I! Cleaner!

It seems middle school geometry is still valuable...

After getting off the carriage that only operates within the inner palace, Leon looked at the outer wall of the sleeping quarters, now coated with a layer of iron, and once again confirmed his earlier judgment.

The abnormal object causing the changes should be in the palace, and its location is roughly where I calculated it to be—most likely right in front of me in these sleeping quarters.

Outside in the squares and streets of the palace, only the "living beings" like pedestrians and horses were affected, but inside the inner courtyard of the palace, even "dead objects" like the walls and buildings have started to become iron-like.

Although the stone path underfoot still feels like stone, the floating dust and grime on its surface have, at some point, turned into dark brown rust marks.

Although the distant garden is still lush, it feels significantly less lively. The leaves at the treetops no longer sway with the wind, and rather than a carefully constructed garden, it resembles a gigantic metal bonsai.

But the biggest change is right in front of me, the sleeping quarters.

The originally quaint, solemn architecture with a weighty sense of history has suddenly become much more smooth and frivolous. Large pieces of dark red iron have appeared on the pointed top, and the tall, elegant windows have become short, chubby, and round, losing their clear edges; they have almost turned into a completely different form.

This bizarre transformation is like gluing together the distinct joints of a human hand with some immensely powerful glue, then kneading all the bones and flesh into a sphere, exuding an odd vibe everywhere, standing out so incongruously compared to the other buildings around...

"Chief!"

While Leon was feeling the black goat's head, examining the palace with soul vision, Joshua, having stepped off the carriage, quickly caught up, exclaiming with a shocked expression:

"What on earth happened here? Why's the palace suddenly like this?"

You ask me, who should I ask? I want to know too!

After glancing back at "Joshua," whose face still bore a slap mark, Leon replied:

"An abnormal object must have been triggered.

I just took a good look and didn't see any conspicuous abnormal souls, so it's likely that the thing causing the palace to change like this has no 'user' and is an abnormal object running amok due to losing control."

"Then... what should we do? Shouldn't we halt our action?"

"We can't halt." This chapter's true source is My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|LEMP-YR).

Using the soul vision granted by the black goat, after discovering the Princess's fluctuating soul flame in her bedroom, Leon couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief and then strode forward, saying:

"This is probably the only opportunity for those of you with abnormal objects to participate in a coup. If we stop now, who knows how hard it would be to recreate a scene like this again.

Furthermore, Princess Veronica is still within the range of this abnormal object. Her succeeding the old King would result in the least damage to the Kingdom. If anything happens to her, we'll have to prepare for the worst.

If that happens, even if we succeed in the end, very, very many people will die; the whole Kingdom will be severely weakened. It might take two or three generations to recover, so now we can only grit our teeth and move forward."

"Got it!"

After nodding vigorously, "Joshua," looking a bit tense, asked:

"Chief, should we protect the Princess first to ensure nothing happens to her, or should we knock out the Guards' Captain, let me take over his body, and have him distract the Guards so that our men can storm in?"

Save the Princess first or find the Guards' Captain?

Looking at the Princess's anxiously, frightenedly dancing soul flame, which yet remained in the room without moving, Leon decisively said:

"Let's do both at once!

We'll split up. Something strange seems to be happening on the Princess's side, and I need to check it out to make sure she's safe.

As for Luke, you're currently in the Prince's body; the Guards' Captain won't be overly cautious with you. If you launch a surprise attack, it shouldn't be hard to knock him out."

"Alright! I'm on it!"

Upon hearing Leon's instructions, "Joshua" nodded. The two had reached the entrance of the sleeping quarters, so he took a deep breath, mimicking the usual demeanor of Prince Freckles, and approached the guards, pompously demanding:

"Where's your Captain? I need to see him; take me there quick!"

Upon hearing "Joshua," the Ironskin Guard standing by blinked, seemingly awakening from a dream, and lifted his ceremonial baton, striking "Joshua" hard across the head.

No one had expected the palace guards to actually attack the Prince, and caught off guard, this blow landed solidly on "Joshua's" head, causing him to collapse with a thud.

What the heck?!!!

Stunned by this senseless blow, Leon hurriedly pulled the fallen "Joshua" up and found him unconscious from the strike, immediately looking at the guard with disbelief.

"Why did you hit him?!!"

"Your Highness!"

Facing Leon's angry question, the guard holding the baton hastily saluted, blinking his glassy eyes, confusion openly displayed on his iron face:

"He's a commoner, dressed in criminal garb, approaching the sleeping quarters so rashly—of course, he had to be struck away!"

But that's Joshua's body, what nonsense are you talking?

Upon hearing this, Leon couldn't help frowning, but as he was about to speak, something hit him suddenly.

Both Luke who inhabited Joshua's body and himself are holders of abnormal objects with contamination values, so they're unaffected by cognitive tampering and retain normal human perceptions, able to distinguish between humans and Ironskin People.

Even when checking his own body, his self-image appeared completely normal in his sight. Without physically touching, they couldn't even sense that they had become Ironskin People, seeing each other as normal.

As for Joshua... he doesn't have an abnormal object, but he visited the headquarters of the Clean-up Bureau and saw a bunch of abnormal objects; just from that trip, he must have gained a small contamination value, thus also gaining the ability to distinguish humans from iron.

But the Ironskin Soldiers in front are different.

These ordinary people, influenced by the abnormal object and believing themselves to be Ironskin People, if they showed no suspicion upon seeing us, it proves that in their view, both Joshua and I are probably Ironskin People as well.

And this observation between Ironskin People doesn't seem to be based on their physical bodies; their senses seem to lean more towards the soul, or maybe identity, status, or profession.

So while Luke inhabited Joshua's body, in the eyes of the Ironskin Guards, he isn't Joshua the Prince, but a "commoner criminal approaching the sleeping quarters," hence the unhesitating blow.

This is a problem...

Watching Luke, unconscious from the blow and automatically separating from Joshua's soul, Leon sighed and then pinched hard on the point between Joshua's nose and upper lip.

"Ah!"

Involuntarily shouting, the unconscious Joshua shot upright, while the nearby Ironskin Guard rubbed his eyes, then exclaimed in shock:

"Your Highness? You... you were just..."

"Ah!!!!!!!!!!"

The scream from high above interrupted the guard's words.

A doll in a bright red gown, with an iron skin, screamed as it fell from the outer window of the chambers, crashing with a thud far away, startling Leon.

"What was that?"

"Reporting to Your Highness."

Upon hearing Leon's inquiry, the Ironskin Guard blinked his hollow glass eyes and answered deferentially:

"If you mean who the one who fell just now was... It should be the esteemed Queen."

"..."

"Huh?"