Chapter 29: The Strange Painting

Chapter 29: The Strange Painting

The news was like a bombshell, waking up the previously calm waters of the "Tarot Club."

Not to mention the little sun who felt uncomfortable with the prefix "Fallen" before the Creator's name, the fact that a descendant of an evil god might arrive in Backlund at any moment was enough to cause panic.

Alice's words were not baseless—she had learned from Dunn that Backlund was generally permissive about Megose being brought to the city.

After all, the matter of an evil god's descendant would be earth-shattering in Tingen City, but in Backlund, while not a small matter, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.

Among the three, Audrey was the first to be shocked. She immediately dropped out of her audience state and anxiously asked Alice, "A descendant of the Fallen Creator? In Backlund?"

Audrey was somewhat incoherent, unsure of what to ask first—should she ask about the level? Or the timing? And then what? What should she do once she knew?

Alger was a bit calmer. He quickly grasped the key point: "Ordinary human women cannot bear the burden of carrying a god's child. The actual level of this 'descendant of the Fallen Creator' is probably not very high. In Backlund, it wouldn't be considered a major extraordinary event. But the problem is, as a descendant of the Fallen Creator, the Fallen Creator can descend through them."

"You're right," Alice nodded and explained, "The three major churches intend for Mr. A to bring the descendant of the Fallen Creator to Backlund and resolve the matter there. The only issue is that the Fallen Creator might descend through this."

Alice's words almost revealed her significant relationship with the three major churches and the high probability that she was an official extraordinary. Coupled with her special sequence and the major event of the Fallen Creator's descendant, a little investigation could easily reveal her identity.

—But even Alger wasn't focused on this at the moment.

In the midst of Alger and Audrey's worries and the little sun's confusion, this Tarot Club meeting came to an end.

—The official extraordinary quickly thought of bringing Megose to Backlund to handle the situation, thanks to 0-08.

...

"Oh, poor Ince Zangwill. He tried to use Mr. A to thwart the official extraordinary's plan to deal with Megose, but failed. The official extraordinary reached a consensus in secret. To avoid Mr. A launching a terrorist attack in Tingen City out of agitation, they decided to let Mr. A take Megose to Backlund and set a trap there to welcome Mr. A and Megose. His plan is doomed to fail. What a pitiful guy..."

In the room with the red chimney, a quill pen danced as it wrote these words, as if cheering for Ince Zangwill's poor scriptwriting skills.

Ince Zangwill grabbed the jumping quill pen, his scalp tingling with anger, pacing back and forth in the room, pondering how to salvage the situation.

...

When the official extraordinary in Tingen City were mentally prepared to let Mr. A take Megose away, things suddenly changed.

Perhaps their obstruction was too perfunctory, causing Mr. A to sense something was wrong, or perhaps Mr. A thought it was too dangerous to let the Lord descend in Backlund. In any case, just when everyone was ready, Mr. A suddenly decided to protect Megose in Tingen City and ensure the smooth birth of the god's child.

As someone whose vacation was canceled due to Mr. A's stay in Tingen City, Alice felt very distressed—she even lost the right to sneak out for a stroll and could only play the poker cards "invented" by Emperor Roselle at the Blackthorn Security Company.

In her boredom, Alice discovered a set of works she really liked from Rosanne—a set of chibi characters, classic three-head figures, vividly depicting the expressions and costumes, easily recognizable as the chibi versions of the Night Watcher team members.

This is not quite accurate, as Alice did not leave out the clerical staff. Judging by the few unrecognizable images, if this continues, Alice might draw a picture for everyone she knows.

Rozanne showed strong affection for this: "So cute! Oh my god, Alice, did you study painting before? It's so adorable!"

This comment stunned Alice.

As a wandering girl who could barely get enough to eat, the original Alice had no chance to study painting—let alone the possibility of a fallen family.

But what about Shen Yinghuan?

When holding the brush, Alice hadn't considered this question, treating it merely as a pastime. But did Shen Yinghuan really study painting?

A picture briefly flashed before Alice's eyes. She saw herself handing a painting to the girl who always appeared by her side.

What did that painting look like?

Alice tried hard to see the content of the painting, and the image flickered like a bad signal, briefly clear for a moment, then shattered before her eyes.

But Alice was so scared she almost jumped on the spot.

It was a picture that looked like a comic or illustration, depicting two men. One was of medium build, with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a suit and a top hat, exuding a scholarly air; the other wore a black trench coat like a robe, paired with black pants and shoes, with a thin face, broad forehead, and a distinctive monocle over his right eye.

The two men in the picture were in an intimate pose, making anyone think their relationship was unusual. If they weren't still wearing clothes, it would be an indescribable scene.

But... why did the scholarly one look so much like Klein!

Meeting Rosanne's puzzled gaze, Alice gave an apologetic smile: "Sorry, I seemed to remember something from the past and got distracted."

Understanding Alice's amnesia, Rozanne instantly comprehended her lapse and asked with concern, "Is that so! Are you okay? Do you need a break?"

"Yes," Alice smiled and responded, cutting out Rosanne's chibi character and handing it over, "If you like it, you can have it."

Rozanne happily accepted the gift and sensibly watched Alice leave.

After confirming she was alone, Alice tried to use dream divination to follow the clues and search for her memories.

Then, she saw a series of similar images.

The pictures still featured Klein and the unknown monocle man, in different settings, wearing different clothes, posing in various intimate ways, occasionally flashing some quite explicit scenes where they weren't wearing any clothes...

It sounds a bit absurd, but Alice's friend was actually Klein Monton (serious).

(End of the chapter)