Alice Tale in Phantasmagoria Vol 1 Chapter 15

"I'll stop being a girl."

"... what?"

The day after the maid incident, I called s.h.i.+on-san to my room and made that confession with a serious face.

I've had enough.

It's true that I thought it would be fun acting out a girl.

But still!

It doesn't mean I want to embarra.s.s myself in front of people!

It doesn't mean I want to wear those frilly clothes and say master this, mistress that!

If anything, I'm in another world now, I want people to say that to me.

I need Ilya.

To keep my ident.i.ty intact, I need Ilya.

I'm sure now.

And as expected, my confession made s.h.i.+on-san look like she didn't know what hit her.

"Are you listening, Onee-chan?"

"Yeah, you regularly say some incomprehensible things..."

Exasperated, s.h.i.+on-san threw herself onto my bed.

Nono, having a girl throw herself onto my bed, this is quite a situation.

However, since I'm acting a girl right now, it's also completely meaningless!

"Please listen, Onee-chan. Actually... I used to be a man!"

"..... haa. Oh, were you."

That reply leaves something to desire. But could you at least not sigh before it!

"Please try your best to imagine and listen!"

"I'm listening, I'm listening."

"I've told you that I'm a man."

"I'm. A. Man. Riiight."

"Uhhh..."

I've taken care to speak softly for so long now, I slowly became unable to stop!

"Th-that's right! So if you throw yourself onto my bed, I-I-I might attack you! That's how much of a man I am!"

"..."

Alright, I'll teach you how scary men are just a little bit!

... is what I tried bluffing with all I had, but s.h.i.+on-san didn't react.

"... i-if you say nothing, I'll be really, really troubled."

"No, you see, I thought 'try attacking me then' and waited."

s.h.i.+on-san rolled over onto her back and put her plentiful body on full display for me.

What are you rolling over for, Onee-chan!

And what's with your b.r.e.a.s.t.s!?

This is violence!

"... what's the matter, Alice? Not going to come?"

The way she gives me that feverish look, s.h.i.+on-san is staggeringly s.e.xy...

I reflexively swallowed.

I'm getting a little dazed here, I think.

No, this is bad.

Or is it?

Shouldn't I rather be happy that my reactions are still normal?

Ahh, my thoughts are in a mess...

"O-Onee-chan, if you say that, I can't help it. I-I'm not going to regret... this."

I got up from the chair I'd been sitting on and slowly approached the bed.

My heart is strangely loud.

My head is pounding.

Eh, what's this?

It also feels like a regular headache.

What, was I this tense?

"Alice... isn't your face too red?"

"N-not true. Onee-chan, that bluff is really weak!"

Crossing the room felt like walking along the Great Wall of China, but I finally reached the bed.

There, I grasped s.h.i.+on's face with both hands.

Ahh, somehow s.h.i.+on-san is really beautiful.

I've always thought of her as my reliable family. But seeing her like this, she's a beautiful woman after all.

Then the world turned.

Eh. Wait. What?

"Alice...? Hey, don't tell me!?"

s.h.i.+on-san s.h.i.+fted her gaze to my abdomen.

"Stupid! Why aren't you keeping track?

"...keep track?"

Of what?

Is there something with my abdomen?

Come to think of it, there's this slight discomfort... !?

"Hii!?"

As I looked down, my face turned pale.

I was bleeding like never before.

"Wha? I... was I shot? A sniper? Eh? Am I going to die?"

So fantasy worlds have snipers too, after all!?

Furthermore, the lack of pain makes it all the more scary!?

"Don't be stupid. Come one, we're going to the toilet!"

s.h.i.+on-san nimbly got up from the bed and dragged me away by the hand.

Hey, dragging shot people by the hand, that's too much!

In the first place, I have healing magic!

"Hey! You're dragging me too much!"

But s.h.i.+on-san didn't hear any of it and just kept dragging me to the toilet.

Being taken to the toilet by a girl, can I still call myself a man...?

After accomplis.h.i.+ng the mysterious bleeding, my clothes were changed and I was put to bed.

s.h.i.+on-san was really gallant.

"... uhm... am I beyond hope?"

Is it a bad illness?

And I was just reborn...

"What are you saying... Be more careful, Alice. Really, you're playing stupid too much."

Nono, I don't think I am.

"Does it hurt?"

"Hm? Not in particular, no."

"Good. But your face is still red, so you're still not alright."

"Ah, do I have a fever?"

"Seems so."

Fever, huh.

I see, so that's why I was dizzy.

"... eh? I wonder if I did something to catch a fever..."

The only time I stayed up late was the night I went to the ruins.

Other than that, I shouldn't have unreasonably strained my body...?

"Hehe, Miss I'm-a-man Alice, do you have something to say?"

"Haa?"

Eh?

Why are you looking at me mischievously, s.h.i.+on-san?

"Oh, well. I guess you said something weird because you're under the weather. Take it slowly, Alice."

"Eh? Ah, yes...."

What...?

Leaving behind those vague words, s.h.i.+on-san turned to leave.

But before she disappeared, she turned around once.

"I'll come check up on you once in a while. Also, to commemorate today, I'll tell mom to make something delicious, okay?"

"Haa..."

Leaving behind a smile, s.h.i.+on-san left the room.

"..."

Well, yeah, let's calm down.

I'm not an entirely ignorant brat, either.

I believe to know about things somewhat.

And based on that, the answer the events so far lead me to is...

"My period..."

As I said it out loud, my head felt lighter and lighter and I really pa.s.sed out like that.

When I woke up, my physical condition seemed to have improved a lot and nothing felt strained.

The pillow was wet from tears though.

Thanks to that, my head was a bit painful.

I was a bit curious, so I went to the toilet once more and then changed clothes.

I was lent quite a lot of clothes, partially because Aunty is a Tailor.

I would've been fine with anything, but if I wore something strange, it would affect Aunty's reputation.

A Tailor also has a Tailor's pride, I guess.

Ahh... but I'm going to wash them myself...

"Ah, are you alri-woah!?"

s.h.i.+on-san came while I was folding my clothes, but when I turned around, she was exaggeratedly surprised.

"... is something the matter?"

"Ah, no but... Alice, your eyes... are a bit scary?

Certainly, I feel a bit hollow myself right now.

I wonder though, what kind of eyes am I making?

"Hehe."

"W-what's the matter?"

"No, I just figured. Thinking about it, it's obvious. Of course G.o.d wouldn't take half measures when reincarnating me."

When I got up after putting my folded laundry into a basket, s.h.i.+on-san drew back a few steps.

"Besides, I've started to wonder if that wasn't all a dream in the first place. Yeah."

The eighteen years in that world, I mean.

Like that could be the case!

I'm not growing senile here!

"I-I don't know what you're thinking, but if you're gonna be an adventurer, keep better track of your body, okay? Otherwise you'll be in deep."

"... I know."

I know that I know nothing.

I need someone who will support me.

Which leads me to Ilya again.

"Onee-chan, I think I'm going to save up money and go to the royal capital."

"The capital, huh. Certainly, I understand why you want to go."

"I also think about entering the combat tournament there."

"... I'm surprised you know about that. The combat tournament, huh. It's not even three weeks anymore, is it."

Then it'll be before my condition worsens again, right? I'd call that a good chance.

"Do you really know what you're getting into there? People die in that tournament. Of course I'm against it."

"Eh... people die there?"

Although it's a tournament?

I must've made a stupid face, because s.h.i.+on-san laughed, as if she'd seen it coming.

"n.o.body is blamed for accidents during the matches. Rather, it's the savage kind of tournament where the crowd is excited when people die."

Woah, looks like it would really be better to do something about the peace and safety permeating my thinking patterns, after all.

But still, saving up a fortune of 400.000 Rook is not realistic.

And yet I need Ilya.

No matter what anyone says, I need her.

"If it gets dangerous... I'll surrender."

"If you surrender, you'll have to offer the winner something of appropriate value. Currently, you have nothing, so if you're fighting a man... I don't have to speak further, do I?"

"That's low..."

"Hehe, I think a bit more self-awareness would suit you nicely."

Exasperated, s.h.i.+on-san folded her arms and highlighted her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Yeah, self-awareness would suit you nicely, too, Onee-chan.

"... besides, you're not going to fight monsters. It'll be people."

"Yes... I thought as much."

I know what she wants to tell me.

Can someone spoiled like me really fight against people?

Thinking about it, I get no image at all.

I get the feeling that I can, but it might be impossible.

Could I shoot people with my magic?

"Alice, there's a good occasion. In three days, the guild here in Rinnal is doing a bandit hunt. Many of the skilled adventurers in the area are going to partic.i.p.ate. I intend to, too, so, Alice——"

s.h.i.+on-san stopped speaking once and gave me an emphasizing look.

"Are you going to come, too?"

A bandit hunt.

The other side will definitely consist of people.

And probably... the request will be dead or alive.

Of course, they will try to kill us without hesitation.

I will be faced with the killing intent of humans, not monsters.

"... let me partic.i.p.ate, please."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... it's dangerous, so I'd be worried about you otherwise, Onee-chan."

Like she was taken by surprise, Onee-chan suddenly had a baffled expression.

And then she blushed just a little bit.

"So cheeky.... Alice."

"Ehehe, probably, that's how little sisters are."

Also, it looks like I probably can't return to being a man...

This life in another world really gives me a lot to think about.