Chapter 70: The Plan to Save Evelyn (Additional content from yesterday)
"I hope he doesn't sneak away... What I said last was true."
After muttering this to herself without any guilt, Alice returned home and began to ponder deeply.
Excluding the interference from the fat pharmacist, there was only one possibility for the mercury snake to be interested in her—the "lucky one" whose extraordinary trait she had swallowed, who had an unknown connection with the mercury snake.
Although it might be due to a curse—after all, falling to one's death isn't exactly "lucky"—Alice preferred to believe that the person's death was their own fault, especially with Megos before and Charlie King after.
Of course, it was also possible that the obvious disturbance she caused in the river of fate upon waking up caught the attention of the mercury snake—after all, even the goddess noticed it, so it would be normal for the mercury snake to do so.
But if that were the reason, then... aren't there too many high-sequence beings with fate-related abilities?
If it were really for this reason, Alice wouldn't believe she could safely spend three years in Tingen City. She was more inclined to believe it was the problem brought by the "lucky one."
...
Under the night sky, there were only a few scattered pedestrians on the street.
The gloomy and dark environment was illuminated by gas lamps, and Evelyn Greenland walked down the street in the dim light.
Her heels clicked on the street with her brisk steps, making a "tap, tap, tap" sound.
She was crossing streets and alleys, heading towards her destination.
... What is that?
Evelyn Greenland suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened in horror. Rationally, she knew she should turn and run or scream, but her body wouldn't move.
—In extreme fear, a person cannot move or make a sound.
Evelyn watched helplessly as the terrifying monster approached her bit by bit, unable to take any action.
It was a giant dog, baring its teeth at her, revealing sharp, coldly gleaming white fangs.
Each tooth was stained with rusty spots, and the stench from its mouth told Evelyn that the marks were likely uncleaned flesh and blood.
In the reflection of the creature's eyes, Evelyn saw her terrified self, her body instinctively trembling.
"Ah!" Alice gasped.
She got up from the table, rubbing her forehead with her still-sensitive left hand where she had hit it, and stared at the light streaming in from the window, lost in thought.
She had somehow fallen asleep at the table, her right hand propping up her head, until her head slipped and hit the table, waking her up.
Of course, this was a good thing. A little later, and Alice feared she might lose her right hand.
Rubbing her numb hand with her remaining one, Alice began to ponder the dream she just had.
Prophetic dreams were not unfamiliar to Alice. Even receiving revelations without any clues was not uncommon for her.
But... Evelyn.
Alice, who had prayed a few days ago for Evelyn not to become a sacrifice, fell into deep thought.
Could she have dreamed this because of her prayer? Impossible, right?
Alice wanted to knock on the table but found her right hand still numb.
She could only awkwardly rub her hand while continuing to think.
The dream didn't contain much information about the time or place. If anything, the moon might count. But unfortunately, Alice didn't have enough astronomical knowledge, so she was stuck at the first step.
This made it impossible to confirm the time and place of Evelyn's incident... Alice frowned, thought for a moment, and went to the Greenland's house, gently knocking on the door.
"It's you, little Briel," Mrs. Greenland opened the door, "You're here to see Evelyn, right? She's out today."
"Oh!" Alice showed a disappointed expression, "What a coincidence? Did she say when she'll be back?"
"She should be staying at her aunt's house tonight." Mrs. Greenland shook her head.
"I see... I'll come back another day." Alice waved.
After politely declining Mrs. Greenland's invitation to come in, Alice returned indoors, leaned back in her chair, and tapped the table with her now functional right hand.
Upon hearing that Evelyn wasn't home, Alice had a vague premonition—the time of the dream was probably tonight.
But knowing this didn't seem to help much.
Backlund was much larger than Tingen City, and Alice wasn't familiar enough with it to determine the location from the dream's information.
Asking Mrs. Greenland for Evelyn's exact whereabouts could narrow the search range... but she had no reason to do so!
Unless she directly told Mrs. Greenland that she observed the stars and calculated that her daughter was in danger tonight...
Whether her extraordinary identity would be exposed was one thing, but Alice seriously doubted she would be taken seriously and not considered crazy.
A breeze slipped in through the window, lifting Alice's hair and brushing her cheek, giving her new inspiration.
—Evelyn had visited her home many times; maybe she could find some of Evelyn's hair.
Thus, this beautiful afternoon ended with Alice rummaging through her house for Evelyn's hair.
"Fortunately, Evelyn has long hair..." Alice sighed as she crawled out from under the sofa, shaking off the dust and looking at the hair in her hand.
After leaving the dream, Alice was glad she had the foresight not to stubbornly use divination tools to find Evelyn...
After all, how could a demon dog be wandering in the North District? Even if it wasn't wandering, it was still unreasonable for such a thing to appear in the North District.
With the location roughly confirmed, Alice faced the next problem: how to save her.
Compared to other options, directly preventing Evelyn from going out at night was undoubtedly the most effective method, as the dream suggested she merely encountered the monster by chance.
But... by chance?
Leaving her familiar area, coincidentally going out at night, and coincidentally running into a monster at the intersection...
Alice took out a coin and gently tossed it.
The coin spun in the air, glittering, and landed in Alice's palm.
The divination failed.
But a failed divination could also be an answer in itself, couldn't it?
Yes, this chapter is actually additional content from what I didn't finish writing yesterday.