Originally, Hiro intended to end the sparring and head back straight away but… As he looked over to Leona, he saw her breathing heavily and collapsed on the ground, unable to move. And passed out. Apparently his sparring was too high intensity for even a beastman.

Well, after thinking about it for a while, it made sense. After all, despite having a restraint on to help train himself, he was still moving about enough to the point that even he himself was sweating. After all, exercise isn’t helpful if you’re not even working yourself hard enough.

With a sigh and shake of the head, Hiro walked over to Leona before using his cleaning magic on the both of them. With their sweat dealt with, he put on his cloak and sheathed his sword, carrying Leona on his back alongside her sword. Thankfully, he was taller than her.

With his cloak on and hood up, he made sure he wasn’t too discoverable. After applying an invisibility spell, he started moving back to the tavern. Weaving through the afternoon crowds, he reached the Drinking Bear in short time. Since Syldis had seen them leave, it would probably be best to enter while visible. Doing so, he reappeared without notice and entered.

After entering ,the same rowdy people were drinking and eating, making merry. Of course, no one picked on him since a lot of them recognized his cloak and appearance. Well, not that they didn’t throw curious glances about since he was carrying a woman on his back, alongside her heavy two handed sword.

Reaching the counter, he called out to the big Bear herself.

“Syldis, we’re back. Leona passed out from training too hard. I’ll leave her in my room for now until Therese gets back. Meal for one, and make it big this time, I’m starving.” (Hiro)

“Got it, Hiro!” (Syldis)

Syldis shouted back as Hiro went up the stairs to do as he said. Syldis could only tilt her head in wonder, at how a beastwoman such as Leona, especially being under the care of Therese, could have passed out during a comparatively short sparring session. Though by now, she was at least starting to click that the youth was quite a bit stronger than what he showed on the outside.

But that strong? She still felt doubtful, having not seen anything herself.

Before long, Hiro was sitting at a table alone in a corner as Syldis brought out his meal and a tankard of ale, before returning to work. Although he had been drinking alcohol all this time, Hiro only just now thought more about it.

The ale wasn’t exactly tasty, and it was warm, but he wasn’t getting drunk in the least. And that was saying something, considering he didn’t exactly have a high tolerance normally. He suspected his body had changed quite a bit at this point. Oh well, at least he could drink more without suffering a hangover.

Well, he didn’t need it for its alcoholic content anymore, at least.

Hiro sat at his table and drank slowly as the sky darkened. After waiting long enough, Leona finally came downstairs, looking somewhat displeased as she laid eyes on him. Sitting down at his table, he ordered another plate, for two this time, from Syldis.

A while after Leona finished her plate, she sat in silence and sipped her drink slowly since it didn’t seem like Hiro had any intention of starting a conversation. Eventually, Therese finally came back as most of the rowdy patrons had left, and it had quietened down.

Spotting the two in the corner, she walked over and sat with them. While seeing that Hiro looked rather aloof and uncaring about the things happening around him, Therese could tell that Leona seemed exhausted, mentally. Just as she was about to speak to the youth, his mouth opened.

“Lemme guess. The King held a feast and you attended so that he wouldn’t lose face. After all, for you to go greet the King, must mean you have quite the amount of fame. That, and the patrons earlier in the day were also acting as such. And you also look exhausted. Don’t like the high life?” (Hiro)

“... Correct, on all accounts. Leona seems to be quite worn out. Did anything happen?” (Therese)

“Not much. I got restless and bored, so I dragged her along for a spar. Well, it seems like her stamina was lacking a bit.” (Hiro)

With eyes wide, Therese could tell the youth wasn’t lying, but she looked towards Leona to confirm. With an apologetic nod, she confirmed that she had indeed sparred and passed out from not being able to keep up.

“So, you and Leona sparred… Well, I suppose it will help her improve to have some diversity in her training. On such a topic, it seems I’ve ended up becoming the Princess’s training partner for the next week while we wait for this Architect of yours.” (Therese)

“Oh, Eileen, is it? Well, I suppose being trapped in the castle, she would only be able to fight against Nobles who put on airs too much. Should do her some good to fight a Master like yourself.” (Hiro)

Hiro’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said that, gazing at Therese’s body. He could tell at a glance. Her presence, body figure, mana, posture, all of it. He could only deduce that she was a beginner Grandmaster, and not lower than a top Master.

Therese also narrowed her eyes at him. His powers of deduction without actually fighting were frightening. She felt like she couldn’t hide from his gaze, as if it looked through her entire being.

Shortly after, Syldis sat down with them, a plate of snacks and a fresh tankard for each of them in her hands. And like this, the rest of the night passed by with casual small talk, and the three women recounting their life experiences and adventures.

And there was a slight moment where the three glared sharply at Hiro, due to his cleaning magic. The two bigger women noticed that Leona looked so clean, skin smooth, hair silky soft, and so on. When even she didn’t know how, Hiro nonchalantly said he had a cleaning magic. Well, no surprises that the women were deeply interested and jealous.

In the end, Therese insisted on staying in the same room as Hiro so that he couldn’t run away, and he just shrugged, giving his okay. Syldis moved them into a bigger room. She didn’t worry since the two women could look after themselves, and being good at judging one’s character, knew that Hiro wouldn’t try anything.

Like that, the three went to sleep.

…

……

…

Like this, it was a repetitive week. Therese would head to the castle during the day to train the Princess. Leona would be dragged along by Hiro to train after breakfast. While she recovered, he would work on developing his magic. They would spar again, rest, eat, spar, theory, spar, eat, drink as a quartet, then sleep. Every now and then, Hiro would be singing to himself while he waited, or if the bar got rowdy and he got lured by the mood.

On the promised day, that morning, Hiro had finally completed the doppelganger spell as per his previous estimates. He decided to name it Faux Persona. False personality. Despite the name, he believed that they would be very real.

A flesh body, their own mana pool which recovers itself, their own mind and thoughts and personalities. Even their knowledge was the same. Of course, their memories too, at least at the moment of their creation. While technically they would be an extension of himself that he could unravel if he wished, he wasn’t so callous as to end a life he had created, and would sever such a connection, allowing them to live their own life as they wish.

They would have telepathy available between them as a result of how he had constructed the spell, so that they could remain connected. He had no worry about them rebelling, since it was embedded in their very core that he was a higher existence to them. They would know that they were created, and given a purpose as a guide to how to live. The knowledge they would have is everything he knew, except each personality would focus on developing a separate area of expertise. And for their memories. All of them would have all of Hiro’s memories.

This did not mean that they would believe themselves to have been him at one point. It would be like having all those memories as a separate existence within them, and their memories starting from the moment they were created. If he was creating life, he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave any loose ends that could come back to bite him when he least expected it.

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When Therese went out to train the princess, Hiro delved straight into work with Leona watching over him. Of course, he kept things hidden so that he wasn’t detected in what he was doing.

In his mindscape, his mana pool had grown, both in quality and concentration as it condensed into a core. Thanks to this, he would be able to plant the seeds for all of his Persona’s in a single go. From there, he would only have to feed them mana over time. Even without that, they would take in the mana from their surroundings to grow.

As a side bit before he forgot, he also sent a mana packet to his pendants he had handed out, rewriting the instructions slightly. If a persona was available, they could choose to answer the call. If not, then it would form a clone of Murakumo. If a persona answered, then it would convert its mana to become a teleportation spell to summon the persona.

With that done, he split off the seeds for 12 of the persona’s and let them start growing in the locations he had thought of. As for the other two. The first was Yasu. He sent the completed spell package to him who was in a distant land, and basically upgraded him from a being of pure mana with a will, to a faux persona. He would probably sleep for a while until his body adjusted.

And then the next, he made in the clearing where he had been training with Leona, now that they were staying in the room for the day. Instead of a seed, he was creating the entire faux persona, draining a portion of his mana pool. Well, he would recover before long, so it wasn’t much of a loss. After confirming that the persona was awakening, he let them wait in the clearing until the time Therese came back.

At lunchtime, as Leona and Hiro were about to head downstairs for a meal, Therese walked into the room. There was a complicated look on her face, so something probably happened at the castle. As none of the pendants he made were broken, it must not have been life threatening.

Speaking of pendants, he had forgotten he was still wearing the elven one to translate the language. It was probably about time to get rid of it. He had already learned the language, after all. How? When? During the trip with the First Army to the castle. He would listen in on the conversations of the Knights, use magic to record the syntax and construct a language database, and then uploaded that into his mind.

He didn’t want to be caught in any situations where he wouldn’t be able to understand what was happening. That’s why Yasu and Murakumo had been able to speak and hear the native language without trouble.

After Therese took a seat on the floor with crossed legs like the other two, Hiro spoke up.

“You’re back early. Something happen?” (Hiro)

“The Princess had a dispute with a noble from the North. He stole her lips while their weapons were locked during a spar. Of course, I busted him up and reported the incident to the King. The Princess is fuming, though, so she challenged him to a duel for tomorrow. I’ll also be there to watch.” (Therese)

“Oof. Wouldn’t be surprised if she cut off his arm, at the least, knowing her temperament.” (Hiro)

“She nearly did, if I hadn’t stopped her. Actually, the Princess came along with me.” (Therese)

“... Well, she doesn’t know that I’m strong, since I’ve been hiding it. Complicated introductions and troublesome things that I don’t want to be caught in… Though I suppose you won’t let me go without introducing you to The Architect first…” (Hiro)

Dropping into silent thought, Therese seemed to have understood what Hiro was talking about, as her Master similarly didn’t like being the center of attention. As for the circumstances of how he and the Princess met… She didn’t know what it is, but it was his decision, so she respected that. Leona only seemed confused though, but kept her silence, knowing not to interrupt.

“Okay, let’s do this. I’ll use a disguise and another name in front of her. That way, any troublesome things will be left to a person that doesn’t exist, and I’ll be free.” (Hiro)

Just after he finished saying that, his body wavered, as if his body had been distorted by the light. With a little shimmer, his body had changed to that of a female with straight, red hair, piercing blue eyes, glossy white skin, and a toned build suitable to Hiro’s original build. Standing up, he did a bit of practice walking and gestures, making sure his posture looked feminine enough, while retaining a slightly wild and tomboyish look. With a nod, he looked at the two stunned ‘real’ females in the room.

“Ah- ah- aaaah~ Mhm. Yes. Hello.” (???)

With a bit of a vocal check, he adjusted his voice with magic to sound decidedly feminine, with a bit of androgynous features mixed in, so that if he slipped, it wouldn’t be hard to play off. With another nood, he swung his his to one side, hand on it as he let the other rest to his side, looking at Therese and Leona.

“Well? What are you two surprised for? You’ve already judged me to be strong, no point being slack-jawed now. Anyways, lemme introduce m’self. I’m Avemir. Ave for short. Y’got it?” (Ave)

Avemir. Made up on the spot, but pronounced as AH-vey-meer. Emphasis on the first syllable, and a little on the last syllable. Therese was the first one to come to grips with what she saw, before standing up and nodding to Ave. Leona followed suit and stood up, still overwhelmed.

Ave didn’t have a large chest, but there was still a noticeable bump, of course, created with magic. While a standard illusion would be fake the moment they touched any part of the illusion, Hiro was meticulous in the construction of his illusion magic. By replicating the tactile senses on his magic skin, he made it seem real, and then inflate the magic skin to fit the proportions he wanted. Clothes were also included in this feeling. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to replicate the item from nothing, after all.

The magic skin is the layers he had made before, which included the cloaking, insulation, and air conditioning layers. Oh, and it also had a nice defensive layer now. By using many many maaany times smaller hexagons, he layered those into a shield. Only if you looked at his skin within a centimeter at the moment of taking an impact, would you even see it.

Anyways, back on topic.

With Therese in the lead followed by Leona and then Ave (decided by Hiro, so that it didn’t seem like he was the most powerful), the trio went downstairs to a table where the Princess was waiting, a white cloak on to cover her appearance. Hiro had disguised himself with an illusion, including his appearance, making him look similar to the two beastwomen. His cloak also changed from grey to dark brown like tanned leather.

Once there were four at the table, Therese started off after they ordered their food.

“Eileen, this is my apprentice, Leona.” (Therese)

“Greetings.” (Leona)

“Likewise.” (Eileen)

“And this here is Avemir. She is someone I have business here with.” (Therese)

“Nice ta meet’cha.” (Avemir)

“... Yes, nice to meet you too.” (Eileen)

Whether she had noticed something, or just found her way of speaking odd, Eileen tilted her head while looking at Ave. Once the food arrived, Eileen waited for Therese to eat, who happened to be waiting for Ave to eat. Hiro sighed mentally, as he moved his hand fast enough for the Lioness to noticed but so that Eileen wouldn’t know, and took a bit of meat from his plate, quickly eating it. Like that, the meal proceeded.

After eating in silence, they soon enough finished their meal. Therese turned to Ave.

“Is it possible to meet The Architect now?” (Therese)

“Yup. I’ll lead the way~” (Ave)

Standing up, Ave made sure the three were following before leaving the Drinking Bear. Hiro figured that Therese and Eileen must have talked already, which would explain why the Princess didn’t ask anything.

While they walked to the clearing, leaving town with Therese’s name as their guarantee for the group, Hiro thought about his convincing disguise as a female. Why could he pull it off? Well, he certainly wasn’t a crossdresser. Sure, with his constant involvement with anime and such things, he did think of cosplaying as a trap, but never did.

Then how can he put on such a foolproof act? Simple. Magic. With his enhanced mind, he analyzed the information in his head. He was already an observant person before coming here. The way girls walked along the street, acts in movies and shows, how writers portrayed their acts and movements. Everything, he extrapolated on, drew out the bits he wanted, compiled a sort of animation set, and applied them to himself. Of course, in combat, he probably wouldn’t be convincing enough, but he didn’t plan for that to happen.

Reaching the clearing where he had been sparring with Leona, the four of them stood in the center. While Eileen seemed confused, Therese and Leona trusted in Hiro, and waited. Ave walked a few steps from the group, and then whistled a peculiar but clear tune. This tune was actually a hymn of sorts that Hiro would hum as a child to calm his mind, and overall just relax.

When Ave stopped the whistling, a few seconds later, the same whistle was repeated back from the forest. And like that, a figure appeared from the treeline of the clearing. The moment they stood in the light, their appearance was revealed, and left everyone slightly awed.

A light green dress, flax-weaved sandals, petite build, slightly tall with delicate limbs, flawless skin, radiant platinum blonde hair that’s closer to silver, emerald green eyes, and the most striking feature: long and pointed ears. An elf. Well, this is a fantasy world, after all. Why should Hiro stick to only making humans? In fact, he used the concept of “High”. High Humans, High Elves, and so on. By the way, Yasu was a High Fairy.

Exuding elegance, the elf approached the group and stood next to Ave, who turned to look at the group. Eileen was surprised as she didn’t expect to see Elves in the Kingdom of Allard. Therese and Leona, however, were stiff. Despite the overwhelming presence of Hiro in front of them, the Elf was still noticeably large. Well, it’s unsurprising, since if compared to a Magus or a Legend, the Elf was still a tier above them.

In gaming terms, of a Magus/Legend was Level 100, and Hiro was Level 999(ERROR), then each of the Faux Persona’s were to be at the level of 250. Or something like that, anyway. That was just how much power he was investing into each of their creations. He would feel like shit if he gave them life, and they ended up dying because they were too weak.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Vila, 【The Architect】. Pleasure to make your acquaintances.” (Vila)

“Yup, Vila here is amazing, yanno? If a Human Craftsman makes works with hammers, chisels and other such things, then Vila uses her specialty, Magic, to do all of that. Amazing, right?” (Ave)

While the trio seemed confused on to what Ave meant, she just shook her head. Hiro had shared his spell creations with his persona’s. So of course, Vila knew how to use the Magic Forge he had created.

“Vila, you should demonstrate! They don’t look convinced!” (Ave)

“Ave, please calm down. They’re just at a loss for words. In any case, I have heard from my friend here, that Miss Therese wishes to have a weapons made, in return for escorting me?” (Vila)

Of course, Hiro’s current personality for Avemir was something he made up. It’s fun to pretend to be someone else now and then. While Therese looked at Ave, questioning with her eyes as to how Vila knew about her and their deal already, Hiro gave a little smirk and tapped his head with a finger. After thinking creatively for a moment, she figured it out. Long distance magical telepathic communication.