When you opened your eyes, you realized you were standing in some ruins.

…?

This was truly strange.

After all, until just a moment ago, you were riding in a carriage with your companions.

“I’ve heard many rumors, but facing it directly like this is quite different from what I expected.”

But before you could calmly assess the situation, a voice from in front of you caught your attention.

Vivid red hair fluttered.

A gorgeous red dress billowed.

Even the color of the shoes with split fronts was red.

A rose blooming vividly alone on a blue field.

Or a dancer on stage, capturing the audience’s full attention.

A woman who seemed to embody the word “splendor” looked at you and smiled.

It was a sight beautiful enough to make any man’s heart flutter, but you weren’t captivated by her appearance.

The smell of blood emanating from the woman was too strong for that.

You knew that the dress the woman was wearing was originally a deep green.

You also knew that those who approached, captivated by the woman’s beauty, had become red dye, coloring that dress.

“Splendid knight. Why are you here? When all those who should protect this place have fled, why do you remain here?” the woman asked.

You had no intention of answering.

Not only was this situation incomprehensible, but you didn’t have a mouth to begin with.

“—To defeat you.”

Yet, for some reason, you were speaking.

With a mouth that shouldn’t exist, in a voice you shouldn’t be able to produce.

A blush appeared on the woman’s face.

As if those words filled with killing intent were like a confession.

“Is that so? Then there’s no helping it. We must dance.”

The woman pulled one foot back and bent her knee in a curtsy.

She looked like a lady inviting someone to dance at a ball.

But that was only for a moment.

Tap!

The next instant, the woman’s figure disappeared without a trace.

You swung the shield on your left arm behind your back.

Boom!

The shield and the woman’s heel collided, creating a large shockwave.

In the silent ruins, once the castle of some kingdom, an untimely commotion arose.

A giggling laugh was heard.

The woman laughed as if pleased that you had blocked her attack—no, that you had reacted.

“Most have their heads cracked by this. Then, how about this?”

Her long legs bent like willow branches and flew towards you.

Bang!

Shield and shoe collided, and a moment later, the shockwave scattered around.

A sensation similar to blocking a catapult attack enveloped your left arm, but even that was just the beginning.

Tap, tap tap, tap tap tap.

Amidst footstep sounds that seemed to follow a rhythm, attacks carrying tremendous power mixed with killing intent poured in.

Bang! Boom! Boom boom!

Despite using kicks, which were large movements with many openings, as her main attack, the woman’s continuous attacks were as smooth as flowing water.

While her physical abilities and martial arts skills themselves were excellent, the woman’s ability played a larger role.

Spatial movement with preparation time infinitely close to zero.

The movement distance itself was less than even half a step, let alone a full step, but distance wasn’t the important part.

The key was that the woman herself could decide her posture after spatial movement.

If she returned to her pre-attack posture immediately after extending an attack, there were virtually no openings in her movements.

When combined with her original spatial movement that could reach farther places, albeit with slightly longer preparation time, the result was nightmarish.

Just after you thought you had blocked a frontal kick with your shield, an impact close to that of a shell hit your back.

The sword thrust towards the unguarded abdomen cut through the air, and a heavy downward kick struck your shoulder like an axe.

Weapon range, distance between opponents, gaps in breathing.

An ability close to divinity that arbitrarily controlled all the core elements of martial combat.

Faced with this unreasonable cheating ability, numerous knights had knelt before the woman.

Generals of various countries clutched their heads and screamed at her movements that instantly rendered various rear units like mages and archers useless.

To avoid being assassinated by the woman who could cross space to reach anywhere she could see, rulers had to hide in spaces without even a single window.

Despair was everywhere.

As darkness gradually expanded its territory, the brilliant light from the sky did not shine upon the earth.

Yet, you did not let go of your sword.

Even knowing this alone wasn’t enough to fully protect your body, you didn’t let go of your shield.

—To endure even a little longer.

Even knowing the swung sword wouldn’t reach, you didn’t let go of your sword.

—Because if you let go, not even a single chance would come.

You endured, endured, and stubbornly endured.

You predicted the bizarre and monstrous attacks and deflected the impacts.

You honed your skills to use mana itself like another shield, not just to reinforce your body by concentrating mana.

Knowing the opponent’s strength, acknowledging your own weakness.

Believing that you just needed to bridge that gap at this very moment.

Slash!

After thousands of trials and errors, your sword finally reached the woman.

The red woman’s right foot flew through the air, then was thrown to the ground.

What had looked like a high-heeled shoe lost its illusory magic and changed shape to resemble a deer’s hoof.

“This is…”

Dripping blood from her severed ankle, the woman who had become one-legged widened her eyes in surprise.

You caught your breath.

Various parts of your body ached and throbbed.

Perhaps some ribs had broken and pierced your internal organs, as blood overflowed with your cough.

Anyone could see you should be lying in a sickbed rather than holding a sword, but you rather thought this was good.

The opponent’s strongest weapon was her mobility.

If the woman with spatial movement abilities decided to flee in earnest, it would be a difficult task to catch her, even for you.

Therefore, you couldn’t let the woman escape.

You needed to lure her into charging at your weakened self, to make her determined to finish you off for sure.

Today, you intended to finish off one of the eight.

Scattering an emotion that could be either vengeance or joy, the woman let out a loud laugh.

You raised your sword.

And then—

“—Hey! Can’t you hear me?”

Bonk!

With a hitting sound that seemed somewhat controlled compared to usual, your vision flipped.

***

“Where is your mind wandering?”

You dazedly raised your head at the voice coming from above your head.

The witch Dorothea, who had contracted with you, was looking down at you with a grumpy face.

You looked around.

The familiar inside of the carriage.

You could see Sophia absorbed in writing in the coachman’s seat, Adelaide running behind the carriage, and Rapunzel and the new white master-servant pair sitting in the cargo compartment.

It felt so strange that you couldn’t easily come to your senses.

“…What’s wrong?”

Perhaps noticing that your state was unusual, slight concern appeared in Dorothea’s eyes.

Unable to answer her, you quietly looked down at your own hands.

Hands made of cold iron.

At a glance, you might look like a person wearing armor, but the contents weren’t human.

Someone’s warmth, a soft touch—you were forever barred from both..

Therefore, the scene you had just experienced lingered like an afterimage.

That thick smell of blood.

That vivid pain.

The breath you inhaled and exhaled, and the heart that pounded violently.

You were you.

But in that moment, you were not you.

This truth that sounded like wordplay confused you, but soon you could understand.

That scene, that conversation, that fight.

It was the memory of your senior who had given you this body.

You scratched the back of your head, wondering how to explain this, then decided to just blurt it out.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he seems to have had a daydream!]

“What dream could a magic doll have… Or not?”

Dorothea tilted her head, then gestured towards Gale.

Gale answered, “When asking about something you don’t know, it’s better for both parties if you clearly state what you want instead of just hinting. You might get an irrelevant answer otherwise, you know?”

Dorothea seemed to flare up for a moment, but perhaps realizing that getting irritated every time like this only hurt herself—finally—she soon relaxed her shoulders and said, “Can magic dolls dream?”

“For ordinary magic dolls, it’s impossible. But, like our Sig, your Tin Knight is also special in a sense, right? It’s not strange for phenomena that normally couldn’t happen to occur.”

Gale continued with various explanations after that, but you only half-listened to the content.

You were distracted by Gale’s legs sitting in the luggage compartment.

More precisely, the shoes she was wearing.

Shoes usually got dirty easily and lost their shine due to their very function, but whether because they were magic items or just because Gale took meticulous care of them, the silver shoes sparkled without a single speck of dirt.

That must certainly be the case, but for some reason.

To your eyes, those shoes somehow looked red.1

A vivid red, as if soaked in blood.

“So, what kind of dream was it?”

To Dorothea’s question, you answered simply.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it was a dream of fighting an incredibly strong enemy!]

“Ah, I see. Not much different from usual then.”

Dorothea’s gaze, which had been somewhat cautious, instantly became indifferent.

Her face clearly showed the sentiment, “Of course that’ll be ‘your’ dream, I was stupid to take it seriously,” even though she didn’t say it out loud.

“We got sidetracked for a moment, but what are you going to do?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ applies the advice he just heard, saying that when asking something, one should be specific to avoid misunderstandings!]

“This is because you weren’t listening while dozing off! It’s a different case!”

After letting out a small, “Ack!” Dorothea crossed her arms in a crooked posture.

The two hills that seemed to have grown strangely larger since you first met her were slightly squished.

“I’m talking about food, food. Do you want to eat?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ requests additional explanation!]

“It might feel a bit off if you’re just watching while everyone else is eating, right? If you want, I can fix—no, add a function.”

You widened your eyes.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if that’s possible!]

The answer came not from Dorothea but from Gale.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not ‘a function to eat something’ but ‘a function to share the sensation of someone eating something.’ It’s much more feasible than recreating the entire digestive system. However,” Gale added. “Is that really what you want for the ‘cooperation’ content? Honestly, I thought you’d ask for the sacred treasure.”

The duel inside the library.

Before that fight began, Dorothea had asked that in exchange for indulging in a head-on battle, she asked for cooperation in something.

One as a condition for the duel to be established, and another as the winner’s request to the loser.

One was used to ask for help in searching for the Witch of the North whose whereabouts were unclear, so only one remained.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s just changing the order of collection, anyway,” Dorothea asserted as if it really wasn’t a big deal. “Managing a familiar’s morale is also one of the master’s duties. It’s more rational and beneficial in the long run to take care of this guy’s mental health than to obsess over whether we can or can’t collect one more sacred treasure here. So it’s fine.”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, I don’t mind. But Dorothea really likes to beat around the bush. I don’t think there’s anything to be embarrassed about in conveying goodwill─clang!─oops, isn’t it a bit much to swing your staff at a person?”

“You’re one to talk!?”

You stared blankly at the black and white witches screaming and making a fuss.

Although you hadn’t answered, it seemed that restoring your sense of taste had somehow become a decided matter.

You felt a subtle emotion.

Collecting the eight sacred treasures was the main goal of this journey.

Postponing that and trying to gain a function that wasn’t particularly helpful in combat was, no matter how you thought about it, an inefficient and unreasonable trade.

You were especially bewildered that it was that black witch, of all people, who made such a judgment.

But you didn’t want to oppose it.

Neither you inside the Tin Knight, nor you outside the monitor.

The vivid sense of life you felt in that memory was too dazzling to casually deny and let go of.

Footnotes

1. 1. ED Note: ED Note: Ah, I see what Monocaca is doing here. You see, in the book, the slippers Dorothy loots off the body of the Witch of the East are silver, but in the movie they are red.

***

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