"The Big Bad Wolf?! Why are you here? Weren't you tad after eating Tohka's taming peach?"
"Kuhehe—"
Seeing the surprised expressions of Shido and the others, the Big Bad Wolf stuck out its tongue, licked its lips, and let out a low chuckle.
"What naive little lambs. Did you think I would be tad so simply? That kind of peach—was digested into feces and excreted long ago!"
"That's possible!?"
Shido roasted with a dumbfounded face.
"Hmph—It's just a beast that hasn't learned its lesson. Tohka-chan, give him another peach!"
"Umu! Take this!"
Nia readied her handguns and said disdainfully. Tohka, as if responding to her, took a peach from her waist pouch and threw it towards the Big Bad Wolf's wide-open maw.
However, the dumpling that was about to fly into the Big Bad Wolf's mouth suddenly stopped in mid-air.
"Wh... !?"
"Kakaka—Wolf, carelessness leads to big losses, you know!"
Accompanied by a sinister, wicked laugh, a magic circle suddenly appeared beside the Big Bad Wolf. A flat-nosed old hag wearing black clothes slowly walked out from it and crushed the dumpling Tohka threw.
"Kuh—You are the Witch of the Forest who attempted to imprison earlier!"
"Surprise. The old woman from the candy house."
After having her identity pointed out by the Yamai sisters, the smile on the Witch of the Forest's face deepened.
"Kakakakaka... We et again, Hansel, Gretel... Running away right after eating the snacks from my house... what ill-mannered children... Whatever, I originally planned to fatten you up a bit more before eating you, but I can't hold back anymore! I'm going to chew you into pieces right here, at and bones together."
Seeing the other party's wrinkled, twisted smile, the Yamai sisters couldn't help but shudder, their faces turning slightly pale.
"Your Majesty the King, please step back."
"Leave this to us!!"
Just then, noticing the commotion inside the room, the soldiers outside burst in. They surrounded the Big Bad Wolf and the Witch of the Forest, leveling their sharp spears at the two.
However—
"Get lost! I have no interest in coarse at like yours!"
The Big Bad Wolf swung its forelimbs, thick as massive tree trunks. A row of soldiers went flying into the air with a crash, hitting the wall and falling unconscious.
"Everyone, run away quickly!"
Seeing that Origami's soldiers were no match for the Big Bad Wolf, Yutsuki unhesitatingly hopped onto the wooden cart and urged everyone to get on quickly.
"Don't think you can escape! My dinner!"
"Hold on tight! Go!"
Facing the Big Bad Wolf about to pounce, Yutsuki pulled the reins and shouted loudly. Then, the seemingly clumsy wooden cart bypassed the Big Bad Wolf like a swallow, making a half-circle in the air.
Although she wanted to escape directly through the window, they would inevitably face obstruction from the Witch of the Forest along the way. Unsure if her flying wooden cart could shake off the other party's magic control, Yutsuki did the exact opposite, driving the wooden cart towards the inside of the castle.
"Origami! Tell the fastest route in this castle to shake them off and escape!"
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Origami, who had planned to take advantage of the chaos to fall into Shido's arms, could only give up and get up, observing the route and answering.
"Follow this path, take a left, then two rights, return to the ballroom from earlier, and crash straight out through the stained glass high up!"
Acting decisively, Yutsuki followed Origami's instructions and drove the wooden cart into the venue. Amidst the panicked screams of the guests in the venue, she gained altitude, preparing to smash through the stained glass and rush out of the castle.
"—!?"
Suddenly, an ominous premonition arose in her heart. Yutsuki hurriedly pulled the reins, and the flying wooden cart made a sharp turn in the air.
The next mont, the stained glass in the venue shattered with a loud crash. A massive amount of seawater surged in through the window, pouring into the venue like a waterfall.
If Yutsuki hadn't made an ergency U-turn back then, the wooden cart would probably have crashed to the ground under the force of the seawater right now, and everyone on board would have suffered severe injuries from the fall.
"My, my. To think you actually dodged that, what a pity!"
Through the broken window, an elderly rmaid flew into the castle, shaking her head with a look of regret.
Miku leaned out and pointed at the other party, shouting loudly.
"Ah—! You're the witch who tried to steal my singing voice!"
"Ihhihi—That's right. I will properly collect the grudge from being slapped by you. Not just your voice, I'll ruthlessly tear out the root of your tongue along with it."
"—!"
Miku hurriedly covered her mouth.
"Tch, even the witch from the sea has appeared. Originally, just the Big Bad Wolf and the Witch of the Forest were enough of a headache."
Kotori said, her expression looking sowhat grim. To this, Nia reminded her with a bitter smile.
"Imouto-chan, I'm afraid it's not over yet."
Indeed, just as Nia said. Not only those fairy tale characters who were obviously enemies, but the wicked family mbers who bullied Cinderella in "Cinderella"; the child who spoke the truth about the King's nudity and went to jail in "The Emperor's New Clothes"; the ghost of the old grandmother who basically had no screen ti in "The Little Match Girl"; and even the demons of Onigashima that Tohka didn't even go to subjugate in "Momotaro", all appeared in the ballroom one after another at this mont, surrounding Tohka and the others.
"Say—my comrade, isn't the current situation a bit bad!"
"Example. Yuzuru feels like a bird trapped in a cage."
The Yamai sisters looked around with sweatdrops on their faces.
At this mont, Yutsuki's wooden cart had been forced to land in the exact center of the venue. All the exits had been blocked by enemies. Their situation was exactly as Yuzuru said, no different from a bird in a cage.
"My—At a ti like this, we should aim for the weakest part of the encirclent to break through. Yutsuki-chan, how about we break through the main entrance in one fell swoop!"
The rabbit puppet proposed at this ti. The direction she pointed to was the main entrance of the hall. The child from Origami's story was currently standing blankly at the main entrance. The frightened guests in the venue were all fleeing through the main doors, and the child turned a blind eye to this, letting them pass by him. If one didn't look closely, he might even be mistaken for a child who got separated from his family.
"No... although I appreciate your proposal, Yoshinon, let's be a bit more cautious."
Yutsuki shook her head with a grave expression.
"This is probably a trap set by Westcott. When we regroup in this space, characters from each story who can act as villains pop out to attack us."
Honestly, Yutsuki wasn't too surprised by this. After all, the one who trapped Shido and the others was that Westcott. There was no way he'd be so kind as to let everyone gather and return to the real world.
"Then how do we escape..."
Hugging Yoshino's arm and trembling, Natsumi looked at the approaching enemies and asked with a pale face.
"Yutsuki, I'll go down and act as a decoy to draw the enemies' attention, you take the opportunity to..."
Before Shido could finish speaking, Yutsuki ruthlessly flicked him on the forehead.
"Mhm—It's indeed a very good proposal, but we haven't reached a dead end like that yet. If you're in such a hurry to die, I won't stop you."
"Sorry..."
Feeling the anger radiating from Yutsuki, Shido couldn't help but lower his head sowhat awkwardly.
"Forget it. You really are..."
Clearly not intending to hold it against Shido at a ti like this, Yutsuki let out a hard breath and let it go.
"...Ji...m..."
At this mont, directly beneath the wooden cart, in a blind spot that no one could detect, a pale, bluish hand broke through the crimson carpet and grabbed the bottom of the wooden cart.
"—!?"
Caught completely off guard, the flying wooden cart carrying Shido's group was dragged to the ground with a "crash".
What happened? Before anyone could react to the situation, the floor of the ballroom hall was gouged open from underneath. An extrely emaciated elderly man, wearing a dirty suit and with lifeless, cadaverous blue skin all over, crawled out.
"...Jim... you prodigal son... The wealth I spent my whole life accumulating... you actually—you actually!!"
The old man limped over leaning on a cane. His bulging eyes stared dead at Yutsuki. His voice was filled with bottomless resentnt, as if he wanted to swallow Yutsuki alive.
"Ugh—Yutsuki, who is this person?"
Tohka tilted her head in confusion. To this, Yutsuki sighed and explained.
"My father. Strictly speaking—the deceased father of the protagonist in this 'The Flying Trunk' story I'm in. An incredibly stubborn miser. It seems he crawled out of his grave to act as the enemy in my story."
"Jim—I will not forgive you! I will not forgive you! I will not forgive you!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the cane in the other party's hand was crushed. The next mont, the old man's frail limbs suddenly expanded. Bulging muscles burst through the fabric of the suit, leaving only the underwear covering the crucial parts barely surviving.
What was originally a frail old man like a candle in the wind had now transford into a ferocious-looking macho man, five ters tall.
"Go to hell with , Jim!!"
"Yutsuki, danger!"
"Hmph—"
Facing the fierce-looking giant charging at her, Yutsuki gave a disdainful snort. She calmly stood up from the driver's seat, took out a heavy, large bag from the cargo box behind her, and unceremoniously threw it at the opponent's face!
Of course, such an attack obviously couldn't cause damage to the now-macho father.
However—
Affected by the impact, the hemp rope tying the bag naturally loosened, and the items inside the bag—hundreds of gold coins—scattered onto the ground.
"—?!"
Seeing the gold coins rolling all over the floor, the father suddenly stopped in his tracks and hurriedly squatted down to pick up the gold coins one by one.
"How about that! My dear father!"
Yutsuki looked down at the other party haughtily and mocked disdainfully.
"There are eight hundred and sixty-seven gold coins in this bag in total. Converted, it's exactly equal to the silver coins you accumulated during your lifeti. Bet you didn't expect that the wealth you spent your whole life scrimping and saving to accumulate, I earned in less than half an hour. Now, I have no reason to be resented by you."
"Ugh..."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, the father looked very conflicted. Although instinct told him that what he needed to do right now was tear that worthless "son" to pieces, seeing the gold coins on the ground, his logical thinking was telling him there was no need to do so.
Seeing this timing, Yutsuki took another bag of gold coins and smashed it into the other party's face.
"And this bag—also eight hundred and seventy-six gold coins! Consider it repaying the non-existent debt of gratitude for raising . Now, you and I are completely even!"
"..."
Looking at the father who had fallen into silence, Yutsuki patted her wooden cart and reminded him very kindly.
"By the way, I still have twenty-eight solid gold bars in this cart. I don't have much desire for money either. Whoever treats well, I'll give it all to him. What does this an? I believe you wouldn't fail to understand, Father, right?"
"Kakaka—You let your guard down, didn't you? Die! Hansel! Gretel!"
Just then, seemingly planning a surprise attack, the Witch of the Forest teleported in front of the Yamai sisters via a magic circle, lunging at them with bared fangs and claws.
"—!"
However, at this mont, Yutsuki's "father" suddenly rushed forward and grabbed the Witch of the Forest in one hand.
"Damn it! What's wrong with you!? Instead of going after your own target, you co and ruin my good thing! What are you—"
Ignoring the Witch of the Forest's complaints, the father grabbed her gaunt, stick-like head and feet with both hands, and folded her inwards with a crisp "Snap—!".
Tossing the now "
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