Mystery: Lucky One

A grayish-white mist spread out, and Alice only had time to move her hand for a moment before her vision was completely covered.

"Ding Dong——"

It's the sound of a coin falling to the ground.

"By the way," Klein's voice rang out in the gray fog, drawing Alice's attention away. "I forgot to ask you yesterday... What is your relationship with that Winfred? You know, the last few times I ran into her at dances, she glared at me fiercely, as if I had stolen her lover!"

Klein complained to Alice about Winfred and his experience at the ball. He couldn't help but say:
"Come to think of it, you know about it, right? She's also injured. Do you want to go and see her? Even if you want to ask her what she saw at the time? Maybe she saw what happened to Will Auceptin...

"After all, you don't plan to go over and take a look yourself, do you?"

The gray fog dissipated from her sight. Alice raised her hand to support her head, but suddenly stopped.

"Wait..." She muttered, searching the ground with her eyes, "Where's the coin?"

——The coin was no longer in her hand.

Alice stood up subconsciously. This movement startled something and she heard the crisp collision sound again. She turned her head and saw the coin still shaking.

It seemed to have just fallen down... Alice's eyes darkened slightly, she stepped forward and picked up the coin.

"So..." She frowned, loosened her fingers, and watched the coin fall to the ground, spinning and rolling, "...it was originally standing upright?"

The lonely coin had no way to answer her question. It just rolled alone on the ground and finally rolled silently into the gap between the wall and the floor.

It was not until she saw the coin disappear from her sight that Alice suddenly reacted. She walked quickly forward and stared at the small gap that was only slightly wider than a penny.

"!"

She stared at the gap for several minutes, but no money came out.

Alice had to accept this sad fact and stood up from the floor.

Later, she also blamed Klein for this.

I will tell Klein about the captain’s wedding after he falls asleep so that he won’t be able to sleep well... She gritted her teeth as she thought about Klein’s proposal.

...Visiting Winfred?
To be honest, Alice and Winfred were not very familiar with each other, but ever since she realized last time that the girl wanted to be friends with her, she was somewhat resistant to seeing Winfred - it would easily remind her of other people.

Besides, I was actually trying to get information under the guise of visiting her, right? She might not just let it go. If she knew...

Alice frowned instinctively.

She wasn't very good at handling things like that, or rather, she wasn't good at most things - she usually left things to someone who was good at it.

...According to this logic, perhaps I should ask Miss Justice for help.

Yes, I should ask Miss Justice for help, maybe she will ask about it when she hears about it? No, it’s better to remind her...

Alice made a note of this, too.

Once she had some free time, she couldn't help but think of her potion ingredients, but thinking of the coin that had just disappeared, Alice thought it might not be a good idea to continue dwelling on this matter.

No, that's not right. I need to decide this myself...

Alice sighed and rubbed her head in pain.

……

The night came quickly. Alice woke Klein up at four in the morning, not by praying, but by calling him directly through the connection between angels and believers:

"Klein, have you ever seen the sun at four in the morning in Backlund?"

Klein woke up in an instant. He looked out the window. The moon had not yet completely set, the sun had not yet risen, and dawn had not yet arrived.

He picked up the pocket watch and opened it. The second hand had just moved to the last second and the time came to four o'clock and one minute.

Klein closed his pocket watch expressionlessly, then looked to the side. As expected, Alice had found a chair from somewhere and was sitting on it, covering her mouth and looking at him. She seemed to be in a good mood.

"I have never seen the sun at 4 a.m. in Backlund," he turned around and replied calmly, "but I know there is no sun at 4:01 a.m. in Backlund."

"Perhaps the watch isn't accurate enough?" Alice speculated, "Or perhaps you're not standing high enough..."

“Alice,” Klein interrupted her, “You’d better come to me for something.”

Alice blinked, looked at Klein's expressionless face, swallowed her saliva, and then spoke quickly:
"The Captain is getting married!"

“…Huh?” Klein’s expression slightly changed, revealing a sense of surprise.

Alice exhaled, took out two invitations from her arms, handed one to Klein, and explained:
"Leonard told me that the captain was getting married to Ms. Daly, and asked...asked if we wanted to go."

Klein didn't say anything. He took the invitation and read it quietly. After two seconds of silence, he said:
“…He really did dig my grave.”

Alice blinked.

Klein put away the invitation, looked up at Alice, and asked with a fake smile:

"Then I guess he must have asked you to invite me in the middle of the night?"

Alice blinked blankly.

Klein calmly made up an excuse for her: "I think Leonard must be resentful of me for leaving without saying goodbye, so he wants to use this incident to retaliate against me. Is that right?"

Alice hesitated for two seconds and nodded.

Before she could even open her mouth, Klein reached out and hit her head hard. Then, looking at her pitiful expression, he said coldly:
"I guess my hands must hurt more than your head."

Alice lowered her head, then raised it again after a few seconds and said:

"I have something else to ask of you!"

"What?" Klein asked in a bad tone.

Alice said carefully:

"Can you ask Miss Justice to ask about Winfred's situation? Ask her what she saw... I think she might be better at finding out than me."

Klein still had no intention of letting Alice go. He nodded and said:
"I don't think this requires you to come to me at four in the morning."

Alice raised her head and looked at Klein pitifully. Under the crimson moonlight, Alice saw that there was a black mist surrounding Klein.

No, that's not right, it looks like yarn...

Alice frowned slightly.

She couldn't tell what it was. It was like gauze, mist, or a thin curtain that seemed to cover something. At this moment, it was gently lifted to reveal something hidden underneath.

It was a small town hidden in the fog, and it was very blurry. Alice could only see a vague figure. She was about to say something when the curtain fell again. Under the moonlight, a flash of inspiration flashed through Alice's mind.

"Night!" she blurted out.

"What?" Klein frowned. Alice jumped up from her seat and rushed to the bed. The red moon was approaching the horizon. The geography knowledge she had learned told Alice that when dawn came, the red moon would sink into the horizon.

She didn't say anything. She turned around and looked at Klein who was following her with a frown, and asked in a deep voice:

"As I recall, you needed Bernadette's help to sneak into the church's basement...right?"

Klein nodded.

Alice exhaled and then asked, "Are you ready to steal the notes?"

Klein nodded and said, "At least, I have figured out the situation outside of Chanis Gate."

Alice understood. She looked out the window and said:

"If, I mean if.

"If you were in danger or in a desperate situation..."

"?" Klein had a bad feeling. He resisted the urge to interrupt Alice and waited for her to finish.

Alice stammered:
"If you really have to, you can, uh, you can look at the moon in the sky.

"The red moon is shining on you."

Klein frowned even more. He looked at Alice and said, "...I vaguely remember that you are very taboo about the moon. It sounds like there is something incredible on it."

Alice choked and said hastily:
“These are two different things!

"Anyway, you can look at the moon at that time, but you must never do that at other times!"

Klein's expression gradually became strange as Alice spoke. He said thoughtfully:
"Alice, you know what?
"You look like you want to tell me something, but someone seems to be staring at you, and you are scared and don't dare to tell me directly.

"So, you are hesitant and ambiguous in what you say..."

Alice was speechless.

This was a fact. After she realized that the veil was actually the night, she realized that this was consistent with her previous guess.

——As expected, the entire process of Klein sneaking into the church’s basement took place under the goddess’ watchful eyes.

So, why didn't he just ask the goddess for the potion formula? Or why didn't the goddess just give it to him... well, forget it, it's too embarrassing.

Alice shook her head and said in self-abandonment, "Since you know it, don't ask anymore!"

So, who is watching her?

The Mother Tree of Desire? No, that was impossible. She was obviously hostile to the Mother Tree of Desire—or rather, she obviously felt that the Mother Tree of Desire was hostile to her.

...Maybe they are hostile to us all? Or maybe it's not necessarily hostile...

Klein thought of Cynthia and Alice's shy look, and couldn't help but shudder.

...It's so scary.

Fortunately, she is here now, otherwise, I dare not think about her future boyfriend... Well, it is unlikely now. In the future, after she "restarts", she will not find someone to fall in love with on a whim one day...

...This is really horrible.

Klein swallowed hard and forced his thoughts to turn to the Crimson Moon.

Putting aside the "Mother Tree of Desire" that Alice mentioned was suspected to have a close relationship with the Red Moon, there are three other gods related to the Red Moon. One is the "Original Moon", one is the vampire ancestor Lilith, and the other is...

……goddess?
Considering Alice's attitude, Klein had some ideas in mind, but he didn't say them out loud. Instead, he asked:
"Did Bernadette reply?"

"Not yet," Alice shook her head. "Wait a little longer. I'll tell you when I get a reply."

I’m not worried that you’ll reply but won’t tell me. I’m worried that you’ll forget to write the letter… Klein complained in his mind as he spoke:

"it is good.

"Do you have anything else to do?"

Alice was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Would you like to meet Leonard? Or, the captain's wedding..."

“Wait until I come back from the church basement.” Klein shook his head. “You’re making it seem like I’m going to die a heroic death.”

After a pause, he instructed Alice again:
"By the way... the Tarot Club next week probably won't be held. I'm telling you in advance."

Alice suddenly realized that Klein was probably worried that he wouldn't be able to come back in time, so she couldn't help but ask:

"Why don't you let me host the Tarot Club in your place?"

Klein looked at her expressionlessly. After more than ten seconds, Alice answered with self-awareness:

"I see.

"You still don't trust me."

Klein did not deny this matter, but said:

“Although I do not trust you, isn’t it only right that I don’t let you host?
"Tell me, how can I let you host the Tarot Club? Can you recruit people in Sefirah Castle? You can't even climb up to Sefirah Castle yourself!"

Alice blinked and realized this, and she responded unwillingly:

"You haven't tried it, so how do you know I can't? In fact, as long as I have your consent, I can go to Sefirah Castle by myself - it's just that you can't respond automatically.

"This is obviously your problem!"

Klein was amazed at her specious arguments for a moment, but Alice did bring up something that interested him. He said thoughtfully:
"…How about giving it a try?"

...try what?
Alice was confused for a moment, then realized that Klein meant for her to try and see if she could pull someone up through the stars with permission.

Her eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up and said, "Let's go!"

Klein was prepared and reached out to hold her down, saying to her:

"The Tarot Club will try again next time."

Alice then gave up this sudden idea and nodded to Klein, "Okay... Well, I'll go back first then?"

“I hope you won’t invite me to get up and watch the sun at four in the morning next time.” Klein wished sincerely.

Alice looked away guiltily and disappeared on the spot.

After watching Alice disappear, Klein did not lie down to sleep immediately - he was already running out of sleepiness, and the thought just now had been lingering in his mind.

...Is Alice referring to the goddess?
Goddess, are you also looking at me?
Looking at the moonlight outside the window, Klein frowned little by little and began to recall his past "pious" behavior and the "pious" behavior he was about to perform. (End of this chapter)