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*Knock knock knock*

There was a rapping on Reginald’s door, followed by his secretary poking her head inside the room a few seconds later.

“Excuse me, Mr Namhel, but Mrs Mainus is requesting another urgent meeting. I know you have company, but-”

“That’s quite alright, my dear,” said the old banker. “I was actually expecting her, and Mr Jensen here was just leaving.”

The other person in the room, a middle-aged elf with black hair, black eyes and a thoroughly forgettable face, nodded to show his consent. This was one of Reginald’s doppelganger associates, and the two of them had been discussing the hostile takeover of a certain human-run smuggling ring for the last 20 minutes. A discussion that would obviously need to wait until later.

Jensen got off his seat and walked out of the room, sharing a courtesy greeting with Mrs Mainus as the two shapeshifters passed by each other. Once she was alone with him, Xera reverted back to her pretend-succubus form.

“Hello Reggie,” she said casually while taking a seat.

“Miss Snack,” he responded in kind. “I trust your presence here means your Master is alive and well?”

“Indeed. We hit a small snag when doing you that favor, so we had to go off the grid for a while.”

“Mmmm… Yes, I assumed as much when I heard the Hero of Chaos had vanished from the public eye a week ago.”

Keira’s abrupt disappearance had made waves within Azurvale, despite the local government’s attempts to keep her kidnapping under wraps. After all, she was the face of victory against the Empire, so they couldn’t openly admit they let her be taken on their watch. Their concerns were then validated yesterday, as the Slyth household had withdrawn their missing person report, stating it was all a big misunderstanding caused by the Hero’s quirky ability to attract trouble.

But while they were relieved their trophy child was safe and sound, the damage had already been done, as there was supposed to be a huge award ceremony in Keira’s honor. It was slated to be a very public, high profile event during which the Exarch - the Republic government’s elected leader - was supposed to personally recognize the young soldier’s contributions to the war effort. And since the guest of honor was a no-show, they had little choice but to cancel it, sending the city’s rumor mill into full swing.

“Though I do wish Boxxy wouldn’t do things in such a flashy manner,” added Reginald with a sigh. “I understand Mr Alexis was a powerful individual, but burning down three city blocks was a bit overkill, wouldn’t you say?”

“That was indeed an accident, but it couldn’t be helped.”

“And what about this earthquake the day before yesterday, hmm? Was that another accident?”

“Nope. That one was actually intentional. It marked the end of the organization supporting your mysterious Doppelganger hunter.”

“Really now? So that living nightmare succeeded after all, huh? Then you know who was supporting him?”

“We do. But then again, so do you.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“So you don’t know anything about a Foundation?”

“Which Foundation?” asked the old shapeshifter. “Do you mean Saint Helena’s Foundation for the Magically Maimed?”

“Alright, let me put it in a different way,” said Xera while leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs. “Would you kindly tell me what you know about the Foundation, old boy?”

“The Foundation of the Founding Father was created nearly 20 years ago by the previous Exarch. It exists to further the works of the Founding Father and bring prosperity to elvenkind at any reasonable cost.”

It was a flawless, smooth answer, delivered in the same tone of voice one might use to describe how they liked their coffee.

“Founding Father,eh? And who would that be?” asked Xera.

“Again, no idea what you’re talking about,” answered Reginald in an annoyed tone. “Do these pointless questions serve a purpose here?”

“Would you kindly tell me who the Foundation’s Founding Father is, old boy?”

“Commonly referred to as Tol-Saroth, the Founding Father was the man who laid the groundwork for the dissolution of the corrupt Elven Dominion and brought about the rise of the Ishigar Republic.”

Xera continued interrogating Reginald, also known as Project Lighthouse, for the better part of half an hour. He shared everything he knew about the secretive government-funded organization, and even divulged the secrets of his own network of shapeshifters. And he did this willingly and eagerly, because he was a sleeper agent of the Foundation. He had been conditioned to carry out any orders or requests he received, so long as they were framed by the dual code phrases ‘would you kindly’ and ‘old boy.’ And he would do these things subconsciously, without being aware someone else had told him to do so and retaining seemingly no memory of the event.

That was why he sent Boxxy to confront Jones Alexis in the first place. He had received standing orders to send any exceptional shapeshifters he came across to the Foundation’s lackey, who would subdue them and bring them in as test subjects. He was also supposed to warn Zilla when he was about to get a new ‘delivery,’ but since Boxxy spontaneously decided to challenge its target, Reginald never had that information to begin with.

As for why the Foundation had sunk their claws into Reggie in the first place - it was simple. It gave the shadowy organization their own private spy network, which they used to attack and take over various crime syndicates. Doppelgangers weren’t much of a combat-oriented species, but they were still monsters, which made them inherently stronger and faster than regular elves. Not to mention that, with their ability to infiltrate, these hostile takeovers would often end without a single drop of blood being shed or anyone realizing their leaders had been silently replaced. And the proceeds from all this unlawful activity would then either be used as additional Foundation funding, or be funneled through the Namhel Brothers bank to provide financial support to the government.

In other words, the main reason the fake Reginald Namhel’s little empire had survived for as long as it did was because it was allowed to.

“Would you kindly tell me what you know about Soulstones, old boy?”

Xera began wrapping up her interrogation of Reggie by asking the last and arguably most important thing Boxxy wanted to know from him.

“I don’t know anything about Soulstones.”

“I see. Then would you kindly use your spies to find out everything you can about Soulstones, old boy?”

“Yes. I will do that,” he affirmed in a flat monotone.

“Thank you Reggie, you’ve been very helpful,” said Xera with a twisted smile.

“Uhm, you’re welcome?” answered the confused shapeshifter. “What about the matter of Jones Alexis, though?”

“Oh you don’t need to worry about that. In fact, would you kindly forget everything about Jones Alexis, Boxxy T. Morningwood, or any of their associates, old boy?”

“Yes. I will do that.”

In the next instant he snapped out of his trance, and found himself staring at an unfamiliar demon in the middle of his office.

“What? Who are you?! How did you get in here!?”

Xera stood from her seat and walked over to the door while Reginald became more and more aggressive.

“Would you kindly forget you ever saw me, old boy?”

“Yes. I will do that.”

With those final words, she transformed into Mrs Mainus and left his office before he had a chance to snap out of his trance.

“Are you sure this is okay, Master?” she asked telepathically while making her way out of the building.

“It’ll be fine,” it responded. “At least this way he won’t be able to tell anyone who comes snooping about my true identity.”

“Shouldn’t we break him free of the Foundation’s control?”

“Why would we? He’s much easier to handle like this.”

“I suppose, but… Doesn’t his condition seem a bit too pathetic?”

“What do you mean?”

“That sorry creature in there is what you would’ve become eventually if we didn’t arrive when we did…”

“No, it wouldn’t. I’d kill myself before I let someone control me like that.”

“You… would really do that?”

“Of course. My mind, my body and my life are mine and mine alone. I’d much rather see them destroyed than let someone else take them from me.”

“I see.”

“If you’re all done there, then go deliver Keira’s personal belongings to the mansion.”

“I hear and obey my Master.”

The ‘belongings’ in question consisted of the mithril rapier, casual clothes, jewelry and other things that the catgirl would’ve had on her when she was captured. The idea was that Snack would present them to the Slyths as a gesture of good faith from the Sandman when she went to pick up his fee for participating in the rescue quest. The cloaked mercenary would have come across them when he was cleaning up the base and decided to do the catgirl a favor by bringing them out. That way the catgirl would officially have her stuff back, instead of having it magically reappear in her possession even though she was found butt-naked in a hallway.

Honestly speaking, the Mimic could probably do without the vast majority of that stuff, but four of those items were vitally important. The jeweled mithril rapier was an obvious one, as getting to carry that superbly shiny article around as Keira was one of the perks of its Facade. It was also becoming something of a signature weapon, as she carried it around a lot, so its whereabouts had to be accounted for.

The other three were the trio of simple-looking iron rings that the catgirl typically wore on her right hand. These supposedly sentimental items were actually vital to Boxxy’s disguise since they brought its overall weight down to about third of what it normally was. If it wasn’t for those, then Keira would be far too heavy for a beastkin her size. Or any size, for that matter. Right now she was wearing them on the inside of her body to maintain her cover, but this was hardly ideal. Having foreign objects inside itself got in the way of Boxxy’s shapeshifting, not to mention it was uncomfortable. It was therefore rather vital that Snack ‘deliver’ them so it could wear them on Keira’s fingers rather than inside her buttocks.

“By the way, how goes it on your end, Master?” asked Xera as she was making her way back to the mansion. “Have you managed to convince that vapid cunt to stop being so gods-damned clingy?”

“No. Looks like I’ll have to wait this one out.”

“I could always take her place…” she said in an oddly hopeful tone of voice.

“Maybe, but you can’t take the place of her parents, Hilda and Lichter all at once.”

“Uh… What?”

“It’s not just Rowana - all five of them are telling me the same thing.”

Namely ‘stay put where we can keep an eye on you.’

Following Keira’s rescue, it had been unanimously decided that the catgirl would spend an indeterminate amount of time on the premises of the Slyth family estate. Her ‘inner circle’ wanted to keep her somewhere where they could monitor her condition and protect her from any sort of retaliation from that underground organization’s remnants. They were all very valid concerns from the point of view of people who didn’t know any better, so the Mimic had no choice but begrudgingly accept if it wanted to keep its Facade strong.

And it couldn’t just say ‘yes’ and then do whatever the hell it wanted anyway, as it was impossible to slip away from the mansion without Keira’s absence being found out pretty rapidly. Having Snack take its place also wasn’t feasible, as she couldn’t recreate the Soulstone lodged in Keira’s back with her shapeshifting. She could still do it with her Conjure Mirage Skill, but that would come with its own share of problems. Mainly to do with Rowana, who had become, as Snack herself had so succinctly put it, ‘gods-damned clingy.’ Which meant that any illusion the djinn placed upon her body would dissipate the instant that elf touched it, blowing the demon’s cover wide open.

That girl was proving to be something of a headache to Boxxy’s plans yet again, but it couldn’t get rid of her just yet. Not while it still had Doppelganger Levels to attain. Even if it was just one person, the sheer degree with which she loved, believed in, and trusted Keira had been a steady source of Doppelganger XP. Sure, the monster had gotten quite a few Levels from Keira’s popularity among the masses, but that was going to diminish eventually. Getting rid of Rowana at this point would be like quitting one’s steady job because they won a small fortune from a lottery. It seemed attractive at first glance as it freed Boxxy up in the short term, but it had to consider the long game here.

After all, getting those next 15 Doppelganger Levels was going to take a looooong time.