“Well, that’s done,” Ludwig said, leaning back against the cold stone wall. His eyes flicked upward to the screen, where the red number had decreased by one.
The rest of the students noticed the change as well, their eyes darting between Ludwig and the screen. Ludwig, however, seemed entirely unfazed. He simply sat in the corner, his posture relaxed, as if the chaos around him was nothing more than background noise.
“Ludwig,” both Minerva and her clone approached him, their voices overlapping perfectly. “You look rather relaxed,” they said in unison.
“Of course,” Ludwig replied, his tone casual. “Because I’m already in the clear.”
“But the trial won’t end until all the clones are eliminated,” Minerva pointed out, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“I know,” Ludwig said, shrugging. “I can just wait until everyone figures their own way out. In the end, I’ll pass.”
“That’s rather convenient,” Bron interjected, his voice laced with suspicion.
“What do you mean?” Ludwig asked, his gaze sharpening as he turned to face Bron.
“Can you prove to us that you’re real?” Bron demanded, his eyes narrowing.
“Are you dumb or something?” Minerva snapped, her frustration boiling over. “He just showed you.”
“Yeah, but who can tell if he’s also a clone?” Bron shot back, his voice rising. “I mean, the guy he killed was a doppelgänger—that’s something we know. But what if the real Ludwig had already been eliminated before, and all of this is just a ruse to drop our guard?”
“Are you insane?” Minerva retorted, her hands balling into fists.
“No, he’s right,” Ludwig said, his voice calm but firm. “I would also think the same. Not going to lie, his reasoning is still sound. Even I wouldn’t believe me if this whole thing happened. Remember, the professor said not to believe everything.”
“See, that means you’re also a clone,” Bron said, his tone triumphant.
“Sadly, your intelligence is rather lacking,” Ludwig replied, shaking his head. “There’s no way for me to prove that I’m real—same for all of you. At least I have a higher chance of being real than the rest of you,” he added, his lips curling into a smirk. “After all, one of my clones is dead.”
“He can’t be the clone,” another student chimed in, his voice timid but firm.
“How come? Do you have proof? Or are you simply just backing him up?” Bron demanded, turning to the new speaker.
The student was a young, unassuming boy with a bowl cut and thick glasses—the classic “nerdy” look. He adjusted his glasses nervously before speaking.
“Because I’ve seen him clear. I was not far from him when he was chasing after other students on the back of a Dreadjaw,” the boy said, his voice steady despite the tension in the room.
Ludwig’s smile widened. “I guess I missed one,” he said, his tone almost playful.
“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean? The Dreadjaw? Something doesn’t add up,” Bron said, his brow furrowing. “We’ve been focused too much on this doppelgänger thing that I forgot something. We were supposed to kill the Dreadjaw to clear the first trial…”
“That wouldn’t have been possible,” the nerdy student said, his voice gaining confidence. “Like I said, Ludwig tamed it and used it to hunt other students. So the trial was moved because there was no point in killing the Dreadjaw, and that also means if he tamed it, nothing in the forest could have been a reason for him to have been disqualified, so this one is the real Ludwig.”
“I see. That’s plausible,” Minerva said, nodding slowly.
“By the way,” Ludwig said, his tone shifting to one of intrigue, “there’s a way to find out who is real and who is not… in fact, two ways.”
“Tell us, then,” Bron said, his voice tinged with impatience.
“Question and answer,” Ludwig explained. “People will ask questions to the clones that only the real one would know.”
“But they reply at the same time as us,” Bron pointed out, his frustration evident.
“Well, then it’s even easier,” Ludwig said, his smirk returning.
“How is that easier, Ludwig? They’ll just reply the same way we reply,” Minerva asked, her confusion mirrored by the others.
“Because I won’t be asking the same question to the same person,” Ludwig said, his tone confident. “Minerva, come here.”
He pulled one of the Minervas to his side and the other to the opposite side.
“I’ll point at one of you, and if the other one tries to answer at the same time, then we’ll know it’s the clone,” Ludwig explained.
“Then the clone will simply not answer,” Minerva said, her brow furrowing.
“That’s even better, then,” Ludwig replied, his grin widening.
He turned to the Minerva on his left. “So, you,” he said, pointing at her. “When I asked you if you were afraid to come with me to the forest when we were looking for Esteban, what did you say to me?”
The Minerva in front of Ludwig froze for a moment, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Ludwig smiled but didn’t say anything. Before she could answer, he cut her off and turned to the other Minerva.
“Same question to you,” he said.
“I said that I’d be happy to if it was with a brave and handsome young man like you,” the other Minerva replied, her tone proud and her smile smug.
“Good. Now,” Ludwig said, pointing at the second Minerva, “that’s the fake one.”
“What?” the room erupted in confusion.
“What do you mean, fake?” the second Minerva protested, her face flushing with anger. “I answered you. She didn’t, because she didn’t know the answer. Ludwig, are you insane?”
“Nah,” Ludwig said, his tone calm. “I’m perfectly sane.”
Without warning, he grabbed the first Minerva by the wrist, twisted it, and threw the ‘real one’ his weapon. The first Minerva didn’t hesitate. She drove the blade deep into the other Minerva’s chest.
There was no protective bubble. The clone dissolved into sludge, its form collapsing into a puddle on the floor.
The room fell silent, the students staring in stunned disbelief.
“What the hell is this?” Bron demanded, his voice rising. “Explain yourself!”
“I can’t, not right now,” Ludwig said, his tone firm. “Otherwise, the clones will catch on to the trick. Now, Bron, here’s a question for you.”
“But—” both Brons began.
“So far, I’ve been one hundred percent correct with my analysis,” Ludwig interrupted. “If you’re refusing to answer the questions, then I’ll consider you a clone.”
“Fine!” both Brons snapped.
“Okay, Bron,” Ludwig said, his tone calm but commanding. “When we were at the student council, you tried to use Haku’s weapon. How many swings did it take you to feel exhausted?”
“Three swings,” the Bron that Ludwig pointed to replied.
Ludwig turned to the second Bron. “Same question.”
“I wasn’t exhausted! I just didn’t want to show my family’s swordsmanship!” the second Bron shouted, his face red with indignation.
Ludwig smiled, and Minerva burst out laughing. “I figured it out! The first one is the clone!” she said, her voice filled with triumph.
“What? No! I told the truth!” the first Bron protested.
“Truth?” Ludwig said, his smirk widening. “Nobles have pride. They’d never speak the truth if it meant they’d be humiliated. Bron would have never admitted he’d be exhausted, nor would Minerva ever admit she thinks a commoner is handsome and good-looking in the presence of others.”
Minerva felt slightly wronged but couldn’t say anything to Ludwig’s reasoning.
The real Bron immediately pulled his sword and sliced the fake one in half. He looked at Ludwig with a mix of disgust and grudging respect but said nothing.
The numbers on the screen decreased by another two.
Ludwig raised his hands in preacher mode with a wide smile on his face, addressing the rest of the students. “They can fake speech, words, and memories, but they can never fake character. I don’t know any of you guys,” he said, his tone calm but firm. “None of you were friends or acquaintances of mine, so for you, this type of questioning won’t work. But there is another method, as I said before. There are two ways to find out the real from the fake.” he said as he held a finger up.
“What’s the second method?” the nerdy student and his clone asked in unison.
“Simple,” Ludwig said, his tone cold. “The clones are weak. Fight among each other—one against their clone. If the student wins, the clone will turn to sludge. If the clone wins, the student will have a bubble surrounding them to protect them from death and will be eliminated. The rest of us will eliminate the remaining clone.”
“You’re cruel,” Minerva said, though the smile on her face betrayed her words.
“I know,” Ludwig replied, his expression unreadable. “But I’m not here to save everyone. I’m here because I’m a part of this tournament. I also need to win.”
After all, the promised reward from Necros wasn’t something he was willing to waste.