Chapter 107: Charlie King's Plan

Chapter 107: Charlie King's Plan

Alice jumped up in shock, exclaiming, "Port Pritz?!" She banged her knee on the desk and sat back down, wincing in pain as she rubbed her injured knee.

"Ouch... that really hurts..." Alice grimaced, momentarily losing her train of thought.

As the pain gradually subsided, Alice pondered the meaning of her dream. She could rule out the child, who wasn't a supernatural being. The owner of the "fortune-bringing accessory" at the Brave Bar was a mid-sequence extraordinary.

A mid-sequence extraordinary? If the dream's revelation was about someone she had met in Port Pritz, Alice was still clueless. But if she only needed to consider people she had actually spoken to...

The image of Charlie King suddenly appeared in Alice's mind.

Recalling the fortune-boosting effects of the "fortune-bringing accessory" and the fact that Charlie King had become a Sequence 5 shortly after meeting her, Alice began to form a theory:

"He obtained the main ingredient for the Sequence 5 potion through the 'fortune-bringing accessory'... Before that, he may have already found a buyer for it, but for some reason, they were no longer willing to purchase it.

"Unable to sell the accessory, he reached the three-month limit and triggered its side effects...

"Losing all wealth... wealth..."

Alice's face gradually turned pale.

She suddenly realized that there was a hidden question in this speculation - if the other person obtained the potion's main ingredient through the "fortune-bringing accessory" and consumed it, would the potion, now transformed into a supernatural characteristic, count as wealth?

If supernatural characteristics counted as wealth, would luck count as wealth? Would memories count as wealth? Knowledge? And most importantly... would life itself count as wealth?

What exactly did "wealth" mean in the context of "losing all wealth"?

Assuming the owner of the "fortune-bringing accessory" was indeed Charlie King, Alice could answer "yes" without hesitation.

Even as a Sequence 6, Charlie King had nearly died in front of her. After she had resolved to kill him, it was only natural for him to encounter such a situation.

The vague sense of unease she felt also had a very reasonable explanation once she confirmed that Charlie King was the owner of the "fortune-bringing accessory".

After all, it was only natural for Charlie King to think of her, who had just become a Sequence 6, after encountering a similar situation for the second time. It wasn't logical, but it was very much like fate.

This was the desperate final struggle of prey before death.

The coin falling from the sky landed on the king's face, confirming to Alice that Charlie King was indeed the owner of the "fortune-bringing accessory".

Now the question was... what exactly did he intend to do?

...

Charlie King was contemplating his next move.

The "fortune-bringing accessory" didn't indiscriminately cause all users to lose their lives. As a supernatural item related to the "Fate" domain, it adhered to the principle of equivalent exchange. If you hadn't gained anything after obtaining it, it wouldn't actually cause your death.

In the Life School, on the path of "Fate", Charlie King wasn't considered particularly gifted.

He had stumbled his way up to Sequence 6, which seemed to be his limit.

Fate had made him wait for three years, but he never obtained the other main ingredient. Until just over a month ago, he received a special task and acquired the other main ingredient upon completion.

This should have been good news, but after calming down, he quickly remembered the side effects of the "fortune-bringing accessory", feeling as if he had been doused with cold water.

— He had to sell it for at least as much wealth as he had gained from it.

After raising the price, selling the "fortune-bringing accessory" indeed became difficult. What terrified him even more was that within two days of obtaining the potion ingredients, he completed the ritual and became a Sequence 5.

If he hadn't encountered that strange girl before, this wouldn't have frightened him so much. But now, he felt like a dish about to be served at the dinner table.

The subsequent task warning the other party to accelerate their advancement made him even more desperate. He realized that fate had even provided a reason for the other party to target him.

For the first time, he understood why his teacher had said he wasn't suited for the "Fate" pathway.

If fate had consciousness, it must be an extremely biased one. Some people struggle at the bottom no matter how hard they try, while others need only wait for fate's blessings.

Ah, blessings... Charlie King clenched his fist and slammed it against the wall. Through the intense pain, he recalled what he had once said to that strange girl: "Whether fortune or disaster, they are all blessings from fate."

Of course, he also remembered the girl's response: "...But what if I don't want to passively accept fate's blessings, but instead control my own destiny?"

She was a child unwilling to be pushed forward by fate... How ironic. Some people desire it desperately, while others struggle against it.

The most laughable part was... even his desire to resist came from that girl's words back then.

In the silent darkness, Charlie King's voice spoke to himself:

"It's confirmed that the 'Winner's' ability to bestow misfortune has no effect on her...

"That one has temporarily stopped responding...

"I can't find another 'Winner' to be a scapegoat in such a short time... Most importantly, even if there was another 'Winner', she would probably prefer to kill me.

"Her previous identity was a Night Church's nightwatcher, currently presumed dead by the Night Church...

"Then... I'll leak the information that she's still alive to the Night Church!"

...

At 3 PM sharp on Sunday, Alice arrived at the address on the invitation.

The literary salon wasn't a formal banquet; even without an invitation, one could enter based on their status—of course, this applied to true nobles.

For a literary salon, nobles didn't even need to arrive on time; they could easily drop by in the middle of the event.

Alice was unaware of all these customs. The only thing she knew was that in Loen, it was customary to be five minutes late rather than early.

So, trying to fit in, Alice lingered outside for two minutes before presenting her invitation and entering the salon, completely unconcerned about Charlie King's dark schemes against her.

In fact, Alice had briefly considered this issue, but... after failing to divine an answer, she naturally gave up.

In any case, out of politeness, Alice decided to first greet the host of the salon, Viscount Glaint, about whom she had failed to gather information from "Lady Justice".