翁公和媛媛在厨房里猛烈进出

"...alright, open the door."

Keeping my two daggers ready, I slowly inched the corrupted stick forward, placing it right under the door knob.

Waiting a moment, I slowly lifted up the corrupted stick while simultaneously moving farther back into the shower.

With the glass of the shower against my back, I completely lifted up the stick, causing the doorknob to lift as well.

Trying to give Alya more than enough time to react, I slowly inched up the door with the stick while holding my corrupted daggers in the other hand.

As the door opened fully, I waited in anticipation, watching Astrid slowly take her first step into the room.

At the same time, in a forest far away, my pitch-black crow began frantically flying at the window.

Attempting to catch the attention of the real Astrid, who was currently signing documents, the crow frantically threw its beak at the window as hard as possible.

After a couple of seconds, the sounds finally reached Astrid\'s ears, prompting her to stare up from her papers and at the out-of-place crow banging on her window.

As Astrid walked up the window, the pitch-black crow stopped banging its beak on the window before moving to the right.

Like an artist using a paintbrush, the crow precisely used its paintbrush, or beak in this case, to trace the words "Ren" on the window.

Unfortunately, Astrid didn\'t understand the crow the first time, still looking confused, but as the crow began to trace \'Ren" once again, the real Astrid seemed to have an epiphany.

Seeing Astrid dash out of the student council room, the crow moved from the window, flying in the direction of my dorm building.

Back in the bathroom, I watched as "Astrid" fully entered the bathroom, staring at the sink and mirror on the opposite side of the shower where I was located.

*BANG*

As the bathroom door slammed shut, "Astrid" immediately twisted her head, staring at the closed door.

"...where are you, Ren?"

As Astrid shifted her gaze upward, looking around the room for me cluelessly, I further tugged at the corrupted stick, which she hadn\'t noticed due to it blending in with the black walls of the bathroom.

Then, before she could react, the arrow trap I had prepared earlier triggered, sending countless corrupted arrows I had made down at her.

As the arrow flung down at the oblivious "Astrid," I gripped my two daggers, letting the corrupted stick fall to the ground and disintegrate.

Flinging away the shower curtains and revealing myself, I immediately boosted off the wall, with the tip of my daggers pointing straight.

*BANG*

While I flew through the air at "Astrid," I could hear another bang sound from outside, signifying Astrid\'s arrival.

Thinking that Alya would explain the situation and what I had told her, I slashed my daggers at the helpless "Astrid."

However, stopping me just as my daggers were about to hit Astrid, the arrows from the roof each arrived at "Astrid" as well.

That wasn\'t what caused me to stop, though...

From behind the door, the sound of the real Astrid screaming out echoed.

"W-wait! Stop... it\'s me! Just—please, it\'s me!"

With my daggers a centimeter away from hitting "Astrid," I stopped upon hearing the real Astrid\'s screams outside the door.

..?

Were they both fake... why was she stopping me?

In front of me, the fake Astrid simply stood still, only getting hit by one corrupted arrow while easily catching the others mid-air.

Staring at me and my daggers, the fake Astrid simply smirked before sarcastically raising her hands and saying.

"Nooo, please don\'t hurt me! I\'m so scared!"

"...?"

At that moment, the bathroom door also swung open revealing the real Astrid and Alya, who were waiting right outside.

Swapping my gazes between the Astrid in front of me with her hands up and the Astrid outside of the door staring at me, I felt a headache coming on.

"i-i don\'t even care anymore...just what the hell is going on...?"

-*-

Leaning back on the couch, I alternated my gazes between the two Astrids once again, who were sitting side by side, before asking.

"So... you\'re telling me you can clone yourself!?"

While the Astrid I had previously thought to be fake stared out the window with a smirk, the real Astrid shook her head before once again explaining.

"It\'s kind of like cloning...I can replicate myself, but each time I do that, I have to give an emotion to that clone."

Pointing to the fake Astrid with a sly grin, the real Astrid continued.

"So... she has my... sly and clever side because I didn\'t think I would need them."

Recounting how the real Astrid had just been signing documents for almost three days straight, I began to understand.

That\'s how she had signed and read all those school documents without being bored...

Continuing, Astrid grabbed the should of the clever and sly Astrid, a clone, before pointing at the hole my one arrow had made.

"As you can see, we still share the same soul essentially. If she gets hurt, then I also get hurt; if she dies, I also die."

Nodding my head, I tried to recount if Astrid had any abilities like this in the main story, but nothing came to my mind.

All she was in the book was some Earth and Plant mage renowned for her power and brains.

Deciding not to ask about the origins of her power as I doubted she would answer anyway, I sighed before asking.

"Would it have been too hard for you to just tell me this earlier?"

My nerves were still shaken... and worst of all, I was beginning to lose trust in my prized possession, my eyes!

At my words, the clever and sly Astrid gazed at me before chuckling and saying.

"And what fun would that be?"

Ignoring the clever and sly Astrid, I looked at the real one before asking.

"So, she doesn\'t just blindly follow your orders, huh?"