A week had passed since Kopii had started descending into the dungeons again. And each day became a trial, thanks to the voice in his head: at any moment, it would force nonsense on him, dredge up the past, or humiliate him.
Kopii stood near the entrance to the blue apothecary. Having planned everything down to the smallest detail, he only hoped that the Sword Princess wouldn't be there. It was the only thing he could hope for.
"Come on, go in, what are you waiting for? I'm sure they didn't even notice you were gone, because whether you're here or not, you're still useless."
Kopii ignored his words and reached for the door to open it, but someone had already beaten him to it. Looking at the man with wide eyes,
"Excuse me," he muttered, stepping aside. The man didn't even pay attention to him. Without delay, he went into the blue apothecary.
"I won't hesitate anymore," he thought, closing the door behind him, but seeing Naaza's sleepy eyes staring intently at him, all his resolve evaporated.
"What, why am I acting so unsure? Did I copy someone again?" Kopii thought, approaching Naaza.
"Hello, Naaza."
Kopii said it in a confident voice, or so he thought.
"Hello, Kopii. Did you decide to take a day off today?"
Kopii was confused by her question. He didn't understand what she meant by that. Seeing Kopii's confusion, she continued:
"Well, you said you needed to leave Orario for a while, didn't you?"
She looked at him questioningly.
"Ah, yes, and I thought I forgot to tell you. Hahaha," Kopii said confidently, scratching the back of his head. But chaos was raging in his head: he distinctly remembered never saying that.
"Or maybe I just forgot because of what I've been through?" Kopii thought.
"Ding."
The sound of the bell rang, interrupting Kopii's thoughts. Looking at the person entering, it was a girl he didn't recognize. Stepping aside so as not to bother the customer.
"Ooo, Kopii, look at her ass! But of course, she doesn't compare to those amazons, but damn, she's beautiful too, and her gear only emphasizes that. Very good, very good."
"Shut up," Kopii whispered, blushing slightly, and looked away.
"No, don't say that," Kopii continued, moving away a little.
"Who are you kidding, Kopii? I know you like it too. Or have you forgotten that we are one?"
"I'm not a pervert," Kopii whispered, blushing even more.
"Kopii, you can fool anyone, but not yourself."
"Shut up!" he said, raising his voice a little.
"What?" Looking towards Naaza, he noticed that their attention was focused on him. Smiling, he said: "It's not you."
Scratching his head, he walked away from them in despair. Now he was in another part of the pharmacy.
"Hahahahaha, you should have seen your face! Ahhhahaha."
"It's all because of you. Can't you ever shut up?"
"Do you even understand what you're saying? Are you blaming the voice in your head? How pathetic, Kopii, but nothing surprising."
This was what annoyed Kopii the most, when this voice changed the subject too quickly. And this voice could make him feel stupid later.
Kopii decided to return to his old tactics and just ignore him.
"Are you ignoring me again? You know there will be a punishment for that, Kopii, because I don't need sleep. I'm not as pathetic a creature as you."
Hearing this, Kopii's mood worsened. He wanted to wake up rested.
"Shut up," Kopii hissed, watching the customer leave, giving him a strange look, she left the pharmacy.
"Okay, Naaza, I came to give you the currency," he said, approaching Naaza again and placing the bag on the counter.
Nodding to him, she put the money away.
"I understand, Miih is not here?" Kopii said, looking at the stairs.
"Yes, Kopii, you understand correctly."
"Hey, hey, Kopii, look at her tail! Just imagine how soft it is! You always wanted to touch it, come on, Kopii!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!"
"Okay, Naaza, I'm going, I won't bother you. Bye," he said, waving his hand and walking out onto the street. Immediately, Kopii's smile slipped from his face.
"You're setting me up for perversions again."
"Why? I perfectly understand what I want and don't hide it. You need to learn that."
"Okay, let's not waste time," Kopii said, heading to "The Hostess of Fertility."
"I wanted to ask," as the voice in his head interrupts him.
"Can't be! Kopii himself decided to ask advice from someone like me? Can't be, is it going to snow today?"
Kopii was a little annoyed by this behavior, but decided it didn't matter now.
"How do you want me to call you? Let's call you Kopii Two. I think it's a very good idea," he said, hitting himself in the chest, proud of it.
"Are you kidding me?" his voice said indignantly.
"What, don't you like it? I think it's normal. I like my name."
"Go to hell with that name! Your name is total shit!" interrupting Kopii. "Then what name do you want?"
"Call me Cane. Got it? Cane! And not this shit Kopii. What the hell? Our parents didn't have any imagination at all."
"What, I have a normal name."
"No! This name is total shit! It's the worst name of all possible names. But my name, Cane, sounds even noble."
"This Cane is shit, not a name!"
"Just accept that your name is shit! Accept defeat proudly, Kopii!"
"Okay, enough talk about this… Cane."
"Okay, Kopii, since you asked so much, I can't refuse you," there was a victorious note in Cane's voice, which annoyed Kopii even more, but he couldn't do anything about it.
"Kopii."
"Kopii."
"Kopii."
"What do you want from me?"
"Let's go to "The Hostess of Fertility"."
"Why?"
"So that you can eat delicious food."
Hearing this, he doubted Cane's motives.
"Why does he need this?" Kopii thought, heading to the dungeon.
"Hey, do you agree?! And I was starting to doubt you. But time passes… Hey, hey, Kopii, we passed by! You tricked me!"
"I didn't trick anyone."
"There will be consequences for Kopii's deception, seeing something, I will dissolve you, I will show who is the main one among us."
But both fell silent and, looking at the fair hair in the distance.
"Sword Princess."
Fleeing into the alley, flashed through his thoughts.
"Hey, where are you going? Are you scared? Maybe it wasn't even her? Do you think only she has fair hair? Even if it's her, why are you avoiding her? Yeah, how can we be one?" Cane said disappointedly.
"But really, why am I avoiding her?" he thought, stopping and turning back to the exit from the alley.
"Just tell the truth, Kopii, why do you need to avoid her, as if she's some kind of monster."
"Okay, she's probably gone. It's pointless to look for her in the crowd," he thought, taking a step forward, but unexpectedly collides with something. Falling on his butt and looking up, he saw the one he didn't expect.
"The Sword Princess," Kopii thought, getting up.
"I've finally found you!" grabbing his hand so that he wouldn't run away anywhere for sure.
"I'm not going to run away, so you can let go."
But she ignored his words, squeezing his hand even harder. Kopii tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn't even move it.
"I want to know, how do you know this."
"Know what?" Kopii decided to just play with her a little. He watched as she clenched her lips, thinking about the next words.
"Look, Kopii, isn't she a goddess? She looked beautiful in the memories, but she's even more beautiful in person! Her cute face, her chic figure! It's just perfect!!!", Cane babbled admiringly in Kopii's head like a crazy man, not holding back in praise for the Sword Princess's beauty.ф