope that I can find something this time. Could you grab the mugs while I finish writing this?"

"On it."

Once she stepped back, I gave my concise instructions to Moose and subsequently excused myself, and by the time I finished, I had a series of identical white porcelain drinking containers lined up in front of me. Judy also stepped to the side and set her phone up so that it would record me and my vicinity, and after some adjustments, gave me a thumb up. In the meantime, I closed the hub and turned towards her.

"All right, this is mug experiment…"

"Seven," she commented, and I nodded along.

"Seven it is." After saying so, I reached out and put one mug aside. "This is our control."

"Noted."

"As for today's experiment…" I picked up the next mug, and after some thinking, I concluded with, "Let's try changing the color and the shape at the same time, and see how long it'll last."

"I'll start the timer on your mark."

Once we agreed on that, I took a deep breath, and gingerly extended one of my Phantom Limbs towards the mug. Under normal circumstances, it would've simply passed right through, but this time I consciously willed it into the object in front of me. At first it stopped, as if hitting an invisible barrier, but then my ethereal appendage slowly but surely plunged into it like water flowing into a hole, pulling my consciousness along with it.

As it happened, the outside world slowly melted away, like it was an oil painting someone poured thinner all over. At the same time, the mug in my hand began to shimmer and bleed into the dissolving world. I maintained my calm and focused all my attention on it, and before long the mug split. Not broke, but rather it was like how a cell would go through division, resulting in two seemingly identical items. Then those split, then the resulting ones did too, and in just a couple of seconds I was staring into a kaleidoscope of white mugs overlapping, merging, and splitting again and again in a chaotic mess.

The first time this happened, it nearly knocked me unconscious, but by this point I had enough experience with the phenomenon to know where to stop, and it was at the point where the concept of the 'mug' in front of me began to 'branch out' to encompass and incorporate any and all porcelain beverage containers with one handle. I forcefully stopped the process, though it would be hard to explain how I did it. To come up with an analogy, it was kind of like trying to purposefully suppress an earworm song that's stuck in one's head. It was tricky, and I couldn't maintain it for long, so I worked as fast as I could and picked one of the mugs out of the literal millions in front of me, and once I grabbed hold of it with my second Phantom Limb, I dragged it over the physical object still in my physical hand.

This was the biggest breakthrough I've had with my powers recently, and also the biggest change compared to my first foray into the world of infinite mugs or what have you. Back then, I used a single Phantom Limb to explore this space. Let's call it the 'root directory' of the Simulacrum. During my original attempt, I had to anchor myself and explore at the same time, and when I tried to interact with the world more deeply, I lost my footing and suffered a backlash. This time, I used one to stabilize my presence, while my other ethereal appendage would do the heavy lifting. I still had to be careful, so I was only playing around in the shallow end of the pool, but I was certainly making some progress.

Speaking of progress, there was strong resistance, but a non-insurmountable one, and I managed to very, very carefully superimpose the new mug on the old one. Then, with an inaudible 'pop', kind of like when a puzzle piece falls into place, the two images snapped together and I was instantly pushed out of my trance.

I gasped for air, and after reorienting myself, uttered a flat "Mark," prompting Judy to start her stopwatch. It was only then that I took a closer look at the item in my hand. It was undeniably a mug, but its color was just a hint yellowed, and its ear just a touch wider. Honestly, it was hard to tell the difference at first glance, but that's why we had a control sample, so I placed it right next to that one.

Without any further ado, I picked up another mug and repeated the process. It was more or less the same process, except this time I went a little further, so this one ended up visibly greener. For the next one, I focused on the shape instead, and managed to make it round, while the next one ended up so flat it barely qualified as a mug anymore. More of a novelty Frisbee, maybe? That one took way more effort, and I had to catch my breath for a minute afterwards.

Honestly speaking, I had no idea exactly what I was doing, but that never stopped me from trying. If I had to make an educated guess though, it kind of felt like I was directly interacting with the very bottom strata of the Simulacrum, replacing one asset with another.

Now, while that might sound amazing, there was a huge caveat: the change wasn't permanent. I had no idea why, but after using this… what should I even call this? Reality hack? Whatever it was, it could only change the properties of an item for a few minutes. Take the first mug as an example; just a second or so after I put it down, the air around it started shimmering like the pavement in the summer heat, and through a slow process, it would return to its original shape.

Once it was no longer distinguishable from our control sample, Judy declared, "Three minutes, fourteen seconds."

"So it was about the same time as when I only changed the color," I noted, and she nodded along.

I glanced at the other experimental items, and they were covered in the same glistening haze. Judy couldn't see it, and it felt distinctly different from the colorless magical light I was really familiar with already, so it was obviously significant. I just didn't exactly know how.

"Did you get any new insights?" Judy inquired and picked up the first mug to observe it from up close.

"Not much," I answered with one hand already massaging my temple. "I have this gut feeling when I'm looking at them transform back into their original forms, but that's all."

"I'm still listening," she told me and put the mug down, so I collected my thoughts the best as I could.

"It doesn't feel like an active process, so I don't think the Simulacrum is trying to correct their shapes. It's more like heat, maybe? As in, I imparted something into the item, it gets dissipated into the environment over time, and as a result, the changes get undone."

"I kind of understand your analogy, but kind of don't," Judy grumbled, but I could only shrug.

"That makes two of us. This whole thing is completely unintuitive. It's just… I feel like I'm doing something wrong and that I should be able to make the change permanent, I just have to figure out how." I paused here to pick up the next mug and stated, "Anyhow, the headache is getting worse, so this is the last one for today. I'll try to push the boundaries a bit this time."

"Chief, that's your—"

Judy's objection was melted away with the rest of the outside world, though it didn't take me long to realize what she was trying to warn me about. Without meaning to, I accidentally picked up my favorite cup, still half-full with tea. I would've rolled my eyes if I knew where my body was at the moment, and I tried to pull back, only to stop and pause in puzzlement. The feeling was… different this time.

It was hard to tell what was different though. The kaleidoscope of mugs was the same as always, and I was still inside some kind of non-Euclidian dream-space filled with audible tastes and colorful scents, but something was definitely odd. It was more… how should I put this? Comfortable? Cozy? Kind of like the perception equivalent of a warm pair of socks in a lone winter night.

Was it because I was more familiar with my own mug? Or was there a deeper reason? Either way, the sensation was both uncanny and yet invigorating, and it smelled like feldgrau. That was the color of the scent of opportunity, by the way. Did I mention this space was bloody weird yet?

More importantly, I focused my attention on the medley of 'I

There was no time to waste though. While this unexpected break allowed me to go a bit 'deeper', it also made my connection more unstable, and even while supporting myself with both of my Phantom Limbs, I could only maintain my current state for a short time. I could theoretically go even 'deeper', but the last time I did that, I almost fried my brain and gave myself the second worst headache ever, so I didn't push my luck. So, what could I do with this?

The question became considerably more urgent as my connection shook again. Since I couldn't think of anything better on short notice, I grabbed hold of a suitable mug. Of course, that meant that now I only had one Phantom Limb anchoring me, and as the world around me became even shakier, I used the last of my focus to forcefully slap the new image onto the mug in my hand. To my shock and alarm, instead of the familiar 'pop', there was a low, rumbling hum that sounded like it was building up to an explosion of sourness, but before I could experience it, I was expelled from my daze with a loud gasp.

"—own mug."

I blinked at Judy. Doing this always had some kind of time dilation in play, but this was the first time seemingly no time had passed at all.

"Well, that could've been much—" 'worse', I wanted to say, but the last word was replaced by a pained hiss escaping between my clenched teeth when I spike of agony nailed itself into my brain. The sensation only lasted for a second, rapidly mellowing into a comparatively pleasant migraine that didn't slip my girlfriend's notice.

"Chief? Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I think," I responded while massaging my temple. "I tried to modify my mug and… Holy moly!"

"What?" she uttered in alarm, and I pointed at said mug. There was a long beat of silence, but then she leaned closer to take a closer look, only to glance at me and repeat, "What?" in a considerably more confused tone.

"I had a small breakthrough. Look! I modified it, but there's no sign of it reverting back!"

"You changed what?" my dear assistant asked again, this time sounding just a little bit puzzled.

"The mug?" I told her with an equally perplexed glance.

Now, to be fair, the change wasn't drastic at all. It was still a perfectly ordinary mug; cylindrical, white, it had a single handle; it was a totally normal, perfectly average container of warm beverages… except it was saying 'I

For a few seconds we both stayed silent, but while I thought it was because Judy was trying to comprehend the implications, she just became more and more bewildered until she finally asked, "What am I supposed to look at?"

"… The text on it," I told her patiently, yet she still didn't seem to get it, so I spelled it out for her. "It used to say 'I heart coffee' on it."

This time her eyes narrowed into a squint as she stared at me like I just told her breakfast was my favorite mode of transportation.

"Chief, your mug always said 'I heart tea'."

"No, it didn't," I denied by reflex.

"You never drank coffee from it," she countered.

"That's the point. It's ironic," I answered her with a slowly rising sense of alarm. "I told you this when you went out to buy a mug for your own. I thought that's why you bought that 'I heart my boss' mug, so that our mugs would match. Ironically, I mean."

Based on Judy's expression, I must've been saying something monumentally silly, and she told me, "No Chief, I bought it because I really hearted you even back then."

"I know, but…" I looked back and forth between my girlfriend and my mug, and as I did so, an astounding realization reared its head in the back of my mind. I silently swallowed, then I asked her one last time, "Judy, are you one hundred percent sure it didn't say 'coffee' on it?" She nodded confidently, and I couldn't help but let out an uncontrollable chuckle as I began to accept the implications.

"Chief?" Judy touched my shoulder as a hint of worry crept into her deadpan voice, probably concerned by my behavior, but I couldn't help it. I was so giddy I even forgot about my headache for a second.

It took a while, but I got my voice under control and looked her in the eye with what I hoped was a not too disturbing smile, and told her, "Don't freak out Dormouse, but I think I just retconned my mug."