Alice lay sprawled on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
...How did they even conclude that I ran away to avoid paying rent?!
If I find out who came up with this idea, I'll... Wait, this wasn't the Goddess's decision, was it?
Come to think of it, I had wanted to ask whether the Goddess would be willing to be my "mother," but I never got the chance...
Lost in wild thoughts, she emptied her mind and began breathing evenly on the sofa.
She had only just fallen asleep when deep red light startled her awake. Amid the gray fog, she heard Klein's voice:
"Alice? I forgot to ask earlier. Are you free right now?"
Klein was looking for me? What was it... Alice blinked her eyes in confusion. Out of trust in the Church of Evernight, she arrived Above the Gray Fog.
"What is it?" she asked doubtfully.
"Mm..." Klein looked at her thoughtfully. "Where are you right now?"
"Backlund." She tilted her head. "I'm at the police station... waiting for the Nighthawks to come take me into custody."
"?" Klein stared at her in shock, his eyes seeming to ask, What trouble did you get into this time?
"This time it wasn't me... Uh..." Alice pinched her brow and frowned, skipping over matters related to Cassandra and Selwyn Magritte, as well as the now-meaningless Ayla Silvan, before getting straight to the point. "They think I ran away to avoid paying rent, and even the Church agrees that it's possible!"
"...?" Klein looked at her in surprise. "Why does the Church think so too?"
"Is that somehow my fault?!" Alice slapped the table. "How the hell am I supposed to know what they wrote about me in the