User blog:Nerø32/Buddyfight Gaiden: "Wonderland Walker, Alice" (Fantranslation)



Original text is here.

Link to the person, who translated the story.

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A crowd had gathered at the center of the Aibo Academy courtyard. They were all looking up at the roof, but what had brought them all out here in the first place?

"Emma! Get out here right this second! Your very favorite Alice has come to see you!"

What had drawn this crowd together was a blonde girl, the one who called herself Alice. Right now, she was standing at the very edge of the roof, her voice reverberating through the entire school.

"Lady Alice, perhaps we should...search a bit more quietly...?" In stark contrast to Alice's grand display, a withdrawn boy with rabbit ears tearfully raised his voice.

"Silence! We can't waste a single second of a single minute right now. It's not the time for quietly looking around."

"If...if anything bad happens, Her Majesty is going to get upset with me again..."

"I'll deal with that when it happens, so you can just shut up and watch, Henry!"

Realizing that Alice had absolutely no intention of backing down, Henry just sighed softly and gave up on stopping her. In his experience, Alice had never been able to 'deal with' anything before in her life.

"Emma! I already know you're here, got it?"

Her voice continued to echo through the school.

Backed by her sincere belief that her voice would definitely reach her, Alice just kept going.

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"Let's read books in the library today, too."

"Meeting a wonderful new world is great, isn't it!"

Classes had ended, and Yumegatari Mel and her Buddy, Red Riding Hood, Emma, were walking through Aibo Academy's halls together. For Mel, reading afterschool was an indispensable part of her daily life. As the two of them passed by the courtyard, they noticed that a crowd had formed. Mel, not being very good with crowds, was just going to walk right on by, but...

"Emma! I already know you're here, got it?"

On hearing that familiar name, Mel stopped in her tracks.

"Ah, this voice is..." Emma, the one who'd been called for, seemed to have an idea of whose voice that was, and what was happening. "Sorry, Mel! Just wait here a second!"

"Ah, Emma!"

As she said that, Emma rushed into the courtyard as fast as she could. Following the crowd's line of sight to the roof, Emma saw exactly who she thought she would. "Alice!? What are you doing here!?"

As Emma raised her voice in surprise, Alice, who knew exactly who that voice belonged to, jumped off the roof. In that moment, the whole crowd gasped in shock, but before Alice could crash into the ground, she simply floated down gently as if ignoring gravity itself. "Emma, I've been looking for you!"

"Alice, I thought you were in Dungeon World..."

"Please, allow me to explain."

"Henry, you're here too!?"

"Yes. It's good to see you again, Lady Emma."

The rabbit-eared boy, Henry, appeared from behind Alice. He cleared his throat a bit, and then began telling his story. "When you, Lady Emma, traversed to Earth to satisfy your brimming curiosity, Lady Alice began to spend all her days worried for you."

"It's not like it was every day, y'know."

"...That aside. As you know, Lady Emma, Lady Alice has a duty to protect our kingdom, and so despite that being the only thing she would talk about, she could not come to see you."

"It's not like it was the only thing I talked about, y'know."

"...During this period, Lady Stef awoke from her long slumber. Lady Alice begged Lady Stef to take her place. In the end, Lady Stef agreed to take her place for a single day so that she could come here instead."

"I didn't actually beg or anything, y'know."

"...And so, Lady Alice was pardoned for a single day by Her Majesty, and so she has left Dungeon World to come to Earth to be at your side, Lady Emma." Having finished his tale, Henry disappeared behind Alice again.

"Well, I guess that was sort of what happened."

"Alice..."

"Emma, let me get right to the point. Come back to Dungeon World. Christa and Stef and...m-maybe I'm worried too about how you're doing here in a place none of us know about."

"...!"

Facing Alice's straightforward gaze, Emma was simply at a loss for words. After all, instead of trying to lie to her, Alice had told her her true feelings from her heart. But then--

"...Emma, is this person an acquaintance of yours?"

Mel, who had been watching timidly from a hiding place, finally spoke up. On hearing that voice, Emma's wavering heart regained its composure. What did she want to do right now? Well, that was obvious.

"...Sorry, Alice. I can't go back to Dungeon World."

"Wh--!?"

As she said that, Emma ran to Mel's side. "Mel, this is Alice, my precious childhood friend!" Having introduced Alice, Emma continued, introducing Mel. "Alice! This is Mel. She's my Buddy."

"...Erm, my name is Yumegatari Mel."

Mel's self-introduction was completely at odds with the piercing glare Alice was directing at her. Shy, withdrawn Mel made an earnest attempt to make herself smaller. But before Emma could say anything about Alice's attitude,

"You the pretty lady I've been hearing about, girlie?"

A boy with one eye covered up by an eyepatch had shoved his way through the crowd.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Alice redirected her glare towards him.

"I'm the great Da★Dan, of course! The super popular, super hot, super charismatic PalTuber!" Da★Dan struck a pose and hit Alice with a confident grin, but she really didn't care at all.

"A... peel tuber? I don't have any potatoes for you. So go on, go away."

"C'mon now, just hold on a second. What's your name?"

"It's Alice."

"Well then, Miss Cutie Alice, any interest in letting me do a video about you so you can get famous?"

"Nope."

"No no no wait wait wait! If it's you and me together, we could definitely be at the top of the PalTuber popularity rankings--nah, we could be king and queen together! Don't you want that kinda honor?"

"I don't care."

"C'mon, give me a chance! Well, I guess since it's come to this, I'll just have to force the issue. Bloody Eyes!"

When Da★Dan called his name, his Buddy, Bloody Eyes, appeared from behind him--a dragon with a dark coat and crimson wings.

"Embrace all of my power."

"Huh!?"

Bloody Eyes swung his right hand towards Alice. Even she couldn't respond to something that had happened so quickly. And yet--

"Watch out!"

Emma leapt in front of Alice, taking Bloody Eyes's attack in her place.

"Urgh..." Emma stumbled back a few steps before collapsing to her knees.

"Hey now, don't get in the way! Wimps like you should like, know their place, y'know what I'm saying?"

The cruelty of Da★Dan's words and actions were enough to make Alice's temper flare, and she raised a fist to reply in kind, but--

"Emma isn't a wimp!!! She's Mel's strongest and nicest and dearest friend in the whole world!!!!!!!"

The girl who had just been watching from somewhere she could hide, this girl who seemed to only know how to speak fearfully--for her Buddy's sake, for her dear Emma's sake, Mel had raised her voice in anger.

"Wh-what's with you?!"

Da★Dan words, in contrast, had completely lost their confidence.

"Mel is Mel!"

"Uh... Oh, you were one of the people in the ABC Cup, right?"

"Apologize."

"Huh?"

"Apologize to Emma!!!!"

"N-no way! Compared to your Buddy, Bloody Eyes's strength is world-class! And anyways, she's totally the rude one for like, jumping in front of me like that!"

"In that case, I challenge you."

"What?"

"I challenge you to a Buddyfight! If Mel and Emma win, then you have to apologize for every single thing you've done here!"

At that, Alice was finally shaken out of her surprise and opened her mouth. "I'll be assisting in this, too. You don't mind me jumping in, right?"

Da★Dan thought for a moment, and then having come up with something, smiled nastily. "Sure, sounds great. But if I win, then lil' miss Alice has to appear on the Da★Dan Channel. How's that?"

"Fine."

Alice's reply was immediate, but Mel wasn't quite so confident. "Ah, are you sure? Mel was the one who started this, after all..."

"It's just fine, Mel. I want to deal with this loser too, and I really need to blow off some steam. In any case, Emma, how long are you planning on acting like that? There's no way that was enough to hurt you til you couldn't move."

"Ehehe... You caught me!" Emma bounced up from where she'd collapsed, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Emma, are you alright!?"

"Mhm, I'm just fine. I would've gotten up faster, but the two of you were just so serious, and, well..."

"I'm so glad you're okay..." Mel sighed happily, checking over Emma again.

"Well then, Emma, Mel, shall we?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes!"

At Alice's command, the three of them faced Da★Dan.

"We're all good over here, too!”

Together, Da★Dan and Mel activated the Fight System. The fighting stage unfolded around them in a moment, and the V-Boards appeared before them both.

"A long time ago, in a faraway land... There was a story. Luminize... Once Upon a Folk Tale!"

"Dragonblood Sect. Appear with a big Da★Dan! Luminize, Bloody Nightmare!"

"Buddyfight! Open the flag!"

Mel raised her flag. "Dungeon World!"

Da★Dan raised his next. "Dragon World!"

And so, the fight between the two of them began.

"It's my turn first, girlie! Draw! Charge and draw! Let's go and pay two gauge, to Buddy Call † Dragonblood Eyes † Bloody-Eyes to the center!"

【Da★Dan's life: 10→11】

"Don't read the first part."

"Oh, sorry. Well, pull yourself back together and attack the fighter!"

"Feel the weight of my soul!" Bloody Eyes's attack was a direct hit on Mel.

【Mel's life: 10→8】

"That's the end of my turn."

"It's Mel's turn! Draw! Charge and draw! I equip Illusions Folktale, Echt Biblio." A heavy book with a strange binding fell into Mel's hand. "I pay one life, and cast! Grimm Asche! From the top four cards of my deck, I add Man-eating Wolf, Wolff, Trump Soldiers, Klein Squad, and Wonderland Walker, Alice to Echt Biblio's soul!"

【Mel's life: 8→7】

"I pay one gauge and call Fast-paced White Rabbit, Henry to the center!"

"Allow me to take the stage! Please, add this to your hand!" Henry appeared in the center. Drawing a single finger through the air, Henry pulled a single card from Mel's deck and offered it to her.

"Thank you. I set Happiness Wonderland! With this, let's begin!"

"I~diot! Bloody Eyes's effect goes off! Henry's effects get nullified, and he's forced to attack!"

"Ah, wait, wait a moment, my body is moving on its own--" Having no choice in the matter, Henry attacked Bloody Eyes. Even when forced to recklessly attack over and over, he couldn't cause a single scratch.

"Bloody Eyes, counterattack!"

"Drown in the endless black."

"Gyah!"

Bloody Eyes simply thrust an arm out, destroying Henry effortlessly.

"Echt Biblio's effect! Henry, come back to my book!"

"You've saved me..."

【Mel's life: 7→6】

The destroyed Henry turned into light, and flew into the soul of Mel's Echt Biblio.

"That's not all! When Bloody Eyes destroys a monster with Counterattack, my opponent takes damage!"

"Oof..."

【Mel's life: 6→5】

"That's not much at all! I activate Marchen Panic! From Echt Biblio's soul, I call Man-eating Wolf, Wolff to the left, Card Soldier, Klein Corps to the center, and Wonderland Walker, Alice to the right!" Mel opened the cover of Echt Biblio and from its pages, Alice and her other friends leapt onto the field.

"It's time to knock this guy outta here!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

"Lemme get my teeth on him!"

Watching Mel's monsters, Da★Dan just snorted. "Bloody Eyes has a defense of 8000! All these wimps totally can't do a thing to him!"

"I activate Alice's effect, and send my Card Soldier to Happiness Wonderland's soul, and I draw two cards!"

"So what?"

"For each card in Happiness Wonderland's soul, all Folktale cards on my field get an extra 5000 power!"

"Y-you're kidding!"

"Wolff, attack Bloody Eyes!"

"You got it!"

"This pain simply mirrors my strength."

Wolff's strong arms destroyed Bloody Eyes, but only his soul left the field, and with another counterattack Wolff was destroyed. But...

"When Wolff is destroyed, in return I destroy a monster on my opponent's field!"

"I'll be dragging you down with me!"

"My soul will not be extinguished so easily!"

【Mel's life: 5→4】

Once again, Bloody Eyes remained on the field, and once again Mel was damaged. But as if she hadn't been hurt at all, Mel hefted her book with one hand. "Now take this, too!"

"Wha--!?"

Mel threw Echt Biblio at Bloody Eyes, and with perfect aim, it struck the dragon directly on the top of his head. Once again Bloody Eyes stayed on the field, but at this point, he was just barely standing.

"Gh... Ow."

Mel caught Echt Biblio as it bounced back, and then lifted a single card from her hand. "I activate Alice's other effect! From my hand, I Buddy Call Moonlight Fleur, Emma to the center!"

【Mel's life: 4→5】

"Let's go, Emma!"

"Of course, Alice!"

Emma and Alice stood proudly side by side. Of course, Bloody Eyes's soul was at 0 by now. Suddenly faced with this clearly desperate situation, Da★Dan got very nervous very fast.

"Hey, Bloody Eyes, do something!"

"There is...nothing I can do..."

"I thought you were my Buddy who could do anything! You're the worst!"

Da★Dan and Bloody Eyes started to argue, but Mel's voice interrupted them. "This is the end for you! I attack Bloody Eyes with Emma! With her effect, I put a card from my drop zone into Happiness Wonderland's soul!"

"Here, let me pay you back for earlier!"

"How mortifying..."

Emma's kick struck true, and finally, Bloody Eyes was completely destroyed. Da★Dan had nothing left to protect himself with.

"Emma, double attack! And of course, with her effect Happiness Wonderland's soul is now at 3, so all of my Folktales get an extra 2 critical!"

"Let me pay you back, too!"

"Gh!"

【Da★Dan's life: 11→8】

"Alice, you next, please!"

"I'm gonna launch him into space!" Alice hefted the giant hammer in her hands, and slammed it into Da★Dan with all her might.

"Grgh!"

【Da★Dan's life: 8→4】

"Alice's effect! By sending Emma to Happiness Wonderland's soul, she restands!"

"Alice, I'm leaving the rest to you!"

"But of course!"

Emma and Alice high fived and went their own ways, with Emma going to Happiness Wonderland's soul, and Alice going to attack Da★Dan for the second time. "This'll finish it!"

"Hold it! Cast, Green Dragon Shield!"

Alice's second swing of her hammer was stopped by the shield that appeared in Da★Dan's hands.

【Da★Dan's life: 4→5】

"Jeez, that was close. But now you don't have any way to attack me! On my next turn, I'm taking you down!"

"Is that so?"

"Huh?"

"I still haven't shown you exactly how strong I am!"

As Alice spoke, Mel lifted a card from her hand once more. "I destroy Alice, and I call Wonderla Alicedragon to the center!"

As the card Mel held began to radiate light, Alice's long blonde hair began to float, defying gravity itself. Slowly, Alice's body lifted off the ground, until she was hanging in midair, wrapped in a golden light. The light was so bright that Da★Dan was forced to close his eye, and when he opened it again, where Alice had stood a gorgeous azure dragon spread its feathered wings.

"...What's that supposed to be?"

"This is me in my serious mode, Alicedragon!"

"That ain't a dragon. You're a gryphon!"

"Shut up! I'm gonna knock you into orbit!"

"Hiieee!" Not even Da★Dan could keep himself from being overwhelmed by a giant dragon yelling at him.

"Alicedragon has a critical equal to how many Card Soldiers are in Happiness Wonderland's soul, and right now there's two. Along with Happiness Wonderland's effect, that means her critical is 4! Alicedragon, attack the fighter!"

"Let's see...how did it go? Embrace all of my power!"

"W-wait! Green Dragon Shield!"

【Da★Dan's life: 5→6】

With another shield Da★Dan managed to stop the attack, but--

"Double attack!" Alicedragon tackled Da★Dan, and landed a direct hit.

"Gyaah!"

【Da★Dan's life: 6→2】

"Triple attack!"

"This is the end of your story!" Alicedragon made a circle, and with her target decided, rushed him again.

"Stooooooooop!!"

In the moment he screamed, Alicedragon's great bulk slammed into him, launching him...somewhere.

【Da★Dan's life: 2→0】

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Alice remembered when the two of them had been children.

When they'd been younger, Alice and Emma had always been together. The games they'd played together had always been the most fun, the candy they'd eaten together had always been the tastiest in the world, and nowhere was safer than where they slept together. Their days together had been that kind of childishly happy.

The people that Alice and Emma came from had a form other than their human one--they could also become a dragon. While Alice was growing, she realized that her dragonic form and what most people thought of as dragons were...not the same. And as other people realized the exact same thing, they said nothing but harsh things. Failure, freak, a disappointment.

Alice had just been pretending that she didn't hear these things, but--

"There's nothing weird about Alice at all!!! She's the prettiest in the whole world, and my very dearest friend!!!!!!!"

Emma stood angrily right in front of anyone who was insulting Alice. It was more than just angry--she was furious. From then on, there wasn't a single person who would say anything bad about Alice. In fact, as she showed her true self, she was even asked by the Queen herself to oversee the protection of the country.

The more things like that happened, the more Alice found that she could love the "dragon" that she was. That it was something she could take pride in.

Surely, the two of them would never forget what had happened between them.

For Alice, Emma was her one and only most precious, treasured friend.

She respected Emma more than anything, so when Emma said one day that she wanted to go and see a brand new world, Alice didn't stop her. But of course, without Emma at her side, day by day Alice grew more and more lonely, and the worry that Emma felt the same all on her own in an unfamiliar world grew just the same. So she begged as many people as she could to go and check up on her on Earth. The truth was she wanted to drag Emma back to her side, but--

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"...You've found people who would be angry for your sake, too."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"No! Never mind!"

"Really? You should tell me!"

"Shut up! If you keep asking I'm gonna send you flying!"

"Well, if Lady Alice will not say it, then I--ow!"

"Your rabbit ears are wonderful! They're really the real thing!"

"Please don't pull on them..!"

"You're just getting what you deserved." Alice huffed.

The four of them, Alice and Henry, and Emma and Mel, were walking home together. As soon as Da★Dan had lost the fight, he'd ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. Mel had complained about how he hadn't even bothered to apologize, but Emma had been perfectly happy with how things had turned out, so for now, it was all a done deal. They were wrapped up in the light of the setting sun that seemed to mark the end of the day's hardships.

"Well, me and Henry need to be getting back to Dungeon World."

"Alice, I'm glad I got to see you again!"

"I--I'm...happy too." Alice averted her eyes, looking embarrassed. But compared to Alice, who was hiding her feelings almost guiltily, Emma was perfectly straightforward. "...I'm sorry. But I want to stay with Mel."

"Don't worry about that anymore."

"Huh?"

"I know that I didn't need to worry about you now." Alice spoke without hesitation. "Mel, take care of Emma for me."

"Of course. Mel and Emma are going to stay together forever." Mel's words were happy, but Alice was somehow still feeling lonely. Maybe Mel saw that in her eyes, or maybe she didn't, but she took Alice's hand in her own. "Alice and Henry are Mel's friends too, of course!"

"Wh--Hmph. Well. I guess I'll let you be my friend!"

Alice put on a confident front, but her voice was still a bit shrill as she tried to pretend that Mel's words hadn't struck her very deeply. Trying to hide her face, Alice bent down to fix a strap of her shoes. "W-well, come on, Henry, let's go back!"

"Lady Emma, Lady Mel, have a good evening."

"Yep! See you soon, Alice, Henry!"

"Come play again soon!"

Soon. When she heard that word, Alice stopped walking away.

"Of course, I'll come again. And when I do, let's have a lovely tea time together! ...All three of us."

Mel and Emma glanced at each other, and then smiled.

But on the other side of the conversation, Henry puffed out his cheeks. "But that means I definitely won't get to participate..."

"Shut up! Are you always going to follow me around or something!?"

"Of course I am. It is my duty to make sure you don't make a mess of your own duty to protect, Lady Alice."

"In that case, next time, let's have a tea party with all four of us!"

"Emma, don't just make that decision on your own!"

...And so, we turn the last page on the story of Alice's long, long day.