Chapter 3: The One Who Should Not See

Chapter 3: The One Who Should Not See

Alice's first day of formal mystical studies had arrived.

"Good morning, Sister Rozanne !" Freed from the vexing general education classes and no longer burdened by the headache-inducing Hermes and Ancient Hermes languages, Alice greeted Rozanne at the door with high spirits. "Have you seen the captain?"

"Good morning, Alice," Rozanne yawned, her smile brightening upon seeing Alice. "The captain is in his office… Ah, you look very energetic."

Alice rarely ventured underground, or rather, she hadn't been down here much in three years. Her actual encounters with Rozanne had been coincidental, at the church—where she was surprised to find Rozanne working as a clerical officer.

"I'm happy because I finally don't have to attend classes anymore! Oh wait, I still have to take mystical studies… But it's definitely different from general education, and that damned Hermes and Ancient Hermes languages, right?"

Rozanne looked at Alice somewhat speechlessly. After getting to know her, Rozanne had heard Alice complain about learning languages more than anything else. It was clear that Alice truly struggled with language studies.

Not receiving the affirmation she sought, Alice retracted her pleading gaze, feigning a sigh of sorrow—only to be unable to suppress her laughter halfway through her sigh.

"Alright, I'm off to see the captain, Sister Rozanne . Bye~"

"Bye…"

As Rozanne 's listless response echoed behind her, Alice didn't look back. She knew Rozanne would soon be brewing a cup of coffee, and then…

In a flash, Alice saw a blurry male figure in formal attire entering the door, while Rozanne was making coffee. She heard the man greet Rozanne —"Good morning, Miss Rozanne ."

Blinking, the vision vanished, and Alice knocked on the door of Dunn Smith—the grey-eyed officer she had first met—as if she had seen nothing.

"Come in," Dunn's voice was deep and gentle.

Alice entered, finding Dunn seated at his desk. She could clearly see—a deep, rich blackness enveloping him, as if to swallow him whole. She knew it was an omen of death.

Alice smiled as if nothing was amiss, her demeanor as bright and cheerful as it had been in front of Rozanne . She met Dunn's profound gaze with a giggle, about to speak, when suddenly, a vision appeared.

The blurry-faced man stood before the desk, and she heard a solemn response—"Yes, I have made my choice."

…But why was his face blurred both times he appeared?

Waiting for the vision to fade, Alice composed herself and asked Dunn, "Captain, do you have another visitor this morning?"

"…Did you see?" Recognizing the change in Alice's demeanor, Dunn, who understood the characteristics of the Monster pathway, realized something.

"Um… Can I… come back to see you later?" Alice furrowed her brows, searching for words.

"Why?"

"Maybe, I shouldn't have seen him."

"…A revelation?"

"I'm not sure, I…"

"Knock, knock." A gentle rapping came, and Alice instinctively closed her eyes.

Dunn frowned at Alice's closed eyes before saying, "Come in."

Alice heard footsteps approaching, and a puzzled gaze fell upon her—while her spiritual premonition screamed at her not to open her eyes.

The non-existent noise was giving Alice a headache. She moved to the side, leaning against the wall, and rubbed her temples.

"Now I'm sure, I really shouldn't see him—or I might die."

Dunn watched the scene, somewhat astonished, making some guess before introducing the two.

"This is Klein Moretti, our new clerical staff member, remember?"

Alice nodded.

"This is Alice Kingsley, a Lucky One. Rozanne must have mentioned her to you?"

"…She's the 'Lucky One'?"

"Am I that famous?"

Even with her eyes closed, Klein could hear the lively curiosity in Alice's voice. It wasn't until Dunn tapped the desk twice as a warning that Alice composed herself, returning to her feigned weak posture.

"I was going to have you both go find Old Neil… Well," Dunn sighed helplessly, "Alice, you go back… Come again in the afternoon."

"Okay!" Alice turned swiftly, stepping away as if afraid Dunn would change his mind. As she passed the source of the gaze, she opened her eyes.

"Klein Moretti… I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before…" Her audible murmur left the other two present at a loss for words—but they wouldn't have to ponder for long.

Alice's movements halted again as the eerie white fog she hadn't seen in three years reappeared, with the same girl who had spoken to her back then.

But this time, the girl's voice wasn't clear. Alice could only see her lips moving, and amidst the chaotic murmuring, she discerned a blurry name.

"Zhou, Ming, Rui."

"Bang—!"

A loud noise jolted Alice awake, her spiritual scream stopping her first instinct to turn around. She heard a shocked, clear-toned Chinese voice behind her: "You…?"

That seemed to contain many questions, and the abruptly halted word made Alice realize that this person might have heard that name.

The clear-toned Chinese, even with just one word, was enough evidence for Alice—perhaps others couldn't be sure it was Chinese from just one word, but Alice's intuition had already given her the answer.

For Alice, she had three main goals at the moment—to find "Huanhuan's" past, to find her own past, and to find the sender of that gift.

A discovery involving one of her main goals certainly warranted a response. So Alice closed her eyes, turned towards the direction of the voice, and replied in Loenese: "Perhaps I should invite you to lunch, even though eating with closed eyes isn't a good idea… I mean, you can find me at the church."

Then, she turned and left, not caring about the trouble the incident might cause Klein—letting someone else deal with the hassle of explaining to Dunn.

(End of Chapter)