Mystery: Lucky One

Alice went to see the high priest in their mouth.

High Priest Nim did not show much emotion. He followed the passage where the crowd dispersed and walked towards the only high platform in the center.

...?
Alice hesitated for two seconds, then stopped at the innermost part of the crowd and asked:

"...Should I go up with you?"

As if he had not expected her to have such a question, Nim turned around, paused for a few seconds, and then said carefully:

"Normally, when something important happens in the city, we gather everyone and announce it here..."

"Ah," Alice nodded understandingly, suddenly realizing, "Do you want to tell others about my origins first?"

Nim's gaze remained fixed on her for a few seconds, and he finally said silently:

"……Yes."

Then, Alice watched Nim walk up to the platform and spoke after a long silence:
"You should already know that Xin and Ruth discovered a person coming from the fog.

“I’ve seen her… No, Him.

"She calls herself Miss Fate. She comes from outside this cursed land, guided by fate..."

Alice looked up at the platform. The people of Moon City were not as tall as those of Silver City. Most people here were not even as tall as her. Even if the high priest Nim stood on the platform, he was not as tall as the chief.

Of course, this was not what she should be concerned about. She just vaguely realized one thing from the posture of the high priest Nim - perhaps, she should be the one standing there at this moment.

She was supposed to go up there and introduce herself, and then preach some doctrine…wait, whose doctrine was she preaching?
Oh, by the way, why did he call me “Him”…was it because of the tone I used when I mentioned the “ancient sun god”?

Alice turned around and saw that the residents of Moon City had quietly spread out in a semicircle behind her.

Alice turned her gaze back to the platform, and after two seconds of silence, she also walked towards the platform.

Nim stopped talking because of her action and made room for her in the center. Alice looked at Nim, then at the crowd, and stood there a little dazed.

Speech...should there be a microphone?

It was obviously impossible for such a thing to exist in this place. Alice looked around and finally her eyes fell on a thin child in the crowd.

The child was holding a thin book in his hand. Alice's eyes lit up and she subconsciously took half a step forward, wanting to rush down, but quickly retracted her steps.

It doesn’t seem to be appropriate… um…

The people in the audience all looked up at her, seemingly unaware of her little action. Alice stood there for a few seconds and began to recall how Miss Justice had introduced at the Tarot Club how to pretend to faint elegantly.

This is what she said to Audrey at the time.

There was no need to worry about getting hurt, and Alice saved a lot of trouble when pretending to be faint. So in full view of everyone, she shook her body twice and then fell to the ground as if she had lost her strength.

After a brief silence, the scene turned into chaos, but with Nim's comfort and orders, the surroundings quickly returned to order.

Alice realized that someone had carried her onto something, most likely a stretcher. Then, she was carried for an unknown distance, around and around, and finally she was placed on a bed. The people closed the door and walked out.

Alice was still lying there without moving. After a while, it seemed that someone else came in. Alice felt a sense of being watched, as if something wanted to see her true nature. She frowned and opened her eyes.

This was a dark secret room, but "Apollo" emitted a dazzling light on Alice. These people did not seem to intend to take off the robe, so in the light, Alice saw a similarly deformed face.

There were no tumors on this face, but his eyes were one big and one small. At this moment, a monocle was worn on his right eye. When Alice woke up, he subconsciously pushed the glasses down.

Alice jumped up from the bed reflexively, tensed her back, closed her eyes and screamed:
"Help ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

This sound seemed to have awakened the person in front of her, and another scream rang out in the secret room:
"Aa ...

He didn't yell for help, he just screamed.

Alice stopped screaming when she heard his voice, opened her eyes again, and looked him up and down with a frown.

It shouldn't be Amon, Amon's clones are not that weak...

The spiritual feedback made Alice relax a little, and she quickly looked at the monocle, which was the source of the feeling of being peeped.

Observe, analyze... a vague feeling came from her spiritual intuition. Alice pinched her brows and asked after pondering for a moment:
"Um...if this thing sees a mythical creature, you will die, right?"

The stranger's screams had stopped at this moment. He looked at Alice blankly as she questioned him. Looking into his eyes, Alice sighed softly and completely let go of the aura that belonged to the mythical creature.

Alice looked at the horrified visitor and said slowly:
"Angels... you used to call them gods. If you look at them this way... they will die, right?
“I had already guessed it, so why did he do this… Did he really believe that I fainted?

"Well, anyway, I'm going to take a nap first, and don't let anyone bother me for no reason... Good night."

The power of "restart" continued at the end of her words, sending the newcomer out of the secret room and closing the door.

Immediately afterwards, a spiritual barrier isolated the secret room, and Alice finally had time to mutter to herself:

“It seems like I failed at pretending to faint… Never mind, the most embarrassing part is over, I’ll talk about the rest later.

"That monocle is a sealed object, right? I don't know where it came from, but that feeling, could it be..."

Alice frowned, remembering the "Reader" who could imitate the abilities of others.

By the way, I wonder what happened to Danitz and his captain... Does Edwina know that everyone on that ship likes her?
That's right, Klein!

Alice suddenly remembered something crucial—she hadn’t replied to the message.

In that strange state before, she actually couldn't think, whether it was responding to prayers or responding to rituals, she couldn't do it - except automatically.

Of course, there shouldn't be anyone in the "Forsaken Land of God" who needs her to automatically respond to the ritual...

No, there is probably no active one either.

But the news Alice wanted to get back was actually from Klein.

Although she didn't have the energy to check or respond, she actually received the message. Klein asked her once during the days when she was "floating"...asked her if she wanted ice cream.

What happened next was that after an unknown amount of time, Klein asked her if she had been in trouble. It seemed that he might have the answer in his mind now.

No, maybe he already thought something was wrong with me when he asked me if I wanted some ice cream…

Alice wasn't sure when Klein realized something was wrong, but she was in a daze for at least half a week - probably less than a week, because Klein would have mentioned it if she missed the Tarot Club.

Without caring about anything else, Alice closed her eyes and began to pray in the spiritual barrier:
"The fool who does not belong to this era,
"The mysterious master above the gray fog,

"Yellow and black king of good fortune, "I pray for your attention,

"I beg you to hear me,

"Uh...are you there?"

After doing all this, Alice quietly opened her eyes and waited for Klein to reply.

……

Although he felt annoyed at Alice for returning the dishes with food residue on them, Klein was used to it and started washing the dishes while cursing.

Well, I'll use this set of tableware to serve her food next time she eats out...

The frugal Klein nodded secretly, and then waited for Alice to try to make him unhappy again.

As an angel, Alice obviously didn't need three meals a day. In an environment like the "God-Forsaken Land", Klein guessed that Alice would not be able to eat three meals a day according to meal times. As long as she didn't suddenly say she wanted to eat in the middle of the night, Klein thought he should be able to accept it.

But...what if she only asked once and didn't follow up?
After a day passed, Klein finally couldn't help it. He came to the gray fog, hesitated for a moment, tentatively poked the crimson star that belonged to Alice, and sent a message:
"Alice? Do you want some ice cream?"

No one paid any attention to him.

Maybe she is not convenient now, maybe she is busy now, she will definitely come to me when she is free...

Just like that, Klein comforted himself while doing what he was supposed to do.

After all, his life wasn't just about babysitting Alice.

The next time I remembered Alice was when I received a reply from Mr. Azik.

After the Skeleton Messenger disintegrated and disappeared, Klein unfolded the envelope in the sunlight and read the contents of the letter:

“…I’m glad you got the promotion and that your travels were more interesting than I thought.

“That sea area is indeed very dangerous. I vaguely remember that it might be related to the source of the catastrophe. As for why the ancient god of death has his aura lingering there, I’m not sure.

"I will remember your reminder. I will not enter that sea area before my memory is fully restored. The mumblings of the 'True Creator' are not pleasant to hear.

"I am somewhat interested in the ring in the hand of 'Admiral of Hell', but I am currently entangled in a past event, so it may take some time before I can visit him...

"...The name of the Sequence 4 potion of the 'Fortune Teller' pathway is 'Trickster'. It is definitely not called 'Circus Master' or 'Circus'.

“Why do you have such an idea?
"..."

Klein silently put away the envelope.

Why would he think this? Of course we have to ask...wait, where's Alice?

Alice still didn't reply.

Klein realized that something was wrong. After finding the bathroom, he came to the gray fog again and tried to see the crimson star that belonged to Alice.

Of course, he couldn't see anything.

This situation occurred after Alice regained her uniqueness. He was able to contact Alice by touching the star, but at this stage, he seemed unable to see clearly what was happening around Alice.

It was like the signal was cut off by something.

Klein had a hunch that this was temporary. If he could further master the power of the gray fog, perhaps it would be possible, although he had no way of predicting to what extent it would take.

But at this moment, the danger of this situation occurred - he had no idea what was happening on Alice's side.

Above the gray fog, he tried to throw a coin without much hope, but the result showed that everything was fine.

...?
Klein decided to try again using the pendulum method.

The pendulum swung clockwise with such force that it seemed as if it was about to fall out of his hand.

This is dangerous, very dangerous, it couldn't be more dangerous.

...?
Faced with two completely opposite results from divination, Klein hesitated for a moment and tried the pendulum method for the second time.

The citrine pendant was still rotating clockwise, but the amplitude of the rotation was much smaller than last time, which meant there was almost no danger.

...?
Klein tried the pendulum divination for the third time, and this time the result showed that there was danger but he needed to make the right choice.

The fourth time, the fifth time...

After seven consecutive divinations, Klein confirmed one thing—the divination results regarding Alice seemed to be random to a certain extent.

Everything seems to be uncertain.

After hesitating for a moment, he just asked Alice worriedly and did not continue. Instead, he planned to find clues to the potion formula while waiting for Alice to reply.

She should be able to advance to Sequence 1 safely, right...?
She couldn't just be reborn now...

Crane spent several days in this worry, until he heard the woman's prayers in his ears, and then he became excited.

Although he knew that the person praying might not be Alice but someone else, Klein still eagerly found a bathroom and came above the gray fog.

……

Waiting for a reply in a dark secret room was a boring thing. If Alice could really endure such a thing, she would not be Alice - so she fell asleep.

Meditation is really a great tool for falling asleep quickly. Since learning to meditate, Alice has never suffered from insomnia again. Dreams quickly overwhelmed her and covered her tired spirit.

In front of Alice was the familiar face of Song Shu. Alice saw her smiling, bending down and extending a hand towards her.

In her chaotic thoughts, Alice heard Song Shu's familiar, smiling voice:
“Huanhuan… or should I call you… Alice?

"Let's... make a bet?"

The emotion in her voice was as condescending as her posture—it was an order that looked like a question.

This should be a memory, Alice thought. She also thought there should be gambling content later, but unfortunately, she couldn't see it for the time being.

The gray mist enveloped the surroundings, waking her up from her dream. Above the gray mist, the figure high above shouted in an excited tone:

"Alice? Are you okay?" (End of this chapter)