When she finally set foot on Bayam's land, Alice felt momentarily dazed, along with a long-lost sense of safety.
The final days of the voyage had been as calm as before. The only ripple had come from Bernadette's letter:
"'Fate' Miss?"
Alice had not replied to the letter. She was unsure whether Bernadette's letter contained more probing or wariness, or perhaps other emotions mixed in, but she understood that now was not a good time to reply.
Or rather, for her, now was not a good time to do anything.
If she had to say what she was agonizing over... she was actually quite puzzled. How had the St. Folsen still not run into trouble?
Alice carried her luggage off the ship. Although she had never seen this new appearance Klein had made for himself, Gehrman Sparrow, she still found him effortlessly among the crowd.
After all, he was the only one with nothing visible on him.
Her steps paused for a moment. In the end, she did not trot over, merely quickening her pace and walking briskly toward him.
Alice did not comment on Klein's new appearance, nor did she spout nonsense as she had above the Gray Fog. After staring at him for several seconds, she spoke with a hint of wistfulness:
"Long time no see."
—They truly had not met in the real world for a long time.
The greeting seemed to make the atmosphere solemn. Dunn, who had been watching from the side, finally could not take it anymore and broke the strange silence:
"Shit, how long are you two going to keep staring at each other like that?!"
As he said this, he even shuddered.
This successfully drew Alice's attention. After looking Dunn up and down, she turned to Klein and asked thoughtfully:
"Is this