Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

"What?　......?

I'm stunned. There really are two matos. What in the world is going on?

"Master Linos, get away from me!　It's a fake!

Matocalu, who had been standing behind Liko, raises his voice. Matkal's usual, good voice echoes through the room.

"Master Rico, get away from me!　He's a fake!

Now Mato, who is standing behind me, raises his voice. I don't have absolute pitch, but they sound exactly the same. The two matokaru draw their swords and hold them ready for each other.

"Rico!"

Without thinking, I take Rico's hand and move away from them.

"Linos, I am sure that one of you is a fake.

Rico grabs my arm painfully. Her face is calm, but she seems to be very upset inside.

"You fake!"

"Uryaaa!"

After a brief pause, the two matocals began slashing at each other. Mato's swordsmanship skills are quite high, and he is no match for the average fighter. However, the two were evenly matched and neither seemed to be cutting corners. It's a full-blown, serious battle between these two matokaru.

"Wait!　Stop!"

With one voice, the two men stopped their movements. They were exactly one foot and one sword away from each other, at a distance where if either of them moved, I would be able to strike them with a desperate slash, and they were staring at each other, breathing on each other's shoulders.

"First of all, you two, get away from each other!"

With a word from me, the two men slowly back away from each other with their swords at the ready and glaring at each other. Then they both put their backs to the wall to stop their movement.

"Put your swords down, both of you!

My voice rings out in vain. The two of them stood motionless, as if they had not heard my voice.

"Put the sword down. Put it down or I'll take you for fakes.

I took the Holy Sword from the infinite storage and pulled it out of its sheath. The two men glanced at me and slowly placed their swords on the floor, showing no sign of letting their guard down.

"Come on, both of you, walk over here."

The two men glared at each other and walked slowly toward us. They are probably thinking that they will be ready if there is any disturbing movement. Their steps are unusually slow.

"Stop!"

They stop a few meters in front of me. This is my one-step, one-knife moment. If I wanted to, I could deliver a fatal blow.

"All right, I'll check on you two. Take off your armor first. You will be unarmed and unarmored. If you move in a strange way, I will cut you down.

The first to react to my words was Matocal on the left side. She quickly moved to the side and immediately began to take off her armor. Matocal on the right side saw this and started to take off his armor without any expression on his face.

"Um, ...... no, ...... you don't have to go that far. ......"

I just told them to take off their armor, but the two matkals were completely naked, without a stitch of clothing on. This unexpected turn of events leaves me a bit puzzled.

"You know my body best, Master Linos. Please examine me to your heart's content.

Matkal, on the right, opens his mouth in a resolute manner. I look at him sideways and look at Matkal on the left. She, too, looks at me and nods strongly without saying a word. Both of them act as Matocal would have done.

I give Riko an earful and walk toward the matocal on my right. Rico follows behind me, keeping a wary eye on the matocal on the left. Then I examine the matocal in front of me, paying attention to the matocal on the left side as Rico does. Hair, face, neck, shoulders, chest, stomach ....... The texture was the same as that of the usual matocals. The position of the mole and the scars on his body were the same as the matocal I remembered. She stood there resolutely with no expression on her face.

I took a few steps back with Rico, this time toward Matocal on the left side. Then I examine her from her hair to her stomach as I did on the right side. This side was the same as the usual matocals in terms of texture, the position of the mole, and the scar. Then I put my hand around her back, and slowly lowered it to her waist.

"Ha!"

Unexpectedly, a voice escaped from Matocal. At that moment, I pull myself away from him with my eyes wide open and open my mouth in a muttered voice.

"I knew you were a fake!

Matocal in front of me looks shocked. At that moment, I was swinging my Holy Sword.

"Gah!"

A voice comes out from the other Matkal, with an expression as if he had been taken by surprise. My sword had pierced deeply through the chest of the matocal on the right side, the one I had first examined.

"Why ......?"

"You can turn into one. You're perfect. But my eyes can't be fooled. You've got the wrong guy."

Saying that, I drew my sword from this matkar and slashed at it with a kesa-gatame. The sword sliced through her left shoulder and her left arm fell to the floor in a heap.

"UGHHHHHH!"

Blood spurts from her shoulder as she runs toward the fox cub. At that moment, a blinding light emanates from the fox cub's body.

Haze!

In the light, I saw a young girl holding him from behind and taking his lips. His body was transformed into a man's body, and at the same time, his left arm, which had been cut off, was regenerating.

"Come on!　Lycorette!"

I hear a man's voice coming from the light. At that moment, a sound like shattering glass echoes behind me.

I don't pay attention to it, but instead, I set up a ward against the light.

"Noaaaah!

With a scream similar to a man's final scream, the light gradually fades away, and then disappears.

"...... He got away, didn't he? I knew it was Hayes."

I mutter to no one in particular. But he must have taken a lot of damage to his body, escaping from my wards. As I think of this, Matkal's voice echoes through the room.

"Linos-sama!　Master Rico!　Master Rico!"

Rico, who was supposed to be behind me, is gone. Matocal is wrinkling his brow, desperately pleading with me.

"Calm down, mato!"

I glance over to a corner of the room. Then Rico's figure appeared.

"Ri......, Rico-sama......."

Matocalu looks as if she is sitting up. Rico slowly approached her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so glad you're here, Matocal......."

I went to Mato's side, kneeling down on one knee and called out to her.

"Welcome home, Mato."

Perhaps relieved by these words, she began to cry aloud, tears spilling from her eyes.

Waiting for Matocal to calm down, I asked her what had happened so far.

I felt a shock in the forest and came to find myself lying against a tree. My horse, Hawk, was nowhere to be seen, and when I stepped out of the forest, the army I had been leading was nowhere to be found. At that moment, she sensed that something had happened and sent a telegram to Rico. She said that she had a gut feeling that Rico was being targeted. So she sent a telegram to Rico to check on his situation. Rico immediately called Roni and used her transference to move Matocal to his room in Agartha. During the time it took for her to transfer, the fake Matocal returned at the right moment and said that a message came to Liko's room saying that I had called for him. So Rico came with Matocal.

"I'm glad you are safe, Rico-sama. When the hell did you move?

Mato opens his mouth in relief. I reply with a smile.

After Mato was stripped naked, I overheard Riko, didn't I?　At that time, I put up a ward that made Rico invisible, and at the same time, I put up a ward that reflected Rico's image."

"At that time, Linos told me to go to the corner of the room. I followed his words and just moved.

"That's what ....... But how did Master Linos know it was a fake?　I myself didn't think it was possible to make such a close resemblance. The habit of the sword, the way he walks, the way he talks: ....... And even the scars on his body: ......"

"Yes, it is. They certainly looked exactly the same, and what's amazing is that they even had the same skills as Mato. I tried to activate the appraisal skill and it showed the exact same skill."

"So you've been looking into ...... my past?"

No, that would take too long, so I didn't dare. No, I didn't dare because it would have taken too long. I thought I could get away with it.

When in the world did Master Linos see through the fake?

"When they were staring at each other with their swords on the floor."

"What?　How could you ...... spot it at a time like that? ......"

It's easy. One of the mats was warded and the other was not. I'd like to congratulate Hayes, but I guess he couldn't duplicate my divine warding.

I grin and let out a giggle. Matkal looks at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"You are a bad person, Linos-sama. Then you don't have to say such things ......."

"Oh, you mean without a hair on your head?　That was really an attempt to disarm me. If he can make Mato look this much like him, it's likely to be Hayes the Vixen. We didn't know what kind of magic items he had in his body. But I was saved by the fact that Mato was naked. Thanks to him, I was able to touch Hayes' body. Mato, you did a great job."

Matkal looks at me with a look that says he still doesn't quite understand my words. Then he turns his head slightly and opens his mouth to me in a small voice.

"So ......, why did you touch only my back and my ass?"

"Oh, that. No, I wanted to make sure it was the real Mato. You see, Mato has a ...... butt, right?"

The moment I heard those words, Matocalu's face turned bright red. Rico was staring at me when he saw that. I'm sorry, I got carried away.

I cough a little, partly to hide my embarrassment, and slowly open my mouth, looking at Rico and Matocal in turn.

"I was able to set a trap for Hayes the fox. Will this turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing? ....... Either way, if it doesn't work, we'll just have to think of the next move. But that fox ...... is really not to be underestimated. And that girl disguised as a fox is also a ....... To be honest, I was sure I'd landed a fatal blow, but the girl seemed to heal her wounds at a ridiculously fast rate. Rico, Mato, we need to rethink the structure of Agartha from now on."

They nodded their heads in agreement to my words. Matkal then put on his clothes and went back to work with Rico. That night, Mat didn't let me sleep until morning, probably because he was too embarrassed or frustrated about what had happened during the day. .......