“Durandal, you bastard! What are you doing!?”

The door to my room flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall beside me. If it had gone anymore to the left or right, either I or Vera would’ve been hit. Did Lucia do that on purpose? Probably not. She’s not one to be considerate of another person’s health. But what is she accusing me of doing? “Hello, Lucia.”

“Durandal! And”—Lucia glared at Vera—“you!” Her gaze landed back onto me. Then it switched over to Vera. Confusion gradually set in on her face, and she tilted her head. “What’s going on? Why is she…?” Lucia gestured at Vera, who was tied up and hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“She’s a statue from the Slaughter God’s Tomb imbued with the memories of someone I used to know.” I’m sure even Lucia knows that. “I’m interrogating her. Even if my memories are used to fill in her personality, she’s still from the tomb. She’s bound to know about many things related to slaughter, which will help you progress in your cultivation.” It’s also why I have the rest of the statues that were in the shape of people’s loved ones. Though, I’m still separating the statues from the real people. It’s a bit difficult. Of course, it’s not like Lucia needs to know about them. Excessive knowledge hurts her head.

“Mm, I see. Why don’t you leave the interrogation to Ilya?” Lucia grabbed the fake Ilya behind her and tugged her into the room. “She loves torturing people.” Lucia’s forehead scrunched up. “Actually, you love torturing people too….”

I sighed. Lucia seems to have gotten the wrong impression of me from somewhere. Maybe, one day, she’ll realize I wasn’t torturing her body for fun but to help her improve. I’m afraid that day will never come though; she just doesn’t have the capability to understand another person. “You know that Ilya is a fake, right? Having a statue interrogate a statue is just asking to be tricked.”

The fake Ilya rolled her eyes at me. “And just what could you possibly get out of these statues? Information about the Slaughter God’s Tomb that no longer exists in this world because of Lucia here?”

What I’m doing isn’t pointless. Is it? I don’t think it is. “The Slaughter God’s Tomb was designed to find the perfect inheritor for the Slaughter God. As a part of one of the trials, you should know what qualities the Slaughter God was looking for within a candidate. By finding out those qualities, I’ll be able to design a training program for Lucia to help her gain those.”

“The only quality the Slaughter God was looking for was the ability to kill without mercy.” The fake Ilya snorted. “And that’s why Lucia inherited the crown.”

“I’m pretty sure Lucia obtained the crown by flipping the table once she lost the game.” The tomb wanted to disqualify Lucia, giving her an unpassable trial. Just having the ability to kill without mercy isn’t all it takes to walk the Path of Slaughter. If that were the case, wouldn’t any criminal pass that criteria? “If that really was the only quality necessary, the tomb wouldn’t have stayed unconquered for seven hundred years. To me, it seems like you’re plotting against Lucia, trying to lead her astray by taking the appearance of someone she trusts.” It’s settled; I have to tie up this fake Ilya as well. I can’t let her stay by Lucia’s side.

“Put that sword down!” Lucia glared at me and hid the fake Ilya behind herself. “This Ilya’s the real one! She taught me how to read!”

“Really?” Lucia? Read? “That’s impossible.”

“What do you mean that’s impossible!? I really did learn!” Lucia glared at me and stomped her foot. The building shook, and the people and statues that I had captive underneath the room screamed. “She crammed everything I needed to know into a jade slip, and then she taught it to me.”

…And Lucia didn’t die of a headache? “Are you sure she really taught you how to read? What if she tricked you and taught you incorrectly?”

Lucia turned around and stared at Ilya. Then she turned back to me and crossed her arms. “Ilya would never do that.”

“But that’s not Ilya.” As I’ve pointed out many times before. “She’s a fake.”

Lucia turned back around and stared at the fake Ilya. The fake Ilya shrugged. “You know, the real Ilya has the same probability of tricking you as I do.”

Lucia grabbed the fake Ilya and shook her back and forth. “Did you trick me or not!?” The fake Ilya’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed onto the ground from being shook too hard. I know because I’ve seen that same exact reaction from a few statues I interrogated. Lucia placed the fake Ilya into a corner and poked her head out of the door. “Mrs. Feathers! Come here!”

A few moments later, a rainbow phoenix waddled into the room. It yawned and rubbed its face with its wings. “Yes, Boss?”

Lucia scribbled something onto the floor with her finger, destroying the tiles. “What does this say?”

Mrs. Feathers stared at the characters. “Lucia is smarter than Durandal.”

“And that’s exactly what I intended to write!” Lucia nodded and placed her hands on her hips, giving me a smug smile. “See? Ilya didn’t trick me! And I’m definitely smarter than you now.”

…It’s time for me to learn how to read the Immortal Continent’s characters. “Where’s the jade slip the fake Ilya used to teach you?”

Lucia’s smug smile widened, and I resisted the urge to attack her. She pulled a piece of paper out of her interspacial ring and used a brush to scribble on a few characters. “Here you go. Just read these directions and they’ll lead you straight to the strip.”

I took the paper, and the characters were the Immortal Continent’s. Before I could say anything, Lucia went up to me and nudged my side with her elbow. “Oh, wait. That’s right. You can’t read! Oops, I must’ve forgot.”

If I attack her, how long will I spend recuperating in my weapon body after she kills me? Around a week or two? I think it’s worth it.