One-way traffic

"you…"

Alice blinked again, and after a long while, she let out a soft breath.

"Are you really human?"

"what?"

What kind of idiotic question is this?

Naturally, Accelerator looked at her with an expression as if she were an idiot.

"That's how it is from a genetic point of view. Although I'm surprised that a bastard like me can still be considered human, that's what the blood test results say."

"...I think it's probably just a problem on my own."

Looking at Accelerator like this, Alice couldn't think of anything to say.

"Maybe it's because I haven't been in contact with other people for too long, and I don't quite understand what the definition of humanity is now... something like that."

"Who cares about such boring things? Besides, we've already wasted a lot of time just talking nonsense. I don't have the energy to waste any more time on this crap."

With a cursing tone, the other person turned their back on him.

As Alice gazed at the other person's back, countless complex thoughts flashed through her mind.

But I still can't figure out how to define this enigmatic existence before me.

Even if the other party is indeed a human being in terms of appearance and physiological structure.

but.

After witnessing everything that just happened, how many people can still laugh and say that the person was just a harmless human being?

At least, she didn't believe that something that could frighten monsters like this simply by relying on oppression and aura was just an ordinary human.

"...Indeed."

Then, a feeling of utter helplessness welled up inside me.

"He is truly a person who can evoke immense feelings."

"I'm not so naive as to get carried away by such comments, damn it."

——————————————————————————————————————

Although I did perform quite a few complex actions beforehand, the total time spent was only a little over ten minutes.

Then, after traveling for a while, I saw a road sign with the corresponding name engraved on it.

What appeared before Accelerator was an enormous village.

"...This is the place you were talking about?"

"Oh? I thought even if you didn't know the route through the Magic Forest, you should at least know the route through the Human Village. Just how out of touch are you with this Gensokyo?"

"...I have no intention of continuing this argument. Besides, this scale is far beyond the level of a village; it's already comparable to the size of a town, isn't it?"

Looking at the unusually large village, Accelerator didn't hesitate to mutter a complaint under his breath.

The human world.

This secluded village remains bustling even now.

The streets inside the entrance were already packed with people, so one could guess that the main streets inside would be even more crowded, likely a scene of overflowing people.

Furthermore, given that today is also a day of remembrance, the situation becomes even more complicated.

Thus, the lively atmosphere completely overwhelmed the two who had just arrived.

The entire village was filled with lights of all sizes, and a golden atmosphere enveloped everything.

It evokes the warm and cozy atmosphere that can only be experienced during the New Year.

Perhaps this is the kind of place that allows people to truly experience the meaning of 'beauty'.

"Let's go together."

"No problem in crowded places? You're the kind of person who's always throwing tantrums, so you can probably understand the inconvenience, right?"

"Even if you say that, choosing to scale walls or walk around on rooftops would only attract more attention and create more trouble, wouldn't it?"

"Tsk, you're so good at talking."

Accelerator could only purse his lips in utter displeasure.

Facing this village so serene that it brought him comfort, the first person spoke softly.

"Let's continue. I have absolutely no strategy for dealing with this kind of troublesome place."

"I completely agree with what you're saying."

Both Alice and Accelerator are generally considered to have cold personalities, so this kind of lively atmosphere is definitely not suitable for them.

Hopefully, this can be resolved quickly so I can leave...

With almost identical thoughts, the two set off and entered the village under the cover of night.

However, considering their unusual appearances alone, this idea is bound to be difficult to realize.

Chapter 406 The White Ze Beast That Rules History

For the people who live here, encountering monsters or non-human beings is not a rare occurrence.

The village was originally inhabited by many monsters.

Some of them live there to protect the safety of the entire village, while others simply want to experience human life and thus choose to live there. Some have even quietly started their own businesses.

Regardless of the reason, it shows that these monsters had no intention of harming people.

As long as they are not monsters that deliberately cause trouble, everyone here will gladly accept their existence and give them a warm welcome.

only.

What if the other party is someone who is very eye-catching from the very beginning?

This is exactly what's happening on the streets right now.

“Wow…”

"Ah! You've come at just the right time..."

"What happened again?... This, this is...!"

"There really are beings like this? They're... they're monsters, aren't they?"

“I think so too. I remember seeing a girl with white hair near the village not long ago. Could they all be of the same race…?”

"But that person looks so strange, it's impossible to tell if they're male or female."

"Isn't it a bit strange that someone so young is using crutches or something?"

"The person next to me seems to have a deep impression of me... I remember seeing her at the memorial service every year?"

"These two are truly astonishing..."

Several minutes had passed while I was walking on the street.

And the time spent being watched by various eyes along the way was almost non-stop.

Accelerator didn't seem very enthusiastic.

That's for sure; he wasn't the kind of person who enjoyed crowds, just like Alice, who was beside him.

So naturally, the puppeteer girl named Alice was not happy with the scene at that moment.

"It seems like it's all because of you."

"...What kind of twisted logic and heresy is this?"

"There's a reason for that, you can see it by looking at your own hair color, right?"

Alice pointed to her hair as she spoke, which made Accelerator realize what had attracted the villagers' attention.

It was caused by my unnatural hair color.

"No ordinary person would have white hair. The white-haired people I know are mostly found in the world of yokai... But then, it seems even more unreasonable for you to say that you are human."

"It's as if it's perfectly reasonable for blond Westerners to appear in this kind of Japanese village."

Even though the people around them were discussing them enthusiastically, it seemed that none of it mattered to the two of them.

Perhaps this is just a characteristic of their personalities.

Even when surrounded by countless people, the ability to remain indifferent to the presence of thousands is, in a sense, a remarkable personality trait.

The two of them ignored everyone else and just kept moving forward.

Finally, we arrived at the destination we needed to go to.

What lay before Accelerator was a rather unique building.

No.

To be precise, it should be a stage.

The stage is enormous, like an open-air lecture hall, big enough to seat more than a dozen people, but not many people are watching it yet.

But that doesn't mean no one came to watch.

However, judging from the number of participants, most of them seem to be just simple children.

"You work in this weird place?"

"It's really annoying, Mingming, I should have told you this before."

Each speaking in a calm tone, the two continued their discussion.

Alice didn't even look at him, and went straight up the stage steps.

"Today is the memorial day for the village of Renjianzhili. Afterwards, at eight o'clock in the evening, I will be in charge of performing related content for the people here."

"As a so-called mage, it's unbelievable that you can do such a blatant thing in a place like this."

"Of course, I'm not doing this as a mage, but as someone else."

Alice placed a finger in front of her lips, refuting his statement.

In other words, a puppeteer.

Although to outsiders Alice's eyes, her methods of manipulating puppets should be considered unique magic tricks, in reality, they should be achieved through some kind of magic.

Those puppets are actually flying in mid-air, completely disregarding the laws of science and physics.

If the people of Academy City were to learn of this unique information, what kind of expressions would they have?

Accelerator couldn't help but think this to himself.

"Don't just stand there, come in from this side."

Interrupting Accelerator's plan, Alice went directly to a small door at the back.

Go past here and you'll reach the backstage area.

Accelerator didn't hesitate and followed Alice inside.

“I didn’t come here to watch your performance. How you put on your act is your own business, and I have no interest in getting involved.”

"Oh, is that so?"

Alice rummaged through a box on one side and pulled out quite a few things.

Among them were wooden dolls that had been prepared in advance.

"...Don't you already have those flying puppets? Why do you need to rely on these purely inanimate objects?"

"That's true, but if I hadn't used ordinary puppets to demonstrate in the first place, the people here definitely wouldn't have believed me."

"Ha, it seems that no matter where you go, you can't avoid this kind of pointless questioning."

This reminded me of the doubts I experienced in Academy City in the past.

A contemptuous smile crept across Accelerator's face.

This was probably the first time he had shown such a change in front of Alice.

Then.

The blonde girl had noticed this and smiled slightly.