Discussion

"...Why aren't you saying anything?" After Klein finished his last sentence, Alice just stared at him without a word, making Klein unable to resist asking.

"Are you insulting me?" Alice asked seriously.

"Why would you say that?" Klein seriously thought back over what he had said that might have been wrong.

"You seemed to be saying I was like a Clown..." Alice realized she had misunderstood Klein's meaning. She explained, "Okay, I was projecting. That's something I would say."

"...I really just suddenly thought of the Acting Principle!" Klein emphasized seriously.

"Mmm... so you're going to start Acting now?" Alice replied perfunctorily, changing the subject.

"I... wait," Klein looked at Alice as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Why can you see me now?"

Alice fell silent. She wasn't deliberately ignoring the question; the answer was obvious. "If that unknown existence could let me wake up as Alice, could bring me back from the dead... then, when they resurrected me, it's not strange that they would fix this matter too, right?"

"...Would a Great Being care about such a small thing?" Klein found it hard to understand.

"Maybe it wasn't a Great Being? After all, even my name was given to me... ha." A clear look of revulsion appeared on Alice's face. She particularly hated this feeling of powerlessness, of not being in control of herself.

After personally experiencing the pain of death and watching a friend die, the pain that originally belonged to Shen Yinghuan, which she had recalled earlier, seemed to suddenly become real. Alice could no longer comfortably accept Fate's arrangements. A desire to control her own Fate gradually arose within her.

Klein paused slightly. He couldn't comment on this; he knew how unpleasant that feeling was. That's exactly how he felt when facing the coincidences created by 0-08 again and again, and being powerless to do anything about it.

Alice looked at the silent Klein and forced a smile. "Let's change the subject... Well, first of all, I think even though you've realized what a 'Clown' should be like, but... I'm naturally like this. What about you?"

"I understand what you mean, I'm just Acting, right?" Klein immediately understood what Alice wanted to say.

"As long as you know, then the next thing..." Alice's expression suddenly turned serious. "Have you thought about how to hide your appearance?"

"Huh?" Klein blinked blankly. "I can wear a pair of glasses, and grow a beard..."

Klein suddenly fell silent. He realized that Alice must have thought of this point – after all, girls couldn't grow beards...

"What... what do you plan to do?" Klein, unable to come up with an idea, asked.

"I don't know," Alice shrugged. "Maybe Fate has arranged it for me? Anyway, I want to go to Pritz Harbor first."

Alice understood that, judging by Megose's dramatic death, she likely had no choice but to obediently follow instructions at the moment.

"Haven't you considered going back to the Nighthawks?" Alice's attitude about going to Pritz Harbor was quite firm, but Klein remembered that Alice's situation was different from his – her resurrection was witnessed by a True God.

Alice glanced at Klein. She recalled the Goddess's attitude and the time she woke up, and said softly, "...I think, whether it's the Goddess or Fate itself, they don't want me to continue being a Nighthawk."

"..." Klein looked at Alice with a complex expression and asked, "Do you know where Ince Zangwill is now?"

"You want to find him for revenge?" Alice looked at Klein. "You know, he's a Sequence 5 now, and might even become a Demigod in the near future."

But Klein's attitude was firm, and he didn't look discouraged by Alice's words in the slightest, so Alice replied, "I don't know, but perhaps you could try divining it... hmm, and by the way, try divining where your hopes for advancement lie—since you don't know where to go anyway."

So, in the results of their Divination, they saw an extremely prosperous city.

There were busy docks, houses lined up one after another, streets filled with people coming and going, strange machinery, and thick smoke.

At the end of the scene, the backs of buildings, some gray-blue, some beige, some light yellow, spiraled upward, surrounding a magnificent palace, surrounding a towering Gothic clock tower.

Dong!

The sound of the bell echoed. They both knew where the city they had just seen was – the legendary "Land of Hope," the "City of Ten Thousand Cities," Backlund!

As for the Main Peak of the Hornacis Mountain Range... haha, Klein certainly wouldn't go there.

"So, before we leave, is there anything else you want to do?" When the last matter was also confirmed, the sad atmosphere finally returned between the two of them. Realizing that they might not be able to see their old friend again for a long time, Alice looked at Klein and asked.

"I want to see Benson and Melissa again..." After a moment of silence, Klein gave this answer.

"Benson and Melissa?" Alice repeated in confusion.

Remembering that Alice didn't know about this, Klein explained, "They are my family."

"Family..." Repeating the word, a hint of confusion suddenly flashed in Alice's eyes – unlike Klein, Alice still considered herself a pure visitor from another world. At least for now, she still couldn't see herself as a part of this world.

What's more...

The Goddess's words resurfaced. Alice suddenly felt a hint of indescribable sadness, for the original owner of this body – perhaps she had her own family and friends, she should have had her own name, and now, she was completely gone, and no one would even feel sad about it.

If she knew all this, would she feel as powerless and pained as I do?

"Let's go," suppressing the emotions that surged up in that instant, Alice said in a voice whose emotions were hard to discern, "We'll go see your... your family one last time."

"...But, they should have already received news of my death, right?" Reason made Klein look at Alice hesitantly. "If I appear now, they'll be startled, right?"

Hmm, Melissa would probably faint on the spot... Benson would probably get so nervous he'd start losing hair, and then try his best to calmly persuade me, in the name of the Baboon... This thought made Klein sad again, his expression becoming a little bitter.

"You can put on Clown makeup before you go. If you don't know how, I can help you." Alice finally found an opportunity to get revenge for Klein's unintentional mockery at the beginning.