A Tense Ride and a Talking Doll

“So strong… Ow!”

One moment, Chloe was marveling at Tia’s formidable prowess; the next, her ear was seized, and she was lifted into the air.

“Who told you to run so fast? If I hadn’t arrived, you’d be missing a few pieces!” Tia’s face was grim, her entire countenance as frigid as ice. The palpable, suppressed emotions seemed to chill the very air around them.

“Hehe… I’m sorry! At least I’m perfectly fine now, aren’t I?” Chloe gazed pitifully at Tia, a flicker of surprise within her.

Could she possibly be worried about me?

Impossible. Tia would gladly trade Chloe’s life to bring Yilan back; what reason would she have to care?

“Hmph!”

Releasing her grip with a huff of displeasure, Tia glared down at Chloe, who had plopped onto the ground. This knack for shrugging off even the most dire situations in mere moments was truly infuriating. Such a person would never acknowledge their mistakes, only ever bringing trouble to others with their inexplicable optimism.

“She insisted on bringing me here to learn close combat, and now that things almost went wrong, she’s blaming me? Hmph!”

“Let’s just head back first.”

“Where to?”

“To the car, to see a doctor.”

The atmosphere in the car once again descended into a thick silence.

Chloe firmly believed the recent incident wasn’t her fault; at most, it was an accident. How could Tia possibly direct her anger at her? She turned her head, staring out the window, unwilling to catch even a glimpse of Tia. Just seeing her is irritating!

Time trickled by. No exchange occurred between them, yet it felt as if they were locked in an unending standoff. After an indeterminate amount of time, Tia was the first to break the tense stalemate.

“I can overlook the mistake you made this time, but everything I do is for your safety. My anger isn’t because you were disobedient, but because you don’t value your own life.”

Chloe listened silently, her eyes still fixed on the view outside.

“In close-quarters combat, don’t always think about creating distance from the enemy, and don’t rely on surprise attacks based on reaction time. All you can do is meet the enemy’s attack head-on and launch a counter-attack beforehand, just as I did earlier. It sounds risky, but as someone unskilled in close combat, you’re already in grave danger the moment an enemy closes in. If their strength isn’t significantly inferior to yours, they won’t let you escape easily. In such moments, only a daring approach can seize an opportunity.”

Regardless of whether Chloe was listening, Tia continued to ramble on, a veritable torrent of words spilling forth as if a long-held dam had suddenly burst.

“Alright, alright! Why have you become as nagging as my sister? Can’t you go back to being that aloof young woman from before, Master~” Chloe impatiently covered her ears, shaking her head, her two pigtails flapping against the car window.

Hearing the term ‘Master,’ Tia fell silent, momentarily unsure how to respond.

“I’ll teach you a lesson when we get back.”

After delivering this harsh warning, Tia concentrated on her driving, saying nothing more.

“Oh, I’m so scared!”

Had this been before, Chloe might have been genuinely terrified, but now, for some reason, Tia’s harsh words didn’t sound quite so menacing. Was it because she had grown accustomed to them? Or had Tia truly become less volatile than before?

Chloe slipped off her small leather shoes, revealing her fragrant little feet, pink-tinged white like peeled lychees. She pulled her legs onto the seat, curling into a ball with her arms wrapped around her knees.

“Mmmph~”

Chloe couldn’t help but emit a strange, relaxed sound; the posture was incredibly comfortable. She had once, out of curiosity, searched online for why some people liked to hug their knees while sitting. Many answers suggested it was due to a ‘lack of security.’

A joke! Lack of security? How could I not know myself!? Online information, it seemed, was truly unreliable.

Another advantage of this posture was the ability to rest her head on her own knees. Chloe now lay like this, head tilted, gazing at Tia’s back in the driver’s seat. Tia wasn’t actually much older; it was just her previously assertive actions that had sculpted her image in Chloe’s mind into that of a mature woman who enjoyed ‘peculiar play.’ In reality, she was simply a youthful maiden.

But how had she become so mature? Chloe could only attribute the answer to Magical Girls. They bore such heavy responsibilities at a young age—Tia even held significant prestige among them, didn’t she? Did this imply she had joined the Magical Girls very early on? What would she have been like, had it not been for Yilan’s incident? Chloe grew increasingly curious about Tia, desiring to learn more about her. Given their current relationship, however, that seemed a difficult feat.

Yet, hadn’t they already made significant progress compared to the beginning? Perhaps continuing to interact would eventually make it possible. Though Chloe didn’t understand why Tia’s temperament seemed to have drastically shifted recently, thankfully, the change was for the better. Her mental state had clearly improved, which was indeed cause for celebration.

“You agree, don’t you, Papertreat?”

Chloe picked up Papertreat, dusting off the grime. The doll had gotten quite dirty from rolling around in the unfinished building earlier.

“Exactly! As long as Master maintains this way of interacting, you should soon be able to enter Tia’s heart, right!”

“Eh!”

Chloe rubbed her eyes in disbelief; she had just seen Papertreat open its mouth and speak. The stitched mouth formed by threads moved, opening and closing as if it had come to life.

“Papertreat, you can talk?” A doll that could speak—it was truly unheard of! Chloe stealthily tucked Papertreat into her embrace, sneaking a glance at Tia to ensure she hadn’t noticed.

“What’s so strange about me talking? Isn’t it normal for foxes to talk?”

“Of course… it’s strange! You’re a doll, not a fox!”

“If you consider me a doll, then why were you talking to me before?”

“Because… because…” Chloe found herself unable to articulate a reason. At the time, she had simply had a feeling that if she spoke to Papertreat, it would understand and sometimes even respond. So she had spoken, seemingly without any particular rationale.

Having someone who could listen and offer advice was something Chloe wholeheartedly welcomed. As for the fact that it was merely a doll, that thought had long since been cast aside.