Chapter 117: A Bird in a Cage
—February 17th, Friday
Today, Alicia is coming back after two days.
"Alicia, good morning."
Still half-asleep and not fully conscious, I greeted Alicia.
"……?"
But there was no response… and just when I started worrying that maybe we couldn’t synchronize again—
『…Good morning.』
Alicia’s voice finally echoed in my head, and I felt relieved.
But that relief only lasted a moment.
Her next words instantly blew all traces of drowsiness from my mind.
『Ikuto-san, don’t you have something to say to me?』
…Crap.
I don’t know why, but Alicia is definitely in grumpy mode.
Her tone sounds the same as usual, but I can clearly sense the anger seeping out from the edges of her words.
“W-What are you talking about…?”
I didn’t think I’d done anything to make her mad…
Or rather, if I’m being honest, I did have an idea—but Alicia shouldn’t have known about it yet, since she’d only just woken up.
『Don’t try to play dumb! That disgusting sensation I felt touching your soul the day before yesterday—
that was Aymok’s dark magic, wasn’t it? What the heck happened!?』
“Ah… so you noticed…”
I was planning to tell her, but realizing she’d already found out made cold sweat drip down my back.
『Of course I noticed!!』
It seemed Alicia had hit her limit. Her emotions burst out.
『Ugh, just remembering it makes my skin crawl… Why would you ever let something like that happen!?
I demand a full explanation, Ikuto-san!』
Alicia throwing her anger at me this directly was so rare, I couldn’t hide how shaken I was.
“Well, uh… I just… I wanted to help you, Alicia. That’s why I asked Aymok to teach me magic.”
『And your plan was to just expose your soul like that!? What were you thinking!?
If you’d been brainwashed, Ikuto-san, you’d be nothing more than Aymok’s puppet right now!!』
It sounded like Alicia had been agonizing over the abnormality she’d felt while our synchronization was cut off. Her emotions were spilling out uncontrollably.
『…Ikuto-san, are you really okay? Are you sure you haven’t been brainwashed?』
“I’m fine. Nothing happened to me.”
『That could just be what you were made to believe through memory manipulation!
Please think carefully—does everything from your time with Aymok make sense? Are there any strange gaps?』
“I… don’t think so. And besides, probably, I don’t think Aymok would do something like that.”
『And what makes you so sure!? That person asked for your body, Ikuto-san!
You willingly offered up your soul to someone like that—how can you possibly believe nothing happened!?』
I thought the same thing too.
But… Aymok’s reaction had been different.
“Well, um… he seemed to only be interested in the vessel called the Priestess of Water, not my—uh—scrawny body.”
『S-Scrawny!?』
Crack—I swear the air itself froze.
“No, I mean, that’s what he said, not me! Those weren’t my words!”
『…Obviously that’s just a convenient excuse to make you drop your guard.』
Alicia said, voice full of bitter resentment.
And honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
But I also knew that Aymok had no need to bother with a trick like that.
“Besides, even without using magic, if he really wanted to do something to me, he totally could’ve just—uh—”
By the time I realized what I’d said, it was already too late.
『Oh? And what exactly do you mean by that?
Care to explain in detail, Ikuto-san?』
Alicia’s voice, frozen down to absolute zero, pierced through me.
…This is bad. This situation is really bad.
“Ah, no… it’s a misunderstanding… I didn’t have a choice, or rather, it was… you know…”
『Whether or not it’s a misunderstanding will be judged after I hear your explanation. Your personal perspective is irrelevant, Ikuto-san. Just tell me the facts in proper order.』
“O-okay…”
Swallowed by fear, I began explaining from the very beginning—how I contacted Aymok in order to gain magic that manipulates souls to save Alicia.
Throughout my explanation, Alicia only responded with cold acknowledgments like 『…Hmm』 or 『…I see』, and it was terrifying. I ended up speaking in an unusually formal tone without realizing it.
“And… well… that’s basically how it happened…”
Once I finished, silence fell between us.
…The silence was suffocating.
『…Ikuto-san, kneel formally in front of the full-length mirror.』
The words Alicia spoke were completely unexpected.
“Eh…?”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard.
After all, in this world, I’d never even heard of something like kneeling in the seiza position.
『Kneel! In front of the mirror! ―Right this instant!』
“Y-yes ma’am!?”
I jumped off the bed in a panic, rushed to the front of the full-length mirror, and snapped into a seiza position.
Reflected in the mirror was the image of me—my small, frightened, girl’s body.
『Now then, look into my eyes and listen carefully.』
“…But the one in the mirror isn’t actually you…”
Since our senses were synchronized, if Alicia wanted to check on my condition, the only option was to use the mirror. Still, I wasn’t actually looking at her… or so I thought.
『―Silence!!』
Alicia’s furious outburst, the likes of which I’d never heard before, made me flinch and my whole body tremble.
Doing as Alicia instructed, I stared into the mirror, treating the reflection as if it were her, making eye contact.
『Do you understand why I’m angry, Ikuto-san?』
“…Because I met Aymok without telling you?”
『That’s certainly part of it. That person is a dark priest, someone who’s lived by a completely different set of values from us. He’s extremely dangerous.』
The image that popped into my head was of Aymok watching period dramas… honestly, it didn’t make him seem all that scary. But I kept that thought to myself since saying it out loud would only make things worse.
『More importantly, Ikuto-san, you have far too little awareness of yourself as a woman. Carelessly letting your guard down in front of a man can easily leave you with scars that last a lifetime, you understand?』
“…Of course I understand that much.”
I knew all too well what kinds of things men think when they look at me—because I used to be a man myself.
The only reason nothing happened to me this time was purely because Aymok had no interest in my body. It was nothing but dumb luck.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been strange if I’d lost something precious to women—my virginity. Actually, things could have turned out far worse.
I understood that perfectly well.
“But… if it meant saving you, Alicia… I was fine with that.”
『That’s absolutely not okay!』
Alicia shouted, her voice filled with sorrow.
『And what were you thinking, messing with Soul Manipulation—Soul Manipulator!? If the Spirit Church were to find out, Ikuto-san, you’d be labeled a heretic and become a wanted criminal! This is a forbidden curse, reviled and condemned!』
As I thought, Alicia knew about the existence of soul manipulation magic—along with the tragedies it caused.
The reason she hadn’t told me about it was likely because it was a taboo subject.
“But… there’s no Spirit Church in this world. So if this magic can save you, Alicia, then I—”
『No! Absolutely not! …Soul Manipulation—Soul Manipulator only extracts souls, and from what I’ve heard, the extracted soul vanishes. This kind of magic won’t solve anything for us!』
“That’s why… I want your help too, Alicia. I’ll definitely find a way to transfer your soul… so please, just wait for me.”
『And how exactly do you plan to find it…?』
“…I guess… by running countless experiments on animals. Human experimentation isn’t something I can just casually do…”
『—Please stop.』
“…Huh?”
『I don’t think Soul Manipulation—Soul Manipulator became a forbidden curse just because people died from it. I still can’t forget the shivers I felt when Aymok touched my soul… Souls aren’t something humans should be tampering with!』
She added, with a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, 『…Not that I have any right to say this after what I did to your soul, Ikuto-san.』
“But… if that’s the case…!”
I wouldn’t be able to save Alicia.
Just as I was about to say that, Alicia cut me off with a firm declaration.
『I’ve been indulging in the kindness of you and your family, happy that someone was trying to find a way for me to keep living… but the truth is, my life was supposed to have ended the moment I was transported to this world.』
Her voice was gentle.
But the words themselves were heartbreaking.
『…That’s why… let’s stop this already.』
“Alicia? What are you…?”
—It felt like I could see Alicia’s lonely, faint smile in my mind.
『I’ll accept the fate of disappearing. So Ikuto-san… I don’t want you to keep searching for a way to save me anymore.』
“N-no… I don’t want that…”
The words of rejection slipped out of me without thinking.
“No… I can’t accept that…”
Because… if I accepted it… if I acknowledged it…
Then I wouldn’t be able to stay with Alicia anymore.
『…I’m sorry. This is all my fault for leaving things so unresolved.』
I didn’t want her to speak in such a tone, as if confessing some terrible sin.
Alicia hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Then…! ―I’ll extract my own soul and give this body back to you, Alicia!”
『Don’t be ridiculous. What about your family, Ikuto-san?』
“I’m sure… my family would understand… I think.”
『And what about me…? How am I supposed to keep living among your family after you’re gone…?』
“Th-that’s…”
I was at a loss for words, unable to respond to the truth Alicia pointed out.
『I’m sorry… I know I’m saying some harsh things. But this is how I really feel. In this world, there’s no one who knows me. That’s why… please… abandon this idea of leaving me behind and disappearing.』
Alicia had no one else to rely on besides my family.
Right now, I believed she was being accepted as part of the family.
…But if Alicia were to live in my place, would she still be able to remain as family?
“But… this body…”
『It’s your body, Ikuto-san. Isn’t that what you’ve started to feel yourself?』
“Th-that’s…”
I couldn’t deny Alicia’s words.
At some point, I had stopped feeling discomfort toward this small, delicate body that was completely different from before.
I’d gotten used to the lower line of sight that came from my shorter height, the inconveniences that came with it.
I no longer acted awkwardly in a way that drew attention. With this appearance, being stared at was unavoidable, but I had gotten used to that too.
As for my behavior… well, my mom still said I acted too much like a guy and was careless, but I thought I’d become a lot more feminine than before.
The grooming and self-care expected of a woman… I’d become able to handle all of that naturally too.
『In any case, I absolutely won’t help with anything involving soul manipulation.』
While I was still hesitating, Alicia delivered her conclusion.
“…And if I don’t listen to you, Alicia…?”
『If, because of me, innocent souls are defiled… then that sin would be mine to bear. And in that case… I will end my life to atone for it.』
“…No… you can’t be serious…”
『I am a priestess of Lady Minstia. For a priestess to break a taboo… that’s what it means.』
And then Alicia said,
『…If you’re absolutely determined to go through with soul manipulation… then you must use my soul first. I wouldn’t mind if it’s you doing it to me… but you are absolutely forbidden from using it on any other soul—not even insects or animals.』
After that, Alicia explained everything I’d done in front of my family and friends.
She emphasized just how reckless and dangerous my actions had been, steering the conversation in a way that forced me to give up on trying to save her.
On top of that, she set up a monitoring system—location tracking through my phone’s GPS, and a rule that someone who knew the situation must accompany me whenever I left home. Alicia’s ability to establish this system in the blink of an eye was honestly impressive.
No one other than me had any complaints about her going so far.
—And so, I became a bird in a cage.
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