One-way traffic

The other person then turned around.

Her golden hair swayed in the sunlight streaming through the window as she moved.

Darker in color, with barely perceptible blue eyes.

And so, she looked over with a slightly surprised gaze, blinking a few times.

"...Ah, you've recovered already...?"

The white and blue dress, and the countless ribbons woven together like bows, create a striking appearance.

Complementing her fair and delicate skin was a face as exquisitely beautiful as a doll.

However, at this moment, his face remained calm, with barely perceptible surprise.

—The Golden Miracle Puppeteer.

Such a name suddenly popped into Accelerator's mind.

Regardless, the other person must be the one who saved me.

and.

The girl seemed to be holding something in her hand.

It was a torso, like a human body, yet to take shape.

"Did you make all these dolls?"

"This should be obvious, right?"

"...That's quite a ruthless tone."

The girl didn't seem to be very friendly.

Rather than saying the girl's attitude was unfriendly, it's more accurate to say that she treated everyone the same way.

Whether it's a friend, an enemy, or a complete stranger, the emotions displayed when facing them are merely 'neither hot nor cold,' nothing more.

Because Accelerator had been in the same situation before, he was able to guess this to some extent.

Having taken this into consideration, the first person stopped focusing on the issue from the perspective of attitude.

"So, who are you?"

"...This shouldn't be something a rescued person would say."

"Then thank you in advance. So, after saying this, shouldn't I at least tell you my identity?"

As if in retaliation, Accelerator responded with the same lukewarm tone.

The blonde girl was slightly amazed, but she didn't show it on her face.

She calmly met the eyes of the white-clad figure.

"As an unfriendly exchange, this is how I will respond."

"what?"

"Alice Margot Lloyd... And that's my name. As for my identity, I'm a puppeteer, and I might as well be considered a magician."

Magician, puppeteer.

At least we can confirm that this is definitely not an ordinary world.

After a moment's thought, Accelerator immediately uttered the reply he had prepared.

"One-way passage".

"...That's it?"

"No matter how many identities I introduce, you still won't understand. In that case, just stating your most straightforward name as your identity is enough."

Alice Margot Lloyd.

In any case, this is the name of the blonde doll maker girl in front of us.

It sounds like a very Western name, and judging by its spirit, there's not much chance it's lying.

"So... how exactly did I end up in a place like this?"

"I'd like to ask you about that as well."

Then, the girl named Alice put on a pair of glasses and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You are clearly human, yet you can appear directly in this forest without being affected, and even possess that level of power... I have never seen a human like you in Gensokyo."

"...Fantasy Land?"

The words were completely unfamiliar; they sounded like some kind of technical jargon.

Taking into account a certain possibility.

Accelerator then walked straight out of the room.

"Ah! Wait a minute...!"

Although Alice hurriedly tried to follow, something strange happened the moment she stepped out of the room.

Boom! A storm erupted.

Accelerator's body shot into the sky like a tornado.

This scene left the girl stunned for about a second.

Okay, that was fast…

"...And that's how it turned out."

A second later, the sound rang in my ears again.

The first one, which had just taken off, returned to the ground almost instantly.

His expression showed extreme frustration.

He has just confirmed the actual situation.

That's right.

—The entire area, spanning several kilometers, resembled an ancient wilderness.

This is the Gensokyo that the girl spoke of.

In other words.

"I'm the only one who's truly arrived in a completely new world... you bastard."

Chapter 404 The Blonde Doll Magician

So the final result is this.

In this lush forest, where the weather is fine and the environment is infinitely better than that of modern cities, Accelerator could only come to this conclusion.

After the battle with DO Apis, he found himself in a world completely unrelated to everything before.

While the exact reason is unknown, it's possible to guess that it was caused by the power of the "Time-Space Generator" in its superdimensional domain, resulting in the shattering of the domains between worlds.

The current situation is not too bad. Although his body is under some strain, it is far less severe than what his prefrontal cortex suffered in the past. It is just a minor problem for him.

Now that we've said that, what exactly is the real trouble?

That is exactly the situation we are facing.

Please use it.

"...What is this?"

"As you can see, it's just ordinary tea used to entertain guests."

"Putting aside what kind it is, the stuff that was served has turned completely black, hasn't it? Is this stuff even drinkable? It's definitely not tea at all."

"So, it's just 'ordinary tea leaves'... See, I already said that, didn't I?"

Despite the rare presence of guests at this mansion, Alice, the puppeteer girl, showed no sign of welcoming them.

That was simply an expression of extreme indifference, neither particularly enthusiastic nor particularly cold.

Moreover, this guy's tea-making skills are really not that great.

Accelerator glanced once more at the glass of liquid on the table, so black it seemed to rival the concentration of his own black wings, and clicked his tongue in displeasure.

"Let's double-check it."

"I already answered all the questions you were supposed to ask. You're such a nag."

"...Don't think that just because you have a pretty face, you can stop me from scolding you."

Theoretically speaking, this conversation between the two should be considered their very first meeting, as they had never met before.

But they started off with conversations that sounded like friendly greetings, yet their tones were cold and indifferent.

In a sense, this is probably a very similar personality.

In any case, in order to confirm the complete information, Accelerator continued to look at the blonde, Western-style girl sitting in front of him.

"According to you, this place is completely isolated from the world."

"That's what Gensokyo is like. Here, people's common sense and common sense will be completely different from the outside world, and the things you see will never be boring."

Everything that shouldn't exist in the real world will appear in this area called Gensokyo.

Let’s make an analogy.

Vampires, sorcerers, kappa, tengu, and all sorts of fairies and other beings that are only mentioned in storybooks... These beings, which seem to only appear in fantasy movies and novels, are real things here.

Humans define all of this as uncommon knowledge, but in this fantasy world, everything that is considered uncommon knowledge is actually common sense in the true sense.

If one were to apply the human notion that "youkai don't exist" to Gensokyo, it would be a grave mistake and would hardly constitute a prerequisite for survival here.

But Accelerator would never do something so foolish.

Because ultimately, he himself is also a completely supernatural being, an incredible crystallization.

"Hmm, it's getting weirder and weirder."

"how?"

"You don't seem to know anything about this place? You should be a resident of Gensokyo too, so don't you find it strange that you're asking me this kind of question?"

"It's nothing, just to confirm my current situation, it's not a big deal."

Accelerator does not intend to reveal his identity as an outsider directly.

Although the other party might be able to tell at a glance, they would absolutely not reveal the relevant information unless this point is pointed out.

Explaining the reasons from beginning to end would definitely create a bunch of unnecessary trivialities.

"But it really is incredible."

It seems Alice didn't consider this issue either.

A petite doll flew over from the side and handed her a mug containing the same jet-black liquid as Accelerator's mug.

The girl didn't even look at the ground and took small sips.

"It's unbelievable that a human like you would appear in a forest like this. Although you possess special powers, this forest is full of monster spores. Even a simple inhalation of them can cause serious illness in humans."

"Some things can't be understood just by looking at them. Anyway, to you, am I really just an ordinary human being?"

"Hmm... Come to think of it, normal humans wouldn't just come to a place like this for no reason."

Alice put the mug down and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Well, it's about time you told me about it."

"What else is there to say?"

"I'm the one who rescued you, after all. Besides, you slept in my house for a whole day. You have the right to know these things, don't you?"

She quickly got to the point of the conversation.

"Why did you enter this magical forest? And why were you injured?"

"And most importantly... who exactly are you?"

In any case, it's impossible for ordinary humans to enter such a forest. Alice is a magician, which is why she can freely enter and leave this forest. The four children were only on the outer edge of the forest and were not affected by the spores; otherwise, they would have suffered from serious illnesses.

But the person in front of me is completely different.