Mystery: Lucky One

Alice didn't say anything. She looked down at the mottled table, then up at the tall dome. From time to time, she looked around to admire the surging gray fog and the crimson stars. In short, she didn't look at Klein.

In the end, it didn’t cause too many irreversible consequences. Klein was angry, but his anger was limited. He sighed, shook his head and said:

"Forget it, actually, you have reminded me of something...

"I really didn't think about what to do if my identity was exposed."

Alice blinked and said in a relaxed manner:
"What can we do? As long as you can fight better than anyone else, it doesn't matter whether you are exposed or not - they even have to pretend not to know and continue the show with you."

Don't tell me, it seems to be true... But it's better to be better than everyone else combined, that way it's safer...

Klein cast a thoughtful gaze at Alice and spoke carefully:

"I will go to that hall again later and use the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Manipulator'...Also, Alice, next time...

"Can you please stop thinking about those romance novels?"

Alice began to appreciate the non-existent scenery inside Sefirah Castle again. Klein knew that this topic could not be continued. He shook his head, thought about it and decided that there was nothing to worry about. He was ready to send Alice away directly. Unexpectedly, Alice suddenly spoke:

"By the way, have you finished reading the diary that Bernadette sent me?"

“Not yet.” Klein shook his head. “To be precise, I haven’t opened that diary for a long time… I’m running my circus.”

"...You," Alice's expression became a little weird, "a demigod goes... Never mind, this seems to be my suggestion."

Klein had a blank expression on his face. Alice shook her head and asked:

"I remember that you were planning to ask Miss Magician to write a novel to help you spread it and advance your performance... Hasn't she finished it yet?"

"She's procrastinating on her manuscript." Klein said expressionlessly.

"Do you need me to help you rush the manuscript?" Alice raised her eyebrows.

Klein pressed his hand between his brows and said calmly, "I don't think she deserves this... I mean, I can do it myself."

The matter was settled. To avoid any accidents, Klein prayed to the Fool in the image of "the world" that night, and then passed the image to the "magician" Fors.

In order to achieve a better effect, Klein deliberately imitated Alice and got up at four in the morning to deliver the message. Fors, who was sleeping, was awakened instantly and shuddered all over.

After sitting there for a few minutes, Fors suddenly jumped up, put on his clothes, picked up a cigarette, and hurried to the study without even bothering to wash up.

She made so much noise that Xio woke up from his dream. He glanced at the time, opened the door, and asked Fors:
"What are you doing in the middle of the night?"

"I'm working on my manuscript." Fors showed an expression full of pain and tragedy.

Xiu paused, the words of advice stuck in her throat. She opened her mouth and closed it again, her eyes passing over the cigarette in her hand, and advised:
"If you need a pick-me-up, cigarettes probably won't be as effective as coffee."

"You're right," Fors gave a forced smile, "I was just about to make some coffee."

Xio stopped trying to persuade him. She shook her head, closed the door, and returned to bed, muttering to herself in a sighing tone:

"Oh, I guess she's been urged to submit her manuscript again... But why did she get up in the middle of the night? Who would urge someone to submit their manuscript in the middle of the night..."

The Tarot Club was held as scheduled on Monday afternoon. There was not much new in this Tarot Club. The biggest deal was that "Judge" Hugh bought the extraordinary characteristics and potion formula of "Judge".

There was nothing unusual about the attitudes of "Justice" Audrey and "Star" Leonard when facing the "world". This was natural. After all, the work of erasing memories was completed under Alice's supervision and the location was above the "Source Castle", so they had no chance to do anything.

The Tarot Club ended quickly, but the next day, Alice met "The Sun" Derrick again. This time, he brought a new piece of news:

"Miss Destiny, the Chief has provided four seals for you to choose from!"

As he said this, Derrick had already appeared above the gray fog, along with The World Gehrman Sparrow and The Hanged Man Alger, because Derrick had stated that he still had questions to ask.

"Four choices?" Alice stroked the cross in her hand. "Only children answer multiple-choice questions. Adults... Excuse me, I mean, which four Sealed Artifacts?"

Derrick began to repeat Chief Colin Iliad's words one by one:

"The first one is called the 'Dawn Silver Sword', it was left behind by an elder who died 1,300 years ago.

"Holding this straight sword, one can conceal one's own malice and certain actions, effectively interfere with divination and prophecy, gain exaggerated power, and bring the dawn of resistance against evil and corruption to the surrounding areas.

“It can also stir up a destructive storm of light, creating an invisible and solid defensive wall around the holder. Whenever it connects to the earth, the protective power will be difficult to shake.
"The top of its hilt is a one-eyed, giant mouth, and a human head statue with living characteristics. Feeding the corresponding herbs, essential oils, and potions to this statue will make the 'Dawn Silver Sword' produce different effects, such as lightning poison, freezing, purification, burning, decay, and exorcism.

"This sword has strict usage conditions. If you are less than 180 cm tall, you cannot lift it. If you are less than 200 cm tall, it is difficult to exert its full power. In addition, the one-eyed, huge-mouthed human head statue on the top of the hilt likes to talk a lot and is always chattering. If the holder does not respond to it, perhaps at a critical moment, the 'Dawn Silver Sword' will suddenly give up resistance and even attack the owner. If the holder is willing to talk to the human head statue, he will be on the verge of madness."

To be honest, it's useless. The biggest value of keeping it here is probably to rent it out. After all, it's unlikely that I'll actually use the sword to fight with others, and the conditions for use are...

Alice asked Derrick sincerely, "Do you think I'm 1.80 meters tall or 2 meters tall?"

“Uh…” Derrick paused.

"It doesn't matter," said the man who knew her "world" very well, "you can't really do anything with this sword anyway. Even if you get it, you'll probably just chat with the human head statue."

This conversation has already shown Alice's attitude. Derrick quickly said:

"There's a second one!"

Derrick introduced another sealed item called the "Twilight Mask". Alice praised it after listening to it:
"Very good, this one is even more outrageous than the last one. It's not even worth renting out... Little 'Sun', your chief didn't take out all the useless stuff that no one can use, did he?"

Derrick stammered, “Chief, I don’t think you have any such intentions…”

Klein glanced at her, then turned to Derrick and asked, "What about the other two?"

Then Derrick introduced the third sealed item:
"The third item is called the 'Staff of Life'. It can drive ordinary creatures with low intelligence and reduce their madness in a short period of time. It can use incomplete souls and various materials to complete the ultimate 'life refining'. This can create ordinary humans who can exist for a long time, and can also create different puppets for combat and various affairs, including stone golems, earth golems, and steel golems." Any living being that has been whipped by this staff will have an increased tendency to be crazy and out of control, and there is a certain probability that the body will mutate and grow watermelons, mushrooms, wheat and other things. Of course, these are not edible and will cause pollution.

“Any creature touched by the staff will be healed no matter how serious its injuries are, except for those that have begun to lose control.

“This cane will fill the surrounding area with vitality. Plants and animals will flourish and reproduce rapidly, but it is ineffective against the City of Silver.

"People who carry the 'Staff of Life' have a high chance of experiencing physical changes. The longer they hold it, the higher the chance. This can cause some organs to grow extra, or some to be missing, and to be replaced by various plants."

"Creating ordinary humans that exist for a long time?" Alice looked curious. "Hiss, can it create life?"

“This…” Derrick hesitated. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it…”

"Okay," Alice nodded. "It's a pity that the things grown can't be eaten, but the fact that it can make crops reproduce quickly may be useful in the future... In addition, there is a chance that the body will mutate. Hey, the probability..."

She paused, then asked again, "What about the fourth one?"

Derrick introduced the fourth sealed item, the "Fallen Flute". Alice frowned as she listened. She shook her head and said:
"Is there no 'craftsmen' in Silver City?"

Derrick nodded.

"No wonder," Alice shook her head slightly, "It must be the 'Staff of Life'."

She made the decision, and Derrick couldn't help showing his joy. He said sincerely:

"Thank you, Miss Destiny!"

He was thanking Alice for agreeing to the deal.

Alice understood what Derrick meant and waved her hand generously, “You’re welcome!”

Derrick smiled again and asked another question:
"Mr. World, Ms. Fate, do you two need a higher-order potion formula from the Cultivator pathway?"

The person being questioned was actually the Fool. Klein and Alice looked at each other and they both thought of Frank Lee. After a few breaths, Alice smiled at him and said,
"I remember you guys have been maintaining communications... What's the situation over there?"

“It’s just one step away,” Klein replied.

Then, Klein, wearing the appearance of “the world”, turned to “the sun” Derrick and responded in a hoarse voice:

"Sequence 5."

As he said this, Klein gave Alice a pleading look.

Alice gave him a reassuring look in return. For now, although she was in awe of some of Frank Lee's achievements and brilliant ideas, she was not worried about what would actually happen - after all, he was not even a demigod.

Klein had a similar mentality. It was for this reason that he agreed to Derrick's request. Unexpectedly, Derrick spoke again:

"What if there's something higher?"

Klein fell silent again. This time, he didn't dare look at Alice because Sequence 4 was already capable of playing some special tricks. He was not sure whether Alice would play with Frank - although not always, but if it happened once, it might cause a big mess.

Alice didn't think too much about it. She answered based on the principle of not giving it to Frank at the worst possible moment:

“If you want to give it to me, Mr. Fool won’t refuse it.”

"Okay, okay!" Derrick, whose real target of the inquiry was exposed, quickly responded and changed the subject. "Mr. 'Hanged Man', I always feel that this matter is a bit strange. Why did the Chief suddenly mention the higher-sequence potion formula of the 'Tiller' path?"

The Hanged Man Alger looked at the World Gehrman Sparrow and said:

“This should be a test by your chief to see if the environment around Silver City can be changed.

"I remember you mentioned before that you only knew there was a 'Harvest Goddess' who was the queen of the Giant King, and 'Moon', according to the records of the Blood Clan, that 'Harvest Goddess' was called Omibella, and it was actually her that you, the Silver City, originally believed in.

"I was only sure that the name Omibella was real, and I had no inclination towards other statements. Now, your chief suddenly brought out a higher-order potion formula of the 'cultivator' pathway that you didn't know before, which makes me doubt that the 'moon' statement is correct.

"This means that, for some reason, you, the City of Silver, concealed the fact that you once believed in the 'Harvest Goddess' and even deliberately avoided mentioning Her real name.

"There must be a big secret hidden in this."

“It’s a big secret…” Derrick “The Sun” thought about it carefully, but couldn’t think of what the secret might be.

Alice suddenly had an idea. She looked at Derrick and asked softly:
"I remember you told me before that the growth-promoting ability of the 'Staff of Life' cannot be used in Silver City?"

Derrick nodded.

"And the black-faced grass..." Alice whispered, "Black-faced grass can only grow in Silver City and its surrounding areas, right?"

Derrick continued to nod.

Alice pressed her brows again and said, "If you don't kill your blood relatives yourself, they will turn into monsters, but if you leave the City of Silver, they won't... That's what you said, right?"

Derrick still nodded and said hesitantly, "Miss Destiny, do you think all this is related?"

Alice looked at him with a half-smile and said softly:

"If an item cannot be used in a certain area, we should first infer that the area is covered by the same or opposite, higher-level power. In other words, your land may have residual power of the 'Harvest Goddess'.

"In other words, I suspect that the 'Harvest Goddess' left something on the land of your Silver City - maybe she was injured in a battle, or maybe the battle was too intense and left traces...

"Considering that this matter cannot be known to others, well, this is probably not a glorious thing... maybe he was seriously injured?" (End of this chapter)