But it was different. Until now, Hilde's transformations had been perfect enough to surprise even herself, but this transformation seemed like anyone could easily distinguish it. Her skill was excellent, but to anyone's eyes, she was alien to the Regressor.
"What? Transformation? For something like that..."
Hilde, who had stopped halfway through transforming into 'Shei', let out a soft sigh and spoke.
"I don't look like you at all, right? Yees~. It's a failure. Your character interpretation is so difficult that it ended up like this, you see~. Since I couldn't immerse myself, the acting is lacking too."
The Regressor looked secretly pleased by the fact that Hilde failed to transform into him. Perhaps it was pride in his own uniqueness. Even though he would normally lash out if his own face was right in front of him, his attitude was gentle.
"Hmph. Of course. Not everything in the world goes your way."
"I learned that today too. I raise both my hands and feet in surrender. It feels like I'm misinterpreting something, but I don't know what it is~."
Of course she wouldn't know. How could she understand that mental world without knowing the premise of regression? Even I, who has mind-reading, couldn't fully understand it.
Hilde, raising both hands, made a mischievous expression and suddenly jumped at me.
"Anyway! If you hate sleeping in the same room with Father that much, then switch with 'me'! 'I' have no problem sleeping with Father! No, actually, I'd prefer it!"
"Ha?"
"Is it okay for a man and woman to sleep in the same room? It's fine. Because 'I' am disguised as a man right now! Not just the same room, it's safe even if we sleep in the same bed!"
No. That's a refusal from my side. It's already annoying to share a narrow bed, so why does it have to be a man? I'm the one who isn't safe. If anything, ask her to use a woman's body.
The Regressor seriously considered accepting Hilde's proposal. But only for a moment; seeing his own face clinging to me gave him a sense of revulsion.
"Never mind. I'd rather not than see my face clinging to that guy."
"Oh my? Are you jealous?"
"Jealous of what! I just feel bad! Wouldn't you feel bad if someone walked around doing stupid things with your face!"
"Not really? 'I' can do stupid things with 'my' own face just fine~? I wonder what kind of stupid things I should do~?"
Saying that, Hilde subtly headed toward the warehouse. At that moment, darkness swelled behind her, suddenly pouncing on her from behind and wrapping around her limbs.
"Huh? Tirkanjaka?"
[Hey, what's a grown woman doing barging into a man's room? Come back here.]
"That kind of rigid mindset is slowing down progress~."
Saying that, Hilde was dragged away beyond the darkness. Peru, who saw a person getting swallowed by darkness right next to him, ran away frightened once again.
In the end, only the Regressor and I were left in front of the warehouse. Sweeping his hair back, the Regressor clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
"Fine. I'll hang a cloth in the middle, so don't cross over."
"I don't know why you keep taking a defensive stance. If anything, the one who should be screaming is me? Unlike you, I'm a harmless human who doesn't have a shred of aggression!"
"It's not that I'm wary because it's you. It's the same no matter who it is. I can't sleep well if there's another presence in the same space."
'If no one is around, it's not dangerous. Neither me, nor the other person. Everyone...'
The Regressor took out a wide cloth and divided the room in half. The already narrow room became even more suffocating... but beyond the cloth, a much more comfortable vibe could be felt. In his own space, the Regressor relaxed his tension and felt at ease.
Well, let him hang it or not. If he hangs it, it's actually more comfortable for me. I don't have to worry about my head flying off if I accidentally brush against him.
Careful not to touch the cloth just in case, I lay down on the makeshift bed and spoke.
"Privacy is guaranteed, I see. Good night, Mr. Shei."
"...You too."
The answer came a beat late.
-------
The King of the Golden Kingdom, Elic, commanded his disciples.
"Fill this room with a single gold coin. The one who fills the room most wisely will earn the right to receive my teachings."
It was a cliché question, overused to the point of exhausting even the bone marrow, and the disciples each displayed what they had thought of. Sound, light, scent. The disciples who filled the room with all sorts of invisible things smiled proudly and waited for Elic's evaluation.
However, there was one more hidden meaning to Elic's test.
"Water that flows to the sea becomes clouds and falls again, and broken tools are melted and made into steel again. Those who pursue wisdom must consider how to refill rather than consume. Because that is far more difficult."
The previous question was famous, but the disciples had never heard the rest of the story. Elic commanded the disciples who were staring blankly at each other.
"Convert what you have filled back into gold."
The disciples hastily gathered the remaining items and tried to convert them back into gold.
However, items once used are bound to lose their value. It is said that not a single disciple managed to return with a perfect gold coin.
...Until the Golden Mirror appeared.
Wow. How unusual. I'm dreaming.
Ordinary people try to trivialize that disorderly illusion by attaching the prefix 'dog' to their dreams. But I know. In quite many cases, dreams don't simply end as 'dog dreams'.
While sleeping is when human consciousness is at its weakest, and when the signals flowing through the nerves weaken, the noise that burrows into those gaps is exactly what a dream is. Because it's coated with this and that, it's hard to recognize, but at the very center lies the root of the subconscious that even oneself hasn't recognized.
Well, in most cases, people fail to find it, so it becomes a dog dream... But my case is a bit different.
The memory that burrowed into my mind while I was asleep. Fill the room? Whose memory is this?
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"Wake up! Wake up!"
The sound of a dog barking pierced my ears. At the noise disrupting my thoughts, I frowned with my eyes still closed. A dog dream is better than a dog. At least a dog dream doesn't wake me up.
"Aji. Try to stop barking."
Naturally, words wouldn't stop him. Aji patted the bed and shouted.
"Wake up! It's morning!"
"Lazybones!"
"I'm not a lazybones. I am waging a holy struggle against the cruel morning that tries to rule humans."
"Lazybones!"
"You should be diligent!"
He's not even the king of roosters, but he wakes me up every morning. Tch. And here I was trying to get some deep sleep for once. Beasts are worse than humans.
Right, getting up, getting up. Let's think about that dream later. Come to think of it, what kind of dream did I have? I'm pretty sure it was a dog dream.
"Ugh. By the way, why are you singing in rounds?"
Saying that, I opened my eyes, and saw two Aji heads side by side staring at me at the head of the bed. I recoiled in shock and screamed.
"Cerberus!"
"Woof! I'm Aji!"
"Cer...? Is it food?"
"It's not a Cerberus. Because it has two heads! A two-headed dog?"
"I have one head!"
"Idiot!"
"I don't want to be called an idiot by a puppy that grew two heads!"
Anyway, what is going on here. I opened my eyes and Aji has been duplicated. Did the king of abandoned dogs come in from somewhere? This is troublesome. One is already too much, but two?
I instinctively tried to use mind-reading, but paused for a moment. Right. The opponent is the King of Dogs. The only part of Aji's thoughts I can read is what he expresses outwardly. It's useless to try anyway...
'Look at that surprised expression. How rare~.'
It's being read? What's going on? Did he get trapped somewhere, eat something wrong, and turn into a human? Or did my mind-reading suddenly awaken?
'Father, who usually shows no openings at all, looks quite defenseless while sleeping~. They say the King of Humans lost all his power, but does he really have no means to protect himself? Further observation is necessary!'
What. 'Aji' was Hilde.
Tch. I thought my growth period had come again. Well, it's not like a human could read a dog's mind. You can know without reading it, though.
Should I try just one more time.
'Wake up! Woof! Wake up! Woof!'
Ugh. As expected, I can't read it.
I can tell even without mind-reading that Aji is trying to wake me up right now. But all I can read with my mind-reading is Aji's mood and actions. Even that is so chaotic that there's no point in reading it.
It seems like he's trying to do me a favor for now. In times like this, letting me sleep is the real kindness.
"What? What's with all the noise... Huh?"
Irritably pulling back the curtain, the Regressor widened his eyes upon seeing the duplicated Aji. I cupped Aji's face with both hands as a chin rest and said.
"Ta-da. It's Ajiberus."
"It has two heads!"
Is that what's important? Ignore the trivial details, please.
"Woof woof! Stop right there!"
"Woof woof woof!"
Unlike other humans, Aji didn't show any particular wariness upon seeing 'Aji' who looked exactly like him. Rather, when 'Aji' bounded around boisterously, he fiercely wagged his tail and jumped around too. The two played a precarious game of tag without knocking over the furniture.
"Is it because there are two Ajis? They are squared in their boisterousness."
"One of them isn't Aji. It's a Yeonggweji pretending to be Aji."
The Regressor grumbled as he watched Aji and 'Aji' playing around.
"What kind of person is she? Wearing dog ears and even a tail, then playing around like a dog? There's a limit to bad taste.... What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Those exact words apply to Aji right now. Wearing dog ears and a tail and acting like a dog is Aji himself, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about? Aji is the King of Dogs! What's wrong with the King of Dogs acting like a dog!"
"That's strange. Didn't you treat Aji like a human, Mr. Shei? You threw a fuss saying I was treating him too roughly when I played with him. You grumbled when I tried to give him leftover rice. And yet, wearing dog ears and a tail and acting like a dog is natural? That's contradictory."
Honestly, treating a dog like a human is more of a problem than a human acting like a dog. If you're going to treat a dog like a human, make it fulfill that much responsibility and duty. If it doesn't work and is useless, yet receives all sorts of preferential treatment, is that a pet? It's a master.
"The King of Dogs is a being that represents dogs. It's natural for him to do what dogs do!"
"Then are you admitting the fact that Aji has merely taken a human form, but his essence is purely that of a dog?"
"Admit..."
The Regressor, who had spoken up to that point, swallowed his words and shouted again.
"...No! But I can't treat him like an actual dog!"
"Good grief. What stubbornness."
As the Regressor's voice grew louder, Aji stopped playing, tilted his head, and showed interest. 'Aji' also sidled up along with him.
Tsk. Is she planning not to release her transformation until I guess it right? This person really has bad taste too. If I pick her out right away, it would be suspicious, so should I make her show her tail?
"Aji."
"Woof!"
"Woof!"
Aji and 'Aji' answered in unison. I had confirmed this last time as well, but they couldn't be distinguished by voice either. I didn't know she could even mimic the tone of a dog's bark this perfectly.
"Aji. Doesn't it bother you at all that there's a being that looks exactly like you right in front of you?"