Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Revelations and Reunions
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“Sometimes I just don’t get it.”
Luna, who was brushing her hair in front of the mirror, and Leaf, who had been gazing out the window, both turned their heads at Rachel’s words as she chewed on a slightly underripe potato, skin and all.
“What?”
“That human kid.”
Luna let out a small laugh as Rachel mumbled with her cheeks puffed out from stuffing in so much potato.
“Young Master Adelian.”
“…Yeah, Adelian. Don’t you think they treat him too preciously sometimes?”
Of course, he was the frailest among them. Excluding that Kane guy she’d never even glimpsed, he was the only human, so his physical abilities were clearly inferior to those of the beastkin, golem, or doppelganger.
But beyond that, Rachel couldn’t understand treating him like a child left unsupervised by the water’s edge. Why? What was the point?
“You haven’t been with us long enough to know, Rachel.”
Luna began to speak softly, wiping her ears with a soft cloth.
“Young Master doesn’t value himself much.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Luna slowly traced back through her memories.
“Young Master has some important goal, and it seems like he needs us to achieve it. But he doesn’t include himself in that ‘us.’”
So even if his legs were severed, even if he was surrounded by monsters, even if a dragon blasted him with breath, he acted as if fear didn’t exist—like he was the least valuable card in his hand.
That’s why Luna sometimes felt afraid. If the greatest gain came from sacrificing himself, Adelian would walk that path without hesitation.
“So he might abandon us at any moment and disappear somewhere.”
―Agreed. The Administrator has qualities unlike others.
[He includes himself among the discardable cards.]
Rachel scratched her head as she looked at Luna’s words and Leaf’s chalkboard.
“Honestly, I don’t get it.”
She’d just thought of him as a sly, annoying, but entertaining guy.
Sure, ever since meeting that human kid Adelian, nothing but interesting things had happened.
Sticking with him meant she wouldn’t be bored for a while. With no immediate way to reclaim what she’d lost anyway, she figured she’d follow him around and enjoy this little game.
He had his suspicious sides sometimes, but nothing that truly threatened her, so Rachel kept it simple.
But.
“Now that you mention it, yeah. How do I put it? He seems kinda detached from reality.”
It was too odd to just chalk it up to him having guts.
Sure, because she’d intervened, things hadn’t gone south, but hadn’t he nearly vanished in a dragon’s breath?
A normal human would be traumatized just looking at their own face, yet here he was betting it all. Not long after almost dying to a twin-headed ogre, he was off to hunt a cyclops.
And humans, no matter how much they denied it, had an instinctive undercurrent of contempt and wariness toward non-humans.
Especially nobles.
But Adelian looked at beastkin or humans alike with blank, indifferent eyes.
“I never really thought about it until now, but once I start, it just hits different.”
Luna spoke up at Rachel’s words.
“How should I say it? He lacks a bit of the basic instincts all living beings have.”
That’s probably why he kept Zero around, she added, and Rachel and Leaf nodded.
―The Administrator seems to know the dangers intellectually.
[But it doesn’t feel real to him.]
“Well, I was surprised too.”
Why else would tales of doppelgangers circulate as ghost stories across the continent, even though they’d never properly surfaced?
It tapped into the primal fear inherent in all living things.
Your family member suddenly replaced by someone else. Or you, suddenly becoming something that wasn’t you.
The person who was laughing and chatting just yesterday was still them—their memories, thought patterns, even ingrained habits.
Yet the dread that it wasn’t their essence.
Is the me that’s been copied really me?
If the existence I’ve lived as until now is already dead, and that thing lives on as me.
If someone I love has been killed and devoured, replaced by an imposter.
That’s what a doppelganger was. The primordial terror that every sentient being feared most.
But if someone treated them purely as a lifeform, as if that instinctive fear didn’t exist.
“Anyone who knows Zero’s true nature has imagined it at least once, lightly or seriously. What if they replace me?”
“That’s why he’s so polite about it? Yeah, thinking about it, it’s kinda scary.”
Rachel groaned and flopped onto the bed spread-eagled.
“He’s the type who thinks, ‘If needed, I can die since there’s Zero.’ Right?”
[Exactly.]
Luna pouted a little and threw herself onto another bed.
“He even gave Zero a strand of his hair as a test.”
Weirdly, Zero couldn’t transform into Young Master.
That’s weird too.
Rachel smacked her lips and grinned.
Did it really need deep thought? Fun was what mattered to her right now—nothing else.
“He’s the most entertaining human I’ve ever met.”
Worth sticking around for the whole game.
That’s what Rachel thought.
* * *
My heart was pounding a little. Like back when I’d wait for a favorite movie’s release.
Early on, when everything felt floaty and game-like, I’d joked about harem endings.
But now I knew better. These weren’t mere novel or game characters—they were real, living people, and their emotions were wholly their own.
‘Still.’
After choking down all those frustrating plot twists to follow the original story, investing in the game’s crowdfunding as a diehard fan—some things were inevitable.
No, how could I not be hyped? The protagonist meeting a heroine candidate.
And my top ship at that. Rachel’s straightforward, bubbly energy healing Kane’s gruffness and dark past like, whoa, just like that?
That’s what I’d hoped for.
“Nice to meet you.”
“What’s this now?”
I hadn’t hoped for this.
“That’s my line.”
“Ha, you’re a fun one too? Second place.”
We’d decided to stay at the advance base until the cyclops subjugation, so I’d finally get to see Kane and Rachel meet.
What the hell had I done wrong?
I hadn’t expected pink backgrounds and love at first sight, but this was on another level, mossy rolling stone!
Wasn’t there some line about sensing something at first sight?
I glared at Leaf for no reason, then awkwardly smiled and wedged myself between Kane and Rachel.
“Haha, why’s the vibe like this? Huh?”
“Adelian, that woman—wasn’t she with Lepid? The residual mana feels the same.”
How do you even know that and remember it?
“Hey, human kid. What’s with him? Is he human? I didn’t think there’d be another human as fun as you. Raise him right, and he’ll be a monster.”
I sighed as I watched Kane’s cool detachment and Rachel grinning ear-to-ear like she’d hit the jackpot.
No, this wasn’t the dynamic I wanted. Not this.
“Now that I’ve joined, you’re not needed, lizard.”
“I’m human right now, remember? Just a frail martial artist who can’t even use magic. Let’s have some fun together. Why so uptight?”
Leaf aside, even Luna and Zero flinched at Rachel’s casual addition—It wasn’t like I breathed the damn thing.
Those glances at me were filling with guilt before I could stop them…!
―Administrator. Breath? What do you mean?
“Ah, that’s, uh…”
Plus, how was Luna, unregistered as an administrator, even chatting with Leaf?
I cut off Luna before she could ramble and spoke up.
“Let’s wrap up greetings and talk over some food? Kane, loosen up. It’s been ages since the whole party’s together.”
“Yeah, loosen up your fa—...?”
I shoved a carrot into Rachel’s mouth as she tried to add more and sat at the table.
Suddenly exhausted, blood sugar crashing…
“Seriously, how’d you assemble a party like this? Huh? You’re too fun. I pledge my body and soul in loyalty, loyalty.”
I gritted my teeth into a smile at Rachel’s whisper as she sat beside me.
“Shut your mouth for a sec.”
“What’s this ‘body and soul loyalty’ crap?”
“Senior, I’ll explain it later after sorting things out.”
Zero whispered something at Kane’s question. They’d been apart for a while, so personal happenings hadn’t synced yet.
I sighed, watching Leaf request a spar with Kane, Luna and Zero exchanging meaningful glances.
“For now, I’ve added Rachel to the party. We drop the guard around each other, but since she’s playing human, treat her as human Rachel.”
Kane, who’d been staring at Rachel expressionlessly, nodded lightly.
Good, that’s settled.
“Then, any reports you couldn’t give via Siren? Now’s the time.”
I munched on cookies Zero had set out and tea Luna poured, shifting my gaze. Kane spoke up.
“As you wanted, I’ve secured solo mission operational authority.”
“Perfect. They had no choice but to give it.”
Kane was top-tier in combat but low in seniority, so even forming a temporary squad under him—who’d follow?
Even assigning peers, this wasn’t a standard subjugation. One slip against a count-level monster could be fatal.
Better to use a nuke like him to overwhelm than a commander type without standout leadership.
“I joined the officers’ meeting as proxy for three mercenary bands.”
Truth was, Kane acted like I could puppet him anytime, but he was formally contracted here—not a weapon I could yank freely.
No reason for Reinhardt to undermine Kane’s credibility either.
So proxy for Vincent, Leiden, and Kicho was the fitting pretext.
“You know my situation’s gotten messy.”
“Your identity’s exposed, Young Master, and this place is dangerous.”
“No telling when word’ll reach the main family.”
I nodded at Luna and Kane. Publicly, I was just a reckless punk gallivanting while Kaiman was away.
I’d banked on Kaiman seeing me as a ring vault—not doing anything life-endangering. But now I was.
The Kruger collaterals who’d gain from my death were under Kaiman’s thumb. He’d keep me alive to use later somehow.
But knowing I was in such danger, he might forcibly summon me home.
If this weren’t monster borderlands, the family might’ve been alerted the day my identity slipped.
But it was a borderzone—full of exiles or honor-seekers. No direct lines to Kruger house.
‘Just a matter of time, though.’
So my tasks: swiftly handle the cyclops, muddy any info leaking to the family, and brace for worst-case fallout with Kaiman.
“We have to kill the cyclops, no matter what. For me.”
“I don’t get it. Couldn’t you just bail and be fine?”
I glanced at Kane as Rachel gulped cookies like water.
“No. We need that cyclops.”
For achievements. To surpass human limits safely means nothing.
Everyone but Rachel—Luna, Kane, Leaf, Zero—nodded. Rachel shrugged helplessly too.
And then.
[Young Master Adelian. This is Alkaido. I have urgent news regarding Lady Gadia.]
Siren chimed softly, relaying the thought, and I exhaled slowly.