Chapter 4: Have you heard of the Fool?
Eating lunch with closed eyes is obviously not a wise choice.
Sitting across from Klein, Alice, who had wrapped a cloth around her eyes to avoid accidentally opening them, regretted her decision for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
What troubled her most was not the inability to find her food—somehow, she was almost adept at moving around with her eyes closed.
In fact, what Alice hated the most was not being able to see the food. Even though, frankly speaking, Ruin is not a country known for its cuisine, Alice still believed that at least half of the appetite comes from the appearance of the food.
…Speaking of which, given the level of Ruin's food, even if she opened her eyes, it would only affect her mood to eat, right?
Of course, this did not prevent Alice from being angry about it, so she tore off a piece of bread viciously, as if tearing a piece of flesh from an enemy.
Undeniably, this formalistic act of revenge did scare Klein to some extent, causing him to hesitate several times, but it was like casting flirtatious glances at a blind man—after all, Alice had her eyes covered.
"I thought you had something to say to me." Alice, who tore off another piece of bread, couldn't help but speak first.
Klein was obviously disturbed by the name Alice blurted out. He had been thinking about this question all morning, and now, he naturally asked without hesitation, using the words he had organized all morning: "That name… where did you hear it?"
"I don't know." Alice said while tearing off another piece of bread.
This answer made the scene freeze. Klein wasn't sure if he should continue asking. He could only utter the sound people commonly make when confused: "…Ah?"
"You must have heard that I lost my memory, right?" Alice gave up struggling with the bread and looked towards Klein with her covered eyes—of course, she couldn't see anything.
"Then why…" Klein looked at Alice puzzledly. He had heard that this lucky lady had lost her memories of the past, but Ruin couldn't possibly have someone named Zhou Mingrui. She must have heard this name from somewhere else—what if she could remember?
"In my last… or rather, my first memory," Alice put down the bread, sat up straight, and showed a rare serious demeanor, "there was a girl wearing an ugly and oversized tracksuit with a school emblem on it who called me 'Huanhuan'… I remember we should be classmates." (The words in quotes were spoken in Chinese, as below)
"…'Huanhuan'?" Klein was stunned for a moment, a guess emerging from the bottom of his heart—after all, this was obviously not a Ruin-style name.
"Yes, and she seemed to be speaking another language…" Alice made a thoughtful expression, "A language completely different from Ruin's linguistic system."
"'Chinese'?" Klein couldn't bear it any longer, he decided to lay his cards on the table—after all, this amnesiac lady probably couldn't remember much, and from the description, he suspected that she wasn't very old.
"You really know," Alice's lips curled into a pleased arc, even without seeing her eyes, one could feel her happiness, "You must be related to that place… So, can you tell me who 'Zhou Mingrui' is?"
"…It's me." Klein admitted helplessly.
"!" Alice seemed even more excited, "Then have you heard of 'cars'? Have you heard of 'neon lights'? Have you heard of the 'internet'? Have you heard of…"
"I've heard of all of them." Klein interrupted Alice's words, finally realizing the purpose of this lucky lady—she was like a duckweed searching for a fixed point. The world in her memory was different from Ruin, but she couldn't remember the related people and events—even perhaps, she had forgotten her own name.
How much better am I than her? Klein laughed at himself, shook his head, and said to Alice, "Maybe, we come from the same place, a place called 'Earth'."
"'Earth'," Alice repeated the word, then subconsciously recited a string of words, "'It is the third planet from the Sun, 150 million kilometers away, and is the only celestial body known to mankind that nurtures and supports life…'"
Then this recitation was ruthlessly interrupted by Klein: "Stop!"
Alice stopped.
"Do you remember how you crossed over… uh, you know… do you still remember what crossing over means?" Klein tried to steer the conversation back on track.
"I don't remember, but I can imagine," Alice answered, "If I'm not mistaken, I should be dead? Hmm… I remember I was talking to the girl who called me 'Huanhuan', then she suddenly became very frightened, screaming for me to be careful, and then I just felt a sharp pain…"
Recalling death is obviously not a pleasant experience, the pain that penetrated the soul made Alice unable to distinguish the spiritual warning, so she stopped and did not continue.
Klein also realized that his way of asking was inappropriate. It was obviously not suitable to continue asking, so he changed his question: "I mean, did you encounter anything special?"
"Can you be more specific?" Alice asked puzzledly, although she probably didn't remember, but what if she remembered when reminded?
"Like, something related to mysticism? For example, strange spells or rituals… or maybe objects?"
"…" Alice frowned and began to think.
"There's one thing… I'm not sure."
"What?"
"I… the last thing I heard her say was, she said I was like a natural monster."
"A natural monster?"
"…The sequence 9 of the lucky ones, called Monster."
Klein was silent for a long time—he really didn't know what to say. Alice's words made him shiver, and he didn't dare to think further.
Alice also chose not to break this awkwardness, or rather, she didn't have the energy to do so now.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era; The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
"I pray for your listening,
"I pray for your gaze…"
In the thick white fog, that familiar girl was crossing her hands, reciting this passage in a rather contrived devout posture and tone—of course, still in Chinese.
She seemed to be demonstrating to me.
Alice quickly realized the situation, but when she was ready to continue thinking, indistinguishable murmurs and mutterings broke into the fog, causing her face to turn pale, and then the fog dissipated.
"Have you heard of… the Fool?" She turned her face towards Klein in a daze, asking in an ethereal voice.
(End of Chapter)