The Story Reaches a Dead End Again

"Whatever… Listen, if you let me pass now, I shall forgive you."

"I can't," the girl in nun's outfit replied. 

"Why is that?"

"I can't."

"Well, you sure are cheeky for a lower ringer filth. But exceptionally, I will forgive you for that too. Now, bring me my grimoire, will you?"

"What is a grimoire?"

"I am talking about—"

"Oh, that little book of yours."

"Yes. Can you give it to me?"

"I can't."

"..."

This conversation wasn't going anywhere. She should not have expected anything from a low level filth anyway. That girl was just a doll, a collection of meat and bones that just happened to look human. Dolls were brainless creatures so, in order to keep them under control, they had to abide by rules fixed by the society. And the first and most important of those rules was…

 "'A doll must always obey its master's orders', right? That means you should listen to my orders! Now, give me my grimoire! Oh, and don't forget about clothes!"

"You are not my master," The girl in nun's outfit almost instantly replied, slightly annoying her interlocutor.

"(Good grief. Lower ring's dolls are even dumber than I thought...) You don't seem to understand so allow me to present myself! My name is—"

"Alexandra B.B. Wolf, 9th of the name. A bibliomancer of the prestigious Wolf household… was it?"

"That… That ability of yours is troublesome, but if it means that I don't have to explain everything…"

"You are not my master."

Alexandra frowned, "What don't you get, you filthy lower ringer? I am a bibliomancer of the prestigious Wolf household! Do you understand now? I am everyone's master here!"

The girl tilted her head, "Everyone's? Does that mean you are Master's master?"

"Good, good! You are not so dumb after all! Since I am your master's master, that means I am your master too and since I am your master, you have to obey my orders!"

"But since Master isn't my master yet, that means you are not my master yet either. And if you are not my master yet, that means I don't have to obey your orders."

"... What?"

"But then, if Master is not my master yet, that means I have no master and if I have no master, that means you are my master, so I have to obey your orders."

"W-Well it is good you understand, but—"

"But then again, if you are my master and I don't obey your orders something should happen to me. For instance if I said 'I won't obey you' something should happen and yet, nothing happened meaning you are not my master."

At that moment, Alexandra lost all composure and yelled at the girl like one would yell at a dog.

"Shut up!!! Just do what as I say, you filthy lower ringer!!! Who do you think you are, refusing one of my orders?!! I am a bibliomancer, you hear?!! A bibliomancer!!! I have way more value than any of you useless lower ringers, especially more than a piece of trash like you!!! I can't believe it!!! I do you the honor of asking something out of a filthy thing like yourself, but you dare to refuse?!! Who even allowed you to think?!! Piece of trash like you should just obey like the mindless brute you are!!!"

Alexandra pointed to the ground in front of her, "Now, grovel and beg for mercy!!! Beg so that I can begin to—"

Alexandra received a violent slap on her left cheek. She fell backwards, startled by the sudden pain coming from her face. She touched her cheek with her hand as if to verify if the burning sensation on it was real or not. More importantly, she couldn't understand what just happened – did a doll just slapped her?

"You sure talk a lot," the girl in nun's outfit noted.

"Hmph! Is that it then? All you brutes know about is violence! Did it feel good hitting me? You must have felt good, huh?! Laugh while you still can! When I get out of here and find my grimoire, you are going to regret what you just did! I will make you—"

Alexandra received another violent slap on the right cheek. This time, the shock sent her straight to the floor. Getting up, she glared at the girl who was still standing in front of her, expressionless.

"A certain person once said that, if someone hits one of your cheeks, you should offer the other one. That is why, if I only hit one of your cheeks, it would be unfair, wouldn't it?"

"Why you! You… You dare to humiliate me?! Just wait until I—"

"That's two times."

"Huh?"

"I hit you two times, and I received no warning or penalty. If you were my master, I would have received a penalty. If you were a human, I would have received a warning. So, what are you, marshmallow girl?"

Alexandra frowned and clenched her teeth, "Does this please you? Do you enjoy humiliating me with that ability of yours? Must be useful to read into others minds, right? Are you not ashamed of yourself? You can infiltrate others' privacy and exploit their weaknesses. Does this amuse you? I guess it does, doesn't it? You filthy doll!"

"But you are not even that, are you?"

"..."

Alexandra slowly got up and slapped the girl on the left cheek out of anger. The girl's face only moved to the side because of the violence of the hit, but nothing else.

"That hurts."

"Like I care!!!"

Alexandra pushed the girl to the side. She was already fed up with this. If necessary she would what she had to herself. She never counted on dolls and it wouldn't start now. First, she had to get out of here, and find her grimoire, then she could continue her mission. 

"Wait."

Alexandra felt something cold against her throat. It was a straight silver knife held by the girl's bandaged right arm behind her. 

Alexandra glared at her past her shoulder, "What do you think you are doing, you filth?"

"I am Master's doll. My name is Shogo. She healed you and asked me to keep you in this room until she comes back. If you interfere with my mission, I will have to hurt you."

"Hah?! Do you think—"

"Oh. My hand slipped."

Shogo sliced Alexandra's throat. 

Without even understanding what was going on, Alexandra kneeled on the wooden floor. She held throat from which blood was gushing like a fountain. 

"(Slipped?! How can its hand 'slip' this much?! It totally intended this, didn't it?!)"

"My hand slipped," Shogo repeated.

Alexandra fell on the ground. There was a sharp pain in her neck. She couldn't prevent her blood from exiting her body at tremendous speed. She couldn't talk anymore. Her heart started beating faster. Her skin turned colder. Her heart began beating even faster. She started to lose consciousness. No it was her eyes blacking out on their own. Her throat started hurting less. This time, she was truly losing consciousness. Her blood was hot. Her skin turned slightly paler. 

She was dying...

She was dying without being able to do anything about it...

She was dying without accomplishing anything...

She was dying without even fully understanding why...

No, she wasn't dying anymore …

Alexandra was already dead.