The plaza was a sea of confused faces, all staring at Hayato as he calmly finished another bite of boar. But Lenna's attention was fixed on him, her shock different from all the others. It was a quiet, internal horror. Her mind, a library of centuries of knowledge, was frantically trying to reconcile an impossible paradox.
How?How could I have missed him?
Her memory replayed the last hour with perfect clarity. Riko and the others leaving. Testing his skin. The legendary katana failing to draw blood. The entire time, she had been sitting right here. And this man, the real man, had been sitting here too, completely unnoticed?
I had been two feet away from him, her mind raced. And she hadn't seen him. Hadn't heard him. Hadn't sensed his presence at all.
The implications were staggering.
I had lived for hundreds of years,I had seen every strange and broken power this world has to offer. But an ability that can completely erase a person's presence from the senses...
She stared at him, the quiet man who called himself Hayato.
Riko jumped to her feet, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. "You!" she yelled, her voice trembling as she pointed a shaking finger at me. "I saw you! I saw Reyn stab you!"
In response, I calmly set down my fork and lifted the hem of my tunic, revealing a completely unmarked chest. There was no wound, no blood, not even a scratch.
From across the hall, the Guild Master was stroking his white beard. "Incredible... I watched him from my office. I saw him walk into the hall and look around. But I never saw him sit at that table." He gestured to an empty chair closer to the center of the room. "The last I saw, you was sitting right there... then Reyn came from behind, took Lenna's katana, and ran him through."
Riko's analytical mind felt like it was short-circuiting. She stared from me to the empty chair Valerius had indicated, then back again.
How is this possible? I saw him die.
Her memory of the event was crystal clear. The flash of the blade, the spurt of blood, the body falling. But he was here. He had been here the whole time.
I was right there. The Guild Master didn't see him sit down on table. I didn't see him sit down on table also. No one did.
A chill that had nothing to do with her own magic crept down her spine.
The dwarf, his face pale under his thick beard, was the one to finally break the stunned silence. He looked from me, to the empty chair, and then to the spot on the floor where my 'body' had been.
"Wait a second... where's the body?!"
Everyone's gaze snapped to the floor. Where a moment ago there had been a gruesome murder scene, there was now nothing. No body, no blood, just the clean stone floor of the Guild hall.
All eyes turned back to me. I took another calm bite of my meal before answering. "There was no bodu… It was just my duplicate. I made it disappear."
Let them believe it's 'Duplication,' I thought, keeping my expression neutral. Let them think I can create and dismiss a physical copy. It's a powerful and confusing ability, but it's a concept they can grasp. If they ever learned the truth that my power is 'Perfect Illusion,' that I can edit what they see and hear they would never trust me. They'd see me as a monster.
The mood at the table was heavy, the festive cheer of the plaza kept at bay by the weight of Riko's and Lenna's revelations.
A sharp, familiar voice cut through our quiet bubble. "What's with the quiet? I thought this was supposed to be a party."
We all looked up to see Kerina finally arriving, her hands on her hips as she surveyed our somber group.
"You're late," I said, my voice flat.
She let out a frustrated sigh. "I know. Elina wanted to come, but she has an early class at the Academy tomorrow, so I had to wait until she was actually asleep. I practically had to run all the way here." She pulled up a spare crate and sat down, her sharp eyes scanning the faces at the table. "So, what did I miss? What's up with all of this?"
Before anyone at the table could answer Kerina's question, a powerful voice boomed across the entire plaza, silencing the confused murmurs of the crowd. Guild Master Valerius stood on the small stage usually reserved for musicians, his presence commanding the attention of everyone.
He cleared his throat. "Attention, everyone! The... unfortunate incident from earlier has been resolved. The City Guard has the matter well in hand."
He looked out over the sea of stunned faces. "This is Liberation Day! A night to celebrate the peace our ancestors fought for. Let's not allow the foolish actions of one man to ruin our festival! Let the music resume! Continue the feast!"
As a few hesitant musicians began to play again and the crowd slowly started to buzz with conversation, Kerina looked around at the grim, silent faces at our table.
"Eh?" she whispered, completely lost. "Did I miss something...?"
While the festival slowly regained its festive cheer, Lenna's world remained silent, her focus narrowed to one impossible person.
I need to examine him properly, she thought, her gaze fixed on Hayato as he calmly ate. He calls it 'Duplication,' but it ignores the fundamental rules. A duplicate is a projection, an extension of the caster's will and power. For one to be so autonomous, so tangible that it can fight, bleed, and 'die' while the original caster is miles away, completely unaffected... it's a paradox. It shouldn't be possible.
She watched as Kerina, having gotten no answers from the group, walked over to Hayato's side and leaned in to ask what had happened. Hayato simply shrugged, offering no explanation as he took another bite of his food. Kerina's gaze then drifted past him to Riko, who was now sitting next to him. She gave a small, distracted wave of greeting, her mind clearly still trying to process the Guild Master's strange announcement.
Lenna saw it all, but her conclusion was singular and absolute.
He is a living contradiction of magical law,i have to watch him. I must study his power. She thought, her academic curiosity burning with an intensity she hadn't felt in decades.
***
It was an early morning, the sun streamed into the Guild hall, but I preferred the shadows. I gathered the whole of my mana and compressed it, pulling my presence inward until I was nothing more than a quiet ripple in the noisy room.
To anyone who glanced my way, I was just another unremarkable elf. It was a useful trick for observation.
And the subject of my observation was standing in front of the main quest board.
Hayato. I watched him study the board, completely ignoring the whispers and stares that still followed him after yesterday's events.
What would a man like him choose?
I wondered. A simple goblin hunt seemed beneath him now, but what did he consider a worthy task?
He reached up, his hand moving past the simple F-Rank and D-Rank requests, past even the C-Rank jobs he was now qualified for. His fingers plucked a parchment with a crimson border from the high-rank section of the board.
My eyes widened. I knew that quest.
An A+ Rank subjugation request... for a Storm Wolf!? I thought, my mind reeling in shock.
That's a mission that entire parties of veteran A-Ranks would hesitate to take. For him, a C-Rank... it wasn't just bold. It was madness.
I watched, frozen in my corner, as Hayato turned from the quest board with the crimson-bordered parchment and walked directly out of the Guild hall without a single backward glance.
He didn't stop at the supply counter, didn't speak to anyone. He just left.
He's walking to his death… What if he isn't?
The anomaly. The man who breaks the rules of magic. I couldn't just let him walk away. I had to see this. I had to understand.
Keeping my mana suppressed, I slipped out from where I stand.
The street was busy, but I spotted his short, black hair immediately. He was walking with a steady, purposeful stride.
I ducked behind a merchant's cart, using the bustling crowd as cover, and began to follow, a silent, unseen shadow determined to witness what came next.
He walked with steady pace, never once looking over his shoulder. It made him easy to follow. We left the capital's massive gates behind, and the sounds of the city were replaced by the whispering of the wind through the tall grass.
I kept to the treeline, a ghost he never knew was there, moving from the shadow of one oak to the next. When the forest thinned, I moved low, from one dense bush to another, my own presence so suppressed that not even the birds took flight. For hours, I followed him.
Finally, he stopped. We were at the base of a small, craggy mountain, where the air itself seemed to crackle with a faint, raw energy. He was standing before a dark fissure in the rock—a gaping cave mouth, the ground around it scorched and littered with the bones of unfortunate prey.
I watched from behind a large boulder, my heart pounding in spite of myself. This was it. The den of the Storm Wolf.
To Be Continued.