Mystery: Lucky One

"Yes," Alice nodded, "So what do you call yesterday?"

This... Klein rarely raised any objections to Alice's naming. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "Actually, it's OK..."

They finally decided on the name "Yesterday Reappears". When talking about the whereabouts of the talisman, Klein rejected Alice's request to play with it and decided to give it to Mr. Azik along with the letter.

Before this letter was sent, Alice witnessed Sherman taking the "witch" potion and becoming Sherman, and was instigated by Triss to seduce Viscount Stratford and investigate who he was truly loyal to.

She told Klein about this. After a brief hesitation, Klein motioned for her to continue observing and told her:
"Keep telling me if anything goes wrong, and...be careful."

Alice knew what he meant by being careful. After all, Triss was still using the name Triss Chick, and it was hard to say what the situation was so far. So Alice waved her hand and said:
"Honestly...you can always trust me when it comes to running away."

……It really is.

The corner of Klein's mouth twitched for a moment, and he said nothing more. Instead, he told Alice about the relationship between Triss and Viscount Stratford.

This was the information he obtained when he used Senior's secret doll to reach a brief cooperation with Triss. According to Triss, she came to avenge Prince Edessak, and Viscount Stratford was the one who forced Prince Edessak to commit suicide by taking poison.

"That is to say," Alice stroked her chin, "Triss wants to find out who wants to kill Prince Edessak... But, is she going to let Viscount Stratford go just like that?"

Klein hesitated for a moment and then said:
“I think she just didn’t tell Xie… Sherman her real purpose.

"From your description, she seems very naive. The reason Triss instigated her was that after the sex change, she could start a new life with a new name..."

"Yes," Alice shook her head, "she killed many people for this purpose."

Klein was silent this time. Being instigated was certainly not Sherman's original intention, but murder was a fact. Instigation only magnified the evil in people's hearts and would not come out of nothing - this at least showed that Sherman was not a completely harmless little white flower.

As for what kind of person she is, Klein never thought of judging her. He just sighed:
“You know, I’m worried...

“This script feels very familiar to me. I remember that at that time, Triss also approached Prince Edessak in a reluctant manner, although that was because... But the ending of this matter was that Triss really fell in love with Prince Edessak and planned to avenge him.

"Now, under her instigation, Sherman began to approach Viscount Stratford while struggling, and seduced Viscount Stratford..."

Alice's mouth twitched, and she couldn't help but add:

"That's probably even worse... Triss was originally a man, and her psychological cognition should have always been that of a man. She... Never mind. If he wants to fall in love with the prince, he must first overcome a psychological barrier, but Sherman is different.

"Sherman has always thought that she is a woman, but was born as a man by mistake... Even now, she just feels that she has finally turned back into a woman. She will not have any psychological burden when she falls in love with a man!"

They looked at each other and had a bad feeling.

Another important news came from Miss Justice. Hvin Rambis met with Audrey Hall, the Earl's daughter, again after a long absence and asked her to investigate the nobles' attitude towards a large-scale war.

This was not unexpected news. At most, it made Alice certain that the "Psychological Alchemy Society" was indeed a puppet organization of the "Twilight Hermit Society"... Oh no, maybe their leader thought he was independent.

Thinking of this possibility, Alice shook her head and turned her attention back to Sherman.

This girl was not one of those witches who were obsessed with their male identity. She was obviously very surprised to become a woman, and she kept doing some very "feminine" behaviors - to use a more modern term, her behavior was very consistent with the female stereotype.

Alice found it new and interesting. She learned about similar behaviors mostly from the Internet. She roughly knew that it involved psychological problems of some special groups, but she didn't understand it more deeply. It was the first time she had seen a live version.

But after watching so much, Alice's attention can't help but drift away, for example...

In the sparse rain, Hugh, wearing a simple tree sap raincoat, hid in a dark corner, staring at the side door of Viscount Stratford's house.

At this time, it was not yet evening, but the gas street lamps had been lit one after another, emitting circles of hazy light in the rain.

She had been spying on Viscount Stratford for several months, both as a task for MI9 and of her own accord.

This was not only her chance to get the formula for the "Judge" potion, but also related to the purpose of her coming to Backlund - to investigate the truth behind her father's death!

The other intelligence personnel of MI9 had already completed the mission on their own as nothing had happened in the previous few months. Even the initiator of the mission had not asked about related matters for many weeks and it was obvious that he no longer took it to heart.

She had recently discovered a mysterious woman approaching Viscount Stratford. As she could not see her face clearly, she had been trying to investigate the woman's identity. Today was obviously an opportunity. A rented carriage stopped in front of a remote side door and a woman got out of it.

The Viscount's male servant, who was hiding in a sheltered place, immediately jumped out and opened an umbrella.

He protected the cloaked woman who got off the carriage and quickly passed through the side door, while the hired carriage stayed where it was and did not leave, as if it had collected enough money.

Xio was not depressed, and it was difficult for her to be depressed. She was just terrified at this moment because she heard a voice:
"Ms. Judgment... Um, Miss Judgment? I've seen you a few times before. Can you tell me what you're doing here?"

This is Miss Destiny's voice!
Judgment turned her head suddenly. A blonde girl had stood beside her without her knowing when. She was close to her and observing the carriage in a posture that was almost the same as hers. She muttered as she looked:
"It seems that you can't see anything from this angle, but it doesn't seem like you are following that Viscount?"

“Judgment” Xio felt all the hairs on her body stand up. She opened her mouth with difficulty and asked tentatively:
"Miss Destiny?"

"Hmm?" Alice raised her eyebrows.

Miss Destiny indeed...

Xio did not relax much. In the description of the "magician" Fors, she paid particular attention to Miss Destiny. She had heard most of the public deeds of this lady, so she also knew that the identity of a Tarot Club member was only half a talisman in front of this lady.

And it only counts when the Fool is present.

The good news is that Miss Fate doesn't seem to kill indiscriminately, but... you may die from her carelessness on a whim.

However, why did Miss Destiny appear here... Is it related to Mr. Fool?
Xio frowned, thinking for a moment, and then he said, "I have accepted a mission from MI9. They asked me to keep an eye on the people who have come into contact with Viscount Stratford and include every one of them in a report and submit it to him."

She didn't say anything about her father.

Alice nodded thoughtfully, frowned, and murmured:
"MI9? Why is MI9 also investigating? The person they reported their contact with... sounds like their purpose is similar..."

After a brief pause, she looked at Xio and asked:

"How often do you submit your reports? Do you still have the reports you submitted previously?"

Xio was stunned for a moment and asked, "You need it?"

"Maybe," Alice shrugged, "I'm... uh, I'm helping The World investigate something..."

Helping the world? Mr. World?
There was a flash of surprise in Xio's eyes. She had known for a long time that the relationship between "the world" and Alice was unusual, and she also knew that "the world" seemed to be ordering Miss Fate around - she really couldn't find a better word, but seeing it with her own eyes, Xio still couldn't hide her surprise.

Alice frowned at this look and decided to save some face:

“It could also be that he’s helping Mr. Fool… Anyway, this matter is very complicated.

"So you still have the report?"

Xio nodded slowly and said, "I can write it down for you."

Alice agreed, but the next problem came to Xio. After some hesitation and struggle, she finally shouted to Alice who was about to leave:

"Miss Fate, would you... mind if you could tell me what you are investigating? I mean, do you know anything about Viscount Stratford?"

Alice stopped and squinted at her. "I'm afraid a mission from MI9 isn't worth your sacrifice, is it? Do you want to investigate Viscount Stratford yourself?"

Xio pursed her lips. Alice was not anxious. She stood there waiting for Xio to speak. After half a minute of silence, Xio took a breath and said:
"Viscount Stratford was originally the captain of the palace guards. He was once... was once my father's deputy."

"Your father?" Alice frowned.

The topic had already been opened, so Xio could hesitate for a while. He closed his eyes and recalled:

"yes……

“My family belongs to the royal family. At the most prominent time, I even served as the Earl of the Palace. This is equivalent to being the spokesperson for the royal family and the noble closest to the throne.

"After that, our family had the fiefdom that a true earl should have. When it came to my father, although he was no longer so prominent, he was still trusted by the previous king, William the Strong, and was the commander of the royal guard and the chief of the palace guards.

"But seven years ago, he was accused of participating in a rebellion, was eventually sentenced to death by hanging, and was stripped of his title and fiefdom.

"My family fell into ruin, and many members died without any reason. In order to survive, we changed our last name and left East Tucker County...

"I don't believe my father would rebel. He was so loyal to the royal family, even more than his faith in the goddess! For... Anyway, I left my mother and brother and came to Backlund, looking for opportunities to improve myself, hoping to restore the glory of my family and my father's reputation."

Xio had said this to Fors once before, so it was not as difficult to say it again. Moreover, saying it now might help her find out the truth, so at the end of her words, Xio's face showed expectation.

Alice pondered for a moment, then asked an irrelevant question:
"Can I ask how tall your father, your mother, and your brother are?"

The expectation on Xio's face was shattered, and turned into an expression mixed with shame, anger and humiliation. Just as she was about to say something, Alice suddenly made a shushing gesture, a mysterious smile appeared on her face, and she looked at the manor, and said in amazement:

"It's really amazing... a witch would actually be fooled by a man's lie that he wanted to get married... haha, this is really...

"It looks like my guess and... well, it seems like our guess has come true... Tsk, one or two of them are like this, I don't know about the other witches, anyway...

"Is Chick a love-brained person?"

These words were incomprehensible, and Xio was completely confused. Her emotions quickly dropped from their previous state. She tried to interrupt and said:
"The carriage that just entered, was there a witch sitting in it?"

"Ah," Alice turned her head to look at Xio, "Well... to be precise, a 'witch'? However, this 'witch' is a little different..."

She paused, then spoke in a strange tone:
"Have you ever seen such a person? They seem to be quite uncommon. They believe that they were supposed to be of another gender, but were mistakenly reborn into their current body... The 'witch' in the story is such a person.

"She believed that she was supposed to be a woman, but was mistakenly born as a man. So, when she learned about the existence of the 'witch' potion, she did not hesitate... well, to this point."

As Alice spoke, Xio's expression turned strange again. After Alice finished speaking, she asked cautiously:
"Can I ask the name of the witch you're talking about?"

"Sherman," Alice blinked, "she calls herself Sherman."

"Sherman..." Xio felt like her breathing was about to stop, because she had a friend who happened to be a woman who believed that she was mistakenly born as a man. She also happened to give herself a female name, which was Sherman!
There is absolutely no such coincidence in the world. She spoke in great shock, her tone difficult to speak:
“I have a friend…

"He... No, her name is Sherman, she thinks she is a woman and she gave herself a name...

"Sherman."

"Hmm?" Alice frowned slightly. "What a coincidence... This Sherman was also called Sherman before?"

After she finished speaking, Alice curled her lips again and sneered:

"Should I praise fate or curse it? Oh no, I should praise it, because that would seem to be cursing myself as well..." (End of this chapter)