Chapter 53 – What was robbed

This wasn’t like the puppet magic I saw in Malgaroid…
“The tunnel was blown!” A doll exclaimed.
“Be quiet, everyone! White Bear wants to say something interesting!” A bear doll said.
“Eh? What is it, what is it?” A doll asked.
“I’ll have to take notes.” Another doll stated.
“It’s not a tunnel-related pun, is it?” A third doll asked.
“White Bear’s gag will make the place white.” A fourth doll commented.
“Zippers! Use the zippers in your mouths! You’re dolls and have zippers, so use them to let the other child say the interesting thing!” A fifth doll said.
The dolls that appeared from the tunnel behaved as if they were alive. Their carefree attitude is definitely that of spirits, and also, I do feel spirits inside them.
Basically… Doll magic was used in those dolls.
Not a fake, but the real doll magic. The unusual talent that can put spirits on dolls… But this should be impossible.
The Earl told me that unusual talents directly reflect what goes on deep inside one’s mind. Each person’s ability is completely unique… Nobody else should be able to use doll magic… Nobody should.

But the scene in front of me denies that notion.
“Stop messing around and listen to the instructions of sergeant cat!” A cat doll said.
“No, no. You should follow the instructions of general dog.” A dog doll said.
“Don’t forget about me, head maid!” A maid doll said.
“Yes yes, all three of you can discuss all you want. In the meantime, let’s prepare the attack with the magical unit. Aimed at that part of the fort and on that one.” Another doll stated.
“Roger that!” “Yes yes!” “Got it.” The three dolls replied.
They were emanating their magical power, giving a somewhat fluffy fairy tale like feeling.
This… “This isn’t a joke, is it?” I muttered, then jumped out of the conference room.
Brother Tourus said I should just look at it, so he might have had some idea about what was going to happen. This was completely out of my expectations, but it might have been within his.
But that’s not the problem.
Doll magic… The unusual talent of Altirea Wisp… The trump card to change the future and prevent our downfall.
It’s the power that I’ve had since I regained the memories of my previous life. I became unable to use it after the battle with the Sage, but it was okay.
I was going to be alright.

It was a belief.
A strong… Self-deception.
The headaches I’ve been having might have been a signal from deep inside my mind.
But now…
–I can’t stop running.
If I don’t do this, I’ll lose myself. I feel like I’ll become someone helpless. Not a protagonist, not a villainous princess, not even a mob.
“Y-young lady!?” Fromos exclaimed that as I passed by his side, but I ignored him.
I stood in front of the dolls who were about to start the war.
It was raining.
Wet hair stuck to my forehead.
I put my hand on my temples again.
–The pain on my head resurged again… But before I acknowledged it.
–I opened my mouth.

“Hey, you there!
“… What are you doing?” I asked a knight doll that was near me.
The blue muffler on his neck was of a different color than Walf’s… He was Freid. The deputy leader of the doll knights.
“Oh? What a beautiful young lady. A pleasure to meet you.
“I’m Freid, a proud knight of our queen.” He said.
“Stop with the boring jokes. Did you forget my face just because we haven’t met in a while?” I asked.
“But that is not so? I’m quite confident in my memories.
“I’d never forget a lady’s face, even if the other party became a headless ghost, I wouldn’t make a mistake.” Freid replied.
“… It would be useless to remember it at that point.” I sighed.
This kind of conversation was definitely just like Freid. He did not change the way he spoke… And it doesn’t seem like he is pretending that I’m someone else.
And also… There’s something worrying me.
Freid… No. Those dolls are talking.
They’re using voices. It’s not telepathy.

I don’t understand how, but they’re shaking the air and producing a sound that can be received by my eardrum.
This…
–For some reason, makes me extremely disappointed.
(Young lady, leave this to lord Tourus and return to the castle.) Kajero descended to protect me.
The wind was swirling around him. It was quite unusual for him to be this serious. There was no room for refusal in his statement.
(Their spiritual rank has been raised considerably! I don’t know if I’ll be able to properly protect you, young lady!) Kajero shouted with his voiceless voice.
“Fire!” At that moment, a doll exclaimed that, and then the stuffed-tank-dolls started firing cannons powered by fire magic.
The field of vision was dyed in red and white.
(Guh!) The magical barrier that Kajero rose was broken in the blink of an eye, and his cloth body was now burning.
I… I was so caught up in my own mental problems, that I ended up putting myself into the danger zone way too easily.
… Something in my heart I had said, ‘I can handle this much’, but now…
It makes no sense… It’s illogical… There’s no explanation… I somehow forced myself to believe that… That I…
“Uh… Ah…” And then, I was assaulted by the biggest headache I’ve ever felt.