Changing perspective... where is this?
In that strange space, the thought came naturally.
Under a blue sky, slender buildings stood in rows here and there.
There, the boy Bell Cranel opened his eyes.
"Where in the world is this?"
But that question lasted only a moment.
Far away.
Beyond a huge window like an eye, the world outside came into view.
And the person he could see there was someone he knew.
"Ryuu!"
The elf woman who had readily reached out to help him when he was in trouble was in his sight.
Right now, she was fighting fiercely with someone.
And that someone was...
"...Me?"
Only Ryuu's face could be seen.
That was simply the nature of the viewpoint.
And yet Bell could tell that the one fighting her was himself.
That was because the weapon in the other person's hand, locked in combat with her sword, was his main weapon.
It was Lady Hestia's knife.
There was no way he could forget the precious weapon he always carried with him.
"What is this?"
For someone as inexperienced and lacking in information as he was, it was all incomprehensible.
Why was he fighting Ryuu?
Where exactly was this place?
How was the War Game going right now?
Were Lili and Welf safe?
And what about everyone else...?
"Well, worry about it as much as you like. There's nothing more pointless and foolish than pouring your effort into something that won't give you an answer no matter how much you think about it."
"Huh? Who?"
At that moment, another voice came from behind him.
Oddly enough, it was a voice that sounded familiar.
With that in mind, Bell turned around in confusion.
"An... Derssen?"
"How strange. To hear my true name from someone I never told."
Behind him, a blue-haired magus came into the boy's view.
However, for some reason, unlike the voice he remembered, the figure he saw was much smaller.
As if he had been turned back into a child.
Moreover, the eyes and expression he wore now were somehow quite different from the ones in the boy's memory.
To put it more precisely, this magus somehow felt sharper in the face.
That was the impression Bell Cranel came to.
"Well, I roughly know what you're thinking. You're probably mistaking me for that one-and-only idiot, heretical romance-obsessed fool."
"Huh? What does that even mean...?"
"Ha! You dazed fool! You're exactly what you look like: a hopelessly immature little rabbit! You must be as inexperienced with women as I am, and as that guy is too."
"Listen carefully. I'll explain it simply and directly enough for even a brat like you to understand. I and that guy are completely different individuals. Same body, different souls...
Well, just keep it at that. If I go into the details any further, you won't understand even a tiny bit of it."
"Ah, yes..."
At the young magus's harsh explanation, Bell unconsciously nodded.
And he did, in his own way, understand.
The magus Bell remembered was bad in a different sense.
He wasn't the type to hurl such sharp, cutting insults at someone he had just met.
From that point of view, it was clear.
The young magus in front of him was definitely not the magus he knew.
Still, all Bell had managed to accept was a shallow understanding: maybe they were just people who looked alike.
"Um... then what should I call you?"
"Caster. That's enough."
"Yes, Caster."
"Hmph. You really are a child who listens well, just as you look like a naive fool. Well, I suppose that's why some dim-witted brat who doesn't know how cruel the world is got lured in by some cheap candy trick and ended up in this mess."
"Do you know something?!"
Bell hurriedly asked Caster for an explanation at the sound of those words, which seemed to imply he knew something.
But unfortunately for the boy...
"You idiot. Do you really think now is the time to waste precious seconds asking about something like that?"
"Huh? What do you mean...?"
It wasn't time for that yet.
Startled!
For an instant, a chilling sensation ran down the back of his neck.
At that unpleasant feeling, Bell hurriedly rolled away.
And as expected...
Whoosh!
"Ghk! This is...!?"
The moment he ducked, someone attacked from behind.
Fortunately, the boy's evasion had just barely made it in time.
Bell quickly sprang back up and took a stance.
"Huh?"
And what appeared in his eyes was the mysterious attacker.
"Me?"
A pure white something that looked exactly like Bell, including its appearance and equipment.
However, its face was completely blank, like an egg ghost with nothing there at all.
The color was a little different, but Bell knew of such a being.
It was definitely one of the monsters his grandfather had told him about when he was little.
"A doppelganger?"
"I'm glad you know. That saves me the trouble of explaining it from page one for no reason."
"But why? ...Caster, where exactly is this? And what is this situation right now...?"
"Oh my, you're far more composed than I expected. To have room to worry about something else while an enemy is right in front of you. Now that I look at you, you really are an impressive brat."
Bell felt an understandable sense of grievance at the mocking tone.
No, realistically, in a situation this incomprehensible, how many people could possibly stay calm instead of panicking like he was?
But the situation didn't care about Bell's grievance.
The moment Caster's sneering ended, events unfolded at a rapid pace.
The waiting doppelganger moved, and the battle began.
Clang! Ching!
"Ugh! Damn it...!"
"Do you want to know why? Do you need information? Then the only answer this ugly writer can give you is one."
Fight, and win.
"To borrow that idiot's expression... it's about deciding who will take the lead in battle as the king, and who will support as the knight, I suppose?"
"What the hell does that mean, ngh!"
"Well, in a case like this, it's obvious that you're the much weaker side... but what can you do? There's no other way. You'll have to fight to the death and overcome it. Yes, youth is something you buy with hardship if you have to. Though I'd refuse it without hesitation!"
"That's not as easy as you make it sound, ugh!"
"What, did you think some glorious hero could become one that easily? A sudden power-up in the moment of crisis, as if it were fate? Where in the world would you find such a convenient thing? In the end, it's all just a rigged game.
Watching from the inside while knowing all the circumstances, I nearly laughed myself to death. That idiot's ideas and tastes are strangely old-fashioned too. He keeps insisting that clichés are best when they follow the royal road.
Then again, what else would you expect from the disciple of that damned 'flower-lover' from the Clock Tower?"
"Agh! Ugh! Kuhk!"
"Hm. So now you don't even have the room to answer back? As expected, the performance is solid."
And Caster laughed gleefully.
Even hearing that mocking laughter, Bell couldn't react at all.
The pure white doppelganger in front of him was not an opponent he could afford to treat lightly.
"Damn it... how...?"
The other's fighting style was, as expected of a doppelganger, exactly Bell Cranel's own.
But the level was completely different.
First of all, the physical specs alone were at least a full level above his own.
On top of that, the refinement of its technique, and even its maturity, clearly surpassed the boy's.
It was the very definition of Bell Cranel's superior version.
The opponent before him was by no means an ordinary doppelganger.
Clang! Whirl!
"Ah...!"
In an instant, the two knives collided, and the white one vanished from Bell's field of vision.
No, it hadn't vanished.
It was still in the other's hand.
And at the same time, its sharp blade was already pointed beneath his throat.
Clear checkmate.
Watching the outcome from behind, Caster quietly said, "Well, in the end, the first time was impossible."
Thud!
He judged Bell Cranel's "death."
That made one.
"I wonder how many times it will take you to escape this place."
Not that it was any of my business.
With that still-sneering tone, the boy's consciousness fell into darkness.
.
.
.
For about one second.
"Gasp...!"
Bell Cranel opened his eyes again.
The moment he experienced "death," he was so shocked that he hurriedly checked his own body.
But there was no wound left anywhere.
And yet he had definitely just died...?
That natural question lasted only a moment.
Whoosh!
"Ghk!"
Before he knew it, the battle with the pure white doppelganger resumed once more.
Even as he reflexively fought back, Bell couldn't hide his confusion.
A bizarre phenomenon he couldn't make sense of even after experiencing it himself.
"Caster! Just now, I...!"
"Yes. You died."
Kak! Whoosh!
"And while you were standing there dazed, you died again."
Shaaah!
"Guh...! Cough!"
This time too, the wound was at the neck.
Only this time, his throat was neatly cut open, exposing the airway inside.
Red blood gushed out through the opening without restraint.
"Ah... ah..."
Thud.
Feeling the sorrow of his own life slipping away, Bell's consciousness fell into darkness once more.
And then he woke again.
"Gasp! T-this is... what in the world...!"
"You fool. It's about time you started paying attention."
At last, unable to watch any longer, Caster decided to take some time to explain the situation so Bell could understand it.
Of course, even then, the battle with the pure white doppelganger did not stop.
From the beginning, Caster had no ability, authority, or even intention to stop it.
Still, while Bell was dealing with that, Caster began to explain the current situation in brief.
"A while back, didn't that idiot hand you a bunch of papers—waivers, consent forms, and the like—saying it was on the request of your goddess, and do something for you? This is that. You traded control of your body for a burst of power. And right now, it's running wild to great acclaim.
Your body, unconscious outside, is fighting your companion. Meanwhile, the giant is going completely berserk, and the ninja girl is barely holding it back with magic. Though that'll be over before long too, once her mind bottoms out."
"Ryuu, ugh!"
"And let's see. I can't tell about the short little kid and the blacksmith because I can't see them. Your body is currently dying little by little in real time. Since its top priority is set to bodily survival, it'll stop on its own before it really goes that far. But then you won't be able to stop the giant afterward.
In other words, you're in a deadlock either way. If you want to get out of here for your companions' sake, you have to defeat that white thing over there. Fortunately, the retry chance is infinite coins, so that's fine, but with the situation outside like this, you're on a time limit."
That was the end of the brief explanation.
But the content was by no means simple or light.
Bell could understand that much without much difficulty.
"There. That's the explanation. Do you have some idea now of what you're supposed to do?"
"...Yes. I think I get it."
In short, this was the conclusion.
All of these strange events were the magus's doing.
And to get out of here, he had to defeat that pure white doppelganger.
With nothing but his own power.
In other words, what he had to do hadn't changed.
At the very least, Bell finished understanding it that way.
"I'll do it. I'll see it through! For my companions!"
"Good spirit. Is that because you're still young? I'm a little jealous."
Still looking down on the boy in that sneering tone, Caster gave a mischievous signal.
At that cue, the battle resumed once more.
Clang! Screech! Screeeeech!
"Ugh...!"
And once again, the killing.
Again, the revival.
Again, the battle.
Again, the killing...
And so on, endlessly repeated.
"Kuhk!"
"Agh!"
"Kuhek!"
"How boringly cruel."
Watching that tragic, pitiful scene, Caster thought of his Master, whom he would never meet again.
That stupid fool who aimed for the very peak of heresy, yet was absurdly kind for no good reason.
"Ahh, I can see it. I can see the miserable sight of you getting beaten down all over the place after this festival."
That was the one thing he could look forward to as he lent a hand to this ridiculous third-rate play.
So he muttered to himself and laughed again.
At the same time, Bell's body collapsed to the floor once more.
How many times had it been now?
Could he really escape this place with nothing but his own strength?
And if so, how many times, and when?
"Naturally, none of my business."
After all, the ending of this third-rate play had already been decided.
With that, his judgment came to an end.
Soon Caster lay back, using the metallic clash of knives and the boy's groans as background noise.
The sky in his field of vision was blue and clear without exception.
Needlessly so, almost excessively so.