The resolve she had just made was instantly shattered by the Gingerbread Witch's declaration of being unable to win.
Itsuki wanted to ask Kisaragi Rin, but then suddenly realized: if the Gingerbread Witch couldn't win, why would Kisaragi Rin let herself and the Gingerbread Witch go together?
So, the path was already laid out?
Itsuki was thoughtful, a glowing lightbulb appearing above her head.
"Gingerbread Witch, let's go."
"???"
Following behind Itsuki, the Gingerbread Witch still didn't understand the reason, but dared not question it. After all, in its perception, some Strange Tales here were even more terrifying than the one outside.
The Gingerbread Witch remained silent, and Itsuki naturally had nothing to say.
In fact, Itsuki still held a bit of vigilance towards the Gingerbread Witch's existence. After all, this Strange Tale had turned from foe to friend a little too quickly.
Seriously, just a moment ago you were cackling and singing a terrifying nursery rhyme, wanting to eat me, and now you're acting like a good little baby, becoming my Pokémon?
If it weren't for Kisaragi Rin, the Ghost Pokémon Master, sitting nearby, Itsuki really didn't want to get close to this Ghost-type Pokémon Kisaragi Rin gave her.
"Itsuki-nee, you can do it."
Under Illya's encouraging gesture, as soon as she stepped out of the Candy House door, the feeling of losing light made Itsuki's nerves tense up.
The pumpkin carriage was not far from the door, looking at least three meters high. Both the wheels and the carriage were made of pumpkin elements, giving it a somewhat fairy-tale atmosphere in this eerie world.
"What does the Strange Tale inside look like?"
"I'm just blind."
... "So why can a Strange Tale be blind? Can't you just grow eyeballs?"
"I don't know, I've been like this since birth."
Taking a deep breath, the Gingerbread Witch opened the carriage door for Itsuki.
Then, question marks popped up for Itsuki.
She had prepared herself for a terrifying ghost face to suddenly appear like in a horror movie, but what greeted her was the smell of grass and earth.
[Attention: Trial difficulty has significantly increased]
[Please enter this place with caution]
[You have received the Mission - The Sleeping Queen]
Mission - The Sleeping Queen
Description: Once upon a time, there was a wicked princess who, in order to seize control of the kingdom, chose to drive away her mother and make her swallow a poisoned apple. You need to rescue the queen and help her regain consciousness.
"Snow White?"
Itsuki glanced at the Gingerbread Witch, thinking that this fairy tale was much more famous than the Candy House. According to the legendary deeds, the Strange Tale inside was probably more than a little stronger than the Gingerbread Witch.
But it didn't matter anyway; Kisaragi Rin had already made preparations for her. Now she just needed to muster the courage to enter and complete this Mission... and that was indeed the case.
Time rewound to when the pumpkin carriage's wheels stopped.
When the Pumpkin Freak, who was driving the carriage, grinned and pushed open the Candy House door, the true owner of this pumpkin carriage had already sensed that something was wrong.
Unlike the Gingerbread Witch's literal blindness, it was a knowledgeable Strange Tale.
In this world, no one knew if they would suddenly encounter a disaster-level existence one day.
Without any hesitation, taking advantage of the roar of the third lightning strike, the pumpkin carriage retreated along the way it came. Unfortunately, it had already been Lock-on by Spider Mother.
Under the increasingly dim moonlight, Spider Mother's accumulated spider army directly passed through the barrier via spatial transfer and descended into the pumpkin carriage.
A few seconds later, the pumpkin carriage stopped.
And then it came to the present.
After the Gingerbread Witch threw a few Gingerbread Man into the carriage to test for danger, Itsuki no longer hesitated and walked in with the Gingerbread Witch.
More than a carriage, the inside of the pumpkin carriage was more like a special space created by the Undetectable Extension Charm in Harry Potter.
Grass, earth, and strange objects hanging in the sky emitting a dim yellow light... Although it looked fake like an oil painting, it was ultimately more comfortable than the Strange Speech Forest outside.
"So what should we do now?"
Itsuki asked the Gingerbread Witch, who silently looked back at her.
The Gingerbread Witch was actually very tall, standing at a full 1.9 meters when straightened.
However, it used to hunch its back, and now that it was subdued, it preferred to lower its head to reduce its presence.
Itsuki: "..."
Why is this guy blind?!
Could it be because of this that the Paradise threw her into the Candy House, believing she could survive a Strange Tale with a physical disability?
At this moment, Nino's voice rang out: "Actually, there's no need to think so much, right? Kisaragi has already arranged everything. Even if you, Itsuki, want to make the wrong decision, you'll probably still be chased and spoon-fed..."
Her four sisters were sitting in a row inside Itsuki's head, watching the live broadcast.
However, the atmosphere was still a bit strange.
The reason was that Yotsuba hadn't yet clearly explained why she liked Kisaragi Rin, and Nino had already discovered that the relationship between Miku and Kisaragi Rin was not quite right.
Whether it was Miku being able to join their Three Kingdoms game just now, or being held by Kisaragi Rin's hand when she dared not kill the monster, Miku's resistance to Kisaragi Rin seemed very low.
Hmm... resistance.
The Nakano Quintuplets grew up together. Although Nino had the most conflicts with Miku, she also understood Miku the most deeply.
Few expressions, introverted personality, only wanting to avoid unfamiliar people... Unlike Itsuki, who was quite slow in the field of romance, Nino quickly judged that such a Miku already had a considerable fondness for Kisaragi Rin.
At this time, Ichika still joked nonchalantly: "Anyway, we were originally one person, and now we all live in one body. It's just right to like one person at the same time."
Itsuki had some objections to this, because she hadn't considered her future husband yet.
Nino was the same, but seeing Kisaragi Rin rubbing Caren's stomach outside, any more trouble between the sisters didn't need to be resolved now.
After all... what's the difference between this and thinking about how to spend a 500,000 prize before scratching a lottery ticket?
So their atmosphere became strange like this, and the commotion also lessened a lot.
"...I know."
Hearing Nino's words, Itsuki was silent for a moment before explaining: "Although it sounds strange and overly sentimental, I still want to try hard, at least to grow."
Knowing the Paradise, knowing so many things.
She always had a lot on her mind.
Exhaling a puff of air, Itsuki no longer hesitated and walked forward.