Yamamoto stared at the robin speaking human words before him, his arms flailing nervously.
Robin gave a wicked grin. "Dance well, and I might just let you go."
Yamamoto didn't reply, only redoubling his efforts.
Why had it come to this? He miserably retraced the events in his mind.
--+--
His name was Yamamoto, a rookie mechanist assigned to the vanguard unit of the fleet, who had only just received his automaton.
His mission today was to patrol the other side of the island, to prevent anyone else from entering.
After a quick inspection, he called out to a friend in his squad.
"Mizuguchi, I'm heading off to practice."
"Alright, I'll let the captain know for you."
With his friend's acknowledgement, Yamamoto left the group with his automaton in tow.
To better perform his duties, he practiced his machina arts daily.
"Alright, let's go, Iku!" He stood in the water, addressing his automaton.
Mana was infused, the magic circuits activated.
His automaton's circuits could maintain a pocket of breathable air, while he himself had trained in stealth arts back home.
Combined, this made him the perfect candidate for the vanguard.
With a splash, Yamamoto and his automaton dove into the water together.
Once submerged, Yamamoto immediately activated his stealth technique.
He had his automaton stay near the surface while he slowly swam towards the fish startled by their entry.
His stealth seemed successful; the fish weren't disturbed.
Just as he was about to touch them, ripples spread across the water's surface.
Something had skimmed over the water.
The sudden movement sent the fish fleeing once more.
Frowning with annoyance, he looked up, trying to see what had ruined his perfect practice session.
But before he could identify it, the air around him suddenly vanished.
What?!
Before he could even process it, he inhaled a mouthful of salty seawater.
Gurgle...
He flailed wildly, swimming upwards.
"Cough... cough... hack...!"
He broke the surface, coughing violently, gasping frantically for fresh air as he scanned the area for his automaton.
But he saw no sign of Iku, only a faint mist drifting away.
He thought he could faintly hear a chewing sound.
He scrambled to the shore, shouting his automaton's name.
"Iku! Iku! Iku!" He ran along the bank, searching left and right, but Iku, who had just been at the surface, was now completely gone.
It's over. He'd just lost the automaton he was issued.
"Iku, where are you?" Yamamoto listened to his own echo, standing helplessly.
No good. He had to find Mizuguchi for help. At the very least, he couldn't let the captain find out first.
He hurriedly ran towards his camp.
The mist drifted out to sea.
Seeing the eerily quiet camp in the distance, Yamamoto felt a pang of unease.
He searched frantically for his friend.
Finally, beside a tent, he spotted Mizuguchi's hand resting on a stool nearby.
He instantly felt relieved.
The others must have gone off for drills again somewhere.
He let out a sigh, his steps lightening as he walked over and patted Mizuguchi's hand. "Mizuguchi, my—"
The hand didn't clap him on the shoulder as usual. Instead, it fell limply to the ground.
After a moment of stunned silence, Yamamoto numbly bent down and picked up the severed hand.
Suddenly, a massive shadow blotted out the moonlight above.
Dazedly, he looked up. A gigantic steel warship was falling from the sky, crashing directly into the island's center.
The deafening roar made him clamp his hands over his ears in agony.
At the same time, a signal flare lit up the sky, illuminating the scene at the island's heart.
Countless soldiers lay fallen, corpses strewn everywhere, flesh and blood splattered across the ground.
He stared fixedly at the horrific sight, only slowly comprehending it after a long moment.
"...Aaaaaahhhh!!" A wretched scream tore from his throat at the hellish scene. He flung Mizuguchi's hand towards the beach, turned, and ran desperately for the other side of the island.
We're under attack! We're under attack!
He ran on, mindlessly, thinking only of hiding, not even the faint song coming from somewhere making him look back.
That signal flare must have attracted the distant fleet.
He scrambled to the coastline.
A steel giant that hadn't been there before made him shriek in terror once more.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a ship approaching. A flicker of hope lit up his face.
"Hey! Over here!!!"
Yamamoto waved his arms wildly, jumping and shouting.
He watched as the warship drew nearer, his smile widening.
Once reinforcements arrived, everything would be okay.
And then, the approaching warship slowly sailed right past the island.
In the manor, a chess piece on the Second Ticket glowed with a faint light.
His expression froze instantly, his arms stuck mid-air.
Suddenly, a conversational murmur reached his ears.
"See? I told you. If we didn't fly higher, we'd have been caught in it too."
"...So these are Alice's other Automata?"
Yamamoto stiffly turned his head. A bird and a small, silver-haired doll came into view.
The blue robin seemed to notice him, slowly turning its head.
"Look what I found."
With a flutter of wings, Robin flew to Yamamoto's side.
Suigintou slowly drew a rapier, watching Yamamoto warily.
Yamamoto's legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees.
"S-spare... spare my life."
"Oh ho~" Robin curved a wing, stroking his chin with it.
An idea seemed to strike him, his eyes lighting up. "Dance for me. If it's good, I'll let you go."
Suigintou looked at Robin with some displeasure.
If Robin really intended to let this soldier go, she would intervene.
What did Robin's promise have to do with her, Suigintou?
Hearing a chance at survival, Yamamoto immediately stood up and began waving his arms in a ridiculous manner.
Instantly, Robin burst into merry laughter.
After a few jumps, Yamamoto offered a smile uglier than crying, trembling as he spoke, "Lord Bird, may I go now?"
Robin blinked. He'd just been joking. Did he actually believe it?
Fluttering his wings, Robin flew back to Suigintou's side and spoke softly, "But... I don't care for Japanese dances."
Having said that, he roared loudly towards the sky, "Alice!!!"
The agonized cry made it sound as if he were the victim.
Yamamoto's face froze once more. With a furious shout, he pulled out a branch he'd picked up along the way.
"Thames."
A cool, detached voice came from the sky.
The next moment, a massive steel hand, whipping up a gust of wind, slammed down towards Yamamoto.
He stared at the rapidly descending palm, the branch dropping uselessly from his hand.
He scrambled into a frantic run, a silent wail echoing in his heart.
I can't escape. I can't escape.
Just then, a sharp whistling sound came from behind. Shocked, he looked back to see several black feathers pierce his throat.
"...Gurgle..."
His eyes widened in horror, struggling to utter a few wet, gurgling sounds. The next second, the giant's hand smashed down upon him.
CRAAASH—
Blood bloomed like a ghastly flower.
The Witch of Fairy Tales slowly descended from the sky.
To think there was a stray fish like this. She'd have the Wandersnatch comb over this area again later.
Alice thought silently, then turned her gaze to Suigintou, raising a subtle eyebrow.
Suigintou was...
Suigintou was looking up at her, arms crossed over her chest.
It seemed it was her first time taking a life; her hands were trembling slightly.
The Alice she saw on this island was someone she had never seen before.
This Alice didn't need their help at all. So she had to grow stronger.
After a long pause, she finally spoke softly, "Alice... will I be able to help the future you?"
"...Of course."
"Good."
Suigintou regained her usual haughty demeanor. She spread her wings and flew to Alice's side.
"Then in the future, when I go to seize Shinku and the others' Rosa Mystica, don't stop me."
"...No. You still haven't given up on that?"
"Of course I haven't. Is one Rosa Mystica not enough for me?"
Whap—
Suigintou's rear end met Alice's palm with a solid thwack.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.