Uneasy daily life

In the blink of an eye, the scarecrow tugged at its clothes and headgear, bent over, and became a hunched old man pacing forward, muttering, "This beautiful refracted light... how come the child's gem eyes are on the scarecrow?"

"It seems we have an unexpected visitor today. Hello, sir! I am the great Mr. Scarecrow! Why Mr. Scarecrow? Well, of course, because I am not a scarecrow. How can Mr. Scarecrow be a scarecrow? You agree, right? Oh dear, can't you hear me? Wait—what are you doing reaching out? Aren't you a thief or a robber? Miss Doll's Reflective Eye Impact—Hahaha! Seems useless."

"I'm sorry, Miss Doll, Mr. Scarecrow is probably about to disappear."

The old man's rambling stopped abruptly. He looked at the pair of emerald eyes in his palm, tossed the scarecrow's costume off the stage, and muttered, "What a naughty child, throwing things around like that."

The old man continued his search for the child and soon saw a clay sculptor wearing a straw raincoat, observing a pair of white, shadowy arms.

"What are you doing?!"

"I tried to fix my benefactor's arm, but I couldn't—and who are you?"

“I am the grandfather of your benefactor. Give me your arm; how can you, a clay sculptor, repair it properly?”

The old man took the arm, fiddled with it for a bit, and quickly repaired it completely.

"That's amazing! Please, old man, return my arm to my benefactor; she saved my life..."

"I know, I know."

The old man responded impatiently and continued his anxious search for the child. He encountered a traveling merchant who was carrying a beautiful piece of jade that he recognized all too well.

"Where did this jade come from? You stole my child's body?!"

"Body? I bought this jade; it cost me a fortune! Don't make false accusations, old man!"

"That child actually sold himself?!" the old man said angrily. "I'll buy this jade from you, I'll pay you double the purchase price!"

"Okay, thank you for your patronage."

The old man reattached his hands and feet to his torso, repairing the injury, and scolded him angrily and sadly, "You child, you went out and ran so far, and even left yourself in different places. It really made Grandpa worry and angry. You can't do this kind of thing again."

"Hmm? No, it's still a little short..."

Where is my child's head?

The background music suddenly stopped, like the calm before a storm.

The girl appeared from the other side, her voice mature and strong, filled with surprise and joy as she called out, "Grandpa—!"

The old man was startled, turned his head, and widened his eyes: "Child—"

The chaotic footsteps on the stage, rushing in both directions, are the natural drumbeats, pounding against people's hearts.

The girl hugged the old man, and the old man grabbed the girl's head.

"Grandpa, I miss you so much..."

"You bastard! You stole my child's head!"

The sharp, piercing voice, like a sword drawn from its sheath, pierced the stage, as if trying to penetrate the audience's hearts through their ears.

Grandpa, I am your child!

"Nonsense! These coarse and ugly legs! These arms made of mud! This hat woven from weeds! This pitted and uneven wooden body! These button eyes without a trace of luster—you ugly creature, you stole my child's head, and you think you can have her beauty?!"

"Grandpa! I really am your child, these are—"

"That's my child over there! My perfect child!"

The old man roared angrily, "You despicable head thief, I don't care how many heads you have—give me back my child's head!!"

As the argument escalated, the singing grew louder and sharper.

The enraged old man forcefully pulled off his head.

The song burst forth with a rapid, high-pitched creak, like tearing silk.

The ugly body, made of mud, wood, and filth, fell to the ground with a thud.

Everything was unusually quiet.

The old man put the girl's head back into her assembled body, replaced the button eyes with jewels, discarded the straw hat, and put on a magnificent wreath of flowers.

"Wake up, kid."

The old man called out kindly and gently.

The girl opened her emerald eyes, which reflected a beautiful light, and her voice was as clear and melodious as a lark's: "Huh? Didn't I go out? How did you fall asleep?"

"That's why Grandpa came to find you. He kept telling you to remember to come home on time."

The old man took the girl's hand: "Let's go, it's time to go home."

The girl stood up and exclaimed cheerfully, "Oh—I'm home!"

The song began again, like a clear mountain stream, melodious and melodious.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, what kind of child am I?"

"Sincere, gentle, strong, brave, kind, you are my perfect child, you are my perfect doll."

The girl and the old man exchanged questions and answers. The girl circled the old man, dancing lightly, while the old man occasionally let out a kind and proud laugh.

The stage curtains slowly closed towards the center, accompanied by melodious singing.

The old man and the girl gradually walked away and disappeared from sight, but the somewhat familiar conversation could still be faintly heard.

The ugly, headless puppet lying on the stage remained motionless until it was covered by the closing curtain.

The stage was silent, and the audience was completely still.

Phantom's voice came through the loudspeaker.

"The performance is over. Thank you for watching."

……

……

"The Ship of Theseus?"

Yukino Yukinoshita snapped out of her reverie, her first thought turning to that age-old question—if you gradually replace all the parts of a ship, is it still the original ship? If not, when did it stop being the same? If it is, then what kind of ship is assembled from the replaced parts?

"Sigh, Yukino, don't you think that doll looks a bit like you? You both have long, beautiful black hair, don't you?" Yukinoshita Haruno teased. "Thank goodness Mom didn't grab Yukino-chan's head and yell, 'Give me back my child's head!'"

Yukinoshita Yukino: "..."

Yukinoshita's mother: "Cough cough..."

"It's pretentious, obsessed with showing off skills, and performs a one-man show on stage with multiple roles, without any regard for the overall picture, leaving the audience completely confused," Yukinoshita's father commented sharply. "A relatively unsuccessful performance."

"Could it be that Jinzuru and Father don't get along? He's not as quiet and reserved as before, but rather talkative and troublesome." Yukino Yukinoshita sighed deeply. "First it was Hikigaya-kun, then Shiro-kun. Father seems to really enjoy targeting my interpersonal relationships..."

The mother smiled and said, "He's asking for trouble."

Yukinoshita covered her mouth and chuckled, "Pfft~"

Yukinoshita's father: "..."

That wretched and formidable threat plus!

Chapter 146 Three Realms

"Hiss—it turned out to be a horror movie? I thought it was a fairy tale!"

One student rubbed his arms, as if he could still see and hear the scene of the old man pulling his head.

His companion shook his head and said, "After all, it's that Bai Ying classmate. How could she possibly act out a normal story? The carpenter chopping off a leg with an axe is scary enough..."

"Yes, if it weren't for that moment, I would never have realized that it was a doll and not a real person."

……

"How did that doll move?"

"It looks like there are strings hanging down from the stage."

Who is singing the song? Is it the voice that pays homage at the end?

"It must be a recording being played."

……

"Sakurajima Mai! It really is Sakurajima Mai!"

"It's a pity that Ms. Sakurajima has too few scenes; she should be playing the lead role, shouldn't she?"

"Well, I think it's too early for humans to play the lead role that can switch hands and feet."

……

"I didn't know Bai Ying could act so well in a normal performance. She can change clothes and headgear in the blink of an eye, and switch between different voices, playing the roles of several people all by herself."

"Isn't Bai Ying the voice actress for Miss Doll? I remember when he played the queen and the maid in the hallway before, he played two roles by himself."

"There's absolutely no resemblance... his strange behavior is much more memorable."

"...Just now I suddenly felt that Bai Ying was very handsome."

"now what?"

"He has to be the leader of the Seven Eccentrics of the Campus."

……

"Those songs are so beautiful, who sang them?"

"They're definitely not a currently active singer, otherwise they would have been famous long ago."

……

"Are the gold, silver, jade, and gemstones on that doll real or fake?"

"It's definitely fake. Who would go to such lengths just for acting?"

"The doll's head is so realistic, but the color scheme and details of the rest of the body are not done."

"If you get those details right, then it's a [censored] film, right?"

……

"Father……"

Chitanda Eru withdrew her gaze from the stage and, unable to contain herself, turned her head to ask, "Do you think the doll-girl ultimately died, forgot everything, or pretended to have forgotten everything?"

I did everything Grandpa said, but in the end Grandpa rejected my idea. The doll may not die, but its heart will.

“Eru.” Chitanda’s father sighed softly. “You are my child, not my doll, but how can I be sure that you are a child and not a bound doll?”

You still cling to the goals your father once gave you. Are these truly your goals, or just an answer made under your father's constraints?

"Well--"

Chitanda Eru frowned in thought. She was certain that the source of her thoughts indeed lay in her father's teachings from a young age, much like a puppet in a performance, following her grandfather's instructions to become a virtuous person. She had been deceived, helped, helped others, and saved people... These were experiences of the puppet, no longer simply derived from her grandfather's demands.

My current thoughts stem from my father's teachings, but that was just a seed.

The flowers that bloom are the footprints of my own running around; the nutrients that nourish me are the interactions between myself and the people of this land; and the fruits that ripen are the things I have tried to do.

This is not a seed, but it is ultimately a wish that grew from that seed.

That's why the father hesitated, feeling guilty and unable to truly give his approval.

How to deal with it?

I guess I really need to ask someone for help. I'm not very good at solving these kinds of problems myself. All I can do is keep emphasizing it. If I keep insisting on doing that, it's unlikely I'll find a solution.

I was not confused, so I didn't hesitate to ask for help.

"Father, wait a moment!"

Chitanda Eru said something, then got up and ran from the edge of the stage to the other side, leaving her parents looking at each other in bewilderment.

……

The doll and the grandfather are probably referring to the Yukinoshita family.

So you're having family conflicts, and I'll just write them into a play and act them out? What a terrifying minister.

But Miss Doll and Mr. Scarecrow...

“The scarecrow is the one who guards the fields and drives away the birds. Without this task, the scarecrow would lose its meaning… I wonder if the minister drew inspiration from the story of The Little Prince when he created it.” Hachiman Hikigaya muttered to himself, “Because they exchanged eyes, there is a doll lady and a scarecrow gentleman. They have a unique and special meaning for each other, a sublimation of getting rid of the fake and becoming the real thing.”

"It's normal that Miss Doll could still talk even when she fell apart, because she still had Mr. Scarecrow's eyes? The final state of being restored to factory settings is because everything she experienced was negated by the person who gave her the goal, thus rendering all her actions meaningless?"