In a moment, Alice dashed as tremendous amount of killing intention engulfed her vision the moment the name of a man who had thrown her away reverberated in the air. However, she did not even realize she made sounds while letting loose a beastly roar.

"An enemy...!" --Vane noticed her first as he pushed aside his teammates.

"One person!? No, a PK?!"

Karen grabbed her stave and pointed at the running Alice. Even so, among those who were foreign with this sudden assault, Ririan cried out.

"Eh? Err...!? Is-isn't that a child... Wait, Vane!!" --the Voyager yelled out to her friend but it was drowned out by a crazed howl.

"Urrrraaaaaahh!! [Skull Smasher]!!"

The Warrior unleashed the skill to cleave his enemy in one strike.Right before his opponent was reduced into bludgeoned corpse, she side stepped and forcefully twisting her body to avoid the attack. Once she succeeded with a grimace, a savage roar was voiced out from the top of her lungs.

"Aaaaaaaah!!" --Alice brought up her sword.

The little girl used her momentum to increase her offensive power to the maximum, springing like a jack-in-the-box and she struck Vane with everything she had.

"[Shield Crest]!!"

In the next moment, a turquoise aura enveloped Vane's body which deflected Alice's sword back. It was as if she struck a wall denser and tougher than iron. It caused the girl to let go of her only weapon.

Unarmed and full of opening, the Warrior slammed Alice with his shoulder guard which threw the girl to a tree. Bouncing down and falling to her knees, he raised his battle axe.

"You're mine now!!" --Vane grinned. His smile was a twisted one and he was ready to slice the floating Alice with his battle axe.

The girl caught the edge of the axe in her sight. Her body was stunned and she had nothing to defend herself from the weapon which would claim her demise. Alice did not even have the time to feel afraid when the axe was only a hair breadth away from cutting off her head--

"Cut it out, you fooooooolll!!!!"

And Ririan kicked Vane on the groin from behind. Vane's consciousness instantly whited out and his eyes turned white. Frothing, the Warrior staggered around while dropping his handle over the axe which flew off course and slicing the air right above Alice.

The boy fell as he uttered "...w...Why..." before falling into deep fainted status debuff.

"Why don't you at least check WHO you are fighting with, you blockhead! Look over there!!"

"...u...uurrgh...... just... just what... oh......?"

Vane gazed ahead of him... and what he found was a girl with tattered clothes, makeshift equipment and a collar attached around her neck lying unconscious on the ground. The girl looked unlike any sort of malicious person nor was she looking like a Voyager.

Not when a grey crystal was above her with a floating bar containing her name flashed in the same color. In short...

"Wha... an NPC...? Why is she here??"

-

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-

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".......!"

With a gasp, Alice woke up. Her eyes widened in an instance and she shot back up like a spring. But the moment she moved, her body felt numb and she was unable to move even a finger. It was as if something invisible was restraining her limbs completely.

"Oh, the little girl woke up! Vane, Ririan...! Bring her the food!!"

"Coming up soon....!"

Alice was stunned. She stared at the sight of a petite girl in a robe calling out and found another girl... who was an elf bringing out a bowl filled to the brim with something hot.

"Wh-who are you all...!?" –Alice shouted out but Ririan sat beside her and smiled.

"I'm terribly sorry. We had to take a sudden leave and we could not allow you to be harmed. So each of us took turn in looking out for you. Well... I must also apologize for Karen is being skeptic about you, Alice."

"...H-huh...? How did you know my name...?"

The two girls smiled bitterly. Alice was utterly confused as she watched the two who tried so hard to persuade her to not be alarmed but once Vane stepped into her field of vision...

".........!"

Alice remembered everything. The fact that she went berserk, and the fact that she was about to be killed by the Warrior resurfaced. In horror, the girl glanced at her body but she was unable to do anything except moving her head around for reasons unknown to her.

"You! Stop it with surprising her by carrying around that stupid weapon!! Can't you see Alice is scared by you, Vane?!"

"Eeehh!? Now it's my fault!? Wait, aren't we going to inter—"

"[Firebolt]!!"

*BOOM!* —Vane's body flew like a ball and bounced off the ground several times after the sudden firing of flame magic.

Karen sighed in relief, saying "Phew, barely safe," as she wiped her forehead with her sleeved arm.

Alas, even though Ririan and Karen agreed to nurse back Alice to ask her as gentle as possible, Vane's idiocy already destroyed the atmosphere with the subject in question trembling heavily. Ririan popped a vein and she lashed out at Vane by throwing her spear after taking it out from the inventory pouch.

"Guwah!? Hey! Even if friendly fire deals less damage than normal, this ain't fair!!"

"Shut up! It's all your fault you muscle head! Die a dog's death over there and expose your belly like one!!"

"What torture is that!? Whoaaaaa?!!"

......

.........

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

"Well, excuse our unsightly appearances. Vane is an idiot even if the world ended so it can't be helped he looked like one. Have you calmed down, Alice?"

".......If you wanted to interrogate me then I have nothing to say."

"No no~ it ain't our intention to interrogate you, little Alice... We just want to know something about you."

Isn't that the same? Alice spoke out but what she received was, again, a bitter smile conveying kindness. It was a really strange thing for her to receive such a warm treatment and she began to speculate the Voyagers' motives secretly.

"We don't have any intention to harm you. And to be honest, we are worried about how a girl such as you is here despite the dangers this forest posed. Do you mind, Alice?"

".......worried...? Can't you all see this?"

Alice pointed at the collar. The action stiffened the three Voyagers. Particularly Ririan who introduced herself to Alice just a few minutes ago.

"I'm a slave. A toy without free will. This body of mine belonged to no one but my Master. And I am here because he ordered me to. If I can't do that much then isn't it normal for me to be thrown away?"

"...a... slave....?"

The Elven looked at her friends. But the mage shook her head.

"......sorry, but my lie detector isn't acting up. She's honestly answering our question and it's now obvious why."

Vane was also looking grimly at Alice. However, rather than disgust, he was clearly upset.

"What kind of human ordered a girl like you to enter this place?"

"....a girl...? Who is...?"

"...Isn't that obvious... wait a second, you...!?"

The slave nodded. Once she realized the spell binding her dissipating, she sat up and raised her hand. Her body was still numb a little but she could do simple movement including putting a hand on her chest.

"I'm not a human. I'm a toy. A slave and nothing more. I am neither a human nor a girl. I'm a doll meant to obey orders given by my Master."

".......that's... it can't be...!"

"It is the truth."

Once she said it without faltering, Alice realized that the air was turning heavy. She wondered why and she simply answered because it was the best choice for her to live even if for a limited amount of time.

But... rather than configuring why the situation became like that, she instead inquired.

"Does your world have no slavery?"

Ririan wanted to answer with a straight no. However, she realized the person in front of her was a human. And in humanity's history... There existed slavery systems which were born out of humans' greed and desires to rule over the weak. No matter what kind of form it has changed to, slavery still existed in a way.

Karen sighed. Knowing that it was useless to hide the truth, she said.

"No... There was. And there likely be something like that occurring somewhere our eyes cannot see even at the present. It's a fact most would want to deny despite it existing for better or for worse."

"Then... Isn't it normal for a slave such as I to act according to orders when I am lower than animals?"

"No you are not!!"

Alice's vision shook. She noticed that Ririan was embracing her. But it hurts. It somehow hurts even though Alice was used to pains.

"...what are you saying?" –the slave asked.

"You're a human, Alice! There's no way you're not!! You're the same as us!!" –Ririan said.

The grips tightened. Alice squinted as she was being crushed by the difference of strength between her and a Voyager. And yet... even though she complained, Ririan hugged her tighter than ever.

"You have the right to have a will! You have the right to live as a human! You have the right to be free!!"

Each word resounded in her heart. Each word echoed within her. Alice thought of denying those words when she was not even given the chance from birth. And yet, Ririan cried as she said those words.

Her words carried truth.

Her words were full of honesty and innocence foreign to Alice.

Her words were piercing her heart deeper than Yuuya's lies.

Even so... Alice struggled. It was too painful for her to bear when she was being scolded like this. She tried to release herself from Ririan but the elf did not budge.

Alice even raised her hands to hit her. And yet... the girl did not flinch, much less losing her grips over the slave. It caused Alice to ask in a hoarse and exhausted voice.

"......Why do you say so? What do you know..."

Vane did not do anything but watching in silence. Karen closed her eyes. And Ririan yelled out.

"Because... haven't you survived to this day... All because you wanted to live!?"

"......!"

"I don't know your pain. I may not understand nor forgive your way of life. Even so, I know that you desired to live. You wanted to live so badly you took out weapon and do horrible things... even so..."

Even so... everyone, including Alice knew what she was going to say. But because she knew it that the pain in her heart rose up. It was painful. It's so painful I want to cry...

"Isn't that... because you have the will to live......? Then you are a human all along, Alice......."

...it sounded hypocritical. Alice knew that words were just words. Even when Yuuya promised her freedom, she knew that she was being used for his gain. The girl might not have realized but Yuuya desired a forbidden dream. A dream which would paint the whole world red by using blood of many, including hers.

"...stupid..... what is that answer....!"

But it was fine. She had already given up hope, and she nearly forgotten her dream to live a happiness life as her body was being nurtured in order to become 'the perfect killing tool.'

Gradually, she lost her humanity.

Bits by bits, her heart was being torn from the inside out. Reformed into a bloodless heart without a tear until Ririan's honest words halted the broken cog.

"How could you say something like that...?!"

Even though she was told to never trust anyone, and that killing Ririan was very probable for her to do at this moment...

"Lies...! You're lying!! There's no way it is true! There's no way something like me is allowed to have a free will, you liar!!" –Alice screamed as she pushed aside the Elven girl.

"No, I'm not lying!! There's no way it's a lie! You're already a human, Alice!!"

"Shut up! Shut up!! What do YOU know!! You're just a liar!! You're the same like everyone!"

Alice glared beneath the crumbling mask of indifference. She scowled and with utter hatred... raised a fist at Ririan.

"—Ririan is not wrong. Why can't you understand, girl?"

".......!"

However.. she was stopped by Vane. The man grabbed Alice's wrist as easily as taking a quill. No matter how much she wanted to be released from his grip, Vane was a Voyager.

"You're just trying to trick me!! Everyone always lied to me!! There's no way you aren't lying too!!"

"...Why are you so persistent about it...? Can't you at least trust us...?"

Trust...? Trust, he said? Alice's expression twisted and she emitted exorbitant murderous intention at it. Memories overflowed and the slave heard something snapped within her.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!!" –Alice threw a fist against the plate armor.

A clear sensation of her bones cracking could be felt. The girl certainly realized that it was impossible to wound the boy in front of her. Even so, she threw her fist recklessly. She continued to smash and breaking her own knuckle without a sense. And she shouted.

"Trust you said!? I did! I trusted my family! I trusted the people who I thought as friends!! I TRIED to trust them!!"

A strike was done. A finger twisted as the hand continued to crack.

"But what did I get!? What did I get other than hatred over my existence?! A cursed child does not have the right to live?! I did not even wish to be born as one!!"

Another strike was done. The plate armor began to bend and the shattered fist leaked blood as it flailed tirelessly.

"They said I have no right to live as a person! They said I'm just a demon spawn! An existence born to deliver calamity!! A monster birthed by Diablo's incessant curses!!"

Alice remembered her time with her families. She remembered them even though she wanted no relation with them any longer. The repressed sadness. The unreasonable anger The absolute despair for knowing she was rejected by all she held dear...

Everything was dyed red as she unleashed her fury on Vane.

"Everyone betrayed me! Not a single one understood me!! They all simply loathed my existence and decided to use me for their own gain!! Even my previous Master ordered you all to kill me right...!? You’re all the same!!"

*SMASH!*—Alice's step faltered. Her body had no strength after she destroyed her entire right arm literally.

Yet the girl refused to faint. The girl lost in senseless anger planted her footing firmly on the ground and she delivered her bloody knuckle which protruded bones out from inside it.

"......!" –Vane exasperated in pain. He felt his face's skin shredded as the sharp bones went deep into his cheek.

The Warrior fell to his knees. As if following after him, the girl named Alice fell in front of him though she once again tried to stand up.

"Yes... even he... even that person lied to me... he betrayed me...... even Yuuya was......"

In her dim consciousness, the appearance of the man with black hair and golden eyes emerged. It was unknown why his image flashed in Alice's mind. It was strange how his figure became so vivid the world blurred.

But in that kind of world... a phrase which contained something Alice had never noticed echoed.

"That's right. Kill me. The only way for you to gain your dream is by killing me, Alice."

Alice was not moving. She stared at the empty space above with her pupils widened to the limits. As if a gear had turned in her mind, the girl uttered.

"......Why... didn't he lie to me back there...?"

In the next moment, a shadow emerged from the darkness like a snake predating on a weakened prey. As the girl noticed it a step too late, she turned around—

Then a world dyed in red expanded as her body fell down like a doll cut off from its strings.