I Decided To Not Compete And Quietly Create Dolls Instead 34 (T)
One Body, Two Hearts
Seven days before the National Festival, the royal capital of Malgarea was being swallowed by a state of chaos and turmoil.
Robbery and murder when customers leave the restaurant without paying their bill, and the circus" elephant escaping and running rampant, were just some of the countless adversities troubling the city. Moreover, the Garrett Palace, which is considered one of the country"s national treasures, was attacked by over a thousand marionettes. The intel was confusing so the people concerned had to deal with that situation haphazardly.
Naturally, some of these events had tragic consequences that went on unnoticed, so one could consider a good thing that "this" turned out only like this and not like anything worse. Though people were rather late in realizing "this" had happened, luckily they weren"t too late.
-"This" would be the kidnapping of the young prodigy alchemist, Phillka Louivas.
…I woke up feeling a huge pressure inside my head, as if I had another brain pushed into my skull.
The floor and walls were covered with cold stones, and gruesome iron bars were laid in front of me.
What did this mean? I had no memory of me getting imprisoned.
I had to retrace my steps.
I had hopped aboard a carriage early in the morning in order to attend the meeting at the Alchemists" a.s.sociation.
The ride was very pleasant thanks to the "All-purpose Spring" I invented 5 years ago. My eyelids started to feel heavy as the soft rattling of the carriage started to feel like a rocking cradle. I wondered what could have happened after that, as the next thing I could remember was me opening my eyes, and finding myself in this dungeon.
"Hey! Is there anyone here?"
I waited for a short while, but there was no answer.
Hmm.
I then tried to remember that time when I visited the royal capital"s prison in the past.
Was it as crude-looking as this room?
No. This one was a little better than a cheap hotel room.
Vagrants would willingly commit low crimes to be put in rooms like this one in order to weather the cold winter.
What was weird was the absence of guards.
That"s right. There should be at least one guard on sight.
Above all, putting someone to sleep and bring them to a room like this against their will goes against Malgaroid law.
Based on the circ.u.mstantial evidence, the possibility that I had been arrested is very slim.
So I had to a.s.sume that some criminal syndicate must have abducted me.
I have made my fair share of discoveries and inventions. There must be people out there wanting to monopolize my brain for their own profit.
I thought I was prepared for this day to come, but now that it has actually happened, my heart was unexpectedly racing in excitement. Perhaps I had been wanting to be kidnapped all this time.
Well, that was the time for me to use "that".
I rolled up my sleeves and poured magic into both of my arms.
My tattoo, which was made with special ink, started to shine faintly. Its shape was kind of a square that was formed by crossing both arms. With it, both of my hands were temporarily turned into high-powered alchemy furnaces.
I had prepared this in the event of being kidnapped, but I was actually glad I had the chance to use it. Its main flaw is that it will give me horrible burn scars, but oh well. I had been honing my skill to be able to brew a magical elixir, so that wouldn"t be a problem.
Escaping this cell by disa.s.sembling those iron bars, taking my captors by surprise by hitting them with weapons made of what I could find lying around… It was an exciting plan.
(Wait a second… maybe you should hold onto your trump card until the very end.)
A voice resounded in my chest, urging me to stop.
It was a calm voice like the calm winter sea, but it was hard to resist it.
I knew this voice.
It was the voice of that doll that served Altrea like a guardian angel, Kajero.
(Are you closeby?)
I tried using telepathy.
I had been getting used to using telepathy, so I should be able to find the location of whoever I use it with… No, I can"t. That was c.o.c.ky of me.
If I were to believe the strange conclusion from this, I"d have to believe that both Kajero and I are standing in the exact same spot. But I cannot see him anywhere.
(No, Master Phillka. You are not mistaken.)
I was rubbing my right thumb against my forehead. It"s something I do when I start wondering about things.
Something about this telepathic communication with Kajero was feeling slightly off.
It was different from the usual "outside" feeling.
It seemed to well up from "inside" me instead.
(Could it be, Kajero…?)
(Your theory is correct.
I have gotten out of the body of cloth that was made for me, and have taken the liberty of getting into your body, Master Phillka. We are now "sharing" your body.)