Restless Unease

Sesima soon left Blackthorn Security Company again.

That injury seemed to have been a signal. Afterward, he had no choice but to become busy—For Some Unknown Reason, Mr. A had changed his policy and begun hunting official Beyonder squads.

Once Mr. A stopped trying to avoid official Beyonders, official Beyonder squads of three were simply no match for him.

Yet official Beyonders could not refrain from going out—there were always Supernatural Events that needed handling, and even when there were none, other Aurora Order members would create them.

The large number of low-level Aurora Order members flooding in effectively tied down the official Beyonders. After all, there was an obvious difference in value between the lunatics the Aurora Order could mass-produce as expendables and the carefully selected official Beyonders. Mr. A could disregard the lives of those lunatics, but the Three Churches could not disregard the lives of their lower-ranking Beyonders.

If Alice had been a little older and more experienced in society, perhaps she would have Realized that Mr. A and the Aurora Order's actions were steering things in a rather dangerous direction—insufficient police manpower.

When all the official Beyonders were kept busy and mentally strained by their mad actions, the true danger would seize the opportunity to slip in.

But unfortunately, the busy official Beyonders had no energy to give all this Deep Thought, while the only leisurely one, Alice, had no experience with such matters. She could only feel that increasingly obvious, increasingly impossible-to-ignore unease as the unknown danger crept closer step by step.

Troubled by this unease and bored from being unable to go out, Alice restlessly welcomed the following Monday.

"Good Afternoon, Mr. Fool! Good Afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man! Good Afternoon, Mr. Sun! Good Afternoon, Miss Fate!"

Audrey's usual cheerful and brisk voice rang out, soothing some of Alice's unease. She pulled a smile onto her lips. "Good Afternoon, Miss Justice."

As a Spectator, Audrey naturally would not overlook that something was wrong with Alice's mood. "Miss Fate, you look like you're in a bad mood. Is it because of that Evil God's Offspring?"

"No." Alice leaned back in her chair and only began answering after calming herself a little. "My spirituality might be trying to warn me about something, but I can never figure out what it is... It's a truly awful experience, like someone is Shouting and Yelling inside your head through a loudspeaker. You try desperately to make out what they're shouting, but you just can't hear anything clearly."

The vivid metaphor immediately made Audrey understand Alice's troubles. She considerately showed a little sympathy. "I imagine that must feel terrible."

Alice smiled weakly, then adopted an attitude of not wanting to talk right now—emptying her mind and ignoring everyone. This had been her most common attitude over the past week, because she had no way to keep herself extremely busy.

Audrey considerately did not ask further. She Looked Towards Klein, and after receiving his permission, said, "Honorable Mr. Fool, I Don't Know whether your Blessed received the three hundred pounds in compensation?"

Alice... regrettably, Alice did not even have the energy to complain anymore. She Just Wanted To make time pass faster, preferably with a whoosh that skipped straight to the end of this matter.

As one of the people who knew about This Matter, Klein had tried both having Alice divine Above the Gray Fog and helping Alice divine there himself, but neither had produced any result. He had no solution either.

Thus, after repeatedly confirming the money in his account, Klein answered in Mr. Fool's indifferent tone, "I did not pay attention to This Matter, but since my Blessed did not make any further requests for help, she should have received it already."

"That is wonderful!" Audrey Felt Relieved, and even her tone became a little more buoyant as she continued, "Mr. Hanged Man, there has been progress regarding Qilingus."

Alger immediately sat up straight, no longer trying to investigate the cause of Alice's condition—Alice had not even asked about that Beyonder of the Monster Pathway.

Alger asked in a voice that could not conceal his delight, "Where is he?"

"Unfortunately, just as we discovered his Traces, he noticed our investigation and killed the people involved." Audrey Narrated the course of events in detail and described the subsequent lines of investigation.

Alger nodded slightly to indicate that he would take note, then turned to Klein. "Honorable Mr. Fool, if I determine Qilingus's true purpose and what that extremely important, extremely miraculous item he is trying to obtain is, please allow me to recite your name and inform you through a ritual."

"Yes." Mr. Fool nodded lightly, agreeing to Alger's final effort.

Alger quietly Felt Relieved. He Lowered His Head and humbly Replied, "Please allow me to praise your willingness to listen in advance."

Next, Alger turned to Alice. "Miss Fate, that Beyonder of the Monster Pathway plans to remain in Pritz Harbor for a while, waiting for a Fated Encounter."

Having been called on, Alice had no choice but to pull her wandering Train of Thought back and listen to what Alger had said. Then she heard the emphasis Alger had deliberately placed on those words.

"A Fated Encounter?" Alice repeated the phrase with a strange expression. It sounded like something that would only appear in some tacky plot.

"Those were his exact words," Alger Replied.

"..." Alice frowned, but chose to continue asking, "Then, I assume that if I wanted to find him, what should I do?"

"...He said that All The encounters are inevitable under Fate," Alger repeated in an incomprehensible tone.

"..." Alice pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She suddenly felt that she understood how Angelica had felt when she saw her tossing coins.

"In Short, thank you for your help, Mr. Hanged Man. This can offset part of my debt." Alice took a deep breath. Although she could not obtain any clues through the so-called Fated Encounter, at least she had confirmed that he was in Pritz Harbor—though that was still of little use to her.

Alger accepted this Without Ceremony, then said to Klein, "Mr. Fool, I am about to obtain a batch of Emperor Roselle's diaries. I believe I will be able to present them to you at the next gathering, or the one after that."

Klein nodded and Replied with a hint of pleasure, "Very good."

...But what was he going to use to pay The Hanged Man? As Alice returned her attention to the gathering, Klein's actions left her somewhat puzzled.

I want... Recommendation Tickets... and... Monthly Tickets...

(Pushes open the coffin lid) (extends one hand) (lets out a weak groan)