...Hold on, you can fly!
Chen Yao stared in shock as Shinku floated down.
Yes, dolls can fly, but it consumes the medium's power and we can't go very high. If we need to get out of here, I'll need your strength, Yao.
Shinku drifted to the ground, smiling.
Incredible, Chen Yao thought, watching her. He yanked the switch; just as she'd said, three fuses popped out. One tried to bolt, but he decked it with a punch, saving himself a chase.
After the fuses were re-seated, another pull sent the staircase crashing down, giving them a way up.
The stairs were down, but climbing looked exhausting. "I'm tired, Yao. Carry me."
...
Chen Yao eyed the doll-girl—she was good at asking for things: food, black tea, now physical labor. Mature yet innocent, but relentless in her demands.
"You can fly and cast magic. Shouldn't you be a bit more independent?"
This time he wouldn't indulge her.
"You misunderstand. The moment we signed, our master-servant contract took effect. You are my servant, and that was decided from the start. Your past glories don't change that. So carry me."
The doll was adamant.
She looked like an older sister yet acted like a child. "Enough fooling around. Let's climb and see what's up there."
Shinku watched her medium start up alone, looking faintly hurt. dolls are born to be cherished, but this one could see he was hopelessly dense. She tried to climb.
"Such an ungallant servant..."
She attempted the ladder, too small to manage, and feared flying would drain him. Stuck.
Just as she reached for the second rung, a hand seized her and slung her onto his back. She blinked, lying against cold armor.
Seems I judged too soon, she thought.
At the top of the stairs they reached a high catwalk. A few steps on, they saw a huge shadow on a wall beside a doll-making bench: a grown man held aloft by a single hand.
"Refusing to tell me where the rosa mystica are while crafting dolls to steal their crystals? Oh... defying me?"
The brute's grip crushed the craftsman's neck with a sickening crackle.
"You'll never... get the dolls or the rosa mystica... they're hidden... where you'll never... gah!"
The victim writhed, choking, shadows flickering under the workshop lights.
"Did you think that threat would stop me? Such power in these little dolls—I will have it, no matter where it's hidden. Thank you for the imitation; you're no longer useful."
With a final crack the maker's head lolled. The vision melted like a dream before Chen Yao and Shinku.
What was that...
Shinku murmured.
A memory fragment, but not mine.
Chen Yao had heard "seize the rosa mystica" and "imitation doll." Recalling the mysterious doll from his dream, pieces clicked.
It felt like his memories fused with a doll's, creating this world—perhaps an unborn doll had sensed something and poured its memories into the workshop.
Yao, we need to find the exit.
Shinku tugged his armor chain.
Right, escaping matters more. They searched.
"Oh no, late, late!"
A familiar figure dashed up the stairs, brushed past them, and dove into a wall vent. Chen Yao blinked: the man with the briefcase looked exactly like Hachiman Hikigaya.
...
Chen Yao stood frozen.
"Someone just ran into the vent... Yao? What's wrong?"
Shinku noticed his bewilderment.
"That looked like a Classmate of mine..."
he murmured.
"Could be a resemblance. The exit might be up there—let's follow."
She tugged him into the vent.
The shaft wasn't steep but was long. Mid-crawl Shinku asked, "Yao, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you become an armored knight doll in this world?"
"Not sure—probably tied to memory."
"...Do you believe this armored form is the real Chen Yao?"
The question caught him off-guard. After a pause he said, "You're overthinking."
"Sorry, that was odd..."
Sensing she'd touched a nerve, she fell silent. The human student saw himself as a knight in permanent war.
Yao, doesn't this feel like a fairy tale?
Shinku mused as they crawled. "Our Rose Dolls' N-realms are steeped in fairy tales, and we ourselves are near to them. That rabbit-man just now, and us following into a tunnel... have you heard of Alice in Wonderland?"
Chen Yao, no fan of fairy tales, felt the parallels: shrinking, the late rabbit, the tunnel—an Alice retelling.
An Undead tumbling into Wonderland? The illusion was getting out of hand.
Worse, the rabbit had looked like Hachiman Hikigaya. If this really was Wonderland, other people from his memories might be here too.
A bad premonition gripped him... yet when they emerged they stood on a hill under an open sky.
It reminded him of surfacing from the Catacombs of Carthus. Far off stood a hazy castle with bright pennants—the very image of Wonderland.
But the one who'd tumbled through the tunnel wasn't Alice; it was the not-yet-perfect-Alice doll Shinku—and an Undead.
Chapter 66
The Girl's Affection Survey
Arriving in Wonderland before becoming Alice struck Shinku as ironic.
"It really does look like Alice in Wonderland,"
she said.
First it was It Takes Two, now it's Alice in Wonderland—this world feels like a mess.
Chen Yao stared at this country wrapped in lush green woods, puzzled.
If It Takes Two came from his own memories, then Alice in Wonderland probably didn't; fairy tales had never interested him. Yet if it were the memories of the doll girl who called him 'Father', that didn't make sense either—she likely hadn't even been born.
The two walked through the dense forest. Unlike the workshop, strewn with doll remains and oppressive giants, this Wonder Country was a miniature land and felt far more pleasant—except for the two-meter-wide flowers and five-meter-diameter mushrooms growing around them; something felt off.
Soon they reached an iron gate; passing through would take them into Wonder Country.
A Wonderland that feels so real—lovely. I actually want to explore it.
Shinku looked around and sighed.
But I remember Alice in Wonderland isn't exactly pleasant. There's a Red Queen who likes beheadings; we'd better not rush in.
Chen Yao wore fine junior-knight armor, yet still lacked a proper weapon and couldn't fight at full strength.
About that unassembled doll you mentioned—I think you suspect her too. It was my oversight, Yao. Perhaps she also longs to become the real Alice, but I don't understand why she'd summon us this way—or if someone else is using her.
Shinku analyzed the mystery, as if guessing the dark meanings hidden in the fairy tale.
Just then a familiar voice came from beyond the fence: 'Maybe she just thinks this is what Father likes, a flaw in Father's soul, and wants to live in such a world with him, nya.'
Chen Yao recognized the voice at once; looking up, he saw the Cheshire Cat lounging atop the wall—Sakayanagi Arisu.
Her sly, adorable face, languid eyes, and elegant red school uniform were intact—only a pair of cat ears and a twitching tail gave her the perfect Cheshire air.
'Crap—if Sakayanagi ever learns I pictured her as a cat, she'll bury me alive...'
Chen Yao lifted his gaze to Sakayanagi Arisu licking the back of her hand.
Honestly, only in a place like this could he watch her stretch like a cat, slim waist arched, snowy legs beneath a short skirt—cute and bewitching.
'Your appearance... I think I've seen it in an album...'
Shinku studied the Cheshire Cat, memory stirring, and shot Chen Yao a glance; he muttered, 'Not my fault.'
'Cheshire Cat, what did you mean? Who is'she', and who is her father?'
Shinku asked earnestly.
'She's heartbroken, lonely, needing love, but some ugly thief has stolen it. Beware—someone is spying on your secrets, nya~'
True to form, the Cheshire Cat spoke only in riddles, yet Sakayanagi Arisu's expression fit the role so well that after she finished she dissolved into smoke and vanished.
'Yao, such a beautiful girl, dressed so adorably, moving like a kitten—clearly irresistible in your subconscious.'
Shinku's tone turned faintly angry.
'Um... it's not like that. This world isn't shaped by me alone; the Sakayanagi in my mind shouldn't look like this...'
Chen Yao faltered. He wouldn't mind if Sakayanagi Arisu were this alluring, but it wasn't how he pictured her. Shinku gave a soft huff and turned away.
A contract between a Rose doll and her medium is the closest of bonds; Shinku had long since marked Chen Yao as hers. For this lowly servant to fantasize about another girl was blasphemy.
'Hmph. I won't probe the filth inside you. Let's move on. If I'm right, to escape we must either defeat The Red Queen and end the fairy tale—or defeat the doll searching for her father and break this strange curse.'
Shinku set aside her fickle servant for now; lifting the curse came first.
'Putting aside why your memories are fused with the doll's, this bizarre world does reveal which girl you favor most at present.'
Realizing the world's hidden use, Shinku produced notebook and pencil.
'No, this isn't my inner world.'
Chen Yao tried again, helpless.
'First, that Cheshire Cat scores at least seventy-five.'
Shinku solemnly jotted down her estimate.
'...Could you not invent scores? You're embarrassing me.'
Chen Yao squinted at her tally, complaining.
He couldn't fathom why she, usually so poised and philosophical, had grown fixated on rating the ordinary girls populating the tale.
Just as they entered the residential quarter, a hat-wearing boy appeared, eyes blank, as if some mover behind the scenes. He blocked their way: 'Senior Chen, you're in danger. The Red Queen knows you've entered Wonder Country. Come with me to the civilian shelter—if her soldiers catch you, you'll be beheaded.'
In Chen Yao's version of Wonder Country, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had become the Mad Hatter, unwilling to overthrow The Red Queen directly but using Alice to topple her tyranny—an attitude that fit Chen Yao's impression of him.
Leading them into the citizens' basement refuge, he spoke at his usual unhurried pace: 'Don't let the Queen's card soldiers find you. With her bias against Undead who skip class, cause trouble, yet outscore her, she'll definitely send you to the guillotine.'
'So The Red Queen is most likely that sharp-tongued Yukinoshita Yukino you mentioned. Her score seems low—always on your case—I'll call it forty-five.'
Shinku resumed her tally.
'Hey, I don't dislike Yukinoshita that much; that score's way off.'
Chen Yao hurried to correct her; his opinion of Yukinoshita Yukino was higher.
'Got it. Push you and you get flustered—add twenty. Sixty-five it is.'
Shinku erased and rewrote.
Chen Yao found her sudden hobby at odds with her usual calm sagacity. Did these ratings even mean anything? And where had she found pencil and paper? After assigning fifty points to the useless 'chubby quartet'—the four musical Goto Hitori girls—her survey seemed complete.
'So why the sudden investigation of my feelings toward everyone? We've only known each other a day, contract or not.'
Chen Yao remained puzzled; even if curious about his relationships, she'd hardly had time for a questionnaire.
'Because you are my medium.'