Something feels off... Alice blinked at the World's composed expression, then looked away.
"I'll decide once I've thought it over," she told Fors the Magician perfunctorily. "Having you treat me to ice cream seems a little too casual, but I can't think of anything else right now... Should I really just have you pay for it?"
Buying it with money wasn't out of the question. As long as there was a profit to be made. But Miss Fortune didn't look too willing...
"...If I pay," Fors the Magician asked tentatively after a moment's thought, "how much would it cost?"
Alice blinked, studied Fors for two seconds, and gave her an answer:
"250 pounds?"
"Huh?" Fors wondered if she had misheard and looked at Alice in confusion.
"Think about it." Alice sat up straight and launched into an enthusiastic explanation. "You'd spend 250 pounds on a fortune talisman worth 220 pounds. That would make you such a 'two-fifty'—a complete fool! Want to buy one?"
Klein could tell she really thought it was a great idea. Too bad Miss Magician didn't seem to understand what "two-fifty" meant...
Klein held back his laughter within the gray fog and waited curiously for Fors the Magician's response.
Fors the Magician took a moment to process Alice's words, then asked cautiously:
"Miss Fortune, what does 'two-fifty' mean?"
Isn't it just a number? Does it mean something else? From the way Miss Fortune said it, is it an insult for someone stupid?
"An idiot, a fool... Something like that?" Alice tilted her head, confirming Fors's guess.
"Uh." Fors choked. "I... I don't really want to be a 'two-fifty' in your eyes..."
Alice looked away regretfully.
Seeing this, Audrey the Justice spoke up from beside them. "Miss Fortune, why does 'two-fifty' mean a fool?"
Alger the Hanged Man,