Chapter 146: The Twilight Hermit Society
When Klein saw Alice again, his expression suggested he was in the midst of some thrilling event.
"Did angels really come to catch you?" Alice asked instinctively.
Klein was left speechless, the words he had prepared stuck in his throat as he stared at Alice.
Alice tilted her head in confusion, saying with slight disappointment, "What? It wasn't that?"
"...Enough," Klein wearily cut her off.
"Oh." Alice obediently sat up straight.
Klein rubbed his temples and asked, "What exactly did you tell Allen?"
"What do you mean?" Alice blinked innocently.
"...He canceled the request to investigate you and changed it to finding people with abnormal luck," Klein explained truthfully.
"Hmm..." Alice nodded thoughtfully, "He knows his wife is pregnant with Will Auceptin."
"...You just told him that?" Klein was shocked.
"Not me, precisely. It was a revelation of fate. When he came to see me, he said he had a dream..." Alice shook her head and described Allen's dream to Klein.
Klein's brow furrowed deeper as he listened. Finally, he asked in confusion, "But why did Allen have the dream?"
"Good question," Alice nodded approvingly. "I'd like to know that too."
Klein fell silent.
Alice blinked and reminded him, "Oh right, you should keep an eye on him when you can. Don't let him accidentally reveal himself in front of Will Auceptin and get himself killed..."
Klein asked incredulously, "You think he can hide it from a Sequence 1?"
"Even a Sequence 1 is still in amniotic fluid right now," Alice shrugged. "At least for now, Allen's death wouldn't benefit either of us."
That was true... After all, it would be too difficult for a pregnant woman to support a family unless they felt it was too dangerous and decided to change families...
Klein glanced at Alice, suddenly uncertain. He carefully asked, "You're not planning to do anything else, are you?"
"No," Alice blinked. "I have an interesting idea."
Interesting... Klein recalled the gift Alice had prepared for Amon and fell into deep thought. He hesitantly asked, "What kind of idea?"
"Guess," Alice said with a wink.
"...What are you really planning?" Klein's bad feeling intensified.
"Don't worry, I can't do it now," Alice reassured him.
Klein didn't feel reassured at all.
"Really, I can't do it for a while—I estimate Will Auceptin will be nearly born by then..." Alice explained.
Klein sighed in relief—well, at least it went from an immediate death sentence to a stay of execution...
Having lowered his expectations for Alice, Klein brought up another matter: "By the way... are you interested in Amon's tomb?"
"...Amon's tomb?" Alice looked at him with a strange expression.
"It's like this, do you remember the bodyguard I hired before?" Klein reminded her.
"Yes, her name was Sharon, right?" Alice recalled.
"Right, we discovered a tomb..." Klein described in detail how he and Miss Sharon found the tomb.
Then, he added at the end: "I told her I had met someone in a circle of extraordinary individuals who knew a lot about Amon..."
Alice pushed up the monocle on her right eye. This gesture made Klein pause before saying, "I'm really worried that one day if Amon impersonates you, I won't be able to tell the difference."
Alice pondered for a moment before replying, "If Amon did that, it would probably be at my suggestion..."
Klein felt weak again. Rubbing his temples, he continued, "Are you interested in that tomb?"
Alice shook her head firmly.
Klein looked questioningly at Alice and the monocle on her face.
"It's one thing for others, but if I went, I feel like I might see an Amon inside," Alice replied expressionlessly.
"...How come you weren't afraid at all when you sent Amon a gift?" Klein asked, puzzled.
"That's different," Alice shook her head. "That was politeness."
"?" Klein's mouth fell open, feeling his understanding of politeness had been refreshed.
Alice defended herself sincerely: "He sent me a souvenir, so I should return the gesture, right?"
Klein was momentarily at a loss for words. After a silence, he said, "...If your return gifts to me are going to be in that style, please don't send any."
"Okay." Alice nodded obediently.
"...One last thing," Klein looked at Alice, hesitating before changing the subject, "Have you heard of the Twilight Hermit Society?"
"What's that?" Alice blinked in confusion.
"Emperor Roselle mentioned in his diary a secret organization that possessed the second 'Blasphemy Slate'. Do you remember?" Klein reminded her.
Alice nodded.
Klein then told Alice about the circumstances surrounding Duke Negen's assassination.
"So you've had such an exciting few days," Alice remarked. "But it's still a shame no angels came for you."
Klein glared at Alice again without speaking.
Alice pretended to be studying the movement patterns of the surrounding gray fog.
Klein rubbed his brow and habitually changed the subject: "That organization should be the one that tried to assassinate Duke Negen, the Twilight Hermit Society."
"The secret organization that manipulates the tides of the era?" Alice asked softly.
Klein nodded, adding, "I heard their organization's goal is to awaken the true Creator..."
Alice frowned, recalling her past doubts—the history of this world overlapped too closely with Earth's civilization at certain moments and places.
Remembering Amon's words, Alice rested her chin on her hand and mused thoughtfully:
"Amon told me there's a Sequence 1 called 'Author', and his paranoid brother Adam is an 'Author'.
"An 'Author' can make the stories they write become reality... like 0-08.
"I've always felt that this world's history is too similar to Earth's civilization... But if you say this organization's purpose is to awaken the true Creator...
"You know, Amon's father came from before the First Epoch."