150
Chapter 150
The Portal Square located on the 1st Floor of the Toy Dungeon.
At its center was the Duty Room, built without walls, using only four pillars and a roof.
"Gooom?!"
"Ehhhh!?"
"Oaaaah?!"
Everyone's surprised voices rang out.
The cause was none other than the Princess Doll, who previously couldn't speak, making a voice.
Wait... what was going on all of a sudden?
Was our Princess Doll finally able to speak?
"Oa, oaaah...?"
The Princess Doll herself looked surprised as well.
"I thought you said you couldn't speak...?"
"Oaaah, oa... oaaah...!"
The words she had been thinking internally naturally popped out of her mouth.
She subconsciously let out a voice as if being able to speak was the most natural thing in the world.
I had no idea what was happening.
Flustered, the Princess Doll babbled, roughly spitting out words like the ones above.
"Gom, gomgomgom... gomgom."
Staring blankly at the Princess Doll, I slowly lowered my head.
And looking down at the piece of Pumpkin in my hand, I thought.
Maybe.......
This was the consumption effect of the Pumpkin...?
She was able to speak after swallowing the piece of Pumpkin.
While there was a possibility she acquired the skill through some other trigger like achieving a milestone, it was currently most plausible to assume she learned the Language Skill thanks to the Pumpkin.
Because the chances of it just being a coincidental timing were very low.
Hmm.
Then, assuming it was indeed thanks to the Pumpkin, I could conclude that this Pumpkin only granted the Language Skill to those who consumed it without already possessing the Language Skill.
In the case where one already possessed the Language Skill.
It would have no effect upon consumption.
That must be why the Scarecrow had asserted that this Pumpkin had no consumption effect.
Since the Scarecrow could already speak, naturally no changes occurred when he ate the Pumpkin.
The same went for me and the White Spider.
"Gomgom, gomgomgom!"
Anyway, congratulations!
You can understand me now, right?
"...Oa, oa!"
Nod, nod.
The Princess Doll answered, bobbing her head.
Her face looked as if she was amazed she could understand my words.
"I congratulate you too...!"
"Oa!"
Ailee would fall over in shock if she woke up and saw the Princess Doll speaking.
I was really looking forward to the morning.
***
"Oa, oaaah."
"Wow... really...?"
"Oaaah, oa!"
"Hehehe... how fun...."
The Princess Doll who could now speak.
As if relieving all her pent-up frustration from before, she chatted non-stop with the White Spider.
"Gomgomgom, gomgomgom, gomgomgomgom."
Our Princess Doll was quite the chatterbox.
How on earth did you hold it in all this time?
Your mouth must have been itching to speak.
When I said that with a pleased expression,
"Oa? Oaaah, oaaah, oaaaaaaah."
Huh? I'm not usually the talkative type.
I'm just talking a lot now because I'm excited.
The Princess Doll answered as such.
"Oaaah, oaaaaaaah, oaaah."
And it's also more comfortable to talk because my conversational partner is a monster.
Even though my personality has changed a lot compared to the past, I don't think I could talk this comfortably with a Human yet.
The Princess Doll added.
Hmm? What was she talking about now?
Anyone hearing that would think she had lived a very long time and used to be able to speak.
How do you know if you're a chatterbox or the quiet type?
You just spoke for the first time today.
And it hasn't even been a year since you were born, kid.
.......
Wait, hold on a second.
I overlooked one fact.
What if the Princess Doll was a Reincarnator like me?
If so, the contradiction in what she just said disappears.
Seeing her say things like that, the probability of her being a Reincarnator goes way up.
"Gom...."
Was the Princess Doll a Reincarnator or not?
It was a question I had wanted to ask for a long time.
I was planning to ask her casually when we were alone, once she could speak and converse without Interpretation.
Of course,
I intended to ask carefully, keeping it within a line that wouldn't burden her.
Even if she was a Reincarnator, she might be reluctant to talk about her past life.
Anyway, since it came to mind, I should just ask now.
Just as I was about to open my mouth.
The White Spider, who was chatting with the Princess Doll, caught my eye.
Oops.
The White Spider is here right now, isn't she?
We weren't alone.
What should I do about this.
Should I ask the White Spider to give us a moment alone?
Just as I was thinking that.
The Princess Doll suddenly stopped chatting and whipped her head toward me with a face that looked like she remembered something.
"Oa! Oaaah, oa, oaaah."
Right!
I forgot for a moment because I was excited, but actually, there was something I wanted to ask you all this time.
The Princess Doll said.
Huh? You had something you wanted to ask too?
Before I could even ask what it was, the Princess Doll continued.
"Oa... oaaah?"
By any chance... are you a Reincarnator too?
She asked first.
The exact question I had been thinking of giving her.
...Wow, she just came right in with it.
Making me a little flustered.
At least give a turn signal before cutting in like that.
Anyway....
I don't really need to ask.
Because it's clear now.
Are you a Reincarnator?
─Rather than that, are you a Reincarnator too?
Asking it like this meant that she was a Reincarnator herself.
***
In the end, we spilled the secret with the White Spider present.
The Princess Doll and me.
We shared the fact that we were both Reincarnators.
Well, it shouldn't matter.
It's not like it's a secret that must never be discovered or hidden away tightly.
And it's not like we'd suffer any harm just because the White Spider knew this fact.
The reason I hadn't leaked the fact that I was a Reincarnator to the others until now was simple.
It was just because I didn't think there was any particular benefit to revealing it.
"I-I'm surprised... You two were also Reincarnators like me... I'm so glad to meet you...!"
The White Spider said, covering her mouth with her legs.
Hey now, we aren't exactly like you, kid.
I came from another world.
In reality, you were closer to Resurrection than Reincarnation.
"Did you two also just find out today that you're both Reincarnators...?"
"Gomgom, gomgom."
Of course.
What were you listening to just now?
"I see... Anyway, it's really fascinating... To think three Reincarnators are gathered together like this...."
White Spider.
I told you not to butt in.
Your Reincarnation and the Black Fox's don't count.
I swallowed the above thoughts internally.
It feels wrong to rain on her parade when she's rejoicing like that.
Our Reincarnation is strictly different, but I should just let her feel a sense of kinship to her heart's content.
She might be sad if I leave her out.
More importantly, the Princess Doll probably came from another world too, right?
I immediately asked her.
If the place she lived in her past life was another world.
"Gomgom, gomgomgom?"
"Oaaah, oa! Oaaaaah!"
"Gom, gomgom...?"
"Oaaah, oa!"
What? Really?
I heard a surprising fact.
The Princess Doll's hometown... no, the place she lived in her past life was Earth.
She was from the same world as me.
"Where is Earth...?"
Surely it wasn't a different Earth, right?
Just a planet with the same name by coincidence, or perhaps a parallel universe?
"Oaaah, oa?"
The Princess Doll asked me like this.
You're from Earth too, right?
"...Gomgom, gomgomgom?"
"Oa, oaaaaah. Oaaah."
Right. How did you know?
When I asked that back, she said she guessed it after seeing me do the Zero Two Dance before.
To think she knew the Zero Two Dance.
The probability of us being from the same Earth just went up.
Of course, I couldn't rule out the possibility of an Earth that had a similar cultural development to the one I lived on.
Like a parallel universe, as mentioned before.
Although I didn't know if parallel universes actually existed.
...Whatever, let's not overthink this.
I should just assume we're from the same Earth.
It's easier that way.
There's a limit to comparing our memories, anyway.
How are your memories of your past life?
I had asked her this question too, but she said they weren't completely intact.
I heard she had lost quite a few memories.
It seemed her memories of her past life only surfaced vaguely, just like mine.
"Gomgom, gomgomgomgomgom......."
To think there was a fellow countryman so close by.
I muttered.
It wasn't completely certain, and we were monsters now rather than humans, but still.
I suddenly felt an internal sense of closeness.
It wasn't because we shared a secret, but because there was a very high chance we were from the same world.
On top of that, it seemed our birthdates were roughly similar too.
With a high probability.
We were fellow countrymen who miraculously met in an unfamiliar world.
Just knowing this one fact made it feel like we could trust and rely on each other even more than before.
"To think you two crossed over from the same world... This must be destiny...."
"Oaaah, oa."
The Princess Doll suddenly stared at me intently.
Soon, she spoke with a relieved expression.
"Oa, oaaaaah, oa!"
"Gom?"
"Oaaaaah, oaaah, oaaaaaaah!"
"Gomgom, gomgom."
I see.
That's a relief.
The Princess Doll said.
She was a human in her past life.
However, she terribly despised her own kind, humans.
So she had been worried.
She feared that if she found out you, the Teddy Bear, were from Earth, the nightmares of her past life would resurface and cause her to distance herself. If you were from Earth and even knew the Zero Two Dance, you would have definitely been a human.
She felt nothing looking at the humans of this world,
but wouldn't a human from Earth feel different?
That had been a needless worry.
Even looking at you now, she felt perfectly fine.
In fact, she only felt glad.
─This was the story the Princess Doll told.
"Oa, oaaah, oa!"
Smiling brightly.
The Princess Doll reached out her hand.
Asking me to take care of her once again going forward.
Suggesting we get along well as fellow Reincarnators.
It was a handshake offered not as a Princess Doll, but as a Reincarnator.
"Gomgomgom, gomgom."
I grasped the Princess Doll's hand.
Yeah, let's trust and rely on each other even more from now on.
"Sounds good... Let's all do our best together...! As fellow Reincarnators...!"
Plop.
The White Spider also rested her leg on top of our hands.
Sigh, I'll just let you join in too.
***
Regarding our past lives.
Regarding Earth.
I planned to refrain from sharing deeper stories.
Because even from hearing just a little, it seemed the Princess Doll's past life hadn't been smooth sailing.
She would surely be reluctant to drag out memories of her past life.
I had thought so, but I was wrong.
"Oaaah, oaaah."
"Gomgom, gomgomgom."
"Oa, oa!"
"Gomgomgom, gom."
She really loved talking about Earth.
This from the kid who was just talking about nightmares.
The Princess Doll's particularly favorite subjects were anime and games.
Do you know such-and-such anime?
Do you know such-and-such game?
She kept throwing these questions endlessly.
Fascinatingly, I did remember a few of them.
When I said I thought I knew it, the Princess Doll would get very excited and focus intensely on talking about that game or anime.
Our Princess Doll.
You were an Otaku in your past life, weren't you?
After finally finishing her long-winded story, the Princess Doll smiled beamingly and said.
"Oaaah, oaaaaah, oaaaaaaah."
It's fun talking about this kind of stuff.
I originally wanted to forget the memories of my past life, but thinking about it now, I want to keep these happy memories and cherish them for a long time.
Then the White Spider interjected.
"If it's a memory you don't want to lose, it would be best to recall it frequently... If time passes while you forget your precious memories for a while, you'll naturally end up forgetting all of those precious memories without even realizing it... If you don't constantly ruminate on your past life's memories, at some point, you might only remember things like your name or gender...? Like mee...."
Why does that White Spider keep pretending to know so much?
You just Reincarnated for the first time earlier, you little rascal.
Someone seeing this would think you had Reincarnated before.
Her memories are perfectly fine, yet she keeps spouting nonsense.
"Oa, oaaah."
"Hehehe... That's right... Please hold onto your precious memories tightly...."
"Oa!"
The Princess Doll nodded vigorously with a determined face.
Do you really not want to lose those memories that much?
You were a true Otaku....
"Oa."
Whoosh, the Princess Doll shifted her gaze to me.
"Oaaah, oaaaaah, oa?"
Come to think of it.
From our conversation, it seems you're from South Korea.
I haven't asked for your past life's name yet, Teddy Bear?
─She said.
"Gom? Gomgomgom?"
Name?
Why are you suddenly curious about my past life's name?
"Oaaah, oaaaaaaah, oaaaaah?"
Partly just because I'm curious.
And because I thought knowing each other's past life names, if nothing else, might create a deeper sense of intimacy.
"Gom......."
Hmm.......
Well, I suppose it doesn't matter.
"Gomgomgom gomgomgomgomgom."
Alright, then let's at least tell each other our past life names.
When I said that, the two in front of me nodded.
"Oa!"
"Sounds good...!"
White Spider.
Do you want a smack on the head?
What sounds good?
You don't even have a past life name.
Are you going to say Fantastic Spider?
I stared at the White Spider with an absurd expression before shifting my gaze back to the Princess Doll.
But who should go first?
Should I say it first?
"......."
"......."
"......."
Blink, blink.
Staring at the Princess Doll, I told her my name.
"Gomgom, gomgomgomgomgom."
"Oa, oaaaaah."
"My name was probably Yulia Seraphim...."
At the same time, the Princess Doll and the White Spider also opened their mouths.
Because our words perfectly overlapped, I couldn't hear who said what.