'System, can I transfer only my voice to the clone?'
[Let me see…]
Enrico asked the question while training in his room at the Solcren mansion. He wanted to make a new story for the mercenaries, because they had powerful people but were not that important, or had a rookie who would become as strong as one of the protagonist's friends. So when he saw Dorian and Arvanys, he was sure they had either died or never reached their full potential in the story.
'They're pretty good, maybe they died in the aquatic dungeon or on some future mission…'
[I'm back, and to your question—it's difficult to do that, because you can switch with the clone, but that doesn't mean you can transfer just a part without risking danger.]
'I see… I don't want to transfer my mouth to the clone, just the voice. Do you think I can manage that?'
[You can try, but it'll be hard, and you might end up voiceless.]
During the night, he carefully tested it, always thoughtful, until he came up with an idea that might work without taking too much risk.
'If I transfer parts of a body to the clone, I might end up losing that part—just like my voice. But my voice isn't physical, so if I transfer only half of it, at most I'll lose a bit of my voice just for a while.'
[…That… makes sense? I think.]
It would be difficult, of course, because as he had said, his voice wasn't something physical, but literally the ability to swap with his clone switched everything in place, so it was even possible to transfer only part of the body.
'This will be both good and bad at the same time, but it'll be useful in the future for my plan.'
"So you're the guy Kai said was strong?"
Arvanys and Dorian, hearing Kael's question, sighed, because if that guy was interested in fighting Enrico in that mess, it could be bad for everyone. With his body tense, Enrico found it harder to maintain things when he had to answer his clone's questions while controlling it.
'I tested this yesterday, but doing it around him is harder than I thought.'
"Do you know Kai?"
"So it's really you. Hey, when this is over, would you fight me?"
"Maybe, if we get out alive."
Kael started laughing, giving him a light slap on the back. The two rookie mercenaries seemed relieved that he didn't cause trouble, so they began to exchange quick information—then, hearing a scream for help, Enrico jumped up to the rooftop and left, leaving the message that Alenya should take care of Taíra.
"Well, let's go back inside, Taíra."
"…But will he be okay?"
"He's strong, so yes."
The mercenaries thought about staying, but when they saw Kael immediately follow behind, and then Kaela, they looked at each other. Dorian decided to stay and help at the store, while Raul and Arvanys followed the others.
"Why do we even have to follow Kael?"
"Because it seems more interesting."
"I guess you're not so different from him after all."
Meanwhile, Enrico arrived immediately, seeing a malnourished man watching another boy about to be killed, and Enrico intervened at once, stopping the hooded man's sword.
"Zero Impact."
Hitting the opponent's neck, he swept his legs, lifting him, and used his loaded momentum to deliver a double kick to his chest.
"I was about to finish him off, Enrico."
A lightning spear passed close to his head, hitting the opponent in front and piercing his stomach. Looking back, he saw who the boy was.
"What are you doing here, Lan?"
"None of your business."
Lan looked at him with rancor, which annoyed Enrico a bit, since he had just saved this bastard's life—but that wasn't the important part.
'From what I know, he wasn't even here at this time… changes in the story are happening, so I need to be careful.'
"You must have come here to train, right?"
"…Of course not. W-why would a prodigy like me need to risk my health, pushing my body beyond its limits? Don't be ridiculous."
He was already giving himself away so easily it was almost pitiful. Deciding to ignore him, Enrico approached the man and pointed toward where the store was, asking him to take refuge there.
"Thank you very much, young men, really, thank you both."
The man ran off while the mercenaries and Kaela arrived. Enrico wasted no time, moving on to the next location, which was farther west.
'I don't know exactly where the last one is, but it's in this region.'
"Hey, where do you think you're going? Wait for me."
If Enrico looked back now, he'd think he was being chased by enemies, because their speed seemed to increase as they tried to keep up with him. Now the mercenaries understood Kai's words from before.
"Why is this guy so fast?"
"Kael, are you sure you can fight him?"
"Of course I can, that just makes things more interesting."
Since they were close, Enrico could hear the conversation easily, making it simple to answer properly.
"Professor, why are those mercenaries following us? I don't think they want to help the others."
"It must be because of that Kael—he seems to be analyzing my strength."
"Ha, he can try, but he won't be able to surpass you, I'm sure of it."
Flashing a confident smile behind him, making the mercenaries tense—especially Arvanys and Kael—Enrico saw that his provocation had worked, then looked forward again.
'The only thing I don't want is having to talk at the same time as him… it's too weird talking to myself…'
He intended to create a false rivalry between him and the mercenaries, and he would use Kael for that—mainly to help Arvanys and Dorian evolve, since they had good potential.
'There's just one problem—who exactly is this other guy? He seems our age, but I can't see his stats.'
He was talking about Raul, who was an enigma, because not only could he not see his powers, but he also had a bad feeling.
'The only problem is that he seems stronger than me, and I don't think he's actually our age.'
For now, he would use this guy—at least until he could see whether he might attack them in some way.