Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"What if the Nirvana Witch doesn't appear?" Patchouli asked.

“She will come. After all, the ‘Tower’ is her only chance to escape this world of memories and even turn the tables in reality. So she will definitely not miss the final battle we have arranged.”

"What we need to do now is wait, wait until a month before the battle begins, then wake up the others, and then all we need to do is carry out the plan to the end."

Author's Note:

..........................................

Yesterday's fourth update, 9,000 new words added. Feeling down, too lazy to say more.

Chapter Ten: The Witch with a Dazed Expression

The plan has been formulated, and all the basic variables have been taken into account. The only remaining step is to execute the prepared plan step by step until the desired outcome is achieved.

After all, Alice wasn't particularly clever, nor did she ever consider herself so. She would only formulate a comprehensive plan after gathering as much information and intelligence as possible. At the same time, she would utilize the resources at her disposal to develop as many contingency plans as possible, thereby ensuring that she could respond promptly to most unexpected situations.

To give an example, when solving a Rubik's Cube, she wouldn't quickly deduce the pattern and solve it like a true sage, nor would she disassemble each piece and put it back together like a true fool. She would only do one thing: find the instruction manual and solve the Rubik's Cube according to it.

Simply put, it's about using information to suppress and bully people.

While Patchouli was smarter than Alice, she would never help Alice clean up the mess until Alice admitted defeat. After all, Alice still had some pride... Although she didn't care about losing face in front of Patchouli, Patchouli did care about Alice's reputation. Unless she was asked to do so from the beginning or the situation had crossed a certain line, Patchouli would never actively interfere with Alice's plans.

That was true before, and that's true now.

In the current situation, where everything is practically under our control, there is naturally no need to revise the plan.

“We just need to wait patiently until the appointed day arrives, then we can begin the whole plan and reap the expected results step by step,” Alice said.

After satisfying Patchouli's strange hobby, the calendar used for telling time turned another page. There was no need to talk about what happened that night, and the next morning, as the sun rose, the two of them, having finished the chores left over from the previous day, opened the optical shielding barrier and went together to the top of the city's tower.

It is June, June in Osaka Castle. Although spring has passed, it is still a beautiful time of year, with "a thousand white sails reflecting the islands in the ocean, and ten thousand green trees surrounding the mountains of Kigi." Although the shadow of war is approaching the Japanese archipelago, war itself remains quite far from this central city. Noblemen and ladies, adorned in their finest attire and surrounded by servants, go out for a spring outing. They compose poems, drink wine, and sing songs; if one disregards the difference in scale, it is indeed a pleasing sight.

Since they were going to do as the Romans do, the two of them naturally wouldn't stand in the way of Western-style everyday clothes. And if there were any everyday clothes most suitable for women in this era and this country, it would naturally be the twelve-layered kimono, which only princesses and noble ladies were entitled to wear.

Alice certainly wouldn't wear that twelve-layered kimono, which weighed dozens of pounds even without the headdress. Although in the Gensokyo era, filled with Japanese aesthetics, wearing a gorgeous twelve-layered kimono for one's lover had become common practice for women to express their affection, as an information mage, she would only be laughed at by Patchouli if she actually dared to wear it.

So, she wisely wore only a pale purple silk kimono over her inner garment. The kimono had a white base and was decorated with elaborate patterns of interwoven irises. Her hair was simply styled with a light blue headband, as usual. A small white flower adorned the right side of the headband, emanating a faint fragrance.

"Patch, do you think I'm pretty?" She lifted her skirt and gently twirled in place. A gentle breeze swept past the pomegranate tree beside the city gate, and the bright red pomegranate petals fluttered up, carrying a sweet fragrance as they brushed against her hair.

"So-so." Patchouli rested her chin on her hand, casually glancing at Alice before offering her assessment: "It would be much better if you removed all those fancy details."

"Wouldn't it be better not to wear it at all?"

"It is indeed better."

Alice reached out, used her gravity field to grab a pomegranate, and threw it at Patchouli. Patchouli caught it, peeled it off in a few moments, and took a bite.

"It tastes pretty good." Patchouli nodded, then looked at Alice and waved the pomegranate that had been bitten into.

"Want some?" She raised an eyebrow.

"……want."

The next moment, the pomegranate flew back into Alice's hand. She stared at Patchouli, then took a vicious bite into the spot Patchouli had just eaten from. Her fierce little eyes seemed to say, 'I'll bite you to death!'

However, the girl's intimidating expression vanished the next moment. It was replaced by a pitiful, bitter face—the unripe pomegranate in her mouth had dealt her a heavy blow in the realm of sourness and astringency. And the bite she had taken was so large that she couldn't spit it out.

She covered her mouth, her eyes tightly shut, and with great effort, managed to chew and swallow the sour pomegranate. Looking up at Patchouli, her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"It's so sour!" she complained.

"You chose it yourself, you wanted to eat it, and you took such a big bite." Patchouli shrugged, making a helpless gesture. "Is it my fault?"

You said it tastes good!

You'd believe me if I said it tasted good?

"Of course I believe you!"

Patchouli turned her head slightly away, avoiding looking at her.

"Okay, I admit my actions were a bit inappropriate." She pouted. "It's wrong to tease you because you're stupid. I won't tease you like that again next time." — Next time not, maybe the time after that.

“…I forgive you.” Alice sniffed, the slight expression she had put on vanishing instantly. Her gaze drifted down from the castle tower, overlooking the bustling cityscape below Osaka Castle.

This was a bustling city, at least bustling enough for this era. Busy pedestrians thronged the streets, and people in the market were willing to spend an entire morning arguing fiercely over a small amount of money. Samurai with swords and nobles with folding fans rode through the streets in carriages and horses, while ladies in gorgeous clothes shyly watched the handsome young men from behind curtains or folding fans.

This is a bustling city, but it will eventually turn into nothingness.

“Patrick.” Her voice became calm. “I plan to meet with Lady Yodo this afternoon… who is actually in charge of this city, Asai Chacha. Would you like to come with me?”

“…Alice, you know I’m leaving today.” Patchouli lowered her eyes and replied, “There are still three months until the opening, and quite a bit of time has passed in the outside world. Saito Hajime alone might not be able to handle the Japanese government. And there’s no need for both of us to stay here.”

“That’s true.” Alice let out a soft sigh. “The memory world is, after all, just a memory world, and there are many things it can’t do. Even with the efforts of Little Devil and Manifestation One, the analysis of the AllSpark and the Space Bridge cannot proceed smoothly without the two of us present… Time cannot be wasted indefinitely like this.”

“Okay, I’ll go back. You stay. Three months from now, this city will be where we meet again.” A magic circle quietly appeared beneath Patchouli’s feet, and her figure gradually blurred. “You can’t possibly not even endure three months, can you, Alice? The world of memories needs one of us to sustain it. If you awaken directly, with the collapse of the barrier, at least half of those whose souls aren’t strong enough will die. You should know that, right?”

“Of course I understand,” Alice shrugged. “Don’t underestimate me. It’s only been a few months, not years. Of course I can manage. Don’t worry, I’ve got all the plans in place. I won’t be crying and begging you for help.”

"Is that so? That's good then. See you in three months." Patchouli nodded, and her blurry figure disintegrated and vanished. Her will completely left this world at that moment.

Alice picked up the sour pomegranate and slowly ate it all, bite by bite—the sour taste wasn't unbearable for her. And since Patchouli had already enjoyed the food, there was no reason to waste it.

"Well... let me first check on the current condition of the warriors who are scheduled to awaken a month before the battle. Although there shouldn't be any unexpected events..." She stretched out her hand, unfolding a light screen in front of her. This was a magic she had prepared in advance to monitor the condition of the sleeping members of the Central Continent Team, and also a magic circle to conceal her teammates so that they would not be attacked before they woke up.

The next moment, her confident expression froze.

She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes vigorously. After looking at them carefully once, she rubbed them again, a little more forcefully.

"..." (Rubbing eyes)

"…………" (Pinches cheek)

“………………” (pats head)

"Patch! Come back now! I messed up!!!"

Chapter Eleven: The Witch Doesn't Die in Flog

Alice stared at the light screen in front of her; her thoughts were undoubtedly in disarray.

Her eyes were fixed, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"I... have prepared suitable enhancement channels for everyone. I've created absolutely safe resting places before the war begins, and I've arranged for enemies to be introduced gradually..."

But the person has disappeared.

"I have prepared a vast battlefield... and arranged many seemingly powerful monsters, but which can be defeated through thought and observation. I have also set up many treasures to enable them to better unleash their power..."

But the person has disappeared.

"I even went to great lengths to rewrite some of their past combat experiences and filled their minds with mental cues to boost their courage, to ensure that this training could be a virtuous cycle..."

But the person has disappeared.

All the concealment arrays were functioning normally, but the Zhongzhou team members, who should have been asleep within them until the correct time to awaken, were all nowhere to be found. The positioning spells placed on them were also all ineffective, and the parameters returned were as if they were still there, obediently asleep.

She grabbed a stray hair from her temple and ripped it off. The sharp pain from the top of her head brought her back to her senses somewhat.

“I haven’t failed yet, the world of memories is still under my control. It was all just a dream… as long as I can find them before Nirvana. Yes… it’s not too late to discover the problem now, there’s still a chance to correct it.” She took a deep breath and pressed her forehead hard.

"First, I need to figure out where the problem occurred. Everything happens for a reason and a process, from which clues can be deduced. And the variables in this world of memories are far fewer than in the outside world. So..."

She closed her eyes and tried hard to think about the current situation.

The materials used to construct this world of memories are information from the atmosphere, the curse of Nirvana, sealing spells, and the dreams of creatures that permeate the entire city—creatures that appear to be human but are actually no longer human.

Indeed, in the city where Ju-on 2 takes place, the people living there have long been eroded into some kind of monster by the accumulated erosion of the curse of Nirvana. Although they have human appearances, speak human language, have human flesh and blood and consider themselves ordinary people... they do not die naturally like ordinary people.

They were already unable to leave that city. And after their deaths, there was a high chance they would become ghosts or food for ghosts—they were sacrifices, the price to be paid to seal away Nirvana. Of course, this was not important. Since they had already been corrupted and become byproducts of the curse, it meant that the mortals of this city could not cause much trouble in this world of memories.

Because the power of Nirvana will affect them, causing them to fall from the status of chess players to become chess pieces.

So, apart from the Central Continent Team members including myself, as well as the Nirvana Witch and the monster derivatives she created... are there any other variables in this memory world?

【--some.】

Alice exhaled a long breath.

The city's original inhabitants cannot be a variable, but outsiders can. In the era of Ju-on 2, while the number of outsiders arriving in the city is not large, there is a group that requires special attention.

Those were guests from the world of reincarnation, the Zhongzhou Team members who died in the second world of Ju-on.

[...I had previously planned to gather fragments of information about those people through manipulation, attempting to resurrect them in this world of memories. After all, this city, under the curse of the Nirvana Witch, had become a closed system. The possibility of finding all the fragments and fully integrating them wasn't nonexistent...but I failed; I didn't gather enough complete fragments of information.]

Perhaps... I didn't fail. I just thought I did...

She recalled the message her clone from the Devil Squad had left for her when she first returned to Gensokyo. From that brief exchange of a few hundred words, she could sense that her other self harbored considerable apprehension towards the person named 'Chu Xuan'… not in terms of power, but in terms of intellect. Without Patchi by her side, she would undoubtedly work even harder, squeezing every last drop of brainpower from her skull. And putting herself in his shoes, she could deduce that the person named 'Chu Xuan' at least possessed the ability to suppress her in the realm of 'scheming'.

Chu Xuan of the Zhongzhou Team died in the world of Ju-on 2. My deal with the clone included the condition of resurrecting Chu Xuan. And if he is successfully resurrected in this world of memories...

[No, such speculation is too hasty, and the motive cannot be determined. Even if he is intelligent, he shouldn't have mastered a magic system he's never encountered before so quickly. And if he didn't know magic, it would be impossible for him to bypass my protection array and take everyone else away in this world of memories... Let's list him as a secondary suspect for now.]

So first and foremost... dealing with the Nirvana Witch should be our top priority.

She opened her eyes, her thoughts gradually calming down, and reason and composure returned to her mind once again.

Even if the Memory World's functionality as a large, complex barrier is poor, it's still his domain at this moment. He doesn't need to worry about power consumption, and magic can be used freely. If the Nirvana Witch or anything else dares to appear directly in front of him, he'll simply smash them to pieces. In other words… it's just a change of rules, from training and competition to hide-and-seek.

Yes, I will not be defeated in this world. The worst-case scenario is that Nirvana controls others and uses them as leverage to try and leave this world through the 'Tower' and gain freedom in reality.

The 'Tower' is the cornerstone upon which the witches construct this world of memories; it's a name, a concept, not a tangible entity. Like the roots of a great tree, it penetrates every corner of this world, maintaining its stability. It is everywhere, yet nowhere.

In other words, as long as I retain control of the 'Tower,' the fate of this world will not change.

[But control of the 'Tower' only transfers when I 'die'... and it will provide me with unlimited support until it falls from my grasp. I will neither lose nor die. Therefore, no one can break this paradox.]

But I still need to be careful.

"We need to adopt a step-by-step strategy... Since the tide is in our hands, let's just use it to our advantage and overwhelm them." She looked at the palace inside Osaka Castle, her gaze slightly sharpening.

"Meeting with Asai Chacha... never mind, there's no rush."

"Let's check why the concealment spell failed first. So... who should be placed in the sleeping location closest to Osaka Castle...?"

"Zhan Lan".

Chapter Twelve - Alice: I... I can still hold on, I can!

The place where Zhan Lan was placed to sleep was Fushimi Castle, which was not far from Osaka and was also an important area in the Battle of Sekigahara. The city would be captured on July 15th, which would mean the beginning of the last great battle of Japan's Sengoku period.