Chapter 9 - ...And The Fourth Wall

-AAAAAAH!!!

Whose voice was that!? I nearly breathed out my soul!

I quickly transform back into my human appearance. But I'm naked since I

pulled my clothes into my body so that they wouldn't be dirtied or destroyed.

If that voice belonged to Luna, there's no way to explain this situation to her.

When I turn around, I find that the half-elf is still unconscious on the

ground and there's nobody else besides her left in this store.

Wait, don't tell me...

"Yes, it's me, the creepy doll." The voice remarks and my eyes snap

towards the unmoving doll sitting on the sofa chair. So, you're aware of the

fact that you're a creepy doll.

That's not the point here! Why can you talk? Are you actually a human

who just looks like a doll?

"Can you give me some blood?" Even though she's not moving, it's obvious

that the voice is coming from her direction.

Nopenopenopenopenope!

That's going to end up in a curse!

"But preferably not yours, I don't think I'd like what will happen to me, if I

ingested your blood... if you have any in the first place, that is."

"Hey, that's rude." But I can understand where she's coming from. Wait, if

she's a human, why didn't she go mad at seeing me? Don't tell me she's really

a ghost possessing a doll? "... what are you?"

"That's rude, too. I'm a proper human, you know? Well, not anymore, but I

used to be." The doll responds in an indignant tone. Didn't she basically just

admit that she's a ghost? "I'm just... out of juice. Give me some blood from

one of those inside you. I need someone who's still alive."

"How do you know they're still alive? I ate them, you know?" They both

are alive, though. I found that fear and insanity is food for me, so I'll milk

them until they die on their own inside me.

"Because you're a Crawling Chaos, and your kind finds pleasure in making

them suffer for as long as possible." She replies in a matter of fact tone, with no hint of judgment. That's one way to put what I'm doing to them, I guess.

So, she knows what I am, and she's not afraid. Who or what exactly is she?

"Give me some of their blood, and I'll be able to move again."

"And what makes you think I want you to be able to move?"

"Because you can just as well call me Exposition Doll, with all the

knowledge I can give you. Also, you're not the first of your kind I've met.

Though, I guess you are the first one in this world." I could practically see her

shrug, even though she didn't move at all.

In this world? Don't tell me this doll is also a reincarnated human from

another world. Maybe even from my world?

"Umm... could we maybe make this less complicated? I mean, let's just

skip this whole introduction part and get to info-dumping." Her voice sounds

annoyed, like that of an adult getting pestered by a child.

"Huh, what do you mean by that?" I know what 'info-dumping' means, but

why would she say it like that?

"Ahhh, it's so difficult now... it was much easier when I was talking to a

third person narrator..."

You what? Did she just break the fourth wall? I look around but don't see

anything like text bubbles or borders. This isn't a comic featuring a redhooded mercenary, is it?

"Whatever, just give me some blood, and I'll give you some good info in

exchange. There's nothing to lose for you."

Well, color me interested. She clearly knows something about this world

that I don't. And giving her some blood from one of the guys inside me

shouldn't cause me any problems. They're doomed to die anyway.

Thus, I make the forearm of the thug peek out from my stomach, turn one

of my tentacles into a blade and make a cut on his wrist. He struggles, but at

this angle, he can't even move anything but his fingers. Letting his blood flow

into the cleanest container I can find in this room, I put it to the doll's mouth

and let it trickle into her parted lips.

For a moment, there's only silence.

"Did it work?" I tilt my head to look at the stitched doll's face. Suddenly, I

feel the thug inside me cease all his movements, even though he was lively

moments ago. His heart has stopped, not from blood loss, being suffocated or

from shock. He simply died.

"Hey, what did you do?" I'm not really angry, just surprised. There's no other explanation for his sudden death than that she did something because he

kept struggling until the very last moment. Also, the brainiac is still alive, and

the two of them should have had the same conditions within my body.

The horror doll suddenly snaps her head around and stares at me with big

blue eyes.

"I just took his life force." Explaining in a matter of fact tone and with a

wholly unconcerned expression, she looks me in the eyes emotionlessly. At

least she's properly using her lips to speak, instead of what she did before.

"Stop that!" I flinch and exclaim at her jump scare.

"And next time, just a few drops of blood is enough." She slides down from

the chair and begins to do some stretching as if she just woke up from a long

sleep. I hear creaking in her joints, making it sound like she's made of metal

and wood.

"So, it's like a voodoo curse?" I inquire about the method by which she

killed the man inside me remotely.

"I wish... Maybe you'll understand if I tell you that it's a certain curse

technique which duplicates your wounds onto someone whom you become

connected with by ingesting their blood." Clicking her tongue, the doll girl

looks away in annoyance. "Yes, that's how lame my setting is."

"I don't really understand what you mean." And what's that about a setting?

She's been speaking like someone from my time period for a while now.

"It's better that you don't know. It had the most clichéd ending and was just

a waste of time. Well, I guess at least it wasn't as bad as that other one, where

every other page was just completely black or white." Her words don't make

much sense to me. "But in this world, my powers changed a little to be more

convenient to the plot."

Please don't break my fourth wall any more than that...

"My name is Ootsuki Senka. Appearance-wise I'm the cheap knockoff of

the Kuchisake-Onna, and ability-wise the even cheaper knockoff of a certain

immortal." She finally introduces herself with a bow that's accompanied by

the actual sound effect of a bow, because her spine cracks at the perfect

moment. That's unexpectedly cute!

Wait, that's a Japanese name! And the Kuchisake-Onna is a Japanese urban

legend about a vengeful ghost-

"Aaah, you're a ghost after all!?" I take a step back, and my eyes are fixated

on the little doll before me.

"That's what you have a problem with?" Sighing, Senka steps forward with

somewhat mechanical movements, as if she's actually just a puppet. "You're a

Cosmic Horror, how can you be afraid of ghosts?"

"I'm bad with horror stuff..." Anything wrong with that? "And Cosmic

Horror? What's that?"

"You seem to be quite ignorant of pop culture trends, for having come from

Japan of the... present? It's hard to keep track of all these timelines." Shaking

her head, the doll girl shrugs.

"Wait, how do you know that?" I'm shocked. Don't tell me she knows me

from my previous life?

"That's what I do. I drink blood, and I know things." A smile plays on her

lips and extends to the stitches on her cheeks. It might have been intended as

a smirk, but instead, it just looks sinister.

"That's not an answer!" I'm beginning to get indignant.

"So, what's your name?" She ignores my rebuke and leads the conversation

elsewhere.

"I'm Kuroe Makoto, though everyone here knows me as Chloe Marcott."

There's no point in getting worked up over things here. "My actual demon

name is Chaos, though."

"Chaos... how original." She snorts while looking at me with pity.

Oi, leave my name alone! I'm fully aware that it's an edgy name like no

other.

"In either case, what will you do about this situation? I'm sure you don't

want that girl to know about your identity. I mean, this is the human territory

after all." Pointing at the collapsed Luna, Senka makes a fair point.

"If I make her disappear, it's going to cause a commotion... any ideas?"

Somehow I feel like I can talk to this doll-like girl openly. She's not afraid of

my appearance and doesn't care about the fact that I'm a demon that just

killed three people.

Well, I killed one, she killed one, and one more is still alive inside me.

Oh, we're partners in crime, then.

"Hmm." She tilts her head and thinks for a moment, before continuing.

"Well, for now, put on some clothes. And then..."

Luna opens her eyes and seems confused for a moment. Then she sits up

abruptly and looks around with an anxious expression. I'm kneeling on the ground next to her, fully clothed once more, and acting concerned.

"Huh? Where are the three men?" She's panicked, but when she doesn't see

them in the store, a wondering look appears on her face.

"I don't understand it either, but that doll over there went off and scared

them away. They ran out of the store." When I think about it, this explanation

may be pushing the limits of believability. I look at the doll in question.

"The doll?" Luna stands up and walks towards it. "What do you mean, it

'went off'?"

I think this is going to be fun.

Senka suddenly snaps her head around with an audible creaking sound. Her

eyes are wide open and staring right at Luna when she starts to laugh

mechanically.

"Kyaaah!!!" Luna lets out a girly scream and hits the doll over the head

with her staff, throwing her off the chair. Wow, it seems she's even worse

with horror than I am. Stepping back from the fallen Senka, the half-elf stares

at her like it's a monster.

"Hey, she saved us, you know?" I walk past Luna and pick the doll girl up

into my arms. Wow, she's incredibly light, as if her body is hollow. "I want to

keep her."

I'll bring her along on my journey, as she requested. She'll keep acting like

an automaton for the time being, until we're in a place where her appearance,

coupled with her talking and moving about naturally, will no longer be

considered the work of demons. In other words, anywhere on the continent of

Ceogath.

She told me that her body requires spiritual energy to function, so she

prefers to remain unmoving unless absolutely necessary. Said spiritual energy

apparently can only be obtained through eating the souls of living beings.

And those living beings should preferably be humans.

Apparently, there are no detectable bodily functions in her; breathing and

heartbeat are entirely absent, so nobody will be able to tell that she's not a

doll but actually alive. Well, I wonder whether she can be considered alive or

not either way, but I guess it's like being a zombie.

Oh, and she did say she was immortal.

I hug her tightly and find that she feels soft and smells pretty nice. In this

room of mold and decay, she's somehow the only good-smelling thing. She's

beginning to grow on me, and I'm starting to understand the charm of her design; it's the niche appeal called 'creepy-cute'.

"Why do you want to keep this disgusting thing?" Luna shows said disgust

on her face in a most unladylike expression. That's really rude, you know.

"I like the design." I really do, call me crazy however you like.

"You must be crazy!" She practically spits this in my face. Ouch, I didn't

mean for you to actually do it. Because of this she definitely dislikes me even

more now, and she thinks I'm crazy.

In either case, I gained some insights into the human world, mostly into its

shady side. And I obtained some excellent information for the quest that this

party wants to take on. Now, how do I relay what I learned to the others

without appearing suspicious for knowing too much?

"I think these thugs wanted to kidnap me for what I am." Luna changes the

subject and talks about the three guys inside me. That's some nice deduction

there. "So, as a dark elf, Lady Nightwane was already their target." And the

next step is? "She must still be here since they had not left yet."

Ding Dong! You're - most likely - correct.

"Maybe she's in the storage room?" I motion to go and take a peek, but

Luna grabs my arm and stops me.

"Let me go first. There might still be someone else in there." She looks

determined, but I can feel her trembling through the hand on my arm.

You'll go first, huh? Since it worked so well last time, right? If what

happened here earlier didn't cause whoever may have been hiding in the back

to come out, it means there isn't anyone else. Or there's a back door, which

would be really bad; my identity would be at risk.

"I don't want to meet her..." Senka whispers to me when Luna walks ahead

and peeks through the half-opened door leading into the back of the store.

Someone who isn't afraid of my true appearance doesn't want to meet a

person. I have to wonder just how bad this Lady Nightwane must be.

"She's... a lonely woman... and there aren't many life-sized dolls available

in this world, even if it's only one as small as me." Speak no further, I can

somehow picture what you mean, even though I don't want to.

"Ah, Lady Nightwane!" Luna seems to have found her.

Senka's face twists into a visage of annoyance and disgust. Hmm, that

expression looks familiar... I think it was something involving a certain holy

sword on a journey to California.

"I found her!" Senka's expression returns to a blank one when the half-elf turns around to call out to me. She walks into the back of the store, and I

follow her.

The storage area is similar to the store, with shelves full of strange and

creepy occult things. Only, it's even messier here. The lady in question is

lying on the ground, tied up, gagged and unconscious.

So, that's a dark elf, huh? She has long pointy ears, just like those I saw on

the elf queen's head, which Maou-mama ate, but her skin is of a mauve

purple, and her long fluffy hair is the color of the starlit night sky. My first

thought is that maybe this is an evolutionary trait to better blend in at night.

That appearance can't be described as anything but that of a sultry mature

woman's. Unlike the elven queen, whose pitiful appearance I got to see when

Maou-mama transformed into her, this one has a very curvaceous body.

Breasts almost as big as the demon queen's, a slim waist and an incredibly

prolific pelvis.

Her dark purple robe, which appears to be made of silk, clings to her body

and accentuates her proportions even more. I can't help but feel a little

attracted to it.

It's my luck that she's unconscious; she didn't hear anything of what

happened in the store moments ago, or I would have had to kill her - as well

as Luna. If only these two disappeared, I could explain it by saying that I got

separated from Luna and became lost, while she and Lady Nightwane were

kidnapped from this store. Nobody would suspect that cute little me was the

one who killed them and that I'm actually a monster.

Or rather a Cosmic Horror, according to Senka.

"She is still alive!" What part of kidnapping involves killing the target,

Luna-chan? She begins to shake the woman. "Wake up, Lady Nightwane."

If she had an injury to the spine, you could have paralyzed her with that.

What's with people shaking someone unconscious without bothering to look

for external injuries first? Then again, I doubt the concept of first aid exists in

this world.

"Uuuh..." But the shaking seems to have woken her up, as she stirs and

tries to move. "Hmmph?"

Her eyes spring wide open and reveal beautiful amethyst irises. She

realizes that she's practically in bondage, and begins to struggle. Then she

sees Luna and looks up at her with hopeful eyes, who immediately takes off

her gag and begins to untie her.

"Ah, th-thank you so much, Runa!" Her voice sounds alluring, and her tone

is soft, although she does seem to have a nervous stutter. Combining that with

the knowledge of what she does to Senka, I can only see her as a sexually

frustrated, socially inept loner, who most likely doesn't have any real sexual

experience.

How pitiful.

Also, I can't help but think that she's a masochist and the submissive type.

It's just the vibes she seems to give off.

"Are you hurt?" Too late to ask that, you already shook her and all. "Did

they do something to you?"

"N-no, I'm fine." She speaks in a somewhat gloomy tone while sweeping

her fluffy hair behind her very long ears with a delicate, gloved hand. It

doesn't sound like her attitude is a result of the circumstances, but rather

appears to be a personality trait of hers. Massaging her wrists, she stands up

on unsteady feet and turns to look at me. "Ah, w-who are you? And wh-what

are you doing with my... w-with the cursed doll?"

Were you about to slip up and say 'sex toy'?

"She saved our lives. I want to buy her." I see astonishment on Lady

Nightwane's face. Luna stares at me dumbfounded.

"You were serious about wanting to keep it? And it's even cursed!" Luna

looks at me with pure disbelief.

Have you seen my actual face? That's beyond creepy, and one can

practically see the curses in it.

Why do I hurt myself so?

"How much do you want for it?" Ignoring Luna's complaints, I look into

Lady Nightwane's mesmerizing eyes with determination.

"You have money?" Surprised, Luna looks at me with a doubtful

expression. Would I be asking about the price, if I didn't have anything on

me?

Well, her doubts are understandable since I was penniless when I met her

and didn't earn any money since. But it must be my lucky day because I

found a pretty fat wallet in the brainiac's belongings. I searched his stuff

earlier, even while he's still alive, to look for things that could be useful to

me. I can just say he dropped his wallet when he ran away, just like trainers

do in a certain game about catching supernatural wild animals when you

defeat them.

"S-she's not for-" The dark elf is about to refuse, but I cut her short.

"Is this much enough?" I pull out the leather bag full of money. I don't

really know how much is in it, but I'll just let the jingle of the coins do the

talking.

Hey, your eyes are sparkling, Lady Nightwane?

She jumps up and snatches the bag away, before going through its contents

with an increasingly excited expression. I see, no poker face at all. I guess her

business is going badly, but considering the location and smell of this place,

I'm not surprised.

"W-with this much, I-I could..." She trails off and seemingly begins some

mental calculations. Well, I think this isn't just hook, line and sinker

anymore. The whole fishing rod went down with it on this one. Now, let me

hear your obvious answer. "B-but... it's a cursed doll. I-I can't, in good

conscience, s-sell it to you. G-great misfortune will befall any who k-keep it

close to them."

"She means to say she modified a part of my body and great misfortune

will befall her if you find out." Senka whispers without moving her lips, at a

level that's apparently only audible to me.

I don't want to know which part was modified. Please don't tell me.

"I'll add this." Luckily, the thug with the club also had a purse. While not

as big or as heavy as the brainiac's, it should add some weight to the scales

inside her mind.

Luna has been looking at me dubiously, but now she's giving me a gaze

filled with bewilderment. You think I'm crazy for wanting to buy this doll

already, and now your opinion is being reinforced by how much I'm willing

to spend on it, right?

"Where did you get all this money from?" She asks me with a hint of

suspicious in her voice. I was waiting for this question, but...

"I'll tell you later." I don't need to let the dark elf know that her assailants

left this money in her shop when they ran away because of Senka - as they

did according to my official version of what happened here. She might claim

ownership of the money since it would mean I didn't actually contribute to

getting it. I can't tell them that it was my achievement, after all.

"I..." She's seriously considering it. Now, for the finisher.

"Then I shall add a little more, but that's my final offer." I take out one

more bag of money and offer it reluctantly. It's the purse of the guy who, upon seeing my real appearance, died almost right away. The amount is about

the same as what the other muscle-for-brains had, but at this point, it should

tip the scale in favor of selling Senka.

Lady Nightwane makes big round eyes at the sight of three bags of money.

Going through the contents of the last one, something inside her mind clicks.

Her demeanor changes a little, and she's no longer hesitant.

"I-I accept the offer. It w-would be rude not to, i-if the customer is so

adamant about it." Even though she still sounds hesitant, there's no hint of it

in her attitude; she's brimming with joy at having gotten her hands on a lot of

money. "B-but I must warn you. It's a c-cursed doll, after all. It has caused

the d-deaths of countless previous owners w-who... attempted to t-take off its

dress."

Ah, that's a pretty good one. You can't say no to the money, but you still

don't want me to find out about the modifications you did on her body. Now

I'm curious, even though I can imagine it. The jar of 'worms' comes to mind.

I shake my head from the image and suppress a shudder.

       - You have obtained Creepy Loli Doll -  

I'm imagining a certain item-obtained tune being played in my head,

originating from a game series about a long-eared hero dressed in green, who

has to rescue a princess in every single one of his incarnations.

"I cannot believe it... Miss Marcott, you have terrible taste." Luna shakes

her head in resignation when the transaction goes through. She's being rude

again.

"To each their own, Miss Luna." Hugging Senka firmly, I pout.

"There is no helping it, is there?" Shaking her head, she turns to the dark

elf and reverts to her serious adventurer self. "Lady Nightwane, do you know

anything about these kidnappers?"

"T-they didn't say much when they attacked. T-the small and skinny one

told the m-muscular ones not to hurt my face..." Regaining a hint of

professionalism, the lady responds while looking up from her newfound

fortune.

That idiot who knocked Luna unconscious wanted to hit this dark elf's

beautiful face, too? He should have died a more horrible death for even

thinking about ruining two beauties, but Senka killed him instantly with her voodoo-like magic. Well, he's slowly dissolving inside me now, so at least

he's getting desecrated after his death.

"B-but I have heard rumors about s-slavers targeting our kind in these parts

of the kingdom. A-after the complete ban on demi-human s-slavery, nine

summers ago criminal organizations have p-prospered in this business." Lady

Nightwane explains in a somber tone but retains her stutter. Unexpectedly,

she appears to be quite capable, when serious. But unfortunately, I already

know about her incredibly pitiful side, so it'll take her a lot to pull herself

back out from these depths.

Slavery, huh? While it's a good thing that it was banned, the fact that it

only happened nine years ago reminds me of just how medieval this world is.

At least the technology level is higher than that, most likely because of

magic.

"When you were knocked out, the one with the big head did say something

about how their client would not buy damaged goods." I need to take this

opportunity and make my words seem natural, even though I'm making up

things as I go here. "I asked him who his client was, and he actually told me.

It's Sveinn Itkonen."

"What, really?" But Luna seems to buy it. "We have to let Rolan know."

Umm, hello? What about reporting to the authorities?

"Shouldn't we call the guards first?" I don't know if the concept of a police

force exists in this world, but there are gate guards. So, I can't be wrong in

assuming that there's something like an organized institution for keeping

peace and order in this city.

"Ah, yes. You are right..." Luna mutters as if she only realized that only

now. "But we have to let the others know before they run into trouble."

"We won't be meeting until nightfall, so we don't know where they are."

Strange feeling, to be the voice of reason here.

"The town is not that big, and I can imagine where they are right now." The

half-elf argues though it doesn't make sense. In fiction, people run around a

city in search of someone, and they almost always instantly find them.

Something that convenient doesn't happen in reality, so I don't want to

waste my time doing it. We're only two people, and considering Luna's

unexpectedly protective personality, she'll refuse to split up. That way we can

only search one place at a time, which makes it doubly likely that we'll just

walk past the other members of the party on parallel streets - for enhanced irony.

"What if they aren't there?" Let's see you find an excuse for that.

"Then we will continue searching." She replies in a stubborn tone. Not

even trying anymore, huh? This isn't going anywhere.

"How about we split up? I'll return to the Dancing Dragon and wait for

them there. Maybe someone will return earlier, and I can tell them what we

found out here." That's definitely a much more sensible proposal than running

around without a clue.

"No, I cannot leave you alone. I'll come with you." Putting her foot down,

Luna declares. "If nobody is waiting at the Dancing Dragon, I will leave a

message with the tavern keeper, and we head out to search for them." Alright,

at least that's better than nothing. "Leave that doll behind; we need to hurry."

"What? No! I'm going to take her with me. She's really light." I embrace

Senka firmly and turn away defiantly.

"Please don't be a lolicon..." I hear the doll whisper. If you're not careful,

I'll become one just for you.

"Ugh... fine." Luna finally resigns and sighs. Hah, I knew it! I'm sure she

wanted to make me leave the doll in this store and hoped that I would forget

about it later. "Alright, let us go."

Luna prepares to leave but then seems to remember something. She turns

back to Lady Nightwane.

"Please be careful and close the shop for the time being. They might return

to get you after they figure out that the doll was only an automaton." She

warns the dark elf.

"A-automaton?" Tilting her head, Lady Nightwane repeats that word as if

she heard it for the first time in her life.

Oh crap. I thought your alibi was perfect, but you never acted like an

automaton in front of your previous owner, Senka?

"So it is a cursed doll after all!" Luna turns to look at the doll girl with fear

and disgust. Well, she's not going to let this one slide.

"I-I told you, didn't I? It's a c-cursed doll that s-sometimes moves on its

own." Lady Nightwane explains when she realizes what we're talking about.

Nice save, dark elf.

No wait, that's not really helping my case!

"Leave it behind!" Pointing at Senka, Luna shouts in an almost hysterical tone.

"No, never! I already bought her!" And I had to fight for that money, too!

"Rolan will hear about this!"

Are you a kid?!

Oh wait, you actually kind of are.

Lady Nightwane looks at us strangely, but I think she's quite happy with

the money she got. I don't know how much it was, but maybe I gave away a

considerable sum? Not that I have any need for it.

Wait, I wanted more of those puff pastries! Well, I guess I got something

else that's sweet instead. Cuddling Senka, I show that I won't let go of her.

"I have experience with cursed dolls." Kind of. Not really.

"That does not make it alright to carry around a cursed doll!" Luna rebuts.

This back and forth continues a little more, but eventually, the half-elf

reluctantly gives in, seeing how obstinate I remain about this matter. We

quickly depart to return to the Dancing Dragon after this, and all along the

way, she keeps stealing glances at the doll in my arms. She must be worrying

about another jump scare.

I feel that with this new companion it's going to be a lot more fun from

now on.