“Did it!”
Tonbeau’s “voice” pressed against the chaos and confusion. The desired end had been achieved.
“The lid is open. Something came out!”
“Close it!” said the doll girl.
“Not yet!”
“If the dimensions superimpose themselves any more, the distortions will reach into this time and space. We may truly evaporate into nothingness.”
“Hmm,” grumbled Tonbeau, but quickly made up her mind. “Can’t have that. Close it!”
“Yes!”
Tonbeau glanced at the doll girl, situated next to the generator. The room was perfectly normal. The box sat undisturbed on the table. The lid was closed. The only difference were the two bodies lying on the ground next to the table.
The startled doll girl stared. “Setsura-san!” She ran over to him. “Setsura-san! And Yakou-san too!”
“Move it.”
Tonbeau shoved the doll girl out of the way, took the pulses of Setsura and Yakou, and peered down at them. “They both seem alive. Aki is badly injured. We’d better treat him pronto.”
The two picked the men up and laid them down in two beds. Going over to the shelves of medicines, Tonbeau looked around. “The lid opened and these two popped out. There should be a lot more where they came from. The Akashic Records must make its own choices.”
“Perhaps there is somebody in charge, somebody keeping the records,” said the doll girl, gazing down at Setsura’s face. “And they chose these two. This must be for the good of the universe, as it watches and remembers.”
“Huh. Nothing but speculation.”
Tonbeau returned holding a green bottle. The viscous liquid scooped up by her caterpillar-like fingers was the same color as the glass. She daubed it on Setsura’s wounds. Then she stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something’s wrong. This young man isn’t normal.”
“Eh?”
“The feel of his skin is strange. It’s water. Go ahead, see for yourself.”
Looking a bit abashed, she touched Setsura’s cheek. She turned to Tonbeau. “You are correct. He has all the symptoms of an aquaman.”
“Exactly. The man is half water.”
No less impressive were the witch and the doll girl, who could discern such a thing from a single touch. Tonbeau laid a hand on Yakou.
“This one’s all right. But he is under some sort of strange spell.”
Again, she had diagnosed him in the snap of a finger.
“What kind of spell?”
“He has been deprived of his will at a very high level.”
“How could Setsura have ended up in such a state?”
“Probably this chap here.”
A fierce rage rose to the doll girl’s eyes, and then faded away. “Shall we heal them both?”
“Yeah, but it’ll take some time.” Tonbeau nodded, then smiled.
“Ah, that face.”
“What? Don’t look at me like that. Healing people around here is a fee-for-service business, isn’t it?”
“Yes, when it comes to normal doctoring.”
“And you’re saying I’m different.”
“Well—”
“C’mon, spit it out.”
“Well—”
“What?”
“Compared to the average doctor, Tonbeau-sama has something of a perverse bedside manner.”
“What of it?”
“You don’t intend to charge Setsura-sama for healing him, do you?”
Caught in the gaze of her clear eyes, Tonbeau cringed a bit and retreated. There was something so human about that look. “Who do you think I was thinking of?”
“You were thinking of the mayor, perhaps?”
“Hmm.”
“You cannot be serious. In the first place, the mayor would have no reason to.”
“That doesn’t follow,” Tonbeau said, raising a sudden objection. “The mayor brought that box to us, and would obviously be expected to take responsibility for whatever came out of it. Moreover, young master Setsura here is working on behalf of the city. It would only make sense for the mayor to also take responsibility for any injuries that might befall him. Wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it?”
Tonbeau pushed out her chest, intending to intimidate the doll girl with her ample bust and belly.
However soft her voice, she was not cowed in the least. “You should not take the mayor for granted. He is considered one of the most able mayors since the founding of Demon City for good reason.”
“We’ll know soon enough. Time to swing into action.” She plucked at both their cheeks for some reason or another. A moment later, the fat lady’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?” she exclaimed.
The doll girl looked on impassively. The Czech Republic’s second greatest witch—and she clearly deserved the honor—must have detected something her supernatural senses couldn’t.
“I’m going upstairs,” Tonbeau said, heading for the door.
“Um—”
“You stay here and watch over them.”
“Tonbeau-sama,” said the doll girl, no differently than before, but with an extra degree of resolve in her voice. “A fearsome enemy, perhaps?”
“Perhaps. Interesting. I’m not so nice a person as my big sister, you see. Hold on, and I’ll soon enough turn ’em to dust.”
“I’m coming too.”
“What are you saying? You doubt my powers?”
“No, human nature.”
Tonbeau glared at her. The doll girl said without reserve, in her quiet manner, “You wouldn’t be planning on running away?”
“Nonsense! I’m just looking for a good hiding place.”
“I’ll come with,” the doll girl said with a sigh—or what would pass for a sigh in her case. “This is the house of your big sister, Galeen Nuvenberg. No matter who he might be, no one may set foot in it without being invited. Tonbeau-sama may hide herself in whatever place suits her. Leave the rest to me.”
The fat lady shifted back and forth. “Really?” she said.
“Yes.”
“Then I will stay here and treat these two.”
“Here is to your health.”
“Annoying brat. Shoo. Be on your way.”
“If you would excuse me,” the doll girl said with a little curtsey, and turned to the door without the slightest sign of concern.
After passing down the hallway—a wonder that Tonbeau could even fit between its narrow walls—and scaling a flight of stone stairs and turning down another corridor, she emerged into the living room.
The light slanting through the windows was at last strong enough to be called sunlight. After taking a single breath with her small lungs, woven from the finest down, and letting it out, the doll girl patted the dust off her dress.
And paused. The door was right in front of her.