――――――― the perspective of Alice Codegtroyd―――――――

My name is Alice Codeg Troyd, not Megatron. I'm a magician, and my research topic is autonomic puppets and puppet manipulation, so many people in Gensokyo call me a seven-colored humanoid, and now I've encountered something that I don't know what to do......

As usual, I took Penglai and Shanghai to the heart of the Magic Forest to pick mushrooms. In the heart of the Forest of Magic, there is a mushroom with magical power called Mushroom Fetish, eating this mushroom can not only purify the magic power, enhance your own magic level, but also solve the problem of hunger, and the mushroom powder extracted from the Fetish mushroom is also a commonly used material in magic experiments, it is really a magic food that kills one stone. Marisa is particularly fond of these mushroom fetish, shredded mushrooms, mushroom chunks, fried mushrooms with mushroom strips, stewed mushrooms, grilled mushrooms, cold mushrooms, and mushroom soup...... These are all meals that can often be seen on the table of Marisa's family.

In addition, the Forest of Magic is filled with a miasma that excites magicians, and can improve the magic of those who want to become magicians. Especially in the heart of the Magical Forest, where the miasma is extremely strong, it is the best place for magicians to cultivate.

"Woo ......"

Just as I was trying to find the mushroom, a wolf howl suddenly sounded in my ears.

I suddenly had a spirit, strange, usually there are no wolves here, why is there a wolf demon cry today?

But it seemed to sound pretty good, and this strange thought popped into my head.

The sound of "woo woo...... seemed to be getting closer.

Wait, now isn't the time to wonder if it's good to howl a wolf, so let's go and see what's going on.

Thinking of this, I hurried towards the source of the sound. Well, the sound seems to be coming from the left.

……

The faint fog began to thicken and the trees looked pretty much the same, and eventually I got lost in the forest, walking around and not knowing where to turn.

"Woo ......"

Just when I was a little dazed, I suddenly heard a small whimper.

I subconsciously became vigilant, Shanghai and Penglai took out their weapons, and we cautiously walked in the direction from which the sound came.

I had only walked a short distance before I saw where the sound was coming from.

It was a black-haired girl dressed in a blue and white maid outfit, with a pink hair ornament on her head, and vines wrapped all over her body, and the girl's face was very depressed.

Of course, that's not the point, the point is the girl's current appearance, it seems that because of the vine bondage, the girl can't move, and the whole person is like a large caterpillar trying to squirm around on the ground in the forest full of soft leaves, rolling around, so cute. It also makes a whining sound from time to time.

That's how the sound came from.

After I walked in, I realized that this girl was a person I knew, a human who came to Gensokyo from the outside world - Hui Yi Jinyue.

What should I do......?

―――――――― third-person perspective――――――――

"Welcome, but haven't cleaned up much, you can be casual. "At this moment, it was a wonderful pleasure for Kinzuki to sit on the sofa in Alice Margot Royd's room in the Forest of Magic, and then watch Alice make tea for herself, but Kinzuki didn't have any special enjoyment......

After helping Kimyue untie the vines wrapped around her mouth and body, Alice lifted Kimyue up, and then took Konzuki to her home.

And this is Alice's cabin, but a young girl comes to her home with a large loli, which is a bit ...... (Near Month: Who is Lori, the soul is light!, and why is it used!).

But for Alice, there are more important things, after all, there are some things, even in Gensokyo, only the human from the outside world knows about it.

Just bring me a cup of black tea. Konzuki said to Alice.

"Okay, okay. "Shanghai and Penglai are responsible for making tea, and there are other dolls who are responsible for cleaning up.

But in this place, all the dolls are controlled by Alice, don't you feel a little tired......

"Then please use it. Shanghai handed the tea to Jinyue.

"Thank you. "To be honest, in terms of the art of making tea, it's still average.

Forget it, anyway, it's also inappropriate for people like me who don't understand the tea ceremony.

"Do you want to know how Shanghai and Penglai are self-aware?"

Looking at the near moon, Alice suddenly asked such a sentence without a head.

"Hmmm......"

Looking at Shanghai and Penglai floating beside Alice, Jinyue nodded and said, "I'm really interested, after all, I once wanted to make intelligent robots." ”

"Here's the thing......"

Taking a sip of tea, Alice said, "After listening to this story, I hope you can answer me a question......

――――――――I'm a memory killer――――――――

The Enchanted Forest is inhabited by two magicians, Marisa Misty Rain, known as a black-and-white magician, and Alice Margotroyd, a seven-colored humanoid.

As everyone calls her, Alice is very good at making and manipulating dolls.

Her goal is to one day be able to make self-disciplined dolls that can act autonomously, so in her house, in addition to the necessary daily necessities, there are only books and various dolls.

Being a humanoid allows Alice to use magic to manipulate the dolls as if they were truly conscious.

Anyone who has occasionally seen Alice manipulate dolls will be amazed, and even misunderstand that those dolls have life.

Of course, this is just a misunderstanding, and Alice, who is committed to creating self-discipline dolls, reacts to those exclamations with subtlety.

It is a matter of course that the humanoid is good at manipulating dolls, just as it is natural for ordinary people to eat and drink, and that kind of thing is not something to be happy about even if it is praised, because her dream should not be such a monologue performed by her own magic thread.

Whenever she is complimented, Alice works harder to focus on her research.

Living alone, Alice has been blinded by time, and the humanoid's research has continued to advance, and before she knows it, she has been able to create dolls with explosives, hair that can be lengthened, and flexible expressions, but the key autonomic puppets have not made any progress.

What does it take for the puppet to move?

As her skills in making dolls grew, Alice shifted her focus to the realm of the soul as her research progressed, and she began to experiment with new dolls.

Alice's confident attempts always end in failure, she can't make a puppet give birth to a soul by her strength alone, just capturing the soul and putting it into the puppet is a dependency or seal, that is just giving up the role of manipulating the puppet from herself to others, and it is not a self-discipline puppet at all.

Is it really impossible to make a self-discipline puppet?

Just when Alice was in a bottleneck, the unexpected happened.

An experimental accident caused most of Alice's room to be blown up, and although Alice herself was only slightly injured, the furniture and books in the house were of course not to mention, and even the dolls in the collection were all devastated, and only a few survived.

The puppets that survived the disaster were able to move on their own after Alice was infused with magic through the Magic Thread.

The surprise and joy she felt at that time is still vividly remembered now...... Like the powerlessness and despair that followed shortly thereafter, I remember it clearly.

That's where the dream begins, and it ends.

The puppets have a mind, can move, can listen, can learn, can think.

The self-discipline doll was born, and she succeeded.

But soon, Alice realizes that something is wrong.

Yes, the dolls move—by her magic, and only by hers.

She stopped supplying magic, and so did the dolls.

Yes, the puppets think about learning - in a limited amount of time.

Once they lose her magic, they revert to marionettes again.

These are not nothing, and in terms of the success of self-discipline dolls, it seems strange if there is no weakness of this level.

Since it's a puppet, that's normal, right?

When Alice, who was so self-comforting, injected the dolls with magic again after a night's sleep, she learned the fact that she almost couldn't get back up.

The puppets have no memory.

The things she taught, the things she said, who she was...... The puppets don't remember anything, and the dolls don't even know who they are, like a brand new blank sheet of paper.

However, only Alice herself knew, and the white paper was once full of her handwriting.

On that day, Alice did exactly the same thing as yesterday, spending the whole day teaching the dolls about the world.

After that, a week.

One month.

Alice repeats the same behavior all the time.

Until one day, after Alice was overwhelmed and unconscious by the non-stop magic because she didn't want to stop the supply of magic, she finally broke down when she woke up and saw the dolls on the ground who had fallen and moved in various positions.

She created self-discipline dolls, but only gave them a short life.

Every time a puppet is injected with magic power, a new life is created, and every time the output of magic is stopped, it is announced that a life is gone.

After that, Alice continued to do her research on her own, focusing harder and harder day after day, believing that one day, she would make a truly self-disciplined figure.

Soon after, an inadvertent turn finally made Alice's dream come true.

A few years ago, when Alice went to Rinnosuke's Korindo to buy doll materials, she found a book that had been placed in the depths of the bookcase.

Although it is a little dirty, the cover is still legible.

The Existence of Memory and the Self-Discipline of Life

It was as if the mind had been struck hard. Alice buys the book from Rinnosuke. I ran home and read it.

The connection between memory and life is explained in great detail in this book, from the self-discipline of life to the influence of memory, and the owner of this book writes in great detail.

And on the last page of the book, there are two strange crystals, which the owner of the book calls the life crystal.

Based on the book's owner's interpretation of the self-discipline of life and memory, Alice incorporated it into the making of the doll, embarking on a completely different path from what had been thought.

Keep reading, keep improving your ideas, and keep experimenting. Eventually, relying on these two crystals as the core material of the doll, Alice finally created a self-discipline doll in the true sense of the word.

The surprise and joy she felt at that time is still vividly remembered now......

When the last stroke of the magic array was finished, Shanghai and Penglai were finished, and when she opened her eyes, she could float in the air without the supply of Alice's magic power, Alice really didn't know what to do.

When it comes to self-discipline, she succeeds.

Alice spends the whole day teaching Shanghai and Penglai about the world.

When she went to bed at night, Alice was very nervous, and she wondered if Shanghai and Penglai would remember everything she had taught them when she woke up tomorrow, and if they would remember her.

Even if they forget about themselves, and the success of self-discipline puppets, even if this level of weakness still exists, it's nothing.

At least they don't need their own mana supply to act on their own.

Alice, who was so self-comforting, didn't say anything, but the expectant expression on her face and her trembling hands revealed her heart.

She hopes that Shanghai and Penglai will still remember her.

So, when she woke up the next day, when she saw Shanghai and Penglai, one with hot milk and the other with hot bread floating in front of her bed, Alice cried.

She succeeded.

She has created a true self-discipline puppet.

Shanghai and Penglai have the ability to think, move, listen, learn, and think. You don't need Alice's magic to supply you, and you won't forget the memories of the past.

Years of forgetting to sleep and eat are finally becoming a reality today.

A great sense of happiness enveloped Alice, and she finally couldn't hold back her tears.

Since then, Alice has been looking for the owner of the book entitled "The Existence of Memory and the Self-Discipline of Life".

If the owner of the book hadn't given her a hint, Alice would probably never have been able to make a true self-discipline doll.

However, the author of the book did not leave his name in the book, and Rinnosuke only picked it up by accident from Nameless Hill, and did not know who the owner of the book was.

―――――――― Memories Kill Ends―――――――――

Konzuki looked at Alice, and then said, "So Alice, what exactly do you want to ask me?"

"The book ......"

Taking out a magically guarded book from the bookshelf behind her, Alice carefully placed it on the table.

"This book is what I found from Rinnosuke's Korindo, and Rinnosuke was an external object that he picked up from Nameless Hill. ”

The Existence of Memory and the Self-Discipline of Life

"This book is supposed to be your outside world, do you know who the author of this book is?"

"Self-discipline ...... life" is very unfamiliar with this term in recent months, but Alice is very familiar with it, and what she pursues is originally the self-discipline of dolls.

But before self-discipline, it is necessary to form something called life, which should also be a very important thing.

And life......

It's not that there are similar stories about that kind of thing, but it seems very difficult to do it at this level.

"I don't know who the author of this book is. Jinyue said with some distress, "However, in the current outside world, there is nothing that can be called an autonomous life, even if it is an intelligent robot, it is just an inorganic matter made of various parts." ”

Of course, strictly speaking, the technology of recent months has nothing to do with Alice's self-discipline puppet, but who cares.

Anyway, as long as it can help, even a little help, then thank God.

Because people who can come to Gensokyo from the outside world and are safe and sound for so long and have some research on dolls are really rare, so rare that they are unique, so it can be said that in fact, there is really only one person in Gensokyo who meets Alice's conditions.

The arrival of the near moon brings a glimmer of hope to Alice, who is from the outside world, has the strength to protect herself in Gensokyo, and also has a certain understanding of dolls, maybe she will know something about the author of this book.

But his own technology and Alice's puppet can be said to be something that can't be beaten in eight lifetimes, even if Jinyue doesn't know much about dolls, it's also technology, and it has nothing to do with magic, what's the use......

In recent months, I also want to complain so much, of course, just thinking about it.

"That, Alice...... I'm just going to the Red Devil Pavilion......" Jinyue thought for a moment, and then said, "Why don't we go together?" maybe you can ask Pache about the origin of this book, and maybe she'll know." ”

"Yes, that squatting at home, in fact, I'm still very curious, after all, there are a lot of rare books in it......" Alice showed enough interest, which made Jinyue a little surprised, and thought that Alice was just a house girl with a gloomy personality, and she didn't reject going out......

"But forget it. Taking a sip of tea, Alice shook her head, "Isn't it true that I'm inferior to her in some way to ask that squatting at home?"

Jinyue was dumbfounded, if Alice refused to go to the Red Devil Pavilion with her, she wouldn't be able to bring a single piece of equipment with her, let alone go to the Red Devil Pavilion, and it would be a problem to go back to the shrine.

"Well, Alice, Reimu and Marisa have already gone to the Red Devil Pavilion......"

With a roll of his eyes, Konzuki suddenly had an idea, "If you don't go, then I'll have to go find Remy with Reimu and Marisa." ”

"Wait!"

Hearing Jinyue's words, Alice suddenly had a thrill, "Then I'm going too!"

"Well, then I'll take you there. Jinyue nodded

Nodding, very satisfied with this Alice: "Then please." ”

Before going out, Jinyue asked, "Alice, has anyone read this book except you?"

"Yes. ”

Nodding, Alice said, "There is another person who has also read this book." ”

"Why don't you go and ask that person, maybe she'll find out who the owner of the book is?"

Alice fell silent suddenly.

She looked at Jinyue, and that feeling instantly made Jinyue feel a little creepy, and that look seemed to be revealing something, which made people feel very cold, in short, it was very terrifying, almost suffocating......

"Well, did I say something wrong?" Near Moon looked at Alice in a cold sweat, and then asked cautiously.

"No, you didn't say anything wrong. Alice nodded, then said, "I'm not going to ask, though." ”

Well, it's obviously against my own opinion.

"Without further ado. Alice stood up suddenly, and then said, "Let's go to the Red Devil Pavilion, let's go." ”

"Hey, oh...... "Jinyue nodded quickly, and then stood up as well......

Sure enough, she was angry with Alice, and the performance was too obvious!

―――――― Red Devil Pavilion――――――

"It's about to start~"

Looking at the red thread on her hand, Remy said to herself with great interest, "Patsy, bear with me, your asthma will soon be cured." ”