In truth, the formal contract ceremony for a Rozen Maiden was meant to be a solemn affair. The contractor should gently kiss the rose ring presented by the doll, after which an identical ring would manifest upon the contractor's own finger, symbolizing the bond and the sharing of life force.
This lecherous human, however, had bypassed the ring entirely and planted his kiss directly upon her lips.
Infuriated by this breach of protocol, Suigintou had deliberately instructed him to use a drop of blood instead, intending to teach this shameless creature a lesson—to make him feel the sting and gravity of the contract he was so flippantly entering.
And yet…
Looking at his utterly unrepentant, even pleased expression as he slipped the ring on, Suigintou realized her plan had backfired. This level of 'punishment' clearly meant nothing to him.
But the contract was sealed now. There was nothing more to be said.
With a flicker of her will, purple-red particles of light coalesced from the air around her, forming a small, glowing orb—her companion spirit, or artificial spirit, known as Meimei.
"Hmph, you lecherous human. I shall make thorough use of your life force," Suigintou declared, her voice cold. "I have matters to attend to now and must depart for a time. Fetch me a mirror!"
Hearing this, Hozuki Nozomi simply reached out, scooped her up, and settled her comfortably in the crook of his arm, as one might hold a small child.
Suigintou's porcelain-complexion flushed immediately. "Who granted you permission to handle me in such a manner?!"
"You asked for a mirror. There's one in the bathroom. I'm just taking you to it. Would you prefer to wander around looking for it yourself?"
"Ugh…" There was absolutely no need to carry me like this! Only that pretentious Shinku enjoyed being cradled so. I am Suigintou!
She opened her mouth to protest further, but her words died as she met his gaze. Despite his audacious actions, his eyes held a surprising, unsettling gentleness. Her heart gave an inexplicable flutter. She turned her head away with a haughty sniff, opting for silent indignation.
A faint smile touched Nozomi's lips. So Suigintou has tsundere traits as well.
Arriving before the bathroom mirror, Suigintou's body grew weightless. She floated from his arm as dark, ethereal wings materialized once more from her back. Without a backward glance, she drifted toward the glass surface, her form dissolving into the reflection as if stepping through a silvery door before vanishing completely.
Nozomi made no move to stop her. He was now Suigintou's contracted medium. A Rozen Maiden could not stray too far or for too long from her contractor, lest she be unable to replenish her energy and revert to an inert doll state. She would return.
He suspected the newly awakened Suigintou was off to gather intelligence—likely on the status of the other Rozen Maiden, particularly the Fifth, Shinku, with whom she shared a complicated history.
Their method of travel—passing through mirrors into the unique, interconnected "N-Field"—was an ability innate to all Rozen Maiden, though each possessed distinct powers. Suigintou's own abilities leaned overwhelmingly toward pure destruction and combat, far surpassing most of her sisters.
Watching the now-ordinary mirror, Nozomi decided it would be prudent to install a full-length mirror in his bedroom. Having his contracted doll emerge from the bathroom every time felt decidedly inelegant. He promptly arranged for one to be brought in and positioned against a wall.
Only then did he have a moment to properly check the Game Life System's notifications. It was time to claim his reward.
[Ding! Congratulations, player! You have successfully contracted Suigintou, completing 'The Rozen Maiden Collector: Quest One.']
[Ding! Rewards have been issued.]
[Ding! Congratulations, player! You have obtained the special skill: 'Polyglot.']
[Ding! Congratulations, player! You have obtained the fixed reward: 1,000,000 Yen. Funds have been deposited into your registered account.]
Nozomi's interest was piqued. "'Polyglot'?"
He focused on the skill description.
[Polyglot: With this skill, the player can comprehend any spoken or written language. Language perceived by the player will be intuitively understood as clear meaning, bypassing the need for translation.]
"Huh…"
Nozomi's mood turned subtly complex as he read the description. Not long ago, he had acquired the 'Meow Star' skill, which allowed him to understand and communicate with animals simply by meowing. Now he had a 'language master' skill. Was the system trying to steer him toward becoming some sort of universal communicator?
It wasn't that the skill was useless—far from it. But he had a peculiar feeling that this ability was being preemptively issued for a future encounter.
For instance… someone who hadn't appeared yet. Like a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed classmate who had a habit of muttering her brutally honest inner thoughts in Russian? Kujo Alisa, was it?
Nozomi didn't know Russian. Nor did he have any particular desire to learn it. But with this skill, it seemed he wouldn't need to learn any language at all. Whatever anyone said would simply be understood by him as clear, direct meaning. The applications were… intriguing.
After a while, as he was preparing to turn in for the night, the surface of the new full-length mirror in his room shimmered. A ripple spread across its silvered plane, accompanied by a soft shower of dark, weightless feathers. From within the distortion, the silver-haired, crimson-eyed doll in her elaborate Gothic dress emerged, floating gracefully into the room.
Nozomi watched the feathers drift down to the floorboards and couldn't help but comment. "Suigintou, you seem to have a bit of a… shedding problem."
Suigintou, who had been preparing a suitably imperious entrance to reassert her dignity, stiffened mid-float.
"Remember to clean those up," he added.
"Clean them up yourself, you insolent—"
"Think about it, Suigintou," he interrupted calmly. "You'll be living here from now on. If the room is constantly littered with loose feathers, will that be a comfortable environment for you?"
Suigintou's eye twitched. With a sharp gesture, she willed the scattered feathers on the floor to rise en masse, sharpening their edges before shooting them toward him with deadly intent. They whizzed past, grazing his cheek by a hair's breadth before embedding themselves in the wall behind him with a series of soft thuds.
"Cease your prattling! You are merely a human, a consumable medium! What gives you the right to lecture me?!"
Unfazed, Nozomi simply reached out and gathered her into his arms again. "I'm not 'merely' a human. I'm the one who awakened you. That makes me your master." He held up his hand, the silver rose ring glinting in the light. "This is the proof."
Suigintou was startled by his boldness once more. A faint pink bloomed on her pale cheeks. She immediately summoned another cloud of sharp feathers, aiming them threateningly at his entire body, her crimson eyes glinting with cold warning. "Lecherous human! Are you not afraid I will drain your life this instant?"
"If you were going to, you would have done so already. Why wait until now?" he countered, completely relaxed. "Now, about the feather shedding—let's work on that. It just makes extra cleaning."
"These are not shed feathers! They are my primary medium for attack!" Suigintou retorted, embarrassed, as she pushed herself out of his embrace. Being held by a man—it was a first, and it left her feeling profoundly disconcerted.
Nevertheless, she didn't launch another attack. With a dismissive wave of her small hand, the feathers littering the floor and stuck in the wall vanished into motes of light. Her artificial spirit, Meimei, flitted over to orbit her shoulder quietly.
Through their connection, Suigintou could sense it clearly now: her master's reservoir of life force—or rather, the strange, potent energy that served as its substitute—was staggeringly vast, an ocean compared to the puddles of ordinary humans.
She shot him a look of complex appraisal, then alighted on the edge of his bed, sitting primly with her hands in her lap. "Hmph. Very well. Tell me, who are you?" Her tone was that of a queen granting an audience. "How is it that you knew my name, and of the Rozen Maiden?"
It seemed she was ready for a proper conversation.
Nozomi smiled, offering a conveniently vague explanation. "I don't fully understand it myself. The moment I saw you, the information simply appeared in my mind. It seems to be a… unique aptitude I possess."
Suigintou absorbed this, her expression unchanging. "Then… do you know of the Alice Game?" she pressed, her crimson eyes fixed intently on him.
Nozomi nodded. "I know of it. It is the contest among the Rozen Maiden. The loser must surrender her Rosa Mystica—the core of her existence—to the victor. The Rozen Maiden who defeats all her sisters, absorbs all the Rosa Mysticae, and stands alone… will ascend to become the true 'Alice.'"