Mystery: Lucky One

She seemed to want to say something very disrespectful, but she was worried about something and didn't say it in the end.

Klein noticed her reaction and asked thoughtfully, "Are you talking about the original owner of this place..."

Alice jumped up and rushed over to cover his mouth.

"He really can and will kill me," she said.

"..." Klein glanced at Alice and signaled her to let him go.

Alice obediently let go of her hand and sat back down. Klein shook his head and said:
"It's really rare. This is the first time I've seen you so afraid of someone... Before, even if it was a goddess, you dared..."

He looked at Alice for a few seconds, chuckled, and then changed the subject:
"Well, I have to send the 'Box of the Old Days' back, otherwise Miss 'Magician' might be staying inside... Well, getting her out will require a bit of luck..."

"Leave it to me." Alice raised her hand consciously.

So the "Box of the Old Days" containing Fors was returned to the "Hermit" Cattleya. At the same time, Leonard, who chose to stay in Backlund, was called to the office of Archbishop Anthony Stevenson.

"Sit down." Anthony looked up from a pile of documents and motioned for him to sit down.

After the George III incident, Arianna left Backlund - at least on the surface.

Therefore, the office once again belonged to Archbishop Anthony, and likewise, the work returned to his arms.

——Although I didn’t leave in the first place.

Leonard sat down. This was not the first time he was interviewed. After Alice's membership in the Church of Evernight became an open secret, Leonard, as a former teammate, was interviewed more than once because of this matter. In addition to this, he was also interviewed because of the existence of Pales.

The Church of Evernight has not made clear its attitude towards Pales, or, more precisely, as far as Leonard knows, Pales Zoroast is currently equivalent to his informant.

——It just came out from the dark.

Seeing him sit down, Anthony asked calmly, "Can you contact Miss Destiny now?"

Leonard was stunned for a moment, then looked at Anthony, who sighed and said:

"A high-level battle took place on the outskirts of Backlund, leaving behind terrible pollution and a Hermit card.

"I wanted to ask her if she knew about this, but..."

But she has been out of touch for a while? However, if you just want to ask this, I actually know...

Leonard suddenly realized and explained:
"She is in a place where it is not convenient for her to communicate with the outside world. However, there are ways to contact her."

"What should I do?" Anthony asked humbly.

Leonard looked at the Holy Emblem of Night above Anthony and spoke cautiously:

"…Pray to the fool."

The room suddenly became quiet. After a long silence, Leonard said to Archbishop Anthony who was staring at him:

"I... uh, one of my informants is a follower of the Fool. Maybe..."

He did not choose to tell the news he knew, because it would seem that he had already prayed to the Fool - although this was true.

Archbishop Anthony nodded and said gently, "How long will it take you to get an answer?"

"The exact time is not certain...but it should be soon, and I will get the answer today," Leonard replied.

So the matter was settled, and Leonard quickly left the church basement, but he did not pray to the Fool. He only stayed in the closed room for a quarter of an hour, then returned to report that Miss Destiny was fully aware of this.

This was Pales' suggestion. In Pales' opinion, Leonard's problems could not be covered up at all. After Anthony couldn't contact Alice, his first reaction was to find Leonard to ask about the situation. This was very telling.

——Perhaps, in the eyes of the Church of Evernight, he has become the spokesperson for the Fool.

……

Soon after Fors was released, the spoils were divided at Sefirah Castle.

Alice did not attend. She let Klein handle the meeting himself and grilled mushrooms openly.

When Klein returned to the real world, Alice was holding a fish-flavored mushroom. She stuffed her mouth full and told Klein:

“I think these mushrooms should be given a name.”

"What?" Klein looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was going to do.

"I think we can call it Frank's Gourmet Mushroom." Alice swallowed the food in her mouth and spoke.

“…” Klein rolled his eyes, ignored her, and went to look for ripe mushrooms.

"I plan to let Miss Magician tell Abraham about this," he said while eating, "This way, I can show some goodwill to the Abraham family and take the opportunity to propose lifting the curse..."

Alice smiled. She turned to Klein and said sincerely:
“I find that we are becoming more and more alike.”

"What do you mean?" Klein looked at her puzzledly.

"Profligate businessman," Alice shook her head. "Even if there was no Abraham and no Miss Magician, you would have to deal with Mr. Door's affairs after you became a true god. As for Amon... It's obvious that Amon seems to be planning to take action against you before you become a true god."

Klein's heart moved. He looked at Alice and said thoughtfully:

"I remember that both the evil spirit of Medici and Emperor Roselle said that they had chosen a path..."

“…Don’t think about it anymore,” Alice held her head with her hand. “Don’t think about it anymore, please.”

"...Okay," Klein was very obedient. "I've talked to the 'magician' about the recording ability. Can you give us a little luck when the time comes?"

Alice raised her hand and gestured "OK", then said thoughtfully:

"Oh yeah... are you planning to pray using a historical projection, and it's a historical projection summoned by Miss Magician?"

Suddenly, Klein had a bad feeling in his heart. He nodded cautiously and said, "Yes, what's wrong?"

"You can try to pray to the 'Storm Lord' again," Alice smiled, "You can try to ask Him for '0-32'."

This is one of the sources of the extraordinary characteristics of the "Miracle Master" given by Arrodes. It is a sealed object kept in the Church of Storms, called "The Never-Ending Theater." Klein was stunned for a moment and then asked, "Then why don't I try praying to the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' again?"

"Because if you fail, this historical projection will be scrapped," Alice spread her hands, "Of course, if you need it, you can summon another historical projection..."

“…No need for that,” Klein rejected the idea. “But the Church of Storms can indeed give it a try. After all, there is a church in Backlund…”

……

When the "magician" Fors summoned the projection of Gehrman Sparrow from the historical pores to Backlund, Klein's body immediately entered the mist of history and rushed all the way back to before the First Epoch.

——In recent times, when Alice was not around, Klein had been placing his main body in the mist of history, and operating outside through historical projections and secret dolls.

As Alice said, she was full of respect for the true God. She only proposed a suggestion to provoke a true God and did not participate in it herself. Even after confirming the start of the plan, she did not hesitate to stay away from the culprit and turned to pray for the protection of the "true creator."

Alice responded: "I believe the True Creator is a benevolent god, just like Amon."

Klein shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He let his consciousness come alive in the projection, reducing Fors's energy consumption.

In this way, Klein indirectly returned to Backlund.

After a "teleportation", Klein appeared in a secluded alley near St. Samuel's Church, and used the ability of the "Faceless Man" to change his appearance and figure.

During this process, although there were still a few pedestrians in the alley, they were all affected by the illusion and failed to notice the sudden appearance of a "companion".

"If I were still a 'trickster', maybe I should let them find me..." Klein muttered to himself as he straightened his clothes and adjusted his hat.

Soon, he walked quickly to St. Samuel's Church and found a seat by the side in the large prayer hall.

He took off his hat and recited his honorific name. He then devoutly drew a crimson moon on his chest. Then, he clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and prayed to the "Goddess of Night" in a low voice:
"I will hunt the Dark Wolf to obtain the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Miracle Master'...

"...I wonder if you can give me some inspiration..."

He did not wait for a response, but remained calm and continued:

"...In addition, I am also planning to go to the border between the Western Continent and the 'Forsaken Land of Gods' to investigate the situation of that seal..."

After praying, Klein tapped his chest four times clockwise again and whispered:

"Praise the goddess."

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark night sky dotted with countless stars suddenly appeared in front of him, and a piece of information unconsciously appeared in his mind.

That is information about the dark wolf Kotal.

Klein was stunned for a moment, and only came back to his senses when the starry sky in front of him completely disappeared. He praised the goddess again with a tone that was more sincere than before.

After leaving St. Samuel's Church, he used the "Creeping Hunger" and another "Teleport" to arrive near the Holy Wind Cathedral in the Cherwood District.

However, he did not step directly into the church. Instead, he summoned the historical projection of his long-lost "Winner" secret doll, made the "Winner" transform into his own appearance, and then walked into the church.

Just a minute or two later, a dark cloud suddenly floated over Backlund, and a silver-white flash seemed to pass through the Holy Wind Cathedral, but no one noticed.

The dark clouds in the sky dissipated as soon as they were spoken, and everything returned to normal in the Holy Wind Cathedral.

In a nearby corner, Klein raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, muttering with a twitch in his mouth:
"If you don't want to give it to me, then don't give it to me... Why do you want to kill my secret puppet..."

He then exhaled, and his figure quickly faded and disappeared. In a flash, he appeared in Trier, the capital of Intis.

Without appreciating the prosperous scene around him, Klein quickly rushed to the church of "Eternal Blazing Sun" to feel the time that the historical projection could still exist. He summoned the "Winner" puppet again and made a second attempt.

The plan to ask for "0-13" also failed. In the sky above Trier, the sun seemed to become brighter and hotter at a certain moment, but it seemed that only a few people noticed it.

Klein, who was hiding in the corner, sighed and completely gave up his delusion, letting the historical projection disappear on the spot.

His main consciousness returned to the "God-Forsaken Land". Klein called out to Alice. After Alice came back, he returned from the historical gap and told Alice:

"I got the information about the Dark Wolf."

Alice blinked and asked with a smile, "So, it seems that you failed to get '0-32'."

"Obviously," Klein sighed, "and my request for '0-13' failed."

Alice paused for a moment. She looked at Klein. Klein spread his hands and told the story from the beginning:
"...After getting the information about the Dark Wolf from the goddess, I 'teleported' to the Holy Wind Cathedral and summoned the secret doll...Do you still remember the 'winner'? The one I lost..."

Alice nodded after a brief recollection, and Klein continued:
"I summoned the 'winner' from before and had him transform into my appearance and enter the Holy Wind Cathedral to pray. Unexpectedly, a bolt of lightning from the 'Storm Lord'..."

Didn't you expect this? It was clearly premeditated... Alice glanced at Klein and said nothing, only asking:

"and then?"

Klein sighed and said:

"I had no choice but to quickly 'teleport' to Trier. You should know that this is the capital of Intis.

"I summoned the 'Winner' puppet once again, controlled him to enter the church of 'Eternal Blazing Sun', and asked for '0-13'..."

"...How did he die?" Alice's mouth twitched.

“He was burned to death,” Klein said frankly.

Alice had an expression that looked like she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

Klein rolled his eyes at Alice and told her, "If you really want to laugh, then laugh."

Alice immediately burst into laughter without trying to hide it. She staggered from side to side while laughing. Klein couldn't stand it anymore and pressed his secret doll against her body. The cold touch made Alice tremble. She suddenly jumped away and said,
"I won't fall! If you really feel uncomfortable watching it, just help yourself, don't touch me with your body!"

“…Okay.” Klein remembered this.

Alice then glared at Klein before saying with a smile:

"Come on, tell me why you want it, let me hear it - Oh, by the way, did they scold you? You don't know, when I was pretending to be Ouroboros, the True Creator scolded me very badly... although I didn't understand it."

"... He didn't scold me, he just beat me to death." Klein glanced at Alice and told her about his choice of words. (End of this chapter)