The Simulacrum

Naoren's handshake was firm, yet not overbearing. I tried to make mine the same, though I wasn't sure I succeeded in the attempt. I've got a mark out of it either way, so I couldn't exactly complain.

"Goodbye senior, and thank you for your teachings!" the small girl at our side grinned ear-to-ear and gave me yet another fist-against-palm salute. I had no idea why she was thankful, as I only shared a few common-sense platitudes with her, but if she was happy with that much, I wasn't going to rain on her parade.

I expected that her lively voice would turn at least a few heads in the lobby, but the hotel staff and assorted Feilong personnel more or less ignored our little group gathered in front of the main entrance. Was it because they were placeholders, or because they were already used to the sight? I couldn't tell. Though again, they didn't even as much as glance our way since we stepped out of the elevator, so maybe they simply didn't dare to dawdle around because Naoren was with us.

After my negotiations with the bespectacled clan leader finished, we headed over to the dueling room as promised. I half... two-thirds... fine, I totally expected to find Rinne and odango girl locked in a sparring match. To our surprise, they were amicably sitting on the mat-covered floor, with an array of empty fruit juice bottles and candy wrappers strewn between them, no doubt the victims of their discussion. After they cleaned that up, I was forced to play the role of a knowledgeable ‘senior' for half an hour, and once the kid was happy, we said our farewells. Or would've, if not for Naoren insisting that it was traditional for the head of the clan to see off his guests at the gates, which in our case meant the hotel's entrance.

"I hope our cooperation will prove both lasting and fruitful," he told me, and after vacillating between just agreeing and telling him not to jinx it, I ultimately nodded along.

"Same here. If there are any new developments in the situation, I'll inform you."

"I'll strive to do the same."

We left it at that, and after saying our goodbyes, for real this time, I left through the door with Mountain Girl right behind me. It was already dark outside, and somehow, in the span of a few short hours, the weather went from fairly mild to bone-chillingly cold.

"We're taking a shortcut," I told the highly visible ninja, and she let out a thoughtful hum before pointing to our left.

"Rinne believes there should be a secular alley that way."

"The word is secluded, and do you mean the one where we encountered the first mini-Chimera way back when?"

"Yes."

"Sounds good enough." I picked up the pace, but even so, I figured it would take a couple of minutes to reach our destination. As such, I inquired, "So? What did you talk about with odango girl?"

"Does Leonard-dono mean Xiao-chan?" I nodded, and she considered her answer for a while. "We have discussed many things."

"Can you give me an example?"

"We talked about martial arts, balance, and our favorite foods."

"How am I not surprised… I guess that means you got along with her." She let out a hum I interpreted as a yes. "What's your impression of her?"

"Xiao is a smart child, and she is magnanimous. When there was only a single candy left, she gave it to Rinne, despite the blood of the mountain deities running thick in her veins."

I had no idea what those two things had to do with each other, so I just said, "Meaning her draconic lineage is strong."

"Yes."

"… And? What else?"

"Her knowledge of Yin and Yang is also outstanding for one so young."

"Did you really only talk about martial arts and food?"

"Yes. Mostly. She also asked some strange questions."

That comment perked up my waning interest right away, and I pressed her.

"What exactly did she ask about?"

"She wanted to know if Rinne was betrothed to anyone. She also wanted to know what Rinne thought about Naoren Feilong."

"… And how did you answer?"

"Rinne told her he seemed strong and wise."

"I suppose the former is obvious, but where did 'wise' come from?" I asked with a frown, and my self-ascribed retainer gave one of her trademark 'Is he dense or just messing with me?' kind of looks.

"Naoren Feilong decided to befriend Leonard-dono, proving he possesses great wisdom."

"Did you tell her this too?"

"Naturally. Rinne also expressed that Naoren was far more pleasant than Rinne expected. Xiao was really excited when Rinne said that, but Rinne doesn't understand why."

"It's a mystery," I uttered a touch ambivalently, though I naturally had my own ideas.

More importantly though, we reached our destination. The alley behind the large Chinese restaurant was more or less the same as I remembered. Plain, dim, and despite the rows of trash cans by the wall, completely clean. The fact that things were mostly spotless even after all this time was still immersion-breaking as ever, but at this point I was so used to it I'd probably get culture-shocked if I ever ran into a piece of litter on the street.

"Wait, Leonard-dono! Rinne will scout the perimeter first!"

Before I could react, Mountain Girl dashed into the alley and meticulously checked behind every thrash bin and garbage container.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Cats," she blurted out, only to freeze and nearly drop the lid in her hand. "Enemies! Rinne wanted to say enemies!"

"Inside a trash can," I said a touch flatly.

"Yes! Leonard-dono must never underestimate the lengths foes could go to catch their target off-guard."

"… Just admit you're looking for cats. It's already out of the bag."

"No, Rinne definitely isn't looking for any!" she denied, only to then immediately turn on a dime and add, "However, if any cats were to appear while in the process of searching for evildoers, Rinne would consider it a welcome coincidence."

"Fine, fine. Keep looking then, but be quick about it. I can barely feel my toes in this cold."

Mountain Girl paused what she was doing, and after a long moment, she put the lid back onto the trash bin she was inspecting and walked over to my side.

"In that case, Rinne is already finished."

"Are you sure? You haven't checked that container yet."

"No. It is for plastic bottles only, so there's no reason for them to be there. If there were any in the vicinity, they would've chosen to linger around the cans holding the leftovers from the restaurant."

"Are we still talking about random enemies?"

"Yes," she insisted, and I left it at that. "Should Rinne enter Leonard-dono's shadow?"

"No need, let's just go home."

Saying so, I wrapped a phantom limb around her with practiced motions, and we both reappeared inside the reception area of the base. Maybe because I was chilled, but the room felt positively balmy, even though it had only minimal heating in the form of a single electric radiator. The heating system was still under construction, so most of the rooms were using these, with only the barracks and the communal areas getting a more robust heating solution. It was good enough for now, as we had lots of other things to focus on, but since I was still a little cold, I urged Mountain Girl to move along, and we entered into the considerably warmer central hall.

"My liege." The moment I stepped through the door, I was greeted by Arnwald, apparently passing by just by pure chance. I waved to him, and he probably mistook my greeting for something else, as he quickly made his way over to us. I didn't mind, as I wanted to talk with him later anyway. "Did you succeed in your negotiations?" I was just about to wonder how he knew where we were when he added, "Sister Rinne said you were to visit the head of the Feilongs."

"We did, and we came to an agreement," I told him while gesturing for him to follow, and we began walking towards the lounge area, where, by the looks of it, Brang was once again acting as the barista. Lately, he even started experimenting with cocktails, and went as far as to ask if we could add one of those huge, professional espresso machines to the counter. While I generally wasn't fond of coffee, so long as he had fun with it, I saw no reason why he couldn't add it to the requisition list during the next budget meeting. After all, everyone needs a hobby.

Speaking of which, how come everyone around here seemed to have one, except for me? Sure, I still went online to mess with fan communities by over-analyzing their favorite movies and TV shows and pretend they were full of references to Russian literature and postmodern philosophy, but I wasn't entirely sure that counted. Not to mention, I haven't been doing it lately anyway, because Judy kept nagging at me about it, calling it unhealthy and a waste of my brain cells. One of these days, I really had to come up with a proper hobby, preferably one we could do together with the girls. Maybe fishing?

In any case, by the time we reached the bar counter, Brang already had a pot of tea brewing on a portable stove. I gave him an appreciative nod and turned to Mr. Eagle, and the moment our eyes met, he asked, "If you had indeed come to an agreement, does that mean the Feilongs approve of the formation of the Ordo Draconis?"

"The what now?" I blurted out in surprise, and the man lightly cleared his throat.

"Over the past several days, we have repeatedly discussed the topic of the name of our fledgling organization, and 'Ordo Draconis' is my personal recommendation. I hope my liege approves it when the time comes."

"It doesn't sound bad, but let's hear out the other options as well, just to be fair." He acquiesced, and in the meantime, Mountain Girl took a seat and started drinking a glass of lemonade, with actual ice cubes in it. I would've asked why she'd do that, considering we were walking outside just a few short minutes ago, but it would've undoubtedly resulted in another lecture about yin and yang and whatnot, so I focused on Arnwald again. "On the topic of the negotiations, while Naoren was receptive, let's not count our chickens until they hatched."

"Do you believe he only agreed in word, but not in spirit?"

"I have no idea," I admitted with a shrug. "He might honestly think our proposal is neat, but considering we butted heads over Elly… or at least we were supposed to…" My words trailed off as I realized this point mainly concerned our narrative predictions, so I shook my head and stressed, "Let's ignore that part. In any case, he changed his attitude too smoothly, and that's just plain suspicious. For now, we can consider him a tentative ally, but I'll have to keep an eye on him, just to be sure."

"A prudent decision, my liege."

"Rinne didn't see any falsehood in Naoren Feilong," the highly visible ninja noted between two sips from her drink. "Rinne believes that Naoren Feilong truly wishes to be nakama with Leonard-dono."

"He wants to be a what?"

"Nakama," she repeated with a frown. "It means trusted companion." My first reaction was to ask why she didn't just say that, but I swallowed it down when she firmly proclaimed, "Leonard-dono can trust Rinne's intuition. Rinne is a great judge of character."

"… I don't even know where to begin objecting, so let's just leave it at that," I murmured, then took a deep breath and resumed the previous conversation like this sidetrack never happened. "Let's just say that while I don't fully trust Naoren, he probably won't backstab us if we don't give him a reason, so we should focus on more pressing issues. For example, I'd like if you could tell me everything you can about Morgana and Agravain."

"… Are they already on the island?" Mr. Eagle inquired with a guarded frown.

"Not only that, they've made a deal with the grand elder of the Feilong clan to do something during the upcoming tournament," I explained, and he accepted my words without a hint of skepticism.

"I have to say, that does not sound like something sister Morgana would do."

"She apparently believes you're captured by the Dracis and she wants to cause a scene to force them to release you."

"Ah? In that case, that does sound like something she would do after all," Arnwald turned on a dime. "She wouldn't be entirely wrong in her assumption either."

"Does this kind of thing happen often? Working together with Draconians to conspire against other Draconians, I mean?"

After considering my question, Mr. Eagle hesitantly nodded.

"Not often, but it's certainly not unheard of. There is no shame in exploiting the schemes of our enemies against each other. Though, I suppose I should no longer call them that…" His voice trailed off, but then he shook his head and continued with, "Sister Morgana is rather conservative, but if she thought we were still alive, and it was the only way to rescue us, she would certainly use the opportunity to use the Feilong elder, even if she herself would be used in return."

"Do you have any idea why she didn't try to contact me or Penny first? Both of us are in the open, after all."

"Knowing Sister Morgana's personality, she might not even have considered the option," Arnwald mused, and a beat later he added. "Either that, or she concluded that you are compromised, and avoided contact on purpose."

"That's also a distinct possibility…"

In the meantime, my tea was ready, and I graciously accepted it from the Faun general. I took a couple of sips, and while it warmed me from the inside, I tried to put together the puzzle pieces of this situation.

Let's say this Morgana came to the island after she lost contact with the rest of the Entitled Knights. She snooped around and discovered that I was not only dating Elly, but that Penny had been attending school from the Dracis manor for a couple of weeks. She most likely concluded that we were either kept in check with hostages, or had betrayed the others. Either way, she wouldn't show herself in front of us, lest her presence would be revealed, so while looking for allies to mount a rescue operation, she got into contact with the grand elder, and the rest is history. It sounded plausible enough, but it also raised a question.

"For the record, how exactly did you keep in contact with her in the past?"

"Messenger pigeons," Arnwald answered with a straight face.

"Seriously?"

"It works," he insisted, but then let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, we cannot use them to contact sister Morgana anymore. Our pigeons were set loose during the battle in our temporary headquarters, and even if we could find them again in the wild, she most likely wouldn't believe our message and suspect a ploy behind it."

"Well, I wasn't planning to go out searching for pigeons in the first place, so I guess trying to contact her is not going to happen either way. What can you tell me about her abilities then?"

"Sister Morgana is the Gorgon Knight," Mr. Eagle told me, and it immediately made me scrunch up my brows. "Is there a problem, my liege?"

"No, I was just wondering—" I almost said 'why she's wearing an armor with feather motifs?', but halfway through I realized Leonard Dunning wasn't supposed to know about that yet, so I changed it to, "What kind of gear does she use?"

"Sadly, the Gorgon Knight's armor was irreparably damaged during The Blitz in the second world war." That made me raise a brow, but before I could ask him to elaborate, he continued with, "Last I'd seen her, she was using parts of the Great Owl Knight's armor to replace the missing pieces. You should be able to quickly recognize her by the plume decorations on her helmet."

Oooh? So that's what the ears were! Stylized owl horns! That made waaay more sense.

"So she's not using her proper gear?"

"Unfortunately, many of our armors had been lost over the centuries, so mixing multiple compatible pieces became common in recent decades. I believe brother Duncan's boots originally belonged to the late Ogre Knight."

"Really?"

"Boots, gauntlets, and helmets are easier to recover than cuirasses or greaves. I believe brother Percival had over fifteen helmets in his possession, serving as mementos of Knights of old."

"Did you say fifteen? Just how many Entitled Knights used to be out there?"

It was only a stray question, but it made Arnwald sigh in melancholy.

"Brother Percival once told me that, in the golden age of the Brotherhood, there were over a hundred Entitled Knights in active duty."

"And now there are, let me see… Seven?"

"We have indeed fallen on dire times," the middle-aged knight sighed, but then he perked up at once when he added, "Thankfully now our liege is here, and with your efforts, we might yet reach even greater heights than we would ever dare envision."

"I would personally be okay with a more peaceful and productive organization, really."

"There is honor in that as well," Mr. Eagle concluded with a smile, and I nodded along, though I would be blasted if I knew what he meant by that.

"So, Morgana is the Gorgon Knight. What about Agravain?"

"Brother Agravain only recently took upon himself the mantle of the Raven Knight, and he's sister Morgana's nephew," he explained smoothly, not at all bothered by the way I forcefully changed the direction of the discussion. "Last I'd heard, he was still recovering from an injury, but he must have heeded sister Morgana's call. He is a master of subterfuge and reconnaissance."

I suppose that description fit the 'Raven' moniker pretty well, and while I was tempted to ask about the inventory artifact, I once again reminded myself that I had to make sure I wouldn't talk about things only Bel would know about, and instead I inquired, "How dangerous are they?"

"In terms of combat prowess? Sister Morgana is a veteran of the Brotherhood, and due to her unique abilities, she is a dangerous opponent to face in a duel. As for brother Agravain, he is…"

"… He's what?"

"He… was not particularly combat-minded, if my memory serves right. He was rather focused on the logistics and overarching strategies of the Brotherhood, and he… used to get into frequent arguments with my liege over various things."

"Such as?"

"Nothing major, I assure you. If you cannot remember it, maybe it's for the best."

"… You do realize that dancing around the issue like that only makes me want to know about it even more, right?"

Arnwald remained staunchly silent, despite my best disapproving frown. Nevertheless, from what he said so far, I'd already gathered that I didn't get along with the Raven Knight guy before my amnesia. That could potentially mean trouble, so I'd have to keep an eye on the guy. As soon as I could mark him, which will happen as soon as we can find them.

Either way, I made a mental note, and moved on, just in time for Mr. Eagle to clear his throat and ask, "What are your plans, my liege?"

"I wish I had any," I grumbled. "Or rather, I have a vague idea about how we could use this whole situation to our advantage, but the details are still fuzzy. For now, I'll keep an eye on the grand elder and his ilk and see if I can figure out what exactly they're planning, and then I'll work something out from there. I doubt anything significant would happen on that front before the tournament, so for now, I'll focus on more pressing issues."

"Does Leonard-dono require our help?" Mountain Girl inquired while Brang refilled her empty glass, but I shook my head.

"No, it's not something you can help with." This time all three of them gave me odd looks, so I explained, "I meant the upcoming school festival and some other, more personal matters related to it."

"Oh. Rinne understands."

"I wish you the best of luck, my liege."

Even Brang was giving me an encouraging thumb up, which made me wonder just how much of my troubles they were aware of. Anyhow, I dismissed the issue with a wave of my hand, and was about to get going when Arnwald called out to me again.

"My liege. I almost forgot to mention it, but brother Duncan was looking for you."

"Duncan of all people?"

"He said he wished to take you up on your offer to modify his Uniformer outfit. He also mentioned something about hoping to ask for a sparring match."

"I get the first part, but… Sparring? Really?"

"[The young ones are beyond excited by the prospect of the upcoming martial tourney,] Brang spoke up for the first time since we came over, followed by a soft chuckle. "[Be glad, Blackcloak. Such spirited temperaments are bound to give birth to swift improvement among thine followers.]"

"Yay," I uttered in my best deadpan voice, but as I thought about it, I told Arnwald, "I have some time to spare, so lead the way."

He practically beamed at me, almost like he knew I would play along despite my protests, and the three of us headed over to the barracks to get the big oaf. I said three, because Rinne decided to tag along so that she could witness what kind of pointers I would give to my subordinates. Her words, not mine, and I wasn't planning to do any of that.

Still, considering how hectic things were getting again, and how stuffed my schedule was promising to be with the school festival, the Christmas ball, the tournament, and the auction coming up one after the other, I figured I might as well just consider today's meeting as a success, and celebrate it by beating up Duncan. Who knows? Maybe I'll make that my new hobby.

"Ah, 'at hits th' spot!" the large knight sighed and put his half-empty keg back onto the table in the middle of the Knights' barracks.

"Drink responsibly," I noted between two gulps of my lemonade, and Duncan looked at me like he was the one tasting something sour.

"Just let him drown his sorrows. It's every man's right," Roland commented on my other side, earning him a sideways glance for his trouble.

"That's a dangerous sentiment. I don't want to see any drunken fights in the base," I commented, then paused and frowned. "Also, what sorrows does he even have to drown?"

"Did you seriously have to ask that?" Roland shot back with a frown of his own, and the big guy on my other side let out a quiet yet noticeably indignant huff I completely ignored.

Long story short, after adjusting his uniform, Duncan had challenged me to a sparring match, just as expected. We were only using wooden training swords, so I didn't bother to buckle on my full armor and fought him with only my gauntlets and boots for support. As for how it turned out, I figured the sullen look on the big guy's face spoke more than a thousand words.

Roland came around a bit later, and after I fully finished quality checking the wards on Duncan's Uniformer, he invited me for a drink to cool down. The rest was self-explanatory.

"Oh, come on. Somebody has to lose in a spar," I echoed the same words I always told Josh whenever we trained together. "That's just how they work."

"Maybe, but losing five times in a row is still demoralizing, so I believe Duncan has every right to drink his fill."

I locked eyes with Mr. Griffon for a while, but ultimately relented with a sigh and turned to the morose Mr. Minotaur sitting next to me.

"You're allowed one more keg for mood-improving purposes, but no more than that."

"Ah dinnae need yer alloweed," the big guy grumbled, and took a noticeably smaller gulp from his beer.

As much as he wanted to deny it, Duncan was obviously salty about the outcome of our sparring match. While I joked about beating him up, it somehow really turned out like that, and while at first he was on the offensive, by the fourth round the whole thing became really one-sided.

"If ainlie ah hud mah sword..." he grumbled after wiping his mouth. "I miss mah sword."

"Why don't you just use your axe?" I inquired a little halfheartedly, and the big guy let out a lung-rattling groan in response.

"Tis fur ah cannae uise that while th' toonament! th' axe o' th' minotaur cuts thro' defenses lik' they're made o' soggy cludgie paper, 'n' ah cannae uise it fur sparring." Duncan was a bit more verbose than usual today, probably thanks to being a little tipsy already, and after another long sigh, he continued with, "If ah accidentally lob someone's boost, Penny-gurl wid murdurr me deid."

"I think at that point my sister would be the least of your problems," I pointed out, only to receive an indignant huff.

"Th' neist time ah catch up wi` that pumpin' Bel o' th' Abyss dobber, a'm aff tae git back mah sword, ur die tryin'!"

"Is that sword really that important?"

"O' coorse it's! ‘Tis a fowk ‘eirloom! 'Twas mah da's da's da's sword!"

"The MacCumhail family had been the bearer of the Minotaur Knight mantle for over seven generations," Roland noted on the side and took a swing from his beer can.

"Tis a feckin' black affront Ah wull avenge!"

"Easy there, big guy. Easy."

Duncan glared at me, obviously worked up, but when I met his eyes, he soon deflated with a quiet ‘Bah!'

"If Ah aye hud mah sword, ye wouldn't dare tae tell me tae tak' it easy..."

"What was that? I couldn't hear it."

"... Nothin'."

I figured that was the end of it, but then Roland of all people let out a thoughtful hum.

"Truth be told, I don't think you could defeat Leonard, even if you used your heirloom blade." I was just about to object, but he beat me to the punch my pointing a palm at me. "I'm serious. You fought Duncan with partial gear and won five times in a row. I sincerely doubt having a proper weapon would have made much of a difference."

"Ah hate 'at Ah cannae deny 'at in guid conscience," Duncan grumbled under his breath, but then he slammed his empty keg onto the table and exclaimed, "Jist hoo in th' nine hells did ye gie sae strang anyway? Ye used tae be a weaklin' jist puckle months ago! Is it coz yoo're th' kin'? Isnae 'at jist cheatin'? Yer doin' mah nut in!"

"I don't believe the King of Knights is granted any special powers in combat," Roland noted as he looked me over. "In fact, Leonard's abrupt growth in speed and strength is borderline inexplicable."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal. Sure, I have my reflexes, but it's not like I'm superhuman without my Knight gear." I was waiting for a response, but I only found Mr. Griffon staring at me like he was waiting for a punch line, so I uttered a confused, "What?"

"Leonard. By chance, are you really unaware of the fact that your physical abilities are obviously beyond human measure even without your equipment?"

"No, they're not," I denied by reflex, but when he remained steadfast, I couldn't help but feel less certain about it. "Or are they?"

"You repeatedly parried Duncan's strikes while he was using his Uniformer," he noted.

"So? It's just a matter of technique and timing, and it bruised my palm quite a bit even then. I don't see what's so superhuman about that."

"If I tried the same without wearing my gear, I would most likely dislocate my wrist. Even with just the Uniformer's reduced physical enhancements, Duncan's strikes are no joke."

"Yeah! Aam nae a joke!"

"Please let me finish," Roland frowned at his obviously drunk colleague. Huh. I never expected Duncan to be such a lightweight. More importantly, Mr. Griffon focused his attention back on me and declared, "Considering your performance against Penelope during your arbitration as well, I believe you have considerably higher baseline physical abilities than a normal human."

"... Okay then. Let's just entertain the thought. What does that actually mean?"

"I have a theory," Roland declared dramatically, only to then completely ruin the moment by picking up his empty beer can and tossing it into the trash bin at the other end of the room. At least it landed on point, because otherwise it would've been just plain awkward. "You're an orphan."

I blinked and my eyes snapped back to the Knight pointing at me. After a long moment, I answered with a tentative, "Yes?"

"That means you don't know anything about your parents."

"I wouldn't know anyway because of my amnesia, but yes, I suppose being an orphan means that, by definition, I have no idea about my parents," I obliged out of curiosity.

"That means we cannot be sure of your lineage either," Roland declared with a self-satisfied smile. "I have a hunch that you might actually have some mystic ancestry that only recently manifested. It would explain your sudden growth in power, as well as gaining a second chance to pull the Kingmaker."

"The kin—Oh, you mean Cal, right?"

He nodded, and we both winced as Duncan slammed his fist into the table.

"'At mak's sense! Ye mist hae lost yer auld lang syne whin ye awakened yer bloo'line!"

"Slow down, guys. You're jumping to conclusions already." Despite my best efforts, the two of them got really worked up over the idea, though I couldn't tell how much of that was genuine and not just the result of an alcoholic buzz. Still, while I was pretty sure my memory loss had a more fourth-wall-breaking explanation, the topic was certainly intriguing, so I asked, "What does my amnesia have to do with this ‘bloodline awakening' thing anyway?"

"It's not entirely unheard of," Roland mused with two fingers stroking his moustache. "There were many Phantasmal Species around the world who interbred with humans, and their descendants might not even be aware of their heritage. Generally speaking, the more distant the blood relation, the harder and less likely it is to awaken the bloodline. Sometimes certain triggers are required, or a traumatic event. In your case, whether your amnesia was caused by a bloodline awakening, or the other way around, is purely incidental."

"It's loch a chookie an' an eeg," Mr. Minotaur added without actually adding anything to the conversation. It didn't stop him from looking all proud and smug though.

"So you think this happened to me, and that's why I have higher specs than I'm supposed to have."

"In a nutshell," Roland confirmed my summary, and I slowly shook my head.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's unlikely. When I started dating Elly, Abram used a blood sample to check if I'm compatible with them, and according to him, I'm a one hundred percent certified purebred human."

"Really? Is this test reliable?"

"I think so. The whole point is to make sure their draconic traits are inherited without a hitch, so I'm pretty sure they would've kicked up a fuss if I was half cerberus or something."

"I don't think cerberi ever interbred with humans," Mr. Griffon noted, frowning, and I followed his example.

"That was supposed to be a joke. How even is a giant dog with three heads supposed to breed with humans anyway?"

"Hoo dae wyrms?" Duncan commented on the side, and I had to grudgingly give him a point.

Roland, on the other hand, gave the question way more thought than it really deserved, and ultimately told me, "I'm afraid I'm not an expert when it comes to the reproductive processes of phantasmal creatures. Maybe you could ask miss Rinne?" My brows shot up at once, so he clarified, "She should be more knowledgeable in the topic, considering Japan is notorious for the number and species of phantasmal creatures that lived along and readily propagated with the local population. I believe it's one of the main reasons why there never had been much Draconian presence on the island. Too crowded."

"And you think she would know more?"

"If not her, then who else?"

"Yeah! She keeps talkin' abit bein' a hunter ay somethin' ur somethin'…"

Mr. Minotaur's mumbles were followed by an honest to goodness hiccup, forcing me to turn over and take a better look at him.

"… Duncan. Are you seriously telling me you're drunk after only two beers?"

"Haud yer weesht! Aam nae blooter'd, yoo're tay sober!"

I had a feeling I wasn't going to get anything done with this guy for a while, so I faced the contemplating Mr. Griffon again. When he noticed my gaze, he let out a shallow sigh.

"Let's return to the original topic. Are you absolutely certain this blood test you talked about could be trusted?"

"Maybe not 'absolutely certain', but fairly so."

"So that's it for my theory then… You have to admit it was a quite good theory though."

"In more ways than one," I answered with a reassuring smile, and I wasn't lying.

While it probably didn't apply to me, it could actually give me a potentially working Watsonian explanation for how Josh's transformations are supposed to work in-universe. It's possible that he, through genetic lottery, ended up with a mixture of all the big, important supernatural bloodlines, and him ingesting blood from the corresponding donor would only serve as a trigger to 'awaken' his dormant traits. Maybe we could even speculate that it's only temporary because the different bloodlines are normally suppressing each other.

It was a lot of conjecture to draw from a stray discussion like this, but it was still gourmet food for thought, and I would've probably called Judy to discuss it in detail if not for her being busy at the moment with planning certain things in the company of Elly.

"Maybe we could ask Friedrich to test your blood, just in case?" Roland proposed, apparently not ready to give up on his pet theory just yet after all, but I could only muster a disinterested shrug.

"It's not exactly high-priority, but maybe later."

"What's mair important than 'at? Th' toornament?"

"I think Leonard meant the deal with the Eastern Draconians," Roland tried to correct him, but I shook my head.

"Sorry, but you're both wrong. I'm mainly focusing on the school festival and the Christmas ball and everything that comes after that."

"I don't think that's more pressing than either of the topics we brought up," Mr. Griffon pointed out, earning him a soft groan.

"Sure, maybe not in the grand scheme of things, but as far as my relationship is concerned, it's a huge freaking deal, and I can't afford to mess it up."

"Your relationship?" my less tipsy conversational partner repeated after me contemplatively. "True. Considering you have two girlfriends at the same time, I can only imagine how trying it could be to uphold such a relationship."

"It's not that difficult though, just… Well, let's just say I set myself a very special deadline, and I'm getting a little restless because of it."

"Whit kin' ay...? Och? Did ye teel them ye woods pick a body ay them fur real?"

I sent the grinning oaf a sideways glare, but he didn't seem to get the message.

"There's no picking involved. I'm already engaged to both of them, remember? I still have no idea what the island's legal system thinks of that arrangement, but in any case, at this point, our relationship is just one step away from being set in stone."

"Then I honestly can't see the problem."

"It's more… intimate in nature," I told them at last, and the two guys shared a glance that said they weren't sure they heard me right.

"Bide a minute! Dae ye pure techt... ye huvnae dain it yit?" When I remained silent, the big guy barely stifled a guffaw. "Ur ye serioos? Ye hae tois burds an' ye huvnae dain onie pumpin'?"

"People in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks, Duncan," Roland commented with a sharp sense of disapproval, and Mr. Minotaur quieted down at once.

"Lae me aloyn. Ah tauld ye aam savin' myself fur marriage."

For a moment I had to question my ears, but before I could ask Duncan to elaborate, Roland pointedly cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Since it's related to that, I can understand why you're anxious. If you need any advice, feel free to ask me. While I can't say I have experience with multiple women at the same time, I can—"

"Stop. No need to continue," I interrupted him with outstretched palms. "I appreciate the offer, but I've already done my research, and I doubt you can tell me anything new. I'll just have to figure out how to apply it on the spot."

"Very well," he nodded, then after some consideration he added, "Just in case, let me give you a single piece of advice: don't overthink it."

"That's easier said than done, but thanks."

Roland gave me a thin-lipped smile, and I tried my best to return the gesture without it ending up too strained. Honestly, with my luck, I'll be probably too tired to overthink anything. In fact, I could only hope we wouldn't run into some unforeseen trouble during the school festival that would completely drain me well before the big night…

Ah. The long-awaited school festival of Blue Cherry High. It was a day full of bustle, and fun, and romance, and...

"Leo! Come quick, there's trouble!"

"Oh come on! I just finished fixing the lights! What is it this time?"

Angie visibly shuddered in response to my shouting, though to be fair, I pretty much had to be yelling to let my voice be heard in the noisy backstage.

"The back entrance is getting clogged again! There are too many people trying to get in! We need a boy to set them straight right now!"

"Just ask Josh then!" I responded while doing my best to organize the dozens of electric and audio cables lying on the ground so that hopefully nobody would trip over them.

"He can't! They are holding the fort at the main entrance with Pascal!" Angie shouted back. "I'd go and help them, but I have to change!"

"It's that late already?" I glanced at my phone, and let out the mother of all groans. "Bloody hell, it's already this late? Go change quickly, the concert is starting in twenty minutes!"

"Roger!"

With that, the energetic Celestial scampered away to the back of the gym, where we set up a portable tent so that the girls could change into their costumes in relative privacy.

Anyhow, I made sure that all the connectors were secured, and as I left the backstage, even my thoughts were nearly drowned out as I collided with a wall of cacophonous noise coming from the hundreds of attendees crammed into the gym. Needless to say, preparations for our class performance were in full swing. In fact, things were kind of wildly over-swinging at the moment, due to the fact that nobody expected that we would be drawing in a crowd this size.

When Mrs. Applebottom originally told us that the school festival would be open to the public, I thought she only meant the families of the students. I was wrong. I expected maybe a hundred of our school mates to attend our concert, but I seriously underestimated the hype our announcement of an idol-concert generated over the weeks. I had a sneaking suspicion it was heavily fanned by the four creepy amigos and their network of 'red blooded males', as they called it, but without evidence, it was little more than a hunch. Though to be honest, the fact that they had been camping out since last evening to be the first in line, and that they were currently standing in the first row while decked out in a whole set of crazy fan gear, from headbands to glow-sticks and flags, certainly made my suspicions more justified.

In any case, the crowd was swelling by the minute, and just as Angie was telling me, the back entrance of the gym seemed to be the most critical area at the moment. By the looks of it, the two placeholder girls stationed there couldn't deal with the veritable flood of guests. Without further ado, I dove into the sea of loudly idling attendees and tunneled my way over to my destination with the stoic determination of an especially damn-deficient rhinoceros.

"LISTEN UP, YOU UNRULY SIMPLETONS!" I bellowed the moment I arrived, drawing everyone's attention to myself. "IF I DON'T SEE A SINGLE LINE IN FRONT OF ME IN THE NEXT THIRTY SECONDS, NOBODY IS GETTING IN! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

As expected of placeholders, once clear instructions were given, they followed them without any protests, and in a couple of seconds, they formed up into a tidy line.

"Thank you! Make sure you show your wrist band to the ticket inspectors, and get moving!"

After some initial hitches, things soon became orderly, and I could let out a sigh in relief.

The ticket wrist bands were Elly's idea, and while at first I thought it was just going to be a cute role playing element, it turned out she was extremely serious. Through dad-in-law's connections, she somehow procured an entire box of them, and they completely sold out before the school festival. Granted, we were selling them at a nominal fee, but looking back on it, I should've expected a crowd like this. As always, hindsight had an annoying habit of rearing its ugly head when I was least expecting it. Though again, I guess that's what hindsight was all about...

While I mused on this, the line slowly thinned as the stream of newcomers slowed to a trickle, and for good riddance, as I was pretty sure we've already reached the gym's capacity... twice over.

Admittedly, I could certainly understand why everyone would be interested in our event. With the support of the Dracis's and their record label, we had a professional setup one wouldn't really expect from a high school production. The stage already felt like something of an overkill, but we even had a full set of enormous speakers, multiple remote-controlled colored spotlights hanging from the scaffolds, a laser-show globe, and even three different smoke machines. Elly had spent a long time explaining what each one of them did, and how a fog machine was entirely different from a haze machine, but let's not get into the gritty details right now.

"Good work, Dunning."

I glanced over to the source of the unexpected compliment, and found Armband Guy standing there. Though, on second look, calling him by his usual nickname was a misnomer this time around, as he currently wasn't wearing his arm band, opting for a waiter's uniform... combined with a high-collared vampire costume. As far as I could gather, their class couldn't decide whether they should make a haunted house or a café, so they went with a haunted café.

"Thanks for the help," I responded with a thin-lipped smile. "I think we're over the worst of it, so you can return to your class if you want."

"No need. My class suspended its operations for the duration of the concert. In fact, I believe every class had chosen to do the same."

"That would certainly explain the number of students wearing costumes in the crowd..." I muttered as I glanced over the roiling ocean of people in front of me. I tried looking for familiar faces, but it was hard to recognize anyone in the dim lighting and with all the artificial fog drifting about. "Now that I think about it, where's Judy? Last I'd seen her, she was inspecting tickets at the main entrance, wasn't she?"

"Sennoma was called backstage a while ago. I thought you would have met her there."

"I guess we missed each other. Maybe she's helping Elly and the others getting into their costumes?"

My curiosity roused, I was just about to Far Glance her way, but was interrupted by Pascal asking, "Dracis is performing on the stage today, is she not? Are you not going to the front to watch her?"

"I... suppose I should?" a responded a touch uncertainly, and he honest to goodness patted me on the back.

"Just go. I will stay here to keep things orderly."

"What about the main entrance?"

"Bernstein should be able to handle it."

"... In that case, don't mind if I do."

He nodded, and I rolled up my proverbial sleeves before wading through the crowd again. The big rush was over, the lights were working, and the instrumental background music told me the concert was about to begin at any minute, so I shamelessly elbowed my way to the very front of the audience. It was only then that I realized that the gap I found in the first row was all thanks to everyone keeping half a step of distance from the creep quartet, but I figured so long as I ignored them, everything would be fine.

Then, as if everyone was waiting for me to arrive, the lights went out, the ambient music was phased out, and then... The show began with a BOOM! And I meant that literally. That was both startling and a little alarming.

I was pretty sure nobody said a single word about pyrotechnics to me, and— wait! Are those flame jets?! What the actual, Biblical hell, princess?!

I crossed my fingers, hoping against hope that they wouldn't trigger the fire alarm and wash the concert away, and miraculously enough, nothing happened. Or rather, nothing unplanned, as in the meantime the spotlights came to life and our trio of idols burst forth onto the stage.

Elly, Angie, and the class rep were wearing matching outfits consisting of short, frilly dresses, with simple vests and enormous bows on their lower backs, thigh-high boots, and loose detached sleeves. All of them had black as their base color, with red, blue, and violet highlights, respectively. Their hairdos naturally also received some touch-ups, and Elly even got her nostalgic hair drills back, making the trio even prettier than usual. It was more or less as expected. This was an idol concert, so cuteness was the name of the game.

Well, at least until the music started. Maybe I should say, 'As expected', but the princess's preferences naturally influenced our choice of genre, and the audience's surprise was palpable when instead of a cutesy love song, the sound of an electric guitar lead into... a metal cover of a popular cutesy love song. Sure, Elly's tastes were there, but we obviously wouldn't depart that far from the beaten path.

The crowd's confusion was soon washed away by the thumping of the bass, and by the time the princess started singing, the concert was already back in full swing. Since she was the only one with any background in music, Elly had to do all the heavy lifting and sing the lead vocals on every song, while Angie and Ammy would mainly just dance and do backup vocals during certain parts. The hyperactive Celestial was naturally way more into the dance parts, while the class rep preferred to focus on the singing, so on average, they provided more than adequate support for the blonde girl in the middle.

Speaking of her, I gave my full attention to my girlfriend, and the rules of convenient timing once again showed their hand, with the lights switching around to focus on her, just as she started on the second chorus.

Let us be clear on one thing: I would sooner commit seppuku with a rusty grapefruit spoon than to say something as trite as 'I fell in love all over again', but I had to admit, seeing her having a blast on the stage made me feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy emotions. I was genuinely happy for her, and I even felt a tinge of pride, even though I knew it was completely unwarranted.

Elly dreamed of being a singer, and the fact that the conflict with the Knights was actively holding her back was the main reason why I was still working on resolving it. Well, that, and avoiding any potential battles of mortal danger, but it was mostly the former. I would've really loved if I could say this performance was the result of my hard work, but that would've been disingenuous.

A concert was one of the more common high school cultural festival tropes, and I had little to do with it being chosen for this event. As for safety, even if the Knights were still prowling at large, we were at the heart of the local Magi territory, still on high alert after repeated incidents. There was literally no way an attack could happen, so recruiting the Penny and Co. did little, if anything at all, to raise the security of this performance. At most, this served as a trial run, a glimpse at my ultimate end-goal, and I'd be lying if I said seeing my girlfriend singing her heart out in front of an audience didn't make me even more motivated than before.

Unfortunately, all good things had to eventually come to an end, and the same was true for today's main event. The trio on the stage cycled through the nine songs we practiced one by one, all of them metal covers of popular pop songs I'd naturally never heard of before. The girls were very insistent about their popularity, so I left the playlist in their hands and focused on the more tangible parts of the organization process.

Still, I could at least recognize the last song, and after the final bombastic chorus, the stage lights were supposed to dramatically cut out on the last beat. They didn't.

That was a pretty lame spot to have technical difficulties, and I was just about to head to the backstage to figure out what went wrong when the spotlights focused on Elly again.

"Thank you, thank you! You are all breathtaking!" She waited for a moment for the cheers to quiet down, then exclaimed, "We still have a very special performance left for a very special someone!"

That... definitely wasn't in the script, but before I could get any more baffled, I was outright bamboozled when another set of stage lights focused on the curtains in the back, and out walked Judy, dressed in the exact same costume as the rest, save for the pastel pink highlights. She also had her hairdo touched up, and wore her favorite bow as well. Combined with the costume and the light makeup on her face, she certainly didn't pale in comparison to any of the other girls on stage.

I was still in the process of digesting this development when she stood next to the princess, and the music started. It was a slower melody, and it didn't take me long to recognize it as a Dragon Prodigy power ballad we listened to while putting together the song list, but it wasn't the included in the final cut. It was a song about the hardships of true love and how one had to just smash through all obstacles in the way. It was also, unsurprisingly, a duet.

Case in point, my girlfriends began to sing in tandem, Judy's sonorous and rich voice perfectly complimenting Elly's cheery, fluttering soprano. It started out slow at first, but this was a power metal song we were talking about, and a long one, and with each bridge, the tempo became faster and the performance more bombastic, whipping the audience into a frenzy that easily matched the fervor of the main event. As for me...

"Well, crap. I think I just fell in love all over again..."

I had no other choice but to look for a rusty spoon now, I supposed, but I couldn't find any. Instead, when I glanced over at the quartet on my left, my eyes met with those of Mr. Bowl Cut.

We didn't share a single word (not that we could, considering the thumping bass and the screaming crowd), yet he casually reached out towards me, holding a pair of red and green glow sticks.

I accepted them, and if this was a manga, this would've been the point where the art style changed and we both turned into JoJo characters to symbolize something about manly friendship or what have you. I refused to have any of that, so I quickly overlaid the mental image with a chibi version of Ichiko in her fox form happily chasing a chibi version of a terrified Penny around the base, and everything was right in the world again.

Still, as I looked at the glow sticks in my hands, I couldn't help but feel a little iffy. I mean, I certainly wasn't the easily excited type, so wouldn't waving these around like an idiot be completely incongruous with my character?

Such doubts lasted only until I glanced up, just as my girlfriends struck a pose together at the end of the second chorus.

"Consistency is overrated..."

And with that, I threw my hands in the air, letting the mood of moment carry me, hoping it would last as long as possible.