The Sorcerer's Handbook

They did not eliminate the wrong option.

When Phantom Sonya announced that the answer was incorrect, Ashe felt a collective, silent sigh of relief ripple through the room.

Unlike the first question, which featured clear age gaps between the farm woman and the little girl, the three figures in the second question were all of similar age. None of them resembled Sonya, so they were clearly not relatives. Since the question asked for the ”most hated person,” it was unlikely any of them were her friends, either. With no meaningful way to extract more information, Sonya had simply chosen the one person she recognized, the pure-white Dia.

But if the answer had been Dia, things would have become complicated. Why would Sonya come to this cabin with the person she hated most? Had she been framed? Should she take this chance to strike down her greatest enemy?

And if Sonya and Dia were enemies, were Ashe and Denzel her enemies too? Were the four of them not companions at all, but sworn foes?

The harmonious structure Ashe had built was fragile, so fragile that a single answer could bring it crashing down. Thus, an answer that wasn’t Dia was a relief to everyone. Even Sonya felt a weight lifted from her chest.

”Your answer is incorrect,” Phantom Sonya said. ”You have lost your treasure: your proficiency in the Mind Class.”

Phantom Sonya pinched a cluster of silver light between her fingers, rubbing it until it dissipated into a faint smoke. Sonya had permanently lost a Silver Rank sorcery class. Sonya hadn’t felt much at first, but watching something that belonged to her vanish made her heart ache. It was a sharp sense of deprivation, like watching an ice cream scoop fall into the dirt.

She turned abruptly to Ashe. ”Am I still your lover?”

”Huh? Yeah. Why ask that? It’s only temporary—”

”Give me your hand.”

Sonya grabbed Ashe’s hand and bit down hard, her eyes wide with intensity. By all rights, Ashe should not have been able to feel physical pain in this state, but the sheer force of the bite made his soul tremble, producing a phantom sensation of agony.

He began to seriously question his assumptions. How could this possibly be my lover?

Even if he had been briefly blinded by her beauty, his body clearly wasn’t built to endure this kind of treatment. The ”younger sister” had at least just tasted his hand; the ”lover” looked like she wanted to tear off a chunk of flesh.

Ashe looked at Dia holding his left hand and Sonya biting his right, then turned to Denzel. ”I don’t have any hands left. Which part do you want?”

”I don’t think I need to vent my stress quite like that,” Denzel replied dryly.

Having vented her frustration, Sonya finally released her bite, looking refreshed. However, she continued to hold Ashe’s hand tightly, like a little she-wolf guarding her kill.

”Finished resting?” Phantom Sonya asked indifferently. ”Then let’s begin the third—”

”Wait! Wait! Wait!”

Phantom Dia suddenly dashed into the center of the hall, striking a flamboyant ”magical girl debut” pose. ”Pause for a moment!”

”Swordswoman, I have a question very similar to your third one. Why don’t we ask them together? Otherwise, once she answers your question, mine will become too easy.”

”Fine,” Phantom Sonya agreed.

Phantom Dia turned to the real Dia. ”It’s your turn now. Ready?”

Dia instinctively bit down on Ashe’s finger, trembling as she shook her head.

Ashe cut in, ”We should answer separately! It’s still the lover’s turn. Logically, she should answer first, then the younger sister. There’s no need to combine them.”

If the questions were identical, answering separately was the only logical move. If Sonya got it right, they’d have the answer; if she got it wrong, they could eliminate an option. Only a fool would answer them both at once.

Phantom Dia scratched her head, looking distressed. ”Hm... is there something wrong with my tone...?”

Then, her eyes narrowed, and her lips curved into a dangerous smile. Suddenly, her voice resonated with eighteen overlapping echoes. ”Come and answer the question.”

Dia jolted violently. Every voice in her mind fell instantly silent, as if cowering before a natural predator. For the first time, Dia’s inner chorus reached a unanimous agreement to obey.

The ”mixed Dia” hid behind Ashe, nodding frantically like a pecking chick. Phantom Dia immediately broke into a bright, innocent smile, as if her sinister aura had been a mere illusion. She spun in place, her black skirt blooming like a dark rose. ”Alright! Then next is the joint question time for the Witch and the Swordswoman—”

A second voice interrupted, sharp as tearing paper. ”Wait.”

This time, even the Phantoms looked surprised.

Phantom Denzel rose lazily from her reclining chair. Her loose robe could not conceal her commanding presence. It slipped slightly from her shoulders, with only the buttons across her chest preserving a trace of modesty. She moved like the wind, pulling both Phantom Sonya and Phantom Dia into her arms. She smiled. ”I seem to have a question too, one very similar to yours. Why don’t we all do it together?”

Faced with such a direct ”confession,” Phantom Sonya’s expression soured, as if she were being harassed. ”The questions may be similar, but the options aren’t necessarily the same, are they?”

”That’s right, that’s right,” Phantom Dia added with a bright smile. ”There’s really no room for anyone else between the Swordswoman and me. Empress, you might as well go cling to the Watcher instead.”

”Isn’t it better if the options are different? It only increases the difficulty,” Phantom Denzel said, tilting her head slightly. ”Or are you saying you want to reject me?”

An eerie fragment of an iceberg surfaced as an unknown, colossal whale loomed beneath the waves. The amnesiac participants sensed something was wrong, but with no memories to rely on, they couldn’t interpret the dangerous undercurrents between the phantoms.

Phantom Ashe, Sonya, Dia, and Denzel exchanged glances for a long moment. Suddenly, Phantom Ashe sighed. ”What a pity. My question doesn’t seem to match yours. Otherwise, I’d have loved to join this little gathering.”

His words acted like a release valve, and the tense atmosphere inside the cabin relaxed instantly. Phantom Dia smiled. ”Of course, we wouldn’t reject you, Empress. We’re happy you’re here. The more, the merrier. Let’s set the questions together, Swordswoman.”

Phantom Sonya looked as nonchalant as ever. ”Alright.”

At that moment, Ashe lowered his voice and whispered to the others, ”See their interaction? It proves my conclusion was correct. You really are my younger sister, my lover, and my mistress.”

Sonya frowned, genuinely confused. ”How does that prove anything?”

Ashe said confidently, ”First, the Witch consulted the Swordswoman, and the Swordswoman agreed immediately. That proves they aren’t enemies. In other words, you can’t all be my lovers. If you were love rivals, there’s no way you’d get along this peacefully. So, either you’re all my sisters, or it’s a mix of lover and sister. The current situation clearly fits the latter.

”But when the Empress said she wanted to join, the Witch and Swordswoman both immediately opposed her. Why? Because in their eyes, the Empress is a home-wrecking third party!

”Then, the Watcher clearly sided with the Empress. He even used his authority as the ’head of the household’ to suppress the Witch and Swordswoman, implying they shouldn’t exclude her. That shows the Watcher currently favors the Empress!”

Ashe concluded with a flourish. ”I understand it all now. The younger sister is the one I raised from childhood. The lover is someone I’ve been with for many years, though we’ve entered a stagnant phase. And the mistress is someone I recently met in a passionate new relationship!”

Phantom Ashe looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. Phantom Dia’s mouth twitched as she fought to control her facial muscles. Phantom Sonya narrowed her eyes slightly. Phantom Denzel, however, showed no reaction at all.

”So, aren’t you just a pure-aluminum-alloy, scum-of-the-earth man?” Sonya asked sincerely.

”Whether I’m scum or not is irrelevant. What matters is that this gives us a basis for answering the questions. If you all know I’m scum but still like me, don’t you think that itself is vital information? Think about it. What situation would make you unable to live without me?”

”I...” Sonya frowned. ”Unless it’s for a greater cause.”

”Good. That means there’s a significant interest binding us together,” Ashe said, then turned to Denzel. ”What about you? Under what circumstances would you willingly become my mistress?”

Denzel was genuinely bewildered this time. To be honest, she hadn’t believed a single word of Ashe’s earlier reasoning. She was simply quiet and observant by nature, waiting to see how the situation developed.

But the Phantoms’ interactions, combined with Ashe’s deductions, had made her hesitate. Could I really be his newly-acquired mistress?

She wanted to refute it, but she had no evidence to the contrary. If there weren’t such a connection, why would she be in this Amnesia Cabin at all?

Denzel said calmly, ”As long as I deeply love someone, I will devote everything to them, regardless of whether they love me in return. For me, becoming a mistress wouldn’t be something I would hesitate over.”

Ashe was stunned. ”Huh? Am I really that amazing? To earn that kind of devotion? I’m starting to feel flattered for myself—”

”If you’re feeling flattered, at least restrain that obvious grin!” Sonya snapped, exasperated. ”Setting aside whether your theory is even right. If you are right, it just proves you’re a morally corrupt piece of human trash, worse than food scraps!”

Clang!

A metallic ring echoed through the hall. Everyone turned toward Phantom Sonya. Her expression remained unchanged as she sheathed her blade. She said calmly, ”Done talking? Then let’s begin.”

Phantom Sonya, Phantom Dia, and Phantom Denzel simultaneously gripped the edges of the picture book and turned to a new page. Perhaps because three people were asking the question together, the challenge became more difficult. Five portraits appeared before them.

Everyone froze.

The first painting showed a girl living in a basement. The second showed a girl wearing a spiderweb-like blindfold. The third showed a woman seated on a throne. The fourth showed a girl with black-and-white hair. The fifth showed a hooded man in a dark red coat.

Aside from the fifth image, the faces of the first four women were identical.

All eyes turned to Dia. She stared blankly at the four images and murmured, ”There are so many of me...”

Ashe’s mouth twitched. ”At this point, the fifth image with me in it is the only thing that feels out of place.”

The girls in the first four portraits varied in age, clothing, and styling, but the resemblance was undeniable. Everyone could tell at a glance that they all shared Dia’s face. It was as if they were looking at Dia herself in a dozen different forms, spanning various ages, hair colors, and outfits.

Phantom Denzel announced, ”This is the question the three of you must answer together.”

Unlike Phantom Sonya’s composure or Phantom Dia’s liveliness, Phantom Denzel’s voice carried a weathered gravity that contrasted sharply with her appearance. ”If you knew you were going to die, who would you want to die with you?”

Phantom Dia added with a hint of mockery, ”Oh, and since this is a shared question, the rewards and penalties will be different. Whether you answer correctly or not... your response might very well become reality.”