Alice Tale in Phantasmagoria Vol 2 Chapter 47

Alice Tale ~ Chapter 47 ~

TL: Lueyuhi
ED: Pandaant

TLC: Maralax5

Pandaant:it’s been awhile enjoy the chap~.

 

Lueyuhi: Zzzzzz…

After all was said and done, I ended up sleeping the whole day.

My head feels heavy after sleeping so much.But there is no time.

Early in the morning I gather everyone in order to have a strategic meeting. The sun hasn’t even risen yet. It was happening in the room Francesca lent me to live in.

 

Everyone carefreely placed themselves around the room as they pleased.
Ilya was sitting by the table right in front of me.

…Not like it matters, but it is more calming if you sit next to the person when you are talking to people rather than sitting face-to-face.

 

“Ilya, can you come sit next to me?”

“Certainly.”

 

This is definitely not because I am antisocial or anything. It is just so we can talk more comfortably. Going around the table, Ilya sat next to me.

Her fluttering hair had a nice smell to it. Like always, she is a beautiful girl.

Now then, how should we do the meeting?

But before starting it…

 

“Ilya, did you properly go to sleep?”

“There won’t be any problems, ojou-sama.”

 

This is totally not an answer though…

After the war ends, have a full day’s worth of sleep!

Let´s order her that later.

…She isn’t the type to die if she isn’t doing anything like Maguro, right?

 

“It is fine for now… I want to save Francesca. Where do you think her troops are going to?”

“They are probably going through Arcenu wetlands. Considering the topography and the troops’ speed, I’d say there’s no doubt.”

“Can we still catch up with them?”

“It is possible. If we can borrow a horse, it will not take even a day.”

 

I see. Moving troops around is something that takes time after all.

Even if we need to catch up to them, having a few of us will be faster so we can make up for their head start and catch up right away.

 

“Alright. Then, let´s borrow a horse from someone from Fran´s family and let´s immediately depart.”

“――I will go too.”

“So will I～～”

 

Violently opening the door of the room, Rin-chan makes her appearance.

Following after her was Kuro Zuk.u.me.

“It´s obvious you can´t go along.”

 

Go obediently sleep.

Being immediately declined by me, Rin-chan puffs up her cheeks, making them look like balloons.

 

“Mu～～～! Des.h.i.+!”

 

Rin-chan comes running from the door and throws herself onto me. I receive Rin-chan´s attack.

Even if you yell, it won’t help.                                                                                                                                  

Ouch, ouch!

Don´t pull my hair!

I will become bald!

 

“Of course, I will be leaving Rin here.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop.”

 

I don’t care about it anymore.

For now let’s hug Rin-chan who only wants to cause mischief and carry her on our lap.

As if that was enough for her to become satisfied, she stops acting mischievously.

My hair is safe now.Thank G.o.d!

 

“I… have a debt to you.”

While bluntly declaring that, Kuro Zuk.u.me sits down in front of me at the same place Ilya was sitting at a while ago.

 

“If you really think that way, then you must properly come back with us after that, ok?”

“I won´t do anything reckless.”

“I hate men who are all talk.”

“Fu…”

 

Kuro Zuk.u.me laughed as if I said something funny.

And after that, the mood in the room became kind of weird.

Hm?

When I looked at onee-chan, who was standing by the window, leaning her back at the wall while having her arms crossed, I noticed she was smiling with a wistful look.

And when I looked at Saira, who is sitting at the bed, I noticed that her face is turning red.

Rin-chan is acting all cheerful on my lap.

 

Ilya, who is sitting next to me… I don´t know. Her expression doesn’t really change.

By the way! Stop trying to make this kind of mood of your own accord!?

I´m definitely not into him! What do you want with me!?

 

“…Either way, if you really want to go, then go make your preparations.”

“Alice-san, I will go too! I want to go together with you!”

“Saira wants to….?”

 

Changing her expression to one of seriousness, Saira suddenly declared.

I am surprised. It´s obvious she can´t go. She coming with us is much less acceptable than Kuro Zuk.u.me doing so. Saira can´t fight.

Just a single mistake and she will be dead.

 

“Please! I… I don´t want to turn my eyes away from all this… Not anymore.”

 

Turning her eyes away from the fighting of the people of her race…?

 

“…I might have to kill some of them, you know?”

“I understand-nya…”

 

I didn´t say [who] I was going to kill, but she should have properly understood the message.

Saira´s head was hanging down and her ears drooped.

 

“Even if you look at things that you don’t need to look at… I don´t think it would do you good.”

“…I finally understand.”

“Eh?”

 

Even after I say that, Saira shakes her head.

 

“I… need to apologise to that person. I can´t simply be waiting here!”

 

With her fists clenched, Saira declared.

With this much resolve, I can´t say anything against it anymore.

 

“…Ilya.”

 

When I looked at Ilya, she nodded at me as if she already knew what I was going to say.

 

“Yes. With my own body, I will protect Saira-san to the end.”

“A-alice-san!”

“Listen to what Ilya says. You can´t be unreasonable okay?”

“Yes…!”

 

Seeing the strong look in her eyes, I don´t think there is anything left to say.

I believe that Salia will be fine as long as she stays close to Ilya.

 

“Then, I guess I will be the one protecting Alice?”

“Onee-chan, instead of doing that, I would rather have you rush into the front lines.”

“I think you trust me a lot.”(TLC: 信頼=trust. I’m guessing that they both feel that Alice sent her to the vanguard because of trust in her to succeed and not die.)

“Right?”

 

If it doesn’t hit, there’s no point after all.

Please use that saying to the fullest.(TLC note: this is directed to everyone in the story, as a kind of wish/hope.)

And after that, everyone’s eyes gathered at a certain person.

 

“Mu?”

 

She is sprawled out on the bed, but she is awake!

It gave me a fright!

 

“Cough* Til… Please, can you go be Rin-chan´s playmate for now?”

“Ahaha. s.h.i.+sho～! Des.h.i.+´s s.h.i.+sho～!”

 

Rin-chan gets down from my lap and dived onto the bed Til had been sleeping in.

Children are so full of energy.

 

“Eei! Don´t hug me! It´s irritating!”

 

Til… She is really a kid, isn´t she…

Well, it should be fine even if I leave the two by themselves.

I don´t think Til will let Rin-chan get into danger.

 

“So everything is decided now, right? Then let’s borrow some horses and depart.”

“Ojou-sama.”

“What is it?”

“Ojou-sama, can you ride a horse?”

………..

“Ilya.”

“Yes.”

“I will bestow you the honor of escorting me.”

“Fufu, yes, my lady.”

 

————

 

In the end, the only ones that can´t ride horses are Saira and me.

I am riding on Ilya´s horse and Saira is on s.h.i.+on´s.

Since my body is being hugged from behind by Ilya so she can hold the reins, thinking about what will happen from now on makes my body indiscreetly heat up.

I see, I am very normal. Now I am certain.

 

“Are you alright, ojou-sama?”

“My b.u.t.t hurts…”

“Fufu, please endure it.”

 

So it was true riding horses is very painful if you are not used to it…

We ended up taking more breaks than we expected, so in the end, the day became night.

Since we have four horses carrying luggage like tents and other things, there aren’t any problems.

Kuro Zuk.u.me was made to do the night watch duty outside.

 

That is only expected, isn´t it? There are pretty much only women here.

We at least gave him a bed coat though.

We arrive late in the afternoon of the third day.

 

“!? What was that roar!?”

 

We were at a distance where it was already possible to feel the presence of the battlefield.

We still couldn´t see the war itself since it was happening behind the hill, but there was no

mistake that there was a war happening at that direction.

Because we can see the dust stirring up and hear the intermittent explosions.

In the midst of all those sounds, I heard a voice which I had the feeling of hearing it before.

 

“That was…? Sirius!!? How can this be!!”

“Ilya?”

 

Being unlike herself, Ilya is very agitated.

I turn my head to her to look at her face, but since she was holding the reins strongly as if she was hugging me, I am unable to look back.

 

“…It is a dragon… right?”

“…”

 

Seeing how she is acting, I am able to understand that there is something ahead of here.

Sirius? An acquaintance? But that roar…

what would you normally think of when you hear ‘a huge beast’, It’s probably the same as the ice dragon I saw before.

What did she mean by saying “dragon”.

Then, what about the dragonkind?

 

――“there is one last thing I can do”

I´ve heard those words before. Then, the dragonkind are…

Could it be that Ilya´s hidden ace… was that?

Then, what about the dragon that is on the other side of this hill?

The ice dragon I killed with my own hands… wasn´t only a demon beast.

 

“…Ilya, can you fight?”

“…”

 

…It doesn’t matter. I will have her stay back.

She staying behind protecting Saira was what the plan was to begin with.

I can now feel for myself the stupidness of the idea of bringing someone who is hesitating at the front lines.

 

And then, we finally got to where the battle is happening.

After getting to the top of the hill, the battle that was happening wasn´t in the form of something that I could have only imagined; it has finally shown itself to me as something of reality.

It looks like their encampment was here. There were tents and other things of the sort here.

It is probably their headquarters.

 

There was a large number of wounded soldiers there.

From the relatively lightly-wounded soldiers that couldn’t fit into the tent, to the heavily wounded soldiers you could see by peeking inside.

Thier bandages are soaked in blood.

 

I can even see the extent of the wounds they have.

As to be expected, I am getting anxious about this.

I want to heal up all those people. However, now isn´t the time.

There is no way I can afford to lose consciousness right now.

 

There are guards along the way, but because it seems like they already know who we are, they didn´t come to say anything in particular to us.

However, while I could spot guards and medics in here on standby, Francesca was nowhere to be found.

 

“――What is it.”

“You… You are Fran´s…”

 

I came across one of Fran´s servants; a servant named Paru.

Is he the one in command here?

Why is it that Francesca isn´t together with him?

 

“Where is Fran?”

“…”

“Where is she!?”

 

The butler silently pointed his finger to somewhere.

He pointed at the hill, as if to say ‘see it for yourself from there’.

I followed him to where we could see the entirety of the war zone.

 

Here was the first time I saw it… The sight of a battlefield.

Only a part of it.

When I looked over that direction, I could see there was a giant beast there.

 

“――Dragon! …A white, dragon!”

 

Could it be!?

The direction the butler pointed at was definitely that way.

 

“Did you let her go by herself!? The princess of your own country!?”

“That was hime-sama´s own will.”

“You rockhead! Since the old times, it is said that subordinates that won´t give good advice are clearly incompetent! Saira, get down from your horse!”

“Y-yes…!”

 

As if Francesca can defeat something like that by herself!

I jump off Ilya´s horse.

Saira is having a bit of trouble with getting off the horse, but with some help, she is able to get off s.h.i.+on-san´s horse.

 

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes… Sorry-nya, Alice-san.”

 

No problem, I say as I pat her head.

Then, I jumped onto s.h.i.+on-san´s horse, taking Saira´s place.

 

“Ilya, you stay here and protect Saira.”

“Ojou-sama…”

“Your answer!?”

“Yes, my lady. I am extremely sorry…”

 

I don´t mind. Really…

After all, I always ask too much of Ilya.

I look at Kuro Zuk.u.me.

 

“…Are you prepared?”

“I´ve already said before that coming here was my intention.”

 

‘Heal’ doesn’t go as far as to recover a person’s stamina.

 

He should still not be in his best form, but…

Right now…!

 

“Onee-chan!”

 

I feel the warmth of my sister on my back.

After receiving courage from that, I finally spoke to my sister.

 

“Yes, let´s go.”

 

With the call of my gallant elder sister, we go riding downhill in full speed.

The scenery is pa.s.sing through my eyes.

The battlefield is getting closer.

Other than the roaring of the dragon, there was also the angry yelling of people fighting each other getting mixed up with the sounds of battle.

 

There are explosions happening here and there, and the sound of metal hitting metal echoes throughout the place.

And the landscape… It is filled with fallen corpses――!

 

“Arrows incoming! Lower your head, Alice!”

 

Just as she tells me, I lower my head.

s.h.i.+on-san takes the reins with only one hand and in a flash she deflects those arrows with her sword.

We are already in the middle of the battlefield.

 

Allies and enemies are already getting mixed up together.

Then, could this mean――that their formation was about to be broken!?

The two armies were jumbled together far too much.

 

Two moons and a falcon. That was the crest used by the soldiers of Wilmington.

I am barely able to identify that.

Even if I was to say I had come to give them support, firing my area of effect magic wouldn´t do well.

There was no other choice but to quietly keep going forward…!

 

Before I could notice, Kuro Zuk.u.me had already got separated from us in the chaos of the war.

But even so, we could only keep moving forward.

If we were to stop even for a while, we would stop knowing where was left or right.

If we get caught in the chaos of the battle, we will only be wasting time in vain.

Controlling the horse with the reins, s.h.i.+on-san continued to ride us through the battlefield.

She would take down arrows and she would also cut down knights that pa.s.s by her.

 

“Stoopp!”

 

In front of our eyes, there was a squad composed with heavily armored soldiers and archers.

Whether they believe we are an enemy knight, they start to move in an offensive formation

 

“We are forcing our way through!”

 

With a voice that was so loud to the point of it being able to make through all the yelling of the battle, s.h.i.+on-san said in response.

s.h.i.+on-san took down the arrows that were shot at us, and with skilled control of the reins, she dodged the spears that were trying to cut off the horse´s legs by having it jump over them.

Jumping over the heavy armored footsoldiers, we kept going in direction of the dragon.

 

However…

There is a big army of more armored soldiers ahead.

Even if she were to turn back, their numbers would still be too great for that.

There aren´t any gaps to maneuver through.

As to be expected, it was impossible to jump over so many.

But even so, to get to where the dragon was, there was no other way but to pa.s.s through them.

 

“…I will go ahead, onee-chan.”

“Alright. You are strong. I believe in you.”

“Of course. Onee-chan too, be careful!”

“That´s obvious. I won´t be dying in a place like this, you know?”

 

I’m still not sure if having her become involved in this was for the best.

But even so, s.h.i.+on-san came together with me.

For now, all I want to is to do rely on those intentions.

One day, I will definitely pay her back for them…!

――Alright!

I stood up on the back of the horse.

Sorry for having to stand on your back.

I controlled my magic power.

While thanking for the horse´s efforts, I jumped with all the strength I could muster.

I flew to the sky.

Not being hindered by anything, I could clearly see down the battlefield from the sky.

But as to be expected, because I held back then, I couldn´t jump through the whole army.

Looking at the many soldiers down there, if I had to say, the allied soldiers were the ones being pushed back.

On this chaotic battle, I finally landed.

“――”

For only an instant, I caught the attention of the people that were near me. They became silent.

Here was the battlefield.

To fight here was different to fighting in a compet.i.tion.

To fight―― was to do [that].

 

“Move aside.”

 

I firmly held onto the caster globe.

There were two reasons why it wasn´t good for me to shoot my magic at them.

One of them was because I would get exhausted very soon, and the other was because the enemies and allies were jumbled up together far too much.

 

“How arrogant, you la.s.s!”

 

The enemy armored soldiers immediately recovered their composure and charged at me.

I enchanted my weapon with lightning.

The soldier raised his great sword overhead and swung it down at me.

And then, on purpose―― I moved only my left hand to block it.

 

“――Ha? Eh?”

 

I glare at the dumbfounded enemy soldiers with a cold gaze.

 

“That is an iron sword, right? You won´t hit me with something like that.”

 

I employed my thunder magic’s special characteristic to full power.

Rather than using physical strength, I utilise the electromagnetic repellent force to stop the sword.

By using my magic, making a great sword like that one float is as easy as picking up a spoon.

 

“Ha!!”

 

With my right hand open, I hit his torso that was open to attacks by using the palm of my hand.

I wonder―Was he a.s.suming the slender arms of a little girl wouldn´t do anything against his body covered in armor?

 

“Gahaah――”

 

With my the power of the lightning enchant and the lightning enchant enveloping, I sent the armored soldier high up into the sky.. (TLC note: It states that the lightning attack was caused by the enchant, and the lightning covering Alice’s body is a different thing)

(Lueyuhi: Isn´t she stacking the powers? I put it like that because it felt like it made more sense, but you can change it later if it actually isn´t the case ^^)

 

Both allies and enemies followed the soldier with their eyes.

From the resistance force I felt from his body, I believe the power of my attack had probably been at the level that he would die just by the first strike.

In addition to that, the height he was sent flying is way too far from the level a human would be able to casually land on the ground.

 

Amidst all the sounds of metal clas.h.i.+ng against metal, I had the feeling I heard that certain unpleasant sound.

The soldier hit the ground.

He wasn´t moving even a muscle.

I clenched my teeth.

 

“I will say one more time――Move aside.”

 

Not only the enemies, but the fewer allies that were at that place reacted to my words as well.

In a loud voice, they cheered.

 

――Hime-sama´s friend.

――Silver lightning.

――Let´s follow her lead.

 

The morale of my allies increased, and the enemy soldiers became hesitant in fighting.

But even so, coming to their senses, the enemy didn´t choose to retreat.

Once again, the two armies were going to crash into each other.

 

――Even though I told them to do the opposite of it…!

 

In the middle of the battle that once again started, I kick the ground with all my strength.

Since I was already completely acknowledged by the enemy soldiers, they should start focusing their attacks on me now.

 

Facing me were five spearman in a fan-shaped formation.

A line of spears!

In this chaotic war, there is no path for retreat nor ways around.

There was no other choice but to attack head on.

In that case――!

 

There was no place to escape from the spears that were coming at me simultaneously.

But they won’t ―― escape from my power.

 

“Wha-! Why is my spear edging off from her!?”

 

The spears that are being aimed at me were repelled as if they are magnets that are being repulsed by another one of the same pole.

 

“Move aside!”

 

I move in and duck right below their chests.

I don’t need physical strength.

In the way I expected, I send the two flying far away so that I can make s.p.a.ce around me.

With that done, I take care of the two that are in front of me.

I then kick the third guy that was slightly away from those two.

There are two more people coming from behind.

 

“Thunder!”

 

I acc.u.mulate the thunder magic in my hand and fire it in succession.

With that, it was five people.

Without any hesitation, I move forward.

 

“A-Am I having a bad dream or something!? Shoot! Shooooot!!”

 

The commander that is standing ahead orders the archers to shoot arrows in the middle of this chaotic war for some reason.

The enemy archers hesitantly prepared their bows.

Arrows, is it?… It will be dangerous if I rely too much on the repulsive force.

The fundamentals state that dodging is best.

 

From this distance, it will be too late if I have to spot which arrows are coming for me and think on how to move my body every time I had to.

Every single one of my reactions had to become similar to a spinal reflex.

Seeing, and then, immediately reacting.

 

I can’t have anything in the middle of those two actions.

I can´t be thinking of anything in between these two actions.

Increasing the reaction speed of my electrical signals, I can cut off a tenth of a second.

Flowing the thunder magic through my body, I boost my reaction speed.

 

“――っ”

 

The instant I see the arrows, my body reflexively jumped.

Because the reaction speed is too fast, my fragile body screams in agony.

 

“Wha―!”

 

But even so, I evade all the arrows that were in the trajectory of hitting me.

While dodging the arrows, I quickly shorten the distance and send the commander flying with a kick.

After confirming there were no allied soldiers nearby, I mow down the archers that are positioned behind the commander with an area of effect lightning.

 

Because of that, I was able to ensure an opening so that I can make my jump.

Right now, I am not on a horse, but standing on the ground.

I muster my magic to full power and once again soar to the sky.

It’s there!

 

After jumping over most of the heavy cavalry, I spotted the noticeably giant figure of the white dragon.

Standing in its way is the golden princess general.

The elites of her soldiers that are next to her desperately protecting her.

 

“――Ray of light descending the sky, become our blade and tear through the darkness! Lighting!!”

 

From the sky, I shoot my magic at the giant white dragon.

Most of my initiative attack that was done as a greeting is erased by a yellow barrier that I had the feeling of having seen it before.

In a certain way, this is within expectations.

 

But even so, with the attack seeming to be good enough to be worth being a greeting, the white dragon roared due to the part of the attack that was able to reach him.

Then, I landed right in front of Fran’s eyes.

 

“――Sorry for making you wait, Fran. I am here now!”

 

Because of the pain for having overextended her body and for using magic too much, her stamina is worn out.

But even so, she is able to survive, and so we could meet with each other just like this.

 

“Alice!”

 

I wonder how many times she has fallen down to the ground.

How many times she had to narrowly make it through the attacks of the white dragon.

She is covered in dirt right now. That form didn’t match well with Francesca.

Fran was very intelligent and has a scheming mind that would eat people up. She was a very attractive girl.

That was who Fran was supposed to be.

 

She standing here while nearly biting the dust didn’t suit her.

 

“You’re such a…”

 

If she wasn´t being so conceited, that voice filled with emotions would have filled my heart with courage once again.(TL Lueyuhi: ->自惚れでなければ、クランの感極まった声に、心をもう一度奮い立たせる。<- i="" changed="" this="" line="" because="" i="" felt="" like="" the="" translation="" the="" editor="" put="" was="" wrong.="" not="" that="" i="" am="" trying="" to="" be="" pretentious="" 0.0="" in="" fact,="" the="" line="" i="" had="" put="" before="" was="" wrong="" too="" ^^="" here="" the="" line="" the="" editor="" put="" here="" just="" in="" case:="" if="" i="" wasn’t="" misunderstanding="" her="" true="" feelings,="" fran’s="" voice="" sounded="" full="" of="" emotion,="" filling="" my="" heart="" with="" courage="" once="">

 

“This isn’t the first time I fought against a dragon. Let’s go, Fran!”

“Yes! Please, lend me your help, Alice!”

 

This is a war that will decide the future of the kingdom.

I am now facing a dragon together with Fran in the middle of this war that can be described as that without exaggerating,