Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: A Second Life
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In the end, I had no choice but to tell the fake Victoria that she had only ten minutes left.
A heavier air than ever before settled over us, and no one could readily utter words of comfort.
No matter that the Victoria before our eyes was a fake, she had taken these actions based on her own choices and will.
“…Ten minutes. That’s a time that could feel long or short, I suppose. I had somewhat anticipated it would come to this.”
The fake Victoria calmly accepted the situation facing her, forcing a smile as she spread her translucent palm.
“I am, after all, a fake who can never become the real thing. Besides, I’ve never heard of a slime that could defy its original body.”
“…….”
“Why are you all making such sad faces? My true identity as a clone of Memoriam has been exposed, and you can now remove a ticking time bomb. Isn’t that a good thing?”
The fake Victoria spread her arms wide, as if anticipating her own death. It seemed she wouldn’t even put up any resistance.
I didn’t like that.
It wasn’t simply because she resembled Victoria and held the memories of the past year that Victoria had lost.
“You knew all that, yet you willingly confessed the truth to us. You’re different from a typical enemy.”
I just hated the idea of parting on such an awkward note. Even if she was a clone of a Heavenly King and a being destined to disappear someday.
Moreover, this fake Victoria had respected the memories of the past year and acted in a way the real Victoria would have. She had options—to lie to herself, to run away, or to deceive others—yet she didn’t take them.
“Because the Victoria Aberhart I know would have done so. If she is a woman who loves and cares for the man named Astal Caisaros more than anyone, that is.”
“…Do you like me, as you are now?”
To find a way to save the fake Victoria in my own manner, I was voicing the last point that weighed on my mind.
If this fake Victoria truly liked me because of the memories from the past year, then saving her would be disrespectful to the real one.
“Hmm? They say memories ultimately define a person… but I am me, and the real Lady Victoria is separate. I shouldn’t encroach on someone who already has an owner.”
“You certainly know your place.”
“Of course. Whose memories do you think I hold?”
The fake Victoria looked at the real one and gave a faint smile, then continued with a slightly lonely expression.
She had been subtly distancing herself from me ever since revealing her identity, so she probably wasn’t lying.
After all, in ten minutes, she would explode without a trace, her very existence vanishing from this world. There was no reason to utter empty words.
“…Of course, in my next life, I do dream of meeting someone as kind and warm as Lord Astal and nurturing a love of my own.”
Only then did Victoria reveal the true feelings she had been holding inside. She likely believed that since her current memories weren’t truly hers but belonged to the real one, she had no right to receive my love.
“Good. In that case, there’s one last possible method. Would you like to hear it?”
Hearing the fake Victoria’s words, I nodded and prepared to explain the way to save her.
It was a method I wouldn’t have attempted if she still had lingering feelings for me or was bound by Victoria Aberhart’s memories.
“Astal, don’t tell me you’re trying to save her too? I told you before. Ultimately, the best thing for a fake is to hand over the memories to the real one….”
Kyle looked at me as if astonished. He probably thought I intended to keep the fake alive and end up with two Victorias.
“Yes, that’s right. And I’m going to gift this fake Victoria a completely new life.”
However, the best I could do wasn’t that.
To respect this fake Victoria’s resolve, I couldn’t choose such a half-hearted method.
“…Huh? What on earth do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. First, I’ll transfer your memories to the real Victoria. After you die, I’ll attempt to summon you as my familiar.”
I spoke calmly, as if it were nothing, but the reactions around me remained skeptical.
Memoriam had declared that Victoria’s memories could never be retrieved, and the fake’s body contained a bomb set to explode in a few minutes.
“Is that even possible?”
“…It’s not impossible to re-summon a wild slime as one’s familiar. But how do you plan to extract Victoria’s memories?”
The Spirit Mage, Anima, looked at me with an expression that still held unanswered questions.
Surprisingly, taming a wild slime as a familiar was actually one of the more common occurrences around here. If successful, she could live not as a fake, but as a genuine life of her own.
“Memoriam’s abilities are special even among slimes. Even if you make her your familiar and bring her under your control, she won’t be able to retrieve her memories or disobey her master’s orders….”
“That’s why I said it. We let her die first, then revive her. A blob of slime with all life functions completely ceased can no longer be considered Memoriam.”
I spoke to the fake Victoria with a slightly sharper tone. In the end, I had to play the villain here.
“…And I suppose I can’t even call myself ‘me’ anymore. Now I understand why you asked that question earlier.”
“Right. If you still had any affection or lingering feelings for me, you would absolutely hate losing your current memories and becoming a new being.”
I slowly nodded upon hearing the fake Victoria’s words. If she had said she still had feelings for me, I would have simply bid her farewell.
Reviving a dead corpse in this manner was akin to necromancy, similar to the taboos I often heard about among mages.
Truth be told, even thinking this way was because the fake Victoria before my eyes was a being worthy of being considered a full-fledged person.
She defied her original body’s will, sided with us, and respected the real Victoria without clinging to her own memories.
If such a being isn’t called a sentient human, then who can be?
“The memories can be stored and transferred using this.”
“That’s… a Legacy Magic, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Normally, it records and stores all speech and actions like a diary… but if you go inside this and help, the story changes.”
A slime’s nature is mimicry and division.
Therefore, if she reinterprets the Legacy Magic I created, she could use it to store all her memories.
Since this is a magic I developed independently, not anyone else’s, it should be safe from Memoriam’s abilities as well.
“I’ve already finished testing it. I succeeded in transferring my memory of yesterday’s breakfast.”
It might sound immodest, but I’m also the hero often called a once-in-a-millennium genius.
“Still, the fact that she’ll explode remains unchanged. Are you saying we must accomplish such a complex and difficult task in just a few minutes?”
The fake Victoria let out a small sigh upon hearing my proposal. Even so, the odds seemed far too low.
“If the timing is off by even a little… the Legacy Magic will explode along with you. Not only the memories, but your very existence will turn to ash and vanish.”
I glanced at the real Victoria, seeking her consent. After all, this was something that likely required her permission.
If things went wrong, not only would her memories be lost, but the fake Victoria wouldn’t even be guaranteed a next life.
Honestly, playing it safe here meant ensuring the fake Victoria had no regrets in her remaining time.
“I’ll allow it. I, too, would feel uneasy if things ended like this. Moreover….”
Victoria looked back and forth between the fake and me, then approached me, linking her arm with mine, and smiled softly.
“…Even if I fail to retrieve my memories, I believe you’ll make me fall for you all over again.”
—It's not like you're two-timing with a fake who holds my memories; you're giving her a chance to live completely anew as a familiar… If you didn't do this, you wouldn't be the 'Harmless Mage,' would you?
A sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted, emanated from Victoria’s smile and inner thoughts. She seemed to view the possibility of retrieving her own memories and giving the fake a chance positively.
“Wait, you’re really going to resurrect the fake Victoria as your familiar? Won’t that just split Victoria into two again?”
Kyle questioned me again, as if he still didn’t understand. He probably misunderstood due to his lack of knowledge about familiars and slimes.
“No, that won’t happen. I’ll use the fragments left after the explosion as a medium for the summoning… So even the fact that she once received Victoria’s memories will vanish, and she’ll be reborn completely as my slime.”
“So, you’re saying there’s no chance of you making your familiar take Victoria’s form, or any problem causing the memories to duplicate?”
“…As soon as I revive her as a familiar, I’ll set her free. Of course, from then on, she’ll just be an ordinary green slime and probably won’t be able to speak or act like a human.”
I took a deep breath and continued. Even if I revive the fake Victoria as a familiar, I have no perverse hobby of playing both sides.
“Ah… So she becomes a completely ordinary slime with no abilities? Are you really okay with that? You, Victoria?”
“I’m fine with it. Well, given enough time, she might even learn human speech or knowledge. I hear such slimes exist, albeit rarely.”
The fake Victoria nodded and immediately began preparing to reinterpret my Legacy Magic to transfer her memories.
“…Let’s begin right away. Memory transfer procedure.”
It seemed she wanted to live her second, newly beginning life fully as her own, unburdened by anyone else’s memories or commands.