Mistaken for a Masked Monster - Chapter 12

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 12: I’m Going to Steal Something

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[S#.61 Street Drenched in Blood (Night)]

Lumps of flesh clad in school uniforms littered the ground, enough to trip over.

Playing cards, a crown, and blood-soaked, torn corpses.

Alice sat slumped at the center of it all.

Alice: “I don't want this... Please, stop...”

The girl muttered to herself.

A shackle bound her ankles.

A chain was connected to something before her.

-Kieeeeeeeek!!!

A grotesque cry rang out.

The color drained from the girl's face.

Alice: “Ah... It's because of me. It's all my fault...”

Alice: “Someone like me should've died from the start...”

A shadow fell over the girl.

She didn't resist, as if she had given up.

Instead, she looked at the player beyond the frame.

Alice: “Run.”

A close-up of her trembling blue eyes.

Shadows swarmed within her pupils.

Alice: “Before I... become a monster.”

Crunch. The girl died before she could finish.

Her upper body was torn apart, leaving only the lower half sprawled on the ground.

After that, the academy collapsed.

The camera zoomed out, and blurred subtitles appeared.

[Save me.]

A nightmare.

The video ended.

* * *

“S-sorry for spying on you...!”

The girl lay face-down on the ground, apologizing over and over.

Her distinctive black hair and blue eyes left a strong impression.

I had seen her countless times in the original illustrations, character PVs, and cutscenes.

My favorite supporting character.

‘Alice.’

I was glad to see her, but I didn't have time to show it.

The girl in front of me suddenly started crying.

She sniffled, her nose running.

“Ugh, ngh... I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to do it on purpose...”

Tears pooled in her eyes.

She looked exactly like she had in the original.

Even when I said nothing, she was the kind of girl who would frighten herself and shrink back.

Alice, the loner.

“Please forgive me...”

“...”

This was strange.

I had suddenly appeared behind her, sure, but wasn't she more scared than necessary?

I knew Alice was a crybaby, but...

Was she really this bad?

Did simply running into someone send her into a breakdown?

That was when confusion and doubt rose in me at once.

“I don't want to be made to sprint around the field on my hands for five hours either...”

“Huh?”

“Sniff... And I don't want to play that weird game where we spin on our heads while yelling, ‘Three, two, one, let it rip!’ and keep crashing into each other...”

“What?”

“I don't want to spend all day moving around by doing forward rolls, either...”

“...”

Those were truly bizarre sentences.

A chill ran down my spine.

‘This...’

The Reverse Sprint Game.

The Beyblade Game.

The Sonic Game.

‘...That's me?’

Those were the games I had enthusiastically played with my classmates until yesterday.

I had only acted as the referee, though.

As I stood there blankly for a moment, the bat at my chest squirmed.

[It seems she saw you tormenting those children.]

“No...”

[Didn't I tell you to go easy on them? It would be stranger if she hadn't been frightened after seeing that.]

“...”

I had nothing to say.

Alice showed no sign of calming down.

I couldn't bring myself to approach her carelessly, so I just scratched my head.

The princess must have grown interested, because she poked her head out.

[But... something is strange.]

‘What is it?’

[That child... Alice, was it? She has not appeared in the classroom these past few days, yet she seems to know everything that happened inside.]

‘Ah, that's because of her ability.’

Alice's ability.

Nightmare.

One of its hundreds of varieties.

One Dream, Another Form.

‘Within a limited range, she can see the world through the eyes of anyone she wishes.’

The third destruction route in the original.

I had no idea how many sacrifices were made when the ending took that turn.

Alice, running wild.

The Seed of Disaster that had finally bloomed.

She knew the location and condition of everyone in the surrounding area.

That was why no one could hide or run away in the story.

They were all slaughtered at an absurd speed.

One of the most difficult stages in the original.

‘She looks so frail right now, but...’

I sank into thought.

Perhaps she was the Calamity responsible for one of the cruelest episodes in the original.

[What a mysterious ability. From that explanation alone, I cannot understand why she is at the bottom of the lowest-ranked class.]

‘It's not that simple. The duration is short, and the people it can be used on are limited. To share someone's vision, Alice has to feel favorably toward them, and they have to feel favorably toward her as well. They also need to have made physical contact at least once in reality.’

Of course, even those restrictions became meaningless after she awakened as the [Queen].

It was power that could threaten not only the academy, but the safety of the entire continent.

That was the potential Alice possessed.

[Hmm... I understand how she watched the classroom over the past few days. Then whose vision did she use? It was the first day of enrollment, to begin with. Could she have had time to meet all those difficult conditions?]

‘It was probably Professor Javert.’

[That stiff child?]

‘Yes. They have a connection. Javert is the headmaster's adopted daughter, and Alice was a student the headmaster recruited in the past. They've probably met several times because of that.’

[Recruited... But Viktor, how do you know all this?]

‘I can read people's hearts pretty well.’

[Truly?!]

‘No.’

The bat squirmed at my little joke.

She struck my chest in displeasure, then glanced at Alice, who was still sprawled on the ground.

[...Her aura certainly is not pleasant.]

‘It seems you can sense it. Is that because you're a pureblood?’

[I cannot read the source of her power or anything like that.]

‘I recommend you don't try. If you probe carelessly, it could leave aftereffects.’

Was it instinct?

Carmilla seemed wary of Alice.

As a pureblood vampire, she probably sensed more than I did.

I gently calmed the princess.

‘Well... There's no reason for us to be hostile toward her.’

After saying that, I took a step toward Alice.

I held out my hand to help her up.

Then I spoke in the gentlest voice I could manage.

“Let's calm down first, shall we? I understand that you were startled.”

“...Huh?”

Maybe she hadn't expected a kind response.

When I held out my hand, the girl blinked at it blankly.

What on earth did she think I was?

If someone fell down, of course you helped them up.

Even complaining about that could provoke her, so I swallowed the thought.

“I'm sorry for appearing so suddenly. That was rude of me. I think I acted before thinking because I believed someone was watching me.”

“Ah, yes...?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-no... Th-thank you.”

When I apologized first, a question mark seemed to appear over the girl's head.

Alice hesitated, then finally accepted my help and stood up.

Her tears had stopped, but her eyes were still red.

I rummaged through my robe, then produced something as if performing a magic trick.

“Ta-da. You can use this to wipe your tears.”

“...A handkerchief and a b-balloon flower?”

“The flower is a gift.”

“Ah... Th-thank you. I'll gladly take them.”

Alice accepted both items despite her trembling voice.

To show that I was harmless, I raised both hands.

“Please don't be so wary. I don't have even the slightest intention of harming you.”

“S-sorry... I was so startled that I just...”

“It's all right. I feel very favorably toward you, Miss Alice.”

“Huh? How do you know my name...?”

“First, may I ask why you were there?”

“Ah, well...”

Thank goodness.

I had made a small verbal mistake, but I got past it with the momentum of the conversation.

Alice answered in a timid, trembling voice.

“W-well... I lost something and was looking for it, but then I saw someone walking by, so I-I ended up...”

“Hidden behind a tree?”

“Yes...”

She was really frightened.

Alice seemed awkward around people, constantly glancing at me for cues.

It was, how should I put it, the kind of sight that awakened one's protective instincts.

“S-sorry... I'm a little scared of people...”

“I see.”

“So I've been skipping school for the past few days, too...”

Alice would fall shortly after becoming a third-year student.

As the status window had shown, there was a two-year grace period.

To stop the nightmares from consuming her, the first thing I needed to do was...

‘I need to earn her favor first.’

I had to break down Alice's guard to reach her nightmares.

It was essential if I wanted to stop Nightmare <Wonderland> from manifesting.

The problem was...

‘If she's this terrified, there's no chance to earn her favor at all...’

How was I supposed to win her over?

As I pondered that for a moment...

‘Ah.’

That was it.

Remembering something, I immediately pulled a crystal ball from my pocket.

It was a portable crystal ball provided to students while they stayed at the academy.

“May I ask what you lost?”

“Ah, um... A necklace...”

“I see.”

Tap, tap.

I tapped the small screen a few times.

After selecting several people, I sent a short message.

“Don't worry, Miss Alice.”

“Huh...?”

“Viktor and his friends will help you.”

Now then.

Errand Crew, assemble.

* * *

A little while later.

Alice's necklace was found safely among the bushes.

“Found it.”

“Ah...!”

When I held out the necklace, the girl's face brightened.

Her anxious blue eyes sparkled for the first time.

Alice came closer with a happy expression.

“Th-thank you so much...!”

“Don't mention it.”

We found the necklace in just thirty minutes.

That was thanks to the seven people who had helped search, aside from Alice and me.

The errand crew sat among the bushes, looking exhausted.

“B-but... I never told you what the necklace looked like. H-how did you find it?”

“Who knows?”

It was a necklace set with a blue crystal.

I gave her a vague answer.

After all, I had seen it countless times while playing the original.

It was an item that would later become the heart of an episode.

“It's a secret.”

I brushed it off rather suspiciously, but Alice didn't seem to care much.

She was simply happy to have recovered something precious.

“How can I thank you for this...?”

“It's fine. I only helped because I wanted to.”

“B-but still...”

“You said we're in the same class. Now that we've met like this, how could I not help you?”

Alice continued watching my reaction.

She repeatedly bowed her head.

“But I have to repay you somehow...”

“Then how about this? Let's be friends from now on.”

“Huh...?”

“The semester has only just started. I didn't have any classmates I got along with, so I happened to need someone to spend the semester with.”

“B-be friends... Is that really enough?”

“Yes. Or do you not like me, Miss Alice?”

“N-no! Th-that's not what I meant...”

“I'm joking.”

The conversation continued lightly.

Compared to before, the atmosphere had relaxed a great deal.

Alice thanked me several more times before finally leaving.

“Thank you again!”

“See you tomorrow, Miss Alice.”

“Ah... Th-thank you to everyone else, too!”

Alice even thanked the exhausted errand crew, bowing repeatedly.

She didn't need to, but she really was a thoughtful girl.

I watched her retreating figure with satisfaction.

“Hmm...”

For a first meeting, hadn't that gone pretty well?

She still seemed wary, but I thought that was decent progress.

“Niiice. Let's all clock out.”

I spoke to the exhausted errand crew.

It had been a very rewarding day.

* * *

That night.

I secretly slipped out of the dormitory.

[Mmm... Viktor, where are you going at this hour...?]

Carmilla mumbled with bleary eyes.

She rubbed her cheek sleepily from inside my uniform pocket.

I stepped lightly so she could sleep comfortably.

“The Freshman Welcome Test is in two days, isn't it?”

[That's right...]

“There's something I want to get before the academy schedule begins in earnest.”

[Something you want to get...?]

“A special item.”

It was something I always obtained early whenever I went through another run.

“It's in the dungeon beneath the academy.”

[A dungeon...? There is a dungeon beneath the academy?]

“Yes, one managed by the academy.”

[Hmm...?]

Carmilla tilted her head, looking doubtful at my answer.

[That is strange. If the academy manages it, faculty members must stand guard, and the procedures will be complicated in all sorts of ways... Did you get permission? At this hour?]

“Of course not.”

She was right.

A student needed to meet numerous conditions to enter the dungeon alone.

Permission from the supervising professor, at least a second-year student, and a rank within the top fifty of their year.

On top of that, there was only one passage leading to the dungeon.

You couldn't even enter it without a special key.

They had thoroughly prevented unauthorized students from entering.

[How are you going to get in...?]

“There are ways.”

Please.

I had forced my way through this place hundreds of times with nothing but my bare hands.

“Princess.”