Alice rummaged through her things for spiritual materials, hastily prepared a Sacrifice Ritual, and tossed in the gold coin that exerted an invisible pull.
As the Gate of Sacrifice closed, Alice finally let out a sigh of relief.
She had no desire to swallow another Sequence 5 Beyonder Characteristic without a ritual or auxiliary ingredients. Once had been more than enough. Really.
Whatever Klein was doing with that Beyonder Characteristic Above the Gray Fog, the most dangerous thing in the room was now gone. Alice looked at Charlie King's corpse and suddenly realized something.
...Even if Charlie King had killed himself, wasn't it still strange that she'd come here in the middle of the night?
Surely she wouldn't have to meet the Nighthawks in a dream again...
After studying the corpse for a moment, Alice decided she'd deal with that when it happened. She went around the coffee table and searched his body.
Unfortunately, she found only one Extraordinary Item on Charlie King—yes, the Fortune Accessory.
It was a brooch set with an emerald-green gem, which Charlie King had worn on his sleeve like a cufflink. After looking it over for a few seconds, Alice put it away to investigate its side effect later.
Alice surveyed the sparse living room and seriously considered rummaging through Charlie King's home. Then she remembered the side effect he'd mentioned and decided against it.
...Would money she found in Charlie King's home count as part of her good fortune, too?
Alice suddenly understood what made the Fortune Accessory so frightening.
The worst part wasn't its side effect, but how it worked: it gave first, then collected the price.
Just like Fate did with her.
"So... should I pay the price first, then claim the reward?"
No one answered Alice's murmur, nor had she expected