6-2

59 Friendship

"No, that's not right." Alice pinched the mouse's ear with a finger, "Actually, there's something about you that I'm very interested in."

"What?" Flora asked subconsciously.

"Your Beyonder characteristic," Alice stretched out her hand and smoothed the mouse's fur, "This fur feels really bad... Hey, why don't you look scared at all?"

"Don't be ridiculous..." Flora glanced at Alice, seeming to find her words a little funny. "For an angel in good condition, killing me is just a matter of thought."

The news about this Miss Destiny was spreading like wildfire, and Flora had actually heard a lot about it.

He claimed that he had swallowed a "0" level seal by mistake. According to rumors, his personality was more like that of a child who was ignorant of the world. Most of those who knew more about the High Sequence suspected that he was actually a "0" level seal that had been integrated with human nature.

In other words, it might be more like He was swallowed by the Seal.

Just now, He claimed that He awakened in the Second Age, which matched some of the information - He was suspected to have a close relationship with the Goddess of Night.

In addition, He has a close relationship with the adventurer Gehrman Sparrow who has just become famous. They are suspected to belong to the same faction. Some people even speculated in the early days whether He and Gehrman Sparrow had some kind of sexual relationship. As for now...

Most people feel that Hermann's role is more like a nanny.

Of course, this was only a private rumor, and no one dared to voice these speculations in person, so these things naturally could not be verified. The only thing Flora could be sure of was that this was a genuine angel - the kind that could hold power as a toy.

Therefore, Flora did not think that Alice was sincere when she said that she wanted to kill her, because it would not take much effort for such an angel, and she did not have a protector in her current situation.

But Alice raised her eyes and slowly gave another answer:

"You are right... but I think that for a gift like yours, maybe it would be better to give it to a living person?

"And I haven't decided who to give it to yet... Amon or the ancestor of the Zoroast family, which one do you like better?"

"...?" Flora froze in place. She looked at Alice, hoping to figure out if it was a joke.

But every word Alice said didn't sound like a joke, and this one was no exception. Flora could only show her horror at Alice's sincere questioning. She smiled reluctantly and said,

"You, you must be kidding, right...?"

"It seems like you don't like it..." Alice frowned, "But I don't know the ancestors of your Jacob family, so I can't send you to your ancestors, right?"

Flora's expression gradually became dull. Seeing her expression like this, Alice shook her head and laughed again:

"Well, I haven't decided whether to tell the truth or not - I'm not even sure whether to tell the church or not.

"After all, I just don't want my dear friend to appear at a noble banquet one day."

Well, come to think of it, if he did that, Klein would be exposed to Amon...

After realizing this, Alice suddenly became alert. Her original hostility towards Hazel and Flora was simply because she didn't want Amon to suddenly appear near her, but now it changed to not wanting Amon to discover Klein's whereabouts.

Alice cares about the latter much more than the former. After all, Amon will not really kill her for the time being, but he will never show mercy to Klein.

She stared at the dark brown mouse, successfully making Flora, who was hiding in the mouse's body, sense the breath of danger. She thought about what Alice had just said.

She didn't ask who Alice was referring to as her best friend, because the tone of her voice when she mentioned her best friend sounded as if she wanted to cut the other person into pieces - it sounded more like she was talking to an enemy.

However, Flora was certain that it must be an angel from the "Thief" path. Knowing this was enough for Flora. She promised,

"My student has a manor on the outskirts of Backlund. I will ask her to send me there."

This is not safe enough, only killing her is safe enough, but, well...

Alice was rarely kind-hearted. She thought of Hazel who had just left and thought that this might cause a great psychological trauma to Hazel. It would be better to stay away from it, kill it, and then disguise herself as the mouse and run away...

Well, she just felt it was troublesome to explain to Hazel, but killing Hazel directly would bring more trouble.

As for passing Flora's message to the church... well, that seems to be an idea, I'll think about it later...

Alice nodded with satisfaction, and smiled at the mouse who had relaxed a lot because of her attitude:

"All right."

She didn't remind Flora of the possibility of being discovered in the suburbs, and stood up and opened the door. Hazel, who was guarding the door, was startled by the sudden sound of the door opening. She looked up and saw Alice, and said hurriedly:

"I'm waiting here for the teacher to call me!"

Puzzled...Alice glanced at her and turned to go downstairs.

At the staircase on the first floor, Alice met the second person who was guarding her. Winfred was standing not far from the staircase. When he saw her coming down, he smiled at her insincerely:

"Oh, you're finally back... I thought you weren't going to come down.

"You must have had a great chat with Miss Hazel, right? Unlike me, I have no idea what you like to hear and only say things you are too lazy to care about."

I don't understand... Alice looked up at her and said:

"You and Hazel must have a lot to talk about."

"?" Winfred looked upstairs in confusion, then looked back at Alice.

Alice ignored Winfred. She glanced at Klein who was enjoying his food, shook her head, and turned to walk towards the entrance of the hall.

The dance was still in the middle of the night, and it would be extremely impolite to leave the host's house at this time. However, strolling in the garden was not considered excessive.

Although she had never attended a proper dance, Alice could at least understand this point. She stepped into the garden and took a slow walk around.

Walking among the flowers, Alice looked around and finally found a flower with many petals.

Alice reached out her hand and plucked the flower, then she plucked off the petals one by one as she walked, throwing them away while murmuring:

"Kill Flora, tell Amon, tell Pales, tell the church..."

Yes, she is counting the petals.

Alice certainly didn't intend to get any results from this sort of thing, she was just trying to think through the process.

She did not try to predict the future, but after having encountered Adam in a prophetic dream, Alice clearly realized that it would be difficult for her to make accurate predictions about Amon, and she could not tell where something might go wrong.

This was bad, and Alice didn't want to make such a dangerous attempt, so she just threw a petal for fun.

But Winfred was like a lingering ghost. After pausing for a moment, he followed her out of the hall and found her counting petals in the garden.

"What are you doing?" The girl snatched the flower without any courtesy.

Alice's thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and she frowned, looking at Winfred with cold eyes.

A dangerous message emanated from her. Winfred was obviously not a fool. She realized the source of the danger at this moment and said through gritted teeth:

"I, we, we are not friends, right?"

Her voice trembled slightly, and there was an inexplicable grievance in her fear. Alice looked at her for a long time before she remembered that when they first met, Winfred did ask her if they could be considered friends.

Her answer at the time was "yes".

As for now...

The irritability that turned into tears long ago surged up again. Alice rudely snatched the flower that had just been snatched away by Winfred, then crushed the petals of the flower in front of her and threw them to the ground mercilessly.

The broken petals were scattered all over the ground, and only the broken stamens were left of the flowers. Winfred looked at the flowers on the ground, raised his head with a sense of feeling, and asked in a daze:

"Is this how you want to treat our friendship?"

Friendship? When did we ever have friendship... Alice glanced at Winfred, raised a cruel smile and asked:

"You can crush this flower like this, right?"

Winfred nodded.

"Well," Alice turned her head to look at her, "will you make friends with this flower?"

Winfred was stunned for a moment. Alice didn't wait for her answer and smiled casually,

"You won't - no one will be friends with something that they can easily crush or kill."

Having said this, she stepped past Winfred and walked towards the hall again.

She had only taken a few steps when a trembling but firm voice sounded behind her:

"I will."

Alice turned her head and Winfred still had his back to her. Alice saw Winfred bending down and seemed to pick up something from the ground. Then she turned around and Alice saw that she was holding the broken body of the flower in her hand.

"I will," she said again, her voice no longer trembling.

Alice looked into her eyes; her expression was firm. Looking into those rare black eyes, Alice thought of Evelyn and the captain again after a long time.

Actually, I can do it too... She sighed and lowered her eyes. Under Winfred's gaze, their figures moved forward, backward, and rotated, and finally returned to their original state like the torn flowers.

Winfred lowered his head blankly and looked at the flower in his hand which was still not intact.

Alice reached out and picked up the flower again, smiling at Winfred:

"But, Hua won't believe it."

Alice threw the flower back onto the ground while saying this.

The half-remaining flower rolled weakly on the ground and fell to Winfred's feet. Winfred stared at the flower and whispered:

"...But I will believe it."

Alice paused.

She thought of Evelyn who immediately distanced herself from her, and the captain who called her "Your Excellency". Finally, Alice just sighed and said softly:

"That's a pity… I wish it was you who I first met.

"Because I won't be friends with flowers anymore."

Having said this, she took a step forward for the second time and walked past Winfred without hesitation.

Behind her, Winfred did not look back until the not-so-heavy footsteps disappeared from her ears. Then she raised her leg and stepped on the flower, rolling over it again and again as if venting her anger, until the flower was completely stomped into the soil.

Alice didn't pay attention to all this. As she said, she no longer had the delusion of making friends with mortals because she had realized that equality was the basis of friendship.

Alice returned to the dance hall. Judging from the musicians and the flow of people on the dance floor, the dance was still some time away from ending. Alice thought about it and sat at the table to continue being a food bucket.

It was not until the end of the dance that Alice left with the crowd. She was neither the first nor the last person.

However, after leaving Congressman Macht's house, Alice did not go home immediately. Instead, she appeared in Mr. Fool's bedroom and sent a message to Mr. Fool, asking him to come over quickly.

So, Dwayne Dantes returned home from the dance, cleaned up, went back to the bedroom, closed the door, and looked at Alice who was sitting calmly beside the bed and asked:

"...Don't you think it's weird to sit on the bed of a stranger of the opposite sex?"

Alice raised her eyes and replied lazily:

"First of all, I don't think we are strangers.

"Secondly, if you wish, I can be of the same sex as you in my next life.

"Finally, I think there is no need to be so calculating between mother and daughter."

"?" Klein looked at Alice with a questioning look.

Just as he was about to speak, Alice raised her hand to interrupt him and warned him solemnly:

"Stay away from Hazel."

She had indeed discovered that there was something wrong with Hazel... Realizing this, Klein stopped dwelling on what had just happened and walked up to her and asked,

"What's going on?"

Alice waved her hand, motioning for Klein to sit down with her. Then she half-leaned on the headboard and replied slowly:

"Hmm…let me think about where to start telling you.

"First, Hazel has a Thief's Extraordinary Item on her, and she herself is also a Sequence 9 Thief.

"Then, there is a demigod of the 'thief' pathway in Hazel's family. She claims to be a descendant of Jacob's family. She is currently in a weak state and has to parasitize in the body of a mouse.

"That demigod said her name was Flora Jacob, and she came to Backlund to look for a treasure of the Jacob family.

"At the moment...if I'm not mistaken, it's mainly Hazel who's searching, and she seems to go to the sewer every night.

"They don't know the exact location of the treasure, so they rely on the ability of the 'thief' to find the treasure. In addition, Flora promised me that she would let Hazel send her to a manor in the suburbs.

"However, I still feel that this is not safe enough. I am worried that Amon will come to me through her, and then Amon may find you..." (End of this chapter)

60 Alice never forgets her original intention

Alice described the situation she had learned as clearly as possible, and then asked Klein,

"Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this matter?"

"…Report to the church?" Klein answered as expected.

Alice choked. She realized that asking Klein about such a question was not a wise decision, so she quickly returned to her original purpose:

"…Forget it, stay away from Hazel."

"I'm afraid this will be difficult to avoid…" Klein looked at Alice helplessly, "I can't just not go to her party… Oh, by the way, I have something to tell you."

Alice turned to look at him.

Klein carefully told Alice about Winfred:

"Do you know Winfred Gregory? After you and Hazel went upstairs..."

He roughly described what happened after Alice went upstairs. After listening to him, Alice pursed her lips and suddenly looked at him with a serious look.

"…What are you doing?" Klein became nervous for no reason.

Alice stared at Klein for more than ten seconds but couldn't think of a suitable question. She realized that whether it was friends, colleagues, or similar words, they didn't seem to be enough to describe the relationship between them, so questions that applied to those relationships didn't seem to be right to ask.

After thinking about it, Alice found that the most suitable word for them was "ally". Although this word seemed too unfamiliar, it seemed that what connected them was really just a common goal - although the goal was no longer there, at least their goals did not conflict.

…What if the goals conflict?

Alice opened her mouth, but ultimately did not bring up such a realistic topic. Instead, as Klein became increasingly nervous, she quickly reached out and touched his hair, then commented,

"Hmm, it feels much more comfortable than the mouse's fur..."

"?" Klein opened his eyes wide. Before he could react, Alice disappeared from the spot, leaving him with only a handful of air.

…

Backlund time, 3:00 p.m.

Deep red lights lit up on both sides of the long mottled table, solidifying into blurry, different figures.

Alice watched the scene patiently, waiting for Miss Justice's familiar voice to mark the beginning of a new week of Tarot Club.

In the end, she did not tell the church about Flora's affairs, but she did not kill Flora either. She just secretly kept an eye on Flora, Hazel, and Congressman Macht and his wife, to prevent any of them from suddenly wearing a monocle one day.

The reason why she didn't mind the trouble was because Alice had a vague feeling that the scene would appear not too far away.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~" "Justice" Audrey's pleasant voice sounded.

Alice gathered her thoughts and turned her attention to Justice Audrey, watching her greet everyone in turn, then looked at Hermit Cattleya.

The Hermit Cattleya did not disappoint Alice's expectations. She stood up and said with her head down,

"Mr. Fool, this time we have three pages of Emperor Roselle's diary."

It's not even a whole book… Alice frowned slightly and looked away.

Klein was not as impatient as Alice. He just chuckled and said:

"very good.

"You may consider the request."

After saying this, Klein lowered his head and began to browse the diary.

With the Joker's extraordinary ability, Klein's reading of the diary was destined to be boring. Alice lost interest after just two glances and scratched the table with her fingernails.

The harsh voice made the people around her look at her unconsciously several times, but they all hesitated to speak, and finally cast their encouraging gazes on other people.

The one who finally stopped Alice was the "world" at the end of the long table, or rather, Klein, who had lost his patience:

"Are you bored?"

Alice nodded sincerely.

"Just bear with it for a while," The World responded emotionlessly.

Alice slammed the table angrily and sat up straight. Her gritted teeth expression made others worry for "the world", but the strange thing was that Alice just gritted her teeth and sat back, just staring at "the world" with vicious eyes.

The scene became harmonious in an inexplicable way until Mr. Fool finished reading the diary, made the diary disappear, and smiled at Cattleya, the Hermit, and asked:

"What do you want?"

It was not until this time that Alice's attention was successfully diverted. She also looked at the "Hermit" Cattleya, supporting her chin and waiting for questions.

"Hermit" Cattleya asked without thinking,

"Dear Mr. Fool, I want to know if Emperor Roselle has ever joined a very secretive and ancient organization."

Alice glanced at the "Hermit" Cattleya, and she suddenly realized that Bernadette had actually already handed the question to the "Hermit" Cattleya, so she remembered the earliest question that had been replaced.

It seems that they should be quite familiar with each other. At least Ms. Hermit should also know the relationship between Bernadette and Emperor Roselle, otherwise Ms. Hermit would not be able to change the problem by herself... Should we say that she is worthy of being a suspected adopted daughter?

Alice thought of the rumors on the sea again, and the fact that Hermit Cattleya and the Mysterious Queen actually broke up after a quarrel. Immediately afterwards, she thought of Bernadette, who would be the enemy of Emperor Roselle in Zaratul's prophecy.

...Emperor, there is something wrong with your family education!

Alice made a meaningless sigh that no one could hear.

Very secretive and very ancient... Audrey "Justice" suddenly remembered the organization that Mr. "Fool" had mentioned before.

Obviously, the saying "whatever is said must be known" fits well with the idea of ​​secrecy and antiquity.

The Hanged Man Alger also recalled the relevant events. He remembered that when Miss Justice described the "Apostle of Desire" incident in Backlund, she mentioned a mysterious organization. At that time, Mr. Fool told the members not to mention the name of the organization in the outside world, because "anyone who says it will be known"!

Such an organization is indeed in line with the level of Emperor Roselle... Alger nodded in his heart.

While they were thinking, Klein gave his answer. He smiled slightly and said to Cattleya, the Hermit, affirmatively:

"Yes."

Alice was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Klein, suddenly realizing that the Hermit had only asked "is there?" but not "what?"

Alice was no stranger to this way of answering questions, because she had not only seen it before, but she also loved playing similar word games herself. However, this did not prevent Alice from making a sharp comment on Klein's behavior:

"Swindler."

"!" The "Hermit" Cattleya forced herself to control the desire to look at Alice, and also did not dare to look up at the figure hidden in the gray fog. She was just glad that she had never stood up to ask questions, otherwise she would only be able to stand there awkwardly.

Miss Fate, you are really... "Hermit" Cattleya sighed silently, not feeling happy that a god was speaking for her.

No one in the Tarot Club spoke for a while. Several old men, including the "Hanged Man" Alger, had already skillfully completed the action of bowing their heads. As for the others who did not react immediately, they soon followed suit.

Klein glanced at Alice speechlessly, then laughed and said:

"It's your turn."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and raised their heads. Cattleya, the Hermit, stood up and bowed to the head of the bronze table, but said nothing. Instead, she turned around and said to Fors, the Magician:

"I want to know the clues of the direct descendants of Abraham's family. 1,000 pounds."

So valuable... Alice took a deep breath and looked at the "magician" Fors who had always acted like he was short of money.

Magician Fors ate some first, then soon realized that this was not too surprising. She sipped it and said,

"What do you want to do with them?

" "If you can provide a reason, I can convey it to them. As for whether there will be any follow-up development, it all depends on their wishes. I can't be sure."

"Eh," Alice looked at the "magician" Fors with a little surprise, "You're not selling it?"

Fors paused. She didn't expect that she would be approached for such a reason. She turned her head and asked Alice thoughtfully,

"Will you betray... betray the information of someone close to you?"

As she said this, she resisted the urge to move her gaze to the first seat at the bronze table and instead looked at the "world" at the last seat.

Alice followed the sight of the Magician Fors and looked towards the World. She then chuckled and said,

"Mr. World sold my news for 50 pounds."

"Ah?" After receiving the unexpected answer, Fors looked at the world in astonishment.

This answer was obviously equally surprising to everyone else. They looked at each other, sometimes at the "world", sometimes at Alice.

Klein thought for a moment, then manipulated the World to continue the sentence:

"Miss Fate is the deity I believe in. Sometimes, we can be considered friends.

"So, you have to pay more."

The "magician" Fors felt that her worldview had been greatly impacted. She looked at the "world" and then at Alice, her eyes filled with hesitation.

"Well," Alice spread her hands and explained, "He didn't tell anyone the really important news, and the person he told didn't have the ability to hurt me."

So that's how it is... Everyone silently looked away.

The Hermit Cattleya also recovered from the shock. She retracted her attention and looked back at the Magician Fors. She nodded and said,

"This makes sense.

"I am looking for the direct descendants of Abraham's family in the hope of obtaining information from Mr. 'Men'. You should convey this to them and see if there is any opportunity for cooperation.

"Well, just to convey the message, I will also pay you 350 pounds in cash, and if they are willing to contact you, there will be another 650 pounds to follow up."

Fors endured for a full second before answering, "Deal."

After she finished speaking, she began to appreciate the hidden meaning in the words of the Hermit.

Hmm, Mr. Door is related to the Abraham family? Yes, my bracelet came from Mrs. Anlisa, who belongs to the Abraham family...

Well, the teacher doesn't know that I already know that he is from the Abraham family… I can only casually mention it in the letter, saying that at a gathering in a certain circle, I heard someone was looking for a direct descendant of the Abraham family, and it involved something about Mr. "Men". I don't know how the teacher will react…

At this time, Miss "Justice" next to her was sincerely happy for her friend, feeling that the other party had finally escaped from the predicament of bankruptcy.

Fors is already Sequence 7, and is about to catch up with me. I have to strive to become a "hypnotist" as soon as possible... As she thought this, she looked at the members of the Tarot Club with a flickering gaze, hoping to find clues about the fruit of the psychedelic wind chime tree.

Fors lowered her head in the face of such gazes, while Alice looked at her in confusion and asked:

"Do you want to ask something?"

"..." Audrey silently looked away and looked at the resource-rich "Hanged Man" Alger and "Hermit" Cattleya.

In this hopeful gaze, Alger, the "Hanged Man" on the opposite side, hesitated for two seconds and said:

"I have a clue, but it will take at least two weeks before I can get it."

"No problem!" Audrey was so happy that she didn't even ask the price.

Alice looked at Audrey with admiration, and her attention was drawn to the voice of the Hermit Cattleya:

"Miss Fate, is it convenient for you to prepare the blood of the mythical creature now?"

"Ah!" Alice laughed, remembering it all at once. "Will you wait another month? Perhaps I can get you the blood of my enemies."

"...?" The "Hermit" Cattleya looked at Alice hesitantly.

"The Hanged Man" Alger and "Justice" Audrey also looked at Alice, with a hint of excitement in their eyes.

"Enemy?" asked The World, frowning.

Alice glanced at the "world" and then looked at Klein through the gray fog. She found a subtle worry in his eyes, so she smiled and leaned back in her chair and said,

"Well... after all, He is about to be born~

"If everything goes well, I might be able to get a share of His umbilical cord blood... Then you can have as much as you want, and I won't ask for anything... uh, if you can afford it."

Alice waved her hand proudly, then silently withdrew her hand halfway through the wave. She looked at Cattleya solemnly and emphasized the importance of money.

She was so confident that it didn't seem like a big problem, but I'd better ask clearly later... Klein silently looked away.

Miss Destiny really never forgets her original intention... Audrey looked at Alice with a strange expression.

Alice was obviously aware of the awkward atmosphere. She coughed twice and hurriedly changed the subject:

"Hey, stop looking at me, I have something to ask you!

"Have you ever heard of... uh, have you ever heard of, what is the 'broken prophecy'?

"Or, 'fragments of the prophecy'? Anyway, it's roughly the same." (End of this chapter)