Most were stuffed toys in loud primary colors. From human dolls, with b.u.t.tons for eyes and yarn for hair, to animals like dogs and cats, horses and cattle, even some monsters I couldn"t identify, in their repulsive forms; they were here, there, and everywhere on the floor and bed, piled up into heaps. There were also building bricks, wooden horses, musical instruments, and such aside from those, as if the toy shop from Centoria"s fifth district had been carted here.
And the owner of that voice sat half-buried in there, back facing us.
"Hoooooh!! Hoooooooh!!"
Similarly, the being that had degenerated into hurling out meaningless exclamations, one after another, could be described only as bizarre.
Round. A round head rode atop a nearly spherical torso just like a snowman. But it wasn"t white; it was clad in a jester outfit, colored red on the right and blue on the left. The sleeves 266.
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covering its stumpy arms had vertical stripes of red and blue as well; a sight that seemed like it would hurt if stared at too hard.
The round head was pure white and utterly bald like the elders behind, but unlike them, its surface was glossy with grease. A hat in the same boorish shade of gold as the furniture sat on that head.
I put my mouth closer to Alice"s ear as she stood in front and asked as softly as I could.
"That"s the chief elder...?"
"Yes, that"s Chudelkin."
The knight"s answer was extremely soft as well, but it came out with undeniable disgust. I gazed once more at that back covered by the jester costume.
If he was the chief elder, he should be on equal footing as Knight Commander Bercouli as the highest ranking sacred arts user, one among the Axiom Church"s most important people.
But despite that, the word, "defenseless", was practically written on his back. His mind appeared to be completely taken in by something he carried in his two hands.
I couldn"t see it wel due to his round back blocking, but it seemed that thing Chudelkin was absorbed in looking into was a large gla.s.s ball. His outstretched, short legs wiggled each time colors flickered within it, along with his exclamations of "hah"
or "hoh".
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I figured for sure there would be a tense introduction before a great battle began, like the fights against Deusolbert and Fanatio, but just how should I deal with this situation? When I struggled to think up of a follow-up, Alice suddenly made her move, apparently unable to hold herself back any longer. With a wholehearted dash and no attempt to hide her footsteps, to boot.
That said, she only really needed to kick off the ground five times. Easily leaving me behind as I frantical y tried to catch up to the golden squall that raided the room, Alice had already gotten a tight grip on the fluttering collar of Chudelkin"s jester outfit and lifted him up by the time his round neck thought to turn around.
"Hoooooaah!?"
Alice vigorously pulled that round thing, from which a hysterical voice escaped, out from the sea of stuffed toys and lifted him up high. Final y caught up there, I first scanned through the entire room. Of course, I was looking for Eugeo who had been taken away from the large bathe by Chudelkin, but I couldn"t spot him anywhere. When I looked towards the middle of the room again in dejection, the gla.s.s ball Chudelkin had been absorbed in caught my eye.
A swirl of light dyed the insides of the gla.s.s ball, probably measuring fifty centimeters from side-to-side at least, showing an image with depth. A slovenly sitting girl with both legs 268.
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folded to the side atop luxurious sheets. Her face was hidden from view by long silver hair, but her body was completely unclothed.
It was when my gusto drained away upon realizing this was the reason behind Chudelkin"s odd squeals that I noticed what appeared like another person in front of the sitting. I leaned my face in for a closer look, but perhaps because the art was interrupted off then, the image flashed white and faded.
Alice, on the other hand, showed no interest in the image from the very beginning, thrusting the tip of her sword straight towards the suspended jester"s mouth as she spoke.
"I"ll slice your tongue off from its base the instant it tries to start the chant for an art."
The small man"s mouth that was about to scream something aptly closed after that cold-hearted warning.
Going by the fundamental rule of the Underworld, where all sacred arts need to be preceded by a " System Call", an art user opponent would have already lost any advantage upon being forced into such a posture. But stil , I kept my attention on those two short arms while I gazed at the face of this man-Chief Elder Chudelkin.
Inexplicable; there weren"t many others whose appearance suited that figure of speech. Bright red lips occupied the bottom half of his perfectly circular face, a pug nose protruded above 269.
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that, and his eyes and eyebrows drew an arc that resembled a smiley.
However, those narrow eyes were now opened as wide as they managed, their small, black pupils quivering as they stared at Alice.
Those thick lips pursed like a trumpet before long and a voice like the creaking of rusted metal leaked out from Chudelkin.
"You... number thirty... why are you in a place like thiss? You should"ve fallen out of the tower to your death with one of the traitorss."
"Don"t call me by a number! My name is Alice. And I"ve no longer a thirty."
Chudelkin"s greasy face convulsed at Alice"s reply that had been tinged with a biting cold and he turned his eyes towards me for the first time. His two crescent eyes opened into half- moons and heavy breaths spilled out from his throat.
"Y-Youu, why, how!? Thir... Knight Alice, why do you not cut down this rascal heree!? He is a rebel against the church... have I not told you that he was a p.a.w.n of the Dark Territoryy!!"
"Certainly, he is a traitor. But he is no vanguard for the land of darkness. Just like I am now."
"Wh... Wha..."
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Chudelkin"s short limbs flapped about as though they were one of the toys the room was fil ed with.
"S-Soo you plan to betray the church, huuuh, you s.h.i.tty excuse for a knighttttt!!"
Perhaps the held sword no longer registered in his vision, but Chudelkin"s pure white face was dyed bright red in an instant and his roars of anger reverberated around the room in a voice even more screechy than his usual.
"You useless integrity knights are always like thiss!! And you"re mere puppetss!! Just dolls that have to move according to my commandsss!! How could you do this to Her Eminencee!!
How could you betray the highest minister, Administratorrr!!"
Having avoided the saliva scattering from Chudelkin"s mouth by averting her face, Alice coldly replied without even twitching her eyebrows at the scorn.
"Was it not the Axiom Church who had turned us into dolls?
After al , you have sealed our memories through the "Synthesis Ritual", forcibly instilled loyalty inside us, and made us believe in the deception that we are knights summoned from the Celestial World."
"Wha......"
Chudelkin"s face changed, once again, from red to white and his large mouth flapped.
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"Why do you know about..."
"It seems we do have some memories left behind despite the sealing, faint as they may be. I saw this scene for a moment when I stepped into the adjacent Chamber of Elders... a frightened girl, filled with anxiety and fear and bound in the middle of that hall, who had the walls to her heart wrenched open by the elders" many, many arts over a course of three days and three nights. That is the truth behind the Synthesis Ritual...
My tears of grief and despair must have once stained the stone floor in that hall when I was stil that little girl."
Despite Alice"s attempt at controlling herself, Chudelkin"s face bewilderingly swapped between red and white as he heard her words that possessed an edge as sharp as a steel blade.
But in the end, Chudelkin, probably the only human who still retained his own sense of self among the Chamber of Elders, showed a vulgar, defiant grin.
"Yes... it is just as you"ve saidd. I can still recal it like it just happened yesterday, you knoww? The young, untainted, and oh-so-lovely you, your tears trickling down as you kept on begging and begging... "Please, don"t make me forget... don"t make me forget about those precious to me...", hohoho."
Looking at Chudelkin imitating a girl"s tone of voice in a repulsive falsetto, Alice"s eyes carried a glow reminiscent of a 272.
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fervid flame. But Chudelkin continued with his provocations, resuming his tasteless monologue.
"Oho, ohoo, of course I remember it! The pleasure I get from using that sight can still last me an entire night even now! After brought here from some s.h.i.tty place in the sticks, you were first raised as a sister apprentice for two years. You were such a tomboy, finding a loophole in the daily regimen and sightseeing at Centoria"s midsummer festival, bu still, you put your all into studying, believing that you would be able to return back to your hometown once day if you worked hard enoughh. But you see, that was all nonsense! Right after your sacred arts usage authority got fattened up enough, the forced synthesis came!
That tear-stained face you had when you found out you would never return home was justt... I even thought about turning you to stone like that, so that I could leave you in my room as a decoration forever and everr! Hoh, hoh, hoh!!"
I couldn"t stop my right arm, holding onto my sword, from quivering either upon hearing Chudelkin"s utterly vicious spiel.
The grinding of Alice"s clenched teeth rang out again, but she questioned the chief elder without losing her self-control.
"There was something strange in what you"ve just said.
Forced synthesis, was it? Wouldn"t that imply there were some who went through the Synthesis Ritual on their own free will?"
The chief elder narrowed his two eyes to lines at that and briefly laughed.
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"Ho-ho, what good ears you have. There are, you know? Six years ago, you refused to chant that secret art needed for the usual synthesis so stubbornlyy. "My sacred task is stil in my real vil age, I have no need to listen to your orders!" and the like; and you said it with such contemptt!"
It seemed exactly like what Alice would say as a child-I utterly agreed though I didn"t know the girl back then at all.
Perhaps remembering that as wel , the chief elder spat out with his lips curled in annoyance.