Alice's words were about as credible in Klein's eyes as Fate's idea of being especially lucky—you couldn't say they were wrong, but her perspective on things was a little strange.
After staring seriously at Alice for quite a while and discovering that she was genuinely meeting his gaze with a sincere smile and not the slightest hint of guilt, Klein gave up pressing her further.
Worried about the next Tarot Club gathering, Klein brought up another topic. "I may be going to sea to look for a mermaid."
"A mermaid!" Alice sat up straight. "Ariel!"
"...Who?" Klein was briefly bewildered.
"The Little Mermaid, Ariel," Alice explained. "I want to see a mermaid with my own eyes too. It'd be best if I could get a photo together..."
"...Do you think this is a sightseeing trip?" Klein looked at Alice, remembered the Vampire Emlyn White, and suddenly had a bad feeling.
Alice blinked twice.
Klein pondered for a moment before asking, "Would you want to take a picture with a Vampire?"
The answer was clear in Alice's bright eyes. Watching this, Klein suddenly regretted letting Emlyn White join the Tarot Club.
...I feel like Mr. Fool is getting less and less able to keep things under control.
Klein let out a deep sigh.
When Klein boarded the train going to Pritz Harbor, Alice was at Evelyn's home.
She had ultimately not gone to see Klein off. It had begun when Klein took out the sealed Creeping Hunger and described its effects, after which she asked a question Klein could not answer:
"Tell me, since it has living traits and needs to eat on time, if you don't feed it like this, could it starve to death?"
Klein stared at Alice, stunned.
After thinking for a moment, Alice continued along that