Ten days had passed since Mei Mei left after saying that she would try to find a way to negotiate with the Zenin Clan.
Since that day, there had been no news from Mei Mei at all. No messages, no signs of her whereabouts, not even the smallest piece of information had reached us. However, during those ten days, quite a lot had happened on our side. One of the most noticeable changes was that Shizuka, Rika, and I had begun skipping school far more often than before.
The reason behind that decision was actually quite simple. We had to take care of two baby girls, Mimiko and Nanako.
Ever since we brought them to our temporary base, almost all of our time had been consumed by taking care of the two babies. Their sudden cries in the middle of the night, the need to carefully pay attention to their feeding schedule, and changing their wet or dirty clothes had now become a new routine that simply could not be ignored.
Quite often, one of them would suddenly start crying, and then the other would wake up and start crying as well. When that happened, the small room where we lived would instantly be filled with the loud cries of babies, turning what should have been a quiet night into something rather chaotic.
Because of that, we eventually decided to make use of Clones created from a Cursed Tool that I made myself.
The Cursed Tool was shaped like a small wooden doll without a face. Its size was not very large, roughly only as big as an adult's forearm. The body of the Cursed Tool looked simple and stiff, with absolutely no distinctive features.
At a glance, the doll looked like an ordinary wooden toy that could probably be found in a craft shop. Its surface was smooth, its color a pale brown, and there were no carvings that showed any kind of identity. However, the doll actually possessed a rather extraordinary function.
Its form was even somewhat similar to the Copy Robot owned by Doraemon.
The method to use the Cursed Tool was not very complicated. The user only needed to drip a small amount of blood onto the surface of the Clone Doll. Once the blood touched the wood, the surface that previously looked dry would slowly absorb it, as if the doll were alive.
A few seconds later, the body of the doll would begin to change.
The stiff wood would slowly start to move, its joints beginning to loosen, and the shape of the doll's body would gradually adjust to match the owner of the blood. Height, facial structure, and even hair color would change to follow the person whose blood had been used as the trigger.
The transformation happened gradually, but it was clearly visible. The wooden surface that had once been hard would begin to resemble human skin, and the blank face of the doll would slowly form eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
However, the changes did not only occur on the outside.
The personality, memories, and even the habits of the blood's owner would also be copied into the Clone Doll. In other words, the clone created from the doll would behave almost exactly like the original person, from the way they spoke to the way they walked.
If the person whose blood was used had certain habits, such as a specific way of moving their hands while speaking or a particular way of smiling, the clone would imitate them in a very natural manner.
Of course, there were limitations to the abilities of this Cursed Tool.
The Clone Doll could only maintain its human form for a full day. After that time ran out, the Clone's body would revert back into the same faceless wooden doll as before, as if all the changes that had happened earlier had never existed.
In addition, if the owner of the blood ordered the clone to stop, the clone would immediately return to being a doll in an instant.
Even so, this ability was already more than enough for us.
By using those Clone Dolls, Shizuka, Rika, and I could create clones that would go to school in our place. Those clones would sit in the classroom, attend lessons, and carry out daily activities just like normal students without raising any suspicion.
Meanwhile, the real us could remain at the temporary base to take care of Mimiko and Nanako.
After all, those two baby girls were still very small.
They were not even one year old yet. Their bodies were still fragile, their movements were weak, and they were not capable of doing anything on their own without the help of an adult nearby.
Leaving them alone at home was clearly far too dangerous. The two babies could not even roll over properly yet, let alone protect themselves. That was why we decided to skip school more often in order to take care of them.
Besides, for me, going to school was not actually something very important.
This was my second life. The knowledge taught in Elementary School, Junior High School, and even High School had already been something I studied in my previous life. Many of the things being taught in class now felt like a repetition of knowledge that had long been embedded in my mind.
Because of that, sitting again in an elementary school classroom felt rather boring to me.
Listening to the teacher explain basic concepts that I had already understood for a long time was truly irritating. Sometimes I would simply sit there while staring at the blackboard without really paying attention. There were even moments when I felt that the time spent in class was nothing more than a waste.
As for Shizuka and Rika, if they truly wanted to learn elementary school knowledge, I could actually create another kind of Cursed Tool.
That Cursed Tool could directly insert various kinds of information or knowledge into their minds, allowing them to understand the lessons without having to spend a long time sitting in class. With that method, they could even learn the entire curriculum in a much shorter time compared to normal learning methods.
Besides, this year was also their final year in elementary school.
According to them, it was better to spend time with Mimiko and Nanako than to sit in class listening to lessons that felt boring. They did not seem to mind that decision too much, especially because those two babies truly needed someone's attention at all times.
Interestingly, the biggest change actually happened to Shizuka.
At first, Shizuka looked very reluctant whenever she had to act like a mama or mother to Mimiko and Nanako. There were even several times when she complained about having to help take care of the two babies.
Shizuka would often grumble whenever she had to change their dirty clothes, or when Mimiko and Nanako cried endlessly during the night. For Shizuka, taking care of babies was clearly not an easy task, especially for someone who was still only elementary school age.
However, after almost a month of taking care of Mimiko and Nanako, Shizuka's attitude slowly began to change.
Now, Shizuka had actually become very protective of the two of them.
She often carried them carefully, soothed them when they cried, and several times she even proudly said that she was Mimiko and Nanako's mama.
The tone of Shizuka's voice whenever she said that sounded quite serious, as if she had truly accepted that role with all her heart.
According to Shizuka, because she was their mama now, it had already become her responsibility to watch over them and protect them.
Meanwhile, Rika was not as protective as Shizuka.
However, that did not mean Rika did not care. Rika also cared deeply for Mimiko and Nanako.
Rika often played with them, shaking small toys in front of them, making funny sounds to attract their attention, or helping calm them down whenever they started to become fussy.
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[Note: This novel is updated on every even-numbered date]
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