Chapter 110: Amon is Male

Chapter 110: Amon is Male

Alice clutched the letter tightly in one hand, her gaze unfocused as she looked around searchingly. Even though her spiritual senses told her there was no Time Angel hiding nearby, Alice couldn't help but circle the area with the letter before returning home, still feeling uneasy.

At least it was just a letter, not a personal visit. That would buy her some time... But why was He so impatient?

Alice returned home feeling indignant, intending to flop onto her bed to think things over. However, seeing the bedroom door without its doorknob, she fell into deep contemplation once again.

...She'd have to call someone to fix that.

Alice sighed heavily, deciding to lie down for a bit first.

Come to think of it... what was for lunch again?

— And so, the matter of Amon's gift was once again pushed to the back of Alice's mind.

...

Alice was reminded of Amon again when she met with the landlady, Maggie, to discuss compensation for the damages.

After inspecting the bedroom door, Maggie looked at Alice in bewilderment as the latter stood nearby, head lowered and fidgeting with her fingers. Maggie asked pensively:

"I've never seen such a... peculiar situation before. It's as if the doorknob simply vanished into thin air. Miss Rose, can you explain what happened?"

Still fiddling with her fingers, Alice replied:

"A thief broke in while I was out. He wandered around the house and ended up stealing the doorknob."

Not a single word of this was untrue. Even if someone were to divine the truth, it would check out — though whether the divination would succeed was another matter.

However, this "truth" failed to convince Maggie. She asked skeptically, "Then why did this thief only steal the bedroom doorknob? And how did he manage to do it?"

Alice shrugged, answering with utmost sincerity:

"I don't know. Maybe he's mentally ill.

"Yes, a highly skilled thief with a mental disorder. That must be it."

This overly sincere insult gave Maggie pause, but she realized she likely wouldn't get any more information out of Alice. So they both tacitly agreed to move on from the subject.

After seeing Maggie off, Alice took out the monocle from her pocket. She raised it high, intending to smash it down forcefully, but stopped just centimeters from the table surface.

Alice glared at the monocle in her hand. Even knowing Amon couldn't hear her, she angrily cursed: "You lunatic!"

Having completed her ritual of cursing Amon, Alice was forced to once again consider what gift to give him in return.

What should she send... A painting? Uh, if she used a sacrificial ritual without going through Klein, could she perhaps give Him...

An odd idea surfaced in Alice's mind, but remembering Amon's expression upon hearing about it before, she hesitated.

Not provoking Amon... that was impossible, of course.

Putting aside how it clearly didn't suit Alice's personality, even if she tried to put herself in Amon's shoes, Alice felt that if she acted too uninteresting, given what she had done, it would be better to just commit suicide in advance...

Ah, but she couldn't die.

Alice drew in a sharp breath, continuing to rack her brains.

Although she planned to send a somewhat provocative gift, Alice still hoped it would be novel and of some value.

If Miss "Error's" portrait held some collection value for Amon, then... what value would a notebook about the Fool and Time Angel have?

If she drew it and sold it... No, what on earth was she thinking?!

Alice frantically cut off this outrageous train of thought, trying hard to steer her mind in a safer direction.

Recalling details from her few days with Amon, Alice suddenly remembered something:

"Come to think of it, Amon seemed very concerned about... getting pregnant and giving birth to someone else's child.

"Does Loen have contraceptives?"

This flash of inspiration brightened Alice's eyes. She decided to give Amon contraceptives as a gift — if they didn't exist, she'd just have to kidnap a pharmacist.

And that was the entire reason Alice now found herself standing in the chubby pharmacist's shop.

...

In an unremarkable herb shop, the chubby pharmacist dressed in a classic wizard's robe listened to Alice's request and stammered in confirmation: "You said you want... uh, contraceptives?"

Alice nodded, asking in confusion: "Is there a problem?"

"Well..." The chubby pharmacist carefully glanced at Alice and asked, "Are you of legal age?"

Alice paused for a moment, then looked at the pharmacist silently before replying:

"It's not for me.

"It's a gift.

"No, I'm giving it to a mythical creature, a male... or should I say male-gendered?

"Actually, He should have a female form, but when He appeared to me, He was definitely male... male-gendered."

The pharmacist opened and closed his mouth, unsure which of his many questions to ask first.

Should he first ask why she wanted to give contraceptives to a man, or why she was giving such a thing to a mythical creature? No, perhaps he should first be afraid of discussing whether mythical creatures were male or female.

...Who would even talk about them that way?!

The pharmacist's frozen brain resumed functioning, selecting the optimal solution. He backed away in terror, his figure lowering and disappearing from behind the counter.

Alice stepped forward, leaning over the counter to look inside. She found the poor pharmacist sitting on the floor, his chubby cheeks still quivering.

Alice felt an unusual twinge of false guilt. She leaned forward and asked, "Are you alright, Mr. Pharmacist?"

The chubby pharmacist looked up at Alice from the floor, confirming what he had just heard: "...Male-gendered?"

"That's right," Alice nodded matter-of-factly. "It's a mythical creature, not human, so of course it's male-gendered."

The pharmacist sucked in a sharp breath, wishing he could faint on the spot.

"What's wrong with you?" Alice asked in confusion. "Hey, are you okay? Do you have contraceptives here or not?"

"...We do," the pharmacist decided to get rid of this troublemaker as quickly as possible, "but they might not work on mythical creatures, and they're not for men."

"That's fine," Alice waved her hand dismissively. "As long as you have them. How much?"

The pharmacist hurriedly replied, "No charge. They're free for you."

Alice was tempted for a moment, but then frowned: "That won't do. How can I not pay for something I'm buying?"

The pharmacist forced a smile worse than crying and answered, "I'm moving out of Backlund tomorrow. Consider this a parting gift to apologize for any inconvenience. Is that alright?"

Alice didn't respond immediately. She looked around at the shop full of herbs, deep in thought.

"...You can pack up the herbs before moving," Alice replied after a moment of contemplation. "But I don't understand... Am I really that scary? Why does everyone seem so afraid of me?"