“I don’t usually have much use for this, but I should make use of it at times like this.”

At Dorothea’s words, Adelaide asked with a slightly anxious look, “Um, is that okay? What if something goes wrong…”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ agrees, saying that a third option is always fun!]

“I’m quite interested in how this will unfold. I agree too.”

“…I’ll just agree as well.”

Achieving unanimity at the cost of the little lion’s quick resignation, the party ignored the box and drink on the table and opened the door with the Key of Opium.

Then, a voice was heard from thin air.

《…Y-you opened the door with the key you had. The key fit perfectly as if it had originally been one with the lock.》

“Did that voice just stutter a bit?”

“It probably took a little more time to process an unexpected choice.”

What lied beyond the door was a large corridor.

It was so wide that several carriages could run side by side, and the height was dizzying.

The door the party had come through felt like a small back entrance in comparison.

“Left or right, which way should we go?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that in situations like this, going left is the standard!]

“What’s with that baseless confidence anyway?”

Rumble rumble rumble.

“Hey, doesn’t anyone hear a strange sound?”

As Adelaide’s gaze turned towards the far end of the corridor, the other companions also turned their heads in that direction.

And they saw it.

An enormous torrent rushing towards them from the far end of the corridor.

The judgment of the two martial artists was quick.

Adelaide immediately tried to open the room door they had just come through, and the Tin Knight prepared to throw the other companions through the door.

Click! Rattle! Rattle! Rattle!

But the door that had opened easily earlier now remained firmly shut and wouldn’t budge.

Considering that Adelaide, who possessed the Belt of Amaryllis, could easily crush an iron bar, the door’s durability was bizarrely high.

Dorothea tried to open the door again with the Key of Opium, but before she could, the torrent engulfed the party.

After being swept away by the water for a while, the Tin Knight shouted.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to grab onto him!]

Since the Tin Knight already had Sophia and Dorothea in each arm, only Adelaide needed to respond to the call.

As the little lion somehow managed to grab the Tin Knight’s leg even in the torrent, the knight began to emit mana downwards.

His body, which had been close to the bottom, rose towards the water’s surface.

Splash!

Using the Tin Knight as an impromptu surfboard, or rather an armor-shaped raft, Adelaide was the first to balance and climb on top.

Then she grabbed the hands of the other two and pulled them up, resulting in the three companions riding side by side on the S.S. Tin Knight.

While infusing mana into the Tin Knight, Dorothea complained, “What’s this now!? First, a hole suddenly grows, and now a water blast!?”

“Um, Dorothea?”

“What!”

“I understand how you feel, but it doesn’t seem to be over yet.”

“What?”

Dorothea looked to the side following Sophia’s eye signal.

There, a human-sized giant mouse was swimming alongside the party, splashing water.

A voice was heard from the sky again.

《After you opened the door and escaped into the corridor, a sudden torrent swept you away.》

《Having somehow managed to float on the water, you discovered a giant mouse swimming beside you.》

《The mouse doesn’t seem to have noticed you yet.》

Boom!

《You can either speak to the mouse, or suppress your presence so the mouse doesn’t notice you—》

The voice cut off abruptly.

Adelaide and Sophia’s gazes alternated between the sinking mouse with a large explosion and Dorothea in a throwing posture.

Dorothea stored the unused hand grenade, or rather the corpse bomb she learned from Shylock, back into the Gloves of Haider, then met their gazes.

“What?”

Her attitude suggested that it was only natural to subdue any obviously dangerous creature nearby, especially in a situation where the Tin Knight couldn’t fight properly and Adelaide lacked a stable foothold to fight on the flowing water.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ praises Dorothea’s judgment!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that in a fight, striking first is important!]

“Right?”

The conversation between the Tin Knight acting as a boat and the witch riding on top was truly friendly.

The phrase, “Birds of a feather flock together,” crossed Adelaide’s mind, but fearing she might get scolded if caught, she quickly erased the thought.

In fact, she wasn’t in a position to talk about others. Her “Tin contamination” was also severe.

After a slight delay, the voice from thin air continued.

《—After brutally killing the mouse, you proceeded as the torrent led you.》

《After advancing for a while, the water that had been high enough to swim in gradually decreased until your feet could touch the bottom.》

《As you emerged from the puddle, a strange scene met your eyes.》

《Various types of birds including lovebirds, freshwater crabs, beavers, and such were gathered in one place, shivering.》

《Strangely, you could understand their language, and they seemed to be looking for a way to dry their wet bodies.》

《A large lovebird approached and spoke to you.》

《”Have you seen the mouse? Without our most authoritative member to organize things, the discussion is going nowhere.”》

《You can either confess to your crime or pretend not to know.》

“Hasn’t it become more talkative?”

“Hmm, I think it’s trying hard to piece the story together somehow.”

The lovebird said, “Didn’t you hear my question? I asked if you’ve seen the mouse.”

Other animals also spoke, “By the way, hasn’t there been a strange smell for a while?”

“Yeah, it smells like blood from somewhere!”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ raises a reasonable question, asking if these guys actually know what happened to the mouse and are just messing around!]

In response to the animals’ pressing, Dorothea answered, “The mouse is right there.”

“What are you talking about? Where on earth is the mouse, uh, um.”

The lovebird, who was about to snort dismissively, stuttered as if at a loss for words when it saw the direction Dorothea was pointing.

Towards such a lovebird and the animals, the mouse approached and spoke, “Hello. Friends. I’m here.”

It was a strangely stiff and lifeless tone.

The eyes were also dull and lifeless.

The lovebird responded in confusion, “O-oh, Mouse. You’re safe.”

“Yes. I’m safe.”

“We’re looking for a way to dry our wet bodies. You must be wet too, so quickly, a good method, okay?”

The lovebird’s eyes scanned the mouse’s body.

What it noticed—the mouse’s appearance was strange.

“…Why aren’t you wet?”

To the lovebird’s words, the mouse replied, “What are you talking about? I’m properly wet.”

Saying this, the mouse lifted its front paw.

The gray fur was certainly soaked with water.

But the upper part, around the shoulders and head, was incredibly dry.

As if only that part had been newly made.

The lovebird and animals’ eyes trembled strangely, but the mouse was indifferent.

“Come on, let’s go. You said you were looking for a way to dry your wet bodies, right? I’ll tell you a good method. If you listen to my dry story without a hint of laughter, your clothes will surely dry.”

The mouse grabbed the lovebird’s wing and went to where the animals were, then began a long speech with an expressionless face, like a mask and a monotone voice without any inflection.

The animals listened to the story with faces that somehow seemed even paler. They seemed to feel a chill separate from being wet with water.

Looking pitifully at the animals experiencing a real-time horror, Adelaide said, “Is that okay?”

“It’s not proper necromancy. There is a soul, but something feels a bit off. It’s as if they’re imitations stuffed full of information like stuffed animals. It doesn’t seem like they created a completely new life like the Witch of the West.”

No, that’s not what I was asking about.

Adelaide’s modest objection quickly faded as Dorothea took out a special carriage from the Gloves of Haider.

She, too, was uncomfortable with the wet feeling.

The party dried off inside the carriage, which was no different from a mobile base, changed clothes, and then stored the carriage again.

When the refreshed party came out, the animals had somehow formed a circular course and were running.

Dorothea, back in her black witch outfit, asked the Tin Knight who had been watching the situation from outside, “What are they doing now?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says they seem to be trying to dry themselves by running!]

“Hmm.”

It was just as Dorothea let out a light nasal sound.

The bodies of the dodo and the mouse, who were sprinting around the same course, lightly touched.

At that moment, the mouse’s body burst like a balloon and collapsed.

“Hmm, as expected, it doesn’t last long if you just fill it with magic without other materials.”

A great commotion broke out among the animals.

The lovebird screamed, the freshwater crab shouted, “It’s a mouse murder case!” and the dodo exclaimed, “No! I’m innocent!” while making excuses, but Dorothea turned her gaze away as if uninterested.1

“So what’s next?”

《—When you presented the resurrected mouse to the animals, they were bewildered but got along with it. However, when the mouse returned to its original form, great screams and commotion arose among the animals.》

It was a voice that seemed to tremble strangely.

Footnotes

1. 1. ED Note: This has an extra layer of irony when you know that the Dodo was the author's self-insert for Alice's Adventure in Wonderland.

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