The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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On a weekend morning, I felt a bit better after hugging Kalia tightly. There’s nothing that calms the mind and body quite like holding someone close.

However, I did hear one comment.

“Do you think I’m some kind of hugging machine? It’s not like I’m a puppy or anything, with dozens of people rushing in… You didn’t do that with anyone else, right?”

“I didn’t! Seriously! I swear!”

“Ugh… Don’t you dare do that with anyone else! Got it? If a Non-Awakened got caught up in it, someone might get hurt or even worse.”

Kalia wasn’t wrong, but she was describing my affectionate gestures like they were some sort of disaster.

That was a bit much. Shouldn’t it be right to graciously accept an onslaught of cute girls like us with joy?

“Still, it was warm…”

“I think it’s better than just hugging among ourselves.”

It felt different from when we curled up together in bed. In fact, it was much better.

Maybe it was because of the height difference. The girls I knew were either around my height or taller. I hadn’t seen anyone shorter than me.

“Our height is only 150 cm. We’re not tall among women, so what can you do?”

“Didn’t you notice a bit of a musty smell when we hugged? Was that cigarette?”

“Kalia doesn’t smoke. That’s the smell of gunpowder.”

I didn’t see anything the night before. Did she go hunting, or was something alarming happening in the neighborhood while I was asleep?

The peace in the academy city was maintained by the clan’s personnel, so places like downtown or around the school were very safe. However, areas they didn’t patrol weren’t so great.

In such cases, people preferred to carry personal weapons and organize a vigilante group, waiting in anxiety for the police who could arrive at any moment—and if the offender were an Awakened, they’d rather not come at all.

The most effective way to deal with Awakened offenders is to respond with an Awakened one. You need magical power to penetrate the Ether Protection surrounding them.

So I heard that the citizens of this world could hire Awakened as troubleshooters. If they were ready to mobilize automatic rifles and explosives, even a Non-Awakened could confront an Awakened, as it would result in comparatively less collateral damage than turning workplaces and streets into chaos.

There’s the problem of it costing a lot and people being quite wary, but with every job there are pros and cons.

“It was quiet outside when we were drinking last night. I’m sure nothing happened.”

“Right, this neighborhood is safe because the Brotherhood patrols it.”

With Kalia and other Awakened members in the Brotherhood, there was no need to feel anxious.

“So, what now?”

Unit 2, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s think rationally. The situation where we forgot our names hasn’t changed. School and other matters are piling up. What do we do going forward? Should we just give up?”

“It’s not like I want to quit… but…”

Unit 1, who had perked up a bit, stood and stretched.

“For now, we need to eat and survive in this weird world we’ve fallen into.”

“True, true.”

“Let’s help Irene a bit first, then think about what’s next.”

In truth, the shock from yesterday hadn’t completely faded. The reality that our memories weren’t intact was unavoidable. We couldn’t deny it or pretend it didn’t exist.

Still, we had to set aside the dire reality in front of us for now.

“Let’s take a break from the dangerous stuff for a while.”

“Yeah…”

***

Unit 27, lying on the dormitory bed, pulled the blanket over her head and closed her eyes again.

Listening to the conversations of the Violets in my head, my earlier excitement slowly settled down.

I still had no motivation to do anything.

As I lay there stretching out my legs and counting the patterns on the ceiling, someone called for me from under the bed.

“Rugilinn, are you awake?”

Peeking my head out from under the ladder, I saw Daphne getting ready to go out.

“No? I’m not sleeping. What’s up?”

“The weather is nice, so would you like to go out to the city around the academy with me?”

“Uh… just a minute…”

I tried to refuse out of annoyance, but suddenly remembered yesterday’s incident. My irritation toward innocent Daphne felt heavy on my conscience.

Here, it was right to do what Daphne wanted to do.

“I heard there’s a cafe nearby that serves delicious parfaits. I’ll buy you one.”

“Okay, I’ll go…”

After hastily throwing on some clothes and grabbing my wallet, I noticed Daphne watching me strangely.

“Rugilinn?”

“What?”

“It’s an outing, so how about wearing something other than training clothes?”

“It’s comfortable! And all my other clothes are just like this anyway.”

“Don’t you have any other clothes?”

I shook my head. I did buy some clothes when I stayed at Kalia’s house, but because of my stubbornness for convenience, I hadn’t gotten any skirts apart from my uniform. Kalia had never been one to care about dressing up, so it didn’t matter.

When I opened up my closets to show her, Daphne’s blue eyes widened.

“This is it? They’re all the same color…”

“Huh? Did my clothes get a hole or something?”

Hearing my response, Daphne sighed.

“That’s not the problem. You’ve got a good point. Now, let’s go look for some clothes!”

Wow, it was the first time I’d seen my normally gentle roommate like this—so assertive. I couldn’t resist and was helplessly dragged outside the academy. Save me!

As we arrived in the city, the first place we visited was a small clothing store.

“I have clothes! I’m fine!”

“Training clothes and hiking gear aren’t clothes! I wondered why you only wore the school uniform… sigh… Excuse me, is there any chance you could help me?”

“Yes, ma’am~”

I spent almost an hour trying on various outfits. Like a dress-up doll.

“This is annoying…”

“Now, look in the mirror. How does it look?”

“Huh…? Surprisingly, it’s not bad.”

In the mirror stood a girl wearing a simple flared skirt and a blouse, draped with a cardigan. The clothes looked awkward, but surprisingly, I didn’t look half bad in the mirror.

This was the first time I had tried on such clothes since being reincarnated.

After buying a few outfits, as I stepped outside the store, a satisfied Daphne suddenly asked me.

“Do you have makeup? Or not?”

“I have! Lotion!”

“What else?”

“…Camouflage cream?”

“…Of course, you don’t.”

“Wait a minute! You said you’d buy me crepes! And parfaits too!”

“I’ll get those after this. Come on, let’s go!”

This time, I got dragged into a cosmetics store.

Wait! Let go of me! I don’t know anything beyond skin and lotion! All the items here look completely unfamiliar!

I had definitely come out to eat desserts, but somehow, I found myself in a crash course on how to use women’s cosmetics. This is absurd.

“Okay, this is how you use this, and that goes here.”

“Like this?”

“Rugilinn! That’s men’s skin moisturizer! Not that, come over here. You weren’t paying attention, were you?”

“…Hehe…”

At first, I thought I’d just grab anything and leave, but my obvious inexperience with makeup tools and cosmetics must have shown. Daphne, in her sweet voice, began quizzing me, and I had to admit I didn’t know anything about women’s cosmetics.

The look of shock on her face was quite memorable. Perhaps this was what it was like for protagonists in fantasy novels encountering people who didn’t even know how to cook meat over fire.

Once the explanation was over, Daphne demonstrated how to apply a simple makeup look on me.

“Okay, you’re all set… wow.”

As I looked in the mirror, I understood why she let out that brief exclamation of surprise.

“…Is this me?”

It was astonishing. It was definitely me, but someone else was standing there.

If the previous Violet was a 100-point beauty, this Violet was a 1,000-point beauty!

Is this the power of makeup?

“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised. I’ve never worn makeup before and this is the first time I’ve picked clothes… I’m curious about Rugilinn’s past… Oh, I’m not teasing you. It’s just that I’ve never seen anyone like you among female students…”

“Well, I’m curious too…”

Suddenly, I felt a bit dizzy. This was too complicated.

After everything was done, I mindlessly devoured the parfait that Daphne bought me at the cafe.

“…How did you feel today?”

“Feel? It was okay.”

After leaving the cafe, we walked through the city. Daphne handed me a waffle.

Honestly, I didn’t know if things were more than just okay; it was quite noisy and overwhelming, but it didn’t seem bad. The parfait was delicious. And now, this waffle too.

“Then that’s good to hear.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know how your expression was all week, Rugilinn? You looked really tired. So I thought maybe getting some fresh air would do you good. You weren’t uncomfortable, were you?”

“No, it was nice. The parfait was delicious!”

“Well then, that’s a relief.”

I thought I heard a sigh, but maybe I was imagining things.

Finally, what felt like a long but short outing was coming to an end. I could see the academy’s entrance in the distance.

I briefly recalled the morning. What would it feel like to hug Daphne?

“Can I hug you?”

I discreetly approached her and opened my arms. She, looking puzzled, responded to me. I lightly buried my face against Daphne’s soft chest.

It was warm. So soft.

Daphne smelled like lavender.

It hadn’t been a bad day. Thanks to that, I felt a bit more energized.

Though the situation around me hadn’t changed, I was able to focus a bit on the things that needed to be done.