Mystery: Lucky One

Alice didn't say anything. She carefully recalled the news, TV dramas, novels, short videos and other random things she had seen, and finally said thoughtfully:
"Maybe I can go to a maternity hospital and ask?"

“What do you want to ask?” Klein was visibly stunned.

Alice answered as a matter of course, "Of course, are there more premature babies or delayed babies?"

This question confused Clay for a moment. It took him some time to react. This should not be the question they were discussing. After hesitating for a moment, he did not point it out and asked again:

"So do I need to think of one last honorific name?"

"Not for the time being," Alice replied.

Klein showed visible surprise. Alice thought for a moment and explained:
"I always feel that if I really need it, I will think of it myself when the time comes."

They chatted for a while longer and then both returned to the real world.

……

It cannot be said that Alan's recent exploration of the occult has been fruitless. At least in the matter of finding someone to learn the Hermetic language, he has a goal.

Whether it was the middle class and aristocrats who were interested in mysticism, or various strange clubs, Alan had heard of many such examples.

He made a list of these names, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately did not choose anyone from the circle he was familiar with. The reason was simple: most of those who were interested in mysticism were young people.

——Only children have so much free time.

When he thought of this, Alan couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't help but regret that his first two children were not very interested in mysticism, otherwise he wouldn't have to face such distress today.

However, the Hermetic language is not only used in mysticism. It is not uncommon in the research of many fields such as history. Alan thought about it and added a lot of names to it. This time, there are many people of Alan's age or older.

He had no intention of using that honorific name to directly go to people's homes to find an interpreter. Even though the people he finally found were not very interested in the occult, and some of them even did not believe in the existence of gods, they would still feel that they were attracted to an inexplicable cult and report themselves to the church.

——This is inevitable.

Allen's final decision was to hire a tutor to teach him Hermetic.

……

"Learn Hermetic?" Islant Osisleka put down the coffee in his hand in surprise. "This doesn't seem like something you would be interested in, Alan."

Islam Osisileka has a baby face that at first glance would make one think she is still attending public school or grammar school.

She has long black hair that reaches her waist and a pair of lake-blue eyes. She is neither tall nor short.

She is a psychiatrist, and her relationship with Allen is somewhere between colleagues and non-colleagues. They are a little bit similar, but they cannot be considered real colleagues.

Allen and Eslant had communicated before. Although they were not particularly familiar with each other, they could be considered friends. Allen knew that she was fluent in Hermes and often worked as a psychology teacher for aristocratic families. Last year, she had been a teacher to Earl Hall's daughter.

Alan smiled nervously. He felt that Eslant's eyes had a penetrating power, as if they could see him clearly from head to toe. He didn't know if all psychiatrists were like this or just Eslant, but he really didn't like talking to Eslant because of this - this was also the main reason why their relationship was not particularly good.

Eslant seemed to have noticed this. She gave Allen a soothing smile and said softly:
“Don’t be nervous, I’m just surprised…I recently heard some…um, some things about you.

"Is that why you want to learn Hermetic?"

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere around him was too warm, Alan felt himself gradually calming down. He developed a slight trust in Eslant, but still had no intention of revealing his true purpose, so he just nodded randomly.

Eslant seemed to have noticed something, but she didn't ask any further questions. She just smiled tolerantly and said:
“Okay, Alan.

"It just so happens that I have some time recently. Um...how about one class a week? Which day of the week are you free?"

Alan paused for a moment. He was obviously not satisfied with the number of lessons. Islantus could see it and asked softly:
"Well, you want to take a few more classes?"

Her words, her clothes, her actions all seemed to have a convincing power. Alan unconsciously became closer to her. He couldn't help but want to tell her his true purpose:

"Actually, I want someone to translate something for me, but I'm worried..."

At this point, Alan hesitated again. He was not sure whether he should say it. Eslant sighed, looked at him with a concerned look and said:
"It seems you've been in some trouble lately."

Perhaps it was due to the mental stress of recent days, Alan had an inexplicable urge to cry. He couldn't help but want to tell what had happened to him, but those experiences were too absurd and anyone who heard them would feel that they were unreal, so Alan just smiled miserably and stood behind the last psychological defense line.

Eslant took another sip of coffee, then chuckled and said:
"What do you want to translate? Maybe I can help.

"Does it have anything to do with what happened to you recently?"

This is something that can be said. Allen said in a daze:
"It's an honorific name..."

"Your honorable name?" Islant repeated.

She didn't look normal, but Alan's heart skipped a beat for unknown reason. He became alert and suddenly realized his strange trust in Eslant. He didn't want to continue.

Eslant stared at him for a few seconds, and seeing that he did not answer, he said:

"Okay... let's continue discussing the course. Are you in a hurry?"

Allen nodded.

Eslant showed a slightly embarrassed expression. She looked at Allen, frowned slightly, and shook her head.
"Since we are half colleagues... two classes, no more.

“I’m free Wednesday afternoon and Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"But it's probably too late to go to class this afternoon."

As he said this, Islam glanced at the time. Actually, it wasn't too late. If they wanted to go to class, they should still have some time before dinner, but Islam didn't want to be in a hurry.

Of course, this had no effect. Two classes could not directly change Allen's goal. He was in a dilemma again, but Eslant was very firm this time:
“I really can’t add any more… Besides, if your purpose is just to translate, why can’t you show it to me?

"I think it's okay to help you translate a honorific name, unless you're worried that I'll report you to the church?
"Ha, you don't really believe in some evil god, do you?"

Eslant said this as if jokingly, but Allen frowned uncomfortably. He always felt that Eslant's eyes were shining on him like searchlights when he spoke. He shrank back a little uneasily and replied, "No."

The voice was dry, as if squeezed out from the throat. Alan was not sure whether his difficulty in speaking was due to guilty conscience or something else - he didn't know whether he was on the path of believing in evil gods, but he certainly didn't want the church to know about this.

Eslant frowned at this answer. She glanced at Alan and said in a soft but serious tone:
"Alan, I know you are worried about your wife, but there is nothing we can do about it. Even gods cannot take care of every believer... Do you understand?"

Alan was slightly startled. This was a relatively obvious reminder. He looked at Eslant, but Eslant put down the half-drunk coffee and did not even look at the unfinished snacks. He said to him softly:
"I'll come back on Saturday."

Alan nodded subconsciously, and Eslant picked up his bag, walked to the coat rack at the door and took off his coat, then turned around and said:
“Alan… you are very perceptive, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

“Some people will like it very much…”

After a pause, she chuckled again:
"For the sake of our friendship, if you really need help, you can come to me, okay?"

Alan nodded subconsciously, so Eslant turned around and left without hesitation.

……

When Alice woke up from her dream, she realized that someone was trying to enter her dream.

Alice did not stop him. She realized that the person coming was someone she was familiar with, so she relaxed and watched the figure in the red and black bishop's robe appear in her dream.

"Archbishop Anthony?" she asked doubtfully.

Anthony nodded as a greeting, then said to her, "Remember Will Auceptin, whom you mentioned to us?"

Alice nodded, and the scene around her changed, finally stopping on a street.

Archbishop Anthony took her into a house, and she was surprised to see two acquaintances sitting inside.

"Alan?" she asked, looking at Archbishop Anthony in surprise.

Anthony nodded and motioned for her to continue reading.

Opposite to Alan sat a famous woman, she had long black hair that reached her waist and a pair of lake-like blue eyes, she was neither tall nor short, her face looked like she was still in school, but her clothes were very mature. Alice hesitated for a moment between Alan having a daughter of such a big age and supporting a female college student, and thought the latter was more reliable.

"...Does the church still care about believers' infidelity?" She looked at Archbishop Anthony with some hesitation and asked puzzledly.

In response, Archbishop Anthony just kept smiling and shook his head:

“We never interfere in the private lives of believers.

"Of course, if a believer comes to the church to confess, we will comfort him"

Alice looked at him for a few seconds, and then she felt that he might not want to pay attention to her, so she replied silently:

"Ok."

Then, she silently looked away and continued to watch the fun.

She listened quietly to the conversation between the two people, and soon discovered that Eslant was not Alan's new mistress, but the tutor that Alan was going to hire. She silently repented for a second for her previous thoughts.

…It’s all German Sparrow’s fault!
After passing the buck without any psychological burden, Alan happened to mention the honorific name he wanted to translate. When Alice found that Alan was about to say the honorific name without any ulterior motive, she frowned and looked at Archbishop Anthony, wanting to say something, but the other party just shook his head to indicate that she continued to listen.

Alice then realized that the point of the matter was not here. She continued to listen patiently and listened to Eslant's last words with doubt.

Alice was not a fool. She could hear the strangeness and hesitation in the words. She looked at Archbishop Anthony. The scenes playing around him stopped. Archbishop Anthony finally chose to speak:

"That's Islant Osisileka, a member of the Psychological Alchemist Society, currently a Psychiatrist."

Alice's eyes widened.

This is not good news. Alice does not have a very good impression of this organization full of "audiences", or rather, she does not have a very good impression of the "audience", mainly because of Adam.

She didn't really like the role of standing in the background and spying on her, even though Adam might not have arranged anything for her.

To be more precise, she didn't want to find herself being arranged one day.

Archbishop Anthony seemed to have said this much. After reminding her of this, he took the initiative to say:

"Do you have any questions?"

Alice realized that the subtext of this sentence was "I'll leave if you don't have any questions," so she quickly said:
"Wait, you have someone monitoring Alan and Will Auceptin? Aren't you worried about being discovered?"

"No," Archbishop Anthony shook his head, "We only monitored Alan, and we used a seal."

Alice breathed a sigh of relief.

Before she could relax, Archbishop Anthony suddenly reminded her:
"By the way, you don't intend to let Ouroboros and Will Auceptin fight in the city, right?"

Alice turned her head to look at Archbishop Anthony. His smile was actually very gentle, but his tone was not a question. Alice clearly heard that it was a statement.

"...Yes." She was forced to affirm, and then drew a scarlet moon symbol on her chest.

——Obviously, she thought this was a warning from the goddess.

Of course, even if it wasn't, Alice had no plans to do so after being reminded - she just didn't think about it before because she didn't care, she wasn't a murderer!

Alice firmly believed this.

Archbishop Anthony, who had received the promise, did not continue to speak. He glanced at Alice and asked politely again:
"Do you have any other questions?"

Alice stared at Archbishop Anthony for two seconds, then remembered that they were in a dream and asked abruptly:
"Oh, right... I remember that Sequence 7 of the 'Sleepless' pathway is called 'Nightmare'. Can 'Nightmare' really eat dreams?" (End of this chapter)