Chapter 44
“Miss Alice.”
“······.”
The girl looked up at me at the brief call.
Beyond her tear-filled blue eyes, the smiling clown mask was reflected.
“What happened here today must remain a secret.”
“A secret···.”
It would be best if as little of what happened today as possible leaked out.
Never mind my own exploits spreading; nothing good would come of Alice’s ability leaking outside.
Especially if word of the [Black Queen] spread, the cultists would start taking notice as well.
‘That bastard’ would be among them, too.
Things would become complicated in many ways.
‘At least until Alice gets used to her ability, I need to keep it hidden.’
Nightmare Transformation.
An ability that would not be out of place being called the strongest in the entire world.
Once Alice could control her nightmares, I would have an ally equivalent to a nuclear weapon.
‘Well··· it’s not something that will happen in a day or two.’
Of course, that was a distant prospect.
For now, dealing with the tasks right in front of me was urgent.
First, I needed to become capable of at least looking after my own body.
“We’ll talk about the details later. The two of us. Without anyone knowing.”
“The two of us··· without anyone knowing···.”
Alice repeated my words under her breath, as if savoring them.
I tilted my head and asked to make sure I had her agreement.
“You understand, right?”
“······Yes.”
With vacant eyes, the girl nodded as if she understood.
I stroked her head to show my approval.
I rather liked her obedient attitude.
“Good girl.”
“Yes···.”
Crack, rumble-!
As we exchanged a few words, vibrations rang out from the once-high ceiling.
The source of the noise was outside the barrier surrounding the hunting grounds.
Perhaps the faculty had finally found a way in.
Cracks began to spread little by little across the pitch-black curtain covering everything.
“Nice timing.”
Crack, crackle-!
The ceiling had split open enough.
Before long, the barrier shattered into pieces.
Beyond the dispersing shadows, a blue sky came into view.
“······.”
When I looked down at the girl in my arms, she had already lost consciousness.
Perhaps it was closer to fainting than sleep.
‘Well··· the aftermath of her rampage must have left her utterly exhausted.’
I laid her frail body beside Ranne.
It would soon be time for the faculty to rush in.
I lay down beside the two of them as well.
The students would be rescued without incident if things continued like this.
To avoid suspicion, I needed to pretend to be unconscious too.
[Victor.]
“Princess.”
Carmilla had already returned to her bat form.
She landed on my chest, then squirmed her way back into my breast pocket.
Her tiny hand tapped lightly.
[You worked hard again today.]
“Perhaps it is the fate of one who saves the world. And thank you as well, Princess, for accompanying me in my personal affairs.”
[Do not say such things. If it is Victor’s business, is it not the same as my own?]
“That’s reassuring.”
Afterward, I quietly closed my eyes.
It seemed I could hear the faculty shouting in the distance.
I let my consciousness drift, intending to get some sleep.
‘It was a long day.’
And so, the first practical training session of the first year came to an end.
***
It felt as though I had a short nightmare.
No··· was it right to call it a nightmare?
Unlike my usual dreams, it had been a calm, warm one.
-You’ve been through a lot for a long time.
-You did well. You really did.
It felt as though my cold breath might melt.
As though a cozy warmth had wrapped around my body.
I think I fell asleep more easily and comfortably than usual.
And then.
“······.”
Alice opened her eyes in an unfamiliar bed.
Everything was white.
‘Where is this···.’
She was certain she had lost consciousness in the forest.
An unfamiliar ceiling, and yet another unfamiliar scene.
The girl looked around for a moment.
As she grew confused, a voice soon came from in front of her.
“Miss Alice.”
“······.”
A boy wearing a mask.
Victor was sitting on the sofa across from her.
He rose from his seat as though he had been waiting for Alice to wake.
“Are you feeling a little better?”
The voice she had heard in her dream.
Only then did Alice gather her groggy consciousness.
‘······It wasn’t a dream.’
As reality came rushing in, her breathing faltered.
As her blue eyes darted about, the boy chuckled softly and explained the situation.
“This is the academy infirmary. Though it’s rather extraordinary in size to simply call it an infirmary.”
“How···.”
“Immediately after Miss Alice lost consciousness, the faculty succeeded in disabling the barrier and entering the area. The other students trapped inside the barrier were rescued safely as well. Fortunately, I hear no one was seriously injured.”
“······.”
“Everyone is currently recovering in this building.”
Alice listened blankly.
Before long, she realized that something was holding her hand.
A girl was asleep with her head on the bed, still holding Alice’s hand.
“······Lady Kihano?”
Ranne Kihano.
Her hair was golden, as though woven from molten sunlight.
Feeling the warmth filling her palm, Alice looked down at her in confusion.
“She stayed by your side the entire time. She was nursing Miss Alice through the night and only just fell asleep.”
“How much time has··· passed?”
“A full day.”
“A day···.”
Alice quietly looked down at Ranne.
Golden hair spilling across the white hospital bed.
Victor stroked Ranne’s head as though proud of her.
Feeling the warmth clasped in her hand, Alice hesitated over the unfamiliar sensation before speaking.
“How is Lady Kihano’s condition···?”
“They say she’s fine. She’s a very sturdy person to begin with. I also poured a healing potion over her, and she underwent a full examination after coming to the academy infirmary. I hear there’s nothing wrong with her.”
“Th-that’s a relief···.”
Alice let out a sigh of relief before she realized it.
The worry she had secretly been holding, wondering if something had gone wrong.
-Miss Alice.
-I’ll buy you some time, if only for a moment.
Perhaps it was because she remembered that retreating back.
The back that had protected her.
As she tightly held Ranne’s hand, her eyes met the boy’s, filled with affection.
“Miss Alice.”
“······.”
He called out to the girl in a gentle voice.
An inexplicable emotion pressed heavily against Alice’s heart.
She flinched and trembled, but soon parted her quivering lips to answer.
“······Yes.”
“About what happened yesterday. Only the two of us know about the part concerning the nightmare. It has to stay that way from now on, too. You remember, right? What I told you was a secret.”
She remembered.
Their secret.
How could she forget?
Alice quietly nodded.
“Good.”
He smiled briefly and approached the bed.
The white mask drew close enough to Alice to be within arm’s reach.
It was still an eerie shape, yet for some reason, the girl was not afraid.
Her heart settled.
“Miss Alice. I’d like to make you a proposal.”
A proposal.
The subject the boy had casually mentioned yesterday.
This continued conversation was an extension of that moment.
“You saw it yesterday, didn’t you? I have the power to help Miss Alice. I can eradicate your nightmares, and through that, suppress your rampage as well.”
“······.”
She retraced the memories that remained like a dream.
The nightmare horde pouring forth in horrifying numbers.
And yet, the boy’s scythe sweeping them all away single-handedly.
He had shattered head-on the rule that they were beings who could not be killed.
-Miss Alice.
-So this is where you were. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
It was a miracle.
At least, that was what the boy she had seen appeared to be.
“I’ll help you. Stay with me and learn how to control your Nightmare Transformation.”
The words, I’ll help you.
The offer was truly fantastical.
In other words, it was a hope the girl had never dared even entertain.
“You’ll tame that brutal calamity and make it your own. If you succeed in controlling your Nightmare Transformation, you won’t be tormented by nightmares anymore. You won’t have to be swept up in anxiety and compulsion every day, either.”
“······.”
“You’ll be able to live an ordinary life, like the other children.”
The idea of controlling her Nightmare Transformation was one she had never even imagined.
Because she had believed there could be no one capable of such a thing.
But···.
“I’ll give you that kind of life.”
The boy before her was promising it as though it were only natural.
A seemingly futile possibility, and the girl’s future.
Alice could do nothing but stare blankly, dazed.
Though it concerned her, it felt as though she were hearing about another world.
“Of course, there’s a price as well. This isn’t simple assistance; it’s a proposal.”
“······.”
“Be close with me. Whenever I ask for help, you must come running, putting it above everything else. You must take my side in any situation, and use your strength for me no matter what. Of course, I intend to do the same for Miss Alice. In short, we’ll be each other’s absolute allies.”
“Absolute allies···.”
“In exchange, I’ll promise Miss Alice a better life.”
“······.”
“What do you think? Does it sound tempting?”
After hearing everything the boy had to say.
Only one thought came to Alice first.
‘Why···?’
Why.
Only that short word caught in Alice’s throat.
‘Why are you doing this much for me···.’
Why.
Why.
Why.
Why would he do so much for her?
Saving her from her rampage had not been enough; now he was offering to help her control it.
He would give her a way to overcome her nightmares, and even an ordinary life···.
‘Why.’
Alice could not understand.
Even the things the boy offered as the price were mostly things that required him to sacrifice.
He was so overwhelmingly strong that she could not imagine her own paltry power being of any use to him.
This, too, seemed more like a provision meant to protect the girl.
‘Why are you··· doing this for me?’
Alice was frail, but she was not stupid.
She could understand the general flow of the proposal.
This was a proposal in which she only received, one-sidedly.
‘I···.’
The girl could not understand.
Alice, Alice.
A child who should never have been born.
That was what she had always thought of herself.
Neither help from others nor a better life existed in her world.
She believed they should not.
-Then how about this? We stay close from now on?
And yet.
That was certainly how it had been, but···.
-Miss Alice.
-You worked so hard.
The boy had crossed the boundaries Alice had drawn with such ease.
That was why Alice found Victor difficult to understand.
He was an unknowable person.
‘Strange.’
When she thought about it, it had been that way from their very first meeting.
The boy had always been kind to Alice.
-You said we were in the same class.
-Now that fate has brought us together like this, how could I not help you?
When they first met, despite not knowing her, he had helped her when she was in trouble.
He had found the necklace belonging to her sister that she had nearly lost.
-Hehe.
Alice’s ability, ‘A Different Form, One Dream.’
He had even taken a liking to the girl, enough for them to communicate through signals.
-We agreed to become close, didn’t we? You remember, right?
-Since we’re becoming close anyway, I wanted to introduce you to another friend of mine.
Perhaps because he had noticed Alice, who had always walked alone in loneliness, he had introduced his friend Ranne to her as well.
-Miss Alice.
-I can help you, you know.
In this incident, he had even fought directly for the girl.
He had torn out Alice’s nightmares and saved her when she had nearly been swallowed by them.
‘This···.’
All of this had happened in less than a month.
Everything the boy had given her in less than a month.
Alice could not understand.
‘What on earth.’
At first, she had thought he was simply one of her misfortunes.
When she glimpsed the boy’s secret on the seventieth floor of Purgatory.
Alice had thought she had set foot in an irreversible hell.
Because she believed the boy would either kill her to silence her or torment her.
That was why she had been so afraid of Victor, but···.
‘I was wrong.’
He was different from what she had expected.
Alice had trembled, saying she was afraid, but Victor had always been kind to her.
An inexplicable tenderness had accumulated in layers within her heart.
‘I don’t know···.’
Now she no longer knew anything.
What the boy was.
The misfortune—or perhaps good fortune—that had come to her.
She had reached the point where she could not even distinguish that simple boundary.
‘It’s just that I···.’
The curves of her life had changed far too abruptly,
Startled by the light and hope that had suddenly shone down,
Unable to believe that moment at all,
Even after opening her bleary eyes and sitting up, life did not hurt,
The muscles in her body that had felt heavy, the headaches that had throbbed out of habit, the nightmare hallucinations that had lingered by her ears—none of them tormented her···.
‘Strange.’
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She had never experienced anything like this in her life.
A feeling as though she had been left in an empty, silent world.
It was unfamiliar and frightening, yet so comfortable she could not hold back her tears.
‘What am I supposed to think you are···?’
That question.
And what did he think she was?
What did he take her for, to devote himself so completely to someone as insignificant as her?
A tenderness no one in the world had ever given her, except her sister.
Why did he give it away so easily···?
Because she wanted to know.
And because she was afraid.
And because her heart fluttered again.
The girl could not stop the tears spilling down her face.
“Yes···.”
She could only nod.
“I will. I want to···.”
Words she had never held within herself in all her life.
For the first time, the girl spoke to someone other than her sister.
“Please help me.”
Her voice trembled miserably, but that alone was enough to make the boy smile.
A warm palm settled against Alice’s cheek.
Fingers gently brushed away her tears.
The boy answered briefly.
“Gladly.”
A moment left behind like a miracle.
Alice clutched the boy’s sleeve tightly.
After that.
She did not let go of that sleeve until exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep again.
***
A few hours later.
Everyone had fallen asleep, leaving me alone awake in the hospital room.
“······.”
Alice was sleeping peacefully.
Perhaps because her Nightmare Transformation progress had dropped so sharply, her complexion was clearly more relaxed.
Ranne was lying facedown beside her.
I stroked them each once, then sat on the windowsill in the corner of the hospital room.
‘I’ve taken care of everything···.’
With a simple manipulation, I opened the status window.
Now that everything was over, it was time to tally up the rewards.
A flood of accumulated quest-completion messages appeared all at once.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the emergency quest!]
-Title: Welcome to Wonderland.
-Description: Prevent the Nightmare Transformation of the rampaging ‘Alice.’
[Astonishingly, you completed the quest without killing the host body!]
-A special reward will be provided. Please check your inventory.
Ding-!
[You have completed the hidden quest.]
-Title: Queen Slayer
-Description: Defeat the boss monsters ruling Wonderland: ‘Heart Queen,’ ‘Red Queen,’ and ‘White Queen.’
[Through your astonishing performance, you slaughtered all the queens!]
-A special reward will be provided. Please check your status window.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the sub quest!]
-Title: If you're going to do it, do it properly!
-Description: Place third or higher in the practical exam.
[Through your astonishing performance, you took first place in the practical exam!]
-In addition to the existing reward, an additional reward will be provided.
“Then, shall we check the rewards?”
It was time to settle the accounts.