The Doppelganger Files
The word Doppelgänger. ‘A person who looks exactly like you.’ It was an urban legend that first appeared in the neighboring country of Deutschland and spread rapidly across Westania right after the war ended. The superstition carried a horrifying message: if you saw someone who resembled yourself, you would die. If you saw someone who resembled your friend, that friend would die. Ellyse Bertman had known the ghost story since childhood, having been told that if she didn’t listen to her parents, she would encounter a doppelganger. Yes, it had remained in her mind strictly as a ghost story, as a superstition. She had never once imagined she might actually come face to face with her own doppelganger.
But according to the ‘ecological report’ Ellyse had discovered, the creature was described as real. A monster that mimicked someone and acted naturally, its eyes glowing fluorescent at night. There were even circumstances suggesting a doppelganger had been sighted in Central City twenty years ago. Of course, like any half-baked report stuffed away in a dusty room, it contained no records of combat encounters or detailed research data. Still, the whole thing gave off the distinct impression that the creature was dangerous.
The journal, which filled its pages with almost no actual content despite being labeled an ‘ecological’ report, ended with a final warning: if a doppelganger were to mimic a high-ranking official or member of the upper class, it would cause tremendous chaos. It was a truly pathetic report. At least, everything after the preface was.
The words were scrawled across the very first page.
Ellyse blinked, flipped back to the first page, and read the phrase again. She tilted her head. If a creature like a doppelganger had truly infiltrated the nation’s leadership, it would certainly be a catastrophe. However, having already lost most of her faith in the archives’ management, she couldn’t help but doubt its existence. The Cloud terrorist attack had been reported in the papers, so that carried some credibility, but she had no way of knowing whether doppelgangers were real. The unsettling plea to be saved only made her more suspicious. She couldn’t explain why her heart and magical power had reacted, but she suspected some insane inspector who knew how to use Mystery had simply written it there as a prank.
“Doppelganger? Oh yeah, they exist alright.”
“……You’re saying they’re real?”
“Yep, they’re real. I’ve never seen one myself, but everyone who matters knows they exist. Ah, of course, only the competent ones.”
“……”
Ellyse Bertman narrowed her eyes and glared at the self-proclaimed competent person, Inspector Ellyna Bastard. Even under such an insolent gaze, Ellyna simply snorted and kept walking ahead. She believed that stupidity was a sin, but jealousy was not. Besides, she had finally reached the sacred hour of quitting time, which put her in a forgiving mood.
Inspector Ellyna Bastard shaded her eyes with one hand and gazed contentedly at the setting sun sinking far in the distance. Truly, the sun had to set for all people to be happy. Having reached this fresh enlightenment, Ellyna decided to pass the truth on to her beloved subordinate.
“……Um, I actually prefer daytime because it’s too dark at night to read. And being active is better than just sleeping aimlessly.”
But her beloved subordinate was a foolish one. To reject the night for such a trivial reason. Ellyna clicked her tongue as she watched Ellyse scratch her cheek awkwardly. Her desire to explain suddenly plummeted, but she pulled herself together and added,
“All monsters are nocturnal. During the day their abilities and true nature are suppressed, so the chance of them causing a major disaster is low. But we can’t ignore the possibility that one might be hiding among the nation’s leadership. A city councilor, for example?”
“Don’t they do internal magical power scans at the entrance of the city hall, just like the police headquarters? It would be caught immediately.”
“Tsk tsk, there’s no such thing as absolute certainty in this world, you know? You have to investigate with the suspicion that the security net might have already been breached by a doppelganger. That’s how you find clues, Inspector Ellyse.”
“Usually it’s easier to just assume that if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.”
“I’ll pass those exact words on to the cathedral.”
“……Bringing a religious angle into this kind of superstition is cheating.”
“Don’t pretend to be so pure. The world has always been a place where you have to play dirty to live comfortably and happily.”
Ellyna grinned as she said this, and Ellyse made a sullen face. Was it really okay for an officer who was supposed to stand for justice to spout such immoral nonsense? Ellyse Bertman let out a deep sigh and strode past her superior, moving ahead. She was slightly annoyed.
“Oh, that person over there. Isn’t that your friend?”
If not for the sudden, out-of-nowhere remark, she would have kept her distance for a while longer. Ellyse stopped her quick steps and turned around. There was Inspector Ellyna Bastard, smiling brightly and pointing somewhere. Following the direction of her finger, Ellyse saw a familiar face. Ashily Dolores stood on the far side of the street, waving her hand high with an awkward expression.
“───Ellyseeee!!”
The moment their eyes met, her best friend broke into a wide grin, jumped up and down, and shouted her name. Ellyse Bertman narrowed her eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose. She agonized. ……No, why is she here?
She couldn’t even begin to guess why her friend had shown up without any notice. They were certainly close, but not close enough to drop by unannounced just because she suddenly wanted to see her face. At least, that was how Ellyse felt. She stared at her friend, who was still bouncing around in the distance with a bewildered expression, then turned her head toward her superior, who had now caught up beside her.
Ellyna Bastard had originally planned to talk to her back at the archives, but because work had piled up, she had decided to give her various teachings while they commuted home together. Yes, Ellyse had a ‘prior engagement.’ It was a small routine of riding the train home together, but it was still an appointment made first. When conflict appeared on Ellyse’s face, Inspector Ellyna chuckled and waved her hand dismissively.
“Shoo shoo. This old lady will head home alone and lonely, so take good care of your friend.”
“……We’re only four years apart.”
“Tsk tsk, the difference between nineteen and twenty-three is as vast as the distance between heaven and earth. Don’t you know anything about life experience?!”
Good grief, what an absurd thing to say. Twenty-three was hardly old enough to be talking about life experience, yet here she was wrinkling her face like that. Still, Ellyse bowed deeply to Ellyna and expressed her gratitude. Her superior could be annoying at times, but at this moment she had clearly been considerate of her.
Soon afterward, she ran toward her friend, who was still bouncing around with boundless energy.
“Ah, I’ll find out who the investigator was for that case you mentioned earlier!”
At the sudden voice from behind, Ellyse turned and waved her hand, then shot forward with the momentum. For once, her senior was being genuinely reliable. It would be nice if she were always like this, but that was probably never going to happen. Only then did Ellyse Bertman let out a small chuckle and quickly close the distance to her friend.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Watching Ellyse disappear in the blink of an eye, her kind-hearted superior Ellyna Bastard let out a long sigh. The sight of a young woman’s back running toward her friend in the glow of the evening sunset was truly full of youthful drama.
“Ah, how I miss being young.”
She muttered to herself, then patted her waist and shook her head. Saying it like that really made her feel old. Ellyna smacked her lips and murmured,
“Guess I’ll just head home.”
Now that was a wise decision.
Since it was on the way home from work, the coffee shop was located in the administrative district—Central District, not far from the police headquarters. Because most of the customers were office workers who simply bought drinks and left, the buildings in the administrative district usually prioritized efficiency over elegance or flashiness. Higher turnover meant higher profits, after all.
Ellyse Bertman, who had vaguely understood this fact, looked around the café’s neat yet luxurious interior with a slightly surprised expression. Even the sofa she sat on was wonderfully soft.
……I had no idea there was a place like this near the headquarters.
Well, high-ranking officials needed somewhere like this for private meetings. It was a mystery how her friend, who rarely came to the Central District, knew about this place. Ellyse lifted the glass on the table and stared intently at Ashily Dolores sitting across from her.
Ashily was sweating profusely today and subtly avoiding her eyes. Seeing that, Ellyse became certain. ……This girl had done something suspicious and had come to find her first before she got caught. There had been something off from the beginning, but Ashily’s guilty demeanor only strengthened her conviction. Still, she wasn’t particularly tense. After all, how big a mess could this friend possibly have made? She was simply annoyed that the girl wouldn’t spit out her crime right away.
She had greeted her so warmly on the street, yet the moment they arrived at the café she looked incredibly nervous. It didn’t make sense. Ellyse Bertman tapped the table a couple of times and said bluntly,
“So what is it?”
At those words, Ashily Dolores squeezed her eyes shut as if she had been expecting them. Watching her, Ellyse grew even more curious about what could possibly be making her act this way.
“Did you borrow money in my name?”
“No! It’s not that!”
“Then what on earth is it?”
“……Umm.”
When Ashily started groaning again, Ellyse shook her head and brought the glass to her lips. Iced coffee with ice cubes floating in it. A refreshing sensation different from the beans she brewed at home lingered in her mouth. She drank deeply.
Just as Ellyse momentarily forgot about the idiot in front of her and focused on that sensation, Ashily Dolores spoke up at exactly the right moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and confessed.
“I… decided to marry Demian.”
At the sudden statement, Ellyse spat out the coffee in her mouth.
“───Pffft!”
It was a fountain.