Alice

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Alice
Alias(es)	Aili 44
Gender	Female
Affiliation	House of Iris; Iris Merchant Guild (Leyden City branch) 13 31
Occupation/Role	House of Iris noble; Bronze Tier Sword Affinity Transcendent; candidate heir to the Grand Duke of Iris 23 45
First Appearance	Chapter 4

Background / History

Alice is the third young lady of the House of Iris, a powerful Yagrant Kingdom noble house whose private Iris Legion guards the northern frontier. As a direct descendant, she is theoretically eligible to inherit the title of Grand Duke of Iris, though her bloodline concentration is insufficient to awaken the Mountain Giant will necessary to truly contend for the position. 13 45

Her father, Grand Duke Kalayan, gave her little personal attention. Alice’s mother was a maid who died giving birth to her, leaving Ed—her first swordmaster—and her uncle Degas as the principal figures who raised her. 18 48

More than a decade before the story, Albert Rick and the House of Iris established a marriage contract binding Alice to Albert Aaron. Alice initially resented the prospect of marrying a fallen, penniless noble, but considers the agreement inseparable from her family’s honor and her own duty. 14 44 45

Appearance

Alice is a fair-skinned woman with platinum-blonde hair, narrow long eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and pale-red lips. Her relatively delicate build conceals exceptional physical strength. 4 15

• Usually wears silver half-plate armor while on duty. 4
• Fights with a silver, rune-bearing longsword and a one-handed shield. 13
• Wore a conservative formal gown for Lord Bals’s banquet; it revealed only a small portion of her collarbone. 47
• Her right hand can emit a silvery-white glow. 45

Personality

Alice is disciplined, proud, and intensely conscious of noble etiquette, family reputation, and obligation. She initially treats Aaron with open hostility—partly because he drunkenly teased her at the Rose Tavern and partly because he becomes entangled in a Rat-Face ritual—but she does not let personal anger override an investigation. 4

She is direct and forceful in both combat and conversation. Alice sees retreat as incompatible with the House of Iris’s values, repeatedly insisting on confronting cultists herself even when the danger exceeds her rank. 27 34 39

Beneath her composure, Alice is troubled by the engagement and by her limited prospects within the family. She recognizes that she cannot awaken her Mountain Giant bloodline, and regards fulfilling the marriage contract as a responsibility she must bear despite her resentment. 44 45 Her concern for Aaron gradually becomes more apparent through protective actions, daily visits during his recovery, and unease over his potential death. 18 44 46

Abilities & Skills

Sword Affinity Transcendence

Alice is a Bronze Tier Sword Affinity Transcendent. Sword Affinity practitioners strengthen their bodies through transcendent aura, and Alice’s physical power greatly exceeds that of an ordinary human. 17 23

• Can smash through heavy wooden doors and send an adult man flying with a sword strike. 15 23
• Charges directly into hostile territory and engages cultists at close range. 21 22
• Uses silvery light from her longsword to cover her body during combat. 21
• Continued shielding Sart against attacks during a Silver Tier confrontation despite suffering from the impact. 39

Mountain Giant Bloodline

Alice possesses a diluted Mountain Giant bloodline inherited through the House of Iris. It grants her extraordinary strength but has not awakened into a full bloodline ability. 45

• Her bloodline concentration qualifies her as a candidate heir of House Iris. 45
• Insufficient concentration prevents her from awakening the Mountain Giant will. 45
• Provides strength far beyond that of ordinary people. 45

Combat Judgment

Alice reacts rapidly to supernatural threats and takes command in emergencies. 21

• Ordered the group’s torches extinguished to deny the Crawling Hand its preferred darkness. 21
• Sent ordinary attendants away because cultists could turn civilians into ritual materials or collateral victims. 22
• Identified the possibility that a Crawling Hand had been created from Tien’s missing hand. 23
• Fought multiple Crawling Hands to draw their attention away from her allies. 35

Equipment

• Rune-bearing longsword — Alice’s primary weapon; used to decapitate a Crawling Hand and destroy lesser Crawling Hands. 13 22 35
• One-handed shield — Used for defense during investigations and combat. 4 24
• Silver half-plate armor — Her standard field armor. 4
• Torch — Used while investigating the City Lord’s mansion and the sewers. 21 31

Relationships

• Albert Aaron — Her fiancé under a marriage contract between the Albert and Iris families. Alice initially resents him, but later protects him, supports his investigations, and worries over his survival. 14 18 44 46
• Ed — Her first swordmaster and a trusted attendant who helped raise her; Alice considers him absolutely loyal. 18 45
• Degas — Her uncle and a father figure; he calls her “Aili” and tries to free her from the engagement for her happiness. 44 45 48
• Isaac Sart — A Star Tower Prophet whose intervention prevented Alice from executing Aaron as a suspected cultist. Their relationship develops into wary professional respect. 6 24
• Balthus “Bals” — Leyden City’s Gold Tier city lord. Alice works with him against the Crawling Hand Cult but becomes distrustful of his concealment and suspected links to cultists. 19 49 50
• Tien — House of Iris’s former Diviner. His death and possible cult involvement deeply distress Alice. 18 19

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rat-Face Ritual Investigation

Alice arrives in the Leyden City sewers with armed personnel and finds Aaron at the site of a Rat-Face Descent Ritual. She treats him as a likely cultist or compromised witness and has him imprisoned for divination. 4

When Sart claims Aaron as his nephew and invokes his Star Tower connection, Alice strategically compromises despite her suspicion. She then reveals that Aaron is her contracted fiancé. 6 12 14

Tien’s Death and the Crawling Hand

Alice accompanies Aaron and Sart to investigate Tien’s suspicious death. She defends Aaron when Bals questions his loyalty and is shaken by the possibility that Tien himself was a cultist. 18 19

During the Crawling Hand attack, she takes the lead against the enemy, charges alone into the darkness, and later kills the creature with a decisive sword strike. 21 22 She concludes that the creature was likely formed from Tien’s severed hand. 23

Sewer Expedition and Tog Conflict

Alice refuses to remain behind when Bals’s group enters the sewers to pursue the cultists. She battles Crawling Hands, follows Siosand into a hidden area after Aaron and Sart fall through a pit, and fights to protect Sart during Tog’s assault. 31 35 36 39

Engagement and House of Iris Duties

After Aaron is badly injured, Alice meets with Degas and Ed at the Iris trading firm. Although they offer to nullify the engagement, she refuses, believing the House of Iris’s honor and her duties outweigh her personal wishes. 44 45

She visits Aaron during his recovery, delivers food and tea, and later brings him as her fiancé to Bals’s banquet, where he meets Degas and receives the Albert estate deed. 46 49

Notable Quotes

“True irises do not fear any wind or rain; challenges only become their nourishment.” 31

“Only heads taken by my own hand hold meaning.” 27

“The House of Iris will never leave its back to the enemy!” 34

Trivia

• Alice’s nickname, Aili, is known by very few people outside her family. 44
• She cannot dance, despite being expected to attend formal noble banquets. 47
• She personally instructed a tailor to add flexible metal supports to Aaron’s banquet attire to correct his posture. 47
• Her family motto is: “Truth Above All, Only Power is Eternal.” 45