Surviving a Cruel Fairy Tale

17 – Act 1. Little Red Riding Hood Forest – Heartless Woodcutter (2)

Let’s think about the story of the Tin Woodman.

What was his first appearance like?

The Wizard of Oz is a very famous anecdote, so I do remember it to some extent, but it was difficult to say with certainty if you ask about the individual’s record.

In the first place, The Wizard of Oz is not a fairy tale with a fixed end.

Various stories came out steadily, and like stories that happened in the past, the details often changed due to changes in settings or additional settings.

But if there’s one thing that doesn’t change, the Tin Woodman wants a human heart.

“A heart?”

“I want emotions. You cannot feel emotions in this body without a heart.”

A body made of tin.

The iron giant sat down on the floor and beckoned me with his bright red eyes.

“In an old story, this body forgot human emotions. It was just a machine that only cut down and carried out the given goals repeatedly.”

Soon, the body became immobilized, and the woodcutter clenched his huge fist.

“At first I thought it was because these tins were rusted, but that’s not true. It was the heart that rusted. I couldn’t move because I lost power. This body lost its warmth and lost the reason to move, so it just collapsed.”

“So you want a heart?”

“It is the heart that makes this empty void beat. It is emotion, or what is otherwise called human nature.”

With the words that he wanted to feel that thrilling feeling again, the Tin Woodman held out his hand to me.

“So please. Could you give me your heart?”

No, of course I can’t.

I was surprised to see the Tin Woodman, who was more communicative than I thought, but considering his circumstances, that is impossible.

“…… I’m sorry, but that must be difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because humans have only one heart.”

The woodcutter paused at the obvious words.

“What about taking it out and lending it for a while?”

“I’m sorry, but humans die when this thing leaves the body. Because the heart is the source of life.”

“…… Is it.”

Even if you hang your head down there because you’re sullen.

In addition, his existing expression itself seemed to look unfair, giving off a more gloomy feeling.

“I can’t help it.”

The woodcutter, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, nodded his head and rose from his seat with the creaking of his joints.

“Sorry to startle you, human. Don’t worry, I have no intention of harming you.”

“…… Are you thinking of going?”

“It’s okay now that I heard your circumstances. If you think about it, you humans were soft things. It seems that I lived in this body for too long and forgot about it.”

The woodcutter, who was about to step back, had a question.

“…… Aren’t you trying to take it by force?”

“Wait.”

Little Red Riding Hood grabbed me by the shoulder as if asking for nonsense, but I didn’t regret this question.

The Tin Woodman is also one of the characters that moves through the forest.

Then I need to understand something about him.

This could be a cornerstone to deal with the hunter, but it is also true that he had pure doubts about his somewhat incongruous appearance even aside from that.

At that question, the woodcutter lowered his eyes and looked this way.

“I want to get emotions.”

“I heard that.”

“It is not limited to emotions. I heard that emotions take many forms. The ability to love others, act conscientiously, and be considerate of others. That is humanity, said the witch.”

A witch?

Judging from the progress so far, it’s probably not Little Red Riding Hood, but it could be Dorothy.

“If it’s human nature, do you want to be human?”

“Yes. I wanted to be a being who acts from the heart like you. I definitely don’t want to fall into a beast who has abandoned his emotions intoxicated with desire.”

It is not an illusion that the woodcutter’s eyes stayed on Little Red Riding Hood for a moment after saying that.

A beast.

He personally thought that human desire was an undeniable other aspect of human beings, but he did not want to interfere in his personal values, so he listened to the story in silence.

“I already lost my living body a long time ago and turned into an iron machine, but in the end I want to die as a human. That is my wish.”

This is the desire of the Tin Woodman in this fairy tale world.

Do you want to become a human?

It certainly doesn’t seem to have deviated much from the ark of existing fairy tales, but it also subtly doesn’t match the story I know.

There are things to think about here and there, and there are also worries about what variables his presence will have in this forest.

The woodcutter is not hostile now, but when he fought Little Red Riding Hood, it was like a huge storm that only used ruthless violence.

There are many things to worry about about its existence, but one thing before that.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand it. Until now, I couldn’t believe that the Tin Woodman had no feelings for him.

I hope and hope.

This is also one direction of emotion.

He actually stood in front of me for what he wanted, and after a conversation with me, he even seemed to give it up coolly.

Could an emotionless machine behave so similarly just by imitating it?

“I think… ….”

No, there is no need to say this.

Adding my personal opinion to the unsuspecting man who believed that he had no feelings for himself didn’t change much.

He needs a heart.

As a result, even in the nuclear power plant, the Tin Woodman received a new heart from the Wizard of Oz to replace it, and he said he was happy that he finally got emotions.

Even if it’s not a real human heart.

“…… He said he needed a heart.”

“Yes.”

I can’t give you my heart.

But what if you offered him what would be considered a heart for someone who already seemed to have feelings?

It wouldn’t be a real heart, but what the Tin Woodman wanted was also a concept that symbolized it, not a real heart.

An iron giant who wants emotions.

Can you do it?

“What are you going to do?”

After catching my breath for a while and thinking about the car, Little Red Riding Hood asked me a question with a doubtful expression.

“I don’t know if anything is possible, but I’m trying to do something similar to that great Wizard of Oz.”

It’s impossible to actually beat the heart, but if it’s warm iron that replaces that concept.

“…… Human. Could you give me your heart?”

“I’m not sure. In the first place, unlike humans, you have an iron body. Then, wouldn’t the heart that suits you be different from mine?”

“Is that possible?”

This is the realm of faith.

What comes to mind now is an iron heart. It may be a simple imitation, but if you believe it to be real, it will surely fulfill the role of a heart in a conceptual sense.

However, as a result, it is not a real heart, so it depends on how the woodcutter accepts it.

“I don’t know if it will work. But first, you need iron to challenge yourself. An iron that suits you.”

“If that’s the case, use this.”

As soon as my words ran out, the tin woodsman took off the protruding decoration with his shoulder, crumpled it, and held it out.

“Can’t this work?”

“…… I’m fine with this, though.”

I was just taken aback by taking off a part of my body as if it were too obvious and crumpling it with my hands to make it round.

“If it’s ambiguous, it’s better not to do it.”

Beside me, Little Red Riding Hood whispered softly.

I know her concerns.

The fact that we were able to break up in a good mood like this could get entangled, and if it didn’t work out, it could have been scratched and scalded.

“It’s okay.”

But she felt certain in her head that it was possible.

Construction of the concept.

I did not understand everything about the power of reorganizing the world, but I felt that it was not impossible as long as it was given a simple concept of holding warmth.

The realm of the senses that cannot be understood by theory.

In the past, I wouldn’t have believed in things that couldn’t be explained in words, but isn’t this a fairy tale world?

There is no reason to go out, but there is no reason not to help.

It is unlikely that the woodcutter will harm you if you fail, and if you succeed, it is a good opportunity to erase one variable called the Tin Woodman.

In addition, when I heard the story so far, I knew that his narrative in this world was completely closed.

A tin woodcutter who fell alone in this distant forest.

Since even Dorothy didn’t take him, the road to the development of him gaining a heart and realizing his emotions like the development of the original story has completely disappeared.

I don’t like that development.

Wouldn’t it be sad to see a character who wanders endlessly, losing even the possibility?

“…… Whoa.”

I caught my breath and grabbed the iron the Tin Woodman gave me.

Feel the beating of your heart, and gradually put strength into your hands.

What blows into this lump of tin is warm warmth. I can’t make a heart in the true sense, but at least to the extent of manipulating it into something symbolic.

The great impostor. Or maybe not as good as the wizard Oz, but it all depends on the Tin Woodman’s mindset.

“…… Oh oh.”

The mystery that flowed through my hands permeates the tin mass.

Suddenly, a bright light leaked out little by little around me, and the Tin Woodman, seeing the sight, took a step closer and let out a sound close to cheering.

A little more.

I added warmth. Now the concept of giving.

Recalling an example of Oz in the story, I recalled the narrative of the Tin Woodman, who already had emotions but did not realize that they were emotions because he had no heart.

The power of the mind.

People say it depends on what they think, but I hoped that this would be the case for him, so after finishing, I pushed it out.

“Feel it. I wonder if it can become your heart. Nothing is certain. Everything depends on what you think I breathed the emotions inside me, but only you know if it will be enough.”

It is a lie to say that I instilled emotion into it.

Since he already has his own feelings, it was only a slightly warm iron. The rest only somewhat contained the concept because it infused with mystery.

The Tin Woodman very carefully took the heart of iron he had put out, and brought it to his face.

“…… Warm.”

“Because that’s what gave me that kind of power.”

“I never thought I could feel this while living in a body made of tin.”

Is it so if you think about it?

Fortunately, it was not simply heated, but the concept of warmth itself was blown into it, so even the iron man seemed to be able to feel the warmth.

For a while, the Tin Woodman grabbed the piece of iron I handed him and felt its warmth.

“This is… ….”

“How is it?”

“Wait.”

The woodcutter straightened his hand and thrust it right into the border between his chest and neck.

Sometimes I get flustered by a sudden situation.

With all his strength, he bent the tin plate on my chest and threw the iron heart I had made into his empty body.

And then, for a moment, he didn’t move as if time had stopped.

“…… Excuse me.”

Is something wrong?

No, that’s not possible.

I didn’t do anything special. There’s no way it would cause a problem if it was reforged with the image of a warm iron heart.

“Ah, ah… ….”

Worrying about what to do if something goes wrong, the woodcutter raises his head with a sobbing sound.

“I thought I lost it in the distant past, which I can’t even remember. The warmth, the heartbeat. Everything, everything was considered irreversible.”

He got up and turned his back on us.

“Is this emotion?”

One step.

“I feel the love now. I can love you.”

One more step.

After uttering such monologues, the woodcutter walked away from us with staggering steps.

“…… Is that okay?”

I hesitated for a moment about how to answer Little Red Riding Hood’s question.

It seems that something has changed, but it was difficult to give a clear answer because the staggering steps made me feel somewhat uneasy.

“Wouldn’t it be okay since you felt something yourself too?”

“I didn’t fight, so it doesn’t matter.”

With an indifferent reaction, Little Red Riding Hood hurried her steps again, and I also looked at the place where the Tin Woodman had left for a moment, then turned my head and followed her.

This is all I can do.

I did everything I could for him who couldn’t recognize it as an emotion because he didn’t have a heart even though he already felt it.

The rest is up to him now.

It seems that something has started to change, so it was up to the Tin Woodman himself whether it would work for him.