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Volume 8 Chapter 208

Duplication Magic

「As you can see, I couldn’t manage to bring in merchants, yet……」
Ideally, I wanted to show everyone how buying and selling weapons and healing potions would take place here.
However, since adventurers, who are the customers, haven’t come to the dungeon yet, there was no reason for the merchants to gather.
「Um, I don’t think Yoko-san meant that」
「Huh? What do you mean?」
「「The point is, why is Haruto-sama using Duplication Magic?」」
「Exactly! Why are you casually using Duplication Magic!?」
「Why? Well, because it’s convenient?」
Duplication Magic is convenient. It allows for intricate tasks that Flame Knights can’t perform, and most importantly, since the appearance is entirely mine, I can go to human towns and shop.
All the weapons and armor in this Dungeon Front Market were bought by my duplications while I was renovating the dungeon.
Despite having the items ready, the shopkeepers didn’t gather. Still, wanting to demonstrate this market, I decided to let my duplications play the roles of various shopkeepers.
I made slight changes to their outfits, but their bodies and faces remained identical to mine.
Mastering Duplication Magic might allow changing body shape and facial features, but creating a duplication that perfectly imitates a person is quite challenging, and I was still doing my best to create copies of myself.
「No, what Yoko-san wants to know is not that! We want to know how you use this magic!」
「You want to know how to activate this magic?」
「Yes!」
「「Haruto-sama, you’re at least using more than ten clones…… Is your magical power okay?」」
「I’m also curious. The Duplication Magic I researched divides the caster’s magical power equally. Is it okay to use it for more than ten duplications?」
Mai, Mei, and Sera seem concerned about my well-being.
I don’t particularly want to keep it a secret, so I’ll tell them.
「Well, this is actually an application of the Flame Knight. So, I think it’s a bit different from what everyone calls real Duplication Magic」
While saying that, I release magical power.
Manipulating that magical power──
I summon a Flame Knight, covered in armor, on my right side.
「And this one is a knight without an elemental attribute」
Next, I summon a knight composed solely of non-elemental magical power on my left side.
The knights standing on my left and right have the only difference of having or not having the fire attribute; otherwise, their performances are exactly the same.
The non-elemental knight, like the Flame Knight, can act autonomously.
The non-elemental knight has a transparent appearance, and a core glows at its chest.
This non-elemental knight serves as the base for Duplication Magic.
「First, I’ll remove the hind legs」
Using a knife-hand technique, I cut off the rear legs of the knight.
The magical power that composed the severed hind legs disperses into the surroundings.
「Next, I’ll remove the armor」
Maybe because the image from the first time is too strong, the knights I create always appear wearing armor.
Since the armor is in the way, I remove it all.
「Since the body is a bit large, let’s shrink it」
I wave my hand towards the knight and lightly clench my fist. The knight’s body compresses.
It would be great if I could adjust the body shape at this point, but if I consciously think about a human-like form for the duplication, it always ends up looking like my familiar body.
「Then, I’ll remove the helmet」
Instructing the non-elemental knight, I have it take off its helmet.
「────Huh!?」
「Uh, what? W-why──」
Tina and all my family wives are frozen in shock.
At the end of their gaze──
A semi-transparent figure of me, holding the knight’s helmet, is standing.
「Is that how it was under the Flame Knight’s helmet?」
What Tina wants to say is probably whether the faces of the Flame Knights are all my faces.
Perhaps Tina is imagining a Centaur-like torso with my head attached to it.
──No, that would be quite disgusting, right!?
「N-no, that’s not it! When I remove the helmet, I just change my face to mine. L-look, see this!!」
In a hurry, I have the Flame Knight next to me remove its helmet.
A face covered in flames, devoid of emotion, appears.
「P-Phew, that’s a relief. I was thinking, what if Haruto-sama’s face was on a Centaur-like torso……」
「I also think that would be bad」
「If that were the case, it would be unpleasant, nya」
「Meldie-san, you’re too straightforward」
Oh, that was close……
It seems my wives were indeed imagining such a grotesque scenario.
It’s a good thing I was able to clear up the misunderstanding early.
「Well, that’s the gist of it. Then, with an illusion magic combining wind, water, and light magic, I grant my skin’s color and texture」
In front of me, another me appears.
It’s like looking in a mirror.
「This is my Duplication Magic」
「U-um, Haruto-san…… Can I touch your clone?」
「Sure」
I was quite confident in my ability to reproduce myself with the Duplication Magic.
「This is──」
Rifa is enthusiastically touching my duplication’s body. Since yesterday was the day I slept with Rifa, it seems like she’s recalling that sensation while touching.
Since the person herself is right there, it’s okay for her to touch me, but……
「I, too, want to touch it」
「「We want to, too!」」
「I’m curious as well」
「I want to touch Haruto’s clone too!」
「Okay. Then, examine the quality of my clones」
Saying that, I summoned my clones, who were acting as vendors at each shop.
Their number, twelve in total.
Excluding Sally and Lilia who are here, it’s the same number as my wives. Kikyou’s duplicate is an extra.
I’ve noticed that I’ve been making them feel lonely lately due to the increase in wives.
So, I thought that if their loneliness could be alleviated even a little, I would increase the number of myself.
Since my Duplication Magic has the same performance as the Flame Knight, all the experiences the clones had come to me when its body disappears.
Also, by training telepathy and intuition, though not perfect yet, I can reflect my consciousness in magic.
In other words, the clone can be said to be me.
The only thing I couldn’t reproduce was the reproductive function.
Or rather, I haven’t reproduced it.
I didn’t want to concede that to the clone.
「A-amazing… …It’s like the real Haruto-sama」
Tina, who is most familiar with my body, is astonished by the degree of similarity with the Duplication Magic.