[FMMISM] Chapter 26: Kuonji Alice

"Lost again... Goddammit, that pachinko machine at that place has to be rigged..."

At noon, Ragna returned from a pachinko parlor to the Sajyou residence, complaining about his bad luck.

However, as he arrived home, he noticed a cardboard box placed on the ground near the house's gate.

Despite the constant flow of passersby, it seemed like no one had noticed the box, just sitting there lonely beneath the Sajyou nameplate.

'Is this a package for Hiroki?'

For the members of the Sajyou family, it was well known that the head of the Sajyou family often ordered magical materials by mail, but usually the courier would knock and ask for the recipient to stamp it.

After gazing at the box for a while, Ragna crouched down in front of it.

Not only was there no recipient's stamp, there wasn't even a postage stamp on it.

Instead, it had only the sender's name—Kuonji Alice.

"Ahh, no wonder..."

Ragna immediately picked up the cardboard box and carried it inside.

He hurriedly locked his room door and proceeded straight to the point—opening the box.

Inside the cardboard box were a letter, several passbooks from overseas banks, and a delicately wrapped gift box tied with a white ribbon.

When Ragna looked at the letter, it was incredibly brief, barely two lines long.

—Your entrusted funds are all here, please verify.

—The box contains what was agreed upon previously.

It was as if adding an extra word would be a waste of time, reflecting the writer's composed style.

As soon as Ragna finished reading, the letter in his hand burst into flames and disappeared into ash within seconds.

Ignoring the passbooks, Ragna took out the gift box from the cardboard.

"Let's see what Miss Witch has prepared for me..."

Six months ago, Alice had promised to gift Ragna a 'Ploy', also known as 'Ploy Kickshaw', as a token of appreciation for helping her in the past.

In truth, Ragna hadn't thought much about it, but just when he was about to forget, the promised gift finally arrived.

Speaking of Ploy, normally, Alice's Ploy was unique in this world.

Her Ploy Kickshaw was a type of witchcraft found in fairy tales that used various familiars kneaded from fantasy usable only by her and driven by her witch bloodline.

However, Ragna was not a normal person, so it didn't matter.

Excitedly licking his lips, Ragna began to violently tear open the packaging.

"Is it Thames Troll? No... considering the size of the gift box, it's more likely to be Flat Snark."

What Ragna said was two legendary fairy-tale monsters created personally by the strongest witch who wielded the First Magic, possessing Mystery far surpassing modern magecraft.

In truth, Ragna never had any intention of using fairy-tale monster familiars for battle; he simply saw them as interesting toys. Even if it was a Ploy as strong as Servant that could fight Servants one-on-one, he had no intention of using it for combat.

Of course, these were thoughts he couldn't share with Alice.

Ragna opened the gift box and took out a peculiar ornament.

How should he describe this thing?

If you didn't know better, you would think it was an inorganic minion enemy from a low-budget JRPG, designed to save costs with its polygonal construction.

It was a hexagonal mirror in lapis lazuli color, surrounded by six smaller hexagonal mirrors, while on the outer corners of the smaller hexagons were decorative motifs.

"...What the heck is this?"

Ragna was someone who had played 'Witch on the Holy Knight', but he had no recollection of this Ploy sent by Alice.

Fortunately, there was an instruction manual inside the box.

...

[Name: Snow White]

...

"Snow... White... Snow White? Hmm, is it powerful?"

If the strength of a Ploy correlated with its fame, then undoubtedly, this would be one of the strongest Ploys.

With anticipation, Ragna continued reading.

...

[Components: First mistake]

[Effect: Summons a flurry of snow for several minutes]

...

"Huh? That's it?"

Ragna flipped over the instruction manual, intending to continue reading.

However, to his dismay, the other side was blank, indicating that was the end.

"It's utterly useless..."

Ragna sighed in frustration and tossed the instruction manual aside, feeling inexplicably disappointed.

Alice, did she actually think she could get away with this?

Several seconds later, Ragna looked at the discarded Ploy on the bed and suddenly smiled.

"I see now... Alice saw through my childish ideas long ago, huh..."

Alice knew all along that Ragna had no intention of using Ploy for combat, which was why she gave him a Ploy that couldn't fight at all.

Although it was useless, it was still her way of showing kindness.

Ragna got up from the edge of the bed and walked towards the living room.

In any case, he should call and thank her for it.

"Come to think of it, what does 'first mistake' mean?"

===

Unlike the international mega-city Tokyo and the vibrant medium-sized city of Fuyuki, Misaki was a slow-paced town.

In this small town, there was a haunted mansion situated on a hill.

A luxurious Western-style mansion spanning over a thousand square meters, surrounded by a spacious courtyard and functional auxiliary buildings, while tall iron fences encircle the courtyard, covered with lush vines and vegetation.

Even from several kilometers away, its luxurious and classical appearance could be felt, rumors of it being transported by air from England may indeed be true.

Being surrounded by various rumors and gossip was unavoidable.

It was definitely going to annoy people to build an unnatural mansion on a hill, disconnected from the townspeople.

On top of that, there were also rumors of a witch living in the mansion.

At this moment, on the staircase of the mansion's first floor, there was a girl who could be mistaken for a beautiful doll at first glance sitting on the steps.

She had short pure black hair, slender limbs, and porcelain-white skin untouched by the sun. A black home sweater paired with a black-patterned short skirt, her slender figure was seamlessly integrated.

If Manaka was the miraculous flower that shines even in the darkness, then she was the flower that blended in with the night.

Away from the world and self-absorbed, the girl leaned her head against the wooden railing of the stairs, her long black eyelashes closed tightly.

Her chest, in its initial development, rose and fell calmly as she peacefully enjoyed her nap.

Everything around her, even time itself, seemed to quietly slip into slumber with the girl, until—

Ring—Ring—Ring—

Suddenly, an old-fashioned telephone placed at the stair landing rudely shattered the absolute silence.

Its noisy ringing lasted for just a second.

As if anticipating the call beforehand, the girl closed her eyes and swiftly got up, reaching for the phone's receiver.

"..."

She held the receiver close to her face and slowly opened her eyes.

Her cold and distant eyes had the same color as her flowing hair—pure, jet black.

She gazed expressionlessly at the bright floor and spoke into the receiver.

"Hello, this is the Kuonji residence."

In the next moment, the bright voice of a boy came through the receiver.

As soon as the boy's voice resounded, emotions were suddenly injected into the doll-like face of Kuonji Alice, devoid of sorrow or joy, as if a princess awakened from slumber by a poisoned apple.