Mystery: Lucky One

Tuesday night, Harman Harbor, on the passenger ferry to East Balam.

Klein boarded the ship in the afternoon. After responding to "The Sun" Derrick and "The Hanged Man" Alger, he finally had time to focus on his journey.

Currently, the cruise ship is docked at Harman Harbor, but Klein did not get off the ship. He found a window seat in the upper restaurant and usually observed the scene of the port and the deck through the window while enjoying his dinner.

The night view of Harman Harbor was not among the most beautiful scenery Klein had ever seen, but he was still absorbed in watching it until his spiritual sense suddenly jumped. Klein frowned and looked in the direction guided by his spiritual sense. He saw a suspicious figure preparing to board the ship.

The man was wearing a black coat and a tall hat that covered his body completely. He also wrapped a scarf around his face, leaving only a pair of eyes visible.

That’s not all. Klein saw that the man kept staring at the ground. It was difficult for others to see what the man’s eyes looked like. He frowned. He knew that there must be something wrong with this man without relying on spiritual reminders.

…What’s the problem?

Klein turned his head and looked at the half-eaten Dish grilled fish in front of him. He finished his dinner elegantly and quickly, then quickly returned to his room to do divination.

Behind the gray fog, there was a black and white photo in the dream. The person in the photo was wearing a double-breasted black clergy robe and a soft hat. He had a high nose bridge, tightly pursed lips, and his facial features were like classical sculptures without a single wrinkle. The most eye-catching feature was that he was blind in one eye.

There was a description of the man's appearance below the photo. Klein knew without even looking that the man had dark blond hair and a pair of blue eyes that were almost as dark as black.

——This is Ince Zangwill.

After waking up from the divination dream, Klein clenched his fists and remained silent for a long time. After a while, he released the strength of his body, slumped in the high-back chair, and muttered to himself:

"He's hiding from someone..."

Knowing that Ince Zangwill had the "0-08" on him, Klein did not act rashly. He thought for a moment, then extended his spirituality toward the crimson star that belonged to Alice and sent a message:
"Tell Leonard that Dwayne Dantes has discovered Ince Zangwill's whereabouts on the mid-range island in the Raging Sea."

……

Alice was still having dinner when she heard the news.

Alice liked the local Dixie pie in the morning very much. She didn't know what to eat for dinner, so she just went to Dixie.

Although the weather in June didn't allow the food to cool down too quickly, the time it took to be transported from the gray fog still affected the taste of the Dipsy Pie. After tasting the local Dipsy Pie, Alice decided to eat fresh one next time.

After listening to Klein's request, Alice also finished the last bite of Dixie's pie. She licked her lips and muttered to herself with some confusion:

"Strange... doesn't he have a messenger? It can't be that he did it to save that one gold coin, right?"

Although it sounded like slander, this was indeed Alice's first thought. She shook her head and decided to change her thinking to a more normal one.

Soon, Alice found the reason from Ince Zangwill's belongings - if the letter from Renette Tinicole to Leonard was summoned, it would probably be discovered by "0-08".

As for Ince Zangwill... without "0-08", she could have put a spell on Klein and killed Ince Zangwill by smashing him.

Alice shook her head, stepped into an inconspicuous alley, and then disappeared silently into the alley.

After returning home, Alice wrote down Klein's original words on a note, and then showed up at 7 Pinster Street with the note without hesitation and dropped it into the mailbox.

She thought about it and did not leave immediately, but stayed where she was. She knew that Leonard had left Backlund under Pales's persuasion and accepted a mission in East Balam.

But strangely, Leonard did not change the delivery address. Alice suspected that he had other ways to check the letters from Pinstopher 7. She wanted to take a look and it would be even better if she could learn it.

The person inside didn't seem to have any intention of hiding anything from her. An invisible hand opened the mailbox at 7 Pinster Street and took out newspapers, bills and letters from unknown sources.

Then they floated in the air, flew towards the door, and slipped in through the crack.

A door couldn't stop Alice. She didn't go in, but just looked at the scene inside the door.

Inside the house, in the hallway, newspapers unfolded themselves, flipping rapidly until they reached the last page, and then they fell haphazardly onto the chairs, stacking up with the previous ones.

The bills and letters continued to fly inwards and entered the living room. The former soon stopped, shook a few times, and then floated to the surface of the coffee table and spread out neatly. The latter that had envelopes took off their envelopes, and those without envelopes quickly opened themselves and appeared in mid-air.

After a long time, some of the letters flew to the shelves in the study on the first floor, some rushed to the scissors, helping them to tear themselves into pieces, and then they were arranged in lines and poured into the bathroom and thrown into the toilet.

Wow!

The toilet's mechanical button sank on its own, flushing the paper fragments into the sewer.

Alice opened her mouth in surprise. She saw that all this was done by a ghost. Combined with the Pales in Leonard, Alice thought that the ghost was parasitized.

...So, the high sequence of the "thief" pathway can also be used as a smart home?

Alice blinked and suddenly felt sorry for Flora Jacob's death.

This was not a problem, because Flora Jacob had another student named Hazel Macht. Alice thought of the girl she had almost forgotten, and then frowned.

She's a little too tactless... Alice muttered, thinking that instead of looking for Hazel, she might as well go to Pales and suggest that he move.

……

Southern Continent, East Balam, Gurain Castle.

Leonard Mitchell, who had just arrived here, was resting in the residence arranged by the local Church of Night.

Suddenly, the slightly old voice in his mind spoke up: "Boy, you have an important letter."

"What letter?" Leonard asked in a low voice, already having a guess in his mind.

Sure enough, Pales confirmed his guess:
"This is a letter from your goddess' illegitimate daughter. She said your former colleague asked her to tell you that Dwayne Dantes found traces of Ince Zangwill on the island in the middle of the violent sea on his way to the southern continent."

Leonard took a moment to connect the two nicknames with the real person, and then he asked in a confused tone: "Why Alice...?"

He couldn't figure out what made Klein decide to ask an angel to help transfer the information, nor could he understand why Alice seemed to listen to Klein.

"That's normal," Pales replied calmly. "Isn't it common to have your own seal or messenger deliver a letter?"

"......?" Leonard was stunned for a moment before he realized that this was referring to Alice. He didn't dare to answer and changed the subject. "Anyway, he really hasn't forgotten about revenge... What can I do?"

"What can you do? You are only Sequence 6. Even if Ince Zangwill has not mastered '0-08', you are not qualified to take revenge on him. He only needs to partially reveal the form of a mythical creature to make you lose control or become a madman on the spot. The probability of your successful revenge is 0! This is the qualitative change brought about by divinity." Pallez Zoroastrian said in a serious tone.

He paused for a moment, then laughed again:
"Fortunately, you are more aware of yourself than before. If it were in the past, you would definitely say, 'I want to pass on the information about Ince Zangwill to the church and join the team to track him down.' But now, you understand and ask what you can do."

Leonard wanted to refute several times, but he didn't say it.

Pales Zoroast continued, "All you can do now is give Klein Moretti some information, wait for him to reply to you, and then cooperate accordingly according to the arrangements in it."

"Why not find an excuse to inform the church of Ince Zangwill's whereabouts?" Leonard asked in a low voice, slightly stunned.

Pales Zoroast laughed and said:

“Don’t be in a hurry, wait until the critical moment to do this.

“Although 0-08 likes to kill its owner, it doesn’t want to return to being sealed. As long as you inform the church of Ince Zangwill’s whereabouts and start the corresponding pursuit, it will know immediately and make sufficient arrangements.

"You need to remind Klein Moretti of this."

Leonard was stunned for a second and said, "Old man, you seem to be very familiar with '0-08'."

It has never been shown before!

Pales laughed in a slightly old voice:
"Of course I am familiar with it. In the Fourth Epoch, '0-08' caused the fall of angels.

"I can't tell you too much, because when you know it, it knows you, and the more you know it, the more likely you are to become part of the story."

Leonard truly sensed the horror of "0-08" from the old man's vague words. This was beyond the mysticism he could understand!
After thinking for a moment, Leonard asked habitually:
"Then how can I hint to Klein Moretti without letting '0-08' know? Or, even if it knows, it will only have a superficial understanding, and I will just be a passerby in the story..."

Before he finished speaking, Leonard clenched his hands, gritted his teeth, and without waiting for the old man to answer, he said:

"A side hint? Tell him that I will not hand over Ince Zangwill's whereabouts to the church for the time being... I think he should be able to understand from this situation that there are certain problems here, and understand that we must be more cautious than cautious. Even if he cannot understand it, his secret organization has members who are familiar with the Fourth Epoch and can provide help.

"Also, write a normal sentence, 'If you know it, it will know you', without mentioning '0-08', and use personal pronouns so that Klein can guess what it refers to...

"Also, is there a way for Alice to block this characteristic of '0-08'? After all, she is favored by the goddess..."

Pales Zoroast listened quietly and laughed softly, "People need pressure to grow."

Leonard exhaled, turned over and sat up, found a pen and paper, and wrote down what he had just said on the letter.

Then, he suddenly stopped and looked at the envelope in front of him, hesitantly asked: "...How do I contact Alice?"

Pales replied slowly, "For angels and above, the honorific name is the best way to communicate."

But this still didn't solve the problem, Leonard replied slowly:

"But I don't have her honorific name..."

“You are called the Fool,” Pales replied nonchalantly.

Leonard was stunned for a moment. As a member of the Red Gloves, he knew the consequences of praying to an unknown god. Although the conditions of Alice, Klein, and Dwayne Dantès showed that the Fool should be in good condition and seemed to be very generous to his believers and followers, Leonard still did not take the initiative to think of it.

But this was Pales' suggestion, and Alice had told him before that if he wanted to know more, he should go to the Fool. Leonard hesitated for two seconds and decided to confirm first:
"……Why?"

Pales obviously knew what he wanted to ask and gave his reasons:
“The night hid the girl’s fate completely, but the news on the sea was enough for me to guess her origins.

“Although I’m not sure about her specific relationship with…, it’s enough. Since she chooses to stand by the Fool, then choosing the Fool will not be wrong.”

Leonard keenly caught the words that Pales skipped, frowned, and asked:
"What's her relationship to what?"

Pales chuckled and replied, "Boy, that is a secret that only angels and above can know."

Leonard, who had been trained in confidentiality, tactfully did not ask any questions. He expressed his final concerns:

"I am a believer of the goddess, a 'night watcher', a 'red glove'..."

No church would accept believers of other gods to become extraordinary people of the church. In the best case, they would only be accepted as informants.

Normally, a follower of a god would not take the initiative to pray to other gods, especially as an official Beyonder, they would be even more taboo about this - and he was even under the nose of the Goddess of Night.

Cases like Alice, who seemed to have become a favored one on both sides, were extremely rare. Normally, true gods would not share favored ones, as this was an insult to both sides.

This was what Pales told Leonard. Before he stubbornly called Alice the illegitimate daughter of the goddess, Pales had mentioned this possibility to Leonard - she was probably a symbol of some kind of cooperation.

Pales did not elaborate on this matter because he himself was not very clear, but he did have something to say about Leonard's question:
"Goddess? Heh...

"You goddess and the fool may even have a child."

After a few breaths, Leonard realized the meaning of this sentence and his face turned pale. (End of this chapter)