Execution start—is it?
When the Owl Warden spat out the final word, and the Debris Guard moved in response to pin the dull-eyed Sakuraba Emma onto the beheading stand, a sudden change occurred.
Boom—!
It was as if an invisible heavy punch had struck the Debris Guard that was holding Sakuraba Emma just a second ago. The twisted body of debris flipped through the air like a sheet of paper, then smashed heavily against the wall of the Tribunal dozens of meters away, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Eh?
What... happened?
Not only Sakuraba Emma and the others who were about to be executed, but also the girls in the judgment seats—everyone was stunned.
"That was quite rough action, Miss Emma."
"Even if negotiations to become allies failed, please do not destroy the environment at will. After all, with Miss Meruru gone, these repairs are quite troublesome."
Turning its head toward the Tribunal entrance, the Owl Warden sighed, seemingly regretting that it hadn't grasped the timing quite right.
The girls looked toward the Tribunal entrance following its sigh. There, a figure appeared that they could hardly believe—
Sakuraba Emma.
The girl, with bone wings growing from her back as if she were Witch-transformed, stood there just like that, positioned behind the panting Sawatari Koko. She gazed at the Owl Warden with a resolute stare, offering no reply.
"If possible, I hope we can still talk."
"Because Tsukishiro... Urgh?!"
The Owl Warden's head suddenly deformed, its twisted beak unable to utter another word. The girl did not give it a chance to continue speaking; her right hand lifted again, then pressed down.
It was as if an invisible force had clamped onto the Owl's limbs and head, causing its body to twist and expand.
Immediately after, with a wet thud—
It exploded into a shower of bloody mist.
The scene fell into silence for a moment.
The girls in the judgment seats, souls still shaken, rubbed their eyes one after another. Their gazes darted back and forth between the Emma on the execution stand and the Emma at the Tribunal entrance.
"Wow!!"
"It looks like the Great Detective Sherri has discovered the truth earlier than everyone else once again! Everyone was saved by Emma's Doppelganger!"
"Compared to Emma-chan, Miss Doppelganger is terrifyingly strong!!"
The blue-haired detective girl was the first to jump down from the judgment seats. Incomparably excited, she ran to the Tribunal entrance, circling "Sakuraba Emma" to examine her.
"The clothes style, hairstyle, and facial features are exactly the same! I can't see any difference at all!"
"It's so magical! I wonder where my Doppelganger is? The Great Detective can't wait to witness new things!"
"She... Sherri!"
"You brainless idiot, get away from her quickly! She's clearly Witch-transformed!!"
Tono Hanna's trembling voice rang out. Summoning her courage, she moved legs that felt as if filled with lead, running to her best friend's side to pull her back.
"It's fine, Hanna-chan."
"Miss Doppelganger clearly doesn't want to hurt everyone. Look, she saved Emma, Nanaka, and the others~"
But clearly, Tachibana Sherri, lacking any sense of crisis, didn't take her best friend's words seriously at all. She even walked up to "Sakuraba Emma" with great familiarity and patted her on the shoulder, acting like they were good friends.
"This... what on earth is going on?"
"Why are there two Emmas?"
"Is it magic? No, this is too strange, I don't get it at all!"
Ano... another self?
The execution forcibly halted, and encountering this completely incomprehensible situation, the girls were thrown into confusion. Especially Sakuraba Emma, who had just been rescued from the execution stand; she stared blankly at the girl not far away who looked exactly like herself.
Unlike herself, just from the gaze, she could feel that the other party held not a shred of confusion compared to her. And that powerful strength that could save everyone.
If, as Sherri said, she was her Doppelganger...
Then letting her truly replace herself didn't seem so bad?
"Made it in time, huh?"
While the girls were in a daze, a strange male voice followed immediately after. They saw a man wearing a rustic chef's apron that was out of place with the surroundings, yet he happened to be quite good-looking.
Suke pushed a dining cart swiped from the Cafeteria next door to the Tribunal; boxes of freshly baked pizza, still steaming, were arranged upon it.
The aroma compounds constantly volatilizing under the Maillard reaction instantly spread through the Tribunal, dispersing the originally somewhat solemn and tense atmosphere.
Is this a new chef?
This food smells so good—finally, no more eating ancient-ancient-ancient rice and expired luncheon meat!
But why is it a male? On this Prison Island...
"I thought there was going to be a big battle, so I specifically prepared a few extra pizzas for you, Little Emma, to replenish your energy."
"Now it seems it's not needed. Little Emma, your Conceptual God ability is really useful. I tried fighting a Debris earlier and found its strength was greater than mine!"
Suke roasted as he brought the dining cart to a halt.
"I apologize, Mr. Farmer. I acted on my own initiative."
The bone-winged Sakuraba Emma turned around. The girl who had just seemed like a savior before all the girls now lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong when facing Suke.
"Even though there were more efficient ways to handle everything, I chose the most troublesome path."
"—I am sorry!"
"What's there to apologize for? This is your world, Emma, not mine."
"I didn't intend to cooperate with that Owl anyway, no matter how tempting its conditions were—it's not like I lack those few paltry scraps~"
Suke rubbed the head of the pink-and-white haired girl, who was like a small animal. He didn't mind at all her behavior of directly elbow-blasting the Owl Warden, who wanted to negotiate with him, back in the second-floor Entertainment Room.
Man, what can I say?
This Owl can't throw sulfuric acid or sever limbs, nor can it take 20 moves in one turn. What are you afraid of it for?
[Character: Sakuraba Emma (Farmhand 2)]
[♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡]
Only Suke knew that in the Farm panel before his eyes, Emma's hearts had already reached 7.
—He just didn't understand why, as a fellow Farmhand, Emma was displayed but Elysia wasn't.
"Oh, oh! A strange but handsome Chef Big Brother NPC has appeared!"
"Chef Big Brother, may I ask what your relationship is with Miss Doppelganger? Is it a creator and created relationship?"
This little mouth is truly sweet, much more sensible than Koko.
Tachibana Sherri leaned in front of Suke with familiarity. Suke had long heard of this famous meme-able blue-haired detective girl. But it seemed this detective girl was already immersed in her own worldview, unable to extricate herself.
However, relationship? Good question.
"Hiss, it's hard for me to say. Let Emma tell you."
Suke handed the right to answer over to Emma. After all, the relationship between Farmer and Farmhand was a bit embarrassing to say out loud.
If people misunderstood him as illegally employing child labor, that would be bad.
"Relationship..."
"Mr. Farmer... Mr. Suke, is my 'Master'."
"Is it really as the Great Detective thought?!"
However, when Sakuraba Emma hesitated for a moment, then spoke those words with a slightly blushing pretty face and received Tachibana Sherri's response, it was already too late for Suke to issue a correction.
"Mr. Suke!"
"Can I ask again why you chose Emma-chan as the prototype to create a Doppelganger? Did you and Emma-chan know each other before?"
"Chef Big Brother! Mr. Suke! I also want to know... Mmph, mmph!"
Tachibana Sherri, as if transformed from a detective into some gossip reporter, fired off questions in succession.
It didn't stop until Tono Hanna behind her sensed the atmosphere was wrong and hurriedly covered her best friend's mouth from behind, dragging her away.
"Let's save the interview segment for later, Little Sherri."
"I quite fancy you. Seeing your marvellous skeletal structure, you will surely inherit my mantle!"
Looking down at his own pristine white chef's apron and then at Tachibana Sherri, Suke thought it was about time to change clothes, although clothing produced in Stardew Valley would never get dirty.
"It is lunch time now—what are you all standing around for? Come down and eat!"
The scent of roasted meat mixed with cheese and crust permeated the air, accompanied by the sounds of swallowing saliva from the girls who only felt hunger after recovering from the tension.
The situation began to change.
...
____
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