Chapter 202;Subtle Worries

 Chapter 202 Subtle Worries

Alice turned to Emlyn with gritted teeth and cursed, "He's a lunatic!"

After a pause, recalling Song Shu's description, she continued, "A thief! A fraud!"

Infected by Alice's genuine anger, Emlyn empathetically commented, "Sounds like a despicable person."

"Exactly!" Alice nodded vigorously.

Derrick and Alger simultaneously shifted away from him slightly.

Amidst Emlyn's confused gaze, Fors lowered her head. Only the kind-hearted Audrey explained:

"The 'Amon' Miss Fate mentioned is an 'Angel King', a terrifying existence beyond Sequence 1..."

Emlyn froze.

The benevolent Audrey continued, "Miss Fate once described Amon as 'second only to true gods'."

"That thing has a curse on it. Once you put it on, you can't take it off or move it..."

*...He doesn't sound like a proper god at all!* Emlyn thought.

After a moment of silence, Alice replied, "I received a return gift from Amon."

Alice looked at him resentfully and said:

"That's why I asked if any of you are skilled with curses..."

Realizing he had just insulted an "Angel King" while being only at Sequence 3 himself, overwhelming fear engulfed Emlyn. He didn't even have time to ponder what it meant to be beyond Sequence 1, his mind filled with regret for his earlier behavior.

Audrey instinctively wanted to ask Alice "Shouldn't you be happy then?", but she suddenly remembered Alice's personality.

While naive and proud, Emlyn wasn't the type to impulsively bite an Angel's hand in extreme anger like Alice might - perhaps "mischievous child" wasn't quite the right description here either.

The Angel of Time, who enjoyed playing with "Miss Fate", had a title that included something like "God of Deception and Mischief", didn't he?

After explaining everything, Audrey gave Emlyn a pitying look before turning to Alice and asking curiously:

"Miss Fate, what happened?"

Emlyn, having finished regretting, couldn't help but interject: "Can't you just not wear it while eating?"

Emlyn somewhat regretted his earlier behavior, feeling as if the Tarot Club's chair had suddenly grown needles, making him uncomfortable.

"How can there be such a disgusting effect!" Alice exclaimed.

Audrey silently moved away from Alice a bit.

"Do you know how sad it is to eat without tasting anything?

"And Amon! Amon's return gift steals my sense of taste!

This time, Alice didn't need a prompt. With a sorrowful expression, she sighed and asked:

Emlyn fell into deep thought.

*Is this what it means to be the God of Mischief...* Audrey also pondered.

Alger finally understood the situation and confirmed with Alice: "So the monocle you're wearing now is Amon's return gift?"

Alice nodded, then blinked and asked, "Mr. Hanged Man, do you know anyone skilled at removing curses?"

"I can try to inquire for you," Alger didn't give a definitive answer, only attempting to console Alice, "Besides, Miss Fate, side effects like stealing your sense of taste won't cause you harm in the long term. You needn't be so anxious."

Despite saying this, Alger felt he likely couldn't help much. Firstly, Amon's status was too high; he suspected the curse might not be strong, but would be very difficult to remove. Secondly... wasn't Mr. Fool right here?

"But," Alice stared at Alger, biting her lip before expressing her true thoughts, "If I lose my sense of being human, how will I confirm that I am human?"

Alger was slightly startled, quickly recalling his speculation about Alice's situation - she was fully immersing herself in playing the role of a human.

So... was sensation also one of her ways of confirming her state?

Realizing this, Alger discreetly glanced at Mr. Fool in the gray fog, but unfortunately, he still couldn't glean more information.

However, if Miss Fate needed sensations to maintain her state, it meant this issue was far more serious than he had thought. In that case, Mr. Fool shouldn't ignore her, unless...

Alger looked at Alice again, suddenly considering a possibility.

Having lived at sea for years, Alger was more familiar with the dark side of this world. He knew what kinds of actions could truly stimulate the senses, and none of them were commendable.

Perhaps, for Miss Fate, becoming too immersed wasn't a good thing either, after all, she wasn't truly human...

Alger once again believed he understood everything and calmly continued:

"But being human isn't determined by trivial matters like 'whether you can taste food'.

"There are many people in this world who look human, but have done things more disgusting than beasts.

"You shouldn't confirm your humanity through such means."

This was quite bold for Alger. As he spoke, he carefully observed Mr. Fool and the World's expressions, ready to stop at any sign of disapproval.

Fortunately, while he still couldn't discern Mr. Fool's emotions, the World joined Alice in wearing a contemplative expression.

Klein was indeed pondering.

He had never felt anything was amiss before. His impression of Alice from the beginning was that of a young, somewhat boisterous child, especially after learning she wasn't even an adult before transmigrating.

Although Alice occasionally said strange things, frankly, given her personality as she had always displayed, this wasn't particularly jarring. He had never suspected Alice might have issues.

Her anger at Amon's actions was also perfectly normal - she was just that kind of loud and impulsive child. It would be strange if she calmed down.

It wasn't until just now that Klein realized something.

Alice was using her sense of taste to confirm she was human - in other words, she was questioning whether she was human.

Was this normal?

Klein suddenly felt a subtle worry. He tried to recall Alice's image all along, which made him realize something.

She could be a child who liked pranks and acted a bit recklessly, or she could be a capricious deity.

Both identities seemed to fit her without much dissonance.