The timeline is during and after the final chapter.
The perspective is from the Soxhlet extractor.
The Soxhlet extractor.
The Soxhlet extractor.
Hey there! I’m the Soxhlet extractor!
Eh, you don’t know about me?
Well, I suppose it’s normal not to know about me unless you’re interested in this field.
As my name suggests, I’m used for extracting things.
If you’re interested, please look up how I work. I guarantee you’ll be impressed!
The thing is, what’s amazing about me is the beauty of the double-structured glass tube’s curves and its functionality…
…But, I’ve been in the warehouse shelf all this time.
Ah, I thought I’d end my life in vain, never being used and eventually breaking from an earthquake or something, half-giving up on that thought.
But recently, I’ve been almost fully operational!
It’s the ultimate satisfaction for a tool!
…The ones using me are a bit of an odd bunch.
…Uh, these people are, well… dolls.
Dolls.
Ah, not human-shaped, but, you know, the fluffy kind made of cloth, not those thin paper ones.
Those fluffy doll folks have been using me.
…Yeah, that was surprising.
Being somewhat of a scientist myself, I was quite flustered by this unrealistic encounter.
At first, those dolls didn’t know how to use me properly…
They almost dropped me, and couldn’t fit the parts together correctly.
It was nerve-wracking.
But then, Senior Maito carefully taught those dolls how to use me, and suddenly, they got much better at it.
Plus, because they’re fluffy, they can handle me without causing any damage.
That’s when I found out those dolls were Senior Maito’s apprentices, or something of that sort.
Since then, I’ve been able to extract mint almost every day.
It seems to be their fuel. I don’t really understand the details.
I don’t really get fantasy or fairy tales.
…I don’t get it, but, well, I’m happy to be working. Yes.
I’ll do my best in mint extraction today too!
But, those days didn’t last forever.
There was shaking, and then light.
Next thing I knew, I was back on the shelf.
The very shelf I had been stored on.
Still in the packaging, had I just been dreaming…?
…It stayed that way.
It seems I’ve gone back to being an unused tool.
No, perhaps what I saw was a hallucination…
…It’s lonely.
…It’s always dark inside the shelf, so I can only tell time by the sound of people’s voices, but I think it was probably night.
Suddenly, the shelf door opened with a rattle, and I was surprised, but then, those doll figures were there.
I thought it was strange, then I was picked up and carried away.
…When I realized it, I was in a vast grassy field.
The two dolls carried me, floating unsteadily, flew into a building standing in that field.
…There, I saw, somehow familiar, a huge wolf and a spider that felt like one of my kind in terms of material.
…And then, Senior Flask was there too.
“Ah, Soxhlet extractor. You’ve been brought here too?”
Senior seemed pleased.
It appears that Senior Flask, like me, had been left on the shelf brand new.
We were on different shelves, so we didn’t know each other until we were used for mint extraction.
“Um, Senior, where is this?”
“This must be the other world. Probably.”
…Well, I guess that’s what it is.
However, the dolls were listless, and some of them had stopped moving altogether, lying down.
A few of the listless dolls assembled us, packed the mint, added water, and lit an unknown principle fire.
…In other words, extraction.
I was happy to be working after a long time, but the dolls collapsed one after another once the work was done.
…A Soxhlet extractor is an extractor that requires a long time to be left alone.
But that doesn’t mean it can be completely neglected! You have to add solvent to replace the evaporated amount and adjust the heating!
Yet, no one was doing that adjustment.
“Senior, isn’t this bad?”
“It is bad. If we continue like this, both our contents will get burnt. That might spell the end of our lives as experimental tools.”
Ah… right.
…What should we do? There are no more dolls moving around.
Uh, oh, this is… a pinch.
As we were contemplating, the solvent began to diminish.
All that’s left is for it to boil down and burn…
I made up my mind.
I think the reason the dolls could no longer move was that they ran out of mint extract.
I don’t understand the principle, but it seems that mint extract is their fuel.
Then, replenishing it should solve the problem.
I still have some unfiltered mint extract and mint residue left inside me.
With this, I think I can get at least one of them moving.
…Senior Tsuge once said something during a certain moment.
This world is cruelly capable of fulfilling any desire.
If you wish for it.
…These dolls gave me a life as a piece of experimental equipment.
There’s no meaning in being a tool that isn’t used.
So, this is what I’ll do!
I, the Soxhlet extractor, have made up my mind!
“Hey, fool! Stop!”
I detached from Senior Flask and fell towards the dolls lying under the table, breaking and spilling my contents
“โฆHuh?”
When I realized it, I was on top of Senior Flask, doing the extraction.
“Ah, Soxhlet extractor! You noticed! Look, thanks to you, they’ve started moving again.”
Following what Senior Flask told me, I saw the dolls bustling around here and there.
Then, one of them suddenly saluted me.
Then, the other dolls also saluted me all at once.
“Ah, um, didn’t I break?”
That wasn’t a dream, then?
“Don’t you remember? Well, it’s not surprising. You fell onto a doll, which cushioned your fall, so you didn’t break. But the mint extract spilled out and revived that doll. Then, the extract I had accumulated was used to revive the other dolls as well.”
…Ah, such luck…
“Ha ha ha, isn’t that great, Soxhlet extractor? You’re a hero to these dolls.”
“Please stop, Senior. You’re making me blush.”
But now that it’s mentioned, the gaze of the dolls seems to contain a kind of respect, and that makes me feel somewhat happy…
Hello! I’m the Soxhlet extractor!
Currently, I’m working with Senior Flask at the “Maid Doll Empire Headquarters”!
Our job is to make mint extract, which serves as fuel for the dolls!
Also, if the dolls ever forget about us, it’s our job, along with Senior Flask, to clatter around and make them notice us again.
This world is a place where you can do anything if you wish for it.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a living being or not!
So, for now, we’ve become a bit movable!
If something is misaligned, we move and fix it ourselves!
We think, we feel, and incidentally, we’ve also become movable. It might be unorthodox for a tool, but even so, I’m satisfied with who I am now!
Alright, it’s time to work! We support the activities of these dolls!
๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ
…You know, I had a feeling something was odd when those things started moving on their own.
I mean, it’s weird, right?
They’re just regular dolls, aren’t they? Like the ones Katori made, those… what do you call them. Those machines that whir and clean up around the place. I can understand those moving on their own. They’re supposed to move. Yeah.
But those things, Tokoyo and the others, are different. Even if Maito and a Pass are connected, there should be a limit, right?
…But then, what about that thing? No, that guy. Made of material like Glida.
Even it started moving.
…What’s going on? Why are they moving?
…Is it that? Something that was in Maito’s head, the “Tsukumogami”?
No, it can’t be that simple to become a deity, right?
…Damn, no use. I don’t get it.
Ah, forget it, forget it. Worrying about this kind of stuff is just pointless, yeah.
It’s moving, thinking, feeling. There’s no doubt about that.
