Chapter 11 The Nefarious Man-Eating Tiger

The Lost One in Alice's Garden

ARC 02 Clover Forest

Chapter 11 The Nefarious Man-Eating Tiger

The Alice has a scornful look on her face, standing still in front of a wild creature that has a predatory gaze directed towards her.

'A huge white tiger with black stripes, with heterochromatic orbs consisting of red and yellow colors. The tiger that can definitely eat people whole... 'I'm fucked, no doubt.'

She wonders if this is the nefarious man-eating tiger that everyone is talking about. Does she have incredibly bad luck? Why does she have to meet this beast when she's alone?

"it's more interesting!" Cheshire's voice resounds in her ears.

The girl who rejects the name Alice takes a step back, trying to increase her distance from the white tiger; but the creature steps forward, keeping their distance the same.

It's targeting her, no doubt. She wonders if this tiger is so hungry that it will devour her whole.

Well, it wouldn't be called a "man-eating tiger" for nothing.

One step back, one step forward; one step back, one step forward.

She would step back; it would step forward.

The tiger has already locked its sight on the prey and doesn't have any intention of letting it escape.

Step backward, step forward.

It's like they are joking with each other.

She must run, but her feet are obviously slower against the speed of this carnivore. The Alice curses under her breath.

"What a filthy mouth you have there, Kitten~," chimes a familiar voice in her ears, bringing sudden shock and sending chills down her neck.

The Eleventh Alice felt something wrap around her tummy, and suddenly she was lifted; accurately speaking, she was pulled back by the thing that wrapped around her. Upon landing on one of the trunks, she found herself sitting in front of the person she'd lost just earlier.

"Hi~." Relief is just a fleeting moment, as annoyance rises towards the man behind her. "You seem to have lured another weird creature, Kitten!" Cheshire grinned with a sweet voice. She's kind of puzzled, questioning the cat's presence. "Hmm? We're going to stick with you for a while, so don't run off like that again," Cheshire declares, tapping his fingertip into her nose tip.

"We?" Cheshire nodded before directing his gaze below them; Alice follows his lead.

On the ground is a huge white tiger, growling at the familiar man standing in front of it. The nefarious white tiger lunges toward Hatter with its claws out, ready to slash him. Hatter jumps back with his hands shoved in his pockets, wearing a proud smirk. It growls after landing on nothing but the ground. It locks its gaze on Hatter before it dashes toward him, attacking him again.

Hatter, at the same time, made a half spin and sent a powerful kick towards the tiger. The creature flew back and hit a tree; it slid down and shook its head, then dashed again, but Hatter was able to dodge the attack only by an inch and almost lost his shoulder. Both adults were amazed by this, which caused a smirk to appear again on Hatter's face.

"Those claws can pierce anything, so please go and die, Hatter!"

Hatter clicked his tongue at the ridiculous request from the cat.

'Such cruel words—' the eleventh Alice only thought as her eyes narrowed. Do they really hate each other that much? The answer she always had was: no, for what reason she still didn't know.

"Not gonna help Hatter?"

"No!" Cheshire high-pitchedly dejected, "I hate pain!"

'Fuck!' It took so much effort to keep herself from saying this curse to him.

As the fight between the man and the beast continues, the nameless one feels a slight trembling in her stomach; definitely, she's not hungry. Only sighs can escape her lips.

The nameless maiden feels a slight earthquake—wait, no, this isn't an earthquake; this is Hatter holding the tree that, for some reason, starts to shake. The confusion on her face has changed into utter shock as the man single-handedly pulls the big tree where she and Cheshire are. An irritated 'tch' comes from behind her.

"Show off!" Cheshire comments irritably before he jumps to another tree, bringing her with him. From there, Nameless has wide eyes as she witnesses Hatter successfully lift the tree with its roots with one hand.

"Try to lose some weight, Cheshire!"

"Shut up! I'm not alone!"

"Knew that! But she's light as a feather, unlike you! Can you hide your weight too?"

"Aah, ah~ can't hear you!"

'She loses for the first time,' she comments while wearing an awkward smile and narrow eyes.

Hatter swings the tree at the beast.

Again, she hears the clicking of a tongue behind her. Cheshire jumps into the air at the same time Hatter accidentally hits the trees around them, creating a hemispherical battle ring for the man and beast.

Cheshire jumps back and settles at the least safe tree away from the two. The girl has been noticing this ever since the battle started: an orange aura that coats Hatter.

"Hey, what's that light on Hatter?"

"Hmm? Oh, that! Somehow, every time he uses his ability, that aura becomes visible."

"Ability?"

"Yeah."

"He has an ability?"

"Not just him; I and some other people also have abilities. Well, we have different abilities."

"What's yours?"

"Hmm? Isn't it obvious? It's invisibility. We're actually invisible right now."

"Hmm... I see." That's why Hatter acts as if he isn't seeing them. "Hey, is shapeshifting also possible here?"

"Yeah. That's Bandersnatch's ability."

"Bandersnatch?" Cheshire nodded and pointed to the tiger below. "That's Bandersnatch, also known as a man-eating tiger."

If it's true that shape-shifting is possible, then this nefarious man-eating tiger might be...

Out of nowhere, and at a definitely wrong time, she remembers her dream about the orphaned young boy who was suffering at the hands of a man. The girl wanted to hold him, hug him while he was crying his heart out; she wanted to calm him down and pull him away from that place.

Staying with Cheshire and letting Hatter continue to fight the beast wouldn't make any progress in her search. So what's the best way to proceed? It's the most ridiculous and dangerous action she has ever taken since awakening in this world.

"OI!" Cheshire's scream was filled with shock that could be heard throughout the area.

"You—" Hatter had wide eyes while his fist almost met the back of the shorter girl's head.

Bandersnatch growled at her interference.

Between the beast and man stands a girl who is actually trembling in anticipation of being eaten or beaten. Still, she stands tall and has her arms spread wide.

It's a question for everyone: what is she thinking?

"Did she finally lose her screws?" Cheshire could only think while making himself visible. His tail swings in anxiety caused by the girl.

"Yo—" She finds her voice stuck in her throat, as nervousness has a party inside her. Forming her hands into fists to stop the trembling, yet it doesn't work. She brings down her arms, heaves a deep breath, and then breathes it out instead. "Yo—you are White, aren't you?" It takes so many attempts before she finally gets her voice out.

As if in response, the beast growls low, taking a step back.

"Its fine, we won't hurt you," the girl has a gentle smile on her face, taking a step towards it. The white tiger growls loudly at her before stepping back. "I just wanna talk to you." The situation has now reversed to their earlier one before Hatter and Cheshire saved the day.

"What the fuck were you doing?!" Hatter growls at her, but she ignores him and continues persuading the tiger.

"Shut up, Little Fairy," Cheshire scowls at him in a whisper. Hatter can only click his tongue in annoyance. He's been enjoying his fight with the tiger too.

The next thing they both witness that shocks and catches them off guard is she sits on her knees, completely defenseless in front of the beast.

"Don't mind these two dorks!" she jabs her thumb towards Cheshire and Hatter, assuring the beast after realising that it is uptight because of the two behind her.

"Wha—"

"They won't attack you as long as you don't attack us," she heaved a sigh when the beast didn't relax. "Right now, they just like you; they are afraid that you will attack us. So relax and let's talk."

The beast hesitantly steps forward. Stepping its paws one by one, little by little, it moves forward, hesitating yet no longer aggressive, alert but anxious. Still, the nefarious man-eating tiger, Bandersnatch, gets near to the girl.

It is a lie if she says that she's not scared. She would definitely curse anyone who claims she isn't scared at all.

It's too risky.

All of them knew that, though it is questionable whether this man-eating tiger knew how reckless she had been.

Everyone is anxious and on guard, watching the dangerous white tiger that stops right in front of their only girl, facing her eye to eye.

Cheshire extends his hand to grab her collar, while Hatter is ready to kick the ground to jump. Both stop, though, as soon as they see that the nefarious man-eating tiger has collapsed in her lap—no, rather than "collapsed," it is better to say "fallen."

They blink in confusion and shock.