Chapter 71: Warning
Someone had interfered with Evelyn Greenland's fate.
Upon realizing this, Alice immediately understood the true reason for the warning she had received: "Is their real target... me?"
Of course, she didn't expect an answer to this question. In fact, if someone had answered, it would have startled her.
After pondering this, Alice disguised herself and slipped out quietly—she decided to check on Evelyn in person.
Indeed, Alice suspected this was an influence from the domain of "fate," which could explain why they didn't target her directly—perhaps they found it difficult to do so?
The main reason for Alice's suspicion was that she believed this to be a warning.
After all, she had lingered at Sequence 7 for too long. If the Mercury Serpent's goal required her to advance to a certain level before it could be achieved, they may have grown impatient with her leisurely pace. Though in reality, she was simply waiting for materials.
Even with the guidance of divination, finding someone in the vast city of Backlund was no easy task.
Alice first took the subway to the Cherwood Borough—this much was revealed by her dream.
Of course, the dream provided more information than just that, but since she would need to take a public carriage anyway, she might as well confirm the rest of the details en route.
Alice hailed a public carriage and told the driver, "Head in this direction. I'll tell you when to turn."
Though the passenger's request was a bit odd, the driver didn't question it and complied with Alice's instructions.
As she sat in the carriage directing the driver, Alice briefly found herself missing the convenience of shared bicycles.
...Taking a carriage was certainly not as convenient for this sort of thing!
Alice hadn't set out particularly early, and by the time she spotted Evelyn, it was already dinnertime.
After signaling the driver to stop, Alice paid and disembarked, blending into the crowd as she approached Evelyn.
When she was still some distance away, Alice confirmed her suspicions—this was indeed a blatant warning directed at her.
The culprit hadn't even bothered to conceal their tampering with Evelyn's fate. The misfortune clinging to her was crude and nauseating—most frustrating was the fact that Alice could do nothing about it.
However... it didn't seem to be the work of the Mercury Serpent directly, but rather that of an amateur. It had a childish, collage-like quality to it. Perhaps it wasn't that they didn't bother to conceal it, but that they lacked the skill to do so?
Alice's eyes flickered as she glanced at the darkening sky, deciding to have dinner first.
It wasn't that she didn't intend to intervene, but rather that she had no way to remove the misfortune. Even if she intercepted Evelyn now, it would be futile.
Rather than waiting for Evelyn to encounter some unknown calamity at an unknown time and place... it might be better to let her run into that monster!
However, although the misfortune clinging to Evelyn didn't seem fatal, Alice still didn't dare let Evelyn encounter the monster alone.
After all... among all the factors that could influence Evelyn's fate, Alice happened to be the one variable that couldn't be accounted for.
...
As night fell silently, Evelyn set off with light steps on her way home... or rather, to her aunt's house.
Alice had long since changed into flat shoes and donned a dark gray hooded cloak, quietly following behind.
The evening streets were not particularly crowded. Alice wasn't sure why Evelyn had stayed out so late, but it didn't matter—that wasn't the point of this endeavor.
Ahead, Evelyn's light steps gradually became hurried. Alice noticed that she seemed to have spotted something, her previous cheerfulness replaced by a hint of tension.
Before Alice could ponder this further, Evelyn suddenly whirled around, startling her. Fortunately, Alice was hidden in the shadows of a corner and wasn't discovered.
Finding nothing from her backward glance, Evelyn clutched her clothes tighter, casting a suspicious look around before continuing on with increased urgency, all traces of her earlier lightheartedness gone.
...She couldn't have noticed me, could she?
Alice suddenly realized the reason for Evelyn's behavior. Well, it wasn't that she had confirmed she was being followed, but rather... a subconscious sense of unease?
To avoid Evelyn looking back a second time, Alice became even more cautious in her pursuit, falling back to a greater distance—after all, she wasn't worried about losing track of her.
This decision proved both correct and incorrect—correct in that it effectively prevented Evelyn from discovering her; incorrect in that when the nervous Evelyn saw the demonic dog and turned to flee, she collided with Alice at an intersection, knocking them both down.
But the demonic dog wasn't about to give them a chance to get up.
Meeting Evelyn's shocked gaze, Alice was secretly grateful she hadn't used Briel Rose's face to follow her. Otherwise, her identity as a Beyonder would have been exposed.
Of course, this face didn't belong to Alice Kingsley either. After all, the Greenland family were all devotees of the Goddess, and the Nighthawks had ways of dream interrogation.
Alice had no desire for her continued existence to be revealed through Evelyn's dreams.
But that wasn't the priority now. Seeing the demonic dog about to pounce from above, Alice pressed down on Evelyn, rolling them both to the side to avoid its claws.
Then, taking advantage of the moment the demonic dog needed to adjust its stance after landing, she shoved Evelyn away forcefully, shouting, "Run! Go to the Church of the Night!"
"Church... Watch out!" Successfully pushed to a safe distance from the demonic dog by Alice's efforts, Evelyn regained some of her senses upon hearing Alice's words. She was about to say something when her pupils suddenly constricted, and she cried out to Alice.
But Alice had already rolled away before Evelyn could finish her warning.
She had no time to answer Evelyn's questions. Turning to face the demonic dog, which had momentarily paused after two failed attacks, Alice began to consider her options.
—She doubted a revolver could kill the massive beast before her.
Alice and the demonic dog fell into an eerie standoff, the atmosphere suddenly tense. Evelyn shifted uneasily in this charged atmosphere.
This movement successfully drew the demonic dog's attention to her. Alice saw it contract its hind legs, extend its forelegs, and push off forcefully...
Time seemed to slow in that moment. Every movement of the demonic dog was clearly displayed before Alice, as if broken down into individual frames of animation. She could even calculate the subsequent muscle contractions and expansions, as well as its ultimate landing point.
Wait, it wasn't just seeming to slow down.
"Click-clack—"
That distant, mysterious sound rang out once again.
The distant sound, originating from an unknown place, echoed once more.
Because my friend Huanhuan's name is actually the name of my OC (original character), I suddenly asked her a question today:
"If you were to time travel, would you still have to take the college entrance exam?"
Now I have this inexplicable worry. Oh, I just realized that I used the wrong onomatopoeia at the end of the first volume—it sounded like drowning…
Chapter two might be a bit delayed; please bear with me.