The Strange Man
I wonder if I really need to explain what happened after that. Part of me wants to just gloss over it with a three-line summary, but for the sake of preventing any recurrence, it seems I should leave a detailed record.
First, I was caught by a woman named Maida Ren. Then I was forcibly stripped, even down to the underwear of this body I’d never seen before, and carried off to the bathroom in a princess carry. Naturally, I didn’t get any time to examine my own naked form. I was half out of my mind thanks to a debuff disguised as a kiss that had drained every ounce of my strength, leaving me treated like a toy.
At that moment, I truly didn’t even have the power to crawl across the floor. The only resistance I could manage was stubbornly refusing to let go of the steel pipe until the very end. I think I desperately tried to voice my refusal, but everything was such a blur that I don’t remember it clearly.
Of course, whether I protested or not made no difference. The gray-haired woman with the “my pace” attitude shoved me into the bathroom without mercy. The one sliver of conscience she showed was that she didn’t completely undress herself. No, honestly, when she sat me down on a stool and abruptly threw off her white coat, I nearly had a heart attack.
That’s how, the moment I visited someone else’s house, I ended up borrowing their bathroom. And just like that, I received personal care from a woman I was seeing for the very first time.
The bathroom was surprisingly spacious compared to its small door. Maybe the house itself had been converted from a storefront. What impressed me even more was the water that poured out in a rush—far warmer than Nia had described when she mentioned the abundant groundwater. I don’t know if it was some kind of magical device, but the fact that it only took less than a minute to fill a tub large enough for two adults was also rather astonishing.
After that, nothing particularly terrifying happened. Maybe I had simply given up by that point, but Maida Ren didn’t treat the curled-up, desperately-covering-myself girl like a toy any further. Whether I buried my face between my knees in shame or not, she simply began a leisurely, one-sided conversation as if she had work to do.
Saying I needed to get wet first, the woman named Maida Ren brought something that looked like a showerhead to my scalp and began rinsing. She carefully washed my exposed nape while my head was bowed. A completely different sensation from the cold well water she had dumped on me earlier enveloped my whole body. It was warm, gentle, and carried a ticklish feeling that threatened to lull me to sleep if I let my guard down even for a second.
Despite the slightly chilly smile on her face, her tone was relaxed and drowsy, and her hands were delicate. If I had to compare it, it felt similar to having my hair washed by a skilled hairstylist. Come to think of it, seeing her use magic… does that make her a mage in this world? Or since she’s a woman, a witch? It feels a bit different, but the white coat makes me think she might be some kind of researcher. Like in magitech or something.
I kept myself from being overwhelmed by the sudden wave of exhaustion by letting my thoughts wander like that.
“You said your name was Berry?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you come from?”
“Earth.”
“Where’s that?”
“Far away, I suppose.”
“But looking at your figure, you’re clearly a doll. Why did you say you weren’t one earlier?”
“Because I’m not a doll.”
“I see. Anyway, could you look up for me now?”
“N-no thank you.”
I definitely remember having that exact conversation. I must have held onto my sanity until the very end. Yes, just like how I had gripped that steel pipe with both hands as if it were the last rope keeping me from falling off the edge of life!
“Hehe, you must be very tired. This isn’t my house, but it’s quite cozy here. Rest well tonight, okay?”
“───.”
But why…
“Um…”
“What is it?”
“……Did I… fall asleep?”
“Oh my, look at you getting all shy. Your speech is so polite too. That just makes you even cuter!”
“Kyaa?!”
Why was I suddenly cradled in the gray-haired woman’s arms the moment I regained consciousness? Why was I sitting in an unfamiliar room like a Barbie doll, wearing what was clearly someone else’s negligee, naturally letting this strange woman comb my hair?
Like many women, Maida Ren loved cute creatures. Her tastes aligned perfectly with Nia Serita, who adored dogs and cats, to the point that one of her main daily routines was feeding the local strays. Even while bearing the stigma of being a “cat mom,” she was the kind of person who could feel a small amount of pity for lives that would otherwise perish on the streets or, in many cases, end up eaten by people.
In that sense, the small girl before her struck her heart with perfect directness. It was so straightforward it almost felt like the prank of fate. The way her silk-like hair yielded without resistance to the comb felt unreal. The faint heartbeat transmitted through their lightly touching bodies was so precious that she wanted to protect her at all costs. It wasn’t a feeling between one person and another, but rather the sensation of caring for a pet. She felt none of the reasonable wariness one should have toward a stranger—enough to make such a leap in logic.
Just as few people feel threatened by a small trembling puppy or a newborn kitten, she simply wanted to protect her. She wanted to cherish her. Where the child had come from or what she intended to do didn’t matter. Since she had come to her, she should welcome her. The girl looked somehow anxious and fragile; she wanted to give her a place of rest.
The sight of her hair and clothes soaked in cold water had been pitiful, so she had even volunteered to help with the bath despite being unused to it. Thankfully, the girl had hesitated but ultimately followed along. She had trusted her(?) and entrusted her body to her. It might have been a somewhat distorted version of the truth, but that didn’t matter.
She must have been incredibly exhausted after having some of her mana forcibly absorbed earlier while Maida was cleaning the house. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to faint on the spot. And yet, the way she struggled to keep her eyes open, fighting the drowsiness while trying to maintain her guard, was unbearably adorable. The way she would widen her eyes, lightly bite her tongue, or poke her own cheek with the magic staff she had clung to like a treasure even during the bath—only to eventually fall asleep without fully realizing how tired she was. Every single action was both pitiable and lovable.
Not once did she feel annoyed or displeased. This was coming from someone who usually found even going out to buy her favorite lollipops bothersome and simply bought them by the box. Objectively speaking, this line of thinking was completely illogical. There was naturally a strong sense of dissonance. A normal person wouldn’t even be aware of that dissonance, but even while recognizing it, Maida Ren accepted the girl as she was.
Because—
‘Was she loved? Or was she hated? A ritual spell this powerful…’
It was only natural for her to feel that way about the girl. As natural as a living being breathing. In the girl’s world, it was quite literally a law of nature.
What clung to that small body was powerful magic. It was the kind of spell that could be called either a blessing or a curse. It was so incredibly complex and tenacious that no ordinary mage would even dare attempt to unravel it—an artifact created by a magician of unfathomable height.
With eyes that could see the flow of mana—a rare innate talent possessed by only a handful of mages—Maida could see the intricate patterns invisible to ordinary eyes engraved across the girl’s entire body.
“Is it a gain or a loss, I wonder? It seems like a gain for now… but it still looks dangerous.”
“Huh?”
After observing the girl’s behavior and attitude for a short time, Maida concluded that the child still didn’t fully understand the state of her own body.
“If I leave you alone, you’ll probably end up in quite a bit of danger. I’m sure a lot has already happened, hasn’t it?”
“───.”
The girl’s shoulders twitched. She glanced at her from the corner of her eye before lowering her gaze. Her lips pressed tightly together as she clenched her small hands, using what little returning strength she had. Just as I thought.
Clicking her tongue inwardly, Maida Ren reached out and placed her hand on the girl’s small head. The way her hair stuck up like antennae was cute, but this child really suited a neat and tidy look. As she fastened the white headband she had found after rummaging through Nia’s room, Maida continued thinking.
Once again, the spell cast on the girl was powerful and complex magic. Depending on who the target was, it could produce entirely different effects.
‘It’s been a while since something interesting happened.’
So Maida Ren smiled. It seemed a new wind was about to blow through this slowly dying village.
Maida Ren, the gray-haired woman, had said I looked like I was in danger. A surge of defiance rose in me at the condescending tone, and I wanted to argue, but since she wasn’t wrong, I couldn’t come up with a proper retort.
The countless gazes I had received from men ever since entering the village. It had felt like every inch of my body was being licked by sticky tongues. Just remembering it made me shudder. While I kept my mouth firmly shut, the woman—whose thoughts were completely unreadable—suddenly smiled brightly and held something out to me.
My strength still hadn’t fully returned, so I could only watch her movements with a sidelong glance. Then, before I knew it—huh?—something had been placed on my head.
“……A ribbon?”
“Yep. Cute, right? It really suits you.”
Maida added, without being asked, that it was something Nia had worn as a child, then held out a rather large hand mirror in front of me. It really was a large white ribbon. It was the kind of item most people would struggle to pull off; from a distance, it almost looked like it was imitating rabbit ears.
“…….”
Anyway, saying this might make me sound like a narcissist, but… my face really is pretty. I can finally understand why people kept calling me “Miss Doll?” right from the start. I’ll skip the detailed adjectives since they’re embarrassing. Anyway, it’s pretty. Anyway, it’s cute. There’s definitely something inhuman about it, but it doesn’t fall into the uncanny valley. It’s an artificial beauty meticulously calculated to appeal to human psychology. Perhaps that’s why it becomes absolute beauty.
The slight remnants of childishness in the face are a bit of a flaw, but for someone like me whose tastes lean toward mature women, it was actually a relief. Falling head over heels for my own face? Now that would make me a true narcissist.
“Do you like it?”
“……Ah, um… well…”
Objectively speaking, yes, I did like it. The reason I hesitated to answer was purely because my lingering male awareness was causing an internal conflict. If someone suddenly put a ribbon on an ordinary heterosexual man and told him, “Wow, you’re so cute! So pretty!” most would probably just tell them to knock it off out of embarrassment, right? What should I even call this feeling—pleasant yet somehow like I was committing a crime? A sense of immorality? No, that doesn’t feel quite right either.
It was right in the middle of that moment—when a single ribbon had thrown my entire sense of identity into confusion—that it happened.
“───Kroooaaar!”
The previously quiet interior of Nia’s house suddenly erupted into commotion. And then—
“──Dad! I told you not to enter my room without permission!”
The door to the unfamiliar room I had been staying in ever since leaving the bathroom burst open without courtesy. A tall figure appeared with a shout.
“Where is she?! Where is the gothic lolita girl───!”
It was a young man with a sports haircut, wearing a white coat like Maida, large frame ill-suited to his rimless glasses.
……Who the hell is this idiot?