I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Elise and Ariel

“E-Elise?”

[Shock! The rumored Elise? How did she get here!]

As we both stood in shock, Elise approached with a chilling yet captivating smile.

“I couldn’t see you anywhere, so I thought you might have crossed the sea. And when I came here, I was right. I saw a ship on the way, but there were only a red-haired guy and a man with a hook hand, so I just came. It seems I made a mistake?”

Did she really cross the sea to get here? It was unbelievable, but Elise’s body was soaked, proving she had crossed the sea. Her blonde hair still glistened with moisture.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, my story has progressed, and I’m in a very good mood. I was able to kill that dreadful Queen of Hearts.”

“T-that’s good to hear.”

At her words, the image of the Queen of Hearts’ body, brutally crushed by the mace, flashed in my mind, making me feel nauseous. What should I do? This was completely unexpected. I couldn’t predict what this girl, mad with slaughter beyond common sense, would do to me.

“Now, the only thing left is to find that detestable White Rabbit. I’m going to find it, figure out how to get home, and then roast it. Hoohoo, Siyu. You’ll join me, won’t you? Hmm?”

A chilling red gleam flashed in Alice’s eyes. Her expression was a smile, but it was not an ordinary smile; it was filled with silent pressure and madness. She brought her face close to mine, a face as beautiful as a poisonous flower that could kill with a touch.

[Stop!]

Suddenly, Ariel intervened between us.

“Hmm? A funny little one making strange mechanical noises? What’s the matter?”

[Not a little one! Siyu is my prince! I can’t stand seeing him toyed with by a crazy woman like you!]

“Prince? Siyu? Ah, I see. To beings like us, he must be like a savior, a prince on a white horse. But what should I do about this?”

Alice smiled sweetly and raised her mace.

“Siyu is mine.”

[Don’t be ridiculous! Siyu is my prince!]

“No, I am not a possession.”

Ignoring me, the two exchanged fierce glances. But Ariel was gradually being pushed back by the true madness in Alice’s eyes.

“Shall we settle this here? To see whose story Siyu will end?”

[That’s what I wanted!]

“Then I’ll take that frail arm of yours first. So you can’t cling to Siyu. Or maybe I’ll smash your legs. Haha.”

This is driving me crazy. I wanted to run away immediately, but if I did, Ariel would meet her end like the Queen of Hearts under Alice’s mace.

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine. It wasn’t because of the madness I felt from Alice. It was the chilling murderous intent emanating from Ariel’s back, right in front of me, rivaling Alice’s.

Ariel glared at Alice with eyes that had turned vertically like a cat’s pupils.

[Don’t mess with me. He’s my prince. The prince I’ve longed for and desired. If you dare covet what’s mine, I’ll tear you apart and feed you to the fish.]

It was a chilling warning, but the mechanical sound and tone broke the tension a bit. Still, the murderous intent from Ariel was not something to be taken lightly. Come to think of it, didn’t Ariel kill a witch? Witches are beings that wield all sorts of mysterious magic. Ariel didn’t say how she killed the witch, but she definitely did.

With her own hands.

So, wouldn’t Ariel be as strong as Ellis?

I gulped and watched the tense standoff between the two girls.

Ellis examined Ariel’s face with the curiosity of a child at the zoo.

“Heh, interesting. Shall we see if your words are just bravado?”

[Go ahead, try me]

A situation on the brink of explosion. As a blue aura flickered around Ariel’s body, the sea behind her began to writhe like a living creature. Ellis lifted her mace lightly over her head with one hand and grinned.

If a fight breaks out, one of them is bound to get hurt. To others, it might seem enviable to see two beauties fighting over me, but up close, it’s a gruesome scene with blood splattering, a truly horrific situation.

Just as Ellis’s mace twitched and Ariel reached out her hand.

Ah, I don’t know.

“Stop it!”

I stepped between them. Seeing the mace rushing towards my head, I desperately hoped that if I were to die, this would just be a vivid dream and that I would wake up the moment I died.

“Oh dear, this is troublesome.”

The large spike on the mace stopped right above my nose. Whew! I almost died thinking it was real!

[Don’t stop me, Prince! I’m going to teach her a lesson!]

“Exactly. It’s just getting interesting, why are you stopping us?”

I alternated my gaze between the girls locked in a battle of wills and sighed briefly.

“Haah.”

At my suddenly changed demeanor, Ellis gave a chilling smile, and Ariel’s eyes widened.

“Why is everyone ignoring my opinion while wanting me? Do I look easy to you? I’m neither your possession nor anything else. I’d appreciate it if you stopped making such absurd claims.”

[You’re not easy! I just expressed it that way because I like you, Siyu!]

Ariel, sweating nervously, waved her hands in denial, but Elise ran her thumb over her blood-red lips.

“Yeah. You look easy. And I can’t just watch someone else take the luscious fruit I picked first, can I?”

Ugh, I tried to act tough on purpose, but Elise didn’t even flinch. It’s not strange to think that if things go wrong, she might crush my limbs with a mace to prevent me from escaping and carry me around like a bag.

“Ahem, anyway! I refuse to fight over this. If it comes to that, I’ll leave you both first.”

[Eek! I would never do that! Sorry! I won’t do it again!]

“Heh~ Trying to run away? I don’t think I’ll be in a good mood next time.”

Ugh, she doesn’t lose a word. Ariel listens to me well and is easy to handle, but Elise is the complete opposite.

“So, what I’m saying is, can’t we fulfill both of your desires without fighting? Elise, your goal is to find the white rabbit while staying with me, right? Ariel’s goal is to fall in love and regain her voice.”

[It’s not everything, but it’s mostly right!]

“Hmm~ That’s right.”

Ariel and Elise nodded in agreement.

“Then we can travel together. I’ll go on a journey to find the black rabbit, and in the process, Ariel will find love, and Elise will find the white rabbit. How about that?”

[I don’t want to travel with that crazy woman, but I’ll endure it for the prince!]

“Heh, it was just getting interesting, but now it’s a letdown.”

Ariel was convinced, but the problem was Elise. I was anxious, wondering what to do if she refused and started a fight.

“But we can’t ignore our dear one’s efforts. Fine, let’s do that.”

Thank goodness! I’m saved! When a positive answer came out of Elise’s mouth, I cheered inwardly. I don’t know what conflicts we’ll face during the journey, but at least we got through this.

[If you bother the prince, I won’t forgive you]

“Don’t cling to my dear, kid.”

Elise and Ariel stuck close to me, keeping each other in check. I can’t tell if this is good or bad. It’s definitely pleasant to see beauties up close, but it feels like wearing a ticking time bomb necklace that could explode at any moment.

Thus, I managed to overcome the crisis right in front of me, but I still had a big problem. It was the location of the black rabbit. Judging by the direction, it seemed to have entered this continent, but I didn’t know how wide this place was, whether it went straight or suddenly turned sideways, or which direction it went.

“Hey, Alice, have you ever seen a black rabbit around here?”

“Rabbit? I kill all the rabbits I see. I haven’t killed any rabbits since I came here, so I don’t think I’ve seen one.”

What a creepy answer. If there are any rabbits unrelated to the white rabbit Alice is looking for on this continent, I hope they don’t meet her.

“Haha, really? Then we have no choice but to move on.”

We entered the forest near the coast. The air in the dense forest was on a different level from the air in the dust-filled city. A pleasant freshness that cleared my head wrapped around my whole body. But suddenly, a pungent stench pricked my nose.

A familiar smell. It was the smell of cigarettes that you could often smell in bar streets or back alleys.

“Sniff! Oh no, oink. This is going to be a big problem, oink! What should I do, oink!”

Oink? This wasn’t Alice’s voice or Ariel’s mechanical sound.

It was the sound coming from a pig sitting far away at the base of a tree, smoking a cigarette and sniffling.

A pig?

A talking pig?

For a moment, I was dazed, but then I remembered the talking animals I met when I first arrived in this world. It’s not particularly strange.

At that moment, the pig, with its thick belly folded, sniffled and made eye contact with me. It stared blankly at us and then suddenly got up, its belly wobbling, and hurriedly approached us.

“Uh, um, please, could you help me, oink!? If I stay like this, I’ll be eaten by a wolf, oink!”